Here we go, lads. I'm not going to pretend that I'm sure I'm going to be able to get another chapter out. I MAY be able to get something out around mid-March, but I'm not sure. There might be a chance? Not to get your hope up, but instead of taking a financial math class this semester, I'm taking an Astronomy one, so what I'm saying is that there's a chance you might get an update or two between now and May, but who knows? Not fucking me.
But either way next up is either going to be a fifth Doctor serial or an eleventh Doctor episode. It's a coinflip.
Acknowledgments, here they are:
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Marion's best guess as to why she could lift and tug and push and kick and slam and twist far harder than she ever could back home was due to the way her body seemed to Ctrl+Z any injury. The human body was capable of a lot more than more people normally did. Mothers lifting cars and all that. It's just the body's got limits to keep you severely injuring yourself by tearing your muscles in two and shattering your bones. Her body fixed the damage, so she was able to do more stuff.
Or maybe she was completely off and her strength came from some dumb superman "you have powers because you're in another universe where the vibes are different".
The point was that whatever was making her strong didn't give her any muscle mass so she wasn't any heavier than she'd been when she'd gone on that walk.
In other words, she wasn't difficult to knock over. Especially if you caught her off guard.
Its arm swatted the side of Marion's head. It didn't send her unconscious but it shoved her back. Marion stumbled, shaky on her feet and trying to blink the stars out of her eyes. That stunned moment was just enough for one of the fleeing SRS members to run into her and send her sprawling to the ground with a muffled curse.
Getting back up when you've fallen to the ground in the middle of a rushing crowd is an incredibly difficult thing to do, but it could be worse. No one was stepping on her.
Eventually, everyone had either been rounded by UNIT or had escaped. Either way, the room was cleared out enough that the Brigadier could reach down to her and help her to her feet.
"Thanks,"
"Well?" the Brigadier asked. He looked in between Marion who was standing next to him and the Doctor who was perched on top of the table on top of the stage.
"It had to be Kettlewell. Only he could have attempted to reprogramme the robot to overcome its prime directive,"
"And then he faked being attacked by his robot to lure us into a false sense of security. I probably should have known or remembered that it was just a ruse but…" Marion trailed off.
The fact was that she didn't. She had forgotten.
"They still have the destructor codes, and Sarah," The Doctor hopped off the table and, "And now they'll hide up somewhere and try their blackmail plan, I suppose,"
"But how can they?" the Brigadier asked, "If they start a nuclear war they'll go up with the rest of us,"
"They've got a nuclear bunker," Marion replied. "It's where they took Sarah and it's where they plan to stay after they blow the world up,"
Mr. Benton walked in with a large walkie-talkie.
"Excuse me, sir. There's a call for you from Doctor Sullivan. Linked in from HQ,"
"Thank you," he took the large bulky communicator and brought it to his ear, "Sullivan, are you still at Think Tank? Over?"
After a moment, Marion heard Harry's grainy voice from the other side of the receiver.
"Yes, sir, but I may not have much time. Now listen, sir. I've managed to give them the slip and I think they've forgotten about me. They seem to be pulling out, sir. The whole place is being evacuated."
Marion reached out her hand for the radio. The Brigadier handed it to her.
"Harry, you need to get off this line. Now,"
"Miss Henson! There's-"
"Yes, I know, a bunker that they're heading to, I also know that they know that they know that you're on the phone, so if I were you, I'd stop,"
"What-"
"Put the phone down Harry,"
"Miss Henson, I heard somebody mention the bunker, but it seemed to be a kind of a joke. I don't know how you can be so-,"
Marion heard a thud and then a few moments later, the sound of someone else hanging up the phone.
"Harry?"
Nothing.
Awesome. Super. Fantastic.
"Miss Henson, what is it? What's wrong?"
"They realized that he was on the line with someone," She handed the phone back to the Brigadier.
"Is he alright?"
"Depends on what you mean by all right. He's not in danger of dying or anything. He's just a hostage now along with Sarah Jane. I told him to put down the phone before they realized but… Anyway, he mentioned them talking about a bunker. This means that hasn't changed and I didn't remember wrong. So we should make our way over there,"
"Marion, you wouldn't happen to know where this bunker is would you?"
"No, but it should be somewhere in their records. Think Tank built it during the Cold War, in case things got hotter. So, you should be able to find it fairly easily,"
Marion rode with the Doctor and the Brigadier in Bessie. She sat in the backseat with her arms crossed in front of her chest and strained her brain, trying to remember events from then on. From point A to point B.
It's hard to remember what you've forgotten if you don't even know that you've forgotten it. There was the bunker, and some landmines, and the Doctor could break through some of them and set them off. Was she missing anything else important?
Oh.
Didn't the robot kill Kettlewell?
The Doctor finally pulled Bessie to a stop. It wasn't that far of a ride. Marion had walked farther to get to class as a college freshman. The only reason they had taken cars at all was that it was easier than carrying all that heavy equipment by hand and it meant that if they had to leave again, they wouldn't have to go back. They were in a field with a green paneled house on one side of the field and a small black metal shack on the other.
"Well, this is the place," the Brigadier announced. He pulled a pair of binoculars out of his breast pocket. "Like Miss Henson said, an atomic shelter designed and built by the Think Tank people back in the Cold War days,"
"And you're sure that they're in there?" Mr. Benton asked.
"Positive. And I know that I've been a little bit," she waved a hand near her, "today, but I am absolutely positively certain that they're in there. And on that note," Marion pointed at a thin rectangular hole over the top of the doorway of the bunker, "I'm also certain that they're going to start shooting at people from that little rectangle over there. So, uh, stay sharp,"
"Do they have troops stationed up there?" the Brigadier asked.
"No, it's automated. I think it's triggered by body heat?" Marion tapped the side of her head, "Something like that. They won't fire unless you get close is the point,"
Marion heard a staticky noise from the inside of one of the green UNIT vehicles.
"Shush!" The Doctor hissed.
"It's them, they're trying to get into the radio frequency,"
Benton stood up and reached for the receiver.
"Greyhound Leader receiving you," Benton said, "Over,"
Marion couldn't really hear what was being said over the other line, but after a moment, Benton handed it to the Brigadier.
"Lethbridge-Stewart," he said.
There was a moment of silence.
"Yes, Miss Winters, I hear you. Come out and give yourselves up, or we shall attack,"
More silence.
"That will not deter me. I repeat, give yourselves up or we shall attack,"
After another moment, he put the receiver down.
"Miss Henson, do you know where those machine gun nests are?"
"Mostly? They're nearby and I know what the surroundings look like, and how many of them there are,"
"Good, good, Mr. Benton, you take Miss Henson, grenades, and a party of men, get to those machine gun nests and wipe them out,"
"On it!" "Yes sir!"
Marion stood very gingerly as she looked around.
She didn't want to trigger one of them by accident. It'd be terrible if he made a wrong move and someone got shot, it would be annoying if she ended up with bullet holes in this suit, and also wasn't interested in getting shot again. It hurt.
Marion pointed to a bright concrete structure. It stood out sharply against the thin tall dark trees that covered the area.
"That's one right there Mr. Benton." She backed away as the man pitched the grenade at the spot she pointed out and fell to the ground with his ears covered. Marion did the same and barely even flinched this time. She was getting better.
Marion stood back up and stared for a moment at the flaming pile.
"Woah," she blinked, "The second one is surrounded by those sandbags over there," she pointed. "And I pointed out the third one already. It's on top of the shelter door itself,"
UNIT soldiers blew those up like Benton had blown up the first one.
"Are there any more than just those?" the Brigadier asked.
"I don't think so," Marion replied, "At least there shouldn't be but-"
"Right," the Brigadier nodded, "prepare to advance,"
"Just a moment, Brigadier,"
The Doctor reached into his pocket and pulled out the Sonic Screwdriver. It emitted a loud, high-pitched noise. Marion covered her ears. The ground shook with a loud BOOM and then another and then another and then another and another and another as the many land mines that Think Tank or SRS or whatever they were calling themselves were remotely detonated.
The Doctor turned around to grin at the rest of them. "Come along then. Unless there's something else we should be worried about Marion,"
"Nope. We're good. I mean, there's a giant robot, but I think you already know about that,"
Marion walked ahead of the rest of them, just in case there was a machine gun or some other trap in between them and the door that she was unaware of.
No such thing.
The rest of UNIT followed close behind her.
"Shall I get some explosives, sir?" Benton asked the Brigadier.
"Yes."
"Oh, no," the Doctor shook his head, "Must you? I really think we've had enough bangs and flashes for a bit, don't you? Hold on," he took out his sonic screwdriver again and messed with a few buttons on it, "Turns into a miniature sonic lance, you see." The Doctor pressed a side button and it made that terrible grating noise. As he slowly moved it along the side of the lock, it burned and smoked as the Doctor slowly cut through the metal.
And then the door started to open the rest of the way on its own.
Marion felt dread.
'Wait, wait, shoot,'
"Everyone back up!" Marion shouted.
Marion expected some variation of "What? Why?"
But instead, everyone jumped away from the door as if the grass had suddenly turned into snakes. They were all clear as the robot walked out with a gun in its hand.
Which in Marion's opinion, was a bit overkill. It'd be like strapping a bazooka to a nuclear warhead. At a certain point, you should know when enough's enough.
Marion quickly turned her head to the waiting Tank off to the side.
"GET OUT!" Marion shouted as loud as she could, "QUICK!"
Before Marion could finish the word "quick" saw the hatch open and four men hurl themselves out of it and off to the side moments before the Robot shot a bolt of energy at him. No sooner was he safe on the grass than the vehicle glowed bright orange and then disappeared.
"GO! GO NOW, OR I WILL DESTROY YOU ALL!"
Everyone took a step back, Marion stepped forward for a moment, before the Doctor reached out for the back of her suit jacket and pulled her back along with the rest of him. It was a rehearsed motion.
Marion let herself be dragged and followed behind him to the tanks.
"What's the range and power of that weapon," The Brigadier asked.
"Yes," Marion replied.
"Miss Henson!"
"Almost unlimited," the Doctor elaborated, "Range, well, it could drill a hole in the surface of the moon,"
"And knock out anything we send against it,"
"I figured that that was a given,"
"Yes. Well, it's no use staying here. Brigadier, prepare your men for an attack. Try and draw the robot away from the door. I'll slip round behind it and finish cutting the lock,"
Marion blinked.
"What? No! Absolutely not! You must've hit your head really, really hard if you think I'm gonna let you do that" Marion held out her hand.
The Doctor grinned brightly and put the device in her hand. It felt oddly warm, but Marion had no idea if it was from the way the Doctor was gripping it or because it was a piece of machinery that quickly got hot. She gave him a thumbs up and very carefully and very slowly tried to pass the robot. And then the door opened.
'God I'm not on my A-game today. Not even my B-game. D-,'
Sarah Jane ran out with Harry and Dr. Kettlewell close behind her.
"Sarah!" the Doctor called out to her. He ran to her side!
"Doctor!"
Marion quickly moved to stand in between the newcomers and the robot.
"YOU MUST GO," the robot's voice was staggered, "THE SOLDIERS MUST GO,"
"You've got to let them in there,"
"THEY ARE ENEMIES OF THE HUMAN RACE!" it insisted.
"No," Marion said plainly, "They are trying to stop the enemies of the human race. You've got it all wrong,"
"YOU MUST GO OR I WILL KILL. I MUST KILL YOU. I MUST DESTROY YOU,"
"No, no, he was only telling-"
The Robot raised his gun as if to fire. Marion took a step forward, and at that moment, she was shoved hard in her side. She fell to the ground, bracing her fall with an elbow. There was a loud not-a-sound. A noise that wasn't a noise, but Marion felt it in her ears and she supposed that something you felt in your ears had to be a sound.
Nothing was left to even show Kettlewell had been there. Not even a scorch mark. Just some depressed grass.
The robot began to shake and whir loudly.
"I HAVE KILLED THE ONE WHO CREATED ME." The whirring grew louder. Marion rolled to the side and just barely avoided getting crushed. She pushed herself up and got to her feet, shakily.
"Now's our chance,". The Doctor darted down into the bunker. Marion lept over the fallen robot and followed close behind the three of them.
They followed Sarah Jane and Harry through the corridors of the bunker. The walls were dark grey and metallic. So Marion was thankful when the corridor widened into a large computer room.
A woman in a green suit sat at a computer and an unconscious man lay prone on the ground. A bright green letter on a bright blue background counted down from fifty.
"Get away from that keyboard!" the Brigadier ordered, he pointed his gun at the woman.
"You won't shoot, Brigadier!" she laughed,
Sarah Jane reached down to the floor and when she stood up again, she was holding a gun and was leveling it at Jellico.
"Maybe he won't, but I will. Move away!"
Marion was standing too far back to see Sarah's face, but her tone of voice showed Marion that the other woman was dead serious.
And Jellico could see it too, but she played it off. "Why not?" She backed away from the computer and smirked. "It's finished. The firing instructions have gone out,"
The Brigadier kept his gun aimed at Jellico as she stepped closer towards him.
"I can still get the major powers to use their fail-safe procedures."
"Too late, Brigadier,"
"CANCEL THE DESTRUCTION CODES!" the Brigadier shouted.
Jellico grinned and turned to the countdown.
"When that reaches zero, the missiles will be fired, and no one can send the cancel codes in time!"
The Doctor suddenly rushed past Marion and ran to the computer desk Jellico had been sitting at. He flipped through the light blue notebook that was sitting there and then started tapping buttons on the keyboard.
"She may be right, Brigadier," he remarked, not looking away from the screen.
Marion was very glad that the Doctor was there and that she wasn't expected to work in his place. Computer coding had never been something she was good at. She'd taken coding classes, both required and not, but she'd been able to retain what she'd learned in those classes about as well as a colander was able to retain water.
That is, not at all. She'd probably make the nukes come faster and somehow double.
"Benton, get them both out of here,"
Benton pulled the prone man to his feet and started to drag him and Jellico away.
The number on the screen continued to count down as the Doctor continued to tap-tap-tap away at the keyboard while speaking.
"The trouble with computers, of course, is that they're very sophisticated idiots. They do exactly what you tell them at amazing speed, even if you order them to kill you. So if you do happen to change your mind, it's very difficult to stop them obeying the original order, but-"
A final tap and the number stopped at two. The Doctor swung his legs over the top of the desk and grinned widely.
"Good on you Doctor!" Marion exclaimed. "And before the last second too. Cool, cool, even had a little bit of wiggle room?"
The Brigadier and Benton started to congratulate the Doctor as well. Marion out of the corner of her eye, noticed Sarah Jane shakily lowering her gun and staring straight ahead at nothing. She turned to leave.
Marion glanced at Sarah Jane and then back at the Doctor and then back at Sarah Jane.
She didn't want to leave the Doctor alone. She was scared to leave the Doctor alone.
But she didn't want to leave Sarah Jane alone either. Not with the robot. And besides, she'd already left Sarah Jane alone and not warned her about what was going on. And she didn't want Sarah Jane to hate her.
Although come to think of it, Sarah Jane's opinion of her was probably already set. So she wasn't going to ruin it.
But then again…
AGH.
This sucked.
Sarah Jane slipped away and with Marion, her decision made, close on her heels.
"Are you alright?" Marion asked.
"Would I have done it?" Sarah Jane asked.
"Done what?"
"Shoot her. I wanted to shoot her. I knew the Brigadier couldn't bring himself to do it,"
Marion knew that Sarah Jane wanted to hear a no. But they both knew that that wasn't the case. So instead, Marion looked at her and said.
"I think if you had to, you would've," Sarah looked away and Marion continued to speak, "But I don't think you would've killed her. In fact, I know you wouldn't. You can non-fatally shoot a person you know. I think if it was your only option, you'd do it. Shoot them non-fatally, I mean. But not because you want to hurt people, but because you want to keep them safe," Marion rubbed the back of her neck, "Am I making sense? I know I can be a bit rambly-,"
"It made sense. Thank you," Sarah Jane cut Marion off.
Marion was thankful for that. There was nothing worse than when Marion started rambling and didn't know when to stop or if she could stop, so she kept talking and talking and talking because the person she was talking to either didn't want to be rude and cut her off or the person wanted to watch her dig her own grave until she eventually trailed off and got quiet.
"Sarah, I promise you that I forgot about Kettlewell inviting you to the meeting and that it was all a trap. I would've warned you or said something or gave you a note or-,"
Sarah Jane waved her hand, "I figured that was the case. It wouldn't be the first time," she didn't sound angry or disappointed. "Is there anything else you've forgotten to bring up?"
Sarah ducked into a side room. A pair of chairs were there, discarded rope lay all over the floor near them.
'This must've been where they held Harry and Sarah Jane,' she thought.
"Uh," Marion answered, just as Marion was about to say, "I didn't forget it happened, I just got sidetracked. And forgot to mention the-"
Marion heard a noise from somewhere metallic noise from the side of the room. A panel against the wall slid open.
"Robot."
Both Marion and Sarah Jane froze for a moment.
Marion moved first. She grabbed Sarah Jane by her arm and tugged her back and away. Then Marion shifted in front of her. She held an arm out.
"STEP ASIDE!"
Marion didn't move.
The Robot wasn't going to kill Sarah Jane as far as Marion knew. Quite the opposite. He thought that every human being except for Sarah Jane needed to die.
Marion wasn't sure if the BBC writers had intended that to be a cute little "he hates everyone but me" thingy since it was the 70s after all, but regardless of the intention, it was an incredibly disturbing sentiment even if you were JUST thinking about how it would affect Sarah Jane.
So she wasn't going to just leave Sarah Jane to the robot without giving her the chance to flee or do something.
Because honestly, she'd left Sarah Jane to her own devices enough and that just seemed…
The robot reached out a claw.
"STEP ASIDE"
Marion didn't feel a sense of doom or nauseous and her arms weren't burning. (Her hands were shaking, but that was a thing that Marion had done since long, long, long before she'd gotten here).
Sarah could take care of herself.
Marion knew that.
If anything, Sarah was one of the companions that had been proven to be the most capable of taking care of and beating aliens.
Marion knew that.
Just like Marion knew that the Robot didn't want to kill Sarah Jane.
None of that changed the fact that Marion wasn't going to let the robot get close to Sarah if she could help it. Because capable or not, Sarah Jane was scared and that was enough of a reason for Marion to step in.
"STEP ASIDE!"
"No," Marion turned her head, "Sarah Jane," Marion said, she didn't know why she was lowering her voice, it wasn't as if the Robot couldn't hear her. Still, she kept her voice low. "Sarah Jane, can you get through that door? I think it's just behind you,"
"STEP ASIDE! I WILL NOT HURT HER!"
Marion didn't move.
Sarah Jane wasn't moving either. Marion didn't know why she wasn't moving. Why wasn't she moving? Did she freeze instead of fly?
"IF YOU DO NOT STEP ASIDE I WILL BE FORCED TO DESTROY YOU!"
Marion didn't move.
The robot stepped closer. Marion didn't step back.
And then, a few things happened:
First, Marion heard the Click-Click sound of someone pressing against the push bar of a door.
Second, Marion didn't hear the sound of the door opening. Just more of the Click-Click-Clicks of a locked door.
Third, Marion turned to see what was wrong and as she turned her head.
And then Marion heard a scream and felt something slam against the side of her neck with a dull snap.
Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock
The darkness of the clock zone was somehow different from the darkness of her nightmares. Maybe it was the distinct lack of silence. Whatever that clockwork sound was was too loud.
But it was also somehow quieter than it had been the previous time she's been there. She couldn't put her finger on why.
Tock. Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock. Tick
Marion woke up on the floor to the sound of a door shutting and the faint sound of heavy footsteps getting further and further away.
'Sarah!' Marion pushed herself up and ran at the door. The door was locked, but wouldn't be for long if Mairon's shoulder had anything to say about it. And it did. She slammed into the side of it. The door flung open. Suddenly, Marion's bag started to buzz.
"What on…" Her phone. How the fuck was her-?
Oh right. Thirteen had upgraded it. She'd almost forgotten. Marion pulled it out.
'How is UNIT..,' Marion looked at the caller id in confusion.
Marion tapped the screen and brought it to her ear.
Marion's Granddad had an old touch-tone telephone. It was black and sat on a table by the door from the house to the garage. No one ever really used it to send out calls. That's what cell phones were for. But, sometimes people called the house and it was the closest answerable phone.
You could always tell when he was answering that phone and not one of the newer ones because the audio would come out weird and fuzzy. That was to be expected, it was an old phone.
But the phone the Brigadier was calling her on had to be older.
"I'm a bit busy at the moment," she said, "Trying to sneak through a secret bunker,"
"Is Miss Smith with you?"
"Not with me with me Brigadier, she's with the robot. I lost track of her for a bit, but she should be still in the bunker with the robot, I can't talk much, I'm going to them now,"
"How did you manage to lose track of them?"
"Neck snapped. Got better. I'll get Sarah Jane out. Make sure the world leaders know to put their safety measures in place. And don't-,"
And then the call cut out.
Probably because she was that deep underground.
Marion arrived at the control room just as Sarah was begging the robot to stop blowing up literally everything and just in time to sprint that last couple of yards to slide forward and catch Sarah Jane when the robot flung her to the side.
Fortunately, flung nowhere near as hard as how the Robot had flung Marion.
Marion didn't know what she would've done if it had. Probably something violent.
Marion didn't know how to feel about that thought.
"Gotcha!" Marion took a few steps back, still supporting Sarah's weight as she steadied herself.
"Marion!"
"Good news Sarah," Marion joked, trying to lighten the mood. "She's still having that restraining order against me enforced,"
"Who?" Sarah Jane asked, her voice shaky, but with the air of a person who was hearing a joke, she already knew the punchline of.
"Death,"
Sarah groaned.
"HOW IS THIS POSSIBLE!"
"Oh stuff it,"
"I KILLED YOU!"
"You aren't the first robot to make that mistake. It happens. Don't feel bad. I mean, you should feel bad about killing me, that was rude, but don't feel bad about failing to kill me,"
The moment Sarah was steady on her feet, Marion once again arranged herself so that she was between the robot and her.
"HOW ARE YOU ALIVE?"
"I'm just special that way. Keep away from Sarah,"
"I WILL NOT HURT HER" The robot repeated.
"I literally just caught her from when you swatted her aside,"
"I DESTROYED KETTLEWELL. I MUST SEE THAT HIS PLAN DOES NOT FAIL. SHE WAS IN MY WAY"
"Yeah yeah, you want to destroy all of humanity except for Sarah because she was nice to you once. And you don't seem to realize that doing that would hurt her. Kettlewell built you with the original purpose of protecting humanity. That's what he wanted at the end. Not this,"
Words she'd said before back in the lab practically fell from Marion's mouth.
"He wanted to make a shield, and it got turned into a gun instead,"
The robot stared at Marion. Marion saw the red lights on his head flicker and he whirred.
"SHIELD. GUN. YOU SAID THESE THINGS BEFORE. WHY"
Marion had just been making mouth sounds more or less. Just saying words that she hoped sounded profound and interesting and referencing a movie she'd seen as a kid that she barely remembered. But that didn't mean she couldn't make something out of it.
"The thing about-" took a deep breath, "the thing about being a gun and attacking people, is that if it turns out that you're working for the wrong people, you can't unkill people you know? They're dead. But-but if you're a shield, and you protect the wrong people, well, you can just stop what you're doing and start protecting the right people! You're indestructible and strong. So you can take some hits that everyone else can't. But instead of taking hits, you've been hurting people. You've hurt so many people. And that's a problem. When you're a gun, sooner or later, everyone looks like a target,"
The Robot continued to stare at her. Or maybe it was Sarah he was looking at. Sarah was standing right behind her after all. The Robot took a step closer towards them. Marion felt Sarah take a step back and Marion walked with her.
"ARE YOU A SHIELD"
"What?"
"YOU DO NOT SEEM FRIGHTENED OF ME. YOU SEEM FRIGHTENED FOR SARAH. ARE YOU A SHIELD?"
"I think I try to be one,"
"I DO NOT WISH TO BE A SHIELD FOR HUMANITY. MANKIND IS NOT WORTHY TO BE PROTECTED. MANKIND IS NOT WORTHY TO SURVIVE. ONCE IT IS DESTROYED, I SHALL BUILD MORE MACHINES LIKE MYSELF. MACHINES DO NOT LIE,"
"And I don't lie when I say that your little plan to blow everyone up is going to fail just as hard as your attempt to 'destroy' me," Marion put destroy in air quotes.
And then she pulled Sarah further away from the robot. They didn't fully leave the room but they were at a distance and if the Robot wanted to go for her, he'd have to get past Marion and get to Sarah before she was out the door.
Marion felt a hand gripping her arm. But it was fully solid. It wasn't going to whisk her away. It wasn't the Bitch Force.
"Sarah?" Marion turned.
Sarah looked pale, and Marion didn't think it was solely due to the lighting.
"You're normally unconscious for seconds and then you're back up. Just seconds! You weren't waking up. I thought you were-,"
For a moment, Marion stared blankly at Sarah Jane. Why would she doubt that Marion was going to wake up again? She should know better. Maybe Sarah was still shaken about Three? That had to be it. Marion also didn't know what Sarah Jane meant by "took so long,". It hadn't been that much longer than usual had it?
Marion tilted her head to the side, "Did he get me in the neck? There's a lighter patch there isn't there?"
Sarah Jane shook her head, "It-it hit you where the," she mimed holding hands around her throat.
"Oh, that's good then. I was worried that he got me in the head,"
"What's the difference,"
"Less marks. Anyway, if he hit me on the neck, he might've damaged my spine. Like, snap my neck? Those take longer to fix. Spinal injuries. I think. Don't know. Haven't tested it. Don't want to test it. Let's not talk about that though. Are you alright? He hit you hard,"
"I'm fine. "
"Are you?"
"Marion look," Sarah's eyes flickered to the countdown clock and Marion followed her gaze. "What are we going to do! Countdown's almost done. Everyone is going to be-"
"We're not going to do anything," Marion looked at the steady countdown.
And GOD, Marion was sure that the reason why they picked pure digital blue and pure digital green was that it was easiest, and come to think of it, it might've been the only thing available but it was a truly ugly color combination. They should've stuck to black and white.
"But Marion?"
"I'm not the Doctor. Just because I'm from the 21st century doesn't mean I know anything about hacking or computer codes. Luckily, I don't have to do anything,"
"Then how-"
The clock flashed 10, and then 9, and then 8 and then flashed "FAIL SAFE. COUNTDOWN ABORTED"
"Like I said, we didn't have to do anything. If there's one thing world governments can agree on, it's that the entire world blowing up with be a bad thing,"
"Give up now," Sarah begged the robot, "Please!"
"HUMANITY MUST BE DESTROYED. IT IS EVIL, CORRUPT,"
"But you can't take on the whole world. Don't you understand? They'll destroy you!"
"DO NOT FEAR. LIKE YOUR FRIEND, I CANNOT BE DESTROYED." The robot flicked a switch on the side of the console and a door opened up.
He stepped closer to Sarah Jane and by extension, Marion.
"COME"
Sarah Jane looked at Marion who shrugged and nodded and so they followed the robot out.
Marion kept between the two of them.
The robot walked out first, with Marion a few steps behind and Sarah Jane closely behind her.
Marion blinked carefully as her eyes adjusted to the sunlight.
"No one's to open fire," Marion heard the Brigadier order, "They may find a chance to get clear."
"STAY HERE," the Robot ordered. Marion took hold of Sarah's hand to get ready to make a break for it.
The robot turned towards UNIT.
Marion could see them talking. Looked past the robot and the group of them and squinted. The Brigadier and Benton were talking, and then the Brigadier turned to look at something behind him. And then he leveled a gun that-
Oh, dear.
"BRIGADER!" Marion shouted! "PUT THAT GUN-,"
He fired at the robot.
"down."
The robot began to glow orange like the tank had. Only, unlike the tank, instead of disappearing it began to grow.
"Marion!"
Sarah Jane ran; Marion close behind her. Marion didn't want to suddenly grab her arm and pull her along, because she didn't want to risk tripping her up. Despite all that, Marion heard a shout. She looked behind her to see that Sarah tripped on some kind of fallen debris.
Probably from when they blew up the turrets. She turned on her heel and ran back to Sarah. Marion crouched down and pulled her arms under Sarah's and stood up, backing away from the robot that was already leaning down to grab at her and trying to help Sarah to her feet so that they could keep moving. Just as Marion had fully gotten Sarah to her feet, the robot grabbed the two of them and pulled them in the air.
Sarah screamed and Marion didn't dare move. The thing about Kettlewell's robot was that it lacked a proper hand. It was only barely holding on to the two of them and at this height, if the two of them fell, Sarah Jane would likely die.
So instead, Marion shouted down at Brigadier's men:
"STAY CLEAR OF THAT THING'S FEET! THE DOCTOR AND HARRY ARE ON THEIR WAY WITH A SOLUTION!"
Marion had a pretty loud voice. She was sure that the Brigadier's men heard her.
She just had to hope that the Doctor had actually come up with the anti-metal serum.
The robot deposited the two of them on the roof of the Think Tank building on the side of a thin chimney. Marion landed firmly on her feet. Sarah Jane stumbled with a shout. Marion held the drainage pipe in one hand and grabbed onto Sarah's wrist with the other. Marion pulled her back to safety and guided her hand to the drainage pipe. Sarah clutched it tight.
"YOU WILL BE SAFE. SEE HOW I DEAL WITH OUR ENEMIES!" the robot declared before turning away from them. The moment its attention was elsewhere, Marion tugged against the drainage pipe experimentally. It was stuck firmly.
"Marion, what are you-"
"Sarah Jane, hold tight a moment, I'm going to get us down,"
Marion reached into her bag for the end of the length of rope. She tied one end to the top of the pipe just above where it was bolted to the wall. She tugged at once, twice. It felt sturdy enough.
The robot was still focused on the soldiers firing grenades at it and not on the two women it had taken hostage. Marion pulled more and more of the rope out of her bag until the bottom loop was lightly brushing against the roof below. Marion braced the part of it that was still hanging out of her purse and moved sidled to the side.
"Here Sarah," Marion said quickly, "Climb down,"
"Are you sure it'll hold?"
"No actually," Sarah Jane stared at her, "I mean, it looks stable, but who can say. That's why I'm sending you down first. So if the drainage pipe breaks, I can grab a hold of the rope so you don't fall too far,"
Sarah Jane gave her A Look and then took the rope in her hand and very carefully rappelled down the wall on the opposite side of the wall where the robot was firing. Once Sarah was off the roof, and safely on the ground, Marion joined her. Marion turned on her heel and made a few swift jerking motions. The rope came down and Marion stuffed it back into her bag. There would be time to reorganize things later.
"You might want to lie low for a bit," Marion said, "The Doctor should be almost here, I'm going to go. Stay away from those green houses. They'll crumble like tissue paper. He probably isn't going to attack this building. I'm pretty sure" Marion paused, "Actually you know what? Never mind, come with me"
Sarah Jane took Marion's wrist and the two of them were gone.
They ran around the backside of the Think Tank just as they heard the Brigadier shout for his men to turn back.
Marion wasn't sure if it was enhanced lung capacity or increased energy reserves or lactic acid not burning or what but it was nice to be able to run for longer than she had been before. She passed a soldier that was lagging behind the rest, grabbed him by the arm, and tugged him forward and further away from the bush and the robot. She let go of his arm.
"Miss Henson?"
"And Miss Smith, she's important too! Oh, and keep on moving would ya? I don't think you want to get smushed,"
Part of Marion was certain that she could move faster. But she wasn't sure she'd be able to do that and keep holding onto Sarah Jane's hand. So she didn't. But she also didn't slow down either. Marion didn't need to look behind her to see how close the robot was to them.
They only had to run a little bit more before they were away from the street and at a narrow dirt road with thin wispy trees on either side. The Brigadier and his men were already parked and they came to a stop. Sarah let go of Marion's wrist and the other leaned forward and breathed in deeply clearly out of breath.
The Doctor drove up with Bessie. He stood up in his seat and looked over the top.
"I see our little problem seems to have grown. Where's- oh there they are. Hello Sarah, Marion,"
The Brigadier gestured to the huge metallic monstrosity in the distance. "I gave it a blast with the disintegrator gun,"
"Brigadier, you should be more careful with your little toys," he hopped out of the car and moved to the back, "You've given it just the infusion of energy it needed. Marion, why didn't you say anything?"
"I tried!" Marion insisted, "I just didn't get to finish my sentence before he fired,"
"Well, I've sent for the artillery, and the RAF are on their way.
"I hope that won't be necessary,"
The Doctor retrieved something bright orange and smoking.
"What on Earth is that?
"Another piece of brilliance from the late Professor Kettlewell, and one that will solve our problem, I hope. Drive on, Harry,"
Marion had assumed that the smell of burnt plastic and chemicals was coming from robot destroying things, but no. It was in fact coming from the bubbling orange bucket the Doctor was holding out away from his person. Marion didn't blame him, the bucket looked like it was bursting and sending the contents everywhere…
Marion wasn't sure what that stuff would do if it ended up on skin. Chemical burns probably.
Marion didn't feel great about the way that the Doctor was standing up in the back seat if she was being honest.
The Doctor tossed his hat at her.
"If you don't have any reason why I shouldn't go then wish me luck Marion!" he said as Harry swerved at the robot.
"Now just a moment, Doctor!" The Brigadier called after him.
They were already too far away to hear him.
Marion watched after them intensely. Harry sped past the Robot's legs and the Doctor hurled the contents of the buckets at its feet and then took a corner.
The orange spread up the thing's legs like rusty vines crawling up a metal tree.
When Harry drove back, the Doctor was still standing in the back seat of the car and grinning wildly like some kind of showman.
"What was that stuff?"
"Some of Kettlewell's metal virus in an active solution," he grinned even wider and hopped out of the car. Marion handed him back his hat.
"Will it work now the thing's that size?" the Brigadier asked?
"Yup! It should be working right now,"
The orange spread to the entirety of the robot and it began to make a noise like a person shouting into an office fan as it shrunk smaller and smaller and smaller and collapsed to the ground.
"It's thrown the growth mechanism into reverse,"
"Oh, well done, Doctor,"
"Thank you, Harry,"
Marion walked towards it slowly while the rest of the group were right behind inspecting the fallen robot.
"I'll have it taken away. Broken up, just in case,"
"Already one step ahead of you," Marion said with a sigh. The robot continued to rust and then the wind blew what was left of it away
"You good?" Marion asked Sarah.
Sarah was silent as they went back to UNIT. She had been silent since the robot fell to the ground. She had walked back into the lab and she'd continued to be silent.
"Sarah?" Marion asked. She pulled a stool from one of the lab tables and pushed it towards her. "At least sit down,"
"Would you like a jelly baby?" the Doctor asked. Sarah didn't respond. "I had to do it, you know."
"It wanted to kill literally billions of people," Marion reminded.
"Yes, yes, I know. It was insane and it did terrible things, but, but at first, it was so human,"
"And being human-like doesn't mean that it's a good person. Or a bad person. I met a robot once, I can't say his name, but he was human-like too. And he was cool. I liked him,"
"What happened to him?"
"I'll tell you later when the Doctor's not in earshot," the Doctor made a face, "It's spoilers. Doctor, you'll find out later. Same face too, you won't even have to wait that long," Marion turned back to Sarah "That robot will be fine. Eventually. As soon as I can find a new-"
The Doctor cut Marion off. Thank you, Doctor.
Marion didn't know where that tangent was going to go.
"The point is that it was a wonderful creature, capable of great good, and great evil. Yes, I think you could say it was human. You know, what you need is a change. How about a little trip in a TARDIS?" he offered, "We're just off."
"Wait, you can't just go!"
"Why not?" the Doctor replied, "It's a free cosmos,"
"The Brigadier. And I know Marion can't stay for long, so someone has to,"
"The Brigadier wants me to address the Cabinet, have lunch at Downing Street, dinner at the Palace, and write seventeen reports in triplicate. Well, I won't do it. I won't, I won't, I won't," the Doctor slammed his hand on a brick, and then winced, "Why should I?" he popped a Jelly Baby in his mouth.
"Doctor, you're being childish," Sarah Jane was smiling now, "Marion, tell the Doctor he's being childish!"
"Well of course I am being childish. There's no point in being grown-up if you can't be childish sometimes. Are you coming?" He offered her the wax paper bag. Sarah Jane laughed and took it. The Doctor smiled and went to unlock the TARDIS doors. And then came Harry.
"Hello. Well, what are you three up to now, eh?"
"We're just going on a little trip. Would you like a jelly baby?" He held out the wax paper bag.
"Little trip?" Harry scoffed and took a candy out of the bag. And wow he sounded patronizing. How did a person talk like that unironically? It was nuts. "What, in that old police box?"
The Doctor snatched the sweet back.
"She's not just an old police box," Marion said, she lightly tapped on the door, "Don't be rude,"
"Oh, come along now, Doctor. We're both reasonable men. Now, we both know that police boxes don't go careening around all over the place. And Miss Henson, you shouldn't enable him,"
"I'm- you know what? See for yourself,"
Marion went through her bag and retrieved her key. She slid it into the lock with a click, pushed open the door, and walked inside.
"That's absurd how can-" and then Harry Sullivan was silent. Marion grinned at him.
"How can what?"
"It's bigger on the inside!"
"Yup. She's great,"
The Doctor and Sarah Jane strolled past where Harry was gobsmacked at the entrance and walked towards the TARDIS console. Marion went to join them and found herself stuck.
"Marion?" the Doctor called, "will you be joining us?"
"Sometime later," Marion replied feeling the tugging grow stronger, "I'm afraid I must be going,"
And then there was another tug and Marion was gone. The last thing she saw was Harry Sullivan's look of absolute confusion.
(Next Chapter: The Most Normal Larping Enjoyers)
Marion: Anyway, if the next time I meet Four it's "Androids of Tara" I will lose it.
Here you go, like I said, I took a lot from the novelization. Umm. I don't have much else to say here other than to remind you that I have a tumblr (it's Lunammoon) and that while I have a Twitter I'd rather you follow the tumblr and not the twitter. I'm not saying that you can't follow me on the bird app, but, I don't really talk about my fics there so I wouldn't recommend it if you want updates as to what's going on.
I think I got most of the typos, but I'm very tired. If something flows weird or is misspelled and I didn't catch it, tell me.