The Shakespeare Code

Kirito and Asuna's house…

"So, you decided to take Sayaka and Kyoko with you to meet Shakespeare." Asuna said, walking towards Jared. "What about me and Kirito?"

"I don't know who to take honestly. Maybe...this is one adventure where I just don't know." Jared said, sitting down on the couch.

"Then take Madoka and Silica with you. That seems like the only logical solution, right?"

"Madoka and Silica. I never really thought about it."

"You don't know until you try."

"I don't know really. Silica is defenseless, while Madoka is the Law of Cycles."

"Just try it out." Weiss said, entering the room. "You know you're so stubborn. You can't stop now."

"But Sayaka and Kyoko, they don't know that they can't..."

"Stop." Asuna said, raising her hand up. "I already sent them a text while you've been here."

"Don't make us come there and stop you." Weiss said, and Jared logged out. "Got it?"

Tardis…

The Tardis is still bucking, and Martha is hanging on to the console. Jared wakes up to see Sayaka and Kyoko leave the console room.

"Where are you two going?" Jared asked, looking over at the two magical girls.

"Asuna and Weiss said that we should go." Sayaka said, smiling. "They said that we're not really needed here."

"They want Madoka and Silica to come. Madoka already went on an adventure today. And Silica is defenseless." Jared said, as the Tardis comes to a halt, and Martha falls to the floor.

"You're right, those two wanted to spice things up." Kyoko said. "Maybe take Kirito and Asuna along then. If you didn't know anything better about time travel."

"They're back home."

"No, we're not." Kirito said, entering the room with Asuna. "River brought us here. You two can go with her."

"Thanks." Sayaka said, entering the hallway with Kyoko. "I'll see you later."

(Jared's POV)

Southwark…

"So, what made you decide to come?" I asked, as washing hanging on lines below the overhanging eaves, scruffy urchins running around. "Kirito and Asuna."

"You owe us another adventure. A full one. Not one involving a giant spider." Asuna said, and Kirito pulled her back as a man empties his slop bucket from an upstairs window.

"You almost got shit poured on you." Kirito said, smirking.

"Somewhere before the invention of the toilet. Sorry about that." The Doctor said, sadly.

"I've seen worse. I've worked the late night shift A+E. But are we safe? I mean, can we move around and stuff?" Martha asked.

"Of course we can. Why do you ask?"

"It's like in the films. You step on a butterfly, you change the future of the human race."

"Tell you what then, don't step on any butterflies. What have butterflies ever done to you?"

"What if, I don't know, what if I kill my grandfather?"

"Are you planning on killing him?" I asked, catching up with the Doctor and Martha with Kirito and Asuna behind me.

"No."

"So, where are we?" Asuna asked.

"We're in London." I said, eating some jelly babies.

"And what year?" Kirito asked. "Because this isn't the early 21st century."

"1599."

"Wow. 1599. We're that far back in time."

"We're in Shakespeare's era. Elizabethan England." Asuna said, also eating some jelly babies. "Alright!"

"I'm not even human. Just walk about like you own the place. Works for us. Besides, you'd be surprised. Elizabethan England, not so different from your time. Look over there. They've got recycling." The Doctor said, looking at a man shoveling horse manure into a bucket. "Water cooler moment."

Two men talking at a water barrel.

"And the world will be consumed by flame." A preacher said.

"Global warming. Oh, yes, and entertainment. Popular entertainment for the masses. If I'm right, we're just down the river by Southwark, right next to…" The Doctor said, leading, Martha, Kirito, and I to run along from the south end of old London Bridge, past St Mary Ovarie - Southwark Cathedral...to a view of the Globe Theatre. "Oh, yes, the Globe Theatre! Brand new. Just opened. Through, strictly speaking, it's not a globe, it's a tetradecagon. Fourteen sides. Containing the man himself."

"Whoa, you don't mean. Is Shakespeare in there?" Martha asked.

"Oh, yes. Miss Jones, Miss Yuuki, Mister Kirigaya, and Mister Shay, will you all accompany me to the theatre?" The Doctor asked.

"Mister Smith, I will."

"When you get home, you can tell everyone you've seen Shakespeare."

"Then I could get sectioned."

Globe Theatre…

"That was a bit boring." Kirito said, when a performance has just finished, and the packed audience of about three thousand are applauding the actors. "Not much action going on in there."

"Why are being such a spoilsport?" Asuna asked, looking at her boyfriend/husband. "It's a show. Not a game."

"I thought with it being a play. There would be more action scenes."

"Asuna is right there." I said, sitting in between Martha and Asuna. "You expect way too much, Black Swordsman."

The Doctor, Martha, Kirito, Asuna, and I have been watching with the rest of the ordinary folk in the pit.

"That's amazing! Just amazing. It's worth putting up with the smell. And those are men dressed as women, yeah?" Martha asked.

"London never changes." The Doctor said, happily.

"Where's Shakespeare? I want to see Shakespeare. Author! Author! Do people shout that? Do they shout Author?"

"Why do I have a feeling that Martha started that?" Kirito asked, and the crowd take up the chant.

"Now you know." Asuna said, while Shakespeare comes onto the stage, very full of himself, to rapturous applause.

"He's a bit different from his portraits." Martha said.

"Mommy, daddy." Yui said, looking over to see that Lilith is dressed like an aristocrat, and sitting alone in one of the upper boxes. "There's someone there!"

"Nice work, Yui." Kirito said, as Yui is watching Lilith take a rough doll with a strand of hair stuck to its head from her purse.

"What's she doing?"

"Genius. He's a genius. The genius. The most human human there's ever been. Now we're going to hear him speak. Always he chooses the best words. New, beautiful, brilliant words." The Doctor said, smiling.

"Ah, shut your big fat mouths!" Shakespeare said, with laughter coming from the crowd.

"Oh, well."

"You should never meet your heroes." Martha said.

"You've got excellent taste, I'll give you that. Oh, that's a wig." Shakespeare said.

Lilith pulls the hair on her doll, "Wind the craft of ancient harm. The time approaches for our charm."

"I know what you're all saying. Loves Labour's Lost, that's a funny ending, isn't it? It just stops. Will the boys get the girls? Well, don't get your hose in a tangle, you'll find out soon. Yeah, yeah. All in good time. You don't rush a genius." Shakespeare said, as Lilith kisses her doll and the author suddenly goes rigid and blank. "When? Tomorrow night. The premiere of my brand new play. A sequel, no less, and I call it Loves Labour's Won."

"Loves Labour's Won?" Asuna asked.

"It's a play." I said, eating some jelly babies. "A play that don't have any copies out in public."

"How does a play end up lost?" Kirito asked. "It doesn't make any sense."

"It really doesn't." Asuna said.

A short while later, everyone is filing out of the theatre.

"I'm not an expert, but I've never heard of Loves Labour's Won." Martha said.

"Exactly. The lost play. It doesn't exist, only in rumours. It's mentioned in lists of his plays but never ever turns up. And no one knows why." The Doctor said.

"Have you got a mini-disc or something? We can tape it. We can flog it. Sell it when we get home and make a mint."

"No." I said, looking around the place. "We can't do that, Doctor Jones."

"That would be bad."

"Yeah, it would." Kirito said.

"Well, how come it disappeared in the first place?" Martha asked.

"Well, I was just going to give you a quick little trip in the Tardis, but I suppose we could stay a bit longer." The Doctor said.

(Open POV)

Shakespeare's room…

At The Elephant, a courtyard tavern like the George over on Borough High Street, a serving girl brings in a tray to Shakespeare and his two companions.

"This place doesn't look that bad." Yui said, looking around the room with Madoka.

"It isn't." Madoka said. "Is that William Shakespeare?"

"Madoka? What is it?"

"I don't know. Shakespeare feels a bit off."

"In what way?"

"Let's go." Madoka said, disappearing out of the room with Yui. "We need to see the others."

"I've just got the final scene to go. You'll get it by morning." Shakespeare said.

"Hello! Excuse me, not interrupting, am I? Mister Shakespeare, isn't it?" The Doctor asked, entering the room with Kirito, Asuna, Jared, and Martha.

"Oh, no. No, no, no. Who let you in? No autographs. No, you can't have yourself sketched with me. And please don't ask where I get my ideas from. Thanks for the interest. Now be a good boy and shove…" Shakespeare said, spotting Martha. "Hey, nonny nonny. Sit right down here next to me. You two get sewing on them costumes. Off you go."

"Come on, lads. I think our William's found his new muse." Dolly said.

"Sweet lady." Shakespeare said, as Dolly, Burbage and Kempe leave. Martha and the Doctor sit at the table. "Such unusual clothes. So fitted."

"Er, verily, forsooth, egads." Martha said.

"No, no, don't do that. Don't." The Doctor said, showing Shakespeare his psychic paper. "I'm Sir Doctor of Tardis and these are my companions, Sir Jared of Manhattan, Mister Kazuto Kirigaya, Miss Asuna Yuuki, and Miss Martha Jones."

"You know, with great power comes great responsibility." Jared said, looking over at Kirito. "You've beaten two game masters. You and Asuna have a daughter that's a hyper advanced, fully developed AI. And she's powerful enough to have near godlike powers over any system that she can access."

"You do have a point there." Kirito said, sadly. "What now?"

"Jared does love kids, babies, and puppies." Asuna said, smiling. "Like anyone else. It would make sense that he likes having Yui around."

"You don't say."

"Psychic paper. Er, long story. Oh, I hate starting from scratch." The Doctor said, annoyed.

"Psychic? Never heard that before and words are my trade. Who are you exactly? More's the point, who is your delicious blackamoor lady?" Shakespeare asked.

"What did you say?" Martha asked.

"Oops. Isn't that a word we use nowadays? An Ethiop girl? A swarth? A Queen of Afric?"

"I can't believe I'm hearing this."

"It's political correctness gone mad. Er, Martha's from a far-off land. Freedonia."

"It's gonna be more laid back today." Jared said, as a man in expensive clothes and wearing a gold chain of office enters. "Not much running. More witch hunting."

"Witch hunting?" Kirito asked, and the man that entered is the official censor, from the Lord Chamberlain's office. "You mean those witches that magical girls came from."

"No, something else."

"What is it?" Asuna asked.

"Can't really say. It's spoiler territory right now." Jared said, and Lilith leaves quietly.

"It's all go around here, isn't it?" Martha asked.

"I'm returning to my office for a banning order. If it's the last thing I do, Love's Labours Won will never be played." Lynley said, leaving the room and goes down the stairs.

"How long do we have until something good happens?" Asuna asked.

"A couple of minutes." Jared said, smiling.

"We're dealing with witchcraft, finally." Kirito said. "After all this time."

"And it's not a boss from a VR or AR game either."

"How do we beat them?" Asuna asked.

"The power of the word, Lightning Flash."

"You're not giving up our SAO nicknames."

"Well then, mystery solved. That's Love's Labours Won over and done with. Thought it might be something more, you know, more mysterious." Martha said, as a man's scream comes from the street, then a woman's.

The six rush out to investigate.

"Help me!" A woman said, terrified.

The Elephant courtyard…

Lynley staggers back in, spewing copious amounts of water.

"It's that Lynley bloke." Martha said.

"What's wrong with him? Leave it to me. I'm a doctor." The Doctor said.

"So am I, near enough." Martha said, while Lilith takes the doll out of the water.

"Two doctors should be enough to help him." Asuna said, looking at Lynley.

"Unless something goes wrong." Kirito said. "Which it does."

"Yeah." Jared said, as Lynley collapses.

"Got to get the heart going. Mister Lynley, come on. Can you hear me? You're going to be all right." Martha said, starting to clear Lynley's airways for CPR, and water gushes out. "What the hell is that?"

"I've never seen a death like it. His lungs are full of water. He drowned and then, I don't know, like a blow to the heart, an invisible blow." The Doctor said, and Lilith watches from a balcony. "Good mistress, this poor fellow has died from a sudden imbalance of the humours. A natural if unfortunate demise. Call a constable and have him taken away."

"Yes, sir." Dolly said.

"I'll do it, ma'am." Lilith said, leaving and smiling.

"And why are you telling them that?" Martha asked.

"This lot still have got one foot in the Dark Ages. If I tell them the truth, they'll panic and think it was witchcraft." The Doctor said.

"Okay, what was it then?"

"Witchcraft."

"I wonder how we can stop these witches." Kirito said. "They're not anything the magical girls have faced."

"Well, they're Carrionites after all." Jared said, happily. "We can stop them."

"We don't know if we can stop it." Asuna said.

Shakespeare's room…

We get a nice shot of a skull with candle wax dribbled down it.

"I got you a room, Sir Doctor. You and Miss Jones are just across the landing. I've gotten a separate room for Miss Yuuki and Mister Kirigaya, and one more room for Mister Shay. In total that's three rooms." Dolly said.

"Poor Lynley. So many strange events. Not least of all, this land of Freedonia where a woman can be a doctor?" Shakespeare asked.

"I've always wondered, what do they hear when we speak?" Kirito asked, looking over at Jared. "Do they hear English or Japanese?"

"They hear English, while you and Asuna hear Japanese." Jared said, leaning against the wall. "That's how we're able to understand each other. It's the TARDIS translation matrix, translates other languages in your head to your native language."

"That's why we're able to understand each other." Asuna said, smiling. "You and me. Anyone from Remnant, they speak English. While the magical girls we met with you speak Japanese too."

"Yup. I like how you two are able to pick it up that fast too. And understand it." Jared said, as Martha left the room.

"I must work. I have a play to complete. But I'll get my answers tomorrow, Doctor, and I'll discover more about you and why this constant performance of yours." Shakespeare said.

"All the world's a stage." The Doctor said, quoting a future line Shakespeare would use.

"Hmm. I might use that. Goodnight, Doctor, Jared, Kirito, and Asuna." Shakespeare said.

"Nighty night, Shakespeare."

(Jared's POV)

Kirito and Asuna's house…

"This isn't a five star hotel." I said, sitting on the couch. "Where we're currently sleeping at."

"True, and we did live in a future fantasy world for two years." Asuna said, smiling. "As Sword Art Online. For me and Kirito."

"Yeah, we've seen worse out there. In terms of living conditions." Kirito said.

"You both do now that back home for me, virtual reality is still getting better." I said, laughing a little. "It's still behind in terms of technology."

"So, your world doesn't have the VR capabilities that this world has."

"Nope, not nerve gear technology. What do you think of all this magic and stuff?"

"It's pretty average."

"Plus we do have ALFheim Online." Asuna said. "I wonder what the Doctor and Martha are talking about."

"Probably the same conversation as us." I said, drinking a cup of tea. "I cried while watching and reading Harry Potter."

"What does Harry Potter have to do with it?" Kirito asked.

"Black magic. All of it. Since we're technically in the past. Is it real?"

"This world is real to us." Asuna said, happily. "To me and Kirito."

"We don't know if that world. With those witches or not are real." Kirito said. "We need to find out more, we're missing something obvious here."

"We are." I said, placing my cup of tea on the coffee table. "I normally remember what will happen next. Right now, I don't know what. Rose, she…"

"You're still not over losing Rose Tyler, huh." Asuna said, walking towards me. "It's okay, you'll get through it."

"Yui?" Kirito asked, as Yui appeared in the room. "Anything going on in the real world?"

"No." Yui said, closing her eyes for a moment to check. "Not at moment, no. Wait, Shakespeare is writing his play. There's some writing I don't understand."

"Crap." I said, looking over at Kirito and Asuna. "Dolly! The maid! She'll die of fright!"

"Shit." Kirito said, as the three of us began logging out. "Yui, we'll be back soon."

Shakespeare's room…

The Doctor, Martha, Kirito, Asuna, and I leap out of bed and run to the room.

Shakespeare wakes up, "What? What was that?"

Dolly has collapsed. Martha and Asuna goes to the window and sees an archetypal witch on a broomstick silhouetted against the full moon. Lilith cackles.

"Her heart gave out. She died of fright." The Doctor said.

"Um, Kirito?" Asuna asked.

"Well, what did you see?" Kirito asked.

"I saw a witch, a real life witch. With Martha."

"Now I see why you refused to have any magical girl with you. The context, it would get weird."

"Yeah." I said, letting out a sigh. "It would. Because witches for them, and witches here mean entirely different things."

Later, a cockerel crows and dogs start barking at the rising sun.

"Oh, sweet Dolly Bailey. She sat out three bouts of the plague in this place when we all ran like rats. But what could have scared her so? She had such enormous spirit." Shakespeare said.

"Rage, rage against the dying of the light." The Doctor said, quoting Dylan Thomas.

"I might use that."

"You can't. It's someone else's."

"But the thing is, Lynley drowned on dry land, Dolly died of fright, and they were both connected to you." Martha said, recalling what happened.

"You're accusing me?" Shakespeare asked.

"No, but Asuna and I saw a witch, big as you like, flying, cackling away, and you've written about witches."

"I have? When was that?"

"Not, not quite yet." The Doctor said.

"Peter Streete spoke of witches."

"Who's Peter Streete?" Asuna asked.

"Our builder. He sketched the plans to the Globe." Shakespeare said.

"The architect. Hold on. The architect! The architect! The Globe! Come on!" The Doctor said.

Globe stage…

"The columns there, right? Fourteen sides. I've always wondered, but I never asked. Tell me, Will. Why fourteen sides?" The Doctor asked.

"It was the shape Peter Streete thought best, that's all. Said it carried the sound well." Shakespeare said.

"Why does that sound familiar?" Kirito asked. "Fourteen?"

"I don't know." Yui said, sitting on Kirito's shoulder.

"So there is. Good point. Words and shapes following the same design. Fourteen lines, fourteen sides, fourteen facets. Oh, my head. Tetradecagon. Think, think, think! Words, letters, numbers, lines!" The Doctor said, annoyed.

"This is just a theatre." Shakespeare said.

"Oh yeah, but a theatre's magic, isn't it? You should know. Stand on this stage, say the right words with the right emphasis a the right time. Oh, you can make men weep, or cry with joy. Change them. You can change people's minds just with words in this place. But if you exaggerate that."

"It's like your police box. Small wooden box with all that power inside." Martha said.

"Oh. Oh, Martha Jones, I like you. Tell you what, though. Peter Streete would know. Can I talk to him?" The Doctor asked.

"You won't get an answer. A month after finishing this place, lost his mind." Shakespeare said.

"Why?" Asuna asked. "What happened to him?"

"Started raving about witches, hearing voices, babbling. His mind was addled."

"Where is he now?" Kirito asked. "This Peter Streete."

"Bedlam." Shakespeare said.

"What's Bedlam?" Martha asked.

"Bethlem Hospital. The madhouse."

"We're going to go there. Right now. Come on." The Doctor said, running away from us.

"Wait! I'm coming with you. I want to witness this at first hand." Shakespeare said, when two men entered the theater. "Ralph, the last scene as promised. Copy it, hand it round, learn it, speak it. Back before curtain up. And remember, kid, project. Eyes and teeth. You never know, the Queen might turn up. As if. She never does."

Southwark…

"Yang, you sure that coming here is a good idea." Blake said, walking around with Yang. "You wanted to party at some of the pubs here."

"What's there to worry about?" Yang asked, a TARDIS key around her neck. "We're fine."

"But still, it feels like we're intruding."

"Kirito." Asuna said, when Kirito spots Blake and Yang nearby. "What is it?"

"I thought I saw Blake and Yang here." Kirito said. "Nevermind."

"Wait, Blake and Yang?" I asked.

"Is that a promise, Doctor?" Shakespeare asked.

"Oh, fifty seven academics just punched the air. Now move!" The Doctor said, annoyed.

(Open POV)

Globe stage…

"Loves Labour's Won." Yang said, walking around the stage. "The lost play."

"I wonder what makes it lost." Blake said, crossing her arms.

"I think it might have to do with what happens today." Yang said, when a wind suddenly blows through the auditorium.

"What was that?" Kempe asked.

"Dravidian shores linear five nine three oh one six…" Burbage said, reading out of the script.

"That sounds like trouble." Blake said, looking over at Kempe and Burbage.

"I wonder what that is. Maybe it's something we can take on together." Yang said.

"...and strikes the fulsome grove of Rexel Four." Burbage said, as a puff of smoke appears in mid air and turns into a figure.

"By all the saints, it's a spirit. It's a vile shade." Kempe said, when it reaches towards them, then atomises with a small screech. "I think we should never speak of this again, else we'll end up in Bedlam ourselves."

Bethlehem Hospital…

Bishopsgate, near the city wall. There should only have been 20 patients there at most by this time.

"Does my Lord Doctor wish some entertainment while he waits? I'd whip these madmen. They'll put on a good show for you. Mad dog in Bedlam." The keeper said.

"No, I don't!" The Doctor said, angrily.

"Well, wait here, my lords, while I make him decent for the ladies." The keeper said, as he walked on down the corridor with cells on either side.

"This is wrong." Asuna said, looking around. "People being treated like slaves."

"Yeah." Kirito said. "It is."

"This place is like North Korea." Jared said, eating some onigiri. "But worse."

"I've been mad. I've lost my mind. Fear of this place set me right again. It serves its purpose." Shakespeare said.

"Mad in what way?" Martha asked.

"Shakespeare lost his son." Jared said, sadly.

"My only boy. The Black Death took him. I wasn't even there." Shakespeare said.

"I didn't know. I'm sorry." Martha said, frowning.

"It made me question everything. The futility of this fleeting existence. To be or not to be. Oh, that's quite good."

"Oh yeah, Hamlet hasn't been written yet." Jared said, laughing a little. "Good play."

"You should write that down." The Doctor said.

"Maybe not. A bit pretentious?" Shakespeare asked.

"This way, my lord!" The keeper said.

Streete's cell...

A hunched figure in rags has his back to them.

"They can be dangerous, my lord. Don't know their own strength." The keeper said.

"I think it helps if you don't whip them. Now get out!" The Doctor said, and the keeper leaves. "Peter? Peter Streete?"

"He's the same as he was. You'll get nothing out of him." Shakespeare said.

"Peter?" The Doctor asked, touching Streete's shoulder and he raises his head, staring.

"This will turn out badly." Jared said, leaning against the wall. "I wonder what is next."

"You should know." Asuna said, smiling. "He's gonna die, is he?"

"Yeah, he will."

The Doctor puts his fingers on Streete's temples. It is mind meld time, "Peter, I'm the Doctor. Go into the past. One year ago. Let your mind go back. Back to when everything was fine and shining. Everything that happened in this year since happened to somebody else. It was just a story. A Winter's Tale. Let go. That's it. That's it, just let go."

The Doctor lies Streete down on his cot.

"Tell me the story, Peter. Tell me about the witches." The Doctor said.

"The witches aren't cool." Jared said, taking out two more onigiri to give to Kirito and Asuna. "Eat up."

"Witches spoke to Peter. In the night, they whispered. They whispered. Got Peter to build the Globe to their design. Their design! The fourteen walls. Always fourteen. When the work was done they snapped poor Peter's wits." Streete said.

"Where did Peter see the witches? Where in the city? Peter, tell me. You've got to tell me where were they?" The Doctor asked.

"All Hallows Street." Streete said.

"Too many words." Doomfinger said, appearing in the room.

"What the hell?" Martha and Kirito asked, at the same time.

"Just one touch of the heart."

"No!" The Doctor said, angrily.

"Son of a…" Kirito said, when Doomfinger puts her hand on Streete's chest, and he dies. "Damn it!"

"Witch! I'm seeing a witch!" Shakespeare said, at a loss for words.

"Now, who would be next, hmm? Just one touch. Oh, oh, I'll stop your frantic hearts. Poor, fragile mortals." Doomfinger said.

"Let us out! Let us out!" Martha said, terrified.

"That's not going to work. The whole building's shouting that." The Doctor said.

"Who will die first, hmm?" Doomfinger asked.

"Well, if you're looking for volunteers."

"No! Don't!" Martha said.

"Doctor, can you stop her?" Shakespeare asked.

"No mortal has power over me." Doomfinger said.

"Oh, but there's a power in words. If I can find the right one. If I can just know you." The Doctor said.

"None on Earth has knowledge of us."

"Then it's a good thing I'm here. Now think, think, think. Humanoid female, uses shapes and words to channel energy. Ah! Fourteen! That's it! Fourteen! The fourteen stars of the Rexel planetary configuration! Creature, I name you Carrionite!" The Doctor said, when Doomfinger screams and vanishes in a slow flash of light.

"What did you do?" Martha asked.

"I named her. The power of a name. That's old magic."

"But there's no such thing as magic."

"Well, it's just a different sort of science. You lot, you chose mathematics. Given the right string of numbers, the right equation, you can split the atom. Carrionites use words instead."

"Use them for what?" Shakespeare asked.

"The end of the world." Jared said, sadly.

"Time can be rewritten." Asuna said, looking over at Jared. "If the world ends here, then no magical girls and SAO will never happen."

"That means that the Avengers and the Guardians of the Galaxy won't happen too, in the future." Kirito said, frowning. "This is bad."

Shakespeare's room…

"The Carrionites disappeared way back at the dawn of the universe. Nobody was sure if they were real or legend." The Doctor said.

"Well, I'm going for real." Shakespeare said.

"You know that Blake and Yang are here." Kirito said, looking at Jared. "What are you gonna do?"

"I don't know. I didn't ask them to come today." Jared said, sadly. "They just did. And I'm tired, I'm so tired."

"You're tired of losing your family and friends." Asuna said, walking up to Jared to hug him. "It's okay. You have others who know how you feel."

"The magical girls, Teams RWBY and JNPR, and the Doctor and his companions. You SAO survivors too."

"You're not alone. You have to remember that."

"Hold on, though. What were you doing last night, when that Carrionite was in the room?" Martha asked.

"Finishing the play." Shakespeare said.

"Damn it." Kirito said, walking towards Shakespeare. "What happens on the last page?"

"The boys get the girls. They have a bit of a dance. It's all as funny and thought provoking as usual. Except those last few lines. Funny thing is, I don't actually remember writing them."

"That's it. They used you. They gave you the final words like a spell, like a code. Love's Labours Won. It's a weapon. The right combination of words, spoken at the right place, with the shape of the Globe as an energy converter! The play's the thing!" The Doctor said, quoting Hamlet for a moment. "And yes, you can have that."

Globe stage…

"The prologue of the play." Blake said, looking at the actors rehearse the prologue.

"We left the lovers of Navarre by cruel chance separated, none to claim his heart, their labours lost. Now will they find Love's Labour's Won?" Burbage asked, hearing cheers and applause.

"Where are they?" Yang asked, looking over to see Doomfinger and Bloodtide are sitting in an upper box. "Great. Talk about witch house."

Shakespeare's room…

The Doctor looks at a hopelessly inaccurate map, and points to one of the three marked streets, which is actually where Thames Street is in reality, "All Hallows Street. There it is. Martha, Kirito, Asuna, we'll track them down. Will, Jared, you get to the Globe. Whatever you do, stop that play."

"I'll do it. All these years I've been the cleverest man around. Next to you, I know nothing." Shakespeare said.

"Oh, don't complain." Martha said.

"I'm not. It's marvellous. Good luck, Doctor."

"Good luck, Shakespeare. Once more unto the breach." The Doctor said, quoting Henry V.

"I like that. Wait a minute, that's one of mine."

"Oh, just shift!" The Doctor said, poking his head around the door.

Globe Theatre…

Burbage is playing King Ferdinand, "The eye should have contentment where it rests. This spun out year I watch on, groaning sick…"

"What's taking them so long?" Yang asked, as Bloodtide is holding a large glass ball in an ornate holder, and shows creatures flying in a distant sky. "These witches are gonna end the world."

"Patience, my sisters. Patience." Bloodtide said.

"Mewling poor drooped men in stenched beds…" Burbage said.

Shakespeare bursts onto the stage, while a 2014 Chevrolet Camaro is hovering down above the stage.

"Is that a Camaro with a Back to the Future hover conversion?" Blake asked, when the vehicle has landed down onto the ground.

"Stop the play! I'm sorry, ladies and gentlemen, but stop. This performance must end immediately." Shakespeare said.

"Really, stop the play." Jared said, exiting the Ford Camaro. "It's dangerous, you guys!"

"We have to end the play right now." Blake said, as Yang ran towards the Camaro.

"Mind if I rev up those engines?" Yang asked, as she entered the car and burned some rubber.

"Sure you can." Jared said, as Doomfinger hits the doll and Shakespeare falls down.

"Is he drunk or what?" Kempe asked.

"Get him off the stage." Burbage said.

"This isn't working." Blake said, and the young men playing the women carry Shakespeare off the stage. "And bringing in the Camaro really didn't help."

"We know." Jared said, while Will Kempe is playing Costard the clown. "I love the car though. All we can do is wait."

"You must forgive our irksome Will. He's been on the beer and feeling ill." Kempe said, getting laughter and applause.

Kempe does a little backwards dance, an allusion to his famous nine days Morris dance from London to Norwich in 1600.

"There is naught can stop us now." Doomfinger said.

All Hallows Street…

"All Hallows Street, but which house?" The Doctor asked.

"The thing is, though am I missing something here? The world didn't end in 1599. It just didn't. Look at me, Kirito, and Asuna. We're living proof." Martha said.

"Oh, how to explain the mechanics of the infinite temporal flux?"

"Well, there's this one film that Jared likes." Kirito said. "You may of heard of it. Back to the Future."

"Oh yeah, this is totally like that." Asuna said, laughing a little.

"The film?" Martha asked.

"No, the novelisation. Yes, the film. Marty McFly goes back and changes history." The Doctor said.

"And he starts fading away. Oh my God, are we going to fade?"

"The three of you and the entire future of the human race. It ends right now in 1599 if we don't stop it. But which house?" The Doctor asked, as a door creaks open invitingly. "Ah. Make that witch house."

Lilith's house…

"I take it we're expected." The Doctor said.

"Oh, I think Death has been waiting for you a very long time." Lilith said.

"Right then, it's my turn. I know how to do this. I name thee Carrionite! What did I do wrong? Was it the finger?" Martha asked.

"The power of a name works only once. Observe. I gaze upon this bag of bones and now I name thee Martha Jones." Lilith said, and Martha falls backwards into the Doctor's arms.

"What the hell did you do just now?" Kirito asked.

"Only sleeping, alas. It's curious. The name has less impact. She's somehow out of her time. And as for you, Sir Doctor. Fascinating. There is no name. Why would a man hide his title in such despair? Oh, but look. There's still one word with the power that aches."

"The naming won't work on me." The Doctor said.

"But your heart grows cold, and so does the hearts of Kirito and Asuna. The north wind blows and carries down the distant Rose, Sachi, and Yuuki." Lilith said, looking at the Doctor, Kirito, and Asuna.

"You don't know the mistake you made." Asuna said, taking out the Aegis sword. "Those names keep the three of us fighting."

"She's right. The Carrionites vanished. Where did you go?" The Doctor asked.

"The Eternals found the right word to banish us into deep darkness." Lilith said.

"And how did you escape?"

"New words. New and glittering, from a mind like no other."

"Shakespeare."

"His son perished. The grief of a genius. Grief without measure. Madness enough to allow us entrance."

"How many of you?"

"Just the three. But the play tonight shall restore the rest. Then the human race will be purged as pestilence. And from this world we will lead the universe back into the old ways of blood and magic."

"That does sound like a busy schedule." Kirito said, taking out the Monado. "You have to get past the Doctor first. Then me and Asuna."

"Oh, that should be a pleasure, considering my enemy has such a handsome shape." Lilith said.

"Now, that's one form of magic that's definitely not going to work on me." The Doctor said.

"Oh, we'll see." Lilith said, pulling some hairs from the Doctor's head.

"What did you do?"

"Souvenir."

"Well, give it back." The Doctor said, while Lilith flies out of the window backwards. They are on the upper floor. "Well, that's just cheating."

"Behold, Doctor. Men to Carrionites are nothing but puppets." Lilith said, wrapping the Doctor's hair around a wooden doll, while Martha wakes up.

"Martha, you're okay." Asuna said, as Martha wakes up slowly. "It would have been bad if we lost you."

"Now, you might call that magic. I'd call that a DNA replication module." The Doctor said.

"What use is your science now?" Lilith asked, stabbing the doll.

"Crap." Kirito said, as the Doctor screams and falls. "Man down."

"How did we lose her?" Asuna asked, and Lilith flies away.

"Oh my God, Doctor. Don't worry, I've got you. Hold on, mister. Two hearts?" Martha asked, running over to the Doctor.

"You're making a habit of this. Ah! I've only got one heart working. How do you people cope? I've got to get the other one started. Hit me! Hit me on the chest!" The Doctor said, as Martha hits different parts of his back. "Dah! Other side. Now, on the back, on the back. Left a bit. Dah, lovely. There we go. Badda booma! Well, what are you standing there for? Come one! The Globe!"

Globe Theatre…

"And here comes Lilith." Jared said, lying down on the hood of the Camaro with Yang. "The Doctor must be up by now."

"Doctor Who?" Yang asked, and Lilith joins the mothers in their box.

"Why are we waiting for the Doctor?" Blake asked, sitting in the driver's seat of the Camaro. "Can't we just stop them?"

"I can't remember the coordinates. Of where the Carrionites will go." Jared said, sadly.

"The ladies have prepared a show. Maria means to present Isis descending from the dewy orb of Heaven. Ah, here comes Costard." Burbage said, getting some cheers from the audience.

"Masters!" Kempe said.

Streets…

"He does know we're going the wrong day." Asuna said, standing in one direction with Kirito.

"I don't think he does." Kirito said, leaning against a building.

"We're going the wrong way!" Martha said, angrily.

"No, we're not! We're going the wrong way!" The Doctor said, annoyed.

Globe Theatre…

"Behold the swainish sight of woman's love. Pish! It's out of season to be heavy disposed." Burbage said.

"It is now, my mothers. The final words to activate the tetradecagon." Lilith said.

"Betwixt Dravidian shores and linear five nine three oh one six seven point oh two, and strikes the fulsome grove of Rexel Four. Co-radiating crystal, activate!"

"Shit." Jared said, as a wind fills the theatre.

"The portal opens. It begins!" Lilith said.

Southwark..

"Crap." Kirito said, looking up to see a red glow hangs over the Globe.

"I told thee so! I told thee!" A preacher said.

"Stage door!" The Doctor said.

Backstage…

A storm rages over the building. The audience panic and run, but the witches slam the doors shut to stop them. The Doctor, Martha, Kirito, and Asuna find Shakespeare waking up.

"Stop the play. I think that was it. Yeah, I said, stop the play!" The Doctor said, angrily.

"I hit my head." Shakespeare said.

"Yeah, don't rub it, you'll go bald. I think that's my cue!"

"Now begins the millennium of blood!" The Carrionites said, happily.

(Jared's POV)

Globe Theatre…

The Doctor runs out onto the stage, followed by Martha, Kirito, Asuna, and Shakespeare.

"Hey, Kirito, Asuna." I said, eating some popcorn, while sitting on the Camaro with Yang. "Watch the show with us."

"You seriously brought the car with you." Kirito said, while Lilith holds the crystal out into the red light and bat-like creatures fly into the theatre. "Isn't that a bit too futuristic for the time?"

"Jared said it's fine." Yang said, while Blake took out a blanket and a picnic basket from the trunk of the car. "Shakespeare's got this."

"We're leaving this up to the writer of Macbeth, Romeo and Juliet, and Hamlet." Asuna said, when the bat-like creatures circle a bit then fly up into the sky. "Okay then."

"Come on, Will! History needs you!" The Doctor said.

"But what can I do?" Shakespeare asked.

"Reverse it!"

"How am I supposed to do that?"

"The shape of the Globe gives words power, but you're the wordsmith, the one true genius. The only man clever enough to do it."

"But what words? I have none ready!"

"It's not like we have anything to do today." Blake said, drinking her cup of tea. "How long will this take?"

"To defeat the Carrionites?" I asked, eating some Pocky. "Two minutes. Tops."

"The five of us are having a picnic around a Chevrolet Camaro." Kirito said, eating a sandwich. "And Shakespeare will stop them how?"

"You'll see, Kirito. We always act before we think, after all."

"No! Words of power!" Lilith said, terrified.

"Foul Carrionite spectres, cease your show! Between the points…" Shakespeare said.

"Seven six one three nine oh!" The Doctor said.

"Seven six one three nine oh! Banished like a tinker's cuss, I say to thee…"

"Expelliarmus!" Martha said, happily.

"Expelliarmus!" The Doctor said, smiling.

"Expelliarmus!" Shakespeare said.

"Good old JK!" The Doctor said, as the Carrionites scream.

"The deep darkness! They are consumed!" Lilith said.

The Carrionites are sucked into a tornado, along with all the extant pages of the play.

"Love's Labours Won. There it goes." The Doctor said, as the sky clears with a flash and bang.

"That's how the play vanished." Blake said, and after a few moments, someone starts clapping, then all the audience joins in. "Sad, I watched the majority of it. Wanted to snag a copy."

"Blake." I said, tossing Blake her Scroll, with a copy of Love's Labour Won on there. "Scanned one for you. For keepsake."

"Thank you."

"They think it was all special effects?" Martha asked.

"Your effect is special indeed." Shakespeare said.

"It's not your best line."

Shakespeare and Martha take their bows. Meanwhile, the Doctor goes up to the now empty box and picks up the crystal. Lilith and her mothers are inside, scratching to get at him.

Kirito and Asuna's house...

"You guys survived that." Homura said, drinking her cup of coffee. "The Carrionites. And the magical girls are still here."

"It's all thanks to you that I'm still here." Madoka said, smiling. "If I didn't exist, then all the magical girls throughout history would have turned into witches."

"I had a lot to carry on my shoulders now." I said, sitting down on the couch. "More than ever. Without the Avengers or the Guardians of the Galaxy, no one would be able to stop Thanos. Or fix the causes he will make."

"And without any magical girls after the 17th century." Blake said, drinking her cup of tea. "More deaths would have happened."

"I know." Madoka said, sadly. "You guys did your best. And that's all that matters."

"It really is a miracle." Yang said, smiling. "After all."

"It is." Kirito said. "Time wasn't rewritten."

Globe Theatre...

Next morning.

"And I say, a heart for a hart and a dear for a deer." Shakespeare said.

"I don't get it." Martha said.

"Then give me a joke from Freedonia."

"Okay, Shakespeare walks into a pub and the landlord says, Oi mate, you're Bard."

"That's brilliant. Doesn't make sense, mind you, but never mind that. Now come here." Shakespeare said, putting his arm around Martha's waist and pulls her towards him.

"I've only just met you." Martha said, frowning.

"The Doctor may never kiss you. Why not entertain a man who will?"

"I don't know how to tell you this, oh great genius, but your breath doesn't half stink."

The Doctor enters wearing a small stiff ruff and carrying an animal skull, "Good props store back there. I'm not sure about this though. Reminds me of a Sycorax."

"Sycorax. Nice word. I'll have that off you as well." Shakespeare said.

"I should be on ten percent. How's your head?"

"I guess you could say that he should brace himself." Yang said, coming up with a bad pun.

"Really?" Kirito asked, as the Doctor takes off the ruff and puts it on Shakespeare. "A pun like that?"

"And he aches to get it over with."

"Why do I even bother?"

"Because it's fun, Kirito." I said, giving Yang a fist bump. "Like coming up with puns are good."

"Yeah, better not, Will. There's still power in those words. Maybe it should best stay forgotten." The Doctor said.

"Oh, but I've got new ideas. Perhaps it's time I wrote about fathers and sons, in memory of my boy, my precious Hamnet." Shakespeare said.

"Hamnet?" Martha asked.

"That's him."

"Hamnet?"

"What's wrong with that?"

"Anyway, time we were off. I've got a nice attic in the Tardis where this lot can scream for all eternity, and I've got to take Martha and this lot back to Freedonia." The Doctor said, happily.

"You mean travel on through time and space." Shakespeare said.

"You what?"

"You're from another world like the Carrionites, and Martha, Jared, Kirito, and Yang are from the future. Blake and Asuna took that mode of transportation back to the future too. It's not hard to work out."

"That's incredible. You are incredible."

"We're alike in many ways, Doctor. Martha, let me say goodbye to you in a new verse. A sonnet for my Dark Lady. Shall I compare thee to a summer's day? Thou art more lovely and more temperate."

"What's next for us?" Yang asked, drinking a Strawberry Sunrise, that has no ice and a little umbrella on it. "Besides us going home."

"Nothing much." I said, drinking a Shirley Temple. "There's not much running involved."

"Not much." Kirito said, frowning. "Huh."

"Yup. Time has been changing with us all being here."

"Her Majesty. She's here." Burbage said, happily.

Fanfare and the elderly Elizabeth enters with two pikemen.

"Queen Elizabeth the First!" The Doctor said, happily.

"Doctor? Kirito?" Elizabeth asked, looking between the Doctor and Kirito.

"What?"

"My sworn enemies."

"What?"

"Off with their heads!"

"What?"

"This isn't good." Yang said, dropping her glass onto the ground. "We should run."

"Yeah." I said, running off with Yang and Kirito. "Come on, you slowpokes!"

Shakespeare laughs as the pikemen chase the Doctor. Martha, Kirito, Yang, and I out and into the streets of Southwark.

Southwark…

"Stop in the name of the Queen!" A pikeman said, angrily.

"What have you and Kirito done to upset her?" Martha asked.

"How should I know? We haven't even met her yet. That's time travel for you. Still, can't wait to find out." The Doctor said, as we made it to the Tardis and he lets Martha, Kirito, Yang, and I in. "That's something to look forward to. Ooo!"

The Doctor gets inside and shuts the door as an arrow thuds into it, just like in Silver Nemesis.