Nearly finished! Gasp of horror from the reading audience and a whoop of excitement from the writer... maybe I shouldn't of added that last part.
Disclaimer: I'm sorry for the really confusing Tammy, "Tammy" and "Doctor" who I own. And I own this idea because this particular one ROCKS!
Amy ran. The "Doctor" was ahead of her, only just keeping "Tammy" in sight. Amy couldn't keep the smile from her face. A chase scene: this was much more fun that boring old snooping.
Amy put on a burst of speed and overtook the "Doctor". She saw a flash of panic cross his face and he tried to get ahead. Amy, unaware that this was his intention, ran faster.
She skidded around the corner and saw "Tammy" dart through a gate. Had she imagined it, or had "Tammy" been waiting for them? Not stopping to think, Amy dashed the last few metres, leapt the fence just short of the gate and stopped before she ran into the back of a tent.
Slowly, she manoeuvred around it and stared down the length of the field. 'Oh no,' she murmured.
The field was packed with tents and stalls and, more importantly, people. There was a Ferris wheel to one side, a horror ride not far away and Amy could see a giant slide towering above all the tents. A large tent to her right was advertising "Rare and Wonderful Animals" and had a picture of a couple of elephants and lions around the gaudy lettering.
'A fairground,' Amy said aloud to no-one in particular. People passing her gave her an odd look and purposefully moved away.
The "Doctor" finally caught up and stood just behind Amy, breathing heavily and trying hard to catch his breath. Amy glanced back.
'Since when did you get out of breath?' she asked witheringly.
'Since when could you run that fast?' the "Doctor" gasped, wincing at the stitch in his side.
'Oh come on,' Amy said, exasperated, 'I thought this is what you usually did.' She stared at the crowds streaming past them, oblivious to the couple standing in their midst. 'We're never going to find her in this.'
'Come along, Pond,' the "Doctor" said, straightening up, 'think. She must have led us here for a reason-'
'I thought it was to lose us,' Amy said.
'No,' the "Doctor" said, waving the idea away and hoping he sounded convincing, 'when she saw me, she panicked. Whoever is pretending to be Miss Summers must have come here to find the person behind it all. Somewhere, there must be someone organising it all. Let's start looking.'
The "Doctor" strode off, carefully avoiding a misplaced jeep, and started to push his way through the crowd.
That sounded like the Doctor, Amy thought as she followed him. Now let's find this someone and give them a lesson. This might sound wrong, but please God let it be an alien. Please.
The Doctor and Tammy rounded a corner. The Doctor stopped to look around him, but Tammy kept running.
'Why are you still running?' the Doctor shouted after her.
'I'm struggling to stop,' Tammy admitted over her shoulder.
'It's not that hard,' the Doctor yelled, starting to jog after her, 'you place both feet on the ground and then don't pick them up again.'
Tammy tried. But as soon as both feet were firmly planted on the floor, Tammy lurched and cried out as something invisible thrust her this way and that until she was finally dumped on the floor. Tammy moaned and clung on to something for support. If the Doctor squinted, he could just make out the road sign. He could make out objects in the whiteness: houses and cars, which he could easily avoid, and lampposts and garden walls, which he often didn't see until he had run into them.
He ran up to Tammy and helped her to her feet. 'What was that all about?' he asked her, staring at the white, faint road in the middle of which he had just seen Tammy been thrown about. He looked over Tammy's head and added in a whisper, 'that's you.'
Tammy looked around and then stood straight. 'It's not me,' she corrected him bitterly; 'it's her, my reflection.'
They could make out patches of "Tammy" on the pavement beside them. She was looking back the way she had come as if waiting for someone. Her features they could see were out of proportion slightly and her face looked at a totally wrong angle. She looked fairly transparent, like they could walk through her. The Doctor did just to see whether he could.
'What's wrong with her?' Tammy whispered.
The Doctor looked around them, at all the just defined cars glinting in the mirror world's sunlight. 'She's being reflected off the cars around us. That's why she's out of proportion.' He walked around the area Tammy had just been thrown. 'That must be a late stage in the process,' he said, 'when you start following her exactly. She is being reflected in the car bonnets and, as you have said, you can't stand in a mirror without your reflection being on the other side.'
'But a car isn't a mirror,' Tammy protested.
'There are wing mirrors,' the Doctor pointed out.
'They're not the same.'
'The point is, the cars are reflecting your reflection therefore you cannot stand in the path of a reflection from a car without your reflection being there. Do you understand that?'
'Sort of.'
'Good. You better start moving again, she's off.'
Tammy sighed at the patchy reflection disappeared from view. 'I don't like this,' she complained as they began running.
'I'm not sure you're meant to,' the Doctor said, smiling reassuringly sideways at her.
'Lamppost!'
The Doctor looked around too late and collided with the suddenly solid metal pole. 'Why do they keep doing that?' he exclaimed, staggering to his feet. Tammy was still running. 'Oh, never mind,' the Doctor grumbled, hurrying after her.
Tammy rounded the corner ahead of him and suddenly stopped. She looked across a field and said simply, 'oh.'
The Doctor caught up and stood alongside her. It took a while before he could see anything other than fields. 'A fairground,' he said.
They looked across the ghostly stalls and Ferris wheel, turning despite it looking like no-one was inside. There were patches of people floating around: mothers, determinedly ignoring the whining of the toddler whose sticky hand they have a firm grip on, teenagers with cans, children with toffee apples, children with candyfloss, children with balloons.
A little girl with a bright red balloon walking slowly up the field towards them.
'Look, Doctor!' Tammy said, pointing down the field at Sister of Mine. They watched as Sister of Mine climbed the steps to somewhere and then looked purposefully back at them.
'Let's go,' the Doctor said and led the way across the field to the squat building into which Sister of Mine had just disappeared.
'Look, Doctor!' Amy said, pointing across the field at "Tammy" who was climbing the steps of a squat, one storey building. She paused to look back over her shoulder (Amy could have sworn that she looked directly at them) and then disappeared inside.
The "Doctor" moved away from the toffee apple store to join Amy in staring at the building. 'Let's go,' he said and crossed the field toward the steps.
Amy followed him, reading the sigh above the door placed in the centre of the building front. '"Kim's Hall of Mirrors",' Amy read out loud, '"Lose Yourself or Find Yourself": wonder why she's gone in here.'
'Couldn't imagine,' the "Doctor" called back. He had reached the steps and was suddenly stopped by an elder woman in a shawl and a long skirt.
'It's £3 each to enter the Hall of Mirrors,' she croaked.
'It's really important we get the girl who has just gone in,' the "Doctor" said, pointing at the door through which "Tammy" had just disappeared.
'But she paid the £3,' the old woman said, '£3 please.'
The "Doctor" rummaged through his jacket and pulled something triumphantly out of his pocket. 'There you go,' he said, handing the woman his psychic paper, '£6. Come on Amy.' The "Doctor" started to march up the stairs.
The woman turned to Amy. 'Is your friend right in the head?' she asked, 'he's just handed me a piece of paper...'
'I'm sorry,' Amy apologised, searching her pockets for her purse and retrieving the last of her money. 'This is all I have.' She counted it out on the woman's palm: £5.63.
They stared at it for a second, before the old woman pocketed it. 'You can pay me the rest when you next see me,' she said firmly, handing Amy back the "Doctor's" psychic paper. Amy thanked her and climbed the steps after the "Doctor". Before she could remark on anything unusual, he grinned at her and disappeared inside.
Amy followed him into the gloomy beyond. The Hall was lit with only a few light bulbs. Amy walked the length of the corridor which curved to the right and was lost amongst the endless reflections of her. She stretched out in all directions, Amy of Amy of Amy.
Amy looked ahead of her. She couldn't see the "Doctor". 'Doctor?' she called out as loudly as she dared, 'Doctor?'
No-one replied.
Amy took a few more paces forwards and then someone appeared ahead of her. "Tammy" cross the path, glanced down it and froze as she spotted Amy. There was a moment of stillness as the two eyed each other. And then "Tammy" turned and ran.
Amy ran after her, half hoping that the "Doctor" would join her at some point.
"Tammy" darted along corridors lined with mirrors, across crossings and around bends. Amy ran after her. I wonder how many years of bad luck you would have if you destroyed this place, she couldn't help wondering, hundreds or maybe thousands.
Amy turned a corner and stopped.
"Tammy" had stopped. She was now facing Amy halfway along the next corridor, waiting for her.
'Hello Amy Pond,' she said calmly.
'Who are you?' Amy asked, venturing slightly closer, and then, cautiously, 'what are you?'
'What do you think I am?' "Tammy" said.
'Are you an alien?' Amy asked, partly hopeful.
"Tammy" laughed. 'No!' she said, 'no, I am quite human. Although, I think there would be some who would disagree on that fact.'
Amy was now standing barely two metres away from "Tammy" and was beginning to sense that something wasn't right. She glanced at "Tammy" and then at the area around her and then back at "Tammy".
'Are you a vampire?' she asked softly, 'because that would be kind of cool and kind of scary at the same time.'
"Tammy" tilted her head to one side. 'Why would you think that I am a vampire?' she asked playfully, 'oh, I know.' She laughed, but there was no humour in her laugh. 'Because I have no reflection.' She levelled her eyes and they glinted in the harsh lighting. 'But maybe because there is no longer anything there to be a reflection.'
Amy was confused. She needed the Doctor to shed some light on things. She turned to find him and almost ran into him. 'Doctor!'
The "Doctor" raised his eyebrows. 'Hello Amy.'
'What is going on? What does she mean...?' Amy trailed off. She was staring over the "Doctor's" shoulder at the mirror behind him. She could see her head, but where the "Doctor's" body should be, there was nothing but empty air. Her head appeared to be floating over the ground.
'They've got you too,' Amy gasped, fighting back tears, starting to back away. The "Doctor" grabbed her arm roughly twisted her around to face "Tammy".
"Tammy" was smiling. 'So she's finally figured it out,' she said nastily, 'he wasn't a great Doctor impersonator, if we're honest, but he seemed to be good enough to trick you. No doubt you would have figured it out sooner or later, but we're giving the game away now for a very special reason.' She glanced sideways and smiled. 'We have company,' she announced.
They all looked at where "Tammy" was staring. A girl stood beyond the mirror, the exact look alight of "Tammy", except for the clothes she wore. The girl was glaring at "Tammy" with all the hatred she could muster. "Tammy" laughed.
'Hello, Tammy,' she sang and laughed again. 'And hello Doctor! Nice of you to join us.'
Amy looked further down at the man who was pressed up against the glass of the mirror, gazing at her in horror.
'Doctor?' she whispered.
"Tammy" smiled. 'That's right,' she said triumphantly, 'that's your precious Doctor. Have you guessed who the man behind you is?' She strode the last few paces to Amy and stuck her face up close to Amy's. 'We're reflections and we're tired of being puppets on strings, doing whatever silly things you want us to do.'
'Isn't that the point of a reflection?' Amy asked. "Tammy" snarled.
'No more!' she exclaimed, 'no more! We're people now, people with our own rights and we will have our life!' "Tammy" calmed herself and said in a much more reasonable tone. 'But there was scores to settle before we can let all of this go.'
She turned away and stepped towards the mirror beyond which the real Tammy glared. 'You have stood in the way of me fulfilling my promise for too long,' "Tammy" snapped, 'but now, I will complete it.' She drew the crystal out of her pocket and dangled it in front of the mirror. Tammy pressed her hand against the glass, but could not reach through.
"Tammy" smiled triumphantly. 'Here is the deal, Doctor,' she said suddenly, turning her attention on the Time Lord, who dragged his eyes away from the trapped Amy to glance at her. 'I'm sure you have guessed the power of the crystal. If you haven't (and you would have to be as stupid as your reflective counterpart appears to be), I'll back it simple. The crystal can bring reflections to life. Easy. Now, either you keep the old Tammy back whilst I complete the transition or,' "Tammy" stepped closer to Amy and held the crystal dangerously close to her face, 'I press this against Miss Pond and thousands of reflections fill this place.
Look around you, can you see the endless lines of your companion stretching out as far as the eye can see. What they all were given a chance to come through? Think of those lines as being the lines of an army.' "Tammy" eyes glinted dangerously, 'what would happen to poor Amy Pond if that were to happen? Would she be pushed through and end up the puppet of thousands of versions of herself. Can you imagine what that might be like?
I know it is frustrating being the puppet of one human. But the copycat of thousands, having to be copying each and every move? I don't think it is physically or mentally possible for anyone. Do you wish that upon Miss Pond, do you?' The Doctor looked up slowly and shook his head. 'No, of course you don't.'
"Tammy" turned her head and glanced at the other girl standing behind her. Sister of Mine was waiting beyond the mirror opposite from the Doctor and Tammy. A small smile played across her lips. "Tammy" smiled back and then returned her attention to the Doctor. 'I am going to pass the crystal through now. You are going to keep one hand on Miss Summers to make sure she doesn't try anything. If she does, I'll use the crystal on Miss Pond. Understood?'
The Doctor reached forwards and placed one hand on Tammy's shoulder. Tammy tried to shrug him off, but the hand stayed where it was.
'Good,' "Tammy" said slowly, part of her not quite believing that this was working, 'well then, here I go.' She extended her hand and leant towards the mirror, her eyes fixed on the Doctor and Tammy.
Amy couldn't believe it. The Doctor was giving in. Amy wasn't sure who the girl beyond the mirror was, or why the evil Tammy was helping her, but Amy wasn't about to sit back and let it happen. She lashed out with a foot at the "Doctor". He yelped and let her go. Amy charged up the corridor toward "Tammy" and the crystal.
Surprised, "Tammy" jerked her hand back and as she did so, the crystal, swinging on the length of string "Tammy" was holding by in order to keep it as far from herself as possible, swung up and made contact with "Tammy's" bare arm.
In those briefest of seconds, Tammy was free. It felt like a great weight was lifted from off her shoulders, a weight she wasn't even aware was there until it was gone. She knew she could go through, and nothing was going to stop her.
Tammy burst out of the mirror and fell upon her reflection. They hit the mirror opposite and "Tammy" tried desperately to pass the crystal through, something made slightly difficult by the fact that Tammy's arm was wrapped around hers, and was not letting it near the mirror. They fought desperately for a few moments before Tammy cried out, 'Amy! Help!'
"Tammy" kicked her in the shins and Tammy dropped in pain. "Tammy" swung towards a mirror and met Amy's fist coming the other way.
"Tammy" staggered. Tammy jumped up and grabbed her reflection in an arm lock. 'Grab the crystal!' she said, 'but don't touch the actual crystal.'
Amy carefully grabbed the string and pulled it from "Tammy's" grasp. 'Got it,' she said, trying to calm herself.
'I've got it,' the "Doctor" said, taking hold of the crystal and tugging the string through Amy's grip. But brains had clearly not been passed onto him.
'I'll take that,' the Doctor said, passing smoothly through the mirror and catching the string on which the crystal hung. The Doctor, holding the string, pulled one way, the "Doctor", holding the crystal, pulled the other.
"Tammy" head butted Tammy in the face, causing her to let go. She gave Amy Pond a shove which meant that Amy fell backwards into the two Doctors.
The Doctor let go as he fell.
The "Doctor" let go as he fell.
The crystal bounced once, twice and over the borderline of the mirror world.
There was a pause as no-one moved except Sister of Mine who had been regarding the fight with boredom. The boredom was gone now as she slowly moved across the mirrors and picked the crystal up by its string.
There was nothing anyone could do to stop Sister of Mine winding up the string, taking hold of the crystal and stepping back into the real world.
I will update soon! I will! I will! I will!
I will try at least.
Please review.
P.S. Note anything odd about this chapter?