CHAPTER 55

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Author's Note: This obviously takes place just before Chapter 16 of Marissa and Koschei's story.

KICKING SKARO WHILE IT'S DOWN

As Molly stood in silence in the middle of the Console Room of Marissa's TARDIS while it traveled to Skaro, she had to admit to herself that she wasn't sure that she wanted to go back into a potential life and death situation once again. She had gotten used to a somewhat ordinary life now working as Mari's secretary (well, it was still dangerous at times since the entire building was blown up once by the Trickster but other than that . . .), and she was half afraid that Oswin would want her to start traveling with her again once she got there.

She wasn't as afraid of Oswin asking her though as she was of the very real possiblity that she'd probably say yes if she did.

"Do you think that they'll even want us there, Mari? I mean they're trying to pick up the pieces of their lives again, and we're just going to show up out of nowhere bothering them. They might resent that," Molly said as she tried to think up an excuse not to go.

"I think that they're going to be too busy rebuilding to care a thing about us as long as we don't make too big a spectacle of ourselves, Sis. You do know how to keep a low profile, don't you?" Marissa said with a smirk.

"Is that a subtle way of telling the stupid ape to keep quiet, Mari?" Molly asked with a grin.

"Yes, that's exactly what I mean. Other than the stupid ape remark of course which I have never ever called you and you know it," Marissa said with a chuckle.

"I know that you haven't but your significant other definitely has on more than one occasion. I guess it's given me a bit of an inferiority complex," Molly admitted.

"Oh, don't pay any attention to him. He means stupid ape in an affectionate way," Marissa said.

"Please! There is no affectionate way to call anyone stupid. He's just being a jerk when he does that and you know it," Cydonia said as she entered the Console Room.

"Yes, but he's my jerk and I guess I've just learned to live with it. You know I should really stop doing that," Marissa said with a small smile.

"You should definitely start telling him off whenever he steps over the line from now on, Ushas. It works wonders in keeping grumpy old Time Lords in check and reminding them exactly who the boss is in the relationship when you not only tell them off but call them things like Chin Boy or Old Man," Cydonia said with a mischievous grin.

"That might work for you, Cy, but it's not really my style. I think I'll just go back to a more subtle means of control. Whenever he calls Molly names from now on, I'll just threaten to kick him in a certain sensitive part of his anatomy. That does wonders as a way to curb his bad behavior," Marissa said with an evil laugh.

"Oh, my stars! It's a wonder that you ever had Lissa, Mari," Oswin said with a chuckle as she suddenly teleported into the Console Room.

"Oh, don't overexaggerate, Clara. I only kicked him there once. It's the memory of that that keeps him scared though," Marissa said.

Oswin and Marissa then immediately embraced each other tightly as Oswin said with a smile, "I've really missed you. I hear that you've been getting into all kinds of trouble without me back on Earth. That's just not right, Mari. You should be sharing that trouble with me. I am your sister after all."

"You're a fine one to talk after what just happened on Skaro. You didn't even ask me to come to that fight. I had to find out about it from Epsilon of all people," Marissa said.

Oswin winced as she said, "Yeah, I guess that I have been guilty of drifting a little too far apart from you again lately haven't I? I have been trying to keep in touch you know? I call all the time don't I, Molly? You're just never there. There's always yet another sneak attack against you by someone new every time that you turn around these days isn't there? Was it a renegade Eternal the last time or was that the time before? I've lost track. At least I told you about the baby though so I'm still not too bad."

"How is the baby? Was she hurt when you were . . . ?" Marissa said before hesitating because she wasn't sure if she should bring Oswin's recent death up or not.

"It's okay, Mari. You can say it. I died. I was worried about that too so I had Eppy and Angie do about a billion tests on me and the baby as soon as I could. Luckily they all came back with good news. I completely restored the baby too when I brought myself back, and she's doing fine. I even contacted the future Clara just to make sure that she was doing okay. Boy was she not amused by that! Apparently I interrupted her while she was in the middle of a Doctor What marathon. She almost took my head off. I'll definitely have to remember not to bother her whenever she's watching TV in the future," Oswin said with a frown.

"She must have learned that from you," Marissa joked making Molly and Cydonia both laugh.

"Oi! I'm not that bad," Oswin said.

"Oh, yes you are. You almost punched me in the face once when I said something to you during a new episode of that show," Molly said with a warm smile.

"Well, you should know better than to interrupt me during something as important as that, Mol. I have a special order on Skaro that any Dalek who interrupts me during a new episode will immediately be exterminated . . . as soon as the show is finished of course," Oswin said with a chuckle.

"Yeah, you're not that bad at all," Cydonia said.

"Shut up," Oswin said laughing as she embraced Cydonia.

"It's good to see you again, Ozzie," Cydonia said with a giggle.

"I've missed you too, Cy. What have you been up to lately? I haven't heard from you at all since that parasite tried to kill everyone on Skaro. Are you okay?" Oswin asked in a suddenly serious voice.

She remembered that the parasite had showed Cydonia a horrible vision of the victims of the Time War blaming her for their deaths because she survived when they didn't. She had been worried ever since then that that would cause Cydonia to do something stupid.

"Yeah, I'm alright. I just decided to . . . kind of drop out of things for a while. I was really shaken by what happened the last time that I was on Skaro, and I just had to think about some things before I could get back to normal. I actually wound up staying with your grandmother for a while, Clara. She seemed to love having me around. She still didn't quite believe that I wasn't human and had never been a Clara. She just kept telling me that I was just like you and her Clara in every way even though I had been born and raised on Gallifrey. Weird, huh? Anyway the point is that I was devastated, and your Gran helped me to feel like myself again. That woman's definitely got the magic touch," Cydonia said.

Oswin smiled as she said, "Gran's been helping me get over my troubles my whole life. Now she's even helping the other mes to do it. So you're feeling better now?"

"Yeah, I'm a lot better but I really wasn't ready to come back to see you on Skaro just yet. I didn't want to go back there for a while really because I was afraid that it would revive all of those old memories all over again," Cydonia admitted.

Molly looked at her in surprise. She had truly had no idea that Cydonia was having some of the same feelings that she was. Cy had seemed to be perfectly fine since she had joined them on the TARDIS.

She wasn't the only one who had been traumatized by being around Oswin it seemed. Her type of life was definitely not one for the faint of heart.

"So what changed your mind?" Oswin asked.

"I felt you drawing on my strength recently when you fought the Matriarch, Clara. It seemed to open up a mental connection between us somehow too because I . . . I felt you die. I started screaming as soon as I did, and I almost gave Gran, I mean your Gran, a heart attack I think. Luckily I didn't tell her what had happened right away because then I felt you come back again. I started crying with joy then, and I think that she thought that I had finally lost it for a while there until I explained it all to her. That was when she insisted that I go and check up on you. She didn't have to though. I was already going to anyway. I'm so sorry that I haven't seen you in a while, Clara. Are you alright? You did actually die you know?" Cydonia asked.

"Don't worry about me, Cy. I'm in great shape. It's Skaro that's seen better days. I've been supervising its reconstruction for days now. I guess maybe I was kind of overdoing it a little because I almost passed out recently," Oswin admitted with a grimace.

"Yes, and that's exactly when Epsilon called me to come and see about you. You can't be doing that while you're pregnant, Clara. You're not a Dalek anymore. You're only human you know?" Marissa lectured her.

"Yes, Mum," Oswin joked.

Marissa glared at her in frustration as she said, "Stop that and listen to me. You're going to have to take some time off and rest for a while. Let Angela handle things for a while. She's basically superhuman and can handle constantly working non-stop for hours a lot better than you can right now. Why don't you name her the acting Dalek Empress until you get better, okay?"

"So that's what you and Eppy have been up to together, huh? I told him and now I'm going to tell you that I'm not stepping down until I'm sure that everything is finally back on track again," Oswin said.

"Oh, yes you are," John said from behind her.

Oswin whirled around to see a worried looking John and Melody standing in the doorwayof the TARDIS. She realized now that she had been so wrapped up in arguing with Mari that she hadn't even noticed that the ship had materialized.

"No, I'm not. Look, I'll just make sure and take a lot more breaks from now on. I'll be fine," Oswin said.

"You're going to take a vacation starting right now, Clara. You're going with Melody to see Space Florida. I've already bought the tickets and everything," John insisted.

"Space Florida? That's boring. Can't we go to another planet instead?" Melody said with a frown.

"You're not helping," John said with a groan.

"I'm not trying to. I'm with Clara. Then again I'm pretty much always on Clara's side about everything," Melody admitted with a large grin.

"That's why I keep her around, John. She's my little tie breaker for moments just like this," Oswin said with a snicker as she affectionately rubbed the top of Melody's head.

"Surely you don't want Melody to see what's waiting out there, Clara. I brought her straight to the TARDIS with my Vortex Manipulator so that she woudn't have to see the destruction," John said.

"Of course not. That's why I'm going to have Mari take Melody to see her parents," Oswin said.

"Really?" Melody asked in surprise.

"Really. They don't even know about you yet, and it's long past time that they did," Oswin said.

John sighed as he said, "You're just not going to listen are you?"

"Nope. Skaro needs me, John," Oswin said obstinately.

"Clara, he's right you know," Molly said.

"You think so? Well, if you knew what I've had to deal with lately, then you'd see why I can't do that, Mol," Oswin said as she headed towards the TARDIS doors.

Oswin then immediately went outside to the consternation of everyone in the TARDIS. Molly shrugged and decided to join her as she gestured at Cydonia to do the same.

As she saw them heading outside, Oswin said, "You two in particular might not want to come out here."

The two of them ignored her though because they wanted to talk her into coming back inside. Within moments they had joined Oswin outside and were soon gasping in shock at the total devastation that they saw all around them.

The Dalek capital of Kaalann was barely recognizable now. Its buildings lay in ruins and rubble was strewn everywhere all across the landscape. There were still several dead Daleks and Thals lying on the ground as well which made Molly gasp in shock and turn away. Cydonia's wartime memories were immediately brought back to her all at once at full force, and she began to tear up on the spot.

"I'm sorry, guys. I tried to warn you," Oswin said in an apologetic voice.

Then she gestured around at the nightmarish plain before her and said, "Now do you see why I can't leave? The entire planet is just like this or worse. In some places, poisonous Varga plants have completely taken over what's left of the cities, and the Daleks have to go in and wipe them all out first before they can even start to rebuild. I have to stay here and help fix all of this. My people need me."

"I need you too. I don't want to lose you because you're feeling guilty and want to work yourself to death in order to make up for it. The Daleks and the Thals are both doing a good job at working together to rebuild. In fact, I'm really surprised that neither side has tried to kill the other at least once but they haven't. They're actually getting along with one another. Despite everything, there's still plenty of good will between everyone throughout the entire planet. They really don't need you right now, Clara. They seem to be doing just fine on their own for once," John said.

"I'm not feeling guilty. I'm just trying to help. That's all that this is, John. Don't make it out to be more than it really is, okay?" Oswin said.

What Oswin wasn't telling any of them though was that one reason she wanted to stay on Skaro so much was because she was trying to see if she could use her powers to help move things along much faster. She had been attempting to force herself into using them over and over again and had been using the emotions brought forth in her by the constant horror around her as a means of jump starting them just like her fear of dying had enabled her to save herself before.

So far though nothing had happened no matter how hard she had tried. All that she had wound up doing was exhausting herself so much from the constant mental strain (and lack of sleep) of trying to use them that she had caused herself to almost pass out yesterday.

She wasn't going to tell any of them about that however because the future Doctor had told her that no one (except possibly Rose) knew for sure when she had first started to use her powers on a regular basis. She hated not to even tell John about what she was doing, but she had to preserve that uncertainty so that history would remain unchanged.

"Clara, I – I can't do this anymore. I wanted to come here to see if you were alright but I . . . This is why I wanted to go back to Earth with Mari. This is just too much for me now. That's why I left not long after you took over Skaro because that whole fight was just so brutal. I'm sorry but I can't," Molly suddenly said completely surprising Oswin.

"Why didn't you ever say anything about that before? I never knew that day affected you that much. I'm the one who should be saying that I'm sorry to you. And you too apparently, Cy. I can tell just by looking at you that seeing this is going to give you nightmares for weeks. Why in the world did you two come here for?" Oswin said in an upset voice.

"It's because we both love you so much that we decided to put our own problems and hang-ups aside in order to come here and talk you into leaving for a while. It was worth whatever we had to go through in order to keep you from killing yourself," Molly said.

"Listen to her, Clara. We want you to take some time off so that you can relax for a while. I'd really like to know that those horrible nightmares that I'll probably be having for who knows how long now weren't all for nothing," Cydonia pleaded.

Oswin began to tear up as she realized just how much they cared about her and what that was putting them both through at that moment. She finally decided right then and there that she was going to listen to them.

Unfortunately for her, it was already far too late for that now though.

Suddenly several explosions began to start going off all around them, and Oswin's heart immediately started to break. She knew that it was only a matter of time before the Thals started to attack the Daleks again, but she had really hoped that their truce was going to last longer than this.

"No! Not now! They can't start fighting now. They were all doing so well together," Oswin said in disbelief.

"Clara, it's not the Thals or the Daleks. It's . . . How? How could this be?" Marissa said as she looked up at the sky in horror.

"Look!" Molly said in terror as she too saw who the real attackers were now.

"What? What are you talking about?" Oswin asked in confusion as she started to look up.

Then she finally saw what they were talking about, and her throat began constricting in absolute fear. She continued to look on despite that though because she couldn't make herself look away no matter how terrible what she was looking at was.

The sky was filled with hundreds if not thousands of Claras! All of the Claras were flying on their own somehow and were firing blasts of energy out of their hands as they began attacking everything in sight.

"Oh, so they have powers, huh? Well, that's just wonderful," Oswin said in disbelief.

What was going on here? How was this happening and why?

Only one person knew the answer to those questions, and she was currently watching the whole attack on her datapad while enjoying herself immensely.

"So you used Clara's echoes to defeat the Matriarch did you? Well, let's see how you like it when some of those echoes are used against you?" Missy said as she started laughing.

"What are you up to now, Laughing Girl? You're worse than the Doctor about getting into trouble when you're left alone for too long," The Matriarch asked as she came into the room after hearing her.

As soon as she saw what she was looking at she began to laugh as she said, "Oh, this is just priceless! I love it! Are they who I think that they are?"

"Yes, that's right. Every Clara who ever died in order to save the Doctor is now back once again thanks to my new friend with half a face who gave them android bodies. Cybermen are so limited so I thought that this time I'd use android bodies based on what they actually looked like when they were alive with a few hidden weapons and abilities added in instead. They've also all had their disgusting cheerfulness and love for just about everyone completely twisted into mindless hatred for everything. Just think of it, Matriarch. An army of Claras all at my command, and they're just the warm-up for the real army that's still to come. This is going to be a wonderful test run for them don't you think?" Missy said with maniacal glee.

"I do. I really do, Laughing Girl. Skaro's never going to know what hit them, and the best part is that their killers are all going to be wearing the face of their beloved Empress. I love this so much. You really are a genius, Koschei. Well, the peace on Skaro was good while it lasted I suppose. So much for that new golden age of peace established by Saint Clara, huh?" The Matriarch said as she began to join her new partner in hysterical laughter.

Even as both women laughed themselves silly, the woman known as Nightshade watched them with approval. Soon Skaro and everyone on it would be wiped out forever and then that would be one less source of potential allies for Rose Tyler to call on for help in the future.

She was going to make sure that in the end she was all alone with no one to help her when she finally came for her at last.

Next: Oswin and her friends must work together alongside the Daleks and the Thals in order to save Skaro. Will even the combined might of every person on Skaro be enough to stop every Clara who ever died throughout time and space though? Is this really the end of Skaro at last just as it seemed as if it was about to have an all new future?