Hey guys ! What's up ? Well not much for me, I don't have anything special to say today except that I bought the game "Dishonored" for like 5 euros and Tomb Raider for 9 euros, so I'm pretty proud of myself. I also bought 10 mangas so I'm so poor right now... Aaaaah I hate myself for buying so much things !

Anyway guys, here's the new chapter

Enjoy !

Disclaimer : I'm so poor right now I'm not even sure I could buy a single thing...so Doctor Who ? Hahahahahahahaha

The Legend Of The Hybrid

Chapter 12 : The game is on

She didn't know why she had chosen to wear heels that day but it had been the worst idea she had ever had in her entire life. She had really believed they wouldn't run away from aliens wanting to kill them ? She didn't know if she had been hopeful or stupid, in any case, it hadn't been judicious.

The Doctor was nearly dragging her, she was so slow ! However, it was giving him time to think. They needed a way-out but nothing around them was useful. It wasn't called the "Ice Desert" for nothing. No shelters, no buildings, only ice. It was definitive, he hated this planet.

Clara was beginning to desperate, she couldn't see how they could escape from this plight. And of course, like in these cliché books she had read before, she stumbled and fell. Again.

She was going to get up and run to catch the Doctor up but it was already there. Just. Above. Her. Its big unfathomable eyes were observing her.

In a desperate act, she threw one of her heels at its head, hoping it would distract it to give her some time to flee. What she wasn't expecting was the heel passing through its head. Another hologram. She was fuming. She got up and slapped the Doctor.

"You also knew about that !?" He rubbed his cheek, still in shock.

"No I...I thought it was a real Maashiaf. A primitive one..."

She felt remorse when she saw the fear in his eyes. He had really thought she was going to die. He had his sonic screwdriver in his hand, a desperate attempt to stop the beast. Nothing had the right to harm Clara, nothing.

When the disguise was unveiled, the hologram disappeared., returning from where it had come from. They were both in shock but at least, they were alive. That was a good start.

"So, what did you mean by primitive ? And why was it chasing us ?" He didn't seem to hear her the first time so she repeated her questions.

"Ah ! Yes, sorry. By primitive, I meant it was one of the first Maashiafs. At their origins, they were a destructive race, ready to burn every star in the universe. But they evolved. When I was young, around my seventies, I had found a book about their exploits, in the Great Library Of Gallifrey." He continued.

"It explained their accomplishments, how they had created the first telepathic books and how they had saved hundreds of races during the Final War. They're a really clever race, judging their enemies by their intelligence. They like to play games with them to evaluate their capacities. If you succeed, they'll respect you. This one wasn't playing though, it wanted to kill us."

"Now, about why it was chasing after us, I think it is a warning. It is hiding in Sweetville and it wants us to stay away. If we continue, it could be deadly. Still want to do it ?"

She began to walk in the direction of Sweetville and paused when she noticed he wasn't following.

"You're coming ?"

"Yes...Let's go."

They moved together towards the city. He wasn't eager to face danger for once. Pictures were flashing in his head, making him dizzy.

Clara in a cobblestone street. Clara falling, black smoke escaping from her mouth. Clara, dead, on the cold hard ground. But it couldn't be real, right ? She would have told him, of course she would have.

These visions had appeared when the Maashiaf had been about to kill her. It had appeared from nowhere and it hadn't wanted to leave. He knew that Clara's presence was making these memories resurface but it didn't make any sense. She was alive, in front of him.

The neural block effects were slowly falling apart, he could remember for now all his adventures he had had in his eleventh self with her. Her life as a governess, their meeting, Akhaten, the submarine, the ghost, when she had discovered his name and had forgotten everything about it, Sweetville, Trenzalore.

For an unknown reason, he was incapable of remembering anything about his actual life with her in it. Except her "death" in an unknown street. It was so blurry, he couldn't remember the circumstances of it. Why had they ended up in this street ? Why had he wanted to erase her memory afterwards ?

Was it why he couldn't remember ? Because he wanted to forget these events ? To forget what had happened and to be able to live on without worrying ? Was it related to her immortality ? So many questions and for once, he was the only one unable to answer them. That was new.

"Hey, what are you thinking about ? A way not to get us killed and to get that monster away from this planet ?" The monster. He didn't have an idea of what he was going to do about it.

"You know me, I have a plan. I just don't know what it consists of for now."

"Nothing unusual then."

They arrived to the entrance of the city, the second time of the day. No monster nor hologram in sight. It was as deserted as the rest of 55 Cancri D. Except of course for the fake buildings. It was, despite all, still impressive to see them. The illusion was perfect. The most impressive one was the tower overhanging the city, especially for its unnatural brilliance.

From there, you could contemplate the whole village, or to be more precise, who was in it. A shadow could be seen at the top of the tower, looking in their direction. They couldn't see its features from here but they could swear it was who they were looking for.

"Clara, did you see who's at the tower ?"

"Yeah, should we pay him a visit ?"

"You read my mind."

She wasn't scared. It was surprising the Doctor. Bill had always been reluctant to visit their enemies. It was normal after all, she was only human and knew the danger was omnipresent. Oh, how he wished he had listened when she had told him this that fateful day. It killed her.

Clara didn't have this trait, though. She trusted him entirely, perhaps even more than he trusted himself. She was facing danger willingly. The real question was if she had always been like this or if he had made her become that way. Once again, he couldn't answer.

Their steps guided them to the bottom of the tower. Knowing better, the Doctor didn't knock and just opened the door.

"Heeello ?"

It echoed through the whole structure. No one replied. The door slammed behind them. The point of no return. Maybe this wasn't a good idea after all. Wait, the door slammed ? And it echoed ? Interesting.

The interior of the tower was also made of ice, with a really long staircase reminding him of the one in Frozen. However, it was fake. He could feel it this time.

"Clara, do you notice anything unusual except these stairs? Something clearly showing it isn't a hologram ?" She observed the room.

"Well, no. Why ? Do you think it's not a hologram ?"

"Yeah. I think he built this tower. It isn't a hologram. I think we've just found your artistic monster Clara. Or, this is a trap. One or the other." Her gaze was fixed on the ceiling for an unknown reason.

"Doctor...what if it were both ?"

He looked at the ceiling like her and saw the falling spikes. Clara ran to him and pushed them both against a wall on their right. It turned and let them enter a new room.

"How...?"

"If the main one were fake, another one was necessarily around. I noticed a slight difference in the wall structure and I hoped it was a secret room. I was only lucky." Oh she was clever. Really clever.

It was a control room filled with screens. Images coming from hidden cameras were showing their little friends, as well as the Chief, who was reading in a living-room. But something else caught his attention.

A hologram generator. A rather old model from the twenty-fourth century but one of the best old models. He turned it off, not waiting to have another bad surprise. On the other side of room was another staircase, still in ice, leading to the top of the tower. He put his foot on the first step. Nothing happened. Good.

"The stairs in the main room was a lure, to get rid of curious visitors."

They climbed them at a rather fast pace, keeping alert. They ended up on the threshold of the last storey, a door being the only obstacle between them and the Maashiaf. He opened it without a ounce of doubt.

It was at the window, a perfect copy of the hologram from earlier.

"Hello ! Sorry to disturb you, we wanted to meet you Mister Maashiaf ! You have a lovely place, what a shame you didn't decorate it. I'm sure some paintings on the way up here wouldn't have been too much." It faced them, a bored look on its face.

"You're here to liberate the little beings."

"Yes, we're here to liberate our little friends and help you if it's possible."

"Interesting. Let's play then. I think you're familiar with my kind ?"

"Yes, you're going to choose a game to test my intelligence. Come on then I'm waiting."

"You're going to play deductions with me, Doctor. And for each bad answers...she is going to pay."

He pointed his finger at Clara. Ice formed around her feet, preventing her from moving. It was at this moment she noticed there was a trap under her feet.

"Doctor ? I'm kinda scared now, so no jokes, okay ? Please, tell me it's also a hologram." He looked at her, nervous. He tried to melt the ice, it didn't work.

What the hell was this Maashiaf doing ? They didn't threat people, they only played games with them. Was this one dangerous ? They shouldn't have come here.

"For each bad answers, the trap is going to open a little. When it will be completely open, who knows what will happen. Ready to play, Doctor ? Do you think you're clever enough ?"

He tried to look confident but to be honest, he was completely scared. The idea of Clara falling into that trap was terrifying him. Who knew what was in there. He needed to be clever and careful. For once, no bold guesses.

"Of course I am. Clara believes in me and I'm not going to betray her trust now. Never."

Let's hope he wasn't lying, because he wasn't ready to pay the price for this lie.

Did anyone get the title ? Yeah I know I could have said "the game is afoot" but I watched the BBC version with Benaffleck Cumberland (Okay okay, Benedict Cumberbatch) so I wanted to say "The game is on" ! ^^ I didn't read the book but I have it, I just need to find some time to read it, I didn't finish Of Mice And Men so I'll read it after. In any case, what do you think about this chapter ? ^^ And about our dear Maashiaf friend ?

I'll just wait for you to tell me your opinion on it...I'm waiting

Anyway guys, I'll see ya later ^^

Salut les gens !

Spirit Of Dark Wolf