The Thirteenth Doctor: The Beings that Never Were by Alfred Poirier

*New guest writer time! Excited to introduce Alfred Poirier on a story we wish had been released sooner. Hope you enjoy, and we hope Alfred can return one day to write more.*

Chapter 1 : A Relaxing Vacation

The Time Rotor went up and down, in a nice, calming rythm, in complete opposition to its owner, the Doctor, who was running everywhere around the console, flickering switches and shouting techno-babble that no-one on the ship understood. Graham was leaning on the door, looking at the Time Vortex spinning and unfolding in front of them. He loved the sight, but always found himself a bit dizzy when doing so. Yaz was near the console, trying to figure out how the Doctor flew the Tardis. She wanted to fly it, but whenever she asked the Doctor, the Time Lady started spouting gobbledidook at her. Ryan wasn't in the Console Room. In fact, he wasn't even awake. When he woke up, he walked through the maze of corridors leading up to the Console Room. It took him weeks to learn the way between the two rooms. He remembered that time when he got lost and almost got stuck inside a miniature Black Hole. He never got lost ever after. When he joined the others in the Console Room, the Doctor greeted him with a "Ryan ! Odium !", "Odium?" answered the young man, confused by the Doctor's energetic way of saying a word he clearly didn't understood. "It's a Planet !" she answered, "located in the Kjonrdian System, don't ask me to write it. It's also in the middle of the Great Dust Nebula of Rangrotta, so the sky is the deepest of purples, and when it's not too cloudy, we can see the Rings of Ydracor, a nearby planet !" explained the Doctor, transcended by the beauty of what she was describing. "So, we're going sightseeing, or is there something else to do on this Odium planet ?" said Yaz, in a voice that tried to sound calm, but could barely hide the young woman's excitement. "Cause if it's another of your Great Mysteries of the Universe where it always end up being a monster behind it, I'm staying here !" suddenly said Graham, chuckling. "It's not a mystery, it's Odians !" answered the Doctor, bursting with joy. "So... the people who live on Odium ?" deducted Ryan. "Gold Star, Ryan !" she said "brilliant people, I'd like to see some friends, or, technically, one friend, they have three heads" she continued, clearly confusing her companions. "They're also the only species of the universe to have both three legs and five arms! Oh, the parties they threw !". She then showed a picture of an Odian on one of the screens. "Pretty recognisable these Odian fellas, aren't they ! Well they seem nice and it's good to finally have some proper vacation !" said Graham, suddenly more interested and curious. "That's the vibe, Graham !" answered the Doctor "some nice and relaxing holiday !" she said, before being interrupted by the Tardis' wierd wooshing sound . They all loved that noise, because it always meant something new and crazy was going to happen. As they felt the floor stabilising, the Time Rotor's dance stopped. They walked towards the doors, and the Doctor opened it inwards. It was such a common movement, but adrelanine was pumping through their veins, as always. They stepped out of the ship.

Chapter 2 : The City

The surface of Odium was a sight to behold. The ground was rocky, and the planet was filled with various mountains and canyons. Sometimes, in the distance, there was a river of thick, purple water, but most of the planet was dry and hot like the desert. The sky was unlike anything in the universe. It was a mix of purple and the darkest of blues, and you could see the clouds of the Nebula spinning and the stars behind them shining, like a lighthouse in the dark. But most important, and most impressive, was the planet of Ydracor, a gigantic gas ball surrounded by wide round rings, which beautifully accompanied the surroundings. The Doctor's companions were so astounded by the beauty of the planet that they stayed still, outside the Tardis, contemplating the landscape, as the Doctor showed them around, naming all the stars and the mountains. "But, if the sky is so dark, how's it daylight ?" asked Ryan "It's because behind the Nebula is a gigantic star, Kjonrdia, whose light comes all the way here" explained the Doctor, pointing at a small light far away behind the dusty clouds "you know, I went here 231 years ago, and it still amazes me" she continued, looking at the sky in awe. "Reminds me of Colorado. Well with an added purple sky, of course. I went there once for a week, with Grace" said Graham, whose mind was suddenly flooded by memories."Look, down there, there's a City !" shouted Yaz, pointing at a dark metal dome from which came out towers of all shapes and sizes. "That's the Odian Capital City ! Odiuna ! I could recognise it anywhere ! Oo, it's been a long time since they haven't cleaned it !" said the Doctor, bursting with excitement "Come on ! Who's in for hiking ?" she asked. So they walked, across the rocky desert of Odium, crossing canyons and rivers, encountering strange animals, including some Galdorgs, which the Doctor claimed she once had a pet one. The Doctor, knowing the planet, was leading the way, followed by Yaz, who carefully listened to anything her best friend said. Behind were Graham, who used a walking stick he picked up in the Tardis, and Ryan, who had trouble walking on such rocky terrain. After walking for a few hours, they arrived at the gates of Odiuna, which were two ancient metal gates, decorated with rich symbols. In front of them was what seemed to be a control panel. It had a few buttons, and a lever. The Doctor pulled the lever. Yaz noticed straight away the Time Lady's great big smile. For a moment, nothing happened. But suddenly, a huge metallic sound was heard and the gates slowly opened, leading to a dark corridor.

Chapter 3: The Partuses

As they entered the corridor, they heard the doors close. It was pitch black. Suddenly, all the lights turned on, one after the other, flooding the corridor in warm, golden light. "These Odians, they like showing off don't they ?" said Graham in a snarky tone. "They also like to creep the hell out of their visitors" whispered Ryan. "It's strange, this place is usually clean and welcoming, now it's all dusty and dark... I wonder what happened " said the Doctor, suddenly letting her curiosity getting the better of her. At the end of the corridor was a wooden door, painted in a washed-out red. When the Doctor and her fam, as she called them, reached the door, it opened. Behind it was a woman, who, strangely enough, looked nothing like an Odian. She seemed mostly human, except for two long, pointy teeth, almost fangs, and her skin, which was bright green. She wore a red dress filled with beautiful golden patterns, and a sort of gun was attached to her silver belt. "I am Kalusa, leader of the Partuses, welcome to our City" she said, with a warm, welcoming smile. "But, you're not an Odian ?" , said Yaz "No, I'm a Partus. Surely you've heard of our people, it's our planet after all. Who are these Odians ?" answered Kalusa, with a hint of sarcasm. "But this is the planet Odium, isn't it ?" asked the Doctor, worried that she got the planet wrong once more even though it definitely looked like Odium to her. "Naturally" said Kalusa while chuckling "come on, let's show you around" and she invited them to follow her. Odiuna, even if this name could now be debated, was exactly how the Doctor remembered it to be, except it looked old and dirty, as if it had been abandoned for years. The once shiny lights were now flickering, and the buildings were crumbling under the weight of the ages. But the strangest of all was that no Odian was to be seen, all the inhabitants were Partuses. Kalusa lead them to the main square, on which a metal stand was built. Around were various shops, which didn't seem to sell much. Kalusa brought them on the stand and called the inhabitants of the City. They all gathered around the stand, and Kalusa asked the travellers to introduce themselves. Each one of them said their name, and an awkard silence followed. The Partuses seemed angry and mistrustful. Kalusa then announced calmly "They are not with the Creatures, they don't look like them" . "What Creatures ?" quickly replied the Doctor, both scared and excited. Mostly excited. "When night falls, evil creatures attack us and take away our warriors" answered Kalusa "it's impossible to defeat them, our guns and bombs don't work" . The Partuses suddenly seemed more friendly towards the visitors, and one of them, a man named Ydra, agreed to welcome them in his home for as long as they desired. The Doctor, wanting to keep the Tardis safe from the Creatures, asked Kalusa if she could borrow a vehicule to get back to the Tardis. Kalusa accepted and landed her a Hoverbike, a kind of fast hovering motorcycle for two, once one of the sleekest and most luxuous crafts in this galaxy, but this one looked like an antique, old and rusty. A Partus named Zenobius accompanied the Doctor. He was one of the best warriors in the city, and kindly asked to go with the Doctor. As night was falling, Yaz, Ryan and Graham decided in to stay in the City, while the Doctor left on a dangerous journey.

Chapter 4 : journey through Odium

Night was falling across the planet, the land was drowning in darkness, except for the glowing eyes of strange animals. The Hoverbike was racing through the night like lightning, Zenobius had turned a powerful lamp on, to fend off wild animals. Back in the City, only the old neons provided light, so everything looked dark and gloomy. Except for Ydra's appartment. When Yaz, Ryan and Graham entered the front door, it was as if they had entered another world. The lights looked warm, and four beds had been put up for the guests. When they lied down, it was as if all their problems faded away and turned into softness and comfort. When Ydra left them alone, they started talking about the Partuses "I don't trust them" said Ryan "maybe, they, I don't know, killed the Odians and took over the City, I mean look at those fangs ! What if they're vampires or something ?". But his guess didn't convince the others. "If you want my opinion, the Doctor knew about those Partuses fellas and wanted to investigate it !" said Graham "But I don't think they're evil or anything, let's just enjoy our holiday, he ?", but Yaz interrupted him "The Doctor wouldn't lie to us ! But now we're here she'll definitely want to investigate. I'm more worried about those 'Creatures' than about the Partuses...". The thought of the Creatures sent chills down everyone's spines."But we're safe here, aren't we ?" asked Ryan nervously "I suppose so, these walls are made pretty thick metal" answered Graham "but let's not focus on that, we gotta get some sleep". So they turned the lights off and tried to find sleep. But none of them could, at least not for a while. Yaz was worried about the Doctor, and Ryan about the Creatures. Graham remembered his trip to Colorado with Grace. Grace. This simple word meant so much to him, brought so many memories back, most were happy, but tainted with sadness and melancholy, which slowly brought a few tears to the old man's eyes. When the Doctor and Zenobius reached the Tardis, it was pitch black. They brought the Hoverbike inside, which surprised the warrior, who was used to things' insides matching the size of the outside, which definitely wasn't the case here. Inside the ship, the Doctor picked up boxes of what could only be described as random stuff and took out a few strange objects. She then went near the Console, and flicked a few switches which made the ground tumble and the Time Rotor roar. Zenobius was, as usual, quite surprised by this ship, which was more than definitely unlike anything he had seen before. What he didn't know was that the Doctor had scanned him, and linked his genetic print to the Tardis' database. While Ryan and Graham had fallen asleep, Yaz still hadn't. She was just about to close her eyes when she heard it. The wierd wooshing sound. The one she was waiting for. The one that changed her whole life. She quickly got out of her bed to wake the others up. They ran towards the main square, to see the big blue box waiting for them, and a seemingly confused Zenobius coming out of it. The Doctor invited her fam in, and they entered. On one of the screens near the console was a picture of some DNA spinning around. "I scanned Zenobius, the Partus you just saw" said the Doctor, visibly worried and confused "this is his DNA, I entered it in the Tardis database. Nothing. No match at all. I looked the Partuses up too, in every encyclopeadia in the universe. They don't exist" she said. "Well, now we've got the Tardis we can get out, this place gives me the creeps" said Graham, while closing the doors "Maybe we should investigate ?" asked Yaz "this whole business with the Partuses, it's pretty strange isn't it ?" she continued, with rising curiosity and excitement in her voice." But before anyone had the time to answer, they heard screams coming from outside. They all stepped out of the ship and saw the people running and screaming. That's when they heard it. A sound they thought they'd never hear again. "Exterminate".

Chapter 5 : The Attack

It was as if everything collapsed. The shouting, followed by the sound of the laser, the scream, and, inevitably the silence. For a moment, the Doctor and her friends couldn't move, watching as the Daleks killed and took prisoners seemingly at random. They remembered the time they fought a Dalek. New Year 2019 it was, and they had come so close to losing their lives that it was an adventure they all wanted to forget. Yet seeing the killing machines again had made them remember and lose all hope. It wasn't just one Dalek, there were dozen. The former "junkyard chic" look had been replaced by a sleeker grey and blue armor. Some only had one enourmous canon instead of the usual two guns. When they finally decided to move, the Doctor, and Yaz quickly opened the Tardis doors, followed by Graham, who entered the ship. That's when they heard a laser in their direction, and before they could do anything, it had hit Ryan. It was only a paralysing beam, used by the Daleks to capture their prisoners. The young man collapsed on the floor, unable to move. Suddenly, a strange beam pulled him towards a Dalek. That's when the mutant creatures decided to leave the city, taking Ryan with them. Cries of despair were heard from all over the City. Then silence. A silence more powerful than any words. A silence that could crush the entire Planet under its weight, the weight of the dead, the weight of the hearts broken, the weight of the grief, of the lives shattered like glass, as if the Daleks had also killed the survivors. But from the silence rose a roar, the roar of rage, of those who hadn't lost hope, who wanted to restore peace to the planet. And this roar came from the Doctor, Yaz and Graham, who had rose up on the stage. "How can you let Daleks attack you and kill you like that, aren't you gonna fight ?" shouted Yaz, her eyes filling with anger and sadness. "This Planet, it's the most beautiful I've ever seen, look at you, you're incredible, still living and going even after what they did to you, so why do you let this happen ?" asked the Doctor, her voice filled with compassion. “Because there’s nothing we can do” suddenly said Kalusa “once you’ve been taken by them, there’s no coming back” she continued with a hint of rage and anger. “We tried to rescue them once” said Zenobius “We sent a team of warriors a few months ago, I was part of it. We followed the creatures to their City, but they found us” he said, with tears coming to eyes. “They killed everyone. My friends, my comrades, decimated. They did spare me, so that I could return to tell everyone about it.” he continued, with a tear rolling down his cheek. As the Doctor and her friends were starting to lose hope, they heard a voice in the crowd. “I’ll go with you”. It was Ydra. He man had stepped in front of the stage, his eyes full of a strange mix of determination and sadness. “A year ago, the creatures took my daughter away. If there’s any way to find her, I want to be part of it” he explained. “Brilliant !” suddenly said the Doctor who had found her usual joy back “What a team, or squad, squad sounds good, doesn’t it, squad ?” she continued, bursting with excitement. “This is foolish, but, as the leader, I will go with you. Too many times have I failed my people by running away from my duties.” said Kalusa with a voice much graver than usual. “You’ll need someone who knows this part of the planet well, who’s already been to the City, and that’ll be me” finally said Zenobius, completing the team. And so it was decided, that they were going to the Dalek City to free the Partuses held prisoners.

Chapter 6 : the expedition

The doors closed. The party was outside, alone. The day was slowly rising across the rocks and mountains. The strange, distant light was shining, and the clouds left, as the rings of Ydracor became more and more visible. Everything was silent. The silence of death. No animal was to be seen, only corpses here and there, whose fur and feathers were blown away by the warm, soft wind. It was the calm and quiet feel of nature before a storm, as if the planet knew something was gonna happen. Zenobius led the way, as he knew where the City was, and Kalusa followed him closely. Graham was just behind, talking with Ydra. Closing in were Yaz and the Doctor, who took a strange, squareish thing out of her pocket and showed it to her friend. "It's a Stattenheim Remote" she said "I took it in the Tardis, it can summon the ship whenever we want, very handy for a quick, clean escape" she finished. "Now, that's something we could have used before !" Noted Yaz with a laugh. "Well, for my defence, I did lose it a lot, also, one use completely drains the battery, you have to wait a few hours to get it back, it's still not fully charged by the way, and finally, it's more fun without it, also, I never expect danger, it just comes to us" said the Time Lady, a bit embarassed "Oh, yeah, you never do" said Yaz in a snarky, ironic tone. As they walked, day had arose, and the land was drowned in light, but the group was following the trail of the Daleks, who left a burned, desolated land wherever they went. The few trees were burned, and the ground was dark and scorched, filled with the decaying bodies of small animals. The team was following this chunk of dead land, which created a road towards the Dalek City. The way crossed fields, canyons, rivers and mountains. But no matter how beautiful the landscape was, it was scarred with death and desolation. After hours of walking, some thick black smoke could be seen in the distance. As they approached the ominous cloud, they finally saw their destination, the Dalek City. A large, grey pyramid was surrounded by several high, round towers, like skyscrapers. All around was a gigantic building site where dozens of metallic brown saucers were being built. In the center of the site was a bigger, bright red saucer that sat on a huge landing pad. "This is bad, way worse than I imagined." said the Doctor as the Daleks' lair was revealed to them "this fleet has enough firepower to wipe out an entire solar system, the mothership alone could transport enough Daleks to wipe the life out of a whole planet" she finished, with rising terror in her voice. "How can we stop these tin squids from killing everyone Doc ? Can we stop them ?" asked Graham, determined to find his grandson. "I don't know, but we'll figure sometging out, don't worry !" answered the Doctor, whose usual energy was coming back bit by bit "this is where they take the prisoners, to make them work" suddenly said Zenobius, pointing at the building site where small silhouettes could be seen "no Partus is allowed inside the City" "We'll have to split up then, we have to know what's inside that building" said Kalusa, more determined than ever. "I'm going to the building site, I've gotta find Ryan" said Graham, angry "I'll go with you" immediatly said Ydra. His eyes were full of hope, but his voice was filled with dread. "Me too" said Kalusa "Count me in" finished Zenobius. "So, Yaz and I are gonna explore the City ! I'm good at exploring Dalek Cities, even if the white corridors do look very similar to each other" said the Doctor, who was definitely back to her former self. "I knew you'd be excited, you always are when it comes to doing ridiculously dangerous things, and I somehow keep following you, count me in for the City tour" answered Yaz to her friend. And so they parted ways, ready to take on the Daleks.

Chapter 7: The Prisoners

As Graham, Ydra, Zenobius and Kalusa came closer to the building site, a thick black mist started to appear, and the stench of steel, fire and rotten corpses became so strong that they had to pinch their noses to bear it. After walking for a few minutes, they arrived near the outer wall. It wasn't very high, but they could see several watchtowers placed here and there. The towers weren't guarded by Daleks, but looked like one. They all had several enormous blasters, ready to wipe out and annihilate intruders. Above these was a bright white eyestalk, like a lamp, whose great white beam of light projected on to the ground, monitoring every inch in its range. Suddenly, a small Galdorg walked into the light of the tower closest to the party. Immediatly, a deep, electronic voice rose from the tower and said "Intruder detected. Inferior life forms will be exterminated" and the sound of weapons reloading was heard, and suddenly, an hear-screeching blast rang, and a blue laser violently hit the ground where the Galdorg was standing. Needless to say, there was no Galdorg anymore, only a small pile of ashes. "Well, that's reassuring" said Graham with his usual snarky tone. "We have to get past that wall, we need to find a way in" said Ydra as if he was ready to destroy every Dalek alone. "There's a door, but we'll have to get past the watchtower" answered Zenobius, who knew the building site. "Then what are we waiting for ? let's go !" said Kalusa before starting to walk towards the tower. They all followed her, but as they tried to sneak by the watchtower, they were blinded by the light of the watchtower. "So that's it" thought Graham "well, there are worse deaths than this. But I wonder what they'll think back home. In Sheffield. I'll have vanished. No one will know. Except Ryan. Let's hope the doc and Yaz will find him, poor lad." but before these grim thoughts could be realised, the watchtower's deep voice was heard again. "Intruders detected. Scanner indicates humanoid lifeforms, inferiors, but useful. They will be taken to the building site as slaves. Summoning Dalek patrol 13 to take the prisoners". They were saved, but not safe. Suddenly, a blue force field surrounded the group, locking them up. A part of the wall then opened, revealing three Daleks. Two of them looked just like the rest, but the third one was heavier and bulkier, with only one gigantic cannon that looked as if it could destroy all four of its prisoners. "You will follow us" screamed one of the Daleks with a high-pitched voice. As the force field deactivated, the Daleks dragged their prisoners with tractor beams, and brought them inside the gigantic building site, where sounds of metal banging and screams of unfortunate slaves were heard. The wall closed, leaving the party prisoners of their enemy.

Chapter 8 : Inside the City

The Doctor and Yaz were right at the base of the pyramid. They had managed to sneak past several Dalek guards, and were now looking for some kind of entrance. "There must be a door that's not guarded, something that the Daleks rarely use, but that needs to be drained, maybe there's a source of water for the prisoners, or some sewage pipe" said Yaz, as she looked out for Daleks while her friend tried to find an opening "No, the Daleks produce their own water, and they barely have anything to put in the sewage, except..." answered the Doctor, leaving the end of the sentence silent, as if it was too horrible to say. "...except bodies" completed Yaz, with disgust in her voice. "Exactly, they must have some kind of body disposal conduct somewhere, but I'd rather we don't go in there" said the Time Lady, with a grave voice very much unlike her usual self. "It's the only way that could work, we have to find it" answered Yaz with courage and determination. "Yeah, you're right, come on, let's look for it" said the Doctor, but her curiosity and excitement was all gone. They walked in the shadow of the pyramid. The giant concrete monolith was in such contrast with the bright landscape of the planet that it seemed as if it wasn't actually there, like an illusion, or a mad man's dream come true. In fact, the Daleks themselves were a mad man's dream come true. They were created to hate and destroy by Davros, who was so afraid about the destiny of his people in an endless war that he emprisonned them, locking them up in metal casings, destroying any semblance of individuality or freedom, but making sure they survived. But that was a long time ago, and the Daleks slowly became independent, deeming their creator as inferior and useless. That's the story the Doctor told Yaz as they were searching for the conduct. When they finally found it, it was a big pipe, with a pile of burnt, dismembered bodies at its feet, releasing a stench of flesh and fire. The Doctor decided to go first, and climbed up the pipe, trying not to notice the corpses. Yaz did the same, and they found themselves both inside the Dalek City. They exited the conduct by the first opening they found, which led to one of the City's corridors. It was starkingly white, almost shiny. The ground was metal, and some white neons were placed on the ceiling. At each end of the corridor was a triangular metal outline sticking out of the wall. A big, round button was placed on it, and the frame held a door that slided upwards. "Those Daleks, supposedly the superior creatures, yet they're uncapable of one single original-looking City, I mean, seriously, always the same triangle doors !" Commented the Doctor as she came out of the hatch, located on the floor. But as they started to walk towards one of the doors, Yaz noticed a camera attached to the ceiling. Suddenly, a Dalek voice resonated inside the corridor "Humanoids detected in corridor beta, section 2 ! Seal the inside doors and send the closest Dalek patrol !". The buttons became red, and the Doctor and Yaz were locked in, waiting for their demise. After a few minutes, one of the doors opened and a Dalek patrol, similar to the one that had taken Graham, Zenobius, Ydra and Kalusa entered. "You will be taken to the building site and work as slaves !" Said the special weapons Dalek in a deep voice. "Wait ! Scanners indicate two hearts !" Screeched one of the Daleks when seeing the Doctor. "Time Lord detected ! The Time Lord will be exterminated !" Screamed the other two, with pure joy in their voice. "Wait !" Suddenly said an unknown Dalek voice. A hologram then appeared, showing a black kind of Dalek, with a different design, less conceived for battle and more for having an imposing presence. "You will take them to me, I wish to interrogate them" continued the Dalek. "We obey the Dalek Lord" said the special weapons Daleks. "You will be taken to the Dalek Lord !" said the other two, who used their tractor beam to bring the prisoners to the main control room. When they entered the room, the first thing that caught the Doctor and Yaz's eyes was the Dalek Lord itself. It was gigantic, about three times the size of a regular Dalek, and was shouting orders at his aids, shiny grey and black Daleks. It quickly noticed the prisoners and lowered its eyestalk to look at them. "Doctor, I should have expected you" it said "We have both changed since we last met, but will you recognise me ?" it asked "I don't think I've ever seen you, and the only way I want to see you is dead !" answered the Doctor "Ha, I see you are still the same, now let me remind you of who I am" said the Dalek Lord as his armor slowly opened up, revealing the twisted and scarred face of Davros.

Chapter 9 : An Old Friend

Davros was embedded inside the black casing, his head wired and plugged to different small tanks of strange liquids. He was but a wreck, with so little of the once humanoid Kaled remaining. He had unwillingly become one of his creations. "So it's you, of course it is. The Daleks have resurrected you once again, I suppose. What do they need you for this time, do the cleaning ?" said the Doctor, trying to contain her rage through snarky comments. "I am their leader, their lord" simply answered Davros "I was wounded and hurt, but they found me once again, my children, and they have placed me at their head. And with their power and my ingenuity combined, we shall lead the universe !" He continued, his voice getting higher as he shouted. "I should, and I will, destroy all of you, your Daleks and you Davros, too many times have I given you a second chance, this time I'll do it for good !" Angrily shouted the Doctor, as thousands of years of accumulated rage sprung to life for a brief moment. "But, Doctor, you never kill or hate, it's your philosophy, why would you make an exception for the Daleks ? After all, they are still living, breathing creatures" said Davros, recalling his past conversation with the then Time Lord. "Because, plain and simple, the Daleks are pure evil !" Shouted the Time Lady at her enemy. "You sentimental fool ! Your vision of good and evil is not, and will never be, universal and absolute ! Do you know what pushed me to create the Daleks ? One day, a long time ago, there was a scared little boy, on Skaro, in the middle of a Hand Mine field. But someone saved him. A Doctor, he was, and he took the boy's hand, and taught him about mercy. I'm sure you remember this. But do you know what comes next ? The man left, as he always does, and, naturally, the boy waited for him. He thought the man would come back for him, and take him out of the hell that endless wars are. But he never did. And the boy still waited for him, until one day, when something happened. An attack, an explosion, and the boy lost his legs. That's when he realised, that if the man had come back, he would still be standing, he would be safe, away from the war. And so, as the boy started to hate the man, he had an enlightenment, about not only war, but life. Trust is foolish, only the strong survive, the others are a burden, only alone do we rise and stand. So, the boy went on a quest, to create the perfect warrior, the warrior to end all wars, that would destroy anything different, driven by pure hatred. And he made the Daleks, became the savior of his people. Think about it Doctor, a universe dominated by the Daleks, a universe of everlasting peace !" Said Davros in a triumphant voice. The Doctor fell on her knees, broken and destroyed by Davros' revelation. Yaz immediatly hugged her friend as a lone tear rolled down the Time Lady's cheek. That's when she saw the Stattenheim remote in her friend's pocket was fully charged. "How does it feel, Doctor, to know that you created your greatest enemy ?" Davros continued, laughing softly. "I have one question, Davros. The Partuses. Who are they ? I have a feeling you might be involved in this ?" asked Yaz, standing up. "I'm glad you ask" answered Davros "You see, when the Dalek mothership landed on this planet, it was crawling with filthy, disgusting Odians. Naturally, I allowed the Daleks to obliterate them. It was beautiful, corpses everywhere, cities and villages on fire, all Odian life was destroyed, down to the last atom. But we found that we needed workforce, so I created the Partuses, I engineered every bit of their DNA, I am a bringer of life, I have risen amongst the gods !" He finished in the same proud triumphant tone as before. "But, if you needed workforce, why create a whole species, why not just robots ?" Asked Yaz, her voice trembling in fear. "Because it's not as fun. Daleks have to be entertained too. I have created the perfect prey to be hunted, the Daleks take great pleasure in extermination, their blood is pumping with adrenaline, they scream of pleasure as they destroy. Once they had killed all the Odians, they felt bored and meaningless. So I gave them entertainement. Something to enjoy, while proving useful to rebuilding the fleet." finished Davros, as if his horrifying revelation was obvious. "You monster !" shouted Yaz, before taking the Stattenheim remote from the Doctor's pocket and pressing a random button. Suddenly, a bright light flooded the room, and the sound of the Tardis was heard. The Daleks and Davros screamed in confusion and anger. Finally, the Tardis materialised right around its owner, only to dematerialise a few seconds later. Inside the ship, the Doctor was already flicking switches across the console, to land the ship outside the Dalek City, where the group had split. When they landed and came out of the box, theu were alone. They decided to wait for Graham, Zenobius, Kalusa, Ydra, and hopefully Ryan and the slaves in the Tardis.

Chapter 10 : The Slaves

Meanwhile, Graham, Kalusa, Zenobius and Ydra had been brought to the shipyard by the Dalek patrol, who assigned them to a group of workers. When they arrived in their dedicated section, Graham couldn't help but run towards his grandson and hug him. At last, he had found him. Ryan hugged his grandfather back, before they were separated by the voice of a Dalek shouting "social interactions are prohibited ! You will work ! You will work !". And so the ordeal started. The slaves had to carry large beams of metal to a crane that would then place them on a yet-to-be saucer. Everything was dirty, and sometimes prisonners collapsed. The Daleks would then exterminate the poor soul. While Graham was relieved of seeing Ryan alive, Ydra still hadn't found his daughter. He had scanned the whole group, which was about 100 Partuses, but his luck seemed to run short. Kalusa and Zenobius were discussing a way to escape. They agreed that if they waited until there was only one Dalek left to guard them, they could hit it with one of the beams and escape. The word quickly spread, and every worker was waiting for the right moment. After a few hours, most Daleks were summoned inside the pyramid, and only a special weapons one was left to watch over the prisoners. So Kalusa and Zenobius decided to set their plan into motion. As they carried the beam, they suddenly ran backwards towards the Dalek, who was turning its back on them. They hit the back of its casing, and it immediatly deactivated, after screaming in pain for a few seconds. They realised that the casing wasn't very damaged, so they decided to have someone pretend to be a Dalek to avoid blowing their cover. Ydra immediatly decided that he would go, and after he removed the goowy mutant from the casing, he entered the armor. The inside was filled with wires and screens. Ydra barely fitted in it, but he figured out how to operate the casing quite quickly, all he had to do was attach some wires to his head, and suddenly he was one with the armor, and his every thought was intercepted and exploited by the casing, as if it was a part of Ydra's body. After a few minutes of getting used to the casing, he realised he had access to the Dalek Database. As he scanned through it, he found out that there was another group of worker, who were only guarded by a lone Dalek. They agreed that Ydra would free the other group after having opened the gates for the first group to escape. To do so, he aimed his newly discovered eyestalk at the Dalek watchtowers, and he shouted. His voice was trembling, but ultimately confident as he truly lived his role as a Dalek by screaming "Exterminate". The towers were destroyed before realising they were attacked, and Ydra accessed the main gate controls, to finally free the slaves from the clutches of the mutants. He then turned back, and advanced towards the other group, on the other side of the shipyard. He slowly stumbled through the steel and fire of the site, but after a while, he crossed a door that led him inside a great big hangar bay. Smoke was filling the place, as slaves worked tirelessly to melt metal into gigantic pieces of saucer. They were only guarded by a single, normal Dalek, who instantly detected Ydra wasn't supposed to be here. "Special Weapons Daleks are not allowed in this area ! Run full scan ! Scanners indicate inferior life form ! Exterminate !" screamed the Dalek as he moved towards Ydra. That's when the Partus looked at the slaves and couldn't find his daughter. That's when he knew, when he realised that all hope was lost. That he wouldn't see her again. So he let the Dalek approach, and as he came close enough to exterminate the Partus, Ydra screamed as hard as he could "Self destruct ! Self destruct !". There was a formidable explosion, and both Daleks were blown away. And so was Ydra. He was at the epicenter of the fire, and only a few burnt bones were left of him. All it took was a few seconds to end his life. He was gone. But his sacrifice wouldn't be vain. The prisoners quickly realised they weren't guarded anymore. So they ran away, through the shipyard, on their way to freedom, leaving behind them two Dalek casings, one of them containing what remained of the man who saved their lives without them even knowing.

Chapter 11 : The Virus

There were about 150 Partuses inside the Tardis. Needless to say, everyone was confused. The Partuses, because they naturally assumed that the box's inside was the size of the outside, and the Doctor and her companions because they were desperatly trying to fit everyone inside, without losing anyone in the endless maze of corridors. Shortly after the last Partus entered the ship, the Time Lady pulled the lever and a few seconds after, they had materialised inside the Partus City. All the Partuses stepped out of the ship, to find their friends and family gathered on the main square. A blast of joy and happiness suddenly crossed the room, as everyone reunited in tears and hugs. The Doctor was still inside the Tardis, along with Yas, Ryan, Graham, Zenobius and Kalusa. "I didn't see Ydra anywhere" noted the Doctor. "He was supposed to be with the second group of prisoners, but I didn't see him either". They all looked at each other in silence for a few moments."Now go to them, give them a little speech or something. You don't wanna miss the happiest moment your people's ever lived in years." said Graham to Kalusa, breaking the silence. " Yes, you're right. Thank you Doctor, and Yaz, and Graham, and Ryan" she answered, before exiting the ship alongside Zenobius. The Doctor and her companions did a little debrief of the mission, everyone explaining what they had discovered, including Yaz's tragic revelation about the origins of the Partuses."So, what can we do ? Surely the Daleks know the Partuses have escaped by now, and aee on their way to exterminate us all" said Ryan, clearly worried. "We gotta find a way to stop them from destroying the Partuses and sending that fleet through the universe" continued Graham, as concerned as his grandson. "I know, I know, Graham, but don't be so pessimistic. Well, actually, it is quite hopeless. Definitely hopeless. Completely hopeless. I'm good with hopeless though" said the Doctor as she rambled around the console. "Isn't there a way to, I don't know, blow up all Daleks at once ? Like a signal or some wavy thing ?" asked Yaz. "Yazmin Khan, you arr a genius !" immediatly replied the Doctor. "I can make some kind of virus that destroys only Dalek DNA ! Davros created the Partuses, and I scanned one of them, I have his DNA ! I might be able to extract Davros' and the Daleks' !" shouted the Doctor, bursting with excitement, before stopping dead as she checked one of the scanners. "But if I do that, it will also attack Partus DNA... it might kill them all" she said.

Chapter 12 : a change of plan

They all stared at each other in silence. None of them knew what they had to do. They could kill all of the Daleks, prevent galaxies from being destroyed, but had to kill all Partuses in the process. "I can't. I just can't" finally said the Doctor. No one argued. Suddenly, a transmission popped up on the Tardis scanner, revealing the twisted face of Davros. "So there we are Doctor, the moment of truth. This happened before. The Daleks told me everything. Now I wanted to make sure I could see it in person. This is where your philosophy fails, Doctor. You could achieve your ultimate goal, yet you don't." he said, in a slow, vicious voice. "The end doesn't justify those means, never." answered the Time Lady. "And so you lose, Doctor, instead of letting go, of destroying, of unleashing your hate, of becoming a Dalek, of becoming victorious. I see your mind, Time Lady, I know that you still think about making that virus, about embracing who you truly are, who you are too scared to become !" Davros said in the same dark tone. "That's where you're wrong. Because I don't save people for glory, I don't save people so that I can destroy Daleks in the process. I save them because I know it's the right thing to do, and these Partuses, you might have created them, but they're so brilliant and diverse and incredible, and I've seen them go through enough pain for today. So, yes, I want to destroy Daleks. But that's because I care. Plain and simple. I just care." she said, her voice filling with emotion. "And, because you harmed the people I care about, I'm gonna come for you. I'm gonna protect them, and I'm gonna make sure you will never even think about hurting them. So watch out for me, because I'm coming, and you're gonna hear about it." the Doctor continued, her optimism slowly growing back. "End of transmission !" she finished, switching off the scanner. "Do you have a plan ?" asked Yaz, as her friend's optimism was growing on her. "Yes, well, not really, more of a vague hypothesis. At the center of the shipyard is a Dalek mothership is a Z-Neutrino core, pretty similar to any basic star core. Now, what happens inside the core of stars ?" asked the Doctor, jumping about around the console. "Some nuclear reactions, isn't that what creates hydrogen ?" answered Ryan, reminded of his physics class. "Yes, exactly, brilliant Ryan ! Except the Z-Neutrino core produces very nasty and unstable isotopes of Hydrogen. Don't bother trying to guess them, they only exist in this solar system. So the environment around the core has to be sterilized, because any little bit of Hydrogen, like, let's say a drop of water, H2O and the whole thing goes..." said the Doctor as the ran like a maniac, jubilating. "...Kaboom !" completed Graham, who hadn't understood half of what the Doctor said, but had clearly guessed the outcome. "We've got to warn Zenobius and Kalusa ! I'm gonna get them" said Yaz before stepping put of the Tardis and coming back in a few minutes later with the two Partuses. The Doctor told them about the core, and they decided to come up with a plan. They needed about a hundred Partus, enough at least to seem like an army. They would plant bombs at the entrance of the City to lure the Daleks outside, while a small group would infiltrate the mothership to blow up the core. So it was decided, they had to attack the Dalek City.

Chapter 13 : March on the City

As they all stepped out of the Tardis, Kalusa went up on the main square stage and gathered everyone. "Partuses ! We habe found a way of getting rid of the creatures ! But we'll need your help, all of you. You will have to march up at the entrance of the Dalek City, and fake an attack to lure Daleks outside. Don't worry, we'll make sure that everyone will be safe, so who's with me ?" as she was speaking, the Partuses' faces enlightened with hope and joy. Around 100 Partuses decided to join the Doctor, Ryan, Graham, Yaz, Zenobius and Kalusa inside the Tardis to attack the Daleks. As they landed near the City, the Doctor briefed everyone one last time. "Ryan and I are going to go to the shipyard inside the mothership to blow everything up. We have a loaded Stattenheil remote with us, we can summon the Tardis at any time, but we've only got one use till it drains. The rest of you will be going in front of the main pyramid, where the grand entrance is. Now you have 5 bombs that you will place around the door. The idea is to create a diversion, lure all Daleks towards you while we can destroy the fleet. But don't worry, we can protect you from the Daleks. This is a shield generator, I took it off the Tardis. Trust me, it can handle Dalek guns. But be careful, if the generator breaks, then the shield goes down ! Once the Daleks try to attack you, try to run away frol thrm, but stay in the shield's perimeter. Understood ?" And so they parted. The "army" walked right up to the doors, and Graham and Yaz carried a bomb towards the wall. It was bulky, old and rusty. Zenobius placed another one, and so did Kalusa and other Partuses. Once all the bombs were placed, eceryone gathered around the shield generator as Kalusa pulled a lever. Suddenly, a strange wave of blue energy quivkly surtounded the Partuses, before disappearing. Graham had the bombs' detonator in hand. He pressed the button, and an enormous bang was hezrd. Smoke and dire rose up towards the sky, but very few damage was actually made to the wall, only a small opening. They all waited in silence until the metallic voice of a Dalek was heard screaming "Possible intrusion detected! Find responsibles and exterminate them ! Seek, locate, destroy, seek, locate, destroy !". Ryan and the Doctor were approaching the shipyard, and right before they could walk throug the entrance, surrounded by the watchtowers blown up by Ydra, the only Dalek guarding it teleported, as he was summoned somewhere else, probably near the blown-up wall. When they entered, everything was silent and deserted. They had to cross the shipyard, but it looked more like a wasteland. Everywhere, beams, metal, furnaces, but no one to operate them. It was like a ghost town. But they didn't have time for sightseeing, they had to get to the mothership as quickly as possible. Luckily enough, it was easily noticeable as it was about twice as big as the other saucers, and its access ramp was lowered. They went up the ramp, and entered the ship.

Chapter 14 : The Fall

The small made up army was waiting for the Daleks. Suddenly, about 20 of the metal mutants came out of the City doors, and heavily fired at the Partuses and the two humans, yelling "exterminate" and approaching towards the shield, which successfully blocked the laser beams. Meanwhile, the Doctor and Ryan were inside the deserted mothership. After wandering in some corridors, they finally found a control room. It was a gigantic, circular chamber, its walls littered with screens and panels. "Usually these kinda ships can carry five thousand Daleks at once" noted the Doctor "we should be able to find some kind of map of this place, to lead us to the Core" she finished, keeping her voice down in case there were any Daleks left in the ship. "There it is ! On this screen" said Ryan, pointing at schematics of the ship, that included an interior map. "Brilliant Ryan !" answered the Doctor "now, where could the Core be..." she continued while staring at the map. "There it is ! That big space in the middle, that must be the sterilized area !" said Ryan, showing the very center of the ship. "Yes, that's it ! We gotta take this door, then go left, then right. Left right, left right, shouldn't be too hard ! Let's go !" said the Doctor, who had more and more trouble keeping her voice down as her excitement was taking her over. The Dalek army was coming closer and closer to the shield. Some Partuses were running away, while others lifted the shield generator and moved it back, trying to buy them time. The Doctor and Ryan had reached the door to the sterilized area. The Doctor took out her Stattenheim remote to be ready to summon the Tardis. All they had to do was open the door, and throw some water at the core, they had little bottles with them. Then boom, and they just had to escape in the Tardis, pick up the Partuses before the explosion reached them, and escape to their City. For the Partuses, the situation was more and more desperate. Daleks were closer and closer, almost breaking through the shields. Back on the ship, the Doctor summoned her Tardis. But as Ryan opened the door to the Core and took out his little bottle, Davros, in his Dalek Lord casing, arrived through another door. "So this is our last stand, it seems" he said, opening up a part of his armor to reveal his face. "You're dead Davros, you've been dead for a long time" answered the Doctor. "So have you, you never seem to realise how similar we both are. The fundamental difference is that you were raised in peace and forged in war, while I was born in war. Our means differ, but we both want peace, Doctor, universal, everlasting peace." immediatly replied the Kaled mutant, in his usual vicious voice. "Ryan, go !" suddenly shouted the Doctor. The young man quickly threw the bottle through the door. The water hit the Core right as the Time Lady and her companion jumped in the Tardis and dematerialised. Then there was only fire, spreading, burning everything down. Fire destroying everything the Daleks had accomplished. On what was now a battlefield, a Dalek had broken through the shield, and as he yelled "exterminate !", the sound of the explosion was heard. As the fire and the explosion came closer and the Dalek was starting to shoot its lasers, the Tardis appeared out of the blue, with that weird wooshing noise, and in a matter of seconds all Partuses had entered it, and it dematerialised. The explosion blasted away all the Daleks, along with their fleet. When it stopped, everything was dark and flat, there was nothing left of the Daleks' presence on Odium, except for maybe a piece of casing here and there. The Partuses were free at last, and could finally live in peace.

Epilogue : Beyond the Stars

The Tardis materialised inside the Partus City. As everyone came out, they decided to throw a party in honour of the travellers, Zenobius and especially Kalusa, who was after all their leader. As the Doctor, Ryan, Yaz and Graham stepoed back into the ship, they heard the voice of Kalusa behind them. "You're leaving, aren't you ? Then know that you can come back whenever you want. Also, thank you, for saving us, we'll always be grateful for it.". "Ah, come on, we only succeeded because you were brilliant, you did most of the work." answered the Time Lady, leaning on the Tardis door. "Now it's time for goodbyes, bit always remember this one thing : you were created as peaceful beings because Davros thought of it as a weakness. Prove him wrong, and be strong and peaceful. Use your kindness to build a better world. Goodbye, we'll never forget you." she finished. "Neither will we" said Kalusa, and the Tardis dematerialised as the sun was setting outside the Partus City.