Been a while. Yeah, This Chapter feels a little rushed, I might have missed some potential, but I think it gets the idea across.
I don't own stuff.
"I don't know what I was expecting."
The Master and Clara seemed to be in a giant purple and green circus tent. It was about the size of a football stadium. They were stepping out of a single booth that matched the color of the surroundings. In the center of the large tent was another, somewhat smaller tent. There was a booth in front of that tent with the words TICKETS painted in yellow.
"I mean, given what that video was like, i get that he likes the clown stuff, but this seems to be overkill." Clara said. She began to walk toward the ticket booth.
The Master, however, walked around the booth they had just walked out of. He had a strange look on his face, as if he was trying to unscramble a word.
"It's like the police box, right?" Clara said to him, after noticing he was distracted by the booth. "Bigger on the inside?"
The Master looked at her as if she suggested they sniff glue. "If THAT'S your way of approaching this, then there is no way I could even begin to explain to you why this is significant."
"Were you ever going to?" She asked sarcastically. The Time Lord ignored her as he walked toward the ticket booth.
Upon close inspection, the ticket booth was merely a red button behind bars and a sign that said "5$". The Master looked over at Clara.
"..."
"..."
"...You've got to be kidding me."
"Where would I have five Earth dollars?!" The Master exclaimed. "I just got here from another planet!"
"Cut the crap!" Clara exclaimed. "You know perfectly well that they're pounds, not 'earth dollars!' You just pull that alien stuff out in order get yourself out of bad situations! Also, you still have that money from the gas station. You know, that time you killed a guy! And another thing," She added, "You could just use the fancy laser to cut the bars! Don't have to spend money or anything!"
"Well, you never struck me as cheap." The Master said innocently, taking out his laser screwdriver. He turned it on with a hissand began to cut through the bars.
Clara rolled her eyes at him, before diverting her attention to one of the signs near the tent. It appeared to be a list for a show of some kind.
Step right up and reserve your spot to the spectacular thrill of the light show!
Be awed as you see the natural wonder of the engulfing star!
Walk through a spooky hall of fun house mirrors!
After a quick bathroom break, witness a confrontation between two of the greatest enemies in the history of the world!
After that, our lovely assistant shall show you some skills she's been working practicing on the side.
Let yourself fall victim to maddening fits of giggles as our wacky clown group entertains you!
Finally, witness a Grand Finale that will leave you at the edge of your seat!
All of this, and more, at Mister J's Timey Wimey Fun House!
Clara looked at the list, confused at the strangeness of it all.
"What are we stepping into, exactly?" She said to herself.
"Oh, you are going to have a marvelous time! At least I hope you do. The last guy got shot by the ticket booth."
"Wha-?!"
BANG!
A gunshot suddenly rang out from behind Clara. She kept her face surprisingly straight as she turned around. She saw the Master lying on the ground, apparently thrown there by a gunshot.
"...I know you aren't dead. You aren't doing the glowy thing."
"Well, you could at least PRETEND to be worried." The Master grumbled, picking himself up. "Nerve. He thought he could just SHOOT me. Disabled it the moment I started. Anyway, we should be able to get in to the large tent now."
"Think of it as a piece of chocolate to that's included in the invite. The party hasn't even started yet!"
The Master and Clara walked through the tent, into a giant room. It looked like the inside of a circus tent, although it was bigger than the tent they entered in. Clara figured this was going to be a continuing pattern. One different thing about this room was that it was full of different pipes, which lined the walls and ceiling. There was a doorway on the other side of the tent, so the duo walked across the room.
"I have a bad feeling about this room." Clara said.
"Out of all the concerning things we have seen so far, it's the room size that gets to you?" The Master asked in a condescending tone.
"What's with all the pipes?" Clara asked, ignoring his comment.
"My guess is that they's decoration. This is a highly unlikely that a machine this complex would need a piperoom."
"'Highly unlikely?' Do you...do you even know how this thing works?" Clara asked the Master.
"What?! Of course I do! I'm a Time Lord! The smartest one!" The Master shouted at her, before stomping toward the door annoyed.
"Much as I hate to interrupt your bickering, the light show is about to begin!" The Joker's voice sounded through the room.
"Light show? What could that-?" Clara was interrupted by a loud creaking sound.
Vermp...Vermp...Vermp…
"The hell-!"
"We're taking off!" The Master informed her. "Might get a bit bumpy! I'll be honest with you, this is one of the older versions, so it's not as-"
RUMBLE
The entire room began to shake, throwing the Master onto the floor. Clara managed to grab one of the pipes near the wall.
"Quit overcompensating and get to the door!" She shouted over the shaking.
He somewhat reluctantly picked himself up and ran across the room. They were almost to the door when the Joker's voice filled the room.
"Oh, isn't this fun! It's like a carnival ride! Just as safe, too! HAHAHA! But I did promise a light show."
The Master and Clara noticed that the ground was breaking in the center of the room.
"And it's a light show you'll get!"
The Master's eyes widened as he realized what was about to happen.
"Hold onto something!" He shouted, as he grabbed Clara's arm and one of the pipes on the wall.
The center of the room shattered. A vacuum of force sucked up any debris that came from the explosion. The force was so powerful that it pulled Clara off the ground, causing her to scream. The only thing keeping her from being sucked into the hole was the Master, who was tightly grabbing onto one of the pipes on the wall.
From where she was, Clara could see into the hole, although she wasn't quite sure what she was looking at. It was as if she was looking into the middle of a storm. There were random strikes of lightning coursing through the cloudy vortex. It gradually changed colors, varying from green, to blue, to red, to orange, like a fire.
Clara was so mesmerized by the vortex that she didn't even notice the Master shouting at her.
"CLARA! CLARA!" He shouted over the vacuum
She quickly snapped out of her daze. "ANY PLANS, MR. 'SMARTEST ONE'?!"
"YES! I'M GOING TO SWING YOU OVER TO THE OTHER PART OF THE WALL. YOU GRAB ON, AND I'LL LET GO!"
"I DON'T KNOW IF I COULD SUPPORT YOU!"
"IT'S ONLY FOR A FEW SECONDS! YOU'RE HUMAN! YOU GUY'S ARE STUBBORN! JUST DEAL WITH IT!"
"FINE!" She shouted. She felt herself being swung toward the back and forth. The more swing she got, the more she felt like she was slipping. She felt her fingers dig into the Master's arm.
After a few handfuls of air, she finally managed to grab onto a pipe next to the Master.
"ALRIGHT! I'M GOOD!"
The Master nodded, and surprisingly, let go of the pipe rather easily. Clara immediately felt the extra weight, but managed to keep her grip on the pipe. It dawned on her that she didn't know what the Master was going to do, let alone if it would actually work.
Suddenly, a red beam emitted from the Master, aimed at the ceiling. It moved around randomly, causing small bits of rubble to fall from the ceiling. These bit were quickly sucked up by the vortex. By the time Clara realized what he was doing, larger pieces of rubble came crashing down from the ceiling. Some of them got through the hole. However, eventually, a large enough cluster of rubble fell from the ceiling and clogged up the hole.
Slowly, Clara let go of the wall. She looked at the Master, who was breathing heavily. He looked over at her, a cocky smirk on her face.
"Like I said, smartest Time Lord."
"I'm sure you have a ton of experience filling up holes." Clara said sarcastically.
The Time Lord scowled. "Let's get out of here. I don't know how long that will hold." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a handkerchief. "Here. Wipe your nose."
Clara checked her nose and realized that is was bleeding. "What?"
"You looked into the time vortex. Your human mind couldn't wrap it's head around the vastness. You got off lucky. Trust me."
As the two of them exited the room, the Joker spoke up again.
"WOW! That was intense, wasn't it? When I eventually kill you two, I really need to get my hands on that laser! I might convert it into one of those trick flowers!"
"How long do you think it take to drown his voice out?" Clara asked the Master.
"I'm pretty good at drowning out annoying noises, but that one might take a while." He muttered to her.
"Anyway, counting you guys, that makes three people to get through that room! Do you want to meet the other one?"
The room the duo entered was smaller than the last one. It was almost as empty, aside from a door and a covered up window.
"I think we know the drill." The Master said.
"Why are we playing along with him, anyway?" Clara asked, as they got over to the window.
"Because he might let us get close to him, and then we can strike." The Master replied, as he put on a set of shaded goggles that were available at the window. "We can handle whatever he throws at us. We handled the last one."
"He OPENED with that. It probably wasn't his best."
"No matter. Can't surprise me."
Clara was about to reply when the Joker voiced in.
"This is going to be quick, so don't worry about missing anything good. Let me tell you the story about the last guy who was in here. He apparently came from the future or something. I wasn't really paying attention. He was VERY handsome, though! Since he was a one man act, unlike you two, I bantered with him a little more. I even flirted a little, cause, you know, that's my thing. Well, imagine my surprise when he flirted back! I know! I was so excited! So, this went on for some time! You know how it goes!"
"So one thing lead to another and I made him eat a sun."
The window uncovered itself, revealing a sun. The goggles helped protect the duo from eye damage.
They were not that phased by the scene.
"How does that even work?" The Master asked.
"So you just threw him into a sun?" Clara asked. "Like that guy on TV?"
"Oh, the next thing is big. Why would I blow my wad so quickly?"
The window closed, and the duo took off their goggles. They looked at each other, and realized that they had black marking surrounding their eyes.
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! I couldn't resist! Just throw a gag in there! Classic! It's made of his ashes, by the way."
"..."
"...Do you still have that rag?" Clara asked.
"Way ahead of you." He replied, taking out the rag to wipe off his own face, before giving it to her. She looked at him. "It already had your blood on it, and the ashes are from the same person." The Master said, annoyed. "If anything, I should be the one complaining."
She groaned at the Time Lord before wiping off her own face. "It's kind of disturbing how little I'm disturbed by this."
"Well, that will make things go by faster, if you don't stop every time you see something strange."
"I suppose. Next room?"
"Why am I here?"
"Because I am a merciful being." The Master replied to Clara.
They were walking down another hallway. It was full of demented mirrors, catching glimpses into other dimensions. SOme of the dimensions included ones where their genders were swapped, where they were dressed as flying animals, and where they were horribly damaged.
However, By the time they got to the hallway, the Master and Clara were not really disturbed by anything the hall could throw at them.
"No, really. Why?" Clara asked again.
"...Alright." The Master said, not even turning to look at her. "It's because you seem like somebody the Doctor would like. And, when he eventually shows up, he will likely do something stupid to impress you."
"Wait." Clara said. "This isn't some sort of weird matchmaker thing you're doing, is it?"
"No, no. Don't flatter yourself. What I mean is that he holds back when he has a companion. So I just want to make sure, when he shows up, he has one"
"...That still sounds pretty sexual."
"Well you just have a dirty mind."
They got to the end of the hallway, entering a dark room. As if on cue, the Joker's voice filled up the room.
"Time for Intermission! I think what we all need is a bathroom break!"
A light shined on the other side of the room. There were two doors this time: A pink one and a blue one.
"Remember: Go into the right one!"
The duo stood there in silence for a few seconds, trying to figure out if there was a trick.
"Maybe we have to go through the door on the right?" Clara suggested.
"No." The Master said, deep in thought. "He meant it like a bathroom break. Boys go through the blue, girls through the pink."
"That's stupid. Why a bathroom break?" Clara asked
"Maybe he really thinks we need one." The Master replied. His eyes suddenly widened. "Clara! Look out!"
Clara never heard him. He heard a loud thud next to him, followed a lighter thud, which was Clara's unconscious body. The Master reached over to her when he suddenly felt something whack him in the head.
The Master collapsed onto the ground. He was still semiconscious as he saw two large...things move up to him. A stiletto-wearing foot walked over to him.
"Quit your giggling and get the girl into the playhouse! I can deal with her. Mistah J want's to see him right in his office! They're gonna have a heart-to-hearts, if you get me. Hold on."
With that, the foot kicked the Master's head, knocking him out.
Yes, I am doing that. Just wait till the next chapter. Shit is going to hit the fan.
Originally, I was thinking of splitting this up into two chapters, but that would mess up my planned order of writing, and this came out pretty good.
I am going to write something for Wayward Son first, but I am pretty excited for the next chapter.