Entering the TARDIS, Theodore went to the console, K9 trailing behind him as he readied the link while Hammond stood around, glimpsing at the sight of the console room, only hearing stories of it, never entering it until now, as he hadn't the opportunity or chance to step inside his late father's prized possession.
Seeing it, it stirred something within Hammond unseen by anyone, as he quietly awed to himself, while K9's linked to the TARDIS by Theodore.
"Al, do you copy?" Theodore calls out for him and he appeared beside Theodore, wearing his unusual outfit, mirroring the actor's costume on the show, causing a stir in Hammond as he's befuddled at the sight.
He questioned Al and Theodore summed that it's the TARDIS's avatar.
"Why on earth are you an actor?" Hammond questioned the TARDIS's choice and Al admitted that it seemed like a good idea at the time.
Noticing K9, Al's less than thrilled having it inside the console room, but Theodore tells him of what transpired, and his view on K9 softened.
"K9, send information," Hammond directed the command to K9 and it sent the collected information to Al, his eyes moving like he's reading something unseen, before he says he got everything he can from the connection.
His eyes moving back and forth, Al says that he sees there's an unusual disturbance, a murmur, something he wouldn't have noticed hadn't Hammond and Theodore said something.
Going through his archives, he doesn't see it coming from the usuals, none that stood out wanting to kidnap a young girl.
"It's as artificial as strawberry flavor, but I got something. It needed to be fed with energy from the home universe to power it to get here, it was enough to get back, but there's still residues, I can match it with my records, boom, we got a stew going," Al tells them what he got from using the data from K9.
In moments, he got a hit, spouting that he found a match, and he's starting the engines.
The TARDIS sprung alive, Al disappearing, and when the engines ceased, the brothers and K9 went to the door, Theodore opening it and poking his head out first, seeing they've landed on a reddish grassy knoll.
His icy blue eyes blinking, Theodore glanced around, not immediately Seeing anything, and as he looked, K9 moved past him, in a mechanical voice, it called out, "Subject detected!"
Stepping out of the TARDIS with Hammond following him, closing the door behind them, Theodore followed K9, his scarf fluttering in the breeze.
Guiding them with its antenna tail slowly rotating, K9 calculated their arrival time, while Theodore and Hammond conversed as they followed.
"If they taken Dorothy, there's a chance they might've taken others," Theodore deduced that Dorothy wasn't a one-time case, that they'll expect to find others in her situation, and Hammond agreed with his deduction.
They'd arrive on a long dirt path, looking at it, they found that it's heavily traveled, both by foot and vehicle, and K9 led through in the direction the prints went, a cold breeze passed them by, as they neared, they see something in the distance, a colourful tent.
The closer they got, the more detailed and bigger the tent looked, and concluded it as a circus tent.
"A little far for a circus tent, don't you think?" Theodore looked towards his brother as his brown eyes narrowed on the sight of the large tent.
K9 insisted it's picking up traces of Dorothy from the tent and Hammond wasted no time marching ahead, but not before Theodore stopped him.
Curious, Theodore asks, "What do you plain on doing when you get there, dear brother?"
Staring at him, Hammond says he plans on getting Dorothy back, of course, before Theodore reminded him of the rules of being the Doctor.
Scoffing at him, Hammond responded with, "Since when have you ever followed the rules?"
Well, Hammond isn't wrong, Theodore isn't the type to even glance at the rule book in the library, but when it comes to being the Doctor, he forced himself to follow some rules.
Some.
He took artistic liberties with some rules on a occasion.
"And what do you propose?" Hammond inquired what Theodore planned and the aloof giant said that he'll formulate one when they figure out who's calling the shots, the motive, the usual.
With his large hands in his stitched pockets as he casually strolled with Hammond walking beside him and K9 ahead of them, he says to his older brother, "You're out of your element, dear brother, this is my field."
He hadn't spent countless adventures risking his life for nothing, it's gotten to the point he predicated every show and movie with an accuracy of 99.9% only failing the .1% because it was the dreck, he couldn't fathom wasting any more time watching.
Annoyed, Hammond insisted that he's just as capable as Theodore, even if he wasn't the Doctor, he heard the stories from their father, and he may not look it, but trust Hammond, give him a reason, and you'll realize your error quickly.
"Oh! You've reminded me. I like to keep things tidy. Under no circumstances do you use either yours or my names. I hate to do this, but for simplicity's sake, you'll be the Doctor, too. It scares them worse than if it's just me," Theodore suddenly raised a finger after Hammond reminded him of something and he wanted Hammond to know this before they reached the threshold to the area surrounding the circus tent.
Normally, Theodore wouldn't share the title with Hammond, but it wouldn't make sense for them to pretend one's the Doctor and the other's the companion, not with them brothers.
So, half-truth, they're both the Doctor.
"I'm well-aware of the rules, little brother, but me as the Doctor?" Hammond questioned the logic, until Theodore reminded him that it wasn't like Hammond's the Doctor, he's just playing the part.
Exhaling sharply, Hammond's forced to follow his brother and K9, coming up on the threshold into the area, when Theodore stopped suddenly.
Hammond asks what's wrong and Theodore pointed towards a steep ravine near the circus tent, at the bottom, Hammond sees there's bodies of different decomposition, wearing items common to circuses, and seeing this prompted Hammond to command K9 to search for Dorothy, wait for them if there's danger, lead Dorothy to safety if it finds her, and K9 went on its own, leaving the brothers to look at the ravine with horror.
"Brother, what is this?" Hammond coughed as he lost his normal composure to the sight and Theodore replied that it's a pit, judging from the state of the bodies, they could've died from anything, but now they're in a peculiar situation.
Not only was someone willing to kidnap Dorothy, but willing to kill, too, and that's compounding into a horrifying thought.
Noticing how Hammond's panicked, Theodore comforted him that they'll find Dorothy, but for now, they must play the part, and find out what's going on, then once they've located and rescued Dorothy, making sure they've rescued anyone else trapped here, then they'll have some fun of their own.
Leading Hammond, they snuck around the back of the circus tent, not seeing anything behind it, no trailers, areas for the performers to rest in between shows, just a steep drop into the ravine.
Didn't need to look down to know there's more bodies below, it sickened Hammond, further increasing his desire to save Dorothy and punish the individuals behind this conspiracy.
Snooping around, Theodore found a slit in the tent, likely done by K9, before alerting his brother, and they dove inside, finding the tent's bigger on the inside than the outside, like they've been transported into a different world, almost, that they couldn't see the ceiling.
Where they are, they found themselves in a storage area, filled with crates, and they carefully maneuvered around them while getting their bearings, mindful of any guards patrolling the area.
Curiosity and wanting answers, Theodore poked around the opened crates, finding they're filled with an assortment of different things, one he found had costumes of different shapes, sizes, colours, and patterns, another filled with random objects used for performances such as bowling balls.
He rejoined his brother as he gazed around the corner for any movement, before they made their way through the section, avoiding anything that would've alerted anyone working in the circus of their presence.
It wasn't like they found a map, didn't appear that whoever operated the circus needed one made.
Didn't stop the brothers from making do with what they have, mentally noting every corner they come across, while maneuvering incognito.
They're making their way around the last stack of crates when they staggered backwards, a woman wearing a lavender tutu with decorative glitter around her cheeks, fake jewelry strewn in her hair.
She almost screamed hadn't Theodore and Hammond stopped her in time, managing to calm her down enough before they explained themselves, and learnt her name's Alyx.
"Where are we?" Theodore inquired where exactly they are, much to Alyx's confusion, stating that they're in the happiest place in the universe.
It sounded as rehearsed as one of those annoying commercials that slipped into one of Lila's video tapes that she made of some old shows back when she lived in America.
"Excuse me, have you seen a child?" Hammond took an opportunity to ask Alyx if she saw Dorothy, leaving Alyx to dejectedly say that she hasn't seen a child in a long time, causing him worry, until Theodore had Alyx elaborate, and she added that the "audience" doesn't like children all that much, they complain that they're too distracting.
Controlling his rising anger, Hammond inquired more about the audience, only for Alyx to grow fearful of talking about them, before saying that she needed to get back, before someone notices.
"Please, we're looking for someone, we believe someone kidnapped her," Hammond begged Alyx to relent, worry in his brown eyes, and Alyx stared into them with her light green eyes before she did, and said that sometimes, the audience demands new talent, and when the audience demands something, it's safer to fulfill them, they're not too fond when someone doesn't give them what they want.
"The people in the ravine?" Theodore summed and Alyx slowly nodded, the beads in her hair bobbing, as she tells them that anyone who displeases the audience gets removed permanently.
They're fickle about what they want, sometimes they'll like a performer one day, want them gone the next, demand another one just like them, it goes on from there.
Concerned, Hammond asks her how they find new performers, but Alyx said that she doesn't know, someone goes out and finds them, brings them back here, rinse and repeat.
She's fortunate that she remained a staple in the performances, else she would've joined the others in the ravine, and she doesn't want to think about what'll happen when it's her turn.
"Help us and we'll deal with them," Theodore summed that if Alyx helps them, she won't have to worry about the audience deciding her fate, anymore, and they'll bring justice to the dead.
Alyx hesitated in his pleas, but eventually relented after thinking about it enough, and she tells the brothers that the audience loves talented people, that they'll have a better shot if they're capable of tricks and stunts.
Sharing looks between each other, the brothers stated that they're capable of such feats, why, they learnt it from the best.
Their father tutored Houdini, believe it or not, and Houdini was nice enough to teach their father some tricks as thanks, and he went on to teach to his children.
"Don't oversell yourselves," Alyx warns them from getting ahead of themselves, as she says even the most talented people weren't safe from the audience.
Curious, Theodore asks how Alyx arrived at the circus and she expressed how a circus came to her village, it wasn't a special village by any means, so it was a treat when the circus came.
Alyx gone to it and watched the shows, but when it was time for her to leave, she found that she couldn't find the exit, and when she tried to seek help, the audience captured her, brought her here to entertain them.
If she tried to escape, they'd kill her and dump her in the ravine.
If they grow tired of her, they'd kill her and dump her in the ravine, too.
She's forgotten time because of how long she's been here, she's forgotten what her village looked like.
"Who owns the circus?" Hammond wanted to know the owner's name, so they may track them down, eliminate them from the process. He wasn't pleased when Alyx said the circus's owned by the audience. It led Hammond into asking who the audience were, but Alyx couldn't tell him, saying that they're the audience.
Bitterly, she goes on to tell them that the audience can make the circus go anywhere, but since new performers come to the circus, they haven't had the need to go anywhere.
"We'll discuss more, first we need a disguise, and routines," Theodore decided that they needed to pretend they're performers themselves, which Theodore should be a natural, since he's been fine tuning his persona for months.
Hammond's less than thrilled about the idea, but Theodore encouraged him to do it for Dorothy, saying that it'll put him in a good position to find her, as if he's a performer, he won't be out of place going around the restricted areas.
Seeing his point, Hammond agreed to Theodore's plan, as Alyx told the Doctor (Hammond) he needed to wear a disguise.
"Disguise?" Hammond's perplexed as Alyx informed him he needed to wear a disguise before asking why Theo— the Doctor (Theodore) isn't asked, before he's told by Alyx that the circus has a lot of hobo acts.
It's enough to get a snicker out of him at the thought that his dear brother's outfit's perfect for the circus, before Theodore chided him.
With Alyx's help, Hammond located a couple of crates that had clothes inside, and he sorted through them while Theodore waited with Alyx.
Hammond found what looked like something their uncle would wear, a cream-coloured sweater with red questions marks and green zigzag lines in between, he even found a red question mark handled umbrella to go along with the sweater.
With his favourite hat, it tied the outfit together.
It didn't stop there, as Alyx led them on a walk towards where the performers readied for their acts, putting them in makeup to further disguise themselves.
The sight of Hammond wearing clown makeup's enough to send Theodore into a laughing fit.
If only he had a camera!
"Quiet you!" Hammond grumbled as he jabbed his brother's large bright honking nose.
In their assigned disguises, Alyx warned them that the audience won't hesitate to have them killed on the spot if they don't like their acts.
Scoffing at her, Theodore assured her that they're professional, causing disbelief in Hammond as he pointed out that sleeping through meetings isn't an act.
"Oh, hush you, what can you possibly do?" Theodore questioned Hammond's abilities and the stout man responded pointedly that Theodore wasn't the only one who can act.
Their arguments caused confusion among Alyx before they assured her that by the time it's their turn, they'll have an act of the century for the audience.
Dejectedly, Alyx warned them that someone before them said the same thing, but the audience hated his act, had him killed.
"Tough to please a crowd," Theodore winced before Hammond stated that they'll come up with something and when they do, they'll figure out a way to teach the audience a lesson.
Hammond's mind buzzed with ideas on how he'll punish the audience for their crime and what that entailed, is better not to ask him.