Dalek Empire Writing Contest 1 | The History Vortex

DOCTOR WHO
The Other Doctors
by
Aron Toman

The castle loomed over the forest. In the night sky, it looked similar to a strange spaceship, which is what it resembled more than the traditional castles on Earth. As guards holding strange futuristic weapons marched around the castle’s borders, two figures moved through the thick undergrowth. One of them was a tall man with fair hair that seemed to be swept back with gel, although it hadn’t been. He was wearing an open dark blue dressing gown with a yellow T-shirt underneath, and the other was a teenage girl with long blonde hair wearing a dress with many splotches of colour over it.
She didn’t look very happy. “Alright, Doctor, can you please tell me what’s going on?”
The Doctor turned around to his companion. Astra, as usual, was grumbling. She’d probably forgotten to eat her breakfast again. Perhaps he’d made a mistake of bringing her along and should have tried going by himself instead.
“Astra, I’ll explain it one more time. This time, please pay attention.” He pointed through the trees. “You see that castle over there?”
“No!” she said, firmly. “This forest is too dense”
The Doctor grew angry. “Well, at least pretend to see it!”
“Ok, ok, I see it!”
“Good!” the Doctor replied, “Now, inside it lives a king, called King Nicodemus. Now this king has a crystal that we have to steal. Simple”
“Yes, I know that, Doctor,” Astra complained, “But what I don’t understand is why?”
“Oh, Astra, think! Why do you think we were on the planet Peregrine? Not collecting shells, I think”
“All right, no need to be smart with me, you know! I just asked a simple question, and you go all -”
The Doctor clamped his hand over the girl’s mouth, just as a guard walked past. They ducked down behind a bush and waited for him to go by. Only when the guard has disappeared out of sight, the Doctor released her.
“That crystal is a link in the complex matrix that gives power to their planet. Nicodemus has stolen that crystal from them, and without it the population will die out within a month”
“Why would he do that?”
“Well, it is a very pretty diamond. And my guess is that when they’re at their weakest, he’ll go an conquer them.”
Astra sighed. “So, how are we going to get it?”
The Doctor shushed her suddenly, as he pointed over to the castle. Through the bushes, they could see a door opening. It was almost like a drawbridge to an ordinary castle; apart from the fact it was made of anything but wood and made an electronic humming sound. Silently, the Doctor motioned to Astra to follow him on to the drawbridge. As quietly as they could, they crept out from under the bushes and toward the castle, where guards were lining up to walk in and be replaced with other guards. Hopefully, the Doctor reasoned, they’d be able to get through in the confusion without being noticed.
“This isn’t going to work!” Astra whispered, as they tried to make themselves fit into the crowd.
“Yes it will, as long as you keep quiet!” the Doctor whispered in reply. He grabbed her hand and dragged her through, keeping his eyes down and hoping that Astra was doing the same. Before long, they had gotten inside.

***

The inside still had that castle theme, however Astra could at once pick that this was a highly technological society. The wall torches that lined the walls had little light bulbs in them. The ground was made of metal, where in an authentic castle it would be dirt or stone. The doors also were very futuristic, although they looked like proper doors, they moved up as you walked toward them and closed behind you.
The Doctor and Astra detached themselves from the group of guards and hid behind a wall, in case any of them looked in their direction. As soon as they heard a door close, they both let out a long breath. Astra hadn’t even been aware she had been holding it.
“So, what do we do now?” asked Astra.
“We try to find the King’s treasure room. Obviously, the crystal is in there”
“What makes you so sure?”
“Well, have you got any better ideas?”
Astra grumbled to herself for a second before she responded. “Alright, where is it?”
“We’ll have to look for it”
“Don’t you know where it is?” Astra asked, slightly annoyed.
“Oh, yes, yes. That’s why I’m looking!” The Doctor then moved off down the hall, his eyes searching the area for anything that would tell anything of their presence.

***

// You, sir, are a nitwit! //
** What did you say? A nitwit? A Nitwit? A NITWIT!!! **
?? Oh please, just remember, every Doctor has his day ??
<< Well, how do you propose we get this one, hmmm? >>
// Reverse the polarity of the neutron flow //
|| No, no, no, no, no, no. Unless I’m mistaken, that won’t work! ||
[[ Is no one interested in history? ]]
** Frankly, we’re not doing well, are you **
{{ Oh my giddy aunt! Shh, be quiet! He’s coming! }}

***

“Doctor!” Astra called, feeling slightly woozy. She forced herself to remain calm. “Doctor!”
“What is it?” he replied, trying to whisper angrily. “Stop yelling or we’ll get caught!”
“Look what I’ve found!” she said, as she pointed to her feet. Lying there was a body, obviously dead. No one alive’s head hung at that angle. It was a guard and he looked like he’d been in a fight – and lost badly. He had broken bones left right and center, as well as bruising that if he’d survived probably would never heal.
The Doctor bent down and inspected the body. He opened the remains of his shirt, which revealed burn marks that, to Astra, look vaguely familiar in shape. Like curved triangles.
“What weapon could have made that?” she asked.
“I’m not sure,” the Doctor looked puzzled. Then his face changed, as if he’d realized something. “Wait a minute – someone’s been going through my memories!”
“How do you know?”
“Remember the Eye of Orion?”
“Vividly”
The Doctor closed the unfortunate guard’s eyes. “This man was killed by a high bombardment of positive irons”
Astra would have found this comical, had the situation been so tragic. “Irons?”
“It’s a very tragic pun”
Astra rolled her eyes. “Yes, Doctor, I get the joke. But why –“
“This is serious” interrupted the Doctor. “I think we should get away from here -”
“Hold it right there!” a stern voice, said behind them.
The Doctor and Astra turned around to see a guard holding a stun gun at them. Wearily they raised their hands.

***

[[ Ah ha! We’ve got him! Jelly Babies all round! ]]
?? Don’t count your chickens before they’re smashed! ??
<< Yes, my boy. We still have much more, erm, yes, yes. >>
{{ Perhaps I could play a tune to pass the time? }}
|| No, no, no, no, no… ||

***

The guard led the two time travelers along hallway after hallway, each one looking almost identical to another – dark and gloomy.
“The least they could have done is brightened up the place,” said Astra. “Some wallpaper in here could work wonders!”
Before the Doctor could reply, the guard barked what could be assumed was an order for silence, but it was delivered so fast it was barely understandable. To make sure, they kept quiet anyway. Before much longer, they ended up at a huge double door.
“Ah, the throne room” the Doctor said brightly. “Looks like we’re about to meet out host.”
“King Nicodemus?”
“Yes.”
The doors opened. Inside was a large, well lit room (well lit compared to the hallway) decorated in bright colours. Near the center of this room was a huge throne, with gold plating and velvet cushions. As the guards escorted the time travelers along the Throne Room, they could make out a figure sitting in the chair.
It was a plump woman with graying hair who was wearing a red dress without shoulders that would have looked a lot better on someone with a slimmer figure. She had a matching crown on her head and was devouring a plate of grapes. As soon as the Doctor saw her, he ignored the guards and marched up to the throne.
“Iris Wildtyme!” he exclaimed. The woman looked at the newcomer and almost choked on a grape.
“D-Doctor!” she gasped as she swallowed the obstruction. “What a surprise!”
“Yes, it is, isn’t it? What are you doing here? Where’s King Nicodemus?”
Astra by this time had caught up with the Doctor. “Who’s this?”
“My dear,” said the woman, “here I am known as Queen Nicodemia, the wife of the king who is at the moment on holiday in the Eye of Orion. I have been left in charge of our kingdom”
“Poppycock!” the Doctor exclaimed. “Astra, this is Iris Wildtyme. She’s an old – friend of mine. She comes from Galifrey too.”
“Friend!” Iris sounded surprised. “Friend? I was in love with you for years, you silly man!”
“Hey, if she’s an old friend of yours,” said Astra, “perhaps she might know where the crystal is!”
The Doctor turned to Iris. “Well?”
Iris shuffled in her throne uncomfortably. “Well, it is a very pretty diamond…”
As the Doctor rolled his eyes, the guard that caught them began yelling to Iris. It sounded something like “Yourhighness,thesetwoinvaderswerecaughtkillingoneofmyguards!”
Iris, somehow, understood. “Really? Doctor, been having fun have you?”
“Iris, you know very well that I don’t -”
“Enough!” Iris had gone through almost a complete transformation. She was acting like the powerful ruler she was pretending to be. She stood up. “For crimes against the crown, we hearby sentence you to execution by disintegration, to be carried out, forthwith! Guards, bring the Doctor forward!”
As the guards grabbed the Doctor, he glared up at Iris. “Iris, think about it! Why would I kill one of your guards? What’s the matter with you? This isn’t like you! Astra, run!”
She needed no second warning. As she saw a plastic cone descend upon the Doctor, Astra turned and began to head for the door. She dodged about three guards before she heard a very loud thud. Then everything went black…

***

“Hello? Easy there. Are you alright?”
Astra opened her eyes. Leaning over her was the face of an old man. He was about sixty, he had short silver grey receding hair and had a moustache the same colour. His blue eyes twinkled with the familiarity of a grandfather. He was wearing a short blue scarf, a reddish-brown jacket and a grayish-blue cravat on a white shirt.
“Who are you?” she asked.
“Ah! Good you’re awake. Allow me to introduce myself. I am Dr. Who, and if I’m not mistaken young lady, you are the infamous Miss Astra of the planet Pendor, no?”
Astra sat up as slowly as she could, trying not to allow her head to reel. She nodded as she noticed other people in the room. One was a man in his late thirties to mid forties with dark brown, shoulder length hair and was wearing a brown tweed coat and a patchwork vest done in brown. He had a longish nose and a mouth that always seemed to be frowning at you, his eyes seemed to do the same thing. The person standing next to him was a black woman in her late twenties. Her black hair was platted into dreadlocks and then tied into a ponytail on the top of her head. Unlike her neighbor, she had one of those faces that were always laughing. Well, unless she wasn’t. In any case, this woman had a good and always present sense of humor. She was wearing a flowing white dress with long sleeves and a low neckline. She was slightly voluptuous, but she wore this dress better than Iris would have.
“Ah, Astra!” said the man. “Have a nice sleep did you?”
“Ah, yeah. Who are you?”
The man pointed to himself. “Me? I’ll explain later.”
The woman rolled her eyes disapprovingly. “For goodness sake, stop saying that! You never do explain. Astra, I may call you that may I? He’s called the Doctor.”
Astra mouthed the words. Did she say the Doctor?
“And as a matter of fact, so am I” she continued proudly.
“You’re both the Doctor?”
They nodded.
“And so am I, young lady” said the old man behind her. “As I said before, I am Dr. Who, this young fellow here is the Ninth Doctor and this lovely lady here is yet another Doctor. And this little fellow is also called the Doctor, but we don’t know where he’s from.”
Astra followed Dr. Who’s finger down to this little figure on the ground. It was some sort of robot that resembled both a Dalek and a bird. It was dome-shaped, about a meter high with two little clamps where it’s arms would be if the top of the dome were its head. On it’s back, it had two large wings made of some unusual pink material that Astra assumed allowed the thing to fly.
“That’s called the Doctor too?” she asked.
“Yes.”
“Ok. I think I need another lie down…”

***

{{ Well that didn’t work, did it? }}
** My dear fellow, what are you talking about? I was a great success! **
// Well, what is he doing now? //
<< My boy, he’s just gone through a difficult tine, erm, time. Yes, time and the boy needs rest! >>
|| Well, I’m glad that you are aware of the gravity of the situation! ||
** I was trying to help! Surely a blockhead like you can see that! **
// Oh for goodness sake, stop being childish! //
[[ Why not? There’s no point in being grown up if you can’t be childish sometimes! ]]
?? Oh, and speaking of children, what have you done with the girl? ??
** Girl? Girl? GIRL? **
// Oh good grief! //
{{ I put her in with the other waste}}
<< Oh, is there enough room? >>
[[ Listen, there’s no measurements in infinity. You people have such limited little minds! I don’t know why I like you so much! ]]

***

Astra had settled herself down well enough to listen to the Doctors’ story.
“Well,” started the female Doctor, “Imagine this huge alien intelligence that wants to take over the universe”
“They all do” Astra sighed. “And let me guess, this intelligence is Iris Wildtyme?”
“No, no, no!” the ninth Doctor complained. “It’s not like that at all. The intelligence is only housing itself in her body. She was the first to meet it.”
“You see,” said Dr. Who, “It only exists when it has a personality to live off. It literally feeds on them, like a parasite.”
“But this one is not well,” said the black Doctor. “It’s developed multiple personalities, so it needs to feed on more than one person”
Astra jumped when the little robot Doctor suddenly beeped and clicked and delivered a printout that said “NOT ALL OF ITS KIND ARE LIKE THIS. THEY USUALLY FEED ON A PERSONALITY WITHOUT THE PERSON KNOWING. BUT THIS ONE IS INSANE, IT KILLS ALL OF ITS HOSTS – ALL EXCEPT IRIS OF COURSE.”
Dr. Who had been reading too. “Yes, Iris has become its host person, so it can move about in our physical world like an ordinary person.”
“But what’s all this got to do with the Doctor?” asked Astra. “I mean the other Doctor, the one I arrived with?”
“Well, this intelligence read Iris’s mind,” began the Ninth Doctor. “And discovered her fascination with us -”
“The other Doctors, you twit!” said the female Doctor.
“Alright, the other Doctors!” he replied. “And it thinks that if it can capture all of the Doctor’s personalities throughout his regenerations, it could take over the entire universe within minutes!”
“With the Doctor’s personality? How?” asked Astra.
“I’ll explain later”
Another printout said, “SO FAR HE’S GOTTEN THE FIRST EIGHT OF THE DOCTOR’S LIVES, AND HE JUST PICKED UP ANOTHER!”
Astra thought back to the plastic cone that surrounded her Doctor. “And this thing kills each one?”
“Yes!” cried the female Doctor. “It’s only because of us that his future incarnations don’t cease to exist.”
“So what are you?”
“We are what you might call the left-overs” said Dr. Who. “We’re what the intelligence couldn’t absorb.”
“And to make sure that we couldn’t make any trouble,” said the Ninth Doctor, “we were trapped in here. In this eternity of nothingness.”
Astra looked at the different faces and lenses around her. “But you don’t look very much like the Doctor!”
“OH SOME OF US ARE CLOSER TO OUR ORIGINAL THAN OTHERS” said the robot Doctor.
“For example, our friend with the long nose here” the female Doctor pointed to the Ninth Doctor, “knows where he should fit in with the others. But look at me – I’m female!”
Astra shrugged her shoulders. “It’s not too bad.”
“And Dr. Who isn’t even called the same name” the Ninth Doctor proclaimed
“And none of us are going to mention this little fellow” said Dr. Who.
Astra nodded. She was beginning to understand. “So your all that’s left of the Doctor?”
The four Doctors nodded.
“So it means it’s going to be up to me to rescue him, right?”
“Don’t make your plans yet my dear!” said the Ninth Doctor. “There’s one thing you’ve forgotten!”
“What’s that?”
“The diamond! You need to get that back to Peregrine or their entire world will be destroyed!”
“How did you know about that?” asked the female Doctor.
“I’ll explain later”
The robot whirred a bit more. “AFTER THE INTELLIGENCE HAS COMPLETELY FINISHED ABSORBING THE DOCTOR, IT PLANS TO TRAVEL TO PEREGRINE AND POSSES IT’S POPULATION WHILE THEY’RE AT THEIR WEAKEST. WITH THEM IT WILL HAVE AN ARMY OF ZOMBIES THAT EVEN THE DALEKS WOULD HAVE TROUBLE AGAINST.”
Astra nodded. This made things interesting. Now she had to destroy the intelligence, rescue the Doctor, rescue Iris and get that crystal back to Peregrine. Why couldn’t this have happened to someone else?
“Well, the first thing we need to do is get out of this place” she said.
Dr. Who jumped to his feet. “I know just the thing! Follow me!”
As the elderly man hurried away, Astra and the other Doctors followed until they turned a corner. There, standing more or less was a red, double-decker bus. It had number 29 written on it and apparently it was headed for Putney Common.
“IRIS’S TARDIS” the robot whirred.

***

Astra had gotten on the bus to discover that it was exactly the same size inside as outside. Either Iris’s dimensional stabilizers were extremely broken, or she had a TARDIS that was even more antiquated than the Doctor’s. With the assistance of the Doctors, she’s discovered it was controlled in the driver’s cabin (obviously) and you literally had to drive the thing through the vortex.
“Doctor, if you knew that this was here, why didn’t you take off before?” she asked as she looked over the controls.
The Ninth Doctor was about to answer, when the female Doctor interrupted saying “If you say “I’ll explain later” one more time I’ll break your nose!”
The Ninth Doctor closed his mouth and was rather quiet for a while.
“Now, my dear, I think that button is the one that will transfer us through time and space” Dr. Who told Astra.
“Are you sure?” she asked. “I don’t want to be scattered across an abandoned planet!”
“Oh, well, almost sure. Why not try it and see?”
“I have a better idea!” said the female Doctor. “Why don’t we let the robot plug himself in?”
“Good idea!” Astra exclaimed, as the little Doctor rolled toward the console. A small probe extended from behind a panel and into the inner workings of the bus. Suddenly the lights came on and the engine started.
“I THINK I KNOW HOW TO RUN THIS” said the Doctor’s printout. As the steering wheel began to turn, in front of them a hole in the vortex opened, just big enough for the bus to fit through. Astra pulled the lever to close the door just as the Doctor sent the bus directly for the hole.
The next thing they knew, they were flying though a swirling mass of colour.

***

Iris, or the entity that controlled her, was in her treasure room. It had a great deal of gold and money that obviously had belonged to King Nicodemus. However, Iris was only interested in the centerpiece of the room – the diamond. It was sitting on a pedestal that was raised almost taller than Iris. She approached the crystal almost reverently and looked up on with an expression that didn’t seem to belong on her face at all.
“Not long now, my little friend!” she said. “Soon your little planet will be so weak they can’t defend themselves against us! And isn’t that a good thing? Because you are such a pretty diamond…”
She stroked the crystal as if it was a lovely pet. Suddenly she stopped and listened. She could hear something, like a cross between a wounded elephant and a trumpet blowing. Using all her instincts, she grabbed the crystal and dived out of the way as a bus came roaring out of nowhere and ran straight into the pedestal. Iris watched as the door swished open and Astra stepped out, followed by the Doctors.
“Oh look! She’s here!” said the female Doctor. “Looks like we won’t have to go far after all!”
Iris made a hissing cat noise. “You’re meant to be trapped in infinity!”
“Yes, well, I’m afraid that you made the mistake of leaving the bus there too. Very silly” Dr. Who said, shaking his head sadly.
“Give me that crystal!” Astra yelled, her Pendorian blood boiling with her. “And let the Doctors go now! Iris too!”
The entity shook Iris’s head. “Make me!” she screeched and threw herself upon Astra. Astra stumbled under her weight and fell to the ground. Using her own methods of self defense, she brought her hand down onto Iris’s wrist, causing her to let go of the crystal. The little robot Doctor trundled along and picked it up with its clamps and took it back to the others. The ninth Doctor picked it up.
The intelligence used Iris’s arms to reach over and try to strangle Astra with her chubby hands. Astra brought her knee up unto Iris’s groin, and then used her legs to flip Iris over the top of her. She rolled back onto her shoulders and sprung to her feet. She turned around to face Iris, who was snarling.
“What makes you think you can destroy me?” Iris hissed. “Your Doctor is lost for ever and only I exist!” She rushed at Astra, her arm outstretched. Astra stepped aside and gave her a helping push directly into the ninth Doctor, who promptly hit her over the head with the crystal.
Everything went strange.

***

|| Oh no, not again! ||
[[ It’s the end, but the moment has been prepared for! ]]
** It’s all her fault! **
<< Never to worry, my dears! One day, we shall come back! Yes, we shall come back… >>

***

“So, how did you get the demon out of me?” Iris asked later. They were heading back to the TARDIS – the Doctor’s TARDIS. The Doctor had insisted that Iris come with them to help explain to the people of Peregrine why she had stolen their precious crystal. They could always return Iris to her bus later.
“I’m not sure” Astra replied. “The Ninth Doctor knocked you over the head with the crystal, and then they disappeared and you were unconscious.”
The Doctor smiled as he pushed through another clump of trees. “The people of Peregrine needed this particular crystal for one reason – it has very special properties. Because the intelligence had made contact with it without first putting up it’s barriers, it was expelled into its own dimension”
“And all it’s personalities with it?” Astra commented.
“Yes”
As the three of them approached the Police Box and the Doctor placed the key in the lock, Astra asked the Doctor “What I still don’t understand is how all your other selves came back to life. By rights, you should have all been completely destroyed when the intelligence was expelled. So why weren’t you?”
The Doctor gave her one of his looks and smiled, wryly.
“I’ll explain later…”