Chapter Twenty One
(A half hour later…)
The Doctor looked over at his monitor when he heard an alert. He went over and checked it while Mara and Donna sat on the jump seat behind him. All three of them were wearing perception filters and were armed with a few devices for protection while they tried to rescue Rose.
"He's finally landed. Apparently, Sleepyhead woke up," the Doctor said. "The TARDIS is following him to his location."
"And where will that be?" Donna asked.
"Dunno yet, we'll have to wait till we land," the Doctor said. "But…this is it so we must be vigilant because I'm sure he'll have several things waiting for us."
He checked the monitor again and shook his head when he saw where the Alternate Doctor's TARDIS had landed.
"What's wrong?" Donna said.
"Shoulda known. He landed on Pumice, a volcano planet."
"Wait, what?" Donna said, not sure she heard him right.
"A volcano planet, Donna. The planet is filled with volcanoes and hot magma pockets and rivers of lava that snake all over the barren, rocky surface. This is the playground he's brought us to."
"And…you have asbestos suits for us, right?" Donna said hopefully.
She groaned when the Doctor shook his head.
"Being a temp was so much easier," she muttered to herself as the TARDIS landed and powered down.
The Doctor told his companions to wait while he checked their surroundings. He cautiously unlocked the door and opened it. Coughing, he quickly closed and locked it again.
"That's not a good sign," Donna said.
"The air is sulfurous and it's not suitable for breathing. We're gonna have to wear oxygen masks while we're out there," he said to them. "Don't have time to go back and get them. TARDIS, three oxygen masks for us, if you please."
There was a flash and three masks appeared on the console. The masks resembled the bottom half of a gas mask with a strap that fit around the head. The Doctor walked over to the console, picked one up and demonstrated how to wear it. The bottom half of his face was covered by the mask and he made a Darth Vader-like sound when he breathed.
"You look weird," Mara said.
The Doctor bent over to her face and breathed heavily for a moment.
"Are you my mummy?" he said in a muffled voice.
Mara giggled and told him no. The Doctor winked.
"Private joke. Rose would know what I'm on about," he said, leaning back up. "Anyway, strap on your masks, team TARDIS, we're going for a nice little walk in the sulfurous air."
The Doctor helped Mara and Donna strap on their masks. Once he was satisfied they were on securely and working properly, he led them to the front door. But on the way there he stopped when he had a sudden thought.
"What's wrong?" Donna said when he slapped his forehead.
"I'm so thick sometimes. I forgot we had another weapon of sorts," he said, turning around.
"And what would that be?" Donna said to him.
"Mara," the Doctor said, pointing to her.
"Me?" Mara said.
"Yes, you can shape shift. She can turn herself into other people."
"Ah, I see," Donna said. "She could pretend to be other people and create confusion."
"Precisely. Mara, can you shape shift into me?"
Mara's body morphed into the Doctor. The Doctor nodded.
"What about Donna?"
Her body morphed again.
"Impressive," Donna said when she looked at an exact likeness of herself.
"Yes, very much so. Although, you can't imitate voices?" the Doctor said to Mara. "Seems a bit strange that you don't have mimicry skills if you can shape shift."
"My people can imitate voices but they teach you that in high school and my parents took me out of school before I could learn."
"Ah, I see. Well, hopefully, you won't have to speak. We just need you to turn into other people and create confusion as Donna said. Can you do that for us?"
Mara nodded and he patted her shoulder before he turned back around and unlocked the door. They stepped outside and Donna was taken aback when she felt the intense heat on her skin. They were on a barren chunk of rock that hadn't seen life for eons. Nearby a river of lava snaked by, giving off most of the heat. The air was filled with sulfuric gas drifted by their faces. There was no sunlight so the only light was being given off by the lava.
"Not an ideal holiday spot," Donna quipped as the Doctor shut the door behind them.
"No. But it figures my evil self would choose something like this, just watch your footing and be aware at all times what's going on around you."
"You mean like the fact that that's about to go up?" Donna said, pointing to a smoking volcano a few miles away.
"Yes and hopefully that won't erupt while we're here. Now, we need to find the other TARDIS and…"
"YOOOOO-HOOOOO!"
"Or maybe we won't have to look," the Doctor said to Donna when they heard the Alternate Doctor calling to them.
"Oi, Captain Craphole, I'm over here!"
"Captain Craphole?" Donna said while Mara giggled and the Doctor rolled his eyes.
"Are you looking for meeeee?" the Alternate Doctor called in a high-pitched voice.
The Doctor beckoned to his companions and they walked around the TARDIS. About fifty feet from them, the other TARDIS was disguised as a huge rock. Half of the rock had swung open and they could see the Alternate Doctor standing in the doorway. He was wearing an oxygen mask, except his was made of clear plastic. He waved his arm back and forth while they watched them.
"Have you come to visit meeee?" he squealed at them. "How delightful. I love when neighbors come to call. Won't you come in? I'm sure Rose is waiting for you. Toodles."
Donna was shocked when he turned and went inside without shutting the door. They watched him walk over to his seat beside the console and sit down. He waved cheerfully to them and then crossed his arms over his chest while he relaxed.
"Let me guess, there are things waiting to stop us from going in the door," Donna said.
"Yup," the Doctor said, popping the p. "Like I said, be alert."
They walked towards the Alternate Doctor's TARDIS. Inside, the Alternate Doctor put his hands behind his head and leaned his chair back while he watched them approach.
"Now watch," Donna said to the Doctor as they walked. "He doesn't have anything at all to stop us until we get inside his TARDIS."
"No, I'm betting there's something around here lying in wait. He won't make it that easy…or that boring," the Doctor replied.
"Doctor!"
The Doctor and Donna turned around when Mara cried out and they saw three silver robots coming out from behind some large rocks.
"See, told ya so," the Doctor said.
"Do we fight them?" Mara asked.
The Doctor looked around and spied another large boulder to their left.
"No, follow me, I have an idea," the Doctor said.
The robots ran after them when the Doctor, Donna and Mara headed for the boulder.
"And they're off!" the Alternate Doctor called from inside his TARDIS.
The Doctor ran around the boulder and saw a boulder next to it. He made everyone run around that one and then had them freeze.
"Let's see if the perception filters work on them," he muttered to his friends as they pressed up against the boulder.
They waited, trying to keep their breathing as quiet as possible. A few minutes later, two of the robots came around the side of the boulder. Everyone stood perfectly still and to the Doctor's relief, the robots didn't notice them. He very carefully moved his head, looking around for something to fight the robots with. He noticed a rock the size of a basketball about ten feet away. His eyes darted back to the robots that had their backs to him while they searched. He noticed the outline of a panel on their backs and he glanced again at the rock. He indicated with his fingers for Mara and Donna to stay where they were and he slowly inched towards the rock, keeping his eyes on the robots while he did it. He froze when one of the robots turned around for a moment but the moment the robot turned his back, the Doctor resumed his slow but steady pace to the rock.
Then he froze again when the third robot came around the first boulder. He watched as it passed by him and walked off to his right. The Doctor looked around and noticed another large rock near Donna. He waved his hand, getting her attention and then pointed to it. Donna and Mara looked at it and looked back at him. He pointed to Donna and then to the rock. He pointed to a robot near her and mimed hitting it on the head. Donna nodded, made an OK sign with her fingers and slowly inched towards the rock. The Doctor shook his head when Mara started to go for another rock that was several feet in front of her but then to his delight she shape shifted into one of the robots. The Doctor smiled and nodded his approval and Mara crept towards the rock. The Doctor reached the rock, hefted it up and turned his sights on the robot that had gone to his right. He looked at Donna and Mara and decided to risk using their mind link to communicate with her.
Panel on their back, he thought to her. Hit it and then open the panel and disable it.
Donna looked at him and nodded her understanding. The Doctor tried the same with Mara, hoping the TARDIS had established a basic connection with him. He smiled when Mara's head jerked around in surprise the moment she heard his voice but she also nodded in understanding and reached down to pick up the rock. The Doctor then continued towards the robot that was searching over by another nearby boulder. The Doctor crept up behind him and was about to hit him when he heard a clang behind him. Both robot and Time Lord turned around and saw Donna had knocked the robot to the ground and was hitting him again to keep him down. The other robots started towards her but both the Doctor and Mara hit them over the head with their boulders. The Doctor's was heavy enough to bring the robot down but Mara's was lighter and she had to duck back when the robot staggered and tried to punch her. The Doctor lifted up his boulder, ran to the robot and threw it at the robot's head before it could do anything to stop him. There was a loud clang and the robot went down. The Doctor and Mara quickly turned him over and the Doctor used his screwdriver to open the panel and pulled out several of the wires. He then got up and sprinted towards the first robot that was just starting to get up. He fell on it, pinning it down just long enough to get the panel open and rip out the wires. He glanced Donna's way but she'd already disabled hers and he breathed a sigh of relief as he got up. Once they made sure the robots were dead they headed back around the boulders.
Once they got around the rocks, the Doctor saw a piece of paper pinned underneath a rock that was about twenty feet across from the open TARDIS door. The paper fluttered in the breeze as they walked over and the Doctor glanced into the TARDIS interior as he knelt down to retrieve it. The Alternate Doctor waved cheerfully to him as he rested in his chair and the Doctor shook his head as he turned his attention back to the piece of paper. He leaned back up and turned over the paper when he saw the side facing up was blank. On the other side of it was a crudely drawn map with MY TARDIS in a circle at the bottom of the paper. A pencil line snaked up from that towards the top of the paper past crudely drawn rocks and volcanoes and at the top in another circle was the word ROSE. The Doctor rolled his eyes at that and looked at his double.
"Thought you might like a scavenger hunt," he called to him. "Give you a chance to see the scenery. Have fun finding your sweetie-pie! And be sure to take plenty of water, don't wanna get heat stroke out there. I'll be in here in the air-conditioned TARDIS waiting. Have fun!"
The Doctor glanced down at the map, trying to figure out where he was supposed to go since he could tell the map was drawn in about sixty seconds.
"Over there, Dingle Dork!" the Alternate Doctor called pointing to the right of the TARDIS. "You start there! Oh, and be sure to bring Mara and your ginger dog back in one piece, I might have a go at them."
"I'm gonna have a go at you when I ram my fist through your face," Donna muttered to herself as she and Mara followed the Doctor while he began his search.