This story takes place immediately after "The In-Between Place."
"Where to now, Doctor Liz? Huh? Huh? Where to now?" The five-year-old dolls,
Margaret, Britney, and Annie, danced around Doctor Liz as she adjusted the knobs
and levers on her control console. A short distance away, Alicia watched in
silence.
"Where are we going?" piped Britney, her blonde hair bobbing as she bounced up
and down on her toes.
"Can we go see Fred now? Can we, can we?" asked Margaret.
"Well, technically speaking," Doctor Liz answered over the noise, "at the
moment, we are visiting Fred. We double-backed onto our own timeline. It
might be best to lay low for a while, to avoid temporal confusion."
"That doesn't make sense." Alicia stepped nearer. "This is a time machine. You
should be able to visit the Funland Amusement Park at any point in its
timeline."
"Uh, yes," said Doctor Liz. "But you can never be too careful about these
things. Nasty things happen if you cross your own timeline." She shook her head.
"Nasty things."
There was a moment of silence. Then,
"Let's play Chicken in the Barnyard!" Annie began rubbing the floor with
the toes of her sneakers, like a chicken scratching in the dirt. "Cluck, cluck!
Cluck, cluck!"
Margaret and Britney imitated her. "Cluck, cluck, cluck!"
Doctor Liz watched. "Chicken in the Barnyard? That's a new one."
Alicia shrugged. "They're always coming up with new games."
Doctor Liz turned back to the console. "Chickens," she muttered. "What will they
think of next? Ah!" With a flash of insight, she flipped a switch. "That gives
me an idea! How would you girls like to visit Old MacDonald's farm?"
The girls stopped clucking.
"Old MacDonald!" said Britney. "Like in the song?" She began to sing. "Old
MacDonald had a farm..."
Annie and Margaret joined in, "E-I-E-I-O!"
"The very one," said Doctor Liz.
"Do you mean the real Old MacDonald?" asked Alicia. "He was an actual
historical person, you know. He lived in--"
"Of course, I know." Doctor Liz gave Alicia a curious look. "I've met him. But
he's not the one I'm talking about. We're going to Scotland, the planet, in the
Eiylio System. It's just a few thousand years jump from the Old MacDonald you're
thinking of." With the turn of a dial, a screen on the wall opened, displaying a
foggy, green landscape.
"It looks like Earth," said Alicia.
"That's why the inhabitants named their planet Scotland. It reminded them of
home." She turned off the scanner and pushed a lever on the control console. The
TARDIS lurched to one side. Alicia barely caught the console's edge before her
feet were swept out from under her. The little dolls skidded across the floor,
shrieking in delight.
"Be there in a minute!" shouted Doctor Liz.
Alicia pulled herself to her feet and frowned. "You sure love drama, don't you,
Lizzie?"
"Not me," Doctor Liz replied solemnly. "That would be my twin sister, Allison,
the Mistress of Maniacal Madness."
Alicia blinked at her. "The Mistress of Maniacal Madness?"
"It's a long story." Doctor Liz sighed. "She wasn't always mad. But dreams of
the big screen danced in her head. 'Just a matter of time,' she said. I'm sorry
to say, Ally never got her Hollywood role, and all those sleepless night had
taken their toll..."
"Do you realize you're rhyming?" Alicia asked.
"Last I saw her," Doctor Liz continued, "she was out looking for the camera
crews. She'd sell her soul for a second on the evening--"
The TARDIS lurched again. The little dolls squealed. Doctor Liz slammed her fist
on the console.
A moment later, the TARDIS came to a welcome standstill.
"...news," Doctor Liz finished. "We're here."
Margaret bounded up to the console and pushed the lever that opened the door.
"Yeah! Let's go outside!"
Doctor Liz and Alicia followed. While the small dolls rushed outside, the two
older dolls paused in the doorway.
"That's not right," Alicia said.
The world outside wasn't the misty green landscape she'd seen on the scanner.
Instead, they were met by a puffy, yellow world.
"Whee!" cried Britney, happily bouncing up and down on the spongy ground.
"It's like a funhouse!" yelled Annie.
"Look at me, look at me!" Margaret shouted. "I'm a bouncing kangaroo!"
Alicia set a tentative foot on the yellow surface. It bounced back up. "Why do I
get the feeling this isn't Scotland?"
"Because it's not," Doctor Liz said. "It's Zanzibar, one of Scotland's moons.
See?" She nodded toward a large blue-and-green planet overhead. "Just a slight
course mishap. But you know what they say. When in Zanzibar..." She took a
running start and threw herself into the springy surface. "...do as the
Zanzibarbarians do!"
Alicia weighed whether to join in, then jumped out after the others. She found
it difficult to control the direction of her bounce at first, and as she was
working on this, she noticed something bounding toward them. Carefully, she
slowed her bounce to study the creatures. They were black and white. Some were
piebald like cows, some spotted like leopards, and some striped like tigers.
"Ohhh!" said the little dolls in unison. "Horsies!"
"Not horses," Doctor Liz said. "Zanzibarbarian Zebars." She bounced again and
did a mid-air somersault. "To be precise."
"Are they friendly?" Alicia asked.
One of the Zebars bounced up to Margaret, caught the hood of her jacket in its
teeth, and tossed her onto its back.
"Wheee!" yelled Margaret, clutching a handful of the animal's black mane with
one hand and waving the other in the air. "Giddyup, Zebar!"
"Very," Doctor Liz said.
Britney and Annie found Zebars to ride, too.
Doctor Liz patted the nose of a piebald who moved in invitingly. "No, I'm not
ready to ride just now," she said to it. "Maybe later."
Alicia glanced toward the TARDIS. "Uh, Liz, we might have a problem. We forgot
to close the TARDIS door."
Sure enough, the Zanzibarbarian Zebars had discovered the open door and bounded
over to investigate. Strangely enough, the TARDIS wasn't bouncing up and down,
but was stable, like a rock surrounded by a sea of yellow waves. One by one, the
Zebars set their front hoofs onto the solid surface and clomped inside.
"Uh-oh," Doctor Liz said. "They're harmless enough, but there's no telling what
mischief they'll get into in there. We'd better get them."
She bounced over to the TARDIS and stepped through the door. As Alicia followed
her into the crowded console room, she caught sight of a black-and-white striped
rear end disappearing down the corridor to the inner part of the TARDIS.
"Great," said Doctor Liz. She slipped through the corridor door, pulling it
almost closed behind her to keep more Zebars from trespassing further into the
TARDIS. "Bring the little dolls in and shut the door, Alicia," she said through
the ajar door. "I'll round up the strays."
Alicia nodded.
Doctor Liz pulled the door shut. "Now, where are you hiding?" She pulled her
pocket watch and peered at it. "That can't be right." She blinked, shook the
watch, and stared at it again. "Just how many of you are down here?"
Far, far away, deep within the vortex of time and space, a blonde-haired,
blue-eyed doll in a sparkling red dress watched Doctor Liz fiddle with her
watch. "Playing with Zebars!" The doll laughed maniacally. "Doctor Liz is
playing tag with Zanzibarbarian Zebars in her TARDIS!"
Realizing she was laughing maniacally, the doll stopped laughing and returned to
watching Doctor Liz.
"Oh, Lizzie," the blonde-haired doll crooned, "your troubles have only just
begun. Little do you know that I'm the one who threw your TARDIS off-course for
my own twisted purposes. Old MacDonald's farm! What a joke!" The doll began to
laugh maniacally again.
Realizing she was laughing maniacally, again, the doll halted and went back to
watching her sister and arch-rival.
"What was I saying? Oh, yes. I have you right where I want you. It's just a
matter of time before I have you defeated, and I, the Mistress of Maniacal
Madness, am ultimate ruler of the universe!" She cut herself short from bursting
into another maniacal laugh and scratched her blonde head. "Or not. I don't
remember what I want anymore. But not to worry. As soon as you're defeated, I'll
have it! Whatever it is!"
This time, she allowed herself the luxury of a full-blown, bone-chilling
maniacal laugh.
Alicia shoved her way through the Zebars. "Bring in the little dolls and shut
the door," she muttered to herself. At the door, she stretched herself across
the opening to block more Zebars from entering and looked for the little dolls.
The Zebars bounced about happily, trying to get by her. Alicia craning her neck
to see past them. "Easier said than done. Margaret! Annie! Britney!" There was
no sign of them. "Where have they disappeared to?"
Doctor Liz shooed the Zebars ahead of herself. "Come on now. You don't want to
be wandering around down here. It's more fun outside." She opened the door to
the console room and herded them through.
The Zebars whinnied and pranced and stepped on her boots.
"Ouch! For such light-footed fellows, you're sure heavy on mine!" said Doctor
Liz, closing the hall door behind herself. "Alicia! Oh good, the door's still
open. Help me guide the Zebars out."
Alicia hurried over. "Shoo! Shoo! Get along there!"
"Gently, Alicia. They're not cattle."
Most of the Zebars bounded out the door, but one hopped onto the control
console.
"Oh, that's not good!" Doctor Liz said.
The Zebar danced atop the central column.
"Down from there now." Doctor Liz caught hold of its neck and coaxed it down.
"Come on."
Alicia pushed at the rear. "Get going already, you silly thing!"
The Zebar bucked, hitting buttons and knobs. It hopped across the console and
onto the floor.
"Finally!" Alicia said as Doctor Liz guided it out.
Doctor Liz shut the door. "Now, how about Old MacDon--" She paused. "Uh, Alicia,
where are the little dolls?"
"I can't find them."
"They have to be somewhere. I'll scan for them." Doctor Liz pressed some buttons
on the TARDIS console. A viewfinder popped up, and she peered into it.
"Well?" asked Alicia as Doctor Liz turned a dial.
Doctor Liz looked up. "I don’t believe it. They're gone!" She peered into the
viewfinder again. "They're not in the TARDIS or anywhere on Zanzibar." She
turned the dial again to adjust the range. "They're not on Scotland, Ireland,
Norway, or Madagascar! They're nowhere in the entire Eiylio System!"
"How's that possible?" Alicia said.
"Oh, anything is possible." The scanner blinked to life. A blonde-haired doll
(who looked so much like Doctor Liz, she might have been her twin) smiled a
twisted smile. "If you know what you're doing." The doll's blue eyes
fixed on Doctor Liz. "Hello, dear sister."
"Allison!" exclaimed Doctor Liz.
"The Mistress of Maniacal Madness?" Alicia said.
The Mistress shook her head. "I've never liked that title. It doesn't suit me at
all. I prefer, 'The Mistress of Universal Fame and Fortune.'"
Doctor Liz narrowed her eyes. "What have you done with my friends? If you've
harmed them--"
"Harmed them?" The Mistress laughed her maniacal laughter. "No, they're quite
safe. In fact, they're having the time of their lives!" She stopped laughing and
glared at Doctor Liz. "At the Funland Amusement Park!"
Doctor Liz gasped. "You wouldn't!"
"I would. Don't look so surprised, Lizzie. You'd have done the same thing
yourself if our roles were reversed. You put yourself into this pickle. I just
picked up the pertinent pickle picker and plucked the provocative prize."
Doctor Liz's grip tightened on the console. "You have no idea what you're doing,
Allison. If the little dolls meets themselves--"
"Oh, they're sure to," the Mistress replied. "You see, at this moment, your
little friends are eagerly looking forward to the third production of 'The
Princess and the Polycarbonate Prince,' which, as I’m sure you'll recall, you
yourself went to see, right after your special surprise party."
Doctor Liz dropped her face into her hands. "Allison, stop this. You're risking
not only me and my friends, but the entirety of existence!"
"I know what I'm doing. The question is, can you get there in time to save the
universe, or does it go ka-plooey?" With a ring of maniacal laughter, the
Mistress's image faded away and the screen went blank.
Alicia took a breath. "You have quite an unusual sister, Lizzie."
Doctor Liz began pacing the floor. "Okay, the first thing to do is get to
Funland and stop the dolls from running into themselves. Then, I'll deal with my
sister."
"Do you think that's a wise idea?" asked Alicia as Doctor Liz set the
coordinates.
"Ugh!" Doctor Liz pounded the control console. "Why won't this thing take off?
Allison, what have you done to my TARDIS!?" Grabbing her sonic screwdriver from
her pocket, she ducked under the console.
"What I mean is," Alicia continued, "what if the little dolls aren't at Funland?"
A soft humming drifted upward. Doctor Liz had removed a panel and was half-way
into the bottom of the console.
Alicia leaned down. "I said, what if it's all a trap to get you to run into
yourself?"
The humming stopped. "This isn't right," Doctor Liz muttered. She pulled herself
out and ran to the door. "Something's dreadfully, dreadfully wrong here."
Alicia shook her head, waiting for Doctor Liz to return. "That's what I'm trying
to tell you," she said to herself. "Even if the little dolls are at Funland, why
risk backtracking on your own timeline? There's got to be another way..."
Doctor Liz bolted back in and pounded the console. "I don't believe this!"
"What? What is it?"
"The TARDIS. Don't you see it?"
Alicia shook her head.
"One of Zanzibar's unusual properties is its extreme springiness. And yet we're
absolutely stable."
"I assumed the TARDIS had stabilizers."
"It does. Argh!" She pounded her fist again. "Why didn't I take preventive
measures?"
"I don't understand."
Doctor Liz stopped pounding to look at her. "Alicia, the TARDIS stabilized
itself by adapting to the springy environment. It rooted itself to the planet to
maintain stability."
"In other words..." said Alicia, looking for a clearer explanation.
"In other words, the TARDIS is now part of Zanzibar. Permanently. We can't go
anywhere without taking the whole planet with us!"
"But--" Alicia started.
The viewscreen sprang to life again, once again showing the face of the Mistress
of Maniacal Madness. "Yes, yes! Exactly as I planned! Try as you might, dear
sister, you'll never get out of this one. Never!"
Doctor Liz nodded slowly. "She's right. If I dematerialize, I'll drag Zanzibar
into the space/time vortex."
"I take it that's not good," Alicia said.
"It would be murder," said Doctor Liz. "No one can survive the force of the
space/time vortex."
"Exactly!" said the Mistress. "You and that broken down TARDIS of yours are
stuck on Zanzibar...forever!"
As the Mistress's maniacal laughter flooded the room, Doctor Liz dropped her
head onto the console in defeat. "There's no way out of this," she mumbled. "No
way at all..."
----
"Okay, let's think this through," Alicia said. "Zanzibar is part of the TARDIS,
and the TARDIS is part of Zanzibar. Correct?"
Without raising her head, Doctor Liz nodded.
"Then wouldn't Zanzibar have the same properties as the TARDIS? What I mean is,
if the TARDIS can survive the space/time vortex, why not Zanzibar? Whatever
peculiarity protects the TARDIS inside the vortex should also protect Zanzibar."
"It doesn't work like that," came the muffled response. "It's not as if Zanzibar
were a room in the TAR--" Doctor Liz's head shot up. "Wait a minute! Maybe it
does! Let me think, let me think..." She began pacing back and forth, muttering
to herself.
On the viewscreen, the Mistress's red lips puckered into a pout. "That Alicia is
too smart for her own good. I'll have to do something about her." The screen
went blank.
Doctor Liz spun to a halt. "Yes!"
"You've got an idea?"
"We can't extend the TARDIS properties to Zanzibar, true. But, if
Zanzibar is part of the TARDIS, we can eject it on take-off!" She started
turning knobs. "A short hop, not quite into the vortex, just to be on the safe
side. Hold tight, Alicia. This may get bumpy."
Alicia grabbed the side of the console. "When isn't it?"
The TARDIS dematerialized. Doctor Liz pressed a button, and the TARDIS jolted to
one side. She pounded a bumpy red thing and whipped a rotating handle round and
round. Alicia held firm as the TARDIS jolted again.
"This is it!" Doctor Liz threw a switch, and the TARDIS quieted to a gentle hum.
"Did it wo--?" Alicia's question was interrupted by another jolt. She hung on
while the TARDIS performed three loop-de-loops.
Then all was quiet.
Doctor Liz checked the TARDIS readings. "It worked! Now let's get those little
dolls back before something really bad happens!"
---
"'The Princess and the Polycarbonate Prince 3.'" Britney licked her ice-cream
cone and read the announcement poster. "Sponsored by Super-Dee-Duper Window
Scrubber."
"Super-Dee-Duper Window Scrubber!" Annie shouted. "That must mean we're on--"
"Funland Amusement Park!" the three dolls shouted in unison.
"I wanna see the play!"
"I wanna to see Fred!"
"Let's go find Dalek!" Margaret yelled. "Dalek! Dalek! Dalek!"
"Yea!" they all shouted. "Dalek! Dalek! Dalek!"
"'The Princess and the Polycarbonate Prince 3.'" Alicia read aloud from the
announcement poster. "Sponsored by Super-Dee-Duper Window Scrubber." She turned
to Doctor Liz, who was locking the TARDIS. "Super-Dee-Duper Window Scrubber?"
"For squeaky clean windows." Doctor Liz pocketed the TARDIS key. "Okay, which
way, which way..." She glanced from side to side. "If I were Margaret, Britney,
and Annie, where would I be right now?"
"Knowing Margaret," Alicia said, "she'd be looking for Daleks."
"Then she'd be at the play," Doctor Liz decided. "Let's go."
Nobody noticed the silent appearance of the golden fountain. One moment it
wasn't there, and the next, it was. How out of place its glamorous golden
glitter looked amidst the cotton candy and popcorn stands. And yet, no one
glanced at it twice.
Nor did anyone notice how it opened up, and through the spray of glitter, a
blonde doll in a sparkling red dress made her dramatic appearance.
"'The Princess and the Polycarbonate Prince 3.'" She read aloud from the same
announcement poster Alicia had just read. "Sponsored by Super-Dee-Duper Window
Scrubber. Oh, isn't that just peachy! Shame on me if I missed the show!"
With a ring of maniacal laughter, she headed toward the auditorium.
---
Doctor Liz halted outside the auditorium's rear double doors. Alicia, hurrying
up behind, collided into her.
"Ouch!" Alicia said, stepping back. "What is it? What's wrong?"
"I can't go in there." Doctor Liz peered through the circular window on one of
the doors. "I'm already inside. Look."
Alicia peeked through the other circular window. "Where?"
"Front row center with Fred and Nidhiki."
"What about the little dolls?"
"As I recall, they were backstage with Dalek--" She halted. Three giggling
five-year-old dolls were mounting the stairs that led to the backstage area.
"They wouldn't," Alicia said.
"They're not. Look at their clothes. Party dresses. Those are the other Annie,
Britney, and Margaret. They must have just come from my surprise party and are
on their way backstage."
Alicia searched the auditorium. "If our Annie, Britney, and Margaret are
in there, I don't see them."
"Look." Doctor Liz nodded toward a blonde doll in a shimmery red dress seated on
the auditorium's far side. "My sister. I'd recognized that glitter anywhere."
"Here to make sure her plans succeed, no doubt." Alicia pushed open the
auditorium door. "I'd better find the little dolls."
"Wait." Doctor Liz placed her hand on Alicia's shoulder. "There's something you
should know first."
"What?"
"Just..." Doctor Liz opened her mouth and closed it. "Stay away from my sister,
okay? She can't be trusted."
Alicia glanced toward the Maniacal Mistress. "I can handle her," she said and
shoved her way into the auditorium.
---
Annie scooped a handful of popcorn from the bucket and shoved it into her mouth.
"Oh, look up there!" Margaret said, pointing to the front of the auditorium.
"It's Doctor Liz and Fred! Let's go say hi!"
"They're with the Bad Wolf," Britney pointed out. "Do you think he's still mad
because you took his wolf shampoo?"
"He seemed pretty mad the last time we saw him," Annie reminded them.
Margaret sipped her milkshake. "I like bubble baths."
Annie munched her popcorn. "Me, too."
"Me, too," said Britney.
"Let's say hi!" the three said in unison.
---
"Oh, how perfect," the Mistress crooned when she saw the three little dolls head
to the front of the auditorium. "Won't my sister be surprised! Oh, things
couldn't go better if I'd planned them. In fact, I did plan them!" Her maniacal
laughter was drowned out by the auditorium noise, but she didn't mind. "Maybe
I'll head up there myself, just to be sure..." She started to rise, but was
stopped by a hand to her shoulder.
Indignant, she turned in her seat. "Just who do you think-- Oh, it's you."
Behind the Mistress, Alicia sat back in her seat. "I'm keeping an eye on you."
"So I see." The Mistress tossed her blonde hair. "And exactly who's keeping on
eye on your little friends? They're about to cause a massive disruption in the
space-time continuum."
"Right," Alicia said. "Even if you're telling the truth, I'm sure Lizzy can
handle it."
"You have a lot of faith in my sister." The Mistress settled into her seat. "I
like that. Loyalty is so hard to come by these days."
"I'm sure you know all about loyalty."
"Oh, but I do! There was a time I was loyal to my sister. You may find this hard
to believe, but at one time, we were quite close. Two peas in a pod, broken from
the same mold."
"I'm sure."
"It's true." The Mistress's face hardened. "Until she had the nerve to take
my
spot in the shipping line! I'm sure she's told you her pathetically endearing
story about mistakes being good things."
"You mean her birthday story?"
The Mistress nodded. "It's all over her Website. 'The Story of Me, by
Elisabeth," she quoted sarcastically. "Ha! I'll have you know--" she jabbed
Alicia with a scarlet-polished fingernail "--that that was no accident. Lizzy
consciously, calculatingly, and knowingly substituted herself for me! She
heard very well that the order was for one blonde Gotz Stolle doll. I heard it myself.
But do you know what that little sneak did? She slipped out of her box while she
thought everyone was asleep and changed the order form!"
"I don't believe that."
"Believe it," snorted the Mistress. "I saw her with my own blue eyes! I would
have stopped her, but I couldn't get out of my display box. It was no mistake
that she was shipped instead of me, Alicia. It was deliberate!"
"Lizzy would never do something like that, and I'm sure I can prove it. I only
need to look at the packing list that came with Lizzy. Mom saves everything."
"You do that," the Mistress said. "Prove for yourself what a fraud my sister
is!"
Alicia glanced toward the Doctor Liz at the front of the auditorium. The little
dolls had almost reached her.
The Mistress turned to follow Alicia's gaze. "Any second now, the whole of
creation will go ka-plooey!" She laughed.
"If that's true, there's only one thing to do," Alicia decided. She jumped from
her seat and raced to the front.
"Yes, you go right ahead there, dear. Destroy the timeline by interfering with
the destruction of the timeline." The Mistress sat back. "I love these
simplistic doll geniuses. Such linear thinkers. Absolutely no appreciation for
the twisted humor of an impossible irony."
---
Doctor Liz couldn't wait any longer. The little dolls had nearly reached her
other self. Risk or not, she had to do something. She had to intervene.
Just as she pushed open the auditorium door, Alicia raced to the front.
Doctor Liz stepped back and closed the door. Now what?
Alicia wrapped an arm around the other Doctor Liz's shoulder and talked to her.
Then, she led her out through the front auditorium door.
"Of course," Doctor Liz murmured. "Why didn't I think of that? It's so
obvious."
Up front, the little dolls bounded up to Fred and Nidhiki.
"Uh-oh," said Doctor Liz.
Nidhiki jumped to his feet and began to back away, his mouth moving. What he was
saying, Doctor Liz could imagine. Something about Rolaids and dog shampoo, no
doubt. He turned and scampered out through the front door.
"Ah!" Doctor Liz marveled. "So that's how it happened!" She rubbed her
hands together, thinking. "Now, if I can just divert my sister..." She entered
the auditorium and headed down front. "There's got to be a way!"
---
A short while later, Fred the Plushie bounced onto the front stage. "Squeaky!
Ladies, Gentlemen, and Assorted Aliens! Squeaky! Welcome to Funland's third
production of The Princess and the Polycarbonate Prince!"
The audience erupted into cheers and applause.
"But first, we have a special feature! Squeaky! At the suggestion of a very good
friend of mine, we're opening the stage to you, our audience" --a monitor
lowered from somewhere overhead-- "for a surprise, impromptu karaoke contest!"
The applause increased. "Karaoke! Karaoke! Karaoke!" chanted the audience.
Fred waved his plushie paws to quiet them. "Who will be first? Squeaky! Who
wants to be a STAR?"
"Oh! Me! Me!"
A spotlight swung around to focus on a blonde doll in a sparkly red dress. She
leapt to her feet and waved her arms. "Pick me! Oh, pick me!"
Fred pointed at her. "Squeaky! Our first contestant!"
Allison's blonde hair blew behind her as she darted to the front. She climbed
onto the stage beneath the glaring spotlights. "Oh, thank you!" she crooned as
the audience cheered. "Yes, I know you love me! Thank you!"
"What's your name?" Fred asked.
"Oh, you can just call me, "The Mistress of Universal Fame and Fortune'!"
"That's quite a mouthful," Fred replied. "May we call you Muffy for short?"
Allison frowned at him. "No, you may not call me Muffy." She tossed her
blonde hair. "'Mistress' will do nicely, thank you."
"Squeaky! Okay, then!" Fred indicated the karaoke selection screen. "Make your
selection, Mistress!"
At the back of the auditorium, Doctor Liz and the three little dolls slipped
quietly out the door.
"How come I don't remember a singing contest the last time we were here?"
Margaret asked.
Doctor Liz led them to the TARDIS. "What do you remember?"
Margaret hopped up and down. "I remember--" She halted. "I don't remember."
"Neither do I," Annie said. "One minute I was talking to Dalek, and the next, I
was sitting in a salon chair."
"And I was on the set for Princess in the Castle," Britney said.
"That's because, as soon as Nidhiki left the auditorium, you three were all
transported to the Bad Wolf Television Station, along with myself and Alicia."
"Alicia?" Britney asked. "Where is she?"
"On the Bad Wolf Television Station now. My guess is, whoever did it wanted
Fred, too, but picked up the wrong plushie."
"I don't understand," said Britney.
"Me neither," said Margaret.
"Or me," said Annie.
"This was the only time we were all together in one place," Doctor Liz
explained. "Though none of us knew it, of course. Whoever picked us up did it
here."
Annie shook her head. "This time travel thing is very confusing."
"It is," Margaret agreed. "First, we get to meet my very good friend Dalek, and
then we got to meet more Daleks, and then, we got to meet even more Daleks!"
"That's about it," Doctor Liz replied, laughing. "I would like to know who
masterminded the whole thing, though. And why. The story self-destructed before
we found any of that out."
The Mistress's high soprano voice echoed from the auditorium. "I stare at myself
in the mirror; When I wake up every morn; And I marvel at how great I've been;
Since the day that I was born..."
"Your sister, maybe?" Annie suggested.
"Possibly. Maybe one day, we'll find out the answer." Doctor Liz ushered them
into the TARDIS. "Or maybe, it's one of those mysteries that will forever remain
a mystery. Only time will tell."
The End