The Doctor, Rose and Donna were gathered outside the reception venue, Lance stepping out hesitantly and joining them. "I've lost the signal," The Doctor muttered and turned to Donna. "Donna, we've got to get to your office, HC Clements. I think that's where it all started. Lance… is it Lance? Can you give me a lift?" He walked off without waiting for an answer, of course. No time to waste. They all arrived swiftly at HC Clements, running into Donna's office, the Doctor darting straight to a computer. "This might just be a locksmiths, but HC Clements was brought up twenty three years ago by the Torchwood Institute."
"Who are they?" Donna enquired.
"They were behind the battle of Canary Wharf," Rose replied, wrinkling her nose and sniffling. That was only a mere few hours ago, for her and the Doctor.
"…Cyberman invasion," The Doctor offered, noticing Donna's blank look. She blinked and looked at him cluelessly. "Skies over London full of Daleks?"
"Oh, I was in Spain," Donna smiled and shrugged.
"They had Cybermen in Spain." He raised an eyebrow.
"Scuba diving."
Both the Doctor and Rose looked at her incredulously. "That big picture, Donna… you keep on missing it!" The Doctor darted to another computer. "Torchwood was destroyed, but HC Clements stayed in business. I think someone else came in and took over the operation."
"What do they want with Donna, though?" Rose tilted her head and frowned. "It doesn't make sense, does it?"
"Yeah, why have I been dragged into this?" asked Donna, looking at the Doctor with worried eyes.
"Somehow, you've been dosed with Huon energy," The Doctor explained. "And that's a problem because Huon energy hasn't existed since the Dark Times. The only place you'd find a Huon particle now is a remnant in the heart of the TARDIS. See? That's what happened. Say…" He picked up a nearby mug and showed it to her. "That's the TARDIS," He also picked up a pencil from the desk, gesturing it to her. "And that's you. The particles inside you activated. The two sets of particles magnetised and WHAP!" The Doctor threw the pencil into the mug. "You were pulled inside the TARDIS.
"I'm a pencil inside a mug?" Donna asked weakly.
"Yes you are," The Doctor chuckled. "4H. Sums you up. Lance? What was HC Clements working on? Anything top secret? Special operations? Do not enter?"
"I don't know," Lance replied defensively. "I'm in charge of personnel. I wasn't project manager," He watched anxiously as the Doctor held his sonic against the computer monitor, displaying a 3D plan of the building. "Why am I even explaining myself? What the hell are we talking about?"
"They make keys, that's the point. And look at this…" He pointed to the screen. "We're on the third floor," He got up quickly and led the others to the lift, waiting for it to arrive. "Underneath reception, there's a basement, yes?" The lift doors slide open, the Doctor and Rose stepping inside, examining the controls. "Then how come when you look on the lift, there's a button marked 'lower basement'? There's a whole floor which doesn't exist on the official plans. So, what's down there, then?"
"Are you telling me this building's got a secret floor?" Lance asked incredulously.
"No, I'm showing you this building's got a secret floor." The Doctor replied, clearly showing the 'lower basement' button to Lance.
"It needs a key," Rose pointed out.
"I don't," The Doctor grinned as he soniced the lock. "Right then, thanks you two," He turned to Lance and Donna. "We can handle this, see you later."
"No chance, Martian," Donna stepped into the lift, smirking. "You're the man who keeps saving my life; I ain't letting you out of my sight."
"Going down!" Rose giggled.
"Lance?" Donna looked at Lance pointedly.
"Maybe I should go to the police?" Lance offered, trying to be helpful.
"Inside." Lance stepped inside the lift meekly.
"To honour and obey?" The Doctor couldn't help but smirk, and Lance let out a sigh.
"Tell me about it, mate."
"Oi!" Donna laughed as the doors closed and the lift descended through the building.
The Empress watched the scene unfolding carefully through her screen, sitting happily inside her enormous web, hissing and cackling with joy. "The bride approaches. She is my key!"
Meanwhile, the Doctor, Rose, Donna and Lance clambered out of the lift as it reached the lower basement, looking around at a dimly lit, dank, dreary corridor. "Where are we?" Donna wrinkled her nose in disapproval. "Well, what goes on down here?"
"Let's find out!" Rose smiled, eager to get to the bottom of the situation.
Donna glanced down the corridor, frowning a bit. "Do you think Mr. Clements knows about this place?"
"The mysterious HC Clements? I think he's a part of it," The Doctor's eyes were suddenly caught by something. "Oh, look! Transport!" The Doctor, Rose, Donna and Lance rolled along at a moderate speed, each standing on their very own electric scooter. Donna looked at the Doctor, and the Doctor looked at Rose, each of them bursting out into hysterical giggles. Lance, however, didn't see what was so funny. They eventually arrived at a door which clearly stated 'Torchwood – authorised personnel only', the Doctor completely ignoring the sign as he turned the wheel to open the door, revealing a ladder. "Wait here," He peered up the ladder. "Just need to get my bearings. Don't…" He looked at all three of them sternly. "Do anything." He climbed up the ladder carefully.
"Be careful," Rose called with a smile.
"You'd better come back!" Donna added, and she couldn't help but grin.
"I couldn't get rid of you if I tried!" The Doctor called back with a smirk. He was starting to like Donna, now. They had gotten off on the wrong foot.
"Donna, have you thought about this?" Lance asked, eyes wide and anxious. He seemed very nervous, for some strange reason. "Properly? I mean, this is serious! What the hell are we gonna do?"
Donna wasn't really listening, she just smiled brightly. "Oh, I thought July." She turned her attention back to the Doctor as he reached the top of the ladder, opening up a manhole and climbing out into broad daylight… overlooking the Thames flood barrier! He climbed back down swiftly, smiling at them all.
"Thames flood barrier! Right on top of us. Torchwood snuck in and built this place underneath."
"What, there's like, a secret base hidden underneath a major London landmark?" Donna asked, quite surprised.
"I know! Unheard of!" The Doctor grinned. Rose had noticed another room next to them, and they all walked into what seemed to be a laboratory. Large test tubes were dotted around the room, bubbling away next to expensive and complicated chemistry equipment. "Oh, look at this!" The Doctor marvelled at some of the test tubes, feeling in his element surrounded by high tech scientific equipment. "Stunning! Particle extrusion!"
"What does it do?" Rose enquired, not recognising any of the strange pieces of equipment.
"Particle extrusion," The Doctor replied. "Hold on…" He lightly tapped one of the bubbling tubes. "Brilliant. They've been manufacturing Huon particles. In case my people got rid of Huons, they unravelled the atomic structure."
"Your people?" Lance frowned. "Who are they? What company do you represent?"
"Oh, I'm a freelancer. But this lot are rebuilding them. They've been using the river! Extruding them through a flat hydrogen base so they've got the end result. Huon particles in liquid form." The Doctor picked up a small test tube full of Huon particles, examining it closely.
"And that's what's inside me?" Donna also peered closely at the particles. The Doctor gently turned a knob at the top of the test tube, the contents inside glowing a brilliant gold – and Donna too. "Oh, my God!" She gasped, looking down at her glowing skin.
"Because the particles are inert," The Doctor began to explain. "They need something living to catalyse inside and that's you. Saturate the body and then… HA!" His brain ticked into realisation mode and he was buzzing with mad enthusiasm, Donna jumping out of her skin and frowning. "The wedding! Yes, you're getting married, that's it! Best day of your life, walking down the aisle, oh your body's a battleground! There's a chemical war inside! Adrenaline, acetylcholine, WHAM go the endorphins, oh you're cooking! Yeah, you're like a walking oven! A pressure cooker, a microwave, all churning away, the particles reach boiling point, SHAZAM!" He received a hard slap around the face from an upset Donna. "What did I do this time?"
"Are you enjoying this?" Donna whimpered. The Doctor felt a little ashamed, he was being a tad too happy. Rose stood by and held the Doctor's hand tightly. "Right, just tell me…" Donna sighed. "These particles. Are they dangerous? Am I safe?"
"Yes," replied the Doctor in an unconvincing tone.
"Doctor… if your lot got rid of Huon particles, why did they do that?"
"Because they were deadly," The Doctor admitted.
"Oh, my God…" Donna whimpered, feeling even more scared. The Doctor looked at her with a gentle expression, his voice soft.
"I'll sort it out, Donna. Whatever's been done to you, I'll reverse it. I won't lose you."
"I trust you," Donna nodded. The moment is suddenly interrupted by loud crashes and bangs that seemed to come from all around them. The creaky, evil voice of the Empress echoed in the room.
"Oh, she is long since lost," The wall ahead of them slid upwards slowly, revealing a huge chamber with a large round hole in the middle of the floor. "I have waited so long, hibernating at the edge of the universe…" Lance's eyes widened in terror and he quickly retreated through the back door. "Until the secret heart was uncovered and called out to waken!" Along the walls of the chamber stood more robots, wearing black hoods and armed with weapons. Lance fled down the corridor into the room which held the ladder, whilst the Doctor, Rose and Donna peered down at the gaping hole in the floor.
"Someone's been digging," He murmured. "Oh, very Torchwood. Drilled by laser. How far down does it go?"
"Down and down, all the way to the centre of the Earth!" The Empress hissed.
"Really?" Rose gaped at the hole, quite surprised. "Seriously? What for?"
Donna shuffled forwards a bit and murmured quietly. "Dinosaurs?"
"What?" The Doctor frowned.
"Dinosaurs?"
"What are you on about, dinosaurs?"
"That film, Under the Earth, with dinosaurs!" Donna sighed. "Trying to help!"
"That's not helping," The Doctor shook his head and smirked. Rose and Donna giggled a bit.
"Such a sweet couple!" snarled the Empress.
"Only a madman talks to thin air and trust me, you don't want to make me mad. Where are you?"
"High in the sky…" The Empress let out a shrill laugh, her voice dreamy. "Floating so high on Christmas Night."
"I didn't come all this way to talk on the intercom!" The Doctor was full of confidence now, striding forward and looking around. "Come on, let's have a look at you!"
The Empress watched the trio with a smirk through her screen. "Who are you with such command?"
"I'm the Doctor."
"Prepare your best medicines, doctor-man, for you will be sick at heart." The Empress teleported herself down into the chamber, snarling and growling at the group. She was enormous compared to them; she filled most of the chamber. Her six black eyes were filled with hatred and rage, her eight legs disgustingly thin and bony. Rose and Donna looked up with horrified expressions, staying very close to the Doctor.
"The Racnoss…" The Doctor gazed up with wide eyes, recognising the creature immediately. "But that's impossible; you're one of the Racnoss!"
"Empress of the Racnoss!" boasted the Empress with a snarl. Elsewhere, Lance was sneaking around through the base, climbing up the ladder and through another corridor.
"If you're the Empress, where's the rest of the Racnoss?" The Doctor frowned, pacing and keeping his eyes fixed on the Empress. "Or… are you the only one?"
"Such a sharp mind!" The Empress hissed.
"The Racnoss come from the Dark Times, billions of years ago, billions," He explained to Rose and Donna. "They were carnivores, omnivores, they devoured whole planets."
"Racnoss are born starving! Is that our fault?"
"They eat people?" Rose grimaced at the thought of billions of Racnoss eating humans.
"HC Clements, did he wear those… those, erm, black and white shoes?" The Doctor enquired, glancing up at the ceiling and looking grim.
"He did!" Donna giggled. "We used to laugh; we used to call him the fat cat in spats." The Doctor nodded to a large web on the ceiling, where a pair of black and white shoes were poking out, still attached to the poor HC Clements. Donna gasped and Rose whimpered. "Oh, my God!"
"Mm, my Christmas dinner!" The Empress cackled.
"You shouldn't even exist!" The Doctor frowned. "Way back in history, the Fledgling Empires went to war against the Racnoss, they were wiped out!" Lance appeared on a small balcony above the Empress, unbeknownst to her. Donna and Rose both spotted him quickly, and he motioned for them to stay quiet.
"Except for me," snarled the Empress proudly.
"But that's what I've got inside me," Donna stepped forward, attempting to distract the Empress. "That Huon energy thing. Oi! Look at me, lady, I'm talking! Where do I fit in? How comes I get all stacked up with these Huon particles?" Lance moved closer to the Empress, wielding an axe. "Look at me, you! Look me in the eye and tell me!"
"Oh, the bride is so feisty!" cackled the Empress, amused at Donna's attempt to be brave.
"Yes, I am!" Donna shouted. "And I don't know what you are, you big… thing. But a spider's just a spider and an axe is an axe!" She gazed up at Lance hopefully as he swung the axe, the Empress spinning around and snarling, but… Lance suddenly stopped. A short pause. He looked at Donna and laughed, the Empress cackling with him. Something wasn't right.
"That was a good one!" Lance laughed loudly. "Your face!"
"Lance is funny," The Empress shrieked with laughter.
Donna glared at both of them, terribly confused. "What?"
"I'm sorry," The Doctor murmured quietly.
"What's happening?" Rose glanced at the Doctor with a look of concern on her face.
"Lance is betraying us," He whispered.
"Lance, don't be so stupid!" Donna frowned deeply. "Get her!"
"God, she's thick!" He looked at Donna pityingly, but there was a nasty tone to his voice. "Months I had to put up with her. Months. A woman who can't even point to Germany on a map."
Donna let out a whimper, even more confused and growing a little upset. "I don't… understand."
"How did you meet him?" The Doctor asked softly, already knowing the answer.
"In the office," she replied.
"He made you coffee," He pointed out.
"What?" Donna frowned.
"Every day, I made you coffee!" Lance shouted, as if he was addressing an idiot.
"You had to be dosed with liquid particles over six months," The Doctor explained.
"He was… poisoning me?" Donna's eyes grew wide, she was becoming very upset.
"It was all there in the job title. The Head of Human Resources," The Doctor hissed, disgusted at Lance's behaviour and attitude. Humans were so disgusting, sometimes.
"This time, it's personnel!" Lance smirked, sharing a laugh with the Racnoss.
"But…" Donna still couldn't make this all sink in. Her life with Lance was so perfect. They had a whole future planned out together. "We were getting married."
"Well, I couldn't risk you running off," Lance sneered. "I had to say yes. And then I was stuck with a woman who thinks the height of excitement is a new flavour Pringle. Oh, I had to sit there and listen to all that yap yap yap. 'Oh, Brad and Angelina… is Posh pregnant?' X Factor, Atkins Diet, Feng Shiu, split ends, text me, text me, text me! Dear God, the never ending fountain of fat, stupid trivia!" Donna's face fell even more as she listened to the abuse, Lance's voice full of hatred and sarcasm. "I deserve a medal!"
"Oh, is that what she's offered you?" The Doctor sneered, defending his friend. "The Empress of the Racnoss? What are you? Her consort?"
"It's better than a night with her," Lance replied, his hateful eyes darting to Donna.
Donna whimpered, Rose placing a comforting hand on her shoulder. "But I love you."
Lance's tone was so selfish. "That's what made it easy. It's like you said, Doctor. The big picture. What's the point of it all if the Human Race is nothing? That's what the Empress can give me. The chance to... go out there. To see it. The size of it all. I think you understand that, don't you, Doctor?"
"Who is this little physician? And his Wolf?" The Empress snarled.
Lance glared at the Doctor and Rose. "What she said. Martian."
"Oh, I'm sort of… homeless," The Doctor held Rose close. "She's stuck with me. But the point is, what's down here? The Racnoss are extinct. What's gonna help you four thousand miles down? That's just the molten core of the Earth, isn't it?"
"I think he wants us to talk," Lance smirked.
"I think so too," The Empress cackled.
"Well, tough! All we need is Donna!"
"Kill this chattering little doctor-man and his Bad Wolf!" shrieked the Empress.
Donna moved forward and stood in front of the Doctor and Rose protectively, her heart thumping in her chest, tears springing into her eyes. "Don't you hurt them!"
"No, no, it's all right," The Doctor murmured to Donna.
"No, I won't let them!" She replied, frightened for the safety of her friends. Her only friends, by the sound of things.
"At arms!" The Empress shrieked. The robots standing around the room pointed their guns straight at the Doctor and Rose.
"Ah. Now. Except," The Doctor tried to interrupt.
"Take aim!" The robots shifted to take aim.
"Well, I just want to point out the obvious," He tried again to interrupt the Empress, his arms protective around Rose.
"They won't hit the bride," The Empress hissed. "They're very good shots."
"Just, just, just hold on, just a tick, just a tiny, just a little tick," The Doctor uttered, wanting the Empress's attention. "If you think about it, the particles activated in Donna and drew her inside my spaceship. So! Reverse it… the spaceship comes to her." He gently moved the tube of Huon particles that caused Donna and the particles to glow.
"Fire!" The Empress cried. The robots fired their guns, but it was too late, the magnificent TARDIS had already materialised around them. They were safe, for now. The Doctor darted to the console, Rose grinning as she followed.
"Off we go!" He pulled a lever and the TARDIS dematerialised swiftly, the bullets having no effect whatsoever on the blue box.
"My key! My key!" The Empress shrieked in horror as Donna was whisked away.
"Oh, you know what I said before about time machines?" The Doctor grinned. "Well, I lied. And now we're gonna use it." The TARDIS was spinning through the deep blue swirling vortex. "We need to find out what the Empress of the Racnoss is digging up. If something's buried at the planet core, it must've been there since the beginning. That's just brilliant. Molto bene! I've always wanted to see this..." He looked very excited. "Donna, Rose, we're going further back than I've ever been before." He turned back to look at Rose and Donna, his grin fading a bit. Rose was comforting Donna, who was crying silently.
"If a key is lost, then another must be cut!" The Empress cackled. "At arms!" The robots turned their guns to Lance, and his smug nasty face disappeared immediately.
Elsewhere, the TARDIS arrived at their destination and whirred quietly. The Doctor approached the girls, looking concerned. "We've arrived… want to see?"
"Come on…" Rose smiled kindly at Donna. "It'll be amazing. Promise."
"I s'pose," Donna shrugged, standing up slowly and joining the others as they walked over to the doors.
"No human's ever seen this," He smiled. "You'll both be the first."
"All I want to see is my bed," Donna whimpered.
"Rose Tyler, Donna Noble… welcome to the creation of the Earth." The Doctor opened the doors to reveal a spectacular, breath-taking sight. Rose's eyes widened in wonder and Donna's mouth fell straight open. The Sun shined brightly through beautiful dust and gas clouds, swirling in gorgeous vivid colours amongst enormous grey and brown rocks floating around. "We've gone back 4.6 billion years. There's no solar system, not yet. Only dust and rocks and gas," He pointed at the Sun. "That's the Sun over there, brand new. Just beginning to burn."
"Where's the Earth?" Rose asked, looking around and taking in the view. She'd seen the destruction of the Earth, and now she was seeing the creation. It was wonderful.
"All around us…" The Doctor held Rose's hand tightly. "In the dust."
"Puts the wedding in perspective…" Donna sighed. "Lance was right. We're just... tiny."
"No, but that's what you do," He smiled, admiration in his voice. "The human race. Making sense out of chaos. Marking it out with weddings and Christmas and calendars. This whole process is beautiful, but only if it's being observed."
"So, me and Rose came out of all this?" Donna asked, looking out at the beautiful swirling dust.
The Doctor couldn't help but grin. "Isn't that brilliant?"
A huge chunk of rock floated past the TARDIS, and Donna laughed a bit despite feeling devastated about Lance. "I think that's the Isle of Wight."
"Eventually, gravity takes hold," explained the Doctor. "Say, one big rock, heavier than the others, starts to pull other rocks towards it. All the dust and gas and elements get pulled in, everything, piling in until you get the..."
"Earth," Rose breathed, grinning and loving the view.
"But the question is... what was that first rock?" The Doctor watched very closely as a star shaped rock emerged slowly through the clouds and gas.
"Look!" Donna's eyes widened as she noticed the star shaped rock.
"The Racnoss..." he whispered.
Back inside the underground base, the robots were force-feeding water poisoned with Huon particles to Lance. The Empress was cackling, pleased that her plan was back on track. "Now I have measured the bride's catalysis, I can force feed it! Drink the particles. Become the key!" Lance struggled madly, his perfect little plan was going completely wrong.
"Hold on," The Doctor frowned. "The Racnoss are hiding from the war! What's it doing?" He watched closely as the rocks and particles of dust and gas zoomed towards the Racnoss web, as if drawn by a magnetic force.
"Exactly what you said," Rose's eyes widened as she watched the process outside.
"Oh, they didn't just bury something at the centre of the Earth..." The Doctor's tone was full of realisation. "They became the centre of the Earth. The first rock." Suddenly, the TARDIS shuddered violently, the trio nearly falling over.
"What was that?" Donna frowned, worried as she regained her balance.
The Doctor slammed the doors shut. "Trouble."