The airship had made it to a safe location with everyone outside the sick bay. Pauline fiddled with her hat, waiting for news about Daisy and the Hammer Bro’s condition. The Doctor and a medical Koopa stepped outside.
“…The bad news is that the Dalek that shot Hammer Bro Johnson,” sighed the Doctor, “killed him in a way that took all his lives thanks to what I translated. …The good news is that the blinded Dalek couldn’t calibrate for Daisy’s extra lives, so she’s woken up. All that told me is that a Dalek has to see its target for it to properly calibrate its gunstick.”
“I guess I have a condolence letter to write,” muttered Bowser. “…He’ll be avenged.”
“We have to play this smart,” said Amy. “The Daleks are clever and it’s more than likely they’re going to figure that blind weakness out.”
“Not likely,” replied Phi. “The eyestalk has to be carefully constructed and integrated with our real eye. We have no choice but to keep that weakness.”
“I guess you’re volunteering to be the test subject!” snarled Bowser as he punched his hand, ready to pulverize Phi!
“Lord Bowser, I understand your anger,” interjected the Doctor, “but Phi isn’t the enemy here. Nor is Dalek Omega.”
“His buddies killed one of my soldiers!” growled Bowser. “I made Johnson my son’s godfather!”
“They’re not my buddies, they’re my enemies!” insisted Phi.
“Look, pointing the finger isn’t going to help, Bowser,” said the Doctor. “Phi, you said Dalek Omega was here. What was he doing that got him locked up?”
“Amplification of the Dalek Factor,” answered Phi.
“…Amplification? What…oooohhhh.”
“Doctor?” asked Peach.
“I told you all how I implanted the Human Factor in a faction of Daleks, yes?” asked the Doctor.
“That’s right,” replied Amy, just as lost as Peach.
“What’s the Human Factor?” asked Bowser.
“It’s the distillation of the essence of what separates humans from Daleks,” explained the Doctor. “It’s marked by inquisitiveness, questioning, exploration of their world beyond propaganda.”
“Meanwhile, the Dalek Factor,” supplied Phi, “is marked by blind obedience and destruction of all that is non-Dalek.”
“The Dalek Emperor,” continued the Doctor, “wanted me to spread the Dalek Factor throughout the human race. I turned the tables and introduced the Human Factor into several Daleks. …But if a Dalek already imbued with the Dalek Factor got a further taste of it…no wonder the Emperor’s locked Omega up. That kind of research…yikes!”
“What, would a Dalek with an enhanced Dalek Factor be more murder happy?” asked Bowser.
“That’s the theory,” replied the Doctor.
“…I was joking!”
“We’re not,” remarked Phi. “It’s a last resort that the Skaro Daleks don’t want us to have.”
“…It seems we’ll need to use it on the Daleks invading here,” muttered the Doctor.
“How can we do that without putting the Dalek Factor into Phi or Omega?” asked Amy.
“…Why did you have to say that?” asked Phi. “Now I’m REALLY worried about that plan!”
“Dalek Supreme on Nokiko to Emperor on Skaro!” said the Dalek Supreme as it was patched through to the Emperor.
“Report!” boomed the Emperor.
“We have obtained the means to exterminate the local indigenous life!” reported the Dalek Supreme. “The Doctor has escaped as a result of the guard being a False Dalek under Omega’s rule!”
“Is the False Dalek Leader still under heavy guard?” asked the Emperor.
“Yes! But all probable outcomes indicate that the Doctor and her companions will free him!”
“Where is Omega imprisoned?”
“Inside the Birabuto Kingdom of Sarasaland! The heat will be a deterrent for organic life!”
“Unacceptable!” boomed the Emperor, surprising the Dalek Supreme. “The Daleks there are using normal Dalekanium shells, are they not?”
“Correct!” replied the Dalek Supreme.
“Then they will be cooked inside their casings!”
“Forgive the contradiction, but the duplicates have a Metalert endoskeleton! They will be more efficient in defeating the Doctor!”
“Agreed!” said the Emperor. “Proceed!”
“I obey!” replied the Dalek Supreme.
Daisy had recovered and was filled in on the plan once she was checked over. “And here we are again, back at the ziggurat,” muttered Amy. The Doctor was checking over the systems for any signs of Omega.
“Cramped!” muttered Bowser.
“It WAS meant for a Scout Dalek and whatever prisoners it could get,” remarked Phi.
“Why did you insist on going in first?” asked Daisy.
“Because my casing is made of Dalekanium,” replied Phi. “The desert’s heat would cook me inside my casing. If the casing was made of Metalert, I’d be okay.”
“I think I heard about Metalert,” remarked the Doctor. “That’s what Dalek ships are made of, yes?”
“Yep! Discovered by a Dalek Scientist during our early years, it can resist extreme heat, acid, and mercury! …Though it IS vulnerable to extreme cold like liquid oxygen. Supposedly, there was a famous Dalek during the Time War that had a Metalert casing, some Black Dalek that had a name. …Sug…Seg…Sud…”
“Sec!” said the Doctor. “Dalek Sec of the Cult of Skaro!”
“…You actually MET the Cult of Skaro?” asked Phi. The ziggurat then shook. “Whoa! What’s with the earthquake?!”
“Aha! Something else the ziggurat was meant for!” chuckled the Doctor. The Mario Bros looked outside to see a smaller ziggurat rising to the surface.
“Doctor, how many of those are there?!” gulped Luigi.
“Just that one,” replied the Doctor. “And it’s meant to hold a prisoner.” A shaded ceiling extended from the main ziggurat to the smaller one as the door to the smaller one opened. Out glided a Dalek with the capital Greek letter Omega around its eyestalk.
“…Oooggg,” groaned the Dalek.
“Elder Omega!” whispered Phi.
“…Ph…Phi?” asked Omega.
“Is it really you?” asked the Doctor. “Omega?”
“…Doctor!” realized Omega. “Still alive, Savior!”
“Savior?” asked Amy. “I didn’t realize you became a god for Humanized Daleks.”
“I don’t really like that title,” remarked the Doctor. “…And after that mess that got Omega’s brother, Alpha, killed, I…hang on, Omega, do you know about Alpha?”
“That he and his colony were tricked by Kata-Phobus into being its telepathic food source, so they all self-destructed? Yes, Doctor, I know. And I know of your involvement in that incident. Beta told me everything last time you visited him and explained why you had to break your promise to Alpha. …While I don’t like that you did that, Alpha shouldn’t have held those colonists as hostage and, ultimately, a greater danger was what took Alpha’s life, not you. Do not blame yourself for Alpha’s death. He died defending others from a threat that would have killed them and the colonists.”
“…Thank you, Omega. …But Beta learned about it a year after the incident, that was centuries ago. When did you learn about it?”
“An hour before my imprisonment. All thanks to Phi over there!” Phi twitched.
“…Phi, is there something you wish to share with the class?” asked Bowser.
“I…Well, I…” stammered Phi.
“You intercepted Beta’s message about the conversation he had with the Doctor!” snarled Omega.
“What?! Why?!” asked the Doctor.
“To spare him the pain!” replied Phi.
“That was my brother! I needed to know!” snapped Omega.
“Dalek Phi, what you did was augment his pain!” snarled the Doctor.
“Doctor, Elder, I-!”
“That’s enough!” snapped Amy. “Phi, what you did was cowardly, but we’ll discuss that later! Omega, do you still have that Dalek Factor plan in place?”
“I take it the Doctor gave you all the specifics?” asked Omega. Everyone confirmed it. “Well, I do.” Omega opened his casing and pulled out a small device. “This shielded positronic brain contains the Dalek Factor. It must be installed on the bridge of the Dalek ship. The Skaro Daleks already fear it as it is.”
“Why?” asked Bowser. “If it makes them deadlier-.”
“The cost is too high for the Skaro Daleks,” replied the Doctor. “On top of their predilection for purity-.” She stopped when she heard the transmat.
“Who-?!” asked Pauline. That’s when Luigi’s Duplicate grabbed her by the throat.
“PAULINE!” shouted Mario. Amy’s Duplicate then threw Mario aside before leveling a laser pistol at Pauline.
“Too late, Doctor,” said the Amy Duplicate.
“Almost, Doctor, but not quite,” taunted the Luigi Duplicate.
“Let her go!” demanded the Doctor.
“And lose our advantage?” purred the Amy Duplicate. “Humanoids do not react well to the effects of Dalek gunsticks. …Obey our instructions, or Mayor Pauline is exterminated.”
“We have the means to read how many lives she has left,” chuckled the Luigi Duplicate. “You had 42 1-Ups recently, did you not, Your Honor?” Pauline gasped for air.
“I’ll shoot!” threatened Omega.
“And kill her?” chuckled Amy’s Duplicate.
“…Power your gunstick down, Omega,” sighed the Doctor.
“Surrender the Dalek Factor Positronic Brain,” ordered Luigi’s Duplicate. “We cannot risk the Dalek Factor being enhanced.”
“BELAY THAT!” shouted Phi as he raised his gunstick. “I have a mission to complete!”
“You will do as your Elder had done and power down your wea-!” Amy’s Duplicate couldn’t complete her order as Phi shot her and Luigi’s Duplicate in the face. Luigi’s Duplicate dropped Pauline and the real Luigi and Mario got her to safety.
“Thank you!” panted Pauline. Then, like sci-fi horror villains, the Amy and Luigi Duplicates turned to reveal the hole blown in their external skin covering, showing off their inner workings. They locked onto Phi, grabbing him!
“Inferior, emotionally-driven False Daleks against superior Dalek technology,” said Amy’s Duplicate. “Foolish hatchling.”
“False Daleks,” scoffed Luigi’s Duplicate. “So fragile. All I have to do…is punch through…” he did so, “and you die like so!” He then tore Phi out of his casing violently. Phi spasmed in pain before shutting down completely and was tossed aside like trash.
“PHI!” wailed Omega.