CHAPTER 25
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Oswin had a crazy idea that she hoped just might work. She scooped up some of the ashes of one of her destroyed Daleks and placed it inside of a compartment on her belt as a sample of the Movellan Virus.
She then turned to Dalek Epsilon who had finally arrived to join her on the front lines and said, "I have an idea to stop the virus. I'm not leaving for good I promise. I have to go find someone who can help me come up with a cure."
"I KNOW THAT YOU WOULD NEVER LEAVE. YOU DON'T HAVE TO ASSURE ME OF THAT, EMPRESS," Dalek Epsilon said.
"Just make sure that they know that. I'll be back in a minute I hope," Oswin said as she used her temporal shift to leave the area.
She reappeared inside of the cell where Davros was imprisoned as Mira sat outside in sadness. Davros and Mira looked at her in surprise, and she knew that they were both wondering if she was about to do something to Davros.
"I just found out that Mr. Clever is in charge of the Daleks now. I guess he moved in after you were captured. He has a new version of the Movellan Virus that's killing my Daleks within seconds, Davros. I know that you were exposed to it a weaker version of the virus and survived once. I need a sample of your blood to try to find a cure for them before it's too late," Oswin explained.
"Why should I help you? You may decide to execute me after all is said and done," Davros asked with an uncaring attitude.
"The virus affects Kaleds too according to Mr. Clever," Oswin said as she looked pointedly at Mira.
"Take as much blood as you need," Davros said as he looked at his sister with worry on his face.
"Mira, you need to come with me," Oswin said after she took a large sample of Davros' blood with a syringe that she had retrieved from a Dalek medical lab.
"I'm not leaving him," Mira protested.
"Please, Mira. I don't want you exposed. I can't lose you again," Davros pleaded.
"I won't kill him. I promise," Oswin said.
Mira studied her face for a moment as she tried to judge for herself whether she was telling the truth or not. She then nodded and grabbed onto Oswin's arm as she took one last look at Davros.
The two of them then left together as Oswin used her temporal shift once again. This time Oswin appeared inside of Tegan's house in Australia where she and Nyssa were now living together after they had stopped traveling with Marissa.
Tegan had finally been convinced that it was safe for her to go home again some time ago after having had her home invaded by Davros' Daleks, and Marissa had gladly dropped her and Nyssa off there. Marissa was very happy for days afterward Oswin remembered with a grin. Tegan had really rubbed Mari the wrong way because she was always shouting and yelling all of the time.
Nyssa must have seen Oswin and Mira arrive from the window because she ran outside the minute that they arrived. Nyssa looked at Mira with a questioning look for a moment but said nothing about her as she asked, "Why are you here, Oswin? Is something wrong?"
"Yes, there is. I'm trying to take Skaro from the other Daleks. Only their new leader has unleashed a deadlier version of the Movellan Virus on them. It can kill them within seconds now. I have a sample of Davros' blood, Nyssa. He survived the original virus. Do you think that you could develop a cure for my Daleks from his anti-bodies?" Oswin asked.
"I can try. I'll need time though," Nyssa said.
"Take as much time as you need. I can be back a minute after I left with my temporal shift," Oswin assured her.
Nyssa went to her room where she had set up a small laboratory and went to work immediately. Oswin was glad that Tegan wasn't here. She wasn't in the mood for the shouting that she was sure would follow if she knew that she was here to help any kind of Daleks, good or not.
While they waited, Mira remained silent and didn't speak. Oswin felt sorry for her. The poor woman had been through a lot lately, and she really hadn't had the time to think about it until now.
First she was rescued by Davros from certain death as he altered history to save her life, and then she found out that he had become one of the worst tyrants in history after she had died. Now she was all alone in a strange time and place that was not her own except for her brother who was almost unrecognizable to her now.
She could sympathize in a way. She too was a person who had found herself in another time and place that was different from the one that she had left and was all alone. Until now that is. Of all of the people to survive from her original timeline, why did it have to be Mr. Clever? Why couldn't it have been her Doctor instead?
She gasped out loud now as memories started to flood her mind of her and her Doctor together. She remembered now. She remembered how she had first met the Doctor after getting his number from a very helpful woman. She had called the number asking for help with her computer and had gotten the Doctor in his TARDIS. She then remembered the Spoonheads and the Great Intelligence, and how she had almost been lost forever that day.
She remembered more now as she started to cry with joy. She remembered the Ice Warrior on the submarine, the haunted house that turned out to be haunted by something other than ghosts, sacrificing her leaf to save the Doctor, meeting Mr. Clever and Porridge, meeting Vastra, Jenny, and Strax in Victorian times, and then meeting River Song in her dreams just before heading off for Trenzalore. She remembered everything now.
She finally remembered who she really was. Meeting Mr. Clever had reawakened her memories at last.
"I'm Clara. Clara Oswald," Oswin said in disbelief.
"What?" Mira asked as she finally spoke while she looked at her as if she wasn't sure what to make of her.
"I lost my memory, Mira, and I didn't even realize just how much I had truly lost until now. I had lost all of my memories of my past, my real past. Now I remember it. All of it. I remember my parents and my kids. They weren't really mine, but I loved them as if they were my own. It's amazing and yet sad at the same time," Oswin said.
"So your real name is Clara?" Mira asked.
"Yes, but it isn't really my name to claim anymore or my life either for that matter. Someone else has my life now. My life and my kids. She's me and yet not me. Someone else is Clara now. For better or worse, Mira, my name is Oswin Oswald," Oswin said.
"For what it's worth even though I don't quite understand what you're talking about I'm sorry. Thank you for showing my brother mercy even though I know that he doesn't really deserve it. I hate to say that about him but it's true. He is my brother though, and I love him no matter what," Mira said.
The two women shared a short embrace then for a moment. Oswin realized that she had just made a new friend.
She may not have her old life anymore, but her new one wasn't so bad either. She still had friends; she had three women who she considered sisters: Marissa, Molly, and Rose; and she had her Daleks. That was what she was going to focus on now. She was determined to save her present and her future by saving the Daleks and her friends and family back on Skaro.
Nyssa came out of her lab with a triumphant smile on her face and handed her a capsule as she said, "This should cure any version of the Movellan Virus I hope. It's a cure based on Davros' anti-bodies and the sample of the new version of the virus that you gave me."
"Thank you, Nyssa. I owe you a big favor for this, and I won't forget it," Oswin said.
"I hope that it helps. Good bye, Oswin," Nyssa said.
"Good bye. Come on, Mira, we're going back unless you want to stay here where it's safe. I'll come back to get you later if you do," Oswin said.
"No, I need to go back. It's my world and my brother at stake," Mira said.
"Good. I just thought that I'd offer. Come on," Oswin said as Mira grabbed ahold of her arm once again as she used her temporal shift to return to Skaro.
She returned Mira to the area just outside of Davros' cell once again, and then went back to the front lines of the Dalek Civil War exactly one minute after she left just as she had promised. She broke the capsule containing the cure on the ground and watched with a huge smile on her face as a fine mist came out and rapidly covered the entire area. It then spread out to reach the rest of the planet.
"Now who's clever?" Oswin asked with a smirk on her face.
"Well, I have to admit that was pretty impressive. See? I'm not petty. Who did you ask for help? Nyssa? This seems like her work. So you protected your Daleks from my little plague. So what? It's still not going to do you any good because I have another little trick up my sleeve. Exhibit B!" Mr. Clever said as his holographic image faded.
Nemesis, the sentient statue made out of the living metal Validium, came out of the Dalek base and began firing multiple destructive arrows everywhere that exploded on impact. The Daleks began to fire back and were engaged in a massive firefight as Nemesis fired silver bolts of energy back at them disintegrating them on the spot.
"Nemesis? What have they done to you?" Oswin asked.
"Well, I've made her totally cool for one thing. I've upgraded her personality and turned her from drab and sour into someone very clever and fantastic! In other words, I've made her into . . . me!" 'Nemesis' said.
"Mr. Clever?" Oswin asked.
"Finally! You really are a bit thick, Clara. Did you know that?" Mr. Clever asked in Nemesis' voice.
"EXTERMINATE! EXTERMINATE THE DOCTOR!" Oswin's Daleks shouted as they continued to fight back against .
"You know I am really beginning to resent being called the Doctor. What is it with you lot and him anyway? You really have an unhealthy fixation on the man. Are you all secretly in love with him or something?" Mr. Clever said as he mocked the Daleks.
"OH, IT'S ON NOW! DESTROY THIS CRAZY SUCKER!" Dalek Omega shouted as he led a fresh charge of Daleks at Mr. Clever.
"What the?! Since when did you start talking like that?" Oswin shouted out at him in surprise.
"I APOLOGIZE, EMPRESS. I HAVE BEEN WATCHING TOO MUCH EARTH TELEVISION LATELY," Dalek Omega shouted back in an embarrassed voice.
"You let them watch television?" Marissa asked as she grinned and shook her head.
"Shut up! I have to keep up with my favorite programs," Oswin said as she tried not to smile.
"A Dalek who talks like a human? I've heard everything now," Koschei said with a sigh.
"I think it's kind of cool, Dad. The Daleks really have to get with the times after all," Lissa said as she giggled.
Dalek Omega was soon joined by Mr. Thanatos and two powerful destructive beings began to clash with Mr. Clever at the same time. They were both quite capable of holding their own with him even in his current host of Nemesis as Dalek Omega was a Special Weapons Dalek with massive firepower and Mr. Thanatos was a Raston Warrior Robot which was one of the most deadly killing machines in the universe not to mention incredibly fast and hard to hit.
While Mr. Clever was being kept busy by Omega and Thanatos, his Daleks and Cybermen were being made short work of by Oswin's Daleks and her friends. Oswin smiled as it seemed as if she was about to win after all.
If only she could think of a way to stop Nemesis or free her, then she could see herself winning the war very quickly. As it was, she wasn't too sure about that at the moment. Nemesis by herself could still defeat them all given enough time due to her great power. She did wipe out an entire Cyber fleet once after all.
Then Oswin remembered how the Doctor had defeated Mr. Clever. He had used a hand pulse to create an electromagnetic pulse in order to drive Mr. Clever out of his body. She began to smile as she finally realized at last what she had to do now.
"Cassie, do you have a sonic screwdriver?" Oswin asked.
"No, I'm afraid not. What do you need it for?" Cassie asked.
"I need something that can create an electromagnetic pulse. You'd think that you of all people would have one since you're the Doctor's daughter," Oswin said with a sigh.
"Hey, it's not like I walk around with an extra one in my back pocket or anything. That was always Dad's thing not mine. Can't you make one yourself with all of that Dalek tech of yours?" Cassie asked.
"I think that I can do it, but I'm going to have to modify my gauntlets. It really would be a lot simpler if I had a sonic around," Oswin said.
"Sorry," Cassie said with a shrug.
Oswin quickly modified her gauntlets in the middle of the battle while several Daleks from the other side tried to fire on her. She had to keep one eye on them and one eye on what she was doing as she slowly and methodically rewired her gauntlets to perform this new function.
She smiled as she finally finished while saying, "Am I good or what? Okay, Mr. Clever. It's showtime!"
She ran towards him with an eager smile on her face as Marissa warned, "Oswin, are you crazy? Nemesis will fry you in seconds!"
"Good idea, Ushas. Thanks!" Mr. Clever said as he fired silver blasts of energy in Oswin's direction.
Oswin used her temporal shift to vanish just as the energy would have hit her then she reappeared after it was gone as she continued to run towards Mr. Clever without stopping. She was constantly shifting seconds ahead into the future in-between each attack as he continued to fire on her or shoot arrows her way.
She had to instantly calculate when and where each of his attacks would be and plan for them in order to keep from being hit. Amazingly, she was able to do this with complete accuracy, and she wasn't hit once as she raced his way.
She finally appeared right in front of Mr. Clever and placed first one and then both of her gauntlets on top of his head as she released a massive EMP into his host body. Mr. Clever screamed and then collapsed to the ground.
As Nemesis lay there unmoving, Oswin's Daleks began to chant, "ALL HAIL THE EMPRESS!" over and over again. As Oswin looked around her, she realized why. She had won! There was no one else left to fight. Skaro belonged to her Daleks at last.
As Nemesis woke up, she said, "I'm free. I thought that I was doomed to become someone else's servant after all despite having finally won my freedom. Thank you!"
"I'm glad to do it. Rose would have killed me if I hadn't at least tried," Oswin said.
"If you ever need anything, you have only to ask. I'll be there," Nemesis said as she held out her hand in friendship to Oswin.
As Oswin shook Nemesis' hand, she couldn't help but think about how different her old life was from her new one. She wished that her mother could see her now. She wondered if even she would be able to believe just how far that she had traveled and all of the places that she had seen.
Back in the now devastated and deserted Dalek base, a lone computer blinked on as Mr. Clever's voice said to himself, "She thinks she's won, but I made a back-up plan for myself just in case something like this happened. I'm not beaten yet, Clara. I'm still alive inside of this old Cyber-Planner casing that I brought along just in case. It's archaic, but it'll do in a pinch. No one can keep me down for long, and do you know why? I'm just too clever!"
"Oh, shut up!" another voice said from out of nowhere.
The sound of a sonic screwdriver could be heard, and Mr. Clever screamed, "You can't do this to me! This isn't the end. I will be back. Nothing can stop me forever. I'm just too cool to die!"
Then the old Cyber-Planner shell exploded and disintegrated. The sight of its destruction left the man holding the sonic screwdriver with a joyful feeling in both of his hearts. He didn't know what he had been thinking dressing like that. Thank goodness he had much better dress sense now!
"Come on, Doctor, before she sees you. You know that no one's supposed to see this version of you yet. Do you want to almost create a paradox again like you nearly did back in Pompeii?" Clara said with a frown.
"You know some things never change even with a new appearance, Clara. You and Rose still never want me to have any fun," the Twelfth Doctor said with an amused grin on his face as he followed Clara into the TARDIS.
It dematerialized right before Oswin and the others blew the old Dalek base up as they celebrated their final victory. There were still several Dalek bases and ships out in space that hadn't sworn allegiance to Oswin yet and probably never would, but at this moment it really didn't matter. Oswin and her Daleks had taken Skaro.
Oswin Oswald truly was the Empress of the Daleks now.
A woman in a black hood and cloak watched Oswin and the others celebrate with anger in her eyes. She silently promised herself that this wasn't over with yet. She hadn't saved Mr. Clever from being erased along with the other timeline just to watch him die now. She held the intact consciousness of Mr. Clever in the form of a ball of pure psychic energy in her hand as she smiled to herself.
"Enjoy your victory for now. You and I will eventually meet though, Clara Oswin Oswald. On that day, I will be the one doing the celebrating. I'm going to enjoy that very much. You know I think that I'm really going to enjoy this new job. It's got a lot of cool perks like crushing the friends of the people that you hate," the mysterious woman in black said to herself with an evil laugh as she immediately vanished from sight as if she had never been there.
Next: How does Oswin celebrate becoming the new ruler of Skaro? By going back to school of course! Or more accurately, she goes there for her first day on the job as a teacher at Rose's school where we get to see just what kinds of classes that the kids of our favorite time travelers are attending and who their teachers are. Teachers like Idris, River Song, and Jack Harkness for example.
I know several of you are probably asking right now just who that mysterious woman at the end was. At least I hope so! You'll already know if you've read Bad Wolves Chapter 40 (I know! It's a shameless self-promoting plug, but what are you going to do?) because she just had her first appearance at the end of that. For the rest of you, I'll give you all a hint. She loves chaos, she dresses all in black, and her name is definitely not Bill. You'll all find out who she is soon enough if you still haven't guessed yet along with her true identity.