He had tried this once before on Reinette, but he did not find the answers he was seeking. Now he was partly doing it out of curiosity, to break through the trust barriers of the others. The other part of him wanted to help the man that stood before him. But after all, there is no cure for insanity.
He reached out.
He heard the screams, then the laughter. He could taste the blood in his mouth. He saw the zombies, being slaughtered one by one. He felt the immense pleasure that their destruction brought him. He saw the others bound in chains. He watched as they flinched from his touch. His only response was to laugh. He watched as they were slow and meticulously cut open and filled with a strange liquid, all with a strong sense of desire of lust.
"Goodbye Doctor Maxis-"
The Doctor couldn't stand it anymore. He felt sick. To be in the mind of one so broken. He withdrew himself, taking slow and heavy breaths. He looked down at the man who was swooning, biting his lip as he relieved his memories.
"Do they… do they know what you did to them?" Was the Doctor's first question. He was met with a sharp look of anger. Did that mean regret? But the lust had been so strong.
Richtofen scowled and stormed off. The Doctor did not want to follow, but he felt obliged to.
When Dempsey awoke, he immediately knew something was wrong. The loud ticking echoed through the room, so loud he could hardly think. He tried to shift, but the bonds restrained him.
"Not again." Dempsey muttered to himself, deeply hoping that the Kraut wouldn't find him like this.
"Tank? They're going to chop us up, just like the crew. They're going to chop us up and stick us all over their stupid spaceship. And where's the Doctor and Rose? Where are your friends? They've been gone for flipping hours, that's where they are!" Mickey was hysterical. There were bright red marks around his wrists where he had evidently been trying to make an escape, to no avail.
"Shut it, Mickey. I've been in worse situations than this."
"Really? How?"
"You try spending your life trying not to get eaten by zombies, only to have an insane Nazi follow your ass trying to cut you open-"
"You are compatible." The droid cut in. The droid held out his arm. A metallic knife shot out, millimetres away from Dempsey's neck.
"Shut up you robo bitch. You are so gonna be spare parts once I'm through with you." Dempsey yelled in defiance, but there was no hint of recognition. The doors suddenly hissed open, but the droids did not turn. The repetitive soft click of metal against metal caused Dempsey to hold his breath in a desperate attempt that he would not see him. Why of all people did he have to enter the room first? An excited gasp, told him that he has been caught.
"Oh mein Gott."
"Fuck off, Dicktofen."
"Oh mein Gott." Richtofen giggled like a schoolgirl and immediately reached for his scalpel. The droid turned to Richtofen.
"The brain is compatible." Richtofen smiled at the droid.
"Nein, Dempshey doesn't have a brain." Tank rolled his eyes. "But I would suggest an incision here." Richtofen grabbed hold of the droids arm and shifted the blade an inch or so lower. "It's less messy und more painful." Richtofen let go and the droid's arm immediately moved back to its former position.
"Nein, vhat did I just tell you?" Richtofen sighed and clicked his tongue. "It appears I'm going to have to demonstrate." Richtofen smiled in mock helplessness. He brought his scalpel up to Dempsey's collar bone. He licked his lips as his twisted grin grew. The sadistic bloodlust that Dempsey had come to hate, once again present in his acid green eyes.
"Kraut, don't you fucking dare!" Dempsey closed his eyes waiting for the inevitable searing pain he would feel down his chest.
"No you don't Richtofen." Dempsey opened his eyes to see Nikolai and Takeo dragging the German away from him. Rose was watching in a mix of confusion and horror.
"Vhat, it's not like I vas going to hurt him." Richtofen smiled sheepishly, as Takeo and Nikolai glared at the Nazi. "Vell, not much anyvay."
"What about the droids?" Rose asked quietly from the corner, hiding from the unstable German.
"Oh zhat's simple." Completely synchronized, the three zombie hunters reached for their guns and simultaneously shot the droids to smithereens. The Nazi burst into a fit of laughter as he eyed there destruction and the look of horror on Rose and Mickey's faces.
"Will one of you let me up so I can punch the damn Nazi in the face!" Dempsey yelled.
Once the pair of supersoldiers had finished glowering at their teammate, they went to help the others. Nikolai, Dempsey and Takeo, Mickey.
"Where the hell is the Doctor?" Mickey asked Rose once he was free.
"I don't-"
"Always bring a banana to a party."
The group turned around to see the Doctor drunkenly stood in the doorway, his tie tied around his head.
"What?" Nearly every asked together.
"I dunno. It's the only line I can remember from this episode. Anyway… What the bloody hell's going on here?"
"They… they shot the droids." Rose stammed
"You did what?" The Doctor shrieked. "Do you have any idea how much those cost!"
"By ze clockwork structure of ze droid, it appears to be fairly basic und brittle, however if it was made of gears-"
"You goddamn Germans and your engineering." The Doctor muttered. Richtofen scowled, but the Time Lord ignored him. "Do you know what they were scanning Reinette's brain for? Her milometer. They want to know how old she is. Know why? Because this ship is thirty seven years old, and they think that when Reinette is thirty seven, when she's complete, then her brain will be compatible. And that's what they're missing. A Command circuit. A computer. Their ship needs a brain. And for some reason, God knows what, only the brain of Madame de Pompadour will do. But now I can't get any info from these droids because you've just shot them all!" The Doctor shook hysterically. He was about to carry on his lecture, when a loud siren began to sound throughout the whole ship.
"What's that?" Dempsey asked the Doctor.
"One of the droids, they must still be out there with Reinette." The Doctor sighed.
"Well let's go and kick some ass." Dempsey smiled as he charged out of the doorway. The other following.
"Well there can't be that many left because you've just shot them all!" The Doctor whined as he took one last glance at his beloved ruined droids.
"We have a problem." The Doctor announced. "They've sealed the windows, we can't get through."
"So we go there in the TARDIS." Rose answered.
"We can't use the Tardis. We're part of events now."
"We use the Doc's teleporter?" Dempsey suggested. Everyone turned to the Nazi.
"Well?"
"I suppose, but I don't see ze point in zhis." Dempsey slammed the German against the metal wall. For a moment the German saw stars as his head collided first.
"We're safe now and these people can take us home. You're going to help them. I know exactly what you did and I'm not sure I see the point in keeping you around, Richtofen."
Dempsey released the German who fell to the floor, a twisted grin on his face. Dempsey kicked the smiling Nazi.
"It will destroy the space time continuum if we don't save her." Rose added.
"Oh I have destroyed ze space time continuum many many times." The German giggled. Dempsey slapped the Richtofen.
"Vhat vas zhat for?"
"You're going all weird and unstable again."
"Guys we're running out of time. Can we use the teleporter or not?" It was no longer just Dempsey who wanted to beat the crap out of the Nazi, Rose looked like she wanted to too.
"I suppose, if I rewire the-"
"Okay, that's good enough for me. Let's go." The Time Lord and his companions were practically running out of the room.
"What the hell's up with them?" Tank smiled to Richtofen.
"I have no idea. Ve can't run out of time, ve are time travelling, dummkopfs."
The guests of Versailles ran around in panic and hysteria. Behind them were the droids that had plagued Reinette throughout her life. A droid grabbed her wrist but she pulled herself free.
"You think I fear you, but I do not fear you even now." Reinette began, "You are merely the nightmare of my childhood. The monster from under my bed. And if my nightmare can return to plague me, then rest assured, so will yours."
A sudden purple light flashed in front of Reinette, she brought her hand to her eyes, in order to shield herself from the bright light.
"Don't worry Madam P, we've come to kick some ass." Before her stood the Doctor, Richtofen, Dempsey, Takeo and three others that she had not yet met.
"You've come to kick my what?"
No one could repress a smile.
"Don't worry about it." Tank smiled sheepishly as he and the other zombie hunters began to take aim at the droids.
"They're going to shoot them all. They're going to shoot them all." The Doctor muttered as they each retrieved a wonder weapon.
"What on earth are those?" Mickey looked in wonder at the space age weapons.
"They came from magic box." Nikolai replied. "Hey why does Takeo get Ray gun Mk2 and I get shitty Mk1?"
"Hey, I helped design zhat gun, Nikolai." Richtofen pouted.
"Okay, it's less shit now, but still shit."
"Doc, you're not gonna use the DG2, you're gonna fry half of these people." Tank added.
"And ze Thunder Gun is any better, Dempshey?"
"My other weapon is my 1911 with only one clip left." Dempsey whined.
"Vell zhat's your problem." Richtofen smiled as he withdrew his Lamentation.
"Screw you Kraut."
The zombie hunters began to take aim.
It did not take long. The meagre amount of droids were ripped to shreds, largely by Richtofen's Lamentation, the others weren't sure if Ray Guns worked on droids and Dempsey emptied his entire clip on a single droid.
"Vell zhat vas anti-climatic."
"Now what?" Tank asked the others.
"Ve go back in ze teleporter. Unless for vhatever reason you vould like to use ze fireplace in ze next room." Richtofen eyed Takeo who had just turned a sickly pale.
"But I still don't understand why they specifically wanted her?" They were back on the ship. Takeo was puking in the corner, Dempsey seemed to be trying to barter some ammo from Nikolai and Mickey and Rose were stood questioning the Doctor, but before the Time Lord could answer, he was interrupted by Richtofen.
"You know zhis ship is called ze SS Madame de Pompadour, right?" The German lay casually in the flight captain's seat as he read an instruction manual of some kind.
"What?"
"It's literally written everywhere." Richtofen pointed to a large aluminium sign that hung behind him. "I vas vondering how long it vould take you to realise, but it appears zhat Dempshey has a higher IQ zhan you three put together."
The Doctor sighed and approached the German.
"I would like to scan you, Edward if you don't mind." The Doctor removed his sonic screwdriver from his inner pocket.
"Vhat for?"
"I need to know where you got that teleporter and what other things you may have created."
"But I told you-" The Doctor pressed a button on the screwdriver, causing it to glow blue as he aimed it at Richtofen's head. A high pitched shriek escaped the German's lips as he clutched his temples, standing up and doubling over in pain. The Doctor stopped immediately.
"What happened?" Rose asked the Doctor.
"Geez, Doc you scream like a girl." Tank smiled, but the insult went unregistered.
"Nein. Stop." Richtofen straightened and began to claw at his temples, slowly backing away from the crew.
"Edward, can you hear me?" The Doctor slowly followed the German.
"The Doctor, hears voices in his head, I believe this is what ails him now." Takeo stood by the Doctor.
"And what stops the voices?"
"I dunno, we usually knock him out with Niki's vodka."
"Well, I suppose I can do something like that. One of you lot get ready to catch him." None of the zombie hunters moved, so Mickey volunteered. The Doctor aimed the screwdriver once again at Richtofen, who promptly collapsed into Mickey's arms after a burst of blue light.
"Right lower him onto the floor." Mickey gently placed the Nazis on the floor and stood up. The Doctor paced around the German and once again began to scan Richtofen.
"Let's see what's going on then shall we?" The zombie hunters began to crowd around the collapsed German. "Look's like you've been messing with things you shouldn't have." The Doctor frowned.
"Well?" Everyone asked.
"It turns out he did make the teleporter."
"And?" Rose asked.
"He appears to be possessed by some Epoch technological weapon."
"What?"
"Your friend here touched some kind of weapon that the Epoch created and the voices are the result of some kind of an alarm for intruders or thieves, but it malfunctioned, leaving him in this state. It is only supposed to be a temporary experience. They must see something in Edward-"
"Hold up, what's this Epoch?" Mickey asked.
"The Epoch are the group that built Atlantis." The Doctor replied nonchalantly, like it was the most obvious thing in the world.
"I've seen a lot of things, but Atlantis does not exist." Dempsey retorted.
"Yes it does, but just not on this planet. Zordin, is where the Epoch are from. Their Commander owes me a favour, so I might be able to help your friend."
"You mean make Richtofen sane?"
"Possibly, I'm not sure of the side effects-"
"Please just do it, you have no idea how annoying he is." The other zombie hunters nodded in agreement.
"When he regains consciousness, we will travel to Zordin."
They all cautiously stepped out of the TARDIS. The Doctor went first. The sky was orange, that was what they first noticed. To Mickey and Rose, the planet looked like the pictures of Mars that they had seen in the media, except this planet was inhabited.
"Well this is Zordin." The Doctor muttered as he studied the tall glasslike buildings that rose into the air.
"It looks abandoned." Rose stated as she looked around.
"The Epoch are a relatively reclusive race." The Doctor began to lead the group as he wandered deeper into the alien city, when he glanced backwards. Richtofen was still stood by the Tardis, staring off into the distance.
"Edward?" The Doctor yelled, but the German began to walk off in a different direction. The Time Lord removed his sonic screwdriver and held it up like a torch.
"They're communicating with him." The group began to chase after the German. They watched as he entered one of the glass-like buildings. But to the other's this building was different. It appeared to be grey, unlike the other other buildings which reflected off the orange sky.
"What is that building?"
"Their headquarters, come on."
When they finally found Edward, he was kneeling in the centre of some kind of auditorium, head bowed.
"Edward, what are you doing?"
"Doctor, we're not alone." Rose stated as she looked up to see what Richtofen was staring at.
Above them, stood dozens of rows of ghostly looking people. They resembled humans, but their skins was pure white and sunken. They had no eyes, instead there was a blue light. To the zombie hunters, they looked like the zombies.
"Commanders of Zordin, I am the Doctor.
"We know who you are." They retorted in the same shrieking voice that Samantha had.
"I merely want for you to remove the technology that possesses this man."
"We cannot do that. He is the chosen one!" The creature yelled. Behind him, the hundreds of beings began to chant. "All hail the chosen one." It sounded grotesque, everyone but the Doctors covered their ears from the sound.
"He will bring power and greatness to the people of Zordin."
"Oh Doc, what the hell have you done?" Dempsey muttered.
"By creating an undead apocalypse?" The Doctor questioned.
"He is to rid the planet of his kind, but his power was lost. In that he has failed."
"So can you remove that brat from that pyramid thing?" Dempsey added.
"It is something that we have tried and failed, but now that you have brought the Chosen One to us, he can regain his place in the MPD!"
"Right, yeah, that's not really the outcome I was looking for." The Doctor scratched his head. "Could you remove this 'Samantha' from this 'pyramid' and withdraw your weaponry from this man?" The Commanders did not reply, instead the Doctor watched as Richtofen shifted.
"What did he just say to you?" The Doctor questioned Richtofen, who merely grinned. He turned to the aliens.
"What did you just say to him?" The creature smiled, a smile that the zombie hunters had seen far too frequently on Richtofen. The Nazi began to stalk towards the Doctor, his bowie knife in hand.
"Zhey told me zhat you have two hearts, zhat you cannot die and zhat you vill bleed forever."
The zombie hunters grabbed the German and pulled him away from the Doctor.
"You chose a great time to have a moment, Doc." Dempsey spat, knowing that the German would not hear him.
"Please, I vant to kill him, I vant to make him scream."
"Remove your weaponry from this man, immediately. You are commiting a galactic war crime against the human race!" The Doctor began to yell.
"And what will you do if we do not release the human?"
"You will be arrested and tried before a galactic court. Zordin will be occupied by the Judoon."
"And if we release him?" Your people will be left alone and you will not be disturbed further." The Doctor began to panic, all three zombie hunters were now trying to restrain the unstable German.
There was a white light that seemed to originate from the German. They watched as he body went limp and fell against Dempsey.
"Thank you, Commanders. Your kindness has been noted." The Doctor bowed and gestured for the others to do the same before leaving the building.
He blinked rapidly, trying to get his eyes to adjust to the harsh white light. He sat up slowly, aware of a headache throbbing at the back of his head.
"How do you feel?" It was a feminine voice. She spoke in a language that he realised was not German. It took a moment to him to realise it was English.
"Who are you?" He looked at the blonde haired girl, and then realised that there were another five people in the room with him.
"He has temporary amnesia." The man in the pinstripe suit spoke for him. Suddenly he visibly paled and covered his arms around his waist.
"Are you alright?" Rose asked.
"Vhat vas ze last thing I ate?"
"Probably some half rotten zombie flesh." Dempsey smiled nonchalantly.
"Vhat?!"
The German stood up and ran from the room.
"No way, did he actually just?" Dempsey couldn't help but grin.
Cautiously they followed the German. They found him rinsing his mouth out with Quick Revive, trying to get rid of the taste of rotting flesh.
"Tastes that bad, huh?"
"Anyzhing, literally anyzhing is better, even zhis." He gestured to the bottle of Quick Revive. Suddenly the German stocked and began to study himself.
"Vhy am I wearing a Nazi officer uniform?"
"Cause you're a German and your an officer?" Dempsey replied sarcastically.
"No, I mean vhy is it Afrika Korp? I've never even been to Afrika."
"Then what uniform should you be wearing, Doc?" Dempsey asked slyly, his hand on his holster.
"Judging by your reaction, I vill not ansver zhat."
"Come on, we need to let him recover." Rose murmured as she left the room, The Doctor and Mickey followed her.
"So now what?" Rose asked the Doctor
"I would like to monitor Edward."
"Makes sense, for how long though."
"Until he has recovered."
The sound of high pitched shrieking brought the Time Lord and his companions back into the room. Beside them, the trio of zombie hunters were smirking as they eyed the paling German.
Slowly Richtofen pulled the squishy matter out of his pocket. It sat in his gloved hand, blood dripped from his fingertips.
"What.. what is that?" Richtofen stammered.
"That's a spleen." Dempsey was on the edge of bursting into a fit of laughter.
"Vhy are zhere spleens in my pockets?"
"You really don't know." Dempsey giggled.
"I zhink… I zhink I'm going to faint." They watched as the German's eyes rolled backwards before collapsing.
"Who knew Doc couldn't handle blood?" Nikolai smiled before downing his Vodka.
When Edward awoke for the second time aboard the ship, he found that he was alone. His memories came flooding back. He clutched his head as he tried to make sense of it all, but then he realised, something felt wrong. Something was missing. The Voices.
"Don't worry Edward, we are still here." Edward looked around, he could not see the source of the voice.
"You must return to 1946 and begin again." A second voice could now be heard.
"Who-" Richtofen began, only to be cut off by a third voice.
"Shh, Edward, you will give us away."
"You know what you must do now." The first spoke again, as Richtofen realised that the Doctor's plan hadn't worked a well as he'd hoped.
Richtofen found the others playing a simple game of cards, they all immediately looked up when they heard him enter.
"How are you feeling?" The Doctor asked the German.
"Gut."
"And do you remember what happened."
"Ja, you took me to zhis planet, I got zapped by a vhite light und Dempshey carried me into your teleporter." Richtofen smiled as he watched the american blush.
"And the voices?"
"Gone, I zhink."
"Well I suppose I can take you home then." The Doctor smiled as he stood up from the metal table.
"When are you from?"
"Shouldn't we go to some period after the apocalypse?" Dempsey asked Richtofen, Nikolai and Takeo nodded in agreement.
"Nein, ve should return to 1946. Your families vould have received a Missing In Action letter und vhat better vay to bring zhem joy, zhan to return you to zhem."
The zombie hunters all took a step away from the German.
"Vhat?" Richtofen frowned, deeply hurt.
"What happened to 'I wanna torture everyone I meet' Richtofen?" Dempsey eyed the German sceptically.
"Da, Richtofen does not show kindness." Nikolai took a step backwards in agreement.
Richtofen suddenly froze, the voices in his head returning, he had to try something else.
"Bitte, fur mich." The German pleaded.
"I believe the Doctor has changed." Takeo wandered over to join his German comrade.
"Yeah and what if he hasn't?" Nikolai spat.
"Do you trust me?"
"Well we've had to trust you this far." Dempsey joined Takeo and Richtofen, Nikolai followed with reservation.
"1946 it is then." The Doctor smiled as he opened the doors of the TARDIS.
