Chapter 26:
Oxthordol King: You. Are. Not. Alone.
The Doctor: *eyes widen and pants* H-How?...
Oxthordol King: Scared now, are you Doctor? Then again, you are just a young boy.
The Doctor: W-Who? How long did you confront this time lord?
Oxthordol King: Time can be a construct concept to different species across the universe. It has been quite a while since I last confronted a time lord, I thought they were like all other human species. I was wrong and they got away...
The Doctor: You're lying! LIAR! The Time Lords, they all died in the Time War!
Oxthordol King: And yet, they got away before your planet died. You are not the last of your kind after all. But perhaps they will if they ever KILLED you or someone else did the favor.
This petrified the Doctor, travelling the whole time in two universes believing he was the last time lord to exist. He was wrong, someone else survived and transported to this universe as well. Could it be the Original Doctor or worse...The Master.
The Doctor: Did they say their name?
Oxthordol King: They did...but telling you would spoil the fun.
Anger and fear kept growing within the Doctor and before he could react, the Oxthordol King sprayed some kind of mist onto his face before disappearing into pitch darkness.
Oxthordol King: That girl shall be mine and soon I'll come for you Time Lord!
The Doctor: No! STOP! *Rubs face and looks around* I'LL KILL YOU!
Rage, Hate, and Anger was finally released but there was nothing around him but pitch black and fog on the ground. He knew this had to be some kind of trick, but he needed to get to Weiss first before the Oxthordol King would. As he continued walking, the fog grew thicker and rose until he couldn't see anything in his way until he tripped. When he got up, he couldn't believe where he was, back in Gallifrey, back in the Time War.
The Doctor: No, No...this isn't real. Remember Doctor, this isn't real. It's all an illusion by him.
Holding back his fear and trauma, he continued walking straight despite seeing the destruction he encountered in person until he saw something that was wrong, and it scared him: The Original Doctor on the ground on the verge of death. Knowing it was fake, he still ran to check on him.
The Doctor: DOCTOR! *Runs to him and holds him* Don't die on me here! We must keep fighting, we can't lose Gallifrey!
War Doctor: Y-You...were supposed to live for us...and you failed me...I should have let...the Doctor...die...
The Doctor: *Eyes widen* N-NO! I made it out! I'm going to make it right I promise! How do I be like you!...HOW DO I BECOME THE DOCTOR!
But there was no word, no pulse, no heartbeat from his Doctor, he was dead. Why did it feel so real if it's not? He heard laughter behind him and turned around to see The Master.
The Master: Such a pity that I couldn't finish off my best enemy. He decided to pass on the name to you and you have already failed at saving him. *smirks*
The Doctor: M-MASTER?! WAS IT YOU? ARE YOU THE ONE WHO ESCAPED TO THIS UNIVERSE?
The Master in return only gave a shush before climbing into a crack like the one that appears in this universe alongside other creatures following him into the crack. Anger and frustration grew as he charged towards him and tackled him only to fall again into a pitch-black area but with thorns on the ground which caused him great pain. Groaning and bleeding, he slowly gets up looking around for a way out but he's still back where he got separated from the rest, only that his eyes were stitched up by thorns. A painful hallucination was holding the Doctor back. Taking a deep breath, he continues on. Not that far from him, Ruby and Dalek Khan finished up the remaining Venus flytrap monsters that were trying to attack them.
Dalek Khan: Well, that was fun.
Ruby: It was like dealing with Grimms besides the fact that their blood is acid. Euck! *shivers* Wish I had force shield like you. Anyway, let's keep moving before more of these show up.
Dalek Khan nods as he and ruby continued walking only to be surprised by what's in front of them: The TARDIS. They finally found it. Perhaps that was the reason those flytraps attacked; they were guarding it like some sort of treasure of its own.
Ruby: TARDIS! Wait! Khan, can you scan it to see if it's the actual TARDIS herself.
Dalek Khan: Full scan complete, it is the TARDIS! We must head inside immediately.
The Weapons Duo head inside to be greeted happily by the TARDIS as she's fully energized and ready to liftoff. Of course, all that's left is the entire gang.
Ruby: Hey girl, good to see you're fully awake. Can you help us track down the others?
Dalek Khan: She has their locations ready!
Ruby: We can go after them but we gotta be fast. Khan, you are the copilot after all so lead the way!
Dalek Khan: AFFIRMATIVE!
After being trapped for hours on this planet, it was finally a relief to hear the noise of the TARDIS dematerializing as Ruby and Khan began their search for the others. They just hoped they were okay and not too late. As for Blake and Yang, they were perhaps in the most trouble as dealing with large snake vines and they were shrunk small. Yang had no luck using her Ember Celica since dust doesn't work but Blake was able to kill a few vines with her blade from Gambol Shroud.
Yang: We can't just keep running away! We need a new plan!
Blake: That plan is running to the TARDIS while fending off these creatures! Unless you got a better genius plan!
Yang: Actually, I think I do. Do you trust me kitty?
Blake: If it doesn't get us killed!
Yang: Hold tight and JUMP!
Yang grabbed Blake's hand and brought her close as they jumped and onto one of the snake veins they go. The plant species tried to wiggle around to release the Bumbleby duo but they were holding on tight.
Blake: YANG! This is crazy!
Yang: Just hang on for a little more.
While they were running, she saw a pair of mushrooms not that far from them. She then thought if they get on the vines and release them at full force, they could be flown to the mushrooms where they get bounced further away and enough to be far from these creatures. They were close now as the vine snakes continued to wiggle with such force.
Yang: Steady...Steady...NOW!
Blake closes her eyes and holds tight to Yang by the waist as they are aggressively released from the vine snakes, landing and bouncing from the mushrooms, and were going to be at a safe distance. But instead, they hear a familiar mechanical groaning noise and next thing they both know, they land on a hard metal floor.
Yang: Urgh...see...it worked...
Both girls shook their heads from being dizzy momentarily before realizing they were very close to each other with their noses touching each other. Both turning bright red, they separate immediately and dust themselves.
Yang: S-Sorry Blake!
Blake: D-Don't Be! I was holding onto you too close for safety.
Ruby: Yang? Blake? *Looks outside* Where are you?
Yang: RUBY! DOWN HERE!
Blake: LOOK DOWN! HEY!
Both tried but their small size was not helping one bit as Ruby couldn't hear anything and was confused as to why the TARDIS let them to the pinpoint of them. She closed the door and was going to walk past them, which startled the Bumbleby duo thinking they were going to get crushed.
Dalek Khan: HALT!
Ruby: Huh? What is it Khan?
Dalek Khan: Look down.
Ruby proceeds to listen to her Dalek friend and looks down to see her sister and teammate small but alive. She almost crushed them into pancakes, but Khan just prevented that thankfully as she picked them both up.
Ruby: *gasp* You're okay! But what happened!
Yang: WE GOT TURNED SMALL!
Blake: And we don't know how to turn back to normal. Plus, we were being chased by these vine looking snakes.
Dalek Khan: Perhaps if we find Weiss and her duplicate, she can help them return to normal size.
Ruby: Good idea Khan! Let's have their location pinpoint and meetup with them then we go after the Doctor!
Back with Weiss and her vine duplicate, they continued walking without any danger, but they were on guard should something happened. Weiss hoped her friends were okay and heading to the TARDIS as well, but her heart was giving her a feeling that one of them wasn't doing okay. Vine Weiss felt it too, but she knew what her counterpart was thinking about.
Vine Weiss: What is it Weiss?
Weiss: I-I don't know...it feels like my heart just felt sharp pain thinking about the Doctor...like if he's in more danger than the others or us.
Oxthordol King: Ah yes, the lost time lord.
The girls were startled by the sudden appearance of him, but they stood their ground ready should he attack. All the Oxthordol King did was smirk and chuckle but at last he found his precious possession.
Oxthordol King: I wouldn't be too worried about him, I made sure to give him a good trip into memory lane while he...continues to fight his inner demons.
Weiss: What did you do? Where's the Doctor?
Vine Weiss: You sprayed him with your toxic mist, didn't you?
Oxthordol King: To prevent him from getting in my way of capturing what I need. *Points to Weiss* You!
Weiss: What do you want from me exactly?
Vine Weiss: What happened between us, he wants to replicate into you.
Oxthordol King: A few experiments and there but yes. Seeing how this weak species was able to create an exact clone of you and adapt so quickly. Imagine what an apex species like me can do.
Weiss: I'm no one's experiment. I am human, a huntress, a fighter, and so much more that you don't have.
Vine Weiss: What happened with her and I was an accident, but it did create quite a disadvantage for you now that I think about it.
Just as the Oxthordol King was going to continue, vines erupted from everywhere tying up the king of thorns. Weiss wasted no time in following her counterpart's plan and sliced off the Oxthordol King arms and legs dropping him to the ground.
Weiss: Nice plan! Let's get out of here before he grows his limbs back!
The girls ran as the Oxthordol King waited in frustration for his limbs to grow. Out of rage and disappointment, he yells as far
Oxthordol King: YOU THINK YOU CAN GET AWAY! YOU THINK THE DOCTOR WILL SAVE YOU WHEN HE CAN'T SAVE HIMSELF! YOU WILL BE MINE!
The Weiss duo continued running and not looking back for a good while until they needed to stop and catch their breath. The problem is now whether they were closer or farther to the TARDIS.
Weiss: We need to get into the TARDIS, find everyone else, and get out of here before the Oxthordol King continues and by how things were right now, he could be on a rampage.
Vine Weiss: I'm still not at my full potential either so having us transported with my vines is no good and swallowing the TARDIS even more is worse.
Weiss: Ugh! This is just ridiculous. No matter where we are, there's always trouble with the Doctor!
Vine Weiss: It's not his fault though Weiss, he's still learning and adapting.
Weiss: Hmph! All he can do is travel in that TARDIS and use his little screwdriver to save the day! This was all just a bad idea from the start.
Vine Weiss: Are you saying...you regret travelling with the Doctor?
Weiss had thought about it once again and while there were moments she wishes to remember and keep in her heart, there are also moments she wishes to forget. All the risk and dangers that occurred, moments she felt like she wasn't going to make it, and yet she remembered the Doctor's promise to her that she would always be safe when she was with him. But she was beginning to feel unsafe with him, with the way he was acting, it was time to put her feelings aside for him and face the truth, she knew her answer this time.
Weiss: Yes.
Feeling his hands on the walls of this cave, the Doctor continued walking slowly as he knew he was blinded but also stuck inside his head which at the moment was a dark and misty place.
The Doctor: I need to find a way to continue walking while remaining in this hallucination yet...I need to find the others before Oxthordol King does something to them. But how would they see me after what I did. How can I be the Doctor if I continue with this...anger...
The Doctor did not forgive himself for the outburst he let out to everyone, especially to Weiss. Would they forgive him? He didn't know but perhaps what the Elder Sylph and Weiss told him was right, he was a lost boy with conflicted emotions. Or maybe, he was destined to be something else. With everything that was going on and what he was dealing with, he didn't know anymore. As he continued walking, he saw a quick glimpse of something running and he followed.
The Doctor: Who's there? Weiss? Khan?
As he continued running, he was soon welcomed into another hallucination room, Beacon Academy. He knew he was being tested and facing major key events that had occurred. Noticing the empty web in the center of the room, he was back where it began for him.
The Doctor: This is becoming less of a hallucination and more of a confession dial.
Weiss: Doctor. You got some nerves showing up here.
The Doctor: *turns around and sighs* Weiss... So, what is this? Is it a trap? Is it a prison? No! Is it a torture chamber? Am I right?
Weiss: You just never stop don't you. Always talking but failing to get the situation handled.
The Doctor: I know this isn't real. It is messing with my head trying to slow me down, making me weak. But it won't work, I'll just need to overcome each obstacle. The first one was the Time War and now here in Beacon. What's next?
Weiss: Funny you mention that, considering you lost your home, you almost got me and my team killed, and did it with no memory of who you were.
The Doctor: Maybe I was reckless, but you weren't going to die. None of you, not while I was there.
Weiss: What exactly do you want? A medal for being Beacon's superhero? For being the universe's savior? Who even were you when you became the Doctor?
The Doctor: I was...a nobody.
Weiss: And you still are by pretending to be someone you're not! Did it ever occur to you that instead of running away, you could have helped the real Doctor and escaped together. Instead, you let him die on Gallifrey and escaped with A DALEK!
She was right in a way. Khan is nothing like his kind, but the fact that he could have helped the Doctor escaped but he didn't. He ran away thinking it was the right move but instead he cowered away.
Yang: And what's this about something happening to Remnant? To us?
He looked and saw the rest of Team RWBY all giving him a disappointing look. It wasn't real, none of it was but it was the negative thoughts and the emotions he held back that's getting to him. It was eating him alive.
Blake: You said nothing was going to happen to this planet while you're still here but why did they tell you something will. And the Weeping Angels are here as well, do you realize what happens if we come face to face with them!
Ruby: Doctor...you said you were going to protect us. Why didn't you?...
The Doctor: This. Isn't. REAL! You are ALL IN MY HEAD! I will not let anything happen to any of you! I'll keep Remnant safe. I'll keep you safe! This universe! It's so much for me...but I...I can do it...I'm the Doctor...
Weiss: You! Are no Doctor.
The Doctor: I am!
Blake: You're not.
The Doctor: I'm trying!
Yang: You never were.
The Doctor: I tried...
Ruby: You never were a Doctor...just a lost boy in the universe.
The Doctor: I'm not...
Falling to his knees, the Doctor looked down away from the illusions of his friends. They were right, he never was the Doctor. He only became the Doctor only to keep the name alive but for what purpose? All he ever done was say he's the Doctor and use his sonic screwdriver as a weapon but nothing else. He was lost and defeated. All the weight on his shoulders, the stress, the fear, the anger, it all got to him.
The Doctor: I don't know who I am anymore or what I'm doing...all of this pressure and weight...it's like being two different people at once. *Clenches fist* I'm not the Doctor, I only say his name but he's dead...
Weiss: I should have just finished you off in my nightmare world when I had the chance. Have you ever thought that without any help, you wouldn't be able to rescue those lives you have saved. That was never you! That was all of us!
The scenery began to change from the planet Elentear burning into ashes from the solar heat wave and hearing all the screams, and she was right for it was Weiss and Dalek Khan who reactivated the shield not him. It then changed to Mantle with Dr. Pavel and his Grimms fighting Nicholas Schnee and his army, but they would all soon be killed as Dr. Pavel finishes off Nicholas by sucking his soul out completely to the Doctor's horror.
Weiss: I'm guessing it hasn't hit you that I almost died by the hands of him when we travelled back in time. All you did was plan an attack formation, but you never defeated Dr. Pavel on your own. WE DID! Without us, you would be dead too. And now there are Weeping Angels, creatures from YOUR universe in our home. Imagine what'll happen to us and the people of Remnant and you wouldn't know what to do. You're a coward!
The Doctor: I GET IT! Please, Can't I just rest? Just this once? I've held all these negativities for so long, this stress and frustration was becoming a poison to me...I tried to continue but for how long...
The room disappeared once again with Team RWBY along. The Doctor was back into the dark, misty room defeated, tired, broken, drained, and alone. He stayed there not continuing to walk. Then he heard laughter and looked in front to see figures he was dreadful to encounter and below them are Team RWBY held hostage. It was The Master, Weeping Angel, Oxthordol King, and Dr. Pavel.
The Doctor: Please stop...You won. YOU WON! I GET IT, IM NOT THE DOCTOR...Not anymore...
The Master: Oh ho ho, you are not like him at all. The Doctor would never be weak and tired, he would always continue to fight even on the verge of death.
The Doctor: You're right. I'm not him. But please, I beg of you...just kill me and leave them alone. All of you find somewhere to be but LEAVE THEM ALONE! TAKE ME!
The Master: *cackles* A sight to behold. A lost and fragile boy on his knees and pleading to have his friends spared. Poor little lad. No Parents.
Weeping Angel: No Doctor!
Oxthordol King: No Friends!
Dr. Pavel: All lost and alone.
He wanted to continue pleading, he wanted to wake up from this nightmare. He already got his point; He's not the Doctor and he never will be like him. He was still in the end a nobody. He wanted all of this to end, he wanted to run away into the pitch darkness.
The Doctor: I can't keep doing this. I can't! I can't always do this! It's not fair! It's just not fair! Why can't I just lose?
Dr. Pavel: Because you're suffering is our victory.
Oxthordol King: And we shall make you suffer even more!
Hearing a familiar noise behind him, the Doctor turns around to see an army of Daleks and holding them at gunpoint are the War Doctor and his younger self. He noticed one of the Daleks was Khan, if he never changed or met the Doctor.
Dalek Khan: WE SHALL BE THE ONES TO END THE TIME LORDS! THE DALEK RACE IS SUPREME!
The Doctor: KILL ME! ALL OF YOU! ITS ME YOU WANT! ITS ME WHO IS SUFFERING! JUST KILL ME!
The Master: But where would the fun be on that boy? I'd say its more fun when you watch others take your place and you suffer with it.
Weiss: You failed us Doctor...you failed me...
War Doctor: Perhaps...it is for the best that we time lords should be extinct from existence. We've lived for too long, even I think it's time my boy.
The Doctor: Stop...STOP!
Dalek Khan: READY!
The Doctor: NO STOP PLEASE!
Dalek Khan: AIM!
They all prepared their weapons to finish off the Doctor's friends as the Doctor couldn't move from his spot. This was his suffering, this was his punishment, his price to pay. His screaming went silent trying to stop this and wake up but he couldn't.
Dalek Khan: EXTERMINATE!
And just like that, they were all dead. Laying on the ground motionless, every single person he knew and his young self. This was the fear that was holding him in the darkness and that fear turned into so many negative emotions inside him. It was all in his head, but it was all meant to make him suffer. Falling to the ground, he gave up. Motionless in the hallucination and on the ground inside the cave, he wanted to die.
The Doctor: No more...I want no more of this...No more of myself...No more Doctor...
Shadows began to appear from the ground and whispers were heard only for him to hear as eyes turned black. Whispers of anger, rage, hatred, bitterness, and the young boy who used to be the Doctor saw a different perspective. One that was held back by the anger that would consume him. He saw a world where he can do whatever he wants, a world where he's not the Doctor but something more where the laws of time are his and no one can stop him. He held back all this time being someone he's not and it finally hit him that he can be someone that will spread fear to those who wish to go against him. His eyes began to glow golden yellow of regeneration as the thorns that stitched his eyes closed were disappearing and the dark, misty place inside his head was enflamed by fire.
The Master: What is happening? WHAT IS THIS?
The Doctor: All this time...I was trying to be someone I was not. You are right however; the Doctor is dead. But I am something much greater where time is in my hand and I will become the most powerful time lord, a God!
Looking at his "enemies" with one snap in his fingers, all but the Master were erased completely. The young time lord walked to him with a different demeanor and giving out a cold stare.
The Doctor: If it's you or any other time lord that has come to this universe. Come find me, I dare you and you will see what kind of person I can be. I am done holding back and I am done being the Doctor. I'm a survivor, a warrior, a winner, and the holder of time itself. I am...the Time Lord Victorious!
And just like that, he was back in the cave and finally able to see but he returned as a different person. It was time to end this once and for all, Kill the Oxthordol King, and return his friends NO, companions back to Remnant.
Time Lord Victorious: No more. Time to play things my way.
Adjusting his sonic screwdriver, he continued to walk on a path back to whatever he encountered first. He hoped to be the TARDIS at first but now he hoped it be either his enemy or his companions. He was now in his eyes the wielder of time and the young boy filled with hope and kindness that could lighten and motivate one was dead, or was he?