Martha dashed as fast as she could through the hospital corridor, her mind whirring and her heart pounding. Florence Finnegan was a vampire? An alien? The Judoon must be looking for her! She met up with the Doctor and Rose quickly, panting slightly.
"I've restored the backup!" The Doctor announced proudly.
"I found her," Martha uttered.
"You what?" He peered down the corridor. The Slabs were coming. "RUN!" He took Rose's and Martha's hands, running with the girls. They sprinted down the stairs, noticing Judoon ahead of them and dodging out of a doorway on the fourth floor. The Slabs were hot on their tales and they skidded around corners, darting through other patients, racing into the radiology room. The Doctor slammed the door and locked it quickly. "When I say 'now', press the button, Martha. Rose, go and help her."
"I don't know which one!" Martha stepped into the control room, looking at the controls in exasperation.
"Me neither! Wait…" Rose pulled out the Operator's Manual. "Maybe this'll help?" They flicked through it manically, trying to find the right instructions. The Doctor pulled the sonic out and whirred it across the radiology machine, whilst the Slabs broke down the door.
"NOW!" Rose pressed a big red button and the Doctor used the machine to zap the Slab with radiation. The Slab fell dead, Rose and Martha watching with wide eyes.
"What did you do?" Martha watched the Slab carefully.
"Increased the radiation by five thousand per cent," The Doctor replied, smiling. "Killed him dead."
"Isn't that likely to kill you?" Rose frowned.
"Nah, it's only radiation. We used to play with roentgen bricks in the nursery. It's safe for you both to come out, I've absorbed it all. All I need to do is expel it…" He started to bounce and hop around on one foot. "If I concentrate, I can shake the radiation out of my body and into one spot. It's in my left show. Here we go, here we go… easy does it…" He shook his foot madly. "Out! Out, out, out, out! Ah, ah, ah! It is, it is, it is hot! Ah, hold on!" He snatched his shoe away from his foot and flung it into the dustbin. "Done."
"You're completely mad!" Martha watched with her eyebrows raised.
"Right. I look daft with one shoe," He removed his other shoe and chucked it in the bin, grinning madly. "Barefoot on the moon!"
"You're ridiculous." Rose giggled softly at the sight of him grinning like an idiot, with no shoes on. Martha rolled her eyes and turned to look at the Slab.
"So, what is that thing? And where's it from? The planet Zovirax?"
"It's just a Slab," The Doctor crouched down to examine the Slab. "They're called Slabs. Basic slave drones, see? Solid leather, all the way through. Someone has got one hell of a fetish."
"It came with that woman, Mrs Finnegan. It was working for her. Just like a servant…" Martha murmured, looking disgusted. The Doctor turned, his eyes widening as he pulled the remains of his sonic screwdriver out of the x-ray machine. It had been fried.
"My sonic screwdriver!"
"She was one of the patients, but…" Martha continued.
"My sonic screwdriver!"
"She had a straw like some kind of… vampire!"
"I loved my sonic screwdriver!" The Doctor pouted like a child.
"Doctor!" Martha frowned.
"Sorry," He chucked the sonic screwdriver away, smiling. "You called me Doctor."
"Anyway!" She rolled her eyes. "Miss Finnegan is the alien. She was drinking Mr Stoker's blood."
"Funny time to take a snack. You'd think she'd be hiding. Unless… no. Yes, that's it, wait a minute! Yes! Shape-changer. Internal shape-changer. She wasn't drinking blood, she was assimilating it!" The Doctor's face fell in realisation. Florence Finnegan strolled into a corridor, wiping her lips clean. The Judoon approached her.
"Prepare to be catalogued!" The chief Judoon shone the blue light into her face.
"If she can assimilate Mr Stoker's blood, mimic the morphology, she can register as human!" The Doctor explained. "We've got to find her and show the Judoon. Come on!" The three of them ran, but it was too late. The chief Judoon had recognised Florence as human, and drew a cross onto her hand. She looked down at it with a contented smile. The Doctor, Rose and Martha hid behind a water cooler, watching the other Slab as it walked aimlessly down the hallway. "That's the thing about Slabs. They always travel in pairs."
"Like you two?" Martha looked at Rose and the Doctor carefully.
"Like us what?" He frowned a bit.
"I mean, you two are like two peas in a pod."
"I suppose we are…" Rose smiled, blushing.
"Uh. Humans. We're stuck on the moon running out of air with Judoon and a bloodsucking criminal, you're asking personal questions. Come on!" He stepped out from behind the water cooler carefully, followed by the girls.
"I like that," Martha scoffed. "Humans. I'm still not convinced you're an alien," She spoke too soon. They stepped out accidentally in front of a Judoon, who shone his blue light on the Doctor's face.
"Non-human!" The Judoon uttered.
"Oh my God, you really are!" Martha looked at him in shock.
"And again!" The Doctor rolled his eyes and ran with Rose and Martha by his side, the Judoon shooting after them. They dodged the gun's fire and ran up the stairs, managing to lock a door behind them. They had ended up in a corridor, where people were falling to the ground, gasping for breath. Suffocating. "They've done this floor. Come on. The Judoon are logical and just a little bit thick. They won't go back to check a floor they've checked already. If we're lucky."
Martha noticed Swales walking by and stopped her. "How much oxygen is there?"
"Not enough for all these people," Swales looked immensely worried and stressed. "We're going to run out."
"How are you both feeling?" The Doctor turned to Rose and Martha. "Are you both all right?"
"I'm fine," Rose nodded.
"I'm running on adrenaline," Martha grinned.
"Welcome to my world."
"What about the Judoon?" Rose asked. "Won't they suffocate, too?"
"Ah, great big lung reserves, it won't slow them down," He replied. "Where's Mr Stoker's office?"
"It's this way," Martha led the way down the corridor and into Mr Stoker's office. He was lying dead on the floor, his skin an ugly pale grey. "She's gone! She was here!"
"Drained him dry!" The Doctor examined Mr Stoker. "Every last drop. I was right. She's a plasmavore."
"What's she doing on Earth?" Rose bit her lip when she saw Mr Stoker's dead body. Poor bloke, she thought.
"Hiding. On the run. Like Ronald Biggs in Rio de Janeiro. What's she doing now? She's still not safe. The Judoon could execute us all. Come on." He headed straight to the door.
"Hold on," Martha went over to Mr Stoker's body, closing his eyes, and then leaving along with the Doctor and Rose.
"Think, think, think. If I was a plasmavore surrounded by police, what would I do?" He glanced at the MRI sign, and sighed. "Ah. She's as clever as me. Almost."
"Find the non-human!" The Judoon were almost in the same corridor as them. "Execute!"
"Rose, I need you to stay here. I need time," He turned to her, looking very serious. "Martha needs to be with me. You're going to have to hold them up."
"How do I do that?" Rose glanced towards the Judoon at the end of the corridor, looking worried.
"Rose…" He sighed. Words couldn't explain his feelings enough, and there was no time to explain, so he simply framed her face in his hands and kissed her. Martha felt the slightest twang of… jealously? The Doctor turned and ran with Martha afterwards, leaving Rose a little breathless and quite happy. "You need to stay outside this room," He ordered to Martha. "Stay hidden until the Judoon arrive," He stepped into the MRI room, the machine making unhealthy, strange noises. Florence Finnegan was standing proudly at the controls. "Have you seen – there are these things, those great big space rhino things! I mean, rhinos from space! And we're on the moon! Great big space rhinos with guns on the moon! And I only came in for my bunions, look!" He showed his feet to Florence, putting on quite a good innocent act. "They're all right now, perfectly good treatment, I said to my wife, I'd recommend this place to anyone, but then we end up on the moon! And did I mention the rhinos?"
"Hold him!" Florence hissed, the remaining Slab taking hold of the Doctor. Meanwhile, Rose stood bravely as the Judoon approached her.
"Find the non-human!" The chief Judoon ordered. "Execute."
"Listen! I know who you're looking for; she killed another worker. Her name's Florence Finnegan." Rose explained bravely, her heart thumping fast as the Judoon examined her with the blue light.
"Human," The Judoon paused. "With non-human traits suspected! Non-human element confirmed! Authorize full scan. What are you? What are you?"
Meanwhile, the Doctor watched Florence Finnegan as she fussed around with the MRI machine, being held back by the Slab. "That thing, that big machine thing, is it supposed to be making that noise?"
"You wouldn't understand," She muttered.
"Isn't that a magnetic resonance imaging thing? Like a ginormous sort of magnet? I did magnets at GCSE. Well, I failed, but all the same."
"The magnetic setting is now set to 50,000 Tesla." She smiled evilly.
"Ooh," He frowned. "That's a bit strong, isn't it?"
"I can send out a magnetic pulse that will fry the brain-stems of every living thing within 250,000 miles. Except for me, safe in this room."
"But… hold on, hold on, I did geography for GCSE. I did pass that one, doesn't that distance include the Earth?"
"Only the side facing the moon," Florence sneered. "The other half will survive. Call it my little gift."
"I'm sorry, you'll have to forgive me, I'm a little out of my depth. I've spent the past fifteen years working as a postman, hence the bunions – why would you do that?"
"With everyone dead, the Judoon ships will be mine, to make my escape!"
"Now, that's weird…" The Doctor frowned at her. "You're talking like you're some sort of alien."
"Right-o," Florence smirked.
"No!" He gasped.
"Oh, yes."
"You're joshing me."
"I am not."
"I'm talking to an alien?" He put on a very good shocked mask. "In hospital? What has the place got an ET department?"
"It's the perfect hiding place. Blood banks downstairs for a midnight feast, and all this equipment I'm ready to arm myself with should the police come looking."
"So, those rhinos, they're looking for you?"
"Yes," Florence smiled. "But I'm hidden."
"Oh. Right. Maybe that's why they're increasing their scans."
Florence's smile disappeared. "They're doing what?"
"Big chief rhino boy, he said, no sign of a non-human, we must increase our scans up to… setting two?"
"Then I must assimilate again." Florence reached into her pocket for her straw.
"What does that mean?"
"I must appear to be human."
"Well, you're welcome to come home and meet the wife!" He smiled. "She'd be honoured. We can have cake!"
"Why should I have cake?" She held up her straw, smirking. "I've got my little straw."
"That's nice. Milkshake? I like banana."
"You're quite the funny man. And yet, I think, laughing on purpose at the darkness," She hissed. "I think it's time you found some peace. Steady him!" The Slab held him tightly as Florence approached.
"What are you doing?"
"I'm afraid this is going to hurt," She cackled. "But if it's any consolation, the dead don't tend to remember!"
Meanwhile, the Judoon marked a cross on Rose's hand. "Confirmed: human! Traces of facial contact with non-human. Continue the search," He handed Rose a slip of paper. "You will need this."
"What's this for?" Rose frowned.
"Compensation." The Judoon strode into the MRI room, Rose meeting up with Martha, both of them looking worried.
"Where's the Doctor?"
"He told me to wait out here," Martha glanced at the Judoon as he entered the MRI room. Both girls peeked behind the Judoon. The Doctor was lying still on the floor, Florence Finnegan crouched over him, hiding her straw.
"Now see what you've done!" Florence put on her innocent old lady act again. "This poor man just died of fright!"
"Scan him!" The chief Judoon scanned the Doctor with his device. "Confirmation: deceased."
"No!" Rose whimpered, staring down at the Doctor. "He can't be!"
"Let me through!" Martha pushed past the Judoon. "Let me see him!"
"Stop. Case closed." The chief Judoon uttered.
"But it was her!" Rose pointed at Florence, looking disgusted. "She killed him! She did it, she murdered him!"
"The Judoon have no authority over human crime."
"But she's not human!" Rose argued, frowning at the Judoon. What a useless police force, she thought.
"Oh, but I am…" Florence tried not to smirk. Her plan could still continue. "I've been catalogued."
"But she's not! She assimil—" Martha paused. "Wait a minute. You drank his blood. The Doctor's blood." She snatched the Judoon's scanner and shone it over Florence.
"Oh, all right!" Florence sneered. "Scan all you like."
"Non-human!" The Judoon announced. Florence's eyes widened.
"What?"
"Confirm analysis."
"Oh, but it's a mistake, surely!" She tried to save herself. "I'm human. I'm as human as they come."
"He gave his life so they'd find you…" Rose whimpered, crouching down next to the Doctor, stroking his cold cheek.
"Confirmed: Plasmavore. I charge you with the crime of murdering the princess of Patrival Regency Nine." The chief Judoon approached her and trapped her.
"She deserved it!" Florence snarled. "Those pink cheeks and those blonde curls and that simpering voice. She was begging for the bite of a plasmavore."
"Do you confess?"
"Confess? I'm proud of it! Slab – stop them!"
The Slab pulled out a gun, but the Judoon shot it first and it disintegrated. "Verdict: guilty. Sentence: execution!" Rose and Martha noticed the warning sign light up: MAGNETIC OVERLOAD. They were running out of time.
"Enjoy your victory, Judoon, because you're going to burn with me!" Florence hissed. "Burn in hell!" She let out a scream as the Judoon disintegrated her. Martha kneeled next to Rose, both of them looking at the Doctor in worry.
"Case closed!" The chief Judoon pocketed his gun.
"What did she mean, burn with me?" Rose looked at the MRI machine fearfully. "She's done something to that machine!"
"Scans detect lethal acceleration of monomagnetic pulse." The chief Judoon stated.
"Well, do something!" Martha frowned. "Stop it!"
"Our jurisdiction has ended. Judoon will evacuate."
"You can't just leave it!" Rose was trying not to panic. "What's it going to do?"
"All units withdraw." The chief Judoon departed with his troops. The warning sign continued to flash.
"What about the air?" Martha watched the Judoon in horror as they left. "We're running out of air! You can't go! That thing's going to explode and it's all your fault!"
"Martha, can you do CPR?" Rose didn't care about the Judoon now, they needed to focus on saving the Doctor.
"I can try…" Martha started to apply the techniques she learnt on the Doctor, pumping his chest with her hands. "One two three four five. One two three four five," She paused. "Wait… two hearts!" She moved to the other side of his chest and began pumping. "One two three four five. One two three four five." The Doctor was revived, he started to gasp and cough. Martha and Rose were both running out of air and looking weak. "The scanner… she did something…"
The Doctor coughed as he crawled over to the MRI machine, staggering up and unplugging it. He gathered Rose and Martha into his arms, looking quite worried as he carried both of them down the corridor. Patients and doctors alike were weak or unconscious due to oxygen starvation. He looked out of the window at the Judoon ships hopefully. "Come on, come on, come on… Come on, Judoon! Reverse it!" It started to rain outside. A grin immediately formed on his lips. "It's raining. It's raining on the moon." In a flash of white light, the hospital disappeared.
It reappeared where it originally stood, on the end of Chancery Street. Tish and the other onlookers gasped as they looked up at the building, everyone immediately running inside to find loved ones. Ambulances from other hospitals arrived, and the emergency care commenced. The Doctor sat on a brick wall by the hospital, examining Rose. "Still feeling light-headed?"
"I think I'm okay, now…" Rose smiled and wrapped her arms around him, relieved that he was okay. "You saved us all. Again. You're wonderful, you know that?"
"Eh. Couldn't have done it without you or Martha." He shrugged, smiling and hugging her tightly in return.
"I told them I represented the human race!" Morgenstern was talking to a large crowd of TV interviewers and camera crew from different news stations. "I told them, you can't do that. I said, you can't do that, we have rights!"
"Martha!" Tish noticed her sister sitting outside the hospital, and immediately gave her a hug. "Oh, God! I thought you were dead! What happened? It was so weird, because the police wouldn't say, they didn't have a clue. And I tried phoning, but I couldn't get through. Mum's on her way, but she couldn't get through, they've closed off all the roads," Martha noticed the Doctor and Rose walking away, towards a strange 1960s Police Box. They both smiled and waved at her. She smiled back, but a truck passed by, blocking her view for a moment. When the truck had passed, the Doctor, Rose and the TARDIS were gone. Tish was still talking. "There's thousands of people trying to get in, the whole city's ground to a halt, and Dad phoned, 'cause it's on the news and everything, he was crying! It's been a mess, and what happened? I mean, what really happened? Where were you?"
Martha was too busy staring at the place where the TARDIS once stood. She could hear the last traces of… engines? But, it didn't sound like a car engine, or a plane engine… no, it sounded different… mysterious… beautiful…