Death Comes for the Doctor
Part One: The Trials of a Time Lord
Chapter Three
Author's note: This one will start to make sense after the next two chapters. Hope you're enjoying it!
"Death is angry, Doctor. He wants his revenge and there is nothing you can do to stop it…"
The Valeyard began again to laugh before being interrupted by the Doctor, who picked up a helmet off the ground and examined it.
"What does this "Death" fellow want from me? This seems like a rather roundabout way to exact revenge. Isn't torture the usual modus operandi? Or maybe just execution straight away? Or maybe he wants some sort of humiliation." The Doctor started irreverently.
"Now you are getting somewhere, Doctor. You see, Death is just; He wants to give you an opportunity to make amends for your transgressions against his laws."
"Transgressions? How do you mean, Valeyard?"
"The transgressions of your people must be accounted for. They attempted to escape Death's inevitable victory by harnessing the power of time travel. But that was not enough! No! You had to frustrate death by renewing your weak bodies when he draws closest!" The Valeyard's voice increased in volume and ferocity as he spoke.
"Your people? Don't you mean "our" people?" the Doctor interjected, suspect of the identity of his captor.
After a short pause, the Valeyard responded.
"I am not the Valeyard. I am merely using your mental image of him as a medium for communication."
"Why him?" the Doctor asked, bewildered.
"Because he is the purest form of evil in your mind."
"Evil? I thought Death was just" the Doctor mockingly replied.
"Your evil is my good, Doctor" the Valeyard's response triggered something in the Doctor. He wasn't sure what it was, but then it struck him.
"Sutekh? I thought you were-" the Doctor began before being interrupted.
"The one you called Sutekh is merely a pawn in my hands. Servant of the almighty Death! Now the time has come for you to pay for your crimes, Doctor!"
The jungle of Deraubus began to fade around the Doctor and the Valeyard's familiar cackle was also beginning to disappear.
"No! Wait!" the Doctor plead, still attempting to extract information from the imposter.
The Doctor was then transported again. This time he was in a dark, damp cave. All he could hear was dripping and pattering of water against the rock, until the Valeyard's voice once again echoed throughout the cave.
"Seven times you have wronged Death, and seven times you must face him. So begins the game of death…"
The words stuck in the Doctor's head for awhile and he was able to conclude a couple things. One, the captor knew much about him, if not only for the knowledge of his seven regenerations, and two, he seemed ready to answer one the big three questions he said he needed to answer before formulating an escape. Who brought him here? Death apparently was the answer.
"Whoever this Death character is, I need to find a way to see him" the Doctor thought to himself. Before he could ponder any longer, his silent meditation was disturbed by the spine tingling roar of a Romax (a large bear-like animal that stands 8 foot tall and is a major carnivore). The Doctor quickly got up and ran, searching for the nearest exit. He saw light and sped down the corridor, only to be met with the face of the hungry beast, blocking the exit.
"Well, I cant bust my way through…" he began thinking.
"Is that what I think it is? Perfect!"
He noticed that the beast was standing under a large buttress which held back a few big loose rocks. He fumbled around in his pockets and pulled out his trusty sonic screwdriver. With a few adjustments he was able to find the harmonic resonance of the buttress.
"A ha! If I can tune this to the frequency of the electron motion I can…"
CRASHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
Instantly the buttress came crashing down, bringing with it the fury of 1000 pounds of rock, landing squarely on the head of the Romax, killing it. The Doctor sighed in relief and sat back on a fallen rock, wiping his brow.
"Is that the best you've got, Death?" The Doctor scorned.
A large flash of light filled the room and blinded the Doctor. After a moment the Doctor regained his senses and felt around.
"Sand?" he thought.
"Oh, no…"
He was in the middle of a desert, right under the midday sun. The Doctor was baking as he franticly ran forward, looking for an oasis. After a couple hours of walking, the Doctor collapsed in the sand, the hot sun blazing.
"You cannot escape me, Doctor, no one ever has…"
Okay, stay tuned for Chapter Four. Can the Doctor escape certain doom and win the game of Death?