"Welcome to my world, Doctor Clara," the Doctor said dryly. "So, what's next?"
Clara took a deep breath. "Lie to them."
"What?"
"Lie to them. Give them hope. Tell them they're all going to be fine. Isn't that what you would do?"
"In a manner of speaking. It's true that people with hope tend to run faster, whereas people who think they're doomed..." the Doctor trailed off, exchanging glances with Lyssa.
"Dawdle. End up dead," Clara finished bluntly.
"So that's what I sound like," the Doctor commented. Lyssa shrugged. In a sense, it was true. Sometimes you had to face the horrible truth to survive, and that meant no sugar-coating it. "Right, here's something that might help you. Do you remember the graffiti from the estate? Footprints, tire treads?"
"Vaguely," Clara said absently as the Ranger turned to her, muttering something about checking out the exits before moving off.
"Well, I don't think it was graffiti. I think that that was how those creatures saw us. The impressions we make in two dimensional space. That was them reaching out, attempting to talk. At which point they moved into flattening and dissection. Trying to understand. Trying to emulate. But here's the big question. Do they know they're hurting us?" the Doctor postulated.
"They're intelligent," Lyssa pointed out. "It shouldn't be hard to figure out that smooshing something that's not supposed to be smooshed can be harmful."
"Perhaps, but they clearly come from a very different place," the Doctor reminded her. "Maybe in their world it isn't harmful at all. You wouldn't think breathing is dangerous, you do it all the time. But there's an entire galaxy where one whiff of carbon dioxide would set the place alight. We need to find a way to communicate with them."
"Why can't the TARDIS just translate?" Clara asked unhappily.
"Because their idea of language is just as bizarre as their idea of space. Even the TARDIS is confused. And whatever they're doing is affecting the TARDIS. So even if she could come up with some sort of translator, we could well end up insulting them due to something being inaccurately translated. And then they might really want to kill us."
"Not like it would be the first time," Clara muttered.
Lyssa bit back a snicker, then gave up and laughed out loud at the Doctor's betrayed look.
"This is a bad idea. What makes this colleague of yours think those monsters even want to talk?" Fenton complained.
The Doctor rolled his eyes. "Oh, great. A real pudding brain we've picked up here. I know a race made of sentient gas who throw fireballs as a friendly wave. I know another race with sixty four stomachs who talk to each other by disemboweling."
"He's, ah, got a hunch," Clara told the others.
"My point being that in a universe as immense and bizarre as this one, you cannot be too quick to judge. 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," the Doctor explained.
"Do you really believe that?" Clara asked him bluntly.
"No. I really hope that. It would make a nice change, wouldn't it?" he said dryly. "Okay. Let's start with pi. 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." He spun around the console, pulling Lyssa with him as he inputted information and started sending out the signal. He glanced over when he caught Lyssa watching him. "What?"
She shook her head, smiling fondly. "Nothing. It's just... you really never stop being the Doctor, do you? I mean, here you are, all grumpy and gray," she said fondly, waving her hand at him. "And you're insulting humans just as much as you did when you were Nine, and rambling as much as Ten did, and you've been as careful and gentle with me as Eleven usually is, and you secretly care about those pudding brains just as much as every single regeneration before you, don't you?"
He stopped, watching her for a moment before pulling her into a tight hug that made her let out a surprised squeak. "Thank you," he whispered into her hair.
She furrowed her brow."What? What for?" she asked. "All I've done since I got here is need your help. What did I do?"
"You saw me, even though it's your first time meeting this me and you can't even see straight. You looked at me, and you saw me," he said, holding her tighter for a moment.
She drew in a breath as realization hit. This Doctor had had the most trouble with being accepted as the Doctor after his regeneration. Despite him and Clara patching it up, it was probably still a bit of a sore spot this soon after. And if she and the Doctor were still close friends, like she believed - hoped - they were, her opinion would matter to him as well.
Well. She couldn't do much else to help at the moment, but she could support him, so she tightened her arms around him and leaned her head against his chest.
"You'll always be the Doctor to me," she whispered. "Whether you're old and grumpy, or thin as a rail, or you like fish fingers and custard." He didn't say anything, but he kept one arm around her shoulders when he returned to his work, and a smile was tugging at the edge of his lips. A sudden chirping noise filled the TARDIS, making them look up.
"They're responding. The TARDIS is translating now. It's a number. Fifty-five," the Doctor translated.
"Fifty-five? " Clara repeated in confusion. "What does that mean? And where's the Ranger? He should be back by now," she muttered, looking around the train shed.
The Doctor shrugged. "It could be a lot of things, really. Tenth Fibonacci number, atomic number of caesium, least favorite number of the Clepzi..."he trailed off.
Rigsy spoke up, sounding perturbed. "I know what it means. 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." A hush fell over the group as they realized what that meant.
"They're gloating," Fenton said, saying what the whole group was thinking.
The Doctor glanced at Lyssa before speaking up. "We don't know that." His voice wasn't exactly filled with conviction, however, and she didn't think that it should be. Because she could remember these creatures - and they were no scientists, trying to understand her world. They were predators, killers, enjoying the fear of their prey.
"It could be an apology," Clara tried, the view on the screen shifting as she turned around. "Where is the Ranger? It's not like him to be this late," she fretted.
"Really? An apology? That's nice of them," one of the men said brightly.
"An apology? Are you seriously -"
The chirping started again, the sound filling the TARDIS and cutting off whatever delightful thing Fenton was about to say.
Lyssa clenched the edge of the console, knuckles turning white with the pressure as a horrible feeling formed in her stomach. The Doctor frowned, expression cautious as he stepped away from her to work at the translation. Over the speakers, she could hear Clara shushing the group so the Doctor could listen.
"Two, two. Twenty-two," the Doctor translated slowly, frowning in confusion.
Lyssa closed her eyes. Another victim. Another person she had failed to save because she couldn't focus enough to remember the victims - or how the Doctor had saved them in the end. She turned to the screen to see if she could make out who it was, and stopped short as gold swirled across it before seeming to fade through it to the outer world.
Right. The Doctor was no longer touching her, aka she had no means of defense. She should probably tell him, just... in a minute. She just needed to see where the gold was going first. Just a little longer.
She watched with wide eyes as the mist traveled around the group - none of whom seemed to see it - before stopping at George, who'd been keeping watch in a far corner. It swirled around him in a tight whirlwind before falling away and leaving a 2D version of the man. She gasped, one hand raising to her mouth in horror as she watched a man die...
And then she blinked and he was back to normal, shifting around nervously as he watched for any sign of danger. Another blink, and he was dead once more. Again, and back to life.
A faint shout erupted from the speakers and the screen shifted, finally pulling her attention away from George, however briefly, to the Ranger, running towards them at full speed. "They're coming!" he shouted again, hand cupped around his mouth though his voice was still faint.
"Ranger!" Clara exclaimed in relief. "Where were you?" she demanded as he caught up to the group, socking him in the shoulder before hugging him quickly. "I thought you were -" She stopped. "We think they might be going after George next," she switched topics. "I've been calling after him, but I don't think he can hear me."
"Clara, Jamie, one of you needs to get George away from the walls and get out of there before it's too late!" the Doctor commanded. "He's still alive, but he won't be for much longer if you keep dawdling."
"On it," Clara said sharply, jogging towards George and making sure to keep far away from the walls. The Ranger kept pace beside her, turning his head from side to side for any sign of the approaching creatures. They stopped a safe distance away, calling his name. He turned around, completely solid.
"What's wrong?" he asked, his face confused.
"Haven't you been listening?" Clara asked incredulously."I've been calling your name! The creatures are coming, and we think they want you next. We need to get out of here."
"Clara," the Ranger interrupted, staring down one of the darkened hallways. "They're close. Really close. I don't know how, but they've managed to create a sort of inverted sound tunnel that blocks out sound. And, uh... they've also managed to block off all the exits outside. That's what I was checking for earlier." His voice was tense but level. "We're trapped."
Something rippled in the distance as if a wave had passed through it, and he grabbed Clara and George, tugging them away. "We need to leave. Now. The walls are starting to ripple."
"Go where?" George protested, frightened, briefly flashing a flat gold before returning to normal. "You said the exits were blocked."
"Outside, yes, but we can still go further in. There's a tunnel. Not ideal, but it's all we've got," Clara decided, the screen shifting as she glanced behind her, but saw no other ripples. "We need to head for the tunnel, in a calm and orderly fashion, right now," she announced as soon as they reached the others. "And no questions, your life may depend upon it. Scoot!"
Lyssa bit her lip as the group began to run, not even Fenton daring to complain. She was relieved George was alive. But... she'd seen him die. They couldn't both be true, and she couldn't trust anything she was seeing right now.
She groaned in frustration, rubbing a hand across her forehead. Forcing herself to take a few deep breaths and calm down, she opened her eyes. The gold was still there, but instead of taking forms of beings that weren't really there, it had shifted to a golden stream that seemed content to wrap itself around her, twining around her legs and swirling over her arms without forcing her to keep her attention on it. It was calming, really, watching it flow by, with an almost ethereal beauty that she hadn't been able to appreciate before, too afraid she was losing her mind.
Not that, you know, it wasn't still a concern. She was just a little less worried about it now.
Grateful for the ability to focus on the current danger, she gave the shimmering stream one last look and turned to the screen. They seemed to be in a tunnel now, staring at a door that could have led out to an exit... if it weren't for the handle that had been virtually fused into the door.
"Another flat handle. They were here," Clara said, glancing down both sides of the tunnel. "Not now. They've stopped chasing us, I think. It feels like they're cornering us," she muttered.
"You can't apply human logic. You're dealing with creatures from another dimension," the Doctor reminded her. "They could have a whole different way of approach."
"Yeah, but I'm pretty sure that was gloating they were doing before, and that's definitely a human thing," the Ranger added, appearing on the screen as Clara swiveled to look at him.
"Oi!" She protested, whacking him gently on the arm. "Humans aren't all like that! And I'll have you know that I've heard both you and the Doctor gloat before."
"Hey, if you beat the Doctor at Mario Kart, you get gloating rights," the Ranger protested. "You know you'd do the exact same thing if you got the chance." She huffed, but didn't deny it as she turned back to the group.
"That's three exits now, all blocked by those creatures," one of the men - Al? - said, sounding nervous.
"Rigsy, where's the next exit?" Clara inquired, turning towards the young man.
"The only other one I can think of is where the old line joins the new, but it's a fair walk. Getting through that door would be quicker," he explained, nodding towards the now unusable door."
Lyssa saw Fenton, standing beside him, open his mouth to speak, and groaned. "Not him again," she whined. "I don't like him."
"If it's any consolation, I don't like him either," the Doctor told her, eyes intent on the other screen, fingers flying over the keyboard.
She wrinkled her nose. "Not really. You don't really like most people, except for Clara. And the Ranger, apparently."
He frowned and looked up at her. "And you. I've known you far longer than I've known either of them, remember. I look out for them, yes. They mean a lot to me. But you are always going to be my first priority."
She stared up at him with wide eyes, mouth falling slightly open. She wasn't used to this him being so... casual with his affections, except for maybe with Clara later on.
He didn't seem to see anything out of the ordinary about his response, turning back to the screen and speaking up so that Clara and the Ranger could hear him. "Jamie, Clara, I think I might be able to do something about that door. Just give me five minutes."
When they responded in the affirmative, he spun around and darted down the stairs beneath the console, loud noises coming from below shortly after. He returned a few minutes later, carrying what looked like an old-school cell phone with a white orb attached to the top... and a few wires wrapped around the side in a manner that made it resemble a bomb. Making his way up to the now tiny door, he managed to open it and push the device through, where Clara took it, looking it over uncertainly.
"So... what's that, then?" she asked through the speakers as the Doctor returned to the console. "Are we going to be blowing them up? So much for the diplomatic approach."
"It's not a bomb!" the Doctor huffed. "It's a marvel of scientific engineering specifically designed to alter the dimensions of anything affected by these creatures."
"So... a de-flattener?" Clara summed.
The Doctor rolled his eyes. "We're not calling it a de-flattener."
"How about a 're-biggerer'?" The Ranger's mocking voice filled the TARDIS. "Or maybe a 'no-more-2D-evil-alien-destruction-device,' or, you know, NM2DADD for short." His voice was garbled as he jumbled the name, the Doctor scowling while Clara and Lyssa snorted.
"You know, I bet I could preserve some energy for the TARDIS by deleting unnecessary rooms," he threatened. "And the room labeled "Fortress of Evil," looks pretty unnecessary to me..." He let his voice trail off, the implication obvious.
"Hey! I thought we agreed that you wouldn't delete my room anymore if I promised to stop with the space puns!" the Ranger protested.
"And you didn't make any space puns," the Doctor agreed. "So I wouldn't delete it because of that. I'd delete it to help the TARDIS. You know, my sentient spaceship which is very important and could really help us all, and save lots of lives. She could always give you a new bedroom as well, might I point out."
"That's what you said last time," the Ranger grumbled, sounding more like a petulant child than a grown man who still reminded her of someone, she just couldn't think of who it was. "And then I ended up sleeping in a toddler bed for two weeks before someone responsible was able to fix it." The who wasn't you was definitely implied there, and Lyssa couldn't hold back a snort of laughter at the thought of the tall man curled up in a toddler bed, sulking.
"Well, you know, the TARDIS does fit the room to the owner's personality and maturity level," the Doctor pointed out, smugly.
"So... your room is the same then?" the Ranger countered.
The Doctor scoffed, shooting him a dirty look for all the man couldn't see it. " I would like to remind you that you're currently being chased by aliens from another dimension. You might want to get back to the matter at hand."
"Well, then, how does this work?" Clara asked, the monitor filling with the device as she flipped it back and forth in her hands.
"This should be able to restore dimensions," the Doctor started, only to be cut off as the Ranger ran his finger along the letters on the side.
"Oh, tell me you didn't," he groaned, clearly understanding what had been written there. "If I can't make puns, you can't either!"
"Two D is. Two Dee Is?" Clara read uncertainly.
The Doctor huffed. "No. Twodis. It's called the Twodis. Why'd I even bother? Well, give it a go, then." He settled back impatiently, Lyssa watching nervously with him as Clara held the device up to the door. It sparked for a moment before fizzling out, leaving the door still inaccessible.
"Long way round it is," Clara said after a moment. Taking it away from the door and sliding it back into the TARDIS for the Doctor to fiddle with, she turned around and indicated to Rigsy to lead the way.
At the same time, inside the ship, Lyssa winced as a sharp electric sensation surged through her. The golden stream, which had been peacefully winding its way around the console room, flared up and away, as if it were an animal fleeing a threat. It retreated to the center of the console as a piercing alarm began to blare. She cried out as the noise echoed painfully in her head, throbbing in time with the alarm. She crouched down, covering her ears with her hands.
"Jamie, Clara, I don't know how, but they're doing it again. They're leeching the TARDIS! And it's affecting Lyssa, too! It's getting worse, I don't know how much longer she can hold on!" the Doctor called, silencing the alarm and crouching by Lyssa, wrapping his cool fingers around hers, soothing away some of the pain.
"How? Your doors are closed?" Clara's voice demanded.
"What's happening to Lyssa?" the Ranger called. "Is it like before?"
"They've changed frequency. It's different this time. It's being pulled out of her, and her body's fighting it. But she's still too weak from her last jump. If it keeps going like this..." He trailed off before speaking to her in a low, soothing whisper. "Lyssa, I don't know if you can hear me, but just hold on, all right? The symptoms should be going away soon. You'll feel better in a moment, just keep holding on."
Slowly, slowly, she felt the tight band that was wrapped around her head recede. Reluctantly opening her eyes, she saw the gold streams float away from the center of the TARDIS and float back to her, winding around her arms and legs before moving up to her heart, where some of it seemed almost to seep into her skin.
She jerked back instinctively, the Doctor's arms tightening around her as she did so. But... then the pain began to ease, her breath no longer catching in her throat. She sighed, watching as the gold streams continued to wind around her in a way that was almost comforting.
"Lyssa?" the Doctor checked on her, eyes filled with concern.
She finally turned away from the gold and looked up at him. "What happened? Some of the gold just... went into my skin. It's helping now. I thought it was a sign of me being sick."
He frowned, glancing up at the ceiling before returning his attention to her. "Yes and no. It's like a fever. It's trying to help you, but it can be dangerous, which is why it was so important you rest. The leeching... it's pulling energy from both you and the TARDIS. Only, the energy it's getting from you is from the Time Vortex. How, I don't know yet. But your body's resisting it, trying to hold onto the energy, because you need it."
She frowned. "But... I thought you said there was too much in my body already, and that's why I was seeing the gold stuff. Because that was how my body was getting rid of it. Shouldn't that be a good thing?"
He shook his head. "Not exactly. You did have too much, yes. But the way your body is releasing it is natural, the way it's supposed to." He paused. "Well, natural for the only person in the universe who can hold the Time Vortex in any shape or form. At any rate, your body is trying to get rid of the extra, yes. But not all of it." He sighed. "Your body's bonded with the Time Vortex. It's like blood for you. You need it to survive, but you can't have too much, or too little.
"Your body's developed the natural way to control it, releasing it when there's too much, and not jumping when there's not enough, allowing the reservoir to fill again, keeping it at the prime balance. When there's too much, like now, it releases it in a secondary measure - in the form of the visions you see."
He hesitated again, watching her carefully. "But again, it's like blood. When you withdraw it, you do so in a controlled fashion, with a sterilized needle, and a trained expert. What they're doing is the equivalent of an amateur slicing open an artery. They're taking too much, and it's not controlled."
She blinked. "So... it's like an unauthorized blood draw? And that's why the gold keeps flowing around me?" She gestured to the gentle streams still circling around her. "Because at first it wanted to leave, and now it doesn't?" She frowned. "That almost makes it sound sentient."
He shrugged. "Not exactly. Not like you or me, but... in a sense, almost, yes. It's bonded with you, and so if you're in need of repair, so to speak, it will fix you as best as it can. When there was too much, it tried to leave. Now that it's being sucked away in the wrong way, it's returning to you as best as it can. It's trying to maintain the balance. Like I said, it's not exactly sentient, but... almost like water in a river. It keeps going, and maintaining the balance. You're like a side branch that circles back to the main part. It fills you, but releases back into the Time Vortex."
She nodded slowly, trying to process that. "So... I'm like the tributary of a river, basically?" The thought sparked a memory of another episode. "At least I'm not a pencil in a mug," she muttered, thinking of Donna.
"I apologized," he muttered as he stood, helping her up carefully before releasing her, watching her to make sure she was steady. "Maybe not right away, but I did apologize for that."
A giant hand rushed out of the darkness, wrapping around Al and pulling him away with it before any of them could react, his terrified screams echoing into the tunnel as he disappeared.
"Of course. The next stage. 3D," the Doctor breathed.
Lyssa watched in horror as lumps of gray matter oozed up from the ground, slowly molding into rough forms that resembled their past victims, now fully 3D and still just as dangerous.
"Run!" Rigsy shouted in alarm as the group slowly backed up before turning and running in the opposite direction. They came upon another door, but...
"Doctor? The door. The handle's flattened," Clara panted. "What do we do?"
The Ranger stood off to the side, making sure that everyone was accounted for. He stopped at George, brow furrowing before shaking his head and turning back to Clara. "We're all here, but we're running out of time - and people," he reported grimly.
"I've boosted the output," the Doctor told her, sliding the Twodis back through the TARDIS door. "Try it again."
"And it will work this time?" she asked skeptically as she aimed it at the flattened wheel.
"Absolutely," he assured her, before turning to Lyssa and shrugging. "Maybe," he mouthed.
A stream of steady green smoke rings shot out, and Lyssa watched in wonder as the wheel slowly raised itself from the door, taking full form once more. Rigsy spun it open and the group poured through before the Ranger and Rigsy forced it shut again, locking it in hopes that it would at least delay them.
"Clara, stop," the Doctor called as they turned to leave. "Use it again. It can reverse the process."
Clara obediently aimed it at the door, and the process reversed, sealing the door shut once more.
"There's a ladder at the end of this. If we get down into the tunnel, we can make it into daylight," Rigsy tried, trying to sound calm.
"If it's flat, we're safe now, aren't we?" Fenton grumbled.
"Hang on, hang on," Clara muttered, beginning to pace. "There's something I'm missing. Ranger?" she tried, turning to him.
He frowned. "We can reverse dimensions, who's to say they can't either? Dimensions are their playhouse."
She blew out a sharp breath. "Right. Who knows what they're capable of." She raised her voice. "We need to keep moving. Get ahead while we still can."
"Too late," Lyssa muttered, watching with horror as red energy crackled around the flattened doorknob, returning to its previous shape. It slowly began to turn, creaking slightly. She nudged the Doctor and gestured to it. His eyes widened before he sighed.
"They have a new ability. Of course they have. Now they're 3D, they can restore dimensions," he realized as the group backed away and turned to run. The door creaked open behind them, and Clara looked back to see the lumpy figures wobbling after them, blurred around the edges as if the imitations weren't quite perfected yet.
The console beeped and the Doctor darted over to it. "Clara, do you want the good news or the bad news?" he called.
"We're in the bad news! We're living in the bad news!" she shouted as they ran.
"The good news is I've come up with a theoretical way to send them back to their own dimension," he said hastily.
"Then do it!" the Ranger shouted at the same time as Clara. "They could come through at any minute!"
"And that's the bad news," the Doctor finished. "The TARDIS doesn't have enough dimensional energy to pull it off."
"Great. What do you want me to do about it?" Clara asked sarcastically.
"Apparently these things can pump it out as fast as they can steal it," the Doctor said thoughtfully.
"Maybe if I ask them really nicely, they'll fill you up again," Clara snarked. "Hey!"
Shouting filled the console room as the TARDIS began to shake, as if it were being tugged back and forth. Lyssa gripped onto the console for balance, exchanging a worried look with the Doctor as the tugging grew sharper before the whole ship began to fall, though the inside remained relatively stable. They hit the ground with a solid thud that made her wince, the console sparking in protest as the lights flickered before going out, leaving only a few dim emergency lights on.
Lyssa bit her lip, resting a hand against the console. There was no response.
"Doctor? Lyssa? Are you all right? I dropped you down a hole. Where are you?" Clara's worried voice reached them after a minute.
The Doctor stood up with a groan and looked over the console. "I don't know. Shields have gone. Structural integrity is failing. Another blow like that and we've had it." He moved over to the doors, pushing them open before wincing as a piercing bright light shone through. "Er, we're on the train lines. And there's a train coming. Of course there is."
He began to pace, rapidly spitting out ideas. "Short-term re-materialization? Not enough power. Teleport? Not enough power. Re-route the heart of the TARDIS through - not enough power! Not enough power!" He groaned and clutched his head in his hands. A train whistle echoed ominously through the TARDIS, growing ever closer.
"Can't you move the TARDIS?" Clara tried.
The Doctor shook his head. "Clara, there is no power. 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."
Clara's sigh filled the TARDIS. "No, I mean you move the TARDIS. Like... The Addams Family."
"Like Thing!" the Ranger added. "I used to love that show when I was a kid. But you'd best get a move on. That train sounds close!"
The Doctor nodded in comprehension, opening the now tiny doors and sticking his hand through. Placing his hand on the ground, he managed to drag the TARDIS off of the tracks and onto the ground farther away, leaving them safe. "Ha!" he shouted, doing a little victory dance.
Unfortunately, the rumbling from the approaching train tipped the TARDIS back over, and onto the tracks again. Lyssa looked up with wide eyes as the oncoming train filled the monitor. "Doctor!" she cried, terrified. He rushed over and hit a switch on the edge of the console, before pushing Lyssa to the ground and wrapping his arms around her just as the train hit, the sound of a loud impact filling the console room. Lyssa, eyes still wide open, was able to see the gold swirl around her and the Doctor moments before they crashed to the floor.
The silence that fell after the crash seemed even louder than the horn. Lifting her head from her defensive position, Lyssa looked around the room, now even darker than before. And... emptier, somehow. The gold was gone, fading away as quickly as it had come, leaving only the two occupants sitting silently in the dark.
The Doctor slowly pulled away from his protective position over her, though he kept his hands on her arms. "Are you all right?" he asked her, voice low and yet still loud in the resounding silence. "I was able to turn siege mode on, but that's it. No more. The TARDIS is completely drained."
She licked dry lips, eyes searching the dim lighting for his face and seeing only the faintest outline. "I think I'm okay," she told him uncertainly. "I don't feel any pain, at least. Just this weird... emptiness?" she struggled to find the words. "But... before we landed... the gold, it swirled around us both. And now it's gone, too."
She heard him suck in a breath. "Oh."
"What?"
"The figures you saw... that was your body expelling the extra energy the only way it could. When the monsters began taking too much, your body couldn't reverse the process right away, which is why you still saw gold, though the figures lessened. It couldn't necessarily help you return to the balance it needed... but the TARDIS could."
"Wait... so the stream thing was the TARDIS?" Lyssa asked in surprise.
She felt more than saw his nod. "I thought siege mode was the last bit of protection we had. But the TARDIS had one last miracle in her. One last bit of care." His grip on her arms tightened slightly. "She opened her heart to us, used it to protect us from the crash. Just enough to keep us alive before shutting down."
"She saved us," Lyssa breathed. "Even when she was running out of energy, she still tried to save us." She shuddered, a chill running down her spine. "It's so cold, all of a sudden."
"No power. No heat," he reminded her grimly, pulling her to her feet and tucking her under his arm for warmth as he turned to the console, testing out a few switches and getting no response before speaking louder. "I don't know if you can still hear me out there, Clara, Jamie," he called, breath fogging in the air. "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."
He stared at the console in silence for a few moments. "We should be all right though," he assured Lyssa. "Jamie and Clara are out there. They'll figure it out."
She managed a weak smile, wrapping her arms around herself for warmth and huddling into his side. The scanner beeped weakly, the sound fading before disappearing entirely. "No, no, no! What are you doing?" he demanded, working frantically at the console, all to no avail. He kept at it, refusing to give up, until both of them were shivering, breaths misting in the increasingly frigid air.
Finally, he was forced to admit defeat, shoulders sagging as he turned to Lyssa. "There's too little left. Life support is failing."
"So no heat... and I'm assuming the air's going to run out at some point too?" she guessed.
He nodded. "Yes. Hard to say which will get us first. Possibly the cold, if it keeps dropping."
They moved about for a few minutes, trying to keep their blood flowing. Lyssa forced herself through the motions, feet numb and hands stiff, tingling painfully when she brought them to her mouth and blew on them in an attempt to warm them.
And all the while it grew harder and harder to move, to draw each icy breath into her lungs. Finally it was too much, and Lyssa dropped to the floor, stiffly bringing her knees up to her chest. "S-sorry. T-too c-col-d," she stuttered through chattering teeth.
He shook his head, stooping to sit beside her and pulling her against him. "You're more susceptible than I am to the cold, and to lack of air. It's not your fault. Just... hold on, fairy-girl. They'll get us out."
They sat in silence, side by side, as the minutes passed. Blinking tiredly, and wondering that it seemed harder to open them again each time, Lyssa let her head fall to the Doctor's shoulder. She didn't feel as cold anymore, she realized dully, and smiled faintly. He sighed, wrapping an arm around her and slowly stroking her hair.
"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. And Jamie, you keep going the way you are now, I think you'll be better than good, you'll be a great man one day. Probably better than I could ever hope to be. You'd make your parents proud." Silence descended on the TARDIS, the only sound their ragged breathing.
She was so tired now. She just wanted to sleep, everything else just slowly fading away. Their surroundings began to shake, but the Doctor's arm kept her secure. And then the console began to beep, light flooding the TARDIS. He let out a triumphant laugh, tugging her to her feet and ignoring her sleepy protests.
The ship hummed, sounding almost concerned. The holes in the grating began to glow red, emitting a whirring sound and then a wave of glorious heat and fresh air. She drew in a deep breath, wincing as her fingers began to tingle with returning sensation. The Doctor gave the ceiling a proud smirk, hands flying over the controls.
The rotor began to move, the distinctive sound of the TARDIS in flight filling the air and bringing a smile to Lyssa's face. Across the room, the tiny doors hissed, growing in leaps and bounds until they were back to full size. The Doctor landed them with a thump and flipped a switch.
He paused, expression darkening as he pressed a button. "I tried to talk," he said, voice echoing outside the TARDIS. "I want you to remember that. I tried to reach out, I tried to understand you, but I think that you understand us perfectly. And I think you just don't care. I don't know whether you are here to invade, infiltrate or just replace us. I don't suppose it really matters now. You are monsters. That is the role you seem determined to play. So it seems I must play mine."
He crossed to the doors, pushing them open slowly. Beyond, Lyssa could see Clara and the Ranger standing with relieved expressions next to their group. Across the distance, behind a shimmering force field set up by the TARDIS, were the monsters, blurred at the edges.
"Because I'm the man that stops the monsters," the Doctor said heavily. "I'm sending you back to your own dimension. Who knows? Some of you may even survive the trip. And, if you do, remember this. You are not welcome here. This planet is protected. I am the Doctor."
He glanced over, and Clara tossed him the sonic screwdriver. He turned back to the monsters, lifting it to aim at them. He zapped the forcefield with a hardened expression, bursts of energy pulsing out and causing the monsters to disintegrate as they were sent back.
"And I name you The Boneless."
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A/N: I've always loved the Doctor's epic speeches, and this is no exception. He's so very good at them. :D
So! The Twelfth Doctor has made his first appearance. Up next... we'll be meeting a few other new arrivals!
Special thanks to everyone who's voted and followed, and shout-out to everyone who's reviewed!
Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoyed! :)
General Disclaimer: I don't own Doctor Who...yet...
Edited September 2022