After they had been escorted outside, Rose watched as the six Royal Guards lined up inside the gate, forming a wall of armour and pointy halberds. It was more a symbolic wall; they had no reason to actually try and get back into the castle.

Except now as they looked around, they found themselves utterly alone, with a long way ahead of them.

'Brilliant,' Rose muttered. 'Are we supposed to walk all the way back?'

'There!'

The Doctor had spotted Murray in the distance, a tiny figure in front of a tree line. He was combing his warbums with his long brush. Rose cursed under her breath as they started to run.

They crossed the meadow on the hillside, screaming and waving like mad, sending swarms of buzzing gnats and cawing birds into a panic. When Murray stopped to wait for them, they were drenched in sweat. Rose grumbled that she could do with a freak TARDIS shower right about now.

They were looking at another two-hour ride, except this time the carriage was empty, and they had to sit on the hard wooden flooring. Still, after slumping down she couldn't help but grin. 'I can't believe we made it out of there.'

'All thanks to a really nice cactus-person I met on my way.'

'Cactus, right.'

'I'm not joking. He's a Vinvocci, called Blorph'g, and he is quite an amazing person, too. Selfless humanitarian.'

'What, Bloff, the humanitarian cactus?'

'Blorph'g, with a G at the end. He has a tragic backstory, the whole deal. Also, he's a brilliant engineer. He basically built the Dragon's Bane.'

Rose sighed as she leaned back. 'OK, you first. Tell me what's happened, then I'll tell you about my crazy sewage crawl.'

'Fair.' The Doctor happily told her, gushing the words at lightning speed, happily sidetracking as he liked. Suddenly, all the grim tension had fallen away from them, and they were two adventurers again, simply having fun.

He ended his explanation on a slightly disappointed note. 'Mind you, I'm not one step closer to solving this thing. Lousy Sherlock Holmes, I am.'

'What about the robot?'

The Doctor studied the image on Rose's camera for a moment. 'Blimey. You went up against that?' Rose felt a chill as she saw the concern on his face. He went through more pictures, and his expression worsened. 'That's a Zurx mining automatron. Very simple programming, but very deadly.'

'That sounds about right,' she said.

Thinking quickly, she changed the topic. 'Come on, then, tell me: What's your plan with the king?'

'It's simple. I'm going to stop him,' he said.

'OK, and you already have a plan, yeah? You were provoking him for a reason.'

The Doctor hesitated just a moment too long, before he said, 'Of course! You know me, always clever, always thinking two, three, four, five steps ahead. I'm sure he's hiding something, and the best way to get to the bottom of what that could be is to see his next move. Typical Doctor.'

'Thought so,' she said, but a sliver of doubt remained. She still saw that cold expression in the Doctor's eyes, that callousness at the king's harrowing tale.

It made her recall their last tearful goodbye on the beach of Bad Wolf Bay, and the Doctor's words that had felt like a knife going through her heart.

"We saved the multiverse, but at a cost. And the cost is him. He was born in battle, full of blood and anger and revenge."

The real Doctor would have shown compassion, while the man sitting next to her had wiped out an entire Dalek empire without even batting an eye. It had been the right decision, of course, nobody really doubted that. Rose had made the same call before, when she'd been the TARDIS-powered entity known as the Bad Wolf. But it should have also been a difficult one. It had been genocide.

She wondered once again why she was here, with this man. While the real Doctor was probably living it up right now with some other girl, fighting evil across space and time, totally happy without her.

"You made me better. Now you can do the same for him." Suddenly the words sounded like an excuse to get rid of her.

Neither of them said a word for a while, until Rose decided to break the silence by showing him the last picture she'd taken.

The Doctor gave a soft groan as he studied it. 'I really liked him.'

'Who?'

'Blorph'g, the humanitarian cactus. He told me he filled that tower with combustion engines to recharge the Dragon's Bane's power core. I told him with the right fuel he only needs five, not seventy. And voilà: He uses five. Outside the tower.'

'Maybe there's sixty-five more inside it?'

But the Doctor shook his head. 'There would have been much more smoke coming from that exhaust shoot. Should've realized that earlier, come to think of it.'

Rose screwed up her mouth in thought. 'So what's really inside the tower?'

'And why guard it with a zurx automatron?'

'And what does he need all that fuel for, if not for seventy engines?'

They exchanged a look, eyes flashing. The Doctor grinned. 'I love a good mystery.'


The next step was quickly planned: fly the TARDIS into the sewer and land it next to the Key to get some readings from it. Then, they'd hopefully have gathered enough knowledge to sort everything out, or at the very least figure out where to get the next clue.

But first they would have a good meal. They hadn't eaten at all while they were in the castle, and their stomachs were grumbling all the way back. Luckily, they soon merged with a small trek of wagons carrying woodwork and supplies to help rebuild the damaged settlement. Rose explained they were going to help with the effort, and a nice old man offered them a sort of spiced bread with juicy apples.

Suddenly rowdy, light-hearted people were all around them, and they spent the final part of the trip singing and chatting. The Doctor mostly observed as Rose enjoyed herself, looking out for anything suspicious in their surroundings. But soon, left to his own thoughts, he began to ponder a problem. The rage he'd felt facing that despicable winged tyrant... it had been a very familiar one. It was the kind of rage that felt righteous and correct, but he knew was only destructive in reality.

He knew – and yet this anger was hard to resist. What had the Timelord said? 'He's born in battle, full of anger, blood, and revenge.' But when he searched his mind, he found all the memories at the right place; the battles he'd fought, the lessons he'd learned. There was no reasonable doubt in his mind that they were the same person, physical attributes excluded. The Metacrisis-Doctor was still the Doctor.

Except he also clearly wasn't.

Am I even still the Doctor? Am I still worthy of that title? Or have I become one of the ones he left behind?


By the time they arrived, Rose had been invited to a warbum-challenge by a good-looking young bloke. Seeing the joy in her eyes, the Doctor decided he could do without her for a while. He would have to deal with the TARDIS anyway, preparing her for the upcoming jump, so when Rose asked if he needed her for anything, he simply waved her off, claiming he needed to be able to concentrate, and she'd only distract him.

Soon Rose was carrying wood and helping to set up emergency homes for the dislocated. She was delighted to find Virgil among the crowd of workers; apparently he had snuck out of the castle after some time to meet up with Mary and join the repair efforts.

'Aren't you going to get into trouble for coming here?' Rose asked.

Virgil wore the brightest smile. 'My friends in Castle Miramys will protect me. Besides, today, a catastrophe I considered certain has turned into a great victory. My father has lauded your invaluable contributions.' Virgil grinned triumphantly. 'I had promised him two exemplary humans, and I haven't disappointed him.'

'Glad I could be of service,' she said, forcing a smile. She wondered if he had meant to make her a compliment, or if he just generally found it hard to see humans as equal to angels.

'Pray tell, where is the Doctor?'

'Working on more victories,' Rose said as she deposited a large wooden stave.

'I can see why you fancy him,' Virgil grinned. 'He's quite a remarkable jester.'

'Oh, come off it,' she said, and she flapped a hand at him to prevent further discussion of the subject.

Virgil was talking nonstop, telling the working villagers about what had occurred at the castle, about Rose's and the Doctor's daring escapes. He twisted the facts and adapted nearly all of it in some way to hide his own involvement and to make the two of them appear as even greater heroes, striking a clever bargain with the king that ensured their freedom. Rose was surprised to see the people eat it all up. After a while, they even paused in their work to form a circle around the angel, listening to his exuberant voice with bated breath.

She quickly got embarrassed by all the attention she was getting. When asked about details, she decided to take advantage of Virgil's over-exaggerated showmanship, and told the people she'd made an unbreakable vow not to spill any secrets. Thankfully the hecklers were soon kept busy as a group of volunteer workers gave out food – spiced bread and dried fruit with an extra greasy soup.

While they ate, Rose caught Mary sidelined. She also seemed happy to have Virgil soak up the attention. Food in hand, she gestured at the empty space on the bench next to her.

'Please, you don't need to ask,' Mary smiled. Rose sat down.

She'd thought up a couple of questions that the Doctor might ask, but Mary beat her to it. 'Can I ask you something?'

Rose nodded. 'Mhm.'

'You're not really from the Shattered Spines, are you?'

Rose was about to confess it, but she stopped herself. A little caution was probably not misplaced. 'What gave you that idea?'

'Well... Virgil loves to exaggerate, but still, what he's telling everyone... I can't believe there are people like you anywhere on this world.'

Rose smiled. 'You don't know how often we get that, me and the Doctor.' But then her eyes narrowed as her sixth sense began to tingle. 'Hold on, did you say "this world"?'

'Our tales speak of many others, up there. They say each star is one, just like this.'

Rose moved her head in a half-nod, half-shake motion, before she realised something else. 'Hold on again. You do have a history?'

'Of course we do. The king might try everything to make us forget it, but so far he hasn't been successful.'

'Not with you, maybe,' Rose said. 'But he's putting the brains of his own people through a carwash.'

'He took scriptures from our ancestors and burned them shortly after he seized power. In secret, my father told us the contents of these scriptures many times, but sadly his account is incomplete. He could only cite what the priests told of it, back when he was young.'

'D'you remember any of it?'

Mary nodded, and pointed upward. 'We came from one of these other worlds. But a war came and our people fled. A trek of seven hundred souls was marching toward a sanctuary called Lincoln. But they never reached it.'

'Because they ended up here.'

Mary spoke in a mocking tone. 'The gods saved our lives.'

'But you don't believe any of it,' said Rose.

Mary gave Rose an appraising look. 'I bet you could tell me if there really are gods. Isn't that right'

'What makes you say that?'

'You're from one of these worlds yourself, aren't you? You came here the same way we did, and the angels, and Felgorn.'

Rose chewed thoughtfully, surprised by Mary. The fire-haired girl was a lot smarter than she'd assumed. Rose considered for a while, whether it would be OK to tell her, before she nodded. 'We are from another world, yes.'

Mary beamed and began bombarding her with questions, which Rose did her best to answer in ways she'd understand. She was oddly quick at grasping the concept of an aeroplane, but any talk of music, books, or TV went completely past her.

Most villagers finished their meals, and Virgil soon began talking again, drawing the attention of the two girls. 'He's quite a catch,' Rose said, winking at Mary. 'The wings, the title. The looks.'

'I hardly care about any of that,' she said dismissively. 'I'm not one who seeks an advantage by fluttering my eyes at the nearest man of wealth.'

'I didn't mean it that way.'

'Oh, I know. Still, it is the common way. There are many noble households in the Dale with much pull and bear still. Gaining their favour is just a good survival strategy.'

'Well then you hit the jackpot, didn't you?' Rose said, without thinking. 'Or maybe the opposite,' she added quickly.

'It got me a lot of attention,' she admitted with a snicker, 'but I never cared much about all that. Virgil is just different from the other angels. First I thought he just wanted to revolt against his father like an angry child, but he is curious and open-minded. And very honest.' Mary smiled when she talked about him, and soon Rose was edging closer, smiling too. 'He wanted to take me to places in the Dale you can only reach on wings. He even asked the king's advisor to help him build some mechanical contraption that would allow me to fly as well.'

'Did it work?'

Mary nodded, her eyes shining. 'He had to pull me with a rope, but I was flying. Like a bird. Sort of.'

'But that's brilliant!'

'To be honest, I was absolutely terrified for the most part.'

They both laughed, and Rose was beginning to realise that she had a lot in common with Mary. 'But you liked it, yeah?' she asked, already knowing the answer.

Mary nodded. 'He showed me the Sunrock, near the Shattered Spines. A day's trip above an ocean of bramble weed, impossible to cross on foot. But the view from up there...'

'Worth any scare or pain,' Rose said.

Mary reminisced for a long moment, until her smile dissolved in a deep sigh. Rose, guessing the reason for that sigh, put a consoling hand on her shoulder. 'So what's your plan for the future?'

Mary gave a mock-laugh. 'What great plans could we have? He is promised to a girl of his own kin. As soon as she bleeds, they will marry.'

Rose grimaced. 'That's awful.'

'I should probably end the whole matter tonight.'

'What makes you say that?'

'It would be for the best, wouldn't it? Every time he's near me, there is a chance of us getting found out. He could lose his standing, and my family could lose much, much more. The king could sentence me to death, if he wishes to make an example out of me. He could execute my whole family.' She shook her head. 'I was stupid to let it go this far.'

Rose put a hand on her shoulder, rubbing it. 'I get it, though. It's so rare to find something really special. Of course you want to keep it.'

Mary then turned to Rose, smiling sadly. 'You're so right. But I'm afraid that the time has come for me to grow up.'

Somehow, Rose didn't like that, or the fact that Mary was planning on simply giving up on Virgil. She'd expected her to want to fight more. But she didn't say anything.

After a while, the good-looking young bloke appeared to remind them of the warbum challenge Rose had agreed to, and the two giggling girls wandered off toward the crowd.

Meanwhile, the Doctor had written Rose a text on her phone, before realising she was probably going to see it too late. So he rushed out of the TARDIS, his human heart beating. He left behind the results of an analysis which showed clearly that the Dragon's Bane was active again, and its signal reached straight into the little village.