Sleeping in his room, a strange creature snored. He was a diminutive creature with only an eyeball for a head. On his nightstand was his helmet with an oversized lightning bolt protruding from the top. As he snoozed…a comms unit crackled to life with a bellowing voice shouting his name. “PEEEEPEEEERS!” The eyeball person, Commander Peepers of the Watchdogs of Lord Hater, woke up with a groan. He rubbed his eye and picked up the comms unit.
“Commander Peepers here, sir,” he grumbled.
“Peepers, we just arrived at Flurpak V and there’s no life on it!” barked his master, Lord Hater. “I need you up here.”
“No life…?” repeated Peepers. “I’m on my way!” As he put on his helmet, one would swear they heard a military chorus sing “Commander Peepers!”
Peepers arrived on the bride of the skull-shaped ship and dutifully marched up to his master, the skeleton in the red and black robes with green eyes and lightning bolts on his hood, Lord Hater, the current number 1 villain on the Galactic Villain Leaderboard. “Are we sure there’s no one down there?” asked Commander Peepers.
“That’s what scanner readouts are telling us,” replied Hater. “But that doesn’t make sense! I mean, look at the planet’s north pole!” Commander Peepers checked the readings and got a visual image of a giant pole sticking out of the planet’s north pole. Surrounding it was a factory.
“…I’d say our sensors were faulty, Sir,” remarked Peepers. “I’ll have maintenance look at them.”
“I already had them check the sensors out, Peepers,” dismissed Hater.
“Sirs!” called a Watchdog. “We’re getting a tech match concerning the factory!”
“Onscreen!” ordered Hater. The instant the tech match readings appeared, the alarms sounded with all screens displaying one single word. Peepers’ eye went wider than usual.
“Oh…Grop!” he whispered. “Sir, do you recognize that word?”
“…It…seems familiar,” muttered Hater.
“Sirs! Something’s coming out of the factory! …Backwards, it looks like.”
“Zoom in on the thing!” ordered Peepers. The screens zoomed in…and everyone gasped. Even Hater knew what that was.
“Now I remember!” he whispered. “Skaro, homeworld of the Daleks!”
“Why are they retreating from their own factory?” asked a Watchdog.
“Wait, something’s coming out in pursuit of the Daleks!” said another Watchdog. The screens displayed a creature that was black with glowing yellow lines, like it was made of lava!
“DOMINATOR!” everyone yelped.
“She’s obviously done something to set back the Daleks!” said Hater. “Peepers, get me the Dalek in charge! They want a method to take that thing down, they’ll need our help!”
“Sir, you can’t be serious!” protested Peepers. “These are DALEKS we’re talking about!”
“My decision’s been made, Peepers! Open a channel to the Daleks!” The comms officer thought his master was clearly nuttier than usual, but there was nothing for it.
“Channel open to Dalek Supreme, Sir,” he said.
“Dalek Supreme, this is Lord Hater!” A black Dalek with gold trim then appeared on the screen.
“I have no time to talk with you, Lord Hater!” it barked.
“You’re facing an enemy we faced before!” replied Hater. “You want to take Lord Dominator down, yeah?!”
“…We will discuss terms on your ship!” decided the Dalek Supreme.
On another planet, the TARDIS arrived in a dark, spooky castle. Lurra Rus stepped out first and looked around. “What is this, an amusement park ride?” she asked. Amy then poked her head out.
“Doctor, did you get off track again?” she asked.
“I assure you, I didn’t,” replied the Doctor as she stepped out of the TARDIS. “There was a network of time corridors, almost like a net. If we drifted into one of them, we would have been caught in one and couldn’t break free.”
“Didn’t the Cybermen use a time corridor?” asked Amy. “In Crystal Tokyo?”
“That was thanks to them scavenging from a race that’s infamous with the usage of time corridors,” reminded the Doctor. “No, this was straight from-.”
“You sure you heard it over here?” asked another woman’s voice.
“Positive, Syl!” replied a country man’s voice.
“I know that voice,” remarked the Doctor.
“I find it hard to believe,” rumbled a third voice, “that you actually found a TARDIS. The Time Lords vanished with the Daleks, remember?” Four people rounded a corner. One looked like the classic fairytale princess complete with blonde hair and a huge, pink dress. The second looked like a terrifying dragon with a crown on his head. The third looked like some alien dinosaur with a bridle and saddle. The last could only be described as a furry orange spoon with arms, legs, and a green hat with a star on the front. The Doctor’s eyes lit up.
“AMBLER!” she called.
“Ambler?” asked the dino. “Who’s Ambler?”
“I used to be Ambler before I came to this galaxy, Syl,” replied the furry spoon. “And if I’m guessing right, this lady’s the Doctor!”
“That’s right!” confirmed the Doctor. “So, you’re not Ambler these days? What are you called now?”
“Just call me Wander!” answered the furry spoon. “The Zbornak’s called Sylvia.”
“Hey,” replied the alien dino.
“And those are King Draykor and his wife, Princess Demurra!”
“Hello,” greeted the princess.
“Draykor and Demurra!” chuckled the Doctor. “I had heard about your plight with Sir Brad Starlight. …And I thought you had triplets.”
“My father’s babysitting them,” replied the dragon, King Draykor. “Both our parents are CRAZY about the kids, even sharing a day to do that.”
“Ah, the in-laws get along, hm?” mused the Doctor. “Well, I’m the Doctor. That’s Amy Rose.”
“Hello!” called Amy.
“And that’s Lurra Rus.”
“Pleased to meet you,” greeted Lurra Rus.
“What brings you to our planet, Doctor?” asked Demurra.
“Well, someone’s set up a series of time corridors like a net,” replied the Doctor. “And I fear it might be my greatest enemies.”
“Oh no!” complained Amy. “Don’t say it!”
“Say what?” asked Sylvia.
“What she’s about to say,” muttered Amy.
“The Daleks,” answered the Doctor.
“The Daleks?” asked Draykor. “They haven’t been sighted in this galaxy since most of recorded history.”
“Well, they may be here now,” replied the Doctor. Just then, a knight approached the group.
“Your Majesties!” he panted. “Dreadful news! Lord Hater’s skull ship has been spotted coming here!”
“What?!” yelped Draykor. “Prepare all defenses!”
“Lord Hater’s coming?!” asked Wander with childish glee.
“Erm, should I-?” asked the Doctor.
“Wander’s just excited that he gets another chance to show Hater a better path,” explained Sylvia. “He did it before on numerous occasions. That’s why Hater’s so focused on beating him senseless and why I still have to drag his furry butt out of so many sticky situations.”
“I suppose we’d better meet Lord Hater,” remarked Amy.
“And see if he’s connected to the Daleks at all,” mused Lurra Rus.
“The coincidence IS rather stark, isn’t it?” agreed the Doctor.
Outside the castle, Lord Hater’s ship landed. To put it bluntly, it’s Lord Hater’s head with hot-rod decorations, complete with large exhaust pipes. The ship opened its mouth and unfurled a tongue. The Watchdogs then marched out of the ship, chanting “HATE’S GREAT! BEST VILLAIN!” over and over. Lord Hater and Commander Peepers arrived. “Attention, King Draykor!” Lord Hater called. “Come out with your hands above your head and all weapons at the door! Your planet-!”
“HEY, HATEY-HATEY-BO-BATEY!” called Wander.
“YOU!” shouted Hater. “What are YOU doing here, Wander!? Can’t you see I’m trying to conquer this-?!” Hater stopped as he recalled something. “…Wait a minute, what am I saying? I mean, good to see you again, Wander!”
“Sir, you can’t be serious?!” complained Peepers.
“Well, he helped me defeat Lord Dominator, so why not bring him along with the Doctor?!” demanded Hater. Peepers raised his finger to argue…then realized that his master, in his own, deluded way, was right.
“Fair enough, Sir,” he said.
“Why are y’all talking about Lord Dominator?” asked Wander.
“She’s involved in this new mess popping up!” replied Hater. “And we need the Doctor here! So if she would help our Dalek friends, that would be-!”
“Well, well, well!” called the Doctor. “So the Hater Empire has sold out to the Daleks. You’re seriously asking me to help them? You don’t know me very well.”
“We know you better than you think, Doctor!” replied Peepers. “There’s no way your TARDIS can get you out of this situation, not with the Daleks’ time corridor net ready to catapult you to wherever they want you!”
“I knew it!” hissed the Doctor. “I don’t deny the fact that trying to escape would ensnare me like a fly in a spiderweb. So why don’t you all tell me the situation that requires me and Wander from right there at your leisure? You seem to be so sure of your argument.”
“Time’s against us, Doctor!” insisted Peepers. “We’re ordering you to step onto the skullship and-!”
“That is not how you force the Doctor to cooperate!” barked the Dalek Supreme as it and its retinue of Daleks glided down the tongue with a cadre of prisoners.
“Hey! Those are from my Torture Room!” protested Hater.
“Doctor!” called the Dalek Supreme. “You will exit the castle and bring Wander aboard the skullship or we will exterminate these prisoners one at a time every five rels!”