By KimotoCat
- - - - -
Part 2
Lord Turambar froze on the spot, doing a sharp intake of breath and waving his hands in a confused manner. The soldiers all stopped what they were doing and turned to stare at Tegan along with the other bystanders, who all appeared utterly bewildered.
Taking advantage of the sudden almost paralysed scenario, the Doctor and Nyssa stepped out from under the trees and approached the prisoners.
"Hello, I am the Doctor," he doffed his hat towards the two men as he took out a small device from a pocket. "And this is Nyssa. The determined young lady over there is Tegan. We have come to prevent this execution from taking place. Allow me to remove your bonds."
"Erh, thanks," Asferus said, looking in every way as surprised as the others. He didn't seem to mind the removal of the ropes holding him though, and seemed relieved as his hands were freed. "This is cool. Well…" he coughed and grinned at the Doctor. "I thank thee, fair traveller, for coming to my rescue at this the latest possible moment. I fear that without your aid, I and my cousin and good friend Axelius would have perished at the hands of this fiend."
"Not at all," he replied and turned towards the wounded man who was looking guffawed as the Doctor started to untie him, taking care not to disturb his wounded side.
"What the hell is this crap?" Lord Turambar yelled, his hysterical voice even higher pitched than before. "This knife is sharp, bitch!"
"Sharp?" one of the soldiers muttered. "I thought this was Ricky's doing."
"She's got a taser too," Turambar went on. "Rick, if this is your idea of fun, it's not funny!"
"Erh, guys," the Captain of the soldiers, apparently named Rick, said in a strange voice. "I didn't plan this. I have no idea who they are."
"That explains the lack of costume," one of the richly dressed women said, looking somewhat abashed.
"Who cares about the damned outfits," Turambar wailed, now really scared by the sound of it. "This crazy bitch is holding a God-damned knife to my neck! Somebody do something!"
"Call me bitch again and there will be bleeding," Tegan sneered with more certainty than she felt at the moment. What was going on?
The Doctor, seemingly oblivious to the talking behind him, had eased down the wounded man with the aid of Nyssa and now lifted the side of his coat to attend the wound – only to find unbroken skin, stained slightly red from the blood soaked clothes.
"Hey, lady," the captain said, holding out a placating hand towards Tegan. "I dunno what you think, but this is no real execution."
"Rabbits!" Tegan hissed. "You made them think it was."
"No, lady," Asferus said quietly. "No, they didn't!"
"Don't tell me that you're not part of this?" the 'wounded' Axelius said, staring at the Doctor. "You didn't think this was real, did you?"
"Hey, this isn't real," one of the other bystanders, a robed, monk-like man said.
"Please let go of Simon," one of the soldiers begged, letting go of his musket which fell to the ground.
"Please," Turambar – or Simon – snivelled.
"Doctor," Tegan said, trying to fight down a sinking feeling of dread as she looked at the shocked people all around them.
"I think," the Doctor said quietly, rising from the 'wounded' man's side, "that it is quite safe to let Lord Turambar go, Tegan."
"This seems to be an act of some kind," Nyssa added, looking around at the crowd.
"It is," the man looking like a captain replied. "Look, I don't know what you guys think, but this is just a game of role playing. Live role playing; a form of reenacting. None of our weapons are real, so please just let Simon go."
"Live role playing?" Tegan said, having absolutely no idea what that was but lowering her knife and the gun all the same. As she did so, Simon crumbled to the ground just in front of her and crawled off, sobbing and protecting his throat with a hand.
"Does this look like a weapon to you?" one of the soldiers growled, unsheathing a thick sword and throwing it at the ground before Tegan where it bounced twice before it wobbled to rest. Hesitantly she bent down and touched the unnaturally thick blade.
"Rubber," she muttered to nobody in particular. "This sword is made from some sort of rubber."
"Latex, actually," the owner drawled, staring disbelievingly at her. "C'mon, you thought this was a real execution?"
"Erh…" Tegan stammered, slowly pocketing her electric gun, trying to maintain her last shards of dignity while doing so. "Well, I…"
"I'm sorry to say that we did," the Doctor admitted, getting to his feet. "You see, we only just arrived here and heard the gunshot when Axelius was, umh, wounded. We followed the sounds and saw what appeared to be the prelude to an execution – and a nasty one at it."
"You bought that?" Asferus said incredulously. "What neck of the World do you come from, where people still execute others by swords and muskets?"
"They're fucking nuts!" Simon, a.k.a. Turambar, exclaimed, helped to his feet by one of the women. "We should call the police or something."
"Why not the National Guard while we're at it?" Rick, the Captain of the guard, replied scornfully at this. "Honestly, Simon, this just proves that we're really good at this."
"What if one of'em had shot first, just to set an example?" the woman, supporting Simon, asked. "People could have been injured here. Or killed."
From under her rich gown, another of the ladies took out a small item and opened it, revealing what could very well be a mobile telephone as far as the Doctor could see.
"Listen now," the Doctor said, his voice holding that special edge he sometimes used to make people pay attention to his words. "I am really sorry for what happened here. We all are. But it was obviously just a misunderstanding, all right?"
"What is this 'live role playing' all about anyway?" Nyssa asked. "The blood on this young man does look real and you did seem intent on spilling more of it. I don't understand."
"Hold the cell for a moment," Rick, the captain said, looking around at them. "Let's pause here and get things straightened out for a bit. If you, lady, put that taser of yours on the ground, perhaps we can talk, okay? Since our weapons are not real, I think we'd all feel more confident if you weren't directly armed either."
"That stands to reason," the Doctor added. "I think you should do just that, Tegan."
"What about you two?" Rick asked as Tegan took out her electric gun, figuring that was what Rick meant by asking for her taser, and placing it on the green grass near the trees.
"I am not armed," the Doctor declared, trying to stifle an angry glare at the mere thought of it.
"Neither am I," Nyssa added. "We are peaceful people."
"But ready to fight all the same," Asferus said as he came over, handing a bottle of some sizzling brown liquid to Simon, who was still a bit on the pale side.
"Right," Rick said, gesturing for all to gather, which they did. "Let's try and settle this. Kelly, keep a bit of distance, and if anything more happens, dial 911 immediately, okay?"
The woman with the phone nodded as the others sat down in the clearing, throwing impractical muskets and swords in a heap nearby. The Doctor and his two companions joined the group, albeit just a little apart from the others.
"Seing it as you were the ones using real weapons, perhaps you owe us your side of the story first?" Rick, who had assumed a sort of command, looked quizzically at the Doctor. Most of the others did too and only a few seemed to focus their attention on any of his two companions.
"Ah, yes," the Doctor breathed and took a quick glance around. "Well, I am the Doctor and this is Tegan Jovanka and Nyssa of Traken."
The Doctor looked at his audience, but it was painfully obvious that they were not going to accept as little explanation as that.
"Doctor?" By now, Simon had apparently gotten over his initial shock of suddenly having a real blade held at his throat, but he still seemed hostile and Tegan could not really blame him. Now he stared at the three of them, narrowing his eyes. "Doctor of what? And where are you from? You sound as if you're British."
"Doctor of most things, really," the Doctor replied airily. "We're not as such from Britain, no. Miss Jovanka is from Australia, but the rest of us, not so."
"Then where?" Simon insisted.
"Well, I do work in Britain from time to, uhm, time, actually."
"Where else?"
"Doctor, perhaps you should pull rank here?" Tegan suggested in a low voice.
"Pull rank? How so?" the Doctor asked as they felt the patience of the role players around them ebbing.
"Yeah, we are a few who would very much like to know how you'd do that!" a sharp voice broke in. Everybody stared at the newcomer, a uniformed man with mirrored glasses and the confidence of a state trooper – which was precisely what he seemed to be. "We just received a 911 distress call from around here and me and my men just happened to be in the area. Now, would that call be coming from any of you people?"
"Those freaks over there, they threatened us with a taser and a knife!" one of the women wailed, pointing an accusing finger at the Doctor and his companions. "They're nuts!"
"Now listen, officer," the Doctor began amiably. "This was really just a misunderstanding. You see -"
"Did you, or did you not, threaten these kids with a weapon, sir?" the man interjected, placing a warning hand on the holster at his hip.
"Well, yes, I suppose we did," the Doctor replied, exasperatedly. "But you must understand –"
"Sir, I am placing you under arrest!" the trooper said, calmly unholstering his sidearm and pointing it suggestively at the Doctor. "And that goes for you two as well," he added, gesturing at Nyssa and Tegan. Then he addressed the microphone attached to his shoulder an called in to inform that he had three suspects in answer to the 911 and that he would like some backup in sector 8B, witch apparently was the part of the woods where they were now.
The role players had all gotten to their feet and withdrawn some from the Doctor and his friends. Now they were looking apprehensively at them as if wondering whether to support their claim of a misunderstanding or keep their distance and allow them to be arrested for assault.
"I had to call, you understand that," one of the guards said apologetically to Rick.
"Well…", Rick muttered insecurely.
"Would you mind explaining this?" the trooper asked, not unkindly, approaching Rick and seeming for the world as if he either didn't notice their costumes or just didn't really care. "I understand that these people have threatened you with a dangerous weapon, is that correct?"
"Wobble-wobble-wobble-geeeeeeh!" an unexpected voice rang through the air. The trooper turned, startled, in the direction of the sound and found Tegan yelling at him while holding her arms folded, simulating the wings of some big chicken and cocking her head in an almost certainly painful angle.
"Miss, I must ask you to abstain from this," the trooper began.
"Wobble-geek! Wobbl-gurk-geeeek!" Tegan insisted, ignoring all eyes on her. Then she withdrew the electric gun and fired it at the officer who fell to the ground as a Californian redwood meeting its final destiny.
"Run!" she yelled to the Doctor and Nyssa, who actually had started to do so.
"That was a very intriguing way to distract the officer," the Doctor complimented as they took the opportunity to disappear between the trees before any of the role players could react. As of yet, nobody had actually said anything, but it seemed as if Simon had slowly slid to the ground, perhaps as a reaction to actually witnessing what the electric gun could do to a person.
- - - - -
Tegan's haphazard plan would probably have been enough to save them if this hadn't been the time where more men's vices rang through the forest. "Stop!"
They heard several voices, including the sounds of the role players who started to react and a man apparently calling on a radio, requesting an ambulance to a man down.
They ran as fast as they could through the forest, trees passing them as they tried to escape their followers.
"Stop it right there," a policeman yelled after them, taking op pursuit. "Stop it or I'll shoot!"
"He won't, you know," the Doctor said reassuringly to his friends as they continued between branches, whipping at their arms and faces. "The American police will only use terminal force if met with arms or otherwise assaulted."
"This is my last warning!" the officers' voice rang out behind them.
"Are you sure about that, Doc?" Tegan huffed, refusing to comment on his ability to make conversation when running as if he was merely quietly seated somewhere. "He sounds ... as if he means business!"
"Off course I am sure, it is simply the rules applying around here, Tegan," the Doctor unabashed went on. "It is costumary to use violence when met with violence, but since we have only –"
Two shots in quick succession rang out behind them, effectively cutting off the Doctors words as well as his message. As a bullet ripped a small piece of wood from a nearby tree trunk, Tegan yelped and Nyssa gave a small cry of alarm.
"I thought," Tegan wheezed, throwing herself behind the solid trunk of a nearby tree, "you said they would not shoot!"
"It would appear that I was mistaken," the Doctor admitted, taking cover behind another tree just as Nyssa almost ran into Tegan at the thankfully broad tree.
"Could it be that they don't much care that the electric gun isn't lethal?"
"Quite possible," the Doctor agreed.
"Please step out where I can see you," the officer yelled. "Keep your hands where I can see them and step out from those trees! Now!"
It was clear that the policemen were pretty close, and even if Tegan could get a clear shot at one of them, she only had the electric gun and they were very obviously using real, potentially killing bullets.
"What do we do now?" Nyssa asked, almost hugging the tree for safety.
"I am not entirely sure," the Doctor admitted. "Surrender just may be our best option here."
"Surrender?" Tegan hissed. "I shot one of them down. If this is the USA, they kill cop-killers here."
"Now you did not actually kill him," the Doctor lessoned.
"Tell the guy with the real gun that!"
"Now please listen, officer," the Doctor said, doing just what Tegan had asked him to, his voice clear through the forest. "We would very much like to oblige your request, but we are a bit tense here, seeing it as you have the upper hand – and even more, a gun. We are not armed ourselves with anything lethal."
"If you come out now," the trooper said, his voice holding the slightest hint of confusion, "nobody has to get hurt. Please show yourself and keep your hands where I can see them."
"Have you seen your colleague?" the Doctor went on. "He should be coming round in just about five minutes, as he has only received a mild electric charge. So you see; none of us have actually done any real harm to anybody."
"That will be decided by a judge in a fair trial," the trooper replied, confusion now evident in his voice. "But if you come peacefully, now, Sir, I will not use my weapon. I promise that."
"Jolly good!" And with that, the Doctor stepped out from behind his tree, hands held almost comically high and a kind and somewhat inappropriate smile plastered onto his lips.
"Very good," another man said, also looking very much like a state trooper and very much an armed one. "Please step towards us, slowly, and keep your hands up like that."
"And the other one," the first trooper called. "Please step forwards with your hands where we can see them."
"You stay here," Nyssa breathed. "They don't know yet that there are three of us. Try and get to the TARDIS if you can. I am sure the Doctor will think of something."
"Nyssa, no," Tegan whispered, but it was too late as her friend put up her hands and stepped from the relative cover of the tree. As she did so, Tegan risked a quick peek from the other side of the tree and could see that a trooper had his weapon trained on the now kneeling Doctor as he approached him with a pair of handcuffs at the ready. The other trooper was aiming his weapon at Nyssa who came quietly and did as she was told.
"Rabbits!" she breathed to herself. On other planets, the Doctor could explain their origin as travellers in space – and sometimes time – and more often than not he could talk their way out of a spot, convincing people that it really was in their best interest to allow them to go free. But this was Earth and the most likely outcome of a claim to intergalactic background was either a beating or a syringe with something terribly numbing.
Most likely, not having any proper ID, they could be accused of being illegal aliens. Now there was a thought worth something akin to a laugh…
Tegan's thought were interrupted as another gunshot rang out through the deep forest, causing the State Troopers to duck and look around, his eyes scanning the trees for somebody with a gun.
"I thought you said you didn't have any weapons," he snarled at Nyssa, who happened to be nearest.
"We don't," the Doctor argued, looking anything but pleased as he was being handcuffed by the other trooper. It seemed, Tegan mused, that no matter how often they had found themselves in similar situations, none of them ever got used to being trapped, chained or bound.
"Help!" – The cry came from the direction, the role players were in and it sounded as if it was no longer a game. "Please, oh Christ!" After that, nothing more was said.
With a curse, the one trooper took out his gun and started back towards the site of the role players, demanding that his comrade stayed behind, guarding the prisoners. Not comprehending what was going on, Tegan still did not miss a beat as she aimed her electric gun at the trooper and shot him as soon as the other man was out of sight.
He fell like a log and instantly, Tegan ran towards her friends, asking them if they were okay. To her dismay, the Doctor was handcuffed behind his back, but at least Nyssa was only bound with a kind of plastic strip which was easily cut and removed.
"They must assume, you're the more dangerous person," Tegan pointed out as she helped the cuffed Doctor to stand, something more easily said than done on the uneven forest ground. "Since you have been awarded the metal cuffs!"
"Very likely," the Doctor huffed, his face reddening.
"The one man said that he seemed mentally unstable," Nyssa informed quietly.
"Some observation," the Doctor grunted, "considering that these men of the law are defending adolescents dressed up in cardboard armour and brandishing latex swords and obnoxious bad-guy monologue."
"Can you get out of here?" Tegan asked, trying to stifle a laugh.
"Off course," the Doctor muttered. "I can remove the cuffs in the TARDIS. But Nyssa, please see to that the officer is unscathed."
"How typical," Tegan muttered under her breath, "we are supposed to escape from this fellow, and he wants to make sure he's uninjured." But she didn't object as Nyssa knelt beside the unconscious trooper, checking his vital signs and making sure he had not been hurt by the fall into the undergrowth.
As soon as this was done, they all started towards the TARDIS, hoping to make it there before any more troopers showed up.
"I say," the Doctor exclaimed after a very few moments. "What if something really is wrong in the role players' camp? Perhaps we should go and find out?"
"Hells' teeth, Doc," Tegan snapped. "In case you've missed it, you have your hands cuffed behind your back and between ourselves and an unknown number of cops and any unknown enemy, we have one small electric gun – and it is running low on its' battery!"
"I hope you won't actually need the gun," a voice cut in as a man stepped out of the forest a few yards ahead of them. It was the captain of the guard, or Rick as his friends had called him. "I really hope, I am doing the right thing here," he went on, coming over and for the world looking quite at home in the forest, wearing his dark armour with the golden lion.
"The right thing?" Tegan replied insecurely.
"Well, I persuaded some of the lads into causing a distraction, trying to call the troopers away from their pursuit of you," the youngster explained. "Some of us agreed that your intentions were all right and that having you arrested for it would just complicate things no end. You did seem to know where to run from here, so Tom, one of the other guards, accidentally 'shot' one of the ladies. Nothing worse than a light bruise and all the reason in the world for the scream you heard."
"So the captain of the guard shot one of his masters ladies in order to help the assailants escape," the Doctor smiled. "Is that it?"
"I guess," Rick said with a grin. "Now, where are you guys going? And what about those cuffs?"
"I can remove the cuffs once I'm inside my TARDIS," the Doctor explained as if that much had to be clear to anyone.
"So you'll be all right then?" Rick asked. "Or do you need anything else?"
"We'll be just fine," the Doctor assured him.
"Where is that TARDIS-thing of yours then?" Rick asked, looking around in search of it.
"It should be just a few hundred yards in this direction," the Doctor replied and started to walk in the direction half-indicated with a nod, immediately tripping and almost falling over, only to be caught by Nyssa.
"It was really nice of you to help us," Tegan said, trying to cover up for the undignified mess that was the Doctor and Nyssa. "You must tell that guy, Simon? You must tell him that we're sorry about the scare we gave him. It's just that there are no such role players where we come from."
"But there are real medieval fighters, damsels in distress and nasty villains?" Rick asked, discretely helping to unhinge the Doctor from Nyssa and then helping him to cross over a fallen tree trunk in the undergrowth.
"Actually, yes," Tegan said and then realised her mistake. "That is, erh… Rabbits…"
"There are rabbits too?" Rick asked amused.
"No, but…"
What the young lady is so evidently failing to explain," the Doctor broke in, having finally regained some of his dignity. "Is that we have travelled a lot and seen some rather strange things, leading us briefly to expect that scenario of yours to be yet another such strange but real occurrence."
"Right…"
"There she is!" Nyssa interrupted, pointing at the familiar blue shape between the trees.
"What's that?" Rick asked, discretely helping the cuffed Doctor to cross another gap in the undergrowth.
"That," the Doctor beamed. "Is the TARDIS!"
This did not seem to do much in the way of clarifying anything to the cardboard-armoured youngster and as they approached and the blue box came clearly into view, this really didn't help matters much.
"It looks like a London phone-booth or something," Rick commented dryly, staring at the blue box. "No offence, guys, but how's that gonna help any?"
"Actually, it looks like a London Police-box, but appearances may be deceptive," the Doctor lectured as he managed the last few steps towards the TARDIS without any help. "Ah, would somebody please help open the doors?"
Nyssa did, helping the Doctor to cross the threshold to the TARDIS while Tegan hesitated outside, looking at Rick, who was starting to develop the expression of a man thinking he had helped the wrong people in this whole affair and that the Doctor and his companions really were the lunatics.
"It's really a long story," Tegan tried to explain. "Look, this box here, it's really a craft, a kind of space ship, called the TARDIS."
"I see…" Rick muttered, clearly only confirmed in his suspicion regarding the three people and their so-called TARDIS.
"No, really, it is," Tegan tried desperately, suddenly wishing that she could make him understand. "It's much bigger on the inside than on the outside. Would you like to come and see?"
"No-no-no," Rick assured her placatingly, "I believe you. Really!"
"Good," Tegan said lamely, knowing that the medieval dressed role player considered her absolutely bonkers. "Well, I guess we'll be leaving then…"
"Guess you will," Rick nodded.
"Thank you for your help," Tegan smiled half-heartedly. "It was really nice of you."
"Don't mention it."
"Rick, it really is a space-craft," Tegan tried, desperately wishing that he would understand. "It travels by… erh… Well, it dematerialises from where it is and then reappears wherever it is set to go." She didn't wish to mention precisely how often the TARDIS did in fact not appear where it was set to go, but in stead she kept on babbling: "It is from another planet, Gallifrey, where they can build this kind of craft. The Doctor is from Gallifrey too."
"Really," Rick muttered, now clearly uncomfortable. "You don't have to explain. It's okay."
His soothing voice made Tegan angry. At first she had wished for him to understand that he had really been helping the right people, but now she decided that he would have to find out for him self.
"Well, goodbye then," she said, still a bit quiet. "And thanks."
With that, she entered the TARDIS and closed the double doors behind her, finally finding herself in the well known safety of the old craft.
"That was not quite what I had expected," the Doctor admitted as he threw the now unlocked handcuffs in a corner of the console room. "Live role playing, hmm? Sounds like fun."
"I think they're balmy," Tegan said dismissively. "Dressing up like medieval fantasy blokes, carrying rubber swords and shooting pellets at each other. And that Rick-character? He thought we were the nutters!"
"I think they were charming," Nyssa smiled. "Did you notice the details on the dresses and capes? It was an amazing lion. It must require a lot of time and effort to do that."
"I wonder if they also have somebody dressing up like a dragon then." Tegan grinned. "What, with rubber wings and a flame thrower hidden in the neck."
"I still find the idea quite fascinating," the Doctor went on, addressing a few adjustments on the console. "Perhaps we should try it some day. But given the stage of the portable telephone, we were off mark towards your Heathrow by quite a few years and it also seems that we are in the wrong part of the World."
"Try it some day?" Tegan exclaimed. "With all the real monsters, megalomaniacs and mayhem we usually encounter, who'd wish to fake it as well?"
"It could be fun," the Doctor beamed at her. "Just like another adventure, but without the real risk of bloodshed."
"You're balmy too!" Tegan declared, trying without too much luck to stifle a smile. "And there is real risk. Somebody else could drop by, thinking it was real. Like we just did."
"I'll have you know that I never really believed it," the Doctor huffed as he threw the final switches and the central column started its ascent. "I knew this was Earth and so there were anachronisms in their equipment. The muskets were of an early German type, but the outfits more like renaissance Italian and the boots didn't fit anywhere."
"Whatever you say," Tegan said, winking at Nyssa, who winked back.
- - - - -
In the forest, as the time ship dematerialised, groaning and whining, Rick was gazing at the disappearing form with wide eyes, realising that Tegan had really been telling the truth and that to him, live role play would never be quite the same again.
And that nobody would believe him if he told what he had just witnessed.
The end