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The Doctor let go of Gariton's body and jumped to his feet, the moment he heard shrieks from Fernor and Major Pelor, behind him.
Spun around.
To discover Cybermites flooding straight into Fernor and Pelor's heads.
"The bomb!" the Doctor sprinted forwards, kneeling down to tear the Cybermites off Major Pelor, fast as he could. "Major! Listen to me! Before you turn into a Cyberman — you've got to deactivate that bomb!"
The Cybermites, as if reacting to the Doctor's touch, suddenly left Pelor and Fernor's minds. Trickling away from the two and disappearing out of sight as fast as those things had first appeared.
Leaving Pelor and Fernor gasping, but… far as the Doctor could see… unharmed.
Which didn't make sense… unless…
"Unless the Cybermites weren't sent by the Cyberplanner, at all," the Doctor muttered, eyes still on the spot where the bugs had vanished. He grabbed up Pelor's dropped gun and hopped back to his feet, reaching for his sonic — but remembered that Jack had it.
And sighed, resorting to disassembling it and reassembling it by hand. Fast as he could go.
"One thing a Cybersnipe can do," the Doctor muttered, chucking away the ammo, "aside from that rather dreadful bang shooty thing," tweaking the internal wiring, fast as his fingers could manage, "is, with the right persuasion…"
He finished his reconstruction of the device.
"Identify lingering Cybermite traces," the Doctor said, raising it up to his face. "And Cyber-technology, inside the brain."
He looked through the scope.
Focusing it on Major Pelor and Fernor, who were both getting up from the ground, trying to reorient themselves. They both seemed dazed — or maybe in a trance.
But the Doctor could spot no trace of Cyber-technology in their minds.
"Oh dear," the Doctor muttered, lowering the scope. "I was really hoping I was wrong…"
As if to confirm the Doctor's worst fears, the sky suddenly began to ripple. The Doctor looked up, and watched as the sun began to writhe and pulse in an entirely unnatural way.
"But… why the Cybermites?" the Doctor said, thinking furiously. "Manipulating the universe I can understand. Even gathering energy to create another portal — that could have been hard-wired in, before Seo was ever born." He scratched his head. "But the Cybermites…!"
Major Pelor glared.
Then rushed him, side-butting the Doctor out of the way so she could grab back the Cybersnipe.
She leveled the gun directly at the Doctor's head.
"You know how the Weapon was created," Pelor spat. "So tell me how to get her back under control. Or you die."
The Doctor waggled a finger at her. "Good point. Brilliant point! Control. Who's controlling her? Because if it's Glory, then… well, I'd expected her to at least move to a spacio-temporal weak-point to open her portal. Instead of staying here."
"Doctor!" Major Pelor shouted.
"After all, if she uses up all Seo's Key energies creating the portal in the first place," the Doctor continued to muse, "she'll never have enough to direct herself back to the correct universe and unseat her two rivals. Unless…"
He stared at Major Pelor.
"The bomb," the Doctor breathed, as he worked it all out. "I said it didn't look ordinary. You've been tampering with it, to make sure it'd destroy Seo. Across all dimensions."
And he could see exactly how she'd figured it out.
After so long trying to find the secrets behind… whatever that Activator was… well, Pelor was many things. But she wasn't one to miss an opportunity.
Take just a trace of whatever had been inside that Activator…
Fit it into a planetary bomb…
"How can we control the Weapon?!" Major Pelor demanded.
"You can't control it!" the Doctor shouted back. "You should never have been able to in the first place! And all you've done, with that bomb of yours, is help Glory destroy the universe!" Anger flared through him, as he shouted, "Now shut it down!"
"So you're saying you don't know how to control her?" Pelor sighed. "You're useless."
And pulled the trigger on the Cybersnipe.
Nothing happened.
Major Pelor frowned. Pulling the trigger again. "Doctor, what did you do to my…?!"
Fernor took advantage of the distraction.
Leapt at Pelor, tackling her to the ground. Pelor tried to strike back at him, but he wrestled her into a headlock. Wouldn't let her go.
"I should have turned you over to the Emperor when I had the chance," Fernor growled at her. "The Doctor knows what he's talking about, Major! He knows more about this situation than any of us!"
"That bomb's my bargaining chip," said Major Pelor. "And my insurance. Trust me, that girl might be able to suck all the energy out of regular explosions… but not this one."
"No," the Doctor agreed. "But then… she wouldn't have to." He stepped forwards, his voice growing dark. "If you've modified that bomb the way I think you have… she won't need to absorb anything. Just the right application of energies, and she'll turn that explosion into a gigantic portal!" He threw open his arms, to illustrate. "Everything will collapse! All universal gateways and barriers will break down!"
Pelor laughed. "Ridiculous."
"For the universe's sake — listen to him!" Fernor shouted. "That girl knew, the moment she fell into enemy hands, we'd use the planetary bomb. Don't you think she'd have a plan for it?"
The Doctor frowned.
"Another aspect of the plan specific to this situation," the Doctor muttered. "But… if she couldn't control the Weapon, before, then how's she managed to reprogram it now? Unless…"
He paused.
As a thought crept into his mind.
"The Activator," the Doctor said, to Fernor and Pelor. "When she took the Activator from you and left. Did she destroy it completely? Or did she remove something from it, first?"
Fernor thought back, but winced in sudden pain, as something flared through his head.
Pelor sucked in a sharp breath, as she felt the pain, too.
"I… don't know," said Fernor, struggling to keep his hold on the Major, even through the pain. "Gariton was alone with her, when it happened. We didn't see."
The Doctor looked up at the writhing sun.
And figured… he already knew the answer.
"Glory couldn't reprogram the Weapon by herself," said the Doctor. "But… using bits of that Activator… she could finally gain full control over the Weapon. Make sure every single bit of that power was at her fingertips, all the time."
And Glory with that much power… on top of the powers she still had as a hell goddess… and the powers she had from Seo's being the Key…
Well.
That was another very bad thought.
"But it all hinges around that bomb," the Doctor said. Stepping towards Pelor. "Major, for the sake of everything across every universe in existence… disable that bomb!"
The Major didn't answer, as another pain swept through her.
"Major!" the Doctor screamed. Grabbed up her head, trying to shake some sense into her. "Are you listening to me? The Cybermen will be here any second! And if you don't disable that bomb before they get here…!"
The Doctor felt heat from an energy weapon, searing just over his head.
Colliding with the tree nearest the three of them, and slicing its trunk in two. It toppled, then began to crash to the ground…
"Move!" the Doctor cried, yanking Fernor and Pelor out of the way.
As the top of the tree crashed to the ground, nearby, with a thud that shook the entire forest around them.
The sound of another energy weapon charging, and the Doctor spun around.
To find himself facing down a Cyberman who'd just emerged through the trees.
"Too late," the Doctor muttered, raising up his hands and backing away.
Fernor grabbed for the dropped Cybersnipe and shot at the Cyberman. Then swore, as he remembered that the Doctor had disabled the gun.
"Now, listen," the Doctor told the Cyberman. "I know why you're here, but you can't—!"
"Love…" the Cyberman said, voice empty and hollow.
All three of them froze, at the word.
Staring.
"I'm sorry?" said the Doctor.
"Love?!" Fernor cried. "Doctor, what's wrong with…?"
"Love her," said the Cyberman, again. Keeping its gun trained on them. "You will… love… her…"
Major Pelor took advantage of the other two, and punched Fernor in the face, kneeing the Doctor in the stomach and shoving him away from her. She grabbed the Cybersnipe from where Fernor had dropped it, on the ground.
Waited as Fernor hurled himself at her, again.
And slammed the butt of it into his head, so he dropped like a stone.
Pelor, now alone, turned to the Cyberman.
A proud smile on her lips.
"Before you kill me, there's something you should tell your precious leader," said Major Pelor. "There's a bomb on this planet. One that'll destroy even her."
The Cyberman paused.
Processing.
"Correct," said the Cyberman.
"And only I can disable it," said Major Pelor. "So if you love that Weapon so much, you better send her a message. Either she gets over here to strike a deal, or I'll—"
The beam of the Cyberman's weapon flashed.
And Major Pelor fell, dead, to the ground.
"You do not love her," the Cyberman said. "You will be deleted."
Fernor stared. Horrified. "You stupid Cyberman!" he shouted. "She was the only one who could stop that bomb! Why would you…?"
"Because Glory wants it to explode, Fernor!" the Doctor snapped. Waving his hands at Fernor. "Haven't you listened to anything I've said?! She's trying to destroy your universe, to get back to her old one!"
"Negative," said the Cyberman.
The Doctor froze, his hands in mid-gesture.
Turned back to the Cyberman.
"I'm sorry?" said the Doctor.
"The Mortal Vessel is empty," said the Cyberman. "There will be death. Death for all."
The Doctor's mind began racing. As he took in what the Cyberman had just told him.
"Vessel?" said Fernor. "What vessel?"
"The Mortal Vessel is empty," the Cyberman repeated. "The Weapon program states that when the Mortal Vessel is empty, the skies of Sunnydale will open, and the Goddess will return."
"The skies of… where?" said Fernor. Shook his head, barely stopping himself from crying out as pain swept through him, yet again. "Sunnydale? I've never heard of that planet!"
"Residual programming," the Doctor said. "As if… the program built into the Weapon is running itself." He shook his head. "But… that's impossible! That doesn't make sense. How could it possibly…?"
The Cyberman charged up his gun.
Pointing it directly at the Doctor.
"You," said the Cyberman. "You are a known enemy of the Cybermen."