Mortal Beloved (comic story)

Summary
The Doctor and Majenta land in the grounds of an old house floating in deep space - and find terrible secrets within...

Part 1
The TARDIS brings the Doctor and Majenta to a house floating on the edge of a vast galactic storm in the Proxima system. As they enter, they are almost killed by an eccentric robot known as Owl. The Doctor makes his peace with the robot when he agrees to fix a projection device that the machine is guarding. While the Doctor sets about fixing the projector, Majenta heads off into the depths of the house. Before long, the Doctor successfully reactivates the machine, triggering a hologram projection of a party from long ago, and a sentient Brochure, who welcomes the Doctor "to the future". Meanwhile, Majenta is walking through the corridors and finds a terrifying zombie robot called Violet. The - clearly mad - robot tries to take Majenta to her "Master". Majenta hits her over the head with a metal figurine and flees into the dark, with Violet in hot pursuit. Back in the foyer, the Doctor meets a hologram of a man called Wesley Sparks, who reveals that the Holograms are composed of solid tachyons - and that they know that they are not real. As the Doctor is registering all of this Wesley introduces Majenta Pryce in Hologram form. Elsewhere, Majenta is running away from Violet and encounters a room of murmuring zombies in business suits who are connected to a central computer. They halt their business spiel when they notice Pryce. A vote is taken - and the businessmen agree that Majenta Pryce is to be taken to the master. At that moment, Violet springs from the shadows, her claws outstretched.

Elsewhere, Wesley introduces the Doctor to Hologram Majenta. The Doctor is stunned to see Majenta looking how she once did - young and confident and full of life. Meanwhile, one of the hologram guests seems to take violently ill. File corruption, concludes the Doctor - and it seems to be spreading. Within seconds, all of the guests are corrupted - and they start to advance on the Doctor, Owl and Wesley. Elsewhere, Majenta is shaken to discover a range of robot simulacra designed to look exactly like her. But before she can investigate further, Violet leads her to the inner sanctum - where she meets a lumbering, hissing mess of a cyborg. A wizened human head grins down from atop a rusting metal hulk and asks - "don't you recognise your darling Wesley?"

Characters

 * Tenth Doctor
 * Majenta Pryce
 * Owl
 * Violet
 * Wesley Sparks
 * Cromarty

Continuity

 * Majenta mentions Thinktwice prison and Stockbridge, indicating that she and the Doctor have had no adventures in between comics.

Timeline

 * Mortal Beloved occurs after: DWM: The Stockbridge Child
 * Mortal Beloved occurs before: DWM: The Age of Ice