AN: Hope you like this story, please review if you want to see more chapters!
On a distant world, many people were getting mobbed trying to get into what is possibly one of the greatest circuses in existence. It was called Tempus Circus and it was owned by the ringmaster himself who would address himself as "The Master."
The Master was a master at putting on some of the greatest acts. He enslaved certain species to participate in a few of his acts. It was a standard night for the Tempus Circus. Crowds gathered and sat down as the circus was starting. A spotlight shone on the Master.
"I welcome you all to Tempus Circus! I have some great acts for you tonight as well as one of our most popular acts!" The Master greeted his audience. The first act of the circus was the trapeze of terror. The performers had to time their swings, so they couldn't get burned by the flying fireballs and the net that usually catches the performers if they slip, was lit on fire. The Master was a cruel and twisted man, he's had almost forty deaths this year on his circus. He captured species that were deemed inferior to many of the planets he visits, so no one bats an eye when they see a death.
Backstage, two men were plotting to figure out a way to escape this nightmare. The Master had tight security when it came to his enslaved performers. He controls these spheres he calls the Toclafane to wipe out anyone who dares escape.
"You've been working on this certain something for two years, Doc. It better work."
"It should." He replied.
The Master's voice rang on the intercom, "Jack report to the ring."
The first man, Jack gritted his teeth, "Another day where kids throw knives at me, great."
Jack, or Captain Jack Harkness was a genetic experiment who was left with a case of immortality. Unfortunately, he was human. Human strength can't even match many other species. Every circus, Jack would get stabbed, burned, frozen, drown and he would keep coming back to life complete with his limbs reattached. The Master would allow audience members to kill him. Every time Jack died it hurt like hell. He would phase out and phase back in.
The Doctor was a being who could change his face, body, everything. He only had nine faces to choose from at the moment. Each of these different bodies had different quirks such as Two's tendency to play the recorder to concentrate and Four's love of jelly babies. No matter how different he looked or behaved, he was still the Doctor to his closest friends.
Currently, the Doctor was in his ninth form trying to set his plan into action tonight. Hopefully, this would be his last act in Tempus Circus.
After fifteen minutes of hell, Jack came back and there was a knife sticking out of his back.
"Just got back from hell. You're up next, Doc." Jack reminded. The Doctor stared at the knife lodged in Jack's back.
"Lemme guess? Knife?"
"Yeah, I'll get it out." The Doctor pulled it out and Jack cringed.
The Doctor headed out to the ring for what should be his last time. The Master spoke, "Creatures of all shapes and sizes, this is our one and only face-changing alien! Can all nine of him survive tonight?" the crowd screamed. The Doctor was the most popular act to see as the Master would put him through chambers with deadly gases, lock him in a cage with a ferocious beast, or attempt to drown him. The Master wanted the Doctor to writhe and suffer, but he would never actually outright kill him directly. It was an odd prospect.
Tonight's act featured him in a labyrinth of sorts. The Master spoke to the audience, "The Doctor needs to get to the end of the labyrinth in under ten minutes. Can he make it through? The spikes on the hedges are poisoned. The poison will kill him in less than ten seconds."
The Doctor was running through the labyrinth and noticed that each path lead to a dead end, but wait… there were these targets stationed at different locations, but in out of reach positions. He got an idea. He started to glow a golden color.
The Master spoke, "The Doctor is shifting into one of his faces. Let's see which one."
The Doctor's hair grew longer and a blond color. He wore special clothes that would change to suit his body. His outfit turned into a cream colored coat and he wore a stick of celery on his lapel.
"It's Five, everyone! This version of him is great at playing cricket, but the celery's an odd choice." The Master commented.
The Doctor grabbed a cricket ball from his pocket and with a careful aim, he threw it at the target. The target revealed another path. He ran into a more open area and saw three robotic men. Alright, he knew which one could handle these. He changed once more and became Three.
"Three and Cybermen everyone! Will Three get deleted?"
The Cybermen were saying "Delete" in their monotone voice. Three could defend himself with his artful skill of Venusian aikido. He might be older looking, but he was very spry. Even Jack did not want to get in a fight with the Doctor if Three was involved. The Doctor placed some powerful kicks on the Cybermen and managed to make them junk. He was running and he saw the end in sight. He saw that there was a huge hole that could not be avoided. The bottom of it was too steep with sharp rocks. Looking around, he saw something that looked like a hook on the roof. If only he had a rope, wait a sec, maybe a twenty foot long scarf would do…
Breathing again, he transformed into Four. Four was just unconventional when it came to his personality and his methods. He remembered this one time he accidently changed into Four instead of Three when it came to fighting yesterday's mummies. He dressed one of them with his floppy hat and scarf and the other mummy was unintelligent enough to hit the other. Taking off his scarf, he aimed for the hook, took a running start and swung across. He put his scarf back on and ran to the end. He was greeted by the faces in the audience and the Master spoke, "The Doctor has survived today, but how about tomorrow? Join us tomorrow!" The crowd went wild and the Doctor went back to his room to put his plan into action.
Jack came in and whispered, "What time?"
"2 a.m.," he whispered back. Jack smiled at the curly-haired Doctor.
At 2 a.m., the circus was under heavy surveillance outside, Jack wondered what exactly the Doctor planned. He went to the Doctor's room and found his friend in his ninth form.
Jack commented, "Why exactly does the Master hate this you?"
"Just not as fun to him. He doesn't like a guy who can look just as menacing if not more than him."
"So, what's the plan Doc?" Jack asked. The Doctor grabbed a small chest and opened it with a key and a combination lock. It contained two keys, two patches, and a mysterious bottle.
He gave Jack a key, "This is a really powerful perception filter, Toclafane shouldn't notice ya" he handed him the patch, "This gives you the ability to warp to a destination once you're out of the control field that surrounds the circus. It only works once, though."
Jack spotted the bottle, "Is this a drink to celebrate?" he teased.
"No, it's for me. I'm unique, so that means the Master can track me. You're human enough to blend in, so don't worry. The tracker picks up on all my current selves, but not one that hasn't been created yet."
"You're gonna?" Jack hesitated.
"I'll have to create my tenth self." He gritted. Creating a new version of him was very painful and he could end up with very bad amnesia like he did with Eight or cause him to go into a mad rage like Six.
"Let's get this plan in action." The Doctor said.
The two wore the keys and headed outside. The Doctor used his trusty sonic screwdriver to disable the sensors for a bit. Jack noticed that the Toclafane spheres did not bother to stop them. The two traveled for a half mile and that's when security noticed that there were two performers missing. The sirens were blaring, but the control field's end was within sight. The two were running.
"Two hundred meters left and they should work!" The Doctor said. He grabbed the strangely colored bottle and opened it.
"You're taking it now?" Jack questioned.
"It's no good if I warp first, then take it. He'll trace my location."
The two finally got out of the field and the Doctor stared at the bottle.
"Well, Doctor. I think we part ways here. Take care wherever you are. I want to see how my old life is doing." Jack saluted. He pressed the patch and warped across space.
The Doctor was staring at the potion, and knew it was time. He grabbed it with both hand and forced down every drop. His body was erupting in fire, it hurt so much. He could feel his insides changing as well. His hair was growing a bit longer, his ears shrunk, face changing to a different shape and his body getting much thinner. His outfit was changing too, he didn't know what kind, but his coat felt longer. After the change, he felt very light headed and decided to warp.
"Please take me somewhere where I can start again." He thought to himself.