Chapter 2: Smith and Jones
The sun was shining brightly over the city of Cardiff, the largest city in Wales. Cardiff was truthfully one of the most unique cities in the entire universe. An invisible rift in Time and Space ran right through the city. This rift was powerful. It was one of the only sources of energy with enough power to recharge the Doctor's TARDIS. However, the rift was also very dangerous. Sometimes evil aliens would fall through it or supernatural events would occur with the rift's help. It put everyone in the city at risk. However, there was a team set up by Queen Victoria herself to protect this city from these risks: Torchwood.
The Queen founded the Torchwood Institute in 1879 to protect the United Kingdom from extraterrestrial threats. There were three branches located in London, Glasgow, and Cardiff. The London branch was destroyed in the Battle of Canary Wharf. The Glasgow branch was disbanded after a recent event involving an ancient race of alien killers: the Daleks.
Just a few months ago, the Daleks stole the Earth. They literally moved it across the universe along with many other planets. Torchwood was essential in helping the Doctor return the planets and stop the Daleks.
There are now only three members of the entire Torchwood staff. The leader of Torchwood is Captain Jack Harkness. A suave and skilled man from the future. He was skilled in many respects, especially in relations with other people. Jack was a former companion to the Doctor himself, until he was made immortal by the Bad Wolf and abandoned. Jack has been working for Torchwood for over one hundred years ever since.
One of his two employees was Gwen Cooper, now the only girl left in the world involved with Torchwood. Gwen was smart and defensive. She absolutely loved working with aliens. It was the best part about her job. She was married to a great man and she loved her strange life.
Jack's other employee was Ianto Jones. Ianto was formerly just a tea boy and acted as a secretary. However, his work in the field has been unprecedented. He brings a lot to the team. Although the team is much smaller now since the deaths of former Torchwood employees Owen Harper and Toshiko Sato.
Today, however from their secret hub under the ground, the Torchwood team was smiling. They had recruited two more people to work with them. They were friends of the team. One was an older friend while the other was a stranger to Gwen and Ianto, but not Jack. These two new recruits were non other than Martha Jones and Mickey Smith. Martha and Mickey also traveled with the Doctor (though at separate times) and played big roles in helping return the Earth and other stolen planets from the Daleks.
After the Earth was saved, Jack offered Martha and Mickey jobs at Torchwood. Martha was a doctor and they needed a new physician. Mickey was smart. He'd been fighting Cybermen on a parallel world for years. His experience and skills could not be questioned. Martha and Mickey accepted and were now on their way to the exciting world of Torchwood.
Martha Jones and Mickey Smith were walking together near Cardiff Bay. Martha had helped Torchwood with some alien problems the previous year, so she knew exactly where she was going. Mickey on the other hand, was a bit lost. They eventually arrived at what appeared to be a small shack.
"This is Torchwood?" Mickey asked her.
"It's bigger on the inside." Martha said obviously trying to joke around with him.
Mickey managed to smile at her. Martha opened the door to the shack. She and Mickey walked in and saw an anxious Ianto Jones sitting at his desk.
"You lied," Mickey said to Martha. "It's not bigger."
"Trust me," Martha said, "It is."
She then turned her attention towards Ianto.
"Hello Ianto!" she said sounding very excited
Ianto stood up from his desk, walked over to Martha, and gave her a big hug.
"Martha! I'm so glad you're here." Ianto said. "Hello." He said now facing Mickey.
"Names Mickey." He said extending his hand.
Ianto shook his hand firmly and said. "I know. Jack's told us a lot about you."
"I'm sure he has." Mickey remarked.
There was another door on the wall of this shack. Ianto opened it and revealed a large number of steps leading under the ground.
"Ladies first." Ianto said.
Martha lead the way followed closely by Mickey. Ianto brought up the rear so that he could lock the door behind him. Upon reaching the bottom of the steps, Martha, Mickey, and Ianto entered a long, gray hallway. At the end of this hallway was a large round door
"What's behind the round door?" Mickey asked.
"Magic." Martha replied. Ianto had no comment. Martha said it all. The Torchwood Hub was absolutely magnificent.
Ianto typed the code onto a key pad and the large round door slid open. What Mickey saw next was amazing. There were so many alien artifacts and advanced technology beyond this door. Just the computer area itself was impressive. Mickey noticed that there were steps leading up to a second level with offices. Not to mention a pterodactyl that flew around the very high ceiling. It was the Torchwood Hub.
"Mickey!" Jack exclaimed. He ran up to his old friend and gave him a long hug.
"That's enough hugging Jack." Mickey commented.
"I'll have a go." Martha said smiling to Jack then hugged him.
Gwen Cooper approached Mickey extending a hand. "Gwen Cooper. Nice to meet you." she said smiling.
"Wow" was all Mickey could say. He thought that by now his sense of wonder had gone. He'd been exposed to aliens before. He traveled around time and space in a police box that was bigger on the inside. He'd even worked undercover at Torchwood in London for a brief time. Yet he was still in awe at the sight of the Torchwood Hub.
BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!
They all heard a loud beeping noise coming from the computer. Gwen rushed over to see what was happening.
"We've got a problem." she said
The rest of the team looked puzzled and went over to the computer area to see what was happening.
"What is it?" Jack asked.
"Something's happening to the sea." Gwen remarked.
They all studied a strange pattern of lines and waves on the screen. Mickey didn't know what any of it meant, but he wanted to give the impression that he did.
"Those energy levels are crazy!" Martha said.
"We need to see what's happening." Jack said.
Then, they all rushed through the round door, through the hallway, up the stairs, and out from the shack to get a good look at what was going on outside. The shack was literally right next to the ocean, so they didn't have to go far to look. They all stared at the ocean. The Atlantic looked as calm as ever. Nothing was happening.
Suddenly, a large area of the ocean that was farther away from the docks, but close enough that the Torchwood team could still clearly see what was a happening, turned bright green. Then, the green water started to open up and form what looked like a whirlpool. In fact it was a portal from another land. Jack, Gwen, Ianto, Martha, and Mickey watched in amazement and confusion. Jack knew something was coming. He only hoped that it would be friendly.
Soon, a large and beautiful boat, presumably from around seventeenth century, emerged from the portal and landed on the waters. The portal closed after it. The boat was equipped with multiple large sails. This ship was clearly built for travelling. Now, the boat stood still. There was no wind. The Torchwood team could see multiple men on board the boat. They could hear the echo of their shouts of joy. Jack ran back inside. The rest of the team followed him.
"Jack, what're you doing?" Gwen yelled to him as the entire team was running through the halls again.
"We've gotta get over there." Jack said now running through the big round door as it rolled open.
"How do you plan on doing that?" Mickey asked very much out of breath from running.
"With a submarine." Jack said smiling.
Meanwhile on Prince Eric's boat, sailors cheered with joy. They survived their journey through the worlds. They were on another planet. The Evil Queen smiled as well. She made it. Regina finally arrived at Torchwood. Her evil plans were soon going to take shape.
However, there was one man who was not smiling: Prince Eric. Eric didn't trust Regina. He feared that something evil was coming and Eric was almost never wrong in his suspicions. The Prince knew something dark was going to happen and that this world would pay the price.
The boat stood still. It was quite a good distance from the shores of Cardiff.
"Alright Regina," Eric said approaching the Evil Queen. "What do we do now?"
"We find Torchwood." She replied.