Retrocognitive | 10th Doctor ²

𝐱𝐯. 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐚𝐳𝐚𝐫𝐮𝐬 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 (𝟐)

"Lazarus!" Cass shouted, aware of the glow that had overtaken her eyes, knowing that she had to draw his attention away from the innocent humans, especially Martha's family, which he'd begun staring at, "Leave them the hell alone! Pick on someone your own size, you ugly motherfucker!"

Thankfully, her method worked, since he turned to face her, allowing the group time to quickly run to the exit.

"What's the point if you can't control it? The mutation's too strong. Killing those people won't help you." She snarled, veins beginning to tint golden beneath her skin, as the Doctor took up her side, continuing her thought, "You're a fool, a vain old man who thought he could defy Nature. Only Nature got her own back, didn't she? You're a joke, Lazarus! A footnote in the history of failure!"

Finished, his hand reached down to wrap around hers, fingers weaving tightly together as they ran back to the door, hurrying back up the stairs hoping to lose the mutated human following them long enough to cause a diversion of some sorts.

Preferably of the exploding kind.

They reached a service hallway of some kind, filled with various pipes lined along the walls, along which they tried to creep silently, Cass making a concentrated effort to push the vortex down, to keep her skin from lighting golden.

Lazarus was still following them, his footsteps far louder than their own, voice monstrous as he hissed, "It's no good. Neither of you can stop me."

"Is that the same arrogance you had when you swore nothing had gone wrong with your device?" The Doctor called back, pulling his tether in front of him, shielding her from being spotted first, trying to keep himself in the line of fire first.

He could feel her irritation at the move, but he ignored it. She did what she felt she had to to keep him safe, he would do the same.

Always.

Lazarus chuckled, "The arrogance is yours. You can't stand in the way of progress."

The redhead snorted, voice amused as she replied, "is that what we're calling feeding on living, innocent people now? Progress? Because I promise you, in most people's books, that's called being delusional."

"It is a necessary sacrifice."

"Unfortunately," she began, her tether finishing, "That's not your decision to make."

Suddenly, the lights came back on, flooding the hallway they were in with brightness, Cass closing her eyes in aggravation since they were no longer hidden.

Knowing what was about to occur, she quickly pulled her tether back, tugging on the constant sea of power in her and aiming at a specific spot on the ceiling, Lazarus yelling in pain instead of taunting them, as he'd been about to do.

Quickly, she pulled the Doctor behind her as they ran down the corridor, explaining, "He was on the ceiling, since he's also spider-man now. Since I can't reveal much without making my own cerebral arteries explode, at least I can intervene."

They enter one of the labs, the Doctor running to the various gas pipes, opening them, while she headed towards a large battery attached to the main light fixture, ripping its covering out and leaving all of the wires exposed.

When they heard Lazarus approaching, a hand wrapped around her arm, tugging her into her tether's chest and he ducked down, hiding the both of them behind one of the many tables.

"More hide-and-seek? How disappointing. Why don't either of you come out and face me?" The scorpion-man murmured amusedly.

Cass rolled her eyes, drawling sarcastically, "Have you happened to cross any mirrors or reflective surfaces lately?"