Chapter Ten
Rain led her captives down the corridor while Mingxia and Awinita brought up the rear.
"I sure hope this works," Rain said, glancing back.
"Me too, especially since we just got roughed up," the Doctor said.
They froze when two guards turned the corner up ahead and saw them. Rain gave them a haughty look.
"Well, what are you staring at? Get on with your duties," she said.
"Yes, your Highness," they said.
"Wow, you're good," Alan said when they walked past them.
"Well, I did pick up a few things traveling around with you guys," she said.
They resumed their pace.
"Where's the exit?" Mingxia said, looking around.
"Good question," the Doctor said. "I just hope we find it soon before…"
Just then, Lalora turned the corner. Rain ran behind Alan and ducked down behind him while Awinita and Mingxia blocked her from view. She paused and took in the scene before her.
"What's the meaning of this?" she said, gesturing to the Doctor and Alan.
Awinita and Mingxia glanced at each other.
"Highness, these two tried to escape. We apprehended them and punished them for their transgression," Mingxia said, trying to sound authoritative.
Lalora stared at them.
"Who are you? I've never seen you before," she said to them.
"We're new, your Majesty," Awinita replied.
They tried to keep calm while she eyed them both.
"How new?" she finally said.
"A few days, Majesty," Mingxia said. "We just got hired in."
"Well, if you're new, then I think you should know that all prisoner transfers need to be approved by me," Lalora said, coldly. "And I never said you could take these two anywhere."
"We're sorry, your Majesty. But there was a danger of them escaping," Mingxia said. "We had to take matters into our own hands in order to prevent that."
Rain hunched down lower when she saw Lalora come closer to them. Lalora stared at the men's faces.
"Was it necessary to hit them this hard?" she said to Awinita.
"Yes, your Highness, they were resisting," Awinita said.
She stared at their faces.
"And yet, you have nary a bruise on yours," she said.
The Doctor watched her narrowing her eyes.
Oh boy, maybe we should have hit them in return, he thought to Alan.
We need to get out of here, Brother, before she finds out Rain is behind me, Alan thought back.
Thinking, I'm thinking.
The Doctor stiffened when Lalora touched the bruise on his cheek. He seethed knowing his wife had done the very same thing earlier.
"It's a shame your pretty faces had to be injured, perhaps that will teach you not to defy me," she purred.
She cupped his face.
"Now, my rebellious slave, kneel before me."
"Excuse me?" the Doctor said.
He grunted when she slapped him and he felt his wife's anger in his mind.
"I said, kneel!" she growled.
He grunted when she slapped him again. Awinita glanced down at her sister and noticed the look of death in her eyes.
Oh boy, she thought to Mingxia. Rain's on the warpath now.
The Doctor glanced behind him and slowly fell to his knees while Alan moved slightly to shield his sister from her. The Doctor did everything he could to keep her attention focused on him so she wouldn't see behind his brother. Lalora caressed his cheek.
"You have spirit, I like that," she purred. "I also will enjoy breaking you and your brother and turning you both into playful little kittens that I can play with and cuddle.
Oh brother, Rain thought. I can't believe my double is talking like this. This is embarrassing.
Lalora looked at Alan.
"And now you, kneel."
"I'd rather not, thanks," he said.
Rain gasped in his mind when Lalora slapped him hard.
"Kneel, I said!"
Alan gritted his teeth, resisting the urge to ram his head into her chest. He sensed Rain crawling behind her sisters and he slowly fell to his knees, confident she was hidden from view. He glanced up at Lalora while she stroked his cheek.
"I don't know what kind of woman you're used to dealing with but you will learn obedience," Lalora said.
"It might interest you to know that I've already learned obedience from my wife."
The Doctor held back his laughter at that.
"Wife?" Lalora said.
"Yes, we're both married, imagine that," Alan said to her. "We both have wives who won't like that we're your little love slaves and both of them have very short fuses and large tempers and I guarantee if you try something with us you will live to regret it."
"Where are they? If they try something I will enslave them and torture them before your very eyes," Lalora said haughtily. "I want to see these wives of yours, my pets."
Rain stood up.
"Okay. Hi, I'm the Doctor's wife, Rain."
They looked at the shocked expression on her face.
"What…what trickery is this?" Lalora said. "You have my face!"
"Very good. I do which is why my poor husband got confused and followed you. Unfortunately, you're not me which is why he's kneeling at your feet with my brother. Now, let them go or believe me, sister, I'll make you live to regret it."
"I'd do as she says. She's very cranky when the love of her life is threatened," Alan said. "And when Rain gets cranky, people die!"
Lalora laughed loudly.
"You think this is supposed to scare me. This trickery of yours. Whatever you've done to disguise yourself, it is only a mask. I am the true princess, not you!"
"Yeah, well, I'm the princess in my husband and brother's hearts and that's good enough for me and speaking of them, let…them….go."
"Or what, little fake?"
"Or you die and die slowly. Alan's right about me. I get very cranky especially if the men I love are threatened and I won't hesitate to make your life hell. Now let them go, I'm warning you."
Lalora laughed.
"I will see you kneeling at my feet, all of you!" she said. "I will give you and these two to my guards and let them have their way with you."
"You do and I will be on your case and you really don't want that," the Doctor said.
"And I'll be right behind him for seconds," Alan growled.
While Lalora laughed disdainfully, Rain quietly pulled out her screwdriver, knelt down slightly and burned through the ropes binding Alan's wrists. Alan kept a watchful eye on Lalora while she did it.
"Guards! Seize this imposter and her friends!" she screamed down the hall. "Make them all suffer for this outrage and…"
She gasped when Alan, freed of his bonds, leapt up, grabbed her neck and shoved her up against the wall.
"Hello there, your royal randiness," he said. "I'm free and now you're gonna pay for what you've done."
The Doctor watched while Rain knelt down behind him and burned through his ropes. His head jerked over when he heard yelling and saw guards running down the hall.
"Hurry, my love," he said. "I need to help fend off these gits while brother dear tends to the royal nuisance."
She burned through the last bit of rope and the Doctor pulled himself free.
"Ta, my beautiful non-insane wife," he said, smiling at her.
He leapt up and grabbed his screwdriver while Mingxia and Awinita followed after him. The guards raised their guns but the three of them quickly disabled them with the screwdrivers and decked them. They grabbed their guns and knocked them out with the butts. They leapt back up and saw more coming.
"Stop!"
They spun around and saw that Alan had a hold of Rain's double while she pointed her screwdriver at her cheek.
"One more move and I'll blow her face apart with my sonic blaster!" she yelled at them.
The guards took in everything.
"Get them, don't just stand there!" Lalora said.
They tried to move closer but Rain put the tip of her screwdriver against her temple.
"I mean it, I'll blow her brains out!" she yelled at them. "Obey me! I am the true princess! This woman's an imposter who's trying to take my throne!"
"That's not true. She's the imposter!" Lalora yelled.
The guards looked from one woman to the other completely confused.
"You idiots! Don't you know your princess when you see her?" Lalora screamed. "Kill them! Kill them all!"
"No! I'm the princess Lalora. Not her! She's an imposter! She's wearing a mask! Kill her! Kill her now!"
The guards were completely flummoxed. They kept looking from one to the other, not sure what to do anymore. The Doctor and his sisters, seeing their advantage, quickly decked them and knocked them all out. Once they were dispatched, the Doctor rounded on the terrified princess with fire in his eyes.
"Look, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to," she said, weakly. "Really, it was just a harmless prank!"
"I have half a mind to beat you senseless even if you do look like my wife!" he growled. "But I won't do that if you turn yourself in."
"I can't do that. I have immunity," she said.
"Yup, Rain was right," Alan said.
She gulped when the Doctor's eyes narrowed.
"Then you will abdicate your rule and you will do it now because if I have to come back here and stop you, you will be the one who lives to regret it. Is that clear?"
Lalora's eyes widened when she saw the malice in his eyes and she nodded meekly.
"I mean it," he said in a deadly tone of voice. "I will not be made a fool of and I will follow up. So don't challenge me or my brother because we will make your life a living hell if you muck with us! You picked the wrong people to enslave when you took us!"
Lalora saw the blackness in his eyes.
"I am not a featherweight, trust me," he said, staring at her intently. "I am the Oncoming Storm and I will unleash my tempest upon you and you will find out very quickly that it's a mistake to try to enslave me and the ones I love, got it?"
She nodded. He looked at Alan.
"Let her go, Brother."
Alan nodded, let her go and stepped back. The Doctor stared at her with hate in his eyes.
"Remember my words and don't doubt for one moment that I'm not sincere. I will make your life a living hell, Lalora, I swear that to you."
She nodded. He leaned forward and glared at her.
"Now, where is the exit so we can leave your little love den?" he snarled.
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Rose, Donna and Jenny stared at their family in shock when they came through the door of the TARDIS. Rose stared at the bruises and split lip on Alan's face.
"Rough crowd at the department store, my love?" she said to him.
"Oh yeah, it's hell when you're trying to go through the shops finding discounts. I hated to get in a brawl over a swimming costume with an old lady but I just had to have the pink flowery one. It went with my eyes."
Rose looked at Donna and Jenny.
"I guess we missed out, eh?" she said.
Rose stared at Rain's dress.
"That's nice, where'd you find that?" she said, pointing to it.
"In the closest of an insane princess that looked exactly like me," Rain said to them while the Doctor and Alan giggled. "I loved it and just had to have it."
"Where'd you lot go?" Donna asked. "I mean Awinita kinda filled us in a bit but what happened?"
"Let me get the TARDIS back across the void into the vortex and then I'll explain everything," the Doctor said to them.
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After explaining it all, they ate supper and both couples retired to their bedrooms. Rose lay naked in their bed staring at her husband who was undressing. She stared at the bruises on his face.
"I hate that happened to you, my Stitch," she said.
He chuckled.
"Stitch, apt name for me right now since I probably do need stitches. But I'm fine, Starlight. As I told Mingxia, I've had far worse than a couple of punches to the face."
He finished undressing, lay down beside her and took her around the waist. Rose touched his cheek.
"I wish you'd said something. We would have come and helped out as well," she said. "I don't like that you were down there without us."
"Nah, we're fine, love. Bit roughed up but we came through it alright. I'd rather you were here anyway with your unblemished face, free of bruises and contusions. But apart from that, did you enjoy shopping?"
"Um, it was alright. Bit boring. Jenny got a couple of trousers and t-shirts and Donna got a dress but I didn't get anything. How 'bout you? Rain got the dress, I guess."
"Yes and Brother got some scented body oil that was originally going to be used on me."
Rose stared at him.
"Body oil?"
"Scented body oil. Strawberries. The Doctor is going to use it now…probably on Rain. But he's upset because it's not banana."
Rose rolled her eyes and he chuckled. Alan pulled her closer and stroked her hair.
"So, I guess we're never coming back to this universe again?" Rose said to him.
"Uuuuuuum, probably not," he said while she laughed. "I believe Brother will be giving it a miss now."
He sighed and held her close.
"But in the meantime, we'll have a bit of fun while we wait for our next great adventure," he said, kissing her.