A/N: Second and final part of The Bad Wolf episode. Enjoy!
Previously: "This whole Storm Wolf thing's tied up with me. Someone's manipulated my entire life. It's some sort of trap and John is stuck in it!" The Wolf kicked the console once more for good measure.
Finally, with her and Jack working together, the Wolf finally managed to hack into the computer. "Found him!" she said excitedly. "Floor four oh seven."
Lynda gasped. "Oh, my God. He's with the Anne Droid. You've got to get him out of there."
The Control Room
John was extremely nervous as the final round of The Weakest Link began with just him and Roderick left to play. If the Wolf didn't show up soon, or if he didn't think of something, he was getting vaporized for sure. There was no way he could stand up to someone actually born in the right period.
His intuition was quickly proven true when he was baffled by every question, only able to answer one correctly, which was about the Face of Boe. Roderick didn't fare much better, but was able to answer two questions correctly.
John's stomach dropped when Roderick was proclaimed the winner. "Oh, my God! I've done it! You've lost!" he taunted John.
"No, no I'm not even supposed to be here," John muttered. "I'm not supposed to be here."
"John, you are the weakest link," the Anne Droid proclaimed.
"John!" The Wolf shouting brought John out of his haze.
"Wolf!" he called back, frightened but relieved. The Anne Droid was pointing her atomizer at him, but at the sight of intruders, the robot was distracted from killing John. John stood, frozen behind his booth, as the droid adjusted her aim.
"Non-compliant contestants are to be eliminated," the robot announced. "You are the weakest link."
Not her.
"No!" John yelled, leaping from behind his podium and rushing the robot. He quickly threw himself in front of the beam just as the Anne Droid fired at the Wolf. He disappeared without a sound, leaving behind nothing but a pile of ash.
Jack immediately shot the droid in retaliation, blowing its head off. But everything else faded into the background for the Wolf as she knelt by John's remains, numb. He was gone. Her arms dropped to her sides as she stared at the floor. She had been too late, and he had died for her.
The Wolf couldn't think, couldn't breathe. Someone was yelling. She thought maybe it was Jack, but she didn't bother to look. "You killed him! Your stupid freaking game show killed him!" she vaguely heard him shout. Her best friend was gone. He'd saved her, and he was dead. At that moment, she wanted nothing more than to follow him.
Someone grabbed her arm, dragging her to her feet. "Ma'am, I'm arresting you under Private Legislation Sixteen of the Game Station Syndicate," the boy said. The Wolf barely heard him, still staring at the small pile of ashes at her feet as her hands were cuffed behind her back, her face expressionless.
She was dragged along, practically needing to be carried, but the Wolf didn't really notice. She thought maybe Jack and Lynda had been brought with her, but she didn't care enough to check. Eventually, she was deposited in a chair. Someone was speaking, and maybe they were talking to her, but she couldn't hear them. They tossed her into a cell, along with Jack and Lynda, and that she finally took notice of. As a guard unlocked the door to let the first guard out, she turned to Jack. "Let's do it," she said in a dead voice.
Jack immediately stood and attacked the guard, leading the fight out. The Wolf followed him out of the cell, knocking the second guard unconscious easily as Jack finished the first one off. She grabbed her screwdriver as Jack grabbed his homemade gun, and Lynda grabbed the guards' weapons before they left the prison ward. She led the way to the lift. "Floor five hundred," she ordered, eyes dull.
Jack looked at her in concern, anguish in his own eyes, before punching the button for the top level.
The Wolf grabbed one of the guns Lynda had taken from the guards, feeling its heft. She hated guns, but this one felt good.
The lift arrived.
Jack was the first one out, ready to go all guns blazing. "Okay, move away from the desk!" he shouted, voice furious. "Nobody try anything clever. Everybody clear. Stand to the side and stay there."
The Wolf marched over to where a woman stood, hooked to various wires and tubes. "Who's in charge of this place?" she asked her, voice cold.
"Nineteen, eighteen," the woman muttered faintly.
"This Satellite's more than a Game Station," the Wolf said, trying to get a response.
"Seventy-nine, eighty," the woman kept on.
The Wolf hoisted the weapon, not aiming at the woman, but getting there. "Who killed John Smythe?" she demanded, her voice breaking on his name.
"All staff are reminded that solar flares -"she began.
"I want an answer!" the Wolf shouted.
" - occur in delta point one," the woman went on, unperturbed.
"She can't reply," one of the employees said nervously. The Wolf swung around to face him, brandishing her gun. "Don't shoot!" he cried, raising his arms.
The Wolf looked down at the weapon in her hands contemplatively.
What would John say?
Disgusted, the Wolf threw it at the guy, who stumbled as he caught it. "Oh, don't be so thick," she chided. "Like I was ever going to shoot." He didn't need to know any different. She glanced at some computers. "Captain, we've got more guards on the way up. Secure the exits," she ordered.
"Yes, ma'am," Jack answered promptly.
The Wolf turned her attention back to the employee. "You," she pointed. "What were you saying?"
He hesitated, looking down at the weapons she'd tossed him. "But I've got your gun," he said hesitantly.
The Wolf rolled her eyes. "So shoot me."
Please. Go ahead.
When he didn't seem inclined, she sighed and continued, "Why can't she answer?"
"She's, er – can I put this down?" he asked, looking uncomfortable.
The Wolf waved at him, impatient. "If you want," she dismissed. "Just hurry up."
"Thanks." He dropped the weapon in a chair with relief. "Sorry. The Controller is linked to the transmissions. The entire output goes through her brain. You're not a member of staff so she doesn't recognize your existence," he explained hurriedly.
"What's her name?" the Wolf asked.
The man paused, surprised. "I don't know. She was installed when she was five years old. That's the only life she's ever known."
"Door's sealed," Jack announced, coming back. "We should be safe for about ten minutes."
"Keep an eye on them," the Wolf ordered, jerking her head at the group of scared employees.
Jack leveled his gun at the group. "But that stuff you were saying about something going on with the Game Station," the guy who had apparently made himself the spokesperson went on. "I think you're right. I've kept a log. Unauthorized transmats, encrypted signals, it's been going on for years."
"Show me," the Wolf commanded imperiously. He went over to pull the information up on his computer.
Jack made his way over to another door that was sending a strange signal to his wrist instrument.
"You're not allowed in there," a woman shouted to him. "Archive Six is out of bounds."
Jack whirled, brandishing his gun at her, scaring the woman back into place. "Do I look like an out of bounds sort of guy?!" he yelled, out of patience. John was dead, the Wolf looked like she wasn't far behind, and Jack had had enough. He spun back around and went through the door without another word. He was greeted by the sight of the TARDIS, which sent a modicum of relief through him. At least he had some good news to tell the Wolf.
He ran inside to check up on the ship – make sure they hadn't done anything to her. He turned on some of the scanning equipment, and the TARDIS drew his attention to a specific set of readings. "What the hell?" Jack muttered to himself.
"Solar flare activity in delta point zero fifteen," the Controller announced back in the main Control room.
"If you're not holding us hostage, then open the door and let us out," the Wolf heard the same woman who had been bugging Jack a few minutes ago call to her. "The staff are terrified."
The Wolf turned to face the woman, who took a step back, frightened by the look in the Wolf's eyes. "That's the same staff who execute hundreds of contestants every day," she growled.
"That's not our fault," the woman huffed. "We're just doing our jobs."
"And with that sentence you just lost the right to even talk to me," the Wolf snarled angrily. "Now back. OFF!"
They killed John. It's their fault.
The Wolf focused on blaming them, because if she didn't, she would start blaming herself, and then she wouldn't be able to end this.
The power suddenly dropped, shutting off the lights and computers. "That's just the solar flares," Pavale explained. He'd introduced himself earlier. "They interfere with the broadcast signal, so this place automatically powers down. Planet Earth gets a few repeats. It's all quite normal."
"Wolf," a woman said.
"Wolf?" the woman the Wolf had told off before called hesitantly.
"Whatever it is, you can wait," the Wolf snapped back.
"I think she wants you," she continued, trying not to stutter in fear.
"Wolf? Wolf? Where's the Wolf?" The Wolf could now see that the Controller was asking for her. She walked over to stand in front of her again.
"I'm here," she said.
"Can't see. I'm blind. So blind. All my life, blind. All I can see is numbers, but I saw you," the Controller said stiltedly, as though forming complete sentences instead of just a series of numbers was new to her.
"What do you want?" the Wolf asked stiffly.
"Solar flares hiding me. They can't hear me. My masters, they always listen but they can't hear me now the sun – the sun is so bright," the Controller said, smiling a bit at the thought.
"Who are your masters?" the Wolf asked a little softer, because now they were getting somewhere.
"They wired my head. The name's forbidden," the Controller winced. "They control my thoughts. My masters. My masters, I had to be careful. They monitor transmissions, but they don't watch the programs. I could hide you inside the games. Knew you would find me," she explained.
"My friend died inside your games," the Wolf growled, furious.
"Doesn't matter," the Controller dismissed.
"Don't you DARE tell me that!" the Wolf yelled.
John had died because someone wanted her. Why was that always the case?
"The choices I make are mine, Wolf, and I bear the responsibilities of my actions," John had once told her. Well, he hadn't chosen this. She hadn't chosen this, but it had happened to them anyways.
"They've been hiding," the Controller went on, unconcerned with the turmoil of the Wolf's emotions. "My masters hiding in the dark space, watching and shaping the Earth so, so, so many years. Always been there, guiding humanity, hundreds and hundreds of years."
"Who are they?" the Wolf asked again, drawn from her dark thoughts and impatient.
"But speak of you, my masters. They fear the Bad Wolf."
The Wolf's mind blanked. Only one species besides select individuals of her own kind had known her by that title. "Tell me, who are they?" she asked again desperately, though she had a feeling she knew who these masters were.
The power suddenly came back on, and the Controller resumed her counting.
"No! When's the next solar flare?" the Wolf asked Pavale.
"Two years time."
"Fat lot of good that is," she scoffed.
Jack came back from Archive Six. "Found the TARDIS," he told the Wolf, grinning.
The Wolf glared at him, affronted at his appearance of happiness. "We're not leaving now," she informed him.
Jack's grin only widened. "No, but the TARDIS worked it out. You'll want to watch this," he said excitedly. He turned. "Lynda, could you stand over there for me please?" he asked the girl.
Lynda frowned. "I just want to go home," she said.
"It'll only take a second," Jack promised. "Could you stand in that spot, quick as you can?" He glanced around as Lynda obeyed. "Everybody watching? Okay, three, two, one."
A beam came down and Lynda vanished in a puff of smoke.
"But you killed her!" the Wolf protested, shocked.
Jack just kept smiling gleefully. "Oh, do you think?"
Another beam brought Lynda back to the same spot she'd just left. "What the hell was that?" she asked, panting.
"It's a transmat beam. Not a disintegrator," Jack explained in delight, "a secondary transmat system. People don't get killed in the games, they get transported across space." Jack turned to the Wolf, who began to grin as she caught on. "Wolf, John is still alive!" he finished.
The Wolf yelped in joy and threw herself at Jack, who lifted her off the ground and swung her in a circle as he laughed.
When he set her down, the Wolf ran over to Pavale's computer. "He's out there somewhere," she muttered.
"Wolf," the Controller called. "Coordinates five point six point one -"
"Don't, the solar flare's gone. They'll hear you!" the Wolf said in alarm.
" - point four three four," she gritted out. "No, my masters, no!" she cried in pain. "I defy you! Sigma seven seven -" She disappeared in a flash with a scream.
"They took her," the Wolf whispered.
John came to with a start. He sat up quickly, casting around for anything familiar. Where was he?
The Wolf, he remembered. She was in the room.
Was she okay? Was she dead? Oh, God, was he dead? He didn't feel dead, just a little muddled like he had been from the transmat earlier.
A familiar hum caught his attention. He looked up, then recoiled in shock. "No, it can't be," he whispered, staring at the Dalek approaching him. "You're dead. I saw you die!" he shouted. He tried to scoot away, but a second Dalek blocked his retreat.
"THE. PRISONER. WILL. STAND. STAAAAND!" it ordered him.
John reluctantly got to his feet and he was immediately ushered to a corner where one Dalek could guard him.
"SOLAR. FLARE. APPROACHING!" a third Dalek announced. "PREPARE. FOR. SENSOR. LOSS!"
"SENSOR. RETURN. IN. FOURTY. ONE. POINT. SIX. SECONDS!"
John stared as more and more Daleks appeared. He and the Wolf had barely survived one. And now he was on his own.
"SENSORS. BACK. ONLINE!" the first Dalek proclaimed.
"ALERT! ALERT! SLAVE. IS. BETRAYING. US! INITIATE. TRANSPORT!" a senior Dalek ordered.
John watched as a woman tangled in wires appeared exactly where he had been a few minutes earlier. She sat up and looked around.
She's blind, John realized, seeing the vacancy in her eyes.
Three Daleks gathered around her, and she managed to "look" right at them. "Oh, my masters, you can kill me, for I have brought your destruction," she said defiantly, smiling triumphantly.
"EXTERMINATE!"
The strange woman died silently with a smile on her face.
"No!" John yelled, dodging the Dalek guarding him to kneel at the woman's side, cradling her head. "How could you do that?" he demanded, knowing he would get no satisfactory answer.
"YOU. WILL. OBEY," one of the Dalek's ordered.
"Look, use that," Pavale suggested to Jack, showing him his computer files. "It might contain the final numbers. I kept a log of all the unscheduled transmissions."
"Nice, thanks." Jack complimented. He got a look at the guy. "Captain Jack Harkness, by the way," he flirted.
"I'm Davitch Pavale." Davitch was too distracted to notice.
"Nice to meet you, Davitch Pavale," Jack said, smiling.
"There's a time and a place," the Wolf sighed, mildly frustrated with Jack's antics when they still hadn't gotten John back.
"Are you saying this entire set up's been a disguise all along?" the woman from before butted in.
"Going way back," the Wolf confirmed. "Installing the Jagrafess a hundred years ago. Someone's been playing a long game, controlling the human race from behind the scenes for generations."
"Click on this," Jack told Pavale, pointing at the computer screen. "The transmat delivers to that point, right on the edge of the solar system."
"There's nothing there," the woman denied.
"It looks like nothing because that's what the satellite does," the Wolf corrected. "Underneath the transmission there's another signal."
"Doing what?" Pavale asked.
"Hiding whatever's out there. Hiding it from sonar, radar, scanner. There's something sitting right on top of planet Earth, but it's completely invisible," the Wolf rambled. "If I cancel the signal -" She did just that, and a large flying saucer appeared on the holo-viewscreen, with a lot, lot more spreading out behind it.
"That's impossible," Jack whispered in disbelief. "I know those ships. They were destroyed."
"Obviously, they survived," the Wolf said darkly.
"Who did? Who are they?" Lynda asked.
The Wolf did a quick count. "Two hundred ships. More than two thousand on board each one. That's just about half a million of them."
"Half a million what?" Pavale asked, worried.
The Wolf stared at the screen, hardly believing her eyes. "Daleks," she growled.
"ALERT! ALERT! WE. ARE. DETECTED!" a Dalek at a screen announced.
"IT. IS. THE. BAD. WOLF! SHE. HAS. LOCATED. US. OPEN. COMMUNICATIONS. CHANNEL!" the superior robot ordered.
"THE. MALE. WILL. STAND. STAAAND!" another Dalek ordered John, nudging him until he got to his feet.
A holo-viewscreen popped up, revealing a view of the Control Room, and, most importantly to John, a view of the Wolf and Jack, both alive and well.
"I. WILL. TALK. TO. THE. BAD. WOLF!" the Dalek that appeared to be in charge said.
The Wolf flashed a bright, fake grin at the screen. "Oh, will you? That's nice. Hello!" she waved cheekily.
"THE. DALEK. STRATAGEM. NEARS. COMPLETION," it gloated. "THE. FLEET. IS. ALMOST. READY. YOU. WILL. NOT. INTERVENE!" the Dalek ordered.
"Oh, really? Why's that, then?" the Wolf asked innocently.
"WE. HAVE. YOUR. ASSOCIATE!" John was pushed to the front by his guard. The Wolf's face softened when she saw him, but hardened again when she looked back to the Dalek. "YOU. WILL. OBEY. OR. HE. WILL. BE. EXTERMINATED!"
There was a long pause. Then: "No," the Wolf said coldly.
Everybody, in the Control Room and on the Dalek ship, stared at the Wolf. She was glaring into the screen, her eyes determined.
"EXPLAIN. YOURSELF!" the Dalek demanded.
Everybody looked back to the Wolf again. "I said no," she confirmed.
"WHAT. IS. THE. MEANING. OF. THIS. NEGATIVE?!" the Dalek asked.
"It means no," the Wolf growled.
"BUT. HE. WILL. BE. DESTROYED!"
"NO!" the Wolf yelled, standing up. "Because this is what I'm gonna do. I'm going to rescue him." John grinned. "I'm going to save John Smythe from the middle of the Dalek fleet," the Wolf continued, her voice gaining volume. "And then I'm going to save the Earth, and then, just to finish off, I'm going to wipe every last stinking Dalek out of the sky!" Throughout her speech, her cold eyes never left the Dalek.
"BUT. YOU. HAVE. NO. WEAPONS. NO. DEFENSES. NO. PLAN," the Dalek said, bewildered.
The Wolf grinned ferally. "Yeah. And doesn't that just scare you to death?" She looked back to John. "John?"
"Yes, Wolf?" he asked eagerly.
"I'm coming to get you," she promised before ending the transmission courtesy of her sonic screwdriver.
John grinned, but the Daleks nearly knocked him over in their agitation at the Wolf's words, rolling back and forth with no real direction.
"THE. BAD. WOLF. IS INITIATING. HOSTILE. ACTION!"
"THE. STRATAGEM. MUST. ADVANCE. BEGIN. THE. INVASION. OF. EARTH!"
"THE. BAD. WOLF. WILL. BE. EXTERMINATED!"
All the Daleks joined in the next chorus, their voices sending shudders through John. "EXTERMINATE! EXTERMINATE! EXTERMINATE! EXTERMINATE! EXTERMINATE!"