CHAPTER 46
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LET THE CYBERWAR BEGIN
Dalek Delta appeared along with Molly, Janine, and what was left of David the Cyberman in the middle of Clara's house and walked into the next room to suddenly find that they had completely surprised Clara . . . and her grandmother! Both of them stood there looking at them with open mouths.
"Uh, hello. Aren't they doing great things with special effects these days? Sorry if we scared you. I'm an actress and my friends and I were just bringing two props from my latest movie with us to show to my good friend, Clara. My name's Molly by the way and this is Janine," Molly said as she lied like crazy in order to somehow explain things away.
Clara quickly picked up on this as she said, "Yes, Gran, these are some friends of mine. They used their key that I gave them to let themselves in. They come here a lot to see me and show me props from their latest movies."
"I AM NOT A PROP," Delta said in annoyance.
"Yes, you are," Molly said through gritted teeth.
Then she turned to Clara's grandmother with a massive smile and said, "That was me throwing my voice. I'm very good, huh?"
Clara's grandmother's shocked look had completely disappeared now to be replaced by an amused grin as she said, "You can stop pretending now. I know that's a Dalek, and he's probably brought you here straight from Skaro. Am I right?"
Everyone especially Clara looked at her in shock as she said, "Yes, I know all about Daleks, and I don't just mean from what I've seen of them on television during those last two Dalek invasions."
"YOU KNOW OF US?" Delta asked in surprise.
"Oh, yes. You're the first friendly Dalek that I've ever met though. The last time that I was this close to a Dalek they were trying to kill me. The Doctor just barely saved me that time," Clara's grandmother said laughing.
"Wait! What?" Clara asked.
"He's changed his appearance since the last time that I saw him, but I'd recognize the Doctor anywhere, Clara. I'm far too old now for him to recognize me though I'm afraid. When he knew me, I was even younger than you and my name was Abigail Winslow. I always insisted on everyone calling me Abby of course, but the Doctor always insisted on calling me Abigail. My Doctor was very formal and a little bit tetchy. Okay, a lot tetchy because unlike your version he was an old man."
Clara just looked at her in absolute shock now as she said, "You knew about me and the Doctor all along, and you didn't say anything?"
"I didn't know it for sure until just now. I still don't know how the Doctor became younger, but I wouldn't put it past him to be able to do that. You're so lucky that yours is so young and good looking. I bet you really enjoy traveling with that version," Abby said with a wink and a saucy grin on her face.
Clara looked embarrassed as she said, "It's not like that. We're just friends and besides that he's married."
"Really? Good for him. I didn't think that he'd ever find anyone willing to put up with him without killing him first. I guess there really is someone for everyone," Abby said laughing.
"YOU ARE THE ABBY WINSLOW WHO WAS PRESENT WHEN THE DALEKS FOUGHT OFF THE GREAT MECHANOID ATTACK ON SKARO? THE ONE WHO SINGLEHANDEDLY BROKE THE DOCTOR OUT OF OUR CONTAINMENT FACILITY AND FREED HIM BEFORE WE COULD FORCE HIM TO HELP US EXTERMINATE THE MECHANOIDS ONCE AND FOR ALL?" Delta asked.
"Yeah, that's me. I hope you don't carry a grudge about that," Abby said a bit nervously.
"NO, WE DON'T CARE ABOUT SUCH THINGS ANYMORE. IT IS VERY IMPRESSIVE THOUGH THAT THE EMPRESS' GRANDMOTHER WAS ALSO A COMPANION OF THE DOCTOR'S. HER NOBILITY RUNS IN THE FAMILY," Delta said sounding impressed.
"Empress?" Abby asked as she looked at Clara questioningly.
"Not me. He means the other Clara. The one from the previous timeline," Clara said without thinking.
"You're really been around him too long. You're starting to sound just like him," Abby said confused.
"I'll explain later," Clara said.
That was when Cydonia walked out of Clara's bathroom and looked at Abby with an oops expression on her face as she said, "Sorry, Clara. I thought your grandmother was gone when I heard a Dalek speaking. I take it that since she's not running around screaming that she's okay with Daleks though."
"How?" Abby asked as she stared at Cydonia who looked just like Clara once again now.
"Yeah, that's another thing that I'll explain later," Clara said laughing nervously.
Abby sighed as she said, "The Doctor was always making weird things happen when I was around him too."
"Hi, I'm Cydonia," Cydonia said as she introduced herself.
"Cy, Oswin sent us so that you could fix David here. He thinks like a human again now, and she wants you to make him human all the way again so that he can go home. He asked me to switch him off until you were ready to help him because only existing as a head was really freaking him out. We never did find the rest of his body unfortunately. I hope that doesn't affect anything," Molly said as she held David's head out for Cydonia to take.
"I thought that was a Cyberman. He looks so different from the ones that I knew though. They were still partially human," Abby said.
"Yes, I've run across one of those recently. Scary," Clara said with a shudder.
"I think that I can still help him even if he is just a head now. There should be enough of his original body left for me to recreate him. I hope. Alright, here goes," Cydonia said as her hands started to glow with power.
"I just mention the Doctor and everything immediately starts to get weird again right away," Abby said in disbelief as she watched Cydonia begin to recreate David's body right in front of her.
Cydonia smiled as a young man in his early 20s stood there in place of the severed Cyberman head. The man immediately wrapped his arms around her in gratitude and started to cry.
"Thank you," David said in an emotional voice.
"Don't mention it. I always love to help out wherever I can. Now just tell me where you belong, and I'll send you back there," Cydonia said.
After David told her a time and place, he said, "Tell Oswin not to be so upset about what she did by returning my emotions. I needed to know exactly what I was so that I could regain my humanity. I'm not angry at her. I'm grateful to her. Tell her thank you."
"I will. Goodbye," Cydonia said as she returned him back to his own time and place.
Then she turned to Molly with concern as she said, "Oswin's becoming even darker, isn't she?"
"Yes, I'm afraid so. I really think that all of us are going to have to work together to make sure that that doesn't happen," Molly said in a worried voice.
"DALEK EPSILON WON'T ALLOW IT TO HAPPEN. SHE IS SUPPOSED TO BE MAKING US BETTER NOT THE OTHER WAY AROUND. WE WILL NOT MAKE HER LIKE US," Delta said firmly.
"No, you won't. Not if I can help it," Cydonia said.
"I guess we should go now and tell Marissa what's happening so that she can get word to the Doctor and Rose about it. Ace is in trouble. They're trying to turn her into a Cyber Leader," Molly said in an anxious voice.
"I just hope that we're not already too late to stop them. Oswin went on ahead to Telos to try to save her," Janine said.
"I'm going with you then. We have to travel to Telos and help Oswin as soon as possible. If I knew how to travel to other planets yet, I'd already be there. I'm sure that knowing our Ozzie she's already up to her neck in trouble already," Cydonia said.
Clara started to say that she was going too and then hesitated as she looked at her grandmother. What if her grandmother wanted to go too if she offered to? She decided to stay silent despite wanting to help her sister with every fiber of her being.
"What's the matter, Clara? Do you think that I'll want to go too if you do?" Abby asked knowingly.
"Yes, and I don't want you getting hurt," Clara admitted.
"I'm afraid my traveling days are long over with, sweetheart. I would like to see the Doctor again though and this mysterious Rose. She's the wife I take it. She must be a living saint," Abby said.
"Some people have said that yeah," Clara joked.
"Are you going or not, Clara? We have to find Marissa now," Cydonia said impatiently.
Clara nodded as she said, "I'm in. Don't worry, Gran. I'll be okay."
"Oh, I'm not worried," Abby said with a strange smile on her face.
"Good," Clara said looking at her suspiciously.
"JOIN HANDS AND I WILL TAKE US TO MARISSA QUEEN," Delta said.
Cydonia, Clara, Janine, and Molly held hands as Cydonia grabbed onto Delta's body firmly. Just as Delta started to use his emergency temporal shift to leave though, Abby immediately grabbed Clara's waist and went along for the ride.
"Gran!" Clara shouted in fear just as they disappeared.
As Oswin's rescue crew and their new unexpected passenger traveled to get help for Oswin and Ace, Oswin herself was indeed up to her neck in trouble at that very moment on Telos. She was fighting a massive army of Cybermen for her life as the Daleks that she had come there with were nearly all destroyed now. Mercy meanwhile stood in the background and watched with malicious glee as she could see Oswin growing slower and slower the longer that she fought.
"You're growing tired, Oswin. Soon you'll start slipping up because despite what the Daleks might think of you you're only human. That's when I'll finally have you. I meanwhile will have access to a body with near limitless power soon when the Vortex Nullifier's effects on Dorothy here are up. In the end no matter what you do or how long that you last I'll still win," Mercy said with an evil smirk on her face.
"I don't think so, scumbag," An electronic voice said all around them.
"What? Ace, is that you?" Oswin asked with a renewed sense of hope in her voice.
"Well, it certainly isn't Father Christmas, Peanut Senior," Ace said with her new electronic voice.
"Where are you?" Oswin asked as she tried to search for her every spare moment that she had while doing her best to avoid becoming a human soufflé at the hands of the Cybermen.
"The best I can figure out is that I'm in the Cyberiad, and I'm beginning to learn how to control things in here. Just give me a little more time, and I think I'll figure out how to activate the self-destruct on the Cybermen from in here. That should be a lot of fun," Ace said.
Mercy meanwhile was looking alarmed as she said, "No, you're only a snot nosed kid from the 1980s! There's no way that you should be able to take control of the Cybermen away from me. It's not possible!"
"You have no idea who you're talking to, do you? If anyone could stop you, she can. I mean just look at who her parents are!" Oswin said proudly.
"Sorry, Lady, but Oz is right it is very possible. Don't be bad mouthing the 80s either. This particular 80s kid is going to show you just why we rule! The Cybermen belong to me now. Isn't that right, boys?" Ace said.
"We follow the orders of Ace now. That is very brill. Not to mention wicked," The Cybermen now said together in an emotionless chorus as they all stopped fighting and turned to face Mercy.
"I bet you're going to have them breakdancing before the day is over," Oswin joked.
Ace's mechanical laughter could be heard all around them as she said, "That's it. Show her how it's done, boys!"
"No, this isn't possible. I am the Cyber Queen now. They belong to me not you. You must have had help to be able to do this. You could never have done it alone," Mercy said in disbelief.
"You are right, Mercy Hartigan. We allowed her to take the Cyberiad because we wished her to expunge your essence from it forever," A Cyberman said behind her.
Mercy and Oswin both turned to see several older models of Cybermen from many different eras in Telos' history standing nearby pointing huge guns at both of them. Most of the Cybermen seemed to be ignoring Oswin in favor of targeting Mercy however who they apparently considered the greater threat.
"Oh, it looks like not everyone wants to follow your rule after all, Mercy. Even Cybermen have better taste than that it seems," Oswin said cheekily.
"Our taste is irrelevant. We do not wish to be ruled by a being as filled with emotion as Mercy Hartigan. It is against our core beliefs. Therefore those of us who are not connected to the Cyberiad because we are from a time before its existence must work to free the others from this madwoman's influence even if it means allowing the Doctor's daughter unlimited access in order to wreak havoc in its systems," One of these older Cybermen said.
Oswin laughed as she taunted, "Even the Cybermen can't stand you, Mercy. They'd rather have one of their worst enemies running things than you. How does that feel?"
"I will not be defeated so easily. We will see who is left in control of the Cyberiad when all is said and done!" Mercy said in a furious voice.
Then suddenly Ace's body went limp like a puppeteer had cut its strings, and Oswin quickly caught it before it could hit the floor. Oswin could see to her satisfaction that the Cyber technology that had infected Ace was disappearing along with Mercy but didn't quite understand why.
Then she felt a familiar presence nearby and knew instantly.
"You're going to find my daughter wherever she is and put her back in her original body or Telos is about to know what it feels like to be standing in the center of a supernova!" Rose Tyler shouted as she stood there glowing with the power of the Vortex.
Then Oswin saw that Rose wasn't alone as she could see Molly waving at her alongside Marissa, Janine, Delta, Clara, Cydonia, and . . . her grandmother?! What was going on here?
She had to remind herself that she was Clara's grandmother in this timeline, but it still shocked her seeing her there in the middle of all of this chaos. Her (Clara's) grandmother knew the truth?!
Before Oswin could pursue that line of thought any further though, Ace suddenly started moving again in her arms and looked up at her with a huge smile on her face. She hugged Oswin tightly as she said, "It's so good to see you again, Peanut Senior!"
"It's good to see you too, Dorothy. I was afraid that I'd lost you for good for a while there. What happened? Where did Mercy go?" Oswin asked as she returned her hug.
"She came back inside the Cyberiad to drive me out, but it was already too late. I already finished freeing the Cybermen from her. They started turning on her as soon as she entered again, and I left while they were all attacking her. I hope that they get rid of her once and for all this time. I didn't get to finish telling them to blow up, Oz! I really wish that I could have. That would have been so wicked!" Ace said in disappointment.
"Maybe some other time," Oswin said with a grin as she affectionately kissed her friend's forehead.
"Dorothy!" Rose said as she grabbed her from Oswin and started kissing her cheek and hugging her tightly.
"Aw, Mum! Stop! You're embarrassing me in front of the Cybermen!" Ace said with a red face.
Oswin grinned as she watched this happy mother-daughter reunion for a moment, and then she quickly turned her attention to scanning the Cyberiad with her own version of a PDA called Nina (not to be confused with Clara's echo with the same name). She could find no traces of Mercy anywhere inside of it.
Where had she gone and why did she suddenly get a very uneasy feeling about that like someone had just walked over her grave?
"We have regained control of the Cyberiad with your help so we will allow you to leave just this once. We will not extend this offer to you for long though," One of the Cybermen said.
"Why are they letting us go?" Janine asked confused.
"They're not doing it out of the goodness of their heart. Between me, Dorothy, and Mercy attacking them both inside and out today I think that they know that they're too weak to take us all on at the moment. To be honest, I've felt better myself. I vote that we retreat for a while," Oswin said in an extremely tired voice.
"I second that. I need a really long vacation," Ace said with a yawn.
"How about we go to Barcelona?" Rose suggested.
"That's your idea of fun, Mum, not mine," Ace protested.
"We'll think of something. Thanks, Oswin. I appreciate you coming after her more than I can ever say," Rose said.
"Hey, you're the reason I'm still here at all so I don't think that you owe me a thing," Oswin said.
"I still owe you one in my book. I'll see you later," Rose said as she took Ace with her and disappeared in a burst of golden energy.
"So that was the Doctor's wife. I think I like her. I'll have to get to know her longer than five seconds though to make sure. So you're Clara too are you?" Abby asked Oswin.
"Yes, I'm the original you might say," Oswin said feeling very nervous around her.
"I know. Clara's told me all about you. You're just as much my Clara as she is," Abby said as she slowly moved toward her with eyes filled with love.
"Yeah, I guess I am," Oswin said as a smile started to cover her face.
"I suggest that you go now and do not continue to engage in these emotional displays before we decide that our truce is over with," A Cyberman warned.
"Got it. Let's go, Gran," Oswin said as she took Abby's hand and led her to Marissa's TARDIS which was waiting nearby.
"I think my Gran, I mean our Gran, is going to go a long way toward helping Oswin keep her humanity. I know she's always been there to help me whenever I was having troubles," Clara said to Marissa.
"I hope so. I owe her everything and I'm not about to stand around and let her lose her own fight to stay human. Not if I can help it. If Abby doesn't work, then I'll send Lissa to talk to her. Lissa will give her a swift kick up the backside and make sure that she stays herself," Marissa said confidently.
"You were the Doctor's what?!" Oswin asked in absolute shock as she entered the TARDIS with Abby.
"I know!" Clara said behind them.
As soon as they had all left, one of the Cybermen said, "Mercy Hartigan is missing from the Cyberiad and is no longer on Telos. Do you think that she jumped inside of one of the Dalek Empress' companions, Cyber Leader?"
"No, I believe that she had another avenue of escape. If I am correct about this, then the Empress may yet wind up falling before her. We must remain vigilant that she does not try to return to the Cyberiad once again however. For a human, she is very dangerous and extremely resourceful," the Cyberleader said.
They had no idea.
In Ancient Egypt, Claranamon opened her eyes from a long sleep as her servant Anyatep gently shook her awake. She looked at her with intense anger for a moment frightening the young girl until her eyes softened.
"Did I do something wrong, Mistress? You told me to wake you early today," Anyatep said in fear.
"So I did. No, I just had a very bad dream. Don't worry, dear. I'm not angry at you. I have plenty of more deserving targets to direct my anger against," Claranamon said.
Anyatep smiled and visibly relaxed as she said, "Oh, my lady, you received a strange gift today. It just seemed to appear out of nowhere. It has strange writing on it that I can't read. Do you know what it is?"
Claranamon smiled as she said, "Yes, I do. It's an invitation to the wedding of Oswin Oswald and John Harkness. She thinks that she's actually going to get to marry him after all. She's so wrong. One way or another I will gain power, Anyatep. If I can't be the Cyber Queen, then I will be the Empress of the Daleks!"
"My lady, are you alright?" Anyatep asked her in concern.
The merged entity that was both Mercy Hartigan and Claranamon said, "Yes, Anyatep, don't worry. I'm just being silly. I do tend to talk oddly from time to time don't I? Pay me no attention when I'm in one of my funny moods."
Anyatep smiled as she said, "Of course, my lady. I'll leave you to ready yourself for the day then."
"I'll see you later, my friend," Mercy Hartigan said finding to her surprise that she actually did like the girl.
She realized that something strange had happened when she had jumped into Claranamen's body at the last second just before the Cybermen would have destroyed her consciousness once and for all. Somehow her mind and the Princess' had mixed. Sometimes she felt like herself and sometimes like Claranamon. It was already beginning to concern her.
It didn't matter though. There was one thing that they could both agree on. Oswin was not going to get to marry John Harkness if they could help it.
Mercy planned on making sure that before the wedding was done that John had a new bride and the Daleks had a new empress. With the way that Oswin had been acting darker and darker lately, she was sure that no one would know that she had replaced her until it was far, far too late to stop her.
The Cybermen would regret not letting her lead them when they had the chance once she led the entire might of Skaro against them and sent their empire crashing down around their ears!
Next: At last it's the wedding of Oswin and John Harkness. Or is it? Could John wind up getting married to Mercy Hartigan instead before everything is over? Will Mercy pull off her plan of replacing Oswin and will Oswin even see it coming since she trusts the other Claras so much? We'll find out next time when Mercy crashes the wedding in the weirdest way possible.