Chapter 2: A Dungeon and a few Dragons
Steam hissed past Marie's face, making her jump back into a deep puddle. She grimaced and tried not to think about what she was standing in.
"Careful," the Doctor said quietly, "those jets are two parts acid."
Marie stepped back even more, "Joy. Why are we here again, Doctor?"
The Doctor waited for the jet to fade then started walking forward again, Marie let him take the lead. "One of my contacts told me about this place, they're collecting members of species from all across the galaxy. None of them have come out again."
Marie nodded, trying not to slip back into the shocked coma she had gone into when she discovered that there were aliens in her universe. "But you still haven't explained what they're doing here. In a Japanese sewer. In the 1970's." She paused, "Wait, those Japanese monsters aren't real, right?"
"Weeeeeell," the Doctor said, drawing the word out. "Most myths have some truth to them." He paused and leaned down.
Marie took a few steps forward to stand next to him, he had stopped in front of a small glowing green light in the water. The green glow moved and Marie jumped backwards. "Wha?!"
The Doctor cooed, "Hey there cutie, it's ok." He reached into the sewage, Marie shivered in disgust, and pulled his hand back out. He was holding something in his cupped hands. He stepped closer to Marie.
Marie's jaw dropped. The Doctor was holding a small lizard looking creature with a long tail with think spikes spaced down it. It stood on two legs while its two tiny claws clutched the Doctor's thumb to steady itself. It glowed with dark green light, pulsing softly. "Is that…"
"Yes," the Doctor said in joy, "it's a mini Godzilla." He laughed in excitement, "This is just wonderful!" They heard a faint roaring sound and the Doctor grinned, "And I think that's what we're here for."
Marie gently held the baby Godzilla as they crept down the sewers. It mewed softly and Marie softly petted its spines. It calmed down and curled up in her hands. She smiled. "What are we going to call it?"
The Doctor looked back, "We are not keeping it."
"Aw come on! Think about it, our own pet Godzilla!"
The Doctor shook his head and was about to answer when the dim light ahead of them brightened. He raised a hand and they stopped. Ahead, a shadow filled the light then vanished.
The Doctor motioned and they moved forward slowly. When they reached they light, they slowly crept to the opening and peered through. The room beyond was huge, the sewer tunnel they were in dropped off into a deep pit. The pit was full of dark moss that the smelly water cascaded into like a dirty waterfall. The moss covered the walls of the cavern, all the way up to the domed. The moss even covered the long, spindly vines that hung down from the ceiling.
What dominated their attention was in the center of the room, its giant head almost brushing the ceiling, was a very large version of the baby Marie held. Godzilla senior. It roared again, the sound shaking the vines and sending the Doctor and Marie back a few feet in shock. The source of its vocal distress readily becoming apparent. Thin, white, snake looking things were rapidly slithering along its scales. Occasionally, one would stop, raise its wide head and start to burrow into the scale. The Godzilla would roar in response.
"They're hurting it," the Doctor said, his voice hard. He glanced at Marie, "Stay here."
Marie nodded, intending to do no such thing.
The Doctor took a few steps into the room and started walking along the rim. He quickly got the snakes attention. "Hey, snakey guys!," he yelled, continuing to move away from the tunnel where Marie was hiding, "I want to talk to you!"
The snakes stopped moving, their heads turning in unison to follow the Doctors movements. They turned towards a single snake that was perched on the Godzillas head. The head snake made a loud sqwaking sound and the entire pack of snakes began to jump from Godzilla with graceful, springing leaps. They slithered along the walls and ceilings until they had completely surrounded the Doctor. All of their attention was on him.
Marie held the mini-Godzilla close and softly stepped into the room. None of the snakes seemed to notice.
The Doctor eyed the snake creatures. Well, the snake-like creatures. They certainly looked like snakes, with their long, narrow bodies and lack of legs or arms. Their wide heads were topped with a double pair of eyes with a mouth filled with a full row of fangs. He had to admit, one of the best things about being in this universe was all of the new creatures and races he met. He glanced up at the Godzilla, who had crouched down and was messing with something in the pit, cooing softly. He would be anything that there was a nest down there and that the pit was full of baby Godzillas. His mouth thinned.
The crowd of snakes parted and a single white snake slithered forward. It raised itself until its head was even with the Doctors. "Greeeeetings human," it said in a light, whispy kind of voice. "How may we…assist you?"
The Doctor raised an eyebrow, most aliens in his own universe could at least tell the difference between a human and a Timelord. But then this wasn't his universe. He felt his face begin to scowl but he was able to divert the scowl into a word, "Oh nothing, just exploring."
The snake looked surprised, it blinked one set of its eyes slowly, "Human, you can speak our language?"
The Doctor smirked, "I'm good with languages." Luckily the Tardis's translation circuit works in this universe too.
The snake nodded, "I see." He paused and said something snappy to one of the other snakes, keeping his eyes on the Doctor. The snake slithered quickly away, disappearing down a side tunnel.
"Problem," the Doctor asked in amusement. He had no doubt that that snake had been sent to warn whatever higher power these creatures were working for. Making sure the boss knew something strange was happening was a good skill for minor minions to have and these snakes just screamed minion to a higher evil.
"No," the snake replied smoothly. "We simply forgot to disconnect the power to our oscillation transponder."
The Doctor nodded, "Of course, don't want those oscillations transponding without supervision." He grinned, "Do you mind if I asked a few questions?"
The snake blinked again, his face tightening, "No, please ask away."
The Doctor gestured sharply at the Godzilla, thin streams of purple blood could be seen dripping down its scales. "Why are you hurting this creature," he asked, his tone polite but his eyes flashing.
The snake hissed, the first snake like sound it made, "It is an escaped experiment. It is our property and we have come to reclaim it."
"So you're hurting it?"
"It must be worn down before it can be safely transported."
"So you're hurting it," he repeated angrily. The Doctor took a step towards the snake, his voice cold, "You have one chance, and one chance only, to explain this. You will tell me the truth or I will force it from you."
The snake hissed again and the ring of snakes tightened around him. "You threaten what you do not understand human. I could kill you with a whisper, destroy your planet on a whim, you would do well to turn and run, human."
The Doctor grinned. This was not the pleased, 'I'm having fun' grin, this was the grin of someone who knew a secret and couldn't wait for someone else to discover it. The hard way. "One chance."
The snake snorted, thin slits opening and closing on its snout, "Kill him."
The Doctor pulled his right hand out of his pocket holding a thin rod that sparked angrily. As the snakes leapt at him with quick, violent movements, they were each met with the sparking rod, which moved with a very practiced accuracy, and fell twitching to the ground. A few seconds later, once they were all sprawled on the ground, the Doctor knelt down next to the snake he had been talking to. "Snakes are all muscle," he said to it, nudging it lightly with his foot, "and muscles can be paralyzed in so many non-lethal ways." He leaned closer, "So, what's the plan snakey-guy?"
Marie slid down the mossy wall of the pit, fighting to keep her balance. She reached the bottom and skipped a few steps until she was able to stop. Looking up at the gigantic towering Godzilla, she gulped. This had seemed like such a good idea from the tunnel but now it seemed kind of reckless. And stupid.
The Godzilla spotted her and opened its mouth to roar in anger, when she held up the baby she had brought. The Godzilla closed its mouth and bent down. The giant mouth stopped only inches from her hands and nostrils almost as big as she was sniffed the baby. The baby squeaked, its tiny arms raised towards its mother. The giant Godzilla made a sad noise, almost deafening Marie. Its enormous arm reached over and gently, carefully, stroked the baby's head.
"It's ok," Marie whispered, afraid to even talk in case the Godzilla took offence to it, "he's ok."
The mama Godzilla moved its hand and glared down at her.
Marie squeaked in a way that may or may not have sounded like a mouse having spotted a cat. "Sorry," she said.
She heard a noise and looked up. Along the wall, behind mama Godzilla, was a series of flashes. She heard a few muffled thumps and hoped the Doctor hadn't gotten into trouble. She snorted and amended that thought. She hoped the Doctor hadn't gotten into too much trouble.
Mama Godzilla glanced behind her too, her silted eyes focusing on something Marie couldn't see. She watched something for a few seconds then looked back down at Marie. Her nostrils flared briefly as if she was smelling something and her eyes narrowed. She growled softly and bent down closer, her giant clawed hand reaching out again. She set her hand on the ground beside Marie and Marie glanced at it.
She gulped and set the baby Godzilla down on the hand. The baby Godzilla ran across the giant palm and clutched her mother's enormous thumb. The mother cooed again softly. Marie couldn't help but smile.
That smile vanished when the clawed other hand swooped down and curled around her. She forgot she was supposed to be hiding and screamed. The hand lifted her up and then set her gently on the rim of the pit. The other hand, holding the baby Godzilla, moved until it was sitting on the ground next to Marie again. The mother gestured with her free hand until Marie got the idea.
"You want me to pick him up again?"
Mama Godzilla gestured again and Marie did so, taking the tiny creature and clutching him tightly. The giant hand moved again, and the giant monster turned around then looked straight up. It roared in challenge at some unseen foe, clawed hand held to its sides. The roof of the cavern shook once then crumbled into a rain of deadly rocks, moss and vines.
Marie pressed up against the wall, sheltering the baby as best she could.
When the dust settled, Marie looked up to see a bright, orange light filling the cavern.
Mama Godzilla roared again as a large, circular disk floated down to them. Bright red lights from the object lit up the giant roaring creature and a slowly building hum filled up the space. Whatever that was, was getting ready to fire weapons!
"Doctor," she called, "Doctor!"
"I know," he called back.
She looked around and saw him pulling one of the fallen vines out of the pit.
"I thought I told you to stay put!"
Marie started over to him but he stopped her with a shout.
"Stay there," he yelled, his face furious. "when I say stay there, I mean it!"
Marie stopped, her foot halfway to the ground. Was the Doctor yelling at her?
"Why is it that you humans just cannot listen," he continued as he began to wrap the vine around something she couldn't recognize. "Always running off and getting into trouble. It's that curiosity complex of yours, isn't it? You've always got to know." He finished wrapping the vine and tied it off. Then he hefted the mishmash object onto his shoulder and started sprinting around the edge. "You have no idea how many times I've had to rescue people who just did not stay when I said stay!" He threw the object like a spear. It soared over the mother Godzilla's shoulder and embedded itself into the wall so that it was sticking about halfway into the opening. The Doctor still had ahold of the other end of the vine. "Why don't you just stay put," he loudly asked as he attached something to the other side of the vine. The something sparked. Then the Doctor reached back and threw the entire vine. The vine followed a hyperbolic arc, swinging from the pinned center, sparking the entire way. It hit the circular object with a thud, there was a silent, expectant, pause then the entire room erupted with a bright white, crackling, light.
The light cleared and the alien disk soared drunkingly out of the room, a gaping hole in its side. The red lights vanished from Godzilla and soon the orange light of the craft faded from sight.
Godzilla roared again, this time in triumph.
The Doctor didn't gloat his victory, at how quickly he had defeated his mysterious enemy. He walked over to Marie, an annoyed frown on his face. He didn't chew her out, he just scowled, his eyes on the monster in her arms.
After a few seconds, he looked up at her, the ghost of a smile on his face. "You still can't keep it."
Marie bolted upright, her eyes darting around the empty, dirty room. She sighed and pulled the tattered blanket closer around her, trying to dispel the lingering sense of happiness that the dream had left behind. The dream...memories of a time long gone. Of adventure and fun. Of a warm bed and safety.
She laid back down on the hard, concrete floor and closed her eyes again, trying to sleep while remaining completely aware of her surroundings. It was probably impossible, of course, but it was a skill she needed to perfect if she was going to survive. It was a difficult thing, being on the run from a Timelord.