Disclaimer: I don't own Doctor Who

The Magician's Apprentice – Part Two

The world was going wild, and all eyes were on the sky. "Reports are coming in of planes hanging apparently motionless in the sky" declared a BBC newsreader. On the screen behind them, images appeared of the frozen aircraft over London, Dubai, Paris, New York…

"…Footage of passenger jets, which have seemingly come to a complete standstill in mid-air…"

Clara hurried to get her things together, knowing she'd be needed. Her fellow teacher, Mr Dunlop came into the classroom and told her, "Miss Oswald, a call at the office".

"Yeah, that would probably be UNIT".

"They're telling me you're needed. They were going to put me through to the Prime Minister" he said, perplexed.

"Mister Dunlop, sorry" Clara said apologetically, "I have to take the rest of the day off owing to a, err, personal crisis". She left before he could ask what she meant, pulling out her ringing mobile as she ran. "Yes. Yes, yes, yes, I'm coming" she told the person on the other end, "No, don't send a helicopter. Think it through". Clara hung up and put on her helmet, climbing astride her motorcycle. Thank you, Corsair she thought briefly as she revved the engine, Now where the heck are you guys?

She arrived at the Tower, and was escorted into UNIT HQ by two soldiers. When they arrived, Clara could hear Kate Stewart saying "The planes aren't responding. No, none of them, it's radio silence. I've got to go. Tell the President I'll call him back" she finished, hanging up just as Clara entered. "They've disconnected their phone" she told Clara, "We can't reach them. Have you tried?"

"We don't know enough yet" said Clara, "The Doctor doesn't appreciate gossip, and you know how stubborn he is".

"Gossip?" asked Kate.

"How many planes?" inquired Clara by way of reply; one of the UNIT researchers, Jac, ran some numbers and announced "4,165 aircraft currently airborne".

"That's a lot of passengers" Kate said worriedly.

"That's a lot of fuel" Clara pointed out.

Kate paled slightly, her eyes widening. "Oh dear God, yes, it is".

"Okay, so, what could you do with 4,000 flying bombs?" Clara questioned.

Jac reported, "Ah, well, 439 nuclear power stations currently active".

"What else?" Kate wondered.

"I dunno…err, fault lines. Earthquakes, a tsunami?"

"Running simulations now" replied Jac.

"So this is an attack?" Kate assumed.

Clara pointed out "What kind of an attack advertises? Why show somebody what you can do? Why not just do it?" she asked rhetorically, before inquiring "What's actually happened to the planes? What are the pilots saying?"

"We, we can't contact them" Kate informed her. Jac then explained, "The planes haven't stopped. They're actually frozen. Like, frozen in time. Pardon my sci-fi, but this is beyond any human technology".

"Okay, so we need the Quintet" said Kate, "Why would they disconnect their phone? We can't contact the Doctor on his mobile, either".

"Kate, we can't just phone them and bleat, the Doctor will go Scottish. He'll be calling us pudding brains for weeks" Clara insisted, trying to rally them to figure some of it out on their own. "Come on. What have we got? What do we know? It's not an attack, it's not an invasion, because, well, that doesn't come with a fair warning. So, somebody needs our attention. Somebody who needs to put a gun to our heads to make us listen…Oh".

"Oh?"

Before Clara could explain her theory, another UNIT employee called, "We've got a message, the Doctor channel".

"Sorry, what?" asked Clara, following Kate over to the computer the man was working on.

"He never uses it" said Kate, "I doubt he remembers it even exists".

"Then who is it?"

"Decrypting" said Mike, the researcher, "We're getting text through, I think".

"Texting? Definitely not the Doctor" Clara remarked, before adding thoughtfully, "It could be Emily, though".

Words appeared on the computer screen - 'You so fine'.

"Have you got any more?" asked Kate, puzzled by the message.

"Coming" replied Mike. More words typed themselves out onto the screen – 'You blow my mind. Hey Missy, you so fine, you so fine, you blow my mind! Hey Missy!' – the penny dropped for Clara and Kate. Oh no. Not her.

The Time Lady herself appeared on the monitor screen, sitting at a café table. "Today, I shall be talking to you out of" - her face was suddenly a three dimensional projection, and they all jerked back, "the square window!"

"What was that?" Kate demanded, flustered, "How did she do that?"

"Dunno, some sort of psychic projection or something" Jac replied unhelpfully.

"Oh, great, thanks".

Missy waved a dismissive hand and said "Okay, cutting to the chase. Not dead, back, big surprise, never mind. I'm in a lovely little square in one of your, oh, I don't know, hot countries. There's a light breeze coming from the east, this coffee is a buzz-monster in my brain, and I'm going to need eight snipers".

"Eight what?"

"Three for each heart, and two for my brain stem" Missy explained, "You'll have to switch me off fast, before I can regenerate. How fast can you get here? Ooh, I'll need to arrange you a flight corridor" she considered, licking her finger and pressing buttons on her controller.

"Why do you need snipers?" Kate demanded suspiciously.

Missy looked up and smirked at them. "Because it's the only way she'll feel safe enough to talk to me" she explained, looking at Clara, "Shall we say four o'clock?"

/

The church behind Missy tolled its bells four times; ah, and there were the snipers getting into position, right on schedule. Missy glanced down at the six red points of light dancing on her bosom, and smirked, "Oh, saucy". She opened a compact mirror and checked her make-up; as well as making sure that the other two snipers were aiming at the back of her head.

Two black cars drove into the abandoned square (it had been such fun watching the humans scream and scatter after she blasted one of them to atoms – but really, he'd been leering at her, she was practically acting in self-defence) and several agents emerged, as well as Clara Oswald. She walked over to Missy, causing doves pecking about to scatter and fly away. Missy gestured for her to take a seat. "Go on, then".

Clara sat down opposite Missy, not once taking her eyes off the Time Lady. Missy sipped her espresso and inquired, "How's your so-called brother? Still tremendously dead, I expect?"

"Still dead, yeah" Clara glared at Missy, "How come you're still alive?"

"Death is for other people, dear. Would you like to sit in the shade? I know how you humans burn" Missy remarked. Clara tried not to visibly react to the implied threat; but Missy didn't attack anyone, she merely pressed some buttons on her controller, and one of the jets moved over them, casting them into shade. "Better?" asked Missy, before commenting, "I expect you've tried to contact them by now. Well, you should know, I can't find them either. No one can".

"That happens, now and then" Clara responded. The Time Quintet went off the radar all the time.

"Not like this" Missy replied, taking a golden disc from her pocket. It was engraved with Gallifreyan. "It's a Confession Dial" she said in answer to Clara's questioning stare.

"A what?"

"In your terms, a will. The Last Will and Testament of the Time Lord known as the Doctor, to be delivered, according to ancient tradition, to his closest friend, on the eve of his final day" Missy explained.

"Then why do you have it?"

"I beg your pardon?"

"You just said it was supposed to be delivered to his closest friend. No offence, but you and he didn't seem all that chummy when you last met. If anything, you'd think it would have been delivered to me".

Missy glared at the slight. "I am the Doctor's oldest friend" she declared, "His best friend. I was there for him long before his precious family. You think you're important? You are…you see that couple over there?" she asked, nodding at a couple walking a little white dog just outside the square, "You're the puppy".

"Since when do you care about the Doctor?"

"Since always. Since the Cloister Wars. Since the night he stole the moon and the President's wife. Since he was a little girl. One of those was a lie. Can you guess which one?"

"You're not his friend. You keep trying to kill him".

"He keeps trying to kill me. It's sort of our texting. We've been at it for ages".

"I thought you said you didn't fancy him".

Missy looked repulsed. "Oh, don't be disgusting. We're Time Lords, not animals. Try, nano-brain, to rise above the reproductive frenzy of your noisy little food chain, and contemplate friendship. A friendship older than your civilisation, and infinitely more complex".

"So the Doctor is your bezzy mate and I'm supposed to believe that you've turned good?" Clara asked sarcastically.

"Good?" Missy repeated; without warning she disintegrated one of the Secret Service agents.

"Man down!"

"No…" Clara got up and went over to where the man had been standing. There was nothing but dust left.

"Man down!"

Missy, completely unconcerned, remarked "By the ring on his finger, he was married, and I, I think I detected some baby leakage on his jacket, so he had a family. No, I've not 'turned good'" she said mockingly, before killing another agent. "Ooh, wow, I'm on a roll. Thanks for bringing spares".

"Stop it. Just stop it. Don't shoot anybody else!" Clara demanded furiously. The callous Time Lady ignored her and told a third agent, "Oi, you, sweaty one, on your knees. Let's have a goodbye selfie for your kids" she suggested, inwardly grinning as the man obeyed.

"Missy, nobody else!"

"Say something nice".

"No".

"I'll kill everyone in this square".

"Start with me" Clara challenged, "Then what, eh? You came here for my help".

"Because the Doctor is in danger".

"Make me believe you".

"How?"

"Release the planes".

"The planes are keeping me alive. I mean, there's one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight naughty little snipers ready to kill me" Missy reminded her, pointing out each of them in turn.

"Yeah, on my command" Clara threatened, raising her hand, ready to give the signal and duck. "You keep saying the Doctor is your best friend. You said he's in danger. Show me you care. Make me believe".

After a few tense moments, Missy chose to acquiesce. She pressed a few buttons on her controller, and waved goodbye to the jet as it flew past with a roar of engines, as if nothing had happened. "It's only a basic Time Stop" she said dismissively, "Parlour trick; couldn't have done anything with them anyway".

Clara lowered her arm, and looked at the Dial lying on the table. "What does it say?" she inquired curiously.

"What does what say?"

"His confession" she clarified.

"It will only open when he's dead" Missy informed her ominously.

"Then it won't open, will it?"

"Question" Missy stated, "If the Doctor has one last night to live, if he's certain he's facing the end of his life, where, in all of space and time, would he go?"

"Here" Clara answered immediately. An agent brought a laptop to the table, showing remarkable calmness for a man who had just seen two of his colleagues murdered.

"Well, yes, Earth, obviously!" Missy agreed, "But where, when?"

Back at UNIT HQ, Kate Stewart and Jac were working on an algorithm to find likely points in time and space that the Time Quintet could be. "The algorithm generates probabilities based on crisis points, anomalies, anachronisms, and keywords" explained Jac, both to Kate and to Clara and Missy, who were listening in.

"Such as?" asked Kate.

"Blue box, Doctor…There we go. San Martino, Troy, multiples for New York, and three possible versions of Atlantis. It's easier than you'd think. The Doctor makes a lot of noise and he loves to make an entrance".

"But which one is the one? Where are they now?"

Something occurred to Clara. "How is a Time Lord supposed to die?" she asked Missy, who replied, "Meditation, repentance and acceptance, contemplation of the absolute".

"Great, thanks" said Clara, before instructing Jac, "Change the algorithm. Eliminate the crisis points. Where is the Doctor making the most noise, but there isn't any crisis?" she asked rhetorically. If the Doctor really was dying, there was no way he'd do it the normal way. He'd want to go out with a bang. She sighed, "We're looking for a party".

Once all the crisis points had been eliminated, and there were thousands of them, only one dot was left – in the UK. "There they are" Clara smiled, "'Do not go gentle into that good night'".

"You go, girl!" Missy cheered, slapping something onto Clara's wrist before she could pull away. The next thing Clara knew, she was dropping out of the Vortex onto hard stone. Missy tumbled next to her and sat up, grinning like a loon. "Whoo, whoo whoo! Mummy, do it again! Vortex manipulators" she explained, holding her wrist up, "Yours is slaved to mine. Cheap and nasty time travel".

Clara got to her feet and looked around. They were on the ramparts of a castle, with stands in the courtyard filled with locals all clapping and shouting. A bearded man stood in the middle of the makeshift arena, brandishing a double headed axe. "Face me, Magician!" he roared, "Face me!"

"You probably want to throw up, don't you?" Missy commented, "Pick a local. According to you, this is where the Doctor is".

"And the rest of the Quintet".

"If he's with them".

"Of course he is, why wouldn't he be?"

"Well, men need their space. I should know; I used to be one".

"Okay, so how do we find them?" asked Clara, "How do we find the Quintet?"

"Anachronisms" Missy replied confidently, "The slightest, tiniest…"

The unmistakable sound of an electric guitar filled the air, and both of them looked down at the portcullis on the other side of the courtyard. "Anachronisms" Missy finished.

A tank – an actual tank – rolled into the courtyard in a swirl of dry ice, carrying the Quintet…Clara didn't know whether to laugh or face-palm. The Doctor and Corsair were standing back to back on the front of the tank, wearing shades and rocking guitars. Flavia, Romana and Emily were sitting on top, dressed in medieval robes; Romana and Emily were wearing tiaras, waving to the cheering crowd like royalty.

The two Time Lords finished their little duet and bowed to the crowd, who cheered and hollered, eating it all up. All of them looked surprisingly happy. "I didn't think they'd be so cheerful, if he's dying" she said aloud, without thinking.

Missy gave a scoff and replied, "What, you think he told them? How simple you are" she mocked. Clara frowned, but Missy ignored her in favour of looking down at the proceedings in the courtyard. She pressed something on her controller so that they could hear what was being said.

Back in the courtyard, the Doctor's 'assistant', Bors, lowered his axe in despair. "Dude!" he protested, "What was that?"

"You said you wanted an axe fight" the Doctor replied, as if it were obvious. There was some scattered laughter, and he insisted, "Oh, come on. In a few hundred years, that'll be really funny. It's a slow burner".

"A musical instrument is not an axe" Bors complained.

"Yes, and a daffodil is not a broadsword, but I still won the last round!" the Doctor grinned, and the crowd cheered.

"Only because I shot the sword out of his hand!" the Corsair riposted; the whole crowd laughed at that.

The Doctor ignored this, and helped his wife and daughter step down from the top of the armoured vehicle. "What do you think of our tank?" he asked Bors, "Don't worry, it isn't armed".

"I don't like it".

"No, neither do I" the Doctor admitted, "I bought it for my fish".

"Your fish?"

"I may have ordered online!"

There was an awkward silence, which the Corsair broke by remarking, "Okay, you can boo him for that one".

"Oh, come on! Hey!" the Doctor called over the chorus of 'boos!' that rose up. "Fish? Tank? Honestly, this stuff will be hilarious in a very few hundred years. Do please stick around".

Flavia frowned disapprovingly and said, "Doctor, please don't tell me you're blatantly causing anomalies in Earth's history just to give yourself an excuse to use bad jokes".

"Okay, I won't tell you that" he agreed straightaway, and grinned when everyone laughed. Some types of humour were just universally funny.

Clara thought Flavia had a good point. "What's the matter with him?" she wondered, "He's never like this. Why are they letting him get away with it?"

"Isn't that what family is for?" Missy asked, rather sarcastically. Clara looked back down in the courtyard; to her surprise, the Doctor looked up, right at her. "Wait, hang on. Did he just hear that? He doesn't know we're here, does he?"

His eyes slid from her to Missy, and he played the opening riff to 'Highway to Hell', before turning to Romana and playing the tune to 'Sweet Child O' Mine', whipping a flower out of his sleeve and handing it to her. "Hmm, I feel like he's trying to tell me something" Missy commented thoughtfully.

The Doctor pulled off his guitar and handed it to the Corsair, before addressing the crowd at large. "Now, you lot. We have been here all day, and it's been a great day!"

"A day?" the Corsair scoffed, "We've been here three weeks, mate, and considering how much ale I've drunk it's amazing I remember that and you don't".

"Three weeks? Time flies when you're having fun. I still don't understand that saying. Well, we've partied!" he declared theatrically, and everyone cheered. "Yes! I helped you dig a well, with a first-class, child-friendly visitor's centre! I've given you some top-notch maths tuition in a fun but relevant way. And I have also introduced the word "dude" several centuries early. Let me hear you!"

"Dude!"

"Are you a Renaissance?"

"Dude!"

"Are you a Medieval?"

"Dude!"

The Corsair joined in, pointing at a young man in armour. "I am a dragon slaying…"

"Dude!"

"We are all the young?"

"Dudes!"

"Do you two have any idea how much temporal damage you could be causing?" Flavia demanded, exasperated.

"Oh, relax, V. I can just get rid of the tank" the Corsair said dismissively, flashing his sonic at the vehicle. It imploded. There was a pause, and then the crowd applauded, thinking it was another magic trick. Flavia rolled her eyes at the Corsair's posturing and said tersely, "Don't call me 'V', please".

"Aw, but it suits you!"

"I like it" the Doctor interrupted, before telling their audience, "I've got some sad news for you, dudes. Tonight, we're going to have to leave you; but before I do, I'd like you to meet a friend of mine" he said, turning and beckoning to Clara. She and Missy had come down from the ramparts whilst all the 'Dude!" shouting was going on.

Clara entered the courtyard, waving shyly at everyone, and hurried over to the Doctor. "How did you know I was here? Did you see me?" she asked him.

"I have very good eyes" he replied, before pulling her into a hug, much to her surprise.

"Oh, wow, we're doing hugging. That's new".

"Well, you know what they say. Hugging is a great way to hide your face" the Doctor reminded her. Clara was about to ask about him supposedly dying, when he nudged her towards Emily, who had come over to say hello.

"Clara! It's so great to see you again!"

"Yeah, you too…how long has it been for you? Cos I didn't notice before, but you look older" Clara remarked. The last time she'd seen the Quintet, Emily had looked about thirteen or fourteen – now she looked sixteen or seventeen, with fuller breasts and more defined features. She was starting to more clearly resemble her mother's previous incarnation, but with blonde hair rather than brown.

"I'm three hundred and fifty eight, now" Emily told her.

Clara smiled and said, "Happy belated birthday, then. Listen, your dad, is he…okay?"

"I dunno…he's been acting weird lately. He said he wanted to come here to meditate".

Clara raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, that was our reaction" the Corsair quipped, before giving Clara a hug. "Hey. How did you get here?" he asked. Emily, Romana and Flavia all looked inquisitively at her, and Clara hesitated.

"Err…thing is…I sort of came here with…"

"Look out!" the Doctor exclaimed suddenly, pointing at Missy, "It's the wicked witch. Everybody hiss!"

The whole crowd booed and hissed; Missy just curtsied and waved a handkerchief, eating up the attention. Romana's jaw dropped. "Her?"

Missy overheard, and remarked "It's lovely to see you again too. Yes, I'm not dead, big surprise, never mind. I'm more interested in what you're doing, Romana. Enjoying yourself, being treated like a queen when your dear, dear husband…" she held up the confession dial, "Is dying tomorrow".

Romana looked rapidly from Missy to the Doctor, and demanded, "Why does she have your confession dial?"

"He gave it to me, according to tradition".

"Liar" the Doctor snarled, striding over and snatching it out of her hand, "You stole it, from the Sisterhood of Karn".

"And why would they have your confession dial?" Romana inquired.

"Not because I'm dying" he hastened to reassure her, "And even if I was going to die tomorrow, there's good news. It's still today!"

"Wait" Clara frowned, "If you're not dying, then why give that dial away?"

"Think of the name, Clara" the Doctor instructed, tapping her on the head with the disc, "Confession dial. There are secrets held in here, dangerous secrets. I want to keep them that way – secret. I told you, secrets keep us safe" he reminded her, tucking the dial into his pocket.

Suddenly, Bors began hacking and choking. The Corsair hurried over to help him. "Did you swallow one of the Doctor's marbles again? We told you last time, you don't swallow marb- yikes!" he grimaced, pulling a red and yellow banded snake from around Bors neck and tossing it away. Flavia winced and stepped back. She hated spiders, and she wasn't a big fan of snakes either.

The snake slithered past them and under the robes of…Colony Sarff. "Doctor" he rasped, "Your friends have led me to you. You will come".

"Give us one good reason" the Corsair challenged, resting a hand on his blaster. In answer, Sarff separated his coils; the robe dropped away to reveal his true form, a large serpent with a colony of snakes around him. The humans in the stand screamed and fled…Flavia sort of wished she could do the same.

"Nobody dies here. Not one person, not one of my friends, do you understand?" the Doctor demanded.

"Davros, creator of the Daleks, dark lord of Skaro, is dying".

"So we heard".

"Why should we care?" Romana asked, rather bitterly. She loathed Davros, for what he'd cost them all…his Daleks had slaughtered her first family, and she dreaded the thought of them killing this one.

"He would speak with you again, Doctor, on the last night of his life. He wishes for you to have a chance…to give atonement".

"What, you're saying Davros is trying to show me mercy?" the Doctor scoffed, "In that case, you can do the same. You will harm nobody in this place. Not one person. Are we very, very clear?"

Sarff recoiled himself into humanoid form. "Are you five so dangerous?"

"I am" the Doctor replied boldly, "You want to know how much? Davros sent you. You know how stupid you are? Huh? You came!"

Sarff hissed.

"Is that supposed to frighten us?" the Doctor scoffed, "Snake nest in a dress? Now, explain, politely. Davros is my arch-enemy. Why would I want to talk to him?"

"No, wait, hang on a minute. Davros is your arch-enemy now?" Missy asked indignantly.

"Quiet, you" the Corsair interjected.

"I'll scratch his eye out" Missy huffed.

"Davros knows" Sarff replied ominously, "Davros remembers…" He tossed something to the ground at the Doctor's feet – his sonic screwdriver.

Clara frowned at it, confused. "That's yours" she pointed out.

"Err, it was".

"Was?"

"He lost it" explained Emily, picking the sonic up. "Before we came here, when he…" she trailed off, and frowned.

All eyes turned to the Doctor. "Dad…" Emily said slowly, "That person you couldn't save, was that...was that Davros?"

"It was Lord Davros as a child" Sarff informed them, "And your father…left him to die".

Clara scoffed at that. "Now I know that's a lie. The Doctor would never…you wouldn't let a child die" she said to the Doctor, expecting him to announce that of course he wouldn't, it was all a trick. He looked at them all, his friends and family – and Missy – staring at him in confusion, or worry…and all the excuses he'd thought of, all his reasoning flew out of the metaphorical window. He hung his head, ashamed.

"Ooh, I hardly ever see that look on your face" Missy remarked, "This must be Christmas".

"Shut up" Romana snapped, before stepping in front of her husband and cupping his face in her hands. "Doctor…why didn't you tell us?" she asked, "Why didn't you tell me?"

"How could I?" he asked helplessly, "To have you all think less of me…Romana, I need you to do something for me".

"Anything" she promised.

"I need you all to run" he told her, giving her a brief kiss, before approaching Colony Sarff. "Is your ship in orbit?" he asked, and the serpent nodded.

"What? Dad, you can't go with that thing!"

"Do as you're told, Emily".

"No way!" she said defiantly, "This is obviously a trap!"

"For once I agree with the brat" Missy commented, "I know traps. Traps are my flirting. You'll die if you go with snake-nest here".

"That is a distinct possibility" the Doctor agreed, putting his hands behind his back, "So, goodbye, everyone". A snake slithered towards him from beneath Sarff's robe, climbing his leg and binding his wrists together.

"This is not goodbye" Romana said firmly, walking over to stand beside him, and putting her own hands behind her back. His eyes widened, and he glared at her. "No. No, no, no, no, no. You're not coming, none of you!"

"Yes, we are" Clara announced decisively; she and Emily stood on his other side, turning their backs on Sarff.

"Stop it, all of you! This is my crime. I have to face this alone!"

"Oh, stop acting like a martyr" Missy rolled her eyes, "It's like you've got a complex". She copied the others, and they all stared at her. "What? I don't want to miss this!"

"Neither do I – although probably for different reasons" the Corsair admitted. He looked at Flavia and inquired, "Are you coming?"

She hesitated. "Err…if I say yes, can I not get tied up by a snake?"

"No-one is getting tied up by snakes, except me" the Doctor insisted loudly, looking over his shoulder at Sarff, who was writhing slightly. "What are you doing?"

"Voting" the serpent replied, "We are a democracy. It is agreed". Snakes slithered out and bound their wrists…the Corsair was holding Flavia's hand, trying to be supportive, and one snake curled around their wrists.

"You think it's matchmaking?" he quipped.

"It's horrid, is what it is" she grimaced.

The Doctor was furious. "No, no, no! I forbid it, no! No! No! No! No!"

All eight of them vanished…Bors crept out of hiding, slack-jawed. What manner of demon had he just witnessed? He forgot a second later, stiffening, his face going blank. Wordlessly, he marched through the castle and into a room, pulling aside a curtain to reveal the TARDIS. Bors, now a Dalek puppet, announced, "Inform High Command. It is located. The TARDIS is located".

"The TARDIS will be procured!"

"Procure the TARDIS. Procure the TARDIS. Procure! Procure! Procure!"