The Doctor fiddled with the necklace in his hand. He had gone to Shan Shen to commission the pendant in question. He wanted Tyra to have something that proved what he was feeling for her. The necklace had a blue background with Gallifreyan writing on it. He had specifically requested that sketch.

His head snapped up when he heard voices coming closer, slipping the pendant into his pocket when he noticed that Tyra wasn't alone "Hey, are you ready?" he asked, looking at the two girls when they entered.

"Always," Martha grinned excitedly.

"Hold on tight, then," the Doctor smiled, the necklace weighing heavily in his pocket.

Tyra moved over to him while he steered the Tardis "Are you okay?"

"Why wouldn't I be?" the Doctor asked.

Tyra studied him for a moment before she shook her head "No reason."


"Where are we?" Martha asked as soon as we stepped out of the Tardis.

The Doctor inhaled exaggeratedly "Ah, smell that Atlantic breeze. Nice and cold. Ty, do you know where we are?"

Tyra glanced around before she blinked, leaning her head up to look at the Statue of Liberty "New York," she smiled at seeing her old home again. Out of all countries and cities, Tyra had spent the most time in England and New York. But mostly because Niklaus seemed to favour England at the time and she was still staying with her siblings back then "Martha? Look up."

"Is that?" she gasped, blinking rapidly at the statue "Oh, my God. That's the Statue of Liberty."

"Gateway to the New World, right Ty?" the Doctor said "Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free."

Martha shook her head "That's so brilliant. I've always wanted to go to New York. I mean, the real New York, not the new, new, new, new, new one."

"Well, there's the genuine article," the Doctor mused "So good, they named it twice. Mind you, it was New Amsterdam originally. Harder to say twice. No wonder it didn't catch on." He grimaced lightly "New Amsterdam, New Amsterdam."

Martha squinted at the city across the sea "I wonder what year it is, because look, the Empire State Building's not even finished yet."

"Work in progress," the Doctor nodded "Still got a couple of floors to go and if I know my history, that makes the date somewhere around…"

"1930," Tyra cut in "Just about, I think."

Martha hummed "November 1st, 1930."

"You're getting good at this," the Doctor said in surprise, turning to face the two girls. He glanced down to see the newspaper in Martha's hand and rolled his eyes.

"Eighty years ago. It's funny because you see all those old newsreels all in black and white like it's so far away but here we are. It's real. It's new." The Doctor grabbed the newspaper from Martha's hands, scanning the article on the front page, while Martha turned to Tyra "Where were you during the 1930s?"

She furrowed her brow "I… I was about to get on my way here, I think. Met up with some friends in New York in 1936 but now I should still be in Japan."

The Doctor put down the newspaper "I think our detour just got longer." He turned around the paper and pointed to the article.

"Hooverville Mystery Deepens," Martha read quietly "What's Hooverville?"

The Doctor didn't answer, instead getting back into the Tardis to bring them closer to Central Park.


"Herbert Hoover, thirty-first President of the USA, came to power a year ago. Up till then, New York was a boomtown, the Roaring Twenties and then…"

"The Wall Street Crash," Martha realized "When was that, 1929?"

Tyra nodded, turning to face her "Lots of people lost their job and all of a sudden, the huddled masses doubled in number and they had nowhere to go. So, they ended up here." She shrugged, waving her hands around "In the middle of Central Park."

"What, they actually live in the park?" Martha wondered "In the middle of the city?"

"Where else should they have gone?" Tyra asked her quietly, glancing at the raggedy tents and the people milling around fires "They lost their jobs and couldn't pay for anything anymore. It's typically human, Martha. No one wants to help them. They're just left here to starve."

The Doctor placed his hand on Tyra's shoulder "You only come to Hooverville when there's nowhere else to go."

"You thieving lowlife," a black man cried out, throwing himself at another man "… for a single loaf of bread."

The other man defended himself from the attack "I didn't touch it."

Tyra's mouth dropped open when she saw the person who left the tent with an older man in tow "What do you two think you're doing?" the woman demanded, glaring at the fighting men.

"He stole my bread," the black man hissed, jabbing his finger at the man he had been fighting with.

"That's enough," the older man sighed, turning to the supposed thief "Did you take it?"

The man's shoulder's sagged forward in defeat, pulling out the loaf of bread "I'm starving, Solomon."

"We're all starving," Solomon told him, taking the bread from him "We all got families somewhere." He broke the bread in half, giving both men a piece "No stealing and no fighting. You know the rules. Thirteen years ago, I fought in the Great War. A lot of us did. And the only reason we got through was because we stuck together. No matter how bad things get, we still act like human beings. It's all we got." The two men nodded, giving each other slightly sheepish smiles before turning to walk off in different directions.

Tyra looked at the very familiar woman who had apparently just noticed her "Well, I haven't seen you in a while," Tyra told her with a grin.

"Tyra," the redhead smiled, holding out her arms to give her a hug "How are you?"

"Am I missing something?" the Doctor blinked "You know her, Tyra?"

Tyra nodded with a grin, her arm still around the woman's waist "Doctor, this is my oldest brother's wife Sage. Sage, this is the Doctor and Martha."

"Nice to meet you, Doctor," Sage smiled, shaking the Doctor's hand.

The Doctor nodded at her before turning to Solomon who had been looking at Sage and Tyra curiously "I suppose that you're the boss around here?"

"Hm," Solomon hummed "And you're the Doctor, no?" He snorted, shaking his head "We've got stockbrokers, lawyers but you're the first doctor. Neighbourhood gets classier by the day."

Martha looked around "How many people live here?"

"At any one time, hundreds," Solomon sighed "No place else to go. But I will say this about Hooverville. We are a truly equal society. Black, white, all the same. All starving but thanks to Miss Sage and Damon, we at least get food regularly. The two of them have been a huge help to all of us."

Tyra's head snapped to Sage "Damon's here too?" she asked before shaking her head "Right… I forgot the two of you were practically inseparable for a while."

"Don't you mean the three of us?" Sage questioned "You're just as close to us even if you had to leave ten years ago."

Solomon cleared his throat, pulling the attention back to himself "The three of you are welcome here… But tell me, Doctor, you're a man of learning, right? Explain this to me. That there's going to be the tallest building in the world." He jabbed his finger at the Empire State Building "How come they can do that when we got people starving in the heart of Manhattan?"

"Come on," Sage gestured "I'll show you around and we can talk while Solomon talks to your friends."

Tyra looked at the Doctor pleadingly "Is that okay?"

"Sure," the Doctor shrugged "Go and talk to your friends… You know, I think this was why Damon was so alright with everything when we met last."

"Ah," Tyra nodded "That… Makes sense."

Martha nudged Tyra from the side "There's a first time for everything, right?"

"Hey," the Doctor huffed "Can you two stop teaming up on me?"

"You wish," Tyra laughed "Come on, Sage. Let's go and find Damon."

Sage grinned and waved her in one direction, while the Doctor, Solomon and Martha walked into another "So, how have you been since you left? You were in… Asia, right?"

"Yeah," Tyra nodded "I went to Japan for a few years before coming back here."

"And where did you meet the Doctor?" she questioned curiously "The two of you seem… close."

Tyra sighed at her words "Well, we are, I suppose. I met him around two years ago in England. Maybe a little more."

"I thought you were in Japan?" Sage frowned.

"Er…" Tyra grimaced lightly "Yeah. I was… It's – complicated. I'll explain later, alright?"

Sage raised her eyebrow "I'll hold you to that, Tyra." She stopped, pulling Tyra into one of the tents "Damon. Look who I found."

Flashback

Damon narrowed his eyes on Stefan who had been talking with some of their descendants "Have you been eating the relatives again?" he asked.

Stefan stiffened "Damon," he greeted coldly.

"It's been a long time, brother," Damon smirked.

"It's been almost fifty years," Stefan agreed "I'm surprised you came."

Damon pretended to be hurt, raising his hand to his chest "And miss the funeral of, what do you call him? Uncle Zachariah?"

"I see you're still mad at me," Stefan noted, seemingly not feeling guilty at all.

That nonchalance made Damon even angrier "Why would I be mad at you, Stefan?" he hissed lowly, glaring at his younger brother "You made me become a vampire and now I walk the world alone, drinking other people's blood."

"Any chance you took it all out on our nephew Zachariah?"

Damon scoffed "If I'm not mistaken, you were the one who killed our family, remember? May father rest in peace."

Stefan shook his head "I'm not like that anymore, Damon."

Damon curled his lip "Well, congratulations, Stefan. But if you'll excuse me, I'd like to live out my eternal existence as far away from you as possible." He turned around, intent on leaving as quickly as he could.

"Damon, wait," Stefan called out, making Damon freeze "Let's grab a drink, catch up." Damon turned around, looking at his brother silently "I've missed you, brother."

Damon dropped his head and sighed "Sure," he shrugged "Why not?"


"You don't seem as happy here as your drinking buddy," a voice spoke up next to Damon. He looked over blearily, seeing a petite brunette leaning against the bar with a small smirk.

"I'm not interested," Damon shook his head, taking another drink from the bottle.

Tyra raised her eyebrow "Yeah? Neither am I but I have heard a lot about you, Damon Salvatore."

The bottle was frozen halfway to his lips "How do you know who I am?"

"Hm," Tyra shrugged "A lot of vampires have heard that Katerina Petrova has picked a new pair of brothers."

"You know Katherine?" Damon breathed, looking up at the girl – vampire, he mentally corrected himself "Please, do you know how to get her out of the tomb?"

"No," Tyra snorted "And even if I did, I wouldn't be telling you. What I can tell you is that Katerina is crafty much to my dismay. If she really got trapped in that tomb, I would be more than a little surprised."

Damon looked at her for a moment, mulling over the words "Who – Who are you?"

"Tyra," she introduced herself and nodded to his other side where a red-haired woman had appeared "And that is Sage, a good friend of mine."

"What do you want with me?"

Tyra sent him a small smile "You looked miserable and we thought you might need a few people to talk to. I heard what you said to the other guy at the cemetery… Your brother? You're alone… Come with us and you don't have to be." She held out her hand for him "No favours, nothing. Sage and I are planning on leaving for New York by Friday. Come and find us if you want to join."

End Flashback

Damon looked up and before Tyra could blink, his arms were wrapped around her "I didn't know you were back in New York, Ty-Ty."

"Stop calling me that, Day-Day," she rolled her eyes. They always reverted back to calling each other by those stupid nicknames sooner or later "And I didn't even know that I was coming back. It was a bit of a surprise. I didn't think the two of you would still be here."

Sage sat down on one of the beds "I was tired of chasing Klaus. And being around Damon and you… Honestly, I didn't have as much fun as this in centuries."

Damon tilted his head "I heard the two of you mention Klaus occasionally. Who is he?"

Tyra exchanged a glance with Sage "You don't want to find out. Trust me on that," she murmured "If you never meet him it would probably be too soon." It wasn't that she hasn't forgiven her brother yet but she knew how he could be and sadly, he tended to be an ass to most people outside of the family… Hell, even their siblings weren't spared his rants and moods.

"I actually have to agree with Tyra on that one," Sage murmured, grimacing at the thought of her brother-in-law. Not that she had seen him much over the past nine centuries but it certainly wasn't for the lack of trying on her part. The few times she had caught up to him though were very… memorable from what Tyra remembered and heard about it.

Damon blinked looking from Tyra to Sage and back "If the two of you are agreeing to this then it has to mean something…"

"It's known to happen occasionally," Tyra shook her head with a grin "I'm somewhat surprised you're here, you know." She leaned onto the younger vampire's shoulder "What with you helping the homeless and all."

"Are you joking?" Damon frowned, looking up at Tyra "Please tell me that you didn't actually mean that."

Tyra snorted "It's as if you don't know me at all," she rolled her eyes at him, sending him a genuine smile "I'm honestly happy that you're doing this. Both of you. This is something you can be proud of."

The Salvatore wrapped his arm around Tyra's waist, leaning his head onto her shoulder "I missed you with us, Tyra."

"I missed you guys too," she told him, burying her face in his hair.

Sage nudged Tyra from behind "You haven't even told him about your friends yet."

Damon looked up, tilting his head "What friends? We're your friends," he pouted "You don't need any more friends."

"Damon, your jealousy is showing," Sage shook her head "But they are… curious to say the least."

"Well, let's meet them then," Damon clapped, pulling at Tyra's arm impatiently.

Tyra followed him, slowing down on purpose. In all honesty, she had almost forgotten how different Damon had been during the first fifty years of his life as a vampire. Not that she minded. Damon was Damon whether he was nice or being an ass… He was still her friend and she loved him for who he was "He's not going to run away, you know. No need to dislocate my arm, Damon."

"He?" Was his strangled reply "Your friend is a 'he'?"

Sage grinned patting Tyra's shoulder "I wasn't going to say anything," she laughed "That's all on you."

"I hate you, Sage," she hissed, groaning when Damon picked up his speed "Damon, can you please slow down? I swear…"

He didn't stop though, instead pulling Tyra into another tent. As soon as they were a little closer, she could hear the Doctor's voice floating from it "But what does missing mean?" the Doctor questioned as the three vampires entered "Men must come and go here all the time. It's not like anyone's keeping a register."

Solomon shook his head, nodding at Sage and Damon in greeting "This is different."

"In what way?" Martha raised her eyebrow, studying Damon from the corner of her eyes. Tyra caught her gaze, tilting her head. Martha shrugged sheepishly, turning back to the actual conversation.

"Someone takes them," Solomon sighed, sitting down on a chair "At night. We hear something, someone calls out for help. By the time we get there, they're gone like they vanished into thin air…"

The Doctor hummed "And you're sure someone's taking them?"

Damon snorted "When you have nothing, you hold onto what little you have. Your knife, blanket, whatever… The people who were taken left everything. Even food sometimes, fire still burning. They're just gone."

"You haven't seen anything either?" Tyra asked him, looking from him to Sage.

They both shook their heads "No. Like Solomon said. They were already gone when we got there."

"So, the question is, who's taking them and what for?" the Doctor summed up, running his hand through his hair "It's good to see you again, Damon."

Damon frowned "I have never met you before. Are you Tyra's friend?"

The Doctor winced lightly and looked at Tyra sheepishly. She sighed, rolling her eyes for what felt like the hundredth time that day "Damon, that's the Doctor and the girl over there is Martha. Martha, I already introduced you to Sage earlier… Meet Damon."

"That still doesn't explain how he knows me already," Damon pointed out with a huff.

"That…"

"Solomon," a voice cut me off. A boy ran into the tent, panting a little "Solomon. Mister Diagoras is here."

Tyra sighed "I'll explain it later, alright?" Solomon groaned but left the tent with the others following.


On a stone close to the entrance of Hooverville was a man with a small crowd gathered in front of him "I need men," Diagoras called out "Volunteers. I've got a little work for you and you sure look like you could use the money."

"Yeah," the boy who had gotten us scoffed "What's the money?"

"A dollar a day," Diagoras shrugged.

Solomon narrowed his eyes "What's the work?"

"A little trip down the sewers. Got a tunnel collapsed needs clearing and fixing. Any takers?" Diagoras questioned, looking into the crowd.

"A dollar a day?" Solomon clarified "That's slave wage. And men don't come back up, do they?"

Diagoras barely moved a muscle "Accidents happen," he murmured.

Tyra grabbed Damon's arm when he made to move forward and shook her head as the Doctor stepped up "What do you mean? What sort of accidents?"

"You don't need work?" Diagoras questioned in faked surprised "That's fine. Anybody else?" The Doctor raised his hand "Enough with the questions."

"Oh, no, no, no," the Doctor smiled innocently "I'm volunteering. I'll go."

Martha raised her hand with a glare at the Time Lord as Tyra followed suit as well "I'll kill you for this."

"Anybody else?" Diagoras asked, his eyes lit up with smugness. The boy from before and Solomon raised their hands along with Damon. Sage had decided to stay behind to look after the rest of the Humans in the camp. The man nodded, waving at them to follow. At the entrance of the sewers, Diagoras stopped them "Turn left. Go about half a mile. Follow tunnel two seven three. Fall's right ahead of you, you can't miss it."

The boy – who had introduced himself as Frank earlier crossed his arms "And when do we get out dollar?"

"When you come back up."

"And if we don't come back up?" the Doctor demanded curiously.

Diagoras smiled self-assuredly "Then I got no one to pay."

Solomon shook his head "Don't worry, we'll be back."

"Let's hope so," Martha grumbled and made to follow the others.

The Doctor stared into Diagoras' eyes for a few more moments before turning to Tyra "Come on, Ty."

"We just got to stick together," Frank nodded, eyes darting around the sewers uncomfortably "It's easy to get lost. It's like a huge rabbit warren. You could hide an army down here."

Tyra started walking in the direction Diagoras had told them to go, Martha catching up to Frank "So what about you, Frank? You're not from around these parts, are you?"

Frank raised an eyebrow "Oh, you could talk." He shook his head "No, I'm from Tennessee born and bred."

"So how come you're here?" Martha asked.

"Oh," Frank mumbled, looking at his feet "My daddy died. Mama couldn't afford to feed us all. So, I'm the oldest, up to me to feed myself. So, I put on my coat, hitched up here on the railroads. There's a whole lot of runaways in the camp, younger than me, from all over. Missouri, Oklahoma, Texas… Solomon, Damon and Miss Sage keep a lookout for us. So, what about you and your friends? You're a long way from home."

Martha sighed "Yeah, I'm just a hitcher too."

Tyra shook her head at her "You act like that's a bad thing, Martha," she told her "You can't say it isn't exciting."

"For you maybe," Martha shot back "You have been travelling for years."

"Most of my life actually," she corrected, smiling at Frank "I was born in Virginia in the same place as Damon actually. Only my accent doesn't show it anymore."

Frank nodded "Is that how you know Damon and Miss Sage?"

"Sort of," Tyra shrugged "I mean, I have known Sage for longer. She's my sister-in-law… but I haven't seen her in too long."

The Doctor cleared his throat "So this Diagoras bloke, who is he then?"

"A couple of months ago, he was just another foreman," Solomon explained "Now, it seems like he's running most of Manhattan."

"How did he manage that then?" the Doctor blinked.

Solomon shook his head "These are strange times. A man can go from being King of the Hill to the lowest of the low overnight. It's just for some folks it works the other way around."

The Doctor opened his mouth, about to say something else, when he froze "Whoa," he breathed, his torch shining onto a luminous green jellyfish that was lying on the ground in front of us.

"Is it radioactive or something?" Martha frowned "It's gone off, whatever it is." The Doctor crouched down and picked it up "And you've got to pick it up."

Tyra laughed "We're lucky if he doesn't lick it," she told her in amusement "He tends to do that. No matter whose company he is in."

"You seem to know him pretty well," Damon remarked, not quite sure what to make of the situation. Tyra believed he wanted to be jealous but even he knew that it had been a rare thing for her to laugh and smile like she was doing now. Tyra met the two of them again just after she left her family, so it took her a while to get back to normal with everything she had going on.

"Yeah, well…"

The Doctor looked up at them "Shine your torch through it," he murmured, studying the jellyfish thing curiously "Composite organic matter. Martha? Medical opinion?"

Martha shrugged "It's not human. I know that."

Damon let out a strangled sound, grabbing Tyra's arm tightly "They know?" he hissed, pulling her away from the group and a little further down the corridor.

"Actually… It's not our kind of non-human they're talking about," she told him.

"Then what?" Damon blinked in confusion.

Tyra looked up at him seriously "Aliens."

"Aliens?" Damon practically shrieked and had we been in another situation, Tyra would have probably made fun of him. Oh, who was she kidding? This would be the perfect blackmail to use against him whenever she saw him next. At least it did explain why he took everything rather well when the Doctor picked him up the last time "There are aliens?"

Tyra raised her eyebrow "Says one vampire to the other."

"She's got a point," Martha pointed out, walking over to them. Then she jerked her head around "But so does he…"

"What?" Tyra frowned.

Martha hummed "Oh, the Doctor just said that we're around half a mile in already and there's no sign of a collapse. I thought girls were adept in multi-tasking. It seems as if that ability has gotten past you, Tyra."

"Oh, haha," she rolled her eyes "No my fault that Damon was shrieking around."

"I do not shriek," Damon grumbled, crossing his arms.

Tyra shot him a look "Yes, yes, you do."

Before he could complain more, the other walked up to us "Come on, let's keep going for a bit more."


Another fifteen minutes later, Solomon shook his head "We're well beyond half a mile. There is no collapse, nothing."

"That Diagoras bloke, was he lying?" Martha asked.

"Looks like it," the Doctor nodded.

Frank tilted his head "So why'd he want people to come down here?"

"We're not alone," Damon breathed into Tyra's ear.

Tyra closed her eyes for a moment and nodded "I was thinking the exact same thing…"

"Solomon," the Doctor gestured "I think it's time you took the others back. I'll be much quicker on my own."

Just as he said that the squeals became louder, echoing around them "What the hell was that?" Solomon demanded.

"Hello?" Frank called out.

Martha grabbed his arm "Shush."

"What if it's one of the folk gone missing?" Frank questioned "You'd be scared and half-mad down here on your own."

"I doubt they would sound a much like a pig as they do now," Damon pointed out, his eyes narrowed. By now, his mind was completely focussed on the situation at hand.

The Doctor turned around to face Frank "Do you think they're still alive?"

"Heck," Frank shrugged "We ain't seen no bodies down here. Maybe they just got lost."

"There doesn't have to be a body for them to be dead, Frank," Tyra told him seriously as footsteps and squeals came closer and closer to where they were.

Solomon took a couple of steps back "I know I never heard nobody make a sound like that."

Frank glanced around "Where's it coming from? Sounds like there's more than one of them."

"This way," the Doctor gestured.

Tyra coughed "Doc?" When he stopped to look at Tyra, she pointed into the other direction. They had been standing by a crossroads with four ways going off and he was about to walk down the wrong one.

Solomon shone his torch down the corridor Tyra had pointed to, the light of the torch catching a crouched figure in a corner "Who are you?" the older man called out.

"Are you lost?" Frank added, taking a step forward "Can you understand me? I've been thinking about folk lost down…"

The Doctor stopped him from getting any closer "It's alright, Frank. Just stay back. Let me have a look…" He kept his hand held out, stopping us from advancing "He's got a point, though, my mate Frank. I'd hate to be stuck down here on my own. We know the way out. Daylight. If you come with us…" He froze, staring at the figure "Oh, but what are you?"

Solomon gasped and even Damon flinched back a little "Is that – er – some kind of carnival mask?"

The Doctor shook his head with a sigh "No, it's real. I'm sorry… Now listen to me. I promise I can help. Who did this to you?"

Damon grabbed a hold of Tyra's arm again "There are more coming and quickly. What do we do?"

"Doctor?" Martha called out "I think you'd better get back here." The pigmen came into sighed "Doctor."

The Doctor glanced up, his gaze on the pigmen "Actually, good point." He stumbled back towards us, the group of pigs following.

"They're following you," Martha pointed out.

"Yeah," the Doctor breathed, rolling his eyes "I noticed that, thanks. Well then, Ty, Martha, Frank, Solomon, Damon…" He whirled around "Eh… Basically, run."

The pigmen chased them back to the junction from earlier "Where are we going?" Martha called out.

"This way." The Doctor whipped his head around, spying the ladder down a side passage "It's a ladder. Come on!" He used his sonic screwdriver to open the cover at the top.

Damon and Frank stayed behind to ward off the pigmen as Martha and Tyra climbed up the ladder "Damon?" Tyra called out from the top of the ladder.

"Frank," Solomon shouted after Tyra "Frank. Come on, Frank."

Damon was about to make sure that Frank got up onto the ladder but the younger man shook his head, shoving Damon towards the ladder "Go," he said "You have been taking care of us for a while. Time that I repay that favour."

Damon quickly climbed the ladder with Frank right behind him. One of the pigmen grabbed Frank's leg, starting to pull him down. The Doctor reached past Damon, trying to grab Frank's hand "I've got you," he murmured "Come on…" Tyra stepped forward quickly, pulling Damon the rest of the way up, while simultaneously reaching for Frank. She was too late though because just before her hand touched his, he was pulled down.

"Frank," Solomon cried out.

The Doctor stared down in horror "No."

"I'm sorry," Damon breathed, staring down into the hole for a moment before Solomon slammed it shut "I should have done something… I could have done something."

Solomon grasped his shoulder as Tyra wrapped her arms around her friend's middle "It's not your fault, Damon. We can't go after him."

The Doctor shook his head "We've got to go back down. We can't just leave him."

"No," Solomon hissed sharply "I'm not losing anybody else. Those creatures were from Hell. From Hell itself. If we go after them, they'll take us all. There is nothing we can do. I'm sorry."

All of a sudden a young woman stepped out of the shadows, pointing a revolver at the group. Tyra blinked in surprise… Either she had been abnormally quiet or she had just been too focussed on Damon to hear her "Alright then," she started "Put them up. Hands in the air and no funny business. Now tell me, you schmucks, what have you done with Laszlo?"

Martha frowned at her "Who's Laszlo?"

The young woman sighed, lowering the gun a little, still keeping it pointed in our direction though "Laszlo's my boyfriend," she explained quietly "Or was my boyfriend until he disappeared two weeks ago. No letter, no goodbye, no nothing. And I'm not stupid. I know some guys are just pigs but not my Laszlo. I mean, what kind of guy asks you to meet his mother before he vamooses?"

"Yeah," the Doctor mumbled, eyeing the gun warily "It might… might just help if you put that down."

The woman frowned "Huh? Oh, sure." She glanced down at her hands and chucked the revolver onto the table without any care. She rolled her eyes as most of our group jumped "Oh, come on. It's not real. It's just a prop. It was either that or a spear."

Tyra grinned lightly "Damn… You should have chosen the spear," Tyra told her "That would have been awesome."

"It really would have been," Damon agreed, his arm wrapped around Tyra's shoulders now.

Martha looked at the blonde woman "What do you think happened to Laszlo?"

"I wish I knew," she mumbled "One minute he's there, the next, zip… Vanished."

"Listen," the Doctor started "Er… What's your name?"

"Tallulah," she introduced herself.

The Doctor nodded "Tallulah…"

"Three Ls and an H," Tallulah added.

"Right," the Doctor blinked "We can try to find Laszlo but he's not the only one. There are people disappearing every night."

"And there are creatures," Solomon added "Such creatures."

Tallulah tilted her head "What do you mean, creatures?"

"Look," the Doctor sighed "Listen, just trust me. Everyone is in danger. I need to find out what this is." With those words, he pulled out the jellyfish thing from his coat pocket "Because then I'll know exactly what we're fighting."

"Yuck," Tallulah breathed.

Tyra stared at the Doctor in slight disgust "Are you kidding me? You had that in your coat pocket?" She shook her head "Okay, it's official. I'm never touching that thing ever again… Unless you get that cleaned."

"Yeah, yeah," he waved off, his mind already on solving the mystery of the weird jellyfish.

Tyra hummed to herself "That would make a good book title," she mumbled.

"What would make a good book title?" Damon questioned from behind her.

Tyra jumped, whirling around "Really? Was that really necessary?" she huffed as he started laughing "As for your question… 'Mystery of the weird jellyfish' would make a good book title, don't you think?"

"That actually sounds pretty good," Damon nodded "Any chance you'll write it?"

"Me?" she snorted "Right… Of course."

Damon tugged at her hand and practically shoved her down on one of the chairs in the theatre "Start talking."

"What?" Tyra frowned.

"You said you would tell me about aliens," Damon pointed out "Start talking. Now. What were those things down in the sewers? Were they aliens?"

Tyra sighed, leaning her head back against the back of the seat "Right that… I don't know what those things were… I really don't," she told him "But I don't think they're alien. Or at least not naturally."

"Not naturally?" Damon frowned "Ty, what the hell is going on?"

"Look, this is a bit… different," Tyra told him "The Doctor…"

Damon cut me off "Yeah, about that. I counted heartbeats and there was one too many every time."

"He has two heart," she murmured "And yes. He's an alien."

"What… Tyra? How did you meet him?"

Tyra leaned forwards, her elbows resting on her knees and buried her hands in her hair "You wouldn't believe me if I told you, Damon."

"Try me. I think I'll believe almost everything right now," he huffed, throwing himself down on the chair next to her.

"Alright then," Tyra sighed "I met the Doctor in 2005. Like… way in the future and we travelled back from 2007 to get here."

Damon froze, opening and closing his mouth a few times "W… Wait. What?"

"Time travel," Tyra explained "I know this is unbelievable – More than that but… I don't know. I'm not lying."

"I – I'm not sure if that makes me as mad as you but I actually believe you," Damon snorted "You have never lied to me, Tyra and I doubt you'd start now."

She relaxed her shoulders "Honestly? I wasn't sure how you'd take it. It is more than a little unbelievable after all."

"True," Damon nodded "But then again… What happened earlier wasn't exactly believable either."

Tyra grinned "It doesn't even rank on the scale of weird that I've seen in the last two years."

"Speaking of last two years," Damon tilted his head "If you're from 2007, then where's your other self?"

"Japan," she answered "I'm probably about to decide to come back and meet up with you and Sage. When that happens, don't tell me about this."

Damon saluted jokingly "Alright then. So, any cool aliens or other things you can tell me about?"

Tyra hummed "Well, I met Shakespeare and witches which was pretty cool… Queen Victoria and a werewolf… Hm, what else can I tell you about? Dickens and ghosts at Christmas. Quite a few things in the future. Other planets and things like that."

"That sounds pretty cool," Damon remarked "I would love to see it sometime."

Tyra shot him a knowing look "Maybe some time."

"Ha," the Doctor exclaimed from somewhere to our right.

Tyra raised her eyebrow at Damon and shrugged "Wanna see what he's up to now?"

"Sure," Damon hummed, getting up.

"That's it," the Doctor mumbled, aiming a spotlight at the jellyfish thing "We need to heat you up…"

Tyra glanced over his shoulder and wrinkled her nose "That looks really gross."

"Shush," he muttered, examining the thing that is strapped into whatever device he built from the scrap.


Around half an hour later, the theatre started filling up with people and the lights dimmed as they got ready to see the show Tallulah was the star of. The Doctor looked up from the jellyfish and over his shoulder at Damon and Tyra. They had started to play a rather complicated game that consisted of hand gestures. Tyra had learned it a while ago and was teaching Damon "This is artificial."

"Ladies and gentlemen… The Laurenzi dancing devils with Heaven and Hell," a man's voice announced as the curtains were drawn back, revealing the dancers on stage.

"What does that mean?" Damon asked, leaning forward curiously.

The Doctor mumbled something to himself that Tyra didn't understand before he spoke up "Genetically engineered. Whoever this is… oh, you are clever." He pulled out a stethoscope, listening to the jellyfish "Fundamental DNA type four six seven dash nine eight nine." The Doctor stared into space "Nine eight nine… Hold on, that means planet of origin… Skaro."

"Skaro?" she breathed "How? Wait, Skaro was the planet the Daleks came from, right?"

"Yes," the Doctor nodded, his eyes dark "Oh, this is bad. Why can't they just die already?"

Damon looked from her to the Doctor and back "What are you two talking about?"

"Martha," the Doctor exclaimed, running off to find the other girl.

Tyra gazed after him for a moment before following "Daleks are… nothing you ever want to meet," she explained to the younger vampire while jogging after the Doctor "They might look ridiculous but being shot by them hurts like hell. It's not deadly to vampires but it hurts."

"Where is she?" the Doctor demanded, looking at the dancers "Where's Martha?"

Tallulah shrugged "I don't know," she shook her head "She ran off the stage."

Tyra frowned, listening to something coming from the direction of the Props room we were in earlier "Doctor, I think she's over there." She pointed down the corridor just as a scream sounded.

"Martha," the Doctor exclaimed, sprinting off just behind Tyra.

There was nothing in the room, not even the lid looked displaced or anything. The Doctor grabbed his coat, pulling it on "Where are you going?" Tallulah huffed.

"They've taken her," the Time Lord explained without explaining.

"Who's taken her?" Tallulah muttered "What're you doing?"

Tyra turned around to face Damon "Damon, can you go back to Hooverville and tell Sage everything? Help her protect the people."

"Are you sure?" he whispered in concern.

"I'm a big kid," she smiled "I can protect myself and them. Those people back there can't." The Doctor gestured for Tyra to climb down before him. She jumped down the last few rungs, making sure the air is clear before calling up to him quietly.

From where Tyra was standing in the sewers, she heard Tallulah's huff "I said, what the hell are you doing, crazy guy?"

"No, no, no, no, no way," the Doctor shook his head harshly when the showgirl climbed down after them "You're not coming."

"Tell me what's going on," Tallulah demanded.

The Doctor clenched his eyes shut for a moment "There's nothing you can do. Go back."

"Look," Tallulah sighed "Whoever's taken Martha, they could've taken Laszlo, couldn't they?"

Tyra looked down the corridors, listening for any noise "It's not safe down here," Tyra told Tallulah "Please, just go back."

"That's my problem," Tallulah told Tyra, walking down the tunnel "Come on. Which way?"

The Doctor and Tyra exchanged a look before she shrugged, causing him to sigh "This way." Tallulah came back, walking along the corridor next to Tyra.

Tallulah glanced over at Tyra and the Doctor curiously "When you say, they've taken her, who's they exactly? And who are you anyway? I never asked."

Tyra hushed her sharply when she heard something "Doctor… I don't want to panic you or anything but… This doesn't sound good."

The Doctor tilted his head, listening intently. He paled lightly "No…"

"What's wrong?" Tallulah asked, not lowering her voice at all.

"Shush, shush, shush, shush." The Doctor pulled her closer to the sewer wall, grabbing Tyra's hand with his other. From her place directly by the corner, Tyra could see the shadow of a Dalek cast on the wall ahead of us.

Tallulah raised her eyebrow at them "I mean, the two of you are handsome and all…"

The Doctor pressed his hand over her mouth and dragged both of the girls back into a service alcove. Tallulah's eyes widened as the Dalek whirred past "No, no, no, no," he mumbled under his breath. Tyra squeezed his hand tightly "They survived. They always survive while I lose everything."

"You won't lose me," she told him quietly "I'll make sure of that."

He glared lightly "How can you be so sure, huh? They might not be able to kill you but…"

"But nothing," Tyra cut him off and glanced at Tallulah "Come on, let's find out what they're planning this time."

"That metal thing?" Tallulah breathed, staring down the corridor the Dalek had disappeared down "What was that?"

The Doctor swallowed heavily "It's called a Dalek. And it's not just metal, it's alive."

"You're kidding me," Tallulah blinked, laughing nervously.

"Does it look like I'm kidding?" the Doctor stared at her seriously, his eyes a lot darker than they normally were "Inside that shell is a creature born to hate, whose only thought is to destroy everything and everyone that isn't a Dalek too. It won't stop until it's killed every human being alive."

Tallulah swallowed heavily "But if it's not a human being, that kind of implies it's from outer space." When neither the Doctor nor Tyra laughed, she sighed "Yet again, that's a no with the kidding. Boy… Well, what's it doing in New York?"

The Doctor shook his head at her "Every second you're down here, you're in danger. Tyra… Will you take her back to the theatre?"

"What about you?" Tyra asked worriedly "I'm not leaving you to run into this on your own."

"Just do as I say and stay with her," he snapped, his mind already on what the Daleks could be planning.

Tyra reared back a little in surprise "You don't get to talk to me like that, Doctor."

The Doctor closed his eyes for a moment, grasping Tyra's shoulders tightly "I don't want you in the middle of this, Ty. Please… Just go and be safe."

"No," she told him firmly "I let you go on your own on New Earth. I held back from mentioning it but I'm sick of it. You don't have to protect me. Like I told Damon… I can protect myself."

At that moment, a pigman rounded the corner, causing Tallulah to let out a shrill scream. The young woman jumped back, hiding behind Tyra "Where's Martha?" the Doctor demanded "What have you done with her? What have you done with Martha?"

"I didn't take her," the pigman shook his head.

"Can you remember your name?" the Doctor frowned, noticing something different about this one.

The pigman turned its head away from them "Don't look at me."

Tallulah peaked around Tyra "Do you know where she is?" she piped up.

"Stay back," the pigman hissed when the Doctor stepped closer "Don't look at me."

"What happened to you?" the Doctor questioned, looking at the man with sorrow.

The pigman grimaced "They made me a monster."

"Who did?"

"The Masters," the pigman mumbled.

The Doctor nodded "The Daleks. Why?"

"They needed slaves," the man pointed out, still pressing himself back into the shadows "They needed slaves to steal more people so they created us. Part animal, part human. I escaped before they got my mind but it was still too late."

Tyra looked at him, her head tilted, listening to his heart stuttering occasionally "Martha. You know what happened to her, don't you?"

"They took her," the pigman explained "It's my fault. She was following me."

Tallulah gasped "Were you in the theatre?"

"I never," the man denied quickly before letting out a sigh "Yes."

"Why?" Tallulah frowned, carefully stepping closer to the shadow "Why were you there?"

The pigman sighed "I never wanted you to see me like this."

"Why me?" Tallulah puzzled "What I got to do with this? Were you following me? Is that why you were there?"

Tyra heard a deep inhale before the pigman turned around "Yes."

"Who are you?" Tallulah questioned, squinting at the features she could make out.

"I was lonely," the man admitted "I'm sorry."

Tallulah's breathing hitched "No, wait," she stopped him "Let me look at you. Laszlo? My Laszlo? Oh, what have they done to you?"

"I'm sorry," Laszlo choked "So sorry."

The Doctor who had watched the incident silently "Laszlo, can you show me where they are?"

"They'll kill you," Laszlo pointed out.

The Doctor shook his head "If I don't stop them, they'll kill everyone."

Laszlo looked at him for a moment before he nodded "Then follow me."


Even before Laszlo slowed down, Tyra could hear Martha's whisper a little further in "I don't know. I've got a nasty feeling we're being kept in the larder."

"What are they doing?" Frank whispered as soon as they stopped. Tyra leaned around the Doctor to peak at the line of scared humans who were being guarded by some other pigmen who were beginning to shift nervously "What's wrong? What's wrong?"

"Silence," the Dalek demanded "Silence." Laszlo whimpered quietly, pressing himself against the wall next to us.

Martha gasped quietly "What the hell is that?"

"You will form a line," the Dalek waved around its whisk "Move. Move."

"Just do what it says," Martha told the frightened humans "Everyone, okay? Just obey."

The Dalek apparently agreed "The female is wise. Obey." He was quiet for a moment before continuing "These are strong specimens. They will help the Dalek cause."

Martha frowned "Dalek?"

"What is the status of the Final Experiment?" the Dalek asked an unseen third party "… Then I will extract prisoners for selection." One of the pigmen dragged an older man forward "Intelligence scan, initiate…. Reading brain waves. Low intelligence."

The man huffed "You calling me stupid?"

"Silence," the Dalek hissed, pulling its plunger back "This one will become a pig slave. Next."

"No," the man cried out "Let go of me. I'm not becoming one of them. No! No." As the man was dragged away, the Dalek continued scanning the other people.

Laszlo turned to them "They're divided into two groups. High intelligence and low intelligence. The low intelligence are taken to become pig slaves like me."

"Well, that's not fair," Tallulah cried out.

"Shush," the Doctor hushed her immediately.

Tallulah grimaced apologetically "You're the smartest guy I ever dated."

The Doctor tilted his head "What about the others?"

"They're taken to the laboratory," Laszlo explained.

"Why?" the Doctor asked "What for?"

Laszlo shrugged "I don't know. The Masters only call it Final Experiment."

By then, the Dalek had reached Frank and Martha "Superior intelligence." It turned to Martha "Intelligence scan, initiate. Superior intelligence. This one will become part of the Final Experiment."

"You can't just experiment on people," Martha cried out "It's insane. It's inhuman."

"We are not human," the Dalek pointed out "Prisoners of high intelligence will be taken to the transgenic laboratory."

The Doctor grabbed Tyra's arm "Look out, they're moving."

Laszlo started to lead Tallulah away "Doctor. Doctor, quickly."

"We're not coming. I have an idea… You two go," he murmured.

Tallulah tugged on her boyfriend's arm "Laszlo, come on."

Laszlo sighed "Can you remember the way?"

"Yeah," Tallulah nodded "I think so."

"Then go," Laszlo pushed her lightly "Please."

"But Laszlo, you got to come with me."

Laszlo smiled sadly "Where would I go? Tallulah, I'm begging you. Save yourself. Just run. Just go. Go." With a lingering glance, Tallulah left, leaving Laszlo, the Doctor and Tyra to sneak into the line of humans who were being led away.

"Just keep walking," the Doctor murmured to Martha when they reached her.

Martha breathed a sigh of relief "Oh, I'm so glad to see you two."

"Yeah, well," the Time Lord shrugged "You can kiss me later…" He glanced to Tyra out of the corner of his eyes "Or… Maybe not."


As soon as they reached the Dalek laboratory, the Dalek that led them, turned to another one "Report."

"Dalek Sec is in the final stage of evolution," the other Dalek pointed out. Tyra squinted at them and tried to remember their names since Tyra was pretty sure they were the ones from Canary Wharf but honestly… she couldn't remember.

"Scan him," one of them demanded "Prepare for birth."

The Doctor raised his eyebrow "Evolution?"

Martha nodded to the Black Dalek "What's wrong with old Charlie boy over there?"

"Ask them," the Doctor told her.

"What, me?" Martha hissed, her eyes widening "Why not Tyra? Or you?"

The Doctor leaned down "I don't exactly want to get noticed and they know Tyra as well. Ask them what's going on." He turned to her "Keep your head down, alright?"

Tyra just nodded, watching him duck out of sight as Martha stepped forward shakily "Daleks, I demand to be told. What is this Final Experiment? Report."

"You will bear witness," one of the bronze Daleks told her.

"To what?"

"This is the dawn of a new age," the Dalek exclaimed.

Martha caught Tyra's eye and she shrugged, just as confused as her "What does that mean?"

"We are the only four Daleks in existence, so the species must evolve a life outside the shell. The Children of Skaro must walk again," the same Dalek pointed out.

By then Sec's shell had stopped smoking and the light in its eyestalk went out. The casing opened and a biped struggled out. As the casing was closing, the creature straightened up, its hands over his head.

Martha reached out to grab Tyra's hand "What is it?"

"I wish I knew," Tyra breathed, staring at what should have been Dalek Sec.

The creature had one eye and tentacles like a Dalek blob but it was wearing a suit… Diagoras' suit if she wasn't mistaken "I am a human Dalek," Sec gasped, breathing deeply "I am your future."