Return to Gallifrey, Chapter 14 April 27, 2008

He reached into his pocket and produced a small fob watch, much like Martha had once seen the Doctor use. The only difference was that it was a shade of bloody, glittering red, while the Doctor‘s had been silver. He had stored his Time Lord self within such a watch at the time. Suddenly, Martha realized what Aloysius’ watch was for.

“No!” she cried, but it was too late. Aloysius flicked open the watch in one swift movement. An almighty shriek sounded from it, stirring the Doctor, whose eyes widened in horror at what he saw before him.

“Oh, dear God…no…please…” he pleaded helplessly to the malevolent, glittering eyes of the Decori.

A massive silvery form, much like a thunder cloud, rose from the watch. It hovered for a moment, then exploded into hundreds of fragments. All was dead silent–until the fragments came alive. Each of them began to take on a humanlike form–but the Doctor, sickened, knew they weren’t humans at all.

The ghosts of a thousand Time Lords had risen.

A searing, unbearable pain tore through the Doctor’s body, an ungodly scream rising from his lips. It felt as though he was being ripped apart from the inside, each and every one of his cells being torn in half, one by one.

They were moving through him rapidly, the pain of one fading no sooner than the torment of another had started. His surroundings faded in and out of focus from around him, like an old TV set with a faulty knob. He could hear Martha screaming and sobbing in the background–she was near to him, he knew, but she sounded as though she were miles away.

He closed his eyes. The agony of each passing soul was bound to fade to a gentle numbness soon enough, he thought, and, after what seemed like an eternity, it did.

Then there was nothing.

 

Hoo boy. April 27, 2008

How are all of you?

I, personally, am wiped.

I got some very nice MySpace friend requests today–they brightened my day! thanks millions.

And I’ve been a-shopping. 15 Doctor Who action figures are on the way! Also, you know, stuff from real life. My graduation dress, for example. It’s my default picture on my MySpace. Delightful.

Partners in Crime was amazing, I thought. but the Adipose freaked me out a bit :-S. How much you wanna bet they’ll be sold in plushie form?

Okay! Here’s Chapter 14.

Return to Gallifrey, Chapter 13 April 20, 2008

Boom. Boom. Boom.

The trio was frozen once again, silent. The sound of the war cannons resonated though the nighttime desert, and the Doctor winced as the cries of each fallen Time Lord echoed in the distance, knowing that with each man who spilled his blood, his fate worsened.

After another agonizing few minutes, he released a pent-up breath, signaling to his companions that it was okay to move again.

“Close one,” murmured the Doctor distractedly. The circles under his eyes were even darker now, and he looked ready to fall over any second.

Concerned, Martha inclined her head towards Aloysius and said, “I’d like to speak to the Doctor for a moment. Alone. May I…?”

Aloysius looked reluctant, but nodded in agreement. “I should start to settle our things down for the night, anyway…” he said, almost to himself. He walked off.

“Hello, Martha!” cried the Doctor, a little too heartily, “How are you?”

“Nevermind that,” said Martha hastily, “The more important question at the moment is how you are. What’s wrong with you? And don’t give me any of that false ‘what-are-you-talking-about’ bollocks. I know something is going on that you’re not telling me, and I want to know what.”

The Doctor sighed heavily and turned to face his friend with wistful, bloodshot eyes. “Martha,” he said, closing his eyes for a moment, “Going back to this planet has made me tired, almost too tired to stay the course.” He paused for a minute, as if saying that much had been a strain.

“Every step I take in this terrain reminds me of something new, something else I didn’t even know I remembered at all. It’s like digging through a memory chest that your parents kept locked up from you. Fatigue, Martha. That’s all it is. But look!” he pointed to the nearby Citadel, “We’re almost there! So close..”

Suddenly, his eyes rolled back into his head and he collapsed onto the ground in back of him.

“Doctor!” shrieked Martha.

He didn’t respond.

“He’s not dead,” drawled an unpleasant voice from behind Martha.

She placed an ear to the Doctor’s chest. Sure enough, both hearts were still beating, albeit more slowly.

“What’s wrong with him?” she choked, her eyes red.

“Remember how he said that he didn’t sleep…unless he really, really had to? Well, that’s about now. He has no control over it at this point. Let him sleep,” replied Aloysius sagely.

Martha nodded, but suddenly something strange occurred to her. “Wait a minute,” she said slowly, “How could you possibly have known that he said that? Those were his exact words…but you were miles off when he told me! He said so just hours before we had to run from the…” she broke off. Everything was beginning to make sense.

“It was you,” she whispered, a fire in her voice, “You sent those ghosts after him. They chased us to you, and when we found you, you called them off! And now that we’re almost there…”

Aloysius’s extraordinarily handsome face suddenly twisted into a hideous grin. “Excellent! I must say,” he cackled awfully, “I’m impressed. You’re not nearly as stupid as you look, Martha Jones. But now, I’m afraid the Doctor must die.”

 

Return to Gallifrey, Chapter 12 April 14, 2008

“This way,” said Aloysius airily as they traipsed though the daytime jungle, “It’s much quicker.”

The Doctor glared. “Are you insane?” he wanted to know, “Do you know what lives that way?”

“What, Doctor?” queried Martha nervously.

“Don’t be stupid,” snarled Aloysius, “they don’t come out during the day.”

“What don’t come out during the day?” asked Martha again, growing anxious.

“Puh!” snorted the Doctor, “Don’t you remember what happened to Charlie?”

Having had quite enough, Martha stopped abruptly in her tracks. Facing both of them, she near-bellowed, “What’s in there, who’s Charlie, and why the hell aren’t you telling me anything?”

Both men fell silent. “Sorry, Martha,” said the Doctor sheepishly.”

“Tell me what’s going on!” she snapped in reply.

The Doctor sighed and fidgeted with his collar for a moment. “Well…might as well prepare you for the worst…”

“Nonsense,” interrupted Aloysius, “You’ll frighten the young lady!”

“Excuse me, but I think I can handle it,” spat Martha in disgust. “Now, Doctor, what were you saying?”

The Doctor sighed. “What’s in there is a horde of Taclydia. Now, my thickheaded friend over here says that they don’t come out during the day, but I’m not too sure…”

“Ugh,” Martha shuddered, “Do I even want to know what they are?”

He smiled grimly. “Oh, believe me. You’ll know them when you see them.”

As if in reply, a loud shriek rattled the trees around them. The air was suddenly alive with ferocious winds, and the ground seemed to shake.

“They don’t come out during the day!” mocked the Doctor coldly.

“Oh, save your high-horsery and run for it!” shouted Aloysius, who had already departed the scene, over his shoulder.

The trio dashed through the jungle as the gigantic, reptilian creature zoomed overhead, screeching madly.

“Keep running,” panted the Doctor, as if they had a choice, “because there’s a hell of a lot more where that came from!”

He was right. Following the first Taclydian were two more, possibly even larger in size. Suddenly, the Doctor had an idea. “Duck!” he shouted. Even Aloysius obeyed without question, the Doctor’s presence was so commanding. Amazingly, the Taclydia seemed to have lost track of them. Vexed, they soared away.

“Why…” Martha wheezed, “why did they just leave us alone like that?”

Having regained his breath much more quickly than his friends, the Doctor promptly explained. “Taclydia,” he informed them, “can’t see anything more than fifty feet below them. If you figure each of our heights–” he paused, then smirked slightly at Aloysius, “–actually, Al…it’s just you. You’re six feet, two inches, and exactly–” he pulled his Sonic Screwdriver out of his coat pocket, scanning Aloysius from poll to toe, “forty-five millimeters tall, which puts you at precisely forty-nine feet and eleven inches below the monsters!”

“That’s absurd!” said the Decori anxiously, “Surely a Taclydian’s senses aren’t that–”

“They’re exactly that sensitive,” snapped the Doctor, “Now, if you want any of us to survive, you’ll be snaking along the jungle floor for the duration of our journey through our journey through this Godforsaken area that you selected!”

Aloysius opened his mouth to argue, but the Doctor appeared so stern that he thought it best not to argue and began to crawl.

The Doctor seemed to relish this as they traveled through the Taclydian territory. Martha even thought she saw him suppress a laugh after a quick glance at their floor-bound companion.

Aloysius, though he was without dignity, smiled to himself.

Hey people. April 14, 2008

Not much to say, this week. But I’m going to plead with you, now:

Please, please, please! promote this site!
There are lots of big, shiny buttons for your convenience. Use them!

Also, I’ve recieved a couple of very nice emails this week. I thank you very much for them, o kind sender, and I would have replied but everytime I tried I got the MAILER-DAEMON!

So, please understand.

❤

Return to Gallifrey, Chapter 11 April 8, 2008

 

 

 

“Doctor!” shouted Martha. It had been well over a half hour since he had taken off and she was beginning to get worried. “Where were you?”

The Doctor ran the remaining few feet towards his companion, Aloysius not far behind. “Met up with an old friend. Aloysius,” he panted.

“Lovely to meet you,” Aloysius responded, stepping over a rock, “Martha, isn’t it?” He smiled at her with all of his otherworldly charm.

Martha nodded nervously. “It is,” she said, extending her hand shakily. Even she was a bit bowled over by the presence of this man–he was unlike anything she’d ever seen on Earth or any other planet.

Rather than shaking her hand, the Decori kissed it lightly. She blushed.

“We go way back, the Doctor and I,” said Aloysius airily.

“Do you, now,” replied Martha, “Hey, Doctor, may I speak to you for a moment? Alone,” she added with a quick glance at Aloysius. The Doctor nodded.

When they were out of earshot, Martha hissed, “Who the hell is he?”

“Aloysius,” replied the Doctor, “is an age-old enemy of mine. Prior to the Great Time War, we were friends, but…” he trailed off.

Martha studied him for a moment before she pressed on. “Fine,” she said, “but what’s he doing here?”

“Accompanying us,” replied the Doctor, “on our little excursion. But Martha. Don’t be too trusting of him. He says he’s changed but…I can’t really be sure. And whatever you do, don’t look him in the eyes. He can get whatever he wants that way. Understand?”

Martha nodded, still perplexed. She wasn’t really fond of Aloysius–despite his beauty, something about him had made her feel utterly ill at ease. And from what she could tell, he wasn’t big in the Doctor‘s book, either. So why was he with them? Why had the Doctor agreed to take him along? It didn’t seem at all like him to go against his better judgment like that.

She sighed and followed the Doctor back to their new companion, fearing that it would be a cold day in hell before she understood him.

Life happens. April 8, 2008

Sorry for the delay. Hey Mikey, I just noticed the WP Permalink function. Niiice.

Anyhow, as I say, life happens. I had to deal with the AIMS tests and such, and frankly, TBB was not the first thing on my mind :-S.

But whatever. It’s all good now. Read on!