SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST
Chapter Twenty Six After rounding up everyone, Eleven assembled everyone in the kitchen for another meeting. "We have everyone on board," he said to them. "How many people survived the competition?" Rose asked. "Five including Amala," Eleven said grimly. "And the four we found had to be sedated because they were still going to slaughter one another. And the TARDIS read the frequency of the raptors' slave collars and compelled them to come inside. She has them in a special room where they can roam for the moment but we still have to change them back. And that will be our task. Doctor, Jack and Rose, you can go ahead and leave. We'll finish up here and take care of the Valeyard. There was a silence that hung over the kitchen and Eleven nodded. "Yeah, I know. I know you've become friends with them but it's time for them to go," Eleven said sadly. River, Amy and Rory embraced their new friends. Eleven hung back for a moment, letting them finish before embracing Jack and finally Rose. He held on to Rose for a few minutes, imprinting her afresh in his mind before he reluctantly pulled away. Then he shook hands with his other self. "Pleasure working with you, Doctor," Eleven said to him. "And you, take care of them," Ten said, gesturing to his companions. "And you take care of Rose and Jack," Eleven replied. Ten called to Rose and Jack and told them to come with him. Jack and Rose gave one last round of hugs to everyone before following Ten up to the console room. Rose looked around, heartbroken that this would all be erased from her mind soon. She took Jack's arm and Jack smiled tenderly at her. "Hey, Tauntaun," he said to her. "Shut up!" Rose said while Ten sniggered. "Blast, we have to take that out of our minds. I could have had such fun calling her my little tauntaun," Ten said, wiping an imaginary tear from his eye. "Now I am glad we're getting our minds erased, " Rose said while Jack chuckled. XOXOXOXOXOXOXO Jack went first so the Doctor could send him back to Torchwood. After they said goodbye to him, the Doctor sedated him and hooked him up to a machine in the TARDIS lab that would allow him to scan his memories and delete what he needed to delete. Jack lay on a metal table, a leather headband around his head that had probes connected to it. The probe had white wires that ran to a console that the Doctor was sitting at. Above the console was a large monitor that was connected to the console with more wires. The Doctor sat at the console, using a large black dial to go through Jack's memories and hitting a small black button to delete the ones pertaining to the Valeyard. Rose stood behind him, watching the monitor with interest. "When I do this, are you going to go through my entire mind?" Rose said to the Doctor. "Because there are certain things I don't want you to see." She gave him a peeved look when the Doctor started to whistle innocently while keeping his eyes on the monitor. "You better not look," Rose teased. "Look at what? I've seen you naked before and I've seen far worse than a human's puberty memories," he said, looking over his shoulder at her. "Just behave." The Doctor stuck his tongue out and Rose ruffled his hair when he turned back around to the monitor. XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO After returning the captives to normal and transmatting everyone back to their homeworlds, Eleven told the others he would vaporize the Valeyard. "He's too dangerous," Eleven said to them. "He can't be allowed to live." "I want to watch him die," Amy said. "He turned my husband into a reptile." "And he mucked with the Doctor, Rose and Jack's lives," River said. "And turned Rose into a reptile. I also want to watch." "You?" Eleven said to Rory. "I'll watch because I'm bored and there's nothing else to do," Rory said with a shrug. He grinned and Eleven chuckled and patted him on the shoulder. "I agree with that, Tauntaun Williams," he said to him. Amy and River snickered when Rory groaned and rolled his eyes. "At least Rose won't get teased about that anymore," Rory said, shaking his head. They followed him to the cell block and the Doctor asked the TARDIS to make the front wall of the cell transparent so he could speak to him. When the TARDIS did as asked, the Valeyard stood up and walked over to it, a sneer on his face. "So, you finally decided to pay a visit?" the Valeyard said. "Yes, because you're going to be vaporized," Eleven said. "I'm not about to let you live." The Valeyard threw back his head and laughed. "You can't kill me, weakling, I'm you," he taunted. "I can kill you because you are an alternate version of me," the Doctor said. "Wrong! I'm your true self and you know it. That's why the Dream Lord came from your memories. Even when I'm not around, I still lurk inside your mind, just waiting to be let out." He looked at his companions. "So where is your hearts' desire?" he said to the Doctor. "Gone back to her own timeline." "Aw, you had to let her go back. What a pity," the Valeyard said with feigned pouting. "What about them? Do they know about her?" "We know about her," River said. "And? She was his lover," the Valeyard said to her. River shrugged. "River became friends with her," Eleven said. "In fact, she was sorry to see her go back." "Well, isn't that sweet. Two of your whores are best mates now," the Valeyard sneered. The Doctor held up his hand when River started walking towards the cell with fists clenched. "So," the Valeyard said airily. "You think you're gonna kill me? Pity you didn't do a strip search of me beforehand." Eleven watched in horror while the Valeyard pulled the sleeve of his robe up at the same time he said, "I have a hidden vortex manipulator here, goodbye Doctor. Till we meet again." Halfway up his arm, the Valeyard had a vortex manipulator with a modified strap so he could wear it there. Eleven yelled in frustration when he hit a button and vanished from view. XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO (The day after the Doctor wiped his and Rose's memories of the Valeyard and his competition…) "Good morning," the Doctor said cheerfully when Rose entered the console room. "Morning," Rose said. "What are we doing today?" "Nonchuko." "Huh?" Rose said as she walked towards him. "Nonchuko, the land of furry bunnies big as a horse. You can ride them around the countryside. Hippity hop, hippity hop, sound fun?" "Rabbits as big as horses?" Rose said. "Scout's honor," the Doctor said. "They're not like the killer rabbit in the Monty Python film?" Rose asked. "Well…no, but…I have a special concoction I could whip up that could drive them insane if you want to run from a giant, hopping, killer bunny." "No, thanks, I'd rather ride a tame, sane rabbit," Rose said. "Very well. We'll set a course for Nonchuko then," the Doctor said, beginning his dance around the console while Rose stood back and watched. THE END.
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