Rise of the Cybermen, Part Two

Clara stormed down the street, no destination in mind. She just needed to get away. What did the Doctor think she was, stupid? She knew not to go find her mum, no matter how much she wanted to.

She found herself at the park. The very same park that her mum used to take her to. She plopped on the bench and put her elbows on her knees, her head buried in her palms. She couldn't help but cry; everything was too much. Her mum was a success- she had traveled to all the places she had wanted to.

"Clara!" Clara's heart froze when she heard that familiar voice call her name. "Clara Oswald!" Her head snapped up and she saw the last thing she would have ever thought she would see again.

Her mother.

Ellie Oswald had her hands on her hips and was glaring down at her. Her glare seemed to soften when she saw the tears still on Clara's cheeks.

"I told you not to run off like that." Ellie stated patiently, moving to sit next to her. Clara wiped her eyes, instinctively scooting away from her. Clara knew this wasn't right. She was not this Ellie's Clara. "Dear, what's wrong?"

Doing some mental math in her head, Clara deduced that she would have been sixteen in 2006. So, why didn't Ellie notice how much older she looked? Seven years is pretty obvious.

Clara shook her head. "I'm sorry, ma'am. I'm not your Clara." She told her thickly. Ellie raised an eyebrow.

"Right." Ellie replied dryly. "And I'm the president of America." She grabbed Clara's hand. "Let's go home. I'll make you some of my chocolate chip cookies and you can tell me what's wrong." Clara didn't have the heart to pull her hand from her mother's grasp. She nodded and let Ellie pull her off the bench.

Hey, she tried, didn't she?

Lalala

Clara was happily chomping away on her mother's cookies- man, had she missed these!- and making up some story to explain why she was crying.

"It was Marissa, wasn't it?" Ellie was asking, popping another pan of cookies into the oven. "I always told you to stay away from that one. You never listened, though." Clara was quiet a moment as she chewed.

"You were right, Mum. You're always right." Ellie smiled and wagged her finger at Clara.

"And don't you forget it." The front door opened and closed. Clara figured her father was home and had a moment of panic. What if her dad could tell that she wasn't this world's Clara? What would happen then?

"We're in the kitchen, dear!" Ellie called, setting the timer for the cookies.

"Mum?" Both Ellie's and Clara's heads snapped to face the doorway, where sixteen year old, this world Clara was standing. She was the same height as Clara and had full bangs, where Clara only had side bangs now. "What's going on?"

Ellie looked back and forth between the two Claras. A second later, Clara bolted and ran back to the TARDIS.

Lalala

Clara opened the TARDIS door and stepped inside, where Mickey and the Doctor were standing around. The Doctor was cradling a little, green lightbulb.

"There you are. You all right?" He held up the lightbulb for her to see. "No applause. I fixed it. I fixed the TARDIS. Twenty four hours, then we're flying back to reality." He paused, actually noticing the look on her face. "What is it?"

"I ran into my mum." Clara whispered, collapsing into the captain's chair. "I didn't mean to, it just happened. She was looking for this universe's me and found me instead."

"You shouldn't have left her." The Doctor told her.

"She thought I was her daughter," Clara told the two of them weakly. "She took me to her house and made cookies."

"What kind?" Mickey asked.

"Mickey!" The Doctor hissed. Mickey raised his hands in defense.

"I was just asking!"

"Then, her Clara came home." Clara went on. "I left then." The Doctor was quiet.

"She's going to want answers, you know." He told her. She nodded.

"I know. I just don't know what to tell her." Clara looked from the Doctor to Mickey. "What do I tell her? I mean, she deserves an explanation." The Doctor thought about it. Mickey, on the other hand, seemed to be worlds away in his own mind.

"Mickey?" Clara asked.

"Do you think my gran would be alive here?" He asked, looking from the two of them. The Doctor's eyes widened.

"I don't know." He admitted. "But, we can't find out! This place is like a gingerbread house- all tempting and sweet looking. But it's dangerous and we need to leave."

"We've got twenty four hours, though." Mickey pointed out. Clara grabbed Mickey's hand, pulling his attention to her.

"It's not a good idea. Trust me." She said seriously. He pulled his hand from hers and made his way to the door.

"I have to find out." He muttered. "I have to." With that, he left. Clara and the Doctor ran out the door and after him.

"Mickey!" The two of them yelled, but Mickey was running by that point, and had a head start on them. Clara looked around for a way to catch up- a bike or something she could borrow. In the TV shows, there was always a bike conveniently there for the main characters to use. No luck.

However, she spotted something else. "What're they all doing?" Clara asked the Doctor. Everyone on the street and stopped suddenly wherever they were.

"They've stopped." The Doctor answered unhelpfully, looking confused. Everyone had some sort of ear pod in their ears, and they all began flashing blue. "It's the earpieces. Like Bluetooth attachments, but everyone's connected together." Curious, Clara pulled out her cell phone from her purse. Her phone had automatically connected to "Cybus Industries"- the phone company, Clara assumed.

"It's on my phone. It's automatic, look." A little symbol appeared on the touch screen. "It's downloading. Is this what they're all getting?" She slid her finger over the screen, flipping through all the downloads her phone was receiving.

"News, international news, sports, weather." She listed, skimming everything as she went.

"They get it direct. Downloaded right into their heads." The Doctor guessed, putting his hands in his pants pockets.

"TV schedules, lottery numbers." Clara continued as more things popped up onto the screen.

"Everyone shares the same information." The Doctor muttered. "A daily download published by Cybus Industries."

A joke popped up on the screen under the title Today's Funnies. Simultaneously, everyone around them laughed. After that, everyone resumed their business. The Doctor looked almost disgusted.

"You lot, you're obsessed. You'd do anything for the latest upgrade." Clara smacked him lightly on the chest.

"Oi, not my lot. Different world, remember?" The Doctor gave her a look, which she returned with a glare.

"It's not so far off your world. This place is only parallel." He got distracted and walked up to a poster on a building behind Clara. "Oh, look at that. Cybus Industries, owners of just about every company in Britain, including Vitex." He stopped for a second, surprised.

"What?" Clara asked, looking at the poster to see what had shocked him.

"You'll never guess who works for them." The Doctor said wryly. "Pete Tyler, Rose's dad."

A/N: Here's another chapter, guys! I have to say, I was a bit disappointed with the response to the last chapter- only two reviews! I try to not be so uptight about reviews, but I would really like it if I could at least get three reviews a chapter. That's not so much to ask for, is it? A simple "update soon" or "good chapter" is more than enough for me. Just let me know what you thought about the chapter.

Anyway, the poll is still up and I would really appreciate it if you could go vote! I'm going to take it down sometime this week, so please go vote and help me make up my mind!

Thanks you all again for reading this story and sticking with it.