Chapter Forty - Changing The Stream
The Doctor and Rose, having run down numerous corridors and flights of stairs, finally found themselves back inside the messy interior of the Tardis.
"So why are we back here?" asked an out-of-breath Rose. "Shouldn't we be out there looking for the others?"
"And spend the rest of the day running down corridors and being chased by monsters?" asked The Doctor, with a gleam in his eye. "It's tempting, true, but there's an easier way."
"What? We just wait for them here?" asked Rose.
The Doctor smiled. "Good idea, Rose. Definitely the easiest way, but no, I had something else planned. First I need a number."
"You need me to think of a number?" asked a confused Rose.
"No," replied The Doctor. "You have to wait here. I've got a number to find"
"What you want me to just wait here while you look for a number?"
"No, of course I don't want you to just wait here," replied The Doctor. "Look around you. Somebody's got to tidy this place up."
Rose looked at The Doctor in horror. "Let me get this straight. You, an enlightened species from outer space, are planning to just abandon me here to tidy up your living room while you go off looking for a number."
"Exactly," smiled The Doctor.
"As plans from outer space go that ranks up there with plan 9," fumed Rose. "I may be your assistant but housework's out of the question."
"Fair enough," replied The Doctor, "I'll do it when I get back. I just didn't want you to get bored."
And with that, The Doctor left Rose behind in the console room and started on his quest to find the number he needed.
Meanwhile, Rose sat down in the console room, looking around at the mess the gremlins had left behind. Suddenly she thought she heard a scraping sound coming from somewhere. As she got up and walked around the console room, trying to find the sound's source, the scraping sound seemed to stop.
She looked around, wondering if there was still one of the gremlins here, hiding somewhere.
Ursa looked at Zod. "It looks like Kal-El believed you."
"Of course he did," replied Zod. "He's far too trusting."
"And have you actually got any answers from that computer yet?" asked Ursa, circling Zod.
"These things take time," replied Zod.
"And yet I grow impatient, Zod. And you don't want me to get too impatient."
"Soon," replied Zod. "Soon I'll have the answers."
"And in the meantime I'm supposed to just sit here and do nothing?" asked Ursa.
"I'm afraid so," replied Zod. "Even though you're incapable of sitting and doing nothing."
"That's right," said Ursa smiling, "I need to get involved more. Make totally sure that Lana ends up dead."
"But you can't interfere with Clark and Lana," exclaimed a worried Zod. "You can't risk the consequences."
"No, Zod, it's a matter of honor. After the pummeling she gave you, I need revenge. Nobody else beats up my man and gets away with it."
"But you can't just kill her," pleaded Zod. "Clark would never forgive you."
"Relax, Zod. I'm not going to kill her. I'm just going to help with the organization."
And then Ursa turned away from Zod and started striding towards the cave exit. "Besides," she added, looking down at her costume, "I could always use a spare sheriff's badge."
The Doctor strode in to find the console room considerably tidier than he'd left it. "So you decided to tidy up after all. Bored?"
"No, I heard a strange noise. I was cleaning things up to try and take my mind off it."
"I wouldn't worry about it. Probably the Tardis playing telepathic tricks with your mind," explained The Doctor. "It really hates being untidy."
"I hope that's all it was," replied a disgruntled Rose. "Did you find that number you were looking for?"
"Here it is," replied The Doctor, handing Rose a piece of paper. "Now if you could please dial it."
Rose took out her phone. "So, who am I dialing?"
"Chloe."
"Will her phone even work in this dimension?" asked a doubtful Rose.
"Yes, the Tardis will take care of it," said The Doctor reassuringly.
"But what if somebody else in this dimension has the same number?"
"They do, but that doesn't matter."
"Okay," Rose said, then dialed the number. Suddenly she heard Chloe Sullivan's voice on the other end of the line:
Hello?
"Hi, Chloe. It's me, Rose. Do you have Lex and Jimmy with you?"
Just Jimmy.
"Well, can you come back to the Tardis quickly. We want to leave as soon as possible. If you see Lex on the way could you tell him as well."
Sure, we'll be there soon, monsters permitting.
"Thanks, bye."
Chloe put down her cell phone.
"So, who was that?" asked Jimmy.
"Rose," replied Chloe. "She wants us to get back to the Tardis."
"But aren't you going to finish telling me whose eyes these are?" asked Jimmy, looking at the photo.
"It'll wait," said Chloe, putting the photo away, and starting up the stairs.
Jimmy followed Chloe's lead and together they ran, in silence, managing to avoid any gremlins until, finally, they reached the Tardis.
"Lois' eyes are Lana's, aren't they?" said Jimmy suddenly, realizing that she was the only dead person he knew from Chloe's reality.
"That's right," said Chloe, knocking on the Tardis door. "Looks like Lana will make that wedding after all... Not a word to Lex about any of this, Jimmy. Understood?"
Before Jimmy had a chance to answer, The Doctor opened the door. As they entered, he saw Lex, who'd only just beaten them back there, and Rose.
"So, Rose," asked Chloe, "how did you know my number?"
"The Doctor gave it me," replied Rose, showing Chloe the piece of paper with her number on it. Chloe recognized the handwriting immediately - it was her own.
"I'll take that," said The Doctor, grabbing the paper out of Rose's hand, crunching it into a ball and putting it safely in his pocket.
Chloe looked at him with suspicion. "Doctor, we need to talk."
"Let's get out of here first," said The Doctor, elbowing the console into life. Suddenly the Tardis was filled with a loud gargled thrumming sound and then the Tardis was spinning, throwing the occupants of the console room around in every direction. By the time it reached it's destination, their injured blood-stained bodies lay scattered unconscious around the console room.
Needless to say the Tardis was unhappy - it hated a mess.
Meanwhile, in 1961 Smallville, Lana Lang was sat across the table from her husband/grandfather Dexter McCallum, playing bridge. For most people who'd never played the game before this might have been a problem (even with the help of beginner's luck), but fortunately Lana took naturally to it, bidding perfectly every time and winning every hand. Still, as Lana sat there, looking at the four cards she was now holding (a pair of aces and a pair of eights) she derived no comfort from her success. Her mind was elsewhere - partly on their opponents the Langs (her non-biological grandparents), partly on her imminent death and partly on the drifter she'd met earlier.
Suddenly she noticed a figure at the window, his hand pointing towards the barn. It was Clark's father, Joe. Nodding almost imperceptibly towards Joe, she continued to play out her hand, looking at the clock on the wall, counting down the seconds until she'd be with him.
Meanwhile, outside the house, Clark turned to the four-year-old boy who'd been playing in the garden when he'd arrived.
"Now you promise that you won't mention I was here," said Clark, "because if you do it cause change the timestream forever and destroy the Universe or worse."
"Okay," said the youngster. "But you've gotta play that game with me again. The one I always win."
Clark let out a sigh. "Okay, but this is the last time."
And then he shook his hand three times while the boy did the same and then, just like all the times before, Clark waited to see what the boy did and then used his super-speed to change his hand to the losing item - this time scissors.
"Rock wins!" yelled Louis Lang triumphantly.
As the Doctor lay there, barely conscious, he heard a voice that he'd never expected to hear again.
"Well, well, Doctor, you've changed ... and, by the looks of you, you might well be changing again soon. Still, I think there's still just enough time left for me to show you who's The Master."
