Hiya!
I was going to wait until tomorrow to update this but I decided to just do it earlier. I hope that isn't a problem. ;)
So enjoy the new chapter! I hope everyone likes it!
XxXxXxXx
Chapter 29: The Weapon Activates
Wanda stumbled as she arrived into Ten's TARDIS. The grunge look popping out clearly for all to see. She smiled, happy to at least see Ten again. She wanted to give him a big, big, big hug, reassuring herself that he was fine, and maybe ask him if they could have a day off. Too much stress, that's what has been wrong with her lately. That had to be the reason why she had been far too over emotional for a while now, and the sickness coming over her a random. Not to mention the gigantic headache that she still felt from dealing with that damn Beast.
She heard laughter coming from up the corridor which she had arrived in. Skipping down to join the happiness, she spotted Rose in the control room, chortling at the Doctor who had a strange backpack-looking device on his back and holding a nozzle attached to a long tube that connected to the pack on his back. The Doctor made weird faces at the companion as she held her stomach in a fit of her laughing.
"Who are you gonna call?" the Doctor sang out in a silly voice.
"Ghostbusters!" Rose sang along merrily.
"I ain't afraid of no ghosts," the Doctor finished in his funny and humourous tone. Wanda stopped dead in her tracks as horror struck her.
"NO!" she screamed. Her hands flew up to her head, gripping at her hair. Her hearts pounded away in their own screams of terror and dismay. And her mind, still in its fragile state from the beating the one barrier had done, became jumbled in a terrible mess as possibilities flew through her mind at a rapid pace. No. No, no, no, no, no! Please, oh god, not today!
She felt herself fall to her knees as the possibilities stabbed at her mind, showing her . . . nothing. Completely nothing. All of it was either blank or fuzzy. There was no way around what was to come . . . No . . . Wait . . . She—she could not change any of it anyway because then that would mean . . . no happy ending for Rose. And—and it would change all other future events because Rose Tyler leaving the TARDIS was a fixed point in time, and . . . nothing could be done. Wanda would have to merely sit there . . . and watch her best friend in the whole wide universe leave her. Forever.
"Wanda, what's wrong?" came the urgent voice of the Doctor. Wanda blinked out of her daze, gazing up from the grated floor to see the Doctor and Rose crouching in front of her. The Doctor held onto her shoulders, staring at her in great concern and worry with his eyes wavering. "Please, tell me what's happened? Are you hurt anywhere?"
"It wasn't Nine again, right?" questioned Rose. She bit at her lip, looking stricken by Wanda's distraught behavior. The Time Lady shook her head, plastering a smile on.
"No, no. Sorry. I've just come from that whole black hole and Beast thing," she explained to them as she stood up from the floor, keeping her voice calm and collected. Not daring show them both her spiked anxiety and fears of what was to come. "I'm just a little . . . frazzled at the moment." The Doctor gave Wanda a sympathetic gaze, as well as a quick hug in comfort as he knew how stressful that day had been on all of them.
"Well, you're going to be even more 'frazzled' when you see what's come to visit Earth," the Doctor responded lightly, smiling away and not really sensing anything amiss with Wanda. Usually, he might have picked up on something being wrong. But at the moment, he was so focused and excited on finding out the mystery of these new 'ghosts' that his mind was a little preoccupied. He patted Wanda's shoulder, bouncing up to head out of the TARDIS.
Rose, on the other hand, was not convinced as she crossed her arms and raised a brow at the Time Lady.
"What's really wrong? Tell me," she said sternly. Wanda stared at her friend for a second, feeling ready to burst into tears. Just like how she had felt with Donna, only much, much worse. Leaning forward, Wanda wrapped her arms around the companion, holding her close in a strong hug.
"I'm sorry, I can't stop it," she whispered, her voice wavering.
"Can't stop what?" Rose questioned, confused by how miserable Wanda sounded.
". . . Spoilers." Wanda kept a tight grip on Rose's hand as they walked outside to join the Doctor. Wanda spotted Jackie standing next to one of the strange metal cones linked with wires on the grass. Glancing around, the Time Lady noticed how they were in a small park of sorts. Peachy.
"Are you sure nothing's wrong, Wanda?" Rose asked, continuing to give the shorter blonde girl a look of concern.
"Yeah. Why?" Wanda replied casually, trying to keep her tone light and calm, ignoring the feeling of merely flinging herself at Rose and hugging the girl tight, never letting go.
"'Cause my hand's going numb," Rose responded easily. She nodded her head down to their joined hands. Wanda blinked, seeing how her own hand had gone pale from holding onto Rose's so tightly. As well as noticing her damn shakiness coming up. The Time Lady huffed internally, scolding herself for letting her weakness showing.
"Sorry," she muttered, pulling her hand away from Rose's. But then the companion surprised her by snatching her hand back and held it firm once more.
"I didn't say you had to let go," Rose replied, giving Wanda a sly wink. Wanda smiled and giggled, leaning against her friend in happiness. Why? Why must it all end though? Why could they not have this forever? She glanced at Jackie when seeing the woman coming over to stand by them.
"I'm glad to see you back again," said the mother, giving the Time Lady a kind smile. She then shot the Doctor a look of annoyance. "You think you can talk him out of this . . . whatever this is? He's trying to reduce the ghosts to science like he does everything else. Taking the fun out of things. Can't he just let us be happy and let it be real? All our families coming back home, doesn't he think it's beautiful?"
"I'm sorry, but it's not something beautiful, Jackie," Wanda said quietly as she watched the Doctor working with hooking up the metal cones properly. "People coming back to life . . . it's not something that should ever happen. And besides," she gave a small sigh, "I'm sorry to tell you, but it's not Rose's granddad. It never was. It's something else altogether."
"Then why do the ghosts look like people?" Jackie questioned, sounding frustrated in her earlier hopes of her father being back to life being crushed.
"Because they are . . . in some ways," explained Wanda. Thinking for a moment, wondering if she should give any sort of warning, Wanda decided that it was best if she just kept all spoilers and sneak peeks to herself. If she tired even giving a little hint to today's events . . . she might just give into trying to keep Rose from leaving. She ended up merely giving a kind smile to the mother next to her, hoping to ease Jackie's crushed hopes in not being able to see her own father again. "But it was a nice thought in seeing your dad again. I especially would have loved to meet Rose's granddad. Never had grandparents of my own, so it would have been nice to meet someone else's."
"Ohh, I'm sorry, sweetheart. You've never met your grandparents, did you?" Jackie replied sympathetically.
"No, it's not that. I didn't have any grandparents to begin with," Wanda told her, shrugging as though it were no big deal. Both Jackie and Rose gave Wanda surprised looks.
"What?" Rose responded in disbelief.
"You had to have some grandparents," Jackie said, shaking her head in confusion. "I mean . . . your parents couldn't have been around without them having parents."
". . . Maybe they did, but I don't remember," Wanda said, shrugging again. Both Jackie and Rose were distracted when the Doctor rushed by them, going into the TARDIS. They followed after as he dragged a large cable up to the console, plugging it right into one of the controls of the TARDIS.
"Wanda, give us a hand," the Doctor said rapidly. The Time Lady was immediately right by his side, ready to help. He pointed at the scanner's screen in front of them. "As soon as the cones activate, if that line goes into the red," he pointed to a control on the console, "press that button there. If it doesn't stop, setting 15B, hold it against the port, eight seconds, and stop." Wanda pulled out her sonic screwdriver, adjusting it to the right setting.
"Gotcha," she replied, nodding. "And if it goes blue, I'll activate the deep scan." She pointed to the right button that she needed. The Doctor smiled brightly.
"As brilliant as usual," he beamed, quickly kissing her head. He blinked in surprise when he had done that without even giving a second thought, finding it hard to not wish to constantly give her kisses and such. In fact, he was still getting used to them making it official and being together in the first place. Not that he was regretting it or anything, it was just . . . new territory. A slight red tint formed on his face and he cleared his throat in seeing all the smiles the women around him were giving him. "Right, so, moving on."
He bounced back outside, leaving the rest in to watch him from the open TARDIS door. He used the device on his back to power up the metal cones, checking back with Wanda as she kept all the adjustments and settings steady. Holding the line in making certain what they needed would work. Rose and Jackie watched the scanner from behind Wanda, nervous on what would happen. Loud electrical crackling came from the metal cones as they created a lighting field around one of the ghosts that appeared. It was a black, fuzzy figure, shifting back and forth on its feet and looking around as though it were confused on what was happening around it. The three women watched on the scanner, seeing the Doctor pull out 3-D glasses, putting them on as he observed the figure. He crouched down, adjusting his own setting as he picked up a reading from the ghost. The black figure inside the field began to twist and turn, even lashing out at the Doctor.
"Not so friendly now, are you?" they heard the Doctor retorting at the figure. Soon, shortly after this, the figure disappeared in a blink and the electrical field vanished. The Doctor then hurriedly picked up his equipment from the grass, running back into the TARDIS. He made sure to close the door behind him, setting the metal cones down by the console and taking off the pack from his back as he looked over the readings on the ship's scanner. He smiled and nodded when seeing what the results were from the TARDIS.
"I said so," he said, going over to a pillar to throw off his overcoat, "those ghosts have been forced into existence from one specific point," coming up to the console, he began setting their course, "and I can track down the source. Allons-y!" The TARDIS time rotor began to move and the ship shook as the engine sounded off. Setting way to their destination. The Doctor beamed as he began walking around the console. "I like that. Allons-y. I should say 'Allons-y' more often."
"You so should," Wanda said in agreement. "I love it. It's perfect for you." The Doctor grinned at her brightly, looking gleeful about her praising his new favourite word to say. Wanda giggled. "And you know what would be brilliant? If you met someone named Alonso."
"Oh! That would brilliant! Allons-y, Alonso! I would say that all the time!" Both Time Lords laughed merrily together for a moment before stopping when someone tapped them on the shoulder.
"Um . . . my mum's still on board," Rose told them awkwardly. She pointed over at Jackie sitting on a high ledge by one of the pillars, looking at the Doctor in annoyance.
"If we end up on Mars, I'm going to kill you," the mother said bitterly at the Time Lord. The Doctor's eyes went wide in alarm while Wanda giggled in amusement beside him.
Soon, they landed at the location of the source. The Doctor, ignoring the grumbling Jackie in the corner (he would deal with that later) looked at the scanner when seeing the TARDIS showing them all a line of soldiers, aiming their guns, at the ship right outside the doors.
"Oh, well, there goes the advantage of surprise," he mumbled, frowning as he knew this would put a damper on his plans, but could work around this easy enough. "Still . . . cuts to the chase." He glanced at Wanda and Rose beside him. "Stay in here you two. Look after Jackie."
"I'm not looking after my mum," complained Rose, frustrated that she could not join in the adventure. But she was surprised when she felt Wanda pull her back when she began following after the Doctor.
"No, you're staying here. End of story," Wanda said sternly, keeping her hand locked onto Rose's arm. Rose was surprised when she felt Wanda beginning to shake as the Time Lady buried her head into the companion's shoulder. "Just . . . just stay with me. Please."
"O-okay," Rose replied, hugging the shorter blonde in confusion. Turning around from the doors, the Doctor stare at Wanda in concern.
"Is something the matter, Wanda?" he asked in puzzlement. He was shocked when seeing Wanda look up from Rose's shoulder with a terrified expression and shaking as she held onto the companion's hand in a vise grip. He walked up to the Time Lady, pulling her away from Rose to hold onto her shoulders and stare at her carefully. "Tell me, what's wrong?"
"Nothing," Wanda mumbled, keeping her eyes averted from him, staring at the ground.
"No, that's not the right answer," the Doctor said sternly. Grabbing her chin, he raised her eyes to meet his. "Tell me, Wanda." Wanda stared at him for a moment with wavering eyes. Suddenly, she grabbed the back of his head and pulled him forward, making him lean down as she gave him a heated kiss. He stiffened for a moment before relaxing and letting himself enjoying the sensation of her lips, his mind going blank for a moment as he let Wanda kiss him. He blinked rapidly when Wanda finally pulled away, turned him around, and pushed him towards the door.
"They're not going to wait forever. Get to it, Doctor," she ordered. She moved away, going back over to Rose as the Doctor pouted at her, realizing that she had kissed him as a means of distracting him from her strange behaviour. Shaking his head, he knew he would have to find out later what was bothering the Time Lady as he knew she was right. He needed to get to work in figuring out this whole mess with the so-called ghosts.
The Doctor left the TARDIS door slightly cracked when he stepped out to face the line of guns pointed at him. The three females inside the ship stood by the doorway, listening in to what was happening outside.
"Oh, how marvelous," they heard a woman speaking in delight from outside the ship. Wanda knew this woman was Yvonne Hartman, administrator for Torchwood One. They heard Yvonne beginning to clap merrily. "Oh, very good. Superb! Happy day." They heard all of the soldiers awkwardly clapping along, seeming to confuse the Doctor, as well as Jackie and Rose.
"Uh, thanks. Nice to meet you," the Doctor replied, sounding unsure by the new woman's strange behavior and greeting. "I'm the Doctor."
"Oh, I should say. Hooray!" responded Yvonne brightly. She and the other Torchwood workers began clapping loudly again.
"Ah, you—you've heard of me, then?" questioned the Doctor. Wanda could tell he was highly confused by now, bewildered by the humans surrounding him.
"Well, of course we have, and I have to say, if it wasn't for you, none of us would be here," Yonne told the Time Lord. "The Doctor and the TARDIS."
"Right, um . . . and—and—and you are . . ."
"Oh, plenty of time for that. But according to the records, you're not one for travelling alone. The Doctor and his Wanderer and the companion—that's a pattern, isn't that right?" There was a brief pause as it seemed the Doctor grew silent in responding to this. "There's no point hiding anything, not from us. So where are they?"
"Yes. Sorry. Good point," the Doctor replied, voice tight as he spoke. "Wanda's not here at the moment. Wanders away—as you probably already know. But Rose, she's just a bit shy, that's all." Jackie and Rose were shocked when the Doctor's hand suddenly reached in, pulling the mother right out to join him. The door closed right behind Jackie, leaving Wanda and Rose all alone within the ship. They stayed close by listening to the Doctor's voice through the door. "Here she is, Rose Tyler. Hm. She's not the best I've ever had—bit too blonde, not too steady on her pins, a lot of that—and just last week, she stared into the heart of the Time Vortex and aged fifty-seven years, but she'll do."
"I'm forty!" they heard Jackie retort angrily.
"Deluded. Bless," the Doctor replied. Wanda snickered and shook her head, knowing the Doctor was secretly enjoying this. She half listened to the Doctor teasing Jackie some more as they moved away from the TARDIS, being led off by the Torchwood workers. Rose crossed her arms in a huff, leaning against the doors.
"Now what?" she grumbled, looking at Wanda for answers.
"Wait for it . . . ," Wanda replied, holding up a finger, waiting for the sound. They both stumbled as the TARDIS shook slightly and a loud noise came from outside the ship. There was a bang, and then they heard an engine of a truck.
Both girls peeked outside through a slight crack of the door, seeing the TARDIS being carried away within a massive building with many crates and alien equipment seen scattered about. At one point they saw the Doctor gazing steadily at them, giving them both a slight nod. Wanda ended up closing the doors tight, pressing her forehead against the wooden frame as she gulped. Her hearts began speeding up as her anxiety kicked in. It was getting closer and closer to . . . to Rose's departure. Could she simply let her friend go in the end? Even though she knew that it was needed and meant to be? Well . . . she had to let it happen. Whether she liked it or not.
"So . . . what do we do?" Rose asked Wanda after they felt the TARDIS being placed down to settle. Bouncing up to the Doctor's coat on the pillar, Wanda dug through one of its pockets and pulled out the psychic paper. She grinned, waving it in her hand.
"We go find out what's really going on here," she told the companion brightly.
Rose crossed her arms and arched a brow. "And where is here, exactly?"
"We're at the Torchwood Institute, or also known as Torchwood One," Wanda began explaining in rapid pace. "Located in Canary Wharf skyscraper, run by Yvonne Hartman. Remember the Sycorax? Torchwood were actually the ones who destroyed the retreating ship."
"That was them?" Rose shook her head in disgust. "I don't like them already." She walked over to the doors, peeking carefully out and looking around, making certain no one was around. "Looks like the coast is clear. We should probably head out and see what we can do to help the Doctor."
Wanda nodded with determination. "My thoughts exactly."
They edged carefully out of the TARDIS, slowly walking away from the ship. The old girl had been placed in a far corner of the large building with many large crates and boxes piled high around. Perfect for the two girls to remain hidden from any close wandering eyes. They could see different Torchwood personnel at work. Even a few that sat around, relaxing and laughing as they joked with each other on their break. Wanda peeked around a corner of the TARDIS as Rose watched the workers warily. The Time Lady smiled when she spotted two lab coats lying on a nearby table. Sneaking up, she grabbed the coats and brought them back over to Rose.
"Well, Dr. Tyler, how about we go and do our parts for the day?" Wanda said, winking and grinning as she handed Rose her own white coat. The Time Lady put on her own, adjusting it so that she looked official for working at Torchwood.
"I think you've got everything covered as usual, Dr. Wanda," Rose replied, grinning and winking. They almost linked their arms together as they usually did when they walked anywhere together. But they quickly let go as they knew it might be a little suspicious if two random looking 'doctors' or 'scientists' of Torchwood were walking around grinning and strolling together in such a cheerful way.
They walked close by to each other, but far enough so that they did not look as though they were together. They kept their eyes even and heads level as they walked amongst the many, many people working at Torchwood. But they made certain not to make eye contact with anyone in case someone noticed that they were not actually true employees of the Institute. Rose and Wanda both stared around in interest at the many advanced technology that Torchwood had. It seemed as though the place was slowly building an army of sorts, preparing for war. Which Wanda knew was true as Torchwood made constant work for any 'alien threats' to the 'British Empire' as Yvonne liked to say. In fact, Wanda knew that this was why the Doctor had been taken by the Torchwood officials as they saw him as a threat and he was now technically prisoner to the Institute. Wanda wondered if maybe perhaps she was seen as a potential threat as well. Not that she truly felt like a threat to anyone, but . . . well, she was alien after all. And anything alien was deemed dangerous by Torchwood.
They followed after another person in a lab coat, going into the lower levels of Torchwood tower. Finally, they seemed to reach the ground level of the building. Seeing some janitorial workers carrying a large item in their hands, Rose and Wanda scooted forward, going at a brisk pace down the hall. Ahead of them, they saw the earlier man in the white coat, going at his own quick pace to get back to work. They jogged to keep up with him as he disappeared around a corner down the hall. Peeking around said corner when they reached it, they saw a thick, brown, metal door in the middle of the hall, with a scanner for IDs on the side. Wanda pulled out the psychic paper from her pocket, pressing the paper to the scanner. It beeped and the door slid up, allowing them to walk inside.
On the other side of the doorway, they came into a massive room. There were different scanning devices around the place, angled up to point at a particular location within the room. Walls and pillars were lined in copper looking metal, with the back wall being the largest and holding weird shapes in its design. Then, the most unusual thing within the room, something which, when looked upon, felt . . . disturbing and unnatural. It was a gigantic copper-toned sphere. It hovered in the air, high above the two men working below it. As Wanda stared at the sphere, knowing what it really was, a void ship, she felt . . . unnerved.
She knew that feeling sick when looking at the ship was normal for it was something that was impossible. Something that was not meant to ever exist or be for it did not truly exist in the first place. It had no age, no heat, no radiation, no mass, just . . . nothing. Something made as a vessel, able to travel through the nothingness of the Void. And as Wanda stared at it, feeling the instinct to run and hide in knowing that the void ship was something meant to be forbidden to this universe, to this world, she felt . . . déjà vu. Like . . . she had seen this ship . . . somewhere before, long, long ago. The more she stared at it, the more she felt the barriers, all barriers, creak and shift. Images flashed painfully through her mind. Visions of standing in front of this ship in a dark and empty room. Dim lights flicker overhead as she stared at it. Wanda blinked and shook her head, trying to clear her vision and mind. She shook her head once more, following after Rose as the companion walked up to the two men in lab coats working in the room.
"Can I help you?" one of the men asked, walking up to them and staring at the two girls in suspicion. Wanda knew this man was Dr. Rajesh Singh, research director in charge of monitoring the void ship. She gave him a wary smile as Rose continued to stare at the void ship in a state of awed disbelief.
"Hi, hello," Wanda replied, waving the psychic paper very briefly at him to see their fake ID. "Dr. Singh, we've been sent from Yvonne. She wanted to know if there's been any changes to the Sphere because of the new arrival. The um . . . the Doctor, he said something about the Sphere going to start acting up because of the Breach being opened up far too often. That, and the ghosts coming through would begin making greater disturbances." Dr. Rajesh just stared blankly at her, raising a brow.
"Well, for starters, that paper is blank and you two are fakes," replied the man evenly. He pressed at the earpiece he was wearing. "Seal the room. Call security." They heard the thick metal door locking, sealing them inside. Rajesh eyed both Rose and Wanda coolly. "Secondly, who are you and how do you know so much about the Sphere and the Breach?"
"I'm glad you asked," Wanda stated merrily, beaming at the man as she gave him a quick merry pat on the shoulder. She wrapped an arm around Rose's shoulders, pulling the girl close to her side. "This here is Rose Tyler, the Doctor's companion. As for me, I'm the Wanderer. Nice to meet you." Rajesh blinked in shock.
"The Wanderer? As in The Wanderer?" he asked.
"The one and only," Wanda replied with a smile. She clapped her hands together, looking over at the other man in the room. The man glanced over, winking at her. She returned the wink to the man, none other than Mickey Smith, back from Pete's World. "So, Dr. Singh, again, nice to meet you. If you would be so kind, could we call up Yvonee, Jackie, and the Doctor over the computer? Must let them know that you've captured me and Rose here, right?" Grinning and bouncing, she internally laughed at the completely flabbergasted look on Rajesh's face.
"Uh . . . right," Rajesh muttered, walking over to his computer station. Rose next to Wanda gasped when seeing Mickey turn around to finally face them. He held up a finger, letting the companion to keep quiet and he gave her a wink as well. Rose looked at Wanda with wide eyes of amazement. Wanda nodded, grinning brightly. She knew the girl would be extremely and uttering happy in seeing her old friend again.
"Yvonne, I think you should see this," they heard Rajesh speaking with his boss. Rose and Wanda walked over beside the man, staring at the computer screen as he spoke to Yvonne. "We've got visitors. It's the Doctor's companion and the Wanderer." The screen popped up, allowing them to see Yvonne staring at them in interest from her own computer. The woman smirked, looking up as though staring smugly at someone across from her.
"The Wanderer isn't with you, is she?" Yvonne stated smartly. "And I'm guessing that this woman here isn't really another companion, either."
"Nope, she isn't," Wanda spoke up, knowing that Yvonne meant Jackie. "That's Rose's mum."
"Oh, you travel with her mother," Yvonne said to the Doctor, smirking slightly.
"He kidnapped me," they heard Jackie say, greatly annoyed.
"Please, when Torchwood comes to write my complete history, don't tell people I travelled through time and space with Rose's mum," the Doctor groaned in the background. They watched as the image from the video blurred as Yvonne seemed to turn her laptop around, making them see the Doctor and Jackie.
"Hey, sweetie," Wanda waved, smiling at the Time Lord.
"You really had to go and get yourself captured, didn't you?" the Doctor grumbled, shaking his head in disproval. Wanda crossed her arms, sticking her tongue at him.
"It was a planned capture, thank you very much," she retorted smartly. She stiffened when she heard Yvonne speaking up again, scolding people in stopping the next Ghost Shift. They were disobeying her orders as they followed another's command now. No matter how much Yvonne yelled at the three people behind the computers, they continued to open the Breach high above where Rose, Wanda, Mickey, and Rajesh now stood.
"Yvonne, I thought you said the next Ghost Shift was cancelled," Rajesh said into his earpiece when they were no longer hearing anything through the video chat on his computer. And he received no answer from his earpiece, either. "What's going? Yvonne?"
All were startled when a thunderous bang issued throughout the room and the area around them shook with great violence. A deep rumble resonated from the Sphere across from them. Rajesh blinked in shock at the Sphere. He looked back at the readings on his computer, then stared at the Sphere once again with his eyes going wide.
"It can't be," he breathed. Rajesh, Rose, and Mickey all jogged over to the Sphere, looking up at it intently. Wanda lingered behind, pinching her thumb painful with shaking hands behind her back. Here they come. The room shook greatly once more, making everyone stumbled on their feet slightly and another bang issued through the room. The Sphere was activating. It was finally real, with existence and mass. It began to shake, rumbling.
Rajesh rushed back over to his computer, trying to gain Yvonne's attention. Yelling into the video chat, he kept repeating his warning to Yvonne about the Sphere being activate. But there was no response. Wanda knew that there would never be a response to his warning for everyone above were too busy in trying to stop the incoming Ghost Shift. Pinching her thumb harder, Wanda finally gave in. She could not stand to let this happen.
"Rajesh, open the door," she told the man. "We need to get out of here now."
"We can't," Rajesh explained, nodding his head towards the door. "The door's sealed. Automatic quarantine, but we can't get out."
"Then we make our way out," Wanda snapped, spinning on the spot and running over to the door. She whipped out her sonic screwdriver, aiming the tool at the door and trying to get it unlocked.
"It's all right, Wanda," she heard Mickey saying behind her. His voice in great confidence. "We've beaten them before. We can beat them again."
"Mickey, they're not who you think they are," Wanda said. She turned around, her eyes wavering in great fear. Something which surprised not only Mickey but Rose as well in seeing how . . . terrified the Time Lady appeared to be. "They're not the Cybermen."
"Cyber-what?" Rajesh questioned, very confused and lost as to what was going on. "And who's Mickey? That's Samuel."
"No, he's Mickey. Keep up," Wanda barked quickly. She shook her head, realizing that she was speaking rather aggressively with the poor, clueless doctor. Her temper was really flaring at the moment. But it was something that could not be helped. Emotions were running high through her, and something even worse was happening. The one barrier in her mind was freaking out. It was a mixture of furious and scared. Like it was wanting to be violent and fight back against what would be coming out of the void ship, but at the same time felt frightened and extremely wary.
"It has to be the Cybermen," Mickey countered, shaking his head in disbelief and frowning. "This Sphere is the reason why the Cybermen are leaking through in the first place."
"Yes, but they merely followed after the Sphere. The void ship was never created by the Cybermen. They wouldn't been able to even build such a thing," Wanda disputed with a firm shake of the head.
"Wait . . . Cybermen? Here?" Rose questioned, looking panicked now. "T-they can't be. We stopped them in the other universe. And you're not even supposed to be here, Mickey. The Doctor said it was impossible."
"Lots of things are impossible, Rose. But they happen anyway," replied Wanda. She turned, continuing to work on the door as the void ship's rumble grew louder. The room shook again and another, even louder, crashing bang echoed around through the area. Wanda started pounding her hand on the metal door in a panic. "We've got to get out of here! They're coming!"
"Why? What is it? What's coming?" questioned Rajesh. He looked at the three strange people, trying to get his head around what exactly was happening at the moment.
"Wanda, what's wrong?" Rose asked, hurrying over to the Time Lady. Seeing the shorter blonde acting so frightened had the companion greatly worried. Whatever scared Wanda so bad must mean something awful was about to happen. Rose felt stunned when seeing the tears beginning to roll down the Time Lady's cheeks when Wanda turned to face her again.
"I don't want to face them, Rose," Wanda sobbed, holding her shaking hands together as the tears leaked down her face. "If they come, then I'll lose . . . I'll lose . . .," Wanda sniffled, banging her fists against her head as she bit her tongue, knowing she could not tell Rose what would happen. It would only break the companion's heart if she knew. And with the Daleks inside the void ship, the Cult of Skaro, coming out, it would only lead to Rose's departure from this universe. From the Doctor and Wanda's family. They would lose Rose. And—and Wanda did not want this to happen. But . . . but Rose's happy ending . . .
Wanda sucked in a breath, watching how everyone became tense when the Sphere creaked in a screeching sound, shaking even more so than before. Mickey threw off his lab coat and earpiece, going over to pull out a large gun from under a low ledge of the room next to the scientist's equipment, getting ready to face whatever was within the ship. Rajesh and Rose both appeared nervous as they stared at the large sphere. The Time Lady, on the other hand, made herself relax, knowing that there was nothing she could do to change Rose's timeline. And nothing that she wanted to change anyway. It was the best thing for the companion. . . Right?
They all watched with cautious eyes as the void ship opened. It expanded into layers, slowly showing a bright white light and making a loud electrical sound as the doorway of the ship widened. Machinery whirled as dark shapes came through the light, hovering down towards the floor, getting closer to the people below. Rose gasped in horror, clinging to Wanda when seeing the metal creatures clearly. They all backed away in alarm as the Daleks came into full view before them. The black armoured one, Dalek Sec, gliding right in front of the line.
"Location—Earth," barked Dalek Sec in his sharp, mechanical voice. His blue eyestalk scanning the area, looking briefly at the four in front of him. "Life forms detected! Exterminate! Exterminate!"
"Mickey, drop your gun," Wanda muttered when scooting closer to the man.
"What? I'm not letting this go for nothing. We have to fight," Mickey responded, scoffing. He aimed his gun higher at the Daleks. Wanda snatched her hand forward, yanking the damn gun from his hands and throwing it across the floor from them.
"If you aim a gun at them, they'll shoot. Killing the threat on the spot," Wanda retorted strictly. "It's what Daleks are trained and programmed to do. All of them." The Daleks halted in their murderous cry when they heard Wanda saying this and seeing the way she made Mickey drop his weapon. It shocked them, to say the least. Wanda, gently prying Rose's trembling hands off her arm, steadily walked up to Dalek Sec, staring him down with a cold gaze. "Hello, Daleks. Biggest troublemakers of the universe. How's it been living away within the Void? Loads of fun waiting around in nothingness? How'd you lot manage to not go mad trapped away in your bubble? Playing a lot of 'Eye Spy' I bet. Get it? Eye Spy?" The Daleks remained silent. Wanda snickered. "Yeah, you got it.
"Now, you lot are probably wondering why I know about the Daleks, and your void ship here," Wanda went on speaking. "You could kill us and be done with it. Or you could keep us around, find out what we know, get some good juicy secrets of where you're at and why you've come to this place. Plus, you'll figure out why exactly I, and these three behind me, know so much about you. So, logically, you have to conclude that we're more valuable alive than dead." She kept her gaze steady on Dalek Sec in front of her. He seemed to be assessing her for a moment longer. As though trying to process who, or what, exactly she was.
"You will be necessary," the Dalek concluded. He swiveled his metal head around, looking at once of the cooper Daleks behind him. "Report—what is the status of the Genesis Ark?"
Wanda backed up to stand beside the others once more as she watched the Daleks bring out a strange looking, but large and bulky, artifact from the void ship. The others around her grew wary of the machine, watching the Daleks with guarded eyes as they began wondering what the metal creatures were up to as the aliens pressed their manipulator arms to the Genesis Ark.
"I thought you two said the Daleks were all dead?" Mickey whispered in question to Wanda and Rose.
"They were," Wanda replied, keeping her tone hushed. Then, she let out a frustrated sigh. "But then they just keep coming back from the dead. They're so . . . stubborn."
"Never mind that. What the hell's a Genesis Ark?" Rose questioned, her voice as tense as her posture and demeanour as she stood next to Wanda.
"It's a prison," Wanda explained quietly, glancing at the Daleks as they continued moving around the large device. "An eternal prison, created in secret during the Time War by the Time Lords. Designed to hold millions of prisoners within, locked in a state of time."
"Yeah, but . . . who are the prisoners?" Rose asked. She swallowed when seeing the forlorn and anxious gaze of the Time Lady, her emerald eyes shaking.
"It's Daleks. Millions and millions of Daleks," Wanda whispered. She looked back at the Genesis Ark, feeling the pit of dread within her gut. "All locked away, ready for battle once more." Rose sucked in a sharp breath, gripping onto Wanda's arm tightly in fright. Mickey looked worried as well. Even Rajesh seemed wary as he figured if the other were frightened, then he should be as well. After a moment longer, Dalek Sec came back over to them.
"Which of you is least important?" he demanded to know. Wanda patted Rose's hand away softly, crossing her arms as she huffed and stepped towards the Dalek. She knew what he was planning now and she would not let it happen. There was a lot of things she could not change today, but by the universe, she would have the small victory in keeping Rajesh safe.
"That's the most ridiculous question I have ever heard," Wanda retorted bitterly, glaring at the metal creature. "There's no such thing as an unimportant person, hell, unimportant creature in this universe. Though, then again, I could do without stinking Daleks and Cybermen running around."
"You will answer the question!" barked Dalek Sec. The other Daleks paused in their work, turning to stare at Wanda. "Which one is least important!"
"No one is least important! Get that through your thick armour, Dalek Sec!" Wanda snapped, gritting her teeth in anger. Dang. There goes her temper again. She even felt like punching that stupid eyestalk off. And the creaking barrier within agreed as it seemed to grumble.
"How is it you know of us?" Dalek Jast spoke up, scooting closer towards her. "You know our names. Explain!" Wanda glanced warily at him.
"I said earlier, 'If you wait, I'll tell you,'" Wanda replied evenly.
"You will explain now!" ordered Dalek Sec with great authority. "Explain! Explain!" Wanda smirked as she had a sudden thought. Leaning on one leg, she merely smiled at them.
"Why don't you scan me and find out?" she responded smoothly. "Do a species analysis, and then you'll realize what exactly you're dealing with here." She grinned as Dalek Caan actually came up towards her, doing a scan with his manipulator arm. Knowing that once they saw she was a Time Lord, they might just freak. Though . . . now that she thought about it, letting them see that she was a Time Lord might not be the best plan. But it would make it so she could stall until the Cybermen would come down to distract the Daleks.
"Analyzing—species identified," Dalek Caan said after his machine made a beeping noise in identifying. Suddenly, the beeping went wild in alarm and Dalek Caan backed away from her quickly as if shocked. "It is Subject Alpha!" All at once, all of the Daleks were on high alert while Wanda blinked in shock. The others behind her had similar reactions.
"W-what?" Wanda questioned in uncertainty.
"Subject Alpha?! Is this analysis conclusive?" Dalek Sec barked at Dalek Caan.
"Affirmative. She is Subject Alpha," Dalek Caan confirmed. The Daleks then all surrounded her, keeping her blocked away from the others. Rose made a voice in alarm, starting forward as she panicked for Wanda's safety.
"Rose, stay back!" Wanda ordered her friend, holding out a hand in urgent instruction to the companion. Mickey held Rose back as the humans tensed fear.
"Subject Alpha, you will explain your presence!" commanded Dalek Sec.
"I—I came here with friends," Wanda told the Dalek after she dropped her extended arm. She felt extremely nervous now. Even frightened by the Daleks all surrounding her, crowding her. She felt the barrier react to her fears, shifting even more than it had been. "And my name isn't 'Alpha.' It's the Wanderer."
"Names are not important!" Dalek Sec retorted. He looked at his brothers around the tight circle. "At last, we have located the Alpha weapon."
"This changes all plans," Dalek Thay said to his fellows. "We may not have to use the Genesis Ark until later."
"We will use the Alpha weapon. She will clear the way for our new Empire," Dalek Sec said proudly. He then directed his eyestalk squarely onto Wanda. The Time Lady gulped, wishing she could back away. But she would only end up bumping right into the Daleks around her. "Alpha, as protocol Delta-Five of war actions orders, you will initiate!" Wanda jerked as she felt a strange sensation go through her. Warmth spread through her as the presence behind the once barrier stiffened. A small headache began to form.
"W-what? I'm . . . I'm not a puppet you can just order around!" Wanda yelled at Dalek Sec, outraged by him trying to command her for . . . for whatever it was he seemed to be trying to get her to do.
"You will initiate war protocols! Obey! Do as you were created to accomplish!" Dalek Sec shouted in authority. "We are your Masters and you will obey! Initiate!"
Wanda felt her breath catch in her throat and a sharp pain laced through her mind at that one word again. "N-No! I'm not some toy! I don't even know you! I mean, I do 'know' you but that's beside the point."
"Initiate!" Dalek Sec and the others drew closer, pressing in on her on all sides.
Wanda wrapped her arms around herself, feeling beyond terrified now. She was trapped with nowhere to go. She wanted out. She wanted to escape. She . . . oh god, her head. Gripping at her head, she felt it pounding away as the barrier acted up worse than ever. Ringing in her ears began building up and her hearts sped up in pace.
"Initiate! Initiate! Initiate! Initiate!" All of the Daleks chatted in a battle cry. Rose yelled at the Daleks to stop, trying to shout over them. And Wanda . . . she could not hear any of it.
Everything became numb to her as the warmth spreading through her became almost unbearable, turning into fiery heat. The sharp ringing that seemed to tear at her eardrums and was vibrating from everywhere. Her hearts pounded away like mad, drumming within her chest, beating against her rib cage at painful levels. And her head. It hurt so badly. It was the worst headache she had ever experienced. It felt worse than her skull splitting open. It was like death itself. Horrible, agonizing death, and frankly, at this point she would gladly accept it. At least then she would not be in pain anymore. At least then she could be free from torment. Why was she not simply dying? Please, someone just let her die!
Then, suddenly . . . it all stopped at once.
Wanda opened her eyes, blinking in confusion. Something . . . something was different. Something had changed. She felt . . . off. But what—?
Well, then . . . Time to come out and play.
Wanda stiffened as she heard a voice in her head. A strange and . . . silky, yet gruff, voice, saying these words in a sing-song way. A female's voice. A voice she had never heard before in a foreign tone and speech. But . . . it sounded familiar as well. Then, the female voice deepened to a dark level.
Shush. Sleep now. Let mummy wolf take care of everything
Wanda's eyes widened. Everything went black, and she knew no more.
XxXxXxXx
Oh boy. Things are definitely going to get crazy in the next chapter. I'm actually really excited for the next chapter. XD Anyone have any ideas on what might happen next? Let me know in a review! I'd love to hear what you all think. :)
Reviewers:
singingKatelyn: No! Don't die! haha. I'm so glad you're enjoying the story so much! She knows something is wrong, but at the time being with all the crazy stuff that's been going on she mostly thinks it has something to do with Alpha. Yep, pretty old. Sort of a throwback to when the Doctor and First Wanda had a discussion about age during the whole werewolf incident. ;) It shouldn't be too long now from when she and Jack finally have their 'first' meeting. Thank you for your lovely words! Happy belated Christmas to you, too! :)
heroherondaletotherescue: Yep! Much older than she would have ever thought herself to be. She will. Believe me, she will. ;) Really hope you enjoyed the new chapter! Can't wait to see what you think of it. Until next time!
bored411: Yep, you can say that again. Things are just going to get even more tense as we go. Are you ready for it? ;) Because here we go! Well, in the next chapter at least. I'm like a mixture of nervous and excited for the next chapter. Fingers crossed for Wanda and everyone else! Hope to see you again soon. Take care!
FictionalBoysAreBetter: Hmm. I think you migt be right there. ;) It is indeed about to go down! haha. Nah, you're amazing. :) I'm just so happy you're enjoying it all! Yeah, there was a problem with the upload for some reason. That's the second time now. The first time was my fault, but now I just think the site is messing with us. At least I was able to fix it in the end both times. :) Their face off was pretty funny. Again, so happy you liked it all! Really hope that you'll continue to enjoy the rest and to see you again in the future. Take care! :D
Tina And Maxwell: Aww, thank you! So happy that you liked it. :) I sure hope she'll be okay, too. Things are just going to be crazy from here on out. Really hope to see you again in the future! :)
fireman12468: Thank you so much for letting me know about the update issue. I would have never known from mine end because it always shows up fine from a writer's point of view. I'll start looking through the reader's view to double check on update statuses and such. Hopefully the site doesn't mess up again for the new chapter. I really hope you enjoyed the last update. :) And also hope to see you again! Have a brilliant day/night!
Caroline: Yep! Thought it'd be a nice way to start the new year. :) Indeed, you were correct! Your theories are very good. Again, I would say more, but you know how spoilers go. ;) I'm glad that those moments are good. I'm always worried that they are not genuine in how they go or not. As in, not realistic. Yep, it was the very first time the Doctor experienced something like that from her. So definitely an unnerving episode for the Doctor. Well, you know how Wanda is sometimes. lol ;) Though you could also chalk it up to things being so crazy for Wanda lately that she hasn't really had proper time to analysis and think about what exactly has been happening to her body. But she'll get there eventually, trust me. ;) Can't wait to hear what you think of the new chapter, and of the next chapters to come. I think you'll really enjoy them. :D Until next time!
Angelica: Basically . . . yeah. A very, very, very big, bad bomb.
Authora97: lol I was excited for a thrown down, too. Too bad we didn't get to see it. Oh well, maybe for the next big bad entity. ;) Hope to see you again and that you have the most wondrous day/night. Take care!
Guest(a): Could be. That's a very good theory. Thank you so much for sharing! :)
All The Stories Are True 24601: Thank you! Not at all! Just as long as you never get tired of hearing me say how glad I am to know that the story brings you so much joy, and that I truly hope that your joy continues throughout the rest of the story. :) My favorite episode, hmm . . . I think I'll have to go with Wanda on this one. My favorite episode has to be Partners in Crime. It's just too funny. I laugh every time I see it. Donna has always been one of my favorite companions, and she's just a delight in that episode. :) What episode is your favorite? Also, sorry to say that I did not see the new Christmas special. I have to confess that I haven't even seen season 10 yet. I'm a horrible fan. :( But now it's on Prime! So I'm definitely going to binge watch the whole season this weekend. :D You're very welcome! Thank you so much for sending reviews. :)
*Throws out confetti of tiny bow ties* Happy days to everyone!
~Tinker~
