Shake, Rattle and Roll

Shake, Rattle and Roll - Conclusion

Later that night...

The Doctor, Bill and Nardole pressed into the crowd lining up outside the door of the Hilton, feeling like sardines in a can.

Molovian Captain Tagaz grinned behind his mask as he watched the crowd continue to grow on his console screen aboard the Attohr. Soon. Soon we will have ample test subjects. They will serve us whether they want to or not. This, however, was just a small sample. The DNA implanted in the human musician would impact his music whether he sang live or merely recorded it. He hoped the king would be impressed. Then perhaps, he could stop traveling. He hated traveling; hated going anywhere that wasn't on his home planet of Molovia. There were so many germs and who knew what. But that was the reason he was here. They had to be prepared and he felt good knowing he contributed to the well-being of his people. The doors to the venue opened.

"Fretch!" He shouted, calling for the ships physician.

"Yes, sir?"

"Is everything ready?"

"We are set to go, sir."

"Excellent. On my word, then."

Elvis peeked out from backstage as the hall began to fill. He was so nervous. Something didn't feel right. He couldn't say what it was, but it almost felt like he shouldn't be there, like it was wrong him to be here. It had felt this way since he returned from his mysterious whereabouts. There was no time to think on it more though. He had a concert to perform. With a final adjustment of his belt and collar, he stepped out into the spotlight.

"NOW!" ordered Tagaz.

Fretch hit the button, sending a message to the foreign DNA inside Elvis' body. Elvis didn't feel a thing and right on cue, he broke into "Hound Dog." The crowd, who had been cheering loudly, suddenly fell silent. Elvis didn't even notice. As far as he was concerned the crowd were going wild, belting out the lyrics along with him. The Doctor, on the other hand, noticed. As did Nardole. Straight away, they knew something was very wrong. Especially when they noticed Bill's blank stare.

"Bill? Bill? Bill, can you hear me?" The Doctor waved his hand back and forth in front of Bill's face, getting no response. Her eyes were opened but glazed over. "She's been hypnotized. They've all been hypnotized."

"Why haven't we?" asked Nardole.

"It's only the humans. Whoever is behind this wasn't expecting to have non-humans present."

"What about Hound Dog over there then," Nardole pointed out, indicating Elvis who was still singing up a storm.

"Oh, he's hypnotized." The Doctor raced to the stage and scanned Elvis with his sonic sunglasses. "Argh, where have I seen that DNA before?" He scanned the room, looking for the source of power controlling the humans.

Suddenly, an announcement came loudly through the speakers. "Attention, livestock!"

Elvis stopped singing, standing placidly in the centre of the stage as someone else came to stand beside him.

"Of course! Stupid Doctor," the Doctor berated himself. "It's the Molovians."

"The race of hypochondriacs?" wondered Nardole aloud.

The Doctor rolled his eyes. "No, the other Molovians. Of course, the hypochondriacs. That explains the hypnotism and Mr Presley's additional DNA but not how Elvis is still alive. They must have a spaceship in orbit and want to capture all these humans to use as lab rats."

"Why would they need humans for lab rats?" Nardole asked, not sure he really wanted to know.

"Gene testing, DNA testing, disease testing, disease cure testing; whatever they can think of that will help them become invincible to all forms of sickness."