Mary Cinder had understood all kinds of pain, but had never imagined what could cause anyone to cry out like her young partner. He looked desperate to collapse yet trapped by his own body, squirming from some deep agony. She started to understand why the Demon had desired this weird marble. Putting aside all logic, giving into those stranger stories Wally mused the crew about how the government made deals with supernatural forces, she charged over.
Hairs on her body shot up after taking several steps. Some kind of heat radiated despite a deep chill in London tonight. Every atom inside Mary wanted, needed, to be somewhere else, but knowing the Doctor didn't have that luxury made stepping forward easier.
Not wanting to scream herself or worse, she pressed against his back with eyes closed. He struggled to mouth some kind of warning, it would have wiser to listen to but ignored both their instincts. Taking his hands in hers, Mary clamped them together.
An unholy eye, dripping pain while endless souls swirled inside its iris in unending torture entered her mind. It last a second, but she too only scream from something Mary had never seen, even from those weird horror films Wally made them watch after bad breakups… wishing her ex-boyfriends/girlfriends met those same horrors.
The Doctor looked like he could finally breathe, but then crumbled. She quickly caught his fall, the young man's body drenched in sweat. Being so close, his heartbeat… either a heart bounce around like a pinball or…
Before more impossible thoughts could surface, Mary heard car wheels screech to a halt. There were no sirens, or flashing blue lights. The added noise only meant one thing in her mind, someone wanted them to know they had arrived.
Deciding to disappoint whoever arrived, Mary hooked her arms under the Doctor's shoulders and shuffled them both towards the nearby exit.
"Miss Cinder," a voice befitting rattlesnakes called out. "I want my eye back."
There were several footsteps heading towards the entrance they had entered while Mary managed to slip them out. Entering a narrow alley, dumpsters and dim lightbulbs from backlights created slim halos of glowing illumination among darkness. She could see where it opened out onto the street and started tugging them there. The Doctor's heavy weight kept them from moving faster than with shoes in cement.
"It's rude to not hear my offer."
Mary barely managed not to scream.
The man's voice… was right beside the exit they left!
How could that be possible, she thought while tugging faster. Even if they were moving quickly, avoiding the giant hole should have slowed down any direct chase. Unless they could… JUMP.
There had been no noise, it was only by briefly glancing up that they were sparred being crushed. A figure, more shadow than man, dropped from above, they barely missed them by a foot. It made no effort to crouch or show signs of strain from falling, the figure only reached out. Its hands almost reached them, a coldness echoed from darkness, promising oblivion.
Then Mary heard something buzzing.
A violet light shined, the nearby lights started getting brighter in seconds. The shadowy hand flickered, becoming vapid as smoke. No cries of agony, but Mary could tell this… Thing hated brightness. No wanting to test what happens when things turned back to their ambusher's main element, Mary rushed the stranger, bursting through them like a dense fog. A deathly chill flowed around them, but a stronger hand dragged her through the strangeness. The Doctor's tool held up, in its increased light, more figures were starting to appear, crowing the exit.
"Mary, what is that noise," she glanced back to see a long cane coming into the alley. "Have you made a friend?"
The cane stabbed the ground.
All light started to vanish. Shadows filled everything, Mary couldn't see the alley anymore, only many gloved hands flying towards them. She was tugged in a different direction from horror and rolled with it. Leaping through an opened door, she turned to see the Doctor abruptly shut it closed. He then ran the strange pen with purple light all along the doorframe. Her stranger walked more diligently, no longer acting the clueless young man from before.
"That'll keep them out," he glanced back at the door. "…For a bit. Good news is, shadows don't open doors."
"What's the bad news?" Mary found herself asking.
"Shadows don't need doors," the Doctor shrugged. "Creating structure, space, casts shadows. They'll see a way inside." He glared at the bag holding their package. "We need to keep moving."
Together, they walked about the back of a grey brick hallway, nearby bins implied trash was collected here. All lights were still dead, they were guided by the soft hum of the Doctor's device and its violet glow. Walking along what seemed to be a path towards the front entrance, anything further from the back definitely ideal in Mary's mind, it caused her to also think about how completely insane the last ten minutes had been. Shadows coming to life, what was apparently an eyeball inside her bag, and how the Doctor showed no signs of being shaken up by it all.
This made her grip his shoulder when they reached a nearby door. Her professional side knew better than to pull either of their eyes from the task of staying alive. She also needed to make her realizations known before they compromised their chances.
"You knew what I was after." She hissed quietly over his shoulder.
The Doctor showed no sign of being shaken, aiming her greater suspicions confirmed.
"I… suspected it was dangerous. No idea how much until it decided to look around."
Logically, Mary knew the Doctor had no real reason to reveal his deeper intentions. But something deeper inside also boiled with rage at having made pancakes for a liar. Possibly sensing resentment, the younger man glanced back with curious eyes. For a while, she had only observed his youth and charming features, but then she noticed something deeper. Some of her earliest teachers of shadowy crafts had a similar pair; radiating experience forged from a lifetime of hardship. But his expressed knowledge looked worthy of all her mentors combined.
"It's… never easy, trying to explain what I know to strangers." His voice, while the same, also carried the tone of someone much older. "I'm sorry that I wasn't more honest, but trust me enough to know we cannot let this man get the eye."
Trust, a five-letter word that should be something easily called out against a stranger growing stranger by the moment. But then she considered her own secrets.
"How do we get out of here then?" Mary managed to allow that question to surface among all her thoughts. "The back's definitely being breached and we can't risk going too far outside without people or cameras noticing me. I'm quite popular lately."
The Doctor nodded without making it seem like he needed to know more. Instead, he pointed his finger upwards. She followed the direction and then looked at him with deeper confusion. There may possibly be a roof access but then what, the building would still be surrounded. Her newfound partner's expression promised that he did indeed have a plan that was more than possibly sprouting wings.
They entered the main shop's area of service, apparently it was used to sell clocks. Curved ancient clocks with still gears surrounded their latter digital kin that were reduced to plastic bricks from power being completely shut off. Mary had run used devices that shut down electricity, but not even emergency generators were spared?
"The electricity isn't gone."
"What?" Mary muttered, struggling to keep her voice calm, she couldn't see on the street through the shop window, but that meant little in terms of reassurance.
"He didn't drain the power," the Doctor explained. "It's more like he covered it in darkness. Electricity is a form of heat and these shadows swallow warmth until nothing remains."
"Including us," Mary concluded, these horror stories usually implied mortal peril. "But your pen thing gave that light some extra kick, can we stop them with enough light?"
"There is no light while the cane is in play."
There was a staircase along the far wall, creating some archaic notion of this being some home from older times, which hopefully meant access to the roof. Staying low amongst the clocks, the two carefully slipped closer. The pen was put away, silence filled everything and made the stilled machines give off a grim sensation in Mary's mind. She remembered that clocks were stopped to commemorate a death, symbolizing the moment a life ended.
"Well, isn't this a curious sight."
The two stopped, his voice… but there hadn't been any reflection to show his arrival out front. Mary also noted a lock of shadow from moonlight outside the shop. She wondered if he could sense where they were, but knew darkness would have taken them.
"A Timelord among frozen clocks, your power over time made meaningless."
"I will admit, part of me hoped we'd meet before things got too chaotic, Doctor."
Her young companion's body tensed.
"Don't be so surprised," the man said with a cruel smile clearly on his lips. "Of course I took a peak inside that mind when we looked each other in the eye." He chuckled with the charm of something choking to death.
"Did you manage to glimpse my name? I'd love to hear it said to my face."
Mary noticed the shadows, they came out of the corners, four in crisp suits with large gloved hands and heads like smoke. With no real reason to hide, the two stood, Mary noticed a small movement with hands but said nothing. She focused all of her energy on the strange man wearing sunglasses at night and cane held sideways between both hands. He stood outside the shop window, yet nothing promised safety. The Doctor's demeanor, while stern, showed no fear.
"Mr. Raven, I believe that is the name you go by."
"It IS," the man shouted gleefully. "I am so happy to know your talent of the mind has not dwindled with age. There is belief that the mind does tend to fade after the first few centuries. Would you say so?"
Mary theories were starting to make sense in alarming ways. Wally always believed monsters lived within London, but these were not ones she ever heard of. An immortal young man, living shadows, and a demon who could possibly lose his eyes behind the sofa. She patiently listened, waiting for some coherent detail that would enable her to be more than a quiet onlooker. But the Doctor's response implied those days were now over.
"The last three thousand have been a breeze, Mr. Raven," he said while walking among the clocks closer to their deadly hunter. "While some things are a bit foggy with age, my best thoughts are still ahead."
Mary's whole body screamed to not get closer yet she remained by the Doctor's side until only the few inches of glass were between them all. Shadows crouched among the clocks, ready to pounce with a word, more just behind Mr. Raven. The two impossible men observed each other. The Doctor's hand on their bag tightened while Mr. Raven's smile faded to outright disgust.
"HOW DARE YOU?"
Mr. Raven's jagged teeth grew sharper while his voice grew louder.
"YOU CHOOSE TO BE SOFT, AT THIS STAGE OF THE GAME, BEFORE ME!?"
The bag writhed, matching their Master's rage.
"Not quite sure what you me—"
"I wanted a Challenge," the man growled. "But I finally cleared through your many mental barriers to what little I could glean. Now I discover the most dreaded foe of the Universe, AND FIND HIM LACKING!"
His deeper rage focused on the cane squeezed in both hands while Mr. Raven's voice returned to a calmer tone of contempt.
"No wonder you play with this petty human worm. The Doctor has lost all faith, and just when I decide to come back for a worthy challenge."
"I'm not interested in judgements from a Gorfeli tormenting citizens of a Level Five Planet." The Doctor's voice grew harder. "The Shadow Proclamation will have you answer for threatening a civilized population."
Mr. Raven's looked prepared to chew through the glass to bite off the Doctor's head.
"The Shadow Proclamation," Mr. Raven's rolled the words Mary had never heard of as if wishing to spit them out of existence. "They're still in tatters after the FLUX. Even if they were active, would you truly wish others to clean up a mess on your favorite rock? I thought your dealings with Division would have taught you better than to trust authority, Timelord Prime."
The Doctor's face flushed in shock. Mary wasn't keen on her best means of survival being anxious. She almost tried reaching for her inner coat pocket but stopped when she noticed the Doctor's hand. Seeing the angle, whatever happened would commence in less than thirty seconds.
"Those words mean nothing to me, Mr. Raven," the Doctor said. "Timelord, Doctor, all you need to know me as is prepared."
He then held up a rotary clock against the glass. His pen raised while pulling both hands away. The dial prepped to hit zero in three…two…ONE!
His pen roared and suddenly sound became a cannon-like blast. Mary covered her ears but the shockwave rattled through everything. Glass casings for many clocks shattered while the shop window exploded outwards. The greatest concentration of sound rocketed Mr. Raven across the street, leaving a crater in the wall. But a sudden chill implied the shadow men were not so easily shaken.
Ducking a quick bearhug of certain death, Mary stomped over broken glass as she followed the Doctor up the nearby wooden steps. She made sure to note the store's name, Timeless Timekeepers, thinking of some kind of compensation made surviving this insanity far more invigorating. No footsteps followed them but that made Mary sprint faster, wondering if something about the Doctor gave him an extra talent at running from certain death. They reached a backdoor, Mary slipped in past her partner, turning to see a gloved hand almost grasp her undone hair. Kicking backwards and hitting the stairs, hard, managed to spare her while the Doctor slammed the door shut. Whisps of smoke through the keyhole started spilling into the back office. The Doctor helped Mary up and together they, moved past the Boss's office, everything covered in glass; a fruit basket would definitely not be enough of a kind gesture for the mess, Mary thought.
Finally, they reached the rooftop access, opening the door out to an alleyway fire escape. Silhouettes of shadow appeared in the alley's opening. Mary's clanked on the steps, struggling to keep the momentum. With men, she could fight or surprise… monsters were only good to die from standing too still near them.
London felt colder than usual. Reaching the roof, one quick glance showed no other nearby rooftop came close to being a safe option. There was nowhere else to run. Yet the Doctor smiled. In his free hand, a key shimmered golden light.
Mary heard a groaning sound. Loud enough for an alarm but seemingly coming from everywhere. When it concentrated on one spot, she noticed a light appearing above her mysterious comrade. A box-like shape started to take form around the Doctor. She blinked several times, processing how it looked like the words on the box was 'POLICE'?!
The Doctor broad smile promised safety equal to none while he reached out for Mary's hand. She felt herself moving towards him without a second to think. After so long, this was something that could work.
Then a hand curled around her throat. The thin black oblivion of a cane stabbed into the structure. Bright cracks splintered out from where it struck. Something gave off a scream.
The world turned blinding. Mary eyes caught sight of something spiraling away like a shooting star. She saw the Doctor on his knees, no sign of being hurt but the expression shown was complete agony.
"Consider this me being gentle," Mr. Raven whispered, his hand starting to squeeze Mary's need for air to nothing. "For how much you've upset me. Give. Me. My. Eye."
Darkness started slipping into the corners of Mary's eyes. Shadowy Men also came closer, encircling them. Whatever trauma weighed the Doctor down, it was clear he would not be a reliable force in this moment. His arm held the bag up to the side, not moving even when Mary started needing to cough out against Mr. Raven's grip.
Beyond a dull ringing, Mary heard the most beautiful sound.
CAW CAW
It was loud, most likely thirty seconds away.
She needed to trust that being crazy would be better than being smart. Flipping a hand into her coat, trained to draw no matter her condition. Mary pulled out a small pistol and fired. It sliced through the concentrated lump inside their bag.
The Doctor's head snapped up. Mary staggered when Mr. Raven let go of her, screaming. Her comrade caught the fall.
"LIGHT" Mary coarsely shouted.
As Shadow Men moved in, several bright flares soared overhead. Their combined brightness created a small sun's brightness. Their attackers looked more smoke than shade.
"What's happening?" the Doctor managed to say over Mr. Raven roaring.
"Call it a trust fall." Mary gave him a wink before they charged through the smokey forms. The shouted had stopped too quickly, now turning into calls for their beating hearts to devour. But the two were already inches from the roof's edge.
The Doctor and Thief soared down into London below.