An Important Announcement

It's with a hint of sadness, and relief, that I have to make this post.

After very careful thought and consideration I have decided that it's time to end my "Future Worlds" series of Doctor Who adventures.

I began this journey many, many years ago. The ideas and stories have been with me since I was a child and it was only in 2012 when I finally translated my thoughts and ideas properly to the page.

But the time has come. It's no exaggeration to say that I've been struggling to write just recently. After eight years of continuous writing it was bound to happen. There are many other reasons though. I've always said I write for the enjoyment

of it, not for how many readers I get. But I currently have maybe one or two readers (who I absolutely appreciate) and I'm

not enjoying it anymore. It's a chore to churn out stories and when it becomes a struggle the stories suffer. Personal life has also taken over. I get very little time to myself these days and I have to spend that free time on things that make me happy. I also didn't take into account how difficult it would be to stop writing for certain characters. The team of McAvoy's Doctor with Holly and Lilly was my all time favourite TARDIS crew to write for and I have missed writing for them so much that anything else just doesn't give me that same feeling anymore.

So, where to now?

The good news is that I'm not going to leave everything hanging. I did that many years ago with the original incarnation of the series (back when it was called the NDA's), and I'm not going to let that happen again. I have always had a very clear direction for where "Elysium" was going and I'm too invested in ongoing character and story lines to just drop it. So I'm going to finish it off, with a few modifications.

Initially there was going to be a run of around 15 or 16 stories with a number of arc-heavy "tent-pole" stories coming at intervals. Well the small stories are now getting abandoned and the series will end with three larger than normal stories. I suppose you could see it as the "Name of the Doctor / Day of the Doctor / Time of the Doctor" trilogy at the end of Matt Smith's run.

As it stands the next story will still be "A Town Called Freedom", which will see us catch up and say a final goodbye to Thor's resistance crew. It's more important than that though. The story will change the Doctor as he finally finds out some huge truths about what has possibly been happening to him. Events in this story will change the Doctor forever.

We then lose the story "Mary", which will have some elements rolled into the previous story. We will also lose "Carry On Camping", which, although I had some fun plans for, was again just a filler story.

The second of the big stories will be "The Windows to Nowhere" which will see the return of UNIT: X as they investigate holes in the fabric of space and time. It will also see the return of Holly Dangerfield and Lilly Galloway as they go looking for a broken Doctor.

Elements from that story will then tie into the grand finale, which is currently titled "The Army of Elysium". But I can't say much about that at the moment. The series and the entire saga will end here. There are no plans for any follow-ups or new series or any new Doctors. The only thing I might do is something with Holly and Lilly, but that's a big "if".

Don't be sad for me though. This is a happy moment for me. I finally feel like I am completing something and I look forward to finally bringing things to an end.

More details to come...

3.17am, Part Four

PART FOUR: BETWEEN THE DARKNESS AND THE LIGHT


Current Time: 3.17am


Sadie opened her eyes and breathed a sigh of relief…and then instantly regretted it. She was lying on top of a particularly thorny bush, which had broken her fall somewhat, but she still had managed to bruise her right arm and leg as she had fallen. She must also have had the wind knocked out of her judging by the pain in her chest. She was thankful that her nose had stopped bleeding.

She remembered falling off the wall at the back of her house when she was little and this felt infinitely worse, although similar. She had gotten into trouble that day. Jason had lost a model airplane up on the shed roof and she was trying to retrieve it for him. Somehow she always seemed to get into trouble because of things her little brother had done. She couldn’t help but love him though.

For a moment she drifted off to thoughts of being far away from here in the hustle and bustle of the city…and then the pain brought her back to reality. She was very much still in danger here.

She rolled herself over the bush and then fell to the ground, howling in pain. Her hands were covered in a sticky red substance. She panicked for a moment before realising what it was.

“Blackberries…” she said to herself sniffing at the sticky squashed fruit. And she suddenly felt very hungry.

She gazed up at the bridge, but Mary was most definitely gone and so, thankfully, was the hooded creature. She looked up and down the platform of the little railway station and then looked towards a stone staircase that led up the embankment and back towards the road.

She’d mourn Mary later, but for now she had to try and find the Doctor and Jason.

With much pain she made her way towards the steps, slowly and very gingerly.


Current Time: 7.30am



Mary was sat on the wall of the bridge, peering down at the platform below. There didn’t seem to be any trains due, but she wondered how long the Pel could stay until a member of the public spotted them.

A small metal craft was sat just inside the tree line of the forest on the other side of the bridge. It looked like a huge, metallic cone. It was sleek, smooth and didn’t have any obvious entrance or windows.

“It’s our shuttle craft,” said Vashta, noticing Mary staring at the craft.

“And you came from a bigger ship?” she said, looking to the sky.

Vashta nodded. “As soon as we realised Elita had escaped we brought the ship to full stop and launched our shuttle towards the planet. The rest of our crew are on the mother ship in orbit of your planet.”

“You’ve seen a spaceship before?” asked Ulther.

“Sort of. The Doctor and I visited a rather large station in space not too long ago. It was beautiful...” She frowned. “Your ship is…interesting.”

“It serves its function,” smiled Vashta. “You seem a little at odds with us.”

“You have to forgive me,” said Mary, smiling at the strange, alien female, “but I’m just getting used to travelling with the Doctor. I came from a very isolated village, a long time from here.”

Vashta nodded. “If you want we can let you rest in our ship.”

“No,” said Mary, jumping down from the wall. “The most important thing is to try and rescue the Doctor, Sadie and Jason from this time bubble.”

“And we need to be quick,” said Ulther. He was looking down at a small device with a tiny monitor screen. Mary frowned and crossed over to the large man. The screen showed a black and white fuzzy image of a church.

“How are you seeing this?” asked Mary. “Do you have a film camera?”

“Not exactly,” said Ulther. “The time bubble projects the image of the inside and we’re able to pick it up here.” He turned a dial on the device but the static didn’t clear up. “Elita has lured them into this stone building I believe your people call a church.”


Current Time: 3.17am



“I will not advocate killing anyone,” said the Doctor. “And certainly not without first seeing them for myself.”

Elita frowned and walked towards where they were sat. Jason looked uncomfortable and looked from the Doctor to the strange, golden angel.

“Do you doubt me, Gallifreyan?” asked Elita.

“I don’t doubt you,” said the Doctor, folding his arms, “but I’m also not willing to take one persons word for it.”

“You are a Time Lord,” said Elita.

“That’s correct,” said the Doctor.

“What’s a Time Lord?” asked Jason.

“You have the power to help me,” said Elita. She crouched down in front of him and stared into his eyes, her head tilted curiously to the side. “I am powerful but it will not take them long to break in to this bubble. That’s why we must strike first.”

“Again, I only have your word for it.”

“To be fair,” said Jason, “the dark fellas don’t look too friendly.”

“Jason,” said the Doctor, turning to him, “all I see are shadowy blurs. We have no idea what their true form is.”

“That is true,” said Elita, smiling and moving away from them, her back turned, “the technology they use is simply a way to try and push into my bubble.” She turned back to them. “But they are evil.”

“The angel said they were bad,” said Penny.

The Doctor frowned at her. “You have the ability to bring down this bubble. Why don’t you?”

“They would destroy me.”

“Again,” said the Doctor, “how do we know that?”

“Because I know!” she spat. “They were going to throw me into a white hole!”

“Easy,” said Jason, flashing the Doctor a concerned glance.

“No, Elita, you are a powerful creature. If you wanted to destroy them you could have already shut this bubble down yourself and dealt with the problem. Something isn’t right here.” He sniffed and rubbed his nose. “And I thought you said they were going to throw you into a black hole.”

Before Elita could answer there came a faint hum of energy from back towards the door of the church.

The Doctor, Jason and Penny turned to face it. A cloaked figure slowly blurred and shimmered into view. Except now there were two. The first one had the familiar blue eyes and pale, yellow skin, but the second one…the second one looked more human.

The Doctor frowned and got to his feet, walking towards the area where the two figures were attempting to materialise.

The second figure was female and the Doctor could make out long, dark hair…and a dress.

“Be careful, Doc,” said Jason.

“It’s okay,” said the Doctor. He peered more closely at the figure and then smiled. “I don’t know how, but I think that’s Mary.”

As if suddenly enraged by the Doctor’s realisation Elita let out a loud, angry cry.

The three of them turned to face her. Her face no longer looked angelic. It was twisted into an evil, angry looking face, jagged teeth lined her mouth and she shimmered a dull silver colour now, her wings fully unfurled and crackling with energy.

“And there we have it,” said the Doctor.

With one movement Elita ran and jumped into the air. She sailed towards the figures at the back of the church. The Doctor leapt out of the way as the demonic angel crashed into the blurred figures causing them to dissolve.


Current Time: 7.53am



On the bridge, beside the Pel’s spaceship Mary and Vashta were both wearing silver cloaks and both of them wore packs strapped to their backs. Cables snaked from the packs into the shuttlecraft.

Ulther was pacing up and down, watching the small image of the monitor.

Mary and Vashta staggered backwards, Mary gasping for air as she threw the cloak off from her head.

“Are you okay?” said Ulther, as he knelt down to help the young woman.

“It was Elita,” said Vashta, also removing her hood. “She has them in the church.” Vashta shook her head. “Her power is still too great for us to fully materialise.”

“Wait!” said Ulther, spotting something on the monitor, “we may have another chance.”


Current Time: 3.17am



Elita bore down on the Doctor and Jason as Penny ran to the doorway. She was about to open it when the door burst open and Sadie ran in, battered and bruised from her fall.

“Sadie!” said Jason. “What happened to you two?”

“All in good time,” said Sadie. She was about to continue when she spotted the silver angel, glowering down at her. “What…the…holy…?”

“All in good time as well,” said the Doctor. “How did Mary get out?”

“What?” said Sadie, terrified at the sight that floated before her.

“Mary? How did she get out?”

“I…I don’t know,” said Sadie. “One of those cloaked things came for her. We were up by the bridge. By the edge of the barrier.”

“Then that’s where we need to go,” said the Doctor. He looked at Penny. “Come on, you three, let’s get out of here.”



It hadn’t taken them long to get to the bridge, but the Doctor was concerned. He kept looking back towards the church as it disappeared into the distance, shaking his head and muttering to himself.

“What is it, Doc?” asked Jason.

“I don’t understand why she isn’t following us,” said the Doctor. “Something about this doesn’t feel right.”

“What does that matter? Sadie says she found this barrier. Surely if we’re gonna break through then it’s the best place to do it.”

“I don’t know,” said Sadie. “I mean it’s probably the best place, but they got Mary, remember?”

“I don’t think they did,” said the Doctor. “That was Mary stood with the other creature in the church. I think she was with them and trying to communicate with us.”

“Maybe.” Sadie shook her head. “I don’t know what to think anymore. This night has just gotten too weird for me.”

“But it still doesn’t explain why she isn’t following us.”

They were nearly at the bridge when Penny suddenly screamed in agony and fell to the floor, clutching at her stomach.

“Are you alright, sweetheart?” asked Sadie, dropping to check the girl.

Penny’s head suddenly looked up, Her eyes had turned blue and she had an evil sneer on her face.

“Get back Sadie!” said Jason.

Sadie stumbled backwards and fell on her back as Penny stood up. She narrowed her eyes and surveyed the three of them. “You will not escape,” said Penny’s childlike voice. It’d taken on a strange, singsong quality.

“Penny, what’s going on?”

The girl licked her lips. “You are a fool, Time Lord.”

The Doctor closed his eyes. “Of course. You’re not real, are you, Penny? You’re merely an extension of Elita? An avatar.”

“You mean she’s possessed her?” asked Jason.

“Not exactly,” said the Doctor. “Elita is in the church – in the centre of the village. It’s taken an enormous amount of energy to generate her time bubble. I suspect she can’t leave there without the bubble collapsing so Penny is an extension of her.” The Doctor shrugged his shoulders. “We didn’t really get to the bottom of where she came from.”

“And she lured him into the church?” said Jason.

“She lured me,” said the Doctor. “Penny didn’t appear until I arrived. I suspect that Elita can only keep this time bubble up for so long. With me inside she could feed off me. Use me like a battery.”

“Clever boy,” said Penny.

“But that won’t work, because the Pel are trying to get us out.”

“They will never succeed.”

“Oh, but they will,” said the Doctor.

Before the Doctor could react the little girl had leapt at him. He collapsed to the ground as she drew back her fingers, long nails extended from her pale hand. She threw her hand down and dug down as hard as she could into his neck.

The Doctor yelled out in pain.

“DO SOMETHING!” yelled Sadie.

“I can’t…” said Jason. “She’s just a little girl.”

Slowly Penny’s features began to morph into those resembling Elita’s. Her body grew in size, large, silvery wings unfurling from behind her. The sky above them crackled with tendrils of golden energy as the Doctor screwed his eyes shut.

Globules of light flowed from the Doctor’s neck into the fingers of Elita and the creature closed her eyes in satisfaction.

And then there was a moment. A beat.

Elita opened her eyes and frowned. A look of worry flashed across her face. For a moment she wasn’t sure what she was feeling.

“Something…something wrong?” said the Doctor, panting and looking up at her.

“There is something there,” said Elita, looking down at him. And then without warning she suddenly broke free from him, scrambling backwards on her elbows. She looked petrified.

“What are you?” asked Elita, frowning and shaking her head. “What has resided within you?”

“I beg your pardon?” said the Doctor, touching the open wounds on his neck and wincing in pain.

“You are not what you seem,” she growled. “You are ancient.”

“I’ve been around for a long time, yes.” The Doctor laughed. But it was a nervous laugh. Something about this didn’t feel right.

Before he could get any more answers out of Elita there was another hum of electricity. This time three cloaked figures appeared.

“Do we trust them?” asked Sadie.

“We have to,” said Jason, as the sky flashed orange.

“Wait, I need to know more,” said the Doctor, as Elita cowered from him.

“Too late!” said Jason as the three, cloaked figures each grabbed the Doctor, Jason and Sadie.


Current Time: 8.03am



The Doctor, Jason, Mary, Sadie, Ulther and Vashta were stood in the cold, empty church. The three Humans were drinking from a flask of tea, the Doctor was idly scratching at his chin and the two aliens looked uncomfortable.

“So the bubble has gone?” asked Mary.

“It has,” said Vashta. “It seems that Elita finally lost concentration when she broke free from the Doctor.”

“But where is she?” asked Jason. He looked at his tea. “I think I need something stronger than this.”

“Well it was always our intention to extract her safely and continue transporting her to the safe planet. We hadn’t anticipated the bubble collapsing around her.”

“So was she destroyed?” asked Mary.

Ulther held his hands up. “Honestly, we don’t know. We have to assume so.” He shook his head. “Such a waste.”

“But the bubble has definitely gone?” asked Jason. “No more 3.17am?”

“No more 3.17am,” smiled Vashta.

“Doctor, that’s good, isn’t it?” said Mary.

The Doctor’s eyes momentarily flicked towards his companion. “Yes. Yes it’s good. A shame though that she probably died.”

“What was she on about when she suddenly became scared of you?” asked Jason.

“I suppose I will never find out,” said the Doctor.

“I’m sorry we ran from you,” said Sadie.

“The cloaks are new technology,” said Ulther. “We didn’t anticipate the fear it might have caused you.”

“Mary, we need to get going,” said the Doctor, making his way across the flagstones and towards the church door.

“But…but wait, what about everyone else?”

“I assume you’re leaving?” said the Doctor to the two Pels.

“Momentarily, yes.”

“And you two need to get back to your divorce proceedings,” said the Doctor to the siblings.

“Well, yes,” said Jason, his thoughts suddenly going back to his soon-to-be ex husband.

“Then we don’t need to stick around.” He put his hands in his trouser pockets and marched out of the door.

“I’m sorry about that,” said Mary, looking concerned.

“Not to worry,” said Sadie. She hugged the dark-haired woman. “Take care, won’t you?”

“I will,” she said. “Goodbye.”

“Goodbye,” said Jason.



By the time Mary had caught up with the Doctor he was halfway up the hill leading to the country lane where the TARDIS had landed. Ulther and Vashta, complete with cloaks to hide their appearance were walking either side of her.

“Is he alright?” asked Vashta.

“Something frightened him,” said Mary. “Sadie said that Elita was terrified of him.”

“He is a Time Lord,” said Vashta. “Maybe she bit off more than she could chew.”

“Maybe,” said Mary. “But I guess I don’t really know him that well. Not yet.”

“Take care of him,” said Vashta. “Time Lords can be complicated beings. He may need you to help him through whatever he’s got going on in his head.”



Jason was stood at the altar, his hands in his pockets. Sadie came from behind and put an affectionate arm around him.

“You alright, bro?”

“I will be,” said Jason. “I just…well I wish I didn’t have to go back to this.”

“To what?”

“To being back to normal.” He sighed and shook his head. “As freaky as it was it’s opened my eyes. Maybe there is more to the world that this little village.”

“Now you’re not having second thoughts about this divorce are you?” asked Sadie as she took his hand and led him towards the exit.

“All I’m saying is that maybe I might be able to see another point of view from now on.”

“Oh, Jason…” groaned Sadie.

“Come on, we need to drive to the city and sort this out once and for all.”

He pulled out his phone and checked the time – 8.15am. Jason wasn’t sure, but for a single millisecond he thought the clock had read 3.17am. He shook his head, laughed and headed towards his future.




Later….somewhere in time…



“Why is she awake, Doctor?” asked Mary, her arms folded as the teenage Kyla stood beside her stasis tube, staring straight ahead.

“Something isn’t right with her,” he said, rubbing the back of her neck.

“Well we don’t really know much about her. Where did she even come from? You said she was a refugee?”

“Where she comes from isn’t what’s concerning me. She comes from a war that my people had a long, long time ago. It’s what is happening to her now that’s concerning me. She should be healed. She should be better, but instead she’s…well, she’s not all there.”

Mary stepped back a little. “It’s like she’s waiting for something.”

The Doctor nodded. “But waiting for what?”


Epilogue



“Where am I?” asked Elita. “I’m cold.”

“You’re in a suppression field,” came the softly spoken, almost child-like voice. It was female.

“A suppression field? I do not understand.”

She couldn’t make anything out in the gloom and she felt almost paralysed.

“I rescued you from your time bubble as it collapsed.”

“So you’re not with the other Pel?”

“Not at all. They are fools anyway. To take a creature as powerful as yourself and abandon it on a deserted planet…it’s a ridiculous idea.”

“Why is it ridiculous?”

“All of you powerful beings together in one place…imagine what one could do with you all.”

“I don’t understand.”

“No, you don’t understand now,” said the voice. She was closer now, but Elita couldn’t see her. “Let me explain to you – I am putting an army together. An army that will strike fear into this entire universe and beyond. And I want you and your people to be a part of it.”

Elita thought for a moment. “I don’t even know who you are.”

“No.” The woman laughed. “No, but you will know and soon the Doctor will know. If only he realised what he helped to create here.” She laughed again. “For now, Elita, you must sleep. We have a long journey ahead of us, and soon this universe will crumble beneath us.”




The End

The Doctor and Mary return in the new year in "A Town Called Freedom".