Disclaimer: I don't own "Doctor Who", "Twilight", or the "Princesses" series; you know the drill
Feedback: Much appreciated
AN: Hope you like this; Omega was a bit tricky to get just right- the fact that he's barking mad by this point makes it easier and harder, really- but I think I include enough interesting twists to make up for that
The Perils of Lorindar
As we clambered down the cave towards Omega's fortress, I couldn't believe that I was actually doing this; no matter how often I told myself that I was travelling with Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, and Snow White, it just never seemed to sink in, even before I thought about what we were doing…
I supposed that I should just stop thinking that I understood how the world worked and accept everything I found as it was; ever since I'd witnessed Edward saving me from the car, I should have just accepted that the world was far from what I'd been brought up to believe and promise myself not to be surprised by anything else I might learn. I might have had to go through significant leaps of faith to accommodate everything I'd learned since meeting the Doctor, but he'd managed to teach me so many fascinating secrets that it was easy to cope with some of the shocks I'd been presented with since then. Even now, as we climbed down the side of a cliff to face a megalomaniac who was a legendary figure among even the Doctor's people, I was able to focus more on the fact that I was travelling with fairy-tale characters I would never have managed to meet before rather than worrying about what we were up against.
Even the climb down the cliff wasn't as worrying as it would have been before I joined the Doctor. I wasn't sure if it was his simple confidence in me or something extra in that 'universal vaccine' he'd given me when I started travelling with him to protect me from infections, but I just felt so much more confident now than I ever would have felt before; even in such a precarious position, my past clumsiness seemed to be just that…
"We're here," Talia said from further down, prompting me to take a brief glance downwards and accelerate my progress so that I could join the three princesses and the Doctor. Standing at the mouth of the cave, it didn't seem to be anything more interesting than a gap in the rock, but a glow of light coming from further inside made it clear that there was something else in there.
"I'm pretty sure he didn't notice me before, but he'll probably hear us now whatever we do," Talia said, indicating the rough path before us; one person could probably cross it in silence if they knew what they were doing, but all five of us would never manage it. "If he's as powerful as the Doctor seems to think he can be, we need to try and catch him off-guard; the second we get a chance, we need to hit him hard before everything goes to Hell-"
"Once I've had a chance to talk to him," the Doctor said.
"Talk to him?" Danielle repeated, looking at my friend in surprise. "After everything you've told us about him-?"
"He's still one of my people," the Doctor said solemnly. "That makes him my responsibility."
The three princesses looked awkwardly at each other for a moment at that statement, but finally Danielle nodded in confirmation of the Doctor's statement.
"All right," she said solemnly. "You can talk to him first… just so long as you know we're ready to stop him."
"Of course," the Doctor confirmed, smiling gratefully at Danielle before he turned his attention back to the cave ahead of us, setting off for the light at the end (I really wished I hadn't thought of that analogy). As we approached the light, it soon became clear that we were approaching the area that Talia had sketched for us earlier, but seeing it in real life made it far more intense; even without any captive fairies immediately visible, it was as though the machines here all practically radiated menace as they waited for the chance to perform their twisted functions, breaking down living beings to benefit their sick master…
No sooner had that thought crossed my mind then a figure stepped out from behind one of the larger machines, and I suddenly felt like I was going to be sick. The new arrival was dressed in long dark robes with gold 'trim' around the edges, and had a thick head of blond hair that hung down around its forehead, but the skin was a sickly green that I could only compare to a toad's, and there were deep shadows around the eyes that added to the face's skull-like appearance.
"Doctor…" he said, his voice sounding hoarse and withered as he looked at my friend.
"Hello, Omega," the Doctor said, nodding grimly at the other man. "I see you still look like me."
"You?" Talia said, looking between Omega and the Doctor in confusion. "He's nothing like-"
"The old me," the Doctor clarified, shaking his head slightly. "Of course, it looks like the degeneration's struck again; I take it your period of stability when we last met didn't last?"
"It did not, Doctor," Omega practically spat, looking contemptuously at the other Time Lord. "The convertor gun forced me back into a stable form once I managed to bring myself back together in your world, as you are fully aware, but once I had returned to my anti-matter realm, my body soon began to decay as I established my presence once more. I was able to protect myself from the worst of the damage with the mask I used before, but it is only a matter of time before I am once again in the condition I faced when we met…"
"Back up a minute; what do you mean, he looks like the old you?" Snow interjected, looking between Omega and the Doctor in confusion. "Even if you gave him better skin, he still doesn't look like you!"
"Not in this body, no; I looked like that- with better skin, among other things- a few lifetimes ago," the Doctor explained. "As Bella will confirm, my people have the ability to… recreate our bodies when faced with imminent death; I've done it quite a few times by now. Omega's current appearance is a result of his last attempt to escape his prison by creating a copy of my old body that he could use in place of his own; it's flawed, but it lets him remain active here."
"So… because he didn't have his own body, he copied yours?" Snow said, looking thoughtfully at Omega. "I never even imagined anyone could do something like that…"
"You could make an argument that he didn't," the Doctor explained. "The process was inherently unstable; he began to decay shortly after the transfer was completed-"
"Because you interrupted it, Doctor-!" Omega began.
"Because you were going to subvert the Matrix and take complete control of our systems; did you really expect Gallifrey to just lie down and let that happen?" the Doctor countered. "I mean, maybe some of that was because we didn't know who was doing all that, but you can't have seriously expected to just come back after millennia away and expect to be put in charge because you did one thing long ago; it doesn't work that way!"
I noticed Talia tense slightly off to the side, as though she didn't entirely agree with something that the Doctor had said, but I decided not to worry about that; this was hardly the time to try and talk with her about anything anyway, so long as she didn't try to attack the Doctor.
"It was my right to rule, Doctor!" Omega said, glaring at my friend. "I created the Gallifrey you knew-!"
"So why are you doing this now?" the Doctor interrupted, his words assuming that harsh tone I'd come to recognise from when he had to think about what he'd had to do to Gallifrey. "Even if you've changed your mind about wanting to stay in the anti-matter universe, we both know that Gallifrey's gone; there's nothing for you here any more!"
"Oh, but there is," Omega said, smirking at the Doctor in satisfaction as he raised one hand, a fireball appearing in his palm as he studied my friend's reaction. "For one, as you can see, I am close to mastering what I seek…"
"The power of this world's magic?" the Doctor asked, shaking his head as he looked at the fireball. "Impressive stuff, I'm sure, but you're not a Carrionite, Omega; whatever you've done to yourself, you don't have the ability to channel Odic energy back home-"
"You understand so little of this world, Doctor," Omega said, shaking his head as he smirked at the other Time Lord. "Using the fairies I have captured as my teachers and my source of power, I have mastered the secrets of this world's magic and imbued myself with its energies. I am not merely another one of this world's magicians; in many ways, I have made this world's magic part of myself, in the same way that the anti-matter universe was once an extension of my will…"
"And what do you intend to do with that power?" Danielle asked, her stance firm as she tightened her grip on her sword; whether or not Omega knew what that weapon could do, based on how it had cut through his guards, it should be able to do something to him.
"What else?" Omega said, smirking as he looked at the Doctor. "Once my control over the power is certain, I will return to our universe, free of the tedium of infinite power without putting myself at risk by completely depriving myself of the protection offered by that power, and then… well, the possibilities are endless-"
"Endlessly dangerous; do you really think it's that simple?" the Doctor asked, looking at his former hero with contempt. "Not only have you been killing innocent creatures to take that power, but the first thing you did with your new body when you arrived in our universe the last time was kill someone just to take his clothes! Do you really think that you have the right to go back-?"
"And you believe that you have the right to question me?" Omega countered. "You have destroyed entire races-!"
"The time you're thinking of was a tragic accident that I committed in haste and always regretted afterwards, and every other time I was in a situation where it was them or countless innocents; you can't say the same for your crime," the Doctor said, glaring at Omega. "Besides, I've never sought power, so that's not relevant-"
"And my past is not relevant either, Doctor!" Omega interrupted. "I have learned from what I have done-"
"You once talked about destroying the universe because it would make an interesting spectacle, Omega; I'm not willing to put our future in the hands of someone who thought like that, even if you weren't killing people just to ensure your own security," the Doctor said firmly, shifting to a combat stance as he reached into his pocket. "Besides, I'm willing to bet that you're not at your peak yet- you've never been one to hang around when you didn't have to be somewhere for some reason- which means that if I just do this-!"
Before anyone could react, the Doctor pulled out his sonic screwdriver and held it above his head, the device emitting a high-pitched whistling shriek as the princesses and I pressed our hands to our ears. Omega and the Doctor didn't seem to be as bothered by the noise as we were, but the reason for the Doctor's actions suddenly became clear as the various equipment around us suddenly began to emit sparks before whole panels exploded, leaving the six of us standing amid smoking panels that were almost certainly in no state to be used right now.
"I had to deal with an odic energy-form a couple of lives back, Omega; the magic here isn't quite the same, but I was able to adjust the screwdriver software to compensate for its presence," the Doctor explained, casually tossing the small device into the air before putting it back in his pocket. "So, with your equipment shorted out, that's your efforts cut-"
Roaring in rage, Omega lashed out with one hand in a broad, sweeping gesture, knocking the Doctor into a nearby device before the rest of us could react (I was relieved to see the princesses automatically move into an offensive stance; they might not know the Doctor as well as I do, but even if his words raised some questions, they at least seemed willing to accept that Omega was the real problem right now).
"My power may not be permanent yet, Doctor, but I retain enough for this!" the ancient Gallifreyian roared, holding out his other hand and waving it in a 'come here' gesture that almost instantly summoned a new wave of 'gel-guards' into his presence. "And you shall pay for trying to defy my destiny!"
As soon as the first creature had emerged, Danielle drew her sword and charged forward, lashing out with a powerful blow that eliminated the nearest guard, Snow taking hold of her choker and beginning to chant further spells under her breath while Talia drew her knives and the Doctor scrambling back to his feet as he brandished the sonic screwdriver and his ring-wearing hand in what was probably meant to be a threatening manner while trying to move away from the fighting.
"Bella!" Talia suddenly called to me just as I was trying to find a safe place to hide from the imminent fight, throwing me a long cloak of what looked like wolfskin with some kind of red inner lining. "Put that on!"
I didn't have time to ask what the cloak could do us; in the world which created Earth's fairy-tales, it was probably best to take everything as it came and hope for the best. Shrugging the cloak on, I was suddenly struck by the sensation that it was tightening around me, and I wondered for a moment if Talia was trying to trigger some kind of sacrifice ritual as I felt my bones shifting inside me, but then I found myself on the ground, my hands now paws and my nose stretched out in front of my face, and I realised what had happened.
I might not be close to any kind of reflective surface, but I was suddenly sure that I was now some kind of wolf… and even if I obviously wasn't as large as Jake and his pack were, I also knew with the same cold certainty that I was now far more powerful than I'd been as a human, which meant that I could really do something now…
Without even thinking about it, I lunged for the nearest gel-guard, my teeth sinking into its hide; I was suddenly thrown back with a powerful jolt, as though someone had shoved an electric wire in my mouth, but I soon shook that sensation off as I focused on my target, satisfied to see the gel-guard staggering away with a distinctive hole in its side, its body collapsing down as I watched.
"What did you give her?" I heard the Doctor ask, anxiety just detectable in his voice as I positioned myself in front of the three princesses, my friend at the back of the group, growling at the remaining guards as they gathered protectively around Omega.
"It belonged to Roudette; I… inherited it after she died last month," Talia explained; I felt the urge to attack as the guards took up what even my limited combat experience recognised as a defensive formation, but I fought it down to listen and learn more about whatever had just happened to me. "It transforms the wearer into a powerful wolf with natural instincts for combat; considering Bella's lack of experience and the numbers against us, I thought it could give her a useful edge."
"Ah," the Doctor said, his neutral tone giving away nothing about his thoughts on the fact that someone had just basically turned me into a weapon. "And who was Roudette?"
"You'd probably know her better as the Lady of the Red Hood."
"Little Red Riding Hood?" the Doctor repeated; I didn't need to see my friend to know that he was looking between Talia and I with an ever-broadening smile. "You have Little Red Riding Hood's cloak?"
"She wasn't exactly 'little' when she died-" Snow began.
"ENOUGH!" Omega yelled, thrusting one hand forward in a gesture that sent all five of us flying backwards, forcing me to spin in the air to land back on my feet as the Doctor and the princesses were sent sprawling to the ground.
Getting quickly to my feet, I noticed that the others seemed to be taking longer to recover from the attack, but instincts took over once again as I charged towards Omega, who was staring at me in shock for so long that I was able to leap onto him before he could launch another assault. Before I even realised I'd done it, I had bitten down and torn his hand off at the wrist, the taste of blood inflaming the wolf's thirst as I continued to slash and tear at him with my claws, exposing further mottled green skin and a dark substance that could have been blood if it weren't for the consistency even if the taste was the same.
If I'd been thinking rationally, my ferocity would have terrified me, but the whole point of my current state was that I wasn't thinking rationally; all I could think of was the desire to rip, tear, kill-
Something struck me in the chest with such force that I would have compared it to being hit by a vampire, except that this blow just winded me without cracking any ribs even if it sent me flying backwards.
I might be a mystically-enhanced wolf now, but it was clear that we were going to need more than this if we were going to stop Omega…
As Talia leapt over me to charge at the gel-guards once again, this time holding what looked like Danielle's sword, I decided to focus on what I could control right now; after so long being stuck as the helpless victim relying on everyone else to protect me, I had a chance to fight, and I was going to enjoy it. Diving back into battle alongside Talia, I slashed out at the gel-guards around me every chance I got, each blow knocking one of the strange blob-things off-balance and into a position where I could bite at it.
The creatures' numbers were obviously far larger than they'd appeared at first, and they seemed to be learning some kind of tactics as the fight went on- they weren't moving faster, but they were able to evade Talia's use of Danielle's blade, and they were taking care to shoot at me in particular- but their focus on us still made them relatively easy to fight; my wolf-body instinctively knew what to do, and Talia's skills at hand-to-hand were just incredible, while the guards didn't seem to know what to do when faced with an enemy that could actually hurt them. I heard Omega yelling from behind them, but there were too many guards around me to get to him; the cave was just too cramped…
I wasn't sure how I'd been fighting before the scent of blood from behind prompted me to spin anxiously around, but all I saw when I looked in that direction was Danielle, Snow and the Doctor, with Snow's hands bleeding but the sorceress apparently unharmed and no sign of another enemy. I had just started to wonder what she was doing when the Doctor pulled his shirt open- jacket and tie already discarded to one side- take what looked like one of Talia's knives, and stab himself in the right side of his chest.
AN 2: To anyone who worries that I'm going insane after ending a chapter like this, I do have a plan for what the Doctor just did there; without giving away too many spoilers, it involves the remaining elements of Snow's story I haven't addressed yet, and you'll find out more in the next chapter…
