Blood Invocation (comic story)

Blood Invocation was a Fifth Doctor comic story published in the Doctor Who Yearbook 1995. It functions as a prequel to PROSE: Goth Opera. 
== Summary ==
On Gallifrey, a Vampire feasts on a Time Lord, musing how, with the Time Lords having fought the Eternal War long ago, they are not prepared for the Vampires...
The Fifth Doctor, Tegan, and Nyssa arrive on Gallifrey, as Cardinal Hemal sent a distress signal to the Doctor. Hemal tells the Doctor the matter is discreet, and Tegan and Nyssa follow the Doctor. Tegan feels ill with a cold, so she's given a tablet, and remains in the TARDIS. Hemal shows the Doctor and Nyssa a body in the morgue, with vampiric teeth marks, and drained of blood. The Doctor urges him to stake the body, before Gallifrey is overwhelmed with a Vampire plague.
The Doctor tells Nyssa of how dangerous Vampire genetic material is, before they overhear a scream. There, they find a cult who worships Rassilon as a Vampire in the middle of sacrificing a man. In her bedroon, Tegan is feeling better, before being set upon by Hemal, who reveals himself to be the Vampire. The Doctor and Nyssa discover that the cult found an ancient Vampire DNA sample, and one of their number stole it.
Back at the TARDIS, Nyssa and the Doctor discuss why anyone would think Rassilon was a secret Vampire, before Tegan walks into the control room. However, as she's infected, Tegan lunges at the Doctor, before he is able to talk her down. Hemal takes control of the TARDIS, and takes to another galaxy, revealing he had lured the Doctor so that he could transport the Vampire infection throughout time and space. With the first destination being London, Nyssa secretly resets the arrival parameters, so that the TARDIS lands in sunshine, killing Hemal, and freeing Tegan, although she doesn't remember anything. The Doctor assures Nyssa they have nothing to worry about, even though, in a graveyard, a cult is resurrecting a Vampire...
== Characters ==
* Fifth Doctor
* Tegan
* Nyssa
* Cardinal Hemal
== Worldbuilding ==
* References are made to the Eternal War.
* As a Vampire, Hemal wears the robes of a Valeyard.
* Nyssa's outfit is the same one she wore in the TV story Snakedance.
== Notes ==
* Despite the similarities to Goth Opera, Paul Cornell did not intend for these stories to be linked, with him years later being somewhat baffled at his reuse of all the similar elements. (The Clockwise War: Commentary - Blood Invocation)
== Continuity ==
* Nyssa recalls her previous trip to Gallifrey during the Second Omega Crisis. (TV: Arc of Infinity)
* A cult resurrects a Vampire in a graveyard. (PROSE: Goth Opera)
Category:Fifth Doctor comic stories
Category:Comic stories set on Gallifrey
Category:Time Lord comic stories
Category:1994 comic stories
Category:DWY comic stories
Category:Stories set in the Rassilon Era
Category:One part comics