TRIAL OF A TIME LORD: THE VALEYARD

Chapter Thirty Two

"YOU!" Adam screamed as he rushed towards the Valeyard in a blind rage, "you son of a bitch..."

He grunted when the Doctor ran up and grabbed him.

"No, Adam, stop!"

"He's evil, Doctor. He's working with Pete. He nearly got my daughter killed! I want him dead!"

"No, stop. He's not evil anymore!" the Doctor said. "Namid cleansed him! Listen to me. You don't want another death on your conscience. Just calm down and hear us out before you do anything rash!"

Adam stopped struggling and glared at the Valeyard who positioned himself behind Namid and Hamish.

"How do you know?" Adam said, glowering at the Valeyard. "How can you be sure he's really changed and he's not faking it?"

Amato stepped forward.

"I was the Valeyard once, Brother, and I snapped out of it. So am I now faking the Doctor side of me?" he said to him.

"No, but..."

Adam trailed off as he stared at Amato. Namid stepped up to him.

"He's cured, Uncle Adam. I cleansed him and I'll vouch for him. I know he's not evil anymore," she said to him.

"Okay, I'm willing to give him the benefit of the doubt. But what about these things?" Adam said, gesturing to the clones encased in their tubes. "They need to be destroyed. And if they need to die, then I want to be the one to do it."

"No, Adam..." the Doctor said.

"Doctor, this man nearly killed my daughter. Pete nearly ruined my life and it's because of him these abominations exist. I want to kill them!" Adam said.

"No, Adam, don't," the Doctor said.

"They have to be destroyed, Doctor! They can't be allowed to live!" Adam yelled, pointing to the tubes.

"Yes, but Brother, you've already killed the Valeyard once. Don't do it again," John said. "There has to be another way."

"There is another way, I'll do it," Nigel said.

Everyone looked at him.

"No, Nigel, this isn't your responsibility," Adam said.

"I worked for Torchwood. This is Torchwood so I choose to take responsibility," Nigel said. "John's right. You've already killed the Valeyard before; you don't need to do it again. Let me do this, please."

Adam started to protest. He opened his mouth and then sighed wearily while he nodded.

"Go ahead. Just do it before someone finds us here," he said to Nigel. "We can't stand around all day debating whose responsibility it is to kill them. Just do it."

The Doctor and Amato put their hands on Adam's shoulders and everyone stepped back while Nigel walked over to one of the consoles. He studied it for a moment, eyeing the layout of the buttons and trying to find the button that would turn off the life support systems in the tubes. He finally found it, a large black button near the top under a small metal plate that said life support.

"Found it. Now we can finish this once and for all," Nigel said.

"I don't think so."

Everyone turned and saw Pete standing in the doorway flanked by two security guards, a black man and an Indian man who were outfitted in black clothes with black boots. They held laser blasters in their hands. They turned them on the larger group while Pete made a beeline for Nigel.

"Leave those alone!" he said, pointing back to the tubes. "You destroy them, I destroy you!"

"These things are abominations! They must be destroyed!" Nigel yelled, pointing to the tubes.

"Wrong! You and your friends are abominations and all Time Lords must be destroyed!" Pete roared. "Ever since I met the Doctor my life has been turned upside down and he deserves nothing short of death!"

"The Doctor saved your life, Pete!" Adam yelled at him.

Pete spun around, malice in his eyes.

"Your Doctor killed my Jackie and now I'm stuck with a stupid slag that couldn't even begin to measure up to her! Not to mention I was saddled with a daughter that I never wanted and to top it all off, I get some freakish clone that the Doctor didn't even want."

"And your solution is to make even more clones," John said, "how daft can you get?"

"I might as well make some use of my son-in-law's DNA," Pete said. "These clones will help me get rid of all of you."

"And the universe after that," the Doctor said. "You have no idea what you're dealing with, Pete. The Valeyard is an insane nutter that only cares about one thing, domination of the universe. Once he's through dispatching us, he'll set his sights on everyone else, including you! Stop this madness now!"

"On the contrary, I think I'll finish you all here and now while I have you at my mercy," Pete sneered. "The quicker you can be killed, the better off the universe will be."

"I don't think so," Namid said, stepping forward.

"Who are you?" Pete asked.

"I am Namid. I'm the Doctor's daughter," she said, gesturing to the Doctor and Thirteen.

Pete snorted.

"More children. You lot breed like rabbits, all the more reason for me to get rid of you! Guards..."

He trailed off when Namid closed her eyes and began to glow with a golden light. Pete's mouth dropped open.

"What the hell are you?" he asked.

Compassion opened her eyes and Pete stepped back when he saw the golden glow in her eyes.

"I am Compassion. I am a living TARDIS. And you're right, Pete Tyler, this does end here and now."

Compassion spun around and shot a beam of light from her hands. The guards gasped as it hit their blasters and melted them like chocolate. They gasped when they saw the look of anger in her eyes and ran away as fast as they could. Namid turned towards Pete who was quaking with fear.

"No, stay away from me!" He said to Namid as he backed away from her. "Stay away from me, you freak. Don't touch me!"

While Pete's attention was distracted, Nigel pressed the black button. Instantly an alarm sounded overhead while a hissing sound came from the tubes. Pete glanced back at them and let out an enraged yell. He turned back and yelled when Namid ran up to him; she touched his forehead and sent a burst of energy into his head. Pete collapsed to the ground, unconscious. The others came forward and examined him.

"Will he be okay?" Hamish asked her.

"Yes, Teacher, he's unconscious and will be for quite awhile. Enough time for us to take him away from here."

"Take him where?" John asked.

"Back to our universe," Adam said. "Let him stand trial for what he's done. And we need to take Jackie and Tony back with us. They don't belong here anymore."

"Go ahead and go then," the Valeyard said. "I'll stay here and keep an eye on Torchwood and make sure they don't threaten the safety of the universe."

He put his hand on Adam's shoulder when he gave him a dubious look.

"I swear to you that I'm no longer evil and if you aren't convinced, you can come back anytime you like and check up on me."

Adam thought about that and then nodded.

"Okay, like I said, I'll give you the benefit of the doubt," he said.

"For now, we need to finish our work here because I'm sure the guards will be back with reinforcements."

Compassion urged everyone to stand back. John gathered Pete up in his arms while Thirteen guided Hamish back away from her. Compassion raised her hands and the golden light shot from her hands into the tubes. The tubes burst and the dead clones fell out. Compassion turned up the intensity as she aimed her hands at the clones until the bodies were vaporized. Once that was finished, she retracted the beams and turned to see everyone had their back to her, shielding their eyes from the blinding radiance. They looked over their shoulders at her.

"I destroyed them completely so they can't use the DNA to make more," she said. "And now let me take you inside me. I can sense where the rest of Adam's DNA is being stored and once that's destroyed, we can go get Jackie and Tony and head back home."

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