Tag: martin luther king jr.

Chojin Bird-Man Castle was sighted in Gotham Bay. The Coast Guard did what they could, but the fortress deployed a red, umbrella styled shield in front and spun it to kick up the water. Inside the fortress, the Penguin cackled. “Believe it or not, Gotham,” he said, “this penguin moves just as fast on land as it does at sea…and it’s got one hell of a bite! You were all fools and just like the state of Kai in Feudal Japan, I’ve played you all like a harp from Hell!”

---

Back with the Doctor and her group, the Master was still in the throes of a heart attack. “Tysar, help me get his shirt off!” directed the Doctor. “Batman, Winston, I need three AED pads and something that can generate electricity!”

“Three AED pads?” asked Winston as he got the pads and attached cables. “That’s how many a Time Lord needs?”

“Both hearts need to be reset simultaneously!” replied the Doctor as she and Tysar tore the Master’s shirt off.

“Would the Shock Batarang work?” asked Batman as he pulled out said Batarang.

“Gimme!” Batman handed the Doctor the Batarang and Winston handed over the pads. The Doctor then wired the pads to the Batarang, then placed one of the pads on each side of the Master’s chest while the third and final was applied to the top just above the vessels bridging his two hearts. “Now, Batman, monitor for a double pulse.” The Doctor switched the Batarang on. “Clear!” She pressed the button and delivered the shock. The Master went silent and still. For a few tense seconds, everyone was praying the Doctor didn’t kill her patient. …The Master then shot up, screaming and scaring everyone but Batman into screaming. He stopped screaming, then sighed.

“…Hello, Rightie!” he said.

“Both hearts are beating,” reported Batman.

“Now…” The Master tore the pads off. “Time to pluck a penguin’s feathers!”

“Master, there IS a way to beat him, yes?” asked the Doctor with a smirk.

“…Don’t say it!” hissed the Master.

“Well, it seems to me…”

“If you say it, I WILL use the TCE on-!”

“We’ll need to work together,” finished the Doctor. The Master snarled, then sighed in defeat.

“…We need to disconnect the Quake Engine component from Chojin-jo’s main control room,” he said. “And the most vulnerable point is when it assumes battle mode.”

“Battle mode?” asked the Doctor.

“Chojin-jo’s Wind Forest Fire Mountain transformation,” explained Batman.

“…A little over the top. We’ll need to trick the Penguin into engaging it. But we follow Batman’s no kill rule.”

“Doctor-!” argued the Master.

“We’re guests in Batman’s city and temporary Bat Family members. We follow HIS rules.”

“…All right, what’s the plan?”

---

Chojin Bird-Man Castle marched closer to the shores of Gotham, ready to trample it. Inside the control room, the Penguin cackled as various Emperor Penguins squawked. “That’s right, my fine-feathered friends!” squawked the Penguin. “Gotham will be all ours! Then the Eastern Seaboard, then the rest of the continent, then the whole damn hemisphere, then-!” The computers flashed alarms. “Huh? What’s…GIANT FLY TRAPS?! IVY! Fine then, time to do some weeding! CHOJIN BIRD-MAN CASTLE: WIND FOREST FIRE MOUNTAIN TRANSFORMATION!

---

“Where did those plants come from?!” demanded the Doctor as giant fly traps grew while Chojin-jo rearranged itself into a battle configuration that looked like the Penguin, complete with a top hat, monocle, and hidden guns behind the umbrella shield.

“Those aren’t real plants,” remarked Batman. “Someone activated holograms. Who-?”

“Excuse me!” called Dr. King as he and Alfred arrived.

“What are YOU doing here?!” protested the Doctor.

“I’m sorry, Doctor, I wanted to help,” replied Dr. King.

“Don’t be too hard on him, Doctor,” said Alfred. “He overheard the plan and activated the holo-emitters based on Poison Ivy’s plants.”

“…I appreciate the help, Dr. King,” said the Doctor. “But I’d advise you to go back to Wayne Manor. If the boy you’re possessing dies, you fade away from history and the United States can’t have that.”

“…I understand, Doctor,” said Dr. King.

---

Back in Chojin Bird-Man Castle’s control room, the Penguin saw what was going on. “Holograms! Batman, you idiot! You really think that’s gonna stop me?!”

“No, but this will!” replied Batman from the ceiling. A kunai then buried itself into the controls!

“WHAT?! NO!” shouted the Penguin. He snarled as Batman landed. The Penguin then activated his concealed sword from his umbrella and attacked with Batman keeping out of reach.

---

While the fight was going on, the Doctor, Tysar, Winston, and the Master entered the engine room. There, the power convertor for the Quake Engine rested. “That’s it!” called the Master.

“All right, start disconnecting,” directed the Doctor. As they started yanking wires, Tysar spotted a big one coming from the power convertor.

“Now if that isn’t a main power line…” she smiled and yanked it out! The fortress then juddered as the lights went off!

“Good eye, Tysar!” praised the Doctor.

“Doctor, outside!” called Winston. “The fortress stopped!” Winston was right. The legs of the fortress had stopped before they could reach the shore.

---

“The Power Convertor!” squawked the Penguin. He snarled at Batman. “You distracted me, didn’t you?!”

“Wasn’t all that much of a challenge,” replied Batman. The Penguin then leapt from the control room’s window and flew down to the engine room where he saw Tysar teasingly holding the main power wire.

“Lookie here!” she chuckled. “A local flightless bird getting too close to the sun!”

“Learned about the wildlife of Earth, did you?!” snarled the Penguin.

“Move aside!” commanded the Master as he shoved Tysar aside.

“Master, what are you doing?!” yelped the Doctor.

“Cutting a problem down to size!” replied the Master. “One shrunken penguin, coming-!” The Master then realized his pocket was empty. “…Wh…Where’s the-?!”

“Looking for this?!” cackled the Penguin as he held up a black rod with a sphere on the end of it.

“My Tissue Compression Eliminator!” gasped the Master in sheer outrage that a mere human stole HIS weapon. “How-?!”

“You dropped it during your heart attack!” cackled the Penguin. “Now let’s see how it works!” He activated the device, aiming it at the Master…but nothing happened. “…Oh, because, of course, you made it so this thing can’t be turned against you!” snarled the Penguin. He then smashed it to the floor.

“A pity, hm?” chuckled the Master. “But there’s something to be said about taking heads the old-fashioned way!” He grabbed a foil and swung it, but the Penguin blocked with his concealed sword and the two dueled.

“Come on!” called Batman as he grabbed the power converter. As the two villains dueled, everyone made their way to safety.

---

The Gotham News explained that the duel between the Penguin and the Master ended in a stalemate, resulting in the Penguin being impeached as Mayor of Gotham and both him and the Master being transported to Arkham Asylum. Within the Batcave, the Doctor was altering the Quake Engine’s power convertor. “And there we go!” said the Doctor. “All done!” Alfred then entered the Batcave.

“I just received a call from Lucius Fox,” he said with a smile. “He remembers Dr. King and his contributions to the continuing Civil Rights Movement. So do all those who temporarily forgot him.”

“Thank goodness for that,” remarked Dr. King. “…That means my young self’s time is up at least in this part of history.”

“Trust me, it will take a major catastrophe to utterly erase you from history,” chuckled the Doctor.

“Let me just…” Dr. King’s young self then closed his eyes and collapsed as his ghost left. Dr. King’s ghost looked as he did seconds before his assassination.

“That’s the face of a Civil Rights leader I know!” remarked Winston. The Doctor then keyed in a command. The power convertor glowed, then it and the young Martin Luther King Jr. vanished while his ghost remained.

“And that, as they say, is that,” sighed the Doctor.

“It’s a pity some Americans would rather forget about Dr. King,” sighed Winston.

“As long as people still practice compassion,” replied the Doctor, “I don’t see him fading away from history any time soon. Dr. King, I can’t say when, but that dream where humans let freedom ring WILL come true. There WILL be a time where everyone can say ‘Free at last, free at last, thank God Almighty, we’re free at last’!” Dr. King smiled.

“That’s good to know, Doctor,” he said. “Now, I better get back to Coretta. See you all on the other side!” His ghost faded away, but his memory remained.

“…Well, with all that,” said the Doctor, “I think it’s time I take Tysar home. This point is deep in her people’s past, you know.”

“Tysar, stay safe with the Doctor, hm?” said Batman.

“As long as you keep Gotham safe,” replied Tysar. She and the Doctor then entered the TARDIS and it dematerialized.

---

“So, you understand what I’m currently doing?” asked the Doctor. “I don’t know if I can take you directly back.”

“…I don’t think the direct way back will be necessary,” replied Tysar.

“You understand it’s dangerous, yes? There’s a temporal catastrophe going on and certain time-travelling races will capitalize on it. Especially the Daleks.”

“We Thals may be pacifists, but we don’t run from our problems. Not anymore.” The Doctor smiled.

“Welcome aboard, Tysar!” The Doctor set the controls and the TARDIS whizzed off to track the next chronal surge!

“…How…do you lose…a TARDIS?!” asked the Doctor.

“You tell me!” replied the Master.

“So you’re stuck in one point in space/time,” remarked Batman. He then smirked. “Just like us humans.”

“Wipe that smirk off your face, Batman! It doesn’t suit you!” hissed the Master.

“So you need the Quake Engine to restore your time travel capabilities,” said the Doctor. She then looked at the Penguin. “What about your angle, Mayor Cobblepot?”

“Do you know how the Quake Engine works?” asked the Penguin.

“Can’t say as I do.”

“Batman, you tell her. You were caught up in its effects along with us.”

“The Quake Engine,” began Batman, “treats time like origami, folding it into various shapes.”

“What?!” gasped the Doctor. “That’s dangerous! One mistake and you tear time like an amateur origami artist tears paper!”

“The Quake Engine can also be used to rewrite parts of history,” continued Batman. “After my adventure in Japan, Ra’s Al Ghul got ahold of it and used it to try and eliminate all but the strongest of humanity, rewriting the Justice League’s history so they would become Yakuza members. Because we existed outside of time for a brief moment, we could access the Quake Engine and refold history back into its proper shape. I thought we took it apart.”

“You did,” replied the Penguin, “but you know me, Batman. I have a nose for information!”

“So your thugs attacked one of the vaults hiding a part of the Quake Engine!”

“And they pulled off the operation beautifully!”

“I then blundered here and found the Penguin working on the Quake Engine,” explained the Master, “and offered my help in helping him turn history into its coherent state in return for locating my TARDIS.”

“Mayor Cobblepot, you have to stop this!” warned the Doctor.

“Nice try, but a lady’s tears won’t move me!” dismissed the Penguin.

“I don’t know what the Master has planned, but this ISN’T about recovering his TARDIS in the long run!”

“Doctor, you’ve entertained the Mayor and I with your theories long enough,” said the Master. “…Now, my Laser Screwdriver? You DID take it while Batman explained the Quake Engine.”

“…Oh well,” sighed the Doctor as she handed over a rod with three laser emitters on one end. “Can’t blame a Time Lady for trying.”

“Doctor, that trick hasn’t worked on me since the days of the Academy!”

“I think we’ve heard enough!” snapped the Penguin. “Batman, you and your friends can leave!”

“Come on, everyone,” said the Doctor. “I think we heard enough.” She and her friends then left.

“Right then,” grumbled the Master. “Now, if Young Martin can return with the power supply, that would be splendid!”

“…I didn’t see him when I brought those guys here,” remarked the Penguin. He pressed a comms button. “Security, someone find that boy.”

“Sir, he left a minute ago,” replied the guard.

“WHAT?!” shouted the Penguin and the Master.

---

Back in the Batmobile, the Doctor, Winston, Batman, and Tysar were discussing what they learned. “Why would the Master want a coherent past if he’s planning on ruling all of time and space?” muttered Winston. “And why would they WANT to preserve Martin Luther’s history?”

“The Master isn’t exactly a civil rights activist,” remarked the Doctor. “Questions, questions.”

“Perhaps I can provide some answers?” asked the voice of a young boy! Batman turned towards an empty alley and stopped the Batmobile. Everyone turned to see Young Martin in the Batmobile with them!

“What are you doing here?!” yelped Tysar. “It’s not safe!”

“It’s safer than staying with those two,” replied Young Martin. “And I know what they’re up to. They both plan to be the sole ruler of time and space.”

“Because, of course, they don’t trust each other,” sighed the Doctor. “But that doesn’t explain why…Winston, something on your person is beeping.”

“Huh?” Winston listened to the beeping. “…That’s my PKE Meter,” he said. He pulled out the device and the arms of the PKE meter flashed and moved to a near vertical position when the device was waved over Young Martin. “What the-?! The living shouldn’t have a PKE reading! …Unless…” The Doctor and Winston goggled.

“…He didn’t, did he?!” whispered the Doctor.

“What is it, Doctor?” asked Tysar.

“…That would explain why the temporal degradation is so slow,” muttered the Doctor.

“I met him once before on the job,” said Winston. “Let me compare notes.” He pulled out a notebook and looked between the numbers on the PKE meter and the numbers in the book. “…It is! Martin Luther King’s ghost is possessing his younger self!”

“What?!” asked Batman.

“A pleasure to see you again, Dr. Zeddemore,” greeted Martin Luther King Jr, America’s greatest Civil Rights hero!

“So, the mind of your younger self is asleep!” realized the Doctor. “You’re keeping him from learning too much of the future!”

“That’s the idea, Doctor,” confirmed Martin Luther King Jr. “When people started forgetting and I saw my younger body outside the Gotham courthouse, I had to try something. But it seems as if my possessing my younger self has consequences.”

“Yes, but it slowed down the rate of people forgetting you, Dr. King,” said the Doctor. “We need to bring your younger self back to when you jumped out of your house’s second story.”

“Interesting that I was plucked out of time at a low end of my life.”

“The Grouping doesn’t really have much in the way of rhyme or reason.”

“The Grouping?” asked Tysar.

“Those chronal surges are happening all across time and space,” said the Doctor. She then snapped her fingers as she remembered something. “Batman, you and the Justice League are going to meet my past self, but it will happen in your future. You need to remember to tell my past self about the Grouping.”

“Got it,” replied Batman.

“Doctor, I know what the Quake Engine is being used for,” said Martin Luther King Jr. “The Penguin mentioned something about a bird man castle and how he intends to use the Quake Engine to power it.”

“Chojin-jo?! He’s rebuilt it?!” asked Batman.

“Chojin-jo being?” asked Tysar.

“It’s the Penguin’s robotic fortress, also called Chojin Bird-Man Castle, from when the Quake Engine was first used so the Gotham Villains could take over Feudal Japan!”

“But that would mean starting the Industrial Revolution too early for Japan!” yelped the Doctor.

“We fixed that, thank goodness,” replied Batman. “But if the Penguin’s getting his old castle working-!”

“He’ll rule not only Gotham, but the entire eastern seaboard of the United States,” finished the Doctor. “We have to find Chojin Bird Man Castle! Dr. King, do you know where-?!”

“The main factory’s in the underground pumps station,” explained Martin Luther King Jr.

“That’s Killer Croc’s old lair,” remarked Batman. “The pumps are supposed to keep Gotham Bay from flooding.”

“Apropos that a man that themes himself after an aquatic bird should choose that for his base,” said the Doctor.

---

In the underground pumps station, the Penguin and the Master were putting the finishing touches on Chojin Bird-Man Castle. “And there we go!” laughed the Master as he made the last connection. “All done!”

“Perfect!” cackled the Penguin.

“Hold it!” called Batman’s voice.

“Penguin! Master! Drop this nonsense now!” shouted the Doctor.

“No!” snarled the Master. “Not while I’m so close! You won’t stop me this time, Doctor! Hand over Young Dr. King and I’ll return him to his native time, then come back and rule over this planet!”

“Bit of a complication in returning him,” replied the Doctor. “In any event, you can’t launch this contraption! It’ll fold the Time Vortex into five dimensions instead of the usual four!”

“I’ve come too close! You’ll not ruin my plans this time, Doctor!” The Master grabbed a fencing foil and swung at the Doctor. The Doctor grabbed another and the two dueled. The Doctor noticed a tray of sushi with chopsticks nearby and dueled the Master long enough to disarm him and point her foil’s tip at his left-hand heart. She then grabbed the chopsticks and used them to pick up a sushi roll.

“I still find that violent exercise makes me rather hungry. Do you?” The Doctor ate the sushi roll with a grin.

“Smile all you want, Doctor!” snarled the Master. “It’s still launch capable! One voice command is all that’s necessary.”

“Don’t you dare!” warned the Doctor.

“Oh, I’ll more than dare! Chojin-jo! HASSHIN!” …Nothing happened. “…Chojin-jo…hasshin!” The Master tried again. “…Oh for-! CHOJIN-JO! HASSHIN!” The Master then felt a sharp pain in his right-hand heart. The Doctor saw it in his eyes, he was NOT faking it! He clutched the heart like one does when they’re having a heart attack!

“What in-?!” The Doctor felt for his heartbeat. “…No electrical signal?! How-?!”

“A little something I picked up in the Orient!” cackled the Penguin. “You really think I’d let an alien like the Master or you, Doctor, control MY history?!”

“You paranoid little-!” snarled the Master through his heart attack. “WE HAD A DEAL!”

“And now I have a better one, what with me learning how to stop the electrical signals to a heart! Thanks for leaving your Laser Screwdriver out! Now…time to feather the nest I built! FLY, CHOJIN BIRD-MAN CASTLE! SPREAD YOUR WINGS!” The fortress then moved as the Penguin used his umbrella to fly up to the control room!

The Doctor and Tysar were brought to the Batcave and brought up to speed on their investigation of Martin Luther King Jr’s disappearance from history. “I’m actually surprised,” muttered the Doctor as she looked up something on the Batcomputer. “It hasn’t been THAT long since his assassination. I’d have…Nichelle Nichols.”

“What about her?” asked Bruce.

“SHE didn’t know about Dr. King.”

“That’s impossible! He’s the reason she stayed on as Uhura when Star Trek was being broadcasted!”

“I wonder if…aha! Found it!”

“Found what, Doctor?” asked Winston as he arrived.

“Another chronal surge! An energy wave that plucks someone from one point in space/time and drops them off in another, either in the past or the future.”

“Then Dr. King was taken by a chronal surge like me?” asked Tysar.

“It seems that way, but the probabilities of him going back into his time are still in effect,” replied the Doctor. “If I had forgotten him, it would have been too late and I doubt Lucius Fox would be the man he is today.”

“Then, for Lucius’ sake, we need to find Dr. King,” declared Bruce. “Where and when is he is the big question.”

“I’m going to allow the Batcomputer to temporarily use the TARDIS computers to calculate where and when he was taken,” said the Doctor as she worked. The computer beeped and Circular Gallifreyan appeared. “Aha! Access granted! Now let’s see…hm, as a funny little man once said…oh my word!”

“Doctor?” asked Winston.

“I’ve found when he was taken!” explained the Doctor. “In his history, he just jumped out of the second story window of his house!”

“Which attempt?” asked Winston. “There were two points he did that, both of which were the result of him blaming himself for someone else’s death.”

“Looks like…after his brother, A.D, slid down the banister and knocked their sister, Jennie, unconscious. Calculating his temporal path now…oh no!”

“What?” asked Bruce.

“He’s…he’s in Gotham right now! In the Mayor’s house!”

“Great, a kid riddled with guilt finds himself in a 21st century city. He’ll believe he’s in Hell! And if he’s in the Mayor’s house, he’s definitely gonna be scared out of his mind!”

“Especially with Mr. Cobblepot as the current Mayor,” remarked Alfred as he revealed himself with a set of tea.

“…Did you say Cobblepot, Alfred?” asked the Doctor. “As in…Oswald Cobblepot? The Penguin?!”

“The very same. Tea, Doctor?”

“…Please,” sighed the Doctor as she put her head in her hands. “What kind of election fraud-?!”

“I already checked,” replied Bruce. “There WASN’T any election fraud. Gotham elected the Penguin of their own free will.”

“I don’t know if that makes the situation better or worse! …Come to think of it, I don’t know as you looking into the election results-.”

“Perhaps we should table that for now, Doctor,” said Winston. “We need to save Little Martin Luther Jr. and figure out if the Penguin has any plans for him.”

“Not a bad idea,” agreed Bruce.

“…Right then, Bruce, suit up,” declared the Doctor. “We need to speak to Mayor Cobblepot tonight!”

---

In the Mayor’s home, a short, beak-nosed man was getting ready for bed. He took off his monocle, then lit up a cigar as he looked out the window and saw Gotham. “…Look at me now, Wayne!” he cackled to himself, his laugh sounding like an Emperor Penguin. “Your family never could achieve THIS kind of power! I’ll run Gotham-!” He was interrupted by a buzzer. “…What now?!” complained Mayor Oswald Cobblepot, the Penguin. He pressed a button on his intercom. “What is it?!” he demanded.

“A Mr. Batman and his retinue here to see you, your Honor,” replied his security guard. “They just arrived at the front gate.”

“What?!” squawked the Penguin in surprise. “He’s never been THIS bold before! …Color me intrigued! Send them up!”

“Very well, your Honor.”

---

Batman, the Doctor, Tysar, and Winston left the Batmobile and Batman locked it. They were escorted to the Mayor’s Office where the Penguin, dressed in his tuxedo, top hat, monocle, and umbrella, waited for them. “…Leave us,” the Penguin ordered the guard. The guard hesitated.

“I won’t hurt him,” promised Batman.

“He’s right,” said the Penguin. “Rather gauche for Batman to go after someone in their own home.” The guard nodded, then headed off. “…So, Batman, just waltzing up to the front door. That’s not like you. Unless…your plan requires…delicacy?”

“We believe you have someone here,” replied Batman. “A little boy, African American, accent from Atlanta, Georgia.”

“Ah, so the kid’s important to you, huh?” chuckled the Penguin.

“Important to all of time and space, if you can believe it,” replied the Doctor.

“Who are you?” asked the Penguin.

“I’m usually known as the Doctor, although my enemies have given me some rather…colorful names.”

“Doctor of what?”

“Well, a little of everything, really,” replied the Doctor. “Let’s just say we’re working a case, a rather open and shut case of Martin Luther King Jr. being taken out of time.”

“…You mean with people forgetting him?” asked the Penguin. “You’re saying you figured out he was removed from history altogether?”

“Not yet, or I wouldn’t remember him. There’s something keeping him from being forgotten, but it’s being whittled away, and I believe the boy you have in your…care is connected.” The Penguin said nothing. “…You’re not dismissing my suggestions as utter nonsense.”

“Penguin, why wouldn’t you say anything?” asked Batman.

“Because the boy appeared during one of my experiments with time travel,” revealed the Penguin.

“Time travel? How’s that?” asked the Doctor.

“Come with me,” directed the Penguin. He led the group out of his office.

---

In another room, a man was working on a machine. He keyed in something on a computer, then the machine sparked. “Drat!” grumbled the man. “Young man, I need another power supply. Get one from the stores, please.” The young boy nodded silently and walked off. “…Why we’re keeping him here, I have no idea. I need stable history to work with.” The door opened. “That was quick,” remarked the man before he looked up and saw the Penguin with his guest. “Oh! Your Honor! …And Batman, I see.” The Doctor saw the man and her face darkened.

“…You know that man personally?” asked Tysar.

“During the election of 2028,” explained the Doctor, “HE masqueraded as an American politician that became one of the two main candidates for President. …Unless that hasn’t happened to you yet?”

“Hang on, you’re THAT Doctor?” asked the Penguin.

“Oh good! You know who that man really is!” said the Doctor. “Saves me the long, boring explanation for you at least.”

“DOCTOR!” snarled the man.

“Hello again, Master!” chuckled the Doctor. “So, what will happen in Batman’s future HAS already happened to you, hm?”

“What are you doing, Cobblepot?!” the Master demanded. “Bringing her here?! Do you know how dangerous she is?!”

“Never mind him, let’s talk about you,” said the Doctor. “Why are you still slumming around with American politicians, even small time ones like the Penguin? And…is that a time displacement machine?!”

“It’s a machine of Gorilla Grodd’s design called the Quake Engine, Doctor,” explained the Master. “And we need to use it to bring a boy back after a chronal surge took him.”

“Is this what you’re looking for?” asked the boy as he arrived.

“Yes, that’s it, young man!” said the Master. The Doctor then pointed her sonic screwdriver at the boy.

“…What is that?” asked Winston.

“The Sonic Screwdriver, Winston!” replied the Doctor. “A multi-tool of my design!” She checked the readings and goggled. “…Erm, young man, could you leave us for a second?” asked the Doctor. The boy looked at the Master and the Penguin.

“…You can go,” said the Master. The boy nodded and headed off. Once the door shut, the Master grinned. “Figured it out, Doctor?” he asked.

“That was him?” asked Batman. “Young Martin Luther King Jr?”

“The very same,” confirmed the Doctor. “But what’s your angle in sending him back, Master?”

“The preservation of Earth’s history, naturally,” replied the Master. “Even I can venerate Dr. King. He IS the greatest Civil Rights activist Earth ever produced.”

“I can’t believe I’m hearing you say something I actually agree with,” hissed the Doctor. “But you’re no scholar of civil rights!”

“I have many strengths, Doctor.”

“Why use the Quake Engine?” asked Batman.

“And how much did you tell Young Martin about our time?” asked Winston.

“One of the Quake Engine’s components,” said the Master, “was held in a vault in the Penguin’s lair and I told Young Martin nothing. I can’t exactly command Earth if one shred of its history is unstable!”

“So that’s the ultimate reason why you want the Quake Engine!” declared the Doctor. “The Grouping is making time bend away from your will!”

“…Oh no, you figured me out.” Sarcasm was thick in the Master’s voice. “Now, if you don’t mind, I have a Quake Engine to fix up!”

“You could have just used your TARDIS to send him back,” remarked the Doctor.

“A brilliant idea, Doctor! Except I lost my TARDIS after my presidential campaign!”