Chapter Text
The pair walked down the corridor, Rain trying to collect herself. She clenched and unclenched her fists, trying to take some deep breaths.
There is something about how the Time Lords have treated The Doctor over the millennia. First Tecteun kidnapped them from an unknown planet and experimented on them for years, if not decades, if not hundreds of years. And also stole their memories of the whole ordeal. That doesn't even include Season 6B and Beyond War Games.
Her memory of the most recent episodes of Doctor Who suggested they hadn’t even stated how deep the conspiracy goes. Surely Rassilon and other important founders of Time Lord society knew. Did Borusa know? Was he handed secret files like the US President was when they got into office? Or was it Tecteun’s little sect of followers who knew? Faction Paradox or Lungbarrow? The CIA? She didn’t have the answers as she had never delved that much deeper into the expanded universe than audios and comics featuring The Doctor and companions. She had only heard her fellow fans talk about the deeper lore stuff.
Her thoughts were interrupted by a young man calling out to her and Nyssa as he approached the pair.
“Nyssa, Nyssa of Traken?” He looked at her and then Rain. “Rain Hearse?”
“That’s right.” Nyssa said at the same time Rain said,
“… Who’s asking?”
“I’m Damon, I’m a friend of The Doctor. We must talk.” He glanced around nervously. “Not here though. Come.” He walked away and the pair followed.
-
They were in a lounge of some kind. There were other Gallifreyans around but they weren’t paying the trio any mind.
“You’re sure it was the Doctor’s bio-data extract?” Nyssa asked.
Damon nodded.
“I managed to pass a copy off to The Doctor while he was on his way to the security compound.” He said.
“We must tell the High Council at once!” She stood up but Damon grabbed her arm.
“We probably shouldn’t.” Rain said instantly.
“Yes, Rain is right, especially since the High Council are the only ones who have access to bio-data.”
“Which means the traitor is one of them.”
“That’s right. So how do we know whom to trust.”
Nyssa thought for a long moment, brows furrowed. She glanced at Rain, who shrugged, assuming she was trying to figure out what she knew of this.
“We must find some way to speak to The Doctor.”
“That will be difficult. He’s very closely confined.” Damon may as well have had a light go off above his head, he had an idea. “But I know someone who may help…”
-
“Nyssa! Rain! Damon!” The old Councillor said with a smile, as the door slid open.
They had come to Hedin, and Rain felt there was something she was forgetting about him in this story as he let all three of them in his room. He wasn’t in his ceremonial robes and high collar. The room reminded Rain of a very fancy hotel room, the dark red carpets and drapes against golden brown colored walls. The only thing it was missing was a nice balcony. She’d love to see the outside of Gallifrey, based on how Three and Eight described it.
“We had to see you, Councillor,” Nyssa said. “We need your help.”
“I cannot tell you how deeply sorry I am for what happened. If there is anything I can do for you…”
“We’ve got to see The Doctor.” Rain said.
“It will be difficult. The Castellan is very possessive about his charges.” Hedin said, stroking his chin thoughtfully.
“The Doctor isn’t a criminal!” Damon said indignantly.
“That is true, but what has happened makes him dangerous, and he will be well guarded.”
“Please try,” Nyssa begged.
Hedin smiled warmly at the trio.
“I said difficult — but not impossible. Especially with one so sensitive to public opinion as The Castellan.” There was a mischievous twinkle in his eye.
-
They were outside The Doctor’s TARDIS now. Maxil stood in front of them.
“Wait here.” He glared at them all one by one, the threat implicit.
“I think there’s something wrong.” Damon whispered. “The Castellan agreed far too quickly to our visiting The Doctor.”
“What do you mean?” Nyssa asked.
“He might have set something up to like spy on our conversation.” Rain said.
“Yes exactly. He’s trying to trick us into feeling like we’re being given some great privilege. That’s certainly his way—“ Damon stopped speaking when Maxil stepped out of the TARDIS.
“Come along you three.” He said, gesturing them inside. “He’s coming shortly.” They all looked towards the door, but Rain was trying to keep Maxil in her periphery. It was hard to do so without alerting him but she could tell he was doing something to the console.
The Doctor walked into the console room.
“Rain, Nyssa, Damon… how did you get in here?”
“We went to see Councillor Hedin, and he arranged it with The Castellan.” Nyssa said.
“Well that’s very generous of the Castellan.” The Doctor said. “Come, let’s talk in Nyssa’s room.”
“Just a moment,” Maxil said. “You’re to talk in here.”
“The Castellan said we could be alone.” Damon said quickly. Castellan had not but while Maxil hesitated, The Doctor sprung at the opportunity.
“Excellent!” He pushed them out of the console room with him towards Nyssa’s room. “Well, Damon, what news of my old companion Leela?”
If this were Dungeons and Dragons both Damon and The Doctor rolled 20 deceptions. Or Maxil got a nat 1.
“Come on in here.” The Doctor ushered them all into Nyssa’s room. “I think Maxil just placed a listening device in the control room.” He then held out his hand in which was a small green translucent card that looked like a small floppy disc. “My thanks Damon. Now we have proof my bio-data extract was removed from the files.”
“So there is a traitor after all?” Nyssa asked.
“Indeed there is. And a disaster in the making. Unless I’m very much mistaken Gallifrey could lose control of The Matrix.”
Damon looked dumbfounded.
“Surely that’s impossible.”
“Well we thought nothing could get into the TARDIS, and whatever the alien creature was definitely did that.” Rain said. “We’re dealing in impossibles right now Damon.”
“Yes, Rain is correct.” The Doctor said. “The High Council may think of it as impossible. We must see what we can do to stop it happening. I know you’ve already risked a great deal for me, but if I could impose on you even further?”
“Anything I can do Doctor.”
The Doctor smiled and clapped his hands together.
“To begin with I need another space/time element for the TARDIS, preferably one without a recall circuit.”
“I’ll see what I can manage.” Damon said. “Anything else?”
“Yes you could check if the Matrix is aware of any recent events concerning power equipment — movement details, transportation, anything you can find.” He said.
“Right Doctor.”
And then the door opened and Maxil walked in, glaring at the whole party suspiciously. He opened his mouth to speak and probably say something about not trusting them. The Doctor cut him off.
“Is my time up so soon Commander?” His tone was entirely different as he looked towards Nyssa and Rain. “No, this is my final word you two. No appeals, no protests. We must accept the decision of the High Council. Is that understood?”
Rain was trying to recall events. She clearly remembered a scene where Nyssa had a stasar. Was that part of the plan? Was The Doctor insinuating he did want protests and appeals? Was that why Nyssa had taken up arms? She wished she could remember. She had a bad feeling that she was missing something important.
-
Damon, Nyssa and Rain were all in the computer room again. Nyssa was looking around the room at the computers. They looked like they had in the show, tall and with many blinking lights, very much more like the computers of the 60s and earlier that took up most of a room. There were a few smaller computes that were about table height with buttons and screens. This was clearly a ob meant for two people, but the other chair was empty.
“Very impressive.” She then looked towards the cabinet with stasars in it.
“We must hurry. First I must check the coding for a Type 40 space/time element, then I mist work out how I can draw one from technical stores.” Damon went over to a terminal and started punching controls.
Nyssa looked at Rain for a moment and pulled her aside.
“What?”
“We have to stop this.”
She wished this was a a video game or a choose your own adventure so she could at least read her options to guess which was best.
“The Doctor told us not to.”
“Yes but he only said that in front of Maxil. So he must have been trying to give us a coded message!”
“I don’t know…”
“Rain are you going to stand by while they execute The Doctor?”
“I—“
“You’re going to let them execute your best friend?”
“Nyssa, this is my first trip. I barely know the man! And yes I do want to save him and also punch every one of those Time Lords in the face. Mostly Castellan though.”
“Right. Then help me. We shan’t stand for this corruption and injustice.”
Rain made a high pitch “mmmmm-ehhhh” noise to indicate that she wasn’t sure. Nyssa shook her head.
Damon was starting to assemble the space/time element. He didn’t seem to need help. Rain was suddenly wishing she had some Legos to build. Or something to occupy her hands. She took out her phone and looked at Tumblr. Was this a good idea? She had no idea how the posts would work. Would she get posts from this universe or her old one?
She had the dates turned on and everything seemed normal for a few posts. The corpses of posts from 2012 being dragged onto her dash, newer ones about Destiel Putin Election Day’s anniversary (she winced remembering she was in closet Winchester cosplay), and the normal blorbo posting she was used to.
And after that she saw a post marked December 2nd, 2310. And she closed the app after that, deciding she didn’t need to see that right now, whatever it was.
…
Wait how did she have access to the internet on Gallifrey? She glanced down at her phone again, it was registering four bars of LTE data. She didn’t know how that worked.
She looked up when she heard a deep sonorous chime that reminded her of announcements over the PA in high school.
“What is it?” Nyssa asked.
“The summons. The Doctor is being taken to the Place of Termination.” Damon looked up at the pair of women, despair etched into his face. “It’s no good. We’re too late.”
Nyssa jumped up from her sitting position.
“They’re going to execute him? Now?”
“Yes.”
Nyssa strode over to the weapons cabinet and tried to open it. It was locked.
“Damon, help me.”
“No, Nyssa, you can’t stop them now.” He looked at Rain. “Come on, back me up!”
“Things can be changed.” Cae had told her. She didn’t remember if Nyssa saved The Doctor and there were scenes that happened in The Matrix because he investigated or because of Omega’s plan. And she didn’t really have time. But maybe it would be a similar outcome if they saved him… She didn’t really have time to mull over her options.
“Help me!” She looked between Rain and Damon. She approached the cabinet as well.
“Nyssa, Rain, you’ll just die as well.” He tried to convince them.
“We can’t fail The Doctor now, Damon. You finish assembling the element. But first help us get this open.” She said.
Damon reluctantly punched in the code needed for them to access the stasars. Both women took one.
“This is madness.” He protested. Both women ignored this.
“As soon as you’re finished go to the TARDIS and fit the element in place. They won’t guard it once The Doctor’s gone. If all goes well we’ll need to leave in a hurry.” She moved towards the door.
“Nothing too different from usual.” Rain said with a shrug, following her.
“Be careful you two.” Damon said.
Nyssa tucked her stasar under her tunic while Rain put hers in her butt pocket. She also took off her flannel and wrapped it around her waist to conceal it better.
-
The two women crept down the corridor towards the execution chamber. There were two guards out front, letting The Doctor and the High Council in.
“Set the stasars to stun.” She whispered. They both clicked a knob on the side and continued in a much more casual pace. As though they were tourists of some kind. The two guards noted them and started to draw their stasars when the pair shot them down.
“Now, we set it back.” Nyssa said, turning the knob. Rain nodded, a slight tremble in her hands. Would she actually have to kill someone?
“Ready?”
The woman with blue hair took a deep breath.
“As I’ll ever be.”
Nyssa and Rain burst into the room, both holding stasars pointed towards the High Council.
The room looked kinda like the detention center they had been in earlier. The walls were grey, there was a pit in the pitch black floor outlined in red, and a machine along the wall, the termination machine or whatever, it hummed low and at a steady pace.
“Come over here Doctor.” Nyssa said, gesturing for him to come over. The Doctor didn’t move.
His eyes were focused on Rain. There was hurt in his eyes. And she felt horrible guilt, it was like a weight had been placed on her heart making it settle into her stomach area. Like when one of your parents cry. This brought up uncomfortable memories. Ones she’d rather not face. She batted them away and tried to focus on the task at hand. Her hands trembled more than she would have liked.
“Please, both of you, put your weapons down, I will not have blood shed to save my life.” He pleaded.
“Guards, seize them!” Borusa said. Nyssa immediately turned and pointed her stasar at him. The entire council reacted in shock. Rain didn’t change her position, she feared if she did she would drop the stasar.
“Nyssa of Traken, I command you to lay aside that weapon.” Borusa said sternly, like a teacher who was talking to an unruly student.
“Quickly Doctor!” Nyssa urged. He still wouldn’t move.
“Obey the President, girls,” Thalia commanded. “Otherwise you too will die.”
“You cannot escape, you know.” Castellan said.
Nyssa looked around desperately, the longest at Rain, who still hadn’t changed her aim, despite her whole body shaking now. Her heart was racing a million miles per hour and between that and her clenched jaw she felt a little dizzy and like she might have a headache coming on. Which was not an ideal thing to happen in this situation.
“Don’t you understand? The Doctor was betrayed! His bio-scan was retrieved from the Matrix! Tell them Doctor!” She said.
“They’re right Nyssa, we can’t escape.” He said sadly.
“We can! We’re all ready to leave!”
“Please Nyssa, Rain, you must obey the Lord President.” He held out his hands. “Believe me. I know what I’m doing.”
She looked ready to argue.
“The weapon. Nyssa, please.”
Nyssa handed the stasar over. He looked at Rain, who was still shaking. “Rain, my dear friend,” he held out his other hand to her. That pity in his eyes made her feel horrible. Her stomach twisted itself into knots under his gaze. She felt like she might throw up. So she looked to the ground instead and unclenched her jaw.
“I’m sorry.” She whispered, handing it over. And he pass the stasars over to a guard.
“Lord President, my companions acted solely from misguided loyalty. They will cause no further trouble. I ask they be allowed to go free.” He said calmly.
“Thank you Doctor,” Borusa said shakily. “For your sake we shall overlook their offenses.”
He nodded and walked back over to the termination machine. He looked around the room and smiled pleasantly at Nyssa and Rain. She didn’t know what his plan was, or recall if it was his plan that caused his survival in this story.
The Doctor was enveloped in bright light and swirling mist as the machine activated. His execution was commencing. And even though Rain knew he would be fine, she didn’t like looking. Instead she took Nyssa’s hand and squeezed it. She squeezed back.
Then the image of Omega appeared over The Doctor briefly, startling many of the Time Lords and Nyssa.
And just as suddenly as it all had happened, the Termination Chamber was empty.
“Judgement has been carried out, Lord President, The Doctor is dead.” Maxil said.
Nyssa, tears in her eyes, turned away and buried her face in Rain’s shoulder.
-
They had gone back to the TARDIS. Damon was in the console room and had tried to speak to the pair, upon seeing the state of Nyssa, he stopped and let her walk to her room.
“So The Doctor—“ he said, when it was just him and Rain.
“Has been executed.” She replied shortly.
“You don’t seem as—“
“Damon, I’m having quite the day, and I need to comfort my friend now.” Huh. Was that the first time she had actively thought of Nyssa as a friend? It felt right. “You just stay here.”
Rain had gone to the kitchen and gotten them both some water to drink and sat on the edge of Nyssa’s bed.
Nyssa wasn’t crying. She just looked drained. Rain couldn’t imagine that her expression was much better. Even though she knew The Doctor would be alright and able to battle Omega, she still felt horrible after watching his “execution”. She had to put on a brave face though.
“I know everything is very f*cked up right now, but I think I can tell you, this isn’t the end. Everything is going to turn out relatively okay. I promise you.” Rain said.
Nyssa looked at her with an expression she couldn’t read.
“I wish Tegan were here.”
“She’d provide some levity.”
“Yeah…” She looked like she wanted to tell Rain something, but wasn’t sure.
“Would you like to hear me talk? Or would you like me to listen to you? Or would you like some music?” She asked.
“Mmm.” Nyssa mulled over her options. “Some music please.”
“Would you like a hug?” She asked, putting her comfort music playlist on shuffle, which mostly included the soundtracks for Minecraft, Wolf 359 and Welcome To Night Vale.
“Yes that’d be nice.”
Rain pulled her into a hug. Her friends had always said she gave good hugs. She loved giving them. This was a bit of an odder experience. She was hugging one of her favorite fictional characters of all time and comforting her over events she kinda remembered. Yes she remembered The Doctor and Nyssa being on Gallifrey due to Omega and the High Council, Maxil being a dick, Nyssa having the stasar, and then the bit where they chased Omega down in Amsterdam.
“Thank you.” Nyssa murmured.
“Of course.”
The lapse of conversation, the music and her hug all seemed to make Nyssa feel better, at least somewhat.
They had barely gotten three songs into the playlist when the peace was cut off by some shouts outside. Damon and some other voices. Booted footsteps coming towards them. Maxil and his guards came in.
“Hey what the f*ck?!” Rain said, grabbing her phone. Nyssa jumped off her bed.
“What are you doing here?” Nyssa asked much more politely than Rain, but still very angry.
“We’ve orders to search The Doctor’s TARDIS.”
“What are you looking for?”
He dodged the question.
“You three are wanted. Come with me.”
“You could at least tell us what’s going on man! Maybe then we’d be more cooperative!” Rain snapped.
Maxil pointed his stasar at them. He looked like he really wanted to shoot her again.
“Move!”
“We better do as he says.” Damon said wearily.
They were all marched out of the TARDIS.
-
They were taken to the computer room, where The Castellan waited with a serious expression.
“Damon! You transmitted the Doctor’s bio-data!” He immediately accused the young man.
“No Castellan, how could I? I don’t have access to the necessary codes!”
“But you knew it happened - this transmission.”
“Yes Talor and I discovered it much by accident.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Talor tried to tell you. You refused to see him. Next thing I knew, Talor was dead.” Damon said angrily.
“What are you implying Damon? Why didn’t you come to me?”
“Only members of the High Council have access to the bio-scan circuits.”
“And so?”
“You’re a Councillor, Castellan. You see the dilemma?”
Castellan changed the conversation immediately.
“There’s another matter, even more serious. There was interference with the Termination Circuit.” He said. Ah so that was how The Doctor survived this. Omega interfered.
“Of that I know nothing, Castellan,” Damon said firmly. “Once again I simply don’t have the authority to know the coding that would give access.”
“The Doctor would know. He could have instructed you. You had contact with The Doctor did you not?” Castellan said.
“Yes, but that was only…” The young Gallifreyan trailed off, seeming to think better of whatever he was going to say.
“You’re asking a great deal of questions now Castellan. It’s a pity you weren’t more concerned when The Doctor was still alive.” Nyssa said pointedly.
“Don’t play games with me girl!” Castellan snarled. “The Doctor is alive and you know it!”
“Don’t talk to her like that you f*cking dick!” Rain shouted.
“How dare you address me like that!” He now turned to Rain. “Do you know what I could have done to you?”
“I dare!”
“Rain,” Damon whispered. “Please don’t provoke him.”
Agitated, the Castellan started to pace around the room.
“We know there is a conspiracy,” he said. “I am determined to get to the bottom of it.”
“You could start by finding the Time Lord who killer Talor.” Damon suggested.
“We will. And we shall find The Doctor as well. Commander Maxil,” he turned to the guard. “Mount a full search. He mist be somewhere in the Capitol.” The commander saluted and left immediately. Then her returned to face the trio. “I haven’t finished with you three. You will remain here until I return!” And he strode out of the room.
“The Doctor is alive, Rain! He’s alive!” Nyssa said, grabbing her shoulders and beaming. Her face then fell a bit. Rain hadn’t arranged her face properly in the right way to show excitement. Nyssa now knew that she knew the Doctor was alive the whole time, judging by the way her eyebrows furrowed together. And Rain was pretending to be confused.
While they were having their awkward moment, Damon started to work on the panels and computers.
“What you doing over there bud?” Rain asked, hoping to get out of that situation.
“I may have to stay here, but I don’t have to stay and do nothing.” He said. “I’m not leaving everything to The Castellan either. I’m going to do some of my own investigating.”
Nyssa pulled Rain aside as Damon worked on whatever investigations he could do on the computers.
“Did you know Rain, that The Doctor was alive?” Nyssa whispered.
“I knew things turned out alright.” She replied in a hushed tone. The Princess of Traken fixed her with a look that made her feel guilty.
“You could have told me.” She sounded hurt.
“I did try to, in the TARDIS.” She sighed. “I don’t have all the answers Nyssa, these events aren’t the freshest in my brain. I’m sorry. I’m still new to this.”
She looked at her for a long time, that made Rain feel like she was being scanned, carefully looked over every detail of her face.
“Apology accepted.”
The Castellan strode inside and saw Damon at the computers.
“What are you doing?” He demanded.
“An analysis. It’s almost finished now.” He replied. “I’ll need your palm print. The final results are classified.” He pointed at a small square panel. “Just here please.”
Castellan was stunned, enough so that he did so without any protest or snide remarks. This was like the bio-data scan thing he had given to the Doctor, a small clear green plastic square roughly the size of a floppy disk with some text on it. He glanced over it before handing it off to the Councillor.
“I see. Well done Damon.” He said, and then spoke into a communicator on his wrist. “Maxil!”
Colin Baker’s voice came through the speakers, tinny and small.
“Yes Castellan?”
“Have you found him yet?”
“Not yet Castellan.”
“Continue the search, and bring Councillors Thalia, Hedin, and Zorac to my office immediately!”
“So you know now who is responsible Castellan.”
“Yes the analysis gives us all the proof we need.”
“So the Doctor is innocent!” Nyssa said.
“You all owe him a good apology.” Rain added.
“Not necessarily—“ Castellan started and Rain cut him off.
“The f*ck do you mean?” She demanded.
“I have asked you many times to not address me in such a crude manner.” He snipped. “I believe the Doctor plotted this conspiracy. Now I know who helped him do it.” He had a smug look on his face as he walked out. Rain took a menacing step after him but Nyssa grabbed her wrist.
“It’s not worth it.”
“It’d make me—“ as the Councillor closed the doors there was a click. “The hell?” She tried the door. Locked! “That f*cking slimy bastard!” She kicked the door, achieving nothing but pain in her toes.
“So he’s locked us in.” Damon said calmly.
“Seems so.” Nyssa replied.
-
Rain had resumed pacing to keep herself busy and work off the second wave of nervous energy buzzing in her veins.
The door to the computer room slid open and The Doctor slipped inside.
Damon and Nyssa stared for a moment, she was the first to act though, quickly running over to him and wrapping him in a tight hug.
“Doctor!” He beamed at the trio and hugged Nyssa.
“How did you open the door?” Damon asked.
“Pure luck!” He replied.
His eyes locked with Rain’s. There wasn’t that look like when he saw her with the stasar. He seemed more relieved that she was okay. She walked over cautiously, as though afraid he would scold her or even bite.
He opened his arms and she joined the hug.
“You could have hold us what you were up to.” Nyssa said, pulling back.
“I’m sorry Nyssa, there wasn’t the opportunity, we were being watched at all times.” He turned to Damon. “Did you do as I asked?”
“I got you the space/time element yes. It’s already installed in the TARDIS.”
“What about the check on the movement of power equipment? Did anything turn up?”
“Just one item, Doctor. A fusion booster element was transported recently.”
“A what?” Rain said. Her brain clicked into gear and before anyone could answer she spoke again. “Oh okay I understand. I’m sorry my brain—“ She made a vague gesture with her hand.
Damon looked at her.
“Do you want to explain?” He asked.
“I mean I assume it’s got something to do with how the creature connected with The Doctor.” She shrugged. “Like it sounds like it helps boost the process to fuse two beings together. It’s in the name.”
Everyone was staring at her. She didn’t remember this from the episode. She just heard the term and her brain put together and explanation based on the name.
“Well, it’s a very advanced piece of equipment, still in the experimental stage. Unstable but capable of enormous conversion-rate over a very short period.” He said.
“That doesn’t sound like an explanation.” Rain said. “I think I explained it better.”
The Doctor chuckled.
“Now, Damon, this is very important. I need to know the precise destination of that power booster.” He said. “Where it was sent to and who sent it there. Do you think you could find it out for me?”
“I’ll try.” He said, getting back to working on the consoles and computers.
“Shouldn’t we go?” Nyssa asked.
“We are going. We’re going to Earth.”
“To Earth? What for?”
“That’s where the creature is now.”
“How do you know?”
“Tegan is on Earth, and the creature’s got her. I saw her, in The Matrix.”
There was a look that came across Nyssa’s face that Rain couldn’t quite tell what it was. It seemed like her emotions were competing for which showed and all were losing out.
“Found what you wanted to know Doctor.” Damon said.
The Doctor came over to look at the screens.
“Well done Damon, any idea where?” He asked.
The young Gallifreyan shrugged.
“The reception area was lost in severe spatio/temporal distortion.” He said.
“A pity.” The Doctor sighed. “What about you Rain? Do you remember?” He turned towards her.
“I mean, you’ll find out eventually... But I don’t think it’ll break the universe if I do tell you…” She said, weighing her options. “The creature is in Amsterdam but I don’t recall exactly where.”
“Well, I can tell you who sent it.” Damon said. The Doctor looked at the screens and gasped.
“The presidential codes!”
“Yeah there’s other evidence as well. The Castellan is convinced Borusa is behind everything.”
“That’s ridiculous! Nyssa, Rain, we must see the Lord President immediately!”
“That won’t be easy.” Damon said. “The Castellan has guards everywhere.”
“Well, thank you for your help Damon. I shall never be able to repay you.” He clapped the young Gallifreyan on the shoulder.
Nyssa walked over to the stasar rack and got two of them. The Doctor looked lees shocked then when they burst into his rescue, but still showed enough on his face.
“Nyssa!” He said, disapprovingly like a dad finding his kid with weed.
“It’s just in case. We’ll set them to stun.” She said, holding one out for Rain. She looked at it and then at Nyssa, and then The Doctor, who nodded slightly. She took the stasar and made sure it was set to stun.
The Doctor opened the door and poked his head into the corridor. He waved to Damon and then gestured for Nyssa and Rain to follow him.
“Goodbye, and good luck.” Damon said, watching the trio slip out of the room.
-
The trio were cautiously walking down the corridors when a guard saw then and raised his stasar. A bolt from the stasar whizzed past their heads and they ducked and ran. An alarm started.
Another guard appeared, but this time Nyssa was ready for them. She shot them down and they rushed by their body.
“In here!” The Doctor pointed at a door and pulled his two friends inside.
They heard thundering footsteps and watched as Maxil and his guards passed by.
“Did you find him?” Castellan’s voice asked.
“Not yet Castellan. But he was spotted in the area. He can’t be far.” Maxil said.
“Hurry Maxil! Hurry! I need the Doctor! Find him!” He shouted.
Their footsteps receded and when it seemed like it was clear, the trio poked their heads out of the door, Scooby-Doo style. There was no one in the hall. They hurried on their way to the presidential office.
These halls were so similar to one another, Rain would have gotten lost without the Doctor guiding her.
The rest of their journey was uneventful and Rain was surprised they didn’t come across any more guards, or anyone at all for that fact. Though she supposed maybe this area was off limits so no one expected anyone to be here? That was the only way her brain could make sense of it all.
They were at an office door that seemed more ornate than the others. This was likely the Lord President’s office. The Doctor strode inside with the two women following him.
Inside the room was Borusa, who had his hands up, and Hedin with a blaster in his hands trained on him.
Oh f*ck. Hedin was the traitor! How did she forget that?
She opened her mouth to say something, but she wasn’t sure what she would say. It was too late to warn anyone. She couldn’t really do it in front of Hedin either.
“Come now Hedin,” The Doctor said. “You don’t really believe all this nonsense about the Lord President—“ He was laughing slightly, but stopped when Hedin trained the blaster on him. “Hedin what is it? What’s going on?”
“Be careful Doctor, Hedin is the traitor.” Borusa warned.
“It’s a bit late for that warning.” Rain said.
The Doctor looked shocked and hurt. It didn’t seem to be the same level as when she had pointed a stasar at the High Council but she couldn’t really tell.
“So it’s you, Hedin, it was you all the time.”
Hedin’s face was grim and set.
“Nyssa, Rain, your weapons.” He snapped.
The two women tossed their stasars down on the ground.
“The bio-scan, the rigged termination, it was all your work?” The Doctor said shaking his head sadly. Rain wanted to reach over and do something to comfort him but she feared Hedin would shoot her or The Doctor if he suspected they were up to something.
“I did what I had to Doctor.”
“You betrayed your friend’s trust for an oh so noble goal did you?” Rain asked. He looked at her.
“Taking care to arrange matters so that we would think the Lord President was behind it all. What’s your next move Hedin?”
“To ensure that nothing interferes with the final bonding and transfer.”
“It’s that close?”
“Yes Doctor, very close.”
“You know Hedin, I always considered you a friend. A historian, a man of learning, respected by everyone. Why turn evil now?”
“You don’t understand Doctor. No one does—yet.”
“This alien creature will soon control the Matrix, Hedin. Is that what you really want?” The Doctor asked.
“I don’t think you can change his mind Doctor.” She whispered.
Hedin shook his head.
“The creature as you call it, is no alien. It is one of us — a Time Lord. The first and greatest of all!” He said fiercely. “The one who sacrificed everything to give us mastery of time and space — and was shamefully abandoned in return.”
The Doctor’s eyes grew wide.
“Omega?”
Rain had to try really hard not to laugh because her tumblr brain was now thinking of the omegaverse. And also it’d look really bad to be laughing at a time like this when all their lives were in danger.
“Yes! Omega!”
“But Omega was destroyed.”
If she had a nickel for every time an enemy of The Doctor was destroyed she’d have at least a few dollars worth of them. The Daleks, Davros, The Cybermen, The Master, Omega, The Time Lords themselves, The Sontarans, The Silurians, and so on.
“Omega was not destroyed. In his own anti-matter universe he is practically indestructible. Omega exists. He only wants to return to our Universe to live among us.”
Once again Rain’s broken by Tumblr brain wanted to laugh because now she was thinking about Jerma playing Among Us VR.
“Hedin you must listen to me,” The Doctor said desperately. “No one is denying Omega’s greatness, but you don’t know him as I do. Long ages of suffering have driven him insane. Once in control of the Matrix there’s no telling what he’ll do.”
The laugh she had been holding back escaped her lips and she clasped her hands over her mouth quickly. The Doctor looked at her with a raised eyebrow and she shook her head slowly.
“Miss Hearse can you explain what you find so funny?” Hedin asked. Well he was a teacher previously, of course he could use that tone.
“I’m sorry sir, it’s a long answer and I don’t think now is the time to explain it, especially as you are threatening us, sir. And you are letting Omega into this universe which is a very bad idea, sir.” She emphasized sir every time she said it, like it was a motherf*cker instead of sir.
The old Time Lord stared at her for a moment. He knew that she was mocking him, but seemed to be considering what he should do. He turned to The Doctor again.
“He wants nothing for himself. The power he brings is for the good of all.” The old Time Lord said simply.
Hedin then pointed his blaster at Rain.
“Unfortunately, my dear, Omega wants you dead. Quite the nuisance you were for him last time.”
“Last time?” She asked, wondering what exactly she had done in the events of The Three Doctors.
“Now hold on a moment—!” The Doctor started.
“You have no say in this Doctor.” And he fired the blaster. A red bolt that reminded her a lot of the ones in Star Wars flew towards her. She cursed herself for having her last thoughts be something nerdy instead of whatever they should be.
She was aware of the red bolt hitting her square in the middle of the chest, it felt like she was stabbed and getting a sunburn at the same time. All the air felt like it left her body the instant the shot went through her. And then everything went really weird.
When Rain’s friends back in her universe tried to get her into the MCU they showed her Doctor Strange. She did like the movies fine enough, but it was hard to get used to American Benedict Cumberbatch. Especially after her Superwholock phase. She really liked the special effects in those movies, they were gorgeous.
Anyways like in Doctor Strange she was now having an out of body experience. She was floating(?) behind her body. Everything moved painfully slow. She couldn’t tell if she had an astral projection form like they did in Doctor Strange. She tried to check but she wasn’t really in control of where she was looking, which was an odd experience. She saw The Doctor reacting to her body crumpling, mouth about to form “NO!” and Nyssa probably about to shout her name. They were moving to catch her. Borusa reacting in shock and surprise, cringing away. In this moment she once again remembered he would try and get immortality from Rassilon, and be imprisoned in stone forever.
Then everything stopped moving, The Doctor was just touching her back, about to catch her. Everything seemed normal about her body except for the small hole in her chest just around her heart. Her eyes were rolled back in her skull. She remembered once dreaming about herself in third person and how odd that was when she woke up and processed what she had dreamed.
She heard something. Well. Can you hear when your soul(?) has been ejected from your body? In The Adventure Zone they could. But also that’s Dungeons and Dragons rules, and Griffin McElroy’s rules at that. It was very peculiar having thoughts while watching her body. She also felt a sensation that she could only describe as “wibbly”, like that sound that laminated paper makes when you move it back and forth, but a physical sensation.
Whatever it was she was hearing it was as though someone were whispering across a room to her. She could make out that it was supposed to be words, but beyond that it was impossible to tell what was being said.
She felt the words more than she heard them. Like vibrations in her bones.
Wait how could she feel her bones? She was suspended above her body.
And faster than she could blink she was in The Doctor’s arms. Her chest hurt. She still felt that sunburn feeling, but it was fading.
“Rain! Are you okay?”
“Jesus f*ck—“ She gasped and coughed, and looked at the smoldering hole in her shirt. “Yeah?” The area where there should have been a laser hole was simply back to normal. No charred flesh or wound. There was a small mark though, a dark dot. But that also could have been a freckle that she hadn’t noticed before. She decided this was a problem for another day.
“No! It’s not possible!” Hedin gasped.
“You can’t kill her as easily as that.” The Doctor said. He sounded very confident in that fact, and she felt a little worried about what that meant.
Whether he was going to retort or try to kill Rain again, she didn’t know, because at that moment The Castellan came in. And judging by that look in his eyes, he had severely misjudged what was going on.
“Well done Hedin!”
“Castellan you fail to understand—“ Borusa started. At least he wasn’t in murder mode right this moment.
“Lord President,” Castellan started, with the confidence of a customer who knew very little of retail but always managed to find their way to the Hot Topic Rain worked in and f*ck things up. “I understand very well. You are under arrest. As for you, Doctor, you have already been condemned to death. This time there will be no trickery. I shall carry out the sentence myself.” He fired the stasar, and Hedin intercepted the bolt. He staggered and collapsed on the floor, dead.
The Doctor had a grim look on his face, one that always looked silly on TV, when Rain watched it, but up close and in person, it reminded her that this Doctor would consider executing Davros and had killed many Silurians.
“Congratulations Castellan. You’ve just killed the one person who could tell us where Omega is.” His words were laced with venom.
“Omega?” Castellan repeated, blinking confusedly.
“Put up your weapon Castellan.” Borusa said.
The poor man was clearly very shaken by all this, and desperately clung onto what he knew last.
“But The Doctor is a traitor. You’re both traitors.” He said shakily.
“Your traitor is right there.” Borusa pointed at Hedin’s body on the ground.
“Hedin?”
“Jesus f*cking Christ how stupid are you? Put two and two together my guy!” Rain said out loud, forgetting for a moment she wasn’t just watching Dr Who on her laptop. Castellan seemed to regain some composure, enough to throw her a dirty look. The Doctor gave Rain’s shoulder’s a quick squeeze of what felt like appreciation, but also a “let’s not antagonize him”.
“Lord President we must close down the Matrix!”
“Will that prevent transfer?”
“No it’s too late for that. But it will delay it, and give me some time to find Omega.”
Behind Borusa, Castellan, and the group of guards he had brought, the Matrix screen flickered from the 3D web of a screensaver to a negative image of a masked cloaked figure.
Rain reached out a hand and tugged on the Doctor’s sleeve as Nyssa pointed and said
“Doctor! Look!”
His face grew grim as he saw what was on the screen.
“We’re too late,” He said. “Omega controls the Matrix.”
An inverted color Omega was on the screen.
-
The Doctor looked up at the screen as Omega stared down at them all.
“Greetings Omega.”
“You know who I am?” He asked.
“I do.”
“No matter, it changes nothing. Transfer will take place as I have planned.” He seemed very confident.
“But you’re anti-matter!” Borusa said. “You cannot exist in our universe.”
“Omega do you really believe you can reverse what happened to you?”
“Doc, I think he does, remember last time?” Rain said quietly.
“Oh yes Doctor.”
He then seemed to fixate on Rain, and despite the lightyears and distance between the two, she could feel his intense burning anger.
“You!” He hissed. “I thought I told Hedin to kill you!”
“It didn’t stick! Nice try bozo!” She said, promptly flipping him off. “Also your guy is dead.” She gestured to Hedin’s crumpled body, with her middle finger just because.
Omega made a noise that sounded like a growl. He began to glow brighter and flicker.
“Omega, listen!” The Doctor shouted. The image vanished and he turned to look at Rain. “Did you have to antagonize him?”
“You know damn well I did! He ordered me to be killed! Least I can do is call him a bozo.” Rain said, crossing her arms. He looked an awful lot like he was going to lecture her, but then decided to change his mind.
“Omega must be found.” Borusa said. “Found and stopped. Do you have any idea of his whereabouts Doctor?”
The Doctor looked at Rain and she gently shook her head.
“Only that he is somewhere on Earth. When I was in the Matrix I learned he was holding a friend of mine captive — a girl from Earth called Tegan.”
“Perhaps she would know the precise location?”
“Possibly.” The Doctor mused. “I would have to go back into The Matrix to find out.”
The Princess of Traken looked horrified.
“No you can’t! Omega’s mad! He will kill her!” Nyssa said.
“I’m sure The Doctor wouldn’t let anything happen to Tegan.” Rain said softly. She could see the Doctor was getting testy and didn’t want him to shout at Nyssa like he had before.
“Rain take Nyssa to the TARDIS and wait for me. Please.” He said.
“We’ll see you shortly.” She said. “Come on Nyssa.” She took her friend’s shoulders and pushed her towards the door. “I’m really sorry.” She whispered.
-
Nyssa and Rain entered the TARDIS.
“I don’t like this.” She said.
“He would’ve shouted at you otherwise and I don’t want you to deal with that.” She said. “And besides like I said it all works out. Might work out better since I told him Tegan and Omega are in Amsterdam.” She shrugged.
“Oh…” Nyssa muttered.
“Is there anything I can do to ease your anxiety?” Rain asked.
“Could you play your music again?” She sat down on the floor of the TARDIS and the American woman sidled up next to her.
“Of course.” She put on her playlist again and this time hoped they’d have a bit more time to relax.
They sat there just listening to the music and the TARDIS thrumming dimly.
-
The Doctor returned probably about 10 or so songs into the playlist.
“Nyssa? Rain?” He looked around and saw them in the corner. Nyssa had her head on Rain’s shoulder and she looked much more at ease.
“Doctor, did you find where Tegan was?” Nyssa asked.
“Yes. It’s alright. She’s unharmed and I have an idea where she is.” He smiled.
The scanner flicked on and Borusa’s face appeared.
“Doctor? I think we have the distraction we need.” He said.
The Doctor approached the controls as Nyssa and Rain stood up.
“Are you three ready to leave?” Borusa asked.
“As soon as you give the word.” His hands hovered over the console.
“Very well.” He nodded to Damon off screen. They could hear buttons being pressed.
“Everything is ready Lord President!”
“Then activate!”
“Now!” Damon shouted.
“Go Doctor! Go now!” Borusa said.
The Doctor was working frantically on the console and the time rotor began to rise and fall.
-
The scanner showed the busy city, the people and buses and trams of Amsterdam. It looked very pretty. Rain wished they were just in town for travel and not stopping Omega.
“We’ve made it!” The Doctor laughed. “First time she’s gone where she was meant to!” He patted the console affectionately and flicked the lever to open the doors. He strode over to the entrance. “Come on!”
She realized she would be stepping into 1982 and stopped. She could deal with the Time Lord’s bullsh*t, but 1980s hom*ophobia and transphobia?
“Doctor, am I going to be safe?” She asked. She hated how scared she sounded. She had already died once today but really wanted to avoid a second go.
The Doctor paused in the doorway and turned around to place a comforting hand on her shoulder.
“You’ll be with me and Nyssa, we won’t let anything happen to you.” He said softly.
“We’ll be right here.” Nyssa added. “You’ve been fine further in the past too.”
“Yeah… yeah…” She said. “Alright let’s go.” They left the TARDIS.
Amsterdam was lovely and no one seemed to pay the trio any mind. Rain felt her attire fit her in more with everyone than The Doctor or Nyssa. But then against she did have blue hair. The Doctor was leading the way across the city center.
“Where are we going Doctor?” Nyssa asked worriedly.
“When I spoke to Tegan in the Matrix she mentioned two things. Her cousin Colin and JHC.”
“Well?”
“Well Tegan risked her life to give us that information. We just have to find out what JHC means.”
“And where are we going to fond that out?”
“That’s simple, right here.” He stopped in front of a phone box and drummed his fingers on the outside. “With the telephone directory.”
“You think you’ll find Omega in the yellow pages Doc?” Rain asked. “Or whatever the Dutch equivalent is?”
“Well you never know.” He said, stepping inside and starting fo flip through the book. “Now let me see, JHC… JHC… Here we are! JHC, Jeugherberg Centrale Youth hostels! That must be where they were staying! There aren’t all that many, not in the center. We can give them a ring!” The Doctor felt his pockets and started pulling out whatever he had inside. A cricket ball, his hat rolled up, some string and a few paperclips. He didn’t have any money. Typical Doctor. He looked up at them with a sheepish grin. “Nyssa, Rain, do you by any chance have money?”
Nyssa went through her pockets and she pulled out some odd coins. They didn’t look like they’d fit in the slot.
“Hmm.” The Doctor looked at Rain.
“I left my wallet in the TARDIS, Doctor.” She put her hands up. “And unless you want me to go in my wallet and give you a 21st century American dollar bill to shove in there I can’t help.” As she spoke she was patting her pockets. And she felt a small coin. She pulled it out and it was a dime. “Don’t think they’ll accept this. And I don’t think I can do anything with my phone or take it out in 1982.”
With a sigh The Doctor pulled out his antimatter sensor.
“Anti-matter levels present but steady.” He said. “Omega can’t have transferred yet. But it won’t be much longer.”
“Can’t we use this to find him?” Nyssa asked, tapping the sensor.
“Not really, it just senses his presence, not his location.” He pocketed it and took a pen and paper that was attached to the inside of the phone booth. He was scribbling some notes down.
“Now what? Run around and see if we can find him randomly?” Rain asked. She was pretty sure that was how it worked.
“Not quite, we check every hostel on foot.”
“Can’t we use the TARDIS?”
“No, we daren’t, it’d run the risk of alerting Omega.” The Doctor stepped out of the booth and pointed. “Come on, the first one is this way.” They set off again.
-
The only time Rain had ever seen a hostel aside from now was the horror movie Hostel. And that wasn’t accurate to the ones in Amsterdam. She had heard the Night Vale crew talk about their times in hostels and saying it was for young people and she remembered thinking she would prefer a hotel room to a hostel because then she could have a bed and room to herself. There is no point to this tangent in her brain went on, but she was wishing to lay in a bed right now, and she was thinking about hotel beds.
They had checked three hostels to no avail. And they exited the third one, Rain sat down on the steps, tired.
“This could take forever you know.” Nyssa said glumly, plopping herself down next to her.
“There’s no other to do it.” The Doctor said, still standing.
“That last receptionist was being difficult. What if she was being difficult and choosing to not remember Tegan?”
“Nyssa, that woman must see dozens if not hundreds of people per day. I would chalk it up to poor memory if anything else.” Rain said. “Trust me I’ve had customers ask if I remember them and it’s hit or miss generally. Or other customers. And it’s like ‘my guy I don't remember faces! y’all blur together!’” She waved her hands in the air to make her exasperation more clear.
“We’ve just got to carry on!” The Doctor gestured for the pair of women to stand. Both did so, groaning, mostly Rain though.
“Can’t the Time Lords help us?” Nyssa asked.
“No. They’ve done all they can. Now it’s up to us.”
“I’m gonna get used to this at some point. That point isn’t now though.” Rain said, stretching to prepare to run around Amsterdam again.
-
The trio found themselves walking along the canals, which normally Rain would love to sit and just watch the boats but she didn’t have the leisure. The Doctor took out the meter again.
“It looks as though Omega is about to transfer.” He said grimly. “We’ll try one more place together and then we’ll split up, cover more ground that way.”
“Ah the Scooby Doo method…” Rain said. He chuckled at that.
“How much longer do we have?” Nyssa asked.
He glanced at the meter again, a look of concern on his face.
“I don’t know. But it can’t be long.”
-
The fourth hostel was fine. The guy was doing his best to help them. He was very polite and patient as they all explained (to some degree) the situation.
“I am very sorry.” He said. “We have no record of a Miss Tegan Jovanka.”
“What about her cousin?” The Doctor asked.
“Do you have the name, sir?”
“Colin, I don’t know the surname…” He glanced at Rain who had her fingers folded together tapping her lips in thought as she wracked her brain for the information. She shook her head. It started with an F didn’t it?
“It may have started with an F.” She said, worst comes to worst they still get the information the way they did in the episode.
“An Australian… Colin F…” The receptionist said, opening a book and trailing his finger down the pages. “There was a Colin Frazer. He seems to have failed to arrive but I believe his friend turned up. I was not on duty myself. One moment please.” He walked back into the small office behind the counter.
“Thank god for my brain eh?” She nudged The Doctor and Nyssa with her elbows.
“Yes thank you for that last minute save.” The Doctor patted her shoulder.
The receptionist returned with a tall girl with blonde hair. Rain, lover of tall women, tried to act as though she was not immediately gay. Though she did have her blue hair working against her.
“You were asking about a Miss Jovanka?”
“We were indeed.” The Time Lord said.
“Mr Stuart… the friend of the Australian Mr Frazer who did not arrive — left a note for a Miss Jovanka. Then he himself failed to return. He said I was to give this to her if he missed her at the airport and she came here.” She pulled out a sealed envelope from under the counter.
“May I see the note?”
“I’m not sure if I should…”
“Please it’s terribly important we find her, and this may be our only chance.” Nyssa said urgently. The girl handed over the envelope.
Together the three hunched over it and watched as The Doctor tore it open.
“Colin disappeared… Frankendael… go to police…” Rain muttered.
“Do you know where Frankendael is?” The Doctor asked, looking up at the blonde girl.
“Yes it’s not far from here.”
“Can you show me please? It’s very urgent.” He looked at a map on the wall.
“Of course. It’s here, not too far away.” She tapped the point on the map. His eyes flicked from the point where they were to where she was pointing.
“Thanks!” The Doctor grabbed Nyssa and Rain’s hands and sprinted out of the building.
-
They managed to almost knock into a woman doing her shopping on the way but Rain managed to maneuver her friends around the woman while shouting “sorry!” over her shoulder at her while she looked a little alarmed.
They hurried down the canal, over one bridge, two bridges and then down a quiet street lined with trees. The old house was quite remarkable, Rain didn’t know the first thing about architecture, a few of her friends did. The awe of a house that was probably older than America.
“Aha, Frankendael.” The Time Lord said.
“Can’t see any sign of a crypt.” Nyssa said. The Doctor glanced down at the meter.
“It’s a matter of minutes now.” He slid it back in his pocket. He saw something through the trees. “The fountain! Tegan said it was behind the fountain!”
They all ran towards the house. It didn’t take long to find the stairs into the crypt.
It was old and made Rain anxious. As a lover of horror movies and Supernatural, it felt like her entire body was screaming “BAD IDEA!!! BAD IDEA!!!”. She knew Omega was down there but her brain was reacting like it was a ghost or something.
“Who the hell makes a crypt under their house?” Rain asked.
“Well it was an estate from the 17th century.” The Doctor said, as though that explained anything.
“I didn’t realize rich people liked having dead bodies under their house.”
“Do we have time for this?” Nyssa asked impatiently.
“No. You’re right. Let’s go.” He moved into the crypt.
It was dark and cold, the walls were made of a dark stone that Rain didn’t know, but it looked well maintained. There were old rusted candelabras, statues, and at least two shapes of giant stone coffins. The statues had made her jump when she saw their shape, they were shaped like knights. The whole room smelled damp too. It probably had to be for a historic site. Though how Omega and two young men were able to hide in here she had no idea.
The Doctor was attaching some device to what looked like a giant film reel that was making a steady beeping noise. He identified it as the fusion breaker, as it was near water pumps and clearly not human made. There was a bight shining light suddenly behind them as a door opened. Rain turned to see what caused the light.
A bipedal pterodactyl skeleton flesh alien walked out, carrying some sort of gun.
“What the f*ck is that?!” Rain shouted. The Doctor and Nyssa looked back, which caught the creature by surprise. It clumsily tried to fire a bolt, missing all three targets. A chunk of the wall broke off and onto the floor.
The Doctor launched himself at the creature, grappling it so it couldn’t fire again.
“Rain! Help me!” Rain grabbed one of the things arms and twisted it behind its back. The creature felt dry and bumpy, like a bearded dragon’s skin. With its free hand the creature tried to choke The Doctor with some difficulty as Rain was putting her weight into holding it back. Her sneakers were sliding ever so slightly across the floor though. The creature had dropped the gun and Nyssa grabbed it.
“I can’t get a clear shot!” She said.
“Rain pull harder!” The Doctor gasped. Feeling a surge of adrenaline the young woman gritted her teeth and grunted as she pulled hard on the arm, which came out of the creature’s socket with a horrible snap and wet ripping noise. She dropped the arm in shock. How the hell could she do that? First breaking a bunch of bones in a Gallifreyan Guard’s body and now ripping a creature’s arm off Magnus Burnsides style? The pain that she had caused made the creature drop The Doctor who pulled Rain flat on the floor with him as Nyssa fired.
The creature collapsed on ground and slowly disintegrated.
“What the f*ck was that?!” Rain asked.
“An Ergon. One of Omega’s less successful attempts at psycho-synthesis.” He took the weapon from Nyssa.
Rain blinked.
“How the f*ck do you know that?! What?!”
“Rain please, time is short.”
They ran into the control room of Omega’s TARDIS which was tinted in green light and had a slightly darker color scheme but otherwise looked almost exactly like The Doctor’s. They were face to face with Omega in his throne. His mask was melting. In fact he himself looked like he was melting too. She could see some kind of organic material pulsating under the mask. Or maybe it wasn’t organic she wasn’t a scientist.
“Jesus Christ you look terrible.” Rain said.
“Rain Hearse!” He hissed. “I don’t have time for your insults.”
“That’s not even the worst I could do. Just give me a minute to think of something.” She then made a really loud hmm noise. He ignored her and addressed The Doctor, though he was still annoyed, judging by his tone.
“Drop the weapon, Doctor. I have taken precautions. Drop the weapon or the Earth girl dies.” He gestured and Tegan appeared surrounded by a forcefield of white light.
“Tegan!” Nyssa shouted, starting forward but The Doctor held out an arm to stop her. He then tossed the weapon aside.
“It’s too late Omega, you can’t transfer now.”
“You are wrong Doctor. By now I have all the energy I need.” Omega chuckled.
“You sound a lot like a Dragon Ball villain.” Damn she really needed to think of something better. But she had committed to this line of thought. "You're all like 'Grahhh! Doctor this isn't even my final form!"" It was not her best work but judging by how he was shaking, she was getting on his nerves.
And then a white hot beam of light lit up the control room and at Omega, who suddenly sounded panicked.
“What have you done?! What have you done?!” He demanded.
There was an explosion from outside the TARDIS.
“The Arc of Infinity is shifting! Go now Omega! Return to your universe where you belong while you still have the chance!” The Doctor shouted over the noise. Oh maybe it wasn’t just in episode 1.
The first Time Lord made a noise that sounded like a grumble but by the way his body shook it was supposed to be laughter of some kind.
“I must transfer! I must live again!” He reached out to the lever on the wall with a hand that was peeling into the same pulsing organic material.
“Get down you two!” The Doctor shouted, pulling his two friends to the ground. They heard another body hit the ground, presumably Tegan’s. She was crumpled on the ground, breathing but unconscious.
Omega jumped up from his chair just as the console exploded. Rain felt something, probably a chunk of the console, hit her in the back of her head and she was out like a light.
-
She is in the void again. The void that isn’t a void with the marble floors that she cannot see but she can feel under her feet. She isn’t here for long. She barely registers it, she’s focusing on the fact that she hears a voice, panicked, shouting her name.
-
“Rain!” The Doctor was patting her face.
“Mmf.” She groaned.
“Come on! Up you get!” He said, grabbing her arm and pulling her up.
The TARDIS console room was a mess. Chunks of the walls were missing, the console was a smoldering heap, and Omega wasn’t there, most of his costume was though. Was he naked in Amsterdam? The BBC probably didn’t show that on TV.
“Did I miss him turning into you?” She asked, feeling the back of her head. There wasn’t any blood, so if anything she probably just had a concussion.
“Yes. Are you alright?”
“As alright as I can be.”
There were footsteps and Tegan ran into the console room, carefully tiptoeing around the broken remains.
“Colin seems a lot better. Robin’s taking him to a hospital.”
“Good, good, now we must find Omega! Come on!” He led the charge out of Omega’s TARDIS and the crypt.
-
As the group exited Rain spotted a pair of feet sticking out from behind a bush in the gardens.
“Oh sh*t.” She pointed and they jogged over to find a man covered in Omega’s cloak, quite dead.
“Did Omega kill him?” Tegan asked.
“Yes. No doubt to hide himself in the crowds.”
“And what happens if we don’t find him?”
“The biggest explosion this part of the Universe is likely to ever witness. Come on.” They made their way to the street.
There was an organ playing in the distance, people bustling around, it was very hard to see how they were going to find Omega. Though he did have The Doctor’s face, so maybe it wouldn’t be that hard.
As they walked by the organ The Doctor checked the meter.
“He can’t be far ahead.”
“How much time do we have?”
“I don’t know, Omega’s magnetic shielding is in accelerated decay.”
“So very little time until things go boom?” Rain said.
“Yes.”
They hurried away.
-
They had been running for what felt like ages but was more like 10 minutes, Rain had been checking her watch.
The group settled on sitting at the edge of the canal, breathless.
“It’s no good, we’ve lost him.” The Doctor sighed. “Unless you have any idea Rain?”
“Doc if you want me to get us lost you can just ask. But it’s not gonna help. I’ve never been to Amsterdam before today.” She said, lying on her back and staring at the sky. It was a nice day.
“Fair enough.”
“Doctor, somethings happening on that bridge!” Tegan pointed. They all scrambled to their feet and hurried towards the bridge.
There was a woman sobbing surrounded by a bunch of people trying to ask if she was alright and what happened. She pointed towards a figure in a grey jumpsuit shambling across the bridge. While the face wasn’t The Doctor’s anymore, the hair was.
“It’s Omega! Come on!”
Once again they started running. Over the bridge and along the canal. But Omega had hidden himself somewhere.
“Dammit. We lost him.” Rain wheezed. “I am going to need so much rest after today.”
The Doctor looked along the canal, the gears turning in his head for what he could do.
“I see you Omega!” He lied. But it worked because a scowling figure rose from behind some oil drums. He started running again, that shambling run like his body wasn’t supporting him properly.
And so the chase continued.
-
All four travelers had to dodge cars, bicyclists, buses and crowds as they chased the Time Lord through the streets of Amsterdam.
They had chased Omega onto a jetty. Omega, wearing The Doctor’s face, was now no longer a pretty sight to see. He was decaying before their eyes. In 1982 they couldn’t achieve these special effects very well, and in Rain’s memory they used the same green bubble wrap as in Revenge of The Cybermen… or was it Ark In Space? It was one of those two. She could be wrong though. In real life his skin was peeling, not revealing flesh and bones beneath but instead a dark pulsating mass that reminded all four of the time travelers that Omega was not of this universe and also hurt to look at, not like a headache but more like a toothache.
“I warned you Omega.” The Doctor said sadly.
“Things could have been… different... Doctor. The power and greatness of Omega… could have been yours. But no… your hatred of…”
“I didn’t hate you, Omega. None of us did. Why couldn’t you be content to survive as you were?” He was looking down at the original Time Lord with pity.
“It was time to come home, Doctor. Time to find peace... to rest.” He said, as more of his face peeled away. It almost reminded Rain of when Death was contaminated with something in the Season 15 episode 18 of Supernatural. She cringed thinking about that episode as it was when Castiel was dragged to Super Hell. Which is probably where Omega would go. The decaying Time Lord struggled to get up, anger flashing across the remains of his face. “It’s over Doctor! Now all must die! Especially that one!” He pointed at Rain.
The Doctor slowly drew the matter converter from his coat.
“I can expel or destroy you Omega, the choice is yours.” He said.
“It is too late Doctor! What you offer is worse than death! If I am denied life then all things must perish! All things!” And then more of his body started to peel off, faster and he writhed on the ground.
“What’s he trying to do, Doctor?” Tegan whispered.
“He’s willing his own destruction.” The Doctor said sadly. “Accelerating the shielding decay.” He pointed the matter converter at the thing that used to look like his doppelgänger. “Don’t force me, Omega.”
“Farewell Doctor!” Smoke began to rise from his form. "Farewell Rain Hearse!"
The Doctor glanced at Rain, who didn’t understand for a second, before nodding. He faced Omega and fired, the beam hitting him right in one of his hearts, if that body even still had them.
Omega twisted violently, the black mass that was behind his face pulsating wildly, spasming. He screamed in a way that made everyone’s hair stand on end. And miniature explosions wracked through the decayed mass. The thing that used to look like The Doctor faded and vanished.
The real Doctor lowered the matter converter and sighed.
“It’s over.” He turned away and together all four time travelers began to make their way back towards central Amsterdam.
-
The Doctor, Nyssa and Rain were waiting outside of a telephone box in Amsterdam’s central railway station. They were waiting for Tegan to finish her call.
“Is Omega really dead?” Nyssa asked.
“Hard to say, he seemed to be dead last time. And yet…” He looked to Rain.
“Well, it’s probably hard to kill antimatter.” She said, unsure if the Big Finish audio Omega would occur in this universe. “Though I’m gonna need to come up with a tight five for when he first meets me. I’m sure I can google some jokes about the term omega.”
“What does it mean?” She asked curiously.
“Well—it’s like—I mean—I don’t want to explain it because I don’t know how to—it’s a little complicated—“ Thank god for Tegan stepping out of that phone booth.
“Well I’m sure you’ll be pleased to hear that Colin will be out of the hospital soon and on his way to Brisbane. Robin’s going home too, they even got him a new passport.” She said with a smile.
“Excellent!” The Doctor said, clasping his hands together behind his back.
“Glad he’s alright.” Rain said.
“And what about you?” Nyssa asked.
“Oh, I’m indestructible. I’m fine.” Tegan laughed.
“It’s been marvelous to see you again.” The Doctor said.
“And nice meeting you for the first time.” Rain said. Tegan nodded.
“Indeed. I’ve missed you.” Nyssa said, looking with so much lesbian yearning at Tegan that Rain would have been able to tell with her eyes closed. “I wish you didn’t have to go back to your job.”
Tegan smiled widely, like a kid on Christmas morning.
“What job? Didn’t I tell you? I got the sack!” Nyssa’s face went through several emotions, shock, realization and then excitement. She hugged Tegan tight. And then she pressed her lips against her cheek. Rain rubbed her eyes and blinked. Did she see that right? Did Nyssa just kiss Tegan on the cheek?
“So you’re stuck with me, aren’t you?” She leaned her head on top of Nyssa’s.
“So it seems.” The Doctor said with a smile. He looked like a proud dad watching his daughters at Pride. He was reacting as though this were normal, so she decided to take it in stride as well.
They started walking to the TARDIS.
“By the way Tegan it’s nice to meet you. This is the first time I’ve met y'all.” She held out a hand.
“Oh! Lovely to meet you!” Tegan shook her hand.
“Yes, quite a start for Rain here. Meeting Omega and being on Gallifrey.” The Doctor smiled.
Tegan, Nyssa, Rain and The Doctor walked into the TARDIS.
She really wanted a nap. Her stomach grumbled too.
“Hey guys I think I’m gonna have a snack and take a nap.” She said. “It’s been a long day and I think I deserve—“
As she was talking she felt a light buildup of what would usually be a headache. A pulsing behind her eyes. She stopped talking and pressed her fingers to her temples. “sh*t.” She muttered.
“Oh dear, don’t think you’ll have time for that, it seems you’re about to pop off.” The Doctor said.
“How do you know? It could just be a headache. I get them all the time.”
“You look a little queasy and you’re swaying a little. Over 700 years of seeing that I know what comes next.” He said. “Nyssa help Rain put on her bag.”
“Oh lovely.” She muttered, accepting Nyssa’s help as she slid the backpack over her shoulders.
“Do you have everything?” He asked.
“I think so.” She patted her backpack, feeling the outlines of her books, the DVDs, her iPad and charger as the feeling grew behind her eyes. “It was nice meeting yall. I—“ Her eyes unfocused and she stopped talking, her mouth hung open slightly. She tipped over to the side.
And then she vanished.
There was a beat as they all looked to where she had just been standing. Tegan was the first to say something.
“Any idea of where she’s going Doctor?”
“Not in the slightest.” He replied and shook his head softly. “Hope it’s nice.”
