The Battle That Has Lasted Longer Than Time

The Crimson Horror

Yorkshire 1893

In a factory two people are waiting in the corridor "If I have not returned in an hour, you must fetch the police""Edmund"effie said as they kiss "Don't fret, Effie, my dear. All will be well, but we must get to the bottom of this dark and queer business no matter what the cost"" Mrs Gillyflower" effie said as she looked round"We have come about your husband, my dear. A tragedy""My husband" effie wonder what she talking about"Your late husband""There must be some mistake. My husband is quite well" she said as she frowned at her "We're so very sorry for your loss""Hell fire. That's put me right off me mash. Another one" emos said as another body is brought in "Another" "He's not the first one I've had in here looking like that. The Crimson Horror, that's what they're calling it" he said looking at the body " I have no interest in the deplorable excesses of the Penny Dreadfuls""Hey, hey. Payment in advance, flower. Taking a big risk, you see, I am. They'll have my vitals for fiddle-strings if they knew I'd let you come to look at one of their precious stiffs" he said wanting his payment "This stiff is my brother. I've come up from London to bring him home""Oh aye" he said as the other man walked off "Thank you for agreeing to this meeting. I'm told you are the investigator to see if there are strange goings-on""I read of your brother's death. Another victim of the Crimson Horror, I believe" vastra said as she heard about it " So it is claimed. He was a newspaper man. He and a young woman were working undercover. Tell me, madam, do you know what an optogram is" "It is a silly superstition, sir. The belief that the eye can retain an image of the last thing it sees.Good grief" she said as she looked at a picture he sent " Oh, god""Well, I'll be blowed. I think, madam, that we'd better make plans to head north" Jenny said as they see a picture of the doctor and it goes into the theam tune.

The tardis fly through the vortex and it introduces the cast of the show. And the title and then we arrive in a carriage "According to my research, Sweetville's proprietor holds recruitment drives for her little community. She is only interested in the fittest and the most beautiful""You may rely on me, ma'am"strax said as he looked at them " I was, in fact, speaking to Jenny""Jenny. If this weak and fleshy boy is to represent us, I strongly recommend the issuing of scissor grenades, limbo vapour and triple blast brain splitters" he said wanting to go " What fo" " just generally. Remember, we are going to the North" he said as they go past the building "Bradford, that Babylon of the moderns with its crystal light and its glitter, all aswarm with the wretched ruins of humanity. Men and women crushed by the devil's juggernaut.And moral turpitude can destroy the most delicate of lives. Believe me, I know. I know. Me own daughter, blinded in a drunken rage by my late husband. Her once beautiful eyes, pale and white as mistletoe berries.And what, my friends, is your story? Will you be found wanting when the End of Days is come, when judgement rains down upon us all? Or will you be preserved against the coming apocalypse? Do not despair. I offer a way out. There is a different path. Sweetville! Join us. Join us in this shining city on the hill. Bring me my bow of burning gold. Bring me my arrows of desire. You wish to join us, my dear""if it's all the same with you, ma'am" jenny said walking to her "Oh yes, dear. You'll do very nicely"" If our stratagem succeeds, Jenny will infiltrate deep into the black heart of this curious place" vastra said as they wait for her "And how will she locate the Doctor" "To find him, she needs only ignore all keep-out signs, go through every locked door, and run towards any form of danger that presents itself" she said looking at strax"Business as usual, then""Business as usual" she said smiling as they wait.

Meanwhile back in the factory ada was going to a room to cheek something "Did you think I'd forgotten you, dear monster, hmm" "I have travelled from London expressly to see Madame Vastra. If you'd be so kind as to announce me, my good man" Thursday said as he passed his card to strax "Whom shall I say is calling It asked for permission to enter and then it fell over. What are we to make of it" "I imagine Mister Thursday wants to know what progress we are making. The question is, how did the Doctor's image come to be preserved on a dead man's eye? It's a scientific impossibility. I wonder how Jenny is getting on" vastra said wondering how she getting on "if she hasn't make contact by nightfall, I suggest a massive frontal assault on the factory, madam. Casualties can be kept to perhaps as little as eighty percent""I think there may be subtler ways of proceeding, Strax" she said frowning "Suit yourself" "I'm dead nervous, aren't you? They have to be sure, you see. Only the best for Sweetville. I hope me teeth don't let me down. I'm Abigail" abigail said as she smiled at jenny "Pleased to meet you""You're not local, are you" she wonder "Nah. Up from London""Different here, I bet" she said smiling "Yeah. Like a bleeding horse market. Do you know anyone who's come to live here? In Sweetville, I mean""I had a pal who come here three month back. She wrote to tell me how perfect it all were. Funny, though. I've not heard a peep from her since" she said sadly "Next, please" "Hang on, we're moving What're you doing" she wonder what she doing "Do me a favour. Cause a distraction"" What" she frowned "Swoon. Have a funny turn. Fit of the vapours""Are you crackers" she looked at her," Go on. There's a guinea in it for you""Done"she said as she faints as jenny goes through the door to look around meanwhile vastra was seeing Amos "Them new manufacturers can do horrible things to a person. Horrible. I've pickled things in here that'd fair turn your hair snowy as top of Buckden Pike""You know what I'm looking for" vastra said looking at him "Oh, aye. All them bits found in t'canal. The Crimson Horror"" It hardly seems possible" she said looking at the bottle "Eh" "I think, I think I've seen these symptoms before" she said as she knew what it was "Oh aye" "A long time ago" she said smiling " Oh aye? How long" "About sixty five million years" she said looking at him "I trust you had a pleasant day, Mama" "Tolerable" gillyflower said as they eat dinner " Will Mister Sweet ever join us for dinner, Mama" "Mister Sweet is rather tired tonight, I fear. Dear me. How clumsy I'm getting To keep the Devil at bay." she said smiling as she put a bit of suger down her top. As she did that back with jenny she found the room ada was at" All right, mate. You just stay calm now I could open this door. Would you like that Thought you might. But you and me has got to come to an arrangement. Savvy Now, you stand well back, do you hear me? I don't mean no harm to you, but you try anything funny and I'll leave you here to rot. Is that understood Right. Doctor! What happened to you? Can't you speak Right. Right, we're getting out of here Come on. Come on! Oh my gaw" "You are all I have, monster, but all will be well. Imperfect as we are, there will be room for us in the new Jerusalem. No. No! Where are you, monster? Where are you" ada wonder where the doctor was "What is it? You want to go in there" "Ah! Missed me" the doctor said as he back to normal "Doctor" "Jenny. Jenny, Jenny, Jenny, Jenny. Just when you think your favourite lock-picking Victorian chambermaid will never turn up. Jenny. You have no idea how good that feels. Right. Mrs Gillyflower. We've got to stop her. And then there's Charlotte my wife my wife where is she "the doctor wonder they are "Charlotte ? Doctor, wait""Can't. Charlotte . Got to find" he said wanting to find her "What happened to you? How long have you been like that" "Days, weeks, don't know. Long story. I'll keep it short" he said as he told her the story.