The object of its fear was Azmodan, who had corrupted its race in a split second, not the Doctor before it.
It existed at a point in the past and had come to the Doctor through this rift.
But that fear of the Hell Lord shifted to the angry man before it because of the Doctor's words.
The Doctor seemed struck by the question.
Regardless, he had deprived two races of the chance to continue existing.
One of them was his own people.
"I... had no choice."
For the first time in his conversation with the Dalek, the Doctor's tone became soft and painful.
"What about the Time Lords?"
The Dalek asked.
In its memory, it was only in a standoff with the Time Lords and the planet Gallifrey.
The Daleks had been corrupted into demons by the Hell Lord, so what of the Time Lords?
It didn't know that Azmodan had only managed to corrupt the Daleks—a race filled with anger and destruction—before being captured by the Circle of Arreat.
Those Time Lords were currently hosting the three Barbarian Ancients, incidentally preparing gifts.
His question made the Doctor hesitate.
Finally, he said lightly: "Dead too."
After a brief pause, he continued.
"Burned with you. The Last Great Time War is over. Everyone lost."
The Doctor's words were flat and filled with nostalgia, but there was no regret in them.
He didn't regret doing it, but that didn't stop it from hurting.
"Only the cowards survived."
The Dalek spoke in its electronic voice.
The others present said nothing.
They could all feel that pain. Though they couldn't empathize fully, they understood.
They understood that feeling like "the last human in the universe" must be painful.
"I picked up your little signal. 'I feel cold.' Poor little thing."
The Doctor spoke with a tone of pity, his expression shifting back to coldness before he lost control.
"But no one is coming. Because no one survived!"
"I am alone in the universe?"
"Yes."
The Doctor's final "Yes" carried pity. Perhaps facing an existence who shared his "affliction" brought a sense of relief through that shared fortune.
"So are you. We are the same."
The Dalek said. In its mind, imagination began to unfold.
They originally did not possess this ability.
In the Dalek's imagination, the demonized Daleks and the demonized Time Lords continued their battle.
Tentacles flying across the universe, slaughtering each other.
Two highly civilized races entangled in the most primitive forms, then dying.
This Dalek escaped the corruption of the Hell Lord because it was a "coward."
It didn't see the Barbarians appear in that world, nor did it see the Circle of Arreat shattered by Bul-Kathos.
It didn't know that Azmodan, who caused the Dalek tragedy, was currently keeping Andariel company inside the Black Soulstone.
"We are not the same. I am not... No, wait."
The Doctor was first angry, then relieved. All within a short sentence.
"Maybe we are the same. You make a point. You're right. I know what to do. I know what needs to be done. I know how to deal with you."
The Doctor drifted backward lightly, completely ignoring the strange look Rose Tyler gave him.
The Doctor acted like a madman. Or perhaps, in his past regenerations, the philosophical proposition of "I am not me" had already turned this Child of Time into a madman.
It was just that he still had reason, still could think.
Like a manic philosopher.
"Exterminate!"
The Doctor's lips curled into a cruel smile.
He casually picked up a Cyberman arm and pointed the Sonic Screwdriver at it.
Then he placed the arm on the Dalek before him, grabbed Rose Tyler, and pulled her away with him.
Zap!
Electric sparks flashed!
This was not unfamiliar to the Dalek.
The electricity released by Cybermen was one of their most common weapons.
If the Dalek were intact, this current wouldn't even count as damage.
But it was just a war survivor, energy nearly depleted, covered in wounds.
"Ahhh! Have mercy!"
The Dalek's electronic voice trembled as it cried out.
That sound wasn't caused by mechanical equipment, but by the creature slumped inside the pepper pot casing, a body that could only make such sounds.
The pepper pot had lost the ability to protect its frail flesh. The Dalek was screaming in pain.
"Buddy, if you want to kill it, I can lend you a gun."
Tony Stark, unable to bear the Doctor's actions, casually took a pistol from Damico's hand and spoke to the Doctor.
"Why should I? You have no mercy!"
The Doctor roared, completely ignoring Tony's words.
He used the Sonic Screwdriver to activate all the power in the Cyberman arm, making the electric light even more brilliant.
"Help!"
The Dalek began to cry for help. Constantine threw a strange stone glowing with green light, knocking the Cyberman arm away.
Damico and Tony grabbed the Doctor by his arms, one on each side.
Faced with such cruelty, neither could stand by and watch.
Constantine's action was born from a sudden pity in his heart; the cowardice in his complete soul had transformed into kindness.
He saved the Dalek from the crisis.
"Why? Why are you treating him like this?"
Constantine stopped Rose, who wanted to go forward and comfort the Dalek, and asked the Doctor.
The Ancient One and Odin remained silent, watching everything unfold.
Merlin and Agamotto had passed on the message; they would do nothing more.
They only had to wait for the Doctor to personally witness one event, and then this would all end.
Everything here no longer held value for them.
So they watched indifferently, letting it happen.
"Daleks are the most dangerous race in the universe! You should kill it!"
The Doctor screamed frantically. Damico locked the Doctor in a chokehold from behind.
Then Tony silently walked forward and stood in front of the Dalek.
Curiosity is the most precious quality of every scientist, and Tony was among the best.
"What exactly are you? To make those Cybermen fear you... or your kind?"
Tony examined the pepper pot before him, the arc reactor on his chest glowing.
The Dalek raised its arm—shaped like a toilet plunger—toward Tony.
"Get away from him! He's dangerous!"
"Yes, his situation is dangerous. You almost killed him just now!"
Rose lost her temper at the Doctor, while Nimue watched silently from the side.
The Blood Queen sensed that everything was about to settle, meaning her death was not far off.
She was waiting. Waiting for the Doctor to make his painful decision.
Nimue thought to herself that she wanted to meet her end in the Doctor's arms.
That embrace was the only place, aside from her mother's arms, where she had felt warmth.
The Blood Queen silently made final arrangements for her own end.
"What are you going to do? Sucker me to death with a plunger?"
Tony spoke casually, then placed his hand on the Dalek's dome, rubbing it.
Although his words weren't very nice and carried mockery, he meant well.
The sound of metal on metal was somewhat harsh.
"Dalek needs energy!"
The Dalek pressed its arm against Tony's chest. There lay the strongest energy source in the immediate vicinity, one the Dalek could understand.
Moreover, Tony's suit could connect to the network. It needed to search for information on time travelers.
That way, it could attempt to find news of other Daleks.
It needed orders.
The moment the Dalek touched Tony, the energy in the reactor on his chest drained away like a floodgate opening.
"Jarvis!"
Tony called out to Jarvis hurriedly, but received no response.
Dalek technology was completely beyond what Earth's technology could match.
Even though Jarvis was considered a top-tier AI, Tony's tech was completely defenseless before a Dalek.
In an instant, everything the Dalek wanted to do was finished.
It didn't take all of Tony's energy, only acquiring enough to activate its energy shields.
After everything it had encountered, its first priority was to protect itself.
All accessible information on the network was acquired, stored within its pepper-pot body.
Correspondingly, Tony suffered no harm other than a fright.
"Did you find anything?"
The Doctor spoke with a strange smile. He was certain this Dalek would find nothing.
When the Dalek absorbed the energy, he realized this Dalek was different, so he hadn't worried about Tony's safety.
"Weeping Angels! The Silence! Why are there none! Why is there nothing!"
The Dalek shouted loudly. It found no news regarding Daleks.
"Where shall I get my orders!?"
"You are just a soldier without a commander." The Doctor's eyes flickered. Hearing the two names the Dalek spoke, he understood what this time rift had brought to the world.
But the fact that the Weeping Angels and their ilk hadn't immediately pursued him, a Time Lord, made the Doctor realize that this world possessed powers capable of countering them.
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