Dark blurs descended from the ceiling by unrolling themselves from material that hung from above. Vastra and Jenny landed, clad in their leather battle outfits with swords on their backs. They both drew at the same time.
'Remain still, and lay down your weapons in the name of the British Empire.' Vastra ordered.
Somewhat less elegantly than his companions, Strax landed with a thud in a pile of material, a large gun in his hands.
'Strax!'
'Sorry.' Strax grunted.
'I've told you before.' Jenny moaned. 'Take the stairs.'
The Doctor grinned manically. 'It's sure nice of you to... drop in.'
Clara hung her head. 'Oh God no.'
The half-face robot was not so warm in his welcome. He removed one of his hands with the other, placing it on the collar of his coat and revealing the blowtorch protruding from his wrist. He marched toward Clara and the Doctor, who were forced to back away. 'I burned an ancient, beautiful creature for one inch of optic nerve. What do you think you can accomplish, little girl?'
The Doctor laughed. It was hard and humourless. 'Don't patronise me, sweetheart. You could be a million years old and you wouldn't have lived a single day of my life. I have seen stars wither and die. I have watched as galaxies collide and I have outlasted the entirety of my species. Besides, I have an angry lizard and her wife on my side. And their potato.'
The robot lunged his torch hand. Vastra intercepted the blow, blocking it with her sword. 'The establishment upstairs has been disabled with maximum prejudice, and the authorities summoned.'
Clara gripped the Doctor's arm, pulling her backward. 'Hang on, she called the police? We never do that. We should start.'
The Doctor looked over her shoulder at her companion. 'Yes, of course. What better way is there to teach aliens a lesson than shutting down their restaurant? Next time we'll just give them a bad review.'
Vastra continued to struggle with the robot, trying to push it back to no avail. The Doctor and Clara were rapidly running out of floor space.
'There is no next time.' The half-face robot intoned. 'You will be destroyed.'
Looking as agitated as a robot with half a face could, he made a gesture and Vastra finally managed to knock him back a step. The other robots lifted one arm simultaneously, and long, sharp blades shot out from their wrists. A back door opened to a bright hallway and even more began to flood in.
'Robots.' The Doctor muttered. 'Absolutely no sense of humour.'
'I can't help but notice that you're making things worse.' Clara hissed back.
'Nonesense. It's good to know your enemy's strengths and weaknesses.'
'Was that the plan?'
'More of a happy accident.' She looked to the half-face robot. 'What are you going to do after we're destroyed? Carry on? What's the point?'
'We will reach the promised land.'
'You see, that's where you're wrong. There is nothing here for you but more slaughter. Deactivate. Now.'
'We will not negotiate.' The robot pushed past Vastra and backhanded the Doctor. The impact knocked her of her feet.
'Doctor!' Clara called, rushing to her side.
The Doctor jumped back up. 'Where are you going? There's no where to run. This ship won't fly, it's a miracle it's even standing!'
The robot took his place on the bench at the base of the lift shaft. 'I will leave in the escape capsule. Destroy where necessary.'
'I'm telling you it won't work!' The Doctor bellowed.
'It has been repaired.'
'What with?' Vastra demanded.
Without moving his lips, the robot seemed to smile. 'You.'
The other robots started to move forward.
'Defensive positions, everyone!' Called Strax. He, Vastra and Jenny surrounded the Doctor and Clara as the robots began to creep in.
The Doctor frowned. 'Repaired with us? That... That really doesn't make sense. Does that make sense to anyone else?'
'I think he meant people in general.' Clara replied.
'Well that's a bit pretentious for a robot, isn't it?'
The bench began to elevate slowly.
'Doctor!' Clara called. 'He's getting away!'
If the robot could have cackled, Clara felt he would have done. 'Even your foolish friend will know better than to follow me.'
The Doctor turned back to her companion. 'What have we learned today, Clara?'
'Er - robots aren't cool?'
'What? No. The lesson of the day is...' The Doctor ran over to the rising bench. She leapt up, caught a metal handle protruding from beneath and hung onto it as it ascended. 'Never underestimate my stupidity.'
