Tag: wander over yonder

Categories
Doctor Who: Crossings Series 6

Mission to the Mind: Part 3

Raz, Wander, and Sylvia goggled. “I ain’t never been inside this thing before, Doctor!” yelped Wander.

“All this inside a tiny box?!” asked Raz.

“How’s it bigger on the inside?!” protested Sylvia.

“Time Lord headache physics,” replied Tysar.

“OI! It’s not THAT much of a headache!” argued the Doctor.

“To Time Lords, maybe,” countered Tysar. The Time Rotor then moved up and down.

“Doctor, the Mooplexian homeworld’s on the other side of the galaxy,” said Wander.

“A short hop,” replied the Doctor. The TARDIS then made its usual arrival noise and the Time Rotor stopped. “Now, let’s see if I got it right.” She switched the scanner on and it revealed what the outside looked like. There were creatures on stems with open mouths and eyeballs spilling out of their sockets, feet on their heads, and stringy hair. Raz was holding his head.

“Man, I’m getting a lot of psychic readings here!” he said.

“We made it!” said the Doctor. “Now, let’s plead our case to them.”

“…Doctor, are these REALLY powerful psychics?” asked Tysar.

“Take it from me, they’re the most powerful in this galaxy, on par with Psychonauts like Raz and the Time Lords. …And, sadly, they take a dim view on Time Lords. They’re sure to lash out if I step outside the TARDIS.”

“…Then maybe you should-.”

“I can’t stay in here. I must make the case in person. …Now come along.” The Doctor opened the doors and the group stepped outside to speak with the Mooplexians. “Great Mooplexians,” called the Doctor, “I am the Doctor. I speak with you on behalf of-.”

“TIME LORD!” boomed a voice. All of a sudden, the area around everyone changed.

“HEY! WHAT’S WITH THE PSYCHIC SHOW?!” yelped Raz. The Mooplexians’ heads then lifted away from their stems and turned into neon colors.

“You and your ilk are not welcome here!” boomed one of the Mooplexians.

“I understand our species’ contempt for one another,” replied the Doctor, “but Lord Hater-!”

“The sad man is unimportant!” replied the lead Mooplexian.

“With respect, Great Mooplexians, he is VERY important! He’s gotten ahold of a machine that can clone psychic powers and uses YOUR mental energy as a power source!”

“He will be dealt with in due course! You, on the other hand-!”

“Wander, you and your friends will wait!” boomed another Mooplexian.

“What are you gonna do?!” yelped Wander, terrified at the Mooplexians’ behavior.

“She will represent her species in the trial!” replied the Mooplexian second-in-command. A stone wall then appeared, separating them from the Doctor.

“HEY!” protested Raz. He then fired a psi-blast at the wall, but no dice.

On the other side of the wall, the Doctor was on a podium. “Time Lord, your species stands accused of generating enemies and generally picking on the little folk when we taught Rassilon, Omega, and Tecteun all those centuries ago that such actions made them pathetic!” boomed the head Mooplexian.

“I can assure you, those lessons HAVE been learned!” urged the Doctor.

“Not true!” replied another Mooplexian. “The Last Great Time War and the resulting corrupted Shadow Proclamation is proof that your species would rather die than learn those lessons! Need we name your personal enemies, Time Lord?! You had no one to call friends, just enemies!”

“Not true! For every enemy you name, I shall name all those I call my friends!”

“Impossible!” retorted the head Mooplexian. “The Daleks, the Toymaker, the Cybermen! You had no one!” Images of those enemies appeared. They were images of when the Doctor first met those enemies.

“Then you haven’t probed deep into my mind!” The Doctor conjured images of her first incarnation’s friends. “Ian Chesterton! Barbara Wright! My granddaughter, Susan Foreman! Vicki! Steven Taylor! Dodo Chaplet! Polly! Ben Jackson!” The images of her friends overpowered the images of her enemies.

“…These…these are lies!” protested a Mooplexian. “Time Lords cannot have friends! The Ice Warriors! The Great Intelligence!”

“Jamie McCrimmon! Victoria Waterfield! Zoe Heriot! Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart!” countered the Doctor. Once again, the images of her friends overpowered the images of her enemies.

“The Nestene Consciousness! The Silurians! The Sea Devils! The Master! Omega! The Sontarans!”

“Dr. Liz Shaw! Jo Grant! Sarah Jane Smith! John Benton! Mike Yates!”

“The Black Guardian! Sutekh! Davros! The Rutans!”

“Harry Sullivan! Leela! K9! Romana! Adric! Nyssa! Tegan Jovanka!”

“The Mara!”

“Vislor Turlough! Kamelion! Peri Brown!”

“The Valeyard!”

“Mel Bush!”

“Fenric!”

“Ace!”

Raz clutched his head as the trial went on. “Raz?” asked Tysar.

“The Doctor’s engaged in a psychic duel with the Mooplexians!” replied Raz.

“Is she nuts?!” protested Wander. “She won’t survive a duel with them!”

“You don’t know her mind like I do, Wander,” said Raz. “It’s full of twists and turns even I can’t navigate.”

“RGH! TECTEUN!” challenged the lead Mooplexian as it and its fellows were straining against the Doctor.

“RGHGF! DAN LEWIS!” countered the Doctor, the strain evident on her mind.

“THE NOT-THINGS!”

“RUBY SUNDAY! JOY ALMONDO! BELINDA CHANDRA!”

“RITA REPULSA! GURAST! DARTH VADER!”

“WILLIAM DAVIES! AMY ROSE! LURRA RUS!”

“POISON IVY! LEX LUTHOR! LOKI! DR. DOOM!”

“RAZPUTIN AQUATO! WANDER! SYLVIA! TYSAR!” By then, the Mooplexians screamed both in the mentalscape and the real world. The wall collapsed as an energy wave erupted from the Mooplexian homeworld.

The energy wave washed over the planet Lord Hater and his Watchdogs had conquered. It was pandemonium aboard the Skullship. Commander Peepers saw something on the screen. “SIR!” he warned. “That energy wave’s affected the mental cloning machine we picked up! Its abnormal energies have set it into overload!”

“Flabdrassit, give it to me straight, Peepers!” complained Hater.

“It’s gonna-!” The machine exploded, sending debris across the room. Lord Hater summoned an electric force field in time, not lowering it until the noise stopped.

“…Don’t ask me how,” snarled Hater, “but this has Wander written all over it!”

“For once, I agree, Sir,” replied Peepers. “Written in big, red letters.”

Back on the Mooplexian homeworld, the Mooplexians were catching their breath as the Doctor’s friends were attending to her. “How is that possible?!” asked Wander. “The Mooplexians are the most powerful psychics in the galaxy! You shouldn’t be alive, Doc!”

“I have my ways,” panted the Doctor.

“You…you have friends…” panted the lead Mooplexian. “…How? Time Lords cannot make friends! They’re too arrogant for that!”

“…Did…did that thing just talk?” asked Sylvia.

“We had transcended physical form, Sylvia,” replied another Mooplexian. “Never, in all our lives, have we encountered a psychic so powerful.”

“You want powerful psychics,” remarked the Doctor, “you should be glad you didn’t fight Raz here. But, as you can see, your accusations against my people of us making only enemies instead of friends only hold water on a case-by-case basis. Even Rassilon is learning that lesson. Now, about Lord Hater’s psychic cloning machine-.”

“Our duel has already destroyed it,” said the head Mooplexian. “Now, with all that said…leave. While you, Doctor, proved to be an exception, Time Lords are not welcome on our quiet world. Take Razputin Aquato home and dare not trespass on our home again.”

“…As you wish,” sighed the Doctor. “Come along, everyone.” She gathered everyone into the TARDIS and it took off while the Mooplexians assumed their natural state.

“So, how do we bring Raz back to his time?” asked Tysar. “I don’t think Lord Hater would want us back on that planet.”

“Oh, the TARDIS has other ways,” replied the Doctor as she fiddled with the controls. “Let’s see, chrono-navigation’s calculated and…bingo!”

“So, now what?” asked Raz.

“Now you get sent back,” answered the Doctor. “Good luck, Razputin Aquato!”

“Bye, Doctor! Hey, when you visit the Motherlobe again, give us some warning if you changed your face again, huh?”

“I make no promises on that,” chuckled the Doctor as she flicked a switch. Raz then faded away, waving goodbye. After a few seconds, the TARDIS landed. “There we are! For Wander and Sylvia, I’ve set us on Zorbula V!”

“Ooh! Never been there before!” said Wander, giddy with excitement.

“I have,” replied Sylvia. “You’ll enjoy it, Wander! A nice, peaceful little place!” She let Wander jump on her saddle and take the reins, then they left the TARDIS.

“Bye, Doc!” called Wander. “See you later!” The door then shut.

“…Well, that’s a nice turn of events,” sighed the Doctor happily. “No death and destruction and the Mooplexians learned something. It’s always nice to see higher beings learn something new. Heck, that’s why I left Gallifrey! Us Time Lords never bothered to learn something new! …Granted, I was exiled for a time because of it, but-!”

“Doctor, I hate to interrupt,” said Tysar, “but the TARDIS found a new chronal surge! …Although it seems to be centered around this galaxy early in its history.”

“Let me see.” The Doctor checked the readings and goggled. “…Well, isn’t THAT a surprise! This is before he became Emperor!”

“Doctor?” asked Tysar.

“Hold onto your hat, Tysar,” warned the Doctor. “We’re going to the Clone Wars, a conflict that plagued this galaxy long before Wander was born.”

Categories
Doctor Who: Crossings Series 6

Mission to the Mind: Part 2

“I, Lord Hater,” began the skeleton, “planetary conqueror and number one superstar, hereby claim this planet and its famous Time Orbble Lake as mine, proving that I am the GREATEST IN THE-!”

“HEY, HATEY!” called Wander.

“…Ignore him, Hater!” Lord Hater growled to himself. “If you ignore him, he’ll go away!”

“That’s a rather lame way to solve your problems, Lord Hater,” remarked the Doctor.

“ARE YOU QUESTIONING ME?!” shouted Lord Hater. “…Wait a minute, who ARE you anyways?!”

“Oh, we met before,” said the Doctor. “That whole business with the Daleks and Lord Dominator and her modifications to the Movellan Virus?” Lord Hater goggled.

“How do YOU know the specifics?!” he demanded. “…Unless…Peepers!”

“Yes, Sir!” replied his right-hand man, Commander Peepers. He then pulled out a scanner and waved it over the Doctor. His singular eye widened. “Time Lord genetics confirmed, Sir!” reported Commander Peepers.

“Sir, that blue box the Doctor has is over here!” called one of the eyeball creatures, the Watchdogs.

“DOCTOR?!” yelped Lord Hater. “WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?! WITH WANDER AGAIN?!”

“Well, I’m trying to get this young man back to his proper point in space-time,” replied the Doctor as she indicated Raz. Commander Peepers checked his scanner again, then his eye widened in surprise.

“Sir, that kid’s psychic readings are off the charts!” he said.

“His psychic powers are not your concern!” urged the Doctor.

“…Oh, aren’t they?!” chuckled Lord Hater as a wicked grin crossed his face. By now, the Doctor and her friends closed ranks around Raz.

“You’re not touching him!” declared the Doctor.

“Watchdogs, EYES UP!” ordered Lord Hater. The Watchdogs leveled their weapons at the group. “I don’t NEED to touch him to get him to come aboard! Just to be on the safe side, you’d better join him and enjoy your five-star suite in the brig while I clone his mind powers!”

“Ha! You don’t have that kind of technology!” cackled the Doctor.

“…So, I HAVE been wrong before,” remarked the Doctor when she saw the machine in Lord Hater’s ship.

“That’s gonna clone my psychic abilities?” asked Raz. “…Looks an awful lot like the Brain Tumbler.”

“With this machine, puny creature,” Commander Peepers said with pride, “we shall clone all psychic abilities and implant them into our test subjects!”

“Psychic cloning is against galactic law,” remarked the Doctor.

“I’M the evil overlord here!” retorted Lord Hater. “I’M the one that decides what is or isn’t legal!”

“Other powers made that kind of thing illegal because of the untold damage it does to both the psychic having their powers cloned and the subject that’s having those powers forcibly implanted into their own mind! It will KILL them! BOTH of them!”

“My science team’s already taking the necessary precautions!” dismissed Hater. “Watchdogs, throw them in the brig! Make sure everything is ready for the kid!”

“Lord Hater, Raz is ten!” protested the Doctor.

“Eleven, actually,” interjected Raz.

“Not the point.” The Watchdogs were set on obeying their master as they leveled their guns at the Doctor and her group.

Everyone was thrown into separate cells in the brig block. “…Well, ain’t this cozy,” grumbled Sylvia.

“I don’t think we’ve been properly introduced,” Wander said to Raz. “Folks call me Wander.”

“Raz,” replied Raz. “Razputin Aquato. From Earth.”

“Never heard of it,” remarked Sylvia.

“It’s not a planet within this galaxy,” replied the Doctor as she fiddled with her cell’s force field. “Have to admit, Lord Hater’s a lot smarter than I gave him credit for.”

“What, for not only hiding the force field emitters,” said Tysar, “but taking your sonic screwdriver?”

“Yes, limiting my options,” remarked the Doctor. “Making me take longer to escape, that WILL put me in a panic…if the Skullship was running on top-of-the-line technology.”

“Yes, the power flow regulators aren’t very advanced,” remarked Tysar.

“Hater’s always focused on whether or not something is cool in his eyes,” said Sylvia. “So I’m not surprised to hear you say that.”

“Hm, primitive technology by anyone’s metrics,” said the Doctor, “but stubborn. …Actually, Raz, can you still use your powers? Simple telekinesis on the force field control panel should be sufficient.”

“Let’s see,” replied Raz. He held his hand to the side of his head, then concentrated. The control panel then sparked and the force fields vanished. The Doctor grinned.

“Rule one of containing a psychic!” she said.

“Always have something on hand to shut off their powers!” finished Raz.

“So what now?” asked Sylvia.

“Now I need to know what Hater’s plans are,” said the Doctor. “And, of course, get my screwdriver back.” She saw a console with a screen above it. “That might do it. Let’s see…password locked. Right then.” She tried the obvious password of “password” and all variations. “…No, looks like Hater’s not that stupid. …Wait, maybe something that strokes his ego.” She tried a variation of Lord Hater’s name and the fact that he considered himself the number one superstar. “…AHA!” she called. “Perfect!” She then called up the data of the mission to the planet. “…Hm…well, that WOULD be a prudent thing to do.”

“Doctor?” asked Wander.

“It seems Lord Hater, in a bout of paranoia, fears that Lord Dominator would use Time Orbble Lake to travel back to the past and undo her big defeat at his hands.”

“Well, you gotta admit,” remarked Sylvia, “losing to Hater would bruise anyone’s ego.”

“There’s something that just doesn’t add up, though,” remarked the Doctor. “Where does Raz fit into all this?” She triple-checked her research. “…Infernal cheek!” she muttered. “Raz was just a spur-of-the-moment plan!”

“Well, I guess I can be somewhat relieved,” remarked Raz.

“Doctor, what does it say about Hater’s machine?” asked Tysar.

“Haven’t found those files yet,” replied the Doctor. “Come on, come on! No, I don’t want to see tickets to Lord Hater and the Harbingers of Doom! No, the-! Aha! Here it is! …Huh. …It’s a Cluckon weapon.”

“Cluckon?” asked Sylvia. “Those chickens? Why would they want it?”

“It was intended to be a weapon to use the powers of the Mooplexians to psychically attack someone, but it looks like Lord Hater intended to use that power for his own purposes.”

“And Mooplexians are…?” asked Tysar.

“Well, they look like the dumbest creatures in the universe, but those are only shells of their real selves. Their actual intelligence is phenomenal, rivaling even the Time Lords. And using them as a power source for this psychic cloning machine WOULD give Hater a degree of control…right! We have to go to the Mooplexian Homeworld!”

“Doctor, we can’t just leave! The TARDIS is still by the lake!” protested Tysar.

“Lord Hater can guard that lake as much as he wants,” replied the Doctor, “but the weapon needs to be destroyed and the Mooplexians have that kind of reach.”

“Doctor, there’s sure to be Watchdogs…well, WATCHING the TARDIS!”

“Leave that to me and Wander!” replied Sylvia. Wander then took off his hat and rummaged around in it.

“Let’s see…aha!” He pulled out a Watchdog’s suit! “They’re about my height! I always wanted to see what being a Watchdog was like!”

“Perfect! Let’s go!” declared the Doctor.

The Doctor and her group arrived at the front of the Skullship where guards were placed for any attempted jailbreaks. Wander was dressed up in his Watchdog suit and had a super soaker in his hands. It looked like one of the Watchdogs’ usual laser rifles, so no one really blinked. “All right, as we planned,” the Doctor said to Wander.

“Right,” replied Wander. “And…sorry in advance.” He then “roughly” shoved the Doctor forward. “Come on, you!” he barked. “Get going! You too, Zbornak! And you apes!” Everyone marched towards the front.

“HALT!” called one of the guards. “What do you think you’re doing, Private? The prisoners are supposed to stay in their cells!”

“Lord Hater ordered me to give them some exercise as long as we’re on the planet!” replied Wander.

“It’s true,” replied Raz. “Go ahead and check with him.”

“Yes, he was quite insistent,” supplied the Doctor.

“Yeah, right!” scoffed the other guard. “Let me just check, huh?” He pulled out a walkie-talkie and called up Lord Hater.

“What is it, Bob?!” demanded Lord Hater. “I’m busy making my new torture room mixtape!”

“Lord Hater, one of the Privates said that he got direct orders from you to-.”

“ARE YOU MAKING ONE OF THE PRIVATES DISOBEY ME?!” shouted Hater.

“N-NO, SIR!” yelped the guard. “NOT AT ALL, SIR!”

“THEN LET HIM GET ON WITH IT! HATER, OUT!” Hater hung up.

“…W-Well, get on with it!” ordered the guard as he and his friend stepped aside.

“Thanks!” replied Wander. He then escorted everyone out. After a few seconds, one of the guards thought for a moment.

“…Hang on! Since when do we have orange beards?!” he asked his friend. The other guard goggled, then whirled around, blaster armed!

“HEY! GET BACK IN YOUR CELLS!” he shouted.

“RUN!” shouted the Doctor. The group rushed towards the TARDIS and made it inside as the Watchdogs fired!

Categories
Doctor Who: Crossings Series 6

Mission to the Mind: Part 1

On a distant planet, a blue dinosaur-like creature was carrying an orange furred creature on its back. They had arrived at what looked like a pool of bubble liquid. “There it is!” cheered the orange creature. “Time Orbble Lake! The place where Wilmur and Orbble found the secret to making Time Orbbles!”

“I still remember when we almost filled up on Time Orbble juice,” remarked the dinosaur-like creature as she shuddered. “That could have been a whole thing!” Just then, the lake started bubbling! “What the-?!”

“That’s never happened before!” yelped the orange creature. An energy wave then washed over them. The two stumbled a bit.

“Wander, are you okay?!” asked the dinosaur-like creature.

“I’m fine, Syl,” replied the orange creature, Wander. He then checked his hat. “…This thing’s okay. You?”

“Doing all right,” said the dinosaur-like creature, Sylvia. “What the heck happened?!”

Back in the TARDIS, the Doctor checked the instruments. She was still tracking chronal surges, then…the TARDIS rocked as if it hit turbulence! The Doctor worked feverishly to stabilize things. Tysar stumbled into the console room. “Doctor, what was that?!”

“A chronal surge!” replied the Doctor. “It passed us while we were in the Vortex!”

“Can you get anything from it?” asked Tysar.

“Checking now…huh. Haven’t been to that galaxy in a while.”

“Doctor?”

“We’re going to a galaxy an old friend of mine lives in right now,” said the Doctor. “That’s where the chronal surge is putting its victim. Setting coordinates now and…”

Wander and Sylvia were still trying to puzzle out that energy wave. …Well, Sylvia was. Wander was still distracted by the Time Orbble lake. “Wander, can you please pay attention?!” complained Sylvia.

“I am!” protested Wander. Sylvia pinched the bridge of her nose.

“Look, it’s pretty, but that lake’s not as important as-!” She stopped when she heard a noise. “…As that, apparently,” she finished. Wander heard the noise too.

“What the heck’s going on?” he asked as a wind picked up. Just then, the TARDIS materialized on the planet. Wander’s face lit up. “DOCTOR!” he said. Sylvia goggled.

“No way is that all a coincidence!” she said. The Doctor and Tysar then stepped out.

“Doctor, what IS this planet?” asked Tysar.

“It’s where two people were inspired to make a form of transportation,” replied the Doctor. “A sort of soap bubble that keeps you alive in space and lets you wander-.”

“That’s the name!” interjected Wander. The Doctor looked down and grinned when she saw Wander’s face.

“Wander!” she greeted. “It’s been a while, hasn’t it?”

“You changed your face again, huh Doctor?” asked Wander.

“Doctor?” asked Sylvia. “Wander, I think that energy wave messed with your head. That’s not the Doctor.”

“So you’re saying I never helped you two against Lord Dominator and the Daleks?” asked the Doctor. “I had to modify the Movellan Virus to take them both down.”

“Good grief, it IS you!” yelped Sylvia. “But how?!”

“Her ability to change her face is known among my people,” said Tysar.

“Wander, Sylvia, meet Tysar, my current companion,” introduced the Doctor.

“Nice to meet you!” greeted Wander as he shook Tysar’s hand. “Folks call me Wander and that there is Sylvia!”

“How’s it going?” asked Sylvia.

“Random question,” said the Doctor, “but have you lot felt any strange energy waves?”

“Yeah, why?” asked Sylvia. “You tracking it?”

“All right, slightly related question,” continued the Doctor, “are you familiar with the Grouping?” Wander goggled.

“…Doc, I was a victim of that thing!” he said. “It took the Monan Host to get me back to my proper time!”

“Well, it’s happening again, Wander,” sighed the Doctor. “That energy wave was a chronal surge.”

“Um, could someone fill me in?” asked Sylvia.

“Chronal surges take someone out of one point in space time and put them somewhere and somewhen else,” explained Tysar. “I went through that myself. Ended up seeing the homeworld of one of the heroes of my people.”

“There are multiple chronal surges happening throughout space and time,” continued the Doctor. “The blending of those points is called the Grouping.”

“Well, Syl and I are still here,” said Wander.

“Meaning we’ll need to check for-.” The Doctor was interrupted by a groan somewhere nearby. “…That sounds familiar,” she said. “Fan out. We need to find this person and-.”

“Doctor, over here!” called Tysar near the edge of the lake. “It’s some kid with flight goggles!”

“Flight goggles?” The Doctor, Wander, and Sylvia rushed up to Tysar to see the kid she was talking about. The kid was face down and groaning in dull pain. The Doctor turned him over to see his features and gasped. “RAZ!” she yelped. The kid, Raz, scrunched his face and slowly opened his eyes.

“No, Mom,” he groaned deliriously, “psychic bears are a bad idea.” He then saw everyone standing over him. “HOLY-!” He fired a blast of mental concussive energy and knocked the Doctor off her feet!

“STEADY ON!” protested the Doctor.

“WHO ARE YOU PEOPLE?!” demanded Raz. “WHERE AM I?!”

“You’re in another time entirely, Razputin Aquato,” explained the Doctor. “As for who we are, well, you met ME before, but not in this body.”

“…Lady, I don’t know who you are,” said Raz.

“Then give me a mental checkup,” replied the Doctor. “You still have that Psycho-portal, yes?”

“…Okay, you obviously know about the Psychonauts,” said Raz. He then pulled out a little door. “So you consent to a mental checkup?”

“I do indeed,” confirmed the Doctor. Raz then put the door on the Doctor’s forehead. The Doctor shut her eyes. “Everyone, Raz is just entering my mind. There’s categorically no cause for alarm.” Raz then lowered his goggles over his eyes and projected his mind into the Doctor’s.

Raz found himself in a room with a hexagonal console in the center. “…That’s the mindscape of the Doctor!” he said.

“Yes, it is, isn’t it?” asked a voice. Raz turned to see a woman with long brown hair, a blue coat, a green pleated skirt, and a floppy hat.

“Doctor?!” he yelped.

“Yes, this is what I looked like when we first met, right Raz?” asked the woman, the Doctor’s previous incarnation.

“Wait, so that lady that looks like a supermodel is you?! You changed your face again?”

“An unfortunate hazard,” remarked the Doctor.

“So I’m gonna go through the door…and see her?”

“That’s the idea.”

“NO!” came a voice. A few short men in business suits with giant no symbol stamps arrived.

“Oh, lovely,” sighed the Doctor. “My Censors.”

“I’ll take care of them!” said Raz. He psi-blasted them as the Doctor practiced Venusian Aikido on them. She then opened the door for Raz.

“Through here,” she said.

“Thanks!” Raz entered the door and found himself in the current console room where the current Doctor was working on one of the console’s panels. “…Well, that just proves it,” he said.

“Hm?” The Doctor looked up from her work. “Ah, there you are! Didn’t meet all my previous incarnations?”

“I think I saw enough of them when I first met you,” remarked Raz. “Well, that’s all the proof I need.”

“Exit’s right behind you,” said the Doctor. Raz entered another door, then found himself lifting away from the console room.

Raz and the Doctor woke up as the psycho-portal fell off the Doctor’s head. “I’m convinced,” said Raz. “What made you change your body anyways, Doctor?”

“Occupational hazard,” replied the Doctor. “Now, I think I’d better fill you in on the current problem, hm?” The Doctor introduced Wander, Sylvia, and Tysar, then explained what happened to Raz.

“That explains why everything around me changed,” said Raz, taking it all in stride.

“We’ll get you back to your own time,” promised the Doctor.

“We’re at Time Orbble Lake,” said Wander, “maybe that can help him!”

“…No wonder that lake looks familiar!” chuckled the Doctor. “What a stroke of luck! Wander, do you have a clean Orbble Wand?”

“I should have one somewhere,” remarked Wander as he took his hat off and rummaged around in it. He then pulled out a warning beacon that was screaming!

“Okay, that’s a little worrying!” gulped Tysar.

“What’s that?” asked Raz.

“My Hatey Clock!” replied Wander. “It only goes off when Lord Hater’s coming!” A big smile crossed Wander’s face.

“Lord Hater’s coming?” asked the Doctor. She then face-palmed. “Of course the situation gets that complicated.”

“Is that as worrying as it sounds?” asked Tysar. Just then, a ship that looked like a skull with hot rod attachments arrived. It opened its mouth, unfurled its tongue like a carpet, and an army of small, diminutive creatures with giant eyes for heads wearing black suits marched out, chanting “HATE’S GREAT! BEST VILLAIN! HATE’S GREAT! BEST VILLAIN!” Their commander then arrived. He wore a helmet with a giant lightning bolt sticking out of it.

“By the authority vested in me by Lord Hater,” he called, “this planet now belongs to the greatest villain in the galaxy, Lord Hater!” That was when a skeleton with green eyes, black and red robes, and yellow gloves with tiny lightning bolt antennae on the hood arrived.

Categories
Doctor Who: Crossings Series 4

Domination of the Daleks: Part 4

Wander dodged the Dalek Supreme’s shot and it destroyed the cell door instead. Wander then ran out of the room, still strumming his banjo and singing at a faster pace now with the Dalek Supreme chasing him! “Sure seems like we’re becoming friends!

Buddies!”

“EXTERMINATE!” Wander dodged another shot.

“And buddies stay buddies ‘til the very end!”

“HALT! HALT!! HALT!!!” Hater, Peepers, and Sylvia then took advantage of the situation and began freeing the prisoners! During the confusion, both parties crashed into each other. Wander then realized Sylvia was free like him!

“BUDDY!” he cheered as he hugged her.

“BUDDY!” replied Sylvia. The two then sang!

“Oh, I thought I’d never be free again!”

“Um…buddies?” asked Hater.

“BUDDIES!” replied Wander and Sylvia.

“Dominator’s gonna know we’re free any second now!” warned Hater.

“Wander keeps saying we’re friends!” barked the Dalek Supreme.

“And he keeps trying to deny it!” sang Wander.

“Listen, buddies or not, I’m not ready to die yet!” replied Peepers. “So let’s go!”

“Agreed!” said the Dalek Supreme. “We must destroy any production plants on this ship related to the infected Daleks!”

“Let’s see here,” muttered Peepers as he accessed a computer console. “…AHA! Lord Dominator’s running on low power to account for genetic engineering! Any more and the production lines would blow!”

“…So I just need to give her too much of a good thing, huh?” asked Hater as a wicked grin crossed his face.

“What about that cure the Doctor’s making?” asked Wander.

“We will be buying the Doctor time to complete her task!” replied the Dalek Supreme. “All Daleks to battle conditions!”

“We obey!” replied the Daleks.

Back on Draykor and Demurra’s planet, the Doctor poured a solution into a container the size of her palm. She locked the container and shook it. “There,” she said. “That ought to do it.”

“Is it finished?” asked Lurra Rus.

“Ready and waiting for lunch,” replied the Doctor. She then checked her sonic screwdriver. “Good, it’s still there. Come on, you two. Back to the TARDIS. You’re about to know what it’s like to travel down a time corridor.”

“Wait, we’re going BACK to Hater’s ship?!” yelped Amy. “But Dominator has it!”

“And that’s where our new friend needs to be,” said the Doctor, “on Dominator’s ship. Come along, now!” The Doctor led Amy and Lurra Rus back to the TARDIS. Demurra was there.

“Doctor, you’re not leaving, surely?!” she asked.

“Right now, you should be safe,” assured the Doctor. “We’ll take care of Dominator and her forces as well as the Daleks.”

“But you’re unarmed!” protested Demurra.

“That’s the Doctor for you,” replied Lurra Rus. “The only arms she has are the one in her sleeves, where she keeps her surprises.”

“Precisely,” agreed the Doctor as she opened the TARDIS. “So, farewell!” She and her friends then entered the TARDIS. It then took off.

Inside the TARDIS, the time machine shook. “WHOA!” yelped Amy.

“It’s all right!” assured the Doctor. “The time corridor net has ensnared us and is bringing us to Hater’s ship. …Huh, it’s collapsing behind us.”

“Isn’t that bad?!” asked Lurra Rus.

“No worries, we’ll be there long before the time corridors collapse!” soothed the Doctor. The TARDIS then made its arrival noise, finishing with its usual thud. “Now, to make sure it worked…” she activated the scanner. “Aha! The interior of Lord Hater’s ship!”

“And Dominator’s forces just spotted us!” gulped Amy.

“Perfect!” said the Doctor as she headed to the doors.

“DOCTOR, WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!” yelped Amy as the Doctor opened the door.

“Excuse me!” she called to the bots. “Can you lead me to your master? We’re rather cold here!”

The bots brought the Doctor and her friends to the bridge. Lord Dominator was giving commands to her bots. “Stop chasing that stupid spoon and kill him already!” she shouted.

“Lord Dominator, is it?” asked the Doctor. Dominator turned to see her new prisoners. A wicked grin then crossed her face.

“So, the infamous Doctor graces my ship with her presence!” she purred. “Gotta admit, you Time Lords are a hardy bunch if you’re still alive.”

“Thank you,” replied the Doctor. “I must confess, I’m curious as to why you needed mutated Daleks.”

“Well, this ship WAS built by them,” answered Dominator.

“Ah, a slave labor force.”

“Bingo. But Daleks by themselves don’t make for good slaves. They’re too intelligent and too sure of their own superiority. So I had to figure out how to dumb down that intelligence. That’s when I stumbled across a Movellan ship from after the war. It carried samples of the Movellan virus and I had a theory that, with a bit of alterations, it could turn the Daleks into mindless slaves. With a bit of lava tech, I attacked not only Dalek tissue, but their casing’s tech as well, making them perfect berserkers! After attacking that reproduction plant and getting it to produce enough slaves to build me a ship, I transferred the production plant over to my ship. And now, here we are! Round 2 and this time, I WILL destroy the galaxy!”

“You know, if you didn’t smile, I would assume you were a Dalek,” remarked the Doctor as she slowly opened the capsule.

Back with Hater and his group, they found the reproduction plant. “Okay, sir!” said Peepers. “It looks like Lord Dominator transferred all reproduction plant functions from the one she attacked to right here!”

“You mean she doesn’t have more on other planets?” asked Hater.

“Well, her ultimate goal IS the galaxy’s destruction,” reminded Sylvia. She then spotted something. “All of you, get back! Guards!” she hissed. Bots and Dominator’s infected Daleks entered the area.

“Production of berserkers will increase by 15%,” droned a bot.

“That’s too much!” hissed Peepers. “We need to thin them out!”

“…There is…one advantage to utilize!” replied the Dalek Supreme. “The camera eye at the top of the dome for the mutant creatures!”

“We need to give Lord Hater enough time to overcharge the ship,” said Peepers. “So, Sylvi-I mean, Zbornak, you take those men and Daleks across the left, I’ll take my men and Daleks across the center, and Dalek Supreme-.”

“I will lead the remainder of our forces across the right!” finished the Dalek Supreme. “Lord Hater, you will deal with the ship when the enemy is sufficiently low!”

“And me?” asked Wander.

“You get to the bridge, see if you can distract Dominator,” said Hater.

“Gotcha! See y’all later!” Wander ran off.

“Now, as you Daleks put it…EXTERMINATE!” called Hater as he pointed forward.

“ATTACK! ATTACK!” shouted the Dalek Supreme. “CRUSH ALL RESISTANCE!” Dominator’s forces were quickly attacked.

“HATER?!” yelped Dominator as she got the security alert.

“Well, well!” chuckled the Doctor. Dominator’s jaw dropped as her berserkers did!

“How are those nerds doing this?!” she snarled as she typed in commands for her bots. “The Daleks don’t have any physical weaknesses!”

“You haven’t done a lot of studying, have you?” asked Amy. “The eyestalk’s a pretty glaring weakness.”

“…You!” Lord Dominator activated her suit and lowered her helmet’s mask. “You’re gonna die for this!”

“I wouldn’t try it!” called the Doctor as she let the capsule drop with a clatter.

“Berserkers, destroy them!” ordered Dominator. Dominator’s berserkers entered the bridge, weapons ready. They made their usual noises, then…screeched in pain as orange foam spewed from their casings. “WHAT THE-?!”

“You’re not the only one that can alter the Movellan virus to her own ends,” said the Doctor. “And it won’t affect just your berserkers.”

Back with Hater’s group, the two factions were evenly matched, then…the berserkers started screeching in pain. The Daleks then twitched, then orange foam spewed from the berserkers’ casings as white foam spewed from the Daleks! “MALFUNCTION! MALFUNCTION!” screamed one.

“EMERGENCY!” shouted another.

“MY VISION IS IMPAIRED!” wailed the Dalek Supreme. “I CANNOT SEE!”

“What’s wrong with them?!” yelped Sylvia.

“Who cares?! Now’s my chance!” replied Hater. He fired a massive stream of lightning into the production lines and the ship rocked as explosions went off on every deck!

“NO! NOT AGAIN!” shouted Dominator as she tried to regain control of the ship. It was no good, the ship was crashing onto a nearby planet.

“We’ll see ourselves out,” called the Doctor. Dominator didn’t hear her as she and her friends left.

The TARDIS crew met up with Hater’s team and Wander at the skullship. “Guys, what’s going on?!” asked Wander. “I couldn’t get to the bridge to-!”

“Later, Wander!” replied Sylvia as she threw the nomad onto her saddle.

“Watchdogs, lay in an escape route the instant we get out of here!” ordered Hater.

“Way ahead of you, Sir!” replied a Watchdog as everyone boarded the skullship. The hangar doors exploded and the skullship quickly took off, leaving Dominator’s ship to crash.

Once they were a safe enough distance away, the Watchdog running the helm got a readout. “…Lord Dominator’s ship has crashed into Aquanitar II, Sir,” he reported. “The GVA got wind of your second victory over her and are declaring today Lord Hater Day.”

“As they should!” cackled Hater. “Once again, I’ve proved that I’m the greatest in the galaxy!”

“HATE’S GREAT! BEST VILLAIN! HATE’S GREAT! BEST VILLAIN!” cheered the Watchdogs.

“He couldn’t have done that without your help, Doctor!” scoffed Amy as they headed back to the TARDIS with Wander, Sylvia, and Peepers following.

“Get used to it, Pinky,” retorted Peepers. “Lord Hater is destined to rule this galaxy!”

“…Doc,” said Wander, “I’ve…heard ugly rumors about you.”

“Hm?” asked the Doctor.

“I heard that, wherever you find yourself, something ain’t right. Like trouble follows you like a bad rash.”

“It’s not something I make a habit of, I assure you!”

“I ain’t blaming you for that, Doc,” assured Wander, “but…it’s just so much! No matter what story I heard about you, death seems to be a big thing and, at least what I saw today, you just seem to be so used to it! People died today and…I know you’re a Time Lord, but I don’t want you to lose sight of life! You made a deadlier version of a virus that already killed Daleks, and you just casually used it! I can’t really believe you look at people dying and just take it as it is!”

“That’s not fair, Wander!” hissed Lurra Rus. “The Doctor-!”

“Lurra Rus, please,” interrupted the Doctor. “Wander needs to hear directly from me. Wander, we may look like we’re used to it, but I can assure you, death still affects me and my companions in just the same way as you. I may have appeared cold and heartless, but if I didn’t, many more would have died. Not just here, not just us, but the entire galaxy would have been consumed in a futile war between Daleks. A wise man once said that the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few.”

“Who?” asked Sylvia.

“Mr. Spock, but that’s not the point,” replied the Doctor. “What I’m trying to get across is that despite all of the problems that crop up that need me to solve them, no matter how alien I may seem, I still care. That’s why I do what I do; to help others. That’s not to say there isn’t anywhere peaceful in the universe. It’s always more enjoyable when you have someone by your side, so I’m not some lonely old woman in a police box or you’re not some weirdo in a hat. Now, let’s be on our way to find someplace peaceful. We’ll rest at our respective spots, kick our feet up, relax, and this will all seem like a bad dream. Goodbye, everyone.” The Doctor and her friends entered the TARDIS and it took off.

“…How long until the next bad dream for you, Doctor?” sighed Wander.

“Come on, Buddy, she IS right,” said Sylvia. “Let’s get out of here and find a nice, quiet world.” She then pulled out a bottle of what looked like bubble solution, dipped the wand, waved it over her and Wander, and the two were encased in a bubble. Sylvia then began walking as Wander rode on her back, the bubble protecting them from the dangers of space. Peepers just stared at the spot where everyone was.

“…Interesting philosophies, but-,” he said.

“PEEPERS!” shouted Hater over the comms. Peepers sighed as he picked up.

Categories
Doctor Who: Crossings Series 4

Domination of the Daleks: Part 3

Lord Dominator’s ship fired on the skullship as they fled! The smaller ship didn’t have the firepower to take on something so heavily armed, the insurance wouldn’t cover it! Lord Dominator’s ship then shot the skullship’s engines and halted it! Inside the skullship was pandemonium as Watchdogs and Daleks prepared for a potential boarding scenario. The ship rocked as a docking tube clamped onto it. The Watchdogs and Daleks were pointing their guns down the corridor leading to the skullship’s tongue, the blast doors sealing the way off. The Watchdogs gripped their weapons as the Daleks’ limbs and eyestalks twitched. Sparks then flew from the blast doors as if someone on the other side was cutting through them! The doors then exploded and infected Daleks swarmed in, along with various robots of different types. The robots and infected Daleks were the better shots, sadly, as many Watchdogs and Daleks fell to their firepower. “WITHDRAW!” called a Dalek.

“REGROUP!” shouted another.

“YOU HEARD THEM! FALL BACK!” shouted a Watchdog. It became a running firefight as Dominator’s forces swarmed the hall.

“There isn’t going to be enough time to process all this data!” wailed Peepers.

“We must move all data onto an external drive!” replied the Dalek.

“Way ahead of you!” called the Doctor as she held the sonic screwdriver to the computer console. “There!”

“All data is downloaded onto your sonic probe?” asked the Dalek.

“All of it!” confirmed the Doctor. “And it’s a sonic screwdriver, thank you.”

“Doctor, here!” called Peepers as he handed the Doctor a set of keys.

“What-?!”

“Commander Peepers is correct! Your survival is paramount!” barked the Dalek. “You must leave this ship! Take all research with you!”

“But my friends-!”

“Peepers, where’s the Doctor?!” called Hater over the comms.

“With me, Sir!” replied Peepers.

“I’ve got her friends waiting at my van! Wander and Sylvia are staying with us to hold Dominator off!”

“Understood, Sir! I’m bringing the Doctor now!” Peepers ended the call.

“I will give covering fire!” barked the Dalek.

“Thank you, that would be appreciated,” replied the Doctor. “Peepers, the van, please?”

“This way!” called Peepers. As he led everyone out, the Dalek turned and shot the computers in order to slow down any attempts by Dominator to hack it.

Lord Dominator, a terrifying figure, both in the suit, and showing off her real body. Lord Dominator had activated her suit and had torn a Dalek’s limbs off, scaring the creature. One of her bots then arrived. “Search of main computer core: complete. No anti-viral research detected.”

“Where is your friend?!” demanded Lord Dominator, her helmet’s voice modulator making her sound masculine. “What have you done with the Time Lord?!”

“Daleks are not friends with any Time Lord!” replied her prisoner. “We are in a temporary alliance with Lord Hater to discuss trade!”

“If you’re here to discuss trade, then where’s your ambassador?!” Lord Dominator punched through the Dalek’s midsection, then pulled her hand out, tearing the Dalek out of its casing. The sudden shock of being disconnected from its nutrient feed killed the creature. Lord Dominator tossed it aside. She then deactivated her suit and revealed her lime green skin and black dress with a thigh slit. “Tear this monument to tackiness apart until you find the Time Lord and all the research they’ve conducted!” she ordered her bots in her natural voice. “And bring me the passengers! I want them ALIVE!”

Peepers and the Dalek brought the Doctor to the hangar where Hater’s van was parked. Hater was there with Amy, Lurra Rus, Draykor, and Demurra. “DOCTOR!” called Amy.

“Can anyone drive a van?!” called the Doctor as she flashed the keys.

“Gimme!” replied Demurra.

“Doctor, you’re our last hope!” said Hater. “We’ll delay Dominator as long as we can! GO!” Everyone piled into the van and Demurra started the engine.

“Opening hangar doors!” reported the Dalek. The hangar opened and the van flew off into space! Just in time too! Dominator’s forces attacked! They destroyed the Dalek and stunned Hater and Peepers.

“Their condition is non-fatal,” said a bot. “Inform Lord Dominator that we have prisoners.”

Hater and Peepers were brought to the bridge. Hater looked to his left to see… “Lord Dominator!” he hissed. “Only you would be so bold! The Galactic Villain Alliance will not sit still for this! When they realize that you attacked me for no-!”

“Don’t act so surprised, bone-breath!” replied Dominator. “There IS a reason for my attack and you know it! You brought a Time Lord aboard this janky ship! I want to know what research they’ve conducted against my virus!”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about!” snarled Hater. “I’m busy conducting trade negotiations with the Da-!”

“You and the Daleks are trying to find a cure for my virus and roped the Time Lord into helping you! Bots, take them away!” The bots escorted Hater and Peepers to Dominator’s ship. One of the bots stayed behind.

“Warning,” it advised, “holding Hater and Peepers is dangerous. Their victory thanks to Wander has made them the leader of an alliance of villains that will obey Hater.”

“I have traced the origin of the time corridor net to this ship,” replied Dominator. “Now they remain my only link to the Time Lord they tried to ensnare.”

“They will die before they tell you anything.”

“Leave that to me. Send a distress signal and then inform the GVA that all aboard were killed.” Another bot then approached Dominator. This one was one of the bots that stormed the hangar.

“Lord Dominator, there were five passengers of this ship that did not stay. All likely evidence is that they used Lord Hater’s tacky van to escape. The missing passengers are King Draykor, Princess Demurra, Lurra Rus, Amy Rose, and the Doctor.”

“The Doctor?!” asked Lord Dominator. “So, my virus forced them to work with their greatest enemy! They must have taken that van to escape. Send a detachment to find them, Command Bot 43. See to it personally. There’ll be no one to stop me this time!”

The van made its way back to Draykor’s castle. Everyone got out and entered the castle. “We have to save them!” urged Draykor.

“And we will, but I need to get started!” replied the Doctor.

“There’s a lab in the basement!” offered Demurra.

“Perfect! Now, let’s get going! I’ll explain what I learned as I go!” Everyone then went into the lab. “Now, Lord Dominator managed to get ahold of a virus that the Daleks encountered before. A while ago, the Daleks were at war with the Movellans, a race of humanoid robots. Both sides were so reliant on logic that the war was a deadlock. Each time one side attempted a stratagem, it was instantly anticipated and countered by the other’s battle computer. The Daleks brought back Davros to try and reintroduce some illogical thinking, but my first encounter with the Movellans resulted in them discovering the Daleks’ true nature as biological organisms in tanks. The Movellans developed a virus which exclusively attacked Dalek tissue. The Dalek fleet was destroyed and those who survived went to separate parts of the universe to avoid further infection and work on a cure. After a period of factionalism, the Daleks found a cure and fought against the Movellans again, winning their new war. Lord Dominator must have stumbled across a sample of the Movellan Virus and mutated it with Volcanium X, making a new strain that the Daleks hadn’t accounted for.”

“And you’re making a cure for them?” asked Lurra Rus. “What happens after that? Do you think they’ll leave us alone?”

“I doubt it, and I’m not creating a cure for the Daleks, per se.” The Doctor’s friends looked at each other, wondering what was going on in her head.

On Lord Dominator’s ship, Wander, Hater, Peepers, Sylvia, and the Dalek Supreme were in a cell. The Dalek Supreme looked outside the cell bars. “…My Daleks…corrupted!” it said.

“Lord Dominator’s really lost it!” shuddered Peepers. “What if she makes a virus that infects US?!”

“Don’t,” muttered Hater. “I’m depressed enough as it is.” Wander looked at the sorry state of affairs, then pulled a banjo out of his hat somehow. He then began strumming.

“Wander, is now really the time?” asked Sylvia.

“My fair Hatey, pick your chin up,” sang Wander.

“Things are bound to get better.

Yeah, the gal of your dreams,

Is still deadly it seems,

And it’s still good you didn’t wind up together.”

“Cease singing!” ordered the Dalek Supreme.

“My Fair Dalley, don’t you give up.” The Dalek Supreme looked at Wander in confusion. “Dalley” wasn’t a word usually used by non-Daleks.

“It ain’t a total disaster.

Hey, it’s still the Doctor’s go,

She’ll put on a show,

And do a lot of fun stuff we’ll get to laugh at after.

Seems like you’re becoming,

Becoming people a little less full of hate!” Peepers and Sylvia looked at each other in disbelief.

“Sure, Dominator’s got an unstoppable army,

And a…maniacaldeterminationtodestroyourwholegalaxy,

But you know what I think is great?”

“Please listen to the Dalek!” Hater begged quietly.

“I’m talking about buddies!

Sure seems like we’re becoming friends!

Buddies!”

“We are not ‘buddies’!” insisted the Dalek Supreme.

“And buddies stay buddies ‘til the very end!”

“Silence!”

“I know you’ll try to deny it!”

“I speak the truth!”

“Chase me round the galaxy and try to hide it!”

“You will be silent!”

“We’re buddies.”

“EXTERMINATE!”

Categories
Doctor Who: Crossings Series 4

Domination of the Daleks: Part 2

“…Oh, I get it! She’s one of THOSE heroes!” chuckled Hater. “You heard them, Doctor!”

“Hater, you’re making the mistake of thinking they’re bluffing!” called Amy. “They WILL kill those people!”

“Five rels have passed! Exterminate the Binglebop prisoner!” ordered the Dalek Supreme.

“Exterminate!” replied a Dalek as it shot a Binglebop. The Binglebop screamed as it died painfully. Peepers went to check on the Binglebop and his eye widened.

“…S-Sir!” he gulped. “The Daleks AREN’T bluffing! The Binglebop is dead!”

“WHAT?!” shouted Hater. “WAIT A MINUTE, HAVEN’T YOU TIN CANS HEARD OF A BLUFF?!”

“Daleks do not bluff!” replied the Dalek Supreme. “It is an inferior tactic, especially against the Doctor! Five rels have passed! Exterminate the-!”

“WAIT!” called the Doctor. Everyone turned to look at her. “…If I come aboard the skullship, I want your word that my companions will be unharmed!”

“Your companions will be guarded! Any attempt to undermine the Daleks will result in their extermination! You, your companions, Wander, the Zbornak, and the owners of the castle will exit immediately! Move! Move! MOVE!”

“We obey!” called the Doctor.

“Doctor-!” protested Sylvia.

“Sylvia, those monsters are as dangerous as Dominator,” replied Draykor. “Our people fear them for a good reason.” He turned to his gate guard. “Open the gates. Demurra and I will be back when we can.” His guard nodded solemnly and dutifully obeyed.

“Come on, everyone,” directed the Doctor. She led everyone to the invading army. As they approached the tip of the skullship’s tongue, a Dalek looked at the prisoners from the Torture Room.

“These prisoners are surplus to requirements!” it reported to the Dalek Supreme. “Their survival was not part of the deal!”

“Agreed!” replied the Dalek Supreme. “Exterminate!” It then fired on all the Torture Room victims, killing them.

“That wasn’t necessary!” snapped Peepers.

“Silence!” barked the Dalek Supreme.

“Lord Hater, Commander Peepers,” hissed the Doctor, “you better hope YOU don’t become surplus to requirements!”

“Doc, are these Daleks ALWAYS so cold-blooded?!” shuddered Sylvia.

“Unerringly,” replied the Doctor.

“Doctor, what about the TARDIS?!” asked Amy.

“We can’t escape with the Daleks’ time corridor net,” reminded Lurra Rus.

“We’ll just have to go back for it when this adventure is done,” muttered the Doctor.

“My guards will keep watch over your ship,” said Draykor.

“Thank you, Your Majesty,” bid the Doctor.

“We will depart this planet!” ordered the Dalek Supreme.

“We obey!” replied the other Daleks. …One of them dragged its words out and everyone noticed it twitching more than usual.

“Are you experiencing a system’s malfunction?” asked the Dalek Supreme.

“I…I-I-I-I…ah…Ah! AHhh! AHHH! AARRRRGGHHGHGHGHG!” The Dalek was screaming in pain and firing wildly. “OUT OF CONTROL! OUT OF CONTROL! ALERT! PAAAAIIIINNN! ALERT! SYSTEMS! UNBALANCED! CONTROL LOST! WEAPONRY! DISCHARGING! ABOVE! SAFETY TOLERANCES! I! AM! OVERHEATING!”

“Lord Hater, LOOK!” called Peepers. He pointed at the neck section of the unbalanced Dalek as it took on a black shape with glowing yellow lines!

“Oh no!” whispered Hater. “It’s a sickness!”

“DOMINATOR’S INFLUENCE! DOMINATOR’S INFLUENCE!” shrieked the Dalek Supreme as the coloration spread across the unbalanced Dalek while its speech devolved into beastly sounds. “ALERT! ALERT! MOVE AWAY FROM THIS UNIT!”

“WATCHDOGS, EYES UP!” called Hater.

“What do you intend to do?!” asked Lurra Rus.

“MOVE AWAY!” shouted another Dalek. “IT MUST BE EXTERMINATED!”

“NO! WAIT!” called Peepers. “Don’t you see?! This is our best opportunity-!”

“SILENCE! SILENCE!” ordered the Dalek Supreme. “THERE MUST BE NO IMPURITIES IN THE DALEK RACE! THIS CREATURE MUST BE-!”

“Creature?!” repeated Demurra in disbelief. “You’re talking about one of your own kind here!”

“NO! NO! IT IS NO LONGER A DALEK! DOMINATOR HAS INFECTED IT!”

“But if we can study a living specimen-!” argued Peepers.

“THAT IS NOT POSSIBLE!” replied the other Dalek. “ALL INFECTED DALEKS MUST BE EXTERMINATED!” By now, the infected Dalek was fully black with glowing yellow light escaping cracks in its new casing.

“I’m siding with the Daleks on this one, Peepers!” declared Hater as he summoned green lightning from his hands.

“EXTERMINATE! EXTERMINATE! EXTERMINATE!”

“NO!” shouted the Doctor and Commander Peepers as they shielded the infected Dalek.

“PEEPERS, WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!” demanded Hater.

“MOVE OUT OF THE WAY, DOCTOR AND COMMANDER PEEPERS, OR WE WILL EXTERMINATE YOU AS WELL!” ordered the Dalek Supreme.

“I don’t think so!” replied the Doctor. “You went to a lot of trouble to get me and if that infection’s the reason why we’re all here now, I need it alive to conduct my research!”

“ALL INFECTED DALEKS-!”

“JUST LISTEN, YOU IDIOT!” shouted Peepers. “We never captured one of these things and we have no clue how this infection spreads! This thing could be the vital part we need to making a cure!” By now, the infected Dalek had stopped moving and all its limbs drooped. “Just look! Now is the best time to drag it into whatever isolation ward you have on your ship!”

“Lord Hater, Dalek Supreme, we REALLY need samples of the casing and the internal creature to fix this!” urged the Doctor.

“…Flab-drassit, FINE!” grumbled Hater.

“This creature-!” protested the Dalek Supreme.

“There’s no point arguing with the nerdy science types!” replied Hater. “Not if they’re gonna put their lives on the line like that for experiments! Watchdogs, bring the infected Dalek aboard and get it in a room AWAY from our Dalek friends!”

“YES, SIR!” replied the Watchdogs.

The infected Dalek was sealed in a room aboard the skullship. “All seals functioning,” said Peepers.

“Good,” replied the Doctor. “Now would someone tell me what’s going on here?!” Peepers and the single Dalek in the science lab looked at each other. “…Well?!”

“Lord Dominator is making a new breed of Daleks,” replied Peepers.

“There is only one breed of Dalek!” insisted the Dalek.

“Lord Dominator’s mutating you guys and you know it!” retorted Peepers. The Dalek backed up at that. “What’s the matter? The truth’s too much for you?!”

“This Lord Dominator…is changing the Daleks on a genetic level as well?” asked the Doctor.

“Lord Dominator conquered a Dalek reproduction plant,” explained Peepers. “As of yet, we don’t know how. The infection removes all higher brain functions. They’re reduced to mindless beasts. From what we’ve seen, the attack was recent. Here.” Peepers pulled up some computer files.

“Outsiders are not permitted to look at those files!” insisted the Dalek.

“Well, I never,” mused the Doctor. “Cell donation records. This is a first for me. And I can see that there haven’t been any incidents of mutation until three days ago.”

“And that reproduction plant is pumping out legions!” said Peepers. “Look!” Peepers pulled up the figures.

“…Five full invasion forces in just three days. That IS alarming.”

“Which makes me wonder where she’s getting the Volcanium X,” muttered Peepers.

“Volcanium X?” asked the Doctor.

“A substance found deep in planet cores,” replied the Dalek, “with properties similar to magma! It is primarily used for lava-tech!”

“Then there must be this Volcanium X stuff in the infected Dalek’s casing,” mused the Doctor.

“Possibly,” said Peepers. “We need a scan to confirm.”

“Beginning scans!” reported the Dalek. A progress bar then appeared, slowly going across the screen…then stopping.

“Oh, come on! What are you Watchdogs using, Windows NT?!” complained the Doctor. “Looks like I need to defrag the-!” The progress bar then shot forward to 100%. “…I guess it doesn’t like that.”

“Scan results on screen!” reported the Dalek.

“Aha! Knew it! There IS Volcanium X in that Dalek!” cheered Peepers.

“No, no, hang on,” replied the Doctor. “Look. The Volcanium X was introduced into it thanks to a virus. Can we get a genome map of the virus?”

“Conducting virus genome mapping!” replied the Dalek. The progress bar appeared, going faster now. “Genome mapping complete!” reported the Dalek. “Genetic similarities detected! Displaying nearest genome match!” A screen with two virus cells appeared. One looked organic, the other had Volcanium X veins running through its cell membrane.

“We need to run a mutation simulation,” mused the Doctor. She programmed a simulation of what the unaltered virus would look like if Volcanium X was introduced. The virus went through several changes until it matched the initial Volcanium X virus. “Well, that does tell us something,” said the Doctor.

“What?” asked Peepers.

“That the virus is artificial in origin,” explained the Doctor.

“Unaltered virus has been identified!” said the Dalek. “Allowing access to entry in Dalek Contagion Catalogue!” The Dalek pulled it up onscreen. The Doctor goggled as she processed the information.

“Well!” she said. “The Movellan Virus rears its ugly head! The Volcanium X must have circumvented the cure you Daleks created!”

“Erm, what IS the Mo-?” Before Peepers could finish his question, the ship rocked!

“Alert! Alert! Bridge reports that we are under attack!” warned the Dalek. The Doctor called the bridge.

“Lord Hater, what’s going on?!” she asked.

“Doctor, it’s Lurra Rus!” replied the person on the other end. “Some red and black Star Destroyer just appeared and started shooting at us!”

“Lurra Rus, does the bridge tower look like an evil face?!” asked Peepers, a nasty theory forming in his head.

“Yes, why?” asked Lurra Rus.

“Dominator!” gulped Peepers. “She’s got her ship back and is after us!”

Categories
Doctor Who: Crossings Series 4

Domination of the Daleks: Part 1

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!”