(A/N) As always, this is for my brilliant Watson. I would apologize, but I am not ashamed of this chapter. It appears that this story has turned more into a crack fic than something more serious. In truth I should have seen this coming, but I hope you all enjoy it anyway. Stay tuned for the last chapter coming soon.
Watson: What have you done? *raises her eyebrow*
Lock: I don't even know anymore sweetie. *shakes her head* On to the chapter!
Third Person POV
Lexi suddenly opened her eyes and everyone froze to see who would be the one in control of her brain. The Doctor knew that she wouldn't have lasted long against the Cyberplanner. They were very tricky and clever, the brain center at the heart of the Cybermen's shared neural core. The Doctor didn't have the heart to tell Sherlock this however seeing the reactions the man had already had. The Doctor felt like he had failed again. Every time, he lost someone, good people and it was his fault because they were with him and under his care. He had lost Rose, Martha had been turned into a soldier, Donna had to forget all of her memories of him, other people had fallen and been lost, and now this girl was going to be lost as well.
"We've come to a bit of a stalemate," Lexi started and everyone immediately knew that this was Cyber Lexi.
"So we've agreed upon a decision," Lexi said her voice slipping back into and Irish accent. The Doctor looked at her in shock as well as River at the fact that Lexi was still Lexi as well. Sherlock smiled at her proudly and she grinned back before the Cyberplanner took control again.
"We'll go with you as we continue our duel," Cyber Lexi said before Lexi took over again, rolling her eyes.
"And she'll kill you if she wins," Lexi told them before Cyber Lexi took over again.
"Will you stop that? You're so irritating," Cyber Lexi fumed and Sherlock chuckled at this as the Doctor practiced his impression of a fish. The Ponds all looked rather impressed over the fact that Lexi had been able to fight the Cyberplanner so far. The Doctor had made it clear that it was supposed to be impossible, yet she was doing it.
"I'm always irritating, it's why people love me," Lexi said with a shrug as she took over again. "We're still fighting to see who wins. As she said, we've hit a bit of a stalemate as we are equally matched," Lexi said before the Cyberplanner took over again.
"You can't even hope to win. Why don't you just give up now? Save yourself the trouble," The Cyberplanner offered and Lexi took over control again and rolled her eyes.
"Hush you," Lexi said before she looked up at the group. "Sherlock," She said and the consulting detective perked up and looked at her worriedly. "I'm alright. We've faced worse than this together. Don't worry about me. Be brilliant and solve the case," Lexi told him with a smile and the consulting detective nodded once looking slightly calmer.
"Yes, how very sentimental," Cyber Lexi said as she took over again and Sherlock glared at her. "Now get on with it," Cyber Lexi ordered before she seemed to grow passive again.
"We've figured out a way to duel where we can still follow you. Our lower consciousness is fully aware of what is happening and can react accordingly, but most of our consciousness is engaged in our duel," Lexi explained to them as she took over again. She gave Sherlock a look and the consulting detectives eyes furrowed in confusion before he nodded. He threw her a pointed look and she rolled her eyes before nodding.
"A duel which I am winning," The Cyberplanner said as she took over again. Her eyes glazed over slightly again and they all knew that with that final comment, the Cyerplanner and Lexi had resumed their duel.
"She has a plan," Sherlock said suddenly and the Doctor and the Ponds turned to look at him in confusion.
"What do you mean?" River asked him carefully. He seemed slightly unstable right now.
"She thinks she can trap the Cyberplanner in her Mind Palace, but it might take some time," Sherlock told them as he stared pensively at Lexi.
"When did she tell you this?" Amy asked Sherlock and he answered her almost immediately.
"Just now," Sherlock told them, folding his hands in a prayer position in front of his chin.
"Um…she didn't say anything about a plan," Rory pointed out and Sherlock let out a sigh.
"Look at you lot, you're all so vacant. Is it nice not being me?" Sherlock asked them and they all frowned at him as Amy looked rather offended. "She told us by her micofacial expressions. Obviously she couldn't tell us aloud or this Cyber…," Sherlock said waving his hand around.
"Cyberplanner," The Doctor supplied and Sherlock nodded.
"Or this Cyberplanner would know what she is planning. Right now though, most of their consciousness is engaged. She's in a sleepwalking like state. Which means she can come with us. We're wasting time standing around," Sherlock finished and the Doctor nodded.
"Right, carry on. We need to find out what the Cybermen are planning. Cybermen and Angels, very bad," The Doctor said before taking his sonic screwdriver out again and scanning. "The sonic is still picking up on the signal. It's coming from somewhere in front of us. High levels of temporal energy," The Doctor said as Sherlock watched him passively. "Come along Ponds, Holmes!" The Doctor cried before he strode of deeper into the cellar.
The group followed after him, Sherlock striding beside Lexi who moved with them, blinking occasionally. River stayed by the girl as well and Sherlock felt a small bit of gratitude towards her for her help protecting Lexi while she was currently so vulnerable. Amy and Rory kept up with the Doctor as they hurried along as quickly as they could to the end of the hallway they were in which opened up into a large room that broke off into more hallways on three sides. They stood waiting for the Doctor who finally found which hallway to take and they followed him to the left, entering another large room only this one had several monitors set up in it and some sort of device that was flashing a blue light, almost like the ones on the Cyberwidgets connected to Lexi's face. The Doctor circled around it and scanned the device quickly as Sherlock pulled Lexi off to the side of the room, closer to the wall and less out in the open. She was still in her sleep walking like state which meant that she was still entered into her duel with the Cyberplanner and neither of them had won yet. Sherlock had faith that Lexi would win. She would find a way to. Even when things seemed impossible she always managed to find a solution to their current predicament.
"The signal is being sent from here around the city," The Doctor said as he read the results of his scan. "They're Cybermen in origin, they've been broadcasting across the system," The Doctor continued as he scanned the monitors the device was hooked up to. "What are they up too? Connecting to every system in London, what's that about?" The Doctor asked them all as he turned back to them.
"Invasion? Cos this feels like an invasion," Rory pointed out and the Doctor pointed at him and nodded.
"Very good Rory, but why invade? Cybermen are always trying to upgrade people, but someone would have noticed if they managed to do that. No, they're waiting, planning something," The Doctor told them and River frowned.
"And the Angels?" River asked the Doctor and Amy nodded in agreement.
"Yeah, what about them? Angels and Cybermen, that can't be a coincidence," Amy pointed out and the Doctor nodded.
"I've thought about that," The Doctor told them as he flicked his gaze over to Sherlock and Lexi. Sherlock was watching Lexi closely and not talking which wasn't good. As it stood right now they had to stop the Angels, stop the Cybermen, and find a way to rescue Lexi.
"And?" Amy asked him when he didn't answer.
"And I don't know. There's no manual for this," The Doctor told her as he paced the length of the room.
"And if there was one he would most likely through it into a supernova," River said with a smirk as Amy fixed her with a pointed look.
"So aliens are invading, aliens of death, and we have no idea why?" Rory asked them and the Doctor stopped his pacing and threw a look at Rory.
"Always so negative. Think positive, we know there are Cybermen and Angels now," The Doctor told Rory before Amy stepped in, defending her husband.
"He has a point though. We don't know what their plan is," Amy told the Doctor as Sherlock saw some awareness come back into Lexi's eyes and she blinked rapidly. He held his breath, waiting, but she looked up at him and grinned slightly and he let out the breath he hadn't known he was holding.
"She let something slip when we were fighting just now," Lexi said as she walked forwards towards the system. "I managed to block her off a little bit, but I don't have long. She's starting to realize that I have more control than she does," Lexi told them as her fingers flashed across the keyboard in front of her.
"How did you manage to do that?" The Doctor asked her in confusion and she turned back to him and grinned.
"Using my Mind Palace," She told him before she looked over at Sherlock, her fingers still flying over the keys. "She didn't expect me to be able to use it against her. Our Mind Places work to store all the information we come across, but we also store people there," Lexi explained as she looked back to the screens and looked at them in concentration. "I've got John detaining her now so I could break through without her overhearing. She said that the Cybermen were going to initiate upgrades soon and I couldn't do anything to stop her. And something about the Angels. I think they're working together, but I don't know how," Lexi told them as the monitors displayed a countdown which was on 21:45. "I've connected you to the system the Cybermen are controlling," Lexi told them quickly before her head snapped down then back up.
"So what, they're connected to the system now," Cyber Lexi said, rolling her eyes. "Twenty minutes until upgrading. You will all be deleted," Cyber Lexi said as her hands started flashing over the keyboard.
"No," Lexi cried as she got back. She hit some keys quickly as the group tried to keep up with what was happening. "She's trying to send the signal out early. They've set up the transmitters at five, now six, locations around the city. When the counter reaches zero it would send out a signal to initiate the upgrades. The Weeping Angels are helping them, they have some sort of truce," Lexi said as she hit a final key.
"Clever, you've gone and deadlocked the system. No matter, they only have twenty minutes, that's not enough time to shut the system down," Cyber Lexi said as she stepped away from the controls and shrugged. "Upgrades will commence as planned in twenty minutes," Cyber Lexi said with a very unLexilike grin.
"There's one thing you've forgotten though," The Doctor told the Cyberplanner and she lifted her eyebrow at him. "Didn't anyone ever tell you there's one thing you never put in a trap? If you're smart, if you value your continued existence, if you have any plans about seeing tomorrow, there is one thing you never, ever put in a trap," The Doctor told the Cyberplanner who just blinked at him passively as she continued to smirk. "Me," The Doctor told her before he continued on. "The question of the hour is, who's here to stop you? Answer, we are. Next question. Who has more to lose? Come on! Look at us. No plan, no back up, no weapons worth a damn. Oh, and something else. We don't have anything to lose!If you've got any plans of taking over just remember who's standing in your way. Remember every black day I ever stopped you, and then, and then, do the smart thing. Run, just run," The Doctor finished and the Cyberplanner laughed at him.
"You shall be deleted," She told the Doctor before her head snapped to the side and then back forward again.
"I believe in Sherlock Holmes," Lexi said as she looked over at the consulting detective. "Don't solve the case, save the lives. Find the connection between the Angels and the Cybermen," Lexi told him before she looked back at the Doctor. "And Doctor, save the lives. Do the impossible when others say it can't be done," Lexi told him before her eyes glazed over again and she and the Cyberplanner got back to their fight for control. The Doctor and Sherlock looked at each other and nodded before Sherlock held his hand out to the Doctor. The Doctor strode forward and took his hand, shaking it, as both men came to a decision to work together.
"I need to see the crime scene photos again. There might be something we're missing. Lestrade would have more than he's given us. We need to get to Scotland Yard," Sherlock told the Doctor, no one noticing when the torches started to flicker slightly.
"We'll use the TARDIS," The Doctor told him and Sherlock nodded. "Alright twenty minutes to save the world. Wouldn't be the first time. Humans, I just never get done saving you!" The Doctor said before he started to lead the way out of the cellar.
The group followed him, River staying close to Sherlock and Lexi again. River was making it her personal duty to keep the two of the safe. She knew how much it would hurt the Doctor if he lost either one of them. So far Lexi was able to hold her own which impressed River greatly. The girl really was incredible and the consulting detective was no less impressive. They saw things others couldn't see and they both were doing the impossible. They made it back to the main room when the torches started flickering like mad. The Doctor suddenly stopped short and Amy and Rory ended up crashing into him. Amy groaned as she rubbed at her forehead.
"Why have we stopped?" Amy asked the Doctor as he looked around the room. River noted the tension in his shoulders which told her something bad was about to happen and she instantly pulled her blaster out and held it aloft. Sherlock reached down to Lexi's side and pulled her bag open before pulling out a Browning and holding it up. River would have made a comment about the detectives owning an illegal gun, but the situation made it impossible.
"There are Angels in the cellar," The Doctor told them as the torches flicker more, almost blinking out before coming back on.
"How can there be Angels in the cellar?" Rory asked the Doctor and the Doctor threw his hands in the air in exasperation.
"How do Angels get anywhere Rory? They just show up at the most convenient moments where there isn't already enough drama," The Doctor told them as and River looked over at him, looking away from one of the hallways that led deeper into the cellar.
"Breaking the fourth wall sweetie," River told him before their torches went out. They flashed back on a second later and they saw the Angels in front of them. Two were coming from the hallway on their left, three from the hall in front of them, and one was blocking their exit. The Doctor, the Ponds, and Sherlock quickly formed a tight circle around Lexi to keep her safe while at the same time having one person look in each direction to stop the advancing Angels.
"Don't even blink!" The Doctor shouted as the torches flicked.
"I think we've got that by now Doctor," Lexi said as she took control of herself again. The troches turned off again and then back on and the Angels were converging on them, morphed into their other forms, their hands away from their faces and converted into claws.
"The Angels won't hurt me," Cyber Lexi said sounding sure of herself.
"Yeah, except they don't know you're the Cyberplanner. Do you really think they're going to stop and have a nice chat with you to find out?" Lexi asked the Cyberplanner as the group moved tighter together, River and Sherlock pointing their guns at the different Angels.
"Fair point. So what do you suggest we do if you're so clever," The Cyberplanner asked her sounding slightly scared. Cybermen didn't feel emotions, but the Cyberplanner had taken over a human and not a normal human at that. Lexi was projecting her humanity onto the Cyberplanner's consciousness that was sharing her mind. For once the Cyberplanner could feel fear.
"Something that you'll be thinking was way too easy, but it's the only way to solve one problem so we're going to do it anyway," Lexi told the Cyberplanner with a shrug.
"Lexi," Sherlock warned and the Irish girl nodded.
"The fourth wall does exist you know," Cyber Lexi snorted as everyone mumbled an agreement before the torch flickered out and came back on again. The Angels were now surrounding them in a tight circle, making Lexi's plan infinitely easier as if someone had planned for that to happen.
"Vatican Cameos!" Lexi shouted and Sherlock grabbed River and Amy who were next to them and pulled them to the floor as the River and Amy grabbed onto the Doctor and Rory and pulled them down as well as Lexi dropped to the floor just as the torches went out. They all waited for something to happen and after a moment of crouching down to the floor, nothing happened and the torches came back on and stopped flickering. They popped their heads up to see that the Angels had stopped and were frozen in place.
"Well, that worked," Cyber Lexi said as she stood up, the rest of the group getting to their feet as well as they continued to stare at the Angels.
"What did you do?" Amy asked Lexi as the girl took over control again.
"They're only stone in the sight of a living thing. The Doctor said they can't look at each other. They weren't as long as we were standing but as soon as we ducked they were looking at each other. Instantly frozen forever as long as they're kept in the same positions," Lexi told them and everyone blinked at the same time and saw that she was right. They were frozen in place. "Now the Angels are taken care of," Lexi remarked as she ducked under the arms of the Angels and turned back to them. "Twenty minutes," Lexi reminded them and they nodded, ducking under the arms of the Angels carefully and joining her on the other side.
"Twenty minutes. Think I can do it Pond?" The Doctor asked Amy and she nodded at him.
"Most definitely," She told him with a grin and the Doctor nodded before looking towards the exit. "Well then, we're not going to save the world by sticking around in the Queen's cellar. Hope she doesn't mind her new guests. I wouldn't mention Angels of death in the cellar on any tours,' The Doctor remarked as they headed for the exit. Twenty minutes to solve the case, save the world, and if they were lucky enough they would all be home in time for tea.