Chapter 6 - Lark in the Park.
New chapter! Sorry for the delay, but I have technically finished the writing, but I will fill in any chapters until I decide to finish it - I have done a final chapter and an epilogue. Please remember to review, follow and favourite if you like :)
The TARDIS wheezed and groaned as it arrived in Latham Park. It landed amongst the tall trees in one section, disguising it well. Clara emerged from the doors first, followed by the Doctor.
"I think that this is it," Clara said, looking around at the environment. "Come on, let's go find the kids,". The Doctor stared at Clara in annoyance.
"Wearing the bow tie does not put you in charge!" He said indignantly.
"I thought I was the boss?" Clara replied playfully. The Doctor started a sentence in complaint, but stopped, only managing a frustrated mutter.
The pair wandered around the park until they reached the play area. Artie was running around, jumping over the steps whilst Angie was sat on the swings, texting on her phone. Clara could now easily vault over the fence, but the Doctor had to slowly open the gate and walk through.
"About time!" Angie shouted the moment she saw Clara. Artie stopped running around, accidentally colliding with the Doctor, knocking him to his feet.
"What seems to be the problem, then?" asked Clara, in lieu of the Doctor's breathlessness.
"Follow us," Angie said, getting up off of the swing.
As the group walked across the park, the Doctor was walking with a slight limb due to the bruising on his leg. They finally reached a tree that was perfectly average, save for the padlocked bike chain around it.
"It's so we could find it again, you see?" Artie explained. Clara examined the tree, looking up, and down, and up again.
"So what's wrong with it?" She asked, completely confused.
"It grew to this size in 3 days. It was tiny one day, about our height the next and this height today," Artie said, beaming with excitement.
The Doctor whipped out his sonic and pressed the button, listening closely to the buzzing emitting from it.
"It's a Jaknoid, an alien plant. It locates a food source, locks on and grows to immense size. I have just the thing in the TARDIS..." he said, trailing off at the end as he ran back across the park.
"Doctor!" exclaimed Clara, chasing after him. Turning in mid-run, she beckoned for the children to follow her. Angie sighed in exasperation and began to run, already bored with the days events. Suddenly, her phone toppled out of her pocket, dropping to the ground below. As she squatted to pick it up, a long, flexible piece of wood eerily similar to a branch wrapped around her and pulled her in.
When Clara finally caught up with the Doctor, he was rummaging around in a cabinet in the console room.
"Weevil spray, WOTAN part, WWII map, AHA! Weed killer: Krynoid Strength!" he shouted in
victory, holding up a small blue crystal. "Throw that onto the top of the tree and it'll drop dead in less than 5 seconds!".
The Doctor and Clara had returned to the Jaknoid, only to find Artie searching desperately.
"What've you lost?" Clara asked kindly.
"Angie!" he screamed back, on the verge of tears.
"Maybe she just went for a walk," the Doctor suggested to the child.
"Her phone's on the ground! She wouldn't have left it behind!" he said back, distraught now.
"Doctor, is it me or is the tree a little...bigger now?" Clara asked, staring at the tree carefully. The Doctor's face grew dark as he put two and two together.
"Artie!" he shouted. "Get back from there!". The boy looked back at him and turned to face the tree. Two long tendrils reached out and plucked up Artie, pulling him close to the tree. The middle section split to show Angie strapped in to the hollow innards of the tree.
As Artie was pulled in, it sealed around him and grew to incredible heights, only a little shorter than the trees around it. "The tree! I can just climb up it!" shouted the Doctor, running towards the tree and it's lowest branch. He leapt up and tried to grasp the branch, but his fingers just missed it and he fell to the ground in a heap.
"I'm too small!" he murmured in realisation. "Clara, I am so sorry, but you'll have to do it," he said to his companion.
"I've not really got a head for heights..." she protested ad he handed her the crystal.
"Well it's a good thing I do then. Or did.." he replied. "Come on, Clara. There isn't much time left!" Clara brace herself and leapt at the branch.
Her chest made contact, which allowed her to pull herself up and balance carefully on the branch. As she looked up, the branches seemed to wobble before her...
"You can do it, Clara!" a voice came from what seemed to be a million miles below. Quaking, she jumped up and climbed up the tree as quickly as she could.
Finally, she reached the top and grabbed the crystal. Her hands were sweaty from the exercise, which caused it to slip. It fell, pirouetting in midair. She dropped down, grabbing a branch in one hand and the crystal in the other.
Her arm muscles screamed at her, but she held on and pulled herself up. Aiming the crystal, she threw it. Miraculously, it landed on top of the Jaknoid, making it shrink rapidly.
As it reached the ground, it deformed itself around Artie and Angie, freeing them. Soon, all that was left was a small sapling again.
By the time Clara had abseiled down the tree, the kids had gone and gotten an ice cream, courtesy of the Doctor. He was examining the sapling, a shovel in his left hand.
"What are you going to do with it, Doctor?" Artie asked, licking his ice cream.
"Take it to Jaknossin, let it grow naturally, I suppose," the Doctor replied. As he went to dig it up shovel poised in his right arm, a football soared through the air and crushed the sapling into a pile of green goo.
"Then again," the Doctor muttered in defeat...
As the duo waved the kids off home, the Doctor had a pleased look on his face.
"What?" Clara asked, curious as to his joy.
"Well, I think it went pretty well, all things considered," he said smugly. Clara took offence to this; but for once, rather than resort to sarcasm, she had a more powerful weapon.
"You think you're so clever, don't you?" she asked. The Doctor nodded happily in reply.
"Good luck in two weeks," she finished, walking into the TARDIS. The Doctor's face crumbled as he worked out her reference.
"CLARA!"