The Ship landed with a thud a while later, and the Nightingale flipped the same switch he had when the Wanderer was about to be executed. A light just above the switch came on, and the scanner in the back of the room lit up with an image of a landmark. Said landmark was a large clock connected to a building; Big Ben. She was back on Earth in London. The Time Lord flipped the same switch, -a small black switch with a red sphere on the top- and the scanner died out leaving a black screen. He then made his way to a panel to the right of the panel he was currently in front of, and flipped a switch twice. The console's door switch. The interior doors opened as a result.
"Where are we?" asked the Wanderer. "Earth, London." the Nightingale replied with a smile as he made his way out of the Ship and out into the unusually chilly air of London. He shivered slightly, but his new coat and scarf kept him warm. "Burr. It's cold out." he said. The Wanderer was clad in a coat with cloth covered buttons. A white undershirt, and yellow trousers with a black checkered pattern very reminiscent of the Nightingale's cousin's first regeneration. The Nightingale looked up into the sky. The clouds were gray. "It looks as though it might snow soon." the Nightingale said as he looked back into the Ship. The Wanderer and Bill both made their way into the Ship's wardrobe to look for the appropriate attire. They both chose large fur coats, and exited the Ship after choosing their articles of winter clothing.
Soon enough, the weather began to pick up, and the first few snowflakes began to fall on the ground. The Nightingale snapped his fingers, and the door to both the exterior and interior of the Ship closed keeping snow from getting inside the TARDIS. They then began to walk along the bridge he had parked the Ship nearby; the famous London bridge. All with smiles on their faces. The Wanderer had the widest smile on his face. His eyes full of wonderment. "I have only ever known Gallifrey." the Wanderer said. The Nightingale looked to him. "Really?" asked the Time Lord in perplexment as to why he would risk everything to assassinate the lord president of Gallifrey without even getting a chance to graduate from the academy.
The Wanderer nodded. "Yes, so that means I am still a junior." the Time Lord replied. "What's a junior?" asked Bill. the Nightingale turned to the human. "A junior is a title given to a Gallifreyan who had not yet graduated the academy," the Nightingale replied as he gestured to the Wanderer with a hand. "And that means he does not have a sonic screwdriver, or a TARDIS." replied the Nightingale. "Oh, I have a screwdriver," the Wanderer said as he took an object out of his coat's pocket.
The object had a wooden handle with three humps toward the bottom end of the handle, a silver end cap, and a golden seal which doubled as the activation button for the device. Bill recognised the seal as the seal of Rassilon. The same seal that was on the shoulder pieces of his formal wear along with a silver piece which met the bottom of a clear tube with a smaller silver piece which ended in a spherical shape, and continued up toward the dark red emitter with a thin tube of the same dark red color. The top of the clear tube was met with a golden tapering piece with a silver piece in the center of another golden piece which housed the dark red domed emitter.
The Wanderer handed the device to the Nightingale who closely scrutinised the screwdriver. "Good composition," the Time Lord said as he held the screwdriver outward, and held the button of the device down. The emitter lit up a bright red along with the tube which extended from the silver piece contained within the tube up to the emitter. A soft buzzing sound emitted from the device. "A bit too light through." The Nightingale said. The button was then released a moment later, along with the emitter returning to its dark red state, and the buzzing dying away. He tossed the screwdriver into the air, and caught it after it spun twice. He then handed it to Bill who also examined the device.
"It looks so pretty." Bill said as she too held the button down. She had never held a sonic screwdriver before, but the emitter lit up the same bright red color, and the same buzzing sound emitted from the device. Bill then released the button a moment later, and handed it back to the Wanderer who put the device back into this coat's interior pocket. "So what can this thing do?" asked Bill. "Many things. All sonics can do the same things such as scan for life, scan for cancerous cell in a being, lock and unlock doors, operate technology," the Nightingale began explaining only a few functions.
He then took his sonic out of his interior pocket, pointed the device to a street light, and held the button down. The device lit up a cool blue, and a much different buzzing sound was emitted from the device. A bit lower, but quicker in pace. The street light turned flickered to life. "like that street lamp. It can also act as a compass as well." the Nightingale said with a smile. After a few seconds, he held the button down again. The buzzing sounded again along with the emitter lightning up its cool blue. The lamp turned off, and the Nightingale smiled as he put his sonic back into his pocket. "Wow. That's already a lot." Bill said with astonishment hearing the many function of the versatile device.
As the two Time Lords and one human continued to walk along the London bridge, the snow began to pick up slightly. "The snow's picked up." the Nightingale said. "Yes, Nightingale. We can see that." replied with a chuckle at the Time Lord pointed out the obvious. "Yes, it's obvious, but it's picked up in a certain way." the Nightingale said as he placed a finger in his mouth, and held it vertically to see which was the wind was blowing. The wind has picked up as well. "A blizzard," the Nightingale said softly. "A what?" Bill asked as she did not hear the Time Lord. "A blizzard, Bill." the Time Lord replied as she spun on his heels to look back to the Wanderer and Bill. "A blizzard?" asked the Wanderer.
The Nightingale nodded in reply. "A combination of harsh winds and snow. A snowstorm." the Nightingale replied. "Oh." the Wanderer replied. "Down Gallifrey ever get snow?" asked Bill. The Nightingale nodded. "It does, it's just on the mountain surrounding the citadel." the Nightingale replied. "And yes, I know you haven't seen Gallifrey in person, but you've seen the citadel from behind me when Rassilon and I were having our little conversation." the Nightingale added. Bill nodded as she remembered the quick conversation they had, and seeing a citadel in front of him. "Yeah. It did look beautiful." Bill commented. "Yes, it did." the Nightingale said. "It really is a shame we can never go back. Well, we can, we'll just be killed on sight." the Wanderer added.
Both Bill and the Nightingale agreed. "Yes, we will. That was my punishment for saving someone who was meant to be executed." the Nightingale said. Bill wrapped her arm around him. The Time Lord looked down and smiled and wrapped her arm around her in return. "So what are we going to do about this blizzard?" asked the human. The Time Lord then looked determined. "See what's causing it," he replied. "Causing a blizzard? It's natural." Bill laughed. "No. Blizzards typically wait a few hours before starting. This started only about five minutes after it started snowing." the Nightingale replied. "It may not even be a blizzard." Bill said with a chuckle. As if on cue however, the wind and snow picked up again. It felt like the temperature dropped three more degrees. "I stand corrected." Bill said. The Nightingale agreed with a nod. "Yes, so this is why we need to find out who or what is causing this." the Time Lord said as he began to walk. The Wanderer and Bill followed him. They made their way toward where the blizzard was coming from.
As they were walking down the bridge, a large lumbering figure made its way toward the three beings. They stopped. The figure revealed itself through the blizzard which had since picked up even more as a large broad chested figure in what looked like a suit of dark green scaly armor. A domed green scaly helmet with red eyes. The creature's mouth exposed. The Nightingale drew his sonic screwdriver pointing it toward the creature. Said creature just continued lumbering past the beings like nothing happened. They turned around, and watched the creature lumber down the bridge and into the snow which became so thick, they couldn't see a meter ahead of them.
"Uhh what was that about?" asked Bill. The Nightingale shrugged, and began to make his way toward the creature. "Oi!" The Nightingale called. The creature continued on its path down the bridge. At least until the Time Lord put his hand upon the creature's wide shoulders. The creature whipped around swinging its massive arm toward the Time Lord who let out a yelp, and flew back quite a ways as it hit him in the chest. He hit the ground with a thud. "Ow." he said as he stood up with a cough. Bill and the Wanderer rushed to his side to help him up. "That was strong." said the Time Lord. "No kidding." Bill replied.
The Nightingale stood back up, and scanned the creature as it lumbered away with his sonic screwdriver. A moment later, he flicked it open, and unbeknownst to Bill, and possibly the Wanderer, the Nightingale already knew everything about the creature known as the Ice Warrior from the devices telepathic circuits. "An Ice Warrior," began the Nightingale as he closed the claws around the emitter, and slid the aluminium cage section back onto the collar of the device closing it and putting it back in his interior pocket.
Bill looked to him. "from the planet mars. More commonly known as the red planet, they can prefer the cold hence the reason why they need a blizzard, They can not survive however in extreme heat." said the Nightingale. Bill looked to him. "How do you know that?" asked the human. "Telepathic circuit." replied the Wanderer. "I take it yours has one too." the Nightingale gestured to the junior time Lord who had his sonic drawn. He nodded. "Yes, I do." replied the junior Time Lord as he put his own sonic into his pocket. "They came from that way," said Bill as she pointed in the opposite direction in which the Ice Warrior was headed.
"so it would make sense to go the way it came from to find the other warriors if there are any, and the cause of this blizzard." Bill said as she wrapped the thick wool coat around her tighter in hopes to keep her warm. She then began walking ahead of the two Time Lords who followed close behind her. "But shouldn't one of us go in the direction of the other Ice Warrior to see what its intentions are?" asked the Wanderer. "That's a good idea." said the Nightingale. "Wanderer, you go see what the Ice Warrior is doing. Use your telepathy to relay information to Bill and I as we go see where the cause of the blizzard is coming from." said the Time Lord. Bill looked to the Nightingale. "He might die. It doesn't feel right leaving him on his own." Bill said.
"You're right. We can either stop the Ice Warrior who is probably all the way across the bridge by now, or find the cause and stop them all at once." the Nightingale said as he spun on his heels, and began walking the other way. "Where are you going?" asked Bill. "To find the other Ice Warrior. It was walking by itself, and it seemed on an unwavering mission. It probably needed a piece for something. Se we should go follow it to stop its plan to build whatever it is it might be building. Come along." the Nightingale said as he brushed his coat back shoving his hands in his pockets, and began walking off toward the lone Ice Warrior. Bill and the Wanderer following close behind him back toward the closest end of the bridge which was also where the TARDIS was parked.
The lone Ice Warrior made its way to Big Ben. Without hesitation, the warrior burst a hole in the wall, and made its way inside. "It needs something from inside Big Ben," said the Nightingale. "Yes, that's why it burst a hole in the clock. But why Big Ben?" asked Bill. The Time Lords shrugged and began to slowly and stealthly make their way through the hole in the famous clock. The sounds of moving cogs began filling the air from above. The Ice Warrior began ascending the stairs up to the top of the tower. The Nightingale, the Wanderer and Bill all ascended the stairs after the Ice Warrior, but kept their distance as they all now know how strong it is from only moments ago.
They eventually caught up to the warrior, and the Nightingale called to the warrior. Said warrior stopped its motion, turned around, and opened its mouth. "My mission will ssssoon be complete. Our sssonic canon will ssssooon be built." A series of drawn out hisses passed the creature's thin lips. "Sonic canon? And what do you plan to do with that?" asked the Nightingale. "That issss not of your importanccce." said the warrior. "Well for starters, your name." said the Time Lord. "Ssskarr." replied the warrior. "Well, Skarr, I'm going to ask again. What is your plan? Why are you in the most famous clock in the world? What could you possibly need here?" asked the Nightingale.
"It'sss not of importanccce." the warrior repeated in its drawn out hiss. "Oh?" questioned the Time Lord. "Do not try to ssstop me." replied the warrior as it turned back around, and began walking up the stairwell toward the top of the spire. "Oh, yes it is. Why make a sudden blizzard? Why go through all that trouble when you know you will be stopped?" asked the Nightingale. The Ice warrior did not stop. The Warrior remained silent, but continued its ascension up the stairwell. "Well," the Nightingale looked to the Wanderer and Bill. "I know what will happen when I try to stop him. Especially this high up the clock tower." the Time Lord said as he gestured to the floor below them. Bill looked down to the ground, and immediately shifted her gaze back to the Nightingale. She had a minor fear of heights, but clung to the Nightingale who sympathetically held her to him.
"I had a fear of heights too once, but i have since gotten over them." replied the Time Lord. "Really?" they said as they continued their ascension up the stairs. "Yes." the Nightingale said as he slowly let her go. The human gripped the rail on the side of the wall not tightly, but tight enough if any of the stairs gave way -which she doubted they would- she could grip the railing. After minutes, they finally made it to the top of the clock tower keeping their distance from the warrior of course. The Wanderer looked around, and saw a rather weak spot in the steel that composed the railings that would keep people from falling from such a height.
The Nightingale nodded, and engaged with a telepathic like with both the Wanderer and Bill. "When the Ice Warrior gets to that section of the railing," the Nightingale pointed to the section the Wanderer pointed out moments ago. Bill's eyes widened at hearing the Time Lord's voice in her head. "Push him down. There is a possibility he will stop the clock for the piece he needs. The only way to stop something so powerful would be something equally as powerful ie the ground from the height of three-hundred and fifteen feet. If the clock stops, the warrior will definitely have a piece of it to assemble the sonic cannon, but if he impacts the floor with oh, I don't know, a few hundred G's of force? He will be dead meaning we can stop the mission, and repair the clock. After that, we can find the other warriors." replied the Nightingale.
The link was then broken. He looked to the human and junior Time Lord placing a finger over his mouth telling them to remain quiet. They nodded as they were hidden from view of the warrior behind a bell. The Time Lord looked to the Ice warrior. It brought its massive fist down and the axle connecting to the minute hand of the clock was cut in half. Their eyes widened. They knew he was strong, but not that strong. The axle hit the ground with a clang, and the warrior began to root around for the part he needed. After a while, the warrior began to make its way toward the stairs to descend them. But little did the warrior know, he was going to reach the bottom very fast.
"Now!" the Nightingale shouted. He, Bill, and the Wanderer rushed the Ice Warrior, and shoved it with all their might. The warrior tumbled backward from the force, but it wasn't much. The warrior however, collided with the bar which snapped from the force of the warrior's body, and the creature fell down the shaft of the clocktower, and hit the bottom a moment later with a loud thud. They looked to the ice warrior to make sure it was no longer moving. After a few moments, they sent the Wanderer down to retrieve the part the warrior had taken. A minute of walking down the steps, he made his way to the ice warrior retrieving the part; a small cog. He turned to walk away, but the Time Lord felt something clamp itself around his ankle. The ice warrior was still alive!
The Wanderer let out a yelp, and the Nightingale and Bill quickly made their way down the stairs, and toward the Wanderer. The Nightingale began sonicing the warrior's hand in hopes to hit the right frequency to have it unlatch itself, but to no avail. He flicked the device. The collar of the device was flicked open along with the claws opening. The device was now in high frequency mode. The Time Lord aimed it at the ice warriors hand, and held the button down. The device's usual buzz was replaced by a high pitched whine. Bill, and the Wanderer covered their ears in hopes to block the whine of the sonic, but they were too close to the source. The Ice Warrior had released its grip from the intense noise. He was free! He ran from the ice warrior, and the Nightingale released the button on the device collapsing the caged section of the device to the rest of it, and placing it back in his pocket. "You will pay for thissss." said the Ice Warrior. The Nightingale rolled his eyes. "Sure we will." he replied sarcastically. The warrior then stood up, and lumbered away with a slight limp from impacting the ground after falling from the top of the clock tower. The two Time Lord's and the one human began ascending the stairs from the second time to replace the single cog the warrior had stolen to fix the clock.
They ascended the spire, and looked to the severed steel axle which connected the mechanism to the massive minute hand dial. "The warrior really did a number on this axle." said the Nightingale. "Just one chop, must have taken karate seriously huh?" asked Bill with a laugh. "Well, they are bred for battle. But let's save Big Ben!" said the Time Lord as he took his sonic back out of his coat's inside pocket. "We're not putting up a cabinet." Bill joked. "Oi, this can do much more than just put up cabinets." said the Time Lord. "Now, if you two wouldn't mind helping hoist this beam level with its connection point," said the Nightingale. Bill and the Wanderer both hoisted the beam into the air, and held it steady with the point in which it was severed from. The Nightingale then used his sonic to sear the connection like super glue. "Alright. Let go." said the Time Lord. Bill and the Wanderer responded by letting the axle go slowly. The object staying connected. Bill's eyes widened. "How did you do that?" asked Bill. The Time Lord smiled and tossed his screwdriver in the air and caught it after it caught twice placing it back in his inside pocket. "My screwdriver of course. It can act like a welder as well, but without the heat or light, or sparks." the Nightingale replied with a smile. Movement in the clock had been restored. The Time Lords and human smiled. "Good," the Nightingale said as he clapped his hands together, and spun on his heels as he started down the steps. Both Bill and the Wanderer followed the Time Lord. "Let's go find the other ice warriors now." replied the Nightingale as he made his way out of the gaping aperture in the side of the clock tower.
As they exited the clock tower, the Nightingale took his sonic out, and held the button down. The device's light began to pulsate along with the sound produced by the device. He slowly turned around, and watched for a change in the speed of both the sound, and light of the device. Bill recognised the function was akin to a compass. "A compass?" asked Bill. The Time Lord nodded. "Right you are, Potts. Now, onward!" he said as he trudged through the snow which had since risen up to their ankles, and they didn't have snowshoes. "We should go back to the TARDIS and get some snowshoes. Surely the wardrobe has some." said Bill. "They do. We actually do not need to walk all the way back," said the Time Lord as he took his sonic out of his coat's pocket and pointed it toward the ground. A moment later, the dark grey ship landed in front of the clock tower. "A remote?" asked Bill. "Yes, The screwdriver can also act as a recall for the TARDIS," said the Wanderer. "But since my sonic isn't linked to a TARDIS, nothing will happen." he added with a frown. "And we can go back to Gallifrey and steal a TARDIS, but we'll be killed on sight." the Nightingale added as he snapped his fingers. The door to the Ship opening. They all made their way into the Ship, and into the wardrobe. They all emerged moments later with not snowshoes rather, but items that strapped to their shoes. They were akin to tennis rackets. They worked by spreading out the area of the foot which allowed the user to tread across the snow. The Nightingale had since went back to using his sonic as a compass when he exited the Ship closing the door, walking down the bridge the ice warrior had come leaving the TARDIS behind them. The snow growing thicker by the minute as they trudged through it.
After a while, they heard hissing akin to a snake. "The processss hasss been deterred. I have failed youu." said an ice warrior in the distance. They hid behind a bush which was covered in snow. As they were hiding, Bill shifted her foot around which was a mistake. A branch snapped under her foot. The three warriors all fell silent, and looked toward the source of the sound. The bush the human and two Time Lords were roosted behind. The Nightingale cursed under his breath in a language that Bill didn't recognise as the warrior began to lumber toward the small sphere of shrubbery.
The warrior tore the bush out of the ground with his large fist. The Nightingale looked up to the warrior. "Hello." he said as he stood up. "Whoooo are youuu?" asked a warrior from behind the creature that was in front of him. "I am the Nightingale." he replied with a smile. The warrior said nothing, but turned and walked back toward the group. A warrior with an oblong helmet -which the Time Lord assumed was their lord or a warrior of a higher rank- stood in front of what the he assumed would have been the machine they would use. He recognised it as a sonic cannon. He strode over to the device, and began examining it.
"A sonic cannon huh?" he asked rhetorically. He peeked at the frequency as he strode around the device, and memorized the numbers. 75.4. He would soon change his sonic to the same frequency to cancel out the ear piercing sound the cannon would produce. He deduced that they would use the sound waves from the device to melt the snow. But why? There wasn't a mountain in sight. He then looked around. "What do you plan to do with this?" asked the Time Lord. "Cause a natural disaster." an ice warrior -the one with the oblong helmet- replied.
Its voice much deeper than the rest. "You're a strange one. What rank are you?" asked the Nightingale. "I am an Iccce lord. Iccce lord Hhessh." replied the ice lord. "Well, hello Hhessh. So, what kind of natural disaster are you causing?" asked the Wanderer. The ice lord looked to the junior Time Lord. "Wee are planning to melt the icce of the great lake to cause a flood." replied Hhessh. "Well, that's not going to happen now. I stopped your plan. You needed a part from Big Ben is that correct?" the Nightingale asked. "That isss correct." Hhessh replied. "Well, we restored movement to the clock, and stopped your plan in the process to even finish the cannon." the Time Lord said.
An ice warrior then grabbed Bill who let out a yelp. The TIme Lord turned to Bill who was in the grasp of a warrior. "If youuu do not bring the part to usss, your friend will sssuffer the conssiquenccess." Hhessh hissed. "Let her go." the Nightingale said lowly. He then looked to Bill. His expression softening. He then reestablished a telepathic link with the human. "I'll get you back, and stop their plan." replied the Nightingale. Or at least an echoey version of the Nightingale's voice in her head. Bill nodded, and the ice warriors and the ice lord walked off with Bill in their clutches.
The Nightingale's face then gained a very determined look. "What's going to happen?" asked the Wanderer. The Nightingale looked to him. "I'm going to have to do as they ask. Bring them the part, and have them complete their sonic cannon. One the bright side, we will get Bill back, and stop them at the same time!" the Time Lord smiled as he turned back toward the general direction of the TARDIS brushing the bottom half of his coat back, and shoving his hands in his pockets. "Come along." the Time Lord said. The junior Time Lord complied and followed the Nightingale back toward the TARDIS.