If you'd be so kind as to check my profile, I've created a poll where everyone can vote for the world they want the Librarian to take RWBY and Qrow first! There are over 5 options, with more to come at a later date. Please check it out and vote! The next chapter will be the first true break chapter. Currently, the Disneyland trip is the highest-voted choice.
Remnant Who
By ReaderWarrior
I do not own Doctor Who or RWBY.
Dalek (B)
Beta'd by: -
As always, please comment! It honestly makes my day to read your thoughts and opinions.
Tell your friends!
Honorary (dead) companions:
Clive, Raffalo, Moxx, Jabe, Sneed, Gwyneth, Ganesh
'Bigger on the inside!'s:
2 (Rose, Jackie)
Fantastic's:
7
Harriet Jones' greetings:
6
Exterminate!'s:
3
Dianna watches as her screen turns dark. "The cameras in the vault have gone down," she relays.
"We've only got emergency power, then," the Doctor realizes. "It's eaten everything else. You've got to kill it, now!"
Ruby grabs her shoulders in comfort. "I don't like the Doctor acting like this. He's not supposed to be violent."
"Everyone has a dark side, kid," Qrow muttered. With the corner of his eye, he kept an eye on the Librarian, adding, "just a matter of time 'til they show it."
"All guards to converge on the Metaltron Cage, immediately," Diann orders, a finger pressing against her earpiece.
With Rose and Adam closely behind her, De Maggio ran past a group of heavily-armed guards trying to set up a safety checkpoint. "Civilians!" she declared as the soldiers turned their guns to them. "Let them through!"
They do, breaking ranks just enough for the trio to continue their escape. A few seconds later, the senior Cage guard comes running up as well.
"Cover the North wall!" he yells. "Red division, maintain suppressing fire along the perimeter! Blue division-!"
Before he could finish, the Dalek, following him at a slow pace, fired its gun. It hums loudly, releasing a blast of blue-green energy that hits the guard square in the back. His skeleton, now visible from the attack, flashes through his skin before falling to the ground.
"Oh, my gods!" Ruby screams. "What was that?"
"A Dalek neutralizer," the Librarian explains.
Yang gulps. "It just… killed him in one shot."
"A blast of pure radiation will do that to you. It's also extremely painful from the initial blast until the point of death." The Librarian turns to the Remnants with red-tinted eyes. "Now do you see? That Dalek should have been destroyed. Now it could very well kill them all."
The soldiers fire at the Dalek, filling the corridor with the sounds of battle. The Dalek makes no move to block or run. Instead, it watches as the bullets fly close, only to disappear within inches of the Dalek's armor.
"Offensive and defensive?" Weiss realizes.
"Seems like it," Qrow growls. "These soldiers are just sitting ducks then.
As they continue to shoot, the Dalek turns its gunstick to the left. It fires once, hitting a soldier square in the chest.
"AAARGH!" he yells, his skeleton glowing and spasming before falling to the ground.
More soldiers arrive, flanking the Dalek from behind as the initial squadron distracts the alien. But the Dalek hears them and spins its head-mount around. Then, after counting the combatants, it has its middle chassis revolve 180 degrees.
Blake's eyes go wide. "Full awareness on all sides too!? How could such a creature exist?"
"A creature made for war and conquest," their guide hisses. "Everything on a Dalek's body has been created, evolved, and repurposed to kill."
"It's a death machine," Blake realizes. And we wanted it loose.
The Dalek fires again, leading to another soldier screaming before falling limp.
It turns again, facing the original group.
Fire, scream, turn.
Fire.
Scream.
Turn.
Fire-
"Tell them to stop shooting at it!" van Statten roars, yelling over the sound of gunfire from his computer's speakers.
Dianna looks at her boss with a horrified expression. "But it's killing them!"
"What kind of employer tosses away his workers like they are nothing?" Weiss hisses.
Blake nods. "What kind of person tosses away anyone's life?" she corrects.
"Their dispensable," the man scoffs, "that Dalek is unique!" He leans across the table, grabbing Dianna's earpiece, and yells, "I do not want a single scratch on its bodywork! Do you hear me? Do you hear me?!" van Statten repeats, only to pause as the constant sounds of gunfire trickle down to a few bursts.
Then to nothing.
"Are they…?" Ruby couldn't bring herself to finish the question.
The Librarian nods. "Daleks leave no survivors. Those soldiers were dead the minute they stepped into its path."
"Is there anything that can stop it?" Weiss whimpers.
The Doctor turns to Dianna. "Do you have a map of the building?"
She nods, pulling up one on the computer. "That's us," she points, "directly below the surface." Her hands move all the way down, stopping near the bottom. "That's the Cage. And that," she hesitantly points to a blinking dot. "That's the Dalek."
"This museum of yours," the Doctor asks, "has it got any alien weapons?"
The assistant nods. "Lots of them. but the trouble is the Dalek's between us and them."
"We've got to keep that thing alive," van Statten comments.
"It's killing people!" Yang roars. "Stop worrying about your collection and stop it!"
Blake places a hand on her partner's. "At this point, can they even stop it? Maybe the best thing to do now is put the place on lockdown and run away."
"We could just seal the entire vault," he explains. "Trap it down there."
"Leaving everyone trapped with it?" the Doctor asks with a glare. "Rose is down there. I won't let that happen, have you got that?" The Time Lord turns back to the screen, pointing at an area on the map. "It has to go through this area. What's that?"
"Weapons testing," Dianna answers.
"Give guns to the technicians, the lawyers, anyone, and everyone. Only then have you got a chance of killing it."
"Not even a likelihood," Qrow gulps. "Just a chance."
"Stairs!" Rose yells as she, Adam, and De Maggio exit from the corridor into a stairwell. "That's more like it. It hasn't got legs, it's stuck!" She and Adam share a confident smile before their armed comrade begins to push them forward.
"It's coming!" she yells. "Get up!"
The trio hastily ran upwards, skipping every second step. When the stairs turn, they stop to look over the railing as the Dalek slowly rolls through the doorway.
It looks down at the stairs, then back up at Rose.
Yang smirks. "Hah! That's what you get for not being able to climb!"
"That's all it takes to stop a Dalek?" Weiss scoffs. "It's almost too easy."
"Give it a minute," the Librarian groans.
Smirking, Adam calls down to the Dalek mockingly. "Great big alien death machine defeated by a flight of stairs."
De Maggio raises her gun. "Now listen to me," she orders. "I demand that you return to your cage. If you want to negotiate then I can guarantee that Mister van Statten will be willing to talk. I accept that we imprisoned you and maybe that was wrong, but people have died, and that stops right now. The killing stops. Have you got that? I demand that you surrender. Is that clear?"
The Dalek stares at the woman in silence for a moment. Then, turning their pride into fear, the Dalek says a single word.
"Elevate." A blue light glows from beneath the alien's body. When the glow reached its peak, the Dalek began to float upward.
Ruby's silver eyes go wide. "That's terrifying!"
"Of course they can," Qrow groans, smacking himself in the head. "No way a tank like this could be so dangerous if it couldn't climb over a few steps."
"It's like it has no weaknesses!" his red-headed niece cries.
Slowly, the Dalek began to float over the stairs, inching closer to Rose and her comrades.
"Oh, my God," the blonde whispers.
De Maggio keeps her gun trained on the alien. "Adam, get her out of here," she commands. Still keeping an eye on the Dalek, Adam begins to move up the stairs, grabbing Rose's hand.
Rose struggles against the pull. "Come with us," she pleads. "You can't stop it!"
"Someone's got to try," De Maggio snaps back, keeping her gun trailed on the alien. "Now get out! Don't look back, just run!"
Blake looks down sorrowfully. "Is she… Does she have a chance?"
"No," the Librarian answers.
"..." Blake is silent as a tear falls down her cheek. "A rightful life, a wrongful death."
De Maggio pushes Rose up towards Adam, keeping her armed hand trained on the Dalek. The two humans run upwards, looking back for a fleeting moment of the guard who volunteered to stay behind. They quickly push through a door and run down a corridor.
As they run, they hear De Maggio's gunfire repeatedly. Once… twice… thrice… till a total of twelve shots are fired. Then they hear her scream over the hum of the Dalek's death ray.
"May they find their heaven in the stars," Yang adds.
Weiss nods, finishing the prayer. "And may their next life be better than the last."
"Where did you hear that?" Qrow frowns.
Yang nodes to the Librarian. "He taught us it."
"Not that half bad," the drunkard mutters.
"I thought you were a great expert, Doctor," van Statten remarks. "If you're so impressive, then why not just reason with this Dalek? It must be willing to negotiate. There must be something it needs. Everything needs something."
"What's the nearest town?"
van Statten frowns. "Salt Lake City."
"Population?"
"One million."
"All dead," the Doctor predicts, showing no emotion.
"It's that powerful!?" Ruby exclaims.
"A single Dalek warship can destroy an entire planet," ELI explains. "It's therefore likely that a single Dalek could easily kill all life in a city, especially if they do not have weapons capable of stopping it. Perhaps even more."
Ruby gulps. "By the Gods…"
For the first time today, van Statten looks worried.
The Doctor continues, elaborating, "if the Dalek gets out, it'll murder every living creature. That's all it needs."
"But why would it do that?!" van Statten gasps.
Glaring, the Doctor says, "because it honestly believes they should die. Human beings are different, and anything different is wrong. It's the ultimate in racial cleansing and you, Van Statten, you've let it loose!"
Dianna raises a hand to her earpiece when it chirps. After a moment, she turns to the men. "All personnel have now gathered in the loading bay," she relays.
Nodding, the Doctor grabs a microphone off the desk. "The Dalek's surrounded by a force field. The bullets are melting before they even hit home, but it's not indestructible. If you concentrate your fire, you might get through. Aim for the dome, the head, the eyepiece.
"That's the weak spot," the Doctor's voice explains.
Blake nods. "That makes sense, the force field has to have a point where it either starts or stops, right? That'll be its weakest point."
"Smart reasoning," the Librarian applauds. "But you try hitting the bulls-eye of a bulls-eye on a moving target as it is firing back, not to mention the distance between you and it."
"I think I could," Ruby offers.
"If you ever see a Dalek, run the other way. Run as fast as you can."
The commander raises a radio to his lips and remarks, "Thank you, Doctor, but I think I know how to fight one single tin robot." He drops the communicator and waves his hand. "Positions!
All around the room, soldiers, workers, and scientists raise their weaponry. They all wait silently, aiming at the greater entrance. Rose and Adam, out of breath, freeze as the guns trail onto them as they enter the area.
"Don't shoot!" Yang screams.
"Hold your fire!" the commander yells. He waves at them, motioning for them to move. "You two, get the hell out of here!" They do, running through the loading bay and past the armed peoples.
But they stop when they hear the Dalek enter. It stares at Rose as she and Adam freeze. Inside of its eyestalk, there is a small whirring as it looks closer at the blonde. Adam quickly pulls her out.
"It was looking at me," she realized.
Adam nods sarcastically. "Yeah, it wants to slaughter us."
"No!" Rose grabs at Adam's shoulder, stopping him. "It was looking right at me."
"Why, though?" Weiss asks. "Is it targeting her?"
"Or maybe it wants to kill her specifically, since Rose was the one who touched it," Blake offers.
"That doesn't make sense. Wouldn't it offer her mercy then?"
"Daleks don't serve mercy," the Librarian says.
"Maybe it wants to use her to get to the Doctor!" Ruby realizes.
Adam shrugs. "So? It's just a sort of metal eye thing. It's looking all around."
"I don't know," she explains. "It's like… It's like there's something inside, looking at me… Like, like it knows me."
Back inside the loading bay, the Dalek begins to move towards the door.
"On my mark," the commander orders, raising his gun at the alien.
The Doctor, van Statten, and Dianna all jump as a large wall-mounted screen flickers to life.
Frowning, Dianna comments, "we've got vision."
"It wants us to watch," the Doctor realizes.
The Dalek looks around slowly, studying those who have raised arms against it.
"Fire!"
Gunfire echoes throughout the large area. Small explosive lights flash from dozens of gun barrels, all pointing at their alien target. However, ignoring or unable to follow the Doctor's orders, their shots all disappear when they come in contact with the Dalek. Bullet casings drop to the ground as their ARs fire without pause.
Silently, the Dalek begins to elevate itself once more.
"That's got to be one of the most terrifying things I've ever seen," Qrow shivers.
"It's worse when you realize that it only said 'elevate' earlier to scare everyone," the Librarian adds.
Qrow groans. "I'm way too sober for this." However, he doesn't refill his glass and keeps his eyes glued to the screen.
The defenders continue to shoot at it, aiming upwards now as it floats higher and closer to the ceiling.
Its gunstick flicks to the side as the Dalek fires off its first shot. The beam strikes a small, wall-mounted fire alarm, causing it to explode. The overhead sprinklers begin to activate and stream water all over the area. The Dalek waits until the tirade of water has covered the entire room, before firing its ray at the ground.
The water carries the weapon's energy. As soon as it hits, blue lightning lifts from the ground, dancing across the bodies of those on the ground level.
"It's so strong," Yang whispers in horrified awe.
"What's worse is that it's smart," Weiss realized. "It deliberately used the water to conduct its energy beam across the room!
"It'd be amazing if it wasn't so horrifying."
The commander, realizing the Dalek's power is too much, orders a retreat. "Fall back! Fall back!"
Shining from the water on its armor, the Dalek flicks another short burst of energy at the remaining militia. They died before reaching the door.
In van Statten's office, he, Dianna, and the Doctor watch as the screen turns off, leaving them unable to see the multitude of bodies they sent into battle. The two humans look terrified while the Doctor portrays… sorrow and resolution.
"Perhaps it's time for a new strategy," the multi-billionaire stammers. "Maybe we should consider abandoning this place."
"You think?!" Qrow snaps. "You should have listened to the Doctor in the first place!"
Ruby shakes her head. "Did we? van Statten was torturing monster… was that wrong?"
"No, we deserve to give them dignity. We don't have to fall to their level," Blake answers. "He's just scared of the one he unleashed."
Dianna shakes her head, explaining, "except there's no power to the helipad, sir. We can't get out."
"You said we could seal the vault?" the Doctor inquires.
Nodding, van Statten begins to make his way back to his desk. "It was designed to be a bunker in case of nuclear war." He begins to type on his computer. "Steel bulkheads-"
"-There's not enough power," Dianna interrupts. "Those bulkheads are massive."
"That's what she said," Qrow coughed.
The Doctor points to the glowing light bulbs in the room. "We've got emergency power. We can re-route that to the bulkhead doors."
"We'd have to bypass the security codes. That would take a computer genius," Dianna explains.
van Statten begins typing away and smiles. "Good thing you've got me, then."
Weiss sighs. "Of course he is."
"It makes sense," Ruby defends. "If he's this rich, and capable of 'owning the internet', then I'd guess he helped make it, at least."
Unlike my father, who simply married into our business, the Schnee heiress thought with a scowl. I wonder if he built it himself, would he be the same way?
"You wanna help?" the Time Lord scoffs.
"I don't want to die, Doctor," he shoots back. "Simple as that. And nobody knows this software better than me."
Suddenly, the screen flickers back on. The Dalek is now directly in the center of the room, no longer hovering and on the ground.
"Sir?" Dianna stammers.
The Dalek shakes as it speaks. "I shall speak only to the Doctor."
He, the Doctor, slowly moves away from the table and towards the screen. "You're gonna get rusty," he comments.
"He's using humor to hide his fear," Yang realized.
"Sounds like someone else we know," Blake whispers, giving her partner a small smile.
"I fed off the DNA of Rose Tyler," the Dalek explains. "Extrapolating the biomass of a time-traveler regenerated me."
Nobody notices the Librarian freeze at the creature's choice of words. "It used chronon energy to heal its body," he explains.
"Chro-what?" Qrow asks.
"Chronon energy," the Librarian corrects. "It's a sort of… residual radiation that comes from time travel. Has a very long half-life and it can 'infect' you even if you've just been near a time machine."
"So it used chronon energy, directly from Rose's DNA, to fix itself?" Ruby asks, earning a nod from their guide. "Then doesn't that mean it's not 'racially pure' anymore?"
Blake's eyes go wide and she claps her hands. "That's right! It's not a pure Dalek now! It's part Rose!"
"What's your next trick?" the Doctor mocks.
"I have been searching for the Daleks."
"Yeah," he smirks. "I saw. Downloading the internet. What did you find?"
"I scanned your satellites and radio telescopes," it explains.
"And?"
"..." The Dalek remains silent for a moment. "Nothing… Where shall I get my orders now?"
The Doctor's voice chuckles throughout the room. "You're just a soldier without commands."
"He's lost… and alone," Weiss discerns. "A servant with no master."
"Yeah, pity him," Qrow grumbles.
Yang nods in agreement. "Maybe if it didn't just kill like fifty people, I would feel bad about that."
"Then… I shall follow the Primary Order! The Dalek instinct to destroy. To conquer!"
"What for?" the Doctor asks. "What's the point?" When the Dalek gives no response, he continues, asking, "don't you see? It's all gone. Everything you were, everything you stood for."
It's like… Ruby thinks, he's arguing with himself.
The Dalek pauses. "Then what should I do?"
Looking at his enemy, sparkling in the water, the Doctor licks his lips and a small smile begins to form. "All right, then," he whispers. "If you want orders… follow this one:
"Kill yourself."
"WHAT?!" Everyone in the room, minus the Librarian, let out a loud interjection.
The Dalek shakes violently. "The Daleks must survive!"
"The Daleks have failed!" the Doctor snaps back. "Why don't you just finish the job and make the Daleks extinct. Rid the universe of your filth! Why don't you just die?!" Spittle flies out of his mouth as he becomes more and more enraged, panting at the screen like a rabid animal.
The metalloid creature looks down on itself for a moment, as if pondering the Doctor's words. Then, slowly, its eye-stalk raises to meet the camera where it knows the Doctor is watching back.
"You would make a good Dalek."
"Oh, my Gods," Weiss whispers.
Yang nods. "Yeah…"
"This Dalek represents his failure, doesn't it?" Blake asks. "To him, he's seeing all those he failed, as well as that which caused it."
Ruby nods slowly in agreement. "He sees himself too. The fact he had to kill… his own race and the fact somehow this one Dalek survived."
"It's torture. He's got PTSD from the Time War and this thing just made it worse," Qrow adds.
Yes, the Librarian thinks. Yes, you are right. All of you. But you don't know what they are like. What he has lost to them. What others have lost to them. If you knew what I know… you'd be right with the Doctor, telling that monster to die.
Frozen by his enemy's words, the Doctor does nothing as the screen does dark. He stares at his reflection, almost perfectly positioned where the Dalek was standing. Dianna and van Statten stare at the Doctor's back as he remains motionless.
"Seal the vault," the Time Lord whispers.
van Statten turns back to his computer, frantically typing. "I can leech power off the ground defenses, feed it to the bulkheads. God, it's been years since I had to work this fast."
The Doctor turns around and looks at the screen. "Are you enjoying this?"
"Doctor," Dianna interrupts, pointing at a moving dot on the monitor. "She's still down there."
Weiss smacks herself on the forehead. "We completely forgot about Rose!"
Yang gasps. "She's still down there with the Dalek! And the Doctor is closing the doors!"
"Hopefully she and Adam have had enough time to get where it is safe."
Inside another stairwell, Adam and Rose frantically continue their ascent up the underground museum. The blonde doesn't stop when she hears her phone ring. Instead, she flips her phone open and barks, "this isn't the best time."
"Where are you?" the Doctor asks.
Rose looks up as they pass another door. "Level forty-nine."
"You've got to keep moving," he warns. "The vault is being sealed off up at level forty-six."
Panting, she asks, "can't you stop them from closing?"
"I'm the one who's closing them. I can't wait and I can't help you. Now, for God's sake, run!"
"She has to make it, right?" Ruby whimpers. "Rose got far enough away."
Blake remembers how quickly the Dalek caught up to them originally. "I… I'm sure they'll be fine," she lies.
"Done it!" van Statten cheers, his hands resting on the keyboard. "We've got power to the bulkheads." The Doctor offers no congratulations as he keeps his eye on a map displaying the compound and its occupants.
Diann gulps. "The Dalek's right behind them."
"We're nearly there!" Rose yells through her phone. "Give us two seconds!"
Suddenly, alarms begin to flash on van Statten's screen. "Doctor," he warns, "I cannot sustain power. The whole system is failing. Doctor, you've got to close the bulkheads."
Eyes flickering between the screen showcasing Rose's position and the alarm, the Doctor lets out a weakened sigh. "I'm sorry," he whispers.
He then presses the 'enter' key to initiate the lockdown.
"No!" everyone yells.
Alarms blare as Adam, followed by Rose at a short distance, sprints down a long hallway. At the end of it, the blast door begins to descend. "Come on!" Adam yells as he gets down on his knees and crawls his way underneath.
"You can make it!" Yang yells, raising her arms in a cheering way.
Ruby also yells, adding, "don't look back! Just slide! Slide!"
On the monitor, the Doctor watches as the indicator for his companion's location goes still, exactly where the bulkhead doors are. He quickly jumps up and begins to pace around the room, pressing his finger to his ear and the communicator. "Rose!" he yells. "Where are you? Rose, did you make it?"
For a moment, static is all that is heard. Then, slowly, the crackling turns into panting. "Sorry… I was a bit slow."
"No…" Blake whispers. "No she can't have!"
"It's a joke, right?" Weiss asks, hopeful.
But, sadly, the Librarian only shakes his head in response.
The Doctor freezes at Rose's words, his eyes going wide as he realizes the implications of her predicament. Before he could say anything, offer words of hope or encouragement, the sounds of the Dalek sneak their way through the speakers.
"See you then, Doctor," Rose mumbles as the alien's rumbling grows closer and louder. "It wasn't your fault. Remember that, okay? It wasn't your fault. And d'you know what? I wouldn't have missed it for the world."
Then, before the Doctor could respond, the familiar sound of the Dalek's gun fires.
"Exterminate!"
Then the line goes dead.
Everyone stares at the screen with shock and horror. Tears brim in the eyes of each member of the audience.
Yang's grip on her armrests clench so hard, they splinter and turn to dust in her fists.
Blake's ears in her bow go flat as she cries softly to herself.
Weiss grabs the hem of her skirt, wrinkling it as she bunches.
Ruby, on the other hand, has pulled her hood around her face as she cries, shaking inside the cloak. "Why?"
"That's sometimes just how it is," Qrow grumbles. "Not everyone makes it. Especially not everyone you care for."
The Librarian takes a shaky breath and adds, "but that does not mean all is lost. Let's resume, shall we?"
Ripping off the earpiece, the Doctor stares with a blank expression and mutters, "I killed her."
"I'm sorry."
The Doctor whirls around, rage in his eyes, to face van Statten. "I said I'd protect her. She was only here because of me, and you're sorry?" he snaps. "I could have killed that Dalek in its cell… but you stopped me."
"It was the prize of my collection!" van Statten yells, rising to his feet.
Weiss snaps. "Your collection is an excuse! You just wanted more and more for yourself, not caring about anyone else! The minute you could toss away those who were not as worth as much, you did! You don't care about anyone but yourself! Whatever gets you what you want is what you do, no matter who gets hurt!"
"Your collection?" the Doctor repeats, spit flying out of his mouth as he rages. "Well, was it worth it? Worth all those men's deaths? Worth Rose? Let me tell you something, van Statten," he hisses. "Mankind goes into space to explore. To be a part of something greater-"
van Statten jumps from his chair, raising his arms. "Exactly! I wanted to touch the stars."
"You just wanted to drag the stars down and stick them underground!" the Doctor corrects. "Underneath tons of sand and dirt, and label them! You're about as far from the stars as you can get." His eyes flicker to the monitor where he last spoke with the Dalek. In it, his reflection shines darkly. "And you took her down with you," he realizes, his eyes falling to the floor. "She was nineteen years old."
"He promised her the stars and she ended up in an underground tomb," Ruby realizes.
Blake lets out a sob. "He's going to blame himself. She was his tether to his humanity, and now she's gone."
Down in level forty-six, the Dalek shakes as it fires a second shot at the ground, hitting the already broken and sparking cell phone. Rose stands above it, alive and well.
"It shot the phone!" Yang yells, letting out a cheer. "Rose is alive!"
"Thank the Gods," Qrow sighs.
Ruby's tears begin to fall once more. However, this time, a smile was on her face. "The Doctor's going to be so relieved when he finds out."
Weiss nods, whipping away a tear. "I agree. But why didn't the Dalek kill her? It had her dead to rights."
"Maybe it wants the T.A.R.D.I.S?" Blake offers. "Or it feels thankful to her for releasing it?"
Rose looks up from the charred remains of her phone to the Dalek. "Go on then," she taunts. "Kill me. Why are you doing this?"
"I am armed," it warns. "I will kill. It is my purpose."
"They're all dead because of you!"
"They are dead because of us!" the Dalek corrects.
Blake almost leaps out of her seat, yelling, "just because you used her, does not mean she did those things! You manipulated her into benefiting yourself. You committed those acts, not… Rose."
Rose remains silent for a moment, pondering the Dalek's comment. "And now what?" she asks. "What are you waiting for?"
"I… feel your fear."
"Well, who wouldn't be scared if a tank monster almost tried to kill them," Qrow chuckles.
The Librarian shakes his head. "It doesn't 'see' her fear, it feels it. Somehow when it took Rose's DNA, it mutated the Dalek within."
"Is that bad?"
"For a creature like the Dalek's? Yes," the Librarian answers. "They are genetically created to feel nothing but rage, hate, and destruction. To not be that is to be unclean."
Confused, Rose asks, "what d'you expect?"
"Dalek's do not fear," it rattles, growing more agitated. "Must not fear!" It begins to throw its gun barrel around recklessly, firing at random targets around the room. "You gave me life. What else have you given me? I am… contaminated."
Behind the Doctor, an elevator dings and opens. Adam steps out slowly. He rubs his hand, probably from banging on the bulkhead doors.
Whirling around, the Time Lord growls at Adam, commenting, "you were quick on your feet, leaving Rose behind."
"Don't blame someone else for not being able to do anything," Yang offers. "He did what he could. And while it may not have been the noblest or most heroic action, they did what they did. And… you should accept them…"
"I'm not the one who sealed the vault!" he snaps back.
Before the two men could argue and toss blame, the Dalek's voice cuts in. "Open the doors or Rose Tyler dies."
The Doctor and Adam look back to the screen, shocked to see Rose, not dead, standing next to the Dalek.
"You're alive!" the Doctor gasps, a smile on his face as he steps towards the screen.
Blake sighs. "Look how happy he is now. Just knowing she isn't dead took such a weight off his shoulders."
"For now," Qrow comments. "That Dalek still has a gun to her back."
Rose's pixelated face smirks. "Can't get rid of me."
"I thought you were dead," the Doctor says.
"Open the doors!"
"Don't do it!" Rose yells back.
"What good are emotions," the Dalek asks, "if you will not save the woman you love?"
"How does it know about that?" Yang asks, confused. "He hasn't even said it yet."
"Maybe it can tell from Rose's feelings?" Ruby offers.
"But that doesn't make sense… It should only be able to tell what Rose- Oh my Gods!" Weiss gasps. "It feels what she feels! She feels love for the Doctor!"
Blake nods eagerly. "And it's assuming he does in return!"
The Doctor looks at Rose and the Dalek before turning to face van Statten. The multi-trillionaire looks back in fear as the Doctor takes a step towards him.
"I killed her once," he declares, placing his finger on the keyboard. "I can't do it again." Nobody moves to stop him as he pushes the 'enter' key, releasing the Dalek, and Rose, from the vault.
The screen goes dark.
"If it kills her, after offering the Doctor hope, he's going to lose it," Qrow growls.
"It better not," Ruby whispers.
"Just warning you."
"What do we do now?" van Statten asks, jumping from his chair and pacing around the room "You bleeding heart, what the hell do we do?"
"Kill it when it gets here," Adam offers.
Dianna shakes her head. "All the guns are useless and the alien weapons are in the vault."
Giving a small smile, Adam says, "only the cataloged ones."
"That's right!" Yang realizes. "He's got all of that stuff in his room!"
"Weiss wrinkles her nose. "But wasn't that all junk? Will it work?"
"Let's hope so."
"Broken," the Doctor declares, pulling out a large object from a crate on the floor. The next object he grabs is given equal treatment and labeled "broken." Next to him, Adam watches with surprise and amazement at the Doctor's alien expertise. "Hairdryer," he categorized, tossing it to the side.
"Mister van Statten tends to dispose of his staff," Adam explains. "And when he does, he wipes their memory."
"Which I still disagree with!" Blake scowls.
Qrow groans and shrugs his shoulders. "Well… It does kinda make sense with all the crazy stuff in his museum. Don't want knowledge getting out."
"Couldn't they just sign something saying they can't?"
"An NDA?" the Librarian asks. "Probably. But if someone breaks it, all that protects them from is legality. The people will still know."
"I kept this stuff in case I needed to fight my way out one day."
The Doctor scoffs. "You? In a fight? I'd like to see that."
"I could do!" Adam snaps.
"What are you going to do?" he asks, mockingly. "Throw your A-Levels at 'em?"
"A-Levels?" Ruby asks.
"I believe," the Librarian answers, "that an A-Level is a form of a diploma, certificate, or qualification of your study capabilities."
"Huh. So he's saying, throw your degrees at them?"
The Librarian nods. "Yeah."
Suddenly, the Doctor lets out a wild grin as he pulls out one of the last items in the crate. "Oh, yes!" he smirks. "Lock and load." The gun he heaves onto his shoulder is almost as big as he is, with a large barrel wide enough to fit a pineapple. It hums at the Doctor's touch and he cocks the beast.
Yang whistles. "You go, Doctor!"
"I don't know," Blake whispered. "The Doctor with a gun… It just doesn't seem right. It's like he isn't the Doctor now, more like a soldier in a war."
"Against a Dalek? I think he's allowed a few weapons," Yang rationalizes, ignoring the part of her that agreed with her teammate.
Inside the elevator, Rose keeps herself as far away as she can from the Dalek's blaster. "I'm begging you," she whispers as they pass floor twenty. "Don't kill them. You didn't kill me."
"But why not?" the Dalek asks, spinning its head around so its eye-stalk comes within inches of Rose's face. "Why are you alive? My function is to kill. What am I? What. Am. I?"
"Is it growing a conscience?" Weiss asks.
"I've never heard of a Dalek with a Jiminy Cricket on their shoulder," the Librarian sighs. "But… I will agree that this Dalek isn't like the ones I have known."
"A what?"
"Jiminy-, ah, never mind."
Rose gasps as the doors open with a ding, causing the Dalek's head to spin around as it moves into van Statten's office. "Don't move!" she warns. "Don't do anything. It's beginning to question itself."
The Dalek rolls forward towards its capturer. "van Statten," it 'greets'. The man backpedals as it continues towards him "You tortured me. Why?"
"I wanted to help you," he stammers, continuing to walk backward. "I just… I don't know, I was trying to help."
"You wanted to use the Dalek to make more money!" Blake snapped.
Ruby nods. "Yeah. You just wanted to tear it apart and sell it for scraps!"
"I thought if we could get through to you, if we could mend you…" the man continues to ramble as the Dalek pushes him into a corner. "I wanted you better. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry! I swear, I just wanted you to talk!"
The Dalek shakes angrily. "Then hear me talk now:
"Exterminate! Exterminate! EXTERMINATE!"
Qrow gulps. "Okay, that would be downright terrifying, even for me."
"Yeah," Yang adds, her voice soft. "I think… I might need a little help with that."
Wrapping his niece around the neck with his shoulder, he gives her a half-hug. "It's alright, kiddo."
Closing his eyes, van Statten whimpers as his 'Metaltron' raises its gun barrel and prepares to fire.
"Don't do it!" Rose yells, trying to herself between the two. " Don't kill him!" The Dalek's head turns towards her, casting a blue glow on her face. "You don't have to do this anymore. There must be something else, not just killing. What else is there? What do you want?"
The Dalek slowly turns to look at van Statten before returning to meet Rose's gaze. "I want… Freedom."
Ruby looks at the creature and frowns. "I think… they should let it go."
"If they let it free, that Dalek could murder millions," the Librarian snaps.
"But it's not a Dalek anymore, you said it yourself. It's evolving, right? Becoming more human?"
"... Unless it's willing to toss away its armor, there is no way in all the hells, I'd allow that thing to exist," he answers.
On level 1, the Dalek (and Rose) make their way into a large loading dock, empty of people and other distractions. The Dalek stops suddenly. Before Rose could question it, the alien fires a concentrated blast into the cement above them, causing it to burst. Rose covers herself from falling debris and dust as a small stream of sunlight breaks through, landing on the Dalek's chassis and eye-stalk.
"You're out," Rose gasps, turning to the Dalek with a smile. "You made it. I never thought I'd feel the sunlight again."
"How does it feel?"
Before she could answer, its body began to whirr. Slowly, section by section, the Dalek began to expand and unhinge its pieces. When the last piece lifts off, Rose moves to look upon the true form of a Dalek.
Its one eye blinked up at her, seeing her for itself for the first time. Its pink, moist tendrils twitch within the armor, connected to it permanently. The Dalek's brain is large and visible, keeping the Dalek laid back with its weight, and each breath pulses through the entire creature's body.
"Oh my Gods," Weiss gasps.
Ruby gulps. "That's what it looks like? That's the Dalek?"
"It's almost… sad," Blake whispers. "As if everything from it was taken away until all that remained was what would keep it alive to kill."
Yang nods slowly in agreement. "Yeah. And it's probably the first time in a while that Dalek has shown its true self to anyone."
"Possibly in its entire life," the Librarian mutters.
"So… It's a show of weakness," Qrow summarizes. "Showing its weakness since Rose did as well."
The Dalek lifts up one of its tendrils slowly, reaching towards Rose. However, before she could take it, a booming voice interrupts.
"Get out of the way!"
Turning around, the blonde is surprised to see the Doctor wielding a weapon at them.
"Rose," he warns, "get out of the way, now!"
She shakes her head. "No! 'Cause I won't let you do this."
"That thing killed hundreds of people."
"It's not the one pointing a gun at me," she remarks, glaring slightly at the Doctor.
The Doctor keeps the gun trailed towards her. "I've got to do this!" he spits. "I've got to end it. The Daleks destroyed my home, my people! I've got nothing left."
"You have Rose," Ruby offers. "And just because all hope is lost, that does not mean you need to fall into despair, Doctor. Never let yourself be touched by evil, even if it's destroyed everything to get to you. You're better than it!"
Rose turns and points at the Dalek. "Look at it."
The Doctor frowns and the gun in his hands dips slightly. "What's it doing?" he asks.
It continues to spread its tentacles in the glow, feeling its warmth.
"It's the sunlight," she explains. "That's all it wants."
"But it can't-"
"It couldn't kill van Statten, it couldn't kill me!" Rose turns back to the Doctor, pleading with him. "It's changing," she explains. "What about you, Doctor? What the hell are you changing into?"
"A creature of malice and destruction," Weiss repeats, glaring at the Librarian. "Someone who will kill to get what it wants."
"You don't understand," he whispers. "Every Dalek, every single one of them, is a monster. Just because this one can feel, doesn't mean it gets to live."
"And what gives you that right?"
The Librarian turns to the woman with bloodshot eyes. "The right of all those who have lost something, someone, to them. 'Only those who are prepared to be killed should kill,' a true genius once said." He turns back to the screen, seething. "And I've faced death many times over. I've gained that right to decide if a Dalek shall live."
The gun goes limp in the Doctor's arms, falling to his side before clanging onto the ground. He looks down at it for a moment before looking back up at Rose with tears in his eyes.
"I couldn't…" he gasps, crying silently. "I wasn't… Oh, Rose. They're all dead."
The Dalek twitches inside of its cage. "Why do we survive?" it asks, the voice modulator only working somewhat with the creature's true voice now audible.
"I don't know."
"I… am the last of the Daleks."
"And he, the last of the Time Lords," Blake realizes. "The two survivors of the Time War."
Qrow sighs. "The worst part is, that Dalek is probably the only thing that could connect to the Dalek. They fought in the same battles and saw the same horrors."
"His worst enemy, the only one who he can share with."
Looking at the creature, the Doctor shakes his head slightly. "You're not even that. Rose did more than regenerate you. You've absorbed her DNA. You're mutating."
"Into what?" the Dalek asks.
"Something new," he answers solemnly. The Dalek closes its eye and the Doctor mutters a soft apology. "I'm sorry."
Rose whirls around. "Isn't that better?"
"Not for a Dalek," the Doctor and Librarian answer.
"What do you mean?" Ruby asks. "Why is that bad?"
"It's not like Rose's DNA is going to kill it, right?" Yang adds.
The Librarian shakes his head. "No. It'll make the creature more whole than many of its brethren."
"Then why is that so bad?" the half-sisters ask.
"Because it is impure. And that what is impure, not Dalek, must be…"
"Exterminated," Yang whispers.
Tears begin to roll down Ruby's eyes. "No!"
"I can feel so many ideas," the Dalek remarks. "So much darkness. Rose… Give me orders," it pleads. "Order me to die."
Weiss wipes away her own tears. "Why does it have to be Rose?"
"She's the only one who can," the Librarian explains. "She's now a part of its gene-code. And a Dalek is not able to die unless in battle or under orders."
"So Rose has to order this creature who she helped, to kill itself?" Weiss snaps. "That's not fair! That's cruel!"
That's life.
Shaking her head, Rose takes a small step back. "I can't do that."
The Dalek inside closes its eye slowly and looks back up at the blonde woman. "This is not life," it explains. "This is sickness. I shall not be like you! Order my destruction! Obey! Obey! Obey!"
Rose watches as the alien in front of her begs and she lets a few tears gather in her eyelids. "Do it," she whispers.
"No!" RWBY sobs.
"Are you frightened, Rose Tyler?"
With a shaky breath, she answers saying, "yeah."
The Dalek blinks once more. "So am I. Exterminate."
Its armor begins to close, pushing Rose to run back to the side of the Doctor. They both look and watch as it finishes doing so. When it does, the Dalek elevates once more, only a few feet off the ground. The balls on its body lift out, surrounding the Dalek in an intricate pattern as it creates a force field.
The force field shimmers as the Dalek's body turns from bronze, to orange, and to a bright red before exploding in a large blaze. It quickly died, however, thanks to its preparations, and all traces of the creature imploded as it shrunk into itself with a loud hum.
"It saved them," Blake realized through her tears. "It kept them safe from its explosion."
"A Dalek's last act of life… protection," Qrow mumbles. He turns to the Librarian and asks, "what do you say about that?"
"It still needed to die, it said so itself," he responded.
Dianna waves her hand at a small group of guards, who quickly surround and grab the man in charge.
"What the hell are you doing?" he snaps, struggling but unable to break free.
Marching forward, Dianna says, "two-hundred personnel dead, and all because of you, sir. Take him away, wipe his memory, and leave him by the road someplace."
Team RWBY cheers.
"That's what you get!" Weiss smirks.
"A taste of your own medicine," Yang adds. "Courtesy of the Doctor."
"You can't do this to me!" he roars, continuing to fight against his own guards.
"I am Henry van Statten!"
Dianna smirks. "By tonight, Henry van Statten will be a homeless, brainless junkie living on the streets of San Diego, Seattle, Sacramento… Someplace beginning with 'S'," she laughs before turning around to head back to her bosses- her office.
Back down in the museum level, the Doctor, and Rose, lean up against the T.A.R.D.I.S. The Doctor rubs his hand across it slowly, commenting, "little piece of home. Better than nothing."
"The Doctor and the T.A.R.D.I.S," Ruby whispers. "All that remains of their home."
"What's its name?" Blake asks. "Their planet?"
"Gallifrey."
"Sounds… fantastical," the Faunus remarks.
The Librarian sighs. "From what I've heard? It was."
"Is that the end of it?" Rose asks. "The Time War?"
He nods. "I'm the only one left. I win," he chuckles, "how about that?"
Rose grabs his arm. "The Dalek survived. Maybe some of your people did, too."
"I'd know," he comments, tapping the side of his head. "In here. Feels like there's no one."
"That's so sad," Weiss comments. "All of his people, gone."
"Not to mention that there's nothing left of his home," Blake adds. "Just a man and his blue police box."
"Well then," Rose smiles. "Good thing I'm not going anywhere."
"Yeah."
Behind Rose, running from the main entrance, Adam stops between the two travelers. "We'd better get out," he explains. "van Statten's disappeared. They're closing down the base. Goddard says they're going to fill it full of cement, like it never existed!"
"It's about time," Rose remarks.
Qrow nods and smirks. "Good thing too. Don't want anyone to find this place and accidentally release some alien virus."
"Or get a hold of a big alien gun," Yang agrees.
Adam nods in agreement. "I'll have to go back home."
"Better hurry up then," the Doctor comments. He gestures to his watch and says, "next flight to Heathrow leaves at fifteen-hundred hours."
Rose smiles and elbows him. "Adam was saying that all his life he wanted to see the stars."
"Tell him to go and stand outside, then."
"He's all on his own, Doctor," she pleads. "And he did help."
The Doctor glares at Adam slightly. "He left you down there!"
"So did you."
Weiss hisses. "That is true. But the circumstances were different."
"What are you talking about?" Adam interrupts. "We've got to leave!"
The duo ignores him. "Plus, he's a bit pretty," the Doctor comments.
"I hadn't noticed," she smirks.
The Doctor rolls his eyes and turns, pulling out his T.A.R.D.I.S key. "On your own head."
"What are you doing?" Adam asks as the Doctor opens the doors and walks inside. "She said cement. She wasn't joking. We're going to get sealed in!" Rose quickly joins him, winking at the boy. "Doctor? What're you doing standing inside a box? Rose?"
"This is going to blow his mind," Ruby giggles.
"And another companion for the Doctor," Yang smirks.
Bag in hand, Adam walks into the T.A.R.D.I.S, creeping slowly and unsure. However, he soon disappears inside. The doors bang shut behind him, leading to the familiar sounds of the T.A.R.D.I.S dematerializing.
Leaving behind the year 2012 for somewhere new.
"Wow… That was just… wow," Weiss mumbles as the screen goes dark. The lights in the room begin to return as well, slowly as to not blind the viewers.
Blake nods in agreement at her teammate's assessment. "Yeah. I didn't know what the Doctor was really like. He's not just a hero, he has his traumas."
"A lot of them," Qrow nods.
"And the Daleks!" Yang gasps. "Holy cow, that was terrifying. There are creatures like that in his universe?"
The Librarian dips his head. "Yeah. And they are just one of many."
"Like the Cybermen?" Ruby asks, causing the Librarian to whirl his head around in surprise. "One of the museum artifacts was a Cyberman's head. ELI told us."
Glaring at the roof, the Librarian cracks his neck. "The Cybermen are one of his most recognizable, yes. But the tin men and alien tanks only scratch the surface of the horrors that they could find."
"The more I hear about his world, the more I fear for him," Weiss comments, shaking her head.
"Speaking of fear," Yang smirks. She jumps up and runs over to the slip-slope controls, bouncing on the balls of her feet. "Let's go!"
Blake rolls her eyes and smiles softly. "What does that have to do with fear?"
"Fear… fun… it's the same thing most of the time," she answers. "As long as we don't run into a Dalek."
"I'll make sure of that," the Librarian agrees. He follows Qrow as he is ushered by Ruby (following Weiss) onto the platform. Moments later, all five Remnants find themselves watching as the Librarian spins around a monitor from the T.A.R.D.I.S console.
"So where are we going?" Ruby asks, leaning on one of the railings surrounding the centerpiece.
"Earth!" he responds, smiling back at the group. "I figured I'd show you a fairly normal area first. Not mine, but one that shouldn't have too many things going on."
"So not the Doctor's universe?" Weiss asks.
The Librarian pauses for a moment. "No. I haven't been able to find that yet."
Frowning, Blake leans over his shoulder and looks at the screen in front of him. It details spinning orbs shaking violently. A red marker dances between the different shapes, each one it touches flashing a small description at the bottom.
"What do you mean?"
Their guide sighs and rests his hands on his head. "I've never been able to find it. I've gotten close, close enough to almost touch it, but every time… every time I feel as if I'm getting close…" The Librarian sighs. "Nevermind that. A problem for another day."
Suddenly, the screen begins to flash blue. The Librarian smiles. "Yes!"
"What's that?" Yang asks, moving to the side as he runs to the other side of the console.
"That is our destination," he explains as the image jumps from the screen, becoming a floating hologram that rests in the air above the controls. "But first thing is first, we've got to get to that universe."
"How do we do that?" Weiss asks.
He smirks. "Press that button. Blake, flip that switch. Ruby, I need you to turn those dials to the image with the black dots. Yang? Your job is to make sure this lever does not flip up."
Instantly, all four members of team RWBY jump to the console and begin doing as the Librarian said. With gleeful eagerness, they all flip their switches, turn their dials, and press the buttons they were assigned.
"What about me?" Qrow asks. "Let me guess, you need me as far away from those controls as possible."
"What?! No!" The Librarian shuffles the huntsman to the last of the six sides of the console. "I've activated the aura-dampeners. You don't need to worry about that bad luck of yours. I need you to pilot."
"You need me to what?"
"Pilot." Qrow is directed to face a small screen, where the T.A.R.D.I.S is seen, from the outside) in a purple void. "This'll control where on the planet we land. Keep your eyes on the hologram and focus on where we need to go. The controls are psychic, so you don't need to worry about crashing into something."
The man smirks before resting his hands on the console. "I've always wanted to be a pilot…" Which is ironic, all things considered.
"What are you going to do?" Ruby asks.
The Librarian runs to the last unused section. "I'm going to get us through the fold and into that universe." He places his hands on the console, lifting up a strangely shaped controller. Then, with the device in his hands, he looks up at the four women and man in his T.A.R.D.I.S.
For a moment, as he blinks, he could see them older, in different positions in different outfits. He blinks again, and now Blake was missing. Then Yang. Then Weiss. Then Qrow, leaving the image of Ruby slouched over the controls fresh in his mind.
The Librarian shakes his head. When he looks back up, everything was back to normal. Not this time, he thinks.
Merry Christmas everyone! And Happy Holidays to those who do not celebrate it (I wish you what I believe, feel free to do so in-kind).
I promised I'd update soon, right? Well, I hope you didn't wait too long. Honestly, it might have been sooner if Google Docs didn't glitch and lose 6 entire pages of content, forcing me to redo it and costing me another few days. Strangely, on the rewrite, I only ended up with 2 pages. Weird, huh?
A lot happened in this chapter with the Doctor and Dalek's psychosis. I think I was able to offer each member of team RWBY their own understanding of their actions. They also got to see what happens if one goes too far in the pursuit of revenge.
But, sadly, I did get a little drained halfway through. I hope it doesn't show.
I had a lot of fun with italics this episode, in case you didn't notice. I mainly wanted to be able to differentiate between the Daleks, which will talk like this, and the Cybermen, which will talk like this. However, In events where they alternate between talking like normal, or not, I will alternate between the syllables (like as was seen with the Dalek).
Now we are finally, finally, heading to the first breakaway. I've been looking forward to this for a long time. I've got a ton of ideas and I hope to share them all with you at some point. Currently, as I stated above, they are on their way to Disneyland. But the vote is close and could very well change. I'll be taking it down on New Year's Day to hide the results and will get to that after I finish a chapter of Metal like Roses and My Mistborn Academia.
Also, and I know I say it every chapter (like twice), please please please comment. It really makes my day reading new comments. Even if you're reading this a week from the post-date, don't be afraid to post what your favorite part was. Not only do your comments bring me the energy to continue writing, but they also help fuel my creative imagination for new unique ideas.
I am also now on Discord! You can now find me at the Emerald Library. If you are interested, please check out the link below. I try to hop on when I can and would love to hear from you personally.
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Please, feel free to follow and comment on predictions, thoughts, etc. I am always looking for new ways to improve my craft. Tell your friends!
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