CHAPTER 26
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THIS CANDY WILL DO MUCH MORE THAN ROT YOUR TEETH
As it turned out, Clara actually managed to persuade the Doctor to stay at her house for a full day (their near constant kissing with one another that entire time may have had something to do with it) before he started to complain about wanting to leave again. Clara knew that it was coming of course so she already had a destination in mind that she hoped the entire family would enjoy and that for once wouldn't involve a massive amount of running.
She really should have known better by now.
"Clara, how would you like to go see my old mate Leonardo again for our first trip? I'd really like to make sure that he's doing alright after that whole mess with Count Grendel," The Doctor said eagerly as soon as she agreed with him that it was time to go traveling once more.
"Maybe later, Chinny. I'd like for our first trip back to actually be fun instead of having it be filled with constant life threatening situations and deadly bug-eyed monsters out to kill us," Clara said.
"That is fun though," The Doctor said with a mischievous grin.
"Yeah, it is for you but not so much for Merry, Bow Tie Boy. I want to spend some more time with her to make up for the week that we were away, and I don't want that time to be spent worrying about something eating her. Got it?" Clara said.
The Doctor nodded as he said with a disappointed look, "So this trip will definitely not be any fun then."
"Not your kind of fun, no. It will still be fun by most people's definition of the word though," Clara said.
"Do I look like people?" The Doctor asked with a sly grin.
Clara smiled back at him as she said, "No, you're not even close."
"I'm not sure whether to be happy or offended by that so I think I'll be both," The Doctor said without a smile ever leaving his face.
"Was he always this weird, Koschei?" Merry asked as she overheard their conversation while walking into the room with the Master and Jenny.
The Master had been staying at Clara's home the entire time while Tish was off traveling as a part of her job. She was now working as a member of the Prime Minister's personal staff which Clara thought must have had something to do with some string pulling by the former Mr. Saxon who still had friends in high places even now somehow despite what he had done.
While she was gone, the Master had apparently been amusing himself by watching children's TV shows when no one was watching him. At least that's what Clara had caught him doing anyway when she walked in on him once. He had tried to claim that Merry had been watching it of course, but she knew for a fact that Merry hadn't been in that room all day. It actually made Clara feel somewhat relieved that there was anything that young and innocent still left in her old friend's hearts.
"You don't know the half of it," The Master said as he smiled down at the little girl.
"I know and that's why I'd like to hear more. It would be nice to know exactly what kind of person that my Mum is going to be spending the next couple of centuries with after all. How else am I going to know if he's right for her or not," Merry said.
"Stop that, Merry. It's not your job to decide whether they belong together or not. It's mine and I think that they're perfect for one another," Jenny admonished her with a smile because she knew that Merry was just kidding.
"I see you're already corrupting sweet little Merry and turning her against me," The Doctor said to the Master with a fake look of anger on his face.
"I would so love to claim the credit for that, Doctor, but you've done a good job of that all by yourself by acting more like a child than she does," The Master said with an evil grin.
"Are you going to let him get away with that?" The Doctor said to Clara as he pretended to pout.
"It sounds right to me," Clara said with a chuckle before kissing him to let him know that she really didn't mean it.
"So where are we going, Clara? You never did say," Jenny said.
"Wherever it is it's definitely going to be somewhere boring," The Doctor said.
"How do you know? Just because it isn't all life and death doesn't mean that it's going to be boring, Doctor. I'll have you know that I can pick a good place for a trip too, and it just so happens that this one is a really good one. You're definitely going to love this place despite all of your pouting. I can practically guarantee it, Doctor, because we're going to . . . Kandy World," Clara said in an excited voice.
"Kandy World? Don't tell me that there's an entire world made of sweets out there somewhere," Merry said as she too started to grow excited.
"There is actually and it's much cooler than that place. Kandy World? That's your idea of a good trip, Clara? Bah!" The Doctor said with disdain.
Clara's face fell as she said, "What do you mean 'bah'? Kandy World is supposed to be just as much fun as the Planet of the Sweets plus it has things that that planet doesn't including fun rides and games for the kids to play. The brochure made it sound much more interesting than looking at a bunch of silly looking buildings made out of candy on that other planet to me."
The Doctor shook his head as he said, "Kandy World is just a third-rate knockoff, Clara. You can't beat the original. Trust me."
"Well, it sounds like fun to me. I want to go," Merry insisted.
"No, you really don't. Trust me on that," The Doctor said in an enigmatic tone.
Clara looked at him oddly as the Master said, "Oh, are we going to be all dark and mysterious now, Doctor? I thought that was my job."
"Yeah, Dad, why are you so dead set against going to this place? Have you been there before or something?" Jenny asked curiously.
The Doctor shook his head as he said, "No, but I've heard many disturbing things about that place and its connection to a planet that I did go to once called Terra Alpha. You definitely don't want to go there with a child, Jenny. Trust me."
The Master looked thoughtful as he said, "Terra Alpha. Isn't that the place where they used to shoot people for not being happy enough? Even I thought that was a bit excessive to be honest. Then they had a sudden revolution that got rid of all of that. I'm sure that you had nothing to do with that though of course."
The Doctor briefly smiled proudly as a voice said behind him, "Of course he did. We were both hip deep in the middle of trouble during that one while we fought against Helen A's stormtroopers for the right of everyone to be miserable. Good times."
"Ace," Clara said with a smile as she turned to see a much older Ace than the one that she had met before suddenly standing there in her living room.
She looked to be somewhere in her early to mid-forties now, and yet she still looked quite youthful for her age somehow despite that. Clara noted with amusement that she wore a skintight leather outfit that most women her age couldn't possibly hope to get away with and yet she pulled it off with style. The outfit's effect was added to by the dark sunglasses that she wore that made her seem just as dark and mysterious as the Doctor had been acting earlier.
"Clara, right? Yeah, I remember you and Jenny. It's been a long time since I last saw you but I bet it's only been a few months at the most for you from the way that you're reacting," Ace said with a warm smile.
"Yes, it's very timey wimey," The Doctor agreed as he looked at Ace with undisguised pride on his face.
"Timey wimey? I'm used to you acting like a child sometimes but not to you talking like one too, Professor," Ace said in amusement.
"That's a very precise technical term, Ace," The Doctor protested.
"Sure it is. Whatever you say," Ace said with a disbelieving smirk.
"Sarah Jane told me that she came across you still alive and well. She said that you were running a charity of all things, but yet I can feel the presence of your TARDIS nearby. Please tell me that you didn't go back to working for the Celestial Intervention Agency again now that Gallifrey's back. You can do so much better than that," The Doctor said in a concerned tone.
"No, I had more than my fill of those scumbags and most Time Lords in general after what Rassilon and the High Council did to Romana. After that, I cut all ties with the lot of them and went back to Earth where I put my TARDIS into hibernation mode so that they couldn't find me," Ace said.
"It's a good thing too or you would have been caught up in the full horror of the Time War because it only became worse after Rassilon took charge," The Doctor said with a haunted look on his face.
"Why am I not surprised by that? I'm sorry in a way that I wasn't there though, Doctor. I should have been at least for you if for no one else. I hate it that you had to go through that all alone," Ace said as she put a comforting hand on his shoulder.
The Doctor shook his head as he said, "No, you would have died too if you had stayed. So many others did after all including a girl named Cinder who tried to help me just as you would have. Yet another person who died well before their time because of me."
"I'm sure she knew what she was getting into. We all do, Professor," Ace said in a gentle tone that was quite unlike her usual personality.
The Doctor smiled at her gratefully as he said, "So why are you here now then if you're not working for the Time Lords again? You must have brought your TARDIS back to normal for some reason."
"Yeah, I did actually. You see Sarah Jane wasn't the only old friend of yours who looked me up, Doctor. Tish did too yesterday. She used some fancy government connections of hers to find me despite the fact that I've tried very hard to stay hidden from the Time Lords over the years. I was really thrown for a loop when I found out that she wanted me to come here and look out for the both of you while she's away. It's the first time that I've used my TARDIS in years. It feels good actually," Ace admitted.
"You did remove the recall circuit and all of the High Council's tracking devices from her when you brought her out of her hibernation mode, didn't you?" The Doctor asked.
Ace rolled her eyes as she said, "Of course I did. I did that the first day that I got her. Give me a little credit, Professor."
"That's my Ace," The Doctor said with a warm smile.
"Wait a minute. So Tish sent you to watch us? Didn't she trust me to take care of them by myself?" Clara said in a miffed tone.
"She did actually. She just didn't trust these two not to kill each other the minute that your back was turned. She said that the Master already tried to do it a day ago," Ace said.
"Oh, these two always act like that. They're just playing around like they always do though. Tish didn't need to send you here. I can handle them. I'm very good at getting them to mind me. I have much more trouble with Merry than with them to be honest," Clara said with a giggle.
Merry smiled with pride at that remark while Jenny rolled her eyes at her. She loved Merry but she really could be a bit of a brat sometimes because she knew that Clara would practically let her get away with murder on certain occasions. She could see already that she was going to have to do something about that.
That was her job as the older sister to put her in her place after all.
"I really wish that everyone would stop talking about me like I'm a child," The Doctor said indignantly.
"I hate to say it but I actually agree with the Doctor for once. I mean I can see why Tish would feel that way about him but not me. I'm in no way a child and I don't need looking after especially not by one of the Doctor's annoying Earth girls. I want nothing to do with any of them," The Master protested.
Clara cleared her throat loudly which caused the Master to immediately add, "Present company excluded of course."
"Well, tough because you're got me here now whether you like it or not. I'm not going anywhere except wherever you lot are. I made a promise to Tish and I mean to keep it. She was one of the few Time Lords who always treated me well and looked out for me after I left the Doctor to work for Gallifrey and I owe her that much at least," Ace said in a stubborn tone.
The Doctor's eyes widened as he said, "Wait a minute. Clara, did you mention that you wanted to go to Kandy World to Romana?"
Clara looked at him oddly for the second time that day as she said, "Yeah, I did. Why? What is it that's freaking you out so much about that place, Doctor? Normally you'll go anywhere no matter how dangerous that it is."
Ace looked at both of them intently as she realized, "Tish didn't send me here to keep you from fighting with each other. She sent me to keep you from going to Kandy World or at least to keep you alive once you went there anyway."
The Doctor nodded as he said, "Yes, I think you're right. She recognized the planet's name just as I did but wasn't allowed to talk about it thanks to being sworn to secrecy about everything that she learned about as the President by the High Council no doubt. She didn't realize that I would have heard about it too but I have. It's not like I would have possibly failed to pay attention to wild stories about a man made out of candy who decided to make the tunnels of that particular world into his own private playground would I? Add that to the many unexplained disappearances of the tourists who go there to visit which the government of that world has so discreetly hushed up, and I couldn't help but learn about it. I always meant to go there and find out what was going on but one thing after another just kept getting in the way and then the first thing that I knew I had a Time War to worry about."
"Well, then it's long past time that you made up for lost time then, isn't it? Especially if that man made out of candy is who I think that it is. I've wanted to settle a score with that thing for a long time now," Ace said eagerly.
"Any other time I'd go but not with Merry along. I really don't even want Clara to go there, but I seriously doubt that I could talk her out of it," The Doctor said.
"You're certainly right about that. Not that we're going anyway now that I know what's there. I want to go somewhere fun this time, remember?" Clara said.
"We're not going?" The Doctor said in surprise.
"No, not today, Doctor. We're going somewhere fun that Merry can enjoy too," Clara insisted.
"Going to solve the mysterious disappearances would be much more fun than some dumb old amusement park somewhere though," Merry said.
"No, you're not going," Both the Doctor and Clara said in unison which made both of them smile at one another.
"I don't see why not. Why can't I do some running for my life too?" Merry protested.
"You are so going to fit into this family," Jenny said with an approving smile.
"You really think so?" Merry said happily.
"Definitely, kid. You're just as bonkers as the Professor," Ace said.
"This coming from a girl who's played around with high explosives since she was a teenager," Clara said with a chuckle.
"I never said that I wasn't mad too. You have to be to travel with him," Ace said with a sly grin.
"I'd protest that remark but I'd be a huge hypocrite if I did," Clara said with a grin of her own.
"So are we going to this Kandy World or not? I don't really care personally but I'd like to know so that I can make sure and record a certain program if I'm going to miss it," The Master said.
"Yeah, you wouldn't want to miss out on this one. I think that they're going to teach how to count to ten in Spanish in this episode," Merry said.
The Master glared at her as he said to Clara, "You told her?"
"She told everyone," The Doctor said with a smirk as he tried not to laugh.
"Shut up. I wasn't watching it. It was just on and I didn't change the channel," The Master said.
"I'm really going to have to ask for the full details about that later, but right now I don't think that we have much of a choice. We have to go to Kandy World now whether any of you want to or not," Ace said as she checked over a small cell phone like device in her hand.
"Why? What did you find out?" The Doctor asked as he came to stand by her side and look down at what he recognized was a communications device from Gallifrey that Ace must have kept all of these years.
"It's all over the Galactic Net now, Professor. Kandy World's just been taken over by the Kandyman. It's really him. There's video of him holding several tourists hostage and making demands. Well, it's just one demand actually," Ace said.
"Let me guess," Clara said with a sigh.
Ace nodded as she played the video that she had just been watching loud enough for all of them to hear.
"If you want anyone here to live then bring me the ones who humiliated and attempted to kill me on Terra Alpha. Bring me the ones called the Doctor and Ace. Have them here within the next few hours or I'll slowly kill every single person on this planet by covering them with my own special candy creations. I might enjoy that actually as I make a different form of confection every hour that they're not here. The possibilities are endless," The insane robot made out of candy said with malicious glee.
"Now I see why Tish insisted that I come along," Ace said with a frown.
"Don't worry. We've beat him before and we'll do it again," The Doctor said confidently.
"He knows that we're coming this time though, Professor. He's had plenty of time to create a trap for us," Ace said.
"The whole place could be a specially made trap created just for you right from the start for all that you know, Chin Boy," Clara said.
The Master shrugged as he said, "I did that once. It didn't work."
"Oh, yeah! Castrovalva. Those were the days, eh?" The Doctor said with a mad grin.
"I remember it just like it was yesterday," The Master said fondly.
"I can't believe that you two are actually getting all nostalgic about him trying to kill you, Doctor," Clara said as she shook her head at them.
"I guess you had to be there," The Doctor said with a smile.
"Well, I'm definitely going to be there this time. Someone's got to keep you in one piece until the wedding, Fez Boy, and that's my job," Clara insisted.
"Wedding?" Ace asked with surprise.
"Yeah, between me and him. Can you believe it, Leather Girl?" Clara asked.
"I can't believe that it took you this long actually. I knew that you two belonged together the last time that I saw you," Ace admitted.
"Tell me about it. They're both a bit thick though so it took them a little longer to realize what everyone else did," Jenny said.
"Oi! He was the thick one not me. He wasn't ready yet when I was," Clara said.
"It doesn't matter who's thick and who isn't. We need to go now before the Kandyman starts preparing his ovens in order to bake his 'special' candies. I've already seen that before and it's not a pretty sight. Call your mother and let her know that we're coming. We'll drop Merry off there, Clara," The Doctor said as he became deadly serious.
"I never get to see you anymore," Merry said to Clara in a sad voice.
"You will soon. I promise. I don't care what happens. I'll spend a day with just the two of us together, okay?" Clara said.
"Okay," Merry said with a smile.
"How sweet! I'd hate to be the cause of the two of you not spending quality time together. Why don't I help you with that, hmm?" An evil synthetic voice suddenly said from all around them.
Merry was instantly transmatted away as the Kandyman's laughter filled the house.
"I trust that will give you extra motivation to come now, Doctor. Be on Kandy World within the hour or the girl becomes a part of my newest version of Chocolate Sundae Surprise!" The Kandyman said with glee before his voice slowly faded away.
"How did he do that? How did he know that we were even here anyway?" Clara asked in alarm.
"Someone already set a trap for me, Clara, only it was here in your own home," The Doctor said.
"They bugged it and set up a miniature transmat station," The Master said as he found traces of alien technology cleverly hidden throughout the house.
"Who though? Someone had to be working with the Kandyman to do this. Who would do something like that?" Clara demanded.
"This technology is from the planet Tara," The Master realized with a frown as he studied it.
"Count Grendel," Clara said in a hate-filled voice.
"Don't worry, Clara. We'll get Merry back no matter what Grendel and the Kandyman have waiting there for us," The Doctor promised her.
"I'm not the one who you should be worried about, Doctor. You should be worried about them not me. They're going to pay for doing this to my daughter," Clara said in a cold voice that was filled with undisguised menace.
"You can definitely tell she's a Time Lord alright. Here I thought she was the nice one," Ace whispered to Jenny.
"I think that's what she wants people to think. It puts them off their guard and they don't even see it coming when she shows them what she can really do," Jenny whispered back.
Ace shuddered as she saw a look of anger on Clara's face that had her wishing that she was back fighting Daleks with a baseball bat again. She'd rather face a thousand angry Daleks than to see the normally sweet Clara looking like that anymore.
Next: Count Grendel and the Kandyman may just live to regret what they've done when Clara pays them a visit next time. That's always presuming that she and the others live long enough to escape the deadly trap that they have waiting for them on the sinister place called Kandy World of course.