Hello my lovely readers. How are you enjoying your summer? Well, here's another chapter. I'm sorry for the later update. You see, I have up to six chapters written, and I'm working on the seventh, but I lost track of time. I hope you enjoy this.
Disclaimer-I own nothing except my little American Roxi.
Roxi sprinted off after the Doctor, Rose not far behind, as he began traveling across Westminster Bridge. As she caught up to him, the Doctor held out his hand to her, and she grasped it with hers without hesitation, both darting towards the Eye of London.
When they reached the base of it, Rose joining them moments later, the two girls quietly caught their breaths as the Doctor went on to explain what it would mean if the Nestene Consciousness took over the world and why they needed to find it immediately.
Roxi, when the Doctor mentioned that it might be underground, leaned over the parapet and found a manhole. "What about down there?"
The Doctor rushed over to where she was, and followed her line of sight. "Looks good to me. Come on!"
The three of them ran down to it, and the Doctor opened the hatch, allowing them to crawl down a ladder leading to a multi-level, underground chamber. The Doctor was first to touch the ground, and he moved closer to the railing. Roxi, and then Rose, moved to his side, and looked down. Inside a ginormous vat, they saw a moving, liquid creature that sort of shined in the dim lighting.
"The Nestene Consciousness." The Doctor glanced at Roxi for a moment, before returning his sight to the vat. "A living plastic creature."
"Well, then." Rose looked at the Doctor expectantly. "Tip in your anti-plastic and let's go."
"Rose, we can't just kill it," Roxi declared, defiantly. "I mean, yeah, it's alien, but it deserves the right to surrender."
The Doctor grinned at her. "Thats why I'm here." He shuffled over to the cat walk overlooking the vat, looking down into it. "I seek an audience with the Nestene Consciousness under peaceful contract according to convention 15 of the Shadow Proclamation."
The two humans watched awestruck as the Nestene Consciousness contorted and shifted, a low rumbling heard by both of them.
"Thank you." The Doctor nodded his head at it. "If I might have permission to approach?"
Before Roxi could think, Rose was bolting down to a lower level. She followed her sister in bewilderment, when she found Mickey, whimpering to Rose.
"He's alive!" Roxi let out an exhale, glad that her friend (thought they weren't as close as they used to be) was unharmed. "Thank goodness!"
"Yeah, that was always a possibility." The Doctor had reached the three humans, and was moving towards a set of stairs that would lead him to a lower level. "Keep him alive to maintain the copy."
"Oh, and this little tidbit of information just happened to slip your mind?" Roxi crossed her arms, her tone sarcastic and annoyed as she looked at him.
"Can we keep the domestics outside? Thank you."
Roxi rolled her eyes and, while Rose consoled Mickey, went and stood by the railing, and observed as the Doctor approached the vat.
"Am I addressing the Consciousness?"
The plastic inside the vat formed a face almost, and gurgled in response to the Doctor.
"Thank you. If I might observe, you infiltrated this civilization by means of warp shunt technology. So, may I suggest, with the greatest respect, that you shunt off?"
Roxi, thought she knew the situation was against it, couldn't help but snort at his suggestion. It was a nice way of saying to go away to someone who was invading, as well as a bit rude.
The face became more distinguished in the vat, and more rumbling occurred.
"Oh, don't give me that! It's an invasion, plain and simple. Don't talk about constitutional rights."
The vat gurgled and rumbled in a way that made Roxi think it was yelling.
"I am talking!" The Doctor angrily glare at the Consciousness, which immediately silenced. "This planet is just starting. These stupid little people," Roxi's right eyebrow raised, her expression unamused and clearly offended, "have only just learnt to walk, but they're capable of so much more. I'm asking you on their behalf. Please, just go."
Roxi, too tuned in to listening to the Doctor's monologue, realized to late that two mannequins were sneaking up on him.
"Doctor!" she cried out to him, but it was too late. One of the dummies had a hold of his arms while the other retrieved the vial of anti-plastic from his leather coat.
"That was just insurance! I wasn't going to use it. I was not attacking you. I'm here to help. I'm not your enemy. I swear I'm not." The Doctor was frantic as he protested and insisted earnestly.
The Consciousness rumbled, the rumble causing the struggling Doctor's face to blanch a little.
"What do you mean?"
The sound of a door sliding caused Roxi's eyes to be drawn upwards, as well as the Doctor's, and both of them found the TARDIS there.
"No! Oh, no! Honestly, no!" The Doctor yelled.
The vat thundered again, with more anger.
"Yes, that's my ship."
More gurgling occurred at that.
Pain crossed the Doctor's face as Roxi watched him yell, "That's not true. I should know, I was there! I fought in the war. It wasn't my fault. I couldn't save your world! I couldn't save any of them!"
The entire place shook from the reverberations from the vat, making Roxi, Rose and Mickey grip the railing.
"What's it doing?" Rose cried out.
"It's the TARDIS!" The Doctor shouted to the three of them. "The Nestene's identified its superior technology. It's terrified. It's going to the final phase. It's starting the invasion. Get out, all of you! Just leg it now!"
"Rose, call mom!" Roxi glanced at her sister with panicked eyes. "Make sure she's at home."
As Rose did that, Roxi noticed the vat started glowing and growling angrily.
"Doctor, hold on!" Roxi moved to a staircase, ready to go down and fight off the plastic dummies.
"Roxi, no! Don't do it, it's too dangerous!" The Doctor cried.
The Nestene Consciousness started shooting energy bolts around, causing the entire building to quake and throwing Roxi away from the steps.
"It's the activating signal," the Doctor shouted. "It's transmitting."
"It's the end of the world," Roxi heard Rose whisper, her tone tragic. Looking back at her sister, who was being clutched by her boyfriend, Roxi uttered to her disheartened sister, "I'm sorry, Rose. It's my fault you got dragged into this."
A loud quaking roar came from the vat, making Roxi stumble back to the railing. The Doctor caught her eye, and ordered her, "Roxi, get our sister and her friend, and get out now! Just run!"
Roxi was about to protest, when an echoing crash reverberated throughout the factory, followed by Rose shouting, "The stairs have gone!"
"Doctor!" The young blonde clutching the railing witnessed the dummies attempt to toss him into the boiling vat.
"Rox, what do we do?" Rose questioned, terrified.
"Get up to the TARDIS! Now!"
Rose dragged Mickey up to the blue box, with Roxi close behind, and they tried the doors in vain.
"We don't have a key!" Rose cried, frustrated.
"We're going to die!" Mickey wailed.
Roxi glanced around, urgently searching for another solution, when she heard a shout from the Doctor, and then a growling echo saying, "Tiiiimmmmeee Loooorrrrrrd…"
Time Lord…is that what he is? Roxi wondered as her eyes met the Doctor's. In his eyes, she found panic, guilt, defeat and loneliness. She'd known him for only a short time, but she knew that she needed to help him. She rushed around the corner, hearing Mickey yell after her, "Just leave him! There's nothing you can do!"
Roxi grabbed an emergency axe, gripping the wooden handle tightly, and muttered to herself, "My family is in trouble, I have no clue what I'm doing, and I might die. But there's one thing I've got that's useful in a situation like this: Ashland Junior High School gymnastics team. I've got the bronze."
Hacking the chain loose, she dropped the axe and grasped the chain tightly. With a running start, she swung down, kicking one of the plastic men into the vat. The Doctor took this opportunity to free himself from the one holding him and pushing the mannequin into the vat as well.
Since the dummies still had the anti-plastic on them, it too fell into the vat, causing the Nestene Consciousness to start turning blue, screaming.
"Roxi!" The Doctor exclaimed, grabbing her as she swung back. She let go of the chain, and clutched the Doctor, who gave her a happy grin, then said, "Now, we're in trouble!"
The Doctor and Roxi ran back up to the TARDIS, explosions resounding around them, and found Rose and Mickey huddled by the doors. Reaching over them, the Doctor unlocked the doors, and all four of them clambered inside.
"Right!" The Doctor rushed up to the console, pressing multiple buttons and switching different levers. "Let's 'vamoose' away!"
Roxi tried to smother her grin, but to no avail. She then grasped the nearest pillar as the TARDIS began moving once again.
The moment they landed, Mickey bolted outside, followed by first Rose, who called their mother, and then Roxi, who realized they were on the Embankment.
"Fat lot of good you were, Mickey," she taunted her cowering friend as she and Rose marched up to him, Rose ending her conversation with their mom.
"Nestene Consciousness? Easy!" The Doctor commented, making Roxi smirk and roll her eyes, as he leaned against the TARDIS threshold.
"You were useless in there." Rose inclined her head a bit as well as crossing her arms as she looked sternly at him. "You'd be dead if it weren't for Roxi."
"Yes, I would," he acknowledged, his blue eyes moving to Roxi, and he stated earnestly, "Thank you."
Roxi returned it with a sad smile and a brief nod, before a seriously sad look crossed her face. "I should have done something sooner. I could have prevented some of this chaos."
"You saved the world," the Doctor reminded her. "You saved the lives of billions of people. Don't forget that."
Roxi's soft smile grew a little happier as she returned, "Thanks."
He nodded once, before declaring loudly, "Right then, I'll be off…unless, er, I don't know, you could come with me, Roxi."
"What?" Roxi's eyes widened in amazement.
"This box isn't just a London hopper, you know. It goes anywhere in the universe, free of charge."
Roxi grinned at his offer, when Mickey finally spoke, "Don't! He's an alien. He's a thing."
The Doctor, with a pointed look towards Mickey, remarked, "He's not invited."
Roxi listened intently as he went on, "What do you think? You could stay here, fill your life with work and food, or you could go…well, anywhere."
Biting her bottom in thought, she wondered, "Is it always this dangerous?"
"Yeah."
Roxi felt a hand on her arm, and she found Rose watching her with pleading eyes. Roxi really wanted to go, but when her sister looked her with that silent message, she knew she couldn't.
"I can't," she told him, her eyes returning to his casual stance. "I've got to look after my mom and Rose."
He had disappointment and hurt in his eyes as he replied, "Okay. I'll, uh…I'll see you around."
The Doctor disappeared inside the TARDIS, and moments later, Roxi watched it with regret as it dematerialized.
She turned to her sister and Mickey, muttered softly and sadly, "C'mon." The three of them slowly walked away.
"You really wanted to go, didn't you," Rose mentioned. "I mean, if it weren't for me asking you to stay."
Roxi gave her a small smile, and nodded.
"I'm sorry."
Roxi was about to respond, when suddenly, the sounds of the TARDIS returning caused Roxi to whip around in shock, as well as her two companions.
Once the blue box was completely there, the Doctor's head popped out through the doors, and he remarked to Roxi with a grin, "By the way, did I mention, it also travels in time?" He then disappeared inside once again.
Roxi beamed happily, turning to her sister and saying, "I'm sorry, but I have to."
Rose, though sadness was written on her face, nodded in understanding and she hugged her sister, whispering, "Be safe."
Roxi pulled back, and grinned, "Come with me."
Rose portrayed a hesitant expression, to which Roxi returned with an encouraging grin and the words, "Come on, sis. Travel with me amongst the stars." Rose sighed, turned to Mickey and placed a kiss on his cheek.
"Thanks." Rose then grabbed Roxi's hand, and, leaving a dumbfounded Mickey standing alone, the two sisters, with excited smiles, sprinted into the TARDIS.
As the two stepped inside, the Doctor looked up them, raising an eyebrow.
"Can she come, please?" Roxi begged.
He merely shrugged, and replied, "Alright, if she wants. So, Roxi and Rose Tyler…where to first?"
There you have it. The fourth chapter, and the beginning of all the adventures to come. So, how was it? Please, do tell. I enjoy hearing what you have to say, negative or positive. If you have questions about the story, some mistakes, or if you simply would like to put forth an idea, please leave it all in the comments section. I love hearing what you have to say. Until the next time…eat bananas and "Run."