(Jared's POV)
The Amazing Race…
I felt more tired, more drained than usual, I rubbed my eyes and I saw what looked like someone very familiar to me.
It was Kirito from Sword Art Online. I ran up to him and saw that he was wearing the Augma, this little headband.
That means that this is taking place at some point before Sword Art Online:Ordinal Scale. Kirito slowly woke up and he looked at me.
"Ugh…" Kirito said, looking at me. "Who are you?"
"I'm Jared. I'm a fan of you and your girlfriend." I said, pulling Kirito off the ground. "I don't know where I am exactly."
Kirito walked towards a window and I saw what looked like the view of New York to me, but that's impossible.
"New York?" I asked, shocked, until I saw what looked like a pedestal out of the Amazing Race. "Oh no…"
"It sounds like you know what's going on here." Kirito said. "Want to team up? Until we find our friends of course."
"It looks like I don't have a choice here."
"Neither do I."
I then reached for my back and saw that the Monado is still there, and I reached for it, pulling it out.
"That sword. It looks pretty durable." Kirito said, and I saw a vision when I activated the sword.
It was two characters from SAO getting disintegrated from the robot at the end of the 1st Leg of the Amazing Race.
"Kirito…" I said, walking towards him. "Sachi and Yuuki are here."
"They are? Where are they?"
"I don't know. But they're gonna die here."
(Open POV)
Big Brother House…
"What is it? What's happening?" The Doctor asked, falling out of a small spinning cupboard.
"Oh, my God! I don't believe it! Why'd they put you in there? They never said you were coming." Lynda said.
"What happened? I was…"
"Careful now. Oh! Oh, mind yourself! Oh, that's the transmat. It scrambles your head. I was sick for days. All right? So, what's your name then, sweetheart?"
The Doctor is very unsteady, "The Doctor, I think. I was, er. I don't know, what happened? How…"
"You got chosen."
"Chosen for what?"
"You're a housemate. You're in the house. Isn't that brilliant?!"
Over by a pink screen with a stylised eye on it, a young man in a t-shirt is not amused.
"That's not fair. We've got eviction in five minutes! I've been here for all nine weeks, I've followed the rules, I haven't had a single warning, and then he comes swanning in." Strood said.
The dark-skinned young lady in the pink shirt joins in.
"If they keep changing the rules, I'm going to protest, I am. You watch me, I'm going to paint the walls." Crosbie said.
"Would the Doctor please come to the Diary Room?" Davina asked.
Diary room…
The Doctor goes through a door with the stylised eye on it and sits in a comfy chair.
"You are live on channel forty four thousand. Please do not swear." Davina said.
"You have got to be kidding." The Doctor said, annoyed.
The Amazing Race…
"Definitely not Japan for sure." Asuna said, walking around to notice Weiss admiring the view of Manhattan. "Who are you?"
"Schnee. Weiss Schnee. Heiress of the Schnee Dust Company." Weiss said, holding out her hand. "How about you?"
"Asuna Yuuki. You look like you're not from here." Asuna said, touching her hand to see that her Augma is still on her head. She touched the sensor on the device and loaded up the display interface to the contacts to see that Kirito and the others are alive and nearby. "Kirito…"
"Friend of yours?"
"Boyfriend. So, we're both born into rich families. It sounds like you have some friends. Do you think they ended up here too?"
"Yeah. Oh, the Doctor has some explaining to do. I think this is a game show."
"What makes you say…" Asuna said before she spotted the pedestal from the Amazing Race. "Something tells me that we were paired up by personalities and lifestyles."
"We were paired up together due us feeling like we don't belong in our families. Jared and Kirito must have been paired up, due to caring about others before themselves, and doing what's right. I wonder where Ruby, Blake, Yang, and Team JNPR were paired up with."
"So, what are they like? The rest of your friends?"
"Well, Ruby is a bit childish. But she has a pure heart."
"That means she must have ended up somewhere with Silica."
"Blake?"
"She hides her past, but she cares about others. If she opens up to them."
"She must have ended up with Sinon."
"How about Yang?"
"Flirt, temper tantrum, makes bad puns. And the strongest member of Team RWBY."
"Ended up with Klein."
"How about Team JNPR?" Asuna asked. "What are they like?"
"Jaune, he's a scrawny guy. But he is a good strategist." Weiss said. "He tried to ask me out from time to time."
"Ended up with Leafa."
"The rest of Team JNPR?"
"Nora, she has a shocking personality. She loves coffee and pancakes. She's a bit reckless at times."
"She ended up with Lisbeth. For sure."
"Ren. He keeps his past a secret, and tries to keep Nora in check. He's a great cook too."
"I just have a gut feeling that two people that Kirito and I knew. They're alive somewhere and we have to find them. Ren, he must have ended up with a girl named Sachi."
"Pyrrha, she's a nice, caring, and strong girl. She's fighting for what she thinks is right."
"She ended up with...I think she's alive here too. I think she ended up with Yuuki."
"I think we were teleported here." Weiss said, admiring the view of the Brooklyn Bridge. "I don't know why, but we were. What year was it for you?"
"2025. Or 2026. I think." Asuna said, sadly.
The Weakest Link…
Rose wakes up on a studio floor. A dark-skinned man is bending over her, "What happened?"
"It's all right. It's the transmat. Does your head in. Get a bit of amnesia. What's your name?" Rodrick asked.
"Rose. But where's the Doctor?" Rose asked.
"Just remember do what the android says. Don't provoke it. The android's word is law."
"What do you mean, android? Like a robot?"
A woman calls out instructions.
"Positions, everyone! Thank you!" The floor manager said.
"Come on, hurry up. Steady, steady." Rodrick said, helping Rose up.
Rose is wobbly on her feet, too, "I was travelling, with the Doctor, a man called Captain Jack, two teams called RWBY and JNPR, and a man named Jared. The Doctor wouldn't just leave me."
"That's enough chat. Positions! Final call! Good luck!" The floor manager said.
"But I'm not supposed to be here." Rose said.
"It says Rose on the podium. Come on." Roderick said.
Rose takes her place next to Rodrick, "Hold on, I must be going mad. It can't be. This looks like the…"
"Android activated!" The floor manager said.
"Oh, my God, the android. The Anne droid." Rose said, shocked.
"Welcome to The Weakest Link!" The Anne Droid said.
The Amazing Race…
"If there's 8 people that I assume are from SAO, GGO, and ALO. If it's combined with Teams RWBY and JNPR, that means that there are 16 people here that we need to save." Jared said, looking at Kirito. "Since we were all caught in that trans-mat. It just makes sense."
"It does." Kirito said, nodding his head. "We have to get them out, and ourselves too. Wherever we are."
"We're in the Amazing Race. A game show that I liked. But it's a deadly version of it. Where you travel around the world and do tasks. Just to win over a million dollars."
What Not To Wear...
"Here we go again. We've got our work cut out for us." Trine-e said.
"I don't know. He's sort of handsome. Has a good lantern jaw." Zu-zana said.
"Lantern jaws are so last year." Trine-e said.
Another pair of droids...one tall and thin, one short and curvy...have Jack lying on an examination couch. There is a rack of clothes nearby.
"Sorry, but, nice to meet you, ladies, but where exactly am I?" Jack asked.
"We're giving you a brand new image." Trine-e said.
"Oh, hold on, I was with the Doctor. Why, is there something wrong with what I'm wearing?"
"It's all very twentieth century. Where did you get that denim?" Zuzana asked.
"A little place in Cardiff. It was called the Top Shop." Jack said.
"Ah! Design classic."
"But we're going to have to find you some new colours. Maybe get rid of that Oklahoma Farm Boy thing you've got going on." Trine-e said.
"Just stand still and let the Defabricator work its magic."
"What's a defabricator?" Jack asked, and the beam disintegrates all of his clothes. "Okay. Defabricator. Does exactly what it says on the tin. Am I naked in front of millions of viewers?"
"Absolutely!" Trine-e and Zu-zana said at the same time.
"Ladies, your viewing figures just went up."
The Amazing Race...
"Yang, I can't believe you did that." Klein said, entering the room Jared was in with Kirito. "Hey."
"Hey." Kirito said, giving Klein a handshake. "So, you're Yang. Have you ever considered buttoning up your coat?"
"You shouldn't have said that." Jared said, looking at Kirito, and he opened up the first clue. "Go to Central Park and compete in the Desert Dash. Work with your teammate and sync your moves to reach the goal."
"So, it looks like we're rivals here." Klein said, looking at Kirito. "How about we make an alliance? Between all of us. Until we get home."
"It's Blake I'm worried about." Yang said. "The Faunus is upon us."
"And what's a Faunus?" Kirito asked.
"Oh, it's this race that's living among us humans. My semblance is a temper tantrum." Yang said, and she lifted off a sword off the ground. "And I found these really cool swords."
"Aren't those your swords from the SAO server?" Klein asked.
"They are." Kirito said, looking down at the Elucidator and the Dark Repulsor. "How did they get here?"
"Storytelling logic?" Jared asked, holding the Monado. "This must be a virtual world. That would explain your swords being here. But the Monado?"
"Yeah, that doesn't add up." Yang said. "Where are we?"
"At least we now know that this isn't New York."
"So, it's a virtual world then."
"Yup."
Big Brother House...
The Doctor is checking his surroundings with the sonic screwdriver, "I can't open it."
"It's got a deadlock seal, ever since Big Brother five hundred and four when they all walked out. You must remember that." Lynda said.
"What about this?" The Doctor asked, looking at an alcove with a picture in it.
"Oh, that's exoglass. You'd need a nuclear bomb to get through."
"Don't tempt me."
"I know you're not supposed to talk about the outside world, but you must've been watching. Do people like me? Lynda. Lynda with a Y, not Linda with an I. She got forcibly evicted because she damaged the camera. Am I popular?"
"I don't remember."
"Oh, but does that mean I'm nothing? Some people get this far just because they're insignificant. Doesn't anybody notice me?"
"No, you're, you're nice. You're sweet. Everybody thinks you're sweet."
"Oh, is that right? Is that what I am? Oh, no one's ever told me that before. Am I sweet? Really?" Lynda asked.
"Yeah. Dead sweet." The Doctor said.
"Thank you."
"It's a wall. Isn't there supposed to be a garden out there or something?"
"Don't be daft. No one's got a garden anymore. Who's got a garden? Don't tell me you've got a garden."
"No, I've just got the Tardis. I remember."
"That's the amnesia! So what happened? Where did they get you?"
"We'd just left Raxacoriofallapatorius. Then we went to Kyoto. That's right, Japan in 1336, and we only just escaped."
Tardis...
"We were together, we were laughing, and then there was this light. This white light coming through the walls, and then." The Doctor said.
Big Brother House...
"And then I woke up here." The Doctor said.
"Yeah, that's the transmat beam. That's how they pick the housemates." Lynda said.
"Oh, Lynda with a Y. Sweet little Lynda. It's worse than that. I'm not just a passing traveller. No stupid little transmat gets inside my ship. That beam was fifteen million times more powerful, which means this isn't just a game. There's something else going on." The Doctor said, speaking into one of the Eyes on the walls, which are cameras of course. "Well, here's the latest update from the Big Brother house. I'm getting out. I'm going to find my friends, and then I'm going to find you."
The Amazing Race…
"Right, this is a versus race. A 2v2." Jared said, going on the skis with Kirito. "We have to make it to the end."
"We can't do that." Kirito said, looking at Jared. "What about Klein and Yang?"
"We just need to delay them…"
Jared then spotted the robot that looked like the host from the Amazing Race, in terms of design.
"Right." Kirito said, running towards the robot using Starburst Stream, destroying it. "We've got to move. Now."
"So, what's the plan, Jared?" Yang asked, running away with Jared, Kirito, and Klein.
"We have to find Team JNPR, the rest of Team RWBY, and the people who played SAO, GGO, and ALO. That makes it 14 people." Jared said, holding Yang's hand and with the Monado in his free hand. "They're somewhere along this map."
The Weakest Link...
"Seventeen, sixteen, fifteen. Thank you, people. Transmitting in twelve, eleven, ten…" The floor manager said.
"But I need to find the Doc…" Rose said.
"Just shut up and play the game." Rodrick said, annoyed.
"Seven. Six…" The floor manager said.
"All right, then. What the hell. I'm going to play to win!" Rose said, happily.
"Three, and cue!"
"Let's play The Weakest Link. Start the clock. Agorax, the name of which basic food stuff is an anagram of the word 'beard'?" The Anne Droid asked.
"Bread." Agorax said.
"Correct. Fitch in the Pan Traffic Calendar, which month comes after Hoob?"
"Is it Clavadoe?" Fitch asked.
"No, Pandoff. Rose, in maths, what is 258 minus 158?"
"One hundred!" Rose said, excitedly.
"Correct. Rodrick."
"Bank." Rodrick said.
"Which letter of the alphabet appears in the word dangle but not in the word gland?" The Anne Droid asked.
"E."
"Correct. Colleen, in social security, what D is the name of the payment given to Martian Drones?"
"Default." Colleen said.
"Correct. Broff, the Great Cobalt Pyramid is built on the remains of which famous Old Earth Institute?"
"Er, Touchdown." Broff said.
"No, Torchwood. Agorax, in language, all five examples of which type of letter appear in the word facetious?"
"Vowels." Agorax said.
"Correct. Fitch, in biology, which blood cells contain iron? Red or white?"
"White." Fitch said.
"No, red. Rose, in the holovid series 'Jupiter Rising', the Grexnik is married to whom?" The Anne Droid asked.
"How should I know?" Rose asked, laughing.
"No, the correct answer is Lord Drayvole. Rodrick: in maths, what is nine squared?"
The Amazing Race…
It has been 20 minutes or so, and navigating through New York City, especially in the year 2018 was easy for Jared. The fanboy lead Kirito, Klein, and Yang to Rockefeller Center where they found Nora and Lisbeth.
Jared was happy that he knows the city well enough to know the hotspots of the city and where everyone could end up, he knows he has to save Asuna and Weiss last. He knows they could have ended up together.
"So, we're just leaving Asuna and Weiss together." Lisbeth said, looking at Jared. "For how long?"
"Until the Doctor breaks through the forcefield that's keeping this virtual world alive." Jared said, sadly. "I think this is all just a room, with the Cardinal Software on it. Mixed with Stark and Pym tech."
"And where is the Doctor?" Nora asked, holding her Magnhild.
"He's in this game show called Big Brother. He has to break out of there first. Right now the game is running itself to keep us alive. All 18 of us. That makes it 21, if we're including the Doctor, Rose, and Jack."
"You're saying that we're safe here." Klein said.
"As long as the Doctor finds us."
What Not To Wear...
Jack is posing.
"It's the buccaneer look. Little dash of pirate and just a tweak of President Schwarzenegger." Trine-e said.
"Er, not sure about the vest. What about a little bit of colour to lift it?" Jack asked, looking at the outfit he is wearing.
"Absolutely not. Never wear black with colour. It makes the colour look cheap and the black look boring. Now, let's talk jackets." Zu-zana said.
"I kind of like the first one."
"No, that's a bit too much Hell's Angel. I think I like the shorter one. Look, waist length, nice and slimming, shows off the bum."
"Works for me."
"Once we've got an outfit, we can look at the face. Ever thought about cosmetic surgery?" Trine-e asked.
"I've considered it, yeah. A little lift around the eyes. tighten up the jaw line. what do you think?" Jack asked.
"Oh, let's have a bit more ambition. Let's do something cutting edge." Trine-e said, and she has a chainsaw for a forearm.
The Amazing Race…
An hour and a half have passed since Jared has saved four of the 16 people he cares about. He has already saved Nora, Lisbeth, Kirito, Klein, and Yang. He managed to find Ruby and Silica inside Madison Square Garden.
"Ruby!" Jared said, running up to Ruby for a hug. "Thank goodness you're okay."
"You too." Ruby said, letting go of Jared. "Who are your friends?"
"That's Kirito, Klein, and Lisbeth. They're cool. Especially Kirito."
"He is a chick magnet. Isn't he?" Klein asked, as Jared laughed.
"I'm one too. I'm around 7 girls too."
"You two should stop right there." Lisbeth said, looking at Jared and Klein. "No need to make a competition. Let's find the others."
The Weakest Link...
The contestants are choosing the weakest link of the round.
"So, Rose, what do you actually do?" The Anne Droid asked.
"I just travel about a bit. Bit of a tourist, I suppose." Rose said.
"Another way of saying unemployed."
"No."
"Have you got a job?"
"Well, not really, no, but…"
"Then you are unemployed. And yet, you've still got enough money to buy peroxide. Why Fitch?"
"Er, I think she got a few of the questions wrong, that's all."
"Oh, you'd know all about that."
"Well, yeah, but I can't vote for myself, so it had to be Fitch. I'm sorry, that's the game. That's how it works. I had to vote for someone." Rose said, when Fitch is in tears.
"Let me try again. It was the lights and everything. I couldn't think." Fitch said, sadly.
"In fact, with three answers wrong, Broff was the weakest link in that round, but it's votes that count." The Anne Droid said.
"I'm sorry. Please. Oh God, help me!"
"Fitch you are the weakest link. Goodbye!"
A barrel comes out of Anne's mouth and a beam disintegrates Fitch.
"And we've gone to the adverts. Back in three minutes." The Floor Manager said.
"What's that? What's just happened?" Rose asked.
"She was the weakest link, she gets disintegrated. Blasted into atoms." Rodrick said.
"But I voted for her. Oh, my...this is sick. All of you, you're just sick! I'm not playing this."
"I'm not playing! I can't do it. I'm not. Please, somebody let me out of here." Broff said, terrified.
"You are the weakest link." The Anne Droid said, and Broff runs across the studio, and gets zapped by her. "Goodbye."
"Don't try to escape. It's play or die." Rodrick said.
The Amazing Race…
Jared and the rest of his gang has found the remaining members of the people who are from the world of SAO that he knows about. He sent Team JNPR back to Beacon along with the main characters of SAO, that being Kirito, Klein, Asuna, Lisbeth, Leefa, Silica, Yuuki, Sinon, and Sachi. That leaves only himself and Team RWBY on the Game Station, and they managed to break out of the game in the knick of time.
"We made it out of there." Jared said, happily. "And we saved them. Thank goodness."
"I have a feeling that you'll rotate between all of us now." Blake said, crossing her arms. "Whenever you can."
"Yeah. I will."
Big Brother House...
"Doctor, they said all the housemates must gather on the sofa. You've got to." Lynda said.
"I'm busy getting out, thanks." The Doctor said.
"But if you don't obey, then all the housemates get punished."
"Well, maybe I'll be voted out, then."
"How stupid are you? You've only just joined, you're not eligible." Stood said.
"Don't try anything clever or we all get it in the neck." Lynda said.
"Big Brother House this is, Davina Droid. Crosbie, Lynda and Strood, you have all been nominated for eviction. And the eighth person to be evicted from the Big Brother House is…" Davina said, with too long of a pause. "Crosbie!"
The Doctor leans back on the sofa, bored.
"I'm sorry! Oh, I'm sorry! Sorry!" Lynda said, sadly.
"Oh, it should've been me. Oh, that's not fair, Crosbie love." Strood said, annoyed.
"Crosbie, you have ten seconds to make your farewells, and then we're going to get you." Davina said.
"I won't forget you." Lynda said.
"I'm sorry I stole your soap." Crosbie said.
"I don't mind, honestly."
"Thanks for the food. You're a smashing cook. Bless you." Strood said.
"Crosbie, please leave the Big Brother House." Davina said.
A door to a short white corridor opens, with another door at the far end.
"Bye, then. Bye, Lynda." Crosbie said.
"Bye." Lynda said, as she and Strood made an arch, and Crosbie walks through. "I don't believe it. Crosbie."
"It's only a game show. She'll make a fortune on the outside. Sell her story, release a record, fitness video, all of that. she'll be laughing." The Doctor said.
"What do you mean, on the outside?" Lynda asked.
"Here we go." Strood said.
Lynda and Strood run back to the sofa to watch Crosbie on the screen.
"What are they waiting for? Why don't they just let her go?" The Doctor asked.
"Stop it, it's not funny." Lynda said.
"Eviction in five, four, three, two, one." Davina said.
A beam comes down from the ceiling and hits Crosbie. After a few moments, she vanishes in a puff of smoke.
"What was that?" The Doctor asked.
"Disintegrator beam." Strood said.
"She's been evicted. From life." Lynda said.
Floor 56…
"So, you sent the people who play SAO, ALO, and GGO to Beacon." Weiss said, looking at Jared. "I still can't believe we broke through that wall."
"Well, we can find the others." Jared said, happily. "The Doctor can find his own way out. I know he can. Jack can too, the only person we need to worry about is Rose."
"Why Rose?"
"She's playing a deadly version of the Weakest Link. Can't remember what floor she's on."
"So, we're just gonna wait." Blake said, and Jared took out his Nintendo Switch with Super Smash Bros Ultimate loaded up. "Until the Doctor meets up with us."
"I think that's our plan." Ruby said, happily. "Just wait and see what happens."
Big Brother House...
"Are you insane? You just step right into the disintegrator? Is it that important, getting your face on the telly? Is it worth dying for?" The Doctor asked.
"You're talking like we've got a choice!" Lynda said, angrily.
"But I thought you had to apply."
"Don't be so stupid. That's how they played it centuries back." Strood said.
"You get chosen whether you like it or not. Everyone on Earth is a potential contestant. The transmat beam picks you out at random. And it's non stop. There are sixty Big Brother houses running all at once." Lynda said.
"How many? Sixty?" The Doctor asked.
"They've had to cut back. It's not what it was." Strood said.
"It's a charnel house! What about the winners? What do they get?"
"They get to live." Lynda said.
"Is that it?"
"Well, isn't that enough?"
"Rose is out there. She got caught in the transmat. She's a contestant. Time I got out. That other contestant, er, Linda with an I. She was forcibly evicted for what?"
"Damage to property."
"What, like this?" The Doctor asked, sonicking a camera into oblivion.
What Not To Wear...
Jack is in tennis whites, "No, I'm just not getting this. It's just too safe. Too decent. And you'd never keep it clean."
"Stage two, ready and waiting." Zu-Zane said.
"Bring it on, girls." Jack said, while his clothes are disintegrated.
"And now it's time for the face off!" Trine-e said.
"What does that mean? Do I get to compete with someone else?"
"No. Like I said, face off." Trine-e said, while she starts up her chainsaw.
"I think you'd look good with a dog's head." Zu-zana said, as a large pair of scissors start up.
"Or maybe no head at all. That would be so outrageous."
"And we could stitch your legs to the middle of your chest."
"Nothing is too extreme. It's to die for."
"Now, hold on, ladies. I don't want to have to shoot either one of you." Jack said.
"But you're unarmed!' Trine-e said.
"You're naked!" Zu-zana said, and Jack produces a small hand weapon from somewhere behind him. "But...that's a Compact Laser Deluxe!"
"Where were you hiding that?"
"You really don't want to know." Jack said.
"Give me that accessory." Trine-e said.
Jack shoots Trine-E's head off, then Zu-Zana's.
The Weakest Link...
"You are the weakest link. Goodbye!" The Anne Droid said, and Colleen is atomised.
"Going to the break! Two minutes on the clock. Just a reminder we've got solar flare activity coming up in ten. Thanks, everyone." The Floor Manager said.
"Colleen was clever. She banked all our money. Why'd you vote for her?" Rose asked.
"Because I want to keep you in. You're stupid! You don't even know the Princess Vossaheen's surname. When it comes to the final, I want to be up against you, so that you get disintegrated and I get a stack load of credits courtesy of the Bad Wolf Corporation." Rodrick said.
"What do you mean? Who's Bad Wolf?"
"They're in charge. They run the Game Station."
"Why are they called Bad Wolf?"
"I don't know. It's just a name. It's like an Old Earth nursery rhyme sort of thing what does it matter?"
"I keep hearing those words everywhere we go. Bad Wolf. Different times. Different places, like it's written all over the Universe."
"What're you going on about?"
"If the Bad Wolf is in charge of this quiz, then maybe I'm not here by mistake. Someone's been planning this."
Big Brother House...
"The Doctor, you've broken the House Rules. Big Brother has no choice but to evict you. You have ten seconds to make your farewells, and then we're going to get you!" Davina said.
"That's more like it. Come on, then. Open up!" The Doctor said, happily.
"You're mad! It's like you want to die." Lynda said, angrily.
"I reckon he's a plant. He was only brought in to stir things up." Strood said.
"The Doctor, please leave the Big Brother house." Davina said.
The Doctor runs into the white corridor, "Come on then, disintegrate me! Come on, what're you waiting for?"
"He is, he's mad. He's bonkers." Lynda said.
"Disintegrate me. What are you waiting for?"
"Eviction in five, four, three, two, one." Davina said.
The machine shuts down.
"Ah, ha! I knew it! You see, someone brought me into this game. If they'd wanted me dead, they could've transmatted me into a volcano. They want me alive. Maybe security isn't as tight this end. Are you following this? I'm getting out!" The Doctor opens the white door. Lynda opens the other door. "Come with me."
"We're not allowed!" Strood said, angrily.
"Stay in there, you've got a fifty fifty chance of disintegration. Stay with me, I promise I'll get you out alive. Come on!"
"No, I can't. I can't." Lynda said.
"Lynda, you're sweet. From what I've seen of your world, do you think anyone votes for sweet?" The Doctor asked, holding out his hand.
Lynda takes it and they run out into…
Floor 56...
"Hold on. I've been here before. This is Satellite Five. No guards. That makes a change. You'd think a big business like Satellite Five would be armed to the teeth." The Doctor said, opening another door and they go through.
"No one's called it Satellite Five in ages. It's the Game Station now. Hasn't been Satellite Five in about a hundred years." Lynda said.
"A hundred years exactly. It's the year two zero zero one zero zero. I was here before, Floor one three nine. The Satellite was broadcasting news channels back then. Had a bit of trouble upstairs. Nothing too serious. Easy. Gave them a hand, home in time for tea."
"A hundred years ago? What, you were here a hundred years ago?"
"Yep!"
"You're looking good on it."
"I moisturise." The Doctor said, as Jared and Team RWBY approached him and Lynda. "Hey. Where were you?"
"Oh, the Amazing Race. I just saved 16 lives today, with some help of course." Jared said, smiling. "8 of them come from Sword Art Online. I wonder if they're real here."
"So, what are you getting on the sonic?" Weiss asked, walking up to the Doctor. "Anything good?"
"Funny sorts of readings. All kinds of energy. The place is humming. It's weird. This goes way beyond normal transmissions. What would they need all that power for?" The Doctor asked, reading the scans on his sonic.
"I don't know. I think we're the first ever contestants to get outside." Lynda said.
"We had two other friends travelling with us. They must've got caught in the same transmat. Where would they be?"
"I don't know. They could've been allocated anywhere. There's a hundred different games."
"Like what?"
"Well, there's ten floors of Big Brother. There's a different House behind each of those doors. And then beyond that, there's all sorts of shows. It's non stop. There's Call My Bluff, with real guns. Countdown, where you've got thirty seconds to stop the bomb going off. Ground Force, which is a nasty one. You get turned into compost. Er, Wipeout, speaks for itself. Oh, and Stars In Their Eyes. Literally, stars in their eyes. If you don't sing, you get blinded."
"And you watch this stuff?"
"Everyone does. How come you don't?"
"Never paid for my licence."
"Oh, my God! You get executed for that."
"Let them try."
"You keep saying things that don't make sense. Who are you though, Doctor, really?"
"So, we're just gonna have Lynda travel with us." Weiss said, and Jared got another vision from the Monado.
It wasn't Sachi and Yuuki dying today, but it was always Jack and Lynda. Jared's eyes widened and he walked back a couple of feet.
"Jared?" Blake asked.
"What's wrong?" Ruby asked, walking towards Jared. "What did you see?"
"It's nothing." Jared said, happily. "Nothing you should worry yourselves about."
"I don't believe you for one minute." Weiss said, crossing her arms. "You act like that guy we just met, Kirito."
"Now that I think about it, you do act like him." Blake said, nodding her head. "Especially the way you care about us like that."
"So, we just need to figure out where we are."
"It shouldn't be too hard." Yang said, smiling. "Right?"
"I wouldn't mind if you did. Not a bad idea, Lynda with a Y. But first of all, we've got to concentrate on the getting out. And to do that, you've got to know your enemy. Who's controlling it? Who's in charge of the satellite now?" The Doctor asked.
"Hold on." Lynda said, spotting a light breaker and turns it on. A sign lights up...Bad Wolf Corporation. "Your lords and masters."
TARDIS…
"It looked like Jared got the coordinates a bit off." Pyrrha said, leaning against the TARDIS console. "He said that he would get us home. After getting us out of the game show."
"He did." Kirito said, crossing his arms. "I think he's trying to protect us. I have to help him."
Asuna walked up to Kirito, placing her hand on his shoulder, as if to stop him, "I can't lose you. You mean so much to me."
"As you do with me. But we can't just leave them there."
"All we can do is wait. This Doctor of his can bring us home. Home to our own time. I just don't know where we are."
"We can't operate this thing." Lisbeth said, walking around the TARDIS console. "It looks out of this world."
"It's alien." Ren said. "None of us can't operate it."
"It travels across all of time and space!" Nora said, excitedly.
"So, we're sitting ducks." Klein said, annoyed. "While the action is out there."
"We're safe." Silica said, petting Pina's neck. "And it looks like the technology of this place recognize the SAO servers."
"The Doctor can bring you home." Jaune said. "There's this portal in here, we just step through it to bring us home."
"I just don't know if you can go home that way." Pyrrha said, sadly. "We're different from each other."
"You guys rule in VR. According to Jared. We defeat Grimm."
What Not To Wear...
Jack is taking apart the Defabricator, "Compatible systems. Just align the wave signature. Attaboy! Got myself a gun. Well, ladies, the pleasure was all mine. Which is the only thing that matters in the end."
Floor 299...
Jack runs out and calls the lift. He checks his vortex manipulator.
"Two hearts, that's him. Which floor?" Jack asked, getting into the elevator.
Observation deck...
"Blimey! I've never seen it for real before. Not from orbit. Planet Earth." Lynda said, looking at the view.
"Wow…" Weiss said, looking at the view of Earth. "What happened to it?"
"Well, it's always been like that Ever since I was born. See that there? That's the Great Atlantic Smog Storm. It's been going twenty years. We get newsflashes telling us when it's safe to breath outside." Lynda said.
"So the population just sits there? Half the world's too fat, and half the world's too thin, and you lot just watch telly?" The Doctor asked.
"Ten thousand channels, all beaming down from here."
"The Human Race. Brainless sheep being fed on a diet of. Mind you, have they still got that programme where three people have to live with a bear?"
"Oh, Bear With Me. I love that one!"
"And me. The celebrity edition where the bear got in the bath."
"Got in the bath!"
"Doctor, I just have this gut feeling that this is wrong." Blake said, looking at the Doctor. "That this has gone wrong."
"It has, Blake. History's gone wrong again. This should be the Fourth Great and Bountiful Human Empire. I don't understand. Last time we were here I put it right." The Doctor said.
"No, but that's when it first went wrong. A hundred years ago, like you said. All the news channels, they just shut down overnight." Lynda said.
"But that was me. I did that."
"There was nothing left in their place. No information. The whole planet just froze. The government, the economy, they collapsed. That was the start of it. One hundred years of hell."
"Oh, my. I made this world."
The Weakest Link...
Agorax screams as he gets disintegrated.
"That leaves Rose and Rodrick. You're going head to head. Let's play The Weakest Link." The Anne Droid said.
"Right, that's the end of tactical voting. You're on your own now." Rodrick said.
Observation deck...
"Hey, handsome, Team RWBY, and our fan. Good to see you lot? Any sign of Rose?" Jack asked, walking up to them.
"Can't you track her down?" The Doctor asked.
"She must still be inside the games. All the rooms are shielded."
"Crap." Jared said, eating some jelly babies. "We have to find her somehow!"
"If I can just get inside this computer. She's got to be here somewhere." The Doctor said, working on the console Adam used a century before.
"Well, you'd better hurry up. These games don't have a happy ending." Jack said.
"Especially the game we were in." Weiss said, crossing her arms. "If us and the people from Sword Art Online didn't work together to break out. We would have died."
"So, you better hurry up." Blake said, agreeing with Weiss and Jack.
"Do you think I don't know that?" The Doctor asked, looking at the three.
Jack hands over his vortex manipulator, "There you go, patch that in. It's programmed to find her."
"Thanks."
"Hey, there." Jack said, looking at Lynda.
"Hello." Lynda said.
"Captain Jack Harkness."
"Lynda Moss."
"Nice to meet you, Lynda Moss."
"Do you mind flirting outside?" The Doctor asked, looking at Jack. "It was already enough with the bad puns from Yang. I don't need you flirting like it's no tomorrow."
"I was just saying hello!"
"For you, that's flirting."
"I'm not complaining." Lynda said, happily.
"Muchas gracias." Jack said, smiling.
"It's not compatible. This stupid system doesn't make sense." The Doctor said, giving the vortex manipulator to Lynda and kicks the console. Jack takes off the front plate. "This place should be a basic broadcaster, but the systems are twice as complicated. It's more than just television. This station's transmitting something else."
"Like what?"
"I don't know. This whole Bad Wolf thing's tied up with me. Someone's manipulated my entire life. It's some sort of trap and Rose is stuck inside it."
The Weakest Link...
"Rose, in geography, the Grand Central Ravine is named after which ancient British city?" The Anne Droid asked.
"Is it York?" Rose asked.
"No, the correct answer is Sheffield."
Observation deck...
"Found her. Floor four oh seven." The Doctor said.
"Oh, my God, she's with the Anne Droid." Lynda said, terrified.
"She's on the Weakest Link!" Jared said, annoyed. "At least it wasn't Survivor!"
"Jared's right, it wasn't one of those American game shows. Doctor, you've got to get her out of there." Lynda said, looking at the Doctor.
The Weakest Link...
"Rodrick, in literature, the author of Lucky was Jackie who?" The Anne Droid asked.
"Stewart." Rodrick said.
"No, the correct answer is Collins. Rose, the oldest inhabitant of the Isop Galaxy is the Face of what?"
"Boe! The Face of Boe!" Rose said, happily.
"That is the correct answer."
Lift...
"Come on, come on!" The Doctor said.
The Weakest Link...
"Rodrick, in history, who was the President of the Red Velvets?" The Anne Droid asked.
"Hoshbin Frane." Rodrick said.
"That is the correct answer. Rose, in food, the dish Gaffabeque originated on which planet?"
"Er, is it Mars?" Rose asked.
"No, the correct answer is Lucifer. Rodrick, which measurement of length is said to have been defined by the Emperor Jate as the distance from his nose to his fingertip?"
"Would that be a goffle?" Rodrick asked.
"No, the correct answer is a paab. Rose, in fashion, Stella Pok Baint is famous for what?"
"Shoes." Rose said.
"No, the correct answer is hats."
Floor 407...
"Rodrick, in physics, who discovered the Fifteen Dash Ten Barric Fields?" The Anne Droid asked.
"Game Room Six, which one is it?!" The Doctor exclaimed.
"It's this one!" Ruby said, running over to the door.
"San Hazeldine." Rodrick said.
"No. the correct answer is San Chen." The Anne Droid said.
"Stand back, let me blast it open." Jack said, holding his gun.
"Or I can punch my way through." Yang said, standing near the door, her eyes glowing red. "Let me do this!"
"You can't. It's made of Hydra combination." The Doctor said, looking at Yang and Jack.
The Weakest Link...
The final question.
"Rose, in history, which Icelandic city hosted Murder Spree Twenty?" The Anne Droid asked.
"Reykjavik?" Rose asked.
"No, the correct answer is Pola Ventura."
Rodrick got two right, Rose got one.
"Oh, my God! I've done it! You've lost!" Rodrick said, happily.
Floor 407...
The Doctor is working on the lock to the studio, "Come on, come on, come on."
The Weakest Link…
"But I'm not meant to be here. I need to find the Doctor, he's got to be here somewhere he's always here! He wouldn't just leave me!" Rose said, terrified.
"Rodrick, you are the strongest link, you will be transported home with one thousand six hundred credits." The Anne Droid said.
"Oh, thank you, thank you so much." Rodrick said, smiling.
"This game is illegal. I'm telling you to stop!" Rose said.
"Rose! Stop this game!" The Doctor said.
"Rose, you leave this life with nothing." The Anne Droid said.
"Stop this game!" Jack said.
"I order you to stop this game!" The Doctor said.
"You are the weakest link." The Anne Droid said.
"Look out for the Anne Droid, it's armed!" Rose said, and the Anne Droid shoots her as she runs to the Doctor.
"Rose…" Jared said, looking down at the pile of dust left on the floor. "Damn you!"
"What the hell did you do to her?" Jack asked, while everything else happens in the background as the Doctor kneels over Rose's remains. "Back off!"
"I need security and I need it here right now! It's this lot." The floor manager said.
"Don't you touch them! Leave them alone!" Jack said, when a security guard takes the Doctor's arm.
"One touch to one of my friends." Yang said, her gauntlets are out with her eyes glowing red. "You'll regret it."
"Sir, put down the gun or I'll have to shoot." The guard said.
"You killed her! Your stupid freaking game show killed her." Jack said, angrily.
"Sir, I'm arresting you under Private Legislation Sixteen of the Game Station Syndicate."
Prison cell…
"Can you tell us the purpose of this device, sir? Can you tell us how you got on board?" The guard asked, waving the Doctor's sonic screwdriver around.
"Just leave him alone." Lynda said.
"I'm asking him. Sir? Can you tell us who you are?" The guard asked, as the Doctor's mug shots are taken, front and both profiles. "You will be taken from this place to the Lunar Penal Colony, there to be held without trial. You may not appeal against this sentence. Is that understood?"
A second guard unlocks the cage to let his colleague out.
"Let's do it." The Doctor said, as Jack and Yang led the fight out.
The two guards are knocked out and Jack reclaims his Defabricator while the Doctor retrieves his sonic screwdriver, Jared retrieves the Monado, and Team RWBY retrieves their respective weapons. Lynda takes the guard's weapons.
"So, Kirito and Asuna." Ruby said, running next to Jared. "What are they like?"
"Oh, to put it to perspective." Jared said, smiling. "They remind me so much of the Doctor and Clara."
"And who's Clara?"
"She's an impossible girl."
Lift...
"Floor 500." The Doctor said, holding a gun.
Floor 500...
Pavale sounds the alarm, "Clear the floor. He's on his way up here with a gun!"
"This is an emergency! You've got to close the lift!" A woman said.
"All staff are reminded that solar flares commence in delta point two." The controller said.
"Never mind solar flares, he's going to kill you!" Pavale said.
The lift arrives.
"Okay, move away from the desk! Nobody try anything clever. Everybody clear. Stand to the side and stay there." Jack said.
"Yeah, you'd better do as he says." Blake said, holding her Gambol Shroud. "You don't want us to hurt you."
"We want to help you guys." Weiss said, holding her Myrtenaster. "So, no funny business."
"You seem more distracted than usual." Ruby said, noticing how quiet Jared has been. "Is it about them? Those SAO survivors?"
"Yeah." Jared said, as Ruby gave him a hug. "They'll be what you guys will become, if the future I know will happen."
"This future is bad." Yang said, as Jared lets out some tears. "Is it like a bad luck charm?"
"Let's Just Live."
"I want an answer!" The Doctor said, angrily.
"Occur in delta point one." The controller said.
"She can't reply. Don't shoot!" Pavale said, terrified.
"Oh, don't be so thick. Like I was ever going to shoot." The Doctor said, tossing his weapon to Pavale. "Captain, Weiss, Yang, we've got more guards on the way up. Secure the exits."
"Yes, sir." Jack said, running off with Weiss and Yang.
"You. What were you saying?" The Doctor asked, looking at Pavale.
"But I've got your gun." Pavale said.
"Okay, so shoot me. Why can't she answer?"
"She's er...can I put this down?"
"If you want. Just hurry up."
"Thanks. Sorry." Pavale said, placing the gun down. "The Controller is linked to the transmissions. The entire output goes through her brain. You're not a member of staff so she doesn't recognise your existence."
"What's her name?"
"I don't know. She was installed when she was five years old. That's the only life she's ever known."
"That's so sad." Blake said, frowning. "Not knowing any other life."
"So, how did it go?" Ruby asked, as Jack, Weiss, and Yang ran towards them.
"Door's sealed. We should be safe for about ten minutes." Jack said.
"Keep an eye on them." The Doctor said.
"But that stuff you were saying about something going on with the Game Station. I think you're right. I've kept a log. Unauthorised transmats, encrypted signals, it's been going on for years." Pavale said.
"Show me."
Jack tries to open Archive Six.
"The three of you are not allowed in there. Archive Six is out of bounds." A woman said.
"Do we look like out of bounds sort of people?" Jack asked, and the door opens.
The door opens. Jack goes in with Weiss and Yang and walks up to the Tardis.
Tardis...
Jack operates the console, "What the hell?"
"There's no way…" Weiss said, looking at what is on the screen. "Is that even possible?"
"Possible? I think it's pawssible." Yang said, coming up with another bad pun.
(Jared's POV)
Floor 500...
"Solar flare activity in delta point zero fifteen. " The controller said.
"If you're not holding us hostage, then open the door and let us out. The staff are terrified." The woman said.
"That's the same staff who execute hundreds of contestants every day." The Doctor said.
"That's not our fault. We're just doing our jobs."
"And with that sentence you just lost the right to even talk to me. Now back off!" The Doctor said, and the power drops.
"That's just the solar flares. They interfere with the broadcast signal, so this place automatically powers down. Planet Earth gets a few repeats. It's all quite normal." Pavale said.
"Doctor." The controller said.
"Doctor?" The woman asked.
"Whatever it is, you can wait." The Doctor said.
"I think she wants you."
"Doctor? Doctor? Where's the Doctor?" The controller asked.
"I'm here." The Doctor said.
"Can't see. I'm blind. So blind. All my life, blind. All I can see is numbers, but I saw you."
"What do you want?"
"Solar flares hiding me. They can't hear me. My masters, they always listen but they can't hear me now the sun, the sun is so bright."
"So, she has never left this place." Ruby said, as I nodded my head. "How could these masters of her be so cruel?"
"They just are." I said, holding Ruby's hand. "I hate them with a passion. And I don't want to lose any of you guys to them."
"How bad are they?" Blake asked.
"They can cause the end of the world."
"That bad, then."
"Yup."
"What's the plan, Jared?" Ruby asked, looking at me.
"I don't have one, Ruby."
"Who are they?" The Doctor asked, looking at the controller.
"But speak of you, my masters, they fear the Doctor." The controller said.
"Tell me, who are they?" The Doctor asked, and the power comes back on.
"Twenty one, twenty two."
"So, when's the next solar flare?" Ruby asked, looking at Pavale.
"Two years time." Pavale said.
"Fat lot of good that is." The Doctor said, annoyed.
"We found the TARDIS." Weiss said, running up to us with Jack and Yang. "The SAO survivors, along with Sinon, Leafa, and Team JNPR are safe inside there."
"We're not leaving now." The Doctor said, crossing his arms.
"No, but the Tardis worked it out. You'll want to watch this. Lynda, could you stand over there for me please?" Jack asked, looking at Lynda.
"I just want to go home." Lynda said, sadly.
"It'll only take a second. Could you stand in that spot, quick as you can. Everybody watching? Okay. three, two, one."
A beam comes down and Lynda vanishes in a puff of smoke.
"But you killed her!" The Doctor said, angrily.
"Oh, do you think?" Jack asked, and another beam brings Lynda back.
"What the hell was that?" Lynda asked.
"It's a transmat beam. Not a disintegrator, a secondary transmat system. People don't get killed in the games. they get transported across space. Doctor, Rose is still alive!" Jack said, and he hugs the Doctor, with Jared joining the hug.
(Open POV)
Spaceship….
There is a familiar rhythmic hum going on when Rose wakes up. Something approaches, looking at her through a round lens.
"No, it can't be. You're dead. I saw you die!" Rose said, when a sink plunger blocks her way.
Floor 500…
"She's out there somewhere." The Doctor said.
"Yes, she is." Jared said, looking at Team RWBY. "Go inside the TARDIS. And go to Beacon."
"But…" Ruby said, as Jared's worried sick.
"Do as I say, and hang out at your school." Jared said, and Team RWBY ran away from him. "I'll catch up, I promise."
The Controller disappears in a puff of smoke and a scream.
"They took her." The Doctor said, sadly.
TARDIS…
"Team, we're going home." Ruby said, walking towards the portal with the rest of Team RWBY. "Even if I don't want to."
"I think he's up to something." Jaune said, walking towards the portal with the rest of Team JNPR. "We'll see you guys around."
"We will." Kirito said, smiling. "We'll keep him safe, if it's the last thing we do."
Kirito looked at the rest of the SAO survivors, his cousin, and Sinon. And Teams RWBY and JNPR entered the portal that takes them to Beacon.
Floor 500...
"Look, use that. It might contain the final numbers. I kept a log of all the unscheduled transmissions." Pavale said.
"Nice, Thanks. Captain Jack Harkness, by the way." Jack said, flirting with Pavale.
"I'm Davitch Pavale."
"Nice to meet you, Davitch Pavale."
"There's a time and a place." The Doctor said.
"There really is." Jared said, happily. "It's not now, Jack."
"Are you saying this entire set up's been a disguise all along?" The woman asked.
"Going way back. Installing the Jagrafess a hundred years ago. Someone's been playing a long game, controlling the human race from behind the scenes for generations." The Doctor said.
"Click on this. The transmat delivers to that point, right on the edge of the solar system." Jack said.
"There's nothing there." The woman said.
"It looks like nothing because that's what this satellite does. Underneath the transmission there's another signal." The Doctor said.
"Doing what?" Pavale asked.
"It's hiding whatever is out there." Jared said, wearing a red scarf around his neck. "I know what it is. The signal is hiding it from any kind of sensor. Sonar, radar, and scanner."
"There's something sitting right on top of planet Earth, but it's completely invisible. If I cancel the signal…" The Doctor said, and a large flying saucer appears on a holo-viewscreen. "So, you brought Teams RWBY and JNPR home."
"I did." Jared said, while there are a lot, lot more of the large flying spaceships. "The SAO survivors, Leafa, and Sinon. They were all wearing this tech called Augma. It's this thing linked to the Cardinal server. That was this latest thing used to run the Sword Art Online virtual reality game."
"That's impossible. I know those ships. They were destroyed." Jack said, looking at the Dales ships.
"Obviously, they survived. That's the reason why I sent my friends back home. They don't deserve to die here."
"Who did? Who are they?" Lynda asked, looking at Jared.
"Two hundred ships. More than two thousand on board each one. That's just about half a million of them." The Doctor said.
"Half a million what?" Pavale asked.
"Daleks."
Spaceship...
"Alert. Alert. We are detected." Dalek 2 said.
"It is the Doctor. He has located us. Open communications channel." Dalek 1 said.
"The female will stand. Stand!"
A holo-viewscreen pops into view with Floor 500 on it.
Floor 500...
"I will talk to the Doctor." The Dalek said, on the view screen.
"Oh, will you? That's nice. Hello!" The Doctor said, happily.
"The Dalek stratagem nears completion. The fleet is almost ready. You will not intervene."
"Oh, really? Why's that, then?"
Spaceship...
"We have your associate." The Dalek said.
Floor 500...
"You will obey or…" The Dalek said, on the view screen.
Spaceship...
"She will be exterminated." The Dalek said.
Floor 500...
"No." The Doctor said, and everyone looks at him.
"Badass moment right here." Jared said, laughing a lot. "I love this so much."
"I said no." The Doctor said.
"What is the meaning of this negative?" The Dalek asked, on the view screen.
"It means no."
Spaceship...
"But she will be destroyed." The Dalek said.
"No!" The Doctor said, on the view screen.
Floor 500...
"Because this is what I'm going to do. I'm going to rescue her." The Doctor said.
Spaceship...
"I'm going to save Rose Tyler from the middle of the Dalek fleet…" The Doctor said, on the view screen.
Floor 500...
"And then I'm going to save the Earth, and then, just to finish off, I'm going to wipe every last stinking Dalek out of the sky!" The Doctor said, angrily.
Spaceship...
"But you have no weapons, no defences, no plan." The Dalek said.
Floor 500...
"Yeah. And doesn't that scare you to death. Rose?" The Doctor asked.
Spaceship...
"Yes, Doctor?" Rose asked.
"I'm coming to get you." The Doctor said, on the view screen, and ending the transmission with the sonic screwdriver.
"The Doctor is initiating hostile action." The Dalek said.
"The stratagem must advance. Begin the invasion of Earth!" Dalek 2 said.
"The Doctor will be exterminated!" Dalek 3 said.
"Exterminate! Exterminate! Exterminate! Exterminate! Exterminate!" All the Dalek said.