"This is enough to make your head spin!" Clara lamented as she sat down in the Console Room of the Warrior's Tardis.
The Warrior, the 10th and 11th Doctors, and an Aspect of Rose Tyler generated by the Heart of the Tardis were with her. The plan did indeed sound insane. Located in the heart of the Death Zone on Gallifrey, in the Dark Tower that housed the body of Rassilon, was The Moment device. The Warrior had created it, and they all knew that the Doctor must press it to end the Last Great Time War, destroying all the Daleks, as well as the last of the Time Lords, who were ready to wipe out existence itself in order to win the war. 10 and 11 agreed to activate it, and at first, the Warrior did too. Then, Rose brought up a valid point - the Warrior was not needed to end things. If the Doctor could now activate The Moment, then the Doctor could also be in the War and create The Moment. A good man could go to war. They all agreed that their Time Stream would be corrected if the 8th Doctor had lived and not regenerated into the Warrior. As an Aspect from the Heart of the Tardis, Rose could pilot the time machine and keep the 8th Doctor from dying - but still meet the Sisterhood of the Eternal Flame on Karn, and join the War without becoming the Warrior.
Truth be told, Clara was already feeling a strange pressure from the Tardis being in the Tower. She was told it was the mind of Rassilon reaching out and pushing away any who dare disturb his eternal sleep.
"Then, with spinning heads we shall do it!" 10 exclaimed, opening the door with a flourish. "11, Warrior, shall we?"
"We are actually two floors below the Tomb. But, you can still feel that, can't you?" 11 commented.
"Now, The Moment contains the Key of Rassilon, so it can only be used once, and it must be done at a precise time." The Warrior told them as he approached The Moment device.
"Are you sure you can do this, Rose? It's an awful lot to ask of you." 10 asked her, concerned.
"We only have 12 minutes, and if this works, really only 11, since it requires the will of all our regenerations, and we are going to loose the Warrior before we activate it." 11 commented to them, inspecting The Moment device.
"I am a part of the Tardis. I can likely operate her better than any of you three." Rose pointed out to him.
"Oi!" 11 called out. "Don't think I didn't hear that!"
"Oi, you were meant to!" Rose retorted.
"Let's hop to it then." Clara said to Rose.
"You're going with her?" 10 asked and Clara nodded.
"Good! Rose could use the company, and we don't need the distraction while we put all of our concentration on The Moment." 11 commented.
"You should say goodbye to Rose, Doctor." The Warrior said to him gravely, from the other side of The Moment. 11 looked to see Rose and his 10th version hugging like they never wanted to let go. "You could never see her again."
"You don't want to wish her well?" He asked him.
The Warrior shrugged grimly. "She is part of the battle team. During war, all cogs in a machine must be counted on to perform their duties. This is her duty, as the Heart of the Tardis. I...I am the Warrior, and that is how we are different Doctor. You will never love anyone as much as you love her. I cannot even touch that love."
"You haven't even met her yet, it's the 9th version who does." 11 pointed out. The Warrior shook his head.
"I might not feel that love, but I can see it." He glanced over at them, as Clara disappeared into the Tardis, and 10 walked towards them, like a man walking to his death. "If she is in the Heart of the Tardis - she is in the Heart of the Doctor."
From the viewer screen inside the Tardis, Clara watched Rose and 11 hug each other farewell. For this amazing life of traveling through time and space, not being able to be with that one person you would throw it all away for, it made everything else seem so trivial. And yet, there they all were, doing their part. The door closed, and Clara watched Rose walk up to the Console.
"I hope it didn't hurt as much as it seemed to." She consoled the blonde gently.
Rose gave a hint of a smile. "I am only an Aspect of Rose. When my part here is done, like the Warrior, I will fade away."
"But you still feel. Rose sent you here because you are part of her, and she feels."
"Yes, I do." She pushed a few buttons, her fingers glowing ever so slightly each time she did, and the Tardis reacted. "And now we get to essentially be ambulance chasers."
"What?"
With a jolt, the Tardis flew backwards in time.
"We have to get as close as possible to where the Doctor's Time Stream shifts. Seconds, miliseconds, nanoseconds before he dies and the Sisterhood awakens him on Karn to regenerate him." Rose told her as they suddenly showed up in space above Karn, and could see the ship about to crash between them and the planet.
"You can do that?" She asked.
"Yes, but there is an even more difficult part - I have to merge this Tardis with his!" Rose told her as they raced faster towards the plummeting derelict ship. When I say 'now', you open the door, grab the Doctor, and pull him into the Tardis as hard and fast as you can. Understand?"
Clara nodded, wide-eyed, feeling a sense of panic along with adrenaline.
Rose saw this and smiled wanly. "Good, you need to be on your toes." She ran to another panel, flipped two switches with her flowing fingers, and grabbed a throttle. "Get ready - this is going to hurt!"
With difficulty, as the Tardis was lurching, Clara sprinted to the door, grabbing the handle.
"NOW!" Rose shouted as she yanked the lever. The entire Tardis shook violently. Clara jerked the door open, and had no time to react to the 8th Doctor turning towards her confused, as she grabbed his arm, and yanked him inside as hard as she could.
The Warrior standing with the 10th and 11th Doctors started to fade away. They all looked at each other.
"It's happening." The Warrior told them.
"They did it then." 10 commented.
"No." 11 reminded him. "They haven't finished yet."
*
Back in the past, the Tardis doors slammed shut, the Console Room spun and shook, and then landed with a thunk, as Rose flipped three switches. Clara was lying on the floor of the entry way, with 8 sprawled on top of her. Rose ran up to them, suppressing a smile at the sight. He got up with a huff, extending his hand to Clara.
"You just saved my life...I suppose I should thank you."
Clara took his hand and he helped her to her feet. He was a bit of a surprise to them. Not as tall as they were used to, but dressed to the hilt like a dashing adventurer. He had short, dark, curly hair, and was astonishingly good looking, with the loveliest blue eyes.
"Who are you two? Wait - this isn't my Tardis!" He looked around.
"You mean it wasn't your Tardis - it is now." Rose told him.
8 zeroed in on her, something behind his eyes changing.
"You..." He looked back and forth between Clara and Rose. "So which of you are me in the future?"
"Us? A Time Lord can become a Time Lady?" Clara asked confused.
He tilted his head, considering her remarks, "Not you then." He once again focused on Rose. "There is something about you...you must be a future version of me." He whipped out his sonic screwdriver, before spinning around and inspecting Clara instead.
"Hm...Londoner, pretty, 25, single, loves to read, horrible at cooking, thee A levels - good for you! - and absolutely covered in void stuff. Future companion?" He concluded with a hint of a smile.
Clara grinned. "Clara Oswald, companion to your 11th version in 2013." They shook hands.
"So, you are me one day, eh?" He asked Rose, walking over to her. "Generally Time Lords don't switch skin colors or genders, but anything is possible."
"Sorry, Doctor, I'm not you." She admitted to him.
He furrowed his brow. "Then how...?" He inspected her with his sonic, the readout giving him a startling conclusion. "You are...part of the Tardis? How?"
"I am an Aspect. I am human, from London just like Clara. My name is Rose Tyler, and I am a future companion of your 9th and 10th versions - from 2006. I will eventually take in the Heart of the Tardis, and scatter myself throughout time, to help you, Doctor. This is just one of many."
He looked around, while Clara and Rose watched him.
"And this Tardis...you said it's now mine. Why? You interfered in my Time Stream, didn't you?"
"We had to. You were to die in the crash. The Sisterhood revives you, convinces you to join the Time War, but you don't join it the way you are meant to. You cease to be the Doctor, and become the Warrior. That's whose Tardis this is. The 10th and 11th versions of you sent us here to change it. They knew it had to be done once they realized that the Tardis herself had sent an Aspect to that point in time." She walked over to 8, who regarded her with wonder and a hint of fear. "We are here to keep you safe and on the right path...my Doctor."
Something passed over the Doctor's face, as if memories and new knowledge were colliding.
Suddenly, he blanched.
"Oh, no - the Sisterhood? We're on Karn?" Rose nodded to him as she walked over to the door.
"Yes, and you must go speak to them, there isn't much time left." Clara insisted, leaning against the railing.
"Just what I want to do - take tea with the Keepers of the Flame of Utter Boredom." He said bitterly.
"I think they call it the Flame of Eternity." Clara told him slyly.
He raised his eyebrows, "Yes, because that makes it less boring."
The door to the Tardis opened for Rose, and she stared outside, towards the caves where the Sisterhood dwelt. The Heart of the Tardis glowed inside her. 8 and Clara watched her in awe.
"They are looking for your body now, not knowing you live still. Clara, how much time do the Doctors have left in the Dark Tower?"
The brunette glanced at the Console.
"8 minutes. Likely less if we assume the Warrior is fading."
The Doctor approached Rose, looking at her like he was trying to probe her mind. She turned to him.
"You must speak with them. Their words will turn the tide of war for you, Doctor. We will wait here, but can only half of what time offers us. I hope you make your decision and return to us by then."
He gave a hint of a smile. "4 minutes can last a lifetime, if used wisely." He glanced at Clara, his smile becoming gentler. "Play some chess, read a book...get me some knitting for when I return!"
This brought a smile to the brunettes face.
He gave them both a curt nod, then walked towards the caves, and the Sisterhood.
Rose turned back to look at Clara. Walking deliberately up the ramp, the Tardis doors closed behind her.
"We did good right? I think we did good - I hope we did good." Clara rambled.
The blonde smiled at her. "Interfering in a Time Stream is dangerous business, but we have no other choice. And the Doctor? He had greater options now." She looked over her shoulder at the Tardis viewer. "He is always surprising."
Clara tilted her head. "Speaking of surprises - he was quite dishy in during his 8th version, wasn't he!?"
Rose looked back at her, her face startled for a split second, before laughing aloud.
"He has had 11 incarnations, Clara. Statistically speaking some of them are bound to be lookers."
Clara gave the blonde a look. "You fell in love with a very handsome version of the Doctor."
"Not the first one though."
"True." Clara sat on a bench in the Console Room. "The 5th Doctor, oh he was gorgeous."
And her face went dreamy, as her eyes lost focus and a silly smile appeared on her face. Rose bit her lip to keep from laughing again, and turned to look out of the viewer.
Two of the Sistren forced the Doctor to his knees, on holding a blade to his throat.
"May I ask why I have a knife to me throat?" He spat out.
"We had not anticipated you surviving the crash." Ohila, the High Priestess of the Sisterhood of Karn admitted to him.
"That would be because I wasn't in the crash. I was saved at the last minute – and I was told to come here, listen to what you had to say. That your words would change the tide of the war!" He yanked his head away from the Sister holding the knife. "I came here, showing good faith – trusting that you would treat me in kind."
Ohila narrowed her eyes at him, stepping closer to him.
"You do show faith, in this we can agree. The events have turned so..." Her voice trailed off as she looked towards the crash. "You have stayed away from the War, and yet – when told that we might sway you to join, you still came."
"And I was promptly greeted by the threat of death – from which I should point out, my situation has not improved, even if the conversation has."
She pressed forward, their faces inches apart. "Why. Are. You. Here?"
He shifted his face forward as well. "Because. I. Could. Do I not have the freedom to make that choice?"
This brought about a change in the High Priestess. She backed off, straightening herself. With a nod, the two Sistren released him.
"Glad to see that you believe in free will. War tends to take choices away from us." He told her. "Now, I was told we had precious little time for you to make your argument – so, go on, impress me – change my mind about the war." He straightened his cravat and sat on their altar.
"Do you feel that?" 10 asked 11, as he held his hands up to The Moment device, like he were warming his hands at a fire.
"Pressure is growing, isn't it?" 11 commented as he inspected the the walls.
The 10th clenched his hands. "I wonder if they can feel it in the Tardis."
The lights flickered in the Tardis. Clara and Rose glanced around. Rose felt sudden vertigo, and had to lean and grab at the Console quickly. Clara frowned, worried.
"How much longer?" Rose whispered.
Clara swallowed as she glanced at the clock. "5 minutes."
The 8th Doctor looked at Cass's body laid out on the altar.
"She died rather than go with me. That is what the Time Lords have become." He swallowed.
"In war, you make sacrifices. The choices you never thought would enter your estimation, suddenly become viable, Doctor." Ohila told him.
He glanced at the Priestess.
"More things in Heaven and Earth..." He looked into the distance, where his new Tardis, future companion and Aspect were waiting. "I have yet to sacrifice." He turned back to the Sisterhood. "I need to become something greater than just the Doctor." He admitted to them.
Ohila shook her head, taking Cass' battered utility belt from her, and handing it to him.
"You have already proven you are. Doctor, a good man can go to war."
"And demons will run." Taking the belt from her, he put it on and started towards the Tardis. "Will they will fear the Oncoming Storm?"
The Warrior grabbed 10 and 11, his eyes wide.
"It's done."
And suddenly he was not the Warrior, but rather the 8th Doctor. The Doctor's Time Stream had been corrected.
"Oh, those clever girls!" 10 shouted, while 11 grabbed 8 into a big hug.
"Oh!" Rose called out as she collapsed on the floor. The Tardis was acting up around them, waves of energy were being emitted from the dias above, and lightning circled it like a Tesla coil.
"What the devil – Rose!" 8 rushed in, whipping out his sonic screwdriver and checking her vitals.
"We have to...go...back!" Rose barely got out, her voice a hoarse whisper.
He looked at Clara in confusion.
"We are supposed to go back to the Dark Tower, to where the other Doctors are going to press The Moment device!" She shouted to him over the noise. "I don't know what is happening to the Tardis!"
"There are two of me there now? How much time is left?" He asked her.
She looked at the clock.
"Just over a minute, Doctor!"
He nodded, pushing a few buttons on the Console, and they took off. Rose cried out again as the Tardis shook and the lightning flashed
"We have to help her!" Clara exclaimed.
"The Tardis also must be very precisely flown into the Death Zone, Clara!" He flipped a switch, then knelt next to Rose. "Really, I could use another version of me right now."
The Tardis rolled back and forth, the noises growing louder. Suddenly, the lightning gave off a brilliant flash, the Tardis pitched violently and bounced off something, throwing Clara into the Doctor, before it came to an abrupt stop – everything suddenly quiet and still.
"Thank you – " Clara started telling the Doctor as she turned to see that it hadn't been the 8th Doctor – now holding Rose – that had caught her – but rather, the 5th Doctor.
"Are you alright?" He asked her. He was the tall one, over 6', and very young. He had feathery blond hair on the longish side, a charming smile on his handsome face, wore a cream cricket outfit with red-orange piping, and still had those amazing blue eyes.
She gaped at him, barely nodding. He looked around, his eyes shifting from kind and open to confused and curious.
"My Tardis! What has happened to her? And where is Peri?" 5 demanded from them as he looked at them.
"No time..." Rose said weakly as she tried to sit up.
Clara frowned as she looked at the clock. "Wait – we have 10 minutes now. How did that happen?"
5 hunkered down on the balls of his feet, on the level with 8, and looked at Rose in concern.
"What happened to you? And how did you come to be in my Tardis – such as it is?" 5 asked them. He turned his attention to Rose. "There's something about you, isn't there?"
"Hello Doctor – I'm your 8th future, and this here is Rose, who has fallen a bit under the weather." The 8th Doctor explained to him, leaving out the complicated bit, then looked at Clara. "Rose, did you bring him here?"
Rose looked at 8. "You said wanted the help of another Doctor. Ta-da." She smiled weakly. "And why me?" 5 asked.
Rose attempted a chuckle. "For Clara." She turned to the younger brunette. "Like I said: ta-da."
Then she passed out in 8's arms.
8 and 5 looked up at Clara, eyebrows raised. She turned red and looked away. From that angle, he could see into the viewer.
"Are we on Gallifrey? In the Death Zone?" He asked her.
She looked at it as well. "Tardis says we are just outside of it."
"Ah, yes, that's why." 5 told her. "One can get out of the Death Zone easily enough, it's getting in that is the feat. We flew into it with less control than we should have, and bounced off the barrier." He looked at Clara with a smile. "It literally bounced us back several minutes in time."
"Luckily for us – we could use it." 8 reminded them.
"I'm Clara, by the way." Clara told him eagerly, as they shook hands.
"So, future me. 8th, eh? Went back to being a brunet, I see." 5 sized up his future incarnation, scrunching his nose.
"You stay brunet for a bit too." Clara told him. "How is she doing, Doctor?"
Rose was still unconscious, and 8 was checking her vitals.
"Her vitals are steady, but I'm not happy with them." He looked at the viewer. "We need to get into the Death Zone. Into the Dark Tower if possible. As close to The Moment device as we can. None of us are safe when it goes off, but the Tardis and proximity can act as a buffer."
He then picked up Rose gently, and started up the ramp to take her deeper into the Tardis.
"Where are you taking her?" Clara asked.
"The Zero Room. She is part of the Tardis, so she can heal there. I can feel that I am already here in this version, which means he can feel me, which helps no one."
5 stood at attention. "Yes, that is best. I will repair what I can in the Console Room so we can get through the barrier and into the Dark Tower."
Clara watched as he turned to the Console, then whipped around towards 8.
"I will need a – " He didn't have to finish, as the 8th Doctor tossed his sonic screwdriver at 5, who caught it deftly.
"Ah, thank you." He saluted with it, and both Doctors went to it.
"Need a helping hand?" Clara asked him with a cheeky smile and a wave.
He appeared to have a grasp on her flirtatious manner with him, as his eyes widened ever so slightly.
"Ah, if you would like." He stiffened, dropped to the ground, and started taking apart a panel.
Clara glanced at the clock.
"We have 6 minutes. You know, I will never understand why everything with you Doctors is against a clock. You are time travelers! A brilliant man from a race that created time travel! We should literally have all the time in the universe." She rambled.
"Well, part of the understanding of time travel, and really the invention of it, not interfering with fixed points. It does seem like we run out of time constantly. Ironic, the use of that word – constant." He answered her as rearranged two wires.
"And of course, there is The Moment device. The 8th Doctor who is current to this time – not the one in the Zero Room with Rose – makes it out of a de-mat gun and the Key of Rassilon. What is it supposed to do – what does it accomplish?" She asked him as he handed her a computer board.
He sat up then, startled, his brows knitted.
"I create that? Why? What happens out there?"
"Oh...well, Doctor, the Time War happens."
"There have been many of those."
"This one is known as the Last Great Time War. Time Lords versus the Daleks. Excepting the Earth, there is no planet or race unaffected by it."
He nodded slowly as he took this in.
"Well, The Moment device will definitely end everything. And I mean that. A de-mat gun is exactly what it sounds like. It de-materializes whatever it's aiming for. Scatters the atoms so they cannot reconfigure."
"So, a gun without the mess."
"Indeed. A clean, silent bomb...but a bomb all the same. The Key of Rassilon is the interesting thing here. It can only be used by a Gallifreyan. It contains our genetic code. If that is configured with a de-mat gun, then the objective is to destroy Gallifreyans." He narrowed his eyes at her. "That can't be the objective."
She shuffled her feet.
"Well, the point is to stop the Daleks..." She didn't want to answer him.
He sighed. "Well, I know why my future self wants to get the Tardis into that room. We will likely survive if we are both in here and close to the device."
Clara's eyes widened in alarm.
Rose came to, opening her eyes. She was in the Zero Room, and the 8th Doctor was siting on the steps leading into it. His eyes followed her as she sat up.
"The Zero Room? Quick thinking, Doctor."
"You are up to your Aspect self?" He asked.
"Once the Tardis is repaired, and everything is done. I can send everyone back, and I...I will fade away. An Aspect no more."
He nodded. "You will be whole again. Rose Tyler in her own time. You won't remember any of it. We will meet again for the first time."
He gave a sad smile.
Hers was brighter. "I can't wait." She laughed, tucking her wayward hair behind her ear.
8 started, recognition on his face.
"Your ring! Where did you get that?"
She hadn't remembered that she wore it.
"My father gave that to my mother on their honeymoon. They came to 19th century Earth – it's an antique, an heirloom."
She fingered the ring nervously, glancing at him.
He approached her, leaning down next to her, his blue eyes searching her face.
"You are more than just the Heart of the Tardis...you are the Heart of the Doctor." He whispered, reaching over and touching her cheek delicately. He hesitate for a moment, her eyes looked into his imloringly, and then he kissed her.
In that moment, they were enveloped in the glow of the Tardis, a shock of lightning went through them, and shared memories flashed between the two of them. It became too much, and they fell apart, collapsing on the floor, panting, and looking at each other wide eyed.
"Well, that was cliché." Rose remarked.
"I've been around for nearly 900 years – I'm allowed a cliché now and again." The 8th Doctor grinned at her.
"Likely survive? Likely survive? As in there is a chance we won't!?" Clara pressed, her words quickening, her pitch elevating.
The 5th Doctor took the computer board from her and inserted it back under the console.
"It is a de-materializing gun, Clara. But you misunderstood what I meant by it. If you are affected, you won't die – as you are out of your time. You and Rose, myself and the 8th Doctor on board now will merely disappear from now, and reapper as we were. And that's only if we are affected."
He sonic'd the console, then sat up, and looked at her.
"So, you have nothing to worry about."
She sat down on the bench, thinking.
"Will we remember everything?"
He shrugged. "Likely everything up to the moment you were brought in."
She nodded. He laid back down, and started to reinstall the panel while she watched.
Clara chewed her lip. "There is something that I'm thinking I want to do – but I can't decide what I will regret more – doing it and the events that follow – or not doing it and never knowing."
5 finished sonicing the panel into place. He stood up, and leaned against the console, facing Clara.
"Have you ever heard of John Greenleaf Whittier?" He asked her.
She squinted. "Let's pretend I haven't."
He smiled at that. "He spoke the immortal words, 'Of all sad words of tongue or pen, the saddest are these; what might have been.'"
She took in his words, giving a sly smile.
"Paraphrased by Nike...?"
He chuckled and grinned. "Just do it."
She took a deep breath. "Done."
Then she grabbed his face, and kissed him. He responded, but the kiss was brief.
When they broke apart, she was concerned by the look on his face. He was melancholy, lost in a memory.
"You're thinking of someone else, aren't you, Doctor?" She asked.
He felt ashamed as he nodded.
"She was my companion. We were together, but secretly. We didn't want to ruin the dynamic of our little band of travelers. It was difficult having to find dark corners to hide away in, to not hold hands in front of others...she had to sneak out of my room before the others woke."
"And she left you." He nodded again.
"What was her name?"
"Nyssa." 8's voice came from the hallway as he and Rose walked in. "Her name was Nyssa, and she was brilliant and beautiful."
The 5th Doctor tossed him the sonic screwdriver, which he caught and pocketed.
"Everything in order?" He asked his younger, blond self.
The blond Doctor gave him a satisfied look as he flipped a switch, making the Tardis hum with life.
"Ready to cross the barrier, help end the war." He looked at Rose with curiousity. "She would've gotten along splendidly with Clara and Rose."
"If we don't get the Tardis through the barrier in the next few seconds, there might not be a Clara in our future." 8 reminded him.
"Right." 5 stated, and the two Doctors pressed a few buttons and flipped a few switches, and the Tardis went flying.
"You know, concentrating for more than a minute with this pressure is not what it's cracked up to be." The 10th Doctor commented as he stretched, shaking out the feeling of pins and needles.
The 11th Doctor was sitting on his haunches, with his eyes closed, rubbing his temples, trying to get rid of his headache.
"The Dark Tower was the best place to put it." The 8th Doctor told him as he leaned against a pillar with his eyes closed, breathing deeply to steady his nerves.
"Well, obviously we can't disagree with that...after all, it will work the way it needs to because of this place." 10 answered him.
The 11 groaned then, and the other two looked at him.
"May I ask – what is with your hair?" 8 asked him.
The 11 glared at his younger self.
"Should you really be talking about hair?"
"I think his hair looks brilliant." 10 commented.
"Which one?" 8and 11 asked together.
10 cringed, not wanting his other two selves to get angry at him, but couldn't help but glance at the 8th Doctor.
"Ha! Mine!" 8 said with satisfaction.
"Yeah, now it looks good. It used to look like a wig." 11 retorted.
"Well, what happened to being a ginger? Both of you are my future, and yet neither managed to make it happen!" 8 pointed out.
"1 minute!" 10 interrupted, just as the sounds of the Tardis could be heard. "And here they come!"
"Let's do this." 11 jumped up and looked at his two younger selves as they gathered around The Moment device, their hands ready to push. "For all of 11 of us."
"12 of us." Came a male, Scottish voice from the open door of the Tardis. The 8th, 10th, and 11th Doctors looked to see the 12th Doctor standing there, leaning against the door jamb, a wry smile on his face. He was lanky, dressed vaguely like 9th Doctor, with a trench coat and dark pants, with bright eyes, an older, wisecracking face, and curly greying hair.
"What, you didn't think I wasn't going to show up and let you do it all by yourselves, didja?"
"You're next." 11 said barely above a whisper.
"Best for last, as they say." 12 answered.
"Oh, I like your outfit." 8 said admiringly.
"I know."
"What's with the accent?" 10 asked.
"We've always thought Scottish accents were cool." 12 reminded him. "It's a recall from Amy."
"Oh, you took her accent, but not her hair color?" 11 retorted.
The door to the Tardis opened once more, to reveal Rose, Clara, the 5th Doctor, and the other 8th Doctor.
"What's going on here?" Clara asked.
The Doctors all looked at them.
"Clara, Rose, other Doctors, you are going to want to be inside the Tardis, doors closed." 12 told them. He then reached his hand up to join his past selves. "Trust me, I'm the Doctor."
"He's right – or, I'm right, really." 5 commented, sharing a look of agreement with the 8th Doctor in the Tardis. He nodded to his future selves. "Good luck, Doctors."
Clara waved to them, Rose gave them one last smile, then the Tardis doors closed.
"On three." 12 told them. They nodded. "One, two, three..."
They all pressed the large red ruby, the Key of Rassilon, and activated the de-mat gun. With a brilliant flash of red and white light, everything around them shook and burst, even the Tardis windows and light flashed brilliantly. The Doctors felt like they were on fire.
The 8th Doctor knew what was happening. "Physician, heal thyself!" He whispered.
The older three Doctors suddenly lit up with internal light, like that of the Tardis, and were sucked into the ruby, and through the 8th Doctor's body, leaving standing there alone. Only, he wasn't him. He was now 6' tall, with extremely short cropped dark hair with a widows peak, ears that stuck out a bit, a 40-something face with Roman features, and once again, brilliant blue eyes. He looked around the room, there in the Dark Tower in the Death Zone of Gallifrey, at the destruction surrounding him.
He had regenerated. He was the 9th Doctor.
"I knew this place." He said, his voice now had a Northern England accent, cracked with pain and loss.
The door to the Tardis opened then, and Rose walked out slowly, looking apprehensively at the new Doctor. He looked at her for a moment, then recognition dawned on his face.
"I know your face." He said. He reached out for her hand. She took it, their fingers sliding against each other, squeezing each other.
"My Doctor." She told him.
They smiled at each other.
"Let's go inside, I have some things to fix." She told him.
The newly made 9th Doctor and the Aspect of Rose Tyler walked into the Tardis – and indeed were greeted by a curious sight. The 5th Doctor looked quite a bit older.
"I look twice as old! I'm an old man now!" 5 cried out.
"Oh Lord." Clara moaned as she sank onto the bench. 8 joined her.
"I would hazard to say that The Moment device, and the power of the Tardis must have combined in such a way to not scatter you and I, but rather age us instead."
"You don't look any older!" 5 accused him.
Rose was trying to hold back her laughter, and 9 had the silliest grin on his face.
"It only aged you to what you would be if you had never regenerated. 8 was aged 10 years as well." Rose pointed out.
This only exasperated 5.
"10 years worth of aging, and he still looks like the dashing, romantic, adventurer! I look like I should be getting my AARP card!"
"I still think you are quite handsome, Doctor." Clara declared.
He raised his eyebrows at her. "Oh? You kissed me not a few minutes ago. Would you do that to a man in his 60s?"
She stood up and looked him straight in the eye.
"I happen to still think you're awfully sexy." She eyed him, the 8th Doctor, and the new 9th Doctor. "All of you are, really." She walked over to the other bench.
"Speaking of, thought you might like this." She picked up a pair of black pants, a dark purple jumper, and a black leather jacket, which she handed to 9.
"Leather?"
"What, don't tell me you think it's going over the top?" Rose asked him.
He shook his head. "Nah, go big or go home."
"That's the issue. There is no more home. At least no more home in this time. 5 and I...we still have a home." 8 spoke, sighing. "I'm going to go through all of this again in 10 years."
Rose walked over to him, the Heart of the Tardis glowing in her eyes.
"I will send you home, Doctor, and yes, this will all happen again...but you won't remember it from this time."
8 smiled ruefully at her. "I know I will, but I wish I wouldn't."
The 9th Doctor had only the leather jacket left to put on. He took it off the hanger and inspected it, noticing a white piece of paper sticking out. He put the jacket on, then opened the letter.
"Thought you'd get a kick out of this – in the future, they love it! - the 12th Doctor" He read aloud.
"What's that then?" Rose asked from the doorway.
"My 12th self left this for me." He read it and chuckled. "It's a nursery rhyme! See? 1, 2, 3, 4 – I declare a Time War."
He showed it to Rose, who smiled at it.
"5, 6, 7, 8 – Daleks scream exterminate." They grinned at each other. "Simple, but I like it!" She told him. He beamed at her.
Clara hugged each of the three Doctors, then Rose and Clara hugged each other tight, and with misty-eyed smiled, took hold of each other's hands. Rose glowed with the Heart of the Tardis, enveloping Clara, who in an instant, disappeared back to the moment she had left.
"I will not let us down." 8 told 9. All three Doctors looked at each other.
"I am proud of what I will become." He admitted.
5 and 9 smiled at him, as the 8th Doctor took Rose's hands. He gave her a gentle kiss on the cheek, from which they both glowed, and he disappeared.
"We lost love once, Doctor...don't let her slip away." 5 told 9.
The 9th Doctor understood. He nodded, and they shook hands.
Rose took his hands with a warm smile.
"You are something, aren't you?" 5 commented to her in kind.
The light enveloped them, and the 5th Doctor was gone.
"It's time, Doctor." The Aspect of Rose admitted sadly.
"'The time has come', the Walrus said, 'to talk of many things. Of shoes – and ships – and sealing wax, of cabbages and kings! Of why the sea is boiling hot – and whether pigs have wings!'" He told her with a smile, trying to diffuse the tension.
He flipped a switch on the console. "Anyway, you can't go yet. I have to go to the Shadow Proclamation! They've sent out a beacon to all the Tardises. Any Gallifreyans still alive are to report in."
She knew, she could feel the beacon ringing through her.
He grabbed the console, his head hanging low.
"How do I do it, Rose? How do I admit it to them...I killed them all."
"You stopped them from destroying the universe, is what you did." She implored. "And both your past and your present were willing to help you. To be cross Time Streams and scatter their own atoms, without knowing if they would survive."
"How do I convince them that what I did was right?" His eyes searched hers.
"You're the Doctor. You need to remind them of it." She took his hand in hers. "But you have to let this part of me go. You have to go meet me, the real me. Go on adventures in time and space, and run and hop and jump as much as we can. Go find me, Doctor!"
His blue eyes looked at her sadly, and he nodded.
"I will always believe in you, Doctor, just please, believe in yourself!" She looked around the Tardis, gently touching the console, turning away from the Doctor. "I'm going to be reabsorbed by the Heart of the Tardis." She turned her head back to look at him. "Promise me Doctor, that you will always try to believe three impossible things before breakfast!" She gave a big, tear filled smile. "You will be fantastic!"
He nodded in affirmation, a lump in his throat, as she glowed brightly, bursting with energy and light, and melted back into the console. The console took in the light, and send it in waves of brilliance throughout the Tardis, shifting and changing the rooms, no longer the 8th Doctors, but the now the 9th Doctors. He thought it was beautiful.
"Fantastic!"
The Shadow Proclamation took in his words, the council looking upon him stony faced and grim, and he stood tall in front of them, awaiting judgment.
Instead, they handed him a vial of anti-plastic. They understood that he had saved the universe – and now wanted him to save the Earth.
His Tardis landed in London a few minutes later, holding the explosive he jerry-rigged, with the anti-plastic tucked in his leather jacket just in case. He started toward Henrik's department store, to destroy most of the autons that had been activated, since that was where they were sending out their signal.
He stepped out, and looked at the shop from across the street.
"1, 2, 3, 4 – I declare a Time War." He muttered to himself.
"5, 6, 7, 8 – Daleks scream Exterminate." He walked in, and started making his way to the basement.
"9, 10, 11, 12 – I died as Silence Fell." He ducked into a closet as the shop closed.
"12, 11, 10, 9 – Here I go, back in time." He took out his sonic screwdriver, getting a reading on the location of the strongest auton signal – the service lift.
"8, 7, 6, 5 – Saving everybody's Lives." His sonic screwdriver read the signal from way down the hallway that he now ran through.
"4, 3, 2, 1 – Grab Her Hand, and Whisper – " He opened the door the signal came from, to see the full human and present Rose Tyler about to be attacked by autons. He grabbed her hand -
"RUN!"