Doctor Who, Lost Memories (Roni)

Started by Villain, May 30, 2014, 07:19:41 AM

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Villain

It was going to be a lovely day for the grand opening of the hotel. The weather would be perfect, the food and drink would be divine and everyone would enjoy the party. This was not speculation, according to Roth Daker the owner of the Daker hotel, this was fact. Everyone was going to leave the hotel gossiping about how incredible the hotel was and how pleasant their time there had been.

And if they didn't, someone was getting fired.

"Miserable sod," muttered Roy, one of the hotel's engineers, as he fastened one of the nuts on the main engine in the boiler room. "I hope something heavy falls on him."

"Come on Roy, you can hardly blame him from being on edge," his assistant Ted spoke as he helped the grumpy engineer with his work. "He's just a bit stressed. A big show like this would get to anyone, even Mr Daker."

"That doesn't give him the right to give us the chop if his day gets spoiled," he replied. "It's not as if we haven't done everything we can to make sure this goes down as planned. He should know what we're having to deal with. We're engineers, not miracle workers."

"Funny business though, ain't it?" Ted assistant spoke as he helped Roy lift one of the heavy energy sustaining quadron fiber rods and slid it into the engines reactor. "I mean, first there's that falling statue that ended up taking out the stair case, then the electronics on levels four through eight start playing up and that business with the lavatories. I never even knew they could do that."

"Don't remind me. I was on the clean up team," Roy grunted before the engine let out a satisfying clang as the rod slid into place" Alright works done. Radio in that we're going back up."

"Gotcha," Ted replied and lifted his communication wrist band to his mouth. "Oi Bob, we're done here. Where do you want us to go next?"

"I hope it's not to work on that control matrix again," Roy muttered. "I am sick to death of Dakers telling me how perfect he wants the damn weather."

Ted didn't reply. He was distracted by something. His wrist band had started making a peculiar hissing noise that almost sounded like words. He tapped the wrist band with a frown. "Hello, Bob?"

The hissing sound continued. It was strange, although it was not uncommon for some communication devices to experience interference in some underdeveloped parts of the hotel, the bands that the engineers wore around their wrist were state of the art, completely capable of cutting through any disruption with ease. If it was experiencing difficulties, then it was either broken or something was very wrong.

"Bob can you hear me?" Roy asked as he lifted his own wrist band to mouth. Like Ted, his communication device let out the same hissing noise.

"Maybe we damaged them when working on the engine?" Ted suggested, but sounded unsure.

"Maybe Dakers just bought some cheap crap?" Roy muttered. "Wouldn't surprise me. He's wasted millions on this project of hi-"

"How... dare you..." A voice suddenly crackled through their wrist bands.

"Bob?" Ted asked with alarm. "Bob, is that you?"

"How...dare...you!" The voice crackled again.

"Bob are you mucking about with us?"

"HOW DARE YOU!" The voice roared, evident fury in its words/

"Uh...Roy," Ted mumbled nervously. The floor had begun to move beneath their feet as the lights in the room blinked on and off. The engine began to whine and screech as screws and bolts shot off it like bullets. Roy took one tentative step towards the engine, as if planning to attempt a repair, and as he did the entire room became bathed in blood red light.

"HOW DARE YOU! HOW DARE YOU!"

The engineers took one look at each other before bolting for the door on the far side of the room. Whether it was an engine malfunction or not, the two didn't care. Whatever was happening, they wanted no part of it.

As they ran the floor tiles under their feet began to peel away and float into the air around them. The voice from the wrist bands was still screaming as they fled. Every step they took seemed to make it grow louder and louder.

Roy threw himself at the door when they finally reached the exit. His body slammed into it with an almighty crash, but the door did not give way.

"No, no, no, no, no!" Roy whimpered as he clawed at the door in an attempt to break it down. He could hear something roaring behind him and the sound of Ted screaming in fear, but Roy did not turn around to find out why. Especially when Ted began to scream and agony and beg Roy for help.

Just before Roy was torn away from the door, he felt something close around his body with a touch as wet and cold as mud. Out the corner of his eye, he saw burning red eyes that glared at him with an inhuman anger.

He had no time to scream for help. Not that it would have done him much good if he had. It would be hours before anyone found what remained of their bodies.

And by then it would already be too late.

Doctor Who Lost Memories:
The Stone Ghosts

"Now everyone, there is one crucial thing that Mr Dakers wants from you tonight," The Head Waiter spoke to the crowd of waiters and waitresses that stood before the grand double doors leading to the ball room, currently buzzing with activity. "The one thing Mr Dakers demands from each and every one of you, is a smile."

"Now can we do that?" The Head Waiter asked unable to keep the patronizing tone out of his voice. "Can we all smile for Mr Dakers?"

"Yes sir," the staff replied, struggling to keep their voices even. The Head Waiter was well known as being unable to make friends among the staff he commanded.

"Splendid!" The Head Waiter cheered and applauded lightly before kicking open the double doors to reveal the bustling crowd that lay beyond. "Well then, get out there and make those customers happy. For Mr Dakers!"

Roni

Sure it would be a lovely day. It would a lovely day because Mr. Daker said it would be a lovely day. It would be a lovely day because her mother had planned a lovely day for Mr. Daker and the attendees of the grand opening of the Daker Hotel.

Just because everyone was telling her it would be a lovely day though, didn't mean that she had to agree with them.

Mollie Spires was a generally a contrary individual, especially where it concerned her mother. Mrs. Spires was outwardly perfect, and she planned perfect events. It was how she had gotten the job at the Daker Hotel. Mrs. Spires also enjoyed meddling in her daughter's life, which Mollie did not take to very kindly.

Her meddling mother was how she ended up with this job. It's not that the job was difficult. Waitressing large events for a big hotel was actually easy. All it involved was walking around with a tray full of champagne or hors d'oeuvres and offering them mutely to anyone you passed with a smile plastered on your face. -Okay. That last part might be a bit difficult, but if she really tried, she could pull it off.- It was the fact that her mother wanted her to do something with her life, as if art could never be an actual job.

So it was that Mollie hefted a tray of champagne glasses, rolling her eyes and scowling lightly in the process. As she passed the Head Waiter on her way out the door, she plastered a false, sickeningly sweet smile on her face. He glared a bit at her in turn, letting her know with a hand gesture that he would be watching her; it didn't matter who her mother was.

With another roll of her eyes, she was making her way into the crowd when she turned her head to stick her tongue out at him for the briefest moment. Then she was gone, weaving between patrons and offering her wares with her comely looks and a modest smile.

Villain

The opening of the hotel was sure to be a joyous occasion for its guests. People had come from far and wide to attend the gala and they were lapping up the free champagne greedily, whilst soaking in the smooth music that came from the robotic music band that circled above their heads on a levitating platform.

Nearly every wealthy, renown person in the galaxy had accepted their invitation to the event. Unfortunately, this was what made the party insufferable for the staff. Rich respectful people, rarely had any respect for those who weren't loaded. A good majority of the party possessed the mentality that if you did not own a spaceship with your name on it, then you were not worthy of so much as a smile.

Mollie was lucky enough not to be the first to be subjected to the horrid wrath of a pompous snob. Unfortunately, she was close enough to witness the entire encounter.

A lemon colored woman in a strange spiky red and black gown, let out a shrill shriek as Neil Bloffis, a fish-man waiter from the Aqua Planet Oceaniana, narrowly swerved to avoid her as she stomped across the ball room floor.

"Will you watch where you are going with those drinks!" She screech, wagging a yellow finger at the poor fish. "You almost spilled those on me. You could have ruined my dress!"

"My humble apology's madam. I will try to be more careful," Neil said humbly and offered a small apologetic bow.

"See that you do!" The woman said crossly. "Honestly, I cannot believe you would be so reckless! Do you know how expensive this outfit is? Do you?"

"I'm afraid I do not madam," Neil replied, his gills quivering as he suppressed a sigh of frustration. Any waiter watching would know that this woman intended to not let him walk away without chewing him out first.

"Well, then boy let me educate you," The woman tutted before rudely shaking one of her frilly sleeves in front of his face. "This dress was worn by Cleopatra, Queen of the forgotten Earth. It was sealed within an air tight container and sent into the depths of space as a warning to primitive civilizations that she would soon conqueror their worlds and raze their cities to the ground."

"Do you know how valuable this dress is?" The woman asked, but cut Neil off before he could respond. "It is said that in order to construct it the people of the Forgotten Earth scoured their planet for every precious material it possessed and boiled them down into fibers that could be used to make it. It is beyond priceless and you almost destroyed it!"

"Once again Madam, I am very sorry," Neil spoke calmly.

"And so you should be you impudent little snot," the woman growled and waggled a yellow finger at him angrily. "I will be having a word with your employer later. I am sure he will be horrified to learn that you almost destroyed this work of art."

Knowing that any complaint made to the Head Waiter would automatically result in his dismissal, Neil opened his mouth and prepared to tell the ridiculous woman that if she didn't sod off he would gladly send that dress back into space. And if she was still wearing it when he did, that was of no bother to him.

Unfortunately for Neil, someone else humiliated her before he had the chance to.

"Excuse me Ma'am," spoke the polite voice of a dark haired gentlemen, who stepped out from behind a nervous looking couple, who were busy trying to ignore the scene.

One look was all it took to know that the gentleman was unlike anyone at the party, but it wasn't due to his appearance. Although it could be argued that his style did hint that he might be a bit out of the ordinary. He was dressed in a strange blue jacket covered in dozens of sewn on patches and wore a light blue shirt underneath with a thin red string tie. Hardly attire for a lavish ball hosted by Roth Dakers.

The man sauntered over the couple and smiled apologetically at the raving woman, whilst clapping a hand supportively on Neil's shoulder. "Forgive me, I'm sorry to interrupt, I couldn't help over hearing your little berating sessions and I just wanted to let you know that... well... you're wrong"

The woman looked at the man as if he had just exploded. "Excuse me?"

"You're wrong," the man repeated, his smile turning cheerful as he stepped between the woman and Neil. "Incredibly wrong. Spectacularly wrong. People have been wrong before, but you're wrong on a scale that transcends time and space. To fully quantify how wrong you are would require a team of scientific experts who have devoted their lives to studying the physics of wrongness."

The man seemed to notice that Mollie was watching and gave her a wink before continuing. "Luckily for you, I'm worth ten of those and will have no trouble telling you how mind numbingly wrong you are."

The woman spluttered in disbelief. "What are you talking abou-" She began.

"That dress wasn't worn by Cleopatra, it was worn by Lady Gaga and the only thing she ever conquered was the charts," the man spoke firmly. "It was sent into space as an olive branch to alien civilizations out of Earth's reach along with various other items from Earth. It wasn't done to threaten them, it was done to educate them about Earth's culture. I suppose they thought that Lady Gaga's style would be similar to the fashion found in Beta Zone Nine"

"As for the dress itself, its not made from anything special. It's made from bin bags and a bit of red velvet. Lady Gaga was hosting a charity event and wanted something to wear that would raise awareness for recycling. She gave it to NASA free of charge when they began constructing the capsule to send up. She wanted to give the universe a gift."

"She was trying to be nice, you see. A quality you don't seem to be capable of possessing. The poor lad apologized for using his incredible acrobatics to avoid you as you charged like a mad bull and yet you decided to give him a tongue lashing."

"Now, I know that I'm doing the same, but that's me, I'm a hypocrite. It's what I do sometimes," the man paused and scratched his head thoughtful. "At least I think it is."

"Anyway, I need to be off," the man spoke suddenly. "I have other rude people to rant at. I hope you enjoy the party and don't be miserable to other waiters," he said whilst striding past the gobsmacked yellow woman, but not before adding. "Oh and to point out something else, how can you call the Earth 'The Forgotten Planet' if you remember the name of the planet!"

The man strode through the crowd, seemingly oblivious to the people who stared at him in horror, amusement and admiration. As he walked past Mollie he picked a glass of champagne from her tray and nodded at the stunned custard colored woman before muttering, "Honestly, some people, eh?"

Roni

As the tongue lashing of Neil began, Mollie watched with a veiled interest, still managing to circulate a bit, giving out smiles with each glass of champagne. When she was nearly certain that most eyes in the vicinity were on the scene the cadmium colored woman was causing, she rolled her emerald eyes to the highest heavens. Neil had actually handled the situation admirably, and likely much better than Mollie would have handled it herself. The woman was just a raging bitch.

Pausing by a nervous looking couple, she attempted to at least defuse the situation for them by lifting her tray and smiling in their direction. They didn't partake, and  she couldn't blame them. The situation was too absurd to tear their attention away from. Neither did the dark haired man who stepped out from behind them to come to Neil's rescue for no reason at all.

Mollie couldn't help it. She stared, tray completely forgotten. The entire nearby nobility was lucky that her tray remained level and didn't simply drop to the floor and ruin all of their finery.

As the strange man continued to admonish the horrible woman in a spectacular display linguistic denunciation, her mouth dropped open just a touch. Was it admiration that she felt? Was it attraction? Did she simply wish she could be the one saying those things? Taking a quick examination of her emotions, she couldn't really tell. It was all of it and quite possibly none of it, the whole lot at the same time.

When he winked at her, she blinked and pinked. Had he known that she had been staring at him like a fool this entire time? How mortifying! Her mouth closed with a quite, yet still audible to anyone who was paying enough attention, snap.

As the gentleman continued to admonish the rich twit, Mollie listened intently, savoring every word out of his blessed mouth. It wasn't everyday that one was able to acknowledge a superior in such particular skills as subtle sarcasm and witty wordplay, much less witness such a vast intellect! As she carefully note his words, another part of her mind wander to his manner of dress. She wasn't able to dwell on his jacket for very long though, because he quite suddenly dismissed himself.

By some minor miracle he had found her again, and this time he did partake in the offerings of her tray. "Yeah," was all she managed to answer his question with, and spoken faintly at that. She felt like an idiot. This man was amazing. Every inch of him screamed it, and she was…missing an opportunity.

Her mother had always told her that opportunity only knocked once. While Mollie normally would argue with her mother over such things in person, this moment felt fleeting, so it was that she hefted her tray at the mustard colored woman to follow the strange gentleman. Her parting words: "Here. I think you'll need these after that."

Villain

The woman gaped at Mollie as she handed her the tray of drinks. She had been a citrus yellow color before the man had chewed her out, now, as shock turned to violent anger, her body turned a deadly shade of purple. The woman chewed her lip and glared him down, as if contemplating whether to throw the tray at the man or scream for his head. Then, with a loud grunt, she turned on her heel and stormed away in the opposite direction. It seemed that the woman didn't wish to cause another scene and risk another painful humiliation.

The strange man in the patchwork clothes took no interest in the yellow woman's tantrum.

In fact, judging by how he was acting, it seemed as if he had forgotten about her existence entirely and was far more interested in sipping  champagne whilst staring hard at his right foot.

No one could hazard a guess as to what the man was pondering, especially when he began lifting his foot up and down off the ground repeatedly.

"Hmmm...odd," the man spoke after a few rounds of raising and lowering his foot. He looked up with interest at the ceiling and the floating robotic music bands that hovered above their heads before glancing at the grand gold walls that lined the ball room.

"Very odd indeed," he muttered to himself before taking a slow sip of the champagne and then suddenly bursting into a fit of coughs and splutters.

"Okay, yuck, that's disgusting, what is that?" The man said with alarm as he glared at the light bubbly liquid that churned within the thin glass. "Is this champagne? Why are all the waiters serving champagne?" The man asked, seemingly out loud at first, but then he turned on the spot and looked straight at Mollie and gestured to the crowd around him.

"This is meant to be a celebration isn't it? So where's the orange squash and cake?" the man asked Mollie with a small degree of genuine concern. "You can't have a party without a cake. And what's with the entertainment? Hasn't anybody ever heard of a pinata? All this talking and dancing is so tediously dull."

Roni

As Mollie slowly approached the eccentric gentleman who had told off the lemony witch, she paused to watch him take in his surroundings. Her blonde brows drew together as she watched him lift his foot a few times. When he looked up at the robotic bands, she did as well. It was his spluttering over the champagne that brought her attention back to him.

Stepping closer, she quickly took the glass from his hand as he turned to her lest he drop and break it by accident. Her mother had unfortunately instilled her with some manners and some concern for her fellow beings. "Are you all right? You're not…allergic to champagne or something, are you?" she asked more out of concern for the man than the liability of the hotel.

She had only half been listening to his questions until she looked up at the concern in his own face. Eyebrows rising a touch, she opened her mouth to respond, but for a moment she was mystified into silence. When Mollie finally recovered her sense of self, she wrinkled her nose with a bit of disdain in her mother's defense; theirs was an odd relationship.

"It's the grand opening of a hotel, not some birthday party. There won't be cake; there will be individual petite fours." Sighing with some exasperation, she gestured around the room with his champagne glass. "Look around you, these people expect the best. They don't want a pinata; they actually like talking and dancing, as tedious as you and I might think it is." After a pause, she added, "And I'm sorry, but what does orange squash have to do with anything?"

Her eyes widened slightly when she realized that she had told him off in her own way. This was a hotel guest. Surely she'd be fired if word got back to the Head Waiter, Mr. Daker, or even her mother. Well, it's not like she wanted the job anyway…

"Um…so sorry," she stammered, trying to cover her tracks. "I'm Mollie Spires…" Right. Give him your name to make it that much easier to fire you. "Is there something I can help you with, Mister…? If you'd like cake, I'm sure I could find some in the kitchen…" Pointing with her thumb back in the direction that she had come, she even glance over her shoulder to see if she was being watched.

Villain

"Allergic to champagne?" The man asked with confusion, staring at Mollie uncomprehendingly for a moment, before glancing at the glass of champagne. It seemed to all click when he finally registered the glass she held.

"Oh no no, not allergic, just don't have the taste buds for it," the man spoke dismissively before opening his mouth wide and pointing at it with his thumbs in indication. "New mouth just doesn't like it. I think it's something that I developed in my youth, but I'm not entirely sure."

The man stopped talking and looked at the ground again. A hard look of concern had appeared on his face, causing his eyebrows to furrow as he stared down at his boot. Just as he done before, he raised his foot from the ground and placed it down purposefully, and as he did a frown appeared on his lips.

Whatever conclusion he had came to was interrupted as the waitress told him off. He stared her down as she spoke, his eyes wide and unblinking. The stare was a little unnerving. Not because it was out of the ordinary, but because it was strangely...bottomless.

No, bottomless was the wrong word for it, his stare was infinite. In the dark emerald green of his eyes lingered something that could not be defined, because there was no possibility of measurement. They were a paradox in the simplest of forms. Although they were the eyes of a young man, they watched like the eyes of an ancient. They were insignificant, yet they seemed to stand for so much.

After a moment of silence, the man smiled and walked up to Mollie. Those incomprehensible eyes were now full of something else; mischief.

"You hate it here don't you?" He asked as he drew nearer. "Its holding you back. You want freedom, but you need money. This job gives you money, but it also gives you grief and kills your creativity. You want to smile, but you also want to smack the rude people who are walking about here as if they invented sliced bread."

The man let the statement hang in the air before cocking his head a little and smiling warmly.

"Mollie Spires," he said, speaking the name with the same interest a person might show when discussing an exciting work of art. "Nice name. Very nice in fact. It's like the name of a hero," he spoke before burying his hands into the pockets of his patchwork jacket. "Don't let the villains hold you back."

The man lifted his head, as if suddenly hearing someone shout his name, before nodding and turning on his feet.

"Nice to meet you Mollie, I'm the Doctor. Enjoy your life and whatever you choose to do with it," he spoke before walking away. Only pausing to add one last detail. "Oh and by the way, leave quickly. This place is about to erupt into chaos."

Roni

New mouth? Mollie thought to herself with a mildly puzzled expression on her face. That was ignored then in favor of watching the concern cross the dark-haired gentleman's face as he picked up and put down his foot in the same queer fashion as he had moments before, but then of course she had to tell him off as gaze into that infinite stare.

His eyes were such an amazing color, but more than that, they were so ancient, so knowledgeable that when he approached her to remark on how much she obviously hated this job, she didn't even bother to ask how he knew. It was something he had clearly seen before, even if she hid it relatively well on most days.

Nodding slightly, Mollie simply murmured her agreement, "Yes; yes, I do."

The next part threw her for a loop. He said her name with such relish, that she could have fallen in love on the spot. She didn't, but she could have. Shaking her head, mystified, her expression was a question, as were her words. "A hero? Me? That seems rather unlikely. And what kind of name is the Doctor anyway? Doctor who? Or what"

But then he was moving off again, his statement hanging in the air, and Mollie only had a short time to react, to decide. Grabbing Neil on his way to fetch another tray and likely be fired in the process, she murmured to him rather convincingly, "Look, you know you're likely to get fired anyway, so I say you may as well go out with a bang. The gentleman who just told off that bint for you seems a little mad, but he predicted that things would erupt into chaos. Why not prove him right by pulling the fire alarm?" With a conspiratorial smirk, she left Neil there to make his decision as she raced off after this Doctor, praying that Neil would pull the alarm and hopefully get everyone to safety and manage to save his job in the process.

She had no idea why she trusted the strange gentleman. It could have been because he seemed so knowledgeable. It could have been because he seemed just as strange to her as she seemed to her own mother. But it was probably because he had seen some sort of worth in her, and sometimes a girl just needs that reassurance, yeah?

Villain

Roth Daker was a proud man, which was what made him both likable and insufferable. The first time people met him they would be immediately blown over by his charm and confidence. The pride he showed in his work and his enthusiasm for his visions for the future was difficult not to admire. The trouble was that if you stuck around long enough to actually get to know Roth Daker you would realise that his pride also made him a stickler for perfection and gave him a habit of moaning at people about irrelevant details.

There were several reasons for his behavior, among the top being having more money than sense and never getting enough attention as a child. One thing was certain anyone who threatened his glorious vision of bright shiny hotels baring his initials was either mad or a fool.

Roth took the centre of the ground level stage and gently tapped his champagne glass to call for attention. He smiled at his captive audience with a mouth full of unsettling perfect white teeth. Faint lines ran from the corner of his eyes, creasing the shiny leathery texture of his over altered face.

"Thank you everyone. You look to be enjoying yourselves so I will keep this short," he spoke in the strong charming voice he had perfected over the years. In this moment he was heaven. All eyes were on him, everyone was admiring his pristine white suit and everyone was hanging on his every word. Nothing could possibly ruin this moment.

"Let me start by saying-" he began, just as the oddly dressed gentleman from earlier marched onto the stage and waved for everyone's attention.

"Hi everyone, would you mind looking over here for a minute?" The Doctor spoke as his arms flailed above his head. He looked sheepish as every face in the building turned to gawk at him, but that didn't seem to stop his efforts. "Sorry to interrupt, I'll let you all get back to listening to the sharp looking man in the suit and doing rich stuff in a minute. I promise. I just thought that there was something you all should know"

Roth Daker had been assured by his surgeon that his skin would always look tanned and healthy no matter what. If Roth could have seen the look on his own face as he stared at the Doctor, he would have considered his money well spent. Anyone who didn't turn a violent shade of red when pulling a face such as the one he wore was clearly in possession of unnaturally brilliant skin.

"To start with; Hi, I'm the Doctor. I hope you're having a good time. The bands quite brilliant isn't it?" the Doctor said before giving the robot band a two fingered salute. "Now onto the serious stuff. Could you all, politely and calmly, run screaming from the ball room as fast as you possibly could?"

"It would really help if you could do that sharpish as we don't really have a lot of time on our hands. This place is going to turn very unpleasant in a short while and it would be nice if we could avoid unnecessary causalities. I don't know about you, but I really don't fancy having unpleasant things happen to me. I tend to prefer that they avoid me whenever possible and I advise you adopt the same mentality."

The Doctor barely paused for breath when he spoke and neither did he seem bothered about the disturbing nature of what he said. Even though it was obvious from the uncomfortable looks he was getting that he was clearly making the crowd nervous, he carried on speaking in a cheerful and polite manner with a bright smile on his face.

"Now, if you would like to take my advice and leave that would be grand. May I suggest that some folks help the slower people out because I don't think people like the fat man swallowing whole bowls of caviar by the piano are going to be able to make a very good break for it," the Doctor said and gave a thumbs up as the fire alarms suddenly resounded through the room at full blast.

"Oh and fire by the way! Fire! Run for your lives!" The Doctor managed to yell before one of Roth's seven hundred pound bodyguards slammed into him at full pelt and tackled him to the ground.

Roni

Mollie didn't pause in her pursuit of the Doctor as Mr. Daker got on stage and began speaking. The old blowhard was known for making longwinded speeches about his copious achievements and current projects. Surely he would not end after declaring the Daker Hotel officially open to the public. No, none of that had her screeching to a halt. It was when the strange man took the attention away from Mr. Daker that she paused.

Assessing the situation, Mollie took in the shocked faces of the elite and the uncomfortable smiles of the staff. Out of the corner of her eye, she witnessed Daker's bodyguards closing in on the Doctor. Looking frantically to Daker on stage, she saw that he was about to blow a gasket…and quite possibly a stitch or eight, those that worked to keep his skin as smooth as possible. Thinking on her toes, she ran to intercept the nearest guards, able to halt two of the three for a quick exasperated moment.

Keeping her voice low, Mollie grabbed one of the guards by his lapel and hissed at them both, making sure to keep her voice low that the nobility around her couldn't hear. "Forget the crazy on stage! Your compatriot has the loony well in hand! Look at Mr. Daker though! He's about to ruin all the work the good surgeons have done on his face and embarrass himself! Do your real job and get. him. out of here! Otherwise you're both likely fired!"

Much to Spires' surprise, the men looked at Roth Daker, looked at each other, then looked at Daker again. Without a word, they both moved toward the insufferable man and calmly escorted him from his own party as the fire alarms went off. Mollie had to pause to gape at the men's retreating backs. She couldn't believe that worked. Daker really must be more insufferable than many thought.

The people in the hall began to scream and scramble just as the Doctor had suggested. Fortunately, the staff had decent heads on their shoulders, and they began ushering people to the nearest exits in an orderly fashion, which allowed Mollie to fight her way toward the Doctor and the bodyguard who had tackled him.

When she was near enough, Mollie grabbed the man by his shoulders, knowing she'd never be able to budge him, and screamed in his ear, "What are you doing?! Where's Mr. Daker?! Your top priority is making sure he's safe! I'll take care of this man!"

The guard looked up at her, and Mollie gestured around the room. Daker was, of course, nowhere in sight. The muscle's eyes widened considerably, and he dashed into the chaos in search of his boss, leaving Mollie staring after him utterly stunned.

Villain

The strange man had been scuffling with the bodyguard when she drew near. He had been warning the giant that if he did not unhand him then he would show him the art of Venusian Aikido and then he would be really sorry. It would have perhaps sounded intimidating, if the bodyguard had not swiftly over powered the patchwork weirdo and slammed his face against the floor.

When the bodyguard decided that the strange man was no longer a priority the Doctor rolled onto his back and blinked as he stared up at the girl that stood over him.

"Mollie Spires!" The Doctor cheered and sprang to his feet with surprising energy for a man that had just been beaten up. "How are you doing? How was my speech? Is everyone running as I asked - they are! Fantastic!"

The Doctor turned to Mollie and grabbed her by the shoulders. He smiled at her widely before he asked, "Personal question, how much do you weigh? Try to answer fast, unpleasant things are going to start happening....now"

There was a catastrophic bang as the entire room began to shake. Screams became elevated as cracks stretched out from the floor.

Roni

The man who called himself the Doctor sprang up as if the previous scuffle, if one could legitimately call it that in all seriousness, had been nothing, and that caused Mollie to start and take a step beck. But the man had her by the shoulders then, asking questions in rapid fire. It was almost as if he didn't care about the answers. Either that, or he knew the answers already. Yes, it seemed he knew the answers already.

Mollie stood there looking slightly shell-shocked, eyes wide and lips slack. She had been about to answer his questions, but then he asked the question that most women loathed. Her nose wrinkled, but she answered just as the room began to shake.

"Just about 55 kilos…wh-? Oh."

She turned from the Doctor about halfway, pulling one of her shoulders out from under his grasp. Her eyes traveled the room, making sure that everyone was through an exit already or near enough, not even thinking of herself for the moment. Heh. Maybe she actually was a hero.

"Christ!" she cried out as the cracks spread further along the floor. "I hope you have a bloody plan!"

Villain

"Of course I have a plan, although bloody is actually the opposite of what I prefer my plans to be!" The Doctor called out over the building chaos. The cracks were moving across the ground like serpents, darting in zigzagged patterns as they moved over the floor. One glance told a crowd of frightened fleeing guests that an earth quake had hit the building, but the Doctor did not limit himself to one glance. He watched as the cracks moved towards the patrons with purpose, swallowing those who had foolishly tried to take their heavier possessions with them or use the opportunity to steal.

"Hang on," the Doctor spoke before he wrapped one arm around Mollies waist and buried the other in his pocket, pulling out what looked like a deformed snow globe. "And do me a favor, try not to scream. It will hurt my ears."

The Doctor pushed off the stage without warning and jumped towards the large fissue that had opened in the ball room floor. They tumbled towards the black, seemingly helpless, until the Doctor pushed the globe against Mollie and the two suddenly became ensnared in a huge blue bubble.

The world blurred as  the bubble rose up into the ceiling, past the chandeliers and vanished through the new hole caused by the cracks. They soared upwards, the bubble pushing through the rubble, until eventually they came to a halt. The bubble burst and the two landed in a pile in the main security room of the hotel, now abandoned as the security guards ran to the aid of their employer and his guests.

"Ouch," the Doctor mumbled before he tossed away the remains of the snow globe object, "Stupid Anti-weight Bubbles, the most useless toy Bandai ever created. One use and its over and done with." The Doctor turned and shook Mollie. "Mollie? Mollie? Are you OK? If you're unconscious wake up, you have to thank me for saving you. It's part of the deal."

Roni

"Thanks ever so for taking me entirely too literally," Mollie muttered beneath her breath as she continued to watch the cracking floor with great interest. What she was seeing seemed impossible. It seemed as if it should simply be an earth quake, but fissures don't seek people out purposefully, especially not the rich and and those who wanted to get richer.

She was brought out of her thoughts when the Doctor's arm snaked about her waist. She only half heard him and began to say something when the strange man jumped, dragging her along with him straight into the large fissure. "Wha-?"

To her credit, Mollie Spires did not scream, though she did look to any casual observer as if she would murder this Doctor if by some miracle they survived this.

Then she was floating with the madman, floating in a world that had gone blue. She marveled as they soared upwards at the bubble that they were encased in. Lesser women would have fainted far before this point. Lesser women would have also probably left the strange man in the patchwork jacket alone when they first saw him. Mollie had always been a little different though, always getting involved in things that she probably shouldn't, things that her mother wouldn't approve of, things that seemed interesting and promising. The Doctor certainly fit that bill.

The feeling of weightlessness suddenly left, and they fell not overly far onto the floor of the main security room of the hotel. Of course the Doctor fell on to of her, which was not entirely comfortable, but strangely not entirely uncomfortable either. Being Mollie though, she pushed him away when he began to shake her. "Get off; I'm fine! And I'm not sure if I have to thank you at all. Your little rescue seemed to be the perfect excuse to grope me, and did you say that you performed this rescue with a junk toy?! Who does that?!" With a look of mild disgust, she picked herself up and brushed herself off before taking a look around.

Villain

"Hold on, excuse to grope you?" The Doctor exclaimed. "You must be kidding me. I don't grope people when I first meet them, that's just rude. Although, I have been the victim of many a groping. Some people have just no manners you know?"

"Anyway, what's wrong with saving you with a toy? If it works then it works." The Doctor looked at the remains of the globe. He frowned, looked at Mollie and pointed at the wreckage. "That doesn't work. Not any more. So I understand that the plan has a few flaws, but it's OK we're here now and we're safe and I haven't been groped."

The strange man stopped and put his hands on his hips before he tilted his head. "I'm the Doctor by the way. Did I mention that? I think I did... Oh yes, I did! On the stage I made a very nice introduction before the big bloke tackled me. Did you see that? I thought I broke the bad news nicely."

The room rumbled and the Doctor stumbled on the spot. "Uh oh..."

He glanced around and then looked to the screens. The displays showed the staff and guests, huddled in various rooms, some with caved in walls and floors. Some of the guests were hanging on for dear life as they hung over chasms.

"That's not good. If the hotel get's hit with an aftershock everyone is going to fall." The Doctor pulled out his sonic screwdriver and pointed it at the controls. A dull hum resounded through the room before pens and papers began floating into the air above.

"Low level localised anti-gravity generation," said the Doctor as he watched some of the people begin to float gently towards safe footing. "It won't stop them falling, but it will give them the extra boost they need to reach safety. Good idea for Roth to install that for the construction, but the powers taken a knock."

The Doctor looked over his shoulder and frowned at the cracks in the walls and floor. "Things are going to get rough from here... we need to find Roth."

Roni

"Fine. You were very polite when you grabbed me about the waist and made its if to jump to our collective death," Mollie offered tersely, her tone clipped short at every pause. Some evil little part of her mind had her eyeballing him as she continued to brush herself off though, noting that she could certainly understand why the Doctor would be the victim of many a groping, rude or otherwise. He was scrumptious, if insane.

Huffing an exasperated sigh, she continued to be upset with him, pretty to look at or not. "Look, you save people with technically advanced equipment, not toys. Even if a toy works as technically advanced equipment to save people with, you don't tell them that it's a toy! It makes people nervous!" Calming down a bit, she added in a much more level voice, "Thank you for saving me. I'm glad we're both safe...

"And that you haven't been groped," she added as an afterthought. Yet. It was bound to happen.

The man could clearly be blatantly self-centered, however, thinking about his own gropings and the 'brilliant' introduction and warning he gave on stage. Mollie simply nodded and rolled her eyes, watching the screens around them rather than strictly listening. It was a practice she had perfected with her mother, and it seemed that it might come in handy with the Doctor at times too.

She too stumbled with the rumble, looking up sharply at the hum that filled the room. There was a look of wonder on her face as she marveled at the sonic screwdriver, her head tilting slightly to one side as her hand reached out as if she would touch it.

Mollie didn't touch it though, not when she had to look up sharply in shock as the Doctor claimed they had to find Roth Daker. Her mouth dropped open, and her eyes narrowed into a glare once more. "WHAT?! You just embarrassed the man, ruined his party,  evaded his bodyguards, and now you want to go find him?! Are you madder than the Hatter at a tea party?" The anger drained from her face with those last words, simply leaving her shell-shocked.

Villain

The Doctor looked at Mollie strangely - as if she had just sprouted a second head. He scratched his head with his screwdriver as he looked at the remains of the tool he had used a moment ago.

"OK I don't get it, why are you telling me not to call that a toy?" The Doctor asked. "It is a toy, I should know, I got it from planet Toyarus ten thousand years ago, right before the march of the sentient Toy Army. They sold like hot cakes when they came out, which is a bit weird. Everyone loves cake, but you can't put icing on a hot cake, it would melt, and what's the point of a cake without icing- I'm getting distracted!" the Doctor declared and moved to another part of the controls and plugged his sonic screwdriver into the machine.

One of the screens began to flicker as it revealed a new picture of Roth Daker; clearly shouting profanities at a group of guards. Luckily for them it was muted.

"Well well, it looks like Mr Daker didn't have any trouble getting to his panic room in time," the Doctor spoke, a twinge of anger in his voice, which went as swiftly as it came as he heard Mollie's cry of outrage.

"That is a fair question," he began as he stepped back. "And I want you to listen closely, because what I say next is important."

The Doctor turned to Mollie and placed his hands on her shoulders. "Yes, you are entirely correct. Now, come along, we have to get moving or we're going to die. But do me a favour, if you happen to see a hat on the way, could you grab it for me? I quite like that analogy of me and would like a hat to match it."

Roni

"Because people don't like hearing that it's a toy, all right?!" Mollie practically shouted with exasperation, breathing a little bit too heavily with the stress. She was getting tunnel vision. This whole day was going wrong, and it all started with her mother forcing this damn job on her. That's right, she could just blame it on her mother like most other things.

With a deep breath, her chest began to ease up. She hadn't even realized that it had gotten so tight...

The Doctor put his hands on her shoulders, which seemed to help even more. Well, until he spoke at least... Honestly.

"Okay then," Mollie answered with a nod and a shake of her head combined, followed with a muttered, "Oh what the hell?" as she prepared herself mentally to follow the Doctor to her doom.

Villain

The Doctor drew to a halt when he left the room, he stopped so suddenly that Mollie crashed into his back, nearly forcing him over the gorge that lay before them, a gaping black empty line that had once been a corridor.

"Hmmm, that's could be a problem... I wonder how deep it is?" The Doctor reached into his pocket and pulled out something bronze, the size and shape of a coin. It glowed slightly with faint neon lines and looked vaguely important, the Doctor proved otherwise by throwing it into the void.

The Doctor frowned after a minute of silence. "Awww, that's a shame, I guess we may never know how bottomless this bottomless pit is." The Doctor dusted his hands, as if riding himself of any disappointment and then walked back into the room they had came from... only to run out a second later at full speed.

He ran and jumped off the edge of the gorge and hung in the air, slowly floating towards the other side as the gravity aided his descent, allowing him to clear those last few meters.

He touched down on the other side and turned to Mollie, grinning madly before he yelled; "YOU TRY! IT'S REALLY EASY, JUST DON'T THINK OF ANYTHING LIKE FALLING! THINK OF THINGS THAT GO UP, LIKE BALLOONS, FLYING PIGS AND...and... uh... THAT DISNEY MOVIE!"

Roni

Mollie hadn't realized just how quickly she had gone after the Doctor until she slammed into his solid back and felt the muscles beneath his patchwork jacket press firmly against her. He was a bit like an unyielding wall, which was ridiculously good for her in this particular situation seeing as she would have fallen to along drawn out death had she simply fallen into the bottomless abyss.

Making sure not to grope the man, no matter how much she may have wanted to since he had complained about it before, she gingerly set her hands on his back and peeked around his arm in time to see him drop something important looking and shiny into the black expanse. Holding her breath, she waited...and waited...and waited some more. Nothing. "Balls," she muttered under her breath.

The Doctor confirmed it only moments later, dusted off his hands and brushed past her. What...? Mollie's eyes bugged out as she watched the man take a running leap, float through the air in what seemed like slow motion, and land on the other side of the void before encouraging her to do the same. Opening her mouth, she was about to yell back to him and ask if he was mad again, but then she thought better of it.

Mollie's jaw clicked shut, and turning away from the door, she shook her head slightly as she paced back to the far side of the room. "What the hell?" She muttered again in resignation. She should be fine, right? The Doctor had turned the low level localized anti-gravity generation, after all. Turning around, she took a deep breath and sprinted for the door, leaping at the last possible moment.

As she floated across the rift, she wobbled and scrabbled and attempted to run through the air. Somehow the Doctor had made this all look incredibly graceful, and Mollie sincerely doubted that she looked at all graceful. It felt like an eternity that she was in the air, but, hey, at least she was still in the air!

Blowing her blonde hair out if her eyes, she touched down on the other side in front the Doctor. Looking the dark haired man up and down, she put on airs, drawing herself up and marching ahead a few steps. "Well, come on now." Stopping dead in her tracks she looked around, then had the grace to drop her shoulders and look sheepish as she glanced back. "So which way do we go?"

Villain

#20
The Doctor looked around thoughtfully at the pathways that lay before them. "Well, we have to reach Daker's abode, but the seismic activity will have made the buildings foundations weak, so several routes will either be blocked up or very dangerous to traverse. We have to be careful how we proceed."

The Doctor turned to Mollie and flashed her a smile. "But don't worry, Mollie, you're in  safe hands. I will use my genius scientific reasoning to figure out which way will get us there quickly and safely."

The Doctor stepped forward. His eyes narrowed as he stared intently at the path ahead. He glanced one way, then another and then he began to point his finger purposefully from one corridor to the next whilst mumbling something under his breathe. When he settled on a path, he strode off with a spring in his step and a smug smile on his face.

"Come along Mollie," he called behind him. "We're in a lot of danger and the stakes are high, but trust me, if you stick with me no harm will come to you. I've done this plenty of times before and can assure you that you will make it out of this relatively unscathed."

His words were not inspiring. Especially since anyone with half a brain would have noticed that the genius scientific reasoning he had used to determine their course was obviously eeny meeny miny moe.

*

"What is the hold up!" Daker's roared, the surgically altered skin of his leathery face stretching tight over his skull. We are in a crisis, the fortune I have invested in this place is crumbling to nothing, we can't escape because of a silly missing button and to top it all off none of you dolts can find it! What is taking you so long?"

The men before him were tensed, caught between anger and fear. One wrong word could get them kicked off their one chance of escape, one rogue fist could doom them all.

One of the guards stepped forward. "S-Sir, it's as we said, we've looked all over the place. The only area's we haven't checked are those that you refuse to let us access."

"And with good reason!" Dakers snapped. "The information kept in those areas is of the utmost importance. If ten of you nimrods can't be trusted to find a single button then I don't see why I should trust you with info above your pay grade."

"But sir, at this rate all of that information is going to be buried under tonnes of rubble!" The man protested. "Why value some data over your life-"

"Never you mind!" Daker roared, "Just get back to searching, trying using your eyes this time. Honestly, why is there only one sensible rational person in this entire building?"

"Are you talking about yourself or someone else?" a muffled voice spoke and Dakers whirled on the spot. A brief flicker of fear appeared on his leathery face before his eyes narrowed on the small square grate to the air vent in the far wall.

"What the... who the hell are you?" Dakers yelled as he marched over to the smiling face in the vent.

"Hi Daker's, I'm - uh - I'm the - ugh - I'm the Doctor - grr - from Gallifrey. I'm here to - oh for the love of-." The Doctor was squirming in the air vent, the space obviously too tight for him to fit properly. After a moment of wriggling her frowned. "OK, I'm stuck. Forget the dramatic flow I'll just work with what I got. Hi Roth, how are you doing?"

"You..." Dakers hissed. "I know you. You're that lunatic from the ball room. What are you doing in my wall?"

The Doctor blinked. "I'm stuck in it."

"I can see that you fool! I meant how did you get inside?"

"I climbed in through the vent. Cliche, I know, but needs must and all."

"And why did you climb into my wall?"

"Why? I thought the answer would be obvious for someone as smart as you Daker," the Doctor said smugly, his voice echoing in the vent, making his words difficult to understand. "I'm clearly here as a game changer. I'm here to ruffle feathers, shake up the dice, stand on the grass and feed the animals. I'm here to topple the dominoes and challenge order in this topsy turvy world - OK this is ridiculous, I can't even take myself seriously when I'm stuck like this."

The Doctor grunted as he moved in the vent. Daker's mouth dropped open as he watched the obscured figure of the lunatic try to free himself. For once he and his men were united as they shared the same incredulous looks.

"Don't do that!" cried the Doctor. "Don't roll your eyes and look weary. I'm intimidating and you will take me seriously when I'm free of this vent. Well... somewhat seriously. Oh yeah, almost forgot, could you all step back a little, I need to let my friend in."

The tip of his sonic screwdriver poked out of the grill and flashed, causing the doors to swing open to reveal Mollie standing in the doorway.

"Hi Mollie!" The Doctor called, "Didn't I say that I would get us here safely? I mean, yes, we did almost plunge to our deaths a few dozen times, but lets not dwell on the negatives or the screaming. That's in the past now."

Roni

Mollie stood there, hands on her hips as she listened to him, shaking her head slowly. The Doctor, it would seem, was just like any other man in some ways: convinced of his unerring and inherent correctness. He wasn't too humble to put his so called genius on display either. Still... As much as the man seemed to irk her, rub her the wrong ways at times, there was still something about him that convinced her to follow. Perhaps it was the fact that he had managed to save her thus far, or perhaps it was simply how attractive those trousers made his bum look. Who could say?

The blonde's eyes narrowed as she watched the Doctor perform a children's rhyme in order to choose a path before professing that she would be safe with him. "Christ," she muttered as he whisked past her, a man on a mission once more. "You know, perhaps one of these days it will be the other way around," she added, calling after him before she hurried to catch up.

*

Mollie didn't even have to press her ear up against the door to hear the entire conversation between Daker and his cronies and subsequently between Daker and the Doctor. She would have to smugly tell him that the people who made his panic room had obviously cheated him, assuming that they swore to him up and down that the room would be soundproof. It's the little things in life that count really...such as not falling to your death multiple times in one day.

As the door swung open before her, she stood much as she usually did in a perpetual state of laid back defiance, hands on he hips and one hip cocked. "Hello, Doctor," she offered brusquely, inwardly cringing at the predicament that he had gotten himself into now. Straightening, she kept talking as she brushed past a guard, casually hip checked Daker out of the way, and went about the task of pulling the Doctor through the vent.

"Yes, yes. I'm ever so grateful. However, I believe I told you that I would be the better fit for the vent, though I don't see why we didn't just circumvent the vent altogether if you could have just glowy-buzzied the door this entire time," she added as she took the Doctor's hands and gave an almighty tug or two before the man popped free, sending the two sprawling on the floor in a position which was becoming rather familiar.

Looking up from under the Doctor, Mollie curled her lip slightly as she spoke to Daker. "Exactly what information is so confidential to a hotel that has not yet been open an entire day? Your client list is extensive, Roth, but other businesses may utilize it...for the right price, so what could you possibly be hiding?" There was a distinct pause before her tone became something lighter, more sinfully gleeful. "Oh, you might never wish to hire the company you contracted for your panic room. Quite obviously they robbed you blind." Emerald eyes glinted as a small icy smile turned her lips upward.

Villain

"Mollie, a friend of mine once told me something that I have lived my life by ever since I heard him say it - I suggest you do the same - doors are for people with no imagination," the Doctor declared proudly just before he was tugged out of the vent. He collapsed in a pile on the ground in front of Dakers before he shot to his feet and dusted himself off.

"Oooo!" The Doctor began after Mollie was finished with Dakers, "She is good. I like someone who can deviously blackmail information out of multimillionaires. It's one of the things I put on my friend requests on craigslist; applicants must be able to manipulate, swindle or bamboozle information from millionaires and other people with too much money. Non smoker preferred."

"You two-" Dakers began, but his own internal rage cut off his words. He swallowed hard, teeth grinding together as veins throbbed in his neck, and then looked to the men surrounding them. "What are you doing? Are you going to let them speak to me like that? Get these two out of my sight immediately!"

"Sir, with all due respect," one of the men spoke sheepishly, "They have a bit of a point. Why the secrecy? Why are you risking your life to protect something that may go down with this hotel?"

Dakers opened his mouth to shout, but the Doctor cut him off. "Because the hotel is the secret," he spoke as he walked past them to a heavy lookin door on the opposite side of the room, "And since he has every intention of getting out of here alive he knows that he can't have anyone looking too hard at what will become of these ruins. If the secrets that lie inside the confidential areas see the light of day, Dakers is probably going to jail forever."

Every eye turned to Roth, the million credit man had suddenly lost his angry confidence. "I-I have no idea what you are talking about.... hey, what are you doing- that's private property!"

The Doctor had begun scanning the door with his sonic screwdriver, a holographic keypad appeared on the door, demanding for a password. The Doctor looked thoughtfully at it, then at Dakers and then at the rest of the room. "So... most secure room in the building, holographic technology means that this will require a voice code, touch code and sensory intake. High level security for the biggest of secrets." The Doctor scratched his chin and then smiled, "But, like everything in this place, it's just for show. This is cheap technology made to look grand, so it probably just needs a password."

"Get away from that door!" Dakers screamed and stepped forwards, but the men blocked his way, glaring and growling. They weren't in the mood to take any more orders, now that his dirty secrets were about to come to light.

"So.... seeing as this is a five digit password and Dakers is clearly a man without a sentiment bone in his body it would seem likely to presume that the password for this door is none other than..." the Doctor typed in the password and with a pleasant beep the door swung open. "One, two, three, four, five.... seriously, Dakers, I'm really not impressed."