Chapter 75

The Ghost of Jealousy.

The gangly creature approached, it's head on a long neck swivelling from left to right. It moved like a four-legged spider and Antonia's eyes had an instant creep factor to them.

"Cool!" Raven said, she couldn't help herself. It was creepy and she loved it. The creature lumbered up to them, standing maybe a swimming pools length away.

"You bastard!" Antonia's unearthly voice screeched at Russel.

"What is your problem?!" Raven shouted at it.

"Stop polluting her head with your lies!" Antonia leered at Russel.

The Doctor looked awed and inspired at Antonia, like some exotic insect collector looking at a rare butterfly. "What a beautifully, eccentric creature!"

Antonia looked surprised at the Doctor's attitude. She looked at the Goth Girl with a look that Raven found almost comical. "Who exactly is this?"

"Me? Oh well, I'm nobody, really." He said modestly. "Just a traveller, hopping around, fixing things. Earth has been invaded by bigger bug-eyed monsters than you and I've bested all of them, so I advise you to think very carefully before harming a single human being." The Doctor spoke with such a commanding presence, Raven was deeply awed by it.

"Who do you think you are to challenge me?!" Antonia said, rising up a little higher. Without warning, she fired another silver spear, aimed at the Doctor. But it never impacted as Raven appeared in front of the Doctor, floating in the air, and she deflected the spear with a swipe of her hand.

"Heed his advice!" Raven warned her, "He might give you a second chance, but I won't."

"Now, now, Raven." The Doctor said. He gently took Raven by her shoulders and moved her floating form aside like she was some floating balloon. She looked daggers at him as he moved passed her. She felt so embarrassed!

"What are you doing here?" The Doctor asked, "You're clearly a projection of some kind, though one that's been made solid."

"I am here, for that boy!" Antonia hissed, pointing at Russel. Raven instantly moved in front of the boy and spread her cloak out to shield him and make her small form look bigger and more imposing. "He took everything away from me. My family! My life! He killed me!"

"Umm..." Russel spoke, "can I ask just one question. What the frick are you talking about?"

Raven's face dropped as it clicked. After travelling with the Doctor for so long you learn to make connections like this. It was so simple she'd be surprised if this wasn't the answer. "You said you could've had a twin sister, one who's leeching remains were cut out of you?" She asked, Russel nodded. "Was that before, or after Antonia appeared on your doorstep?"

"After, about two months after. Why?"

"Fetus-in-fetu?" The Doctor asked, "A very rare condition, almost unheard of on this part of Earth and..." then he clapped his hands together. "Of course, it all makes sense now." He rounded on Russel. "Russel, 'my lad'" the Doctor said, mimicking the regional accent, "are you ready to hear the most implausible, impossible things?"

"I'm open to it." The boy shrugged and looked at Raven hovering in the air, then to Antonia. "Honestly, it's that kind of day."

"That, my dear Mr Hopkins." The Doctor said, gesturing to Antonia. "Is your twin sister. Or at least a manifestation of her."

"I don't remember being related to a grasshopper!" Russel said.

"Well, of course, her form has elongated. Objects and bodies produced by psychic powers can physically alter themselves."

"Yeah, I've seen it." Again, Russel glanced at Raven.

"She's your twin, in a sense, in spirit. She is your projection, in the same way the invisible creature was hers!"

Russel looked upon her in horror. "You... you're my sister?"

"You killed me!" Antonia hissed, "You had me extracted, and you left me on a surgical table to rot!"

"I'm sorry, I'm having a hard time taking this in." Russel held his head and looked to Raven, but she shrugged, she didn't know how better to explain it. "I have so many questions."

"Just roll with it." Raven said, "Trust me, it's easier."

"It should've been you who was swallowed up, not me!" Antonia shouted at the boy, "Mum said so, didn't she, that night she got drunk, got tired of your boyish games. She told you how much she wanted another girl. She was disappointed to be lumbered with you! A messy, little, child. She didn't want slugs and snails and puppy dogs-tails. She wanted me, all sugar and spice and everything nice!"

"That's debatable," Raven said quietly so only Russel could hear her. She saw the quip raised a smile on his face.

"I remember." Russel said, "I remember her anger, I remember she cried for hours, just because I wouldn't tidy up my room."

"You're a terrible son to her. I hate you for what you did to mummy." Antonia shouted. "All because of you and your 'condition.' Do you know how many friends she's lost defending you and your immature behaviour! You need to grow up and take responsibility for your behaviour! That's why I hate you! That's why I will punish you!"

"Ah ha!" The Doctor shouted, interrupting the moment, "You were created by Russel, you were nurtured by him and his suppressed psyche. You became the embodiment of his shame, his anger, his need to fight back. It was all channelled into you. Somehow, Russel was connected to these psychic pools, and you formed out of him. In essence, you 'are' him."

"I am nothing like him!" Antonia shrieked.

"Wait, does this mean technically, we are her parents?" Russel asked looking at Raven.

"You're changing the diapers," Raven commented. The Doctor looked at Raven, wanting an explanation. "I'll explain later." Was all Raven was going to give him right now.

"Do you know what I did when I first realised I was alive?" Antonia asked, "I went home. I went home to see mum and dad, I went home to taste mums delicious Sunday dinner." She paused, fire in her eyes. "They didn't recognise me, their own daughter, me! Do you have any idea how painful it is to cry for mummy and daddy, only for them to look at you like you're not even real? To pack you off to the police, to an orphanage, adopted parents? I remember seeing you with Sean and Kerry, you all looked so happy at the table, and I was left out. Just because 'you' were the one to survive. You choked me, you held me back, and you discarded me like I was a used tissue you blew your nose on!"

Russel shrugged. "Umm... sorry."

"Alright!" The Doctor said, trying to calm her down. "I understand. You feel the Universe has cheated you like this. It gave you the roll of the dice and it came up as snake eyes at the worst possible time. Antonia, that's your name isn't it? Well, I'm sorry but that's how the Universe rolls. Unfortunate things happen, sometimes someone gets born with an unfair advantage. But you've been granted something rarely seen in the universe, a second chance, a do-over. The dice rolled again and this time in your favour. Despite the odds, now both twins get to exist in some form."

"But he's got my life!" Antonia hissed at Russel. "He's eating MY food, sleeping in MY bed, getting MY love. He is standing in MY place!"

"It's his place to stand. Why do you want what another has? You have an entire world. You have things you can call your own. You can be your own person. You have your own toys, your own friends, you can even have your own family -they don't have to be blood relations, you know- even your own collection of bottle caps. I implore you, you don't know what you've been granted. Don't throw it all away, just because you look at someone else and decide 'I want that, now!'"

"Throw it all away?" Antonia asked, she looked defensive.

"Because if you don't stop. Then I, unfortunately, will have to stop you." The Doctor said, staring into Antonia's eyes. The creepy girl looked like she was about to argue back. "I'm willing to let you co-exist." His voice slowly became darker and more serious. "But if your intention is to cause anyone any harm, then I'll have to put a stop to you." He said, like it was a deadly serious threat.

"Antonia, can I speak?" It was Russel. Raven tried to hold him back but he pushed past the Goth girl and approached Antonia, arms up to show they held nothing, no tricks, nothing. "Antonia. I don't pretend to understand half of what's going on here. But I can empathise. I've had a hard life being bullied by people for reasons I do not know, even before you came along. Honestly, I can't fathom the depths you are feeling. But you could've become my friend, I'm an accepting kind of person. You could've visited my house and my family. Perhaps, you could've joined it, maybe even been adopted by it. I've always wanted a sister." Antonia's form began to shrink back down to her normal shape. "And I've always been the sharing sort."

"I have what you want, sure. You think I'm standing where you should be. I never meant for you to die. I would've wanted you to live." Russel was speaking tenderly to this girl, despite not an hour ago she'd tried to beat him up. "Antonia, if you want, we can put this behind us. We can be friends, you can hang out with the family. Who knows, you might become a family friend. My mum is always so friendly with new friends of mine. Raven can tell you that."

Raven shrugged, "She's okay. A little mushy for my taste." It was difficult to tell what Antonia was thinking. She was now back in her humanoid form. Despite everything Antonia had done to him, he still wanted to see her be happy. Raven honestly wouldn't give her the time of day. But at least Antonia appeared to be listening to him.

As Russel had spoken he'd approached Antonia, now he was within arm's length of her. "Antonia, I invite you to be my sister." She looked like she'd been moved, like it had never occurred to her she could share. Like she never expected to be able to share anything. "What do you say?" He opened his arms in a welcoming fashion.

Slowly, as if it hurt her, she stepped into his arms, and they closed on her in a hug.

Raven was too slow to react when she saw the cold, dark look in Antonia's eyes.

Russel suddenly shuddered and froze. He stepped back and collapsed to the ground. A red stain spreading from a puncture wound in his stomach. A long, sharp prong retracted back from Antonia's wrist and reformed into her hand.

"I'm not the sharing sort." Antonia said.

Raven had been so taken by surprise by this that at first that it didn't register. But she was looking on in disbelief. When Russel fell to the ground she now approached the bleeding boy and pointed her finger at Russel's head. Slowly, the finger began to elongate and extend towards his left eye.

"You expect me to forgive you for everything you did to me already? Don't make me puke!" She was going to kill him!

Without thinking, Raven held out her hand and from it shot a blast which caught Antonia in the face. Rage was starting to bubble in Raven again. The energy shooting into Antonia's face became a claw which clamped down over her head, and Raven began to swung Antonia left, right, up and down before slamming her into the ground. As she did this Raven saw something green tumble from Antonia's jacket pocket. The crystal from the Doctors car, so it was she who stole it! Quickly, Raven's powers snatched it up.

Antonia's form had morphed into a mass of flat flesh with a face and hair. Slowly, her mis-shaped form began to reorganise itself. It sprang four long limbs and in that moment Antonia made her getaway, scurrying away like a spider running from a rolled up piece of newspaper. Raven was about to set off after her.

"I WARNED YOU NOT TO TOUCH MY STUFF!" Raven snarled at her.

"Raven stop!" The Doctor shouted. Raven hesitated.

"What does it matter? She's a projection, she's not real!" Raven shouted.

"No, forget her, help your friend." That caught Raven's attention. Russel was already looking pale. Tearing herself away from the subject of her sudden burst of anger she knelt down and again delved into her powers, she found the damage and used her abilities to start healing broken bones and fixing the damaged tissue.

"You stupid idiot!" Raven shouted at him, "It's your own fault, you shouldn't forgive people like that." She said as she desperately tried to keep him alive.

"Raven..." The Doctor began.

"Save it!" Raven spat, "Just tell me what to do, and I'll do it. If it means we stop Antonia then I'll do it! If it hurts her, even better!" The Doctor was shocked by the look in Raven's eyes. He thought better of arguing with Raven right now, and instead began formulating their plan of attack.

"Antonia is too well established in the real world." The Doctor said to her as she worked, "this isn't like our invisible friend, she's not going to go away just because Russel calms down. He's been feeding her for so long she's like a permanent fixture." As the most complicated parts of Russel's anatomy were fixed Raven moved onto the flesh wounds, now she could relinquish enough focus to talk to the Doctor.

"Doctor, she has the crystal." She held it up in front of him with her powers. "She must've broken into the car to steal it."

"Of course, that would make sense. She's technically still a projection. If we inhibit her connection to the psychic pools she'll gradually get weaker. It'll freeze her in whatever form she's in."

As the last of Russel's wounds closed up colour began to return to his face. He moaned as his brain began to function properly. "What happened?" He looked down at the tears in his clothes where Antonia had stabbed him, then up to Raven. "Was that you?" He smiled, "Thank you."

Raven did not smile back but she continued to look into his eyes. "No problem."

"Right!" The Doctor announced, getting to his feet. "We still have a metaphysical, psychic manifestation to deal with."

"A what-y, what?" Russel asked.

"Just nod your head. It makes him go faster." Raven commented.

"Raven, think you're a match for Antonia's powers?" The Doctor asked.

Raven wanted to say a sarcastic quip, but nothing came, so just settled for. "Sure,"

"Good, find her and follow her. Make sure she doesn't hurt anyone." He then turned to Russel. "My friend, how would you like a chance to potentially help save the world?"

"Really, I thought the stakes were higher?" Raven didn't laugh at the sarcasm. She really was back to normal.

"Good," the Time Lord said before Russel even agreed, "because I could do with a second pair of hands."

Raven was about to fly off, but she turned back to Russel and said to him. "You look after yourself, and do everything he says. Got it?" She ordered.

Russel gave her a mock salute, "Yes, ma'am."

Raven looked away. Flirting just hurt now.

It didn't take Raven long to find the bitch. She was at Russel's house, reformed back into her human form. She knocked on the door. Holding back Raven observed what happened as the door opened up and Russel's mom answered.

"Hello, can I help you?" Russel's mom asked.

"Hello, Mum." Antonia went.

"Mum? I'm sorry dear-y, but you have the wrong house." She said.

"No, this is my house, you are my mum. Don't you recognise me?" Antonia reached out to hug her mom, but the woman stepped back. "Mum, it's me! I'm the daughter you've always wanted." The elderly womans face dropped and she leaned away from the strange girl.

"Please, leave." Russel's mum said.

"Look at me, please. I'm Russel's twin. I'm the daughter you never had. I've been brought to life!" Antonia pleaded. Russel's mum did not look pleased.

"That's not funny."

"Mum, you said you wanted a girl. I am that girl."

"Stop it! Just stop it!" Russel's mum said in frustration, "I know who you are now! You're that bullying bitch who used to torment Russel!"

"But... you said..." Antonia sounded heartbroken, "you said you wanted a girl, you said you didn't want Russel, you said you wanted a girl instead. I..."

"Russel isn't perfect, but I love him with all my heart. I just wished he'd tidy his room every now and then. My boy has Asperger's and you just torture him!"

"But you lost friends..."

"I'd gladly loose all my friends, to defend my son from ignorant little bigots like you!" Russel's mum stepped out of the house just enough to point an accusing finger at Antonia. "People like you are just a cancer in his life! You made my son's life a frickin' misery!" With each passing moment, Antonia's face began to become more and more hurt. "Piss off you little bitch, go crawl into a hole and die for all I care. Leave my son alone, I never want to see your face at my door again!" and the door was slammed in Antonia's face.

The girl stood there, at the doorstep, stunned into silence. Slowly, she began to look down like she was about to break down and fall apart.

Honestly, how did she think that would go? Oh, I'm sorry to bother you. I'm the bully who's made your child's life a misery, but I'm really your long lost daughter brought to life by mysterious happen-stance. Please, love me. Oh, by the way, I stabbed your son, he's bleeding to death as we speak, so you have no choice but to love me now!

The breaking point came. Antonia threw her head back and screamed, and she morphed into the monster that laid underneath that skin. The ground shook as Raven felt Antonia's powers delve right into the psychic pools of Devils End. She lashed out, and a red telephone box exploded into flames. She was so angry that Antonia charged her powers and forced a blast at Russel's house door.

After a flash of light, the door remained standing, shrouded in the dark energy of Raven's powers. Then the dark energy formed into a portal, and slowly passing through it was Raven, her glowing, hooded eyes giving Antonia and her anger a pause for thought.

Raven didn't have to say anything, as far as Raven was concerned it had already been communicated.

To Be Continued...

Authors notes: I guess what comes next is technically Raven's first battle with an equal adversary. Our favourite Goth girl is not necessarily the top dog in this fight. Bear with me on this, it might take a bit to write.