He remained motionless as several Skrulls dressed in white strapped him into the skeleton of a metal chair. They straightened his legs and secured them together, leaving his arms free, because why not? The Skrull had already captured him and once someone was in their custody no one is able to escape. Not like the Doctor had any plans of escaping just yet. He was still working on that.
Standing across from him was the Skrullian Captain and his second in command. They snarled at him, but then maybe that was just their face. He didn't really care as he glared at them, never blinking and never turning his gaze.
A red light flashed from the side and a machine was activated, roaring to life and grinding its many gears. One of the white clad Skrullians approached the Doctor's front, holding a thin, metal cage made up of undulating wires. Something was squirming around in there, sounding like steel scraping on steel. The cage bucked in the Skrull's hands and the Doctor frowned. Several something's.
He watched the cage open automatically and three things like metal centipedes fell out. They landed with a clang on the grated floor and immediately clambered up the Doctor's frame. He resisted the urge to shudder, returning his gaze to the two leaders in the room. No, he wasn't about to give them the satisfaction. They will only get his disgust, his rage, and no second chances.
One of the centipedes slithered around his neck, pricking his skin with pincers. A computer beeped in response as the remaining two creatures found their way under his shirt. The second in command checked the tablet he was holding, his lips curling and nostrils flaring like a bulls. Meeting the Doctor's glare, he leaned over and whispered something to his Captain.
"Oh yes I know," The Doctor spoke up loudly, cutting off their conversation, "Two hearts isn't exactly a human trait now is it?"
The Captain stiffened, squaring his shoulders and coming closer to glower over the Doctor. The Doctor could smell his breath; like the half eaten corpse of a Dyret left in the Delurian sun. He almost gagged, but he bit his tongue and concentrated on the transport piece strapped to the Skrull's chest. It was a bit outdated, nothing like the Skrull technology for this millennium. In fact everything about this space army seemed outdated, right down to their roman like armour.
He glanced up at the Captain, the pieces still coming together with only a few empty spaces to fill.
"Who are you?" demanded the Captain.
"A question I've been asking myself a lot lately." said the Doctor. "But you might have heard of my name...They call me the Doctor."
He half expected for the beast to blanch, to screech in a rage and throw a fit. After all, that is what most other monsters did when they heard his name. There was rarely a time when someone had not at least heard of what he has done, but the Skrull simply blinked in confusion. Silence permitted the room and the Doctor glanced around, absorbing the lack of reaction.
"We have never heard of your kind." the Captain responded. "What is your species, inferior being?"
"Captain Ullroc," muttered his second, "There is something in his right breast pocket."
The Captain, Ullroc roughly pushed around the Doctor's jacket, folding it over and flicking away the metal centipedes. Thick fingers scrounged inside the Doctor's pocket and quickly retrieved his sonic screwdriver. He held it aloft, his granite cheeks slowly turning to brown stone.
"Oh look at that." observed the Doctor sarcastically. "You found my screwdriver. Wonderful."
"This is Time Lord technology." said Ullroc.
"So you have heard of my species."
The Skrull Captain rounded on his second, "Activate the hibernation. He will be our greatest prize with our return to Grundor."
His second in command growled in response and the remaining Skrull scattered from the area. Several went to operate the computers surrounding the Doctor and a cannon gun was lowered. An ugly red light was charged along the gun's sides and a high whining gave warning as it prepared to fire. The Doctor didn't flinch, staring down the muzzle that now smouldered with the power of the laser.
"3...2...1." he said.
There was a rattling clunk and the gun shut down, hanging limp in its casing. Captain Ullroc rammed his fist against the wall with an angry cry. Turning, he grabbed one of his technicians by the throat and swiftly crushed him to the ground. Gravel crunched and stone split. Ullroc slowly released his grip on the dead Skrull and rotated his head, cracking it to the side to glare at his captive.
"Don't worry," said the Doctor, "Equipment failure can happen to the best of us. Of course it helps that my Time Lord technology deactivated your hibernation networks when I summoned you."
"You did not summon us." snarled Ullroc, nearly beside himself with fury. "You were captured by our superior minds. You are our prisoner, Droargon Bearealve."
The Doctor had half a mind to be insulted by such a name, but it wasn't worth his time. He still needed to get to the Captain's deck.
"Just keep telling yourself that, Ullroc." he said. "But I should warn you-"
Grabbing the metal centipede from his neck, he dragged its sharpened legs along the straps over his knees and ankles. The Leather snapped back and he sat up from the metal chair, his steely gaze trained on the Captain.
"Arrogance always tends to make you underestimate your opposition and you should never underestimate me."
The Skrulls were racing from the room, abandoning their Captain in a heart beat. Now there was the reaction the Doctor had come to expect, but they were only lackeys. Those with military ranking were the only ones that remained which left the Captain and his second.
"Who are you?" questioned Ullroc.
The Doctor stepped down from the hibernation converter and straightened his tie, letting his hair flop across his eyes.
"Like I said." he replied. "I'm the Doctor. Now, bring me to your Captain's deck. I want an audience with your leader."
"You think you're so clever." Alison grunted. "Locking me in and leaving me alone...For the second time in a row."
She pushed through the last row of statues, her jacket hem catching in the fingers of a hibernating man and causing him to tip. Hissing out a gasp, she lunged for his stone figure before he reached the ground and landed with him clutched in her arms. She bruised her knees, but at least his statue hadn't shattered into a thousand pieces. Alison shuddered to think what the man would like if he were ever reanimated that way.
Holding him close to her chest, she struggled to her feet and repositioned him back into his row. She let out a sigh of relief and stood, bracing her arms on his shoulders as she caught her breath. Absently she looked him over, his broad frame and young, handsome face catching her attention momentarily. His hair was wavy and brushed to the side, strands sticking out, probably from when he was running away. The man wore a dress shirt with rolled up sleeves and a vest that bore engraved signs of a chain to a pocket watch. She half grinned at his dated fashion, idly wondering what colour his eyes were behind his half moon spectacles.
The room shuddered and she heard a rolling clunk echo from somewhere on the ship. Alison steadied the statues nearest to her and held her breath as the lights went out. She glanced up in the darkness, wondering what was going on and where the Doctor was running about. Standing in pitch black for several seconds, she realized that the lights were not coming back on which was really the icing on top of this whole adventure. She was now stuck in a room full of stone people and she couldn't see a thing.
Instinctively she reached out for the man's hand and retrieved it at the last second. There was no sense sitting around holding hands because she was scared. What was her original plan? To find another way out.
Alison dug into her pockets, searching for her ipod that she had transferred from her old clothes. It was sticking half way up of her back jean pocket and she pulled it out, activating its screen. The white light glared up at her and she withdrew it from her face to shine it at the nearby walls. Blinking watery eyes from the light's exposure, she navigated her way around the room, being careful not to touch the statues.
Hitting a side wall without finding anything useful, she doubled back and came across a set of iron rungs on the other side. She tilted her ipod up and examined the ladder scaling the wall all the way up to the ceiling. Or at least she supposed it went to the ceiling, but she couldn't really tell with her scarce light. It was better than nothing though and she turned off her ipod, stuffing it in her back pocket again.
Blindly feeling around, she at last latched onto one of the rungs and hauled herself up. Alison didn't waste time contemplating what she would find at the top, climbing the ladder with a determination that almost blinded her. All she could think of was how the Doctor kept on locking her up when it was very clear that she could take care of her herself. She was basically the only human left in the city who hadn't been captured.
"And the only one mental enough to sneak onto their ship." she muttered to the dark.
She stopped to rest, leaning away from the rungs to try and spot the ground. It was faint but she could just see the grey stone of the statues' heads. There was at least a two story's distance between her and the ground now. Alison glanced above her, trying to make out any type of ceiling. Nothing. It was all black.
Sucking in a weary sigh, she braced herself for how ever long it would take and continued to climb. Her head banged into a metal hatch three feet up and she almost lost her grip as her ears rang. Wrapping an arm around a rung, she freed her other hand and held her head, cursing sharply under her breath. That was unexpected, but she probably should have known better. The Skrull seemed to like black metal which could easily be disguised by the dark.
The hatch opened and she was momentarily blinded by the bright light that was released. Still holding her head, she felt hard, meaty hands grab her by the shoulders and heard the rough dialect of the Skrull. They wrenched her from her perch where she was held aloft between two of the beasts, her feet just skimming the ground.
A Skrull with blue war paint looked her over, taking her jaw in his square fingers and turning her head to the side. It took her a moment, but she recognized him as one of the granite creatures that had landed in front of the Washington Monument.
"She's the one." he announced.
"Is there a problem officer?" she asked in an attempt to hide her trembling.
The Skrull smirked and looked to the two holding her, "Give her a black out."
"Because I have a couple of things to say-"
She didn't get to finish, one of her capturers placing a shimmering black sphere against her mouth. The moment it made contact the sphere warped and spread up along her face. Alison took in a strangled gasp, twisting as the alien thing took over and covered her mouth, nose, and eyes. She screamed, but the sound did not reach past the strange substance. An odd smell was secreted from the liquid/solid form and she lost all will to move her body as she listened to the granite creature give orders to take her to the Captain's deck.