"Right we need to fuel up, off to Cardiff we go"
" Cardiff why Cardiff"
"Cardiff's got this rift running through the middle of the city. perfect to refuel the TARDIS"
"I'm gonna give Mickey a call," Rose says as she walks off with her phone in her hand.
A little while later the TARDIS is parked in front of the silver water sculpture in Cardiff bay
There was a knock at the door. Jack walks to the door. it swings open, there stands Mickey. he looked Jack up and down and Jack does the same to Mickey.
"Who the hell are you?" Jack says
"What d'you mean, who the hell am I? Who the hell are you ?"
"Captain Jack Harkness. Whatever your selling, we're not buying."
"Get out of my way!:
He barges past Jack into the TARDIS.
" Don't tell me, this must be Mickey."
The Doctor is way up in the gantries, standing on a ladder. He appears to be carrying out maintenance work on the TARDIS. Abby is by him holding a red flashlight. Rose is standing by the console.
"Here comes trouble! How're you doing, Ricky boy?"
" It's Mickey!"
"Don't listen to him, he's winding you up," Rose says
"You look fantastic," Mickey says to Rose.
They both grin broadly and give each other a big hug
"Get a room, guys!"
"ohh hey Abs"
" Hey Micks"
"Aww, sweet, look at these two. How come I never get any of that?"
"Buy me a drink first."
"You're such hard work"
"But worth it."
He grins in an extremely self-satisfied way.
" Did you manage to find it?"
"There you go."
" I can go anywhere now!"
"I told you, you don't need a passport!"
"It's all very well going to platform one and Justicia and the Glass Pyramid of San Kloon but what if we end up in Brazil? I might need it. You see, I'm prepared for anything."
She sticks her tongue out, smiling.
" Sounds like your staying, then."
An awkward silence fills the air. The Doctor looks between them curiously. Mickey smiles, attempting to lighten the atmosphere again.
"Hang on so you get Roses' passport, what about mine," Abby says, winding Mickey up.
"Thought you might have had it. Didn't think"
"Know where I stand now Micks"
"Well ya know gotta think about my girl see"
"Ai, ai" Abby and Mickey laugh she goes over to hug him.
"Oi I need that light"
"Alright, Mr needy" Abby says with a wink. the Doctor laughs back.
"What're you doing in Cardiff? And who the hell's Jumping Jack Flash? I mean, I don't mind you hanging out with big ears up there and Abz"
"Oi!" the Doctor shouted
"Look in the mirror."
The Doctor shakes his head and turns back to his work.
" But this guy, I dunno, he's kinda... "
'Handsome?"
"More like cheesy."
"That's jack alright, ha"
"Early 21st Century slang. Is cheesy good or bad?"
"It's bad."
"But bad means good, isn't that right?"
" Are you saying I'm not handsome?"
Everyone ignores him.
"We just stopped off. We need to refuel. Thing is, Cardiff's got this rift running through the middle of the city. It's invisible, but it's like an earthquake fault between different dimensions..."
"The rift was healed back in 1869..."
"Thanks to a girl named Gwyneth, 'cos these creatures called the Gelth, they were using the rift as a gateway but she saved the world and closed it."
"But closing a rift always leaves a scar, and that scar generates energy, harmless to the Human Race."
"But perfect for the TARDIS, so just park it here for a couple of days right on top of the scar and... "
"Open up the engines, soak up the radiation..."
"Like filling her up with petrol and off we go!"
"into time!"
"And space!" Jack, Rose and The Doctor said. Abby stands back shaking her head.
"You see what I have to put up with"
"Whoo!"
" My God, have you seen yourselves? You all think you're so clever, don't you?"
"Yeah!"
"Yeah!:
"Yep!"
"Oo me two yep! not that I can agree with! ha" Abby says
Jack gives Mickey a friendly slap on the cheek.
They all bundle out of the TARDIS.
"Should take another twenty-four hours, which means we've got time to kill"
"That old lady's staring," Mickey says pointing to the older lady
"Probably wondering what five people could do inside a small wooden box..."
He pats the Doctor suggestively on the shoulder. The Doctor, Abby, Jack and Rose snigger.
"What are you captain of? The Innuendo Squad?"
Jack makes the 'whatever' sign and heads off.
" Wait! Er, the TARDIS, we can't just leave it. Doesn't it get noticed?"
"Yeah, what's with the police box? Why does it look like that? "
" It's a cloaking device."
"It's called a chameleon circuit. The TARDIS is meant to disguise itself wherever it lands if this was Ancient Rome, it'd be a statue on a plinth or something. But I landed in the 1960s, it disguised itself as a police box, and the circuit got stuck."
"I love it!" says Abby running her hand across the frame.
"So it copied a real thing? There were police boxes?"
"Yeah, on street corners. Phone for help before they had radios and mobiles. If they arrested someone, they could shove them inside until help came. Like a little prison cell. "
"Why don't you just fix the circuit?"
"I like it! Don't you?"
"But that's what I meant! There are no police boxes anymore, so doesn't it gets noticed?"
"Ricky, let me tell you something about the Human Race. You put a mysterious blue box slap-bang in the middle of town and what do they do?"
He puts his hands on Mickey's shoulders. Mickey opens his mouth to reply but doesn't get a chance.
"Walk past it. Now stop your nagging, let's go and explore!"
He walks off, linking his hand with Abby
Mickey grabs Rose's hand Mickey and Jack follows behind.
"What's the plan?" Rose shouts to the Doctor
"I don't know! Cardiff. Early 21st Century. And the wind's coming from the... East. Trust me, the safest place in the universe."
The Doctor, Abby, Rose, Jack and Mickey are sitting at a table having a thoroughly good time as Jack tells them all an exciting story.
:I swear, six feet tall and with tusks..."
"You're lying through your teeth!"
"I'd gone bonkers! That's the word, bonkers!" Rose says.
"I mean, it turns out the white things are tusks and I mean tusks! And it's woken, and it's not happy..."
"How could you not know it was there?" Abby asks
"And we're standing there, fifteen of us, naked... "
"Naked?!" Rose and Abby exclaimed.
"And I'm like, oh, no, no, it's got nothing to do with me! And then it roars, and we are running. Oh my God, we are running! And Brakovitch falls, so I turn to him and I say..."
"I knew we should've turned left!"
They all roar with laughter at this punchline.
"Hey! That's my line!"
"I don't believe you, I don't believe a word you say ever, that is so brilliant!"
Abby glances over at a newspaper an old man nearby is reading, and the smile instantly fades from her face, she nudges the Doctor and points at the newspaper. He stands.
While Jack is prattling on, the Doctor pulls the paper out of the old man's hands and looks at the front page. He looks up, faces troubled.
"And I was having such a nice day."
And he holds up the paper and shows them the headline: New Mayor, New Cardiff, complete with a picture of Margaret as she objected to the photographer taking her picture.
The five of them stride purposefully up the steps to the town hall, the headquarters of the Mayor. They enter and go up the steps into the entrance hall as though they own the place. They stop and glance around at their surroundings.
"According to intelligence, the target is the last surviving member of the Slitheen family, a criminal sect from the planet Raxacoricofallapatorious, masquerading as a human being, zipped inside a skin suit. Okay, plan of attack, we assume a basic fifty-seven/fifty-six strategy, covering all available exits on the ground floor. Doctor, you go face-to-face, that'll designate Exit One, I'll cover Exit Two, Abby, you're Exit Three, Rose and Mickey Smith, you take Exit Four. Have you got that? "
While Jack is rattling all this off, the Doctor is eyeing him with mild surprise at his impertinence, Abby and Rose's faces are contorted with the effort of understanding what on earth he's going on about, and Mickey just looks confused.
" Excuse me. Who's in charge?"
"Sorry. Awaiting orders, sir."
"Right. Here's the plan. Like he said. Nice plan. Anything else?"
"Present arms."
They each pull out a mobile phone. all shouting Ready!
"Speed dial?"
Each press a button with a beep.
" See ya in hell."
"Ohh and Abby be careful, remember what happened last time you went on your own," the Doctor says laughing
"Ohh come on. One time that happened"
The Doctor starts to walk off. Abby and the Doctor head off to different exits straight ahead, whilst Mickey and Rose Walk off to the left.
Within 5 minutes Abby and the others get a phone call from the doctor.
"Slitheen heading North."
"On my way," Abby says
" Over and out," Jack says whilst running towards the direction the Doctor stated
"Oh my God." Mickey replies.
"Come on mickey" Rose shouts at him whilst running.
Margaret turns, ready to make her escape, but Abby is running towards her, blocking the way. She hisses angrily and pulls of an earring. She turns her head the other way, and Jack is running towards her. Her eyes widen with shock and she runs back the way she came, but the Doctor has managed to throw Idris off and he's on his way down the scaffolding.
" Margaret!:
But there's a fourth exit, and she's belting down it as fast as her fat legs can carry her, pulling off her second earring. Jack, Abby and the Doctor converge at one end.
"Who was on Exit Four?!"
"That was Rose and Mickey!" Abby replies
" Here we are!"
"Mickey the ididiot and what took you so long" said the Doctor looking at Rose and Mickey
"Oh, be fair, she's not exactly gonna outrun us, is she?"
But Margaret, smiling to herself, clips her brooch and the two earrings together and she vanishes in blue light with a small ting.
" She's got a teleport! That's cheating! Now we're never gonna get her!"
"Oh, the Doctor's very good with teleports."says Rose
And the Doctor, who has produced his sonic screwdriver from his jacket pocket, holds it in the air with a dopey grin and clicks it once. Margaret reappears, and this time she's much closer and running straight at them, still with the self-satisfied smile on her face.
It fades as soon as she realises where she is, and she grinds to a halt and hurriedly changes direction while pressing her device together. She vanishes again, and the Doctor clicks his screwdriver again. She reappears, again running towards them. She turns around, vanishes again, and again, the Doctor clicks his sonic screwdriver causing her to reappear, and this time she's right in front of them, absolutely exhausted and gasping for breath. She gives up.
Yhe doctor with a beaming smile says.
"I could do this all day."
"This is persecution. Why can't you leave me alone? What did I ever do to you?"
"You tried to kill me and destroy this entire planet."
"Apart from that."
The Doctor, Rose, Abby, Jack, Mickey and Margaret enter The town hall exhibition room.
"So, you're a Slitheen, you're on Earth, you're trapped. Your family get k*ll but you teleport out, just in the nick of time. You have no means of escape. What do you do? You build a nuclear power station."
He gestures at the model in the middle of the room while Rose and Jack examine it with interest.
"But what for?"
"A philanthropic gesture. I've learnt the error of my ways."
"And it just so happens to be right on top of the rift."
Abby hears the talking getting more blurred and she finds herself unable to concentrate. She walks to Rose.
"Im just going to the toilet. Ill be 5 minutes"
"You okay. Your looking pale."
" Im fine, ill be 5 minutes"
The Doctor notices her leaving and nods his head towards her as if he asks if she okay. She mouths back that she is fine and continues to rhe toilet.
As shw arrive the intense headaches she has been dealing with return. This time with vengence. Outside the toilet cubicle is a little dressing area with seats. Abby sits down hands on her head. The room starts to spin and everything goes black.
Next thing she knows she being shaken awake by Rose and Mickey.
" Abby! Abby!... Get the doctor Mickey NOW!..."
As mickey turns to leave Abby speaks.
"No Mickey stop. I dont want to worry him, im fine just a headache. All better now."
They both look at her with frowns on their faces.
"Im serious, i feel okay pain has gone. How long was i out."
"Well u were gone.about 5 minutes, so me and .ickey came looking for you as you didnt look right.and we found you on the floor."
"Ohh, right... well no need to worry anyone else everything is good. Lets go shal we."
"Abby your head. Youve got a cut"
Abby places her hand on her forhead and moves it away a little bit of blood appears on her hand. She walks over to the basin and washes her face, removing any evidence of it, just a little scar that can be covvered with her fringe.
"Let go"
"But Abby..."
"Mickey, i promise you im fine, lets just go. they all probably waiting"
The 3 continued down the corridor, Abby can feel their gazes on her but chooses to ignore them.
"Ahh there you are, been waiting for you 3 did you have a good chat?"
"Give it a rest, we are here now. you ready to go." Abby says
"Yep"
As they begin to walk away Jack grabs Margaret whilst the Doctor and Abby walk behind.
"So what did i miss, What did she say"
"There's a rift in space and time. If this power station that she approved went into meltdown, the entire planet would go schwwwupboom! The station is designed to explode the minute it reaches capacity but she's clever, you see that.. " the doctor points to the circuit board rose is holding.
"Yeah what is it"
"It's transport. You see, the reactor blows, the rift opens, phenomenal cosmic disaster, but this thing shrouds you in a forcefield, you have this energy bubble, zzhum, so you're safe. Then you feed it coordinates, stand on top, and ride the concussion all the way out of the solar system."
"Like a surf board" Abby jokes.
As they walk towards an exit a poster catches the docots eyes he look at it with concern on his face. "Blaidd Drwg"
Abby follows the direction to where the doctor is staring.
"Bad Wolf..." Abby whispers just quiet enogh that the Doctor can hear her.
" How'd you think of the name?"
"What, Blaidd Drwg? It's Welsh."
"I know, but how did you think of it?"
"Chose it at random, that's all I dunno. Just sounded good. Does it matter?"
"Blaidd Drwg."
"What's it mean?"
"Bad Wolf." Abby replies.
"But I've heard that before, Bad Wolf. I've heard that lots of times..."
"Everywhere we go. Two words. Following us. Bad Wolf."
"How can they be following us?"
The Doctor stares into space for a few more seconds, then...
"Nah! Just a coincidence! Like hearing a word on the radio then hearing it all day. Never mind! Things to do. . Margaret, we're gonna take you home."