The Santas pressed a big red button in the middle of their consoles.
"Stay away from the tree!" The Doctor yelled.
"Oh, for God's sakes, the man's an idiot! Why? What's a Christmas tree gonna..." The woman trailed off. "Oh.."
I turned to where her eyes were and saw the baubles float away from the tree in some kind of weird dance. The Doctor watched them mistrustfully as they hovered above everyone's heads. The guests chattered excitedly until the baubles started dive-bombing around the room and causing small explosions. Everyone started screaming and running for cover. Donna pulled Lance down to hide under a table with her. The Doctor ran over to the DJ's stand and I followed suit. He pointed to the ground and in a harsh whisper told me to cover my ears.
"Oi! Santa!" He called. "Word of advice: if you're attacking a man with a sonic screwdriver..."
He picked up the DJ's microphone. "... don't let him near the sound system."
He held his sonic screwdriver next to the amplifiers and it made a horrible, high-pitched screeching sound that I could hear even through my covered ears. The guests scrambled to cover their ears and the Santas vibrated violently until they fell to pieces. The Doctor removed his sonic screwdriver, helped me up with his hand, and we ran to examine the mechanics of the Santas. Everyone began to get up off the floor. While everybody shook off, the Doctor picked up the consoles the Santas were using.
"Look at that," He turned to me showing Donna and I the handheld consoles. "Remote control for the decorations but there's a second remote control for the robots."
He examined the head of one. "They're not scavengers anymore. I think someone's taken possession."
"Never mind all that, you're a doctor - people have been hurt." Donna pestered him
"Nah, they wanted you alive, look." he threw us each a bauble. "They're not active now."
"All I'm saying" Donna said "You could help."
In my hand, I felt a slight pulsing from the bauble.
"Gotta think of the bigger picture..." The Doctor saw me holding up the pulsating ball "There's still a signal!"
I gave him a slight nod and with that, he grabbed my hand and took off.
Donna followed us outside where the Doctor stood scanning the helmet of a Santa with his sonic screwdriver.
"There's someone behind this, directing the robo-force." He noted.
"But Doctor, why her?"
"What have I done?" Donna asked
"If we find the controller, we'll find that out."
He raised his sonic screwdriver into the air and exclaimed.
"It's up there."
"In the sky?"
"I've lost the signal" He lowered his screwdriver. "Donna, we've got to get to your office, H C Clements. I think that's where it all started."
He turned to the man beside Donna "Lance - is it Lance? Can you give us a lift?"
He darted off holding my hand without waiting for an answer.
When we arrived at H C Clements we ran into the building and then to Donna's office. The Doctor went straight to the computer and I followed suit.
"This might just be a locksmiths, but H C Clements was brought up twenty three years ago by the Torchwood Institute."
"Who are they?" Donna asked, beating me to the question.
"They were behind the battle of Canary Wharf."
There was a blank silence from Donna. I knew enough from the Doctor's tales of his final moments with Rose what the Battle of Canary Wharf was.
"... Cyberman invasion." The Doctor prompted Donna.
She looked at him inquiringly.
"Skies over London full of Daleks?"
"That was a hell of a day on the news..." I remembered.
"Oh, I was in Spain." Donna said.
"They had Cybermen in Spain."
"Scuba diving."
"That big picture, Donna - you keep on missing it."
He ran over to another monitor. "Torchwood was destroyed, but H C Clements stayed in business."
"How?" I asked.
"Someone else came in and took over the operation, obviously." he whacked the monitor.
"But what do they want with me?" Donna asked
The Doctor went serious, giving Donna his full attention "Somehow you've been dosed with Huon energy. And that's a problem because Huon energy hasn't existed since the Dark times. The only place you'd find a Huon particle now is a remnant in the heart of the TARDIS. See? That's what happened."
He picked up and showed Donna a mug "Say... that's the TARDIS,"
"And that's you." He picked up a pencil from a nearby desk.
"The particles inside you activated. The two sets of particles magnetised and WHAP!"He threw the pencil into the mug.
"You were pulled inside the TARDIS." I finished for him, catching on pretty easily to what he was saying.
"I'm a pencil inside a mug?" Donna said weakly.
"Yes, you are. 4H. Sums you up." I whacked the Doctor.
"Lance?" I turned to Donnas fiance. "What was H C Clements working on? Anything top secret? Special operations? Do not enter?"
"I don't know," He said defensively, "I'm in charge of personnel. I wasn't project manager!"
The Doctor held his sonic screwdriver to the screen and it instantly displayed the page he was looking for.
"Why am I even explaining myself?" Lance kept going. "What the hell are we talking about?"
"They make keys, that's the point!" The Doctor finally shut him up. "And look at this..."
A 3D plan of the building showed on the screen.
"... we're on the third floor." I noted.
The Doctor started to swagger off so I followed and Donna and Lance caught at my heels. He ran all the way to the lift.
"Underneath reception, there's a basement, yes?" He said.
The doors pinged open and the Doctor went inside and looked at the controls. I stepped in beside him.
"Then how come when you look on the lift, there's a button marked 'lower basement'?" He continued. I leaned forward and saw with my own eyes the round, silver button marked 'LB' with a small lock beside it.
"There's a whole floor which doesn't exist on the official plans." He continued.
"What's down there?" I asked with a sly smile. I may have just gotten myself my first adventure with the Doctor.
"Are you telling me this building's got a secret floor?" Lance said, eying my smile
"No, I'm showing you this building's got a secret floor." The Doctor shot back.
"It needs a key." Donna reminded him.
"I don't." He smirked, sonicing the lock on the lift
"Right then, thanks you two, we can handle this." I smiled at Donna and Lance.
"See you later."
"No chance, Martians." Donna but in. "You're the man who keeps saving my life, and you-" She turned to me. "are downright astonishing!"
"I ain't letting you two out of my sight."
She joined us in the lift.
"Going down."
Donna turned to her fiance. "Lance?"
"Maybe I should go to the police." He fumbled.
"Inside."
Lance meekly joined us in the lift.
"To honour and obey?" the Doctor mumbled.
"Tell me about it, mate."
"OI."
I reached up and flicked near his eyebrow. He gave me a friendly glare as the doors closed and the lift started to descend.
The lift pinged when it reached the lower basement. The Doctor, Donna, Lance and I stepped out into a long, dark, dank corridor, dimly lit with an eerie green light. Though we seemed to be alone, there was a strange tingle in the back of my head telling me someone was nearby. After I took a quick look around again, I dismissed it as nothing.
"Where are we?" Donna asked. "Well, what goes on down here?"
"Let's find out..." The Doctor replied
"Do you think Mr. Clements knows about this place?"
"The mysterious H C Clements? I think he's part of it."
A few black sticks with wheels - I believe they were called Segways(?) - lied to the side of the corridor not very far along. I nudged the Doctor and he noticed them also.
"Oh, look - transport."
We trundled down the corridor, each of us standing on our own electric scooters. Donna and I looked at the Doctor and Lance and burst out laughing. The Doctor joined in, but Lance didn't get it.
We came to a door which said "Torchwood - authorised personnel only", so naturally we abandoned our scooters as the Doctor turned the wheel that opened the door to reveal a ladder. The Doctor peered upwards.
"Wait here. Just need to get my bearings."
"Don't..." He pointed at Donna and Lance sternly. "... do anything."
He started up the ladder, flashing me a faltering smile. He was still so broken
"You'd better come back." Donna warned him.
"I couldn't get rid of you if I tried."
Donna smiled. She, Lance and I watched the Doctor climb the ladder.
Lance turned to Donna. "Donna... have you thought about this? Properly? I mean, this is serious! What the hell are we gonna do?"
Not really listening, Donna replied, "Oh, I thought July."
She smiled brightly and then turned her attention back to the Doctor climbing the ladder.
The Doctor reached the top of the ladder where he was confronted with the underside of a manhole. He opened it and climbs out into daylight, filling the dim room with light.
The Doctor came back down, jumping from the final rung.
"Thames flood barrier! Right on top of us. Torchwood snuck in and built this place underneath."
"What, there's like a secret base hidden underneath a major London landmark?" Donna gasped.
"I know! Unheard of." He replied.
I laughed as we continued down the hall till we came tosome kind of laboratory, full of massive test tubes bubbling away and chemistry equipment.
"Oh, look at this!" I gasped in awe.
"Stunning! Particle extrusion!" The Doctor let out a very childish giggle and I couldn't help but snicker.
"What does it do?" I asked.
"Particle extrusion. Hold on..."
He darted over to one of the tubes and gave it a slight tap.
"Brilliant. They've been manufacturing Huon particles. In case my people got rid of Huons, they unravelled the atomic structure."
"Your people? Who are they? What company do you represent?" Lance asked.
I knew what people he was talking about, the Time Lords.
"Oh, I'm a freelancer." He answered. "But this lot are rebuilding them. They've been using the river! Extruding them through a flat hydrogen base so they've got the end result - Huon particles in liquid form."
He picked up a small test tube full of the particles.
"And that's what's inside Donna?" I looked over to the frightened red-head as the doctor tampered with something on the test tube, making the contents glow gold - and Donna with it!
"Oh, my God!" She shrieked.
"Because the particles are inert - they need something living to catalyse inside and that's you. Saturate the body and then... HA!"
Donna jumped out of her skin and the Doctor was all mad enthusiasm again.
"The wedding! Yes, you're getting married, that's it! Best day of your life, walking down the aisle - oh, your body's a battleground! There's a chemical war inside! Adrenaline, acetylcholine, WHAM go the endorphins, oh you're cooking! Yeah, you're like a walking oven! A pressure cooker, a microwave, all churning away, the particles reach boiling point, SHAZAM!"
She slapped him. I was honestly just about to myself!
"What did I do this time?"
"Are you enjoying this?" She asked.
The Doctor relaxed, ashamed of himself. Donna walked towards him, breathing heavily in her distress.
"Right, just tell me - these particles, are they dangerous?"
"Doctor, is she safe?" I asked him
"Yes!" He shouted very unconvincingly.
"Doctor..." I grunted. "If your lot got rid of Huon particles... why did they do that?"
He gently responded, "Because they were deadly."
"Oh, my God..." Donna wailed.
"I'll sort it out, Donna. Whatever's been done to you, I'll reverse it. I'm not about to lose someone else!"
We were then distracted by crashes and bangs that seemed to come from all around us.
A strange hissing voice projected through the lab. "Oh, she is long since lost."
One of the walls slid upwards to reveal a secret chamber with an enormous round hole in the floor.
"I have waited so long," the voice continued. "Hibernating at the edge of the universe..."
Lance, eyes widened in horror, hurriedly retreated through the door. Coward!
"... until the secret heart was uncovered and called out to waken!"
The walls of the chamber lined with the armed robots wearing black hoods.
"Someone's been digging..." The Doctor observed. "Oh, very Torchwood. Drilled by laser."
"How far down does it go?" I asked, stepping closer to the hole and standing beside the Doctor.
"Down and down, all the way to the centre of the Earth!"
"Really? Seriously?" I stuttered. There was no way that hole went all the way down.
"What for?" The Doctor asked.
Donna shuffled forwards. "Dinosaurs."
"What?" I asked.
"Dinosaurs?" She repeated.
"What are you on about, dinosaurs?" The Doctor said, getting annoyed.
"That film, Under the Earth, with dinosaurs." She sighed. "Trying to help!"
"That's not helping."
"Such a sweet trio."
"Only a madman talks to thin air and trust me, you don't want to make me mad. Where are you?" the Doctor asked the invisible speaker.
"High in the sky, floating so high on Christmas Night."
"I didn't come all this way to talk on the intercom! Come on, let's have a look at you!"
"Who are you with such command?" The voice demanded.
"I'm the Doctor." He growled back.
"Prepare your best medicines, doctor-man, for you will be sick at heart." the voice spat.