resolve filled her. She raised herself up to her full height, such as it was, and took a step forward. Mickey grabbed her leg. "Just leave him!" he hissed. She shook him off and ran toward the end of the platform. "There's nothing you can do!" Mickey shouted after her.
Rose ignored him. She grabbed a fire axe off the wall. "I've got no A levels," she muttered, "no job, no future. But I'll tell you what I have got." She chopped at one of the hanging chains with the axe, and grabbed it as it came free. "Junior girls under-sevens gymnastics team," she said, turning around with the chain in her hands. "I got the bronze!"
She swung. The Doctor saw her, and summoned up all his strength for one last effort. He twisted, gripped the Auton's arm, and threw it, judo-style, into the vat below. At the same time, Rose flew right over his head and kicked the other Auton off the edge. As it fell, it lost its grip on the vial of anti-plastic.
"Rose!" called the Doctor. He caught her in his arms as she swung back over the platform. Together, they looked down. Below them, the vial struck the edge of the vat and shattered, spilling its contents over the surface of the Nestene creature. The Doctor grinned. "Now we're in trouble," he said.
The Consciousness screamed in agony. Lines of white light laced its surface, and the churning power source it emitted started to whip wildly around the room. The Doctor grabbed Rose's hand and together they rushed up the stairs towards the TARDIS. |
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As Jackie watched, the brides faltered, and started to jerk about spasmodically. All around the street, the other dummies likewise went into convulsions. Nervously, she reached out and pushed one of the bridezillas, and it fell over without resistance.
In the cellar, the tendrils of energy knocked huge chunks from the concrete and sent rubble and pipes crashing down. Great explosions were breaking out throughout the room. The Doctor and Rose dodged and ducked the falling debris until they reached the TARDIS.
Mickey had fastened his arms across the door and was hanging onto it for dear life. The Doctor quickly inserted the key in the lock, and pushed Mickey through the opening door, dragging Rose behind him.
As the cellar collapsed around the dying Nestene Consciousness, the Ship dematerialized.
Jackie stood up. The mannequins had all collapsed now. Only a few remained, twitching pathetically on the ground like fish taken out of water. Jackie stared, then fumbled for her phone as the police sirens approached the street.
In an alley near the Powell estate, a sudden wind sprang up and the air was filled with a mechanical howling. The tall blue outline of a Police Telephone Box appeared in the middle of the alley, and solidified with a resounding thump. The door of the box opened, and a disheveled black man stumbled out and cowered by a sheet of corrugated tin.
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