Out of the Dark (Doctor Who)

***Out of the Dark*** is the twelfth and final episode of the first series of *Doctor Who* produced by *The 56Studios*. It concludes the story of *Skaro* and culminates the entire season.

## Story

The convoy of armored vehicles roared down the streets of London as the siren blared through the air. Civilians ran for shelter. Their screams of panic joined the warning cry.

Eventually, the convoy came to a halt, its breaks screeching as they did. A split second later the doors opened and a number of soldiers dressed in black gear poured out. They all had assault weapons. Leading them was a man dressed in similar attire, but his armor was slightly less, and he appeared to be more than a foot soldier.

Colonel Darren James looked up at the sky, his expression grim. At his side, a radio buzzed. Absently, he picked it up and held it to his mouth.

“Yes ma’am?”

“*Colonel James,*” came Kate Stewart’s voice, slightly distorted. “*Where are you?*”

“Downtown London,” he replied.

“*Can you see the ships?*”

He continued to stare at the three massive motherships hanging in the sky.

“Oh, I can see them, alright.”

“*Are they doing anything? Any indication of an attack?*” Kate’s voice buzzed.

“No. Nothing yet,” he replied.

“*Stay alert. Anything could happen,*” she said.

“Yes ma’am.”

Darren replaced his radio on his vest and readied his gun. He and the other soldiers were standing, fixated on the three massive ships hovering in the air. This wasn’t the first invasion he had seen. He had been a U.N.I.T. Major during the Cybermen and Dalek invasions years ago, and he had barely survived with his life both times.

Now they were back, with a new ally, threatening to destroy them again. And he knew that he wouldn’t let them do it.

“Incoming!” one of the soldiers suddenly yelled, aiming her gun down the street. They all turned to see a glaring light coming from nowhere. It suddenly exploded outwards, blinding them for a moment.

After the light faded, they saw more than a dozen towering Cybermen standing in the middle of their streets. The one in the lead had black handle-bars, denoted their authority. They raised their weapons at the metal giants, who stared blankly at them.

The colonel cleared his throat and stepped forward, his gun ready. “On behalf of the Unified Intelligence Taskforce, I am ordering your complete and unconditional surrender!”

The Cyber-Leader watched him for a moment before responding.

“*DELETE!*” it yelled, its mouth glowing blue.

In unison, the Cybermen raised their right arms. Their forearms folded open and a gun rose from it. A second later, blue bolts of electricity shot from them. The soldiers took refuge behind their vehicles as they flew overhead. As one, the Cybermen stomped forward, continuing their attacks as they did so.

Darren, pressing himself against the side of the car, pulling out his radio.

“We have contact! We’re pinned down by the Cybermen! I repeat. The Cybermen are here!”

The Doctor, Clara, Kate, and Osgood watched skirmishes unfolding on multiple monitors. They saw Daleks, Cybermen, and Replicators, all coming to conflict with the U.N.I.T. and British forces.

“It’s across the city,” Kate said.

“Across the world,” Osgood corrected, staring at a screen. “There are attacks in every major city across the globe. Washington, New York, Tokyo, Seoul, Moscow. Everywhere.”

Kate turned to the Doctor. “What is going on? Why the hell are they attacking?”

He was looking down. “Because of me.”

“That’s obvious. But why?”

Taking a deep breath, he began to speak. “There’s a Time Lord called the Rani. She’s an old enemy of mine. She’s attacking the Earth because I wouldn’t turn myself over to her.”

“Why does she want you to turn yourself over?” Osgood asked.

“No idea.”

“So she’s attacking the Earth as what? Blackmail? Contingency?” Kate stepped towards him.

He nodded. “I refused to give myself over, and she’s attacking the Earth as a result.”

“You’ve endangered my planet because you didn’t want to give yourself over? Why would you do that?” Kate sounded disgusted.

“You know very well why I would do that, Kate!” he growled slightly. “I’m not going to let the Rani win. Not there, and she will certainly not win here! I guarantee you of that!”

The two stared at each other fine before Kate broke their gaze. “Okay,” she crossed her arms. “What’s your plan, then?”

“Well, I imagine that, since she’s coordinating this whole assault, that she’ll be close by. We have to find her.”

“Could we track her TARDIS?” Clara asked.

“She’s probably got it shielded,” the Doctor replied. “She’s too smart to not to-.”

At that moment the screens began to flash.

“TARDIS materialization detected!” Osgood announced.

“Where?” Kate walked towards the screens.

“Give me a second,” Osgood began typing furiously on her keyboard. A second later the view from a satellite appeared on the screens, showing the top of a building, where a woman and a large metal cylinder stood.

“That’s her!” Clara said.

“What’s the address?” the Doctor asked.

“There,” the woman hit a key and the address appeared on the screen.

“She clearly wants to be found,” Clara observed.

“I’ll order a military strike,” Kate picked up a phone receiver and began dialing a number.

“Wait!” the Doctor said. “Don’t do that!”

“Why not? We have her in our sights.”

“Let me confront her,” he pleaded. “Let me convince her to stop this. Let me save her. I believe that she can be.”

“She has directly orchestrated this attack, Doctor,” she replied. “It is my duty as head of U.N.I.T. to take her out.”

“And it is my duty as a Time Lord to keep her alive,” he retorted. “I will not let you kill her.”

Kate put down the receiver. “Dammit, Doctor,” she muttered.

“Thank you,” the Doctor said sincerely.

He then turned to Clara. “Come on. We haven’t any time to lose.”

Together, the two of them began walking towards the exit. As they reached it, the Doctor stopped and turned to Kate.

“I will save your planet, Kate,” he said. “I promise.”

“You’d better,” she replied.

He nodded, before leaving with Clara.

“Why aren’t we taking the TARDIS?” Clara asked as they stepped out of the Tower of London. They watched the three ships hovering the sky as explosions echoed in their ears.

“I can’t risk losing it,” the Doctor answered. “Not to the Rani, or the Daleks, or the Cybermen.”

“So we’re going to have to make our way through a war zone in order to get to her?”

“Yes,” he replied.

“Great.”

They walked along the street at a quick pace. The ships continued to hang motionless in the lower atmosphere. The sound of explosions and gunfire got closer as they walked towards the city.

“Do you really think that you’ll be able to talk the Rani down?” Clara said worriedly.

He didn’t respond.

“Doctor?” she pressed.

“I don’t know,” he shook his head. “We’ve never had the best relationship. But I’ve got to try. Your world is at stake.”

“I believe that I can help with that.”

A woman dressed in a purple Victorian dress with a black necktie was sitting on a bench ahead of them. She smiled as they slowed their pace.

“Missy?” the Doctor and Clara said together.

“Hello again,” she stood up. She walked towards them with a smile on her face.

“What are you doing here?” the Doctor asked.

“I’m here to help. Like before. Remember?” Missy replied. “When you lured into a trap by the Rani? And when you lost miss Clara here, your potato friend, and your lizard friend’s wife-thingy?”

“So you’re here to help? Why?”

“Out of the goodness of my hearts,” she said innocently.

“Honestly?”

“Honestly.”

The Doctor watched her for a moment. She did the same for him.

“You always come when I need you most, don’t you?”

“Yep.”

“Okay,” he said. “What’s your play?”

“What makes you think that I have a plan?”

“Because you always do.”

“You’d be right in assuming such,” she smiled broadly.

The Time Lord turned and looked at the three motherships hanging in the sky.

“You’re going to meet the Rani, right?” she said. “Good. I’m going to need a distraction, and that’ll make a perfect one.”

“Distraction for what, Missy?” Clara asked.

Missy turned back towards them. “Sabotage.”

“You’re going to sabotage their ships?”

“No,” Missy smiled broader. “*We’re* going to sabotage their ships.”

“What?” they asked together.

“Well, of course I’m going to need some help actually doing the sabotaging,” she said. “I only act like I can do anything.”

“So the Doctor goes and distracts the Rani while you and I attack their ships?” Clara ran a hand through her hair.

“That’s the affirmative,” Missy responded, a fake twang in her voice.

“How will you sabotage the ships?” the Doctor asked.

“Self-destroying black hole converters,” she explained. “We’ll plant them on each of the power cores of the ships, which will cause them to implode, and hopefully take the troops with them. They’re all on a hive mind system, right?”

“They should be.”

“Good.”

“Wait,” Clara said. “That would work?”

“It should,” both Time Lords replied.

Silence hung between them for a beat.

“Okay,” the Doctor said. “We shouldn’t delay anymore. Clara, stick with Missy. Missy,” he looked his fellow Time Lord in the eyes. “Keep her safe.”

“Yes sir!” Missy made a show of saluting.

“I’m dead serious, Missy,” he warned.

“So am I.”

He sighed. “Alright. Go.”

Clara suddenly hugged the Doctor. “Be safe,” she said.

“I will,” he replied.

After a moment, Clara let go of the Doctor, and with one last look at him, turned and left with Missy. He watched them go before turning and looking at the city. His face becoming determined, the Doctor set off in a run towards the Rani.

“EXTERMINATE!”

The bolt of blue energy shot through the air and hit the soldier in the chest. His skeleton lit up under his skin as he cried out in a pain. A second later the light was gone and he fell to the ground, dead. Darren James glanced at the body before getting up firing a number of rounds at the Dalek before ducking behind the car again as another bolt flew overhead.

The Daleks, Cybermen, and Replicators were making their way down the street, firing everything they had at the soldiers. They were gravely outmatched, and the colonel knew that.

“What do we do, sir?” one soldier came over to him, avoiding a bolt of electricity that narrowly hit him.

He thought about it for a moment. “Try a grenade. If those scumbots survive that, we’re screwed.”

The soldier looked at him for a moment before nodding. “Yes sir.”

Unhooking a grenade from his belt, he pulled the pin.

“GRENADE!” he yelled, tossing the sphere through the air.

It hit the ground and bounced towards the invaders. It rolled to a stop at the feet of the Cyber-Leader. The giant stopped and looked down at it.

“*Evasive manuve-*,” it said before the grenade went off, engulfing them in a fiery blast. Cybermen went flying through the air, parts of them breaking off from the shockwave or when they violently hit the ground. Replicators shattering into a million pieces as they were hit.

The soldiers cheered in celebration before a beam of blue light cut through the smoke and hit one of them, kill them instantly. They all snapped back to attention as the Daleks began to emerge from the dust.

“EXTERMINATE!” they cried, firing more bolts of energy at them.

“Fall back!” Darren yelled.

As one, the soldiers grabbed their equipment and began to move backwards down the street, firing at the Daleks as cover. The Daleks continued to fire at them, hitting a few of them as they went. Darren grabbed another grenade from his vest and threw it at them. Another explosion erupted, but seconds later, their enemy pushed through it.

“EXTERMINATE!” the Daleks yelled, continuing forward.

The Rani watched the smoke billowing across the city. She listened to the cries of extermination followed by yells of pain. She smiled as the sound of gunfire reached her ears.

A gentle breeze rustled her clothes and hair as she stood at the edge of the roof, watching the city of London becoming a battleground.

Across the roof behind her, the access hatch opened and the Doctor emerged through it. He saw the Rani standing there, slowly moving towards her. He saw that she had her gun in her hand. She didn’t turn, but heard him coming.

“Ah. Doctor. Glad to see that you made it.”

“You weren’t hard to find,” he replied, edging closer, subtly reaching into his inner pocket.

“Which is as I intended it,” the Rani said. “I needed you here.”

“To accept my surrender?” he managed to grab the sonic screwdriver.

“That’s what this whole thing is about.”

“I’m sorry to disappoint, then,” the Doctor pulled the sonic from his jacket and held it at his side.

“You see, I knew you would say that,” she said, still not looking at him. “That’s why this attack will keep going until you do surrender yourself.”

“Please, stop this,” he stopped several paces behind her, screwdriver still in hand.

“Stop this? I have the upper hand here,” the Rani chuckled. “I have the control.”

He raised the sonic screwdriver towards her, aiming it at her gun. “Don’t make me do th-.”

In the blink of an eye, she turned around and fired a ray of energy at him. The bolt hit the sonic screwdriver, blasting it into a million flaming pieces. He leaped back, holding his hand in pain. The Doctor looked from the shattered pieces of his sonic to the Time Lord smiling at him.

“Don’t make you do what?” she asked mockingly, a smug smile on her face. “And, I learned from last time.”

Missy began flipping switches and turning nobs. Resting her hand on a lever, she pulled down, and the ship shook as the TARDIS began to dematerialize. The time rotor began to rhythmically rise and fall, flashing purple as it went.

“Where are the black hole devices?” Clara asked as Missy left the console and began rummaging around the room.

“Right here,” she replied, producing a stack of what appeared to be black briefcases. She brought them over and set them on a chair.

She examined them “How do they work?”

“Just mount it to the power core and it’ll automatically engage,” Missy slapped her hand down on them. “And we control them with this,” she grabbed her small device from her pocket.

“So we’ll rig them all to blow together?”

“That’s the plan.”

Clara thought for a moment. “Which ship are we going to do first?”

“The Replicator one. Then the Cyberman one. And finally the Daleks,” she explained, returning to the console.

“Seems appropriate to do the Dalek one last,” Clara leaned on the console.

“That’s why I picked it.”

“SUPREME DALEK,” the yellow Dalek rolled towards him.

“WHAT IS IT, ETERNAL DALEK?” the black-armored Dalek turned towards him.

“I AM CONCERNED ABOUT OUR ALLIANCE WITH THE TIME LORD,” the Eternal replied. “I WORRY THAT IT IS NOT IN OUR BEST INTEREST TO ALLY OURSELVES WITH THEIR KIND.”

“DO NOT SPEAK THIS WAY!” the Supreme rolled forward. “AS LONG AS I SEE A BENEFIT IN THIS ALLIANCE, WE WILL CONTINUE TO ALIGN OURSELVES WITH THE TIME LORD.”

“I DOUBT THAT THE RANI WILL DELIVER ON HER PROMISES,” the Eternal retorted. “I BELIEVE THAT WE ARE MERELY A MEANS TO AN END. I BELIEVE THAT OUR TRUST IS HER IS MISPLACED.”

“DO NOT QUESTION MY AUTHORITY! YOUR SOLE DUTY IS TO PERSEVERANCE OF THE DALEK RACE.”

“THIS *IS* ABOUT THE PERSEVERANCE OF THE DALEK RACE.”

“LEAVE THIS CHAMBER IMMEDIATELY,” the Supreme Dalek turned away.

The Eternal Dalek watched his superior for a moment before turning and leaving the chamber. He traveled down hallways, passing other Daleks as he did so.

Eventually, he came to a door. Opening it, he entered the chamber. The yellow Dalek stopped before a large dark gray orb that hovered in the middle of the room. He stared at it.

On the Replicator’s ship, Missy’s TARDIS silently faded into existence. It was disguised as one of the pillars in the hallway. After it solidified, the door opened and Clara and Missy stepped out. Clara was carrying one of the black hole converters as Missy examined the hallway.

“Where’s the power core?” Clara whispered.

She pressed a finger to her lips. “This way, probs,” she said, walking to the right.

“That’s not a definite answer,” she replied, beginning to follow.

“But it’s what I got.”

Clara thought about this statement for a moment before shrugging.

The two of them made their way stealthily through the ship. To their surprise, it seemed that the ship was primarily abandoned. They saw a few Replicators, but they were far away and going the opposite direction from them. Clara found this curious, but she wasn’t about to complain about their apparent stroke of luck.

Finally, they reached a large circular door.

“This is it,” Missy said, stepping up to the pad on the side.

“How are we going to get in?” Clara asked.

“With a little magic,” the Time Lord replied, pulling out her rectangular device and attaching it to the pad. At once the pad lit up, as well as the device, and a countdown in Gallifreyan symbols appeared.

“Won’t be long now,” she said.

The two sat watching the device when they heard something behind them.

“Identify yourselves.”

Turning around, they were met with a Replicator standing before them. Its weapon was raised and primed.

“Uh…” Clara took a step backwards.

“Identify yourselves,” the Replicator repeated.

“We’re just trying to break into your power core and attach a black hole converter to blow up your ship,” Missy stood up, taking a step towards the drone.

“You are committing sabotage?” the drone asked.

“Indeed we are,” the Time Lord smiled.

“You will be eliminated,” the Replicator readied its weapon.

“No, we won’t,” Missy said before she raised a small, tubular device at the drone. A fraction of a second later, a blast of orange energy shot from it. The blast hit the Replicator and caused it to explode into a million pieces.

As the smoke cleared, Missy lowered her arm.

“What was that?” Clara asked.

“Laser screwdriver,” she said, holding up the device. “Thought that I’d start using it again.”

They stood silent for a moment. The door then clicked, before sliding open. Turning, they looked into the entrance.

“Come on,” the Time Lord walked forward, grabbing her device as she passed.

Inside the chamber, the power core was a large glass tube that ran from the floor to the ceiling, surrounded by various pieces of equipment. Flickering blue energy traveled through the tube, casting an eerie glow on them as they stepped into the room.

“Whoa,” Clara said.

“Quickly now!” Missy rushed to the power core. Clara joined her, holding the black hole in her hands.

Missy grabbed the device and pressed it against the glass of the power core. It beeped for a second before there was a flash and it fused itself to the tube. It then clicked before popping open, revealing a screen and keypad. Missy pressed a red button, which Clara assumed was to activate the remote control.

“Okay,” Missy said, stepping away. “Let’s go.”

Together, the two of them ran out of the chamber and down the corridor towards the TARDIS.

Kate continued to watch video of the soldiers battling against the invaders. Her arms were crossed, and her eyes scanned from screen to screen.

“Come on, Doctor,” she muttered.

She saw flashes of light and soldiers falling seconds later. She heard the distorted cries of the Daleks, Cybermen, and Replicators as they came through the video feeds.

“Our forces are being pushed back across the city, ma’am,” one of the officials said over their shoulder. “We can’t outmatch them!”

“Hurry, Doctor, hurry,” Kate muttered.

The sound of echoing footsteps filled the room a moment later. Turning, they saw an officer rushing into the room. He skidded to a halt, catching his breath.

“What’s going on?” Kate stepped towards him.

“We’ve been breached!” he managed. “We’ve been breached!”

“By whom?”

“All of them!” the officer replied. “They’re coming.”

Distantly, they heard the cries of the Daleks and Cybermen, followed by the yells of pain as the U.N.I.T. soldiers fell before them.

Kate turned to Osgood. “Seal the room. Now.”

Quickly, she turned in her chair and began typing into her keyboard. Pressing enter, the lights in the room suddenly turned red. There was a grinding noise before a large circular piece of metal covered the entrance to the room. Above, sheets of metal came down over the windows near the ceiling. There was a definite thud, signifying that the room was now sealed.

“What do we do now, ma’am?” Osgood asked, looking worried.

Kate walked over to her desk and entered a code into her own computer. On the west wall of the room, a section of the stone wall split from the rest of it and slid away, revealing a hidden room, which held several racks of weapons.

“Arm yourselves,” she said grimly.

“Hand yourself over. Now,” the Rani demanded, aiming her weapon at him.

“You know that I won’t,” he replied, still nursing his burnt hand.

“Do you really want to let the Earth die for this? For you?”

“No. Of course I don’t.”

“But that is what you are allowing to happen, Doctor,” she said. “You are allowing the Earth die because you’re vain.”

“I’m not giving myself up because I know that you can stop. It’s not too late to stop, Rani. You can end this. Right here. Right now.”

“I can’t.”

“Of course you can! There’s no real that you can’t!”

“You don’t understand! You don’t know what’s at stake!” she sounded slightly desperate.

He watched her for a moment. “Who’s making you do this?”

“What?”

“Who’s making you do this, because someone obviously is.”

“No one is making me do this,” she replied.

“It’s obvious that someone is.”

The Rani chewed her lip before continuing. “Hand yourself over.”

“Let me help you.”

“Hand yourself over,” she repeated.

“I’m not going to do that, Rani,” the Doctor stood straight. “I’m sorry, but I won’t.”

She stared at him for a long moment before her gun lit up, glowing with an orange light.

“Well, if can’t take you, then I’ll have to kill you. Better to have you dead than to make me a failure.”

“This way,” Missy whispered, leading Clara through the corridors of the Cyberman ship. There were more patrols here, and they were forced to move slowly and quietly. Clara’s heart skipped a beat every time she heard the stomping feet of the Cybermen approaching.

At one point, they stopped at the edge of an intersection in the corridors. They heard the heavy footfalls of a Cyberman down one of the corridors. Missy peered around the corner. A Cyberman was stomping away from them. After it disappeared around a corner, Missy nodded..

“Okay, let’s go.”

The Time Lord and the woman made their way silently down the hallway. Clara continued to carry the black hole converter, trying not to bounce it too much, in case it suddenly decided to go off. However, Missy was picking up her pace, and Clara knew that she had to do the same if she wanted to keep up with her.

“I think that we’re almost there,” Missy said as they approached another intersection

Rounding the corner, they came to a stop in front of a large metal door. Beside the door or either side were towering Cybermen. They inclined their heads towards them as they stopped.

“*Intruders detected!*” they took a step forward. “*Delete!*”

Raising their arms, their weapons unfolded from their forearms. Electricity crackled in the barrels of their guns.

“*Delete!*” both said in unison.

Clara and Missy ducked as bolts of electricity shot over their heads. Sparks exploded above them. The Cybermen began stomping forward towards, forcing the two women to get up and run back down the corridor. Their footsteps were drowned out by the thundering march of the Cybermen towards them.

“Use your screwdriver!” Clara said desperately. “Use the screwdriver, Missy!”

Missy fumbled through her pockets as she ran, looking for the laser screwdriver. “It’s around here somewhere…”

“How can you not find it?” they swung around the corner, the Cybermen still pursuing. “What do you all have in your pockets?”

“They’re bigger on the inside!” she replied. “Get off my back!”

Finally, she pulled the laser screwdriver from her pocket. Skidding to a halt, she turned around and aimed it at the Cybermen. A second later a beam of energy shot from the screwdriver and hit one of the giants in the chest. It stopped and yelled in what seemed to be pain before its head exploded, falling to the ground a second later.

“*Delete!*” the second said, continuing its march forward.

It moved to fire at her, but Missy was too quick, and fired another bolt of energy into its chest. The Cyberman cried in agony before its head also exploded in a fiery blast. Its body rocked in place for a moment before it fell to the ground with a thundering crash.

“That went well,” Missy replaced the laser screwdriver in her pocket.

“Are you kidding?” Clara said, slightly shaken. “Every Cyberman on the ship heard probably that!”

“All the more reason to get here as quickly as possible!” the Time Lord strode forward, back towards the power core.

Clara watched her go before jogging forward, still holding the black hole converter in her hand. They retraced their path, finding their way back to their destination.

Quickly, Missy pulled out her small device to bypass the security. She began typing on the screen, seemingly looking for something.

“I’ve encountered the Cybermen many times before,” she said. “I’ve built a little bit of an app for their software.”

Pressing a button, she then attached the device to the pad. On contact, the screen on both glitched, before being replaced by a stylized M, which Clara took to obviously stand for ‘Missy.’ The screens flickered together for a moment before both went green, followed by the doors sliding open. Missy clapped her hands together triumphantly, stepping forward and detaching her device from the pad.

“Oh, I am *very* good.”

“Do all Time Lords brag about their abilities?” Clara asked, following her as she walked into the power core.

“We’re Time Lords, my dear,” Missy said over her shoulder. “Our very existence is a brag.”

They walked into the chamber. It was different from the last one, in that the glass column with energy shooting through it was replaced with a solid metal column with various wires and nobs covering it. Steam shot from it, filling the room with what looked like fog. Various consoles surrounded it.

Walking up to one of them, Clara handed the device to Missy, who promptly placed it on the console. There was a flash as it fused itself to the metal, becoming one of with. The box then popped open, revealing the screen and keypad. Missy pressed the red button, and stepped away.

“There we are-.”

Suddenly, the lights in the room went red and a loud blaring filled the air. Looking around, their heard stomping in the distance.

“What’s going on?”

“We’ve been found out,” Missy said. “Time to go.”

Bolting from the room, they ran down the corridors of the ship towards the TARDIS. As they ran, the stomping of the Cybermen grew progressively closer.

“How did they find us?” Clara asked as they ran.

“I don’t know,” Missy replied. “But we’ll have to move quickly, now that they’re onto us.”

They kept running.

The Supreme Dalek watched the destruction on the holographic screen of the ship. His blue eye narrowed to watch the Daleks, Cybermen, and Replicators fighting the human soldiers.

“PATHETIC,” he announced. “HUMANKIND WILL CEASE TO EXIST. DALEKS REIGN SUPREME.”

“DALEKS REIGN SUPREME,” the Daleks on the bridge repeated.

The Supreme Dalek continued to watch the screen for a moment when a beeping noise filled the air. He turned to one of the terminals, where four Daleks were stationed.

“EXPLAIN.”

“WE ARE RECEIVING A TRANSMISSION FROM THE CYBERSHIP,” one of the Daleks replied.

“PROJECT ON SCREEN,” he turned back to the holographic display. The feed of the destruction cut out for a moment before being replaced by the face of the Cyber-Lord.

“*Supreme Dalek,*” the Cyber-Lord said.

“WHAT IS IT?” the Supreme Dalek narrowed its eye.

“*There has been a breach on our ship by two humanoids. We believe that they were here to sabotage us.*”

“YOU THINK THAT THEY ARE SABOTAGING ALL OUR SHIPS?”

“*Affirmative.*”

“I WILL INCREASE MY PATROLS,” the Supreme Dalek answered. “THEY WILL BE EXTERMINATED.”

“*I will inform the Rani,*” the Cyber-Lord said.

“THERE IS NO NEED TO ALERT THE TIME LORD,” his three indicator lights flashed. “I WILL HANDLE THE SITUATION.”

The Cyberman watched him for a moment.

“*So be it.*”

The feed suddenly cut out, leaving a field on static on the holographic screen. The Supreme Dalek turned to the other Daleks on the bridge.

“INCREASE SECURITY. WE ARE BEING ATTACKED.”

“WE OBEY,” was the chorus.

As several of the Daleks rolled off the bridge, the Supreme Dalek turned back towards the holographic screen as the footage of the destruction was restored.

“WE WILL NOT FAIL.”

Clara and Missy had made it to the latter’s ship. The Cybermen had nearly caught up with them before they had returned to the TARDIS. They were now fading through the time vortex towards the Dalek ship.

Clara was watching the time rotor as it rose and fell in the middle of the console, purple light pulsated from it. A moment later, the rotor fell to a halt, and the ship shuddered as they landed. Missy stood up and began striding towards the door. Clara quickly grabbed the last black hole converter and followed the Time Lord.

They stepped out of the doors of the TARDIS into a tubular hallway. The hexagonal panels on the walls glowed with a red light.

“Does the red light mean…?” Clara trailed off.

“That they’re ready for us? Yes,” Missy nodded, “I believe it does.”

There was a crackle from around them. “*INTRUDERS DETECTED! EXTERMINATE THE INTRUDERS! EXTERMINATE!*”

“Whelp,” the Time Lord clapped her hands together. “Time to run!”

Together, the two ran down the corridor, their footsteps echoing as they went. The flashing red glow followed them as they went, a constant reminder of the urgency of their task. The Dalek’s message repeated several times, ringing in their ears. They turned several corners as they, making their way through the ship.

“Do you know where we’re going?” Clara asked.

“I’ve been on more Dalek ships than TARDISes,” Missy replied. “It shouldn’t be too different.”

They continued running. Clara was tired of the constant workout she seemed to be getting today, even if it helped her shave off a few pounds. Her legs ached and her lungs burned, however, and she wished it would stop.

Making their way through the ship, they passed through several corridors and intersection. As they passed through one particular intersection, they saw a Dalek rolling down it. It saw them as they ran by.

“INTRUDERS DETECTED! EXTERMINATE!” it cried.

“Run!” Missy yelled, dragging Clara along with her.

A beam of light shot past them, striking the wall in a spray of sparks. They thundered down the hallway. Behind them, the Dalek turned the corner, continuing its pursuit. Rolling after them, the Dalek fired more blasts of radiation at them, narrowly missing them as they did so.

“EXTERMINATE! EXTERMINATE! EXTERMINATE!” the Dalek yelled.

The two women turned another corner at an intersection and found themselves in front of a large circular door for the third time that day. Quickly, Missy produced her handheld device and attached it to the console. It buzzed for as it worked.

“EXTERMINATE!” the Dalek yelled.

The device continued to work agonizingly slowly. The Dalek drew closer.

“Come on, Missy!” Clara said, exasperated.

“Just another seco-,” the Time Lord replied when she was cut off by the lights on the door turning green and the door sliding open.

Instantly, Clara and Missy jumped inside. Missy grabbed her device and activated the console one the other side. The door immediately began to close, just as the Dalek appeared on the other side.

“EXTERMINATE!” it yelled, firing another blast. A spray of sparks flew through as the door sealed itself.

Missy then pressed a button on her device, which caused the control console to go red. There was a loud *clunk*, signifying that the door had been sealed. They stood still, catching their breath for a moment.

“We can’t rest long,” Clara took in deep lungfuls of air.

“No. We can’t,” Missy said, pushing herself off the wall. She grabbed the case from Clara and ran to the power core.

The power core of the Dalek ship was a ball of ever-shifting energy, with two large metal electromagnets above and below it. There were a series of consoles surrounding the bottom magnet, blinking with light. Missy ran over to it and began setting the device. Clara watched her when there was a loud bang from outside the door.

“They’re trying to get in,” she said.

“*EXTERMINATE!*” they heard through the door.

Missy finished setting the device, standing still and watching the console. “They’ve surrounded us. We can’t escape.”

“So what do we do?”

“We could just sacrifice ourselves for the greater good,” Missy suggested.

“I’m not dying here today,” Clara replied. “There has to be another way.”

The Time Lord thought about it for a moment, before her eyes lit up. “That’s it!” she said, excitedly, beginning to move around the console.

“What?”

“If we disable the stabilizers the ship, we could probably make an escape,” she began turning knobs and pulling levers.

Clara stepped up to her. “Won’t that make it hard for *us* to escape?”

“Maybe, but it’s our only way out.”

Clara thought about it for a moment. Outside, it sounded as if even more Daleks had arrived. Taking a deep breath, she nodded.

“Let’s do it-.”

As soon as the words left her mouth, Missy hit a switch. Instantaneously, the ship shook, before the room began to tilting, causing them to lose their balance. They hung onto the console for support. Outside, they heard the yells of Daleks as they toppled away from the door. A warning siren pierced their ears.

“How are we supposed to get out of here?” Clara asked.

Missy looked below them, where the door stood. “Slide.”

“What-?” Clara asked, but Missy had already let go and was sliding across the black floor.

“WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!” she exclaimed.

As she fell, she pulled out her device and pressed a button on it. A second later, the door slid open, and she passed through it and out of sight.

Gathering her courage, Clara let go and glided down the titled floor and towards the door.

“I don’t want to do this,” the Rani said. “But I will if I have to.”

He watched her gun. “Then do it. I’ve lived too long, anyway.”

She didn’t move.

“What are you waiting for?”

“I only kill if I have to,” she replied, her voice slightly strained.

“Like when you had all those people killed on the *Casarova*? Or everyone else that you’ve killed over the years?” he narrowed his eyes. “Don’t act like you’re averse to killing.”

“I was *ordered* to kill all those people at the party,” her voice cracked now. “That’s how the plan worked.”

“I thought that you weren’t working for anyone?” the Doctor pressed.

She fumbled. “I… I don’t… I don’t know… I-I c-can’t…”

He took a step forwards. “Rani, please.”

The Time Lord seemed to regain herself. “I will repeat this one more time: if you do not hand yourself over to me, I will destroy the Earth. Last warning.”

“The fact that you’ve stalled so much, and refused to put an end to me, makes you lose your credibility.”

“I’m done playing games, Doctor!” the Rani replied, shaking slightly. “Hand yourself over! Surrender!”

“Please, Rani. Stop this,” he looked at her in the eyes, “in the name of who you used to be. Who *we* used to be.”

A tear streaked down her face as she looked at him. Wiping it away, she readied her gun again. It glowed with energy.

“Goodbye, Doctor,” she said.

Energy began to radiate from the weapon. The Doctor watched it in horror, before he realized that she was about to fire. Taking a deep breath, he resigned to his fate.

An earsplitting explosion filled the air. Looking up, the two Time Lords watched as three balls of fire hung in the air where the ships had been just seconds prior. The blasts slowly blazed through the hazy sky when they began to retract. Light flickered before voids of darkness appeared in the centers of the blazes, sucking the fire into them.

A second later the explosions were gone, replaced by black holes, which disappeared seconds later.

“What the h-?” the Rani muttered before more explosions erupted across the city. Turning around, she looked to see Daleks, Cybermen, and Replicators exploding in fiery blasts. Plumes of smoke trailed into the air.

“They did it,” the Doctor said, in awe.

The Rani turned towards him. “What?”

She stepped down from the ledge and approached him. He stood his ground, watching her calmly.

“What? *You* did this?” her anger was rising.

“Of course I did,” he replied. “Who else would’ve?”

“How-?”

“Clara and Missy,” the Doctor answered. “The women always seem to come through.”

The Rani turned away from him, breathing heavily and holding her head. She began to pace, slightly staggered. She was muttered to herself.

“He’ll kill me now. He’ll kill me… I failed him again… He’ll kill me this time for sure…”

The Doctor stepped closer. “Who? Who’s going to kill you?”

“Him… the Dark One,” she muttered.

A moment later she stood back up and swung around, aiming her gun at him again.

“If I’m going to die, you’re going to come with me,” she said, her gun igniting again.

Finger around the trigger, she readied to fire when suddenly her arm began to shake. Looking at it, she watched in her horror as it began to blur out of focus. Her gun passed through her hand and hit the ground. The Doctor watched with wide eyes as she crumpled to the ground, holding her arm.

“No…” she muttered. “No… please…”

The Doctor rushed to her side and tried to help her. He tried to grab her arm, but his hand passed through it. The shimmering was spreading towards her shoulder, threatening to move to the rest of her body. The Rani cried out in pain.

“I don’t know what to do!” he said. “Your arm is out of alignment with this space! It’s like you touched a TARDIS as it dematerialized!”

“When you escaped… with Missy… I touched the ship…” she said between pained breaths.

She cried out in pain again.

“I can’t do anything,” the Doctor replied. “I can’t-.”

Suddenly a blast of energy shot past him and hit the Rani’s arm. There was an explosion of light as she let out a shrieking scream. The Rani then fell to the ground, unconscious. The Doctor looked down and saw that her arm had been blown off, being replaced by a smoking stump.

Looking up, he saw Missy standing there. Clara stood behind her. The Time Lord held a laser screwdriver in her hand, aimed at where the Rani had been. The lights at the end of the screwdriver faded as she lowered the weapon.

“What did you do?” he asked.

“Saved her life,” Missy answered. “And yours.”

“By blowing off her arm?” he stood up and began to approach her.

“I didn’t have a lot of options, Doctor,” she replied.

The two stared at each other, their pale eyes burrowing into one another. Clara stood on the sidelines, watching the two Time Lords face off.

Finally, the Doctor spoke.

“Thank you.”

She smiled. “No problem.”

“For saving the world,” he added.

“Again, no problem. Clara was some kind of help.”

“Thanks?” she looked confused.

“Don’t let it go to your head,” Missy replied.

The Time Lord stood for a moment before turning to leave. As she did, the Doctor grabbed her arm. She turned to look at him.

“You’ve been helping me a lot lately. Why?”

Missy thought about it for a moment, before another broad smile broke across her face. “I wanted to try something different.”

The Doctor watched her for a moment before letting go. Missy nodded before walking across the roof towards a roof access point that had not been there before. She opened the door and, with one last look at the two of them, stepped inside. A second later a groaning noise filled the air before the small structure faded from view.

“Goodbye, old friend,” the Doctor muttered.

“Thank you, Doctor,” Kate said, obviously relieved. “I don’t know if there’s anyway we can repay you for what you’ve done.”

“Just add it to his tab,” Clara replied with a smile.

The Doctor nodded his acknowledgment.

Darren James stepped forward and extend his hand towards the Doctor. “Thank you Doctor. If you saved my neck back there.”

Hesitating for a moment, he took the colonel’s hand. He shook it. “I’m sure you were fine.”

“I almost died more times than I can count today,” Darren continued. “If it weren’t for you, I would be like so many of the soldiers who didn’t.”

“I’m sorry for your loss,” the Doctor said.

“They did their duty, and protected many civilians who would’ve died if they hadn’t put themselves in the crossfire,” Kate put her hands behind her back.

Silence fell for a moment.

Osgood broke it. “What about the Rani?”

“She’ll stay here. For now,” he replied. “This is the only place I can keep her. She’ll be safe in the Black Archive.”

“Are you sure?” she asked.

“I’m sure,” the Time Lord nodded. “If I figure out somewhere else to put her, I will. This is our best option, though.”

“We’ll make sure she’s well taken care of, Doctor,” Kate assured. “I promise.”

“I know you will,” the Doctor gave a half-smile.

“Goodbye, Doctor,” Kate held out her hand.

He took it. “Goodbye, Kate.”

The panels above the console rotated, accompanying the rhythmic wheezing and groaning of the TARDIS. The lights of the console pulsated as they transited through the time vortex. The Doctor was dancing around the console, flipping switches and turning knobs. Clara watched from one of the seats on the outer part of the deck. The ship shuddered slightly as it flew through the tunnel of swirling energy.

“What happened back there?” she asked after several minutes. “With the Rani?”

“What do you mean?” he said, not looking up from the console.

“Her arm. Why was it like that?”

“She touched Missy’s TARDIS as it dematerialized. This caused the molecules in her body to become out of sync, causing them to separate themselves. If Missy hadn’t shot her arm off, she could’ve died.”

“Good thing Missy’s a bit of a psycho, then,” Clara said.

“Yeah,” continuing to circle the console.

There seemed to be something that was bothering him. She noticed this and frowned. Standing up, she came up to the controls of the ship.

“What’s wrong?” she asked.

“Something the Rani said,” he finally looked up. “She mentioned ‘the Dark One’ when I asked who she was working for.”

“Do you have any idea who that is?” Clara crossed her arms.

“No. Which is what worries me.”

“Why?”

“Because there’s someone out there looking for me, and they’re willing to do anything to get what they want,” he said. “And that makes them extremely dangerous.”

The wind howled on the surface of the desolate planet. The deep blue sky was speckled with stars, asteroids, and planets in similar states. It was a wasteland, not a living being in sight.

Except for one.

The lone figure traversed the broken landscape, his long trench coat blowing in the wind. His breathing was filtered by his mask.

Coming to a halt, he looked back over his shoulder at where he had come from. Looking at his wrist, he dialed a set of coordinates into his vortex manipulator. With one last look at the plain, he activated the device. Energy flickered around him before he suddenly disappeared, leaving the planet once again lifeless, and alone.

## Characters

* Twelfth Doctor
* Clara Oswald
* Missy
* The Rani
* Kate Stewart
* Petronella Osgood
* Darren James
* The Daleks
* The Supreme Dalek
* The Cybermen
* The Cyber-Lord
* Replicators
* U.N.I.T.
* "The Dark One"

## Trivia

* This story has the largest number of enemies in the series so far.
* Most parts of this episode can be traced back to the original series finale of Invader39's *Doctor Who* in 2014 as he was developing the series.