(Jared's POV)
Open ground…
The Tardis materialises in the Tardis-sized gap between a pair of cargo containers.
"The TARDIS materialized wrong." Blake said, looking out of the TARDIS doors. "Fix this."
"Blake's right." Ruby said, as the TARDIS for once got the door on the wrong side. "You messed up on your landing."
The Doctor can't get out, "Ah."
"Let me fix this." I said, flicking some switches on the TARDIS console for the time machine to turn 90 degrees. "I love today, I do."
"What's so special about today?" Blake asked, while a train whizzes along the track between the open ground and the housing estate. "Isn't this like any other day?"
"Nope!" Ruby said, dragging me and Blake out of the TARDIS. "Come on slowpokes!"
Rose checks out a Shane Ward Greatest Hits poster on one of the containers, "So, near future, yeah? Or the distant past for Jared."
"I had a passing fancy. Only it didn't pass, it stopped." The Doctor said.
Dame Kelly Holmes Close…
"Thirtieth Olympiad." The Doctor said.
"No way! Why didn't I think of this? That's great." Rose said, happily.
"Only seems like yesterday a few naked Greek blokes were tossing a discus about, wrestling each other in the sand with crowds stood around baying. No, wait a minute, that was Club Med. Just in time for the opening doo dah, ceremony, tonight, I thought you'd like that. Last one they had in London was dynamite. Wembley, 1948. I loved it so much, I went back and watched it all over again. Fella carrying the torch. Lovely chap, what was his?" The Doctor asked, when Tom's dad is putting up Missing posters on the lampposts. "Mark? John? Mark? Legs like pipe cleaners, but strong as a whippet."
"Something's wrong." Ruby said, looking at me. "What are you hiding?"
"I think it's about these kids." Blake said, walking up to a lamppost. "Missing children?���
"How long has this been going on?"
"A while." I said, shrugging my shoulders. "Rose already noticed it too. I don't want to ruin the fun for you, Little Red and Belle."
"Belle?" Blake asked.
"Beauty and the Beast." Ruby said, smirking. "You did tell me your favorite Disney movies."
"So I'm the beauty. And who's the beast?"
"Blake, you already know." I said, sadly. "I won't be able to escape my future."
"What's the future like?"
"Spoilers."
A woman puts out her rubbish and goes straight back inside. There is no one else about apart from the council roadmenders and their white van.
"Whatever it is, it's got the whole street scared to death. Doctor, what…" Rose said.
"This won't end well." Blake said, as the Doctor has run up the street to investigate the front lawn and its goal. "What is he doing?"
"I think he's investigating." Ruby said, and the Doctor his hand out over the grass. "Is this something to do with the missing children? Children we should find."
"Maybe." I said, when a man in a Mini drives into the road, and the engine gives out. One of the road menders comes over to help. "Maybe not. I really want to tell you. But, god knows what would happen if I did tell."
"There you go. Fifth today. Not natural, is it?" Kel asked.
"I don't know what happened, I had it serviced less than a month ago." The driver said.
"Nah, don't even try and explain it, mate. All the cars are doing it. And do you know what? It's bonkers. Bonkers. Come on then, pal. I'll help you shift it. Quicker you're on the way, happier you'll be." Kel said, as the two men start pushing the car. "There we go."
"Need some help?" Ruby asked, walking up to Kel. "You could like you could use some."
"No, we're all right, love."
"You're not." Blake said, walking up to Kel too. "We're tougher than we look."
"We do like helping people." Ruby said, as she and Blake joined Kel pushing the car at the back, and the engine suddenly bursts into life. "There you go. All fixed!"
"That wasn't normal." Blake said, when Ken falls over, the driver gets back in drives off.
"Does this happen a lot?" Rose asked.
"Cheers, mate!" The driver said happily.
"Been doing it all week." Kel said.
"Since those children started going missing?" Rose asked.
"Yeah, I suppose so." Kel said.
"That won't end well." Blake said, looking back at the goal. "What is he doing?"
"I don't know." Ruby said, sadly. "Do you know?"
"Yeah." I said, laughing a lot. "The Doctor doesn't know how to shut up."
"Thank you, Captain Obvious." Blake said, rolling her eyes. "What will we do to help those kids?"
"We help one of them."
"How?" Ruby asked. "All the kids on this street. We don't know where they are."
"Every car cuts out. The council are going nuts. I mean, they've given this street the works. Renamed it. I've been tarmacking every pot hole. Look at that. Beauty, init? Yeah! And all that is because that Olympic Torch comes right by the end of this Close. Just down there. Everything's got to be perfect, ain't it? Only it ain't." Kel said, angrily.
"It takes them when they're playing." Maeve said.
"What takes them?" Rose asked.
"Danny, Jane, Dale. Snatched in the blink of an eye." Maeve said.
Tom's dad has the Doctor backing away onto the road.
"I'm, I'm a police officer! That's what I am. I've got a badge and a police car. You don't have to get. I can, I can prove it. Just hold on." The Doctor said.
"We've had plenty of coppers poking around here, and you don't look or sound like any of them." Tom's dad said.
"He doesn't know how to deal with worried parents." Blake said, as I nodded my head. "Should we step in?"
"Let's just wait and see what happens." Ruby said, smiling. "If he needs us, we'll join it."
"Why are you waiting? You're the one who wants to find the kids."
"See, look. I've got a colleague. Lewis." The Doctor said, bring Rose up to him.
"Well, she looks less like a copper than you do." Tom's dad said.
"Training. New recruit. It was either that or hairdressing, so, voila!" The Doctor said, brandishing his psychic paper in front of Tom's dad.
"What are you going to do?" Trish asked.
"The police have knocked on every door. No clues, no leads, nothing." Maeve said.
"Look, kids run off sometimes, all right? That's what they do." Tom's dad said.
"Saw it with me own eyes. Dale Hicks in your garden, playing with your Tommy, and then pfft! Right in front of me, like he was never there. There's no need to look any further than this street. It's right here amongst us."
"Why don't we…" The Doctor said.
"Why don't we start with him? There's been all sorts like him in this street, day and night." A woman said.
"Fixing things up for the Olympics." Kel said.
"Yeah, and taking an awful long time about it." Tom's dad.
"I'm of the opinion that all we've got to do is just…" The Doctor said.
"Another fight is brewing up." Blake said, crossing her arms. "How long will this one last?"
"Oh, I don't know. A couple of minutes." I said, smiling. "It will get better."
"In what way will it get better?"
"It just will."
"You have way too much hope in this."
"They're kids. It's not that bad."
"Oh, I wonder if we can get a snack later." Ruby said, happily. "Maybe some chocolate chip cookies. Or some cake."
"Cake? I love cake."
"Oh no, you just believe in tarmackers with sack loads of kidnapped kiddies in their van." Kel said.
"Here, here, here, that's not what she's saying." Tom's dad said.
"Would you stop ganging up on me."
"Feeling guilty, are we?" A woman asked.
"No fighting please." Ruby said, annoyed. "And let the Doctor speak."
"In the last six days, three of your children have been stolen. Snatched out of thin air, right?" The Doctor asked.
"Er, can I? Look around you. This was a safe street till it came. It's not a person. I'll say it if no one else will. Maybe you're coppers, maybe you're not. I don't care who you are. Can you please help us?" Maeve asked, as Rose and Blake look up at Chloe in the window.
"That girl has to be the start of it." Blake said, when Trish notices and goes back inside. "What is she doing?"
"She's the reason why all the children is missing." I said, shrugging my shoulders.
"You knew. And you never bothered to help."
"I'm helping now."
"Of course you are.�� Ruby said, excitedly. "So, what will we do now? Besides finding out what's going on."
"We'll get that thing out of the little girl." I said, and the Doctor is back at Tom's house, sniffing.
"Want a hanky?" Rose asked.
"Can you smell it? What does it remind you of?" The Doctor asked.
"Sort of metal?"
"Mmm hmm."
"Oh."
(Open POV)
Back alley...
Going between two lots of back gardens.
"Danny Edwards cycled in one end but never came out the other. Whoa, there it goes again! Look at the hairs on the back of my manly hairy hand." The Doctor said.
"And there's that smell. It's like a er, a burnt fuse plug or something."
"There's a residual energy in the spots where the kids vanished. Whatever it was, it used an awful lot of power to do this."
"You know, we didn't have any real missions in a while." Blake said, walking next to Ruby and Jared. "Us."
"We really haven't." Ruby said, smiling. "That doesn't mean it's the end of the world. We have a lot to look forward to back home."
"You do, like the Vytal Tournament." Jared said, crouching over for Ruby to jump on his back. "It's Vytal that you win!"
"Stop." Blake said, angrily. "Just stop."
"What will happen at the Vytal Tournament?" Ruby asked. "Will we see anyone there?"
"Spoilers." Jared said, supporting Ruby from falling. "Not saying."
"Aww. I want to know what happens next."
"Penny will be there. And so will Teams JNPR,CFVY, and SSSN."
"That's not really spoilers. We know they will be there."
"But I'm not looking forward to the future."
"You should tell us. Because this has to stop." Blake said, sadly. "You're getting sentimental over nothing."
"Me, sentimental? It's because I have the need to fight for my friends."
"We are your friends. All of us. Whether you like it nor not."
"Thank you, Blake. Come on." Jared said, walking away with Ruby and Blake. "The Doctor and Rose must have found something."
Dame Kelly Holmes Close…
"Aren't you a beautiful boy?!" Rose exclaimed.
"Thanks! I'm experimenting with back combing. Oh." The Doctor said, happily.
Rose is talking to the ginger cat, "I used to have one like you. What?"
"No, I'm not really a cat person. Once you've been threatened by one in a nun's wimple, it kind of takes the joy out of it."
"Excuse me?" Blake asked, crossing her arms.
"Not you, Blake. You're an exception."
"Thank you."
The cat goes inside cardboard box.
"Come here, puss. What do you want to go in there for?" Rose asked, when there is a distant meow. The box is empty. "Doctor! Phew."
"Phew." Ruby said, as the smell is very strong. "What is that smell? It smells like a dump."
"Whoa! Hoo, hoo, hoo, hoo. Ion residue. Blimey! That takes some doing. Just to snatch a living organism out of space-time. This baby is just like, I'm having some of that. I'm impressed." The Doctor said.
"So the cat's been transported?" Rose asked.
"It can harness huge reserves of ionic power. We need to find the source of that power. Find the source and you will find whatever has taken to stealing children and fluffy animals. See what you can see. Keep them peeled, you lot."
"Children and fluffy animals." Ruby said, still sitting on Jared's shoulder. "The two things I absolutely love."
"You mean mostly babies and puppies." Jared said, trying to not let Ruby fall.
"This is a lot of fun. Me being on you!"
"Not for me. I can barely see where I'm going, Ruby."
Garages…
"You can put me down now!" Ruby said, and Jared lowered his back for her to jump off him. "That was fun."
"Not for me." Jared said, rubbing the back of his neck. "Where did you lead me?"
"I don't know." Ruby said, while at the top of the close are the narrow three story houses with the integral garage next to the front door. "We did leave Blake behind with the Doctor."
Rose hears a noise coming from one of them, "Is that you, puss cat? Are you trapped?"
"I don't like that noise." Ruby said, hearing more noises and thumping. "Don't open it."
"Not going to open it, not going to open it, not going to open it…" Rose said, while the door is unlocked.
"That looks creepy." Ruby said, when Rose gently opens it and a big ball of scribble knocks her down. "What is that?"
"I don't know." Jared said, when the Doctor and Blake come running. "Wasn't too fond of this episode."
"Stay still!" The Doctor said, pointing his sonic screwdriver, and the ball becomes hand-sized. Rose grabs it. "Okey dokey?"
"Yeah, cheers." Rose said, smiling.
"No probs. I'll give you a fiver if you can tell me what the hell it is, because I haven't got the foggiest."
"Well, I can tell you you've just killed it."
"It was never living. It's animated by energy. Same energy that's snatching people. That is so dinky! The go anywhere creature. Fits in your pocket, makes friends, impresses the boss, breaks the ice at parties."
Tardis…
The ball is under analysis.
"Oh, hi ho, here we go." The Doctor said.
"Well, let's have and look and see what the analysis says." Blake said, leaning against the TARDIS.
"What is it?" Ruby asked, jumping on the Doctor to try and grab the ball. "Is it cool?"
"Get out of here." The Doctor said, dropping Ruby to the floor.
"What's it say?" Rose asked.
The Doctor uses the eraser end of a pencil on the ball, and rubs some of it out, "It is. It's graphite. Basically the same material as an HB pencil."
"I was attacked by a pencil scribble?"
"Scribble creature, brought into being with ionic energy. Whatever we're dealing with, it can create things as well as take them. But why make a scribble creature?" The Doctor asked.
"Maybe it was a mistake I mean, you scribble over something when you want to get rid of it, like a, like a drawing. Like a, a child's drawing. You said it was in the street."
"Probably."
"Jared, you told us about this earlier." Blake said, looking back at Jared. "That girl."
"Of course! What girl?" The Doctor asked.
"Something about her gave me and Blake the creeps. Even her own mum looked scared of her." Rose said.
"Are you deducting?"
"I think I am."
"Copper's hunch?"
"Permission to follow it up, Sarge?"
(Jared's POV)
Front door…
"Come on, come on." Ruby said, ringing the doorbell. "What's taking her so long?"
"I don't know." Blake said, as Ruby rattled the letter box. "You really shouldn't be doing that."
"She's taking forever though!" Ruby said, and Trish eventually answers the door.
"Hello. I'm the Doctor and this is Rose, Jared, Blake, and Ruby. Can we see your daughter?" The Doctor asked.
"No, you can't." Trish said.
"Okay. Bye."
"Why? Why do you want to see Chloe?"
"Well, there's some interesting stuff going on in this street, and I just thought. Well, we thought, that she might like to give us a hand."
"Sorry to bother you." Rose said.
"Yeah, sorry. We'll let you get on with things. On your own. Bye again."
"Wait! Can you help her?" Trish asked.
"Yes, I can." The Doctor said.
Living room…
The television is on, of course.
"The Torch Bearer is running up the Mall, which I can tell you is…" Huw Edwards said.
"This is sad." Blake said, crossing her arms. "About Chloe. It reminds me about Weiss."
"Yeah." I said, leaning against the wall. "Weiss had such a lonely and abusive childhood."
"But can't we help her? Help Chloe."
"We are. Or we will."
"Ooo, how will we help her?" Ruby asked.
"Well, let's go and say hi." The Doctor said.
"I should check on her first. She might be asleep." Trish said.
"Why are you afraid of her, Trish?" The Doctor asked.
"I want you to know before you see her that's she's really a great kid."
"I'm sure she is."
"She's never been in trouble at school you should see her report from last year. A's and B's."
"Come on, Ruby." I said, dragging Ruby away. "Let's check something out."
"What do you mean?" Ruby asked, as we're going upstairs with Rose behind us. "Who is that?"
"Chloe." I said, and the three of us hide inside the airing closet as Chloe comes out of her room and goes downstairs. "There is something inside her and in here."
"Which is?" Ruby asked, as she, Rose, and I go inside Chloe's room and sees the wall covered in drawings, including Dale and the cat. "All of these drawings. What can we do?"
"A lot of things." I said, while there is a noise from the wardrobe, and Rose knocks over a jar of coloured pencils. "These people are stuck here."
"We need to get them out of here." Ruby said, when Rose picked them up again, Dale is scowling. "Like now."
"All of these kids." Rose said, looking between Ruby and I. "How can we get them out?"
"I don't know." Ruby said, shrugging her shoulders. "Any ideas?"
"Nope." I said, popping the 'p'. "It's been far too long. But we have to look for something."
"Look for what?" Rose asked. "What are we looking for?"
"Anything out of place."
"These drawings look alive." Rose said. "Too alive."
"Rose, I think these are the missing kids." Ruby said, walking around the room. "And there's that cat."
"We have to tell the Doctor."
"We need to stick around." I said, walking around the room. "I know way too much about what happens here."
"Come on, tell us."
"I don't what will happen if I tell you straight up, here and now."
"You don't have to tell us." Ruby said, smiling. "If you don't want to."
"Thank you, Little Red." I said, when the doors to the wardrobe rattle again.
"Ooo, something is happening in there." Ruby said, opening the door. "What's in…"
"What the bloody hell is that?" Rose asked, when a wind blows in Ruby's face. "What is that?"
"Something I wish wasn't real." I said, when Rose parts the clothes to see a drawing of a bearded, yellow-eyed man.
"I'm coming." Chloe's dad said.
(Open POV)
Kitchen…
"I'm busy, Doctor." Chloe said.
"Come on, Chloe. Don't be a spoil sport. What's the big project? I'm dying to know. What're you making up there?" The Doctor asked.
"Doctor!" Rose said, her voice coming from upstairs.
Chloe's bedroom…
The Doctor gets there first.
"I'm coming to hurt you." Chloe's dad said.
The Doctor shuts the doors.
"Look at it." Rose said.
"No, ta." The Doctor said, going to look at the other pictures.
"So, what the hell was that?" Blake asked.
"It was a drawing." Ruby said. "A face of a man."
"What face?" Trish asked.
"Best not." Rose said.
"What've you been drawing?"
"So, all of these drawings are alive…" Blake said, walking over to Jared. "How is that possible?"
"Well, she just scooped them." Jared said. "It's as simple as that."
"But how? She can't just pluck a living thing out of existence." Ruby said. "It's not possible. I know it's out."
"All of these people in these drawings here are conscious."
"How do we get them out?"
"We can't. Not yet at least."
"We need to stay together." Chloe said.
"Yes, we do." Trish said.
"No. Not you, us. We need to stay together, and then it'll be all right."
"Trish, the drawings. Have you seen what Chloe's drawings can do?" Rose asked.
"Who gave you lot permission to come into her room? Get out of my house." Trish said, angrily.
"Tell us about the drawings, Chloe." The Doctor said.
"I don't want to hear any more of this."
"But that drawing of her dad. We heard a voice. He spoke." Rose said, recalling what happened.
"He's dead. And these, they're kid's pictures. Now get out!"
"Chloe has a power. And I don't know how, but she used it to take Danny Edwards, Dale Hicks. She's using it to snatch the kids." Rose said.
"Get out." Trish said.
"Have you seen those drawings move?"
"I haven't seen anything."
"Yes, you have." Ruby said, smiling. "You saw those drawings move. You were like, oh, I need to see what's going on!"
"No."
"And you dismissed it, because what choice do you have when you see something you can't possibly explain? You dismiss it, right? And if anyone mentions it, you get angry, so it's never spoken of, ever again." The Doctor said.
"She's a child." Trish said.
"You're terrified of her. But there's nowhere to turn to, because who's going to believe the things you see out of the corner of your eye? No one. Except me."
"Who are you?"
"I'm help."
Kitchen…
Ruby has found a jar of chocolate chip cookies in a jar and she absently starts eating on them with her hands, "So good!"
"Ruby." Jared said, snatching the chocolate chip cookies from Ruby. "Time and a place."
"But chocolate…"
"So, what's going on?" Blake asked, looking between Jared and Ruby. "Those pictures contain living people. Chloe is drawing them. And they end up in her drawings."
"Ionic energy. Chloe's harnessing it to steal those kids and place them in some kid of holding pen made up of ionic power." The Doctor said.
"And what about the dad from hell in her wardrobe?" Rose asked.
"How many times do I have to tell you he's dead." Trish said.
"Well, he's got a very loud voice for a dead bloke." Rose said.
"If living things can become drawings, then maybe drawings can become living things. Chloe's real dad is dead, but not the one who visits her in her nightmares. That dad seems very real. That's the dad she's drawn and he's a heartbeat away from crashing into this world." The Doctor said.
"She always got the worst of it when he was alive." Trish said.
"Doctor, how can a twelve year old girl be doing any of this?" Rose asked.
"Let's find out." The Doctor said.
(Jared's POV)
Chloe's bedroom…
Chloe is sitting on her bed. She does the Vulcan salute when the Doctor enters.
"Star Trek?" Ruby asked, when the Doctor puts his fingers on Chloe's and she rolls her eyes up. "You so have to make me watch that show with you later!"
"Maybe later." I said, as the Doctor laid Chloe back on the bed. "I'm so looking forward to the next adventure."
"What adventure?"
"The one involving us and Zwei."
"Who?" Blake asked, crossing her arms.
"Spoilers." I said, laughing.
"You want to meet Zwei? But he's home!" Ruby said, annoyed. "I want to see my dog so badly!"
"Tell me about it. I miss my dog too."
"How will I get to see Zwei again?"
"I don't know. But your Corgi is adorable. Like my Toy Poodle."
"Your dog's breed is a Toy Poodle?" Blake asked. "How does that even work?"
"It just does, Belle."
"Want to have a competition to see who's dog is better?" Ruby asked. "After we get some cake?"
"Red velvet?"
"Give me chocolate."
"But you love red velvet cake!" Ruby said, pouting.
"Not as much as I like you, Little Red."
"Isolus." Chloe said.
"You're Isolus. Of course." The Doctor said.
"Our journey began in the Deep Realms when we were a family." Chloe said, and the Isolus is drawing as she speaks.
"What's that?" Trish asked.
"The Isolus Mother, drifting in deep space. See, she jettisons millions of fledgling spores. Her children. The Isolus are empathic beings of intense emotions, but when they're cast off from their mother, their empathic link, their need for each other, is what sustains them. They need to be together. They cannot be alone." The Doctor said.
"Our journey is long." Chloe said.
"The Isolus children travel, each inside a pod. They ride the heat and energy of solar tides. It takes thousands and thousands of years for them to grow up."
"Thousands of years just floating through space. Poor things. Don't they go mad with boredom?" Rose asked.
"We play." Chloe said.
"You play?"
"While they travel, they play games. They use their ionic power to literally create make believe worlds in which to play." The Doctor said.
"In flight entertainment." Rose said.
"Helps keep them happy. While they're happy, they can feed off each others love. Without it, they're lost. Why did you come to Earth?" The Doctor asked.
"We were too close." Chloe said.
"That's a solar flare from your sun. Would have made a tidal wave of solar energy that scattered the Isolus pods."
"Only I fell to Earth. My brothers and sisters are left up there, and I cannot reach them. So alone."
"Your pod crashed. Where is it?" The Doctor asked.
Memory of a tiny white flower-like being flying into Chloe's room and then into her mouth.
"My pod was drawn to heat, and I was drawn to Chloe Webber. She was like me, alone. She needed me, and I her." Chloe said.
"You empathised with her. You wanted to be with her because she was alone like you." The Doctor said.
"I want my family. It's not fair."
"I understand. You want to make a family. But you can't stay in this child. It's wrong. You can't steal any more friends for yourself."
"Shit." I said, hearing a crash from the wardrobe. "I forgot about that."
"Forgot about what?" Blake asked, as there's a red glow and the door shakes. "What did you forget?"
"Guys." Ruby said, noticing that Chloe is shaking. "I think we have to help her."
"I'm coming to hurt you. I'm coming." Chloe's dad said.
"Trish, how do you calm her down?" Ruby asked, running up to Trish.
"What?" Trish asked.
"When she has nightmares, what do you do?" The Doctor asked.
"I, I…"
"What do you do?"
"I sing to her." Trish said.
"Then start singing." Blake said, looking over at Chloe. "We don't have much time!"
"Chloe, I'm coming." Chloe's dad said.
"Kookaburra sits in the old gum tree. Merry, merry king of the bush is he…" Trish said.
"Chloe. Chloe. Chloe. Chloe."
"Laugh, Kookaburra, laugh, Kookaburra, gay your life must be. Laugh, Kookaburra, laugh, Kookaburra, gay your life must be." Trish said, as Chloe falls asleep, and the wardrobe falls silent. "He came to her because she was lonely. Chloe, I'm sorry."
(Open POV)
Living room…
"I don't like this." Ruby said, as they are collecting all the pencils they can find. "Why does this have to involve a girl?"
"An innocent little girl at that." Blake said, sadly.
"How do we save them?"
"Finding the spaceship." Jared said, smiling. "I feel bad about Chloe right now. Her being all alone, reminds me too much of Weiss."
"Is it because she's rich?" Ruby asked, walking up to Jared.
"Yes, it does. I know what she felt sometimes. Getting almost everything you wanted."
"It's desperate to be loved. It's used to a pretty big family." The Doctor said.
"How big?" Rose asked.
"Say around four billion?"
"Four billion." Ruby said, her eyes widening. "Isn't that half of the population?"
Dame Kelly Holmes Close…
"We need that pod." The Doctor said.
"It crashed. Won't it be destroyed?" Rose asked.
"Well, it's been sucking in all the heat it can. Hopefully that should keep it in a fit state to launch. It must be close. It should have a weak energy signature that the Tardis can trace. Once we find it, then we can stop the Isolus." The Doctor said, as Chloe watches them from her window.
"Doctor, I know you've got a plan." Blake said, crossing her arms. "Jared knows what to do."
"Of course I do." Jared said, smiling.
Open ground…
"So, what's the plan?" Ruby asked. "Tell me if it's cool."
"We can scan for the same trace that I picked up from the scribble creature. We'd need to widen the field a bit." The Doctor said.
Chloe watches the Doctor, Rose, Ruby, Blake, and Jared go inside the Tardis.
Tardis…
The Doctor is building a gizmo.
"You knew the Isolus was lonely before it told you. How?" Rose asked.
"I know what it's like to travel a long way on your own. Give me the styner-magnetic. The thing in your left hand." The Doctor said.
"Sounds like you're on its side."
"I sympathise, that's all."
"So, if Chloe wasn't here." Blake said, walking towards Jared. "Do you think it would have gone for me or Weiss?"
"Yes." Jared said, leaning against the TARDIS console. "It would."
"All of these people getting hurt. Trapped inside these paintings." Ruby said, frowning. "What can we do?"
"Nothing right now. I don't want to lose you and Blake. Or anyone from Teams RWBY and JNPR."
"Why do you bring us along then?" Blake asked, when Chloe returns to her room and pulls the head off a doll to reveal her secret stash of pencils. "We could have stayed at Beacon."
"You save people while being huntresses. But traveling with the Doctor, it helps you save people more." Jared said, as Rose spits out her gum to give to the Doctor.
"You really do know all four of us."
"I'm a traveler. That's what I do."
"Easy for you to say. You don't have kids." Rose said.
"I was a dad once." The Doctor said.
"What did you say?"
The Doctor uses Rose's chewing gum to fix a component in place, then closes the lid on the glass globe containing the gizmo,
"I think we're there. Fear, loneliness. They're the big ones, Rose, Jared, Ladybug. Some of the most terrible acts ever committed have been inspired by them. We're not dealing with something that wants to conquer or destroy. There's a lot of things you need to get across this universe. Warp drive, wormhole refractors. You know the thing you need most of all? You need a hand to hold." The Doctor said.
Rose is holding her hand out, so he takes it, "No, Look, I'm pointing."
The scanner is registering an energy source.
"It's the pod! It is in the street. Everything's coming up…" The Doctor said.
"Doctor." Rose said, while Chloe starts drawing the Tardis.
Open ground…
"Okay. It's about two inches across. Dull grey, like a gull's egg. Very light." The Doctor said.
"I've got a bad feeling about this." Jared said, as Chloe draws the Doctor, Blake, and Ruby. "A really bad feeling."
"So these pods they travel from sun to sun using heat, yeah? So it's not all about love and stuff. Doesn't the pod just need heat?" Rose asked, and there's a crash as the gizmo falls to the ground and breaks.
"Son of a…" Jared said, when the Doctor, Ruby, Blake, and the Tardis have vanished. "Not Ruby and Blake!"
"Doctor!" Rose said, running away with Jared. "Call Weiss and Yang."
"And tell them what. Oh, Ruby and Blake are stuck in a child's drawing."
"Yes."
"Fine." Jared said, turning on his Augma to call Weiss and Yang. "Weiss, Yang, I need you."
"Don't you have Ruby and Blake with you?" Weiss asked, her voice coming out of the Augma.
"They're stuck."
"Stuck how?"
"They're stuck in a child's drawing."
"How old is she?" Yang asked, her voice coming out of the Augma.
"A pre-teen. She's pretty lonely."
"We're on our way."
Staircase…
Rose hammers on Trish's door. She lets her and Jared in and the two runs upstairs.
"It's okay. I've taken all the pencils off her." Trish said.
Chloe's bedroom…
"Weiss, Yang." Jared said, as the blonde and the Schnee entered the room. "Hey."
"Where are they?" Yang asked, snatching the drawing of the Doctor, Ruby, Blake, and the Tardis. "Where's Ruby?! Where's Blake?! You did not just do that!"
"Leave me alone. I want to be with Chloe Webber. I love Chloe Webber." Chloe said.
"Bring them back. Right now!" Yang said, trying to not crush the drawing.
"No."
"Do you realize what you've done? The Doctor was the only one who could help you." Weiss said, taking out her Myrtenaster. "He was the only one. And you took our friends!"
"Now bring them back!" Rose said.
"Leave me alone! I love Chloe Webber!" Chloe said.
"I know. I know. Doctor, Ruby, Blake, if you can hear me, we're going to get you out of there. We'll find the pod." Rose said, looking over at Trish. "Don't leave her alone, no matter what."
"The Torch Bearer getting even closer to the Olympic Stadium heading down the Strand before turning east along the Embankment." Huw Edwards said, on TV.
(Jared's POV)
Dame Kelly Holmes Close…
"Okay, let me get the straight." Weiss said, as Kel is admiring his latest tarmac patch. "These ships travel on heat."
"It shouldn't be that hard to find that ship." Yang said, crossing her arms. "Where is it?"
"Kel, was there anything in this street in the last few days giving off a lot of heat?" Rose asked.
"I mean, you can eat your dinner off this. Beautiful. So you tell me why the other one's got a lump in it when I gave it the same love and craftsmanship as I did this one." Kel said.
"Well, when you've worked it out, put it in a big book about tarmacking, but before you do that, think back six days."
"Six days. When I was laying this the first time round." Kel said.
"What did you just say?" I asked, holding Yang's hand. "When was that? When did it happen?"
"Well, that's when I filled in this pothole for the first time." Kel said.
"It was six days ago." Weiss said, her eyes widening. "When that spaceship landed."
"Yeah."
"Cement." Yang said, running away. "Or as you Brits say, hot fresh tar."
"Blended to a secret council recipe." Kel said, as Rose and Weiss also runs to his van. "I don't keep it in the van! Hey, that's a council van. Out." Rose grabs a pick axe from the back of the van. "Whoa, wait, wait, wait. You just removed a council axe from a council van. Put it back. No, don't, wait. Put the axe back in the van. That's my van. Give me the axe. No! Wait! No!" Rose starts digging up the pothole. "No! You, stop! You just took a council axe from a council van and now you're digging up a council road! I'm reporting you to the council!"
"Found it!" I said, as I found the tiny spaceship. "All it did was go to the hottest thing in the street."
"Which is your tar." Weiss said.
"What is it?" Kel asked.
"It's a spaceship. Not a council spaceship, I'm afraid." Rose said.
"Come on." I said, running away with Weiss and Yang. "We can't lose Ruby and Blake."
Living room…
"We've found it! We don't know what to do with it, but maybe the Isolus will just hop on board. Hang on, I told you not to leave her." Rose said.
"My God! Er, what's going on here?" Huw Edwards asked, and the stadium crowd have vanished.
"You have got to be kidding me." Weiss said, when Kel enters. "All of those people gone."
"I don't care if you've got Snow White and the Seven Dwarves buried under there, you don't go digging up…" Kel said, angrily.
"Shut up and look!" Yang said, looking at the screen.
"The crowd has vanished! Er, they're gone. Everyone has gone. Thousands of people have just gone. Right in front of my eyes. It's impossible. Bob, can we join you in the box? Bob? Not you too, Bob?" Huw Edwards asked, on TV.
"The stadium isn't enough. The Isolus has four billion brothers and sisters." I said, running away with Weiss, Yang, and Rose. "We have to move ladies. The entire world is at stake. Time can be rewritten after all."
(Open POV)
Chloe's bedroom…
"Over eighty thousand spectators and thirteen thousand athletes." Huw Edwards said, on TV.
"Not enough." Chloe said.
"They're gone. All of those people. It's a terrible, terrible turn of events."
Chloe opens an atlas and prepares to draw the Earth, "We won't be alone, Chloe Webber. We'll have all of them. And then we'll never feel alone, ever again."
"Since the battle of Torchwood." Huw Edwards said, on TV.
"Chloe? Chloe, it's Rose, Jared, Weiss, and Yang! Open the door!" Rose said, when Chloe rips down some pictures and starts drawing on the wall.
Outside Chloe's bedroom…
"Well, we found your ship." Jared said, walking towards the door. "You can go home."
"Chloe?" Trish asked.
"Well, that didn't work." Yang said, loading up her Ember Celica. "Okay, stand back."
Chloe's bedroom…
"I'm coming to hurt you." Chloe's dad said, as Yang's eyes glowed red and she used her hand to break down the bedroom door. "I'm coming, coming to hurt you."
"That didn't take long." Yang said, while she got a hand through to push the chair away and come in. "I guess you could say I'm armed and ready."
"Not now, Yang." Jared said, laughing a lot. "It's been an interesting day."
"We know." Weiss said, crossing her arms. "We've got to stop her."
"If you stop Chloe Webber, I will let him out. We will let him out together. I cannot be alone. It's not fair." Chloe said.
"Okay, so the ship doesn't have enough power." Weiss said, looking back at Jared. "How do we get them out?"
"I don't know. I really hated the pacing of this adventure." Jared said, sadly. "It could be anything."
"It did need heat." Yang said, smiling. "It shouldn't be that hard to get. Since we're so hot."
"It needs more than heat." Chloe said.
"What, then?" Rose asked.
"I'm not being funny or nothing, but that picture just moved. And that one!" Kel said, as the Doctor is pointing to an Olympic torch.
"Oh, that's a heart." Yang said, looking at Ruby pointing towards a heart. "What does that mean?"
"I think it means love." Weiss said, rolling her eyes. "No wonder it got lonely. How did she know that?"
"Blake." Jared said, smiling. "Clever Faunus."
"So let's have a look from the helicopter. There we go, the torch bearer running…" Huw Edwards said, on TV.
"We know how to charge up the pod." Rose said.
"Past Dame Kelly Holmes Close."
Dame Kelly Holmes Close…
Rose, Jared, Weiss, and Yang push their way through the crowd at the end of the close.
"Sorry, you lot will have to watch from here." A policeman said.
"This is just great." Weiss said, holding out her Myrtenaster. "We have to get closer."
"No way."
"We can stop this from happening!" Rose said.
"Where is she at?" Weiss asked, looking at Jared. "What did she draw?"
"Europe and Africa." Jared said, grabbing the pod from Rose. "And she is making her way to the Atlantic Ocean."
"That isn't good." Yang said, when Jared tossed the pod to her. "You know we can just use our abilities…"
"We're not at Remnant." Weiss said. "What's the point in using our powers?"
"She's right. You guys will just stand out." Jared said, and the pod is chittering.
"I guess you felt it." Yang said, looking down at the spaceship. "Just feel the love, why don't you? Let me love you. Don't you give up, nah-nah-nah. I won't give up, nah-nah-nah."
Yang throws the pod into the air, and it flies into the flame of the Torch.
"Show off." Weiss said, when the Torch Bearer staggers briefly then carries on. "I could have done that."
"Yes!" Rose said, happily.
Chloe's bedroom…
"I can go home. Goodbye, Chloe Webber. I love you." Chloe said, as the Isolus leaves her and breaks a windowpane on its way out. "Mum?"
Blake and Ruby reappeared inside the bedroom of the house and looked around.
"That was weird." Blake said, holding her Gambol Shroud.
"Tell me about it." Ruby said, looking at her Crescent Rose. "I don't want to end up as a drawing again!"
(Jared's POV)
Dame Kelly Holmes Close…
"You did it! What was it you did?" Kel asked.
Back down the Close, the missing children reappear and run to their parents.
"Mummy!" Dale said, happily.
"Oh, Jane!" Jane's mother said, smiling.
"Doctor." Rose said.
"I don't know who you lot are, or what you did, but thank you, darlings! And thank those girls and that man for me too." Maeve said.
"Where is he? He should be here with Ruby and Blake." Ruby said, looking back at Yang, Weiss, and I.
"Well, mission accomplished." Yang said, smirking. "All the drawings have come to life."
"It does mean all of them." Weiss said, crossing her arms.
"Crap." I said, as there is a red glow in Chloe's bedroom. "Oh no, this isn't good."
Front door…
Chloe and Trish are walking down the stairs with Ruby and Blake when the front door slams shut, then the other doors, too.
"Trish, get out!" Rose said, angrily.
"I can't! The door's stuck!" Trish said.
"Is the Doctor in there?"
"I don't think so."
"Mummy." Chloe said.
"You knew that this would happen." Blake said, taking out her Gambol Shroud. "What can we do?"
"Oh, I think we should sing and dance our way out!" Ruby said, holding her Crescent Rose. "What do you think?"
"We are not Disney princesses."
"You've been watching way too much Disney with Jared."
"Aww, but it would be fun. Stopping the big bad guy with song."
"You are not singing." Weiss said, leaning against the door. "I'm the best singer out of us."
"Guys, guys." Yang said, happily. "We can take this thing down easily."
"That thing is nothing we've ever faced before. Any ideas?"
"Nope." I said, sadly. "I don't know what to do next."
"Chloe, I'm coming." Chloe's dad said.
"I can't! I can't!" Chloe said, terrified.
"I'm coming."
"I can't."
"I'm coming."
"Mummy."
"Chloe."
"I'm with you, Chloe. You're not alone. You'll never be alone again." Trish said.
"Sing again! Chloe, sing!" Rose said, happily.
"Chloe. Chloe. Chloe. Chloe. Chloe, I'm coming to hurt you. Chloe!" Chloe's dad said.
"Merry merry king of the bush is he. Laugh, Kookaburra, laugh, Kookaburra, gay your life must be. Laugh, Kookaburra, laugh, Kookaburra, gay your life must be." Chloe said Trish said, when the red glow fades and retreats. "Kookaburra sits in the old gum tree. Merry merry king of the bush is he. Laugh, Kookaburra, laugh, Kookaburra, gay your life must be."
Dame Kelly Holmes Close…
"So, the 2012 Olympics." Weiss said, walking with Ruby, Blake, Yang, and I. "You wanted all four of us to come with you."
"Obviously." I said, carrying Ruby with my hands, while using my hover board. "I love sporting events."
"Only when you're not playing." Blake said, crossing her arms. "And why are you doing that with Ruby?"
"It's fun!" Yang said, smiling. "I don't know what's next."
"Oh look, it's Rose." Ruby said, when Kel walks up to Rose. "Let's check up on her."
"Yeah, lets." I said, as Rose is sitting by Trish's front door.
"Maybe he's gone somewhere." Kel said.
"Who's going to hold his hand now?" Rose asked.
Living room…
"Just look at this! Utterly incredibly scenes at the Olympic stadium. Eighty thousand athletes and spectators. They disappeared, they've come back!" Huw Edwards said, as Rose, Kel, Team RWBY, and I entered the room. "They've returned. They've reappeared. It's quite incredible. Bob, this will certainly…"
"Eighty thousand people, so where's the Doctor? I need him." Rose said, frowning.
"But hang on, the Torch Bearer seems to be in a bit of trouble. We did see a flash of lightning earlier that seemed to strike him. Maybe he's injured. He's definitely in trouble." Huw Edwards said, while the torch bearer collapses. "Does this mean that the Olympic dream is dead?"
"Yes!" I said, when a man in a brown suit and plimsolls picks up the torch. "This is fantastic."
"Doctor." Rose said.
"There's a mystery man. He's picked up the flame. We've no idea who he is. He's carrying the flame. Yes, he's carrying the flame and no one wants to stop him. It's more than a flame now, Bob. It's more than heat and light. It's hope, and it's courage, and it's love." Huw Edwards said, on TV.
(Open POV)
Olympic stadium…
The spotlight follows the Doctor as he runs up the red carpet to the lower cauldron. He whoops with joy then lights the gas.
"Go on. Join your brothers and sisters. They'll be waiting." The Doctor said, and the flame runs up to the main cauldron and ignites the proper Olympic flame.
The Isolus pod zooms up into the night sky.
Dame Kelly Holmes Close…
"Cake?" Rose asked, when she holds out a fairy cake with silver sugar ball decorations on.
"Top banana. Mmm. I can't stress this enough. Ball bearings you can eat, masterpiece!" The Doctor said, excitedly.
"I love a night like this." Jared said, eating some chocolate chip cookies with Ruby. "We don't get these often."
"Nope." Ruby said, snatching the cookie from Jared.
"Do you think we'll get another one like this?"
"Nope."
"But do you think we…"
"Nope. You know the future. And things aren't normal with the Doctor."
"Really? You're joking, aren't you? Doctor, are you serious or are you joking?" Rose asked.
"Wait and see." The Doctor said, as the obligatory fireworks display starts.
"Ruby, they keep splitting the five of us up. And they never will. Not even for one moment." Jared said, looking back at Team RWBY. "I have all of you guys, my favorite fairy tales."
"Little Red Riding Hood." Ruby said.
"Snow White and the Seven Dwarves." Weiss said.
"Beauty and the Beast." Blake said.
"And Goldilocks and the Three Bears." Yang said.
"What?" Rose asked.
"A storm's approaching." The Doctor said.