The Doctor, Willow and Rose encounter a group obsessed with finding them and an alien who likes to absorb.

***

A young man stumbled up a hill made of broken bricks, stone and rubble. He found himself beside several old interconnected warehouses with metal doors as he stopped for breath. However, his eyes landed on a familiar blue telephone box, astounding him. The man slowly wandered up to it, curiously brushing his hand on the paintwork before a shout from inside distracted him. "Doctor! Willow, the trap!"

He had no time to waste, this is what he was told to do by Victor Kennedy. The man ran into the unit, searching the factory as he heard the Doctor chatter away in the distance. "Where's he gone? Can you see him?"

"There he is!" He heard another girl yell. "Stop. No! Watch out! There!"

"Where? Where?" The Doctor asked. The man ran up a metal staircase, eventually finding himself by a lit corridor with a lot of doors. With certain ease, the man hesitantly walked over to the door right at the end of the corridor where a bright light was shining through. He opened the door, his eyes widening to see a gnarly creature with lots of sharp teeth, roaring at him. 

The man stepped back scared as the Hoix followed him before the Doctor popped out of the door with raw meat in his hand. "Here, boy. Eat the food. Come on, look at the lovely food." The Hoix turned to look at it, hungrily. "Isn't that nice? Isn't it? Yes, it is." It faced the man again, wondering which was the better snack. "Get out of here, quickly." The Doctor told him. "That's a boy. Wouldn't you like a porky-choppy then?" He turned back to the man. "I said run!"

As he began to run back to the staircase, a blonde girl with a blue bucket of steaming liquid sprinted at the Hoix at full speed. Behind her, a ginger girl tried to stop her. "Rose, that's not-"

Although, it was too late as she threw the content in the bucket onto the Hoix. It screamed in pain and anger upon being attacked. Willow huffed as the Doctor said. "Wrong one. You made it worse."

Her mouth hanged open. "You said blue!"

"I said not blue."

"I tried to stop her!" exclaimed Willow as the Hoix turned to glare at them, hissing. She grabbed Rose's hand, running off through another door.

As the Hoix gave chase, the Doctor yelled to them. "Hold on!" He slammed the door, disappearing from view.

The man stood at the back of the room, unsure of what had just happened. Then, the Doctor ran across the corridor, being chased by the Hoix until it was then chasing Rose down another corridor before running after both. It was like a scene in Scooby-Doo where they're all running down the corridors, chasing each other.

Eventually, Rose ran down a corridor, picking up a red steaming bucket which startled the creature. It turned back to run in the opposite direction as she screamed at the creature. The Doctor and Willow followed her through, however, he placed a hand on the doorway to stop himself upon noticing the man still standing there.

He narrowed his eyes at him. "Hold on. Don't I know you?"

Soon enough, the man ran back down the metal staircase and out of the building in a rush. Willow popped her head outside the door, grabbing the Doctor's sleeve and dragging him away.

***

Jackie waited outside the Powell Estate for Elton, a person she once considered a friend, to return. She held his tan coat in her arms, watching as he strolled up to her with pizza in hand. "Right, let's get inside then. The pizza's getting cold."

"I went in your coat. For once in my life I thought I'll pay. I thought he's such a nice man, he won't accept anything, so I'll just slip a tenner in his pocket. And look what I found." She showed him a picture of Rose. "A photograph of my daughter. Do you have a picture of my niece too while you're at it?"

Elton shook his head, smiling while disagreeing with her. "No, no, no, no, no, it's not like that. I can explain."

"I bet you can."

"I wasn't being pervy or anything. I wasn't after her. I was looking for the Doctor." He honestly replied.

"Oh, I know that. I worked that out." Jackie said, close to tears. "Cos it's never me, is it?"

"No, but that's how it started, but I changed my mind." answered Elton.

"Let me tell you something about those who get left behind." She raised her voice. "Because it's hard. And that's what you become, hard. But if there's one thing I've learnt, it's that I will never let her down. I will never let my girls down. And I'll protect them both until the end of my life, I'll even protect the Doctor because he's been more of a man than you'll ever be. So whatever you want, I'm warning you, back off."

He argued. "But Jackie, I only wanted to meet him."

"I thought you liked me."

"I do-"

"Just get out of here!" Jackie yelled, throwing his coat in her face. "I said, get out! And leave me alone!" She jogged back inside, clearly upset. Elton knew that he shouldn't have done this.

***

Elton ran through the alleyways, trying to escape the Absorbaloff until eventually reaching a dead-end, bouncing off the metal and realising there was nothing left. He had lost everything, his tight-knit group, his friendship with Jackie and Ursula. There was nothing to fight for now.

He slumped back against a brick wall, giving up as it caught up to him. "Oh, what's the matter? Have you given up so soon?"

"There's no point. Where would I go? Everything I ever wanted-"

"Has been absorbed." The Absorbaloff finished.

Ursula, absorbed into the creature, sighed. "Oh, Elton. Don't say that."

"But it's true!" He argued.

"Then join us. Join us, little man." He crept up to him, his arm out-stretched. "Come on. It's everlasting peace. Come on. Join us. Dissolve into me." 

The Abzorbaloff reached for him as Elton closed his eyes, ready to go. Abruptly, they were both distracted by a powerful wind and a familiar sound. It was the TARDIS, materialising out of the blue. The Doctor opened the door and walked out with a stern look on his face, then his girlfriend, Willow, popped out beside him. 

She crossed her arms, glaring at Elton. "Someone wants a word with you."

Rose stormed out of the TARDIS, her blonde hair in dutch plaits. "You upset my mum!"

He was stunned, looking up at the Absorbaloff. "Great big absorbing creature from outer space and you're having a go at me?"

"No one upsets my mum!"

"You're lucky you're not getting a slap from me either, you know." Willow pointed out.

The big yellow creature licked its lips at the Doctor. "At last. The greatest feast of all. The Doctor."

"Interesting. A sort of Absorbatrix? Absorbaclon? Absorbaloff?" He guessed.

"Absorbaloff, yes." He stated.

Willow observed his features, thinking of a similar foe they've faced before. "It looks kind of like a Slitheen."

"Not from Raxacoricofallapatorius, are you?" questioned the Doctor.

The Absorbaloff was clearly offended. "No, I'm not. They're swine. I spit on them. I was born on their twin planet."

"Really? What's the twin planet of Raxacoricofallapatorius?" He asked curiously.

"Clom."

His eyes widened. "Clom?"

"Clom. Yes. And I'll return there victorious, once I possess your travelling machine." He revealed his plans.

"Well, that's never going to happen." The Doctor commented.

"Oh, it will. You'll surrender yourself to me, Doctor, or this one dies." He pointed at Elton. "You see, I've read about you, Doctor. I've studied you. So passionate, so sweet. You wouldn't let an innocent man die. And I'll absorb him unless you give yourself to me."

"Sweet? Maybe. Passionate?" He winked at Willow. "I suppose. But don't ever mistake that for nice. Do what you want."

He was ready to walk back into the TARDIS, bewildering the Absorbaloff. "He'll die, Doctor."

"Go on, then." He encouraged half-heartedly.

Rose, Elton and even the alien creature didn't know why he was supporting him but Willow knew he had something up his sleeve. "So be it."

The Doctor interrupted. "Mind you, the others might have something to say."

"Others?"

"He's right. The Doctor's right." Ursula affirmed. "We can't let him. Oh, Mister Skinner, Bridget, pull!"

"No!"

Their faces started moving out of his body, pulling at its skin. "For God's sake, pull!"

"No, don't - get off, get off!" The Absorbaloff tried to stop them but he couldn't control the people inside him.

"If it's the last thing we ever do. Bliss! All of us together. Come on, pull!" She rallied.

"Stop it!"

"LINDA united, pull!" All of their faces push out from his body, causing agonising pain which made him drop the special cane he always held. "Elton, the cane. Break it!"

Elton grabbed it, snapping it on his knee as sparks flew out. The clasped hands on the top opened up, releasing a glowing energy. "My cane! You stupid man. Oh, no!" Suddenly, the Absorbaloff turned into liquid and was absorbed into the ground, defeated.

"What did I do?" asked Elton.

"The cane created a limitation field. Now it's broken, he can't stop. The absorber is being absorbed." He explained.

"By what?"

"By the earth."

As the last of the alien dribbled through the cracks of the pavement and into the soil of the Earth, a face attempted to appear in one of the slabs. "Bye, bye, Elton. Bye, bye."

The face faded into the pavement, leaving Elton with a broken heart. "Who was she?" Rose queried.

"That was Ursula." He stated with teary eyes.

Even though he had fooled her mother and made her upset, Rose still knew when someone needed a hug. She embraced him, giving him comfort after the loss of the love of his life. The Doctor and Willow sat beside them. "You don't remember, do you?" He questioned. "There was a shadow in your house. A living shadow in the darkness. An elemental shade had escaped from the Howling Halls. I stopped it, but I wasn't in time to save her. I'm sorry."

He was referring to his mother, a woman he couldn't save when Elton was a child. The shadow had infiltrated their house and murdered her right as the Doctor managed to stop it, watching as the young Elton wandered in. The Doctor explained that he still felt guilty that he couldn't save her in the end.

Willow thought to herself, suddenly gaining a bright idea. "I think I can help you, Elton." She told him before walking over to the slab in the ground. She took a deep breath, using the fragments of the Time Vortex to power her. She touched the slab, allowing Ursula to be fully reconstructed.

She grabbed Ursula's hand, taking her out of the ground. Elton stood up in shock and disbelief. "Ursula!"

The woman was still a bit hazy until she eyed him. "I-I'm alive!" She ran over to him, taking him in for a hug. 

Willow and Rose smiled at their cute reunion, though the Doctor was a little hesitant upon realising she could do that.

*** 

Back in the TARDIS, Willow was leaning across the bar surrounding the TARDIS, thinking to herself as the Doctor wandered up to her. "You ok?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." She answered.

"How does it not hurt for you?" The Doctor asked. She narrowed her eyes at him, confused. "I mean, the energy from the Time Vortex, how does it not hurt you?"

"I don't know," Willow replied, unsure herself. "My father never understood why it worked in me. Ever since I stared into the Untempered Schism, it just absorbed into me. I knew every future possibility in my head, could turn things into atoms in a split second but, well, I can't do that now obviously. I can't even remember what I saw in my head to this day. I remember being the Bad Wolf, but I don't remember what I did."

"He took it out of you though." He mentioned.

"Yeah, but since I took the energy in again, some of it's stuck around. That was mostly your fault by the way." She added.

"Just don't do it too much, ok?" He told her. "I don't want to lose you."

"As long as I don't lose you."

***

This is just a little snippet from the episode itself but I hope you enjoyed it anyway, even if it is one of the most disliked Doctor Who episodes of all time. Let's just admit that it wasn't as bad as Orphan 55.

Next up is another interlude but it's going to be something you'll like.

- Alice ❤