Chapter 6

Excited, Ten shouted, "Oh! Bring it on!"

Nine smiled and said, "If you're taking him on then my money's on Richy."

Rose felt like she was losing her mind. What was it with men and fighting? She wasn't a piece of meat. She wasn't about to be dragged back to the cave by her hair.

She yelled, "Shut up! All of you!" She then gave each one the scariest Tyler glare. They all sheepishly mumbled sorry and diverted their eyes away from hers.

She then walked back to the sofa and dropped down feeling terribly exhausted. She then sat up and pointed her finger accusingly at Red.

"You! You're the one who brought them here so this is your mess and you're going to clean it up."

Both Doctors resented being referred to as a "mess" and shouted at the same time, "Oi!"

Red walked up to Rose and kneeled down to match her level and said, "Rose, please I brought them here for you. So you can either pick one or find closure."

"And how am I suppose to do that?"

"…Go on a date?"

All three shouted, "What!"

"Look, you haven't seen them in a while. I'm sure you have things on your mind you've never said. Take the time. You don't have to worry about Daleks or the end of the world, all you have to do is hang out and talk."

Ten tilted his head and rubbed his ear anxiously. Overall, it wasn't such a bad idea, though it sounded terribly domestic, but he still couldn't shake the feeling that his Richard bloke was being kind of fishy. There was something about the look in his eyes when he challenged him that seemed dangerous and—not human?

The wild-hair man walked up to Red and squatted near his personal space and shone the light of his screwdriver into his face.

Nine frowned, "What are you doing?"

The screwdriver suddenly beeped and Ten suddenly sprang up. "Ah! I knew there was something unhuman about you. You're a Tellic, a Tellic spy! They tell nothing, but lies their whole life and use mind control to alter people's perception of reality. Oh, you are good. How long have you been controlling Rose?"

Red growled at Ten, "I told you, I don't like lies and I would never control Rose's mind." Red then reached out and grabbed the tenth Doctor's hand and leaned in dangerously to his ear, "and besides, I don't need to actually hit you to crush you, Doctor."

The Doctor felt a surge of psychic energy travel throughout his entire body and he found himself once again in the foggy empty world of the dream. He looked around and walked a few steps in several directions, but he was alone.

He shouted, "Oi! This is just rude! You can't break my mind Richard. I'm a Time Lord and if there's anything a Time Lord can do its think and I can out think you."

Suddenly, a disembodied voice echoed in the dark, "You think I can't break you? Hahaha! It would be too easy… People are always under the impression that breaking a mind is like an attack—a battle of wills, but it isn't so. The attack isn't from outside, it from within. All I have to do is show you your flaws and let you yourself break under the strain of feelings of guilt and repression. The worst enemy is not a foe Doctor, but ourselves."

The Doctor stilled. He replied, "Yes, quite—but, your forgetting one thing. I'm slightly psychic too."

The wild-hair Doctor then probed inside the other alien's mind and was bombarded with images of war and scenarios of deceit. However, he continued to push through and go beyond until he at least stood in front of the mental image of Red standing on a vast empty field.

"You're very good. Much better at this then I thought."

Ten bounced on his heels and smiled, "Yeah, I'm brilliant. Though, you aren't too shabby yourself."

"Have my intentions been made clear? Or will I have to make it clear?"

"You know, your bark isn't as bad as your bite."

"You don't love her."

"Oh! I do care about Rose. Haven't you seen it" The Doctor then gestured around them with his hand.

Red shook his head; "No, no it isn't the same. If you cared for her you'd have stayed, you'd have tried."

"I did what was best for her. I left her with a version of me that could live the life I could never have. I don't need you telling me I didn't care about her because I do. This whole test is just a plot to make yourself out to look a better catch them me! You are a lair, Kajar Red! You want to manipulate Rose so she'd stop thinking about me on her own instead of you having to bend her mind cause you can't compete with a ghost."

The Doctor then marched up Red and shouted, "You're a deceitful man created solely to charm and swindle and worm your way into the enemy's mind. Nothing is too low or too amoral for you. You're even told to go die if it would benefit your cause. And you're not treating Rose any differently than a mission."

Red then punched Ten on the jaw.

"Coward! Love isn't about what's best, it's about trust! It's about faith. You're right, I could have easily wiped Rose's mind and make her forget, but I didn't. I just couldn't stand it that when she was with me she was comparing me to you! I couldn't take it how'd she touch me and think, oh how smart like the Doctor he is, or oh, how alien like the Doctor he is."

Suddenly, they heard a gasp and they turned to see Rose and Nine.

Nine waved, "Hello. Just thought we'd join the party."

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