Hi everyone! Welcome to the next chapter of the Universe Challenge! This one involves a lot of thinking, be warned.
Okay, acting normal doesn't work. Let me start off with saying: I am so sorry! I've been gone from this story for... how long has it been? A month, actually. Oh god, I feel so bad right now. But I have an explanation!
First off, I've been doing a writing competition. It was starting to get stressful writing it, because the due date was coming up and I didn't have anything good. But I did end up writing something good! (It's on Deviantart actually if you want to read it. Look under the name PhoenixTheTimelady. It's called Shakespearean Midnight.) Anyways, that happened. The competition was actually on May 7th. I got second place! I would have gotten first place, but part of it was presentation, and I was talking to fast. But I got $20! Oh, and they kind of personalized our awards too. I got 'Best Future Novelist' which is pretty impressive in my opinion. Oh, and I showed my English teacher my story, and now she wants to use it in class... Yep, that actually happened.
Secondly, I've been busy with my new collab. (If you haven't seen it yet, it's called No Longer Human.) That took forever to plan (the whole month I was gone actually) and it was rather stressful, though still fun. I think it's got a pretty good story line. Two girls, Kim and Phoenix, somehow get captured and are subjected to DNA testing. They escape, but a weeping angel sends them back in time. They find a blue box and a whole other world to explore, but they actually find out more about themselves than the worlds around them...
Finally, any other time I would actually have enough time to write on this story, I would have writer's block with it, and that was frustrating as hell.
So, I hope you accept my apologies, and here's a chapter to make up for it! (Though it isn't actually that happy... sorry...)
Phoenix groaned as she peaked open an eye to see her next to the shuttle door, two people holding her up, and the hostess next to the button that opened the door. She could hear the Doctor's yells of 'no' and 'leave her alone', but obviously someone would be holding him back. Phoenix's eyes widened as she realized all of these, her mouth about to form words when the hostess press the button that opened the door and the people holding her threw her out of the shuttle.
Burning. That was all she felt, the burning and sizzling of her skin that felt like a million needles were being stabbed into her skin at once. The heat of it all was too bear, melting away at her skin and leaving at least level 3 or 4 burns. It was even too much for the entity to bear, as it left her soon after she was thrown out of the shuttle.
She was finally going to die. She was going to burn to death in the extonic rays of Midnight. Weird name, wasn't it? If it was so bright, and the light rays killed people, why name it Midnight, the point in time when it is completely dark? It really didn't make sense to Phoenix, and she doubted the person had been thinking when they had named the planet.
Screaming one last time, Phoenix's vision suddenly sunk into darkness. Unknown to her, she had only jumped to another time, where the Doctor happened to be freaking out over the amount of burns and cuts on her body. Not exactly a pretty sight.
Phoenix slowly opened her eyes, pain shooting through her body as soon as she did. It of course, felt like she had been burnt by a thousand suns, or worse. A scream tore through her throat, making the Doctor aware of her presence, and making him scamper over toward her pretty quickly.
Sobs wracked Phoenix's body, only creating more pain as she had to move to cry, sending a sharp stinging sensation throughout her body every time she moved the slightest bit. A flashback of sorts echoed through her mind, confusing her to no end.
"Doctor!" Phoenix exclaimed, her eyes widening to extreme proportions as she watched her skin slowly burn in front of her, turning her into one of the creatures from before. She started to freak out, panicking over death. She really didn't like the idea of burning to death.
The Doctor turned toward her, eyes widening as he noticed what was wrong. He watched, somewhat shell-shocked, as Phoenix's arms burnt up slowly, her eyes wide with fear.
Phoenix's breaths were loud and heavy as her body slowly turned to rock, sending pain shooting through her body. She screamed, loudly, as it burnt through her chest and neck. Her eyes glittered with tears, and her mind began to cloud over, her sight turning to darkness. She screamed one last time, before the burning sensation took over her whole body, sending her into darkness.
Gasping for breath, Phoenix's eyes flew open and she bolted straight up, hissing loudly as pain shot through her whole body.
"Lay down! You shouldn't be sitting up!" The Doctor exclaimed, pushing her back down and then going back to what he was doing, which happened to be trying to find a way to heal her.
"I'm fine Doctor." Phoenix said softly, trying to sit up again, only to fall back to the bed groaning in pain.
"You see what I mean? You need to rest!" The Doctor exclaimed, dropping something with a big clanging sound.
Phoenix finally gave into his wishes, relaxing into the rather soft sheets of the bed. She giggled slightly as well. She kept ending up back in the infirmary, didn't she? It was rather silly though, wasn't it? All the pain. It was too bad she was hurt so badly, she felt like jumping up and running to the console room. Giggling yet again, Phoenix turned her head toward the Doctor.
"What happened after…" Phoenix started, before taking a deep breath. "…after I had been possessed at midnight?"
The Doctor froze in his tracks, having everything suddenly fall into place. Why she had all the burns, why she seemed so scared. He turned toward her slowly, a worried look on his face.
"You…They…They started to argue more. Sky was back to normal, but you weren't. You started copying everyone, and everyone freaked out. They started to insist on throwing you out. I tried to stop them, but…" A stray tear streaked down the Doctor's face, making him turn around, hiding it.
"I woke up." Phoenix said suddenly, turning her head back toward the ceiling.
His eyes widened. "What do you mean?"
"I woke up, right before they threw me out. The entity was still there, but I could see." Phoenix said, a few tears falling slowly down her face.
The Doctor suddenly became frozen yet again, hearing this news. She had been… awake. That meant she had actually felt the pain of the extonic light. That was way worse than anything she had experienced before.
He pulled up a chair next to Phoenix's bed, setting his forehead on the bed lightly. "I'm sorry Phoenix. I so sorry." He whispered, tears falling down his cheeks again.
"What are you saying sorry for? It's not your fault. It's mine." Phoenix said, closing her eyes with sudden tiredness.
"It's never your fault Phoenix. It was mine. I let you get possessed by that entity, and we didn't even get rid of it. I watched as you got thrown off a shuttle into deadly rays. I'm sorry, it's all my fault." The Doctor said softly, glancing up to see Phoenix already asleep.
He chuckled softly, before pulling the covers over her and kissing her forehead lightly. She deserved a good night's rest for once, instead of the torturous nightmares that made her scream. The Doctor commonly heard her during the nights on the Tardis, and that was horrible for him, let alone her.
He quietly left the sick bay, letting the sleeping woman rest. Though, of course, like always, a few screams echoed through the hallways as the night progressed on.
Phoenix bolted up yet again, cringing hard as pain shot through her body. That was the seventh time that night. Nightmares, filled with blood and fire and screams. She had no idea where they came from, only that they were dreadful. They felt extremely familiar though, like she had gone and experienced them herself. But that wasn't possible… was it?
She stared at the plain white ceiling, eyes tracing the little texturing that seemed to form lines. She had always done that when she was bored. It was almost like a little game.
Phoenix blinked softly, opening them again to see a crack in the ceiling. The same one as she had seen back in Paris with Reinette. Her eyes widened, staring at the crack. There it was, yet again.
Why did it keep following her? She was pretty sure it was supposed to follow the Doctor, actually. Though, it had made some interesting things happen, like make Amy meet Clara and everything….
Where did that come from? Phoenix's eyes widened yet more. Amy had never met Clara… had she? If she had, she didn't remember. But what could have happened to make her forget? Nothing, really.
Phoenix closed her eyes for a second, before opening them again. Yet, this time, the crack was not there. Was it just a figment of her imagination? She sort of hoped not. That would mean she was going crazy. Not that she wasn't already.
Suddenly, her skin startling tingling lightly. She grimaced, pain shooting through her. She was jumping, at a time like this? Time must really hate her.
A golden glow flashed through the room before Phoenix disappeared, jumping to another point in time, in much more pain that before.
Phoenix screamed into her pillow, it muffling the sounds coming from her. She had landed on the bed in her room, but that didn't stop the jump from hurting like hell.
Tears spilled from her eyes yet again, though she was laughing. Ah, fate was cruel, wasn't it? Taking her from her family, then subjecting her to this? It was laughable, actually. Though, it was probably just the drums making her laugh at that point. Who knew what they could do?
Phoenix began to ask herself the real question. How the hell was she supposed to do anything for the next couple of days? Obviously she couldn't move, and she couldn't really be loud enough to alert the Doctor without being in pain…
The Tardis hummed softly, reminding Phoenix of her presence. Phoenix yawned lightly, before telepathically asking the Tardis to alert the Doctor of her presence.
She couldn't help but wonder what Doctor was there actually. She couldn't help but wish it was a Doctor that was past midnight, so she wouldn't have to make up some lame excuse as to what happened. Though, she probably would eventually.
Phoenix smiled softly. If she was a Timelady, everything would heal much faster. Her mind often came back to this topic, replaying imaginary scenes as to what it would be like if the Doctor wasn't the last Timelord, that she was one beside him. Silly dream, she knew, but it was fun to think about.
Yawning yet again, Phoenix snuggled into her bed, squeezing her eyes shut. She might as well get some sleep. Though, she had to admit, she was nervous to. She didn't want the nightmares to come back.
But, as always, the calls for sleep were stronger than her worries of what lay beyond. She yawned once more before slowly drifting asleep.
Muffled cries of fear and anguish echoed throughout the city as the metal machines rolled in, taking people's lives with it. Fire spread through the streets and there were the constant firing of guns. Muffled cries of 'exterminate' could be heard. Phoenix stood in the middle of it all, hands dripping with blood. She was carrying a big black gun, one of the strongest ones they had actually. Her hair was matted with blood and sweat, her red, brown, and black clothes tattered and worn, her body thin from hunger. The war had hit like that attack on earth, 911 or something. It happened very, very suddenly. The war had been going on for ten years since then. At least, so far.
Phoenix pulled the gun up, aiming it at the enemy not far away. Her finger hooked around the trigger, her finger threatening to pull and end the enemy's life. Though she seemed confident with the gun, her body was shaking softly. No matter how many times she had done it, she was still never going to get used to killing. She lined up the gun quickly, and softly closed her eyes. She couldn't look either. She refused to. Her finger pulled down on the trigger, a sort of band hissing immediately after. Not far after it, scream of agony emitted from the enemy, making Phoenix cringe. She never wanted this.
Phoenix awoke to her own screams, and a presence sitting in a chair next to her bed. She swiftly stopped her screams, though tears were spilling down her face with surprising freedom. The figure besides the bed was holding her hand rigidly, enough to pull her hand off. She assumed it was the Doctor, because he really seemed like the only one who would be able to even get in her room.
The light slowly turned on, courtesy of the Tardis of course. Phoenix glanced over to see the 10th Doctor, a worried expression on his face. She was crossing her fingers for past midnight Doctor. She really didn't feel like explaining anything at the moment.
After what felt like hours of silence, the Doctor finally spoke. "Are you okay?"
Was she, really? It wasn't just the dream. The burns, the drums, the fact that she got thrown out of a shuttle. It really was getting to her. It was a wonder she wasn't insane already, actually.
"No…I…I don't think so…"
Well. That was fun. It was almost as demonic as some of my other chapters, and it's not even 2 in the morning! I'm impressed...
Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this... insightful story. (Is that even the right word for this chapter?)