This chapter was actually supposed to go up yesterday. I had almost the whole thing written when my Word crashed and I lost everything. So here it is today.
The smoke in the tube cleared to reveal an animatronic of Stitch. All three of the Ponds and the Doctor relaxed for a moment, but River and the Doctor were both quick to be on alert again; the Doctor scanning the room with the sonic and River disengaging the safety on her gun.
The Doctor looked at the readings on his sonic and muttered to himself, "Very, very much not good..."
Amy leaned out to see him and asked, "Doctor, is that it then? We just wait? It doesn't even seem like there's anything here!"
River shook her head and responded while the Doctor scanned for a few more readings. "This entire building could still be under a perception filter. The creature could be here, and we may not even know it... and unfortunately, I think that is the most likely ca-"
"SHHHH!" the Doctor suddenly said. "Listen..."
All four went completely silent and listened. Somewhere above them, there was the sound of claws scraping metal and breathing.
"River, you were right. This is a trap. It's not even bothering to use the perception filter..." the Doctor whispered. "Look."
Across the room from them, through a hole in the wall, there appeared a pair of glowing red eyes.
"Doctor...?" Amy whispered frantically and looked over at him.
The creature began to crawl out through the wall. It was hideous.
The Doctor shook his head. "Of course... it would never have a problem hiding here..."
"Doctor, what is that thing?" Rory asked.
"It's a Trancitluzion. You remember that Nimon Minotaur that we met a while back in the prison ship disguised as a hotel? Well, this creature is a distant cousin of it. I've never actually seen one in person before...The Trancitluzions are creatures that feed off of the ideas and imaginations of others, and by doing that, they can actually twist things around in your mind. They don't use a perception filter, they literally twist what you do perceive right in your mind themselves. And judging by the size of this one, I'd say that it has been here longer than this building, and maybe even longer than this park. It must have landed here a long time ago..."
"And no one would ever notice because it would just twist their brain waves..." River added as she caught on.
"Well, yes. If they didn't devour you..."
The creature was now through the wall and stalking slowly towards them and it spoke. It's voice was like Prisoner Zero's, but slightly deeper and more guttural. "Foolish beings, you should not have searched for me..."
The Doctor stared calmly at the alien. "What are you doing here? How did you get here? You're a long, long way from home... about two thousand galaxies away, I'd say. What brought you here?"
The Trancitluzion continued forward and did not answer. It was now only about eight feet away. It spoke again. "I came to feast. Feast on the imaginings and minds of the weak little humans here. I have thrived, while the weak have died..." As it drew even closer, a pair of ugly wings began to unfurl from its back... wings that were more like giant sets of claws.
"Of course it would come here... or stay here at least," he looked over at the Ponds.
"Children," River said, following what the Doctor was getting at. "Such unprotected, yet imaginative and creative minds..."
The creature spoke again. "And I shall feast on all of you too... except for the one." It stopped and looked at River. Her eyes widened for a moment, but otherwise, any surprise she may have felt was hidden. "You shall watch the others die," the creature hissed out as it sprang.
River fired her gun, the shot penetrating the Trancitluzion right between its eyes. It fell to the ground, bleeding a foul grey blood. It looked up at her and rasped, "You shall watch the others die first." With that it closed its eyes, never to open them again.
Through all of this, the normal show with Stitch had continued, and as his animatronic reappeared in the tube, then disappeared again, the narrator from the beginning of the ride came back on and said something about that being a "close call". The seat restraints released, and Amy and Rory were able to get up. River and the Doctor looked at the creature on the floor.
"What do we do with it?" River asked as she replaced her gun to its holster.
"We take it to the people who engineer and design the rides... I believe they call them the "Imagineers". They need to know what has been hiding in this place for so long," the Doctor responded.
A voice sounded from the exit door. "No need to bring it to us; we know."
The Ponds and the Doctor looked up as a few people walked into the room and began to remove the alien. The one who had spoken walked up to the Doctor. "We had a very good idea, but we weren't sure where or what that thing was. Strange things happen in the parks a lot, but there have been too many accidents lately. You are not to speak a word of what has happened here to anybody. We have done our best to keep all of our guests safe."
The Doctor stared incredulously at the man for a moment. "Excuse me? You have an idea that there is a hostile presence in the park, you have a general idea where it is, and you continue to allow people to ride the attraction it's in? No. No, you did NOT do your best. Close this place, this building. Do not let anyone in for the next 48 hours. Check the rest of the park. Stop all of the rides if you have to, because if you don't do everything you can to make sure everyone in this park is safe then I will."
The man stared at the Doctor for a moment. "The ride is closed. We came over because we got word that someone had apparently gotten inside anyway. The doors were locked. How did you get in?"
River walked over to stand next to the Doctor and answered. "The doors just opened normally for us. We thought the ride was open. There were actually other people in line with us at the preshow, but the left when we came in here because they had a small child with them. It was crying, so they left."
The man looked over at the other men who had, at this point, covered the body of the alien with a cloth and placed it on a stretcher of sorts to be able to move it. "It must have over-ridden the security. It was getting even more powerful than we thought."
Rory and Amy also moved to stand next to the Doctor and River. Rory commented softly to them, "Maybe that other family was part of the perception filter... to make us think the ride was open and operating normally."
The Doctor was lost in his own thoughts at the moment, but River nodded over to her father and replied. "It would make sense. It was just too convenient that they left. Yes, I think that this was a trap, and they were the bait." He turned and looked at the man. "What do you do with it now?"
"We study it. Not too much, but enough to know what to look for to see if there's any more of these around. We're a ...special... division here at the premises... and we'd appreciate it if you don't mention us to anybody."
"Secret division."
"Exactly. Don't tell on us, and we won't tell on you... Doctor. Oh yes, we know who you are. Now, you must all be concerned about this. Doctor, you can come with us if you like, to make sure the rest of the park is safe, but your friends can't. We can't have too many people with us."
The Doctor looked over at the Ponds. "You can go back to the hotel or stay on Main Street. I'll be back shortly, and then we can try to decide what we want to do."
I'm not entirely happy with this chapter. I chose a ride in Disney I don't know very well and one I never rode for the creature/battle. I used an explanation adapted from an episode of DW that I didn't like very much. I know what I want to write in this story, but I don't know if I'll be able to now with the direction that it has been heading. So, if updates are a bit slower now, I'm sorry, but I need to sort this out.
Well, in any case, reviews are greatly appreciated and highly encouraged. I need to know that enough people are enjoying this story enough for me to continue with it.
(But even if I don't, it's not over yet. Nowhere near, actually...)