Chapter 3

Montana Tower

The TARDIS materialized in the Montana Tower's top floor. The entire tower was on lockdown and the soldiers of Henry Montana's private army aimed at the TARDIS when it appeared out of thin air. The Doctor came out and had his hands raised in the air.

"Put your weapons down," said Montana as he came out of his office.

"Sir," said the lead solider. They put their weapons down.

Montana looked at the Doctor and said, "Please tell me those aren't what I think they are, Doctor."

"I can't tell you that, Montana," said the Doctor.

"So the Daleks are back," said Montana.

The Russos and Harper stepped out of the TARDIS and stood next to the Doctor as the Doctor answered Montana and said, "Yeah, they're back and with a vengeance, and you do realize that your tower is the only one left."

"That's because of the shield. It was one of Tesla Howard's projects and it turned out to be very important."

"Could I possibly see the shield's power source," said the Doctor, "It is incredibly powerful."

Harper went up to the Doctor and said, "New York has just been destroyed and you're asking about a shield and its strength. Why?"

"Because this is the only safe place in the city and I want to know how much more the shield can hold," the Doctor explained. Right after that, the noise ripped throughout the building.

"What's that noise?" asked Theresa.

"The Daleks are blasting away at the shielding," said the Doctor, "We have less time then we thought. Take us there now!"
"Understood," said Montana.

They all went to the central elevator and made their way down to floor 82 that controlled the shields. Montana and his men left first and the Doctor and the Russos followed him. Montana walked to a generator and said, "This is powering the shield."

The Doctor looked at the machine and smiled, "That's cheating."

"What's cheating?" asked Alex.

"This isn't Vampire technology. This is Time Lord technology. That explains why the shield hasn't failed yet," said the Doctor, "But as much bombardment that the shield is taking it won't hold out for much longer, especially if the Daleks keep it going," explained the Doctor.

Outside

Several Daleks flew up to the Supreme Dalek. The first one asked, "You called us."

"Pierce the to-wers shield and send troops in to kill Time Lord," said the Supreme Dalek, "This Time Lord could be a ren-e-gade Time Lord and I want proof that the Lord of Time is dead be-fore the to-wer is des-troyed. Kill the Time Lord be-fore the to-wer."

All the Daleks said in unison, "We o-bey."

All but one Dalek flew away.

"What is it?" asked the Supreme Dalek.

"The Time Lord in there is not just a-no-ther Time Lord," said the Dalek.

"How do you know?" asked the Supreme Dalek.

"The time cap-sule reg-is-ters as ob-so-lete mo-del. On-ly a hand-ful of Time Lords use ob-so-lete time cap-sules. The most no-ta-ble is the Doc-tor," said the Dalek.

The Supreme Dalek grew nervous, and flew closer to the other Dalek and moved its eyestalk to the Montana Tower. It zoomed in and said, "If it is the Doc-tor, we need to be ex-tra care-ful."

The Dalek looked at the Supreme Dalek and asked, "Are you sc-ared?"

"Da-leks do not feel fear!" the Supreme Dalek snapped, "Do not tell o-thers of this."

"Why?" asked the Dalek.

"I am Su-preme and you will o-bey me!"

"I o-bey," the Dalek said and flew off.

Montana Tower

Everyone but Alex and the Doctor had left the room. The Doctor stayed behind and studied the generator and grew increasingly grim. He was laying on the ground and shook his head at what he saw. "This isn't good."

"What is it?" asked Alex. She was standing several feet away from the Doctor.

"Tesla Howard started the generator but never got it to maximum efficiency. It's great of strength, but not stamina. The power's going to run out soon," said the Doctor.

"How soon?" asked Alex.

"Within a few hours and that is being generous," said the Doctor.

"How bad are they?" asked Alex, "I know you've explained them to me, but I just don't understand how something like that could exist."

"I couldn't fathom it either, but I gave up on trying to understand them ages ago," the Doctor said, "I dedicated my life to stopping them whenever we meet. I first met them so long ago when I was still under 500 years old. I've practically won everytime we meet. They are the one species I hate and I am the only thing they fear. They can swear up and down they don't fear anything, but mention my name and they freak out."

"Those things actually fear something," said Alex, "They wiped out the city in a few minutes. They could take over the world in days."

"Probably less than that, Alex," the Doctor stated, "They are the perfect killing machines. They're strictly organized, cold, calculating and they are the very embodiment of hate. You what's sickening a way. The Daleks are one the most pure creatures in the universe if not the most pure. You know what they want and they will anything to achieve that goal. There is nothing you can do to change their minds. They will never surrender and they will never deter from their goal of extermination of all life."

"Will we die?" asked Alex.

"What?" asked the Doctor. He stood up and looked at Alex. He walked over to her and put his hands on her shoulder and told her, "You won't die. I won't let them kill you. I promise you that."

Alex put her head down and started to shake a little. Her eyes were tearing up and she said, "I'm scared. You say they'll kill us as soon as they see us without any second thought, and I..."

Alex couldn't finish and broke down. The Doctor asked her, "What is it?"

"And I can't use any magic," Alex choked, "I've tried ever since the Rift opened, but nothing's happened."

"Alex, the Rift is open," said the Doctor, "You won't be able to use magic. Neither will Justin nor Max. The type of time energy that is erupting from the Rift is canceling out your type of time energy that you call magic."

"So that means I'm useless," said Alex.

"Don't say that," said the Doctor, "You're not useless. You're incredibly valuable."

"How?" asked Alex.

"You're sneaky and cunning for one," said the Doctor.

Alex turned and walked a few feet away and said, "To everyone but you. You can see right through my schemes."

"That doesn't mean everyone else can. You're unpredictable," said the Doctor, "That's what's good in a fight against Daleks. Aside from being one of the most pure species, they are also the most predictable and that is their greatest weakness."

"What else do I have?" asked Alex.

"You spirit for one," said the Doctor.

"What does that mean?" asked Alex.

"You do what you want and you don't care what others think about you. That may not seem important, but that will in your future," said the Doctor.

"Doctor, you promise we'll make it through this?" asked Alex.

"I promise you. I promise you on my fourteen lives that we will make it through this."

Alex walked up to the Doctor and hugged him. He hugged her back and she cried in his chest and said, "Thank you."

The Doctor thought to himself, I really hope we make it.

Floor 100

The other Russos and Harper were on the lounge floor and all they could do was sit and wait for something, just anything, to happen. The Doctor was down on floor 82 with Alex doing something with the shield generator. Everyone knew the situation was grim. Even Max and his randomness was silent. He looked emotionless and was staring at the floor.

"Do you think that the Doctor can fix this?" asked Theresa.

"I'm sure he'll find some way to stop the Daleks," said Jerry.

"I don't know if he can," said Justin, "Those Daleks crushed the UNIT forces and destroyed the city in minutes and tearing a hole in reality is no small feat even for magic. Not only that, but our magic isn't working. I have no idea why, but I think it was from the Rift opening. I know the Doctor is a very resourceful man and has saved us time and time again, but even he's scared. Who wouldn't be?"

"Of course he's scared. It's only..." Harper started.

"Human?" interrupted Justin, "In case you hadn't noticed, he's not human."

"But he seems human," said Theresa, "For an alien, he cares for us so much."

"Yeah, but we really don't know much about him," said Jerry, "Maybe it was him who helped the Daleks escape."

"I don't think so. He's been with us a year and that kind of rage and hate could not be practiced. Those were genuine reactions to the Daleks," said Harper, "When you spend as much time around Alex as I do, you have to know what's real and what's just a scheme."

"Speaking of Alex," said Theresa, "She trusts him with all her life and whenever she's around him, she isn't as cynical as she is any other time."

"I know," said Jerry, "She likes him and she likes him a lot. The Doctor on the other hand is a hard book to read. I can't tell if he feels the same way again."

"The Doctor and I talked back in March when Alex was pregnant with that shapeshifter thing," said Harper, "He practically told me that he wasn't sure if he had actual feeling for Alex or if they were remnants of the feelings he had for the woman he loved a long time ago."

"What?" asked Justin, "The Doctor loved someone?"

"Yes," Harper answered, "He said that Alex reminded him of her. I think he said her name was Romana."

"Romana?" asked Jerry, "What kind of name is that?"

"She was a Time Lady," said Harper, "She was the only one that the Doctor said he would settle down with and stop his travels. He sees Romana in Alex."

"Is that why he spends so much time with her?" asked Jerry.

"Not only that," said Harper, "He sees himself in her."

"Really?" asked Justin, "He was a schemer like her?"

"You have no idea. They are so much alike it's scary," said Harper. She turned her attention to Justin, "He told me that he was troublemaker in his childhood and Academy years. He was a brilliant Time Lord and was a genius, but just like Alex, he didn't have the patience to apply himself. Everything came so simple to the Doctor even if he never did anything."

"Yep, that sounds like Alex, especially with her magic," said Justin.

"Has Alex gotten into an argument or harassed you recently?" asked Harper. She looked at Max and said, "Both of you."

"No," was all Max could say. He was gone and still in shock. For all his randomness and craziness, this all too much even for him. He couldn't handle it as well as the others, but it wasn't like they were handling it good either.

Justin on the other hand managed to get out complete sentences, "No, Alex really hasn't. Why?"

"Because the Doctor's told her not to," said Harper, "He told me that he had a younger sister and a younger brother. His sister's name was June and they always fought throughout childhood. When they were adults, she hated him and never wanted to see him again. He went to apologize for all he had done to her during their years together and he forgave her for all she had done to him. She was not as forgiving.

"His relationship with his brother, Braxatiel, was the complete opposite. He would always be there for his brother and never left his side. Even when the Doctor rebelled, Braxatiel stayed close and talked whenever they could. They were always on good terms up until Braxatiel died in the Time War."

"I didn't know he had a brother and sister," said Theresa.

"He said this family mirrors his," said Harper.

"Really?" asked Justin, "Did the Doctor's family have a friend that lived with them and considered another sibling."

"Yes," said Harper, "It was the Doctor's best friend, the Master. They were so close, they were like brothers, but as the decades went on, they grew more and more apart until one day his friend grew to hate him with all he was and since then, they have been at war with each other. They were labeled by the Time Lords as the Enmity of Ages. The Doctor vs. the Master. He said that Alex and I weren't going down the same path because I wasn't trying to be like her. I was my own person and I know that. That was something the Master didn't do. His jealousy overcame him and he wanted the Doctor to suffer."

"I didn't know any of that," said Justin.

"So please don't assume things about the Doctor before you actually get to know him," replied Harper.

Floor 82

The Doctor stood in the doorway to the generator room and smelled something from the generator. He walked up to it and his eyes widened, "Oh no."

"What is it?" asked Alex.

"Shield weakened on floors 97-101," said the Doctor, "Your family's on floor 100. They are in the weak zone. The Daleks will be able to get through."

"What?" asked Alex.

"We have to get there now!" said the Doctor. The both of them ran to the elevator and pressed the button for floor 100.

Floor 100

An explosion shook the floor and the Russos and Harper jumped up.

"What was that?" asked Harper.

"I don't know," said Justin.

Then they heard the scream and the blasts. Through it all they heard one word constantly being repeated. It was the word exterminate.

After several minutes, the doors to room they were in exploded. Three Daleks came into the room and saw the five humans standing there. The first Dalek said, "Hu-mans. Ex-ter-min-ate. Ex-ter-min-ate. Ex-ter-min-ate."

The Russos and Harper stared in horror as the Daleks aimed their weapons at them