CHAPTER 85

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LILY MEETS MISSY

Holly looked at the mysterious woman who was offering her tea and instantly frowned at her because every instinct in her was telling her not to trust her. Missy was doing her best to appear to be kindly and sweet, but Holly knew right away that this was just an act. She could tell by looking into her eyes. Her eyes were filled with nothing but madness and blind unreasoning hatred. She couldn't hide that no matter how hard she tried. It was too much a part of her.

"Who are you? Where am I?" Holly asked Missy in a confused voice even as she looked at her with wariness.

Missy smiled warmly at her pretending to be sympathetic as she said, "I'm sorry about this, Holly. I really am. I hate to have to be the one to tell you this."

"Tell me what?" Holly asked still completely bewildered by what was going on.

Missy put on a fake sorrowful expression then that didn't quite reach her eyes as she said, "You're dead, Holly. I'm afraid that the ray that your friend Allison created to give the Zygons their powers back killed you by accident. This is the afterlife, Holly."

Holly began crying and shaking her head as she said, "No, that's not . . . ! That can't be right. This is just a dream or something. I'm only out cold, and this is just a dream."

"I'm sorry but it's not. You're really gone now. It's going to be alright though. This is a very nice place. You'll love it here. I promise. The best thing of all is that you never have to worry about changing forms by accident anymore. That's all gone now. All of your troubles are finally over with at last," Missy said in a faux sweet voice as she continued to pretend to be her friend.

"I'd rather have problems changing any day over this. I'll never see Skaren or Richard again!" Holly shouted in anger.

"Yes, you will. Someday. They'll both make it here eventually," Missy assured her.

"That's not good enough. I want to be with them now. I don't want to miss my son's entire life! No, this isn't fair. It isn't fair!" Holly screamed in anger as she overturned Missy's tea table and spilled all of her tea on the ground.

"Don't blame the tea, dear. What did the tea ever do to you anyway? If you want to get angry at someone, why don't you blame Allison? She's the one who did this to you after all," Missy said.

"Allison didn't do it purpose. It was an accident," Holly said.

"It was incompetence and sheer stupidity is what it was. She should have checked that device of hers better before she used it. Then you'd still be with your family wouldn't you? It doesn't matter if she did it on purpose or not. It's still her fault," Missy said.

"Stop it! If I know Allison, she's already blaming herself enough for the both of us. She doesn't need me doing it too," Holly said now redirecting her anger towards Missy.

"Oh, there's no doubt that Allison is a good person at heart, and yes, she is extremely upset right now. What good does any of that do you now though? I'd definitely be angry if I was you, and someone had caused me to die. Why won't you just admit that you're angry at her?" Missy asked in frustration.

It was killing her that even now at her lowest point that Holly still couldn't be manipulated into turning against Ally. She had really thought that she could turn Holly into her willing agent that she could use against us.

"Yes, of course I'm angry but I don't hate her. I could never hate her or any of my family," Holly finally said.

Missy shook her head as she said, "They're not your family, Holly. You're not related to any of Lily's little brood. You don't owe them anything."

"A family isn't just who you're related to by blood, whoever you are. You also don't ever stop loving them or caring about them no matter what happens between you," Holly said.

At that moment, Missy's mask of friendliness finally slipped and anger twisted her features as she said to someone just out of Holly's line of sight, "Take her for processing."

"Processing? What is going on here?" Holly asked as she assumed a fighting stance.

"Take her there. Now!" Missy commanded.

That was when the Matriarch snapped her fingers, and Holly suddenly found herself in a small office facing a man in a business suit who smiled way too much. Holly immediately distrusted him from the start.

"Hello, my name is Seb and I believe that you're . . . Yes, you're Holly. It's very nice to meet you even though I'm so sorry about the circumstances," Seb said in an insincere manner.

"No, you're not. You're enjoying this, you sadistic troll. Who are you people and what do you have against Lily?" Holly said as she got straight to the point.

"Oh, I like you. You're sassy. Yes, you're completely right of course so let's just drop the pretense. We're out to destroy Lily and her family because of who she is to the Doctor and Rose Tyler. We want to destroy everyone and everything that is close to both of them because we want them both to suffer first before we completely wipe them out as well. We want all Doctors in all dimensions everywhere to suffer before we wipe them all out completely, and you're going to help us to get rid of this universe's Doctor," Seb said without that sinister smile of his leaving his face even once the entire time.

"I'm not helping you to do anything," Holly said obstinately.

"I don't recall ever giving you a choice. It's much easier to have our pawns work for us of their own free will of course but not necessary. We found out what a bad idea that it was to allow them to choose whether or not to delete their emotions the last time that we tried this back in our home universe after all. Yes, it does remove all possibility of their fighting back against the process if they do it willingly, but you also get those idealistic romantic types who just refuse to ever let go of their humanity no matter what. It would have saved you a lot of pain however if you had just chosen not to do a forced conversion. Oh, well!" Seb said with an even crueler smile appearing on his face now.

"You're not doing anything to me," Holly said as she prepared to fight.

"Oh, but we are. You see you haven't had any real choice since the moment that you first entered here. Bye bye!" Seb waved as Holly screamed while she suddenly began to disappear.

As Missy heard her screams, she smiled as she said, "I'll make sure to make her conversion very, very painful."

"What's the matter? Did she hit a nerve with her comments, Laughing Girl?" The Matriarch asked with a chuckle.

Missy glared at her as she said, "I could just as easily give you back to the Doctor of this world as I took you from him you know."

"So I'm right, aren't I? She really hit a sore spot with that bit about always loving your family no matter what, didn't she? It made you think of your relationship with the Doctor didn't it?" The Matriarch said with a smirk.

Missy pointed her disintegration device at the Matriarch with a dangerous look in her eyes as the Matriarch laughed and said, "Come on! Do it and see what you get. I guarantee you that I'm not as easy to get rid of as old Seb. How many times have you killed that program already just today alone?"

Suddenly both of them were thrown back by a massive attack that sent them flying across the room. They both looked up from the ground to see a young blonde woman covered in golden energy looking down on them with a furious look on her face.

"Enough! We're working together to destroy Rose Tyler. That and only that is what matters now. I want her to suffer! Do you hear me? I want her to feel pain such as no one has ever felt before. Then and only then will I even think about letting her die. Now stop squabbling and get back to the plan!" The mysterious woman named Nightshade said before she teleported away.

"I never should have brought her into this. I should have just left her inside the Matrix. Ever since that madwoman entered into this, I've been losing more and more control over her by the day," Missy said with a frown.

"Well, you're the one that created her, Dr. Frankenstein. Now you're just going to have to deal with your monster aren't you?" The Matriarch said in an annoyed voice.

"Maybe I should rethink turning Holly. I might wind up making her into another Nightshade, and I don't even want to think about what she'd be like if she was even more annoying than she already is now," Missy said with a shudder.

"I think it's probably already too late to reconsider that, Laughing Girl. If I have to wind up dealing with another mental case like Nightshade, then I'm definitely not staying in this little partnership of yours. Even just one of her is one too much," The Matriarch said.

"One of who? Who is she?" I suddenly said as I appeared in-between them.

I bet you thought that I was only going to be the narrator for this chapter didn't you? Surely you know me better than that by now. I can never stay out of trouble for an entire chapter. It just isn't my style at all.

"What?" Missy called out in surprise.

"Who was that woman and for that matter who are you? No scratch that. I really don't care. This is what I really want to know. Where is Holly? What have you done with her? Tell me now before I make sure that this Nightshade person is the least of your worries," I said in a furious voice.

Missy smiled as she regained her composure now while she said, "Hello, Mother."

I laughed at that as I said, "Oh, so that's who you are, Missy. Nice look. You're definitely the daughter that I never wanted."

"And you're the mother that I never had. Literally. In my universe, you don't even exist, and you're definitely not related to me," Missy said.

"Are you sure about that? Those legends of The Other had to come from somewhere didn't they?" I said with a grin.

"Enough mindless banter, Sekhmet. Yes, I know all about you just as you seem to know all about me. Then again a general as famous as you are wouldn't go into battle without knowing all about her enemy first would she? Rose told you all about her encounter with me when the Black Guardian killed her and then yet again when I tried to collect Christina de Souza's soul*, didn't she? That's how you knew to come here," Missy asked.

"Yes, she did. She told me that she came across you right after she died and that you tried to capture her and do something to her soul. Unfortunately for you though, you were dealing with a fighting mad Arkytior who was completely corrupted by the power of the Bad Wolf without Rose's humanity there to temper it thanks to the Doctor saving that part of her from being killed too along with her body**. I bet she tore this place of yours completely apart!" I said laughing.

"I had to hide from her for days until she was finally brought back to life again. She set my operation back several years and made sure that I lost many of the souls that I had collected up until that point. Don't think that I've forgotten that either. I created Nightshade as a means of revenge for that day, and one day soon she will make sure that your darling little girl pays for interfering with my plans that day," Missy said.

"Not if I can help it," I said defiantly as I began to glow with regenerative energy.

Missy laughed as she said, "Oh, the gallant warrior goddess is going to take me on one on one and save the day singlehandedly is she?"

"Go ahead, Lily. I promise that I won't intervene. I'd love to see you mop the floor with her. I've only been here a day, and I already can't stand her," The Matriarch said with an indifferent look on her face.

"Well, there's gratitude for you," Missy said.

"What do you want, Laughing Girl? I'm evil. It's kind of what I do," The Matriarch said with a smile.

"Even if she did join in, it still wouldn't make any difference. First I'm rescuing Holly and then I'm going to put a stop to this whole operation of yours once and for all. I don't know what you're up to but it stops here," I said.

"Unfortunately for you, dear Sekhmet, you're never going to find out what I'm up to. How did you get in here anyway? I don't believe for a second that I'm so lucky that you actually died. So how did you do it? Astral projection? I'm right aren't I? It's one of those quaint forgotten little Time Lord powers that no one really uses anymore, but it obviously still comes in handy from time to time. You sent your astral body out to search the universe in order to find my hidden Matrix and finally got lucky didn't you? Don't think that still having a body is going to save you though. I have a friend who can even rip apart astral bodies when she feels like it, and trust me when I say that she's never in a good mood," Missy said with a chuckle.

"You're talking about the ever mysterious Nightshade, right? Believe me I really want to meet her too. She seems to be behind a whole lot of things that have been going on lately including the attack on Rose by those energy hogs called the Ravenous***, and I'm just aching to find out what her deal is," I said.

"You might reconsider that once she actually comes out here. Do you know what the funny thing about this is, Sekhmet? You actually already know her whether you realize it or not. That's what makes my choice of her as your daughter's personal engine of destruction all the sweeter. She's someone that you both know from your time back on lovable old Pete's World. She's a sweet lovable girl who you both grew to love there . . . until she died of course," Missy said.

Then she said in a low voice, "I think that she's still holding a little bit of a grudge over that by the way."

My hearts stopped as I realized exactly who she was talking about. This was really going to hurt Rose. She never had gotten over that day. I suddenly hated Missy with a passion in that moment because of what I knew that Rose was going to have to go through soon because of her.

"That wasn't Rose's fault. She did everything that she could to save her," I protested.

"Well, you would say that, wouldn't you? You are her mommy after all. Our dear Nightshade sees things differently though," Missy said.

"What did you do to her? She absolutely adored Rose. She'd never want to hurt her," I protested.

"Well, I imagine dying horribly changed her attitude towards your darling little girl just a little bit, don't you?" Missy said.

"Or someone did it for her," The Matriarch added.

"You're no help at all are you?" Missy said.

"I'm sorry. Was I supposed to be?" The Matriarch mocked.

"Enough of this! I'm freeing Holly before you do who knows what to her. Then I'm going to make sure that Nightshade and everyone else here is at peace at last. And then I'm going to personally make sure that I tear you apart," I promised Missy.

Missy smiled that same cold uncaring grin as she said, "Oh, I don't think so. You're the one who's about to be torn apart while I get to watch because guess what? She's heeere!"

I suddenly felt literal soul-searing agony tearing through me now as an enormous blast of Vortex energy hit my astral self from behind. As I stood there in excruciating pain, I suddenly heard a voice that I never thought that I'd hear again speak to me for the first time in years.

"Hello, Lily. Remember me? The girl that you left to die? I'm sure that you've forgotten me already but trust me when I say that I never forgot about you. I'm going to have great fun torturing you slowly and painfully before I use my mastery over the Vortex to rip your astral body completely apart finally killing you once and for all. That's just going to be the first of the many, many things that I do to Rose for what she did to me. If you have any last words for Rose to hear before I kill you, you'd better tell me now. I'll make sure that she hears them just before I send her to join you," Nightshade said as she continued to torment me relentlessly.

"Don't do this. Rose loves you," I said in a weak voice.

"The feeling is definitely not mutual, Lily. Not anymore," Nightshade said as she began to attack me with even more ferocity than before.

"Leave her alone," Allison suddenly said behind her.

"Ally, no!" I shouted.

"Well, well, if it isn't the woman herself. You know your friend Holly and I were just talking about you. I'm sure if you wait around long enough you'll find her eventually . . . or she'll find you. I know that she's around here somewhere. Oh, Holly. Come out, come out, wherever you are," Missy said with an evil smile.

"Where is she? What did you do to her?" Allison said.

"Get out of here! Go warn Rose. Tell her that Nightshade is . . ." I shouted before I was suddenly cut off by Nightshade grabbing my throat.

"Uh, uh. No telling anyone else. No one else finds out until I say that they do especially not Rose. So you're Rose's sister, hmm? I was just like Rose's sister once myself. Let me tell you that the life expectantly for that particular position isn't very high. Well, I won't have to tell you actually. You're about to find that out for yourself," Nightshade said.

"You!" A voice filled with anger shouted.

"Holly?" Allison asked as she turned to see a furious looking Holly running towards her with absolute hatred in her eyes.

"Oh, she's not Holly anymore. Not the one that you knew anyway. I learned to do more than just remove emotions you see, Ally. I can also modify them and do a complete 180 on them. Now I can turn love into hate and family into enemies in the blink of an eye. Now she wants to kill you, Allison, for what happened to her, and nothing is going to stop her especially since I gave her soul the ability to shape shift too. Enjoy!" Missy said with a chuckle.

"Holly, I'm so sorry!" Allison said.

"Not yet but you soon will be!" Holly shouted in anger as she turned into a large bear and began to squeeze the life out of Allison.

*See The Thief of Time Chapter 10. Don't worry about Chrissy if you haven't read it yet. She got better.

**You can see the whole story of Rose's death in Chapters 95 - 100 of War of the Guardians if you don't remember this or haven't read it before.

***See Time and Space Chapter 41 – 42.

Next: How in the world are Lily, Allison, and Holly going to get out of this one? Will Holly get out of this one since she's been so incredibly corrupted? Well, don't forget about the rest of our little gang. I'm sure that they'll come up with something. Plus more hints are dropped about the history of the mysterious Nightshade who will come to play a major role in Rose's life (and the entire multiverse) very soon now.