(𝟦) The Shakespeare Code
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"The Carrionites disappeared way back at the dawn of the universe," the Doctor explained as he sat in Shakespeare's room at the inn, "Nobody was sure if they were real or legend."
"Well, I'm going for real," Shakespeare states.
"But what do they want?" Martha asked with a frown.
"A new empire on Earth. A world of bones and blood and witchcraft," the same answer made her and Alice shiver.
"Doctor, why Earth of all places?" the young redhead asked, who briefly gazed out the window before turning back to face the room, "Why here?"
"Well, Ally, I think the most important question we need to ask right now is the 'how' and not the 'why,' the Time Lord replied, "And I'm looking at the man with the words."
"Me?" Shakespeare blinked in surprise, "But I've done nothing."
"Hold on, though," Martha frowned at him, "What were you doing last night when that Carrionite was in the room?"
"Finishing the play."
"What happens on the last page?" the Doctor questioned, leaning forward in his seat.
"The boys get the girls," he shrugged, "They have a bit of a dance. It's all as funny and thought-provoking as usual..." frowning at the next part, "Except those last few lines. The funny thing is, I don't remember writing them."
"That's it," the Doctor suddenly yelled, leaping to his feet and beginning to pace the room, "They used you. They gave you the final words like a spell, like a code. 'Love's Labours Won.' It's a weapon. The right combination of words, spoken at the right place, with the shape of the Globe as an energy converter! The play's the thing! And yes, you can have that."
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"All Hallows Street," the Time Lord said, pointing at the map after staring hopelessly at the map that was anything but accurate, but it would have to do, "There it is. Alice, Martha, we'll track them down. Will you get to the Globe. Whatever you do, stop that play!"
"I'll do it," Shakespeare shakes his hand, "All these years I've been the cleverest man around. Next to you, I know nothing."
"Now, don't complain," Alice sighed with a small smile.
"I'm not. It's marvellous. Good luck, Doctor."
"Good luck, Shakespeare," the Doctor replied, motioning for Alice and Martha to head over towards the door, "Once more unto the breach!" he went onto the quote.
"Do you have any self-control?" Alice asked, shaking her head as they left the room.
"I like that," Shakespeare nodded in approval before frowning, "Wait a minute, that's one of mine."
"Oh, just shift!" the Time Lord pokes his head around the door.
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"All Hallows Street, but which house?" the Doctor wondered aloud as Alice and Martha looked at the houses around them, lost on which one it could be. To the girls, it looked like any other street from the 1500s. Yet it didn't look suspicious, and they couldn't help but shiver.
"This has taken a lot longer than you said it would," the young redhead implied with a frown as she peered around into a corner.
"The thing is, though, am I missing something here?" the other young woman asked suddenly, "The world didn't end in 1599. It just didn't. Look at Alice and me," Martha indicated to them both as her roommate nodded in agreement, "We're living proof."
"Oh, how to explain the mechanics of the infinite temporal flux?" the Time Lord threw his head back and sighed thoughtfully at a more straightforward way to explain this to them both, "I know. 'Back to the Future. It's like 'Back to the Future."
"The film?" Alice asked.
"No, the novelisation," the Doctor returned sarcastically, rolling his eye, "Yes, the film. Marty McFly goes back and changes history."
The flatmates silently 'oh' to one another, recalling the film before Martha returned to the Doctor, "When Marty McFly starts fading away."
"Oh my God, we're not gonna fade, are we?" Alice asked as both she and Martha's eyes widened.
"You two and the entire future of the human race," the Time Lord hurried on to say before either woman came up with any more questions about different worlds and timelines. He could see in both their faces that one was about to do precisely that, "It ends right now in 1599 if we don't stop it."
"Well, that's just great. Isn't it as if I had anything else planned," the Doctor heard Alice grumble sarcastically with joy.
"But which house?" the Doctor goes back to looking around. A door of a house opposite them began to slowly creak open invitingly on its rusty old hinges, "Ah. Make that witch house."
They entered a room where Shakespeare himself could pen. To Alice, it practically screamed witchcraft, from the dark, mysterious objects lying across the tables, the bubbling cauldron, and the familiar young woman from the inn shrouded in black clothing who looked at the Doctor expectantly.
"I take it we're expected," he said, studying the woman.
"Oh, I think Death has been waiting for you a very long time," she hissed with a smirk as if almost mocking him before looking him up and down, clearly liking what was before her that was starting to rub Alice the wrong way.
"Right then, it's my turn," Martha stepped forward. Alice frowned at her best friend, wondering if she was trying to be brave or just being plain stupid, "I know how to do this. I name thee Carrionite!" pointing at the girl who seemed relatively unfazed by it still, standing, "What did I do wrong? Was it the finger?"
"The power of a name works only once," the witch pointed out, gazing back mockingly, "Observe. I gaze upon this bag of bones, and now I name thee Martha Jones."
Martha suddenly fell backwards, but Alice quickly caught her flatmate in her arms, gently lowering her to the ground, "What have you done to her?" she glared over at the woman's expression that was nothing but smug.
"Only sleeping, alas," the witch sighed, "It's curious. The name has less impact. She's somehow out of her time. And I could say the same for you," she now pointing at Alice, "Oh, but look. There's another mystery afoot I can't yet place."
The witch casually strolled forward until she was a foot or so near Alice, who couldn't help but frown at her as they stared at one another, "A curious one you are, Alice Noble, not in your own time, just as your dear friend yet there's something more...something hid..."
'No, no, he can't find out about me just yet!' suddenly, the same panicked voice from the hospital filled her head, causing her head to spasm and the locket to warm uncomfortably against her as it had done before. This time, Alice knew she hadn't imagined it, thinking it had been the lack of oxygen that had caused her to hallucinate. 'What the hell is going on?!' she thought, scared out of her wits.
"Alright, that's enough," the Doctor abruptly cuts her off, not having noticed the young redhead's internal moment of crisis, "I need to know why you're here?"
The girl only scowled at him for being interrupted, pointing the finger at him, "Well, I guess it'll be you next. Now you, Sir Doctor," she frowned, somewhat puzzled but had a slight twist to her voice, "Fascinating. There is no name. Why would a man hide his title in such despair?" she now smirked, "Oh, yet there's still one word with the power that aches."
"The naming won't work on me," he returned bitterly.
"But your heart grows cold. The north wind blows and carries down the distant..." She comes up closer to him and smirks, "...Rose."
"Oh, big mistake," coming back to reality, Alice knew this would set him off telling her that he still wasn't entirely over losing Rose just yet as he angrily marched towards the witch, "Because that name keeps me fighting! The Carrionites vanished!" he went on shouting, "Where did you go?"
"The Eternals found the right word to banish us into deep darkness."
"And how did you escape?" the Doctor tried to inquire a little more calmly, his anger waining off slightly.
"New words. New and glittering, from a mind like no other."
"Shakespeare," Alice and the Doctor uttered in unison, both realising this shared a brief look of confusion as to why this had happened again, so shake it off as just a coincidence for it to have happened twice.
"His son perished," the young witch started to explain, "The grief of a genius. Grief without measure. Madness enough to allow us entrance," the witch was scanning the Time Lord over with her again, making the young Noble's blood boil.
"Seriously, shut up," Alice uttered with gritted teeth, doing her best to keep Martha's head off the floor.
"The redhead one speaks that who cannot tell what is right from her heart to her head..."
Her eyes shot up, feeling anger that now wasn't entirely her coursing throughout her body, "You just shut up!" the Time Lord seemed to notice that he wasn't seeing the same woman before him as she quickly got to her feet and charged towards the witch with a fire in her eyes, "You better shut that gob of yours before I do it for you sweetheart!"
The Doctor quickly grabbed her arm, swinging her back towards his side, giving her a questioning yet concerned look, "What was all that about?"
"Nothing alright," Alice tried going for the witch again, but the Doctor's grasp on her arm was tight as a vice.
"Nothing, sure it wasn't," he mumbled with another frown before returning his attention to the witch, "How many of you?"
"Just the three," she glares at him, "But the play tonight shall restore the rest. Then, the human race will be purged as a pestilence. And from this world, we will lead the universe back into the old ways of blood and magic."
"Hmm...busy schedule...but first you've got to get past me," the Time Lord comes face to face with her.
"Oh, that should be a pleasure, considering my enemy has such a handsome shape," the Carrionite replied with a smirk, gently running her fingers through his hair and resting her cheek against his side of his.
Alice just glared, only to catch herself off guard then. Seriously, what the hell was going on with her?!
"Now, that's one form of magic that's not going to work on me," he voiced rather seriously, highlighting that he seemed a tad irritated by this woman touching him. When the sudden unwanted thought of wanting Alice to card her fingers through his hair entered his head, he internally shook his head, knowing now was the wrong time and place to think such a thing.
"Oh, we'll see," she sharply tugged out a lock of his hair and quickly backed away towards the window.
"What did you do?" he frowned, hand now flying to the back of his head, rubbing it.
"Souvenir," the Carrionite returned with a somewhat evil smile.
"Well, give it back!" the Time Lord shouted, jumping for the witch only for her to throw out her hands behind herself, and the window swung open, permitting her to fly backwards, hovering just outside it, as the Doctor sighed, just stopping by the windowsill, "Well, that's just cheating."
Alice noticed Martha beginning to stir and went to kneel beside her friend as she finally awoke, "Hey, you alright?" she guided Martha to sit up, "Martha?"
Both women looked across the room as the witch spoke, "Behold, Doctor. Men to Carrionites are nothing but puppets," she pulled out a wooden doll and wrapped the Doctor's hair around it.
"Now, you might call that magic... I'd call that a DNA replication module."
"What use is your science now?" the Carrionite stabbed the doll, cackling as she flew away, just as the Doctor suddenly dropped to his knees with a pained cry, holding the left side of his chest.
"Oh my God, Doctor!" Alice exclaimed as she and Martha quickly raced to his side, both going to lay him on his back.
"Don't worry. We've got you," Martha listens to his heartbeat only to roll her eyes, "Hold on, mister. Two hearts?"
"You're making a habit of this; he almost keels over, but Alice manages to catch him before he falls, and Martha goes to the other side to help the Time Lord stand up, "Ah! I've only got one heart working. How do you people cope?" he looked between both women.
"Because idiot, unlike you, we're not aliens!" the redhead exclaimed, not entirely convinced of the statement herself, with what had been happening to her, "We're just one better!"
He rolled his eyes at her, "I've got to get the other one started," the Doctor glanced between Alice and Martha again, "Hit me! One of you hit me on the chest!" Martha hits his chest, "Dah! Other side!" Alice does it this time, "Now, on the back, on the back," Martha retakes another turn, "Left a bit," she does what she's asked, "Dah, lovely," they both now let him go. He stands up again, "There we go. Badda boom! Well, what are you standing there for?" the Time Lord looked between the baffled young women, "Come on! The Globe!"
With that, he rushed out of the room, down the stairs and out of the house with Martha and Alice on heels towards the Globe Theatre.
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They go running down the street when Alice and Martha notice the Time Lord make a wrong turn that hadn't been taken before both women stop to catch their breaths as the redhead of the two yells after him, "We're going the wrong way!"
"No, we're not!" he called back as Alice rolled her eyes. She and Martha waited for him to come back a moment later, going the correct way, "We're going the wrong way!"
"Really? I didn't notice," the redhead gasped sarcastically before she and Martha caught up with him. When finally nearing the Globe, people's screams could be heard just as a swirling red light could be seen shining out the roof, almost like fireflies dancing above a bonfire.
"I told thee so!" the preacher from before pointed towards it, "I told thee!"
"Stage door!" the Doctor indicated as they ran for it, as thunder and lightning began forming, mixing in with red light.
Alice, the first to burst through the backstage door, stopped short as she noticed Shakespeare lying on the floor rubbing his head. Shortly afterwards, the Doctor comes rushing in, bumping into Alice, toppling both to the floor. Martha then comes in, trying not to laugh at the pair lying atop one another.
"Can you get off me, please," the young Noble glanced up at him, a little peeved.
He quickly leapt to his feet, a small annoying expression on his face before it shifted into something more apologetic, holding his hand to her, "Sorry about that."
"Don't worry about it, Spaceman," she accepted his hand, both feeling a little spark as their hands connected as Alice offered him a genuine smile that he'd once seen grace her lips when she saw the creation of Earth for the first time, and he returned it.
"Stop the play!" the Time Lord began to yell, letting go of Alice's hand even though he didn't want to, and all the young redhead could think about for a brief moment was how nice it had felt to hold his warm, rough hand in hers even though it was for a brief moment.
"I think that was it," she heard the Doctor continue to yell, breaking her thoughts, coming to join him and Martha beside Shakespear, who was rubbing his head, "Yeah, I said, stop the play!"
"I hit my head," the playwright voiced weakly.
"Yeah," the Doctor sighed, "Don't rub it, you'll go bald," a scream on stage is now heard, "I think that's my cue!" he goes running towards the stage.
"He's not much of a people person right now, is he?" Martha asked, glancing in her best friend's direction, going over to help Shakespear.
Alice sighs, "Well, he's got his hands full at the moment. Can you blame him?"
Out of good manners, Alice and Martha helped Shakespear onto the stage where all the chaos was centred.
"Now begins the millennium of blood!" the Carrionites cackled with glee, but that glee soon faded at seeing the Doctor, "The Doctor! He lives! Then watch this world become a blasted heath! They come! They come!"
More Carrionites were released from the main witch's hands from the crystal ball and began swishing about the stands. The Doctor shakes his head and grabs hold of Shakespear, "Come on, Will! History needs you!"
"But what can I do?"
"Reverse it!"
"How am I supposed to do that?"
"The shape of the Globe gives words power, but you're the wordsmith, the one true genius!" the Time Lord tried encouraging him, "The only man clever enough to do it!"
"But what words? I have none ready!" Shakespear protests.
"You're William Shakespeare!" Alice called across to him, "You always know the right words!"
"But these Carrionite phrases, the need such precision!" he shakes his head, "I don't know if can..."
"All you have to do is trust in yourself," Alice said gently.
"She's right. Will have faith in yourself," The Doctor catches her eye for a moment and nods in agreement, "When you're locked away in your room, the words just come, don't they, like magic. Words of the right sound, the right shape, the right rhythm. Words that last forever. That's what you do, Will. You choose perfect words. Do it. Improvise."
"You can do it," Alice nodded with Martha, "I like your work after all."
With the encouragement he needed, Shakespear stepped forward smiling out at the audience and the sky, "Close up this din of hateful, dire decay! Decomposition of your witches' plot! You thieve my brains, consider me your toy. My doting Doctor tells me I am not!" he spoke now somewhat uncertain at first but gains more and more with each word.
"No! Words of power!" the Carrionites wailed.
"Foul Carrionite spectres, cease your show! Between the points..." he looked to the Doctor for help.
"7-6-1-3-9-0!" the Doctor whispered to him.
"7-6-1-3-9-0!" he repeats, "Banished like a tinker's cuss, I say to thee..." he looked to the Doctor again, who now looked to Martha and Alice.
"Expelliarmus!" Martha instantly blurted out.
"Expelliarmus!" the Time Lord joined.
"Expelliarmus!" Alice called afterwards.
"Expelliarmus!" Shakespear finished off.
"Good old JK!" the Doctor adds.
"The deep darkness! They are consumed!" the Carrionites began screaming inhumanely as they got sucked up into the cloud...along with every script and copy that had been made of the play.
"Love's Labours Won. There it goes," Alice hears the Doctor say from beside her.
With a sudden flash and a bang, the sky clears. After a few short moments, there's nothing but silence, a silence that could hurt the ears after all that noise. Then, someone began clapping, and the rest of the crowd soon joined in applauding.
"They think it was all special effects?" Martha looked along with Alice, both somewhat baffled.
"Your effect is special indeed," Shakespear grinned at them both.
"Oh come on, Will," the young Noble shook her head, "You've got much better words in that head of yours, mate..."
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The following morning, they were back at the Globe, along with Shakespear. Where sat on the edge of the stage were Marth and Shakespear as their legs dangled freely, only two of them laughing and joking. But on the other hand, the Doctor had gone walkabout backstage, so Alice searched for him.
There, she finds him rummaging around the prop store and can't help but find it amusing and adorable to watch, leaning back and folding her arms with a smile, "What on Earth are you doing, Spaceman?"
"Oh, you know, just looking around," he answered with a slight grin, "Found this!" he picked up. What seemed to be a fake animal skull and chucked it over to Alice, who checked it to ensure it wasn't an actual creature's skull, "Reminds me of a Sycorax."
"What's that when it's at home?" she asked with a frown and scoffed before placing down the skull.
"The big spaceship above London on Christmas Day a few years ago, you or Donna must have seen it?" he asked.
"No, we were both nursing a hangover," she answered honestly, "Didn't hear about it until later," and it made her wonder, "You were up there, weren't you with Rose?"
"Oh, look at!" he ducks the question, heading towards a pile of props and picking up what was on top. He turned around awkwardly, grinning, holding the item.
Alice recognised it as a ruff collar, watching him place it around his neck, and honestly, he looked ridiculous. She needed him to be more open and honest with her and Martha if there would be another trip. That's if there would be another one.
"Can't believe I found this!" he touched the ruffles, smiling at the feel of them, "Definitely giving this to Will. Then I can say that I started this fashion statement," he now takes it off with a put-on smile still ignoring the way Alice was looking at him with worry and concern, "Rose would have loved coming to this place..."
"You can talk to me about her, you know," Alice gently smiled, "I won't bite your head off next time, I promise."
"Ally, it's just every time I think about Rose, it makes me wish I could have done more to save her," he said with a slight sniff.
"I still don't know what happened," Alice goes up to him, resting a gentle hand on his arm, "But you can't keep blaming yourself for it, alright?" the Time Lord nodded even though he was a little unhappy about it.
Then, without even considering it, Alice gave him a small peck on the cheek before grabbing the ruff, not seeing its effect on the Doctor, "Come on, Spaceman, let's go and find Martha."
The young Noble shook her head as she walked towards the doors, the Doctor not far behind her as they reappeared back out onto the main stage. Where Martha was still currently standing with Shakespeare.
"Good props store back there. I'm not sure about this, though," the Doctor announced before sniffing it, "Reminds me of a Sycorax."
"Sycorax," Shakespeare tested the word on his tongue, Martha sharing a look with Alice, who just shrugged, still unsure what it was, "Nice word. I'll have that off you as well."
"I should be on ten per cent," the Doctor places the skull down before looking at Shakespeare, "How's your head?"
Shakespeare rubs the back of his neck, "Still aching."
"Here, got you this," the Doctor said, clearing his throat after Alice passed him the ruff to put on Shakespeare, "Neckbrace. Wear that for a few days till it's better, although you might want to keep it. It suits you."
"Oh, it suits you," Alice nodded in agreement before looking towards her flatmate, "What do you think, Martha?"
Martha nodded before asking with some curiosity, "What about the play?"
"Gone. I looked all over. Every copy of 'Love's Labours Won' went up in the sky."
"My lost masterpiece," Shakespeare mused with a sigh.
"You could write it up again," Martha suggested.
"Yeah, better not, Will," the Doctor immediately warned, shaking his head, "There's still power in those words. So maybe it should best stay forgotten."
"Oh, but I've got new ideas," the playwright said with a smile, "Perhaps it's time I wrote about fathers and sons in memory of my boy, my precious Hamnet."
"Hamnet?" both the young women asked with equal frowns.
"That's him."
"Ham-net?" Alice raised an eyebrow at him.
"What's wrong with that?"
"Anyway, time we were off," the Time Lord interrupted before the line of conversation could go any further, "I've got a nice attic in the TARDIS where this lot can scream for all eternity," he scoops up the crystal ball from where it sat beside Shakespeare, "And I've got to take Martha and Alice back to Freedonia."
Alice and Martha's smiles faded at that.
"You mean travel on through time and space," the playwright corrected the Time Lord.
"You what?" the Doctor asked weakly.
"You're from another world like the Carrionites, and both dear Alice and Martha are from the future," he spoke rather casually about it as if he wasn't throwing a complete loop, "It's not hard to work out."
The Doctor stood there somewhat dumbfounded, "That's incredible. You are incredible."
"We're alike in many ways, Doctor," Shakespeare said before turning to Martha, "Martha, let me say goodbye to you in a new verse," he takes her hand, "A sonnet for my Dark Lady. Shall I compare thee to a summer's day? Thou art more lovely and more temperate..."
But before he can finish, Shakespeare gets interrupted by two actors rushing into the Globe, one calling.
"Will! Will, you'll never believe it. She's here! She's turned up!"
"We're the talk of the town," the other man said, "She heard about last night. She wants us to perform it again."
"Who?" Martha and Alice asked.
"Her Majesty. She's here," the first actor replied in a hoarse whisper, and there was a loud fanfare just outside. All three turned to face the entrance with wide eyes, hearts beating excitedly in their chests as they watched the woman float inside. Her expensive clothing trailed along the ground behind her, the entire outfit shimmering with more jewels than Alice had ever seen one person wear, making her jaw drop in the excitement that she was meeting her.
"Queen Elizabeth the First!" the Time Lord exclaimed with a grin.
"Doctor?" the Queen hissed his name like poison in her mouth.
He blinked back in surprise, "What?"
"My sworn enemy."
"What?"
"Off with his head!"
"What?"
"Never mind 'what', just run!" Martha cried, grabbing his arm and Alice's, and pulled them, "See you, Will, and thanks," she called over her shoulder as they legged it out of the Globe and down the street.
"Stop that pernicious Doctor!" the Queen ordered her as the guards chased after them.
"Stop in the name of the Queen!" one of the guards shouted.
"Do I need to ask what you did to upset Elizabeth the First?" Alice asked as they reached the TARDIS
"How should I know?" he replied with a shake of his head, "Haven't even met her yet. That's time travel for you. Still, can't wait to find out," quickly unlocked the door, shoving Alice and Martha inside, "That's something to look forward to. Oh!"
He ducked inside when an archer fired at him, hitting the TARDIS and embedding an arrow into the wood just as it dematerialised.
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