OH MY GOD, THEY KILLED RORY, YOU BASTARD!

Chapter Four

The low wheezing sound filled the air as the TARDIS materialized in the storage bay and the doors opened while the Doctor, Rory and Amy walked outside. The storage bay was lit by dim lighting in the ceiling as shadows moved over the crates and boxes and the Doctor took out the sonic screwdriver, scanning the room.

"Ah, we appear to be in a storage bay," he said and Amy gave Rory a look as if to say she figured that out already.

"Any idea just who's storage bay this is?" Amy asked as the Doctor placed the sonic screwdriver back in his pocket and spun around to look at her.

"Uh, not exactly, but that is the fun of it. Now, I suggest…." He said as the door to his right opened and three, large figures dressed in black leather uniforms, boots and black helmets came into the room and pointed laser blasters at them. "I suggest we surrender."

"I think so, too," Rory said as they held their hands up and one of the figures walked closer, lifting the black visor up and they looked at the face under the visor. Green and blue scales shimmered in the light as the yellow, snake eyes blinked at them and the figure tilted its head to one side.

"K-shass," the figure said as the Doctor slowly nodded his head and the figures turned, heading for the door. They left the storage bay as the door hissed shut behind them and Rory looked at the white walls that were crisscrossed with metal beams. The dim lights were embedded in the ceiling and the floor was covered in a black tile. Their footsteps echoed down the hallway as the Doctor glanced around them when a door to the left hissed open and they went inside the room. The door hissed closed behind them as they walked toward the figure standing in front of a large window and the Doctor noticed that they were in space. He tried to figure out where they were by the positions of the stars when one of the figures pushed him forward and he turned, glaring at them.

"There is no need to be rude," he said as the figure spun the Doctor around and pushed him toward the figure standing in front of the window. The figure was tall with a slender build and green and yellow scales shimmered in the dim light. Two long flaps of skin draped the sides of the figure's neck while long nails curved around the fingers and the figure wore a long, blood red toga that was connected around the figure's waist by a gold belt. "Hello, I'm the Doctor. Who are you?"

"Uh, Doctor, I don't think they speak English," Amy said when the figure standing by the window turned around and they saw the red eyes glaring at them. Snakelike in appearance, the figure blinked his eyes as the Doctor waited to see what the snake man was going to do and the snake man lifted his hand to his throat, touching the blue gem embedded in his throat.

"Who are you?" the snake man thought as the Doctor slightly smiled and turned, looking at Amy and Rory.

"I think he's deaf and can only speak telepathically," the Doctor said.

"And you can hear him?" Amy asked.

"Yeah, Time Lords are telepathic," he said then turned to the snake man and lightly nodded his head.

"I am the Doctor and these are my companions, Amy and Rory," the Doctor thought and Ka-Bay nodded his head.

"I am Ka-Bay," Ka-Bay thought.

"Ah, well, can you tell me where we are?"

"This is the Ka'Nar'Ri, the finest star cruiser of the Royal Fleet."

"Hmm, well, sorry to come unannounced, but we were just passing by and accidentally landed in your storage bay. So, if you will let us go, we'll be on our way."

"I am afraid I cannot allow that. For all I know, you and your companions are spies."

"I assure you that we're not."

"No, you will be taken to Kah-Dey for trial!" Ka-Bay thought as the Doctor's eyes turned black and he balled his hands into fists. Before he could move, the folds of skin on the sides of Ka-Bay's neck spread out into a hood as Ka-Bay opened his mouth and a green mist flew out of his mouth, hitting Amy, Rory and the Doctor in the face. Coughing, they fell unconscious onto the floor as Ka-Bay looked at the figures then clapped his hands and the figures dragged the Doctor, Amy and Rory out of the room. After the door closed, Ka-Bay turned to look out the window and the starts twinkled in the blackness.

The first thing Rory noticed was he was chained to a cold wall as water dripped somewhere and some of the wall was poking him in the back. Opening his eyes, he saw that he was in a stone cell and a metal door was in the wall at the other side of the cell. He could barely see from the torches in holders on the walls and the soft sound of the torch flickering filled his ears. He looked around when he saw some skeletons dangling from the chains on the others walls and the skeletons looked like humanoid snakes. Sighing, he looked at the door as he wondered where the Doctor and Amy were when the door opened and a snake man dressed in black leather and leather boots walked to him.

"Mind telling me where my friends are," he asked but the snake man only looked at him then opened his mouth and Rory jerked his head away. "Hey, hands off, Snake Eyes."

His head jerked to one side after the snake man slapped him and Rory spit some blood out of his mouth. The snake man opened his mouth as Rory felt something cold and slimy on his tongue and the snake man slammed his mouth shut. Whatever it was wriggled in his mouth as Rory quickly chewed on whatever it was and swallowed. The snake man seemed to smile then held up a wooden cup and opened his mouth. Rory gagged as the snake man poured a sour tasting liquid into his mouth then closed his mouth and he swallowed. He watched the snake man walking to the door as the snake man left and Rory sighed, watching the snake man close the door behind him.

"Well at least I had some supper," Rory sighed and hoped that the Doctor and Amy were alright.

Amy woke to find herself in a room with white walls and ceiling and white tile covered the floor. She was lying on a red, circular bed with pink curtains connected to the ceiling and she was wearing a white toga. Her hair was pulled up and held up by pins and tiny crystals were scattered through her hair.

"Ok, I just woke up in an Arabian Knights' story," she whispered then slid off the bed and looked around for the door. She took two steps when something hissed and she saw a wide variety of snake like creatures on the floor. She scampered back onto the bed as she pulled her legs to her chest and wrapped her arms around her legs. "Doctor, this would be a good time for a rescue."

"Right, I know that you can hear me! I demand to talk to whoever is in charge!" the Doctor shouted as he hung from the wall by some chains and he looked at the metal door on the other side of the room. He kicked his feet back and forth when the door opened and a snake man walked into the room with two other snake men behind him. The snake men were armed with laser blasters as the snake man walked to the Doctor and the Doctor glared at him. "Let me down!"

"Kassh kah!" the snake man said as the Doctor growled and his hearts slammed in his chest.

"Karsh ma krish!" the Doctor shouted as the snake man blinked his eyes a few times and the Doctor smiled. "Didn't think I could speak your tongue, eh?"

The snake man turned as he nodded at the other snake men and the snake men walked to the snake man and unlocked the chains. The Doctor slid to the floor as he adjusted his tweed jacket and brushed his fingers through his hair.

"Now that's what I call service. Shall we go speak to whoever's in charge?" he asked, heading for the door and the snake men followed him out of the cell. A few minutes later the Doctor was led into a large room with white walls and ceiling and white tile flooring. Blood red curtains draped the walls as a large window showed the Doctors the white, stone buildings carved into the walls of a large cavern and at the center of the room was a large, round bed. He looked at the snake woman lounging against purple pillows and her black and gray scales shimmered in the light. Her yellow eyes went wide as she sat up and one strap of her toga slid down her arm, giving him a peek of the top of her breast. "Ah, you must be the queen, eh?"

"Come forward," the snake woman said as he walked cautiously toward the bed and was amazed that she could speak English. He then saw the white crystal around her throat as she stoked the crystal and he softly smiled. "Who are you?"

"I am the Doctor," he said as he saw recognition in her eyes and she titled her head to one side.

"I am Empress Kah-Rani," she said and he did a little bow.

"Pleasure to meet you, Your Highness," he said then got a serious look on his face. "Where are my companions?"

"I don't know who you are talking about," Kah-Rani said and the Doctor growled, balling his hands into fists.

"I think you do. Now give them back to me before I get mad," he said and Kah-Rani hissed a laugh.

"If you want them back so badly, then you wouldn't mind fighting my champion for them."

"No, I wouldn't mind at all."

"Ah, then maybe I'll have one of your companions fight for your freedom instead."

"No, you can't!" he said and Kah-Rani gave him a slightly stunned look.

"Yes, I can!" she said then clapped her hands. Two of the snake men grabbed onto the Doctor as another snake man walked to her and she smiled. She hissed something to the snake man as the snake man nodded then left the room and the Doctor growled, trying to get loose. "Now, if you will come with me, we shall go to the arena. I hope your companion can fight because my champion hates an easy kill."

Growling, the Doctor watched her get off the bed then head for the door and the snake men shoved him as they followed Kah-Rani out of the room.

Rory didn't why the snake men had unchained him as they walked down the hallway and he heard the hissing and screeching coming from behind the two, large, metal doors in front of him. Two snake men opened the doors when the snake men led him into the arena and he saw the stone walls surrounding him and the stone floor had large rocks scattered around the arena. At the other end of the arena was a barred door and something growled behind the barred door. He looked at the snake people sitting above the walls then the royal box at the other end of the arena and Amy was sitting next to the Doctor. She grabbed onto the Doctor's hand as Rory nodded toward him and Kah-Rani walked into the royal box while the snake people hissed and screeched. She raised a hand as the snake people became quiet and looked at the Doctor, who glared at her.

"You can end this by pledging your loyalty to me, Doctor," she said.

"I would never do that," he snarled and she sighed, shaking her head.

"Let loose the Champion," Kah-Rani shouted as the barred door opened on the other end of the arena and Rory's eyes went wide. He had seen the weapons scattered about the arena, but the sight of what looked like a python with brown and black striped scales slithering around the rocks made his heart squeeze in his chest. Rory ran as he headed for the large axe sitting on the floor and the python creature hissed at him. He picked up the axe as the python creature hissed at him and Rory felt his heart slamming against his ribs.

"Doctor, do something!" Amy whispered as they watched Rory swinging the axe and the python creature hissed, rising up on the bottom half of its body. The Doctor looked at Kah-Rani when he slid his hand into his pocket and slid the sonic screwdriver into his hand.

"Uh, Doctor, this would be a good time to do something!" Rory shouted as the python creature hissed then opened its mouth and Rory's eyes went wide. The python creature came closer as its tail slashed at the stone floor and Rory could see the pink tongue lashing back and forth. Amy screamed as the python creature slammed its mouth around Rory then swallowed and the Doctor removed the sonic screwdriver from his pocket, set the frequency so the snake people could hear it and pushed the button. Kah-Rani and the snake people hissed then passed out as Amy covered her ears and the Doctor let go of the button. The python creature has also passed out as the Doctor and Amy ran down the stone stairs and headed for the python creature. The Doctor took out the sonic screwdriver as he scanned the python creature then looked at the swords lying on the ground and picked up a long blade sword. Bellowing a cry, he plunged the sword into the python creature as it screamed then woke up and hissed at them.

"Doctor, it's awake!" Amy shouted.

"I can see that, Pond!" the Doctor said as he used the sword to cut a big enough hole for them to go inside the python creature and it screeched, thrashing around the arena. "I hate to kill this poor thing, but it's either it or Rory and I really like Rory!"

"Where is he?" she shouted as the Doctor used the sword to cut through the python creature when he saw what looked like the python creature's stomach and something floated behind the thin membrane.

"He's right there. The problem is getting him out. If I cut into the membrane then the stomach acid will kill us instantly. Maybe if…" the Doctor said as he started poking the membrane and the python creature screeched. He kept poking until a low gagging sound filled the air and they watched Rory sail out of the membrane and the Doctor smiled.

"Don't tell me it just puked out Rory," she said and the Doctor arched his eyebrows up and down. Sighing, she followed him out of the python creature as it slithered toward the other end of the arena and they ran to Rory. He was covered in a green film as the Doctor knelt down and used the sonic screwdriver to scan him.

"We're too late," he sighed and Amy knelt down next to him. He held her when the Doctor got an idea and took something out of his pocket.

"What is that?" she asked.

"This is my Stattenheim remote control," he said then pressed the button and whistled. Amy was shocked to see the TARDIS materializing in front of them when he picked Rory up and they ran to the TARDIS. Amy used the key to open the door as they ran inside and the TARDIS dematerialized.

Rory felt a dull ache in his stomach when he sighed and a low beeping sound filled his ears. His eyes fluttered open when he saw Amy leaning down to kiss him and he smiled at her. He was a few plasters to cover the acid burns he received from being inside the python creatures stomach as Amy ran her fingers over one of the plasters and he sighed, trying to not to scream.

"Did I just get swallowed by a snake?" he asked with a growl to his voice and she stroked his hair.

"Yep, you got swallowed by a snake!" the Doctor said when Rory looked at him and the Doctor gave him a wink. "Though it wasn't what killed you. It was whatever it was they fed you. It had a slow acting poison, but I had the anti-venom. And you have some really nasty acid burns, but I can heal those once you've recovered from the venom."

"Thanks," Rory said then closed his eyes and the Doctor held Amy to his side as they watched Rory slowly drift back to sleep.

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