Chapter Eight
Rose sat on the captain's chair casually thumbing through a magazine. For half the day, she had been listening to the sound of tinkering coming from somewhere in the TARDIS. Tinkering that had been occasionally punctuated by the Doctor's insane laughter and threats of retribution against the Daleks. She took no notice of it, as she read the latest dating advice from Cosmo.
"AHA!"
Rose jumped out of her skin. She looked over at the Doctor who was standing in the back door with a triumphant grin on his face.
"I HAVE FINALLY FINISHED IT!" he bellowed.
"Oh yeah, finished what?" Rose said, slightly bored.
"My masterstroke. The epitome of genius! The thing that will allow me to get back at those Daleks once and for all!"
"Mmm," Rose said, looking back down at her article.
She heard a, "Whrrrrrrr" and looked up. She flinched when an ugly, wrinkly, prune faced thing sitting in the bottom half of a Dalek body glided over to her.
"What the bloody hell is that?" Rose said, pointing to it.
"That, my dear, is Davros."
"Is who?"
"Davros, the creator of the Daleks."
Rose frowned.
"I thought the Dalek Emperor created the Daleks," she said.
"Weeeell, he might have created the latest batch of Daleks, but this guy is the original creator," the Doctor said.
Rose stared at it.
"He's ugly," she said, making a face.
"That he is. And, a huuuuge megalomaniac. Fought him a number of times."
"Oh yeah, where is he now then?"
The Doctor shrugged.
"Don't know, don't care. As long as he doesn't show his wrinkly puss around this universe anymore, I don't give a damn what happened to him."
"So, is this a robot of some kind?"
"Yup, it's my own homemade robot. Operated by remote control and designed to confuse the hell out of those pepper pots."
"But, if the Dalek Emperor made them, will they even know who this guy is?" Rose said, pointing to the robot.
"Oh I expect so, all Daleks are created with full knowledge of their past. I'm sure Davros is floating around somewhere in their little squid minds."
"So, you are going to piss off the Daleks yet again," Rose said. "And after they got done setting your hair on fire."
"Exactly, Rose, my doo is completely fabulous. Anyone who messes with it is asking for trouble. This time, however, I will be safe here in the TARDIS. I have installed a camcorder and a speaker in the head, so you and I will sit here and watch the monitor, while I use the little microphone on the remote control to speak to my adversaries. And, I have modified the speaker, so that when I do speak it sounds exactly like Davros. Observe."
He brought the remote control out of his pocket and flipped up a tiny microphone. He pressed a button and said,
"I will destroy you, Doctor!"
Rose raised her eyebrow.
"Wow, that's what the guy sounds like? His voice is just as ugly as he is."
"I couldn't agree more," the Doctor replied. "And now, Rose, sit back, relax, put down the magazine and enjoy the show.
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"GOOD MORN-ING, PETER."
"GOOD MORN-ING JULIAN," Peter replied, as he glided up to him.
"READY FOR ANOTHER DAY OF WORK AT THE FAC-TORY?" Julian asked.
"OF COURSE. I…"
They swiveled their eyestalks around when they heard a sudden commotion and saw Daleks rushing toward the gates of the city.
"WHAT IS THE MEAN-ING OF THIS?" Peter asked.
"I DON'T KNOW, LET'S GO FIND OUT," Julian replied.
They followed the crowd. Reaching the gates of the city, they were amazed at what they found.
"IT IS DAVROS!" Peter yelled. "THE CRE-A-TOR HAS RETURNED!"
"My children, I have come back!" Davros said.
He glided up, as the Daleks talked excitedly amongst themselves.
"DAVROS, WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?" Julian said gliding up. "WE HAVE A-WAIT-ED YOUR RETURN FOR YEARS."
"Yes, well, I was busy filming commercials for Oil of Olay. They asked me to be a spokesman after seeing my wrinkly skin; unfortunately the product didn't help me much. But, never mind that, I have returned my Daleks, and now, I shall rule over you once more!"
The Daleks cheered.
"But, first a few changes are in order."
The cheering stopped.
"WHAT KIND OF CHAN-GES?" a Dalek asked.
"Well, first off, the city is too drab. I want all of you to paint everything pink."
The Daleks stared at him.
"PINK, YOU WANT THE CITY TO BE PINK?" a Dalek asked him.
"Yes, I've grown quite fond of the color. Everything needs to be pink, so get busy, and start painting."
"BUT, DAVROS, WE DO NOT WANT IT PINK!" Peter protested.
"AM I NOT YOUR LEADER?" Davros roared.
"YES, DAVROS!" the Daleks yelled in unison.
"Then paint everything pink."
The Daleks stared at him for a moment, and then, hurried off to find paint and brushes.
Back in the TARDIS, the Doctor and Rose sat side by side, giggling.
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(Three hours later…)
"IT IS FINISHED, DAVROS!" Julian said. "THE CITY IS PINK!"
Davros looked around at the pink buildings.
"Excellent, my Daleks, I am proud of you. It is a nice shade of pink too, not that ugly Pepto-Bismol shade of pink. I can't stand that. But anyway, here is my next command!"
The Daleks gathered around him in anticipation.
"My Daleks, I wish you to build…a duck pond!"
The Daleks looked at each other.
"YOU WANT US TO DO WHAT?" a Dalek said.
Davros glided over to him.
"A duck pond, you armor plated imbecile. I like feeding duckies with my good hand, and so, I want a nice sized pond where I can do so. Now get a shovel and get to work!"
The Daleks looked at each other.
"I AM YOUR LEADER, YOU WILL DO AS I SAY!" Davros roared.
The Daleks glided off, grumbling under their breath.
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(Three hours later…)
"Ah, this is a splendid pond," Davros said, sitting at the edge of the little lake. "And, you even managed to find some duckies for me to feed. Don't know how you managed that, but just the same, good job."
He turned to the crowd of Daleks behind him.
"And now for my next command!" he yelled out.
The Daleks groaned.
"I wish to declare a planetary holiday!"
The Daleks cheered.
"Today shall be known as, I Love the Doctor Day!"
The cheering stopped.
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN, I LOVE THE DOC-TOR DAY?" a Dalek said. "WE DO NOT LOVE THE DOC-TOR. WE WISH TO DE-STORY HIM!"
The other Daleks nodded their eyestalks in agreement.
"NO! I am your leader, you shall obey me, and we shall love the Doctor! I have spent so many years trying to kill him that I did not take the time to stop and think about all his good points. But, while I was off filming the Oil of Olay commercials, I had time to contemplate on just how wonderful he really is! The Doctor is not only a wonderful humanitarian and a brave, fearless fighter; he is also a snappy dresser, as well. Have you seen his latest ensemble? I would kill to look that good. The suit, the trainers, and the trench coat are a stroke of genius. Compared to him, I am a prune-faced twat. So, get to work all of you, we shall put up posters and banners proclaiming to all what a swell guy he is and we shall put on plays and have songwriting contests to come up with the best song about him, and we shall have a Doctor costume contest, and we shall…"
Davros trailed off.
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Back in the TARDIS, the Doctor and Rose watched, as the Daleks grumbled angrily and began to glide menacingly towards the robot.
"Uh-oh, I think you went a bit too far," Rose said. "I have a feeling your Davros is about to be trashed.
"Nonsense, just keep watching, I have it all under control," the Doctor said.
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"My Daleks, um…stop…I command you!" Davros said.
"YOU ARE NOT OUR LEAD-ER ANY-MORE. WE WILL NOT FOL-LOW SOME-ONE WHO WILL NOT HATE THE DOC-TOR!" Peter said, as the others shouted their agreement.
"NO! I am your leader! I created you...Well, I didn't create YOU, per say, but I created the Daleks, but….you know what I mean! Stop! I am Davros, your leader!"
Davros paused a moment, and then turned tail.
"Stop! Listen to me! The Doctor is your friend! You must not fight him anymore!" he yelled, as he fled the entire Dalek population. "He's a wonderful guy! You must call a truce! You must give up your Doctor hating ways and be his friends and allies. You must…"
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The Doctor and Rose grimaced, as a Dalek smacked into Davros from behind sending him careening into a wall. They saw sparks fly up in front of the camcorder for a moment, and then they lost the picture.
"Told ya you went too far," Rose said, to him.
"Ah, well, I tried," the Doctor said, smiling at her. "Just think what would have happened if we had been successful. We could have had the Daleks on our side."
"Somehow, I really can't see that happening," Rose muttered.
"No, it would have been great. Then we could have invited them over for barbecues and ice cream socials and had a blast."
"I think the only blast we would have would be the one coming out of the Dalek's gun," Rose muttered.
"Oh ye of little faith, but no matter, time to plan the next prank."
"Doctor, have you ever stopped to think that one of these days the Daleks will catch on and get back at you?"
"Nonsense, Rose, they wouldn't dare do such a thing. They aren't smart enough to think of that."
He patted her on the head.
"Anyway, enjoy your magazine and I'll talk to you later," he said, standing up.
Rose shook her head, as he walked out of the room.
"If I were you, Doctor, I wouldn't underestimate the Daleks," she muttered.
Sighing, she grabbed her magazine and went back to her article.