CHAPTER 45

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THE COMING OF THE CYBER QUEEN

Molly Hunter had just gotten done for the day at Rose's school and was waiting on Marissa to pick her up when she heard screaming coming from inside the building. She ran back inside to see Janine and Ace being surrounded by an entire army of Cybermen. The Cybermen had already somehow managed to stun Ace, and it looked like she was about to fall at any moment now.

"Molly, help!" Janine screamed as she saw her standing there watching them in horror.

Molly had absolutely no idea what to do since she was absolutely rubbish at fighting Cybermen by herself, but she knew that she couldn't just stand there and do nothing. She pulled a huge Cyber killing gun that Oswin had given her from one of her battles with the Cybermen out of a specially treated pocket that was much bigger on the inside than it was on the outside and pointed it at the Cybermen.

"Get away from them or I'll turn you all into toast!" Molly said in a nervous voice that cracked when she spoke.

"Yeah . . . that'll . . . scare 'em," Ace said in a woozy voice as she tried to stay on her feet while she swayed back and forth.

What had they done to her? Molly wondered. If they could do that to her, what chance did she have against them?

"Ignore her. She is a low level threat at the most. Fire the Vortex Nullifier again, and finish the one called Ace. She is the most dangerous one," The Cyber Leader said.

"You've . . . got . . . that . . . right, scumbags!" Ace said in an ever weakening voice.

She glowed briefly with the power of the Vortex, and the Cybermen stepped away from her warily. Ace started to laugh as she began attacking the Cybermen closest to her by blowing them up from the inside. She was sure that she was still going to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat yet again just like she usually did.

She was wrong though.

This time was different as the Cybermen fired a huge weapon that Molly could only assume was the Vortex Nullifier at Ace. It was so large that it took four Cybermen to carry it, and it looked more like a cannon than a gun. Ace screamed louder than Molly had ever heard her scream before, and then she suddenly stopped glowing and fell to the ground unconscious instantly.

"She was stronger than most Vortex users would be. It took two hits of the Nullifier to temporarily sever her connection to the Vortex. It is done. She will lose her powers for one day. That is more than long enough for our purposes. Seize her!" The Cyber Leader ordered.

"No!" Molly shouted as she began firing her gun on the Cybermen as they began to carry Ace away with them.

Several of them were instantly destroyed, but there were already several more left who were more than ready to take their place. One of them quickly used its super speed to grab her and pin her to the nearest wall as it grabbed her gun away from her.

"Kill her," the Cyber Leader ordered.

"Molly!" Janine screamed.

The Cyberman holding Molly against the wall suddenly exploded into a million pieces as a familiar voice shouted, "EXTERMINATE!"

Molly smiled as she saw Oswin and a small army of Daleks begin to attack the Cybermen. She finally began to feel safe for the first time since all of this had begun. Then again she always felt safe around Oswin even in the middle of a huge firefight like the one that she was currently stuck in now.

Oswin immediately grabbed a visibly upset Janine and teleported with her to Molly's side where she surrounded both of them with her force field. She began firing her gauntlets at several of the Cybermen surrounding her as she said to Molly, "Luckily for you, I told Marissa that I'd be here to pick you up from work today. I just can't leave you alone for one minute without you being up to your neck in trouble, can I?"

"One minute? I haven't seen you in a lot longer than that," Molly said and instantly regretted it as soon as she said it.

"I'm sorry," Molly quickly added.

"It's okay. I'm sorry for not being here at the school or around you more. That's about to change though. I've given most of my Guardian powers and duties to Cydonia. I'm going to be around more often now. I promise," Oswin said as she continued to attack every Cyberman in sight.

"I heard about that, and I certainly hope so. Mari expects you to be there for something big coming up soon you know," Molly said.

"Yeah, I know. Koschei finally popped the question. I thought he'd take another couple of hundred years at least before he finally figured it out that he should marry her," Oswin said.

"Did you know that she wants you to be her Maid of Honor?" Molly asked.

Oswin smiled as she said, "Really? No, I didn't. That puts me in a real pickle then. I, uh, I . . ."

"Don't tell me. You're getting married too, and you promised Clara that she could be your Maid of Honor, didn't you?" Molly asked with a grin.

"I wanted it to be Mari, but Clara just kept looking at me with those sad eyes of hers while she kept begging me to let her do it. I couldn't say no to her. She knew just what to say to get me to cave. Then again she would, wouldn't she? I was going to tell the two of you soon. I've just been really busy lately. You have no idea how busy," Oswin said.

"Eight Claras. Yeah, I think that would be enough to keep anyone busy. I thought one of you was bad enough to have to deal with," Molly said laughing.

"How did you know that? Are you stalking me or something?" Oswin asked surprised.

Molly pulled out a Dalek communications device to show to her as she said, "I've been keeping in touch through Epsilon. He keeps calling me on this to let me know how you're doing. I think he wants to see if I'm alright too while he's at it but just won't admit it. I never thought I'd think of a Dalek as a friend after what happened to me, but he's quickly become my best one."

Oswin looked hurt because Molly had once called her her best friend as she said, "I guess I deserve that. I haven't really been there for you too much lately have I?"

Molly looked at her oddly at first and then she quickly realized what Oswin meant as she said, "That wasn't a slam against you, Clara. I stopped thinking of you as just my best friend a long time ago. You're my sister."

Oswin smiled with relief as she said, "Thank you. I know I don't deserve it but thank you."

"I'm so glad for you two, but what about Dorothy?! Where is she?" Janine said in a worried voice.

"I'm sure she's just fine. The Daleks will get her back. Don't worry," Molly said to her in a soothing voice.

"Ace was here?" Oswin asked alarmed.

"What do you mean 'was'?" Molly said as she started to become worried now too.

"I didn't see her when I came. I just saw the two of you," Oswin said in a panicked voice.

"She was just here. The Cybermen knocked her out and said something about having plans for her," Molly said in an extremely upset voice.

"She has to still be here somewhere. She has to!" Janine said in tears.

"No, no, no!" Oswin said as she tried to use what was left of her Guardian powers to find a trace of Ace in the area.

To her horror, she found nothing.

"Delta, Gamma!" Oswin shouted over the noise of battle.

Daleks Delta and Gamma immediately appeared at Oswin's side and said in unison, "EMPRESS?"

"Dorothy was here but she isn't now. We have to find her. Where did the Cybermen take her and what do they want with her? Make them talk," Oswin ordered.

"WE OBEY," The two Daleks said as they raced back out onto the battlefield.

"She has to be alright. She just has to," Janine said to herself over and over.

"She will be, sweetie. I promise," Oswin said.

Dalek Delta then reappeared holding a badly damaged Cyberman head in his suction cup arm as he said to it, "TELL THE EMPRESS WHAT YOU TOLD US."

The Cyberman head then said, "The girl known as Dorothy has been taken to Telos for conversion."

"What?! Why? Why her specifically?" Oswin asked in alarm.

"ANSWER! ANSWER!" Delta demanded when the Cyber head remained quiet for a moment.

"It has been decided that we needed a companion of the Doctor's for our latest conversion experiment. Previous test subjects have proven to be failures due to their wills being too strong to subvert so we have settled on someone with a younger much more malleable mind. It has been decided that the former Dorothy McShane will be an ideal subject. Her Vortex abilities were an additional bonus. A leader with Vortex powers who is also the adopted daughter of the Doctor and the Bad Wolf will give us an added advantage in battle. We can use their emotions against them just like the true weakness that they are," The Cyber head said.

"I'll show you some emotions that you're not going to like too much if you don't tell me where she is. What kind of experiment is this? What exactly are you going to do to her? Is she on Telos?" Oswin demanded.

"It is too late. The conversion will have already begun by now. You cannot stop it," The Cyber head said.

"You just watch me. Now tell me where my friend is!" Oswin screamed.

"I do not fear death. I do not fear anything," The Cyber head said.

"You will," Oswin said in a cold voice.

She touched a button on one of her gauntlets as she aimed it at the Cyber head. It suddenly began to scream in pain as Oswin said, "I just turned off your neural inhibitor which keeps you from feeling any emotions. You can finally see yourself for what you've become now, can't you? It's finally hit you at last. I'll leave it off forever if you don't tell me what I want to know. Tell me!"

Molly lightly touched her arm and looked at her in concern because Oswin was beginning to sound a lot like a Dalek at that moment. She was frightening both her and Janine.

"YOU WILL SPEAK! OBEY THE COMMANDS OF THE EMPRESS!" Delta shouted.

"Please help me. My name is David and I just want to go home. Where am I? What's happened to me? Please let me go home," The Cyber head said in agony.

Oswin began to tremble now and her voice quaked with emotion as she said, "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I'll take you home. I promise. Please just tell me where my friend is. You know don't you? Just tell me and I'll make sure that you get to go home. I'm sorry for doing this to you."

Molly and Janine both looked at each other with relief. This was the Oswin that they knew once again. They both silently resolved to themselves to start seeing her more often. Being around only Daleks most of the time now was leading to her becoming someone that they didn't know anymore. Someone dark and vengeful.

Molly now knew why Epsilon had been calling her and why he had agreed to her marriage to John even though he obviously couldn't stand him. He was worried about her. He was worried that she was starting to become too much like one of them.

David quickly told Oswin where Ace was and what they were doing to her and why. Oswin became both furious and extremely upset at the same time. She had to stop this. She had to be in time to prevent Ace's life from being destroyed. She just had to.

Oswin turned to Delta and said, "Dispatch an extraction team to rescue Dorothy. Then take what you can find of David to Cydonia. She's still at Clara's house. She'll know what to do to help him. Make sure that he gets to go home. Please."

"I WILL. DO NOT WORRY, EMPRESS. DO NOT WORRY ABOUT LOSING YOUR HUMANITY EITHER. YOUR FRIENDS WON'T LET YOU," Delta said.

"How did you know that I was worried about that?" Oswin asked.

"WE KNOW YOU BETTER THAN YOU KNOW YOURSELF NOW, EMPRESS. WE KNOW EXACTLY WHAT YOU ARE THINKING AT ALL TIMES BY THE LOOK ON YOUR FACE. WE HAVE STUDIED YOU EXTENSIVELY SO THAT WE MAY TAKE BETTER CARE OF YOU," Delta admitted.

Oswin smiled as she said, "I'm not sure how to feel about being talked about like I'm a child or a pet, but I think your heart's in the right place so I'll let it slide."

"I MEAN NO DISRESPECT. I . . . I . . . I REVERE YOU," Delta said.

"Were you trying to say that you love me?" Oswin asked.

"I'M NOT SURE IF I AM CAPABLE OF THAT EMOTION," Delta said as he almost sounded embarrassed.

"Right. Do you already have a team dispatched to help Dorothy?" Oswin asked as she quickly changed the subject.

"YES, THEY ARE LANDING ON HER EXACT LOCATION ON TELOS AS WE SPEAK. DO YOU WISH TO ACCOMPANY THEM?" Delta asked.

"You bet I do. You two stay here. Delta will take you to Marissa on Earth. She's busy with her new job as Minister of Alien Affairs or she would have been here to pick you up today. Maybe that's a good thing though. Maybe it's good that I was here so that I can stop all of this before it's too late," Oswin said to Molly and Janine.

Then Oswin waved goodbye to them reassuringly as she teleported away to join the Dalek ships that were even now landing on Telos to extract Ace. Even Oswin didn't dare to go there before they landed. She would have been quickly overwhelmed by a planet full of Cybermen without some help.

As Oswin led the way, the Dalek strike force quickly broke into the hidden base beneath Telos' devastated surface and began to do an extensive search for Ace. They soon found her and just as quickly wished that they hadn't.

A partially Cyber-Converted Ace with parts of her covered in metal and circuitry began firing on all of the Daleks around her with wrist blasters that popped out of her arms. These wrist blasters were far more powerful than the standard ones though and caused a tremendous boom each time that they hit their targets. As Ace smiled each time that she blew another Dalek up, Oswin saw to her relief that she wasn't completely gone yet since Cybermen had no emotions.

"Dorothy? Dorothy, talk to me. Let me help you," Oswin said in a gentle voice.

Ace turned toward Oswin with a huge grin on her face as she said, "Dorothy? There's no one by that name here I'm afraid. You have me mistaken for someone else. Someone who cares apparently."

Oswin looked at her oddly as she said, "You're Dorothy. You must remember that. No matter what the Cybermen have done to you they can't take that away from you if you don't let them. Just keep saying to yourself over and over again who you are and fight them, Dorothy! Fight them!"

"You're exactly right, Oswin. I will fight them. I have been fighting them all along. They wanted to destroy me, but I wouldn't let them. They thought that they could replace me with this little girl, but I outsmarted them. I replaced her instead!" 'Ace' said with an evil grin on her face.

Oswin looked at her in horror because she knew who she was now. She recognized her even despite her being in Dorothy's body and using her voice.

"That's right, Oswin. I am Mercy Hartigan, and I am now the official leader of the Cybermen whether they like it or not. I am the Cyber Queen. I much prefer that title to Cyber King, don't you? The Cybermen don't know yet what I've done, but it doesn't matter. Even when they do find out, it will already be too late. I will have the power of the Vortex in another day, and I will then use it to assume complete and total control over the Cyberiad. At that point, none of them will be able to touch me. My rule over them will finally be complete," Mercy said with a triumphant smile on her face.

"You won't get away with this. I won't let you. Ace won't either. We'll both find a way to stop you. I promise you that," Oswin said.

Suddenly a massive army of Cybermen appeared out of nowhere and began attacking them with an enormous display of firepower even as the Daleks all surrounded Oswin to protect her. The Daleks tried to call for reinforcements, but their transmissions were already being blocked by the Cybermen. They were all on their own now.

They knew now that they had to keep fighting until they could get Oswin to safety. If they could convince her to go without Ace that is which just might prove to be a bit of a problem.

"I very much doubt it. You're not going to be stopping anyone anymore. I'm afraid that you're not going to be getting married to the handsome Mr. Harkness either. So sorry! Goodbye, Oswin. It was very nice knowing you," Mercy said as she began to laugh.

Oswin growled in frustration even as the Daleks around her tried to convince her to leave. She wasn't going anywhere though. She was taking Ace back in one piece or she wasn't going back at all.

A small part of her couldn't help but wonder though if Ace was already gone and all that was left of her was her body. She wouldn't allow herself to believe that though. Not for a second. Ace was still alive somewhere. She knew that. She could feel it.

Where was she though? Where had Mercy sent her to?

What had she done to her?

Next: That question will be answered next time as Ace returns with a vengeance and joins Oswin to fight for her body back. Will she succeed or will this be the end of both Oswin and Dorothy?