CHAPTER 36

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THE NEW EMPRESS OF THE DALEKS

Deep in space in a hidden corner of the universe the renegade Daleks were getting ready to create themselves a new leader at last. They hated the very thought of using a human as their leader, but they had to adapt to the threat at hand.

The other Daleks were led by a human so they must have a human leader as well in order to counteract her. Only another human could hope to outwit her. Not a pure human though, but a human made to think like a Dalek. Such a combination would surely lead them to victory they thought.

Basically they were getting desperate and knew that their time was running out. At this point, they were willing to try anything in order to survive.

They were even willing to try the previously unthinkable option of letting a non-Dalek lead them.

Which human though? Who should they pick? Who would be the perfect choice to counteract Oswin Oswald?

It should be someone who knows her and is familiar with how she thinks. Also someone energetic and possessing great mental dexterity preferably a child. The Daleks had had great success with using children as military planners in the past especially during the Shoreditch Incident.

They had tried to gain Matt Pond, the clone of the Eleventh Doctor, as a leader because he possessed these qualities as well despite not being human, but that attempt had failed thanks to River Song. They now chose to pick a child who was familiar to Oswin. Who would it be though? That was the question.

The Daleks were now watching each and every child in Oswin's life very closely, and soon they would have their answer. Then they would have their new leader, and they would use the Empress' previous relationship with this child against her to help defeat her. Her own humanity keeping her from harming her former friend would be used to destroy her.

It was a solution that was just so Dalek. It fit their ideology like a glove.

Oswin was blissfully ignorant of this plan as she went about her ordinary life which she made sure included Marissa and her family now. As a part of this new determination to bring them back into her life, she had decided to pay Marissa an unscheduled visit and immediately regretted it. It seemed that she had dropped in at a very bad time.

Marissa and Koschei stood next to each other unspeaking and looking away from one another. They were only a couple of inches apart physically, but they might as well have been miles apart. Neither was even acknowledging the existence of the other.

Oswin stood there silent not knowing what to do until she was pulled away by Lissa. Lissa dragged her into the room that she stayed in when she sometimes visited her parents and closed the door.

She gestured to Oswin to sit down on the bed, and she sat down beside her. Oswin was about to ask her what was going on when Lissa wrapped her arms around her and put her head on her shoulder. She could feel her body shaking, and she knew that she was very upset.

'It's okay. Whatever's happening I know that your parents are going to be alright. They've had fights before after all and gotten through it," Oswin said.

"Yeah and they also broke up for a couple of hundred years. What if by coming here I started a chain reaction of events that's going to cause me to be erased? What if this is all my fault?" Lissa asked.

"Every child thinks that their parents fighting is somehow their fault. You're not a child though, Lissa. You know better than that. It's because of your dad getting so close to Lucy Saxon again and backsliding to his days as the Master as a result. She seems to bring out the worst in him. Marissa has been feeling neglected lately. By him and me," Oswin said guiltily.

"No, Aunt Oswin. She's not angry at you. She knows that you didn't mean anything by not coming to see her. You have a lot on your plate lately, the Guardians, the Daleks, and Aunt Rose's school. You're too busy to do anything these days. Have you even had a second date with John Harkness?" Lissa asked.

"No, I haven't, and I really wanted to. How did you know about that?" Oswin asked.

"Duh. I'm from the future," Lissa said as she rolled her eyes at her and smiled.

Oswin smiled. At least Lissa was smiling again. From the way that she had come to her for comfort, Oswin guessed that Lissa must be going to confide a lot in her growing up. That was good. She liked Lissa. She acted like a combination between the worst parts of Koschei, Marissa, and River Song, but she had good hearts.

"You see? You're too busy to even date the love of your . . . I mean you're too busy to do anything else lately. We understand. Don't worry about it," Lissa said as she hugged Oswin tightly.

"We're very close in the future, aren't we?" Oswin asked.

"You're like my second mother, Oswin. I can always talk to you about anything. I always come to you about all of my problems, and you always manage to make me feel better somehow. You've just done that again. Thanks for that," Lissa said.

"I'm glad. You know you're not as cold, sarcastic or as ruthless as you pretend to be, Lissa. You're a sweetheart," Oswin said.

"Don't say that! You'll ruin my image. I'm the sassy, devil may care rogue who's capable of anything. That's my whole schtick," Lissa said in terror.

"Your secret's safe with me, sweetie," Oswin said as she hugged her.

"Thanks. You know that you and Mum are the only ones who ever get to see this side of me," Lissa admitted.

"I feel very special then," Oswin said.

"You should because you are. Don't ever forget that," Lissa said.

Oswin smiled at her and then her smile faded as a look of determination replaced it. "Don't worry, Lis. I'll make sure that your parents stay together," Oswin said.

Lissa smiled as Oswin stormed out of the room. She knew that it was the first time that she had ever called her Lis. It wouldn't be the last. She also knew from that look on her face that had been directed towards her so many times as a child that Hurricane Clara was about to strike. She pitied her parents right now. She was just glad that it wasn't her.

As Oswin came back into the Console Room, she saw that Marissa and Koschei were still not talking to one another. She decided right there and then that she had had enough.

"Alright, you two! You're going to talk to each other and straighten this out right now. You've got that poor kid of yours scared to death that what's happening between you two is her fault for being here in the first place. She thinks that she's about to be erased from history at any minute because of the way that you two are acting. You can both just start behaving like adults right now and settle your differences. Got it?!" Oswin snarled.

"Lissa's upset?" Koschei asked in alarm.

Oswin almost smiled at how concerned he looked. Koschei hadn't known Lissa that long, but she already had him wrapped around her little finger. All she had to do was stub a toe, and he would come running.

"Yes, she is. She thinks that all of this is her fault for coming to the past. It isn't though. It's yours. Now you apologize to Marissa for ignoring her and going around Lucy Saxon so much. Most of all apologize for acting like the Master again," Oswin demanded.

"I am sorry for that. For all of it. I wanted to get to know my son so it wasn't all just to see Lucy. She does seem to bring out the bad side of me though by reminding me of my past. I'll keep the visits to her to a minimum of just seeing her briefly as I see John from now on. I think Lucy would definitely agree to that from the horrified look she gave me when I last saw her. We just seem to bring out the worst in each other anyway. Not like you, Mari. We always bring out the best in each other. If you want any more proof of that, just look at Lissa. She's definitely the best thing that I ever did or will do anyway other than loving you," Koschei said to Marissa.

"Every time that I think that you're a total heel and it's all over between us, you always go and say something that makes me fall in love with you all over again. How do you do that?" Marissa asked as her anger toward him all melted in an instant as she gave him a loving kiss.

Koschei held Marissa close to him as he said to Oswin, "Do you know why she chose the name the Rani for herself?"

"No, she never told me," Oswin admitted.

"It's because he called me his little Queen towards the end of our time at the Academy. I learned that the name Rani meant Queen on Earth so I chose that as my new name when we graduated. I always wanted to remember that I was his Queen. Later of course it took on a more ironic meaning as I started to think that I was better than everyone else when I turned dark. I had almost forgotten its original meaning and how sweet it once was. Thank you for reminding me of that, Koschei," Marissa said as she kissed him again.

Oswin smiled as she said, "Thank you for telling me that story. You know you really could call yourself the Rani again as long as you keep in mind its original meaning from now on."

"No, I don't think that I should use that name anymore for any reason. Besides that the name Queen is still part of my name in case you hadn't noticed. I'm still his Queen," Marissa said with a grin.

"Yes, you are," Koschei said as he started kissing her again.

Oswin quietly left as she said to Lissa, "Tell them I said good bye."

"Sure. I'll do it the next time that they come up for air. That will probably be a very long time though thanks to their binary vascular systems. Thanks, Clara. For everything," Lissa said warmly.

Oswin looked at her in surprise as she said, "You called me Clara."

"You'll use both names one day. I know you prefer to call yourself Oswin most of the time to avoid confusion, but when you do something really good for me I like to call you by your real name. I like your real name better to be honest. I think it's beautiful," Lissa said.

Oswin smiled as she said, "Thank you, Lis. I'll come back and make sure that both you and your parents are doing alright very soon. I promise."

"Good. I missed you. I'll see you later then, Aunt Oswin," Lissa said as she smiled at her.

Oswin waved good bye and then used her Guardian powers to teleport away. She reappeared on Skaro just in time to be greeted by a very anxious Dalek Epsilon.

"I'M SO GLAD THAT YOU'VE RETURNED," Epsilon said in a worried voice.

"What's the matter, Eppy?" Oswin asked.

"THE RENEGADE DALEKS HAVE FOUND A NEW LEADER, A HUMAN. THEY SAID THAT SHE WILL LEAD THEM TO VICTORY OVER YOU. THEY CLAIM THAT SHE IS HUNTING YOU DOWN RIGHT NOW TO KILL YOU. I WAS WORRIED ABOUT YOU. I'M GLAD THAT YOU CAME BACK TO US WHEN YOU DID," Dalek Epsilon said.

Oswin smiled at how human he was now as she said to Epsilon, "Don't worry. I'm fine. I was just fixing a few things. Another Empress, huh? I wonder who they found. I'm really anxious to meet her. I bet it's just some poor woman that the Daleks kidnapped and forced into it. I'll probably have to wind up rescuing her. I bet whoever it is leads them straight into disaster. They're so brainwashed by the Daleks that they don't even know which end is up I bet."

"SHE'S NOT A WOMAN. SHE'S A CHILD. A YOUNG CHILD WHO THE DALEKS RECRUITED BECAUSE OF HER CLOSENESS TO YOU," Epsilon said.

"Who? Who is it? Tell me!" Oswin shouted in a panic as a myriad of possibilities from Janine to Ace popped into her head and filled her with terror.

"WE DO NOT KNOW. WE KNOW THAT IT ISN'T ONE OF YOUR STUDENTS AT THE SCHOOL THOUGH. WE CHECKED ON ALL OF THEM, AND THEY ARE SAFE," Epsilon said.

"Who is it then? What other children are connected to me who the Daleks would think know me that well?" Oswin asked.

Then she heard the familiar sound of a TARDIS materializing right next to her. She could see the Daleks next to her stiffening in reaction as they could see whose TARDIS that it was. It was the Doctor's.

It turned out that it wasn't him driving it though. Clara came running out of the TARDIS as soon as it had landed and immediately punched Oswin in the face!

The Daleks around them all moved forward to attack Clara as Oswin stood there in shock, but Epsilon quickly ordered, "STAND BACK. THIS IS A DISPUTE BETWEEN SISTERS. IT IS A HUMAN SITUATION AND SHOULD BE RESOLVED BETWEEN THEM."

The Daleks moved back, but they all continued to eye Clara warily.

Then Oswin's eyes widened in horror as she finally realized that there was only one thing that could make Clara that angry. "Angie and Artie!" she gasped out in fear.

Clara looked at her in a combination of anger, panic, and despair as she said, "This is your fault, isn't it? You're the reason why she's missing! You just had to start visiting her and draw the Daleks' attention to her, didn't you? I put her in danger by trying to help you. If anything's happened to her because of you, I'll . . ."

"Angie's missing?" Oswin interrupted her with a heavy heart.

"Like you didn't know! I've been driving myself crazy trying to find her. I had no idea what happened to her. Then suddenly I knew. The Daleks kidnapped her to get to you, didn't they? Didn't they?!" Clara demanded.

"It's worse than that. I think that they might have made her into their new Empress in order to fight me," Oswin admitted in a low voice.

Clara's face went white as she started to sway back and forth. Oswin caught her before she collapsed as she said, "It's okay. I'll save her, Clara. I promise."

"My poor Angie," Clara said in despair before passing out in Oswin's arms.

"SHE IS WELL?" Epsilon asked.

"She will be. She became so upset that it overwhelmed her. Sometimes our emotions get to be too much for us, and they can drive us out of our minds for a while," Oswin explained.

"SO I'VE NOTICED," Epsilon said.

Oswin grinned at him as she said, "I might almost call that an insult if I didn't know any better."

"JUST A PLAYFUL ONE TO KEEP YOU FROM PASSING OUT TOO LIKE YOUR SISTER," Epsilon said apologetically.

Oswin kissed the top of his casing as she said, "Thanks for trying to relieve my worry about Angie. I appreciate it."

"INCOMING RENEGADE DALEK TRANSMISSION. I WILL DISPLAY IT FOR YOU," Dalek Omega said as a holographic projection of a renegade Dalek suddenly appeared out of his casing for Oswin to see.

"THIS MESSAGE IS FOR THE FALSE EMPRESS. WE HAVE A NEW LEADER NOW, OSWIN OSWALD. SHE IS SOMEONE WHO WE KNOW THAT YOU KNOW WELL BECAUSE WE HAVE SEEN YOU WITH HER ON SEVERAL OCCASIONS. WE WILL USE HER KNOWLEDGE OF YOU AND YOUR EMOTIONAL ATTACHMENT TO HER TO HELP US FINALLY DESTROY YOU ONCE AND FOR ALL. NOW LISTEN TO THE WORDS OF OUR EMPRESS," the renegade Dalek said.

The Dalek who had been speaking moved back and Oswin watched in horror as another Dalek with a white casing moved forward, and the top of its casing flipped back to reveal Angie Maitland's head. Angie was covered with wires, and when she spoke it was in a Dalek voice.

"HELLO, CLARA. OR IS IT CLARA? YOU TRICKED ME, DIDN'T YOU? DID YOU THINK THAT IT WAS FUNNY PRETENDING TO BE SOMEONE WHO I THOUGHT THAT I COULD TRUST? I SEE THAT I CAN'T TRUST EITHER OF YOU NOW. YOU JUST PLAYED GAMES FOR ME FOR YOUR OWN AMUSEMENT. I KNOW WHO I CAN BELIEVE IN NOW THOUGH. THE DALEKS HAVE PROMISED TO BRING HER BACK TO ME. ALL THAT THEY WANT IN EXCHANGE IS FOR ME TO DESTROY YOU AND BECOME THEIR QUEEN. THE QUEEN OF THE UNIVERSE. I TOLD CLARA THAT SHE WAS STUPID FOR REJECTING PORRIDGE'S OFFER TO BECOME HIS QUEEN, AND I WON'T MAKE THE SAME MISTAKE. OR WAS THAT YOU? IT DOESN'T MATTER NOW. I WILL LEAD THE DALEKS TO COMPLETE AND TOTAL VICTORY OVER ALL OF TIME AND SPACE, AND THEN I WILL ALTER THE TIMELINE TO BRING MY MOTHER BACK TO ME. WE WILL RULE THIS UNIVERSE SIDE BY SIDE," Angie said with tears coming down her cheeks.

"Listen to me, Angie. They're using you. They don't care about your mother or you. All that they care about is killing me. They just want you to fight me because they know that I won't hurt you," Oswin said.

"OH, BUT I WILL HURT YOU! LIAR! BETRAYER! YOU TRIED TO TAKE MY MOTHER'S PLACE, BUT YOU COULDN'T SUCCEED. I WOULDN'T LET YOU!" Angie screamed.

"Angie, you're not thinking clearly. They've messed with your mind. This isn't you. You're a sweet girl deep down. You've got to remember that," Clara, who was now awake, said as she tried to appeal to her.

"NO MORE OF YOUR LIES! I TRUST THE DALEKS NOW AND THEM ALONE. THEY WILL RESTORE HER TO ME AND FIX EVERYTHING. ONCE I'VE HELPED THEM, THEY'LL LET ME GO BACK TO MY OLD LIFE WITH HER. IT WILL BE LIKE NOTHING EVER HAPPENED," Angie said.

"THEY ARE LYING TO YOU. THEY WILL USE YOU TO KILL OUR EMPRESS, AND THEN THEY WILL TURN ON AND KILL YOU," Epsilon warned her.

"NO MORE LIES. NOW I WILL DESTROY THE FALSE DALEKS AND THEIR FALSE EMPRESS FOREVER. THE WAR TO RETAKE SKARO HAS BEGUN. EXTERMINATE THEM!" Angie commanded.

Suddenly several Dalek saucers appeared in the skies over Skaro and began firing on the surface. At the same time, Angie, now fully encased in her Dalek casing once again, appeared in front of Oswin and Clara and began firing on them with her casing's gunstick.

Oswin quickly brought up her force field around them for protection as Angie continued to bombard them with attack after attack. The force field absorbed every attack, but that didn't stop Angie in the slightest. She was relentless in her assault.

Clara was watching this in absolute despair as she said, "It's not a full conversion so do you think that we could bring her back? Do you think that she'll ever be herself again?"

"I hope so," Oswin said in a hopeful but unsure voice.

"THIS IS THE REAL ME, CLARA. GET USED TO IT!" Angie said as she suddenly unleashed a massive attack that shattered Oswin's force field and instantly knocked her unconscious.

Angie moved closer to Clara now and pointed her gunstick at her. She seemed to hesitate for a moment as she said, "I'M ALMOST SORRY TO DO THIS. I DON'T WANT TO DO IT, BUT I HAVE TO."

"Angie, this isn't you. They've messed with your brain. Don't do this," Clara pleaded.

"I'M SORRY. I HAVE TO. THEY TOLD ME THAT I HAVE TO. GOOD BYE, CLARA," Angie said in a voice filled with sorrow.

Then she fired at Clara at point blank range, and she slumped over.

Oswin woke up just in time to see this and cried out, "No! What have you done? Angie, what have you done?"

Next: Is Clara really dead? Well Angie ever be the same again? Will the renegade Daleks finally reclaim Skaro? Maybe someone with a 'sassy' personality and another someone with an 'explosive' personality can lend Oswin a hand.