CHAPTER 31

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THE PIED PIPER OF GALLIFREY

As Janine went into the school on Gallifrey for the children of time travelers, she felt a shiver run down her back. It was almost as if she was being watched. She turned around though and saw no one.

"It must be my nerves. I don't know why though. I didn't even feel nervous until just now," Janine said.

"Talking to yourself, Munchkin?" Ace asked with a grin.

"I just feel kind of weird, Dorothy. It's like someone's watching me," Janine said with a frightened look on her face.

Ace looked at Janine with concern as she said in a serious voice, "There's no one around but us, Janine. Whatever it is that's bothering you just forget about it. I won't let anything happen to you, okay?"

"Thanks, Dorothy," Janine said as she smiled at Ace.

As the two of them went on to class, demonic laughter could be heard for a brief moment before quickly fading away.

Meanwhile on Skaro as she watched her Daleks file by while they held a parade for her, Oswin smiled warmly at them. She knew that they were all there just to show off for her in order to win her approval, but they were using the excuse that the whole thing was just a drill to make sure that they were prepared for battle. She thought that it was surprisingly sweet especially for Daleks to care so much about what she thought.

"DOES ALL OF THIS MEET WITH YOUR APPROVAL, EMPRESS?" one of the Dalek Commanders asked.

"Yes, it does. It's great. It's very impressive," Oswin said.

"EXCELLENT. THAT MEANS THAT THERE WILL BE NO EXTERMINATIONS OF ANY MEMBERS OF THE DRILL. TODAY THEY WILL ALL BE ALLOWED TO LIVE," the Dalek Commander said before flying away.

"He was just kidding, right?" Oswin asked Dalek Epsilon.

"OF COURSE, EMPRESS. WE DO NOT EXTERMINATE FELLOW DALEKS SINCE YOU TOOK CONTROL," Epsilon said.

"I hope not. That would definitely meet with my disapproval," Oswin said in a firm voice.

"UNDERSTOOD," Epsilon said.

Suddenly Oswin's head felt like her head was splitting apart as she started to receive a vision of Janine. She could see Janine being abducted by a sinister looking clown with an evil smile. What made things worse was that Janine seemed to want to go. She looked almost like she was in a trance of some sort.

Oswin came out of the vision to hear Epsilon shouting at her, and the other Daleks all looking at her in concern. She realized that she was glowing with golden energy and immediately knew that this must be some new power of hers as the Gold Guardian. She was seeing into the future.

"OSWIN, ARE YOU ALRIGHT?" Epsilon was shouting.

"I'm fine. I think I just had a vision. Janine's in trouble or she's going to be anyway," Oswin said.

"YOU DIDN'T SOUND FINE. YOU WERE SCREAMING AND TALKING TO YOURSELF, AND THEN YOU STARTED TO GLOW WITH POWER. I WAS AFRAID THAT YOU WERE BEING CONSUMED BY THIS NEW POWER OF YOURS," Epsilon said.

"I'm fine, Eppy. I didn't particularly like what just happened, but it seems like it was necessary. Apparently I get warnings when someone close to me is in danger of dying. I hope that means that I can still stop it," Oswin said.

"HOW DO YOU KNOW THAT?" Epsilon asked.

"I don't know. I just do," Oswin said.

"I SUPPOSE THIS MEANS THAT YOU'RE RETURNING TO GALLIFREY. DO YOU WISH SOME OF US TO GO WITH YOU OR JUST YOUR USUAL GUARDS?" Epsilon asked.

"None of the above actually. It seems that I've found a new way to ditch your bodyguards, Eppy. I'll be back soon," Oswin said with a huge smile on her face as she used her Guardian abilities to instantly teleport away.

"THAT GIRL WILL BE THE CAUSE OF MY EXTERMINATION YET," Epsilon said with the Dalek equivalent of a sigh.

"DO YOU WISH TO SEND SOMEONE TO FOLLOW HER?" Dalek Omega asked.

"SOMEHOW I DON'T THINK THAT SENDING A SURPRISE PARTY OF DALEKS TO GALLIFREY WOULD GO OVER WELL NO MATTER WHAT THE REASON. IT'S BEST JUST TO LET HER GO. SHE DOESN'T HAVE TO GO ALONE THOUGH DESPITE THAT. SEND THE EMPRESS' BODYGUARD. HE WILL CATCH UP TO HER SOON ENOUGH," Epsilon said.

"IF SHE FINDS OUT ABOUT THIS, SHE WILL BECOME EXTREMELY UPSET WITH YOU," Dalek Omega said.

"I WOULD RATHER HER BE ANGRY AT ME THEN DEAD," Epsilon said.

Oswin appeared on Gallifrey in a burst of golden energy and said to herself, "Now, I know how Rose feels. This is kind of cool."

"Eh, you get used to it. It actually starts to become ordinary after a while," Ace said from behind her.

Oswin turned around hoping to see Janine with her and groaned out loud when she saw that she wasn't there. Ace actually looked hurt by this as she said in an irritated voice, "I'm happy to see you too."

"Sorry, Ace. I didn't mean it like that. I was just hoping that Janine was with you. Where is she?" Oswin asked.

"She's still in class as far as I know. Why?" Ace asked with a curious look on her face.

"I just had a vision about it. It was showing me that she was in danger from an evil clown. I know that sounds absolutely crazy, but that's what I saw," Oswin admitted.

"I met an evil clown once at the Psychic Circus. That's not an experience that I ever want to repeat. Come on. Let's go find the munchkin," Ace said as she grimaced at the memory of her encounter with the Gods of Ragnarok and their flunkies.

Before they could even get inside though, they were met by a frantic Peri as she said, "Have any of you seen Janine? I can't find her anywhere. Molly said that she wasn't there when she last did roll call. That's when she became worried and called me. Do any of you have any idea where she might be?"

Oswin explained her vision to Peri while Ace told them both about Janine's feeling of being watched earlier that day. Peri went ballistic as she said, "Why didn't you stay with her if she told you that? You're her friend. She looks up to you like an older sister."

"Hey! I didn't know that anything was wrong. I thought that she was just nervous about going to school today. Do you think I'd ever let anything happen to her if I could help it? I love that kid!" Ace shouted as she defended herself.

"Hold on a minute. We don't have time for fighting or passing blame. We've got to find her now before this clown whatever he is does something to her. Ace, can you find her? I'd try but I still have no idea how to use my powers yet," Oswin said.

"I'm sorry, Ace," Peri said even as Ace began to glow with Vortex energy while she searched for any trace of Janine anywhere.

"It's okay. I'm mad at myself too for not staying with her. I should have especially after I promised that I wouldn't let anything happened to her," Ace said as she started to become upset.

"It wasn't your fault. There's no need to blame yourself. Just help us find her now before it's too late," Oswin said.

"Oswin, another student's gone!" Molly shouted as she came running outside with all of the remaining students stuck to her like glue.

Oswin could see that the missing student this time was Julia, Amy and Rory's adopted daughter. It seemed that this clown was getting even bolder. Now there were two girls missing.

"Two of them now?" Marissa said as she came running out of the school.

"Yes. I'm afraid so. I'm so sorry. I never even saw anyone," Molly said.

"You'll never see me if I don't want you to. Not even the Daughter of the Wolf or the neophyte Guardian of Time will see me. I'll continue to steal all of the children one by one until I have them all, and none of you will be able to do a thing to stop me," the same evil clown that Oswin had seen in her vision said as he suddenly appeared in front of them.

"I don't think so, whoever you are. If I can take down Fenric, you're going to be a picnic for me," Ace said.

"The name is Odd Bob, and we'll just see about that. Go ahead and give me your best shot! Why don't you plant one right here?" Odd Bob said as he pointed at his chin and laughed while he mocked Ace.

"Oh, I can do much better than that," Ace said with a nasty smile as her eyes glowed with power, and an enormous explosion went off as she caused the very air itself around the clown to explode

Odd Bob disappeared instantly, and Ace punched the air in triumph even as Oswin said in aggravation, "Good going! Now we have no way of finding out where he put the girls."

"There's no need to worry about me. I'm just fine," Odd Bob said as he suddenly appeared out of nowhere yet again without a scratch on him and laughed at them.

"That's impossible," Ace said in disbelief.

"Does it make you afraid of me, Dorothy? Hm? Does it?" Odd Bob asked with malicious glee.

"I'm not afraid of anyone, scumbag! Have you got that?" Ace shouted.

"Maybe not but you are frightened for the girl. You're afraid for your friend. Just like her mother is. I can fear your fear," Odd Bob said as he continued to laugh at them.

"Maybe it's time that you started being afraid. I'm the Empress of the Daleks and a Guardian, and you just stole one of my friends. I want her back. Now!" Oswin said in a threatening voice.

"You're afraid as well. Even more than the Wolf's Daughter. You're afraid for the children, afraid of what you're becoming now that you're a Guardian, and most of all afraid of failure. You're afraid of failing yourself and others. You're no threat to me, Empress," Odd Bob said as he said Oswin's title with scorn in his voice.

"Let's see if you're still saying that in the next five seconds," Oswin said as she unleashed a massive burst of golden Guardian energy from both hands even as she also blasted him with both Gauntlets at once.

"Let's see how he likes that!" Oswin said confidently as she laughed at him.

She was shocked when the clown reappeared completely untouched just as he had when Ace had attacked him. However, unlike that time there was an important difference. This time he wasn't laughing. In fact, this time he looked afraid. Of what though? It certainly wasn't her attack. That hadn't touched him in the slightest.

Then she realized what had been different between her and Ace's attacks and decided to put Odd Bob to a test.

"I'm not afraid of you, Odd Bob. In fact, I think you're hilarious," Oswin said as she started to laugh at him.

Odd Bob seemed to noticeably shrink in size, and his face became contorted with a mixture of anger and fear as he said, "You will fear me. You'll all fear me."

Odd Bob vanished and then quickly reappeared behind Henry, Rani's adopted son, and suddenly grabbed him. Both of them disappeared in an instant as Henry screamed in fear. This time when the clown reappeared he had regained his previous size, and Oswin knew that her theory about him was correct.

"His weakness is laughter. Fear gives him strength, but laughter weakens him. Everyone, laugh at him!" Oswin ordered her friends.

They looked at her uncertainly especially after what had just happened to Henry so Oswin knew that she had to show them. She began laughing at him again, and Odd Bob began to shrink once more as he became furious.

"I'll steal all of them! You won't stop me!" Odd Bob proclaimed in anger even as he disappeared yet again.

This time when he reappeared behind Amanda though he was grabbed from behind by Marissa who began to laugh at him. Oswin and the others were shocked though because it wasn't Marissa's laugh. Peri knew exactly whose laugh it was. She had heard it once before years ago when she had traveled with the Doctor. It was the laugh of the Rani.

Marissa continued to laugh at Odd Bob even as her entire demeanor seemed to change. Odd Bob began to look terrified now as Marissa said, "Do you think that you know fear? I'll show you the meaning of fear. I'm a Time Lord, clown. I can do things to you worse than you can possibly imagine. You're heard of the fury of a Time Lord, haven't you? Well, their anger is nothing compared to mine. You see they have ethics and a line that they won't cross. I don't. Not when someone that I care about is in danger! If you don't believe me, just try me. I'll show you what fear really is, Odd Bob! You'll learn to fear me. I am the Rani."

The others all looked at her in disbelief as gentle, sweet Marissa transformed into a stranger right in front of their eyes, and Peri looked at her in shock as memories of her previous encounter with the Rani came rushing back to her. Odd Bob began to shrink smaller and smaller, and he ran from Marissa in terror.

'What's the matter, Bobby? I thought you liked a good laugh," Marissa taunted him as he ran.

Oswin noticed that he wasn't teleporting. Marissa's tactics were working. At least she hoped it was just tactics. She was weakening him to the point where he couldn't use his powers.

"Ace, go ahead and look for the kids now. I think that he was concealing them from us before somehow, but now that he's been weakened maybe we can find them," Oswin whispered.

Ace started to look again, and this time she found all three children in a pocket dimension that the clown had been hiding them inside of. She immediately brought them back, and Peri ran forward and hugged Janine tightly.

Marissa ran after Odd Bob still taunting him, and Oswin quickly followed her. She wasn't sure whether she was more afraid of Odd Bob or Marissa at this point.

She found Odd Bob cowering from Marissa in a corner as he said, "There is so much darkness in you. You keep it under control, but it's always there just waiting to come out."

"That's right and you don't want to be in my way when I decide to unleash it on you," Marissa said with an evil grin on her face.

That was when a woman that Oswin had never seen before came running up to Odd Bob out of nowhere and began to attack him with lightning fast kicks and punches. Both Oswin and Marissa looked on in disbelief as this seemingly ordinary woman's hands suddenly produced a razor sharp sword out of nowhere, and she began slicing at Odd Bob with it.

The clown screamed in terror as he said, "You're not even alive. There is no fear in you to use. No fear. No fear in you, no fear in the Time Lord. There's no fear anywhere!"

That was when Oswin's eyes began to glow with power as she said, "It's time for you to leave. Bye bye, Bobby!"

She pointed her finger at the clown and pulled an imaginary trigger as she said, "Bang, you're dead!"

Odd Bob exploded into a million pieces!

"Wicked! I wish I could have done that," Ace said as she came running up behind her just in time to see Odd Bob's final defeat.

Oswin turned to look at Marissa and found her crying. The Rani was gone, and the Mari that she knew had now returned. She looked away from Oswin and the others in shame and wouldn't meet their eyes.

"Mari," Peri said as she came walking up to her.

Marissa never said a word. She continued to silently cry as she looked away from her.

"Mari, thank you. You saved my daughter," Peri said as she hugged Marissa.

Marissa looked at her in surprise and then smiled as she hugged Peri back. Then Janine quickly joined in as she thanked her rescuer as well.

Oswin smiled at the scene. She had always known that the Rani wasn't really gone and to see her in action had shocked and frightened her at first. Once she realized that Marissa was still in control though and had suffered a great deal to let her out in defense of her friends, then she knew that everything was okay. She would always trust Marissa no matter what.

She wasn't so sure that she could say the same thing about someone else though. She turned to the mysterious woman who had helped her and said, "So, Mr. Thanatos, since when did you get a sex change?"

Mr. Thanatos revealed his true form as his holographic disguise quickly faded. He looked down at the ground in shame as he said, "I was under orders, Empress."

"Really? I never would have guessed. I bet I know whose. You can go back to Skaro and tell Epsilon that I'm not a little girl, and I don't need his protection. I can take care of myself, and even if I can't I can always count on my friends," Oswin said as she smiled proudly at Marissa.

"Can I count myself among that number?" a familiar voice asked.

She turned to see John Harkness standing there with that cocky grin on his face. She smiled at him as she said, "Maybe. It depends on whether you insist on hitting on me or not."

"I know that you say that you're not interested, but I just can't give up. I really like you, Oswin. Would you at least give me a shot? Just one date?" John asked.

Oswin smiled as she said, "Well, I guess if today's taught me anything it's that I shouldn't let my fears control me. I was afraid that you wouldn't be interesting in anything serious. You do have a reputation, you know? I'm going to look past that fear just this once though and give you your shot, John."

"Yes!" John said with joy.

"I'll have to warn you though. If you break my heart, I'll send Marissa after you. Believe me. You don't want that. We've all found out firsthand why you don't want to cross Mari," Oswin joked as she put her arm around Marissa and smiled at her.

John gulped as he had seen Marissa in action just now. He decided to be extra careful with this girl. He definitely didn't want to be the one to bring the Rani back out of hiding.

Next: Even as Oswin and John talk about dating, a new threat to Oswin emerges as the renegade Daleks send a new attack Oswin's way. By the time this one is through, she might have wished that she did listen to Epsilon a little more.