Flatline
AN: I'm skipping "Mummy on the Orient Express" because I think Teddy and Annabelle would just get in the way. Now on with the show…
After what happened with Clara. I need some time away from The Doctor. So, I went and saw Jack at Torchwood and Annabelle went and spent some time with Mom and Dad in Denver. It was good to see Jack again. He was still fighting the good fight keeping Cardiff safe.
During my time on Earth, I went and saw Clara and we patched things up. But, she told me that she thought that she was done traveling. I told her to go on a solo trip with The Doctor and then make a final decision. She agreed and The Doctor took her aboard the Orient Express in space.
But, like any trip with The Doctor it wasn't without it's pitfalls. They had to deal with a mummy that was killing people. The Doctor was able to figure out that the mummy was a stealth soldier from a long-ago war. The Doctor surrendered to him and the mummy was stopped. But unfortunately several people had to die in order for The Doctor to figure out what the mummy was.
Clara learned that we don't like having to make hard choices on who lives and who dies, it just comes with the territory of traveling with us. Somedays everyone lives. Somedays everyone dies. Somedays the right people live and the right people die. Somedays the wrong people live and the wrong people die.
It was a few days later. The Doctor and Clara picked up Annabelle and I and we had just finished with our latest trip with Clara. She was coming up from the lower levels and she was putting her things in her bag and I said, "You could leave all that stuff here, you know. We do have literally acres of room."
"Oh, no. It's all right," she said, "Danny's got a little bit territorial. The idea of me leaving so much as a toothbrush here. But, still, he's all right with us doing this which I admit's a little bit weird, cos you'd think if he had a problem with me leaving stuff in the TARDIS, he'd object to me travelling in the TARDIS. But he's not, so."
"Sorry. Stopped listening a while ago.," said The Doctor. I rolled my eyes
Then, Annabelle brought the TARDIS to a stop, "All right, we got you back to the same time you left and at the same place," Annabelle looked at the monitor in front of her, "ish."
"Ish? Don't give me an ish," said Clara.
I looked at the monitor, and the readings weren't making any sense, "Sorry Clara," I said, "But these readings are very er, ishy."
"Er, Doctor?" said Clara.
"Uh huh?" he said. I looked over at Clara and saw she was just staring at the doorway. Us three Time Lords walked over to her and she looked at us. We looked at the door and the door had shrunk to about half the size it normally was. The Doctor slowly walked up to the door and us three ladies followed him. And sure enough the door was smaller. The Doctor opened the door and squeezed himself through then I went next, then Annabelle and Clara followed.
When we got out, we saw that The TARDIS was about half the size it should be. I was actually taller than the TARDIS! "Well. Well, I wonder what caused this?" asked The Doctor as he took out his sonic and did some preliminary scans, "I don't think we're bigger, are we?"
We were near some train tracks and Clara saw a nearby sign, "Bristol? Teddy, we're in Bristol!"
I did some quick math in my head, "We're 120 miles from where we should be."
"Impressive," said Annabelle, as us three Time Lords walked continued to walk around the TARDIS
"No. Not impressive. Annoying," said Clara.
"No. This is impressive," said The Doctor, as he pointed to the TARDIS, "This is annoying. The TARDIS never does this," The Doctor continued to walk around the TARDIS, "This is huge! Well, not literally huge. Slightly smaller than usual. Which is huge."
"Yes. I get it. You're excited. When can I go home?"
"Your house isn't going anywhere."
"And neither is ours until we get this figured out," said Annabelle.
The Doctor looked at Clara and said, "Could you not just let us enjoy this moment of not knowing something? I mean, it happens so rarely."
Clara started to walk back in the TARDIS. But I stopped her, "Look, I don't think this is dangerous, but I wouldn't like you to get squished accidentally. Besides, we need you to help us find out what's caused this. We need to go back in and see if we can fix the TARDIS."
"Fine. I'll go take a look around," said Clara. She walked away and us three Time Lords squeezed ourselves through the door and back into the control room, which was thankfully still normal size.
We opened up one of the panels on the console and The Doctor started to scan the inside with his sonic. Then, a few moments later there was a shutter and the lights in the console room turned red and the emergency alarmed sounded. Then the lights returned to normal, "Now, that wasn't me, was it?" asked The Doctor.
"I don't think so," said Annabelle.
I turned to the door and saw that it had gotten much shorter The door was now just 8 inches tall, "Doctor?"
He looked over at me and then he looked at the door. The three of us walked over to the door to get a better look and Annabelle said, "Well… that can't be good."
A few moments later, Clara called us. The Doctor went to get something out of storage. I put her on speaker and said, "Yes Clara?" I asked.
"Hey, I think I've found something," she said, "People are missing all over the estate. Do you think there's a connection?"
"Could be," said Annabelle.
"And where are you guys?"
"Exactly where we were," I said.
"No, you're not. I'm here and I can't see. Oh."
"Yes. Oh." Said The Doctor.
Clara laughed, "Oh, my God, that is so adorable. Are you three in there?"
"Yes, we are," I said, "it's not adorable. It's very, very serious."
"So is this more shrink ray stuff? Are you three tiny in there?"
"No," said Annabelle, "We're exactly the same size. It's the exterior dimensions that have changed."
The Doctor walked over to the door and opened it. I could hear Clara laugh, "Stop laughing," said The Doctor, "This is serious."
"Yeah, well, I can't help it, can I, with you and your big old face," said Clara, "How are you guys going to get out?"
"Well, plainly we can't. Something nearby is leeching all the external dimensions."
"Aliens?"
"Possibly. Oh, who am I kidding? Probably. Sensors are down and we can't risk taking off with it in this state. Clara, I need you to pick up the TARDIS. Carefully. It should be possible. I've adjusted the relative gravity."
Thankfully, the stabilizers were still on so we couldn't feel Clara picking us up, and putting us in her bag, "You mean you've made it lighter," said Clara.
The Doctor rejoined Annabelle and I at the console, "Clara, The TARDIS is always lighter," I said, "If the TARDIS were to land with its true weight, it would fracture the surface of the Earth."
"Yeah, maybe a story for another time. What now?"
"We've managed to get a rough fix on the source of the dimensional leeching," said Annabelle.
The Doctor went back over to the door, "It's roughly north west," He put his hand out the door to show Clara what way to go, "That way."
"Please don't do that. That's just wrong."
The Doctor came back cover to the console and got his sonic screwdriver and his psychic paper, "Now, listen! You're going to need these." He passed the psychic paper to Clara.
"Oh, wow," said Clara, "This is an honor. Does this mean I'm you now?"
"No, it does not," said The Doctor as he passed her the sonic screwdriver, "so don't get any ideas." Clara laughed and then he passed an earpiece to her, "And listen, stick this in your ear."
The Doctor rejoined us at the console and I turned on the earpiece, "Can you hear me?" I said.
"Yes," said Clara. I pressed a button on the console then Clara called out in pain, "Ow! What just happened?"
"I just hacked your optic nerve."
"What does that mean?"
"We see what you see."
We had Clara scan with the sonic in the courtyard of a block of flats, while we watched on the monitor, "Anything?" asked Clara.
"Yes, I'm dizzy. But nothing useful," said The Doctor.
Then a young black man walked up to Clara, "You never did tell me your name."
"No time to fraternize. Come on, get rid of him."
"I'm er," said Clara," I'm the Doctor." She said in a very serious tone.
Annabelle and I started to laugh, "Don't you dare," said the Doctor.
"Doctor Oswald," said Clara, "But you can call me Clara."
"I'm Rigsy," said the young man, "So er, what are you a doctor of?"
"Of lies," said The Doctor.
"Well, I'm usually quite vague about that," said Clara, "I think I just picked the title because it makes me sound important."
Annabelle and I started laughing harder. The Doctor gave us a looked and said to Clara, "Why, Doctor Oswald, you are hilarious. Could we get back to work, do you think?"
"What are you exactly?" Rigsy asked Clara, "You don't smell like police but that's some pretty cool gear you got there. You like a spy, or something?"
"Oh, he's a bright one, hang on to him," said The Doctor.
"Be nice…" I said.
Rigsy took us up to one of the apartments, "He was the last one to go missing," He said as he pulled down the police tape in front of the door, "And when he disappeared all the doors and windows were locked from the inside."
"Ooh, now you're talking," said Annabelle, "I love a good locked room mystery."
"Yeah, doesn't everyone?" said Clara.
"What?" asked Rigsy.
"Huh? Oh, sorry. I'm talking to somebody else. They're listening in. Doctor… Teddy… Annabelle… Rigsy, Rigsy, Teddy… Annabelle… The Doctor.
"Hello, barely sentient local," said The Doctor.
"Another Doctor?" said Rigsy.
"How do you sleep at night?" I rolled my eyes,
"Missing people, tiny TARDIS, what's the link?" I asked as Clara started to scan the room with the sonic.
"I think this is great that someone's finally looking into this," said Rigsy, "The police weren't doing anything. They never do on this estate. People were thinking that no one was listening. That no one cared. So, yeah. I think it's great what you're doing."
"Clara, look, I think that we can manage on our own from now on," said The Doctor.
"Yeah, well, I think he could still be useful," said Clara.
"Me too," I said.
"Me three," said Annabelle.
"You're out voted… Rigsy stays…"
"But, he's a pudding brain. Worse than that, he's a fluorescent pudding brain."
"OK, fine," said Clara, "And all those other missing people, I suppose you know where they lived."
"He could still be in the room," said Rigsy.
"Sorry, what?"
"Sorry, nothing. I was just thinking out loud. It's like one of those locked room things you get in books. It's always something weird, like, he's still in the room or something. Do you want to go and check out another flat?"
Clara looked into a mirror so we could see her face. Then, The Doctor said, "Do you know, I think that you three were wrong about this lad. I think that he could be very useful. Vital local knowledge." I rolled my eyes.
"Oh, really?" asked Clara.
"Yes. So try not to scare him off."
"How would I scare him off?"
Rigsy looked at a mural on the wall that looked like dry cracked earth, "Maybe he's lost in the desert, or something."
"OK, right," said Clara, "Are we missing something here? Missing man, locked room. Shrink ray?"
"Sorry, did you say just say shrink ray?" asked Rigsy.
"What if he is still in this room like you said, only tiny? You know, like underneath the sofa or something." Clara then dashed to look under the coffee table.
"Clara, this is the scaring off that The Doctor was talking about," I said.
"OK. So er, my lunch break's nearly up. This this has been er, interesting," said Rigsy.
"Clara, Rigsy is leaving. Do something!" said Annabelle.
"Rigsy!' said Clara, as she stood up, "One sec. Annabelle, open the doors."
"I didn't mean that!"
"Look, you three want him to stay or not?"
"You really do throw your companions in at the deep end, don't you?"
Clara as put the TARDIS on a table. "Rigsy, come here. Meet The Doctor and his nieces, Teddy and Annabelle." Then, Annabelle opened the doors from the console. The three of us stood by the console so Clara and Rigsy. "So, what do you guys think?" asked Clara, "Tiny man idea."
"Well, it's a good thought," I said, "Which is why I set the sonic to scan for that as soon as we entered the apartment. Hello, Rigsy,"
"Hi, Rigsy," said Annabelle.
"Pleased to meet you," said The Doctor
"And you didn't think to tell me?" asked Clara.
"Well, of course he might have been squashed under a policeman's shoe by now," I said.
"It's bigger. On the inside," said Rigsy.
"I don't think that statement's ever been truer," said Annabelle.
"What are you? Like, aliens, or something?"
"No," said Clara, "Well, they are," Then the emergency alarm went off in the TARDIS and there was a strange skittering sound outside, "Doctor? Doctor, did you guys hear that?"
"Yes. Whatever it was, it just drained a massive amount of energy from inside the TARDIS," said The Doctor.
"What was it?" asked Clara.
"I don't know," I said as I ran to the doors, "but that's the least of our problems. Just get us out of there." I closed the doors and ran back to the console.
"OK. Go," said Clara, as she picked up the TARDIS and put us back in her bag, "Rigsy, this is where we run. Stick with me."
"I mean this is just embarrassing." said The Doctor, "We from the race that built the TARDIS. Dimensions are kind of our thing. So why can't I understand this?"
"I don't know," I said, "Clara, I need more info. Where else have people disappeared?"
A short time later, Clara and Rigsy were being led into a house by female police officer. Clara showed her the psychic paper and the officer said, "MI5?"
"Yes, this case has got our attention," said Clara.
"Well, you've come to the right place, ma'am. First reported disappearance, a Mister Heath. It's not on the estate, but it's exactly the same MO as the rest…"
Then, The Doctor ran down the stairs to the lower level the console room, "Clara, I think that your shrink ray theory was wrong."
"My shrink ray theory? I thought you were already scanning for that," said Clara, "Doctor? What are you doing?"
"It just struck me," said The Doctor, as he came back up with a sledge hammer, "Locked room mysteries. Classic solution number one, they're still in the room. Classic solution number two, they're in the walls." He walked over to the doors. Opened them and pushed the sledge hammer out.
"What do you mean, they're in the," said Clara, then she felt the sledge hammer in her bag and started to take it out.
"Have we done as much as we could?" said the police officer, "No. Do we have any suspects? No. Off the record, I think the top brass are hoping if they ignore this it'll all just go away."
Clara walked up to the officer, "Apparently they're in the walls."
The next thing we knew, Rigsy had the sledge hammer and punched a hole in the wall. Then, officer's cell phone rang, she answered it, "PC Forrest. Yes, sir. MI5, sir."
Rigsy gave Clara the sledge and she took a turn, "So, you and those people in a box. You do this sort of stuff a lot?"
"Oh, well, they're usually out of the box. But, yep." Clara then hit the wall.
Clara kept hitting the wall and Rigsy asked, "So how'd you get this gig? You study science, or aliens, or something?"
Clara laughed, "No. Well, it's kind of a more of a right place, right time or wrong place, wrong time depending on how the Doctor's behaving."
"I can hear you, you know," said The Doctor.
Then we heard screams, Rigsy and Clara ran to another room in the house and Clara called out, "PC Forrest?" but the officer was nowhere to be found, "Hello?" called Clara, "Hello?" she picked up the officer's flashlight, "She's gone."
I shook my head, "What are we missing?" I asked, "The TARDIS should be able to detect anything in the known universe." Just then I had a thought. I looked at The Doctor and Annabelle, "What if this isn't from our universe?" I looked up at the monitor as Clara looked around the room I saw something on the wall that looked vaguely familiar, "Clara, wait, go back a little." Clara looked back at the mural, "Doctor? Is that what I think it is?"
"That is a nervous system, scaled up and flattened," said The Doctor.
"I think we've found PC Forrest," said Annabelle, "What's left of her, at least."
"Her nervous system," said Clara.
I pressed some buttons on the monitor and I brought up a still of the mural of dry cracked earth in the apartment we visited first, "The mural in the flat," I said, "That wasn't a desert at all. It's a microscopic blow up of human skin. "
"What? Why?" asked Clara.
"Whatever they are, they are experimenting," said The Doctor, "They're testing. They are, they are dissecting. Trying to understand us. Trying to understand three dimensions."
Just then, the door to the room slammed shut. Rigsy tried the handle but it was flattened, "Ow. The handle," he said.
"Doctor," said Clara, "The handle, they've flattened the handle."
"Fascinating," said The Doctor.
"Clara, they're in the walls!" said Annabelle. Just then, there was a skittering noise, "Keep away from them. If they touch you, you're finished."
The noise moved over to a couch and the couch and pillows were absorbed into the floor and the walls until there was just what looked like a white stain on the floor and spots of color where the pillows were. "What happens if they touch us?" asked Rigsy. Then, the creatures absorbed a chair into the floor.
"I really don't want to find out," said Clara.
Then, they jumped into a round chair that was hanging from the ceiling, "They can't jump, can they?"
Just then Clara's cellphone rang, it was Danny, "Hey, you." She said.
"I've got our bench. Did you get held up?" he asked.
"Just a little. Sorry, Danny. I think lunch is er, a bust."
"Oh, hon, you're missing some classic park action."
"Clara, the window!" I said.
"Look! Look! They're climbing the walls," said Rigsy, as we could see some strange shapes climbing the walls.
"Who was that?" asked Danny.
"Er, that's just a guy on community support and I'm helping him find his auntie," said Clara.
"Nice. Not technically lying," said Annabelle.
Clara started to swing the chair and she started to pant, "Sounds kind of active," said Danny.
"Er, yeah, there was a thing, er a thing," said Clara.
"Where are you and are you in trouble?"
"No, no, no, I'm fine!" Clara used the sonic on the window.
Just then, the swing broke free, Rigsy and Clara screamed as the chair smashed through the window. "Clara? Clara?" called Danny.
When Rigsy and Clara landed safely outside, Clara said, "Danny?"
"What's happening?" he asked.
"Oh, not much, just some nonsense. Long story."
"What story?"
"Tell you later. Love you!" Then she hung up, and she and Rigsy started back to the estate.
"This explains everything," I said, "They're from a universe with only two dimensions."
"Well, there have been theories of a two dimensional universe forever," said Annabelle, "but no one could go there and prove its existence without a heck of a diet."
"And what long story are you going to tell Danny, huh?" asked The Doctor, "Or haven't you made it up yet?"
"Sorry, what? What was that?" asked Clara.
"Excellent lying, Doctor Oswald."
"Yeah? Well, thought it was pretty weak myself."
"I meant to us. You told us that Danny was OK with you being back on board the TARDIS."
"Well, he is."
"Yeah, because he doesn't know anything about it," I said.
"Teddy…"
"Congratulations. Lying is a vital survival skill," said The Doctor.
"Well, there you go," said Clara.
"And a terrible habit."
"Ah. Doctor, you're breaking up a bit."
"Yeah, of course I am."
"No, really, you are. I can't hear you."
"What?" I asked, "Oh, right, blowing out that window's possibly affected the earpiece. Take it out and sonic it."
"Doing it." said Clara.
Rigsy ran ahead, "Hey! They can't do that. Hey! What you doing?"
"Our job. You're on report, by the way. Late back from lunch," said an older man's voice.
"Does it even still count as lying if you're doing for someone's own good?" asked Clara, as she soniced the earpiece, "Well, like, technically their own good."
"It's a memorial!" said Rigsy.
"Council didn't approve it, it's graffiti. Stan."
A man started to paint over what looked like paintings of people on the wall, but Rigsy grabbed the brush. All of the people in the paintings were painted as if they were facing the wall.
"Look, Clara," said The Doctor, "Talk to me, talk to me!" but she still couldn't hear us because she hadn't put the earpiece back in yet. The Doctor ran to the door.
"What are you doing?" asked Rigsy.
"Clara, the mural," shouted the Doctor as he stuck his hand out of the TARDIS and pointed at the wall, "Clara, it's the mural! Over there, look, the mural! We've found the missing people, they're in the walls!"
She put the earpiece back in and said, "What do I do?"
"Act normal," said Annabelle, "but get everyone out."
"They're very realistic," said Clara, as she walked over to the group, "Who painted them?"
"I don't know," said Rigsy, "A local artist. Probably a grieving relative."
"Did you ever meet them? Or did they just appear after people disappeared?"
"And who are you when you're at home, love?" asked the older man.
"Health and safety," said Clara, as she showed the man the psychic paper, "This subway is unsafe. Everyone needs to leave right now."
"This is blank. Try again, sweetheart."
"What?" said Clara, The Doctor, Annabelle and I all together at the same time.
"It takes either a high degree of intelligence or a remarkable lack of imagination to beat the psychic paper," I said.
"Stan. Do your job," said the man.
"Clara, stop him."
Stan walked up to the wall and was sucked in, "Stan!" shouted Rigsy.
Then the "paintings" of the missing people started turning toward us, "What is this?" said a baldheaded man, "What are they?"
"They're wearing the dead like camouflage," said Annabelle.
"Forget Stan," said Clara, "Your friend's gone."
"Clara, get them out of there!" said The Doctor.
"We need to move," said Clara as they all backed out of the tunnel, "Now." Then they started to run.
They ran to a train repair shop, "Did they follow us?" said a younger man, "Cos I didn't see them follow us. Are we safe?"
"Are we really hiding from killer graffiti? This is insane," said the bald man.
"I agree," said The Doctor, "We'll have to think of a better name for them than that."
"And Stan was one of them. Flattened, dead, but coming after us," said the younger man.
"Clara, we have reached a vital stage," said Annabelle, "This little group is currently confused and disorientated: But pretty soon a leader is going to emerge. You need to make sure that leader is you."
"I'm on it," said Clara, she looked at the younger man, "George. George, isn't it? Can you watch that area? If you hear anything, anything moves, you shout, OK?"
"He will do no such thing until I get some answers," said the older man, as he walked up to Clara, "Who are you? That's what I want to know. Impersonating a government official. Trespassing on council property."
"Seriously?" asked Clara.
"Seriously."
"Fine, I'll tell you who I am. I am the one chance you've got of staying alive. That's who I am."
"Well done," said The Doctor.
The other men followed Clara, as she asked, "Rigsy, how well do you know this area? Do you know where that door leads?"
"It's the old Brunswick line," said George, "But it's not safe."
"Well, there's safe and there's safe," said the bald man.
"Yeah, I know it," said Rigsy, "I used to go down there all the time."
"Yeah, I'll bet you did. Painting your filth," said the older man.
"Yeah, well, you might be glad he did," said Clara, "Those things come in here, that is our only way out." Then Clara walked away from the group and whispered, "I just hope I can keep them all alive."
"Ah, welcome to our world," I said, "So what's next, Doctor Clara?"
"Lie to them."
"What?"
"Lie to them. Give them hope. Tell them they're all going to be fine. Isn't that what you three would do?"
"In a manner of speaking," said The Doctor, "It's true that people with hope tend to run faster, whereas people who think they're doomed."
"Dawdle. End up dead," said Clara.
"So that's what I sound like," said The Doctor. Annabelle and I nodded.
"Clara, I think I found something that might help you," I said, "Do you remember the graffiti from the estate? Footprints, tire treads?
"Vaguely," said Clara.
"Well, I don't think it was graffiti. I think that that is how those creatures saw us. The impressions we make in two dimensional space. That was them reaching out, attempting to talk. At that point they moved into flattening and dissection, in an attempt to try to understand and emulate us. But here's the big question. Do they know they're hurting us?"
"So what? You think this is all one big misunderstanding?"
"That's a very good question," said The Doctor, "Why don't we ask them?"
A few moments later, Clara was climbing up a ladder to a set of speakers in the middle of the room. It was turned on and Clara started to sonic it, "We need to find a way to communicate," I said, as the Doctor, Annabelle and I worked on patching the TARDIS to the speaker
"Why can't the TARDIS just translate?"
"Because their idea of language is just as bizarre as their idea of space. Even the TARDIS is confused," said The Doctor.
"This is a bad idea," said the older man, "What makes these colleagues of yours think those monsters even want to talk?"
"There is a race made of sentient gas who throw fireballs as a friendly wave," I said.
"There is another race with sixty-four stomachs who talk to each other by disemboweling," said Annabelle.
"They've got a hunch," said Clara.
"Our point is that in a universe as immense and bizarre as this one, you cannot be too quick to judge," I said, "Perhaps these creatures don't even understand that we need three dimensions to live in. They may not even know that they're hurting us."
"Do you really believe that?"
"No. I really hope that. It would make a nice change, wouldn't it?"
"OK. Let's start with pi," said The Doctor, as he typed into the console, "Even in a flat world they would have circles. I don't mean edible pie, I mean circular pi. Which I realize would also mean edible pie but anyway."
Just then there was a chirping noise, "They're responding," said Annabelle, "The TARDIS is translating now. It's a number. 55."
"55? What does that mean?" asked Clara.
"The Tenth Fibonacci number," said Annabelle.
"Atomic number of caesium," I said.
"I know what it means," said Rigsy, "We all have numbers on our jackets. Have to sign them out. That was the number on Stan's jacket, the man they flattened in the subway."
"They're gloating," said the older man.
"We don't know that," I said.
"It could be an apology, for all we know?" said Clara.
"Really? That's nice of them," said the bald man.
"An apology? Are you seriously..." said the older man.
Then, the chirrping started again, "Shush, shush, shush. Listen. Wait," said Clara.
"Two, two:" said Annabelle, "Twenty-two."
"Twenty-two."
"That's George," said Rigsy.
"Looks like your number's up, George," said the older man, "Now they're threatening."
"Maybe," said Clara, "Or maybe they're showing us they can read."
"Oh, grow up. They're picking targets."
"Of course you'd see it that way," said Rigsy.
"What do you mean by that?" asked the older man.
Clara looked over at George. He was just standing there to the side looking of into the distance, "George?"
"Everyone's out to get you, aren't they?" asked Rigsy.
"In this case, they kind of are," said the older man.
"Clara, be careful," said The Doctor.
Clara took a small step to her left and we could see that George had been absorbed into the wall and a cart. Then, he looked like he started to melt off of the flat surfaces and started to head toward the group.
"The tunnel!" shouted Clara. Then they all ran through the open door.
"Doctor, they've got George," said Clara.
"I know. I did see," said The Doctor, as we moved down to the lower level of the console room.
"What now?"
"Give us a minute," I said, "We're working on it," the three of us continued to work on a device to help Clara.
The group started to search the tunnel they were in and Clara said, "Another flat handle. They were here. Not now. They've stopped chasing us, I think. It feels like they're cornering us."
"You can't apply human logic, Clara," said Annabelle, "You're dealing with creatures from another dimension."
"That's three exits all blocked by those creatures," said the bald man.
"Rigsy, where's the next exit?" asked Clara.
"The only other one I can think of is where the old line joins the new, but it's a fair walk," said Rigsy, "Getting through that door would be quicker."
"But we can't, can we?" said the older man.
"I'm just saying."
"Clara, we might be able to help with that door," I said as we continued to work, "Give us five minutes."
"It's one of mine," said Rigsy, as they walked past one of the graffiti paintings, "Do you like it?"
"Yeah, not bad," said Clara, "So this thing you three are working on?" Clara.
"We think we've figured out a way to restore three dimensions," I said, "At least on a small scale, say door handles."
"So, what's that, then? A de-flattener?"
"We're not calling it a de-flattener," said The Doctor as he put the finishing touches on the device. He walked it over to the door and suck his hand out, "This should be able to restore dimensions." Clara took it, then he rejoined Annabelle and I at the console, "You see what I've called it?" he asked.
"Two D is. Two Dee Iz?" asked Clara.
"No. Twodis. It's called the Twodis. Why'd I even bother?"
"Mom and I both told him not to call it that and yet somehow we got out voted," said Annabelle.
"Give it a try," I said.
Clara pointed the device at one of the doors with a flatten handle. There was some green energy came out then there was a puff of smoke, "Long way round it is," said Clara.
Just then an alarm sounded in the console room, "Clara, I don't know how, but they're doing it again," said The Doctor, "They're leeching the TARDIS!"
"How? Your doors are closed," asked Clara.
"They've changed frequency," said Annabelle, "it's different this time."
"Listen!" said Clara as she ran up to the others, "The Doctor, Teddy and Annabelle think we might be in trouble. The three of them think they might be close."
"Where, exactly?" said the older man.
"I don't know. They're not sure. They're getting readings all around."
"Oh, that's just great. Sounds important but means absolutely nothing. Can you tell your friend…"
Just then an enormous hand appeared and pulled the bald man away. "Of course," said The Doctor, as he worked on the Twodis, "The next stage. 3D."
Just then shapes of the people the 2D creatures had flattened stared to rise out of the dirt of the tunnel, "Run!" shouted Rigsy.
They ran down the tunnel to one of the doors with a flatten handle, "Doctor? The door. The handle's flattened."
The Doctor took the Twodis to the door and handed it to Clara, "I've boosted the output."
"And it will work this time?" asked Clara.
"Absolutely."
Clara pointed the Twodis at the door and, a few moments later, the handle was pulled out of the wall. Rigsy opened the door, then he, Clara and the older man ran through it. Rigsy closed the door and locked it. They started down the tunnel when I said, "Clara, stop. Use it again. It can reverse the process."
"There's a ladder at the end of this," said Clara, "If we get down into the tunnel, we can make it into daylight."
"Hang on! Hang on," Clara then used the Twodis on the handle and it flattened.
"If it's flat, we're safe now, aren't we?" asked the older man.
"They can't get through, can they?" asked Clara.
"Wait," said Clara. A moment later the hand returned to normal and started to turn. Then, the three of them started to run.
"They have a new ability," said The Doctor.
"Of course they have," said Annabelle, "Now that they're 3D, they can restore dimensions."
"Clara, do you want the good news or the bad news?" I asked.
"We're in the bad news!" said Clara as she and the other two continued to run, "I'm living the bad news!"
"The good news we've come up with a theoretical way to send them back to their own dimension."
"Do it! Now!"
"And that's the bad news. The TARDIS doesn't have enough dimensional energy to pull it off."
"Great. What do you want me to do about it?"
"Apparently these things can pump it out as fast as they can steal it," said Clara.
Clara came to a stop, "Maybe if I ask them really nicely, they'll fill you up again," Then for some reason the older man reached in to Clara's bag and took out the TARDIS, "Hey!"
"Give me that machine! Hand it over!" Rigsy tried to get it back but the TARDIS was knocked out of the older man's hands and we fell down an access shaft.
We hit the bottom of the shaft and the TARDIS shuttered, the lights flashed and the emergency alarm went off. Once the shuttering stopped, the three of us Time Lords worked on trying to restore power to the TARDIS. We temporarily lost contact with Clara but when regained audio contact with her she was calling out to us, "Doctor? Teddy? Annabelle? I dropped you down a hole. Where are you?"
"I don't know," said The Doctor, "Our shields have gone. Structural integrity is failing. Another blow like that and we've had it." The Doctor ran to the doors and opened them. He found we landed on our side, he tilled his head and said, "Er, we're on the train lines. And there's a train coming."
"Of course there is," said Annabelle.
The Doctor returned to the console, "Short-term re-materialisation?"
"Not enough power," I said.
"Teleport?"
"Not enough power," said Annabelle
The Doctor started to type in the console, "Re-route the heart of the TARDIS through… not enough power! Not enough power!" He pushed away the monitor he was looking at. We heard the train whistle in the distance.
"Can't you move the TARDIS?" asked Clara.
"Clara, there is no power," said Annabelle, "The TARDIS couldn't boil an egg at the moment. Listen, do what you can to get those people out of there. You're stronger than you know."
"I wonder what they're like with ladders?" asked Rigsy.
"No, I mean you move the TARDIS. Like, Addams Family," said Clara.
The three of us Time Lords looked at each other and the Doctor ran to the doors. He put his hand in the doorway and brought the TARDIS to a standing position. Then he used his fingers to walk the TARDIS off of the train tracks. When he though we were safe, he stopped. Then he turned around and started to do a little dance.
I rolled my eyes but then there was another shutter and we heard the Cloister Bell. The Doctor ran to the door and saw the TARDIS had landed top first on the track. The train was very close and there was no time to try and right us. "Prepare for siege mode!" Annabelle and I ducked under the console. The Doctor ran to the console and dove under the console. He then pulled down the emergency handle that activated siege mode. The good news… it protected us from getting hit from the train. The bad news… it used a lot of our remaining power to activated it.
It started to get cold in the TARDIS. Annabelle and I sat in one the chairs and huddled together under a blanket to keep warm. The Doctor called out to Clara, "I don't know if you can still hear me out there, but the TARDIS is now in siege mode. No way in, no way out. I managed to turn it on just before the train hit. But there's not enough power left now to turn it off."
There was no answer. A few moments later, The Doctor was looking at the monitor and he could get a fuzzy image on the screen, "No, no, no. What are you doing?"
The three of us just sat in the console room. There was nothing we could do. There was no power to do anything to try and save ourselves. The Doctor stood up and went up to the top level of the console room, "Life support failing. I don't know if you'll ever hear this, Clara. I don't even know if you're still alive out there. But you were good! And you made a mighty fine Doctor."
"I'll second that…" I said.
"Third…" said Annabelle. I hugged my daughter as hard as I could.
"I love you, Theta…" I said to Annabelle, telepathically.
"I love you, too, Mom," said Annabelle, telepathically.
A few moments later, the lights turned back on and power started to come back. We learned later, that Clara had Rigsy paint a fake door. She put it on one side of a wall and the TARDIS on the others side. Since they couldn't make a door 3D that wasn't 3D in the first place the TARDIS absorbed the energy and restarted.
The three of us Time Lords ran to the console. Once the power was at sufficient levels, we ended siege mode, and we lifted off of the platform where Clara set us. We returned the TARDIS back to its normal Police Box shape and flew down the tunnel as it returned to its proper size. Once it was back to normal, we flew back to toward the creatures and landed in front of them, knocking them backward and trapping them behind a force field. We patched the TARDIS into a nearby speaker, "We tried to talk," said The Doctor, "we want you to remember that."
"We tried to reach out," I said, "We tried to understand you, but we think that you understand us perfectly."
"And we think you just don't care," said Annabelle, "And we don't know whether you are here to invade, infiltrate or just replace us. "
"I don't suppose it really matters now," said The Doctor, "You are monsters. That is the role you seem determined to play. So it seems we must play ours." The three of us walked out of the TARDIS and The Doctor said, "The people that stop the monsters."
We walked up to the force field and I said, "We're sending you back to your own dimension. Who knows? Some of you may even survive the trip."
"And, if you do, remember this," said Annabelle, "You are not welcome here. This plane is protected."
"I am the Doctor, these are my nieces Teddy and Annabelle," he looked back at Clara and she tossed him his sonic. Annabelle and I took out our sonics then The Doctor said, "And we name you…"
"The Boneless," said The Doctor, Annabelle and I together. Then, we sent a blast from our sonic and the Boneless fell back and disintegrated into the dirt of the tunnel, as they were returned to their own dimension.
We turned and looked at Clara and the others, and Clara smiled at us.
We loaded everyone from the tunnel into the TARDIS and we returned them to the surface, landing in the same spot where our adventure started. The Doctor, Annabelle, and I walked out first. Followed by engineer of the train that almost hit the TARDIS, the older man, and then Rigsy. The engineer kissed the ground and Rigsy took out Clara's cell phone, "Hi, Mum. It's me."
Clara walked up to the engineer and asked, "You all right?"
"I'm alive," he said, "and I've been inside that. I think I'm up on the deal. Come here," then he and Clara hugged. "Thank you." He looked at us then walked away.
"You look chipper," said The Doctor.
"Do people still say chipper?" asked Clara.
"Apparently," I said, "Are you OK?"
"I'm alive."
"And a lot of people died," said Annabelle.
"It's like a forest fire, though, isn't it?" said the older man as he walked up to us, "The objective is to save the great trees, not the brushwood. Am I right?"
"It wasn't a fire," I said, "those weren't trees, those were people."
"They were Community Payback scumbags. I wouldn't lose any sleep," then he walked away.
"I bet you wouldn't," said Annabelle.
"It's good to be alive though," said the man as he continued to walk away not even bothering to turn back around, "Thank you. Seriously, thank you."
"Yes, a lot of people died and maybe the wrong people survived," said The Doctor.
"Yeah, but we saved the world, right?" asked Clara, as she walked up to us.
"We did," I said, "You did."
"OK, so, on balance"
"Balance?" asked The Doctor.
"Yeah, that's how you think, isn't it?" asked Clara.
"Largely so other people don't have to."
"Yeah, well, I was you today. I was the Doctor. And, apparently, I was quite good at it."
"So you did hear that?" I asked.
"Yeah, but the power was going off so I suppose The Doctor was delirious," said Clara, she looked at him, "You didn't know what you were saying."
"Yes," said The Doctor, then Rigsy walked up to us and handed Clara back her phone, "Ah! The return of the fluorescent pudding brain."
"You do realize he can hear you now?" asked Annabelle.
"I know," said The Doctor.
I rolled my eyes "Your last painting was so good it saved the world," I said, "I can't wait to see what you do next."
"It's not going to be easy. I've got a hair band to live up to. Thanks," said Rigsy, he went to shake Clara's hand.
They shook hands then Clara pulled him into a hug, "Come here." Then, Rigsy walked away. Clara looked at us, "Admit it. I did well." Clara phone started to ring,
"Is that PE?" asked The Doctor, as he started back to the TARDIS.
"He's a math teacher," said Annabelle and I together, as we followed him.
Clara chose to ignore the call and she said, as she followed us, "Just say it. Why can't you just say it? Why can't you just say I did good?
"Talk to soldier boy," said The Doctor.
"It's not him. Come on, why can't you say it? I was the Doctor and I was good.
"You were an exceptional Doctor, Clara."
"Thank you."
"Goodness had nothing to do with it," Then, The Doctor, Annabelle and I walked into the TARDIS.
AN: If you like this story, Review, Favorite and Follow. It gives me motivation to keep going.