Too easy, posho.
It's like pushing over a lamb.
Kevin never got home last night.
Everyone knows students at this school disappear.
They all just pretend it isn't happening.
Tanya, are you coming to help decorate later?
I need volunteers.
My mum says I'm too young.
But it's for Year 12, so technically you qualify despite, you know,
being, like, two years ahead?
How old are you anyway?
Oh, because that question never gets old.
I think I'm going to ask Charlie to the prom.
And you just made us fail the Bechdel Test.
The what?
You're funny.
Besides, I don't think the new kid is into... Wait.
- Prom is tomorrow. - Mmm.
You don't have a date yet?
So that's a yes to helping me decorate?
But how would one dress?
Well, the boys wear dinner jackets and the girls wear ball gowns,
but we totally don't need to be that gender-specific.
I don't know what you did in your last job,
- but chaperoning... - I am not a baby-sitter.
Except...
You kind of are...
Anyway, about the prom...
Erm...
I was thinking, that maybe you and I could,
you know...
Oh.
No. I shouldn't think so.
Ha! That was painful.
Look at you all. The cream of the crop.
High achievers.
It's no wonder this country only exports Downton Abbey.
I like Downton Abbey.
Of course you like it.
It's a bunch of white people being nice to each other.
You'd watch it if Idris Elba were on it.
Are we cheating already, Charles?
You haven't actually taught us anything yet.
True.
So how about our first lesson of the day?
Your teacher has awful butter fingers.
You can't do that! That's his private property!
April MacLean.
The answer to the question, "Are spinsters born or made?"
You got a date for the prom yet?
I am pretty sure you are not allowed to ask that.
- I've got a date. - Of course you do, Ram.
The boy who hears silent applause every time he walks into a room.
Solve it.
Don't look so pained, Matteusz.
Is this even in the book?
I honestly think she makes this stuff up.
It's the Gibbs probability density in a classical Klein-Gordon Field.
Well, it is.
We're not supposed to understand it.
She just wants us to feel stupid.
I'll bet she ate that missing kid.
He was eaten?
Where are you from, anyway?
You sound like the Queen.
I'm from Sheffield.
Why am I even talking to you geeks?
Don't make me put you in detention, Ram.
You wouldn't like it.
The big decoration tonight!
All volunteers are welcome.
Big decoration tonight!
Autumn ball.
All volunteers are welcome.
Big decoration tonight.
Need your...
Come and help me, anyone.
Hey.
Having a date to the prom is important, yes?
- Yeah. - I shall ask Matteusz as my date.
Oh.
- Oh! - Is this not right?
No! No, no.
The schools in Sheffield are very different.
No! It's great! It's fantastic.
And it totally makes sense.
Good for you!
- Thank you. - Okay.
Of course he is.
Of course.
Ram!
What the hell was what?
- Coach... - 20 laps. Now.
- What for? - 25.
Get a move on.
No. No.
Why would you help decorate for something you can't even go to?
Because that sad individual is probably the only chance you have at a friend.
Yeah, I'm under far too much pressure.
Tell me about it.
Just a minute, I will have some of this I think.
It's two for one.
Still weird to see you without your uniform, Tanya.
- I'm in Sixth Form now. - Overachiever.
I caught my husband fiddling with himself on the stairs.
Thank you.
I'm home!
You took your own sweet time.
Hello.
You're usually done by now.
Hello to you, too.
Mum?
You know this prom at school...
You're too young to be dancing with boys.
But I'm technically in the right year and...
Your brain is smart enough to have allowed you to skip ahead.
But you are still a little girl.
One who isn't even finished with her homework.
Work first.
- Fun is for later. - When?
When I'm 40?
What's the matter?
Why are you upset?
Perhaps a better question is, why aren't you?
All the time. At every moment.
Did you kill that student?
I saw burn marks that looked like they were from your gun.
Take it!
Now you know as well as I do, I'm not allowed to use my gun.
You'd find a way. Some loophole.
Did you kill that student?
Yes. Yes, I tricked that student into using my gun to kill himself.
I also may not lie to you, remember?
And as long as I am forced to perform this slavery...
Punishment.
To-may-to, to-mah-to.
I will keep you safe. But you will not question me.
Where are you going?
What did I just say?
You have to shoot it.
I can't use the gun.
Shoot it! Shoot it now!
This just means that I can do it the way that I want it.
Whatever you say, April.
Look, I'm meeting a friend for a quinoa and kale falafel.
God, how Shoreditch has changed. Can I trust you with this?
Of course I can trust you with this.
- I just sat down. - I 'm going out with Rachel later.
- I need the answers now. - Have you paid into my gaming account?
Yes, you ridiculous nerd.
Okay, the first steps you take in breaking down the formula...
"night...
"...full of promise!"
I wonder if that's what "prom" means?
Weird.
- Like this? - Yeah, exactly.
Isn't this great?
The two of us talking
about something other than what the white people are doing.
You tell anyone about this, you're dead.
I mean dead.
What was that?
Or is it "promenade"?
Hmm.
There's nothing.
What did you see?
Was it a shadow?
What do you know about shadows?
Tanya!
Ram!
Anyone!
We're in terrible danger.
No, I'm telling you, I'm seeing it right now!
- There's someone attacking her! - Wait.
What!
Tanya, what's your address?
I don't know, something with a three in it!
You think you know what waits for you here.
You think the same plan will work.
But I am what waits for you.
And I am war itself.
Run.
Where is the Prince?
Prince? The singer?
Oh, shit.
I can't use the gun.
But you can do it. Please.
More lights, Tanya!
Get rid of all the shadows!
Well, obviously!
No! No! Please!
No!
It's part of your shadow.
Just shoot it!
Shoot it now or it will kill us both!
April. No!
Did you kill it?
What is going on in here?
You're talking to a boy?
Hey.
April?
April? Are you hurt?
I don't think so.
What the hell do you think...
Corakinus.
They've found us!
Something's not right.
Now, that's interesting.
What's interesting?
What is that thing?
It's a displacement gun,
one of the few things in time and space able to kill a Shadow Kin.
It hits both target and shooter, tearing the body apart,
scattering it to the far corners of the universe,
taking the Shadow Kin with it.
Oh. Yuck.
But Prince Valiant here had to get all heroic
and you must have got a glancing blow.
Guessing that's a Shadow Kin?
More than that.
He is the king of the Shadow Kin.
Well, that's not an encouraging look.
You sent his heart out into space, which should have killed him, but...
You both now share April's heart.
God knows it's big enough.
What is she talking about?
Your heart is phasing in and out of space time,
beating once for you and once for...
You cannot kill me without killing the girl, too.
Not a problem.
Kill him, Your Highness.
You what?
I will not.
What?
You would hesitate from killing the leader of the Shadow Kin?
I would hesitate from killing a friend.
This is not over.
No. It isn't.
We've got a problem.
Are you okay?
I'm not supposed to talk to you.
- We just got attacked by a shadow. - Yeah, I know.
We have an enemy to fight!
Who's not here at the moment.
We were told to keep our heads down and not cause any excitement.
What a minute. What was that thing?
A Shadow Kin, you ludicrous Care Bear!
Is this how little attention you pay in class, too?
All right. All right, look.
Would you believe me if I...
If I said I was from another planet?
God, yeah.
You're weird and don't know anything about pop culture.
You're either alien or Amish.
I'm totally not prejudiced.
I come from a planet more beautiful than you could ever believe.
We.
We come from that planet.
It was paradise.
So not Sheffield then.
My people were the Rhodia.
We were a cultured, learned society.
Can you picture it?
Sort of.
I think I banged my head when I fell.
Go on. Tell her.
He was their prince.
You were a prince?
No wonder you're strange.
I am a prince. just without a people.
We were at war when it happened.
A war against the Quill.
Our teacher here was the Quill's leading terrorist...
Freedom fighter!
The Quill lived on the smaller of the southern continents.
They mismanaged their economy and grew resentful of our success.
The Rhodia ate up all the planet's resources,
including those of the Quill.
And then they were surprised when we objected.
- We tried to help you. - By making us so dependent
that we could never recover.
Wait a minute.
Did you always look like this
or were you totally all alien and had to modify your appearance to look human?
No. Why do you ask?
It doesn't matter. We won.
And the Rhodia have a particularly cruel punishment.
It is just.
They release a creature into your skull. Called an Arn.
Something about the size of two of your
weirdly large human thumbs placed together.
Now imagine it with teeth and claws, digging into your brain,
each claw tipped with poison.
And that's the nice bit.
It telepathically links you to a particular Rhodia.
And you become their slave.
- Their servant. - It is slavery.
It is punishment.
If I use a weapon other than my own hands, the Arn kills me.
Yet if I fail to protect you, I am also killed.
If I try to remove the Arn, dead again.
- Slavery. - Our tormentors become our protectors.
The leader of the Quill bound to the future leader of the Rhodia.
What more civilised punishment could there be?
What does this have to do with the shadow people?
We were so busy fighting amongst ourselves
we never saw them coming.
They can exist as pure shadow, living unnoticed and untouchable in yours.
In this form, they can only be killed if you are.
Which is why the gun is set to shoot both ways.
They'll invade an entire world before anyone even knows they're there.
And they only need to be in their solid form
for the briefest of moments.
Because why would you fear your own shadow?
They killed everyone.
Everyone.
Rhodia and Quill alike.
A planet of three billion. All gone. In one day.
They killed my mother.
You two survived.
I saved you.
Run!
Come on!
And I saved you.
How did you escape?
We were rescued.
By a figure of legend.
Out of space and time itself.
Whatever.
Arrangements were made.
We were told to try and fit in and tell people we were from Sheffield.
I don't understand how they found us.
That opening Corakinus crawled back into.
Are they coming to kill our planet?
I mean my planet, I guess.
This isn't how they invade. This is different.
They've clearly looking for us.
Unfinished business.
- We should leave. - No.
They'll follow us wherever we go. I won't spend my life on the run.
And yet you hesitate to take your revenge.
Revenge?
April? April!
What's happening to her?
Why are you standing there? Do something.
I can see them!
I can hear his thoughts.
He wants you.
He wants something you have.
The gun?
And he's coming for it tomorrow night.
We're going to have to cancel the prom!
No, no, if they want to kill everyone,
they’ll just slide into our shadows and do it at home.
Great, die alone or die at a party?
Plus, if we're all here,
it's the best chance we'll have of getting your heart back.
You said that you could hear his thoughts?
It's gone now, but for a minute...
For a minute. Well, for a minute he could probably read yours.
They've obviously connected because of the heart.
I told you we should kill her.
No one is killing her.
Leave us! We are decorating!
If you see anything more, you tell us immediately.
- Okay? - Oh, thank God you said that.
I'd have just kept it to myself.
just be careful of your shadows at the prom tonight, okay?
What have you seen?
Did you believe all that stuff?
Aliens and Charlie being a Prince?
I don't know. I was attacked by a Shadow.
Kind of opens your mind a little bit.
You take care, you hear?
Thanks.
You, too.
Why don't you tell your mum
the prom's been assigned as a sociology module?
You look gorgeous.
I don't, but thanks.
- April... - People just think
that nice means fragile.
That somehow if I'm allowed to see what the real world's like,
then I'll break, but I'm tougher than they think.
I know how tough you are.
And you're not nice.
You're kind.
There's a difference.
Kind is better. Way better.
Yeah, 'cause that's what people think when they want a prom date.
"Oh, I wonder who's kind?"
April, just because you have to do a lot for me...
- I don't mind... - Doesn't mean I stop being your mum.
You do look gorgeous.
And that's that.
Hello.
Everything all right?
Oh, yeah. My deeply religious parents
are very happy I'm going to dance with a boy.
This has been an evening of love and warmth.
Great!
You are a very strange person.
She's got a driver?
Uber, Dad.
- Practice in the morning. - Oh, my God.
If you tell me one more time, I might literally go insane.
Don't abuse the word "literally".
It's a good word that young people squander.
What's that, Dad? "Have a good time tonight"?
Well, thanks, I'm sure I will.
You're facing an important step in your future very soon.
You have no idea what I'm facing, Dad.
What?
- What are you facing? - See you later, Dad.
Have fun.
- You look amazing. - You too.
Whoa, whoa, whoa. Get some space between you! Honestly.
Is that all you people think about?
Look at all these people!
This is going to look so good for my university application.
Do you not have a date?
Is okay. You can dance with us.
How are you feeling?
How's your heart?
Weird, but okay.
I keep getting really short of breath, but I'm adjusting to it.
It's amazing what the body can get used to.
I do not understand these signs.
Come on, let's dance.
"For tonight we might die."
Come on, let's go in.
Are you all right?
Okay, seriously, what is wrong with you?
Hey, Ram.
Looking good, man.
Nothing. just nerves.
The great Ram Singh?
Nervous?
Tanya!
I thought your mum wouldn't let you come!
I told her missing this would stunt my inter-personal development.
I have to write an essay about it, though.
Though that actually might be quite interesting.
Oh, wow.
That's how you do a prom.
I'm dressed really nice.
All right?
I'm gonna change it now, we've got some nice ones coming your way.
I'm gonna go to the toilet.
I'll come with you!
Okay.
Anything?
Yes, there was a huge attack I'm keeping secret from you.
I should have put a creature in your head to make you nicer.
Yeah, should have but didn't.
If there is any trouble, the gun is set for you.
Something is happening to your friend.
Help! April.
April!
Is she epileptic?
- Do we need to call an ambulance? - April.
- What do you see? - They're opening the tear.
Is that a bad thing?
You don't have to prove anything to me, Ram.
What?
I know you've got the whole sporting ego thing going on
but I like you because I know that deep down that's not true.
Now will you please let me go to the...
Where is the Prince?
- Oh, no! - What?
You killed her!
Where is the Prince?
Did you hire a band?
We need to get everybody out.
Where are all the teachers?
Move along, please.
Boyfriend dumped her. On prom night.
"I must be allergic to the punch."
- You are all in danger. - You have got to go.
Please, you've got to get out.
Stop ignoring me. There's a fire
and you've got to get out of the building
or you're gonna to die.
Get out! Oh, for God's sake!
I will ask you one last time.
- Where is the Prince? - I am the Prince.
Will none of you people listen to niceness, ever?
Turn the music back on!
You'd listen to me if I was some a-hole
telling you how fat you looked on Instagram!
Do they do this at American proms?
All right. Yeah, back up.
Listen.
- You're all in grave danger. - From what?
From the smoke.
I'm going to kill you.
- April, come here. - Come on, let's go.
We have to close that rift!
Oh, is that where we're going wrong?
The Prince of Rhodia.
- And his little pet. - Kill him.
Kill him.
You know why I'm here, Prince.
You can't have it.
Then we’ll just have to cover this planet in shadow, too.
No, you won't.
You won't kill me because you'll die yourself.
There is a lifetime of possibilities other than death, maggot.
April!
No!
They've blocked us in. We're trapped.
Stop it! You got what you wanted.
Just go!
I have not yet got what I wanted.
Well, nothing left to do then, is there, but to die well.
You know, I never thought that was possible.
"Dying well"?
Who wants to "die well"?
Surely the aim should be "not dying well".
- You. - You?
- Who? - Who?
Who?
Well, this is a bit of a mess, isn't it?
I used to be the caretaker here, you know, before it got all fancy.
This is going to be quite a clean-up job.
You've heard of me, haven't you?
You are the Great Destruction of the Universe.
Yes, but most people just call me the Doctor.
There's something I wanted to ask, what was it?
Oh, yes! What exactly do you think you're doing here?
We might ask you the same question.
Fair enough.
It's just that I seem to have a soft spot for people
who are the last of their species.
Which you have made my friends here.
I found them a home.
Where they were supposed to live quietly.
Plus, they called.
We've got a problem.
This is not your normal modus operandi.
You invade in secret and you kill all at once.
You don’t just pour in like any old boring army.
Bit inelegant for the Shadow Kin, isn't it?
We are here
for the Cabinet.
Oh, the cabinet?
Oh, well, that's easy.
There's a painfully strange shop here called Ikea...
The Cabinet of Souls.
What's the Cabinet of Souls?
The centre of the Rhodian religion.
The soul of every Rhodian who dies is supposed to go there.
It's a repository for a future paradise.
And a weapon.
Yes, that too.
It's the power of all that life crammed down into single specks of light.
Could be enough to destroy an entire species.
He will use it against us.
Yes. Yes, and who would blame him?
I would.
Why avenge genocide with genocide?
Why avenge?
- Trust me. - It doesn't matter.
The Cabinet is empty.
I knew it would be.
Every Rhodian does.
It's just bedtime stories for children to make death less scary.
As if death should be anything but terrifying.
Then why would you take it?
I kept it in memory of my people.
All my people.
Who are gone!
Yes. That is a crime that has not yet been answered for.
And who will make me?
You are powerful.
But we are legion.
You leave.
Or I'll make you leave.
What's going on here?
You have been very busy here, haven't you?
One heart, two people.
It's why you can't kill me.
But I can.
You leave.
Or you die.
April, no.
If you came for me, take me.
Leave these people alone.
Weren't you people listening when I talked about not dying well?
No one else is dying here today.
We disagree.
Tell me, Corakinus. Yes, I know who you are.
You have one weakness.
It's why you skulk.
Even in your most solid form, you cannot exist where there are no...
Shadows!
Hmm.
- I thought that would work. - You thought correctly.
You just need a boost to the voltage.
You have not seen the last of us.
Yeah, I get that a lot.
No! He still has April's heart!
- Oh, for God's sake! - You coming?
I don't care how you do it, but save her heart.
Sacrifice yourself if you must.
I have no choice but to obey, master.
Don't call me that!
I shall take my heart with me.
Do something with your laser pointer!
- It's a screwdriver. - What will you do, Doctor?
Kill us both or let us both live?
- Those are your choices. - April, duck.
Who says you're the only one who gets to make the decisions?
I will find you!
That was very brave.
He killed her.
He didn't even think about it. He just...
Will he live?
Yes. Yes, he will.
But the more interesting question is,
what are we going to do with you lot?
That opening the Shadow Kin came through.
You couldn't close it all the way.
Well, obviously there's been so much Artron energy around good old Coal Hill
that time itself has worn thin.
Bet they didn't take that into account when they renovated.
And it can only be patched up so well.
Even by me.
So those things will come back?
Well, they'll have to find you first.
I scrambled the pulsation.
But of course, Coal Hill will continue to act
like a beacon across all of space/time
to any being who might want to make mischief with it.
So you will have to be on your guard.
Would the...
No, no, no. I thought you were going to get us out of here?
Why would you be safer somewhere else?
Time has looked at your faces.
And time...
Time never forgets.
Okay, Doctor. Hey, hey, listen.
Erm, these "people".
Yes, they may disgust me
but at the end of the day they're just children.
They can't cope with this.
I think that they have shown some rather extraordinary spirit, don't you?
A willingness to sacrifice themselves to save others.
Resourcefulness and bravery.
And, oh, yes. An absolute understanding of how precious life is.
- You got your leg back! - I had some spares in the medical bay.
The Lothan. Giant centipedes.
Experts in prosthetic legs.
You'll get the hang of it.
Just have to train it to act like your own leg.
What about football?
Unbelievably boring sport.
Now, darts.
Darts is something worth practising for.
Maths and alcoholic beverages.
The best way to spend a morning.
No, wait. Wait.
You can't seriously expect these juveniles
to deal with whatever is going to come through
the tears in space and time.
- Through the what? - It's like a Hellmouth.
- Or that town in Once Upon A Time. - Or the Vampire Diaries.
You watch Vampire Diaries?
- Everyone's very attractive. - Yes. Is true.
Ugh.
Well, they won't be on their own.
Oh, no.
No. No, please.
It's bad enough that I'm a slave to that Prince...
You have committed a crime, and you will be punished.
No, I was a freedom fighter for my people...
That's not the crime I'm talking about.
Oh, you... Hmm.
I can't be everywhere.
So you will help these amazing humans here.
And these amazing humans
will help you.
How! I can't fire weapons.
I can't use swords and knives and screwdrivers.
Your brain, Miss Quill.
Best weapon there is.
Look at you! What an amazing team.
You'll be able to handle anything that time throws at you.
Oh, come on. Cheer up. It's not that hard.
It's no harder than all these exams that you have to take these days.
Except for Media Studies.
It's going to be harder than that.
So are we all, like, mates, then?
I'm sorry about your heart.
We'll get it back. I promise.
It feels so strange.
But maybe I'll be able to see if those things come back.
You're remarkably calm about this.
You'll be living on a knife edge.
All life is on a knife edge.
My mum was paralysed in a car accident.
And she should have died. But she didn't.
She adjusted. And I will too.
See you Monday?
She's probably not going to let us out of our homework.
So? How was it? Tell me everything!
I'd have to say it was...
Uneventful.
Hey.
Are you okay?
I don't think I'll ever be okay.
I'm so sorry about Rachel.
Look, I'm sorry, I don't mean to...
Don't worry.
I don't want to be alone either.
How?
How are you not deranged with grief for your people as I am for mine?
How does the rage not consume your life at every waking moment?
How do you know it doesn't?
A Prince can't simply run around being furious.
A Prince is responsible for his people.
What do you mean?
The Cabinet of Souls is empty?
I wish it wasn't as much as you.
Shame.
We could have killed them. We could have killed them all.
- Committing one genocide for another. - Mmm.
Would you really let that stop you?
It wouldn't stop me.
Do you know the feeling of dread?
Has something happened?
I saw something. It was horrible.
Like, really horrible.
Who are you and what are you doing here?
The Doctor said you're supposed to help us, you're my protector.
Ripped & Corrected By mstoll January 2017
Ripped & Corrected By mstoll Follow my releases on www.Addic7ed.com