Doctor Who and the Echoes of Time

The Prison of the Autons Part 3

"This is ridiculous!" (Y/n) clutched the small lifeboat that they were sitting in on the side of the actual boat.

"Is it?" The Doctor asked with a smirk as he stood up. "Look around! I was right. The ship isn't moving, if it was then our little raft here would have been left behind instead of staying by the ships side. The water only makes it look like we're moving"

"You're crazy" (y/n) muttered, wondering what Ruby saw in this man. She had always been such a rational girl. Now she lay sick and alone beneath the ship while he was out here with a lunatic.

"In fact..." The Doctor took a step forward. Then another. Then he jumped off the raft, causing (y/n) to cry out in surprise, before he landed on the water and just stood there. "Thought so! Not water. It just mimics the properties of whatever is needed. I needed a floor so it made a floor"

"What the hell?" (Y/n) muttered as he stared at the man who was currently standing on the water. It still looked like water, however it had stopped moving beneath The Doctor.

"Come on" The Doctor held his hand out to the boy.

(Y/n) didn't take the man's hand but he did carefully exit the boat and hesitantly stand on the water like The Doctor did. "How is this possible"

"I've told you, none of this is real" The Doctor answered simply before beginning to walk towards the horizon. (Y/n) quickly walked after the man as he rubbed his aching head.

Eventually The Doctor stopped and reached out, touching the false horizon. "Feel this?" (Y/n) reached out and nodded as he did indeed feel it. "These are the walls of your prison"

(Y/n) shook his head as he started to wonder why he was here instead of with Ruby, she was sick and instead he was with this crazy man. "It's the sky-"

"No. That's what they're making you believe" The Doctor answered. "There is a chemical compound in the air that's used to keep you docile and content. It's what's making Ruby sick, her body is trying to fight it off"

(Y/n) frowned. Ruby had been here as long as he had, he remembered that clearly enough. "Then why am I not sick?"

The Doctor glanced back at the boy. "You've been here since you were a child. Ruby hasn't. The compound is just making you think she was"

The Doctor shoved his hands into his pockets. "Nope, that's not it. Not that either... definitely not" he muttered as he felt around in there. "Aha!" He pulled his hands out, in one was now held a corkscrew.

(Y/n) frowned. "You got a bottle of wine in the other pocket? How is a corkscrew supposed to help us?"

"Watch and learn" The Doctor pulled his hand back before throwing a punch at the wall. Due to the way the corkscrew was positioned it poked a hole in the wall, getting stuck to it. "There we go" he spoke as he pulled his hand away and winced at the pain that had been caused by punching a wall. "Now the question is how many more of these before we can get out?"

The two stood there for a long moment before (y/n) spoke. "If this is a zoo, where are the zookeepers?"

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(Y/n) woke up in the morning and turned to see Ruby sleeping in the other bed. He smiled at the sleeping girl as he got out of bed and got dressed for the day.

Another day of stealing food from the kitchens, hiding from the crew, and maybe sneaking out to the pool at night when everyone would be asleep.

"Rise and shine sweetheart" (y/n) walked over to Ruby and shook her shoulder gently once he was dressed.

The girl yawned tiredly as her eyes slowly opened. "Morning" she nodded as she sat up and ran a hand through her messy morning hair. She seemed confused for a second as she looked at (y/n) but in a quick moment that changed. "Sleep well?" She asked with a kind smile as she got out of bed and stretched.