Authors notes: Hold on tight. We're entering into the End Game for this adventure ;) Which unfortunately means things are about to get a whole lot worse before they get better.

A slight warning that this chapter will feature some rather more violent forms of bullying. Just wanted to give fair warning.

Chapter 57

Kill the Bully!

Rachel got up, ate breakfast and again her Dad drove her to school in this noisy hunk of junk he called a car. She was quiet for most of the journey, that was until her Dad spoke up.

"You're very quiet." He said.

"Yes, I am." Rachel said, she really didn't want to talk about it.

"Is it about Stella?" He asked. Yes, she did want to talk about it, she could trust her Dad. This is what Dad's were for.

"How could she betray me? How could she think I am the problem?" Rachel said sadly.

"Stella's a good girl, but I think she looks for the good in everyone." Her Dad said.

"But Dolores isn't good." Rachel said.

"But she puts on the facade of a good person. She cloaks herself in good deeds so people don't look at the ugly monster underneath." Her Dad said.

"I thought all monsters would be easy to spot. That they'd be ugly, or something." Rachel shrugged. "Maybe have horns sticking out of their heads."

"Welcome to adult life." Her Dad said, "Sometimes demons want to get close to you so they can get you on their side, if they can't then they'll attack you because they fear you know their dirty little secret."

"What do you mean?" Rachel asked.

"I think Dolores really did want to be your friend." Her Dads said. What utter crap, Rachel thought. "No seriously, I think she did, but when you blocked her on many occasions, she took it as a sign of rejection, and some people don't handle rejection well."

"I'll say, she had Garfield's dog put down!" Rachel said. Her Dad paused the conversation as he made a turn in the road and he watched for traffic. He sounded like he was thinking, but couldn't think of a good thing to say.

"That, indeed, was a monstrous thing to do." Her Dad said, "But I've got the feeling she did it ultimately to anger you."

"The world doesn't revolve around me." Rachel said flatly.

"But I think Dolores's world does revolve around you, and I don't think that's paranoia." Her Dad said.

"Stella won't believe me." Rachel said.

"Well, if she's so easily swayed against you, maybe you were better off not having her as a friend." That didn't make Rachel feel any better. "You'll make new friends. You still have Richard, Victor and Garfield."

"It's not the same." Rachel said, "Stella was like a sister to me."

"If you want a sister so badly, mum and me could try for another kid." Her Dad joked.

"Don't you dare!" Rachel snapped, "Because you aren't getting me to babysit." She smiled a little.

"Wouldn't you like a little brother or sister?" Her Dad mocked.

"Shoot me now." Rachel said flatly pointing her fingers to her head like a gun. Her Dad laughed. She laughed.

Rachel now felt a little better.

When she sat down for English class again something happened Rachel did not expect.

When Stella entered she walked straight past her and sat with Dolores. But when Richard and Victor entered they too walked past her and proceeded to some seats a few tables back, leaving Rachel on her own.

She looked around and down towards Victor and Richard, who looked like they were having a happy conversation without her. They sat down and got their books out and behaved like Rachel didn't exist.

"Hey Rae." Said someone she did not expect to be back so soon. Garfield was sitting down at her table. He'd lost some of the joyous mood he always had.

"Hey Gar." Rachel said, just happy to know at least one of her friends didn't desert her. It wasn't her first pick, but it was someone who stood by her. "Why aren't Richard and Victor sitting with us?" She asked, because it was possible it was something innocent.

"Oh... um..." Garfield looked sheepish, "They've got a secret you see, that... umm... they don't want us to know about."

Rachel's face dropped as she watched Garfield stumble through his words. "Gar, I know your panto face, just tell me."

"They've been told not to sit near you." Garfield said.

"Why?" Rachel asked.

"Haven't you been paying attention? Dolores's accusations have spread over social media. Plenty of people know about it, as do their parents."

Rachel looked to Victor and Richard. "So it's just their parents, they're still on my side?" Rachel asked.

"Umm..." Garfield murmured, "You'd better ask them that." He looked nervous, like what he'd say would deeply upset her.

"They don't think I'm bullying Dolores, do they?" Rachel asked.

"Well... umm..." Garfield scratched at the back of his neck. His silence said it all.

Rachel's head lolled forward and she caught it in her hands. Then she lifted her head up and said. "Fine, if they don't want to be friends anymore then I'm probably better off without them. I don't mind." She paused and said through gritted teeth as a little frustration escaped. "I'm delighted!"

"Hey, you've still got me!" Garfield said smiling a cheesy smile.

"I must be the luckiest girl in the world." Rachel said flatly.

"Oh. Well, I'll go now." and Garfield turned to move away from her. Instantly Rachel's hands were out and she grabbed the shrimp by his arm.

"Wait, don't go!" Rachel's face went a little red with what she'd just done and said. She held on until Garfield sat back down again.

They may not talk, they may not get on, and he may be irritating. But he was still her friend. She knew it wouldn't be the same. He was no Stella, no Victor, no Richard. But they both had something in common. Dolores had tried to mess with their lives.

"I don't blame you for Terra's death." Garfield said. For some reason that echoed down into Rachels core, as if that was something she so wanted to hear someone say.

"Thanks Gar." She said, and she gave him one of her rare smiles.

"Uhh... yeah... No offence, but you're out of practice." He joked.

A laugh escaped her and her face muscles relaxed into a different expression.

"Now that's a smile." Garfield said, "you should do it more often."

"Don't push it."

As the day went on it was as if school life, in general, was becoming a nightmare. A lot of the Doctor teachers were gone, they had been replaced. Doctor McCoy was gone and the original teacher was back and began lecturing them about 1984. About how keeping tabs on everyone would ultimately be good for society 'because bad people would never flourish in such a system of constant surveillance.'

Next to go was Doctor Hartnel. Replaced by some arrogant sounding teacher with a man-bun and beard who began teaching them about how plants could feel and react to human emotions. Rachel tried to contest this, but all she got was. "It's in a scientific study, that makes it fact!" and so the discussion was ended there and then. Dolores had sniggered at this.

Next was Mister Vales Mathematics class, which was fast becoming the most bearable class of them all.

At lunchtime, Rachel sat with Garfield, while Richard and Victor passed them, said 'hi' to Garfield, but blanked Rachel altogether. Rachel didn't bother to call them out. Outwardly she tried to remain emotionless, inside her soul was weeping.

As she talked to Garfield Rachel realised she knew more about Garfield than she knew about Victor and Richard, it was weird.

"I found Dolores's story." Garfield said, "and when I read it, I knew she was gunning directly for you."

"I wish the others could see it." Rachel said, before adding. "You're reading a story?"

"Hey, I said I read." Garfield said defensively.

"I'm sure that's one of the signs of the approaching Apocalypse." Rachel joked flatly.

"Hey!" Garfield squeaked before adding, "Dolores always intended to hurt Terra when she came to my house."

"What makes you say that?" Rachel asked.

"Because I read her story on that day, and she'd written how her character had gone to 'Rachels friends house', argued about a movie," Garfield shrugged, "winning over Rachel's friends to her side, but then 'Rachel' set a dog on her. Etc, etc."

"That was posted on the morning?" Rachel asked, astonished.

"Yeah, weird. It's like she wrote her entire plans out." Garfield said. Rachel got her phone out, found Dolores's story and went to a recent chapter marked as 'The Dogs Dinner.' and she read. Indeed, it was an almost perfect word for word description of what happened, and it was posted on the morning 'before' the event happened.

"But, that's proof she had malicious intentions." Rachel said, standing and looking for Victor, Richard and Stella.

"I wouldn't." Garfield said, "I showed them, but they won't listen." He turned to look at the three sitting with Dolores's gang. "It's like they're completely different people now, like something changed them overnight. You know, brain-washed. Like they've been abducted by Martians from the planet Venus and had their minds altered so they obey new masters."

Rachel wanted to hit Garfield for that stupid hypothesis, but she just settled for saying. "Shut up, Gar."

Why Dolores chose to write out her plans like this, Rachel didn't know. But if it was true then maybe Rachel could outsmart her. All she had to do was read ahead and find out what sadistic plans she had.

Scanning the recent page Rachels face began to drop.

"According to this, after school, I'm going to be attacked by a mob of Dolores's called 'Warriors Against Intolerance.'" They were going to beat her up and during the beating Rachel would relent, cry, apologise and then hand over her laptop, 'from which she types all hurting things,' as Dolores had written. After reading that, Rachel looked around and had the uneasy feeling people were watching her, keeping an eye on her as if to make sure of her exact location.

Rachel was scared.

"Don't worry, we..." he paused, "I won't let them hurt you."

Rachel looked at the shrimp up and down. She then said flatly. "Oh my hero."

When the end of school came Rachel and Garfield retreated to a quiet area in the library to study. The story said Rachel would be attacked as everyone was leaving school, so if they waited it out here then maybe they'd get bored and go home, allowing Rachel to slip past.

She'd called her Dad and told him what she feared might happen. He'd instantly wanted to call the police, but Rachel got the feeling it wouldn't be taken seriously.

Eventually, they were thrown out of the library and they walked out of school together. So far so good.

There were some kids milling around, jocks who'd just finished their football practice and were leaving the school too. Rachel doubted any of them would care about Dolores's feud with her. It looked like Rachel was in the clear and she could see her Dads purple beetle parked in the car park. She was almost home free.

"I'll get my Dad to give you a ride home." Rachel offered as a gesture of appreciation.

That was when Rachel felt something impact her on the back of the head so sharply that it forced her to the ground.

"Rae!" Garfield screamed, just before he was tackled to the floor and held down.

Rachel twisted to look up. There were several people standing around her with their gym bags in their hands. Their gym bags clearly contained their studded football boots. They rose them up and prepared to slam them down.

Rachel curled up into a ball, hand over her head as the bags came down. Pain, the pain! They rose the bags up and slammed them back down again, and the impacts just became repetitive. An almost unending pelting and she felt the studs of their boots. Sharply felt them.

As this barrage went on the group all chanted one slogan. "Kill the bully! Kill the bully! Kill the bully!" Over and over again.

I'm not a bully! I'm not the bully! Rachels mind screamed. She wanted to scream it too, but it would do no good. They'd decided she was the problem that needed to be dealt with.

"Kill the bully! Kill the bully! Kill the bully!" They chanted. Rachel wanted to reach out with her mind to push them away. To break them, to hurt them. But she wasn't Raven, she was Rachel, she had no defence against this.

Rachel risked looking out between this mobs legs, and she could see Victor, Richard, Stella. They were holding Garfield down while he struggled. They were just kneeling there watching this happen to her. She reached out for help, but they coldly looked at her as if they honestly believed she deserved this. Tears began to escape her eyes and roll down her cheeks. But again, they had no remorse for what was happening to her. She was a monster in their eyes.

The pelting stopped. The crowd parted and into the mob strode Dolores, smug as ever. She held out her hand.

"The laptop." She demanded.

Swallowing, Rachel swung her satchel off her shoulders, took the laptop out. But as Dolores reached for it Rachel hugged it to her and curled up on the floor. No way was she going to act as Dolores had written. If she wanted this laptop she had to fight for it.

The pelting began again. "Kill the Bully, Kill the Bully!"

As she felt her body being assaulted she felt Dolores's fingers grasp the edges of the laptop and tried to haul it out of her fingers. Rachel fought to keep it wrapped in her torso. It was pulled free, but Rachels outstretched hands still clung to it. The mob then began beating at her hands and arms forcing her to let go. Dolores had her laptop!

Nothing could be done as Dolores smashed it to the floor and proceeded to jump up and down on its keys and screen, destroying it.

The beating stopped again and Dolores strolled over to the battered and bruised Rachel. The bitch grabbed the goth girl by the hair and sharply tugged to make the skinny girl face the larger one.

"Now, where is the TARDIS?!" Dolores asked.

"Wha... what?" Rachel was dazed.

"Where is the TARDIS? It's in here somewhere! I know its hidden in here somewhere, but I can't find it. Where is it?!"

"The TARDIS is a fiction, a creation of mine." Rachel said weakly.

"It isn't!" and Dolores brought her fist forwards into Rachels face, breaking her nose. The mob cheered at the blow. "It's not your stupid car, it's not your house, it's not even in your room. So where is it? Where has this disgusting head of yours hidden it?!"

Dolores grabbed her hair again and made Rachel face her. When their eyes met Rachel had hawked back mucus into her mouth and she spat it right into Dolores's face.

She punched Rachel again and backed away. The mob proceeded to attack her again.

"Kill the Bully, Kill the Bully, Kill the Bully!" They chanted.

"STOP THIS, STOP THIS!" Shouted someone as two figures approached, fighting back the jocks.

"Don't you touch me, don't you touch me, don't you touch me!" Dolores screamed.

Rachel opened her eyes to see Doctor Pertwee and her Dad beating back the attacking jocks. Dolores had squared up to Doctor Pertwee and was screaming "Don't touch me!"

But then Dolores attempted to strike Doctor Pertwee. Bad move, as his body moved like a man highly trained in martial arts and quickly had Dolores in a lock. She screamed like she was in pain. "AHH, AHH, AHH, you're breaking my arm!" She screamed.

"I've merely locked your limbs." Doctor Pertwee said calmly, "I am not putting any pressure on them."

"AGGGHHHHH!" She whaled like a wild animals distress call. "He's going to break my arm, AGHHHH!" But the jocks were too wary of Doctor Pertwee to try to attack him.

Next thing Rachel knew her Dad was beside her, scooping her up into his arms and holding her tightly to him. He looked around at everyone, daring them to take a step closer to his daughter. Rachel just broke down, she cried, and she didn't care anymore if anyone saw her.

She'd never felt so miserable.

She then blacked out.

"I'll give you whatever you want!" The Mistress pleaded still held in place by Raven's powers, "What do you want? I can create it here for you! Just stop him."

"I don't want anything." Raven said flatly, "But to go home to the TARDIS." That was not true though. She wanted so many things, but they were things she could never have. She's not meant to have them. She was a demon, demons were not supposed to be happy.

"So you're a real person? With real powers?" The Mistress asked, she looked half terrified and half awed with her. "We could work together. Have you ever considered that? Do you want to be loved, thanked, appreciated?! Help me change the world for real, and people will love you, especially if I tag you in my posts."

Raven raised an eyebrow, she had no idea what this woman was talking about. But the motivation behind her personality suddenly became clear to Raven. She wanted appreciation, gratification, she wanted a childish 'pat on the head' for her deeds. "That might be your motivation, it's not mine."

"Don't you want to be liked?" The Mistress asked, and Raven sighed deeply at how silly this question was.

"I don't care what people think of me." Raven said slowly.

"But wouldn't you rather be a hero, than a villain?" The Mistress asked.

"I'm neither, nor do I want to be either. I'm just trying to live my life." Raven looked deep into the Mistress's eyes. "It's people like you who made me a 'villain.'"

Suddenly Raven sensed something, but it was far too late to do anything about it as she was flung across the room, impacting a bookshelf which emptied its contents down onto her.

When she was up and found her composure the demon girl found out she was surrounded by several characters, who all looked like the Mistress in some shape or form. One was the Imposter. Another one was Gargal Girl. Another was a character in a tight pair of overalls with a long cape, like a superhero. Another wore a tight yellow shirt with a pointy logo in the breast, black pants and had a laser gun in her hand. Another was in a brown robe and cloak and had a laser sword similar to Barriss's. The last one had the look of a detective about her, and she had picked up the Doctor and hauled him away from the Master-Brain.

All these characters were fictions the Mistress had clearly created, and they all looked like her. God, she really has no imagination.

"I tried reasoning with you, Doctor. But if you stand in the way of my new world then I have no choice." The Mistress said.

"Let me guess, you're going to kill us? Torture us beyond our tolerances? Make us watch the unfunny bits of Monty Python?" He joked.

"You're still useful to me, Doctor." The Mistress said as she pulled up her laptop. "And I want the TARDIS from that creatures head." The Mistress gave Raven a nasty look. "If you will not join me, then I'll have to re-write you." She began typing.

"We're not fictions, we're real." The Doctor said, "You can't re-write us."

"We'll see." The Mistress finished typing and slammed her index finger on the last key.

Suddenly, the floor disappeared beneath the Doctor and Ravens feet. It happened too fast for Raven to activate her powers and both she and the Doctor fell into the darkness.

The Doctor and Raven landed in a large, white void which just seemed to go on forever and ever.

As Raven and the Doctor stood Raven saw their outlines become distorted, she felt like she'd turned to jelly.

"Doctor, what's happening?" It was like her experience of the world was trying to run through treacle.

"She's trying to fictionalise us. Hold on to something." The Doctor said. Before Raven could ask what the jelly effect stopped. But something had changed.

Raven looked at the sleeves of the jacket she was wearing. A dark green frock coat, a collared shirt, cravat, white trousers and shoes that fitted perfectly. She was in the Doctors clothes! And they had been adapted to fit her.

Raven then looked up at the Doctor. Who was now wrapped in a blue cloak which fell down around his shoulders. He was holding it closed from the inside.

She looked at the Doctor up and down as a smirk played across her face.

"Rae-Rae, don't you dare." The Doctor said. But Raven held up her hand and a gust of power forced the cloak to open so she could see the Doctor in similar well-fitted clothes to what she'd usually wear, bare legs and all.

She had to look away, her face was cracking up! She put her hands over her mouth to stop what was happening. She was going to burst out laughing at how silly the Doctor looked.

"Raven, this is serious!"

"Okay, I'm sorry." Raven said, fighting down her reaction and she turned to face the Doctor again. He'd shut the cloak, but Raven remembered what was under it, and she burst out laughing again. She just couldn't stop it. It was the silliest thing she'd ever seen.

"At least I now know you do have a sense of humour." The Doctor commented.

"I only wish I could preserve this moment," Raven said, smirking evilly.

"Swapping our clothes?" The Doctor shouted to the sky, "Is that the best you can do? You really have no imagination!"

Suddenly, the jelly effect started again. When it stopped their clothes had shifted.

They were both wearing robes, like the ones Barriss Offee wore. They both had laser swords and the Doctors hair had grown and he had a scar down his right eye. Feeling her own head Raven realised she was wearing some kind of fleshy-textured headdress. Except... no... when she pulled on it, it was actually attached to her skull! And looking at her hands, she was orange!

"What's going on?" Raven asked.

"She can't fictionalise us, because we're real." The Doctor said. "The best she can do is drop us into settings and fictions. She can re-write how we look and how we dress." The Doctor tapped the side of his head. "But the one thing she can't do is stop us thinking."

"Doctor, there is no way she can fictionalise us? Is there?" Raven asked. The Doctor didn't speak, he looked around as if wary the Mistress might be listening, but Raven took his reaction to mean, "Yes, there is a way."

Jelly again, and again they shifted.

The Doctor was now dressed in some kind of outdoor outfit, blue shirt and brown vest with plenty of pockets. Raven couldn't see what she looked like, but she kind of felt scabby.

The Doctor held up something in his hand, and when he pressed his fingers into it, the thing clicked.

Click, click, click.

That got Ravens attention and she stood at the ready for the pack Alpha to give instructions. Pack Alpha?

"Doctor, how do we get out of here?" Raven tried to say, but it came out as a high pitched squawking roar.

The Doctor suddenly jumped back briefly when he spotted her. "Raven? Is that you?"

"Of course it's me." Raven tried to say, but again she could only let out a snarl. She licked her sharp teeth, and wiggled her long tail in anticipation. She tapped a long, scythe-like claw on her big toes and her fingers rubbed her long claws together. She felt hungry, she wanted to hunt, to prey.

"Don't look in a mirror." The Doctor said.

"Why?" she tried to snarl.

Suddenly the jelly effect again and when it stopped the Doctor vanished. Raven was now in rags with a fez on her head.

"Doctor?" She asked. She felt a movement in her hands. She was holding a lamp. Getting the hint Raven rubbed it and shooting from its spout was the Doctor, glowing an electric blue with a wisp where his legs and lower body should be, connecting him to the lamp. He'd become a genie.

"Quick!" The Doctor said, "Try wishing to get out of here!"

But before a word could be uttered the jelly effect happened again. This time when they emerged the Doctor was back to normal, except he was a humanoid, brown tabby cat. Raven had become shorter and could see two white ears dangling in her field of vision. She was a humanoid rabbit.

"I'm getting annoyed with this." Raven said.

The Doctor was now an older man with white hair with a big, white moustache. He was wearing some kind of apron and had carving tools in his pockets.

Raven felt oddly stiff and dry. Holding up her hands she nearly screamed. Her hands were made of wood! A pale, grey kind of wood! Feeling her face, her head was also made of round, smooth wood, her eyes and mouth were painted on, and her nose was long and pointy, the same with her body and limbs. She was made entirely of wood, and she was wearing some kind of dungarees and a small cap. There were small strands of wire at her feet and hands. She was a puppet!

I've become Pinocchio!

"I'm really getting annoyed at this." Raven repeated.

Again, they switched.

Raven was human again, only she had white hair and was wearing robes that kind of looked Greek.

"Yes, it's starting to wear on my nerves as well." Said the Doctor, who now sported a beard to go with his hair, and he was now a dwarf, half the size of her and in his hand was a wine cup.

"Actually, I'm happy with this one." Raven smiled a little darkly down at him, though she was joking.

"She's got to realise we can't be fictionalised." The Doctor reasoned.

"And what if she doesn't?" Raven asked, kneeling down to put her on his level. "I doubt she'll let us go."

"Brave heart, Rae-Rae." The Doctor said.

Again they shifted.

The Doctor was back to his normal height, but his hair had gone white and wiry, and he was wearing very strange clothes. Raven, on the other hand, had some kind of jacket on which looked like a life-preserver, jeans and a skateboard in her hands.

"I could try releasing the TARDIS." Raven suggested.

"Don't you dare!" The Doctor said, "That could be what she's banking on. Release the TARDIS, she steals it away just as easily.

Shifted again. They were cartoons. Only the Doctor was tall, wearing glasses, had a big nose, an eye patch, a fez, and wore a black suit. Raven felt weird, like she had become two different people. Much shorter, one male one female. But when she spoke it was with an echo to her voice as if both spoke at the same time.

"Doctor, this is going to drive me insane!"

Another shift. This time they were back in their original clothes, but they had swapped genders. The Doctor was now a woman, and Raven was a boy. The sudden change made Raven feel uncomfortable, especially considering she was still in her original clothes.

"I've always wondered what it would be like to be a woman for a change." The Doctor said, looking at his form up and down.

"I can't say I've had the same thoughts," Raven commented, her voice now deeper and manly. She hated it. "Hey Doctor." Raven decided to ask, "Can Time Lords actually change gender while regenerating? Or is it just a fantasy of the Mistress's?"

"It's rare, not unheard of. Though it becomes more likely when you near the 12 regenerations limit." The Doctor said, looking at his slightly longer chestnut hair, "some say if the 13th regeneration was possible the change would almost be inevitable."

"Your people are so weird." Raven commented.

Suddenly the void went black, and the place went very cold.

"Was it something I said?" Raven asked.

She felt like jelly and when it stopped they were both back to normal. The Doctor was a frock-coat wearing, male Time Lord, and Raven was a leotard, cloak wearing female goth kid.

Something appeared in the void. It was like they were in a chasm which leads down, deep into a thick mist. A sense of dread seemed to come over Raven.

"Doctor, I don't like this." Raven said, looking into the mist. What sadistic game does the Mistress want to play now?

"Take my hand." The Doctor said, holding his hand behind him for Raven to take. "Just so we don't get separated." She hesitated, but placed her hand into his. He still felt so cold.

Gently, he began to lead them both down into the mist. Raven's senses were all open and scanning her surroundings for any hint of trouble. She couldn't sense any.

"I've felt this before, in the Tomb of Rassilon." The Doctor commented.

"What?"

"A feeling of dread, a tightness in the stomach." The Doctor said. "Just ignore it, like I do."

"Uh huh." Raven wasn't sure she could ignore it.

"Remember, Fear itself is partly an illusion." The Doctor said.

"Why are you telling me this?" Raven asked, a nasty suspicion coming over her.

"Oh, nothing, nothing. You don't have any fears by the way?" He asked.

"I don't do fear." She replied.

"That's a relief. Come on." He said as he lead her down into the mist. Behind the Doctor Raven's jaw was twitching a little.

Because Raven had actually lied.

To Be Continued...

Authors notes: My explanation for why the Doctor never became a woman before 13 was because the change is rare, and is more likely to happen as you near the 12th regeneration. Though it wouldn't be unheard of for it to happen before. But with an extension to the regeneration cycle the chances of flipping become even higher because Time Lord biology was not meant to have its genetic code re-shuffled more than 12 times, after that it becomes more unstable. Or that's my explanation at least. :P