"Ben." Called the Time Lord, simply glad to see his friend. They stood in a lifeless forest, everything dark beyond recognition, save for a small area around a campfire.
"Robin", Ben instantly called back in a mixture of relief and excitement "Where have you been? I've been wandering this place for hours."
"We just got here Ben." Robin answered him simply, whilst he prodded the campfire with a stick.
"What? No that can't be right, I have walked miles across this darkened land. I remember it all." Ben replied, he felt shocked by Robin's words. And yet he felt almost compelled to accept them, after all, Robin had a way of understanding these things...
"Do you, do you really remember? Cast your mind back, what happened today, what led us to be here?" Robin asked Ben quickly. The question immediately shunted his mind back to some kind of truth. But how had it become so fooled in the first place? Ben could only begin to wonder how... And he knew precisely who might be behind it.
"I um… we had a plan. Yes that's right, Robin had this plan to stop the Lich. Made me promise, fate of the whole world resting on my shoulders, I can't back down." Ben slurred out, not making entire sense. His mind felt clouded and unclear; entangled in the mess of the world around him. The line between reality and dream, between his mind and... Others, had been removed. He could practically hear voices in the mist, almost see them, thoughts and ideas, riddles and rimes. Calling to him.
"Yes, yes that's right. The plan, must stick to the plan. Come with me Ben, we'll sit by the fire." Robin assured him warmly. "You do want my company don't you?"
"Ahw yes, yes of course." Ben replied once more in a daze, seemingly distracted.
"Then come with me Ben, come now, sit by the fire with me Ben, aren't you cold?" Robin replied. Ben felt cold and his mind felt slowed, everything murky. Each thought an effort, each requiring to be sifted from the mist which was his mind, much like the world surrounding him, it was obscured. He put his hand to his head and blinked his eyes in attempt to clear his thoughts. To sort his own from the ramblings and mutterings from the mist.
"Um…. Err… what? Oh cold, err yeah it is cold isn't it." Ben stuttered unmanageably. 'Must stay in control.' He thought.
"Yes, yes sit with me Ben." Robin spoke and patted a spot on the ground beside him. "Let's talk about our plan, come now, aren't you cold?"
Ben took a few steps toward the spot by the fire, but then he noticed something - a shape in the shadows? The Knight stopped dead in his tracks and turned his head back and forth. Nothing seemed right, 'how is any of this possible?' The Knight asked himself.
"Come quickly now Ben, aren't you cold?" Robin continued to urge him.
Ben stared blankly into the empty abyss that was his surroundings. He shook his head again to try to clear his mind. "What is this place?" He questioned.
"You don't know? Here I'll help you remember. Have a seat." Robin gestured to the spot on the ground again, "Aren't you cold?" Robin asked him curiously.
The mysterious figure from the mist then became more defined, there was something familiar about it, something friendlier? Ben could not ignore it any longer.
"It's not cold Ben." It speaks, with Robin's voice?
"Who are you? Why do you sound so familiar?" Ben questioned and turned back and forth profusely demanding answers.
"You know me Ben, I'm your friend. We came here together, by choice." It spoke as it moved closer into view, the mist seemed to whirl around its shaded figure, blowing away the murkiness of Ben's mind and the figure became clearer still.
"NOW Ben, aren't you cold? Sit with me, let us talk about the plan." Robin insisted, an underlying tint of anger in his voice.
"Look at him closely Ben, what do you see?" The figure asked Ben, the answers felt near.
"What?...What?... But I see Robin." Ben pointed. "Right there, by the fire."
"Do you, do you really?" The figure said with arms outstretched. "This was the plan Ben, it was never more than this. You should remember, after all it was I who told it to you." The figure further explained and stepped closer to emerge from the mist. The light of the fire lit up his face, it glowed warmly against his lighter complexion, his straight orange hair blew gently in the wind. Now in plain view, his identity was unmistakable, his words so undeniable. They spoke truth.
"Robin!" Ben gasped.
"Definitively so." Robin grinned as he straightened his jacket in his usual manner.
"But, how…. You're over there?" Ben said and turned back to the fire where Robin also sat, except this Robin now grinned diabolically. "What?" Ben spoke stunned, two Robin's?
"Ah yes me!" Said the most recently appeared Robin. He seemed rather enthused to meet his physical double. "I am such a handsome fellow aren't I? If I might say so... That wouldn't be too bold of me, would it Ben?" He strolled to the Robin by the fire. The Robin by the campfire stood also, and immediately eyed off his newest counterpart.
"Tell you what..." Exclaimed the second Robin to have appeared, "Catch" He said cheerfully and tossed Ben a calculator from his pocket. "Ask us a question would you?" Robin 2 grinned at Robin 1 and spoke to him "You wouldn't mind would you?"
"Lets see…" Ben began prodding at the calculator. "68÷3" Ben asked...
"22.66666666666666666…" The two Robins answered in unison. Ben slumped a little in disappointment realizing discerning the fake from the real Robin wouldn't be quite so easy.
"Okay, okay, STOP." Ben yelled. "Something else, erm 23×9?" Ben asked. He hoped this time he'd be more successful but they both answer swiftly with 'two hundred and seven'. "Hm something harder." Ben pondered in thought a moment. "29÷4×8+586-253÷36×5" He paused again a moment. "Cubed" He added. There was a long silence, the two Robins stared each other blankly neither giving away any clue.
Eventually Robin 1 broke the silence. "Who could possibly answer that off the top of their head?" He shrugged.
"A Time Lord could." Robin 2 stated.
"Fine then, answer it." Robin 1 demanded through gritted teeth.
"Two hundred and twenty-five million, seven hundred and twelve thousand and thirty"….. "Point five." Robin 2 concluded smugly.
"Robin!" Ben gasped with relief, "So who's...?" Ben started to say as he looked to the first Robin, or whoever it was.
Robin 1 just grinned maniacally. "Hahahahahaha oh you two are far more trouble than you're worth, though this has been fun. Very fun!" He spoke in a deeper, raspy voice before dispersing into the darkness like a cloud.
"Ah" Ben said as he shook his head once more. "Something's in my head." He groaned.
"Ben!" Robin yelled concernedly. "You have to fight it, it's the Lich. I trapped him here. I used you like a back door entrance into his mind. As long as you are free of his control he cannot escape… and neither can we leave." Robin admitted with a heavy heart and much sorrow laced behind his otherwise calm expression. He always seemed to have a way of hiding his pains, but the cracks were showing more and more in him now.
"WHAT?" Ben jumped to attention, only to fall to his side groggily once more "Are you telling me we have to stay here?"
"Yes, that is precisely it. We must hold the Lich here long enough for Anne and Marceline to disarm and destroy the weapon. Ben it is imperative you hold on! I'm not sure how long I myself have left." Robin sighed gloomily. "But that doesn't matter, as long as you keep the Lich here long enough for Anne to finish the job. Nothing else is more important." Robin repeated his point determinedly, shaking Ben a little. Ben struggled with his head and gripped it firmly. "Oh no, okay Ben crash course in psychic defences." Robin said worryingly and the two sat on the ground. "Ben, Ben listen to me! I want you to close your eyes and imagine a brick wall, a tall circular brick wall, can you do that for me?" Robin questioned with his quick but clear words. They were spoken calmly, but also in bit of a race.
"Mm" Ben nodded, wanting to do anything to help their situation. His commitment to their cause was more than just admirable and his faith in this man he had just met seemed unbreakable. Inspiring such faith in people had always been a trait Robin had admired of individuals such as The Doctor. The thought warmed him slightly, though he couldn't dwell on it now. But it did none-the-less remind him he had the right Knight for the job.
"Good." Robin smiled warmly. "Now gather everything you hold dear and place it within that wall. Do you have someone special, someone close?"
"Mm, Nivian, my wife." Ben said in something of a blur.
"Good, good. Oh where is she now?" Robin questioned.
"On a diplomatic mission for Anne, outside the Kingdom." Ben said in a slur, his words were becoming ever more distant.
"Excellent, you're doing just fine Ben." Robin spoke quite pleased. "Now Imagine Nivian is within your wall and all the worlds dangers are safely barricaded away behind it. You don't want to let them in so just hold that thought, don't lose it!" Robin explained and lay Ben on his side. "Now on three, Ben, you will go to sleep and when you awake everything will be fine and back to normal. As long as you hold that thought with you." Robin said emphasizing the point. "One, two, three." Click' Went Robin's fingers and Ben was instantly in a far and distant dream.
Robin was alone then. On that dark and ghostly field. The cold wind blew ever more chilly, it ate into him and reminded him of his time drawing near. He ached in pain, everything burned, he could feel his time drawing near.
"The moment is upon you." Called the Lich's dark and ominous voice. "Do you not desire my help? Together you would need never die!"
"Oh shove off! There's nothing here for you now, Ben's mind has rejected your touch. It has locked itself away safe from your meddling" Robin reaffirmed his position, he wouldn't lose his nerve, he couldn't.
"Then why would I still be here? Hm… if it is not the human's mind which holds my image then what is keeping me here? You are growing weak." The Lich laughed, his voice echoed the empty plain. Damn, he's got a point the Time Lord realized.
"You, your desires betray you. I can feel you're longing for her." The Lich chuckled. "It gave you strength, it kept you going, but it is such a weakness to you here. You can't control your mind, cracks are appearing. It won't be long and you will be mine" The Lich laughed uncontrollably. "You just can't help yourself can you?"
"You know nothing." Robin spoke softly, focusing in on his raw emotion, he let it run freely, untempered by thought or logic. The land shone with the brightness of a thousand suns, driving the darkness beyond. "If you could only see." Robin whispered before he himself drifted away to a distant place, a world of rolling mountains and red grass. "Mm" He smiled sleepily, "Gallifrey. Home. I'm going home." The Time Lord said groggily as he lay on the slopes of that familiar place. Finally, after so many years, he was at rest. "Home." He repeated…. "Not yet".
Back in the real world, the waking world, Anne was under more pressure than she had ever known.
Anne worked busily at the weapons user interface, her hands darted skilfully here and there across the mess of controls. Her skill became shockingly evident as she operated on what appeared mere instinct alone. "No" she muttered. "Stupid thing." Despite her clearly knowledgeable insight there were still difficulties. "No!" She continued on, ever more determined. She tore the sheathing from a large green cable, only reveal further smaller cables interlaced within. "Ah" Anne muttered in a frustrated manner.
"What's wrong?" Marceline spoke up. The Vampire had stood by attentively in support of her friend. Marceline's efforts had greatly helped in progress, especially in securing the Lich with shackles and moving the Radiogenic bomb to an upright position. But now she felt helpless, but what could she do other than watch and offer some support? Well, support was exactly what Anne needed, because right then, in that moment, Anne felt she was failing. "It's taking too long." Anne said ashamedly. "Robin would have finished this by now." She spoke to her own disdain.
"Don't be ridiculous you're doing the best you can, he would be proud. Very proud." Marceline spoke so confidently of Anne, it encouraged her and drove her on. Marceline proceeded to watch as Anne work ever harder. Anne began breaking several of the interlaced cables, she snapped them only to then reconnect them in an alternate fashion. Her flailing nerves appeared all the more apparent, she took a heavy gasp of air and wiped the sweat off her brow.
"I owe it to Robin and everyone to do this! And I must do it soon" Anne grimaced, more determined than ever. "Please check on him for me." She asked.
Marceline quickly rushed to where the two men lay, still unconscious. She gave a positive nod as to Ben's condition but upon Robin she turned paler, taking a small gulp she regretfully shook her head back at Anne. Robin's skin shone with a faint glow, like an ember in the darkness his life was burning closer and closer to its end. Soon all that life which had once burned so brightly, the mystery of his being, the culmination of all those years, the brightness it had become, now lay to be extinguished. "I'm so sorry Anne." Marceline informed her regretfully.
Anne swallowed her cries of distraught which were building within, she buried her face in her hands for a brief moment but then placed them to her hips. "He needs medical attention stat." She spoke wiping back her emotion. "Got to get him out of there, must wake them up." Anne muttered and looked searchingly. "OH!" Her attention went straight back to the device, she knew precisely the action to take, exactly what needed to be done, it was her promise to Robin.
"What are you doing?" Marceline asked, she couldn't decide whether to be relieved or concerned.
"Getting him out of there. I HAVE to get him out of there. There's no time to waste!" Anne spoke defiantly. "Bypass the secondary trans-phase replicator, jump the EPM module with a radion pulse and not only will it deplete the weapons power banks BUT it will also provide sufficient back blast to wipe out anything in its path, namely the Lich. I can break the link!"
"Okay…. WHAT? Back blast? Isn't that going to be dangerous?" Marceline spoke now definitely concerned.
"Yes, but that doesn't matter. The point is you can take Robin back to the medical ward and get him the help he needs when it's done. He's clever Marceline, if he had a chance to save himself I'm sure he could, he just needs someone to buy him one chance. Now do me a favor and move Robin and Ben out of harm's way." The Princess ordered, her mind was decided.
"Me take him? Why not you?" Marceline asked increasingly worried, she had to raise her voice to be heard over the machines louder churning.
"Is it not apparent?" Anne answered simply as she tore out some componentry to reform it in somewhere else.
"I don't think Robin would be too supportive about this, you could get yourself killed!" The Vampire yelled and gripped Anne by the wrist. "Anne STOP!"
Anne stopped abruptly and gripped the wrist which now gripped her own. "Don't, I warn you don't get in my way." Anne spoke with tears welling in her eyes. "I promised him, I owe it to him, I must do this." She was deadly serious but Marceline wouldn't back down.
"Do you really think if there was some other way out he wouldn't have thought of it? Do you really think if there was a way for him to save himself and still be with you he wouldn't have thought of it? Anne he saved you for a reason, he loves you. He gave his life for something meaningful, you must respect his final wishes." Marceline's answer seemed to come from the heart, it was moments like this that her age and wisdom seemed to shine through. She really could understand. She even seemed emotional, but she still held it all together. And she couldn't help but feel for the situation, the price of victory was far too high.
"I don't care if he hates me for this, for giving my life for his." Anne said sternly. "But I can't let him do it Marceline, I love him. I love him and I will not let him go"
"But you will die." Marceline spoke compassionately.
"Then so be it." Anne said focusing her attention back to the device. "You'd better stand back." Anne said nonchalantly as she held back her tears.
"I can't let you do that." Marceline intervened, she pulled Anne back, the device's chimes were becoming higher and higher pitched. Anne kicked in her attempts to wriggle loose but to no avail as the vampire's greater strength made resistance seem useless.
"Marceline NO!" Anne screamed again. It hurt Marceline to have to take such an action, she wanted nothing more than to avoid causing Anne more pain but she had no choice. Marceline loosened her grip ever so slightly so as to not bruise Anne's arm. Anne seized the chance and wriggled an arm free and she jabbed it into the Vampires side. Marceline ran after Anne who was just inches out of grasp. Anne grabbed a hold of the device so as to not be dragged away. Marceline was quickly approaching and Anne knew exactly what to do. Anne ripped out a redundant cable, a bright flash of light burst across the room and disorientated the vampire's sensitive eyes. Anne took her chance, using her newly acquired skills in Venusian Aikido to incapacitate Marceline's arm. "I'm sorry Marceline." Anne said sorrowfully before knocking the Vampire unconscious with a sharp blow to one of her pressure points. Anne slowly set her to rest on the floor "I'm sorry." She repeated. Anne continued to then carefully drag Marceline, Ben and Robin to the safest corner of the room. She Lingered with Robin a moment longer, she kissed him tenderly, one last time. His lifeless body gave no reaction and prompted tears to instantly roll down her cheek. Robin was too far gone to feel her warm touch, her gentle loving embrace. And it broke Anne utterly to see him so close to death, so helpless. The life drained out of him, there was no telling what horrors he was being forced to endure, for even now he was trapped, his final moments trapped in the torment of the Lich's mind. Who could deserve that? Anne asked herself, Robin certainly didn't. "I love you." She whispered to his ear. "Please forgive me." She gracefully returned to the weapon, holding what little she had left together. She would die the way she had lived, with honour. Proud of her accomplishments she would let nothing belittle her esteem. Anne focused the Weapon on the Lich's unconscious body. She could sense a certain sombreness, a feeling of content. Her final moments upon her, the world felt different, slower and simpler somehow? Reduced to such a simple logic "All that will survive of us" she spoke hushly, the weapon's final churns became increasingly overwhelming, it would go off at any second. "All that will survive of us….. Is love."
Authors Note:
Hey! So sorry for the delay with this chapter, I have been sooooo busy. I really hope it was worth waiting for, let me know what you thought of it and remember to review please!
That last line "All that will survive of us is love", is a famous line from the poem "An Arundel Tomb".
I shall hopefully be back with my next chapter very soon but in the meanwhile let me know your predictions and ideas in reviews and feel free to PM me too!
And a HUGE, HUGE thank you to my beta cartoonanimespazz15!
