Damien led him out of the lighthouse. The sun was beaming in the middle of the sky like a golden coin. How had time gone by so fast? They had less than a day to find and capture this killer. This killer, that was probably standing right in front of him, within his grip, but could change into anything at any point and flutter from his grasp.
The Doctor surveyed the man before him with pure hatred.
"Where's Martha," Damien asked with a flick of his pointed tongue.
"Not here," lied the Doctor. "After she got caught I rescued her and she decided to go home to her family."
"Still missing Tish, are we?" The Doctor clenched his teeth.
"What are you," he said simply.
"I'm a modern Jack the ripper," he smirked. "A galactic Jack the ripper. Take your pick."
"What are you? Are you the processed body of the Damien Lee who killed Tish that night at the wedding party or am I talking to the same Damien who committed the crime?"
"The latter," Damien smirked. "I killed Latisha Jones and Mickey Smith along with seventeen members of the Mathiella royal family and 7 of the Malum's rulers. I just captured a Malum soldier and took his form. Didn't you realise I wasn't human?"
"But you're a Malum," said the Doctor. He remembered back to that day, the day when all seemed lost and he thought they were going to die:
"Martha needs to know!" The Doctor had said. "Tom is not human. Not fully human. He is a Malum. Exactly the same as a human, on the outside mainly. But the effect on humans that become emotionally close can only be described as… lust. The need for him to be near. In severe cases, like you Martha, if you are not physically touching him you feel immense pain. I would hazard a guess that Damien is younger than Tom. Is that correct?"
"You and Tom, you're both Malum."
"I would hazard a guess that Damien is younger than Tom," quoted Damien. "Why did you think that?"
"Because even though Tish had known you longer than Tom, she had not enslaved herself out of the love and lust for you as Martha did to Tom. It didn't hurt her to be away from you, she wasn't mentally blind to what you did… I just thought your powers weren't fully developed yet."
"And I let you believe it," snarled the alien. "You think your so fucking clever, don't you?"
"Why don't you enlighten me?" said the Doctor. Damien thrust his face close to the Doctor's.
"Let's just say my father was Malum, but my mother was not."
"Your only half Malum," said the Doctor. "And what species was your mother?"
"Guess, Doctor. Can take another's shape so long as they have been captured. Have allies in the form of thousands of 'shadows' as I heard the old fat human say. Access to Mathiella royal family."
"I don't know," admitted the Doctor.
"My mother was a slave to the Mathiella. She was humiliated, tortured. Raped by a member of the Malum royal family, who was a trusted friend to the Mathiella. That's how I was conceived. Then, she was killed in a raging battle between the recently fallen out Malum and the Mathiella- I had to watch her die. So I swore revenge on the Mathiella and the Malum. Then I met the Malum Freedroll- or Thomas Milligan. He had been an outcast of the Malum for twenty years and together, we plotted our retaliation. We worked together, me with the shape shifting skills inherited from my mother, him with his close ties to the Malum, to kill them all. Once the deed was done, we turned our back on the world and flew away. We came to earth and met Harold Saxon who quickly recognised our species. We worked together. We came this close…" His head hung. "But victory was snatched away from us. So we decided to take it out on you and the charming, valiant Joneses. One by one."
"You won't touch them," the Doctor said.
"I've had one already," he smirked. "And soon you will be dead. But I need to know, where is Freedroll."
"Tom Milligan has been imprisoned," said the Doctor. "He abused Martha."
"I know all about that," said Damien. "I thought he was dead. That's fortunate."
"I thought you were dead," said the Doctor. "The dying soul of the Master obliterated you. We all saw."
"Doctor, think," said Damien slowly. "I disintegrated. I am a shape shifter. Put two and two together and what do we have?"
"Oh my God," he gasped. "You're a… half of a…"
"Spit it out," Damien prompted. "I need to hear you say it."
"Yekuletti. The process of changing from one body to another means disintegration in the middle… the shadows are the Malum in their true form aren't they."
"Cold. Repulsive. The opposite to what they can become," Damien agreed. "Their true form."
"And what about you?" asked the Doctor. "What's your true form?"
"You really want to see me?" Damien said. The Doctor nodded.
"Yes."
Damien began to laugh.
!
!
Martha awoke. She moaned, rolling to her side. She was met with a cold sheet of bright blue. A tarpaulin, she quickly realised. She sucked in a deep breath and batted the heavy material out of her face. Cold water tricked from the top of it into her eyes and she blinked in surprise.
Sitting up and trying to free her legs from the cramp of staying in such an uncomfortable position for so long, she gasped as someone's face was thrust before hers.
"Mrs Lankinson," she gasped.
"What happened?" she asked anxiously. "Are you alright."
"Yeah I'm fine…" Anger overtook Martha and she clenched her fists for a second. "The bastard," she snarled. "I don't believe…"
"Martha," said the old woman uncomfortable. "Calm, please."
"What he didn't think I could handle… or he thought I was incapable… who does he think I am?"
"Who does he think you are?" asked Mrs L genuinely.
"Exactly! What a…sorry Mrs L what the hell is going on?"
"The shadows… they've gone and we're trapped up here."
"Excuse me," a soft male voice spoke in Martha's ear and she whirled her head round. Her mouth dropped open.
"It's you," she said.
!
!
The Doctor screwed his eyebrows together.
"Share the joke," he said wearily.
"You want to see what I look like now," said Damien, still chortling. "Are you mental? You naive old fool."
"I'm just curious," said the Doctor.
"Then I'll keep you in suspense," Damien said wickedly. "You will see me soon, all too soon, and mark my words you will not like it."
"I shall look forward to it," said the Doctor smoothly. "Tell me, who is the real Damien Lee? Who's body did you use to get so close to Tish as Damien? Who did you kidnap?"
"A boy," said Damien. "A nine year old boy. I kept him locked up for nearly twenty years. He grew up so he was almost unrecognisable. Forgotten. His real name was Jason McCarthy."
!
!
At first she thought it was Damien. But then something inside her tweaked, because she knew it wasn't him, not really. His face was softer, more innocent. His eyes were less cold, less harsh- they were streaked with tears.
"I know who you are," breathed Martha. "You're Damien Lee, aren't you? As in the real him? As in the one who the killer kidnapped? You didn't kill anyone?"
"I don't know what you mean," murmured the man. "I'm Jason McCarthy. I was on holiday and a man took me… I was nine…he said I could trust him… and I haven't seen people for years. And now there are people…" Martha's heart went out to him. She reached out and touched his arm. He looked about thirty, maybe a little younger, but he had the mind of the child.
"It's just overwhelming, I suppose," she said. He nodded.
"Nothing but a room, a dark room, now light and sound and people. I'm scared Martha."
"How do you know my name?" Martha said.
"I dreamt about you," he said. "You and another woman, your sister. I killed her." Martha's grip tightened on his arm.
"Did you," she choked. "Did you kill Tish?" He shook his head miserably, and Martha dropped his arm.
"It was just a dream," he said. "I dreamt lots. I killed lots in my dream. It was like I was seeing through the mind of another man- he was in my body. He was in my body."
!
!
"You bastard," said the Doctor, a sick feeling in the pit of his stomach. "And what's to gain, huh? What good has it done you so far?"
"Lots. I avenged my mother's death seventeen times. I avenged Tom's exile seven times. I plan to rescue him. We will rule the galaxy with terror and fear. You will quake before us, you will scream-"
"I've heard it all before," said the Doctor. "And you are nothing. You are a cowardly, despicable piece of scum." Gunshots made them both turn. A group of Mathiella were running down the hill. As the Doctor watched, bullets tore through the flesh of one, causing him to cascade towards them. The Mathiella stopped at the Doctor's feet and on instinct he bent down to help him. Too late. He was dead. The doctor's hearts stopped for a second when he realised who he was looking at.
General Pontouf.
Linfeoe screamed a cry of glory and triumph.
"Our leader has been killed! We are no longer enslaved by his weakness, restricted by his flaws! Drop to your knees and worship me!" The exhausted aliens fell to the ground, tears leaking from some of their eyes. Linfeoe turned on the Doctor.
"And you will die! You will die for obeying our leader!"
"No wait!" The Doctor pointed a long arm at Damien Lee. "This is the man you are looking for. He killed all those people, he killed two of my friends he kidnapped a third. You need to capture him."
"No need," said Damien swiftly. "Me and my man have been doing deals, haven't we Linfeoe." He clapped a hand on the Mathiella's back. Linfeoe smiled and lazily pointed a gun at the Doctor.
"You will die," he repeated, a smile creeping across his scarred face. "As will your lady. You will both die."
"And don't you think you fooled me for one second with the whole 'she's gone home' thing Doc," beamed Damien. "I'm just too darn bright for you."
"Wait just a second," demanded the Doctor. "Please, listen to me." He turned to the Mathiella still squatted on the grass. "This man is responsible for the murder of some of your people. He's evil, and the Mathiella who just killed your leader Pontouf is evil too. You have to respect the deaths of your leaders and more importantly, prevent any others. It is crucial they are dealt with immediately. Only you have the power to do this. Only you." There was no reaction. Damien turned on him, his fist tightening round his tie.
"You will free Freedroll," he threatened.
"No."
"You WILL!" He threw the Doctor to the ground. "Soldiers we will march through the streets and we will kill! Everyone! Then we will ask our friend to reconsider before we move onto Martha Jones!"
"Stop!" cried the Doctor! "Stop!" The next thing he knew he was being kicked through the doors of the lighthouse and the door being deadlocked behind him. Martha. He sprinted up the stairs and into the mess of the people upstairs and hurried over to where she was.
"Martha!" he cried. He dropped to the floor and embraced her warmly. He touched her hair, his heart racing, panic flaring in his chest. He released her and looked deep into her eyes. "Martha," he said again. Her lip curled and she slapped him on the arm. Then she was hugging him again, stroking his arm gently.
"I hate you," she mumbled into his coat. He smiled.
"Come on Jones. We have the world to save!"
