Next chapter time! Sorry these chapters aren't the longest I've been trying to write longer chapters butttt I got to a point in this chapter where it was too perfect to end with. You'll see what I mean at the bottom. Can I just do one glorious disclaimer? The one where I don't own Doctor who or the idea of it or anything I use from it. That I'm just borrowing them. Enjoy!
Excitement a feeling The Doctor had not felt in so long was radiating from him. He ran around to the center console pushing buttons, spinning knobs , and pulling levers of the sort. Anna was still standing confused at what was going on and why he was so excited. The Doctor had his hand on one knob while the other was on a leaver. " Alright where do you want to go?"
Confused was an understatement for what Anna was feeling. She managed to speak out " But we'r- we're in a Police Box... That's bigger on the inside." She added. "How would we go anywhere? What is this place anyway?"
The Doctor took his hands off the console and started circling it. " This Police box is called the T.A.R.D.I.S, which stands for Time And Relative Dimension In Space. It can travel anywhere. Anywhere, in time and space!" He paused placing one hand on the console. He looked up at the center tube and had let a smile grow on his face. " I've had her all my life, traveling anywhere, now I'm asking you where do you want to go?"
Anna walked over to the center console. She looked down at the console tracing her hand over it. Confused she looked at him. " You act like it's your partner in crime." He glanced up at her then back at the console. " That's because She is alive. The Tardis is a living organism, and has been there with me since the beginning." He kept his eyes on the console lost in thought.
Part of her had a hard time believing all this, I mean a box that can go to different places in time, but the little curious side of her was thinking of the millions of ideas on where to tell him to go. She started walking towards the console. " So we can go anywhere ? Even go to Mars?" She stopped in front of the console.
" Mars?!" The Doctor shouted at her. " We have a whole Universe open to us and you want to go to Mars?" He hit a lever and the Tardis started shanking, and that wheezing sound that Anna remembered echoed throughout the room. The Doctor pulled back the lever causing the sound and shaking to stop. " Now if you would go open the door, and don't worry you'll be able to breath."
Anna looked at the door with a bit of worry, but slowly made her way towards it. Reaching the door she stood there for a few seconds before quickly pulling the door open. In front of her was not a street corner. Light, light in it's purest form was what she saw, encircled with waves of colors. A vortex of pure energy spiraling throughout space. The glow was captivating and mesmerizing. The Doctor walked up behind her and joined in her amazement.
" This is what I mean Anna. It's all yours now, you have a whole Universe to explore, it's just waiting for you, even more breathtaking events." He pointed to one spiral on the edge of the galaxy. " That, that right there is your home." He looked down at her smiling. " That is Earth, This is the milky way. That spiral right there is the Earth clinging onto its spot in the galaxy." She looked at her spot in the universe. " I feel so small." The Doctor looked down at her and met her eyes. " I can tell you right now the smallest of things, in this universe that are random and wild, turn out to be the most important." The Doctor let a grin form on his face.
Anna went back to watching the show in front of her, still enchanted by the sight before her. It's not everyday you get to see your own galaxy. But the idea that this was just the beginning of the amazement. She smiled in absolute delight. She finally turned around and ran to the console.
" Alright Doctor, lets go on an adventure." She hit down one of the levers. The Doctor panicked and quickly went to reverse her actions. The Tardis wasn't reacting kindly to her request and was moving violently.
" Did I do something wrong?" She asked concerned.
" Well, you just met the Tardis and, she's not a big fan of new people flying her." He continued running around the console. "I'm sure over time she'll warm up to you" He patted the console and pulled up a lever. " There we go, alright, any questions?"
Where to begin, he was a mess of questions. First why did he call himself The Doctor? Who were the other people he traveled with? How is any of this possible? The Doctor was waiting for a question but could see the mental debate going on in her head.
" Well more of that later I guess!" He grabbed his black peacoat, and walked towards the door. Anna walked next to him. " What's out there?" She tried to look through the glass squares but they were blurry. " This is the year 12,005 we're about to witness the New Roman Empire." He finished his sentence by opening the door.
The light hit Anna's eyes forcing her hands up to cover them for a second. Once her eyes adjusted she could see her surroundings. She had been to Italy, Rome specifically, so she knew what to expect but she was starting to learn she needed to stop expecting because so far it was never what she expected. The stone structures were similar but there was no sign of damage it was almost as if the stone was glowing. She took a step, out of the door and, onto the cobblestone road. The Doctor followed her out taking in the surroundings. I memory flashed causing him to look back at the Tardis. Remembering the adventures he never had. He forced a smile on his face. His thoughts were interrupted by Anna speaking. " How is this even possible, why is there a second Roman Empire?" She looked up at him. " Well, once upon a time the planet Earth was separate countries not living together as a race. Then you made first contact." She looked up confused at his last comment. Noticing this he continued.
" You met extraterrestrials, other beings, from different worlds. Some of them were nice and some of them... Were not."
He looked up at the new coliseum and motioned to head in direction. " Anyway, so in order for your people to survive they united. New Roman Empire since the first Roman empire was created from unification, the name kind of stuck." They reached the entrance where there were guards posted. " Moral of the story is the Human race lived, you make it, creating astonishing architecture, government, and entertainment. " He smiled. Anna spun around. " This is amazing." The Doctor's smile grew. " Yes it really is Fantastic." Anna looked up at him after he finished his last comment. The Doctor seemed to be fettling with his mouth, bitting his tongue. " Hm, doesn't roll of the tongue like it used to." He shrugged and walked towards the archway.
The guard stationed there halted them " Only those with clearance may entire the Coliseum." The Doctor pulled out a little wallet and showed it to the guard. " Alright you and your wife my enter." Anna was stunned by the guards statement. " Wife, um sir I am not his-" The Doctor grabbed her and pulled her through the arch. He let her go and gave her the chance to ask the questions he knew were coming. " How did we get past them and why did they think I was your wife?" He pulled out the wallet again. " It's psychic paper, the person I show it to see's what I want them to see, comes in handy for situations like this. As for the wife, well, he probably just assumed." He quickly turned around and walked towards the end of the tunnel. Anna followed him out the other end.
The light cut out her vision for a second but when it returned she could see millions of seats filled with millions of people all surrounding an arena full of sand. The Doctor motioned her to follow him. They walked down a few steps and sat down. Anna looked at the different lifeforms next to her but made sure not to stare. " So, we're not about to watch some poor soul get eaten by a lion right?" The Doctor let out a laugh. " No, no, no we're here to witness the great Roman culture!-" As if on cue a beast that looked similar to a lion but was at least three times bigger than a normal one and had two heads walked out onto the arena. On the opposite end a single man walked out with a curved sword glowing blood red and he seemed to be wearing gladiator armor. The beast and man both started running towards each other with the intent to kill. The Doctor made a face as if he was in pain.
" -Which I guess involves us watching some poor soul getting eaten by an intergalatic lion." They both looked down at the arena. The man was some how dodging the lions strikes. One claw grazed his arm leaving a deep cut. He dodged another strike and as the lions arms stretched next to him he swung his sword severing the lions arm from the rest of his body. Everyone cheered but the Doctor and Anna were sitting confused. Anna spoke first. " Doctor, how was he able to do that?" He pondered for a minute coming up with the best conclusion he could. " Well the Roman empire was known for always having great and skilled warriors and this is the Second great Roman Empire, they probably wanted to keep the tradition going. Though I worry they may follow another tradition the first Roman Empire was known for." His voice went from calm to concern but there was little time to think about that. As they dragged out the wounded beast two more guards with a man in chains walked to the warrior. The guards threw the prisoner in front of the warrior. The warrior circled the man and looked up towards a balcony, raised his sword toward it, and yelled. " I give this mans life for the name of the true emperor of Rome and the empire." His sword rested on the mans shoulders and started to lift. He was about to swing when a shout was heard from the crowd.
"Excuse me!" The Doctor ran down the stairs towards the wall separating the seats from the arena. " What were the crimes this man committed?" He asked the warrior. The warrior had a smirk on his face and was slightly confused. " He has committed no crime, he is just another scarifies for the Empire." The warrior went back to lifting his sword, but was interrupted by the Doctor yelling. " Well you see, I have a problem with that." The Doctor jumped over the barrier and into the arena, Anna followed him down. "Killing innocent people isn't something I let slide. SO, why don't you let him go and we can forget this happened?" The Warrior had a disgusted look on his face. " You dare rob the Emperor his scarifies?" He pointed his sword towards the Doctor. " Maybe we'll kill you instead." He started walking closer to the doctor.
" No I don't think so." The Doctor pulled out a small device from his coat and pointed it at the warrior. Anna watched him hold the device, it shined red making a high pitched noise. The blade retracted into the handle. The Doctor then pointed it at the mans locks. A click could be heard as the shackles fell from the mans arms. The warrior was trying to get his sword to work but could not, instead he yelled for guards. Anna was now on the arena and saw the Doctor running towards her. He grabbed her by the hand and yelled. " Run!" And they did, out of the arena and through ally-ways.
The Doctor turned around to see no guards, then he turned to face Anna, he almost started laughing. " Wasn't that exciting?" He was still catching his breath it had been a long time since he had to run like that. Anna was also trying to catch her breath but was able to let out a laugh. " I never thought I'd be running from Roman guards." She turned back looking at the direction of the arena. " Do you think that man made it out alright" The Doctor joined her and looked in the same direction. " Yeah probably, we made a big enough distraction for him to." She wanted to go back and make sure he was out of harms way, but knew it was too dangerous at the moment. Her eyes glanced down at the device the Doctor was holding. " What's that in your hand, the thing you used to turn off the mans sword?" The Doctor held up the device. " Oh this old thing, it's a sonic screwdriver. And well it basically can turn things off and on, jam signals, and lock doors. Except wood sonic and wood don't mix." He stuffed the screwdriver back in his jacket pocket. " So you really love your toys don't you?" Anna teased him. The Doctor looked as if he was offended" Toys? This is a scientific instrument not some simple toy." Anna nearly laughed.
" So you're the mysterious man only known as The Doctor, who is in a relationship with a screwdriver and Police box. That should sell well." The Doctor rolled his eyes. " You'd be surprised, I'm actually in many books, but priorities! I'd really like to meet this emperor of theirs wouldn't you?" They both stopped, they were standing on the top of a staircase that gave a good view of the city. Their eyes were fixed on the center of the city where a marvelous temple stood tall and proud. Anna looked up at the Doctor " Is that where we're heading." The Doctor kept his eyes on the temple. " Yee, right into the heart of the city." He reached and took Anna's hand in his. She looked at his action and shook him off. " Oi, what's with you and the hand holding?" The Doctor was about to explain but let it go. " I'll explain later let's go." He paused for a second as if he forgot something. " Ah. that's right, I don't know french anymore." He almost pouted.
In the center of the city stood the temple. Columns lining the exterior of the structure. Like the buildings around it the stone but more pure as if the roman gods had gifted the structure to the stone seemed to glow as the rays from the sun touched it . Outside a garden surrounded the building. An older man in red and white robes was walking and admiring it, with a smile on his face, until he was joined by a man in heavy metal armor. " Emperor the man the scribes warned us about is here, the one they call the Doctor." The Emperor was stroking one of the flowers keeping his eyes on it. " Do you know where he is?" The soldier bit his lip knowing his response wasn't pleasing. " We don't know, he got away after the incident in the Coliseum, what should our next plan of attack be?" The emperor still looking at the garden noticed Hemlock growing. He reached down plucked the flower and held it in his hand. " Do you know what Hemlock means Legate?" He shook his head continuing to listen to the emperor. " It's quite symbolic actually. You bring me news of The Doctor and I find this plant growing." He held the plant close to his eye examining it. " Hemlock simply means, you will be the death of me. So I believe we will be the ones to finally kill The Doctor." He slipped the plant into a sack he carried. "If what I've read about this doctor is true, then I know he will come to us. Legate Marius tell the guards to leave the front door unlocked, we have a guest to honor." Marius saluted his emperor and started to walk away before he realized. " Sir I forgot one more thing." The emperor turned and met his gaze. " He wasn't alone he has a traveling companion." The Emperors smile grew. " Well I have a better plan. Let us invite him to dinner." He turn around and continued his stroll in the garden, his smile never leaving him.
See what I mean? I couldn't rob the emperor of his dramatic sinister ending. The next chapter should be soon, I'm staying up to finish it up so it shouldn't take long. Don't forget to review so I know your opinion!