Chapter 16 – Dollhouse
If there was one thing that Romana had learned during her time away from Gallifrey, it was that the universe tended to work in mysterious ways. The fact that she had been rescued from imprisonment by the Rani was probably a prime example of that idiom. Just a few hours ago Romana had tried to persuade the renegade Time Lady to help her protect Hogwarts. It might have been a long shot and she wasn't totally surprised when the Rani rejected her proposal. Now though the renegade was here and using her Morgana guise to infiltrate the castle. Knowing the Time Lady like she did, Romana suspected an ulterior motive.
Cautiously the younger Time Lady inched forward, making sure to keep her weapon ready. "Morgana", Romana decided to play along with whatever game the Rani was playing, "this is a surprise".
"Filth", Bellatrix spat at brunette, "how dare you speak to Morgana without permission". Romana resisted the urge to roll her eyes and watched curiously as the dark witch prostrated herself at the feet of the Rani, "Forgive the question Lady Morgana but is it really you?" Bellatrix asked reverently, a tone she usually saved for Lord Voldemort.
Romana crossed her arms in front of her chest and waited for the Rani's next move. The projection of Morgana flashed a small smirk in her direction before raising her head haughtily, "There is no forgiveness needed Madam Lestrange", 'Morgana' replied.
"You-you know my name", Bellatrix looked ready to explode with joy, drawing a soft snort from Romana.
"Of course I do", 'Morgana' stated, "surely you do not doubt my magical abilities". Romana struggled to keep a straight face as Bellatrix whaled like a scolded House Elf, begging 'Morgana' for forgiveness once again. The younger Time Lady suspected that the Rani used some basic telepathy to scan the mind of the witch. Whilst Time Lords were naturally telepathic with the ability to communicate and pick up on the thoughts of others, this ability usually only extended to their own species without some kind of physical contact. Some Time Lords, like the Master, had trained their psychic abilities further but since most never left Gallifrey, these people were few and far between, "Something amusing young one", 'Morgana' sniffed in Romana's direction.
The brunette sobered up immediately, still a little unsure how much of this was a game to the Rani. Unfortunately for Romana, she was keeping her mental shields very firmly in place, "Just never seen a grown human beg before", she shrugged, "it's a little undignified if you ask me".
Bellatrix instantly sprang to her feet with a nasty curse on her lip. 'Morgana' though waived a hand across the dark witch's body, "Let's not be hasty Madam Lestrange", she purred, "she could be a source of useful information".
"I doubt it", Bellatrix spat, "she's a filthy alien or so she claims".
"An alien", 'Morgana' raised an eyebrow in amusement, "as in a being from another planet?" Bellatrix nodded her head furiously, "How interesting, I never thought I'd see the day that an alien walked amongst humans". Romana felt 'Morgana's' eye roaming across her body, "Not a very convincing or flattering disguise".
"Better than your second Morgana dear", Romana replied sweetly, taking a slight dig at the older Time Lady's previous regenerations.
"Would someone please tell me what the hell is going on?" Tonks snapped at the three women. Romana cursed her luck, she had completely forgot that the metamorph was still in the room, "I knew you were bonkers Lestrange but I didn't think Hermione or whoever you are", the younger Time Lady let out a small sigh, "was insane too".
It was now Tonks's turn to stare down Bellatrix's wand, "Mind your tongue niece", she hissed, "please may I have the honour of finishing her my Lady?"
Romana's grip on her weapon tightened slightly, she wanted to believe that the Rani would step in but given the renegade's track record, she had to be prepared for anything, "Perhaps we could do this together", 'Morgana' smiled and produced her wand.
Bellatrix's eyes widened at the prospect of doing magic in the presence of 'Morgana'. Romana though was getting ready to intervene, surely the Rani wouldn't actually allow Tonks to die? "Don't worry dearie, I'll take good care of your mother and that disgusting creature you call a son", the dark witch cackled with glee.
Romana raised her blaster at the same moment Bellatrix drew her wand. Both of them were too slow though as 'Morgana' had used her own wand to hit Bellatrix with a bright beam of light. The dark witch dropped her wand and stared back in shock at 'Morgana'. Seconds later and to Romana's surprise, the dark witch began to physically shrink in size until she was no bigger than a doll, "Curious", 'Morgana' smiled, "I detected almost no sense of self in that human, almost like a child who had lost their mother".
The younger Time Lady gaped as 'Morgana' bent down and picked up the doll like witch. She recognised the weapon used on Bellatrix, "Did you just use a Tissue Compression Eliminator on her?"
The Rani allowed the holographic projection of Morgana to fade away, leaving behind the dark haired woman that Romana had met a few hours ago. "Indeed", she began, "the Master gave me the idea although don't tell him I said that, his ego is already big enough".
Romana heard about the Master's use of a TCE from the Doctor. It was one of his more widely used weapons and had almost become a calling card of the renegade Time Lord. There was one huge draw back to the device though, "But those things are deadly to organic matter", Romana cried.
"Ah now that is where you're wrong my dear President", the Rani smiled, "the Master's TCE kills because he designed it to". The dark haired Time Lady waived a long metal tube similar in design to Romana's sonic screwdriver, "This one merely compresses and immobilises tissue, placing it into stasis for want of a better term". She tossed the Bellatrix doll into the air, "My specimens wouldn't be of much use if they were dead, you can't learn too much from decomposing matter".
A chill ran up Romana's spine, the Rani's use of the plural when describing the tiny Bellatrix doll implied she had done this before. She didn't get a chance to comment further though as Tonks finally regained the ability to speak, "Can one of you tell me what's going on?"
Romana nervously scratched her head, she really didn't want to go through this every single time. Fortunately, or rather unfortunately, the Rani decided to answer for both of them, "Simple, we're both aliens and I just shrunk this human", she wiggled the Bellatrix doll between her fingers, "using a piece of technology which is far in advance of anything that will available on this primitive rock for the next couple of thousand years".
"I don't think that really answered the question Rani", Romana could feel a headache brewing.
Tonks looked between Romana and the Rani and the younger Time Lady could feel the scepticism rolling off the witch, "But you can't be alien", she finally answered, "you look so human".
"Please don't insult us", the Rani spat, "humans are blessed with a similar appearance to the Time Lords".
"But you did magic", Tonks still held on to the firm belief that Romana was still human, "how else could you've shrunk Lestrange and changed your appearance".
The Rani snorted, "Do all humans have the inability to grasp the truth when its thrust right in front of them?" Romana sighed, now she knew why the Rani never entered the political world of the Time Lords, her diplomacy skills were atrocious, "Tell me again Romana why does your moron of a friend like this planet again?"
The brunette rubbed her temples, trying to soothe her sore head, "What the Rani is trying to say is that our technology is far in advance of anything on Earth".
"Yeah well, maybe your friend should learn some manners", Tonks hissed in the Rani's direction.
"Oh she's not my friend, more like someone I keep around as entertainment", the Rani shrugged, "and it's not my fault that your tiny human mind can't comprehend what we're saying".
"Rani stop it", Romana hissed.
"I don't have a small brain", Tonks said defensive, "I could've finished near the top of my class if I wanted".
"Goodness, your parents must be so proud", the Rani rolled her eyes.
Tonks's hair flashed bright red and Romana knew that the Rani had crossed the line. The memory of Ted Tonks's death was still pretty raw for the metamorph, "Rani why don't you stand over there for a moment", Romana pointed at the other end of the trophy room. The renegade Time Lady stood defiantly for a couple of moments before reluctantly slinking away, "I'm sorry about the Rani", Romana apologised, "she must've failed the basic manners class at the Academy".
"Just keep her away from me", Tonks took a couple of deep breathes and her hair slowly morphed back into a calmer shade of purple. "Say I believe this alien business for a moment", she continued, "why did you bring her? Surely one of you lot must have better manners than her?"
Romana's mood darkened for a moment, the Master probably would've killed everyone by now or at least forced them into one of his insane schemes. The only other available Time Lord, well his patience and tolerance depended on his incarnation. "Sadly not", Romana sighed, "not too many Time Lords left I'm afraid". A heavy mood fell over the room, even the Rani felt a little subdued through the mental connection between the Time Ladies, "That's a story for another day I'm afraid".
"It really is true", Tonks sighed, "I'm pretty good at telling when someone's lying, little Auror trick I've picked up over the years". Romana nodded sadly in confirmation, "Does anyone else know?"
"Harry and Ron, I was with them when my true self was released" Tonks looked like she wanted to ask a question, "long story, not really one to tell in the middle of a battle". Tonks huffed but indicated for the Time Lady to continue, "Ginny knows, she stumbled into my ship-".
"That'll teach you for leaving it unlocked", the Rani chipped in from the other side of the room.
Romana chewed on her lip, choosing to ignore her fellow Time Lady, "Luna knows too, not really sure how, she's either really perceptive or a really good guesser".
"And now me", Tonks allowed herself a small grin, "I still don't like your colleague or whatever she is to you". Romana could feel the Rani's annoyance but allowed it to pass, the renegade could do with taking down a few pegs, "I'm really not happy about that tiny brain comment either".
The younger Time Lady rubbed her hands together, trying to think of the best way to phrase her response, "Technically in comparison to Time Lords, human do have small-".
"Hilariously small", the Rani called out.
"Thank you Rani", Romana sighed, completely exasperated by the dark haired woman, "Time Lords live much longer so we need larger brains to cope with all the additional memories we acquire". That wasn't completely true but it was the simplest response Romana could give without insulting Tonks further.
"How touching", the Rani sniffed as she approaching the pair, "I've wasted enough time listening to this. I'm taking my samples and returning to my TARDIS before I lose precious brain cells from being in close proximity to humans".
Tonks bravely stepped in front of the Rani, blocking her only exit, "There one thing I don't get", the older Time Lady raised an eyebrow but kept the sarcastic response at bay, "alright there's lots of things but I'm talking about your samples". Romana was wondering that herself, unfortunately she had a fairly good idea what the Rani was doing, "Exactly what are you collection and for what purpose?"
"I don't think I need to explain my research to a mere human", the Rani replied stiffly.
"Then answer me Rani", Romana ordered the dark haired woman.
"Are you going to stop me Madam President", the Rani chuckled. Romana thought about this for a moment, if she didn't like what the Rani was up to, would she really stop her? There were more important things at stake than a renegade Time Lady and her science experiments. "If you must know, I've decided to conduct further research into homo magis. That's what I've labelled humans with the DNA mutation".
Tonks looked confused, "What's that got to do with the dolls?"
"They're not dolls Tonks", Romana had noticed some time ago that the Rani had a black leather bag across one shoulder. She quickly snatched the bag before the older Time Lady could stop her, "Augustus Rookwood", she pulled out one figure, "Pius Thicknessee, one of the Lestrange brothers, Fenrir Greyback-".
"Yes he was quite the mess when I found him", the Rani replied gleefully, "an genuine werewolf, think of all the hours I can spent vivisecting his body. Perhaps I can find a way to reattach his spinal cord in the process".
Romana continued to look through the bag, all the while feeling Tonks flash between curiosity and disgust at the Rani's proposed actions. The younger Time Lady noticed that all the captured human were Death Eaters which left her in a moral dilemma. Everyone in the bag was likely wanted for several counts of murder and if handed over, would likely face life in Azkaban or even execution but did that give her the right to hand them over to a maniacal scientist? Romana felt like she couldn't decide for humanity, "Tonks, the Rani has capture nearly a dozen Death Eaters, are you really sorry to see them whisked away?"
"Well no but I wouldn't want them cut up either", Tonks blanched, "is this how all Time Lords operate?"
"Only her", Romana pointed at the Rani, "I'm not keen on it either but can you honestly say they they'd be treated worse than if they were in Azkaban?" Romana knew it was a cheap shot but that place was the living definition of hell. At least the Rani would keep them in decent condition, if only to experiment on them for longer. The younger Time Lady took the Auror's lack of response as a tacit agreement, "I saw Fenrir Greyback maul a teenager to death, can you think of a more suitable punishment for someone like him?"
Tonks sighed in defeat, "Fine but if anyone asks, I have no idea what happened to them".
"Humans, so emotionally driven", the Rani chuckled, "maybe I can find a way to-".
"I said I don't want to know", Tonks reaffirmed, "maybe you can find out if generations of interbreeding drove some of them crazy".
The Rani's eyes lit up like a Christmas, "Limited genetic pool and mental instability", she took the bag back from Romana, "I like you", she smiled at Tonks, "not many humans get that honour". The Auror smiled tightly but made no further comment, "I'm surprised at you Madam President, what would the Doctor say if he witnessed this?"
"The Doctor isn't the boss of me", Romana snapped, a hint of her previous regeneration sneaking through, "plus I could really use your help with something".
The older Time Lady smiled darkly, "Another favour Lady Romana, that's two you owe me. I take it this has something to do with the powerful dimensional portal on the ground level?" Romana wondered how the Rani knew that but then realised she probably noticed some interference when she landed her TARDIS, "Well come on then, no time like the present".
As the Rani marched out the trophy room, Tonks turned to Romana, "Interesting person", the Time Lady was impassive, that was probably an understated description of the Rani. The pair walked out the room together and into the now quiet corridor, "Two questions for you, exactly how old are you?"
"Four hundred and thirteen", Romana stated, "give or take a year or so".
"Wow, I really need to learn your beauty secrets". Romana blushed slightly and smiled in response, "Also why did she keep calling you Madam President".
"I was President of our planet at one point", the Time Lady replied, "not that the Rani really followed my orders, always been a bit of a loose cannon". Tonks chuckled softly, completely unaware that would the final time she would smile that day.