Episode 1: The Ace of Spades Part 3

Conner’s eyes opened to find him in a large bedroom, with a huge bed, with red sheets and pillows. There were a pair of beautifully engraved glass double doors, that opened onto a balcony. The curtains billowed in the gentle breeze that drifted through the balcony doors.

“Where am I?” Conner asked, as he sat up.
“You are in my castle,” a voice replied to Conner’s surprise. Conner looked around again to find that there was a beautiful woman sitting in a seat beside the bed.
“Who are you?” Conner said in a confused voice, “What happened?”
“I am the Queen of Diamonds,” the Queen of Diamonds answered, “But first, are you alright?”
“I’m fine,” Conner said, rolling off the bed, “Look I need to get back to the Casino.” “Sorry, I don’t think you can get back,” the Queen of Diamonds said honestly, “I can’t get back, and I haven’t been imprisoned here by the Ace of Spades.”
“Of course, the Ace of Spades, it sort of grabbed me with smoky stuff,” Conner replied, “But it was that nasty Jack person.”
“The Jack of Spades,” the Queen of Diamonds muttered.

“Please where exactly are we?” Conner asked, “Tell me all.”
“This world was created a very long time ago; it was created from psychic energy, which you probably won’t have heard of,” the Queen of Diamonds explained, “It is said that a wizard created this world, well I’m not sure if he was a wizard, but I did meet him. He brought a pack of cards to life using magic, apparently, but I refused to help him in his scheme to kill these other ‘wizards’, who had won money off him. That was thousands of years ago now though, but to me it only seems like yesterday, this land doesn’t progress, it just stays the same, nobody has children, nobody dies. For a long time we were trapped in this land, the wizard didn’t mean to create it, but when he brought us to life, this world came from our minds, which came from his mind.”
“But did the others help this wizard?” Conner asked.
“Just the Spades, everybody else was good, the Clubs may be mischievous little devils, but they’re good at heart,” the Queen of Diamonds answered quickly.
“So a wizard created you, which created this world, but why are you trapped here?” Conner questioned.
“The wizard also brought the Aces to life, they held great power, their power allowed us cards to come out of this world and into the real world,” the Queen continued, “Each of the Aces also had extra powers, the Ace of Diamonds could perfect, the Ace of Hearts could create love, the Ace of Clubs could steal, the Ace of Spades could kill.”

“Why didn’t it kill me?” Conner asked.
“I don’t know, probably because you’re a companion of the Doctor,” the Queen Of Diamonds said, “I may be a card, but I have heard alot about him, I am 13546 years old, and although for many years of that I was trapped in this world, as the Aces were locked away to stop the Spades causing trouble, I could still hear and see things through my mirror.”
“What do you know about the Doctor?” Conner questioned.
“I know that he causes alot of trouble, but also that he saves many lives and whole planets from the forces of evil,” the Queen answered, “We knew that he may be able to help us, so we tried to save you.”
“You warned me about the Jack!” Conner exclaimed, “It was you.”
“Yes, unfortunately my warning was rather too late,” the Queen of Diamonds replied, “I’m very sorry about that.”
“I shouldn’t have been so quick to trust the Jack,” Conner shrugged, “But hang on, if the Ace of Spades was locked away, how come it was in the Casino?”
“Somebody has taken it there,” the Queen of Diamonds answered, “Just that Ace though, because only the Spades are able to control where and when they appear in the real world, whereas the rest of us flicker between worlds.” Suddenly, a figure burst into the room.

“Queenie’s getting worse!” the King of Spades told the Queen.
“Oh no,” the Queen of Diamonds said sadly.
“Who is he?” Conner asked.
“This is the King of Diamonds,” the Queen of Diamonds answered.
“Nice to meet you,” the King of Diamonds said kindly.
“I must see Queenie,” the Queen of Diamonds told the King, “Conner, you may come if you wish, you will find out what happens to a card if they are attacked by the Ace of Spades.”


The Doctor and Georgia followed Teeena back into the poker room. Georgia was carrying the card with Conner’s face on in her pocket. The Doctor had explained everything about the Pack of Wizards to Georgia, but she was very confused.

“Doctor, where is he?” Georgia asked.
“I don’t know,” the Doctor replied.
“Is he dead?” Georgia said tearfully.
“Sorry, Georgia, I don’t know,” the Doctor muttered.
“Have you ever come across these cards before?” Georgia questioned.
“No, I don’t think so,” the Doctor said.

“Excuse me, why are you calling him Doctor?” Teeena asked, “Are you Doctor John Smith?”
“No, um, people just, my name is the Doctor,” the Doctor said lamely.
“Just the Doctor, but why did you call yourself John Smith?” Teeena said, “Are you some sort of criminal? Who is trying to hide their name?”
“No, I’m not a criminal, just um...” the Doctor replied.
“Misunderstood,” Georgia finished. As they approached the poker area, Energisa ran up to them, with a rather concerned look on her face.

“Auntie, I wondered where you’d gone,” Energisa whined, “And the card players are still waiting for you two.”
“Tell me, has a young man, relation to the Spades come back to the room since we left?” the Doctor asked, and Energisa looked confused.
“Who?” Energisa asked.
“Don’t worry,” the Doctor sighed walking into the card room. The Queen of Spades saw the Doctor enter and stood up smiling, the King of Spades looked up at her irritably.

“Do you think he hasn’t realised who we are yet, your seduction plan won’t work,” the King of Spades hissed, pulling her arm, so that she would sit down.
“Hush, darling, my plan may work either way,” the Queen of Spades replied.
“Finally those idiots return so we can play,” Gisgerm snapped, as the Doctor and Georgia sat down.
“I’m sorry, but my friend has just vanished, and been turned into a playing card,” Georgia replied angrily, “I don’t suppose any of you had anything to do with it?”
“Nothing, I’d never do anything that may upset the Doctor,” the Queen of Spades said, “Oh, pardon me, I’m so sorry if you wanted to keep your true name a secret.”
“The Doctor?” Gisgerm gurgled, “Who the ‘ell is he?”

“Why did they take so long?” King Spade asked, as talking broke out all over the table.
“Where did Knave Diamond go? Have you seen him?” Mystic asked the Doctor.
“No I haven’t,” the Doctor replied.
“Silence please,” Teeena ordered, but her words had no effect.
“Doctor, do we have to take part in this game now?” Georgia asked, “I’m terrible at poker and we really need to find Conner.”
“You are not pulling out of the game,” Gisgerm hissed, “We’ve been waiting ages for you to return.”
“Who are you anyway, Doctor?” King Spade asked, “And why the false identity?”
“I suppose he wouldn’t want any of his enemies to know who he is,” Queen Spade muttered.
“SILENCE!” Teeena shrieked, and everyone in the room turned and stared at her, as silence fell.

“Can we just start the game please,” Manajarr, the card dealer, piped up.
“Doctor, I’m not playing,” Georgia announced.
“I have some information that might help you,” Gisgerm said.
“Tell us then,” Georgia replied.
“If you win the game of poker, I’ll tell you everything, where the boy is, how to free him,” Gisgerm announced, “If not, I get the Doctor’s TARDIS.”
“I don’t think we should be betting anything other than money,” Mystic replied.
“This isn’t really betting, you idiot,” Gisgerm said nastily, and Mystic fell silent.

“No, you should tell us now, there may be lives at stake,” Georgia demanded.
“The thing is, my information is very valuable, because it also includes the truth about the Pack of Wizards,” Gisgerm said.
“What did you say?” Mystic asked, with wide eyes.
“Oh you’ve heard of the Pack of Wizards before have you?” Gisgerm asked, with an unsurprised look on his face.
“No, I’ve never heard of it,” Mystic said in a false voice.
“And girlie, there are no lives at stake, your friend is safe where he is,” Gisgerm explained, “Well when I say there are no lives at stake, I mean, not yet.”
“Doctor, do something!” Georgia hissed.
“Casino rules state that nothing other than money, which is available at the time, may be betted,” Teeena explained, “Now Gisgerm, if you do not give information then I will have to ban you from these premises.”
“You can do that?” Georgia asked.
“I think you’ll find that you can’t,” Gisgerm replied smugly.
“And I think you’ll find that as head of a section of the Casino, I can,” Teeena retorted.
“Well if you do that, your friends will never find their friend,” Gisgerm said smiling nastily.

“John, Doctor, win for me!” the Queen Spade exclaimed in an over-the-top voice, placing a hand on her heart and batting her eyelashes even more than usual.
“Doctor?” Georgia said, turning to the Doctor.
“I’ll play, Conner’s whereabouts for the TARDIS,” the Doctor announced, to the shock of Georgia and Teeena. Gisgerm smiled and turned to Manajarr.
“Deal the cards,” Gisgerm ordered.


Conner followed the Queen of Diamonds out of her beautiful, white, turreted castle, into the neat gardens and down a path, which led into a courtyard. At the end of the courtyard were the white and red, front gates of the castle, which were embedded with huge red diamonds.

“Psychic energy created all of this?” Conner asked.
“That’s right,” the Queen of Diamonds said, “Gates open!” The gates obeyed the Queen and swung open, Conner followed the Queen out of the gates to find himself looking down into a valley. He could see two large castles. A large red and black castle sat a few hundred metres away from the gates, and Conner could spot a black, spooky-looking, turreted castle in the distance.
“Who lives there?” Conner asked.
“The Spades live in the dark black castle, and the Hearts live in the red and black,” the Queen of Diamonds answered, “Now we must move on. The Queen of Hearts was attacked by the Ace of Spades, and she has fallen very ill. If the King of Hearts hadn’t found her when he returned to this world, I dread to think what would have happened.” The Queen walked speedily down a beautiful white and red road towards the Hearts castle, her cloak billowing behind her and Conner quickly followed.


Back in the Casino, Manajarr began to deal the cards, Teeena tried to control herself and the Queen of Spades looked suggestively up at the Doctor. Georgia poked the Doctor and pulled him aside.

“Doctor, what if you lose, you can’t give him the TARDIS!” Georgia said.
“Well obviously,” the Doctor replied, “I didn’t say I’d give him the key anyway.”
“But if you lose we may never see Conner again, and how do you know Gisgerm isn’t lying about knowing anything anyway?” Georgia asked.
“Look, I’ve already thought all of this through,” the Doctor answered.
“Then what’s your plan?” Georgia questioned interestedly.
“To win,” the Doctor said simply.
“But Doctor!” Georgia exclaimed.
“Didn’t I tell you? I’m brilliant at poker,” the Doctor replied, “I’ve never lost a game, except that one time against a troll.”
“A troll, but they’re really stupid,” Georgia said smirking.
“This troll was very intelligent,” the Doctor protested, “Anyway, basically I’m good.”

“Can’t you just read his mind or something?” Georgia asked.
“If I try to do that, his cronies will try and kill me,” the Doctor answered.
“What cronies?” Georgia asked.
“King and Queen Spade, and a couple of the observers from the side,” the Doctor said, indicating, with a jerk of his head, two green aliens with large eyes, who were watching the Doctor and Georgia closely.

“The cards have been dealt, let us begin,” Manajarr ordered.
“Excuse me, I’m confused, what if I win, does the Doctor get the information or not?” Mystic asked.
“Then whoever out of me and the Doctor has the highest amount of money wins, but I assure you, I will win,” Gisgerm answered.
“Alright, has the betting limit been decided?” Manajarr asked.
“Yes,” King Spade answered briskly.

“Please place your ante on the table,” Manajarr said, and the Doctor, Georgia, King Spade, Queen Spade, Mystic and Gisgerm all placed a pile of cash onto the table. “No bet,” the Doctor muttered. Georgia shook her head, and everyone stared at King Spade who paused before he spoke.
“Open, I bet 10,000 Casiniums,” King Spade announced, as he pushed the large amount of money into the centre of the large table.
“Check,” Queen Spade sighed, staring at the Doctor with dreamy eyes.
“I see your bet,” Mystic announced, pushing the money into the centre of the table.
“I see your bet and raise it to 100,000,” Gisgerm said smirking.
“Are you sure about that?” Teeena asked.
“Yes, of course I am,” Gisgerm snapped.
“Doctor, what the hell is the betting limit?” Georgia asked.
“1 billion,” the Doctor replied smiling at Georgia’s gobsmacked face.
“Sir, would you like to change any cards?” Manajarr asked.
“Yes please,” the Doctor replied smiling, as he swapped two of his cards.


The Queen of Diamonds strode up the lawns of the Hearts Castle, and Conner was close behind her. Suddenly, two shabby looking figures wearing crowns burst out from a bush, causing the Queen of Diamonds to scream.

“What the hell do you think your doing?” the Queen of Diamonds asked them.
“We wanted to know who ‘e is,” the King of Clubs answered.
“He’s Conner, he’s been captured by the Ace of Spades and trapped here,” the Queen of Diamonds explained.
“He looks a bit peaky,” the Queen of Clubs commented dryly.
“You would too, if you’d been trapped in a pack of cards,” Conner replied.
“Is there anything else you want to know?” the Queen of Diamonds asked, “I am off to visit a very dear friend, who, as you full well know, is very ill.”
“All right, sorry, where’s your ‘usband anyway?” the King of Clubs replied.
“He spent all morning with the Hearts, and he’s very busy,” the Queen of Diamonds explained.
“But you have all of eternity to do things, there’s no point bein’ busy,” the King of Clubs muttered.
“If you haven’t noticed, half your castle’s roof has fallen in, there are weeds growing up the castle wall, and your whole kingdom has fallen into disarray,” the Queen of Diamonds snapped, “If you spent more time bein’ busy, perhaps you could fix at least one of those.”
“Oooh, we’re sorry,” the Queen of Clubs said in a lofty voice.

“Where’s the Jack of Clubs anyway?” the Queen of Diamonds asked.
“Trying to find Jaq, the Jack of Hearts,” the King of Clubs replied.
“He’s bein’ busy,” the Queen of Clubs added, “But we think he’s vanished and returned to the other world.”
“We brought him up so badly, I can’t believe he wants to be helpful,” the King of Clubs said, “Come on sweetie, I fancy some frog racing.” The King and Queen of Clubs then sidled off back into the bushes.

“Were they the King and Queen of Clubs?” Conner asked excitedly.
“I’m afraid so,” the Queen of Diamonds replied, as she continued to stroll up the lawns towards the Hearts castle. Conner spotted a huge maze on the left side of the castle, and on the other was a boating lake. They entered the castle via two large red doors. Once inside they were met by the Jack of Diamonds. The Queen of Diamonds introduced Conner to the Jack and then he led them up the staircase.

“She’s getting worse,” the Jack of Diamonds told the Queen, “The King of Hearts won’t take any rest, and he hardly leaves her side.”
“Has she had any Doctors look at her?” the Queen of Diamonds asked.
“The 9 of Hearts has been giving her medicine, but she’s in such a wild state,” the Jack of Diamonds answered, “She’s in here.” The Jack led them into a large bedroom. On the bed in the centre of the room lay the Queen of Hearts, who seemed restless and looked very red. The King of Hearts sat beside her, holding her hand.

“Your majesty, you need some sleep,” the Queen of Diamonds said, as she rushed to the King of Heart’s side and sat beside him.
“I can’t leave,” the King of Hearts replied, “I must stay with her. She’s dying.”
“Oh no,” the Queen of Diamonds said softly, as the Queen of Hearts made a small shriek and rolled over on the bed, then she didn’t stop moving but kept rolling around, as if she was having some kind of fit.
“Darling, it’s alright, stay with us,” the King of Hearts said in a soothing voice, “You have to stay with me, I can’t live without you!” The Queen of Hearts fell silent, and the Jack of Diamonds rushed to check her pulse.
“I’m sorry,” the Jack of Diamonds told the King sadly, “She’s gone.”

TO BE CONTINUED