Chapter Twenty Five

The Doctor followed his brother and sister while they tried to find the Valeyard. While they walked along, the Doctor held onto his wife's hand silently thanking any deity he could think of that what he had just gone through had all been a dream and this was his reality. As they walked, Alan looked back at the Doctor.

"Any idea what we're going to do to Valley Girl once we find him?" he said to him and Rain.

"Put him in a teeny tiny box and mail it to Pluto?" Rain said.

"Nah, too complicated. I say we put the bastard in cryostasis and have done with it," Alan replied.

"And wouldn't that be just as complicated as putting him in a box and mailing it?" the Doctor said.

Alan was about to reply when the Doctor grabbed his shoulder. He put his finger to his lips when Alan looked back at him. They stood in a corridor and listened when they heard the Valeyard up ahead of them.

"So," the Valeyard said with a sneer. "I finally found the brat."

He had been searching for Namid when he turned a corner and ran into her. Namid had been waiting calmly for him but the Valeyard was so elated at finding her that he didn't stop to question why she was just standing there when he turned the corner. He sneered at the redhead.

"Hello, Duckie, I'm your daddy," he said with glee. "Aren't you gonna give your daddy a kiss?"

"Your reign of terror is over, Valeyard."

The Valeyard threw back his head and laughed.

"Who says? You? The former blind girl who thought to bring another blind person and a whore with you to stop me? Why didn't you bring that army you call a family with you instead of risking your life facing me."

"I don't need my family. I'm more than capable of stopping you on my own."

The Valeyard laughed again.

"You won't hurt me. You're too much of a goody goody like your father. You'll try to turn me back into a good little bloke rather than kill me."

"Spot on, that's exactly what I had in mind," Namid said.

The Valeyard snorted.

"Do it then…if you can," he said, assuming an attack stance.

He raised his eyebrow when Namid closed her eyes.

"What? You gonna pretend you're blind again? Or you can't bear to fight someone who's a version of your father. Because I am, you know. I sprang from the Doctor so I'm technically your…"

He trailed off when Namid started to glow with a golden light and for once, he was speechless. Compassion opened her eyes and he saw gold swimming in her green eyes.

"Wait," he said when he finally found his voice, "I've seen this before. That bitch, Rose. She looked the same way when she became the Bad Wolf."

"Very observant," Compassion said.

"Wait, you're the Bad Wolf?" the Valeyard said.

"Not exactly. My name is Compassion and I'm a living TARDIS."

"What?" the Valeyard said in shock.

An evil grin spread over his face.

"A living TARDIS, eh? I can use someone like you. Come to Daddy, Sweetie. You can help me conquer the universe."

He lunged for her but Compassion quickly entered the vortex. The Valeyard let out a roar of anger when she disappeared.

"I WILL HAVE YOU!" he roared. "YOU WILL BE MINE, LIVING TARDIS!"

"I seriously doubt that."

The Valeyard spun around and saw the Doctor, Alan and Rain.

"So, the weakling escaped," he sneered. "Tell me, did you enjoy your little nap?"

"Namid is right, this is the end, Valeyard. All of the Doctors have been freed and playtime is over."

"Oh, I don't think so. You see, I still have some tricks left. Not to mention I must have your daughter for my own. A living TARDIS is just what I need. Perhaps I'll let the three of you live long enough to see her be corrupted and turned to the darkness. After that, I'll kill all of you slowly and painfully until you beg for death."

"Gee, now who's using worn out clichés?" the Doctor taunted.

The Valeyard snarled at him and lunged into their midst. He aimed himself at Rain and she grunted when he rammed into her and knocked her over. He started to choke her while the Doctor and Alan fell on top of him, hitting him and grabbing his arms, trying to get him away from her before she regenerated. The Valeyard hit Rain hard in the face and turned as he kept one hand on her neck. Rain tried to push him off her while he in turn fought the Doctor and Alan. The four of them fought and kicked and punched each other, bruising and bloodying each other in the process.

Then the Doctor heard a noise and he grinned when he saw the other Doctors except for Thirteen, Hamish and Mirza hurrying to join them. The Valeyard let out a roar of fury when all of them joined the fight. He punched and kicked as fast and as hard as he could, lashing out blindly but there were too many people and he was quickly subdued. Twelve and Eight pulled him up to his feet and held him firmly by his arms while the others surrounded him. When he tried to pull out of Twelve and Eight's grasp, the others grabbed him while Ten gloated silently.

"Like I was saying, your reign of terror is over with, Valeyard."

"So now what? You gonna put me in prison? Cause if you do, I'll find a way to escape and kill you all and that goes double for that loser clone…"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, I'm a loser Halfling, I get it," Alan said angrily.

"Not you, the other you, the one whose daughter I kidnapped. I believe he calls himself Adam?"

The Doctor, Hamish, Rain and Alan froze in stunned shock.

"What?" Alan said. "Who are you?"

The Valeyard smirked at him.

"Ask your idiot clone brother," he said.

He tried to break free again and the others held him fast.

"What do we do with him?" Amato asked the Doctor.

He smiled and put a hand on his shoulder.

"I think we'll freeze him indefinitely. He's right. Prison is too risky."

Perhaps we can find a way to get through to him like we did with you, Brother, he thought to Amato.

Amato nodded and the Doctor patted his shoulder. The Doctor smirked when he saw the fear on the Valeyard's face.

"No, you can't do this to me! Let me go!" the Valeyard said as he struggled to get free.

"Funny, I'm not feeling any sympathy for you at the moment. I believe the best place for you is the cryochamber."

They heard a familiar wheezing sound. The Doctor, Alan, Rain and Amato turned and everyone watched with them as Compassion slowly materialized behind them. The Doctor grinned.

"Then again, there is absorption since my daughter has decided to return to us," the Doctor said smugly.

"What do you mean?" the Valeyard asked.

"I'm going to take you into my body and the TARDIS energy will cleanse you and change your dark energy to light," Compassion said.

"No! You can't do that to me! Stay away from me!" the Valeyard said.

The Doctor gloated silently when he saw true fear on the Valeyard's face. Fear he guessed that had been on the faces of countless numbers of the Valeyard's victims. He smiled tenderly at Compassion when she squeezed first his shoulder and then Rain and Alan's shoulders. Then the Doctors made a way for her as she came towards him. Everyone watched in awe as she glowed with the brilliant golden light. The Valeyard continued to struggle as she put her hands on his shoulders. Twelve and Eight let go when the Valeyard's screams of rage were cut off and he became a ball of energy. Compassion took him into her body and everyone watched in awe as the gold light became a white blinding radiance. Everyone backed up and shielded their eyes as Compassion glowed brighter and brighter.

"Gee, can't wait till this happens in our timeline," Alan said. "She'll be handy to have if the lights go off in a thunderstorm."

It took several minutes for Compassion to complete the process. During that time, the Doctor noticed that his earlier counterparts were backing away from her and he knew it was because that Time Lord sensation when something unnatural was occurring was kicking in because he was fighting the same impulse. But when it was over and she brought him back out of her body and sat him on the ground, the glowing stopped and Namid returned to normal as the light grew and faded, leaving the Valeyard behind. The Valeyard was lying in a heap, dazed and confused. Everyone came closer to him while Namid staggered back. Alan caught her as Rain came to her side.

"Are you okay, Baby?" Rain asked, touching her cheek.

"Yeah, that took a lot out of me. I've never had to cleanse someone before. I'm just a bit knackered but I'll be alright, I promise. Where's my daddy though?"

"He's in the other room, child," One said. "He said his leg was broke and he needed time to recover. He's resting."

"I'm going to go see him then," Namid said.

The others nodded and stepped aside as she went through them.

"Right," the Doctor said to the others. "Time to see if the Valeyard really has become cleansed."