He pointed the Screwdriver and it whirred into life. Slowly before them a ship began to fade into view. It was long and somewhat cylindrical laying flat on the ground, its silver exterior scorched and dented. An entrance hatch was swinging open in the light breeze.
“Oh no… it’s worse than I feared.” The Doctor’s eyes, wide with terror, worried Charley, true she had seen him afraid before but when he got like this that meant things really were bad.
“What is it Doctor?” she asked, taking his hand in hers. “Who does it belong to?”
“… A Time Lord.”
“But I thought you said that it wasn’t a TARDIS that threw us off course in the Vortex?”
“It’s not a TARDIS. Pop your head in there and it’s the correct size inside. This is a Veyron Warp Ship; they were outlawed by my people a long time ago. Remember I told you we monitor other species time experiments? The Veyrons were a sneaky lot; they tried to make out that their Warp Ships were near light speed craft, capable of near instantaneous travel. In reality they had an unstable core reactor that when tinkered with correctly could ensure a short hop through the vortex.”
Charley sat on a nearby fallen tree.
“So what makes you so sure it’s a Time Lord? Wouldn’t it be one of these Veyrons?”
Before the Doctor could answer, a blast of energy erupted next to him, hurling mounds of earth up into the air.
“RUN CHARLEY!” He cried, as they headed of into the tree line.
“That’s certainly not the natives!” Panted Charley, as she weaved in and out of the thick tree trunks. “Will we be safe in here?”
“Hopefully! The forest should provide adequate cover! There, do you see that foxhole? Jump!”
She leapt with all her might and dived into the hole in the ground. Overhead she could hear the Doctors footsteps as he ran straight past, trying to find cover of his own. More and more explosions could be heard from the energy blasts, the ground trembled with each and Charley could only pray the foxhole wouldn’t collapse in on her.
She decided to close her eyes and wait for the Doctor to come back for her. He would come back for her… wouldn’t he?
Her mind flashed back to when they first met, on board the ill-fated R-101 airship. The normal course of fate would have seen her killed when the ship went down. But the Doctor had saved her, fracturing the web of time. Together they had gone on such fantastic journeys, even setting right the events her existence had set in motion.
But if he died she would be left here, all alone on this alien world. She did not even know where this planet was in relation to Earth, was it close? Even so, the populous was so primitive there is no way they could even help send her home, and as for the TARDIS… well, not even the Doctor could pilot that accurately.
It dawned on her it was silent now. The energy bolts had ceased, either the Doctor had gotten away or….
She decided to climb out of the foxhole and see for herself. The mud was crumbling under her fingers and she couldn’t get a good grip.
“Great, now I can get out.” She sighed to herself.
She looked up as more mud tumbled down upon to be greeted by a hand reaching down to her. Unable to see its owner she had to decide whether or not to take it, and considering the only other option was to sit in a hole in the ground, she took the hand and was pulled out. Once she was free she saw her rescuer’s face. It was the native she and the Doctor had come across earlier. She started to back away slowly from him.
“While I thank you for saving me, I mean you no harm. Please just let me find my friend and we will leave you alone.”
The man did not say anything, but tried to gesture to her. His actions were pleading and none-threatening.
“What is it? You spoke before.” Charley asked. She stopped moving, confident that he wouldn’t hurt her. He pointed to his throat. A deep red scar now ran across it, clearly fresh.
“What happened? Did somebody hurt you?”
He nodded and tried to describe his attacker with his movements, unfortunately Charley could not understand them.
“I have a friend, do you remember him? He’s called the Doctor. If we can find him im sure he can help you. Do you understand?”
The native nodded and pointed ahead. Charley nodded her understanding and off they strode in the direction the Doctor had run.
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The Doctor leaned against the tree panting hard, trying to catch his breath. He was used to running for his life but now, as he was getting older, he was starting to feel his age a little more. True, he was younger physically than he had been for a while, but inside he was feeling his age. He’s lost track of his exact age some time ago but definitely recalled his 800th birthday. The details were hazy now… something to do with Abe Lincoln and an invasion of Zygons.
“Come on you old fool, this is no time to feel sorry for yourself!” He whispered to himself before soldiering on. He knew there was someone out there he had to defeat, an evil on par with the Master. He was originally known as Rovarn, but to most modern Time Lords he was knows as The Aggregate. The Doctor had never met him but now, as he looked on in the moonlight, there he stood before him.
“House of Prydonia, isn’t it?” The Aggregate guessed.
“Once. You were a member of the Arcalian Chapter if im not mistaken.”
“Very good… either you have been doing your homework or im quite well known back on Gallifrey. How is the old home world?” He smirked
“Getting by,” replied the Doctor, “under the Presidency of Romanadvoratrelundar.”
“Not a name im familiar with. After my time, clearly, but then a lot of time has passed since I left.”
“It’s not too late Aggregate. Let me take you back to Gallifrey, stand before the council and explain your actions. Your ship will not stand another warp jump, I've seen it. Without me you are stuck here.”
“No! I refuse to go back there. If I am to remain here Doctor, then I shall mould as I see fit! These primitives will be easily bend to my whim.”
“But I’ve been to the future of this world after your involvement and it is dead. Some kind of war ravaged the planet and left it empty. From the looks of the blast marks I’d say it was the Daleks. Do you really want to be responsible for the deaths of every man woman and child to ever live on this world?” the Doctor was pleading now. No one need die if he can just reason with this madman.
“If that is what lies ahead for the creatures of this planet then so be it. I will face down the Dalek hordes alone and stand victorious!”
The Aggregate pulled back his cape and revealed a torso riddled with scars.
“These marks on my body,” he continued, “are victories I have collected along each of my years. In my time at the Temporal Research Academy, I discovered an anomaly in the Rassilon Imprimatur; it was possible to augment Time Lord DNA to incorporate the best attributes of other species.”
“And that is why you left Gallifrey? I know another who wanted to change his species beyond recognition. His name was Davros and he was insane!” The Doctor roared with intensity.
“You dare compare me to that paean? I am no mere Time Lord anymore… I am A GOD!”
The scars on The Aggregate’s body ripped open and a number of tentacles and extra limbs shot out towards the Doctor, wrapping around him in a vice like grip. He could feel his lungs being squeezed and forcing all the oxygen out of his body.
“I will not be stopped Doctor, I am invincible!”
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END OF EPISODE TWO
_________________ "Colin Baker is there too!"
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