Ghost Stories (comic story)

Ghost Stories
Doctor:	Twelfth Doctor
Companion(s):	Grant, Lucy, Jennifer
Main enemy:	The Smoke Harmony Shoal Kraxnor
Main setting:	New York City, Boxing Day 2020s Nixtus III Nether Gate of Tersimmon
Key crew
Publisher:	Titan Comics
Writer:	George Mann
Artist:	Ivan Rodriguez, Pasquale Qualano, Dennis Calero
Colourist:	Dijjo Lima
Letterer:	Richard Starkings, Jimmy Betancourt
Release details
Number of parts:	8
Printed in:	GS 1-8
Release date:	26 December 2016 - 22 May 2017 (digital) 5 April - 5 July 2017 (print)
Format:	Comic
Titan Comics Doctor Who miniseries
← Previous	Doctor Who: The Third Doctor
Next →	Doctor Who: The Seventh Doctor

Ghost Stories was a 2016 and 2017 comic book. It was a tie-in to The Return of Doctor Mysterio, the first part being released the day after Mysterio's premiere, and featured Grant/The Ghost and Lucy Fletcher once again.

Summary

to be added

Plot

Part one

Grant Gordon is at home celebrating Christmas with Lucy Fletcher and Jennifer Fletcher when news breaks out of an armed robbery at City National Bank. Grant turns into the Ghost and races to the scene, with the Doctor landing shortly after. He explains to Grant that he needs his help and deals with the robbers by using his sonic screwdriver on the revolving doors. They meet back at Grant's apartment and the Doctor explains that he wants to use the Hazandra inside of Grant to track down the other crystals. Jennifer expresses disappointment however, wanting him to stay at home so they reach an agreement that the whole family go into the TARDIS. Grant plugs into the telepathic circuits of the TARDIS which leads to New York City in the future in ruins. A man who appears to be made out of smoke flies before them, telling them they are breaking curfew and that he will punish them.

Part two

Grant steps up to fight him but gets pummelled by the man who refers to himself as the Smoke. However once he reveals his Ghost insignia the Smoke vanishes into the sky. A woman named Carrie appears from under the rubble and takes them to an underground safe haven for the dispossessed. The Doctor asks what happens and she explains that the philanthropist called Ethan Hall was inspired by the legends of the Ghost and altered his physiology to become a hero - a process that damaged his mind and caused him to wreak havoc when the military tried to stop him, causing the destruction of New York. The Doctor deduces that he got his hands on one of the crystals known as the Arquess. Grant, feeling guilty that his legacy caused this, sets out of the bunker to stop the Smoke. He changes into his hero costume and battles the Smoke, trading blows. However he's outmatched, and the Smoke leaves him on the floor, bleeding.

Part three

Before the Smoke can finish him off for good, the Doctor disrupts his molecules with the sonic screwdriver long enough for Lucy and Jennifer to carry him into a building with medical supplies. The Doctor explains that his strength and ability isn't the only way to save the day and tells Grant to use the Smoke idolising him to his advantage. Carrie takes them to where they can find him, the ruins of a building labelled New Yorker. The Ghost tells his family to stay behind and flies the Doctor up, but Lucy and Jennifer run into the building refusing to stay behind. The Ghost tries to reason with the Smoke but doesn't get through until Jennifer tells him that her dad is trying to help him. He breaks down, explaining that all he wanted to do was restore order to the chaos but admits that it all went wrong. The Ghost takes the gemstone from him with Ethan's permission, and the Smoke is restored to normal. With Carrie offering him to help rebuild New York, the four depart in the TARDIS.

The Doctor tells them that they're going to love it on Nixtus III but upon landing find a sign welcoming them from the Harmony Shoal.

Part four

They realise that Nixtus III is a world that is ruled by the Harmony Shoal - something that could've happened to Earth had the Doctor and Grant not stopped them. Though the Doctor believes that this was voted on by the population of the planet. Grant experiences a headache which the Doctor passes off exposure to the telepathic circuits and deploys Lucy to use her journalistic prowess to find out more about this world with Jennifer. They see that there are tensions due to the presence of protestors.

The Doctor and Grant arrive outside the Symbiosis Center which causes Grant's headache to get worse. Entering, they're stopped by two workers who scans them, and due to them lacking identity chips declare them as illegal singles and escorts them elsewhere.

Lucy and Jennifer tag along with a citizen named Nemika who rushes in a car to stop those being taken from being processed. Due to them being unlicensed singles they'll be forcibly bonded with a member of the Harmony Shoal. On the way Nemika explains that Nixtus III has always been home to two dominant races, the Zanthians and the Jangrofens. After centuries of war between the two, a treaty was signed that had the two come together in a symbiotic relationship. This harmony lasted a thousand years until it was found that the bonding corrupted the Jangrofen DNA and despite all the efforts to stop it, they went extinct and the Zanthian's were left alone. The Harmony Shoal arrived to fill in the void and were welcomed with open arms but now have taken over. Eventually they arrive at the Symbiosis Center.

The Doctor and Grant are in a cell, with Grant becoming concerned at his worsening symptoms. An elected official enters and takes them to a room where buzz saws threaten to open their heads up. The Doctor tells Grant to use his powers now but reveals that they aren't working.

Part five

The Doctor tells Grant that his plan was for him to use his powers so for him to try harder, but are eventually saved by Lucy, Jennifer and Nemika. The Doctor sends Grant and Jennifer to go off with her and rescue her friends, but takes Lucy with him to a room with Harmony Shoal brains, including a giant one in the middle. The brains in jars begin moving in metal exo-suits. They run up to the top of the building where the locates the crystal and determines they've been using it to send a transmission that supresses the nervous system of the Zanthian's so that the Shoal can overpower them. With the crystal removed, they have a chance now to fight back. Lucy broadcasts a message to them all, inspiring them to revolt against their oppressors. Grant returns with Jennifer, now with his powers restored. This is because the crystal was the Alcyone, the opposing stone to Grant's. With no time for goodbyes, the four depart in the TARDIS again to find the final crystal.

The Doctor leaves the TARDIS after landing, only to find himself in front of Kraxnor of the Sycorax.

Part six

Kraxnor repeats his question on who is challenging him, which Grant steps up to. He senses the Hazandra crystal within Grant and tells the Doctor that he knows of the destruction he caused them and that the Sycorax aren't there to do battle, but they're there to save the universe. Kraxnor reveals his Sacrifice Engine powered by the Sanguinare, the blood stone and sacred to his people. His continues to explain his plan to harvest the souls of four planets as a way to combat the accumulation of dark energy. After the universe is supposedly saved, the Sycorax will want the fealty of the universe as recompense. The Doctor alludes to Lucy and Jennifer to find the Sacrifice Engine and destroy it, leaving Grant and the Doctor to have to deal with the Sycorax. Lucy and Jennifer escape the TARDIS and run through the ship, finding the engine.

Meanwhile Grant is fighting off Sycorax, but Kraxnor pierces the Doctor's hand, taking his blood, which is the blood that will begin the harvest and genocide of those residing on the four planets. The Sacrifice Engine begins to glow and unleashes its energy onto the planets.

Part seven

Lucy and Jennifer are at the engine attempting to figure out how to destroy before a Sycorax appears and grabs Lucy by the neck. Grant, hearing her cries for help, crashes through the Sycorax battling him to get to her. Meanwhile the Doctor is attempting to talk Kraxnor down from his plan, but it's too late for the harvest has already begun. Grant flies to Lucy's location but sees she's already dealt with her attacker. Jennifer tries to reach for the crystal, and succeeds when the Ghost lifts her up. With it removed, the ship begins to crumble and tear apart, with the Sacrifice Engine threatening to detonate. As it begins to explode Grant flies his wife and child away. The Sycorax evacuate their ship as it explodes, with the Doctor, Grant, Lucy and Jennifer making their getaway in the TARDIS.

With the crystals all now obtained by the Doctor, he plans to use them to open a rift safely to siphon off all the dark energy. However, he reveals that he's going to need to take the Hazandra from Grant for the plan to work.

Part eight

Grant reflects on his time as a hero, but isn't sure if he can give up his powers. The Doctor lands them on the Nether Gate of Tersimmon in front of the Vigilant Eremites of Andurax. The Nether Gate is why the crystals were originally created as the combined powers can be used to open a rift to an uninhabited universe and drain the dark energy and stop it from poisoning all life - a process that needs to be done every million years or so. Grant still isn't sure he can give it all up, expressing doubts on his ability to protect his family without the gem. Jennifer convinces him that he never needed his powers, listing examples such as with the Smoke and the Harmony Shoal as moments when he did just fine without them. Grant wills the gem to leave him, and hands it to the Doctor. Using the powers of the gems, the rift is opened, creating a light show deemed beautiful by those witnessing it. With the universe saved, they depart.

A week later, back in New York City, the TARDIS lands on the roof of Grant's building. Grant follows the noise to find the Doctor, and has a conversation with him about how it feels strange to be powerless. The Doctor explains that due to his gemstone bonding with his DNA, he never actually lost his powers and if he believes in himself he can still use them. Surely enough, he begins to fly, with the Doctor pointing him in the direction of a jewelery heist happening. Grant flies off, turning into the Ghost once more.

Characters

• Twelfth Doctor
• Grant/The Ghost
• Lucy Fletcher
• Jennifer Fletcher
• Newsreader
• Ethan Hall/The Smoke
• Carrie
• Nemika
• Kraxnor

Worldbuilding

• The Arquess, one of the three gemstones related to the Hazandra, was found giving Ethan Hall powers and he became know as "the Smoke" in a future New York City.
• The Alcyone, another of the gemstones, was located on Nixtus III.
• The Sanguinare, another of the gemstones, was in possession of the Sycorax, on the Sacrifice Engine.
• The Smoke is a super villain.
• Jennifer doesn't want Grant to leave with the Doctor because he promised he'd "play a game of Pokémon" with her later.
• The Doctor states they're going to witness a feat of engineering not seen since the days of Omega.

Notes

• Jennifer is incorrectly stated to be 11 years old in part 5. Her correct age of 8 years old is stated in part 1, however.
• Grant and Lucy didn't have a child of their own; not because they couldn't, but because it wasn't practical. Paying in mind Lucy is the only one providing income. Grant cant hold down a normal job because he would either get fired for disappearing all the time, or get his secret identity found out and put his family at risk.

Continuity

• It's been eight years since Lucy and Grant last saw the Doctor. (TV: The Return of Doctor Mysterio)
• The Doctor mentions Hattie. (COMIC: The Twist et al.)
• Kraxnor mentions the Tenth Doctor's fight with the Sycorax who severed his hand. (TV: The Christmas Invasion)

External links

to be added