4th of March, 2028
Torpenhow, The United Kingdom, Earth
The people of Blennerhasset and Torpenhow gathered around in St. Michael's Church. The head priest of the church, Mother Mary Mulholland, got behind her podium with, face as grim as the night, and began her sermon: "My fellow faithful of this civil parish, I have gotten news that William Hardy, at the age of 72, was murdered in his own farmhouse. The killing was not that of the human, the marks on his body look more like that of an animal, but the murders have been going on for over a year now. You are not safe in your homes, so God gave me some commands to give to you: protect yourselves, trust nobody, and pray to God that the problem is solved soon. If the constabulary at Wigton is not going to save us, wet must save ourselves."
Mother Mulholland went on a little bit longer before everyone left to make their homes more secure. Mulholland herself walked out and encountered a dark-skinned man in a jacket. "Nice sermon, Mother..." he began.
"Mulholland." she replied, "Who the hell are you, anyway? For all I know, you are the murderer plaguing this village."
The man pulled a wallet with a blank piece of paper in it. "Ryan Sinclair, private investigator of the paranormal and extraterrestrial. There's a chance you might have an alien problem."
"Don't be ridiculous! Aliens aren't real. God specifically made the Earth the way it is: the only living planet in the universe."
"That's what I thought of at first as well. I travelled with an alien myself." It was then that a blue box began to materialise out of nowhere. Ryan and Mother Mulholland both looked at it, with Ryan smiling. "Speak of the devil. No offense."
"Much taken."
The duo got to the doors and Ryan knocked on one of them. Out came a woman with blonde shaggy hair and blue eyes, donning a blue shawl. Ryan didn't recognise her, but she recognised him. "Oh," she began, "nice to see you again, Ryan."
"Who are you, how do you know my name, and what the hell did you do to the Doctor?"
"I'm the Doctor. Although, you haven't really known all that much about regeneration."
"How do I know you're not someone else?"
The Doctor stepped outside fully. "6th of September, 2018. I had recently regenerated and was falling out of my TARDIS, straight into the train you and your grandmother were in. I got up almost immediately and then asked your grandmother, who was right beside you, how the doors were. She said they were locked shut. The very first thing I heard from someone else while in that incarnation."
Ryan seemed confused for a second. "That can't be right. There was only me, Nan, Graham, Yaz..." It was then that Ryan realised something and put it together. "...and you."
The Doctor hugged Ryan while another woman was coming out of the TARDIS. "I'm sorry." she said, "Who's this?"
The Doctor turned to Jessica. "Ah, nice timing, Jessica. This is Ryan, a man who flew by my side for a while." The Doctor turned back to Ryan. "Ryan, this is Jessica, my current companion. Good with computers."
Ryan shook Jessica's hand. "Nice to meet ya."
"This is idiotic. Doctor, if you really are an alien, you should know what has been causing these killings."
"Killings in Torpenhow? Ah, I love a good mystery. So, where's the body?"
"Follow me."
The group was led to the farmhouse where the murder took place. The body hadn't been moved. The Doctor squatted down beside the body and immediately came to a conclusion. "I know what your problem is." the Doctor said, "you're dealing with a Bane."
"Whoa!" Ryan replied, "How'd you get that so quickly?"
"See these marks?" The rest of the group gathered around the corpse, the Doctor pointing at the long slashes covering the body alongside the gap in the chest. "Banes are predatory shelled cephalopod-like aliens. They hunt using their tentacles as whips to cripple their prey before finishing them off by eating their chest with their beak, satiating them in the process. Miss, what's your name?"
"Call me Mother Mulholland."
"Mother Mulholland, how long has this been going on?"
"A year."
"And the frequency?"
"Once a month."
"Then we have time, though Banes can also use technology to appear human." The Doctor stood back up. "Mother Mulholland, get everyone in the village on their phones. Cellular transmissions scramble Bane technology and can severely damage them. Jessica, Ryan, come with me."
The Doctor led both Jessica and Ryan to the TARDIS, which had changed greatly after Ryan left seven years earlier. "Nice place." he said, "This seems way roomier than when I was in the TARDIS."
"And you sound more mature than when I last saw you."
"29 has been treating me well."
"Oh, speaking of you being away, how was Patagonia?"
"How'd you know about that?"
"Graham. He told me about your little trip there. How's he doing?"
Ryan looked down. "Dead."
The Doctor stopped and turned around to Ryan again. "Really?"
"His cancer came back. I tried to find some way to get rid of it but I couldn't."
"Oh, Ryan." The Doctor hugged Ryan again. "I'm so sorry."
Ryan chuckled. "Don't be. We got an alien to stop. Besides, I'm doing fine."
The Doctor let go of Ryan. "Then let's get to the closet."
The Doctor led the both of them to a closet, not far away from the console room. "What are we doing here, exactly?" Jessica asked.
"Looking for some salt spray an old friend gave me. The salt will draw moisture from the skin of the Babe and thus cripple it. When a Bane is hunting, they become unreasonable." The Doctor managed to find said spray and get it, starting at it for a bit. "Thank you, Sarah Jane."
"Who's that?"
"Sorry, Ryan. Just reminiscing over someone I held dear to me. Now," The Doctor turned to Jessica and Ryan. "let's stop this beast."
