WRAITHS OF THE RIPPER
Chapter Six On the walk back, the Doctor told them about Rose as he held his wife's hand and explained about John and briefly told them how he came to be. Amy and Rory were stunned by his story but River nodded when he told them about Rose being his former lover. "Well, if John's your clone, I suppose it'd make sense that you loved her since he loves her," she said to him. "Do you still love her?" "Yes," he said, nodding. "I will always love her but I'm glad she's with John. She's faithful to him and I'm faithful to you. I want to remain friends with her and I hope you lot will be friends with her and John as well. They're good people." "Perhaps that's what you need right now," River said. "Good people surrounding you and fighting off the negative energy of this entity." "At the moment, I need all the friends I can get," the Doctor said. They reached the alley but when they turned into it, they stopped short when they saw a second TARDIS beside the first. The four of them stared at it for a moment. "There isn't a St. John's badge on the second one," Rory pointed out. The Doctor walked up to the door of the second TARDIS and knocked on it. There was silence for a moment and then the door opened and the Doctor stepped back when he saw the Tenth Doctor standing in the doorway. He looked haggard and his face was thin and drawn. The Eleventh Doctor felt his counterpart probing his mind for a moment, confirming his identity. "Where am I? I need help," the Tenth Doctor rasped out. "You're in Pete's World, you're safe," Eleven told him. "They're coming for me, they're coming for you," Ten rasped out. "The evil is after him as well?" Amy said. "I said, it was affecting all of us," Eleven said to her. "It wants me to join them," Ten said, grabbing his jacket. "And you, all of us." "I know. But you're away from it now. Just follow me; I can take you to Rose and John the Clone. I was brought here to get away from it as well. Who are you traveling with?" "No one, I just left Donna behind," Ten said, his head bowing. "Okay, come with us, we'll get to safety and sort this out," Eleven said. Ten nodded and the Doctor gave him the directions to Rose and John's flat. XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO Rose stood with John inside their kitchen. John was busy preparing a fresh pot of tea but Rose was leaning against the counter, her expression morose. John looked at her. "Penny for your thoughts?" he said. "I'm worried about the Doctor. What is this thing that's trying to hurt him," Rose said. "You said, Valeyard. Do you think it's this evil version that's trying to take him over?" "Dunno," John said, shaking his head. "I'm just thankful for once that I'm not connected to him, otherwise I'd probably be affected as well. Maybe that's what he needs, someone like us and his companions who are immune to this thing. We can think clearly and help him. Don't worry, Arkytior, we'll find a solution to this." Rose nodded and he stroked her cheek. Then they heard the TARDIS wheezing as it materialized inside the lounge. "I'll get it," Rose said, "You tend to the tea." "Yes, Ma'am," John said with a salute. Rose started to go into the lounge when she suddenly heard a second distinct wheezing. She entered the lounge and froze when she saw a second TARDIS appearing alongside the first. "John, look," Rose said. John came outside and raised his eyebrow when he saw the second TARDIS. The first one opened and the Doctor and his family came outside. "Found someone else in the alley," the Doctor said. The door to the second TARDIS opened and Rose's mouth dropped when she saw Ten step out. He saw Rose and froze as he locked eyes with her. "Rose," he said softly. Then he saw John and he averted his eyes and turned to shut the door of his TARDIS. Rose glanced at her fiancé before walking over to Ten. "The evil whatever it is, it's calling to you as well?" she said to him. Ten nodded and Rose took his hand. "Come and sit and have some tea," she said to him. "Thank you," he said before letting her escort him to the sofa. Eleven walked over to him as he sat down and Rose went to get him some tea. "Did you see anything of this entity?" Eleven asked him. "I…I saw something but it wasn't the entity but it has some of us in its thrall, whatever it is," he said as everyone else gathered around him. "Here, the voice isn't as loud, I can think again." Eleven nodded. "I asked the TARDIS to bring me somewhere where I could sort out what was happening and it brought me here, the voice is still a whisper but I can ignore it." Ten nodded. "I didn't ask, the TARDIS just brought me here. Maybe she thought the same thing as your TARDIS." "Your safe here, Doctor," Amy said. The Doctor looked at her and smiled. He looked at Rory and then he saw River and he stared at her in shock. Eleven chuckled. "I suppose introductions and an explanation is in order," he said to Ten. XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO Rose brought him tea and a couple of ham sandwiches. Ten accepted them gratefully and when everyone was settled, Eleven explained who everyone was before asking him to give them any information about the entity. Ten took a sip of tea, trying to calm his nerves before he spoke. "This…thing, whatever it is, wants me to kill or do something evil, give in to my dark nature," he said. "That's what it wanted our Doctor to do, kill all of us," Amy said to him. "I think that's what it needs," Ten said after nodding. "It needs us to succumb to our dark natures and killing the ones we hold dear sorta seals the deal. It wanted me to let Donna die and I had to fight myself and my dark urges to save her. I managed to overcome it but it was one hell of a struggle. But after I left her behind, things got worse. The voice tormented me and showed me visions." "What sort of visions?" River said. Ten thought for a moment and then asked everyone to follow him. He got up and walked to his TARDIS. Unlocking it, he asked everyone to follow him. Amy and Rory were stunned when they saw the organic interior of the console room but they kept on walking and Ten led them out of the room and down a couple of corridors to another room. He unlocked a heavy oak door and went inside. Inside the room was a gigantic stone room with a huge circular stain glass window. There were bats flying around but none of them took any notice of Ten and his friends as they went down a flight of stone steps. "What is this room?" Rory said, looking around as they descended the steps to the stone floor. "This is the Cloister Room, isn't it?" River said. "Yes, I haven't been in here in awhile, not since my eighth life but this is called the Cloister Room," Ten said. "Here is where the vision took place." They stepped off the stairs onto an enormous stone floor. The bats continued to fly above their heads and Amy glanced up, terrified they'd be pooing on their heads in a moment. "Here," Ten said, pointing to the floor in front of them. "I was standing here and on the floor was a glowing pentagram. I was in the middle of the glowing pentagram and I felt this evil energy and there was nothing but darkness all around me. Evil shadows like the Vashta Nerada," he said, glancing at Eleven when he said that. "And then out of these shadows, eleven robed figures came and stood around me. They looked like monks and this voice told me that I couldn't fight him and I would join them soon. I asked whoever it was to explain what that meant and one of the monks stepped forward and pulled down his cowl and…" He shuddered and had to compose himself before speaking. "It was our fifth body. Except he was emaciated and filthy and his eyes were sunken and he was drooling and…insane," Ten said. "He stood there and the voice told me that he had put up a good struggle but in the end, he let Peri die and took the bat's milk antidote for himself. That's what turned him to the darkness, letting her die. Then…" He looked at Rose with anguish. "I saw my ninth self," he said. "He came forward and pulled down his cowl and he was also dirty and emaciated. They looked like ghouls, to be honest. The voice said that he turned because he slaughtered Jackie and Mickey." He looked at Rose. "He tried to kill you as well but you escaped," he said, his hearts hurting at the shocked look on Rose's face. "But if he killed Jackie and Mickey in the past, then they shouldn't exist now," John said. Rose glanced at him and quickly pulled out her mobile. She phoned her mother and looked at John fearfully when she got a recording saying the number was no longer in service. She ended the call and tried Pete's number. "Dad, do you know where Mum is?" Rose said when he answered. They watched while Rose listened, a frown on her face. "What do you mean, who am I? I'm Rose, your stepdaughter," she said while Eleven and Ten shared a look. "Rose, remember, I…he hung up," Rose said to the others. "Says he doesn't know who I am." "Because Jackie and Mickey were killed during my ninth life," Ten said. "They're dead, Rose. They never came here." "Then what am I doing here?" Rose said. "What's John doing here if Mum and Mickey died." "I'm guessing the timelines compensated and you came here in a different way," Eleven said. "My tenth self is still here so you and Donna still traveled with him. He probably still lost his hand and John was still created but in a slightly different way than before. Jackie never really traveled with us and Mickey didn't travel for long. Time probably would have changed drastically if you'd been killed but with Jackie and Mickey, it was just a minor bump in the timeline. Time can be rewritten if necessary." Rose was in shock and John put his hands on her shoulders when he saw the anguish on her face. "So does that mean the other Jackie is still alive?" Rose said to Ten. "The Cyberman invasion never happened?" "I'm not sure, Rose," Ten said. "It could have though. We still could have come here and that could have happened. The only difference is Mickey wouldn't have been with us. But if that's so, Jake could have given me the code to the inhibitor instead of Mickey. Like my other self said, time can be rewritten and compensated for when it's necessary. Although…Pete didn't seem to know you so maybe it happened differently. Who knows? All I know is the vision indicated that my ninth self had succumbed to the darkness." "God," Rose said, shaking his head while John squeezed her shoulders. "And you saw eleven robed figures?" Eleven said. "So that means, you and I…" "We're the only ones left," Ten said grimly. "The only ones that haven't been turned yet." "Then the TARDIS really did take us here to protect us," Ten said. "How do we stop it?" Amy said. "How do we reverse this?" Eleven was about to say something when he saw Ten hold up his hand. "I think it begins with Jack the Ripper," he said. "That was another part of my vision. This thing, this puppet master or whatever it is told me that he was called the Ripper and I got the sense that he meant Jack the Ripper. I think in order to stop this, we have to go back to Victorian London and stop the Ripper before he begins his murder spree."
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