. . . 261, people. 261!!! :D You guys already met the comment goal! Perhaps I need a new rule . . . I won't count comment strings over 30, especially because of a 60+ string on "Voyage of the Damned" and . . . a much larger one on "Apocalypse Rising." You culprits know who you are. *narrows eyes*

Lol, and thank God for Wattpad being unblocked by the school server. Update in pre-calc! :P

Also, a bit of an announcement, guys: school is almost out! Which means my iPad gets turned in, which MAY mean no updates over summer. HOWEVER, my dad has a new iPad and I have college applications to write, which means I may be able to update some. I can't promise how much, and I can't promise if I will at all. So, after this update, this book is officially under the "Slow Updates" category . . . like, sloth slow.

ANYWAY, time to go save the Ood! Here's "Planet of the Ood!"

***

The Alchemist walked into the console room, her face slightly pale as she pulled her hair back in a ponytail. "Don't push her so hard," she complained.

"Sorry," the Doctor said sheepishly, wincing when Donna gave him a look. Since the last adventure, the Alchemist had gotten worse. From what Donna had implied, something that had happened in the med bay had made her worse. The Doctor had threatened to put a restraining bracelet on her, ones that the Time Lords used for renegade Creators that went insane with their power and held it inside. The Alchemist had instantly agreed to not use the Vortex for the next few trips to see if she improved. The Doctor and Donna had been watching her with eagle eyes since. "Anyway, set the controls to random," he gestured to the console. "Mystery tour. Outside that door could be any planet, anywhere, anywhen in the whole wide universe." He raised an eyebrow when he saw Donna pale this time. "Are you all right?"

"Terrified," she admitted. "I mean, history's one thing, but an alien planet?"

"We could always take you home," the Alchemist joked.

"Yeah, don't laugh at me," Donna rolled her eyes.

"I know what it's like," the Doctor smiled at her. "Everything you're feeling right now. The fear, the joy, the wonder? I get that."

"Seriously?" Donna asked, stunned. "After all this time?"

"Yeah," the Doctor grinned. "Why do you think I keep on going?"

"Oh," Donna said quietly. "All right, then. You and me both. This is barmy! I was born in Chiswick! I've only ever had package holidays. Now I'm here. This is so . . . I mean, it's . . . I don't know, it's all sort of . . . I don't even know what the word is!"

"Your sister," the Alchemist snickered as Donna ran for the door. "Definitely."

"I know," the Doctor grinned as they headed out.

"Oh, I've got the word!" Donna shouted from outside. "Freezing!"

The Doctor looked outside and grinned. "Snow!" he cheered, the Alchemist laughing at his excitement. "Oh, real snow! Proper snow, at last! That's more like it. Lovely."

"About time," the Alchemist sighed. After the Sycorax and the Racnoss and the Titanic, she was wondering when they'd get real snow again. "What about you, Donna?"

"Bit cold," Donna answered, clenching her teeth. Then again, she was the one wearing the short sleeves.

"Look at that view!" the Doctor admired, looking out at the massive icicles hanging from bridges over ravines.

"Yep," Donna nodded. "Beautiful, cold view."

"Millions of planets, millions of galaxies, and we're on this one," the Doctor grinned. "Molto bene! Bellissimo, says Donna, born in Chiswick." The Alchemist just snickered when she saw Donna head back inside, the Doctor continuing as if she was still there. "All you've got is a life of work and sleep and telly and rent and tax and takeaway dinners, all birthdays and Christmases and two weeks holiday a year, and then you end up here! Donna Noble, citizen of the Earth, standing on a different planet. How about that, Donna?"

"She's gone," the Alchemist giggled.

The Doctor blinked, looking around. "Donna?"

"Sorry," she said as she exited the TARDIS, now wearing a large fur coat with a hood. "You were saying?"

"Better?" the Alchemist grinned.

"Lovely, thanks," Donna nodded.

"Comfy, too?"

"Yep."

"Can you hear anything inside that?" the Doctor looked at her hood.

Donna tilted her head playfully. "Pardon?"

"All right," the Doctor said. "I was saying, citizen of the Earth - "

A shadow fell over them, and Donna's jaw dropped when she saw the rocket gliding overhead. "Rocket," she mumbled. "Blimey, a real, proper rocket! Now that's what I call a spaceship! You've got a box, he's got a Ferrari! Come on. Let's go see where he's going!"

The Doctor looked back and forth between the rocket and the TARDIS, and the Alchemist shook her head. "You've got a Porsche," the Alchemist patted his shoulder and headed off.

The Doctor smirked smugly and followed behind the two women.

***

They were halfway behind the rocket when the Alchemist paused, hearing a lilting tune in her head. "Hang on," she held up a hand. "Doctor?"

He stopped, too. "Donna," he called, and she turned. "Take your hood down."

"What?" Donna lowered her hood.

"That noise is like a song," the Doctor looked around.

"Over there!" the Alchemist ran through the snow.

The Doctor and Donna were right behind her, and they found her kneeling next to an alien in the snow. "What is it?" Donna asked as the Doctor's eyes widened.

"An Ood," the Doctor answered, crouching down on the other side of the Alchemist. "He's called an Ood."

"But its face - "

"Donna, don't, not now," the Alchemist shook her head. "And it's a he, not an it."

"Sorry," Donna crouched down as well.

"I don't know where his heart is," the Doctor checked around. "I don't know if he's got a heart. Talk to him, keep him going."

"We've got you," the Alchemist patted the Ood gently on his shoulder. "What's your name?"

"Designated Ood Delta 50," the Ood answered, his translator ball lighting up.

Donna picked up the ball and spoke into it. "My name's Donna."

"You don't need to do that," the Alchemist chuckled.

"Sorry," Donna smiled sheepishly. "Oh, God. This is the Doctor, and this is the Alchemist. Just what you need, a doctor. Couldn't be better, hey?"

"You've been shot," the Doctor realized, surprised.

"The circle," Delta 50 tried to say.

"No, don't try to talk," Donna shook her head.

"The circle must be broken."

"Circle?" the Alchemist frowned. "What circle?"

"Delta 50, what circle?" the Doctor asked.

Delta 50 shot upright with a roar, his eyes flaring red. The Alchemist yelped and scurried backwards, eyes wide, then the Ood closed his eyes and flopped back to the ground, dead. "He's gone," Donna whispered, checking.

"Careful," the Doctor warned, walking over to the Alchemist and helping her up, feeling her tremble. "It's not Kroptor," he promised, rubbing her back. "You're not dying today."

"God, I hope not," she whispered.

"There you are, sweetheart," Donna said, patting snow around the Ood. "We were too late. What do we do? Do we bury him?"

"The snow'll take care of that," the Doctor answered, looking up at the gathering clouds.

"Who was he? What's an Ood?"

"They're servants of humans in the forty second century, mildly telepathic," the Doctor answered.

"That was the song," the Alchemist explained. "It was his mind calling out."

"I couldn't hear anything," Donna looked down. "He sang as he was dying."

"His eyes turned red," the Doctor frowned.

"What's that mean?"

"Trouble," he turned. "Come on. The Ood are harmless. They're completely benign."

"Except the last time we met them," the Alchemist reminded him. "There was a force, like a stronger mind, powerful enough to take them over."

"What sort of force?" Donna asked curiously.

"Long story."

"Long walk."

She sighed. "It was the Devil."

Donna did a double take, then frowned. "If you're going to take the mickey, I'll just put my hood back up."

"That trip is nothing to joke about," the Doctor warned.

"No, it isn't," the Alchemist agreed, chewing her lip. "That's what I'm worried about. It's got to be something different this time. Closer to home?"

"Aha!" the Doctor grinned, seeing the factory in front of them. "Civilization!"

***

" . . . name's Solana, Head of Marketing," a pretty young woman was greeting a group as the trio ran up. "I'm sure we've all spoken on the vidfone. Now, if you'd like to follow me?"

"Sorry, sorry, sorry," the Doctor grinned. "Late. Don't mind us. Hello! The guards let us through."

"And you would be?" Solana asked.

"The Doctor, the Alchemist, and Donna Noble."

"Representing the Noble Corporation PLC Limited, Intergalactic," Donna added, making the Doctor grin proudly at her.

"Must have fallen off my list," Solana smiled. "My apologies. Won't happen again. Now, then, Doctor Noble, Miss Noble, Mrs. Noble, if you'd like to come with me - "

All three of them did double takes when Solana nodded a them in order. "Oh, no, no, no, no," the Doctor shook his head, pointing between him and Donna. "We're not married."

"We're so not married," Donna nodded furiously.

"Never."

"Never ever."

"Fiancée, not sister," the Doctor put his arm around the Alchemist. "And she's my sister," the Doctor nodded to Donna.

Donna grinned widely. "I really do like hearing that," she told the Doctor with a grin.

"Keep coming along, you'll hear it more," he promised, the Alchemist grinning at her as well.

"Of course," Solana looked at them oddly. "And here are your information packs, vouchers inside." The Alchemist took them, flipping through them curiously. "Now, if you'd like to come with me, the Executive Suites are nice and warm."

A siren went off, and the Doctor looked up and around. "Oh, what's that?" he asked. "That sounds like an alarm."

"Oh, it's just a siren for the end of the work shift," Solana shook her head. "Now, then, this way, quick as you can."

***

"As you can see, the Ood are happy to serve, and we keep them in facilities of the highest standard," Solana smiled as she gave her sales pitch, three Ood on small platforms, others giving away drinks.

The Alchemist took a sniff of one of the glasses, and instantly, her eyes bugged. She coughed into her sleeve, and the Doctor quickly found her other hand, the one with her ring on it. He quickly snapped it open and pulled her hand to her face, and she took a deep whiff of whatever scent was inside her ring. She relaxed instantly, but she still looked slightly green. "What is it this time?" he asked.

"Gingerbread," she mumbled. "And that was really sour wine."

The Doctor rubbed her back as Solana continued. "Here at the Double O - that's Ood Operations - we like to think of the Ood as our trusted friends." The Alchemist frowned, her lie detector going off. "We keep the Ood healthy, safe, and educated. We don't just breed the Ood. We make them better. Because at heart, what is an Ood but a reflection of us? If your Ood is happy, then you'll be happy, too."

"Do you believe that?" the Doctor whispered.

"Not a chance," the Alchemist answered.

"Me, neither."

"I'd now like to point out a new innovation from Ood Operations," Solana walked up to the Ood on the stands. "We've introduced a variety package with the Ood translator ball. You can now have the standard setting. How are you today, Ood?" she asked one.

"I'm perfectly well, thank you," he answered, sounding normal.

"Or perhaps after a stressful day, a little something for the gentlemen . . . and how are you today, Ood?" Solana asked the next one.

In a husky female voice, the Ood answered, "All the better for seeing you."

"And the comedy classic option . . . Ood, you dropped something," Solana told the next one.

"D'oh!" the Ood said like Homer Simpson.

As the guests laughed, Solana smiled in satisfaction. "All that for only five additional credits. The details are in your brochures. Now, there's plenty more food and drink, so don't hold back."

As the others mingled, the Doctor walked up to the lectern and started working with the computer. "Ah, got it!" he smiled when a map of the galaxy came up on the big screen. "The Ood Sphere. I've been to this solar system before, years ago . . . ages. Close to the planet Sense Sphere. Let's widen out . . . "

"The year 4126," the Alchemist looked over his shoulder. "That's the Second Great and Bountiful Human Empire."

"4126?" Donna gasped, stunned. "It's 4126?" They nodded, and she said again, "I'm in 4126."

"It's good, isn't it?" the Doctor grinned.

"What's the Earth like now?" Donna asked, walking up behind him to look.

"Bit full," the Doctor answered. "But you see, the Empire stretches out across three galaxies," he pointed.

"It's weird," Donna mumbled. "I mean, it's brilliant, but . . . back home, the papers and the telly, they keep saying we haven't got long to live. Global warming, flooding, all the bees disappearing."

"That is weird," the Alchemist wrinkled her nose. "The bees disappearing . . . "

"But look at us," Donna looked at the map. "We're everywhere. Is that good or bad, though? I mean, are we like explorers, or more like a virus?"

"Sometimes I wonder," the Doctor winced.

"What are the red dots?" Donna asked.

"Ood distribution centers," the Alchemist checked.

"Across three galaxies?" Donna's eyebrows shot up. "Don't the Ood get a say in this?" She walked over to one. "Er, sorry, but . . . " She touched his arm, and he turned to look at her. "Hello," she smiled. "Tell me, are you all like this?"

"I do not understand, miss," the Ood blinked at her.

"Why do you say Miss?" Donna blinked back, offended. "Do I look single?"

"Donna," the Alchemist hissed.

"Right," she cleared her throat. "What I mean is, are there any free Ood Are there Ood running wild somewhere, like wildebeest?"

"All Ood are born to serve," the Ood said. "Otherwise, we would die."

"But you can't have started like that. Before the humans, what were you like?"

"The circle."

"What do you mean?" the Doctor jumped forward when the Ood said that, the Alchemist's eyebrows shooting up. "What circle?"

"The circle," the Ood answered. "The circle is - "

"Ladies and gentlemen, all Ood to hospitality stations, please," Solana called.

The Ood headed off, and the Doctor huffed. "I've had enough of the schmoozing."

"Well, then, how about a trip off the beaten track?" the Alchemist suggested, holding up a map of the complex.

Donna grinned. "Rough guide of the Ood Sphere? Works for me."

***

"Ood shift eight now commencing. Repeat, Ood shift eight now commencing."

The Alchemist was leading the way, looking at the map, when she took a look at what was happening on the ground of the complex, and she froze. "Doctor," she said, her voice trembling. "Donna. You need to see this."

They walked to her side and watched, stunned, as the Ood were marched double file across the facility. One of them fell down, towards the back, and one of the guards ran to get him up. "Get up!" he shouted, using a whip on the Ood, making the Alchemist flinch and the Doctor growl. "I said get up!"

"Servants?" Donna's jaw dropped. "They're slaves!"

"Last time I met the Ood, I never thought," the Doctor whispered. "I never asked."

"Neither of us did," the Alchemist swallowed, taking his hand.

"That's not like you," Donna looked at them.

"We were busy," the Alchemist shook her head. "So busy we couldn't save them. Had we not been . . . " She straightened. "I think we owe them one."

"Agreed," the Doctor nodded firmly.

"That looks like the boss," Donna pointed to a group on another catwalk.

"Let's keep out of his way," the Doctor suggested, taking the Alchemist's arm. "Come on."

***

The Doctor and the Alchemist were walking ahead of Donna when the Alchemist paused, squinting at the map. "Hang on," she began.

There was a sharp whistle behind them, and they spun around to see Donna by a door, taking two fingers out of her mouth. "Nice," the Alchemist said approvingly.

"Where'd you learn to whistle?" the Doctor tilted his head.

"West Ham, every Saturday," Donna winked.

The Doctor grinned back at his sister as he unlocked the door and held it open for them. He let them walk in first, then followed behind. "Ood export," he recognized, seeing the many shipping containers. "You see? Lifts up the containers, takes them to the rocket sheds, ready to be flown out all over the three galaxies."

"What?" Donna's eyes widened. "You mean these containers are full of - ?"

She couldn't finish. "What do you think?" the Alchemist asked softly, opening one of the containers.

She gagged, turning her ring in towards her hand and clapping it over her nose and mouth, the smell was so overwhelming. The Doctor put his arm around her shoulders, squeezing her, as Donna's face drained of all color. "Oh, it stinks," Donna mumbled. "How many of them do you think there are in each one?"

"Hundred?" the Doctor asked faintly, not wanting to count the number of Ood staring at them. "More?"

"A great big empire built on slavery," Donna said in disgust.

"It's not so different from your time," the Doctor shrugged.

"Oi!" Donna stared at her brother. "I haven't got slaves!"

"Who do you think made your clothes?" he retorted.

He yelped when the Alchemist punched him in the arm. "We do not take humans around to take cheap shots at them!" she hissed.

"Right," he winced. "Sorry."

"Don't, Spaceman," Donna sighed, turning back to the Ood. "I don't understand. The door is open. Why don't you just run away?"

"For what reason?" one of the Ood asked.

"You could be free."

"I don't understand the concept."

"What is it with that Persil ball?" Donna asked the Alchemist. "I mean, they're not born with it, are they? Why do they have to be all plugged in?"

"Ood, does the circle mean anything to you?" the Alchemist tried.

The entire container lit up with hundreds of translator balls. "The circle must be broken," they all said.

"Oh, that is creepy," Donna shuddered.

"But what is it?" the Doctor asked. "What is the circle?"

"The circle must be broken," the Ood insisted.

"Why?"

"So that we can sing."

An alarm went off in the facility, and the Doctor looked around. "Oh, that's us," he said cheerfully, shutting the door. "Come on!"

He sped off, dragging the Alchemist with him, running through shipping containers, dodging different guards, when the Alchemist suddenly stopped. "Donna?" she called, looking around.

"Donna?" the Doctor looked around as well. "Where are you?"

They heard a clunking noise, and the Alchemist shrieked. "Oh, my God!"

The Doctor looked up and blanched, seeing the claw used to move the shipping containers heading right towards them. "Run!" he shouted, grabbing the Alchemist's hand.

She didn't argue, running right behind him, the two of them picking difficult paths through the shipping containers, hoping to lose the claw. They didn't, and it suddenly crashed into them, knocking them to the ground. Before it could try and squeeze them to death, however, it stopped. The two of them looked up at it, panting, then looked at each other. "Hello," the Doctor grinned.

"Hi," she grinned back, laughing, even as the guards ran up to get them.

***

"Alchemist!" Donna was shouting from inside a shipping container as they were marched past, Solana speaking with the head of the guards. "Doctor! Get me out of here!"

"If you don't do what she says, you're really in trouble," the Alchemist warned.

"Not from us, from her," the Doctor added. "And with this girl, that's saying something."

The Alchemist playfully swatted him as the guards opened the container. "Doctor!" Donna ran out, hugging him.

"There we go," the Doctor patted his sister on the shoulder. "Safe and sound."

"Never mind about me," Donna shook her head, looking towards the container. "What about them?"

A translator ball fastened itself onto the head of a guard, and electricity shot out, killing it. "Red alert!" the head of the guards shouted as the Ood left the container, all with red eyes. "Fire! Shoot to kill!"

The trio quickly ran outside, and Donna quickly turned on Solana. "If people back on Earth knew what was going on here," she began.

"Oh, don't be so stupid," Solana scoffed. "Of course they know!"

"They know how you treat them?" the Alchemist asked.

"They don't ask. Same thing."

"Solana, the Ood aren't born like this," the Doctor told her. "They can't be. A species born to serve could never evolve in the first place. What does the company do to make them obey?"

"That's nothing to do with me."

"Oh, what, because you don't ask?" the Alchemist mocked.

"That's Doctor Ryder's territory," Solana glared.

"Where's he? What part of the complex?" the Doctor took the map from the Alchemist. "We could help with the red eye. Now, show me."

Solana paused, then took the map and pointed. "There, beyond the red section."

"Come with us," the Doctor advised. "You've seen the warehouse. You can't agree with all this. You know this place better than me. You could help."

Solana just turned. "They're over here!" she called. "Guards! They're over here!"

"Every time," the Alchemist groaned, turning heel with the others and running off before the guards caught up.

***

They had made it halfway when the Alchemist stopped. "Oh, no," her eyes widened, snatching the map from the Doctor. "Oh, we don't need this."

"What?" the Doctor asked, confused, as the Alchemist ran ahead, but as he followed, he started to realize what she meant. "Oh, I hear it," he breathed, eyes wide as she hurried to open the door. "I should have listened a long time ago."

The Alchemist got inside, Donna following, and the Doctor sonicked the lock behind them. "Hold on, does that mean we're locked in?" Donna asked nervously.

"Listen," the Doctor held up a finger. "Listen, listen, listen, listen."

"Oh, my head," the Alchemist groaned, holding it and shaking it, a song mournful beyond description slipping through her telepathic field. "Oh, God . . . "

"What is it?" Donna put her hand on her back.

"Can't you hear it? The singing?"

The Doctor slowly walked between cages of Ood, noticing they turned away from him as he passed. "They look different from the others," Donna said.

"That's because they're natural born Ood, unprocessed, before they're adapted to slavery," the Doctor said angrily. How had this ever slipped their notice? "Unspoiled. That's their song."

"I can't hear it," Donna said.

The Doctor turned to her, surprised. "Do you want to?"

"Yeah."

"It's the song of captivity."

"Let me hear it."

The Doctor sighed. "Face me." She did, and the Doctor put his hands on her temples. "Open your mind. That's it." He watched Donna's eyes widen and tear up. "Hear it, Donna. Hear the music."

"Take it away," she begged.

"Sure?"

"I can't bear it." He nodded, moving away, and she took a shaky breath. "Sorry."

"It's OK," the Alchemist patted her shoulder.

"But you can still hear it?"

"All the time," the Time Lords nodded.

As the Doctor opened one of the cages, Donna looked back when she heard crashing and banging. "They're breaking in!" she warned.

"Ah, let them," the Doctor spat, opening the door and stepping inside, all of the Ood backing away from him into the corner.

The Alchemist put her hand on his arm and slowly walked forward. "What are you holding?" she asked one of the Ood quietly, bending down so she was almost smaller than them so she wouldn't appear threatening. "Show me. Friend," she tried a new tactic. "Doctor," she pointed to him. "Ali," she pointed to herself. "Donna," she pointed at Donna. "Friend," she repeated. "Let me see. Look at me. Let me see." She smiled encouragingly when the Ood shuffled forward slowly. "That's it. That's it, go on. Go on."

Donna gasped when she saw what was cupped in the Ood's hands. "Is that - ?"

"It's a brain," the Alchemist put a hand over her mouth, eyes wide, tears in her eyes as the Doctor growled under his breath. "A hind brain. The Ood are born with a secondary brain. Like the amygdala in humans, it processes memory and emotions. You get rid of that, you wouldn't be Donna any more. You'd be like an Ood . . . a processed Ood."

"So the company cuts off their brains?" Donna's face blanched.

"And they stitch on the translator," the Doctor finished, looking beyond angry.

"Like a lobotomy," Donna said in disbelief. "I spent all that time looking for you two because I thought it was so wonderful out here."

"Sometimes it is," the Alchemist shook her head. "Sometimes it isn't. And then there's this, the worst of it all." She looked back. "Do you want to go home?"

Donna opened her mouth to respond when the door suddenly opened with a crash. "They're with the Ood, sir!" a guard called.

The Doctor hurriedly closed the door and locked it as the Ood shied away even more, the Alchemist trying to calm them down. "What are you going to do, then?" he taunted. "Arrest me? Lock me up? Throw me in a cage? Well, you're too late. Ha!"

***

"Why don't you just come out and say it?" Halpen, the head of the company, looked at the Doctor, the Alchemist, and Donna as they were handcuffed to pipes. "FOTO activists."

"If that's what Friends Of The Ood are trying to prove, then yes," the Doctor nodded.

"The Ood were nothing without us, just animals roaming around on the ice."

"That's because you can't hear them," the Alchemist shuddered, thinking about the song.

"They welcomed it. It's not as if they put up a fight."

"You idiot," Donna sneered. "They're born with their brains in their hands! Don't you see? That makes them peaceful! They've got to be, because a creature like that would have to trust anyone it meets."

"Oh, nice one," the Doctor complimented her.

Donna beamed at him. "Thank you."

"The system's worked for two hundred years," Halpen said. "All we've got is a rogue batch, but the infection is about to be sterilized." He reached for the intercom. "Mr. Kess? How do we stand?"

"Canisters primed, sir," Kess answered, making the Alchemist freeze. "As soon as the core heats up, the gas is released. Give it two hundred marks and counting."

"You're going to kill them?" the Alchemist shouted in anger.

"Kill the livestock," Halpen smirked. "The classic foot and mouth solution from the olden days. Still works." An alarm went off suddenly, and Halpen scowled. "What the hell?" he asked, heading outside with his Ood and Doctor Ryder. A moment later, they were back inside, Halpen looking furious, Ryder looking stunned. "Change of plan," Halpen spat.

"There are no reports of trouble off-world, sir," Ryder said as he checked computers. "It's still contained to the Ood Sphere."

"Then we've got a public duty to stop it before it spreads," Halpen said.

"What's happening?" the Doctor asked, frowning.

"Everything you wanted, Doctor," Halpen sneered. "No doubt there'll be a full police investigation once this place has been sterilized, so I can't risk a bullet to the head. I'll leave you to the mercy of the Ood."

"Mr. Halpen, there's something else, isn't there?" the Alchemist called, making him stop dead. "Something we haven't seen."

"What do you mean?" Donna asked.

"A creature couldn't survive with a separate forebrain and hind brain," the Alchemist said. "They'd be at war with themselves. There's got to be something else, a third element. Am I right?"

"So clever," Halpen narrowed his eyes.

"It's got to be connected to the red eye," the Doctor said. "What is it?"

"It won't exist for very much longer," Halpen said darkly. "Enjoy your Ood."

"Come on," the Doctor growled, trying to get his handcuffs off.

"Well, do something!" Donna said as the Alchemist fiddled just as much, wincing as she tried to work. "You're the ones with all the tricks. You must have met Houdini."

"These are really good handcuffs!" the Doctor defended himself.

"Oh, well, I'm glad of that! I mean, at least we've got quality!" she barked.

"You two, siblings, definitely!" the Alchemist gritted her teeth.

Three Ood suddenly came inside, and the Doctor instantly switched tactics. "Doctor Ali Donna, friends!" he called.

"The circle must be broken!" Donna added as the Alchemist kept working on her handcuffs.

"Doctor Ali Donna, friends!"

"The circle must be broken!"

The two of them kept saying the words over and over, hoping to get through to the Ood, when they stopped right in front of them. "Doctor Ali Donna," the Ood in front said slowly. "Friends."

"Yes!" the Doctor whooped in relief. "That's us! Friends! Oh, yes!"

***

After the Ood had released them, they ran outside to see the Ood attacking the rest of the guards. "I don't know where it is," the Doctor looked around. "I don't know where they've gone."

"What are we looking for?" Donna asked.

"It might be underground, like some sort of cave, or a cavern, or - "

Something behind them exploded, sending the three of them crashing to the ground. "All right?" the Doctor winced, reaching over to check on the Alchemist.

"Yeah," she slowly got up, then froze. "Doctor."

He looked where she was. Standing behind them as the smoke cleared was Halpen's personal Ood, simply standing there, watching them.

And he was clear of the red eye.

***

The Ood led them to a warehouse numbered fifteen, and the Doctor unlocked it. The four of them headed inside, led by the Ood, and the Alchemist inhaled sharply when she saw what was inside. "The Ood Brain," she whispered. "Now it makes sense. That's the missing link. The third element that binds them all together. Forebrain, hind brain, and the telepathic center. It's a shared mind, connecting all the Ood in song."

"Cargo," Halpen said as he appeared with Ryder. "I can always go into cargo. I've got the rockets, I've got the sheds. Smaller business. Much more manageable without livestock."

"He's mined the area," Ryder nodded at the brain.

"You're going to kill it?" Donna gasped.

"They found that thing centuries ago beneath the Northern Glacier," Halpen said.

"Those pylons," the Doctor began.

"In a circle," Donna finished, making the Alchemist grin. No one was going to convince her otherwise - they were definitely siblings. "The circle must be broken."

"Damping the telepathic field," the Alchemist nodded. "Stopping the Ood from connecting for over two hundred years."

"And you, Ood Sigma, you brought them here," Halpen glared at his Ood. "I expected better."

"My place is at your side, sir," Sigma bowed, walking over.

"Still subservient," Halpen smirked. "Good Ood."

"If that barrier thing's in place, how come the Ood started breaking out?" Donna asked.

"Maybe it's taken centuries to adapt," the Doctor frowned. "The subconscious reaching out?"

"But the process was too slow," Ryder nodded, making them all look at him, confused. "It had to be accelerated. You should never give me access to the controls, Mr. Halpen," he turned to the man. "I lowered the barrier to its minimum. Friends Of The Ood, sir. It's taken me ten years to infiltrate the company, and I succeeded."

"Yes," Halpen said slowly, nodding. "Yes, you did." He reached over and shoved Ryder over the catwalk railing, down towards the brain -

The Alchemist made a few quick hand gestures, small tendrils of the Vortex shooting out and roping around Ryder, stopping his fall. "I don't think so," she shook her head.

"Maybe not," Halpen snatched her arm, yanking her to his side, making her yelp and release her concentration. Ryder fell into the brain before the Doctor and Donna could grab him, only for Donna to gasp and the Doctor to growl as Halpen pushed the barrel of a gun into the Alchemist's head, making the blonde freeze. "Now, then, can't say I've ever shot anyone before. Can't say I'm going to like it. But, er, it's not exactly a normal day, is it? Still - "

"Would you like a drink, sir?" Sigma asked suddenly, walking forward with a small cup.

"I think hair loss is the least of my problems right now, thanks," Halpen spat.

"Please, have a drink, sir," Sigma insisted while slowly pulling the Alchemist away.

Halpen gasped suddenly, doubling over, and Sigma pulled the Alchemist behind him, the Doctor grabbing her the moment she was close enough. "Have - have you poisoned me?" the businessman asked Sigma in disbelief.

"Natural Ood must never kill, sir," Sigma shook his head.

"What is that stuff?" the Doctor sniffed the concoction.

"Ood graft suspended in a biological compound, sir," Sigma answered primly.

"Oh, dear," the Doctor grinned, unable to help himself.

"Tell me!" Halpen shouted.

"Funny thing, the subconscious,," the Doctor rocked on his feet. "Takes all sorts of shapes. Came out in the red eye as revenge, came out in the rabid Ood as anger . . . and then there was patience. All that intelligence and mercy, focused on Ood Sigma."

"How's the hair loss, Mr. Halpen?" the Alchemist smirked.

He gasped, reaching a hand up and pulling away a good chunk of hair. "What have you done?"

"Oh, they've been preparing you for a very long time," the Doctor smiled, admiring Sigma's strategy. "And now you're standing next to the Ood Brain, Mr. Halpen. Can you hear it? Listen."

"What have you?" his face twisted. "I'm not - " His face went blank suddenly, and he reached up, dropping his gun, and peeled the skin of his head off, tentacles coming out of his mouth.

"They . . . " Donna stared. "They turned him into an Ood?"

"Yep," the Doctor nodded.

"He's an Ood."

"I noticed."

Halpen sneezed suddenly, and a hind brain plopped into his hands. "He has become Oodkind, and we will take care of him," Sigma said in satisfaction.

"It's weird, being with you," Donna remarked. "I can't tell you what's right and what's wrong any more."

"It's better that way," the Doctor smiled. "People who know for certain trend to be like Mr. Halpen."

"Turn this lot off," the Alchemist said, turning off the explosives before pausing. "Sigma? If I may have the honor?"

"It is yours, Alchemist," Sigma bowed to her.

"Stifled for two hundred years? Not any more," the Alchemist grinned in delight, pulling out her blaster and aiming at the pylons and firing.

The Doctor laughed as the circle fizzled out, the song of the Ood transforming in seconds. "The circle is broken! The Ood can sing!"

Ood Sigma raised his hands to the sky as Donna gasped in delight. "I can hear it!" she laughed as the Alchemist ran to hug the Doctor, their minds filling with the happy song of the Ood instead of the depressing one.

***

"The message has gone out," the Doctor told Sigma as they gathered by the TARDIS, Sigma with a group of Ood in a semicircle in front of them. "That song resonated across the galaxies. Everyone heard it. Everyone knows. The rockets are bringing them back. The Ood are coming home."

"We thank you, Doctor Ali Donna, friends of Oodkind," Sigma bowed his head. "And what of you now? Will you stay? There is room in the song for you."

"Oh, we've - " The Doctor looked at the Alchemist. "Alice and I have sort of got songs of our own, thanks."

Sigma tilted his head, then looked at the Alchemist. "I think your song must end soon."

The Alchemist blanched. "Meaning?"

"Every song must end."

"Yeah," the Doctor cleared his throat, tearing the subject away, knowing exactly what "song" Sigma meant was going to end. "Er, what about you?" he looked at Donna, hope in his eyes. "You want to go home?"

"No," Donna immediately answered, taking his hand and patting the Alchemist on the shoulder. "Definitely not."

"Then we'll be off," the Doctor smiled at Sigma.

"Take this song with you," Sigma raised his hand with the other Ood, starting their song again.

"We will," Donna smiled.

"Always," the Alchemist promised, opening the door.

"And know this, Doctor Ali Donna," Sigma said as they stepped inside. "You will never be forgotten. Our children will sing of the DoctorAliDonna, and our children's children, and the wind and the ice and the snow will carry your names forever."

The Alchemist paused, hearing how Sigma strung their names together, then headed inside, the others behind her. "Next to no use of the Vortex, and only a slight headache," she said with a sigh, wringing her head around and taking out the kinks in her neck. "That's wonderful."

"And saving a species," Donna grinned. "Not a bad day."

"Not a bad day at all," the Doctor agreed, closing the door.

***

And the next time you see me, Anna's story will be finishing! I want to try and get her stories finished before school ends, so . . . allons-y!

Remember, this story may not be updated for quite a while. So just keep an eye out for updates just in case, all right?

AND NO INSANELY LONG COMMENT STRINGS YOU CAN DO THAT WHEN I FINISH THE BOOK. *smiles prettily* Thank you for your cooperation.

Or you can do me a favor and support the newest Time Lady on the block and read Anna's story! :)