The End of Time:Part 1
"It is said that in the final days of planet Earth, everyone had bad dreams. To the west of the north of that world, the human race did gather, in the celebration of a pagan rite to banish the cold and the dark. Each and every one of those people had dreamt of the terrible things to come. But they forgot, because they must. They forgot their nightmares of fire and war and insanity. They forgot. Except for one." A narrator said.
Street...
Christmas time. Wilf hears an evil laugh in his head.
"Bwahahahahahaha!" The Master said, in Wilfred's head.
The Salvation Army band is playing God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen.
Church…
Wilf goes inside the nearest church, where a choir is rehearsing. He notices a strange blue rectangle in the stained glass window above the altar.
A woman dressed in a white suit makes him jump, "They call it the Legend of the Blue Box."
"Oh. I've never been in here before. I'm not one for churches. Too cold." Wilf said.
"This was the site of a convent back in the thirteen hundreds. It's said a demon fell from the sky, then some men appeared. Some men in a blue box. They called one of them the sainted physician and the other a hero. They smote the demon and then disappeared." A woman said.
"That's a bit of a coincidence."
"It's said there's no such thing as coincidence. Who knows? Perhaps they're coming back."
"Oh, that would make my Christmas. Jared hasn't shown up to visit us in a while. He hasn't been around since the fall." Wilf said.
The woman has disappeared. Wilf hears the laughter again.
"Bwahahahahahaha!" The Master said, in Wilfred's head.
Ood Sphere…
The Tardis materialises in the snowy landscape, and the Doctor steps out wearing a stetson and a lei, Jared steps out behind him wearing a fiery blue flame and red flame hoodie design and some jeans. Kirito, Asuna, and Sinon stepped outside wearing their usual outfits. Ood Sigma is waiting for him.
"Ah! Now, sorry. There you are. So, where were we?" The Doctor asked.
"Doctor, weren't we summoned?" Jared asked.
"Well, there is an Ood in the snow, calling to you and the Doctor." Sinon said.
"Well, we didn't exactly come straight here." Asuna said.
"We had a bit of fun, you know. Travelled about, did this and that. Got into trouble. You know us. It was brilliant." The Doctor said.
"We saw the Phosphorous Carousel of the Great Magellan Gestadt, we saved a planet from the Red Carnivorous Maw, I named a galaxy Serena." Jared said, happily.
"I got married. Right after Jared did. That was a mistake. Good Queen Bess. And let me tell you, her nickname is no longer…"
"Well, what do you want?" Jared asked, looking at the Ood.
"The two of you should not have delayed." Sigma said.
"The last time I was here you said my song would be ending soon, and I'm in no hurry for that." The Doctor said.
"Jared, time has been rewritten enough since you were last here. Your song is ending soon, too." Sigma said.
"Wait, what?!" Jared exclaimed. "How?"
"You will come with me."
"Hold on. Better lock the Tardis." The Doctor said, pointing a remote key at the Tardis. The door locks and the light flashes at it beeps. "See? Like a car. I locked it like a car. Like…"
"Seriously? Is that the best you got, Spaceman?" Jared asked. "Car puns are exhausting."
"Now, that's funny." Asuna said, laughing.
"Asuna, it's just a car pun." Kirito said.
"How is a car pun funny? But not my little gag? Blimey, try to make an Ood and a girl laugh. So how old are you now, Ood Sigma? Ah." The Doctor said.
"Wow." Sinon said, as they see the Ood city.
"Now that's awesome." Jared said, happily. "How long did this take you, Ood Sigma?"
"One hundred years." Sigma said.
"Then we've got a problem. Because all of this is way too fast. Not just the city, I mean your ability to call us. Reaching all the way back to the twenty first century. And you managed to call Jared while he was playing ALFheim Online with the SAO Survivors and Sinon. Something's accelerating your species way beyond normal." The Doctor said.
"And the Mind of the Ood is troubled."
"How come?" Asuna asked. "What happened since the Doctor and Jared were last here?"
"Every night, Doctor, Jared, every night we have bad dreams." Sigma said.
Ood Council…
Sitting in a circle in an ice cave.
"Returning, returning, returning, it is slowly returning through the dark and the fire and the blood. Always returning, returning to this world. It is returning, and he is returning, and they are returning, but too late. Too late. Far too late. He has come." The Ood Elder said.
"Sit with the Elder of the Ood and share the dreaming." Sigma said.
"So. Right. Hallo." The Doctor said, sitting down with Jared, Kirito, Asuna, and Sinon.
"You will join. You will join. You will join. You will join. You will join. You will join. You will join."
The Doctor links hands with Jared, Kirito, Asuna, Sinon, and the Ood and sees the laughing face.
"Bwahahahahahaha!" The Master said, in their heads.
"He comes to us every night. I think all the peoples of the universe dream of him now." The Ood Elder said.
"Didn't you say he was dead?" Kirito asked. "He was dead in our time."
"He is." Jared said. "Last time I checked."
"There is yet more. Join us. Events are taking shape. So many years ago, and yet changing the now. There is a man…" The Ood Elder said.
"Bwahahahahahaha!" The Master said, in everyone's heads.
Nobles' home…
"So scared." The Ood Elder said.
"Is Wilfred okay?" Jared asked. "Since I last visited Donna."
Ood Council…
"How about Donna?" Jared asked. "Is my super temp safe? With all the safeguards I put on top of the Doctor's defense mechanism for the meta crisis."
"The two of you should not have delayed, for the lines of convergence are being drawn across the Earth. Even now, the king is in his Counting house." The Ood Elder said.
The Doctor, Jared, Kirito, Asuna, and Sinon are given images of a black man and his daughter being photographed.
"I don't know who they are." The Doctor said.
"And there is another. The most lonely of all, lost and forgotten." The Ood Elder said.
"Is it Homura Akemi?" Jared asked, and he got an image of a woman in a cage. "Oh. Right. It's the Master's wife."
"We see so much, but understand little. The woman in the cage, who is she?" Sigma asked.
"She was traumatized." Jared said, sadly. "It wasn't her fault. She was scared of what she became. And who the Master, the person she loved really was."
"The Master, he's a Time Lord, like me. I can show you." The Doctor said, showing the Ood and the SAO survivors, and Sinon that were with them images from Last of the Time Lords. "The Master took the name of Saxon. He married a human, a woman called Lucy. And he corrupted her. She stood at his side while he conquered the Earth."
"Well, the Doctor and I, we reversed everything he'd done to the Earth. So it never happened. But Lucy Saxon remembered."
"I held him in my arms. I burnt his body. The Master is dead."
"And yet, the both of you did not see." The Ood Elder said.
"What are you talking about?" Kirito asked.
"Bwahahahahahaha!" The Master said, his voice in their heads.
"Doctor, you were careless." Sinon said, watching a woman picking up the Master's signet ring.
"Part of him surviving, that doesn't sound good." Asuna said, grabbing Kirito's hand. "Guys, we've got to go."
"But something more is happening, Doctor, Jared. The Master is part of a greater design, because a shadow is falling over creation. Something vast is stirring in the dark. The Ood have gained this power to see through time, because time is bleeding. Shapes of things once lost are moving through the veil, and these events from years ago threaten to destroy this future, and the present, and the past." The Ood Elder said.
"The hell are you talking about?" Jared asked.
"This is what we have seen, Doctor, Jared. The darkness heralds only one thing." The Ood Elder said.
"The end of time itself." The Ood Elder said.
"Bwahahahahahaha!" The Master said, inside their heads.
The Doctor runs outside with Jared, Kirito, Asuna, and Sinon and back to the Tardis.
"Events that have happened, that Jared Shay watched on the long ago, are happening now." The Ood Elder said. "With some minor changes. One of which includes having SAO survivors and one who wields a sniper rifle."
Prison…
While the Tardis is in flight, Lucy Saxon is taken from her cell and escorted by women Prison Officers to meet another woman.
"Mrs Saxon. Let me introduce myself. I'm your new Governor. I'm afraid the previous Governor met with something of an accident, which took quite some time to arrange. Miss Trefusis, if you will prepare. You kept your silence well, Mrs Saxon. Your trial was held in secret, with no jury, so no one knows who Harold Saxon was, where he came from, why you killed him. Make her kneel. There are those of us who never lost faith. And in his wisdom, Harold Saxon prepared for this moment. He knew that he might die and he made us ready. Tonight, Mrs Saxon, he returns." The governor said.
"Bwahahahahahaha!" The Master said, inside their heads.
Miss Trefusis holds out the Master's signet ring. Lucy gasps. Meanwhile, Wilf is looking out at the kitchen window at the storm while the Woman in White briefly appears on the TV screen in the other room.
"As it was written in the Secret Books of Saxon, these are the Potions of Life." The governor said.
The signet ring is put into a bowl and blue liquids are poured over it.
"Listen to me. Whatever he told you, you've got no idea what you're doing. Jared told me it was a bad idea when he visited me in prison once." Lucy said.
"Miss Trefusis, the catalyst." The governor said.
"What are you doing? Leave me alone!"
Miss Trefusis takes a print of Lucy's lips.
"You were Saxon's wife. You bore his imprint. That's all we needed. The final biometrical signature." The governor said.
"You can't bring him back. You can't!" Lucy said, angrily. "Symphogear won't be able to stop him. Even if all of them are alive in this timeline! They couldn't during that year. Almost all of them died in that one!"
Miss Trefusis drops the imprint into the bowl and there is a big flash, then a light beams up and out of Broadfell Prison into the sky.
"I'm begging you! Stop this now before it's too late!" Lucy said.
"We give ourselves that Saxon might live." The governor said.
Energy is pulled out of the Governor and her acolytes.
"Can't you see? He lied to you. His name isn't even Harold Saxon." Lucy said.
"And this was written also, for his name is the Master!" The governor said.
The figure of the naked Master begins to appear in the column of light, "Never. Never. Never. Never. Never dying. Never dying! Never dying! Never dying! Never dying! Bwahahahahahaha! Oh, Lucy. Sweet Lucy Saxon. My ever faithful. Did the widow's kiss bring me back to life?"
"You're killing them!" Lucy said.
"Oh, let them die. They're just the first. The whole stupid, stinking, human disgrace can fall into the pit. Can't you hear it, Lucy? The noise? The drumbeat louder than ever before. The drums. The never ending drums. Oh, I have missed them." The Master said.
"But no-one knew you better than I did. I knew you'd come back. And all this time, your disciples have prepared. But so have we." Lucy said, taking a small vial from a prison officer who was not an acolyte.
"What are you doing?"
"The Secret Books of Saxon spoke of the Potions of Life. And I was never that bright, but my family had contacts. People who were clever enough to calculate the opposite. One of which is Elfnein, an alchemist and an ally to Symphogear."
"Don't you dare. I'm ordering you, Lucy. You will obey me!"
"Till death do us part, Harry!"
"No!"
Lucy throws the vial at the Master and there is an explosion.
"Shit!" Jared said, grabbing Sinon's hand. "We're too late…"
The Doctor runs out of the Tardis with Jared, Kirito, Asuna, and Sinon to see the ruined shell of Broadfell Prison.
Naismith's study...
A butler and two footmen are standing nearby as the black woman enters the panelled room.
The black man is looking at footage on his laptop, "I think we might be in luck, darling. It's the footage from Broadfell Prison the night it burnt down. Take a look at this."
A silhouette of a figure runs quickly across the flames.
"Someone survived! Do you think it's him? Oh, that would be such a Christmas present." Abigail said.
"You just leave it to Daddy." Naismith said.
Gate room...
They walk into a room lit by a domed glass roof.
"Ladies and gentlemen, it seems help is at hand. Christmas is cancelled. Prepare the gate." Naismith said.
An archway begins to light up.
Nobles' home...
"Just going down to the Lion. Quick little snifter. Christmas drinks. All right, ta-da." Wilf said.
Outside the Nobles' home…
Wilf gets out his mobile phone and makes a call, "Paratroop One to Paratroop Two. We are mobilised. I repeat, we are mobilised. Rendezvous thirteen hundred hours. Over and out."
He flags down a Sparrow Lane minibus.
"Come on! Way hey, shake a leg! Yay hey. Right then, come on, let's get going." Wilf said, while the driver and the other passengers applaud as he gets on board. "Off we go. Everybody all right? Who's got the chocolates then?"
Minibus…
"The Doctor's tall and thin, wears a brown suit, maybe a blue suit. He's got a long brown coat. Modern sort of hair, all sticky-uppy, right? And Jared's tall and thin, he usually wears a hoodie and jeans. The hoodies are usually red or blue in color, sometimes mixed. His hair is short, and he has an Asian look to him. Oh, and on page three, be on the lookout for a police box exactly like the old ones." Wilf said.
"I got locked inside one of them. August Bank Holiday 1962." Minnie said.
"Were you misbehaving, Minnie?" Winston asked.
"I certainly was. Way hey."
"Yeah, all right, all right. Now listen, this is important. We have got to find it, right? So phone around. Phone everybody. Sally, will you get onto the Bridge club? Right. Winston, you try the old boys. Bobby, want you to ring the skiffle band, right? Between us, we've got the city covered." Wilf said.
"The Silver Cloak." Minnie said.
"Yeah."
"Who are they, then, this Doctor and Jared?" Winston asked.
"No, I can't tell you that. I swear. Yeah, but answer me this. Have you been having bad dreams? All of you? Dreams you can't remember? Yeah. Well, that's why we need them. We need the Doctor and Jared more than ever. Especially Jared, since he is no longer grounded on Earth." Wilf said.
Derelict site…
A piece of wood is burning in an old oil can. There is a pile of bricks in the foreground and a Steven's Point charity burger van is sitting just outside an abandoned warehouse.
"Onions with that?" Sarah asked.
"Oh yeah, go on, pile them on. What about you, Ginger? Onions?" Tommo asked.
Ginger shrugs. He's a black lad.
"He don't say much. Give him onions. He's down from Huddersfield." Tommo said.
A figure in a hoodie walks towards the van.
"Well, you look after him. And don't forget tomorrow night. The Christmas broadcast. President Obama." Sarah said.
"Oh?" Tommo asked.
"He's promised to end the recession. Bad times will soon be over, Ginger."
"Well, season's greetings to you."
"And you. Happy Christmas."
Tommo and Ginger walk away.
"Now, what can we get you, sir?" Sarah asked.
"Everything. I am so hungry. Bwahahahahahaha!" The Master said.
Tommo and Ginger are by the brazier, eating their food.
"They're saying that the Presidents got this grand plan. He's going to save the world with some big financial scheme. Whatever it is, I bet it won't reach you and me." Tommo said, and the Master suddenly drops down from the sky and sits behind them. "Oh! Somebody's lively on his feet."
"Starving." The Master said, devouring the burger far too rapidly for a human.
"Now, you see? That's what you don't want to do. Eat it all at once. Tempting, I know. But if you make it last, it can last all day."
"Want more. Want cheese and chips, and meat and gravy, and cream and beer, and pork and beef and fat. Great big chunks of hot, wet red."
"Good for you, mate. Maybe we'd better be going."
"You look like that bloke. Harold Saxon? The one that went mad." Ginger said.
"Now isn't that funny. Isn't that just the best thing of all. The master of disguise, stuck looking like the old Prime Minister. I can't hide anywhere. He can see me. He can smell me. Can't let him smell me. And Jared, his Aura radiates of hope, of the Law of Cycles. Doctor, Jared, Doctor, Jared, shocked her, stopped her, got to stop the smell. The stink. The filthy, filthy stink." The Master said.
"Ginger, come with me. Right now." Tommo said
"Because it's funny. Don't you see? Look at me. I'm splitting my sides." The Master said, as his skeleton suddenly appears and disappears several times. "I am hilarious. I am the funniest thing in the whole wide world."
Tommo and Ginger run for the burger van.
"Sarah! God help us! There's this man!" Tommo said.
Sarah and her assistant in the van are just skeletons in clothes.
"Dinnertime!" The Master said, leaping up into the sky then swoops down on the two men.
They scream, briefly.
A little later, the Doctor stands on a small cliff with Jared and Sinon and the Time Lord sniffs deeply.
"He's here." The Doctor said.
"I know. I'm getting bad vibes." Jared said, grabbing Sinon's hand. "You back me up, okay?"
"I know." Sinon said, as Jared squeezed her hand.
The Master does the same, then picks up an iron bar and starts hitting an oil drum in a rhythm of four beats and a rest.
The Doctor, Jared, and Sinon hear it and run through piles of girders on the dockside until they see the Master up against the skyline.
"That's the Master. Let's go, you two!" Jared said, happily. "We have to stop him!"
The Master does his Incredible Hulk impression then leaps into the air.
The Doctor, Jared, and Sinon give chase.
"What's wrong with him?" Sinon asked.
The Master waits for them on a pile of girders, and his skeleton briefly flashes.
"He's dying." Jared said. "He's been dying since last night."
"Please, let us help. You're burning up your own life force." The Doctor said.
They run again, then Wilf appears in the Doctor, Jared, and Sinon's way, with the rest of the Silver Cloak close behind.
"Oh, my gosh, Doctor, Jared. You're sights for sore eyes." Wilf said.
"Wilfred, seriously?" Jared asked. "Get out of the way!"
"He's not there." Sinon said, when the Master is nowhere to be seen. "He disappeared a minute or two ago."
"Did we do it? Is that them?" Winston asked.
"The Doctor, tall and thin, big brown coat. Jared, tall and thin, hoodie and jeans." Oliver said.
"The Silver Cloak. It worked. Because Wilf phoned Netty, who phoned June, and her sister lives opposite Broadfell, and she saw the police box, and her neighbour saw these men heading east with that girl." Minnie said.
"Wilfred?" The Doctor asked.
"Yeah?" Wilfred asked.
"Have you told them who we are? You promised us." The Doctor said.
"No, I just said you were a doctor, and that Jared is a fanboy, that's all. And might I say, gentleman, it is an honour to see the two of you again." Wilfred said.
"Hey, Wilfred." Jared said. "It's been a while."
Wilf salutes.
"Oh, but you never said the Doctor was a looker. He's gorgeous. Take a photo." Minnie said.
"How long will this last for?" Sinon asked.
"Us being here? A while." Jared said. "Old people love taking pictures."
"Oh."
"Yeah. I don't like this at all." Jared said, in the photo with the Doctor and Sinon.
"Hold on. Did it flash?" Oliver asked.
"No, there's a blue light. Try again." Minnie said.
"I'm all fingers and thumbs." Oliver said.
"We're really kind of busy, you know." The Doctor said.
"Oh, it wont take a tick. Keep smiling." Minnie said, giving the Doctor's bottom a squeeze.
"Is that your hand, Minnie?"
"Good boy."
Street...
The minibus drops the Doctor, Wilf, Jared, and Sinon off. Kirito and Asuna were waiting outside the cafe.
"Come on, then. Here we are, hurry up. Bye. You behave, bye." Wilf said.
"Hi." Kirito said. "You guys took a while."
The minibus drives off with the rest of the Silver Cloak.
"We had to do some picture taking." Sinon said.
"Over here, come on." Wilf said.
"What's so special about this place? Is that why you asked Kirito and Asuna to meet us here? We passed fifteen cafes on the way." The Doctor said.
"Yeah. Good afternoon." Jared said, smiling. "Come on, I'm hungry."
Cafe…
"Oh, we had some good times, didn't we though? I mean, all those ATMOS things, and planets in the sky, and me with that paint gun. I keep seeing things, Doctor, Jared. This face at night." Wilf said.
"Who are you?" Jared asked.
"Jared, you know me, you've watched me on telly. I'm Wilfred Mott." Wilf said.
"No. People have waited hundreds of years to find us and then you manage it in a few hours." The Doctor said.
"And I usually hang out in another universe. That being the world of RWBY. It has Grimm. Relics. And Salem." Jared said. "I still can't believe you found me."
"Well, I'm just lucky I suppose." Wilf said.
"Wait, does that mean you three are still connected?" Kirito asked. "Even after meeting a couple times. From the Titanic to the Adipose."
"To ATMOS and then to the Daleks." Asuna said. "I suppose that was luck."
"Or it was skill." Sinon said.
"What's so important about me?" Wilf asked.
"Exactly. Why you? We're going to die." The Doctor said.
"Well, so am I, one day." Wilf said.
"Don't you dare, Wilfred. Don't give up on life." Jared said.
"All right, I'll try not to."
"But I was told. He will knock four times. That was the prophecy. Knock four times, and then…" The Doctor said.
"Yeah, but I thought, when I saw you and Jared before, you said your people could change, like, your whole body." Wilf said.
"I can still die. If I'm killed before regeneration, then I'm dead."
"And I can still die while my Aura regenerates too. But even so, even if the two of us change. I change my mood all the time. Since I'm a Gemini. But it still feels like dying." Jared said, sadly.
"Everything we are dies. Some new man goes sauntering away, and we're dead. What?" The Doctor asked.
"Is that Donna?" Asuna asked.
"That's why you chose this spot." Sinon said.
"Who would have known."
Wilf, Asuna, and Sinon have spotted Donna outside in the street getting out of her car.
"Jared, you and the Doctor can make Donna better. You can perform miracles like I can. Wilf kinda had to bring you here." Kirito said.
"Stop it." The Doctor said.
"Seriously, stop it." Jared said.
"No, but the two of you are so clever. Can't either of you bring her memory back? Look, just go to her now. Go on, just run across the street. Go up and say hello." Wilf said.
"If she ever remembers me, and if Jared screws up with whatever he says, her mind will burn, and she will die." The Doctor said.
"That's the main reason as to why I stopped visiting you and Donna, Wilfred. It's not that I didn't want to. I did want to visit you guys. I just can't. Since I want to talk about my adventures." Jared said, placing his hand on top of Sinon's.
They hear Donna speak to the traffic warden.
"Don't you touch this car." Donna said, angrily.
"She's not changed." The Doctor said.
"Nah. Oh, there he is." Wilf said, and a Mickey Smith lookalike meets Donna. "Shaun Temple. They're engaged. Getting married in the spring."
"So, she's having another wedding." Kirito said.
"Yeah."
"Hold on, she's not going to be called Noble-Temple? That sounds like a tourist spot." The Doctor said.
"No, it's Temple-Noble." Wilfred said.
"Right. Is she happy? Is he nice?"
"Yeah, he's sweet enough. He's a bit of a dreamer. Mind you, he's on minimum wage, she's earning tuppence, so all they can afford is a tiny little flat. And then sometimes I see this look on her face, like she's so sad, but she can't remember why."
"Well, she's got him." Jared said. "She has a boyfriend. A fiancée."
"She's making do."
"Well, aren't we all doing that?" Jared asked. "Since the Fall of Beacon happened. Things haven't been the same for me at all."
"Yeah, how about the two of you? Who have you got now?" Wilf asked.
"No one. I'm travelling alone. And Jared stayed on Earth. We thought it was better. The two of us were doing that. But we did some things. It went wrong. I became the Time Lord Victorious and Jared couldn't save people as a huntsman in training. We need…" The Doctor said.
"I need Team RWBY!" Jared said, standing up to walk over to Asuna to cry on her lap. "I can't take it anymore! Finding replacements for them! It's just impossible. Since they're my best friends. Family. And, and the Doctor needs a companion to help him."
The Doctor starts crying too.
"Oh, my word. I'm sorry." Wilf said.
"Merry Christmas." The Doctor said.
"Merry Christmas, Wilfred." Jared said.
"Yeah, and you." Wilfred said.
"Look at us." The Doctor said.
"But don't you see? You know, you need her, Doctor. And you know, you need Team RWBY, Jared. I mean, look. Wouldn't they make you laugh again? Good old Donna and Team RWBY?" Wilfred asked, and Donna and Shaun drove away. "Eh?"
"And so it came to pass that the players took their final places, making ready the events that were to come. The madman sat in his empire of dust and ashes, little knowing of the glory he would achieve. While his saviour looked upon the wilderness, in the hope of changing his inevitable fate. Far away, the idiots and fools dreamt of a shining new future. A future now doomed to never happen. As Earth rolled onwards into night, the people of that world did sleep, and shiver, somehow knowing that dawn would bring only one thing. The final day." The Narrator said.
(Jared's POV)
Abandoned warehouse…
Night. The Doctor and I walk towards the Master, who fires bolts of energy at us from his hands. He misses, and sets fires burning behind the Doctor and I. The third try hits the Doctor squarely in the chest, stopping him moving forward. Finally the energy stops and the Doctor falls to his knees. The Master catches him, then lets him fall to the ground.
"I had estates. Do you remember my father's land back home? Pastures of red grass, stretching far across the slopes of Mount Perdition. We used to run across those fields all day, calling up at the sky. Look at us now." The Master said.
"Those powerful, beautiful words, Master." I said, wearing the Torchwood contact lenses. "How many people have you killed?"
"I am so hungry."
"Your resurrection didn't finish properly. Your body's ripped open like how it was for the Law of Cycles. When Madoka was ripped from her power. You're basically killing yourself with that energy." Jared said, sipping on a cup of tea.
"That human Christmas out there. They eat so much. All that roasting meat, cakes and red wine. Hot, fat, blood, food. Pots, plates of meat, and flesh, and grease, and juice, and baking, burnt, sticky hot skin. Hot. It's so hot."
"How are you doing?" Yui asked, in the visual receptors of my head.
"I'm fine."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes! I am!"
"Stop it. What if we ask you for help? There's more at work tonight than you and me." The Doctor said.
"Oh yeah? Why does Jared need my help? Doesn't he have that fabulous team of his?" The Master asked.
"Team RWBY has been disbanded for a while now. I do miss them. Like a lot. But we've been told something is returning." I said, holding the cup of tea.
"And here I am."
��Nope, it's something more than you. Yes, I'm terrified of you. But that's not what I'm afraid of."
"But it hurts."
"We were told the end of time." The Doctor said.
"It hurts. Doctor, Jared, the noise. The noise in my head, Doctor, Jared. One, two, three, four. One, two, three, four. Stronger than ever before. Can't either of you hear it?" The Master asked.
"I'm sorry." The Doctor said.
"Me too, I can't hear it either." I said.
"Listen, listen, listen, listen. Every minute, every second, every beat of my hearts, there it is, calling to me. Please listen." The Master said.
We can hear the four beats of the start of the Doctor Who theme being played out by an iron bar on an oil drum somewhere.
"I can't hear it." The Doctor said.
"Neither can I." Jared said.
"Listen." The Master said, mind-melding with the Doctor and Jared.
"That's still the Doctor Who theme…" Jared said, frowning. "That part hasn't changed. Why?"
The Doctor and I hear the beats and pull away.
"What?" The Master asked.
"But…" The Doctor said.
"What!"
"We heard it. But there's no noise. There never has been. It's just your insanity. What is it? What's inside your head?"
"It's real. It's real. It's real!" The Master said, flying off and the Doctor and I ran after him.
Derelict site…
"All these years, both of you thought I was mad. King of the wasteland. But something is calling me, Doctor, Jared. What is it? What is it? What is it?" The Master asked.
"Spoilers. You know I can't tell you that, Master. It could give us the worst possible outcome. And it'll change what I know here." I said.
A bright light shines down on the Master, then a second one illuminates the Doctor and I.
"Get out of there!" Yui said, looking at me concerned.
A pair of SAS types come down on ropes, grab the Master and inject him with something to knock him out.
"Don't!" The Doctor said.
"We need to help him!" I said.
Others fire their guns at the Doctor and I to make us stay back, and the Master is hoisted up into the helicopter. The Doctor runs with me.
"Let him go!" The Doctor said, angrily.
"Please!" I said, grabbing the Doctor's hand.
The Doctor and I are shot in the back.
(Open POV)
Nobles' home…
Noddy Holder is screaming out his most famous song while Wilf opens a present. It is a book - Fighting the Future, by Joshua Naismith.
"Now then, steady on. It's never too early for margaritas, that's what I say. I forgot to get lemons so I used oranges instead. It's all fruit, same difference." Donna said.
Sylvia has opened her present, an item of clothing, "Oh, now that's lovely. Look at that. Absolutely beautiful. Love from Donna. Did you keep the receipt?"
"Yes, I did. Come on, Gramps. You've been a right misery ever since you got up. Do you like it then, the book?"
"Joshua Naismith? I mean, what'd you get me this for?" Wilf asked.
"I don't know. I just saw it in the shop and thought of you. It just felt like the sort of thing you should have." Donna said.
"Oh, now look at that. That's from Charlie Morton. Isn't that rude?" Sylvia asked.
They laugh at a Christmas card.
Gate room…
"If you would, Mister Danes." Naismith said.
Danes the butler removes the gag from the Master. He is otherwise securely fastened to a large chair-like structure.
"I'm starving." The Master said.
"You've my daughter to thank for this. It's all her idea. She heard rumours of Harold Saxon, his disciples, his return. It's the sort of thing she finds rather thrilling." Naismith said.
"And I was right. He's back. The very man we need, and he's here. Oh, this is going to be wonderful." Abigail said.
Nobles' home…
"Aye, aye. Here are the presents. I'm sorry, I couldn't afford much, but not for long, if President Obama ends the recession tonight. Come here." Shaun said, hugging Donna.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Keep it quiet, you lot, It's the Queen's Speech. Now come on, sit down. Show respect. Come on." Wilf said.
"Merry Christmas, Mister Mott." Shaun said, kissing Wilf.
"Thank you. Will you behave! You, honestly. All right now. Whoa, she's on, she's on. It's our sovereign." Wilf said, saluting the television, the broadcast slows down then the woman in white briefly appears. "Eh?"
"Events are moving, Wilfred." The woman said, on TV.
"Eh?" Wilf asked.
"Faster than we thought."
"Oi, can you see that?" Wilf asked, looking back at his family.
"Frankly, I'd tell Her Majesty it's time for trouser suits." Donna said, annoyed.
"No, no, no, no. That's not the…"
"Only you can see. Only you stand at the heart of coincidence.��� The woman said, on TV.
"Why, what have I done?" Wilf asked.
"You're an old soldier, sir. Only you were too late. The war was won and passed you by."
"I did my duty."
"You never killed a man."
"No, I didn't. No, I did not, no, but, don't say that like it's shameful."
"The time will come when you must take arms."
"Who are you?"
"Tell the Doctor and Jared nothing of this. Their lives could still be saved, so long as you tell them nothing."
Wilf goes to his bedroom and pulls an old suitcase out from under his bed. In a box, wrapped in a piece of cloth, is his old service revolver. Something is thrown against his window. Wilf looks out to see the Doctor and Jared returning to the Tardis.
(Jared's POV)
Outside the Nobles' home…
"We lost him. We were unconscious." I said, sadly.
"I had to tell mommy and daddy about what happened." Yui said, floating next to Jared. "If I didn't then you would…"
"That was reckless of you." Sinon said.
"What were you thinking?" Asuna asked.
"We know he's still on Earth." Kirito said. "We have to stop him. Maybe help him."
"And I can smell him, but he's too far away." The Doctor said.
"Listen, you can't park there. What if Donna sees it?" Wilf asked.
"You're the only one, Wilf. The only connection we can think of. You're involved, if we could work out how. Tell us, have you seen anything? I don't know. Anything strange, anything odd?" The Doctor asked.
"Well, there was a…"
"Well, what happened?" I asked. "Come on, tell us. I had a bit of a long night."
"Well, it was. No, it's nothing." Wilf said.
"Maybe something happened a while back." Asuna said. "There must have been something, right?"
"Well, Donna was a bit strange. She had a funny little moment, this morning, all because of that book." Wilf said.
"What book?" Kirito asked.
"His name's Joshua Naismith." Wilf said.
Wilf shows the book to the Doctor, Kirito, Asuna, Sinon, and I.
"That's the man. We were shown him by the Ood." The Doctor said.
"By the what?" Wilf asked.
"By the Ood."
"What's the Ood?"
"Oh, the Ood. They're basically Squidward with spaghetti beards." I said, laughing a little.
"But isn't it all part of the convergence?" Sinon asked.
"Maybe it's touching Donna's subconscious." Kirito said.
"Oh, she's still fighting for us, even now. The Making of the Doctor Donna, Ha! With a bit of Jared thrown in there too, oh, that's how she knew. She has some of his foreknowledge." The Doctor said.
"Dad, what are you up to? You. But. Get out of here." Sylvia said, looking at the Doctor.
"Merry Christmas." The Doctor said.
"Merry Christmas, Mrs Noble." I said, smiling.
"Merry Christmas. But Doctor, she can't see you. And Jared, you left us alone for a reason. You couldn't risk spilling the beans of your adventures with her. What if she remembers?" Sylvia asked.
"Mum, where are those tweezers?" Donna asked, nearby.
"Go." Sylvia said.
"Let's go." Sinon said. "We have to stop him."
"Yeah, me too." Wilf said.
"Oh no, you don't." Sylvia said.
"Mum? Gramps?" Donna asked, at the back of the house.
"Are we avoiding Donna on purpose?" Asuna asked. "Because you're guilty about her."
"Yup." I said, laughing a lot. "It's like ring around the rosie."
"Bit old for hide and seek." Donna said, at the back of the house.
"Stay right where you are." Sylvia said.
"You can't come with us." The Doctor said, opening the door to the TARDIS.
"Actually, he can." I said, crossing my arms. "He's cool. He's Donna's grandfather. He deserves it."
"He does believe in aliens. And he loves stargazing." Asuna said.
"Yeah." Sinon said, her hand on her hip. "Invite him."
"It can't be that bad." Kirito said, scoffing. "We've seen worse."
"They have. And you're not leaving me with her." Wilfred said.
"Dad!" Sylvia said, angrily.
"Fair enough. And you four made excellent points, he can come." The Doctor said.
"Mum?" Donna asked, nearby.
The Doctor, Wilfred, Kirito, Asuna, Sinon, and I entered the TARDIS.
"Just you listen to me. I forbid it. Get out of there!" Sylvia said.
The Tardis dematerialises.
"Doctor, Jared, bring my father back right now! Come back here! Come back here, I said! Come back!" Sylvia said.
"Are you shouting at thin air?" Donna asked.
"Yes. Possibly, yes."
Tardis…
"Naismith. If we can track him down." The Doctor said.
"Right, this place is bigger on the inside, than on the outside." I said, smiling. "Do you like it, Wilfred? I love it!"
"I thought it'd be cleaner." Wilfred said.
"Cleaner? I could take you back home right now." The Doctor said.
"The TARDIS being cleaner?" Kirito asked. "Isn't it clean enough?"
"This place looks like it is made of coral." Sinon said.
"Which could mean certain things." Asuna said.
"Listen, Doctor, Jared, if this is a time machine, that man you're chasing, why can't the two of you just pop back to yesterday and catch him?"
"I can't go back inside my own timeline. Especially with people from different time periods by my side. I have to stay relative to the Master within the causal nexus. Understand?" The Doctor asked.
"Not a word." Wilfred said.
"Welcome aboard." The Doctor said.
"Thank you."
(Open POV)
Gate room…
Joshua and Abigail Naismith enter, followed by the Master in a strait-jacket.
"Demonstrate." Naismith said.
Electricity surges across the Gate.
"Oh, that's not from Earth." The Master said.
"And neither are you. A perfect combination, don't you think?"
"Er, excuse me, sir. If I could check the basement? We're getting fluctuation on the power cords." Rossiter said.
"Of course." Naismith said.
"Miss Addams, if you could bring the calibration statistics."
The two scientists leave.
Basement…
"Who the hell is he? What if he finds out? An expert, they said. Well, what sort of expert? Who is he?" Rossiter asked.
"I don't know. According to the records, Harold Saxon was Prime Minister of this stupid country. I am choking in this thing. I'm sorry." Addams said, pressing her wristwatch and she transforms into a green skinned biped with spikes instead of hair. "Oh, by the saint's, that's better. Oh, these people are so flat."
Rossiter transforms himself, too, "But what do we do? We were so close. We almost had it working."
"What if this visitor is some sort of genius? Well, think about it. We're hijacking this project. Maybe we can use him too? Harold Saxon, or whatever he is, might be exactly what we need."
Gate room…
"The Gate was found inside a spaceship buried at the foot of Mount Snowdon. It was moved to an institute known as Torchwood, but when Torchwood fell, let's just say I acquired it." Naismith said.
"I like you." The Master said.
"Thank you."
"You'd taste great."
"Mister Danes?" Naismith asked.
"The visitor will be given food." Danes said.
The footmen bring in a covered dish. It is an entire large roast chicken. The Master rips it to pieces and devours it without ceremony in triple quick time.
"Anyway, the device came equipped with it's own power supply. A Nuclear Bolt. One technician remains in charge of the feedback twenty four hours a day, and the power feeds through to the Gate, where it encourages some sort of cellular regeneration. Miss Collins was our test subject. She carried some burns as a result of an accident when she was a child, down her left side. If you could?" Naismith asked, and Miss Collins steps forward and shows her left arm. "The Gate mended her. Thank you."
"But what do you want it for?" The Master asked.
"We calculate that if this device can be fully repaired by your good self, it can restore the body forever. Hence it's given title. The Immortality Gate. Because that's what I want. Not for me, but for my daughter. I want her never to die. My gift to her. She will be immortal."
"Abigail. It means bringer of joy." Abigail said.
The Tardis materialises in the stable block.
The Master smells it, "Better get to work."
He uses the computer keyboard.
Stables…
"We've moved. We've really moved!" Wilf said.
"You should stay here." The Doctor said.
"Not bloody likely." Wilf said.
"And don't swear. Hold on." The Doctor said.
"Kirito, Asuna, Sinon, into the TARDIS." Jared said, looking at his three friends. "What the Master's about to do. I don't want you guys to get hit by it."
"What about you?" Asuna asked.
"You sure?" Sinon asked.
"Positive." Jared said, smiling.
"We're a phone call away." Kirito said. "If you need us."
The three SAO survivors stepped into the TARDIS, and Kirito locked the door behind them.
The Doctor points the key at the Tardis, which disappears, "Just a second out of sync. Don't want the Master finding the Tardis. And good thing you didn't bring any Magical Girls with you, Jared. That's the last thing we need."
Mansion grounds.
Wilf, the Doctor, and Jared hide from a patrol.
"That book said he's a billionaire. He's got his own private army." Wilf said.
"So, basically he's Iron Man." Jared said, opening a small door in an archway. "In here."
Gate room…
Rossiter is back in human form, "Miss Addams, we're getting encouraging results from the ratio-foldback. Can you confirm?"
Basement…
"The man's a miracle. All the systems are slotting back into place." Addams said, in her human form.
Gate room...
"The shatterthreads have harmonised, the fibre links intensified…" Addams said, over the speaker.
Basement…
"And the multiple overshots have triplicated." Addams said.
"Nice Gate." Jared said, remembering the gate. "It's cool."
"Hello. Sorry." Wilf said.
"Don't try calling security, or I'll tell them you're wearing a Shimmer. Because I reckon anyone wearing a Shimmer doesn't want the Shimmer to be noticed, or they wouldn't need a Shimmer in the first place." The Doctor said.
"I'm sorry? What's a Shimmer?" Addams asked.
The Doctor points his sonic screwdriver at her, "Shimmer."
"That doesn't beat illusion magic at all." Jared said, when Addams turns green.
"Oh, my Lord. She's a cactus." Wilf said.
"Miss Addams?" Rossiter asked, over the speaker.
Gate room…
"Miss Addams? If you'll just excuse me." Rossiter said, leaving the room.
"Now, please don't imagine I'm a slave-driver. We can resume work on Boxing Day, Mister Saxon." Naismith said.
"My name is the Master." The Master said.
The Master has completed his work. He presses enter and the lights dim. A wormhole develops inside the Gate.
"Oh, excellent. Excellent! Mister Danes?" Naismith asked.
"The visitor will be restrained." Danes said.
"What? But I repaired it." The Master said.
"I'm not an idiot. Don't let him anywhere near that thing." Naismith said.
Basement…
"Wait, he got it working?" Jared asked, leaning against the wall. "But what is it this time? Is it working like how I remember it?"
"But what is it?" The Doctor asked. "What's working?"
"What are you doing here?" Rossiter asked.
Without turning around, the Doctor points the screwdriver at Rossiter.
"Shimmer!" The Doctor said, and Rossiter turns green. "Now, tell me quickly, what's going on? Jared, there's something you're not telling me. I've known for a while. The Master, Harold Saxon, Skeletor, whatever you're calling him, what's he doing up there?"
Gate room…
Danes locks the Master back into his strait jacket.
"Your reputation precedes you, sir. I have no doubt you've laid traps. Perhaps explosives. A means of escape, or murder. But everything you've done to the Gate will be checked and double-checked before anyone stands inside." Naismith said.
Basement...
"But I checked the readings. He's done good work. It's operational." Rossiter said.
"Who are you, though? 'Cause we met someone like you. He was brilliant, but he was little and red." The Doctor said.
"Oh yeah, Bannakaffalatta. Wasn't he gonna marry Astrid Peth? And he was a cyborg, I think." Jared said, smiling. "Space Titanic. Good times. Christmas 2008."
"No, that's a Zocci." Addams said.
"We're not Zocci, we're Vinvocci. Completely different." Rossiter said.
"And the Gate is Vinvocci. We're a salvage team. We picked up the signal when the humans reactivated it. And as soon as it's working, we can transport it to the ship."
"But what does it do?" The Doctor asked.
"Well, it mends. It's a simple as that. It's a medical device to repair the body. It makes people better." Rossiter said.
"No, there's got to be more. Every single warning says the Master's going to do something colossal."
"So that thing's like a sickbed, yes?" Wilf asked.
"More or less." Addams said.
"Well, pardon me for asking, but why is it so big?"
"Yeah, why is it so big?" Jared asked. "I love big things, since my nationality is part American. But big?"
"It doesn't just mend one person at a time." Addams said.
"That would be ridiculous." Rossiter said, scoffing.
"It mends whole planets."
"It does what?" The Doctor asked.
"It transmits the medical template across the entire population." Addams said.
"Son of a bitch!" Jared said, looking at the Doctor. "The entire population on Earth in this universe. It's humans and Magical Girls!"
The Doctor and Jared run through the corridors.
Gate room…
"But it's time for the broadcast. The President's grand initiative. You might want to see this, sir. Proof that the human race can mend it's own problems." Naismith said.
"And now, anticipation is rising as we go live to Washington. Here, on Christmas Day, the President has promised an instant and radical solution to the worldwide depression. Barack Obama will lead us all into a new age of prosperity." Trinity Wells said, on TV.
White House press room…
"Ladies and gentlemen, the President of the United States." A spokeswoman said.
"I'd like to speak briefly about the state of our economy…" Obama said.
Gate room…
"For fuck's sake, turn off the gate! Turn it off right now!" Jared said, angrily.
"At arms!" Danes said.
"No, no, no, no, no. Whatever you do, just don't let him near that device." The Doctor said.
"Oh, like that was ever going to happen." The Master said.
The Master throws off the strait jacket and leaps over their heads on pillars of energy from his hands, into the Gate.
Jared held out his necklace and he looked down at it, "Aqours, set up."
"Right." Aqours said.
The armor went on Jared quickly and he is holding Ebb and Flow in bow form.
"Homeless, was I? Destitute and dying? Well, look at me now." The Master said.
"Turn the gate off. Turn it off right now! Please!" Jared said, squeezing Ebb and Flow.
"Bwahahahahahaha!" The Master said.
"He's inside my head." Naismith said.
"Get out of there!" The Doctor said.
"Just listen to us! You don't know what you're doing!" Jared said, walking towards the Master.
The Master's blast of energy knocks the Doctor and Jared down.
"Doctor! Jared! Doctor, Jared, there's, there's this face." Wilf said.
"What is it? What can you see?" The Doctor asked.
"Well, it's him. I can see him."
"There's something wrong. It seems to be affecting the President." Trinity Wells said, on TV.
The President of the United States has his face in his hands.
The Doctor goes to the computer and tries to shut down the Gate, "I can't turn it off."
"That's because I locked it, idiot." The Master said.
"Wilfred! Get inside. Get him out. He can't last." Jared said, entering one of a pair of glass sided cubicles, and Wilfred swaps places with a technician in the other. "I just need to adjust the levels."
"Oh, I can see again! He's gone." Wilf said.
"These cubicles shields us from radiation. My suit has that built in. Thanks to Elfnein. Now press the button. Let me out."
"You what?"
"I can't get out until you press the button. Press that button there. I remember bits and pieces of this adventure." Jared said.
Wilf does. Wilf's cubicle is now Locked and Jared's is Open. Jared exits the cubicle.
"Fifty seconds and counting." The Master said.
"To what?" The Doctor asked.
"Oh, the both of you are going to love this."
Basement...
"He was hiding the codes. He's extrapolated the Gate's power a million times over." Rossiter said.
"But it's not affecting us." Addams said.
"He's set the template for human and something called Magical Girl!"
Gate room…
Wilf's phone rings. He pulls the revolver out of his pocket instead.
"Hello? Oh, Gawd. Donna?" Wilfred asked.
"Where are you?" Donna asked, over the phone.
Nobles' home…
"It's Mum and Shaun. Something's wrong with them." Donna said.
"There's this face." Sylvia said.
"But wait a minute. I mean, what about you?" Wilfred asked, over the phone.
Gate room…
"Can't you see anything?" Wilfred asked.
Nobles' home…
"I can see them." Donna said.
Gate room…
"That's bad enough." Donna said, her voice over the phone.
"Jared." Kyoko said, telepathically. "The hell's going on? There's this face. In my head."
"What's happening?" Iroha asked, telepathically.
"Um, do you know what's going on?" Kaede asked, telepathically.
"Yes. I do." Jared said, telepathically. "It's bad. Really bad. I can't save any of you Magical Girls from this!"
Jared gets a phone call and he immediately answers it.
"Jared, there's this face in my head." Tsubasa said, her voice over the phone. "Everyone at S.O.N.G has it. Is that Harold Saxon?"
"What is it, hypnotism? Mind control. You're grafting your thoughts inside them, is that it?" The Doctor asked.
"Oh, that's way too easy. No, no, no. They're not going to think like me, they're going to become me. And, zero!" The Master said.
A blast of energy moves out from the Master and the Gate, and spreads across the entire planet. Everyone's face becomes blurred except for Donna, Wilf, Jared, and the Doctor of course.
"You can't have." The Doctor said.
"Including Magical Girls into this! It should be impossible! You couldn't have done it!" Jared said, looking at the Master.
Jared then got the ringer tone on his phone as he lost connection with Tsubasa Kazanari.
"What is it?" Wilfred asked.
Nobles' home…
"But they've changed." Donna said, as Sylvia and Shaun are now both the Master. "Granddad, that's like, like the sort of thing that happened before."
Donna remembers enemies from her adventures, "My head. Oh, my head! Oh, my head!"
Gate room…
"Doctor? Jared? She's starting to remember." Wilfred said, as everyone's face resolves into the Master's. "What is it? What have you done, you monster?"
"Oh, I'm sorry, are you talking to me?" The Master asked.
"Or to me?" Naismith-Master asked.
"Or to me?" Abigail-Master asked.
"Or to me?" Danes-Master asked.
"Or to us?" Security-Master asked.
"Breaking news. I'm everyone. And everyone in the world is me!" Trinity Wells-Master said, on TV.
White House press room…
"I'm President. President of the United States. Look at me!" Obama-Master said, and the audience of Master's applauds him. "Ooo, financial solution. Deleted. Ha ha!"
Gate room…
"The human race was always your favourite, Doctor. Jared, you've always liked Magical Girls due to them having cool powers and weapons. But now, there is no human race and Magical Girls. There is only the Master race. Bwahahahahahaha!" The Master said.
"Oh no…" Jared said, holding Ebb and Flow. "I have no Magical Girls or Symphogear wielders to help me with this…"
"And so it came to pass, on Christmas Day, that the human race and Magical Girls did cease to exist. But even then, the Master had no concept of his greater role in events. For this was far more than humanity's and Magical Girl's end." The Narrator said.
Citadel...
"This day was the day upon which the whole of creation would change forever. This was the day the Time Lords returned. For Gallifrey." The Narrator said.
"For Gallifrey!" The Time Lords said.
"For victory!"
"For victory!"
"For the end of time itself!"
"For the end of time itself!"