City of Ashes

Au'Nvratyis peered over the edge of the canyon. Not even he would survive a fall like that, and he had no climbing tools. He did however, have a belt that allowed transport. He reached into a small compartment on his belt, and procured a small, metal ball, about twice the size of a human eyeball. He clicked a button on it, and it started beeping rythmically. He tossed it into the canyon, waited a few seconds, and clicked the central button on his belt. It started counting down in Kathractian. "Take my hand, Timelord." He said, and held it out. "My belt cannot home in on precise coordinates, but with the aid of a transport beacon, I can take us right down to the bottom." He explained. He sincerely hoped that The Doctor would take his hand, because if he didn't, he would be left behind.

The Doctor looked around him, sort of surprised and a little bit sad that Mal and Ryder chose to stay behind instead of coming with him after all, I hope she honestly gets those people out of that town he thought to himself. Turning back to the man, who's name he could not spell nor pronounce, The Doctor nodded in agreement then took his hand, grasping it firmly, "Not exactly a fan of this sort of transportation..i prefer my box" he joked with a chuckle. Looking down at the chasm in front of him, The Doctor rose an eyebrow as his eyes met the origin of the ash; it poured out like a cloud squeezing out of the top of the pipe each passing second, the longer they waited, the more likely it was that the ash would become deadly to those subjected to it.

Au'Nvratyis chuckled at The Doctor's joke out of courtesy. The belt finished counting down, amd the world exploded into motion. Since they were only traveling a relatively short distance, the blurry flurry of motion only lasted about a second, and then they were at the bottom of the chasm. The blindingly fast transportation might have left The Doctor slightly dizzy if he didn't brace himself properly, and shortly after they arrived, Ky reached down and picked the ball back up, returning it back to it's compartment. He looked around, sniffing at the air. He took his hat and tinted glasses off so he could see better, the dim light shining off of the three bony crests as his bead-like black eyes scanned his surroundings. He kept his coat on, though, but his two arms that he normally kept hidden appeared, each carrying an alien looking pistol. "I want to say Dalek's are behind this, but this isn't how they operate. No death threats, no furious phone calls...this is something more sinister. Sontarans, maybe..." He muttered, kicking a pebble.

"No" The Doctor muttered, peering up at the structure as he took a step closer to it, his eyes focused on it's size and visible structure from the outside, "That isn't usual Sontaran strategy..they did something like this once before..long time ago but i don't think it's them" he reasoned, looking around the sides of the building, "For one. If the Sontarans were here and built this..they would protect it". Walking up to the building The Doctor waited for a surprise attack, but nothing happened, just silence. After waiting for that moment, The Doctor proceeded in walking up to the building's main entrance, sonic'ing the door control panel and opening the door.

"Alert, intruders have entered the facility!" Crash moved toward the door that they had come through, eager to kill. The Doctor and some four-armed alien were walking in. The Daleks hated the Doctor and tried every chance they could to kill him. He decided that The Cult would want to know about this. He moved into their hearing range and announced that they had a special visitor. They told him to distract the Doctor so that they could pack up their equipment and prepare for an emergency temporal shift. He moved to where the Doctor was going to be and waited for him to arrive. He figured that sooner or later, the Doctor would be affected by the dangerous ash. Crash was hoping that he would be allowed to kill him before the ash did. The Doctor's accomplice had two pistols but they were no match for Crash, they would be completely useless. Now he would just wait for them to come to him.

Ryder nodded in agreement to Mal, "then let's go and try that plan." He wasn't sure how many people would listen to him, but maybe Mal would have a chance. The only way he knew he could get there attention was to use the powers that he preferred not to use for those kind of reasons. He ran his hands together, already walking away from the mountain and back down the path towards the town. "You should go back to the coffee place, lock the doors or warn them or something." He said quickly, stumbling over his words and possibly a rock as he tripped lightly. Looking down to see what exactly he hit his foot against, all he saw was a thick layer of ash, almost up to his ankles. "It's coming down faster." Ryder glanced back at Mal, his feet still moving down the path he had remembered on their way up. It was foggy now, and with the darkening sky, it was almost hard to see.

Mal nodded and started to follow Ryder down the path. "That's a good idea. Come on, it'll be quick." She was focussing on her breathing as she walked, it wouldn't do anyone any good if she had a panic attack now. The ankle-high ash was making her scared and a scared mind couldn't perceive things clearly. She did quicken her pace until they reached the café and she walked in, suddenly unsure if she should tell them to wait inside or simply just lock the doors. Well, it would be better if she informed them of the situation though she really hated all the attention being on her. Clearing her throat, she decided to suck it up and just open her mouth, "Uhm.. c-can I have your attention? There is.. a situation outside that I c-can't explain but I advise you stay in here. The doors will be locked, please don't worry. Everything will be settled. Long story short that isn't snow out there, it's ash and it's harmful. Kay, thanks, bye." Mal quickly spun on her heel, dragging Ryder out the doors if he even followed her in and she shut them behind her. The quick get away was to prevent herself from being bombarded with questions she couldn't answer. Slipping in the key, she locked the door then looked at her companion with wide eyes. "Where to next? J-just walk down the street and inform people?" Her heart was racing faster than a horse at a race. It was painful but she was doing her best here... It was a miracle she didn't just run home with her tail between her legs and wait for all of this to pass. But if she did that the chances that more people would die would increase. Dang, she couldn't have that guilt hanging on her shoulders.

Ryder frowned, narrowing his eyes as Mal's widened. He cautiously slipped his hand into her's, then squeezed gently. "Sounds like a good idea." He said, smiling weakly. "You're doing fine." He added, though he was nervous himself. Putting on a gentle, fake smile, he released her hand and started down the street. "Better than I am on the inside right now." He turned his head away from her, pulling his hood back up as he began the walk down towards the busier street. He didn't check to see if Mal would follow. Honestly, he wasn't too excited for her to see everyone in town brush him off once he tried to usher them inside. He also wasn't sure how he planned on keeping everyone inside. Running the palms of his hands together, Ryder paused at the beginning of the first street, staring at the passing cars.

Mal blinked in surprise when Ryder grabbed her hand. Normally she wasn't very good with touch and would have tensed up or pulled away. But she thought he was just trying to comfort her so let him. In response she smiled though it appeared slightly strained. "Thanks.. honestly, I just let other people do stuff like this." She sighed and dragged her fingers through her hair as she followed him down the street. The sound of the cars made her freeze momentarily before she groaned and slapped her forehead with the palm of her hand. "I never took into account some people would be driving. I haven't a clue how we'll stop them. Just jump in in the road and hope they'll stop?" Mal snorted at the thought, just joking a bit. But honestly, was there a way to make a road block to force people to turn around? What was the point of that, it wasn't like they could block off every road in a short amount of time. Taking on the project Ryder and her were doing wasn't easy if you weren't a very clever person. Mal sighed and looked across the street where she knew a park would be in just a couple of blocks. "Maybe we should just go there. Or maybe.." She hesitated and looked at Ryder cautiously, not wanting to make him uncomfortable but she made the suggestion anyway, "you could floor the roads. There's water around here somewhere. People won't really want to drive on the streets like that. Unless that just causes a mess and spreads the ash. Ugh, never mind."

The Doctor stopped dead in his tracks, looking from side to side before glancing over to the four armed alien, "I don't know about this" he began, raising an eyebrow as he looked back over to the building, "If it is Dalek then they'll be waiting..probably..well..more likely to kill us on the spot but. This ash. I don't know. There's something more to it..if we can get one of them talking and figure out what this is for then maybe we can stop it..only problem is what happens after the talk..." he paused as he glanced around him once more, "And we don't exactly have cover if and when fired at".

Au'Nvratyis looked down at The Doctor, and nodded. "Keep behind me." He said, and walked forward, crouched down to make as little noise as possible as he walked. He wasn't really sure he was going to have an effective method of fighting a dalek, save for his shard pistols, which would put crystal shards three inches into the exterior armor, but that's as far as it would get. Maybe a solid shot to the eye probe would do it...he stopped as they came to a corner in the chasm, a sharp turn awaiting them. He stopped at the edge of the corner, motioning for The Doctor to stop. Au'Nvratyis proceeded to peer around the corner to see what was on the other side. He spotted Crash waiting for them, and quickly brought his head back around the corner. "Dalek. One of them." He whispered, throwing his coat off, revealing his four arms, each holding a pistol.

The Doctor peered over Au'Nvratyis, gazing out at the Dalek that had hovered out of the building, immediately thinking about how many more there were inside. Placing a hand on Au'Nvratyis's shoulder, The Doctor shook his head firmly, "No" he whispered, "There's not many things that can penetrate a Dalek's armor..especially not those, no matter how old your civilization is. We'l need either a distraction to get that Dalek away from the door...or...we find the most stealthiest way into the building, shut the machine down. Only thing about that is...finding a way to stop the Daleks from slaughtering the town below". He stopped his ramble as he peered around the building, looking for another way in, possibly an air vent of some kind or another access shaft, something he could use to find his way into the building and eventually to the machines controls.

Ryder had his eyes trained on his shoes, absentmindedly listening to Mal. Once she was done speaking, he lifted his head, watching the groups of people pass at his sides. "You take care of the people in shops and on the sidewalks. I'll take care of the cars." He said without going into further explanation, taking off down the road towards one building he knew would give him access to the roofs. Not giving himself enough time to think, he shoved himself against the door, up the steps and into a narrow hallway. People were yelling at him from behind, but Ryder ignored it as he got to the end of the hall and up another set of stairs. He knew creating a flood couldn't be a very good idea due to the mysterious ash, but there was something else he could fairly manage to do. Getting into the roof, he hurried to the very edge. "Okay," Ryder whispered, running his hands together before shooting them outward towards the two places he knew water would be available: the water tower and the water supply behind the coffee shop. Waves of water blasted up and over the buildings, then collided together into one giant mass, only to separate once more into two even sides. His hands flung to his sides, the water following to stop at both sides of the street. It made something that looked like walls. Cars quickly stopped below on the street, not daring to move through it. Ryder heard car doors slamming as people climbed out. Some were yelling, some were taking pictures. A few rushed into shops, and eventually, a majority of the others did as well.

Mal blinked in surprise as Ryder told her to tend to the streets and was soon walking away. Right, get the streets, that should be easy. She hoped. Spotting a man she pounced on the chance and strode over, "Yes, yes, hello, sir. You're gonna have to go inside now, it's- and you're walking away... Oi! Listen 'ere!" Mal followed after him, both annoyed and embarrassed that he kept giving her odd looks instead of listening to what she was saying. Without really thinking she reached and took his hand. Instantly that flow of psychic influence she was capable rolled from her to the stranger as she spoke again, "Get off the streets. Get anyone you see off the streets. Help me out here, please." And just like that the man was nodding dumbly and went to usher other people indoors. Wow, that was extremely easy. Why didn't Mal use her power more often? Probably because it made her feel guilty and she was still nervous TORCHWOOD would find out and lock her up in their evil cells and do evil experiments on her. Paranoia was no fun.

Mal moved on to go tell someone else to get inside but suddenly the shadow of the water walls was cast and caused her to stare with wide eyes and unhinged jaws. Whoa. That was terrifying.. but helpful. By the looks of things it caused the majority of people to get inside. That made her job a lot easier. Nice work, Ryder. She thought to herself while pressing her back against the wall. Her heart was still nervously pumping and she herself felt like getting away from all this danger..

There was more commotion from the streets that Ryder couldn't stay focused on. His hair was sticking to his forehead, his fingers straining to stay in the same position for very long. His skin was paler than before, he could almost feel that, but it didn't matter. Forcing himself to peak over the edge, Ryder slowly began to bring the water walls down. Whatever Mal had done helped a lot. There were only abandoned cars and Mal, after a few minutes of sheer panicking that is. He quickly stepped away from the ledge, dragging his body towards the exit and down the stairs to the hall, then out the shop doors. The owner locked them once he was out. The water walls were still gently coming down, slithering in the air in levels until it evaporated. Shoving his hands into his pockets, Ryder quietly approached Mal's side, leaning one shoulder against the wall. His eyes scanned her face nervously, "Mal? Are you okay?" He asked lightly, almost like he was trying to start small talk, though he was never very good at it. And besides, he wasn't about to try it for the first time in the midst of whatever situation this was.

Mal was still watching the water wall as it slowly began to evaporate. That was a lot of H2O. She barely noticed Ryder's return until he spoke up. It caused her to jump a little, spooked, so she turned on him though quickly calmed when she saw who it was. She stared at him for a while before shaking her head and patting down her shirt pointlessly, "Me? Okay? Oh y-yeah, yeah, always. I'm always OK. Neat trick, man. Well I knew you could do it... but you know." She reached up so she could rub the back of her neck, trying to calm herself a bit. Focus on your breathing, that always worked. So she did and forced her breaths to be even and level and.. oh! That felt loads better. Okay, good, she could move on to the next step. What was the next step? Mal looked over at Ryder and smirked lightly, "This is.. sort of not important right now but how many people know you can do that?" She was waving her hands around as she tried to allude to the water manipulation.

Ryder laughed dryly, leaning his head against the wall as he shut his eyes. "Um... Just about everyone in town. I'm really bad at hiding it. Especially when I can't control it." He replied, opening one eye to watch her hand motions. He smiled weakly, turning so his back was against the wall instead of just his shoulder. "You're wrong, though. About the important thing. I'm used to thinking whatever anyone has to ask or say is always somehow important." He sucked in a sharp breath, running the palms of his hands together. "I guess more people know about it now too. Unless, hopefully, no one saw me up there. Or thought it was some random 'act of God' like my therapist used to..." He trailed off, clearing his throat as he ran his fingers through his hair, making it stick up in random positions. "We should figure out what to do next." He said, wanting badly to change the subject now.

Mal watched him and her face slowly contorted with sympathy, "Yikes, man, that must be hard." The rubbing of her neck stopped though she clenched it tightly. The tight muscles there were forced to relax under the pressure and she sighed. This just proved to her why she never planned on telling people. Those who did know about her ability she trusted to keep it quiet... no one ever spoke about it out loud, not even to Mal. But this guy, Ryder.. damn he was cursed with his situation. Cruddy luck. And he went to therapy for it..? Mal could probably relate to that too! Well she should have done therapy but it just never happened...

"Right.. what to do now. Uhm.. w-would there be anyone else? Different part of town? Or should we just head inside ourselves?"

Au'Nvratyis turned to The Doctor, twirled the pistols, and returned them to their holsters. He would play The Doctor's game. For now. He looked up at the wall of stone at his back, and noticed something possibly beneficial. It was mid-day, yet Au'Nvratyis and The Doctor were in shadow. There was a ledge above them. He turned his head to The Doctor, and pointed up at the ledge. "Can you climb?" He asked, setting a hand against the sheer rock face, gripping and outcropping, and tugging downwards to make sure it was safe before mounting the rock, and looking back down at The Doctor. "Well?"

(Short post, deploy!)

The Doctor rose an eyebrow and peered back over his shoulder, looking at Au then glancing over to the rock face that he was touching. With a nod, he dashed over to his side and looked up to the ledge, "What are you going to do then?" he asked him, a part of him not wanting to know the answer and wondering why he even asked it. Time was running out and The Doctor knew that, slowly he turned away from Au and began his climb up the rock face now in front of him without a second thought or evening knowing what his friend had planned.

Crash knew that the Doctor would be planning something. He figured that he wouldn't come in through the front door, simply because it made sense. "Dalek Sec. I advise that you all leave immediately. There is no more to be done here." Crash was notified by the Cult of Skaro about the developments of the mission. They had spread ash over almost all of the city. Soon, Dalek Sec, Dalek Caan, and Dalek Thay had teleported away. Dalek Jast insisted on staying with Crash. He was desperate to see the end product of the city.

After a period of time, there was still no outside noise. Crash scanned the area for heat signatures, but the ash was blocking everything out. Dalek Jast recommended that they wait for the Doctor to approach them, that way they just could still stay in the factory.

Me nodded back at The Doctor and started climbing up with him. The fact that he had an extra set of arms and an infinitely better physique meant that he was up qnd over the ledge by the time The Doctor was halfway up. Once he reached the top, he waited for The Doctor, then kept walking along the edge until the roof of the factory was 10 feet below them. He spied a maintennance hatch next to one of the smokestacks, but getting that close to the smokestack might provide some health issues. "How long can you hold your breath, Timelord? I see an access hatch from here, but it's close to a smokestack, and most likely the air around it is toxic." He explained, and waited for an answer. "If you can't make the jump down, I will go first and catch you." He added, preparing himself for the 10 foot fall.

The Doctor made his way up the rest of the ledge, eventually standing firmly beside Au as they looked down to the Dalek factory. With a nod, he scrutinized the top of the building and it's possible stability, then flipped out his sonic screwdriver and quickly scanned the roof, "There is instability on the rooftop in certain places." he told Au as he continued to scan, "We'd loose the element of surprise by falling through but! We'd get to the generator much quicker..maybe even spare us some time to get out".

Ryder shook his head lightly, looking around the empty street. "No, going inside would be useless. If this stuff was dangerous, we've been out in it way too long." He ran a hand down one side of his face, his eyes shifting nervously around, though there wasn't anything to be directly nervous about at this point. "We can't give them any reasons for this without freaking them out, and if we go in there, all we'll get is questions." He whispered, swearing under his breath, which he normally didn't do. But he didn't know what to do, and it was frustrating. "This is the main road, but there's two more." He said after he realized what else Mal said. Turning, he began walking back down the street towards an intersection, already noticing a few cars parking in the middle of the road so curious people could peak out more clearly.

Mal started to nod, her eyes still wide though she tried her best to swallow the fear. Right.. of course, he was right. Mal started to scratch her arm and swallowed heavily. She was itchy, really itchy. But then again that could just be the paranoia talking. Looking at her hands she noticed they were turning red but she kept her mouth shut. She just trailed behind Ryder and hoped they could get everyone else indoors. Come on, Doc. Do something miraculous already.