Chapter Six:
And there Scarlett was; in a spaceship with the Doctor while he faced his greatest enemies. She could tell he was afraid but he was doing a pretty good job at hiding it.
"All hail the new Daleks! All hail the new Daleks!" screeched the army Daleks.
"You are inferior! Cleanse the unclean! Total obliteration! Disintegrate!" said the white Dalek before two of its colourful henchmen – or henchdaleks in this case – shot their khaki covered copies.
"Blimey, what do you do to the ones who mess up?" asked the Doctor sarcastically.
Ah, I couldn't be more proud of him, Scarlett smiled.
"You are the Doctor! You must be exterminated!" the white Dalek spoke again, causing Scarlett to grip the Doctor's hand tightly in fear and for her smile to drop. But he wasn't fazed. Instead, he just held up the 'TARDIS self-destruct button' and said "Don't mess with me, sweetheart!"
"We are the paradigm of a new Dalek race," said the pasty Dalek who was clearly the leader in all of this. "Scientist, Strategist, Drone, Eternal, and the Supreme."
"Which would be you, I'm guessing? Well, you know, nice paint job. I'd be feeling pretty swish if I looked like you. Pretty supreme," commented the Doctor. "Question is; what do we do now? Either you turn off your clever machine or I'll blow you and your new paradigm into eternity."
"Including yourself and your companion," bleated the Dalek.
"Occupational hazard," Scarlett said; eyeing up the blue Dalek that definitely looked like it was up to something… other than trying to kill planet Earth, obviously.
"Scan reveals nothing! TARDIS self-destruct device non-existent!" said the blue Dalek.
So it was up to something.
"Alright!" said the Doctor, lifting the Jammie Dodger to his mouth and taking a bite. "It's a Jammie Dodger, but I was promised tea!"
A siren sounded overhead and the blue Dalek slid over to a screen to inspect it. "Alert! Unidentified projectile approaching!" It paused, "Correction; multiple projectiles!"
"What have the humans done?" asked the white Dalek. If it had a face, Scarlett was pretty sure it would've looked livid.
"I don't know," said the Doctor honestly.
"Explain! Explain! Explain!"
Then another voice was heard. But it didn't belong to the Doctor, the Daleks, or even Scarlett.
"Danny Boy to the Doctor! Danny Boy to the Doctor! Are you receiving me? Over."
"Oh, Winston, you beauty!" yelled the Doctor, smiling in victory.
"Danny Boy to the Doctor! Come in. Over."
"Loud and clear, Danny Boy! Big dish, side of the ship; blow it up! Over!"
"Exterminate the Doctor!" said the 'Supreme'.
Scarlett's eyes widened and she felt, rather than saw, the Doctor tug on her hand as they ran back to the TARDIS once the Daleks started to fire.
Once in the safety of his blue box, she let out a breath she hadn't realised she'd been holding, the familiarity of the time machine being somewhat comforting.
The Doctor raced over to the console and Scarlett followed him, hearing the voice once more. "Danny Boy to the Doctor... only me left now." Scarlett frowned. Yeah, sure, they were still winning and they would've been in the middle of the London Blitz anyway, but the thought of the other pilots being murdered – especially by the Daleks – sent a chill down her spine. "Anything you can do, sir?"
The Doctor picked up a small microphone and spoke into it. "The Doctor to Danny Boy, the Doctor to Danny Boy. I can disrupt the Dalek shields, but not for long. Over."
"Good show, Doctor, go to it. Over."
Scarlett watched as the Doctor ran around the TARDIS, frantically flicking switches and pulling levers. Her teeth sank into her lower lip as she realised how useless she was being by just standing there.
"Danny Boy to the Doctor... going in for another attack."
"The Doctor to Danny Boy, the Doctor to Danny Boy. Destroy this ship! Over."
"What about you and Miss Watkins, Doctor?"
"We'll be okay," Scarlett said, the Doctor giving her a small smile in return.
The conversation ended up abruptly as the ever-persistent white Dalek appeared on screen.
"Doctor! Call off your attack," it said.
"Ah-ha, what? And let you scuttle off back to the future? No fear. This is the end for you. The final end!" replied the Doctor.
"Call off the attack, or we will destroy the Earth," the Dalek threatened.
"I'm not stupid, mate! You've just played your last card!" he replied confidently.
"Bracewell is a bomb," it stated simply.
Scarlett was surprised she hadn't drawn blood yet with the ferocity she was biting her lip at. Bracewell couldn't be a bomb. He was a living, breathing, human being… Wasn't he?
"You're bluffing. Deception's second nature to you. There isn't a sincere bone in your body," the Doctor paused, "There isn't a bone in your body."
"His power is derived from an Oblivion Continuum! Call off your attack, or we will detonate the android."
Now Scarlett had no clue what an Oblivion Continuum was, but judging by the expression on the Doctor's face, it was bad. Very bad.
"No!" snapped the Doctor. "This is my best chance ever! The last of the Daleks! I can rid the Universe of you, once and for all!"
"Then do it. But we will shatter the planet below! The Earth will die screaming!"
Scarlett shuddered. How can someone – or something – be so heartless?
"And if I let you go, you'll be stronger than ever. A new race of Daleks."
Scarlett placed her hand on the Doctor's arm. She wasn't sure why. She knew it wasn't going to make him feel any better about his decision but she guessed it was just to let him know that she was there. And he seemed to appreciate it because he glanced at her gratefully.
"Then choose, Doctor! Destroy the Daleks or save the Earth. Begin countdown of Oblivion Continuum! Choose, Doctor! Choose! Choose!"
In that moment, Scarlett learned why the Doctor hated those vile things so much. They cared about nothing but themselves and would stop at nothing to get the power they thought they deserved. For God's sake, they even killed two of their own kind out there.
"Doctor…" Scarlett said, "It's okay. We both know what you have to do."
And it was true. They both knew that he was going to do what he always does; save the Earth.
He nodded almost faintly before picking up the microphone again.
"The Doctor to Danny Boy, the Doctor to Danny Boy. Withdraw."
"Say again, Sir. Over."
"Withdraw! Return to Earth. Over and out."
"But Sir –"
"There's no time, you have to return to Earth now! Over!"
Then he pulled a lever down, and sent them both travelling back to Earth.
The Doctor and Scarlett ran in and before anyone could even think of saying a word, he punched Bracewell in the jaw, knocking him straight to the ground.
"Doctor!" yelled Amy as he shook his hand out in pain.
"We're sorry, Professor, but you're a bomb!" Scarlett explained.
"An inconceivably massive Dalek bomb," added the Doctor.
"What?" asked Bracewell.
"There's an Oblivion Continuum inside you - a captured wormhole that provides perpetual power. Detonate that, and the Earth will bleed through into another dimension! Now keep down!" The Doctor knelt down next to Bracewell, opening his shirt and using his sonic to reveal mechanics underneath.
There was a circular pad divided into sections glowing blue on Bracewell's chest. The first section turned yellow.
"Well?" asked Amy.
"I don't know!" said the Doctor, "Never seen one up close before!"
"So, what, they've wired him up to detonate?"
"Not wired him up! He is a bomb. Walking, talking –" he paused to make an exploding sound – "exploding. The moment that flashes red."
"There's... a blue wire or something you have to cut, isn't there? There's always a blue wire! Or a red one…" Amy tried desperately.
"You're not helping!" said the Doctor. "Bracewell, tell me about your life! Tell me and prove you're human. Tell me everything."
One section of Bracewell's chest was red and the second was yellow.
"My family ran the Post Office. It's a little place just near the abbey. Just by the ash trees. There used to be eight trees but... but there was a storm."
The Doctor tried to hurry him along, "And your parents? Come on! Tell me!"
"Good people. Kind people. They... They died. Scarlet fever."
"What was that like? How did it feel? How did it make you feel, Edwin? Tell me! Tell me now!"
"It hurt. It hurts, Doctor, so badly. Like a wound," he frowned. The second section turned red and the third was yellow. "It was worse than a wound. Like I'd been emptied out. There was nothing."
"Good. Remember it now, Edwin! The ash trees by the Post Office and your mum and dad and losing them and men in the trenches you saw die... Remember it! Feel it, because you're human!" The third section was red now. "You're not like them. You are not like the Daleks!"
"It hurts! Doctor, it hurts so much!"
"Good! Good! Good! Brilliant! Embrace it," said the Doctor. "That means you're alive! They cannot explode that bomb, you're a human being! You are flesh and blood! They cannot explode that bomb! Believe it! You are Professor Edwin Bracewell! And you, my friend, are a human being!"
But it wasn't stopping the Daleks. The fifth section was red now.
"It's not working, I can't stop it!"
Scarlett paused. She had to do something, didn't she? Thinking about his home didn't work; neither did the thought of his parents. What else was there?
And then she had it.
Quickly, Scarlett knelt down on the opposite side of Bracewell. "Hey Paisley," she said, using the nickname Amy had given him, "Ever fancied someone you know you shouldn't?"
Bracewell looked utterly confused, "W-What?"
"Hurts, doesn't it?" she continued, "But kind of a good hurt."
"I really shouldn't talk about her," he replied.
"Ooh, there's a her," smiled Amy, helping Scarlett along.
"What was her name?" asked the Doctor.
"Dorabella."
"Dorabella? That's a lovely name. It's a beautiful name," the Doctor smiled.
"What was she like, Edwin?" Scarlett asked.
"Oh... Such a smile. And her eyes. Her eyes were so blue. Almost violet. Like the last touch of sunset on the edge of the world. Dorabella…"
They then watched as the colours on Edwin's chest faded and the bomb was disarmed.
"Welcome to the human race," Scarlett smiled.
"You're brilliant, you're brilliant, you're brilliant," the Doctor said, pointing to Churchill, Bracewell, and Amy before turning to the youngest of the group. "And you!" He leaned in and kissed her on the forehead before standing up quickly. "Now, gotta stop them! Stop the Daleks!"
"Wait! Doctor! Wait," The Doctor stopped as Bracewell spoke. "It's too late. Gone. They've gone."
"No, no, no! They can't! They can't have got away from me again!"
"No, I can feel it, my mind is clear. The Daleks have gone," he confirmed.
The Doctor leaned against a pole in the room, like all his energy had suddenly been drained.
"Doctor, it's okay! You did it. You stopped the bomb," grinned Amy.
"I had a choice. And they knew I'd choose the Earth. The Daleks have won. They beat me. They've won," mumbled the Doctor, mainly to himself.
"But you saved the Earth! Not too shabby, is it?" she tried.
"Is it?" Scarlett asked.
"No," he answered, a small smile spreading across his lips. "It's not too shabby."
"Stay with us, and help us win through! The world needs you," said Churchill as they all started to say their goodbyes.
"The world doesn't need me," said the Doctor.
"No?"
"The world has Winston Spencer Churchill," he smiled, making the V for Victory sign.
"Goodbye, Doctor."
"Oh, shall we say adieu?" asked the Doctor as the two men hugged.
"Indeed," Churchill replied. "Goodbye, Miss Watkins. Miss Pond."
"It's been amazing. Meeting you," said Amy as Scarlett nodded in agreement.
"I'm sure it has!" he grinned before turning to leave.
"Oi! Churchill!" Scarlett said and he looked round expectantly. Raising her eyebrows with a grin, she held out her hand, "TARDIS key. The one you just took from the Doctor."
The Doctor nearly choked on his tea and quickly patted his pocket, looking for said key.
"Oh, she's good, Doctor. As sharp as a pin!" smiled the Prime Minister, handing Scarlett the key, "Almost as sharp as me!" He walked to the door and yelled back as he left, "KBO!"
The Doctor turned to Scarlett, holding out his hand until she rolled her eyes and gave him back the key.
Pfft, as if I would steal it from him, Scarlett thought grumpily.
"I've been expecting you, Doctor. I knew this moment had to come," said Bracewell as they entered his office before taking their leave.
"Moment?" he asked.
"It's time to de-activate me," the man sighed, "You have no choice. I'm Dalek technology. Can't allow me to go pottering around down here where I have no business."
"No, you're dead right, Professor. 100% right. And by the time I get back here in... What, ten minutes?"
"More like fifteen," shrugged Amy.
"Fifteen minutes, yeah, that's exactly what I'm going to do. You are going to be so de-activated. It's going be like you've never even been... activated."
Scarlett fought the urge to laugh. He was such a bad liar.
"Fifteen minutes?" Bracewell asked.
"More like twenty, if I'm honest. Once the girls and I see to the urgent thing… we've got to see to. The… the… See?"
"Very well, Doctor. I shall wait here and prepare myself."
"That Dalek tech's a little bit slow on the uptake," Scarlett mumbled to both the Doctor and Amy before speaking up again. "That thing we've got to do. Gonna take half an hour, realistically, isn't it, Doctor?"
"Easily! So no running off, that's what I'm saying. Don't go trying to find that little Post Office with the ash trees or that girl... What was her name?"
"Dorabella," he answered.
"Dorabella. On no account go looking for her. Mind you, you can get a lot done in half an hour."
Bracewell smiled and laughed once he realised what they were doing and turned to start packing a suitcase.
"Thank you, thank you, Doctor!"
"Come along, constables," said the Doctor as they made their way back to the TARDIS.
"Constables?" Scarlett asked.
"When I came back, you two pretended to be policewomen. Or have you forgotten?" he asked.
Scarlett let out a small laugh as Amy blushed. It was her idea, after all.
"So, you have enemies then?" Amy said, trying to change the subject.
"Everyone's got enemies."
"Yeah, but mine's the woman outside Budgens with the mental Jack Russell and Scarlett's is the annoying man that works at Tesco, although to be fair, he doesn't even know she hates him. You've got, like, you know, arch-enemies."
"Suppose so."
"And here's me thinking we'd just be running through time, being daft and fixing stuff. But no, it's dangerous," sighed Amy.
"Yep. Very. Is that a problem?" asked the Doctor.
"We're still here, aren't we?" Scarlett smiled slightly. "You're worried about the Daleks."
"I'm always worried about the Daleks," he admitted.
"It'll take time, though, won't it? There's still not many of them. They'll need a while to build themselves up," Amy said, trying her best to make him feel better.
"It's not that. There's something else. Something we've forgotten. Or rather you have," he gestured towards Amy.
"Me?" she frowned.
"You didn't know them, Amy. You'd never seen them before. Scarlett had, and you should have, too. You should have."
The Doctor entered the TARDIS then, leaving Scarlett and a confused Amy to follow.