A.N: I'm on fire! Then again, that might have something to do with the amazingly oppressive heat here today… Still, two chaps out in less than a week!
Thanks go to… James Jago (I seem to have a thing about cliffies…), Freak and Proud (Hope this is to your liking!), Kazzy (Well, trouble does seem to be their middle name…), Dory Shotgun (V. Proud was able to raise chills! Theta came from about 125 fics which mention that as his name, As to what happens next, read at the bottom!), and Laseri.
You 5 reviewers are brilliant! As to the rest of you, PLEASE Review, as I need something to keep me going up to Christmas! Esp. Considering this chappie is… well, best not spoil it! Still, leave me a review, even if it's only to say it's good, and merry Christmas!
Anyway, take care, and until next time, Take Care!!
Thought of the day: Young people do not know enough to be prudent, and therefore they attempt the impossible- and achieve it, generation after generation. –Pearl Buck.
The Greatest Summer of All Time, Chapter 15.
The End of the Innocence.
By Starlite1
The door blasted into a million shards, the shockwave ripping every window into a downpour of glass, tearing through the cacophony of sound, leaving a deafening silence in its wake.
"This. Ends. Here." She repeated, stepping over the wreckage. Her eyes lingered upon the faces of the two women, one whose gaze, filled with hatred was trained on the figure before them.
Tregornan turned on her, shock then recognition flashing in his eyes, "We meet again, Tempest. And you're just in time to see my latest triumph." His hand reached destructively out, grasping at the closest girl. As biting talons ripped into the soft skin of her neck, a whimper escaped her mouth and she was hoisted into the air. Tears fell anew as sharp claws dug into her flesh, drawing blood.
"No! You will not harm her!" Josie stated, focusing her attention intently on the offending limb. Suddenly, the blade jumped out of Adrian's belt, embedding it firmly in the creature's arm.
"Argh!" He screamed in agony, dropping the petrified girl to the ground in a lambasted heap, "You dare…"he hissed, enraged. Slowly he withdrew the blade, the green-tinged blood flashing as he cast it to the side.
"Yes we do dare." Adrian stated calmly, resting a reassuring hand on his sister's left arm, "Because we're the ones who can."
"As usual, the Sage makes a pathetically soppy statement." He replied snidely.
"Pleased to have been of service." Came the retort.
The only warning was a burning flash of red in his eyes, as Tregornan suddenly lashed out at the quartet, claws whizzing through the air towards their target.
Only to be stopped by Senka's gleaming blade.
A dry, heartless chuckle emanated from the monstrosity before them, "Ah, so the entire quartet is here. At least it shall make our task that much easier."
"And what right do you have to interfere in history?" Anita demanded, coming beside them and giving whatever menial support she could to her best friends. Outside the chaos of battle grew once more, the sounds echoing through the great vaulted ceiling.
"We are what fate has made us. Semper fateum." His gaze turned to Josie, "You are the Tempest, And I am the leader of the Z'Keth. Neither of us asked for this, yet this is who we are. And yet you stand before me, claiming the power of the heavens, saying I have no right. Where lies the fidelity in that?"
Slowly she stepped forward, as every single eye focused upon the two and weapons clattered to the ground, "Where lies the fidelity in killing innocent young children? In beating a woman to within an inch of her life merely because you feel like it, or because she has the sense to realise something's wrong?"
"Do you know what Z'Keth means?" He whispered. Slowly, they began circling each other, predators awaiting the chance to strike. Neither dared to look away, the sounds from outside once again fading to nothingness.
Two steps left, "How could I?"
"You gave us the name. We are the Outcasts, the destroyers. Mutants who the universe exiled, left to wander, now ready to seek our rightful revenge, and take the universe as our own. And what better place to begin than the cradle?" Suddenly she felt a psychic barb shoot out, barely managing to avoid it, barriers springing into existence, a shield of stubbornness over her spirit.
"Nice try." She said, gasping slightly. Instantly she retaliated, mentally punching back with an ability she didn't know she had. His head reeled from the force of the blow.
Warily their strange dance continued, each letting an attack fly unexpectedly, only to be deftly knocked back. And still their verbal struggle continued.
"You humans are so easy to manipulate." Tregornan commented, trying to throw her.
"Is that what you did to the Regent?" Josie demanded, fending the attack, only to send a shattered beam of wood zooming across towards him.
He smirked, fangs bared, unsteadily halting the projectile, "He fell so easily. Like a puppet on a string, with me at controls, free to do with what I wished, if it hadn't been for the meddling fools…"
"You mean Edward?"
"And that whore of his, Katherine. Still, she will see the error of her ways, or at least the insides of a burial chamber."
"I doubt it." She replied, flinging a brick, oblivious of the indignation the previous statement had caused.
"You flatter me."
"Oh, no indeed." The power snapped instantaneously, pinning him against a pillar,
"You see, there's one thing you forgot."
"And that would be…"
"We don't give up without a fight."
He stared her directly in the eye, "How clumsy of me. And yet I seem to be winning."
"I'm not the one pinned against the wall."
She wasn't ready for the knee to the stomach, "Cheap shot." She grunted, her grasp on her opponent sliding.
His eyes glimmered in triumph, his claws raising to swipe down fatally.
Instantly, Senka was there once more, staving off the certainly fateful blow, "You want her, go through me."
"And so the Protector shows his heart. How touching…And how satisfying to quash it like a bug."
Senka raised an eyebrow, "Leave, or we will stop you."
Tregornan snorted, "You and what army?"
"The one that has decimated your forces outside." He commented nonchalantly, "And yet we seem to be winning."
Josie gingerly stood up beside him, gently laying a hand on his arm, "He's right. You will leave. You will never return, and if the only way to ensure you and your so-called army give these people a chance is to never give you the opportunity to draw breath again, then that, in my mind is worth it."
"Thus, the high and mighty time lady descends from heaven to kill in cold blood." He scoffed, "My, how the mighty have fallen."
"In Cold blood? I'm not the reptile here." She retorted, "And I'm not the one who just tried to kill an innocent child!"
"You can look me in the eye and proclaim that, yet you feel no remorse for the drones whom you destroyed? Do you deny it?" he challenged.
The breath shuddered into Josie, "At least I did it to save the people whom you ordered massacred! Where lies the justice in using weapons which won't be invented for centuries!? If I hadn't done what I did, then what would that have made me?"
A cold, cruel cackle came from him.
Regaining her composure, she stared directly into his fiery red orbs, "You will leave here."
"Not until I've taken down every human and feasted upon their flesh…"
"You and what army?" Anita asked smugly.
Disbelievingly, Tregornan glared out through the doors into the courtyard, where the King's men were standing over the bodies of their enemies, whilst others attended to their fallen comrades.
Turning to stare around inside, he realised his own focus on his own conflict had seen his entire force decimated. He growled at the sight of Jack and Edward releasing the two women. Senka smiled as his mother collapsed into Jack's arms.
The four drew together, advancing upon Tregornan.
"It is over, Tregornan." Katherine grinned from where Edward supported her, "You have lost, and now you have to face the consequences."
A look of desperation flashed over his visage, his eyes darted around, looking for escape. Before him, Josie once again began to gather energy together.
He glanced down at his arm, fiddling with something, before there was a snap a flash of dark, blinding light, and he was gone.
In that moment, the sun ascended over the horizon, searing through the throne room. The wind came blasting through the shattered windows, tousling Anita's hair as the rays caught the red streaks, sending flames out in a halo around her head. As Josie released the energy, she felt her muscles succumb to fatigue. In an instant the two boys were at her side, Senka grasping her right arm, Adrian her left, managing to keep her upright.
"It's over." She whispered, leaning her head against Senka's shoulder, "It's finally over…"
IOIOIOI
"…Thus, we find the Regent Mortimer Guilty of Treason, and thus sentence him to Hanging, drawing and quartering." John resignedly proclaimed to the assembly laid out before him.
Mortimer was lead up the gallows by the two masked executioners, each step mechanical, his face distanced as though it were only a mask.
Together they huddled down the back, cloaks pulled tight against the wind. Close by Katherine and Edward stood, not daring to touch, but the mutual grief between them surmounting their physical restrictions.
The noose was slipped over his head, double-checked and drawn tight. And still his eyes remained hollow, unseeing and unfeeling. As he was lead to the edge of the platform, an uneasy silence descended over the crowd, not one eye able to turn away from the events that played out before them.
"And may God have Mercy on you soul…"John whispered, sounding like a scream in the uneasy hush.
His feet moved forward, taking the final steps over the edge. The sickening thud echoed through the air, as thousands of birds took to the skies with a cry. Anita buried her face in Adrian's neck, his hands gently rubbing over her shoulders, yet not daring to say a word.
She felt the presence ghost over her, just for a single moment in time, sorrow and…relief? Josie shook her head, shrugging of the shivers coursing down her spine.
And still the birds swooped overhead, their mournful lament echoing in the silence.
IOIOIOI
"I pray, do not tell me this is goodbye?" Edward asked them dispiritedly as they stood out in the chilly air of the castle's forecourt, their breath steaming in huge white puffs.
Jack smiled, "Only for now."
Lucy glanced over at him, a smile creeping onto her face, "We have other places to see, others to meet. Friends who will be expecting us."
Edward smiled kindly at her, "At the very least we were able to restore you to your husband…"
At this Lucy shot an accusing glare at her son and companion, who had the decency to look sheepish.
Katherine gently laid a hand on arm, "We thank you for your assistance. If not for your intervention, I am certain we would find ourselves in a rather unsavoury predicament, which I doubt our country could ever have recovered from."
"It wasn't any problem." Josie said with a curtsy, the dress she had been conned into wearing dragging slightly on the frostbitten ground.
Edward gazed at each of the quartet, "It has been an honour to be part of your legend. I thank you for that. Nor could I have asked for more steadfast allies in battle. Your skills and bravery far exceed those whom have seen far more summers than you. May your courage be steadfast in whatever lies ahead on your journey, and may you take my blessings wherever the road leads you."
The four blushed with embarrassment, before bowing to the king.
As they turned to head towards home, Lucy quickly murmured to the pair, "Prudence can do you two no favours presently. Live today, because everything may be gone tomorrow. And until we meet again, I bid thee farewell."
She ran to catch up to her companions, laughing as she grasped Jack's hand.
"Godspeed, My Friends."
IOIOIOIO
"Is that the last of them?" Jack panted, dropping the final trunk in the control room.
Lucy quickly surveyed the items, nodding to herself as she catalogued each one, "It appears so."
Jack smiled in relief-another round of tearful farewells to the inhabitants of the keep would most likely break him, "Thank you!" he exclaimed.
"You did offer to help the lady, Jack!" The Doctor commented, abandoning his post leaning against one of the sweeping support struts and going over to stand next to Rose at the console, "So where to next?"
"Home?" Adrian suggested.
The Doctor raised an eyebrow, "Back to London?"
"Just for a bit." Anita amended, "After all, I do need to tell my 'parents' I'm going to Scotts next year."
"And I need to drop off some of this." Lucy added, indicating the mountainous summary of her worldly possessions.
"And I frankly need some down time!" Jack finished, grinning when Josie glanced up from where she was playing with Mordrid to give her agreement, deftly avoiding the snap he took at her fingers.
The Doctor shrugged, "Seems I'm outvoted. I was going to show you the Meteor showers on Horus IV, but I suppose that the general safety of domestic northern London is more important."
"Good." Adrian triumphed, "Still, it's not as if the meteor showers are going anywhere…"
His father merely rolled his eyes, "Push the red button, Adrian."
Quickly he began shouting out instructions, everyone gathering around the control console, buttons pushed down, switches flicked and pumps pumped as they hurtled through the Time Vortex once more. Desperately they attempted to stay upright, currents and eddies throwing them left, right and centre. Somehow they managed to remain standing.
That was until they landed.
"Ouch!" Jack complained as he ploughed into the grating, with Lucy soon crashing on top of him.
"I'll agree with that!" Anita said, wincing as she attempted to shove Adrian, Senka
And Josie off her, "I feel like a squished sandwich!"
"That's funny…" The Doctor commented as he dragged Rose up next to him, "We didn't land in the basement…"
Jackie glared at him, "You'd better not have done any more damage to my Roses!"
Sheepishly he glanced at the console, "I didn't!" he quickly exclaimed, "We missed the roses by about three feet! Can't say the same about the pansies…"
"Better the pansies then the roses!" Jackie said, smiling at the expression her son-in-law wore.
"Is it just me, or has everyone forgotten that we're supposed to be stopping the alien armada that is just outside?" Rose muttered, turning her eyes to the sky.
"Good point, my dearest." The Doctor told her, quickly kissing her, "It's about time we ploughed headlong into danger…" With that, he sprinted out the door, grinning at the gun barrels pointed straight at him, ignoring the wall of heat that blasted into the TARDIS.
"Where is the Tempest?" Their supposed leader demanded.
He shrugged, "Probably on the loo. What about you, then? Why are you all here?"
A dangerous flash of red seared over his eyes, "We are here for the Tempest."
"Ah, Just one problem with that." He stated, pursing his lips, "She's not going anywhere."
"And who are you to make such a statement?"
He quirked his eyebrow, "Her father. Haven't you learnt anything about over-protective fathers? Now, I suggest you buzz off, before I loose my temper." With that he turned around, "Hang about! How did you lot get here? Transport?"
The creature snarled, "Foolish human! We have no need of such primitive devices! We teleported in!"
The Doctor grinned at them like a maniac, "Thank you very much. Now, I'll see you in a few minutes with a plan to defeat you!"
With that he shut the door.
Josie rolled her eyes, "Great, so what's the plan."
He shrugged, "No clue."
Suddenly Rose's face lit up, "Wait, she said transporter! Why not just reverse it? Like with Blond, or Margaret, or whatever her name was?"
"Because…"He began, instantly halting that thought, "That might actually work! Only thing is getting a polarity reverser out there without being blown into our composite atoms…"
Josie smiled, "Easy enough! Just let me levitate it out there!"
"You certain you can do it?" Jackie asked.
Josie simply shrugged, "Not as if we have any better options at the moment."
Jack nodded, "I'll go find one. Back in a tick!"
IOIOIOI
True to his word, less than five minutes later, Jack returned, grinning like a maniac, "Right, I've got this rigged up to a timer, so once we set it, you'll have about thirty seconds till they all disappear."
Josie nodded, "Let me at them!" She said, grinning wolfishly.
Holding said object in her hand, she gathered her mental power, and shot the whizzing, bleeping device out into the sultry summer heat.
A high-pitched whining built in the air, drawing the attention of the invaders. The sound crescendoed, until they departed with a snap.
They breathed in a sigh of relief.
"Just out of curiosity," Anita began, "What's to stop them simply re-transporting down here?"
The Doctor blinked, "I hadn't thought of that…"
Jack glanced across at him, before turning to the display, "Well, the Z'Keth never were that good with transporter technology, so my guess is that there's a relay somewhere."
"The Castle at Aldonreigh?" Senka suggested.
"Bingo!" Jack exclaimed victoriously, "Right where you suggested."
Adrian crossed his arms, "So you're saying we're going to plough in there, destroy the beam relay?"
"Then return home in time for dinner?" Anita concluded.
"Even though we shall probably have to fight our way through at least a few battalions of soldiers?" Senka mused.
"And then run for our lives?" Josie added.
"You lot up for it?" The Doctor asked.
They glanced at each other, maniac grins breaking out on their faces, "Yeah!"
IOIOIOIOI
A.N: Only a few more things to wrap up, and then gasp! It's over (For now…)! Now, shock horror, if you want them, I do actually have a series planned, and I want to do a Christmas piece, which will lead into the next story. So if you're interested, then LEAVE A REVIEW!!! Constructive criticism will help me keep up the amazingly high standards of my school (FIRST IN ENGLISH EXTENSION!!!! GO MAUREEN!!!) and (Considering atm Josie & Co. need ammo…) Flames will be used to light cans of Nitro 9 for blasting up Z'Keth bases!