During her travels with the Doctor, Yaz had the unfortunate pleasure of visiting many of history's prisons, dungeons and holding cells. Wherever the Doctor went, trouble with the locals tended to be not far away. After surrendering to the inhabitants of Seventh Heaven, the travelling pair were escorted into the hidden basement of the pub. Of course, the Doctor marvelled at the brilliance of concealing an entrance underneath the pinball machine, perhaps not fully grasping the fact that they were prisoners of local militia.

At first the Doctor began to spin a story about being local inspectors but that just wound up the big guy, Barret, even more. Eventually Yaz decided the truth was the better option, whoever this group were, they weren't big fans of local Government, law enforcement or anyone in authority. That could only mean they had been captured by a group of anarchists or possibly even terrorists. Neither option was overly appealing.

At least their hospitality had been accommodating so far, Jessie even made the Doctor another cocktail during securing their hands with cable ties and leading them into the basement. The lower level was cramped but well equipped with several computers, laptops and televisions. There was a punching bag in the corner and Yaz spotted a some rolled up mattresses in the corner. Her biggest worry was the small arsenals of guns and grenades in the other corners along with a significant quantity of Hydrogen Peroxide. The police officer was leaning towards her terrorist theory right now.

She had largely tuned out the exchanges between Barret and the Doctor. The gun welding man was loud but so far, he seemed content to use his words to get information, for now at least. Pushing his sunglasses up and pinching his nose, he began to recap the Doctor's story, "So correct me if I'm wrong but you two are visitors from another planet and you arrived here in a blue box that travels in space and time?"

"That's the very basic version," the Time Lord shrugged, "if you don't believe me, I'm sure these monitors can pull up images from the Sector 7 gate."

"I think that you believe yourself," Barret snorted, "you're either telling the truth or have smoked some seriously strong shit tonight." He began to pace the floor, all the time Jessie watched on from a workbench near the monitors, "How about you Miss Police Officer, anything to say for yourself?"

Yaz shrugged, "Not really, I try and avoid communicating with terrorists, goes against the Force's code of conduct."

"Who said we were terrorists?" Jessie asked, sounding slightly offended.

"The cache of weapons was a good clue," Yaz began, "plus, you have all the ingredients for a nasty homemade bomb." Underneath the desk, partially obscured by Jessie's swinging legs, she spotted an open crate marked 'Explosive: Handle With Care', "Whatever's in that box pretty much confirms it for me." Jessie quickly glanced down and spotted the crate, "Do we at least get to know the name of the group that's captured us?"

"What rock have you been hiding under for the last few days?" Barret almost shook with annoyance, "in case you haven't figured it out, we're AVALANCHE." Being unfamiliar with the planet, that name didn't mean a thing to Yaz but she could see a small glint of recognition in the Doctor's eye, "Gettin' it now, are ya?"

"Rings a bell", the Doctor began, "my history of this planet is a little rusty, really must be feeling my age."

Finally, Barret's patience ran out, "Fine, have it your way," he snorted, "keep an eye on them Jessie, I'll be back with more persuasive measures." AVALANCHE's leader hopped onto the false pinball machine and slowly made his way back to surface level.

With Barret gone, Jessie let out a sigh, "Sorry about him, Barret's a little rough around the edges."

"More than the edges," Yaz snorted, "do you believe us at least?"

"Not sure," Jessie began, "if you're not telling the truth, you're madder than a bag full of crazed Chocobo's". Her flopped into the chair at the desk and began frantically typing into the keyboard, "The least I can do is check your story though," she added. After a few minutes of typing, she asked, "You really never heard of AVALANCHE?"

"Bit and pieces are coming back to me," the Time Lord began, "opinion is divided on your group, you're either a bunch of mass-murdering eco-terrorists or valiant crusaders trying to save your world from a corrupt mega-corporation." The Doctor leaned back in her chair slightly, "Personally, I think your cause is noble but I'm not too fond of the murder part," she leaned forward again and with a deadly whisper added, "Murder or any unnecessary loss of life brings me out in a rash, one that I'm only too keen to get rid of."

Jessie's fingers stopped typing, clearly the Doctor had hit a nerve, "We've never deliberately set out to murder anyone," she replied, "our bombs were only meant to disable the reactors, Shinra are setting us up as the bad guys."

"Erm, sorry, can we go back a few steps," Yaz interrupted, "I'm a little lost here, who are Shinra and what reactors are we talking about?"

"You really aren't from around here, are you?" Jessie shook her head, "if you don't know about Mako reactors and Shinra. You not acting either, trust me, I'd be able to tell." She returned to typing on her keyboard, "Perhaps you can field this one Doctor whilst I try to get some evidence for Barret to confirm your story."

"Fair enough," the Time Lord began, "the city of Midgar runs on eight reactors which extract a substance called Mako. Without boring you with the specific details, some believe that Mako is the lifestream of this planet, literally the blood of the planet. Thousands of years ago, a group of people called the Cetra looked after the planet. They believed that you were born, lived on the planet and when you died, you returned to the lifestream."

Yaz thought about the Doctors explanation for a moment, it sounded like a mixture of scientific fact and religious belief, "Do you believe it's true Doctor?" she asked, "that Mako is the same as this lifestream."

"I've seen crazier things over the centuries," the Time Lord replied simply, "either way, whatever Shinra does to produce Mako energy, it's terribly polluting and dangerous to the environment." The blonde turned back towards Jessie, "Still doesn't mean I agree with your methods though."

Without looking up from her computer, Jessie replied, "Tell me Doctor if your planet was threatened with destruction, wouldn't you do anything you could to save it?" That seemed to strike a nerve with the Time Lord and the next few minutes were spent in total silence, apart from the occasional clacking of fingers on a keyboard. Yaz watched the Doctor slowly sink back into her shell, barely breaking her gaze from the floor.

Desperate to drag her friend out of her funk, Yaz broke the silence, "So who are Shinra then, are they the ones who built these reactors?"

This did the trick and brought the Time Lord's attention back to the present, "Amongst over things," she began, "they started off as a small electric company but have branched out over the years to weapons manufacturing."

"They're an army for hire too," Jessie added, "basically they run Midgar and I dare say they could control the world if they chose to." Jessie stopped typing for a moment and added, "They control everything, including the media. If your opinion doesn't agree with your then you mysteriously disappear in the middle of the night." She fixed the time travellers with a glare, "Now do you understand why we fight?"

Yaz nodded slowly but the Doctor let out a small sigh, something told her that the Time Lord had heard arguments like this too many times over the years. Fortunately, the Doctor wouldn't be allowed to brood on this much longer, "Aaaand, gotcha," Jessie cried in triumph, "Jessie one, Shinra firewalls zero."

On the screen, Yaz recognised the playground from earlier but there was no TARDIS, "Must've been before we arrived," the Doctor said, "can you cycle forward a little?"

"I'll give you points for selling your story," Jessie smiled, "fine, I'll humour you for a little longer." The images sped forward until moments before the TARDIS arrived, "Well, I'll be damned," Jessie gasped as a blue police box faded into view. Moments later, Yaz and the Doctor stepped out, "You are telling the truth," Jessie continued, "that's your ship, what did you call it again?"

"TARDIS," the Doctor announced proudly, "stands for Time and Relative Dimensions in Space. She can take you anywhere in time and space."

"That tiny box can do all that," Jessie shook her head, "doesn't look big enough to hold the two of you."

"It's bigger on the inside," the Doctor and Yaz answered together.

Further conversation was halted by the metallic clank of the secret platform descending from above with Barret along for the ride, "How's it going?" he grunted. As her stepped off the platform, he spotted the TARDIS on the monitor, "The hell is that thing?"

"That would be our smoking gun," Jessie began, "saw that thing appear out of nowhere in Sector 6". She looked over her shoulder, "Looks like our new friends were telling the truth."

"Hmm, still don't trust them," Barret paced, "could be some new kind of Shinra weapon."

Jessie shook her head, "If it is then it doesn't match anything on their database, a small blue box that's bigger on the inside doesn't seem like their style." She smirked at the TARDIS crew, "Apparently it can travel in time too."

"Sure, I'll believe that when I see it," Barret snorted in reply, "still, probably shouldn't leave it lying around. Could you imagine what damage Shinra could do with a time machine."

"Oh I wouldn't worry too much," the Doctor began, "nothing short of an army of Daleks could break into the TARDIS and Shinra doesn't have anything nearly as deadly as a Dalek." Barret let out a low rumble, contemplating the Time Lord's words, "Still, probably best if we're on our way. I did promise to take Yaz to Cosmo Canyon after all so if you could just cut her loose, we'll be on our way."

It took Yaz a couple of moments to register the Doctor's words, "What do you mean cut me loose, you're tied up too." The Doctor shrugged and waived her hands, showing that she had somehow broken out of her bonds, "How did you do that?" the police officer asked.

"Good magician never reveals her secrets Yaz," she beamed and jumped up from her chair. Almost immediately, Barret aimed his gun-arm in her direction, "Oh come on, if I meant you any harm I would've done it by now. Just let my companion and I go and we'll be on the other side of the planet in a few minutes."

The leader of AVALANCHE seemed reluctant, trying his best to stare the Doctor down. After a few tense seconds, he slowly lowered his weapon, "Fine, we've got more important things to do then babysit you two."

Before Yaz could be freed, one of the other men called down from upstairs, "Guys you may want to check the security cameras, there's something going on at the Pillar Plaza."

Jessie closed down the camera feed from Sector 6 and brought up what Yaz could only assume was the suggested camera feed. On screen was a large concrete and metal column, surrounded by a metal framework. She could see intermittent flashes coming from the structure that could only be from gunfire. Jessie switched cameras which caught glimpses of helicopter flying close to the pillar, "What is it, what's going on?"

"Trouble," Barret hissed, "this stinks of Shinra, I'm going to get a closer look."

"I'm coming too," the Doctor declared, Barret went to protest but the Time Lord swiftly cut him off, "if that pillar comes down we're all in trouble, you're going to need all the help you can get."

Barret grumbled before responding, "Fine, just stay outta my way", the pair climbed onto the platform, "you got some form of ID on you, don't want any grief from local troopers."

The Doctor flashed her psychic paper, "You name it, I've got the ID for it," she turned to Yaz, "stay here, I'll be back as soon as I can."

As the platform ascended, Yaz looked at Jessie with a confused expression, "What's so important about that pillar?" she asked, "It seems to have Barret and the Doctor really worrying."

Yaz hadn't known Jessie for long but she somehow knew the young woman was a bright and bubbly person. Ever since she had seen those images though, a grim expression was fixed on her face, "How do you think the plate above us is held in place?" she responded to Yaz.

The police officer hadn't thought about that before but she was beginning to put the pieces together, "That's one of the pillars holding the plate up?" she asked.

Jessie snorted, "Do you think Shinra cares enough about the slums to protect us?" Yaz didn't like where this conversation was going, "That's the only pillar holding the plate and if that collapses," she grasped the back of her head in exasperation, "then a lot of people are going to die, us included." Yaz didn't know how to respond, settling into a grim silence as she watched the images in silence with Jessie. All she could do is hope is that the Doctor could do something to help.