ᴠɪɪ. ᴛᴏᴏᴛʜ ᴀɴᴅ ᴄʟᴀᴡ
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"It won't open. They've sealed us in.", Lady Isobel cries after a failed attempt to open the outside door.
"Oh, my Lady. Look!", Flora gathers her attention.
Monks armed with the soldier's rifles stand outside.
"They'll never let us out. They mean for us to die!", Flora cries in dismay.
"Don't say that, Flora!"
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"All right, you men. We should retreat upstairs. Come with me.", The Doctor says.
"I'll not retreat. The battle's done. There's no creature on God's Earth that could survive such an assault.", The steward says.
"I'm telling you, come upstairs!", The Doctor tells him again.
"And I'm telling you, sir, I will sleep well tonight with that thing's hide upon my wall.", The Steward steps into the corridor then looks back.
"It must have crawled away to die.", The Steward is suddenly hoisted up to the ceiling.
"There's nothing we can do!", The Doctor shouts as sounds of snarling and ripping are heard.
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The women hear the shouting and gunshots.
"Did they kill it?", Flora asks.
The werewolf enters, sniffs the air and leaves.
Meanwhile, Queen Victoria recovers her property from the strongroom.
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"Your Majesty? Your Majesty!", Robert cries, looking for his Queen.
"Sir Robert? What's happening?", The Queen comes down the stairs.
"I heard such terrible noises.", She tells him.
"Your Majesty, we've got to get out. But what of Father Angelo? Is he still here?"
"Captain Reynolds disposed of him.", She informs him.
"The front door's no good, it's been boarded shut. Pardon me, Your Majesty. You'll have to leg it out of a window.", Robert regretfully tells her Majesty.
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"Excuse my manners, Ma'am, but I shall go first, the better to assist Her Majesty's egress."
"A noble sentiment, my Sir Walter Raleigh.", The Queen approves of his action.
The Doctor suddenly regains his native accent.
"Yeah, any chance you could hurry up?"
Robert opens the window and the monks outside open fire.
"I reckon the monkey boys want us to stay inside.", The Doctor comments.
"Do they know who I am?", Queen Victoria asks, appalled by their actions.
"Yeah, that's why they want you. The wolf's lined you up for a, a biting.", Rose tells her.
"Stop this talk. There can't be an actual wolf.", A howl is heard in the distance, effectively disproving her statement.
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"What do we do?", Rose asks.
"Exactly what we always do when in doubt. We run.", Juliet answers her.
"Is that it?"
"You got any silver bullets?", The Doctor asks them both.
"Not on me, no."
"No. I'm opposed violence.", Juliet states.
"There we are then, we run. Your Majesty, as a Doctor, I recommend a vigourous jog. Good for the health. Come on!", He calls as they all head up the staircase.
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The werewolf smashes its way out of below stairs and follows them.
"Come on! Come on!"
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The werewolf is nearly upon them when Reynolds turns and shoots. It retreats.
"I'll take this position and hold it. You keep moving, for God's sake! Your Majesty, I went to look for the property and it was taken. The chest was empty.", Reynolds says.
"I have it. It's safe.", Queen Victoria informs him.
"Then remove yourself, Ma'am. Doctor, you stand as Her Majesty's Protector. And you, Sir Robert, you're a traitor to the crown."
"Bullets can't stop it!", Juliet tries to warn him, but he pays her no mind and continues to fire.
"Ugh. Men. Pay him no mind.", Sexy's voice once again says in Juliet's mind. She grins lightly at the comment.
"They'll buy you time. Now run!", Reynolds says after The Doctor also told him bullets weren't worth their time.
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Reynolds empties his revolver at the werewolf before it pounces and rips him apart.
"Jules! Rose!", The Doctor calls for both the women. Rose is safely inside the room, so he drags Juliet inside as well.
"Barricade the door.", Robert orders and it is done.
"Wait a minute. Shush, shush, wait a minute.", The Doctor says.
There is one lonely howl.
"It's stopped."
The werewolf sniffs at the door, then leaves.
"It's gone.", Juliet sighs in relief as she discreetly grabs hold of Rose's hand:
"Listen.", There are footsteps and growls from outside the walls as it walks around the room.
"Is this the only door?", The Doctor asks Robert.
"Yes. No!", They quickly barricade the other door.
"Shush.", Rose says. They listen as the noises continue outside the walls.
"I don't understand. What's stopping it?", She asks.
"Something inside this room. What is it? Why can't it get in?", Juliet says.
"I'll tell you what, though.", Rose starts to grin at her girlfriend and The Doctor.
"What?"
"Werewolf."
"I know.", Juliet smiles as The Doctor says the same thing.
"You all right?", He asks both the women.
"Fine."
"I'm okay, yeah."
"I'm sorry, Ma'am. It's all my fault. I should have sent you away. I tried to suggest something was wrong. I thought you might notice. Did you think there was nothing strange about my household staff?", Robert says to the Queen.
"Well, they were bald, athletic. Your wife's away, I just thought you were happy.", The Doctor says.
"I'll tell you what though, Ma'am, I bet you're not amused now."
"Do you think this is funny?", Queen Victoria asks her.
"No, Ma'am. I'm sorry.", Rose apologizes immediately, but feels better as Juliet lightly squeezes her hand to let her know it's okay.
"What, exactly, I pray tell me, someone, please. What exactly is that creature?", The Queen asks.
"You'd call it a werewolf, but technically it's a more of a lupine wavelength haemovariform.", The Doctor responds as Juliet mentally face palms.
"He truly is an idiot sometimes. Then again, he's our idiot.", Her eyebrows furrow at Sexy's last statement, but she shrugs it off to focus on the problem at hand.
"And should I trust you, sir? You who change your voice so easily? What happened to your accent?"
"Oh right, sorry, that's-", The Doctor attempts to apologize but she cuts him off.
"I'll not have it. No, sir. Not you, not that thing, none of it. This is not my world.", The Queen declares.
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Isobel spots something draped over the shoulders of the guarding monks.
"Mistletoe. They're all garlanded in mistletoe and the wolf doesn't attack them. Who brought this into the kitchen?", She asks Flora.
"It must've been the Brethren.", The maid responds.
"Gather it up. Quickly. Every last scrap. Quick, now!"
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"Mistletoe. Sir Robert, did you father put that there?", The Doctor asks looking at a carving of mistletoe on the door.
"I don't know. I suppose."
"On the other door, too. No, a carving wouldn't be enough. I wonder.", The Doctor mutters to himself before he licks the woodwork.
Both Juliet and Rose grimace. Sexy's voice once again sounds in Juliet's head.
"He's really got to stop doing that. Honestly, he's going to make himself sick one of these days."
Juliet doesn't have time to think about how talkative Sexy is being today, because The Doctor is explaining his theory now.
"Viscum album, the oil of the mistletoe. It's been worked into the wood like a varnish. How clever was your dad? I love him. Powerful stuff, mistletoe. Bursting with lectins and viscotoxins."
"And the wolf's allergic to it?", Rose asks.
"Well, it thinks it is. The monkey monk monks need a way of controlling the wolf, maybe they trained it to react against certain things.", Juliet suddenly pipes up.
"Nevertheless, that creature won't give up, Doctor, and we still don't possess an actual weapon.", Robert reminds him.
"Oh, your father got all the brains, didn't he?"
"Being rude again.", Rose informs The Doctor.
"Rude.", Juliet simply says.
"Good. I meant that one. You want weapons? We're in a library. Books! Best weapons in the world. This room's the greatest arsenal we could have.", He throws some books to Rose and Juliet.
"Arm yourselves."
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The housemaids are chopping up the remaining mistletoe.
"There's no sound of the wolf, my Lady. Perhaps it's gone."
"Perhaps it's toying with us. But my husband's up there, and if there's any chance he's still alive, then by God, I'll assist him.", Lady Isobel says, sounding incredibly determined.
Flora throws the mistletoe into boiling water.
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"Biology, zoology. There might be something on wolves in here-", Rose says as she looks through a book.
"Hold on, what about this? A book on mistletoe.", The Doctor says.
"A book on magic."
"Some form of explosive.", Robert comments.
"Hmm, that's the sort of thing.", The Doctor hums.
"Wolf's bane, what about that?", Juliet asks.
"Look what your old dad found. Something fell to Earth.", The Doctor says as he reads through the book.
"A spaceship?", Rose guesses.
"A shooting star.", Robert says.
"In the Year of our Lord 1540, under the reign of King James the Fifth, an almighty fire did burn in the pit. That's the Glen of Saint Catherine just by the monastery.", He reads from the book.
"But that's over three hundred years ago. What's it been waiting for?", Rose wonders aloud.
"Maybe just a single cell survived. Adapting slowly down the generations, it survived through the humans, host after host after host.", Juliet infers.
"But why does it want the throne?", Robert asks.
"That's what it wants. It said so. The, the Empire of the Wolf.", Rose repeats the Wolf's goal.
"Imagine it. The Victorian Age accelerated. Starships and missiles fueled by coal and driven by steam, leaving history devastated in its wake-", He is cut off by the Queen.
"Sir Robert. If I am to die here.", She starts.
"Don't say that, Your Majesty."
"I would destroy myself rather than let that creature infect me. But that's no matter. I ask only that you find some place of safekeeping for something far older and more precious than myself.", She says to Robert.
"Hardly the time to worry about your valuables.", The Doctor mutters.
"Thank you for your opinion, but there is nothing more valuable than this.", Queen Victoria pulls out a finest white 105.6 carat diamond.
"Is that the Koh-I-Noor?", Rose asks.
"Oh, yes. The greatest diamond in the world.", Juliet confirms as she stares at it.
"Given to me as the spoils of war. Perhaps its legend is now coming true. It is said that whoever owns it must surely die.", Queen Victoria tells them.
"Well, that's true of anything if you own it long enough. Can I?", He asks before she allows him to examine it.
"That is so beautiful.", He mutters as Rose asks Juliet a question.
"How much is that worth?"
"They say the wages of the entire planet for a whole week.", She answers.
"Good job my mum's not here. She'd be fighting the wolf off with her bare hands for that thing.", The Doctor hears her comment and chuckles lightly.
"And she'd win.", He says.
"Where is the wolf? I don't trust this silence.", Robert says suddenly.
"Why do you travel with it?", The Doctor asks the Queen.
"My annual pilgrimage. I'm taking it to Helier and Carew, the Royal Jewellers at Hazelhead. The stone needs recutting.", She tells him.
"Oh, but it's perfect.", Rose comments, looking on at the precious stone.
"My late husband never thought so."
"Now, there's a fact. Prince Albert kept on having the Koh-I-Noor cut down. It used to be forty percent bigger than this. But he was never happy. Kept on cutting and cutting.", The Doctor says.
"He always said the shine was not quite right. But he died with it still unfinished.", The Queen states, rather saddened by the truth.
"Unfinished. Oh, yes.", The Doctor throws the stone back to Victoria.
"There's a lot of unfinished business in this house. His father's research, and your husband, Ma'am, he came here and he sought the perfect diamond. Hold on, hold on. All these separate things, they're not separate at all, they're connected. Oh, my head, my head. What if this house, it's a trap for you. Is that right, Ma'am?"
"Obviously.", She comments.
"At least, that's what the wolf intended. But, what if there's a trap inside the trap?", Juliet says, catching on now.
"Explain yourselves, both of you."
"What if his father and your husband weren't just telling each other stories. They dared to imagine all this was true, and they planned against it, laying the real trap not for you but for the wolf.", Juliet reveals just enforce plaster dust falls from the ceiling. They look up to the domes skylight.
"That wolf there.", The Doctor says as the glass in the skylight cracks.
"Out! Out! Out!", He cries as they all rush out do the room.
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The Doctor shuts the mistletoe doors on the werewolf.
"Your Majesty!", Robert cries.
"Get to the observatory!", The Doctor orders.
The werewolf catches up with Rose. She screams then a pan of liquid is thrown over it. It retreats.
"Good shot.", He says to her.
"It was mistletoe.", Flora informs him.
"Are you alright?", Juliet asks as she hugs Rose.
"I'm fine."
"Isobel!", Robert and Isobel kiss.
"Now, get back downstairs.", He tells her.
"Keep yourself safe.", Isobel tells him.
"Now go."
"Girls, come with me. Down the back stairs, back to the kitchens. Quickly!"
"Come on!"
"The observatory's this way.", They carry on up the staircase as the werewolf recovers.
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"No mistletoe in these doors because your father wanted the wolf to get inside. I just need time. Is there any way of barricading this?", The Doctor asks Robert.
"Just do your work and I'll defend it."
"If we could bind them shut with rope or something-"
"I said I'd find you time, Sir. Now get inside.", Robert tells him.
"Good man.", The Doctor says before entering the observatory.
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"Your Majesty, the diamond."
"For what purpose?", Queen Victoria asks.
"The purpose it was designed for."
Robert takes a sword from a display on the wall and stands ready as the werewolf comes up the stairs.
Victoria hands over the diamond.
"Juliet.", They go to the control wheels and start raising the telescope up.
Rose stays with the Queen.
"Lift it. Come on."
"Is this the right time for stargazing?", Juliet jokes.
"Yes it is."
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"I committed treason for you, but now my wife will remember me with honour! ", It is a very short fight. Victoria holds up her jet cross and prays.
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"You said this thing doesn't work.", Rose shouts to The Doctor as he and Juliet work.
"It doesn't work as a telescope because that's not what it is. It's a light chamber. It magnifies the light rays like a weapon. We've just got to power it up."
"It won't work. There's no electricity. Moonlight. But the wolf needs moonlight. It's made by moonlight.", Rose tells him.
"You're seventy percent water but you can still drown. Come on! Come on!"
The moon shines down into the telescope lens and bounces between the prisms, magnifying as it goes. The werewolf breaks in and goes for Queen Victoria. The Doctor slides the diamond over to where the light hits the floor. It refracts upwards, catching the werewolf in its beam and lifting it up off the floor. The wolf turns back into a young man, hanging as if crucified in mid air.
"Make it brighter. Let me go.", The Doctor adjusts the magnification on the eyepiece. The man turns back into a wolf shape, howls and vanishes. Victoria looks at a small scratch on her wrist.
"Your Majesty? Did it bite you?", Juliet asks, worried for the woman.
"No, it's, it's a cut, that's all."
"If that thing bit you-"
"It was a splinter of wood when the door came apart. It's nothing.", The Queen cuts her short.
"Let me see.", The Doctor says coming over to her.
"It is nothing."
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Morning. In the presence of the whole household, the Doctor and Rose kneel before Queen Victoria, who is armed with a sword.
"By the power invested in me by the Church and the State, I dub thee Sir Doctor of Tardis. By the power invested in me by the Church and the State, I dub thee Dame Rose of the Powell Estate. By the power invested in me by the Church and the State, I dub thee Dame Juliet of Lesbian. You may stand."
Juliet and Rose both contain a laugh, recalling the memory of the Queen asking for their residences and Juliet panicking and responding with Lesbian.
"Many thanks, Ma'am.", The Doctor says.
"Thanks. They're never going to believe this back home.", Rose comments.
"I thank you, Your Majesty.", Juliet how's properly.
"Your Majesty, you said last night about receiving no message from the great beyond. I think your husband cut that diamond to save your life. He's protecting you even now, Ma'am, from beyond the grave.", The Doctor tells her.
"Indeed. Then you may think on this also. That I am not amused."
"Yes!", Rose exclaims.
"Not remotely amused. And henceforth I banish you. ", The Queen continues.
"I'm sorry?"
"I have rewarded you, Sir Doctor, and now you are exiled from this empire, never to return. I don't know what you are, the three of you, or where you're from, but I know that you consort with stars and magic and think it fun. But your world is steeped in terror and blasphemy and death, and I will not allow it. You will leave these shores and you will reflect, I hope, on how you came to stray so far from all that is good, and how much longer you may survive this terrible life. Now leave my world, and never return.", Queen Victoria tells them.
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"Whoa!"
The Doctor, Juliet and Rose get off the back of a cart.
"Cheers, Dougal!", The Doctor calls.
"Walk on.", He gets in response.
"No, but the funny thing is, Queen Victoria did actually suffer a mutation of the blood. It's historical record. She was haemophiliac. They used to call it the Royal Disease. But it's always been a mystery because she didn't inherit it. Her mum didn't have it, her dad didn't have it. It came from nowhere.", The Doctor says to Rose and Juliet as they walk towards the Tardis.
"What, and you're saying that's a wolf bite?", Rose asks, not convinced.
"Well, maybe haemophilia is just a Victorian euphemism.", Juliet muses.
"For werewolf?"
"Could be.", The Doctor shrugs.
"Queen Victoria's a werewolf?"
"Could be. And her children had the Royal Disease. Maybe she gave them a quick nip.", The Doctor says.
"So, the Royal Family are werewolves?"
"Well, maybe not yet. I mean, a single wolf cell could take a hundred years to mature. Might be ready by, oh, early 21st century?", The Doctor grins at her expression.
"Nah, that's just ridiculous! Mind you, Princess Anne."
"I'll say no more.", Juliet laughs.
"And if you think about it, they're very private. They plan everything in advance. They could schedule themselves around the moon. We'd never know. And they like hunting!", Rose starts noticing all the details that never made sense before:
The Doctor, Juliet and Rose go inside the Tardis.
"They love blood sports. Oh my God, they're werewolves!"
The Tardis dematerialises.
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"What will you do? Will you stay here?", Queen Victoria asks Lady Isobel.
"I don't think I could. I'd sell it, or I'd pull this place down.", Comes the heartbroken woman's reply.
"Although we may not speak of these events in public, they will not be forgotten, I promise you that. Your husband's sacrifice, the ingenuity of his father, they will live on.", The Queen assures her.
"But how?"
"I saw last night that Great Britain has enemies beyond imagination, and we must defend our borders on all sides. I propose an Institute to investigate these strange happenings and to fight them. I would call it Torchwood. The Torchwood Institute. And if this Doctor and his Jewel should return, then they should beware, because Torchwood will be waiting.", Queen Victoria declares.