HELTER SKELTER
Chapter Twenty Six While his companions were out in the console room chatting with each other, the Doctor walked back to the cell block, taking off his communicator and putting it in his jacket pocket so he could have some privacy. He stepped in front of the cell containing Altok. He was awake and sitting on the floor but the moment he saw the Time Lord, he jumped up and snarled at him. "Ah, ah, ah!" the Doctor said. "None of that. I like a bit of politeness in my demons. You and I are gonna have a friendly chat." "I'm not telling you anything, Time Lord!" he snarled at him. "Oh, I believe you will because if you don't, I have similar methods of getting you to talk that you use on your human slaves." "And you think you're better than us? You're a killer, same as we are." "Yes, I admit it but I killed trying to protect the universe from scum like you," the Doctor snarled. "If you can hypnotize helpless humans and get them to reveal credit card and bank account numbers, I can use it to make you tell me all you know about the Illuminati and where you lot hide." Altok threw back his head and laughed. "We are everywhere, Time Lord!" he said. "We are so deeply entrenched in human society that you'd have to take apart their civilization brick by brick to find us. The human race relies on us now, we are their masters and you, puny Time Lord, had no idea it was happening. Your ancestors thought they were rid of us when they conducted their slaughter but we merely hid away and jumped from planet to planet until we found this miserable mudball. And little by little, century by century, we built ourselves up, gained human slaves and allies and wiped out anyone who stood in our way." "Including trying to wipe out one musical genius from Liverpool who only wants to make music and bring happiness to the world." "Precisely! McCartney is a threat to us." "Why? Because he cheers people up and gives them hope with his music? Because he and his band mates are all about peace and love and bringing the human race together as one? This simple little human man is that big a threat to the big, bad Diablons, eh? Now who is more superior? You like creating war but the moment someone declares war on you, you run and hide like the cowards you are. You hide in the shadows and send helpless brainwashed humans out to do your dirty work because that way if they fail you can blame it all on them. You can't stand it if someone won't kowtow to you and your lot's demands. Paul and the Beatles have more power than you'll ever have. You have to push forward your agenda person by person but through the power of music, they have the power to reach millions. So in order to have that power, you have to pull up the flowers and replace them with weeds, mind slaves who will do whatever you command them to, no matter how depraved it might be." "The humans are brain-dead apes; they'd be nothing without us. We have advanced them and their civilization far more than they ever could have! We know what's best for them. The idiots would rather have someone do their thinking for them anyway, that's why they have things like television. Celebrities function the same way. People idolize them, wear what they wear, eat what they eat, think how they think. In that respect, people like Paul McCartney are valuable tools." "Except Paul wasn't willing to go along with the agenda which was why you had to kidnap a mild mannered man and groom him to be his successor," the Doctor said. "And now that he's free of your control and doesn't want to take Paul's place, now you want him dead as well." "If he will not obey, he'll be destroyed," Altok snarled. "Any human who defies the Illuminati will be eliminated!" "And that's where I come in," the Doctor replied. "Because this planet and its people are under my protection. You lot made a big mistake when you set up camp here because I consider it my duty to rid the world of you and your friends. So consider me pest control." "Try it, Time Lord! I told you we are so deeply embedded in this planet's infrastructure that you'll have to take apart everything piece by piece to get rid of us. Our slaves are many and they're willing to die and kill for us. You'll not only be fighting us but them as well. So go ahead and try to destroy us. Your ancestors couldn't do it as a group, what chance does one lone Time Lord have against the Illuminati?" The Doctor was about to say something else when he heard Paul call his name. He turned and saw his companions walking up to them. "You'll be happy to know that thanks to William, we caught another one of the Diablons," Paul said. "How?" the Doctor said. They let William explain and a huge grin broke out over the Doctor's face. He turned back to Altok when William finished. "See, Altok, the human's aren't as thick as you think they are," the Doctor said to him. "And now thanks to the efforts of your would be mind slave here, you'll have a friend to keep you company." "You won't defeat us!" Altok crowed. "We are more powerful than you or that band of apes you think is your army. They will suffer alongside you and you will all die slow, painful deaths!" "Yes but in the meantime, we need to go chat with your friend so you relax and remember that it was a lone Time Lord and his lowly band of apes that caught your little red bum and shoved it in this hidey hole. Have a wonderful day, Altok. Until we chat again…" The Doctor and his companions turned and walked away, ignoring Altok while he screamed curses at them. "Good work, William. Don't listen to that git in there, you're better than he is," the Doctor said as they walked towards the console room. "Thanks to you, we have a spare in case Altok is less than forthcoming. I can use hypnotic methods on them but I would rather that be a last resort since that would be lowering myself to their level. William, you could help me in that respect. You do have knowledge of how they brainwash their subjects. If you don't mind, I'd like to talk to you about that and get some information when we have the time." "I'll be happy to give you any information I can," William said. "Well, you said that you won a Paul McCartney lookalike contest. How did you find out about it? What was the contest like?' "I found out about it in the newspaper. They ran an ad. Actually, I wasn't going to enter because I don't think I look like Paul but my friends thought I should enter it for a laugh and to my surprise, I won." "And like I said before, look what your grand prize was," John said as they walked. "As far as the contest went," William said, "we stood up on a stage side by side for comparison. They also had one segment where we had to put on a Beatle wig and use a toy guitar and act like Paul when he sings." Paul chuckled while the other Beatles and Roger sniggered. "William in a Beatle wig, that's something I have to see sometime," John said. "So they were judging you not only on your resemblance to Paul but also if you could move like him." "I s'pose so. Thinking back on it now, I think that's what they were looking for, how well we could impersonate him." "And the others…" Paul said to William, "the three who could have replaced my band mates, they entered similar contests?" "Not sure. I never really spoke to them. I just saw them a couple of times in passing but I assume so." "Wait, there were more doubles?" Roger said. "Each Beatle had someone that was picked to replace him because it wasn't decided until the last minute that Paul was going to be the one they killed," William said while Jane squeezed her lover's hand. "What happened to them then?" Roger said as the other Beatles shared a glance. "Didn't you rescue them?" "We couldn't," Paul said. "As soon as I was chosen, they threw the others in an incinerator and burned them alive." The three Beatles sucked in their breaths and looked at each other while Roger stopped and stared at Paul, horror etched on his face. Everyone stopped and looked at William who nodded solemnly. "So if Paul hadn't been marked for death…" John said. "I wouldn't be here today," William said. "I would have been thrown in the incinerator with the other two who weren't picked." "Son of a bitch, these aliens are insane," Roger said. "Now you see why I want them gone?" Paul said. "Not only are we in danger but anyone who's picked to replace us can be killed without a second thought. They don't care about humans; all they care about is themselves and their agenda." "Which is why they're going to be stopped," the Doctor said. "They've meddled with human affairs long enough. Now that I know about them, I'm going after them with a vengeance." They entered the console room. Richard, who was still sitting with the others on the console platform, pointed to the force field where the invisible Diablon was still trying to get out. "He's in there, we can hear him but we can't see him," he said to the Doctor. "Ah, well that's easily fixed," the Doctor said. He reached into his pocket, brought out his sonic screwdriver and aimed it at the force field. There was a shimmer and the Diablon was visible. The Diablon blinked in surprise and looked down at himself while the Doctor and his companions neared the force field. "Good afternoon," the Doctor said as he put his sonic screwdriver away. "I'm the Doctor. I understand that one of my associates trapped you after you followed him and his friends inside my TARDIS. Very stupid move but on the other hand, now we have you here and you're going to tell us exactly what we want to know about your Illuminati organization." "I can't." "Oh, you can and you will, even if I have to force you to talk. I've grown tired of playing games and if I have to resort to your methods for extracting information, I will," the Doctor said. "He'll kill me if I talk." "Who will?" the Doctor said. "Lucifer, my boss." The Doctor studied him. "What if I offered you protection?" he said. "I thought you hated my kind," the Diablon said. "I'm not fond of the Diablons. However, I would be willing to overlook the fact that you're one of my people's oldest enemies if you were willing to help us undermine and get rid of the Diablons and their hold on Earth. If you're willing to help me, I would be willing to offer you sanctuary here on my TARDIS. Granted that would be sanctuary with limits since I don't trust you 100 percent but I promise to be more merciful than I suspect your boss would be. I want locations of your hideouts. Where did you hold William and Jane and where did those lorries evacuate to? What is the chain of command in your organization and how do they operate? Those questions and more like them are what you're required to answer in order to get my protection. Quid pro quo. If you aren't willing to cooperate, I'll get the information via a mind probe and then throw you to the mercy of your boss. Your decision so choose wisely." "As long as you keep your promise to protect me, I'll cooperate with you." "I promise to protect you if you promise to help me and not betray me," the Doctor said. "And know this; I have one of your associates already. He's back there in one of my cells and if you try anything I'll tell him and transmat him and you onto Lucifer's lap. Got it?" The Diablon nodded, his eyes fearful. "Very well, what's your name then?" the Doctor said. "Zak," he said. The Beatles snickered when Ringo blinked in surprise. "Wow, he and your child have something in common," John said to his friend. "Speaking of, perhaps while I'm doing this, we should take the TARDIS and get your friends and relatives," the Doctor said. "TARDIS, please prepare some rooms for our guests and give them everything they require. In the meantime, Zak, you wait right there and my TARDIS will give you some water and something to eat. I want to be sure everyone's on board and safe before I let you out."
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