Time to change

Bailey took a step back, sliding her boot knife back into it's shealth before rushing to help the man up. "You must be hurt, are you ok?" she asked as she starred at the box. A police box, of all things to fall from the sky, it's a police box. Bailey thought, hoping he wasn't aware of her previous actions that night. What if he's a fugitive as well? "He doesn't look harmful, just hurt."
Taking a deep breath, she held her hand out to the mysterious man from the blue box, hoping deep down that she wasn't making a huge mistake. Her bow, sitting tight against her back in it's bag, was only an arm's reach away if she really needed it, but something kept her from running far away from Esther and him.

Esther kept back, unlike Bailey; she was afraid of the man. I mean, c'mon, he just fell out of a box, that fell out of the sky! This man may be some kind of evil alien, trying to take over the world.

She pursed her lips, her heart urging her to go and help, but her mind; her naïve mind, telling her to stay back, just in case. "Are you alright?" she asked, taking a tiny step back, away from the large cavity where a street used to lay.

"Yeah...i'll be fine" The Doctor grunted, releasing one last cough before taking the girls offered hand to help pull himself up. Once up, he cracked his back and hopped up then down a few times, "There we go! Good as new!" He proclaimed before turning to the two girls, "See! I'm fine, all i need was a bit of allons-y. Yes, i am mad..well..completely mad would be a better term for it. Man crashes in blue box, you run over and help him up..blimey, you must be madder than me". Pausing for a moment, The Doctor sniffed then turned back to his TARDIS, and quickly opened one of the doors, smoke immediately pouring out. Waving the smoke from his face, The Doctor grabbed his coat then slammed the door shut, "Best stay out of there for a bit...until it filters out the smoke" he told the two girls as he put on his trench coat followed by two short coughs.

"Tell you what though..i'd go back to whatever you were doing because the only thing madder than helping a mad man up off the ground that just crashed his police box in the center of London and is talking about squids would be to follow that man" The Doctor said with a smirk, leaning over mainly towards the girl who helped him up before standing up straight and turning to walk away, "Don't get any ideas. Especially ones that would result in or cause you to go looking for trouble" he shouted over his shoulder as he scaled up the edge of the crater he had caused. Peering around the street corners, The Doctor squinted, "Now..where are you?" he mumbled, mostly to himself, "And don't worry about the damage...if anyone asks just say Torchwood did it..they owe me a few favors." he shouted once more over his shoulder to the two girls with a sniff, "I recon they can handle that problem".

Esther stepped back as he stood, frowning at him while he started to ramble nonsense. The man called her mad and she frowned even further. I'm not mad... she thought to herself. Or maybe I am, I was one of the only three who didn't run off...

She jumped as he opened the door to the box and smoke billowed out of it. How in the world could such a thing hold so much smoke? How could it have any smoke inside it? She squinted at the mad ma as he threw on a brown trench coat. "How-" she started, but he kept talking, so she didn't interrupt him. When he finished, she glared slightly. I'm not mad, I'm not able to not get ideas and seriously, why would Torchwood do that? They're just a spec-ops organisation. Then, he walked off, just walked off. "What squids?!" Esther called to the strange man, slowly following him, her idea of him being an evildoer almost disintegrating.

"Oh alright. They're not squids" The Doctor replied to the girl, turning back to her slightly then back to the streets where his eyes danced around the buildings and alley ways searching for clues, "They're a race called the Ood. They just look like squids...former slave race now turned intergalactic merchants. I wasn't looking for trouble, i swear. I was just stopping by to pick up a few things, tried to buy a fusion engine compartment and next thing you know, i'm chasing down a Mara. Cheeky Ood stole my psychic paper". Running forward a few steps, The Doctor came to a stop in the middle of the road when the sound of his sonic screwdriver roaring to life grabbed his attention. Quickly flipping his trusty device out, The Doctor held it up to his ear as he adjusted the settings then pointed it forward, "Ha! Gotcha! TARDIS has a lock!" he proclaimed happily, eyeing his device as it beeped until pointed in the direction where the beast was located.

Looking up, The Doctor was about to propel forward and directly where the sonic screwdriver was directing him until he remembered the two girls. "I've...i've got a reading on the Mara. Don't follow me and don't go looking for trouble!" The Doctor shouted to the two girls, turning fully around to face them as his legs and body eagerly began to run in the other direction, "Last thing you need is a Mara latched onto you". Without another word, The Doctor spun around and bolted in the opposite direction, his sonic screwdriver thrust forward, directing him where to go as he ran.

Bailey walked over to get a better look at the police box when the man began to ramble about squids and squid-looking people. She looked over at Esther, watching the man move about so easily. He's not a policeman, thank the lord, she thought before gripping her bow and chasing after him. Talk of the Ood interested her, and the thrill of chasing down a fellow thief was always a blast, sending adrenaline through her with everything thought.
I shouldn't be happy to be chasing a mad man just to steal a stolen object for him, but would it really be stealing since it was already stolen? Her mind began to wonder over everything the man had told her. "Wait! You didn't even tell us who you are! What if you get hurt? You might need our help." Bailey yelled as she struggled to follow the man's crazy running pattern. How harmful could this 'Mara' thing be if he's chasing after it without a weapon? The adrenaline rushed through her, heightening her senses as her feet hit the pavement, loosing all care for if she got caught by London police and focusing on every new direction the man ran.

"Oods?" Esther repeated under her breath as the mad man explained how he was trying to buy some fusion compartment engine or whatever, before a 'Mara' came after him. "What's a Mara?!" she called after him as he started running. He didn't respond, just pulled some bulky, silver stick with a blue light on the end out; a strange metal stick at that. She then heard a distinctive whirring sound. She breathed a breathless and aggravated sigh. What a strange person and what a strange stick, she thought as he put the latter to his ear, then aimed it ahead and exclaimed something. He seemed quite happy with the metal stick.

The man spun around and warned them to not follow him, before awkwardly running back towards the 'Mara'. Bailey must've let the words fly out her ears, because she did exactly what the mad man told her not to do; she followed him! Esther's eyes widened in surprise. "Wait! Come back, Bailey!" she cried, racing after Bailey. Lucky she was an athlete, because they both were going quite fast. "Don't be thick, come back!" She quickly glanced back to see if the Blood was following, slowing to make sure she could keep up. "C'mon, Blood!" Es urged as she watched Bailey sprint around the bend. She couldn't let her just follow the stranger, but she couldn't leave the Blood, that'd just be rude.

The Doctor's ears picked up on the cries of the girls behind him but his mind was focused purely on the task at hand as the sonic screwdriver directed him down another alley way. Then, just before he was about to enter the alley way, the sonic screwdriver spun the direction around to behind him, then directly in front of him, then far off to his left. Pausing, The Doctor glanced around him then lightly taped his sonic screwdriver, "What's going on with you, ey?" he asked it as he held it up to his ear. Listening closely to the sounds it made as he adjusted the settings, The Doctor soon became too frustrated and chose to tuck it away rather then hit it once more, "There's something interfering with the signal" he mumbled to himself.

Peering around, The Doctor rose an eyebrow and sniffed as his eyes caught site of the three girls, while one was closer to him, the other seemed to have trouble moving her friend who stood off in the distance. Shrugging what he saw off, The Doctor turned his attention back at the task at hand and closely scrutinized the windows of nearby neighboring buildings and homes. His eyes danced around them before finally coming back to the girl who ran closer to him with every passing second, "Oi!" he called out to her, not waiting for her to get close, "Is there some sort of radio tower nearby? Or...a huge satellite dish?".

Bailey kept running after the man and chuckled as his device began turning him in circles. She was still laughing when she caught up to him and looked up to the sky. "I believe there are a few around here, this is close to the rally station for the New Year's celebrations." Bailey answered him, getting ready to pull her bow out if needed. "Why do you ask? I mean, you have been running in a huge circle since you started off."
Bailey glanced back at the girls as they were catching up to them as well. "You haven't even told us who you are anyway. I'm sure the government would love to know who's blue box has crashed into London.". Bailey stepped forward and extended her hand to shake his. "I'm Bailey Jane Canttell, but most people call me Bails."

The mad man directed his stick - which was it's official name for it at this point - in all directions. His happiness with the stick died, probably because it wasn't working. He started fidgeting with it, but ultimately ended with it being stashed away in his pocket. Esther reached Bailey a few seconds after she reached Mad Man - also his official name - where she let out a exasperated sigh. "You really shouldn't try to kill yourself by not listening, because one day, you might succeed," she lightly scolded. It's not really like she had any authority over Bailey, so it was light-hearted.

As Es quickly caught her breath, she glanced around the area, wary of any dangers like Mad Man had warned about. When she assured herself that there wasn't a scary monster, she turned to the man. "What exactly is this 'Mara' you've been talking about?" she asked, seeing as she finally had a chance to ask at least one of the numerous questions she had lingering in her mind. "Some kind of alien?"

The Doctor slowly calmed down, although his mind and body was ready to race to the nearest radio tower, his ears and eyes were locked on the two girls posing questions that, for them, needed to be answered. "Oh alright" He mumbled, tucking his sonic screwdriver away, "My name is The Doctor. I've been tracking this creature, it's name is Mara..well..it's race. When it chooses to it can be seen as a huge red snake...like...like the one from Harry Potter if it helps you imagine it. But when it doesn't want to be seen, it's the air...the very feel of it could be the Mara. It reads people's minds and thought processes, controls them into doing whatever it says" he explained before glancing over his shoulder as if weary the monster would be behind them. Turning back to them, The Doctor flipped out his sonic screwdriver and showed it to them, "This is my sonic screwdriver..it and my TARDIS..my blue...box. Are tracking the frequency it gives off while reading the minds of nearby humans. All of our brains give off a frequency, a unique ring to each of us. Like a snake uses it's tongue to pick up the vibrations in the air to find it's prey, the Mara uses it's tongue to pick up our frequencies".

He paused as he turned his attention to the skyline looming in the distance, his eyes looking for a radio tower, "But something nearby is stopping from my TARDIS from picking up it's frequency...i'm guessing radio tower but it could be anything..".Suddenly the words of Bailey registered in his mind, "Wait, hold on" he started again, turning to Bailey, "Where's this rally station?".

Esther listened closely to Mad Man - she liked it better than Doctor - trying to take in as much as possible. Snake that uses it tongue to control mind, like the one from Harry Potter. I haven't even watched Harry Potter. Alright, me, watch Harry Potter and watch for the snake sometime, she made a short note to herself, narrowing her eyebrows in thought. Am I getting any of the information right? Stop talking to yourself and listen, she scolded, but she kept trying to figure it out, so she partially zoned him out.
 
Does the air feel weird? she thought cautiously, even though she would assume that the man would know when the snake was around. No, I don't think so, she replied to herself, almost rolling her eyes at her stupid questions and thoughts.

Es perked up at the word Rally Station. "Ooh, yeah," she nodded to herself, acting out her thoughts. "The station might be the reason of your stick(as with Doctor, she liked that nickname more than 'Sonic Screwdriver', because of the strange innuendoes it made.) not working correctly - two different signals," she said quietly, still thinking to herself, just out loud this time. She glanced up and pursed her lips, realising she had actually said everything out loud.

Bailey looked around them as she listened to the Doctor. "So this thing could be anywhere?" she asked, keeping her mind focused on anything out of the ordinary. "Yes, the Rally Station is where they are broadcasting the signal for the New Year's celebration. No one gets close to it without proper identification. There's a two-way signal so that the main newsroom can talk to the reporters live."

The Doctor and his sonic-thingy falling out of the blue box was just one more thing to happen to Bailey that she could never explain to anyone. No one would believe her, just like before. Homes just don't blow up with a whole family inside, but they do when you live with Bailey Jane. I could be putting all three of these people in danger, but they don't care because they don't know She thought to herself as she watched the Doctor thinking everything over.

The Doctor was about to retort against Esther in defense of his sonic screwdriver but instead, listened intently to the response of the other girl. "Rally Station it is then! Lead the way" The Doctor finally replied with a sniff and a raised eyebrow, "If the Mara has found the same station you say there is then everyone is in big trouble. With that station, the Mara could spread it's influence across the entire country without a second thought in anyone's mind. So, the faster we get there, the better. So Allons-y!". Turning to run, The Doctor initially bolted to his right a few steps before coming back with a sigh, "Which...which way is the station?".

((Sorry it's short, just trying to set everything up lol))

(that's ok.)

"This way." Bailey pointed over Esther's head toward the center of town, laughing at the doctor under her breath. "There's a tower at the center of town where the Rally Station was placed. It is attached to the News station's antenna. How do you plan to get to it, we can't just walk up to the guards and say we want to take a picture, they won't let us through." She sighed as she began to think everything over every possible approach to the tower. "What did you say about something called Torchwood? Would they be able to help us out with this?"

Bailey put her boot knife back in it's sheath at her thigh before looking over to the tower. It was still a good distance away, but she could barely seen the top of the antenna peaking out over the nearby buildings. The police will be crawling around there, every single one of them with a copy of my picture tucked in their pockets. If I go with them, I will get caught for those muffins early today but if I don't something bad could happen to the world. She thought as she looked back at the doctor. "What's the plan?"

Esther cringed slightly to the sound of the Mara controlling everyone, including herself, Bailey, the Blood and her family. Esther furrowed her eyebrows at the Mad Man when he took off in the wrong direction. She was about to correct him when he stopped, turned and waddled back. When he asked where it was, Bailey took the chance to speak. "Yep, back over here," she agreed, pointing over her shoulder, not even caring to look back. "Plan is: Get to the Rally before the Mara does, I do believe," she suggested, smirking. "Let's go! Andiamo!" she cried, running off toward the rally station before either of the three did.

Bailey squeezed her eyes shut against the sound before following Esther off toward the station. "It's not getting there before the Mara that I'm worried about, it's getting caught!" Bailey yelled as she ran, placing her bow back in its case. "I wasn't exactly a model citizen before I walked into that library, and I don't blame you for leaving if you want."

Esther slowed to be able to run alongside Bailey, hearing her say she was worried about getting caught. "What do you mean 'caught'? By the Mara?" she asked, before Bailey continued. "What's your...profession, then?" she asked, speeding up, so the Mara didn't get there first because of their delay. She's a criminal, eh? Well, can't say after all the craziness that I'm too surprised, she thought to herself, not really going to care unless she was some sort of twisted serial killer.

The Doctor released a sigh before following in the girls footsteps and bolting after them, his direction and body set in the nearby Rally Station. Catching up to the girls, The Doctor found himself listening to their conversation rather than being caught in one or creating one, like he was used to doing. Though the moments where he listened to their conversation were short lived as the Rally Station became within viewing distance and from where he was standing, The Doctor could easily spot a small radio tower located in the center of the rally. Narrowing his eyes, The Doctor increased his speed, getting ready to push a few people out of the way if necessary.

Meanwhile....

The Mara stealthily slithered through the crowds of people at the Rally Station, it's body completely invisible to the naked eye, especially those who were occupied by other things at the Station. Soon it's eyes were set on the radio tower that loomed overhead, a menacing grin surfacing on its face as it slithered across the pavement ground beneath its scaly skin. It's tongue hissed through it's mouth, immediately picking up the frequencies of nearby humans but then, the Mara completely halted as it picked up on another scent. A familiar scent. "Doctor..." The Mara roared, turning it's head over to the figure running towards the tower in the distance, "You will not stop me this time". Relocating his attention back to the radio tower, The Mara grinned and began to scale the tower, its camouflaged appearance working to perfection as not one person saw him nor suspected of what was yet to come.

"I don't really have a profession." Bailey yelled as she watched the Doctor run past her. "Doctor! Wait up!" Bailey ran as fast as she could, feeling a sense of something dreadful, something she wasn't used to feeling. "Doctor, what is that?" She called after him as she sprinted, keeping an eye out for the police and relaxing when she couldn't see any.

Why aren't they here? Of all places, the police aren't here. Bailey thought as she looked at the Rally Station and gasped. "What is that?" She starred up at something shimmering around the station. I can't see it, but there's something. Something hiding. It can't be the squid, could it? She asked herself as her feet moved below her. Every step she took the feeling grew a little stronger, but she still couldn't pin point what feeling it was. A sense of something dreadful was mixed with sorrow or pain, something she could quite name. Something that made her want to run even faster.

Esther frowned. So, what does she do? Maybe she misunderstood, she thought, watching as Mad Man took off, going a bit faster than humanly possible, which kind of irked her because she couldn't keep up very well. She sped past Bailey, before the latter was ahead of her, then Esther got faster than her. It was repeated at least four times more before Bailey took the lead - wait, no Esther does! Nope, nope, Bailey's got it! Pretty soon, the Doctor's impossible fast pace was just below impossible and the two were just a few feet behind him.

When they got really close to the rally station was when she felt it; the strange feeling in the air the Doctor had explained. It got here before we did, she decided, her eyes widening as she sped up, unconsciously being driven to by fear. She put as much power into her running as she could, which wasn't actually that much faster. Do I feel like I'm being controlled? she warily asked herself. No, I can't be, I'm still trying to help this Mad Man, this stranger... A complete stranger... How in the world did I get myself into this? He's a stranger! Es thought to herself, not realising she was trying to save the Earth with a criminal and a stranger from inside a blue police box until now.

"I'm not a criminal, I just don't exactly follow the law." Bailey told her as the feeling seemed to over-whelm her. She wanted to turn and run away from it, but she couldn't just leave the Doctor by himself, up against this creature. She could feel it, invading her mind and making her wish for safety and she hated, despised, and envied the creature for it. Bailey pushed harder toward the Rally station, forcing the dread and fear into the back of her mind like she was far too used to doing.

The Doctor stopped at the edge of the Rally Station, peering around at the various groups of people until his eyes finally landed on the radio tower. "Yeah i feel it all right" He mumbled a reply to Bailey, "It's the Mara. Mara!!!" he shouted, taking a step forward as he aimed his voice to the radio tower. Initially, the nearby people glared at him as though he were crazy until the creature on the radio tower revealed its true form. There on the radio station, stood a huge red and white snake. It's under belly shinning white while the rest of it was blood red and it's eyes a glaring yellow color. "Doctor" It hissed back; the people around The Doctor, Bailey and Esther immediately began to panic and made a mad dash away from the radio tower, anywhere but the radio tower. "Attack of the snakes!!!" One man proclaimed as he ran past The Doctor, brushing his shoulder and nearly knocking him down as he did so.

"YOu won't stop me this time Doctor!" The Mara insisted; The Doctor took a step forward, "Oh yeah? Let's prove that theory of yours then!" he replied. The Mara hissed with anger before turning its attention back to the top of the radio tower, "We can't let it get to the top! Do whatever you do but if that snake reaches the top of that tower then this entire town will be under its control, whether they like to or not".

Bailey nodded and pulled her bow from her back, grasping an arrow with it. "Aldine, we have one shot." She said as she steadied her aim on the snake's body. "I really, really, hate snakes. Bailey took in a deep breath and let the arrow fly, hoping the catch the snake's attention somehow and draw it back toward them. I just hope this doesn't backfire on me. She thought before making her way closer to the station. Each step closer seemed to take her deeper into the darkness of the despair and misery the creature was aiming toward them. "Doctor, are we going to be alright?"

Bailey looked back up to watch her arrow fall just next to the creature, smashing into the building's glass and striking an empty office chair before halting in the wooden frame. She cursed and pulled another arrow out, steadying her aim again before letting it fly, sending it straight for the snake's belly. We have to stop this thing, before it takes over. We have to stop it... Bailey kept trying to think clearly, but her mind started to get filled with the different emotions the snake was producing and she couldn't stop. We have to help....We have to...do..something.

Esther glanced at Bailey. Not a criminal, yet she is wanted by officials. That doesn't really make sense, she thought as the strange, invisible, though thick feeling - that she hated so very much - flooded her body. She didn't know how, but she could sense the vile,  incomprehensible feeling of absolute evil of the Mara come across her in a wave. I don't really think my first priority should be trying to make sense of her being a wanted non-criminal...

The Madman stopped right ahead of them, shouting out at the station, at the Mara, wherever it wa- Oh, look, it really is a creepy red snake. He never said it was white too. Ooh, sorta like a candy cane. Don't think about candy right now, you're about to be mind-controlled by an evil, Harry Potter - remember the note on watching the movies, me - snake! Wow, that's one of the strangest things I've ever thought... she had a conversation with herself as the Mara appeared.

A stampede of stupid, frightened-out-of-their-pants people ran right through her, as of she wasn't there. She was trampled, shoved and beaten by the screaming crowd. A rotund woman barrelled through her and she landed on her bum. As she tried to stand, a child stepped onto her leg, tripped over her and landed on his face. She gasped as he began to sob, sitting up with a bloody nose, the blood pouring over his lips and chin. He bawled as Esther scooped him up. Should I ask him where his mum is? she asked herself desperately. No, you fool, he's crying! He won't tell you anything while he's crying, she reasoned, still glancing around for his mother.