Chapter 5! YaY! Not much else to say...I'm on a writer's block for Third Time's the Charm. I've no clue how what to do. I've got a vague idea, but that's it. I've started typing "The Christmas Invasion v2" and boy is it tense. Tense and frought with angst! ((Chibi!Eight: Oh joy...))

Disclaimer: Nope. Still a no-go.

The Doctor wasn't too sure what he was doing. Well, he knew what he was doing, he just wasn't sure about why he was doing it. After what had happened with Grace in San Fransisco, he had promised himself that he wouldn't let himself get close to another human in fear that they could pay with their life, as Grace and Chang had. But here he was, running across a bridge while holding hands with a young girl to try and find a deadly alien with the power to animate any piece of plastic. A little voice in the back of his mind told him not to get too attached, told him that in the end she would be gone just like all the others. It sounded oddly like his Fourth self. For a brief moment he wondered why that was, but the girl beside him was talking to him.

"You are absolutely mad!" she laughed as they turned off the bridge. The Doctor grinned.

"Story of my life, my friend!" he laughed as they stopped underneath the London Eye and looked around. "All the plastic in the world...Every artificial thing waiting to come alive and take over the Earth. The shop window dummies, the telephones, wires, cables..."

"The breast implants..."

The Doctor looked at her with a raised eyebrow and shook his head.

"The things humans come up with...I swear you people are so strange. Anyway. We found the transmitter, so the Consciousness should be underneath here somewhere. Look for an opening, a hatch, something that could lead us underground." the Doctor started peering around at the ground. Rose called to him from a way aways.

"What about down here?" she pointed to a hatch in the ground that was slightly smoking. The Doctor walked over and grinned. He offered her his arm, raising an eyebrow.

"Would you care to accompany me to discuss matters with the Nestene Consciousness?" he said charmingly. Rose smiled and took his arm.

"Why not?"

Mickey was terrified. He didn't know where he was or how he got there. All he remembered was being pulled (or shoved. He really hoped he was shoved in instead of pulled) into a plastic bin, then he woke up tied to a railing underground. Then there was the fact that below him was a giant vat of glowing, writhing plastic that was growling threats at him. Being kidnapped was one thing, but plastic that was vocally threatening him? That was a bit much for him.

"I seek audience with the Nestene Consciousness under peaceful contract of section 15 of the Shadow Proclamation," Mickey jumped and banged his head against the metal railings at the strange sudden voice. He shuddered as the thing in the vat growled something.

"May I approach?"

Another growl, and Mickey whimpered quietly. His curiosity got the better of him and he turned his head slightly to see who was speaking. He couldn't see the man, but he saw someone else running down the metal steps towards him. His heart fluttered as he recognized Rose, and the clear concern on her face. She hugged him and he pointed with a shaky finger to the vat.

"The...the...the thing in there. It talks!" he said, his voice more a whimper than he would've liked it. She turned to look at the man she had come with, relief on his face.

"Doctor, they kept him alive!"

"That was always a possibility. Keep him alive to sustain the DNA replicate longer than original time slotted for it,"

Mickey stared at the man as he went down another level. Who was he? Was he the Doctor that Rose was talking to Clive about? He didn't seem so special.

"You alright?" Rose asked him. He let out a single laugh, which came out as a small squeak. Rose smiled and gave him a quick kiss on the forehead, standing to help him stand. It took a minute, due to the fact that his legs were slightly asleep. They walked over (Mickey leaning on Rose while he regained feeling in his legs) to a section of the railing directly behind and above the Doctor. He seemed to be talking to the vat of plastic, the Nestene Consciousness.

"Am I addressing the Nestene Consciousness?" the Doctor said loudly, politely but with a slight edge. The alien inside bubbled lowly.

"Thank you. You have infiltrated this civilization by banned warp-shunt technology. I respectfully ask you to, as these humans say, 'Take a hike.'" he continued, voice still polite but the edge was becoming more pronounced. The Consciousness roared loudly, causing Mickey and Rose to shudder at the venom in it's tone, but the Doctor was unmoved.

"What you are doing is an invasion, as you have tried twice before, simple as that. Do not try to convince me that you have constitutional rights to justify this!"

The Consciousness roared again, this time with enough forse to shake the dust from the ceiling high above them. The Doctor glared at the living plastic.

"I'm not finished!" the Doctor shouted back. The Consciousness quieted to a low continuous rumble. "Thank you. This planet is still developing, these slow humans have just crawled out of the mud. They are just opening their eyes and seeing there is more than meets the eye. They are capable of so much more than we give them credit for! I am asking you nicely on their behalf. Please leave and find some other uninhabited planet for your food."

Rose stared at him. Was he really an alien? He had such power behind his words, such a presence here. He was incredible the way he stood there and negotiated with the plastic. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw something move in the shadows. It was a pair of the plastic shop windows dummies!

"Doctor!" she yelled to warn him. He turned around just in time to be grabbed by one of them. It pulled his arms around his back while the other searched through his pockets. The Consciousness roared as the Auton pulled out the vial of AntiPlastic. The Doctor's eyes widened as the Nestene threw out accusations at him.

"Nononono, I wasn't going to use it! It was just insurance!" he shouted, a small note of panic working it's way into his voice. The Nestene Consciousness roared once more, and the Doctor winced.

"I wasn't here to attack! I'm here to help you!" he pleaded. "I'm not your enemy. I swear, I'm not."

The Nestene growled wildly, and the Doctor's eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

"What?"

A door behind Rose and Mickey slid open, a light flashing within before fading away to reveal the TARDIS. The Doctor's hearts sank. Things had just gone from bad to worse. The Nestene rumbled lowly.

"Yes. That is my ship,"

The rumbling raised into an accusing roar. The Doctor glared at the living plastic.

"That's not true!" he yelled. "I should know, I was there! I fought in the War, I ended it! I couldn't save your world, I couldn't save any of them!" His pain was evident in the last sentence, even Rose could hear it. When she asked him if he was all alone, now she knew he really was. That War must've been something if he was the only survivor. She saw the Nestene start to thrash about in it's vat, it's shrieks echoing in the underground cavern.

"What's happening Doctor?" she asked, wondering if there was anything she could do to help. The Doctor struggled with the Auton holding him.

"The Nestene has identified the TARDIS as superior technology, and now it's moving it's plan to the next stage. It's starting the invasion!"

And for the second time in my life, I can do nothing as it happens...