Doctor Who and the Eternity Cage (The Future Doctor Chronicles Part One)

Chapter Seventeen

Within the last few minutes the Grand Curator seemed to have aged, the Doctor could no longer see evil in his eyes just anguish and despair. 

"Do you realise what you've done Doctor. We couldn't power this machinery locally, we had to connect it to the cities main power supply. When this blows it'll feedback through the entire grid and cause explosions across the whole city." 

The Doctor's face remained impassive, he could sense that something had changed about him, the compassion had gone from his eyes, replaced by a burning intensity. 

"You already knew this though didn't you Doctor?" 

The Doctor nodded "In a few moments we'll hear their screams and once we do I wouldn't advise remaining here for too long." 

He whipped his sonic screwdriver from his pocket, pointed it at the console, it emitted a short beep and the alarm stopped. Raising his hand in the air the Doctor began counting down from five, with his other hand he put the sonic screwdriver back into his pocket.  

The moment he reached zero a low rumble caused the floor to shudder, but the accompanying noise was far worse than the Grand Curator had imagined. The distorted metallic screams of the cybermen filled the entire warehouse, ten times louder than the alarm the Doctor had so kindly stopped. It was a stark reminder that the metal men trapped in their capsules had once been living organisms.  

He looked around him at his colleagues, the petrified faces that stared back at him all thought the same thing, now was the time to make a run for it. With all the power he could muster he launched himself forward towards the main doors and away from the upcoming blast.  

With all his concentration focused on the exit the Grand Curator had failed to notice the Doctor's raised arm, it caught him square on the neck and floored him instantly. The Doctor watched as his foe struggled to his knees, his chest rising and falling rapidly as he struggled to draw breath. 

"Get up." the Doctor kicked him hard in the stomach. His patience was wearing thin, he grabbed hold of the Grand Curator's shirt and dragged him up until they were face to face.  

"You killed Lucy, I can't allow you to escape unpunished." 

"But it wasn't me, I didn't do it Doctor." he croaked. 

"You think you weren't responsible just because you didn't pull the trigger." he replied incredulously.  

Something inside him snapped, it was as if the dam that was holding back all his anger had burst, he could feel it coursing through his entire being. Long forgotten memories came flooding back, faces he'd put to the back of mind, faces of all those who'd died at the hands of his enemies. Suddenly the man before him stood for all that was wrong in the universe, all that had happened and all that was going to happen. His hands felt like they belonged to someone else as they moved slowly towards the Grand Curators throat and tightened their grip.  

The Grand Curator's eyes widened in shock as he realised that this was the end, the Time Lord was going to kill him. He rued the day this man set foot on the planet, everything had gone downhill since he arrived. He'd always dismissed the legends of the man in the blue box and the fear he instilled in his enemies but now when it was too late he wished taken them seriously. The Doctor's face was so deeply contorted with anger he was barely recognisable and then his vision faded until he could see no more. 

The Doctor stared in disgust at the lifeless form in his grasp and then let go, letting him fall to the floor. As he looked up he caught sight of the tomb, even from where he stood halfway between the door and the computers he could feel the intense heat coming from it. It wouldn't be long now he thought, there was already nothing left of the cybermen except a pool of metal at the bottom of each capsule. Scanning the tomb one last time the Doctor paused and felt a sinking feeling, the capsule at the very top had been removed. He shook his head angrily, remembering the cabinet next to the computers and the incident that had been the beginning of the end for Lucy.  

He retrieved his sonic screwdriver and strode over to the cabinet, pointed it at the empty space inside and pressed scan. It emitted a sequence of beeps that got steadily closer together until a flashing blue glow signalled the end of the scan. The Doctor read a tiny readout screen and ran from the room heading for the nearest exit, he had one last piece of unfinished business to attend to before he left this planet.