Hello, my dear readers!
Sorry for the long wait, but due to my graduation class trip + holidays, I wasn't able to update or even just write something. (I actually was in Barcelona, the city, not the planet. :P)
I also have to admit that it's hard to write the Doctor, so he might be quite OOC. Sorry for that. ;) Nevertheless, I hope that you'll enjoy this chapter.
Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who, it belongs to the BBC. I only own the OCs.
Chapter 2: The First Encounter
Andrew and Sharlto hurried outside, to see what had caused the loud noise.
Amidst some flowers, on the green and wild, high grass, a blue box had materialized. It read "Police Box" on big letters above the door.
"Sharlto? Please tell me that this box has always been here and I just didn't notice it", Andrew said and looked over his shoulder to the big cat.
He didn't get an answer. Instead, the big cat simply stared at the box. He seemed to be oddly interested in the box, somehow satisfied with what he saw or maybe just curious about what would emerge from the box.
Andrew however was shaking. The sword in his hands got heavy. If this was a new kind of ship made by the intruders, and now a bunch of shadows would come out, he would be lost.
"Oh please, just let it be a bad dream", the boy mumbled, his heart racing.
And so they stood outside, Andrew with his sword raised in front of him for his own protection, Sharlto behind him, still focusing on the box, and for endless minutes, nothing happened.
But at the same moment it started to rain, the door of the strange box swung open.
Andrew, who hadn't expected a movement, leaped backwards and fell on the wet ground. The sword tumbled out of his hands and landed on the garden's old stone path with a loud rattle.
As fast as he could, the boy jumped up and grabbed the blade – and pointed it right into the face of the man that had just stumbled out of the box. He didn't look like a dangerous alien, no. This was just a man in a suit with strange hair.
On another day, Andrew would have laughed, but he still was so tensed that he couldn't even move.
The man however didn't seem to have noticed him, instead he stared into the sky and murmured something about broken circuits, a planet called Barcelona and "interactive gyro conductor scopes" that definitely had to be fixed soon.
It was only then when he noticed the trembling boy, looking as if he had just returned from school, in front of him.
"Well, hello? Did I just land in one of these Amaranian war schools again? Would you –"
In a (unwanted) high pitched tone, Andrew screamed, "Back away! I-I am dangerous, I have a sword! ...Who are you anyway?"
The strange man looked a bit amused, then he slowly pointed a finger at the blade. His voice remained serious as he said, "Your sword. If you are as dangerous as you promise, then you should notice it's pointed upside down, shouldn't you?"
Horrified, the boy stared at the weapon. The man was right. In a swift movement, he turned the sword around and pointed it at the man anew.
This time, he couldn't help but grin, despite his still-present fear.
"Now, I'll ask you again. Who are you?", Andrew said, now far more steadier.
The man sighed and answered, "I'm the Doctor. Now, I don't want to –"
The stranger didn't speak further. He seemed to have spotted something behind the child and now, he was staring over there, not moving.
Andrew grew even more scared. He didn't dare to turn around, because he already knew what was awaiting him. He could hear how Sharlto began to growl quietly, and this confirmed his thoughts.
In his head, he already could see the red eyes and the grey figure of the shadow, just centimetres away from touching him.
"What is that? I've seen a lot in my 900 years, believe me, but never anything like that", the "Doctor", as he had called himself, whispered while fixating the creature with his eyes.
Andrew swallowed hard and let the blade fall slowly.
"It's a shadow. One touch, and you're gone. They've caught them all, all these people", he answered and finally turned his head.
The beast was some metres away, on the other side of the garden under a tree. It held its head high in the air, as if it wanted to catch the three's scent.
Andrew had already found out that the shadows seemed to be nearly blind and deaf. Apparently, they relied on smells and vibrations from the ground below them.
This exemplar now slowly advanced further into the garden, snarling and sniffing.
The Doctor tapped Andrew on the shoulder, the look on his face concerned. His hand was holding open the door of the box.
"Come. Into the TARDIS, now, both of you! Or do you want to stay here?"
The boy shook his head and made some cautious and slow steps away from the monster, as he didn't want it to sense movement on the ground.
He looked at the Doctor and said, "No. We'll be trapped in there, they don't stop, they wait. I've seen people surrender to them, after hours of hiding! We can only outrun them, I don't know how to stop them!"
He felt the tears in his eyes. He didn't want to die now, not after he had made it for so long.
Sharlto growled louder, the monster had gotten nearer.
"You just run away?", the man asked, and the boy simply nodded.
The stranger seemed to think for a moment, shrugged, then finally answered, "Huh, always a good idea... Well, then, let's run!"
Suddenly, the boy found himself running, through the little wooden door in the garden's fence, on the streets, through the settlement.
The monster had sensed them, each of its steps accompanied by a thump as it chased the three through the empty streets.
The man was in front of Andrew, Sharlto behind him, and so, he simply followed as they made their way through the settlement, further into the city. Sometimes he nearly fell, it was still raining and the tarmac had become quite slippery.
Does he even know where he is going?, Andrew thought as he concentrated on the man's back. Why am I even following him? But...Do I have another chance? Minutes ago, I was holding a sword right into his face!
...Which he was still holding, as he noticed. His fingers already hurt from gripping the handle tightly. I should have left it in the garden, he thought as he tried to shift it from one hand into the other one.
If they wouldn't stop soon, he'd probably have to hold on and catch his breath, but that meant getting caught by the shadow.
Now on a bigger road, the Doctor suddenly turned left, right into the ruins of a shop. Only thick layers of rubble and the wobbly remains of high walls were left of the building, like in the one Andrew and Sharlto had visited the day before.
The man turned and shouted, "See that wall? Get up there, and when I tell you, push it down, okay? I'll keep that thing occupied!"
As he looked up, Andrew noticed what the Doctor wanted to do: Crush the monster under the pile of stones. Good idea, he had to admit in his mind.
Letting fall his weapon, he climbed up on the stones as fast as he could, followed by the cat. Below him, the strange Doctor was busy stomping on the ground, in front of him the grey monster.
More than once, the child had to stop to search for safe places to climb further. Each time he made another step, another stone tumbled down. Luckily, the monster was too focused on the stomping as that he would notice the two.
After seemingly endless minutes, Andrew finally reached the top of the stone pile. He was breathing heavily and his heart raced.
His palms were torn from sharp rocks and dirty with a mix of dust and rain. Despite the pain, he pressed them against the wall. Now there was only the call he had to wait for.
The shadow slowly approached, and for the first time, the boy noticed what the alien really looked like: It resembled a reptile, with a massive body and a flat and long head, like a crocodile.
It was strange to see a real shape, all the other shadows had only been schemes without any form, just eyes, claws and teeth. This one however... It was different. Unlike the others, it also walked on all four legs, not only two. Had they evolved?
Just as it got on its hind legs, ready to catch the Doctor, the latter one screamed, "NOW!"
Together, the child and the cat stemmed all their weight against the unstable wall, until they could feel how the stones began tumbling downwards.
First, the monster was hit by one stone, then two. It turned its head slowly, staring right into Andrew's eyes. In that moment, it seemed rather lost, as if it didn't even know what it did there.
It screamed loudly and was about to turn around as the wall eventually fell down, right on the monster's body. The following scream was deafening. The shadow twisted and turned below the stones, its claws twitching. Then, it went silent, its limbs falling down lifelessly.
The shadow was dead.
Slowly, Andrew climbed down and picked up the sword.
The Doctor stood in front of the dead creature's head. He was thoughtful, and didn't say a word when the child appeared next to him.
As the boy looked at the lifeless body, he was astonished. Instead of a grey monster, there was only a normal, green crocodile laying under the stones. It appeared much more smaller now, less dangerous. It really must have been lost as it had chased after the three, Andrew realized.
The Doctor shook his head and sighed. "Alpha-6. That's where your shadows come from... Well, the aliens that make them. But normally they look different, not grey, not that dangerous. It must be new technology... They take the planet's normal population and turn them into their slaves, then they harvest the resources, mostly the core. In the end, they leave only shells behind, not more", he explained with a bitter tone in his voice.
"The chimneys!", Andrew exclaimed, "That's where they work, isn't it?"
"Yep. And if we don't do anything about it, then there won't be Earth no more. I hope, we're not too late..."
The three were returning to the house, leaving behind the creature's lifeless body. It was deadly silent on the walk back.
Neither the Doctor nor Andrew had something they wanted to talk about. Instead, they both were busy thinking. Even Sharlto was trotting next to them without any humming or other noise.
Andrew had a lot of questions concerning the man, but right now, he didn't dare asking. Maybe it was better to wait for a better chance.
At least, the Doctor didn't seem to be hostile. For some reason, he really cared for what had happened, even though he had just arrived on this planet. Was he an alien, too?
The only thing the man had said, right after they had left the ruins, had been that he wanted to go back to his box, which he had called a "Tardis". He didn't want to leave it alone, he had explained.
As they slowly, but still carefully walked back through the grey streets, Andrew suddenly realized something.
What if all these shadows were... human? Do the aliens turn them into monsters for catching new slaves? If that was true, then they soon would have to fight against humans... and kill them? That was certainly a thing that the boy didn't want to think about. But how should we fight against them? There isn't always a wall to push down!
Finally, they reached the house. The fence around the garden was broken now, a giant hole where the shadow must have broken through. The wood was shattered everywhere.
Andrew already doomed the day when he would have to clean up the mess...if he would have the chance to.
He nearly ran into the Doctor as the latter one had stopped while stepping through the hole.
The boy peered into the garden. Where once had been grass, were now only muddy footprints.
And amidst this chaos, there was...nothing? The grass was still flat where it had been pressed down by the weight, but there was just an empty place.
The TARDIS was gone.
AN: That's it, second chapter finished, hurray! (This time, there were only two versions. ;) ) Next time, I'll try to update sooner.
Now a reply to Zee Captain's Loyal Pokemon: Thanks a lot for your review! You really made my day, as I was quite anxious about the reaction to the first chapter. Here you have more story! ;) Sorry I let you wait for some time, hope it's okay for you and that you'll like the new chapter! :D
Also a big thanks for the follows, I'm glad you seem to have liked it! :)
See you next time, and don't forget: Suggestions, corrections, questions, other stuff → Just leave me a review!
Looking forward to hear from you, the-white-deer :D