Chapter 17

Why I don't 'do' friends!

Okay, now what do we do? Raven asked the Doctor telepathically. They may have stopped the Cybermen for now, but Raven got the impression if these creatures wanted something then they would find a way to get it. The fact that they all just stood there and stared up directly at the cameras really did creep Raven out. As if they could see through them at directly at her.

"They won't give up. Their logic circuits are probably whizzing as we speak trying to find a way to break in. They're relentless, they'll find a way in eventually." The Doctor told her. "What we need to do is to get this ships hyper-drive functioning." No sooner had the Doctor said this then.

"What's the progress on the Hyper-drive repairs?" The Captain asked the engineering department.

"Speak of the devil." The Doctor said. But no response came from engineering.

"Engineering. Gavin, Stewart, can you hear me?" the Captain called into the coms, but again she got no reply. Just static.

"The engineering crew for a ship this size must be at least three to five people. If not one is calling in, then I suspect we could be in trouble." The Doctor said his voice grave.

"Security. Coms are down." the Captain said practically punching the buttons, "get down there and see what's up."

"You better go with them. Your 'talents' could be useful." The Doctor told her.

Do you know what's down there? Raven asked, suspicious that the Doctor knew more than he was letting on.

"Just set the Sonic Screwdriver to level 17, and hope I'm wrong." He said.

Wrong about what? Raven prompted. Doctor, now is not the time to be mysterious.

"Okay, I'm theorising a little annoying menace called Cybermats."

Is that a real thing, or did you just make it up?

Raven accompanied two security soldiers down into the bowels of the ship. They had decided only two were needed since they were just checking on engineering. Hopefully the Cybermen had just damaged the coms. Worst case was apparently these Cybermat creatures.

Small metallic slug like creatures that hunted people by focusing on their brain waves. They were filled with a poison that would slowly kill whoever they attacked. Depending on which era these Cybermen came from then the Cybermats could attack and re-program someones brain, effectively destroying the person and making them subservient to the Cybermen.

The two guards had questioned why Raven was down there with them, but they didn't put up much of an argument after the Captain informed them that she was going with them, no questions asked. Through the tinted frame of their helmets Raven realised these two had witnessed her shrink the TARDIS earlier. Which was probably why they looked wary of her, as if she would genuinely turn them into toads if she had the chance.

"Aren't you going to talk to them? Make conversation?" The Doctor said, "Make them trust you?"

Why? Raven asked simply.

"Because they're wary of you, and people respond better to fellow beings who talk and express themselves." The Doctor said.

I'm not here to make friends, Doctor. Raven made that perfectly clear to him. I can't be hurt by them if I never make an emotional connection. Wait, she hadn't meant to think that!

"Oh, so that's why..."

Doctor, shut it! She commanded, it was just a quick slip of the mind but it had already revealed too much.

As they descended Raven kept noticing that one of the guards was a young, blonde boy. Only a few years older than she was. Probably a new recruit or something. He kept glancing at her from the corner of his eyes and Raven was just barely aware of it.

I think that boy likes me. That thought came from nowhere. Who? said another voice in her head. The young one with the fair hair. Raven caught his eye, and he quickly looked away. Raven began to feel herself blushing, but under her hood it'd be difficult to see.

I'm imagining things. He's just terrified of me. Raven told herself. Do you think he likes me? A stray thought said. Stop it! Raven commanded herself, trying to maintain control of her emotions and focus her mind. Just stop it! Stop it! No one likes me, it's not possible for anyone to like me. Just stop hoping, you only get hurt when you try to love other people!

Silence in her head at last, and she took a deep breath. But her face fell when she realised that the absence of the Doctors voice was conspicuous. Doctor... She thought. You didn't hear that. Got it!

"Do you honestly believe that?" the Doctor asked in an understanding tone, as if he could! Raven didn't answer, she was too embarrassed. Her deeper thoughts might not be on display to him but her stray thoughts were easy for him to see. "I like you," The Doctor said, Raven just rolled her eyes. "and you tried to kill me."

I don't want to talk about this anymore!

"Fascinating. You have clashing aspects of your personality." The Doctor was talking about her like she was some kind of psychology case. "You've separated out your emotions into separate entities within your brain, haven't you? That's why you seem to be a walking mass of contradictions. But I guess it makes meditation easier. Until you get an intense emotional reaction."

Doctor, I said shut it! Shut it, now! She shouted into her mind, trying to bury the moment of weakness under the crushing weight of her logical, and she felt, justifiable cynicism of other people and the world.

"Don't worry, it's not that weird. We Time Lords do a similar thing, only with our incarnations, that's how we remain sane despite having multiple personalities rattling around in our head. Though there was this one case where a Time Lord couldn't separate out his incarnations, he went totally bonkers. Imagine eleven voices in your head all at once all wanting their say, every decision and thought becoming an intense debate among clashing personalities." At least he wasn't psycho analysing her again.

I can think of one less voice I want in my head. Raven sent to him.

As they descended the ship became less white and streamlined and a lot more muddled. The corridors were less clean and there were cradles holding machinery in place. It was drab and depressing, and it smelt of ozone.

"That'll be the drive systems." The Doctor said, "The ship has anti-matter drives, which…"

Yeah, is this going to be useful? Raven challenged. or are you just showing off?

"Oh, trust you to spoil all the fun." The Doctor said sulkily. She just wanted the Doctor to shut up for five minutes. Since this telepathic contact they had formed it was impossible for her to get a minute of peace to herself.

"Gavin, Stewart" one of her security guard escorts called out. "What's wrong? Is everyone okay?"

"Nothing" came a voice back down the corridor, "I am fine." And a man stepped into view. He was in grey, liquid stained overalls. He was balled and clean shaven, and his eyes just stared out from his skull. Raven felt him through the ether. He felt 'wrong' somehow.

"Oh no," the Doctor said, "I think he's been nobbled by a Cyber-mat."

And what do you want me to do about it? Raven asked with no hint of emotion.

"He'll try to bluff and make you go away," The Doctor said, "at first."

"Gavin, are you okay?" The security guard asked.

"I am fine, please leave me to my work." His words were monotone and robotic.

"He's under Cyber control." Raven said, making it clear to the security guards this guy was a threat. "The Cybermen got to him."

"What are you talking about." The guard, the blonde one said.

"We'll soon find out. Activate the Sonic Screwdriver and point it at him." The Doctor instructed.

Raven did so, the Screwdriver made a loud noise but nothing appeared to be happening.

"No, not like that! Don't wave it like a magic wand." The Doctor complained, Raven was holding it like one might a flash light. "Hold it upright and make sure the emitter ring end points at him. All you're doing is sonic-ing the floor."

Reorienting the Screwdriver so that it properly pointed at Gavin the effect was noticeable. The man appeared to be jerking his head this way and that. Reaching up like a machine trying to re-establish contact with whatever was controlling it.

"What are you doing?" the older security guard asked.

"Gavin is already dead." Raven said with no hint of emotion or sorrow, "He's no more then a fleshy puppet for the Cybermen to control. This proves it. This Sonic device…" she paused as the Doctor rattled off a technical explanation "…is interfering with their control patterns."

"That's not what I said!" The Doctor complained.

I don't 'do' techno-babble, Doctor.

Eventually Gavin fell to the ground like a puppet with its strings cut. The security guards looked at her as if she was some cold hearted monster, not an original observation. They moved forwards to inspect the body.

"Stop them, don't let them get near him!" The Doctor commanded and Raven used her telekinetic powers to produce a wall of dark energy between them and Gavin.

"What are you doing?" the blonde guard complained advancing towards her. Raven didn't flinch at his approach. She stared straight into his eyes, a penetrating cold stair to show she was not intimidated by him.

"Watch!" Raven commanded pointing at Gavins body. From behind the body a small metallic creature rolled out. It was like a silver, metallic slug but it was moving as fast as a radio-controlled car. It took one look at the three of them. Reared up and jumped at them. But it impacted Ravens psychic wall and bounced off. The security guards watched as the Cybermat danced around as if wondering how it was going to get past this strange wall separating it from its prey.

"I was right, and it makes this more serious. How did Cybermats get on board, I wonder?" The Doctor thought.

Raven used her power to take hold of the Cybermat and with a swift motion she crushed it to pieces.

"You make adventuring a lot more straight forward." The Doctor said.

Don't get used to it.

"I'd be surprised if you said otherwise." The Doctors voice was dismissive.

Dropping her wall the guards moved forwards to examine Gavin's corpse. Raven didn't need to be told. She could sense he was dead. She just walked past them like a ghost and opened the door to the drive room.

"We'll need to work on your empathy." The Doctor commented.

Sure we do. Raven said dismissively.

Reaching out she tried to sense any more of these Cybermat creatures. There were at least three of them in the drive room. Her two guards followed her into the room and she held up her hands and placed a dark wall in front of them and they comically ran into it.

"Wait." Raven called. The wall disappeared and she reached out to those Cybermats she could sense, and quickly, and easily dispatched all of them as easily as if stepping on an insect.

"I wouldn't have done that!" the Doctor called to her.

Why?

Something caught her attention. Life signs she didn't sense before, they were just appearing, but where from? They suddenly lit up like Christmas trees in the ether. Three, no four, five! They were small? What were they, more Cybermats?

Something punched through the grated floor at her feet as easily as if it were paper, forcing her onto her back. It was a silver arm. Pulling itself up from under the grate was a Cyberman. It stood at its full height which was an impressive six or seven meters tall. Towering over her with those handlebars on its head for some reason gave Raven a flashing image of her father. Big, powerful and intimidating.

There was another bang and another Cyberman popped out of the floor, followed by another, and another. All pulling themselves up from the floor like the living dead. Small hydraulic pistons rang as they crawled out and began advancing on them.

"This was always a possibility." The Doctor said. "Where there are Cybermats, there are Cybermen."

And you're mentioning this to me now, why exactly?!

Getting a good sense of these creatures as they advanced Raven didn't mind admitting she was totally creeped out by them. Their staring blank expressions and dark eye-holes just unnerved her. She'd never seen anything like it before. It felt alive, just, but its appearance and movements were that of a soulless robot.

The nearest Cyberman reached out like a Zombie as it approached.

"Do not fear," the Cyberman said, its voice monotone and expressionless and she didn't have the courage to verbally disagree with its 'fear' statement. "Cybermen shall remove fear. You will become like us."

"Raven! Raven!" The Doctor screamed at her. She snapped out of it and moved back to the other two security guards.

Someone screamed out loud as a Cyberman grabbed a security guard, the older one. This guard was heavily built, big and powerful, but this Cyberman held him up in both arms as if he were a rag doll. He shouted and cursed at the robot giant kicking it in its stomach. "Tumour detected in the cerebrum. This one is not compatible." The Cyberman said and its hands crushed the mans arms as if they were popsicle sticks before dropping him to the floor. As he writhed in pain the machine stamped on his head crushing it. Raven had to look away, it was too gruesome to watch.

THIS IS WHY I DON'T 'DO' FRIENDS, DOCTOR. She screamed into her head.

She backed up to the blonde security guard and cast an energy barrier around them so they were safe, provided the Cybermen couldn't break their way in.

If she'd been focused and not intimidated by these tin soldiers then maybe she could've sensed a weakness. But she had hesitated. She couldn't do it now because all of her concentration was focused on the shield, and it was taking a lot of effort as the Cybermen pounded on it from above.

Teleport. Raven was thinking. The ships out of hyper-space, I can teleport.

"NO!" the Doctor cried, "the warp fields here are still active. You try to teleport and your bodies will be ripped to shreds as you pass through dimensions."

So what do we do? She asked, Raven held up her hands to help herself focus on strengthening the barrier.

"Ask them questions. Like what are they doing here, what is their plan. Stuff like that."

And you expect them to just tell me?

"You'd be surprised." The Doctor said.

"What are you doing here? What's your plan?" she asked the Cybermen, but they didn't stop. They just kept pounding.

"It is not logical to impart our plans to you." A Cyberman called.

"Oh, I see they've wised up at last." The Doctor said, disappointed. "Tell them you have gold dust, and you'll use it."

What? Raven questioned but verbally she said it. "Stop, I have gold dust and I'll use it." They hesitated, but only for a split second.

"You lie!" and continued to pound on the barrier.

Raven knelt down and shrank her shield, shrinking it made the barrier stronger because it required less concentration to keep it in existence. The blonde guard knelt down too and Raven shrank it further, making it stronger still and the Cybermen gathered around. This gave Raven an idea.

Quickly she stood up to her full height and as she did she also quickly expanded the barrier and blasted the Cybermen back away from them across the room. This didn't phase them for long and they were quickly getting up.

Grabbing the blonde guard by the arm she dragged him back through the door, along the corridor and back the way they had came. They leapt over the Cyberman that was laying on its back trying to get up. Its fingers snapped as its vice like hands missed them by inches.

"So, they've nobbled the Drive systems, permanently. So fixing the warp drive is out." The Doctor summarised as they ran from the drive room and sealed the door behind themselves, and were now pressing their backs against it. As Raven thought about the Doctors statement she guessed he'd noticed something in the drive room while she was focused on the Cybermen. "You know, its weird having someone else drive your mind around like this, especially running around." The Doctor was off topic again.

"Don't the Cybermen have a weakness?" Raven asked, not realising she was speaking out loud.

"By their reaction to your threat of gold. I'm guessing that's still their weakness. In the past it used to be intense radiation, damaged their living tissue you see. Later it was non-corrodible metals like gold, it would clog their respirators and interfere with delicate equipment used to keep them alive."

"And do you have gold?" Raven asked.

"There are sacks of the stuff in the TARDIS." The Doctor said. "I gave two sacks to Chang Lee a few months back, but there should still be plenty of the stuff. You know, I knew I had them for a reason. Go to the console room, in the filing cabinet at the back, far draw, third up."

"Who are you talking to?" The blonde guard asked.

"I'm in telepathic contact with…" she hesitated, "…some irritating know-it-all I came in with. He may be unconscious, but I can still talk to him via telepathy. He's giving me information as we speak."

"You Time Lords are a weird bunch." The guard said.

"You're telling me." Raven said, thinking of the Doctor.

"I always thought that…" the blonde guard said, but Raven held up her hand to shut him up.

"Wait, the Doctors yammering on again."

"What could their plan be?" The Doctor wondered. "Sure, the Cybermen are nearly extinct, but there are better plans if they want to swell their numbers. This can't be just a simple rescue mission for their kin. Half the soldiers floating around out there will be as dead as door nails, it hardly seems worth their time. Unless there is something else in this region of space that they're after."

The Cybermen were now hammering on the door, Raven and the blonde guard moved away as they felt the impacts. Dents were slowly being punched into the metal.

"Strong aren't they?" The Doctor commented. "There must've been something I missed, back in my third incarnation when I was last in this region. Listen, Raven. I need to withdraw back to my mind for a while to search through my memories. Will you be okay?"

I look forward to the peace at last.

"Good, shall not be a jiffy." And the Doctor was silent, at last.

More dents appeared in the door.

"Command, command. This is private Armstrong," said the security guard into his com-unit.

So his name is Armstrong. Raven gritted her teeth. I said shut it!

"We have a situation down here. Cybermen are already on board the ship. They have taken the drive room. They've killed David"

"Stay put, I'll send re-enforcement's." Said the Captain. Raven waited until the place was swarming with guards and their heavy weapons. Setting up a barricade to fight back against the Cybermen if they managed to break through. That's when Raven decided to go on a gold hunt.

"I'll be right back." And Raven turned and strolled off.

"Where are you going?" Armstrong asked running to catch up to her.

"To find some gold, the Cybermen apparently hate it, and I know just where to find it."

Armstrong continued to follow her.

"You don't have to come with me." Raven said bluntly.

"You might need help." the boy said.

"I won't, but please yourself."

After putting some distance between herself and the warp drives Raven teleported herself and Armstrong up to the higher decks, he was amazed at what she could do with so little effort. Raven could sense the Doctors unique signature and she had followed it to find where they had moved him to. It was quite a long way, presumably to keep as much space between the patients and the Cybermen.

As they pushed past aliens on beds and stretchers they found the Doctor. The nosy woman from earlier tried to grab her attention, but Raven ignored her. When they were finally at the Doctors side Raven noticed they had replaced the strange device over his head and his body was still out of it.

"Hello there," said Dr. Wood, in greeting. "Don't worry, he's still stable. Though why we've had to cram everyone into these small spaces I have no idea."

"Is he okay?" Raven asked. "Is he going to wake up soon?"

"Not sure, you can't rush this." Dr. Wood said waggling a finger at her. "I've worked on Time Lords before. He'll be as right as rain in no time."

"Good," Raven said, "I'm just here to collect something." And she looked for the Doctors coat, but it wasn't there! "Where's his coat?" she asked hurriedly.

"Oh, we left it back in the other ward. We were told to move fast, personal belongings had to be left behind you understand." Dr. Wood said, and while he was in the middle of this sentence Raven had spun on her heel and walked back out the door, Armstrong following.

"Where is this gold?" Armstrong asked walking along side her.

"Remember that blue box?" Raven said.

"The one you shrank down?" Armstrong asked.

"Yeah. That was the TARDIS... our Time Capsule." she corrected in case Armstrong wasn't familiar with the name TARDIS. "Inside it, we'll find the gold we need."

"Hey nice. I'm going to see whats inside a Gallifreyan Time Capsule." the boy said.

"No." Raven said bluntly "You are going to stay outside while I get the stuff." There was no way she was going to invite this stranger into her home.

Armstrong argued but Raven made sure to get across that there would be no arguments about this.

Arriving at the medical bay where the Doctor originally was, Raven spotted the Doctors velvet coat hung up where she'd left it. She reached into the pockets and pulled out a book. Tossing it to the floor she reached in and pulled out a bag of jelly babies, dropping them to the floor she then pulled out a spy-glass, a tangled yo-yo, a broken pocket watch, a copy of 'Intergalactic monsters and what to do about them'. The more she pulled out the more Raven felt irritated.

"How much junk is there in his coat?" Raven asked out-loud. The TARDIS should've been close to the top, not buried under all this junk.

Armstrong tapped her on the shoulder.

"Don't touch me." Raven said testily. But Armstrong did it again, and he was pointing out the window.

There were two Cybermen standing just outside. Their legs somehow clamped to the hull. They were holding what looked like a very long pike and they were about to bring it down onto the window. It impacted, but nothing happened. They pulled the pike up again ready to strike, and brought it down with a great deal of force. They were trying to break in.

Though this made Raven's blood run cold she was satisfied about one thing. She was right, the Cybermen had decided they value the ship over the lives of the people inside.

To Be Continued...

Authors notes: Legit question for you readers. How are you dealing with the way I'm writing the telepathic conversation between Raven and the Doctor? Is it easy to understand? Because Raven's thoughts are just in italics like I always write thoughts, where as the Doctors are in both "italics and speech marks." to show that they are his communications,and I want to know if its easy to follow. Let me know so I can adjust it for previous and later chapters.

One thing I'm currently scratching my head over is why in the Teen Titans TV show Raven doesn't use her powers to simply crush and disable? I don't just mean people, I mean machines. There were times where Raven taking and crushing something could've ended the battle in a snap. Such as Control Freaks remote control. Surely it would be so easy for her to focus on it and destroy it, obviously the reason was because it would make for a very boring battle scene. So I'm guessing for some reason she just doesn't to it, or shy's away from it. Like she learns that using her powers in such a way might be too easy. Similar to how a Jedi doesn't use the Force to crush another person. Such an action is seen as the dark side, and though Raven thinks of herself as evil, contradictorily she doesn't want to really become evil.

That's my explanation why she doesn't just crush the Cybermen, and the same with anyone around her. It would be too easy. This is something I'm going to write into the following chapters to explain it. Which means I'm going to have to get a lot more creative. Its not in this chapter because I didn't give her the chance to even try that.

I've made a reference to the Doctor Who audio series Doom Coalition, which features a Time Lord character called 'the Eleventh'. A Time Lord with a strange condition where after he regenerates his previous personalities still talk to him in his head constantly arguing with each other, slowly driving him insane.