The Zalaxal Infiltration--Chapter Five

MIA #11 The Zalaxal Infiltration
Chapter 5: "Battlegrounds"

 What frightened Ace most was the utter helplessness in his eyes. He sounded like he was pronouncing a death sentence as he said, "It's too late. Zalaxal's invasion has begun."

 

Ace had never seen the Doctor so helpless. But what disturbed her was not what he said, but those eyes. It seemed that hidden behind them was a dark secret. She had traveled with the Doctor for some time now, and never before were his eyes so upsetting. Could this be Zalaxal?

 Her mind swirled with confusion. Swirls of "who was each Doctor?", "why was this 'Master' guy here?" and "why is this all happening?" Thoughts landed of never leaving Iceworld.

 Never had she felt so confused.

 

Thrashing about, the regenerating body of the Doctor slowly reformed, fueled by the Eye of Harmony. The body surged with power, thrashing into a hideous form. The form squirmed in a hideous regenerative flux. A dark beast was trying to force its way out. "NO!" cried the thrashing form. Zalaxal had found his way out of his prison.

 

Roaring sirens assaulted the Doctor's ears. "Something's terribly wrong," he mumbled. "And I've caused it."

 

The power drain from the Eye of Harmony was too great. The entire planet was dark and cold. Screams of terror and panic haunted the black halls. True Evil was hatching, and the planet was its egg.

 

The Doctor ran through the black halls, Ace and the Master not far behind.

 "Come on, we must see what's happening with my other self. Who knows what's happening?" The Master grimaced and palmed his TCE.

 "Never mind that thing!" Ace spouted as she grabbed it away from him.

 "You silly girl, you'll wish you hadn't done that." They came to the thrashing form, and the Master took in the full scale of the apparition. "*I* wish you hadn't done that."

 

Zalaxal was forcing his was through the regenerative flux. He had found his doorway out of his prison. He would force his way through. The universe would soon regain it's proper status, Zalaxal's plaything.

 

"Oh my" the Doctor muttered.

 "Perfect." The Master grumbled.

 "WANKER!" Ace yelled.

 The form twisted in agony. It gasped out "No, stop it, stop this from happening, it won't..." A vortex leapt from the body.

 The Master grabbed his TCE from Ace. "Zalaxal? Prepare to either go back to your prison or be killed." The Doctor watched in horror as he saw his other self transformed into a vortex. Out raised a large creature.

 "Zalaxal fears no one!" Cried the beast The Master fired. The vortex grew to immense size.

 "You fool, You've not stopped a thing! You've cause the vortex to shatter. This universe will now become chaos!" Ace and the Doctor stood back. The creature stepped forward.

 "You are unimportant" the beast spat at Ace. It lunged forward at her. "A disturbance might settle it!" the beast roared. It swung its arm at Ace, to sweep her into the vortex.

 "Ace, look out!" The Doctor pushed Ace away and he himself was flung into the vortex. It sparkled and flashed. Zalaxal grimaced. "The vortex is sealing. Now nothing can stop my conquest. Ace looked on in terror. All that stood in Zalaxal's way was the Master and her. Odds were very bad, and she only had one can of Nitro-9.

 

The Doctor found himself floating in the time vortex. Almost nothing could save him, nothing but his TARDIS. But that was nowhere to be found.

 

The beast gloated for a moment til he was met with a flying deodorant can. He flew back from the explosion, into the vortex. It roared as the beast was siphoned away and out fell a thrashing body of the Doctor. Ace leapt to it's side but the Master fell back. The vortex expanded, sucking both the Doctor and Ace into it, before it collapsed.

 

Drifting through the time vortex the Doctor heard a familiar sound. He found himself inside the console room. He got up, shaking like a leaf. He knew that he had to get back to Ace. But where was she? That beast could have destroyed the whole of Gallifrey. He punched the controls, and switched on the emergency beacon. He needed help, and in these situations, he trusted only himself.

 

Ace and the Doctor - freshly regenerated into his 8th form - landed in the place where they least wanted to be, in the heart of Zalaxal's prison. It seemed as if the jailers had a sense of humor, or even a knowledge of ancient lore, as the jail was, fittingly, a giant labyrinth. Ace was scared, as the halls filled with constant cheers of joy and pain, assaulting the ears and smashing the soul. The Doctor was just as scared but, with his usual sense of hope, he walked through the labyrinth with a comforting arm around Ace. The only penetrating sound through the mesh of painful noises was the roar of a very angry Zalaxal. They wound through the corridors, until suddenly, the noises stopped. A haunting circus then drifted through labyrinth. The labyrinth vanished, replace with a festive, but somehow evil, carnival.

 

The Seventh Doctor paced in the TARDIS console room. Where could Ace be? What could have happened to her? He would try Gallifrey first, but he was afraid that it might be too late. His hope was diminishing. He landed right next to where the Master was standing.

 

The Eighth Doctor and Ace carefully made their way through the carnival. The many clowns and mimes frightened Ace more than Zalaxal, and the carnival music seemed to grow louder and louder. They approached the exit but the carnival seemed to twist so the exit was farther away for every step they took in its direction. "Well, my dear Ace, it seems as if someone doesn't want us to leave."

 "So what do we do now, Professor?"

 "Do what we'd normally do at a carnival. Enjoy ourselves." The Doctor grabbed some cotton candy from a passing cart and walked with Ace to the main tent. Ace felt shaky, as if the Doctor might just transform back into that evil creature. As they entered the tent, The Doctor nearly dropped the cotton candy.

 

The Doctor exited the TARDIS and instantly rammed into the Master. "Oh dear Doctor, it's you."

 "Excuse me for being rude, but you haven't seen Ace, have you?" "That girl ended up going through the vortex with your other self." The Master told the Doctor all that had happened.

 "Oh no! Ace must be in Zalaxal's prison!" The Doctor ran into the TARDIS. The Master started to walk off, but the Doctor grabbed him and pulled him into the TARDIS. "I can't have you roaming around a powerless Gallifrey."

 

The tent was full of all of the Doctor's worst enemies. Daleks, Cybermen, Zygons, Yeti, and numerous others were in there. The Doctor found the only two empty seats in the tent and sat down with Ace. The Ringmaster walked out, and this time the Doctor did drop his cotton candy.

 

The TARDIS materialized back on Kallintura. The Doctor and Master calculated what would have to be done. The Doctor ran the figures into the TARDIS and braced himself as the Master de materialized the TARDIS. They were about to ram their way into Zalaxal's prison.

 To be Continued

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