Chapter 1: The Next Doctor
Market place…
The Tardis materialises under a nice mediaeval archway, in the falling snow.
The Doctor, Jared, Hibiki, and Miku steps out and smiles, and walks into a busy Victorian market where sellers are calling out their wares.
"It's winter." Miku said, happily. "Like you said, we've traveled in time."
The policeman on the beat acknowledges the group, "Good afternoon."
"Hot chestnuts. Chestnuts." A seller said.
"Oh, tidings of comfort and joy, comfort and joy. Oh, tidings…" The choir said.
The Doctor does his Ebenezer Scrooge impression, "You there, boy. What day is this?"
"Christmas Eve, sir." The boy said.
"Sorry, ate a bit too much chocolate cake." Hibiki said, laughing a little. "What year is it?"
"You thick or something?"
"Hey, don't talk to Hibiki like that." Jared said, excitedly. "Just answer the question, please. It was a long night last night. I was too busy playing skee ball!"
"Year of our Lord 1851, sir."
"Right. Nice year. Bit dull." The Doctor said.
"Doctor! Doctor!" Rosita said, nearby.
"Who, me?" The Doctor asked, running towards the call.
(Jared's POV)
Alleyway…
"Doctor!" Rosita said, angrily.
"Talk about something familiar." I said, when I found a dark-skinned young woman with the Doctor, Hibiki, and Miku. "Not two of my favorite companions, but a combination of them."
"Don't worry, don't worry. Stand back. What have we got here?" The Doctor asked, as the large double doors in the wall move and something snarls behind it. "Ooo. Okay, I've got it. Whatever's behind that door, I think you should get out of here."
"Doctor!" Rosita said.
"No, no. I'm standing right here. Hello." The Doctor said.
"Don't be stupid. Who are you lot?"
"I'm the Doctor, this is Jared, Hibiki, and Miku."
"Doctor who?"
"Just the Doctor."
"Well, there can't be two of you." Rosita said, as another man runs up. "Where the hell have you been?"
"Right then. Don't worry. Stand back. What have we got here then?" The Next Doctor asked.
"Wait, who are you?" Hibiki asked.
"I'm the Doctor. Simply, the Doctor. The one, the only and the best. Rosita, give me the sonic screwdriver."
"Did he just say what I think he said?" Miku asked.
"Now quickly, get back to the Tardis." The Next Doctor said.
"Back to the what?" The Doctor asked.
"If you could stand back, sir. This is a job for a Time Lord."
"Job for a what lord?" The Doctor asked, as the doors burst open and an animal with Cyberman-style head is visible.
"Rei Shénshòujìng rei zizzl." Miku said, with her eyes closed and she transformed into wearing her Faust Robe.
"Miku? What? What are you doing?" Hibiki asked, wearing her Gungnir.
"Oh, that's different." The Doctor said.
"Oh, that's new." The Next Doctor said.
They both point their screwdrivers at it, as I'm holding Ebb and Flow in it's bow form.
"Allons-y." The two Doctors said, together.
"I've been hunting this beast for a good fortnight. Now step back, sir." The Next Doctor said.
"Ooo, I forgot how similar this is to a Grimm." I said, as the beast leaps and lands way up the opposite wall. It has a furry body and metal hands and feet. "But with a Cyberman mask on top."
"Some sort of primitive conversion, like they took the brain of a cat or a dog." The Doctor said.
"Well, talking's all very well. Rosita?" The Next Doctor asked.
"I'm ready." Rosita said, handing over a large coil of rope.
"Now, watch and learn." The Next Doctor said, as the rope is a lasso, and he gets it around the beast in one try. "Excellent. Now then, let's pull this timorous beastie down to earth."
The beast climbs higher, pulling him up with it.
"Or not." The Doctor said.
"I might be in a little bit of trouble."
"Nothing changes. I've got you."
"Wait, I've got you!" Hibiki said, holding onto the rope too.
But the beast is strong enough to pull the Doctor, the Next Doctor, and Hibiki off the ground.
"You idiots!" Rosita said, annoyed.
"Perhaps if you could pull?" The Next Doctor asked.
"We are pulling. In this position, we couldn't not pull, could we?" The Doctor asked, as the beast leaps through a window into the top floor of the warehouse.
"Then I suggest you and your friend let go, sir."
"I'm not letting you out of my sight, Doctor. Don't you recognise me?"
"No, should I? Have we met? This is hardly the right time for me to go through my social calendar. Argh!"
Warehouse…
The beast pulls them in through the window.
"Whoa!" The Doctor said, as the beast pulls them across the dusty floor, on their bottoms, to the opposite window.
"It's going to jump!" Hibiki said, her eyes widening.
"We're gonna fall!" The Next Doctor said.
The beast leaps through the window. Miku cuts the rope with a big axe. The sore men and Hibiki get up and the Next Doctor starts laughing. Then they hug.
"That was cool." Hibiki said. "Even so, it was different from Noise."
Alleyway...
"Well, I'm glad you think it's so funny. You're mad. The three of you. You could've got killed." Rosita said.
"But evidently we did not. Oh, I should introduce Rosita. My faithful companion. Always telling me off." The Next Doctor said.
"Well, they do, don't they? Rosita." The Doctor said.
"Like Miku." I said, looking back at Miku. "Or Team RWBY."
"She has a good name. Hello, Rosita." The Doctor said, looking at Rosita.
"Huh. Now I'll have to go and dismantle the traps. All that for nothing. And we've only got twenty minutes till the funeral, don't forget. Then back to the Tardis, right?" Rosita asked.
"Funeral?" Miku asked. "What kind of funeral?"
"Oh, long story. Not my own, not yet. Oh, I'm not as young as I was." The Next Doctor said.
"Well, not as young as you were when you were me." The Doctor said.
"When I was who?"
"You really don't recognise me?"
"Not at all."
"But you're the Doctor. The next Doctor. Or the next but one. A future Doctor anyway. No, no, don't tell me how it happened. Although, I hope I don't just trip over a brick. That'd be embarrassing. Then again, painless. Worse ways to go. Depends on the brick."
"You better shut up, Spaceman." I said, holding Ebb and Flow. "And you're rambling on."
"Now might I ask, who are you, exactly? I got their names, you said them a couple of minutes ago." The Next Doctor said, looking at the Doctor.
"No, I'm, er, I'm just. Smith. John Smith. But I've heard all about you, Doctor. Bit of a legend, if I say so myself." The Doctor said.
"Modesty forbids me to agree with you, sir. But yes. Yes, I am."
"And you're missing memories." I said, placing Ebb and Flow in their scabbards. "Like a lot of them."
"How do you know that?" The Next Doctor asked.
"I just do, because I have to. You've forgotten me, him, and pretty much the people we're close to."
"Great swathes of my life have been stolen away. When I turn my mind to the past, there's nothing."
"Um, well, so, how far do you remember?" Hibiki asked. "Do you remember a lot? Or just a little."
"Since the Cybermen. Masters of that hellish wall-scuttler and old enemies of mine, now at work in London town. You won't believe this, Mister Smith, Hibiki, Miku, and Jared, but they are creatures from another world." The Next Doctor said.
"Really. Wow."
"It's said they fell onto London, out of the sky in a blaze of light. And they found me. Something was taken. And something was lost. What was I like, in the past?"
"I don't think I should say. Sorry. Got to be careful with memory loss. One wrong word…" The Doctor said.
"It's strange, though. I talk of Cybermen from the stars and you and your friends don't blink, Mister Smith."
"Oh my god, the Weeping Angels. The stone statues! Don't blink, blink and you're dead. Do you remember that? Whatever you do, don't blink? With Sally Sparrow?" I asked, happily.
"The both of you are very odd men." The Next Doctor said.
"I'm more childish than odd. But something's wrong here."
"Oh, the funeral! The funeral's at two o'clock. It's been a pleasure, Mister Smith, Jared, Hibiki, and Miku. Don't breathe a word of it."
"Oh, but can't we come with you?" Hibiki asked.
"It's far dangerous. Rest assured, I shall keep this city safe. Oh, and, er merry Christmas, you four." The Next Doctor said.
"Merry Christmas, Doctor." The Doctor said, as he, Hibiki, Miku, and I follow at a short distance.
(Open POV)
Mistral…
Ruby walked over to her bed and she spotted a ruby red letter on her bed, she flipped it over to see the number one on it, "Um, what is this?"
"It's a piece of paper." Qrow said, walking over to it.
"There's a date!" Nora said, looking at the piece of paper.
"A time is also on it." Ren said.
"And a map reference." Jaune said. "Is it important?"
"It's ruby red. My color." Ruby said.
"Are you going to go?" Ren asked.
"I don't know. It's not signed."
Atlesian airship…
"An envelope." Weiss said, looking at the envelope, she flipped it over, to see the number two on it. "Number two. I must be important."
"What do you have there?" The Atlesian pilot asked.
"I don't know. It appeared under me while I was asleep."
Weiss opened the letter to see the date, time, and coordinates on it, she then smiled knowing she won't find out what's going on for another year or two.
Street...
It is a well attended cortege, with quite a solemn crowd following the four black horses pulling the hearse.
"The late Reverend Fairchild, leaving his place of residence for the last time. God rest his soul. Now, with the house empty, I shall effect an entrance at the rear while you go back to the Tardis. This is hardly work for a woman." The Next Doctor said.
"Oh, don't mind me saving your life. That's work for a woman, isn't it?" Rosita asked.
"The Doctor's companion does what The Doctor says. Off you go." The Next Doctor said, as the Doctor and Jared watch Rosita leave.
The Next Doctor works on a back door, which suddenly opens.
"Hello." Hibiki said.
"How did you lot get in?" The Next Doctor asked.
"Oh, we took the front door."
"I'm good at doors. Er, do you mind my asking, is that your sonic screwdriver?" The Doctor asked.
"Yes. I'd be lost without it." The Next Doctor said, holding an ordinary screwdriver.
"That's an ordinary screwdriver." Jared said. "How is it a sonic screwdriver?"
"Well, er, it makes a noise. That's sonic, isn't it? Now, since we're acting like common burglars, I suggest we get out of plain view."
Rev Fairchild's house…
"What kind of investigation is this?" Miku asked.
"It started with a murder." The Next Doctor said.
"Oh, good. I mean bad, but whose?" The Doctor asked.
"Mr Jackson Lake, a teacher of mathematics from Sussex. He came to London three weeks ago and died a terrible death."
"Was it the Cybermen?" Hibiki asked.
"It's hard to say. His body was never found. But then it started. More secret murders, then abductions. Children, stolen away in silence." The Next Doctor said.
"So whose house is this?"
"The latest murder. The Reverend Aubrey Fairchild, found with burns to his forehead, like some advanced form of electrocution."
"So, who was he?" Jared asked. "Was he important?"
"The four of you ask a lot of questions."
"We're your companions."
"The Reverend was the pillar of the community, a member of many parish boards. A keen advocate of children's charities." The Next Doctor said.
"Children again. But why would the Cybermen want him dead? And what's his connection to the first death, this Jackson Lake?" The Doctor asked.
"It's funny. I seem to be telling you everything, as though you engendered some sort of trust. You seem familiar, Mister Smith. I know your face. But how?"
"I wonder. I can't help noticing you're wearing a fob watch."
"Is that important?"
"Legend has it that the memories of a Time Lord can be contained within a watch. Do you mind?" The Doctor asked, as the Next Doctor hands him the watch. "It's said that if it's opened…" He opens it and the works fall out. "Oh. Maybe not."
"It was more for decoration."
"Okay. Let's talk about alien infiltration!" Hibiki said, happily.
"Yes. Just look for anything different. Possibly metal. Anything that doesn't seem to belong. Perhaps a mechanical device that could fit no earthly engine." The next Doctor said, as the Doctor surreptitiously scans with his sonic screwdriver. "It could even seem to be organic, but unlike any organism of the natural world. Shush! What's that noise?"
"Oh, it's just me, whistling. I wonder what's in here, though." The Doctor said, as he opens the writing desk. "Ah. Different and metal, you were right." He takes out two cylinders. "They are infostamps. I mean, at a guess. If I were you, I'd say they worked something like this." The Time Lord presses one end and images are projected from the other. "See? Compressed information. Tons of it. That is the history of London, 1066 to the present day. This is like a disc, a Cyberdisc. But why would the Cybermen need something so simple? They've got to be wireless."
"Maybe they're in the wrong century." Miku said.
"You're right, Miku. They haven't got much power. They need plain old basic infostamps to update themselves."
"Are you okay?" Jared asked.
"I'm fine." The Next Doctor said.
"No, what is it? What's wrong?" Miku asked.
"I've seen one of these before. I was holding this device the night I lost my mind. The night I regenerated. The Cybermen, they made me change. My mind, my face, my whole self. And you were there. Who are you?" The Next Doctor asked, looking at the Doctor.
"A friend. I swear."
"Then I beg you, John. You and your friends. Help me."
"Okay, that's two words we'll never refuse." Hibiki said, happily.
"But maybe not here." Miku said.
"How about we go back to the TARDIS?" Jared asked.
"They mean your Tardis. Hold on. I just need to do a little final check. Won't take a tick. There's one more thing I cannot figure. If this room's got infostamps, then maybe, just maybe, it's got something that needs infostamping." The Doctor said, opening a door.
"Crap." Jared said, when there is a Cyberman behind the door. "Right…"
"Cyberman." Hibiki said, holding out her Relic, as Miku closed the door. "Balwisyall nescell Gungnir tron."
"Hibiki." Miku said, as she looked back at the Gungnir wielder. "I think we should run."
"Yup." Jared said, and the Cyberman smashes the door down.
"Run, Doctor! Now, Doctor!" The Doctor said.
"Delete. The Doctor will be deleted." A Cyberman said.
"Delete." Cyberman 2 said.
"The stairs!" Hibiki said, looking at the Cybermen. "We can't lead them outside."
"Right." Jared said, holding out Ebb and Flow in their dual sword form.
The Doctor grabs something only to discover it is an umbrella. He takes a sword from the wall instead.
"Delete." The Cyberman said.
"I'm a dab hand with a cutlass. And so is Jared, since he has two of them. You don't want to come near us when we've got one of these." The Doctor said.
"Come on, we can talk things through." Hibiki said. "Don't you want us to help you. Without deleting us?"
"This is your last warning. No? Olay, this is really your last warning! Okay, I give up." The Doctor said.
"Delete." The Cyberman said.
"Listen to us properly. Whatever you're doing stuck in 1851, we can help! I mean it. We're the only people in the world who can help you! Listen to us!"
"Delete."
"I'm the Doctor. You need me. Check your memory banks. My name's the Doctor. Leave this man alone. The Doctor is me!" The Doctor said.
"Punch it!" Jared said, and Hibiki punches the Cyberman's chest with her fist, to push the two metal men back downstairs. "Yes!"
"That worked a bit." Miku said, smiling.
"Delete." The Cyberman said.
"The Doctor, remember? I'm the Doctor! You need me alive. And you need these three alive. You need the Doctor, and that's me!" The Doctor said.
The Next Doctor is on the landing, studying the second infostamp. The Cybermen knock the Doctor, Jared, Hibiki, and Miku down.
"Delete." The Cyberman said.
The Next Doctor activates the infostamp and aims the beam at the Cybermen. They fall to their knees then their heads explode.
"Infostamp with a Cyclo-Steinham core. You ripped open the core and broke the safety. Zap! Only the Doctor would think of that." The Doctor said.
"I did that last time." The Next Doctor said.
"Come here." Miku said, walking over to the Next Doctor to give him a hug. "It's okay."
"Let me just check." The Doctor said.
"You told them you were the Doctor. Why did you do that?" The Next Doctor asked.
"Oh, I was just protecting you."
"The four of you are trying to take away the only thing I've got, like they did. They stole something, something so precious, but I can't remember. What happened to me? What did they do?"
"We'll find out." Hibiki said, happily. "The four of us together, right?"
Menagerie…
Blake is hanging out in her family's mansion and Sun approached her with a ruby red envelope.
"Look at what I found." Sun said, tossing Blake the envelope.
"It's an envelope." Blake said.
"Don't you want to see what's in there?"
"What's the point?"
Blake looked away for a moment, and she picked up the envelope that's on the table, "Was there a sender?"
"No to and from." Sun said. "Basically no sender."
"I've got bigger worries." Blake said. "Like Illia. And Adam, he could still be out there."
"Open the letter. It couldn't hurt to check."
Blake then opened the letter to see what Ruby and Weiss got, "A date, a map reference, and a time."
"What's with the envelope color?" Sun asked.
"Ruby red. No sender." Blake said. "Like you said. It's from Jared. I'm trying to leave him behind. Like Ruby, Weiss, and Yang."
"He needs you, Blake. Like the rest of your friends."
"This isn't for another two to three years for him. I don't have to worry about it." Blake said.
Blake stood up from where she is standing and she is walking away from the letter.
"You're making a big mistake!" Sun said. "He's trying to stay in touch!"
"Like you know him! He keeps secrets like me."
"You have to confront him at some point, you know."
"I don't have to. If he doesn't want to be seen. He doesn't have to."
"Just talk to him, Blake. He is only a phone call away."
"I know."
"What do you think he's up to?" Sun asked.
"Like do I really need to know?" Blake asked, as Sun walked up to the Faunus girl to stop her.
"Yes. You do. The envelope is numbered three for a reason."
"Three. Does that mean Ruby is one? And Weiss is two?"
"That means Yang is four. That blonde did like my abs."
Alleyway…
"Doctor! I thought you were dead!" Rosita said, hugging her Doctor.
"Now then, Rosita. A little decorum." The Next Doctor said.
"You've been gone for so long. He's always doing this, leaving me behind. Going frantic."
"What about the Tardis?"
"Oh, she's ready. Come on."
"I'm looking forward to this." The Doctor said.
Stables…
No horses. The stalls have been converted into the Next Doctor's living space.
"You were right though, Rosita. The Reverend Fairchild's death was the work of the Cybermen." The Next Doctor said.
"Wait, you live here?" Hibiki asked. "Like, don't you want to get a proper home or something?"
"A temporary base, until we rout the enemy. The Tardis is magnificent, but it's hardly a home." The Next Doctor said.
"So, where's the TARDIS?" Jared asked, sipping on some Coke.
"In the yard."
"Er, what's all this luggage?" Miku asked.
"Evidence. The property of Jackson Lake, the first man to be murdered. Oh, but my new friend is a fighter, Rosita, much like myself. He faced the Cybermen with a cutlass. I'm not ashamed to say, he was braver than I. He was quite brilliant." The Next Doctor said, and the Doctor scans the luggage. "Are you whistling again?"
"Yes. Yes, I am, yeah. Yeah." The Doctor said, mouthing shush to Rosita as he puts the sonic screwdriver back in his pocket and takes a suitcase off the pile.
"That's another man's property." Rosita said.
"It's a dead man's." Jared said, opening the suitcase. "Not that big of a deal, right? So, how did the two of you meet? Date?"
"He saved my life. Late one night, by the Osterman's Wharf, this creature came out of the shadows. A man made of metal. I thought I was going to die. And then, there he was. The Doctor. Can you help him, sir? He has such terrible dreams. Wakes at night in such a state of terror." Rosita said.
"Come now, Rosita. With all the things a Time Lord has seen, everything he's lost, he may surely have bad dreams." The Next Doctor said.
"Yeah. Oh, now. Look. Jackson Lake had an infostamp." The Doctor said.
"But how? Is that significant?"
"Doctor, the answer to all this is in your Tardis. Can we see it?"
"Mister Smith, it would be my honour."
Yard...
"There she is. My transport through time and space. The Tardis." The Next Doctor said.
"A hot air balloon." Hibiki said, looking at an elaborately patterned, but mostly blue, Montgolfier. "You have a hot air balloon…"
"Tardis. T A R D I S. It stands for Tethered Aerial Release Developed In Style. Do you see?"
"I think it's cool now. Blue, calming effect." Hibiki said, smiling.
"I like it. Good Tardis. Brilliant. Nice one. And is it inflated by gas, yeah?" The Doctor asked.
"We're adjacent to the Mutton Street Gasworks. I pay them a modest fee. Good work, Jed." The Next Doctor said, slapping a strapping young man on the shoulder and hands him a big five pound note.
"Five pounds." Jared said, holding Hibiki's hand. "Would have preferred it to be by Apple Pay. I don't carry any cash on me, not anymore at least."
"Glad to be of service, sir." Jed said.
"You've got quite a bit of money." The Doctor said.
"Oh, you get nothing for nothing. How's that ripped panel, Jed?" The Next Doctor asked.
"All repaired. Should work a treat. You never know, maybe tonight's the night, Doctor. Imagine it, seeing Christmas from above." Jed said.
"Not just yet, I think. One day, I will ascend. One day soon." The Next Doctor said, as Jed leaves.
"Huh, you haven't been up in space yet?" Hibiki asked.
"He dreams of leaving, but never does." Rosita said.
"I can depart in the Tardis once London is safe. And finally, when I'm up there. Think of it, you four. The time and the space." The Next Doctor said.
"It's a nice way to run away." Jared said, squeezing Hibiki's hand. "A nice way to run away from your problems. But do you know what you're running from?"
"With every moment."
"Then do you want me to tell you? Because I think I've worked it out now. And I bet that Hibiki Tachibana and Miku Kohinata did too. Jared Shay already knew. How you became The Doctor. What do you think? Do you want to know?" The Doctor asked.
Remnant…
Yang Xiao Long is riding her motorcycle on her way to Mistral, she then spotted something on the dashboard, that being a ruby red envelope, "Oh. You're in so much trouble when I find you Jared. I'm gonna open that letter later."
(Jared's POV)
Stables...
"The story begins with the Cybermen. A long time away, and not so far from here, the Cybermen were fought, and they were beaten. And they were sent into a howling wilderness called The Void, locked inside forever more. But then a greater battle rose up, so great that everything inside the Void perished. But, as the walls of the world weakened, the last of the Cybermen must have fallen through the dimensions, back in time, to land here. And they found you." The Doctor said.
"I fought them, I know that. But what happened?" The Next Doctor asked.
"At the same time, another man came to London. Mister Jackson Lake. Plenty of luggage, money in his pocket."
"He had a lot of money on him." I said, looking at the Next Doctor. "Way too much. Maybe for the holidays, I don't really know."
"Something bad came out of it." Miku said, sadly. "He found the Cybermen, like you. I think he used an infostamp."
"But he's dead. Jackson Lake is dead. The Cybermen murdered him." The Next Doctor said.
"Wait, you said that no body was ever found." Hibiki said, her eyes widening. "But those suitcases, you had a lot of them. How come? Why can't you open them? Is it guilt?"
"I told you the answer was in the fob watch. Can I see?" The Doctor asked, as the Next Doctor hands the watch to the Time Lord. The case is plain except for two initials. "J L. The watch is Jackson Lake's."
"Jackson Lake is you, sir?" Rosita asked.
"But I'm the Doctor." Lake said.
"Nope, you became the Doctor." I said, looking at Lake. "Like how I've got aspects of all of Team RWBY. In this case, you picked up an info stamp, which had all the files you could need about one particular man."
The Doctor projects the infostamp onto the wall.
"So, that's the Doctor." Miku said, looking at the Doctor's incarnations from William Hartnell to Christopher Eccleston. "He looks so old and tired."
"The Cybermen's database. Stolen from the Daleks inside the Void, I'd say, but it's everything you could want to know about the Doctor." The Doctor said, when the images get to number ten.
"That's you." Lake said.
"Time Lord, Tardis, enemy of the Cybermen. The one and the only. You see, the infostamp must have backfired. Streamed all that information about me right inside your head."
"I am nothing but a lie."
"Even so, info stamps are facts and figures. You do what Miku tried to stop me from doing, when she couldn't fight by my side. The bravery, saving Rosita, defending London. How about building the TARDIS out of a hot air balloon? That's all you." Hibiki said, happily.
"And what else? Tell me what else."
"You're still missing something." I said, letting out a sigh. "Something important."
"I demand you tell me, sir. Tell me what they took." Lake said, angrily.
"I'm sorry, like, I'm so sorry. But that's a lot of luggage for one person."
"Because an infostamp is plain technology. It's not enough to make a man lose his mind. What you suffered is called a fugue. A fugue state, where the mind just runs away because it can't bear to look back. You wanted to become someone else, because Jackson Lake had lost so much." The Doctor said, and a church bell tolls the hours.
"Midnight. Christmas Day." Miku said, sadly.
"I remember. Oh, my God." Lake said, terrified. "Caroline. They killed my wife. They killed her."
The infostamp beeps. The button on the end is lit up. And there are more of them in a trunk.
"Oh, you found a whole cache of infostamps." The Doctor said.
"But what is it? What's that noise?" Rosita asked.
"Activation. A call to arms. The Cybermen are moving!" The Doctor said, running outside with Hibiki, and I.
"Crap." I said, taking out Ebb and Flow to see marching shadows against a wall.
"The Doctor, Jared, and Hibiki need help. I learnt that much about them. There should be someone at their side. Now go. Go. Miku Kohinata has my back." Lake said, as Rosita leaves.
Street…
"Kids? What are they doing there?" Hibiki asked, looking at the children marching past.
"What is it? What's happening? That's Mister Cole. He's Master of the Hazel Street Workhouse. Maybe he's taking them to prayers." Rosita said.
"Oh, nothing as holy as that." The Doctor said, as he, Hibiki, and I caught up with Cole. "Can you hear me? Hello? No? Mister Cole, you seem to have something in your ear. Now, this might hurt a bit, but if I can just…"
"Spaceman! Stop it!" I said, when a Cybershade growls nearby. "Don't use your sonic!"
"Ah. They're on guard. Can't risk a fight. Not with the children." The Doctor said.
"But where are they going?" Hibiki asked.
"They all need a good whipping, if you ask me. There's tons of them. I've just seen another lot coming down from the Ingleby Workhouse down Broadback Lane." Jed said.
"Where's that?" The Doctor asked.
"This way." Rosita said, leading the way.
Lane…
"All those kids." Hibiki said, as we watched the children being walked past.
"There's dozens of them." Rosita said.
"But why?" I asked. "Sorry, it's been a long day. I kinda forgot, why…"
Outside the sewage works…
The children stop outside a large pair of double doors. Suddenly it is opened by a Cyberman.
"You will continue. You will enter the Court of the CyberKing. March. That is an order. March!" Scoones said.
Cybershades stop the children from scattering.
(Open POV)
Stables…
"Did you find it?" Miku asked, as Lake starts searching the luggage.
"Where is it? Where is it?" Lake asked.
Outside a building…
"That's the door to the sluice. All the sewage runs through there, straight into the Thames." Rosita said.
"Yeah, that's too well guarded. We'll have to find another way in." The Doctor said, as they are spotted by two more Cybermen on guard.
"Wha...what!" Hibiki said, looking at the Cybermen. "That's cheating! Sneaking up behind us!"
"Do you guys use sneakers?" Jared asked, looking at the Cybermen.
"So, what do we have here?" Hartigan asked.
"Listen. Just walk towards us slowly. Don't let them touch you." The Doctor said.
"Oh, but they wouldn't hurt me, my fine boys. They are my knights in shining armour, quite literally."
"Even if they've converted you, that's not a Cyber speech pattern. You've still got free will. I'm telling you, step away."
"There's been no conversion, sir. No one's ever been able to change my mind. The Cybermen offered me the one thing I wanted. Liberation."
"Who are you?" Hibiki asked.
"You can be quiet. I doubt he paid you to talk. More importantly, who are you, sir, with such intimate knowledge of my companions."
"That man is the Doctor." Jared said, squeezing Hibiki's hand. "I'm Jared, and this is Hibiki. Call us the optimists.���
"Incorrect. He does not correspond to our image of the Doctor." A Cyberman said.
"Yeah, but that's because your database got corrupted. Oh, look, look, look. Check this. The Doctor's infostamp." The Doctor said, throwing the object to a Cyberman. "Plug it in. Go on. Download."
"The core has been damaged. This infostamp would damage Cyberunits."
"At least we tried." Hibiki said, happily. "See if it works."
"Core repaired. Download." The Cyberman said, plugging the infostamp into its chest. "You are the Doctor. And that's Jared Shay and the God-killer."
"Hello." The Doctor said.
"You will be deleted."
"Wait, can't you let us die happy?" Hibiki asked.
"But why do you need the children?" Jared asked. "They're too young to understand how to do manual labor."
"What are children ever needed for? They're a workforce." Hartigan said.
"But for what?" The Doctor asked.
"Very soon now, the whole Empire will see. And they will bow down in worship."
"And it's all been timed for Christmas Day. Was that your idea, Miss?"
"Hartigan. Yes. The perfect day for a birth, with a new message for the people. Only this time, it won't be the words of a man."
"The birth of what?" Hibiki asked.
"A birth, and a death. Namely, yours. Thank you, Doctor, Hibiki, and Jared. I'm glad to have been part of your very last conversation. Now, delete them."
"Delete." The Cyberman said.
The Cybermen stomp forward, then their heads light up and they collapse. Jackson Lake is wearing a bandolier of infostamps. Miku Kohinata is behind him wearing her Faust Robe.
"At your service, Doctor." Lake said.
"Shades! Shades!" Hartigan said, angrily.
"Okay, time for us to run!" Jared said, happily. "Let's go girls!"
"Shades!"
"One last thing." Rosita said, hitting Hartigan, and she falls.
"Can I say, I completely disapprove. Come on."
"You three aren't different." Miku said, looking at Hibiki and Jared. "No wonder I fell in love with Hibiki."
The Doctor, Rosita, Lake, Hibiki, Miku, and Jared run off. The Cybershades run to their mistress.
"Get off me. I said, get off. Tell your masters we're not waiting till dawn. The CyberKing will rise tonight!" Hartigan said.
Alley…
"The warehouse." Jared said, taking out Ebb and Flow in its dual sword form. "The one thats by the River. We need to get inside."
"I'm ahead of you. My wife and I were moving to London so I could take up a post at the university. And while my memory is still not intact, this was in the luggage. The deeds. Fifteen Latimer Street. And if I discovered the Cybermen there, in the cellar, then…" Lake said.
"That might be our way in. Brilliant." The Doctor said.
"There's still more. I remember the cellar and my wife, but I swear there was something else in that room. If we can find that, perhaps that's the key to defeating these invaders. So, onwards!"
"Maybe you should go back…" Hibiki said, looking at Rosita.
"Don't even try." Rosita said.
Jared took out his phone and began to call the rest of Symphogear, "Tsubasa! Maria! I need a favor."
"Did something happen?" Tsubasa asked, her voice over the phone.
"There's Cybermen in Victorian times. Victorian London. Loads of children are inside the warehouse." Jared said, his phone near his ear.
"You're as dumb as Tachibana." Tsubasa said, her voice over the phone. "I know she is right there with you."
"So what? We go save the children?" Chris asked, her voice over the phone.
Cellar…
A Cyberman stands guard at the bottom of the cellar steps at 15 Latimer Street.
"Delete." A Cyberman said.
Lake zaps it with an infostamp.
The Doctor runs over to a high tech device in the middle of the room, "It must've been guarding this. A Dimension Vault. Stolen from the Daleks again. That's how the Cybermen travelled through time. Jackson, is this it? The thing you couldn't remember?"
"I don't think so. I just can't see. It's like it's hidden." Lake said.
"Not enough power. Come on! Avanti!" The Doctor said.
"Tsubasa? Still there?" Jared asked, placing his phone near his ear again.
"Yes." Tsubasa said, her voice coming out of the phone. "When should we come to you?"
"The minute I say the code phrase. The promise you two kept trying to keep."
"Um, what is it?" Shirabe asked, her voice over the phone. "The phrase…"
"Hibiki, Miku, you two know it." Jared said, looking at the two best friends.
"Meteoroids falling, burning, disappearing..." Miku said.
"And then..." Hibiki said, happily. "What? When did I tell you that?"
"Oh, a while ago, right after you saved Miku." Jared said, taking out a cup of hot cocoa to drink it. "And the Earth. Humanity too. Thank you, Hibiki."
Sewers…
Remarkably dry and rat-free.
"What do the Cybermen want?" Rosita asked.
"Well, they want us." Jared said, looking at Rosita. "They want humanity for their own bidding, for their own creation. Basically like Shem-ha, but on an even worse scale. The funniest thing is…"
"Both relied on emotions!" Hibiki said, happily.
"Yup, we are so similar. Yet so different. The Cybermen doesn't rely on Relics on any kind. That's what they are."
"They're human beings with their brains put into metal shells. They want every living thing to be like them." The Doctor said.
S.O.N.G headquarters…
"What are we supposed to do now?" Chris asked.
"What we always do." Tsubasa said. "We defend the Earth."
"How will we go back in time?" Kirika asked. "Do we even have a time machine?"
"Yes." Shirabe said. "Jared and Elfnein altered our Symphogears a bit so we can go back in time. I think."
"Time travel?" Maria asked. "When did they…"
"I'm not sure. But they run off of Pym Particles."
"All I need to do is set a time and destination." Elfnein said, placing tubes into each of the Symphogear suits. "When did he say he was?"
"London." Tsubasa said. "Victorian London. 1851."
Sewer…
The Doctor, Lake, Rosita, Hibiki, Miku, and Jared look down on the child labourers from a sewer opening high in the wall.
"Upon my soul." Lake said.
"What is it?" Rosita asked.
"It's an engine. Like one for a car. They're generating electricity." Jared said, crossing his arms. "But why? Why did I forget the reason?"
"We can set them free." Lake said.
"No, no, no, no, no, no, no." The Doctor said.
"Wait! We can't do that." Miku said.
Control room...
��Power at ninety percent. But if we stop the engine, the power dies down, the Cybermen'll come running. Ooo. Hold on. Power fluctuation. That's not meant to happen." The Doctor said.
"It's going wrong." Lake said.
"The software is adapting." Jared said. "Like how your suits adapt to what you want."
"What?" Hibiki asked. "What do we do?"
"We go head on!" Jared said, happily.
"I don't think that's a good idea." The Doctor said.
"Why not?"
"You're under my house. My rules."
"Aww man. What about those two?"
"The government is supposed to give them orders. I don't control them. And they're you're responsibility."
"What's the plan?" Hibiki asked.
"Do we have a plan?" Miku asked, as the control panel goes bang, too. "That doesn't involve Hibiki getting hurt."
"Whoa! What the hell's happening? It's out of control." The Doctor said.
"It's accelerating. Ninety six percent, ninety seven." Lake said.
"When it reaches a hundred, what about the children?" Rosita asked.
"They're disposable. Like it'll be in two hundred years!" Jared said, looking at Rosita. "We can change that though."
"What happens?" Miku asked.
"I, I don't think it's the right time to say."
"Why not? Is something wrong?"
Engine house…
"Delete." Cyberman 2 said.
"Meteoroids falling, burning, disappearing…" Jared said, and a klaxon sounds. The children look around in alarm. "And then…"
Jared ran ahead before turning around to see Tsubasa, Maria, Shirabe, Kirika, and Chris there, he then smiled and laughed at the five girls that appeared.
"Delete. Delete." Cyberman 3 said.
The Doctor runs in as Lake zaps the Cyberman, then Rosita takes over.
"Okay, everyone get out!" Jared said, holding Ebb and Flow, in its dual sword form. "All of you! That's an order! Run, you kids! It's not safe here!"
"You heard that dummy!" Chris said, smirking. "Get the hell out of here! As fast as you can!"
"Come on!" Hibiki said, in her Gungnir armor. "You'll be okay! Want me to get you some ice cream later?"
"Go!" Shirabe said.
"Rosita, Symphogear, get them out of sluice gate. Once you're out, keep running. Far as you can! Come on, come on, come on." The Doctor said.
"Turn right at the corner! Fast as you can. And don't stop! Keep running! Keep running!" Rosita said.
"I hope they're safe." Jared said, putting Ebb and Flow in its scabbards. "Hibiki and the others."
Outside the sewage works…
"Come on! Come on! Keep running! Keep running!" Rosita said.
Engine house…
The Doctor and Jared chase some more of the urchins out.
"Go! Get out of here! Find a girl in orange or another in purple!" Jared said, looking at the kids. "They'll protect you! There's other in similar outfits too! That's it!"
"It's some sort of starter motor, but starting what?" The Doctor asked, as Lake watches the last boys leaving.
"Shirabe! Kirika!" Jared said, looking out of a nearby window. "Is that everyone?"
The fanboy got a nod from Shirabe and a thumbs up from Kirika.
Lake sees a little boy stranded on a platform high up on the machine, "That's my son. My son. Doctor, Jared, my son!"
"Shit." Jared said, taking out Ebb from one of the scabbards. "I forgot about him."
"They took my son. No wonder my mind escaped. Those damned Cybermen, they took my child! But he's alive, Doctor, Jared. Frederick!" Lake said.
"Come on! We can save you!" Jared said, looking at the kid. "Just come to us!"
"No, he's too scared. Stay there! Don't move! I'm coming." Lake said, and an explosion knocks him down.
"Great, this is just great."
"I can't get up there. Fred!"
���They've finished with the motor. It's going to blow up." The Doctor said.
"What are we going to do, Doctor, Jared? What are we going to do?" Lake asked.
Jared is holding Ebb, one of the swords he picked up from the dismantled Penny at the Fall of Beacon, "Jackson, it's okay. You know me, a bringer of hope!"
Jared grabs hold of a rope and cuts it free from its tether. He goes up into the air and lands on the platform by Frederick.
"Hi, I'm Jared." Jared said, placing Ebb back into its scabbard. "I'm a superhero. It's okay. Now, hold on tight. This might be scary at first, but you'll love it. Think of it like zip lining or being on a swing. Don't let go, okay?"
Frederick clings on to Jared's back as he uses the rope to swing across the vault, then brings the boy down to his father.
"I've always wanted to do that." Jared said, looking down at Frederick. "Merry Christmas. Look after him."
Street…
"Go to St Stephen's. Ask for the Warden, he'll take care of you. Now run! Quickly!" Rosita said, heading back to the sewage works, against the flow of panicking people.
"It's under the water! There's something in the Thames!" A man said, terrified.
"That's one big robot…" Shirabe said, and a giant Cyberman is rising up, containing Miss Hartigan and her entourage where its mouth should be.
Cellar...
Lake carries young Frederick back to their house.
"Head for the street." Jared said, looking at Lake. "It's safer, I think."
"Come on, Doctor, Jared. Hurry up!" Lake said.
The Doctor takes a long thin piece from the Dimension vault, "Gotcha!"
CyberKing...
The steampunk Cyberman towers over old London town.
"Behold, I am risen. Witness me, mankind, as CyberKing of all." Hartigan said.
Street…
"It's a CyberKing." Jared said, holding Ebb and Flow.
"The hell is a CyberKing?" Chris asked, wearing her Ichaival armor.
"It's a ship. Dreadnought class. Front line of an invasion. And inside the chest, a Cyberfactory, ready to convert millions." The Doctor said.
CyberKing…
"And I will walk. I will stride across this tiny little world." Hartigan said, as the giant feet crush buildings and people, with Symphogear trying to save people and buildings in the process. "My people. Why do they not rejoice?"
It strides up St Martin Le Grand and Aldersgate, missing Saint Paul's Cathedral.
Street...
"Just head south. Take him south. Go to the parkland." The Doctor said.
"But where are you going?!" Lake exclaimed.
"We're gonna stop that thing!" Jared said, holding Ebb and Flow. "From destroying the city."
"But I should be with the both of you."
"Jackson, you've got your son. You've got a reason to live." The Doctor said.
"And you haven't?" Lake asked.
"Not anymore. I lost Penny, Pyrrha, and Donna. There's no reason to live." Jared said, showing a determined look on his face.
"God save you, Doctor, Jared." Lake said, and they part as the CyberKing keeps walking.
With those big strides it should be in Islington by now, and Kirika saved a couple people in the process from getting hurt.
Stable…
"Don't tell me I left my phone here." Jared said, searching the luggage with the Doctor. "Where is it?"
"What the hell is that thing, sir?" Jed asked.
"Found it!" Jared said, picking up his phone and placed it back inside his pocket. "And hello, Jed. We need your help."
"I'm not going out there." Jed said.
"I'll give you 100k quid." Jared said. "Once I get some that is."
"Er. All right. What do you want me to do?"
The Doctor has another bandolier of infostamps that he tossed to Jared, "The Tardis is going to fly."
CyberKing…
"People of the world, now hear me. Your governments will surrender. And if not, then behold my power." Hartigan said,
The CyberKing turns its arms into megacannons, and shoots indiscriminately. Hibiki blocked some of the energy beams with her firsts, protecting people in the process.
Yard…
The Doctor and Jared climb into the air balloon's basket. The fanboy is now vlogging the entire battle for sentimental reasons, and he zoomed in on Symphogear saving people below.
"Hey! Hibiki!" Jared said, as the brunette looked up at him. "Look out!"
"You're flaming bonkers, sir." Jed said. "And what is he doing?"
"It's been said before. He's vlogging the battle. Now give me." The Doctor said, and Jed hands over the item from the Dimension vault. "Not enough power. Come on! Jed, let her loose."
"Ever flown one of these before?" Jed asked.
"Nope, at most I've used a hoverboard." Jared said, looking at Jed. "Never flew a hot air balloon."
"Can I have my money now?"
"Oh, get on with it." The Doctor said, annoyed.
Street…
"Oh, sir. I thought I'd lost you." Rosita said.
"My son, Rosita. This boy is my son." Lake said, as there is an explosion nearby.
Tsubasa placed a giant sword in front of them for cover, "There. You're safe."
Yard...
Jed unties the last rope holding the balloon down, and up she floats, "Good luck to you, gentlemen!"
Street…
"It's the Tardis. She's flying." Lake said, happily.
"Yup, she is!" Jared said, and he and the Doctor threw out the sandbags and a picnic hamper. "I prefer the big blue box, but this will do."
"Who the hell are they?" A young man asked.
"Their names, sir, are the Doctor and Jared." Lake said.
CyberKing…
"Attention. Proximity alert." A Cyberman said.
"How is that even possible? Oh, this I would see. Turn!" Hartigan said, angrily.
"Hi." Jared said, smirking. ���What's up? Is everything good with you?"
The Doctor and Jared readied their infostamps as the CyberKing swings around so that they and it are level, facing each other.
"Excellent. The Doctor and Jared. Yet more men come to assert themselves against me in the night." Hartigan said.
"We're not against you, okay?" Jared asked. "We're giving you a choice. A good one, just think things through, okay? The two of us and you."
"Jared's right, you might have the most remarkable mind this world has ever seen. Strong enough to control the Cybermen themselves." The Doctor said.
"I don't need the two of you to sanction me." Hartigan said.
"No, but such a mind deserves to live. The Cybermen came to this world using a Dimension vault. I can use that device to find you a home, with no people to convert, but a new world where you can live out your mechanical life in peace."
"I have the world below, and it is abundant with so many minds ready to become extensions of me. Why would I leave this place?"
"Because if you don't leave, we'll have to stop you. And you won't like it if I'm angry." Jared said, going from a smirk to a determined look on his face. "I have a god mode too, like the ones seen in anime. And there's a mode where I'll become an unstoppable monster. We're literally giving you a choice here."
"What do you make of me, gentlemen? An idiot?" Hartigan asked.
"No. The question is, what do you make of us?" The Doctor asked.
"Destroy them." Hartigan said.
"You make us into this." The Doctor said.
"You made us into your blessing or your curse." Jared said, as he and the Doctor fired their array of infostamps into Miss Hartigan.
"Then I have made the both of you failures. Your weapons are useless, gentlemen." Hartigan said.
"Nope, you haven't. Because we weren't trying to kill you. That's not our style. My new style was adapted from Hibiki Tachibana's."
"Jared's right, he did learn some of his ideals from the wielder of the Gungnir, from Ruby Rose, and from me. All we did was break the Cyber-connection, leaving your mind open. Open, I think, for the first time in far too many years. So you can see. Just look at yourself. Look at what you've done." The Doctor said, as Mercy Hartigan's eyes have returned to normal.
The Cybermen are staring at her.
"We're sorry, Miss Hartigan, but look at what you've become." The Doctor said.
"You've become a monster, something I wish won't happen to me." Jared said, as Hartigan screams and realises she is secured to the throne.
"We're so sorry." The Doctor said, sadly.
She continues to scream. Electricity dances around the Cybermen and they all explode. She also vanishes. The CyberKing begins to sway.
Street…
"They've killed it! Whatever they did, they killed it." Lake said, as explosions go off inside the CyberKing.
"But it's going to fall!" Rosita said, terrified.
"Hibiki! Don't get in the way! You'll be caught in the beam!" Jared said, hearing people scream and running away. He then looked down to see the Symphogear users stand still at the sight of the CyberKing.
Balloon basket…
The Dimension vault thing beeps.
"Ooo, now you're ready." The Doctor said, as he and Jared aimed the device at the CyberKing.
"Hello, and goodbye!" Jared said, as swirls of energy surround the giant robot and it vanishes. "You giant robot! You're worse than the Noise they had to deal with."
Street...
"Well, I'd say they used that Dimension vault to transfer the wreckage of the CyberKing into the Time Vortex, there to be harmlessly disintegrated. Oh, I've picked up a lot. Ah, but here. Ladies and gentlemen, I know those men, the Doctor and Jared on high. Symphogear, they're from the future, and they're also on high. And I know that they have done this deed a thousand times. But not once. No, sir, not once, not ever, have they ever been thanked. But no more. For I say to you, on this Christmas morn, bravo, ladies and gentlemen! Bravo! Bravo! Bravo, ladies and gentlemen!" Lake said, while up in the sky, the Doctor and Jared hear the cheers and applause, and down below, Symphogear hears it as well, and waves back, with the fanboy ringing the basket's bell. "Bravo, Doctor, Jared, and Symphogear."
(Jared's POV)
Market place…
"The city will recover, as London always does. Though the events of today will be history, spoken of for centuries to come." Lake said.
"Yeah, people might remember or forget the giant robot." I said, sipping on a coconut taro milk tea. "Who knows, Jackson Lake. It's a bit funny when you think about it, this being a part of our history."
"And a new history begins for me. I find myself a widower, but with my son and with a good friend." Lake said.
"Now, take care of that one. She's marvellous." The Doctor said.
"She is, Rosita." I said, still sipping on my milk tea. "Reminds me a bit of Rose Tyler and Martha Jones. Loved those two, back then."
"Friends of yours, I suppose. Frederick will need a nursemaid and I can think of none better. But the two of you are welcome to join us. We thought we might all dine together at the Traveller's Halt. A Christmas feast in celebration, and in memory of those we have lost." Lake said.
"Christmas 1851, not really my thing, I've got to defend the future, after all."
"The two you won't stay?"
"Like I said, you know us." The Doctor said.
"No I don't think anyone does." Lake said, as he sees the real Tardis underneath the archway. "Oh! And this is it. Oh! Oh, if I might, Doctor, Jared. One last adventure?"
"Oh, be my guest." The Doctor said.
"I love it, the big blue box." I said, leaning against the TARDIS with my drink. "The best ship in the universe."
Tardis…
"Oh. Oh my word. Oh. Oh, goodness me. Well. But this is, but this is nonsense." Lake said, entering the TARDIS with the Doctor and I.
"Well, that's one word for it." The Doctor said.
"She is bigger on the inside." I said, almost done with my large drink. "It defies all laws of physics."
"Complete and utter, wonderful nonsense. How very, very silly. Oh, no. I can't bear it. Oh, it's causing my head to ache. No. No, no, no, no, no, no…" Lake said, running out of the console room.
Market place…
"Oh! Oh, gracious. That's quite enough. I take it this is goodbye." Lake said.
"Onwards and upwards." The Doctor said.
"Forward and back." I said, smirking.
"Tell me one thing. All those facts and figures I saw of the Doctor's life, and the facts and figures I saw of Jared's life, the both of you were never alone. All those bright and shining companions. But not any more?" Lake asked.
"No." The Doctor said.
"Nope, not anymore." I said, letting out a sigh.
"Might I ask why not?" Lake asked.
"They leave. Because they should." The Doctor said.
"Like Blake." I said, leaning against the TARDIS. "She thought it was right, leaving me and the rest of Team RWBY behind."
"Or they find someone else."
"Like Rose finding the Meta Crisis Doctor. And falling in love with him on Bad Wolf Bay."
"And some of them, some of them forget me, but they still remember Jared."
"Even if I try saving her, she forgot the life I had with her, my super temp. I bet that if Penny Polendina got revived someday, fixed somehow, she might have forgotten me like Donna Noble."
"We've been through so much, Jared and I. I suppose in the end, they break our hearts."
"That offer of Christmas dinner. It's no longer a request, it's a demand. In memory of those we've lost." Lake said.
"Oh, go on then." The Doctor said.
"Yeah, go on, bring us to your place!" I said, laughing a lot. "I've needed something like this for so long."
"Really?" Lake asked.
"Just this once. You've actually gone and changed our minds. Not many people can do that. Jackson, if anyone had to be the Doctor, I'm glad it was you." The Doctor said.
"Ditto on that, you did stuff I would do too. Being all reckless and helpful for others." I said, holding the large cup.
"The feast awaits. Come with me. Walk this way." Lake said, leading the way.
"I certainly will. Merry Christmas to you, Jackson." The Doctor said.
"Merry Christmas." I said, smiling.
"Merry Christmas indeed, Doctor, Jared." Lake said.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone