3. Trap of the Enemy
Later on, at the police station, Bobby was kept waiting inside an interrogation room. He was silent as he sat behind a table. The door was locked. Bobby’s face was screwed up in anger. He had so much rage inside. Eventually, the door unlocked and the Doctor, Rose and Captain Jack were escorted into the room by Sergeant Starr.
“We’ve tried to be accommodating,” Starr said, “but I don’t think the boy appreciates our hospitality. I hope you’ll have better luck with him, Doctor…”
“Thanks a bunch, Sarge,” the Doctor interjected reassuringly. “You’ve done a fantastic job! Now let us carry on from here.”
Nodding, Sergeant Starr soon went out of the room. The Doctor, Rose and Jack were left with Bobby and the boy glared at them fiercely.
“Let me out here,” the boy said calmly but bitterly. “Let me out! I will kill you all! I swear it! I will kill you all”
The Doctor, Rose and Jack looked at Bobby before they sat down in front of him at the table. The TARDIS trio couldn’t believe how a small child ended up being like this. Filled with so much hate.
“Why is he doing this?” Rose asked the Doctor. “Why does he hate us so much? He’s not a Dalek. He’s a little boy.”
“That’s the curse of the Zorbius crystal and the Skeletron armour that he’s partially wearing,” the Doctor said. “The armour absorbs anything and it can do the same with a Dalek. It can absorb all the Dalek hatred and the instincts to make it powerful. With all those things combined, it makes Bobby deadlier.”
“And this Briggs professor – his own dad made him out to be like this?!” Rose was shocked and abhorred.
The Doctor and Jack told Rose everything about Professor Briggs and his son on the way to the police station. Rose found it was incomprehensible as to why Professor Briggs would behave like this and experiment on his son as a guinea pig with the alien technology that he found.
As Rose pondered on these things, the Doctor leaned forward at the table to confront Bobby. Deep down, the Doctor was finding it difficult to confront Bobby than Rose and Jack did.
“Bobby,” the Doctor began gradually. “Listen to me! I can help. Tell me what it is you want and I can help you.”
After a moment’s silence, Bobby looked up at the Doctor and glared at him for a long while. It was as if Bobby was taking him in. Almost as if he was relishing the prospect of tormenting the Doctor instead.
“I want you, Doctor!” Bobby eventually said. “I want you dead! I want you killed by me! I want you exterminated!”
Rose then leaned forward on the table beside the Doctor to confront Bobby.
“But isn’t there anything else that you want, Bobby?” Rose asked. “Anything else apart from killing? Freedom perhaps. Freedom of sunlight. The freedom to feel the sunlight on your face. I know today’s a gloomy day, but isn’t that what you want?”
It seemed for a moment as if Bobby was taking in Rose’s words. Eventually, he said, “Yes! Freedom! I want…freedom!”
“Well, that’s good, yeah,” Rose said pleased. “We can give you that. The Doctor, Jack and I…”
“Freedom to kill,” Bobby then said suddenly. “Freedom to exterminate! Freedom to use Zorbius and kill everyone! Freedom to kill everyone who is not like me! Exterminate! Exterminate!!! Exterminate!!!!!”
Bobby tried to raise his left arm with the Dalek gun attachment on it. He tried to aim at the Doctor, Rose and Jack each in turn. But the Doctor had managed to disable the gun attachment with his sonic screwdriver before Bobby was taken away to the police station. Rather clever that, the Doctor thought. Once Bobby realised he was powerless, he banged his fist on the table angrily. He almost caused his fist to bleed heavily.
Rose turned to the Doctor. “Doctor, what’s the matter with him? Why won’t he behave like a normal human boy? All he seems to want to do is kill people. Just like a Dalek would. Not natural, is it?”
“I think that’s the point of all of this,” Jack pointed out. “He isn’t a little boy anymore. It’s like the Zorbius crystal energy attached to him in the Skeletron armour robbed him of his childhood.”
At that, the Doctor began to realise something. He then got up out from his chair and slapped his head, annoyed.
“Oh I’m so thick!” he exclaimed. “I really am! I’m just so thick! I should’ve realised!”
“Why? What is it, Doctor?” Rose wanted to know.
“The Zorbius crystal energy,” the Doctor began to explain. “I’ve seen this happen before.”
“What? It turning kids into Daleks?” Jack enquired.
“No! Removing people’s memories of who they were,” the Doctor continued. “It happened to me once!”
“Happened to you?” Rose became surprised.
“Yes! Well, I was with some friends at the time back at a country house in the 1920s,” the Doctor elaborated. “Another friend of mine, Nyssa, and me got caught up in some mirror. It was a mirror that removed our memories and we became different people. Our original memories were in tact and stored inside the mirror. There was Zorbius energy was inside that mirror. It can do that. The Zorbius crystal generally has the ability to remove people’s memories. It makes them forget on who they were and everyone else around them.”
“And that’s what it’s done? This Zorbius thing?” Rose deduced. “It took Bobby’s memories as a kid and it replaced them with Dalek thoughts and ideas.”
“Zorbius is cunning in getting what it needs and what it wants,” the Doctor told Rose.
“So Bobby no longer exists. Is that what you’re saying?” Jack deduced.
“Oh no, I wouldn’t say that,” the Doctor reassured Rose and Jack. “I had my memories recovered from the mirror in the 1920s thanks to another friend of mine, Billy, who believed in me and Nyssa. But this one might not be so easy.”
“So how are we going to get Bobby’s memories back?” Rose asked. “How do we get him back to the way he was?”
“Dunno,” the Doctor said. “But right now it’s Zorbius I want to talk to.”
At that, the Doctor sat back down again and leaned forward on the table to confront Bobby again. This time, he addressed Bobby differently.
“Zorbius!” he began. “If you can hear me – and I’m talking to the creature that’s inside Bobby right now. If you can hear me, tell me what it is you want! What do you want apart from killing me? What are your current plans in your new routine?”
Bobby seemed reluctant to say anything. Eventually, he relented and spoke, but in a different tone of voice. A more..enlightened voice.
“I want to be…reunited…with my friends,” Bobby declared. “My brothers!”
“Brothers?” Jack said, confused, questioning Bobby. “There’s more of you?”
“He means the Skeletrons,” the Doctor clarified. “Don’t you, Bobby?”
“Yes,” Bobby answered. “They’re waiting for me. They will have Zorbius! Just as I will have Zorbius from you, Doctor!”
“Where are they now, Bobby?” the Doctor asked. “Tell me! Where are the Skeletrons you’re looking for now?”
“On the planet Migra-Minor,” Bobby said.
“Migra-Minor?” Rose became curious. “Where’s that?”
“A long way away from your home, Rose,” Jack said. “About forty-thousand light years away from here. In the Migra system. It’s very futuristic and advanced for its society. Been there lots of times. Has lots of casinos, good food, good women, and good guys!”
Ignoring Rose and Jacko, Bobby declared, “You will give me Zorbius, Doctor. The crystal shall be ours!”
“Yeah sorry, Bobby,” the Doctor said. “But you’re not having the Zorbius crystal. Not ever, do you hear?”
Bobby stood up from his chair and shouted angrily at the Doctor, saying, “Then I shall exterminate everyone on this planet! I will kill everyone who is not right to live! Do you hear me, Doctor?! I will kill everyone! Do you hear me?! I will exterminate!!!!”
“Stop it, Bobby! Just stop it!” Rose shouted, upset. “You’re not a killer! You’re a little boy! A boy who wants to have fun and games! A boy who wants to watch TV and play video games. You like that, don’t you? You like playing video games, don’t you? I know Mickey does. He can let you play some of his video games if you want…”
“I will kill all who are not Daleks!” Bobby ranted away as he stood. “I will kill all!”
“You’re not a Dalek, Bobby!” Jack told him. “Don’t even think about becoming one! You’re better than that! You must break through the influence!”
“Jack’s right,” Rose persisted. “Bobby, you’re not a Dalek! Got that? You’re not a Dalek who kills people!”
“I am a Dalek!!!” Bobby shrieked furiously. “I am a Dalek forever!!!!! I want to be a Dalek forever!!!!! I will exterminate anyone who stands in my way!!!!! Exterminate! Exterminate!!! Exterminate!!!”
Bobby’s shrieks intensified before he collapsed to the floor and fell unconscious. Rose and Jack got up and came round to check on him. The Doctor just sat in his chair, disgusted and appalled by the boy’s disregard for life.
“He’s out cold,” Jack said.
“We need to get someone in here,” Rose said. “A medical doctor!”
“You’re wasting your time, you two,” the Doctor said, nonplussed. “He’s made it clear what he wants! Come on! Let’s leave Bobby here to his empty death, shall we?”
“Doctor, you’re not helping,” Rose told him off.
“Who cares?!” the Doctor said bitterly. “I don’t want to help a boy who’s not a boy anymore. A cup of tea is more comforting than that!”
With that, the Doctor left the interrogation room. Rose and Captain Jack were surprised by the Doctor’s manner lately. They saw to it that a medical doctor came in to check on Bobby, whilst Rose and Jack joined the Doctor outside.
In the police station’s cafeteria, the Doctor had his cup of tea with Rose and Captain Jack sitting beside him. Jackie, Mickey and Sergeant Starr joined the group too when they came in earlier. They were having cups of tea as well.
“Hmm!” the Doctor murmured cheerfully. “This is nice, everyone! Who’s got the sugar?”
The Doctor took two sugars from the sugar bowl. That seemed to be that. Everyone became silent for a moment.
“So Doctor”, Jack broke the silence. “What had you in mind to sort out Bobby?”
“Bobby? Dunno,” the Doctor answered. “The boy can rant and rave all he wants for all I care.”
“You mean you’re not going to do anything?” Rose said astounded.
“Most likely yeah.”
“That’s not like you, Doctor,” Rose said shocked. “You’re always helping people!”
“That boy doesn’t want to be helped,” the Doctor argued. “That’s his choice. And I’m not giving him the Zorbius crystal.”
“So you’re going to do nothing,” Rose deduced. “You’re going to let him die.” Pausing for a moment, she then asked, “You’re not thinking of killing him, are you?”
“Of course not,” the Doctor retorted. “What do you think I am, a murderer?!”
“He’s got a Dalek inside of him,” Rose reminded the Doctor. “They’re your greatest enemies! You wanted to kill one the last time I saw you with one.”
“I’m not a monster like you seem to think, Rose,” the Doctor argued.
“I didn’t mean it like that,” Rose gradually said, slightly ashamed.
“Besides, I haven’t got a plan that can sort this one out,” the Doctor reasoned.
“What, no plan at all?” Mickey was unconvinced. “That isn’t like you, Doctor. I always thought you could come up with something clever at the drop of a hat.”
“Mickey the idiot! Always the optimist,” the Doctor said cheerily.
“Do you have to keep the boy here?” Jackie asked Sergeant Starr. “Can’t you send him to a mental hospital or something to get cured?”
“The boy’s dangerous, Mrs. Tyler,” Starr said. “I wouldn’t want to risk him outside the community by even putting him in a mental hospital. We have a police doctor on the premises should he need medical attention.”
“Wise thinking, Sergeant,” the Doctor smiled.
“It’s not a doctor he needs,” Jack said. “It’s a psychiatrist. Someone needs to talk some sense into that boy.”
“Anybody you’d liked to suggest,” the Doctor said sarcastically to Jack. “I’m sure many of you from your time can sort this one out.”
“There is something I can do,” Jackie began to offer.
Rose was surprised. “You, mum?”
“You haven’t heard what I’m going to suggest yet,” Jackie protested before she continued. “I knew Bobby when he was small, you see. I used to help out at the local nursery. Some of the old gang would be there. They’d know what books and toys Bobby would like. I can bring those in to help him remember. Help him remember what a lovely little boy he used to be.”
“The Zorbius crystal energy removed his memories, Jackie,” the Doctor reminded her. “He won’t remember any books or toys you’ll bring to him. He’s more Dalek than a boy now.”
“At least Mum can try,” Rose argued. “Give it try will ya, Doctor? What have we got to lose?”
The Doctor thought about it and considered for a moment. He eventually agreed.
“Alright, go on, Jackie,” he said. “Do what you can. I’m sure it won’t do any harm.”
“Right you are,” Jackie said pleased. “Be back in a jiff. Wait here.”
With that, Jackie put her empty cup down on the table; got up and went to leave the police station.
“Fast thinking your mum, Rose,” Mickey remarked. “Considering she got mugged by that kid on the street.”
“That’s where my fast thinking came from,” Rose said proudly. “Mum’s always coming up with solutions to problems.”
“Yeah. That as well as having a ratty side,” Mickey said this more bitterly to Rose.
Rose looked away. She knew all too well what Mickey was getting at.
“Well, at least we’re not dealing with a kid that keeps saying “Are you my mummy? Are you my mummy?” all the time,” Jack laughed. “Makes quite a change.”
“Not a pleasant one,” the Doctor commented, glumly.
Rose soon got up out of her seat.
“Where are you going?” the Doctor asked.
Rose stopped, before she gradually turned back to the Doctor and said, “I’m going to try and talk to Bobby in his prison cell. Wanna try and reason with him, if I can.”
“We already did that, Rose,” Jack reminded her. “It didn’t work.”
“Maybe he’ll listen to me,” Rose insisted. “Not with you guys around.”
“He’ll try and kill you, Rose,” Mickey warned her. “Don’t you dare!”
“He’s not going to kill me,” Rose was determined. “The Doctor disabled his weapon, remember?”
“Are you sure you want to do this, Rose?” the Doctor asked. “You don’t want any of us to come with you? Want me to come with you?”
“I’ll be fine,” Rose reassured him. “I’ll only be five minutes. Five minutes, I promise.”
The Doctor thought about this as he looked at Rose.
He eventually said, “On your own head. Good luck.”
“Yeah thanks,” Rose said, smiling. “See ya!”
With that, Rose waved before she went off to find Bobby in his prison cell.
Once Rose left, Starr turned to the Doctor. “What are you going to do about Professor Briggs? He’s still back at his house. He won’t come out.”
“I dunno about that,” the Doctor replied. “But Briggs started all this. With Bobby; the Skeletron and the Dalek. I’m determined to end it once and for all.”
The Doctor said those words with fierce intent. Captain Jack, Mickey and Sergeant Starr could feel the intensity and fire once the Doctor said them.
Meanwhile, Bobby sat alone in his prison cell. He was trying to communicate with someone. He spoke in thought and not aloud.
“Dalek!” he demanded. “Dalek, can you hear me? I need your help! The time has come for me to merge with you!”
There was no response at first. Eventually a Dalek answered him in his head, saying, “I hear you, Bobby Briggs. I am on my way to meet you. You are trapped in your cell?”
“Yes,” Bobby said. “The monsters – they put me in here! I want to be let out! Save me from this place!”
“I will save you, Bobby Briggs,” the Dalek in his head said. “Then we shall destroy; conquer and rule the universe!”
“The Zorbius crystal shall be ours,” Bobby declared.
“Yes!” the Dalek answered. “Zorbius will belong to us!” There was a pause and then, “This discussion has ended.”
With that, the communion between Bobby and the Dalek inside his head finished. Bobby opened his eyes wide and found himself still in the prison cell.
At the same time in the cellar of Briggs’ house, the Dalek who had communed with Bobby began to glide forward. It glided out from the closet it had been trapped in and began to make its way towards the open air.
“On my way,” it grated. “I am coming for you, Bobby Briggs. We shall be one. One and the same.”
The cellar door from upstairs opened as Briggs came down to enter it. He saw the Dalek gliding forth out of its closest and became shocked.
“Hey!” he called. “What are you doing? Stay where you are! Where do you think you’re going, you tin pot?!”
“I have a purpose,” the Dalek answered. “I shall meet with your son! He shall be the next phase in our plans!”
“You’re not going anywhere!” Briggs said. “You are my prised possession! I won’t have you leave this house!”
“Stand aside or I shall kill you,” warned the Dalek.
Briggs came down to the foot of the stairs and faced the Dalek. He picked up a long pole from nearby and pointed it at the Dalek to strike if necessary.
“Don’t even think about it, mate,” he said. “You’re not going anywhere!”
The Dalek raised its eye-stalk at Briggs. Then it raised its sucker stick at Briggs’ face.
“I warned you,” the Dalek grated.
Briggs laughed mockingly at the Dalek before he screamed as the sucker stick pulled his face in and absorbed it. Briggs’ face crumbled and his skull was crushed into pieces. Briggs’ scream ended once he had turned into an ashen corpse and collapsed to the floor. Turning from the dead Briggs, the Dalek looked up at the stairs.
“Elevate!” it grated.
Levitating upwards into the air, the Dalek began to fly up the stairs and make its way out of the cellar. It was soon out of the house and on its way to find Bobby Briggs.
Back in Bobby’s prison cell, the cell door opened and he turned to see Rose enter. She approached him slowly, looking concerned and compassionate about him. Bobby stared back at Rose unfeelingly.
“Hello,” she greeted.
Bobby didn’t respond. He just looked away.
“Please Bobby,” Rose tried to talk to him. “I’m here to help. I want you to help me by helping you. Let’s talk about things, shall we?”
Bobby wasn’t going to have it. He wouldn’t let Rose mess things up for him. He was determined. But Rose leaned in closer.
“How are you feeling?” she asked. “Are you hungry? Would you like something to eat? To drink? What’s your favourite food and drink?”
“How can you possibly help me?” Bobby asked abruptly.
Rose could feel the ferocity in Bobby’s words. “What?”
“Simple question,” he said fiercely. “How can you possibly help someone like me? Someone who is one with the Daleks.”
“You’re not a Dalek, Bobby,” Rose persisted. “Never think that. Snap out of it!”
“Are you afraid of me, Rose Tyler?” he asked.
Rose shrugged and laughed weakly. “Don’t be ridiculous.”
Bobby then grabbed Rose’s arm tightly which caused her to shriek.
“Answer my question!” he shouted. “Are you afraid of me?! Answer! Answer!!!”
“I’m frightened by what you’re becoming,” Rose said, fighting the urge to scream again. “Anyone would be the way you’re behaving! Now let go of my arm!”
“I can be ten times more powerful than you!” Bobby declared. “I can kill you with one single shot of firepower I’ve got!”
“You can’t, Bobby,” Rose reminded him. “The Doctor disabled your weapon, remember?”
“The Doctor can’t disable my power,” Bobby said. “He knows the Daleks can’t fight with guns alone!”
“You’re not a Dalek, Bobby,” Rose became annoyed. “How many times do we have to say it?! You’re not a Dalek!”
“I am!” Bobby yelled. “I am every bit of a Dalek you can possibly imagine! And soon, I shall come for you, Rose. I shall come and exterminate you as well as your other friends! The rest of humanity!”
“Yeah well, you have to think twice on that, little Bobby,” Rose retorted. “Cos you can’t get out of here! Have you got that? You’ve no gun and you can’t get out!”
“That is where you are wrong,” Bobby said gradually. “I have my gun back!”
Rose was shocked into silence for a moment. “What?”
Bobby soon released Rose’s arm as he stood up. He stretched out his hands whilst Rose backed away.
“I am powerful!” Bobby said triumphantly. “The Daleks survive in me!”
With that, Bobby let out a shot of firepower from his left hand. It hit the ceiling. Most of the roof came down to the floor. The rubble missed Bobby and Rose where they stood. Rose couldn’t believe it.
“How are you doing this?!” she demanded, shocked. “The Doctor disabled your gun!”
“The Doctor knows nothing!” Bobby exclaimed. “I have power! Absolute power is mine! I absorbed the biomass of a time traveller from your body!”
Rose instantly realised. She’d been such an idiot. She allowed Bobby to touch her skin once he grabbed her arm. He was connected to a Dalek. And if Bobby was part-Dalek…oh no!
“Cellular reconstruction begins!” Bobby announced. “I am powerful! I can get out! I, Bobby Briggs, shall kill all who defy me!”
With that, Bobby opened fire again, hitting the lock on the cell door. Rose screamed once Bobby kept on firing.
Jackie came back into the police station, carrying some of Bobby’s childhood things. She was just in time to hear Rose’s scream. The Doctor, Captain Jack, Mickey and Sergeant Starr heard the scream too as they stood up from their seats.
“That was Rose,” Jackie cried. “She screamed, didn’t she?”
“She’s with that boy Bobby,” the Doctor said.
“I thought you disabled the boy’s weapon,” Jack checked.
“Evidently he’s got it back to full power! That’s not supposed to happen!” the Doctor then stopped as he realised, “Unless…”
“Unless what?” Mickey asked.
“Rose touched him,” the Doctor concluded. “She touched Bobby and he absorbed her time-travelling biomass. I shouldn’t have let her in there!”
“We got in get in there!” Jack said.
“Couldn’t agree more,” said the Doctor. “Come on!”
“Wait for me!” Jackie said eagerly.
Everyone followed the Doctor before they saw a Dalek enter through the front door. They all stopped midway once they saw the Dalek.
“Attention! Attention!” the Dalek grated. “Do not move! This building is now under Dalek control!”
Sergeant Starr made to run forward with a pistol in his hand. The Doctor stopped him.
“Don’t!” he told him. “That thing will kill you without a second thought! Don’t go anywhere near it!”
Starr saw some of his colleagues run for it on the other side to jump upon the Dalek. They got electrocuted in an instant once the Dalek fired upon them.
“See what I mean?” the Doctor said.
“Everyone!” Starr shouted. “Keep away from that machine! Don’t get too close!”
All the police officers did as they were told and they kept away. The Dalek turned its eye-stalk towards the Doctor. The Doctor looked at it squarely in the eye.
“Well, what happens now?” the Doctor asked. “Are you going to kill everyone in your sights now?”
“I have come for one thing,” the Dalek grated. “The crystal, Doctor! Hand over the Zorbius crystal! You have it in your possession!”
“What makes you think I’m going to give it to you?” the Doctor challenged the Dalek.
The Dalek turned its eye-stalk as at that moment, Rose entered with Bobby the boy behind her. He trained his Dalek gun-stick on her.
“Rose!” Jackie cried with joy. “You’re still alive!”
“Rose, are you alright?” Jack asked, concerned.
“I’m fine,” Rose said reassuringly, as she turned to the Doctor. “Doctor, I should’ve listened to you…”
“Shut up, girl!” Bobby said threateningly. “Just shut up!”
The Dalek turned back to the Doctor. “Doctor! You will give me the Zorbius crystal now!”
The Doctor didn’t say anything.
Soon, the Dalek turned back to Bobby. “Exterminate her now!”
“With pleasure,” Bobby said satisfied, as he prepared to open fire with his gun-stick into Rose’s back.
“Leave her alone!” Jackie cried.
“Let her go!” Mickey shouted.
Menace and mania filled Bobby’s eyes before the Doctor stepped forward.
“No! Don’t shoot!” the Doctor cried. “Here! You can have it! Have it for all I care!”
Fetching the Zorbius crystal out from his leather jacket, the Doctor held it out for the Dalek to take from him. The Dalek took the Zorbius crystal from the Doctor as it used its sucker stick. Inspecting the crystal thoroughly, the Dalek turned back to the Doctor.
“You were wise to give it to me, Doctor,” it grated. It then turned back to Bobby. “Take the girl with us!”
Bobby complied before the Doctor protested.
“No Dalek!” he shouted. “You have the crystal now! Let Rose go!”
“She is to come with us,” the Dalek grated. “Do not attempt to follow us. Come, Bobby.”
“Yes Dalek,” Bobby answered.
“Let my daughter go,” Jackie shouted.
Jack held onto Jackie before she could even run out. “No, Jackie,” he said. “They’ll kill Rose if you try to save her!”
Jackie became frustrated before she eventually calmed down. She couldn’t risk her daughter being killed if she tried to save her.
As Bobby escorted Rose out of the police station, the Dalek turned back to the Doctor and said, “Do not follow us, Doctor. Or else you will suffer the consequences.”
With one final glance, the Dalek led the way out as Bobby took Rose.
“Rose!” the Doctor called out to her. “I’ll come and save you! I promise I’ll come and save you!”
“Yeah! I know you will, Doctor,” Rose called back.
Soon they were gone. The front door closed behind them. Everyone else in the room were shocked as to what just happened.
“Shall I send some of my officers to follow them, Doctor?” Starr asked.
“We don’t know where they’re heading,” the Doctor said. “And we don’t want anyone else getting killed, Sergeant.”
It was at that moment that Jackie and Mickey turned on the Doctor.
“Well Doctor?” Mickey growled. “What are you going to do now?! Where’s your genius got to where Rose went?”
“You gave me your word,” Jackie protested. “You promised me you’d keep Rose safe!”
“You’re the expert, Doctor,” Mickey reminded. “Do something!”
“Don’t you think I’m trying to come up with something, Mickey?” the Doctor said angrily. “Now just shut up everyone and let me think!”
“Doctor?” Jack began to interjected.
“I said shut up!” thundered the Doctor. “That includes everyone!”
But Jack wouldn’t be swayed. “Doctor, before we know it, the Dalek and Bobby will be advancing with their plans by now. They’ll be taking Rose into their plans. We haven’t got much time.”
“Yeah!” Mickey joined in. “So you’d better come up with something or else…”
“Wait; wait; wait!” the Doctor shook his hands impatiently as he thought for a moment. He then turned to Jackie. “Jackie! You got that bag containing all of Bobby’s favourite things as a boy. Can I see?”
“Will it help to save Rose?” Jackie asked.
“I don’t know yet,” the Doctor answered. “That’s why I need to have a look inside the bag.”
With that, Jackie nodded as she passed the bag over to the Doctor. The Doctor took the bag; opened it and looked inside to begin searching through the items that once belonged to Bobby.
A few metres away from the police station, Rose was being pushed along by Bobby and the Dalek. She wasn’t going to stand for it. She turned back to face them.
“Look, you got what you wanted,” she said. “You’ve got the crystal! Why do you want me? Why can’t you just let me go?”
The Dalek lifted its eye-stalk to look at Rose. “You shall bear witness to the creation of a new Dalek hybrid. One that shall take control of the Zorbius crystal. One that shall become supreme!”
Rose looked at Bobby. She realised what the Dalek meant and pleaded, “Let Bobby go! Please let him go! He’s a little boy. You don’t have to keep doing this to him!”
“No!” Bobby angrily interrupted. “I want this! I want to be like this! I hate everyone who is not like me!”
“I killed your father, Bobby,” the Dalek grated. “Your father is dead.”
“Thank you, Dalek,” Bobby said pleased. “Just what I always wanted.”
“Your father’s dead and you don’t even care!” Rose said, shocked. “That’s so sick!”
As they ignored Rose, the Dalek said to Bobby, “Now Bobby Briggs! Join with me!”
With that, the Dalek slowly opened up its casing. Rose had seen this before. The metal panels slide back, layer by layer, to reveal a deformed, wizened little creature inside, held together by metal clamps. Pistons cut into the flesh. Its tentacles, like arms, reached out towards Bobby.
Bobby welcomed its embrace. “Yes Dalek! I join with you! I join with you at last! Yes!!!”
“No Bobby, don’t!” cried Rose.
But it was too late. Bobby found himself merging with the Dalek mutant inside the casing. A bright light shone through both Bobby and the Dalek creature once they had merged together. The Zorbius crystal was doing this. The Dalek casing soon closed shut once Bobby was inside.
Rose was horrified by what she saw. “Oh God!” she exclaimed. “This can’t be! It can’t be like this!”
Back inside the police station, the Doctor examined what Jackie had brought with her in the bag that contained Bobby’s favourite things. He was surprised by what Jackie brought.
“You got lots of kiddie’s books in this bag,” he said. “Was Bobby into his books at the nursery?”
“He enjoyed reading all sorts of stories,” Jackie said. “He used to enjoy us girls reading him books such as ‘Three Little Pigs’ and ‘Little Red Riding Hood’. They were his favourites. All featuring the big bad wolf.”
“Yeah,” Captain Jack chortled. “Love the Disney cartoon of ‘Three Little Pigs’. And that song they sing.” Jack then went into sing-song. ♪ “Who’s afraid of the ‘big bad wolf’; ‘big bad wolf’; ‘big bad wolf’? Who’s afraid of the big bad…?” ♫
“Jack, shut it will you?! Just shut it!” the Doctor shouted.
The Doctor’s outburst affected everyone as much as Jack. But it wasn’t the singing that bothered the Doctor. It was something else. Something else entirely.
“Bad wolf,” he eventually said. “Those words. They keep haunting me. Why? Why do they keep haunting me?”
“They’re just words, Doctor,” Mickey told him. “Big bad wolf is just a bunch of words.”
“Yeah. What’s the matter with a few words, Doctor?” Jackie asked. “Not like you’re scared of anything, are you?”
Jack saw what the Doctor was getting at. He tugged the Doctor gently on his shoulder. “Doctor, you don’t think that this ‘child of death’ business has anything to do with…with…”
“I don’t know,” the Doctor interrupted Jack. “But it’s been bothering me lately. Could be just a coincidence. But now I’m not so sure.”
As the Doctor began to think for a moment, he eventually put on a cheery grin and said, “Anyway. Nothing to worry about. I think I have what I need.”
“And what’s that?” Mickey asked.
“No time to explain,” the Doctor said. “Come on, Jack lad! Let’s get going!”
“Where to?” asked Jack, confused.
“Back to the TARDIS,” the Doctor answered.
“Oy! You’re not leaving us behind,” Jackie protested. “We’re coming with you!”
“No!” the Doctor said sharply. “You two will only be in the way! Jack and I will rescue Rose. You and Mickey stay here.” The Doctor turned to Sergeant Starr. “Sarge, look after these two, will you?”
“I most certainly will, Doctor,” acknowledged Starr. “Whatever you say.”
Thanking the Sergeant, the Doctor and Captain Jack soon set off out of the police station, taking the bag that contained Bobby’s toys and books with them. They went off out through the back door with Jackie, Mickey and Starr watching them go. Jackie sulked with Mickey beside her, feeling left out at not being able to rescue Rose.
Meanwhile with Rose, she watched as the transformation was almost complete. She became horrified by what she saw as the Dalek casing soon opened to reveal a human shape inside. It wasn’t like someone sitting inside a suit of armour. Bobby was connected to the metal armour, but his flesh was flakey and decaying, merged with the Dalek mutant.
“We are one!” the Bobby-Dalek declared. “Bobby and Dalek are one! We are the same!”
“Oh God!” Rose fretted. “Bobby, what have you done to yourself?”
“You will come with us!” the Bobby-Dalek stated.
“No!” Rose refused. “I’m not going anywhere with you!”
“You will come with us!” the Bobby-Dalek insisted. “We shall meet our destiny! You and Bobby-Dalek shall go to open the portal! To make for our destination! To Migra-Minor!”
The Bobby-Dalek pushed Rose forward with its sucker stick as they made for their destination. The Bobby-Dalek didn’t care what Rose felt. It was irrelevant. The most important thing for the Bobby-Dalek was to get where they needed to be.
Inside the TARDIS, the Doctor was already at the console, pressing buttons; turning knobs and adjusting instruments. Captain Jack checked the tribophysical waveform macro-kinetic extrapolator to be sure that power was being sent through.
“The TARDIS is all powered up,” Jack announced. “We should be able to find Rose and the Bobby Dalek at infinite speed.”
“And I’ve just tracked down Rose,” the Doctor said happily. “Hope to be with her within seconds.”
“This won’t be easy,” Jack reminded him.
“I know,” the Doctor acknowledged. “But Rose is worth fighting for, isn’t she?”
“I hope whatever you’ve got in mind works,” Jack said.
“Always got something in mind,” the Doctor cheered. “And this little fire engine of Bobby’s should do it.”
The Doctor held up the toy fire engine that was Bobby’s for Jack to see. At the same time, the Doctor pulled down the control levers. The TARDIS was off to meet up with Rose.
Captain Jack shrugged as he held onto the console and said, “See you in hell, Doctor!”
In the city of London itself, the Bobby-Dalek escorted Rose whilst it attacked and killed many people. The Bobby-Dalek opened fire with its gun-stick and many people ran and scattered about the place. Some fell to the ground dead.
Rose was horrified. “Bobby, stop it!” she cried. “Stop this killing!”
“Why?!” the Bobby-Dalek demanded. “Why must I stop?! This is what I do! My function is to kill! What makes you to tell me what I can’t do?!”
“This is wrong, Bobby,” Rose protested. “It has to end. Stop the killing! There’s no need for it!”
“Humans do not deserve to live,” the Bobby-Dalek grated.
“And what makes you so sure about that?” she challenged him. “Bobby, you can’t live like this! You’re going to end up unhappy and dead. Is that what you really want?! The Doctor can help you, I’m sure, given time.”
“I do not need the Doctor!” the Bobby-Dalek bellowed. “I do not want his help!”
“Bobby, please listen to me!” Rose pleaded.
But Bobby refused to listen. Rose turned away disgusted as the Bobby-Dalek continued its attack on the city and gunning people down.
Eventually however, the TARDIS materialised, whooshing and grinding as it came to land with a thump. The Bobby-Dalek and Rose were stopped in their tracks. Once landed, the TARDIS doors opened and out stepped the Doctor and Captain Jack.
“No!” the Bobby-Dalek said angrily. “You cannot stop me! Keep away! Keep away!”
Rose beamed with joy and relief once she saw the Doctor and Jack.
“Rose!” the Doctor cheered thrilled. “Get over here! Get over here now, Rose! Quick!”
With that, Rose immediately ran forward and joined the Doctor and Jack. Jack took her hand once she met up with them, just as the Bobby-Dalek was about to open fire.
“Do not move, any of you!” the Bobby-Dalek barked. “I will kill you if you try to escape!”
“We’re not trying to escape, Bobby,” the Doctor said. “We want to show you something.”
“Show me…something?” the Bobby-Dalek asked, confused.
The Doctor soon took out a toy fire engine from the bag that Jackie had given him. He grinned as he presented the fire engine before the Bobby-Dalek.
“Bobby? This fire engine,” the Doctor began. “It’s yours, isn’t it? Remember?”
Staring at the fire engine, the Bobby-Dalek became confused despite being curious. He didn’t know what to make of it at first.
“I…I remember….” the Bobby-Dalek grated.
“Yes, that’s it!” the Doctor became hopeful. “Remember, Bobby! Try to remember! Listen to the voices in your memory!”
As they watched this, Rose turned to Jack. “Is this supposed to help Bobby remember who he was before he became a Dalek?”
“Let’s hope so,” Jack said.
But as the Doctor was on the verge of success, the Dalek took control of Bobby again. “No!” it grated. “You will not stop me, Doctor! I shall be victorious!”
With that, the Bobby-Dalek opened fire. The Doctor backed away with the toy fire engine in his hand. Rose took the Doctor’s hand and helped him onto his feet.
“Are you alright?” she asked.
“I’ll be fine,” the Doctor reassured her. “Obviously this is more difficult than I thought.”
The Doctor, Rose and Jack watched as the Bobby-Dalek glided away and began to fly up into the air.
“The Dalek conquest of Zorbius is nearly complete!” the Bobby-Dalek announced. “I go to meet my brothers! You cannot stop us, Doctor!”
With that, the Bobby-Dalek flew off and headed straight for the sky.
“No!” Jack cried. “Now we’re never going to get him!”
The Doctor however was onto it in an instant. He pulled out a plastic toy gun from his leather jacket and fired something onto the Bobby-Dalek’s casing. He managed to fire the toy gun in time as it struck very neatly onto the side of the Dalek casing.
“Is that Bobby’s toy gun?” Rose asked.
“Nope, mine,” the Doctor replied cheerfully. “I had this with me just in case. It’s just as well that I brought it along for me to fire it upon Bobby-Dalek’s casing.”
“Fire what?” Jack asked. “Those weren’t bullets you fired, were they?”
“Nope, a tracking beacon,” the Doctor said. “That way we can follow Bobby using the TARDIS scanners.”
“So we can follow him,” Rose checked. “We can get to him before he gets to wherever he’s going next.”
“He’ll be on his way to open a portal,” the Doctor told her. “Remember? He’s on his way to meet up with the Skeletrons on Migra-Minor. Not with any Daleks. He’ll be heading for the edge of London, no doubt.”
“How do you know this?” Jack asked.
“Trust me, I know. I’m the Doctor,” he said. “And the Doctor is inside the Zorbius crystal, isn’t he? Now let’s stop mooching and go! Come on!”
Heading back for the TARDIS and pushing the doors inwards, the Doctor went back inside with Rose and Captain Jack following him. Once they were in and had closed the doors behind them, the TARDIS soon dematerialised and began to set off, following after the Bobby-Dalek.
© Tim Bradley, 2020
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