Episode 1: The Ace of Spades Part 2

“I wonder where the others are?” Queen Spade asked, still staring admiringly at the Doctor.
“Who else is coming?” King Spade asked.
“Dear Mystic, the magician, and Gisgerm, who I’ve yet to make the acquaintance,” Queen Spade replied, “What about you John? Have you met these people before?”
“I know Mystic, he’s great fun, but I’ve never heard of Gisgerm, is he new?” the Doctor asked.
“Yes, but he’s a bit of a mystery,” Queen Spade replied.
“How so?” Georgia asked.
“Well, he’s never lost a game, nobody ever sees him out of the games, nobody knows where he’s from,” listed Queen Spade.
“He must have some sort of an address,” the Doctor said.
“He puts his address as his assistant’s,” King Spade replied.
“Who is his assistant?” the Doctor asked.
“I don’t know, his assistant never leaves his office apparently, not even for bed,” King Spade explained.
“Wow, when my mum says that dad never leaves his office, I never took it literally,” Georgia muttered to Conner.

“What does your dad do again?” Conner asked.
“He’s some sort of lawyer, I don’t really ask him about work,” Georgia answered, “Although apparently the firm he works for is moving to America, so he has to move, at least they won’t get caught in any invasions over there, I think aliens just attack London for some reason.”
“Are you sure trouble doesn’t follow your mum around?” Conner asked.
“No, she is the trouble,” Georgia replied, as two people sat down at the table they were sitting at. One was wearing a brightly coloured suit and tie, with a purple top hat. The other was wearing strange red clothing, and he had completely white skin, except for a red diamond on his cheek.

“Hello,” the man in the purple hat said jollily, shaking Conner warmly by the hand, “My name is Mystic the Magician. And this is my friend...”
“Knave Diamond,” the man in the red said.
“We just met,” Mystic explained, “And you are?”
“John Smith,” the Doctor said leaning over the table to shake Mystic’s hand.
“I’m Georgia, and this is Conner,” Georgia introduced.
“Queen Spade, this is my husband, excuse him if he doesn’t rise,” Queen Spade said, shaking Mystic’s hand gracefully then smiling falsely at Knave Diamond.
“Isn’t it weird, there are a Diamond and two Spades sitting at the table,” the Doctor realised.
“Oh yeah,” Georgia said.
“Knave Diamond,” Queen Spade commented, “Like Jack of Diamonds.”

“Queenie!” Teeena’s voice shouted from the kitchen, “Where are you? This is not the best time to vanish!”
“Vanish?” the Doctor said excitedly, as he got out of his seat. Meanwhile, an angry faced alien had pushed past Energisa, and into the room.
“Sir, you need to show me your identity,” Energisa demanded, “Or I will chuck you out!”
“I am Gisgerm!” Gisgerm, the angry alien, roared, “Who did you think I was?!”
“I don’t know, you may not have been on the list,” Energisa replied angrily, as Teeena returned from the kitchen.
“Can everybody just calm down,” Teeena ordered, “Manajarr will be here in a minute, so you can start your poker game. Gisgerm, if you would like to take the seat beside King Spade. Energisa, please return to the door.”
“Yes ma’am,” Energisa said, as she walked back to the door.

“Did you say somebody had vanished?” the Doctor asked; he was still standing.
“Nothing is wrong sir, please sit down,” Teeena replied.
“Don’t worry, I’ll help you find this person,” the Doctor said merrily, “Because I detect some wibbly wobbly spacey wacey stuff.”
“What?” Teeena asked, with an extremely confused expression on her face. The Doctor bounded past her to the amusement of Georgia and Conner, and he headed over to the kitchen, followed closely by Teeena.
“Sir, that area is out of bounds!” Teeena called, as the Doctor entered the kitchen.
“Ooh, look tarts,” the Doctor commented happily.
“Those are not for...” Teeena began, but she stopped and stared at the tarts.
“What’s wrong?” the Doctor asked.
“Queenie’s tarts keep going missing, they’re delicious, but I don’t know who steals them,” Teeena explained, “She seems to think it’s someone called Jaq, but I’m pretty sure that he’s her imaginary friend.”
“I had one of those,” the Doctor replied, “Or ten. Anyway, how do you know Queenie didn’t eat the tarts?”
“Because she wouldn’t, she gets really angry when they go missing,” Teeena said, “Hang on what’s that.” Teeena spotted an open oven door and walked over to it.
“Has she left it on?” the Doctor asked, crouching down next to her.
“No, she hasn’t,” Teeena replied, “And there’s nothing left in there, wait what’s that on the floor?” Teeena picked up a playing card off the floor and examined it.

“It’s the Queen of Hearts,” Teeena commented, “Strange.”
“What is? This is a Casino, cards must get dropped all over the place,” the Doctor replied.
“The Queen of Hearts bears an uncanny resemblance to Queenie,” Teeena explained.
“The Queen of Hearts she made some tarts all on a summer's day,” the Doctor recited, “The Knave of Hearts he stole the tarts and took them clean away.”
“The Knave of Hearts... the Jack... Jaq,” Teeena thought aloud.
“Exactly, and in that next room there’s a Knave Diamond, and a King and Queen Spade,” the Doctor explained, “Something weird is going on.”
“There were those three people, in here earlier today,” Teeena continued, “Two were in red, and three were in black, Queenie called the players in black the Clubs, and they had Clubs on their cheeks, and the players in red had Diamonds on their cheeks.”

“Have you heard of the Pack of Wizards?” the Doctor asked.
“No, is that from Hadron-collider 27?” Teeena asked.
“Why would it be from there?” the Doctor asked quizzically.
“Well, your friend Lord Bennet comes from there, so I presumed you did too, so I thought the Pack of Wizard may be from there,” Teeena replied.
“Oh, I don’t remember taking Conner there...” the Doctor muttered, thinking, “I wonder where he got the name from. It is a great planet, bit close to a black hole, anyway, Pack of Wizards.”
“What is the Pack of Wizards?” Teeena asked, “Is it a group of Wizards, I didn’t know wizards existed.”
“What about that Mystic bloke?” the Doctor asked.
“He inherited his title, the titles been passed on for ages in his family, but none of them have magical powers,” Teeena explained, “Anyway, stop getting side-tracked!”
“Right the Pack of Wizards is a pack of cards,” the Doctor explained, “Apparently a couple of warlocks started playing poker, when one of them lost all of his money, he got very angry. It’s said that he brought the cards to life to do his bidding, the Spades helped him, but the others didn’t. He tried to kill the living cards, who wouldn’t help him, but they were too powerful, and they killed him.”

“So this Pack of Cards is alive, and the cards come to life in human form,” Teeena said in a confused tone of voice.
“Only the Kings, Queens and Jacks come to life in human form, the others just live in the card world,” the Doctor explained.
“What about the Aces?” Teeena asked.
“The Aces are said to hold the power of the living cards, they were what allowed the cards to appear in this world, after the wizard died,” the Doctor continued, “Apparently, the four Aces were lost, nobody could find them, so the Pack of Wizards became a myth, but what if it’s right here in the Casino.”

“Doctor, are these cards dangerous?” Teeena asked seriously.
“The Ace of Spades is,” the Doctor answered, “It’s also known as the death card.”
“But one of the Aces must be here, and someone must have brought it here, but for what reason?” Teeena asked.
“Remember what I told you, the Spades will do anything for money,” the Doctor said, “And two of the Spades are in the next room.”


Georgia looked at Conner, the Doctor still hadn’t come back from the kitchen, what could be taking him so long?

“So Mystic, I here you’re a magician,” Queen Spade said.
“That’s right, a magician I am, well not really, I don’t know any magic,” Mystic laughed, “I think my Great Great Great Great Great Grandfather was a wizard though.”
“Wizards, what rubbish!” Gisgerm spat.
“Fine don’t believe,” Mystic muttered, “Ah Manajarr’s here!” A frog-alien in a black suit entered the room, carrying counters and cards, which he placed on the table.
“Is he the Manager?” Conner asked.
“No, he’s just the card house dealer person,” King Spade explained.
“Interesting,” Conner commented.

“Conner, have you played standard poker before?” Georgia asked.
“No,” Conner said, “I’ve played snap. You?”
“My dad and brother used to go gambling, then mum found out,” Georgia explained, “But yeah I’ve played standard poker, we didn’t use money though.”
“So who’s Mr. Smith?” Queen Spade asked Georgia.
“He’s from... someplace,” Georgia replied.
“It’s just, I’m pretty sure that his name is the Doctor,” Queen Spade said.
“How do you know that?” Georgia asked.
“So he is, well I know these things because I’m a Queen, and I am very well connected,” Queen Spade explained, smiling menacingly. Suddenly, a young man in black walked up to King Spade.

“Brother, has the game started yet?” the man asked.
“No, not yet,” King Spade replied, “Is all well, in the kitchen?”
“Oh yes, everything’s fine,” the man replied smiling nastily.
“Conner, that man there, was just saying that he doesn’t know how to play poker,” Queen Spade told the young man.
“I can play snap!” Conner said loudly.
“Well that makes two of us,” the young man replied, “I can’t play poker, but I can play snap. Do you want a game?”
“But...” Conner began.
“We’ll play a quick game,” the man replied, “We wouldn’t want to make you miss your lovely friend here winning all the money.” Georgia giggled, and Knave Diamond looked at her, with a strange expression on his face.

“I don’t think you should,” Knave Diamond told Conner, “You see the snap area, isn’t very close to here, you may not get back in time for the game to start.”
“I’m sure he will,” the man replied.
“But, you wouldn’t want to miss any of the game, and I don’t think your lovely friend here would appreciate being left with a group of strangers,” Knave Diamond explained.
“Firstly, can people stop referring to me as the lovely friend, I’m Georgia,” Georgia said, “And secondly, Conner you can go play snap, I don’t mind if you miss the game, I’ll be out first round anyway.”
“Thank you, Georgia,” the young man in black replied.
“All right, see you later,” Conner said, as he followed the young man out of the door, past Energisa.

“Excuse me, where are you going?” Energisa asked.
“Just to play snap,” Conner explained.
“We’ll be back in a bit,” the man in black added and Energisa nodded.


The King and Queen of Diamonds looked up from their table, as the King of Hearts entered, followed closely by the Jack of Diamonds. The King of Hearts was rather fat, with large furry red robes. He had ginger hair and a large beard.

“What’s going on?” the Queen of Diamonds asked.
“Apparently, one of the poker players is the Doctor, and one of his companions has just gone off with the Jack of Spades,” the King of Hearts explained in a deep, but kindly voice.
“You heard this?” the King of Diamonds asked.
“No, I did, I was invited to play the game by Mystic,” the Jack of Diamonds explained, “I tried to stop him from going.”
“Well, why isn’t anyone helping the Doctor’s companion now?’ the Queen of Diamonds asked, “If he’s with a Spade, he may in terrible danger, especially if the Ace of Spades is involved.”

“Where’s Queenie?” the King of Diamonds asked.
“I thought she was with you,” the King of Hearts replied.
“Where’s Jaq?” the King of Diamonds asked.
“Again, I thought he was with you,” the King of Hearts replied.
“He’s probably hanging around the kitchen,” the Jack of Diamonds suggested, “Waiting for Queenie to make some more tarts.”

“Anyway, we must stop the Spades, and find the Doctor’s companion, before it is too late,” the Queen of Diamonds said, as they vanished from the part of the Casino they were in and appeared in the marshes of the Clubs castle.
“Oh hooray,” the Queen of Diamonds said, pulling her foot out of the marsh.
“Why does that always happen?” the King of Diamonds said in a frustrated voice.
“Well, now we can’t help that boy,” the Jack of Diamonds pointed out.
“Actually we can,” the Queen of Diamonds replied smiling.


Conner followed the Jack of Spades into an empty part of the Casino. The Jack sat down at a small table, and Conner sat down opposite him. The Jack of Spades said nothing, but he began to deal the cards.

“What did you say your name was?” Conner asked.
“I didn’t,” the Jack of Spades replied smiling, “Shall we begin the game?”
“Alright, but what is your name,” Conner questioned, as he and the Jack of Spades began to place cards on a pile.
“Well, SNAP!” the Jack of Spades shouted suddenly, as he placed a 4 on top of Conner’s 4, “What were you saying?”
“I asked you what your name was,” Conner replied, as they continued the game.
“Well, some call me a Knave, some call me a Jack,” the Jack of Spades answered, “The Jack of Spades, to be exact. SNAP!”
“Yeah, but are you like the real Jack of Spades or something?” Conner asked interestedly.
“Well, you could say I’m the only real one,” the Jack of Spades explained.

“Hey, look at that card!” Conner exclaimed, pointing at the Queen of Diamonds, which was on top of the pile. The Queen was holding a sign, which had something written on it. Conner was about to read what it said, when the Jack slammed the Ace of Spades on top of it.
“It’s nothing, your go,” the Jack said.
“No, look!” Conner replied, picking up the Ace of Spades to reveal the Queen’s sign; it said ‘Go now!’ Conner looked up startled, to see the Jack of Spades was smiling. The Ace of Spades was still in Conner’s hand as it began to emit a wispy black smoke, which enveloped Conner and in a flash he was gone.


The Doctor rushed into the Casino, followed quickly by Teeena.
“Sir, can you sit down please,” Manajarr told the Doctor, “We are about to start.”
“I’ve saved you a space by me,” Queen Spade said batting her eyebrows.
“Where’s Conner?” the Doctor asked Georgia.
“He went with this relation of the Spades to play snap,” Georgia explained brightly.
“And what is this relation called?” the Doctor asked King Spade.
“He’s called Jack Spade,” King Spade replied smiling, “They went to the snap area, down the corridor.” The Doctor stared at the King of Spades for a second before running out of the room, followed closely by Teeena.
“Doctor!” Georgia called, before sighing and following the Doctor out of the room.

The Doctor and Teeena rushed down the corridor past Energisa, who looked very confused.
“Where are you going?” Energisa asked, as Georgia sprinted past her, “Auntie?”
The Doctor ran down another corridor, until he reached a door with large, red lettering on it, which spelt out ‘SNAP’. The Doctor attempted to pull open the door, but it wouldn’t budge.

“It’s locked,” the Doctor complained, as Teeena pulled a tiny key out of her pocket and pressed it against the door, which then swung open.
“New technology,” Teeena explained, “Just been invented, the door identifies the key, and opens.”
“Wow, how very James Bond,” the Doctor commented.
“Who?” Teeena asked, with a confused smile, as Georgia reached them.
“Well the rooms empty,” Georgia said, as she panted. She was right; there was nobody in the room, just a table, with a single card laying on it. The Doctor walked over to the table, and stared at the card.
“What is it?” Georgia asked, as she joined the Doctor, “Oh no...” The card was the Jack of Spades, but the picture was not of the Jack, but of a scared looking Conner.

TO BE CONTINUED