A/N - Well, here's the final installment of Episode Two! Enjoy!
"Pond, is that you?" the Doctor cried, as the TARDIS rumbled.
"Yes!" Amy shouted, trying to be heard over the hubbub. "We're on the roof, but we can't find the transmitter?"
"Oh, well, by the looks of these readings it'll be a big glass box, with all the wiring and things on the inside – like the Medi-droids!" He grasped to the console tightly as the room turned to the side.
"Big glass box – wiring and stuff on the inside," the Doctor heard Amy repeat to Callum.
"Now listen carefully," the Doctor said through the phone, "once you find the transmitter, you're going to need to rewire it, but you'll have to be careful – there'll be a trick system, so if you don't get it done quick enough, the system locks down and all the Medi-droids are alerted to protect it."
"Oh, great – and how am I supposed to rewire it?" Amy cried.
"Well, you should be able to unlock the glass box with the sonic screwdriver, but after that you're going to have to invert the wires – take them out and put them back in backwards?"
"Right, got it! Any luck on that second transmitter?"
"Yes! The TARDIS traced it to that system of alleyways we were in before – something tells me the secondary transmitter will be somewhere inside there, where all the residents of the planet are in stasis."
"Oh, that's just brilliant! It'll be swimming with Medi-droids! Are you and Wainwright sorting that one out?" Amy asked.
"No, sorry, not enough time! The Quarantine Centre at the heart of the planet goes dead in less than 15 minutes! It's up to you and Callum now!"
"I was really hoping I wouldn't be hearing that today," Amy groaned. "And I'm guessing that you can't stop off and kill the second transmitter because it's-"
"Wibbly wobbly timey wimey, yes," the Doctor cried as the sounds of the TARDIS groaning were replaced with a dull boom. "Oh, that isn't good."
"What is it?"
"Well, the TARDIS is sort of at an inconvenience..." the Doctor replied awkwardly.
"You mean you've parked it wrong, don't you?" Amy sighed, rolling her eyes.
"Sort of," he said, evasively. "Well, that's going to take a minute or two to sort out. Not liking this today."
"Amy!" Callum cried from across the rooftop, "I found it!"
"Right, Doctor, Callum's found the first transmitter. After we knock it out, we'll go get the other one. How long have we got left?"
"Um, check the monitor will you, Wainwright, I'm a tad busy," the Doctor said.
"We have about 12 minutes left, I'm afraid," Wainwright called down the phone.
"Right, 12 minutes... We better get going then," Amy said. "Bye!"
"This is not a good day," Callum sighed as Amy joined him. "Oh, got it!"
With a click, the casing split in two and opened up. Wires ran around it like spaghetti, a mess of different colours.
"Right, Callum, take the sonic screwdriver and get over to that other transmitter, we don't have enough time to shut them both down together," Amy said. Callum nodded, standing up.
"How do I shut it down when I find it?" he asked.
"Open the casing, and then find where all the wires lead to, and then rewire them backwards. So, the wires at the back go into the ports at the front and vice versa."
"Right, I'll phone you when I'm done!" Callum cried, running off towards the lift.
"Hopefully," Amy called.
Callum didn't waste time on the stairwells, taking the lift straight to the bottom floor. Fortunately, the sonic screwdriver had been pretty useful at making the lift go down about three times as fast as it usually would, and a few seconds later he was bolting across the car park, hoping he hadn't been spotted by any Medi-droids.
He thought he'd take a shortcut and ended up finding himself lost in a maze of old film sets. Finally though, he found his way out again, and saw the entrance to the alleyway that he and Amy had ran out of once they'd escaped the tunnel.
He came to the tunnel when he was hit with a wave of pain. He stumbled and leaned against the wall and closed his eyes. Suddenly, like a flash of light, a symbol burned into his mind.
It was an upside down triangle, with what appeared to be a lightning bolt halfway through it. Callum groaned and pushed himself up and as quickly as it had began, the pain subsided.
Callum caught his breath, confused and puzzled, before – remembering his mission – continuing to run down the tunnels.
The Quarantine Centre was a sleek, white marble building, one storey high. Situated in a deep cavern, almost at the core of the planet, only accessible via teleport pad. The Medi-droids had been banned from the Quarantine Centre before the actual Quarantine as it was a living organism zone only. Even one hundred years later, they wouldn't go into the deserted Centre. The only way to get down to the cavern was by use of a teleport pad that had been accidentally destroyed by a blue box that was now parked on top of it.
"Oh, they can fix it later," the Doctor cried, running out of the TARDIS towards the Centre. Wainwright shut the door behind him and chased after the Time Lord.
The doors slid open in front of him - thanks to some help from the sonic screwdriver - and the Doctor and Wainwright found themselves in a strange chessboard-like room. The furniture was shaped like different chess pieces, of different colours, laid out attractively across the black-and-white chequered floor.
"Well, this is lovely," the Doctor smiled, rubbing his hands together. "Right, need to find the main power source. Luckily, I have a good nose!"
"Um, I'd hurry if I were you, Doctor!" Wainwright cried.
"Yes, yes, how long left?" the Doctor said, distractedly, waving the sonic screwdriver around, hoping for some sign of where to look.
"I'd estimate about eight minutes."
"Right, eight minutes! Prepare to be impressed, Wainwright. Because I think I've found the main power source."
"Really? Where?" Wainwright asked, looking around.
"We're standing on it," the Doctor beamed, running over to what had looked like a table covered in empty glasses and twisting one of them. The floor lit up and more chess pieces rose from the floor.
"Th-that's incredible!" Wainwright spluttered, stepping back.
"Well, yes, but this is the fun bit! Very Harry Potter too!"
"Harry who?"
"Oh, never mind! But basically, you're going to need to go over to the black glasses over there and use them to control the black pieces. This is pretty much a security system! After the floor is clear, I can shut down the quarantine. And we have about seven minutes to do it!"
"So we're trying to make our pieces destroy each other?"
"Pretty much," the Doctor smiled, flicking one of the glasses, and causing a pawn to jump diagonally, colliding with a knight, and then disappearing in a flash of white light.
"This could be easier than expected," Wainwright smiled.
Callum was not having a good day. So far he'd been tranquilised by giant alien bees, shot at several times, battled a robot made of glass, and ran far more than he usually would have. And now he had about 7 minutes to shut down the transmitter controlling the glass robots that were stomping towards him, sending blasts of blue light at him.
I think I'd prefer watching this rather than taking part, he thought. Yet at the same time, the adrenaline rush he'd been having all day was amazing. Alien bees, killer robots, an alien planet, a time machine! And it's still my birthday!
And then he saw it. A system of stairs and ladders led up to a control bank at the top of the room. He scrambled up the metal ladder, and a set of stairs, hoping that there was enough distance between him and the three Medi-droids coming after him. He went up another level, two ladders and a set of stairs distancing himself from the Medi-droids currently shooting at him. Suddenly, his phone began to ring.
"Callum," Amy cried down the phone, "where are you? I'm outside the hospital, the Medi-droids here have shut down like the Doctor said."
"I'm in the room at the bottom of that tunnel, and I've found the second transmitter. There's some old film sets, if you cut through them it should get you back to the alleyways quicker!" Callum said. "Need to go, bye!"
Finally, at the top of the stairs and ladders, he pointed the sonic screwdriver at the glass casing. It split open to reveal the wiring.
"All the wires at the back go in the ports at the front, okay..." A shot of blue light interrupted his trail of thought. He ducked as another shot flew towards him, denting the metal wall behind him. He leaned down again and unplugged all the wires, and as quickly as he could he put them in the opposite ports. There was a flicker of light and a small button on the transmitter flashed red. He punched down on it and the words 'Shutdown Initiated' appeared on a small screen. A timer was counting down from 10.
"Oh, you are kidding me!" Callum cried. He stood back and looked down. The Medi-droids were on the floor below him. "Come on, come on, come on, come on!"
They were now climbing up the ladder, thankfully, pretty slowly.
5 seconds.
A gun barrel aimed at Callum. And then he done something stupid.
He jumped over the side of the metal railing around the platform. The shot missed him by an inch.
Hanging from the edge of the platform, he counted down, and hoped he could hold on long enough, his knuckles going white with the strain. The adrenaline coursing through his body was the only thing keeping him holding on.
"Three. Two. One. Zero!"
A burst of light illuminated the room, coming from the transmitter, and the three robots toppled over. Callum grabbed one of the bars on the railing and used it to lift his leg back up onto the platform. He slid onto the metal floor, and passed out.
The 'chessboard' was clear, and the floor slid apart, revealing a large computer bank at the middle, with what appeared to be a cannon-like device on top of it. The Doctor quickly set to taking in every detail of the machine.
"Right, this could take a few minutes... How long left, Wainwright?"
"Two and a half minutes until the power cuts out," Wainwright said, looking a little green around the gills.
"Ah, hopefully I'll be having a good day then," the Doctor smiled.
Amy ran into the chamber, looking around for Callum. He was nowhere to be seen.
"Callum? Callum?!" she called. She took her phone out of her pocket and dialled. The sound of his phone ringing came from above. Looking up, past all the residents of Hollywood, floating in their transparent blue stasis pods, she saw a system of ladders and stairs leading up to several platforms. And then she saw him.
Callum's foot was dangling over the edge of the platform. She shouted his name again, running towards the other side of the room to get to the ladder.
Soon enough, after moving some broken Medi-droids, she came to the top of the platform and felt Callum's neck for a pulse. He was still breathing, but he must have passed out with exhaustion. She slumped down next to him, against one of the computer banks.
"Come on, Doctor," she murmured.
"Time check?" the Doctor cried, several cables and wires wrapped around his neck and arms.
"One minute thirteen left. Are you sure you can do this, Doctor? I don't see how," Wainwright replied.
"Oh, don't you worry, Wainwright! I can do this!"
"But how?" Wainwright cried.
"Trust me..." the Doctor said, as he plugged the cables in to the machine. "I'm the Doctor!"
And with his words, there was an oscillating trill followed by the machine sparking into life. Energy seemed to flow through it and the cannon-like contraption at the top of it suddenly aimed skywards.
"Just need to open the ceiling," the Doctor smiled, pointing the sonic screwdriver at the roof. There was a hiss as the 'door' in the roof opened, revealing a long tunnel, going on up to the surface.
"And where does that go?" Wainwright asked. "Fifty-five seconds!"
"This, Wainwright, goes right up to the stasis chambers!" the Doctor cried, tapping away at a small number pad, and flicking a switch. "The cannon's programmed to send an energy charge up the tunnel, which in turn, cancels out the stasis. The people of Hollywood get to go free! There are tunnels branching out around the entire planet, and in turn, the energy charge is going to spread right across the planet! In a matter of hours, everyone'll be out in the sunshine! The energy charge is also going to send out a pulse to switch off the quarantine nexus around the planet – stopping any other ships getting knocked out of the sky!"
"All very good, Doctor – but can you do it in time?"
"Just you watch me!" the Doctor beamed, casually flicking a lever. There was a flash of light and a brilliant white light exploded from the top of the cannon – up into the tunnel. Wainwright whooped in disbelief, and the Doctor bounced around the machine and embraced him, the two aliens laughing loudly.
Callum groaned and opened his eyes slowly, stretching his arms. Amy was beside him, smiling.
"You alright?" she asked.
"I'm never doing that again," he moaned.
"What'd you do?" she laughed.
"I may have jumped over the side to avoid getting shot," he admitted. Her eyes widened.
"Nice one!" she replied, impressed.
Then the room began to shake. They looked over the side of the railings just in time to see a brilliant white light explode up through the tunnel, bouncing off the walls. Other tunnels appeared, and the ceiling opened, revealing the sky above. The light shot up into the twilight sky, and there was a glimmer of light in the lilac clouds above.
"Oh look!" Callum cried, pointing down. The stasis chambers were draining of their blue goo, and it looked as if the people inside them were already waking up.
"The city's waking up!" Amy smiled. "Come on, we better find the Doctor before they all crowd the tunnel!"
The Doctor and Wainwright stood outside the TARDIS, which had parked right next to the Hollywood sign again. The lights from the city had went back on, and it looked a lot more like the place Callum and Amy had seen pictures of.
"It was a pleasure meeting you!" Wainwright was saying, shaking the Doctor's hand. "I hope we meet again, Doctor! Oh, and you two as well, of course!"
He shook Callum's hand and hugged Amy, who tried to ignore the fact his tentacles were sticking to her hair.
"You never know, Wainwright!" the Doctor laughed. "You just never know!"
Wainwright smiled, and began his walk back to town, waving back at them when he was halfway down the hill. The three time travellers waved back.
"Well, that was an experience!" Callum laughed. Amy and the Doctor smiled.
"You two were brilliant today," the Doctor said, putting one arm around Amy's shoulder, and the other around Callum's. "With the Medi-droids shut down, they can start a whole new system – and a less faulty one at that!"
"You were pretty good too," Amy smiled, punching the Doctor playfully on the shoulder. Callum nodded in agreement.
"Overall, a productive birthday, ay, Callum? Alien bees, and then Hollywood! Not your average day!" the Doctor smiled.
"Do you ever have average days?" Callum asked. The Doctor frowned and Amy stifled a laugh.
"This was an average day for me!" the Doctor replied, taking his arms off their shoulders and opening the TARDIS door. "Right then, I think it's time you two got to bed! And then we can go and do something relaxing and non-chaotic and non-life-threatening tomorrow!"
"You have a deal," Callum said, yawning. He frowned for a second, sure he'd forgotten something, before shaking his head and following Amy into the TARDIS.
"The Triangle has been planted, sir!" a voice hissed, unpleasantly, as a metallic claw tapped away at a computer keyboard, the faint glow of the monitor casting no sign as to what the source of the voice looked like.
"Excellent," whispered an even more unpleasant voice, harshly. It was voice that knew incredible cruelty. "The Triangle shall fall, right under the Doctor's nose-" the whisper rose to a yell as the owner slammed his fist into the steel armrest of his chair, "and Callum Hendrick will destroy the Universe!"
A/N - LET THE STORY ARC BEGIN! Well, okay, technically it did start in Episode One (if you were paying attention)! Next time: An Angel Called Bob!