The Name of the Doctor
Jared's bedroom...
Well, this cycle kept restarting time and time again, hasn't it? Jared is living his life throughout the Whoniverse.
And every single fan fiction that has him traveling with the Doctor, it just gets scrapped later on due to him, or someone else losing interest.
Well, not this time, since he has some tricks up his sleeve to spice things up. Or he thinks he does, and he thinks this is the day he's been waiting for.
He's walking around his bedroom and he spot what looks like this blue diamond, that looks like a portal.
He smiled and he packed his things, not knowing what to expect next, and he placed the items inside his traveling backpack.
"Jared? Jared?" Clara asked.
"Yes. You're Clara. Clara Oswald." Jared said, looking at Clara.
"You don't know what you're doing. You've written previous fan fiction series that you've scrapped on Whovians Amino that no one can read on Wattpad or Webnovel."
"So? Your point being? Should I do it?"
"I don't know where I am. It's like I'm breaking into a million pieces and there's only one thing I remember. I have to save the Doctor and Jared. The Doctor always looks different. And Jared always looks the same." Clara said, her voice in Jared's head.
Jared walks across behind her with Team RWBY ready to take on Roman Torchwick after doing the investigation of the White Fang.
"Jared!" Clara said.
The fourth Doctor walks past her, scarf flying.
"But I always know it's them. Sometimes I think I'm everywhere at once, running every second just to find the Doctor and Jared." Clara said, her voice in Jared's head.
Jared is at the Fall of Beacon and Clara is telling Pyrrha everything about becoming the Fall Maiden, while he thinks it's Sayaka Miki.
"Jared!" Clara said.
"Just to save them." Clara said, her voice nearby.
The third Doctor drives past in Bessie.
"Doctor!" Clara said.
The second Doctor, in his fur coat, runs past her in a palm-fringed park. She tries to follow, but falls onto the Amity Colosseum, where Jared is crying with Ruby Rose over the loss of Penny Polendina.
"Jared?" Clara asked.
"But they never hear me." Clara said, her voice nearby.
The Eleventh Doctor and Jared Shay in Victorian clothes, in the Snowmen.
"Oi." Clara said.
"Almost never. I blew into this world on a leaf." Clara said, her voice in Jared's head.
The leaf that blew into the face of her father, that made him meet her mother.
"I'm still blowing. I don't think I'll ever land. I'm Clara Oswald. I'm the Impossible Girl. I was born to save the Doctor and Jared." Clara said, her voice in Jared's head.
London 1893 - prison cell…
"Do you hear the Whisper Men? The Whisper Men are near. If you hear the Whisper Men, then turn away your ear. Do not hear the Whisper men, whatever else you do. For once you've heard the Whisper Men, they'll stop and look at you. One word from you could save me from the rope." DeMarco said.
"Then you may rely on my silence." Vastra said.
"I have information. Valuable information."
"Are you bargaining for your life? You have the blood of fourteen women on your hands. There are no words you can speak that will save your neck."
"The Doctor and Jared. Ah, yes. I know all about them, your dangerous friends."
"How?" Vastra asked.
"In the babble of the world, there are whispers, if you know how to listen. The Doctor and Jared have a secret, you know." DeMarco said.
"They have many."
"They have one they will take to the grave. And it is discovered. Well?"
Paternoster Row…
"We can't let that terrible man live." Jenny said.
"He lives till I understand what he told me. We're going to need a conference call. I'll send out the invitations, you fetch the candles." Vastra said. "Lightning Flash doesn't need one. She can just use her AmuSphere. And Sayaka, Kyoko, and Mami all have pairs of AmuSpheres too. Jared each gave them one."
"Yes, ma'am." Jenny said, walking out of the room and hearing voices whispering.
"Where's Strax got to?"
"The usual. It's his weekend off."
"I wish he'd never discovered that place."
Kirito and Asuna's home…
"Mommy." Yui said, appearing in front of Asuna.
"Yui? What is it?" Asuna asked.
"It's important. Really important."
"Yui, you can tell me anything. What is it?"
"Guests are coming over."
"Guests? Is it what I think it is?"
Sayaka, Kyoko, and Mami appeared in flashes of blue light.
"Oh. We're early then." Sayaka said, happily.
"That we are." Mami said.
"Hello Asuna." Kyoko said.
"We're here to attend the conference call." Sayaka said.
"Conference call? Madame Vastra?" Asuna asked. "Right."
Paternoster Row…
Vivaldi's Four Seasons plays in the background as Vastra and Jenny settle themselves into high backed chairs around a five sided table.
"Sleep well, my love." Vastra said.
"You too." Jenny said.
Kirito and Asuna's home…
They're all sitting on the couches in the log cabin, as the place is cozy and warm.
"The trap is set for the Doctor and Jared's friends. They will travel where the Doctor and Jared ends." A Whisper said, his voice nearby.
"Oh, the Kirigaya's home in ALFheim Online." Jenny said, looking around.
"I was getting a little bored of the Taj Mahal. The tea should be superb. Since we are in ALFheim Online. Yui, I sent you the recipe. It's drawn from one of my favourite memories. Strax, good of you to join us." Vastra said.
"It had better be important. I was in the middle of destroying some very pleasant primitives." Strax said, angrily.
"The hell? Were you in Glasgow?" Kyoko asked, a Pocky in her mouth.
"No…"
"I apologise for the interruption, but there is urgent news concerning the Doctor and Jared." Vastra said.
"Who else is coming?" Strax asked.
"The last two women."
Maitland home…
The children are doing their homework.
"Oh, no. You're going to try and make a soufflé again, aren't you?" Angie asked.
"My mum's soufflé, yeah. Although this time I'll get it right. This time I will be Soufflé Girl." Clara said, happily.
"How can it be your mum's soufflé if you're making it?" Artie asked.
"Because, Artie, it's like my mum always said. The soufflé isn't the soufflé, the soufflé is the recipe."
"Was your mum deep on puddings?" Angie asked.
"She was a great woman." Clara said, picking up an envelope. Neat cursive writing and a wax seal on the flap, and the instructions Open When Alone. "What's this?"
"Oh, it arrived today. It's for you."
Clara's room…
"My dearest Clara. The Doctor and Jared entrusted me with your contact details in the event of an emergency, and I fear one has now arisen. Assuming this letter will have reached you as planned, on April the tenth, 2013, please find and light the enclosed candle. I decided to use a candle since the FullDive technology consisting of the NerveGear, the AmuSphere, and the Soul Translator won't be invented until the next decade. And I assume Jared never gave you an AmuSphere. The candle will release a soporific which will induce a trance state, enabling direct communication across the years. However, as I realise you have no reason to trust this letter, I have taken the liberty of embedding the same soporific into the fabric of the paper you are now holding. Speak soon." Vastra said, her voice in Clara's head.
Kirito and Asuna's home...
Clara drops in.
"So glad you could make it." Vastra said, looking at Clara.
"Where am I?" Clara asked.
"You're exactly where you were. But you're sleeping." Yui said, in her fairy form. "Daddy is watching over your body and mommy's body. So you're safe."
"Time travel has always been possible in dreams. We are awaiting only one more participant." Vastra said.
"Oh, no. Not the one with the gigantic head?" Strax asked.
"It's hair, Strax." Jenny said, annoyed.
"Hair."
And River arrives in a puff of smoke.
"Madame Vastra. Asuna Yuuki. Mami Tomoe." River said.
"Professor. Help yourself to some tea." Vastra said.
"Why, thank you." River said, loading up the ALFheim Online user interface to summon a champagne bottle and flute for herself.
"How did you do that?" Jenny asked.
"Disgracefully."
"River, how much Col did you have?" Asuna asked.
"A lot." River said, looking at Asuna. "We defeated a lot of bosses in the future."
"Ah. Perhaps you two haven't met. This is the Doctor and Jared's companion. That is, their current travelling assistant." Vastra said, looking between River and Clara.
"Assistant?" Clara asked.
"Have you gone a darker green?" Strax asked.
"Clara Oswald." Vastra said.
"Professor River Song. The Doctor and Jared might have mentioned me?" River asked.
"Oh, yeah. Oh yeah, of course they have. Professor Song. Sorry, it's just I never realised you were a woman." Clara said.
"Well, neither did I." Strax said.
"I think we should get down to the business at hand." Mami said.
"You're not wrong there, Mami." Sayaka said, drinking her cup of tea.
"Yui, dear, if you would mind." Vastra said.
"Okay. I have access to the video." Yui said, loading up a holographic video of Clarence DeMarco.
"Clarence DeMarco. Murderer, under sentence of death. He offered us this in exchange for his life."
Yui changed the video on the screen from Clarence DeMarco to the space time coordinates.
"Space time coordinates." River said.
"For what?" Mami asked.
"Where does it lead?" Asuna asked.
"This, Mister DeMarco claims, is the location of the Doctor and Jared's greatest secret." Vastra said.
"Which is?" Clara asked.
"We don't know. It's a secret." Jenny said.
"The Doctor does not discuss his secrets with anyone, my dear. Only Jared discusses his secrets to the people he trusts the most. And they're in the room right now. That being Asuna Yuuki with her artificial intelligence daughter Yui, Mami Tomoe, Sayaka Miki, and Kyoko Sakura. Clara, if you're still entertaining the idea that you are an exception to this rule, ask yourself one question. What is the Doctor's name?" Vastra asked.
Something invisible touches Jenny and Sayaka's cheeks.
"Well, I know it." River said.
"I know it too." Asuna said.
"Same here." Mami said.
"Jared wanted two backups." Yui said, flying in front of Clara. "To at least know the Doctor's name."
"What, you know the Doctor's name? He told you?" Clara asked, looking at River.
"I made him." River said.
"How?"
"It took a while."
"So you're a friend of theirs, then?" Clara asked.
"A little more than a friend, a long time ago." River said.
"They've still never contacted you?" Vastra asked.
"They don't like endings." River said.
"Jared didn't like our ending." Sayaka said, sadly.
"So that dummy had to interfere." Kyoko said, a Pocky in her mouth.
"He saved all five of us." Mami said, sipping her cup of tea. "Me, Sayaka, Kyoko, Madoka, and Homura. From becoming Witches. And to keep us all alive in this universe."
Something is going on back where Vastra, Jenny, Mami, and Sayaka are asleep.
"So what else did this DeMarco tell you? He didn't just buy his life with some coordinates. How did he prove their value?" River asked.
"One word, only." Vastra said.
"What word?"
"A word I've heard in connection with the Doctor and Jared before. Trenzalore."
"How exactly did he describe what he was giving you?" River asked.
"The Doctor and Jared have a secret, you know. They have one they will take to the grave. And it is discovered." Holo-DeMarco said, on the ALFheim Online holographic screen.
"You misunderstood." River said.
Yui closed her eyes to check on the correlation between Jared and Trenzalore before opening them again, "She's right. You did misunderstand."
"Mami, I forgot to lock the doors." Sayaka said, sadly.
"It doesn't matter, Sayaka. We can do it later. Or if Madoka and Homura stop by and visit." Mami said, looking at Sayaka.
"I should have locked the doors and windows before we logged into ALFheim Online."
"Sayaka, it doesn't matter!"
"Someone broke into your apartment. Someone is with us. I can hear them, Mami."
"Sayaka? Are you okay?" Kyoko asked, looking at Sayaka.
"Mami, Kyoko. I'm sorry." Sayaka said, sadly. "I think I've been murdered."
Astral Jenny starts to fade away and Sayaka Miki disappears in a flash of blue light.
"Jenny!" Vastra said.
"Sayaka!" Mami said.
"What's happened to them." Clara said.
"Mommy, this is like SAO and GGO." Yui said, flying down to sit on Asuna's hand.
"Yeah." Asuna said, sadly. "People dying while in virtual reality."
"Jenny, Sayaka, can you hear me?" River asked.
"Speak to us, boys!" Strax said.
"Jenny!" Vastra said.
"Sayaka!" Kyoko said, worried.
"The both of you are under attack. You must wake up now. Just wake up. Do it!" River said.
River slaps Vastra and then Kyoko.
Mami's home…
Mami wakes up to see Sayaka dead with her Soul Gem separated from her body, "Who are you? What have you done to her?"
A group of 'men' with just mouths, like the Trickster from Sarah Jane Adventures, snarl at her.
Kirito and Asuna's home…
"You too, Strax, Kyoko. Wake up now!" River said, angrily.
River throws her champagne into Strax's face and slaps Kyoko across the face. Kyoko wakes up in the Mitakihara City arcade, surrounded by the same creatures. Apparently they are known as Whisper Men. They are also with Clara, River, Asuna, and Yui.
"Tell the Doctor and Jared. Tell the Doctor and Jared. Tell the Doctor and Jared." The Whisper Men said.
"Tell them what?" Clara asked.
The face of the Great Intelligence appears.
"Their friends are lost for ever more, unless they go to Trenzalore." Holo-Simeon said.
"No! You can't say that. They can't go there. You know they can't." River said.
"Angie? Artie?" The Doctor asked, his voice nearby.
"The Doctor and Jared can never go to Trenzalore."
"Am I getting warm?"
(Jared's POV)
Maitland home…
Clara wakes up at the top of the stairs. I'm looking down at Clara.
"Angie? Artie? Am I getting warm? Am I getting warm?" The Doctor asked, as he is blindfolded. "Am I getting warm? Look, I'm pretty sure you have to tell me if I'm getting warm. I'm, I'm, I'm pretty sure that's in the rules."
Clara goes downstairs with me behind her as Kirito is looking down at Asuna.
"Doctor? Jared?" Clara asked.
"Ha! Clara. How are you? Don't worry, everything is under control." The Doctor said.
"What are you doing?"
"Oh. Mister Maitland went next door, so me, Jared, and Kirito said we'd look after the kids. They wanted to go to the cinema, but we said no. We said no, not until you and Asuna wake up. We were very firm." The Doctor said.
"At which point they suggested Blind Man's Buff."
"Yes. Where are they?"
"They're at the cinema. Watching G.I. Joe Retaliation." I said, removing the Doctor's blindfold.
"The little Daleks. What's wrong?" The Doctor asked, looking between Clara and Asuna.
"Jared, do you know what's happening?" Asuna asked.
"Yes. I do." I said, sadly.
"Can you stop it?" Kirito asked.
"No."
Clara makes tea, "So who was she, the lady with the funny name and the space hair?"
"An old friend of ours." I said, grabbing Asuna's hand.
"What, like an ex?" Clara asked.
"Yes, an ex. River asked Vastra for the exact words. What were they?" The Doctor asked.
"The Doctor and Jared have a secret they will take to the grave. It is discovered. Doctor? Jared?" Clara asked.
The Doctor cried and I cried into Asuna's lap.
"I can't believe this day has finally come." I said, still crying into Asuna's lap.
"There there. It'll be okay." Asuna said, rubbing my forehead.
"Sorry. And it was Trenzalore? Definitely Trenzalore?" The Doctor asked.
"Yeah." Clara said.
"Oh dear. Sorry." The Doctor said.
"I still can't believe it…" I said, frowning.
The Doctor and I ran out of the house.
Tardis…
Clara, Asuna, and Kirito find the Doctor under the time rotor.
"Well?" Clara asked.
"Trenzalore. I've heard that name, of course. The Doctor has too. Dorium mentioned it. A couple other people too. I thought it was something bad. That something might have changed in this universe. But it hasn't. I didn't want to find out about this change myself. River would know though. River always knew." I said, looking at Clara.
"Right, come here. Give me your hand. Now, the coordinates you saw will still be in your memory. I'm linking you into the Tardis telepathic circuit. Won't hurt a bit." The Doctor said, injecting a wire into Clara's palm.
"Ow!" Clara said, angrily.
"I lied."
"Okay, what is Trenzalore? Is that your big secret with Jared?" Clara asked.
"Nope. That's not it." I said, grabbing Asuna's hand.
"What is it then?" Asuna asked.
"When you are a time traveller, there is one place you must never go. One place in all of space and time you must never, ever find yourself." The Doctor said.
"Where?" Clara asked.
"You didn't listen, did you? You lot never do. That's the problem. The Doctor has a secret he will take to the grave. It is discovered. He wasn't talking about my secret. No, no, no, that's not what's been found. He was talking about our grave. Trenzalore is where Jared and I are buried."
"How can the two of you have a grave?" Clara asked.
"They just do." Kirito said.
"Because we all do, somewhere out there in the future, waiting for us." I said, as we go up to the console. "The trouble with time travel, you can actually end up visiting."
"But the two of you are not going to. You just said it's the one place you must never go." Clara said, looking between the Doctor and I.
"We have to save Vastra, Strax, Mami, and Kyoko. Jenny and Sayaka too, if it's still possible. They cared for the Doctor and I during the dark times. When I lost Team RWBY and the Ponds. They never questioned and judged us. They were just kind."
"We owe them. We have a duty. No point in telling you this is too dangerous." The Doctor said.
"None at all. How can we save them?" Clara asked.
"Kirito, Asuna, you're welcome to stay behind." I said, looking between the married couple.
"No." Kirito said, angrily.
"We have to save them." Asuna said.
"We can save them by breaking into our own tomb." I said, smirking.
The Doctor puts the Tardis into flight. It is a very bumpy ride.
"What's that?" Clara asked.
"She's just figured out where we're going. She's against it. Jared and I are about to cross our own timelines in the biggest way possible. The Tardis doesn't like it. She's fighting it. Hang on! Hang on!" The Doctor said.
Lots of bangs and sparks. We get thrown over to the railings, and the Tardis powers down.
"Now what?" Clara asked.
"She doesn't want to land. She's shut down." I said, leaning against the TARDIS console.
"So we're not there?" Clara asked.
"We're there." Kirito said.
"We must be close." The Doctor said, going to the door, opens it and looks down. "Okay, so that's where I end up with Jared."
I'm looking down at an angry volcanic planet with the Doctor, Kirito, Asuna, and Clara.
"Always thought maybe I'd retire. Take up watercolours or bee-keeping, or something." The Doctor said.
"Well, I thought I would retire too. Live in ALFheim Online and Gun Gale Online forever." I said, sadly. "Apparently not."
"So, how do we get down there? Jump?" Clara asked.
"Don't be silly. We fall." The Doctor said.
We go back inside.
"She's turned off practically everything, except the anti-gravs. Guess what I'm turning off." The Doctor said, using the sonic screwdriver, and Clara and Asuna screams as the Tardis tumbles to the planet.
Trenzalore…
The Tardis hits ground so hard it breaks one of the glass panes in the door.
"Oops." The Doctor said.
"Sorry Sexy." I said, looking at the TARDIS.
The sky is dark, and occasionally riven with lightning.
"You two okay? You're visiting your own grave. Anyone would be scared." Clara said, looking between the Doctor and I.
"It's more than that. We're time travellers. Jared and I have probably time-travelled more than anyone else." The Doctor said.
"Meaning?" Clara asked.
"Meaning our grave is potentially the most dangerous place in the universe. Shall we?" The Doctor asked.
"Kirito, Asuna, remember how the two of you spent two hundred years in the Underworld?" I asked, looking at the married couple.
"Somewhat." Kirito said, sadly.
"We erased our memories of it though." Asuna said.
"Imagine adding seven hundred years to it." I said, looking at the giant TARDIS. "That is what I'm gonna do with the Doctor."
Up ahead is the biggest of all, a familiar shape with a light on top.
"It's a hell of a monument." Kirito said.
"It's the Tardis." I said, grabbing Asuna's hand.
"I can see that. That's sad, that's really sad." Asuna said, sadly.
"No. When a Tardis is dying, sometimes the dimension dams start breaking down. They used to call it a size leak. All the bigger on the inside starts leaking to the outside. It grows. When I say that's the Tardis, I don't mean it looks like the Tardis, I mean it actually is the Tardis. My Tardis from the future. What else would they bury me and Jared in?" The Doctor asked.
"Me being buried in the TARDIS. How ironic. Being buried in the show I loved for seven years." I said, annoyed.
The Doctor and I walk on.
"Clara. Kirito. Asuna. Don't speak, don't say my name. They can't see or hear me. Only the three of you can." River said.
"Clara! Kirito! Asuna! Come on!" I said, angrily.
"We're mentally linked. It's the conference call. I kept the line open." River said.
"Who are you talking to? We need to get...River." I said, looking at a gravestone with River Song carved in it.
"That can't be right." Clara said.
"No, it can't. I know when she died. I've known for years."
"She's not dead."
"Oh, she's dead, Clara. River's been dead for a very long time. Her death was one I couldn't change. Yuuki Konno's, I was able to change. That phenomenal swordswoman didn't have to die of HIV, AIDS, and esophageal candidiasis. So I got some future vaccines and had her cured in the prime timeline." I said, smiling.
"You still check up on Yuuki to this very day." Asuna said, happily. "Thank you for that."
"Don't mention it, Lightning Flash. What are friends for?"
"You are close to us." Kirito said, looking at me. "You couldn't save River because her death was a fixed point in time."
"River had to die in our past. So me and the Doctor can meet her parents. Amy and Rory had to give birth in the TARDIS. Her parents died a long time ago."
"Yeah, probably should have mentioned that. Never the right time." River said.
"But I met her." Clara said.
"I gave you a brief summary. Even so, it's a long story. But her grave can't be here. It's in the biggest library in the universe." I said, frowning.
Whispers.
"Doctor! Jared!" Clara said, terrified.
Whisper men are there, "These men must fall as all men must. The fate of all is always dust."
The sonic screwdriver does not work on them.
"If it isn't my gravestone, then what is it?" River asked.
"What do you think that gravestone really is?" Kirito asked.
"The gravestone? The hell are you on about?" I asked, squeezing Asuna's hand.
"Maybe it's a false grave." River said.
"Maybe it's a false grave." Asuna said, happily.
"Yeah, maybe. Possibly. I don't know." I said, letting out a sigh.
"Maybe it's a secret entrance to the tomb." River said.
"Maybe it's a secret entrance to the tomb!" Clara said, worried.
"Yes, of course. Makes sense. They'd never bury my wife who is also Jared's best friend out here." The Doctor said.
"Your what?"
The Doctor zaps River's headstone with the sonic screwdriver. A hole opens in the ground and we fall through.
"The men who lie will lie no more when these men lies at Trenzalore." The Whisper Men said.
(Open POV)
Outside the tomb…
Vastra, Strax, Mami, and Kyoko wake up at the base of the Tardis monument.
"This base is surrounded! Lay down your weapons and your deaths will be merciful!" Strax said, angrily.
"Jenny. Jenny!" Vastra said, running to her wife's body.
"Sayaka!" Kyoko said, running up to Sayaka's body.
"This planet is now property of the Sontaran Empire. Surrender your women and intellectuals." Strax said.
"Strax, please! They're dead." Vastra said.
Strax scans Jenny, "No heart beat. Complete cardio-collapse, shock induced."
"Get her back for me. Get her back for me now or I will cut you into pieces." Vastra said.
"Unhand me, ridiculous reptile." Strax said, using his medi-scanner to transmit an electric pulse, and Jenny coughs. "There we go. Just a standard electro-cardio restart. She'll be fine."
"Are you all right, my love? Can you hear me?" Vastra asked.
"The heart is a relatively simple thing."
"I have not found it to be so."
"Kyoko! Grief Seed!" Mami said, picking up Sayaka's Soul Gem to place it in the right hand of the blue haired Magical Girl.
Kyoko then placed a Grief Seed on Sayaka's Soul Gem to make it have the blue tint it had before, "Phew. That was close."
"Hey. What's up?" Sayaka asked, waking up from her slumber.
The Whisper Men approach them, with their leader.
"I see the two of you have repaired your pets. No matter. I was only attracting your attention. I presume I have it." Simeon said.
"Doctor Simeon. This is not possible." Mami said, looking at Simeon.
"And yet here we are, meeting again, so very far from home."
"But he died. You told me." Sayaka said, sadly.
"Simeon died, but the creature that possessed him lived on. I take it I am now talking to the Great Intelligence?" Vastra asked.
"Welcome to the final resting place of the cruel tyrants. Of the slaughterers of the ten billion, and the vessels of the final darkness. Welcome to the tomb of the Doctor and the Storyteller." Simeon said.
Cue lightning.
"The hell is the lightning for?" Kyoko asked. "For dramatic effect?"
Catacombs…
The Doctor lights a handy firebrand or torch.
"Where are we?" Clara asked.
"Catacombs." Jared said, grabbing Asuna's hand.
"I hate catacombs." Clara said.
"Same." Asuna said.
"This place isn't half bad." Kirito said.
"So, Doctor, how come I met your dead wife?" Clara asked.
"Oh well, you know how it is when you lose someone close to you. Jared and I sort of made a back-up." The Doctor said.
"I died saving them. In return, the Doctor and Jared saved me to a database in the biggest library in the universe. Left me like a book on a shelf. Didn't even say goodbye. They don't like endings." River said.
"Clara, Kirito, Asuna, come on! Run!" Jared said, looking at his three friends.
Whisper men are behind them.
Outside the tomb…
"It was a minor skirmish, by the Doctor and Jared's blood-soaked standards. Not exactly the Time War or the war against the Underworld Army, but enough to finish them. In the end, it was too much for the old men." Simeon said.
"Blood-soaked?" Jenny asked.
"Blood-soaked? How?" Sayaka asked. "Are you sure you woke up on the right side of the bed?"
"The Doctor and Jared have been many things, but never blood-soaked." Mami said.
"Tell that to the leader of the Sycorax, or Solomon the trader, or the Cybermen, or the Daleks. The Doctor and Jared live their lives in darker hues, day upon day, and they will have other names before the end. The Doctor is known as the Storm, the Beast, the Valeyard." Simeon said.
"Even if any of this were true, which I take the liberty of doubting, how did you come by this information?" Vastra asked.
"I am information."
"Information? Yeah, right. You were a mind without a body last time we met." Kyoko said, a Pocky in her mouth.
"And you were supposed to stay that way." Vastra said.
"Alas, I did." Simeon said, pulling at his face, to reveal that he is an empty shell. His clothes tumble to the ground, then a Whisper Man steps forward and becomes him again. "As you can see."
Tomb basement…
The Doctor bursts through a steel door, "Come on, quickly, we're in."
A Whisper Man grabs Clara's arm.
"Doctor! Jared!" Clara said, terrified.
"Clara!" Jared said, pulling Clara out of its grasp and slamming the door.
It's hand is trapped until it pulls it back, and the door closes properly.
"Yowzah." The Doctor said.
They head up metal stairs.
"Still a bit of a climb. I think I remember the way. Clara? Clara." The Doctor said, while Clara is feeling dizzy. "Hey, it's okay. You're fine. The dimensioning forces this deep in the Tardis, they can make you a bit giddy."
"I know, I know. How do I know? How do I know that?" Clara asked.
"Clara, it's okay. You're fine." Jared said, walking up to Clara.
"Have we, have we done this before? We have. We have done this before. Climbing through a wrecked Tardis." Clara said, remembering Journey to the Centre of the Tardis, with the complete reboot so it never happened. "Jared, you said things, things I'm not supposed to remember."
"We can't do this now. The Tardis is a ruin. The telepathic circuits are awakening memories you shouldn't even have." The Doctor said.
"Why do I keep running into you, Clara?" Jared asked, as a memory.
"Clara." Kirito said.
"Before all that. I met you in 2009 and we had a wedding day together. She died saving my life, and she was you. And the Doctor and I, we met you at the Dalek Asylum. There was a girl in a shipwreck and she died saving the Doctor's life and mine, and she was you." Jared said, as a memory.
"Clara." Asuna said, frowning.
"Mantle. There were Centinels and you fought them and the Hound together with Yang, Ren, and Jaune to save Oscar. She died without me knowing, and she was you. Medusa. She put a forcefield around the castle where I was gonna fight her and a boss in front of it. A friend of mine showed up and she died, and she was you. Victorian London. There was a governess who was really a barmaid, and the three of us fought the Great Intelligence together. She died and it was my fault, and she was you." Jared said, as a memory.
"Clara? Clara, what's wrong?" Jared asked, grabbing Clara's hand.
"Jared, what do you mean, you and the Doctor keep meeting me? You said I died. How could I die?" Clara asked.
"That is not a conversation you should even remember." The Doctor said.
"What do you mean I died?"
"Spoilers." Jared said, letting out a sigh.
"The girl who died they tried to save. She'll die again inside their grave." The Whisper Men said.
"Run. Run!" The Doctor said.
(Jared's POV)
Outside the tomb…
"The doors require a key. The key is a word. And the word is the Doctor's." Simeon said.
"Here we are, late to our own funeral. Glad you could make it. Jenny." The Doctor said.
"Hello, Sayaka." I said, looking at Sayaka.
"Open the door, Doctor, Jared. Speak, and open your tomb." Simeon said.
"Nope. Not gonna happen."
"Because you know what's in there?"
"Yes, I do. I will not open those doors."
"The key is a word lost to time. A secret hidden in the deepest shadow and known to the two of you alone. The answer to a question." Simeon said.
"We will not open our tomb." The Doctor said.
"Doctor, what is your name? The Doctor and Jared's friends. Stop their hearts." Simeon said.
The Whisper Men hiss.
"Madam, boys, combat formation. They are unarmed." Strax said.
"So are we!" Jenny said, angrily.
"Do not divulge our military secrets."
"Will our weapons work against them?" Sayaka asked.
"The hell? We saw them. They're unbeatable." Kyoko said, annoyed.
"Our weapons are practically useless here." Mami said, sadly.
"Stop this. Leave them alone." I said, looking at Kirito and Asuna.
"Your name, Doctor. Answer me." Simeon said.
"Doctor? Jared?" Clara asked.
Strax picks up a stick and hits a Whisper Man with it.
"What?" Asuna asked.
It cuts through its body.
"They really are unbeatable." Kirito said.
"Do you want me to do that again?" Strax asked, while the hole closed up.
"Doctor who?" Simeon asked.
The Whisper Man reaches into Strax and Kyoko's chests, and closes its hand around Strax's heart and Kyoko's Soul Gem.
"Please, stop it." I said, frowning.
"Doctor who?" Simeon asked.
"Unhand me, sir. Argh." Strax said.
"Let go of me! Argh!" Kyoko said, angrily.
"Leave them alone. Let them be." I said, looking between Strax and Kyoko.
"Don't worry, sir. I think I've got him rattled." Strax said.
"No you don't!" Kyoko said.
One attacks Clara and one attacks Asuna, too.
"Doctor! Jared! Doctor! Jared!" Clara said, terrified.
"Doctor who?" Simeon asked.
"Please!" I said, worried.
The tomb door opens. Strax and Kyoko are released.
"The Tardis can still hear me. Lucky thing, since the Doctor indoors is being so useless." River said, annoyed.
"Why did you open the door, sir? I had them on the run." Strax said.
"I didn't do it. I didn't say my name." The Doctor said.
"No, but I did." River said.
"Is everyone okay?" I asked, looking at Vastra, Jenny, Strax, Kirito, Asuna, Mami, Sayaka, and Kyoko to see that they're all okay. "Clara?" I then ran up to Clara to check up on her. "Clara? Clara, are you okay?"
"That was not nice." Clara said, sadly.
"I know. I'm sorry."
"Now then, Doctor Simeon, or Mister G Intelligence, whatever I call you, do you know what's in there?" The Doctor asked.
"For me, peace at last. For the both of you, pain everlasting. Won't you invite us in?" Simeon asked.
The Doctor forces the doors further open.
Tomb…
The console room, except instead of a time rotor and console, there is a bright tangle of shining white energy tendrils, swirling and writhing in a column. The Cloister Bell tolls in the background. There is ivy growing over the railing and other fittings.
"What's that?" Clara asked.
"What were you expecting, bodies? Bodies are boring. I've had loads of them. And Jared wanted to die in a virtual world. Nah, that's not what our tomb is for." The Doctor said.
"But what is the light?" Vastra asked.
"Yeah. What is it?" Mami asked.
"It's beautiful." Jenny said, smiling.
"Blue and white. Like my Magical Girl outfit." Sayaka said, in awe.
"Should I destroy it?" Strax asked.
"Shut up, Strax." Kyoko said, annoyed.
"Doctor, Jared, explain. What is that?" Clara asked.
"The tracks of our tears." The Doctor said.
"Less poetry, Doctor. Just tell them." Simeon said.
"Time travel is damage. It's like a tear in the fabric of reality. That is the scar tissue of my journey through the universe. My path through time and space from Gallifrey to Trenzalore." The Doctor said.
"And that is the scar tissue of my journey through the multiverse. My path through time and space from Earth and Remnant to Trenzalore." I said, letting out a sigh.
The Doctor zaps it with his sonic screwdriver. Overlapping clips.
"Have you ever thought what it's like to be wanderers in the fourth dimension?" The 1st Doctor asked, over the speakers.
"It's okay, Tosh. I'm here. So, Owen's hungover, yeah?" I asked, over the speakers.
"Do I have the right?" The 4th Doctor asked, over the speakers.
"On the red corner, it's Team JNPR! And on the blue corner, it's Team RWBY! I want a nice clean fight between all of you. Ah, forget it. Just go nuts!"
"Daleks, Cybermen, they're still in the nursery compared to us." The 6th Doctor said, over the speakers.
"Yup. He is." I said, over the speakers.
"That was when we were saving Donna. From the giant spider." Kyoko said, her eyes widening.
"There are corners of the universe that have bred the most dangerous things." The 2nd Doctor said, over the speakers.
"You're gonna be great out there. I'm not going anywhere. I'm not gonna lose you, or Weiss, or Blake, or Yang. Or Team JNPR. I won't ever leave any of you. Because I don't want to see you guys upset. And it would break my heart." I said, over the speakers.
"You were fantastic. Absolutely fantastic." The 9th Doctor said, over the speakers.
"Because I love to snipe and go in head on. I've changed ever since I started traveling with you."
"I'm the Doctor. I'm from Gallifrey in the constellation of Kasterborous…" The 10th Doctor said, over the speakers.
"Better, I still have loads of adventures to go on. With you, with Weiss, with Blake, and Yang. Ren, Nora, and Jaune too. I'm gonna miss Donna Noble a lot overtime, even if I felt like I spent too much time with you."
"Hello, Stonehenge!" The 11th Doctor said, over the speakers.
"Because I love you. I love you a lot, Clara. I met you in 2013, the fall of that year. I came from another universe. You were a fictional character. I watched you and the Doctor travel for years. And then I ended up in this world. This universe in the fall of 2018." I said, over the speakers.
"Jared, you love me?" Clara asked, walking up to me.
"Yes! I do! Always have. Always will." I said, sadly. "Didn't want to tell you like this though."
"Our own personal time tunnel. All the days…" The Doctor said.
"It was the daisiest daisy I'd ever seen." The 3rd Doctor said, over the speakers.
"And that tomorrow for me involves Sword Art Online, ALFheim Online, and Gun Gale Online. I helped reboot the universe to save Kirito and the others." I said, over the speakers.
"Even the ones that we, er, even the ones that we haven't lived yet." The Doctor said.
"God knows what will happen in my future. I don't even know what happened after my first visit to Trenzalore." I said, collapsing with the Doctor.
"Doctor. Doctor!" Clara said, running up to the Doctor.
"No, no. Which is why we shouldn't be here. The paradoxes. It's very bad." The Doctor said.
"It's super bad." I said, while Asuna ran up to me. "I'm scared about the future so much. I almost died a lot lately. I want to reunite with Team RWBY." Simeon steps forward. "No. No. No. What are you doing? Somebody stop him!"
"The Doctor and Jared's lives are open wounds. And an open wound can be entered." Simeon said.
"No, it would destroy you."
"Not at all. It will kill me. It will destroy the both of you. I can rewrite your every living moment. I can turn every one of you victories into defeats. Poison every friendship. Deliver pain to your every breath." Simeon said.
"It will burn you up. Once you go through, you can't come back. You will be scattered along our timeline like confetti." The Doctor said.
"It matters not, Doctor, Jared. The both of you thwarted me at every turn. Now you will give me peace, as I take my revenge on every second of your life. Goodbye. Goodbye, Doctor, Jared." Simeon said, backing into the time stream, and the Whisper Men vanish.
There is a big flash.
The Doctor and I writhed in agony.
"What's wrong with them? What's happening?" Clara asked.
"They're being rewritten. Simeon is attacking both of their entire timelines. They're dying all at once. Beacon. The Dalek Asylum. Mantle. Androzani." Vastra said, looking at her scanner.
"What did you say? Did you say the Dalek Asylum and Mantle?" Clara asked.
"Now they're dying in London, with us. And Jared's dying against Medusa."
"It is done." Simeon said, his voice nearby.
The time stream turns red.
"Damn." Kyoko said, at a loss for words. "Why the fuck is it red?"
"Oh, dear Goddess." Vastra said.
"What's wrong?" Jenny asked.
"A universe without the Doctor. And the multiverse without Jared since he helps support the Law of Cycles. There will be consequences. Jenny, Mami, Kyoko, Sayaka, with me." Vastra said.
Vastra left the room with Jenny, Mami, Kyoko, and Sayaka.
"The Dalek Asylum. Mantle. You said it was me that saved you and the Doctor. How? Victorian London. Medusa. How, how could I have been in Victorian London and went up against Medusa?" Clara asked, looking at me.
"No. Please, stop. My life, my whole life is burning." The Doctor said.
"Same. I need to see Team RWBY again." I said, letting out a lot of tears.
(Open POV)
Outside the tomb…
"What are you scanning for?" Jenny asked.
"Local star systems." Vastra said.
"Why?" Strax asked.
"Because they're disappearing." Vastra said.
"Disappearing how?" Jenny asked.
"It's like the reality bomb. When the stars were going out. And the darkness was coming." Sayaka said.
"The hell's a reality bomb?" Kyoko asked.
"The Doctor and Jared's timelines have been corrupted. Their every victory reversed. Think how many lives those men saved. How many worlds. They saved your life when we met. Jenny?" Vastra asked.
"Sayaka?" Mami asked, looking for Sayaka.
Jenny and Sayaka have vanished.
"Sayaka…" Mami said, letting out a lot of tears.
"Please, Jenny, no! Oh God, oh please, no." Vastra said.
"Reptile scum." Strax said, attacking Vastra. "You are an affront to Sontaran purity. Prepare to perish!"
"We're friends. Strax, your past is changing, and Kyoko, your past is changing, but I swear, we are comrades!"
"Huh. Mami Tomoe. Using me like a puppet." Kyoko said, transforming to wear her Magical Girl outfit and aimed her spear at Mami.
"Die, reptile." Strax said.
"Kyoko! Kyoko!" Mami said, worried.
Vastra raises her weapon, but Strax and Kyoko disappear.
"Strax! Strax!" Vastra said.
Tomb…
"I have to go in there." Clara said.
"Please, please, no." Jared said, frowning.
"But this is what I've already done. You've already seen me do it. I'm the Impossible Girl, and this is why."
"Whatever you're thinking of doing, don't. You don't know what's gonna happen." Kirito said.
"If I step in there, what happens?" Clara asked, looking at River.
"The time winds will tear you into a million pieces. A million versions of you, living and dying all over time and space, like echoes." River said.
"But the echoes could save the Doctor and Jared, right?"
"But, Clara, they won't be you. The real you will die. They'll just be copies." Asuna said, looking at Clara.
"But they'll be real enough to save them. It's like my mum said. The soufflé isn't the soufflé, the soufflé is the recipe. It's the only way to save them, isn't it?" Clara asked.
River's image nods.
"The stars are going out. And Jenny and Strax are dead." Vastra said.
"Sayaka and Kyoko are also dead. There must be something we can do." Mami said.
"Well, how about that? I'm soufflé girl after all." Clara said, looking at the time stream.
"No. Please." The Doctor said.
"If this works, get out of here as fast as you can. And spare me a thought now and then."
"No, Clara." Jared said, letting out a sigh.
"In fact, you know what? Run. Run, you clever boys, and remember me." Clara said.
"No. Clara!" Jared said, angrily.
Clara steps into the time stream. It turns white again.
"Clara!" Jared said, worried.
Time stream…
"I don't know where I am. It's like I'm breaking into a million pieces and there's only one thing I remember. I have to save the Doctor and Jared. The Doctor always looks different. And Jared always looks the same." Clara said, her voice in Jared's head.
Jared walks across behind her with Team RWBY ready to take on Roman Torchwick after doing the investigation of the White Fang.
"Jared!" Clara said.
The fourth Doctor walks past her, scarf flying.
"But I always know it's them. Sometimes I think I'm everywhere at once, running every second just to find the Doctor and Jared." Clara said, her voice in Jared's head.
Jared is at the Fall of Beacon and Clara is telling Pyrrha everything about becoming the Fall Maiden, while he thinks it's Sayaka Miki pretending to be him.
"Jared!" Clara said.
"Just to save them." Clara said, her voice nearby.
The third Doctor drives past in Bessie.
"Doctor!" Clara said.
The second Doctor, in his fur coat, runs past her in a palm-fringed park. She tries to follow, but falls onto the Amity Colosseum, where Jared is crying with Ruby Rose over the loss of Penny Polendina.
"Jared?" Clara asked.
"But they never hear me." Clara said, her voice nearby.
The Eleventh Doctor and Jared Shay in Victorian clothes, in the Snowmen.
"Oi." Clara said, as her Snowmen echo.
"Almost never. I blew into this world on a leaf." Clara said, her voice in Jared's head.
The leaf that blew into the face of her father, that made him meet her mother.
"I'm still blowing. I don't think I'll ever land. I'm Clara Oswald. I'm the Impossible Girl. I was born to save the Doctor and Jared." Clara said, her voice in Jared's head.
Jared's bedroom...
"Jared? Jared?" Clara asked.
"Yes. You're Clara. Clara Oswald." Jared said, looking at Clara.
"You don't know what you're doing. You've written previous fan fiction series that you've scrapped on Whovians Amino that no one can read on Wattpad or Webnovel."
"So? Your point being? Should I do it?"
"Right from the very beginning." Clara said, her voice in Jared's head.
"Yes. Jump in there and start your new life with the Doctor and Team RWBY. Due to the constant resets with all of the previous fan fiction books. They all merged into one timeline. One universe. This is the perfect one. Your dream will come true. It built up on the karmic destiny in the end of it all. Now go on."
Jared stepped through the portal, and he looked around in awe at his surroundings. Yes, he's five foot nine inches, he's a Filipino American with black hair and brown eyes.
He's into a lot of things, and you'll know what he's into if you read his previous fan fictions, that he pretty much scrapped back then.
"Right from the day they started running." Clara said, her voice in Jared's head.
"Run, you clever boys." Clara said, as her Dalek Asylum echo.
Tomb…
"And remember me." Clara said.
Whiteout.
"You're back!" Mami said, running up to Sayaka and Kyoko for a group hug.
"The hell happened?" Kyoko asked.
"I don't know. But this felt like our story." Sayaka said, rubbing the back of our head.
"Puella Magi Madoka Magica?" Mami asked. "How?"
"From beginning to end."
"Oh. You're right. It does." Kyoko said, her eyes widening.
"It was an unprovoked and violent attack, but that's no excuse." Strax said.
"We're all restored. That's all that matters now." Vastra said.
"We are not all restored." Jared said, looking at the time stream.
"You can't go in there. It's your own time stream and the Doctor's time stream, for God's sake." River said.
"I have to get her back."
"Of course, but not like this."
"But how?" Jenny asked.
"Is it possible?" Asuna asked.
"Is she still alive? It killed Doctor Simeon." Kirito said.
"Clara's got one advantage over the Great Intelligence." Jared said, grabbing the Doctor's hand.
"Which is?" Vastra asked.
"Me and the Doctor."
"Doctor, Jared, please listen to me. At least hear me." River said.
"Now, if we don't come back, and we might not…" The Doctor said.
"Doctor! Jared!"
"Go to the Tardis. The fast return protocols should be on. She'll take the SAO Survivors and the three Magical Girls home first, the Paternoster Gang next, and then shut herself down."
"There has to be another way. Use the Tardis, use something. Save her, yes, but for God's sake be sensible." River said, while her image goes to hit the Doctor, and he catches her arm in his hand. "How are you even doing that? I'm not really here."
"River, you are always here to us. We always listen to you, the Doctor and I. We can always hear you, Melody Pond." Jared said, squeezing the Doctor's hand.
"Then why didn't one of you speak to me?" River asked.
"Because we thought it would hurt too much."
"I believe I could have coped."
"No, we thought it would hurt us. And we were right." The Doctor said.
Jared let's go of the Doctor's hand.
The Doctor kisses River, "Since nobody else in this room can see you, God knows how that looked. There is a time to live and a time to sleep. You are an echo, River. Like Clara. Like Team RWBY. Like all of us, in the end."
"River, you dying in the Library. It was the Doctor's fault for being so reckless. But it was essentially my fault since I had the foreknowledge. I know that I was afraid to change anything. But, River, you should've faded by now." Jared said, frowning.
"It's hard to leave when the two of you haven't said goodbye." River said, sadly.
"Then tell us, because we don't know. How do we say it?" The Doctor asked.
"There's only one way I'd accept. If you both ever loved me, say it like you're going to come back."
"Well, then. See you around, Professor River Song."
"See ya, River. Thanks for everything that has happened today. I will love you, always. My best friend. Might see you again at some point. I don't know." Jared said, happily.
"Till the next time, Doctor, Jared." River said.
"Don't wait up." The Doctor said.
"Oh, there's one more thing." River said.
"Isn't there always?" The Doctor asked.
"You always have something to tell us. So tell us." Jared said, smirking.
"I was mentally linked with Clara, Kirito, and Asuna. If Clara's really dead, and if Team RWBY are really dead, then how can I still be here?" River asked.
"Okay, how?" The Doctor asked.
"And is Team RWBY alive? Please tell me that they are." Jared said, smiling.
"Spoilers. Goodbye, sweetie, darling." River said, happily.
Melody Pond, daughter of the Tardis, vanishes.
"Team RWBY is still alive. Ruby Rose, Weiss Schnee, Blake Belladonna, and Yang Xiao Long are alive! Yes!" Jared said, excitedly. "That means if I can teleport my way into where Team RWBY is at. Using a vortex manipulator. Oh, my god. I could actually see them again!"
The Doctor and Jared step into their own time stream. Whiteout.
"I don't know where I am. I don't know where I'm going or where I've been. I was born to save the Doctor and Jared, but the Doctor and Jared are safe now. I'm the Impossible Girl, and my story is done." Clara said, her voice in Jared's head.
(Jared's POV)
Time stream…
Thud. It looks like the graveyard at Trenzalore.
"Doctor? Jared?" Clara asked, falling with another thud. "Doctor! Jared! Please, please, I don't know where I am."
"Clara. You can hear us. I know you can." I said, my voice nearby.
"I can't see you and the Doctor." Clara said.
"I'm everywhere. You're inside my time stream. Everything around you is me." The Doctor said, his voice nearby.
"And you're inside my time stream too. When I'm not around. My friends help defend the Earth too. Everything around you is me and my friends." I said, my voice nearby.
The First Doctor walks past. I walk past with Nanoha Takamachi.
"I can see the both of you." Clara said, happily.
The Sixth Doctor runs past. I ran past with Ryuko Matoi. The Fifth Doctor runs past. I ran past with Hibiki Tachibana. The Ninth Doctor runs past. I ran past with Sakura Kinomoto. The Fourth Doctor runs past. I ran past with Yuna Yuki.
"Doctor, all your different faces, they're here. And Jared, you and your friends, they're here." Clara said, smiling.
"Those are our ghosts. Our past. Every good day, every bad day." The Doctor said, his voice nearby.
Clara is knocked to the ground, "What's wrong? What's happening?"
"We're inside our own time stream. It's collapsing in on itself, Clara." I said, my voice nearby.
"Well, get out then. Both of you!" Clara said, angrily.
"We're not leaving. Not until we've got you."
"I don't even know who I am."
"You're my Impossible Girl. We're sending you something. Not from my past, or from the Doctor's past, from yours." I said, my voice nearby.
"Look up. Look." The Doctor said, as a dead leaf comes floating down. "This is you, Clara. Everything you were or will be. Take it. You blew into the world on this leaf. Hold tight. It will take you home."
Clara takes the leaf and stumbles forward.
"Clara! Clara! Come on. Come to me now." I said, happily. "You can do it. I know you can."
"How?" Clara asked, looking at me.
"Because it's impossible. And you're my Impossible Girl. How many times have you saved me and the Doctor, Clara? Just this once, just for the hell of it, let me save you. You have to trust me, Clara. I'm real. Just one more step." I said, while Clara stumbled into my arms. "Clara, my Clara."
The Doctor looks forward to where a man is standing with his back to me, Clara, and my Doctor.
"Who's that?" Clara asked.
"Never mind. Let's go back." The Doctor said.
"But who is he?"
"He's me. There's only me and Jared here, that's the point. Now let's get back."
"But I never saw that one. I saw all of you. Eleven faces, all of them you. You're the eleventh Doctor."
"I said he was me. I never said he was the Doctor." The Doctor said, sadly.
"I don't understand." Clara said, frowning.
"Look, my name, my real name, that is not the point. The name I chose is the Doctor. The name you choose, it's like, it's like a promise you make. He's the one who broke the promise."
Clara faints.
"Clara? Clara? Clara!" I said, picking up Clara in my arms. "Clara, I'm so sorry. Clara...I want you to know that when the time comes and you have to make a hard decision, you will have the courage to make it. One day, you'll find out there are things only you can do, like you did today, and then you'll know just how strong and how kind you really are. Believe me, it's the truth."
"He is my secret." The Doctor said.
"What I did, I did without choice." Not Doctor said.
"I know."
"In the name of peace and sanity."
"But not in the name of the Doctor."
The Doctor turns and I carry Clara away. The figure turns around to introduce John Hurt as the Doctor.