Doctor and Assistant, Chap. 21
Chapter 21: Solar Radiation... From Cybermen?! (Pt. 2)
/?\\
"And so you did WHAT?!" Scarlet gasped.
"They're looking for me. I mean, can you blame 'em? Once someone kills almost 1/2 of your race you'd do anything to get that person back," it shrugged.
"But why'd you kill almost 1/2?"
"Cause half of the Cybermen were loaded onto a ship with me, and I only killed half of that half."
"I mean a motive!"
"Felt like it."
Scarlet facepalmed. "Oh, oh, I see, you can just kill when you wanna? You know, just strollin' through town like, 'oh, I'll go commit half-genocide to this species cause it didn't smile when I gave it my salutations'?!"
"Salutations are important, my dear. You can see how someone feels about you in their eyes by shaking their hand. Plus, I'm sort of easily angered."
"Right, right. So, let's create a scenario. Let's say you see an adorable, fuzzy puppy with huge eyes -– and then it pisses on your shoe. You'd kill that puppy in front if it's mother and owner, wouldn't you?"
"...Shoes can be very expensive nowadays," it admitted with a laugh.
"You're no better than the Doctor."
"Uhm, ehem. First off, it wasn't my own species. And he killed ALL of them, except for two. I killed only half. 1/2. 0.5. 50%"
"Ingenious," she said sarcastically.
/Derpy\\
The Doctor grabbed onto a lever, typing so fast his hands were a blur a few pairs of numbers Derpy couldn't read properly from the angle she was facing. He met her gaze and cleared his throat. "Coordinates to that ship," he explained simply.
"Oh," Derpy nodded. "And you'll use them to lock on to the target, then stop them from killing the humans?"
"Mmhmm," he grinned, swinging himself back around to the controls and typing again.
The TARDIS's cloister bells repeatedly rang as if she didn't know the Doctor knew of the danger. Derpy groaned out of annoyance.
The Doctor smirked, pushing a lever back into the console. "Locked onto target. May have to do things a bit different, though. Everyone might wanna get a grip onto something."
"Why?" Lilly asked.
"If the Cybermen are moving their ship and we're trying to catch it...," he rambled, still typing, "then the ride'll be a bit bumpy. See, if space has no atmosphere and there is an object - a WEAK object, no less - attaching the TARDIS to another object much larger EXterior-wise that's excelling at over 70 miles per hour, the larger object will start to pull and heave the TARDIS through space. If there's no atmosphere and we aren't flying the TARDIS, the TARDIS will fall, and if she's pulled in a circular orbit around the Earth, the TARDIS will slowly raise upwards due to acceleration and to the—" he paused, swishing his body to face the door and waving his right hand "—right, away from the Earth."
"Can't we just teleport inside their ship?" Hydran suggested.
"TARDIS isn't cooperating. This is our only hope of getting inside," he explained sadly.
Lilly and Hydran ran to different stems inside of the TARDIS, but Derpy merely stayed at the controls next to her boyfriend. He clasped her hand in his.
"Who's ready?" he asked.
"Okay, let's say it together, then. We are losing daylight. And no pun intended," Derpy laughed. "3... 2... 1..."
And in unison, they all yelled "ALLONS-Y!"
/the Doctor\\
The Doctor ordered for everyone to keep their grips as he pushed in the big red button he'd emerged from inside of the control desk. Derpy kissed his cheek just as the TARDIS fell.
They gently at first began rising off of the floor before all at once they flew upwards. Their feet rose as they turned upside down, their hands the closest thing on their bodies to the floor.
The Doctor held onto Derpy's hand tightly, his other hand grasping onto the monitor's top. Hydran reached over and saved Lilly's faltering grip from causing her to fall upwards, nearly doing so himself. The TARDIS roared, lurched and spun like crazy before they were jerked to the floor and pulled to the right. But it slammed into something as soon as their feet touched the ground again, everything jumping forwards and slamming into whatever was in front of them. The Doctor held Derpy to his chest before the impact but it didn't soften the blow to the middle outer-side of her stomach. The hit spread lightning and fire to her kidneys. Hydran lost his grip, the two tumbling forward to the ground. The Doctor helped them up quickly, still trying to help Derpy lean against the control desk as it became obvious to everyone she'd knocked the wind out of herself.
He swaddled as much of his colleagues as possible and held them to him, using his left hand to steady and level himself enough to stand. Derpy gasped for air, her eyes panicked and filling with tears. As anticipation and suspense of something else happening rose higher they slammed into one more object, everyone falling onto their backs.
The Doctor crawled over to Derpy, blinking to clear his vision. She laid on the floor, her chest moving up and down hurriedly, but to no avail she got hardly any oxygen to filter through her lungs.
The sound of smoke and lasers filled the still TARDIS. Lilly checked on Hydran (who did the same in return) before kneeling next to the couple.
Derpy laid her head against the Doctor's chest as he cuddled her into a hug. "Hey, hey, sh, sh, sh, Derpy," he whispered, "you've knocked the wind out of yourself. Just calm down, in and out..., in and out...," he repeated, "I got you now."
/Hydran\\
Hydran staggered to his feet in shock of the crash. 'Are the rides in the TARDIS always like this?' he wondered mentally. He reached the door and peeked outside. Noticing an entire other room in front of him, he soon found himself thinking whether or not it were another room the Doctor hadn't spoken of.
"Doctor?" he asked. "Wasn't this the exit?"
"Indeed," he sighed, helping everyone up.
Lily cleared her throat. "Rachel is saying it's bright."
"Then we've found the solar source," the Doctor explained. "If the Cybermen have the solar energy, it should be blinding."
"Then how aren't they affected?"
"Cyborgs. They must have upgraded themselves to withstand the brightness. If they didn't, their circuits surely would be fried," he answered. After checking with Derpy one more time, he peeked outside to snicker at his surroundings.
"What is it?" Derpy asked, making her way towards him.
"It WAS Cybermen," he grinned. "Oh, that's fantastic, it's bloody fan-tast-IC!"
Derpy pursed her lips. "Good or bad?"
He exhaled, changing his attitude an entire 180°. "A bit of both, actually."
/the Doctor\\
"What's this?" Lilly asked, placing the sunglasses the Doctor handed out onto her face.
"Sonic-sunglasses," he grinned. "I soniced some sunglasses and added some bits."
"Brightness-shields?" Lilly laughed.
"It's so un-ingenious when someone calls them that," the Doctor murmured over his invention, "they have a scientific name, ya know."
"Fine, dad," Lilly sighed. "Then what's their 'scientific name'?"
He paused. "Brightness-shields," he admitted under his breath.
Derpy and Hydran broke out into a fit of laughter which soon enough became infectious, spreading like a disease would around the TARDIS as Lilly and the Doctor chimed in.
"Anyways, anyways," the Doctor said, hardly containing his laughter, "the sunglasses will reflect back any at all brightness, and this means it'll not only block out the sunlight but any ceiling lights, bulbs or lamps."
"Then how do we see?" Hydran asked. "And do I REALLY have to put these on all 3 pairs of eyes I have?"
"Answer to the second question first: would you rather be blind in 4/6 of your eyes? Answer to the first: night vision."
Lilly paused. "Night vision."
"Night vision!" he cheered with a large grin. "Okay. It's a thing that does a thing and then -BAM!- you see in the dark."
"...So, it's night vision?" Lilly asked.
"Oh my sweet mother of Rassilon," he groaned under his breath, facepalming.
"Sorry. I'm just out of it today," Lilly murmured. "Must be my powers taking their toll."
The Doctor frowned, remembering their tearful conversation earlier. He shook it off, however, and gestured for everyone to meet him at the doors.
"Wait, what was connecting the ships?" Hydran asked quietly.
"A thin wire," the Doctor answered.
"Then how could it possibly withstand the weight of the TARDIS? And what was that last bang about?" Lilly asked.
Derpy stepped out, her eyes adjusting. "Lilly, dear, I think we are in the Cybermen's ship..."
The Doctor hopped out too, noticing that the TARDIS had created a hole in the wall but filled it completely as well.
"I bet Scarlet would make some innuendos of this pertaining to us," the Doctor murmured to Derpy.
"Wherever she is, she's thinking up hundreds of jokes," his assistant agreed.
/Lilly\\
***(Time Jump, 0:1.07 Minutes (1 Minute 7 Seconds))
"Where do you think they are?" Lilly asked her Spirit Guide under her breath in a quiet manner.
"Follow the light," Rachel suggested.
The Doctor (who was at the head of the group, followed by Derpy, Hydran, and then herself) turned left through the hallways where the light intensified. He paused. "Dial down the brightness for your night vision."
"How?" Hydran asked.
"There's a rectangular base with 2 arrows. The arrow facing the ground is going to make it darker, so use that one right now. The up arrow is going to be used in dark rooms because it'll make it brighter," he explained. "And, Hydran, only turn one of your glasses. I circuited those specific 3 together so 1 pair tunes all."
They all did as told and entered a large triangular room. As the walls neared a missing piece of glass appeared, and they were noticeably using it to shoot the energy to Earth. A large gun centered it, surrounded by about 10 groups of Cybermen with 4 in each. The walls were a glossy white and the floors a marble black.
"How are we not suffocating and being pulled outside?" Lilly asked Rachel.
"Don't know," she shrugged.
"Ehem!" the Doctor cleared his throat loudly. "Stop the gun."
The Cybermen turned around swiftly, only 3 staying to fire and supervise. "Why." one asked.
(Author's Note: Cybermen are emotionless, so I'll be placing periods in replacement of question marks or exclamation points.)
"Because you are KILLING all of the humans!" the Doctor groaned. "That's GENOCIDE in its worst!"
"It's revenge," another shot back.
The Doctor froze. "H-H... How is it revenge?"
"Our criminal. He is there."
"And that is...?"
"Our slave."
"Who is...?!"
"Processing... He told us to call him 'the Master'."
The Doctor stopped breathing, his face paling. An expression of disbelief fell over him.
/the Doctor\\
"...And, was this a nickname?" he asked numbly.
"No. It was his name."
"And why is he your criminal, exactly?"
"He killed half of us. He escaped from our prison, and then was tracked on Earth."
/the Master or ?\\
"So, do you think that they'll try to negotiate?" he asked Scarlet.
"Totally," she laughed.
"What do you think they'll make as the deal?"
"I don't know. But this is getting annoying; who likes to hear people talking for a straight hour? Just hack them already."
He grinned, typing so quickly into the computer his hands were a blur. "And... I am in control."
/the Doctor\\
"Leave or be deleted," a Cyberman ordered suddenly.
The Doctor felt his face regain it's color. Derpy gripped onto his hand tightly, her thumb running over it softly. "What?" he heard himself ask.
"We've told you too much. Leave or be deleted, Doctor."
"In case you've forgotten, you still need to stop baking the Earth," he reminded them in a snarl of disbelief.
"Incorrect," a different Cyberman shot back.
The Doctor stepped forwards toward the gun and a Cyberman fired behind him. Lilly fell to the floor in a gasp, which the Doctor saw when he turned around was because she was just hardly missed.
"You were warned," the Cyberman that had shot Lilly said.
/Lilly\\
The Doctor's breathing turned heavy, his fists clenching together as soon as Derpy let go. "Lilly, are you alright?" he asked.
Lilly nodded frantically.
The Doctor whirled himself around, walking into the face of the Cyberman who had fired. "You shouldn't have done that...," he growled, "you REALLY shouldn't have. Turn the gun off."
"Why should we."
The Doctor backed away so all of the Cybermen could see him. "Because they have a name for me out here. They all have myths and legends about me, about my name, about my capabilities. They all call me 'the Oncoming Storm'. Because, listen here, if I need to rescue something, it gets rescued. If I need something done, it gets done. And if I say something stops, it STOPS. Now, if you haven't noticed, I care greatly for 3 things: my friends, my family, and the universe. And you just tarnished 3 of those 3."
The Cybermen stayed silent.
"Now," the Doctor muttered, pulling out of his pocket his sonic screwdriver in a flash, "your radiations stop."
The Doctor zapped the gun, sparks flying everywhere. Hydran pulled Lilly up to a standing position.
/Derpy\\
The Cybermen turned to face the gun which had burst into flames in shock.
"I am destroying the gun, not the Cybermen!" the Doctor yelled in declaration. "No genocide! None! And when you lot repopulate your species, and you all evolve, teach them, the new ones and yourselves, that genocide is NEVER the answer!"
The Doctor nodded at the Cybermen before walking away, but he turned back one last time.
"That shield-or-whatever you got set up? Yeah, it'll ware off soon. And I don't know if this 'Master' is of your imaginations, or if he is even the man you say he is. But if he ever comes around again, tell him the Doctor says 'hi'."
And then they left.
***Time Jump (1:17.59 (1 Hour, 17 Minutes, 59 Seconds))***
"Happy birthday!" they all cheered Lilly, who had an embarrassed smile on her face.
"Thanks, guys," she murmured.
"Sorry we couldn't get you any presents," the Doctor frowned, running an awkward hand through his hair.
"Oi, Doctor, how about a smile, yeah?" Lilly laughed. "Seriously, though. I'm alright. And the one thing I want is impossible to get."
/Scarlet\\
"Hey, my love, you're looking blue...," the Master said huskily, moving her light blue hair out of her eyes.
"Just a bit... semi-homesick," she admitted, playing with a strand of her hair between two fingers.
The Master frowned, linking their lips together shortly before taking her hand. "Hey, what if I drop you off, my darling?"
"What?" she gasped. "You mean, the TARDIS, drop me off?!"
"Why, of course, my lover," the Master smiled. He let go of her hand, waltzing over to the controls.
Scarlet flew next to him. "Someone's a bit too happy to get rid of their girlfriend," she whispered into his ear.
"Mmm, oh contrare," he whispered back, "I'm only in a rush because I know I'll see you again."
"How soon?"
"Soon."
"And what dangers do you have left to use?"
"Trust me, quite a few. This next one, I actually had to get into the TARDIS. Thankfully I wasn't caught... But I freed them, all 3."
/the Doctor\\
"I am so lonely with you three," Hydran laughed at the embracing family inside of the TARDIS. "You're always hugging because you're all related. I wish Scarlet was here, so I'm not the only loner."
A knock echoed on the doors and they swung open. Smoke poured in, and, lo and behold, Scarlet stepped in. Her wings were extended, looking new and metallic, almost robotic. "Step aside, peasants," she said to the doors.
Hydran began choking on air. "Y-Y-You-! I wished, I wished that-! It came true-!"
"What, like a genie or something?" the Doctor asked, astonished (like everyone else) at Scarlet's sudden appearance. He jumped up, sitting on the couch.
"Just like you to say that, Doc," Scarlet said in her American accent.
"Hmm? Why so?" he asked.
"Because I know that you told Derpy to run your lamp so you could pop out."
Lilly and Derpy both paled, but his girlfriend blushed before running into the hallway with Hydran so she wouldn't be seen laughing at the embarrassing joke. The Doctor's breathing stalled and he clenched his fists to try and hide his blush, but it didn't work.
"Scarlet, what a pleasure to see you again," he muttered sarcastically. "...Missed your jokes."
"I'm sure it's also such a huge pleasure to you to see Derpy," she shot back with a laugh.
Derpy yelled a string of "nope"s and ran off. The Doctor covered his face.
"Great. Scared her away," Scarlet smirked. "Now you can't-"
"-There is a 13 year old in the room! Don't you dare!" the Doctor gasped.
"I was gonna say kiss her, you daft, dirty-minded freak!" Scarlet laughed.
Author's Note:
Well, welcome back, Scarlet!
Apologies for the last chapter. It did sound a bit rushed, but, I mean, we are almost about to start nearing the end of Doctor And Assistant and I had (and still have) so many ideas. I tried to keep the main purpose of the plot somewhat fluent, but I can't do everything right.
Also, thank you everyone for 1,019 views to this fanfiction! Rising like crazy now! Thank you guys so, so, so much!
-GothicPegasister