The Doctor looked from Beth to Will and back to Beth again.
“Um, well I’d obviously prefer quick, but,” the Doctor said, “You’d have to be pretty quick to catch me!”
With that, the Doctor had pelted around the corner, out of sight.
“Damn it!” Will said, punching the air in anger.
“Patience…” the ghostly figure said from behind them both. They turned around silently, “He will not be hard to find. Now, on with the plan. More humans are needed, bring them to me!”

The Doctor ran down the street and skidded to a halt. He thought to himself for a moment, then ran ahead to Will’s house.

As the doorbell rang again, Mandy rushed up to see the Doctor.
“What happened, did you find him?” she looked around and frowned, “Where’s your friend?”
When the Doctor said nothing, she raised her hands to her mouth, “Oh no! No!”
“Sit down a minute,” the Doctor said. Once they had done so, he said, “I know where both of them are, but the thing is… they don’t know who they are.”
Kyle frowned, waiting for the Doctor’s explanation.
“Some creature… an alien… has taken over their minds and is controlling them for something.”
Mandy gasped and, once again, began crying. Kyle sighed.
“Those flipping aliens,” his hands balled into fists, “They’ve gone too far this time, just what until I get my hands on them!”
“Yeah?” Mandy said, “Then I’ll end up losing you too!”
There was silence and Mandy said, “No one’s going anywhere apart from the Doctor, you can stop them can’t you?”
“Well, I think so, yes,” the Doctor smiled, but Kyle remained tense.
“How do we know we can trust you?” he frowned.
“You already do, don’t you?” the Doctor replied.
Kyle stared at the floor for a moment then nodded his head a fraction.
“Exactly,” the Doctor said, leaping up, “Right, do you keep torches anywhere?”

The Doctor headed out into the empty street, gadgets and equipment stuffed into his bigger-on-the-inside coat pockets. Kyle and Mandy stood in their doorway.
“Are you sure you’ll be alright on your own?” Mandy asked, biting her nails.
“Yes,” the Doctor said with steely eyes, “And I promise you, your son will be back here, safe and sound, back to normal.”
He ran down the street and Mandy slowly closed the doors, a small sense of hope keeping her standing.

“Go!” the ghostly figure instructed, and Will left the warehouse in search for humans. Beth stood to face her master.
“What can I do to help?” she asked in a dull, robotic voice.
“You,” the figure said, “will bring me the Doctor! Lure him in.”
Beth nodded and stalked out of the warehouse at a hefty speed.

The Doctor ran without once losing his breath when suddenly, he saw Will. He watched as the boy knocked on house doors and somehow managed to lure humans to follow him. He squinted to see and noticed Will was removing his necklace and using it to control them.
“Psychic necklace?” the Doctor said to himself.
Will’s head snapped around to the Doctor’s direction and he quickly leapt behind some nearby bins to avoid his gaze. Will stared for a few moments, and then continued knocking on the houses. The Doctor sighed and pelted down the street when Will wasn’t looking. He ran and tried to make it around the corner before Will could notice him. To his surprise, he was able to do so and leapt for joy when he cleared the street.
“Ha!” he cried.
“Doctor!” a nearby voice said and the Doctor turned around.
“Beth!” he said with joy and ran up to hug her. The possessed Beth tried to hug back but couldn’t quite bring herself to do it. The Doctor frowned as he pulled away.
“How come you remember me?” he asked.
“The thing freed me, said it didn’t need me anymore,” Beth said in a flat voice.
The Doctor eyed her carefully, “Right.”
“But you need to go back to the warehouse to save Will,” she replied, “I’ll show you the way.”
She pulled him by the arm and the Doctor muttered, “You’re keen to get back…”
“I just want to help Will…” Beth replied.
The Doctor sighed as Beth pulled him along, she was still possessed and he knew it; he’d just seen Will! So what was she up to…?

The Doctor let Beth pull him around the corner back to the warehouse. The Doctor shuddered, “It’s creepy around here.”
He waited for a reply but there was none. He was 100% positive this wasn’t Beth.
They walked down the familiar setting and there it was again, the ghostly figure waiting to invade his mind.
“Doctor!” it said in a sinister voice, “How very nice of you to return…”
It sauntered down to meet his face and the Doctor smiled, “Yup, I just couldn’t resist. Can I just say one thing though; before you do whatever you intend doing with me? I don’t recommend you give your followers acting careers. I knew Beth was still under your control, it was obvious.” The Doctor glanced at Beth, “I know the real Beth.”
He noticed the necklace that was now around her neck. Beth remained unmoved by the Doctor’s speech.
“Well, we can’t have that can we? You failed your job, you must be punished,” the creature taunted and pointed directly at Beth. Ripples of pain ran through Beth’s body as she rolled around on the floor in agony. The Doctor looked away, disturbed.
“Stop it!” he yelled, “Stop it now!”
The figure snapped back her hand and Beth lay on the floor, gasping for breath. She looked at the Doctor for a moment then suddenly whipped the necklace from off her neck. She ran towards the Doctor and they hugged. Beth was limp and weak.
“What happened?” the figure asked.
“Dunno, but Beth’s certainly snapped out of it! Come to her senses probably after that shock,” the Doctor said happily. He looked down at Beth, “You alright?”
She rubbed her head, “I’ve been better. That was so strange… it was like I was… looking down on my body. I tried to stop what I was doing desperately, but I wasn’t strong enough!”
“Don’t worry, it’s over now.” The Doctor smiled. He then looked at the figure.
“Now, what’s all this for?”
“I don’t have to explain myself to you,” it sauntered away, “And anyway, it’s too late for you to stop us now.”
“Us?” the Doctor repeated, “I only see one of you…”
“They will arrive soon and they will feast,” it seemed to snigger.
Beth frowned and said, “Can you hear something?”
“Yeah, looks like the troops are returning,” the Doctor said, looking towards the door. Will led a group of humans into the warehouse. Will gazed at the Doctor full of hatred.
"Why isn't he dead? He's our biggest threat with all his technology!" he spat.
"Seeing as you failed to kill him with your vehicle," the figure said, "He's still alive."
Will looked at the floor, ashamed. He then stood obediently in front of the figure along with all the humans.
“Now, my family shall descend!” the figure said, raising its arms to the ceiling. Everyone in the warehouse glanced up as a blinding light filled the room. Beth closed her eyes but the Doctor continued to look. He watched as more of the ghostly figures floated down effortlessly to join the one already present. Once there were 10 of them in the room, the light disappeared and Beth opened her eyes, gasping.
“We are the Plamoon and we will reign supreme!” they chanted together and Beth cowered behind the Doctor.
“The Plamoon,” the Doctor said nodding, “That’s a new one.”
“You are not allowed to use our name,” one of them ordered, “It is forbidden.”
“What shall I call you then? Bob?” the Doctor asked.
“Humans are not worthy to mention our name,” another stated.
“Ah, there’s a slight flaw in that concept,” the Doctor answered, “I’m not human.”
“What are you then?”
“Time Lord.”
There was silence amongst the Plamoon as they communicated with eachother in their heads but then one sauntered forward.
“It is no matter, we shall still feast.”
“On the humans?” Beth asked.
“Yes, and on the Time Lord.”
“But you can’t!” Beth shouted.
“Why not? Who’s gonna miss a few humans?”
“Are you just going to eat them all?” Beth frowned.
“Eat? No, we feed on their thoughts and minds!” one stated proudly.
“Ah…” the Doctor said, circling them now, “So that’s how you controlled Beth and Will, you’ve got some sort of way of taking over the human mind.”
“It’s our speciality,” another answered.
They all seemed to laugh at this as if it were some private joke.
“Why have you come here to feast? Surely you have a planet?” the Doctor questioned.
“It was destroyed,” one said.
There was silence for a while then the Doctor said, “Tell you what, why don’t you feed on my mind instead of all these humans? Trust me, it’ll be a feast for all of you.”
They seemed to consider it then said, “You will be our starter!"
"Oi, I'm more like the main course!" the Doctor said, insulted.
“No!” Beth shouted.
The Doctor turned around and winked at her, “Don’t worry,” he said in a whisper.
They all crowded around the Doctor and reached out their hands. They started feeding and the Doctor balled his hands into fists to try and ignore the pain. Suddenly, some of the Plamoon began jerking and one by one they disintegrated. Once they were all gone, the Doctor staggered back, rubbing his eyes.
“Blimey that was rough,” he shuddered.
“Doctor, what happened?” Beth asked.
All around them, the humans were coming back to their senses and frowning at their surroundings. They began to walk off and suddenly, Will was at the Doctor’s side.
“Where am I?” he asked, “What’s going on? Beth!”
“Will!” Beth said, hugging him, “You’re back to normal! Oh wait until your parents see this!”
They walked out of the warehouse leaving the darkness behind.

“Will!” Mandy gasped, clutching her son close.
“Mum, please,” he groaned, “You’re embarrassing me!”
He turned around to face the Doctor and Beth and smiled, “Thanks.”
“No problem,” the Doctor grinned, “It’s what we do.”
Will turned to Beth, “Are you going now?” He looked at the floor.
“Yeah,” Beth said, “It was nice knowing you.”
She bent over and planted a kiss on Will’s cheek. Will turned crimson and waved them off as they walked down the street.

“So what did happen? You never told me…” Beth asked as they stepped into the TARDIS.
“My mind is full of some amazing things, both frightening and overwhelming,” the Doctor sighed, “I’ve seen most of time and most species can’t handle it, they simply disintegrated.”
“Hmm,” Beth thought, “And how do you cope with your mind?”
The Doctor looked at her and said nothing. He walked over to the console and said, “C’mon where next?”
Beth frowned for a moment then smiled, “Maybe a trip back home again…?”
“Oh God.” He said simply.
Beth smiled as the TARDIS lurched once more into life.

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As the storm raged outside and the wind howled, Will pulled the covers over his face. He was not only desperately trying to block out the chilling sounds from outside, but the feeling that he was not alone…
Just 10 seconds earlier, he was sitting up in bed reading his Harry Potter book when, in the doorway, he thought he had seen a figure. A white figure.
He had shaken his head, dismissing the idea completely, and slithered under his duvet, but the idea was niggling away at the back of his mind.
“Don’t be stupid, Will,” he said to himself, “You’re probably just imagining things.”
He closed his eyes tight and then felt an ice cold breeze rustle his hair. Shivers ran down his spine as he remembered he had closed his window because of the storm.
“Keep calm,” he thought, “You’re dreaming.”
It was only when the cover was peeled away from him and the white figure loomed above him that he released it wasn’t a dream; it was a nightmare, and it was real.
A yelp escaped from his lips and before the sound could echo into his parents’ room, the figure, which was completely mist like, touched Will’s forehead. Will suddenly felt a piercing pain fill his head, and before he knew it, everything went black.

Mandy and Kyle woke up to a strange banging sound and immediately jumped out of bed. They walked cautiously down the stairs to see their son, Will, hammering on the front door.
“Will! What are you doing?” Kyle shouted.
Will turned around, a look of anger on his face, “I don’t know who you are, but if you don’t let me out right now, I’ll smash the door down!”
Mandy and Kyle exchanged panicked glances and Mandy said softly, “Love, you live here.”
“I don’t know who you are!” Will replied, “It’s against the law to kidnap you know!”
Mandy gasped and tears began flowing down her face.
“Stop messing around Will, this isn’t funny,” Kyle enforced, “You get your school stuff ready right now!”“I don’t know you!” Will shouted, kicking the door. It shuddered and Will angrily reached for some keys on a nearby table. He quickly unlocked the door and before Kyle could stop him, he was running outside. Mandy sobbed and Kyle stood in disbelief as his son ran away from him. He slowly closed the door and turned to face Mandy.
“He’ll be back when it’s teatime,” he said, “Mark my words.” He hugged his wife and said, “Cuppa?”

The Doctor frowned, “Beth!”
In the TARDIS wardrobe, Beth was hanging her clothes onto the twisty railing. She stopped at hearing the Doctor’s voice, and ran into the console room. She popped her head through the door.
“Take a look at this,” the Doctor said.
Beth stared at the TARDIS console to see a red line whizzing around a screen in all directions.
“What’s that?” she asked.
“Someone is up to no good,” the Doctor sighed, pulling a lever, “We’ll have to investigate.”
There was a serious look between them for about a fraction of a second, then the Doctor grinned and Beth exploded into a fit of giggles.
“You love all this really, don’t you?” she smiled.
“What? The trouble? The aliens? The… explosions?!” he laughed.
The TARDIS whizzed once more, this time to modern day earth in England.

Mandy glanced nervously at the clock as the hands ticked just past midnight.
“Back for teatime?” she spluttered, sobbing into her coffee, “What’s wrong with him?!”
Kyle paced around the table. He knew deep down that something was wrong.
There was a sudden knock at the door and Kyle leapt up like a frog. He opened the door full of hope but was deflated as soon as he saw a young woman and a man in a suit staring back at him, smiling. The man had a piece of junk in his hands and Kyle sighed.
“Look, I don’t want to buy anything, go away,” he went to close the door shut when the Doctor put his foot in the way.
“Actually, we’re here to help you, not sell you stuff,” he grinned, and the man felt a strange sense of trust towards him. Mandy was now at the door.
“Help us?” she repeated.
“Yeah, there have been some strange readings around your house recently,” the Doctor said.
Kyle and Beth exchanged looks, then said, “You’d better come in.”

“It’s always a good sign when people offer you tea,” the Doctor grinned, and Beth nudged him in the ribs. “That’s not appropriate,” she said through gritted teeth.
The Doctor placed the tea on the table then looked at Kyle, “Has anything strange happened here recently?”
Mandy began to cry and Beth sat by her side, arm on her shoulder.
“W-Will…” she sobbed.
“Who is that?” Beth said softly.
“Our son,” Mandy stuttered, “This morning, he said we weren’t his parents! H-he said he didn’t know who we were!”
Mandy cried into Beth’s chest and Beth looked up at the Doctor.
The Doctor was frowning, glancing at his machine. “Do you mind if I take a look around?”
Before he could get an answer, he was halfway up the stairs.
After Mandy had finished crying, Beth stood up and sat back on the sofa. There was a sudden frantic bang on the door and Mandy shot up.
“Will!” she shouted, grabbing her son in a tight hug. Beth watched on, confused.
Will sat down on the sofa next to Beth, slightly shaken. However, when he saw Beth he immediately flushed and fiddled with his hair nervously. He looked up at Beth and blushed when she smiled at him.
“Who are you?” he finally asked.
“Beth,” she smiled, “I’m guessing you’re Will.”
Will blushed and Beth noticed as he turned his head, something glittered on his neck. She looked closer and it seemed he had a necklace of some sort attached to his skin. Before Beth could ask, Will started shuddering and closing his eyes.
“Will?” Mandy asked, “Will, what’s wrong?”
After a moment or so, Will stood upright and shouted, “What is wrong with you people? Why do you keep bringing me back here? Leave me alone!”
He stormed towards the door, took one last disgusted look back and slammed the door. As this happened, the Doctor stepped down the stairs.
“What did I miss?” he asked.

“Well that’s odd,” he frowned.
Beth looked at the floor, “Did you find anything up there?”
“Yes, there’s a high psychic reading up there,” he said seriously.
“Where exactly?” Kyle asked.
“In Will’s bedroom.”
Mandy began crying again and Beth said, “Would you excuse us for a moment?”
The Doctor and Beth stood in the kitchen. Beth said, “What do you suspect it is?”
“Well it seems something is tampering with Will’s memory or something,” he opened a nearby biscuit tin, took out a digestive and began eating it, much to Beth’s disapproval, “I think what happened out there was a temporary blockage in the psychic link,” Beth frowned, “The power which was controlling him must have weakened for a moment and Will must have remembered his parents, ran back home, but then the link must have reinforced itself and Will forgot them again.”
“It must be tough for them,” Beth said, glancing at Mandy, who was once again crying.
“Yeah,” the Doctor sighed, “It’s tough when someone you’re close to forgets all about you.”
He was silent for a moment then said, “But we’ll put a stop to this, there’s got to be a way.”
He walked back into the living room and said, “Right, we’re going to find Will for you and ensure he’s back to normal.”
Kyle smiled and Mandy stopped sobbing for a moment.
“How can you say that, you might not be able to…?” Kyle said.
“I promise,” the Doctor said seriously and Kyle smiled, having full trust in this man who he had just gotten to know.
“Don’t worry about us, we’ll be back soon,” Beth smiled and they left them in the room, full of hope and trust.

The Doctor and Beth hurried down the dark street, hearing foxes scattering in the alleyways and groups of teenagers shouting outside the shops. Beth looked around nervously, anything could happen to them.
The Doctor walked forward confidently, Beth trailing by his side.
“Do you ever get the feeling you’re being watched?” Beth laughed nervously.
“Hmm?” the Doctor asked.
A camera in the distance turned towards the pair and suddenly all the lights in the street flickered off one by one, leaving them completely in darkness. Beth clutched at the Doctor’s arm and he muttered, “Keep calm, we’ll be fine.”Beth heard a car swerving in the distance and screamed as a car with its lights shining menacingly came hurtling towards them.
“Doctor!” she shouted and he pulled them both out of the way moments before the car zoomed past them. She heard it crash out of control and suddenly a loud bang echoed into the street. The Doctor and Beth stood still breathlessly and suddenly, the lights flickered back on. They noticed the car wreckage crashed up against the wall and ran towards it. When they reached it, Beth gasped at the passenger whose head was against the wheel. It was Will.
“Oh my God, is he alive?” Beth gasped.
The Doctor slowly removed him from the car and suddenly Will sprang to life. He wriggled in the Doctor’s arms, thrashing around and demanding to be let go.
“Get off me!” he shouted, “I’ve got a job to do.”
“Hey,” the Doctor said, “You just tried to kill us and you’re asking me to let you go? I think it’s us who should be ordering you about.”
Will slumped, defeated and said, “What do you want me to do?”
“Take me to your leader,” the Doctor said, trying not to grin. Beth rolled her eyes.
“Fine,” Will said calmly, “But whatever happens is completely your fault.”
Beth watched him as he grinned evilly and led them towards his leader.

The Doctor and Beth turned a corner and a shabby warehouse was in front of them. Beth swallowed as they entered and in the distance was a white figure.
“Please don’t be ghosts,” she thought to herself.
Before anything else could happen, the figure turned around and lunged at Beth. She screamed as the figure completely covered her and wrapped its strangely strong hands around her hand. She could just about see the Doctor stumbling for his sonic screwdriver, but then he was grabbed back by Will who had a smile on his face.
“More will join the army,” he chanted, “More will join the army.”Beth struggled and a feeling overcame her head. She felt memories disappearing and thoughts fading. Slowly, her head became light and she collapsed to the floor.
“Beth!” the Doctor shouted, trying to lunge forward and help her but failing.
The figure sauntered backwards and stood where it was before. Beth slowly got up, a look of hatred in her eyes.
“Beth?” the Doctor asked.
Beth looked the Doctor up and down, disgusted and said, “When do we get to kill this one?”
The Doctor watched as Beth examined him, “Don’t you remember me?” he asked helplessly.
“I’ve never seen you before in my life,” she said, walking towards Will, “Now, which death would you like? Slow, fast or painful?”

To be Continued…

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Christmas Giveaway!

Seeing as it's Christmas soon, The-OncomingStorm is giving you the chance to win a Christmas gift! The prizes up for grabs are:

- 3 Doctor Who books of your choice (from a selection)
- One special, surprise gift.

Interested? All you have to do is answer this simple question:

Q - Which actor has played the parts of the aliens Bannakaffalatta and the Graske?

Know? Send your answer and name to: beckythe-oncomingstorm@msn.com.

You have until 19th December to enter. Your package will then hopefully get to you for Christmas! Good luck and get entering.

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By Will

The queue of people stretched all the way down the slope, to the log houses. Snow fell in flakes past the crystal trees, frozen by the unforgiving, deadly and silent ice. The Mountainous Krepps on the Planet Cziak rose up to an unimaginable height, while the trees stretched out across the sparkling landscape as far as the eye could see. The planet’s two sun’s rays reflected off the snow, producing a deathly glow that emanated all around them.

Beth wrapped her coat increasingly tighter around her. She felt the cold wind biting her face, and her nose was red raw. She and the Doctor, along with the three aliens they’d met at the log houses had braved the Krepps to experience the thrill of whizzing down the slopes at an incalculable speed, with the help of the strained gravity the pulled the seas on the planet Cziak up to the stars.

“Bit freezing,” Beth muttered “I wish this queue would hurry up.”
“Tell me about it!” Frankie, her pink skinned friend shivered “oh but wait! There are 25 people ahead of us- we won’t get on the next cable car!”

Just as Frankie spoke her words, a new cable car trundled forwards, creaking on the ancient ropes. Everyone slowly waddled forward, unable to walk properly in their thick coats.

“At least we’ll be at the front of the queue,” Lenny, the many tentacled Drivios pointed out.

To Lenny’s surprise, he and his five friends did get onto the cable car. It was slightly cramped, but they would be able to start their skiing experience quicker!

A short while later, the Doctor and the others were observing the view as the cable car glided over a snowy hill. They were about 5,000 feet in the air when the cable car shook. Everyone who was stood up fell to one side. A woman screamed and a young Haribothian began to cry.

“What the hell-?” Lucky, the walking Poodle, and Beth’s third new alien friend asked.
“I think we’ve broken down,” Beth replied.

Immediately everyone began to panic. All races snatched up their various types of mobile phones and began calling anyone who would listen to their terrified screams. Outside, the cable car’s ropes began to unwind; the people moving about inside unsteadying them.

Everyone fell suddenly silent as the Doctor activated the Sonic Screwdriver.

“Thank you,” the Doctor smiled, appreciating the silence “is anybody hurt?”

Everyone shook their heads.

“Ok everyone, now we need to get rid of any excess weight!” the Doctor cried, Sonicking the door to the cable car open.
“Oxygen membrane holding,” the cable car informed, reminding the Doctor of the computers on the Titanic.

The Doctor dropped his skis out of the door. Beth, Frankie, Lenny and Lucky followed suit. Before long, people were throwing out everything they owned in an attempt to save themselves. Suddenly several people were knocked out of the way by a rather overweight Human. Slightly reluctantly, he dropped all of his possessions out of the open door. All of the things thrown out were slowly pulled up into the sky by the gravity, where they were pulled apart by the conflicting suns, creating a sort of light show.

“We still need to lose more!” Frankie cried as the car shook again.
“Throw that fat man out!” a posh alien named John cried.
“I say! Kill the fatty!” his equally posh, equally blue skinned wife Andrea shouted.
“No!” Beth sobbed “leave him alone!”

Beth was winded as she was knocked aside by John. His arms outstretched, John connected with the overweight man, who was sweating. The fat man tumbled out of the car and gracefully flew up into the sky and was ripped to pieces by the vicious gravity that soon saw the man lost amongst the snow.

“Oh my God,” Beth breathed, feeling sick.
“That was murder,” the Doctor spat.

John stepped towards him. Beth recoiled in fear of being next. The fear wasn’t irrational, as John now had a look in his eyes- he wasn’t scared- he was savage.

“Who’s next?” John roared.
“There won’t be a next!” one man cried, stepping forwards.

The man was brown haired and about 35. A woman had her hand on his arm, begging him not to challenge John.

“Steve! Leave it alone! The man’s crazy!” Hannah, the terrified wife cried.

Steve shook his head and grabbed John. They grappled, before both falling out of the swaying cable car and up into the sky. Hannah burst into shocked tears, while Andrea looked on in disbelief, her emotions failing to overcome her stony heart.

“You and your stupid husband!” Hannah cried, leaning forward and slapping Andrea’s blue skinned face with all her might.

Andrea looked shocked. She pushed Hannah in return. Hannah stumbled, and tripped over Beth’s foot. With a scream, she fell out of the cable car, into the darkness above.

Lucky leant forwards and shoved Andrea out of the car after Hannah. The last they saw of Andrea was an expression of shock on her posh alien face.

“That felt good,” Lucky smiled.

Everyone nodded in numb agreement with the Poodle.

“There are only 25 people now!” Lenny cried “we should be alright now.”
“Let’s just wait to be rescued,” Frankie suggested.

Beth just smiled and looked at the Doctor. He was already pulling out the Sonic Screwdriver. She looked at Frankie, Lucky and Lenny and reassured them everything would be alright.

“Everything’s gonna be alright,” Beth smiled “after all…”

Everyone waited in anticipation.

“…We’ve got a Doctor.”

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“Here we are,” the Doctor smiled happily, “The planet Shiroom.”
“Sounds nice,” Beth admitted.
“Mmmhmm,” the Doctor agreed, locking the TARDIS doors, “Oh, by the way,” he said, reaching into his pocket, “It’s about time I gave you this.”In front of Beth on a long golden chain was another TARDIS key. He handed it over to Beth and she smiled, “Thank you.”
An overwhelming sense of pride swept through Beth, she at least knew now the Doctor trusted her.
She placed the key in her pocket and the Doctor said, “Take care of that, if you lose it… well…” he raised his eyebrows and Beth nodded.
“Don’t worry,” she smiled, “I never lose anything.”
“What about your scarf the other day?” the Doctor asked.
“That was an exception…” Beth sighed.
The planet which they were on was one completely covered in snow. Everywhere Beth looked, her face was grabbed by an icy cool breeze. The gloves and jacket which the Doctor had advised her to wear were coming in handy…
They walked forward and passed several, what Beth thought, were huts. The area in front of them was so misty and foggy that they had no idea what was ahead. Still, that wasn’t going to stop them.
“Why’s it called Shiroom?” Beth asked as they sat down on a frostbitten bench. Beth’s legs clattered together as the Doctor spoke.
“Well,” he took a long pause, “I don’t exactly know. But…” he said quickly, “I think it’s because a special species of animals live within the snow and they’re called Shirromi. I don’t know though, last time I visited here was… ooh…” he squinted to think, “100 years ago. Maybe more, but still, it hasn’t changed, it’s still absolutely beautiful. The last time I was here was with my friend Bob, not the builder, just Bob. He moaned all the time about the cold and I would say to him “I told you to bring some thermals!” and he would say…”
Beth held out her hand, “You’re babbling again,” she smiled.
“Am I?” the Doctor stopped, “Sorry. I can’t help it, I’ve just got a big gob.”Beth laughed, “Really? I never noticed,” she said sarcastically.
“C’mon,” the Doctor said, “We need to explore.”
Beth placed her hand on the bench to help herself up when suddenly she felt a sharp pain in her finger; a splinter.
“Ouch!” Beth squealed, launching into a series of swear words.
The Doctor desperately said, “Ssh! Beth! Ssh!”
But it was too late. People around them were beginning to close in on Beth, tutting at her and grabbing her arms. Some even spat at her feet. Beth looked at the Doctor, a bemused look on her face.
“Beth,” he said sadly, “Remember I said on some planets you could get executed for swearing?”
Beth’s eyes widened, “No!” She looked around at the angry faces, “You could have warned me!” she said, trying to ignore the guns that some people held and were pointing at her.
Beth found herself being suddenly dragged away. She wailed, “Doctor! Help me! Please! Stop them! I didn’t mean it!”
The Doctor tried to push his way through the crowd but he was pushed to the floor and within minutes, the crowd had disappeared into the mist. The Doctor stood up, breathless, and ran into the distance, hoping that they hadn’t ended Beth’s life already.

Gogo waddled back into his hut. Around him, Mashu was trying to control the bundle of crying children.
“Mashu,” he said, “There has been a blasphemer!”
Mashu dropped the milk bottle she was holding and dropped her mouth in awe, “Who?”
“A filthy woman, wrapped up in all fancy clothes, thinking she is better than all of us!” he spat.
“Well she deserves what’s coming to her,” Mashu cackled and they sat there, waiting for news on the time of the execution.

The Doctor barged past all the crowds, his brown coat flapping in the sinister breeze. He could feel his ears freezing, and he wondered if his nose began running, would the droplets turn into icicles? He shook his head, reminding himself he had to prevent someone’s death. Again.
He pushed forward and realised he had no idea where this execution was taking place. He turned to a man beside him and said, “Sorry, I was just wondering, where’s today’s execution taking place?”
“Up on the Shiroom mountains,” the man said, pointing to a snow covered, high mountain, “In…” he glanced at his watch, “1 hour.”
The Doctor rubbed his eyes, “1 hour?!” He pelted off, leaving the man standing in awe. He couldn’t understand how someone could be so rude, yet get away with it. He sighed, and headed for the in a random route to take him to the execution site.

Beth yelped as people around her jabbed at her sides with sticks and guns. She prayed the Doctor would get her out of it. Or if not him, there was someone else she could rely on…
She shook her head and thought things through.
Right, she thought, they are probably going to chop my head off because I happened to swear, something that everyone does anyway! But still, surely I could wriggle out of their grasp and leg it… But they’ve got guns; it wouldn’t be long before they’d shoot me. OK, plan B… the Doctor. Surely he’ll think of something, he always does. But he won’t know where I am… he won’t know what will happen to me…
Beth’s thoughts were interrupted as she realised the air was suddenly a lot colder. She then noticed she was being dragged up a high mountain. The place where the Doctor had said the Shirromi were.
As the realisation of what was probably going to happen to her hit Beth, a tear trailed slowly down her cheek, and she regretted ever agreeing to this whole thing.

The Doctor had managed to get his hands on some climbing equipment. He had gone into a local shop and simply asked the lady behind the counter. He grinned as he realised just how persuasive his charms could be. You’ve still got it… he smiled.
He forced his way up the icy mountain, knowing he only had a matter of minutes. He thought that Beth must be up the mountain by now. That didn’t leave him long. He pursued forward, the longing for another death being stopped taking over him. He couldn’t face losing someone else.

Beth gulped as they reached the top of the mountain. She looked in front of her to see a wooden cage and wailed again as it was surrounded by bags, which she assumed were full of meat.
She felt like cursing until her tongue was sore, but she realised that probably wasn’t the greatest idea at the moment.
The people gave her one last filthy look and shoved her into the cage. Her arms and ankles were tied together with tough rope, and she could feel some pain creeping in where they were rubbing against her skin. She heard the men talking.
“Only 10 minutes now,” they laughed.
One man looked at her with disgust, “Yes, she will get her punishment.”

The Doctor saw that he only had a few steps left to go as he could hear the growing crowds jeering. He pushed his legs further up the hill, then was alarmed by a growling sound. He slowly turned around and realised, the Shirromi truly did exist, and boy were they big…
He watched as the creature, covered in white, hoarse fur, slowly approached him, taking in his scent. Its yellow talons stood out and its black eyes seemed full of hunger. Its huge chest moved in and out rapidly as it longed to devour the Doctor.
“OK…” the Doctor said slowly, “Now listen, you really won’t like the taste of me! I’m not your average human; I probably taste a bit too sweet actually,”
The creature’s eyes seemed to narrow for a moment, then became wide with fury.
The Doctor took a small, subtle step back, but the creature noticed this and growled, its fearsome cry echoing throughout the mountain.

Beth heard this cry and shivered. She looked around at the immense amount of people and thought of them viewing her death. What was so pleasurable about seeing her suffer? Couldn’t they just stay home? Surely swearing wasn’t worth her life being taken away…
I’ve got so much left to do; she thought to herself as the men said, “It’s time.” I haven’t even said goodbye to my family… I’ve let everyone down… the Doctor… he’ll think it was his fault! Will he ever tell my family? Or just leave my body, forever decaying on a distant planet? Will there be anything left of my body?
She couldn’t control her sobbing as the men stepped into the cage to unwrap the bags of meat. Beth slowly closed her eyes, then a wonderful thought hit her head and she reached for her wrist.

The Shirromi that was facing the Doctor lunged at him and tore at his ankle. The Doctor shouted out as its teeth sunk into his skin. The creature suddenly recoiled away, and was sniffing once more. It leapt away, allured by a more delicious smell. The Doctor frowned as he saw his blood seeping onto the snow, turning it a deep crimson colour.
“Beth!” he thought, and struggled to get up. He tried to walk along, but found his ankle agonising. He couldn’t walk a step further, so had to drag himself across the freezing snow. He just hoped he could make it in time.

Beth looked at her watch and pressed a button. The voice talked to her once again.
“Help me!” she wailed. “What’s the matter?” the cold voice snapped.
“I’m in a spot of bother…” Beth stuttered.
As she explained her problem to the person, he said, “Tell them this… Under the code of 9362, I demand you let me go. If you damage me, you will anger…”
Before he could finish, Beth began repeating the sentence loudly, knowing exactly how to finish. Gasps passed through the stunned crowd, and the guards quickly removed Beth out of the cage, just before the Shirromi flooded in to eat the meat. The guards shut the gate and the crowd watched in silence as the meat was torn apart. Beth looked on in horror, thinking that the meat could have been her.
The men turned around to look at her, then said, “We are so sorry, you are free to go.”
Beth nodded, and quickly fled the scene, searching for the Doctor.

It didn’t take her long. She found him clutching his ankle, surrounded by a pool of blood.
“Doctor!” she gasped.
“Beth!” the Doctor shouted.
Beth ran towards him and hugged him tightly.
“How did you get away?” the Doctor asked, ignoring his ankle.
“Oh it’s a long story,” Beth said, “Anyway, what happened to you?”
“A Shirromi decided to chew on my leg,” he said, wincing.
“Let’s see if there’s a hospital around here, shall we?” Beth said, hoisting him up and resting his arms on her shoulder.
The Doctor smiled as they slowly hobbled down from the mountains.

“Ow!” the Doctor said, as the nurse completed the final stitch, “That’s the most painful set of stitches I’ve ever had!”
The nurse rolled her eyes and walked away.
The Doctor slowly got up and said, “Right, we’re off then? Before the people change their minds?”
“Yeah, perhaps that’s best,” she replied, then frowned, “How are you gonna cope with your ankle?”
“It’ll be fine,” he said, “Within a few days, it’ll be like nothing happened.”
He stood up straight, putting the weight onto his ankle then winced and swayed. Beth caught him and raised an eyebrow.
“OK, maybe a few days rest,” the Doctor said in a small voice.
Beth laughed, “It’ll be fine, it’s not like I’m subjecting you to some more shopping!” she said with a grin.
The Doctor just groaned as Beth helped him to the TARDIS and they flew away once more, the Doctor leaping around the TARDIS, despite his damaged ankle.

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