3. Testing Limits
Jo didn’t like the prison cell she was in. She didn’t like what was happening. With the circus; the clowns and the strange, mysterious dark figure known as Salvador. She couldn’t let him harm the Doctor. She just couldn’t! Everything he said about the Doctor was wrong to her. She just knew it.
“Right,” Jo then said. “I’ll face him! I’ll prove to him the Doctor is no threat! I’ll stop him harming him!”
So with determination and without a second thought, she made her way to the cell door. It was old and rusty. That surprised Jo. To her, since they were in this alternative reality where anything could happen, it was almost as if the prison has been set up for her out of thin air. But that didn’t bother her since she had to find a way out. To do that, she needed everything she learnt from her escapology course to put to good use.
“Hmm, quite an old fashioned kind of lock,” she remarked. “Ordinary lock with an ordinary key hole. Pity I don’t have the key.”
She said this all to herself, thinking that nobody could hear her on the other side of the door. To which of course there wasn’t. She began to think for a moment. Then she felt through her jacket and took out a pencil from her pocket. She looked at the pencil; then looked at the door.
“I wonder,” she said. “It’s worth a try.”
Jo made her way to the door. Then applied the pencil through the lock. It fitted in nicely. She began tugging away at the lock, trying to find some metal bar or latch that held it up in the door. It took some time but she eventually managed to find it. Breaking the lock and lifting up the metal bar, the door creaked slightly. Putting the pencil back in her pocket, she pull the door inwards to let herself out.
Jo was out within minutes. She couldn’t believe it. It felt so easy. She was so relieved. But at the same time, she couldn’t help wonder whether or not she actually thought of the pencil by herself as if it were wishful thinking. She couldn’t remember having put the pencil in her pocket before.
“Right, where do I start?” she then asked herself. “Where do I find a way out? If only I had a map.”
Then by pure chance, she looked to the ground and saw a small map sprawled there. She went over and picked the map up from the ground. She opened it up and saw that it showed a layout of the entire circus. There were markings to indicate where the alternative reality was. She was so surprised.
“Hmm, very handy that.”
She couldn’t help be pleased. But then she thought for a moment. How did the map get there in the first place? Had one of the clowns Bobsey or Tricksey dropped it there by accident once they’d locked her up. As with the pencil, she couldn’t help but feel she conjured up the map by herself with the merest thought. She dismissed the notion in an instant and looked to the task ahead.
“The Doctor,” she declared. “I must save the Doctor. And stop that Salvador person from harming him.”
Jo ploughed on ahead, making her way out of the prison cell area.
At the circus ring in normal reality, the Doctor managed to set up his equipment with the U.N.I.T. soldiers’ help. He was now using the equipment to puncture a hole in the fabric of reality. Or at least gain access to one hole in order to reach a dimension to recover Jo. He held the makeshift Zorbius crystal in his hand before placing it onto the apparatus to generate the power to open a portal.
“Right, there we are,” he said satisified. “That should do it. And if I say so myself, I think this is a fine piece of workmanship.”
Mike Yates and Sergeant Benton came by to join him.
“Will that thing really work, Doctor?” Mike asked.
“Must you doubt my technical prowess, Mike?” retorted the Doctor.
“Well, with all your equipment here,” added Benton, “I’m wondering if you’ve missed anything.”
“My dear Sergeant Benton,” the Doctor berated him. “If there’s anything that I’ve missed, I’ll be the first to know. And let me assure you that you’ll be the first to hear it from me.”
Benton and Mike looked at each other and smirked whilst the Doctor continued his work. They then noticed that Phillips was still arguing with the Brigadier over his rights to continue with the circus performances in the area.
“I will not have you ordering me about on what to do and how to deal with my life, Brigadier,” Phillips said. “I have a job to do with the running of this circus and that’s that! And I must ask you and your soldiers to leave here at once! Leave, do you hear? Leave!”
“Trust me, Mr. Phillips,” the Brigadier tried to reassure him. “This will all be sorted out very soon, I’m sure. In the meantime, you are to consider yourself under my orders. Understood?”
Phillips was outraged and flabbergasted. He continued to protest and he and the Brigadier were at loggerheads again.
Benton turned to Mike. “How Mr. Phillips manages to keep on with protesting I haven’t the foggiest, sir. He just won’t accept responsibility for his actions.”
“Men like Mr Phillips rarely do, Sergeant,” Mike said. “In my experience, it’s always best to keep a low profile.”
Meanwhile, the Doctor managed to get a demonstration set up and ready as he conducted it with his equipment. He turned to Mike Yates and Sergeant Benton to call for their attention as well as Phillips and the Brigadier.
“Right gentlemen,” he began. “Time to see wonder at my fingertips.”
The Brigadier came over to join them with Phillips at his side. “Wonders Doctor?” he enquired.
“Yes,” the Doctor replied. “Now, somebody suggest an object. Any object in the world you can think of.”
A moment’s silence. Then Sergeant Benton perked up. “A book?”
“Right, Sergeant,” the Doctor smiled. “Now if I switch this machine on here.”
The Doctor pressed a switch on a nearby box of controls with the Zorbius crystal situated in close proximity.
“Okay! Sergeant Benton,” he continued. “Think of that book in your head and let it come into existence.”
“Doctor, I don’t understand…” Benton began.
“Just do as the Doctor says, Benton,” the Brigadier said exasperated.
“Very well, sir,” Benton said, unsure.
With that, Benton closed his eyes as he conjured up the thought of a book inside his head. Immediately, a book appeared on the Doctor’s desk. Benton soon opened his eyes and everybody gasped as they saw the book before them.
“I say, Doctor,” Mike remarked. “That is ingenious.”
“My book’s already there!” Benton exclaimed. “I only thought of it and it appeared right before us.”
“It’s rather small though, Doctor,” the Brigadier remarked sceptically. “Miniscule, I should say.”
“Couldn’t it be made bigger if your Sergeant wanted to, Brigadier?” Phillips asked.
“I quite agree, Mr. Phillips,” the Doctor said cheerily. Then he turned to Benton. “Well, Sergeant? Could you make this miniscule book of yours bigger?”
“I could try sir,” Benton replied.
“Good man,” the Doctor said happily. “Try, won’t you.”
Benton breathed deep and closed his eyes immediately. He thought of the book getting bigger. He then found himself opening his eyes very quickly, as he heard everyone gasp in shock. The book was now large as they were, covering the entire circus ring.
“Sergeant Benton!” Mike exclaimed. “I really think you’ve gone too far!”
“Sorry, sir,” Benton said apologetically.
“I’ll say you have,” the Brigadier remarked tersely. “Look at the size of it! It’s gigantic!”
“You’ll tear my circus tent down Sergeant if you make it any bigger,” Phillips told him.
“Sergeant?” the Doctor enquired. “Try and make your book a little smaller, won’t you?”
“With pleasure, sir,” Benton replied.
“Oh really,” the Brigaider sighed, even more exasperated. “When will all of this end?”
Benton shut his eyes again and tried to make the book smaller. Eventually, with a single thought, the book became smaller and was the normal size ir needed to be. The Doctor picked it up and beamed appreciatively at Benton, handing the book over to him.
“Thank you, Sergeant,” the Doctor said. “Yours I believe.” After handing the book to Benton, he turned to everyone else and said, “Well, as you can see, gentlemen. A very fine demonstration. And thankfully no equipment damaged.”
The Doctor switched his machine off once he had finished the demonstration.
“Doctor, what just happened here?” the Brigadier wanted to know. “What were you trying to prove?”
The Doctor turned to Phillips first. “I discovered the connection to this project and the circus acts your clowns have been performing, Mr. Phillips,” he said. “Your Mr MacDonald certainly had the perfect act to fool everyone.”
“I’ve known that MacDonald was a genius,” Phillips said, “but I don’t see…”
“Mr. MacDonald is a fraud, Mr. Phillips,” the Doctor interrupted. “Not only is he being used by a malevolent intelligence, but the technology he has been using was stolen.”
“Stolen?” Mike enquired, surprised.
“Yes,” the Doctor said. “And I can tell you just where it was stolen from. The Time Lords!”
“Time Lords?” Phillips asked, perplexed.
“You mean those chaps who exiled you to Earth in the first place, Doctor?” the Brigadier checked. “The ones who eventually ended your sentence and freed your exile.”
“Exactly,” the Doctor answered. “It took some time for me to recognise the signs, but MacDonald was using the technology of my own people. Very advanced in fact beyond my time. I don’t think I’ve ever come across it. But it’s definitely from the Time Lords.”
“But why would he steal it, Doctor?” Benton asked. “And how would he get it if it’s from one of your lot?”
“I didn’t say MacDonald stole it, Benton” the Doctor corrected him. “Somebody else did. Somebody that MacDonald’s been working for. And that somebody happens to be working for a very powerful and insane being.”
“Doctor, I just wish you would make sense,” the Brigadier said. “You say MacDonald’s working for someone and yet that someone’s working for somebody else.”
“Quite right, Brigadier,” the Doctor concurred. “Macdonald’s working for somebody called Discipulo, I believe he said. And Discipulo happens to be working for…”
“I remember, Doctor,” Mike interrupted. “MacDonald’s working for Discipulo; and Discipulo’s working for a lord of darkness called…”
“Salvador,” the Doctor finished for him. “Yes thank you, Mike. I believe you were just going to say that before I did, weren’t you?”
“Salvador?” the Brigadier questioned. “Who’s this Salvador, Doctor?”
“No time for that now, Brigadier,” the Doctor replied. “I’ll explain later.”
The Doctor then turned back to his machine and did some tinkering with it in order to open a portal.
“Now, with this equipment I set up,” he said, “I can now develop the next stage of my little experiment. This matter generator I’ve got here will puncture a hole in the space-time continuum. It will open a hole in the fabric of reality before opening a portal. Hopefully it’ll be a portal that will get me into a dimension that Jo’s lost herself in.”
The Doctor pressed a few buttons on the machine.
“Now…if I just reverse the polarity of the neutron flow…”
Eventually, a hole in mid-air burst and cracked open. It revealed a portal once the Doctor activated his machine. The Doctor was surprised as much as everyone else was.
“Good grief, it worked!” The Doctor didn’t expect this. “A portal’s opening. Somebody must be coming through. I wonder who that could be.”
Meanwhile on the other side of the portal, Discipulo was about to enter with Salvador watching him close by.
“It’s open,” Salvador told him. “This is your chance! Go! Go through, my disciple! Before it’s too late! Remember! Your existence depends on it!”
Reluctantly and grudgingly, Discipulo stepped through the portal as he went to face the Doctor and the others.
“Doctor, switch it off!” the Brigadier insisted. “Switch that contraption of yours off!”
A great wind burst in through the portal then. The Doctor tried pressing a few switches on the machine he had. But it was no use.
“I can’t, Lethbridge-Stewart,” the Doctor told him. “Somehow it seems to be operating by itself. Too much interference from the collision of dimensional realities I expect.”
Everyone was holding onto to something in order to avoid getting dragged or swept off their feet. It was more than just a wind now. It seemed to be a terrible tornado.
“Doctor!” Mike cried. “Please, can’t you do anything?!”
“I don’t know if I can, Mike” the Doctor answered.
Just then, a figure stepped out through the portal. The Doctor saw him and began to recognise him. As soon as Discipulo appeared, the portal slowly began to close. It hung in the air whilst Discipulo stood there. There was currently less wind to contend with. The Brigadier, Mike, Sergeant Benton, Phillips and the U.N.I.T. troops calmed down once the crisis seemed to be over. Everyone now saw the Doctor confronting Discipulo as things seemed to be grim.
“Doctor,” Discipulo began. “So here we are at last! We confront each other once again!”
“Yes,” the Doctor said grudgingly. “And I thought I’d seen the last of you. Though of course that’s not possible considering the crystal’s involvement.”
“I am Discipulo,” the man declared. “I am the servant of Salvador now.”
“Yes, of course you are,” the Doctor acknowledged. “But I know Discipulo very well. You also happen to be that same wretched creature I met on the space hotel in the far, far future. And you were also on the planet Saron as Albert. I know, Discipulo. I know you also happen to be…Zorbius.”
“Yes Doctor!” Discipulo shouted angrily. “I am he! Once again you reveal my identity out in the open! To all these inferiors!”
The Brigadier, Mike Yates, Sergeant Benton and the others had recovered as they joined the Doctor.
“Is this man giving you trouble, Doctor?” the Brigadier asked. “What did you call him? Discipulo, wasn’t it? Or Zorbius. I thought that was the name you gave to the crystal though.”
“Keep back, Brigadier,” the Doctor insisted. “This chap’s far more dangerous than he looks.”
“Is he indeed?” the Brigadier said unconvinced. “We’ll soon see about that.”
Discipulo then growled viciously, addressing the Doctor again.
“I came to warn you, Doctor,” he said. “Unless you stop interfering, you and your U.N.I.T. friends shall regret ever crossing me. You shall suffer coming against the fate of me and my lord Salvador. Beware Doctor! Beware of us!”
The Doctor stared at Discipulo contemptuously as he contemplated what to do next and how to tackle this menace.
Back in the alternative reality and in a dark corridor, Jo tried to escape. She used the map once or twice, but she didn’t seem to be getting anywhere. She hardly knew where she was now.
“This is like going around in a maze,” she said. “Where am I now? There must be a way out of this place somewhere.”
Suddenly, she heard laughter close by. Jo recognised that laughter. It was clowns laughing. She guessed it belonged to those two clowns Bobsey and Tricksey. Fearing for her life, she went back the way she came.
“Can’t let them see me,” she said. “I can’t let them see me.”
“Going somewhere, sweetheart?” Tricksey jumped out at her.
Jo screamed once she saw Tricksey before her. She turned back the other way but Bobsey blocked her path. He laughed manically. Jo became terrified as the two clowns closed in around her.
“Please!” Jo pleaded. “Let me go! Let me out of here please!”
“Well, well, well, now,” Tricksey taunted. “How did you escape then, little Jo Grant?”
“We had that cell door locked,” Bobsey said. “You must have the knack to unlock it so cleverly. Of course, you did escapology, didn’t you?”
“We can’t allow this, Bobsey,” Tricksey said. “The girl escaped us! Now we’ve caught her, we might as well kill her.”
“You’re right, Tricksey!” Bobsey agreed. “Let’s kill her now! Kill Jo Grant!”
The clowns laughed manically as Jo couldn’t believe her ears.
“No!” she shouted. “You can’t do this! Please don’t!”
But the clowns were pretty mad. They drew their swords and began to raise them up in the air to strike on Jo and kill her.
Jo called out loud at the top of her lungs, “Help! Somebody please help me! Doctor!”
But as the clowns make for the attack, a booming voice echoed in the corridor.
“Stop! Do not kill her! Release her! Release her, I say! I, Salvador, command it!”
The two clowns groaned and backed off from Jo, reluctant to obey Salvador’s commands.
“Oh and we were having so much fun,” Bobsey groaned.
Jo then saw Salvador appear before her. He looked down upon her with a disapproving glare. He then turned to the clowns.
“Leave us!”
The two clowns shrugged.
“Come on, Bobsey,” Tricksey said. “Let’s go and have fun someplace else.”
“Right, Tricksey,” Bobsey agreed.
With that, they headed off out of the corridor, leaving Salvador and Jo together. Jo looked up at Salvador. She now faced him at last, seeing him checking her over. It was like he was looking for something she had on her. She couldn’t think what that might be.
“Why did you spare my life, Salvador?” Jo challenged him. “Why did you stop those clowns from killing me on the spot?”
“I’m curious about you, Jo Grant,” Salvador said. “I’m curious about your behaviour.”
“Really?” Jo said dubiously. “What do you find so fascinating about me then?”
“Your determination to prove to me that the Doctor is not a monster but a very good man,” Salvador answered.
“But he is a very good man, Salvador,” Jo told him. “I know he is! I’ve been his assistant at U.N.I.T. for many years now! And I can tell you…”
“That means nothing,” Salvador interrupted her bitterly. “With me, I had to endure centuries of painful years with the Doctor when he trained me up to become a Time Lord.”
“Look, Salvador,” Jo insisted. “Whatever your past is with the Doctor, you need to sort it out. But I know the Doctor! He would never…”
“But you are part of my plan, Josephine Grant,” Salvador interrupted him again. “You cannot escape your part in my plan against the Doctor!”
“What do you mean?” Jo asked, puzzled and afraid.
Salvador paused for a moment. He contemplated his next words. “I locked you up for a reason, Jo. I needed time for me to test your limits. Your limits on the strengths you have to make you weak.”
Jo realised. “You’re trying to brainwash me! To make me turn against the Doctor against my free will! It won’t work, Salvador! I’m far stronger now to resist hypnotism! I’ve experienced it before and can quite…”
“Are you sure about that, Jo?” Salvador challenged her. “How do you know the Doctor’s coming to rescue you? How do you know he’ll rescue you before I set my vengeance upon him?”
“I just know,” Jo answered. “The Doctor would never abandon me!”
“Not willingly of course,” Salvador acknowledged. “But my disciple Discipulo is already seeing to it that the Doctor never gets through the portal. That he’ll never get through to rescue you, Jo. You’ll be stuck here…in this reality…for the rest of your life!”
“No!” Jo shouted defiantly. “You can’t keep me here! I’ll fight you! I’ll fight your influence over me!”
“Just like when you thought of that pencil to break you out of that prison cell?” Salvador chided her. “And thought of that map to guide you out of this domain? Not that it was of any use to you in the end. I placed those thoughts of yours into reality for you! They became true because of me!”
“What?” Jo reacted, shocked.
Salvador laughed. “Anything you say; anything you think of…will be made as reality by me. I shall use whatever thought you have to rebel against me to bite back! You’ve already set yourself in your own trap!”
“No!” Jo cried. “I don’t believe it! I won’t believe it! I will escape from you, Salvador! I will escape!”
“There’s no escape from me, Jo Grant,” Salvador taunted her. “It’s all a matter of reality!” He paused for a moment. “Now, I shall bring out the worst fears in you!”
“What are you talking about, Salvador?” Jo was suddenly afraid.
“Fear, Jo,” Salvador challenged her again. “Do you know what fear is? Fear these as you see them now!”
Salvador then produced forth out of thin air…a group of monsters and adversaries that Jo encountered before. Jo started to become even more terrified. She screamed and shuddered; backing away from the monsters that were coming for her at Salvador’s beckoning. Salvador laughed once he saw Jo back away in fear.
Back in the circus ring, in normal reality, the Doctor still confronted Discipulo…or Zorbius as he now called him. He had the Brigadier and his U.N.I.T. friends back him up. Yet, the Doctor felt a tremendous pressure once he confronted this dreaded being he once fought before. The being that sought the crystal energy since he first encountered him.
“So, how did you escape from Saron then?” the Doctor asked. “Last time I saw you, you were trapped in that pitiful game with that Charoc woman. You didn’t kill her I hope.”
“Nothing so crude, Doctor,” Discipulo replied. “I escaped when I got the chance. My Albert body was wearing out. Thus I used all the energy within me and took Charoc with me to escape Saron. I left that lion woman on an asteroid after escaping Saron.”
“Do you realise what it means to take out a dream-sensitive like her out of her own time continuum, Zorbius?” the Doctor chided him.
“Don’t call me that, Doctor” Discpulo shouted angrily. “Not in front of these…these inferior beings! And I do not care about the well-being of a savage woman!”
The Brigadier stepped forward and whispered in the Doctor’s ear. “Doctor? If this rogue’s an enemy agent, then I could have him arrested…”
“Brigadier, please,” the Doctor gently reproached him. “Let me handle this.”
The Doctor turned his attention back to Discipulo. “Do please continue…Discipulo.”
Discipulo was grateful the Doctor didn’t say his true name again this time. He continued, “I was lost and alone for a while. I soon found myself entering what seemed like to be a white endless nothingness. With no time and no space to dwell in. I felt useless and weak. That was when I saw him! I saw the man who would become my saviour!”
“Saviour?” the Doctor said puzzled. Then gradually he realised. “I presume you mean Salvador.”
“Yes,” Discipulo answered. “That’s his name! Salvador! He’s got a grudge against you, Doctor! And he has already tried to destroy you three times in your future!”
The Doctor was quite startled by this. Benton and Mike Yates noticed this very well.
“Really,” the Doctor said, quite surprised. “Well, that’s interesting to know. Don’t give me any spoilers please, will you?”
“We managed to get out eventually,” Discipulo continued, ignoring the Doctor. “Salvador and I escaped from the Void. We were able to make our journey back across space and time. Then Salvador knew of one thing. He wanted to destroy you. He sought to destroy you after all these years. And I became his disciple once he took pity on me. He renamed me from Albert…into Discipulo.”
“I see,” the Doctor mused. “Very interesting.” Pausing for a bit, he eventually asked, “How exactly did you manage to escape the Void? Both you and Salvador had help I expect.”
Discipulo seemed as if he was about to give an answer. But he desisted. “I came to give you a warning, Doctor. I’ve given it. You will be wise not to follow me through this portal once I’ve gone back into it.”
“You know I can’t just stand by and let you do whatever monstrous thing you and Salvador have got in mind,” the Doctor told him. “I will stop you, you know. And rescue my friend, Jo Grant.”
“Then I’m very sorry, Doctor,” Discipulo said coldly.
At that moment, and with a click of his fingers, Discipulo had beside him a bunch of clowns ready to attack. The clowns had their swords drawn. They cackled and laughed manically once they had their swords drawn.
“One more step Doctor,” Discipulo warned, “and these clowns will tear you to shreds. Both you and your U.N.I.T. friends.”
Once the Brigadier saw this, he drew his revolver from his holster.
“Men; prepare to open fire!” he barked.
The Doctor turned back. “No Brigadier, don’t!”
“Down, Doctor!” the Brigadier commanded. “Get down!”
Automatically, the Doctor ducked. Discipulo saw this revolt from the U.N.I.T. soldiers and barked at the clowns. “Attack! Attack, you fools! ATTACK!!!”
“Right, men!” the Brigadier barked again. “FIRE!!!”
The U.N.I.T. soldiers, including Mike Yates; Sergeant Benton and the Brigadier opened fire with their weapons. Phillips ran off to a hiding place to avoid getting shot. The clowns cackled wildly as they lashed out and attacked the soldiers with their swords. Some U.N.I.T. soldiers fought hard in hand-to-hand combat with the clowns. Some soldiers continued firing their rifles. Some got their shots fired back at them from the clowns swiping their swords at them. The Doctor saw this as senseless.
“Stop, you men!” the Doctor shouted. “Stop firing, will you!”
But the soldiers couldn’t hear the Doctor. Neither could the Brigadier; Benton or Mike Yates for that matter. The Doctor grew agitated.
“Idiots! Why won’t they just listen to me?!”
He then looked up and saw Discipulo alone with one clown as his guard, watching the gun fight. Seeing this as his chance, he leapt forth and began to knock the clown out.
“Ack ya!”
With one karate blow, the clown was knocked down to the ground. Discipulo attempted to run back into the portal before the Doctor stopped and grabbed him by the shoulders. He held him firmly in order to prevent him from escaping.
“You started all of this,” he told him. “Now you’re going to stop it! Take me with you into that portal of yours!”
“You’ll live to regret it, Doctor,” Discipulo said coldly. “Salvador’s wrath is far greater than you can imagine! You can’t defeat him!”
“Maybe not,” the Doctor responded. “But at least I’d like to give it a try. And I want to see for myself that Jo Grant has come to no harm. Now be a good chap and lead us inside will you? Hmm?”
Discipulo was reluctant about this. Eventually he complied as he led the way back into the portal with the Doctor behind him. They were heading off back into the alternative reality. The Doctor had picked up the makeshift Zorbius crystal from the workbench before he went for Discipulo.
The Brigadier saw what was happening during the gunfight and called out, “Doctor! Come back at once! Come back!”
But it was too late as the Doctor and Discipulo were already gone. The portal remained open but it started to grow weaker and thinner. The gunfight continued between both the U.N.I.T. soldiers and the clowns attacking each other.
The monsters were coming one by one. Jo recognised them at once as Salvador continued to terrify and test her limits. As well as the clowns; for she feared them greatly since she was a girl, there were monsters of the past when she was with the Doctor. The hideous Axons; the brutish Ogrons; the fierce Sea Devils; the equally fierce Drashigs; the Autons; Azal; Kronos; the Daleks; Omega. They all came one by one to terrify her. Jo was sure she had seen this somewhere before or had been through this experience at another place and another time.
“No!” Jo cried. “It’s not real! I don’t believe in it! These creatures! They do not exist! They’re illusions! I don’t believe they exist! They’re not real!”
Salvador gloated at her, laughing mockingly. “You won’t be able to escape that easily! These monsters are real enough as you see them! I’ve created them from the inner thoughts of your mind!”
“No!” Jo defied him. “You’re bluffing! You’re trying to trick me!”
“Think what you wish,” Salvador retorted. “But within a second; those creatures will eat at your flesh; burn you into flames; exterminate you with their ray guns one by one. There’ll be nothing left of you. Nothing left…of Josephine Grant.”
“That’s enough, Salvador!” a voice interrupted. “Let her go!”
Salvador was startled by the Doctor’s presence. So startled that his powers faltered and his torture of Jo Grant ended with the creatures vanishing into thin air.
“Doctor!” Jo’s heart was throbbing with delight as she rushed over and hugged the Doctor. The Doctor took Jo in his arms and smiled gently at her.
“Hello Jo,” he said cheerfully. “Miss me?”
“I knew you would come for me,” Jo said happily. “Oh I was so afraid that you wouldn’t””
Jo then noticed the Doctor had dragged Discipulo with him. He grovelled on the floor, so wretched and pathetic.
“Discipulo!” Salvador called. “Come here!”
Discipulo did as he was told as he went over to his lord Salvador.
“I’m here at your beckoning call, Lord Salvador,” Discipulo said. “Please forgive me. I did my best to ward the Doctor off.”
Salvador ignored Discipulo as he turned his attention to the Doctor. The Doctor stepped forward as he confronted Salvador, dignified with his cloak; frilly shirt and all. Jo stood beside the Doctor as he confronted the lord of darkness who seemed like a bitter enemy.
“Well, Salvador,” the Doctor began. “Here we are again. It’s been a long time, hasn’t it?”
“For you it has,” Salvador said bitterly. “For me, it’s been eternity! I’ve had to wait an eternity before I could escape to have my vengeance on you!”
“Yes, I understand you’ve been locked away in the Void,” the Doctor remarked. “By me apparently. Or by a future me to put it mildly.”
“I have sought you out, Doctor,” Salvador said. “Whatever guise you may take; whatever part of your time you’re currently running now, I intend to be rid of you!”
“With the power of the Zorbius crystal at your fingertips?” the Doctor questioned.
“You have the crystal, Doctor,” Salvador declared. “I can sense it! You will give it to me, won’t you!”
“You said it was to be mine, my lord,” Discipulo cried.
“And it will, Discipulo,” Salvador answered. “It will. Whilst you serve me, you shall get your heart’s desire fulfilled!”
Whilst Salvador was talking to Discipulo, Jo tugged at the Doctor’s arm and spoke quietly to him.
“Doctor, is it true?” she asked. “Did you really try to make Salvador a Time Lord and go through such torture?”
The Doctor realised that Jo had been told about Salvador’s past. He gave a grieved look.
“Yes Jo, I’m afraid it is,” he said. “You see Jo, Salvador was a little boy when he came to my home planet. The planet of the Time Lords – Gallifrey. He was from the Spanish Canary Islands. Santa De Tenerife, I believe it was. In 1797.”
“How did he end up on your planet?” asked Jo surprised.
“Well, it’s a long story, Jo,” the Doctor admitted. “But once he ended up on our world, the Time Lords were very angry and ordered for the execution of the little boy. I voted against it and tried to make Salvador into one of us. But it didn’t turn out the way I intended. I was harsh in my methods. Arrogant at times. Salvador was subject to many treatments and experiments that I’ll never forgive myself for.”
“But you did it in order to save Salvador’s life,” Jo said. “To save your…friend…from the Time Lords.”
“I don’t justify my actions, Jo,” the Doctor told her. “I’m not proud of the things I’ve done. But you’ve got to believe me when I say I would never do any such thing like that again. To anyone in the universe. I’m a different person now. I’m all the more better for it.”
Jo looked up at the Doctor appreciatively and smiled her warmest smile. “It’s alright, Doctor,” she said. “I understand. I forgive you for what you did. And believe you to be a better man as always.”
She hugged the Doctor for warmth and comfort. He looked at Jo gratefully. “Thank you, Jo. You don’t know how much that means to me.”
Salvador had been listening to what was said between Jo and the Doctor in the last moments of their conversation. He defied them greatly.
“You’re wrong, Jo,” he said. “The Doctor’s not a better man! He is a monster! And now due to his folly, I have caught him in my trap once again! My trap of reality!” He then addressed the Doctor. “You will give me the Zorbius crystal, Doctor! At once!”
The Doctor and Jo stared at Salvador as they felt the tremendous wave of terror and rage emanating from him.
Back in normal reality, the gunfight still continued between the U.N.I.T. soldiers and the mad killer clowns. The Brigadier had ordered bazookas and grenade launchers to be brought in. The troops with the bazookas and grenade launchers opened fired and aimed at the clowns who were attacking. But it didn’t stop the clowns as they kept on cackling and laughing away wildly like mad. The Brigadier didn’t know if he and his men could take much more of this.
“Captain Yates; Sergeant Benton,” he ordered “We have to reform our strategy! Get the men repositioned at strategic points around the whole area! We must find a weak spot in this armed force to penetrate from the back!”
“What about the Doctor and Miss Grant, sir?” enquired Benton. “Shouldn’t we worry about them?”
“They’re still in the portal, sir,” Yates reminded the Brigadier.
“Yes; yes,” said the Brigadier agitated. “Let me think! One problem at a time! First we must weaken this armed force before…”
“The clowns are still slaughtering our men with their swords, sir,” Benton interrupted. “Ought we to retreat? We can’t just have our troops going down and with lives lost.”
The Brigadier reluctantly came to agree with Benton. They anticipated further attacks. But strangely at that moment, the fighting suddenly stopped. The clowns were disappearing. Everyone, including the Brigadier, Mike and Benton were astonished.
“They’re retreating, sir,” Mike remarked.
“Well, that was a stroke of luck there now, wasn’t it?” the Brigadier said.
“I don’t like the look of this,” Benton said. “There’s something fishy going on if you ask me.”
“Yes well, I’m not asking you, Benton,” the Brigadier retorted. “Come on. Let’s sort out finding the Doctor and Miss Grant before they…”
“Brigadier!” Yates cried. “Up ahead! Look!”
They all looked up before seeing a number of U.N.I.T. troops being attacked by tightrope walkers from up above.
“Good lord!” the Brigadier exclaimed.
The tightrope walkers appeared out of nowhere. They were also gunning down U.N.I.T. troops with weapons of their own. Some were also knocking out U.N.I.T. troops with metal poles. Troops sprawled across the ground within seconds, either dead or not.
“There’s more, sir!” Benton warned the Brigadier. “Look over there!”
Benton, Mike Yates and the Brigadier also saw U.N.I.T. troops fighting tall muscular body builders. They appeared just out of thin air too. The troops were no match for these muscular men. They were being pounded to the ground by them.
“We’ve got to help them!” Mike exclaimed.
“Stay where you are, Yates,” the Brigadier ordered. “Order all troops to retreat!”
“Sir, look out!” Benton cried.
Heeding to Benton’s warning, they looked up to see an enormous lion pounce upon them. It was as if it just arrived only within seconds. They ducked and as one of the U.N.I.T troops opened fire to defend the Brigadier; Benton and Mike Yates. The lion was onto the soldier within seconds.
“Horrible!” said Benton, after witnessing the terrible soldier’s demise by the lion. “So horrible! Poor chap! He didn’t deserve that!”
“Do you have any idea what’s causing all these things, sir?” Mike asked the Brigadier.
“No Yates,” the Brigadier said grimly. “I do not. But it all seems so surreal to me.”
They then heard the cackling laughter of clowns nearby. The Brigadier; Benton and Mike Yates saw them close by as they mocked the U.N.I.T. troops being killed off one by one with various circus acts done upon them.
“Vicious swines!” Benton said angrily. “Scoundrels! I’ll ‘ave them!”
“Stay where you are, Benton,” the Brigadier told him.
“We have to stop this once and for all, sir,” Mike Yates said. “We can’t let it go on.”
“Agreed, Yates,” replied the Brigadier. “But how?”
Contemplating this, they then saw the portal fluctuating close by. The clowns were a metres distance away from it. A thought struck Mike.
“Brigadier, that portal won’t stabilise forever! We’ve got to get Jo and the Doctor out of there at once!”
“Very well, Yates,” answered the Brigadier. “You send yourself in there and take an armed escort to rescue the Doctor and Miss Grant. If you’re not out within six minutes, the rest of us will come in after you.”
“Shall I go with him, sir?” Benton asked.
“No you stay here with me, Benton,” the Brigadier replied. “We need to guard the portal to make sure no clowns follow in after Yates and stop him from rescuing the Doctor and Miss Grant. Understood?”
“Right sir,” Benton answered.
At that, Mike called for some U.N.I.T. troops to accompany him. Three or four was all he needed. They came at an instant to his aid.
“Right then, sir,” Mike said to the Brigadier. “I’ll be off.”
The Brigadier stopped Mike before he went ahead, giving him a serious look.
“Be careful, Yates,” he said. “Don’t take any chances.”
“Understood,” Mike nodded. Then he said to his troops, “Come on!”
The troops followed Mike Yates as they went on to find the Doctor and Jo by stepping into the portal. The clowns Bobsey and Tricksey turned and saw them make their way into the portal and began to panic.
“Tricksey!” Bobsey cried. “Those soldier men! They’re going through the portal! To rescue that Doctor and that Jo girl!”
“Stop them!” Tricksey shouted. “If they get the Doctor and his girl, we won’t be able to have our fun anymore! Stop them!”
A number of clowns went for the U.N.I.T. troops led by Mike Yates entering the portal. The Brigadier saw this and called out to his men.
“U.N.I.T. troops to right!” he barked. “To right; to right! Stop the clowns! Stop them getting to Yates and party at once!”
The U.N.I.T. troops that heard the Brigadier’s orders ran to attention and fired at the clowns chasing after Yates and the others. The distraction was enough as it got Mike and his men safely through the portal. The clowns Bobsey and Tricksey got very angry and upset whilst the Brigadier and the other troops continued to hold the fort.
The Doctor still faced Salvador with Jo at his side. Salvador had never been angrier but the Doctor didn’t flinch. He knew Salvador had to be dealt with, and he wasn’t going to let him intimidate him.
“Zorbius told me he met you in a white nothingness and that you were trapped there,” the Doctor said, curious. “How exactly did you manage to end up there?”
“Do not mock me, Doctor,” Salvador said bitterly. “You sent me there, didn’t you? In your future! Surely Discipulo must have mentioned that to you!”
“Very well,” the Doctor interjected. “How then did you manage to escape the Void? Not with Zorbius surely. His energies would have been exhausted by then.”
“We were rescued, Doctor,” Discipulo answered. “Someone took pity on us and we were rescued.”
“Really?” the Doctor said intrigued. “Who’s that then?”
“Doctor,” Salvador interrupted. “Enough of these questions! Give me the crystal now or I shall erase you on the spot!”
“No!” Jo shouted. “Don’t you dare, Salvador!”
“Jo, stay back!” the Doctor warned her.
“You have the crystal, Doctor?” Salvador demanded.
The Doctor fished out the crystal from his jacket. “Yes I do,” he answered.
“Then you will give it to me!” Salvador insisted.
“No,” the Doctor answered. “I know you too well, Salvador. And I will not let you use this crystal to your own advantage.”
“I have a right, Doctor,” Salvador declared. “The crystal’s rightly mine! I shall have the crystal from you!”
“You may have been the original inventor, Salvador,” the Doctor pointed out, “but the crystal lives on! Its power has enhanced since you last touched it!”
“Wait a minute,” Jo interrupted. “Are you saying, Doctor…that Salvador is the one who created the Zorbius crystal in the first place?”
“That’s right, Jo,” Jo replied. “Salvador was there when he placed the energy into the crystal of time in the form of a star. It was part of his renovation process to become a Time Lord.”
“And the crystal was meant to do so many things,” Salvador said. “Create so many wonders and treasures of the universe. It was instrumental in the forging of the legendary Coins of Deno when Vorshon, the Lord of Darkness, intended to dominate the entire Deno system for himself. I simply helped in making that happen for him!”
“Yes well, that’s another story, Salvador,” the Doctor told him. “What matters is the here and now. And I will not submit myself in giving the crystal to you.”
“Then I must force you to,” Salvador said, before turning to Discipulo. “Discipulo, do you work!”
“As you command, Lord Salvador,” Discipulo replied.
Discipulo, or Zorbius, suddenly seemed to be doing something with his mind as he closed his eyes. The Doctor then struggled to hold the Zorbius crystal in his hand as if he was being controlled by something.
“Doctor, what is it?” Jo asked, concerned. “What’s the matter?”
The Doctor tried to keep hold of the makeshift crystal tightly in his hands. “No!” he said through gritted teeth. “I mustn’t let go! I mustn’t!”
But it was too late. The crystal was swept from his hands as it flew over to where Salvador and Discipulo were. Salvador caught the crystal in his left hand and smiled a sinister smile.
“Thank you, Doctor,” Salvador said, pleased. “So very kind of you to hand it over.”
“I’m glad you approve,” the Doctor said grimly. “I take it you gave Zorbius some of your power.”
“Discipulo was weak when I first met him,” Salvador explained. “Now I have given him a share of my own power in order for him to be my disciple.”
“And now he’s become a wretch like you,” Jo remarked.
“No,” denied Salvador. “We are not wretches! We are simply…enhancements of our better selves! We are great and powerful!”
“Just like the Wizard of Oz,” the Doctor retorted. “You know Salvador, you read far too many books. If you looked at how the world was in its current climate and society, you’d have a better sense of reality.”
“That’s enough, Doctor,” Salvador said dismissively. “I have no time to waste words with you! I am full of glory! Now I have an appointment with Colonel Rogers.”
The Doctor and Jo were surprised by this as well as intrigued.
“Colonel Rogers?” Jo asked.
Salvador laughed. “Oh, you’ll know him when you see him. You have fought him so many times before. But now, we must go!”
At that, Salvador spoke in a low voice and muttered something to Discipulo.
“Discipulo! Summon the clowns Bobsey and Tricksey! Tell them to bring the tripod equipment with us! We are to make for the outskirts of London at the Pluton Power Plant!”
“Understood my lord,” Discipulo replied. “What about these two?”
Discipulo indicated the Doctor and Jo of course.
“They are of no interest to me,” Salvador said. “I shall kill them now!”
Salvador then raised a hand towards Jo and the Doctor. Both became anxious and afraid.
“Doctor,” Jo cried.
Just then, at that moment, Mike Yates entered the room. He saw the Doctor and Jo and became relieved.
“Doctor; Jo,” he cried. “Thank goodness I’ve found you!”
“Mike, get back,” the Doctor warned him.
Mike turned and saw Salvador looking angrily at him. Salvador turned to Discipulo quickly.
“Discipulo!” Salvador commanded. “Dispose of this man!”
Discipulo made his way over towards Mike, before the Doctor tackled him with one of his karate moves.
“Ayke!”
Discipulo got knocked out to the floor by the Doctor. Mike Yates was safe. Jo went over to greet him.
“Mike, thank goodness you came,” she said. “We almost had it.”
“What did you come here for?” the Doctor berated him. “Don’t you realise Mike that you’re in an alternative reality?”
“That’s why I came, Doctor,” Mike explained. “The Brigadier and the others are holding the fort, but the portal’s closing.”
“Then we must get out of here!” Jo exclaimed. “We’ve got to get back to our own reality.”
“Wait!” the Doctor realised. “Where’s Salvador?”
Without realising it, Salvador had made his escape, taking advantage of Mike’s distraction and the Doctor’s attack on Discipulo. The Doctor, Jo and Mike became worried.
“If he heads out of that portal into our dimension,” Jo said, “he’ll be getting to that power plant place.”
“We must stop him,” the Doctor declared. “Come on! We’ve got to get after him and quickly!”
The trio ran off and chased after Salvador. Discipulo meanwhile slowly recovered on the floor. He regained consciousness, realising his lord’s escape. He wondered why he was left behind.
In the circus ring, the Brigadier and his soldiers were still holding the fort whilst the clowns kept on attacking. The Brigadier was running out of ammunition for his revolver. He had very few bullet cartridges left.
“Keep at it, Benton,” he commanded. “We’ve got to give the Doctor, Miss Grant and Captain Yates as much time as possible before they can escape that…reality, dimension, whatsitsname.”
“The portal’s nearly closed, sir,” Benton told him. “Shouldn’t I at least go in there and tell them to hurry?”
“Stand your ground, Benton,” the Brigadier ordered. “We must hold the fort for as much as we can.”
At that moment though, the Brigadier saw a dark male figure come out from the portal. The figure was tall and gloomy. He had cold dark eyes and hair.
“Who the blazes is that chap?” the Brigadier demanded.
The Brigadier saw the dark male figure make his way over to the back entrance of the circus tent whilst the battle continued. He met up with the clowns Bobsey and Tricksey who came to greet him.
“Lord Salvador,” Bobsey said. “Thank goodness we met up with you just in time.”
“Did you know that the Doctor followed in with our master Discipulo?” Tricksey asked.
“We were just about to tell you…” Bobsey began before he was interrupted.
“Enough of your babbling,” Salvador said bitterly. “You two! Bring the tripod reality device with us! We’re going to the Pluton Power Plant! Bring it I hear!”
“As you command, Lord Salvador,” Tricksey acknowledged.
Salvador set forth whilst the two clowns picked up the tripod device nearby before following after their lord of darkness. The Brigadier and Benton watched as they saw Salvador and the two clowns leave.
“Shall I follow after them, sir?” Benton asked. “They may get up to trouble.”
“Wait, Benton!” the Brigadier as he suddenly realised. “Look!”
The Brigadier pointed as he and Benton looked to see the Doctor; Jo and Mike running out and escaping the portal. They escaped in time before the portal closed suddenly behind them. The Doctor, Jo and Mike ran over to meet up with the Brigadier and Benton.
“Doctor; Miss Grant; Captain Yates sir,” Benton greeted them.
“Thank Lord,” the Brigadier said. “I thought we’d never see you three again. What have you been…?”
“No time to explain,” the Doctor interrupted apprehensively. “Where’s Salvador?”
“Salvador?”
“The dark man you saw coming out of the portal. Where is he?!”
“He just left, Doctor,” Benton told him. “With those two clowns.”
“Clowns!” Jo exclaimed.
“Did they by any chance take the tripod device with them?” the Doctor asked.
“Yes they did,” the Brigadier replied. “The dark figure – Salvador. He ordered the clowns to take it with them. They were on their way to some power plant.”
“And that’s where we’ve got to find them,” the Doctor told him. “I’ll be in Bessie.”
“We’ll be in Bessie,” Jo corrected him.
“Jo, I’d advise you to stay here,” the Doctor told her. “You’ll be much safer…”
“I’m coming with you, Doctor,” Jo insisted.
“Very well,” the Doctor said, slightly annoyed. “Come on. Let’s see where’s Salvador’s got to.”
The Doctor and Jo made their way out with the Brigadier, Mike and Benton sheepishly following after them. The battle was dying down. Once the clowns dissipated, the U.N.I.T. troops cheered in relief, having no more killer clowns to deal with.
© Tim Bradley, 2020
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