Kitty Pryde, Pete Wisdom, Excalibur and the X-Men and all characters therein are trademarks of Marvel Comics. Doctor Who is a registered trademark of BBC Productions. This story is an unauthorised work done purely for my personal enjoyment, and is not intended to infringe on any of their rights in or their profits from these characters. But this story is copy write to me.

Comments, especially (constructive) criticism, always welcomed. Please e-mail me at
mshakespeare@callnetuk.com

Notes

< > indicates thoughts

* * indicates telepathy

Plastic Masks - A Pryde and Wisdom / Doctor Who crossover - Part 14

He woke up hungry. Not a big surprise there, it had been several hours since his mistress had left food for him and now he felt like he needed sustenance again. The little purple dragon stretched himself, shook his wings out, and sat up to look around. The lights were out, which meant that everyone had gone to bed, presumably including his beloved Kitty. Which meant, he thought with a low growl, that she was probably in bed with Stinky. For the life of him, the little alien could never understand what she saw in him. Why could she not see the love that he, Lockheed, had to offer? He sighed; with Stinky with his Kitty, he didn't want to have to see what they were getting up to. He sniffed the air, trying to locate somewhere that he could find food, and launched himself into the air.

For an experienced food-finder like Lockheed, locating the food-stores was a piece of cake (which was just what he was looking for ....). True, finding a way past the locked door was trickier, but he hadn't spent all this amount of time on Earth without learning anything about picking locks. His small paws made it easy for him to manipulate a straightened paper-clip into the keyhole, and a minute or so of searching and experimenting soon had the door open.

After which it was easy to find the cookie tin and indulge himself.

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Kitty pressed into the warmth of his body. His arm was wrapped protectively around her slender waist, and her hair cascaded over his thin chest, a chestnut blanket against his pale skin. The warm afterglow of their lovemaking made her languorous and sleepy, whilst he had already dozed off.

<Not surprising after the day he's had. Running around getting shot at must've taken it out of him. True, it never tired me out like that, but then I'm young and healthy - neither of which adjectives applies to Pete ....> She giggled at the thought of her lover's face if he heard her say that. Then she snuggled up closer to him, resting her cheek against his chest. She grinned to herself as she remembered the looks on the faces of the others as they had left them to go to bed. <Well, what did they think we did at night, sit around watching TV?>

She lay awake for a few minutes more, trying to think of something they hadn't considered when making plans that evening, and coming up with a blank. Then she finally fell asleep.

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Lockheed replaced the tin of the, by now empty, cookie jar. He was feeling a lot better now - chocolate chip cookies were his favourite. Now it was time to find something to do. He chortled to himself as he remembered what his Kitty had once said when she had considered the question of what he did when he disappeared for long periods of time : 'I dunno, dragon, you got a secret lover hidden away somewhere? You disappear for the amount of time you do, I'm beginning to suspect something here....' <As if I'd ever want anyone other than my Kitty. One day I'd like t' change into 'uman an' prove my love...>

He let himself out the way he'd got in, and flew down the darkened corridor,. looking for something to occupy himself with.

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The door was locked, but the three hulking figures who had made their way to the fire doors didn't seem to be bothered by that at all. The lead figure raised his hand to the lock, there was a sudden flash of light, and the door swung open, the lock now nothing more than a smoking hole in the metal door. The three figures, all dressed in ill-fitting overalls, made their way into the hotel.

They stood still for a few seconds, as if seeking something, then, as one, they made their way down the corridor. A sudden flash of light through the window illuminated the figures, revealing their stiff, waxy, almost unfinished features - Autons. The Nestenes had decided that a preemptive strike would be the best way to deal with the problem of the humans, and these three would do the job. They had been keyed into the mental signatures of Kitty and Pete, from their encounter with the defenders of the Autonomics plastics factory, Alistair, from his encounter with the Autons at Jodrell Bank, and the Doctor, from his meeting with them in Delamere Forest. Liz, as yet, had not met Autons since the beginning of the affair, and so they were not, at present, seeking her.

The three had locked onto the mental 'scent'. Their primary targets were located not far away, on the floor above. Soon, they would be eliminated.

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The little dragon was feeling happy and contented. He'd found a cat to put the fear of God into - he really didn't like cats, they were far too stuck-up and superior for him - and made a derelict stagger off yelling something about seeing 'winged imps from Hell!' He scrawled some graffiti on the side of a building, five storeys up - where no-one would be able to work out how someone had got up there to write it. Oh, and he'd climbed into his Kitty's room and hidden Stinky's cigarettes, except for one pack - which he'd sabotaged by taking them into the bathroom and dipping the ends into a bottle of Stinky's aftershave. <Wait till 'e lights them!> He chuckled to himself at the thought of the expression on Stinky's face.

<So, now what? I got t' find something t' do....> He stopped short. There were three figures making their way along the corridor that he was heading towards, and they had not bothered to put the lights on. He sniffed the air, and growled. There was a scent here that he didn't like, one which was vaguely familiar to him, but he couldn't remember where he had smelled that scent before. Still, something about them spelt danger to the little alien, and he flew towards them, silently, using the shadows as cover.

The three Autons didn't notice the newcomer. Their minds were miniscule, just a tiny fraction of the mighty Nestene consciousness, and certainly not enough for them to have either imagination or alertness. They were, in effect, nothing more than walking weapons systems, guided systems, given a target and launched at it.

Lockheed hovered in the air about twenty yards from the three indistinct figures, and sniffed again, It was still there, the scent he didn't like, and getting stronger. The little purple dragon wracked his brains trying to think of where he'd smelled that scent, and why it sent danger signals to him. Then he finally remembered - Delamere Forest.

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Kitty sat bolt upright in bed. She'd heard something - but what? Pete sat up much more slowly. "Something wrong, love?"

"I ... I don't know, Pete . I thought I heard something, something that caused me to wake up. But whatever it was - "

They both heard the second noise, and both recognised it at once - the sound of Auton energy weapons being discharged. They both rolled out of bed simultaneously, Pete's fingers starting to glow, Kitty grabbing for the blaster pistol in its holster over the chair next to her side of the bed.

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Liz stared at the door. She'd just returned from a trip to the bathroom when there had come from the floor below the most awful sound, like a demonic monster roaring its hate. And now there was the sound of energy blasts, in a pattern she recognised - Auton weapons. Unarmed, she decided that discretion was the better part of valour, and locked the door - not that it would be much protection if the Autons were coming for her .....

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Alistair cursed under his breath. <Never a moment's peace when the Doctor's around - he attracts trouble like a magnet!> The old soldier checked his revolver, fervently wishing that the young American girl had had the time to hand over the blaster rifle she had mentioned earlier that evening.

He opened the door, still in his pyjamas, revolver clenched firmly in his hand, and stepped out into the corridor. Across from him, the door opened, and an elderly lady stuck her head out to find out what all the commotion was. "Get back inside! Now!" Alistair might no longer be young, but voice still had the bark of command, and the old woman quickly ducked back into her bedroom.

Two doors along, he saw the Doctor step out of his room, quizzically looking around him. The TimeLord looked back at him. "Oh dear, we seem to have company. I hope that little thing is of some use against them." The Gallifreyan's rich voice was full of amusement, and once again the ex-soldier felt amazed at how cavalierly his old friend looked death in the face. Then he wrinkled his nose. "Smells like burning plast - "

Before he could finish, the fire alarm sounded, its clamour heard throughout the hotel.

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Autons could not feel puzzled, but the Nestene consciousness of which they were a part most certainly could. How could this creature move so fast? No matter how many shots they fired at it, the small, purple flying creature evaded every attack that the three Autons made. And, whilst unable to stop them easily, its fiery breath was able to melt the plastic of which the Autons were composed. One of the three now only had one arm, and another was unable to move as part of its lower left leg was missing.

Lockheed came straight back in for another strafing run. If he was being honest with himself, he was enjoying this. So far his opponents had not come anywhere near hitting him with their weapons, and he really felt like burning something just now - it would help get the thought of his Kitty in bed with Stinky out of his mind for a while.

Around them, the hotel corridor showed the effects of their battle. Auton energy bolts had punched holes in the walls, whilst the small table against the wall, and much of the carpet and wallpaper, was now nicely afire. Smoke was beginning to billow out along the corridor and into the reception area.

Lockheed decided to try a new tactic. Up until now, he had been using his normal wide-angle flame blasts against his foes, but now he decided that a narrow beam of fire might prove more effective in cutting his opponents apart. He used the smoke coming from the table to mask his approach towards one of the hulking killers, and then unleashed a thin, white-hot flame blast at the legs of his target. The new tactic met with immediate success, as the Auton's legs were both severed, causing the torso to drop to the floor.

He chortled his amusement at watching the huge foe brought down so easily, and roared his triumph.

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"Good grief! What on Earth is that?!" The roar had echoed up the stairwell to the first floor, making Alistair's ears ring. He tightened his grip on his revolver, and threw a glance at the Doctor next to him, who was holding a device like a tape recorder. Alistair had seen a very similar device in use during the first fight against the Autons, so many years ago. It was a UHF transmitter, UHF waves having been found to interfere with Autons brainwaves, causing them to collapse. True it was very short-ranged, but effective. He couldn't remember the Doctor having this particular one before, and assumed he must have put it together in his spare time.

The tall Gallifreyan smiled. "Remember the young lady's remarkable companion? I think he's got himself into some sort of trouble......"

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Kitty phased herself and Pete through the floor into the corridor, her in a long blue tee-shirt and him in pyjama bottoms, and both were immediately assaulted by the sickening smell of burning plastic. Kitty spun to face one direction, levelling the blaster, whilst Pete faced the other way, hands ready to unleash a barrage of hotknives, the two of them back-to-back.

"Bloody little git! Can't leave 'im anywhere, 'e always finds a way ter wreck things."

"Unlike you, of course, Wisdom? Pete, we don't know how this started, but we both heard Auton weapons firing. That means trouble."

Before he could reply, they saw, off to one side, a ribbon of bright light shoot out, and heard the thud of a heavy object hitting the floor. As one, they ran in that direction.

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The little alien was having huge fun. <Two down, one t' go!> The last Auton was .... wait, where was it?

He got the answer as a huge hand reached out to swat him down. Stunned, Lockheed could do little as the massive killer pointed its blaster at him. But before it could fire, there came the crack of a revolver being fired, once, twice, three times, hitting the Auton in the chest, staggering it. The Doctor stepped forward, and switched on his machine. The Auton stiffened, then, as if in slow-motion, toppled to the ground.

From the smoke in the corridor came the sound of running feet, and two human figures burst through the smoke. Kitty ran to the little purple dragon lying on the floor, whilst Pete unleashed a flurry of hotknives to dismember the legless Auton struggling to bring its weapon to bear. The secret agent snorted with satisfaction as it stopped moving, the Nestene intelligence withdrawing from its now-useless tool, threw a glare at Lockheed, lying in Kitty's arms, then looked around at the smoking, burning corridor, as Alistair pulled a fire-hose from the alcove on the wall, and began putting out the flames.

"Bloody 'ell, this is goin' ter be a bugger to explain t' the management 'ere, ain't it??"

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