>> Wednesday, 31 December 2008
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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