Disclaimer: I do not own the BBC, and thus do not own Doctor Who.

Barcelona, 1490

As the bells rang, the procession was led out of the church, and to the center of the town. First came the priest, then the soldiers, and finally, the penitents themselves in their bright yellow sanbenitos and conical caps, each decorated with red crosses, dragons, and flames, to symbolize each person's respective sins against God. As each left the church, they passed priests who made the cross with their fingers, saying: "Receive the sign of the cross, which you denied and lost through being deceived."

Such was the procession of the auto da fe. The great ritual of the Spanish Inquisition. Nearly the entire town turned out to watch the procession, to be reminded of the power of God and his earthly representatives, the Roman Catholic Church. To remind themselves that even the slightest deviation from the way of the true church could mean the Inquisition could take them away in the middle of the night, and put them in the procession they saw.

The line of penitents itself consisted of all kinds of sinners against the church: Those who took the Lord's name in vain by a drunken slur; more who, in uncontrolled fits of anger, roared harsh words against a minister. Still others who spoke out against the Spanish Inquisition. However, the majority of the penitents were conversos, Jews who had relapsed into their old rituals after becoming baptized Christians, and had thus become heretics.

Regardless, however, of what crime they had commited, they all found themselves led before the ruthless Inquisitor of Barcelona; the man who had personally tried each one, and tortured more than half; the man who now, in his hooded black cloak, and bright white robes, sitting upon his raised platform with other religious officials beside him, was prepared to deliver judgment upon them all: Callus.

"All take heed!" he shouted dramatically. "The will of our savior Jesus Christ is a way of mercy. But there can be no mercy for those who deny the way of the true church, just as there was no mercy for Judas and the others who condemned Jesus to death. As such, it falls to me to pronounce the guilt of all those before me, in this holy act of faith."

And with that, he took his beaded rosary in his right hand, and the papers concerning the sentences in the other, and began to read: "Pedro de Almazon! From reliable sources, we have determined you, a known baptized Christian, to be guilty of Judaising, on basis of your keeping of the following Jewish practices: attending a Jewish wedding; doing laundry on fridays; buying goods from Jewish merchants, including Jewish foods and menorahs; and for being circumcised. For this, you are relaxed to the secular authorities, who shall find it in them to place you on the pyre, and have you burn until death."

"Bertres Carrera! Our familiars have observed you claiming the necessity of a plot against the Holy Office of the Inquisition, and actively paying sums exceeding forty ducats for expenses of mercenaries you intended to hire for the purpose. For impeding the work of God, you shall be sentenced to six months working in the galleys of the Royal Fleet of Aragon."

"Miguel Rizo! You are known as one of the conspirators in the plot mentioned in the sentencing of Bertres, plotting to assassinate an unknown number of officers of the Holy Inquisition. For your crimes, you too shall be sentenced to the galleys of the Royal Fleet of-"

"DON'T LISTEN TO THE INQUISITOR!" came a shout from the crowd, interrupting Callus' sentencing.

Everyone's attention turned to the rat-haired beggar on the outskirts of the crowd, who continued: "HE IS NOT A TRUE CHRISTIAN! I, WITH MY OWN EYES, SAW HIM WORSHIPPING THE DEVIL! AT THE VERY ALTAR HE CLAIMS TO – Ungh!..." His tirade was cut short as a soldier in charge of keeping the peace at the event rushed over to the rambling panhandler, and clobbered him with the butt of his spear.

A minute later, after the man was dragged screaming to the dungeons, Callus resumed his holy duties: "As I was saying, Miguel, you too shall be sentenced to the galleys of the Royal Fleet of Aragon."

"Garcia Arnandez! From several reliable sources, we pronounce thee, publicly a baptized Christian, and secretly a Jew, on the basis of..."

…...

All in all, seventy-five heretics and blasphemers were sentenced that day. Some were made to do penance, wearing the sanbenito in public to pronounce their shame. Some were sent to the shipyard, to be made expendable slaves that the crown had such need of. But for thirty of the condemned (a rather unusually large number, several in the crowd pointed out to their neighbors at the ceremony), the only recourse was death. And thus, they were handed over to the secular authorities of Barcelona, for the Holy Office had no power to carry out the act themselves.

The day reconvened outside the city walls, where the pyres were being set up. Thirty firewood piles, each surrounding a stake where a heretic was being tied to.

Callus, as his religious office demanded he do, made one last attempt to save the souls of the condemned, and spare them from hell. He held a cross before each criminal, suspended on a stick so he didn't get too close to the heretics, and offered them one last chance to confess their evil ways and embrace the Church and Christ. Only one, Pedro de Almazon, took the chance, and confessed that he wished to accept Christ in his heart. As such, he was granted the mercy of being strangled by garrotte before the flames were lit.

Some of the others claimed that they were falsely accused, and did not need to convert, a fact Callus quickly denied with a shouting of: "Accusing me of fault is accusing God and his son Jesus of fault."

Then the executions took place. While some of the condemned sang Jewish hymns, and others screamed in protest, the soldiers stood by with torches in hand to light the pyres. And once Callus was seated a distance away from the site of the future conflagration, he gave the order.

Instantly, thirty fires were lit at the same time, and twenty-nine voices cried out in agony as the flames licked their skin, the smoke filled their lungs, and the heat boiled their blood into steam.

And all the while, Callus laughed...

….as flashes and patterns of lightning played out on the surface of his eyes, a phenomenon known only to himself.

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Christopher Eccleston

Billie Piper

DOCTOR WHO

The Altar Of Doom

by Megamafan16

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The glass tubes in the central time rotor bounced up and down as the TARDIS zoomed through time and space. Rose knew that wherever it ended up, it would be another grand adventure. An alien planet, a fantastic future, or the rustic past, or any combination thereof, the Doctor was not constrained by anything on where he could go, except those which he placed on himself.

Like now, as he frantically dashed all over the console, desperately trying to lock on to the distress beacon the TARDIS picked up, while Rose held down the temporal receiver so they didn't lose the signal.

Eventually, Rose asked: "Doctor, are you sure we won't arrive too late to save whoever sent this call for help?"

"No, we'll always arrive in the nick of time when someone calls for me. That's a special modification I made myself. Well, myself and the Shadow Proclamation."

Rose remembered the name; several times during negotiations, like during his confrontation with the Nestene Consciousness when she first met him, the Doctor had called upon the authority of the Shadow Proclamation. The name had always been a the target of her curiosity, but between Cassandra, the Slitheen, the Jagrafess, and all those others, she never had time to get it satisfied. She decided now was the time: "What is the Shadow Proclamation anyway? And why is it so important?"

"Because it is." the Doctor replied as he threw the gravitic anomalyzer, causing the TARDIS to jerk.

Before Rose could ask what kind of answer that was, he continued: "At least it's been the most important thing since the Time Lords got wiped out. The Shadow Architect recognized the void left by the Time Lords, and she created the intergalactic police force 'The Shadow Proclamation' to fill it. Set down a bunch of rules for intergalactic confrontation and negotiation...basically a universe-wide peacekeeping corps."

"Anyway, since I contributed so much information to the Shadow Proclamation's databases, the Architect herself named me an honorary member, and authorized my TARDIS for travel in the new system. And they outfitted my TARDIS with a distress-beacon homing line, so whenever somebody called for help, I would be right there, when and where they need me. Like right now, if I get this right..." And with that, the Doctor closed the throttle, and began the materialization process...

...and the TARDIS finally landed with a CLUNK!

Rose was ready to go out and rescue a dude in distress, but before that, the Doctor glanced at the scanners...and was surprised when he saw the location: Barcelona, Spain, August 9th, 1490!

"...Rose, it's Barcelona, 1490. Early Renaissance-era Spain. Off to the wardrobe you go."

"What? There's an ultra-advanced alien...in Spain?"

"Probably in hiding. And given the kind of mindset of the people today, that's the sensible thing to do. So, get yourself into some period-appropriate clothing so we don't attract too much attention!"

"Fine," Rose said with a slight moan. "But you have to say I look beautiful in whatever dress I pick, right?"

"Sure, just go get something while I try and triangulate the signal's point of origin." the Doctor said distractedly, as he fiddled some more with the TARDIS console. Rose rolled her eyes, and left to find the wardrobe.

…...

…...

The minute the Doctor decided to give up, because triangulation was turning out to be too much of a hassle, Rose reappeared in the console room. She was wearing a dark green dress, with a break beginning at the waist that revealed a deep blue petticoat underneath. Her hair was worn down without anything holding it up, and her sleeves were bigger at the shoulders.

"You know," she said as she entered, "this Renaissance clothing isn't half as uncomfortable as I expected! No corsets!" At that point, the Doctor finally took notice of her. "So, am I beautiful?"

"Stunning. Now come on down here," said the Doctor in a fashion with a minimum of caring, "we'll have to do this the hard way." And with that, he checked his pockets, made sure he had his sonic screwdriver, and pulled something extra from the console, before rushing straight for the exit.

Insulted, Rose gasped as they made for the TARDIS doors; "What's got you in such a rush?" she asked.

"That was a Category 1 distress beacon. You know what kind of problems warrant Category 1?"

When Rose didn't ask, the Doctor (who still hadn't bothered to change out of his leather outfit,) went ahead and answered: "'Dalek at my front door, please help.' That kind."

Instantly, Rose understood the Doctor's urgency; she had seen a Dalek in action firsthand in Van Statten's warehouse, and knew the kind of terror they were capable of. If this message was that level of danger, it was serious indeed.

There was nothing more said as they opened the door, and stepped out into the world of Barcelona, 1490. Their journey began in the middle of a set of stables, full of horses, hay, and other associated things.

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All the while, their movements were observed. Their image floated above the futuristic machinery set into the thick table, and a sinister figure watched intently.

"Good," the man sneered. "The agent is here. Soon, this pitiful charade, and my time upon this planet of primitive flesh-creatures, will end, and I will have my revenge."

Then, satisfied with his finding, he removed the activation key from the table, returning the machine to its camouflage mode, and went off to tell his 'allies' of the new arrival.

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"So, what are we looking for, exactly?" asked Rose as they walked through an open-stall market. "And do we know where we're going?"

"No answer for either. The location's been scrambled, all I know is that it's within this city somewhere. So keep your eyes open for anything out of the ordinary."

Rose nodded, and began scanning the area...and had to suppress a gag reflex as she saw a half-mutilated pig hanging from the window of a stall in the market area.

The Doctor instantly noticed her reaction, and it didn't take long to deduce what it was about: "That's ordinary," he said; "stuff like that's happening all over Spain at this time. Butchers had to advertise that they sold pork, because that meant they were Christian butchers."

"Why did it matter?" Rose asked, suddenly regretting that she skipped Renaissance history in High School. The Doctor answered: "Because of the Spanish Inquisition; If a Christian were caught buying from Jewish markets at this point in history, they could be accused of Judaizing and charged with heresy. Which usually meant burning at the stake."

"Wait – we're at that point in time? I didn't expect the Spanish Inquisition!"

"Rose, Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition!" the Doctor replied, and the two of them shared a laugh.

"Hahaha...but don't worry. As long as we keep a low profile, we shouldn't have anything get in our way. We have no reason to expect-"

"There he is!" came a loud voice from behind them. A look revealed that it was a man in a plain robe, flanked by two helmeted soldiers with black cloth and rapiers. "That's the one Inquisitior Callus warned us about: the Doctor!" the man continued.

"...The Inquisition." the Doctor finished...before shouting: "Run!" and dragging Rose down an alleyway. With a cry of "Capture him!" the two soldiers ran after them.

And so, once again, they ran. Ran over scattered baskets and homeless, in between and through buildings, and down major streets. Driven by devotion to their orders, the soldiers followed not far behind every step of the way.

…..

Eventually, the two time travelers rounded a corner, and took cover behind a nearby column jutting out from a building. The soldiers ran right past them, believing their quarry to have gone round another corner.

"I think we lost 'em." said Rose, as they came out of their hiding spot...

...and they suddenly felt sharp points poke their backs. "Good thing there's us to find you again." said another soldier, one of a group of three.

"Doctor, you are to be brought to the Inquisitor, Callus, for immediate interrogation." stated another soldier, bringing surprise to the Doctor's face.

"Wait-" he said: "No lengthy stay in a dungeon to break my spirits, and make me more likely to confess when I am interrogated?"

"Callus requested your immediate presence. I am not to question the Holy Inquisitor, and you should not be either."

"As for your woman, however," the third one said, "She shall be led to the dungeons. Callus specifically mentioned that you are at your strongest with companions. Now move along."

"Okay okay, we're going, we're going." said Rose, as they were shackled and led to a horse-drawn carriage.

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Rose stumbled as she was thrown into the dusty cell, and fell face-first onto the floor.

"And remember, no speaking." the guard stated, before locking the door and leaving her.

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As for the Doctor, when the hood was taken off of him, he found himself in an area of what was obviously a cathedral.

Before him, he saw an exquisitely decorated altar, and between him and it, there was a table at which three hooded figures sat; the tribunal. And in the middle was a minister with a slightly wrinkled face, yet all the ferocity of a serial killer. This, the Doctor surmised, was Callus.

"Doctor," the Inquisitor began, "Your heresy is a well-known reporting I have come across. Now is the time for you to confess."

...

The way I see it, political correctness is the only reason this period of history hasn't been explored before on Doctor Who.

Plz don't flame; I know this is probably a touchy topic, given that it's religion and all.

But if you like what has bee shown so far, and want to see if our heroes will make it out, and figure out what's going down in Barcelona (the city, not the planet that has noseless dogs), then by all means, don't let me stop you from enjoying a suspenseful thrill with the Doctor!