Chapter Ten
The Waters of Mars: Time Lord Victorious

The Time Lord Victorious stood defiant on the rocky Martian surface. His nose pointed into the air as he bitterly peered over the wreckage of Bowie Base One. He had no idea if the crew survived the explosion, but it didn't matter. He would change time for the better. For he, once nicknamed Theta Sigma of the Prydonian Chapter, could no longer fit into the name "Doctor." He was Time's Champion, The Warrior, The Oncoming Storm, and he had a duty to accomplish.

He was the last of the Time Lords. His people were gone forever, and left a great responsibility on his shoulders. He could influence the very course of time. He could feel the sheer power of possibility rushing through his veins in a burst of adrenaline, daring him to act upon it. He was humanity's sole protector- no, the entire universe's- and nothing would stop him. He was invincible.

A single glance behind to the young woman's dead body immediately stripped him of that last thought. No, no, he was certainly not invincible if the loss of a simple human life affected him this much, but for the sake of all the worlds in the sky he would have to pretend to be.

Again, the world around reminded him- this innocent human girl died on his watch, on his time. And so a resolute grimace heralded the next chapter of his life. No more, he thought. No more. I will not stand around and watch millions of people fall into the traps of time! Its Laws are mine! I am going back to the base, and every single one of them left will LIVE!

The Time Lord rushed into the central dome of Bowie Base One on a mission. The explosion had blown it to tatters; the hull was broken, alarms were blaring, sparks flew everywhere, and the remaining crew members curled up on the floor next to each other were losing oxygen fast. Mia's face fell in view, and it was apparent she honestly believed she would die. Well, he planned to change that very quickly.

He threw a metal spray can at her. "Mia, take this sealant, fix that rig! Yuri, open emergency oxygen."

Both immediately took his orders and acted upon them. Mia sprayed the sealant at the source of the leak. The foam solidified in seconds, closing the gap. He turned his attention to the only other crew member in sight, the captain, who sat dazedly on the floor.

"Adelaide, don't just sit there," he said, and offered a hand.

"Where's your friend?" Captain Brooke muttered, stepping to her feet by herself.

The Time Lord froze. "She died. In the shuttle explosion." He began to grin wildly when he felt the improvement in the oxygen crisis, flipping to the complete other side of the emotion spectrum. "Ah, that's better. The dome's still got integrity! It's ten feet of steel-combination, made in Liverpool. Magnificent workmanship."

Adelaide stepped up to him, desperate. "It can't be stopped. Don't die with us, too. Not now."

He looked down at her, defiance in his eyes. "No, because someone told me just recently. They said I was going to die." His eyes grew wilder. "They said he will knock four times, and I think I know what that means, and it doesn't mean right here, right now, because I don't hear anyone knocking, do you?"

BANG.

BANG.

He paled, and turned to see Andy pounding on the window of the airlock with his fists.

BANG.

He grimaced, and threw himself to one of the computer monitors. "Three knocks is all you're getting," he growled, and slammed his hand down on one of the keys. Immediately, the door electrified, and Andy screamed as the current flowed through his wet body. He fell away from the door, the Flood's progress stilled, if only for a short moment. Not showing any sort of remorse for these actions, the ancient man ticked his head. "Water and electricity, bad mix! Now then, what else have we got?"

"There's no way to fight them!" Captain Adelaide insisted.

His finger shot into the air, realizing... "Heat! They use water, so we can use heat!" He launched himself to the keyboard, messed with the controls until he saw what he wanted, and ranked the heat to full strength. It would get insufferably hot, but it might just save all of their lives. "Works against the Ice Warriors, works against The Flood. Ramp up the environment controls and steam them!"

"But you said we die!" Rubble fell somewhere nearby, causing the entire central base to shake. Adelaide took a breath, bracing herself on the unstable floor, and continued. "For the future, for the human race!"

The Time Lord Victorious vaguely glanced at her, busy working with the base's computer systems as he responded. "Yes, because there are laws. There are Laws of Time. Once upon a time there were people in charge of those laws, but they died." He finally turned around to face her, and when he did, he was met with confusion. "They all died. Do you know who that leaves? Me!" he shouted, pointing to himself. He verged on the edge of insanity to the rest of the crew. "It's taken me all these years to realize the Laws of Time are mine, and they will obey me!"

A sudden explosion from another section shook the base again. The small shock wave threw the four against the walls like rag dolls. Alarms blared as the Time Lord rotated his neck. He popped a vertebra back into place with a snap, and cursed under his breath in Gallifreyan as he began to get up from the floor.

Captain Adelaide Brooke skirted away from him and towards one of the other monitors. Mia and Yuri were standing at her shoulders, gazing at each other. The captain noted the flashing text box that had appeared on the right side of the screen. She frowned. "Environment controls are down. Sorry, Doctor, it looks like history's got other ideas."

Don't call me Doctor, the darkened side of his mind hissed. That's not who I am anymore. I am the Sole Survivor.

"I'm not beaten yet," he said aloud. "I'll go outside, find the heat regulator!"

He stumbled over to his spacesuit helmet, and picked it up. He'd shattered the glass visor. He must have broken it when he entered and threw it against the wall. His mouth twitched in anger, but he managed to keep himself together.

"Not beaten," he mumbled as he set the broken helmet back down in the rubble. "Not beaten! You've got spacesuits in the next section!"

Huffing and puffing, he threw himself around the corner of the airlock doorway leading into the next bay, but water poured through the ceiling to form a turbulent waterfall. There was absolutely no way he could get through to the base's spacesuits without turning into one of them. He paused for a second to catch his breath. And then he snapped. No. No, he would not let time control him! He was a Time Lord!

"We're not just fighting The Flood," he bellowed as he arrived back in Central Base, "we're fighting time itself! Time and everything that's ever, ever taken my friends from me! This is for you, Clara! And I'm going to WIN!"

At that precise moment, a horrendous sound echoed through the base. It sounded like screaming, and immediately his mind lapsed back to Clara's death and the noises she made while he attempted to save her... But it was nothing like a human scream. Not anymore. The Time Lord Victorious returned in a flourish, and ran over to Yuri, who had found some live feed from the glacier, where cracks were opening up on the surface.

"What is that?" Mia screeched.

"Something is happening to the glacier!" the Russian responded in a contained shout.

Growling, the Time Lord had to force himself to pace away so he could think. "Think-a think-a think-a think... What have we got? Not enough oxygen." He opened up the lid of a metal tin, before jutting out his chin in derision and slamming it back down. "Protein packs, useless." He ran a hand through his already distressed hair as he continued to pace the room, speaking utter nonsense. "Glacier, glacier mints, minty, Monty, molto bene, bunny, bonny, bish bash bosh. Argh! The room, the room, look at the room. Section F. What's in Section F?" He extended his arms towards the others, expecting a response. It was silent. He frowned. "Anyone!" he hollered, gesturing for someone to please speak up.

"Nothing," Yuri managed quickly, before the man's rage grew any bigger. "I-It's just storage."

"Storing what?"

"I don't know," he flustered. "Er, the weather spikes, the robots, the atom clamps..."

"Atom clamps. Atom clamps?" The Time Lord ran over to the side and opened one of the units just a crack. He grinned when he saw what was inside. "Who needs atom clamps? I have a funny robot!"

He threw the door down to the floor to reveal...

"Gadget gadget."

"Oh yes!" he proclaimed, and apprehensively, Yuri rushed over to help him maneuver the fragile robot out of its holding unit. While he brought the robot out, the Time Lord Victorious reached back in and carried a handled metal case out. He slapped it on a table. He quickly reached deep into the pocket on the leg of his spacesuit, (bigger on the inside, of course), and brought out both his sonic screwdriver and his personal TARDIS key. The ancient yet young man bent down next to Gadget, and secured the key in between the robot's fingers.

"You take that," he murmured quietly as he made sure his key to all of space and time would not fall out. "Good boy." He pushed himself up to his feet, and hobbled over to where he set the metal briefcase down. Before anybody knew what exactly he was planning, he threw the auto-gloves on, and stretched his fingers. "Off we go then."

"Gadget gadget," the robot responded automatically, and rolled out from Central Base. He watched as it left his view, and then looked down at the small monitor. It was all up to him now.

"Come on, come on," he muttered, as he carefully steered the robot through a curtain of water first, then a wave of fire. Gadget sparked coming through the water, but luckily enough the fire was easily avoided. He heard a beeping sound begin somewhere behind him.

"Implementing Captain's protocol," the computer's voice droned

His brow furrowed. "Adelaide? What are you doing?"

"Oh my god, Action Five," Mia squeaked, realizing what Captain Adelaide Brooke had turned on.

The Time Lord's eyes darkened at the captain. "If I have to fight you as well, then I will."

"Nuclear device now active and primed," said the computer.

His eyes flicked over to the computer, only remotely noticing Yuri in the background, whom was still monitoring the cracks forming in the glacier. If that thing ruptured, it would be bad news. As time originally went, the base exploded before The Flood emerged, but now... this fixed point was balanced on the edge of a scale. Anything could happen, in theory.

In this case, however, it was no theory. He WOULD save everyone. He had to. He refused to let Adelaide keep time in its proper course. Grunting, he managed to finger his sonic screwdriver into his hand, and gave the equipment a good helping zap.

"Blast off!" he yelled the second Gadget moved out onto the Martian surface, clenching his fists. In the small display he had from its outer camera, he could see land rushing past at an amazing speed. Behind him, water dripped from dangerous areas in the ceiling. The robot wasn't nearly going fast enough; the nuclear countdown was almost down to 60.

"Faster!" he screamed desperately, with his hair flying every which way.

Time blurred, and seconds muddled into each other. He watched as the small robot left the Gusev Crater, and made that final open stretch across the flat desolate fields of the red planet. His gaze drifted down, and his grip on the auto-gloves tightened. Sparks blew past his ears, nearly grazing his sideburns, but he really didn't notice. He didn't notice Adelaide, Mia, and Yuri holding each other in their last seconds together, either. He was too absorbed in his victorious duty. He smiled gleefully as he saw his dear old blue box becoming closer and closer in the moving picture.

"Nuclear device entering final process," the computer reminded him, being humorously blasé for an announcement like this.

The TARDIS was practically in front of him now, the robot creeping closer and closer. Now, just to get it here... His arm slowly rose up, and Gadget's followed. He lined the small key up with the keyhole and inserted it in. His wrist turned. So did the robot's. And then the door opened, revealing the beautiful interior of his ship. He smirked. "And we're in! Ha, ha!"

But he wasn't victorious yet. There were only forty seconds in the countdown left. Time was slipping through his grasp. Just like Clara.

It took longer than he wished to set the controls for the TARDIS remotely. Since he wasn't completely aware of the exact coordinates of where he stood at the moment, he set his ship to follow the signal of his sonic screwdriver. Just the hand brake to flip, and...

The Time Lord, now very victorious, stood up from the table and threw the auto-gloves to the side. He walked out in the middle of the wreckage of Bowie Base One, in front of his materializing time ship. Just a few seconds left. 10... 9... 8... 7...

The TARDIS fully materialized with just 5 seconds to go. He swung her doors open. Grinning, he offered a hand to the three surviving crew members, just three of eight, and beckoned them in. It was an offer that- with a nuclear bomb about to explode any moment now- anyone would be foolish to refuse.

2...

He slammed the doors shut.

1.

The Time Lord exited his time ship with much gravitas, the three crew members- Adelaide, Mia, and Yuri- following close behind. They stood somewhere in the outskirts of London, on a snowy Gregorian street. Lampposts illuminated the delicate snowflakes falling on this cold, crisp night. He saw Mia cross around him and gaze at the TARDIS, frightened. His brows furrowed.

"Isn't anyone going to thank me?" he asked. Before anybody could so much as respond, Gadget rolled out behind him and shut down. The Time Lord shrugged. "He's lost his signal. Doesn't know where he is."

Adelaide suddenly nodded towards one of the townhouses in front of them. "That's my house."

"Don't you get it? This is the twenty first of November 2059. It's the same day on Earth." A tiny smile brightened his face as he looked up to the sky. "And it's snowing. I love snow!"

"That thing?" Mia piped up then. Yuri was standing to the side still silently pondering it all. "It's bigger. I mean, it's bigger on the inside. Just like Clara said." She paused, and shook her head in fear. "You're absolutely mad." With that, she began to walk off, only stopping when she realized her good friend wasn't with her. "Yuri? Yuri! Are you coming?"

He turned to the captain first for permission. She simply nodded him off. "Go ahead, Yuri."

"Yes, ma'am."

He ran after her. The Time Lord Victorious watched silently as he disappeared around the street corner. Then his attention turned back to Adelaide Brooke. She did not seem happy at all, a strange fact, since he saved her from an unneeded and messy death.

"You saved us," she stated plainly.

"Just think though," he began, trying to explain the blatantly obvious to her. "Your daughter, and your daughter's daughter, you can see them again. Family reunion."

She didn't seem to be impressed. "But I'm supposed to be dead."

"Not any more."

"I get it," she muttered. "This is because of Clara, isn't it? Because she died. And now you feel the need to save all of us, like you could somehow make up for it."

"Adelaide. Don't you dare drag her into this. Don't you dare."

"It is. There's no denying it now. And look what you've done," she frowned. "Susie, my granddaughter. The person she's supposed to become might never exist now."

He silently chortled at this. "Nah, 'coz now Captain Adelaide can inspire her face-to-face," his face brightened. "Different details, but the story's the same."

"You can't know that!" she outburst, growing even more desperate. "And if my family changes, the whole of history could change. The future of the human race! No one should have that much power."

The Time Lord stood in thought for a moment. The corner of his lip ever so slightly turned up into a cruel smirk. "Tough."

Then the captain seemed to have a sudden moment of realization, as if she just then began to think of the universal ratifications of the man's actions. "You should have left us there."

"Adelaide, I've done this sort of thing before," he responded calmly. "In small ways, saved some little people, but never someone as important as you. Oh, I'm good."

She was horrified. "Little people? What, like Mia and Yuri? Who decides they're so unimportant? You?"

He purposefully ignored her question. "For a long time now, I thought I was just a survivor, but I'm not," he said. "I'm the winner."

Adelaide could sense the quite dramatic shift in attitude as he said this. His eyes darkened, and his body language became harder to read, as if he were hiding something.

"That's who I am. The Time Lord Victorious."

"And there's no one to stop you."

"No."

"This is wrong, Doctor," Captain Brooke stated. "I don't care who you are. The Time Lord Victorious is wrong."

He kept perfect eye contact with her, but the evident darkness locked behind his eyes was enough to almost make her squirm. "That's for me to decide. Now, you'd better get home. Oh, it's all locked up. You've been away. Still, that's easy." His face hardened; he swished around and pointed his screwdriver at her door, quickly unlocking it in an overdramatic flourish. "All yours."

"Is there nothing you can't do?" Adelaide glowered.

"Not any more."

The woman bit her lip, in deep thought. "Why don't you save her, then? Clara. If you think you can change time like this, why not save her? After all, she's probably just a little, insignificant person."

"Adelaide. No," he said, stepping forward with ferocity. "Don't tempt me."

Captain Adelaide Brooke turned one last time before she completely walked away. "I seriously worry for anybody who stumbles upon you. Go on. Fly away, change time."

Her head swung around and she lifted herself up the stairs to her small home. She stepped inside. He watched her with an all-knowing smirk, aware that she would live many more brilliant days to come and could now inspire countless more young humans to travel the stars. And this was all possible because of him. Just how many more important people could he save, how many more lives could he touch? Satisfied, he began to swagger off back to his TARDIS, in wonder of how his entire world seemed to have changed in just the space of hours. Still, it was all for the better.

It was only the blast of a laser-powered gun that managed to shatter the glass containing whatever was left of the true, caring, compassionate Doctor deep down inside. His eyes widened in shock and fear, unable to speak, while utterly knowing exactly what had just happened behind his turned back. In the back of his mind, he could feel a once-fixed point in time shift, like the gear of a clock sliding just one tooth further. Captain Adelaide Brooke died on the twenty-first of November 2059, but no longer on Mars. She died on Earth.

His stomach clenched up, as he mentally followed the course of this new time stream. What would change, anything? Did Susie Fontana Brooke still travel into the stars?

Luckily, it was still a yes. Time healed itself, and although the place did not matter, it seemed the clever Adelaide always needed to die.

I don't care who you are. The Time Lord Victorious is wrong.

Hearing her words echo though the back of his head, the Doctor's breath caught in his throat like he recently emerged from a nightmare. He clamped his eyes shut, now reveling in feeling once more- not only physical feeling and the brutal chill touching his cheeks, but also emotions.

The consequence trodden Time Lord turned around to meet the eyes of an Ood. Remembering what they had once said to him, "Your song is ending," he realized the horrid mistake he had made, one he could never take back.

"I've gone too far. Is this it? My death? Is it time?"

He fell to his knees in the snow. The wet and cold quickly began seeping through the leg of his suit, and he shivered. Then, the Ood simply disappeared. It wasn't time just yet, apparently. Although looking back, he wasn't quite sure what he had expected from that encounter. He kind of doubted the Ood would smite him in his spot and force him to regenerate. Still shaken, he got back to his feet and stepped towards the TARDIS, refusing to look back at Adelaide's house for fear that the guilt would be the thing that killed him.

His TARDIS lovingly reached out to comfort his troubled mind as he walked through her doors, but for the Doctor, life still seemed like a dream. The main console grew closer to meet him, but it wasn't quite the same. It was like he was floating above, an out-of-body experience.

This is because of Clara, isn't it? Adelaide's simple comment was twisted into a taunt in the back of his tortured mind. He wished it would stop. Because she died.

"Oh, Clara..." he whispered, stroking the console. "What's happened to me? What have I done?"

DONG. DONG. DONG.

The cloister bells rang out form somewhere in the ship, and the Doctor couldn't help but think they were taunting him, too. His mouth settled into a defiant grimace.

"No. Not now. Never now."

He threw down the hand-break, and the TARDIS was instantly thrown into the time vortex.