THE SCAVENGER HUNT

Chapter Thirty Five

"So, these other robots have been overrunning the ship?" Donna said to the shop keeper robot when he finished telling her what was going on.

They were running through the corridors trying to find Martha, Rose and the Doctor. So far they hadn't been to find them but they had seen several smashed Cybomats lying in pieces on the floor which gave Donna some hope that the evil robots were being defeated.

"So this whole fairy tale simulation I was trapped in, it was fake?" Donna said to the shop keeper.

"Yes, Miss. I suspect it was one of the ways these renegade robots were trying to kill you and the others."

"Well, they better not have killed the others or I'll rip them apart with my bare hands," Donna snarled.

She stopped short when the shopkeeper suddenly stopped. The robot held up his hand when Donna started to ask him what was wrong.

"I sense someone is coming, Miss," he said.

"Those robot things?" Donna said.

"Not sure. Stay here, I'll check and see if it's safe to proceed."

"What? What if one of them finds me and attacks while you're gone? I don't have anything to defend myself with."

"I won't go far, Miss. Just yell if you need me and I'll return."

"Yes, but how fast can you run…"

Donna trailed off when the robot ignore her and ran up the corridor. She sighed, folded her arms across her chest and leaned up against the roundel covered wall.

"Hmmm…wonder if the male robots have bollocks I can kick?" she mused while she watched the robot run into the next corridor. "S'pose I can try to wrench the thing's head off. I just hope I find the Doctor before those things find me. One thing's for sure, this is the last time we go on a blinkin' scavenger hunt in here."

She waited a few more minutes and sighed when there was no sign of the shop keeper. Throwing up her hands she decided to go off on her own in search of her friends.

"I might as well look since one of those Cybomat things can pick me off while I'm standing here," she muttered as she walked down the corridor.

She was nearly to the end of the corridor when she suddenly saw a huge shadow on the floor. The shadow was coming from the other corridor so she froze and flattened herself against the wall. She muttered a soft curse about how she didn't have any weapons on her while she watched the shadow get bigger and bigger. Then to her astonishment, an enormous dragon's head appeared. She watched, slack-jawed, as the dragon turned and flew down her corridor. It ignored her as it passed by but Donna's jaw dropped even further when she saw the Doctor and Rose flying on its back. They were looking away from here and didn't notice she was there so Donna raised her fingers to her lips and blew a shrill whistle. The Doctor stiffened and ordered the dragon to stop before he and Rose looked over their shoulders.

"I see your whistle is still in good working order," the Doctor said.

"WHAT…IS…THAT!" Donna yelled as she jabbed her finger at the dragon.

"This is Lungwei, my magic dragon friend. He came and saved us when Rose's robot duplicate locked us in a room. Need a lift?"

"You're riding on a bleedin' DRAGON!" Donna said.

"I know. Don't worry, he's harmless, isn't he, Rose?"

"Yeah, get on," Rose said, beckoning to her.

Donna shook her head.

"I can't believe you've gotten to the point where riding a dragon is a perfectly normal thing for you," she said to Rose while she walked towards her.

The Doctor ordered Lungwei to lower himself to the ground and Rose helped Donna get on behind her once he was on the ground. When she was ready, the Doctor ordered Lungwei to rise and they flew off. While they flew, Donna told them about her experiences. The Doctor snickered when she told them about the haunted house and being trapped with his double during the cooking show.

"It's not funny, that…thing nearly killed me," Donna said angrily when he couldn't stop laughing.

"I know and I'm sorry about the laughter but...you have to admit these Cybomats are extremely creative," he said.

"Yeah, well, I've had my fill of robots for awhile," Donna said.

The Doctor ordered Lungwei to slow down when they suddenly heard gunfire in the distance.

"Ought oh, that doesn't sound good. Come on, Lungwei, let's investigate!" the Doctor said, patting him twice on the head.

The dragon followed the sound of the gunshots, weaving his way in and out of the corridors. Suddenly, the Doctor heard Martha yelling at someone to run faster and he ordered his dragon to go faster. Everyone hung on while Lungwei sped up. After a minute, they turned one corridor and saw Martha at the other end running with the ice cream shop robot. Martha's eyes bulged out of her head.

"You've gotta be joking. They're using dragons now?" she yelled out.

"Martha, it's me, the real Doctor. Get out of the way!" the Doctor said when Esther rounded the corner and fired her gun at Martha.

Martha and the ice cream shop robot slammed down onto the floor while the Doctor ordered Lungwei to destroy Esther. Esther gasped when Lungwei roared and zoomed towards her. She turned and ran back the way she came while Lungwei followed her.

"I'll teach you lot to shoot at my friends!" the Doctor yelled as Lungwei chased Esther. "You have made me very, very cross and for that, you must pay!"

Lungwei put on a burst of speed and opened his massive jaws. Esther screamed when the dragon finally caught up to her, closed its jaws on her middle and snapped her in two. He slowed down and spit out the top half of Esther while everyone looked at the remains. Esther had a shocked look on her frozen face while the wiring sticking out of her snapped and crackled.

"Told ya," the Doctor said. "It's not wise to mess with me or my friends."

Lungwei backed up until he got to a side corridor. He backed into it and used that to turn around and go back to Martha. By the time they reached her, Martha was standing and waiting for them with her robot friend.

"Now I've seen everything," Martha said with a shake of her head. "I'm assuming this is one of yours then since you lot are still alive?"

"Lungwei is a good dragon," the Doctor said, patting his head.

Martha came up beside the Doctor and froze when she noticed he had nothing on his body except a bed curtain that was wrapped around his groin.

"You're naked," Martha said.

"Yeah, tell me about it," Donna said, rolling her eyes.

"Yes, I was de-clothed by a Rose Cybomat and Rose and I were locked in a room until Lungwei freed us. Haven't had time to go back to the wardrobe room yet since I was searching for you lot. But now that I've found everything, I can go get a fresh set of clothes and then we'll finish off these Cybomats once and for all. So climb aboard."

As Lungwei lowered, the Doctor thanked her robot protector and asked him to search for other Cybomats and destroy them. The robot nodded and with a salute he went back the way they came.

"I'm hoping my robots have dispatched most of the Cybomats by now," the Doctor said to his companions once Martha was aboard and Lungwei was in the air. "However, I'm betting the Rose Cybomat is still around and mucking with my TARDIS."

Just then, they heard the cloister bell boom out overhead and the Doctor groaned.

"Yup, I have a feeling she's still alive and kicking," he said.

"That's the sound the TARDIS made when the Master made her into the paradox machine," Martha said.

"Yes, it means the TARDIS is in trouble and it's up to us to find and destroy the last remaining Cybomats before she dies. Lungwei, take me to the wardrobe room so I can throw something on and then it's off to battle!"

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