Ace pushed the priest away, and wondered why it felt so hot. She could barely breathe, and she was certainly struggling to think straight.

As she pushed against the man she had sat next to, she felt sluggish, as if she was pushing her way through toffee. The room was cramped and stuffy, and there seemed to be a cooker on, which only added to the heat. A window was open, but it must be a day with no breeze, for she could not feel anything.

The more she pushed, the more frantic she felt. Wherever she was, she had to get out, fast.

She tried to throw herself through the door, but there seemed to be something wrong with her, and she could barely reach it. The handle was locked, and she banged on it, crying to be let out. Or she would have cried, had her voice been able to be heard.

Furious, and frustrated, she had another go at pushing the door, and to her relief, it creaked open. Not waiting for a better chance, she squeezed through, and found herself in a corridor. The walls were painted a grimy yellow.

There was another door, and she could see daylight at its edges. She still felt short of air, and she felt that she would suffocate if she stayed here much longer.

The door was locked, and she couldn't push it open, no matter how hard she tried. Desperate and upset, she raised her boot, and aimed it at the door handle.

With a sound like a gunshot, the door slammed open, and Ace rushed out into the open air. She shut the door behind her, leaning on it and wheezing heavily as she raced to fill her lungs again.

Then she took a look around her.

***

The Doctor never took his eyes off the weapon. It was too powerful to dignify with the term gun, and too crude to be relaxed about.

Plus, it was pointing at him, which always helped to focus the mind.

"Look, can't we be reasonable about this?"

"Reasonable? REASONABLE? You, you come here uninvited, you tamper with my creations, you endanger my masterpiece... you worthless worm, death's too good for you!"

"I know this seems bad-"

"Seems? SEEMS? It is a catastrophe!"

"Believe me, I only want to help you."

"You? Help me? I, the greatest engineer in the Kaluson Districts! You, worm, are just a sloppy meddler!"

It hurt to take the criticism, but the Doctor knew he had to play it cool. "Well, why don't you show me what I did wrong?"

"Hah!"

Maybe playing it cool wasn't going to work.

***

Of all the places she could have been, she didn't expect to see herself at the seaside. It didn't look much like Brighton, but she guessed she was still somewhere in England. So that was something, anyway.

Crossing the road, Ace decided she could walk down to the beach. Seemed to be a beautifully sunny day today.

Sunny... but quiet. She hadn't seen another soul since she had left that room. The road was deserted. Try as she might, she couldn't see any other people here.

Part of her mind told her that it might just be early morning. Another part was telling her that the sun was too high in the sky for it to be early morning.

Perhaps it just wasn't a very popular resort. But she knew that now she was just trying to keep her spirits up.

Where had the Professor brought her to?

***

It had seemed like a reasonable idea. Algernon Twaddle was recognised as the greatest engineer of this corner of the Universe. If anyone could sort out the trouble he was having with the TARDIS, then Twaddle was the man.

How could he have known that he would arrive at a time when Twaddle had been reduced to constructing elaborate toys for the bored, idle rich? Sometimes, he wondered whether he should do some forward research before making surprise drop-in visits to all and sundry. He would have made a note in his diary to remind him to do just such a thing, but he hadn't brought his diary with him out of the TARDIS. And besides, he didn't like asking for a pen.

As he sat with his hands under his thighs, the Doctor wondered how long it would take Twaddle to calm down. His moods were as notorious as his genius, but time was of the essence here, and it was frustrating to have to play along whilst he waited for Twaddle's anger to subside.

"Here."

He took the plastic beaker that Twaddle offered him, hoping his wariness wasn't too obvious. Tentatively, he sniffed the turquoise liquid, dabbed a little on his little finger, and touched it to his tongue. Perhaps he was winning the man's trust. Or at least, his tolerance. Satisfied, he swallowed it all down, although it made his teeth rattle a little.

"Could you stop that NOISE?"

"S- s- sorry." This wasn't like him at all. He needed to be assertive, he was neglecting his duties.

He was neglecting Ace...

***

There was a Pier, stretching out into the sea, which was in, for once. She was used to seeing beaches, and here there was just shore. Perhaps there would be people on the Pier.

Perhaps everyone was hiding!

There was a funfair cramped onto the horizontal strip, and she wondered how anyone was seriously expected to have fun in that restriction of space. She doubted she could have managed it. Even little children would find it a letdown.

Still no sign of anyone else. She was getting really creeped out by the loneliness. After priding herself on being able to stand alone, on not needing anyone's support, she could scarcely believe that she was the only person here.

What was going on?

Shivering, she walked onto the Pier.

***

"What are you doing now?"

"As if it's any concern of yours! You've meddled quite enough already!"

"I think it is my concern..." The Doctor swiftly sidled over to where Twaddle stood by a large container with a vague resemblance to a pinball machine.

Twaddle sighed a deep, and mournful, sigh. "Please don't tell me you tampered with this creation..."

"Only by accident..."

"Aaaaaghh!" It was an alarming cry of frustrated desolation. "Of all the pieces you choose to damage, you choose my prize, my masterpiece! Sabotage! It must be!"

"I assure you, it was an accident. Neither I, nor my assistant-"

"ASSISTANT? What assistant? Oh, no, don't tell me-"

"Yes, I'm afraid so."

Twaddle stared down into his masterpiece, leaning on the glass surface. "You've let someone loose in my creation!"

***

Ace was on the point of trying to sneak onto the Big Wheel, when she realised that the sky was darkening. Odd, after all that unbroken sunshine.

She looked up, expecting to see a cloud.

And she screamed at what she saw instead.

***

The Doctor spotted her immediately. Thankfully, she seemed unharmed, although there was no obvious way of getting her out of there.

Twaddle saw her soon after. "Don't touch the machines!" he cried, in a heart-rendering bellow.

"You can trust Ace," the Doctor said, with assumed confidence.

"Can I? CAN I? You barge in here, you meddle with my work..." Twaddle looked around the glass, trying to find how this intruder had got in.

"Professor... what is this for?"

"What do you mean, what's it FOR? It's a toy, a plaything."

"The scale, though... what you've done is amazing."

"Thank you, I do know that. Come on, there must be a break in the shell somewhere..."

Knowing that this was the best way to ensure Ace's rescue, the Doctor started helping with the search. He had to appear as if he was as baffled as his host, although he knew where she had got in. If the Professor found it, it would give him cause to relax somewhat.

He tapped on the lid, drawing an audible seethe of fury from Twaddle. He made a hand gesture of appeasement, and then started waving down at Ace.

***

Having recovered from her initial shock, Ace had been relieved to see the Professor again, although the scale was peculiar.

He seemed to be making pointing gestures, and she wondered what he meant. As she followed the direction of his finger, she thought it led back the way she had come.

Perhaps that was the way out..?

With renewed purpose, Ace ran along the Pier.

***

"Where is it..? Hold on, what's this?"

The Doctor rushed round at the change in tone of Twaddle's voice, and he released a breath he hadn't realised that he was holding.

"Only a small breach... bit of paint and some sealant, that might even look as good as new."

"Oh, you've found it, have you? Excellent. I'm sure if my assistant got in that way, she'll be able to get out again the same way."

Twaddle looked up at the Doctor, and the Time Lord saw the fury in the Professor's eyes. So much for the man relaxng.

"If she isn't out of there by the time I get this hole fixed, she will remain in there. She will form a brief curio, I don't doubt."

Then he walked off, leaving the Doctor to look horrified, and make even more frantic pointing gestures at Ace.

***

Every now and again, Ace glanced up, to check that the world was still the same way she had thought it was.

When she saw the changed look on the Doctor's face, she nearly froze. Whatever was going on out there, he looked really agitated. He also seemed to be determined that she got out as fast as possible.

The buildings on the far side of the road looked all very similar now. She hadn't really been looking when she had emerged into the daylight. Which one was the right one..?

There was a beige-painted door, set into the side of an anonymous-looking stone building. From what she could remember of the place she had come out of, that looked like a strong chance.

She tried the door.

***

Twaddle didn't take long to find his paintbrushes and a sealant gun.

"So, has your little friend made it back, then?"

"Er, no, but I'm sure she won't be much longer."

"Well, that's too bad. I'm a busy man, I'm sure you understand..."

"No! You can't leave her in there!"

"Why not? I gave you plenty of time. Might I remind you that you broke into my construction room, and have caused damage to one of my works. I should have shot you when I had the chance! I might still do that... the police would welcome one less statistic to deal with."

"Statistic? I'm not a criminal, I'm a traveller!"

"Well, then, it's high time you moved on!" Twaddle picked up the sealant gun, and moved the nozzle toward the aperture.

***

As Ace booted the door open again, she sighed in relief. That alley was unmistakable. Hopefully, anyway.

She ran down the corridor, feeling the stuffiness in the air once again. When she reached the room she had fought her way out of, she pushed the door open.

The figures she remembered seeing now had a different aspect. They were just robots. Animatronic puppets. What for, she couldn't imagine.

This was not the way out. She continued along the corridor, reaching a black door with a security bar across it. A fire exit. She pushed against it, but it seemed stiff.

Head beginning to fuzz, she knew there was only one thing for it.

***

As Twaddle began to squeeze the trigger, a small chunk of metal flew out of the hole, to his surprise.

He hesitated.

Then a small figure dived out of the hole. As soon as she touched the ground, she began to grow. Within a matter of seconds, she was a full-sized human.

"Ace! You made it!"

Sighing, Twaddle recovered his composure, and replaced the metal, before shooting the sealant into the hole.

"Professor!" Ace hugged the Doctor, and he seemed as pleased as her. "What is that?" She looked down at the model, marvelling at how small everything looked. The Pier, the funfair... all looked just as she had seen them up close.

"It's a toy, believe it or not. Professor Twaddle here made it."

"What were those robot things?"

"Robots?"

Twaddle arched his back. "Don't say you vandalised my robots?!"

The Doctor turned on him. "Why would there need to be robots in there?"

"It's a toy, Doctor. What do you think it's supposed to do?"

"You mean, people are supposed to go in there?"

"I am the finest engineer in the cosmos, Doctor. People pay high prices for such knowledge when you give them what they want."

"I don't believe this! So, you were worried that Ace was going to spoil your work before someone else could!"

"Would you buy something brand new if you knew it had already been tampered with? I have a reputation to protect!"

"Reputation? Rich idiots feather your nest, and you give them... you give them... a hiding place? Yes, I see it now... this could have potential... if rich criminals pay you a fee, you give them a place to hide. Rather lucrative."

"You finally recognise my genius, Doctor. It took you long enough."

"But there is one thing I don't understand. How do people get in - and more crucially, how do they get out?"

Twaddle bristled at this. "I never said it was finished, did I?"

"You were only going to do half the job, though, weren't you? A way in... then when you've got their money, you can let them rot."

"People think you're washed out. They bring you down to their level... well, I shall make them regret that. Nobody gets the better of me!"

"Oh, but I just have, haven't I? Alright, Inspector, you've got your man."

Twaddle turned in surprise as the door opened, and two burly Selpers in police uniforms waddled in, grabbing hold of his arms. They were followed by a human police inspector, who slapped his hands into hand-cuffs.

"Professor Augusto Twaddle, I am arresting you on suspicion of attempted murder. Oh, and illegal possession of a firearm. You do not have to say anything, but anything you do say-"

"Yes, yes, I've heard it all before. So, Doctor, is that all this was? Your pleas for help with your ship? A trap?"

"Do you know, Professor, I'm not entirely sure. Come on, Ace, we've got things to do. Thank you, Inspector, I trust I can rely on you now."

"Certainly, Doctor. Only too glad to help. Come on, Professor, there's a nice cell down at the station, and it's got your name on it."

***

The Doctor was already opening the TARDIS door, but Ace seemed dumbfounded by the way the conversation had suddenly jack-knifed in an unexpected direction.

"Professor, are you telling me that all I did was to act as a gatherer of evidence?"

"Well, we all have to start somewhere. It's people like Twaddle who cause some of the most damage, because they don't advertise their crimes. You have to really pull the wool over their eyes to get them to confess."

Ace frowned. She wasn't sure she was happy with this side to the Professor. Perhaps she had been better off with Glitz after all.

"Now, come on, Ace. Wouldn't you like to meet JFK?"

But he was already working the controls before she could answer.