The Crimson Horror
Yorkshire
1893
A young man is standing in a long hallway, holding a young woman in his arms. "Edmund, please don't do this!" She cried, placing a kiss on his lips to distract him.
"Don't fret Effie, all will be well. But we must get to the bottom of this dark and queer business no matter what the cost. Remember, if I have not returned in an hour, you must fetch the police. Okay?"
"Alright." He gave her one last kiss before departing away and through a door on the other end, which was gleaming crimson light through its round window. Effie waited for only 2 minutes before the elevator shaft beside her opened. An old woman with five younger accomplices emerged to greet her. "Mrs. Gillyflower." She breathes.
"We have come about your husband, my dear. A tragedy." Gillyflower says, radiating a sad look of pity.
"My husband?"
"Your…late husband."
She shook her head. "There must be some mistake. My husband is quite well-"
"Aaah!" She glanced at the crimson door in horror before turning back to Gillyflower, whose sad look turned less genuine and more mocking.
"We're so very sorry for your loss." She clicked her fingers, her accomplices seizing Effie and dragging her to the same door.
"No, please! Let me go! Please!" She cried as she disappeared through the door. "Aaah!"
Inside a morgue, a young man with a moustache stood over a stone slab, where the master drew back a white sheet to reveal Edmund. However, his face bore an expression of horror, while his skin was coloured deep crimson red, covered in small scars like cracks in the earth. "Oh, hellfire, that's put me right off me mash." The master chuckled morbidly. "Another one."
"Another?" The man asked.
"He's not the first one I've had in here looking like that. "The Crimson Horror". That's what they're calling it."
"I have no interest in the deplorable excesses of the penny dreadful." He turned to leave.
"Hey, hey." He clicks his fingers with his words before holding out a hand. "Payment in advance, flower." The man took out a handful of coins and placed them in his hand, the master grasping his wrist as he did to pull him in closer. "You see, I'm taking a big risk right now. They'll have me vitals for fiddle strings if they knew I'd let you come to look at one of their precious stiffs."
The man wrenched back his arm. "This stiff was my brother. I've come up from London to bring him home."
"Oh aye? But you want to know how he got killed, yes?"
"I've got no interest-"
"Yes, yes, I heard you the first time. What you should do is see the one who delves into these strange miss happenings."
"And who would that be?"
The master gave him a smirk. "I think you know who "The Great Detective" of London is, young man."
13 Paternoster Row, London
Madame Vastra and Jenny sat in their contemplation room, overflowing with plants as they listened to Rose and Jack's tale, sipping on cups of tea. Rose and Jack were now dressed in attire befitting of their current era, complete with a suit and black frock dress. "You're serious?" Jenny mumbled in surprise. "Santa Claus got them together?"
"Basically, yeah." Rose nodded.
"But…didn't Clara die?" Jenny asked.
Rose and Jack blinked. "How do you mean?" Jack asked.
"We knew Clara. She was a barmaid and a governess." Vastra informed, drawing back her veil to sip at her tea. "She helped the Doctor when we could not. Yet she gave her life to save him in the end. Killed by the Ice Governess."
"Ice…Governess?" Rose blinked.
"Have they not explained it?"
Rose shrugged. "Well they did just admit that they love each other *Mumbles Finally*, so…"
"They just haven't gotten to it yet?" Jenny finished. They nodded.
"But they should be back by now. They've been gone for nearly a week." Rose said in worry.
"Don't worry, my dear." Vastra reassured. "If the Doctor is in trouble, then we shall rush head first into that danger to save him. But sometimes…the danger must come to us."
*Knock* *Knock* *Knock*
"Speak of the devil and he shall appear."
"That's a bit creepy, you know. Like…really creepy." Rose blinked.
Strax went to answer the door. "This should be one of our contactors, Mr. Thursday. He's been telling us of the mysterious death of his brother and the disappearance of his wife in Yorkshire, a small place called Sweetville. Perhaps, this could be the lead we require."
Strax opened the front door to see Thursday, the man from the morgue standing there, not looking at him and holding out a small card.
"I have travelled from Yorkshire expressly to see Madame Vastra on my investigations. Would you be so kind as to announce me my good man?"
Strax took the card. "Who shall I say is calling?" Thursday looked up at him before gasping.
"Dear lord." His eyes rolled back into his head as he collapsed into the doorway. Strax blinked as Jenny came to the door.
"Strax." She groaned.
"It wasn't me. It asked for permission to enter and then it fell over." Strax defended.
"Well, he's here to see Madame, so bring him in anyway. It's just a shock, he'll be up in a minute." Jenny motioned.
"Fine." He grumbled, picking up Thursday and pulling him inside to lay him on a couch. They waited patiently for the man to awaken, who groaned as he did.
"So sorry. I'm…not entirely sure what happened there." Thursday mumbled.
"You just came with a shock, you'll be fine. Now, if you would like to come on through, Madame Vastra is waiting." Jenny said.
"Thank you." He took a glance at Strax before following Jenny into the room. Vastra, now with the veil drawn, looked at him and motioned him to a seat. "Thank you for agreeing to this meeting, Madame Vastra. I'm told you're the investigator to see if there are strange goings-on."
"I read of your brother's death. Another victim of "The Crimson Horror", I believe?"
"So, it is claimed. He was a newspaper man. He and his wife, Effie were working undercover at Sweetville. Tell me madam, do you know what an Octagram is?"
"*Chuckles* It's a silly superstition, sir. The belief that the eye can retain an image of the last thing it sees." Thursday took out a photo of his brothers face on a morgue table and handed it to her. She glanced at it before throwing back her veil, seeing something undiscernible in his eyes, yet his skin was coloured crimson. "I haven't seen these effects since…"
"Would you like me to prepare the dark room ma'am?" Jenny asked.
"Yes, thank you my dear."
"Oh gosh!" Thursday grumbled. They looked at him to see his eyes roll back into his head, as he stumbles out of the chair and onto the floor, narrowly missing the glass table.
"Okay, that is not shock. That's light-headedness." Rose sniggered. Jenny giggled making Vastra playfully glare at her.
"Sorry ma'am." She squeaked before hurrying from the room, Vastra shaking her head at her behaviour.
"Are you two…" Jack trailed off.
"Yes. And married." Vastra said simply.
"Ah. Makes sense."
They searched through their new findings in the dark room, their frustration growing more immense by the second. "There's got to be something." Vastra muttered under her breath.
"Devil's in the details." Jack said.
"I'm sorry?"
He blinked. "It's a future saying."
"Well I'll be blowed. I think Madame, that we'd better make plans to head North." Jenny said. They came over to the new picture she just hung up.
"Well, what do you know? We have a lead after all." Vastra said with a smirk. The picture was a close-up of the pupil, which inside had the Doctor looking back out, his hands reaching out and his jaw dropped in shock.
Now sitting in a large carriage, Jenny and Rose with Vastra while Jack sat on the other side with Strax, they conversed their new plans. "According to my research, Sweetville's proprietor holds recruitment try-outs for her little community. She's only interested in the fittest and the most beautiful." Jenny beamed at Vastra while Rose cocked an eyebrow. "Now, to not attract attention, we shall only send two of us in there."
"You may rely on us, ma'am." Strax said. Everyone blinked at him.
"I think Vastra was speaking about Jenny and Rose." Jack informed. Vastra nodded in thanks.
"Jenny and Rose." Strax mumbled, scrunching his face in offended disgust. "If these weak and fleshy boys are to represent us-"
"Ah." Vastra placed her hands-on Jenny and Rose's to stop them from blurting out.
"I strongly advise the issuing of scissor grenades, limbo vapour and triple blast brain-spitters."
"What on Earth for?" Vastra asked.
He shrugged. "Just generally. Remember, we are going to the North." He said dramatically.
Vastra and Jenny exchanged furrowed looks while Rose snorted. "Don't let Clara catch you saying that."
Standing outside the entrance to the hall at the front of Sweetville, Jenny and Rose entered with a large group of people while Jack, Vastra and Strax stood to the side. "If our stratagem succeeds, Jenny and Rose will infiltrate deep into the black heart of this curious place."
"And how will they locate the Doctor?" Strax asks.
"To find him, they need only ignore all keep out signs, go through every locked door and run towards any form of danger that presents itself."
"Business as usual?"
"Business as usual."
"How long will they be in there?" Jack asked.
"This hearing will go on for almost an hour before they can get inside. Until then…" Vastra thought for a moment. "We need to visit the morgue. I have an idea why it's called "The Crimson Horror", but I need confirmation. Jenny best be alright in there." She said in soft worry.
"If they don't make contact by the time we return, I suggest a massive frontal assault on the factory madam." They blinked at Strax, who gulped sheepishly. "Casualties could be kept to perhaps as little as 80%."
"I think there may be subtler ways of proceeding, Strax." Vastra shook her head slowly.
"Suit yourself." Strax shrugged as they walked back to their carriage.
Rose and Jenny sat next to each other in the crowded hall, while Gillyflower and her accomplices stood at the front of the hall. Beside them was a poster covered in a sheet while a circular curtain stood on the other. "How much longer does this have to go on?" Rose groaned to Jenny.
"Hopefully, not much longer." Jenny whispered, holding back her groan of irritation.
"Bradford, that Babylon of the moderns with its crystal light and its glitter. All a-swarm with the wretched ruins of humanity. Men and women crushed by the Devil's juggernaut. Moral turpitude can destroy the most delicate of lives. Believe me, I know." An accomplice drew back the circular curtain to reveal a young woman with her back turned. Unlike Gillyflower who was dressed in black, she was dressed in white. "My own daughter, Ada, blinded in a drunken rage by my late husband." Ada turned to the audience, revealing her heavily scarred face and milky white eyes. The audience gasped at this, some calling out "Disgraceful" as they saw her. "Her once beautiful eyes are now pale and white as mistletoe berries." Gillyflower took out a tissue to dab her eyes. "And what my friends is your story? Will you be found wanting when the end of days is come? When judgement rains down upon us all? Or will you be preserved against the coming apocalypse?" The audience murmured in fear, making her hold up a hand to silence them. "Do not despair. I offer a way out. There is a different path. Sweetville." The poster sheet was drawn back, revealing a landscape painting of Sweetville. This made the audience gasp in awe, while Rose and Jenny exchanged looks with each other. "Join us! Join us in this shining city on the hill!" Gillyflower proclaimed. The people shot up out of their seats and towards the front, where on a podium in front of her was a list, with a quill and they rapidly began to sign it.
Rose and Jenny stood in the line, patiently as it quickly dwindled. "Rather impatient, are they?" Rose murmured.
"Or Gillyflower's just playing into their superstitious fears. People can believe in all manner of things."
Rose cocked an eyebrow. "Yet they'll fall over in shock at the sight of your mistress."
"Stop it!" Jenny blushed, earning a snigger from Rose. They reached the podium, Gillyflower looking at them warmly.
"You wish to join us, my dears?'
"If it's all the same with you, ma'am." Jenny and Rose signed in turn.
"Oh yes, dears. You'll do very nicely." They curtsied before leaving the room.
Rose and Jenny stood in a long line, waiting anxiously for it to end. They gave each other a nodding glance as a door came up in the long hallway to their right, as a young woman with horribly maintained teeth came up behind them. "I'm dead nervous, aren't you? They must be sure, you see. Only the best for Sweetville. I hope my teeth don't let me down. I'm Abigail."
"Pleased to meet you." Jenny nodded, her and Rose exchanged a slightly uncomfortable look.
"You two not from around here, are you?"
"No. We're up from London."
"Ah. Different here, I bet."
"Oh yeah. A bleeding horse market." They chuckled lightly.
"Do you know anyone who's come to live here?" Rose asked. "In Sweetville, I mean."
Abigail nodded. "I had a pal who come here three months back. She wrote to tell me how perfect it all were." She blinked, gazing distantly for a moment. "Funny, though. I've not heard a peep from her since."
"Next please!" A voice at the end of the line called.
"Hang on. We're moving." Abigail moved past them in agitation as Jenny motioned Rose to the door, where she pulled out her lock picking pouch. "What're you doing?" Abigail whispered.
"Do us a favour, cause a distraction." Jenny said.
"What?"
"Swoon. Have a funny turn. Fit of the vapours."
"Are you two crackers?"
"Go on." Jenny reached into her dress pocket and pulled out a Guinea. "There's a Guinea in it for you."
Abigail took it immediately. "Done." She began to gasp dramatically before collapsing to the ground, earning everyone's attention as they frolicked around her, murmuring amongst themselves loudly. Jenny and Rose used this opportunity to pass through the door unseen, closing it silently behind them. They moved quickly to a large, green door and went through, holding their hands to their ears at the loud, rhythmic clanging of machinery. Except there wasn't any. Moving through the large hall, they found it completely empty, except for a group of large speakers hooked up to each other, playing the same noises repeatedly. Back at the green door, they saw a small group of workers moving through, carrying large bottles of crimson liquid.
Vastra and Jack stood inside the morgue as the master drew back a curtain to rummage through his findings. "Them new manufacturers can do horrible things to a person. Horrible. I've pickled things in here that'll fair turn your hair snowy as top of Buckden Pike."
"You know what we're looking for?" Vastra said, holding back a roll of her eyes.
"Oh, aye. All them bits found in the canal. "The Crimson Horror"." He found a glass bottle containing the crimson liquid from the factory. Vastra turned around with Jack, drawing back her veil to gaze at it.
"It hardly seems possible." Vastra murmured.
"What is it?" Jack asked.
"It is poison."
"Eh?" The master murmured.
"I have seen these symptoms before, long ago."
"Oh, aye? How long?"
Vastra quickly cocked an eyebrow playfully at Jack before turning back to the master, who gazed at her face in shock. "About 65 million years."
Rose and Jenny moved out of the elevator, into a hallway with a crimson light glaring through the door at the end. They nodded, moving to peer through yet-
*Clang*
They jumped as the noise of banging chains echoed above their heads, rather close by. Deciding to move through the other door, which when opened revealed a short, spiralling staircase. They ascended to the top cautiously, seeing another hallway, yet the floor was strewn with hay and the doors were made like containment cells.
*Clang*
They moved to the first door and tried to open it to no avail. Rose knelt and opened the latch at the bottom. They jumped as a crimson arm reached out and tried to grasp them, before they shut the latch in haste. Rose and Jenny gave each other an uncertain nod before Jenny leant into the door.
"Alright, mate. You just stay calm now. We could open this door. Would you like that?"
*Clang*
"I thought you might. But you and we have got to come to an arrangement, savvy?"
*Clang*
Jenny grabbed a tool from her lock picking pouch and proceeded to unlock the door. "Now, you stand well back, do you hear me? We don't mean no harm to you, but you try anything funny and we'll leave you here to rot. Is that understood?"
*Clang* *Clang*
"Alright." Jenny opened the door, her and Rose moving inside slowly before they gasped. "Doctor?"
Said man was standing there in chains yet his skin was coloured crimson. He opened his mouth to speak, but all that came out was a painful groan, so he reached his arms out yet his movements were stiff, like old wood scraping against itself.
"What happened to you? Where's Clara?" Rose asked.
"Aaah. Ah." He groaned.
"Can't you speak?" Jenny asked.
Despite the pain, he shook his head.
"How do we get him out?" Rose asked Jenny.
"Aaah." The Doctor reached an arm to the corner by the door, where his clothes lay.
"Sonic." Rose jumped, grabbing the clothes and pulling the sonic out, using it to unclasp his chains.
"Give me a hand." Jenny said. She and Rose grabbed his arms and slowly led him out of the room, his every step creating a creaking sound in his legs. Descending the stairs, they moved to the crimson lit door, opening it as the elevator behind them opened, Ada coming out with a bowl of food. She turned her head in confusion at the noise before proceeding to the flight of stairs.
They moved through the door, seeing another hallway but with glass windows on one side. Peering through them, they saw the actual factory, where people unconscious and suspended in latches were being lowered into large vats of the crimson liquid.
"Oh my god. Is that what happened to you?" Rose asked the Doctor.
He nodded weakly with a groan.
"How do we reverse this?"
He raised his hand to a door in the side, making them move through it. Behind was another corridor, with three open doors. This sight made the Doctor start groaning, rushing towards the first.
"You sure?" Jenny asked.
"Aaah!" He groaned. They moved him inside.
"Here." Rose said, placing his clothes into his arms and his sonic into his hands, before they closed the door and waited.
Ada reached the top of the stairs, moving to the first door, which due to her blindness, was unable to see that it was open. "You are all I have, monster." She whispered gently. "But all will be well. Imperfect as we are, there will be room for us in the new Jerusalem." She went to place an affectionate hand on the door yet frowned as she couldn't feel it. Using her walking stick, she felt her way through the hay, until it hit the unclasped chains on the floor. She let out a breath, kneeling to pick up the chains. "No. No!" She cried. "Where are you monster? Where are you?"
Jenny and Rose jumped as steam billowed out from behind the door, the blue light of the sonic illuminating it like ice cold morning mist. Then, it stopped. They waited and waited until the door slammed open, the Doctor jumping out, perfectly normal again, his clothes on with a beaming grin on his face.
"Ha ha! You missed me?!" He cried, before jumping around the room like a kid on a sugar rush.
"Doctor!" Jenny exclaimed, her and Rose grinning madly.
"Just when I thought the Victorian lock-picking chambermaid and her cheerleader wouldn't ever turn up, here you are." Rose smacked him hard for his comment.
"Don't call me a cheerleader." Rose growled.
"Sorry, but I do have to thank you for that. You've no idea how agonizing it was to be stiff as a board." The Doctor said, still grinning despite the sting.
"Your…welcome?" Rose mumbled.
"Right. Mrs. Gillyflower, we've got to stop her. But first, Clara. I've got to find Clara."
"Clara? What happened to her?" Jenny asked.
The Doctor blinked. "Did you-"
"Yes. Me and Jack already explained." Rose groaned.
"Okay. It's a bit of a long story. I'll try to keep it short."
One Week Ago
The Doctor and Clara appeared from the TARDIS, Clara dressed in a dark purple frock dress, complete with a frill hat. "Okay, so we get…Yorkshire, 1893." The Doctor mumbled.
"You've made a habit of this, not knowing where you're going." Clara bemused.
"Oh, that's always been the point…albeit there are times when I wish I knew where I was going. I once spent a hell of a long time trying to get a gabby Australian to Heathrow Airport." He said as he wrapped an arm around her shoulder, walking with her out of the stone alleyway.
"What for?"
"Search me."
"Will Rose and Jack be fine?"
"Yeah. Vastra and Jenny are good friends of mine. Strax…still not sure yet." They chuckled.
"Aaah!"
They glanced at each other before grinning madly.
"Fantastic!" They rushed out of the alleyway, towards the source of the scream. On a stone bridge, a group of people were amassed at the side, looking down into the water as a body lay face down within. One of the women was screaming in horror, while Edmund was being restrained by officers.
"It's another one! Don't you see? Another victim! Why won't any of you listen?!" Edmund exclaimed.
"We'll listen." The Doctor said with a smug smile.
The Doctor, Clara and Edmund approached the gates of Sweetville. "Mrs. Winfred Gillyflower, an astonishing woman. Prize-winning chemist and mechanical engineer, so why?"
"Why has she decided to open up a match factory in her old hometown?" Clara finished for him.
"And no one who ever goes to live there ever seems to come out." The Doctor and Clara exchanged a small look at those words.
"To the morgue, then!"
The master withdrew a white sheet, revealing a young woman staring up at them in horror, and her skin coloured crimson red. "Same as the rest. All dead from causes unknown and their flesh…" Edmund trailed off.
"Glowing, like something manky in a coal cellar." The master finished. "They keep turning up in the canal. "The Crimson Horror"."
"Oh! I like that name." The Doctor breathed as he took a magnifying glass and brought it up to the woman's eyes, which shone an image of Mrs. Gillyflower. "Do you know the old Romany superstition, Clara, that the eye of a dead person retains an image of the last thing it sees?" Clara cocked an eyebrow before taking the glass and repeating his motion. "Nonsense, of course. Unless the chemical composition of the body-"
"Has been massively corrupted." Clara finished. "Yeah, the crimson skin speaks for itself."
"Alright then, Ms. Know it all." The Doctor said playfully, making her smirk.
The Doctor held up a small vial of the crimson liquid into the light, Clara and Edmund watching. "This is nasty, an organic poison. You really think it's connected to Sweetville?"
"Yes, I do." Edmund nodded.
"Well then, we need a plan."
The Doctor and Clara, with their arms linked stood in front of Gillyflower in her main office. In the centre of the back wall was a large piano. "Mr. & Mrs. Oswald. Oh yes, you'll do very nicely." She said, holding back the menacing gleam in her eyes.
"Oh, grand! Smashing! Hey, the missus and I couldn't be more chuffed, couldn't we love?" The Doctor said, attempting a Yorkshire accent.
Clara giggled but leaned into him. "Don't."
"Don't what?"
"You can't Yorkshire."
"Sorry." He mumbled.
Winfred lead them through the main courtyard, where on either side was rows of houses lined up against each other. "Sweetville will provide you with everything you need. You won't have to worry about a thing ever again."
"The name, Sweetville…" Clara started, to his surprise masterfully executing a Yorkshire accent.
"Yes?"
"Why not name it after yourself? After all, it's your creation."
"It is named in tribute to my partner."
"Your late partner?"
"No. My…silent partner. Mr. Sweet likes to keep himself to himself. Shall we move on?"
"Who lives here?" The Doctor asked.
"*Chuckles* Oh, names don't matter here. All you need to know is we only recruit the brightest and the best." She opened a door, revealing a living room yet in the centre was a large, glass capsule. Within were a man and a woman, sitting completely motionless at the table. The Doctor and Clara were suddenly seized from behind, cloths placed over their mouths as they attempted to fight off the drug attack. "Don't worry, my dears. It will be completely painless." She smirked as they lost consciousness.
What came next for the Doctor was a blur of pain and crimson red, until he found himself lying on the cold floor, his joints stiff like old oak and his jaw clasped together in an iron grasp. All he could do was reach out his hand, as he heard Gillyflower's voice float through his ringing ears.
"Like pretty maids all in a row. The process improves with every attempt. Mr. Sweet is such a clever old thing. Oh! Into the canal with the rejects, Ada."
"Yes, Mama." The tapping of a walking stick came closer and closer, making the Doctor give a small groan of pain. The tapping stopped, and he felt a hesitant hand enclose his, a gasp of surprise coming from Ada as he slowly closed his hand around hers.
The Doctor now stood still in the cell; his wrists being clasped in irons by Ada. "Sometimes the preservation process goes wrong. Only Mr. Sweet knows why. And only Mama can talk to Mr. Sweet. But if you're very good, you can stay here. You'll be my secret. My special monster." She ran her hand gently over his face, giving him a soft smile before turning to leave. He raised his arms out, trying to scream in protest, but all that came out was guttural groaning as she shut the door. What followed next for him was a blur of the same motions. Trying to improve his movements to be less stiff, three meals a day from Ada's leftovers, all the while praying and pleading for Clara to be okay. One day, the door slammed open. A crimson coloured Edmund was standing there, screaming in agony as he stared at the Doctor before collapsing to the ground outside, the door swinging shut again.
"Poor Edmund must've come looking for us and then fallen into a vat of the pure venom." The Doctor finished, him, Jenny and Rose now looking through a glass window at one of the large vats. "Or was pushed. He didn't stand a chance."
"What is that stuff, though?" Jenny asked.
"Deadly poison. And Mrs. Gillyflower has been dipping her pilgrims in it to protect and preserve them. Process didn't work on me, probably because I'm not Human. I ended up on the reject pile."
"Preserve them against what?"
"Well, according to her, the coming apocalypse."
"So, she's…" Rose trailed off.
"Yeah, she's…" He whistled, twirling his finger by his temple.
"When the end of days has come and judgement rains down upon us all…" Jenny quoted.
"What?"
"Nothing."
"No, what?"
"Something Mrs. Gillyflower said in one of her sermons."
He furrowed his eyebrows at that. "Odd. Anyway, we've got to find Clara." They moved to the door, leading them out of the room. "Where's Vastra, Jack and Strax at?"
Jenny blinked. "They should be here by now."
The Doctor smirked. "I'm betting you ten Guineas that it's Strax's fault."
"Oh, come on. It not his fault all of the time." He cocked an eyebrow at her, making her gulp sheepishly. "Okay…it's his fault most of the time."
Within a stone alleyway, Strax led the carriage to a stop, glaring daggers at the horse.
"Horse! You have failed in your mission! We are lost, with no sign of Sweetville! Do you have any final words before your summary execution?!" The horse sniffed, licking its chops. "The usual story." Strax rolled his eyes as he took out his laser rifle. "Fourth one this week, and I'm not even hungry."
"Sweetville, sir?" Strax looked to the right side of the alley, to see a young boy in tattered clothes staring at him.
"Do you know it?"
"Turn around, when possible. Then, at the end of the road, turn right."
"What?"
"Bear left for a quarter of a mile, and you'll have reached your destination."
Despite his confusion, he lowered his rifle and held out a hand, making the boy climb into the carriage. "Thank you. What is your name?"
"Thomas, sir. Thomas Thomas."
Strax blinked. "I think you will do well, Thomas Thomas." He urged the horse to move again. "Why are you called Thomas Thomas?"
"My parents were jesters."
"Ah."
Now in the courtyard, the Doctor began rattling on the doors, searching frantically for Clara. "Are we actually talking about the same person? The same Clara?" Jenny asked.
The Doctor hushed her. "I couldn't see much from where I was, but I think she survived the process. So, she must be here somewhere."
"But Clara died. The Ice Lady…Doctor!" She snapped, as he rattled another door.
"Shh! It's complicated!" He hushed, moving to another door which was unlocked. Bursting through, his eyes widened at Clara sitting inside the capsule. Rose following in after, while Jenny looked at her with shock.
"Oh my god! Clara!" Rose exclaimed.
"Out of the way!" The Doctor ordered, as he picked up a chair and shattered the glass to pieces. "We need to reverse the process!" He said, picking up Clara bridal style and led them out of the room.
Gillyflower ascended the stairs and into the open cellar, where Ada knelt on the floor, sobbing her heart out. "What is the meaning of this?" She snapped.
"Oh, Mama. I have been foolish. I have a formed a…sentimental attachment."
"*Scoffs* An attachment? To whom?"
"A man. Unlike the others, he survived rejection. He must be strong, worthy of salvation."
"Wrecker! Berserker! You have loosed a reject onto the outside world."
"I have disappointed you." Ada mumbled.
"My plans must be accelerated. Nothing must interfere with the great work."
"But please say there is still room for me in your new Eden, Mama. Promise me that."
"I'll set my pilgrims onto him." Gillyflower ignored her, moving to leave.
"No!" Ada grasped her ankle in protest.
"Kindly do not claw and slobber at my crinoline. You know I cannot bear to look at sick people."
"Promise me you will not abandon me, Mama. Promise me that."
"Do you not yet understand? There can be no place for people such as you. And only perfection is good enough for me and Mr. Sweet." Ada began to sob again. "The bright day is done; child and you are for the dark."
The Doctor pulled Clara into the reversal compartments and closed the door, using the sonic to activate it. "Can she be revived like you were?" Jenny asked.
"I hope so." The Doctor mumbled. Footsteps approaching one of the doors drew their attention, seeing a large group of disciples enter. "Oh, great, great. Attack of the supermodels."
"Time for a plan, eh?" Rose asked.
"Don't you worry. This one's on me." Jenny quickly removed her dress, showing her black suit underneath. The Doctor and Rose exchanged surprised looks as one of the men charged. Jenny hoisted the man over her shoulder and to the floor, kicking his ribs, making him gasp in pain. Two men came up behind her, yet she elbowed them in the ribs and face, making them stumble back again.
"Okay. That is a plan." Rose nodded with an impressed smile, making Jenny wink at her. The rest of the group started to charge at them.
"Okay, time for a new plan-"
"Sontar-ha!" Strax charged through the other door, firing wildly at the group who retreated with shrieks of fear. Strax laughed manically as Vastra and Jack came rushing in after him.
"Doctor!" Jack called. "Where the hell have you been?!"
"Ugh, long story! I was in a stiff coma." The Doctor groaned but shook his hand anyway.
"Let's go!" Vastra said.
"No ma'am, we're not escaping. We've got to help the Doctor with Clara." Vastra looked at him with accusing surprise.
"So, it's true then?" Vastra asked.
He nodded. "It's a bit complicated."
"Yes, you said that already." Jenny rolled her eyes.
Strax came back to them from around the door. "What now, madam? We could lay my magnetic cluster mines!"
"Strax-"
"Or dig trenches and fill them with acid!"
"Strax! You're overexcited. Have you been eating those jelly sherbet fancies again?"
Strax blushed sheepishly. "Nooo."
"Go outside and wait for me until I call for you."
"But madam, I-"
"Go!"
Strax groaned but did as she said. "I'm going to go play with my grenades." He mumbled.
The Doctor stopped using the sonic and pocketed it, which drew their attention. "I think she's about done." He opened the door, where Clara stood with her eyes closed. "Vastra, I know who you think she is, but she isn't. At least…she's like her, but different."
"And that's supposed to explain it?" Vastra asked sarcastically.
"Well, I don't know." He groaned.
"I was still right then. You and Clara have unfinished business."
"Oh, that isn't the half of it." Jack smirked wolfishly.
"I'm right here, you know." Clara groaned before stumbling over.
"Woah! Clara!" The Doctor grabbed her waist to stop her from falling to the ground, wrapping an arm around the back of her neck. She opened her eyes, staring deep into his. "Hey there."
She giggled in her fading daze. "Doctor." She tapped a finger on his nose.
"You alright?"
"I think so. How long have we been out?"
He blinked. "A week."
"A week?"
"Yeah."
Clara looked over his shoulder to see everyone looking at them. "Hi. Have I missed something?"
"Oh. Haven't you heard, love? There's trouble at mill." He brought back his bad Yorkshire accent, which made everyone wince.
"Just stick to the northern accent, Doctor."
"Then I'll be waiting for the day where you can't do one, missy. And uh…she's a lizard." He pointed to Vastra.
"Really? Wow." Clara mocked shock, making everyone snigger and Vastra smirk.
"Come on, we've got to get moving." He moved his arm up to her shoulders and led them out of the room. Moving through the many hallways of the factory, back to the elevator.
"My people once ruled this world as well; you know but we did not rule it alone." Vastra said. "Just as humanity fights a daily battle against nature, so did we. And our greatest plague, the most virulent enemy was a repulsive red leech."
"I prefer "The Crimson Horror"." He mumbled to Clara. "What was it, exactly?"
"A tiny parasite. It infected our drinking water. Once in our systems, it secreted a fatal poison."
"And it's been hanging around, lurking in the shadows. Maybe it's evolved since then. Maybe it's had help."
"Doctor-"
"Yucky red parasite from the time of the dinosaurs pitches up in Victorian Yorkshire."
"Doctor-" Clara now glared at him.
"But what's the connection to Mrs. Gillyflower-"
"Doctor!" She grasped his ear and yanked hard, making everyone raise their eyebrows.
"Ow, ow, ow, ow!"
"A chimney that doesn't blow smoke!" She growled, letting his ear go.
He blushed sheepishly, rubbing his ear with his hand. "Clever clogs."
"Miss me?"
"You bet ya." He kissed her for a few moments, making everyone either smirk or roll their eyes. "Come along." He grinned, leading her by hand out of the room.
Inside the large chimney at the centre of the factory, they saw a large, steel rocket, surrounded by a spiralling staircase being loaded with bottles of the crimson poison. "She's going to poison the air." Clara mumbled.
"Alright team, I've got a plan. Yes Clara, I actually do have a plan this time." Clara glared playfully at him. "Rose, Jack, go with Vastra and Jenny. Be sure that those vials are not in the rocket before it lifts off."
"What about you two?" Jack asked.
"We're going to have a word with Mrs. Gillyflower." He said simply.
*Inside Line*
The Doctor and Clara moved through the hallways to reach her main office, yet the sounds of sobbing drew their attention. They followed them, finding Ada huddled in a corner, sobbing quietly.
"Who is that? Who is there?" Ada mumbled.
"She helped you?" Clara whispered.
"Yeah. She did." They knelt before Ada, the Doctor taking her hand and placing it on his cheek. Despite being blind, her eyes widened in recognition.
"You. It's you, my monster." She cried. "You've come back. But you're…"
"Warm and alive. Thanks to you, Ada. You saved me from your mother's Human rubbish tip." She sobbed again at the mention of 'mother'. "Hey, what's wrong?"
"She does not want me, monster. I am not to be chosen. Perhaps it was my own sin. The blackness in my heart that my father saw in me."
"Ada, no. That's nonsense. Stupid, backwards nonsense and you know it." The Doctor squinted his eyes softly at the scars around her eyes, Clara noticing his thoughtful gaze.
"What is it?" She whispered.
"Who are you?" Ada asked.
"I'm Clara."
She smiled softly. "In all the time that I looked after him, he always tried to say something. It was like trying to say a name." Clara melted at this, making him smile lovingly at her. "Who are you to him?"
"I'm…I'm…"
"My girlfriend." The Doctor finished for her, her eyes inflating even more.
"What's a girlfriend?" Ada asked in confusion. "Is it like a lover?"
"Yeah. In a way."
"Then you are fortunate indeed. It isn't good to be alone."
Clara clasped Ada's hand in hers. "Ada, we need you to tell us something. Who is Mr. Sweet?"
Ada shook her head. "I cannot. Even now, I cannot. I cannot betray Mama."
The Doctor sighed sadly. "Then I'm sorry, but there is something you need to know."
The Doctor and Clara barged into Gillyflower's main office, Ada waiting outside the door. They noticed that the piano was no longer there, replaced with a large console. "*Chuckles* Oh, you two seem to keep turning up like a pair of bad pennies, my dears."
"A habit of ours." The Doctor said coldly.
"Can I offer you something? Tea? Seed cake? How about a glass of amontillado?"
"No thanks. We've had a skinful already, as you might say."
Gillyflower gave a fake chuckle. "Very funny."
"Yes. I'm the Doctor, this is Clara. You're nuts and we're going to stop you."
"I'm afraid Mr. Sweet and I can't allow that."
"When do we get to meet him, this silent partner of yours? Why is he so shy?" Clara asked.
"Mr. Sweet is always with us."
"And you seem to have a very close relationship with him."
"Oh yes, Clara. Exceedingly close. Symbiotic, you might say." She tore a piece of her dress off, showing a crimson leech latched onto her chest just below her neck, like a new-born baby.
"What is that, Doctor?"
"A survivor." Gillyflower answered for him. "He has grown fat on the filth Humanity has pumped into the rivers."
"Very compelling." He said, still with his cold tone.
"His needs are simple and in return he gives me his nectar."
"Winfred, you have no idea what you are dealing with. That venom, in the wrong hands could wipe out all life on this planet."
"Do you know what these are?" She held out her hands before grinning darkly. "The wrong hands." She grasped a lever on the side of the console and pulled it. The Doctor walked to the window and drew back the curtain, seeing the chimney flare up with red lights.
"You preparing a little fireworks party?"
"You have forced me to advance the great work, Doctor. But my colossal scheme remains as it was. My rocket will explode high in the atmosphere, raining down Mr. Sweet's beneficence onto all Humanity."
"And wiping us all out. You can't do that!" Clara protested in anger.
"My new Adam and Eves will sleep but for a few months before stepping out into a golden dawn. Is it not beautiful?"
"Yeah, whatever." The Doctor rolled his eyes. "Tell us about Ada."
"What?"
"Your daughter. You do remember your daughter, correct?"
"*Scoffs* How can you speak of such trivia when my hour is at hand? The child is of no consequence."
"Is that why you experimented on her?"
"What on Earth are you talking about?" She denied.
"Don't play the fool with me! The signs are all there! You used her as a guinea pig, didn't you?!"
"Sometimes sacrifices must be made."
"Sacrifices?! That's your own daughter!" Clara roared.
"It was necessary! I had to find out how much of the venom would produce an antitoxin, to immunise myself, don't you see?! It was necessary!"
"Mama." Ada's soft voice drew their attention as she entered. "Is it…Is it true?"
"Ada…"
"It is."
"Ada, listen to me-"
"You hag!" Ada started marching towards her with a scowl. "You perfidious hag! You virago! You harpy! All these years I have helped you, served you, looked after you, does it count for nothing?! Nothing at all?!" She raised her stick and started smacking Gillyflower on the head, making her cry in pain.
"No, stop! Please!"
Clara took initiative and picked up a chair, moving to the console.
"Hang on, Clara. I've got a-"
"Doctor shut up." She shoved the chair into the console, which shattered and sparked, causing Ada to stop her actions.
"No! What have you done?!" Gillyflower cried.
"I'm afraid your rocket won't be going anywhere, Winfred." Clara scowled.
Gillyflower starting sobbing, which made Ada slouch her shoulders. "Ada. I'm so sorry."
"No, Mama."
"Please, come to me, Ada." Ada gave in, moving into Gillyflower who wrapped her in a one-armed hug. "Oh, my child. You have always been so very…useful!" She pulled out a revolver and held it to Ada's head.
"No, wait!" The Doctor protested, him and Clara moving forward.
"Don't move another step!" Gillyflower warned, making them pause despite their unwillingness to.
"Please Mama, no more. No more."
"And now, if you will forgive us, we must be going! It is long past Ada's bedtime!" Gillyflower shoved Ada through the door, slamming it shut behind them. Clara went to the door, but the Doctor placed a hand on her shoulder.
"Don't Clara. If we follow straight after her, she'll shoot Ada on the spot."
"She wouldn't." Clara mumbled.
"She would." He then grabbed the chair out of the console and smashed the window to pieces. "Chairs are useful." He grinned, Clara winking at him.
Now in the chimney, Gillyflower dragged Ada up the staircase to the master switch for the rocket. "Stop!" Ada cried. "Mama, please! Stop!"
"Let her go!" She looked down to see the Doctor and Clara rushing up the staircase. "Just let her go!"
"Secondary firing mechanism, Doctor. Mr. Sweet and I were too smart for you after all." She said smugly.
"Just let your daughter go!" Clara exclaimed.
Ada took the opportunity and wrenched herself from her mother's grasp, tumbling down a few flights of stairs.
"Ada!" Gillyflower growled, holding up the gun as Ada stared at her.
"Shoot me if you wish, Mama! It is of no matter, for you killed me a long time ago!"
The Doctor rushed to help but Gillyflower fired, the bullet skimming the rocket, making them flinch. She groaned before firing, once again missing her target. Rolling her eyes, she wrenched open the latch on the switch and grasped the lever.
"I'll labour night and day to be a pilgrim." She hummed, pulling the lever as the Doctor took Ada's hand and led her away from Gillyflower. The rocket roared to life before soaring out of the chimney and into the sky, the sudden shaking making them all grasp the railing for dear life. "Now Mr. Sweet. Now the whole world will taste your lethal kiss."
"I don't think so, Winfred." He snapped his fingers, pointing up the stairs. There stood Vastra, Jenny, Rose and Jack all with smug grins as they held up the poison bottles.
"Very well, then." She growled. "If I can't take the world with me, you will have to do. Die, you freaks! Die!" She raised her gun, pointing towards Vastra and Jenny.
"Put down your weapon, Human female!" Strax called from the top of the chimney, aiming his rifle straight at Gillyflower. Everyone chuckled at the sight, yet Gillyflower only trembled with rage. She raised her gun and fired, missing Strax who fired back, the blast destroying the rail she clutched to, sending her tumbling down the staircase. Everyone looked on with synchronising winces as she smacked each railing on the way down, before hitting the ground below, her bones shattering as she did.
"Ouch." The Doctor mumbled. They all raced down the staircase, with Ada moving to sit at the bottom by Gillyflower. The leech climbed off Winfred and began to crawl away.
"No. No! Mr. Sweet. Where are you going? You can't leave me now." Gillyflower protested, her voice choking on the pain of her broken body. "Mr. Sweet."
"Ugh." Clara mumbled with a scrunched face.
"I know."
"What's it doing?" Jack asked.
"It knows she's dying. She's no longer of any use to it."
"Ada?" Gillyflower called. "Ada are you there?"
"I'm here, Mama."
"Forgive me, my child. Forgive me."
Ada smiled. "Never."
Gillyflower gave a sigh of relief. "That's my girl."
The rocket shattered into flames far above, the group jumping as they glanced up at it.
"Right." The Doctor mumbled.
"What will you do with that thing?" Jenny asked as Ada moved to stand up.
"Take it back to the Jurassic era, maybe. Out of harm's way."
*Screech*
They looked down to see Ada having plunged her stick into its neck. Growling, she raised it and began to smack it to pieces violently, squirting a green mess on the ground.
"Okay…on the other hand…maybe not." The Doctor blinked, before shuddering.
They all now stood outside the TARDIS again. "Ada, I'd love to stay and help clean up the mess but-"
"I know, dear monster, you have things to do."
"What about you?"
"Oh, there are many things a bright young lady can do to occupy her time. It's time I stepped out of the darkness and into the light."
"Good luck then, Ada, and take care." He kissed her cheek before moving away, Clara moving up to perform the same motion.
"Oh." Ada blushed lightly.
"If it helps, I'm already taken." Clara quipped, making her chuckle. "Take care, Ada."
"Thank you. Take care of him and yourself."
The TARDIS group turned to the Paternoster Gang. "Well, thanks very much, you three, as ever." The Doctor grinned at them.
"Thanks for having us. It was odd, but nice." Rose said.
"It was a pleasure." Vastra nodded. "But you still haven't explained."
"I know." He nodded. "Because I don't know."
Vastra blinked. "And?"
"And it doesn't matter anymore." He smiled before they moved to the TARDIS.
"Is it fair to say that for a first date, it went as badly as it could've gone?" Clara quipped.
"Oi! What were you expecting?" The Doctor defended.
"Not to be a window dummy for a week."
He gulped. "Fine."
"We should get back to our own time. I've had enough of Victorian values for a bit, boss."
He gave her a dark smirk. "Am I the boss now?"
"No! Of course not!" Clara blushed. "Just, get inside!" She started shoving a laughing Doctor into the TARDIS.
"I can think of many things I can be the boss of-ow-ow-ow!"
"Just get inside!" Clara tugged on his ears, pulling him into the TARDIS. Everyone shook their heads at them with a smirk.
"Dear god, they're like-"
"We know." Rose and Jack groaned, interrupting Vastra, who raised her eyebrows at them. "Sorry." Rose mumbled. "It's just that…everyone says it, now it's a bit annoying."
"Tweedledee and Tweedledum! Hurry up!" Clara called.
"Don't call us that!" Rose exclaimed, her and Jack moving inside the TARDIS which started to dematerialise.
Mr. Thursday entered the alleyway and walked up to them. "Ah, there you are. I called to see if there had been any progress…" He trailed off at the sight of the TARDIS dematerialising. "Good god." He mumbled, his eyes rolling back into his head as he fell onto the ground. Vastra laughed at this, making Jenny and Strax raise their eyebrows at her.
"Sorry." She mumbled sheepishly.
"What're we going to do with him?" Jenny asked.
"Nothing. He'll start to think it was all a hallucination." Vastra said simply as they walked out of the alleyway and back into their carriage to return to Paternoster Row.
AN: As always, thank you for reading and leave a review if you wish. :)