War of The Mara

Reality twisted and bent as the Mara strode out across space itself and apparated straight to the capital ship of the Sumaran fleet. In any other situation the crack of displaced air would have shocked anyone on the ship, no transmat system was quite as impressive as wizarding teleportation, but in the midst of battle, no one paid the Mara any notice. Alarms blared, orders were shouted, the steady pulse of frequent laser fire vibrated through the superstructure. The Mara felt a smile creep over the features of its stolen face. It had missed the thrill of war.

When it had been outed by the Manussan Federation the Mara had, for a time, wondered if its pet project would crumble to dust. But it seemed as if the Sumaran's had only gone from strength to strength. Its technology in the field of interstellar war had continued to accelerate, and now the star destroyers that made up its navy could subjugate entire worlds with comparative ease.

From its position in the shadows of the command bridge, the Mara could see everything. The practised movements of officers as they barked out orders to their subordinates. The flickering of eyes behind closed eyelids as the gunners took direct control of weapons and drone ships through immersive mental connections. Even the Daleks themselves would have trouble standing up to the might of the Sumaran Empire.

The Mara shoved the hands of its magical human host into its trouser pockets and sauntered across the bridge as if it owned the place because, in reality, it did. A wave of silence spread across the bridge, lasers stopped their firing, and for a brief moment, peace reigned. The Captain stepped up from his chair, but before he could issue an order to restrain the intruder, the Mara had flicked its wand out of its pocket and fired a jet of green energy at the man without so much as uttering a word. Weapons were trained on the Mara, but once again before they could do anything, the Mara allowed the red of its eyes to burn brighter than ever before.

The assorted officers and guards fell to their knees, their ruler had returned, the Mara was back in control of the Sumaran Empire.

xXx

"Alcom, No!", Esra screeched as she collapsed to her knees.

"There's nothing we can do for him now, Esra," The Doctor responded, though he couldn't keep the sorrow out of his own voice. "All we can do is try to honour his sacrifice by saving this world, and Harry."

The Doctor turned to observe his surroundings.

They were in a small, dark room, just about big enough for the two of them to be inside without being pushed up against each other. It was likely some sort of storage room or janitors closet on one of the Sumaran ships. All the Doctor knew was that the TARDIS had to be close.

At least he hoped it was, because if the Mara managed to get inside of it then it would be quite possible that the entire universe would be doomed.

"And how are we meant to save the world, Doctor," Esra seethed, anger replacing her sadness. "That boy of yours has cursed us all, the planet below now lies completely unprotected. What are we going to do?"

"Right… Right yes," The Doctor stammered, "Well, for a start, it wasn't Harry that killed your friend. It was the thing inside of him, the thing that has taken control of his body. It all makes sense now, yes."

"What are you babbling on about, Doctor?"

"The Mara, Esra. I'm babbling on about the Mara," the Time Lord replied. "The Mara, a gestalt entity that originates from the Dark Places of the Inside, attacks a weakened mind when someone is dreaming. Only one way to defeat it."

"One way?"

"Indeed, Esra, just the one," The Doctor said. "The Mara is evil, pure evil, so evil in fact that it cannot bear the sight of its own reflection. Need to get to the TARDIS, I can defeat it then, just like I did… all those years ago."

The Doctor offered Esra his hand and pulled her up to her feet when she took it. As the woman stood the Doctor removed his sonic screwdriver from his pocket and directed the energy from the contraption at the door, which was barring their way out of the room.

It slid apart with a near-silent hiss, revealing a brightly lit corridor which was, fortunately for the Time Lord and his temporary companion, completely empty.

"Right then, just lock onto the temporal signature of the TARDIS," The Doctor muttered to himself, fiddling with the settings of the screwdriver until the green tip of the device started to pulse and whir.

"Come along, Esra," He said, taking off in a mad dash down the corridor as the device he was holding locked onto the signal of his time ship.

Esra followed just a few steps behind, hoping that they wouldn't come across any guards or soldiers.

Their run was brief as the Doctor sonicked them through another series of doors, eventually revealing a large cargo bay, at the center of which was a machine that Esra instantly recognised as the blue box the Doctor had emerged from in the first place.

"There she is, my TARDIS," The Doctor said, whispering under his breath so as not to alert the guards and scientists who were surrounding the machine.

"What are they doing to it?" Esra asked as the two of them watched the scientists hook up strange pieces of equipment to the doors of the blue box.

"Trying to get in, I'd imagine," the Doctor replied, "Shouldn't matter though, nah, the assembled hordes of Genghis Khan tried to get through those doors and failed."

Esra didn't know who Genghis Khan was, but considering the way the Doctor said it she had to assume that such a feat was pretty impressive.

To the pairs combined dismay, that was when the Mara decided to enter the room.