Creativity is a Must; Jump on in Alice!

"What, and I'm supposed to just accept that?" Lea tried to shout after him, but he was jumping into the wavery wall and disappeared. Lea sighed. Normally, she'd be running away by this point, but this was exhilarating in a crazy sort of way. Her life up until this point had been so dull, and she'd been longing to run away. She'd finally been given a chance to follow her dreams, even if that chance was to follow an alien madman and his strange companion. And, well, he'd mentioned all of time and space. She'd have to be mad to turn that down.

She chanced a nervous look over at Penelope, steadied herself, and ran at the wall. She emerged beneath an orange sky, still to the Doctor's left. She looked around. The ground was black, but she wasn't sure if it was natural or artificial. The air was cool, but it smelled different, without that familiar quality she hadn't been aware that Earth's atmosphere had. Lea was relieved, though, that she'd come out at the same place as the Doctor and that there didn't seem to be any lifeforms out to attack them. "This isn't Earth," she managed, "so where are we?"

Was he seriously going to jump through a portal (how that was even possible blew her mind) without knowing where it was going? Was he sincerely that mad? And Leah, only glancing at her once, followed almost blindly behind him. All she saw was the ripples and waves, the hair on he arm standing on end from the energy it produced.

"You must think I'm mad you think I'm just going to follow you two into some other..." A sigh escaped he lips, he fingers tapping on her thigh in a frenzy. It was hard to concentrate when her head was filled with so many different voices each one conflicting with the other. The head ache became almost agonizing the closer her feet, moving at their own accord, got to it.

"This is mad," she whispered, her hand sticking into the portal. That was all it took. Even though she was about to pull back and run like mad, the rest of her had decided on a different path. She launched herself through, felt a ripple of energy, and landed on hard, black ground. Asphalt?

They were both alive. An orange cast on their skin, her eyes raising to the beautiful orange sky. "Quite beautiful," she muttered to herself. A small laugh escaped in a titter of disbelief. She was alive and...on a different planet?

The Doctor smirked, sniffing at Penelope and Leah as they both came through, already guessing they protested against jumping through the portal prior to eventually following him. Shifting away from his friends and to the planet in front of him, The Doctor took a step out, "Guessing from the color of the sky and the ship docking stations hooking up with the buildings off in the distance" he explained, pointing to the buildings off in the distance towards the left, "I'd say this is...Adipose 3!!" he suddenly exclaimed, "Brilliant! Always wanted to come here!".

Grinning once more, The Doctor stepped out into an opening, the rock formations in front of him becoming more clear as well as the sights and sounds of the civilization off in the distance to his left hand side. "The Adipose are fat based life forms, converting the fat of neighboring planets to accumulate into their young who they then take up into their nursing ships then bring them back home" The Doctor explained, "I wonder why they wanted us to come here....the planet's not in distress, looks fine" he mumbled as he glanced back at Penelope and Leah, "Tell me. Penelope, what are the voices saying? In your mind, what's it feel like?".

Fat based life forms? Penelope, already distracted by the orange sky, let the words sink into her mind and swim lazily around. She kept waving her hand though the air, as if testing the atmosphere, and then sniffed. She sneezed rather violently, and looked at the Doctor a little offended. "This planet smells off," she concluded. 20 some years of age, all the education she endured for a big chunk of her life, and she was reduced to the offensive stare of a 5 year old not happy with their birthday cake. "Maybe it's just me," she muttered, rubbing her nose on her damp sleeve to relieve the itch. "Always blurt out the real ones there, Rain," she chided herself. "Alien planet, and you're complaining because it smells funny. Why do they use other aliens for fat to raise their young? Can't they reproduce themselves or..." Her questions abruptly ended when he asked his.

Don't answer him. Ignore him, act natural. This is just him fishing for details. Look sane...Come on there 'ol girl, crack a smile! Penelope grinned like an idiot, turning toward Leah. "Not Earth huh? Maybe we can get some souvinners to give to our family members. Imagine that!" Penelope brushed a tendril of fire red curl behind her ear desperately trying to appear bubble headed and aloof.

Lea stared back at Penelope in bewilderment. "Souvenirs... yeah, I... guess, maybe?" she said. The other woman was as new at this as she was. Lea tried not to wince at the lame response she'd given. Eventually, she said, "Although, my parents and I haven't gotten on the best, not since..." She trailed off, repressing painful memories. She fiddled with her jacket sleeves again, the habit so ingrained that she didn't realize she was doing it. Great. She thought. Now they're going to think that I'm some sort of weirdo. Lea quickly realized the absurdity of such an assumption; for once, she was probably the normal one.

Feeling awkward, she turned back to the Doctor. "You said that they were calling for help, yeah? Shouldn't we be checking out the situation, talking to the natives?" Lea looked at the city in the distance. "We're too far away to really tell anything right now." The city did seem normal from this distance. There were lights in the buildings, which were tall, shiny spires similar to the rock formations they were standing by. Ships flew around, coming in and taking off from docks. Of course, Lea had no idea what was normal for this planet, so any number of things could be wrong.

"It's in their genetic makeup" The Doctor quickly replied to Penelope, glancing back at her as he spoke, "They cannot physically reproduce like humans or..well...most of everything in the universe. Instead they have to replicate themselves, form bodies through organic material like fat or bones..let me tell you, they are a very aggravated bunch if they are made from bone. Bit cranky all the time.". Looking back at the city, The Doctor nodded his head, his mind finally processing what Leah was talking about, "You have a point though" he mumbled, talking a step out to the edge of the cave they were in, quickly noticing the huge drop off beneath him, "Nothing seems wrong".

Suddenly a huge wave of lava shot up like fizz from a soda top, sending lava across the landscape beneath the mountain ridge. "Woo!" The Doctor exclaimed, taking a step back and placing his sleeve over his eyes to shield them as a black dot suddenly became visible off in the distance, becoming more clear as it approached. With a thrust from its engines, the small ship burst through the wall of lava and hissed down on the edge of the cave entrance and in front of The Doctor, who already was taking a defensive position in front of Leah and Penelope. The doors shot open to reveal two tall thin, pale white figures. Their eyes were black slits with a slight formation of a nose underneath them. "Doctor" One proclaimed, extending its right hand, "Come Doctor. We have awaited your arrival. Your aid is needed more than ever".

I'm just spitting out this response. I'm tired, work has been hell. So please excuse the hurry. I know if I don't respond now, I will forget v.v))

They looked like pudding with facial features, she noted with a scared giggle. As if the huge ship spelching lava at them wasn't terrifying enough, now little fat formations were demanding their ride home go with them. Doctor, off to save the day! Wasn't that his whole purpose? To save anyone he could? Wasn't it also true, according to the website she had come across, that danger also followed? Penelope considered chickening out and going home. She has a family, even though they weren't close, they were still people she came home to. Especially her sister, who was off saving the world in her own way. But, also because of he love for them, she had to take this chance. He was the only one that could give her answers. So she steeled herself, squared her shoulders, and came close behind him.

"I guess you will probably being needing our help as well? I don't know what I can do...but I will try." She smiled a little, blue eyes looking back at Leah wandering what was going through her head. She already liked her quick wit, feeling slow witted and foolish talking about trinkets when Leah was asking the real questions. She'd make a good companion, she thought

Okay, I know that he said they were fat-based, but seriously? Lea thought. These aliens were so bizarre. She supposed that it could be worse, even still. They were humanoid, had identifiable facial features, and... spoke English? Lea had assumed that the Doctor would be translating for her and Penelope, but she had understood the Adipose perfectly well. They didn't have time for the Doctor to be explaining, what with the MOLTEN LAVA spilling over the land. She resolved to ask him later.

Lea gulped, clearing her throat. "Y-yeah, same goes for me," she said,  her voice shaking a little. She moved closer to Penelope. "I'll help as much as I can." She was glad that Penelope was there; she wasn't sure that she could hold her own alone with the Doctor. And now, it seemed, it was time to get down to business. Hopefully, the Doctor knew what he was doing.

The Doctor glanced over his shoulder to his two newly acquired friends, smiling abruptly before turning back to the Adipose adults in front of him, "Show me" he replied. The Adipose lowered its hand and turned to the ship, slowly walking back up its small ramp with the other before The Doctor followed. The doors hissed closed after Leah and Penelope had boarded and jetted off towards the city in the distance, weaving past sudden lava bursts that appeared to the side, back and sometimes in front of the ship. "TARDIS translation matrix" The Doctor suddenly blurted out, sniffing as he looked over to Penelope and Leah, "My ship..the TARDIS it automatically translates languages for whomever is in it..well...at a distance. Not sure how much longer it will be translating so take in as much as you can understand before it stops". The Adipose eyed The Doctor curiously as he spoke, wondering what he was speaking about before glancing to the two girls sitting around the ship.

"Our planet" The Adipose began, "Our planet is dying Doctor. Everything is unraveling around us..we can no longer save our planet with our technology..we require your aid. Help us Doctor..help us save our people". The Doctor leaned forward, cuffing his hands together as he did so, "Two words i can never say no to" he replied with a smile before a sudden alerting sound penetrated the ship. Shooting their attention to the cockpit, the Adipose stood up, reached out and opened the door, "What's going on?!" it asked, "Smoke cloud entered the exterior engines. The heat is burning them up...we have to land imm-". Suddenly the engine on the left side of the ship exploded, sending sparks and flames over the exterior hull of the ship and sent all inside shooting to the right side. Buildings of the city shot by the windows of the ship as it roared downwards, pouring smoke out of the inflamed engine.

With a loud thunderous boom the ship crashed into one of the surrounding spiral structure buildings, immediately wiping out half of a floor. Adipose scattered from the building, dashing to the stairs as quickly as they could as the ship began to settle in place. Slowly The Doctor regained his consciousnesses, having been knocked out by the sudden jerk of the engine exploding. "Ugh" He groaned, peering around the room as he sat up, the one Adipose lay dead on the edge of what remained of the front of the ship, the other almost directly beneath The Doctor, "1 hour....planet wide...im..implosion" it groaned before the life slipped out of his lips and he died. The cockpit was completely gone and all that remained was the metal frame that once held the hull and walls. Then there was a creaking sound coming from the front of the ship followed by a slight jerk back. The Doctor quickly turned back to search for Leah and Penelope, "Leah!!! Penelope!!" he called out, "Come on!! Quickly as you can! Jump onto the edge of the building!!".

Lea had managed not to hit her head when the ship crashed, but was knocked off of her feet by the force of the preceding explosion. She got up slowly and then stared in horror at the dead bodies of the Adipose who had been flying the ship. Lea snapped out of it when she felt the ship move and heard the Doctor shout for them to jump out of the ship. If they didn't get out soon, what remained of the ship was going to fall off the edge of the building with them inside.

Lea ran to the front of the ship, where the cockpit had been destroyed. If she could jump off of there, she'd land safely inside the building. The ship continued to make ominous groaning sounds; it was going to fall any second now. Once she reached the ship's edge, she launched herself into the air towards the building. However, her foot caught against some debris from the cockpit, and she became unbalanced. Lea landed awkwardly, her right hand taking almost all of her weight at once. She felt something crack in her wrist and cried out in pain. She got up from the floor of the building and looked back into the ship, cradling her injured arm.

"Doctor! Penelope!" she shouted back at the ship. "I made it onto the building, but I think my wrist is broken."

The whole scene played out like a really well written sci fi show. The Adipose practically begged for the Doctor to save them. Something about their world unraveling, and how the planet was dying. He agreed, and Penelope felt a small smile form on he face. This man was willing to help save a dying planet, despite the fact that he had no obligation for them. For once she felt almost at home, as if this was the right thing; being thrust into danger and having to save a civilization. Those were all the day dreams she had sat for long hours playing out. A hero. A spark of confidence filled her blue eyes, even with the fear gnawing at her stomach.

A fear that seemed to be justified. There was a cry for landing the ship, something about it not responding right. She had been standing, moving her way forward toward the Doctor, when she had been jerked violently to the right. Penelope gasped out, her body slamming into the metal, and screamed out loud when the explosion hit, knocking her about rather roughly.

Agonized seconds followed, the screaming of tearing metal and little outcries from the other Adipose on the ship. The dead Adipose who had been speaking laid there, its little black eyes staring at nothing. Debris had landed on her, several cuts bleeding on her body. Battered and bruised, she groaned, her fingers twitching to life as she grasped onto a seat.

"Leah! Penlope!" That was all she heard, the voices turning to static as her head started pounding. The voices began again, their fear feeding off of hers. Penelope clutched her head, the fingernails tearing into her skull causing crescent welts onto the skin.

I have to fight through this...They might not be safe. You have to be strong, come on Rain! Screaming, she released herself from the momentary nightmare, he vision clearing, and heard the ominous shake of what was left of the cockpit. Everything else was gone. They had landed in a building she saw, one of many that dotted the landscape. It was oddly beautiful, she thought, while standing up unsteadily. The whole structure groaned again, her weight causing it to become more unbalanced. Leah's voice distracted he from the protesting metal structure.

"LEAH! IS THE DOCTOR WITH YOU?" The poor girl had possibly broken her wrist. "DON'T MOVE YOUR LIMB. I KNOW A LITTLE BIT OF FIRST AID, AND I CAN STINT IT. IF NOT, THE ADIPOSE MIGHT BE ABLE TO. STAY THERE!" Penelope clutched her own aching body, her gangly limbs moving awkwardly.

"Doctor, I'm okay. Go get Leah...I'll be out in a minute." She stumbled foward near the building and collapsed. Don't stop now! MOVE IT! Shuddering she picked herself up and walked to the building. She hesitated a moment. "Doctor," she called again. "Are you okay? I don't want to leave if you're still there...The structure might not hold if the balance isn't right. It wont do any good if you die on us."

The Doctor listened carefully for their responses and once hearing them he nodded, turning back to the ship he began cautiously taking steps around what remained of the seating area. "Yeah yeah..i'm here!" He called back upon hearing Penelope's extended reply, "I just need to check for something really quick". Squinting his eyes, The Doctor squatted over the remains of the second Adipose adult, shifting past the debris on his body then sticking his hand into the Adipose jacket until grabbing something solid and yanking it out. "Aha!" The Doctor exclaimed, holding up a data pad with a new found grin before one loud creek from the ship caused it to immediately drop and be released with a horrified expression.

The ship had began to slip from the slight grip it had on the side of the building and had began to fall. Immediately the weight of the ship came into play as it began to tilt back and begin to fall. The Doctor's eyes shot wide open as he raced to the outside of the ship, grabbing the frames and pushing himself off of them to give him an extra boost until finally he saw light. With one large leap, The Doctor jumped across the gap and hit the building floor just in time as the ship plummeted to the ground below and exploded in a whirlwind of flames. Sniffing, The Doctor glanced behind him, "Well that was close" he mumbled before his attention shifted to Leah's hand and quickly flipped out his sonic screwdriver and scanned her wrist and hand, "Just a sprain it looks like..don't put anymore pressure on it though. Could brake easily if you're not careful." he concluded after reading the results on his trusty device.

Peering back to the city, The Doctor turned to it, the sun cascading down across the snow capped mountains in the distance, glimmering the sides of the skyscrapers that weaved through the city and the ships that flew between and around them. "One hour" The Doctor blurted, "One hour to save five million plus people and an entire planet. With one sonic screwdriver, a thermal reader and two friends...well..and a whole lot of running", smiling, The Doctor turned around back to Penelope and Leah, "Allons-y?".

Penelope threw her hands up in the air in exasperation, her body battered and bruised, and twirled in a circle. "It's a good thing," she exclaimed, "I wore my tennies. Cannot imagine trying to do this in high heels. Oh bloody 'ell, I hate running," she muttered under her breath. Being skinny rarely meant being in shape. Right now it was slight starvation and a fast metabolism. "Mum will be proud," she muttered even lower.

"All right gym coach," Penelope said louder. "I guess the thermal reading is all this lava business and something about it going boom, so what are we following? The deadly red road?" She waved her hands at the surrounding area. Her eyes went over to Leah with sympathy. The poor girl was trying to help her when she got in this mess. "If you need any help so you don't strain yourself, please don't hesitate to say something. Doctor, any cuts or anything that will plague you? I know that wasn't an easy crash." If only she could keep focused.

Lea reflected that her jump out of the ship could have been better planned. Huh, so gymnastics lessons would have been useful after all, she thought. Oops. Now that the initial pain of landing had faded, her wrist wasn't too bad if she kept it still.  

Upon hearing Penelope's questions, Lea came back more to the matters at hand. She nodded gratefully at Penelope's offer to help and checked how the other woman and the Doctor were doing. The crash itself had been bruising, and Penelope had some cuts and scrapes from the debris. Overall, though, it seemed that all of them were fine.

What the Doctor was saying was hard to take in. One hour. One hour, 5 million Adipose, and a catastrophe threatening the entire planet. Was this something the man did on a regular basis? It had to have been, seeing as he was almost calm about it. Lea waited for the Doctor to tell them what to do. Time to run off yet again.

The Doctor smirked before bolting over to Leah and handing her the thermal reader, "This is a thermal reader, it will indicate the heat of the entire planet with just the click of a button...well...cold as well but we're looking for heat. So! What i need you to do is keep an eye on the screen right here, help direct us to the hottest spot on this planet..i know it's hard but this is important. Any questions i will help you the best i can. Just keep your eyes on the screen and tell me where to go, the signal in the middle is you..where your at opposed to the hottest spot. Heat is measured in the red, less hot is orange, even less is yellow then it goes to blue. Don't need explanation for that i hope. Head towards the redest red it shows you". Turning over to Penelope, The Doctor placed his hand on her shoulder, "You alright? This is going to take your best attention and focus so i need to know if your up for it?".

Letting her reply, The Doctor listened before the clock in his head rang and he jumped to attention, "Ok now! This is my sonic screwdriver, it can take better readings than the thermal reader but...well..it doesn't have a screen. So i need you to help Leah pinpoint where we need to go" he explained as he held it up to his ear and adjusted the settings. Once done, he set it down in her hand, "Hold the center button, where the direction you need to go, the beeping will increase the closer you get. Do not go in the direction it does not beep! If it doesn't beep, don't go. Keep turning until it does then go. Work with Leah to help you figure out where to go". The Doctor stopped as he peered around what remained of the office floor until spotting an elevator, "As for me....i'm going shopping." he mumbled before spinning back around to Leah and Penelope, "If we can figure out where all this is centered then i can cool it down...well...hopefully. That or...boom, so..yeah better hope. All depends on what's around, i'll search while you lead. We've got one hour, one! So no goofing off!".

Penelope scoffed. "No goofing off," she air quoted. "I hardly think we are three years old...Even then the whole explosion thing doesn't really aid in the thought of a tour." A classic eye roll later, Penelope regarded Leah intently. "I guess we start off then huh? You and me, two great humans about to save a civilization with a man man in a blue box. Not what I considered while eating shredded wheat over the telly, huh?" She cracked a grin, her voice wobbling a bit in nervousness. The whole casual approach to it was to help keep spirits lifted. Hopefully Leah wasn't a pessimist and would smile in politeness as they took off.

"The thing that gets me," she said while holding down the button ignoring the slight head ache that accompanied the whir of the sonic, "is why little fat blobs would live on a planet with lava." The beeping stopped as she turned right, then continued to whir as it went left. She confirmed with Leah if this was the proper course and steadily walked foward

Lea smiled at Penelope's attempts to lighten the mood. She was glad that someone could manage it; the situation seemed impossible to the coldly analytical side of her. She glanced down at the thermal reader. Its screen was hottest red in the direction that Penelope was getting with the sonic, so she nodded and followed behind the other woman.

"Well," she said, in response to the fat blobs question, "humans are relatively fragile, but we continue to live in dangerous places. Over the San Andreas fault, on Japan and other volcanic island chains, over the Yellowstone supervolcano... Sorry, rambling. Anyway, my point was, you don't just choose the safest places. Maybe everywhere else is overpopulated. Maybe it's a beautiful place to be. Maybe you don't want to give up on where you grew up, so you just rebuild." Lea stopped there. Given a good topic like that, she could go on and on for hours.

Instead of making eye contact for the awkward pause that almost inevitably followed her little speeches, Lea focused on the thermal reader. She made sure that they were still going the right direction, left towards the deepest red on the screen.

Following after Leah and Penelope, The Doctor peered around the shops to his left and right, his eyes scrutinizing each and every stand, searching for something. Once something caught his eye, he'd bolt over, quickly grabbing it then going back into the group before running off again. Soon he held in, both hands, a series of parts and wires that currently looked like a heap of trash, but in his eyes, The Doctor's eyes, this would save the planet.

Peering up, The Doctor rose his eyebrow and glanced over Leah's shoulder, staring at the scanner for a little bit before looking up at the terrain in front of them. Following the scanner and sonic screwdriver, the group was lead to the outskirts of the city, dust and rubble lay on the ground while the air was thick with the pushed up ash from the spewing volcanoes that burst around them. Suddenly, it called out to him. The sonic screwdriver roaring with excitement as they finally reached the epicenter of where it was hottest. Simultaneously, the thermal scanner buzzed, confirming the screwdrivers conclusion. The Doctor dashed in front, turning in a circle, looking for anything before a creaking sound echoed from beneath his converse shoes.

Slowly, The Doctor glared down at the ground, "Oh...it's beneath us" he concluded before the ground suddenly gave out from beneath him and he plummeted into a hole, his back immediately hitting the wall of what looked like a rock formed slide. Bright red flares and orange hues covered his vision as he peered down the slide as he slid down it, "Wooohhhooohhhooo!!!" he exclaimed, grinning as he made a sharp left turn then was shot out. With a thud he landed on the ground beneath him, quickly trying to regain his balance before looking up and around him. It appeared to be a small cave system just above the core of the planet, which could be seen countless of feet down trench in front of The Doctor. "Blimey it's hot" The Doctor grumbled, turning back around to the hole he just slid out of, "Penelope! Leah!" he called through it, "I'm alright! It's a shaft..the adipose must have made it years back..trying to stop this from happening somehow but never did it. Can you send me down my screwdriver? Lightly now, that's very delicate equipment! I'll...i'll try and think of a way back up later...i hope".

One moment the Doctor was coming to a conclusion, the next he was gone. There was only the sound of cracking Earth that let any indication of what happened. Penelope's heart skipped a beat, a hand darting over her mouth to hold back a wail. For a painful moment of silence, she had assumed the worst. There was an echo of his venture. He sounded like a child going down a water slide. Penelope shook her head, the curls swaying with the movement.

"At least he's okay," she said to Leah, her heart still shakily beating. He hollared up at them about his sonic. How was she supposed to-Oh bloody hell. Someone had to watch over him right? With a long sigh she turned to Leah.

"Well, Geranimo!" Penelope slid on down. She wasn't expecting the sharp curves, or even the speed of the descent. A scream sounded, her body rolling and bumping into the earth in a ball of flailing limbs, and finally landed with a loud OOMPH! at the Doctor's feet.

Groaning Penelope held up the sonic carefully tucked under her boob. She waved it at him, her eyes adjusting tot he dim room. "I feel like I've just entered into Satan's pit," she exclaimed. "I do hope my deodorant holds or this will be an unpleasant journey." Penelope stood shakily, a little battered but fine, and brushed off the dirt.

((Leah said she would be gone this week to study and get ready for a competition or something at school. So i am not sure if you'd like us to wait for her to return or continue? Up to you, it's your thread))

We can do a couple of posts, but after that we will wait. I don't want to leave her out of it. She's actually really helpful as a character ^^. I've also seen her on, so we will see if she posts today or not to see))

The Doctor smirked at Penelope's remarks, part of him worried about her being down there with him but the other part of him happy she had joined him. Squatting down, he took his sonic screwdriver and offered her his hand, "I think smells are the least of our worries" he joked, "But if your really worried about that. I've got a deodorant stick in my left bottom pocket from the planet of Exon V..brilliant people..lovely candles". Turning back to his scrap pile, The Doctor moved them and began putting them in sections before picking out one piece and beginning to work on it with his sonic screwdriver. "I'm going to fuse these components together and make-" he paused as he twisted a bolt into place then continued, "A hyper coolant machine. It will shoot a blast directly into the core of the planet, creating steam to rise through the erupting volcanoes and bam! Crust them over..they'l become mountains after this but..still new mountain faces over billions of live any day".

Glancing over to Penelope, The Doctor smiled then looked back to the part in his hand, "D-do you mind handing me that cooling cuplet?" he asked Penelope, directing her to the part in question with his head as he used the sonic once more to finish fixing the part.

Penelope handed him the part that he needed absently. The part looked wonky, but it was from a more advanced alien civilization. "On Earth I might have called you a brilliant nutter," she joked with a weary smile. "Incredible what you can achieve with a few parts. Master mechanic...Sort of weird you call yourself a Doctor. I haven't seen you perform much first aid, but what you say is mostly gibberish so I suppose that part is right." Again another tired smile, her fingers collecting another part handing it to him.

"You needed the conversion wire, right?" Penelope blinked, hand open to hand him the part. "I wonder when Leah will decide to join us. She wont be far behind...She's not a coward."

The Doctor smirked at her comments, his eyes and hands paying attention to the device he was constructing but his ears listening intently to Penelope. "My name isn't because i know what medicines to use or give...well...i do but still" He began, taking the wire offered to him before starting again, "When i grew up...on my planet there was an academy. It taught the children everything they needed to know except the experience needed to put it into real life situations....and when i left, when i ventured out of the walls of the academy..i saw the universe for what it truly was. Sick...sick with war and death...it needed someone to help it. So i became it's Doctor...i became The Doctor". Faintly smiling, The Doctor glanced over to Penelope then back to the device as he connected three parts together with the wire given to him just moments before.

Turning back, The Doctor grabbed a hollow cylindrical part and placed it on top, twisting it into place before it glowed a light blue, "There we are!" he exclaimed happily, "Now i all i need is something to hold this last part together" he concluded. Glancing around him, he immediately noticed that there were no more parts left, his heart dropped. "You wouldn't happen to have some gum or...tape..or" He asked Penelope, hoping she had something to complete the device as another volcano erupted, causing the group to tremble beneath their feet, "Guessing from that eruption we don't have much time left..i'd say three minutes at best...maybe less".

The intense heat caused a thin film of sweat to bead her body. The unnaturally ruly hair had started to slicken against her skin. The heat is awful... So easy to reflect on your own inner inconveniences then to consider the world around. That would mean admitting little sins and closed books rather left un-opened. Like: How were they going to get back up to the surface? Did these shafts have a dead end? Would they make it home safely...Would she live to see another, brighter sun? What about Leah? She barely knew the woman. What was her life at home like. Did she love someone enough that death would be too painful to accept? What about the Doctor...What did he cherish enough to want to live another day?

Penelope took the momentary bits of silence to really look at him. Those nimble, experienced fingers put together a rather compact machine. It looked sort of cylindrical and very, very dangerous. All bits of wire and naked parts were visible. How was that going to...? A small smile flitted across her lips. Why not? Smaller things had done similar amazing things. Like ants and bees. So simple, yet consistent. The smile stayed, a small laugh escaping her lips. It wasn't until he started speaking that the smile faded. Instead the facial features contorted into a concentrated set of furrowed brows.

....and when i left, when i ventured out of the walls of the academy..i saw the universe for what it truly was. Sick...sick with war and death...it needed someone to help it. So i became it's Doctor...i became The Doctor".

He put the rest of it together, the cylindrical end glowing a light blue. An eyebrow arched at the near completion of the machine. It wasn't something that an American producer would use to help save a world with, but this was reality and it was rather fashionably done for a spurt of the moment deal. Penelope pulled out a piece of sticky paper from her pocket, tearing the sticky end off. A few more came tumbling out, all of them covered in chicken scrawl. Rather embaressed she gave a grimaced smile. "I...got these...Maybe some gum." Frantically she searched another pocket, her stubby ends grazing foil. She pulled out some used gum wrappers. The whole belching sequence for the end done lava style wasn't making it easier to concentrate. Nothing.

"I'm useless," she told him in despair. "One time a girl had a panic attack and couldn't breathe, started turning blue in the face, so I punched her in the stomach...It sort of worked. She was breathing but..I'm the type of girl that sort of just flails her arms at danger and hopes something connects." Penelope dug one hand into her hair, the other hand tapping against her leg. "How can you have deodorant in your pocket, but not some sort of glue," she hissed at him.