CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

GHOSTS OF THE FUTURE

‘What is the matter, Dr.?’ Madross rasped savagely. ‘You look as though you have seen a
ghost.’
‘No, just something very unpleasant,’ The Dr. retorted as he turned off the view screen.
‘Not much of a conversationalist anyway,’ he remarked as he rushed across the bridge of
the Video Lord Dreadnaught and examined a map of the surrounding system.
‘Dr.,’ Jayne said nervously, taking her hands away from her mouth. ‘Dr., what are we
going to do?’
‘It’s only Madross,’ Dodge shrugged as he threw himself down in a swivel chair at a
console. ‘We’ve dealt with him before.’
‘I can’t believe you’re trying to be macho about this,’ Jayne said scornfully. ‘You pick now
of all times?’
‘Now now, children,’ The Dr. said without looking up. ‘Don’t make me turn this battle
cruiser around and send you to bed with no tea, biscuits or genocide.’
‘Have you got a plan of action?’ Manhunter asked, looking over The Dr.’s shoulder.
The Dr. stood up to his full height, tapped his lip a few times and nodded sagely to
himself. ‘None whatsoever,’ he admitted. ‘But Raljex wants us to spend hours amassing a
battle fleet. He wants a show. Well, I don’t know about you lot, but I’ve had enough of
jumping through hoops for one lifetime.’
‘Hoops? What hoops?’ Dodge scoffed. ‘You don’t jump through hoops. You shoot at hoops
and melt them so you can walk over the puddle instead.’
‘Exactly my point,’ The Dr. nodded. ‘No need to start doing otherwise now.’
‘Hey, Dr.,’ Red said suddenly from where he had gone to look out of the main window. ‘Is
this the same system where you fought the Time War?’
‘The Time war traversed the universe,’ The Dr. said bitterly. ‘But this was the system
where the last battle was fought.’
‘The one where you died?’ Red asked simply.
‘Yes,’ The Dr. said, this time there was no nod, or indeed, any kind of facial expression. ‘I
was in the process of doing just that when Raljex brought me here to compete in the
games. As soon as we’re through here, I get to go back and die. A fun prospect when you
consider it really.’
Watson looked mortified at the revelation but said nothing. Red however
continued unabated.
‘But this is the system where you set off that huge bomb and destroyed everything?’
‘Yes,’ The Dr. said. ‘Yes it is.’
‘Why does that matter?’ Dodge snorted.
‘I believe it matters a great deal,’ Manhunter said as he joined Red at the window and
looked out at the planet that loomed before them. A small, blue and green planet with
one moon.
‘Is that what I think it is?’ Red said sternly. ‘Is that?’
‘It’s called Jord now,’ The Dr. said as he joined them. ‘Turns out that most planet’s
indigenous populations call their world Earth or something like that to begin with. It had
to be changed. It’s still classified as Sol Three in most galactic directories though.’
‘But … but that means,’ Jayne started.
‘Yes it does,’ The Dr. said abruptly. ‘I destroy the Earth. After lifetimes of saving it. It was
me who brought its ultimate destruction. Me and the Video Lords’ ultimate weapon.’
Jayne said something into her hands, to The Dr, it sounded a lot like “how could
you?” but he did not ask her to repeat it for clarity.
‘If it’s any consolation to you,’ The Dr. said as he stepped back over to the control pool.
Jord hasn’t supported life for over three billion years. It’s a desolate system that was kept
for nostalgia sake and nothing more.’
‘Three billion years,’ Manhunter whistled through his teeth. ‘So, we must be a long way
from our own time.’
‘The last battle of the Time War took place on the eve of the Trillenium,’ The Dr. said.
‘Close to the end of the Universe, but not quite there. We lured the Darlin’ forces to the
very edge of time so they couldn’t harm anybody else. My superiors chose this system
because it was the closest one at the time that met our requirements. The Sun was on
the brink of going supernova any day. We simply gave it a helping hand.’
‘That was the weapon?’ Red exclaimed. ‘You forced the sun to go supernova?’
‘Yes,’ The Dr. admitted. ‘We planted a giant bomb in the core, they called it The Nexus
Device, but it was nothing of the sort. Just a fancy title for a weapon of mass
destruction. Nexus Deceive,’ The Dr. spat. ‘Pah! A rose by any other name still has
thorns. They brought the weapon and gave me the means to detonate it.
‘The resulting implosion caused the black hole that my RETARDIS was sucked
into. Earth would have been destroyed. It was only a matter of time. Though I still regret
it. The Manager relished the irony of it all as you would imagine.’
‘I’m sure you did everything you could to prevent it,’ Manhunter said, laying his hand on
The Dr.’s shoulder.
The Dr. lifted his head and looked Manhunter in the eyes. ‘Did I though?’ He said
quietly so nobody else could hear.
‘I always knew that the war held demons for you, Dr.,’ Manhunter replied. ‘But the
amount you bear alone is …’
‘Necessary,’ The Dr. cut across him. He looked up at the Martian. ‘I’m glad my future
incarnations have you as a friend, J’onn.’
‘It’s … interesting,’ Manhunter replied with a smirk.
‘Why didn’t you tell me?’ Jayne asked, suddenly appearing at The Dr.’s elbow, as was her
custom. ‘My god, what you must be going through-’
‘Is nothing compared to what will happen if The Manager gets his way,’ The Dr. said
stiffly. ‘But still! We’re not here to dwell on what will inevitably come to pass. We’ve got a
space battle to fight. I’m going to hit Madross with everything we’ve got and hope for the
best. Fingers, toes, eyes and anything else you can cross without being disgusting, if you
please everybody. Let’s see what’s going down in groove town!’

‘He’s moving his fleet into attack formations!’ Madross scowled, pounding the keypad of
his motorized wheelchair with his metal hand. ‘What is he doing?!’
‘He’s not playing by the rules,’ The Eleventh Manager smirked through his goatee and
brushed the lapels of his emerald suit. The evil Video Lord tittered and bared his almost
Vampiric canine teeth at nothing in particular, but he thought it looked very good when
taken into account for its dramatic effect.
‘THE-DR.-MUST-BE-SEXTERMINATED!’ The black Darlin’ screeched as it wheeled around
the control room with nowhere in particular to go, but being here made the machine
quite excited as it meant that it would get a chance to kill things very soon.
‘Patience my pet, patience,’ Madross cooed at his metal creation of murderous evil. ‘Very
soon, The Dr. will be destroyed and the resulting effect on the time stream will mean that
there was never an agent capable of detonating their Nexus Device. Oh yes, the time war
will have a very different outcome this time, oh yes.’
The Manager was unable to stifle an explosion of laughter. He giggled, guffawed,
and just for good measure he even chortled a little. ‘I can’t!’ He said desperately, gasping
for air as he leaned against a control panel to steady himself. ‘BREATHE!’ He laughed.
‘Oh! Mercy Me! Madross, you always were a wondrous source of limitless entertainment.
Really!’
Madross’s red eye blazed with fury. ‘What. Is. So. Very. Funny?’ The mutated
scientist from the planet of Skaredhole thundered.
‘WE-DEMAND-TO-KNOW-THE-SOURCE-OF-YOUR-AMUSEMENT!’ Another Darlin’ shouted,
brandishing its laser.
‘Isn’t it obvious?’ The Manager said scathingly. ‘There won’t be a different outcome of the
Time War! Dear lord, you are so very dense aren’t you?’
‘WHAT?!’ Madross shouted angrily, spittle flying from his mouth. ‘The Dr. will be wiped
from existence! All that he has done will be erased!’
‘You don’t listen, do you?’ The Manager jeered, flashing his brilliantly white teeth. ‘The
Time War is time-locked. It happened. There’s no way to change it, there’s no way to
amend it in any way.’
‘Then, all this is for nothing!’ Madross growled. ‘This simulation is meaningless!’
‘Oh, I wouldn’t say meaningless, Madross,’ The Manager said, bobbing on his heels. ‘You
might not be able to change what happened in the Time War, but you can certainly help
me to ensure that the man responsible has rained down upon him the great vengeance
and furious anger that only The Darlin’s can supply. You could reap your revenge from
beyond the grave.’
Madross’ cycloptic red gaze met with the Master’s hypnotic green eyes. It was
useless trying to hypnotize Madross; his eye was electronic and wouldn’t respond to the
waves of suggestion that were normally transmitted straight through the iris. The glowing
eyes were simply for effect. The Manager loved effect. For what was villainy if you
couldn’t have a good time while you were at it?
‘You make a good point,’ Madross said, grinning and displaying a set of mouldy and
blackened teeth. ‘You always made a good point, Manager. Your silver tongue was my
undoing if I recall, the last time I attempted to work with you.’
‘Yes,’ The Manager smirked back, trying not to inhale Madross’ vomit-inducing breath.
‘But as I recall, you planned all along to have me Sexterminated when our business was
concluded. Tit for tat, Grand-High-Surgeon Madross, Quid-Pro-Quo.’
‘SEXTERMINATE!’ The third Darlin’ rattled impatiently, simply because it hadn’t said
anything for a while and was beginning to feel left out.
Madross’ eye glared at the view screen where the few ships under The Dr.’s
command turned to face them.
‘Think of the murderous hatred that has been building inside you all these years,’ The
Manager said as he began to pace around Madross. ‘Think of the pain and suffering that
you would like to inflict upon The Dr. Think of it, Madross!’
‘I have thought about it,’ Madross said simply, producing a phase-pistol from under his
keypad. ‘And I choose … no.’
Madross levelled the gun at The Manager and shot the Video Lord in the chest.
The Manager didn’t react like most normal people would have. There was no dramatic
flying through the air or superfluous screaming. He simply looked at his chest where a
severe burn mark had appeared, along with the stench of smoking flesh and sank
gracefully to his knees.
‘Do you know why I refused you, Manager?’ Madross said, rolling his chair forward so
that the pair were finally eye-to-eye. ‘I refuse you because even if I win this little game for
you, I would never have a chance to bring harm to The Dr. He would be at your mercy,
not mine. I am not a tool for others to use! I. Am. Madross! Creator. Of. The. Darlin’.
Master. Race! The ones I want to destroy, are the Video Lords, Nigel Martin. You are one
such being. I choose you as the one who will bear my wrath! If I can only kill one Video
Lord, then kill them I shall! There. Will. Be. No. Co-operation! There. Will. Be. No.
Partnership! YOU! WILL! BE! SEXTERMINATED!’
‘SEXTERMINATE! SEXTERMINATE! SEXTERMINATE!’ The three Darlin’s chanted,
advancing forwards as the world around them dissolved in a flash of bright light.

‘Should I say that I’m disappointed?’ Raljex asked in an annoyed fashion as The Third
Dr. stumbled out of the room with a bemused expression. ‘Not only were you, Dr. –the
supposed hero of the peace– planning to spoil my fun, but then, the Darlin’s –who
are supposed to be your mortal enemy– turn on The Manager! What’s going on?!’
‘You should never mess with that which you do not understand,’ The Third Dr. said
coolly, holding out his hand for the crystal. ‘I didn’t get it at first, Raljex, but I do now. No
doubt Fourth knows it too. You’ve rumbled your own little game by throwing in The
Darlin’s back there. You’ve made too many slip ups and I see the holes in your amour.
Not as big as the one sin your story, but I see them.’
Raljex slammed the crystal into the Third Dr.’s hand and squared up to the Video
Lord. ‘Now who is messing with that which they do not understand?’
The Third Dr.’s only reply was a wry smile at the Fourth Dr. and an annoying
wink at Raljex before he disappeared in a flash of white light.
‘Well,’ The Thirteenth Manager said, brushing some imaginary lint from his suit jacket.
‘That was rather an anti-climax, wasn’t it?’
‘BE SILENT!’ Raljex roared. ‘My fun has been spoiled and you do not find me in the
best of moods!’
‘What did The Dr. mean?’ The Twelfth Manager said suddenly, patting his lip. ‘About
your little game being rumbled?’
‘Yes,’ The Fourth Dr. said, thrusting his hands deep into his pockets. ‘I’m a little curious
on that point myself.’
‘Don’t lie!’ The Thirteenth Manager snapped. ‘I know you’ve figured it out! Raljex knows
you’ve figured it out! You even know that you’ve figured it out you infuriating little man!
One of us may as well come out with it and lay all of our cards on the table! This charade
has gone on for long enough and I see no reason why it should continue!’
‘Oh, you don’t?’ Raljex asked in as polite a voice as he could muster. ‘You don’t think
we should continue onto the ultimate game of the century? You don’t think that I
should be allowed to bring this contest to its conclusion? YOU DON’T GET TO
THINK!’ Raljex thundered. ‘This is my day as much as it is yours or The Dr.’s, Nigel
Martin! You do not make the rules here. I do. I am Raljex, I am The Supreme Being.
I am neither obliged nor currently in the mood to be ordered about by a lesser
being such as yourself!’
‘Oooh,’ The Dr. tisked, shaking his head. ‘Nigel’s in trouble! Nigel’s in trouble!’
‘SILENCE!’ Raljex boomed, the swirls of galaxies and nebulas inside his shimmering form
suddenly burst into flames. ‘I grow tired of this childishness and I will endure it no
longer!’ He said as his insides settled peacefully back to their original states. ‘We shall
play on to the endgame now. The Dr. has beaten The Manager in more than fifty-
per-cent of the mini-games and therefore it is he who will gain the special bonus!
‘If I am honest, I did not know what the prize for winning these games was
going to be, but your insolence has shown me how best to deal with you! I shall
have my sport and I shall have my fill of excitement. Never forget who is in charge
here. We shall play on to the Crystal Dome! There, your fate will be decided and
one of you will die!’
‘What about him?’ The Fourth Dr, asked as he went and crouched next to his
unconscious Twelfth incarnation. ‘He needs medical help.’
‘Then, it is a good job that he has a Dr. handy,’ Raljex said scornfully. ‘You have tried
my patience, Dr. I was going to send both him and the surplus Manager away like
the others, but I believe that no final battle is worth pittance without an audience.’
‘He’ll die,’ The Dr. said defiantly.
Raljex didn’t have a face, but if he did, The Dr. was sure that he would have a
cruel smirk on it. ‘Well then,’ The so-called Supreme Being said nastily. ‘You had better
hope that the battle ends quickly. Then he’ll be out of his misery one way or the
other.’
Raljex twirled on the spot, the leopard-skin coat he had been wearing
disintegrating. ‘TO THE CRYSTAL DOME!’ He said loudly with a wave of his hands, and
then, the world around them vanished.