Disclaimer: I don't own doctor who. This amazing show belongs to BBC not me. But I do own my oc and promise to try to make the doctor who characters act as they are portrayed in the show.
[BTW there are probably going to be some grammatical errors or misspelling since I rushed halfway through. Writers block had caused this story to take to long with an update and I was desperate to finish and move to the next episode. So sorry in advance.]
Loulouflowerpower: Here's the update! Sry it took so long! TT_TT
Tutto-E-Lecito: Sry about the update time. And the foster care thing was a little inspired by that yes, I love that show as well. And about that tension, you'll see little snippets of it here and there but the good stuff won't happen till we see Donna, don't worry I have a plan, though there maybe some with jack I'm not so sure as of yet :) and thx for the consecutive reviews :D
Kawaiipandaz: I love halloween too! I have a plan when I'm an old lady to go out trick or treating as a kid with movie make up to look like an old lady :P I'll be gettin' the free sugars till I'm dead :D
Fanfreak4ever: One, I so invented them. They're latin by the way. Two hope you like it, I wasn't sure how well it translated from my mind onto computer. I hope it's ok. :)
TheBloodyPheonix: Yeah she is! :P thx for the fantiforuos review.
Sieni1: Finally it is here! :D
Midnight Angel414: Thanks for saying that I hope it stays good. And oh so terribly sorry for taking so long but between writers block, school and the creative mistress strangling me to write more for my Sherlock series it's taken me waaay to long to get this done.
RoseOfLannister: Really! Thx :D hope you keep luvin' it!
Grapejuice101: And here it is! Thank you for waitin'. :)
(Martha's POV)
The Doctor paced, glaring at the rundown entrance of the haunted house. People passed by none the wiser of the present danger next to them on their Halloween outing. Though I myself didn't really know what the danger exactly consisted of, I just knew it wouldn't be good. I would love to have said I told you so but I don't think the Doctor would appreciate that sentiment or understand the context. Just then a manly scream erupted out of the building.
Unease settled deep in the pit of my stomach and flipped about apprehensively. On the one hand I was worried about Echo, but on the other I was a bit jealous of the intensity in which the Doctor was concerned about her. I knew I shouldn't be, she was my friend and she assured me there was nothing going on between them—but there was that little nasty voice in the back of my head that said otherwise. That there had to be some romantic feelings between them; especially now that he knew she was timelord. I mean how couldn't there be, they were the last of their kind. One male and one female. Do the math.
Of course, it was these thoughts that made me feel even worse. She'd done nothing wrong and I'd snubbed her whenever they'd get to close or he'd given her to much attention. She probably didn't even understand why I was acting any different. A growl escaping from the Doctor pulled me out of my never ending jealousy laden guilt trip. Furiously he ran his fingers through his hair causing it to stick up further. "Martha, I shouldn't have left her alone. But I didn't want to push her away by hovering. I didn't want to overwhelm her," he said as he turned to look at me, trying to explain his reasoning and persuade me that he wasn't to blame—though it was more likely he was trying to persuade himself that it wasn't his fault—which it wasn't. After all nobody knew the haunted house was full of aliens. Seeing that he was starting to lose it I decided I had to step in and be the voice of reason. I shook my head, "Doctor, it doesn't matter what you could or should have done. Right now the only thing that matters is finding Echo. The rest we can worry about later."
His eyes widened as if he were looking at me for the first time, like I wasn't just some tag along. But as soon as I spotted it, it was gone. He smiled softly. "Thanks. Now," he ran up to the bone laden doors standing about sixty centimeters away and aimed his sonic screw driver towards it, "I think it's about time I take down this field."
A second later the tell tale buzzing of his sonic kicked in, getting louder and louder the longer it was on. I was worried it was having no effect when suddenly a see through techni-colored film started to ripple, pucker, and bulge around the ride. As the noise grew the more the film seizured. Till finally, it retracted from around the building, disappearing altogether.
The Doctor stalked into the attraction(ride) ripping the doors wide open as he went. The room would be pitch black if not for the entrance behind us. A thick white haze pooled around our feet ominously. Looking past the darkness a dim spotlight was placed over the coaster cart ahead of us, beckoning us over, the only thing to greet us other than the screaming sound track playing in the background.
I watched as he walked over to the cart and soniced it. He flicked the metal rod open checking the readings, "That's odd, the safety bar locks trapping you in and…well that's not right. Why would they attach that…unless…Oh Echo what did you stumble into."
"What!? What is it?"
He threaded his hand once more through his hair as he got on the floor to examine the under carriage of the cart. "They have a waldo fused onto the paneling with retro feeds hooked into a takion excelarator, that would cause speed of light travel and break down the laws of physics. Why would they do that?! It'd blow a hole in the universe. Yet it was recently used and we're both still here so..." he reached underneath and felt around. I raised an eyebrow, "Waldo? Like where's Waldo?"
He briefly rolled his eyes at me before going back to work. "No, not the book. It's a remote control that's used to handle or manipulate objects. Which probably sent it down the tracks. Now, if I could just get a better look," He stated, rummaging through his coat pulling out a torch. Shinning it underneath he moved to pop something open with a creaky squeak. Suddenly he looked like he knew the answer to his earlier question, "Charged particle barricades, of course. That's why we're still walking around."
Alright. I was completely lost, but that sounded high tech and advanced. So what was it doing on a ride? "Doctor I don't understand what does all that stuff do," I asked. He got back up scanning it again, "No idea. I mean in all likely hood a bunch of nothing, except travel extremely fast, but it must have done something to scare Echo. So the question is, what?"
A ping resounded in the room. I shuffled to take a look but could barely see the Doctors reaction to his reading as the torch made him a black outline. What ever he found didn't seem very reassuring, "Oh."
"What?"
He turned towards me, a look of slight panic overtaking his features, "It has a bit rate reduction unit. This is-this is genius. But then that means…Martha we need to get in the car."
I huffed agitatedly at him. He was keeping information to himself leaving me out of the loop, again. Sometimes I think he forgets that everyone's not as smart as him, so they don't automatically know the missing pieces. "Doctor, could you please give a proper answer. What's going on? Where's Echo and what are we dealing with here?"
"She's traveled to another plane. As for what we're dealing with they're called the Speculum."
"The who?"
"The Speculum. They were a vain and over prideful race who would often set themselves up as gods to lower civilizations. The eternals—not a particularly nice people—took offense as their belief was that only they could be revered as gods and banished the Speculum to the realm behind reflections, cursing them to a half life. They would be forever starving, thirsty, and stripped of their form—taking away their vanity. It was a tale of caution when I was a child."
Well, they sounded delightfully friendly. How is it where every we go there was some alien threat seemingly waiting for us. Stifling a shaky sigh I took off the star glasses from my head, moving further into the room; over to the cart. Gazing at the Doctor, I rested my hand on the side but didn't get in. Seeing that he was upset I tried extending a hand out in comfort but he just shuffled out of my reach, bending back down to fiddle with the devices underneath. I frowned brushing it off, instead deciding to continue the conversation. "So they're trapped in mirrors?"
He poked his head underneath sonicing the undercarriage. "Don't be daft, they're trapped in reflections," he answered while poking his head back out, making slight eye contact before heading back to work. "Have you ever felt like someone is looking at you through a mirror or a puddle," he stated, "Like maybe there's another world on the other side of it."
"Yeah, when I was like seven," I peered at him skeptically, before realizing what he was trying to imply. "Oh, you're just pulling my leg you are. I think I'd see them if they were there."
"Martha, they no longer have a form so they steal the one looking at them, but it's only as long as your in the reflection. When you see them they'll look like you. Part of their punishment was that they could peer into the real world to forever taunt them with what they could no longer have."
"Wait, every time I look in a mirror they're looking back at me with my face!?"
"Not all the time. Only when you feel like some ones watching you when no ones there," He assured popping back up with a small mechanical piece in hand. He chucked it, the motion resulting in a shattering sound somewhere behind him. Grinning he leapt into the car and patted the open space next to him, "Come on now. I think it's time we rescue our pirate, don't you agree."
I jumped in after him nodding my head in consensus, smiling as his moods always seem to be a bit infectious, if not erratic, "Alright, but why use the car?"
He smiled pulling down the safety bar, then soniced the under carriage; sending us jolting forward. I looked over at him in amused disbelief when suddenly we began to pick up speed rolling over the tracks. I tried to swallow finding my mouth suddenly dry, "Doctor, I don't think these rides are supposed to go this fast."
"Hold on tight Martha we're about to go even faster," he yelled over the wind. Next thing I knew I was being slammed into the side of the car with the Doctor as we took a particular sharp turn. Soon we're being thrown about like rag dolls, swishing back and fourth like a washer on the rinse cycle. I was suddenly glad for the bumpy rides in the TARDIS, I had an easier time keeping myself from physical damage by my experience in the strange machine. I gripped the bar tighter when something alarming came into view. I grabbed the Doctors arm shaking it, "It's a dead end!"
"Yes, I can see that!"
"Well do something! We're gonna crash," I shouted bracing myself even though I knew it was useless. At the rate we were accelerating we were most assuredly dead. He placed a reassuring hand onto mine, "Remember what I told you, where the speculum are trapped."
"Yes, in reflections. But what does that have to do with anything!"
"Martha think! What are we headed towards?!"
I looked ahead. What was did he mean? OH! I gasped finally putting it together. We were headed straight for a mirror that the track ran right into!? But what he was suggesting was impossible. Yet, staring into his eyes I found myself falling into that deep sea of browns, as I often did, having to remind myself of the most impossible man sitting next to me. So of course that was exactly what we're about to do. "A mirror," I told him. He nodded his head right as we flew into it.
Next thing I knew my head was screaming and ears blaring, as the car braked on the tracks, sending sparks flying up around us. With a sudden stop we both smacked into the bar, to which I clutched my mid section in pain. That was definitely gonna leave a nasty bruise later. The Doctor hurriedly popped the bar up with a flick of his screwdriver, jumping out of the vehicle.
I was about to follow when I noticed the room in which we had traveled to. Well, I said room,but it was more like a grand hall. There were pillars lining each wall, each symmetrical—each angular and geometric in shape covered in thousands of interconnecting mirrors. Mirrors that extended to the high ceiling creating magnificent bowed arches. They ran all the way back down melding into the tan marbled walls and floor. Quite aways down the room, there were two large black decorated doors; the patterns intricately woven in what looked to be gold. Before the doors there were openings to other high ceiling corridors covered in more interlocking mirrors; the mirrors only absent on the marbled ground. I had felt like I was in some elegant Disney castle, albeit a sinister one.
My gaze returned back to the Doctor as he frantically waved the sonic around. Slowly I stepped out of the cart, waiting next to it since I was to afraid to approach him at the moment, "Doctor."
He spun around as I called, "Somethings blocking me Martha. I can't sense her. I should be able to by now. But I can't."
I paled, not really sure on the specifics of what that would mean but knowing that it was probably not helping the Doctor remain calm to think properly. I approached him in another—in what would probably be another wasted—effort to calm him down, "How are we supposed to find her then?"
He didn't answer. Instead he returned his attention to the sonic screwdriver as it beeped open with more readings. I watched—slightly hurt that he'd brushed me off in his worry—as he moved the device till it buzzed slightly louder when pointed towards one of the corridors. His shoulders sagged slightly in relief before becoming rigid once again, "I'm still picking up on the Autron energy coming off her. Which is the good news, it means we can find her. But there's significantly more of it now than there was earlier, most likely due to her earlier terror from traveling through the portal, which could spell trouble."
"How so?"
"In the likelihood her emotions become too extreme, coupled with the chemical reactions going on in her body, it could result in an explosion of raw uncontrollable energy."
I didn't like the sound of that. If that were to happen I shuddered to think of how the Doctor might react. But another thought came to mind, one that if answered yes, would send me straight onto that emotional train with him. "Will it kill her?"
He stilled, as if until then, that thought had yet to even crossed his mind, "No...yes-maybe. I don't know! If she were a normal timelord she'd be peachy keen. An explosion of energy was common place for those in their adolescence, though it wasn't something that happened often. It was especially more present in those going through what you would characterize as puberty. Due to all the extra chemical reactions and our bodies inhibitors not being fully functional during those stages our heightened emotions could cause a backlash of Autron energy. But things don't work the same with her. Factoring in her age, current physiology and mental trauma with a significant emotional strain any number of things could go wrong or not happen at all. I'd rather not find out which…Come on. We've already wasted to much time standing here."
Before we could proceed on our rescue mission, the door on the other end of the hall burst open with as much force as a big rig, slamming loudly into the wall—the huge boom sent me jumping five feet in the air. A large muscled man—a silver sheen to his skin—clothed as roman centurion marched forward, a silver staff with an opening on the end raised toward us. Before we could respond, a bolt of blue energy shot out of the staff almost hitting the Doctor. More followed.
Rushing back the Doctor grabbed my arm dragging us behind the car, ducking out of the line of fire. "And here I was hoping this would all be a misunderstanding and they'd be nice. Is it too much to ask for, nice aliens," I yelled over the explosions of hostile fire bombarding the car. The Doctor leaned his back against the metal, peering over to aim his sonic before jolting back into cover, "I did warn you that they'd most likely be less than pleasant," he quickly turned to look at me his face scrunching in offense, "Oi! I'm a nice alien!"
"No, you're an impossible alien," I shouted back laughingly. He smiled, finally I was able to get one out of him! That special twinkle in his eye and quirk of his lips he got sent my heart once more a flutter. How someone couldn't fall in love with this man I'd never know. Maybe that's why I always found myself so jealous of Echo when she seemed to carry all of his attentions. After all, if I could fall in love with him so easily in only one hour, than she could just as well, seeing as she had known him much longer than me—and thus had a better chance to gaining his affection. A lump formed in my throat as my stomach fell, finding myself falling into petty jealousy while my friend was in danger. If only Grams could see me now, probably give me a smack to the head for my thoughts—to set me straight. Unfortunately it wouldn't do me any good, the Jones women tended to have always been a jealous lot. And here I had hoped it might have skipped a generation.
"Crato, cease your firing you simpleton! You'll harm the portal, fool! You're not even hitting them! You're just wasting power," a nasally voice boomed over the assault, effectively ending it. The Doctor and I gazed at each other warily wondering what they'd do next. We turned around slightly, tentatively peeking above the cart. The beefy Roman had lowered his weapon snarling at the other slightly silver man who stopped him. I guessed the guy was either in charge or outranked him. The man who had stopped the attack was a short and pudgy, dressed as a pumpkin with mean beady eyes and a rudy face. It was a bit laughable that the people trying to kill us were wearing clothes that made them look utterly ridiculous. However I had manage to stop myself from doing so.
The plump pumpkin noticed us peering over at them. He sneered as if we were his inferiors, "Hello humans, it would appear that you've wander onto the wrong ride of the mirror. I must admit I'm curious as to how you stupid apes were able to gain access to our realm without our designation."
The Doctor popped up, standing tall with his usual showy candor, "Wellll, it's wasn't all that difficult really. Just had to reroute the retro feeds into the output compaciter, jerry rigged the waldo into the bit rate reduction unit using an ion filament and locked into the temporal frequency your portal there was generating. Then pulled the handle bar down and hung on."
The pumpkin appeared taken aback by the Doctor obviously superior intellect and general know how. I was assuming the pumpkin thought all humans not capable of such higher thinking, even though the Doctor was something much more rarer than a human. Not that the Doctor was gonna correct him. Something that left me wondering why. After all he did say something bad would happen if they knew Echo was timelord, so the same line of thought would apply to him. The pumpkin returned to reality sneering once more at us down his nose, "A shame I'll have to kill the only smart ape from that wretched rock. It's for the best I suppose. Crato."
Crato raised his weapon, but froze before he fired. Both men became blank, stuck in their positions, as their eyes glossed over becoming jet black. "Doctor what's wrong with them," I asked. He stared at them with scientific scrutiny, "Hive wave."
"What?"
"There speaking telepathically through a neurolink, except it's with more of a hive mentality. They're receiving instructions," he stated off handedly watching them warily, "The question is, what are the instructions."
Suddenly the black in their eyes faded away. Regained their mobility the roman growled agitatedly, lowering his weapon. The round pumpkin scoffed as he turned around, glaring at us over his shoulder, "I am to escort you to the royal court for an audience with the Queen. You will follow or I will authorize Crato to use force should you refuse. Something, I'm sure, he'd love for you to do."
Grabbing my hand the Doctor pulled me up onto my feet. Giving me a reassuring smile he turned to our escort, all earlier emotion fading from his face. The air shifted around us, becoming tense, "Good! Cause I'd like to have a word with her, you have something of mine that I want back."
(Back to Echo)
Cold. Why was it so fricken cold. It shouldn't be so cold...or so dark for that matter. Where was everyone? No-wait I was just with a person. What was his name again? It started with and 'S'. He was dressed up because I was out celebrating Halloween, he was a ghostbuster. Yes, now I remember him. "Spence," I called out into the darkness. "Is anyone there? Hello…Doctor? Martha? Anybody!? Somebody? Can anyone hear me!?"
My words rang upon deaf ears, muted into the inky gloom surrounding me. Walking forward my foot steps loudly sent up noise, echoing away. I shivered crossing my arms around myself, running them up and down my sides in an effort to keep warm. Only the motion didn't even seem to generate much heat if any. Not that I stopped. A loud muffled voice reverberated out of the shadowy ether. Even though it was booming it hard to make out what was being said. "The subject...machine...two is ready...setting 42...what!?"
I ran towards the sound, trying to glean more of it. Who was talking? They didn't sound like anyone I knew. "…Active! Unauthorized jump-not us…all accounted for," voice two breathlessly informed. What was active? What machine? Who's accounted for? If I could just turn on a light then maybe I could see what was going on. Running towards the sound it seemed as if I was traveling no where through the pitch black, like I were running on an invisible treadmill. Picking up speed the far away voices became more audible. "We...send Crato…force," the nasally voice of number one commanded. Number two shakily asked,"What do we d-...this one?"
"-leave in chamber-for now…can't damage…to important-she'll have our heads."
A light appeared beckoning me fourth softly. Like it had been there the whole time waiting for me in the darkness. I made for it, following the voices emanating from the light.
It must be a door. Should I be worried? Maybe, but I didn't want to be in the dark and cold any longer. It was suffocating me. Causing my heart to pulse faster. I needed out! "Why is she important," number two squeaked. "Bec-."
My eyes blurrily shot open, temporarily blinded by the brightness. Focusing without much luck, I honed in on the blob like shapes before me. The orange one moved to my right—from my point of view I felt as if I might be strapped to a wall, which didn't bode well—it placed a pudgy hand onto a glass partition in front of me, "-ause, the Queen picked this body for herself. Do you know how long it took to find one she'd like!? This one's to fat, or this one's to thin, or this one's to freckled, this one's to nosey, or this one doesn't have enough hair!? Cause the one she wants has to be just right! I can't deal with her whining so if any damage comes to this thing I'll kill the bastard personally. So while I deal with our 'guests' your to stand guard. Remember not a scratch, you hear!"
My vision started returning and outlines of blobs formed outside the glass. The one wearing black grabbed one of his arms submissively backing from the other one as he poked his chest rather aggressively, handing him some sort of staff. "Not. A. Scratch. I think even a screw up like you can manage that," the big orange one stressed as he turned away, disappearing from view.
Remaining calm I tried moving, only to find I couldn't. When trying to look down, my head refused to listen, stuck in place. Figured. But from what I could make of my body was that is was covered in a sheen of frost. Which explained why I was finding blinking to be such a labor. But I kept struggling. I had to get out of what ever the heck I was locked in.
Gazing outward from my prison, past the glass partitioning, I saw large cylindrical tanks lining the walls, halfway built into them—deductive reasoning said I was more than likely in one as well—the room, covered in ice and a low blanketing fog, looked like a cryogenics lab. Well, that was till I spotted the helmet with tubing and wires hanging inside the tanks from the top. So not a cryo lab, definitely something more sinister. I wasn't sure if it was because of the cold or due to the unsettling sight of fog but a shiver ran down my spine. Most of the pods were empty but a few were occupied. Lingered on one of them, my breath caught in my throat. Spence.
The helmet was fastened to his head. Needles punctured into his neck, chest, hands and ankles feeding some sort of silver fluid into his body. What ever they were doing to him appeared painful. His fingers fluttered at his sides while his head seizured even though he was frozen. Tears poured past his closed eyelids. A strangled noise emitted from my lips, catching the attention of the guard.
He walked over to the glass peeking in with trepidation. I looked into his pale brown eyes and he jumped back in fright. Like he was just as scared of me as I was of him. The bells on his hat jingled when he tip toed closer. He was wearing a costume as if he'd just been trick or treating—a gothic court jester—dressed in all black. He nervously wrung his hands against the pole he carried. His skin I noticed, and to my surprise, had a silver tinge to it. And, much like the base ball player from earlier, he had on dark eye makeup, which I realize probably wasn't make up. His face hovered close to the glass in curiosity. Hesitantly he tapped the partition a couple of times. Slowly, I moved my head to the side cracking off ice. The man instantly shuffled backwards all the way to the wall across from me, eyes wide in fear. For a bad guy he was sort of...pathetic.
Cautiously he re-approached, voice quivering, "Y-you're...awake.H-how?! Oh...I'm gonna get in trouble, I know it. T-this is gonna be my fault."
My hand creaked as I held it up to the glass, attempting and failing to bang against it, "...out."
He shook his head, "No. I-I can't. You're the Queens vessel. If anything were to happen to you they'd kill me. I-"
"I'll…hurt...m-myself. Big...guy...will get...mad. Not...a scratch, remember. So. Open. This. Door," I ground out the last part as my throat warmed. Mister Chuckles the chicken—as he would now be nicknamed, as his nose was a bit beakish—bugged, eye's practically popping out of his skull. He raced up to the glass waving his shaking hands in font of me, "N-no don't do that. Don't do that. Just be good and accept your fate. It'll hurt less that way."
"Fate. Fate has nothing to do with this and everything to do with you opening the damn door!"
Mr. Chuckles backed away submissively refusing to look me in the eye. I growled in annoyance. I wasn't just about to roll over and let them do god knows what to me, self preservation demanded it. Moving blueish hands up to my face, I positioned my fingers to rake against my flesh. Right as I was about to dig in he bolted forward. "Wait! Wait! Alright, I'm opening it! I'm opening it! Please don't scratch your face."
A blue see-through key pad accompanied by data readings appeared on the partition as his left hand pressed against it. Punching in a code the glass popped open. Shooting a hand out I gripped the outside of the container and struggled to pull myself out, ice fell off with the movement. Somehow managing, I took a tentative step out. Then another and another, but I had to take a moment to gain my bearings halfway though. My brain was sending the message to go, but I couldn't feel my extremities, the only indication it was working was the fact I was moving. Albeit robotically. Walking when half frozen was extremely difficult and weird.
Suddenly the world tilted off it's axis as I began falling backwards. A hand shot out landing on my back. Mr. Chuckles pushed me up with forward momentum. Causing me to stumble over to Spence's tube. I fell into the side of his tank with a thud hugging the glass to keep myself upright. I turned to the guard, "Open it."
He shook his head again, apparently a normal occurrence with him, "I can't the process has already started. If I open it he'll die."
"Then halt the process. What ever it is, just stop it," I demanded. If I could get him to stop then what ever they had done I could get the Doctor to reverse it when I found him. And I was going to find him! Where ever here was. I would not die there, and neither would Spence.
Mr. Chuckles looked like he was about to protest when I cut him off, "Tell me, will stopping it kill him?"
He shook his head. "Good then stop it," I ordered. He was about to say no, I could tell, so I raised my hand to my face once more in a threatening motion. He let out a pathetic noise and rushed over to the glass, plugging in some code as another screen popped up. Spence immediately stopped squirming, the tears halting. I sighed with relief at the sight, "So what is this place?"
"A-a conversion lab," he stuttered. I froze at the word. The unwanted images of the 2006 cybermen invasion popped into my head. Hastily, I pushed the awful memory away. Not now. Right now I needed to focus. If I could retrieve some information it might help the Doctor fix Spence. I thrust myself off the tank crossing my arms, "Conversion to what. Explain."
A sad nervous gleam painted his eyes, "You don't-"
"But I do. So talk," I interrupted, knowing whatever he was going to say would be unpleasant, but I had to know the truth. Lives depended upon it. He shuffled nervously facing one of the empty containers, "We just wanted it to end. Make the suffering go away. But as long as we remained cursed it would never leave...so our scientists began working on a solution, but the Queen grew impatient as time slowly ticked by. Demanding results...so they rushed. This was the outcome."
"What do you mean? What do the machines do?"
He hesitated not wanting to answer but continued when I curled my hand to my face. "They figured if we were to make new bodies we would be free but...the bodies never lasted long. So many died. And then our Queen saw an opportunity. Saw into your world. And with the help of our science we were able to cross over to your plane by bending reality to create a doorway in which we could take...take the vessels we needed."
He paused at my sharp intake of air. I stared in stunned disbelief and yet, I wasn't as surprised as I should've been. Still, how could they just take people and steal their bodies. What happened to the original person? What about them?! Alright Echo, lets not get ahead of ourselves, deep calming breaths now. Deep breaths. What would the Doctor do? (WWTDD? Lol, make that into a bracelet) He'd give them a chance, let them explain. So understanding, have to try to be understanding. There are two sides to each story. I had to hear his first before I got upset. Can't be quick to anger, I've never been in the past so why start. Easing away the last bit of tension I motioned for him to continue.
"The machine as you call it puts the body in stasis, stops it's bio-clock. Once it's finished with that it begins converting the human DNA to our DNA, so that way it's easier for us to fuse over into the host…when that's finished it goes into the final stage which...which erases the host consciousness leaving it empty for Speculum occupation."
I stopped breathing fixed to the spot working my way through what he'd said. Repeating it in my head over and over again till finally it snapped. The air around me crackle, but I hadn't notice, to busy watching the fear over take Mr. Chuckles face as I stood straighter. I moved forward my finger poised to point accusingly at him but he shot across the room out of reach, curling around himself against the wall as if to prepare for violence. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry," he apologized pathetically into his arms. His actions halted mine, confusing me, deflating some of the growing anger. My hand fell limply to my side, "You're sorry. You're sorry!…Why?"
He slowly uncurled himself at the questioning tone, frowning, "Because it's my fault."
"How?"
He hesitated, eyes darting around, like it were a trick question, "Because…well every thing's always my fault."
I eyed him seeing that he truly believed everything was his fault when I came to a sudden realization. Why hadn't I see it before—well, probably because I had been so focused on the kidnapping and murder part—but the way he behaved, his mannerisms, it all added up to one thing. Something that if I hadn't witnessed it before I wouldn't have put together. He'd been abused. Something I had seen during my foster years. It accounted for his submissive nature.
Slowly I approached him, only to have him flinch reflexively when I went to grab his arm. "Calm down. I'm not gonna hit you," I assured as I lightly rolled up his sleeve. A deep green and black bruise in the form of a hand wrapped around his forearm. Briefly I examined it, retracing the pattern, "What's this one for?"
He shifted uncomfortably looking away, "I deserved it. I distracted Ovid when he was synthesizing the last batch of Crystallin."
"I guessing that's the silver goop. How did you distract him?"
"I was in the room...why are you asking all these questions anyway?"
"Curiosity, interest, trying to understand, information gathering, take your pick. But what I really want to know is why are you guarding all of this. It's not as if anyone can escape," I asked motioning to the long cold empty corridor. "Because I'm wrong."
That raised an eyebrow, "How do you mean. Wrong about what?"
"During the first trails many didn't survive so only those deemed disposable were used. Something went wrong during the final stages of my process...I-well the original occupant of this body, some of his mind integrated with mine. I retained all of his memories, his emotions. It's fascinating, human lives," he stopped to check the room once before returning his attention, his face lighting up with concealed excitement—an emotion I wasn't sure he'd had till then, "The things I've-he's seen. You humans can grow up to be anything. They're life isn't restricted to one class or job, they can chose. They can learn! I saw...um Ardire-that's what this man-that's what his name...he went to this place with other people. They were taught so many different things! Spoke with others of different standing in equal status. It's amazing! It's-it's-."
He trailed off with instant regret covering his features. He must have thought I was upset due to my silence—I was, but that was because of earlier—no, I was silent because I felt sorry for the man. For the one who came before who's life was stolen, and for the man who stood before me now who I had a feeling only existed, but never lived. The fact that he got excited over something that most people received naturally spoke volumes of his upbringing. "Why stay? If you like that life so much why not just take it, leave this place, go live it," I asked genuinely curious. He shrugged staring at the ground, "No point. The Queen plans on sending out the first wave in two hours."
"That doesn't sound good," I frowned while playing with the ring on my finger absentmindedly. Okay so I have about two hours to stop something bad from happening, find the Doctor, and get out. Sounded simple enough. With a clap of my hands I started moving along the corridor, "Well, now would be a good time to find my friends. I'm gonna take a guess that they were the ones to set off your alarms, so if you could point me in the right direction."
"What, no! You can't leave, I'll get in trouble. If anything were to happen to you-," I clamped a hand over his mouth, silencing his fussing. I smiled, though it was mostly sarcastic, "Well I guess you'll just have to follow me then. After all big guy back there never said anything about where you were to watch me. So shake a leg there chuckles!"
With that said I waltzed down the hall stepping over the wires looping on the floor, wading through the icy vapors, as my new friend scrambled to keep up. It appeared like the conversion corridor could go on forever as the tanks lined the wall to infinity, most were filled with people—empty husks now—but one tank caught my attention. I approached it wiping off the frost to get a better view. The creature inside was at least seven feet tall, it's body, humanoid in nature, was colored a hollow white, it was so extremely thin that the bones protruded out from underneath the skin. Yet that wasn't the most unnerving thing about it—the creature had no face. The head was there but it was missing all the important bits, the eyes, brows, nose, mouth, ears, and hair—like a manikin used for figure drawing. I took a tentative step back and glanced at Mr. Chuckles, "Is that what you used to look like. Before the conversion?"
He nodded in response gripping the metal staff tightly, "Yes. I liked…," he stopped with a far away look, "I liked myself before they put me in here, didn't want a new body. I was fine, I had accepted my lot in life. Now...I'm the same but not. Everything has changed yet I'm still me. It's confusing. I knew who I was before, now I'm not so sure. It's-it's-"
"Terrifying," I finished for him. He looked up with wide eyes, "Yes…how did you know?"
Slowly, I started walking again, wrapping my arms around myself as he followed. I sighed sadly, "I myself recently went through a life altering change. Not by choice either. Truth is I'm the same way. I was fine with my life before everything went wrong. Don't rightly know who I am anymore, because everything is different. Usually I'm so good at adapting to new situations but this one I don't think I'll ever get over. Which isn't fair to the other person involved."
"How do you make the terrifying feeling go away?"
"Wish I knew. If you figure it out before me, please tell me your secret," I smiled. He nodded his head before a grin grew onto his face, it was beautifully tragic. I didn't think he'd ever smiled before because he appeared surprised by the action as he grabbed it with his hands before doing it again, excited that he could. It was very heart warming.
Stopping at a metal door on the right it opened at our proximity with a metallic whoosh. My heart jumped when a sudden presence enveloped my mind, the multitude of emotions almost caused me to cry out. Instead I took to leaning against the door frame for support.
"Are you all right?"
I waved chuckles off, pushing into the next room, "Yeah, don't worry about it."
The foreign emotions disappeared just as I gazed at the high ceilinged maze of halls surrounding me. It was like walking into an elegant house of mirrors. Every wall was covered in them. It would be breath taking if it wasn't so hauntingly creepy with it's emptiness. The presence still lingered as we navigated the corridors with no sense of direction. I knew what it was. There was only one thing it could be after all, the Doctor. He was sending waves of relief and comfort to wash over me, his way to let me know he's coming I believed. Like a virtual hug. I sent one back receiving a spike in happiness and relief from him. I chuckled softly to myself almost drunk with his glee, a grin forming.
My compatriot looked at me confused, almost unburdened from his earlier sadness, appearing much younger than before, "You're very odd."
I smiled at him, "I know. So are you, but that's not a bad thing. In fact it's a great thing!"
He returned my enthusiasm, my mood apparently infectious, as if we were old childhood buddies reunited. Though I was sure it mostly had to do with our camaraderie over our similar situations, both of us having to deal with being changed—my having to come to terms with being a timelord and him having to get used to being part human. Two sad pathetic peas in a pod.
I smacked my forehead realizing I'd missed something important. He jumped, still skittish, at the sudden sound so I patted his shoulder apologetically, "Sorry, it's just I forgot to ask something rather important...what's your name?"
He cocked his head to the side puzzled by the simple inquiry, "This man was called Ardire if that's what you're asking."
"No. What's your name, not his."
"I don't have one."
I paused mid step. How could someone not have a name. That just didn't seem right. I watched as he fidgeted at my mystified expression, "How can you not have one?! How do people address you?"
"Only the elite are allowed to have names. The rest are addressed by occupation. So I suppose my name would be slave or worthless. Depends on who's ordering me."
I swallowed carefully at the spike in anger bubbling up at the term and what it meant for him. Unfortunately that caused the Doctor to become more worried and upset, so I sent him a reassuring mental pat. Blowing out a puff of air I stopped him in the middle of the hall, "Nope, sorry. That just isn't acceptable. That is not a proper name. I'll just have to give you one."
I paused to see if he'd object, or become offended, only to find he seemed pleasantly excited at the prospect. I curled a finger and thumb around my chin in thought, "Let's see. Ardire was what the other person was named, which is Italian for courage. When I think courage I see lions and lions make me think of the astrological sign Leo. And that brings me back to lions. Lionel. Oh, yeah, that sounds nice. I like Lionel. I think that'd be a perfect fit. What say you Lionel."
Well, what ever he would have said, I believe I got the message as he suddenly flung himself forward, wrapping me into a tight hug. He laughed into my shoulder swaying us back and fourth as I patted his back awkwardly, "Guess I'll take that as a yes then."
After a couple of seconds I was going to politely disentangle myself when something wet moistened my shirt. Lionel's laughter soon faded as it segued into shuddering sobs against my neck. The staff dropped to floor with a clatter as he further wrapped his arms around my torso like a life line. All the years of pain and suffering finally breaking though the dam he hadn't even known he'd erected, broken by one act of kindness—probably the only one he had ever received. Instantly I clasped my arms tighter around him, rubbing his back in a soothing effort. I hadn't meant to make him cry, honest. I had no idea that would be the end result. And his being emotional was starting to make me emotional as I felt my eyes watering, which in turn was winding up the Doctor—where ever he was. When did I become such a sympathetic crier.
(Martha POV)
I couldn't believe we just let ourselves get captured. It may have been the easiest way to get to the bottom of things, but it couldn't have been the safest. After all, no alien would hide out in a haunted house kidnapping people for a good reason. Speaking of aliens. I shifted my gaze over to the Doctor who'd been uncharacteristically quiet since our capture. I knew he was more worried than he was letting on, but his face appeared so impassive that it was hard to tell if he was thinking anything at all. Briefly I wondered if he had been the same way when I'd been kidnapped. I'm sure he had been but I still wondered.
Crato, the behemoth, marched behind us. An unsettling fact, as I was one hundred percent positive the bloke was waiting for one wrong move so he had an excuse to shoot. He had a trigger happy look about him. And the pumpkin—who still hadn't given us his name—lead us through the labyrinth of hallways till we reached another extravagant doorway. Yet before I could admire the etchings a sudden intake of breath brought me back to the man next to me. The Doctor's eyes widened with surprise before he turned his head to smile, grabbing my hand; giving it a light squeeze—my heart fluttered with the action. "She's ok. Shaken but otherwise ok," he whispered. By some miracle I managed to not let my smile slip. For a second there I thought maybe he was going to comfort me, like how he did with Echo, but apparently that had been just wishful thinking on my part. Once again I found myself becoming irrationally jealous over nothing. I really needed to get a handle on my priorities. Suddenly finding my hand empty the Doctor walked with determined poise, his long stride picking up when the pair of the large black doors ahead magically opened by themselves. But what they opened up to was just…wow!
It was shining, bright, and ethereal. A white royal court, the walls made of some sort of reflective crystal I had no name for and pillars made up of some form of multi-colored energy that I suspected was similar to the barrier from earlier. The ceiling though was rather spectacular. It was a collage of reflections from all sorts of worlds but more particularly earth. Unfortunately that's where the grandeur of the room ended, because something inside was very unsettling. A malnourished faceless creature sat upon an unearthly glittering throne flanked by human like guards dressed for a costume party, weapons primed. Great.
"You shall kneel before the might of Queen Narcissus apes," the pumpkin ordered. A big muscular hand forced the Doctor and I onto our knees. "Listen mate, hands off," I spat to the roman, smacking his hand away. Immediately I regretted the action. His face contorted in anger as he raised a large beefy arm to strike. I shut my eyes tight waiting for the blow. "Stop!"
Opening them back up I looked for the one who had made the order. The faceless Queen dismissed the grunt with a tired wave. "Don't play with my things Crato. Go find a slave to entertain your self with, you're no longer needed in my presence," her female hiss reverberated through the air. Crato frowned, growling under his breath, but marched off. "You'll have to forgive him, he never did like sharing," the female hiss of the faceless Queen cooed. A fact that freaked me out beyond belief. How was she talking without a mouth! She turned her gazeless stare to the pumpkin, "Scientist Ovid you are no longer needed. Go and prepare my vessel for integration. I would prefer to be in shapely form as I conquer the pitiful ape planet."
Taking a deep bow Ovid exited the room, "It will be ready within the hour your grace."
The Doctor examined all the others in the room with narrowed eyes before regaining his usual composure. He stood up snapping his fingers, "So that's what you're doing. I had wondered what the Speculum would need humans for. Guess I have my answer. Did you even-."
"Silence worm! I only let your short life span continue upon a whim. I can just as easily have another," she threatened while gripping the arms of her throne. The Doctor eyed the people with weapons warily, firmly shutting his mouth. Stopping the angry words I'm sure would have followed. We all waited for her to speak. Seconds ticked by as if she was trying to work something out before she suddenly jumped up hissing loudly, "How do you know of the Speculum! None have such knowledge of us anymore!"
He examined her carefully before pacing in front of me, noting every exit and threat, "Oh, am I allowed to speak? Good. Because I have allot to say! I assume you've been stealing bodies for a while now, killing the human consciousness inside so you can inhabit it yourselves. Am I right," he paused for reply, "I'll take your silence as a yes. So now that you have your new bodies what will you do with them? Oh, come on give us a little preview. Who are we gonna tell! You'll just be disposing of us soon anyways. It's not like we could stop you. So why not tell us?"
The Queen sat there, I assumed watching us, stroking the arm of the throne languidly in thought. The silence that had fallen left a cold feeling in the air, causing a shiver to work it's way down my back. Suddenly the creature laughed, a weird combination of hissing and ethereal echoing as the human speculum next to her joined in. "Enough," she suddenly shouted, silencing the room. She crossed her legs in a manner supposed to be sexy but didn't quite work with her frame, "I find your human whinings amusing so I shall indulge you. With in the hour your primitive planet as you know it will cease to be. Our eos generator has been repurposed to produce a hyous wave that will engulf your puny planet. Basically in certain terms that you'll understand, those four pillars of light there will send out a DNA altering wave that will conform yours to a more compatible nature, resembling ours. Though you won't be like us. Instead you'll be mindless drones I'll control. And once this process is completed, we'll work you till you're nothing more than a stain on the floor, building us warships and weapons, creating us an army! From there we'll ravage the universe, bringing it to its knees. Restoring us to our rightful godhoods!"
The room grew silent with the vigor of her boasting. Her plans of grandeur and world domination sunk in. I could see something changing in the Doctor, coiling like a snake ready to strike, but he remained calmed. Something I found to be much more frightening. He paused before steadily gazing at the Queen, "Well, then I only have one thing to say to that."
The creature cocked her head to the side, amusement painting her undertone, "And what would that be?"
My timelord compatriot suddenly broke into a manic grin and aimed his screwdriver at the guards, "Bye!"
Next thing I knew things started exploding. The Queen began shouting as the weapons the guards carried burst into sparks and flames. The human speculum threw them away with shrieks of pain. "Run," The Doctor shouted as he grabbed my hand, pulling us into a mirrored corridor. Feet racing. "Where are we going," I asked breathlessly as we rounded a corner. He shouted back, rushing us forward, "To find Echo and get out!"
"But what about the Speculum?! They're gonna kill every human on the planet!"
The Doctor pulled us around another corridor, "Don't worry. One thing at a time. I'll figure out the rest after."
Well, I was glad he had that covered, note the sarcasm, but I'd like to be in the loop at some point. I didn't understand why he never felt the need to explain. Was it really too much to ask!? I understand that some of the scientific jargon would fly right over my head but shouldn't I at least be given a chance to find that out for myself. As we spun down three more corridors I was about to voice that thought when the Doctor suddenly stilled. Sending me careening into his back. "Ow. Why'd we stop?"
The Doctor stalked forward, his screwdriver raised like a sword, "Get away from her!"
(Echo's POV)
"Get away from her!"
Lionel tensed at the sudden shout, pulling away his tear stained face just in time to see the Doctor storming over. He panicked and fumbled to grab his staff, perceiving a threat. I gently placed a hand on Lionel's chest to keep him back, "Don't worry it's ok."
Turning my attention back to the two, I held out my other hand towards the oncoming Doctor, "Oi, no need to get menacing you. This here is my buddy Lionel, he was helping me escape to find you but well it would seem you found me. Which is rather convenient since I need your help fixing my buddy Spence—I know I made two more friends how exciting but I digress—he's back in the conversion room. So-umph!"
A face full of Doctor cut off my response as he rocked us into a bone crushing hug. The worry he had felt rolled off in waves as he kissed the top of my head. A platonic affection that left me feeling a bit uncomfortable. But we all have our crosses to bear I supposed.
Martha cleared her throat to gain our attention. I peeked over the Doctor's shoulder and waved at her. She smiled in relief but I could tell she was in a rush by the tempo in which she tapped her foot. "Right, not that I'm happy to see Echo safe and sound, but shouldn't we get moving before the royal guard finds us."
"Yes! Of course, thank you Martha. Come on Echo it's time to go," the Doctor informed as he grabbed my hand pulling me forward, heading in the wrong direction. I ripped my hand away from his. Or at least I tried to but he refused to relinquish his grip. Instead I stopped moving forward causing him to come to a halt. "Doctor as much as I'd love to blow this popsicle stand your forgetting we need to go and help Spence. Lionel stopped the process but we couldn't take him out. He in the other direction. I just need you to work your time man magic and fix him and…."
Trailing off I came to a grim realization when the Doctor refused to look back at me. His jaw firmly set in a hard line, body ridged, his mind quickly cut mine off from his emotions before I could truly get a handle on them. "Y-you didn't forget….you weren't even going to try. Please tell me you weren't going to do what I think you were going to do!? Doctor-"
"Echo we don't have time for this. We need to move. I promise you, after you and Martha are safely back in the TARDIS I'll come back and get him but right now I just need you to do as I say," he stated curtly, cutting me off. I shook my head in disbelief, "I may not be as smart as you Doctor, but I know bullshit when I hear it. What makes you think they'll even let you back through the portal, to this plane! And don't even say you'll use the TARDIS. A type 40 TARDIS doesn't have the required specifications or the technology to make a materialization of that magnitude. Now if the eye of harmony wasn't destroyed maybe-."
I froze, wide eyed, realizing what I'd just said. Talking about things that I'd never known before, that I shouldn't know, but did. The information glitter by, slipping into my mind before I'd even realized it. A memory, of little fingers flipping through an old manual that had fallen from a book shelf full with them, bubbled up. The man from my earlier nightmare entered the room smiling, laughing at the mess the toddler had made as he picked her up, hugging and kissing her. It took me a second to realize that the toddler was me and that the man was probably….probably my father. As my heart constricted with a crippling sadness and fear, my brain was muddled in panicky confusion. The Doctor turned around to face me. Looking on with worry and hope that masked the awful decision he was making underneath.
"You remembered something."
It wasn't a question but a statement. He could tell I had. It was something I didn't want to talk about and thankfully there was another topic that could bring me away from the one he was trying to bring up. It was cowardly but there were more pressing matters than my addled memory. "Don't try and change the subject. All we have to do is turn around to help. I don't understand why you're being so stubborn."
"Because things have changed."
"How!? How have things changed? Because of me? Because I'm different now, is that it?! So what, now when I'm in danger your going to run and hide me away ever time we go out. And forget about all the Spence's we come across?"
"Yes," the Doctor stated in a no room for argument manner. Something I found rather irksome. What was with him! He'd never been like that before. But the again I didn't really know him did I. We've hardly been traveling together for a week so how could I. "Doctor, you can't pick and chose who you want to save. It doesn't work like that! If you start doing that then what makes you any better than the people you try to save the universe from. If you cross that line then you're not the man I thought you were. You're not the man who tells time where it can shove it, who tries even when it's hopeless, the man that always gives people a second chance even when they don't deserve it."
"I can't save them all," He shouted causing me to flinch as if it were a physically strike. Martha looked at the Doctor with a conflict of sympathy and anger, her blind love for him muddling her judgment. I shifted my gaze down to the floor demurely, "I know….but you can always try. You always try…."
Damn that sounded pathetic. When did I start sounding like that! I needed to be more me. After all, Ali always said people had a hard time telling me no. And I understood that the Doctor was coming from a place of fear right then, but I needed him to get his head back in the game because mine definitely wasn't. Mine felt kind of sluggish and hot. "Echo are you alright?"
Turning around towards Lionel I gave him what I had hoped was a reassuring smile, "Yeah, I'm fine. It's just-are you sure there's nothing you can do?"
He frowned twisting his fingers together, "N-no. I'm sorry. I wish I could help but someone of my position isn't allowed such knowledge."
"I'm sorry guys but we really need to get moving on," Martha cut in as she looked over her shoulder once more. Reminding us again of the situation. The Doctor took a moment becoming extremely quite as he worked through something in his head. Before I could object about leaving without Spence he suddenly focused in on me and grabbed my face between his two hands sensing my protest, "Echo, before you kick up a fuss I need you to listen to me. We need to leave. There are more things at work right now than you're aware of and I need you to trust me and do as I say. I promise you, I will come back for your friend after you and Martha are safely across the portal. So please."
I wanted to believe him, I did, but people had broken promises to me before. Yet finding myself again faced with those old chocolate eyes I felt my earlier resolve crumble. I sighed and nodded in acceptance. After all, he was being reasonable while I was starting to act a little irrational, more with my heart and less with my head. "Alright. But," I walked over to Lionel and grabbed his hand, "I'm not going anywhere without Lionel. So he's tagging along."
"Echo he may look human but-" I stopped the Doctor right then, "I know. But he's different. He wants a chance to learn, to have conversations, make friends, have fun. All the things normal people get to enjoy."
The Doctor looked between the two of us, reading Lionel who shifted nervously under his gaze, and judged weather or not I had made a mistake of character. Shifting his attention back over to my new friend he walked over to him, assessing him further, before breaking into a small smile. "Alright, Lionel who wants to learn, you can come."
"Really," Lionel asked with hopeful trepidation. "Of course but not your weapon. The weapon stays," the Doctor added before pulling out his screwdriver, "and now that that's over with, it's time we left."
Taking the lead the rest of us followed after, Martha taking point next to him. They instantly began talking in hushed tones to each other. I should have probably care, but I already knew they were conversing about me, didn't take a genius. I guessed there was more going on that I wasn't allowed to know. That or Lionel wasn't allowed to know. But it didn't matter at that moment since it meant the Doctor wouldn't be breaching the timelord topic I was trying to avoid. It wasn't that I was never going to talk about it, I'm sure I'd ask him about it one day, but right then I just needed to wrap my head around the foreign concept cause it was slightly frightening. Change always was. Yet, that change came with a certain stigma from what the Doctor had told us in New New York. A responsibility I wasn't sure I was ready to except. I was quite satisfied with being a small time artist who sold the occasional piece to pay for supplies and rent. Being the kind of person who lazed about and made a web comic that no one really read. A person who could shirk her responsibilities because she had none, the beauty of being self employed. Though there was a time I had considered a career, something in criminal forensics or a detective maybe, but for some reason I never pursued it. Never knew why.
"Halt!"
We all stopped at the foreign voice. Spinning around I spotted an unlikely person and, at first, I was quite happy to see them. "Spence! How did you-," but I stopped upon noticing a problem. A big one. His skin had a silver tinge to it. That, and he was holding a staff towards us, flanked by two other guys. One was dressed as a pumpkin and the other a roman. I stared in disbelief, "No….please, you can't. He was-he was supposed to be saved."
Just then another group blocked us from behind, each dressed in costume, boxing us in. "Kill them," the pumpkin instructed. The guards lifted their weapons up. "Wait! You kill them and I'll hurt myself see," I screamed raising a hand to my face once again. They all stopped. The pumpkin turned his attention to me and sneered, "Why do I care if you hurt yourself, I just need you alive."
"Yes, but how do you think your Queen will react when she finds out her shiny new vessel has a scratch. Rather violently I would imagine."
The orange guy paused for a second at my quick excuse, before sending a glare in my direction, "Holster your weapons."
"Scientist Ovid we don't need them-," the roman growled jerking around to address him. "Shut it Crato! I'd rather not get beheaded because her stupid vessel gets damaged do you!?"
Crato scowled but looked away conceding. Ovid gestured to us, "Grab them."
The guards marched forward as I backed up next to the Doctor and whispered over to him, "Hopefully that bought you some time to find a way out of this cause I've got nothing."
He grabbed my shoulders and pulled me in front of him so that my back was leaning against his chest. He whispered lowly into my ear, "What ever you do don't let them know we're timelords, but mostly remain calm. I can't be more serious. What ever you do, remain calm."
Before I could ask what he meant by that, a guard wretched me from out of his grip and pulled me away with the others down a corridor, but thankfully, not towards the conversion hall. The rest trailed behind without so much as a struggle.
I was becoming worried. As we were lead throughout the mirrored hallways the Doctor's emotions lay hidden from me, leaving a cold black empty space in my head. He had yet to try anything to remedy our predicament and as we neared two large ebony doors—etched in Corinthian stylings—I had a feeling things were about to get worse. They opened with an invisible hand, the light behind them blinding as we were forcefully dragged in.
When my eyes readjusted they widened at the massive glittering throne room before me. Flooded with human Speculum on each side of the silver walkway in the middle of the room, the doors slid shut with a boom behind us, sealing us in. One of the white skeletal speculum I had seen in the tanks sat upon a throne gripping the arms. It almost broke them as it stood up, "What are the other apes doing alive!"
It's strange hissing bellow had all the aliens flinching. It lolled its head around as it approached Ovid coming to a stand still centimeters before him. In a flash it struck him across the face. "I asked a question."
He stiffly turned to face it, "Your highness, the vessel threatened to harm itself if we killed them. I thought you'd rather it be in perfect condition."
"Well, at least you're not a total fool," it chuckled gravely as it saunter in front of me, "and as for you. Quite the handful you are. Figuratively and literally."
It moved a withered bony hand to caress my side. What the f-. I jolted backward and smacked its arm away but instead it grabbed hold of it pulling me close. It hissed into my ear, "Oh, I'm going to enjoy wearing you. It's been to long since I had shape."
It pushed me over to Ovid who held me in place. "Hurry up and hollow it out. Our assault begins soon. And as for the traitor," the creature rounded it's faceless gaze to Lionel, "What do you have to say for yourself slave?"
Lionel mumbled as he tried to back away, avoiding her stare. She shot an arm out wrapping her fingers around his throat lifting him off the floor, "What was that I didn't hear you?"
Instantly I tried to break free of the steely grip keeping me captive as it tried to force me from the room, "Leave Lionel alone! Let go of him you bony bitc-"
"Oh is that it! She gave you a name? Is that all it took for you to betray your kind, a name," it dropped him and he fell to the floor coughing. It hunched over before pulling up to let out a loud howl of laughter. "How pitifully sad! A stupid human named you like a pet, I bet you were so eager to please your new master!"
As I watch helplessly my heart began to thunder inside my chest and a light sweat accumulated upon my brow. My head once more became hot and muddled. Anger coiled deep in the pit of my stomach at how she talked to him. The Doctor shot me a warning look but I had promptly ignored it, to focused on Lionel at that moment. Lionel who gazed over timidly at me before something changed inside of him, like something had become unchained. His quaking stopped, he stood up straight, his hands were balled into fists, and he looked right at the creature. "T-they're not stupid an-and I'm not some pet. Please, if you'd just listen I could show you what I've seen. How they live. They're amazing creatures! If you would just review the memories of the one who came before me you'd see what I mean and you'd realize you wouldn't need to destroy them. You'd see we could peacefully coexist with them."
He breathed heavily as his arms began to slightly tremor, having just realized he'd stood up to the speculum ruler. It stalked over to him hovering close to his face. Suddenly a large black orb became slightly visible in the middle of it's faceless face as Lionel's eyes glazed over in blackness. A long silence followed.
Briefly I noticed the Doctor whisper something into Martha's ear, but I couldn't seem to tear my gaze away from the spectacle in front of me. Lionel was standing up to his biggest fear, embracing his difference and trying to teach the others a new way of life. I only hoped I could do the same with my own life when the time came. The creature took a step back as the blackness faded from the both of them. "I see now…," it trailed off cupping his face with a hand almost affectionately. Lionel blinked with surprise and looked up with hope, "Really?"
It nodded, "Yes. I see now that your not some defective experiment….you're an abomination!"
Faster than anyone could process what had happened the speculum ruler pulled it's other arm back and then shot it forward through Lionel's chest. A loud sickening crunch reverberated throughout the room as silver liquid pooled from the opening. Lionel looked down at the arm stuck through him shakily as he couched up silver blood, surprised that it was there. He slowly lolled his head—with great effort—over to me, eyes full of sadness as choked for air, "I-I-I'm ssorry."
His body crumpled forward as he took one final breath, the creature pulled its arm out and Lionel fell lifelessly to the floor. I stared on in horror and shock at the sight, barely breathing at first, before my chest heaved up and down with increased speed in tandem with the pounding in my skull. My eyes blurred with tears that so desperately wished to fall. "Ovid why is my vessel still here, hurry and put it in the conversion chamber! And would someone remove this disgusting thing from my sight! It's staining the floor," the ruler screeched. "Alright you, get moving-ouch," Ovid hissed as he pulled his hands off me, "What the-."
I gripped my head as I pitched forward, my body starting to shake uncontrolably. God it hurt so much, almost similar to... I heard a collective gasp make it's way throughout the room. "Martha I need you to make a run for the portal," I heard the Doctor command. "Doctor I can't just leave-."
"This isn't up for debate! Now go!"
"F-fine!"
The world around me seemed to be to much, over loading my senses so I desperately tried to push it away. But it wasn't just my head, soon it was my whole body. It felt strange like I was compacting inward getting tighter and tighter yet there was this thing inside me that just wanted to explode outwards, to relieve the pain—make it go away. Make it stop. I had to-I had to-I had to let go! "My vessel! My vessel isn't an ape...it's a timelord! Kill it, kill it!"
It was at that precise moment I gave into the pain and for one small second it vanished into euphoria. I blinked in awe at the mirrored ceiling above, watching as strange colored wisps interwove between the people I was watching, that hadn't been there before. Then the thing coiling inside sprung outward with a scream. Exploding with an untempered force and a rage I never knew I had. It was hot and angry and so so sad. It was almost to much to bear. And the screaming, it wasn't just my screaming, it was others as well. Suddenly the man with the steel eyes was back. Back where I left him on the fiery battle field.
The Daleks beam pierced his side causing his skeletal frame to appear and disappear as he screamed in agony. He fell forward, still carefully clutching the bundle in his arms. As the Dalek marched toward him he pulled out a staser and fired back till the top component exploded. With great effort he heaved himself up dragging the two of them inch by inch, ever closer to the awaiting TARDIS. Stumbling into the burnt interior he stepped around the exposed wiring, sparking about, as well as the dead bodies of the pilots on he floor. Moving over to the jump seat he place the bundle into it, strapping it in. A tendril of red hair fell from out of the blankets as the face of a toddler looked out of them covered in ashes and blood, quaking in fear, big blue eyes pleaded with the man. It was then I realized I was watching a memory of myself from a point of view that wasn't mine. A strange occurrence. Younger me started to tear up as the steel eyed man fumbled over to the controls twisting and pulling devices as he set coordinates. All he needed to do was pull one more lever when he walked over to younger me and knelt down before her.
Wordlessly he gave her two rings, one of which I still wore on my hand—the other had disappeared from my room years ago and I now wondered if it really had gone missing—he then said something. For some reason I couldn't hear the words, no matter how hard I tried I couldn't make them out over the explosions from outside the TARDIS. But younger me's face said it all as she started to cry uncontrollably. He placed his hands upon her head placing a kiss to the temple before his face contorted in concentration and young me screamed in agony. Suddenly she slumped over and he backed off breathing heavily. The Daleks shouting outside caught his attention. He pulled himself over to the exit and took one last fleeting look back before he disappeared out into the fray. The lever fell down with an invisible hand as the TARDIS flew into the time vortex unmanned. It spun and jolted back and fourth as sparks arched across the room, raining down from above. The exterior being torn to shreds started to expose the control room to the vortex, sucking out the body on the floor. The TARDIS cried in agony and frustration as it tried to keep it self together, as it tried to protect its precious and final passenger. It- "Echo!"
I jolted out of the memory as my screaming lessened. Through my tears I saw the Doctor approach, hands shielding his face, wading through the golden energy emanating from me. "I need you to calm down."
"It hurts. It hurts so much. Too much," I whined gripping my skull. "I know. I know, but I need to breath into it. Try and clear your mind, let go of the anger. That's it, you're almost there. Just a little more."
The golden hue dimmed from the room as my shoulders slumped with even breathing. The Doctor immediately rushed forward just as my legs gave way, catching me before I fell. He hooked an arm underneath my knees pulling me up bridal style before I even had the chance to comment. An explosion rocked the room as one of the pillars burst open, the others cracked, spitting out pressurized energy that would soon explode from it's casing as well. The walls and floors were damaged, blackened and shattered, but that wasn't what had me hyperventilating. It was the corpses strewn on the floor, those closest to me were the worst—skin bubbled, boiled and burnt. Their faces stuck in a perpetual scream. God what had I done? How did I even do it?!
As the Doctor raced out of the room another explosion ripped throughout the area, the whole place crumbling down around us, glass shattering to the floor. I could hear the Speculum ruler screaming in rage after us, "Murderer! Butcher! I will destroy you! I will find you and slaughter all you hold dear!"
I wrapped my fingers tighter into the Doctor's jacket smooshing my face into his shoulder. Her words stung deep. I had killed-I'd killed those people and I don't even know how? "Martha what are you doing! I told you to get to the portal!"
"I know. I'm sorry, but I was worried something may have happened. The whole place is falling apart! Is she ok," Martha yelled over the noise. The Doctor continued to sprint down the corridor, "Just get to the portal!"
The Doctor shifted me a bit so he could pull out his sonic from his coat. It buzzed loudly next to my ear. "Go, go, go, go, go," he shouted. A couple seconds later I was shoved into the same roller coster cart that had brought me there. Martha and the Doctor squeezed in next to me and they pulled down the lever. Quickly sonicing the cart we were pulled back almost smashing my face into the hood. The cart started down the track, traveling backwards. The mirror, or portal, pulled us in just as another loud explosion resounded. The walls before us started bursting with technicolored energy. Martha's eyes widened in fear, "What the bloody hell is that!"
"That Martha, would be the unfortunate result of eos particles mixing with an explosion of autron energy. Which is why," shattered mirrors ricochet before us as the one we were being sucked into morphed around us, "once we get back into the attraction we need to clear out of it as quick as possible."
"Why," she asked just as we breached the other side, entering the haunted house. The cart raced down the tracks as a rumbling followed. "There's going to be a backlash."
The car screeched around corners, winding faster and faced back down the tracks till it pitching us forward as it came to a crashing halt at the darkened entrance. Ripping the bar off, the Doctor grabbed my hand and dragged us over to the closed door waving his screwdriver. My legs wobbled but I managed to keep upright.
With an aggravated growl the entrance popped open and we dashed out into the night, practically stumbling into an empty carnival. The few that were there wandering around sent us strange looks, but kept on going about their business. Before a word could be uttered a burst of energy exploded the ride, propelling us forward into the ground, raining bits of wood down upon us. "Martha," the Doctor called. Slowly she moved a broken board off her with a cough, "I'm fine."
"Echo?"
I shifted, heaving myself up, "No injuries."
"Well then, we best be moving before the authorities arrive," he advised while helping Martha to her feet. Looking to each other in agreement we rushed off, melting into the gathering crowd. Sirens blared in the distance. A lonely shard of mirror lay unnoticed in the rumble. A white creature banged it's fists against the fiery reflection before fading away.
The TARDIS control room lay idle in the time vortex. Quiet save for the rhythmic hum of it's sentience. I sat with my head resting between the tops of my knees on the jump seat. Alone with my thoughts; thinking of all the should have, would have, and could have's. I was glad for the isolated space, happy that the Doctor had gone to find Martha a room for the night, and thankful that it was taking him some time to find it. I chalked that last bit up to the TARDIS rearranging corridors having possibly sensed my need for space. Though I realized in entirety it wouldn't last forever and was only a small reprieve from what was going to most assuredly come when the Doctor found his way back.
It was then that the seat dipped with added weight. I didn't need to look up to know my reprieve had ended. I could smell his usual calming fragrance of male spice and time from my perch. A small silence ensued before he finally spoke. "We need to talk."
"I know but I was rather hoping to avoid it," I mumbled into my knees. "Running away, now there's a topic I know a lot about," he said bumping his shoulder into mine. I still didn't look up, though I appreciated his attempt to lighten the situation. "But this isn't something you can run away from."
"I know."
"Then why are you," he asked. I tighten my arms around my legs, "You should know," I mumbled, "you can feel my emotions."
"I only know generals, not the source of your fear or your pain. You have to let me in or I can't help. Please," He asked placing a hand on one of mine. I peeked at him from out of my red fringe, now dressed in his usual blue suit he waited patiently. With a shaky intake of breath I tried to form the words but they wouldn't come out, like they were to scared to be spoken. He smiled reassuringly, "Take your time."
I momentarily hesitated before trying again, "I….I've never really hurt any one before and….and today I-I-….I killed those people. I mean I never thought I'd-I took a life. It's not even something that I'd imagine I'd do in a million years but I did it. And I know they weren't human anymore, that they were trying to kill a bunch of people but I still-it still doesn't feel right. And their faces I can't get them out of my head, I can still smell the burnt flesh, hear the screaming. W-what if one of those people were like….were like Lionel. And I-," I turned to look at the Doctor as one or two tears slid down cheeks, "Why did he say he was sorry? Why! If it wasn't for me he'd-he might have lived. If I'd just waited for you to find me and stayed in that tank then maybe he'd be-….he didn't deserve to die-."
My voiced tapered off thick with emotion as the Doctor swiftly pulled me in for a hug. I gripped his suit as I, against my own wishes, began to cry into his vest. Somehow I refrained from letting out the wails that desperately wanted to escape. The Doctor rubbed my back as he spoke into my hair, "It's not your fault."
"Yes it is."
"No, it's not. It's mine. There were things I should have told you, but I didn't wish to push you away or scare you off. I was afraid if I did you might ask to leave and I don't know how I would have handled that….I don't know if I'd have let you go. I see now that I should have said something, explained things a bit. But since you see yourself as a human adult when in reality by timelord standards you're actually a child I didn't think you take well to what I'd have to say."
"Doctor, I don't think that now is the time to-. I'm twenty-four I'm not a-"
"You are, but I know that your situation makes things rather difficult. Time lords aren't consider adults till their late nineties due to our species longevity. Which is why I'll have to make adjustments as not to strain our relationship. Though I'm sure there will be times where that may happen, but I assure you it's only because I care," he paused for breath, waiting for a protest, but none came so he continued, "There are a lot of things I need to teach you about our kind, but more pressingly about our biology. What happened back on the Speculum plane, that was a response brought on by stress and body chemistry. It's something I can help train you to prevent till you've reach full maturity and it goes away."
As time passed and the Doctor went on and on about timelord make up, segueing into culture and history, most of the time I just listened. Some of the time I argued or protested since I found myself quite agitated from recent events and I didn't wish to talk about things, but knew it was necessary. Other times I nodded or added some of my own input. And as this was all going on the pain and sorrow I felt seemed to slowly get pushed to the back of my mind. It was there but no longer all consuming, a private pain that would no doubt haunt me for the rest of my life, I felt the emotional wound beginning to scar. It was weird, but it was like the more the Doctor spoke the better I seemed to feel. By no means was I over it, but he made it bearable. It was something I didn't think I'd ever be able fully thank him for.
Again so sorry it took me so long to update. If it's any consolation this was 26 pages long. I'm sorry for any misspelling, i haven't slept in two days and i'll probably find a bunch of stuff to fix when i wake up. next ep. should take so long as it's an actual episode and not everything has to be scratch.
Next Episode: The Lazarus Experiment
