Chapter Twenty-Three: Time Lady Victorious

"... and I feel fine." Cassie grinned as alarms sounded.

"System in shutdown," said a Dalek.

"Detonation negative," said another.

Alpha was enraged. "Explain the malfunction! Explain! Explain!"

"Ah, well now, that would be me," Cassie chuckled. "Hello! Surprise! Boo! Et cetera." She paused for a moment. "Oh, right, you wanted to know what happened. Right then, I can explain. Let's start at the very beginning, a very good place to start - hold on, that's The Sound of Music - anyway, it all starts with you lot and your reality bomb. To do that, you need twenty-seven planets as an energy conductor. And that's when you make mistake number one: you mess with the Earth. Let me tell you something, Daleks - that's a daft idea. I suppose you don't know what my dad said to the Sycorax years ago. He said, 'When you talk of the Earth, then make sure that you tell them this: It is defended.' And he was right. All of the people in this room are here to defend the Earth. I mean, stealing the Earth is just asking for trouble. But for some reason, you decided to use it anyway. Why? Why did you do that?" She turned to Alpha. "Go on, Alpha, tell us."

"The Earth was emitting large amounts of time energy," Alpha replied.

"Ah, yes, indeed it was. Lots of time energy. And there's where you make mistake number two: You never asked why. You never thought, why is there all this time energy? What's it from? And you missed a great big piece of logic: if something is bleeding, there must be a wound. Earth is bleeding time energy… and oh, does it have a wound."

"The Rift," Jack exclaimed. "How the hell did they miss that?!"

"Because they're thick," Cassie explained. "You, Alpha, are thick. You're Mr. Thick Thick Thickity Thickface from Thick Town, Thickania, Skaro." She turned to Davros. "And so are you." She tossed her hair and gave a satisfied smirk.

"I sometimes forget that beneath all of that brilliant, she's a teenager," the Doctor muttered under his breath.

"Excuse me, do you mind not commenting on my age while I'm explaining things?" Cassie glared at her dad. "It's worse than Slitheen farting. Anyway. You're thick. You don't notice that there's a great big spatiotemporal rift running through the city of Cardiff. But I notice. I've known all along about the Rift. All of us have!" She motioned around the room to the Children of Time. "And when I first landed in Cardiff after coming through the parallel world, I noticed something was off. The Rift seemed weirdly active, like something was using it. Okay, red flag number one: I'm a fifteen-year-old Time Lord. That's practically an infant. The fact that I was able to open up holes in reality is ridiculous. Red flag number two: like I said, the Rift was weirdly active. I could tell that something was coming. It is the twenty-first century, after all. That's when everything changes, and you've gotta be ready." Jack laughed out loud at this. "I. Am. Talking." He shut up quickly. "Thank you. Blimey. Anyway. So, I could tell that the walls of reality were weakening and the Rift was weirdly active, and I started getting ready. I began making… this." She pulled a little gizmo from her pocket. "Time lock," she explained. "Wired to the coordinates of the city of Cardiff. When activated, it freezes the city in time, shutting down the Rift and cutting off the power source you were using for your reality bomb." She grinned broadly. "All of that time energy you were sucking up, gone in one moment."

"Deactivate the time-lock," Alpha commanded. "Or your family and friends will be exterminated."

"Oh, I can't do that," Cassie chuckled. "Really, I can't. It's isomorphically controlled, not linked to my DNA, but to that of the person who activated it."

"Gwen," Jack realized. "You linked it to her! Hold on. Wait. She's stuck down there, and she's the only person who can deactivate it. Doesn't that mean-"

"Oh, please," Cassie turned to Jack. "Like I'd strand her and the rest of them down there. No, the TARDIS is safe from the time lock. This thing-" she held up the gizmo "-recorded Gwen's exact coordinates when she activated the time lock, and when I plug those coordinates into the TARDIS, it'll materialize around her. She'll unfreeze and she can undo the time lock. All back to normal."

"But we don't have the TARDIS," the Doctor said softly.

"Oh, really?" Cassie grinned as they heard the whooshing of the engines behind them. "You forgot something, Dad…"

"Guess what?" Rose Tyler asked as she stepped out of the TARDIS. "I'm a Time Lord!" She gave her trademarked cheeky grin. "I can fly this thing!" She turned to the Doctor. "Missed me?"

"Oi, save the domestics," Cassie interrupted. "Mum, would you mind-"

"On it," Rose grinned. She ran for the controls and began pushing buttons. "Holding cells deactivated. Come on, you two. Let's start sending planets home."

"Hold on," said Cassie." She held her screwdrive in the air and it whirred. "There we go. It's sort of like a cordolaine signal," she explained. "Messes around with the metal that makes up their egg beaters and stops their lasers." She ran for the control and pulled a lever. "Let's turn on the spin cycle!"

The Daleks began spinning in circles. "Help me!" one shouted.

"Okay, now we can send planets home. Activate the magnetron!" Cassie began flicking switches. Meanwhile, Jack ran for the TARDIS.

"Stop this at once!" Davros screamed.

"Mickey!" Jack tossed Mickey a mega-gun, keeping the other one for himself.

"You will desist!" Davros commanded.

"Just stay where you are, mister," Mickey said, pointing the honking big gun.

"Out of the way!" Jack pushed a spinning Dalek out of the way, while Sarah Jane and Donna manhandled another.

"Nice to meet you in person," said Sarah Jane.

"Likewise," Donna grinned.

"Ready?" Cassie said excitedly. "And... reverse!" They began pulling out rods, sending the planets home.

"Off you go, Clom!" the Doctor laughed.

"Back home, Adipose Three!" Cassie pulled out a rod and chucked it on the ground.

"Shallacatop, Pyrovillia and the Lost Moon of Poosh. Sorted. Yes!" Rose nearly did a dance.

Suddenly, Alpha appeared in the Vault. "The Vault will be purged. You will all be exterminated!" He zapped the control panel.

"Like I was saying, feel this!" Jack shot Alpha with the mega-gun and the Supreme Dalek was supremely exploded.

"Oh, we've lost the magnetron," the Doctor said softly. "And there's only one planet left. Oh, guess which one." He showed them all the Earth, still in the Medusa Cascade. But we can use the TARDIS." He began to head for the TARDIS.

"Wait," said Cassie. "We can't use the TARDIS until the time lock is undone. And we can't leave the Crucible with this lot able to access the Earth. They have to be stopped." She sighed. "Dad, I'm so sorry for this." And she snapped her fingers.

The TARDIS doors flew open and golden light began to pour from the console and into Cassie.

"No…" Rose whispered. "Cassie, no, don't-"

"What is the meaning of this?!" Davros asked.

"I am the Bad Wolf," Cassie said softly. "I create myself. I see all of time and space, and I see what the Daleks will do if they survive. And I decree… no more!" Every single Dalek began to shimmer and turn to golden dust. "I am so sorry," the girl whispered, and she exhaled, releasing the energy and following the light through the TARDIS doors, slamming them shut.


Hey everyone! Chapter twenty-three is here! Poor Cassie, she feels so badly about what she did.

Cassie is coming to a close. After the end of this rewrite, the story will end. But don't worry! You have not seen the last of Cassandra Yvonne Tyler! As to how you'll see her again… spoilers!

As always, love and ducks to Rachel and Jubilee, hugs to reviewers, thanks to Eleonora, Noe, Hanul, and Kizzie, and BABY BANANAS FOR ALL!

Love,

Ofelia xxxx