Chapter 57
The Creator and Pride spun around. Lilly did too, bright smile on her face.
"Doctor!" she exclaimed.
Well, Pride wasn't going to be that ecstatic, but he was happy to see her, and she could clearly tell. She nodded to both of them, and began talking, as she walked onto the bridge.
"Well, technically, I won't be defeating you personally. But I know someone who will. And I brought him here. So, partial credit for the defeat goes to me." She spun on the spot and pointed to herself.
Meanwhile, Porter came into view, also stepping onto the bridge, which creaked under all the weight it was supporting. Lilly shuffled off it, joining Pride and the Creator on the butte. Pride was also pretty sure Nate started hovering, just slightly, but more of his focus was on Porter. The Doctor had let him out? On purpose? Also, after only seeing him in the TARDIS, it was weird to see him wandering around a canyon in broad daylight.
The Creator was not impressed. "Him again? Come on, I fought him and the homunculus and it was still a draw."
"Yes, but that was in the TARDIS, where you were still feeding on my time energy," the Doctor said. "See, I've been thinking about it, and you can't create something out of nothing like you supposedly do. No one can. And why attack this planet when you're free? And why rely on other creatures, like the daleks to arrive for you when you can supposedly just create an army. So, you know what I think?"
"Don't," the Creator snarled.
"I think you use the time energy to make your creations, and you're running low. So, the solution? Kill some things. That releases more energy you can feed on."
"What, like equivalent exchange?" Pride asked.
"Exactly, thanks. Nice when someone keeps up," the Doctor confirmed. "Back to the point, if you're not feeding on energy, you don't stand a chance against someone with intense destructive power, who's not afraid to use it."
"Intense destructive power huh?" the Creator asked. "Well, I can do that too."
They created a huge gun in their hands and fired at the bridge. Pride almost immediately put his hands against the ground and brought up a barrier. The blast hit the barrier, shattering it and pieces of the ground. (Pride was beginning to question how stable the butte still was.) The blast looked about as powerful as Porter's gun, but the barrier stopped it from hitting anyone directly. And even the larger pieces of flying rock were shot down by Nate.
The Creator turned to glare at Pride. In the moment they did that, Porter launched himself at them, jumping with more power than he should've had, especially with the weight of the prosthetics. The leg must have helped him stay air born.
He swung his robotic leg at the Creator, who looked more panicked than Pride had seen last time. They raised their hand, wearing a special glove they hadn't had before. They grabbed Porter's ankle and flung him. Porter slid along the butte, almost falling off, grabbing the ledge to avoid a plummet.
Pride brought the ground up as a barrier between the Creator and himself. (Well, and Lilly was on this side as well.) Getting to the bridge would be too difficult right now, but he wasn't about to be attacked, or get caught in the middle of this.
Meanwhile the Creator had charged Porter, attacking him, and actually knocking off part of his metal plating with the smaller gun they'd created (revealing some complex wiring underneath, that pulsed as if it were alive). Then they came too close. Porter grabbed the Creator's ankle and yanked, knocking them off the ledge with him. Then he used his metal arm to pull himself back up.
Pride watched as the fight continued on, peering around the wall as much as he dared. The Creator would run out of energy at some point, like the Doctor had implied, but Porter also had a limit before he started overheating. And neither of them seemed like desirable winners, but Pride was sure the Doctor had a plan for whoever won.
"We should do something," Lilly said, as the Creator made another flame creature to attack Porter.
"Die?" Pride asked, raising an eyebrow just as Porter casually blasted the creature into oblivion.
Lilly seemed to get the idea. Getting involved right now would just be getting in the way.
Besides, the fight wouldn't go on much longer. The Creator had left the butte on a jetpack, but they'd dulled more, and was dodging Porter's attacks instead of creating something. It went on for a little while longer, before one of Porter's shots hit the mark, and they could all just make out something falling towards the bottom of the canyon below.
The fire creature disappeared, and Galaxy ran onto the bridge to thank the Doctor. Clare had taken off her little jacket and was hitting the flames left behind.
"It's over now," the Doctor said. "Come on back Porter."
Porter's shoulders rose, but aside from that, he didn't move. He didn't even turn around to face her.
"You know you'll overheat if you keep trying to fight, and I'd say we can easily overpower you long enough to take you back to the TARDIS."
Porter smiled, turning partially back towards her. "Doctor, you really are too confident plan A will work. Do you know why I was in the medical center of your TARDIS? Do you know what I found? A coolant." He pressed a sort of patch on his shoulder, one that blended in well with his shirt, and actual frost came out of it, though it melted on his metal side pretty quickly. "So no, I'd say I'm more than capable of staying where I am."
The Doctor seemed to have just enough time to be concerned, before Porter whipped around and fired at the bridge.
[One problem is solved, but another arises. Well, this has been my longest fanfic for a while. It is also now longer than any original work I've shared, so hooray. It's also, at the moment I'm writing this, my third most reviewed fanfic. Which is impressive considering those reviews come from two people, so I have to give you two credit.]
