River was indeed waiting for the others outside the exit doors of the ride. Upon seeing her, the Doctor heaved a sigh of relief and threw his arms around her.
River chuckled. "Sweetie, I told you I'd be waiting at the end of the ride! Did you forget?"
The Doctor shook his head and muttered into her hair, "Yes."
After a moment he broke away from her and took her hand. The group walked over to some benches underneath the giant Mickey's Sorcerer Hat at the centre of the park.
Amy leaned over and asked River, "So, did you know the alien thing was going to try to attack us? I mean, is that why you left?"
River shook her head. "I knew that there was a part of the ride where the car is hijacked by a gangster. I thought at first that it would be fun and shocking to all of you if I stepped in and did that... well maybe not shocking, but surprising at least. Anyway, I overheard one of the other employees mention that there have been some issues in the "Alien" scene of the ride lately, so I figured that was too much of a coincidence. That was why I had real guns. They were supposed to be fake. Well, that and the fact that I always have one..."
"Obviously we have to do something now. The creature may be locked up, but if it can possess the other animatronics, we have to do something, anything to stop it..." the Doctor said as he rubbed his hand from his forehead down his face. "We'll have to get back into the prison where they're keeping it..."
"Doctor, there is one thing I'd like to know: What does it want with me? I mean, why won't it kill me, and what did it mean that I'm becoming weak?" If there was one thing River feared, it was weakness.
The Doctor looked at River. "Almost everyone who comes to these parks is able to suspend their disbelief and see things through a childlike lens. That's what it feed off of: the beliefs that the guests have... especially all the children." Here he dropped his voice to a whisper to make sure they were not overheard. "The belief and faith of the children who think that all of the actors here actually are characters, that think the ghosts in the Haunted Mansion and the Tower of Terror are real, that the Aliens in the rides are real... The Trancitluzion feeds off of all of that belief, and in some cases, it's easiest to do that by devouring the source: the people themselves." He looks almost broken. The other three all know the Doctor's rule: Never get involved in the affairs of places... unless there are children crying. And this creature was targeting children, children and the child in everyone.
River looked confused for a moment and looked at the Doctor. He was staring at her with sad, glistening eyes. "You never got to be a child." he said softly to her. "...Not properly. That's why it can't consume you. Us however..." he gestured to himself, Amy, and Rory, "It can certainly feed off of us."
Amy looked from River to the Doctor. "So, what do we do? We stop the alien, yeah, but how?"
The Doctor placed his head in his hands as he tried to think. He was letting himself get emotional, and he knew that was clouding his thinking. After a few moments he looked up, staring straight ahead and said, "We try to talk to it. I will try to talk to it... If it doesn't listen, well..." he trailed off as he stood up.
"So... we're going to try to reason with a hostile alien who has tried to kill us twice in two days?" Rory clarified as the other three stood up.
The Doctor nodded. "Yes." And began to walk towards the exit to the park.
Rory shrugged. "Alright then."
Sorry for the really short chapter, but we're getting to the climax of the story soon. I wanted this to be short to set things up a bit.
Also, I'd just like to point out that this story has reached 100 reviews, over 20 favorites and over 40 alerts! Thank you so much to everyone! You have no idea how much I appreciate and love all the support you've given to me. I only hope I continue to meet and possibly (hopefully) exceed your expectations.