Before the episode itself begins, the Special Edition Title appears - it involves a Deliberately Monochrome Calvin showing up and quoting the First Doctor from Doctor Who goodbye speech
. From there, the Peter Davison-era Doctor Who theme plays, overlaid on clips from past episodes.
The story proper begins with Calvin at school. He's bored out of this skull, as there hadn't been any attacks or anything lately. In fact, the other four protagonists are also resting peacefully.
However, in an alternate universe, a mysterious figure dips a scoop into a bowl-like object, and snatches each of Calvin's three alter egos from their home worlds into another dimension via tornado, causing Calvin great pain in the process. Though nobody cares at first, he soon draws their attention. Indeed, more tornadoes arrive in the real world to suck the other four protagonists. Calvin is left fading in and out, paraphrasing the Fifth Doctor.
- "A man is the sum of his memories, you know? And I'm not even more so."
Sound familiar? It should.
Anyway, shortly afterwards, he's sucked up by the last tornado, and the shadowy figure organizes his victims (represented as figurines) - Andy and Tracer Bullet, Socrates and Stupendous Man, Sherman and Spaceman Spiff, and lastly Calvin and Hobbes.
Elsewhere, Holographic Retro is tied to a chair. An evil voice addresses him, asking him to save Calvin and Hobbes in exchange for planetary control.
Several smaller tornadoes deposit everyone in various places in the Death Zone, along with the cardboard box. H. Retro, who is viewing this through a screen, is given both The Seal of the Good Man and a transmat recall device before teleporting off into the Death Zone.
Spiff wakes up in a Hall of Mirrors, and after some confused crashing into the walls and finding a piece of paper, he meets up with Sherman, neither batting an eye at how he could meet a non-physical entity. A Dalek shows up soon after, which they easily outsmart. Meanwhile, "Stupey" and Socrates run away from a Cyberman, the former picking up another sheet of paper while they do so. Tracer Bullet, wandering around the small country road, finds Andy hanging from a cliff and saves him using a vine.
Tropes:
- Buffy Speak: Spiff calls Sherman a "small... hamster person" when they first meet.
- Crying Wolf: No one believes Calvin when he screams as Spaceman Spiff is taken away from him.
- Dissimile:Spaceman Spiff: Hmmm. A hall of mirrors. This is kind of like one of those things they have in fun houses.(pause)Spaceman Spiff: If fun houses had pieces of broken jagged glass all around and forcefully bring you to them, then sure. A fun house.
- Do Not Touch the Funnel Cloud: Played straight, more or less.
- Embarrassing In-Series Nickname: "Stupey", from Socrates.
- Empathic Environment: The country road where Tracer Bullet starts out has gloomy clouds.
- Hall of Mirrors: Spiff starts out in one.
- Literal Cliffhanger: Andy ends up in one.
- Mr. Exposition: The alter-egos explain the Death Zone and such to their companions.
- Non-Indicative Name: There are only four Calvins.
-
Recycled Script/Film Fic: To "The Five Doctors".- Specifically, Calvin and his alter egos are the Doctorsnote (san Fourth), the others are their companionsnote , Holographic Retro is The Master, and the cardboard box is the TARDIS.
- Shout-Out: When he and Sherman first meet a Dalek, Spiff comments:"Wow. R2D2 really let himself go."
