Out of Time

by Lunarus Solaris Nexus

The Room pt. 1

Derpy and Nexus had been running for, according to the Fob Watch, about two hours following The Doctor's marks. They'd go faster if they didn't have to stop and stare for a moment and let the circles turn into the time. They were however getting closer. They were only fifteen minutes behind the Doctor now. By that time, Nexus had started having them start following the markers and only stop every other mark to get the time. It did help somewhat but for the most part the Doctor seemed to be moving at about the same pace as they were. It didn't help when the maze change again but from what they could tell, they couldn't see the sections of the maze that were moving.

So they had some hope that The Doctor hadn't been whisked away again. The more Derpy found the messages, the faster her hoofs would carry her and drag Nexus along with her. As much as Nexus wanted to share her enthusiasm, he was more than concerned. He'd been around the Doctor enough to know for a fact that he had a tendency be a magnet for trouble. He could sympathize with that at least.

They stopped again and started waiting on the new symbol the sound of some kind of beam being fired off came from a right side of the fork in the path they were taking. Nexus leaned around the corner and saw a blue beam spark against the wall as a brown mass roll across the floor. Nexus, out of instinct, drew his blades and shoved Derpy around the corner they'd come from. The pony stood up and Nexus noticed it was the Doctor as he ran as fast as he could. Nexus retracted his blades and caught the Doctor as he ran by.

"Doc!" Nexus said still looking where he'd come from. "What's going on?"

"Dalek!" he shouted.

Derpy peer around the corner as the whisk of the Dalek appeared.

"If it's anything like the last one I think we-"

"EXTERMINATE!" it shouted with much more diction than the others they'd seen.

When it came fully into view it was clearly in better condition than the first one and from what he'd just seen, this one was fully operational. Nexus instinctively opened the panel on the inside side of his right foreleg. On a small arm, his small lever action pistol locked into a groove for steady aim. He aimed in the Dalek's general direction as the Doctor shouted for him to lower his weapon but fired the first shot in the two bullet magazine anyways. The bullet stopped dead in its tracks just a few feet from the main body of the Dalek. Nexus hesitated and cocked another round into the chamber with a quick flick of the ankle.

He really had the feeling that it'd never work, so without further thought he tried to run the opposite direction as the Dalek. The Doctor grabbed him by the foreleg again and forced him and Derpy to start backtracking at full pelt rather than go left. After he'd gotten up to speed, The Doctor let Nexus go and let him follow of his own accord. The three ran as fast as they could in the tight space. The Dalek, unlike the others, was very close behind. Nexus could've sworn he saw it hovering but he didn't feel like being exterminated.

"Door!" The Doctor shouted as Nexus glanced back over their shoulder.

Looking back where they were going, he could see a door jamb coming up with a knob close to them coming up on the left. Derpy sped up, using her wings, and flew past them to open the door. She was visibly cringing as she flew, she must've hurt herself before they'd reunited. She threw open the door when they got to it. Nexus and The Doctor thundered in and were met with a strangely comfortable looking sitting room. Before either of them could admire it they prepared to have a moment to gather themselves with Derpy but she was oddly absent. Looking back at the same time, they saw one of the light barriers holding her back. Her horrified expression and frantic pounding to get in made Nexus' heart leap and more adrenaline shoot through his system.

"Ditzy!" the Doctor shouted in a manner that would more than likely require some kind of potion to fix the issues that would come later.

They both started pounding against the wall but Derpy ended up running when a beam from the Dalek that was behind them hit the door. She jumped back and slammed the door shut, it passing through the barrier with no problem. The sound of the Dalek shouting for blood passed quickly as the Doctor attempted to open the door with the knob but to no avail. He then tried the Sonic and from the look on his face it was getting very hot. After a few more seconds the Sonic sparked and the Doctor was forced to drop it.

"Come on! Open up!" he slammed shoulder first into the door with all the strength he could muster.

It bounced him back and Nexus stopped in before he could try again. "Stop before you break your shoulder! If you get a limp you'll never survive." he pleaded.

"I've got to save her! Something has to give!" He shouted desperately trying to break free from his literal iron hold.

"That barrier won't!" He shouted back not loosening his grip.

"No! I'm not letting her die!"

"And I won't stop you but we're trapped if you haven't noticed!"

"I don't care! I can find my way out of anything and I'll be damned if I let whoever did this hurt her!" The Doctor thrashed madly trying to escape and fruitlessly break down the door.

"YOU CAN'T DO THAT IF YOU CAN'T WALK!"

The Doctor stopped struggling and stared at Nexus like stone. Nexus looked back and saw a lot he didn't see any other time. His blue eyes showed something darker than Nexus had ever seen. Behind it a fire that not even the most seasoned of soldiers that lived through the Changeling War couldn't even attempt dwarf. It was an unmistakable look, a veteran still fighting the nightmares and loss from a long fight. Nexus let go. He rolled his left shoulder before grabbing his right in pain.

"Told you." Nexus said coldly.

"I don't want to hear it. What'd we do now?"

Nexus looked around the room they were in. Dark blue wall paper, two tan couches flanking a light brown wooden table with an ivory checkers set in the center with glasses of water on either side. He sighed and made his way to the closest couch.

"The one thing we can do. Sit back and think of a way out. Smoke before fire." Nexus said taking a seat.

Author's Note:

M: Oh you're a bastard!
L: I figured they needed some alone time. She'll be fine.... maybe. Vince?
Vince: I don't know. She's good but I'm not sure she's that good.
L: I suppose we'll have to find out won't we?