Chapter Five
The Doctor followed behind Gertrude, as she led him down the busy streets of New Skaro. As they glided along, the Doctor looked from left to right taking in everything around him. As much as he despised his ancient enemies, it fascinated him seeing them going about their everyday lives. It filled him with hope knowing that maybe, just maybe, the Dalek race could be turned away from their killing instincts and learn to live in peace with the rest of the universe.
"HERE WE ARE," Gertrude said.
The Doctor turned his eyestalk around and looked at her. He glided up behind her and looked at the building in front of him. He raised his eyestalk and read the marquee above the door.
NEW SKARO PLAYERS PRESENTS:
THE DALEKS CONQUER THE DOCTOR
And, underneath it in smaller letters…
ALSO APPEARING: THE NEW SKARO DANCE TROUPE
The Doctor lowered his eyestalk and followed Gertrude into the theater.
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The Doctor sat beside Gertrude in the theater. Around them, other Daleks sat talking to one another, as they waited for the show to start. The Doctor looked around at all of them.
"I HEAR THIS PLAY IS VERY GOOD," Gertrude said.
The Doctor looked at her.
"SOUNDS LIKE IT WILL BE," he said.
"I HOPE SOME-DAY THIS PLAY WILL BE-COME A REALITY, AND WE WILL DEFEAT THE DOC-TOR."
"Heh, dream on, git."
"WHAT DID YOU SAY RUFUS?"
"NO-THING, I WAS JUST THINKING," the Doctor said.
They looked towards the stage when they noticed a Dalek coming out. The Dalek glided to the middle of the stage and faced the audience.
HELLO, EVERY-ONE, I AM DEREK, YOUR HOST FOR TO-DAY!"
He looked around the audience.
"I SEE WE HAVE A GOOD CROWD TO-DAY, IS THERE ANY-ONE FROM OUT OF TOWN?"
He looked around. The audience stared up at him in silence.
"NO? YOU ARE ALL LOCALS?"
"YES, YOU MORON. NEW SKARO IS THE ONLY CITY ON THIS PLANET!" a heckler said. "AND WE ARE THE ONLY DALEKS ALIVE!"
The host ignored him.
"SO," he said. "BE-FORE WE BRING OUT THE NEW SKARO DANCE TROUPE, HOW ABOUT I GET US STARTED WITH A JOKE?"
"NO!" the audience said, in unison.
The host ignored them.
"KNOCK, KNOCK," he said.
The audience grumbled.
"KNOCK, KNOCK!"
"WHO'S THERE?" the audience said, angrily.
"DOC-TOR."
"DOC-TOR WHO?"
"EXACTLY. HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA H…"
The host stopped himself when he realized no one was laughing.
"WOW, TOUGH AUDIENCE TODAY!" he said.
"GET OFF THE STAGE, IDIOT!" another heckler said.
"I HAVE ANOTHER JOKE!" the host said.
He gasped when someone in the front row fired up at him.
"BUT I'LL SAVE IT FOR LATER! RIGHT NOW, WE PRESENT TO YOU THE NEW SKARO DANCE TROUPE. GIVE THEM A HAND!"
"WE DON'T HAVE HANDS YOU GIT, WE HAVE PLUN-GERS!"
The host paused.
"OH YEAH. WELL, JUST…CHEER THEN," he said.
He rolled off the stage, as the Daleks in the audience looked at each other and shook their domes.
A few minutes later, four pink Daleks, each adorned with a festive floral wreath on their dome, glided onto the stage. They lined up beside each other in the middle of the stage, and as the music started, they began to spin around and around. Then they began to glide all over the stage weaving in and out of each other, as they made intricate figure eights, spirals, and curly cues.
The Doctor watched in silent awe, as the Daleks twirled.
"Fascinating," he muttered. "Dalek ballet. I wish Rose was here to see this."
The dance went on for another five minutes and when it ended; the troupe glided to the front of the stage and stood for a moment while the audience cheered. Then they turned and glided off the stage, as the host glided on.
"THE NEW SKARO DANCE TROUPE EVERY-BODY! LET'S HEAR IT!"
The audience cheered some more.
"I MET THE DOC-TOR THE OTHER DAY."
"DID YOU EX-TER-MIN-ATE HIM?" someone in the audience said.
"NO, NO, I TALKED TO HIM."
"YOU DID NOT EX-TER-MIN-ATE THE DOC-TOR?"
"NO, I TALKED TO HIM."
"YOU DID NOT DESTROY OUR GREAT-EST EN-EMY?"
The host sighed.
"THIS IS A JOKE, YOU IDIOTS. I DIDN'T REALLY SEE THE DOC-TOR!"
The audience looked at each other.
"WE DO NOT WANT TO HEAR YOUR STUPID JOKES. WE WANT TO SEE THE PLAY!" someone said.
"IN A MIN-UTE!"
He yelped when someone else fired on him.
"WILL YOU QUIT TRY-ING TO KILL ME?" he said.
"GET ON WITH THE PLAY!"
The host sighed, as the audience chanted, "PLAY, PLAY, PLAY!"
"ALRIGHT, FINE," he said. "I PRE-SENT TO YOU THE NEW SKARO PLAYERS AND THEIR DRAMA: THE DALEKS CONQUER THE DOC-TOR!"
The host glided off the stage, as the audience cheered. A few minutes later, three Daleks glided on. One was wearing a piece of brown carpet on his dome, one was wearing a piece of yellow carpet, and the third had no adornment. The two who were wearing the carpets stopped on one side of the stage, and the third Dalek went to the other side, turned around and faced them.
"I AM THE DOC-TOR!" the Dalek with the brown carpet on his head said.
"BOO!" The audience said, in unison.
"AND I AM THE FEMALE, ROSE TY-LER!" the Dalek with the yellow carpet on her head said.
"BOO!"
"I AM A DALEK!" the third said.
The audience cheered.
"DALEK, I AM KA FARAQ GATRI, THE ON-COMING STORM! I WILL DESTROY YOU!"
The audience booed.
"I AM THE BAD WOLF. THE DE-STROYER OF THE DALEK EMPOROR, AND I WILL ALSO DESTROY YOU!"
The audience booed.
"NO! YOU WILL NOT DESTROY ME! I AM A DALEK, A PROUD AND NOBLE RACE THAT WILL TAKE OVER THE UNI-VERSE! YOU ARE NO MATCH FOR ME!"
The thunderous cheers echoed around the theater.
"WE WILL SEE ABOUT THAT, DALEK!" the Dalek Doctor said. "BUT FIRST BEFORE I KILL YOU, I WILL SHAG ROSE TY-LER BE-CAUSE I AM A WEAK E-MO-TION-AL FOP WHO NEEDS TO PRO-CRE-ATE!"
The Doctor's eyes widened when the Daleks roared with laughter.
"I'm a what now?" he said.
The Daleks portraying Rose and the Doctor turned toward each other.
"OH DOC-TOR," Rose Dalek said. "I WILL SHAG YOU NOW, BE-CAUSE I AM A WEAK LIT-TLE GIRL WHO IS RULED BY MY E-MO-TIONS."
The audience laughed.
"YES, ROSE TY-LER, AND I WILL SHAG YOU BE-CAUSE I AM ALSO A WEAK A-LIEN WHO HAS TO PRO-CREATE IN ORDER TO LIVE! I MUST DO ALL THIS EVEN THOUGH I TELL THE DALEKS I AM BET-TER THAN THEM!"
The audience jeered him, as the Doctor gritted his teeth.
"HA HA! I DO NOT HAVE TO DO THAT BE-CAUSE I AM A DALEK!"
The audience cheered.
"AND I DO NOT REQUIRE PRO-CREATION TO LIVE, SO I HAVE TIME TO EX-TER-MIN-ATE YOU! SO DIE, DOC-TOR!"
The audience cheered, as the Dalek fired a blast at Doctor Dalek. The cheering became deafening, as the Doctor Dalek reeled backwards and lowered his eyestalk to the ground to indicate death.
"OH NO," Rose Dalek said. "THE DOC-TOR IS DEAD. HOW WILL I PRO-CRE-ATE NOW?"
The audience laughed, booed, and jeered her.
"DIE, ROSE TY-LER, DESTROYER OF OUR BE-LOVED EMPOROR!"
The audience cheered, as the Dalek shot the Rose Dalek, and she reeled back beside Doctor Dalek and lowered her eyestalk. The Dalek glided to the center of the stage and faced the audience.
"I HAVE DONE IT! I HAVE KILLED THE DOC-TOR! LONG LIVE THE DALEK RACE!"
The audience cheered.
Gertrude looked over at the Doctor.
"THAT WAS GREAT, DON'T YOU THINK, RUFUS?" she said.
"Oh yeah, it was just wonderful," the Doctor muttered.
"WHAT WAS THAT?"
"YES, IT WAS SPECTACULAR. THE DOC-TOR GOT JUST WHAT HE DESERVED!" he said.
"YES, HE IS AN IDIOT, AND SOME-DAY, WE WILL DEFEAT HIM AND HIS FEMALE!" Gertrude said.
"I'll show you who the idiot is," the Doctor muttered. "I was thinking of leaving here without doing anything, but now I'm angry, and now, Daleks, it's my turn to get back at you!"