Chapter 14- This again
Moriarty ran.
He wasn't entirely sure why he ran, but something about the Doctor; the look in his eyes, the calm, cold anger, had alerted some instinct in him to get the hell out of there. Although not without first trying to buy himself some time. Before he turned to race down the corridor, he kicked over Amy's chair. The Doctor and Sherlock's little pet had stopped to help her, but not Sherlock. Never his Sherlock. Moriarty grinned as he ran. Sherlock didn't care about the chess pieces, only the Game. After all, who really cared how many pawns were sacrificed in order to reach the checkmate? Sherlock understood that, which is why they'd always be soulmates. Two parts of the same whole; the consulting detective and the consulting criminal. It was a match made in heaven.
And speaking of checkmate, thought Moriarty, the second before Sherlock tackled him to the ground. The detective pressed his knee into the man's back and pulled his arms up behind his back.
"Oh Sherlock, I did always wonder which of us would be the dominant one," sighed Moriarty thoughtfully. Sherlock remained silent. "Oh don't be like that, I'm about to make our Game so much more interesting". The detective frowned and loosened his grip on Moriarty's arms, waiting for him to continue. "I've placed a bomb in the building, it's set to go off in the next five minutes. Oh, you won't find it in time dear, but you do have a choice. Come with me right now, and we can live, and continue this little Game to our hearts content, or go back for the stupid pet of yours and die with him". The detective stood abruptly, his face unreadable. Moriarty too stood up, dusting off his suit, and glanced up at him, a small smirk growing on his face. "Come now Sherlock, I know you can't resist this Game of ours. And this way there won't be any distractions. Just you and me, the way it should be".
"No". A flash of anger and surprise crossed Moriarty's face.
"No?" Now it was Sherlock's turn to smirk.
"You think you're so clever, don't you. You think you know everything there is to know about me. About how I think. You think I need you, the way you need me. But you're not the only criminal in London. There'll always be more cases. I don't need you." He grinned at the unadulterated look of shock on Moriarty's face.
"You're making a big mistake my dear".
"Oh I don't think so". Sherlock turned and ran back down the corridor, leaving Moriarty standing alone with pure loathing creeping into his face.
As the detective ran back the way he had come, he became aware of pounding footsteps heading in his direction, and smiled. Good old reliable John. He rounded a corner and the man came into view.
"Sherlock!" he called in surprise. "Are you alright? Where's Moriar-".
"We'll worry about him later. There's a bomb in the building somewhere. We need to find it and disarm it".
"A what? Geez Sherlock. Well, how long have we got?"
"Approximately three minutes".
"Three-! Sherlock this place is huge! We'll never find it in time, let alone disarming it. Let's get the hell out of here before it blows".
"Nonsense John. Now, I need you to inform the Doctor of our current situation".
"And what are you going to do?" asked John, dreading the answer.
"Find the bomb, obviously. No, don't argue, there isn't time for that. Find the Doctor. You have approximately two minutes". John glared at Sherlock for a few seconds, looking completely torn, before shaking his head and racing back down the corridor, as Sherlock ran in the other direction in search of the bomb.
Rory entered into the warehouse, closely followed by Jack. His gaze immediately landed upon Amy.
"Amy!" he sighed, hugging his wife in relief. He stepped back and examined her face tenderly.
"Ow," she winced as his finger ran across her swollen cheek. He look past her and noticed the Doctor kneeling beside the creature.
"You killed it?"
"No, Moriarty did. All he wanted to do was go home...". The Doctor glanced up at Jack. "You found her?" Jack nodded. "Good. We'll take him with us. I told him I'd take him home. I promised-" he paused as he noticed the sound of running footsteps coming nearer. A few seconds later John burst into the room.
"What's wrong? What's happened?" frowned the Doctor, slowly getting to his feet.
"There's a bomb. Somewhere. Less than two minutes until it blows," panted John. He jumped as his phone suddenly buzzed in his pocket, and he quickly pulled it out and read the message aloud.
First floor, east section. In a storage cupboard. 1:39. SH
"Jack! How far is the TARDIS from here?"
"Not very far. Up those stairs and down the end of the corridor".
"Good. You lot take the Kelsyrite and get inside the TARDIS. I'm going to see if I can't stop that bomb," he stated, handing the TARDIS key over to Amy.
"And what if you can't stop it in time?" she asked. He stopped and glanced back at her over his shoulder.
"That's why I want you inside the TARDIS," he replied quietly.
"Not a chance Doctor. If anything happens you won't be able to regenerate in time. I'll go," challenged Jack.
"I'm coming with you. I'm not leaving Sherlock," stated John firmly. Jack looked back at him to protest, but the words fell away when he saw the determination in the soldier's eyes.
"Alright, let's get a move on then, shall we!" said the Doctor, clapping his hands together. Together with Amy and Rory, he picked up the Kelsiryte and made for the stairs as Jack and John raced down the corridor.
John couldn't help but notice just how much running he seemed to be doing lately. He and Jack made their way through the building until they found the room Sherlock was in. The detective was knelt down in front of a small capsule with ominous red numbers flashing on the front of it.
57, 56, 55
"I've never seen anything like this," stated Sherlock, without turning around. "I don't think I can disarm it".
"You can't. No one can," said Jack quietly, moving towards the device and kneeling down. "It's got an Oblivion Continuum in its core. Once that timer starts, there's no way to stop it".
"And what's the blast radius?" asked John fearfully.
43, 42, 41
"The entire planet. Possibly even the Moon". Jack reached forward and picked up the device.
"What are you doing?" asked John in alarm, but Jack was already running. John and Sherlock exchanged a glance, and quickly followed after him.
29, 28, 27
As they followed Jack into the room where the TARDIS was, they couldn't help but notice what Jack seemed to have either completely missed or chosen to ignore.
"What happened to Moriarty?" asked John of no one in particular.
"He was in the way, and quite determined to get into the TARDIS, so Rory punched him out cold," stated Amy proudly, nudging the unconscious figure with her toe.
"Hey, nobody kidnaps my wife and gets away with it!"
"Rory the Roman, my hero," smiled Amy.
"Yes, it was very impressive Rory, didn't know you had it in you. Now, more importantly, what is that?" asked the Doctor, staring at the device in Jack's arms.
14, 13, 12
"Oblivion Continuum".
"Right, ok, that's not good. That's very not good. In. TARDIS. Now!" he yelled, ushering them all through the door. He pushed the door shut behind him and ran up the stairs to the control panel, where he proceeded to press buttons and turn dials, before throwing a large switch, which made the TARDIS lurch, knocking John off his feet (who had previously been starring open mouthed at the room, the words It's bigger on the inside...how? echoing around his head). Sherlock managed to stay upright by grabbing hold of the safety rails by the door.
"Easy, Doctor!" yelled Jack reproachfully.
"Doctor, those numbers are getting smaller very quickly," warned Rory nervously.
6, 5, 4
"Sherlock, get the door! Now Jack, throw that thing on my mark," ordered the Doctor, manoeuvring the TARDIS into position. Jack pushed past the detective and stood by the door.
3
"Not yet!"
Sherlock pulled John to his feet and moved him further away from the door.
2
"Now!"
Jack hurled the device out the door and straight in the heart of an exploding star.
1
"Shut the door!" yelled the Doctor, as the bomb exploded. Jack slammed the door shut, as the shockwaves from the explosion threw the TARDIS further into space. The Doctor fought to regain control of the TARDIS as the other battled to stay upright. After a few minutes of turbulence the TARDIS became still.
"Everyone alright?" called the Doctor. He was answered with a few grunts and groans in the affirmative. Satisfied, he ran to the door and flung it opened.
"Doctor, what just happened?" Rory inquired, getting to his feet and rubbing the back of his head.
"The Oblivion Continuum has enough force to wipe out an entire planet. I needed to find somewhere safer to release that kind of power".
"And you decided a star about to supernova was a safe place?" queried Jack, raising an eyebrow.
"It was the best I could come up with on such short notice. The power of the bomb expanded the range of the supernova. You'll be able to see this all the way from Earth".
"Really? When?" grinned Amy excitedly.
"A bit before your time I'm afraid. 1858- we can go there if you'd like. I met this bloke there, Van Buren. Really keen on astronomy..."
John bit his lip in an attempt to stop himself from laughing as the Doctor prattled on to the others about the wonders of 1858.
"John," warned Sherlock.
"I didn't say anything," stated John, staring straight ahead. Sherlock glared at him, but said nothing more.
"Where to now?" asked Amy. The Doctor suddenly became very serious, and he walked back up to the controls.
" Kelsirydon. We're taking the Kelsiryte home".