A/N: "Nothing in life is to be feared. It is to be understood." –Marie Curie

Part 3 of 10 of the episode "Living Nightmare."

Chapter 26: Nothing in Life is to be Feared; It is to be Understood

Once I catch up to Dad, we are met with a large black horse-drawn carriage parked on the side of the road. Madame Vastra is already seated inside the carriage, and before I climb inside, I catch a glimpse of familiar purple armor under the cloak of the driver, whose face I can't get a good look at because of Dad gently and hastily pushing me toward the opposite seat from Vastra. Once we get settled, with Dad sitting on my right and Vastra sitting across from me, she commands the driver—calling him by the name 'Strax'—to take us to her house, and the driver obliges in a familiar voice that takes me back in time to Laser Tag and Contraxia.

I can't help but laugh. If the driver really is the other Paternoster Gang member, Strax, then one thing is very clear, and something I never even thought would happen to me ever in my life: We are being chauffeured through the streets of Victorian London in a horse-drawn carriage by a Sontaran.

More than that, I am sitting in a horse-drawn carriage with two aliens (not counting myself): my father, the Doctor, a Time Lord from the long-lost planet Gallifrey, and a forty-year-old-looking lizard woman. I literally mean 'lizard woman,' because her face, now uncovered, is scaly and green, exactly like a lizard.

Just when you thought things couldn't get any weirder, right?

All strangeness aside, I glance around the interior of the carriage in wonder and awe.

"What is it?" Dad asks curiously, raising an eyebrow at me.

"Nothing," I say, shaking my head. "It's just, I've never ridden in a carriage before. It's so cool to ride in one, especially through Victorian London. I still can't get over the fact that I'm in Victorian London. It's just as how I imagined it would be from all the photos I've seen in my history textbooks." Throughout my childhood, I often wondered what it would be like to live in this time-period, wearing Victorian clothes, living in a rich Victorian house, riding along in Victorian horse-drawn carriages… Oh, I could go on.

"Yes, it's all very nice," Dad sighs in a tone like he's been to Victorian London so many times that it's become like a second home to him, and he's no longer as impressed with its extravagance as he was when he first visited. He then reaches out to me, specifically toward my injured shoulder, and says, "Come here. I need to wrap your shoulder. You're still bleeding."

"You don't need to," I say, leaning away from him. "I can heal it on my own. I'll just use my energy, no big deal." I then look uncertainly to Vastra. "Uh, she knows about our regen energy, right?" Calling it 'regen energy' is way less time-consuming than calling it by its proper name.

"Yes, she is aware of it," he sighs again, "but you shouldn't use it, certainly not in broad daylight."

"Why?" I frown. "No one will see it if I close the curtains, and it'll be much easier and faster than just bandaging it. Besides, a power like this, it shouldn't go to waste."

This was one of the major things that bothered me as a kid. When I developed my powers shortly after my first regeneration, I wanted to use them from the get-go, but I was never allowed to at any time in my life. This highly angered me, making me believe that it was totally unfair to be born with these powers but never be allowed to use them. Of course, this was before I found out about the Vokanari and their twisted schemes, but still, I didn't want my powers to go to waste, to never be used. Back then, I believed that I was given these powers for a reason, and I wanted to find out what that reason was and fulfill it. It wasn't until after I met the Doctor and began traveling with him that I realized what my powers were for. He planned—plans—to teach me the ways of his people, the Time Lords, so that I may take over for him when it came time for him to pass on, and to use my powers and knowledge to do good in the universe. Since I discovered that my energy could heal people, I suspected that was what my father wanted me to do for the universe, but from what he just said seconds ago, this wasn't what he had planned for me.

"Nova, you don't understand," he says as if to add onto the thoughts in my head. "Regeneration energy is not something that should be wasted. It should only ever be used as a last resort; it's not something that should be used whenever you feel like it. You are only given a fixed amount of regenerations, and once they're all used up, you can't ever regenerate again. We've discussed this before."

"I know, but—" I argue, but he interrupts me.

"Nova…" he says in a pointed tone. "Don't argue with me. Sit still, and let me wrap your shoulder. We'll take care of it properly once we get to Madame Vastra's." He then turns to Vastra with a shrug, "Teenagers; am I right?" Vastra doesn't say anything, only nods. I scoff under my breath, feeling greatly offended, and look away from my father as he begins tearing off the sleeve of my dress to get at my injury.

Geez, that was so uncool! How could he do that? How could he embarrass me like that in front of his 'lizard' friend, someone I've never met before? Because he'd done that, I've given her a bad first impression of myself. Not that I can sense her thoughts since we're not telepathically linked, but from the look on her face, she must think I am highly irresponsible, refusing to listen to my father, and blah, blah, blah. I am also getting the sense from her expression that she is wondering why the Doctor chose an irresponsible teenager to travel with him; clearly she doesn't know who I am yet.

An awkward silence fills the carriage as the Doctor takes out a pocket-sized First-Aid Kit from inside his coat and prepares to use its contents on my shoulder. I wouldn't be surprised if the small First-Aid Kit is bigger on the inside, like everything else he owns.

The silence is broken when Vastra says, "I see you've acquired yet another companion, Doctor. May I ask what had become of your former companion, Miss Oswald?"

"Who?" Dad asks at the same time as the exact same question popped into my own head.

"Clara?" Vastra frowns, like it should be obvious. "Clara Oswald? Your 'Impossible Girl?' You saved her after she ran into your timestream on Trenzalore. Surely, you remember."

Whoa, whoa, whoa, back up! Did she just say 'Trenzalore?' Like, she's actually been to Trenzalore? With us?

"'Impossible Girl?'" Dad says, equally shocked as I am. "'Timestream on Trenzalore?' My timestream on Trenzalore?"

Something in the back of my mind suddenly alerts me that we're about to hear some major spoilers in the next millisecond and a half. "Yeah, sorry to butt in," I interrupt, "but we've actually never been to Trenzalore; in fact, we're doing everything we can to avoid that place, seeing as…well…there's this whole 'prophecy' dealio about it. That being said, I can't help but notice that you seem to be talking as if you guys have already been there. In which case, this sounds like a 'spoiler' thing to me, seeing as…well…we've never been there…at least as of yet. Although, now that you've spoiled it for us, I guess we have no choice but to go there now."

Okay, so that last statement may have sounded a bit rude, but everything I said is the truth! We really haven't been there; and frankly, neither of us want anything to do with that place. From what Vastra said, it sounds like a bad place; even the name sounds sinister.

Also, I'm surprised to hear that my father seems destined to go there with some other girl—this 'Clara' person—and not me; not that I'm jealous to be replaced with another companion I will probably never meet. I am also a bit hurt that Vastra seems to favor Clara more than she favors me, hence why she asked about Clara (Nope, still not jealous!). I mean, I know Vastra and I had only just met, but come on.

"Yes! Ooh! Yes!" Dad says, suddenly catching on. "Now I see! Good catch, Nova! Yes, this is definitely a topic we should drop immediately. Absolutely no more talk of Trenzalore, nor this 'Impossible Girl.' As I've explained to Nova before, foreknowledge is dangerous."

"Of course," Vastra nods. "I did not realize this to be what you call a 'spoiler.' Apologies for not asking where you were in your timeline beforehand."

"It's quite alright, Vastra," Dad assures her. "Just don't mention it again."

"Noted," she says with a nod. She then glances to me with a slight smile. "Forgive me, Miss…Nova, was it? I don't think we have been properly introduced. I am Madame Vastra. I am well acquainted with your friend, the Doctor, here."

I am suddenly rendered speechless, taken aback. "Oh," I say, shifting in my seat uncomfortably and glancing between she and Dad. "He's…actually not my friend. He's actually…"

'Go ahead,' Dad says telepathically to me, nodding his approval. 'Tell her. It's alright.'

I sigh, still feeling uncomfortable, and admit, "He's my dad."

Vastra's pale-blue eyes widen in shock. "The Doctor is your father?"

"Yeah," I say with a nod. That's when I notice Vastra's look, like she's trying to figure out how I even exist. "Does that surprise you?" I ask her, still feeling awkward.

"It…was just a few months prior," she says, evidently puzzled. "She's just an infant."

And, what, you expect me to stay that way, several years later? I can't help thinking in my head. I'm not Yoda. I've grown up, just like every other normal person.

"This is her, Vastra," Dad says, gesturing to me. "This is my daughter, Nova, all grown up. I brought her back."

I frown at this. "Actually, you didn't. Mom did." I then start thinking about her but immediately stop myself.

"Yes, but she brought you back to me," he says with a smile as he finishes patching up my shoulder, "and I couldn't have been more grateful."

Vastra nods, also smiling at me sincerely. "Ah, yes, now I see the resemblance through her eyes. Forgive me for not realizing before. My, has she grown."

"Yes," Dad says again, rubbing me gently on my back. "She's grown into a beautiful young woman. Just like her mum."

Oh, god… Mom…

I can't help squeezing my eyes tightly shut and lowering my head down to face the floor, not wanting to talk any further about her untimely fate. In fact, I don't want to talk about her at all. The less I think about her, the less stressed I'll feel.

No surprise, Vastra and Dad don't make it easy. "Yes, she does look much like the professor," Vastra comments. "I presume it was earlier in her timeline when you two…" She then makes a series of hand gestures to indicate how I came into the universe.

As if this day couldn't get any more awkward.

Dad nods uneasily, glancing at me. "Yes, you are correct on that." He then straightens his bow tie uncomfortably. "Unfortunately, Professor Song is not with us at the moment. She's currently out scouring all of Space-Time for the Silence; or 'Vokanari,' now that they're called, which, of course, is an anagram of 'Kovarian,' their leader."

Vastra nods. "Yes, I remember her quite well," she says with a hint of contempt in her voice. "Are you sure that is wise, Doctor, considering the professor's history with them?"

Dad sighs with a shrug. "I thought that exact thing myself, but she insisted that she knows what she's doing, and I trust her. No surprise, the Vokanari targeted Nova's human guardians, and River has gone out to search for them. We should be hearing from her soon, or she'll come looking for us and give us the details in person."

If she doesn't decide to kill us first, I can't help thinking to myself, and I greatly hate myself for it, when she finds us.

If she finds us…

Vastra glances to me and frowns at me suspiciously, like she senses my thoughts and is uncertain as to why I'm behaving in this manner. "I see," she says, glancing back to my father. "Well, let us hope you will hear from Professor Song in the near future." She then turns back to me, this time putting her full attention on me. "Ah, pardon me for asking, Miss Nova—"

"Please," I say, feeling a little weirded out to be called 'Miss' before my name (Don't ask; I'm really not sure why). "just call me Nova. That's fine."

"Nova…" she corrects herself before continuing. "Pardon me for asking, but I am curious as to whether or not you remember my face as well as my associates. Perhaps your father told you the story of how we aided him in saving you from the Silence's foul clutches when you were just born."

I shake my head apologetically. "No, I'm sorry, I don't remember you." I'm pretty sure I would remember meeting a lizard woman in my life, needless to say; even if I had, that wouldn't be something I would forget. "But Dad has told me a little about you guys—your 'Paternoster Gang.' You solve crimes, very much like Sherlock Holmes, which is so cool!" I laugh, suddenly feeling awkward. "Sorry, I'm a huge nerd. I've always wanted to be like Sherlock Holmes, solving crimes and all. He also told me you guys aren't human—well, two of you aren't human."

"You are correct," Vastra nods. "I am a lizard woman from the Dawn of Time, and my driver is Strax, a…questionable individual."

Her words instantly make me snort. "He's a Sontaran," I nod as well. "Yeah, I've met a few Sontarans. Not the friendliest species." At this, Vastra raises a skeptical eyebrow, and I swiftly add, "But I'm sure Strax is...uh…nice."

God, could I give a worse impression than this?

"Yes, I'm sure he is," Vastra says uncertainly with her eyebrow still raised. "And Jenny… Well, she's…" She then pauses, feeling uncomfortable for reasons unknown to me, but continues anyway, "She's human, like most of the inhabitants on this planet."

Then again, maybe it's to do with Jenny's disappearance. There were tons of posters of her on the walls all over the city, several of which we continue to pass by now.

Dad must've sensed my thoughts (When does he not?), because he says immediately, "Speaking of which, I was just about to ask about Jenny. Strangely enough, Nova and I found a 'missing persons' poster of her on the street before you picked us up. In fact, there were loads of 'em."

Vastra nods. "Yes. Strax and I created those posters and put them up all over the city, hoping someone would help us find her." She then glares accusingly at Dad. "Since you refused to answer my distress calls on time. I had to take matters into my own hands."

Dad sighs guiltily. "I am sincerely sorry about that. I would've answered sooner, but I had to take care of Nova. I couldn't leave her, unattended."

"It's true," I nod, taking his side. "It's a really long story. Long story short, he was killed during our last adventure, which was actually my first, and I brought him back to life with my regeneration energy, but it left me in a coma for three days straight. It sucked; the absolute worst trip ever." A trip I never ever want to experience again. I sincerely hope the spirits of those pirates, especially Multi-Eyes, are rotting in Hell right about now.

Vastra nods again. "I understand. I would have preferred you had sent some kind of message that this was happening, but at least you finally answered today. That is all that matters."

"So what happened to Jenny?" Dad asks eagerly.

"And what did you mean by 'fear taking over the world?'" I add with equal eagerness.

Vastra shakes her head and sighs sadly. "I do not know what happened to Jenny; only that she has been missing for over a week, having vanished without a trace during one of our investigations. It is the sole reason for which I have summoned you here."

"So you think she disappeared because of one of these 'fears?'" I ask with a raised eyebrow. How could someone's own fear kidnap them? That doesn't make any sense!

"Precisely," Vastra nods. "As absurd as this may sound to you, somehow, someone somewhere is using Bio-Nanotechnology to make people's fears come to life in the literal sense. It started off here in London, until a week ago, around the time of Jenny's disappearance, when the fears began spreading to the rest of the world."

"Yes, the sonic picked up strong readings of Bio-Nanotechnology all over the planet," Dad points out with a nod.

"There's also this tingling sensation in the air," I add while scratching my arms up and down, "like what you'd feel when standing close to or inside a force field." In fact, the bizarre sensation seems to have heightened a bit since we got here.

"Yes!" Vastra exclaims, pointing at me. "You are absolutely right, my dear! I see you have inherited your father's cleverness."

I shrug, suddenly feeling awkward. "It…could just be a 'Time Lord' thing."

Dad shakes his head in disagreement. "No, she's right. You absolutely inherited your cleverness from me. You couldn't have inherited it from anyone else. As for your stubbornness in refusing to let me tend to your shoulder, you definitely inherited that from your mum."

I raise an eyebrow at him. "Anyone can be clever. It doesn't prove I inherited it solely from you. Technically, cleverness isn't something one can inherit. You can grow up to be as clever as someone else, but that's not an inheritance; it's just a quality that's shared between the two people, same with stubbornness." I then frown. "And what are you talking about, I inherited my stubbornness from Mom? You are just as stubborn as she is, maybe even more so! Who's to say I 'inherited' my stubbornness from you as well?"

"As I was saying…" Vastra speaks up, and Dad and I awkwardly pause to look at her. "We believe that the beings responsible for the fears coming to life are the ones who installed the force field in the first place. The Bio-Nanotechnology within the force field is what is causing everyone's fears to come to life, which brings me to my theory of what may have happened to Jenny. All those 'missing persons' posters you saw hung all over the city, including posters of Jenny… I believe those people were specifically targeted based on their level of fear. Some people are more afraid of certain things than others, and I believe that those who are deathly afraid of certain things are the ones who went missing."

"So why was Jenny targeted?" Dad asks, puzzled. "I never knew her to be afraid of anything."

Vastra nods. "I thought the very same thing." She then pauses, feeling disturbed. "Then again, no one is ever afraid of nothing. Everyone is afraid of something." She sighs sadly. "She has been gone for so long. I'm afraid I'll never see her again. I'm desperate, Doctor. I want her back."

Her words send a wave of sadness rushing up my spine. She must really care about Jenny, especially if she's that worried about her. Also, the fact that I may have seen Jenny—or rather, her ghost—in the alley with the bobbies makes my hearts ache with guilt. If that really was Jenny's ghost that'd appeared to me back there, that means Jenny must've died somehow, perhaps from her own fear.

Oh, God… Jenny might be dead (in fact, she might've been for days), and Vastra doesn't even know! How do I tell her? Or is it even right to tell her at all? Dear god, what do I do?

"Don't worry, Vastra," Dad says in an assuring tone. "We'll find Jenny and everyone else who's gone missing since this all started. We'll end this together. You have my word."

Vastra sighs before continuing, "We also believe that the device used to create the force field is somewhere in this city, since the fears began here and later expanded to the rest of the world. We believe that if we shut down that device, the fears would stop."

"Right," I nod understandingly, "but in order to shut that thing down, we have to find it first, don't we?" We obviously can't destroy something without knowing where it is first, or even how it works; even the dumbest person alive would know that.

"Right!" Dad exclaims with a clap of his hands. "So we find that device, shut it down, which shuts the force field down, save the missing people, including Jenny, and make sure none of this ever happens again."

I raise a skeptical eyebrow at this. Yeah, Dad, like it would really be that simple.

"Hang on, Dad, we're getting ahead of ourselves here," I say. "Like I said, we don't know where this device is or even how it works. We need to know the dangers of how this thing works before we just go blowing it up. I mean, for all we know, maybe just blowing it up could end up blowing up the whole planet, or something. Not to mention that we don't know for sure if there's a device, or devices, involved. You believe that this is what's happening, but we haven't seen enough proof."

"We've already seen proof!" Dad says in an obvious tone. "That man you fought earlier in the alley—that was Jack the Ripper, but that wasn't really him. It couldn't have been him, since he's supposed to be dead."

"Yes, your father is correct," Vastra nods to me. "The murderer known as 'Jack the Ripper' is no more. I should know, for I was the one who killed him."

"You killed Jack the Ripper?" I say, raising another skeptical eyebrow.

Dad nods. "Vastra didn't just kill him. She had him for dinner."

"Quite literally," Vastra says with a slight smirk. "I found him quite stringy, but tasty all the same."

"Oh," I say, and I can't help scrunching up my face in disgust. So Vastra is a heinous cannibal-lizard from the Dawn of Time, and we're literally sharing a Victorian carriage with her, not knowing whether she'll attempt to eat us too. Yup, just another normal day at the beach.

To escape the awkwardness, I swiftly change the subject, saying, "So, if that wasn't the real Jack the Ripper, then that was actually—"

"That was someone's fear come to life, yes," Dad finishes. "Makes sense, since no one knows whether Jack the Ripper truly met his end. Well, no one besides Vastra, anyway."

I am still greatly confused. "So, when I killed him, and he vanished…did I actually kill him; like, for real, kill him?" That would make sense as to why my dress is still covered in his blood, right?

Dad shakes his head. "No. Well, yes, but no. When you 'killed' him, you did temporarily end his life, but not long after he vanished, he must've just rematerialized in another part of town."

"Like when you die in a video game and respawn at some checkpoint," I say, nodding understandingly, "except here the 'checkpoint' is random."

"Exactly," Dad confirms.

"That, or when that poor woman took her final breath, Jack the Ripper 'died' with her," Vastra adds her own theory. "When a person dies, their worst fear dies with them."

"Okay, that makes sense," I say, nodding again. "But multiple people can share the same fear. Surely that woman wasn't the only one who was deathly afraid of Jack the Ripper, believing he was somehow still alive, hence why he came after her." There had to be another Jack the Ripper running around in another part of the world, and the one I fought was just one of many other Jack the Rippers.

"Yes, Nova, you are absolutely right," Vastra nods, evidently impressed with me again. "Unfortunately, certain fears cannot truly go away, so long as there are those who share that fear. Fear makes companions of all of us."

Dad's eyes widen in amazement. "'Fear makes companions of all of us.' Blimey, I haven't heard that phrase since I was a boy."

I suddenly have a disturbing realization. Vastra and Dad had just confirmed my theory about Jenny and why I've been seeing what I now believe to be her ghost. "Hang on!" I exclaim. "So, you're basically saying people can be killed by their own fears? Like that woman, here's assuming Jack the Ripper was her fear?"

Vastra nods again. "Disturbingly enough, yes. Thousands of people around the world have died in just the last week alone from their fears coming to life, or having been killed by other people's fears. If they don't die of fright first, the fear itself would certainly kill them. Just yesterday, there was a report of a hundred-foot tall tarantula that ravaged an entire town in China within just a handful of hours. They said it was the worst disaster in history since 1851, when a giant metal man stomped through the streets of London Town, crushing ten-story buildings in its wake."

Dad nods, evidently knowing what she's talking about. "Ah, yes, the infamous Cyber King. You won't see another one of those for a while. That metal monstrosity was destroyed long ago in the Time Vortex by yours truly." He then smirks in a 'yeah, that's right, kids, I actually did that' manner.

I chuckle, genuinely impressed. "That was you? I'm not surprised. At this point, anything I read about in history, I'll believe that you had some kind of involvement. Every single time!" Classic Dad.

"Just you wait, Nova," he chuckles back, "that'll be you someday."

I scoff loudly. "Pfft, yeah right! I don't plan on being that big of a show-off."

Vastra interrupts us again, steering us back on topic. "The bottom line is, if we don't stop these fears soon, many more people are going to die. People who don't deserve to die. You are the only person I know who has any chance of stopping this, Doctor."

Wow, I can't help scoffing in my head, rolling my eyes, and what am I, invisible?

"Here's assuming our own fears don't consume us first," I point out. "I've been inside Dad's head. I've seen some terrible things." Something that, again, makes me think of Mom in that cursed chair in that cursed server room in that cursed Library.

"He's shown you The Last Great Time War?" Vastra says in genuine shock. "I suppose, as his daughter, he has a right to show you…"

What? I scream to myself in my head. Why would I want to see a war?

I shake my head. "No, he didn't show me the War. He showed me…something else. Something I'd rather not talk about. He's only told me stories about the War; it's not something I wish to see for myself." Who the hell would want to, anyway?

Dad shakes his head in agreement. "Trust me, Nova, you don't want to see it."

"I wasn't asking you to, and I never will," I say honestly, shaking my head back at him. "But even if I did ask you to show me, I get the feeling I'm not gonna be able to look at you the same way, and I don't wanna look at you like that. I only just got to know you, to trust you, and I don't wanna lose that trust. I love you, Dad, and I always will, no matter what." Nothing and no one is going to ever change my mind.

Dad smiles as he gently pulls me into a hug. "I love you too, my Nova. You don't have to be afraid for me."

"I'll always be afraid for you," I say, squeezing him tightly. "I lost you once, and I don't wanna lose you again. Not ever."

The very thought of losing him again makes me think of the Vokanari. For a long time now, I've been constantly worrying that they could be literally anywhere in Space-Time; and who's to say they could be here in Victorian London? As I stare out the carriage window, I can't help but worry that I'll see one of those sickos jump out from behind the shadows and attempt to kill Dad again, exactly like how they mercilessly attacked my father-guardian, and how the pirates brutally beat my bio-father to death on that other planet. As I've said before, nothing and no one will be safe until they are all gone, starting with that 'Kovarian' woman.

My fear is confirmed when I suddenly see a familiar pale-faced male outside the carriage, peeking out from behind a dark corner of a side alley.

"Whoa!" I gasp and pull away from my father's grasp. I open the carriage window and lean out toward the alley where I'd seen the familiar figure. Sure enough, I see him standing around the corner, smirking creepily at me. "Stop the carriage!" I yell as I pull back inside and struggle to open the carriage door.

"Nova!" Dad says, frowning in genuine confusion. "What's wrong?"

Honestly, I am greatly confused. At first glance, the pale-faced figure looked strikingly similar to the pale-faced Vokanari member that attacked me in the modern alley; in fact, the road that which we are riding through looks similar to the modern road just outside the alley where I was attacked in the future. If the creep really is Voldemort the Vokanari Member, that's impossible…right? Especially since Mom killed him. But that was a hundred-and-twenty years ago… Or rather, that will be a hundred-and-twenty years in the future.

Ugh, who cares! If that really is him, he's clearly back, and he needs to be stopped! For good!

"He's back!" I scream. "I don't know why or how, but he is! Stop the carriage now! Shit, why won't this thing open?!" I tug on the carriage door handle, but it doesn't budge.

"I will do no such thing!" Vastra exclaims, evidently appalled at my outlandish (at least to her) behavior. "My dear, will you please just tell me what the matter is!"

"Finally!" I sigh in relief as I manage to pop the carriage door open. I position myself in the doorway, preparing to jump out while the carriage is still in motion, completely ignoring the wind blowing my hair in my face and the risk of injuring my shoulder further, knowing that absolutely none of that matters. The only thing that matters to me is taking down the Vokanari once and for all! All of them!

"Nova!" Dad yells in shock, seeing me about to jump. "What do you think you're doing? Get back in your seat!"

At this point, I see the creeper slip behind the corner of the alley, daring me to follow him. "He's getting away! I have to stop him!" Throwing all logic and safety aside, I jump out of the moving carriage, landing painfully on the ground in a barrel roll. The impact on the ground suddenly makes my injured shoulder tear, but I ignore it as I get back on my feet and run after the imposter.

"Nova!" Dad calls after me as the carriage is forced to a complete stop. "Get back here! It's not safe!" He prepares to get out of the carriage, but I ignore him as I run right into the alley.

Here we go again, running through creepy alleys; only this time, I am chasing rather than being chased.

"Catch me if you can, little Time Tot," the imposter taunts me as he waves to me from the opposite end of the alley before he slips behind the corner again. I continue chasing him through the strangely familiar maze of alleys until I finally catch up with him, who had apparently caught himself in a dead-end (Ha! That's what you get, you cheeky charlatan!); however, he stands with his back to me.

Despite this strange behavior, I yell, panting, "You've got nowhere left to run, Voldemort! You're at a dead-end! There's no other way out!"

"That's the idea, sweet-cheeks," the man chuckles without turning around. "I meant for you to follow me here."

At this point, I can feel my Time Lord 'Spidey-Senses' tingling, but I refuse to back down. "Turn around and face me properly!" I demand. "Let me see your face!"

The imposter slowly turns to face me, and I gasp. It really is him!

But it can't be! He… He's dead!

"No… That's impossible! You're dead! Mom killed you! I saw her! She shot you dead right in front of me!" I can see the perfect burned hole in his chest, still looking fresh as when Mom shot him the day we met—or rather, will meet, seeing as it won't happen for another hundred-and-twenty years.

"I was dead," the former Vokanari member and school intruder corrects me. He then gestures around the alley. "In fact, this was the very alley in which your mother killed me. Or rather, this is the very alley in which your mother will kill me, seeing as that will happen a hundred-and-twenty years from now. Or perhaps that was a hundred-and-twenty years ago? Depends on your perspective, I suppose. Time-Travel at its finest."

He says that last bit like it's a joke, but I don't say anything in response, not wanting to give him the satisfaction of knowing that I know exactly what he's talking about.

He then shrugs and continues. "In any case, now, I am back to finish what I started. To do what I should've done from the very start! Madame Kovarian is still highly interested in you, you know."

"Yes, I'm aware," I sigh, rolling my eyes. "I've heard this a gazillion-and-one times. Like I told all you sickos time and time again, 'murderous psychopath' would never look good on a résumé, certainly not mine. If you really thought I'd be willing to kill Dad for you, you're eighteen years too late! I've spent a lot of time with him, and he's not at all what you described. You described him as 'evil,' but he's not even close. He's a good man, and he will always and forever be a good man. Unlike you, who will forever be a dead man, as will all the rest of you sickos!" If I can't have a normal life by giving up my Time Lord abilities, then maybe I'll have a better shot by taking down the entire Silence organization; this way, my whole family, including my guardians, can have a normal life without worrying about being constantly hunted by them.

Voldemort chuckles. "You think you can stop us, but you have absolutely no idea how much our numbers have risen since our last meeting. Not even an army would be enough to take us down. You're just a child!"

"You underestimate me!" I snap back. "Not to mention that you are wrong about everything—that entire prophecy, even me! From all your twisted experiments, you've been physically turning me into a weapon—a literal supernova—to kill my own father, but I was never the 'weapon' that would kill him. All along, I've been the weapon that would kill you. Your entire organization! That's what your prophecy meant this whole time—'Silence will fall' because of you! Your 'Silence' organization—your 'Vokanari'—will fall because you genetically engineered me to take all of you down; every single one of you! Mom may have originally been the one planned to kill my father for you, but she was always destined to fail. And so will I, at least in killing my own father. You wanna know why? Because I'll always fail to kill him, because I was never trained to kill him; I was always trained to kill you! And I promise you, I will not fail in taking all you sons of bitches down! Not by a long shot!" I make my fists glow gold in that moment, and along with them the gold tinge in my vision. "You want proof? I can show you just how powerful I really am! I am not afraid of you!" I then realize that the Intruder/Vokanari member is my fear come to life, but I will conquer it once and for all!

Voldemort smirks at my declaration. "You may not be afraid of me personally, but I know who you're truly afraid of. You want to know? Ask him." He then nods behind me, and I briefly turn to see my father standing there, having caught up with me. I swiftly turn back to Voldemort as he continues with that disgusting smirk still plastered on his face, "I know about your telepathic connection with him; every Time Lord has one—rather, had one—with one another. That's why we could never truly touch you while you were growing up, despite knowing where you lived in all that time. Your telepathic connection is strong; of course he would know all of your deepest, darkest fears. You want to know what those fears are, if you don't already know them yourself…ask him sometime."

I suddenly pause, realizing that he may actually be right. Dad can sense everything I'm thinking and feeling; who's to say he can sense my fears as well? Perhaps he knows about Mom…

"Nova…" Dad says calmly. "Everything he's saying to you is a lie. None of it is true. He's not real. He's just a projection—a mirage—one made real by your own thoughts. Don't give in to it. Just walk away and come back with me. Madame Vastra needs us. Come." I glance back at him, and I see him holding out a hand to me, encouraging me to take it.

I think about taking his hand when Voldemort suddenly interrupts me, snapping me back to full attention on him, and I almost forget that Dad is here. "There is still a lot about him that you don't know. Deep down, you still don't fully trust him. And why should you? He's done terrible things—things you cannot even imagine. He killed his own people, manipulated his own friends into giving their lives for him. And soon he'll do the exact same to you, his own daughter. What kind of a father does that to his own child?"

A part of me actually believes him. Dad told me about his other companions, and how he felt responsible for the deaths of some of them. Who's to say something like this might happen to me one day, when we least expect it?

"Nova, don't listen to him," Dad says, this time sounding a bit more serious. "He's trying to get under your skin. Don't let him. He's not real; he's your fear come to life. Ignore him and come back to Madame Vastra with me. She needs us. Jenny and all those missing people need us. Come back with me, please."

Again, I consider going with him when Voldemort interrupts me yet again. "Don't be a fool, little Time Tot. You know where your place is in the universe. Don't you want to save your human guardians? Your best friend? Your mother? Join us, and we'll let them all go. We'll leave your entire family alone. We'll never harm them ever again."

"Nova, please, don't do this!" Dad begs, growing more desperate. "Don't give in to this fear! Fight it!"

As much as I want to save my family, especially since Mom failed to save them, at this point, I feel like going with the Vokanari might be the only option. At this point, Dad and I are the only people who can save them now.

No, scratch that! I am the only one who can save them now. If the Vokanari spot Dad, they'll kill him on sight, and I'm not going to let that happen. I'll have a better chance of sneaking into their base and saving my family, including Mom. Even if I'm caught, they won't kill me, since they want me alive to kill Dad. However, instead of killing Dad, I'll kill them instead. Like I said, Silence will fall because of me; or, to rephrase, I will silence the Silence. Forever.

If anyone should be afraid here, it should be ol' Voldy of the Vokanari. In other words, he should be afraid of me.

"I do know where my place is in the universe," I say, glaring daggers at him, "and it's right next to the Doctor, my father. Go rot in Azkaban, Voldemort!" I then turn on my heel and prepare to walk away with my father, turning my back on the former Vokanari member—rather, the entire Vokanari organization. They can all rot in Azkaban for all I care.

"Then you leave me no choice!" he growls behind us, and my sense of danger skyrockets in that moment. I turn back just in time to see him taking out a knife from his inner pocket and immediately throwing it at us without warning.

I quickly dodge the knife as it sails past me toward my father. Suddenly realizing this, I immediately reach out and somehow manage to catch the hilt of the knife. I momentarily stop and stare in shock at what had almost happened, at the sharp end of the knife just inches from Dad's chest. I don't even think twice as I turn my head back to face the former school intruder and Vokanari member, glaring at him.

Big mistake.

I don't even wait for his reaction. I immediately throw the knife back at him with all my strength, and he is knocked into the wall from the impact of the knife impaling him straight in the existing hole in his chest. He grunts in pain and collapses to the ground, dead, this time for good, fresh blood pooling around him.

I stare at his body with pride, knowing I bested another Vokanari member. Although last time, Mom was the one who actually killed him, but I finished the job, even if this version of him wasn't real.

That's two members down; a gazillion-plus more to go.

I suddenly feel a sharp pain in my shoulder, and I scream, collapsing on my knees, my vision fuzzy and my head throbbing.

"Nova!" Dad cries as he rushes to me and wraps his arms around me to steady me, sensing my weakness through our link.

"Dad…" I whimper in pain, clutching my shoulder. "It hurts…" God, it hurts so bad!

"I know, Nova; I'm sorry," he says as he gently gathers me in his arms and carries me away from that cursed alley, again leaving the body behind. "Come on. Let's get back to Madame Vastra."

The more time that passes, the more lightheaded I feel. Despite everything, I can't help but murmur jokingly to him, "Told you…you'd carry me back…after collapsing…from weakness."

"Shut up," I hear Dad quietly grumble before I am met with silence and darkness.

A/N: TO BE CONTINUED!

Some of my followers have asked if I was including any references to the so-called "Timeless Child" that was seen throughout Jodie's era. For anyone who is wondering the same thing, NO, I will not be including the Timeless Child at any time in this trilogy. Even if the Doctor being the Timeless Child is true (personally I'm still not convinced, even if they had actually confirmed it in the show), he wouldn't have had an issue regenerating in the "Mutiny" chapter, since his regeneration ability was not disabled like in "Let's Kill Hitler." I just wanted to kindly point out that the Timeless Child does not and will not exist in this story. Or if I do decide to include it, it will refer to someone else and not the Doctor.