Episode 1: The Ace of Spades Part 1

It was late at night, on the planet Casino, four people were playing a game of cards. One was tall and cruel-looking, he had a black beard and he wore strange clothing, which looked like it had come from Earth in the 15th or 16th centuries. Sitting next to him was a woman, also tall and wearing a black dress, she had a haunting beautiful face. On her left was a large green frog-like alien, who was wearing a suit, and on his left was a young man, again wearing strange black clothes.

“Three aces,” the fat frog-alien, who was called Horace Bidgellbyrton, announced happily.
“I’m out,” the woman said, raising a glass of champagne to her lips, as she stared menacingly at Horace the frog.
“Me too,” the young man sighed, placing his cards down on the table, as he winked at the woman, who smiled nastily back.
“I’m in,” the older, bearded man replied smiling.
“Are you quite sure about that?” Horace asked, with a smug look on his face.
“Quite sure, as far as I know, you’re bluffing,” the bearded man replied, quite seriously.
“All right then,” Horace muttered, as he placed the aces of hearts, diamonds and clubs down upon the table, with a happy expression on his face.

“I can easily beat that,” the bearded man cackled.
“What card do you have then?” Horace asked, with a disbelieving look on his face.
“The Ace of Spades,” the bearded man replied, turning over his card to reveal the Ace. Suddenly, a mystical, black, wispy smoke began to issue out of the card and it shot straight for Horace, who yelled, as the smoke got closer and closer.

THE CREDITS

“Energisa!” Teeena Toka called from the other side of the casino. Teena had worked in the Casino for years, and now her niece Energisa was working there too. The Casino, was the largest casino in the universe, it covered most of the planet Casino, and its native species, alien frogs, all worked in or for the Casino. Of course the Casino was split into hundreds of mini Casinos, and Teena and Energisa worked in the Poker section.

“Energisa!” Teeena called again, “Oh where has that silly girl got to? Queenie!” Queenie the cook rushed into the room.
“What is it Teeena?” Queenie asked.
“Oh Queenie, why are you wearing that silly dress again?” Teeena asked, “II told you before, wear a suitable uniform while you cook for our guests.”
“None of them see me,” Queenie replied, “I don’t know why it matters.”
“Look have you seen Energisa?” Teena questioned, “She’s supposed to be on the doors this morning. There are several very important gamers playing today.”
“Like who?” Queenie asked.
“Mystic the magician, King and Queen Spade, John Smith, Gisgerm,” Teeena listed.
“King and Queen Spade?” Queenie muttered, “I wonder what they’re up to now.”
“Don’t start that again Queenie, there is nothing to be found against them,” Teeena snapped.
“They were playing with Horace when he died,” Queenie replied.
“The Doctors said it was a heart attack, they didn’t cause that, it was they who alerted the police,” Teeena explained, “Anyway, you need to get those cocktails done, those snap players don’t seem happy.”
“That’s because they are playing against the Clubs... I mean... those gits...” Queenie said and she walked back into her kitchen. Teeena began to walk over to the only table with players at in the room. Five players were staring deeply at the cards in their hands, 3 were wearing black, and the other two were wearing red.

“Is there anything you want?” Teeena asked the card players.
“We’re fine thank you,” a female card player, with black hair and a strange black marking on her face, said curtly. Teeena looked at the other card members and she saw that they all had strange marking on their white faces. Little symbols, the 3 in black had small club on their cheeks, while the 2 in red had diamonds on theirs.

“What interesting symbols,” Teeena commented.
“Thank you,” the other female card player, who was wearing red, said. She looked up at Teeena and smiled at her. She had lovely blonde hair, blue eyes, and sparkling white teeth.
“Yours is a diamond,” Teeena said, “Why did you choose that sign?”
“Choose it? I did no such thing,” the player in red replied, “You may say it chose me, or the maker chose it.”

“Can we get back to the game please,” a player in black snapped. He had stubble, and small black eyes, which had a look of malice in them. Teeena thought he looked more like a criminal than anything else. He definitely did not look like the usual card player who came to the Casino. The players were usually smartly dressed and cleanly shaven, even if they were drunk, gamblers, or criminals, but lately there had been many strange people about.
“I’m sorry sir,” Teeena told the man.
“Don’t worry, he usually acts like that,” a male player in red replied.
“Yes, I’m afraid to say he does,” the female in red said, still smiling brilliantly.

“Aren’t you supposed to be playing snap?” Teeena asked, looking a little confused.
“We were, but then we changed game,” the female in red replied.
“We’re playing trumps,” the female in black hissed, “Now can you leave us to it!” Teeena nodded and walked off. There was a flash behind her and Teeena spun round to find that the card players had gone.

“Hello?” Teeena called.
“Hello!” a voice called back.
“Is that the card players?” Teeena asked.
“No, it’s me, Energisa!” Energisa replied, as she stepped into the room, via a fire exit. She was looking as happy as ever, which annoyed Teeena as Energisa was very late.

“Hi Auntie, I’m ready for work!” Energisa exclaimed.
“You’re late,” Teeena replied.
“Yeah, I know, it’s not my fault though because I was at a party, which I wasn’t invited to,” Energisa explained, “But I didn’t really want to go, but I was still like ‘Why weren’t I invited?’ and Michasista, it was his party, said that I was, but I was like ‘well I don’t wanna go anyway’, but I did and it was well good.”
“What was this party?” Teeena asked.
“We played cards; I mean what else is fun?” Energisa answered, “I won at 31, I won ten Casiniums.”

“Did you drink?” Teeena asked.
“Yeah...” Energisa muttered.
“Energisa, I have told you before, you are underage, and whose license did you steal this time?” Teeena demanded.
“I didn’t steal a license,” Energisa replied innocently.
“You didn’t get someone to make you a fake one, did you?” Teeena asked.
“No, well I did but everyone else was drinking, and I don’t want to be left out,” Energisa said, “Anyway what shall I do?”
“Look, if you are not on time for the rest of this week, then I have no choice, but to fire you,” Teeena explained, “There are many young people out there looking for work.”
“It isn’t like anyone’s here,” Energisa muttered.
“Yes, well, it will be very busy later, there are some very important card players coming in,” Teeena said, “This is going to be one of the biggest poker games for a while. Now go and clean the tables. There’s a cloth in the kitchen.”


The beautiful lawn of the Diamond castle was sparkling in the sunlight. The trees moved silently in the light breeze and the birds in the air sang beautiful melodies of days gone by. Suddenly, in the middle of the lawn, 5 figures appeared out of nowhere. They were the King and Queen of Diamonds, and the King, Queen and Jack of Clubs, and they seemed to be having an argument.

“Well staring at the cards did work!” the Queen of Clubs remarked.
“No it didn’t, I wasn’t looking at the cards,” the Queen of Diamonds commented, “I was looking at that nice woman, who worked at the Casino.”
“Well what happened?” the King of Clubs snarled.
“Don’t look at me, like it’s my fault,” the Jack of Clubs snapped.
“I wasn’t looking at you, I was looking at him!” the King of Clubs replied, pointing a grubby finger at the King of Diamonds.
“I thought we’d established that this whole thing was the Spades’ fault!” the King of Diamonds snarled.
“Yes, we had, but the silly Clubs will not accept that fact,” the Queen of Diamonds replied.
“The Spades are brilliant, they’ve never been horrible to us,” the Queen of Clubs explained, “And now you’re blaming them for these strange occurrences.”
“Well you are blaming us, and we’ve never seen them there have we?” the Queen of Diamonds replied.

“What about the Hearts?” the King of Clubs suggested.
“The King and Queen of Hearts would never do such a thing, so do not suggest it,” the Queen of Diamonds snapped, “Something is going on, something very weird. We are being snatched out of our own world, and placed in another alien... place.”
“I think it’s got something to do with the Ace of Spades,” the King of Clubs muttered.
“The other Aces are lost, why would that one suddenly return?” the King of Diamonds replied.
“Maybe someone in that creepy, rather disgusting looking alien place...” the King of Clubs began.
“Disgusting?” the Queen of Diamonds muttered, “Don’t you live in a marsh?”
“Marshes are not disgusting, they’re very good for your health,” the Queen of Clubs explained, “Mud baths are good for your skin.”
“And they help cleanse your face of...” the Jack of Clubs began, “I’ve never tried it.”

“Look, someone in that alien place may have found the Ace of Spades, and maybe they are using it in some big plan,” the King of Clubs suggested.
“You’re basically using their plan for your nasty little schemes,” the King of Diamonds replied, “I’ve seen you cheating. You steal money off harmless mortals.”
“Well it’s a good thing we’re not mortal,” the King of Clubs replied.
“The Queen of Hearts, Queenie, works at the Casino,” the Queen of Diamonds explained, “She was the first to come to that world, other than the Spades... possibly. Maybe we could ask her to look out for anyone suspicious.”
“I don’t like that idea...” the King of Clubs said.
“Other than you lot,” the Queen of Diamonds added reluctantly.
“Oh that’s alright then, perfect business opportunity innit?” the Queen of Clubs said with a wicked smile on her face.

“So as soon as we get back to the Casino, we must try and find the Queen of Hearts,” the Queen of Diamonds finished.
“I wonder if she’s still there now or if she came back here with the rest of us...” the King of Diamonds muttered.


Teeena followed Energisa into the kitchen and saw that half of the tarts that Queenie had left out to cool had been eaten.
“Where’s Queenie?” Energisa asked Teeena.
“She was in here a second ago...” Teeena muttered, “Sometimes she wonders off, bless her.”
“You keep her in her job and she wanders off, that’s unfair, there are plenty of young people out there looking for work,” Energisa said.
“Do you want me to fire her?” Teeena asked, “Remember, if I mess up here then I will get fired, she’s the best chef around, she does the best cocktails, I don’t know how she does it.”
“Of course I don’t want her to be fired,” Energisa replied, “She’s my friend.”
“Get on with your work then,” Teeena ordered, and Energisa grabbed a cloth, which was hanging on a peg on the wall, and she left the kitchen and began cleaning tables in the next room. Teeena walked over to the half empty tray of tarts, and took a tart from the tray.

“Caught red handed!” Queenie hissed.
“Queenie!” Teeena said angrily, “Where have you been?”
“Just... round the corner,” Queenie muttered, “Did you eat half those tarts?”
“No I did not, I came in here and found half the tarts and you gone,” Teeena explained, “And have you even started the cocktails?”
“No,” Queenie said, “Are the players still there?”
“No,’ Teeena sighed, “I don’t know where they went.”
“If you didn’t eat the tarts then... is Energisa here?” Queenie asked.
“She is here, but she didn’t eat them,” Teeena replied, “You need to keep a better guard on your food, especially since it is very tasty.”
“It must have been Jaq...” Queenie muttered.
“I’m sorry, who?” Teeena asked.
“Don’t worry, he hangs around, looking for...tarts,” Queenie finished. Teeena nodded, and left the room with a rather worried expression on her face.
“JAQ!” Queenie shouted, “What did you do with my tarts!”


The Doctor stepped out of the TARDIS, followed closely by Georgia Bell and Conner Bennet. They were in a small cupboard, with metal walls and shelves covered in cleaning materials.

“I thought we were going to end up in a casino,” Georgia moaned, “Not some cleaning cupboard.”
“You know what they say about cleaning cupboards,” Conner said.
“No, what do they say about cleaning cupboards?” Georgia asked interestingly.
“You know...” Conner muttered.
“No,” Georgia replied, “I don’t.”

“Come on then, we’re on the planet Casino, where they filmed the 3rd version of James Bond Casino Royale,” the Doctor explained, “We could play poker, snap, 31, 21, Rummy, Go fish, do you remember that person dressed as a fish?”
“That was when we were with Zac,” Georgia said, “And then we went shopping.”
“Yeah that was fun,” Conner said sarcastically.

“Anyway, are we going to leave this cupboard?” Georgia asked.
“Right now,” the Doctor replied, opening the cupboard door to reveal a long hallway packed with smartly dressed humans, aliens and even robots.
“Wow,” Georgia muttered, “I wonder what bit of the planet we’re on?”
“You are in the poker area,” a smartly dressed female alien, with pink skin, blonde hair, and slits for a nose, answered happily. The alien was standing close to Georgia, by a pair of double doors.
“Wow, I didn’t expect a response that quickly,” Georgia commented.
“Oh I’m here to help,” the alien explained, “I work here, Energisa is my name.”
“Is that like lucozade?” Conner asked, as he wandered over.
“Whatazade?” Energisa asked.
“It’s an energy drink,” Conner began.
“I’m Georgia,” Georgia interrupted.

“Did you say your name was Energisa?” the Doctor asked.
“Yes I did, why, who are you?” Energisa replied.
“I’m John Smith, should be on the guest list, for a poker game,” the Doctor answered.
“Ah yes, there you are, John Smith plus two, I guess these are your plus two’s,” Energisa said brightly, “Please step this way. I went to a plus two party once.”
“Really?” the Doctor asked, with an interested voice, “How did that work?”
“Well, all those who were invited had to bring two people, it was so much fun!” Energisa said, “I did not drink by the way, whatever Teeena says, in fact don’t even tell her I spoke to you, because all I’m supposed to do is let you in and... don’t speak to Teeena at all.”
“Ok...” Conner commented, pushing past the Doctor into the room behind the double doors. The room was very large with several tables, some of which full, and one large table in the centre of the room, where two people sat. Conner began to walk over to the table when he was stopped by an alien that looked similar to Energisa.\

“I’m Teeena Toka, I’m in charge here,” Teeena explained, “I suppose Energisa let you in, who are you?”
“I am the Lord Conner Bennet,” Conner made up, “From the planet of Hadron-collider 27.”
“Are you here for an official game?” Teeena asked.
“Yes, I’m a plus one of John Smith,” Conner explained, as Georgia and the Doctor walked over to him.
“Hi, I’m John Smith,” the Doctor said.
“Right, you are sitting on this table,” Teeena said, indicating the large table where two people already sat. The Doctor thanked Teeena, and they sat down in their allocated places, opposite the other two people.

“Hello, I’m John Smith, nice to meet you,” the Doctor told the two people. They looked up, both of them wore strange black clothing and they both had white faces. The man had a beard, and the woman was incredibly beautiful.
“Hello, Mr Smith,” the woman said in a flirtatious tone, “I’m Queen Spade, this is King Spade, don’t mind him, he’s my evil husband, although he has to keep me in control.” Queen Spade giggled girlishly and batted her eyelashes in the Doctor’s direction.
“It’s lovely to meet you,” the Doctor said.
“I’m Lord Conner Bennet,” Conner blurted out, as he stared at the woman, with love struck eyes. Georgia elbowed Conner and he subsided.


Meanwhile, Teeena rushed into the kitchen, where Queenie was hard at work making cocktails. Teeena picked up the tray of drinks that Queenie had already made, and she rushed out again.

“Jaq, I know you are hiding somewhere,” Queenie hissed, as she stopped stirring the cocktail she was making, and stared around the room. Her eyes lingered on the freshly made tarts for a moment, Jaq must be around somewhere. Queenie peered out of the kitchen door and caught a glimpse of the King and Queen of Spades. The Queen of Diamonds had told her to keep an eye on them, but the Jack of Spades was nowhere to be seen, like Jaq, the Jack of Hearts.
“Jaq?” Queenie called again, she looked away from the door to find that half the tarts had gone. Queenie made a frustrated noise and walked over to the remaining tarts.

“What’s that?” Queenie said to herself, as a breeze wafted through the room. Queenie looked around in shock, she was inside, there were no windows open, so what had made the breeze? Another breeze drifted through the room and Queenie rushed to pinpoint where the breeze was coming from. There was a bang as one of the oven doors flew open and air whooshed out of the oven, causing Queenie to gasp. The breeze had come from inside the oven, there must be something wrong with it, Queenie thought.
“Teeena, I think there’s a problem with the oven!” Queenie shouted, but there came no reply. Queenie peered into the oven, and saw, lying on the grill, the Ace of Spades.

“It can’t be...” Queenie shrieked, as a black smoky substance billowed from the card and hit Queenie in the heart. Queenie exploded and faded into dust, but lying on the ground beside the oven was a single playing card; the Queen of Hearts.


TO BE CONTINUED