Doctor Who: The Dummy Walks.
Chapter 4: The Planet Goosebumps.
Jarryd had always been a fan of Goosebumps... up till now, of course. Having Slappy the dummy try to attack and kill him, then being stalked by the same Scare-crows (of that he was certain) from another episode near his farm, plus having a near encounter with something he swore was Monster Blood... Well, it just made him feel on edge. But now, here he was, on the PLANET that belonged to all of the Goosebumps characters , with the bravest, strangest, funniest, scientifically inclined man he had ever met, and Jarryd was CERTAIN that he and The Doctor were the first humans on the planet.
For a few minutes, while the scary Snow-man lead them through the snow; now changed to be not-so-scary; Jarryd had thought that the kids and adults he saw being scared and running around the Planet Goosebumps were people from the real world, but The Doctor had quickly crossed that thought out by making Jarryd realise that the people didn't seem to notice Jarryd or The Doctor, and that they were always repeating the same thing.
"Stuck in a continuous scared loop, Jarryd, because of how the Author of the series wrote the books. These humans we see are actual inhabitants of the Planet Goosebumps, even if some of them don't know it." The Doctor had explained.
The Snow-man eventually stopped in front of a cave where Jarryd and The Doctor saw, hanging from the top of the cave mouth, was a sign that read 'King Jelly-jam's Lair. Keep out!'
The Doctor smiled and gave the Snow-man back his mouth and the snow-man slid away, looking back at the Doctor every now and then. The doctor didn't notice, but Jarryd did. The Snow-man was scared of the Doctor!
"Well! Onwards, shall we?" The Doctor Beamed.
Jarryd pointed at the sign without saying anything.
"Oh that! Even you should know that every sign that has ever been created in the Goosebumps series has been disobeyed."
"Yeah, and the person who disobeys it usually ends up in trouble, or dies!"
The Doctor smiled. "I LAUGH in the face of death, Jarryd. Come on!"
For one moment, Jarryd was not sure if The Doctor's saying was as funny as he made it sound. It almost, ALMOST sounded as if The Doctor HAD laughed in the face of death.
While the two of them walked through the cave, Slappy the dummy was still being placed back together right outside of the TARDIS because of the green goo that had been flung out with him.
A black figure watched from the shadows and nodded. "It has begun!"
Back in the cave, Jarryd was coming face to face with his most loved Goosebumps villain of all. King Jelly-jam, famous from the one Goosebumps book 'Horror at Camp Jelly-jam', he was entirely covered in purple gunk and sweated snails. What was strange was that right on top of what could only be called his head was a paper cut-out of a crown which seemed to be sliding down his 'back' every time the monster moved.
Jarryd was definitely NOT scared of this particular Goosebumps monster, it has to be said now, mainly because he had never actually seen or heard of a Goosebumps episode based on 'Horror at Camp Jelly-jam' therefore, he didn't really think anything of the 'king'.
"Ah! You must be the King!" The Doctor beamed.
That is true. Who are you two and how did you get here? It is not often we have visitors to our home!
"We are investigating a mystery, a mystery; it seems; that started here."
Many of our mysteries start here.
"But not a single one of them has consisted of one of the Goosebumps residents managing to get to Earth and nearly kill my companion here for what the resident says is 'revenge'." The Doctor explained.
The king went silent.
"You know of what I am talking about, don't you? Silence tells all in this case."
The traitor left our Planet for reasons not regarding revenge. But that was only three hours ago. He left swearing that he would over-throw the Planet and enslave all races, starting with a place known as Earth.
Jeremy was distracted by a shadow moving behind him and saw some Goosebumps characters he didn't recognise leering at him, all of them covered in the same green goo that had now reconstructed Slappy.
"Doctor..." He whispered, remembering to be brave.
"Three hours ago? Then he must have found a way to travel back and forward in time. Care to explain?"
It is rumoured that he found a time-traveller, some-one who didn't know he had the traitor board. Of that much I can tell. I know nothing else of the matter.
"Doctor?"
"So what's the deal with him being a traitor? By what I know, you Goosebumps villains stick together! And what's the deal with the green goo? I would LOVE to get a sample of it, you know, if you have any here."
The goo is harmless. It cannot kill.
"Doctor!" Jarryd was getting just a tad worried now. But he hadn't been scared. He had promised The Doctor he wouldn't, so why were the villains coming towards him with fierce intentions?
"Oh, really? But it can create! It can rebuild to what IT wants! And your subjects, the residents of this Planet, have been surrounded by it for generations! One rotten egg, one traitor means that something in the goo has changed. It wants to be ALIVE, your majesty! And by the warnings of my companion here, I'd say it has come alive now! I'd say it has started a rebellion. A war against the universe has started, your majesty. But you can be sure I will stop it!"
Without another word, The Doctor grabbed Jarryd's hand and snapped out his sonic screw-driver and pointed it directly above the surrounding villains.
The cave roof fell on top of them, blocking Jarryd and the Doctor from the attacking hoard.
The Doctor then turned to the King and shouted. "Is there another way out of here?"
The king was silent again.
"IS THERE?" The Doctor shouted angrily.
DON'T you dare shout at me like that, stranger! You may think that you are not fearful, but we have our ways... our ways to make your blood curl!
"Doctor!" Jarryd shouted, pointing at something on King Jelly-jam's shoulder.
There, getting bigger by the second, was more of the green goo that had covered the hoard that was now trying to get to the duo.
"I'll take that!" The doctor managed a crazy smile and zapped the goo off with his sonic screw-driver, and it landed in a bottle the Doctor had whipped out at an incredible rate.
Jarryd looked at the Doctor in shock. "Who ARE you?"
The king, now free of the goo, smashed a hole in the ceiling and bellowed at the duo. I will hold them off for as long as I can, you two get out of here now! And whatever you do, don't turn back!
Jarryd thanked the king as the king lifted them up through the hole.
The Doctor pushed Jarryd towards the TARDIS and told him he would catch up, then turned back to the King.
"I am so sorry. Truly I am."
Sorry for what, stranger? Sorry for giving a king his proper last stand? Human or not, you saved my life, and I'll save yours. Now get out of here!
Jarryd ran as fast as he could through the snow, trying not to look back as Goosebumps villains kept jumping up at him from in the snow. At one point, however, he encountered Slappy, now fully restored and VERY angry.
"YOU!" They both shouted, precisely at the same time.
Slappy jumped forward to tackle Jarryd again, but Jarryd was ready this time.
He grabbed a stick lying on the ground and whacked Slappy away like a base-ball.
"And it's a hit, ladies and gentleman! The stranger gets a hit! But can he make a home-run?" A familiar voice commented.
Jarryd turned to see the face of another Goosebumps villain known as Karl, who Jarryd knew came from the 'Chillology' episodes.
"Why did you help me? You're the worst villain of them all!"
Karl crossed his arms and pouted. "Well THAT'S not very nice. And anyway, what makes you think that simply because I live here, I am controlled by the goo as well? The king wasn't."
Jarryd had to hand it to Karl there, he had a point.
"Now go! Get out of here before I AM controlled by it! It'll be after me next!"
Jarryd nodded and ran off. 'Gee,' He thought. 'He isn't anything like what he is on the show.
Karl shook his head sadly and turned to the dazzled Slappy.
Slappy hissed at him. "Traitor! You work for ME now!"
Karl shook his head. "No... I don't."
Then, without warning, the dummy exploded with a scream. That was because, unknown to Slappy, Karl had known where the dummy was going to land. And he had landed in 'Karlsville'. And everyone knows that in 'Karlsville' everyone gets what they fear most. Slappy's fear, coincidentally, was to die.
As Karl knew, everyone's was once you got down to it.
The Doctor had taken a slightly different route to Jarryd and was currently fighting off the 'Horrors' from 'Horrorland', but this gave him the chance to further realise what the biggest weakness for the goo was.
It had popped up with Jarryd before with the Snow-man, but now the Doctor finally saw it's true power.
Laughter was a weakness for the goo, as when he threw a snow-ball at one Horror and Jarryd just happened to be passing and saw it happen, Jarryd laughed uncontrollably and the horrors screamed in agony before sliming into nothing and letting both of them get a free run back to the TARDIS.
"What kept you?" Jarryd asked, arriving at the TARDIS first.
They both laughed, and The Doctor noticed that no Goosebumps villains popped up during that time. He made a mental note to himself to study the green goo more and then they both dashed inside the TARDIS thanks to Jarryd opening the door.
The Doctor ran to the control panel and slammed the goo on it, then twisted a few knobs and the TARDIS departed from the planet.
Back in the caves, a loud and deafening cry emitted from the once great King Jelly-jam as it's subjects destroyed it slowly and painfully.
Before it died, however, it couldn't help reflecting on what The Doctor had said before he had left.
Apology... accepted...Doct...or...
For generations to come, it would be a mystery as to how the king knew who the Doctor really was. But that was a mystery now that would remain unsolved for all of eternity.