STRANGER IN A STRANGE LAND
Chapter Nine The Doctor never changes in some ways. Ever since I've known him, the man can walk into extreme danger and be unfazed. And he's true to form now. The Doctor's surrounded by guards but from his expression, he looks like he's actually enjoying this. Which knowing him, he probably is. He even waves to the crowd while they boo and jeer him. Yup, he's definitely the same man. "Hello, everyone!" the Doctor said when they reached the bubbling cauldron. "Nice day today, isn't it? I'm sure all of you are dressed in your Sunday best just so you can watch little ole me get boiled alive!" The crowd booed him and called for the guards to put him into the cauldron. "Now, now, now," the Doctor said. "Surely you want to prolong the agony, right? Want me to give you a bit of a show before I die?" "Be silent!" one of the guards said as he stood beside him. "Be silent? Don't you want me to beg for mercy?" the Doctor said to him. "Don't you want me to blubber and cry and soil myself? Wouldn't that be ideal since people can taunt and boo and bay for my blood some more?" The crowd suddenly fell silent and even the Doctor was confused by it until the guards surrounding the steps on the west side parted to let a woman through. I'd been so busy watching the Doctor that I didn't realize a limo had pulled up on the outskirts of the square. The woman was flanked by several guards but these guards were dressed in white. The woman was also dressed in a long white gown with a white frockcoat over it. She wore a large gold chain around her neck that stood out against all the white. Even her skin and hair was white and I thought she'd done that to blend in with her outfit but then I noticed her pale pink eyes and realized she was an albino. The woman was tall and slender and statuesque and she had a smirk on her face that most of the guards shared with her. The Doctor smiled warmly when the guards parted and she strode up to him. He extended his hand but she looked at it with disdain and folded her arms across her chest. "So this is the Time Lord," she said with a posh accent. "Yes, and this must be…" the Doctor said. The woman studied him for a moment. I think she was looking for signs of fear or weakness and then she snorted when she couldn't find any." "Marbella," she finally said, her nose going so high up in the hair you could count the bloody bogies in it. "Ah, yes. The woman in charge of the so-called Argelion Regime," the Doctor said. Marbella smirked. "There's no such regime, Doctor. I am the Prime Minster for the UK and you are just a terrorist!" she proclaimed loudly. I rolled her eyes while the crowd cheered that. The Doctor held up his hand for silence and amazingly, the crowd shut up. I s'pose they were eager to hear what he had to say. "Londoners, this woman has deceived you," the Doctor said loudly. "She is not doing things in your best interest; she's part of an alien invasion that plans to take over the world!" Marbella chuckled when the crowd laughed at that. "You didn't really think that was going to work, did you?" she said to him. "Well, I always say, give it a try and you might be surprised," the Doctor replied with a shrug. "Tell me though, how did you do it? Are you hypnotizing everyone with subliminal messages of obedience? Because if you are, I have an old enemy that beat you to it a few years ago." "I grow tired of your stupidity. Put him in!" Marbella says, pointing to the cauldron. "Wait a tick, just a tiny tick! Do you realize how messy this will be? I mean, I'll be writhing in agony and sloshing oil everywhere. Do you really want to clean that up? Not to mention you and your hired thugs will be sliding all over the place. And you might fall and crack your heads open and then where will you be?" "Put him in!" Marbella ordered. "Wait a minute!" Everyone looked at Donna when she yelled that and pushed past the guards, stomping up onto the stage. No one said a word, eager to see what would happen next while Donna walked up to the guards surrounding the Doctor. She stopped at one guard and glared at him when the guard turned to look at her. "Wanna let me by, mate?" she said to him. The guard looked at Marbella for orders. Marbella sighed and nodded and the guard stepped aside. Donna walked up to the Doctor who was watching her with silent interest. Then suddenly Donna slapped the Doctor hard in the face and the Doctor reeled back in shock. "That's for kidnapping me!" Donna yelled at him while the Doctor held his cheek and stared at her in shock. "You oughta be ashamed of yourself! You naughty person! Do you know who I am?" "Donna Noble?" the Doctor said tentatively. "Too right! I am Donna Noble, supertemp!" she said imperiously as she stepped between him and Marbella. "I am one of the best damn temps there ever was and you should feel privileged to know me!" She stuck her chin up in the air and I could tell the Doctor was trying not to laugh. "And you lot," Donna said, pointing to the guards, "where were you when I needed help, eh?" "Is this going somewhere?" Marbella said, annoyed. "Yes, this is going somewhere!" Donna spun around and yelled with such ferocity that Marbella actually backed up a few steps. "I didn't sign up to work for your company so I could get kidnapped. I want a salary increase plus more benefits plus more holiday time so I can go to the Bahamas and get a nice tan. Incidentally, you could use a tan yourself, love," she said, looking Marbella over. "But anyway, those are my demands!" "Get her off the platform," Marbella said to the guards. But before anyone could act, Donna had sprinted behind Marbella, grabbed her and held her with one arm while the free hand whipped out a gun from her pocket and put it under her chin. "Let the Doctor go before I blow your brains out," Donna said in Marbella's ear.
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