Her pallbearers stopped on the Roux Bourbon and placed her on her feet. The dank shop smelled of burned sage and metal. Ace was hustled through the storefront. Past shrunken heads, glass pipes, an array of herbs and tarot cards to the area behind the tie dye curtain in the back.

The shop's owner stirred from her rocking chair. The Animal masked men pushed Ace in front of the old Voodoo Queen.

Bits of animals and little packets made of leather dangled from the woman's outfit. Her skin was the dark brown of mahogany and was as wrinkled as a prune. As she moved around Ace, studying her, her clothes gave off the scent of patchouli.

"Look, I don't know what is going on here, but I have to get back to the Doctor." She insisted as the Voodoo queen came to a stop in front of her.

"Poor child, you betray who you are with your words. And your countenance marks you as His." She turned to the group of creatures who had brought Ace in. "Thank you my children, you have done well, the great one will be pleased and bestow blessings on your families."

All but the two biggest creatures left before the old woman turned to meet Ace's hateful stare.

"What do you mean HIS? My countenance, you got a problem with my face, bog-breath?" she spat at the witch.

The older woman smiled a great toothless grin at the younger. "The great one, the Master of all! It is not surprising that the lost bride not remember her husband. It was foretold to us that the bride would return to her husband carrying the spawn of the devil. We were told this devil would call himself Doctor and would have the bride under a spell of confusion. She would believe the devil was her husband and would have gladly let him into her bed."

Ace could feel the anger rising in her face, "You dare to call my children devil's spawn?!" She made a lung for the hag but was restrained by the two remaining cult members.

The old woman moved forward and stroked Ace's stomach, "Poor Child! The bride will remember her husband."

"GET OFF ME! I'm no one's bride! I am the Doctor's bond-mate, not the devils, and my babies are half-Gallifreyan, not half demon, AND YOU WILL NOT HARM THEM!" The harder she struggled the harder the guard's grip on her pressed. It was almost painful. She could feel the tell-tale symptoms of her feline-virus activating and she sank into the sensation. Her heart began to jog in her chest and her body flushed with the heat of potential energy.

The old hag pulled Ace's face down to meet her gaze. The time-traveler's yellow ringed irises told her all she needed to know.

"The bride feels the approach of her husband. Restrain her, my children." She said and the two animals dragged an uncooperative Ace to a padded alter. It took little effort for them to force her into a supine position on the religious icon and strap her wrists and ankles to the table.

"Couldn't let a girl go the loo first?" Ace inquired through her rapidly growing fangs with spite.

"Silence! HE comes." said the crone.

As the old queen began to chant and undulate in the throes of religious fervor, Ace noticed a familiar scent. It had the characteristics of a graveyard, the smell of ancient death, of someone who refused to die.

The Master seemed to materialize inside the room smiling, showing off his now permanent canines.

"AH! My young bride has returned to me bearing gifts. Gifts she told me were lost." He came to the alter and glared down at her. "Dorothy, my love, I've missed you." He leaned over her and forced her to kiss him.

She struggled, her whole body writhing on the marble slab. He wouldn't release her, without encouragement.

"OW!" he bellowed as he stood back from her touching his bleeding lip tenderly.

The old hag rushed to his side but he brushed her away. "I will speak to her alone. Leave us!" he yelled at his followers who obligingly scooted out of the shop.

He moved back to her side and stared at her. The Master pulled a handkerchief out of his front breast pocket and brought it to her face.

She jerked her head away, but he grabbed her skull and jerked it back. She could feel the first tinges of whiplash and she was afraid. Just a little more force and goodbye Ace.

He reached forward and dabbed her mouth gently. Pulling away Ace was shown the bright red blood that had seconds before been on her lips. His blood, the Master's blood. She began to gag. She could feel her throat constrict, muscles shifting.

The Master saw her start to choke and moved fast. He undid the ties on her left arm and leg then rolled her onto her side seconds before she threw up on his shoes. He sighed. Oh the lengths we go through for the things we want.


If you think the Mississippi River looks nice and muddy from far away, then you should see it up close and personal, thought the Doctor as he finally managed to make it safely onto shore. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a flopping fish. He held it between his hands for a few seconds.

"My my, you are well on your way, aren't you, you marvelous creature. But don't worry, there's no rush you still have about 9 billion years or so to explore the universe. You know, you remind me of this Hath chap I used to know… sigh… oh well, off you go then, back to the business of life." The Doctor sighed and tossed the fish back into the river. He stood sopping wet on the bank and turned out the rest of his pockets. They were invariably full of mud, sand, and rocks.

That done, the Doctor sent out a mental wave to Ace, hoping the response would be quick, meaning she was still in the area. So he waited, looking quite peculiar. A middle aged short man standing covered in mud from the top of his hat to his wing tip shoes on the side of a river holding onto his lapels and leaning on his tiptoes facing the sun with his eyes closed could seem strange to some, but to one very distressed woman from Perivale it was a sign from god. She sent back her love and a warning hoping that they would be able to get out of the Master's trap this time.

A few minutes later, the Doctor smiled, opened his eyes and bean to run along the river, following its winding curve until the Big Easy grew up before him in the twilight horizon. He paused as he reached the city limits. He sent out another mental wave like sonar.

The response should have come back immediately. He slumped into a lotus position on the ground and tried again. He strained his mind listening for Ace's voice.

There it was! Faint, as if coming from behind a wall, or under water, or perhaps even underground. Where are you, I need you, they need you, come find us, voodoo shop, Roux Bourbon, hurry!

He jumped to his feet, there had been urgency in Ace's thoughts that he did not like. He began jogging towards the city's most famous street all the while thinking about which voodoo shop it could possibly be.


If Ace thought she had been sick before, she was sorely mistaken. The cult members had begun to prepare for a ceremony to exercise the evil from their lost bride. Not much chance there. She thought as they dabbed yet more chicken blood on her exposed torso.

They told her it was a protection charm, but Ace just felt grossed out. She swallowed back bile as yet another glob of coagulated blood rolled down her stomach.

The Master had explained his plan to her when they had been alone. Ace thought back to that time when the Doctor had told her that Time Lords have an infinite capacity for pretension, well that was certainly the case with the Master.

He explained that the ceremony they were about to perform was a cover for what was actually to transpire. His 'master' plan was to use the residual connection he had to her brain pattern to siphon off her memories. Basically he was going to turn her into an obedient little brood mare. He had even leered at her when he hinted that he wanted his own children… someday. The thought of the Master rutting above her brought another wave of nausea. However it was his plan for her children that made her truly ill. He would wait until they were old enough to exhibit any Gallifreyan tendencies, and then as soon as they did he was going to sacrifice them in order to steal any regeneration energy they had. He wanted them for their possible lives.

She sent one last desperate plea to her love through their mental bond. Find me, please Professor, before it's too late.


The Doctor stuck his head around the corner of the building and took a good look at the voodoo store. It was quickly filling with a crowd of cult practitioners all wearing those horrible animal masks. He shuddered to think what they might mean, but they did give him a way to get in.

The Time Lord waited in the shadows until one be-masked person wandered close to his hiding place. In a flash the Doctor was in front of the man. He ripped off his mask and pressed one finger to the middle of the man's forehead. The cultist slumped into a deep sleep.

After moving the man's body to a hidden position, he studied his new mask. The Doctor gave a short laugh when he recognized the animal. He ginned like the devil as he pulled the fox mask over his own face and headed into the crowd entering the shop.


It was stifling. The sheer number of people that came by the alter to lay their hands on her was causing the temperature of the small back room to soar. They told her they were giving her children blessings even though they were demonic abominations, for they had faith that the great one would find them useful in the future.

Ace was sweating and struggling to breathe against the scents of pagan ritual. Her eyes had settled into a bright gold and the feline in her heart longed for the open air. She panted rapidly, the twins inside her twisted and writhed signaling their own discomfort.

She squeezed her eyes shut as another bunch of cultists filed past her. At the touch of the third hand in the bunch, Ace's fear and anxiety began to subside. Her eyes shot open to see a short cultist in a fox mask.

The familiar blue orbs of her bond-mate twinkled silently at her from behind the fur. They shared a silent conversation before the Doctor was forced to move along to join the waiting audience. He kept his focus on Ace, being sure to find a place to stand where she could see him. This wasn't going to be easy and if he didn't concentrate, it would be the end of everything he loved.

Knowing she was within eyesight gave him courage as he prepared to cast the die. He had a feeling that he had crossed the Rubicon when he had entered this sacrilege of a temple and turning back was the one option he would never take.


The Master was resplendent having dusted off his old Gallifreyan ceremonial robes. They seemed appropriate for the false magic he was about to perform. He felt a little justified when he entered the alter room and the crowd gasped collectively at the majesty of their god.

He moved through the group of cultist with a fake smile plastered on his face. He truly disliked humans, especially this bunch who had been fighting for his approval for years. He had only been with them for two, but through gentle manipulation of their memory centers, he made it seem like he had always been and will always be. Omega, eat your heart out.

As he approached the alter he took in the view of his impending triumph. Ms. Dorothy McShane looked like someone had painstakingly peeled off her flesh and left her a mound of exposed muscle. On closer inspection one could see that she was unharmed (thus far) and it was the effect of the painted on animal blood that made her appear so gruesome.

He sneered as he approached her and whispered in her ear before turning to his congregation. "You know if the Doctor's spawn will not give up their lives to me then you and I shall have to make our own little sacrifices." He lay a hand on her stomach as he addressed the crowd.

"My children! That which was lost to me has now been returned!"

"Blessed be the great one." answered the masses.

Great call and response, thought Ace to herself.

"My bride may be unwilling, but at the breaking of the dark one's curse she will once again love me as her one and true husband. She will repent her sins and shun her children for they were conceived in deceit. But I shall be merciful; the children shall be my soldiers. Soulless husks, they shall obey only me and will aid me in the destruction of their father the dark one."

"And all will know of your greatness!" responded the crowd.

The Master grabbed a goat's bladder full of who knows what and began to shake droplets of the liquid inside onto Ace. She closed her eyes not just to keep the splashes out of them but also to aid her concentration. Already she could feel the Master begin to work stripping her of her memories.

She snuck a glance towards the audience and saw the little fox-faced cultist slump into a lotus position and grab his head. She redoubled her efforts to keep out the probing consciousness. The caress she sent to her sly Professor were quick and strained, but she hoped it would still reach him.

The years flew from her, her childhood hiding behind couches at the approach of her mother, her awkward teenage years spent blowing things up and chasing boys, Perivale, Svartos, Earth, the time she discovered she had a brother (Liam), the Doctor, and her family all flew away from her. Leaving behind only the power of fang and claw, the virus embedded in her very bones. The last thing to leave her was her sense of self. Ace was gone leaving behind a very wild very dangerous Cheetah.

The Master, ever the showman, turned to his followers and raised his voice to emphasize his lies. "See here before you, my bride returns, she fights to return to her husband!", he grabbed her arm twisting her skin roughly.

She answered with the howl of a wild thing. Her bonds were stretched to the limit, the strands of sinew pulling away from cold steel. One by one they snapped and the animal that used to be Ace rose to her feet.

As one the crowd said "Behold your majesty and might!"

"She is prepared. Once corrupted by the evil one, she is now a black slate. Like a newborn babe, she carried no faults or sins having been purified!"

"The great one is Master of all!"

The glazed eyes of the Cheetah turned on the cultists and she snarled at the loud noises they were making. Her body moved as if it was fluid, muscles twitching in readiness, all she needed was the word. She looked to her Master with expectation.

"I shall take my prize! The bride will soon be my wife and balance shall be restored! Bring forth the joining cloth, let us be married at once!"

"And the Master shall join with his bride and the two shall be made one flesh." Answered the cult.

A long piece of ivory lace was passed through the crowd to the Master but the fox-faced acolyte that grabbed it last was in no mood to hand it over. He carried the lace, holding it tight at both ends. When he stood before the Master and the Cat (well she just wasn't Ace anymore) he tore the fabric in half.

Outraged the Master pulled off the cultists mask hissing when he realized it was his old tormenter once again back, unregenerated, from Hades.

When the Doctor finally spoke his words rolled like glaciers from his mouth, his frigid Scottish brogue becoming more pronounced as his anger grew. Just as the Cat's eyes were glazed and yellow, the Doctor's were surging, waves tossed at sea, omens of the oncoming storm.

"You stand on a precipice, Master. Three choices: pick one. One: you will give me back my bond-mate and our children. Not demons, not abominations, not bastards, Koichi, children, half-Gallifreyan, half-human. Two: You will give them back to me and you will release Ace's body from whatever dark connection you have over it. Three: You will give them back to me, you will sever your link to Ace's body and you will swear on your own hearts that my family will for this moment forwards be off limits. If. .You. I' . .Option."

"Why is that, Theta?" he asked as he took the Cat's arm and held her in front of him. She responded to his touch by snuggling into him, rubbing against him as a show of affection.

Time's Champion fought back his nausea "Because that is the only correct answer."

"I think not, Doctor, what do you think my dear?" He stroked the Cat's head and she responded by leaning into him and purring. "This person wishes to ruin our wedding, how do you like that?" She snarled at the Doctor showing off sharp fangs.

The Master smiled confidently at the Doctor before giving his command. "Fetch." He whispered in the Cheetah's ear.

She attacked, springing at the Doctor. He stood his ground and took it as she tackled him down to the floor. He remained as still as possible as she loomed over him as if deciding how to best go about killing her prey. She lunged for his throat but his hands shot up and grabbed her face before she could take a chunk out of his jugular. They struggled in that position, Ace's face covered by the Doctor's hands as she snarled and snapped at him.

The Doctor bided his time until she closed her mouth, at that second he brought her mouth to his in a bruising kiss.

She tried to tear from him, her struggling forcing him to hold tight to her. Her movements slowly became less urgent. The kiss quickly transforming from forced to wanted, accepted, longed for. Ace stopped struggling and moved to envelop her Professor in a hug, all the while continuing to kiss him.

"No!" screamed the Master. "How is this possible, I erased her? She is nothing, a puppet, my plaything!"

His outburst reminded the lovers where they were and as one they rose from the flood to face their great nemesis.

"The next time you siphon off someone's memories, their sense of self, you may want to check where they are escaping to. It was no small matter to collect the bits of Ace that you threw to the winds and store them safely up here", he said pointing to his head, "Until they could be returned to her."

Ace squeezed the Professor's hand before moving forward to face the Master. She stared at him through narrowed eyes for a few tense moments before she lashed out at him. "You fucking Bastard!"

He raised his hand to the bleeding gouges on his face. His rage at his failure exploded from him in a yowl. "You will not escape me Dorothy McShane! I will have your children and I will end you, Doctor!"

"I think not", said the smaller Time Lord before he placed a pointed finger in the middle of the Master's forehead. The great one could no longer stand as pain raced through his brain like lightning. He collapsed to the floor when the Doctor pulled away the offending digit. The Master lay catatonic on the floor.

"Professor, what's wrong with him?" asked Ace with absolutely no sympathy in her voice.

"Oh, nothing just a laps in memory, he will be fine in a little while, though he will not remember you or our children. Those memories are lost to the ephemera." He turned to look behind him and suddenly remember that they had an audience.

Ace watched as the Doctor pulled a pair of glasses out of his jacket pocket and put them on before glaring intently at the crowd of cultists.

"The evil one has been destroyed. The bride returned to her husband. All is well, go home and live!" amazingly the group turned as one and filed out of the shop heading to their homes where they would wake tomorrow with no memory of the nights events.

Ace smiled slightly at her Professor.

"What?" he asked as the glasses made their way back to his bottomless pocket.

Ace sighed and shook her head at him. "You did always love a captive audience."

He chuckled and tapped her nose. "That I do, my dear, that I do."

With that thought in mind the couple made their way home.


A few minutes later, patrons of the Café DuMonte looked up from their pastries and chicory laced coffee to find the source of that annoying grinding sound. It soon died away, however, and the patrons, relieved, went back to their coffee.