A/N: Hi! Here's another chatper. Thanks for all the reviews, follows, and favorites.
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disclaimer: I don't own Docor Who.
Chapter Ten
"So which one of ya is the Doctor? 'Cause there still can't be two of ya." asked Rosita.
John was about to answer when he heard a beeping sound.
John looked down at his hand and frowned. It was the Infostamp producing the noise. He held it up to his eyes to examine it.
"Doctor, there's more of 'em in here." said Rose.
John looked up to see Rose had opened a piece of luggage. A chorus of beeps came out of the suitcase. The Doctor stood beside her, and pulled out a long strip of leather that bound several Infostamps together.
"Oh, you found a whole cache of Infostamps!" exclaimed the Doctor.
The Doctor admired his find, while Rose reached into the suitcase and removed a second bundle of Infostamps.
"What is it?" asked Rosita. "What's that noise?"
"Activation." the Doctor answered. "A call to arms. The Cybermen are moving!"
The Doctor looked up and his eyes met Rose's. They held each other's gaze for a moment. Just when John was sure they were going to kiss, a grin spread across the Doctor's face, which Rose quickly mirrored. The Doctor snatched the Infostamp from John's grip, joined hands with Rose, and darted out of the room.
"The Doctor needs help." Jackson Lake said to Rosita. "I learnt that much about him, he can use all the help he gets. Now go."
Rosita nodded hesitantly, glancing at John before running out after the Doctor and Rose.
Rose felt slightly giddy as she and the Doctor ran together, saving the world, just like they used to.
"Rose, look." the Doctor pointed to the end of the street. People were marching down the street.
Rose heard footsteps behind her and turned to see Rosita following them.
"What is it, what's happening?" asked Rosita.
"Someone's on the march." answered the Doctor. He nodded toward the procession at the end of the street.
Rose watched the people. It was a group of children from a workhouse. They were dressed in rags and looking cold and miserable. A man dressed in an expensive suit with a blank expression led the parade.
Some of the bystanders were laughing at the marching group, but Rose could sense something ominous awaited the group.
"That's Mr. Cole, he's Master of the Hazel Street Workhouse." Rosita pointed at the blank-faced man. "Maybe he's taking them to prayers."
"Oh, nothing as holy as that." responded the Doctor absently.
Mr. Cole walked past them, and Rose instantly understood the Doctor's meaning. In Mr. Cole's ears was a pair of blinking ear-pods.
The Doctor ran forward and began walking along-side Mr. Cole, trying to speak to him. "Can you hear me? Hello? No? Mr. Cole, you seem to have something in your ear. Now, this might hurt a bit, but if I can just..."
The Doctor reached into his pocket, and drew out the Infostamp. He then realized what he was holding and frantically started patting down himself.
"Doctor, what is it?" asked Rose.
"The sonic, Rose! I've lost it!" the Doctor exclaimed frantically.
Rose thought for a moment. The sonic screwdriver had been passed back and forth between the Doctor and John quite a bit today. They had run off in a hurry. The Doctor had probably taken the Infostamp instead by mistake. John probably still had the sonic.
"Doctor, d'you think John still has it?" asked Rose.
"So you're the Doctor?" asked Rosita in the background.
"Oh, yes! You're right Rose!" exclaimed the Doctor. He turned to Rosita to answer her question when they heard a hiss.
The Doctor froze, then followed the sound with his eyes. Rose did the same.
On the rooftops, a cyber-beast watched them.
"They're on guard." commented the Doctor. "Guess it doesn't matter who has the sonic. Can't risk a fight. Not with the children."
"Where are they going?" asked Rose.
Just then Jed walked by.
"All need a good whipping, if you ask me." Jed commented merrily. "There's tons of 'em, I've just seen another lot coming from the Ingleby Workhouse, down Broadback Lane-"
"Where's that?" asked the Doctor.
"This way!" answered Rosita. She ran off, leaving Rose and the Doctor to follow her.
Rose and the Doctor followed Rosita through a maze of streets.
They stopped after emerging on another street, where Rosita had stopped.
"Dozens of 'em!" exclaimed Rosita.
"But what for? Children?" the Doctor wondered out loud, echoing Rose's thoughts.
John stood as out of the way as possible, trying to give Jackson Lake as much privacy as possible.
Jackson was slumped over on the bed, looking miserable.
John fidgeted and felt something in his pocket. He reached in and pulled out the sonic. That could not be good. The Doctor was sure to need it. He should have gone with Rosita.
John heard rustling and shoved the sonic back into his pocket.
Jackson was up and about now. He was searching the luggage violently, obviously looking for something. His face was clouded with anger.
"Where is it? Where is it?" Jackson demanded.
Jackson looked up and met John's eyes as he stopped talking. John got the feeling Jackson was not directing the question at John, but at himself.
The Doctor kept his grip on Rose's hand firm as he followed Rosita. The last time they had encountered Cybermen was that day at Canary Warf. The Doctor still had nightmares about that day. He was not about to lose Rose again, not when he had just her again.
They rounded a corner and spotted Mr. Cole and his group of children at the opposite end of the street. They stayed back, hiding in the shadow, waiting until the last of the children had entered.
"That's the door to the sluice." Rosita explained. "All the sewage runs through there, straight into the Thames."
"It's gotta be guarded, we'll have to find another way in..." muttered the Doctor.
The Doctor motioned to Rosita as he and Rose began to head back the way they came.
They rounded the corner, and froze.
A woman with dark hair stood in the middle of the street, smiling. She wore a rich red dress, and carried a parasol. Behind her stood two Cybermen, one on each side.
"Oh, that's cheating, sneaking up!" exclaimed the Doctor. "Did you have your legs on silent?"
"So, what do we have here?" asked the woman.
The Doctor's mind raced as he calculated the best way to save this woman from the Cybermen. "Listen, just walk towards me, slowly, don't let them touch you..."
The woman smiled. Something about her smile just seemed wrong. "Oh, but they wouldn't hurt me, my fine boys. They are my knights in shining armor. Quite literally." she responded.
"Even if they've converted you, that's not a Cyber-speech pattern, you've still got free will, I'm telling you, just step away..." insisted the Doctor.
"There's been no conversion, sir." the woman assured the Doctor. "No one's ever been able to change my mind. The Cybermen offered me the one thing I wanted. Liberation."
"Who are you?" asked Rosita.
"You can be quiet. I doubt he paid you to talk." said the woman. "But more importantly, who are you, sir? With such intimate knowledge of my companions."
"I'm the Doctor." answered he Doctor.
"Incorrect." countered one of the Cybermen. "You do not correspond to our image of the Doctor."
"Yeah, that's 'cause your database got corrupted. Look! Check this! The Doctor's Infostamp!"
The Doctor tossed the Infostamp at the Cybermen. The Cyberman caught it in mid-air.
"Plug it in, go on, download." coaxed the Doctor.
The Cyberman inspected it, then spoke. "The core has been damaged. This Infostamp would damage Cyberunits."
"Oh well. Nice try." Rose said to the Doctor with a shrug.
The Cyberman clicked the end of the Infostamp. The end closed.
"Core repaired. Download." said the Cyberman. It plugged the Infostamp into the center of its metal chest then. A moment later it unplugged the device. "You are the Doctor."
"Hello!" exclaimed the Doctor brightly.
"So you are the Doctor?" asked Rosita.
"You will be deleted."
The Doctor would have to get back to Rosita on that later. He was busy having his life threatened by Cybermen at the moment.
"Oh, but let me die happy!" requested the Doctor cheerfully. "Just tell me, one thing, what d'you need those children for?"
"What are children ever needed for? They're a workforce." the woman with the parasol answered.
"But for what?" asked the Doctor.
"Oh, you'll see. Very soon now, the whole Empire will see. And they will bow down, in worship."
The Doctor decided his previous observation was true. There was something about her smile that just seemed wrong.
"Why are you on their side?" asked Rose. Her voice oozed her loathing of the metal men.
"But how can you side with them?" Rosita asked, echoing Rose's question.
The woman looked at Rosita when she spoke. "Then tell me, girl. Just look at your life. What other choice does a woman of this world have?"
"It's all been timed for Christmas Day." commented the Doctor. "Was that your idea, Miss..?"
"Hartigan." answered the woman, Miss Hartigan. "And yes, it's the perfect day for a birth, with a new message for the people. But this time, it won't be the words of a man.
"The birth of what..?" asked the Doctor.
"A birth, and a death, namely yours." came Miss Hartigan's cryptic reply. "Thank you, Doctor, I'm glad to have been part of your very last conversation." She turned the Cybermen. "Now delete them."
The Cybermen stepped forward like obedient soldiers, and extended their hands.
"Delete!"
Suddenly, the Cybermen were zapped in the head with a stream of electricity. They stopped and shuddered. They both sank to the ground.
All four pairs of eyes automatically sought the source of the attack.
Standing pround and brave was Jackson Lake. He wore a strip of Infostamps across his torso, and had a sword. In his had he clutched a smoking Infostamp.
Standing beside Jackson was John. He too wore a strip of Infostamps, and also had a smoking Infostamp. Instead of a sword, he held the sonic. Compared to Jackson though, he appeared visibly less heroic, thanks to the smug expression he was pointedly giving the Doctor.
"At your service, Doctor." declared Jackson.
Miss Hartigan looked furious. "Shades! Shades!" she shouted.
The Doctor briefly wondered what a shade was, but that question was answered a moment later when three cyber-beasts emerged from the shadows farther down the street.
"So those things are called 'shades'?" asked Rose.
"Apparently." answered the Doctor.
The shades started running toward them.
"Run! Come on!" shouted John, leading the group away.
"One last thing." Rosita stopped running.
The Doctor stopped to watch. Rose stayed stubbornly by his side.
Rosita walked up to Miss Hartigan and punched her. Then she turned and ran back to join the fleeing group.
"Oh, can I say, I completely disapprove!" declared the Doctor. "Come on!"
As they ran, the Doctor could hear Miss Hartigan talking to the shades.
"Get off me. I said, get off!" commanded Miss Hartigan. "Tell your masters. Oh, we're not waiting 'till dawn. They CyberKing will rise, tonight!"
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