If it had been up to Adora she would have pulled her sword and cleaved Clay-Face in half. She was glad the Doctor grabbed her hand as she went for it. "State your name, division, rank and serial number, soldier!'

The creature stood at attention. "Commander Strax, Sontaran Six-hundredth-and-seventh infantry division, serial number. Five-six-six-zero-three-one-zero-zero-seven-zero-two-eight-one-one-eight...three." He gave a stiff salute.

"Well, then, Commander Strax, we formerly surrender to your command! Don't we, guys?" A chorus of nods. Adora refused to nod, so Bow had to grab her head and do it for her manually. "Yes, that's unanimous."

Clay-Face nodded. "Good. My associates will take your weapons." He stepped aside as two soldiers in full-armor stepped into the room. Adora couldn't make out their faces, as they wore fearsome-looking facemasks that looked like dragons, complete with scales and luminous green glass eyes. One was a woman, judging by the fit of her breastplate. She walked up to Adora. "Your sword, please." By the tone of her voice, it was not a request. Faff about and find out.

They surrendered all of their weapons and were left unbound for the courtesy. Commander Strax led them out of the pit trap and down a long tunnel lit by glowing green crystals. "Emeralds," Glimmer whispered, stopping to touch one. The female Silurian slapped her hand away and gestured for her to keep walking.

Clara hurried up alongside the Doctor. "I must say getting captured is not my idea of a fun day off."

The Doctor smiled. "Well, you're not bored, are you?"

"Good point."

The Doctor shook his head and chuckled. "Silurians. Small universe."

"You know what they are?" Adora asked.

"I met them long ago. There's a planet I like to visit often, a wonderful little place called Earth. The surface is inhabited by humans, like you, but deep in the Earth's crust, the Silurians lived. They originally ruled the planet, but retreated underground when a meteor event decimated all life on the surface. What are they doing here, though ?"And what in the blazes is a Sontaran doing with them?"

"Quiet, human," Strax muttered.

"Okay, so what's a Sontaran?" Glimmer asked.

"Race of clone soldiers. Fanatical warriors. I met them on Earth, too. You lot tried to poison the atmosphere."

"Did we succeed?" Strax asked.

"No, you did not."

"Liar! Sontarans are never defeated!" Strax paused. "Except when we are."

"How often is that?" Clara asked.

"Silence all chatter until we arrive at our destination."

"Which is?" The Doctor asked.

"Your prison."

"Oi! Don't we get a trial? At least take us to your leader!"

"Why should we do that?"

"Because I am Princess Glimmer of Brightmoon, accompanied by Princess Perfuma of Plumeria and She-ra, Princess of Power!" Glimmer said, piping up. "We are entitled to a royal parlay with your sovereign."

Strax stopped and turned. You could almost hear the cogs in his head grinding to a halt, then slowly restarting with a burst of steam. "Very well. You shall have your royal meeting."

The Doctor turned to Glimmer and gave her a thumbs up. "Nice! You didn't have to do that, though. Experience has shown that they always take you to their leader if you ask. Not sure why, but it's always convenient."

Any argument about to come from Glimmer's mouth dried up as they emerged from the tunnel into a massive cavern bathed in green light. Below them stretched out a city, its buildings hewn out of the rock itself. On rooftops and in alleyways Silurians went about their business, hanging laundry, tending to small gardens, or simply sunbathing. The Doctor looked up at the light source and gasped. "A diamond as big as the Ritz."

"That's an emerald, Doctor," Perfuma said.

"I know, it was a reference to...nevermind."

It was here that Adora got a first glimpse of a Silurian unmasked. "They look like Rodrigo."

The Doctor frowned. "Hmmm, not quite the same as my Silurians, then. They must be of a different evolutionary lineage."

Strax led them down a labyrinth of stairs and through the city streets. "So, how did you end up here, under the service of Silurians?" The Doctor asked.

"That is an excellent question:"

...

...

...

"...Are you going to explain?"

Strax blinked. "Explain what?"

The royal palace was a stepped pyramid that fronted a mile-square plaza in the center of the city. They paused at the foot of the staircase leading to the palace's summit. "The Princesses will come with me," Strax said. "The rest of you will be escorted to the palace cells with the other captives."

"No," Perfuma stepped forward. "I will go to the cells. I need to make sure the children you kidnapped are alright."

"How dare you! The Silurian Empire does not kidnap children!" Strax declared.

"Yes, you do." Adora said. "You have at least five Plumerian children.

"We have no child prisoners," Strax repeated. "Just very short human adult prisoners."

Perfuma rubbed her temples. "Ok, then, take me to your very short human adult prisoners, and let The Doctor go in my place."

"Very well. Follow me, and quick: the princess is waiting."

It was a doozy of a climb. By the halfway mark Adora and Glimmer were on their hands and knees, pulling themselves up step after step. "Couldn't...you...have...just...teleported us?" Adora gasped.

"That...would...be...against...royal...decorum," Glimmer replied, sweat dripping down her face.

"Oi!" They looked up. The Doctor was standing at the top of the stairs with Strax. "What's the holdup?"

"Oh, whatever." Glimmer grabbed Adora and teleported them to the summit. They collapsed at the Doctor's feet in a sweaty heap.

The Siliurian palace's jail was decent, by Clara's standards. Not that she'd ever been in jail before. She also didn't have a point of comparison: Brightmoon palace didn't have a jail, and the jailers in Thaymor didn't bother to lock the cells.

The guards separated the group and escorted them to separate cells. Perfuma was led to the cell containing the Plumerian children. They dog-piled her as she entered their cell. Clara and Bow were placed in another cell.

The cell was already occupied. "Howdy!" The prisoner raised a pincer and smiled. "You must be my new cellmates. Welcome to prison. The name's Scorpia, and I have the bottom bunk. I'm willing to trade, though, if you're afraid of heights. Also, don't mind the stinger, they've got it covered." She raised her tale to show that a cork had literally been stuck on the tip of her stinger.

Bow pointed to the insignia on her shirt. "You're a Horde captain."

"Oh, yeah. I take it you're with the rebellion? Don't worry, I won't hold it against ya. You can't pick your cellmates.

"Were you in charge of the mining operation in the mountain?" Clara asked.

"Yep. Me and my team. They're over in the other cell. Guys! This is...what were your names?...Bow and Clara!" The three cadets in the opposite cell waved half-heartedly.

"What were you guys mining for anyway?" Bow asked.

"Well, obviously I can't tell you that."

Clara crossed her arms. "Well, we're all imprisoned, so it's not like we can do anything to stop you. You've already been stopped."

"Well, my team may have been captured, but we're just one of a dozen. That's not going to stop the attack." Clara and Bow looked at one another. Scorpia clapped her pincers over her mouth. "Oh, snickerdoodles."