"Of course it is!" protested the Princess. "The finest locksmiths in the Mushroom King-"
"Her sentence was cut short as The Doctor pushed the door open. "Sonic screwdriver- opens the doors on anything."
"All of a sudden the last 200 years of star protection feel a lot less secure."
"Well! If this isn't a beautiful collection than there probably aren't any!" he replied. "Lots of power, then...right. Well, I can't imagine a more tempting place to put them. Under a castle, in the middle of a kingdom. If I didn't know better I'd think the Dalek's were being invited!"
"Doctor, if the Daleks get through..." began Clara.
"There is no "if", Clara. If a giant turtle with bad breath can break into these walls they certainly won't stop a Dalek. Mario, this castle normally relies on you for defense?"
Mario nodded.
"More specifically, he's the last line of defense," said Red. If something gets in the castle Mario is the one who rescues everyone. You probably know that, though."
"I do. The reason I wanted to be sure is because if I know that then the Daleks should have too. They didn't though- which must be the reason they tried to kill him the second they saw him. Not a proper Dalek protocol to just shoot authority figures, so why is Mario hidden?"
"Well, to be fair, Yoshi, er, Doctor," said Peach, "You're one out of three people in the Mushroom Kingdom who owns a computer. The other two are a mad scientist and that giant turtle, er, Koopa, you were talking about. So maybe the Daleks don't know about him."
"If that's true we might be able to take advantage of it," said Red. "They wouldn't see him coming or expect a fight from him."
"Would that help?" asked Clara. "You saw how they managed to bring him down to size, but it did take a while."
"I think a direct attack is unwanted. If anything we need to get these stars as far away from the Daleks as possible."
"THEN YOU SHOULD NOT HAVE LED US TO THEM, DOC-TOR!"
They spun around and saw one Dalek standing behind them.
"Oh, ho, ho! You're clever!" cried the Doctor. "Naturally you realized I knew what you were up to and you predicted my next action, which was to visit the star vault, so you followed the TARDIS. I think you forgot something, though."
"WE DID NOT FORGET ANYTHING!"
"How about the fact that I'm not alone? Every person here is ready to defend these things against you by every means necessary. Even if it means emptying the star bank to keep you from having them."
"WHAT THEN, DOC-TOR? YOU ELIMINATE YOUR ONLY HOPE OF DEFENSE AND LEAVE THE DALEKS WITHOUT THEIR OBJECTIVE. YOU WILL BE EX-TER-MIN-ATE-D!"
"You keep saying that! I'm a Yoshi, you thick Dalek! You can't shoot me and just be done with it! I will regenerate like a Yoshi does, and, frankly, they're much faster about it!"
"EX-TER-MIN-ATE!"
The Doctor watched in horror as the Dalek blasted Princess Peach. She cried out as she fell and Mario caught her before she hit the ground.
"What good did that do you?!" roared the Doctor. "She never meant anything to you!"
"YET SHE MEANT A GREAT DEAL TO YOU, DOC-TOR! IT IS LIKE OUR LAST ENCOUNTER!"
"Don't you dare bring that up!" cried Red.
"DALEKS DO NOT TAKE ORDERS. YOU SHOULD KNOW THIS, AS YOU HAVE TRIED BEFORE TO GIVE THEM TO US!"
"Stop it. Stop it right now! The Doctor and I had nothing to do with your disaster. There was nothing we could do."
"THE DOC-TOR SHOWS COMPASSION FOR EVERY RACE, BUT TO THE DALEK HE YELLS 'EX-TER-MIN-ATE!' WHEN WE HAD LOST OUR LAST BATTLE AND ONLY HE COULD SAVE OUR PEOPLE, HE TURNED HIS BACK. YOU CALL HIM HERO, BUT THE DOC-TOR ONLY SAVES THOSE HE FAVORS. WE ARE THE SAME. THE DALEKS MUST CONTINUE, AS THE DOC-TOR BELIEVES HIS COMPANIONS MUST. THE ENEMY OF THE DALEKS WOULD HAVE MADE A VERY GOOD ONE."
"I couldn't do anything!" cried The Doctor with tears in his eyes. "I tried, really, I tried, but there was nothing I could do! Nothing! NOTHING! A screwdriver, time machine, and the best of friends and there was nothing left that I could do. I couldn't save you!"
"YOU WOULD NOT SAVE US! YOU WILL NOT SAVE YOUR COMPANIONS!" with which words the Dalek blasted everyone but the Doctor.
"NO!" he cried.
"Doctor..." Peach whispered. "Whatever you've done, whatever happens to us, don't give up."
The Doctor turned to the Dalek, which now had a small squad of Daleks with it. "Well done. You've done what no Dalek has ever done to me before. You've left me with nothing. I'm a man with nothing to lose. And furthermore," he said, his large eyes becoming suddenly dark, "you know that when I'm alone I tend to go a little crazy. All my friends are gone. They won't be the only thing that is when this is over."
"Really?" came a voice from behind the Daleks. "You sure you have nothing left at all?"
"Who are..."
"Good to see you again, Doctor," said a White Yoshi.
"I...don't recall you."
"Don't be daft. You traveled all over with me. Me and Rory, of course," said Amy, jerking her thumb at the blue Yoshi next to her. "You didn't really believe you were alone, did ya Doctor?"
"How did you? You can't be here!"
"Funny how that works, isn't it? Don't worry about us, though, Daleks. It's the Pink one you really need to be concerned about. You might not process the words "Bad Yoshi", but perhaps "Bad Wolf is a little clearer, hm?"
"Oh, they won't need me," said a pink Yoshi. "I just wanted to say hello. You've changed quite a bit again, Doctor. Don't worry about your friends, though. Yoshis aren't the only creatures in this planet who regenerate!"
Continued this week.
No comments:
Post a Comment