The Doctor's Journal Part 2:

DOCTOR WHO--Season 100345
episode 4: A Mote In Harmony's Eye

(Editor's Note: Good God Ray, have you seen the effects the next episode requires? Look. If you want this one done, fine. But remember, you owe me. Also, Tom B. says he's going to be out on personal business for a while. Tell you what, why don't we go ahead and shoot it, and leave the effects until next session, hopefully I can get a bigger budget together. Film this one, but don't give the Doctor many face shots, we'll use a stand-in. Make it a sort of memory and recollection thing, use a lot of flashbacks......)

Hmm... this was bizarre.... Our merry little group had decided to hit the fast-time dimension again, to rest up. We appeared to arrive at our destination, but the displays were registering negative coordinates. Old memories rode through my mind, and I desperately tried to recall what I could about that period of my life. The others went out to explore, and I stayed behind to tinker with the TARDIS. I used the time alone to dwell upon these fairly strange people that I had fallen in with.
Morganth, the first that I met. Odd fellow, but wizards often are. He and his colleague Blazer seemed cut from the same cloth. Both powerful, but somewhat eccentric. They were two sides of a coin, Blazer being the well-meaning nice side, and Morganth being the somewhat dark, mysterious type. There were secrets behind them, that's for sure.

Scout, at first glance, would appear to be an average earthling caught up in this mess. Average earthlings, however, rarely show such martial prowess, or skill at tracking people through Shadow. Perhaps his travels had changed him, much as my travels had changed my own lives.

Steed I have met before. Of that I am certain. He knew the Brigadier, so we may have at one time worked for the same bureau. Funny, the amount of dimensional-hopping employees our branch must have had on retainer....
Suehprom was probably a shape-shifter. He said that Kitten had come from his body, which would make his claim more believable. He seems a friendlier sort than most shape-shifters that I have encountered, though.

Cat. That one word about says it all. The dear girl appears to be playing a dangerous game, moving from one side to the other and giving few reasons for it. Perhaps she is only helping Creed for the sake of Kitten. I hope that is so, I bear no malice toward Kitten, if I can convince the others to that viewpoint then that is one more stroke towards talking some sense into the feline twins.

Creed. Good Rasalom, that man is dangerous. Heir to the Chaos throne, he would probably use his position to blow dimensions up, or something. I just want to keep the Jewel of Judgment out of his hands, and my companions from being killed by him.

Kesa.... never really got to know her that much. Seemed like a decent person, if a little excitable. What IS her part in this?

At this point in my musings, I entered the main control room and K-9 informed me that there had been intruders on board! Just then, there was a knock on the door. A glance confirmed that Creed was outside, demanding entrance. My God, what was he doing!? NOOOOO!!!!!!

DOCTOR WHO--Season 100345
episode 5: The Road Less Taken

NOOOOO!!!! My scream echoed as the Chaos blade sliced through every point of space in the TARDIS, including me, K9, and the Eye of Harmony. At about that point, the universe collapsed.

I awoke, still in my present incarnation. Bit of a surprise, really. I was still in the TARDIS, but it was an older TARDIS, about twenty regenerations back. K9 was nowhere in sight, but then, he hadn't been built yet. The implosion of the universe had thrown me back in time..... I pulled out a Trump at random. It was a picture of no one I knew, but I attempted a contact. No response. The other Trumps had very little effect at all. I hopped over to Amber, only to end up in the middle of an empty field.

This entire situation was starting to disturb me. At that point in my musings, a knock came on the door. I opened the door, and came face to face with the person from the random Trump. (Mental note #30045. Always check before opening the door. Might be bad person....) Since he didn't try to kill me, I invited him in. He introduced himself as Dworkin! Hmm.... a very young Dworkin... I explained the situation as having something to do with Trumps, and he asked what Trumps were. I showed him a Trump and explained a bit, which set him into a fit of thoughtfulness... (So I ended up being the cause of the creation of Trumps... funny how the universe works sometimes...) After that brief interlude, I set my mind to other things. I hopped into the time stream, and examined the process in more detail.

The Chaos dagger that I picked up turned out to be some sort of dimensional gate. When I examined the dimension it led to, I found a very boring place. Maybe in a few millennia it would become interesting, so I drew a Trump of it just in case. When I managed to get to the temporal scanners, I saw the situation was worse than I thought.

The destruction of the Eye of Harmony had set off a time storm, which was busily destroying the future. Everyone after that point in time had been destroyed, with the exception of certain powerful beings. The individuals who were with me at the same time the Eye was destroyed had been thrown back into their own pasts. They seemed to be generating their own temporal vortices, effecting a change on the timelines around them. Now I had a plan.... By analyzing the Chaos dagger, I was able to structure the TARDIS to prevent the blade from having any effect upon it. If I could go to the exact moment in time that Creed had tried to open the TARDIS, and wrap this current TARDIS around the TARDIS Creed was attacking, then the destruction would be prevented. The Eye of Harmony would be safe, for the moment, anyway. There was only one problem. The time storm prevented me from going forward to that location and moment in time.

(As a side note, I also constructed a duplicate of K9, but with his head blown off. I had the vague idea of tricking Creed with it..., oh well, it makes a nice footrest, at least. I don't know whether K9 died in the explosion or was hurled back. Something to check on....)
To get to that spot, I would require a lot of temporal force, and I could see only one way to achieve that. I would have to gather up all who were present at the time of destruction. Once that was done, we could go forward, stop the old Creed, and hopefully put an end to this madness. Then, presumably, the timelines would snap back together, eliminating all this nonsense and hopefully fixing any changes we may have made in the current temporal track.

I decided to go after Cat first. She seemed to have a fairly level head, and perhaps she could help with Creed. I slotted her Trump into the TARDIS, and off I went.

As the TARDIS materialized, it appeared around a fellow in very bad shape. I picked him up, and hustled him back into a medical stasis tube, then, warily, I opened the TARDIS door. Creed was standing there with an extremely large gun. Somehow, I wasn't surprised. I looked around and saw Cat, Kesa, and another fellow in a lab coat, Doctor Plutonium was the name he gave. I explained the situation, and the others agreed to help. (Except for that Plutonium fellow, who just sort of chortled to himself constantly...) We stayed around for a little while, as Doctor P. performed some very primitive surgery on Creed, apparently to remove some of the cyberware. (A whimsical thought struck me, and I took a sketch of Doctor P. Perhaps if I could hop over to a Shadow England in the 60's, and get him a meeting with BBC executives......) After that, we piled into the TARDIS and went after Scout.

Or tried to at least. Apparently the fellow was aboard an airplane, one a little too small for the TARDIS. I searched through my closets, located and sent a microprobe through to the plane. I attempted an interface with the onboard computer, but was unable to due to a serious malfunction in the plane's electronics! I turned the probe invisible (Didn't want to cause a ruckus.) And sent it back through the plane. I found Scout. He happened to be sitting next to Corwin. That was all I could see before Corwin snatched the probe out of the air, and turned it into spare parts. I sent another probe through, this time with a Trump in its pincers. This time I managed to get the Trump to them, and the two of them Trumped aboard the TARDIS before the plane could crash to the ground. (Sigh.... whatever possessed them to get aboard one of those flying deathtraps? I'm sorry, but the twentieth century was NOT a good time for commercial flight.)

With that episode behind us, we collected Suehprom from a relative of Corwin's, some lady named Flora. Seemed like a nice person, even if she was a little too quick with a knife... anyway, we got back aboard the TARDIS and had a short conference. It appeared that several people had changed the timelines, mostly small changes. Corwin, however, had effected a huge change upon Amber's history, and gotten himself blinded again for it. There was also a mystery player involved in this whole mess, some fellow named Devlin. Ah well, one more to gather up. I cloned Corwin some new eyes, and we collected Swarm. (Hmm.... you know, I now have one Amberite's tissue on file.... if I was a lot less scrupulous I could do some nasty things with it.... NO! what am I thinking? I may study it at some point in the future. Nothing more.)

Complications hit when we attempted to pick up Blazer. As soon as the TARDIS began to materialize, Corwin shouted a warning, and I threw us into temporal orbit. It seems that we were about to materialize in front of a member of the Amber family that Corwin considered very dangerous. (Eric. Although, he could be referring to any of his relatives.) We materialized in an empty room (Brand's.) and planned our actions. I, Scout, and Suehprom would go get Blazer, while Corwin and Creed would provide a distraction. Corwin had mixed some workable gunpowder for Scout, so we had a bit of an advantage in that area. The others would remain behind, just in case.

It started out fairly well. Scout was able to guide us past potential dangers, and led us to a drawing room. He thought Blazer was in there, but he also detected danger..... I volunteered to go in first.... Once inside, I came face-to-face with Eric. We exchanged cautious pleasantries, and I asked for Blazer. He said no, and inquired how we came to be in Amber. We continued in this vein for a while. He wanted possession of my transportation. Knowing the TARDIS as well as I do, I saw this as impossible and tried to convince him of this fact. (I doubt he could succeed where numerous other villains have failed.) He agreed to let me take Blazer, then cold cocked me when I turned my back to him. (Mental note. DO NOT TURN BACK ON AMBERITES!) I woke up in the TARDIS, with everyone there except for Kesa. I Trumped her, and pulled the dear lady through. She wouldn't say where she had been....

The last one remaining was Devlin. Corwin suggested Tir-na Nog'th as a place to complete several of our goals, and having no better ideas, I set the console for our destination.

DOCTOR WHO--Season 100345
episode 6: The Hand of Suehprom

The TARDIS put us off on the top of a mountain. A rather tall mountain, with a narrow staircase leading up. After the requisite "I'm not trusting you, you go first!" discussion between everyone but me, we set off up the stairs. (Very long stairs, at that....) Some hours later, we reached the top.

Tir-na Nog'th seemed to be a temporally displaced location, a Shadow of a Shadow. Images appeared of the inhabitants, who appeared to be slightly out of phase with the present plane. Corwin suggested that we split up, and we proceeded to do just that. I wandered around for a while, taking a leisurely route to the castle in the distance. Basically, sightseeing. I got bored with it fast. (After a few thousand years, sightseeing does little for you. I haven't quite seen it all, but I am getting to that point.....)

Strange... I had seen many of the Shadow inhabitants around, but had taken little notice of them. Out of the corner of my eye I noticed one that bore a great resemblance to the Brigadier. I focused on him, and he began to notice me.... just as I received a Trump call.

I answered it, and received an image of Suehprom and Blazer, and some fellow in black who was holding on to them. Suehprom shouted for me to pull him through, and I did. I inquired of Suehprom who his friend was. Said "friend" then tried to knock Suehprom unconscious. (Blazer was out too. Seems to be a recurring phenomenon for him.) I hastily entangled the man in black with my scarf, and Trumped to an empty spot in the TARDIS, bringing Blazer along for good measure. Since the man in black had released Suehprom, he was left behind....

As the Trump effect ended, I did three things. I cut the scarf (Sorry, old friend...), grabbed Blazer, and ran for my life. Well, two out of three isn't bad... The last thing I heard before the man in black struck me was Creed's voice, saying how I had always been a meddler. At about that point, I lost consciousness. (I did not think that it was Creed. First off, Creed was violent and evil, but not stupid. He had no reason to do the things this person had just done.)

I came to shakily, and immediately noted the state of the TARDIS. The Uber-Creed, I suppose you could call him, had departed in some haste, knocking holes in several of the inner walls. What's more, he had left the outer door ajar! As I looked outside, I noticed two distant figures falling to the ground. When viewed through my handy opera glasses, one looked sort of like Creed, the other was a personage with his face gone. They disappeared even as I observed.... I stuck Blazer in the infirmary to heal, and Trumped Corwin. Corwin responded to the call, and said that everything was fine. I stepped through, just in case. Once through, I was able to get a view of the Pattern at last...

I cannot really describe it. It knots and twines over and over in a system that I could spend an incarnation exploring. I took down a sketch of it, just in case. This bore further study. Oh, by the way, Scout was walking through it, with a great deal of difficulty. I stepped outside the room to contact the others. Kesa was with Cat, and both were fine. She stepped through, then departed elsewhere. Creed I couldn't contact at all. (Perhaps that was just as well...) Suehprom was a whole different matter.

This pretty much confirmed that he was a shapeshifter. His mind was in a primal form. No thoughts were present, merely impulses. His mind attempted to throw me out, but I managed to calm it. I needed him in a secure location, until I could figure a way to change him back. With great care, I put a Trump of a room in the TARDIS into the Trump contact..... and the contact broke.

After some more fiddling around with Trumps, I decided to go and have a look in the TARDIS, to make sure Suehprom was there. When I got there, the room I had sent him to was empty, but the sensors showed that there had been an unauthorized entry at the time the Trump was passed through. I recalled my impressions of Suehprom's current state of mind. Then I ran to the weapons locker. After a few frantic seconds, I emerged with a lot of new hardware, and the strange urge to say "yo!". Swiftly throttling that urge, I made my way to the infirmary to check up on Blazer.

I arrived in the infirmary to witness Blazer in the medical capsule, and a creature that I assumed was Suehprom standing over him, with a claw in Blazer's chest. I held my breath, any move I made could prove fatal to Blazer...... seconds went by. The creature didn't stir.

It took me a little while to realize that the thing was paralyzed. Moving swiftly, but with great caution, I analyzed the situation. Blazer was the top priority here. With great care, I used a sonic hacksaw to slice the creature's hand off at the wrist. I then stabilized Blazer as best as I could, and lowered the capsule to another floor. (I figured that he was probably better off away from this area....) Being a traditionalist at heart, I popped next door, and suited up into the spare cargo exo-lifter. (Picked it up on an abandoned spaceship somewhere near the Shadow-Earth. Can't figure out why it was so scorched from acid burns, though....) Feeling a little more secure, I stomped back into the Infirmary. The now unoccupied infirmary. 

I turned on the motion detectors, and read...nothing. Hmm. Well, might as well set up the trap I had in mind. I stomped down the hall to an unused guest room, one with a food replicator and a few unused knickknacks, Including an old mirror. And on that mirror was a reflection of an exo-suited fellow, with a hideous creature on the back, slowly chewing through the suit.....

First, I closed the door behind me. Then I opened the trapdoor in the floor, unbuckled from the suit, leaped down it, and slammed it shut behind me. Running over to a security console, I set up a containment field about the room. I sighed in relief as the creature proved unable to escape its confinement. I set the replicator to spew out small, edible fuzzy creatures, and returned to the infirmary.

I replaced Blazer's capsule, and checked the scanners. The claw was clenched right around the poor fellow's heart. It was a good thing Suehprom had been frozen when he was, it looked like his claw had been set to rip the organ right out! (Very inefficient design, the human one. Only one heart....) The claw had sealed off the injury at its wrist, and seemed to be capable of becoming an organism in its own right. Or perhaps, part of another organism.... I draped my scarf over the claw, and set my not-too-feeble mind to sending sensations of calm, and joining to the claw. (As I may have stated before, my scarf is a symbiotic organism. Perhaps it could benefit from a symbiote of its own.) Soon enough, the fibers of the scarf had intertwined with the substance of the claw. I gently pried the fingers from around Blazer's heart, and set the repaired medical capsule to . I tucked the now-conjoined claw in the folds of the scarf.

Hmm.... now how to change Suehprom back? I recalled hearing somewhere that two things could bring a shapechanger out of primal form. Extreme calm, or an overload of threatening material. That second option triggered a memory, of seeing something in the twentieth century of Earth, something so horrifying......

I ran to the video library, and programmed the monitors in Suehprom's room to run several concurrent videos of some fiendish torture device disguised as a kid's show. (Can't recall the name, it featured some idiotic purple dinosaur.) I also programmed the audio in the room to constantly play the music of several of the Earth's worst pop musicians.... As an afterthought, I set the food dispensers to spew little green dinosaurs. After that, I set the cameras to tape the whole experience, (Never know when I might need to blackmail Suehprom.) and left him their for a couple of hours. I checked over a few minor matters with the others, (Corwin had located Delwin, by the way. Said he was willing to go with us.) and readied the TARDIS to leave. Suehprom managed to regain control of himself, and we swung by Tir-na Nog'th to pick up his Trump deck.

After a few minor problems collecting the others, we made ready to leave.

DOCTOR WHO--SEASON 100345
Episode 7: The Fall of the Blade

We materialized in the castle of mirrors without difficulty. Corwin joined us, with a man on his shoulder that I assumed to be unconscious. Some of the others questions confirmed my suspicion that Corwin had knocked the poor fellow out. I decided to say nothing, we could probably apologize to Delwin later. (While everyone was busy talking, I took a moment to search for K-9. I materialized the TARDIS in the TARDIS, and found a model kit of my old friend. Then I jumped back, before a Moebius effect could take over.)

We took a short amount of time to finalize our plans. Or we tried to, anyway. After endless arguing, I threw up my hands and jumped us over to the world of trees. I figured that everyone was going to do whatever they pleased anyway, so we might as well be there for the duration. I managed to take us in about an hour before (Insert melodramatic music) Bladefall.

Everyone followed their own plans, some hiding, others staying in the TARDIS or near it. The other TARDIS was a short distance away. I walked up and knocked on the door. Then I remembered that I had a key. After a short trip in the spare rooms of the TARDIS, I located my other self. You know, I'm really quite a nice fellow. (Handsome, too.) It took me a short time to explain things, then we made a few plans. After that short chat, I exited the TARDIS. Some stranger had shown up, and seemed to be engaged in conversation with Scout. I made my way over to where they were. Suehprom stopped me, and informed me that the individual was Creed's son! He seemed rather paranoid. I decided to reserve judgment until I met the fellow. 

I finished my trip over to their branch, and had a chat with the fellow. His name was Gabriel, and he was looking for his father. I decided to keep that information to myself until we had resolved the current crisis. We explained the situation as best we could, and he agreed to help. (Really quite a nice lad.... reminds me of my 8th self's childhood.) I looked at the time, and decided to have tea while we were waiting. I went back to the TARDIS, and returned with the good tea service. (No one in Amber will miss it anyway. Funny, the things I find in my overcoat after I visit such places.) I returned outside in time to see that Luke fellow, holding Gabriel hostage!

I could hear a bit of the conversation going on over there, so I attempted to hurry on to their branch. I knew a little about Luke, that Brand was his father. Corwin must have done something to his timeline, to make Luke declare vengeance upon him NOW of all times....(I keep telling people that interfering with their own timelines is foolish and self-defeating. They never listen.) I attempted to reason with Luke, but got nowhere. Managed to get him to agree to wait an hour before trying to kill Corwin, but I didn't like the gleam in his eye when he agreed to that.... At one point I even offered myself as a hostage! (My other self could handle matters, and I was probably harder to kill than Gabriel. No sense having another innocent death on my conscience.) Luke said no, shoved Gabriel off the branch, and grabbed hold of a suddenly materialized Cat! (I managed to catch Gabriel with the scarf as he fell. He might be able to help, later.)

After another round of mutual threats, Luke settled down somewhat. I served tea, and headed back to the TARDIS to put the service back. At the door, I ran into the alternate Cat and Kesa. (I knew I should have kept an eye on the time!) I greeted them politely, and let them into the TARDIS. I fiddled around a bit, basically stalling for time. Then I popped back into the back, and let the other me know that it was time.... at about that same time, I heard Creed's voice from the main control room...

I ran to a monitor, to watch the scene unfold. Then I pulled out the emergency harmony separation buttons. No matter what, the blade would NOT destroy the universe again. As I did so, Steed popped into existence right beside me! I gave him a brief account of what needed to be done, and watched Creed knock my alter-ego unconscious. Creed exited the TARDIS, carrying me #2. Then I made a mistake. Seeing that Cat was still poking around, I ordered K-9 to stun her. Then I ran into the control room. Creed threw the Chaos blade at K-9, cutting him in two! Then he through me #2 at me, knocking me to the floor. I grabbed for the Chaos blade, and caught the hilt. The blade had separated. Bladefall had begun.

I picked up the buttons. (Which one was which? I really had no idea.) Then I ran to the Eye of Harmony, taking Steed along with me. We stood over the Eye of Harmony, waiting for the blade. After a little while, something registered in my mind. Where was the blade? It should be here by now... I checked the sensors. The blade had stopped in the control room. I asked Steed to wait here, and ran up there. The room was empty. I tracked the blade with the sensors, and ran back into the complex of halls....

I caught up with a strange trio near the confinement room. Myself, Steed, and Creed. Creed was bleeding profusely from the hands and clutching the Chaos blade. I whipped out the Trump of the origin of the blade, and Trumped the site. I received VERY bad feelings from the Trump. Creed tried to put the blade into the Trump, but only cut it in half. I repaired the Trump, and used it again, this time letting Creed in on the Trump contact. This time the attempt was a success, and Bladefall was averted as the Chaos blade returned to whence it had originated!

We went outside, into the aftermath of a battle. The other TARDIS was missing! I asked a slightly charred and naked (Harry, strategic camera angles here! Keep it PG-13!) Creed what had happened. He claimed to have pushed the TARDIS off the branch it was on... The other me and I sat down and discussed options. He suggested sending the remaining TARDIS off for five minutes, so the paradox dampers wouldn't prevent universal reversion. We did so, and my counterpart disappeared. As did the charred Creed, and supposedly, most of the others. Luke was gone, but Gabriel still remained.

The universe saved once more, I invited everyone into the TARDIS for a victory dinner. Corwin excused himself for a moment, then returned with a rather attractive lady on his arm. He introduced her as Deirdre, a person that I had read about in his journals. (Picked up a copy of said journals in Amber. Will return it to the library. Sooner or later...) Suehprom was nowhere in sight, so I left the door open for him. Cat volunteered to keep an eye out for him. Deirdre wished to freshen up, so I led her to a rather unused wing of the TARDIS. The rest of us went to the dining hall.

I raided the food stores, and whipped up a savory feast. I experimented with the jelly fruit from the coatrack-tree, and found that it made a savory garnish. After bringing the dishes out, I received a Trump call from a confused Suehprom. It seems that he reverted to his first version, and was very confused. (If that was so, however, why was that claw formed from him still in existence? Why is he lying?) I Trumped him through, and the remainder of our group filed in. I went off with Creed, to try to fix his rather wounded hands. I grew him a few replacement fingers, but, as I told him, it was uncertain how long they would last. (His metabolism is strange...)

I returned to the dining hall, to hear Steed proclaim that he was a Pattern-ghost. (humph. Wherever he had been, it must have damaged his sanity.) Then we finally sat down to eat, and for some odd reason, Suehprom started yelling that Cat was getting into his mind. I glanced over to see Cat holding on to his Trump, and glaring at him. His cloak had just appeared in her hand!

I don't tolerate mind control at my table, especially when I am hosting the feast. I plucked the cloak from Cat's hands, and tossed it to Suehprom. Then I told him to flee. When he asked where, I tossed him a paper with directions on it. He vamoosed with all due haste. The floor show over, we settled back to eat. Then Steed piped up. (Not again! We hadn't even made it to dessert! I even made pie!)

He mentioned that his body was probably inhabited by a Ty'iga, and currently taking the Jewel of Judgment straight into Chaos. We rushed to the control room, and started to set the coordinates, when a strange voice behind me spoke up, claiming that we must go directly to Chaos. One look revealed it to be that Oberon fellow. 

Basically, he said that we were going to get his gem back for him. I didn't have the power to do otherwise, and it seemed like the right thing to do. (I don't like Oberon. But I suppose I'm stuck with him.

DOCTOR WHO--season 100345
episode 8: To Chaos and Beyond

And so, with Oberon giving us the coordinates, we materialized in Chaos. It seemed rather pleasant, actually. We had arrived in a large garden. We traversed the path, until it led to a locked gate. I attempted to unlock the gate with my sonic screwdriver, but the reality in Chaos seemed to be interfering with it. (Odd, this tool was supposed to be universal...) Deirdre solved the problem by cutting the lock in two with that rather large axe she carries. A very pretty illusion then materialized, and informed us that we were in the lady Dara's domain, and to stay out if we weren't invited. Since that was not an option, we went in.

Into a large hedge maze. We wandered around for a bit, puttering around with twine, and other guides. Finally, we made our way to the center. The center was inhabited by a large minotaur, who asked us if we had appointments. Since we did not, he gave us a Trump of Dara's secretary, and told us to set one up. (Fairly nice fellow, even if the empty cans around the area were Schlitz beer cans.) Unfortunately, Creed decided to act macho, and ended up cutting the minotaur's head off. (Oh well... he drank Schlitz anyway.) Deirdre took the secretary's Trump, and tried to set up an appointment. I judged by her shouting and rude language that it wasn't having much effect. I joined into the contact, and "suggested" to the secretary that a previous appointment had been canceled. Then after Deirdre broke the link, I Trumped the secretary and tried the polite method of asking. It worked.

We used the Trump to produce an effect called a Trump gate. (Interesting..... I shall have to research this phenomena...) We entered into the receptionist's hall, where we were asked by a large creature to check our weapons. Deirdre decided to vent some angst, and killed the creature. Creed knocked out the secretary while she was Trumping Dara, and I retrieved the Trump. (I also picked up one of the most silly weapons I ever saw. I had a spot for it in the armory.) We then proceeded to walk up the path to Dara's castle.

She greeted us in the form of a statue, rising up from the floor. I couldn't tell if it was another illusion, or the lady herself. We said our hellos, and asked to explore the place. She said she didn't mind. (I offered her a couple of Crynoid seeds, to replace the minotaur, and she seemed intrigued.) Then for no apparent reason, Creed went berserk and started attacking her. I apologized, and moved past her, followed by a sizable portion of the group. We ran into a minor spatial anomaly, which Morganth was only too happy to dispel. When he did so, lava started pouring down the corridor, straight toward us! I leaped for one of the wall carvings, and hung on for dear life. Scout and Suehprom did likewise, and the others ran back down the hall. 

The lava was getting closer. I looked over, and saw Suehprom going through some strange physical changes.... A fireproofing of some sort, I guessed. Then the carvings he was hanging from crumbled, and he fell into the lava. I hoped he had finished his change.... An idea struck me, and I pulled out a Trump of a Dalek. I then held the Trump into the lava, and started Trumping the lava onto the Dalek! I removed the Trump of the Dalek, and replaced it with the one of Dara. If she didn't shut the lava off, I was planning to Trump the lava onto her! Unfortunately, I couldn't make contact. I put the Trump into the claw on the end of my scarf, and sent it scuttling over to Scout. Then I had it dip the end of the Trump in the lava. We tried once again to contact her, but to no avail. Scout then received a call from Steed, who offered to pull us through. Having nothing better to do at the moment, we agreed.

We were pulled back into the entry hall. I looked around, and saw that everyone in our group was present. (Cat seemed to be taking a nap.) Then, for some odd reason, the hall was filled with clouds of steam. Morganth explained it as his doing, to alleviate the lava problem. I puttered around with the Trumps, trying to get rid of the steam. Just as I was setting an atomic vacuum cleaner up, the steam was condensed into water, probably as a result of a spell from the person standing at the end of the hallway. He introduced himself as Merlin, and asked what was going on. (He seemed to recognize me from a television show, on some distant Shadow. Hmm. That sounds vaguely familiar. Have to ask him about this. If someone is spying on me and turning my journeys into a series, I would at least like a privacy clause!)

Steed explained the whole situation with the Ty'iga, and Merlin agreed to help us. (He also challenged Creed to a duel. He seemed rather upset that Creed had decapitated Coral.) Steed Trumped Suehprom, who came through wearing a rather demonic shape. Our group complete again, (With the exception of Corwin. Where had he gone? Scout said not to worry, Corwin left to take care of business....Hmm....) we continued to follow the trail. A few dimensions later, we were left staring into something aptly titled the Abyss. I dropped a few jelly babies in, just to watch them fall for eternity. Merlin was obliging enough to craft a boat out of the cliff side, and we set off into the Abyss. (All except Creed, who Merlin refused to take.) Kesa wanted to bungee jump into the Abyss. I went back to the TARDIS for a second, and returned with a bungee cord. She reconsidered. (Smart woman.) Then Suehprom had some tiff with Scout, who pushed him off the boat. It was a good thing that Suehprom's current form had wings.... He flew underneath the boat, and I haven't seen him since. Then, all that business out of the way, we set off.

DOCTOR WHO Season 100345
episode 9: The Mask of the Usurper

And off we went on the floating rock. After a decent amount of time, we drew near to a cluster of floating stones, with the sounds of bizarre chanting echoing from them. Merlin inquired where we wanted to go, and someone (Morganth, I think,) told him "the middle of the stones." Merlin nodded, and told us to hang on. He mentioned something about pinball, so I took the bungee cord and tied us together.

We accelerated at top speed toward the stones, with every member hanging on for dear life. Just as we were about to impact, some sort of force field sprang into existence around our stone! We were tossed about horribly, eventually ending up floating toward a large stone at a decreased velocity. Our stone was going to scrape under the larger one, so I cut the cord, leaped onto the stone, ran along it, and jumped onto our stone as it floated out from under. Blazer was nowhere to be seen. (Hope the poor sod didn't do anything foolish....)

As we ground to a halt, a number of creatures started jumping from stone to stone, toward us. Merlin informed us that these were probably Ty'iga possessed Shadow-dwellers. As he did so, I felt a force trying to take over my mind. (Not again....) Fortunately, by using my own Trump as a defense, I kept the forces out. I pulled out a Trump of Teslan, the lightning world. ( Yes, I think these Trumps could be converted into a weapon.... a pity, but sometimes such things are necessary.) I started hopping toward the center of the mass of rocks, while other members of our group followed me or stayed to defend our rock.

It wasn't a long trip, but I had to pick my way around possessed nasties. I was confronted by a pair of mind-slaves once, but I used the Trump to call lightning from Teslan, and that was that. (Didn't know it would have THAT effect on the poor fellow. No matter what I do, there will be deaths on my conscience...) Eventually, I reached the center of the maze of rocks, and beheld the final three possessed creatures. One was clad in silver armor, while the other was a young lady in a black jumpsuit. The final one had Steed's body, and wore the Jewel of Judgment around his neck. I flipped my scarf at the Jewel, trying to snag it, but the young lady knocked my scarf off target. As I reeled it back in, the fellow in the armor fired a bolt of energy at me.

I Trumped lightning at him, but it only seemed to increase his power. I barely jumped off the rock before his next bolt vaporized it. Hmm.... his armor seemed to be technology based... As I pondered, Creed leaped onto the rock the three were on! Where he had come from, I have no idea... I Trumped a gauss gun into my hand, and fired at the fellow in armor. He promptly exploded, sending Creed, his remains, Steed's body, and the young woman hurtling into the Abyss.

Oh dear.

I Trumped to the TARDIS after a quick discussion with the others. I asked Oberon for his assistance, and moved to a rock near the rest of the group. My idea was to take the TARDIS down into the Abyss, and hope we could locate the Jewel before the old girl was irreparably damaged. We never got the chance, however, as the form of the Unicorn made its way up out of the Abyss.

It deposited Steed's body by his ghost's feet, and gave the Jewel of Judgment to....Scout.... then the lovely creature departed. Oberon started asking for the Jewel, and Scout politely refused, several times. This caused me to wonder.... I ducked back into the TARDIS, and did a scan on Oberon. Oh dear. It was Eric, under some sort of illusion. I returned to the group, and called out "Eric!" He actually turned to look, and dodged the bolt of lightning that I sent his way. Then everyone else began a large fight, and I ducked back into the TARDIS. Perhaps I could help in some way.

DOCTOR WHO--Season 100346
episode 10: To Save Time

As I ducked back into the TARDIS, I spied a figure in the lawn chair. He was wearing a large hat, so I could not make his face out. I didn't have time for a formal chat, so I muttered a polite hello and checked the main view screen.

I was in time to see Scout and Deirdre vanish. I pulled out Scout's Trump and went after him.

I arrived in the middle of the armed camp, and watched as a ring of soldiers surrounded the TARDIS. Then I recalled the intruder, and turned to him. After a few polite inquiries, he took his hat off.

I knew this being. He was a bit of an inter-dimensional prankster. Never met him before, but he is on several records. He said he wanted to meet a time lord while there was still one left.

He then went on to say that there was a reason why time lords and Amberites never mixed, and casually remarked that the rest of the time lords were dead.

Oh dear.

The other TARDIS, the one from the parallel universe.... In my arrogance I never thought to check on it. I assumed the reality buffers would eventually give way, and it would shake itself to bits..... Oh dear. Eric! or Luke, perhaps that Delwin fellow. Not that it mattered, they were all devious buggers.

Q made same more pithy comments and departed. I took a minute to contemplate the end of Gallifreyan society, and the death of all of my old acquaintances.

Then I threw my scarf over my shoulder, and walked out into the camp. I asked to see Scout, and was taken into a room to wait. Random eventually showed up, and I made sure that the Jewel was safe. That done, I returned to the TARDIS. Random had said that Kesa had gone inside, so I followed in a bit of a hurry.

Once inside, I descended into the laboratory that I had set aside for rather dangerous things. I gathered the samples of Creed, Corwin, and Suehprom's DNA, and started a batch growing on a bio-armor frame. If I was going to save my civilization, I was going to need every tool I could grow. I then Trumped Steed, and got hold of Suehprom as well. I explained the situation, and they told me that a race of cyborgs was trying to take over several Shadows. I agreed to help. (I could use their help in stopping whoever destroyed my race.) And Trumped them aboard.

We transported to the fast-time beach, and started preparing. A young lady by the name of Emma Peel had come on board with Steed, and she told us all she could about the Creed, as they were called. I did Trumps for everyone, and prepared a batch of anti-nanite nanites. Morganth came on board as well, he used his magic to toughen the nanites a bit. Suehprom wanted better weapons, so I turned him loose in the tool shop with a few blocks of adamantium. After a few days, I decanted the bio-organic suit.

After attaching myself to it (A rather sickening process, but these are desperate times...) I put on a small holographic projector to make myself look like the usual handsome fellow and returned to the group. After equipping and making sure everything was ready, we departed.

Or at least, that was the plan. As I threw the switch, several circuits overloaded, and the TARDIS fell down a tunnel into a large cave.

Steed, Emma, and I climbed out to investigate. My sonic screwdriver indicated a large jamming source ahead, so we left the others to guard and pressed forward. After a few minutes, part of the tunnel collapsed behind us. We decided to continue on, we could always dig our way out later.

As we walked, The words of Q reflected through my mind. All of them dead. All of Gallifrey dead. Slaughtered to fit the schemes of some ruthless would-be tyrant. Not while my hearts pumped, not while I drew breath, not while a single cell of my body could regenerate would I stop until I had gone back and prevented the death of my species. I have the technology, and I have allies capable of almost anything. I will not let it happen.

"Let me handle them, get yourself killed and I'll take over... You're too weak you fool.... Only I possess the cunning and ruthlessness you will need..."

Where had those thoughts come from? Hideous. The feedback from the suit must be setting up echoes along the neural network. But for a second, I could have sworn that voice sounded familiar, and not in a good way.

We proceeded down the tunnel, eventually reaching a silent, black-cloaked figure barring the way. "Let me guess, you're here to kill us?" The figure nodded, silently. 

Steed drew his sword, and proceeded to slash, thrust, and perform other violent actions. The stranger matched him, seemed to be holding back a bit. I tried a sweep with the suit's tentacles, only to watch him easily avoid them. I changed tactics, pulling out the lightning world trump and firing a shot into the floor. Unfortunately, I had forgotten Steed and Ms. Peel, both of whom were stunned by the blast.....

The stranger was not at all affected, and knocked both of them unconscious. Taking the better part of valor, I grabbed both of them and fled....

The stranger pulled a pistol, and aimed carefully....

I pointed the lightning trump at him, only to watch it fizzle...

And the stranger fired....

And I was falling into darkness, with a pair of familiar eyes watching above me....

His laughter echoed, and I finally knew.....

And Rasalom save the others, for he was within me all along.....