BETTER WITH FOUR
Chapter Twenty Five Donna and Martha hauled ass out of Banes's house, frightened that he was going to send the rest of the town after them. But for the moment, there was only confused looks from the other snake people along with staring and pointing. "We can't just leave them," Donna said to Martha as they ran. "We have to go back!" "I know that but we need a strategy as well," Martha said to her. "We just can't go in and ask for them back." "Times like this, we need a bazooka," Donna said. They reached the TARDIS and hurried inside. "Now what?" Donna said as she closed the door. "TARDIS, the Doctor and Rose are in trouble and we need help," Martha said to the ceiling. "We need something that will defeat this snake person, do you have anything for us?" There was silence for a few seconds and then a doorway opened up in the wall behind the console. Martha and Donna shared a look before the two of them hurried through it. XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX Rose slowly opened her eyes after the darkness finally lifted. She was lying on something hard and cold and she felt something restraining her wrists ankles and a restraint across her chest. She opened her eyes fully and looked around. She was alone inside a bare mud wall room that had a few baskets and a wooden chest along the back wall. She looked around and noticed a doorway covered by a long leather blanket. There were no windows and only a bit of light coming from around the sides of the blanket. She couldn't see any sign of the Doctor so she called out his name but got no answer. She then called out for Banes asking if he was there and what he did with the Doctor. At first she thought he wouldn't answer either but then he pushed back the blanket and came inside the room. "So, you've awakened," he said. "Where is the Doctor? What have you done with him?" Rose said, tugging at the restraints. "He's taken part in my experiment," Banes said smugly. "What experiment? What have you done?" Rose said in a panic. "Well, I was going to do to you what I did to your friend but then I thought…my pet will need to feed. I'm sure he's hungry after being put through the metamorphosis," Banes said cheerfully. Rose's blood ran cold at the sound of that. "What metamorphosis?" she said, dreading the answer. "The Doctor, as you call him, is now a pet of sorts, at least for me," Banes said, playing with a strand of Rose's hair. Rose jerked her head away from him hand and glared at him. "Where is the Doctor," she snarled at him, trying to be braver than she felt. Banes chuckled. "You have spirit for a mammal. Tell you what…there is a park near here that has a little amphitheater of sorts. Why don't we go there and I'll show you the Doctor and then you can have a sporting chance of trying to survive him since you're feeling so brave." "Let him go. Change him back and let him go," Rose said. "After going through all that trouble?" Banes said. "It would be a pity to destroy such a beautiful creation. No, I think I'll just let you meet him in the park and you and your friend can have some fun. Okay? Now, rest yourself and let me go get a sedative. I want you to wake up in the park and see your friend there so it won't ruin the surprise. I'll be right back." Banes turned and grinned while he walked out the room and listened to the sound of Rose's cursing behind him. XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX "This is what we're supposed to use on the Doctor and Rose?" Donna said as she and Martha stood inside the TARDIS laboratory. "They're supposed to fit inside this thing" When they entered the lab, the TARDIS shown a spotlight on two tiny steel balls sitting on the counter at the back of the room. When they picked it up, the TARDIS entered their minds and downloaded instructions on how to use it. From what Donna could make of the instructions, they were supposed to get near enough to the Doctor and Rose that they could open the ball and their friends would be miniaturized and sucked into them, one ball for each person. "Leo used to watch Pokemon and these look like the things they used to catch the pokemon with," Martha said to Donna. "So that's the TARDIS's big plan, eh? Go pokemon hunting with the Doctor and Rose," Donna said. "At least we can carry these things and run away from Mister Snake," Martha said. "We'd have a better chance of outrunning him if we did that and didn't have to carry two grown adults in our arms." Donna picked up the other ball from the counter and sighed. "Okay, let's go pokemon hunting then," she said to Martha. XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX Rose groaned and slowly opened her eyes. After Banes injected something into her arm, she drifted off after a few moments of fighting the effects. Now she found herself lying on her back on the ground inside a large park. She slowly sat up and looked around, trying to fight the grogginess. The park was large, about a mile long with numerous trees, shrubs and a large lake in the middle of it. Behind her was a stone amphitheater. The stage area was packed down dirt and stone bleachers rose from around it in a semicircle. It reminded her of the amphitheaters she had seen in ancient Greece when the Doctor took her and Martha and Donna there. She slowly got to her feet and looked around. She saw no sign of Banes or the Doctor. In fact, there wasn't anyone in sight which was odd considering it was a park. She wondered if Banes had enough clout to shoo everyone away so there was no chance she could ask for help. "Alright, Banes, I'm here," Rose yelled out. "Where's the Doctor, what'd you do to him?" She froze when she heard a loud hissing behind her and she turned to face the amphitheater. While she stared at the bleachers, someone came out from behind them. Another cobra man. This one was tall and thin with brown coloring to its skin. It was wearing just a loincloth and its yellow eyes stared at her intently. "I'm here, Rose," the man said. Rose's blood chilled. The man had the Doctor's voice and she realized with growing dread what had been done to him. "No, he didn't do this to you," Rose said, shaking her head in disbelief. The Cobra Doctor grinned and began to walk towards her. Rose hoped that somehow he would know her and fight whatever brainwashing had been done to him so she stood still for a moment. Then suddenly, Cobra Doctor opened his mouth and hissed at her and Rose could see large fangs glistening with venom and she turned and ran for her lift while Cobra Doctor gave chase.
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