Things are starting to roll now. Please enjoy and a very Merry Christmas to all, home and abroad.
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Chapter 6
Rory fiddled with the sonic screwdriver, trying to unlock the cell door. Beside him, Amy was tapping her foot.
"Well?"
"Sonic is having a hard time with the lock," he muttered, trying another setting. Just how many settings did this thing come with? And how was he supposed to know that Amy's saying a particular color wasn't very flattering on the Queen of Kratos was an executable offense to the offender and accomplice?
There was a click as that setting worked.
"C'mon," he whispered, checking for guards. Apparently, they didn't expect their prisoners to be able to escape, because there wasn't a soul in sight.
They dashed through corridors, past frightened people and surprised royal guards. It was only by luck that they were able to make it to the TARDIS, who had moved herself nearby to the royal gardens. Just as Rory shut and locked the door behind them, there was a ton of pounding on the door. It remained unyielding.
Rory started pulling levers, pressing buttons, and generally doing all he could to avoid looking his wife in the eye. She didn't take too well to being ignored.
"I'm getting tired of this," she said.
"Of what?"
She gestured wildly. "Of running for my life, of getting shot at, and locked up, and…and…"
She flopped down in the seat. "Just…take me home, ok?"
With a sigh, he let his hands follow some kind of pattern. Within minutes, they were on a street very close to the Pond house. Amy grabbed a few things and made for the door.
"Amy?" he asked tentatively.
"What?" she snapped.
He sighed again, stuffing his hands in his pockets. "Well, am I supposed to just drop you off or am I allowed to say goodbye?"
Amy gave him a cold stare. "Whatever."
And she was out the door.
He groaned. "Amy!"
He darted out behind her. Catching sight of her about twenty feet away, he ran to catch up.
"Amy?" he said.
"Leave me alone!"
"Amy! What did I do?"
She swung around. She was furious and Rory mentally took a step back.
"What did you do? You crashed in my garden when I was seven, then took off and I didn't see you again until I was nineteen! I spent two years searching for you, finally finding you and you didn't even want me on board at first."
Ouch, thought Rory. This Amy clearly had a lot more mental issues and had latched onto him. Some part of him wondered if maybe the Rory of this universe looked like the Doctor. If there was even a Rory at all.
"Are you even listening to me?"
"Go home, Amy."
She stared at him. "What?"
This wasn't what he wanted, but he knew it was what was needed.
"Go home, Amy. Go to your mum and dad, or whoever it is you have waiting for you at home." Rory's voice was flat, heavy, resigned.
Amy stared at him, mouth opening and closing, before running off. This time, Rory did not pursue her, but chose instead to return to the TARDIS.
Once back in, Rory closed his eyes and thought. The more he thought, the harder his head pounded.
"Right," he said out loud. "This is a fantasy world and I want out. How do I get out?"
The phone on the console started ringing. Rory stared at it. It kept ringing. Tentatively, he picked up the receiver and put it to his ear.
"Hello?"
"This is the Matrix Prime Virtual Reality Help Line," said a calm, female, automated voice. "If you wish to continue your virtual fantasy, please say yes. If you wish to leave, please say no."
"No."
"Please state your name."
"Rory Williams."
There was a pause and some music.
"Rory Williams, you have decided to leave the Matrix Prime Virtual Reality System. If you accept this to be true, please say yes and you will be withdrawn from the System. If this is false, please say no and you will remain in the System."
Rory gave a longing look at the TARDIS doors, then at his reflection. This world wasn't right. It was time to go.
"Yes."
A brilliant white light.
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Amy took off into downtown London. She didn't care where she went, so long as it was somewhere the Doctor wasn't.
She finally collapsed near a ruined building. A burnt flyer advertised clothing half off at Henrik's blew past her feet.
"Excuse me, Miss?"
She peered up at the police officer. He was staring at her with concern.
"Are you all right?"
She stood up, a bit wobbly. "Yeah, I'm fine."
He smiled. "What's your name?"
"Amy. Amy Pond."
"Well, Amy, Amy Pond. Any reason you're hiding near an abandoned building?"
"Just…just had to get away."
"Ah," he winked knowingly. "Boyfriend troubles?"
She swallowed. "Sorta, yeah." She stared up at the building. "What happened here?"
The officer looked up at it. "Eh, there was an explosion some years ago. Took out the top floor and cracked other parts and made it structurally unsound. But no one will buy it to fix it. Think it's cursed, see?"
She didn't, but kept quiet about that.
"Amelia!"
"Oh, no," she muttered.
"There you are!" the Doctor beamed. "I thought you'd gotten yourself into trouble! Again!"
She managed a smile. "No, Doctor, that's you."
The officer was staring at the Doctor, a frown now on his face.
"Well, come along, then, Pond. We've got more to do than hang around old buildings."
"Now wait a minute here," interrupted the officer. "I recognize your face and I do believe it's wanted."
"Oh, really? Someone wants this face?" He poked at the chin. "Mind you, it looks nice on me but–"
The officer reached toward his bobby stick. "I'm arresting you, sir, on suspicion of kidnapping and child molestation."
The Doctor looked unperturbed. "So she filed those charges after all."
"Might want to add murder to that list too," said Amy, hands gripped tightly at her side.
"And just who did I supposedly kill?" the Doctor sarcastically said.
"Rory. Rory Williams, from Leadworth. Died when his car hit an object that suddenly appeared in the middle of the road. Bit convenient, huh?"
A dark look came over the Doctor's face, and, for a moment, Amy's heart froze. She saw what the other beings in their travels saw: the anger and the fury of the last of the Time Lords, barely contained within his frame.
"You heard me. In the TARDIS."
She didn't trust herself to speak, only nodded.
The officer chose that moment to strike. The Doctor staggered as the stick made contact with his jaw.
"Run, Amy!" urged the officer.
And so, Amy ran. All that time she had spent with the Doctor, she put to good use. She ran for a mile solid, finally ducking into a pizza place. She gulped air down, lungs heaving.
"I need to get out of here, whatever this place is. Do you hear me!" she shouted, getting the attention of several patrons. "I want out!"
A phone rang. She looked around, but no one was answering it. She finally saw it on the wall of the parlor.
"Aren't you gonna get that?" she asked an employee, who was staring at her.
Startled, he looked at the phone. "Why? It's not ringing."
Wide-eyed, she reached over and picked up the receiver.
"Hello?"
"This is the Matrix Prime Virtual Reality Help Line," said a calm, female, automated voice. "If you wish to continue your virtual fantasy, please say yes. If you wish to leave, please say no."
Amy smiled. So there was a safety in the program after all.
"No."
"Please state your name."
"Amy Pond."
There was a pause and some music.
"Amy Pond, you have decided to leave the Matrix Prime Virtual Reality System. If you accept this to be true, please say yes and you will be withdrawn from the System. If this is false, please say no and you will remain in the System."
A hand suddenly gripped her shoulder. Startled, she was forcibly turned to see the Doctor there. His lower lip was cracked and bleeding and one of his eyes was blackened.
"Hello again, Pond. Thought you'd sneak away, did you?"
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Rory gasped as the VR-pod opened. The smell of lubricants was a stark contrast to the world he had left. Yanking the temple leads off, he patted himself down, assuring himself that he was back in his own skin. A quick hand over his chest reassured him he had only one heart. He turned to the other VR-pods.
Amy's face was pinched with pain as she appeared to squirm away from someone or something. Not sure what to do, Rory fumbled with the miniature control panel. It refused to open her pod.
"Amy! Amy!" he shouted.
He banged on the cover, ignoring the spots on his hands.
"Amy! Whatever is happening in there isn't real!"
He bit his lip and thought. Quickly, he pressed one of the temple leads back on, then jerked the other out farther so that it could be put on the miniature control panel to Amy's pod.
"This is probably a really bad idea."
There was a sizzle, then white.
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Evil!Doctor is kinda fun to write, in a twisted way. Er, that was a pun. Anyway, we're officially more than halfway through the story. If you can spare a min to write a review, that would be a very nice Christmas gift. Thanks.
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The First Doctor: Here's a toast, a happy Christmas to all of us.
Steven: The same to you, Doctor, Sara.
The First Doctor: And incidentally, a happy Christmas to all of you at home!
–The Daleks' Master Plan, broadcast 13 Nov 1965 – 29 January 1966.