"Right then! To make up for that disaster of a trip lets go to old New York for some shopping yeah? My treat" Rose said the moment they entered the TARDIS.
Martha stood there in silence watching Rose dance round the console flicking switches and pressing buttons. "Rose" she said building up enough courage to ask Rose the thing that had been on her mind. "What did the Face of Boe mean when he said you're not alone?"
"No idea" Rose said absently "maybe he meant you"
"I don't think he did" Martha said watching Rose's face carefully. "I think he meant that you're not the last of your species…but you aren't are you? There's a whole planet filled with them somewhere, right?"
"Left, wrong and no" Rose whispered "now that the Doctor is gone I'm literally the last of the Time Lords. Would say Ladies but it doesn't sound as effective as Time Lords"
"What happened?"
"A war. A war with the daleks"
"What are daleks?"
"Doesn't matter they're gone and we won't ever see them again" Rose snapped "now Old New York…"
DWDWDWDWDWDWDWDW
Martha opened the door and grinned at the sight of New York City that was across the water. "Where abouts are we?" she called over her shoulder.
Rose stepped out and smiled at Martha "turn around" Martha turned round and her mouth dropped open at the sight. She was standing at the foot of the Statue of Liberty.
"Oh my god" she whispered staring up at it in awe.
"Gateway to the New World.'Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses, yearning to breathe free'" Rose recited. She then scanned the view "hmmm…somehow I don't think we're in 2007 like I was aiming for"
"What makes you think that?" Martha asked.
"Well the Empire State Building isn't even finished yet" Rose said pointing to the building "looks like it needs a couple more floors before it is"
"Oh" Martha said, she spotted something on a bench not so far and walked up to it.
"I wonder where we are" Rose said to herself.
"1st November 1930" Martha said holding out a newspaper in front of Rose's face.
"Hooverville Mystery Deepens" Rose read out "forget shopping Martha we're playing Scooby Doo"
DWDWDWDWDWDWDW
Martha and Rose strolled through the park towards Hooverville, Martha babbling excitedly "because this is what a year after the Wall Street Crash, we just missed the roaring twenties where New York was at its height! This is amazing real life history. I really can't thank you enough!"
Rose chuckled at Martha's excitement as they entered the camp. There was a fight going on and the two girls watched it in silence as the man that seemed to be the leader broke it up.
"I take it you're the leader here then?" Rose called out.
The man turned round and eyed the two of them "yes I am. My name is Solomon. What is your name?"
"Rose Tyler and this is Martha Jones"
"Welcome Miss Tyler and Miss Jones, you're welcome to stay with us if you have no place to go" Solomon said holding his hands out near the fire to keep them warm. "This is Hooverville where there is no superior everyone, man and woman, white and black, adult and children are equal. We are a true society and you are welcome"
"Thank you" Rose said, she held out the newspaper. "I'm here to ask about this. What do you mean by missing? I mean it's not like you can keep a register here"
The man took the newspaper and looked at it sadly "it's different, it's not like they leave without a note. They get taken in the middle of the night. We hear them calling for help and by the time we arrive they have vanished into thin air."
"And you're sure someone's taking them?" Rose asked.
"Miss Tyler, when you've got next to nothing, you hold on to the little you've got. Knife, blanket, you take it with you. You don't leave bread uneaten, a fire still burning"
"Have you been to the police?" Martha asked.
"Yeah, we tried that." Solomon said "Another deadbeat goes missing, big deal"
Two men came running up to them "Solomon, he's here! He' here! Mr Diagoras is here!" one of them shouted excitedly. Solomon got up and leaded the two women to a crowd that was forming round three suited men.
"I need men!" a man in a black suit shouted that Rose assumed was Mr Diagoras. "Volunteers, I got a little job for you and you sure look like you could use the money"
"Yeah, what's the money?" one of the men called out.
"A dollar a day" Diagoras answered.
The men all around him were laughing and Solomon stepped forwards "What's the work?"
"A little trip down the sewers" Diagoras said "Got a tunnel collapsed, needs clearing and fixing, any takers?"
"A dollar a day is a slave's wage" Solomon said, all the men agreed with him noisily. "And men don't always come back up, do they?"
"Accidents happen" said Diagoras
"What sort of accidents" Rose asked holding her hand up in the air to get the man's attention.
You don't need work that's fine. Anybody else?" Rose raised her hand again. "Enough with the questions" Diagoras snapped.
"Oh, no, no, no. I'm volunteering. I'll go" Rose said cheerfully.
Martha looked at her and said "I'll kill you for this" as she raised her hand "and you so owe me a proper shopping trip"
DWDWDWDWDWDWDWDW
Solomon and a young man called Frank also volunteered mostly because as Solomon put it two young ladies shouldn't go in such a dangerous situation on their own. Martha and Frank walked ahead talking quietly to each other, Rose couldn't help but get the feeling that Martha found another admirer.
Solomon watched Rose silently before speaking "at first I thought you were a reckless child looking for some danger"
"Really? Well I can assure you Solomon that I don't look for it. It just happens" Rose said "well actually that's a lie, I can't resist a mystery"
"You seem older than your years. How old are you?"
Rose shrugged "not sure. Over twenty one that's for sure. I sort of lost track"
"How could you lose track when you're so young? What on earth could you have seen to make you so old?"
"Trust me Solomon, you don't want to know" Rose said quietly.
Martha let out a shocked gasp "Rose over here" she said pointing to something on the floor "I think it's radioactive"
Rose leaned over Martha's shoulder to see a fluorescent green thing lying on the middle of the floor. Rose pushed Martha out of the way gently and knelt besides the thing; she pulled out the sonic screwdriver and prodded it.
"Looks bit like a brain doesn't it?" Rose said "a radioactive brain. What could have a radioactive brain? Well there's a few species but how do I narrow it down, hmm…" she continued to prod it in silence.
"Erm Rose?"
"Not now Martha I'm trying to think"
"Rose there's-"
"Martha please I'm not good at this! I need to think"
"Rose behind you!"
Rose turned her head sharply to see a heard? A flock? A rabble? Of human pig hybrids walking up to her menacingly.
"Ah! Everyone I think we should RUN!"
The four of them sprinted down the sewer, the radioactive brain forgotten. The human pig hybrids followed hot on their heels. They skidded down a dead end and Rose pushed Martha up on to a ladder.
"Up! Up, quickly!" she said reaching out to push Solomon on next.
"Ladies first" Solomon argued pushing Rose onto the ladder "I'm right behind you Miss Tyler. Frank hurry up!"
Frank climbed the ladder but slipped. Solomon reached out and grabbed hold of him trying to pull him up. "I got you, I got you!" Solomon shouted.
"Come on! Come on!" Rose shouted from her position. , Solomon continued to try to pull Frank up, but he couldn't as the human pig hybrids had grabbed hold of frank and they were pulling him back, Frank's hands slipped from Solomon's and the pig things pulled him out of sight.
"Frank!" shouted Solomon. Solomon shoved Rose over and closed off the ladder so that nothing could get to them. "We can't go back after them" he said as Martha tried to stop him
"I've got to go back down" Martha said "we can't leave him"
"No," said Solomon "I'm not losing anyone else. Those creatures were from hell itself. If we go after him, they'll take us all. There' nothing we can do"
Suddenly a blonde dressed in red came round from behind a shelve and held a gun up at them. "Hands up in the air. Now tell me what have you done to Lazlo?"
"Who's Lazlo?" Martha asked looking confused.
"Lazlo's my boyfriend" she paused "Was my boyfriend, until he disappeared two weeks ago. No letter, no goodbye, no nothing" she was waving the gun about. "And I'm not stupid. I know some guys are just pigs, but not my Lazlo. I mean what kind of guy asks you to meet his mother before he vamooses?"
Rose edged slowly towards her indicating that she should put the gun down "Might...might just help if you put that down" she suggested. The woman looked at the gun as if she had forgotten that she even had it
"Huh? Oh this? Don't worry it's just a prop, it was either this or a spear" the woman chucked it onto a basket behind Martha.
"What do you think happened to Lazlo?" Martha asked.
"I wish I knew, one minute he's there, then the next, zip, vanished"
"Listen, what was your name?" Rose asked.
"Tallulah" she answered "three L's and an H"
"Right, we can try to find Lazlo, but he's not the only one. There are people disappearing every night" Rose said to Martha.
"And there are creatures, such creatures..." Solomon said shivering.
"What do you mean creatures?" Tallulah asked looking curious.
"I won't lie to you, Tallulah" Rose said "right now everyone is in danger and I left that green brain thing so I don't know what's causing this. Solomon will you go back and warn everyone at Hooverville? I promise you that I'll find Frank"
"For some wild reason I believe you Miss Tyler" Solomon said "I'll warn the others, you do whatever it takes to save Frank"
"But if you need a safe place to hide out you can hang out in my dressing room" Tallulah said. "Then we can find Lazlo and this Frank guy together"
DWDWDWDWDWDWDWDW
Rose stood in Tallulah's dressing room, leaning against the wall stuck in thought while Martha sat beside Tallulah who was talking about Lazlo.
"He'd wait for me after the show. Walk me home like I was a lady. He'd leave a flower for me on my dressing table. Every day, just a single rosebud"
"Haven't you reported him missing?" Martha asked.
"Sure, but he's just a stagehand, who cares? The management certainly don't" Tallulah said bitterly.
"Can't you kick up a fuss or something?"
"Okay, so then they fire me"
"But they'd listen to you. You're one of the stars"
"Oh honey, I got one song in a backstreet revue and that's only cause Heidi Chicane broke her ankle, which had nothing to do with me no matter what anybody says." she turned to the mirror and continued "I can't afford to make a fuss. If I don't make this months rent, then before you know it I'm in Hooverville"
"Okay, I get it"
"It's the Depression sweetie. Your heart might break, but the show goes on, cause if it stops, you starve." she stood up "Every night I go out there, sing, dance, keep going, hoping that he's gonna come back" she started to cry and Martha hugged her
"I'm sorry"
Tallulah sniffled "yeah, well it's not your fault" she pulled out a tissue and blew into it. "What about you girls? Got a man to keep your bed warm in those cold winter nights"
"Oh I wish!" Martha exclaimed "haven't met the right man"
"Though Shakespeare made a try for it" Rose muttered under her breath. "What about Frank, Martha? He seemed to be interested in you" she said louder.
"He's all right" Martha said shrugging "but I don't fancy him"
"What about you Rose?" Tallulah said "got a guy hidden somewhere?"
"No…there was this one guy…but…" Rose blinked furiously, just thinking about it made her want to cry.
"But?" Tallulah pressed on.
"Lost him, big battle. He's gone, forever" Rose said flatly.
"Oh sweetie" Tallulah reached out and pulled Rose into a huge hug, Rose almost choked on the musky perfume Tallulah wore. There was a knock on the door and someone shouted to Tallulah that the show was about to start. Tallulah turned to Martha "Come on, honey, take a look" she paused "Ever been on stage before?"
"Oh, a little bit" Martha said shrugging "You know, Shakespeare" she grinned out Rose who smiled weakly back.
"How dull is that" said Tallulah laughingly letting Rose go "Come and see a real show", she dragged Martha and Rose out on to the stage and left them at the curtain and then she went on the stage herself.
DWDWDWDWDWDWDWDW
Rose inwardly cursed to herself. They had spotted someone watching Tallulah on the other side of the stage and Martha being her curious self ran over disturbing the show to find out who it was. Not only just that but she got herself kidnapped somehow and Rose only got there in time to see her being dragged down into the sewers. Now Rose and Tallulah (who refused to leave Rose alone) were wandering round the dark, dank sewers looking for Martha with the risk of being kidnapped or eaten by one of the human pig hybrids.
Then Rose saw it, she inhaled sharply and pulled Tallulah behind an alcove.
"wha-" Tallulah started but Rose shushed her.
"It can't be" Rose whispered, she peered round the alcove and watched the metal large pepper pot glide past. "No matter how many times, they always survive!" Rose hissed "how many times must I kill them?"
"What are they? They're just metal" Tallulah asked.
"Daleks" Rose hissed. "And they're not just metal, inside is a living being that kills all the time, non stop"
"But that implies that they're not human" Tallulah said "that implies that they're from outer space!"
Rose didn't answer; she just dragged Tallulah down a path that avoided the dalek. Suddenly they bumped into one of the human pig hybrids but unlike the others it stood there calmly.
"Where's Martha?" she asked "Where is she?"
"I didn't take her" the pig hybrid said looking at the ground.
"Do you remember your name?" Rose asked softly.
"Lazlo" he said turning to Tallulah "I'm sorry" he said to her "I never wanted you to see me like this"
"Oh Lazlo I was so worried!" Tallulah said flinging her arms round his neck "I wouldn't have cared! Might have screamed at first but once I got over the shock…"
Lazlo, who did this to you?" Rose asked.
"The masters"
"Why?"
"They needed slaves to steal more people" he said "So they made us, part human, part animal. I got away before they got my mind"
"Lazlo? Can you show us where they've taken Martha?"
"Yes they went this way" Lazlo said waving a hand down a path. "I can show you properly but I want Tallulah to go back to the theatre"
"No it's too dangerous there" Rose said "she can go to Hooverville. Solomon will look after her."
"Or maybe she wants to stay here!" Tallulah said crossing her arms.
"No! Please Tallulah, I can't lose you!"
Tallulah sighed and pressed a kiss on Lazlo's cheek "come back to me" she whispered before running.
DWDWDWDWDWDWDW
"Psst Martha"
Martha turned to the side to see Rose walking beside her. "Oh I am so glad to see you!" she cried out.
"Yeah reunions later, I need you to find out what the daleks are up to"
"Can't you do it?" Martha asked.
"They know my face. They'll kill me on sight" Rose whispered "please Martha, they're crowding round the black one. Ask them now"
"Daleks!" Martha said loudly catching their attention as they turned to her "I demand to be told, what is this final experiment"
"You will bear witness" one of them said.
"To what?" Martha asked.
"This is the dawn of a new age"
"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 Dalek stopped talking and turned to the black Dalek.
the prisoners watched as it's eyestalk changed colour from blue to black and then it's shell opened and a man stepped out, he wore Mr Diagoras' suit, so it was completely obvious who that Dalek had used to walk again, his head was completely ugly, he had tentacles growing out of his face and he had one eye, just like the Daleks inside the shells had only one eye, his brain however looked as thought it would come out of the very thin layer of skin it was beneath
"What is it?" Martha asked her fear in her voice.
"I am a human Dalek"