As The Doctor drove, she carefully drew her sonic screwdriver from her pocket and placed it on the dash.
Faintly, not enough to be heard in the back, it began pulsing slightly, its warm blue glow getting stronger or dimmer depending on the roads she took, rather like a strange sat-nav, guiding her somewhere.
In the back of the cab, The Doctor could hear the Nobles discussing the damage to their home, shocked, forlorn, trying to make light of things. Well, not all of them were. Donna was staring straight ahead, as if she was studying the route the Doctor was taking.
Or studying her. Honestly, both Donna and Rose with the staring. She knew how her new self looked, but really? Oi, Doctor! Focus. Fine.
After what seemed like an eternity, but was more like ten minutes, the Doctor saw an underground car park ahead under an office block. The grille was down, which for anyone else would have prevented entry, but they didn't have a handy dandy sonic. The grille slowly rose, and she drove the cab down into darkness. The Doctor tapped her sonic again and the overhead lights in the car park came on, as she parked the cab. Getting out, she gestured for everyone else to stay put.
She then opened the back door, tossed Shaun his keys, and held her hand out to the Meep. The Meep took her hand with their paw, and allowed itself to be led out of the cab.
Rose went to follow, but was gently held by Sylvia.
As the Doctor strode over towards the bays opposite, the Meep hopped after her. The Doctor spun on her heels, coat tails flying to briefly reveal the colorful lining, to face the little alien.
She then reached into a pocket of her coat and produced a tie wig, as worn by British barristers, and switched out it with her hat on her head.
"Right, now court is now in session," stated the Doctor in an authoritative tone. She then raised her sonic with another flourish. "I call to the stand.." The Doctor then activated the sonic. It emitted a single bleep. Then there was a flare and a bluish shimmer of light, and two Wrath Warriors appeared. "The Wrarth Warriors." The Warriors regarded The Doctor, then turned large, red unblinking gaze upon the Meep and drew their guns.
The Meep gave a high-pitched scream of terror, as Donna jumped out of the cab. Ignoring the Wrarth as if bug-eyed aliens were something she dealt with everyday, she said demandingly. "What the hell are you doing?"
"Now? We have to do this now?", said the Doctor in a sotto voice. "Seriously? Can't you see I'm trying to do a thing here?" stated the Doctor, fixing Donna with a sharp look. "Now, hush!" Donna looked like she was about to make a retort, but the Doctor beat her to the punch. Snapping her fingers, she pointed at Donna and said sternly, "Silenzio!" The authority in her voice actually made Donna fall silent, staying near the cab.
"Now, you, just wait. I'm busy. Right, where were we fellas?" The Doctor spun on her heels to face the Wrarth Warriors. "Oh right! Got it! I invoke Shadow Proclamation Protocols 15 P and 6." She then pointed at their guns, with her sonic. "Which means, by the way, no tranqing people or anything, unless I say it's okay, got it?"
There was a long, silent pause. Then both Wrarth Warriors lowered their guns accordingly.
"Good. Great. Let's move things along, shall we?" said the Doctor, letting out a sigh of relief. "Right, first things first, Exhibit A." Waving her sonic like a pointer, The Doctor indicated Shaun's cab. "That is a London taxi cab, which so happens to belong to one Shaun Temple, esquire. Cab driver. Father. Hubbie to Donna. Near saint. List goes on…" Pointing at Donna, she continued. "Donna, could please check for scorch marks?"
Donna did as The Doctor requested, looking around the cab, touching the windows, checking everything. Eventually she looked back toward the Doctor and the Wrarth Warriors. "No, nothing."
The Doctor nodded, as she focused her attention on the Wrarth. "Didn't think there would be. Soooooo, we have plasma bolts that don't leave any marks. Then, there's the matter of the soldiers I found lying in the street." The Doctor was pacing again. "Shot, but not dead. Merely unconscious. Rather curious, wouldn't you agree?" She then pointed her sonic at the Warriors' guns. "Exhibit B. Those are both stun guns. Aren't they?"
One of the Warriors nodded, dipping slightly as its legs bent at the same time. To Donna, it seemed like a sign of deference. "The guns apply a mild and harmless neural anesthetic." It then held its claw out. "For the record, I am Sergeant Zogroth."
"And I am Constable Zreeg." the second warrior added, giving a similar dip.
The Meep was giving the Doctor the biggest, most sincerest pweeze-believe-me eyes. "Help! The Wrarth Warriors want to kill the Meep!"
"Were they really?" queried the Doctor, unmoved by the Meep's big, sad eyes. "Stun guns, remember? Which means that the only ones actually trying to kill were the soldiers with kaleidoscope eyes." The Doctor began humming "Lucy In the Sky With Diamonds" to herself, as she paced. "So, who were they there for? Were they there to stop them?" The Doctor indicated Zreeg and Zogroth. "or," she continued, gazing at the Doctor out the side of her eye. "were they there to kill you? Or, were they there to save you?"
"May I speak?", requested Sergeant Zorgroth, dipping again.
"It's a free cosmos," Then the Doctor seemed to realize the pseudo-courtroom tableau she was in. " Oh right, formalities!" Clearing her throat, she gave a slight bow and said in a more authoritative tone. "Address the Court."
"The story of the Meep is a tragic tale. Their planet basked in the light of a Living Sun. Until one day, the sun went mad."
"A Psychedelic Sun," further explained Constable Zreeg. "Its radiation mutated all of Meepkind into cruel beasts who only lived for conquest."
The Doctor uttered "Oh," as a realization dawned on her. Thinking back to what she'd seen under the UNIT soldier's visor. "Solar Psychodelia! Oh, so not groovy!"
Sergeant Zogroth agreed, "It rendered them maniacs."
Constable Zreeg jabbed a claw at the Meep. "The Meep Army," he said, " captured the Galactic Council and beheaded them. Then ate them. The Shadow Proclamation summoned the Wrarth Warriors and we fought across the stars. A long and awful battle."
Sergeant Zogroth took up the rest of the story. "Meepkind all died rather than surrender, now this one survives, their leader."
"The most cruel and despicable of all," added Zreeg.
Throughout all this, The Meep simply sat there, looking at the Doctor with their large, imploring eyes as if seeking her support against all the supposed slander.
Donna had by now been joined by Sylvia, Shaun, and Rose.
"Meep meep," said the Meep as they looked in Rose's direction, but Rose was looking at her parents.
"Right, we've heard your side," said the Doctor, "but it's only fair that the Meep gets a go." Turning toward the Meep, she waved their way to indicate they could speak. "Meep, you've got the floor."
The Meep stared in the Doctor's direction, their eyes getting wider and wider. Then, they smiled. But this wasn't a pleasant, sweet smile. This was a cruel smile, showing nasty, sharp teeth and a forked tongue.
"Oh, to hell with this!", snapped the Meep, as they reached into some kind of marsupial pouch and whipped out a tiny weapon. The weapon resembled a knuckle duster-style pistol. When the Meep spoke again, gone from their voice was all the sweetness and childlike innocence, there was no trace of anything adorable now. The Meep's voice had become spiteful, angry, and sarcastic. This must be their real voice. "No stun guns for me!" they declared, "Just die!"
The Meep then aimed and fired their tiny pistol at The Wrarth Warriors. The first shot struck Constable Zreeg, sending him sprawling to the ground. The next shot struck Sergeant Zogroth full on, knocking him across the car park.
"Oh my god…" Donna ran forward.
"No, Donna, don't." Shaun said urgently, reaching to grab her arm. Unfortunately, for him, Donna was faster. Seconds later, she was by the Doctor's side, and together they bent over the prone warriors.
"What can we do?" asked Donna.
"Not sure. I haven't encountered their species before. Ooohh, I do love new things, but not right now." Waving her sonic slowly over the fallen Wrarth Warriors, she winced as a look of sad resignation crossed her face. "Their injuries are quite nasty." Gently, The Doctor laid her hand on Zreeg. "Partial internal disruption. Definitely nasty." She tender gripped his shoulder, and shook him. "Constable? Can you hear me?"
"Too late," shrieked the Meep. "My Soldiers of the Psychedelic Sun are here!"
Sure enough, UNIT jeeps swarmed into the car park, visored soldiers jumping out, before the vehicles had fully stopped.
"Shaun, get Rose out of here," Donna yelled, but, it was already too late. Guns clicked as their safeties disengaged and raised to cover the Nobles, who raised their hands in surrender.
The Meep snarled, the lights of the car park glinting off their nasty, razor-sharp teeth. "Now I don't need to pretend anymore, because I am the Beep of all the Meeps."
Sergeant Zogroth feebly raised his claw hand toward the Doctor and Donna. "Sergeant Zorgroth regrets…retirement from…active duty." The claw then dropped limply to the ground, as the brilliant glow of his red eyes dimmed to black.
Donna swung round on the Meep. "I was right: you are a monster!"
The Meep chortled and giggled with maniacal glee. "Yet you believed every word I said. You stupid woman." The Meep turned and looked at Rose, who stared back defiantly. "A stupid woman with a weird child.."
Furious, Donna stood up. "Don't you dare…"
In a flash, The Meep's knuckle-duster gun was aimed right at her face.
"Ixnay, Ixnay! Flag on the play!" exclaimed The Doctor, still knelt beside the dead Wrarth Warriors. Leaping to her feet, she dashed over and placed herself between the trigger-happy Meep and a furious Donna, using exaggerated and rather silly hand gestures to get the Meep's attention. "No! Not good! Stop! Not good! No shooting!"
"Why not?" snapped The Meep in annoyance, clearly eager to kill something again.
"Why not?", replied the Doctor quizzically. "Oh right, the why not. Very important things are whynots." The Doctor began pacing again, this time with the Meep's gun following her. "Why not. Why not. Why. Not." Suddenly, she stopped in her tracks and snapped her fingers, "Ah ha, got it! The Whynot!" Spinning around with dramatic flair, coat tails flying as she stretched her arms wide in a ta da gesture, she declared excitedly. "Me!"
The Meep's eyes narrowed in further annoyance, as they snarled, "What?"
"Bit obvious really," The Doctor said innocently. "I mean, people with two hearts," She indicated herself and the Meep. "don't exactly come along too often, right? Talk about special edition! Yet," The Doctor took a step back, as she spread her arms wide again in a grand gesture that indicating everyone. "Here we are.
The Meep made an angry, snarling sound as they raised their pistol. "Whoa, whoa!" exclaimed the Doctor, raising her hands toward the Meep in a placating way. "Simmer, you! Talk about trigger happy! Seriously, you need to work on the whole impulse control thing. Stat! Now where were we? Ah yes, got it. You. Me. Two hearts. Rare. Here. Now. All a-bit too coincidental, don't you think? I mean, say, hypothetically speaking, what if, presumably, it wasn't a coincidence after all? What if all of this," The Doctor used her fingers to indicate herself, and the fallen Wrarth Warriors, "was simply part of some oh so cleverly ruse, a sly ploy to outfox," The Doctor now pointed at the Meep. "you?" The Doctor then pointed at Donna. "Now, killing her, is a no go. Know why? No leverage on me," She then pointed towards the Noble family. "Kill them, same applies. Also, no leverage on Donna here," The Doctor pointed again at Donna. "FYI, she would also be ever so cross with you." She then leaned forward conspiratorially, and said in soto, "Trust me. Bad, bad idea. Two out of ten, don't recommend." Stepping back again, The Doctor indicated Donna, and Donna's family again. "Now, if we all live, you've got leverage to find out what it is," Now, the Doctor indicated herself. "that I know which you presumably don't know but surely would like to know. I mean, I know you're trigger happy and all, but are you truly willing to pass up on finding out if it is indeed true?"
The Meep's widened and narrowed at the Doctor's words. But it still seemed, briefly, as if the they were not fully convinced, but then they lowered their pistol. "Bring them." They snarled. "Bring them all."
The Doctor visibly relaxed, puffing air from her cheeks in relief. "Oh, goodie. Glad that's settled. Oh, by the way, may I suggest a better way off world than a Double Dagger Drive? I mean, aren't those things a wee bit.."
To Donna's shock and surprise, one of the visored soldiers walked up behind the Doctor and clubbed her in the back of the head with the butt of their rifle. The Doctor let out a startled, pained moan before collapsing to the ground in a crumpled heap. Donna could see that the Doctor was out like a light.
As the soldiers closed in on Donna and her family, she found herself furious at them, the situation, herself, and most especially, the woman crumpled at her feet who obviously knew far more than she was telling.