The Doctor cautiously approached Shannon as she pulled out magnification glasses. “Which one do you think it is?” she asked Shannon.
“I think it’s this one right here,” replied Shannon as she pointed to the general area. The Doctor used her glasses to zoom in and find the tooth. It was rotten and riddled with holes!
“Oh, good grief! That’s beyond a mere cavity filling,” shuddered the Doctor. “I think an extraction’s needed. …Drat. I don’t have anesthetics. Ssylphiel, was it? You and your family hold her down. Maybe you too, Miss Blue Skinny Ursula.”
“…My name is Madame Calliope,” replied Calliope as her legs held Shannon down. Ssylphiel, Bea, and Coilzette helped hold Shannon down with their tails.
“I won’t sugar-coat it,” the Doctor said to Shannon, “this WILL hurt.”
“Just get it out, please!” groaned Shannon. The Doctor pulled out a pair of pliers meant for yanking teeth, then she got a hold on the rotten tooth. Shannon yowled in pain and thrashed when the pliers made contact with the tooth.
“Okay, okay, on three!” called the Doctor. “One! Two! THREE!” The Doctor yanked hard, stumbling backwards. Shannon howled in pain…then the pain died down. Shannon could actually feel the pain vanishing.
“…MY TOOTH!” she shouted.
“Right here!” replied the Doctor, holding the rotten tooth up with the pliers. “I’d cut back on the sweets and get a replacement tooth if you feel that self-conscious. And remember to floss or use a water pick.”
“The pain is gone! She’s cured me!” Shannon was smiling. “I’ll get that replacement tooth later! But as for her being a charlatan, Madame Calliope, that couldn’t be further from the truth!”
“Guards, drop all charges on our guests,” ordered Ssylphiel. “They’re free to use the palace as they see fit for their mission.”
“At once, Mistress Ssylphiel,” replied the Guard Commander.
“Well, it seems you ARE a doctor,” purred Calliope.
“Not A doctor, THE Doctor. The definite article, you might say. And this is my friend, Tysar.”
“Sorry about that whole tail thing,” Bea apologized to Tysar.
“Well, we DID blunder into your home,” replied Tysar.
“Now, since you did me a favor by curing Shannon of her pain, Doctor,” said Ssylphiel as she slithered back onto her throne, “perhaps I can repay you and help you?”
“That would be splendid, Madame,” replied the Doctor. “Perhaps I should bring you all into the picture.”
As a lab was being set up for the Doctor, she and Tysar explained things to everyone. “…I’m not sure I wanna meet this Davros character,” remarked Lukas.
“I never met him,” replied Tysar, “but his creations have terrorized my people for millennia, even forcing us off of Skaro.”
“…Doctor, you say you’re primarily an engineer, yes?” asked Calliope.
“Well, yes, and so’s Tysar,” answered the Doctor.
“Perhaps you can help us with a machine,” explained Calliope. “Ssylphiel and I found the machine in a country that borders ours. It’s capable of speech, but it always says four-syllable nonsense words before finishing what it’s saying with the word ‘Egg’. Hence why we’ve called it Egg.”
“What does Egg look like?” asked the Doctor.
“Well, it-.” Calliope was interrupted by the Guard Commander and his forces bringing the TARDIS into the lab. The Guard Commander was smiling.
“My apologies for this interruption, Mistress Ssylphiel,” he said, “but your great-aunt wanted to give you your birthday present.”
“Ah, the usual birthday present of an easy toppling of whatever war machine she’s created?” asked Ssylphiel.
“This one just looks goofy!” chuckled the Guard Commander.
“I take it your great-aunt doesn’t like you?” guessed the Doctor.
“Nope. She hates that us Goldcoils prefer to treat the non-Divine races as equals,” explained Ssylphiel.
“…You know, that sounds like a few Time Lords I knew. Some of them got over it, though.”
“Anacassandra refuses to get over that prejudice. …You wanna see her hair-brained scheme get toppled?”
“Sure!” The Doctor turned to Tysar. “How about you go see Egg?”
“I can bring her to Egg,” offered Shannon. “Madame Calliope, Lukas, you wanna come with?”
“We’d be delighted to!” replied Calliope.
“I guess Grandma and I will join Mama and the Doctor,” suggested Bea. “I have a bit of history with Anacassandra, so it’s always fun to see her schemes collapse.”
“Come along, my dears!” called Ssylphiel. “Let’s unwrap my birthday present!”
Ssylphiel, Coilzette, Bea, and the Doctor arrived on top of the citadel’s northern wall. …The war machine to the north was impressive looking, but the Doctor was holding back laughter. “…I’m not even an engineer like you, Doctor,” said Ssylphiel, “and I can see that thing’s flaws!” That made the Doctor collapse into a heap of giggles.
“Th-The top of-! …And the eastern-! …I’m sorry, I can’t-! AHAHAHAHA!” The Doctor picked herself up as her laughter wound down. “What kind of junk is Anacassandra using?!”
“Junk I’ve brought down before,” replied Ssylphiel. “Commander, bring out the boxing glove bolt.”
“Right away,” replied the Guard Commander.
“Boxing glove bolt?” asked the Doctor. She then saw the object. “…Exactly what it says on the tin, I see,” she mused as she saw a giant dart with a boxing glove replacing the pointy bit being loaded into a ballista. Ssylphiel cocked the ballista, aimed it, then fired it! The boxing glove bolt sailed through the air and struck the war machine on its top. The impact created a cascading collapse and the war machine was now a heap of junk with soldiers running away from the citadel.
“What did I tell you?” chuckled Ssylphiel. “Every year on mine and Calliope’s birthday.”
“Hasn’t learned much, has she?” mused the Doctor.
In a darkened room, watching the operation through a crystal ball, a man in black clothing and a naga woman like Ssylphiel saw the collapse of the machine. “FOOL!” shouted the man. “I told you this was a waste of time! That machine had too many weak points!”
“I’m not interested in excuses,” replied the naga. “The attack must continue if you want your prize.”
“This time, it will continue as I planned, Anacassandra!” snarled the man.
“Davros, you WILL show me the proper respect-!”
“Your plan is twisted and convoluted!” interrupted the man, Davros. “Mine understands the importance of simplicity!”
“…Very well,” replied Anacassandra. “We will try your plan. But should you fail, you WILL die!”
“You’ll see.” Davros then pulled out a communicator. “Bring out the explosives. Set the charges near the walls.”
“So people like Ssylphiel,” Tysar asked Shannon as the two of them went down the corridors of the palace with Calliope and Lukas, “act as the means for your gods to answer your prayers?”
“Complete with immortality and invulnerable bodies,” replied Shannon. “People like Calliope or Lukas can’t die by age or sickness, but other things CAN kill them. Then there’s people like me who can die. …At least, until Ssylphiel blessed me and the rest of the harem with agelessness.”
“And you willingly joined a harem?”
“Believe it or not,” remarked Calliope, “Ssylphiel is being smart here. Her illusion of hedonism gives her harem girls the perfect opportunity to gain intelligence on any enemies.”
“That’s part of the deal between me and Calliope,” said Lukas as he hung on her arm.
“Well, yes, but like Ssylphiel with her harem, I genuinely love you, my dear.” Calliope pecked Lukas’ forehead with a kiss.
“Here we are,” called Shannon. “Egg’s room. Tysar, it’s your show. The lights won’t activate until a few seconds after Egg speaks.”
“I understand,” said Tysar. She entered the room and shut the door behind her. In the dark, she saw a blue light. “…Well, you must be Egg,” she said. “I know you might have heard this before, but I’m here to help. My name is Tysar of New Davius. I came here with the Doctor.”
“…Doc…tor?” asked Egg. …As Egg spoke, a pair of cylindrical lamps flashed on each syllable. Fear gripped Tysar’s heart.
“…No!” she begged.
“New…Dav…i…us…” continued Egg in the same harsh, grating, metallic tones all Thals like Tysar fear. “…You are…a Thal. …Artron…energy…detected! You traveled here with the Doctor!” The lights came on and Tysar’s worst fears were confirmed! It had a cowl over the area where the eyestalk joined with the dome, had an id tag below the cowl, was bronze colored, and had rivets on its slats, but the plunger-shaped manipulator arm, the gunstick that looked like an elongated whisk, the eyestalk, the dome lamps that flashed on every syllable, the travel skirt that was covered in hemispheres, it all confirmed that Egg…was a Time War Era Dalek! “Exterminate! EXTERMINATE!” Tysar fled to the door.
“OPEN THE DOOR! QUICKLY!” she begged.
“EXTERMINATE!” shrieked the Dalek.
“Egg’s lost his mind!” yelped Calliope as Shannon opened the door.
“YOU ARE AN ENEMY OF THE DALEKS!” shouted the Dalek as Tysar got out. “YOU MUST BE DESTROYED!” Shannon shut the door and keyed in a combination on a number keypad. There was a definitive click.
“I’ve sealed that door,” she said. “It’s got a million combinations. Egg can’t get out.”
“Daleks are geniuses!” replied Tysar. “They can calculate a billion combinations in thirty seconds flat! We have to get to the Doctor NOW!”