Army of Ghosts
(Jared's POV)
Gun Gale Online...
"You all know this story, the story where Rose is separated from the Doctor. And me, in that manner. Army of Ghosts and Doomsday." I said, getting some kills with LLENN and Fuka. "This is the day where I also met LLENN and Fuka, or their real names. Karen and Miyu. Two virtual reality players."
"We should totally hang out more than that." Fuka said, sending grenades below towards some enemies. "The three of us. We should totally go on a date."
"You two on a date?" LLENN asked, looking between Fuka and I. "The Doctor showed you the whole of time and space. He took you away from home, in his ship."
"Rose thought it would never end. But it did. Rose wants to be back with the Doctor. Like, she wanted to be with him forever! Clingy! That's what she is, clingy!"
"And a damsel in distress." I said, laughing a lot. "Rose thought she would be with the Doctor and I forever. Torchwood and the War between the Daleks and the Cybermen got in the way. It all ended for Rose."
"Like the snap of her fingers."
"Rose, was one girl I wish I knew more about." LLENN said, frowning. "She loved the Doctor so much. She's now separated from him. I felt so bad for her. And she's dead in this world."
(Open POV)
The Tyler's flat…
The Tardis materialises in a corner of the children's playground on a bright, sunny day. Rose has a very heavy rucksack with her.
"Mum, it's us! We're back!" Rose said, happily.
Jared looked over to see two impossible sights right in front of him, and he dropped his backpack on the ground. Madoka Kaname and Homura Akemi, right behind Jackie Tyler.
"Madoka, Homura." Jared said, walking over to the two girls, smiling. "It's so nice to meet you two."
"Don't be surprised. You asked us to come here. To this date and to this point in time." Homura said.
"Did I?" Jared asked.
"It's not bad that you don't know about it. Time travel. I'm happy that you're safe and sound right now." Madoka said, smiling. "You said that you needed some help. I was so worried about you, like how I am about the others."
"So, earliest timeline then." Jared said, looking over at Madoka and Homura. "What happened in the future, didn't happen yet. Good."
"What happened in the future?" Homura asked. "Is it good?"
"Spoilers."
Rose hands over her rucksack, "I've got loads of washing for you. And I got you this." A small ornate metal nick-nack. "It's from the market on this asteroid bazaar. It's made of, er, what's it called?"
"Bazoolium." The Doctor said.
"Bazoolium. When it gets cold, yeah, it means it's going to rain. When it's hot, it's going to be sunny. You can use it to tell the weather." Rose said, happily.
"I've got a surprise for you and all." Jackie said.
"Oh, I get her bazoolium, she doesn't even say thanks."
"Guess who's coming to visit? You're just in time. He'll be here at ten past. Who do you think it is?"
"I don't know."
"Oh go on, guess."
"No, I hate guessing. Just tell me."
"It's your granddad. Granddad Prentice. He's on his way any minute, Right, cup of tea!" Jackie said, going into the kitchen.
"She's gone mad." Rose said.
"Tell me something new." The Doctor said.
"Granddad Prentice, that's her dad. But he died, like, ten years ago. Oh, my God. She's lost it. Mum? What you just said about granddad."
Kitchen…
"Ordinal Scale. Activate." Jared said, with a controller in his hand, and his clothes transformed into the ones he used for the augmented reality game. "Whatcha think?"
"I don't know." Madoka said, happily. "The black and the blue looks cool."
"It is cool." Homura said. "I guess."
"Then how can he come back?" Rose asked.
��Why don't you ask him yourself? Ten past. Here he comes." Jackie said, when an ethereal humanoid shape walks through the outside wall and stands next to her. "Here we are, then. Dad, say hello to Rose. Ain't she grown?"
Powell Estate…
"That's not normal." Homura said, running behind Madoka.
The Doctor, Rose, Jared, Madoka, and Homura run out of the block of flats.
"Yeah." Madoka said, looking at the ghosts. "They're not witches."
"They're everywhere!" The Doctor said, and no one is alarmed at the sight of them.
"Madoka!" Jared said, when one of the shapes walked through the Doctor, then Madoka. "Ghosts. The army of ghosts."
"I'm fine." Madoka said, shivering a bit. "Why are they here?"
"They haven't got long. Midday shift only lasts a couple of minutes. They're about to fade." Jackie said.
"What do you mean, shift? Since when did ghosts have shifts? Since when did shifts have ghosts? What's going on?" The Doctor asked.
"Oh, he's not happy when Jared and I know more than him, is he?" Jackie asked.
"But no one's running or screaming or freaking out."
"Why should we? Here we go. Twelve minutes past." Jackie said.
Sphere laboratory…
"Let's do this LLENN." Miyu said, wearing a lab coat, and she is pulling a big lever, like the sort used to change railway points. "I've always wanted to do that."
"You love fantasy VR games." Karen said, as she is also wearing a lab coat, and the images vanish. "We have a lift back home afterwards."
"It is getting boring though. This woman with this weird name and space hair brought us here. To this time and place. She also brought some magical girls too, apparently."
"Madoka Kaname and Homura Akemi."
The Tyler's flat…
The Ghostwatch programme is on the television, presented by that bloke from Cash in the Attic.
"On today's Ghostwatch, claims that some of the ghosts are starting to talk, and there seems to be a regular formation gathering around Westminster Bridge. It's almost like a military display." Alistair Appleton said, on TV.
"What the hell's going on?" The Doctor asked, changing the channel.
"And tonight we're expecting very strong ghosts from London, through the North and up into Scotland." A weatherman said, on TV.
Trisha Goddard's show - I married a dead man.
"So basically, Eileen, what you're telling me is, that you are in love with a ghost." Trisha said, on TV.
"He's my ghost, and I love him twenty four seven." Eileen said, on TV.
"Who you gonna call?" Jared asked, when the Doctor changed the channel to an interview with a ghost hunter.
"Ghostbusters!" Madoka said, happily.
"Well, no one needs me anymore!" Derek Acorah said, on TV.
"Maybe there's an advertisement on a ghost." Homura said, as the Doctor changes the channel to an advert.
"My ghost was pale and grey until I discovered Ectoshine!" A housewife said, on TV.
"Et le President d'aujourd'hui, quelle est…" A French newsreader said, on TV.
An Indian newsreader follows, then a Japanese lady.
"Oh, yes." Jackie said, smiling.
"It's all over the world." The Doctor said, changing the channel to Eastenders.
"Listen to me, Den Watts. I don't care if you have come back from the grave. Get out of my pub! The only spirits I'm serving in this place are gin, whisky and vodka. So, you heard me. Get out!" Peggy said, on TV.
The Doctor turns the TV off, "When did it start?"
"Well, first of all, Peggy heard this noise in the cellar, so she goes down…" Jackie said.
"No, I mean worldwide." The Doctor said.
"Oh. That was about two months ago. Just happened. Woke up one morning, and there they all were. Ghosts, everywhere. We all ran round screaming and that. Whole planet was panicking. No sign of you, thank you very much. Then it sort of sank in. It took us time to realise that we're lucky."
"What makes you think it's granddad?" Rose asked.
"It just feels like him. There's that smell, those old cigarettes. Can't you smell it?"
"I wish I could, mum, but I can't."
"You've got to make an effort. You've got to want it, sweetheart."
"Well, the more you want it, the stronger it gets." Jared said, looking over at Madoka and Homura.
"You do have a point there." Madoka said, sitting next to Jared. "I just can't stand by and watch someone get hurt."
"In one reality where Madoka and Homura were separated for like years. Madoka becomes a god, and Homura could become a devil. For Homura, it was out of love."
"Like a psychic link. Of course you want your old dad to be alive, but you're wishing him into existence. The ghosts are using that to pull themselves in." The Doctor said.
"You're spoiling it." Jackie said.
"I'm sorry, Jackie, but there's no smell, there's no cigarettes. Just a memory."
"But if they're not ghosts, what are they then?" Rose asked.
"Yeah, but they're human! You can see them. They look human." Jackie said.
"She's got a point. I mean, they're all sort of blurred, but they're definitely people."
"Maybe not. They're pressing themselves into the surface of the world. But a footprint doesn't look like a boot." The Doctor said.
Lever room…
Yvonne makes the rounds of the bright young things at their computer terminals. Everyone is wearing a bluetooth earpiece.
"I'm getting bored!" Miyu said, walking around the lever room. "Us being here."
"River and the Law of Cycles said a couple of hours." Karen said, her voice over the Bluetooth earpiece. "Just wait."
"Help me Obi-Wan Kenobi, you're my only hope."
Sphere laboratory…
"At this point, I would think you're Spider-Man." Karen said.
"It's so busy down here, I'm on Sudoku book 509." Rajesh said. "And Carmen is occupied."
Lever room…
"You're like Carmen Sandiego." Miyu said. "Someone who's like this hero, a much more modern Robin Hood."
"I know." Rajesh said, his voice off the Bluetooth earpiece.
Sphere laboratory…
"Me, like Carmen Sandiego." Karen said, laughing a little. "But we did meet some of those magical girls. They're more like heroes than me."
"Don't you mean Teams RWBY and JNPR?" Miyu asked, her voice over Karen's Bluetooth earpiece.
"They hunt monsters." Karen said, walking towards the big blank sphere hanging in midair at the end of the laboratory.
"More like shadows of Grimm. Anything I should know about?"
"Besides River getting us here, with her vortex manipulator. We barely know her." Karen said, while there is a ladder just below the sphere. "Mickey is here. Rose's ex boyfriend. Our way out of here."
"We can't blow our cover yet, girlfriend."
"Yeah." Rajesh said, going up the ladder and tries to touch the sphere, but he can't.
Lever room…
"I know that." Karen said, her voice coming out of Miyu's earpiece.
"You so want your P-Chan right now." Miyu said, pretending that she is working. "We will kick some asses in GGO later."
"How long till they get here?"
"Iron Man, Scarlet Witch, Player, Hawkeye, and Belle? A couple of minutes I think." Miyu said, looking down at her phone. "They'll show up after the ghost shift."
"River never told us what those things were."
"She's a woman of mystery. Like Homura Akemi."
"You call her a woman of mystery. I don't know what to think of Homura."
"Let's start with her ruining everything. Restarting time over and over again, to save Madoka."
"Sure." Yvonne said, and Gareth leaves.
"Yvonne, I'm going to go and cross reference the levels with the sphere." Adeola said.
"Okay, fine." Yvonne said, and Adeola leaves. "And they think we haven't noticed."
Sphere laboratory...
"What do we even know about River Song?" Karen asked, walking around the room.
"Nothing really. We're far from home." Miyu said, her voice coming out of Karen's Bluetooth earpiece. "We're not in Japan."
"So, what now? We just wait here?"
"You're like the only person I know around here."
"I know. Let's save the day."
"Without the Doctor and those magical girls?"
"Those magical girls defeat witches to rack up grief seeds. Teams RWBY and JNPR hunt down Grimm, and kill them."
"I wish I had my P-Chan on me."
(Jared's POV)
Tardis…
"According to the paper, they've elected a ghost as MP for Leeds. Now don't tell me you're going to sit back and do nothing." Rose said.
The Doctor pops up from below the console floor wearing a backpack and holding a hosepipe like device, "Who you going to call?"
"Ghostbusters!" Rose and I said, happily.
"I ain't afraid of no ghosts." The Doctor said.
Playground…
"When's the next shift?" The Doctor asked, putting three metal cones linked by wires on the grass with Madoka and Homura.
"Quarter to. But don't go causing trouble. What's that lot do?" Jackie asked.
"Triangulates their point of origin."
"We're magical girls." Homura said, unsure about herself. "And we're hunting down ghosts."
"This will become our new past time." Madoka said, smiling. "I do miss the rest of my family and friends though. Wish I never left them. But we will get back to them soon."
"After this."
"After this. We won't become witches. And that woman did tell us that in another world, there are creatures of Grimm."
Tardis…
The Doctor, Rose, and I plug the power cable into the Tardis console. Jackie follows the Doctor and Rose in and closes the door.
"Talk about old fashioned." I said, looking at the neat trick with such a thick cable running through it. "I don't want to lose Madoka or Homura today. Even if what I find what Homura did in the future selfish."
"Time can be rewritten." Weiss said, starting a video call with me through my Augma. "Yui patched me through. Don't tell me you're about to do something ridiculously stupid."
"When don't I?"
"To the level of Kirito, the Doctor, Madoka, and Ruby. I guarantee it."
"Hang on a minute, I know. Push that one." Rose said, looking down at a button.
"Close." The Doctor said.
"One, Madoka chose to become the Law of Cycles." I said, leaning against the TARDIS console. "And two, we're not supposed to remember her."
"We're time travelers now. This could be a figment of your imagination you know." Weiss said, her image staring right at me, through my Augma. "We could be stuck in what is Homura's world."
"And none of us should even know about Madoka Kaname. I know. But this, this is real."
"We won't know for sure. Something must be protecting us somehow."
(Open POV)
Lever room...
"Two minutes to the next shift. Let's make it a good one, people." Yvonne said, and Adeola enters, wearing two earpieces. "Come on, you two."
"I'm sorry we're late." Adeola said.
"Something is wrong with them." Miyu said, looking between Adeola and Gareth. "Don't know what. It looks like we're sending our signal to the Doctor."
"Sorry we're late." Gareth said.
"And powering up." Yvonne said.
The man in the lab coat moves the big lever. Gareth and Adeola's earpieces flash, and they type into their computers.
Playground…
The Doctor activates the cones, "What's the line doing?"
Tardis…
"You know about the future then." Homura said, approaching Jared. "About what I did."
"Maybe I know. Maybe I don't." Jared said, looking over at Homura. "I know what you did. Or what you will do. Time travel is complicated."
"You know about my future, and my past. About what I did. Or what I will do."
"I know that things haven't been lining up with reality. Madoka Kaname is the Law of Cycles for all magical girls. She didn't want to leave the people she loved and cared about."
"She left anyway."
"But that doesn't give you the right to restrict her memories like that. She forgot her purpose in life."
"You don't have the power to stop me in any way." Homura said, walking towards Jared. "You thinking that this is the earliest in my timeline with Madoka, Mami, Kyoko, and Sayaka. It's all been a trick."
"How about my life with the Doctor and Rose then? Me hopping through virtual worlds with the survivors of Sword Art Online. And killing Grimm with Teams RWBY and JNPR?"
"That reality was real. What's around you know is technically my domain." Homura said, walking towards Jared.
"I know what you meant. What happens when I'm gone?" Jackie asked.
"Don't talk like that." Rose said.
"No, but really. When I'm dead and buried, you won't have any reason to come back home. What happens then?"
"I don't know."
"Do you think you'll ever settle down?"
"The Doctor never will, so I can't. I'll just keep on travelling."
"And you'll keep on changing. And in forty years time, fifty, there'll be this woman, this strange woman, walking through the marketplace on some planet a billion miles from Earth. But she's not Rose Tyler. Not anymore. She's not even human."
"You shouldn't even remember her. Madoka Kaname." Homura said, walking towards Jared. "You have a chance at being normal again. What it means to be human."
"This is the TARDIS. The safest place in the universe." Jared said, smiling.
Playground..
"I wonder what kind of ghost we'll see." Madoka said, happily.
Lever room…
"And we're into Ghost Shift." Yvonne said, putting on a pair of dark glasses as the room fills with bright light.
"Online." The computer said.
Playground...
"Cool." Madoka said, when a ghost appears between the cones, and gets trapped.
TARDIS...
"You think you can stop me." Homura said, while Jackie and Rose watch the ghost on the scanner. "You're like the only last hope to break out of this. And I won't let you stop me."
Jared walked towards Homura, trying to stop her, but he couldn't, "What are you doing to me?"
"If you want to survive this. You have to do things on my terms. Or do you want Ruby Rose to hate you?"
"Leave her out of this! I know that I won't remember any of this." Jared said, when the Doctor puts on a pair of red and blue 3D cardboard spectacles and makes an adjustment to his control box. "I know I won't. I will remember that you're a demon."
"Good." Homura said, letting go of her hand. "You got yourself involved. When you knew something was wrong."
Lever room…
An alarm sounds in the Institute.
"What've we got?" Yvonne asked.
"Something's interfering with the ghost field." Matt said.
"Location?"
"It's close. It's within the city."
Playground...
The ghost is starting to writhe inside the field.
"Don't like that much, do you? Who are you? Where are you coming from? Whoa!" The Doctor said, when the ghost tries to break out of the field. "That's more like it! Not so friendly now, are you?"
Lever room…
"Close it down. Close it down!" Yvonne said, angrily.
"Offline." The computer said.
"Yui, time's gone wrong." Miyu said, as the two levers are being moved, at either side of the room. "And so has the world. You got any ideas?"
"I don't know." Yui said, when the ghost fades and vanishes. "I could see what's wrong with Jared."
"Please do. I need to know how he's doing." Miyu said, and the Doctor gathers up the cones.
"It was a very specific excitation of the ghost field, and that makes it easy to pinpoint. Almost there South London. South East fifteen. It's a council estate. The Powell Estate. SU15 7GO. It was a public area." Matt said.
"Can we patch into the CCTV network?" Yvonne asked.
"Doing it now." Matt said, while the Doctor runs into the Tardis with Madoka. "Here we go. We've got a camera within fifty yards."
The Tardis comes into view.
"Oh, my God." Yvonne said.
"Is it him?" Matt asked.
"It's him."
Tardis…
"I said so! Those ghosts have been forced into existence from one specific point, and I can track down the source. Allons-y!" The Doctor said, happily.
Lever room…
The Tardis dematerialises.
"He's coming." Yvonne said, running out of the room.
Adeola and Gareth look at each other.
Corridor…
"Rajesh. It's him!" Yvonne said, smiling.
Sphere laboratory…
"Now we've got you." Rajesh said.
Tardis…
"I like that. Allons y. I should say allons-y more often. Allons y. Watch out, Rose Tyler. Allons-y. And then, it would be really brilliant if I met someone called Alonso, because then I could say, allons-y, Alonso, every time. You're staring at me." The Doctor said, looking at Rose.
"You know what's next." Madoka said, walking up to Jared. "Do you know what's ahead?"
"Ahead?" Jared asked, as the Tardis materialises in Torchwood Loading Bay 2, and is immediately surrounded by armed troops. "What's ahead?"
"The future. You like knowing information, right?" Madoka asked, when the Doctor watches the soldiers on the scanner.
"Me knowing information? I don't know what you're talking about."
"Well, you brought her." The Doctor said.
"I was kidnapped!" Jackie said, angrily.
"Doctor, they've got guns." Rose said.
"And I haven't. Which makes me the better person, don't you think? They can shoot me dead, but the moral high ground is mine." The Doctor said.
Loading bay...
The Doctor steps outside and raises his arms.
Yvonne runs in on her high heels, "Oh! Oh, how marvellous. Oh, very good. Superb. Happy day."
She starts clapping and the soldiers join in. The Doctor lowers his arms.
"Er, thanks. Nice to meet you. I'm the Doctor." The Doctor said.
"Oh, I should say. Hurray!" Yvonne said, happily.
"You, you've heard of me, then?"
"Well of course we have. And I have to say, if it wasn't for you, none of us would be here. The Doctor and the Tardis."
More applause.
"And you are?"
"Oh, plenty of time for that. But according to the records, you're not one for travelling alone. The Doctor and his companions. That's a pattern, isn't it, right? There's no point hiding anything. Not from us. So where are they?"
"Yes. Sorry. Good point. They're just a bit shy, that's all." The Doctor said, reaching in through the slightly open door and grabs the first two people he can. "But here they are, Rose Tyler and Homura Akemi. Hmm. Rose's not the best I've ever had. Bit too blonde. Not too steady on her pins. A lot of that."
"Hi." Homura said, standing next to Jackie.
"And just last week, Rose stared into the heart of the Time Vortex and aged fifty seven years. But they'll do." The Doctor said.
"I'm forty." Jackie said, angrily.
"Deluded. Bless. I'll have to trade them in. Do you need anyone? Rose's very good at tea. And Homura is very good at saving people. Well, I say very good, I mean not bad. Well, I say not bad. Anyway, lead on. Allons y. But not too fast. Rose's ankle's going."
"I'll show you where my ankle's going."
Warehouse…
"It was only a matter of time until you found us, and at last you've made it. I'd like to welcome you, Doctor. Welcome to Torchwood." Yvonne said, opening the door to a massive warehouse area, with lots of crates, jeeps and trucks running around, and a flying saucer.
"You must be Homura." Karen said, walking up to Homura. "Hi."
"Hey." Homura said, looking at Karen. "So, you know what we're facing here."
"River did tell us the important details, pepper pots and metal men." Miyu said, happily. "But we don't know what they are yet."
"No, we shot it down. It violated our airspace. Then we stripped it bare. The weapon that destroyed the Sycorax on Christmas Day? That was us. Now, if you'd like to come with me. The Torchwood Institute has a motto. If it's alien, it's ours. Anything that comes from the sky, we strip it down and we use it for the good of the British Empire." Yvonne said.
"For the good of the what?" Jackie asked.
"The British Empire."
"There isn't a British Empire."
"Not yet. Ah, excuse me. Now, if you wouldn't mind." Yvonne said, and a soldier hands her a very big gun. "Do you recognise this, Doctor?"
"That's a particle gun." The Doctor said.
"It doesn't beat two grenade launchers." Miyu said, laughing a lot. "Or any weapons you see in ALFheim Online."
"You like virtual games." Homura said, looking at Miyu. "I wonder what you two do for a living. That keeps you both going."
"We do a lot." Karen said, leaning against the wall. "If I can say something, you know what you do to keep you going. To save the girl you love."
"You don't want to fight me then."
"No, I don't. River told me that you've been through a lot these past few years. That this might not even be real."
"It isn't real. But once Madoka realizes that she still has her power, and breaks free from mine. The Incubators will get her. I'm doing this out of love."
"Why wouldn't you?" Miyu asked. "Together or not all."
"No, I suppose not. What was your name?" The Doctor asked.
"Yvonne. Yvonne Hartman." Yvonne said, as the Doctor picks up a black plastic step-stool with a handle on top. "Ah, yes. Now, we're rather fond of these. The Magnaclamp. Found in a spaceship buried at the base of Mount Snowdon. Attach this to an object and it cancels the mass. I could use it to lift two tonnes of weight with a single hand. That's an imperial ton, by the way. Torchwood refuses to go metric."
"I could do with that to carry the shopping." Jackie said.
"All these devices are for Torchwood's benefit, not the general public's." Yvonne said.
"So, what about these ghosts?" The Doctor asked.
"Ah yes, the ghosts. They're er what you might call a side effect."
"Of what?"
"All in good time, Doctor. There is an itinerary, trust me."
The TARDIS is driven past on the back of a truck.
"Oi! Where are you taking that?" Jackie asked.
"If it's alien, it's ours." Yvonne said.
"You'll never get inside it." The Doctor said.
"Hmm! Et cetera."
Rose and Madoka peek out of the Tardis. The Doctor gives them a little nod.
Tardis…
"So, what are we looking for?" Madoka asked, as Rose goes through the Doctor's coat pockets.
"Something helpful, I guess." Jared said, holding Madoka's hand. "I don't know what to expect. I know I'm missing something, I just don't know what."
"Neither do I."
"Psychic paper, psychic paper." Rose said.
"Now, what's a psychic paper?" Madoka asked.
"It's a piece of paper that shows someone what they want to see." Rose said, handing Madoka the psychic paper. "What do you see?"
"The Law of Cycles...that's me." Madoka said, looking down at the psychic paper.
Corridor...
"All those times I've been on Earth, I've never heard of you." The Doctor said.
"But of course not. You're the enemy. You're actually named in the Torchwood Foundation Charter of 1879 as an enemy of the Crown." Yvonne said.
"1879. That was called Torchwood, that house in Scotland."
"That's right. Where you encountered Queen Victoria and the werewolf."
"Queen Victoria and the werewolf?" Karen asked.
"That sounds like an episode title." Miyu said. "Tooth and Claw!"
"Because a werewolf has teeth and claws." Homura said. "Am I right?"
"Yeah."
Sphere laboratory…
"Now, what do you make of that?" Yvonne asked.
"You must be the Doctor. Rajesh Singh. It's an honour, sir." Rajesh said.
"Yeah." The Doctor said.
"So, what is that?" Homura asked, walking towards the sphere.
"We got no idea." Yvonne said.
"But what's wrong with it?" Jackie asked.
"What makes you think there's something wrong with it?" Rajesh asked.
"I don't know. It just feels weird."
"Well, the sphere has that effect on everyone. Makes you want to run and hide, like it's forbidden." Yvonne said.
"We tried analysing it using every device imaginable." Rajesh said, as the Doctor puts on his 3D glasses. "But according to our instruments, the sphere doesn't exist. It weighs nothing, it doesn't age. No heat, no radiation, and has no atomic mass."
"But we can see it!" Miyu said, staring at the sphere. "It's spherical! Spherical!"
"Fascinating, isn't it? It upsets people because it gives off nothing. It is absent."
"Well, Doctor?" Yvonne asked.
"This is a Void Ship." The Doctor said.
"And what is that?"
"Well, it's impossible for starters. I always thought it was just a theory, but it's a vessel designed to exist outside time and space, travelling through the Void."
"And what's the Void?" Rajesh asked.
"The space between dimensions. There's all sorts of realities around us, different dimensions, billions of parallel universes all stacked up against each other. The Void is the space in between, containing absolutely nothing. Imagine that. Nothing. No light, no dark, no up, no down, no life, no time. Without end. My people called it the Void. The Eternals call it the Howling. But some people call it Hell." The Doctor said.
"But someone built the sphere. What for? Why go there?"
"To explore? To escape? You could sit inside that thing and eternity would pass you by. The Big Bang, end of the Universe, start of the next, wouldn't even touch the sides. You'd exist outside the whole of creation."
"You see, we were right. There is something inside it." Yvonne said, smirking.
"Oh, yes."
"So how do we get in there?" Rajesh asked.
"We don't! We send that thing back into Hell. How did it get here in the first place?" The Doctor asked.
"Well, that's how it all started. The sphere came through into this world, and the ghosts followed in its wake." Yvonne said.
"Show me." The Doctor said, walking out of the room and turned left.
"Doctor, you're going the wrong way." Karen said.
"Come on, Spaceman!" Miyu said, when the Doctor turns around and goes right. "Show me the stars."
"Spaceman?" Karen asked, walking behind Miyu.
"The Doctor's an alien."
"So, you think you can trust him." Homura said. "This Doctor?"
"It's just this gut feeling she has." Karen said.
"What gut feeling? Another instinct?"
Room...
Rose and Jared sneak out of the Tardis, which has been put next to a very large and brightly decorated mummy case. They grabbed white coats from a bench and walks out.
"Jared, tell Homura that I'll see her again." Madoka said, looking over at Jared. "And that I'll see you again. I'll be watching over my friends, my family, and my fellow magical girls, always."
"Madoka, thank you." Jared said, smiling. "I wish I knew what the future involved."
"And don't worry." Madoka said, flying towards Jared to touch his face. "Your foreknowledge should be coming back to you now."
"Thanks, I really do appreciate it."
"I'll always be there for you. If you're ever in danger."
Yvonne's office…
Yvonne points the Doctor at the blank wall at the far end of the Lever room, "The sphere came through here. A hole in the world. Not active at the moment, but when we fire particle engines at that exact spot, the breech opens up."
"How did you even find it?" The Doctor asked.
"We were getting warning signs for years. A radar black spot. So we built this place, Torchwood Tower. The breach was six hundred feet above sea level. It was on the only way to reach it." Yvonne said.
"You built a skyscraper just to reach a spatial disturbance? How much money have you got?"
"Enough."
Jackie is looking out of a window.
"Hold on a minute. We're in Canary Wharf. Must be. This building, it's Canary Wharf." Jackie said.
"Well, that is the public name for it. But to those in the know, it's Torchwood." Yvonne said.
"So, you find the breach, probe it, the sphere comes through six hundred feet above London, bam. It leaves a hole in the fabric of reality. And that hole, you think, oh, shall we leave it alone? Shall we back off? Shall we play it safe? Nah, you think let's make it bigger!" The Doctor said, happily.
"It's a massive source of energy. If we can harness that power, we need never depend on the Middle East again. Britain will become truly independent. Look, you can see for yourself. Next Ghost Shift's in two minutes."
Lever room…
"Cancel it." The Doctor said.
"I don't think so." Yvonne said.
"I'm warning you, cancel it."
"Oh, exactly as the legends would have it. The Doctor, lording it over us. Assuming alien authority over the Rights of Man."
"I've had enough experience with meddling through time." Homura said, walking over to the Doctor to take his sonic screwdriver from him. "To save Madoka Kaname. So, let me show you." She points the Doctor's sonic screwdriver at Yvonne's glass wall. It cracks. "The sphere came through to this world. It made the hole between the worlds. It should be simple."
"But it wasn't, it looked like." Karen said, agreeing with Homura. "When it made the hole, it cracked this world and another around it."
"The entire surface of this dimension cracked, making things come through. It could be witches or Grimm. Basically anything. In this case, it was the ghosts."
"The ghosts came through like no tomorrow!" Miyu said, smiling. "That's why they were able to travel so fast! Faster than light."
"They're bleeding through the fault lines. Walking from their world, across the Void, and into yours, with the human race hoping and wishing and helping them along. But too many ghosts, and…" The Doctor said, tapping the glass and it shatters.
"Well, in that case we'll have to be more careful. Positions! Ghost Shift in one minute." Yvonne said.
"Miss Hartman, I am asking you, please don't do it." The Doctor said.
"We have done this a thousand times." Yvonne said.
"Then stop at a thousand!"
"We're in control of the ghosts. The levers can open the breach, but equally they can close it."
"Okay." The Doctor said, going back into her office and fetches a chair to sit on.
"Sorry?"
"Never mind. As you were."
"What, is that it?" Yvonne asked.
"No, fair enough. Said my bit. Don't mind me. Any chance of a cup of tea?" The Doctor asked.
"Ghost Shift in twenty seconds." Adeola said.
"Time to hunt down some ghosts." Miyu said, smiling. "Or wait for them to show up. Oh, this is so exciting!"
"It is." Karen said, walking over to the Doctor with Miyu and Homura.
"Come on ladies, let's wait and see what happens."
"Likewise." Homura said.
"Stop the shift. I said stop." Yvonne said.
"Thank you." The Doctor said.
"I suppose it makes sense to get as much intelligence as possible. But the programme will recommence, as soon as you've explained everything."
"I'm glad to be of help."
"And someone clear up this glass. They did warn me, Doctor. They said you like to make a mess."
Matt is at his computer, wearing two earpieces. Now there are three busily typing.
(Jared's POV)
Hallway...
"You took long enough." Kyōko said, walking up to me. "What have you been doing?"
"I saw Madoka." I said, following another scientist with Rose and Kyōko. "More like she said goodbye to me."
"You're still trying to deal with it. Meeting someone you barely knew."
"How can I deal with it?"
"You just deal with it." Kyōko said, as she, Rose, and I walked past a sign saying Torchwood Institute, Reception, Lever Room, Maintenance. "Dealing with loss is easy."
"Easy for you. What's new with you?"
"New with me? I was here for a while." Kyōko said, grabbing the psychic paper from Rose to put it against the entry reader for the door the scientist has just gone through. "Waiting for you guys to show up."
Sphere laboratory…
"Talk about creepy sphere." I said, walking behind Kyōko. "Really creepy."
Rose, Kyōko, and I entered, and is transfixed by the sphere.
"Tell me about it." Kyōko said, looking over at me. "That thing has always creeped me out."
Rajesh comes over to us, "Can I help you?"
"We were just…" Rose said.
"Try not to look. It does that to everyone. What do you want?" Rajesh asked.
"Sorry. They sent us from personnel. They said some man had been taken prisoner. Some sort of Doctor? We're just checking the lines of communication. Did they tell you anything?"
"Can I see your authorisation?"
"Sure." Rose said, handing him the psychic paper.
"That's lucky. You see, everyone at Torchwood has at least a basic level of psychic training. This paper is blank, and you're fakes. Seal the room. Call security. Samuel, can you check the door locks? They just walked right in." Rajesh said.
"Mickey Mouse." I said, with Mickey turning around giving Rose and I the thumbs up. "Man, I haven't seen you in a while."
"Doing it now, sir." Mickey said.
"Well, if you'd like to take a seat." Rajesh said.
(Open POV)
Yvonne's office…
"So these ghosts, whatever they are, did they build the sphere?" Yvonne asked.
"Must have. Aimed it at this dimension like a cannon ball." The Doctor said.
"Yvonne? I think you should see this. We've got visitors. We don't know who they are, but funnily enough, they arrived at the same time as the Doctor." Rajesh said.
Yvonne turns her laptop so the Doctor can see Rose, Jared, and Kyōko, and Rajesh on the webcam, "They one of yours?"
"Never seen them before in my life." The Doctor said.
"Really, Spaceman?" Jared asked, looking at Homura. "And Homura, I think two magical girls down here makes a lot more sense than one."
"Of course you would want me down there." Homura said, stopping time and walking over to the sphere laboratory. "On my way."
Homura then appeared behind Kyōko in the sphere laboratory, while resuming time.
"Good. Then we can have them shot." Yvonne said.
"Oh, all right then. It was worth a try. That's, that's Rose Tyler and Jared Shay." The Doctor said.
"Sorry. Hello." Rose said, on screen.
"Okay, let's do this, Fuka." Jared said, on screen. "Hello, my name is Inigo Montoya…"
"You killed my father." Miyu said, looking at Jared. "Prepare to die. I am Groot."
"To infinity and beyond!"
"Those two are making pop culture references." Homura said, on screen.
"This could take a while." Karen said.
"They're gonna drive me insane!" Kyōko said, on screen. "Now if I meet someone who makes bad puns, I'm done."
"Excuse me? Everyone? I thought I said stop the ghost shift. Who started the programme? But I ordered you to stop! Who's doing that?" Yvonne asked, when the levers are moving. "Right, step away from the monitors, everyone. Gareth, Addy, stop what you're doing, right now. Matt, step away from your desk. That's an order! Stop the levers! Andrew!" A scientist grabs one of the levers. "Stop the levers!"
"What's she doing?" Karen asked.
"Addy, step away from the desk. Listen to me. Step away from the desk."
"She can't hear you. They're overriding the system. We're going into Ghost Shift." The Doctor said.
Sphere laboratory…
"Yvonne, I thought you said the next Ghost Shift was cancelled. What's going on? Yvonne?" Rajesh asked.
"Crap, this isn't good, ladies." Jared said, taking out a controller out of his pocket. "Ordinal Scale. Activate." His clothes changed to what he normally had for that augmented reality game. "You two should probably transform."
Lever room...
"It's the ear piece. It's controlling them. I've seen this before. Sorry. I'm so sorry." The Doctor said, zapping Adeola's ear piece with his sonic screwdriver.
"Talk about shocking." Miyu said, as Adeola screams, and so do Gareth and Matt.
"Shocking?" Karen asked, and Adeola, Gareth, and Matt collapse. "Really?"
"What happened? What did you just do?" Yvonne asked.
"They're dead." The Doctor said.
"You killed them." Jackie said.
"Oh, someone else did that long before I got here."
"But you killed them!"
"Jackie, I haven't got time for this."
"What are those ear pieces?" Miyu asked, walking towards Adeola. "Old tech, headphones?"
"Don't." The Doctor said.
"But they're standard comms. devices. How does it control them?" Yvonne asked.
"Trust me, leave them alone." The Doctor said.
"But what are they?" Yvonne asked, pulling off an ear piece off Adeola. A rope of gray matter comes with it. "Urgh! Oh, God! It goes inside their brain."
"Gross." Karen said, frowning. "What about the Ghost Shift? Those people could be in danger."
"Ninety percent there and still running. Can't you stop it?" Yvonne asked.
"They're still controlling it. They've hi-jacked the system." The Doctor said.
"Who's they?"
"It looks like the Iron Legion came." Miyu said, while Rajesh is on Yvonne's laptop with the message Sphere Activated. "Or they will come."
"The Iron Legion?" Karen asked. "What's that?"
Sphere laboratory…
"We've got a problem down here. Yvonne, can you hear me?" Rajesh asked, while the sphere is trembling. "Yvonne, for God's sake. The sphere is active! The readings are going wild! It's got weight, it's got mass, an electromagnetic field. It exists!" Clunk, thump. "The door's sealed. Automatic quarantine. We can't get out!"
"Ready, Kyōko, Homura." Jared said, looking back at the two magical girls who's transformed into their outfits. "I remember what's in there. And it's not pretty."
"What are we dealing wIth exactly?" Kyōko asked, holding out her spear. "Is it a witch?"
"By the knowledge I have of this universe." Homura said, as the sphere's shutters are becoming more violent. "It could be anything."
Lever room…
"So, we don't know what we're facing." Karen said, taking out her Augma.
"It could range from anything within ALFheim Online or Gun Gale Online." Miyu said, placing her Augma on her head. "Or this might something we never faced before."
"What do you think it is?"
"Something we could beat up easily." Miyu said, as her clothes changed to something more comfortable out of Ordinal Scale with a battle axe in her hand. "We could take it down, no problem."
"You're going into this reckless. As usual." Karen said, and her clothes changed to something pink and white and her gun in her hand. "What's the plan?"
"Just cover me with your P-Chan. You got that, girlfriend?"
"I wonder what River left out."
"It's probably not that big of a deal." Miyu said, looking back at Jackie. "We're keeping this loving mother safe and sound."
"You know that I can hear you." Jackie said, angrily.
Sphere laboratory...
"We had them beaten, but then they escaped. The Cybermen just vanished. They found a way through to this world, but so did we." Mickey said.
"The Doctor said that was impossible." Rose said.
"Yeah, it's not the first time he's been wrong." Mickey said.
"You really know what's in there?" Kyōko asked, looking back at Jared.
"It's something I hate. Something I despise, more than an Incubator." Jared said, holding out his sword.
"This thing must be hell then." Homura said. "The Incubators made me lose the people I loved and care about."
"These things are like them, but much worse."
Lever room...
Cybermen escort the Doctor and Yvonne in.
"Get away from the machines. Do what they say. Don't fight them!" The Doctor said, when the Cybermen activate their arm guns and shoot the scientists holding back the levers.
"What are they?" Jackie asked.
"We are the Cybermen. The Ghost Shift will be increased to one hundred percent." A Cyberman said.
The levers move up.
"Online." The computer said.
"Here come the ghosts." Miyu said, when the shadowy images appear as usual. "Something we can't beat, I assume."
"I wonder what it is though." Karen said, looking at the Cybermen. "These things come from a different world."
"A world that isn't ours." Miyu said, and heavy boot steps are heard through the blank wall at the end.
Sphere laboratory...
"Can anyone hear me? Come on, I need help down here! I need.." Rajesh said, hearing a creak, thunk.
Mickey removes his white coat and ear piece, "Here we go."
"We can take these things no problem." Kyōko said, watching the Sphere starting to crack open, then a black hole appear. "It shouldn't be that hard."
Lever room...
"But these Cybermen, what've they got to do with the ghosts?" Jackie asked.
"Do you never listen? A footprint doesn't look like a boot." The Doctor said.
"Achieving full transfer." The Cyberleader said.
"They're Cybermen. All of the ghosts are Cybermen. Millions of them, right across the world."
"This isn't good." Miyu said, while the ghosts solidify and form up in squads everywhere. "We're up against those."
"What did we get ourselves into?" Karen asked, as people start to scream and run.
"All of these people getting deleted. Talk about control, alt, delete."
"Yeah."
"They're invading the whole planet." Yvonne said.
"It's not an invasion. It's too late for that. It's a victory." The Doctor said.
"Sphere activated. Sphere activated. Sphere activated. Sphere activated." The computer said.
Sphere laboratory...
"I know what's in there, and I'm ready for them. I've got just the thing." Mickey said, getting his really massive gun from underneath the platform below the sphere. "This is going to blast them to Hell."
"Samuel, what are you doing?" Rajesh asked.
"The name's Mickey. Mickey Smith. Defending the Earth, with Homura Akemi and Kyōko Sakura." Mickey said, as his gun is lock and loaded.
"Talk about my style." Kyōko said, smirking. "This must be machinery then."
Lever room...
"But I don't understand. The Cybermen don't have the technology to build a Void Ship. That's way beyond you. How did you create that sphere?" The Doctor asked.
"This is bad." Karen said. "What can we do?"
"We know we can't beat them." Miyu said, looking down at her battle axe. "Augmented reality is different from real life."
"A little bit different."
"Then what's inside it?" The Doctor asked.
"Rose is down there." Jackie said.
Sphere laboratory...
"Damn it, Homura." Jared said, when the sphere is slowly disappearing in a blaze of light. "You had to alter my memory. I forgot that Daleks were in there."
"I messed up." Homura said, as the four oversized pepperpots glide out of the Void. "It's not that big of a deal."
"That's not Cybermen." Mickey said.
"And it's not witches." Kyōko said, looking back at Homura and Jared. "What is that?"
"Location, Earth. Life forms detected. Exterminate!" A Black Dalek said.
"Exterminate! Exterminate! Exterminate!" The Daleks said.