Back in the TARDIS, the Doctor was frowning at the screen. This was not good. The signal was getting stronger, meaning the plastics were as well. Good thing the Doctor made a portable device to track down the signal. The Gallifreyan stepped out of the blue box and was on her way.
She was lead towards a housing complex. The signal was very strong here. The Doctor was about to approach the plastic bin when a girl popped out of it. The girl walked over to the yellow buggie and got inside. She was definitely plastic. The Doctor was about to approach the plastic when Ross stepped out of the house. He started to walk towards the yellow buggie. The Doctor quickly hid out of sight. This boy is extremely danger prone. This handsome pink and yellow human seemed to need her help constantly.
"Handsome?" She quietly questioned herself. When did she start to think of him as attractive?
The buggie drove by her. A growl rumbled in her throat. Her distraction let the plastic get away, and with Ross! The plastic tracker was out in a matter of seconds. She quickly followed the signal again.
The Time Lord soon found the buggie once more. It was parked outside the little café she left the TARDIS behind earlier. She put the tracker away, and stepped inside. Casually looking around she finally spotted Ross sitting at a table with the plastic girl across from him. The Doctor quickly grabbed an unopened bottle of champagne off a table, unnoticed. She headed towards their table.
"Your champagne," she offered the bottle, waiting to be noticed.
"We didn't order any champagne. Where's the Doctor," the plastic demanded.
The Doctor frowned and turned towards Ross.
"Sir, your champagne," she offered again.
"It's not ours. Mickey, what is it? What's wrong," Ross asked this girl.
He cared for her, or at least this image of the girl and not the plastic. They must be in a relationship. The Doctor felt a little pang of jealousy.
'Stop.' She internally yelled at herself.
"Doesn't anybody want this champagne?"
"Look, we didn't order it," The plastic finally looked up to see the Doctor. "Ah, gotcha," the plastic smiled.
The Doctor started to shake the bottle vigorously. "Don't mind me. I'm just toasting the happy couple. On the house!" She yelled as the cork was released. It flew and stuck in the plastic's forehead.
Slowly the cork was absorbed into her forehead. She soon spit it out of her mouth. Ross looked horrified.
"Anyway," the plastic began to get up, and turned its hand into a chopper.
Ross let out a surprised yell, and fled as plastic Mickey busted the table. The Doctor grabbed the Auton's head, and pulled it off. The other customers saw this, and began to panic. All hell broke loose.
"Don't think that's going to stop me," the head spoke to the Doctor.
The plastic's body got up, and started to flail around. Ross, being the genius that he was, set off the fire alarm. This would allow the customers to escape.
"Everyone out! Out now! Get out! Get out! Get out!" Ross yelled.
The Doctor then led Ross through the kitchen. The head tried to bite the Doctor.
"Oi! Stop that!"
The body of the head wrecked the restaurant before following them to the back exit. The Doctor quickly sealed the exit shut while Ross ran down the alley, past the TARDIS. The Doctor found it ironic that she parked it there earlier in the day. Ross was panicked when he found a padlock on the exit gates.
"Open the gate! Use that tube thing. Come on!"
"Sonic screwdriver," she corrected him.
"Use it," he frantically yelled.
The Doctor casually walked over toward the TARDIS.
"Nah. Tell you what, let's go in here."
The Doctor unlocked the police box, and went inside. The Auton hammered on the metal door, making large dents.
"You can't hide inside a wooden box. It's going to get us! Doctor," Ross yelled.
He tried the gate again. The blonde finally gave up on the gate. He ran into the TARDIS. Ross paused, and stared wide eyed around the console room. He quickly ran out. The human was probably trying to figure out the 'bigger on the inside' concept. The boy finally ran back inside.
"It's going to follow us," he panicked.
The Doctor rushed around the console, pressing buttons and pulling knobs. "The assembled hoards of Genghis Khan couldn't get through that door, and believe me, they've tried. Now shut up a minute."
The Doctor set the head on the console panel, and started to attach wires to it. If she could set up a connection, then she could get to the main signal!
"You see, the arm was too simple, but the head is perfect! I can use it to trace the signal back to the original source." The Doctor turned to the confused human. "Right. Where do you want to start?"
"Um… The inside's bigger than the outside…?" Ross spoke hesitantly.
"Yes."
"'s alien."
"Yeah."
"Are you alien?"
"Yes… Is that alright?" The Doctor prepared herself for a scream and rejection from the boy.
"Yeah."
'Thank Rassilon! I'm no good with emotional situations.' She thought to herself.
"It's called the TARDIS, this thing. T. A. R. D. I. S. That's Time And Relative Dimension In Space."
Ross looked ready to burst into tears.
'Please don't cry! Please don't cry!'
"That's okay. Cultural Shock. Happens to the best of us," she spoke awkwardly. She really wasn't good with the whole 'emotions' thing.
"Did they kill her? Mickey? Did they kill Mickey? Is she dead," Ross asked concerned.
The Doctor furrowed her eyebrows. "Oh, didn't think of that."
"She's my girlfriend. You pulled off her head. They copied her and you didn't even think?" He then wildly gestured to the console panel. "And now you're just going to let her melt?"
"Melt?" The Doctor turned to look and gasped.
"Oh no! No, no, no, no!"
She ran over to the console fast, and set the TARDIS in motion. She needed to follow that signal!
"What are you doing?"
"Following the signal. It's fading! Wait a minute," she quickly latched onto the fading signal. "I've got it!" The signal started to fade quicker and was almost gone. "No, no, no, no, no, no, no! Almost there. Almost there. Here we go!"
The TARDIS landed, and the Doctor bolted out the door.
"You can't go out there! It's not safe," Ross yelled behind the Doctor.
The night time breeze blew through the Doctor's hair. She frowned deeply.
"I lost the signal. I got so close!"
"We've moved. Does it fly?"
"Disappears there and reappears here. You wouldn't understand." She was frustrated with the situation.
"If we're somewhere else, what about the headless thing? It's still on the loose."
The Doctor began to stress out.
"It melted with the head. Are you going to witter on all night," she questioned bitterly.
There was a short pause before Ross quietly spoke up, almost heartbroken.
"I'll have to tell her mother. Mickey. I'll have to tell her mother she's dead, and you just went and forgot her, again! You were right, you are alien."
The Doctor faced Ross now. She was getting very cross.
"Look, if I did forget some kid called Mickey-"
"She's not a kid!"
"It's because I'm trying to save the life of every stupid ape blundering on top of this planet, all right!"
Selfish. That's what these humans are. Ungrateful for the acts of heroicness she does. She risks her life countless times, and all they care about are themselves.
"If you're an alien, how comes you sound like you're from the North?"
"Lots of planets have a North." She was starting to calm down.
"What's a 'police public call box'?"
"It's a telephone box from the 1950's. It's a disguise."
"Okay. And this, this living plastic. What's it got against us?"
"Nothing. It loves you. You've got such a good planet. Lots of smoke and oil, plenty of toxins and dioxins in the air, perfect. Just what the Nestene Consciousness needs. Its food stock was destroyed in the war, all its protein plants rotted, so Earth, dinner!" She made an eating motion.
"Any way of stopping it?"
The Doctor grinned, before taking out a tube filled with blue liquid.
"Anti-plastic."
"Anti-plastic?"
"Anti-plastic! But first I've got to find it. How can you hide something that big in a city this small?"
"Hold on. Hide what?" Ross asked.
"The transmitter. The consciousness is controlling every single piece of plastic, so it needs a transmitter to boost the signal."
"What's it look like?"
"Like a transmitter. Round and massive, slap bang in the middle of London."
Ross stared behind the Doctor, but she didn't notice.
"A huge circular metal structure like a dish, like a wheel. Radial. Close to where we're standing. Must be completely invisible!"
Ross kept gesturing towards the Eye.
"What?" The Doctor looked around confused. She finally saw the Eye and caught on.
"Oh. Fantastic!"
The Doctor then began to bolt across the Westminster Bridge. Ross was running right next to her. She grinned and held out her hand to him. He took it. They both ran together hand-in-hand down to the Eye.
"Think of it, plastic all over the world, every artificial thing waiting to come alive. The shop window dummies, the phones, the wires, the cables-"
"The breast implants," Ross added in.
"Still, we've found the transmitter. The consciousness must be somewhere underneath."
Ross took off out of the Doctor's sight.
"What about down there," Ross calls.
The Doctor went over to investigate. She ended up finding a manhole. She grinned.
"Looks good to me!"
They ran down the parapet's steps. The Doctor opened up the hatch to find a red glow from below. She began down the latter. Once down, she cautiously opened the door. Inside was, to no surprise, the consciousness.
'Ross is fantastic! I might have to keep him around.'
"The Nestene Consciousness," She pointed to the vat. "That's it, inside the vat. A living plastic creature."
"Well then, tip in your anti-plastic and let's go," Ross said, a bit unnerved.
The Doctor frowned, before heading down the stairs.
"I'm not here to kill it. I've got to give it a chance."
She walked down to a catwalk overlooking the vat.
"I seek audience with the Nestene Consciousness under peaceful contract according to convention fifteen of the Shadow Proclamation."
The vat of plastic started to flex. It approved of her request.
"Thank you. If I might have permission to approach?"
The Doctor noticed Ross run straight to Mickey with worry. She just rolled her eyes at them.
"Oh god! Mickey, it's me! It's okay, it's all right."
"That thing down there, the liquid. Ross, it can talk!" Mickey was practically shaking from fright.
"Doctor, they kept her alive!"
"Yeah, that was always a possibility. Keep her alive to maintain the copy," she informed him.
"You knew that and you never said," he asked slightly cross.
"Can we keep the domestics outside? Thank you." The Doctor shot as she walked down to get closer to the consciousness.
"Am I addressing the consciousness?" It replied with a yes.
"Thank you. If I might observe, you infiltrated this civilization by means of warp shunt technology. So, may I suggest, with the greatest respect, that you shunt off?"
The vat of plastic started to reply angrily.
"Oh don't give me that. It's an invasion, plain and simple. Don't talk constitutional right."
The consciousness started to angrily splash back and forth.
"I am talking!" The Time Lord yells. "This planet is just starting. These stupid little people have only just learnt how to walk, but they're capable of so much more. I'm asking you on their behalf. Please, just go."
"Doctor!" Ross yelled out.
She turned around just in time to see the plastics grab her. She struggled against them. One dummy took the anti-plastic from her pocket.
"That was just insurance! I wasn't going to use it!"
The consciousness was extremely angry now.
"I was not attacking you! I'm here to help. I'm not your enemy. I swear, I'm not!"
The consciousness screeched at the Doctor.
"What do you mean," she asked confused.
Just then, a door slid back to reveal the TARDIS.
"No. Oh, no. Honestly, no!" She knew where this was going. It was horrified of her, because of the war.
"Yes, that's my ship." It screeched at her more. "That's not true! I should know, I was there! I fought in the war. It wasn't my fault. I couldn't save your world! I couldn't save any of them!"
"What's it doing," Ross called down.
"It's the TARDIS! The Nestene's identified its superior technology. It's terrified. It's going to the final phase. It's starting the invasion!" Her stomach dropped. "Get out, Ross! Just leg it now!"
The consciousness started to throw energy bolts around.
"It's the activation signal. It's transmitting!"
The Eye started to light up with energy.
"It's the end of the world." Ross stated.
The plastic in the vat was getting extremely agitated.
"Get out, Ross! Just get out! Run!" The Doctor was starting to get anxious. She just wanted Ross to get out safely.
"The stairs are gone," he yelled.
'Oh great.'
The Autons tried to push the Doctor into the vat. Ross and Mickey ran to the TARDIS hoping for safety.
"I haven't got the key," he yelled.
"We're going to die," Mickey cried.
"No!" The Doctor yelled.
"Time Lord." The Nestene spoke.
The Doctor continued to struggle against the Autons. She ended up tossing one over her shoulder into the vat just as Ross swung by on a chain. He kicked the other Auton into the vat along with the anti-plastic.
"Ross!" She grabbed a hold of him as he shakily landed back on the platform. They both looked down at the consciousness.
"Now we're in trouble," she tells him as she starts to run for the TARDIS.
Explosions start to go off everywhere. She quickly unlocked the TARDIS and hastily brushed past Mickey. As soon as she saw they were both inside, she started running around the console flipping switches and hitting buttons. She internally gave a sigh of relief once they rematerialized at a safer place. Mickey quickly stumbled out followed by Ross. The Doctor just smiled and leaned against the door frame.
"Nestene Consciousness? Easy." The Doctor grinned.
"You were useless in there. You'd be dead if it wasn't for me," Ross pointed out.
The Gallifreyan nodded. "Yes, I would. Thank you." There was a long pause before the Doctor spoke again. "Right then. I'll be off, unless, er… I don't know, you could come with me." She smiled at Ross, hopeful. "This box isn't just a London hopper, you know. It goes anywhere in the universe free of charge."
"Don't! She's an alien. She's a thing!" Mickey warned Ross.
'Rude!'
"She's not invited," the Doctor pointed at Mickey. She looked at Ross, "What do you think? You could stay here, fill your life with work and food and sleep, or you could go anywhere."
"Is it always this dangerous?" Ross asked.
The Doctor smiled and nodded. "Yeah."
The Doctor inwardly glared at Mickey for hugging Ross's waist. "Yeah, I can't. I've, er, I've got to go and find my mum and someone's got to look after this dim lump, so…"
She nodded awkwardly. "Okay, see you around." She quickly retreated into the TARDIS, and took off for the time vortex.
Once in the vortex, she sat down on the jumper seat. She couldn't help but feel disappointed. Ross and she could have gone on so many amazing adventures together. He could have been great to have around even if he did aggravate her at times. He was brilliant! It's also been quite some time since she had a companion with her. She couldn't just give up so easily! Something had to make him want to join her. Just then, an idea hit her.
She re-materialized the TARDIS back in the same spot it was in just seconds before. She sprinted to the door, and poked her head out.
"By the way, did I mention it also travels in time?"
She watched as Ross gave Mickey a peck on the cheek, before quickly running into the TARDIS. And off they went.
Yay! More adventures are to come! The next chapter will be on the second episode, then some things will start to change. :)
Thanks for reading! You are fantastic!
XXX ShawtyGoneMad