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For other uses of Oblivion see: Oblivion
Summary
Izzy, trapped in Destrii’s body, is punished by the Matriax, but saved further torment by the arrival of Destrii’s uncle, Count Jodafra. However, Jodafra’s casual manner to the Matriax infuriates one of the lords, who challenges him to a sword fight. But the Matriax has her own defenders, glowing aliens called Helioth and Hassana who appear hand-in-hand and vaporise the lord. The Matriax tells Izzy that her wedding will commence at dawn. Meanwhile, the Doctor, Feyde and Destrii arrive on Oblivion. The Doctor is puzzled because no planet is recorded at those spatial coordinates during any time period. It is a dead, stale world. Discovering a palace, Feyde shadow-slips inside, but Destrii gets away from the Doctor by setting some of the locals on him. He is saved by Jodafra, who detected his arrival, but Jodafra insists that the Doctor accompany him to the palace. Destrii, meanwhile, sees Izzy on a screen, realises she has been gone a lot longer than she planned and races to save her own skin. Feyde shadow-slips into Izzy’s chamber and prepares to rescue her, but the Matriax knew deceit was planned and summons Helioth and Hassana who blast Feyde. Using Shayde’s skills, Fey fights back, but cannot hurt the aliens. Swearing to return for Izzy, she flees, but the Matriax sends Helioth and Hassana after her. While Jodafra tells the Doctor of a plague that transformed the royal house into bizarre creatures and shows him the chronon capsule he has been building as part of his obsessive scheme to create a working time machine, Izzy is escorted to an arena. Here she sees her future husband, but is even more shocked when she realises she must fight to the death against the Lady Tetronnia in order to marry him. She loses the fight and Tetronnia is about to slay her when Destrii stabs Tetronnia in the back. Consumed with rage for the anguish Destrii has caused, Izzy attacks her, intending to kill the bitch. Feyde has shifted as far as possible to escape Helioth and Hassana, materialising on the outside of a vast dome that covers the city. The aliens appear but no longer wish to kill her as she is now outside the Empire. Feyde explains about the mind swap and the aliens determine to fix things. As the Doctor and Jodafra race to the area, Helioth and Hassana halt the duel and place the minds back in their respective bodies, though there is a moment when Izzy and Destrii’s memories mix. The Matriax is furious that Destrii has made a mockery of the ceremony and attacks the girl, but Destrii takes a knife and stabs her mother in the guts. Jodafra is horrified; the thread has been cut. Feyde sees aliens like Helioth and Hassana emerge from the landscape around the dome. There are ten billion of them, and Shayde detects that they are angry. The beings advance on the domed city, scattering the molecules of anything in their path. Feyde joins the Doctor and Izzy. The Doctor has a plan. He tells Feyde to fire at Helioth and Hassana’s hands to separate them. She does, which leaves them powerless and blind. Heading for Jodafra’s home, the Count explains that Oblivion was once a rich world where the ruling houses made proud war. But weapons were created that ate the flesh from within, mutating minds, destroying memories. The capital city was sealed off in a dome, leaving the population to die. Six months later, a masked ball was held in the palace, with everyone disguised as a beast, but a psychokinetic pulse reshaped their molecular structure so they became the creatures they resembled. The cause was the Horde, the transformed remnants of the population. They were childlike and eager for entertainment, hence the arena, but also held some memory of the Matriax as their ruler. Izzy tries to comfort Destrii, now knowing what she went through, but Destrii rounds on her - at least she had parents who cared. Destrii goes outside to offer herself to the Horde for punishment for killing her mother. But the punishment transforms Destrii into the queen of the Horde. Izzy attempts to talk Destrii round, while the Doctor follows Jodafra. The Count plans to escape in his chronon capsule. He has adapted the engines to feed on the psionic energy generated by the Horde, but Destrii senses his plan and goes to him. She raises the chronon capsule into the air and the Horde follow, but it is a trick and Destrii is returned to flesh and blood and the Horde become fuel for Jodafra’s ship which takes off for worlds anew. Izzy has learned a lot from her experiences, including people can’t help being who they are and shouldn’t be afraid of who they are. She proves she no longer is by kissing Fey, but she wants now to go home to Stockbridge to try to put things right between her and her parents. The Doctor returns her the same night she left in the TARDIS.
Characters
References
- The Doctor mentions Alpha's Dalek civillisation on Kyrol.
Notes
- This strip confirms Izzy's orientation as a homosexual hinted way back since DWM: Tooth and Claw.
Continuity
to be added
Timeline
- This story takes place after DWM: Uroboros
- This story takes place before DWM: Where Nobody Knows Your Name
External links
to be added
