The Stockbridge Child (comic story)

The Stockbridge Child was a comic strip printed in Doctor Who Magazine. It chronicled the Tenth Doctor's visit to Stockbridge, a familiar DWM setting, but one that hadn't been seen in DWM since the final panels of the Eighth Doctor adventure, Oblivion.

It kicked off 2009's emphasis on Stockbridge in the DWU. Filling the first quarter of the year for readers with a new tale about the English village the magazine had invented, it — probably more by coincidence than design — reminded DWM readers about the existence of Stockbridge and Maxwell Edison. Therefore it almost certainly served as a marketing assist for the Big Finish series of Fifth Doctor Stockbridge audios later that year, which included Edison's debut in performed Doctor Who.

Synposis
The Doctor returns to the village of Stockbridge, with new companion Majenta Pryce, and he is reunited with a face from the past. But dark forces are once again at work in Stockbridge...

Part 1 (The Stockbridge Child)
The Doctor's TARDIS lands in Stockbridge. Majenta asks the Doctor why they aren't on Panacea, and the Doctor explains that the TARDIS doesn't take orders very well. They walk into the village, and see the citizens in fancy dress celebrating and drinking punch. The Doctor looks up at a banner to see that the citizens are celebrating Aurelia, rather than Christmas, and is taken aback.

Suddenly, the Doctor's old companion Maxwell Edison appears, protesting about Khrysalis. The village citizens get angry, approach Max, and throw numerous weapons at him. The Doctor helps Max to his feet. Max begins to recognise the Doctor after such a long time, but then Majenta, Max and the Doctor quickly run away and hide in a shop, as the village citizens chase them.

Inside the shop, the Doctor greets Max, and they remind each other of nostalgic moments of their adventures. Majenta interrupts, but Max tells the Doctor that there is a terrible threat to Stockbridge. He explains that Khrysalis was a company that had set up a building project, but that nothing had happened to it in over a year. Max had started a protest group called the Stockbridge Preservation Society to protest against the building, but over time its members had drifted away.

Majenta tells Max that she and the Doctor can't get involved with the situation because she has employed him, but the Doctor ignores this and they drive towards the site. Majenta heads off to look around the offices, while Max and the Doctor enter the site. Inside, they realise that Khrysalis has been digging a large hole down, as the Doctor notices claw marks. Suddenly, a withered old man named Geoffrey Lynch and several construction workers appear, startling Max. The Doctor shows him his psychic paper, but Lynch sees through it. The Doctor then puts the Gruvidian National Anthem on his psychic paper. This knocks out Lynch and his construction workers, as Max and the Doctor escape.

Meanwhile, Majenta is looking through the Khrysalis offices, and she finds a file of suspicious information. Suddenly, a revolver is pointed at her head.

Elsewhere, Max and the Doctor are running away from Lynch and his workmen, when they fall down a trapdoor, and land at the bottom. There they find some decayed corpses, which Max identifies as members of the SPS. The Doctor and Max try to escape, but are cornered by Lynch and his workmen.

Back in the offices, Majenta has been held at gunpoint by He and his wife She. Majenta points out to them that their accounting is of a terrible standard, listing all the errors in their work, such as lack of projections for fourth quarter growth. He explains that this is because the Earth will never have a fourth quarter, and shoots Majenta.

Elsewhere, Lynch introduces his workmen as creatures called Wyrrmen. These Wyrrmen suddenly mutate into fearsome monsters, and surround the Doctor and Max. The Wyrrmen fire bright yellow beams at Max, who transforms into a glowing, white-eyed entity, who silences the Doctor, telling Lynch to "Tell mother and father... I live!"

Part 2 (The Mind of Max Edison)
In the offices of Khrysalis construction, He is checking to make sure that Majenta is dead. Suddenly, she opens her eyes. She explains that the clipboard she was holding onto was made of plasticrete, which is harder than steel. She then whacks He with the clipboard, causing him to fall over. But just as she is trying to escape, The Lokhus appears hovering in the air.

She and He talk to him, and it is revealed that they are Lokhus' parents. The Lokhus then kills his parents, before asking Lynch who Majenta is. Majenta greets him enthusiastically, and tells him she proposes a partnership with him, and she will get him off this planet.

The Doctor has been tied to a pole, and the Wyrrmen are taking him through the cave system. Suddenly, they stop, and they ask him if he wants to become a part of The Lokhus, pointing at a large chrysalis. They break the ropes holding The Doctor to the pole, and the Doctor runs to the chrysalis, where he can hear Max's voice. Touching it, he suddenly finds himself elsewhere. He is with Max, who is just on the ground, grunting. The Doctor slaps him, bringing him out of it, and asks him what's going on.

Meanwhile, in the village, Mrs. Porter and Mrs. Wilkes are getting excited, because Mr. Lokhus is coming. They begin fighting over who will give him their food. Suddenly, the Lokhus is there, and the villagers begin admiring him. Majenta asks Lynch what's going on, and he explains that the Lokhus emits a psychic pulse which makes people want to mother him. The Lokhus sits in a throne, and asks for food. Majenta wonders if he's just gonna sit there eating, but Lynch tells her that The Lokhus has got big plans for Earth...

Max tells the Doctor that the Lokhus is from the after-universe, and is a member of the race known as the Zytrgupten. Lokhus was born crippled, and was thrown into the infernal abyss. But something went wrong, and he was drawn into our universe. He fell on Stockbridge, and built himself a chrysalis to keep himself protected. But his parents followed him, and they've found him. Max then tells him that they have to stop Lokhus from getting out of the chrysalis, otherwise he'll destroy the world. Then, the Lokhus reveals his presence.

Majenta brings Lokhus to the TARDIS, but tells him that only the pilot can get through the doors, as a safety precaution. Lokhus tortures her, but suddenly, he finds that Max is psychically blocking him from killing Majenta.

Inside the chrysalis, the Doctor is making fun of the Lokhus, but the massive creature shuts him up, and begins talking to Max. He explains that Max is holding him back, and as a 3-dimensional mind, shouldn't be able to do that. Lokhus scans Max's mind, and looks through his past, seeing that Max occasionally gets glimpses of the future, and the butcher bullied him when he told him what he knew.

Lokhus, in Max's body, picks up the butcher, and asks Max if he wants him to kill the butcher. The Doctor tells him that Lokhus is twisted and bitter, but the creature slaps him away, and blocks him from the chrysalis. Max tells The Doctor to find his body, and stop the Lokhus. He holds off the Wyrrmen, and the Doctor takes his motorbike back to the town square, where Majenta has been tied to a pole. The villagers threaten him, and Lokhus tells them to kill him...

Part 3 (Day of the Lokhus)
to be added

Characters

 * Tenth Doctor
 * Majenta Pryce
 * Wyrrmen
 * Mr Lynch
 * Mrs Porter
 * Maxwell Edison
 * He
 * She
 * The Lokhus

Continuity

 * Maxwell Edison returns. He was a companion of the Fifth and Eighth Doctors. The town of Stockbridge also makes its first appearance since the McGann era.
 * The Doctor refers to the events of COMIC: Endgame.
 * Maxwell is familiar with Torchwood Three and UNIT, despite the fact that they are both secret organisations.
 * The Doctor mentions that Cardiff and London are centres of activity for aliens. (TV: The Web of Fear, The Invasion, Spearhead from Space, Logopolis, The Visitation, The Unquiet Dead, Boom Town, TV: Everything Changes, Day One, Greeks Bearing Gifts, et al.)