The Shadow Within

Episode One

by Moky_9

"To kill or not to kill...which would you choose?" asked the Doctor of his young companion called Ace.

"To kill, yeah!" Ace replied instantly punching the air with her fist and with a smile on her face.

The loudness of Ace's reply broke the silence and disturbed things within the lush green forest they were walking through.

Eyes, were now watching the pair and their movements.

The Doctor gave Ace a disapproving look and Ace cringed with the thought that the Doctor was about to give her a lecture about her choice.

The Doctor stopped walking and motioned to Ace with his hand to stop and placing his finger to his lips, to be quiet.

Ace was relieved she was spared a lecture but she became concerned to why they had stopped.

The Doctor had sensed the eyes watching them.

There was rustling noises coming from the bushes around them.

"Doctor..." said Ace quietly and with worry in her voice.

"Hush, Ace" replied the Doctor, who was scanning the environment around them for a glimpse of the owner of the eyes watching them.

A beast, half-human and half-bear burst from the bushes on the right side of the Doctor and Ace. The beast looked at the Doctor and Ace and headed towards them at a speed.

The Doctor stopped Ace's instinctive reactions to run or throw Nitro-9, by using authority and calmness in his voice and said" Don't move!".

"But, Professor...." said Ace urgently.

Ace seemed glued to the spot and she loked at the Doctor for an answer.

As the beast approached the Doctor and Ace, it slowed its pace until it stopped about two metres from them.

In the distance, more rustling could be heard in the bushes.

The Doctor communicated in bear and human language a simple greeting and we will not hurt you message.

Ace was amazed at the Doctor's ability to communicate in bear language.

"Well wicked, Professor!" said Ace in awe of the Doctor's abilities.

"Thank-you, Ace" replied the Doctor.

The beast briefly smiled at them both and nodded its head and said, "Help me!" in human language with a Russian-American accent.

"Why?" enquired the Doctor.

"My body. Not right"

"How?" asked the Doctor, interested.

"Am mutant"

"Genetic experiment?"asked the Doctor with a dark expression on his face.

"Yes"

"Gross" said Ace.

"Obscene" said the Doctor darkly.

"Yes. Use me for tests. For war"

"War? With who?" asked Ace curiously.

"Each other"

"The human race?" asked Ace.

"Yes"

"Typical" said the Doctor angrily.

The conversation was interupted by the presence of four people emerging from the bushes onto the path.

The beast looked around and saw its pursuers.

"Must go! Flee!"

The beast made an attempt to escape but was struck down by a single dart to its side and fell paralysed to the ground.

"Got it!" yelled one of the beast's pursuers, who lowered his dart gun.

The Doctor and Ace, who witnessed the incident, turned to the four people coming towards them.....

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Episode Two

by 6th Doctor

Hells teeth are you OK!?"

One of the dart gun carrying soldiers approached the Doctor and Ace with an anxious look on his mud smeared face. The Doctor knelt down to examine the bear/human mutant's prone form.

"Perfectly fine thankyou." He called up with a look betraying no emotion. Ace was a little less self contained however.

"Enjoy shooting down defensless people in need of medical attention do you?"

"You're English!" The Soldier exclaimed siganlling to his companions that the area was safe. "What are you doing in disputed territories?"

"We're here as neutral observers." The Doctor answered quickly. "Tell me..."

"Lieutennant Farrish" replied the soldier with a look of concern spreading accross his hard features.

"Indeed. Tell me, for how long has the Exo-Hytoxolyn compound been used on Humans?"

"The what?" Farrish replied.

"Exo-Hytoxolyn. Our sleeping friend here has been altered at the genetic level by it."

"How do you know about the Genetic agents used in these monsters?" Farrish raised his gun to the Doctor. Ace made a move but the attention of the other 3 dart guns held by the other soldiers froze her assault.

"I learn things Lieutenant. My friend and I are biologists, here to study the effects of the mutants." Ace shot a look of puzzlement over at the Doctor who gave a partial wink back. Weaving his way into their confidence as usual, she thought.

"I wasn't aware the European Alliance had any interest in the Americo-Russo conflict." Said one of the other troops in a beauraucratic manner. The Doctor Clicked his fingers and a light noticably came on behind his eyes.

"The Circle may be interested in supporting you, but the conditions have to be determined first. Tell me. How far to your camp?"

"Not far." Farrish answered now far more at ease. "You 3, get this thing back to base!" There were assorted murmurs of assent from the 3 soldiers, enough to demonstrate low morale.

Ace turned to the Doctor. "Go on then. Where are we?"

"Probably Russia. This is the Americo-Russo war in the mid 21st century. the line between business and state has blurred somewhat since your time and this war was between 2 companies. Most of the fighters were mercinaries.

"What's the aim of the war?"

"Oh the usual. A Fight over an underhand deal here, an espionage attack there. Eventually it plunges the planet into World War 3. I remember in my 5th incarnation ending up on a seabase in the middle of that. Mainly a cold war with short savage attacks. At this point I expect the American troops here are trying to thwart the forces of the Zena corporation."

"Zena Corps are responsible for that thing!" Spat Farrish catching the end of the Doctor's sentence.

"It's sick." Ace muttered. "Doctor. What are we going to do about it?"

"Exo-Hytoxolyn shouldn't be discovered by Humans for another 100 years at least Ace. I will need to examine the mutant."

"What do you mean? 100 years!" Farrish exclaimed.

"Nevermind Lieutennant. I'm offering my services to help get to the bottom of these mutants."

"Think We haven't tried....Doctor?"

"The way you lot came charging in here, it's like you expected us to be dead!" Ace stated.

"You get near those cross-mutants you usually are!" Farrish began to walk with the Doctor back to the American base camp.

"It didn't attack us!" Ace replied loudly.

"Perhaps it was already injured?"

"No it's more than that." The Doctor inferred darkly. Suddenly from the distance a scream of terror, turning to a scream of pain darted accross the forrest. Farish, Ace and the Doctor took off towards the sound to find the bear mutant free and ripping the throat out from one of the soldiers. The others had darted into the trees in sheer panic. Farrish aimed his weapon, but the bear had noticed and flung itself at him with ravenous fury. Just before Farrish could be struck down by the mutant the Doctor knocked the gun from his arms and stood between him and the bear. The rage drained from the mutants large eyes and it stared pitifully at the Doctor who comforted it.

"How the....?" Farrish stuttered wordlessly.

"It was programmed to attack people with guns. It had no will when it could see you threatening it. A war tool very much so, made to attack soldiers and not civilians. An evil twist of accepted war ethics."

"Doctor!" Ace shouted but it was too late to do anything about it. Farrish, the Doctor and Ace had found themselves encircled by men wearing blackened plastic combat gear and futuristic looking weaponry. Each of the numerous soldiers sported a large Z insignia of Zena Corp. In a modulated filtered Voice the leading Soldier orderded his troops to fire. Arcs of sparkling green plasma energy rained on the Doctor and his companions.

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Episode Three

by HarryHayfield

"Duck"

Having had seven lifetimes of knowing what to do when someone yells, "Duck", I ducked. And what a jolly good thing I did, a second later, a green laser flew above my head from all directions and after only a few seconds stopped. I cautiously looked up and saw four smouldering piles of dust.

"Now, who did that?" I asked in a most indignant manner.

"Surely that's not the way to treat an old friend?"

"Oh, dear!" I thought, turned and came face to face with myself.

"What in the name of Gallifrey are you doing here?"

"I could ask the same thing" came the reply.

"Who's that?" asked Ace. "That, my dear Ace", I replied "Is me!"

Ace looked at me and then looked at the stranger, at least it was a stranger in her eyes, but in mine I could tell it was another regeneration of myself.

"Which are you?" I asked

"10" came the reply, "Regenerated on the 17th December 1903 but then again standing at the landing point of the Wright Brothers was I suppose a bad move"

"Now, what?" asked an indignant solider

"Yes, perhaps you right" we both said. Ace, dropped the whole issue on the grounds of incomprehensibility.

After about 30 minutes walk, we arrived at the HQ of the unit we had met.

"Typical" I said

"I beg your pardon?" asked the soldier ahead of me.

"Typical buildings for a barracks" the 10th doctor said, knowing what I thought of this period of Earth history.

We were heading towards the Sergeant's office when something grabbed my other regeneration's attention and mine.

"Hey, Doctor"

"Adric?" we both shouted.

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Episode Four

by Moky_9

At the moment of impending doom raining down on the Doctor, Ace and Farris...

A very odd thing happened...

A doorway opened, and a figure waves their hand and a split in the time and space continuim occured...

Into one time line the Doctor, Ace and Farris and the Zena corp soldiers went, and into another went the Doctor, Ace and Farris, and the Doctor's 10th self...

In the distance, the figure smiles a malicious grin...

Someone who knows the Doctor from time gone by chuckles at the handy work that they have just performed to the Doctor's time stream...

"The game will continue, Doctor... my way."

The figure chuckles and enters back into the doorway and the door closes...

Meanwhile, the disturbance in the time space continum has been detected by one Gallifreyan security officer...

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Episode Five

by 6th Doctor

"Who...what was...?" A crowd of people stood completely confused by the recent events they had whitnessed. Ace felt as though she had woken up from a strange dream as she focused on the Doctor buzzing over her with a concerned face and attempting to help her up off the living forest floor.

"Back off Professor, I can get myself up you know!" The Doctor shrugged and went to check on Farrish who was lying - barely aware - across the clearing.

"So what just happened?"

"Mental perception shifting."

"Eh? I saw...another Doctor. And what Happened to those Black clad soldiers?"

"There were none!" Called the Doctor. Ace dizzily got up and approached the Doctor.

"I know what I saw Professor!"

"Do you? For the last few seconds we have been bombarded with Psionic waves distorting everything we experience. A massive hallucination shared on the mental level with all 3 of us. My other self...Adric. Farrish created the Zena Corp troops and You created something very unusual."

"What did I create!?"

"You appeared to concieve of a dark all powerful figure."

"That was me? How could you tell?"

"The Psionic flow seemed to be coming from you...Then there was...Adric..."

"Who?"

"Adric...or was there? Reality seemed to split and distory towards the end of the experience. I couldn't make much sense of a lot of it."

"Doctor this is scaring me. Who would want to throw these Mental Magic Mushrooms at us?" The Doctor looked up from Farrish and looked blank.

"I don't know. I've never seen the technique used as a weapon before...if it was a weapon?"

"How's he?" enquired Ace, pointing to Farrish's prone form.

"Sleeping. The psychic shock must have put him out."

Ace felt cold looking at the forest around her.

"Are there going to be anymore attacks?"

"I don't know." spoke the Doctor darkly. He was looking at Ace intently.

"What is it?"

"A shadow of something I recognise seemed to be in you for a moment. Not a phisical element. an imprint, an afterimage." Ace tried to understand what the Doctor was talking about.

"Anything I can do?"

"Maybe" Said the Doctor. "Try to recall what happened in the Attack. Not what was happening - but what you felt, what you thought."

Ace let her mind wander through the strange imagery that had befallen her - let herself access her thoughts and her feelings. And then her mind hit the Dark figure and the Voice. Not just a voice... but a voice which seemed to communicate through evil. It was all voices, all languages, but it's communication seemed to be clear deep inside. She opened her eyes and the Doctor, who was looking at her, maybe even helping her on a mental level, practically fell backwards in horrified suprise!

"Doctor. What is it?"

The Doctor looked truly scared, and this made Ace herself terrified. The Doctor shakily handed her a Mirror. Ace took the mirror and instinctively looked at her face in it. To her disbelief she saw...

Those eyes. Green and glowing with a malevolent unfathomable depth. Eyes she once saw on Doctor Judson and Captain Sorin. The eyes of someone possessed by Fenric!

Ace dropped the mirror and flung her hands to her eyes as if she could tear away what she had just seen. The Doctor pulled her hands away from her face and looked at her. By his relieved reaction she assumed that her eyes had returned to normal.

"You promised me!" She hissed.

"I know...." answered the Doctor hurriedly.

"You said Fenric was gone forever! That I was free from the Curse!"

"I..." stuttered the Doctor."I thought so too. Fenric was destroyed! You and I witnessed it! Without a form Fenric was unable to exist as a sentient life form!"

"Then what's happening to me?" shouted Ace, suprising even herself with the ferocity.

"You were part of Fenric's Curse. Part of his game. Fenric may have gone...but maybe somehow a shadow of the evil presence lingers in all those who would be his wolves."

"Did it cause the Psionic attack?"

"No. I think the Psionic attack caused the shadow to manifest. Plucking it from deep inside you. Ace I won't lie to you. Now this fragment of Fenric has been awoken, I don't know if it can be destroyed."

"I can't live with that!" strained Ace, holding back tears violently."

"We'll fight it together! Think of it as a Virus. All illnesses can be cured! You must be positive!"

"Positive! I have a portion of pure Evil inside me! What if it controls me!?"

"It's only just come to life. It's not that strong!"

"But will it!?"

The Doctor couldn't meet her gaze. He turned around, maybe ashamed of his inhability to combat the problem. He picked up his umbrella and held it as if it gave him comfort.

"I don't know Ace. For once, I really don't know."

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Episode Six

by Moky_9

Whilst the Doctor was brooding and pondering what to do next, the Doctor and Ace received a telepathic message.

"Although Fenric's body is destroyed, unfortunately, his entity is free to roam and can possess any of his wolves"

The Doctor sensed familiarity in the female voice and there was a brief mind touch and the Doctor smiled.

"You know me from a long time ago, Doctor. I have been watching what you have been doing and it seems you may need my services."

Ace was distraught at this information and demanded to know how to stop Fenric from possessing her and taking her over.

"There are ways, Ace"

"Yeah, how?!" yelled Ace.

"I could exorcise you of Fenric's entity but if he has meddled about in the life and death forces to control your body, life, destiny, it may take some time for me to...."

"Like a priestess?" asked Ace.

"I have nothing to do with religions,magic,mystic or the Gods, child. I can work with the forces of life, death and time."

"Can she help, Doctor?" asked Ace.

"I will need help with the time forces...."

"Of course" replied the Doctor with a smile. "And Ace will need all her strength to deny Fenric from possessing and controling her"

Ace was about to state that she could control herself, when the menace from within came to the surface of Ace. Ace fell to the ground and she was shaking like having a fit.

"No, my body....You won't control me...."Ace screamed as she twisted and turned on the ground. The Doctor, concerned, knelt down beside Ace's twisting, shaking body.

"Ace....listen to me. Fight it!!!"

"Deny it, child. Don't allow it control of you"

Ace screamed and her body ceased shaking.

"Ace, Ace....Are you alright? Answer me!" said the Doctor loudly.

"Not Ace, TimeLord...."

Ace's body looked up from the ground and evil, cold green eyes stared at the Doctor.

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Episode Seven

by 6th Doctor

"Ace come back to me!" The Doctor shouted.

The body of Ace stared at the Doctor with malevolence.

"Wait!" Spoke the Woman, who approached Ace. The possessed body seemed not to shrink away but stood coldly and silently. When the woman stepped away again a moment later, Ace was again herself.

"Doctor I can hear it whispering things to me...terrible things!" Ace held onto the Doctor for support.

"It is good to see you my Lady...but why are you here?" The Doctor betrayed a great deal of worry in his voice.

Ace closed her eyes. Inside her - like a sound you can't avoid - she heard laughing. A dark presence swelling around her slowly enveloping her. She thought back to the time when she was escaping from Arthurs ship through the air lock with the water rushing in and burying her. This time the danger was pouring in from inside her, and she for once didn't have the faith that the Doctor could stop it.

"Doctor. I can release Ace from Fenric's shadow. but there is a price." The soothing voice almost covered the harsh edge underlying the womans tone.

"My Lady, A price?"

The Doctor may already know the answer, though Ace.

"You, Doctor have been the greatest guiding light of the Galaaxy. Once the Chosen of one of My Masters, the Guardians. But now your task is complete. The forces you fight are vanquished!"

"My Lady, this is not true. there is cruelty and tyranny throughout the Universe! It is my-"

"Duty? My dear Doctor of all ephemerals you have caused so much to change. but you have lost control. You now not only combat evil, but eradicate it's very roots. in the past years you have reduced the forces of the Daleks and Cybermen to virtually nothing. The Gods of Ragnarok are gone. And now Fenric is gone. My dark Master the Black Guardian is no longer able to hold back the balance."

"My Lady, are you trying to tell me that there is too much good in universe?"

"No Doctor. there are just not enough forces on either side. The Universe is heading towards a point of static degeneration."

"Let me get this straight!?" Ace butted in. "There is not enough good or evil in the universe?"

"Precisely child."

"You attacked us with the Psionic blast!" cursed the Doctor. "You purposely endangered Ace by ressurecting Fenric!"

"The Balance must be maintained Doctor. I can not allow you to continue to sap the universe of vital energies."

"You can not allow me? My Lady I.."

"Once in your past, my light Master the White Guardian asked you to return the key of time to him so the forces could be reset. You failed in this task, but rightly so. Since then you have combatted evil on the terms of an unbalanced universe. If this continues then the Universe may drain of all it's life and death energy. This can not be allowed to happen. Yes... I can free your companion of Fenric. But I will not be destroying Fenric. I will be letting him free."

"This is obscene! He could kill Millions!"

"And he must Doctor. and quickly! Why do you think you are here?"

Ace looked around at the Forest.

"The eve of the 3rd World war!"

"Yes Doctor. If I let you prevent the evil directors of Zena Corp from winning the battle against the American Mercinary Corp, then The Balance will slip out of control. This is the point Doctor. The point of no return! Zena Corp must win the battle if the safety of the Universe is to be assured! You must aid them!"

"I will never aid evil in it's cause!" said the Doctor firmly.

"Even for the greater good Doctor?"

"What will you do with Fenric?" Asked the Doctor. The Lady simply looked at Farrish lying on the floor.

"No! You can't let her do this Doctor!" The Doctor looked at Farrish and then at Ace. "Profesor. I'm not that important!" The Doctor looked into Ace's eyes for a few seconds, then rubbed her nose with his finger and smiled sadly.

"I can't let Fenric hurt you Ace I'm sorry. My Lady what are you intending to do?"

"Simply move the influence from Ace into this being here." She said looking at Farrish.

"Doctor! He's innocent! You can't let her throw him to Fenric!"

The Doctor looked unblinking at Farrish. after a long moment he looked from Ace to the Lady. "I have no choice. For the ultimate good of the Universe. I have to let her." The Lady nodded approvingly.

"BUT!" Shouted the Doctor, "I shall never stop fighting the evil of the universe."

"No Doctor you should not. But you should subvert evil and curb it's power, not remove it from existance. Such actions must stop." In a flash of light and energy the Lady was gone. The Forest was exactly as it was.

Ace felt lighter somehow. then she realised why. The dark forces of Fenric no longer inhabited her. She looked at Farrish as did the Doctor. Farrish was getting up, but it was not Farrish, at least not any more. His eyes were black with green energy flashing deep inside. and the whole atmosphere about him seemed thick and charged with negative energy.

And then, Fenric laughed. Not just from Farrish, but from all around. a laugh without jollity, but a laugh that seemed to convey pain, anguish, suffering and torment. A laugh of madness and loathing. Of chaos and destruction. And then, Fenric spoke.

"I suppose I should thank you Doctor for my freedom. The Lady has such a way with words, and what better way to shatter her reality, than to carry out your plan."

"What?" Ace stuttered quizzically.

"Ace. Fenric has decided to fight on the side of good in this Battle. He intends to shatter the balance of the universe!"

"There could be no greater reparation Timelord! I am free!" In a blast of air and in a shimmer Farrish vanished.

"Ace."

"Yes Profesor?"

"Fenric is fighting on the right side of this war. If he succeeds then we may have plunged the universe into degeneration. We have to help Zena Corp win, and start the 3rd World War! This Is Fenrics revenge. Unless we help evil achieve it's aims. this small scuffle between 2 corporations on Earth will become the most important battle in the Universe's history!"

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Episode Eight

by esherrouse

Ace looked and the Doctor and realized the gravity of the situation. It was more than that. She could see in the Doctor's face a feeling of dispair. These recent events really put a twist on his do-good personality she thought. They had to not only save the universe from disaster, but had to help the side of evil to do it. Her only thought was 'wicked'.

She then said to the Doctor,"So how do we go about starting World War 3 Doctor?"

He looked at her and then said,"We go back to where we started."

With that he turned and pointed with his umbrella toward the forest and began retracing their steps. He walked with a sense of urgency as Ace tried to keep up.

"Professor, why are we going back to the TARDIS?"

"We're not, Ace. We're going to the Zena Corp camp to help them win this little skirmish."

Ace pause for a second and said,"How?"

"I am working on that Ace. Patience. I need to find a way to defeat Fenric and allow the Universe to follow it's own steady course without..." He trailed off.

The Doctor kept mulling it over in his head. He had to defeat Fenric, but not totally. The Lady was right about that. Perhaps he had been too over-zealous in his combat against evil. So all he had to do now was defeat Fenric and remove him from this specific game, the humans would follow their own course.. he hoped.

This train of thought was lost as he heard Ace yell out from behind him. He turned to see two winged humans gripping her arms.

"Sentinels" he murmured as a squadron of Zena Corp Troops surrounded the two of them...

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Episode Nine

by 6th Doctor

Ace wondered how much of the armoured suit warn by the Zena Corp soldiers was actually needed, and how much was intimadating decoration. The black body covering was made up of interlocking allloy with reptillian patterns on them. Each soldier's face was masked by a visor and some sort of air filtration mask. Their weapons were noticably more advanced than the pecussion weaponry carried by the American troops. These were silvered with a glowing blue nodule at the butt indicating a power source. Despite the ominous reptillian appearance of the suits, the movement of the soldiers was human enough.

She and the Doctor had been marched through the seemingly neverending forest in silence, to a clearing where some prefab buildings had been erected - with tanks guarding each approach. The tanks too had an advanced looking weapon mounted. They were marched up to a sturdier looking building in the centre of the camp. Out of the door stepped a tall attractive man in a tieless business suit. In a suprisingly Brittish voice, the man addressed the captain of the platoon that had escorted them to the camp.

"Who are they?"

"Not sure sir, Civilians. We found them wandering on enemy lines." Spoke the Captain in a Ukrainian accent. He was old, with short grey hair and scrawny features.

"Well?" enquired the man, addressing the Doctor.

"Good Evening I am the Doctor, this is Ace. We're European observers. I'm afraid we got a little lost."

The Doctor smiled at the man innocently, doffing his hat. The man seemed a little taken back, especially when the Doctor spoke.

"Observers! Don't make me laugh. The European commision wouldn't want to get off it's backside! What are you really doing here?"

"I didn't say we were Observers for the European Parliement!"

"No...But then who do you work for?"

"Spies?" The Captain butted in. The man laughed.

Ace suddenly realised she wasn't at all scared of him. He actually seemed a nice person. And these were meant to be the evil influence of this war.

"Oh Captain you do have such a millitary perspective on people. Come in Doctor, and ..Ace? Maybe we can discuss your observations over a drink?"

"I'd be delighted" Answered the Doctor charmingly handing his hat and Umbrella to a widemouthed Captain, afronted at becoming a hatstand.

"Sure. I have no where else to go!" joked Ace.

They stepped into the building. On the inside it looked more like a business suite. Designer furniture and a chrome framed glass table in the centre of the room. The man invited them over to a settee. Ace, who was feeling the days walking in her ankles sat down gratefully. The Doctor declined.

"Drink?"

"Hmm water please."

Ace's mind drifted through the number of drinks she could use to remove all the cares of the World, but then she caught the ever sobering stern expression of the Doctor. "Lemonade please."

"Want to keep a clear head? Commendable. So, who's dealing?"

Ace was a little annoyed that the man had barely noticed her. Was she really that little to look at these days? Her eyes drifted to the desk to see a family photo collection - including a wife. Damn.

"Well I'm sort of Freelance." said the Doctor, "I'm a trader in scientific expertise."

"Sounds interesting. What field?"

"Oh all of them!" The Doctor showed sincerity which Ace knew was true.

"Anything you have in mind?"

"Magnetic shielding." said the Doctor bluntly.

The man, who from what Ace could make of the name badge on the desk was called "Director Fergusson" laughed again but stopped when he caught the Doctor's eye.

"You're joking!"

"We wouldn't be here if we were!" Said Ace with a little authority.

"I know your problem has always been protection from airstrikes. I have the information neccassary to begin construction of Magnetic field projectors that can repel the American weaponry."

Ace noted that the Doctor, even when having to aid an enemy, was not providing them with weapons.

"And how come you have the answers for a device that has been sought after by our top research departments for the last 10 years?"

"University wages were getting us down. Thought we'd earn a little extra!" bluffed Ace. She was beginning to enjoy herself despite the traumatic recent experience. Ah... adrenalin! Nothing quite like it for refining the concentration.

"Well If you really do have the skill to build An EM repulsor, What would you want?"

"I think we can discuss price some other time. My companion and I are tired, Director."

"Of course Doctor. I'll see that you get quartered. We'll get you Airlifted to HQ in the morning. Sorry about the state of the rooms, but this is a war after all."

Picking up on the fact this was meant to be humourous the Doctor smiled. They were lead by the Captain, who was now finding himself on butler duty, to some Barrack like rooms.

Ace Climbed onto the bed and was very soon immersed in sleep.

A noise disturbed her. It must have been a few hours since she drifted off. Her sleep dazed mind slowly focused in on the plastic window and dark walls of the room. Again she heard a sound from outisde. More alert now, she sat up.

Her door began to move quietly. Someone definately didn't want to be heard. Her rucksack, and anything she could use as a weapon were out of reach and there was no way out of this room in a hurry.

The door opened fully to reveal someone she recognised. She then only just realised that this re-union was not going to be a happy one.

It was Farrish, but there was no hint that he was under Fenric's control. Fenric had probably transferred himself to someone higher up the chain of command by now.

"So much for being an observer!" Farrish whispered harshly. He whiped out a knife from his utility belt then swung it savagely at her chest!

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Episode Ten

by BlameLewis

The knife plunged towards Ace's chest, as she sat frozen by shock in her bed. Then the blade shot out of Farrish's hand, an inch from her skin, and embedded itself in the far wall. Farrish gaped.

"Well," said the Doctor, standing in the doorway clutching a small, strange machine, "I think my magnetic shield prototype works perfectly!"

"You traitors!" snarled Farrish, and sprang towards the Doctor, hands outstretched.

The machine in his hands crashed to the floor as the Doctor was grabbed by the enraged Farrish. The Doctor fell backwards and the device exploded in a flash of bright blue.

Ace dashed over, waving away the smoke. "Professor!" she shouted. Booted feet could be heard coming down the corridor towards the room.

"I'm alright Ace." said the Doctor, waving at the smoke with a slightly blackened hat. "But I fear..." he leant over the prone form of Farrish, lying over the remains of the machine. "He's dead. He took the force of the explosion full on." he announced, just as the Zena Corp troops arrived.

"What's going on here?" demanded the sergeant.

"A spy." said the Doctor, coldly. He looked the soldier in the eye. "Who has been dealt with."

The sergeant glanced down at the body, then up at the Doctor. "How did he get in?" he asked, suspiciously "Security here is absolute!"

"Sergeant - I am not responsible for your lapses in security. Just be glad I took care of it for you - now get him out of here, and leave us in peace!" The sergeant grunted, but did as the Doctor asked - two of his men quickly removed the corpse, and he left the Doctor and Ace to examine the shattered machine.

As soon as they were alone, the Doctor seemed to visibly crumple. "Yet again this situation forces me into coldness..." he muttered, picking bits out of the wreck of the machine. Ace put a hand on his shoulder, and earned a wan smile.

"How did Farrish get in?" she asked.

"We last saw him posessed by Fenric, disappearing into thin air." the Doctor replied, still rewiring components in the device. He grabbed the desk lamp from Ace's bedside table, ripped off the plug, and stuck the whole lamp into the centre of the contraption.

"So Fenric probably left him here, and transferred his control to someone here?" Ace said.

The Doctor froze. "Yes. Oh my."

"What?"

"We assumed that he would use Farrish to aid the Americans... but perhaps he's being more immediate than that."

"He's here, isn't he?" said Ace, her skin turning pale.

"He's here," nodded the Doctor, "and he's going to help the Americans win by destroying the Russians - from within!"

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Episode Eleven

by Kilduskland

The glass table reflected the single light-tile in the ceiling. The Director sat motionless to the side of the table, a soldier standing before him.

"All the mutants, Sir?" asked the soldier, incredulous.

"Every single one of them."

"But if theyre all released they will tear our own people -"

"All of them!" barked Director Ferguson. "Youre dismissed to carry out your duties. Follow them out to the letter."

The soldier saluted, turned and left the room. The Director listened as the door slowly closed by itself after the soldier had left. He let out a heavy sigh. A movement to the side of the room caught his attention. The Doctor approached from a shadowy corner of the room.

"A clever ploy, Director," the Doctor said, softly. "Have someone attack Ace, knowing I would be nearby to save her. And my little magnetic shield prototype just happens to get destroyed in the process, setting back your power blocks chances of winning the war." The Director frowned, but the Doctor expected that. He took the chair opposite and stared across the dark glass table at his opponent. He took something from an inside pocket, and held it up under the light.

"What are you talking about?" asked Ferguson. "How did you get in here without me hearing you?"

The Doctor was holding a brass pocket watch in mid-air, swinging it gently from side to side. Slowly. Rhythmically. "Director Ferguson, only you knew that I was building a magnetic shield prototype," he said. "So you must have been possessed by Fenric before Farrish arrived. Show me!" Fergusons eyes followed the path of the watch.

Dark eyes, watching.

"Show me!" the Doctor growled again. Flashes of green in those dark eyes. "I said show me!"

As if responding so some sort of summoning, the essence of Fenric returned to Fergusons body. The Doctor brought the watch to a stop, and re-pocketed it.

"I am of course elsewhere," said Fenric, through Fergusons soft tones.

"You wish to destroy the Zena Corp from within. But that wont topple the balance of power in the universe. Only your own destruction would do that. It is the dwindling supply of evil in the universe that is causing the degeneration of the universal order. If you really want to carry out the ladys wishes, and cause chaos to come, you would sacrifice yourself."

"What you say is correct," agreed the possessed Director, with gentle pronunciation, "but you betray your true reason for summoning me. You wish to save the timelines and prevent me from stopping this war from beginning."

"The Timelines are of no interest to you, Fenric. Leave such small trivialities to renegade Time Lords and alike. You are as much the Black Guardians agent in this universe as I am the Whites. The war must be started, you must reign supreme if the balance is to be re-established."

"For the greater good of the universe, Doctor?" There was genuine surprise in the Directors voice. "Are you honestly saying that you would let me flourish, and retire to a small house in the country?! How quaint! And how completely unlikely."

The Doctor let a ghost of a smile cross his face. "You know your enemy well, Fenric. But I am a Time Lord, and therefore bound by the laws of Time which are maintained in a greater sense by the black and white Guardians. And it is their order that is at stake here. Not yours, not mine. But that which we share."

"Are you seriously proposing a truce?" The Director suddenly let his head roll back and he burst into laughter.

"If the order is swept away, so are you," shouted the Doctor. "Yes, even you Fenric can be swept away by greater events, and you know that just as well as I do. You saw the Lady yourself, you know the forces that are active just now."

The Directors smile faded. "Do you have a more attractive proposal?"

"That you let this world war re-establish its normal course, and that I give you a more worthy playground on which to vent your emotions."

The Doctor clearly had Fenrics complete attention now. "If evil must flourish, what better place for it to do so that the corrupt home of the mighty Time Lords, with their limitless supply of Tardis vessels?"

The Time Lord decided to omit the words SPACE-STATION from his following sentence.

"I offer you free and guaranteed passage to a court environment of Gallifrey."

The Doctor had made his move, a vast and dangerous gamble. Setting a necessary war in motion, at the risk of failing to contain an all-powerful evil at the steps of Gallifrey itself.

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Episode Twelve

by esherrouse

The Doctor stared into the eyes of the Director. He knew this was a very big gamble. It was a gamble that the Doctor himself was not certain he should take. Fenric could unleash untold destruction on the entire universe if this plan failed. Instead of retoring a balance to the eternal scales, the Doctor would go down in history as the bringer of destruction. In a morbid moment, the Doctor felt his mind laughing at the irony.

"I accept your proposal Doctor, but how can I be certain that you will not betray me?" The Director responded.

"You have my word as a Time Lord that all that I have stated will be granted to you for your disposal. There is nothing more that I can do." As the Doctor concluded the last statement Ace ran in the doorway exhausted.

"Doctor! They are releasing the mutants all over the place!"

The Doctor looked to the Director awaiting a final decision.

The Director said with a chilling grin, "Timing, my child, does not seem to be on your side." He looked to Ace.

"I will rendez-vous with you at your TARDIS and we will make the final arrangements there." With that the Director seemed to suddenly become exhausted.

"Rest." The Doctor said in a soothing voice. He then placed the Director's head on the desktop and looked to Ace. "Come on we have to stop this massacre and get Fenric off this planet."

"What? Where are we taking him?" Ace looked disturbingly confused at the idea of having Fenric as a new travelling companion.

"Come on." The Doctor stomped out the door and found his way to the officer who had released the Mutants. The Officer had the look of a soldier in the heat of battle and yet he had not seen the enemy for days. It was fear. The fear of the suicidal action that he had just taken. He had known that the beasts would rip into everything in their paths if they were released. He had lost many of his top soldiers already and knew the end was near.

"Pull all of you men to communications center. Then activate this over the load speaker." The Doctor produced a small humming device,that resembled a marble, from his pocket. "It will keep the mutants away from the base, but you have to do it now before everyone is killed. Go!"

The Officer ran for the communications center without a second thought. What did he have to lose was the first and only thought he had. Ace looked at the Doctor, "What will that do?"

"It will transmit a sonic wave that will act as a repellant to the mutants and drive them away from the base."

"Like a flea collar!" said Ace excitedly.

"Something like that." The Doctor frowned before continuing, "We have a date with darkness" He said as he marched off into the wilderness.

As the Doctor and Ace approached the TARDIS a soldier emerged from behind smiling. "Well Doctor, It seems you have succeeded in saving this little planet of yours yet again. It must be nice to have pets." He grinned and then looked at Ace. "Now I will be joining you again, my child."

"What?" Ace backed away looking at the Doctor for reassurance.

"That is not a part of the deal, Fenric. I promised you free passage to a court of the Time Lords, but not in the body of my friend."

"What? Doctor, you can't be serious. Letting that thing go on Gallifrey."

"Doctor, do you really expect me to trust you while in the body of some unknown soldier?"

"All life is the same Fenric. You know my position on this matter and it is not up for negotiations."

"It is somewhat confusing to me how a race of creatures such as the TimeLords should value life so much more than these puny Earthlings when they have so much more of it."

"Life..." The Doctor seemed to fade away lost in the abyss of thoughts that emerged from this concept. "We are not Gods Fenric and we know our roles, so let us fulfill them."

"Very well Doctor." The soldier stepped to the side and bowed toward the TARDIS. The Doctor opened the TARDIS and then entered. Ace waited for Fenric to enter and then followed cautiously. What was the Doctor doing?

The console stopped moving and the Doctor activated the monitor. Outside, a huge seal of Rassilon hung over a walk way. The Doctor looked down at the controls and then said, "This is all your's Fenric. All that I promised you."

"You can not give the Time Lords over to that... thing." Ace was appearing really concerned now. "How?" She concluded.

The Doctor operated the lever to open the doors and then exited. Fenric began to glow with excitement. "At last, the entire Universe will answer to me as it did in the beginning. I have won the game my friend. Check Mate." He was staring at the ceiling of the open chamber exclaiming his victory over an unseen opponent. Ace ran over to the Doctor and began, "Who is he talking to Professor?"

"Everything, Ace. He is referring to all of the powers of the Universe. Good and Evil. He has won. All he need do now is pass through that portal and proclaim his ascendancy to power over the courts of Gallifrey."

"What? You can't let him do that. Professor!" Ace looked at the Doctor's melancholy face and then looked to Fenric's glowing body. "No."

"Child, this is the end. Soon all of the universe and all of time will be my wolves." He then looked to the portal that the Doctor had referred to and continued, "Bow before me TimeLords." He then marched toward the opening.

The Doctor stepped to the side and watched as the soldier crossed through what seemed to be a transparent gel. The Doctor then turned and stood in front of the opening and watched as the soldier began to take in his surroundings, as Fenric realized the snare.

"What is this Time Lord!"

"I promised you 'a court environment of Gallifrey' did I not? And what would a court on a Space Station be without a Decontamination or Quarantine Center?"

"Where are the Time Lords, Doctor?"

"I never said that I was taking you home for dinner, Fenric."

"I can not breathe. There is no oxygen here for this body."

The Doctor continued in lecture format, "This is a Time Lord Space Station. One, as a matter of fact, that I faced trial in many years ago. As you can see it does not get the traffic it once did."

"This Body is dying. Let me out of here!" The voice of Fenric began to overtake that of the human soldiers voice. There was a green glow appearing around the body as the sound of a deep howl began to vibrate through the chamber.

"We are killing the soldier!" Ace interjected with concern on her face.

"I will be certain to pass the fact that you are here along to the Time Lords so that they can decide what to do with you. I am sure the body of the human will be decayed by the time they get through the bureacracy and decide what to do with you."

"We can't just kill the soldier, Professor." inquired Ace.

"What about life, Time Lord!?" Howled Fenric.

"What about Death?" said the Doctor as he stared into the chamber at the gasping human. He then turned to Ace with almost as sinister a look and asked, "To kill or not to kill?"

Ace looked at him as if he were mad. "What? Not to. Not to!" She was flooded with emotions as she watched the man fall to the floor gasping for air. The green glow of Fenric seemed to shoot out of the body and into the air. It was a mass of circling vultures all blurring together.

The Doctor operated a lever on the side panel of the wall and ran into the room grabbing the soldier's unconscious body. He pulled it out of the chamber as the howling green essence of Fenric continued to spiral above. He reactivated the lever and the gel returned. The blurred mass collided into the gel in an attept to flee for a new host. The Doctor produced an oxygen mask form his coat pocket and placed it over the soldier's mouth. After a few seconds, the soldier began to gasp for air again.

"Easy friend." Said the Doctor as he removed the mask. "We have to get you home. Help me get him to the TARDIS, Ace."

Ace quickly started helping him walk the soldier to the TARDIS and looked to the Doctor and asked, "What about Fenric?"

"That is up to the Time Lords now. We played our part."

They walked inside the TARDIS and the doors closed behind them. In a matter of seconds, there was a familiar whirring sound and then the TARDIS vanished...

The End.

