Strawberry Fields

Episode One

by The White Guardian

"Let me take you down cause I'm going to Strawberry Fields..."

"We hired that annoying perky redhead with the brown eyes to do some of our on-the-spot reports. She hadn't been employed with the GBC for five minutes before she started lecturing me on exercising to reduce my weight. I'm a bit on the heavy side, but I don't need the likes of some glorified reporter to keep me in shape.

"The Galactic Broadcasting Company will not stand for her diversions from the job, or her ridiculous optimism. We have a schedule to keep. Speaking of schedules, where's our waitress anyway? It's not like we have the rest of the century.

"I assigned this Melanie Bush person to do the bit on the new travel resort world that's just opened up. I figured she couldn't botch that spot, there's nothing to it except to say, "I'm standing here in Strawberry Fields, oh what a beautiful beautiful planet resort, bring the kids, take a few years off work for the interstellar flight and go, blah blah blah," in a chirpy voice. And grin. Always that grin. All there would have been to it. Obsequious impartiality.

"I was watching from my office when it happened. I don't know how she managed to screw it up, but somehow..."

"This is Melanie Bush. I'm standing in Strawberry Fields, the latest planet resort, built within an artificially-controlled climate on the planet Tyron 6. Strawberry Fields has only been open a few short hours, and already business is booming. You, ma'am... what do you like best about Strawberry Fields?"

"The air. It's just so... clean!"

"Mmm, it certainly is. Far better than the rocket fuel pollution you get on Earth nowadays. And you, sir, you with the girl, could you tell me what you think about... Doctor? Is that you?"

"Hello, Mel. Where's Glitz?"

"Um... we found we were not capable of traveling together, so I left him to come work for the GBC. Hello, Ace!"

"You're a reporter! I wouldn't have thought of it..."

"Well, um... Doctor, what are you doing here in Strawberry Fields? Could you tell the folks at home why you're here for the opening, and not watching on a holovision somewhere?"

"Relaxation, Mel. You can only save so many civilizations before you need a holiday. And no time like the present. The early bird catches the germ."

"Catches the worm, Doctor."

"And Ace got into some trouble on our last trip with an entity called Fenric, which was really very nasty..."

"Professor!"

"Sorry, Ace. I forgot we were being broadcast live to the solar system."

"No, look!"

"Hmm? Ah, yes, that's a forty-ton Slag beast running loose through the resort. Now how did it get to this planet, I wonder?"

"Professor, I don't have any Nitro-9. What are you doing standing there? This is a very real threat!"

"Nothing is real, Ace. Oh, very well. Mel, you'd better come along too, we'll work out a way of manipulating that thing away from here."

"Mel's fainted, Professor."

"So she has. Help me carry her away from here!"

"See what I mean? Completely unprofessional. Biggest news story of the decade breaks out, on camera mind you, and my reporter swoons. The Slag beast ate the cameramen, and all our holofilm, so we don't have any footage for repeats. We haven't even heard if there were any survivors! From now on I'm using robots. They don't have any emotions to get in the way of true journalism.

"Could I have some coffee please?"

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Episode Two

by Trivial Keithy

"Let me take you down cause I'm going to Strawberry Fields..."

Her vision was blurry at first, all she could see was a patch of pink surrounded by brown or was it black? There were two specks of white forming in the middle of the pink and a strange sound, talking.

"Hey doughnut wakey wakey."

It was a face, a girls face. Alice? No, Ace. The Doctor... Mel sat bolt upright in bed.

"Hey welcome back to the land of the living." Ace was sitting on the edge of the bed, smiling. "You've been out of it for hours, the nurse thought you may never recover."

"I'm fine now Ace. How are you? It's been what four years? Five?"

"About two on my end of the continuum. The Doctor's outside, anxious to see how you are. Sometimes he can be really fussy, like a mother hen. Oh and you may want to get dressed first." Ace handed Mel some pink pyjamas and turned away while her old friend made herself ready.

The Doctor fussed over Mel for what seemed an eternity, finally he gave her a clean bill of health and gave her a wine gum. "Sorry but Ace ate all the jelly babies on the way here."

"What about that monster? It was tearing up the place. Did you stop it?"

"Nah, we picked you up and legged it. We brought you here and watched the local coppers take it down. It was great, I'm sorry about your friend." Ace passed Mel the cameraman's cap.

The Doctor comforted Mel as she sobbed. He said she should stay here for the rest of the day.

"Not a chance Doctor, I've got a job to do. This is the biggest story of my life." She pulled the battered cap onto her head and went in search of the clothes.

"Is she going to be alright professor?" Ace looked at the Doctor, looking for reassurance.

"She's had a nasty trauma Ace, but time heals most wounds. The others require a Doctor, and that's my job, and yours and Mel's. If she wants it."

Mel found her suit in a laundry basket and changed in the ladies room. When she emerged she left the hospital to find a new camera. On her way to the nearest retailer she was surrounded by several nasty looking thugs in the finest quality attire. Without a word they pulled out various weapons and began to point them in her direction...

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Episode Three

by The White Guardian

"Let me take you down cause I'm going to Strawberry Fields..."

"No, no, you idiots! Don't shoot her - she's on our side!"

Mel breathed a tense sigh of relief, uncovering her eyes to see who her benefactor was. He was a particularly tall man, with long red hair, tied back in a ponytail, and a dark tan. He wore a brown corduroy blazer and light gray slacks. To Mel he looked like a thirty-year-old hippie playboy with ancient, exhausted eyes. And there was something about him, something distinctly familiar that she couldn't quite...

"Mel," said the strange man, as his thugs put down their guns and stood in single file behind him. "It's me."

Mel's hearbeat slowed until she was able to speak in something approaching a rational voice. "It's you?" she said. "Do I know you?"

"Yes," he said, "and no. You knew what I used to be, several lifetimes ago." And with that the tall man gingerly pressed his index finger to the tip of Mel's nose.

She gasped. "Doctor?"

He chuckled. "Always know... sometimes think it's me..."

"But... how? I knew you could change your appearance, but... well, you're already here," Mel said, feeling strangely embarrassed.

"Many things, my dear Mel, have changed for me since you last saw me. I've regenerated. Five times, in fact. And I was traveling through the vortex one day in the TARDIS, happy just to be alive and kicking, and suddenly I entered a cosmic whirlpool. It spun me round and round, you know, like this..." He made a circular motion with his finger. "...and the next thing I knew I was here, in the Tyron system, on one of the smaller moons. Ocean moon. I swam for hours. Nearly drowned. I'm not as young as I used to be."

Mel was fascinated. "Then what happened? When you got to shore, I mean?"

"I ran across these men here. They were part of a resistance fleet from the Dalek Wars, but they ended up here as well. Transplanted through time. So I repaired their spaceship and healed those that had been injured in battle just before their ship fell into the vortex. Now we're all just sort of wandering through this system, looking for a good sturdy timeship to take us back home." He rubbed the end of his long nose, winking at Mel. "You can help us."

"Me?" said Mel. "How?"

"My other self... the one who's getting ready to go out in search of the Slag beasts. I need his TARDIS to get my TARDIS back. You understand?"

She nodded.

"He can't know I'm here - that would reveal too much about his future. I've actually met myself before - several times, in fact - but only in the most dire of emergencies. This does not exactly qualify. So you must find a way of getting the TARDIS to me, without his knowing about it. It will be a less-upgraded TARDIS, so I may have difficulties sending it back here once I've taken those men back to their rightful place in time and space... but I'm sure I'll manage. What do you say?"

"Um... er..." She bounced from one foot to the other, deep in thought. There was something fishy here, but she couldn't quite get her head around it. "I don't know where the TARDIS landed," said Mel half-heartedly.

"But Ace knows. Don't tell her I'm here either, because she'll tell the other me, but she'll be able to tell you. Well?"

Her forehead creased. Her palms began to sweat. I can't deal with this, she thought.

The Twelfth Doctor grinned. "Perhaps I shouldn't make it a choice." Something in his eyes. A glimmer of... something... in his eyes. Could be age, wisdom, compassion. Mel felt her consciousness dwindling away for the second time in the day. But this time she did not fall to the ground. She began to walk, eyes glazed over.

The Twelfth Doctor and the nine resistance fighters followed.

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Episode Four

by Trivial Keithy

"Let me take you down cause I'm going to Strawberry Fields..."

Mel led the Doctor and his associates towards the TARDIS. She tried to think things through but everything was too heavy in her mind. Too difficult to concentrate, much easier just to do.

"There it is Doctor." Mel pointed to the blue police box she had once called home.

"Very good Mel, can I have the key?" The Doctor held his hand out.

"I don't have the key Doctor, we parted ways years ago. I returned it to you then."

"Ah yes, oh dear. Now it seems I will have to meet my previous self after all."

"That's alright Doctor, Ace has a key. Just ask her." Mel smiled, it had taked supreme effort to remember that but she knew the Doctor would be pleased.

"You and you, find Ace and bring her here." He pointed to two of the heavier built men. "Would you like a cup of tea Mel?"

"Oh I would but I've still got a job to do. Big news story could win me many awards and a pay rise."

"Yes of course Mel, your acceptance speeches were first rate."

"You mean I, I win?" Mel's smile increased tenfold.

"Gerroff me scumbag." Ace kicked at the two brutes as they carried/dragged her through the streets. "I swear I'm gonna kick you in the...Mel? What are you doing with these losers?"

"Hello Ace." The Doctor stood up and walked over to his former companion. "Long time no see."

"Do I know you bilge breath?" She tried to kick the newcomer.

"Oh Ace, that temper of yours how I used to exploit it, you shouldn't have trusted me so much back then. Well now to you. I'm the Doctor, several millennia forward along my own personal timeline from the incarnation you currently travel with. And I'm here to ask you a favour."

"Get lost creep." Ace was defiant.

"I need your key, for the TARDIS. I've become seperated from it in my time stream and have ended up here. I need to borrow it to get my version back."

"You what?"

Mel interceded. "It's really him Ace. I was as unbelieving as you at first."

"It can't be." The Doctor gave Ace an abbreviated account of her life history to date. When he had finished he smiled at her and appologised for the things he will do.

Reluctantly Ace handed him her key.

The TARDIS vanished with the Doctor and the strangers inside it. Suddenly her version of the Doctor came running from around a corner. "Ace, No..."

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Episode Five

by The White Guardian

"Nothing is real..."

He'd escaped, intact, and he was back inside the old TARDIS. It was just the way he remembered, back before he'd made the renovations turning the ceiling into ever-expanding sky and making the console room ridiculously huge. If he closed his eyes he could almost hear her engines humming a distant yet present approval, something he hadn't heard in years. Things had certainly changed - or, more accurately, were about to change.

Roz's death. The near-sacrifice of a handful of companions, including Ace herself several times. Centuries upon centuries of death and destruction - he had a sudden, all-too-clear image in his head of the peaceful Tractites in a world that, sadly, could never be. Daleks, Sontarans, Zygons, the list of foes seemingly as endless as the Universe itself. He'd devoted nearly a dozen lives to fighting them, wiping them out, eliminating them from history. He'd lost so much, aged more centuries than he wanted to think about. All for an insane dream of tranquility for all life forms. Well, not this time.

He thought of his earlier self, the one so diligent to hunt down the Slag beasts on Tyron 6 and find out why they were there. A Doctor so intent on destroying all menace that he could not allow himself to see the sunsets, to hear the songs, to feel the emotions. For all that earlier incarnation's attempts to keep the Universe in light, he seemed forever stuck in darkness.

The Twelfth Doctor grinned, handing the nine resistance fighters the Gallifreyan recall devices that would send them off to their respective homes.

The Seventh Doctor struggled to find a proper way to explain.

"Look, Doctor, we didn't know what to do!" Ace said with a frown on her face. "He knew enough about you, and about us..."

"Ace, there's nothing you could have done," said the Doctor rapidly. "Our minds brushed against one another briefly as the TARDIS dematerialized. He's developed very strong powers of the mind. You and Mel were ill-equipped to turn him down."

"So was he you or not?" Mel asked.

"He certainly was," said the Doctor, his sad eyes focusing on the redhead. "Is. Will be... Yes, that man in the TARDIS is me - but he's hiding something. He's concealing part of the truth, fabricating other bits to achieve some masterplan..."

At that moment Mel's producer stepped into the clearing. He glared at Mel and said, "I know recent events may have you a bit shaken up, but you've got a spot to do in two minutes flat, and you're over here chatting up this bizarre... person. Could you please show just one shred of journalistic professionalism? Or am I being unrealistically demanding?"

"I'm sorry, Mr. Galloway, sir," said Mel, patting her hair into place with a flourish. "I'll be right there."

Galloway clunked away, defiantly munching a candy bar. Ace said, "We've got to figure this out! Professor, is there any way we can trace the future Professor?"

"Not without another TARDIS..." the Doctor sighed. "And in any case, it's not convenient at the moment. Mel? Get your new cameraman to start up the holocams."

"Why?"

"Look behind you."

Mel turned, saw half a dozen Slag beasts materializing twenty feet away from her, and screamed. This time, however, she did not pass out.

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Episode Six

by Trivial Keithy

"Nothing is real..."

Mel grabbed the camera off the quivering technician and pointed it at the beast. She walked backwards slowly to Ace and the Doctor. The Doctor was nowhere to be seen. Ace grabbed the camera off Mel and tried to throw it at the nearest Slag Beast.

"Take that you overgrown termite. Come on Mel, run." They turned around to see the Doctor driving towards them in what looked like an ice cream van.

"Get in, quickly."

The two women jumped into the rear of the van. "Cor like the wheels Professor."

"There's no time for explainations, Ace, Mel throw all the raspberry sauce out of the serving hatch."

The Doctor started to drive towards the massive monsters. They lifted the large metal tub up, it was nearly full and very heavy. With a final grunt they managed to let it pour out onto the street outside. They hit a bump and the tub slipped back inside, covering Ace's tights in the thick sugary syrup. Mel tried not to laugh but they hit another bump and some of the syrup went over her trousers. Ace started smiling now. "What now Doctor?" Ace wanted to know what else the Doctor had got planned.

"You could make me an ice cream, in fact ice creams all round I'm feeling generous."

"How will that help us defeat Bernard Mannings better looking siblings out there?" This was one of the few jokes Mel could remember.

Ace laughed as she ate her ice cream. "If only I had some nitro-9, but it's all inside the TARDIS."

"It wouldn't work anyway Ace, haven't you noticed that they have massive bone plating. Any diet coke in here?"

"I've souped the recipe up Mel, only Pepsi Galactic."

"That'll do." Mel drank the contents quickly.

"This is not good." The Doctor braked heavily. In front of them were more of the slag beasts. Very much in front of them in fact, close enough to smell their fetid breath. "You think they had never heard of mouth wash."

"Doctor, what was the purpose of throwing away all that sauce before."

"It's something I read a long time ago, the sugar will soften their natural armour. Make it easier to stop them."

"Er Ace, do we have anymore sauce?"

"Only chocolate, why?"

"No time like now to start pouring." Mel pointed to the advancing hordes of slag beasts that were cutting off their retreat. Ace did not move. "Come on Ace, they're almost on top of us."

"I'm not getting rid of chocolate sauce."

The Doctor leaned backwards. "Ace...I'll buy you a chocolate factory."

"Oh alright, but never ask me to do this again." Ace passed Mel the smaller tub.

"Is this all of it?"

Ace passed the other, larger tub. "Here, I hope you feel good about yourself."

Mel poured the chocolate outside the van. "What to we do now?"

"Hope the authorities rescue us."

Mel watched as the slag beasts started to eat the chocolate sauce. Then they let out bellowing roars and advanced on them again.

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Episode Seven

by Steve G. Blair

"Nothing is real..."

Mel screamed as the marauding Slag Beasts lumbered towards the ice cream van. The Doctor unbuckled himself quickly from the driver seat and climbed into the back of van where Ace sat in the middle of a puddle of melted ice cream and various flavours of sticky syrup. Mel's screaming continued.

"Blimey Professor...she hasn't changed much, 'as she?"

"Apparently not. Nevertheless, time to end this little game, don't you thnk Ace?"

"Too right". Ace stood up and hauled open her trusty rucksack, pulling out her pride and joy, a telescopic baseball bat engineered from pure titanium. "Wicked!"

The Doctor proceeded to dust himself off with elaborate paisley patterned hankerchief, whilst Ace extended her bat and leapt out the back of the van. Mel stopped screaming. "What's she doing?!" The Doctor put a comforting arm round his ex-companion. "It's quite simple. The syrup that you and Ace have so expertly been chucking out the van has sufficiently softened the armour of these abominable creatures, They are effectively defenceless!"

As if to emphasize the point, Ace was now just feet away from the Slag Beast 'entourage'. Swinging the bat high above her head, Ace brought it crashing down on the Slag Beast nearest to the van. As soon as the bat touched the creature it burst. Ace, Mel, The Doctor, the ice cream van and all the surrounding Slag Beasts were splattered with a thick, gooey, pink substance. "Oops," said Ace.

The remaining creatures, who up until this point had been growling ferociously, fell remarkably quiet. The Doctor stepped down from the back of van. He went to wipe some of the goo of his face, but found his hankerchief was even more soaked than his face was. "Ace..." he began to chide.

"Professor, it weren't me! It just...well...exploded. I hardly touched it!" Mel stumbled over to the pair. "What happened?" she asked. "It would appear that our Slag friends have chosen to break off their attack. And rightly so." remarked the gooey Time Lord. The Slag Beasts were indeed backing off, looking decidedly nervous. "How will they get back to their own world?" Mel asked, concerned. The Doctor had his conspiratorial-face on. "Well now. That is next on the list of today's activities."

After a shower and delicious hot meal at one of Strawberry Fields' hotels, The Doctor and Ace sat in the lobby on a large green sofa. "What's going on Professor?" Ace whispered. "I'm not 100% sure yet, but I have a very nasty suspiscion." Ace scowled. "Care to share it with the rest of us?" The Doctor looked around, appearing quite nervous Ace thought. "Not yet. If I'm right, our foe can read our...your thoughts. I'm not quite ready to let him know that I'm onto him."

"Great," said Ace sarcastically, "more mystery and mayhem from the man in the police box."

"I'm afraid so."

"And what about the TARDIS and that other Doctor?"

The Doctor smiled. "Ah yes. Well, he's in for a rather nasty surprise very soon. Where's Mel?"

"Gone to see her boss. Why's he in for a nasty surprise?"

"Don't discuss any of this with Melanie, Ace."

"Why?" Ace was talking louder now. "Why do you always do this Professor?"

"Ace! Keep your voice down!"

"No! I'm sick of all this mystery, just tell me what's going on!"

"I can't. Not yet!"

The pair argued, their voices getting louder, and Ace's body language becoming more and more aggressive. Other guests were beginning to notice.

And so was He. A cruel, tight-lipped smile gradually appeared on his distinguished face. Although the screen he was watching events on was monochrome, and mute, it was clear to see that his old rival was finding it difficult to keep his young aide in line. Perfect. The screen went blank and He stood up to his full height.

"Now Doctor", he boomed, "Let the real games begin!" The Celestial Toymaker was going to enjoy this....

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Episode Eight

by Trivial Keithy

"Nothing is real..."

Just tell me what's going on then Professor. I can handle it, no matter how big and nasty it gets.

Its just a hunch Ace, I have no proof but I detect the hand of an expert games player here. Someone far better at mindgames than any Time Lord could ever aspire to.

Wot, like the Gods of Ragnarok?

No they were just spectators to the suffering of others Ace. They couldnt hold a candle to the sort of power weve seen being weilded about here. And just what was my future self up to I wonder?

Doctor, there seems to be a large, angry mob of people heading our way. Mel pointed out as she returned to her friends. Maybe they want your autograph! Ace added sulking.

Ace...

Im sorry Mel, you know how frustrating he can get at times.

Im sure the Doctor has his reasons. Dont you Doctor.

Yes Mel, precisely. Theres a game afoot and I cant begin to grasp the rules. A bad sign if there ever was one.

Well Doctor, if its a sign you want, then you shall have it! The Toymaker raised a hand and a small die appeared in the palm. He nodded and it vanished.

There was a loud thudding noise. Oh no, the ugly beasts are back.

No Ace, it doesnt sound right. It has a strangely familiar edge to it. Like the blowing of the winds of chance and fate or the roll of dice. Come on run! The three friends started to run as the die, thirty stories high came crashing through the nearby buildings.

Professor, does this help you at all? Ace shouted as they ran.

Yes Ace, keep running.

Finally they ducked down a side alley just before the die caught up with them and they caught their breath.

Its... The Doctor wheezed. The Toy...Toymaker. He paused for a second. I wasnt sure before but this confirms it.

How do we defeat him?

Thats the question Mel. Im not sure how. The last few times I cheated. it was the only way to save everyone.

So you two have old scores to settle? Mel pushed on.

Yes, hes totally without responsibility, compassion or mercy. Hes amoral and dedicated to sustaining his own source of amusement.

And that would be trying to kill us? Ace asked.

Yes, that about sums it up.

Do you know any normal people Doctor? Ace asked jovially.

Only you Ace and Mel. He smiled.

Rest for a few minutes Doctor for soon I shall unleash the Endgame and then you will plead with me to save this benighted and oh so dull planet from my wrath.

The Toymaker smiled but there was no warmth in his expression.

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Episode Nine

by Steve G. Blair

"Nothing is real..."

As the smoke cleared in Strawberry Fields, the horrified tourists could see the extent of the devastation. Whole apartment blocks were crushed beyond recognition, fires raged where once had stood holographic leisure suites and personal belongings of the dead and injured lay strewn across the rubble.

Ace stood examining the wreckage. "Jeez...this Toymaker doesn't do things by half does he?" The Doctor crouched down and picked up a torn rag doll and stared at it in silence. Mel placed a hand on his shoulder. "Doctor, if this Toymaker person is intent on destroying you...us, shouldn't we warn the Fields' Management so they can evacuate all the guests?"

The Doctor gently placed the doll back amongst the debris and stood to face his two companions. "I have a terrible feeling that it may not make any difference," he warned. Ace and Mel looked at each other, and then at the Doctor.

"Look Professor...no more games. What's happening?"

The TARDIS console room was darker than usual. The red-haired Doctor stood, hunched, at the hexagonal control column. He was not happy. "Damn, damn and triple damn," he cursed. The time rotor, which should have been smoothly rising and falling, was decidedly stuck.

It was four hours later before The Doctor, Ace and Mel returned to the Hotel where they had showered earlier. The rescue effort to pull survivors from the ruined apartment blocks had been fruitless. At the final count, thirty six people had died, eight of them had been children.

The Doctor poured tea for his two friends as he spoke. "I suspected foul play when those Slag Beasts first appeared. Apart from the fact that they are not indigenous to this planet, they are never usually as aggressive as these seemed to be." He dropped three lumps of sugar into his glass. "Always helps the medicine go down..." he mused.

"And what about this other Doctor?" asked Mel.

"Oh he's me alright, but not strictly speaking the me that I shall become."

"Eh?" chorused the two women.

"He exists now because reality is being tampered with. When that happens, or rather, when I'm involved in it, my timeline fragments. Nothing serious you understand, but enough to allow alternatives to spring into existence."

Ace nodded slowly. "So this new Doctor bloke is here because the Toymaker is messing about with what's real." "Exactly! Top of the class, Ace!" Ace threw a smug look at Mel.

"But Doctor..." asked Mel, "You said something about it making no difference about evacuating the tourists...why?"

The Doctor suddenly looked very dark. "The last time I met the Toymaker was in his realm...the Celestial Toyroom. There he could control reality with his will, simply because it was only his reality not mine."

It was starting to dawn on Mel what the Doctor was saying. "You mean..."

"Yes Mel...I'm afraid so."

Ace was suddenly not so smug anymore. "What? Tell me!"

The Doctor turned to face her. "Ace, for the Toymaker to invade this reality, this universe, he has surpassed just a mere dimensional figurehead... ...Strawberry Fields has become his domain, and that could be just the beginning!"

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Episode Ten

by Trivial Keithy

"Nothing is real..."

"Grasping at straws my dear Doctor. Trying to second guess what you don't understand." The Toymaker put down the Flat Eric hand puppet. "You underestimate my ambitions, but no matter. I shall have you in my toy collection yet, you and your little friends..."

The Doctor thumped the TARDIS console gently but firmly and the time rotor began to rise and fall once more. "There's life in the old girl yet." He muttered to himself.

Then he felt pain, shooting, stabbing between his hearts. It was like it was so many years when Borusa tore his previous selves out of his timestream. He collapsed but not before he could set the co-ordinates to take him to an old, old friend.

Mel tried to keep things light by talking about some of her previous assignments. The time she fell in the swamp on Bor 2, the insect incident on Pann Prime and the diplomatic insult of Guuda 8. "Of course it had its good side too," she finished. "I found you two again and we're having this great adventure."

"Doctor."

"What is it Ace?"

"How many mogadon's should we give her?"

"Tolerance Ace, Mel is trying to cheer you up, cheer both of us up."

"Yeah well I like sulking and being moody."

"Don't be glum Ace, once we defeat this Toymaker you'll be off once more onto the next great adventure and I have to report back to my boss."

"You're not coming with us again? But we had such a great time. Iceworld was such a blast."

"I'd like to Ace, believe me. There's part of me that craves excitement and adventure but I have plans now and what's left of a career. I have commitments. The Doctor's your responsibility now Ace, look after him for me."

"I will doughnut. I will."

"Hey my ears are burning here. I may have a respiratory bypass but I don't have an audio bypass." The Doctor smiled sadly. It was good to see Mel again but he could sense the growth that had occured inside her spirit, she needed to find her own future now.

"Now Doctor, you have plagued me enough. You have thwarted me for the last time. The Endgame is upon you and like all pawns you must be sacrificed for the good of the game." The Toymaker's eyes flashed gold and blue as he summoned up his grandest and deadliest creation...

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Episode Eleven

by Steve G Blair

"Nothing to get hung about..."

The Doctor supped the last remaining drops from his tea cup and placed it back on the table. "So, what now Professor?" asked Ace, with an impatient tone. The Doctor was staring intently into the bottom of his cup. Mel giggled nervously. "Don't tell me you've started reading the tea leaves for clues!" The Doctor looked up at her.

For a brief moment Mel thought she could see a flash of fear in his dark eyes. "Melanie...we can only wait and see what the Toymaker's next move is." A sudden commotion in the lobby drew the trio's attention. A smartly uniformed bell-boy scurried over to them. "Miss Bush," he gasped, "You might wanna come and have a look at what's happening by the pool..."

The Twelfth Doctor was feeling a little more relaxed. Now that the TARDIS was back in flight, it was simply a case of getting the sensors to detect his own abandoned TARDIS and retrieving it. A series of high pitched bleeps from the console disturbed his thoughts. Oh no, he thought, what now?

By the time The Doctor, Mel and Ace arrived at the poolside, many other people had also come to see the 'spectacle'. The water in the pool had been replaced with a black liquid, the consistency of tar. It was swirling around, forming a deep whirlpool in the centre. Although the motion of the substance looked frantic, there was no sound at all to be heard.

"What the...?" began Ace. The Doctor stepped up to the edge and peered into the heart of the whirlpool. At the heart of the movement there was a pinprick of very bright light which was gradually getting wider. "Something's coming through..." he whispered. The other spectators were beginning to back away, sensing that this was not one of the many sights that Strawberry Fields had provided for their amusement. Mel had her palm-top at the ready, inputting as much information she could. This was going to be a fantastic scoop.

Ace sidled up the Doctor, who was still peering into the heart of the whirlpool. "Doctor, I don't like this." The Doctor took a step back. "Brace yourselves..."

The Toymaker laughed.

The TARDIS engines began to signal a materialisation.

"Doctor..." cried Mel. There was a brief, intense flash of light which engulfed the pool and the surrounding area. When it died, a thin black line shot out of the heart of the whirlpool. All around them, the Doctor and his friends could hear distorted screams, all crying for help. The black line began to widen, taking the shape of a humanoid. It was completely black, and not quite real. When it finally stopped its growth, it stood twenty feet over them. Mel dropped the palm-top and it shattered on the concrete.

The Doctor suddenly became aware that night had fallen. He shivered. When the being spoke, its voice seemed to penetrate the mind. The three companions weren't quite sure if they had heard it or not.

"I am the plaything of the Toymaker."

The Doctor stepped forward. "I am The Doctor."

"I know who you are. I have come to play with you."

The Doctor smiled. "Not today, thank you."

The Toymaker raised his arms in glory. His cry could be heard by all his subjects. "LET THE GAME COMMENCE!"

It came as a bit of a surprise, then, when suddenly, quite literally out of nowhere, the TARDIS materialised by the pool. "This is definitely getting well weird," remarked Ace. The arrival of the TARDIS did not go unnoticed by the Plaything. "You seek the help of your vessel?" The Doctor stared defiantly at the creature. "I seek the help of no-one." The TARDIS doors opened, and the twelfth Doctor stuck his head out. "Oops. Sorry about that!" Ace ran towards the TARDIS. "Oi! You thieving git!"

The Toymaker slammed his fist against the black and white screen. "No!"

Mel was unsure what to do. Ace was arguing with 'The Doctor', while 'her' Doctor faced the terrifying spectacle rising from the pool. The Plaything spoke. "You must play with me, Doctor."

"Why must I?"

"My master commands it."

The Doctor pondered this. "And you always do as you are commanded?"

"I do."

"Ah well. Can't argue with that, can I?"

The Plaything did not answer, instead it held out its hands. Standing on each hand were ghostly versions of Mel and Ace. Mel screamed. The Doctor stamped his feet. "No! I will not allow this! Face me Toymaker, it's me you want!" The Plaything grew another ten feet. "You must decide, Doctor." The Doctor was incandescent with rage. "This is absolute nonsense! What kind of 'game' is this? I expected better than this!" The appearance of Ace and Mel on the Plaything's hands interrupted Ace's accusations at the twelfth Doctor. "Bloody hell!" The twelfth Doctor put a hand on her shoulder. "Ace..."

"Don't touch me, toe-rag!" "Ace, I've been here. This is my past, and his," he gestured towards the Doctor, "destiny. He has no choice." Ace balked. "Wh..What do you mean?"

The Doctor was still hopping mad. "I will not participate in this mockery of fair play!" The Plaything laughed. "You have no option. You must submit one of your companions to the Toymaker. Only then will he consider your debt fully paid."

"I owe that monstrosity NOTHING!"

"He has searched the cosmos for you. He has used every ounce of his power to consume this planet, knowing you would be here."

"And? Am I supposed to be impressed by this?"

"He will only return to his domain once he has had his prize." The Plaything held forward the apparitions of Ace and Mel. "Decide who shall return with me to the Toyroom, Doctor. Now!"

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Episode Twelve

by The White Guardian

"Nothing to get hung about..."

The Seventh Doctor cleared his throat angrily, clenching his fists. He took a long look at his two companions. A plan began to formulate in the deeper, darker recesses of his mind. His eyes caught the frantic gaze of Mel, then the curious stare of Ace. He avoided looking at his other self. Seeing the mind of his future incarnation was more than enough without having to look at his face as well. Suddenly the Doctor knew what he must do.

"All right," he said resignedly, gesturing toward Ace, "if you've got to take someone, take her. She's traveled with me long enough... she's begun to develop bad habits."

"You what?!?" snapped Ace in disbelief.

"Oh, come on now, Ace. You can't put aside the Nitro-9, and your music is quite frankly beginning to grate on my already sensitive nerves. I'm sending you along with the Plaything."

"Professor, think about what you're saying! I didn't know you had such a huge problem with me. Don't be a bilgebag, we'll figure something else out. I enjoy traveling with you in the TARDIS."

"You'll enjoy the Toyroom," said the Doctor, now avoiding Ace's gaze as well. "Once you get over the initial shock of having to spend eternity in a conceptual dimension, you'll find the mind powers the Toymaker gives you to be most... invigorating!!"

The Plaything inclined its vaguely humanoid figure in the semblance of a nod and a bow. "Come along... Ace..."

The Twelfth Doctor watched dispassionately, trying not to send the Seventh Doctor any telepathic messages. He couldn't interfere any more than he already had done.

"Doctor!" implored Mel. "Don't send her away! What is wrong with you?"

"I'm sulky," said the Seventh Doctor, "and bad-tempered. I've explained this to you many times. I need to be alone for a while."

Inasmuch as the Plaything could exhibit emotions on its unformed countenance, it smirked. "Ace... climb onto the back of the Slag beast grazing in the forest ahead of you."

"No!"

"Ace, don't be such a baby," snapped the Doctor.

"The Slag beast," continued the Plaything, "will take you to the Toyroom. It will be a Slagback ride to infinity! The Toymaker will like you. He will love you... love you like he loves his own creations... like me."

Ace began to thrash and squirm... but then stopped. She was alarmed to discover she was a bit intrigued by the thought of seeing the Toyroom. It was something about the tone in the Plaything's voice... soothing, yet forceful.

"You, Ace, will be my sister. We will be... a family. A family. You want a family again, don't you?"

Ace took a step toward the Slag beast grazing in the forest. "A family," said Ace. "A family. A family..."

"She's... hypnotized!" Mel stammered. And just as Ace was within touching distance of the great Slag beast from another dimension, the Seventh Doctor ran forward, pushed her out of the Slag beast's range, shimmied up the nearest tree, and leaped onto its back.

Mel ran to Ace, who had fallen rather roughly to the ground. "Are you all right, Ace? Doctor, Ace is still in the trance, she..." The Slag beast galloped off toward the main gate of the Strawberry Fields theme park, and crashed through, killing two ticket takers and seriously wounding a third. As it raced toward the spaceship parking lot, beast and Doctor became translucent... then transparent... then...

The Twelfth Doctor sensed his earlier self's departure into another dimension. He made his way over to Mel and Ace.

"Is she all right... Doctor?" Mel asked, indicating the fallen Ace, who was drifting in and out of consciousness.

"The Plaything was able to hypnotize her, and then my other self shoved her back into reality at a precarious moment. Her mind will be desperately trying to recreate itself for a while."

"But will she be okay?"

The Twelfth Doctor sighed. "I think so. I... ahh!"

"What's the matter?"

"Something's happening. I... I feel I'm being slowly... slowly... eradicated."

Ace opened her eyes, clutched her head, a pained expression on her face.

"It's the other Doctor," she said. "I can see through him."

The Twelfth Doctor's fade was much slower than that of his earlier self and the Slag beast. He was being deleted from existence - he knew that - but was that because he was a temporal anomaly here in the first place, or because his earlier self had died? He could probably work it all out... if he had more time... His last act before vanishing forever was to gently press an index finger to the nose of each of his companions. The last thing he saw was a single tear forming in Ace's left eye.

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Episode Thirteen

by Trivial Keithy

"Nothing to get hung about..."

Ace's head felt like a curry mixed with five lagers; splattered all over the pavement. "Is this death?" She joked.

"Oh Ace, he's gone." Mel stopped Ace from collapsing.

"This is interesting."

The Doctor found himself still in existance but outside of reality as he knew it. "What has happened to my clothes?" He demanded to an uncaring pantheon of bored Eternals. "Hey you lot, want cheering up? I know a place, well it's more of a realm actually where the creator just loves to place games and entertain people."

"Foolish ephemeral creature, why should we listen to you?"

"Perhaps because I'm here and I haven't been ripped to pieces by the vortex on my way here?"

"He has a point."

"Every one has a point to you. Very well, creature we are listening."

"I see you've redecorated your toyroom again. I can't say I'm impressed. It's all a little bit uninteresting. The gaudy colours try to disguise the fundamental boredom you instill in everything."

"Small words Doctor, I expected better from you. Your last incarnation had a better vocabulary."

"I prefer action to moralising, although I remember being proactive in all my incarnations."

"Enough of the plesantries, I claim you for my collection."

"Oh you claim me do you? You've changed your tune haven't you. You used to take people on a whim and turn them into toys. What's the matter, is your power failing you? Yes that's it, the conquest of Strawberry Fields has drained you."

"I still have power enough Doctor to bend you to my will."

"Go ahead then, try your best. I doubt you could make a single string puppet obey you right now. You wasted too much power like I knew you would with your theatrics and displays of power."

"You knew it was me all along."

"Lets just say I had my suspicions. Time to lose Toymaker." The Seventh Doctor pulled a yo-yo out of his pocket. "You see I have more control over your realm now than you do. Your vanity has brought about your defeat."

"No this cannot be." The Toymaker summoned up all his energy and pointed a finger at the Doctor. Raw energy crackled from the tip and struck the Doctor square in the chest. "I am the master of this realm for all time, you will make a great addition to my hall of dolls..."

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Episode Fourteen

by Steve G Blair

"Strawberry Fields Forever"

The Doctor closed his eyes, awaiting the fatal blast in his chest that would end his lives...

It never came.

Cautiously he opened one eye, then the other. Before him the Toymaker stood, aghast, staring at his hands like they were a broken tool. The Doctor chortled. "Well, well. It seems you're in need of a holiday. Can I recommend Strawberry Fields? Charming little spot." The Toymaker bellowed with rage.

The Gods Of Ragnorok were in deliberation.

"The mortal offers us an interesting proposition."

"Indeed."

"It is purely a means of prolonging his own existence."

"Indeed."

"Yet this Toymaker being sounds like an interesting diversion. The Timelord will be ours one day. Perhaps we should allow him to...to develop before we claim him."

"Perhaps."

"Then the decision is made."

"Indeed."

The first tremor caught everyone by surprise. Strawberry Fields had taken a real battering over the last few days - Slag Beasts running amok, Giant dice smashing buildings to rubble and then the unearthly Plaything appearing in the middle of the pool - but the tremor seemed to herald apocolypse. Explosions, crashing buildings, terrifying screams of agony.

Ace and Mel stumbled through the erupting chaos towards the TARDIS, which stood solidly by the pool.

"Quickly doughnut!" shouted Ace.

"What's happening?"

"I dunno. But I bet the Professor's involved!"

The Seventh Doctor paced around the Toymaker, who was stooped over like an old, old man. "So Toymaker. I was right. You've used up all your energy maintaining the facade of Strawberry Fields."

The Toymaker hissed. "Curse you Doctor. I will have you as an amusement. My power will not be depleted forever."

The Doctor stopped pacing and peered at the Toymaker's haggard features. "Hmmm. Too much fast living I'd say. I prescribe a good night's sleep."

"It is unwise to mock me...Doctor." The Toymaker's voice was beginning to crack.

The Doctor smirked. "Oh yes. Sorry about that." The Toymaker muttered something. The Doctor leant forward. "What was that?" The Toymaker muttered again.

"Straw...berry...Hell..."

The Doctor adopted a puzzled expression, which soon cleared to an expression of shock. "What do you mean?" The Doctor was suddenly aware of his surroundings. the Toyroom no longer existed, it was just he and the Toymaker standing in a beam of rapidly dimming light. All around them was darkness. The Doctor suddenly realised what was happening. "You're dying! What will happen to Strawberry Fields?"

The Toymaker gasped a wicked laugh. "It dies with me."

"Ace! Mel!"

The Gods Of Ragnorok appeared before the Twelfth Doctor.

"Timelord. We have decided to grant you clemency."

The Doctor bowed graciously. "Thank you. And what of my offer?"

The Gods nodded. "It has been done."

The Doctor, not for the first time in his twelve lives, breathed a sigh of relief.

The Seventh Doctor was trying to pull the Toymaker to his feet. "There must be a way of stopping this!" he shouted frantically.

The Toymaker slumped down to the floor again. "No, Doctor. You have won."

The Doctor stamped his foot. "No! I don't want to win. My friends will die!"

The Toymaker, with his final breath, laughed... ...then suddenly stood up. The colour had returned to his face, his garb was once again sparkling and radiant. He was alive! "Ahhh!" he cried defiantly. The Twelfth Doctor coughed politely and tapped him on the shoulder. The Toymaker whirled around.

"You!?"

"Yes. Hello, how are you?"

Ace fumbled in her pockets for the TARDIS key. Behind her Mel was struggling to keep her balance as the concrete poolside rocked and bucked.

"Hurry Ace!"

"I'm trying!"

A sudden explosion caused Mel to look behind her. The generator room in the basement of the Hotel had imploded, seriously destabilising the whole building. Ace dropped the key, which slid across the ground, which was now tilted at an angle, and straight into the pool. "Oh bugger..."

Mel looked up in terror as the Hotel began it's thunderous descent towards them. She did the only thing she knew... "AAAAAAAIIIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!"

"What is this....treachery?"

The Twelfth Doctor smiled sweetly at the Toymaker. "Well you see...I've made a deal with the Gods here," he gestured towards the three figures looking down on them, "that they can have you for the few hundred or so years before I finally snuff it."

The Toymaker snarled at him then turned to face the Gods. "This...being...is a charlatan. He has tricked me the same way he has tricked you." The Gods remained silent. "This...trickster," continued the Toymaker, "will NEVER submit himself to you. He is a liar and...and a CHEAT!"

The Twelfth Doctor looked stung by this. "Oh come now Toymaker. That's a bit like the kettle calling the pot 'black'"

The Toymaker stormed over to him. "You will never be safe from me Timelord. I will escape this void and hunt you and your companions to the ends of existence!"

The Twelfth Doctor met his fiery gaze, unflinching. "You, Toymaker, will be here for a very, very long time."

The Gods grew weary. The Toymaker suddenly found himself in the centre of a circus ring.

"ENTERTAIN US..."

The Seventh Doctor placed a hand over Mel's mouth. "You really should learn to restrain yourself Miss Bush."

Mel suddenly realised there was no falling hotel, no explosions, no screaming...and no Strawberry Fields. The Doctor smiled at her, and she hugged him, as tight as she could.

"Professor!" Ace bounded over and joined in the hug.

The Doctor gently pushed them away. "Ladies, ladies...please!"

Mel was almost in tears. "We thought you were dead!"

The Doctor bent down and retrieved the key from the ground. "No. Just biding my time."

"What happened?" asked Ace.

"It would appear that the Toymaker really had expended too much energy trying to trap me. As soon as I reached his domain, my willpower proved too much to contain and the whole facade crumbled."

"Wicked!"

Their reunion was interupted by a wheezing, groaning sound. A short distance away, another Police Box faded into view. The door swung open and the Twelfth Doctor stepped out.

"Ah!" exclaimed the Seventh Doctor. "You retrieved the TARDIS then."

"Yes, my dear fellow. The Gods of Ragnorok kindly placed me back where I belong."

The Seventh Doctor looked shocked. "The Gods of Ragnorok?!? How are they involved?"

"Lets just say that I've had dealings with the wily old coots over the last few incarnations, and they owe me a favour."

The Seventh Doctor scowled at his Twelfth persona. "I don't really think I want to know this."

"No. Probably best you don't."

Ace turned to Mel. "Well doughnut. You can't just stay here. There's nothing here now!"

Mel looked around the landscape. No buildings, people or even wildlife. Just a lifeless desert. "No I suppose not."

The Twelfth Doctor stepped forward. "May I make a suggestion?" The Doctor, Ace and Mel nodded their approval. "Well...I think it might be rather fun if Mel came with me. After all, imagine the looks we would get when two gingers step out of a time travelling Police Box?"

Mel laughed. "Yes, well. It would certainly be a talking point."

The Seventh Doctor smiled knowingly. "Yes. I think that would be a splendid idea."

The End.

