Music of the Spherions (comic story)

 was the second story of the Doctor Who: The Eighth Doctor comic book mini-series, published in 2015.

Summary
The Eighth Doctor and Josie Day start a universe-wide investigation! First stop - Lumin's World, home to a raging war between the near-extinct Calexi and the crystalline Spherions! When Josie is wounded in the crossfire, it's up to the Doctor to strike a peace - and find a cure - before she dies!

Plot
On the war torn planet of Lumin's World, the Eighth Doctor and Josie Day flee from a hailstorm of crystal shards, Josie tripping over a tiny shard, before the two rush into a building, the Doctor cursing that war follows him everywhere. As Josie convulses, she asks what effects the crystals do, the Doctor explaining that they're transmogrifying the natives into crystalline entities with Josie revealing that she was struck by one of the crystals.

Bending down, the Doctor quickly examines the wound, frantically spitballing ideas before a squad of Calaxi troops arrive and corner them. Though the Doctor buts heads with the soldiers, he is able to convince them to bring him and Josie to their leader, Junto. Junto reveals that the invaders are known as the Spherions. Once, the Calaxi were a peaceful race on the planet Malleon before the Spherions came, raining down crystal shards, turning the Calaxi into new Spherions. Fleeing the ruins of their home, the Calaxi colonised new planets only for the Spherion to find them each and every time before one of their leaders, Lumin, found and terraformed this world. And it is to this world that the Spherions have tracked them to once again.

After being informed that Josie is metamorphosing at an accelerated rate, the Doctor rushes out to speak to the Spherions via one of the sonic cannons. Making contact with Glinix, an elder Spherion, the Doctor learns that the Spherions were the victims of colonisation in the past by another race and have been using the Calaxi as the perfect incubators to repopulate, blind to the organics' sentience. Unfortunately, the Doctor cannot deter them, Glinix's drive to save his race being absolute.

Determined, Josie speaks to the Spherions, letting them know the pain that they're causing her and that they'll be no better than the colonisers if they go through with genocide before she falls over in pain. As the Spherions retreat, the Calaxi say their goodbyes as the Doctor guides Josie to the TARDIS.

On a new planet, the Doctor and Josie watch the Spherions take to their new environment, the Doctor assuring Josie that both them and the Calaxi will be fine. Content with that, Josie accepts her fate before the crystals growing around her shatter.

With the adventure behind them, the Doctor guides his new companion back to the TARDIS, gifting her a room to use as her new art studio.

Characters

 * Eighth Doctor
 * Josie Day
 * Fumtu
 * Miso
 * Rumin
 * Junto
 * Glinix

Worldbuilding

 * Malleon was the home planet of the Calaxi.
 * There is a room within the TARDIS featuring a lake neighbouring a mountain and a canvas with paints.
 * In the publisher's summary, the Calaxi are referred to as the "Calexi".

Continuity

 * The Doctor feels weary of war and that he cannot contain it any longer. (TV: The Night of the Doctor)
 * The Doctor feels contempt for soldiers. (TV: Into the Dalek et al.)
 * Josie remembers that Victorian Edinburgh is one of the places on the Doctor's list. (COMIC: The Pictures of Josephine Day)