Vworp, vworp, vworp. The TARDIS slowly materialised in London 2376, first adventure of the newly regenerated Doctor. The door of the TARDIS slowly creaked open and he stepped out, still in the clothes he regenerated in, a brown-striped suit with a long light brown coat.
He looked around; he could see Buckingham Palace, Big Ben and other buildings protruding in the distance. He was in a large square, surrounded by small shops selling imitations of the big brands and by small cafés with many people enjoying an afternoon coffee. Afternoon? He squinted to see Big Ben in the distance; yes it was the afternoon, 4:30pm. He continued to look around; the hustle and bustle never seemed to change.
But then he remembered something, his eyes widened in alarm and he ran back into the TARDIS with the door slamming behind him. He ran up the metallic ramp and across the floor. He ran down the first flight of stairs, down a long dimly lit corridor and into the sixth door on the left into a wide room, with a high ceiling and many racks all filled with clothes.
It was funny in a way because he could tell he actually was now faster when running. He ran across the room to a cedar dresser with an oval shaped mirror with a white wooden rim. He looked in cautiously and mulled over his new features. But there was one thing he really wanted and that was ginger hair – he had never been ginger.
He had bluish green eyes, not very tanned but not very pale either, just the way he like it. He opened his mouth wide to examine his teeth. They were straight and white.
‘Nice,’ he said. His voice was soft and sounded kind. ‘Nice,’ he repeated now in reference to his voice. He wiggled his eyebrows, and crinkled his nose. ‘Meh…could be worse,’ he joked…with himself.
Then he slowly looked up ‘Yes, Oh…brilliant,’ he exulted clapping once and punching the air. A huge grin spread across his face and he couldn’t help it, he threw back his head and laughed. ‘I’m ginger!’ he said ti himself. He looked back at his hair again and crossed the room to another set of cedar drawers and opened the second drawer filled with hair products.
He got out some ‘Galatica Ultra Holing Gel.’ He turned it around in his hand and read the label: Contains extracts of Poosh moon snail slime and Slitheen saliva.
‘That’s’ disgusting,’ he said frowning. He put it back and got out another tub of gel called ‘Modern Gel For Modern Hair’ A normal everyday gel from Earth.
‘That looks better,’ he said and he opened it and looked at the sticky clear substance inside.
He went back to the mirror and carefully arranged his hair to disarray. ‘Much better,’ he said smiling and turning his head from side to side to examine it from all sides.
Then he looked down at his clothes ‘These won’t do,’ he said taking off the light brown coat and slinging it over one of the racks. He searched through the racks and found a loose, white, button-up shirt and a pair of full length blue, denim jeans. He tried it all on and untucked the shirt.
He kept his old shoes, faded white sneakers with blue and red stripes around the sides, they still appealed to him and thankfully they still fit.
One last look in the mirror and he crossed the room and went out the door into the hallway, up the stairs, cross the TARDIS floor, down the ramp and out the door. But when he opened the door he saw something that stopped him dead in his tracks.
‘O…Kay…?’ he said slowly. He frowned and slowly cocked his head to one side. Everyone was standing completely still, not one, not one person was moving. He cautiously walked over to the closest person, a young girl with strawberry blonde hair, a few freckles and light blue eyes. He bent down so he was looking straight into her eyes. Her whole face, her whole body was very slowly and gradually turning to stone.
‘No, no, no,’ the Doctor said shaking his head and he slowly rose. ‘Can’t be,’ he said backing away now.
A deep voice spoke from behind him, withered and croaky with age. ‘Doctor,’ it said, a deep snarl rising in his throat.
The Doctor froze at the sound of his voice and then spun around. ‘Ankrose,’ the Doctor said when their eyes met.
Ankrose had a dark red complexion His skin looked leathery and was baggy. With black eyes, as dark as a moonless night his looks looked deadly.. His face looked as if it was covered with big red boils, but it was just how his kind – the Ankronians looked.
Ankrose was the leader of this mighty civilisation, and believed that they were the greatest civilisation in the universe. He was very tall; at least two times the height of a normal man. He hunched over slightly and had huge clawed hands and feet.
‘It’s been a while,’ he drooled, ‘I almost didn’t recognise you,’ he said as if they were old friends.
‘Well I have regenerated a few times since then,’ the Doctor replied sharply.
‘You won’t stop me Doctor, it’s too late, and the process is almost complete. Think of it, first London, a whole nation of stone soldiers at my command, and then eventually a whole world,’ he said, a smile playing around his lips.
The Doctor looked around, all the people, hundreds and thousands of people turning to stone. He remembered when he had saved the others before, how they had said they could feel it happening, the growing darkness and cold, he winced.
‘I will stop you Ankrose. Stay out of my way or you will die.’ The Doctor turned back to Ankrose and full fury of the Timelord lit his eyes.
The Doctor would stop at nothing to save the Earth and Ankrose knew it.
‘Doctor you’re the last of your kind, a legendary kind may I add, join me and together we can rule the universe. Or…if you don’t I won’t hesitate to stop you. What do you say?’ Ankrose said.
The Doctor looked Ankrose straight in the eyes and said ‘After all I’ve lost do you really think I will join you, to fight?’ You’ve got to be kidding me> Like I said I will sop you.’
Ankrose looked back at the Doctor and breathed out noisily, ‘Well…if I were you I would start running,’ Ankrose said, disappointed.
The Doctor chuckled ‘It’s part of my job description.” The doctor said smiling, he couldn’t run into the TARDIS, Ankrose was blocking the way so he spun around and was off running.
He ran into a nearby café called “Coffee 101”. The Doctor closed the door and grabbed his trusty old sonic screwdriver to lock the. It wouldn’t stop Ankrose for long but at least the door wasn’t glass like some other shop. He dived behind the counter and started messing with the cords of the coffee machine.
He pointed the sonic screwdriver at the point of the machine that controls steam and increased by 100. BAM! Ankrose was crashing against the door. BOOM, BOOM, BOOM. The lock would give was soon. The Doctor stood up and prepared himself.
He set the screwdriver to the setting he needed. BANG! The door collapsed and fell onto the floor in five different parts. All the Doctor could see was the silhouette of Ankrose bending down to fit in through the doorway. The dust particles cleared and the Doctor could see him clearly.
‘What are you going to do now Doctor? You’re trapped,’ Ankrose snarled.
‘That’s your problem Ankrose, you underestimate me and you think you always win. You’re just plain dumb,’ the Doctor said smiling.
Ankrose barred his teeth; they were as sharp as needles and glistening with venom. He stepped forward into a crouch, but the Doctor was ready, he pointed the sonic screwdriver at the machine and steam blasted right into Ankrose’s face, he howled in pain and the Doctor ran out of the café and there was the TARDIS, he grabbed the TARDIS key and shoved it in the keyhole, he looked back at Ankrose, half his face was burnt and he was now bounding towards the Doctor.
The doctor turned the key and ran into the TARDIS. The door closed with a “Click” and then there was a loud crash, Ankrose trying to get in. He pressed the hydrocrolominator and set the coordinates. He pulled the leaver; the TARDIS jolted and was suddenly orbiting above earth.
The Doctor sank to the ground and put his hands over his eyes. “Think, think, think, think, think,’ he mumbled to himself. ‘ARGH! What am I going to do! Were would he hide a big power frame in London?’ He remembered last time he had used Centre Point Tower Sydney, Australia.
Big Ben wouldn’t work and neither would the Palace. He thought and thought.
‘Oh,’ he exclaimed he jumped up but then stopped ‘Damn it, that was torn down three years ago.’
‘So where?’ he said ‘Argh…,’ he said hitting his head with the palm of his hand.
‘THINK!’ he yelled at himself ‘I need a bigger head,’ he exclaimed.
‘Wait! Of course why didn’t I think of it before?’ The GPO!’
He ran to the controls and set the co ordinates and pulled the lever again. The ancient cogs and gears groaned. The TARDIS jolted and landed in front of the GPO.
He burst out of the TARDIS and through the glass doors of the GPO. He ran up the stairs, he stopped on the third floor and got out his sonic screwdriver, put it on the setting he needed and held it close to his ear and got the signal. It was definitely here.
He ran up two stairs at a time and the only sounds he could hear were his own deep and shallow breaths and his footsteps echoing off the walls.
He stopped on the fifth floor and opened the door; there was a corridor with dark blue carpet. He ran through and heard the whirring of a machine. He out his ear to the door and then heard beeping as well. He opened the door and faced a giant computer with many buttons and knobs. The huge screen in the centre said 00:09:47:36.
Nine minutes left he had to hurry. He was so out of breathe he was breathing in shallow breaths. He bent down to catch his breath, then he straightened up and went to the computer and sorted through the main data frame. He had to stop the culpinary system to stop the transformation.
He ran over to the closest set of knobs by the wall and turned ever second one up. Then another light lit up and he pressed it. He pulled out the main frame and tore the wires and stepped to the side as sparks flew everywhere.
He ran to the other side of the room and turned some knobs to the left and the others to the right and flicked a cover up and stabbed the button. He put the sonic screwdriver on setting 653 and out it into the computer hard drive and the whole thing went up in smoke.
‘Bad idea Doctor,’ Ankrose said standing at the doorway. ‘I told you to run.’
‘I would never to that, I’m not a coward. If you want t bring any harm to Earth you have to deal with the consequences…ME!’ the Doctor said glaring and standing his ground. But then his face softened.
The Doctor looked into Ankrose’s mangled and burnt face ‘What do you say are you going to stop? Or do I have to make you? Ankrose you don’t have to rule the universe, make friends with it. Fighting isn’t the answer, take it from someone who knows, you just lose everything,’ the Doctor said and Ankrose could see the Ancient’s grief but didn’t care.
Ankrose stepped forward and into a crouch. The Doctor sighed ‘I’m sorry, I’m so sorry,’ he pointed the sonic screwdriver at the whole computer and it started to explode, Ankrose looked shocked and stood up straight. ‘NO!’ he yelled.
The Doctor legged it, past him and out the door. He ran through the corridor and down the stairs so fast it looked like he was falling. Ankrose wasn’t far behind howling with fury.
The Doctor crashed through the doors and into the TARDIS. He grabbed the molecule manipulator and ran outside. He pointed it right at Ankrose.
It was like two giant arms came out of the manipulator and grabbed Ankrose and threw him into his computer, to be trapped forever.
The Doctor looked around and saw everything was back to normal, except for the building blowing up behind him. The lonely traveller stepped into the TARDIS, he needed some time to think and it slowly melted away.