If there was one thing the Doctor was good at, it was irritating people. It didn't take much from him before Miss Florence, irritated by his chatter, had her Slabs come over to grasp the Doctor and Terry and hold them back while she continued to work.
The Time Lords feigned alarm at being manhandled but both kept their eyes carefully on the plasmavore's progress.
"Er, that, that big er machine thing. Is it supposed to be making that noise?" The Doctor queried as he carefully analyzed Florence's work. The scanner was now buzzing from the energy overload and he already had an idea of what she was doing. But he needed confirmation… and a distraction.
"You wouldn't understand."
Miss Florence waved her hand dismissively, but she paused when the Doctor blurted out, "But isn't that a magnetic resonance imaging thing? Like a ginormous sort of a magnet? I did magnetics GCSE. Well, I failed, but all the same."
The plasmavore gave him a curious glance and she was interested enough that she deigned to give him a response.
"The magnetic setting now increased to fifty thousand Tesla."
"Ooo, that's a bit strong, isn't it?" The Doctor asked dramatically.
He was laying it on a bit thick in Terry's opinion but Miss Florence didn't seem to notice as she said with a smirk, "It'll send out a magnetic pulse that'll fry the brain stems of every living thing within two hundred and fifty thousand miles. Except for me, safe in this room."
She headed behind the protective glass once more while the Doctor frowned.
"But er, hold on, hold on," the Doctor protested. "I did geography GCSE. I passed that one. Doesn't that distance include the Earth?"
Terry heard the faint note of anger in his tone but it was masked enough that Miss Florence didn't detect it in the slightest. The old woman chuckled as she continued to work.
"Only the side facing the moon. The other half will survive. Call it my little gift." She smiled as though at an internal joke.
"I'm sorry," the Doctor blurted out again. "You'll have to excuse me, I'm a little out of my depth. I've spent the past fifteen years working as a postman. Hence the bunions."
"Bunions?" Terry asked incredulously.
"Hush, angel, I'm working."
"Why would you do that?" The Doctor asked aloud.
"With everyone dead, the Judoon ships will be mine, to make my escape." Miss Florence answered as though it were obvious. Which, it was. Just like it was obvious they would stop her.
"No, that's weird." The Doctor began, really starting to pick up his game now. "You're talking like you're some sort of an alien."
The Doctor smiled like he was expecting her to say it was a joke. Florence just turned to smile back at him like a parent indulging a child.
"Quite so." She revealed. The Doctor pulled a look of complete disbelief.
"No!"
Again, Terry felt he was overdoing it a bit but since Florence was looking their way, she feigned shock from beside the Doctor while Florence cooed, "Oh, yes."
"You're joshing me." The Doctor protested and the old woman shook her head.
"I am not."
"I'm talking to an alien? In hospital?" The Doctor turned to Terry excitedly. "Wife, didn't I tell you this place deserved top marks? I wonder, has the place got an ET department?"
Terry gave an appropriate noise of excitement and Florence finally opened up, basking in their attention.
"It's the perfect hiding place." The plasmavore explained. "Blood banks downstairs for a midnight feast, and all this equipment ready to arm myself with should the police come looking."
The Doctor's face was the perfect picture of surprise as he gasped, "So, those rhinos, they're looking for you?"
"Yes." The old woman approached the Doctor indulgently, "But I'm," she lifted her hand to show the X mark. "Hidden."
She whispered the word like a parent playing with their child. The Doctor nodded along.
"Right." He mused before he said with feigned thoughtfulness, "Maybe that's why they're increasing their scans."
"It must be, dear." Terry agreed while Florence, who had been about to turn away, whirled around to face them again.
"They're doing what?" She demanded sharply.
The Doctor pretended to be surprised and he explained, "Big chief rhino boy, he said, no sign of a non-human, we must increase our scans up to setting two?"
He added a good dose of uncertainty on the last word, as though he wasn't sure whether he was saying it right. Sure enough, the old woman believed his lies without a hint of doubt.
"Then I must assimilate again." She murmured. The signal they were looking for.
"What does that mean?" The Doctor asked, pretending to sound confused.
"I must appear to be human." Florence replied as she headed back behind the radiation screen.
The Doctor continued his dimwit act as he offered, "Well, you're welcome to come home with us, right, dear?"
"Oh, of course. We'd be honoured." Terry agreed although she was watching as Florence dug around in her handbag.
"I'd be happy to cook, too." The Doctor added as he also watched Florence. "The wife's unfortunately got so many conditions she can't stay on her feet for long - are you feeling quite all right now, dear?"
The Doctor pretended to look at Terry anxiously while she narrowed her eyes at him. He'd done that on purpose to ensure Florence would select him as her target. No plasmavore wanted to eat a sick person.
"I'm quite fine, dear." Terry answered pointedly but the Doctor just shook his head.
"The missus really does try to stay strong." The Doctor confided in Florence, who just smirked as she found what she'd been looking for. "But how about it? We can also have cake."
"Why should I have cake?" Florence questioned as she drew the object she'd been searching for from her bag. "I've got my little straw."
Terry had a hard time keeping up her act but the Doctor was better as he said with only a hint of appropriate apprehension, "Oh, that's nice. Milkshake? I like banana."
Florence just smiled at him as she stepped closer to him.
"You're quite the funny man. And yet, I think, laughing on purpose at the darkness."
Her smile dropped as she whispered, and the Doctor let his face drop into a look of fear.
"I think it's time you found some peace. Steady him!" She suddenly barked at the Slab.
"What are you doing?" Terry cried with feigned terror as the Slab gripped the Doctor's head, pushing him down.
The Doctor groaned as he was forced to his knees, his head turned so that his neck was stretched out, creating easy access to his jugular for the plasmavore. Florence came up and began stroking the Doctor's neck lovingly.
"Let him go!" Terry pretended to start to cry while the Doctor grimaced.
"What are you doing?" The Doctor gasped out, his breathing slightly uneven from the awkward angle his head was being held at.
Florence just smiled at Terry and then the Doctor as she cooed, "I'm afraid this is going to hurt. But if it's any consolation, the dead don't tend to remember."
With that, she stuck the straw right under the Doctors' jaw, sticking it in so that it reached into his vein. It should have been fine - Terry shouldn't have reacted in any way. After all, she knew the Doctor would eventually be safe.
But suddenly none of that mattered. Despite herself, the instant that the straw hit the Doctor's neck, Terry reacted.
"No!"
Florence shrieked as Terry suddenly threw off the Slab holding her and lunged at the alien hiding in an old woman's body. But Florence was startled into silence by the other woman's eyes - her gold eyes.
The Doctor struggled to escape, alarmed by Terry's sudden reaction; only to sputter as the Slab squeezed his neck roughly before hitting him suddenly on the pressure point on his neck. The Doctor's eyes rolled back as he was knocked unconscious. But Florence's eyes bulged in terror when the Time Lady, currently pinning her down, saw the Doctor fall to the ground in a still pile. And Daemon let out an inhuman scream of anger mixed with a curious frustration.
Abandoning Florence, Daemon threw herself toward the Slab. The Slab raised its arms to defend itself - but Daemon didn't even have to touch it before it dropped down. Dead. The other Slab followed shortly after as Daemon turned her burning gold eyes at it and pointed her finger at it.
"What?" Florence gasped as the Time Lady's eyes dimmed to a cold gold when suddenly, the Judoon burst into the room. Martha was right behind them and she looked alarmed when she saw the Doctor lying unconscious on the ground.
"Doctor!" Martha cried but the Judoon were only interested in Daemon.
"Non-human." The leader called as he scanned the brunette female.
"See? It's her! And he's with her." Florence exclaimed, gesturing at the Time Lady, who remained unruffled by the Judoon's announcement, and the Doctor who was lying unconscious on the ground. "They're the aliens!"
"But do you know who I am? Scan me." Daemon answered scathingly.
"Analyze." The Judoon leader ordered and his scanner began to whir as he tried to identify the Time Lady's origins.
"No, you've got the wrong people." Martha argued as she pointed at Florence. "It's her, she's assimilated and pretending to be hum-"
"Confirm analysis." The Judoon leader spoke over Martha as he checked his scanner, before he pointed at the human woman. "Remove outsider from scene."
"What? No!" Martha exclaimed as she was seized by two Judoon. "No, stop! I'm telling you, you've got the wrong people, let me go! Terry! Terry!"
Martha's voice became distant as she was dragged, kicking and screaming, out of the MRI room.
The Judoon leader's scanner finally beeped just as the doors shut behind Martha. Florence beamed triumphantly, only to frown in confusion as the Judoon's ears suddenly flattened in what appeared to be apprehension as he looked at Daemon.
"Daemon." The Judoon hissed.
"So, you have heard of me." Daemon said impassively.
"Daemon?" Florence repeated, looking between the pair with sudden wariness. "What's a Daemon?"
Daemon ignored her as she pointed at Florence while still looking at the Judoon leader.
"The plasmavore you're looking for is right here. Punish her as you see fit - but try and take me instead and I will use this," she held up the Doctor's fried (but they didn't have to know that) sonic.
"And I will inform the Shadow Proclamation that you illegally moved a human dwelling onto the moon and then attacked innocent bystanders," Daemon gestured toward the doors where Martha had disappeared, "who had nothing to do with the crime for which you are here to punish."
The Judoon leader jerked back, while Daemon continued her threat.
"And if you touch him," she gestured at the Doctor. "I promise you that you will feel my wrath burn through the very stars, let alone your flimsy hide. Do you understand, you sorry excuse of a law-enforcer?"
The Judoon leader's tiny eyes were irritated at Daemon's condescending tone; but the Judoon had heard of the tales of Daemon. There were legends surrounding the mystery of Daemon's birth and whispers of her capability; of the prophecy. Fire and death were just a few of the whispers that followed Daemon's name throughout the galaxy. And the Judoon knew that he was not equipped to handle such a being. It was either silently do as she said or perish when Daemon's temper snapped.
The Judoon knew which option they preferred.
"Confirm. Plasmavore, charged with the crime of murdering the child princess of Patrival Regency Nine." The Judoon leader declared.
"What?" Florence demanded, incensed. "No, I'm human! I'm completely human, she is lying!"
She pointed at Daemon, who muttered, "Oh for President's sake."
Her gold eyes glowed bright, and the Judoon were fast in reacting to the threat.
"Confirmed. Plasmavore, charged with the crime of murdering the child princess of Patrival Regency Nine." The Judoon leader repeated loudly and threateningly.
At his declaration, Florence snapped. Realizing she was not going to escape now whether the Judoon believed she really was the criminal they were looking for or not, Florence exploded.
"Well, she deserved it! Those pink cheeks and those blonde curls and that simpering voice. She was begging for the bite of a plasmavore."
"Then you confess?" The Judoon leader questioned. Florence scoffed.
"Confess? I'm proud of it!" She shouted and the Judoon lifted its blaster.
"Verdict, guilty. Sentence, execution." The leader announced and all its troops aimed at the plasmavore, who cackled madly.
"Enjoy your victory, Judoon, because you're going to burn with me. Burn in hell!"
She screamed as the Judoon shot her with their lasers. She was incinerated in seconds and the Judoon leader nodded triumphantly.
"Case closed."
"You moron." Daemon snapped. "Can you not feel the acceleration of the monomagnetic pulse?"
The Judoon leader lifted its scanner again and scanned around until it reached the MRI machine. Its ears twitched again and it started to back away.
"Scans detect lethal acceleration of monomagnetic pulse."
"I don't say this often, but the Doctor was right that you lot are thick." Daemon grumbled as she walked over to the machine and very calmly pulled the cables that plugged the machine into the power socket.
Instantly the whole bomb shut down and Daemon tossed the cables over her shoulder as she stared the Judoon down.
"Now, leave and return this dwelling to Earth." Daemon threatened, her voice low but filled with authority. "Return it to its exact location, and never come back if you're going to do as stupid and botched up a job as you did today."
The Judoon leader looked like it might argue; but Daemon's eyes glowed again in warning and the Judoon quickly called a retreat.
"Our jurisdiction has ended. Judoon will evacuate."
"You most certainly will." Daemon muttered as the Judoon exited the room.
While the Judoon retreated, Daemon turned at a soft sound from behind her. She looked down at the Doctor, who was just beginning to stir.
"Angel?" The Doctor groaned, his eyes still crossed as he tried to look up at the brunette standing above him.
Daemon's lips curled back in a sneer at his call.
"If only, Doctor."
Knowing the Judoon would take the hospital and the Doctor back to Earth, Daemon disappeared in a swirl of light just before the Doctor's sight finally returned.
All the Doctor saw before the brunette woman disappeared completely was a flash of gold. But he was puzzled as he swore he saw a touch of the gold light coming from behind the woman's dark brown hair that whipped across her face - right where Terry's eyes should have been.