Mystery Of The Blind Demon

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Maria was trying to work out where that very loud beeping was coming from. When all of the sudden her TARDIS started it's re-materialization sequence. The random lurching from the TARDIS cause the young Timelord to whatever sturdy object that was closest. That being her best friend and companion, Rio.

"This.. Shouldn't be happening." She told him, sounding more than a bit shocked. "This really shouldn't be happening."

The tiny blond slowly made her way to the console room, and just when she reached the controls. The TARDIS made a final lurch, signaling that it landed, and caused Maria to fall down to her knees rather hard. Her hands still holding tightly to the edge of the console.

She waited for a moment, before getting up. Her legs felt wobbly and her knees sore, the same with the sides of her forearms.

"I'm ok. Want to see what the TARDIS thought was so important?" Maria looked at Rio eagerly, as she went to grab her jean jacket. Before stepping outside, into the bright sunlight of 21st century London.

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Sometimes, he really doubted if Maria knew what she was doing half the time. Riocard’s lips twitched into a slightly amused smirk as they slammed around the vortex. He was used to being on boats, and he’d been on more than his fair share of them during storms. He was used to the floor being jerky and volatile. Maria, he learned as she fell into his arms, was not used to such a thing. “Are you all right, mon lapin?” he asked, helping her get steady on her feet.

“This… Shouldn’t be happening. This really shouldn’t be happening,” she said, sounding shocked.

Rio shrugged, following her to the console room. “You mean the TARDIS isn’t supposed to jerk us around? Could have fooled me,” he teased, trying to brush off her worries. He hated when Maria was upset. “Anyway, what was that? Did the TARDIS just decide to plop us down somewhere?” he asked.

As if answer to his question, the TARDIS decided to be a little snarky and slam down on the ground none too gently. Rio stumbled, but Maria thumped down on her knees. He winced. That sounded like it’d hurt. But, trooper that his rabbit was, she stood up. He crossed over to her, tempted to kiss her knees and bandage them. Poor, poor bunny… “Are you okay?” he asked, his hand brushing her cheek gently.

“I’m ok. Want to see what the TARDIS thought was so important?” she asked cheerfully, grabbing her jacket and rushing out the doors. Rio rolled his eyes and grinned, following after her quickly.

He slid his hand into hers, looking around them cheerfully. “Oh good. England,” he said with forced enthusiasm. “Your TARDIS never does think it wise to leave Earth, does it?” he observed, walking forward. “No matter. London can be exciting! Especially if you like fish and chips.” He stuck out his tongue and made a face, making it quite clear that he didn’t. “Anyway, how are we supposed to find what the TARDIS wanted us to?”

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Five Hours Ago:

It was a blood bath. The Transport ship “Andromadus” was lost, it's cargo destroyed and the crew annihilated. It was down to a two life forms. The last of the crew, a female Setravandii pilot named Dolphrea, She didn’t know what the creature was, she'd never encountered it before and she'd never heard of it.. All she knew that once if got a hold of you, your death was certain and hideous monsters, like something out of a nightmare burst out of your chest and slaughtered you.. That's all Dolphrea knew and she had to kill it. But the Setravandii were not a strong race. But that didn’t matter, because she didn’t need brawn to kill it. The creature was cunning but she was smarter. She was a Hyper Intelligent Pan-Dimensional being after all. But even she was not aware that sometime while she slept, she had been implanted and the demon was growing in her chest cavity. She diligently went to setting the ship to auto-destruct and found en escape pod. She watched from the window of her tiny pod as the ship erupted into a bright glow.. In the vacuum of space, there was no explosion, only a sudden shock-wave that shook the little pod so hard that she was knocked unconscious.

The little pod had gone to auto pilot and made a crash course for the nearest inhabitable star system. Earth. And the pod violently crashed into the Thames. Det. Nate Cross just happened to be wrapping up another case in the area when he saw the pod crash. And with all the efficiency of a prepared detective, he sectioned off the area with police line tape to keep civilians away. Having been a 'companion' once, he was well aware that they were not 'alone' but not everything out there was friendly. He couldn't call this into his department because the police were simply not equipped to deal with this. He knelt over the pod trying to analyze it without opening it.. The last thing he needed was some lunatic alien running loose in London.

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Maria felt Rio's hand slide into hers, and she smiled up at him. She honestly didn't know what she'd do without him around. Probably screw something up..

"Oh good. England," Rio said, not exactly thrilled with where they were. "Your TARDIS never does think it wise to leave Earth, does it?"[/b][/i]

"Apparently not, and I was so hoping we could go to this one moon that orbits around a large meteorite, somewhere in the pegasus galaxy." Maria explained, excitedly. "There's this little shop that has the best icecream shakes."

Maria sighed, as she looked about. Listening as Rio commented on the fish and chips, she couldn't help but giggle. At least she knew not to get him anything containing fish. His next question, however, made her stop and think. "Anyway, how are we supposed to find what the TARDIS wanted us to?"[/i]

"Good question." She answered, looking for anything strange, like bright yellow police tape! "Look for out of the ordinary? Or perhaps..."

She paused as she lead Rio to the poline line, expecting to see perhaps a squad or something. Only to be surprised by one man, investigating a crash zone. Maria let go of Rio's hand to move under the tape and slide down to the pod. Stepping right next to the man, leaning over the pod, knocking on it gingerly.

"What're you doing?" She asked curiosily, as she placed her hand on the pod. She could feel how warm it was, it was strange, to be honest. "Where did you come from?" Maria was mainly talking to herself, or you could say she was asking the crashed pod. "Hey Rio, come check this out."

She looked over towards her companion, smiling at him, while she fished through her pockets. Pulling out something that looked like a wallet, with a piece of paper inside. "Maria Johnson, here to help out." Maria gave a pleasent smile towards the tall man, hoping the psychic paper wasn't faulty.[/size]

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Oh, well wasn’t this just a bed full of roses? Rio stared warily at the police tape – and the accompanying police officer, with quite a bit of dismay. He had never told Maria that he was wanted by several countries for charges ranging from drugs to murder. It wasn’t that he lied to her, it just… never came up in conversation. But now, with Maria happily bouncing towards the police tape, his fears were beginning to become a reality. She was going to find out whom the real Xavier Riocard Keâts was, and she was going to abandon him to the mercy of the ‘law’.

And worse still, she’d never forgive him. She’d never tell Maggie all those wonderful stories that made her chase him down, and he’d never fall in love with her. He would have given up on that boat in the middle of the Atlantic, and he would have died. Rio felt the rosary weigh down on his chest and his heart sped, panicked. Didn’t that mean that he’d never meet Maria? He’d never even be here. Oh Holy Mother of God, the entire universe was going to crumble and it was all going to be his fault because he was a wanted and dangerous felon and she didn’t even know.

Maria let go of his hand to duck under the tape. She obviously expected the Frenchman to follow her. Rio hung back nervously, watching as she cheerfully moved over to the pod and the policeman. He didn’t recognize him – and Rio wasn’t so sure if that was a good thing or not. At least it wasn’t the man who had been pushed through the third-story window. Small favors, and such, Rio thought the saying went. Maybe it was possible that by this point in time (Rio wasn’t sure when they were, exactly) he hadn’t even committed the murders. Very unlikely, but still a possibility… right?

Rio sighed and ducked under the police tape as well, following her to the police officer. “Hey Rio, come check this out,” Maria called, and Rio nearly flinched from her use of his real name around cop. He stared at the man distrustfully, stepping next to Maria. He put his hand on the pod as well. It was clearly recently crashed – and still running. Do pods run? Perhaps he’d know, if Maria’s TARDIS would take them anywhere except Earth. He smiled politely and cleared his throat, prepared to tell Maria that they couldn’t stand there long. And then… she spoke. “Maria Johnson, here to help out.”

…Great.

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Nate eyed the woman as she nonchalantly walked right past the police line that distinctly said 'Do Not Cross'. He groaned in slight annoyance and stood from the crashed pod and withdrew his badge from his inner jacket pocket. “Ma'am, this is a police investigation, I need you to step back across the police line.” But she seemed to ignore him and step right up to the pod and place her hands on it. As he observed her behavior, he was hit with an overwhelming wave of nostalgia. Goddess used to do the same thing. Anything alien, she couldn't help but poke around, ignoring all the obvious dangers. So she was either an overly enthusiastic 'flying saucer' chaser... Or she was a time lady.

He noted the man just behind the police line and couldn’t help but arch a brow at his apprehensive and quiet demeanor. Most likely, her companion. And judging from how bright of a green his eyes were, probably not human either. But that was only speculation. But the detective did not take kindly to being ignored and cleared his throat as the woman seemed to ramble to herself as she poked about the pod and then called her companion over. Rio? Certainly seemed like a human name. Cross was not entirely familiar with the investigation on the man, therefor had no immediate reason to be wary of him. But his edgy demeanor made him highly suspicious of him..

“Maria Johnson! Here to help!” she chirped rather cheerfully, flashing a bit of paper. With his photographic memory, the paper was horribly pixelated to him. But he decided to play along for a moment.. “Detective Nathaniel Cross.” Well... Alien or not, Nate had a job to do. He put on a special pair of sun glasses and a strange glove on his right hand. The glove looked more like a solid black baseball glove with light blue wiring on the palm. The glove and glasses were alien tech that he'd acquired on one of his adventures with Goddess. The glasses acted as a means to record everything he said and say while pulling up scans of everything he saw. Something like a high tech computer, the glove acted as the main control. He moved his hand in a sweeping motion and drew his finger along the side of the pod as if collecting samples. “It looks like this pod was near an explosion. These burns seem to radiate from one side.. Note the parallel scorch marks that indicate atmospheric entry.” He wasn't directly speaking to them but glanced up at Maria after a moment. “You're thoughts?”

---

The pilot was slowly managing to open her eyes to peer through the small window of her pod hatch and immediately regretted it and shut her eyes tightly. This planet had a bright sun that her pale silvery eyes were not used to. She was born on a planet where her sun and the stars of her galaxy were dying. She groaned in pain and felt her forehead. When the ship exploded, the shock wave had rattled her pod so hard that she'd hit her head even though she was tightly strapped in. When she drew her fingers back and managed to open her eyes, the tips of her fingers were covered in a light blue and faintly glowing warm liquid.. her blood.

She went to unbuckle the five point seat belt system to find that the buckle latch was broken and tightly snapped shut, not allowing her free herself from the pod seat. She grunted as she struggled against it, trying to slip out of it by other means but it was too tightly cinched. She had no equipment with her and was unable to cut herself loose and tried to flail her legs to kick the door hatch open, but stopped when she heard strange noises outside the pod. It was a language she was unfamiliar with. But it didn’t sound unfriendly. She called out hoping they might hear. “Javrand! Lestka jo vallo!” she cried out.

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"Detective Nathaniel Cross." The man said, putting on a pair of sunglasses and a rather wired glove. Only when he started to move his hand across the pod, did she realize what it was that he had. "It looks like this pod was near an explosion. These burns seem to radiate from one side.."

How was it that he had one of those? That wasn't earth tech, in fact, earth wasn't suppose to even have that. Granted, she considered herself lucky that she got to see one. At least... One that wasn't just a picture in a book.

"Note the parallel scorch marks that indicate atmospheric entry." He continued his observation of the pod, then looked over at Maria. "You're thoughts?"

"That's not from Earth. That's a type forty-two, Ari device." She pointed out, a bit confused as to how he came across one of those. "A bit curious as to how you came across one of those."

"Javrand! Lestka jo vallo!" A voice called out from within the pod. Whoever was in there was still alive, and considering they hadn't quite made it out yet.. It was quite possible that they were stuck.

"I.. I don't understand." Maria replied as she tried to look for a way to open the pod from the outside. She didn't understand why the TARDIS hadn't translated the language yet. Then again... Perhaps it was because the TARDIS couldn't translate it. "Rio, help me find a latch or button or something to get this open. Please? I'd really don't want to shoot it open, and accidently hurt whoever is inside."

This was all new, confusing, and exciting for the young timelord. She had found something, that could have been before Timelords. Something she only read about in her studies. Still, as she tried to carefully pry the pod open, she had to remember to use at least some caution... Right?

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The one thing that he loved about being stupid was that it was really easy to ignore people. Especially when they were rambling about pods and explosions. He poked the pod with his bare fingers, wincing a little from the heat, and then withdrawing completely when the detective mentioned something radiating atmospheric entry or something. (Again, he wasn’t exactly paying attention.) He wiped his hands on his pants and crossed his arms as he asked Maria for her thoughts.

And she promptly responded with something about non-Earth technology. Rio crossed his arms impatiently. “Are we done yet, Maria?” he asked impatiently. Even his keen sense of adventure knew not to manifest while she was chatting up a cop. Honestly, didn’t she know anything about her companion? He tugged on her impatiently, moving his head toward the TARDIS. Even worse than any old regular cop, this guy was a detective. As in, someone who would probably have ready access to his files.

As in, someone Rio didn’t particularly want to chum about with.

He opened his mouth again, trying to point out that they didn’t even know if anything was in there, when the alien started screeching its head off. Wasn’t the TARDIS supposed to translate? He sighed, cursing his internal moral obligation to all creatures in distress. “I think she was saying ‘Hey! Get me out of this thing!’” Rio said helpfully, smirking at Maria. “Or, quite possibly, ‘Stop touching my damn pod!’”

“Help me find a latch or button or something to get this open.”

“But what if it doesn’t breathe oxygen?” Rio asked, raising an eyebrow. “Wouldn’t it be better to…” he trailed off as she ignored him and continued groping around the pod. “Yeah, fine,” he said, dropping to his knees with an irritable glance at this stupid detective fellow. He squinted at the bottom of the pod, sticking a slim finger under it, trailing it along the smooth surface until he found a button.

And, as every human did with a button, he pressed it. The top released and he smiled cockily, standing up and clapping his hands together victoriously. “Ingenuity of the French. Can we go now Maria? It’s obviously in…” he looked at Nathaniel, his lip twitching with disdain, “… decent hands.”

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"That's not from Earth. That's a type fourty-two, Ari device." Nate arched a brow and pulled the alien tech glasses from his eyes. A Time Lord.. Perfect. "A bit curious as to how you came across one of those." 

“Are you? Smart Time Lady like yourself? I'm sure you can figure it out, Ms. Johnson” He didn't exactly want to make mention of the fact that he stole them while traveling with The Goddess. Taryn had been quite pissed with him when she found out. And rightly so, because she had a squadron of Judoon hot on her tail for nearly a month before she lost them. Meaning that whatever Nate had in his hands was either extremely valuable or extremely dangerous. Perhaps even both.

“Are we done yet, Maria?” her companion huffed rather hotly. The accent told Nate he was definitely from Earth. The French always were impatient, weren't they... He was about to make some crack like 'what's your rush?' but that was cut off by a frantic cry from whatever was inside the pod.

"Javrand! Lestka jo vallo!"

"I.. I don't understand."

“What?” He noted the perplexed look on Maria's face and he raised both brows, intrigued. “Is it not translating for you?” he mused, mostly to himself.

“I think she was saying ‘Hey! Get me out of this thing!’ Or, quite possibly, ‘Stop touching my damn pod!’”

"Rio, help me find a latch or button or something to get this open. Please? I'd really don't want to shoot it open, and accidentally hurt whoever is inside." 

Nate looked at the two of them, dumbfounded. His annoyance was easily apparent with the slip of his accent “Neither of ye have a clue what's inside o'there, and yer jus' gonna pop it open? T'underin Jaysus, have you two los' yer minds??”

“But what if it doesn’t breathe oxygen? Wouldn’t it be better to…” But Maria didn't seem to be listening to either of them. Damn Time Lords and their infernal curiosity. He'd lost count of all the times Taryn and her curiosity had nearly gotten them killed. “Yeah, fine,” Ugh.. idiots..

“Get away from the damn pod before you-” He balled his fist, and was sorely tempted to beat the green eyed Frenchman's face in with the handle of his gun.

“Ingenuity of the French. Can we go now Maria? It’s obviously in… decent hands.”

“Even a trained monkey can push a button." he replied hotly. "Are you two deaf or just stupid?” He demanded, drawing his gun as he looked towards the opening hatch of the pod. They may have felt that what ever was inside might have been perfectly harmless and that they were playing the Good Samaritan, but Nate was more concerned that they had just set loose a blood thirsty psychotic alien that he was about to have to put down like a rabid dog.

---

The moment the hatch hissed and began to crack open, that first beam of sunlight entered the dark pod and her arms flew up to cover her eyes. Her silvery white eyes couldn’t handle the brightness and even with her eyes closed, the brightness through her lids was painful. She was hit with a wave of panic. She was on a strange planet and she was tightly strapped in and now blind. She realized now she probably should have remained silent.

She couldn't help the fearful whimper as she strained against the harness, her hands held out infront of her as if trying to show that she was unarmed and no threat, realizing that she was at the mercy of what could have possibly been hostile aliens. At least, one of them certainly didn't sound very friendly with the angry shouts. “Dyiet. V-Vallo tu laat” she whimpered trying to open her eyes despite this planet's blindingly bright sun.

Nate looked inside and found himself staring. “Shit.. She's just a kid.” She didn't look any older than a sixteen year old girl. Her hair, eyes, and skin were nearly white, like she'd never seen sunlight in her life, and her reaction to the light quickly strengthened that assumption. He immediately holstered his gun. He couldn't shoot a child. Sure, he could be a hard ass, but looking at her helpless and whimpering, he was hit with a painful wave of nostalgia. His little sister. He had to get her out of there.

“Either of you have a knife?”

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"Are you?" The Detective asked, his tone was what stopped her from answering the rhetorical question. "Smart Time Lady like yourself?" Was he messing with her, or was it actually sincere? Maria didn't quite understand what he had meant. "I'm sure you can figure it out, Ms. Johnson." She raised an eyebrow at him, trying to figure out what it was that gave her away. Though... Then again, she never was good at hiding the fact that she was Timelord.

"Are we done yet, Maria?"

Were they done here? No, she didn't really think so.. After all her TARDIS did bring them here for a reason, and that reason either had to do with the pod; which was more likely; Or it had to do with Detective Cross. Maria hoped it had to do with the first, as she examined the pod itself. "I'm afraid not, Rio.. Why, did we have to be somewhere?" She asked out of curiosity, before she heard someone from inside the pod call out to them. Only one problem... The TARDIS wasn't translating what they were saying, which meant... Either the TARDIS was being stubborn like it was when French was involved, or the language was formed before the TARDIS was born.

"I.. I don't understand." Maria noted as she tried to find some way to open the pod. She really wasn't thinking to if the being inside would be dangerous or not. Maria was only focused on the fact that they sounded scared, and needed help.

"What?" The Detective asked, "Is it not translating for you?"

"I believe that's what I meant when I said I didn't understand." She answered honestly, wondering how he couldn't comprehend what she meant.

"I think she was saying 'Hey! Get me out of this thing!' " Rio replied, making amusing guesses to what the translation might be. "Or, quite possibly, 'Stop touching my damn pod!'" Maria tried not to giggle at the last one, before she asked him to help her get the ship open. And of course there always had to be one person who was going to freak out, wasn't there?

"Neither of ye have a clue what's inside o'there, and yer jus' gonna pop it open?" Maria rolled her eyes at the man, honestly.. Some people are far too uptight. "T'underin Jaysus, have you two los' yer minds??" Wouldn't have been too bad if Rio hadn't decided to join in with the man he seemed far too eager to get away from.

"But what if it doesn't breathe oxygen? Wouldn't it be better to..."

"To answer both your questions one at a time..." Maria interrupted him, looking from one to the other. "First off, if they didn't breathe oxygen, I'm sure they would find a mask or something in that pod. Most are built with some survival supplies, at least the ones I read about. Secondly, while I don't exactly have an idea as to who or what is in there. I do know that they sound scared and most likely they want out. And for that last question, no. We're perfectly sane, not sure about you."

"Yeah, fine," Rio agreed quickly, as he began to search the pod for some way to get it opened.

"Get away from the damn pod before you-"

Oh no, Maria was not having that. She stepped in front of the Detective, looking up at him. "You're not allowed to try and threaten my companion, thank you very much." When the sound of the pod finally opening reached her ears, a rather cheerful grin grew on her face.

"Ingenuity of the French." Rio explained as he stood and clapped his hands together. "Can we go now Maria? It's obviously in... decent hands." Though, Maria wasn't about to leave the poor creature to the mercy of the man next to her. Who knew what he'd do with them. "I'm not sure I trust those 'decent' hands, Rio.." She replied as she moved closer towards the pod and towards Rio.

"Even a trained monkey can push a button." Yup.. It was official, Maria was really starting not to like this human. "Are you two deaf or just stupid?" Make that.. She really didn't like this human. Maria glared at him as he drew his weapon, and she felt sorely tempted to expand the barrel to prevent it from firing.

"Rio is not a monkey, though you certainly act like a Papio Cynocephalus." Maria replied hotly, "And we're neither! We're also not big jerks who go waving a gun about, as we insult people and use tech that isn't from..." Well she couldn't really finish that last bit of her sentence, seeing as the pod had finished opening. There was a woman with snow white hair, and pale eyes. She was holding her arms out in front of her, "Dyiet. V-Vallo tu laat."

"I.." Maria started calmly, as she tried to think of a way to communicate with the frightened woman. "I can't understand what you are saying.."

"Shit.." Maria nearly jumped as Detective Cross spoke. She didn't like how close he was towards the woman, or how close he was to Rio and her. "She's just a kid." Maria raised an eyebrow, alright so at least he was feeling some sort of guilt. "Either of you have a knife?" Maria looked over at Rio, biting her bottom lip as she wondered if she should ask or not.

"Rio..." She whispered, hoping he already could guess what she was going to say, "I think we should get her to the zero room.. Then we could take her to a safer planet.. Please?" Maria pleaded quietly as she stared up into his bright green eyes.