Inside the TARDIS the Doctor turned a wheeled control while Martha and I held onto the console to remain steady.
"But how do you travel in time? What makes it go?" she asked us and I looked at him rolling my eyes.
"Oh, let's take the fun and mystery out of everything. Martha, you don't wanna know. It just does. Hold on tight!" he told her as he practically climbed onto the console as we flew the TARDIS. As we landed Martha was knocked to the floor, the Doctor fell off the console and I was thrown into the railing behind me.
"Blimey! Do you have to pass a test to fly this thing?" Martha asked standing up.
"Yes, and I failed it." He said going to his coat.
"Luckily I passed." I said as he grabbed her jacket and handed it to her.
"Now, make the most of it." He told her grabbing my hand and going to the door. "We promised you one trip and one trip only. Outside this door..." We stopped at the door and turned to her. "Brave new world."
"Where are we?" she asked quietly.
"Take a look." He told her opening the door. "After you." Martha walked out of the TARDIS with us behind her onto an Elizabethan street at night with people milling about.
"Oh, you are kidding me. You are so kidding me. Oh, my God! We did it. We travelled in time. Where are we? No, sorry. I gotta get used to this whole new language. When are we?" she told us.
"Mind the loo!" I heard someone call out above us and the Doctor pulled us back from a first floor window as a man dumped the contents of a bucket where we had been standing.
"Somewhere before the invention of the toilet. Sorry about that." He told her.
"I've seen worse. I've worked the late night shift at A&E." she told him as we started walking away arm in arm. "But are we safe? I mean, can we move around and stuff?" she asked us and we turned to her.
"Of course we can. Why do you ask?" he asked her.
"It's like in the films. You step on a butterfly; you change the future of the human race." She told us and we gave each other a strange look.
"Well, tell you what then, don't step on any butterflies." He told her.
"What have butterflies ever done to you?" I asked her before we all continued walking.
"What if, I dunno, what if I kill my grandfather?" she asked us.
"You planning to?" I asked her.
"No." she answered.
"Well, then." The Doctor said as we walked.
"This is London?" Martha asked.
"I think so. Right about 1599." The Doctor said.
"Oh, but hold on. Am I all right? I'm not gonna get carted off as a slave, am I?" she asked us and we turned to her again.
"Why would they do that?" he asked her.
"Not exactly white, in case you haven't noticed." She said pointing to herself.
"We're not even human. Just walk about like you own the place. Works for us. Besides, you'd be surprised. Elizabethan England, not so different from your time. Look over there." He said pointing to a man sweeping up manure. "They've got recycling." We turned to see men conversing at a water barrel. "Water cooler moment." We then walked past a preacher.
"... and the world will be consumed by flame!" he called out.
"Global warming. Oh, yes, and... entertainment! Popular entertainment for the masses. If I'm right, we're just down the river by Southwark right next to..." the Doctor took our hands and we ran around a corner to see a magnificent sight. "Oh, yes, the Globe Theatre! Brand new. Just opened. Through, strictly speaking, it's not a globe; it's a tetradecagon — 14 sides — containing the man himself."
"Whoa, you don't mean... is Shakespeare in there?" Martha asked him.
"Oh, yes." He said with a smile on his face before holding his arm out for me and Martha. "My dear, Miss Jones, will you accompany me to the theatre?"
"Yes, Mr. Smith, I will." Martha said as we linked our arms with his.
"Of course my love." I said.
"When you get home, you can tell everyone you've seen Shakespeare." The Doctor told Martha.
"Then I could get sectioned!" she told him sarcastically.
We watched the play in the standing section. The globe was packed house with everyone applauding and cheering and actors onstage taking their bows as the play ended.
"That's amazing! Just amazing. It's worth putting up with the smell. And those are men dressed as women, yeah?" she asked us.
"London never changes." The Doctor said. He was standing between us.
"Where's Shakespeare? I wanna see Shakespeare." She said before chanting and raising her fist. "Author! Author! Do people shout that? Do they shout "Author"?" she asked after a while. A man in the crowd behind Martha picked up the chant and it soon spread.
"Well... they do now." The Doctor said looking around and I rolled my eyes. Shakespeare came out and took an exaggerated bow before blowing kisses out to the crowd making the audience go wild and cheering even louder.
"He's a bit different from his portraits." Martha said as we all applauded his appearing on stage.
"Genius. He's a genius - THE genius. The most human Human that's ever been. Now we're gonna hear him speak. Always, he chooses the best words. New, beautiful, brilliant words." The Doctor gushed with a grin on his face.
"Shut your big fat mouths!" Shakespeare called out making the audience laugh around us.
"Oh, well." The Doctor said disappointed.
"You should never meet your heroes." Martha said.
"And you should know. Remember Charles?" I asked him.
"Yea I know, but still." He said and I linked my arm with his once more before laying my head on his shoulder.
"You have excellent taste! I'll give you that." Shakespeare said before pointing to a man in the audience. "Oh, that's a wig! I know what you're all saying. 'Loves Labour's Lost', that's a funny ending, isn't it? It just stops! Will the boys get the girls? Well, don't get your hose in a tangle, you'll find out soon. Yeah, yeah. All in good time. You don't rush a genius." He said before bowing. He then suddenly jerked upright and looked out at the audience. "When? Tomorrow night." He announced making the cast behind him look around shocked. "The premiere of my brand new play. A sequel, no less, and I call it 'Loves Labour's Won'!" The audience applauded loudly while the Doctor and I shared a quiet look. After another quick bow from the cast and author we joined the crowd to leave the theatre.
"I'm not an expert, but I've never heard of 'Loves Labour's Won'." Martha told us.
"Exactly — the lost play. It doesn't exist — only in rumours. It's mentioned in lists of his plays but never ever turns up. No one knows why." The Doctor explained to her.
"Have you got a mini-disk or something? We could tape it. We can flog it. Sell it when we get home and make a mint." Martha said looking to us with a smile on her face.
"No." The Doctor said giving her a look.
"Have you gone mad?" I asked her.
"That would be bad?" she asked.
"Yeah. Yeah." The Doctor nodded to her.
"Well, how come it disappeared in the first place?" Martha asked and I rolled my eyes.
"Didn't he just say no one knows why it went missing?" I asked her.
"Hunter, be nice. We were just gonna give you a quick little trip in the TARDIS but I suppose we could stay a bit longer." The Doctor said with a grin on his face.
"I'm going to blame you if anything bad happens." I told him.
"You always do." He said before we walked off to find an inn.
At the inn we found we walked upstairs to see Shakespeare with two of his cast men. "Hello!" he said knocking on the door. "Excuse me! I'm not interrupting, am I? Mr. Shakespeare, isn't it?" he asked and I could hear the grin in his voice.
"Oh no, no, no, no. Who let you in? No autographs. No, you can't have yourself sketched with me. And please don't ask where I get my ideas from. Thanks for the interest. Now be a good boy and shove—-" Shakespeare stopped talking as Martha and I peeked out from behind the Doctor. "Hey, nonny nonny. Sit right down here next to me." He told us and the Doctor immediately grabbed my hand in his. "You two get sewing on them costumes. Off you go." He told his two cast members.
"Come on, lads. I think our William's found his two new muses." The owner of the inn told the men.
"Sweet lady." He said as we all sat at the table. "Such unusual clothes. So... fitted." He said looking at our attire.
"Um, verily, forsooth, egads." She said and I cringed.
"Oh god, please stop." I told her.
"No, no, don't do that. Don't." the Doctor said before holding out his psychic paper to Shakespeare. "I'm Lord Doctor of TARDIS and this is my wife Lady Hunter and our companion, Miss Martha Jones."
"Interesting, that bit of paper. It's blank." Shakespeare said and I smiled at him.
"Oh, that's... very clever. That proves it. Absolute genius." The Doctor said.
"No, it says so right there. Lord Doctor, Martha Jones, and Lady Hunter. It says so." Martha said pointing at the paper.
"And I say it's blank." Shakespeare told her.
"Psychic paper. Um, long story. Oh, I hate starting from scratch." The Doctor said putting the psychic paper away.
"Psychic. Never heard that before and words are my trade. Who are you exactly? More's the point, who is your delicious blackamoor lady?" Shakespeare asked and Martha gave him a look as I tried to hide my smile.
"What did you say?" Martha asked him.
"Oops. Isn't that a word we use nowadays? An Ethiop girl? A swarth? A Queen of Afric..." Shakespeare asked.
"I can't believe I'm hearing this." Martha said looking to us for help.
"It's political correctness gone mad." The Doctor said rubbing his eyes.
"We're from a far-off land called Freedonia." I told him, trying to cover ourselves.
"Excuse me!" a man bellowed as he entered the room. "Hold hard a moment. This is abominable behaviour. A new play with no warning? I demand to see a script, Mr. Shakespeare. As Master of the Revels, every new script must be registered at my office and examined by me before it can be performed." He ordered.
"Tomorrow morning, first thing, I'll send it 'round." Shakespeare told him.
"I don't work to your schedule, you work to mine. The script, now!" the man told him.
"I can't." Shakespeare told him.
"Then tomorrow's performance is cancelled." The man said.
"It's all go, 'round here, isn't it?" Martha asked looking at the Doctor and me
"I'm returning to my office for a banning order. If it's the last thing I do, 'Love's Labours Won' will never be played." The man said before walking out of the room.
"Well, then... mystery solved. That's 'Love's Labours Won' over and done with. Thought it might be something more, you know... more mysterious." She said.
"Just give it time. Something will happen." I told her.
"What's that supposed to mean?" the Doctor asked me and I just gave him a look.
"Something always happens when we travel. It's very rare that nothing happens." I said. He looked like he wanted to argue but was interrupted by someone screaming outside. We all rushed out to the street where the man from before was spitting up water.
"It's that bloke." Martha said.
"Must humans always point out the obvious?" I asked slightly annoyed at her words.
"What's wrong with him?" The Doctor asked before going to the man's side. "Leave it to me— I'm a doctor."
"So am I – near enough." Martha said following him.
"What's his name?" I asked Shakespeare as he watched with everyone else.
"Lynley." He told me and I rushed to his side with the other two as he suddenly fell down to the ground. Martha leaned over him listening for his heartbeat and breathing.
"Gotta get the heart going. Mr Lynley, c'mon, can you hear me? You're gonna be all right." She told him. She prepared to start mouth-to-mouth only for us to see water gushing from his mouth. "What the hell is that?"
"I've never seen a death like it. His lungs are full of water — he drowned and then... I dunno, like a blow to the heart, an invisible blow." The Doctor said.
"What could kill like that?" I asked him before he stood and addressed the woman from the inn.
"Good mistress, this poor fellow has died from a sudden imbalance of the humours. A natural if unfortunate demise. Call a constable and have him taken away." The Doctor told her.
"Yes, sir." She said before turning to do as he said.
"I'll do it, ma'am." A young woman told her before rushing off. The Doctor made his way back to us and crouched next to Lynley's body.
"And why are you telling them that?" Martha asked him.
"This lot still have got one foot in the Dark Ages. If I tell them the truth, they'll panic and think it was witchcraft." The Doctor told her.
"Okay, what was it then?" Martha asked.
"Witchcraft." We told her.
"I got your room, Lord Doctor. You, Lady Hunter and Miss Jones." The inn keeper told us before walking out of the room we were in with Shakespeare.
"Poor Lynley. So many strange events. Not least of all, this land of Freedonia where a woman can be a doctor?" Shakespeare asked looking to Martha.
"Where a woman can do what she likes." She told him with smile.
"And you, Lord Doctor. How can a man so young have eyes so old?" Shakespeare asked him.
"I do a lot of reading." The Doctor told him.
"A trite reply. Yeah, that's what I'd do." Shakespeare said before looking at me. "How can a young woman have seen so much pain and suffering?"
"I've lost a lot of people." I answered.
"And you," he said looking to Martha. "You look at them like you're surprised they exist. Their as much of a puzzle to you as they are to me."
"I think we should say good night." Martha said before leaving.
"I must work. I have a play to complete. But I'll get my answers tomorrow, Doctor, and I'll discover more about you and why this constant performance of yours." Shakespeare said.
"All the world's a stage." The Doctor said from the doorway.
"Hm, I might use that. Good night, Doctor, Hunter." He said to us.
"Nighty-night, Shakespeare." The Doctor said.
"Good night." I said before we left for our room. When we walked in Martha was examining the room.
"It's not exactly five-star, is it?" Martha asked us.
"Doesn't need to be, does it?" I asked her.
"Oh, it'll do. We've seen worse." The Doctor reminded me.
"I haven't even got a toothbrush." She said with a smile.
"Ooh." The Doctor patted his pockets and pulled out a toothbrush. "Contains Venusian spearmint."
"My favorite." I said as she took the toothbrush from him.
"So, who's going where? I mean, there's only one bed." She stated.
"Again with the obvious." I said.
"We'll manage. C'mon." The Doctor said before flopping onto the bed.
"So, magic and stuff. That's a surprise. It's a little bit 'Harry Potter'." Martha said with a smile on her face.
"Wait till you read Book Seven. Oh, I cried." He told her.
"And you were in one of the films too. That was fun to watch." I said laying down close to him.
"But is it real, though? I mean, witches, black magic and all that, it's real?" she asked us.
"'Course it isn't!" he told her.
"Well, how am I supposed to know? I've only just started believing in time travel. Give me a break." She told him.
"Looks like witchcraft, but it isn't. Can't be." He said.
"Are you gonna stand there all night?" I asked her. She moved to us and sat on the bed.
"Budge up a bit, then." She told us. We moved as much as we could so she could lay down. "Sorry, there's not much room. Us three here, same bed. Tongues will wag."
"There's such a thing as psychic energy but a human couldn't channel it like that. Not without a generator the size of Taunton and I think we'd have spotted that." The Doctor said. "No. There's something I'm missing. Something really close, staring me right in the face and I can't see it."
"Well you said it; a human couldn't channel it like this." I told him. "Could be an alien." I offered.
"I'll take you back home tomorrow." The Doctor told Martha thinking my words over in his head.
"Great!" Martha said miffed. She turned her back to us and blew out the candle. We waited in silence, my head on his chest listening to his hearts beating. After long silent moments we heard a scream and we jumped up and ran towards where it had come from with Martha on our trail. We ran into Shakespeare's room waking him as we stopped to examine the inn keep.
"Wha'? What was that?" he asked us as Martha ran to the window.
"Her heart gave out. She died of fright." The Doctor said.
"Doctor?" Martha called to him and we joined her at the window.
"What did you see?" he asked her.
"A witch."
The next morning we were still in Shakespeare's room not having slept after Martha had told us what she had seen.
"Oh, sweet Dolly Bailey. She sat out three bouts of the plague in this place. We all ran like rats. But what could have scared her so? She had such enormous spirit." Shakespeare said.
""Rage, rage against the dying of the light."" The Doctor quoted.
"I might use that." Shakespeare told him.
"You can't. It's someone else's." I told him.
"But the thing is, Lynley drowned on dry land, Dolly died of fright and they were both connected to you." Martha said.
"You're accusing me?" Shakespeare asked her.
"No, but I saw a witch, big as you like, flying, cackling away, and you've written about witches." Martha said to him.
"I have? When was that?" he asked her.
"Not, not quite yet." The Doctor told her in a low voice.
"Peter Streete spoke of witches." Shakespeare said.
"Who's Peter Streete?" Martha asked him.
"Our builder. He sketched the plans to the Globe." Shakespeare told her.
"The architect. Hold on. The architect! The architect!" The Doctor shouted before slamming his fist on the table in front of him. "The Globe! Come on!" he rushed off with all of us behind him.
At the Globe, The Doctor and I stood in the pit while Martha and Shakespeare were onstage.
"The columns there, right? 14 sides. I've always wondered but I never asked... tell me, Will, why 14 sides?" The Doctor asked him.
"It was the shape Peter Streete thought best, that's all. Said it carried the sound well." Shakespeare told us.
"Why does that ring a bell? 14…" The Doctor asked no one in particular.
"There are 14 lines in a sonnet." Martha suggested.
"So there is. Good point. Words and shapes following the same design." The Doctor said before pacing. "14 lines, 14 sides, 14 facets…Oh, my head. Tetradecagon... think, think, think! Words, letters, numbers, lines!"
"This is just a theatre." Shakespeare said.
"Oh, but a theatre's magic, isn't it? You should know. Stand on this stage, say the right words with the right emphasis a the right time... Oh, you can make men weep, or cry with joy, change them. You can change people's minds just with words in this place. And if you exaggerate that..." The Doctor told him.
"It's like you're police box. Small wooden box with all that POWER inside." Martha said.
"Oh. Oh, Martha Jones, I like you." He told her with a smile and shook my head. "Tell you what, though. Peter Streete would know. Can I talk to him?"
"You won't get an answer. A month after finishing this place... lost his mind." Shakespeare told us.
"Why? What happened?" I asked him.
"Started raving about witches, hearing voices, babbling. His mind was addled." Shakespeare answered.
"Who knew he was telling the truth." I said.
"Where is he now?" The Doctor asked him.
"Bedlam." He answered.
"What's Bedlam?" Martha asked him.
"Bethlem Hospital. The madhouse." Shakespeare told her.
"We're gonna go there. Right now. Come on." He said and we quickly left the Globe with Martha following us.
"Wait! I'm coming with you. I want to witness this at first hand!" he called after us as we passed two young actors.
In the street, Martha and Shakespeare followed the Doctor and I as we walked calmly.
"So, tell me of Freedonia, where women can be doctors, writers, actors." Shakespeare listed off.
"This country's ruled by a woman." Martha reminded him.
"Ah, she's royal. That's God's business. Though you are a royal beauty." Shakespeare told her making them both stop and she turned to him with a smile on her face.
"Whoa, Nelly! I know for a fact you've got a wife in the country." Martha told him.
"But Martha, this is Town." He told her with a smile.
"Come on. We can all have a good flirt later." The Doctor told him trying to get them to move again.
"Is that a promise, Doctor?" Shakespeare asked him.
"Oh, 57 academics just punched the air." The Doctor told him.
"Now shift!" I told them and we continued moving.
At the mad house loud screams and moans sounded as we were lead through the halls.
"Does my lord, Doctor, wish some entertainment while he waits? I'd whip these madmen. They'll put on a good show for ya. Bandog and Bedlam!" the jailer asked with a nasty smile.
"No, I don't!" The Doctor shouted at him.
"Wait here, my lords, while I make him decent for the ladies." The jailer said before walking away.
"So this is what you call a hospital, yeah? Where the patients are whipped to entertain the gentry? And you put your friend in here?" Martha asked Shakespeare.
"Oh, and it's all so different in Freedonia." He said sarcastically to her.
"But you're clever! Do you honestly think this place is any good?" she asked him.
"I've been mad. I've lost my mind. Fear of this place set me right again. It serves its purpose." He told her.
"Mad in what way?" she asked him.
"You lost your son." The Doctor said softly.
"My only boy. The Black Death took him. I wasn't even there." He told us.
"I didn't know. I'm sorry." She apologized.
"It made me question everything. The futility of this fleeting existence. To be or not to be... oh, that's quite good." Shakespeare said thinking about the words he just spoke.
"Finally his own words from his own mouth." I said quietly earning me a small jab from the Doctor making me smile slightly.
"You should write that down." He told the writer.
"Hm, maybe not. A bit pretentious?" Shakespeare asked him.
"Not at all." I said.
"This way, m'lord!" the jailer called to us and we walked down the hall to Peter Streete's cell. The jailer unlocked the door for us and let us in.
"They can be dangerous, m'lord. Don't know their own strength." The jailer told us.
"I think it helps if you don't whip them! Now get out!" the Doctor shouted at him and the jailer left us alone. The Doctor approached Peter slowly as we all watched on.
"Peter? Peter Streete?"
"He's the same as he was. You'll get nothing out of him." Shakespeare told us.
"Peter?" the Doctor called putting his hand on the man's shoulder. Peter's head jerks up and he looked at the Doctor with wild, glassy eyes and seemed like he wanted to speak but couldn't.
"Peter, I'm the Doctor." The Doctor told him as he placed his fingertip along Peter's face. "Go into the past, one year ago. Let your mind go back, back to when everything was fine and shining. Everything that happened in this year since happened to somebody else. It was just a story. A winter's tale. Let go. Listen. That's it, just let go." He lied Peter down on his cot before standing up straight again. "Tell me the story, Peter. Tell me about the witches."
"Witches spoke to Peter. In the night, they whispered. Got Peter to build the Globe to their design. THEIR design! The 14 walls — always 14. When the work was done they sapped poor Peter's wits." Peter said laughing.
"Where did Peter see the witches? Where in the city?" The Doctor asked him. When he received no answer he crouched beside the man. "Peter, tell me. You've got to tell me where were they?"
"All Hallows Street." He told us.
"Too many words." A woman said appearing beside Peter scaring us all. The Doctor stood next to me and Martha as I pulled out my gun and pointed it at her.
"What the hell?" Martha asked.
"Just one touch of the heart." The woman said before laying her hand on Peter's chest.
"Noooo!" the Doctor shouted as Peter screamed before he died.
"Witch! I'm seeing a witch!" Shakespeare said pointing at her.
"Who would be next, hmm? Just one touch. Oh, oh, I'll stop your frantic hearts. Poor, fragile mortals." She said as though she was enjoying herself.
"Let us out! Let us out!" Martha called out to the jailer.
"Oh, yeah. Like that's going to work." I said rolling my eyes at her.
"That's not gonna work. The whole building's shouting that." The Doctor added.
"Who will die first, hmm?" she asked us.
"Well, if you're looking for volunteers." The Doctor said walking towards the woman.
"Why must you always volunteer for something dangerous?" I asked him and he turned and grinned at me before looking back at the woman.
"No! Don't!" Martha shouted at him.
"Doctor, can you stop her?" Shakespeare asked him.
"No mortal has power over me." The woman told him.
"Oh, but there's a power in words. If I can find the right one — if I can just know you..." the Doctor said taking a good look at her.
"None on Earth has knowledge of us." She told him.
"Then it's a good thing I'm here. Now think, think, think... Humanoid female, uses shapes and words to channel energy... ah, 14!" The Doctor said finally realizing what she is. "That's it! 14! The 14 stars of the Rexel planetary configuration! Creature, I name you Carrionite!" the Carrionite wailed and disappeared from our sight.
"What did you do?" Martha asked him amazed.
"I named her. The power of a name. That's old magic." The Doctor told her.
"But there's no such thing as magic." Martha reminded him.
"Well, it's just a different sort of science. You lot, you chose mathematics. Given the right string of numbers, the right equation, you can split the atom. Carrionites use words instead." He explained to her.
"Use them for what?" Shakespeare asked.
"The end of the world." The Doctor told him.
"What else would they use it for?" I asked putting my gun away.
"I don't know why you bring that thing out." The Doctor said.
"So I can use it if I need to. Just get over it. The gun stays with me." I told him before we left for Shakespeare's room again.
"The Carrionites disappeared way back at the dawn of the universe. Nobody was sure if they were real or legend."
"Well, I'm going for real." Shakespeare told us.
"But what do they want?" Martha asked.
"A new empire on Earth. A world of bones and blood and witchcraft." The Doctor told her.
"But how?" Martha asked.
"I'm looking at the man with the words." The Doctor said staring at Shakespeare.
"Me? But I've done nothing." The man said confused.
"Hold on, though. What were you doing last night, when that Carrionite was in the room?" Martha asked him.
"Finishing the play." He told her.
"What happens on the last page?" the Doctor asked him.
"The boys get the girls. They have a bit of a dance. It's all as funny and thought provoking as usual — except those last few lines. Funny thing is... I don't actually remember writing them." He told us and I sighed.
"That's it. They used you. They gave you the final words. Like a spell, like a code. 'Love's Labours Won' — it's a weapon! The right combination of words, spoken at the right place with the shape of the Globe as an energy converter! The play's the thing! And yes, you can have that." The Doctor told him. We then found a map and laid it out so we could find the street we needed. "All Hallows Street. There it is. Martha, Hunter, we'll track them down. Will, you get to the Globe. Whatever you do, stop that play!" the Doctor told him.
"I'll do it." He said before shaking the Doctor's hand. "All these years I've been the cleverest man around. Next to you, I know nothing."
"Oh, don't complain." Martha told him.
"I'm not. It's marvellous. Good luck, Doctor." Shakespeare said with a grin.
"Good luck, Shakespeare." The Doctor said as we all headed for the door. "Once more unto the breach!"
"I like that. Wait a minute... that's one of mine." Shakespeare called out.
"Oh, just shift!" The Doctor said.
The Doctor, Martha and I made our way to All Hallows Street and looked at all the houses on the street.
"All Hallows Street, but which house?" the Doctor asked.
"The thing is, though... am I missing something here? The world didn't end in 1599. It just didn't. Look at me — I'm living proof." Martha said.
"Oh, how to explain the mechanics of the infinite temporal flux? I know! 'Back to the Future'! It's like 'Back to the Future'!" he told her.
"The film?" she asked him and I rolled my eyes.
"No, the novelisation. Yes, the film. Marty McFly goes back and changes history." The Doctor reminded her.
"And he starts fading away." She said before realizing what he was saying. "Oh my God, am I gonna fade?"
"You and the entire future of the human race. It ends right now in 1599 if we don't stop it. But which house?" the Doctor asked looking at the houses again. Suddenly a door slowly opened for us and we stared at it. "Ah, make that WITCH house."
"Pun later save the world now." I told him before we made our way inside the house. We walked upstairs to find a young woman waiting for us.
"I take it we're expected." The Doctor said to her.
"Oh, I think Death has been waiting for you a very long time." She told him.
"Right then, it's my turn." Martha said stepping while patting his chest. "I know how to do this." She told us before pointing at the woman. "I name thee, Carrionite!" the woman gasped before laughing at Martha. "What did I do wrong? Was it the finger?"
"The power of a name works only once. Observe." The woman said before pointing at Martha. "I gaze upon this bag of bones and now I name thee Martha Jones." Martha collapsed but before she could hit the floor we caught her and laid her down gently.
"What have you done?" The Doctor asked the woman as I looked over Martha quickly to make sure she wasn't hurt.
"Only sleeping, alas. Curious, the name has less impact. She's somehow out of her time. And as for you, Sir Doctor!" the woman pointed at him expecting a reaction but nothing happened. "Fascinating. There is no name. Why would a man hide his title in such despair? Oh, but look." She turned her look to me. "There's still one word with the power that aches."
"The naming won't work on us." The Doctor told her.
"But her heart grows cold. The north wind blows and carries down the distant... Rose." She said with a smirk on her face and I glared at her.
"Big mistake because that name keeps me fighting!" I said standing quickly and pulling out my gun and pointing it at her. The Doctor put his hand on mine and tried to force my gun down.
"The Carrionites vanished! Where did you go?" The Doctor asked her after lowering my weapon.
"The Eternals found the right word to banish us into deep darkness." She told us.
"And how did you escape?" he asked.
"New words. New and glittering from a mind like no other." She said before showing us a picture in the cauldron of Shakespeare crying.
"Shakespeare." The Doctor said. We know why they are using Shakespeare for his words.
"His son perished. The grief of a genius. Grief without measure. Madness enough to allow us entrance." She told us.
"How many of you?" he asked her.
"Just the three. But the play tonight shall restore the rest. Then the human race will be purged as pestilence. And from this world we will lead the universe back to the old ways of blood and magic." She said.
"Hmm... busy schedule... but first you gotta get past us." He said standing face to face with her.
"Oh, that should be a pleasure considering my enemy has such a handsome shape." She said seductively while running her fingers along his face.
"That's it. I'm killing her now." I said readying my gun again.
"No you're not. That's one form of magic that's definitely not gonna work on me." He told her.
"Oh, we'll see." She said before yanking a lock of hair from his head and backing away from us.
"What did you do?" he asked searching his head for the hair she'd pulled out.
"Souvenir." She told him while smirking.
"Well, give it back!" he said rushing at her. She threw her arms up and the windows behind her opened and she flew out backwards, levitating outside as we both moved to the window. "Well, that's just cheating."
"Not for me." I said aiming at her but she showed us the hair and I looked at her confused.
"Behold, Doctor, Hunter. Men to Carrionites are nothing but puppets." She said pulling out a doll and wrapping the Doctor's hair about it.
"Now, you might call that magic... I'd call that a DNA replication module." The Doctor told her.
"What use is your science now?" she asked him before stabbing the doll.
"Doctor!" I called to him as he let out a cry and fell to the floor as the woman cackled and flew away.
"Oh my God! Doctor! Don't worry, I've got you." Martha said and I glared at her.
"Back off." I told her darkly before slapping him slightly. "Wake up." I told him and he smiled up at me.
"Morning." He told me.
"Get up." I told him. He stood and nearly fell over.
"Aahh!" Martha and I supported him as he bent over in pain.
"What is it, what's wrong?" I asked him.
"I've only got one heart working. How do you people cope?" he asked Martha. "I've got to get the other one started. Hit me! Hit me on the chest!" she hit the right side of his chest. "Aahh! Other side!" I hit the left side of the chest. "On the back! On the back!" the two of us hit his chest. "Ahh, lovely." He said standing straight and stretching. "There we go! Ba-da-boom! Well, what are you standing there for? Come one! The Globe!" he rushed out of the house with the two of us behind him.
"We're going the wrong way!" Martha called to him as we ran.
"No, we're not!" he told her as we continued to run. After a while he turned around and we ran the other way. "We're going the wrong way!" we continued running through the streets before we heard people screaming and saw a red glow of energy pouring from the Globe.
"I told thee so! I told thee!" the preacher from when we first arrived told us.
"Stage door!" the three of us rushed off into the Globe to see thunderclouds and lightening form over the stage mixing with the red glow. We looked to see Shakespeare nursing his head on the ground. "Stop the play! I think that was it. Yeah, I said, "Stop the play"!"
"I hit my head." Shakespeare told him.
"Yeah, don't rub it, you'll go bald." The Doctor told him before we heard screams from the stage. "I think that's our cue Hunter!" we ran out to the stage with Martha and Shakespeare behind us.
"Come on, Will! History needs you!" the Doctor told Shakespeare while grabbing him from behind us as I shot the Carrionites down.
"But what can I do?" Shakespeare asked him.
"Reverse it!" the Doctor told him.
"How am I supposed to do that?" Shakespeare asked.
"The shape of the Globe gives words power, but you're the wordsmith, the one true genius. The only man clever enough to do it!" The Doctor explained to him.
"But what words? I have none ready!" Shakespeare told him.
"You're William Shakespeare!" The Doctor said hitting him.
"But these Carrionite phrases, the need such precision!" Shakespeare reminded him.
"Trust yourself. When you're locked away in your room, the words just come, don't they? Like magic. Words of the right sound, the right shape, the right rhythm — words that last forever! That's what you do, Will! You choose perfect words. Do it. Improvise!" the Doctor told him. Shakespeare took center stage and looked up at the creatures above us.
"Close up this den of hateful, dire decay! Decomposition of your witches' plot! You thieve my brains, consider me your toy. My doting Doctor tells me I am not! Foul Carrionite spectres, cease your show! Between the points..." Shakespeare looked to the Doctor for the numbers needed.
"7-6-1-3-9-0!" the Doctor called to him.
"7-6-1-3-9-0! And banished like a tinker's cuss, I say to thee..." again, Shakespeare looked to the Doctor who was at a loss and looked to Martha.
"Expelliarmus!" Martha called to him.
"Expelliarmus!" the Doctor repeated to Shakespeare.
"Expelliarmus!" Shakespeare called out.
"Good old JK!" The Doctor said happily as I stopped shooting at the Carrionites as a tornado seemed to wrap around the Carrionites and drag all the scripts of the lost play into it. "'Love's Labours Won'. There it goes." The cloud dissipated and the audience sighed in relief before they applauded everyone. The Doctor grabbed my hand and the two of us ducked out as the actors, Shakespeare and Martha took their bows. We went to the box where the three Carrionites were sitting during the play where we found a crystal within which the three who had come through first were trapped in. He picked it up and I put it in a bag on my hip before we joined the others.
We celebrated the entire night and into the next morning which found Martha and Shakespeare sitting on the edge of the stage telling each other jokes.
"And I say, a heart for a hart and a dear for a deer." Shakespeare said laughing at his own joke.
"I don't get it." Martha told him.
"Then give me a joke from Freedonia." He commanded.
"OK, Shakespeare walks into a pub and the landlord says "oi, mate, you're bard"." She said laughing slightly which he joined in with.
"It's brilliant! Doesn't make sense, mind you, but never mind that." He said before wrapping his hand around her waist. "Come here."
"I've only just met you." She reminded him.
"The Doctor might never kiss you with the Hunter around. Why not entertain a man who will?" he asked her.
"I don't know how to tell you this, oh great genius, but your breath doesn't half stink." She told him just as the Doctor emerged from backstage wearing a ruff collar and carrying an animal skull in his hand.
"Good props store back there! I'm not sure about this though." The Doctor said looking at the skull. "Reminds me of a Sycorax."
"So put it down." I told him.
"Sycorax. Nice word. I'll have that off you as well." Shakespeare told him.
"I should be on 10%. How's your head?" The Doctor asked him.
"Still aching." He answered.
"Here, I got you this." The Doctor removed the collar and put it around Shakespeare's neck. "Neck brace. Wear that for a few days till it's better, although you might wanna keep it. It suits you."
"What about the play?" Martha asked him.
"Gone. I looked all over — every single copy of 'Love's Labours' Won went up in the sky." The Doctor answered.
"My lost masterpiece." Shakespeare said looking out to where the audience would stand normally.
"You could write it up again." Martha reminded him.
"Yeah, better not, Will. There's still power in those words. Maybe it should best stay forgotten." The Doctor told him.
"Some of the best things are." I said smiling.
"Oh, but I've got new ideas. Perhaps it's time I wrote about fathers and sons. In memory of my boy — my precious Hamnet." Shakespeare told us.
"Hamnet?" Martha asked him.
"That's him." He told her.
"Ham-NET?" she asked again making sure she heard the name correctly.
"What's wrong with that?" he asked her.
"Anyway, time we were off. I've got a nice attic in the TARDIS where this lot can scream for all eternity and I've gotta take Martha back to Freedonia." The Doctor said holding up the crystal.
"You mean travel on through time and space." Shakespeare corrected him making us all look at him shocked.
"I'm sorry?" I asked.
"You what?" the Doctor asked.
"You two're from another world like the Carrionites and Martha is from the future. It's not hard to work out." He told us making the Doctor and I smile.
"That's... incredible. You are incredible." The Doctor told him.
"We're alike in many ways, Doctor. Martha, let me say goodbye to you in a new verse. A sonnet for my Dark Lady. Shall I compare thee to a summer's day? Thou art more lovely and more temperate—" he started saying before two actors ran into the theater.
"Will! Will! You'll never believe it! She's here! She's turned up!" one of them called to him.
"We're the talk of the town. She heard about last night! She wants us to perform it again." The other told us.
"Who?" Martha asked him.
"Her Majesty! She's here!" the second one said as Queen Elizabeth 1 entered the area.
"Oh my god!" I said with a large smile on my face.
"Queen Elizabeth I!" the Doctor said excitedly.
"Doctor! Hunter!" she said and we looked at each other confused.
"What?" we asked.
"My sworn enemies!" the Queen said.
"What?" he asked confused.
"Off with his head!" she demanded.
"What?" he asked again.
"Never mind "what", just run! See you, Will! And thanks!" Martha said to him as she jumped off the stage.
"For once Martha and I are in total agreement." I told the Doctor as the three of us ran off with Shakespeare laughing behind us.
"Stop that pernicious Doctor!" the Queen ordered as we continued to run in the streets all the way to the TARDIS.
"Stop in the name of the Queen!" did I mention the soldiers chasing us?
"What have you done to upset her?!" Martha asked us.
"How should we know? Haven't even met her yet. That's time travel for you!" he told her as he unlocked the TARDIS and Martha ran in. "Still, can't wait to find out. That's something to look forward to. Oh!" he ducked inside as archers fired at him embedding an arrow in the door as we dematerialized.
Next time on The Doctor's Girl:
"We're slap bang in the middle of New New York."
Someone came up behind Martha from behind and started dragging her off.
"You've got to let her go!" the Doctor shouted at them.
"MARTHA!" we called for the young woman.
""I need to talk to the Police." The Doctor said into the transmitter.
All around us cars were honking their horns as the two of us started coughing on the fumes.
"Do you want some happy?" one of them asked us.
"Buy some anger." Another said.
"How much you want forgetting?" the woman asked her.
"Very well-dressed for hitchhikers." The man said to us as the Doctor handed me the oxygen.
"What the hell are they?" the man asked as the Doctor and I stared down at them in shock.