I'm on roll, apparently. Nah, I just think if I don't write now, who knows when I will. So yeh, I'm squeezing every ounce of inspiration I can from myself now. Your supports is very much appreciated! I hope you know that.
And can I just say.. I can't believe you're re-reading this, guys. It's such a honor to know this story is worth it. You are making my day!
And in regards to the question whether I will be continuing the story further into the S3 - yeh, that was the plan.
#Doomsday Part Two
The whole planet was panicking.
Families trying to hide inside their homes only to have them ripped apart by Cybermen.
An army of ghosts, they called it.
A war against human race. An internal war between Daleks and Cybermen. We just didn't stand a chance. Even with all the knowledge we had, there was no stopping it.
But never for the lack of trying.
This is the story beginning four hours ago.
Two months later, after leaving Jackie in Sarah's care, the TARDIS finally materialised inside the Tylers' living room. Having known they were coming, Jackie was already standing outside the rich blue wooden doors, waiting to be let in.
With a crack, the doors opened up and Rose's head peeked out of it. "Come on."
Gingerly Jackie stepped inside, closing the doors after her. At once she was welcomed in a tight hug by her daughter. Rose buried her face in her mother's shoulder as she could feel a small tremor going through her body.
"I'm so sorry. I just couldn't do this without you." Her voice cracked at the end while she tried to subside her unshed tears.
Jackie could only pat Rose's head, gently soothing her. "Shh, it's all right."
After a while longer, the two separated. Jackie looked Rose up and down, smoothing and getting her hair out of her face. "How are you doing, then?"
"Been better, yeh," she said with a bit of a smile on her face. "But I've got the Doctor. We'll make it work," she promised.
Jackie nodded tightly at her, not yet fully believing.
"I'm scared for you so much, sweetheart."
"I know, mum. I know."
The two women stayed like that for a moment longer when Jackie averted her eyes and they shifted to her side. She stared at the Doctor who was pressing various kind of buttons by the console. The magnetic pull of her stare seemed to work because the next moment the Doctor's eyes lifted and locked with hers, a sheepish smile on his face.
"Jackie, hi," he exhaled, a bit unsure of himself. "Welcome on board. Again. Nice to see you."
More staring.
The Doctor had to suppress the urge to shift from the uncomfortable feeling of being stared down by one Jackie Tyler.
"Uh…" He pulled on his ear while waiting for her to say something.
"If we end up on Mars, I'm still gonna kill you," she told him with her hands crossed against her chest. The Doctor gulped and straightened up.
"Right. Jackie, I-" He was ready to launch a very lengthy explanation of how it was impossible to end up on Mars in this particular moment in time, not when timelines were in such a vulnerable state. The universe itself was pulling them in towards their destination. But before he could explain all that, Jackie's face twisted into a smile.
"Oh, don't be silly. I'm just messing with you," she said affectionately and opened her arms up in invitation. "Come here, you."
"Sorry?" The Doctor blinked at her, uncomprehending.
Jackie just turned to face Rose. "Was he always this daft?"
Rose pressed her lips together while suppressing a laugh from bursting out. "No, he's just sort of scared of you, mum."
"Oi!" the Doctor protested indignantly. "I'm not scared of Jackie." The urge to prove himself won out and he descended the ramp towards the pair by the doors. He soon found himself in an embrace of both Tyler women. When they parted, he had a big grin on his face.
"It's good to see you, Jackie."
"Oh, I don't even bloody want to know how is all possible, but you better make it work this time."
The Doctor and Rose shared a glance with each other and smiled.
"On that note, let's see what we've got."
The Doctor sent them into the Time Vortex while they were accessing the situation. The Doctor, Rose and Jackie - they were all gathered around the console. The Doctor closest to the monitor, the outside of Canary Wharf building shown on the screen.
"The last time we failed at element of surprise. Storage is just too open." He leaned in towards the monitor. "We need something better. Some way to ensure we get inside unnoticed. How do you get inside a building constantly monitored for alien signature?" he wondered out loud, his brows furrowed in thought. Rose was by his side, peering at the monitor all the same.
"Could you get the blueprint for Torchwood Tower?"
"I believe I can, Rose Tyler," he said haughtily. "What do you have in mind?" he asked with a suggestive grin starting to play on his face.
"Shut up," Rose whispered to him, but failed miserably at hiding a grin of her own.
"I'm still on board, you know," Jackie commented from the side.
The Doctor cleared his throat and stood up straighter. Rose began to speak again.
"Back in parallel world, Torchwood had this... well, area." She gestured with her hand. "It was mostly unused... Something about the signal not reaching out there. Maybe this Torchwood has the same one."
"That's a good idea when I hear it," the Doctor said with pride shining in his voice. "Allons-y, Rose Tyler," he exclaimed and pulled the lever with force, the whole console room shuddering from it.
In a gleaming white room, a scientist started to pull a lever down. Slowly the light dimmed down, and a woman with curly fair hair took off a pair of sunglasses.
Finally the lever was pulled down fully and the engines died down. The next moment the same woman, going by the name Yvonne, stepped out of her office, which was separated from the busy main office/rift chamber with a glass partition. Standing tall, she addressed the staff.
"Ladies and gentlemen... I'd like to announce: we've just measured the ghost energy at five thousand gigawatts. Give yourselves a round of applause."
She put her hands together, and the rest followed suit.
The sound of TARDIS engines filled up the small white room inside the Torchwood Tower. In a few seconds the blue police box solidified, the engines grinding to a halt.
"Oh. I guess nobody expects aliens coming out of this side," the Doctor commented lightly while watching the screen showing what appeared to be the WC room.
"Right, then." He turned away from the screen and ran down the ramp, while pocketing his glasses inside his breast pocket. "Jackie, you're coming with me. I need you to be a kind diplomat with Mr. Pete Tyler," he told her pointedly and then sprung around, nearly colliding into his pink and yellow companion. "Rose," he breathed out, her name rolling off his tongue a lot more breathless than he intended. He swallowed tightly and put a regretful smile on his face. "There's no point in me asking for you to stay behind, is there?"
"Nope," she popped the sound lightly, looking more determined than ever before. The Doctor's hearts soared at the sight. He wondered what a man such as himself, the killer of his own kind, could have done to deserve her. He was just so lucky to have met her.
He locked their eyes together, watching her without words. The next moment, he closed the little gap that was separating them, and took her in his arms, enveloping her in a tight hug. With his eyes closed shut, he tried to soothe himself by counting her breaths, just relishing in the moment of her being alive and safe in his arms.
Alive and breathing in the right universe.
He was just so scared of losing her again.
A big part of him died when Rose disappeared, lost for him forever. He thought he would never be able to go on again. Having survived Time War it was ironic, really, for him to be so weak against one human being. But that was the reason for it. Rose was his strength. When he had her, he truly thought he was invincible. With her help, he came to terms with the Time War itself. But when he lost her, he lost it all. The universe was once again that bleak place for his sorry existence.
So having to let her go into that place with his own sane mind… The very place that was just right outside the wooden doors of his beloved ship… he had to dampen the unbearable urge to run.
Rose was so much stronger than him.
With great effort, the pair finally disentangled from one another, but still kept themselves close by, watching each other.
"I'll get you back," he promised. And this time his both hearts beat with the weight of the words. There was no alternative here. He was getting out of this with Rose in tow. Rose nodded to him in agreement, a grin forming on her face.
"You better."
They beamed at each other, giving each other all the strength needed. The sudden clearing of the throat, burst their happy bubble. The Doctor whipped his head towards the doors where an impatient Jackie Tyler stood, with hands against her hips.
He had completely forgotten she was there.
The Doctor swallowed heavily and stepped away from Rose, who only chuckled at his discomfort, clearly she wasn't having as much an issue as he was. She was Rose's mother. Her mother who had been hinting and judging their relationship of something that was not even there! He just couldn't handle that much of domestics in one day.
He picked on his ear, while trying to avoid Jackie. Even if not for long.
"I'll see you later, mum."
The Doctor could see Rose was taking Jackie's attention to herself. They hugged briefly with smiles on their faces.
"What're you gonna do, then?" Jackie suddenly asked. At once Rose's face twisted in the corner in discomfort but she quickly braced herself.
"Yeh. I um… going to where the void ship is," she ended quietly to which Jackie protested at once.
"No. Not to that sphere. Rose, please!" She grabbed for Rose's hand, like trying to stop her from going, but Rose only gave her a, what she hoped, reassuring smile in return.
"Mum. Mickey is out there. I've got to."
"But all the Daleks inside that thing…"
Having heard enough, the Doctor decided to join in. He situated himself between the two women, a palm's-wide device in his hand.
"That's why, I invented this little thing."
"What's that do, then?" Jackie looked the thing up and down suspiciously.
"Interferes with the magnetic field of the void ship."
Rose knit her brows together. "But I thought the void ship doesn't have a magnetic field. It has… nothing."
"Yeeeh," the Doctor agreed. "That's why you throw it when it does have the magnetic field."
The two women could only spare each other a glance.
The Doctor and Jackie were the first ones to leave. He urged Jackie to come out of the loo area first while he was dragging a yellow sign with bold black letters 'Out of order' under his arm. He looked around for any sign of trouble coming their way and after finding none, put the sign just beside the doors.
With that done, he urged Jackie to follow him towards the corridors.
"D'you actually have a plan?" Jackie suddenly asked after walking around a hundred of meters down the corridors.
"I have a few," the Doctor replied absentmindedly, not sparing her much of a glance. He was looking out the area, observing anything that might interfere.
"Will it work?"
"Jackie, not now," he said in irritation. Like he wasn't having enough of things on his mind. What had possessed him to take this woman with him of all things?
"What if those things are already there?" she asked fearfully.
"They probably are," he agreed. "The first shift was two months ago."
Jackie suddenly stopped walking, forcing the Doctor to stop himself. He had an exasperated expression on his face.
"Then why haven't you done something sooner? You have a bloody time machine! Make it stop before it happens."
"Jackie, I can't!" the Doctor said harshly, making her flinch slightly. "If I could, I'd have ended it the moment that sphere hit this universe. But I can't. Anything too far form our original timeline is something we can't predict. The only advantage we now have. I can't risk it."
"Well, there still must be something we can do," she protested, determination shining in her eyes. The Doctor could see Rose in her at this moment. Or vice versa. Rose in Jackie. It made him calm down slightly. He put his both hands on her shoulders, squeezing them slightly.
"And we are. I'm not losing her again. Jackie." He locked their eyes together so she could see his sincerity. "Listen to me. I give you my word. I'll get you out of this safe, okay?"
With a bit of reluctance, she nodded. The Doctor heaved a sigh and turned around, quickly picking up pace in his stride.
"For now we have to reach the control room. The rift chamber, they called it... I think." He narrowed his eyes in thought, then shook his head out of it. "Anyway, I jammed their cameras but it won't take them long to notice. This lot is too persistent." His brows furrowed. "You think they have learned something from Sycorax invasion. Remember? Those big fellas on Christmas d-.." His voice trailed off in the empty corridor. He blinked. "Jackie?" he called out, then turned in a circle.
"Jackie!"
But just as the first time, there was nothing to be seen. Jackie Tyler was most definitely not together with him anymore. "Oh, come on."
Having let the Doctor and Jackie go first, Rose finally thought it was her cue to leave. She peeked her head out of the wooden doors, psychic paper in her hand (not like it would do her much good, though), a white lab coat on (good ol' ship TARDIS providing her just what she needed) and stepped out. She pushed the white doors of the WC area and had to wince at the scrape of the floor, the Doctor's sign had made. She bent down to pick it up and let herself out before putting it back in place.
She looked around both ways for good measure and followed down the corridors where she knew the Sphere Chamber would be at. The months she had spent in parallel Torchwood finally bringing some good to her.
She rounded the corner and then quickly had to hide back in the corner when she spotted two men in white lab coats passing by. She waited until they were gone and proceeded to continue walking.
She pushed through the doors on the faraway end of the corridor and greeted the solders with confidence. At least they would have no idea of who she was.
"Keep the good work, boys," she told them with a big smile on her face and the two smiled in return, going back to their security work.
She then rounded yet another corner and finally spotted the black doors she had been looking for.
She came to a stop near it.
"There we're then," she exhaled.
She clenched and unclenched her fists a few times, trying to control her sudden nerves.
"It's just the Daleks... just the Daleks..." she muttered under her breath and shoved the psychic paper against the digital lock, before she could think herself out of it. With a click, the doors slid open. Rose slowly stepped inside, the doors shutting behind her back.
At once her eyes found the enormous sphere, suspended eerily in mid-air at one end of the chamber. Bronze in color, it had a step ladder positioned just below it to provide easier access.
Rose felt hypnotised by it. Just staring at it, without breaking the eye contact. The strong ominous aura around it froze her in place. Everyone were affected similarly by it, always telling you in the back of your mind to run as far away from it as you can. But it was so much worse knowing what was inside it.
Having spotted Rose come inside, Rajesh, one of the scientists of Torchwood One, approached her.
"Can I help you?"
Rose swallowed tightly, still unable to look away from the sphere.
"Yeh, I was just..." She indicated towards it.
Rajesh nodded in understanding. "Try not to look. It does that to everyone." He then considered her suspiciously. "How did you come in here?"
Rose took a deep breath in and composed herself. There was no going back now. She straightened up and put a firm and confident look on her face.
"Never mind that. How's that thing? Any sort of readings?" she asked in an authoritative voice and then walked purposely towards the computers. Everything was still down to zero.
"Nothing more than the day before," Rajesh told her, following after her. "No heat, no radiation, no atomic mass... but hold on. I still don't know who you are. Where did you come from?"
"Torchwood One, part of operation delta six, if you want to be precise," Rose said haughtily while leaning over the monitor, her eyes running through all the stats.
"You can't be," Rajesh protested. "I have never seen you before."
"Yeh, must be tough," Rose said lightly and then grinned. "Blimey, this is kinda fun."
Back in the Rift Chamber, a dark skinned young woman, Adeola, was typing on her keyboard. There was a chat window opened on her screen. She looked across her desk at Matt, holding their gaze and then began to type a message.
"Hey Matt. Want to see something good?"
Matt looked up from his work in surprise, mouthing "what?".
She ignored him and only typed in return. "Come and see."
Matt's computer bleeped as he received the message. He was still debating with himself what to make of this when Adeola suddenly stood up and walked away from the office area. Matt could do nothing much but to follow after her.
"If you don't have your authorisation you must be fake," Rajesh tried to reason while looking Rose up and down. When Rose done nothing much besides ignoring him and typing something on the computer, he thought he have had about enough. "I'm calling in for security." He pressed his mouth into the comm.
"Seal the room. Call security."
Rose could only roll her eyes at him. With a press on a button something bleeped on the computer and Rose narrowed her eyes. Rajesh, on the other hand, was starting to panic. He quickly stormed his way towards the monitors, standing beside Rose.
"What're you doing? Get away from that!"
"Oh, would you shut up for a minute?" Rose said exasperated. "I'm working here."
"Working on what? This thing has no readings. It shows nothing for you to possibly work on," he reasoned while also peering towards the monitor in curiosity what was this strange girl doing.
"Not for long," Rose commented under her breath when suddenly she realized something was wrong with this picture. Rajesh had already called for security but he said nothing of checking the door locks. She straightened up suddenly, making Rajesh jump a little, and surveyed the room.
He was nowhere to be seen.
"Hold on. Where's Mickey?" She turned to look at the scientist intensely, her brows furrowed in growing anxiety.
The man only blinked. "Who?"
"Mickey," Rose repeated pointedly but then shook her head. "Um, I mean Samuel?" When the man was showing no signs of recognition, Rose was starting to feel uneasy. "Your assistant?" she tried again but still got nothing besides a blank stare from the scientist. "He must have been working with you for a while now," she tried to reason but his blank look said otherwise.
"How can you not know him?" she whispered but mostly to herself. Cause if he was not out here... then where was he?
The Doctor was walking cautiously by the walls, stopping just outside the Rift Chamber. He pulled out his sonic screwdriver, ready to bleep it into the digital lock. His other hand found it's way into his pocket as he carefully pulled out a gas bomb into his palm. He clutched it in his grip and aimed the sonic screwdriver to open the seals.
With a click, the doors opened up and the Doctor kissed the bomb, pulled the trigger with his teeth and threw it into the room. He then walked inside, sealing the doors close with the sonic. Suddenly the whole room started to smoke, the people in the offices and the scientists near the levels all coughing and slumping on the floor. The Doctor put a gas mask on his face and looked around.
He surveyed the area when his eyes spotted a familiar figure.
True enough, besides one of the desks that control the shifts, Mickey Smith was coughing from the smoke, gradually leaning over the desk. The Doctor blinked a few times, not comprehending what was he doing here when he spotted something on the young man's ears.
The ear-pieces.
His hearts momentary froze in fear of what it meant for Mickey but then he noticed that there was no bleeping coming out of it and with a quick sigh of relief he rummaged through his pockets, finding yet another gas mask and throwing it to Mickey.
He quickly put it on and finally was able to breathe again. The Doctor briskly dashed to his side.
"Okey doke?"
"Yeh," Mickey replied, even if still a bit breathlessly. "You carry this in your pockets?" he asked in suspicion. The Doctor only shrugged.
"Comes in handy, doesn't it?"
"I s'ppose," Mickey agreed reluctantly. "What was that anyway? A smoke bomb?" he wondered with a frown. He looked around at all the people that were slumped on their desks or floor. The smoke was gradually dispersing but nobody showed any signs of getting up anytime soon.
"Yep," the Doctor popped the p. "Mickey!" he then exclaimed. "What're you doing here?"
"Oh, you know, sabotaging with the top-secret government organisation computers," Mickey said with a shrug.
"What? All this time you were on Earth... have you been off doing illegal work Mickery-Mick?"
"Not anything worse than I did in your care," Mickey retorted pointedly.
"Of all the things to learn..." the Doctor muttered and Mickey was clearing taking it as an insult.
"What, you can do whatever you like but when it comes to me, 'no, that's a no for you'?" he asked indignantly.
"No, I think it's brilliant," the Doctor said with a big smile on his face. "Good job, Mickey!" He slapped him on the cheek affectionately, causing Mickey to jump slightly.
"Thanks. I s'ppose. But something big and weird's going on here."
The Doctor's eyebrows rose as he exhaled a breath. "Well, that's for sure."
Somewhere on the opposite end of the Torchwood institute, a group of people were gathered inside a small, dim lit room. A woman dressed in black and with curly fair hair being in charge there, stood with her hands crossed on her chest. She was showing a disproving look on her face.
Just across of her, sat a very stubborn blond woman. She was having a similar body stance as Yvonne. Hands crossed and all.
"I'm not bloody telling you anything," she repeated for the n' time in the past half an hour. "It's your fault this is happening!"
Yvonne blinked in surprise. "My fault? No. I think you're mistaken. Mrs-?" she looked at the woman with an urging smile.
"Tyler. Jackie Tyler."
"Right. Mrs. Tyler," she began again, a fake smile plastered on her face. "We've found the Doctor's traveling machine. We know he're here. There's no point hiding anything." Her voice suddenly changed into something sinister, making Jackie tilt her head just a tad bit higher. "Not from us. Now tell us. What is he planning by coming here?"
But before Jackie could answer her, the comms. came to life.
"There's a breach of security in the Rift Chamber."
Yvonne pressed the button to speak into the device. "What's the cause?"
"We don't know. But nobody is responding in the room. There might be an intruder."
Yvonne couldn't contain her gleeful expression at the news. "It must be him. It has to be." With barely contained excitement, she turned around towards her soldiers. "Make him secure. Nobody leaves here."
"So how long have you been working here for?" the Doctor wondered curiously, while he busied himself by one of the monitors he knew he would be much in need of later.
"About two months now," Mickey replied. "What're you looking for?"
The Doctor sniffed. "No, nothing. Just checking something…" he muttered under his breath when suddenly Mickey's voice reached him.
"How did I get in here?"
The Doctor blinked, before whipping his head only to find Mickey frozen to the spot, his eyes wide open, before they settled down to determined. His whole posture changed into something of a confident man. He turned towards the Doctor who still had his brows furrowed in concern and smiled at him confidently.
"Hey, boss, it's so good to see you. Bet you thought you wouldn't see me again..." he joked lightly but then froze once again, his face twisting in confusion. "Wait, what? But... I was aiming for the Sphere Chamber just now..."
The Doctor was cautiously moving closer towards Mickey, who was apparently on the verge of freaking out. "No, I was with you!" He shook his head. "We were talking about Torchwood's database and then... I was holding a gun while going through the void. Oh my God. What's happening to me?"
The Doctor had a frown on his face as he observed Mickey. "What? Is your memory lock wearing off?" He lifted his sonic screwdriver to bleep onto Mickey.
"My what?" Mickey asked in confusion.
"Oh, no," the Doctor breathed out while pocketing his sonic back inside his breast pocket.
"What is it? Is it bad? Is it Torchwood? Did they notice I was sneaking about and did something to me?"
"Void stuff," the Doctor said tightly.
"What about it?"
"Now, we all have been through the void before, we've all got void stuff in our systems. But yours..." he trailed off ominously.
"What about me? What is it?"
"The concentration of void stuff in your system is increased by 2.0."
Mickey could only breathe out in horror.
"Oh boy... that's like double, right? But how's it related to me seeings visions of myself being in two different places at the same time?"
"They're not visions, Mickey." The Doctor turned around in a circle as if searching for something. "Torchwood didn't do this. Two timelines are colliding onto themselves and there being two versions of you, you're being merged together."
Mickey was still looking very much confused.
"Merged? But I don't feel like two people."
"And you wouldn't. This universal timeline being the dominant one gave only you the awareness," he pointed the word with his mouth. "The other you, not." When he turned around only to find Mickey's blank expression, he hurried to explain. "It's like... with, uh..." He gestured with his hand, while searching for the right word. His eyes then spotted the devices inside the room. "The computer data. You overwrite the old one to replace it with the most recent one."
"When you say it like that, it sounds like I've eaten myself." Mickey laughed lightly. His words made the Doctor snap his head to look at him. Mickey shifted uncomfortably under his gaze.
"The other me, I mean! Obviously not this me as I'm still here."
The Doctor wrinkled his forehead, giving him a disturbed look. "Please stop talking."
Inside the Sphere Chamber, Rajesh was sitting by the computers, while Rose had her attention focused solely on the golden sphere.
Where was Mickey? He should be here.
Her forehead wrinkled in worry. Maybe she should call the Doctor. She pulled her hand under her lab coat in search of her jeans' pocket but couldn't find her phone anywhere. She patted her both pockets but got the same result.
She could have sworn she took her phone with her-
"Looking for this?"
Rajesh's voice made her turn towards him. True enough, the man waved her phone in his hand.
"That's my phone," Rose told him patiently and started to walk towards him. Before she could reach him, he threw her phone in one of the drawers and locked it inside with a code. Rose just gaped at him.
"Prisoners don't get to have communication devices," he informed her in monotone, not sparing her a glance.
"Prisoner?" Rose asked with a frown. She shook her head. Okay, now what? She had lost her only means of communication with the Doctor, Mickey was nowhere to be seen and she was trapped inside the room with an unreasonable man, with Daleks sitting just around the corner.
Bloody brilliant.
Rose took a deep calming breath. Maybe if she could get on his good side somehow... She ran her tongue around her lips.
"So, Mr-„
"Just call me Rajesh," he spoke in monotone again, his focus solely on the monitor. Rose bit back a retort that was on the tip of her tongue.
"Okay, then. Rajesh." She walked over the desk he was sitting on and leaned on the back of the chair, keeping close. "There must be someone else you're working with, no?"
"No. It's just me."
"What, you're on your own?" she asked with a frown.
"I am, yeh."
"This massive..." She gestured at the thing. "Golden sphere comes right through space and they let you work on it on your own."
Rajesh momentary stopped in his work to look at her.
"What are you trying to say?"
"That it's weird. You should be wondering why they let you on this alone."
"Because I'm the best expert in this area," he reasoned, getting back to work.
"Looking after nine zeros. Yeh, I'm sure you're an expert at that," she muttered under her breath, sarcasm clear in her voice.
He sighed, having about enough of this woman. "Why do you even care?"
"Because... that thing is dangerous!"
"It gives off ominous vibes but it's hardly dangerous. You saw the readings. It has... nothing."
She nodded to him, clearly losing hope of getting through to him.
"Yeh, well. I wish it was it."
Back in the Rift Chamber, the Doctor was throwing Yvonne's office upside down. All the drawers were opened, even the ones with the locks (with the help of sonic screwdriver, of course), a stack of papers was already on the ground as he pushed through them, picking one out to read it.
"…Doctor, you really should take a look at this," Mickey called out from the computer area. The Doctor lifted his head and walked over to Mickey in a few long strides.
"What is all that?" he frowned at the data presented to him. He put his glasses on.
"It's all the data I managed to contain of Torchwood," Mickey began, a bit of a pride in his voice. When the Doctor didn't react, he shook his head and continued.
"They're not just an alien researching group, they work with aliens themselves. I tried cracking a few codes and a couple gave in. Look at this, for example." He pressed a few buttons and a folder appeared. "This alien project. Remind you of something? They're sending the signals all around the place." He then pointed on the screen. "And this reading there. The power it consumes. I didn't know what that was at first, but it's happening all across the world. It's them, isn't it?"
"Cybermen," the Doctor said gravely.
"Yeh. Thought so. Well, I'm ready whenever for them."
"But you've got access to all this?!" the Doctor cried out in a stunned disbelief.
Mickey only shrugged lightly.
"Well, if I'm a technical support, I might as well be a good one."
The Doctor's face twisted into a full blown grin. He reached out to kiss Mickey's head on an impulse.
"Good job, Mickey!"
"Thanks, boss." Mickey smiled back at him, happy all the same. "It's so weird being back the tin-dog," he added as an afterthought. "I can reroute the next shift by half. Would that help to stop them?"
"Nope," the Doctor popped the p and skipped away from the desk in a hurry. "But it will stall them." He ran back towards the monitor by the wall and grinned in delight. "Oh yes. It should give us about thirty extra minutes for them to restart the system."
"Can't you like blow the whole thing up, then?" Mickey suggested.
"No, it needs to be manually rewritten. We don't have that much time."
"I could do it," Mickey offered and the Doctor had to stop to look at him. His eyebrows rose up.
"I'm not leaving you behind. Once they wake up, they'll send Cybermen at you. We gotta get moving. Come on," he called out to him, already running out of the room. Mickey hurried to follow after him.
They just managed to run a few corridors when suddenly they were met with an army of soldiers. Their commander smiling gleefully at him. The Doctor grimaced in distaste.
"That's as far as you go, Doctor."
An alarm signal reached the comms. inside the Sphere Chamber. Rose looked around and then back at Rajesh in question. "What was that?"
"They must have caught him," Rajesh shrugged.
"Caught who?"
"The Doctor."
Rose's heart skipped a beat at hearing his name. So they were caught... but did he get what he wanted before that happened? Rose bit her nail anxiously. If only she could phone him... Her eyes followed the drawer where the device rested inside.
Either way, they didn't have much time left. She rounded on the man, clearly gentle approach wasn't working on him.
"Look, you've to trust me. We can't stay here. We have to get out."
The man sighed.
"I can't let you out until they send the security."
"Never mind the security," Rose said in exasperation. "Once they administrate the quarantine we won't have a way out."
Her eyes anxiously shifted towards the far away side of the room. The sphere looming above their heads, mocking her.
If they won't get out of there soon, they will have to face her worst nightmares all alone.
"You lot, you're obsessed with things you can't possibly understand," the Doctor was talking while being led by an army through the corridors, Jackie and Mickey in tow.
"Stripping stars down and putting them on stamp. No wonder you bring your own destruction," he ended seriously, his eyes hardening. Yvonne only laughed at him.
"We're doing this for the great British Empire. We're not damaging it. We're creating it." Her gleeful smile was starting to give him indigestion but he was holding it in.
"Well, you might think that now. Yvonne, was it? But if you've heard of me. And I mean you must have. I know you have. Then... you probably know already that I travel through space and... time." He looked at her meaningfully, holding their eye contact until she broke it with a roll of her eyes.
"What are you trying to say, Doctor? That you have seen the future of Torchwood?" she asked with a laugh, a couple of chuckles from the soldiers accompanied her until the Doctor gave them a glare which shut them up.
They rounded the corner, walking away through yet another corridor. The Doctor rose his eyebrows while keeping close to Yvonne.
"And a very close future at that. Those ghosts you're making shifts for are no ghosts." He pointed towards the end of the corridor. "Not even close. They are a not fully materialised alien race."
He stopped in his tracks, everyone else following suit. Yvonne was waiting patiently for him to continue.
"They are Cybermen," he said darkly, his voice thick with emotion.
"And what are 'the Cybermen'?"
"An alien race. Crafted by Cybus Industries on the parallel Earth. Meant for killing people and making everyone into no-emotion metal slaves. Just the Torchwood's type," he added as in insult.
He clenched his teeth tightly together when he saw he was obviously not getting to her.
"Well, if that's true, Torchwood will make sure to secure them," Yvonne said in a light voice, giving him one of her trademark smiles. The Doctor rounded on her, his patience snapping.
"Thousands of them? Millions!?" he shouted angrily in her face.
"You can't possibly know that-"
"I have seen it happening, Yvonne," he told her with barely suppressed rage. "When the sphere came through it made a hole in the universe but it also cracked the world around it. Cybermen are using those cracks to get through." He pointed with his hand. "Add the Human Race hoping them into existence and you'll have Cybermen at your doorstep just in time for tea. There are millions of Cybermen passing through the void from the parallel world to this."
"And what's this 'Void'?"
"It's hell," Jackie cut in. The pair turned to look at her, blinking.
"What? You asked!"
The Doctor turned around to face Yvonne just as she began talking again.
"Even so, we've done this a thousand times, Doctor, nothing was wrong with it."
"Everything was wrong with it. Only now it's worse. You pushed too far. Realities can't hold on that kinda pressure. If you let that shift happen, every single Cybermen will come through to here. And when they come... there's no stopping it then," he breathed out with a shake of his head. If not convincing her then at least he now had Yvonne's attention. "The whole planet is gonna be full of them. So I'm telling you to shut that thing off!" he yelled out furiously.
"Oh, exactly as the legends would have it. The Doctor, lording it over us. Assuming alien authority over the rights of Man." Her face hardened in an unwavering stare.
"If I leave it to you, you'll just kill everyone off!" the Doctor yelled out angrily.
Suddenly Mickey's voice reached them from the Rift Chamber. When did they even get there?
"Doctor's it's too late. They have the ear-pieces on."
The Doctor rushed inside the room before anyone could stop him. All the people that were previously unconscious were working behind their computers. Like nothing had happened. He rushed forward, and came to stand behind a woman, who was working on the keyboard. He snapped his fingers in front her face just for the sake of checking but just as they thought – they were too late. He clenched his teeth together and then exhaled a heavy breath.
"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry," he said sincerely and pressed the sonic screwdriver against the ear-piece. Suddenly everyone were screaming in agony, slumping on their desks.
Yvonne looked around in confusion. "What happened? What did you just do?"
"Those people are dead."
"What?" She asked like expecting a joke to come out of it.
"They're already here," the Doctor said with gritted teeth.
"Oh my God." Jackie cowered her hands against her face in fear.
"What do you mean they're dead?" Yvonne asked, her voice finally showing some uncertainty in it. She looked around at everyone. "They were working. Gareth. Addy!"
"It's the ear-pieces," the Doctor said in a quiet voice. "They go right through their brains. Controlling them."
She shook her head, not believing and tried to walk towards Matt. "They're standard comms. Devices-"
"Don't," the Doctor warned her when she reached out to take the ear-pieces out. But she just wouldn't listen. "I'm telling you - don't."
She took hold of one of Matt's ear-pieces and pulled it - right out of his head. A trail of brain tissue was attached to it.
"Urgh! Oh, God! It goes inside their brain!" she exclaimed, revolted.
"There's nothing we can do," the Doctor said in a hurry and was just about to leave the room when his eyes caught something he purposely avoided the previous time he was there. Now, after being emotionally shaken, he just couldn't look away.
The white wall at the far away end on the room.
He swallowed tightly as his legs took control of themselves and steadily carried him closer towards it.
He momentary forgot where he was. Who he was. What was he doing. Just staring at the wall right ahead.
The noises around turning into the background.
He could almost feel the wind reaching him. Pulling him in. Closer. Closer. Closer still. Swallowing everything he held dear up.
His ears started to buzz, the remaining sounds leaving him. He couldn't move. Rotted to the place. Only gravity keeping him standing.
Until suddenly he was stumbling backwards. It took him a while to realise that it was Jackie who was pulling him on the arm with determination on her face. Her mouth was open, speaking the words but the Doctor couldn't hear them. He frowned while trying to concentrate.
"What?"
Jackie was still mouthing the words until he finally could hear her.
"Stop playing around! They are here." Her voice shook at the end, and he noticed that her eyes were full of anxiety.
His hearts skipped a beat and suddenly all the sounds rushed back in.
"We are the Cybermen. The Ghost Shift will be increased to one hundred percent." The cold metalic voice said. The Cyberman then clamped a fist to its chest and the lever rose, beginning the Ghost Shift. The computer announcing 'Online'.
"Here they come," Mickey said in the background, readying himself.
And then, rows and rows of Cybermen started to march out of the light.
Back in the Sphere Chamber Rose was struggling against the doors, trying to get them to open.
"It won't work. It's lock sealed," Rajesh said calmly from his position near the computers.
"You keep saying that…" Rose banged on the doors in frustration. "Just open the door, Rajesh!" she yelled out in desperation, finally loosing her composure.
"I keep telling you," he started saying. "Quarantine would only activate if-"
Suddenly the whole chamber shuddered violently – the disturbance coming from the sphere. Rose whipped her head to look at it with wide eyes.
"It can't be," Rajesh breathed out, stunned. "It's active."
The sphere started vibrating, the readings on the monitor going wild. "We've got a problem down here. Yvonne, can you hear me?" he was shouting inside the comm. while Rose watched in stunned fear the sphere crashing from inside.
"Yvonne, for God's sake - the sphere is active! The readings are going wild! It's got weight, it's got mass, an electromagnetic field - it exists!" Rajesh was shouting, frantic.
Hearing those words, Rose dashed through the room right near the staircase. She grabbed onto the railings and with one last deep breath hurried up the stairs.
"What are you doing!?" Rajesh shouted at her from the side.
"Putting a stop to this." Rose dug her hand inside her pocket and grabbed the device the Doctor had left her with. Kissing it briefly she aimed for the sphere, the device getting stuck on its side.
When it reached the sphere's surface, it cracked, giving a electric spark which Rose had to dodge with a surprised yelp. She hurriedly walked backwards from the sphere, going down the stairs, watching the device spark and smoke. It sparked a few more times until it exploded altogether, stealing all Rose's hope.
"What was that thing?" Rajesh asked anxiously when he suddenly jumped and turned around to a crash behind him - the door closing before his eyes.
"The door's sealed. Automatic quarantine - we can't get out!" Rajesh was shouting somewhere in the distance but Rose heard him no more. Her heart was beating wildly inside her rib cage as she could only wait for things to unfold.
Another two violent crashes from the inside the sphere made the whole chamber shudder. Rajesh grabbed hold on the nearest surface to keep himself on foot while Rose continued to stare at the golden sphere.
"We're on our own. With Daleks."
"Achieving full transfer," a Cyberman announced in the Rift Chamber.
The Cybermen continued to march from the light, slowly becoming more defined.
"It's happening again! Why is it happening again!?" Jackie was shouting to the Doctor in a whisper, tugging on his arm.
The Doctor could only stare at it all happening all over again.
Suddenly there were millions of ghosts, materialising all across the world - around Big Ben and the Taj Mahal. The ghosts on the factory floor on Torchwood. Even the ghosts on the Powell Estate – all becoming defined as Cybermen.
People were still trying to run away screaming but only succeeded in getting themselves electrocuted. The mass of panic all around the world. Families cowering in fear at their homes. It was so horrible. The whole planet was taken hostage, with seemingly no chance at hope or much less victory. There was nothing they could do but accept their fate to the army of Ghosts.
The sphere inside the chamber gave a few strong crashes from inside when it suddenly stopped vibrating altogether. Rajesh went to join Rose by the sphere, looking at her anxiously like she was the answer to all. Rose braced herself, holding her head high as she prepared to face her worst fears.
"All right, then." She took a few breaths in, preparing herself. "Come and get us."
"Who are you talking to?" Rajesh asked from the side but just then the sphere split up, smooth cracks appearing in the sphere as it slowly opened, light spilling from the gaps. Agonisingly slow the sphere unfolded itself, like shedding layers of itself, the light intensifying with each gap.
And then she could see them - the top part of a familiar looking alien emerging from the sphere, greeting them with a shrilling cry.
"Location: Earth. Life forms detected. Exterminate!"
to be continued... don't be shy and brush a review! I wanna know if I'm doing something right. Or wrong. Thank you!