Shop Girl with a Kick

The 5000's was an era known for technological and medical advances, discoveries, and trials.  They were through the roof in the eyes of a twentieth century human being, having capabilities one would think only possible in a Hollywood movie.  But to everyone working on them, these advances opened up many doors and opportunities.  Most of which led to a better life for any who inhabited New Earth, Earth and planets within a two light year radius of either.  Other doors were kept hush, hush for reasons that seemed too evident for the employees of Torchwood...


Torchwood Head Estate, New Earth, 5378

Screams were tearing at the ears of the five researches within the lab, three of which were trying to re-restrain the subject on the table.  Mal looked on at the commotion with a frown on her face, observed as the other two scientists continued their gruesome tactics from before.  "If he dies, so do you."  She hissed into the intercom to her left.  It caused the men to look at her and then at one another, making a point to take more care with what they were doing.

Satisfied, Mal moved away and to the elevator at the end of the hall.  Once on it, she pushed the main floor button and waited as the lift took her upwards.  It opened up soon after and she strode out, snatching her overcoat from the assistant coming to greet her, and moved on to the outside world.

The air was cool and smelled of pears and apples, the sky only had a few stray clouds drifting along.  A wicked grin crossed her face as she watched for several moments. She proceeded to look at her watch.  "And so it goes!  Come to me, lovelies."  

With some quick tinkering she set coordinates into her vortex manipulator before staring up at the sky once more, listening as the sound of running ships came from behind her.

The air crafts passed overhead, eight of them.  They were large, remained in the air thanks to the turbines on each wing.  Mal laughed again as she watched the ships fly upward, a red beam shot out of the front of each one and forced open a red portal.  All of them went through and the portal shut with a ripple through the sky, like one might see after dropping a rock in a pond.  

Finally, everything was making sense to her.  It was just making much more sense then her life before.  The fog of her twenty, twenty-three years of life simply lifted once the ideas started coming.  The real ideas, the goals, the point of life.  And while her main plan was set in action, she had another to put into effect.  "Don't wait up for me."  She cooed into the headset to all who shared in the possession of the small device.  With a swift swipe she removed it and shoved it into her pockets, and finally pushed down on the manipulator's button and shot through the vortex.


London, Earth, 2014

Mal appeared in the crevice of an alley, glancing around and smelling the polluted air of the city.  It was safe to say she didn't miss it, but she'd always come back as long as everyone cooperated at their due time.  

Right now, she was under the radar, not even a blur to be mentioned.  And that was the way she was going to keep it until it festered and festered and spread outward, allowing her to seize all in her grip.

But the world wasn't her focus right now, no, a single man was.  She really ought to thank him, and that was her full intention.  Well, that and other things.  

Mal hummed and stepped out of the alley, hands behind her back as she walked.  People glanced at her but never really stared, not caring at all who she was or why she was there.  And that thought caused her to sneer.  They would never overlook her if they had any idea who she became in their future.  Their king.  Or reckoning.  The human race, though they seemingly craved servitude,  never surrendered under anything they saw as a threat.  Unless that threat was one of their own.  She would have to weasel her way into their trust as she had on New Earth.

It took her two hours to get there, but she was there, standing on the roof of the Royal Hope Hospital with her fingers fiddling with the gadgets in his pocket.  If he knew where she got them, he would be angry.  And she wanted that.  Tilting her head up and staring down at the passerbys, she shouted, "Good bye, cruel world!"  Mal spread out her arms for show, stepping up to the ledge and appearing like she was going to jump.  Her eyes flashed with amusement though she managed to wipe the grin from its place.  If this didn't get his attention, plan B certainly would.  She'd just wait a few more seconds.

5.... 4.... 3.... 2....

Hm, looked like plan B wouldn't need to be, he showed up just as she assumed. Well, it was a brilliant backup for "just in cse" precautions. "I'm going to jump!" Mal said in a frantic tone, working up her face to match the voice she took on. She wanted to make him think she went completely off her rocker, that she was actually planning to end her life due to the now opened doors within her mind. He knew time would unlock them and so here she was pretending this was the first day the locks broke though in reality it had been over two years. "I-I'm tired of them... th-the thoughts. I've been so afraid for so long, seen myself as w-worthless and a-as nothing. Because I was... I was! B-but it's all in the past now... because I won't be here soon, Doc... I'll be gone. I want it to change, the worthlessness. I want it to end. This is the only way I see it ending..."

Her arms slowly lowered to her side though she didn't step off of the ledge, instead she leaned over it to give the people below another look, hearing as their murmurs increased. It was funny how much they seemed to care only when someone had seemingly reached their end point. That or they were just interested in a good show.

After a moment to work it up, Mal turned around, crying and looking just as desperate as she had the last time the Doctor saw her in that musky basement. "I-it doesn't matter how I got here... i-it just doesn't matter any more. Don't you see? It needs to end... my life of cowardice an-and suffering and confusion and worthlessness. You must have seen this coming... the day I ended. You can see everything after all, can't you? And so it must be... The End." Of course she wasn't referring to actually killing herself but she hardly doubted the Doctor would know that. After all, she had mentioned the last time that her "frail, old" self had contemplated death as the only escape from her future. But that was when he had locked the doors in her mind, meaning he'd think the unlocking of them would have been traumatic for Mal, quite possibly leading her to a buildings edge.

To her the words she spoke had meant her old self had already died. She had been burnt from existence so her phoenix could rise from the ash and reign a new body of fire and resilience. Soon, oh so soon, she would set the worlds ablaze.

Ramona caught her attention then, causing surprise to flash in Mal's eyes as she stared at the girl. Mal's hazel eyes flickered to the Doctor then back to Ramona. A new companion? So soon? Surly Robin was still alive and functioning... so why would he take on a second? Mal hardly thought that was the kind of man he was but she had been wrong before. The questions were now grinding in her brain, the majority "who" was this girl and "why" was she chosen to travel with the Doctor?

Mal didn't even say anything and this left her to just stare until she finally turned back to the street, letting a single foot hang carelessly over the edge so she was only balancing on one leg. The people underneath gasped which caused the brown-haired girl to mentally squeal in pleasure while her appearance still reflected a desperate woman facing her life's end.

Oh, he was angry. Anger sparked from fear. He was afraid. The thought sent a shiver down her spine as all the ways she could twist that fear for her benefit flashed in her head. It was brilliant, perfect... but not quite what she was looking for. No, it was something more vulnerable she craved. It was just a matter of fingering out which buttons to push to bring out said vulnerability that caused Mal to stop and truly consider her actions. And as she worked her brain, the Doctor made his move, pulling her into a hug and crashing the two of them to the ground. She grunted and rolled away the first chance she got, trying to hold back the laughter that threatened to bubble out of her throat.

Mal stood with a small spring and glared at the Doctor like he had insulted her. The tears had stopped flowing though a few leftovers ran down her cheek. Ramona's movement registered from her peripherals though she was more focused on answering the Doctor's words of rage, "Oh, so you'd finally leave me alone like I've wanted all along? That's a lie and we both know it. You can hardly keep away from me. As I have learned I can hardly keep away from-"

Contact was made with Mal's shoulder and Ramona's hand, causing her to stop her string of words and break her gaze from the Time Lord to instead stare intently at Rami. She brought her right hand up and covered the other girl's with it. "Who are you?" She turned her voice into that of great care that reflected naive curiosity and interest. It was easy to make someone answer that way, easier still if you had the ability to influence. The want to answer Mal's question soaked into Rami's mind through the link she had brought up through the physical touch. At least it would quell the burning curiosity in Mal's mind, the girl's name. She began to wonder if she should convince this girl travelling with the Doctor to leave once she answered since Mal didn't want any interruptions.

"Obedient." Mal said after Ramona, her eyes glued to the other woman like a hawk's to a mouse. It wasn't until she was completely out of site that she returned her attention to the Doctor. Her expression was still soft and caring, her eyebrows bent upward like she was concerned with the way the Doctor was feeling. "You care about me? Obvious reasons? Well, that would explain why you caved in when I was struck with Delirium all those months ago. Perhaps you love after all. The feeling would be mutual, darling." She moved forward then, unblinking as she placed a hand on his chest, sliding it up to his shoulder.

"I love you, Doctor. I love the thought of you being mine." The smile couldn't be held back any longer, the half grin stretched and caused her face to take on an odd look. It wasn't often Mal smiled in her past and even if she did it was either small or the whole toothy grin. "It just really gets me going to think you would listen to me like that" Her index finger jabbed in the direction Rami went off to. "I want you to know how it feels to obey someone with power and authority. Because that's what we, the companions, live with daily, and I hardly think you understand. I want you to understand. And obey. And to be mine."

Mal removed her hand from her shoulder then, moving it to his jaw so the tips of her fingers danced across his skin as she toyed with it. "I'd say I have a lot of power now considering I've grown into place. I've grown into the place I was meant to be on all along. Why did I ever fight it? It's all so clear now, why everything was the way it was. I needn't be afraid. And neither should you. Just simply... kneel. You would for her, wouldn't you? Well, think of me as her since we are very much the same." The 'her' was currently undefined, but Mal knew he would understand shortly...

And so she leaned in a little closer to continue, "I went back into my past and set up the possibilities for today. The meteor, the disappearances, the vortex manipulator and so much more of my history. I have created something wonderful for myself: a future, hope, a focus. I created myself." The words should have been familiar to the Doctor. But if that didn't do it, her ending punch should. Mal rose to her toes to brush her lips against his ear, whispering, "Bad Wolf."

Before he could really react Mal was backing away, out of reach and gaging his reaction with a large smile on her face and a look of desire in her eyes. "You are right, we are drawn together too tightly now. There's no way you can leave me. But there's no way this will end pleasantly unless you do one thing for me. Just one. Kneel."

"Oh you will... You will, Doctor. I swear it to you! On my final breath, even if I have to be six feet under you will kneel before your days are over." Mal had listened to his words calmly, had observed his expressions and emotions as he spoke and did not feel a single tug of empathy. But as soon as he was walking away to make his retreat her face had snapped into rage, her voice an angry snarl as she shouted. "Run! That's all you know how to do. Me? I've finally stopped, finally turned and embraced everything I have once feared. But you're the coward now! Too afraid of where your demons might take you. That makes you weak! That makes you scum!"

Mal turned away from the offending blue box in her line of site, briskly taking a few steps away and growling to herself as she tried to retrieve some form of control. She hated him, she felt certain of that. She always had in a way. And it wasn't until her life fell into place that she understood why. He had held her back for so long...

"Plan B, then." Mal muttered to herself, running her gloved, left hand over her face before letting it fall. Plan B wasn't for fun. Not at all. She replaced her look of rage with that of glee, the emotional change quick and easy. "I dearly hoped it didn't have to come down to this. But if you won't obey, I'll break you. Starting with your hearts." He wasn't even there any more to hear her but Mal had developed a horrible habit of talking to herself. "Initiate Plan B."

The sky started opening up in patches of red, the same red portals used to transport the air crafts back in Earth's future. But it wasn't ships lingering on the edges of the wormholes, it was a sickly familiar shape. Bombs. They dangled over London threateningly and caused Mal to burst into a fit of laughter again. "Hello, London! It's time to meet your reckoning. I'm so, so, very sorry for what I'm about to do. Oh wait, no I'm not. Bahaha!"

Mal stared up at the sky with the same tilt of her head she uses when thinking. She heard the TARDIS doors open, heard the Doctor stomp out, and definitely heard him shout at her. "What I'm doing isn't important. Why I'm doing it is much more interesting. Why I'm doing it is because I don't like competition. Earth already bows its head to One and for that I had only two choices. I was to either kill their idol or simply wipe them out. You see, humans have a horrible habit of worshipping their leaders. They'll be more apt to act against me as long as their One is alive, and I just can't have that. That was the whole point of you, really. You're their One whether they're aware of it or not, whether you're really aware of it or not. For years and years everyone has followed you with only minimal questions. I needed them to see there was someone out there who was- is- more than you, more than their leader. To have you drop to your knees before someone of higher authority would have passed the baton over peacefully. And I'm not talking just once, sweetheart, I mean permanently. Down and stay down."

That's when she turned to face them, shoulder pulled up as high as they could go, arms shrugging carelessly with them. "Oh well. What's one less planet to conquer? Don't you see what I want? Don't you see why? There can only be one and your time has expired... though my ambitions are much higher than this tiny little planet. I want every inhabitant on ever planet, meteor, sun, and satellite to know I am someone. Their One. I've spent far too long being suppressible material, and you were right in saying all the choices I make sculpts who I am. Trampling material is who I made myself, so now I'm pulling myself up on a nice pedestal. I want to rule with the damned by my side. I gave you your chance to take a place at my heel and you blew it. I'm not patient enough for reconciliation. Oh look, I'm rambling again. Horrible habit. To get back on track and to make it short, this planet is going to burn because they'll never accept me as their 'king' as long as you exist as an individual away from my command."

Mal tugged up her sleeve, looking at her vortex manipulator with a small crease to her brow before she hummed happily. "Well would you look at the time." She made a point to jab her index finger in over-exaggeration on one of the buttons. "Funny how time seems to just fall from our fingertips." A laugh broke out of her chest as the hovering bombs in the red wormholes began to rain down, the portals shut after they made their deposit.

"The rejects." She said this to herself, already turned around to watch her handy work in action. Each capsule whistled as they fell. It seemed comical to her, something you would see on a bugs bunny cartoon show. It wasn't long before the whistles were accompanied by screams of terror from the people below. For show, Mal put coordinates in her manipulator. It wouldn't be long before she had to vanish from the scene anyway. She looked at the Doctor and then to Ramona, stepping away from the two inch by inch. Anger, panic, disbelief, the whole works was radiating out from everywhere, it was hard to find the specific source.

"And I never got a name from you, darling." Mal cooed at Ramona, hazel eyes sparking with her desire to know. The way she spoke was like she was trying to start a casual conversation with a college she bumped into at a coffee shop. It was unfitting for the destruction currently shadowing London. "No matter, I'm sure we'll be seeing each other again."

Mal growled in surprise, fighting against the Doctor and not letting him even when she knew the fight against him was pointless. His grip was tight and restricted her movements to the point of vanity. She was surprised he wanted to be this close to her after everything she had dragged him through yet found it very predictable. The Doctor would do everything he could to make things right, wouldn't he? Even if it destroyed him? Yes, of course he would, that was the Doctor's trademark throughout each incarnation and it was absolutely beautiful in Mal's eyes. Why, you may ask? Well, it made working against him that much more fun.

"Ruin New Earth? Oh no, no, no, you don't listen do you? Ugh, unhand me! Honestly, manhandling isn't the solution to everything when it comes to me. Put me down already!" She was becoming more and more agitated though in actuality she didn't mind being taken to the TARDIS. The only problem that faced was they wouldn't be able to see teh bombs hit in person. How very.. anticlimactic.

"Oh no, how tragic, you're going to miss the best part. Fine, then listen. Sh, listen, listen, listen and wait for it. The moment it's going to happen you can hear the panic rise. You can feel it. Just wait and listen." Mal closed her eyes and strained her ears, a twisted smile stuck on her mouth. As she had stated the screaming and fear raised in a horrific crescendo. Seconds later the sound of metal pelting varies terrain assaulted the Earth outside those blue doors. It should have confused the two Mal was with, they would be expecting explosions. But nothing happened.

Mal began to laugh joyously, shifting around in the Doctor's arms in an attempt to get free once more before giving up and laughing again. "Fear is my key. Its what makes people listen. Empty threat some may call this. But it isn't empty when you fulfil some threats and hollow out others. It keeps people on their toes, makes them psychologically nervous. They'd rather believe what I say then test it. I hope in time you will react the same, Doctor-dear. Oh, but don't you dare think because I spared this planet today means it's safe. Do you know what humans do when there is a bombing? They investigate. Pry them apart and see how they tick. How long do you think it'll take them to start doing that?" In a way she was just playing games, but if one couldn't have fun then what was the point of living?

Mal landed on the seat and instantly straightened, crossed one leg over the other and took on a look of ease. She smiled a very pleased grin at him despite his sternness and anger. "A paradox, you're worried about a paradox. Why do you think I haven't made a visit in sections I've been? I've tread the paths and plan ahead, ahead in regards to my past. It's so much fun, building yourself. I see and create all the blocks of my foundation. It's brilliant." Wasn't it just? But he didn't want to hear about the creation of who she had become. No, he wanted to know about the bombs. Fair enough, didn't all of Earth at this time?

"Haven't you learned by now that time gives the answers? All you had to do is wait a few minutes and the answer would be clear. Anyway, don't you listen? Of course fear plays a part in my actions but so does another aspect, one that I've already mentioned. Humans like to poke around at things they don't understand. Unfortunately for them those bombs aren't as empty as you think. Nope, nope, nope. To be frank, Doctor, I need to see how efficient this batch is."

Mal left it at that, instead twisting right hand around to observe her nails. Just give it a few minutes. Just a few more. The military would become involved right along with the bomb shell. That's right, curious buggers, just peel back the cover and let the real fun begin.

"Well what do you think? My army. I don't plan on wiping out Earth, my dear, I plan on ruffling it up a little, bringing it to an all time low and letting them see just where following you led them. Just think of it, why else would an alien race attack? The weak willed will- oh I should have found better wording than that- will be furious and angry at you. I suppose, in a way, I'm giving them a reason to join me. Because after I let my beautiful creatures devastate part of the world... I'll bring in Torchwood. Oh yes, it will be their knight in shining armour, swooping in to save them from those creatures." Mal lifted her shoulders in a lazy shrug, "So what's your next move, Doctor? I'm curious to know. Maybe it has something to do with that...?"

She lifted a hand and gestured towards the double doors where Ramona was only moments before. Mal had a horrible view but staring just past the time rotor had allowed her to see the door creak open if only a bit. Oh, she loved the curious ones. And so did he. It caused her to smile, wondering just exactly who this quiet, brown haired girl was to the Time Lord. Obviously she was the strings to a puppet Mal had wanted to play with...