Digimon Fan Fiction ❯ The End of All Things to Come ❯ The More Things Change... ( Chapter 1 )

Author's Note: Here it is at long last! My long awaited (well, by me at least) Digimon/Doctor Who epic crossover! It features the eighth Doctor and Charley, and is set between the Big Finish audios Embrace the Darkness and Time of the Daleks. For those that have noticed the title is taken from the Mudvayne album of the same name, as I thought it fitted the story quite well. By the way, if it seems like I'm couple bashing, it is entirely unintentional, so please don't flame me for it. Also, beware of canon character death! Please don't flame me for that either. But other than that, I hope you enjoy this story and please don't forget to review!

Disclaimer: Digimon belongs to Toei Animation Co., Disney, Fox Kids, Saban Entertainment and Bandai, Doctor Who belongs to the BBC and both are used without permission.

The End Of All Things To Come

By Jack Of the Pelt

Chapter One

The More Things Change…

Somewhere in the infinite realm that was the time vortex, was a large blue box. The box, shaped like a 1960's police telephone box, was in actual fact a TARDIS, a time machine created by a highly advanced race. Inside the TARDIS, in the main console room, a large dark chamber that was both dominated and illuminated by a huge construction that was the craft's control panel, while several alcoves containing shelves of books, clocks, candles and various other artefacts that had been accumulated by the occupants over the centuries. One of these occupants was sitting in a large chair, reading a book. This was Charlotte Pollard, or Charley to her friends. She was a pretty blonde girl who came from a fairly rich family in England in the 1930s.

Suddenly, a tall man with long, curly brown hair breezed into the room from a door that led deeper into the strange craft. He was dressed in the clothes of a mid-to-late 19th century aristocrat, making him look somewhat like the famous poet, Lord Byron..

"Hello, Doctor!" Charley said cheerily, looking up from her book. "I thought you had managed to get yourself lost in there."

The Doctor gave her a smile. "Hello, Charlie, good book?" asked the Doctor as he walked up to the console.

"Yes it is," she replied. "It's the first part of The Lord Of The Rings. It's a bit slow to begin with though, I must say."

The Doctor smiled, and shook his head. "You know, I told old John to leave out the part about Tom Bombadill, but he didn't listen to me," he said. "It was a good job Peter listened to me though…"

The Doctor's reminiscing was cut short when all of a sudden the room started to shake violently, throwing Charley from her chair and making the Doctor grab the console for support.

"Doctor, what's happening?!" the girl cried as she clambered to her feet.

The Doctor hadn't appeared to have heard her. He was busy pressing buttons on the console and flipping switches while he muttered to himself. All of a sudden, the shaking stopped.

Charley rushed up to his side. "Doctor, what on earth was that?" she asked again.

The Time Lord was staring at a readout on one of the screens around the console. After a few seconds, he replied, "That Charley, was an disturbance in the time vortex and -"

"We have to take a look?" his friend said smiling, finishing his sentence for him. "Where are we going then?"

"Tokyo, Japan, June 21st 2028." The Doctor grinned, rubbing his hands together in glee. "I'm quite looking forward to it, I haven't been there for such a long time! I have quite a few friends there, you know," He added enthusiastically.

***

"Sora! Just listen! Please!" cried a blonde haired man, Yamato Ishida, as he followed a red haired woman, his wife Sora, into their bedroom. He had only got home ten minutes ago, and Sora had started to yell at him as soon as he had found her upstairs, packing a suitcase. True, he had been gone for a few months on a mission into space, it was his job as an astronaut, but it hadn't been the first time he had been gone for a long time. Sora had always said it had never bothered her, and she had always welcomed him back with open arms. But not today.

Sora stopped and swung around, a furious look on her face, one which made the man take an involuntary step back. "No Yamato, YOU just listen!" she shouted back at him. "I'm absolutely sick and tired of you never being at home! In the past ten years I've only seen you for a fifth of that time! You weren't even here when Motokatsu was born! I've finally had enough! I want a divorce!"

Yamato took a step back. "What?" he asked, stunned.

"You heard! I WANT A DIVORCE!" She span back around, and continued to pack clothes into a suitcase open on the double bed. She slammed it shut and picked it up, leaving the room. Fortunately, Piyomon and Gabumon were back in the Digital World, while Sora's and Yamato's children were currently at school, so none of them would see the couple arguing.

Yamato had been so shocked by her demand that he didn't notice straight away that Sora had left the room. When he had recovered his wits a few moments later he hurriedly followed her and he found her downstairs putting her shoes on in front of the door.

"Wh-where are you going?!" he asked, his voice starting to break.

"Away from here," she replied simply, getting up and opening the front door. She stopped on the threshold, not looking at him. "And don't try to follow me."

"But-but what about the kids?!" He demanded, as he she headed for their car, Yamato close behind.

A pained expression crossed her face, but she didn't stop as she opened the car door. "We'll sort something out," Sora said as she climbed inside.

"But Sora, I love you!" he cried.

"And I loved you, Yamato. Once." And without another word, she simply slammed the door shut, started the car and drove off down the street.

Yamato went back inside the house. He sat on the couch and put his head in his hands in despair, and started to cry.

***

"Here we are!" the Doctor announced cheerfully, spreading his arms out wide. "The best florist in Japan! Possibly even the universe!"

"Are you sure this is where your friends live, Doctor?" asked Charley dubiously. "It looks a little run down to me."

"Nonsense!" he said, reaching out to open the door. "It's just a little run-" He never finished the sentence, as the door wouldn't budge an inch. "Hmm, must be stuck!"

"It closed down, Doctor," his companion told him. She took a step back to take the whole shop in. "And it look as though it has been for quite a while…"

The Doctor, however, wasn't listening, as he was currently banging on the door. "Hello! Anybody there?" he shouted. "Toshiko? Sora? Are you there? It's the Doctor!"

"Um, excuse me?" asked a female voice behind them.

A woman, probably in her mid-thirties, stood there with a bag of shopping in one hand while a small boy held on to the other, a nervous smile on her face. The little boy was carrying what looked like a very odd looking stuffed toy in his other arm, staring at the two time travellers with wide eyes. The toy the child had seemed very strange looking to Charley. It resembled a small pink ball with huge red eyes, a wide mouth and long floppy ears.

"Hello!" the doctor said brightly to the woman, his friendliest smile on his face. "Could you possibly tell me if this shop is open?"

The woman frowned. "Open?" she said, sounding slightly surprised. "It hasn't been open ever since Mrs Takenouchi died."

"She died?!" the Doctor replied, genuinely shocked. "When did that happen?"

"Oh, about five years ago." The woman shook her head. "It was a great shame, ever since she fell out with her daughter her health had started to fail…"

While the Doctor was talking, Charley gaze wandered until it finally settled on the stuffed toy the child had. She gave it a curious look. She swore it's eyes were staring at the Doctor, but she dismissed it as her imagination playing tricks on her.

And then it closed it's eyes and yawned.

Charley almost jumped back in surprise, but managed to control herself. She blinked a few times, unsure if she was seeing things.

The Doctor, however, was still asking questions. "What about her husband?"

"Oh, I… I don't really know… I'm sorry. He was always away."

"Thank you for your help though," the Doctor smiled. "It's much appreciated."

The woman nodded. "Glad I could help," she said. "Come along Kyono, we have to be back home to make dinner."

They left the two time travellers, and when the mother and her son were out of ear-shot, Charley turned to her friend. "Doctor," she said, "did you see that creature that little boy was carrying?"

"You mean the Digimon? Yes, I did."

"It was like a- what? You mean you know what it was?"

The Doctor nodded gravely. "Yes. It was a 'Digimon', short for digital monster, a living creature made from computer data."

The young woman noticed her friends concern. "What's wrong?"

"It shouldn't be here."

Charley's eyes widened. "You mean they're trying to invade?"

"Oh no no no!" the Doctor replied, furiously shaking his head. "Digimon are like humans; some are good, some evil."

"But what are- " The girl never managed to finish her sentence, as the Doctor was already hurrying away. "Doctor! Where are you going?"

"Come on Charley," the Doctor said as her strode down the street, his companion trying in earnest to keep up. "Something very wrong is going on here!"

***

Just across the road another woman watched the Time Lord and his friend walk off down the street. She cocked her head, a sly smile spreading across her attractive features as she watched as the pair walked away from her up the street. When they had finally disappeared from her field of vision she took a small cell phone from her pocket and after pressing a few buttons, and then she placed the phone against her ear.

***

Inside the tallest building in the Shinjuku district of Tokyo, a blonde man sat at desk, staring out at the city below him, a look of disgust was clear on his face while he idly flipped a lighter open and closed.

"Fools," he muttered in contempt. "Little do they know what's out there."

The vidphone on his desk rang, and, in a heartbeat, he place the lighter in front of him and pressed a button the machine for audio only.

"Yes?" he almost barked into the phone. He listened for a few moments and a malicious smile appeared on his face. "Good. Keep an eye on them. Report back when you find out more." He pressed the button again, turning the device off, and then he leant back in his chair, placing the tips of his fingers together, the evil smile still on his face. "So you're finally here, Doctor," he murmured to himself. "It's all going to plan…"

He sat there for a few moments, until the vidphone rang once again, breaking him from his revere. "Yamaki speaking," he said, this time he switch on the image function. On it was a red-haired man with a concerned expression. "What is it this time, Mr Izumi?" Yamaki said impatiently.

Brushing off his superior's brusque manner, Koushiro Izumi went straight to business. "Yamaki, I really don't like these high readings we've been getting from the Digital World just lately. Frankly, I'm worried; the last time we had this type of activity was when- "

"Mr Izumi," Yamaki said, cutting him off. "The last time we had these 'high readings' was last month, and the month before that, and, if I remember correctly, every month since recordings began?"

"But this is different! Have you actually seen them?!" Koushiro replied, a hint of frustration edging into his voice.

"Yes I have, Mr Izumi, and I really think they are absolutely nothing to worry about!" Yamaki replied angrily. "Now I suggest you use all that money the government gave you on something useful, rather than all this scare mongering!"

Koushiro look as though he was about to reply when he was cut of by the phone being turned off by Yamaki.

"Phone, block all incoming calls by Koushiro Izumi!" he barked, and then slumped back into his chair. "If he finds out…" Yamaki muttered to himself, drumming his fingers on the armrest.

***

"Where are we going now, Doctor?" Charley asked the Doctor. The two of them were currently seated in a tube train. On their way to the nearest subway station they had seen many more Digimon, usually in the company of a human, but nobody gave the strange creatures a second glance.

"To the Shinjuku district," the Doctor replied. "An old friend of mine might be there."

"'Might'?"

"Yes, 'might'. Unless that's changed too…"

"Do you think somebody has, er, altered the timeline or something like that?"

"Quite possibly."

"Aren't you jumping to conclusions, Doctor?" Charley said, knowing her friend had a tendency to act rashly sometimes. "What about if we're in- "

"The future?" The Doctor said, finishing her sentence for her. He shook his head. "No, I checked the date. Toshiko was alive and well a year ago; the last time I saw her, and that lady told us she died five years ago."

Charley was quiet for a moment. The Doctor was clearly very worried, and that worried her as well. She turned back to the Time Lord. "So who do you think is doing this?"

The Doctor frowned. "I really don't know, Charley," he told her. "It could be any number of people or species."

"I must say that's terribly reassuring."

"This stop is Shinjuku, please watch your step," a female voice declared. "Again, this stop is Shinjuku."

"Ah ha! This is our stop!" The Doctor said as he sprung to his feet. "Come on Charley, don't dawdle!" The Doctor exited the train without waiting for his friend.

The girl sighed, and hurried after her friend. "Sometimes Doctor," she muttered to herself, "I wonder how on earth I keep up with you…"

***

A short distance behind the two travellers, a boy was following them. He had a worried expression written on his face as he watched the couple in front of him.

"I'm hungry!" said the small dragon-like creature beside the boy. Nobody gave the Digimon a second glance, however. It wasn't unusual to see one in this day and age.

"In a little while!" the young man scolded his companion. "We have to know who those two are, they have something to do with all this. I'm sure of it."

"You really think so?"

The boy considered for a moment. "I know they have something to with what's going on," he said. "My digivice is given off some really weird readings from those two…" He watched as the two foreigners walked into a building that was very familiar to him. He smiled as he remembered what had happened last time he was here, although that hadn't been the same one, but it had been. Or something like that anyway.

"Aren't we gonna follow them in?" asked his reptilian companion

The boy shook his head. "Naw," he replied. "I don't think we'll get any further than the reception desk."

"Can I go and get something to eat, now?"

The young man rolled his eyes. "Sure you can," he said. "But don't go too far or be gone too long, you hear me?"

"Of course!" His friend said happily. He started to walk off, but turned around, a sheepish expression on his face. "Er, can I borrow some money?"

The boy laughed and handed him some coins. "Don't forget to get me something!" he called after the little dragon. After he had gone the boy looked up at the towering building. "Just why do I get the feeling this is all wrong?" he muttered to no one in particular.

***

As they entered the foyer of the tower, the Doctor handed her a plastic card.

"What's this?" she asked, noticing the Doctor was holding one as well.

"Oh, just a UNIT pass," he said, as if that explained everything.

"Doctor, who's Josephine Grant?" she inquired, examining the card. She let out a small laugh when she saw the girl face on the pass. "But I don't look anything like her!"

"Shh, Charley, it's worked before." He walked up to the reception desk, with Charley in tow. "Excuse me miss," he said to the young woman behind the desk. "But could you tell me if Haruhiko Takenouchi works here?"

The girl, who was typing at a keyboard, looked up at him, and almost seemed to turn to jelly as she looked into the Doctor's eyes. "M-may ask you your name please s-sir?"

The Doctor gave her a brilliant smile, and she seemed to melt even more. "Doctor Alistair Bowman, of the United Nations Intelligence Task Force." He crossed his fingers behind his back, hoping that UNIT was still a functioning organisation, and he gestured towards Charley. "And this is my assistant, Charlotte Pollard."

The receptionist turned back to her computer and typed his name in. "Could I, uh, see some identification, please sir?"

"Of course," he said, taking Charlie's ID card and handing it and his own to the girl.

"Thank you sir," she said as she took them. She examined them, and looked at the two of them.

Oh, no, Charley thought. She'll realise that my card doesn't have the right picture!

But instead of calling for security, the slotted them one at a time inside a machine by her computer, and for a green light flashed on the device. A few seconds later she handed them back to the Doctor. "Thank you sir, everything seems to be in order, I'll see if Takenouchi-san will see you."

The Doctor smiled again, and took back the ID cards. The receptionist turned to a screen to her side, obscured so that neither of the two time travellers could see who she was speaking to.

"Takenouchi-san? I have a visitor to see you. His name? It's a Doctor Alistair Bowman from UNIT." The girl frowned. "Yes, I'll send him up straight away." The girl smiled and turned to the two of them. "Takenouchi-san will see you, he's currently on the Digital Life Form Research Room on the -"

"Thank you for your help, Megumi, but we'll be able to find it for ourselves."

The girl went a deep crimson. "Uhh, could you wear these please?" she asked, handing the Doctor what looked to Charley like some kind of ID badge. "For security purposes."

"Of course, thank you for all you help," he said, giving her one last smile, before turning away towards the lift with Charley.

"Doctor, you silver tongued devil!" exclaimed Charley, when they were out of earshot of the receptionist. "You you practically had that girl eating out of the palm of your hand!"

"What?!" asked the Doctor, genuinely puzzled. They had reached the lift and he pressed the call button.

"Oh, come on!" she replied. "When see saw you she turned to jelly!"

Her friend rubbed his forehead, "I don't understand what you could possibly mean, Charley."

The girl sighed, giving up. She suddenly remembered something. "How on earth did she accept my card when that picture when I don't look like that girl on it?"

"Yes, well, you humans do get a little over-reliant on technology in the future, so when that scanning device accepted those cards, she didn't question it." The lift arrived with 'ping!' noise, and the doors slid open.

"So, your natural charm had nothing to do with it at all then?" Charley asked impishly as they walked into the lift, the doors closing behind them.

***

The red haired woman who had been following the pair of time travellers earlier walked into the reception area, muttering to herself. "How the hell did I loose 'em?!" she growled under her breath in an odd accent.

The receptionist looked up as she approached the desk, and the girl smiled. "Oh, hi Reika!"

The scowl the woman's face disappeared immediately to be replaced by a smile. "Hi, Megumi! How are thing going? Anything interesting happen while I was gone on break?" Strangely, her accent has changed as well.

An enormous smile spread across Megumi's face. "Oh there was this really cute guy in here a moment ago! He was soooo handsome!"

"Really?" replied Reika, only half listening. "What did he look like?"

A dreamy expression spread across her friends face. "He gorgeous blue eyes -" The girl stopped, puzzlement showing on her face, "or where they green? Well, anyway, he really long curly brown hair, I think he was English or something-"

"What?!" Reika almost shouted as she cut the receptionist off. "Was he wearing old-fashioned clothes?"

Megumi blinked a few times before answering. "Uh, yeah," she said nervously, "I think they looked like they were out of one of those English period dramas or something like that…"

A grin spread across Reika's face "Heh, looks like I didn't lose them after all…"

"What's that?"

"Oh, nothing, Megumi, see you later." Reika walked away from the reception desk towards the lift, she was about to press the call button when her cell phone rang. She took it out of her bag and pressed the receive button.

"I have a little job for you," the man's voice said from the other end. Reika smiled.

***

The Doctor walked into the Digital Life Form Research Room as if he owned the place. He was alone, having sent Charley on a little… excursion to see if see could find anything out in other parts of the building while he came here. As he entered, an old man sitting behind a computer terminal, most probably in his sixties, looked up, and the Time Lord broke into a grin. "Haruhiko! It's been so long!

The old man stared at him in bafflement. "I'm sorry, do I know you?"

The Doctor, still grinning, said, "Do you remember 1986, and again in 1997?"

Haruhiko frowned in puzzlement. "I'm afraid I don't remember- " He stopped, and realisation spread across his face, his eyes lighting up. "Of course! I'm a fool! Doctor, how could I possibly forget?"

"Oh, don't worry about that, a lot of people I know do it."

"'Alistair Bowman'? Have you changed you name?"

The Doctor shrugged. "Well, John Smith was getting a little old…"

Haruhiko laughed, and then looked him up and down. "I see you've 'regenerated' again."

"Yes, quite an improvement over the last one - not so manipulative." The Doctor's expression became mournful. "I'm sorry about Toshiko."

Haruhiko's shoulders visibly slumped. "That's alright," he murmured.

The Doctor mentally berated himself, realising this was a rather sensitive subject. It was possible that Haruhiko blamed himself for her death. Quickly the Time Lord changed the subject. "How's little Sora?"

Haruhiko frowned this time. "I don't know, I haven't seen her for five years."

"Oh, well -"

Suddenly before the Doctor could say anything else, a man in his early forties with dark hair and glasses entered the room.

"Ah, Shuu, I'm glad your back; I'd like you to meet a good friend of mine," he said getting to his feet. "This is Doctor- "

"Doctor Alistair Bowman!" the Doctor exclaimed, thankful that the subject had been changed, smiling warmly, and he grabbed Shuu hand, shaking it furiously.

"Er, pleased to meet you Dr. Bowman," Shuu said, caught off guard by the Doctor's friendliness.

"Please, just call me the Doctor."

Before Shuu could reply a man in his late thirties hurried in, a strange red insect like creature at his side. The man had a bundle of papers in his hand. "Haruhiko, I think you should have a look at these readings, something very odd is going on in the Digital Wor- " He stopped as he noticed the Doctor. "Oh, hello."

"Hello!" the Doctor said, almost grinning from ear to ear.

"Doctor, this is the man we're working with on the study of the digital world; Kou- "

"Koushiro Izumi!"

The man blinked. "Have we met?"

"Have we met?! Of course we've met-" Then the Doctor shook his head. "No, sorry, of course we haven't…"

"Ahem! What about me, Koushiro?" The insect creature asked.

Koushiro looked down at the digimon beside him. "Oh, sorry." He turned back to the Doctor. "Doctor, this my digimon partner, Tentomon."

The insect creature flew up level with the doctor and held out a claw. "Delighted to meet you, Doctor…?"

The Time Lord shook the limb with a smile. "Likewise, and it's just Doctor, thank you Tentomon."

"Don't you have your own partner, Doctor?" asked Shuu.

A sly smile spread across his face. "Oh, she's not here at the moment."

"'She'?" asked Shuu. "You have a female Digimon as your partner, Doctor?"

"It's not that unusual," remarked Koushiro. "After all, didn't Miyako have a male partner?"

"That's right, although the ratio of female to male digimon is small, it is slightly strange that you have a female partner."

Haruhiko picked up a cane nearby and climbed to his feet. "Doctor, would you like a guided tour?"

The Doctor grinned like a child let loose in a sweet shop. "Yes, please!"

"Umm, Professor?" asked Koushiro.

"Koushiro?" inquired Professor Takenouchi.

"If it's at all possible could you look at these later today," the red-haired man said, holding up a sheath of papers. "I think they're quite important."

"Of course, Koushiro. Just place them on my desk and I'll have look at them when I get back."

"Yes, thank you professor," Koushiro said, sounding relieved as walked up to Haruhiko's desk. "I've tried to tell Yamaki about this but he won't listen."

"Oh, he never listens to anybody," replied Professor Takenouchi.

"Is it okay if I take my break now, Takenouchi-san?" asked Shuu. "It's just that I have to see my brother and his wife at 13.30 for lunch."

"If it's okay with Koushiro," Takenouchi said, turning to his colleague.

The man nodded. "Fine with me, me and Tentomon should be able to look after everything here. Give my regards to Jyou and Jun."

"Will do," he said, smiling in gratitude as he grabbed his coat.

As he left, Haruhiko turned now, Doctor-" He noticed his friend's puzzled expression. "What is it?"

"Did you just see someone walk in just after Shuu left?"

Haruhiko looked at the door, then around the room, then back at the Doctor. "No, I'm afraid I didn't."

The Doctor frowned. "That's strange; I'm sure I saw someone else come into the room…" He shrugged, dismissing it. "Must have been my imagination."

As the two of them went to leave the room, Haruhiko said, "I'll show you the Juggernaut project first Doctor, if you managed get up here you should have sufficient clearance to see that." Just before he left, he turned to his colleague. "See you later, Koushiro."

"Bye, Professor," he said as he sat down at a computer terminal. "Please, don't forget about those readings."

"I won't," he said as he closed the door behind himself and the Doctor.

As Koushiro settled himself down to work, he noticed Tentomon wasn't in his usually place beside him, he looked around the room to see the insect digimon, looking around the room. "What is it, Tentomon?

"Koushiro, where is that ticking noise coming from?" asked Tentomon.

"Ticking noi-"

But he never managed to finish the sentence, as the room was consumed in an explosion.

***

"What is this Juggernaut project, then?" The Doctor asked as they walked at a leisurely pace down the corridor towards the lift.

Haruhiko grinned. "It's a device we've developed to-"

But Haruhiko never finished what he was about to say either. The explosion that erupted from the room they had just left. knocked both of them off their feet.

***

The boy and his reptilian friend, the very same pair that had been watching the Doctor and Charley earlier, were standing just across the street from the building, both of them eating hamburgers, waiting for the Time Lord and his companion, when the explosion had shook the building. Both of them had leapt to pavement, covering their heads, the two of them both dropping their burgers.

"Come on!" the boy cried, as he climbed to his feet. "People are gonna need our help!"

"Aww!" complained the purple lizard, staring mournfully down at his fallen meal. "I hadn't finished my hamburger!"

The boy rolled his eyes as he grabbed the creatures arm and dragged it towards the building.

***

Charley had been wandering around the building for nearly half an hour now and had found nothing of interest. Nobody had really given a second glance apart from a security guard who wanted to see her ID badge, and he had been satisfied after he had seen it, leaving her alone after wishing her a nice day. But other than that, she hadn't come across anything suspicious in the slightest.

And then the explosion had shook the building.

Charley had been knocked clean off her feet and a few seconds later a bell started to ring, most probably the fire alarm.

"Please proceed to your nearest fire exit in a calm and orderly fashion," the relaxed tones of a woman's voice spoke as Charley climbed to her feet. "Please do not panic, the emergency services have been notified and are on their way. Please proceed to your…" The voice kept repeating the statement over and over.

"Doctor!" she muttered quietly to herself, worried for her friend. "I hope he's alright…" Concerned, but not wishing to linger in this place, she followed signs that had previously had directions to various areas of the building written on them, but had now changed, pointing the way to the fire exits. As she walked around the corner someone crashed into her at speed, knocking her over once again.

Angry, Charley started to get to her feet. "Oh, I know we're supposed to be hurry out of this building, but -" the blonde girl began, about to give whoever it was a piece of her mind, but stopped and gasped as she looked up at the person who had ran into her.

Bizarrely, the woman standing before her had unnatural looking white - almost green - skin and was wearing what looked a sleeveless black leather cat suit. She also wore fingerless elbow length brown leather gloves (her nails were long and sharp; almost like claws), the backs of the hands and the knuckles covered by metal plates, a cross belt holding several throwing knives and pouches, with two larger blades in sheaths strapped to her thighs, with shoulder, elbow, and knee guards, and finally brown boots with steel toe caps. Her long, luxurious wine red hair was tied into several braids while long, pointed, almost elf-like ears emerged from underneath it. Strangely, she also had a long, rat-like tail that swished back and forth, seemingly made from metal. But the most unusual thing about her, however, was the mask she was wearing.

It looked like a flat metallic skull with a pointed bottom half, but with diamond shaped eyes and no nose, while eight slits, four on each side, made up the mouth. The final detail were the two horns, long and flat, that stretched from the top of the sides of the mask, bending slightly at the top.

"You!" the strange woman snarled, her voice tinny coming though the mask.

"Er, me?"

"Heh heh heh!" the strange woman giggled, reaching for one of her larger knives. "What luck! Literally killing two birds with one stone!"

Charley backed off up against the wall. This 'woman' was clearly insane, and clearly wanted to kill her. "Can't we talk about this?"

"No," the woman replied, drawing one of her knives. "WEEPING BLADE!" the woman cried as she thrust the knife forward, as a viscous looking liquid now seeping from it, towards Charley's heart…

To be continued…