School Reunion
Kirito and Asuna's house…
Jared is practicing his sword swings with Kirito, outside of the log cabin, as Asuna and Ruby are watching those two spar.
"Your skills have improved." Kirito said, and his Excalibur sword collided with Jared's Monado. "But it doesn't mean I won't go easy on you."
"I know." Jared said, while he jumped up into the air and did a slash across Excalibur. "So, school in Britain. Interested?"
"Interested in what?"
"I think Jared wants us to go on an adventure with him, The Doctor, and Rose." Asuna said, smiling. "But to school?"
"Yeah." Jared said, happily, landing on the ground. "There are bat creatures in there."
"Bats." Kirito said, looking at Jared. "How bad are they?"
"Really bad."
"If we're going to a school, I call being the Doctor's assistant. He is going to be a teacher, right?" Asuna asked.
"Yeah, he is teaching physics." Jared said, laughing. "Oh, I am gonna love this."
Physics laboratory…
Up on the first floor, there is a change of class. The teacher enters, wearing a brown suit and white sneakers. His assistant enters, wearing business attire and she looks rather formal.
"Good morning, class. Are we sitting comfortably?" The Doctor asked, writing on the board. "So, physics. Physics, eh? Physics. Physics. Physics! Physics. Physics, physics, physics, physics, physics, physics, physics. I hope one of you is getting all this down. Okay let's see what you know. Two identical strips of nylon are charged with static electricity and hung from a string so they can swing freely. What would happen if they were brought near each other?"
A young boy with spectacles puts his hand up.
"So, what's your name?" Asuna asked, looking over at the boy.
"Milo." Milo said.
"Milo! Off you go." The Doctor said, happily.
"They'd repel each other because they have the same charge."
"Correctamundo!"
"Yeah, Jared said that you never used that word before at this point in time." Asuna said, crossing her arms. "Maybe it's best that you don't use it again."
"Fair point, I'll add it to my list. Question two. I coil up a thin piece of microwire and place it in a glass of water. Then I turn on the electricity and measure to see if the water's temperature is affected. My question is this. How do I measure the electrical power going into the coil?" The Doctor asked, and just one hand goes up. Everyone else looks totally bored. "Someone else. No? Okay, Milo, go for it."
"Measure the current and PDs in an ammeter and a voltmeter." Milo said.
"Two to Milo. Right then, Milo, tell me this. True or false. The greater the dampening of the system, the quicker it loses energy to its surroundings."
"False."
"What is non-coding DNA?"
"DNA that doesn't code for a protein."
"Okay, Milo." Asuna said, walking around the room. "What's sixty five thousand nine hundred and eighty three times five?"
"Three hundred and twenty nine thousand nine hundred and fifteen." Milo said.
"How do you travel faster than light?" The Doctor asked.
"By opening a quantum tunnel with an FTL factor of thirty six point seven recurring."
The Doctor's and Asuna's jaws drop.
"Yeah, I think we may have a problem here." Asuna said, looking over at the Doctor.
Canteen…
Chips are still on the menu here. A young blonde and a young Japanese man slops mash into the Doctor's and Asuna's trays.
The Doctor walks away with a grin, and Asuna walks away happily. A little later the servers go over to wipe the teachers' table.
"Two days." Rose said, angrily.
"The worst two days of my life." Kirito said, as angry as Rose.
"Sorry, could you just? There's a bit of gravy. No, no, just, just there." The Doctor said, and Rose wipes the food off the table.
"Two days, we've been here." Rose said, annoyed.
"Well, Mickey told us about it." Asuna said, looking over at Rose.
"If you want to blame anyone for making us serve food to kids." Kirito said, looking down at the food. "Blame your boyfriend, Rose."
"And Jared told us ahead of time. About this school. When Kirito and I were in ALFheim online with him and Ruby."
"And they were right. Boy in class this morning, got a knowledge way beyond planet Earth." The Doctor said.
"You eating those chips?" Rose asked.
"Yeah, they're a bit different."
"I think they're gorgeous. Wish I had school dinners like this."
"Oh, the school lunches at our school are nice." Asuna said, happily. "Especially the food."
"I could do with some of your cooking right about now." Kirito said, smiling. "This place isn't loud. No arguments, especially from the girls."
"What was that?" Asuna asked, looking up at Kirito.
"Nothing."
"It's very well behaved, this place." The Doctor said.
"Mmm." Rose said.
"I thought there'd be happy slapping hoodies. Happy slapping hoodies with ASBOs. Happy slapping hoodies with ASBOs and ringtones. Huh? Huh? Oh, yeah. Don't tell me I don't fit in."
The head dinner lady comes over.
"Neither of you are not permitted to leave your stations during a sitting." Jackson said, looking between Kirito and Rose.
"We were just talking to these teachers." Rose said.
"One of these teachers is much prettier than my cousin." Kirito said.
"Hello." The Doctor said, excitedly.
"That's me." Asuna said, placing her hand on top of Kirito's.
"He doesn't like the chips." Rose said, looking over at the Doctor.
"The menu has been specifically designed by the headmaster to improve concentration and performance. Now, get back to work." Jackson said, walking away.
"See? This is us. Servers in the kitchen." Rose said, standing up with Kirito.
"I'll have the crumble." The Doctor said.
"I'm so going to kill you." Rose said, annoyed.
"And can you get me a slice of chocolate cake with a strawberry on top?" Asuna asked, looking at Kirito. "I want to give it to Ruby later!"
"Yeah, we are so gonna kill them." Kirito said, agreeing with Rose.
A dark teacher walks over to a girl with a pony tail.
"Melissa. You'll be joining my class for the next period. Milo's failed me, so it's time we moved you up to the top class. Kenny, not eating the chips?" Wagner asked, as Kenny is eating a home prepared lunch from a Tupperware box.
"I'm not allowed." Kenny said, sadly.
"Luke. Extra class. Now."
Luke and Melissa follow Mister Wagner out. Headmaster Finch stands on a balcony overlooking the canteen and watches it all.
Kitchen…
Rose is drying up when other dinner ladies wheel a large cooking oil drum through. It has lots of strange symbols on the side. They are wearing breathing masks and heavy duty protective gauntlets.
"Careful. Keep it steady. Don't spill a drop. I said, keep it steady. Careful. That's it. Easy now. Steady." Jackson said, when Rose's phone rings. "Right. Second barrel. Quickly now!"
"What you got?" Rose asked.
"Confirmation." Mickey said, his voice over the phone.
Kirito and Asuna's house…
Yui displayed a hologram of a keyboard on the table with a hologram monitor in front of Mickey.
"We just got into army records. Yui patched me through, making this process a little easier." Mickey said.
"Three months ago, there was massive UFO activity." Yui said, looking at the information on the screen.
Kitchen…
"They logged over forty sightings." Yui said, her voice over the phone.
"Well, there were lights in the sky, anything alien." Jared said, happily. "Which is pretty normal for us."
Kirito and Asuna's house…
"We can't get any photos, because then it gets all classified and secret. Keeps locking us out." Mickey said, looking at the holographic monitor that has the message:Torchwood Access Denied.
"Damn it, Jack." Jared said, crossing his arms, sitting on the couch. "You had to tell Tosh to do that."
"Tell you what, though." Rose said, her voice coming from the speakers nearby.
Kitchen…
"Three months ago, turns out all the kitchen staff were replaced. And this lot are weird." Rose said.
"This is definitely a coincidence." Kirito said, crossing his arms. "Aliens coming in and people getting replaced with a three month time span."
"Rose, I was right to call you home. With some extra friends." Mickey said, his voice over the phone.
"I thought maybe you called me home just, well, just to call me home." Rose said.
"Do you think I'd just invent an emergency?"
"You could've done."
"That's the last thing I'd do."
"Watch it!" Jackson said, angrily.
Kirito and Asuna's house...
"Because every time I see you…" Mickey said.
Kitchen…
"An emergency just gets in the way." Mickey said, his voice coming out of the phone.
The next barrel of oil topples over. One of the women gets splashed and starts screaming.
"Shit." Kirito said, tapping on Rose's shoulder.
"We've got to go." Rose said, her phone still near her ear.
"Get her up, get her up!" Jackson said, annoyed.
Kirito and Asuna's house…
"Rose, what is it?" Mickey asked.
Kitchen…
The injured woman is hustled into the office and the blinds are pulled down. Rose redials.
"What're you doing?" Jackson asked.
"Calling an ambulance." Rose said.
"She needs help." Kirito said, agreeing with Rose.
"No need. She's quite all right." Jackson said, and there is a loud noise like a sudden fire, then a woman screams. "It's fine. She does that."
The woman goes back into the smoke filled office. Rose sees that the spilt oil has eaten through metal.
Kirito and Asuna's house…
"So, a lot of barrels of oil in the kitchen." Asuna said, walking around her house with some bowls of ramen. "Kitchen staff getting replaced."
"It just doesn't add up." Kirito said, eating soup. "Jared, do you know anything?"
"Well, an old friend of the Doctor is gonna come here." Jared said, happily. "I know that for sure."
"And who is she?" Asuna asked.
"Her name is Sarah Jane Smith. She used to travel with the Doctor back in the 1970s to the 1980s. She's an investigative journalist for the metropolitan magazine."
"A journalist." Kirito said, looking at Jared. "You know basically everything."
"Only about the real world and video games. TV shows and movies too. Virtual reality, not so much."
"But the three of us are like three sides of a coin." Asuna said, and she loaded up her game menu. "I've got to go. The Doctor might need me."
"We'll see you in a couple of hours." Kirito said, placing a hand on Asuna's shoulder.
"Right." Asuna said, disappearing in a flash of light.
Staff room…
"Yesterday, I had a twelve year old girl give me the exact height of the Walls of Troy in cubits." Parsons said.
"And, from what I can understand..." Asuna said, walking over to Parsons. "That's been happening since Finch got the job here."
"Exactly, Finch arrived three months ago. Next day, half the staff got flu. Finch replaced them with that lot, except for the teacher the two of you replaced, and that was just plain weird, her winning the lottery like that."
"How's that weird?" The Doctor asked.
"She never played. Said the ticket was posted through her door at midnight."
"Hmm. The world is very strange."
"Yeah." Asuna said, when the Headmaster enters. "Coincidences can happen."
"Excuse me, colleagues. A moment of your time. May I introduce Miss Sarah Jane Smith. Miss Smith is a journalist who's writing a profile about me for the Sunday Times. I thought it might be useful for her to get a view from the trenches, so to speak. Don't spare my blushes." Finch said, before leaving the room.
"Hello." Sarah said, walking up to the Doctor and Asuna.
"Hi." Asuna said, happily.
"Oh, I should think so." The Doctor said.
"And, you are?" Sarah asked.
"Hm? Er, Smith. John Smith."
"And I'm Asuna." Asuna said, looking at Sarah. "Asuna Yuuki."
"John Smith. I used to have a friend who sometimes went by that name." Sarah said.
"Well, it's a very common name." The Doctor said.
"He was a very uncommon man. Nice to meet the both of you."
"Nice to meet you. Yes, very nice. More than nice. Brilliant."
"Er, so, er, have the two of you worked here long?"
"No. Er, it's only our second day."
"Oh, you're both new, then. So, what do you think of the school? I mean, this new curriculum? So many children getting ill. Doesn't that strike you as odd?"
"Well, you're not someone who is doing a profile." Asuna said, smiling.
"Well, no harm in a little investigation while I'm here." Sarah said, happily.
"No. Good for you." The Doctor said, when Sarah moves away from the scary grinning Time Lord. "Good for you. Oh, good for you, Sarah Jane Smith."
Kirito and Asuna's house…
"So, you met Sarah." Jared said, happily. "I've always wanted to meet her."
"Why do you call her Sarah?" Asuna asked. "Doesn't she want to be called by her full name? Sarah Jane?"
"I think there are some exceptions for that."
"That does make sense." Kirito said, walking around the log cabin. "We're going to the school again."
"Yeah, but at night." Jared said, smiling. "I'll love it."
Corridor…
After dark, Sarah Jane Smith breaks into the school.
"Oh, it's weird seeing school at night. It just feels wrong. When I was a kid, I used to think all the teachers slept in school." Rose said.
"All right, team. Oh, I hate people who say team. Er, gang. Er, comrades. Anyway, Rose, Asuna, go to the kitchen. Get a sample of that oil. Mickey, Kirito, the new staff are all Maths teachers. Both of you, go and check out the Maths department. Jared and I are going to look in Finch's office. Be back here in ten minutes." The Doctor said, walking away with Jared.
"So, you and Mickey." Asuna said, looking at Kirito. "Be safe."
"You be safe." Kirito said, walking away with Mickey. "I will be right back."
"Where's the Maths department?" Mickey asked, walking back to Rose and Asuna with Kirito.
"Down there, turn left, through the fire doors, on the right." Rose said.
"Thank you."
Sarah Jane chases something flying in an upper corridor.
Kitchen…
"You and Kirito look close." Rose said, walking around the kitchen with Asuna.
"We are close." Asuna said, watching Rose get the oil sample as instructed. "We were stuck in that virtual world. I mean, we were stuck in that death game for two years."
"Two years? What was that death game called? How did you two get out?"
"We were lucky, I suppose. When Kirito found me a long time ago in the Town of Beginnings. He put cream on bread in Sword Art Online. That inspired me to learn how to cook."
"You learned how to cook in a virtual world? But why did you want to spend some more time with him?"
"Oh, when he was too lazy to go on the front lines one day. All he wanted to do was relax in the fields. And enjoy the life he ended up in. I joined him in the fields, and I accidentally fell asleep. But when I woke up, I realized I wanted to spend the rest of…"
"The rest of your life with Kirito, whether you got out of the death game or not. That's how I see myself with the Doctor. He blew up my job, but after he saved me time and time again, and I did the same with him. We wanted to see all of time and space to the fullest, together or not all."
Rose and Asuna look up as something screeches overhead.
(Jared's POV)
Corridor…
Sarah Jane opens a storeroom door to discover the Tardis parked inside.
"Hello, Sarah Jane." The Doctor said, and I'm standing next to him.
"It's you. Oh, Doctor Oh, my God, it's you, isn't it. You've regenerated." Sarah said, fixated on the Doctor.
"Yeah. Half a dozen times since we last met."
"You look incredible."
"So do you."
"Huh. I got old."
"Hey, I'm Jared." I said, walking up to Sarah to give her a handshake. "Nice to meet you. I've always been wanting to meet you."
"Always?" Sarah asked, looking between the Doctor and I. "What are you doing here?"
"Well, there were UFO sightings." I said, happily. "This school gets amazing results, tests and homework wise. We wanted to investigate, and I wanted to bring Kirito and Asuna long."
"Basically, we couldn't resist. What about you?" The Doctor asked, looking at Sarah.
"The same. I thought you'd died. I waited for you and you didn't come back, and I thought you must have died." Sarah said, recalling what happened.
"I lived. Everyone else died."
"What do you mean?"
"Everyone died, Sarah."
"I can't believe it's you." Sarah said, when Mickey screams. "Okay, now I can!"
Rose and Asuna run up.
"Did you hear that? Who's she?" Rose asked, looking at Sarah.
"Rose, Sarah Jane. Sarah Jane, Rose." The Doctor said, doing formal introductions.
"Hi. Nice to meet you." Sarah said, giving Rose a handshake, before looking at the Doctor. "You can tell you're getting older. Your assistants are getting younger."
"I'm not his assistant." Rose said, angrily.
"No? Get you, tiger."
Classroom…
"Sorry! Sorry, it was only us. You told us to investigate, so we started looking through some of these cupboards and all of these fell on us." Mickey said.
"Mickey was acting like a kid." Kirito said, looking up at Asuna. "Hey."
"Hi." Asuna said, lifting Kirito off the ground. "I thought I lost you."
"You didn't lose me. Besides Mickey screaming."
"Like a little girl?" The Doctor asked.
"It was dark! I was covered in rats!" Mickey said, annoyed.
"Nine, maybe ten years old. I'm seeing pigtails, frilly skirt."
"I think you basically described Silica." I said, laughing a lot, when Asuna sent me a glare and I calmed down. "Anyway, we need to focus."
"We do." Rose said, looking down at the rats. "Does anyone notice anything strange about this? Rats in school?"
"Well, obviously they use them in Biology lessons. They dissect them. Or maybe you haven't reached that bit yet. How old are you?" Sarah asked.
"Excuse me, no one dissects rats in school anymore. They haven't done that for years. Where are you from, the dark ages?"
"Anyway, moving on. Everything started when Mister Finch arrived. We should go and check his office." The Doctor said, leaving the room.
Corridor…
"Ooo, Rose and Sarah are fighting." I said, walking in between Kirito and Asuna. "They're jealous of each other."
"Really?" Kirito asked. "On a scale of one to ten, how jealous is Rose?"
"You're basically comparing two Tauruses." Asuna said, sending Kirito a glare. "That's like trying to compare me and Rika."
"When we first started dating in real life, she did come up with that one month truce between you and her. I think she was mighty jealous."
"And Kirito, we are chick magnets." I said, and Asuna also sent me a glare when Kirito stepped on my shoe. "Sorry!"
"What, not even once? He didn't mention me even once?" Sarah asked, walking past the Doctor and Mickey.
"Ho, ho, mate. The missus and the ex. Welcome to every man's worst nightmare." Mickey said, happily.
Outside the Headmaster's office…
The Doctor uses the sonic screwdriver on the lock, "Maybe those rats were food."
"Food for what?" Rose asked.
Headmaster's office…
"Rose, you know you used to think all the teachers slept in the school? Well, they do." The Doctor said, when giant bats are hanging from the ceiling.
"No way!" Mickey said, running away.
The rest of us follow Mickey more sedately. One wakes when the Doctor shuts the door.
School yard…
"I am not going back in there. No way." Mickey said.
"Those were teachers." Rose said, sadly.
"When Finch arrived, he brought with him seven new teachers, four dinner ladies and a nurse. Thirteen. Thirteen big bat people. Come on." The Doctor said, walking away.
"Come on? You've got to be kidding!" Mickey said, angrily.
"I need the Tardis. I've got to analyse that oil from the kitchen."
"I might be able to help you there. I've got something to show you." Sarah said, smiling.
Car park…
In the boot of Sarah's car is a robot dog.
"Oh my god, he is so cute." I said, running up to K9 to pet him. "I love him."
"K9! Rose Tyler, Mickey Smith, Jared Shay, Kazuto Kirigaya, Asuna Yuuki, allow me to introduce K9. Well, K9 Mark Three to be precise." The Doctor said.
"Why does he look so disco?" Rose asked.
"Oi! Listen, in the year five thousand, this was cutting edge. What's happened to him?"
"Something tells me that K9 died." Kirito said, frowning.
"He did." I said, looking back at Kirito. "This is future technology."
"So, K9's hardware is ahead of Yui's artificial intelligence." Asuna said, and I nodded my head. "That's a shame."
"It is."
K9 is getting rusty around the edges. Something is watching us from midair.
"Look, no offence, but could you three just stop petting for a minute? Never mind the tin dog. We're busy." Rose said, when a giant alien bat creature flies across the face of the full moon.
Coffee shop…
Rose and Mickey are at the counter, I am at a table with Kirito, Asuna, and Yui. The Doctor and Sarah Jane have put the defunct K9 on a table. The music is Love will tear us apart by Joy Division.
"So, you know what will happen next." Asuna said, as I'm eating some fish and chips. "What will happen next?"
"We'll stop the alien bat creatures and save the day." I said, happily, placing another fry in my mouth to eat it.
"What is their weakness?" Kirito asked, and he began eating the fries too.
"The oil in the kitchen. That's their weakness."
"Why are you telling us this now?" Asuna asked, looking at me.
"Because I can. And I want to."
"You're mommy and daddy combined." Yui said, happily. "Maybe that's why I like being around you as much as them!"
"We'll win against the bad guys." I said, with Yui sitting on Kirito's shoulder. "But at a price."
"And the price is?" Kirito asked.
"K9 Mark Three. But the Doctor will give Sarah a new K9 model. Mark Four."
"I thought of you on Christmas Day. This Christmas just gone? Great big spaceship overhead. I thought, oh yeah, bet he's up there." Sarah said, while the Doctor is fixing K9.
"Right on top of it, yeah." The Doctor said, smiling.
"And Rose and Jared?"
"We were there too, Sarah." I said, eating the battered fish. ���And so was Weiss and Silica. You'll like them."
"Doctor, did I do something wrong, because you never came back for me. You just dumped me." Sarah said, recalling what happened.
"I told you. I was called back home and in those days humans weren't allowed." The Doctor said.
"I waited for you. I missed you."
"Oh, you didn't need me. You were getting on with your life."
"You were my life. You know what the most difficult thing was? Coping with what happens next, or with what doesn't happen next. You took me to the furthest reaches of the galaxy, you showed me supernovas, intergalactic battles, and then you just dropped me back on Earth. How could anything compare to that?"
"All those things you saw, do you want me to apologise for that?"
"No, but we get a taste of that splendour and then we have to go back."
"Look at you, you're investigating. You found that school. You're doing what we always did."
"You could have come back."
"He couldn't." I said, sadly. "Because it hurts him so much, him losing people he loves."
"So, he didn't want to lose me." Sarah said, as the Doctor keeps working on K9. "It wasn't Croydon. Where you dropped me off, that wasn't Croydon."
"Where was it?" The Doctor asked.
"Aberdeen."
"Right. That's next to Croydon, isn't it?"
"No, it isn't." I said, when K9 comes back to life. "Aberdeen is in Scotland, remember? Spaceman."
"Oh, hey. Now we're in business." The Doctor said, happily.
"Master." K9 said.
"He recognises me."
"Affirmative."
"Rose, give us the oil."
"I wouldn't touch it, though. That dinner lady got all scorched." Rose said.
"I'm no dinner lady. And I don't often say that." The Doctor said, smearing a sample onto K9's probe. "Here we go. Come on, boy. Here we go."
"Oil. Ex...ex...ex...extract. Ana...ana...analysing." K9 said.
"Listen to him, man. That's a voice." Mickey said, laughing.
"Careful. That's my dog." Sarah said, angrily.
"Confirmation of analysis. Substance is Krillitane Oil." K9 said.
"They're Krillitanes." The Doctor said.
"Are they bad?" Yui asked, sitting on Kirito's shoulder. "And is it bad that they're what we're facing?"
"Very. Think of how bad things could possibly be, and add another suitcase full of bad."
"And what are Krillitanes?" Sarah asked.
"They're a composite race. Just like your culture is a mixture of traditions from all sorts of countries, people you've invaded or have been invaded by. You've got bits of Viking, bits of France, bits of whatever. The Krillitanes are the same. An amalgam of the races they've conquered. But they take physical aspects as well. They cherry pick the best bits from the people they destroy. That's why I didn't recognise them. The last time I saw Krillitanes, they looked just like us except they had really long necks." The Doctor said.
"So, why are they here?" Asuna asked.
"It's the children. They're doing something to the children."
(Open POV)
Outside the coffee shop…
Mickey and Sarah put K9 back in the boot of Sarah's car with Kirito and Yui watching them.
"So what's the deal with the tin dog?" Mickey asked.
"The Doctor likes travelling with an entourage. Sometimes they're humans, sometimes they're aliens, and sometimes they're tin dogs. What about you? Where do you fit in the picture?" Sarah asked, looking at Mickey.
"Me? I'm their Man in Havana. I'm the technical support. I'm…oh, my God. I'm the tin dog."
"You're not the tin dog." Yui said, happily. "You're more than that. You're helpful!"
"Says the one who is literally the tin dog of the Sword Art Online survivors." Mickey said, looking at Yui.
"That's my daughter you're talking about." Kirito said, walking over to Mickey. "She may be an artificial intelligence. But you haven't seen the things she's done."
Street…
"On my command." Finch said.
Rose, the Doctor, Asuna, and Jared come out of the coffee shop.
"How many of us have there been travelling with you?" Rose asked.
"Does it matter?" The Doctor asked.
"Yeah, it does, if Jared and I are just the latest in a long line."
"As opposed to what?"
"I thought the three of us were...I obviously got it wrong. We've been to the year five billion, right, but this? Now this is really seeing the future. You just leave us behind. Is that what you're going to do to us?"
"No. Not to you and not to Jared."
"But Sarah Jane? You were that close to her once, and now you never even mention her. Why not?"
"I don't like this." Asuna said, looking over at Jared. "The Doctor is older than us. We're not here forever."
"I know." Jared said, sadly. "I'm taking advantage of the time I have with the Doctor. Even if it isn't forever."
"You can spend the rest of your life with me, but I can't spend the rest of mine with you. I have to live on. Alone. That's the curse of the Time Lords." The Doctor said, frowning.
"Time Lord." Finch said.
The Doctor looks up. The giant bat swoops down. They all duck and it flies off.
"Was that a Krillitane?" Sarah asked.
"But it didn't even touch her. It just flew off. What did it do that for?" Rose asked.
School yard…
Next morning, the pupils are arriving at the school.
"Rose, Sarah, and Asuna, you go to the Maths room. Crack open those computers, I need to see the hardware inside. Here, you might need this." The Doctor said, when Rose holds out her hand, but the Time Lord gives the screwdriver to Sarah. "Mickey, Kirito, Yui, surveillance. I want you three outside."
"Just stand outside?" Mickey asked.
"Here, take these you can keep K9 company." Sarah said, tossing Mickey her car keys.
"Don't forget to leave the window open a crack." The Doctor said.
"But he's metal!" Mickey said, angrily.
"I didn't mean for him."
"He meant for daddy and Mickey!" Yui said, sitting on Kirito's shoulder.
"What're you going to do?" Rose asked.
"It's time Jared and I had a word with Mister Finch." The Doctor said, walking away with Jared.
Swimming pool…
They stand at opposite ends of the pool, with Jared next to the Doctor.
"Who are you?" The Doctor asked.
"My name is Brother Lassa. And you?" Finch asked.
"I'm Jared." Jared said, smiling. "And he's the Doctor."
"Since when did Krillitanes have wings?" The Doctor asked.
"It's been our form for nearly ten generations now. Our ancestors invaded Bessan. The people there had some rather lovely wings. They made a million widows in one day. Just imagine." Finch said.
"And now you're shaped human."
"A personal favourite, that's all."
"How about the other Krillitanes?" Jared asked, grabbing the Doctor's hand.
"My brothers remain bat form. What you see is a simple morphic illusion. Scratch the surface and the true Krillitane lies beneath. And what of the Time Lords? Doctor, I always thought of you as such a pompous race. Ancient, dusty senators, so frightened of change and chaos. And of course, they're all but extinct. Only you. The last." Finch said.
"This plan of yours. What is it?" The Doctor asked. "Jared knows your plan, but he's not telling me. Because it is spoilers."
"You don't know. Only he knows."
"That's why I'm asking."
"Well, show me how clever you are. Work it out."
"If I don't like it, then it will stop."
"Fascinating. Your people were peaceful to the point of indolence. You seem to be something new. Would you declare war on us, Doctor?"
"I'm so old now. I used to have so much mercy. You get one warning. That was it."
"But we're not even enemies. Soon you and Jared will embrace us. The next time we meet, you will join with me. I promise you."
"Yeah right." Jared said, happily walking away with the Doctor. "Come on, Spaceman!"
Sarah's car…
"Surveillance. If you ask me, it's just another way of saying go sit at the back of the class with the safety scissors and glitter." Mickey said, annoyed.
"You know what it's like to help out others!" Yui said, flying towards Mickey. "I have access to the entire internet like you do."
"She does." Kirito said, sitting next to Mickey. "Yui helped me save Asuna, when she was stuck in ALFheim online."
"Leafa helped out too!"
"Yeah, she did. My cousin."
IT classroom…
Sarah isn't making progress with the school computers, "It's not working."
"Give it to me." Rose said, and Sarah passed her the sonic screwdriver.
"Used to work first time in my day." Sarah said.
"Well, things were a lot simpler back then."
"Rose, can I give you a bit of advice?"
"I've got a feeling you're about to."
"I know how intense a relationship with the Doctor can be, and I don't want you to feel I'm intruding."
"I don't feel threatened by you, if that's what you mean."
"Right. Good. Because I'm not interested in picking up where we left off."
"No? With the big sad eyes and the robot dog? What else were you doing last night?"
"Oh no, another fight." Asuna said, sadly. "Why did I get paired up with those two?"
"It's okay, mommy." Yui said, appearing in front of Asuna. "You've got me!"
"I do. Thank you, Yui."
"Try me." Rose said, looking at Sarah.
"Mummies." Sarah said.
"I've met ghosts."
"Robots. Lots of robots."
"Slitheen, in Downing Street."
"Daleks!"
"Met the Emperor."
"Anti-matter monsters."
"Gas masked zombies."
"Real living dinosaurs."
"Real living werewolf."
"The Loch Ness Monster!"
"Seriously?"
"Rose, I think Sarah Jane had beaten you." Asuna said, smiling. "Nothing can beat meeting a myth. Like the Loch Ness Monster."
"Yeah, you're right." Rose said, happily. "Listen to us. It's like me and my mate Shareen. The only time we fell out was over a man, and we're arguing over the Doctor. Sarah Jane, with you, did he do that thing where he'd explain something at like, ninety miles per hour, and you'd go, what? And he'd look at you like you'd just dribbled on your shirt?"
"All the time. Does he still stroke bits of the Tardis?" Sarah asked.
"Yeah! Yeah, he does. I'm like, do you two want to be alone?"
Rose and Sarah have bonded and laugh.
"I don't think that this is a good idea." Yui said, frowning.
"You know what Kirito does." Asuna said, as she started laughing too. "He says something stupid in front of girls due to his naivety."
"And what do you do next?" Rose asked, still laughing along with Sarah.
"I take out any blade close to me and point it to him. To intimidate him! Like really? He should know better."
"The Doctor too, us Tylers' do a good slap to the Doctor. When he is being an idiot. He deserved it when he brought me home a year late."
"Threatening and having your mother slap your boyfriends!" Sarah said, looking between Rose and Asuna. "Brilliant!"
"Since I have more girl friends with me when we go to the virtual world. When Kirito says something stupid now. All of us girls gang up on him, and we went angry looks at him."
"So, the Doctor and Kirito are idiots. But they're our idiots." Rose said, excitedly.
The Doctor enters with Jared.
"How's it going?" The Doctor asked, while Rose, Sarah, and Asuna keep laughing. "What? Listen, I need to find out what's programmed inside these." Hysteria is setting in. "What? Stop it!"
"Let me guess, the ladies talked about the Doctor and Kirito." Jared said, looking over at Yui.
"They did." Yui said, sadly. "Is that normal?"
"Believe me, women are a complicated sex."
"All pupils to class immediately. And would all members of staff congregate in the staff room." Someone said on the intercom.
"People are coming inside." Asuna said, looking out of the window with Jared and Yui. "We have to direct them somewhere else."
Rose turns children away at the door, "No, no. This classroom's out of bounds. You've all got to go to the South Hall. Off you go. South Hall!"
"We'll win this." Jared said, smiling. "We can stop the Krillitanes. I know we do."
"You and your foreknowledge." Asuna said, crossing her arms. "No wonder we ask you if what we're doing will stop things from getting worse."
The Doctor does his old trick of looping wires around his neck and shoulders as he tries to get inside the CPU.
"I can't shift it." The Doctor said, annoyed.
"I thought the sonic screwdriver could open anything!" Sarah said, angrily.
"It can open anything except a deadlock seal." Jared said, letting out a sigh. "And on wood. God, if your sonic worked on everything."
"There's got to be something inside here. What're they teaching those kids?" The Doctor asked.
"Jared?" Asuna asked, looking at Jared.
"Spoilers." Jared said, smiling. "I don't want to ruin the fun for you guys!"
Sarah's car…
The external doors all slam shut.
"Great." Mickey said, crossing his arms. "We're locked out of the school. What now?"
"I don't know." Kirito said. "But Asuna is in there. With those bat things."
IT classroom…
Alien symbols appear on all the computer screens.
"You wanted the programme? There it is." Sarah said.
"Some sort of code." The Doctor said, when the code starts to resolve itself.
"Yui, anything?" Asuna asked, looking at her daughter.
"Nothing." Yui said, staring at the code. "It will take some time, though."
Main entrance...
Kenny runs along the corridors, looking into the classrooms. All the children are working at computers. He runs downstairs to the main entrance, and tries to open the doors. Mickey and Kirito spot him.
"There's a kid in there." Mickey said.
"We have to help him!" Kirito said, leaning back on the car seat. "If only we weren't on watch duty."
IT classroom...
"No. No, that can't be." The Doctor said, terrified.
"Mommy." Yui said, frowning. "I don't like this."
"Neither do I." Asuna said, with Yui floating above her. "Did you crack the code?"
"Yes. I figured it out too."
Main entrance…
"They've taken them all!" Kenny said.
"What?" Mickey asked.
"They've taken all the children!"
Sarah's car…
Mickey pushes the buttons on K9's back.
"Come on, we need some help." Mickey said, hitting K9's head, and it starts up.
"System restarting. All primary drives functioning." K9 said.
"You're working! Okay, no time to explain. we need to get inside the school. Do you have like, I don't know, a lock picking device?"
"We are in a car."
"Maybe a drill attachment?"
"We are in a car."
"Fat lot of good you are."
"Mickey, for someone good with technology as me." Kirito said, angrily. "You could be as slow as me. We're in a car, which means we can ram it into the school."
"Fair point, we're in a car." Mickey said, looking back at Kenny. "Get back!"
IT classroom…
"The Skasis Paradigm. They're trying to crack the Skasis Paradigm." The Doctor said.
"The Skasis what?" Sarah asked.
"The God maker. The universal theory. Crack that equation and you've got control of the building blocks of the universe. Time and space and matter, yours to control."
"So, the kids are like a giant computer." Asuna said, leaning against the table. "This puts the Cardinal System on a whole other level."
"Even for 2007 standards." Jared said, agreeing with Asuna. "This is way ahead of its time."
"Yes. And their learning power is being accelerated by the oil. That oil from the kitchens, it works as a, as a conducting agent. Makes the kids cleverer." The Doctor said, piecing things together.
"But that oil's on the chips. I've been eating them." Rose said, her eyes widening.
"Rose, what's fifty nine times thirty five?" Yui asked, flying towards the blonde.
"Two thousand and sixty five. Oh, my God."
"But why use children? Can't they use adults?" Sarah asked.
"No, it's got to be children. The God maker needs imagination to crack it. They're not just using the children's brains to break the code, they're using their souls." The Doctor said, when the headmaster has entered the room.
"Let the lesson begin. Think of it, Doctor, Jared. With the Paradigm solved, reality becomes clay in our hands. We can shape the universe and improve it." Finch said.
"Oh yeah? The whole of creation with the face of Mister Finch? Call me old fashioned, but I like things as they are."
"Me too, I like to experience things the way they should be." Jared said, happily. "I don't want to change the whole of creation."
"The both of you act like such radicals, and yet all you two want to do is preserve the old order? Think of the changes that could be made if this power was used for good." Finch said, looking between the Doctor and Jared.
"What, by someone like you?" The Doctor asked.
"No, someone like you and Jared. The Paradigm gives us power, but you could give us wisdom. Become a God at my side. Imagine what you could do. Think of the civilisations you could save. Perganon, Assinta. Your own people, Doctor, standing tall. The Time Lords reborn. And Jared you could save the lives you'll lose or have lost, the friends your friends have lost. Like Sachi, Yuuki, Penny, and Pyrrha."
"Doctor, Jared, don't listen to him." Sarah said, angrily.
"No, don't!" Yui said, flying towards Jared.
"You don't have to do that!" Asuna said, agreeing with Yui.
"And you could be with him throughout eternity." Finch said, looking at Sarah, then at Asuna. "Young, fresh, never wither, never age, never die. And Miss Yuuki, you could be with your Kirito and Yui forever. If only Jared agrees to it, Penny and Pyrrha will also be saved from their demises.Their lives are so fleeting. So many goodbyes. How lonely you must be, Doctor, Jared. Join us."
"I could save everyone." The Doctor said, calmly.
"No, we can save everyone." Jared said, happily. "I can save the people who I don't want to lose. I can rewrite the history of three different fandoms I'm a part of. Doctor Who, RWBY, and SAO."
"Yes." Finch said, looking between the Doctor and Jared.
"I could stop the war." The Doctor said.
"No. The universe has to move forward. Pain and loss, they define us as much as happiness or love. Whether it's a world, or a relationship, everything has its time. And everything ends." Sarah said, annoyed.
The Doctor throws a chair at the big screen, smashing it, "Out!"
School entrance…
Mickey drives Sarah's car through the glass doors.
"Come on!" Mickey said, looking at Kirito and Kenny.
Staircase…
Finch summons his brother. They throw off their disguises in the corridors and fly to him. Mickey, Kenny, and Kirito meet the Doctor, Sarah Jane, Rose, Jared, Asuna, and Yui at the bottom of the staircase.
"What is going on?" Mickey asked, when the Krillitanes are coming.
"We've got trouble." Jared said, taking out StormFlower. "Thank you Ren, for making me borrow them for this adventure."
Canteen…
Finch walks in followed by the bats.
"Are they my teachers?" Kenny asked.
"Yeah, they were." Jared said, aiming the dual pistols at the Krillitanes. "I'm sorry."
"We need the Doctor alive and Jared. As for the others? You can feast." Finch said, when the Krillitanes swoop.
They hide under the tables, while Jared is shooting at the bats. Suddenly another laser beam fells one of the bats. Finch is furious.
"K9!" Sarah said, happily.
"Suggest you engage running mode, mistress." K9 said.
"Come on!" The Doctor said, as everyone runs. "K9, Jared, hold them back!"
"Right." Jared said, shooting energy beams out of StormFlower at the Krillitanes. "This is for Penny and Pyrrha!"
"Affirmative, master. Maximum defence mode." K9 said, when the Doctor seals the doors. "Power supply failing."
"Forget the shooty dog thing and the fanboy." Finch said.
"Power supply failing."
Physics laboratory…
"It's the oil. Krillitane life forms can't handle the oil. That's it! They've changed their physiology so often, even their own oil is toxic to them. How much was there in the kitchens?" The Doctor asked.
"Barrels of it." Rose said, when the Krillitanes are battering at the door.
"Okay, we need to get to the kitchens." The Doctor said.
"And how are we supposed to do that?" Asuna asked.
"I don't know, we'll think of something." The Doctor said, looking at the two boyfriends. "Mickey, Kirito."
"What now, hold the coats?" Mickey asked.
"Get all the children unplugged and out of the school. Now then, bats, bats, bats. How do we fight bats?"
"Oh, that's easy." Kirito said, setting off the fire alarm. "Spending four years in VR with Asuna and the others."
"We really learn some things." Asuna said, when the noise hurts the Krillitane's ears. "Like that."
The humans escape.
Outside the canteen…
"And there's the alarm." Jared said, hearing the alarm that immediately stops. "Aww, he stopped it."
"Master." K9 said.
"Come on, boy. Good boy." The Doctor said, looking down at K9.
Classroom…
"Okay, listen everyone. We've got to get out of here." Mickey said, but the children don't hear him, or notice when he waves his hand in front of their face.
"Shit." Kirito said, running around the classroom. "What do we do to turn the screens off?"
"I don't know!" Mickey said, angrily.
Kitchen…
The Doctor tries his sonic screwdriver on the barrels of oil, "They've been deadlock sealed. Finch must've done that. I can't open them."
"The vats would not withstand a direct hit from my laser, but my batteries are failing." K9 said.
"Right. Everyone out the back door. K9, Yui, stay with me."
"I know what's gonna happen." Jared said, sadly. "And I really love dogs as much as kids."
Classroom…
"Let's see, we're dealing with computers." Kirito said, and he and Mickey are following the computer power back to a single wall switch. "All we have to do is cut the cord."
"Yeah." Mickey said, pulling out the plug for there to be a static noise and the and the screens go blank. "Everyone get out. Now!"
"You're all in danger!" Kirito said, while the children get up. "Just get out!"
"Come on, move! Let's go! Let's go!" Mickey said.
The Krillitanes pause to disguise themselves as humans again.
Kitchen…
The Doctor lines up the oil barrels for K9 to shoot at.
"Capacity for only one shot, Master, Yui. For maximum impact, I must be stationed directly beside the vat." K9 said.
"But you'll be trapped inside." Yui said, floating in front of K9. "We won't be able to get you out in time."
"That is correct."
"I can't let you do that." The Doctor said.
"No alternative possible, Master." K9 said.
"Goodbye, old friend."
"Goodbye, Master."
"You good dog."
"Affirmative."
Outside the kitchen…
The Doctor seals the door.
"Where's K9?" Sarah asked.
"We need to run." The Doctor said.
"We really do." Jared said, grabbing Asuna's hand and dragging her away. "Now, come on!"
"Where is he? What have you done!" Sarah said, while the Doctor is pulling her away.
Kitchen…
"When you find him, eat him if you must, but bring me his brain." Finch said, and they find K9, but they don't see that Yui is with the robot dog. "The little dog with a nasty bite. Not so powerful now, are you?"
K9 fires a sustained burst at the nearest barrel. The Krillitanes get splattered with their own oil.
"And there they go." Yui said, looking at the Krillitanes. "It's like defeating a boss on one of the floors of SAO. But these are a lot more dangerous."
School yard…
"Come on, guys! Let's go, let's go! Run!" Mickey said, angrily.
"You have to move!" Kirito said, looking back at the kids. "We don't have much time. Asuna, Yui…"
Kitchen…
"Burning!" Jackson said.
"You bad dog." Finch said.
"Affirmative." K9 said.
"I'm sorry." Yui said, looking back at the door. "But mommy and daddy needs me."
"Affirmative. Goodbye, Mistress Yui."
(Jared's POV)
Outside the school…
The school goes KaBOOM! The children rejoice as paper rains down on them.
"So, K9 didn't make it." Kirito said, looking at me.
"No, he didn't." I said, frowning. "Like I said, I love dogs as much as kids."
"What will he do now?" Asuna asked. "The Doctor?"
"Build another K9 model. And give him to Sarah."
"I'm sorry." The Doctor said, sadly.
"It's all right. He was just a daft metal dog. It's fine, really." Sarah said, bursting into tears.
The Doctor tries to comfort her.
Outside the Tardis…
Which has relocated itself from the destroyed school to Belle Vue Park. Sarah Jane walks up with the Doctor and I stepping out of the blue box.
"Cup of tea?" The Doctor asked.
"Come inside, Sarah." I said, eating some custard creams. "It's been a long day."
Tardis…
"You've redecorated." Sarah said.
"Do you like it?" The Doctor asked.
"Oh, I, I do. Yeah. I preferred it as it was, but er, yeah. It'll do."
"I love it." Rose said, happily.
"Hey, you what's forty seven times three hundred and sixty nine?"
"No idea. It's gone now. The oil's faded."
"But you're still clever. More than a match for him." Sarah said, now looking at Kirito and Asuna. "Like how Kirito and Asuna are a match for each other."
"You and me both. And I'll strive to have a relationship like those two have. With the Doctor. Right, Doctor?" Rose asked.
"Er, we're about to head off, but you could come with us." The Doctor said.
"No. I can't do this anymore. Besides, I've got a much bigger adventure ahead. Time I stopped waiting for you and found a life of my own." Sarah said.
"So, you know where we're going to next." Asuna said, drinking a cup of tea. "Where exactly?"
"Oh, a spaceship." I said, happily. "And France."
"How can we end up in both a spaceship and France?" Kirito asked.
"That's for me to know, and for you to find out."
"This is why mommy and daddy likes being with you." Yui said, sitting on Kirito's shoulder. "You allow them to come."
"Well, I'd better go." Sarah said.
"What do I do? Do I stay with him?" Rose asked.
"Yes. Some things are worth getting your heart broken for. Find me, if you need to, one day. Find me."
Kirito and Asuna's house...
"You almost died today." Weiss said, crossing her arms. "Thank goodness Ruby didn't log in yet."
"I know, I know." I said, laughing a lot. "So, what's next?"
"Oh, I don't know. The dance."
"You're going to a dance." Asuna said, looking at me. "Where is it at?"
"At Beacon." Weiss said, as I nodded my head. "It's coming soon."
"I forgot." I said, smiling. "I'll be there soon."
"You better."
Outside the TARDIS...
"Goodbye, my Sarah Jane." The Doctor said, lifting Sarah off her feet in a big hug, then goes back inside the Tardis.
Sarah Jane turns her back and walks away as the Tardis starts to dematerialise. At the last moment, she turns back to see K9.
"K9!" Sarah said, happily.
"Mistress." K9 said.
"But you were blown up."
"The Master rebuilt me. My systems are much improved with new undetectable hyperlink facilities."
"Oh, he replaced you with a brand new model."
"Affirmative."
"Yeah, he does that. Come on, you. Home. We've got work to do."
"Affirmative."
Sarah is now walking away with K9.