The Doctor's eyes darted to his left. Both Amy and Rory were moving now, but no more than a step every ten seconds. Their faces remained blank, impervious to the danger surrounding them. The Doctor instantly spotted that Amy was barely a few steps from a large trap door that had swung open in front of her. He instantly jumped to the controls, banging on the buttons in a manic order. Out of the corner of his eye he could see the blonde lady similarly jamming on switches and lights. The young brunette, however, was stood, visibly shaking, her hands hovering over the buttons. The Doctor's heart fell for a moment before he realised his own situation. He felt like he'd pressed most of the buttons by now but in reality he knew he wasn't even close to having pressed half. He gritted his teeth and with an ever increasing anger yanked on a random lever to his right. The trap door swung close as Amy's foot came down above it. The Doctor put a hand to his head in an attempt to get hold of the situation. He looked across to Rory who seemed to be in no real danger for now.
His attention was immediately drawn back to the young brunette who still seemed unable to react. The Doctor looked around himself, and noticed a small intercom device on side of the wall. He pushed the button and a red light flashed on.
"Hello? Hello, can you hear me? My name's the Doctor." He called, giving a wave while keeping one eye on his companions. The young woman looked up, surprised to hear another voice.
"Hello. What's your name?" The Doctor asked, his voice as calm as the situation would allow.
"Sarah." She replied, cold and precise.
"Now listen to me Sarah, I know this is a horrible situation but your friends are in danger right now and they need your help. Just jam any buttons you see, OK?"
"Harry and George." She said, staring out to the vast metal room ahead.
"I'm sorry?"
"It's my boyfriend, Harry. And his best friend George. My best friend George." The Doctor nodded solemnly.
"Then do it for Harry and George. You're their protector now; they need you more than ever. Do it for them." That effervescent quality that exudes from the Doctor, pushing people to become more than they are hit Sarah like an icy wind. She breathed out, and, slightly more calmly than her competitors, began pushing buttons and twisting knobs. The Doctor smiled slightly.
"Look out!" A voice screamed over the intercom. The Doctor turned to his right to see that it had come from the older lady. She was pointing towards Rory, who was quickly heading towards a series of crushing walls, positioned either side of the walkway and heavily crashing into one another in the middle. The Doctor bounced towards the controls, mashing them once again. "There's got to be a catch. This can't purely be a game of chance." The Doctor muttered to himself.
"Try the big red button on your left!" The woman shouted across.
"What big red button?" The Doctor said, furiously scouring the panel. He pushed several small red buttons but to no avail. At last, after precisely twenty random switch presses, the crusher came to a stop, as Rory stumbled through obliviously. The Doctor banged his fists against the control panel in anger. He looked across and saw he had also fortunately stopped a large spiked ball from falling onto Amy. He glared at the Puppeteer who gave a cheery wave.
"You're remarkably calm." The Doctor said without looking up at the woman to his right.
"You've got to be. Like you said to Sarah it's all on us to save them." The Doctor smiled gently, his faith reaffirmed in the good of people.
"What's your name?"
"Linda. And you're Doctor...what?" Linda asked, mashing several more buttons at a time.
"Just the Doctor. And, uh, who are...?"
"My husband and my best friend. Just like Sarah really." Linda's eyes filled with water. She looked down and momentarily stopped her frantic movements. She composed herself and carried on. "Can I presume the girl is your other half and the man your best friend?"
The Doctor let out a hearty laugh.
"No, no, definitely not. Well, he is a good friend but...no I travel with them. They're married to each other; recently in fact. This is hardly a great couple's retreat." The Doctor lightly touched a button, out of curiosity more than anything. Silence descended. The whirring of machinery and shuffling of brain dead feet was the only thing to be heard.
"Why are we here Doctor?" Linda's face was stony cold, her eyes once again full of tears. And for once the Doctor had no response. No rhyme or reason, no reassuring quip. He couldn't even guarantee their safety. His hearts skipped a beat.
"To play his game." The Doctor responded.
