Current poll leader is a tie between Red vs Blue and Justice League/JL Unlimited with 5 votes! We're about 3 chapters until the next break, so please choose what you'd like to see next!
Remnant Who
By ReaderWarrior
I do not own Doctor Who or RWBY.
The Empty Child (A)
Beta'd by: -
As always, please comment! It honestly makes my day to read your thoughts and opinions.
Tell your friends!
Guest: I think Ozpin would be fascinated by the concept of regeneration and empathize with Ten's concept of how regeneration is like death.
Honorary (dead) companions:
Clive, Raffalo, Moxx, Jabe, Sneed, Gwyneth, Ganesh, De Maggio, Suki, Pete Tyler
'Bigger on the inside!'s:
2 (Rose, Jackie)
Fantastic's:
9
Harriet Jones' greetings:
6
Exterminate!'s:
8
After a small break from the emotional journey of Father's Day, team RWBY, Qrow, and the Librarian all met back up in Theatre-7. Yang and Blake were already waiting there and the Librarian was the last to arrive.
Ruby now had Crescent Rose in the seat next to her, a blanket wrapped around it, much to the annoyance of Weiss.
"Just put it on your lap!"
"No!"
A few bottles were balanced on Qrow's makeshift table - but less than one would normally expect for the alcoholic. To his nieces' surprise, there also appeared to be a few cans of soda. Pop, Coke, and other brands were all scattered about his feet - unopened and ready to be drunk from. To the Librarian's pleasure, he noticed an Abby Scuito-sized Caf-Pow! between his feet.
As for the last two members of team RWBY… they've gotten close. Since everyone began their return, they had been sitting next to each other.
Hand in hand.
"Okay, everyone," the Librarian smiled, clapping his hands. "I hope we've all gotten past the devastation of last episode-"
"Yeah, can we not do that again?" Yang asked.
"No promises."
Ruby cupped her mouth. "Boo!"
The group laughed but everyone's attention slowly returned to their guide. "Anyways, I think this has to be one of the scariest stories following the (current) Doctor. So, ladies and gentleman, hold your weapons tight, grab your loved ones, and get ready for… The Empty Child!"
As the Librarian made his way back to his seat, Ruby finally moved Crescent Rose to her lap, Weiss, having sat down on Ruby's other side, groaned, and Yang and Blake clutched each other's hands. Qrow, on the other hand, cracked a soda and leaned forward.
"Hobey-ho, man! Hurry up!" he said.
The time-traveler smirked. "Excited?"
"Shut up man and play the movie."
Somewhere deep in the expanse of space, a large object, cylinder in appearance, shook violently towards an unknown destination. Shortly behind it, shaking with equal sporadically, was the T.A.R.D.I.S.
"Woah, right to it today," Ruby gasped.
Weiss nodded. "Looks like they're chasing… whatever it is."
"Maybe it's a bomb!"
Inside the time machine, Rose runs around the Time Console and struggles to stand next to the Doctor as his face is glued to the screen in front of him.
"What's the emergency?" she asks.
The Doctor remains glued to his screen, frantically doing what he can on the control console in his fixed position. "It's mauve!"
"Mauve?"
The entire ship suddenly lurches to the side, almost knocking the two bipeds across the room. Thankfully, they are able to grab hold of the console and bring themselves back.
"The universally recognized color for danger," he explains.
Yang frowned. "Isn't that red?"
"Maybe for us," Blake said. "Our universe is different from the Doctor's. It'd make sense that not everything is an exact parallel."
"That's true. But, for most human civilizations, they all tend to adopt red." The Librarian scratches his ear. "I wonder why."
Rose frowns in confusion. "What happened to red?"
"That's just humans. By everyone else's standards, red's camp. Oh, the misunderstandings. All those red alerts, all that dancing." The Doctor slams down a lever to his left before frantically typing at his keyboard. "It's got a very basic flight computer," he mumbles. "I've hacked in, slaved the T.A.R.D.I.S. Wherever it goes, we go."
"And that's safe, is it?" Rose asks.
"Totally."
The Doctor runs around the console to press one last button. When he does, it explodes. Sparks begin to fly out from the room's centerpiece. Rose shrieks as a plume of smoke ejects straight into her face.
Weiss gasped and winced, as does Ruby and Qrow. "Doesn't seem very safe to me."
"Well, he's the Doctor," Blake responded. "If there is anything he knows, it should be how far he can push his T.A.R.D.I.S."
"'Should be' isn't comforting."
Wincing, the Doctor moves back to his spot as the ship continues to lurch left and right. "Okay, reasonably. Should have said reasonably there."
The screen begins to bleep in alarm and shows the object disappearing into a vortex of black and purple energy.
"No, no, no, no!" the Doctor yells. "It's jumping time tracks, getting away from us!"
"It's doing what?" Yang asked.
"Time tracks," the Librarian frowned. "A vague concept. But I believe they're trails of space-time rips between different timelines or times."
Ruby raised a hand. "What's the difference between that and what we do?"
Before he could answer, ELI's voice chirped from above them. "We travel multiversaly. Different timelines can resemble different universes, but as per where a time traveler is, there can only be a few timelines - more of 'this could happen'. But on multiversal standards, everything can and has happened."
The Librarian nodded and squinted. "It's a difficult concept. But that's more or less the gist of it. But most likely this ship is jumping through time, at that exact space, sporadically. It could end up in the past or future. Depends on what's controlling it."
Qrow raises a cup. "Quantum mechanics. Another reason why I drink."
"What exactly is this thing?"
The Doctor looks down from his monitor and answers, "no idea."
"Then why are we chasing it?"
"It's mauve and dangerous." He turns to Rose. "And about thirty seconds from the center of London."
This time, Ruby furrowed her brow. "It's thirty seconds, how? Isn't it jumping time tracks?"
"But it's not jumping through space," Blake realized. "It's on a direct path to Earth, I'm guessing, and where London… is. Was? Will be? It's not changing its position in space, just changing where it is in time."
With impressive speeds, the T.A.R.D.I.S chases the strange ship towards the familiar blue orb.
Thirty-ish seconds later, the T.A.R.D.I.S began to materialize on the streets of London. Two large buildings sprouted around it with clotheslines draped between them. The night made the T.A.R.D.I.S' light almost seem like a beacon as it reflected against the wet stones and bricks around.
"Do you know how long you can knock around space without happening to bump into Earth?" the Time Lord scoffs as he exits his vehicle.
Rose exits quickly behind him. "Five days? Or is that just when we're out of milk?"
"Of all the species in all the universe," he sighs, "and it has to come out of a cow."
"Hey!" Ruby yelled. "Milk. Is. Delicious."
Something with warped vision - as if looking through a warped window - stares down at the two.
Yang groaned. "Not again. This was bad enough with the Reapers."
"It's classic horror," Blake smiled. "My parents loved cheesy movies where the monster was chasing them."
The two travelers begin to make their way down the alley. "Must have come down somewhere quite close," the Doctor says. "Within a mile, anyway. And it can't have been more than a few weeks ago. Maybe a month."
"A month? We were right behind it!" Rose follows him.
The Doctor waves his hand. "It was jumping time tracks all over the place," he justifies. "We're bound to be a little bit out. Do you want to drive?"
"Yes," the entire room answered, glaring at the Librarian.
"You'll get your chance!" he yelled back. "And Qrow technically already did."
"Yeah but it's no fun if everything ain't shaking about," the man smirked.
Rose nods as they turn around a corner. "Yeah. How much is a little?"
"A bit."
"Is that exactly a bit?"
"Ish."
Weiss rolled her eyes. "Very specific."
"What's the plan then?" Rose asks. "You gonna do a scan for alien tech or something?"
"Rose, it hit the middle of London with a loud bang. I'm gonna ask." He reaches into his jacket and pulls out a small folded piece of leather and holds it out to Rose.
"Doctor John Smith," she reads. "Ministry of Asteroids."
The Doctor nods and pockets it as they reach a door that reads 'Deliveries Only'. "It's psychic paper," he explains. "It tells you-"
"Whatever you want it to tell me, I remember."
"Sorry."
"I like that," Blake commented. "He's not like those time travelers in books; he's down to Earth."
Yang's eyes practically glimmer. "Did Blakey just make a joke?! Yes!"
The Faunus blushed. I thought you'd like that.
"Not very Spock, is it? Just asking," Rose critiqued.
"Spock?" Qrow asked, turning to the Librarian.
Three fingers - well, five, but the pinky and ring, as well as the pointer and middle, were pressed against each other - raised up in some strange, alien gesture. "A traveler of space. Think of a kind yet analytical sci-fi alien and you've basically imagined him."
Ruby's eyes lit up. "Did you tell us about him? 'The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few' or something?"
"Exactly."
Giggles and a piano tuning could be heard through the door. The Doctor presses his ear against it and comments, "Door, music, people. What do you think?"
"I think you should do a scan for alien tech," she frowns. "Give me some Spock for once. Would it kill you?"
The Doctor, ignoring her, pulls out his sonic screwdriver and begins to point it at the lock.
Weiss smirked. "He's acting so coy."
"What do you mean?" Ruby asked.
"He could do the scan. And if 'Spock' refers to being technological or advanced, he literally just pulled out his favorite hand-held tool and used it in front of her. That's his 'Spock'."
"Are you sure about that t-shirt?" he asks as he casts her a sideways glance.
Rose looks down. The top she was wearing pictured a white-fimbriated symmetric red cross on a blue field with a white-fimbriated counterchanged saltire of red and white.
"Too early to say," she mumbles. "I'm taking it out for a spin."
"Isn't that the British flag?" Blake asked.
The Librarian nodded. "The Union Flag."
"Looks fancy," Ruby giggled.
While waiting for the sonic to do its job, a voice whispered down from far away and made Rose look around.
"Mummy?"
The blonde stepped back towards the alley.
"Mummy?" the voice - young and high-pitched - asked. Rose was unable to spot the originator. All she could see was darkness above and cold stone around them.
Qrow visibly shivered. "Ghost babies. I hate ghost babies. Especially when they start singing lullabies."
The buzzing of the sonic suddenly stops as the Doctor opens the door. He turns to Rose, saying "Come on if you're coming. It won't take a minute."
She watches him leave but turns back around at another cry of "Mummy!" Stepping out further gives her the angle at which to see a boy atop a roof bathed in moonlight, almost giving him the look of glowing. Most surprisingly was the mask around his face - two large and tinted circles for eyes with a third near the bottom with holes.
"Well, that's not terrifying," Yang muttered.
"Why's he wearing that mask?" Weiss pondered aloud. "Is there something in the air? And where is his mother?"
Blake gulped. "And why did Rose not go with the Doctor?"
Immediately, Rose tries to find a way up to the child. "Doctor?" she yells. "Doctor? There's a kid up there!" She starts to run down the alley, hoping to find some way to get closer.
It was then that the warped vision returns. The child - with the glass of the mask's goggles - watches Rose run away.
"Why is she chasing down the kid?" Qrow asked. "It's a kid on a roof - that's pretty common."
His youngest niece glared at him. "Not one calling out for his mom! He could be stuck up there or something. She's making sure he's okay,"
"... Fine. But somehow I think this kid's gonna be more trouble than he's worth."
Inside the building, a club from the sound of it, the Doctor the sound of a saxophone. Then, as a waiter moves into the hallway, he follows him into a larger room.
Smoke fills the air as multiple (if not all) guests and attendees hold lit cigarettes and cigars in their hands. A woman wearing a long, sparkling dress and a fur coat draped around her shoulders. Accompanying her were other members of her band as she stood center-stage in front of a microphone.
"For nobody else gave me the thrill," she sang. Her voice dances between high and low with each note. "When I have upheld silence still. It had to be you. Wonderful you."
The entire room seemed entranced by the woman. Even the Doctor, as he slinks in, stops to watch and listen to the singer.
"That sounds beautiful," Weiss sighed as she closed her eyes and slowly swayed to the music. "What is that?"
The Librarian had an equally blissful smile. "Jazz. The music of the soul. Really got popular in the nineteen-twenties, but I'd guess this is around the early nineteen… forties." His face suddenly paled. "Oh."
"'Oh'? What's 'oh'?" Qrow asked.
"I think I just realized when they are. And let's just hope that whatever it is they're looking for, they find and get out quickly."
Rose runs past the T.A.R.D.I.S and looks up. The kid was still there, staring at her and unmoving. "Are you alright up there?"
His only response was "Mummy?"
Keeping one eye on him, Rose began to climb up one of the building's fire escapes. Her boots clanged on the metal steps and rungs.
"It had to be you!"
The room erupts in applause as the singer finishes her song. She smiles at the occupants, curtsying as the music fades. From the side, the Doctor walks up onto the stage (though also clapping his hands with vigor).
"Excuse me!" he exclaims as he steps up behind the microphone. "Excuse me! Could I have everybody's attention just for a mo'? Be very quick."
"If something did crash here," Blake frowned, "why are they all enjoying themselves at a party? Wouldn't there be panic or something?"
Qrow smirked. "The best way to get over something is to typically celebrate something else. Why do you think the Kingdom's have so many holidays or days off for school? So you can forget the crap that led up to it."
Hands waving excitedly, the Doctor steps even closer to the microphone. The audience seems confused by the new show but remains quiet nonetheless. "Hello! Might seem like a stupid question, but has anything fallen from the sky recently?"
The room goes uncomfortably silent. Eyes from each and every person inside looks up at the Doctor, their glasses held mid-sip and cigarette ashes spilling onto the table.
Suddenly, to the Doctor's confusion, they all begin to laugh. Boisterous bouts of giggles and side-holding laughter erupt all around him.
"Why are they all laughing?" Ruby frowned. "Isn't this serious?"
Even the Librarian was giggling slightly. "Because," he explained, "it's the nineteen-forties."
As Rose finally makes her way up to the rooftop, she notices that the boy was even higher than expected. A more elevated upcropping allows the boy to stare down at her before turning to the dark London landscape.
"Mummy?"
At first glance, there wasn't any way for Rose to get up there. But, almost as if it fell from the heavens, a rope appears. Rose hesitantly grabs it and tugs it - testing her weight. It seems unmoving.
Weiss raised an uncertain eyebrow. "Talk about a deus ex machina."
"Well, not really," Yang responded. "The kid had to get up there somehow."
"You know what a deus ex machina is!?"
"Duh! I love movies."
Meanwhile, the Librarian thought, Why is it Remnant has Latin phrases?!
The laughter begins to die down as the Doctor looks around quizzically. "Sorry, have I said something funny?" he asks. "It's just, there's this thing I need to find. Would've fallen from the sky a couple of days ago."
Louder and louder the laughter grows as he continues. Then, it stops suddenly when a horn begins to siren. The partygoers instantly rise to their feet and rush out and leave.
While covering her Faunus ears, Blake asked "What is that?"
"An air-raid siren," ELI answered. "Bombers incoming."
"Why would there be bombers? This isn't a warzone." Ruby asked
"Would've landed quite near here… With a very loud…" The Doctor's voice trails off as his eyes catch a poster on the wall.
'Hitler will send no warning!' it reads - with an image of flying warships descending upon a city landscape.
The Doctor visibly groans at his luck. "Bang…"
The Remnant's all turn to the Librarian. "Who's Hitler?" they asked.
"Simply put?" he asks. "The worst man to walk the Earth. As of nineteen-forty, he is the leader of a country called Germany. Nazi-Germany, to be precise. And he's on the warpath. From nineteen-forty to, I believe, nineteen-forty-four, he launched air-raids on the island of Great Britain. They'd come without warning.
"It's actually inspiring what the English people did during this time. Any time a siren would sound, indicating that German planes were seen, they'd all leave for bunkers. And they were the image of courage. Even with a lion clawing at their door, London never fell."
The Librarian turned to his five guests. "Who is Hitler? He is war. And the Doctor, Rose, and whatever they were chasing just landed in the middle of a minefield."
Climbing slowly, Rose pulls herself higher and higher up the rope. The steel garters in front of her serve as footholds as she grunts and struggles upward.
"Mommy," the child whispers, looking down at Rose. when she turns up, he does so as well, pointing at the large blimp attached to the end of her tether. "Balloon!"
"That's a pretty big balloon," Yang commented.
ELI, again, responded. "It's a Barrage Balloon. During World War Two, they were placed around all of London to defend ground targets from airborne attacks. Airplanes would crash through the steel cables. Some examples carried small explosive charges that would be pulled up against the aircraft to ensure its destruction."
"Coooool."
With her attention divided, Rose's foot slips and she slides away from the scaffold. The air-raid siren begins to roar as Rose, carried by the Barrage Balloon, begins to float away. [1]
"Let go!" Weiss yelled.
"But she'll fall," Ruby countered.
"Would you rather her fall from hundreds of stories in the air?!"
Rose immediately screams "Doctor!" as she rises higher and higher. The T.A.R.D.I.S below her seems to shrink as her elevation grows. "Doctor!" she screams again as floodlights begin to search the sky, revealing dozens - if not hundreds - of other balloons.
"Doctor!"
Explosions and fires blossom to life as the sound of dozens of engines roar in the distance. Like fireworks, balloons in the distance suddenly disappear in bursts of flame.
"Okay," Rose mumbles, looking down and holding for dear life. "Maybe not this t-shirt."
Qrow waved his hands. "You think?!"
"How was she supposed to know she'd end up in a warzone?" Blake asked.
The Doctor runs out of the restaurant and back to where he last saw his companion. "Rose?" he calls out, only to hear a kitten meow in response. The Doctor freezes upon the sound and notices the cat on top of a pile of food boxes. He scratches its ears. "You know, one day - just one day, maybe - I'm going to meet someone who gets the whole 'don't wander off thing'."
Ruby pouted. "To be fair…"
"If you say 'he never explicitly said it', I will explicitly remind you that a student of Beacon should not be allowed to use their weapon outside of school grounds without permission from a teacher." The Librarian glares at the red-hooded girl. "Never argue with an idiot who's spent six months in a law class and a lot of T.V."
"..." Ruby's pout evolved even further with puffed-out cheeks. "Technically this is my birthday gift," she mumbled.
He picks up the cat and stares into its eyes, as if having a conversation with it, before stroking its furry head. "Nine hundred years of phone box travel, it's the only thing left to surprise me."
The phone box rings.
Everyone jumped.
With a complete and utter look of surprise and confusion, the Doctor sets the cat back down and walks over to his T.A.R.D.I.S. He walks over to its front and opens a small compartment on the left and reveals a very old phone.
Out of focus, both visually and in the Doctor's mind, a figure steps toward him.
"How can you be ringing?" the Doctor inquires. "What's that about - ringing?" He reaches into his pocket and pulls out his sonic screwdriver, mumbling, "what am I supposed to do with a ringing phone?"
"Don't answer it," the figure exclaims. A girl, only a few years older than Yang, stood with a dark expression on her face. "It's not for you."
"Then who's it for?" Blake asked. "You?"
"Perhaps," Weiss frowned, "but is she trying to protect him or keep him from being involved?"
As the Doctor looks up at the girl, the phone box continues to ring. He takes a few steps toward her. "And how do you know that?"
"'Cos I do," she snaps. "And I'm telling you - don't answer it."
"Well," he frowns, "if you know so much, tell me this: How can it be ringing? It's not even a real phone. It's not connected, it's not-"
The Doctor had moved back to the T.A.R.D.I.S to prove his point. But when he turns back around, the girl had disappeared. With nothing but an empty alley to stop him, the Doctor - gingerly, like he has never done this before - grabs the phone's mouthpiece and presses his ear to the speaker.
"Hello?" he says. The only response is a crackle-like static. "This is the Doctor speaking. How may I help you?"
Once again, a familiar voice whispers out from the phone. "Mummy? Mummy?"
"I knew there was something off about that kid," Qrow muttered. "Even if this is a warzone, nobody would just be wearing a gas mask and standing like that."
"Do you think he led Rose away just to split her away from the Doctor?" Yang gasped.
"Maybe. It's too early to tell."
All humor disappears from the Doctor's voice and expression. "Who is this? Who's speaking?"
"Are you my mummy?"
"Who is this?"
"Mummy?"
"How did you ring here?" He jiggles the device. "This isn't a real phone. It's not wired up to any-"
The voice cuts him off with one last "Mummy!" before the line goes dead.
Ruby frowned. "I am both scared and confused." She gripped Crescent Rose tighter.
He gingerly returns the mouthpiece to its holder and closes the phone's door. A second later, after he had a moment to clear his mind, the Doctor knocked on the T.A.R.D.I.S' doors and asks, "Rose? Rose are you in there?"
No response was given.
Just as the Doctor was about to step inside, he heard the sound of something metallic clanging in the distance followed by a woman cursing. He quickly follows the noise and rushes down the alley.
"What are you doing?" Weiss hissed. "You need to find Rose!"
Yang nodded as well. "Maybe he thinks it's that weird girl? Or, considering their lifestyle, he thinks it's dangerous and Rose probably got caught up it in."
"If only he had technology that could figure this out for him!"
After a few turns, the Doctor finds himself against a brick wall with metal trash bins piled up against it.
"The plans are coming," a woman hisses. "Can't you hear them? Into the shelter. None of your nonsense, now move it!"
Nimble and agile, the time traveler follows the sound and jumps up on one of the containers. Peering over the brick wall, he watches as a well-fed, middle-aged woman shepherds a young boy into an air raid shelter behind their house. Metal plates from a crude door and a stairway descend rapidly. Humorously, a pair of Union flags adorn its side.
"That doesn't look that safe," Qrow critiqued.
"It's an Anderson Shelter," the Librarian explained with a comical roll of his eyes. "It was designed to be used in a garden - or, more specifically, under it. When covered with earth the shelter would give some protection from shell fragments and bomber splinters."
"How do you know so much about this?"
"My father was a history nut."
The woman pushes the boy - her son - down into the shelter. "Come on, hurry up, get in there." Then, without a trace of the warmth she just showcased, turns back to the house and yells, "Arthur! Arthur, will you hurry up? Didn't you hear the sire?"
"Middle of dinner, every night," Arthur grumbles as he steps out of the house and towards his family. Like his wife, he was well-fed and well-dressed. "Blooming Germans… Don't they eat?"
"I can hear the planes!"
Arthur - mid-stride - turns to the sky. "Don't you eat?" he yells.
His wife rolls her eyes as the Doctor laughs to himself. "Oh, keep your voice down, will you?" she scolds. "It's an air raid! Get in. Look, there's a war on."
The two slowly push each other inside the shelter as the sound of whistling and explosions grow nearer. They continue to grumble as they step deeper into the cover.
"You weren't kidding about them being completely unafraid and courageous," Blake whistled.
From the shadows behind the shelter, the girl from earlier, who warned the Doctor to not pick up the phone, skillfully makes her way towards the house. The Doctor watches her glance back multiple times, but never notices him.
Inside, she quickly makes her way to the kitchen. After pulling out a large sack from her pocket, she moves to a cupboard and starts pulling out cans of food and placing them on the table next to her.
Yang's eyes widened. "She's stealing?! There's a war going on and she is stealing food?"
"Maybe she has a reason for doing it," Ruby offered, though the evidence in front of her was quite difficult to ignore. "Maybe she really needs it. I mean, she's willing to risk her life in a bombing to get food."
"But it's still breaking the law," Weiss countered.
Meanwhile, high above the Thames near St. Paul's Rose is being given an amazing view of a typical night raid during the Blitz. German planes flew around in formation. Clouds of fire seemed to burst alive with no warning. Even the ground below her seems to shake and twist as Rose struggles to keep the rope tight in her hand.
"Hold on!" Ruby yelled.
Blake nodded her head frantically. "Don't let go!"
Somewhere far away, a man in uniform stares out unto the warring sky. As something catches his eye, he pulls out a pair of seemingly-average binoculars. But looking through them, they prove to be anything but. Digital emblems displaying distance, windspeed, temperature, and other forms of data were visible through the goggles.
Through them, this man watches as Rose grips the rope.
Qrow raised an eyebrow. "Who the heck is this guy?"
"Get those lights out please," another uniformed soldier orders. "Everyone down to the shelter." As he says this, he walks up to the man with the binoculars. "Jack? Are you going down to the shelter? I've got to go off on some silly guard duty."
When he doesn't get a response, he follows Jack's gaze and notices the ballon - but not the woman dangling from it. "Ah, Barrage Balloon, eh? Must've come loose. Happens now and then. Don't you RAF boys use them for target practice?"
"RAF stands for Royal Air Force," the Librarian said, noticing Yang already turning her head to ask. "Think of them as the Blue Angels. Or specialist bullhead pilots."
Jack's finger moves slightly across the binoculars and presses a small button. Now, the spectacles zoom in, directly on a certain part of Rose's body.
Weiss sputtered. "He's a pervert! That's what he is."
"He has cool gadgets and he's using them to check out Rose?" Ruby frowns, her own cheeks red with anger. "That's… That's… Ugh!"
Are you upset that he's not helping? Or that he's using technology to do it?
"Excellent bottom," he remarks in an American accent.
The man next to him does a double-take. His eyes flicker up and down Jack's body before responding, "I say, old man, there's a time and a place. Look, you should really be off."
After pocketing his futuristic binoculars, Jack turns around with a large smile. "Sorry, old man," he says, turning his friend's phrase back at him. "I've got to go meet a girl. But you've got an excellent bottom too!"
Jack taps the man's rear before rushing out - leaving him blushing.
"At least he's sex-positive about everyone," Blake said. "And not just women."
Qrow nodded. "Yeah. I'm sick of Mistralian shows about womanizers. It's nice to see some equality for once."
Back in the kitchen of a random stranger, more and more provisions and cans were stuffed into the girl's bag. Jars of pickles, entire loaves of bread, and even boxes of cookies. ("Yum! Cookies!") As the bag reaches its fill, she begins to search other compartments. Bombshells crashing and exploding can still be overheard, but she still continues to grab as much as she can - even taking it straight off the kitchen counter.
Then, as she moves towards the door, something catches her eye. And she smiles. A few minutes later she sticks her head out the front door and whistles thrice.
Returning inside, the girl pulls off her coat and walks over to the dinner table - where a feast was prepared by the home's owners. Candles were lit in the center with meat, potatoes, peas, and other warm and fulfilling foods available. She grabs a knife and starts cutting one of the roast beef.
A slight rumble erupted from Ruby's stomach. "That looks good."
Two children covered in grime quickly rush in. They stop to stare at the food.
"Many kids out there?"
The first boy nods. "Yes, miss."
Blake frowned slightly. "All without adult guardians or parents?"
"Most kids were sent out of London when the Blitz began," the Librarian said. He too had a frown on his face, but more so born from confusion. "Narnia and Bedknobs and Broomsticks, both feature children that have been evacuated. But… If there are a lot of kids… then that means they are likely urchins and orphans with no parents."
"That's… horrible. So this isn't just them wanting a quick snack or some money. They need this to survive."
He and his friend dive for the food but stop when the girl puts her hand out between them.
"Ah! Still carving. Sit and wait," she orders. The two do, taking opposite sides on the table. "We've got the whole air raid."
"Look at that," the other mumbles, practically drooling. "Bet it's off the black market."
"Why would food be on the black market?" Ruby asked.
"Specific foods were rationed during World War Two since the main focus was fighting against the Nazi invasion. Basic foodstuffs such as sugar, meat, fats, bacon, and cheese were directly rationed by an allowance of coupons. For a family of three to have this much food… It's highly unlikely."
"I can't tell who is more wrong then," the red-hooded girl commented. "The family stuffing their faces in war or the children forced to steal it."
The girl glares at them, with a scolding "That's enough!"
Instantly, they quiet and wait as she prepares them a slice.
Rose's grip on the rope suddenly becomes failing. At first, she slips a few inches. Then a few feet. Then, suddenly, she finds herself at the very end of the Balloon Barrage's tether.
"Hold on!" everyone yelled.
A bomb strike causes the building directly blow her to erupt in flames. Whether it comes from the explosion's aftershock or the sweat on her palms, Rose finds herself unable to hang on any longer. And so she falls.
Rose screams (as does the watching party). But suddenly, from the Elizabeth tower and home of Big Ben, a beam of light, barely different from those already flashing around the sky, shines out directly onto her and catches the girl. Rose freezes in mid-air mid-scream. Small waves of energy flow up with the beam as she is suspended.
"Okay, okay, I've got you," the electronic voice of Jack exclaims from somewhere unseen.
Weiss rolled her eyes. "Cutting it a little close, isn't he?"
Yang nudged her and smiled. Then she quickly pumped her fists. "I know we've only just met him, but I love this Jack guy already."
"Don't you already love someone else?" the heiress asked with a smirk. Instantly, Blake began to cough and Yang's face went tomato red.
"Who's got me?" Rose gasps. She panics and waves her arms and legs widely. "Who's got me, and, you know, how?"
"I'm just programming your descent pattern. Keep as still as you can and keep your hands and feet inside the light field."
"Descent pattern?"
"Oh, and could you switch off your cell phone?" Jack's voice asks. Somehow he sees - or hears- Rose scoff because he adds "No, seriously, it interferes with my instruments."
Being very careful not to break the light field, Rose pulls out her mobile and quickly turns it off. "You know, no one ever believes that," she grumbles.
"Well it's actually because the total amount of everyone being on their scrolls can possibly cause an interruption," Qrow surprisingly answered. "If it was one or two, it'd probably be fine, but large bullheads have dozens of people."
The Librarian turned to the man next to him. "How in the multiverse do you know that?"
"I told you, I've always wanted to be a pilot."
When Rose turns off her phone, Jack gives his thanks. "That's much better."
"Oh, yeah," she scoffs, "that's a real load off, that is. I'm hanging in the sky in the middle of a German air raid with the Union Jack across my chest, but hey, my mobile phone's off!"
"Be with you in a moment," he chuckles.
Somewhere small and cramped, Jack looks upon a screen showing Rose held up in the air. Wires and tubes hang from the roof and an industrial-orange glow fills the room.
"The mobile communication device indicates non-contemporaneous life form." The ship's computer beeps slightly as it relays the information.
"Well that's obvious," Weiss critiqued. "Rose has a mobile. From what I've seen, that's an advanced technology for this area."
Ruby nodded. "But why is Jack here, then? If he can time travel too, why come to a warzone?"
"Does it have something to do with that tube-thing they were chasing before?"
Jack nods and spins in his chair, turning towards a glass cockpit in a chair far bigger than he. "She's not from around here, no." He then leans down slightly, his voice now filtering into a speaker. "Ready for you.
Hold on tight."
Rose waves her hands. "To what?!"
"Fair point."
To the horror and surprise of Rose, she suddenly felt gravity return. However, instead of falling straight down, the light field acts like a slide. Rose half-falls, half-skids sideways towards the source of the beam.
Yang, still holding Blake's hand in one of her own, lifted her arms and yelled, "wheeeeee!"
Everything goes white and - when color returns - she finds herself inside of Jack's ship and in his arms held in a bridal carry.
"I've got you!" he exclaims as Rose still panics in his grip. "You're fine, you're just fine. The tractor beam, it can scramble your head just a little."
Rose pauses and, as it is her first time, stares at her (handsome) rescuer. "Hello."
"Hello," he smiles.
"Hello."
"Oh don't you dare!" Blake hissed. "We've already been through this with Mickey and Adam. We do not need another love interest!"
"What makes you think he's a love interest?" Ruby asked.
Qrow answered first. "Well, just look at him. He's certainly not the Slitheen."
Rose blinks and stutters. "Sorry, that was 'hello' twice there. Dull, but, you know, thorough."
The smile on Jack's face doesn't falter. "Are you all right?"
"Fine," she answers, moving to get on her own two feet. Jack slowly helps her down but keeps a hand on her arm. "Are you expecting me to faint or something?"
He stares into her eyes and tries to study the girl. "You look a little dizzy," he explains.
"What about you?" Rose scoffs. "You're not even in focus."
Jack chuckles and takes a small step back as Rose's eyes roll back and she falls forward. He quickly catches her and lifts her back up. Making sure her head isn't injured, he slowly carries her to a small bunk built into the interior of the ship.
"What a nice guy," Yang smirked. "It's just their first date and he's already carrying her to bed."
"But who is he? And what does he want?" Ruby closed her eyes as she thought. "It has to do with that tube, there are too many coincidences."
"Maybe he's involved with the masked child?" Weiss offered.
Blake shook her head slightly. "I doubt it. If they were somehow working together, there'd probably be a better plan than tricking a girl to grab a Barrage Ballon and hanging on long enough for him to see it."
Two more small boys run into the abandoned house - joining a small party of soot-stained children all sitting around the large table. But behind them, unnoticed, a small shadow peaks forward and watches the house. Their warped vision makes everything seem twisted as they slowly walk closer to the building.
"It's got to be black market," one boy exclaims as the head girl cuts another slice of meat onto a large plate. "You couldn't get all this on coupons."
The leader places their utensils down and turns to the boy. "Ernie, how many times? We are guests in this house. We will not make comments of that kind," she scolds. "Washing up."
"Washing up?" Weiss asked.
"He's got to wash the dishes," Ruby explained.
"Oh… They don't clean themselves here?"
Yang giggled. "They don't clean themselves at home either. It's just that there are people who clean them for you. Wait, have you never cleaned a plate?"
Remaining silent was a good enough answer for everyone. "That's not fair. Weiss has to do the dishes after this."
The other kids laugh at Ernie and his punishment. "Oh, Nancy," he gripes but goes silent before saying anything else.
Nancy notices one of the kids laughing and nods to him. "Haven't seen you at one of these before."
"He told me about it." The child gestures to the kid next to him.
"Sleeping rough?" Nancy asks.
"Yes, miss."
"All right then. One slice each, and I want to see everyone chewing properly."
Ruby's eyes opened wide. "She's like-"
"Their mother!" Yang finished.
The plate of cut meat in front of Nancy is quickly passed to her right, with each kid taking their only slice. Knives and forks scrape against the plate as they take their own slice.
"Thank you, miss," the first exclaims before a quick encore by the others.
"Thank you, miss."
"Thanks much, miss!
"Thank you, miss."
"Thanks, miss!" the Doctor smiles, taking the plate.
Weiss' jaw dropped. "All this time, when Rose was hanging for her life, you were just sneaking your way inside to have a quick meal?!"
"Well, she ran off and he had no idea where she went," Blake countered. "And you have to give him credit for not being noticed."
"... It was a bit funny…"
All the children, with the exception of Nancy, jump to their feet and gasp. A few quickly toss away their napkins and move towards the door. However, they stop when Nancy opens her mouth.
"It's all right," she says in a calm, motherly tone. "Everyone stay where you are."
The Doctor, unaware of his presence's reaction, continues to serve himself. "Good here, innit? Who's got the salt?"
"Back in your seats," Nancy orders. The children move slowly back to their places around the table. "He shouldn't be here either."
"Ah," Qrow realized. "Guilty of the same crime, but under different circumstances. He couldn't get them in trouble without getting into trouble himself. A stalemate."
"But the Doctor wouldn't turn them in, right?" Ruby asked.
Her uncle nodded. "Nah. But she doesn't know that."
The gang of kids all sit but a veil of silence covers the entire room. The Doctor, after scooping a bit of mashed potatoes onto his plate, asks "So, you lot, what's the story?"
Ernie frowns. "What do you mean?"
"You're homeless, right? Living rough?"
"Why do you want to know that?" another kid asks, glaring at the adult guest. "Are you a copper?"
"Like the metal?" Yang asked.
"A copper is a policeman," ELI explained. "It descends from the Latin word 'capere' which led to capture. Though there are sources that claim it could come from the medals on their helmets - being copper - or that the term 'Constables On Patrol' acronyms to C.O.P. The entomology is quite-"
"Mute!" the Librarian says. He turns to Yang. "Never, ever, ask ELI where words come from."
The Doctor scoffs. "Of course I'm not a copper."
"But he does travel in a police box," Ruby smirked.
"What's a copper going to do with you lot anyway?" he asks. "Arrest you for starving?" The children all laugh - becoming more relaxed with the stranger. "I make it nineteen-forty-one. You lot shouldn't even be in London. You should've been evacuated to the country by now."
"I was evacuated. Sent me to a farm," one says.
"So why'd you come back?"
"There was a man there."
"There was a man there?" Blake asked.
The Librarian scratched his ear and squinted. "Think of it like protective adoption. They had to take the kids out of the warzone, but they couldn't just drop them off and say 'Fend for yourselves!' A lot of places took children in, like orphanages or foster homes, until the kids could return to their families… Though for some that day never came."
Another kid, with food in his mouth, points across the table. "Yeah, same with Ernie. Two homes ago."
"Shut up," Ernie scowls as he cuts a piece of meat with the side of his fork. "It's better on the streets anyway. It's better food."
"Yeah, Nancy always gets the best food for us."
The Doctor - no longer eating - stares at the lead girl with a strange look of… respect. "So that's what you do, is it, Nancy?"
"What is?" she asks.
"As soon as the sirens go, you find a big fat family meal still warm on the table with everyone down in the air raid shelter and bingo! Feeding frenzy for the homeless kids of London Town. Puddings for all." His voice deepens slightly before adding, "as long as the bombs don't get you."
Nancy stares across the table. "Something wrong with that?"
"Wrong with it? It's brilliant."
"Risk and reward," Qrow frowned. "Would you rather spend the war starving for days, weeks, or months? Or would you rather go out in a quick explosion while enjoying a good dinner?"
The children all laugh again. This time, however, they laugh at the Doctor and not with him.
Nancy tosses the Doctor's plate next to hers and crosses her arms. "No blondes, no flags. Anything else before you leave?"
"Wow, the comment about the phone really got under her skin," Ruby realized.
The Doctor pulls out a pen and paper from his jacket pockets. "Yeah, there is actually. Thanks for asking. Something I've been looking for. Would've fallen from the sky about a month ago, but not a bomb. Not the usual kind, anyway. Wouldn't have exploded. Probably would have just buried itself in the ground somewhere, and it would have looked something like… this."
As he talks, the pen in his hand moves sporadically as he draws a description of the object that brought him here. Then, as he finishes, he turns the pad around and reveals his masterpiece:
A very, very, crude outline of an elongated oval.
Everyone laughed at the horrible drawing of the object.
"He's nine-hundred years old and that's the best he can do?" Ruby giggled.
Even Weiss couldn't hold back her own laughter. "When compared to that, Jaune's musical ability is savant-level!"
"That's mean," Blake scolded, though a smile did tug at her own lips.
"Like how some people are good at fighting-" Yang flexed her biceps "- and how others aren't."
Nancy's breath hitches slightly at the description, but she makes no comment. Before anyone else could say anything, a knock at the window draws everyone's attention to the closed curtain's behind the Doctor.
"Mummy? Are you in there, mummy?"
The Doctor quickly spins around and jumps from his chair to open the window. On the other side of the glass, the masked child presses his hand against the window. "Mummy?"
Blake gulped. "I'm starting to agree with your uncle. That is pretty creepy."
"See!?" the huntsman exclaimed.
"Who was the last one in?" Nancy asks, panic slipping into her voice.
Ernie turns to one of the kids. "Him," he points.
"No, he came round the back. Who came in the front?"
"Me," another whispers.
"Did you close the door?"
"I don't…"
"Did you close the door?" Nancy repeats, her whisper harsh.
The child, as if hearing about the possibly unlocked door, marches from the window and towards the front entrance. All the time, asking: "Mummy? Mummy? Mummy?"
"Get to the door!" everyone screamed.
Nancy rushes towards the front door. The shadowed visage of the child fills the entire door lite as Nancy pushes it closed. Not one, but three locks, quickly bolt into the door.
The Doctor, having followed Nancy to the hallway, looks out the screen and watches as the door is pressed inward with the masked child's knocking.
"What's this?" he asks. "It's never easy being the only child left out in the cold, you know."
Nancy peels her eyes away from the door. "I suppose you'd know."
"I do actually, yes."
Ruby let out a loud "Awwww."
"What kind of past did he have?" Qrow asked. "What tragedy made a man this caring?"
"Who knows," the Librarian answered. "The Doctor's past is one of his greatest mysteries."
"It's not exactly a child," Nancy hisses.
"Mum-my," the child sings. When it does, Nancy pushes past the Doctor and bolts back to the dining room.
She quickly begins to spout orders to the children. "Right, everybody out. Across the back garden and under the fence. Now! Go! Move!"
Every child, with the exception of one small and scared little girl, rushes up from their seats and out to the back door. A few kids even try to take their plates with them but drop them as they stumble over each other.
Nancy throws her coat on and grabs the one hanging on the unmoving child's chair. "Come on baby," she whispers, "we've got to go, all right? It's just like a game. Just like chasing. Take your coat, go on. Go!"
"Why is she so scared of the kid?" Blake frowned.
"She must know something about him," Weiss agreed. "Something about this kid is dangerous. And it must scare her too much to say."
The young girl takes her jacket but before she could put it on, is rushed out by Nancy.
"Mummy?" the child knocks. "Mummy? Please let me in, Mummy. Please let me in, Mummy." The letterbox flap slowly lifts as the child pushes their hand inside. A dark spot covers the top of his hand.
The Doctor notices this. "Are you all right?"
"Please let me in," the child whispers. Instinctively, the Doctor reaches out to help, only to jump back as a glass bottle slams into the door.
"You mustn't let him touch you!" she yells.
"What happens if he touches me?"
Qrow hid his comment behind a cough. "Then you're going to be put on a watchlist."
The Librarian laughed but hid it behind an equally fake cough. "Gotta love the dark humor."
"He'll make you like him," Nancy warns.
Confused, the Doctor asks, "and what's that like?"
Nancy doesn't answer. She quickly turns around and whispers "He'll make you like him."
"Nancy," the Doctor asks, grabbing her shoulder. "What's he like?"
"... He's empty."
Suddenly, the phone began to ring. This time, it was a real phone - directly in front of the Doctor.
"It's him," Nancy whispers. "He can make phones ring. He can. Just like with that police box you saw."
The phone rings again, to which the Doctor picks it up.
"Are you my mummy?"
Ruby shivered. "Why is that so creepy?!"
"Because it's too innocent," Qrow answered. "Your first instinct is to help, but your body is telling you there's danger."
Nancy reaches across the Doctor and grabs the phone, slamming it down. But as she does, something from the dining room clicks, and music begins to play.
The empty child's voice begins to speak with the music. "Mummy? Please let me in, Mummy."
As the Doctor fiddles with the dials, a toy monkey with cymbals in its hands whirls to life. Each clang of its instrument is added to with a "Mum-my! Mum-my! Mum-my!"
Terrified, Nancy bolts for the back door. "You stay if you want to," she yells before disappearing into the house.
Grabbing Blake's hand, Yang pressed back into her seat. "Yeah, I'm with her! Let's go!"
Blake blushed slightly at the contact but kept her eyes glued to the screen. "The Doctor won't leave until he has answers. Even if it'll be smarter to leave now. But he should definitely go now!"
The Doctor returns to the front door as the child pushes their hand back through the male slot. This time, however, he can see the spot on his hand is actually a large red scar.
"Mummy? Let me in please, Mummy. Please let me in."
Sitting down on the front steps, the Doctor says "Your Mummy isn't here."
The radio and monkey go silent.
"How is that worse?!" Weiss gasped.
"Are you my mummy?"
"No Mummy's here," he smiles. "Nobody here but us chickens. Well, this chicken."
The child's hand flips over - as if waiting for a hand to grab ahold of his. "I'm scared."
"Why are those other children frightened of you?" the Doctor asks.
"Please let me in, Mummy," it pleads - ignoring the Doctor's question. "I'm scared of the bombs."
"... Okay." The Doctor nods. "I'm opening the door now."
"WHAT?!"
The boy pulls his hand back and the Doctor slowly unbolts the front door. But when he opens it, the boy was gone. In fact, as the Doctor walks outside into the street, he sees it is completely deserted.
Empty.
"I hate this," Ruby muttered from the inside of her cloak. "Why does Doctor Who have to be so scary?!"
"Because the Doctor has to face those fears and stop the evil behind them," Weiss muttered. "But I must admit… I think this is one time where I wish the Doctor would simply grab Rose and leave."
"Speaking of which, she is still with Jack," Blake realized. "What does he have to do with all of this?"
Yang shakes her head. "Who cares? He seems to be a good guy, I think. He saved Rose, after all."
"As much as it'll hurt to say, I'm going to agree with Yang," Qrow sighed. "Jack seems fine to me."
"I bet," the Librarian coughed.
Qrow glared at him. "And the creepy kid seems to be completely independent of what Jack is doing. There's definitely a correlation, but I seriously doubt they're working for some common goal."
"So, all in all, we agree that Jack is hot and the empty child is terrifying?" the Librarian smirked,
"Yup!"
"Great."
Huge, huge thanks to my first-ever supporter!
Helpful supporter - Dalek2150
[1] - Why does the Barrage Balloon float away? They're supposed to be tethered so that when a plane hits it, the cord either brings it crashing to the ground or it detaches and a bomb is brought from the top to the plane. There's the comment about some breaking away… but it literally just floats there for Rose then floats away when the reveal of WW2 happens.
Like, I'm not against the Rule of Cool… But, come on!
To celebrate the spooky season, I am going to try and write the entirety of the 2-episode (four chapters) scary story of the 9th Doctor's run. I doubt I'll be able to do all four by the time October ends, but, hey, it's a goal!
For those who don't know, I am now in the UK! Whoooooo! My sleep schedule is completely out of whack and in the three weeks I've been here, I've already been sick twice in the last ten days.
But hey, who said adulting was easy?
Please, feel free to follow and comment on predictions, thoughts, etc. I am always looking for new ways to improve my craft. Tell your friends!
Also, if you have the money, please think about supporting me.
Pa tre on . co m
(slash)
readerwarrior