Chapter 28: The Caged Jungle
/the Doctor\\
His eyes groggily opened, feeling a weight on top of him. His vision was blurry but he could feel his neck craned in an uncomfortable position, his knees bent because of his lanky figure, and arms around him.
The Doctor fully opened his eyes to see Derpy directly on top of him and blushed profusely. She was cuddling her arms around him with her legs wrapped in a straddle around his waist and her head on his chest. At that exact moment, his assistant woke up, blushing as well and jumping off of him in embarrassment. The seeming-to-be cage swung back and forth when she hit the wall.
"S-s-sorry, Doctor," she stammered, "I didn't mean to-"
-He laughed, shaking his head and sitting up into a more comfortable position. "It's okay. Just caught me by surprise is all."
Derpy nodded, yawning. After taking a look around, she immediately clung to him again, the cage swinging once more. "Doctor?! Where are we?!"
The Doctor took it upon himself to glance at his surroundings. They were seemingly in a gray, metal cage with chains suspending them off of the ground by at least ten feet. The air around them was full of other cages, bound to the ceiling like the one they were in, yet at varying heights. The walls weren't seen, the ceiling the same, and because of the lack of windows and placements of lamps shining to the middles of each cage, the room wasn't completely dimmed, allowing them to see some but not all of their place of captivity.
He merely sighed, holding her to him tightly by hooking his arm around her waist. "We're in a cage, darling."
She began trembling. "Doctor, w-we can get out, r-right?" she asked, looking up with tears in her eyes.
The Doctor smiled down at her in a try to make her more optimistic. "Of course, my dear. I wouldn't let you stay in a place such as this."
Derpy smiled. Bringing her lips to his, they shared a short, sweet kiss before a voice barked out to them.
"That's what you think!"
Derpy tried to jump back out of his gasp but the Doctor ended their kiss and held her to him protectively. "Who and where are you?" he loudly asked the familiar voice.
"Well, I'm somewhere, and I'm someone. How about you call me the Ring Leader, or perhaps the Chief In Charge... Or, how about you call me..., the Master?"
/Lilly\\
Lilly sprung awake as Rachel tugged her sleeve. Destery, who was next out of her, shot out of her repose as well.
"Lilly?" the newbie asked.
"Alive and well," she muttered, standing. "Rachel, where are we?"
Rachel appeared, seen clearly by the lamp above. Her smile was now a frown, and she seemed... tired.
"You're in a cage. The others aren't in here... I checked."
"Wait, Rachel as in -?... Oh, I remember now," Destery murmured.
"And there is no possible way you could get us out?"
"Sorry, kiddo. Your cage is the only one without a door. You would have to break it down, and even so you'd fall about 20 feet down onto a had cement floor." She paused. "None at all."
/Hydran\\
Hydran woke up, Scarlet to his right and waking as well. They met each other's gaze and groaned, aware of their surroundings.
"Don't tell me that we are stuck in a cage together!" they whiningly loathed in unison.
/the Doctor\\
The Doctor stood up somehow carefully in his rage, helping Derpy up as well. She clung to him out of obvious fear, for the cage was still swinging.
"Master, why do you insist on doing this to you?!" the Doctor asked impatiently.
"Hm... I wonder," he responded. "Can you guess?!"
Derpy gasped, doubling over in obvious pain with her arm wrapped around her stomach. The Doctor quickly brought them back down to their knees and wrapped his arms around her in a hurry, looking up the ceiling as she folded herself up in his grasp.
"Master, if a speck of harmful intentions show, you will suffer for what you have put us all through, you hear me?!" the Doctor barked.
"Oh, I hear you... It's too bad, though, it honestly is..."
"Why...?" Derpy asked quietly.
"Oh, my poor little Derpy-Doo," the Master teased, causing the Doctor to tense and tighten his grip around her, "because you will never live to the tell the tale and make me quote-unquote 'suffer'."
Derpy whimpered, tightening her desperate grip around the Doctor's arm. His eyes had turned to stone.
"And if we do?" he tried.
The Master scoffed. "You won't. Outside of these walls there are enemies beyond compare of all your travels. Not only have I hidden your TARDIS somewhere deep in it's depths, but I have also surrounded it by those you two despise most and hid your friends at the same time. Somehow, sometime soon, you both will die."
The Doctor held Derpy tighter to him, shaking his head in disagreement. "No, Master, that is where you are wrong. We aren't gonna die. We will find the TARDIS. And we are going to find our friends," he said. "That's a promise."
The air seemed to filter back into the room, a slight ringing in place of where the Master's voice should've sounded.
The Doctor felt Derpy bury her head against her chest, and he heard a soft sobbing echoing against the walls.
He looked down, running his fingers thorough her silk-like hair. "Derpy...?"
She didn't answer.
"Sweetie, come on..., what's wrong?"
"Everything," she murmured, her voice cracking on the last vowel, looking up into his eyes.
The Doctor frowned empathically. "Ditzy, I would never let you die, first of all. Second, we are going to get you out. Third, he loves to exaggerate, so there may not be that many monsters. Fourth, we are going to find everyone. I swear to Rassilon and back I will not let you down, not now and not ever," he promised, his hand cradling her face and his thumb wiping away her tears. "Are you feeling better now?"
Derpy shook her head. "If anything, it's gotten worse. I'm starting to get really scared..."
He kissed his girlfriend's cheek. "When we get to the TARDIS, we will get into the medbay and lock the door so no one can see. Then we will run some tests to make sure everything's still running smoothly between you two, just to see if it's still there because it's too early on and undeveloped to run any real tests. It could just be fear, stress, or anxiety, and although they're normal and would be for anyone else in your current spot, it isn't always particularly good for him or her."
Derpy nodded slowly, wiping away her tears. "How are we going to get out?"
The Time Lord stood up, carefully pulling up his assistant as well. He grabbed a coin out of his pocket and flicked it out of the cage, waiting several seconds before it clanged against the floor.
"Well, there is a source of solid ground," the Doctor noted. He then smiled sheepishly at his girlfriend and pulled his sonic screwdriver out.
"Oh, shut up!" Derpy exclaimed, sniffling and punching his shoulder playfully. "You mean to tell me that you let me continue crying and having a somewhat panic attack, and all because you thought it'd be a good idea to keep that a secret?"
He inhaled through his teeth, scratching the back of his neck awkwardly. "Well, see, we had to hide it from him, so yes, but I would rather not see you crying, so it's a no, making the situation a half-yes."
"A half-yes?"
"A half-yes."
Derpy giggled.
"...Hey, Ditzy?" the Doctor asked after a lengthy silence of him watching the cell and Derpy watching him.
"Yes?" She walked up to him, placing a hand on his shoulder.
"...No matter what happens, I'm going to protect you."
Derpy blushed before the Doctor soniced a segment of the cell, a lock heard unlocking and a door (which was invisible to the naked eye) swinging open.
He grabbed her hand. "Derpy, ready to jump?"
"Excuse me?!" she gasped.
"The only way out and down is to jump from cell to cell until we reach the ground," he explained.
"Doctor, what if one of us falls?" she asked quietly. "I'm only used to doing this with wings, and even then I would be flying..."
The Doctor kissed her cheek, his hands resting on her shoulders. "Ditzy Doo Hooves, when you became my assistant all those months ago, I promised I wouldn't steer you wrong or endanger you. Plus, what would I do if I did leave you down a path as such?"
"You'd follow me down that path," she murmured, looking into his eyes.
The Time Lord smiled, nodding and embracing her tightly. "Love, you need to trust me."
"I do. I'm just scared."
"And that's okay," he grinned, pulling away. "Ready?"
"Readier than I'll ever be."
The Doctor kissed her hand as if she were royalty and let go, winking at her and jumping to the first cage.
He grabbed onto the first chain about five feet away, his feet swinging the cage back and forth as he slid down and landed, now standing on the surface of the cage. He turned to Derpy.
"You know what to do," he called, "so come join me."
Derpy nodded, smiling and jumping after taking a breath to compose herself. She grabbed his extended hand, pulling herself up.
It continued like that, the Doctor jumping to test the durability of the chains and Derpy following close behind, util after about five more cages they reached the ground.
The Doctor stood at the bottom, Derpy staying on top of the last. It was about, from her feet to the ground, around four or six feet.
"And you're sure I won't break my ankles or anything?" Derpy asked cautiously.
"No. I will catch you."
"Are you sure?"
"Have I ever been wrong?"
"Well..."
"Okay, okay, don't answer," he laughed. "But I am entirely sure of my ability to catch you. I mean, you're not even heavy; I've caught people from a higher height that were double your weight."
The Doctor held his arms in front of him, reaching out to her. She gulped, afterwards jumping.
He hadn't lied; he caught her in a bridal position. It wasn't much, but it did cause them to blush over how close their faces were. And it certainly didn't help it die down when she kissed his cheek.
The Doctor set her down, Derpy thanking him.
"What next?" she asked afterwards.
He grabbed her hand, his other retrieving the sonic screwdriver. "Outside."
/Lilly\\
"Fat lot of good you are," Lilly muttered sarcastically to Rachel.
"Then I guess you wouldn't want me to continue trying to help?" the Spirit taunted.
"What help could you give now that you-"
-Rachel shrieked, paining the psychic's ears. She ran to the edge of the cage as if it would open.
"Rachel?!" she asked, calling out. Unbeknownst to her, the cage was twirling to and fro, the creaking of the rusted chains turning to silence. "Rachel!"
The said apparition appeared, her form bloody and being torn apart by static. The next moments were a blur.
Destery grabbed Lilly's hand. The creaking chains began crying out. The wind rushed by them. Lilly was on the floor. Darkness surrounded her. Something heavy was on her foot; something so heavy she could feel her bones slowly and painstakingly breaking.
White noise...
/Destery\\
The cage had fallen. Destery could feel it about to happen - she fell, and when she did, she leaned away towards the right, away from the cage.
Lilly hadn't.
When Destery stood up, a numbing and shocking pain ran through her left knee. 'Must be broken,' she thought it herself. However, seeing that Lilly's situation was worse, she bit her lip to smother the pain and ran to her.
The psychic was laying face-down on the ground. She had obviously broken her foot somehow; a heavy metal bar from the cage was right on her calcaneum bone, trailing up to her Achilles' tendon. A groan emerged from her limp body.
"Lilly, Lilly? Lilly?!" she asked, her voice shaking.
'Okay...! I have to move the bar!' she realized. Heaving with all of her strength, Destery pushed and pulled at the bar until it rolled off of her and off to the side, joining the rubble pile that, thankfully, Lilly had missed.
"Lilly? Are you awake?" she asked softly before repeating it in a yell (Author's Note: So, like Gero in every Faneru/Gero song!). She received no response to either.
"Alright, alright," Destery said aloud to no one in particular, "How the heck do I do this? Well, you break and arm, you get a cast, you break and a leg and you get a cast, so it must be the same for Lilly's case - whatever it may be. But, how do I get out?! We are trapped in a dark room; how do we- Oh, a door!" She grinned in happiness when she came across said object.
Running to the door, she swiftly opened it, the rusted knob coming off in her hands. What she didn't expect was a... visitor?
The thing standing by the door on the other side was a human-figure, but one made of a bright silver metal. There were circles for eyes, but none were visible. It seemed as though the tearduct implanted in the circle was there to signify something, but she couldn't figure out what.
It's voice was robotic. "You will be deleted. Delete." It took another step closer as Destery backed away, unknowing of this creature's abilities. "Delete." Destery gulped, beginning to fear the worst but in denial over any options being left. "Delete." It raised it's arm towards her, a beam of cerulean blue shooting out.
/Lilly\\
Lilly sat up suddenly, electricity, adrenaline, and an incredible amount of irascibility flooding through her veins.
In front of her was Destery laying on the ground inanimately, and by the now-opened doorway was what Lilly remember to be a Cyberman.
Her foot gave a sudden protest, shooting crippling pain through her leg. Groaning, her hand raised without hesitation or orders. She could feel her heartbeat intensifying, the air coming from her fingertips... The Cyberman slammed into an outside tree, letting out a groan of defeat as it slumped lifelessly to the grass.
"D... Destery?" she asked in a mere whimper.
No response.
"Rachel, is she dead?"
Again, no response. Static rang in her ears.
"Rachel, come on, this isn't funny!"
Then, it dawned on her.
Rachel screaming.
Rachel has screamed out of shock, agony, and terror moments before the cage had fallen.
"Destery," she whispered, crawling strategically to said human.
"The Cyberman must have upgraded to do this number on 'er," Lilly remarked sadly.
Destery's black combat boots and ripped black jeans were in good shape, but her black shirt which read in bold white letters "BLACK VEIL BRIDES" had a gaping hole by the middle of her stomach, which had a matching hole that was bleeding profusely.
"She's dead," Rachel said from behind her.
Lilly felt a wave of anxiety and apprehension as she began to look behind her.
There Rachel stood. Her once white dress was now red in entirety. Her eyes were red and glazed over, yet held a fierce look.
Lilly felt frightened; a bad sign, for it meant that a demonic Spirit was close.
"Rachel, stop it," she pleaded through clenched teeth; "You're scaring me!"
Rachel giggled like a six-year old. "lillY, It seeMS that your ankle, On the Right sIde, is, of course, bRoken. You'LL need a cast or a healer."
Lilly sat in awe, shocked over how Rachel over-enunciated some words rather than all or none.
YIMSORIRLL
LILLYIMSORRY
LILLY I'M SORRY
She decoded it in her head. "Lilly, I'm sorry."
What had happened to her Spirit Guide?
/Hydran\\
Scarlet sat next to him, much to his disliking.
"I still don't understand why we were paired together," she grumbled.
"Hm," he stated in response.
They sat in silence before Scarlet scoffed. When this happened, he looked up, surprised he hadn't seen her stand to look out of the cage bars.
"Fuck this, I'm getting out of here," Scarlet muttered, slamming her shoulder against a collection of seemingly weak bars.
Hydran stood up at once, picking her up over his shoulder (between his middle and left heads) and moving her to the other side of the cage.
She punched his left. "Knock it off! Put me down; you're no pedagogue!"
He snarled when her fist connected, stepping back a few steps in his daze. "Yeah, well I turn into one when I'm gonna save us from falling ten stories!" he remarked.
She fell from his grasp, and she automatic lunged at him.
Kicks and punches were delivered fm Scarlet to Hydran. He growled, throwing her off of him.
"What is this for?"
"Everything!" she yelled, running back to him with enough force to actually knock him over, which did happen, causing him to slam against the bars. The cage swung back and forth.
"What does 'everything' count as?!" he screamed, unable to defend himself because of his three heads.
"You killed me, dumb ass!" she growled, one of her fists clobbering one of his six eyes.
"Ow!" he cried out indignantly. "But you're alive! That's a plus, right?!"
"No! I died, but I could feel it! Every time you clawed me, when my blood was pouring out so quickly you didn't know what to do!" she screamed, tears welling in her eyes in pain of the memories. "I have an 'X' engraved and scarred permanently into my back!"
One punch missed and Hydran found opportunity. Quickly, he switched places with the Skyolozine, pressing her against the bars.
"I should kill you again just for assaulting me," he growled.
"Then do it." Determination was in her eyes, no fear whatsoever.
He nodded curtly before drawing back his right hand, and began to follow through. She didn't flinch as his fist collided with the cell, breaking a hole large enough to fit through.
(Author's Note: Okay, just ignore that, all of you Scarlets out there.)
Scarlet stood up, stepping next to Hydran to get a better look. They both stopped their childish fight when this happened. Looking at each other, they both began to step forwards, but both at one time wouldn't fit.
"I'm going first," they said in unison. "No, I am. No, you're not, I am!"
Scarlet cleared her throat, stepping back. "Oh, my bad, where are my manners today? Ladies first."
The three-headed draconis occidentallis growled, grabbing her and simply throwing her out.
A wave of relief washed over Hydran, but then a wave of wind screeched past him. Before he knew it he was being pushed, and then he fell. The culprit thrashed around in his grip (Author's Note: So, basically like Japan in Northt Italy's car.), and he deducted it was Scarlet.
"Let's end this, for once and for all!" he bellowed.
(Author's Note: Okay, CAUTION! There are serious sexual innuendos about to appear! If you are underage- oh, what am I saying? If you've read most of my story you've already lost your innocence. Anyways, YOU'VE BEEN WARNED!)
Sensing he had only this small snippet of a chance, Hydran put Scarlet underneath of him, and fell on top of her onto the floor, driving them into the hole they created. After a few moments, Hydran groaned and stood up and out of the hole, leaving Scarlet's now-mangled body to just lay there. He honest, didn't care what would happen to it.
"Oh, you naughty dragon," a voice chuckled.
(Author's Note: Alrighty then! No more innuendos!
...For now.)
"Where are you?!" Hydran asked.
"... Everywhere."
"Who are you?" (Author's Note: Kumajirou reference!)
It cleared it's throat. "Thailand. Hungary. Estonia. Mexico. America. Sweden. Taiwan. England. Russia."
A beat of four was clapped into the room. The lights shut off completely before turning back on, and when they did, Scarlet was no longer laying down. In fact, she wasn't even there.
Hydran quickly found the doorway, and flew into what seemed to be a jungle.
/the Master\\
"Don't worry, Scarlet, dear, you're safe now. Open your eyes," he cooed into her ear.
Scarlet sprung up in the hospital bed he had installed into his TARDIS. "Where am I?" she asked.
"In my second TARDIS," he smiled slyly.
"Wait, second? And what happened to the spaceship?"
"My first one was demolished before I got the spaceship, which was stolen by the Cybermen, if you'd want to know that too. I left it when I stole this."
"And how did you steal it?"
The Master sat on the edge of her bed. "Up for a story?"
"Duh."
"Okay. So..., oh, right.
"It was about two weeks ago when a thought evaded me. But this was no ordinary thought, oh, no; his was one on how to kill the Doctor, for once and for all."
"Speaking of, remind me to tell you about Derpy and the Doctor's... relationship," Scarlet suggested.
"Will do. Anyways, so I got this thought, an amazing idea! What if I grabbed another TARDIS? I'd be able to program the Doctor's for later to accomplish the needed problems I'll be causing to his crew."
"Smart."
"Yes. So, I went to Gallifrey's past and stole one."
"Stupid."
"Huh?" he asked, slightly taken aback.
"How the hell were you able to have that transpired? Gallifrey has been time-locked!"
"Now, now, spoilers," he smiled. "It may or may not be true that I had some help."
"By who?"
"One-who-shan't-be-named."
"Ugh," she groaned, "whatever you say."
"Now, what is the latest with our victims?"
Scarlet laughed. "We have incorporated the bastard dragon into our crew, along with someone new that I know not a lot about."
The Master smiled, mischievously rubbing his hands together. "Anything else?"
"Derpy and the Doctor love each other enough to shag in the opposite direction, apparently," Scarlet gossiped.
This caused much laughter from the two.
"Wait, s-s-so they had sex?!" he asked, choking over his laughter.
"Yeah! So now Derpy is gonna have his kid!"
The Master grinned. "Then our master plan is about to fall into action. They'll wait three months before telling, yeah?"
"From what I overhead, yes."
"Then we must wait for the day they admit it."
"And then...?"
"And then we kidnap Derpy instead."
"Wait - what?!"
"Why are you so surprised? If Derp is carrying someone who potentially is or has some DNA of a Time Lord in its system inside of her, we can use it to repopulate the Time Lord race."
"Wait, by 'repopulate'...?"
"We will clone the child once it's born. Either I or the Doctor will then have to... well, you know, but then Time Lord roam the universe once more!"
Scarlet paled. "Master, if that was your hope during this entire epidemic, why did you use protection a month ago?"
"Because if it you were to get you pregnant in the long run, we'd have Time Lord children, but they could predominantly be more Skyolozine. That's why I'm kidnapping Derpy; I'll make sure the child is completely Time Lord, no matter the cost."
/Lilly\
Lilly trudged through the forest. Her mind was in a nebulous state, unknowing of what happened. Rachel had turned into a bloody psychopath, Destery was shot and killed, and her telekinetic power was out of control with a mind of it's own. Anxiety ate away at her heart, causing her to clutch her chest and grimace in a pain. She trudged on.
"Oh, Lilly...," a female voice sang.
It sounded familiar.
"Lilly...," it echoed.
"W-who's there?" she asked.
Lilly trekked towards the voice.
"Come on, Lilly, my dear little flower...,"
That's when she froze.
"My dear little flower." That's what her mum would call her.
Not Derpy, but her real mum.
Lilly was now running, ignoring her ankle's cries of despair and agony. Before she had continued on minutes ago she had done her best to follow Rachel's advice and heal it, but it didn't work completely. She pushed through bushes and branches until she saw the scene.
Standing on a chair was a petite woman with dark brown hair straightened to her mid-back and bangs swiped to the side, only covering one eye. Her eyes were hazel, and her makeup only consisted of a light amount of eyeliner, which had largeness said facial part. She had peaceful tears frozen on her face, not moving down or continuing.
"M... Mu... M... Mum?" Lilly asked, a hand covering her mouth and her eyes overflowing with tears.
"Why did you do this to yourself?" her mum, Roseline, asked, meeting her gaze.
"Do... Do what?"
"You kept everything inside... You his from the truth... You went on a self-mute and took out your pain with scissors because you couldn't find a blade..."
"Mum..., Mum, stop," the psychic pleased, her hands trembling, "I'm sorry...!"
"And then to make it worse you ran away! You've had two families before the Doctor and after us, but you were given up! And now you've finally found a forever-home, but you haven't spoken the truth about us or your life!"
A noose dropped from the tree, and her mum stepped in it.
"Mum! No! I'm sorry!" Lilly screamed, but her mother had disappeared.
Lilly fell to her knees sobbing.
Her mum was right.
She had been lying about her family and herself this entire time.
And her mum committing suicide in a vision could only mean one thing...
"Mum...," she whimpered into her hands, "I'm sorry, I'm so, so sorry... Please come back...!"
/Derpy\\
The Doctor held her hand, his other grasping his sonic screwdriver. She felt his gaze on her, but, unwilling to meet his gaze as she feared shed begin crying, kept her line of sight on the trail.
"What's wrong, love?" he asked, his arm now around her shoulders.
Derpy merely shrugged, her vision frozen on the ground in front of them.
The Doctor stopped walking, cause her to stop as well. He then walked in front of her, holding her arms.
"Ditzy," he said huskily in a quiet manner, "look at me."
She did as asked, saltwater racing down her cheeks.
The Time Lord frowned and wiped them away. "Ditzy Doo," he murmured into her hair, holding her to him tightly. "Why are you crying?"
"I'm just thinking about the future," she whimpered. "My brain is getting messed up. I don't like it here!"
"Neither do I, Ditzy, neither do I," he stated. She wrapped her arms tightly around him in return "We'll get out together, yeah? We'll be safe."
/the Doctor\\
The Doctor felt the air change, wind rushing past them as the change in atmosphere was noted. It made Derpy jump, the Doctor tightening his grip around her protectively.
"Stay still," he whispered, preparing himself for whatever fight may come.
The bushes rustled, as prophesied.
"Primary area scans show: the Doctor! The Doctor!" a robotic and gravely voice yelled. "Exterminate!"
"Ditzy run," the Doctor ordered, letting go of her.
"Doc-"
"-Go," he stated seriously, narrowing his eyes. "I'll meet up with you. Follow the trail."
Derpy nodded, sprinting off. He turned his attention to the Dalek, who had just emerged from the bushes.
"Exter-"
-The Doctor groaned out of annoyance. "Seriously? Again? I've been listening to your worn-out catchphrase for my entire 907 years, it seems! And, to be quite frank, you really need a new one."
"What-Is-This?!" it cried out. "Backup! Send in recruits!"
"Oh," the Doctor inhaled, "not good."
The bushes around him began rustling, closing him in.
"Where is— Found 'the Doctor'! Exterminate, exterminate, exterminaaaaaate!"
Each Dalek screamed until their light bulbs turned dark, losing power. The Doctor felt the color rush into his face!
"'Ello?" he asked quietly, slowly approaching the Dalek and tapping it's head a few times. When he realized it was unresponsive he grinned with pride.
"I wouldn't be too smug," someone laughed. "Your precious little Derpy-Doo is somewhere in these parts, along with enemies..."
The Doctor's gasp died in his throat and he took off running.
Sprinting in her direction he began calling her name frantically, only to be met with a loud "Over here!" He followed the voice.
/Derpy\\
Derpy ran from the Doctor, staying on the trail - until she heard a voice that sounds like her daughter, yet it was sobbing.
She ran over to Lilly upon finding her and embraced her tightly, the psychic jumping out of surprise.
"Sh, sh, sh," Derpy whispered, kneeling, "it's all okay... Why are you crying?"
Lilly looked into her eyes before shaking her head and covering her face, trying to hide the tears.
"Oh, dear," Derpy cooed, running her fingers through her hair. "Come on... Calm down and tell me what's wrong."
"Everything..."
"Derpy?!" the Doctor called out.
"Over here!" she declared.
The Doctor entered the scene, a puzzle look in his eyes. "What's wrong?" he mouthed.
Derpy lipped back, "Everything."
He frowned, approaching Lilly and kneeling as well.
"You guys are just in my imagination too," Lilly whimpered. "Please... J-just leave me alone..."
Derpy shook her head. "No we're real, we're real, Lilly... Wait. What do you mean by just in your imagination too?"
Lilly pulled away, using her long gray sleeve to wipe away her tears. "It's nothing."
The Doctor ruffled her hair teasingly, beckoning her to continue.
Lilly's pupils dilated and she whipped her head around, her face losing color. Her gaze went to her hand, and she eyed it carefully in combination with her fear.
"Lill'?" the Doctor asked.
Her voice came out quiet and frail, cracking (Author's Note: Like, Canada if he was hitting puberty, as awkward as that is to type.). "It's happening again..." she whispered.
"Wait, what's happening?" Derpy questioned.
"Destery died and my telekinesis went berzerk; now I'm feeling the same feeling from when it happened..." She paused. "I need something to keep my hands into fists."
"Why in fists?" Derpy asked.
"I can't use the ability if my fingers aren't extended," she rambled.
"Keep them clenched for now," the Doctor ordered. "I may have something in my pockets to wrap them."
"Okay," Lilly nodded.
"Wait... Destery is...?" Derpy asked.
"Well, yeah, and I couldn't stop it... I also broke my bloody ankle and had to heal it into a sprain!" Lilly angrily stated, obviously frustrated.
"Alright, it's all right. Just calm down," Derpy said soothingly.
"Saying that to a woman is like baptizing a cat," Lilly murmured.
The Doctor chuckled, his hands still fishing into his pocket.
"What?" Derpy and Lilly asked in unison.
"'Baptizing a cat'. Good one. I might use that," he grinned sheepishly, pulling out a pair of scissors, tape, and a shirt,
"Why do you have a shirt in your pocket?" Lilly asked. "How'd it fit without showing?"
"It's Time Lord Science, Lill'," the Doctor smiled, recalling one of their first conversations in the TARDIS.
"Nah, it's just the interior and exterior dimensions," Lilly smiled.
"Oi!" the Doctor gasped before smirking.
"Uh oh, shots fired," Derpy narrated.
The Doctor laughed and shook his head, folding the shirt, cutting it in half vertically, and then in half again, this time horizontally to both pieces.
"Derpy, you handle the tape," the Doctor kindly ordered. "Now, Lilly, this will help you contain your outbursts, okay?"
"Yeah."
He smiled before wrapping 1/4 around, pinning down her thumb and fingertips. The other 1/4 went the same way, but a bit more to the middle of her fingers. Derpy wrapped the duct tape around tightly.
After repeating these actions to her left hand, the Doctor helped his assistant and companion to their feet.
Lilly cleared her throat.
"Yeah?" the Doctor asked.
"We need to-"
"-Delete. Delete. Delete." a Cyberman chanted.
"Derpy, take Lilly and run!"
"We'll follow the trail," Derpy stated, grabbing Lilly's fist and running.
Moments later she heard the sound of a sharp metal being taken out of a case or dragged over other metals, and then felt something nip at her thigh and trail from the inside of her leg to the outside, ending at the bushes. She thought nothing of it.
/Hydran\\
"Stupid," he muttered, swatting at a branch. "Stupid, stupid, stupid! This is all bulls-"
"-Hydran, duck!" a voice reminiscent of the Doctor's ordered.
Hydran raised his arm across his chest, a blue laser hitting it when he turned around. It reflected back and his the Dalek, causing a minor explosion.
"How did you...?" a voice like Lilly's asked.
He smirked, also unknowing to the reason. "I don't know. But, to be completely honest, I like it."
"More behind you, Hydran!" a high-pitched voice called out, which was most likely Derpy. "Doctor!"
"I'm trying!" the Time Lord answered his assistant.
A few more lasers were shot in his direction, much to his enjoyment. He returned the lasers to the Daleks, and when he was sure the coast was clear, he ran back through the bushes to see the Doctor instructing something to Lilly and Derpy with his sonic screwdriver pointed towards an impending circle of Daleks.
The Doctor slammed his sonic screwdriver against his hand multiple times, but it appeared the tool wouldn't work.
"Bloody hell!" he cried out impatiently. "The sonic's been drained, and that isn't even possible with the amount of technology put into this thing!"
Hydran watched from a distance before grabbing each Dalek surrounding the family of three and throwing them all several feet away.
"That'll give us all some time," he explained to a very busy Doctor. He nodded in acknowledgment, still trying to fix the screwdriver.
"Mum, hurry!" Lilly called impatiently to Derpy, who was unwrapping a fabric off of her hands.
Once the fabric was off, Lilly shot a rose-colored aura to Hydran. He turned around, seeing a large sickly-yellow-colored creature grabbing a zipper on it's forehead. Hydran grabbed the alien and decapitated it by using his hands and strength. He threw the remnants to a nearby tree.
"What the hell was that?!" Hydran asked, facing them.
"A Raxacoricofallaptorian," the Doctor explained; "from two incarnations of mine ago."
"What's with the zipper?"
"I'll have to explain later, Draconis! Daleks and Cybermen to your 6:00!"
Hydran swiped each aside, causing them to crash into a tree and explode. One Dalek self-destructed, and when the top flew in his direction, the aura reflected it away.
"Oh, so that's what it does...! Thanks, Lilly!" he grinned. "And, Doctor, what kind of nickname is 'Draconis'?" Hydran asked, walking over to the group.
"First thing I thought of," he shrugged, giving up on his screwdriver and slamming it into his pocket out of frustration.
"I'll admit, I've underestimated you all," the Master chuckled over the intercom.
"Show yourself!" the Doctor yelled. "Come on already! We know you're behind this charade already!"
"Well, tsk, tsk, someone's impatient," the second Time Lord murmured. "I believe that I will give you one last hurrah."
"Hmm? What does that mean?" Lilly asked impatiently.
"It means, Lilly, dear, that I have placed at least 1,800 rounds of dynamite underneath of the grass in this entire facility. You have to find your beloved TARDIS in five minutes, or – boom. The clock starts... Now."
The intercom turned off.
/Derpy\\
Derpy turned to Lilly. "Is there any way whatsoever that Rachel could deactivate the dynamite?"
"Rachel isn't Rachel anymore," Lilly frowned. Her gaze fell over Derpy's thigh and she gasped. "Mum, you're bleeding!"
"What?" Derpy asked. Her gaze fell over her left thigh, and she saw her khaki pants were stained blood-red.
"Oh, so that's what I felt," she frowned.
The Doctor ran over to Derpy. "We need to get you cleaned up quickly."
"No, Doctor, we need to get to the TARDIS. We only have four minutes!"
"And me fixing you is only going to take thirty seconds," he rebutted, gripping her hand and pulling her to a nearby tree.
/the Doctor\\
"Okay, okay, how do we do this?" he asked frantically. "Oh, I got it!"
The Doctor, since he had no more shirts in his pocket, ripped a piece of his coat off and retrieved the tape from his pocket. Derpy pulled down her pants so he could quickly wrap the coat around the deep cut and then placed the tape around it to secure it.
"Doctor, you need to calm down," Derpy stated after pulling her pants back up and standing.
"What're you talking about?"
"Doctor, your pupils have literally been dilated since we found Hydran, your hands are shaking, your face is pale, and you aren't making sense at all in your actions," Derpy rambled.
"That's me being a Time Lord."
"Liar," she disagreed, kissing his cheek. "You're going to tell me as soon as we get into the TARDIS."
"Fine."
Derpy and the Doctor ran hand in hand, grabbing Lilly's.
"Where is Hydran?" Derpy asked.
"He flew ahead to look for directions to the TARDIS."
Said dragon flew back in a rush. "The TARDIS is legitimately straight ahead. We gotta go!"
"Where's Scarlet?" the Doctor asked.
"Dead!" Hydran admitted. "She fell out of the cage we were in!"
"Anxiety much?" Lilly asked the dragon.
"Duh!"
/Derpy\\
They all ran to the TARDIS with two minutes to spare.
The Doctor opened the door, and—
••••
Derpy sat up in bed.
'It... It was just a dream?' she thought.
Beside her was the Doctor. Out of love, she kissed his cheek and hugged him tightly, even though he was still asleep. When she pulled away she felt that her thigh was extremely... cold? On that note, she got out of bed, and saw that she was bleeding profusely.
Her gasp died in her throat and she cautiously walked to the bathroom so she could see if she could stop it.
/the Doctor\\
The Doctor groggily woke up, his vision surprisingly clear. Derpy wasn't next to him - a puddle of blood was.
'That isn't normal for a pregnant woman, I know that much,' he noted in his head. 'Well, unless the baby... Oh, no. No, no, no.'
The Doctor got out of bed on that instant, following the trail of blood to the closed bathroom door.
He knocked on it hesitantly.
"Um, Ditzy? Are you okay?" he asked.
She paused. "Do you remember how in the dream -I mean, I guess it was a dream- I had gotten that cut?"
"Of course I do."
"Well, somehow, it got transferred over into reality."
"...Wait, so-... So you have the cut on your thigh, and that's where the blood came from?"
"Yeah. Sorry," she laughed.
"Oh, thank Rassilon," he sighed. "You nearly gave me a hearts attack!"
"...Doctor, you sound worried. Are you okay?" She opened the door, dressed in a grey undershirt and black pajama pants, just as she was when she'd fallen asleep.
"Well...," he trailed off. "I'm just confused. That's all."
"Liar - again," she declared softly. "Come on, let's sit. You need to talk to someone, Doctor."
Derpy grabbed his hand and led him to the edge of their bed, where they proceeded to sit.
"Now, tell me what's wrong."
The Doctor sighed.
/Derpy\\
The Doctor covered his face with his hands, and Derpy moved closer, placing a hand on his back.
"Doctor, please?"
"I feel like I've let everyone down," he murmured quietly.
"How so?"
"...Ditzy, I'm putting everyone in danger. Because the Master wants me, he makes all of us suffer. I just... I don't know what I can do to stop it, because it's all for me that you guys are getting hurt, and-..." he muttered, his voice cracking at the end. "I'm trying my best to keep you all safe, and it's just not working that much anymore... I'm at my limit, and I'm scared about what's going to happen when I further exceed it to the point that one of you..." He paused, and Derpy could tell he was trying his hardest not to cry. "I just can't picture any of you getting hurt, and I know one day it's going to happen again... Or maybe one day, one day the Master will finally get to me, and he'll.. he'll finally kill me, for once and for all... Who is going to protect you then? I don't want to leave you guys alone, especially not you or Lilly, and it's just... It's a bloody rubbish idea trying to fight against someone you know you'll eventually lose against."
Derpy frowned, resting her head on his shoulder. "Doctor," she cooed, "it's okay, okay? They knew the risks, and you told each person that traveling with you was going to be dangerous. And you know what?"
"What...?" he asked, his heartbeats calming slightly and dropping his hands into his lap.
"We are gonna get through this together," Derpy smiled up at him. "I mean, all together, look at the power we have! Hydran can spit poison and is incredibly strong, Scarlet causes distractions and is also strong, Lilly can do basically everything from reading your mind to throwing you across the room without laying a finger onto you... And that's just three of our six!"
The Doctor kissed her forehead. "You know what? You're right. Thank you, Ditzy."
"No problem. And, by the way, sorry for scaring you just now, with the blood and everything..."
He laughed nervously. "Nah, you're good now, and that's all that matters, right? Come on, let's go check on the others, yeah?"
Derpy nodded in agreement.