CHAPTER 79
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A BRAND NEW LIFE
"Congratulations, Ileana. I'm so happy for you," Rose said with one of her famous face wide grins as she suddenly appeared in the middle of Donna's TARDIS in a burst of golden energy.
A moment later Mickey, Clara's echo, and the past version of the Corsair joined her as they each appeared alongside her in rapid succession.
"Martha," Mickey said in a voice filled with relief as he immediately rushed forward to embrace and kiss his wife.
"You're alright. I was so worried that you were about to die at any moment based on what he said . . . and there would be nothing that I could do about it," Martha said in an emotional voice as she gestured at the still unconscious Corsair lying on the floor.
"Yeah, well I would have if I hadn't had a little help," Mickey said as he looked at Rose with a grateful smile.
Martha immediately wrapped her arms around Rose and hugged her tightly as she said through tears of joy, "I'll never be able to thank you enough . . . for everything that you've done for me really but especially for this. I was going out of my mind wondering if my family was going to be safe."
"Don't be so quick to thank me for anything, yeah? The only reason any of you were in danger in the first place was to get to me because you're all people that I care about. I'm the one that caused you all to be in danger in the first place, Martha," Rose said in a guilty voice.
"We're always in danger though, Rose, and so is the entire planet from constant alien attacks that have nothing whatsoever to do with you. I'm willing to bet that the Corsair's bosses would have put us all in danger eventually anyway because they're not about to leave Earth alone so stop looking so upset, okay? You saved my husband, Rose. You were there for him when I wasn't able to be and that means everything to me. You're a hero, Rose Tyler, and don't ever let anyone tell you otherwise," Martha said in a heartfelt voice.
Rose smiled at her in gratitude as she said, "I guess we're even then because I could say the exact same thing to you, Martha. You were there for the Doctor when I couldn't be and so were Donna and so many other wonderful people that I'll never be able to fully repay for keeping him safe. So I guess you can just call us even, yeah?"
"Deal," Martha said with a warm smile.
Then she looked alarmed as she said, "Wait a minute. Where's the baby?"
"Oh, she's fine. The Doctor's with her," Rose said with an amused smile.
"Oh, my God. I need to get back there immediately," Martha said in a panicked tone.
"Relax, babe. Clara, not this Clara but the original one, is with her too. She's taking care of her while the Doctor just keeps talking to her like he can actually understand her. When I left, he was pretending to have an argument with her about who was prettier, you or Rose. I think this incarnation is a bit out there if you know what I mean," Mickey said with a smirk.
Martha immediately sighed in relief as she said with a warm smile, "And whose side were you on in that little debate?"
Mickey kissed Martha and laughed as he said, "Do you even have to ask? The baby's of course. No offense, Rose."
"None taken, Micks. I agree with her completely," Rose said without hesitation.
Then Rose turned as she felt Ileana's presence behind her and instantly knew that something was troubling her by the worried expression on her face.
"Rose, there's something that I need to ask you. Well, a lot of things actually," Ileana admitted.
"Go ahead and ask then. That's what I'm here for anyway. That and to keep an eye on him," Rose said as she looked warily at the still unconscious Corsair.
"Rose, is this for real? I mean is it permanent? Am I . . . am I really human again for good?" Ileana asked in a hesitant voice as if she were almost afraid of the answer that she might receive.
Rose already knew the answer to that so she didn't even have to check. She had done a complete check on Ileana's body and her timestream simultaneously the moment that she arrived because she needed to know that for herself.
"Of course it's real, mate. Why do you think I congratulated you, yeah?" Rose said as she smiled at her.
Ileana screamed once more with joy and completely surprised Michelle as she hugged her tightly and said in tears, "I can hug you, Michelle. I can really hug you now."
"You always hug me though. What's new about that? I'm grateful that you're cured too but let's not overdo it, sweetie," Michelle said with a chuckle as she kissed her friend's cheek.
Ileana hugged her once again and held onto her this time without pulling away as she said, "You don't understand. I can give you a real proper hug now without being afraid of holding on just a moment too long. I . . . I was always afraid that if I was that near your neck or anyone's neck really for too long that I would become too tempted and . . . you know. Now I never have to worry about that again."
"Hey, you never would have done that. I know you wouldn't have," Michelle reassured her in a gentle voice.
"I'm glad one of us knew it," Ileana said as she continued to hold onto her.
"See? I told you that she was her favorite in the group and you insisted that I was mental for even suggesting it," Emmy said to a surprised Lilith.
"I would have sworn that it was Mother Donna. They're always trading friendly insults with one another as though they're good friends," Lilith said with a disappointed frown.
"Donna always insults everyone, sweetheart. She believes in equal opportunity putdowns. It doesn't automatically mean that she's besties with everyone on the group," Calliope said with a chuckle.
"Oi! Watch it, Gran. Just because I love you to pieces don't think that I'll let you get away with talking like that about me," Donna said with a smile that belied her angry tone.
"Of course you won't, dear," Calliope said with a smirk because she knew full well that Donna was teasing her.
"Michelle's like my daughter, okay? I love all of you but the two of us are just a little bit closer. There's no need to make a big deal out of it," Ileana said with a sigh as she pulled away from a visibly touched Michelle.
"I never knew that. I feel the same way about you. You've always been like a mother to me and a much better one than Mother of Mine ever was," Michelle said with an elated grin.
"Well, to be honest she's not much competition. Practically anyone would come off looking like a nun compared to her even a vampire," Ileana said with a giggle.
Then she immediately turned serious once more as a horrified look of realization came over her face and she said to Rose, "I don't want to sound ungrateful because I am so happy to be human again, but this means that I'm mortal again too doesn't it? Abraham and the children are going to outlive me now aren't they?"
"Oh, I didn't even think about that. I'm sorry, Lana," Michelle said in a sympathetic voice.
"Don't be, okay?" Rose quickly said.
"What? You mean . . . ?" Ileana asked in a hopeful voice.
"You still have the connection to the Vortex that I placed inside of you to keep you from succumbing to your bloodlust, Ileana, and it will keep you alive for a good long while to come, okay? It isn't going anywhere and neither are you I promise," Rose said in a reassuring tone.
Ileana immediately smiled in relief as she said, "So does this mean that I can still use it like I used to use it to protect me from things that would kill an ordinary vampire?"
"Possibly. You might be able to use it to do all kinds of things now just like I do but you'll have to practice with it first. It'll definitely keep you from being hurt or killed by most things though so partial indestructibility is nothing to sneeze at even if you can't ever do anything else, yeah? That is what you really wanted to know isn't it? You were wondering if you could still have enough power to justify your being able to stay on the Wolves," Rose guessed.
"Yeah, I really didn't want to have to go. Like I said, I love all of you girls," Ileana admitted in a heartfelt tone.
"Trust me, Ex-Fang Girl, you weren't going anywhere, powers or no powers. We've gotten much too used to your face around here," Donna said reassuringly.
"Yeah, it is extremely beautiful isn't it? Maybe that's what your new nickname could be for me. You could call me Knockout," Ileana said with a smug smile.
"If I do it won't be because of your looks. It'll be because I leave you lying on the floor," Donna said with a frown.
"I still think Mother Donna loves her dearly. Just listen to those remarks. They're simply full of adoration and affection for her," Lilith said to Emmy.
"Boy, Mother Bloodtide and Doomfinger really did a number on your head didn't they?" Emmy said in disbelief.
"What? Where am I?" The confused voice of the present day version of the Corsair suddenly said at that moment making everyone else in the Console Room go quiet at once.
"What do you think? Is he back to normal yet?" Rose asked the past version of the Corsair as they both eagerly watched his rapidly awakening future self with growing trepidation.
The past Corsair hesitated for a moment as he tried to form a quick mental link with his future self and then sighed as he said, "I'm not sure. He's so out of it that he's definitely not working on all cylinders right now. Something or someone really put him out hard so I really can't tell."
Emmy looked more than a bit uncomfortable as she said, "Yeah . . . that was me. I wanted to take him down quickly before he could cause any more trouble. Sorry about that."
"That's my little Boxer or maybe I should call you Knockout if Lana's not using it," Calliope said with a chuckle.
"Be my guest," Ileana said with an evil smile.
"Knockout. I like that," Lilith said as she teased her.
"Oi! Nobody call me either one of those. Please. They're both almost as bad as my real Time Lord name," Emmy said with a wince.
"I don't mind admitting that I'd really love to know what that is now. You might as well tell me, Emmy. I'm sure it can't be that bad whatever it is," Lilith said curiously.
"Oh, you have no idea," Emmy said with a shudder.
"I promise I wouldn't make fun of you for it . . . too much," Lilith said with a loving smile.
Emmy eagerly smiled back at her now as she said, "Maybe some other time, okay?"
"Oh, she really loves you, sweetie. She wouldn't even come that close to telling me what it is, and I've been trying for centuries to drag it out of her," Calliope said with a grin.
Then their playful teasing of each other came to an abrupt halt as the present day Corsair suddenly looked directly at Emmy and said in an uncertain voice, "I know you, don't I?"
"This is it. Be ready for anything if he hasn't finished changing back to normal yet," Rose warned.
"Just let me fight him first. That's the least I can do for working with him to help destroy all of you in the first place," Clara's echo said as she bravely stepped in front of Emmy.
"Oi! That's not what I brought you here for, mate. Quit mucking about and stop it with the selfless martyr bit already. Get back here," Rose immediately ordered her.
Despite Rose's worries for her, the present day Corsair looked right past Clara's echo as if she wasn't even there however and straight at Emmy once more as he said, "Yes, I do know you. You're Arianrhod Lungbarrow, the Doctor's little sister."
Then he scowled at her while rubbing his jaw gingerly as he said, "You're also the one who hit me, aren't you? No wonder they call you The Pugilist."
Emmy immediately went white as a sheet as Lilith said with a triumphant smile, "That's it! That's really your other name isn't it?"
"How did you know that name? I never told anyone that name," Emmy said to the Corsair in horror as she completely ignored Lilith who continued to smile beside her.
"The Brethren know everyone's secrets no matter how deeply that they try to hide them. That's one of the things that they're the best at is finding out things that they can use to gain power and advantage over others. I seriously doubt that they could have used your name to get you to make an agreement with them though. Only someone as mad as Amaya would think that would work out," The present day Corsair said as he smiled at her.
"How did you ever wind up with a name like that, Emmy? That's a really naff name even for a Time Lord. Did you really love boxing or something?" Dorothy teased her.
"I don't want to talk about it, okay? It's personal," Emmy said defensively.
"It's fine. You don't have to until you're ready. Leave her alone, Dorothy. That name's no sillier than calling yourself Ace is if you ask me," Lilith said defensively making Emmy instantly smile at her appreciatively.
"You'd better be glad that I like you, Witch Girl, or you'd have to go looking for your teeth all over this ship for that little remark," Dorothy threatened.
"Dorothy," Rose said in a warning tone.
"She knows I didn't really mean it," Dorothy protested.
Rose stared at her without speaking until Dorothy finally said to Lilith, "I'm sorry. I was just kidding."
"I know. Just leave Emmy alone, okay?" Lilith said with a reassuring smile.
"You know the way that Emmy acts about it I wouldn't be too sure if she wouldn't have made a deal with Amaya, yeah? Are you back with us again, Nabu?" Rose asked in a hopeful tone as she looked at the past Corsair questioningly.
The past Corsair silently nodded as his present day self said, "Yes, I'm completely back to normal again thanks to you, my dear old friend. Thank you for what you did. You could have died trying to save me, Arkytior, and I'm not too sure it would have really been worth it. I know for a fact the Doctor would have probably killed me if anything had happened to you so it would have all been done for nothing, wouldn't it?"
Rose smiled at him now as she said, "Yeah, you're back alright. You've always had a healthy sense of humor. A regular comedian you are."
"Who's joking? Theta would have ripped me apart if I caused him to lose you and you know it. He's always been completely mad over you. Not that I can blame him of course. Every time I see you, you always make me wish that I had seen you first," The present day Corsair said with a warm smile as he hugged her tightly and kissed her forehead.
"Still as full of it as ever too I see. You're really going to get along just fine with a friend of mine named Jack. You're a lot alike," Rose said as she eagerly returned his hug and finally relaxed for once after all of the turmoil that she had been through lately.
Unfortunately that moment wasn't destined to last for long however.
"I'm sorry, Rose, but it would probably have been better for you if you hadn't tried to save me. Now that Amaya and the rest of the Brethren know that I'm a free man once again they're going to come right after me. They won't take a chance on you finding out something useful from me that could help you to destroy them," The present day Corsair said.
Then he winked at her as he said, "And you can really believe me when I say that I know plenty of useful information that you could use against them, and I'm more than ready to tell you all of it."
"Oh, I'm quite sure that you would have too given enough time, Nabu. Unfortunately for you, your time has just run out however . . . along with all of theirs," A holographic version of Amaya, the acting leader of the Brethren, said as it suddenly appeared next to him.
"Don't think that I wasn't ready for anything that you might have planned. I'm not stupid, yeah? I knew that you'd try something as soon as I got him back from you again," Rose said to her as she stood next to her old friend protectively.
"That's your real reason for coming here isn't it, Petal Girl? You came to protect us," Donna realized.
"Of course she did. She's far too noble for her own good of course. She always has been. That's how I knew for sure that I'd be able to find her here. It makes it that much easier for me to finally either entrap or kill her because I'm sure she's going to only be knocked out cold by the attack that's about to completely wipe out the rest of you," Amaya said with an evil smile.
"And what attack is that then? Are you going to kill us by making us look at your face or bore us to death by making us listen to you brag all day instead? I'd say either's a pretty good bet actually," Donna said with a frown.
"Full of sass right until the bitter end I see, Donna Noble. A fitting epitaph for me to put on your headstone I think. I almost hate to get rid of you despite your opinion of my looks. Where else could I find such a delightfully droll opponent? I have to admit that I definitely could have gotten used to that singular wit of yours. It's really too bad that now I'll never get that chance because you see our delightful friend, the Corsair, is about to detonate in about . . . oh, five minutes or so from now. Give or take a few minutes of course because I'm afraid that I've simply forgotten the exact time that I set him to go off. I can't remember everything now, can I?"
"Detonate? What are you going on about, Crag Face?" Donna asked in a worried tone.
"It's a special precaution that I arranged to take care of the Corsair just in case something like this ever happened because he's right you know? He does know far too many secrets to ever let him live. So now I'm afraid he's simply got to die. I picked a rather ingenious way to do it too I thought. You see I didn't just rewrite his biodata. I also rewrote his entire regeneration process so that I could force a regeneration by remote control from halfway across the universe and make sure that all of the regenerative energy was focused not on restructuring his body but on exploding outwards as a pure, destructive force instead. In other words, I've turned our friend here into the universe's very first regenerative bomb, and even I don't know exactly how much damage that he will do. I'm very eager to find out however. I'll understand if you're not quite as anxious however. And now I bid a fond good bye to all of you. You were worthy opponents but still destined to lose in the end just as everyone always is whenever they cross paths with me I'm afraid," Amaya said just before her hologram switched off accompanied by her cold, humorless laughter.
"Petal Girl, I really hope that this is one of those situations that you already planned for way ahead of time," Donna said in an anxious voice.
"Unfortunately I didn't, Donna. This is another one of those things that I never saw coming," Rose said in a frantic voice as she began to use her power to scan the present day Corsair's body.
"The only sure way to stop the regeneration is to kill me instantly before it can take effect, Ari. Do it now while you still can," The present day Corsair warned.
Ileana looked at him in shock now as she said, "Oh, no. No! I finally understand it all now. Now I see exactly why the Brethren wanted to cure me so badly. I was the only one who could have killed you quickly and efficiently enough to stop your regeneration in time by completely draining the blood from your body in a matter of minutes. Amaya really did plan for all of this way ahead of time, Rose."
Rose looked at both of them as though they had lost their mind however as she said, "No, there's got to be another way to stop this and I'm going to find it. I've already been way too destructive as it is lately."
"You have no more choice now than you did back on Telos. Just do it, Ari. The universe is far more important than I am plus I'm supposed to be dead anyway," The present day Corsair argued.
"My sentiments exactly, Pirate Boy. Now I finally get to set both of our lives right again and make up for what I did," Clara's echo said as she suddenly grabbed him and rushed with him towards the TARDIS doors while simultaneously opening them.
"No!" Rose screamed as both the present day Corsair and Clara's echo were sucked out into the Vortex in a single instant.
Before Rose or any of the Wolves could even try to bring them back, there was suddenly a tremendous explosion that rocked the entire ship and knocked all of them off of their feet.
All of the strength seemed to drain out of Rose in that moment as she shut the TARDIS doors with a single gesture and then said in a weak voice, "It's over. It's over and I've failed. I failed to save either of them."
"There's nothing that you could have done, Mum. Lana's right. This Amaya scumbag planned all of this much too well. She knew that you wouldn't want to kill your friend and that Lana wouldn't be able to do it anymore. She took advantage of both of those facts. The only thing that she didn't count on was that any version of Clara is a hero who will sacrifice themselves without hesitation especially if they're full of guilt. It's over now and there's no way to fix it. Not without risking damaging the Web of Time again because what just happened is a fixed point in time now. I can feel it just like you can," Dorothy said as she put a comforting arm around her mother.
"I can undo fixed points though. I've done it before. I just have to be very careful about it," Rose said in a thoughtful voice.
Then she stiffened and looked down in shock as suddenly a baby appeared in her arms out of nowhere and smiled up at her!
"What the? Isn't that River's daughter, Dorothy?" Donna asked in disbelief.
"Yeah, and she's just sent her to me to keep her safe. That means she's in danger. I don't have the time to undo a fixed point right now after all. Melody needs me," Rose said as she began to glow with power.
Then she turned to look at the past Corsair and said, "I will find a way to save you though, Nabu. I promise."
"Don't even try, Ari. You'll just wind up making things worse if you do. You more than most know exactly how tricky that tampering with the Web of Time can be," The past Corsair warned.
"Telling me something's impossible has never stopped me before, Nabu. What makes you think that it will now?" Rose said with a small smile just before she sent the past Corsair back to the proper place in his timestream.
Then she too vanished along with little Dorothy in a burst of energy leaving the stunned Wolves standing there in shock for a moment as they tried to process what had just happened.
Just as Donna started towards the console to set the coordinates to return them all back to Earth, she was stunned to find a woman suddenly materializing right in the middle of the room holding Clara's echo in her arms. What was even more shocking to her was when she realized that the woman was wearing the same clothes as the Corsair.
"Is . . . Is that you, Snake Boy?" Donna asked in disbelief.
"That's Snake Girl now or it will be once I get my favorite tattoo once again. I wonder where I'll put it this time. Oh, well. I'll worry about that later," The Corsair said with a huge grin of relief.
"So is she alright too?" Donna asked as she bent down to check Clara's echo's pulse.
"Yeah, she should be. I directed most of the energy away from her at the last minute by pulling a biological trick that should never have worked but luckily for me did anyway. I shot off my hand with a staser and then directed all of my regenerative energy straight towards the hand. I was hoping that it would all be drawn straight towards it since it was the perfect receptacle and I was right. It all went into the hand and blew it up. I'm sure that you've never heard of anything that crazy before, eh? No one else would be mad enough to try something like that," The Corsair said proudly.
"Oh, you'd be surprised, Pirate Girl," Donna said with a smirk even as she noted with relief that Clara's echo was going to be alright thanks to her use of the Doctor's medical knowledge.
"Really? You'll have to tell me all about it sometime," The Corsair said in an intrigued voice as Donna flashed the other Wolves a quick thumbs up.
"Never mind that right now. I'd rather hear you tell us how you survived and got back here instead. You were left drifting in the Vortex after all. It should have killed both of you," Donna said impatiently.
"It probably would have if I hadn't had just enough regeneration energy left to actually regenerate myself despite what Amaya had planned. Then since it's still the first fifteen hours, I was able to use my energy to continually heal the damage done by the Vortex both to me and Clara here until I could rewire my staser into a quick teleportation unit that brought me straight back here again. That's another thing that probably shouldn't have worked but apparently did. Who knew? Maybe I'm going to be far luckier than usual in this regeneration," The Corsair said with a shrug.
"Let's hope some of that luck rubs off on us too, Pirate Girl. You're coming back to Earth with us and I'm going to find out as much as I can about the Brethren. Let's hope we hit the jackpot and find a way to finish them off once and for all," Donna said as she set the coordinates to return them back to Earth.
"Oh, I'm sure that you will. For instance, I know exactly how to quickly help you find Nibiru, the Brethren's World Ship. I'm sure that's where Arkytior's headed to rescue her friend even as we speak," The Corsair said with an eager smile.
"I'm all ears, Snake Girl. Hurry up and tell me everything that you know so that I can spring a little surprise on Old Crag Face for a change," Donna said with a wicked smile.
"I'll be glad to," The Corsair said eagerly as she began to speak.
Next: As fans of my River Song story may have already guessed, Rose goes straight from here and into the ongoing storyline of that story and so will the Wolves as they join River and Rose in their assault on Nibiru in Chapter 56 of The Further Adventures of River Song which is coming soon.
As for what happens next in this story, Donna finally goes home to see Lauren just in time to find out exactly what happens to her to cause her to start stuttering in the future. What traumatic event does Lauren suffer through and how will it leave Donna wracked with guilt? Please more on the Corsair and Clara's echo as we see more of their future plans and exactly how those might relate to our favorite UNIT team. Oh, and in case you think I've forgotten about Crystal Newman, she's back next time and feeling as if she's completely lost in this new world of hers despite Calliope trying her best to make her feel welcome. Can anyone help her to feel better about her life again?