Bit worried the bit on the wall will be hard to follow. Ah well. After this, we've got another Meanwhile in the TARDIS, with a new original story coming after that. It's another flashback, so the Doctor, Amy and Rory still go and meet the Silurians.
Amy's Choice – Part Three
"Oi! Grandpa!" Alex shouted angrily. He launched a stone at the old man walking away from the house and across the village green. It was definitely Erica's grandfather. The man registered the impact and slowly turned to face Alex. "That was your granddaughter!" he cried furiously. "Whatever's inside you, surely you understand that!"
The green eye reappeared in the man's mouth. "The child was no relation of mine," said a voice that did not fit the body at all. "This body belongs to me now. I shall use it in any way I please,"
"What, to kill little children?"
"To kill all children! And their parents, and friends, and uncles, and cousins. The Eknodine planet was lost and our race destroyed. Now we will do the same to others." As the man spoke, numerous other elderly people had appeared, surrounding Alex. He span on the spot, having noticed this. "You will be the next victim," the man finished.
"Yeah?" Alex said, sounding more confident than he felt. He looked around again as the circle became smaller and smaller, the people enclosing him more and more. "Well whatever you Eknodines are, you've still got old bodies. Ninety-year-old bodies some of you... And I should warn you. I did GCSE PE. Didn't do it very well, but still, came out with a pass. And the best part of that?" Alex glanced around at those surrounding him and picked the oldest, frailest looking person he could see. "I know how to play Rugby."
With that, hating himself, Alex charged at the man he'd chosen with all his might. He wrapped his arms around the man's waist and knocked him to the floor, his walking stick flying high into the air. Alex jumped up and caught it, before running away as fast as possible. To his left were the castle ruins.
"That was a bit rude," said an amused voice. Looking up the wooden stairs, Alex saw the Dream Lord leaning on the stone wall, his chin resting on his hand.
"Haven't you got somewhere better to be?" Alex snapped, storming up the steps and passing him, into the field.
"Well, it's either here or the TARDIS, and the TARDIS is ever so cold, y'know."
"I don't care. Bit busy, thanks."
"Hm. Maybe you need a break. I've nearly finished my chat with Amy. Why don't you come back to the TARDIS with me, and we'll have a nice little heart-to-heart?" As the Dream Lord finished his sentence, the birdsong started up.
"No! No!" Alex cried. "I'm busy!" A grunting alerted him to the fact that several pensioners were limping up the wooden stairs, their eyes locked on him. Alex's eyes widened and he turned and ran clumsily, trying to find somewhere to hide before he collapsed.
"I'll be waiting!" came the Dream Lord's call from somewhere behind him.
The field was empty. Nowhere to hide and the Eknodines had blocked off the only exit. He considered sprinting to the furthest reaches of the field and hoping he woke up before the Eknodines reached him, but that was exceedingly risky. Seizing the bull by the horns, Alex slid the walking stick through one of the belt loops of his jeans, grabbed a protruding stone on the wall and hauled himself up. He just hoped the top of the wall was thick enough for him to safely fall unconscious.
The tweeting strengthened and Alex's eyes drooped once again, and yet he kept going. If he fell asleep now, he was done for. He clambered onto the top of the wall. It was around two feet wide. There was what Alex assumed were battlements spread along the wall. They at least provided something to lean on. He glanced across the field. He was right; the Eknodines did still have elderly bodies. They were taking their time to get across the field, and he highly doubted they'd be able to scale the wall. It was probably at least 20 feet down. Maybe thirty on the other side. It would have to do...
A M Y ' S C H O I C E
"Oh... my God," Alex chattered. The temperature aboard the TARDIS had taken a turn for the worse while Alex had been back in Leadworth. There was thick ice covering every surface – including hair, clothes and, worst of all, skin. Every movement Alex made hurt.
"Alex!" cried out a weak but familiar Scottish voice.
Alex turned to the left quickly to see Amy lying in the ice, eyes drooping. He crawled over to her. "Amy! Are you okay?"
"We... went to my house," she managed between shivers. "Meet us there. Are you w-with the D-Doctor?"
Alex shook his head. "I don't know where he is,"
Amy's head slumped. Fast asleep. Alex checked her pulse just to be sure; slow, but still there.
"Told you it was a bit nippy," the Dream Lord appeared, bending down next to Amy. Alex jumped and stood up, backing away slightly. "Oh, come on Alex. Nothing to be scared of here y'know. I helped you, didn't I?" Alex gave him a confused and detestable look. "The hat?"
"Oh," Alex said simply, sitting down on a stair. "Yeah. Thanks."
The Dream Lord joined him. "So. You think it's this world, do you?"
"You tell me."
"I wish I could Alex. I honestly do. And not only that! There are so many things I wish I could tell you,"
Alex glanced around at him, interest piqued. "Like what?"
"Well I can't tell you!" the Dream Lord grinned. "It's really quite frustrating."
"Well you don't seem to go by the rules much..."
The Dream Lord disappeared, and reappeared by the console. "Do you know, Alex, why the Doctor trusts you, and comes back for you, and tries harder to protect you than anyone else?"
"Look, if you don't have anything straight-forward to say, I'd appreciate going back to Leadworth." Alex got up and strolled towards where his friends lay on the ground. He re-arranged the Doctor's poncho so that it covered his hands, giving him some protection. He scraped some ice off of Rory's nose and brushed Amy's frozen hair from her face. "I've got some pensioners to run from."
"Very well. I tried. Enjoy the nap, because, er," he looked at his watch as the sound of tweeting birds reappeared. "This might be your last one."
A M Y ' S C H O I C E
Alex awoke with a jump. Bad idea when you fell asleep on top of a thin, high, rock wall. He yelped but kept his balance. Shaking, he got to his feet. And nearly fell off again. Somehow, a number of the Eknodines had managed to scale the wall. The one in front had exhaled its deadly gas at Alex, just missing him. Without thinking, Alex yanked the walking stick back out of the belt loop on his trousers and held it aloft.
"I warm you," he smiled, slowly backing away, climbing over the next battlement in reverse. "If I can use a sword, I can use a walking stick."
The man, who Alex recognised as Rory's friend Mr Naimby, shot another load of green gas at Alex, who hurriedly ducked to avoid it. He swung around with the walking stick. It struck Naimby on the side of the head, knocking him off balance. He tumbled off the wall and fell to the ground far below. Alex winced, having to remind himself that the real Mr Naimby had probably been killed by the Eknodine inside him long ago.
Nevertheless, Alex felt unable to strike out at another of his pursuers. Dropping the walking stick, he turned and scrambled over another of the battlements, and another one. The pensioners were in hot pursuit, and those who had not been athletic enough to scale the wall were following Alex along the wall, waiting for him to tumble. Alex sped up, trying to put as much distance as possible between himself and the Eknodines, getting ever closer. He was standing on top of one of the battlements when the sound of an engine caused him to look to his left. Careering across the green below, driving directly toward the wall and Alex was a VW camper van. It skidded to a halt below where Alex was standing and, to his immense surprise, the Doctor stuck his head out of the window and looked up at him.
"What're you doing up there?" he called up.
"Running," Alex replied simply, gesturing back to those following him.
"Get in," the Doctor shouted back in a similarly simple manner. He withdrew his head and closed the window, offering no explanation as to how Alex was supposed to reach the van. Taking a deep breath, Alex climbed off the battlement and hung off of it by his fingertips. He took one last look down to ensure he was positioned directly over the van. He let go.
The drop seemed to last forever, and Alex thought for a hideous split-second he'd miscalculated. He almost had. He landed on the very back of the camper and lost his footing. He toppled off of it and landed on the hard, cold ground, right on his back. Looking up at the sky, he saw that the Eknodines had reached where he'd been moments before, and were now looking at him with angry looks in their eyes.
The passenger door to the camper swung open. "Get in!" the Doctor shouted again. Alex pulled himself up and hobbled towards the door, his left hand nursing his bruised lower back. The fall didn't seem to have done him any real damage. He took a deep breath, straightened up – his back cracking in the process - and hopped into the front seat.
"Alright?" the Doctor asked as he sped off and back towards the road. It was only now that Alex realised they weren't alone. In the back of the camper were around fifteen terrified men, women and children.
"Yeah, not bad. Any reason you're driving a campervan?"
"Borrowed it from Pete. Say 'ello Pete,"
The Doctor gestured to a bespectacled man standing in the back of the van, who held out a hand cheerily. "Hi there!"
"Hi," Alex replied, bemusedly shaking Pete's hand. "And the rest of them?" he asked the Doctor.
"Saved them from the old people." The Doctor pulled up outside the large Leadworth church and opened his door. "Everybody out! Out!" he cried, sliding the side-door to the camper open and ushering the passengers out. "Into the church, that's right. Don't answer the door!"
"What about my van?" Pete protested as he stumbled towards the church.
The Doctor didn't reply. He jumped back into the van and sped down the country lane, leaving Pete, standing dejectedly, far behind. "Go to Amy and Rory's," Alex commanded.
"What, why?"
"Amy told me that's where they are."
The Doctor turned to look at him in surprise. "When?"
"The Dream Lord took me onto the TARDIS too. She told me as she was falling asleep."
The Doctor took a corner at speed, shifting the camper up a gear. "What did he say?"
"Never mind that," said the Dream Lord, materialising into the back seat of the van, dressed in Formula One gear with a racing helmet on his lap. "It's make-your-mind-up time. In both worlds!"
"Bye," the Doctor replied bluntly. "I need to find my friends."
"Friends?" the Dream Lord questioned. "Is that the right word for the people you acquire? Friends are people you stay in touch with. Your friends never see you again once they've grown up."
Alex turned in his seat to face the Dream Lord, irritably. "Oh shut up. I've been with him nearly four years. I have grown up with him,
The Dream Lord grinned. "And we both know why that is, don't we Doctor?" Alex glanced from the Dream Lord to the Doctor, who had his eyes set on the road determinedly. "Do you, Alex? Do you know why you've been with him for so long? And you're not exactly elderly, are you? Face it. This old man prefers the company of the young, does he not?" With that, the Dream Lord disappeared once more.
"What did he mean?" Alex asked after a moment or two of silence. "Why have I grown up with you?"
"Right," the Doctor pulled up outside the cottage. The elderly were laying siege to the house with various gardening instruments. "Let's do this," he opened his door and rolled out of it, crouching behind the safety of the van. Alex sidled along the seat and followed him.
"Well let's think about this," Alex reasoned, peering around the front of the van. "We know they've still got elderly bodies. So they're still slow."
The Doctor took what we saw in, breathing deeply. "Yes, you're right. Look, there's a clear path to the porch. We'll run there, I'll give you a leg-up, onto the top and you climb in through that open window."
Alex nodded his grudging agreement. He'd much rather give the Doctor the leg-up.
"Right, on three," the Doctor whispered. "One... two... three!" The Doctor sprang from behind the van and dashed through the gap, heading directly for the porch. Alex followed.
"We will do the same to others!" cried out a familiar voice. Alex slowed slightly and turned to his right. Mr Naimby was limping towards him, pitchfork aloft. He breathed his green gas at Alex, who dived out of the way.
"Alex, come on!" the Doctor cried, already having reached the porch. Alex scrambled to his feet and staggered over to him. "Why're you walking like that, what's happened?"
"I just took a tumble. It's fine,"
"Let me look,"
"Doctor, they're coming!" Alex cried, pointing to the advancing Eknodines.
"Let me look!"
Alex sighed and obliged. He lifted up his trouser leg and showed the Doctor his ankle where he was feeling the pain. It wasn't there. As he lifted the leg of his trouser, his ankle disintegrated away. Alex's eyes widened. He tore them away from his ankle and looked up at the Doctor, who looked distraught. "No..." Alex whispered, shaking his head. He cried out and stumbled backwards, pain shooting through his body. He lifted his shirt to reveal brown patches on his stomach, also beginning to crumble away into dust.
"Which one was it?" the Doctor asked quietly, angrily.
Alex took and deep breath. He put his hands together and bent down, forming a step for the Doctor. "Come on," he managed.
The Doctor protested, forlornly. "No," he shook his head.
"Come on!" Alex shouted. The look in his eyes was such that the Doctor obliged. He placed his shoe onto Alex's hands as softly as he could, not wishing to speed up the process.
He jumped as Alex lifted, but the effort was too much. Alex's half-formed legs gave way and he crumpled. It was an odd feeling. He suddenly felt so much lighter on his feet. Possibly because he no longer had feet. Did he? He wasn't sure now. He tried to feel for them and found that he didn't have any hands anymore. He tried to lift his head to have a look, only to discover that his neck had abandoned him too. His last view was of the Doctor, dangling off of the porch, having caught the gutter as his support left him. He closed his eyes. Or his eyes disintegrated. One or the other.
A M Y ' S C H O I C E
Alex slowly opened his eyes. He still had eyes! He was also deathly cold. Struggling, he managed to sit up and found himself on the TARDIS. Every single surface was covered in deep ice. It was definitely the first dream world. "Oh. Okay..." he muttered. "So I survived then! Brilliant! Love it when I do that." He glanced down and gave his body the once-over. "Legs, yes! Arms, hands, chest, feet," he mumbled as he ran his hands over each body part. Behind him, the Doctor, Amy and Rory also sat up.
"So," the Dream Lord said, stepping between them. "You chose this world. Well done. You got it right. And with only seconds left!" As the Dream Lord spoke, the cold star on the monitor grew smaller as the TARDIS flew away from it. He walked to the console and pressed a few buttons. "Fair's fair. Let's warm you up!" The idiosyncratic lights and sounds of the TARDIS returned, the temperature rising considerably almost straight away. "I hope you've enjoyed your little fictions! It all came out of your imaginations so... I'll leave you to ponder on that. I have been defeated. I shall withdraw. Farewell." For the final time, the Dream Lord, his back to them, dematerialised on the spot.
"Alex," the Doctor grunted, having staggered to his feet. With great effort, he pulled a lever on the console. "Get the Exhondic Buffer."
Alex did as he was told. "Doctor..." he began, struggling on his choice of words. "I died."
"Yeah,"
"Right..."
"Cancel the Igniting Prohibitor," he ordered.
"What're we doing now?" Amy asked, as she and Rory broke apart from their hug and intimate conversation.
The Doctor grunted, struggling to turn something on the console that was evidently still frozen. "Me? I'm gonna blow up the TARDIS."
"What?" Alex and Rory asked in unison. Alex hurriedly pressed the Igniting Prohibitor again, re-firing it.
The Doctor rushed around the re-pressed it. "Notice how helpful the Dream Lord was. Okay, there was misinformation, red herrings, malice. And I could've done without the limerick! But he was always very keen to make us choose between dream and reality." He laughed as a red light flooded the console room and the entire ship began to shake.
"Doctor, the Dream Lord conceded, this isn't the dream!" Rory cried.
"Yes it is! Star burning cold, do me a favour! The Dream Lord has no power over the real world! He was offering us a choice between two dreams!"
"How do you know that?" Amy demanded.
The Doctor looked at each of his friends in turn, smiling. "Because I know who he is." He pulled one final lever. Everything dissolved into nothingness.
A M Y ' S C H O I C E
Alex opened his eyes. He was slumped against one of the TARDIS corridors, a minute or so from the main control room. Well, he still had all of his body-parts, and he was no longer freezing to his core. It seemed the Doctor was right. Alex staggered to his feet and made his way to the console room. As he climbed the stairs up to it, Amy and Rory were descending some. They all walked somewhat uncertainly.
"Any questions?" asked the Doctor. He was leaning casually on the console, his hand held out in front of him.
"What's that?" Amy asked, plodding down the stairs, pointing to the Doctor's hand. Alex now noticed there was something in it. What appeared to be a few small, silver-y balls.
The Doctor held his hand out so they could see the balls easier. "A speck of psychic pollen from the Candle Meadows of Kras don Slava. Must've been hanging around for ages. Fell into the Time Rotor, heated up and induced a dream state for all of his," he theorised. Closing his hand, the Doctor walked over to the TARDIS doors and opened them. Holding out his hand again, he blew the psychic pollen out of the door and into the depths of space. He then closed the doors again and clapped his hands together.
"So, that was the Dream Lord then?" asked Rory, leaning on the rail of the console level. "Those little specks?"
"What? No! No, no. Sorry. Wasn't it obvious? The Dream Lord was me! Psychic pollen, it's a mind parasite, feeds on everything dark in you. Gives it a voice, turns it against you. I'm 907. It had a lot to go on."
"Why didn't it feed on us too?"
"The darkness in you three? It would've starved to death in an instant. I choose my friends with great care!"
Alex suddenly remembered what the Dream Lord had said – "Do you know why you've been with him for so long?" He frowned.
The Doctor continued, interrupting Alex's internal thoughts. "Otherwise, I'm stuck with my own company. And y'know how that works out."
"But those things he said about you. You don't think any of that's true?"
The Doctor didn't reply. "Amy, right now a question is about to occur to Rory. And, since the answer is about to change his life, I think you should give him your full attention," he finished, pushing her towards Rory by the shoulders.
"Yeah..." Rory began. "Actually, yeah!"
"There it is,"
"'Cos, what I don't get is, you blew up the TARDIS, that stopped that dream, but what stopped the Leadworth dream?"
Alex realised he'd also been wondering that question. "Good point! How did you three get out of that one? I mean, I know I died, but..."
"We crashed the camper van," Amy informed them simply.
Rory nodded slowly. "I don't remember that bit."
"No. You weren't there. You already..." she struggled to choose her words. "You died too! Mrs Poggit got ya," she muttered.
"Ok-ay... but how did you know it was the dream? Before you crashed the van? How did you know you wouldn't just die?"
The Doctor clicked his fingers at Alex and pointed at the control on the console. Alex, still listening to Amy with intent interest, wordlessly did as he was told.
"I didn't" Amy admitted. She and Rory looked into each other's eyes, chuckling.
Alex frowned, and turned to the Doctor, who was leaning on the console, smiling at him sadly. He wordlessly moved towards Alex and landed a great hug on him, patting him on the back. Alex laughed and responded, before noticing Amy and Rory were now locked in a passionate kiss.
"Doctor," he began. "I think, earlier, I heard the, um," he paused, wildly improvising, "y'know, the Temporal... contra-engines... whining. I think we should go and check them out..."
"What?" the Doctor asked in confusion. Alex rolled his eyes and surreptitiously nodded towards Amy and Rory who were still tightly embracing. "Ah! Right, yes. Good idea. Let's go and... take a look," he grinned.
Amy's voice floated along the corridor that Alex and the Doctor had bundled into. "Oi!" They sheepishly poked their heads back around the corner. "Get back here,"
The Doctor grinned and re-entered the control room. "Right," he clapped his hands together. "Where to now?"
