Nightmare in Silver
The TARDIS materialised inside a large room, modelled after the moon landing, complete with American flag in the centre. The four stepped out of the TARDIS, looking around in confusion. Clara exited last, now dressed in a white shirt, black jeans and a long, leather jacket with her hair tied up in a small bun and crimson lipstick.
"First time out and we go to an amusement park?" Jack grumbled.
"Oi! I promised you a time-space machine, so here we are. Hedgewick's World. The biggest and best amusement park there will ever be."
"Doctor why are we here?" Clara asked.
"We've got a golden ticket." He said obviously, handing her said ticket. She gave him a 'Are you kidding me?' look. "What? I like amusement parks." He grinned childishly. "What's wrong with amusement parks?"
"You're too old for them?"
"No, I'm not, missy." He reprimanded.
"What part of the ride would this be?"
"Anti-gravity." Jack answered, making the Doctor look at him with raised eyebrows. "What? It's the moon, so it'll be anti-gravity."
The Doctor blinked a few times. "Okay, you've got me there."
"Psst!" They turned around to see a man in a top hat emerging out of a door in the wall. "Excuse me. I don't suppose you happen to be my lift off planet? Dave's Discount Interstellar Removals?"
"Afraid not." Clara shook her head.
"Yeah, they were meant to be here six months ago. Well, that's Dave for you, you see? Unreliable." He rolled his eyes.
"Stay where you are!"
"Oh dear." He closed the door as soldiers came running into the room, surrounding the four.
"Throw down your weapons and identify yourselves!" The leader, a blonde woman ordered.
"Great. More guns." The Doctor rolled his eyes at Clara, who nodded with a blank look.
"Who are you? This planet is closed by Imperial order."
"How about this?" The Doctor winked at Clara, pulling out the psychic paper and making the blonde's eyes widen.
"Oh. Welcome, Proconsul. Wish they'd told us you were coming. Does the Emperor bring us any new orders?"
"No, I'm afraid not."
She looked down in disappointment. "Of course. Then we shall have to stick to our current orders. If you need any help, my platoon will gladly be of assistance."
"Very much appreciated." He grinned. "Well, carry on, Captain."
She saluted him, making him inwardly wince. "Platoon! Let's move out." She ordered, making the soldiers rush out with her. "Come on! Two, three, four! Two, three, four!"
"God, I hate saluting." The Doctor groaned to Clara when they left.
"Sometimes, I don't blame you."
"Well then, Doctor…" Jack started, making him turn before recoiling as Jack saluted him.
"Please don't." He whined.
"You shouldn't have said anything." Jack gave a sly smirk. The wall door opened again, the man coming out with a shy look.
"Have they gone? Sorry, it's the uniforms. They give me the heebie-jeebies." He shuddered. "Come on." He motioned the group to follow him. They opened a large door, revealing the abandoned and ruined amusement park outside. "They can't stop me being here, but they don't like it."
"I told you it was amazing." The Doctor said, his tone growing lower. "Well, it used to be."
"It closed down. Wish I'd known that before I landed here. Let me show you my collection. Follow me." He led them into a large, authentic room, complete with artefacts, outfits and models alike. "Welcome to my ship, Webley's World of Wonders. Miracles, marvels and more await you. I am Impresario Webley. You see before you waxwork representations of the famous and the infamous." Webley thought for a moment as they glanced around. "Do any of you play chess?" The Doctor raised his hand childishly, but Webley pointed to Rose. "Do you, my dear?"
"Ummm…yeah. I've played." Rose said with slight uncertainty.
Webley motioned them into a large room, where a chess table was set up with a clothed figure in one seat. "Now, let me demonstrate to you all the wonder of the age, the miracle of modernity. We defeated them all a thousand years ago but now he's back to destroy us all." He said dramatically, making them snigger. "Behold…the enemy!" He pulled the cloth, revealing a Cyberman staring at them.
"Cyberman! Get down!" The Doctor yelled, making them duck.
"What're you doing?" Webley asked. "There's no need to panic, my friends. We all know there are no more living Cybermen. What you are seeing is a miracle. The 699th wonder of the universe…well…as displayed before the Imperial Court. Right now, he's only here to destroy you…at chess." He motioned to the table. "He is free of all devices, but he has never been beaten."
"I'm sorry, what?" Rose blinked.
"You, my dear are going to fight this Cyberman at chess." He pulled Rose to sit down at the table. "Now, I would charge you for this game…but I'm afraid we haven't had many people here, so until there is more visitors, we're making it temporarily free."
"Lucky me then." Rose quipped.
"However, there is a reward involved if you also answer the riddle. The Cyberman sitting in front of you is dead. Completely braindead with no activity and yet…he moves. You will get three Imperial Pennies if you beat the Cybermen at chess, however if you can guess the riddle, whether you can beat it or not…you gain one Imperial Penny. Now, you are on the starting side so, what will be your first move?"
The trio behind her moved up in anticipation.
"Stop that, you're not helping." Rose mocked growled, making them chuckle.
"Sorry." Jack backed off with his hands raised, despite his grin. Rose bit her lip before moving her hand out to start the match.
Pawn to G4.
Pawn to D5
Pawn to B4
Bishop to G4, eliminates Pawn
Pawn to E4
Bishop to D1, eliminates Queen
They winced as that happened.
"Dammit." Rose grumbled.
King to D1, eliminates Bishop
Pawn to E4, eliminates Pawn
Pawn to B5
Queen to D4
Pawn to H4
Queen to A1, eliminates Castle
Knight to C3
Knight to F6
Pawn to H6
Knight to D7
Castle to H4
Castle to D8, makes King move to C8
Castle to E4
Knight to E4, eliminates Castle
Knight to E4, eliminates Knight
"Is that technically cannibalism?" Jack quipped.
"Probably." The Doctor smirked.
"Hush." A nervous Rose snaps.
"Sorry." They say in unison.
"You've got this." Clara rubs Rose's shoulder.
"Thanks." She smiles.
Pawn to E6
Knight to G5
Knight to E5
Knight to F7, eliminates Pawn
Knight to F7, eliminates Knight
Knight to F3
Bishop to A3
King to E2
Queen to C1, eliminates Bishop
Bishop to H3
Knight to G5
Bishop to E6
Knight to E6, eliminates Bishop
Knight to H4
Knight to G5
Knight to G6
Castle to E8. Check
"Oh dear." The Doctor mumbled.
Knight to E5
Castle to E5, eliminates Knight. Checkmate
"Dammit!" Rose growls, making them jump slightly. "Sorry." She mumbles.
"Well, better luck next time." Jack said.
"Sorry, my dear. But…you can still get a penny if you solve the riddle."
Rose thinks for a moment.
"It has to be-Ow!" Clara cuts the Doctor off by elbowing him in the ribs.
"Shush!" She reprimanded.
Rose clicked her fingers. "Remote control?"
Webley grinned. "Correct, my dear." He tossed her an Imperial Penny before moving to the table and opened a panel, revealing tech inside wired to the Cyberman. "An artificial intelligence designed to play chess, using the Cyberman as a puppet."
"That's…not bad." Rose nodded.
"As long as it wasn't living." The Doctor muttered.
"Speaking of which, I have two more Cybermen in my collection." Webley led them to two models that were covered in cloth, which he pulled to reveal two more Cybermen. "These ones however are completely stone dead. Frankly that's something to be thankful about. A living Cyberman wouldn't end well for anybody."
"That's rather true." Jack nodded.
The Doctor raised his eyebrows. "You know of the Cybermen?"
"Well, I've heard of them, when I was a Time Agent. But we've been careful not to encounter them."
"Good choice."
"Who's that meant to be?" Clara pointed to another model, which was a man dressed in Roman inspired clothing.
"Emperor Ludens Nimrod Kendrick, etc., etc. the 41st." Jack informed her. "Known as the Defender of Humanity and the Imperator of known space."
"He looks a bit full of himself."
"A lot of leaders are." The Doctor said distantly. He moved closer to the Cybermen, seeing something moving on under its armour. He plucked it between two fingers, causing a small sound like squealing which he pulled out, revealing a small, metallic insect writhing about. Jack's eyes widened as he looked at it.
"Doctor, is that-"
"I'm afraid so." They exchanged a grim look.
"What's going on?" Clara whispered.
"It's a Cybermite. They're the Cybermen's spies…and I don't think they're quite as extinct as they seem. Webley?" He called, attracting said man's attention. "Where are the soldiers?"
Webley blinked. "They're at the barracks."
"Doctor, why do we need soldiers?" Rose asked.
"Because these Cybermen are a fully-fledged empire. And if my hunch is correct, they're not dead. They're dormant. Come on." He led them out of the room, Webley staring at them incredulously.
"Well, don't bring the soldiers here." He mumbled, heading over to the chess table to reset the pieces. "At this rate, I'll have to start charging people again when they come here. Of course, it's hard to do that when barely anybody comes." The Cyberman in front of him grasped onto his arms, holding him in place while his heart rate rocketed through the roof. "That's not funny. I didn't program you to do that. Let go of my hands!" He demanded fearfully. Cybermites came out of the Cyberman's head, crawling down and across Webley's arms, starting to scurry across his face, making him tremble. "Please, get off!" He cried.
"Where did the new arrivals go to?" The Cyberman demanded.
"What?" He cried. "You shouldn't be able-"
"Where are they going?"
"The barracks! Now please, just let me go!"
"Upgrade in progress."
"Aaaaaah!" He cried in agony as the Cybermites burrowed into his face.
"Was this really the biggest amusement park in the universe?" Rose asked Jack as the group walked through a large, ruined warehouse.
"Yeah. Hedgewick had bought the planet cheap. It had been ravaged during the Cyberwars."
"And who were they fighting?"
"Cybermen. They see themselves as Humanity's next evolution. They're stronger, faster, can adapt to survive at a greater rate and they're amongst the greatest fighters in the universe. You can fight to a draw, then they'd upgrade. Fix the weaknesses and then destroy you."
"An enemy that can use your army as spare parts?"
"Afraid so. Some early Cybermen could be disabled by gold or cleaning fluid but they long since countered that."
"But we won." Clara interjected. "We wouldn't be here if they didn't win. How?"
Jack opened a large door outside and pointed up at the sky, at a swirling mass of white cloud surrounding a large, empty, black space. "Look up there, at that corner of the sky. What do you see?"
"Nothing. It's just black. No stars, nothing."
"It used to be the Tiberian Spiral Galaxy. Millions of star systems, a hundred million planets and a billion trillion people. But it's not there anymore. All because the Cybermen appeared."
"That's horrible." Rose said.
"Yeah. I feel bad about it myself." He said, looking down.
"Why?" Clara asked.
"Because instead of mourning a billion trillion dead people, I just feel sorry for whoever had to press the button to blow it all up."
Clara glanced at the Doctor, who gave her a sad look before they walked away.
Inside the barracks, a female soldier approached the blonde Captain with a large device.
"I can't fix this."
"It can't be broken. It's a solid state sub-ether ansible-class communicator. Just run the diagnostics."
"There's nothing left to diagnose. It's not broken, it's empty. All the components are gone."
"Well, we must have replacement parts somewhere."
"Not enough to build a new one." The Captain sighed, running a hand over her face as another soldier approached.
"Captain, the weather controller is malfunctioning again. There's storms, heatwaves, snow." The door to the barracks opened, the TARDIS crew marching inside.
"Ah, Captain, what was your name?" The Doctor asked.
"Alice Ferrin."
"Well, Captain Alice…we've got a problem." He pulled out the dead Cybermite.
Her eyes widened. "That's got to be prop. All the Cybermen are extinct."
"There's a difference between dead and dormant Captain. Now, if the Cybermen are using Cybermites, what would they be looking for? Think."
Alice blinked, staring off for a moment. "They'd be scanning the brainwaves of everyone they can find to locate a host for the Cyber-Planner."
"What's a Cyber-Planner?" Rose asked.
"Think of him as the Cybermen's Emperor."
*Slam*
They looked over to the door, seeing a Cyberman standing there, staring at them.
"Cyberman!" Alice yells, getting all the soldiers attention. "Attack formation!" She orders, the soldiers grabbing their guns and lining up, cocking their rifles towards the Cyberman.
"Aaah!" One soldier runs towards the Cyberman with a large, metal Warhammer, brining it down upon the Cyberman's head, but it catches the Warhammer before it makes impact.
"No!" Alice yells fruitlessly as the Cyberman grabs the soldier's neck with one hand, lifting him off the ground while tossing the Warhammer aside.
The Cyberman turns its head to stare at Clara, before straightening its back. "Target located." It snaps the soldiers neck, sending him collapsing to the ground.
"Open fire!" In unison, they pull their triggers, causing the lasers to impact upon the Cyberman's body, damaging and denting it.
"Upgrade in progress." The armour on its body pops out small fins, before it rushes forward at immense speed, passing through the laser bolts in mid-air and straight towards Clara. Clenching its fist, it charges an electrical shock before grasping Clara by the head, the shock sending her straight into unconsciousness before it lifted her body up and carried her out of sight.
"That's a Cyberman. A real Cyberman." Alice breathes.
"We need to find a place to hold up. If there are more Cybermen, they'll be sending reinforcements." The Doctor says, pacing up the room. "Captain, what's a good place on this planet that can be fortified?"
"Natty Longshoe's Comical Castle. Because…it's a castle." She shrugged.
"Fair point. Get any weapons and technology you have in here and take them to the castle."
"Doctor, where's Clara?" Rose asked.
He spun around, gazing frantically around the room but couldn't find a sign. "Clara? Clara?!" He yelled. "Clara?!"
"Sir, we need to get to the castle."
"I can't leave Clara! I need to find her!"
"We need to regroup at the castle. Then, we can send a squad to look for her but until then, we can't do anything."
"Then I'll look for her myself." He said sternly.
"Doctor…don't." Jack warned, stepping in his way.
"Get out of my way-"
"Doctor!" Jack yelled, silencing him. "Get everyone to the castle, then we look for Clara. All right?"
The Doctor clenched his jaw before nodding. "Fine." He spat as he went with the soldiers to gather their equipment.
"Will she be alright?" Rose asked.
"I…I don't know." Jack answered. Rose took a deep breath while Jack turned to Alice. "Captain correct me if I'm wrong, but I take it that your platoon doesn't do much fighting."
"What do you expect?"
"What?" Rose asked.
"We're a punishment platoon. That's why the Empire sent us out here, so we can't get into trouble."
"Why did you get sent out here?" Rose asked.
"We didn't follow orders." Alice simply said.
"Captain, can we report this to said Empire?" Jack asked.
"No communicators. I'm afraid we're on our own." She looked over at the Doctor. "Will he be fine? Those two seemed rather…"
"Close?" Alice nodded. "He won't be fine if we can't find her. Either way, we need to hurry before the Cybermen catch up."
"Sir." She saluted before moving off. "Quickly everyone! Only take what we need!" She ordered.
Clara's head rolled as she groaned, emerging from the drowsiness of sleep. She blinked a few times before opening her eyes, which slowly widened as she took in her new surroundings of a large, steel room with blue lighting. She tried to move, however she found her legs and arms restrained to the chair she sat in. Filled with bewilderment and fear, she gasped as she saw Webley standing before her, however he had steel across half his face, which beeped repeatedly with a blue light as he stared down at her, emotionless.
"Where am I?" She asked, her fear growing by the second.
He merely smirked, despite his emotionless gaze. "We needed children, but the children had stopped coming. However, you will do nicely until we can acquire him."
"Where am I?" She repeated.
"Oh, don't worry about where we are, my dear." He mocked cooed. "You are sorely needed."
"Where am I?! What do you want with me?!" She cried.
"Hush." He placed a finger on his lips. "Listen carefully. As the battle raged between humanity and the Cyberiad, the Cyber-Planners built a Valkyrie to save critically damaged units, bring them here and one by one, repair them."
"That's where all those missing people are at, then?" She asked, anger growing to side with her terror. "You use them as scrap?"
"Ohh, that's putting it harshly. They're used to repair the army until we can acquire a new leader. Someone with a marvellous brain to be host to the new Cyber-Planner. And since we've had all this time to ourselves, we've spent so long upgrading our units. The next model will be undefeatable."
"So, why am I here?"
"We found that the perfect host for a Cyber-Planner was children. The infinite potential found within their brains was perfect for our needs. However, we no longer have need for them. The Cybermites have been scanning the brains of you and your friends. The blonde and the Time Agent are useless to us however, you and the Time Lord…you are perfect. The Time Lord's biology is utterly unique. An unfamiliar pulmonary setup, hyper conductive nervous system and remarkable brain processing speed. However, there is but one small problem…"
Clara smirked boldly. "You don't know how to convert him?"
"I'm afraid so. Cybermen take very few people, sometimes only one, but enough to scan and identify the species and how to convert them to our army. So very long ago, we started with just Humans, but we've evolved since then. Time Lords however, we've never encountered and since you're friend is the only one we've found, well…we're not going to waste him on simple knowledge gathering."
"Do I need to ask again? Why am I here?"
"Haven't you figured it out?" Clara blinked at him. "You are here because without the Time Lord, you are the next best candidate for the Cyber-Planner. But we've noticed how…close you two are. If there is anyone on this planet that knows Time Lord biology, it would be you."
"What makes you think that I will tell you?"
Webley chuckled darkly, before reaching into his pockets and pulling out two handfuls of living Cybermites. "You don't need to." He said simply.
"Don't you dare." She warned. "Don't you dare!" He threw the Cybermites onto her body, which crawled over her clothes, making her tremble as she tried to shake them off. "Get them off!" She cried fruitlessly until they reached her face and started to burrow themselves. "Aaah! Stop it! Doctor! Help me! Aaah!" She screamed in agony as they drilled and drilled until-
Clara blinked as she found herself in a dark space, surrounded by symbols, with memories of her whole past from childhood to now fluttering about.
"Untie me, Webley." She blinked as she heard her own voice, yet the tone was ice cold.
"Get out of my head." She growled, receiving no answer.
"How marvellous. *Chuckles* Dear me, this girl's brain is a mess. The hormones are off the charts. I'd have to completely rework the neural interface to do anything in here. But she is remarkably clever and oh the things she's seen. Amazing."
Clara clenched her fist, gaining control of her body where she found it was standing and untied from the chair. "Get out of my head!" She demanded before she lost control. "Stop going through my mind!" She yelled, spinning around inside the empty space before stopping with a shock. Before her stood an exact replica of herself, yet with half a face of silver steel and eyes pitch black, sending cold shivers down her spine.
"You can try to stop me." Cyber Clara smirked coldly. She closed her eyes, causing pain to shoot through Clara as the memories and thoughts of her and the Doctor sped through her mind. "Clara, Clara, Clara." She tutted. "The dreams you've had of this man. Blimey, I'd blush if I actually felt anything." Clara cried as more pain shot through her, the memories now of her parents and Danny. "Dear me, you let your own parents die? You distracted your own boyfriend to his death? That is just-"
"Enough!" Clara yelled. After a moment, Cyber Clara's eyes widened before an impressed smile came onto her face.
"A complete mental block. You're learning, dear." She shrugged impassively. "Of course, I've got to get past it so it's rather a waste of time."
"What is this place? A hive? You're getting signals from every Cyberman in your whole army."
"Aw, relax Clara." She fake cooed. "If you just relax, you'll find this a perfectly pleasant experience. You're being incorporated into the Cyberiad as a Cyber-Planner."
"Get out of my head!" Clara yelled.
"Sorry. No can do, Clara. You have information that I need. Just give me what you know, and I'll set you free." She implored.
"No." Clara growled, her fear now being replaced by anger.
Cyber Clara clenched her jaw. "Then I'll have to break through your mental block to acquire that information. And once I'm done, your body will be completely useless, your brain melted away."
"And with it, the information."
Cyber Clara blinked. "What?"
Clara smirked. "You were too busy taunting me that you weren't actually looking for what you wanted. And if you try to attack my brain, which would kill me, I would quite literally take that secret to the grave. And along with it, you would die too. Webley said it himself, none of those other people are capable of being a Cyber-Planner host, so if I die and you don't get the information…your army would remain asleep. How long are they willing to wait until they can get a capable leader?" Clara taunted.
Cyber Clara clenched her fists in contained rage before sighing. "Give me one form of proof that you have the information I require."
"Fine. I'll allow you access to memories of Time Lord regeneration." Clara closed her eyes, allowing the faces of all nine Doctors to float through her head. Opening her eyes again, she stared defiantly at Cyber Clara. "Proof enough?"
"Yes. Now, Clara, Clara, Clara." Cyber Clara drawled, making her roll her eyes. "Only one of us can control this head and we're at a stalemate. You better think of something fast or I will risk losing it all for killing you."
Clara squinted her eyes before contemplating. "Stalemate." She muttered. "How much of this brain do each of us control?"
"49.881%. 0.238 is still in the balance. You should consider yourself lucky, your number was lower a minute ago." Cyber Clara said smugly.
Clara ignored the taunt. "Do you play chess?"
Cyber Clara cocked an eyebrow. "The rules of chess are in my memory banks. You're proposing that we play chess to end the stalemate?"
"Winner takes all. Neither of us can gain that portion of the brain without winning." Cyber Clara smirked before holding out her hand. "Ah-ah-ah." Clara tutted, making Cyber Clara's jaw clench. "First, the stakes."
"If I win, I can the entire of your brain without a fight, and along with everything you know about Time Lords."
"If I win, you leave my brain, deactivate yourself, your army and leave my friends and those soldiers alive and unharmed. Do we have terms and think very carefully before you answer. If you gain the Doctor's body, he could regenerate right then and there. That would burn you out of his head along with every single Cyberman that your connected to."
Cyber Clara went silent for a few moments before grinning coldly. "Oh, I'm sure of what I want."
"Then we have terms?" Clara held out her hand.
"We have terms." Cyber Clara shook her hand, then closed her eyes to gain control of her body. "Webley. Bring us a chess set."
Clara jerked as she felt control of her body again, where in front of her on a table sat the readied chess set.
"Your move."
Pawn to D4
Knight to F6
Pawn to G4
Pawn to H6
Pawn to B4
Pawn to E5
Pawn to E5, eliminates Pawn
Knight to G4, eliminates Pawn
"There. That was easy."
"The game has just started." Clara rolled her eyes.
Pawn to F3
Queen to H4, check
"Oh." Clara mouths.
"Your on a slippery slope now, Clara. You know that you can't win." Cyber Clara taunted.
"I know things you don't." Clara smirked, slyly reaching her hand into her pocket. "For example, did you know that very early in the evolution of the Cybermen, they could be disabled by exposure to certain elements like gold or cleaning fluid? What's interesting and slightly moronic is that you're still running that code."
Cyber Clara laughed with dark joy. "Really? That's your secret weapon? Cleaning fluid?"
"Nope. Gold." She smacked the golden ticket onto the steel part of her face, paralyzing Cyber Clara. "Oh, thank you Captain Jack." She sighed in relief.
"What're you doing?" Webley protested.
"Don't you dare." Clara warned and this time, he listened. "I've still got a chess game to finish but I also have friends that I need to get to. So, if you don't mind Webley, where are my friends?"
"Natty Longshoe's Comical Castle."
"Then we're going to find them."
Closing the gates to the large medieval castle, Jack and Rose walked up to the Doctor, who was standing on a balcony overlooking the outer courtyard.
"Doctor?" Jack tried, not getting a response. "Doctor?"
"What?" He spat.
"We'll get her back. Okay?" The Doctor ignored him. "Okay?" He repeated.
"Okay."
Jack sighed. "Stay with him, Rose."
Rose nodded slightly as Jack moved off to the soldiers. "Alright. What do we have for weapons?" Alice motioned to all their rifles and a large beam cannon. "Only one Cyber gun?"
Alice sighed. "The Cybermen have been extinct for a thousand years. Even one anti-Cyber gun is a miracle. We're lucky the rifles can actually damage them."
"Yes, until they upgrade to make them redundant."
Alice sighed before pulling out small devices out of the cases. "These are hand pulsers. Touch the back of a Cyberman's head, the electromagnetic pulse deactivates it."
"Then be sure everyone gets one." Jack saw a small case with a black device inside. "What's this?"
"The last resort. By official Imperial order, if we can't kill any identified Cybermen, we implode the planet."
"We only use it if we have no other choice. Is that clear?"
Alice rolled her eyes slightly before sighing. "Yes sir."
"Now, if we do have to use it, how does it work?"
"Trigger unit." She pulls out a small red switch and hands it to him.
"Rose." He calls, making her rush over. "Look after this."
"Why not give it to the Doctor?"
Jack looked over at his turned back. "He wouldn't agree to guarding it. He'd destroy it."
"Sir!" A soldier called, rushing over to them from the gates. "We've got two civilians outside."
"Who?" Jack asked.
"It's Miss Clara." The Doctor perked up, rushing over to them with a look of anxiety on his face.
"Is she alright? Is she okay?" He asked frantically.
"I think you'd better see for yourself, sir." The soldier said grimly, making them rush to the gates and opening them. Behind it was Clara and Webley, standing with patience.
"Clara?" The Doctor asked softly.
Clara gained a beaming look of relief at the sight of him. "Doctor." He pulls her into a tight hug, while one of the soldiers snuck up behind Webley and disabled him with a hand pulser.
"What happened to you?" He said, cradling her face in his hands.
"I'm supposed to be the Cyber-Planner."
"I'm sorry, Clara." He said, a few tears prickling his eyes.
"Now don't start, Doctor. It wasn't your fault." She quipped lightly, making him smirk. "Firstly, I need to be tied up to a chair."
He blinked. "Sorry?"
"I have a chess game to finish." She shrugged.
He blinked a few more times. "What?"
She sighed. "Long story."
Now in the throne room, Clara was tied around the waist to a chair while the chess pieces were placed back in their last positions."
"Thank you." Clara said to Jack. "And I know what you're thinking, but no."
Jack frowned, trying to hide his wolfish smirk. "I didn't say anything-"
"You were thinking it. It's annoying. Stop it." She ordered like an irritated parent.
"Sorry." Jack smirked.
"Clara are you playing chess with yourself?" Rose asked.
"Yes. Cyber-Planner's in my head so we're taking turns at…well…taking our turns." She punned unintentionally. "But don't worry, I'm winning." She smiled reassuringly. "Now, in advance, I do apologise."
"For what?" Jack asked.
"For this." She ripped off the gold patch, allowing Cyber Clara to take control of her body.
"Actually, she has no better than a 25% chance of winning at this stage in the game. She made some very abysmal calls at the beginning." Cyber Clara looked up, grinning a murderous smile at them, sending cold shivers down into their hearts. "Well, hello there to you two humans and one Doctor. Fantastic!" She taunted, making his jaw clench. "I'm the Cyber-Planner."
"Clara?" Rose whimpered in fear for her friend.
"Afraid not. I'm working the mouth now. Oh, my stars!" She mocked. "You should see the state of this brain. It's a hormonal mess and it's all big ears' fault."
"My ears are fine." The Doctor growled.
"You're not Clara. What've you done to her?" Rose demanded.
"I've only entered her mind. We've yet to decide who is in charge. But…I know who you are." She smirked at Rose. "Rose Tyler. Boring little Bad Wolf from so long ago. Tell me, what would your father say if he could see you know?"
"Well, I guess this considers us even." Rose mumbled.
Cyber Clara blinked. "What do you mean?"
*Slap*
"Ow!" Clara cried. "Okay. If Jackie slaps as hard as you, I feel sorry for doofus." The Doctor smirked softly.
"Clara, the stakes. What're you fighting for?" Jack asked.
"If I win, the army deactivates, I get my mind back and we all live safe and sound. If she wins, she gets my mind and the knowledge she's after."
"What's she after?" Rose asked.
"More who." Clara grinned coldly as her eyes returned to black. "Clara's a good host for me but I know one better. Time Lord's, what an interesting yet pompous race however your brain is magnificent."
"But you don't know how to convert me?" The Doctor deducted.
"No. But you and her, this flesh girl, you're close. If anyone has the answer, it's her."
"So why haven't you fought for it?" The Doctor asked. Cyber Clara clenched her jaw, making him smirk.
"Enough." She groaned, almost childishly. "I have a chess game to finish and you have to die pointlessly, and very far from home." She closed her eyes and breathed, before flinching.
"Stop that. What're you doing?" Clara demanded.
"Waking them up." The eyes of the group before them widened.
"That wasn't in the terms!" Clara growled.
"You said to leave your friends alive and unharmed. Technically, as Cybermen, they will be alive and unharmed. Now, wakey-wakey, boys and girls. Wakey-wakey." Cyber Clara fake cooed. The group rushed from the room.
"Right. Captain?" The Doctor called as they moved over to the soldiers by the front gate. "Your platoon is armed, yes?"
"Yes."
"We'll need to be. More Cybermen are on the way."
"Doctor, what is that cable?" Rose asked, pointing down to the said cable on the ground.
Alice shrugged. "Power line."
The Doctor grinned at her. "Good observation, Rose."
"Thank you."
"Captain, unhook the end, drop it into the moat and turn it on."
"Yes sir."
King to D2
Knight to F2
Pawn to F4
Bishop to B4, eliminates Pawn
King to E3
Knight to D1, eliminates Queen
King to D4
Pawn to D5
King to D5, eliminates Pawn
Pawn to B5
Bishop to G2
Bishop to B7, check
Clara clenched her jaw as the end game came closer.
"Emotions, Clara Oswald. Don't you see? They are a weakness." Cyber Clara growled. "And now, I will show you exactly why."
"Hey, Rose!"
"I'll see what she wants." Rose shrugged.
"Wait then." Alice said. "Jackson!" She called to a nearby soldier, a young man with short brown hair.
"Yes ma'am?"
"Go with her. I need you two here." Alice said to the Doctor and Clara.
"Fine. But if she's in danger-"
"You're free to rush to her help. Yeah, I know." Alice rolled her eyes playfully, making them grin.
"Be careful, Rose."
"Sure will." She said before leaving with Jackson.
They entered the room, seeing Clara in control.
"Rose, you know the Cybermen are coming, right?'
"Yes."
"Will you be fine?" She asked.
"Yeah."
Clara shrugged. "Well? What do you have?"
"One big gun, a bunch of those hand pulsers and a big, black bomb that implodes the planet."
"And I'm going to guess that said bomb has a remote?"
"Yeah." She pulled it out with her right arm.
"Great. Pass it here."
"No."
"Why not?"
"In case you're not you right now."
"Don't worry. The Cyber-Planner's hibernating between moves right now." She put her finger to her lips playfully.
"Prove you're you. Tell me something that only Clara knows." Rose said, placing both her hands on the table.
Clara took a deep breath. "Rose. I suppose…I'm the only one who knows how I feel about you right now."
Rose blinked incredulously. "Nice try. But I know who Clara likes."
*Slap*
Clara clicked her jaw, looking back at her with her eyes turning black. "Oh, Rose." She fake cooed, holding up her hand, showing the trigger, making her Rose's eyes widen. "You shouldn't have done that." She crushed it in her hands, turning it into dust, before grinning coldly and snatching Rose's arm in a tight grip.
"Doctor!" Rose called. "Doctor! Jack!"
"Let her go!" Jackson ordered, aiming the rifle at her head. "Let her go or I will fire!"
"Too bad." Cyber Clara smirked before shoving Rose to the ground. Snatching the gun, she yanked hard, making Jackson stumble before she smacked his face with it. He collapsed to his knees with a groan beside her as she grasped his neck with one hand, choking him while the gun was tossed aside with the other.
"Rose! Rose!" The Doctor called as he, Jack and Alice rushed into the room. "Let him go!"
"No."
"Let him go now!"
"No."
"Don't kill him, please!"
"Sorry, Clara."
"Please! Don't do this!"
"Actually, I'm not sorry." Cyber Clara grinned coldly before grasping his neck with both hands and snapping it, making Jackson tumble to the ground dead. Switching back to Clara, she looked down at her hands with horror, trying and failing to find any words. She jerked again as Cyber Clara took back control, the group watching them with shock.
Inside their head, Clara sank to her knees, starting to cry. Cyber Clara knelt beside her with a look of impassivity.
"Why?" Clara cried. "Why did you have to do that?"
"I didn't." Cyber Clara said simply. Clara stared at her with wide, tear filled eyes. "I could've let him live if I wanted to, but I didn't. I'm trying to make you see, Clara. To give you a choice."
"What choice?" Clara choked.
"Do you know what being a Cyberman feels like?" Clara shook her head. "Nothing. There's nothing to feel, because you don't need to feel. I've seen your memories, Clara. Even after all this time, you're still sad over your parents. As a Cyberman, you don't have to be anymore." She stood up, holding a hand to Clara. "Join us. And you won't need to feel pain, sadness or guilt anymore."
Clara sniffed, staring up at her for a few moments of contemplation. Finally, wiping the tears from her face to create a mask, she stood up and crossed her arms. "No." She said finally.
Cyber Clara rolled her eyes. "You answer in weakness or strength? Doesn't matter anymore. Your friends are now going to die and all you can do, my dear," She mocked, "is watch. And I'm afraid that when all this is over, you will not be getting a painless death." Cyber Clara grinned coldly at her. "I've learnt so much in this head of yours, but now, it's time of the endgame."
"What do you mean?!"
"I mean…good news, boys and girls. They're here!" She cried in maniacal joy.
The TARDIS group stood on the walls of the castle with Alice and the soldiers, looking down upon the large army of Cybermen with shaking nerves.
"Well, great." Jack groaned.
The Cybermen marched forward, the first line stepping into the moat and seizing up in electricity before collapsing face first into the water.
"Okay. That worked." Rose smirked.
From the army, one Cyberman walked up to the edge of the water and looked down into it. "Upgrade in progress." In unison, they clanged their fists to their chest before walking into the moat, completely unharmed.
"Okay. There goes that." Alice grumbled. "Everyone! Take defensive positions!" She ordered, before grabbing the anti-Cyber gun and pushing it to Jack.
He took it from her with amused surprise. "Yes ma'am." He quipped, making her smirk.
"They're nearly here, Clara. Now, you can either keep moving to protect your King, limping on for a little longer or you can just give up now."
"Or…I can win against you in three moves."
Cyber Clara blinked, looking over the board frantically. "How? I see you losing in two moves. How can you possibly win in three?"
Clara grinned, reaching into her pockets slyly to pull out the Doctor's sonic and a hand pulser. "Were you not paying attention?"
"How?!"
"You figure it out. Or don't you have the processing power?"
*Slam*
The gates of the castle crashed open, allowing a small group of Cybermen in at any time.
"Open fire!" Alice ordered, making them fire their rifles upon the Cybermen, which dented and damaged their helmets, causing their bodies to crash to the floor with loud slams. Jack raised the anti-Cyber gun and fired, the beam disintegrating Cybermen into atoms. Despite their efforts, more still came.
"Upgrade in progress." Now the rifles stopped damaging their armour, only leaving small, black scorch marks.
"What're we going to do?" Rose asked in fear.
"Doctor, this gun won't last much longer!" Jack yelled as he fired another shot.
"Please stand by. You will be upgraded." Their march however started to slow with small jerks. "You…will…be…upgrade…" Their speech slowed to a stop, making the group look at each other in relieved confusion.
The Doctor's eyes widened. "Clara." He mumbled, racing off as the rest followed him.
"What're you doing?" Clara asked.
"Oh, Clara, Clara, Clara. I'm pulling in extra processing power. Three million Cyberbrains working on one tiny chess problem. How long do you think it's going to take us to solve it?"
"That's cheating." Clara grumbled.
"No, no, no, no. I'm just pulling in the local resources. There's no way you can get to mate in three moves. You're lying!"
"Oh no, I'm not." Clara chuckled smugly as she used the sonic to activate the pulser. "Move one: Turn on sonic screwdriver."
"Sonic what?"
"Move two: Activate pulser."
"What pulser?"
Clara slipped the pulser on. "Move three: Use it on myself." she went to slap it against her face, but her other arm caught it.
"No! That's cheating!"
"You want to know what cheating is?! I lied! I don't know anything about Time Lord biology!"
"But you lied!"
"Sorry!"
*Slap*
Clara cried in agony as electricity flowed through her head, causing the Cybermites on her face to shatter onto the table in ashes before slumping back into the chair in emotional exhaustion.
The group ran in, the Doctor rushing up first. "Clara? Clara?"
"Hello, Doctor." She mumbled weakly.
"Which one are you? Are you Clara?"
*Slap*
He clicked his jaw as his cheek stung. "Okay, fair enough." He untied her from the chair before pulling her into a hug.
"Doctor, we've still got the Cybermen. If Clara got rid of the Cyber-Planner, then they might just create another anyway." Jack informed.
"I'm afraid so." The Doctor said grimly.
"Which means we need to implode the planet." Alice stated. They all turned to look at her.
"I don't think you noticed but the remote is destroyed." Rose said.
"But I can activate it with a verbal command. Before I do that however, I need you to get you, your friends and my platoon out of here. When I issue the command, the bomb will implode immediately. I won't be able to leave."
The soldiers moved forward to stand before her. "We have our orders to stick with you, ma'am. So, we're staying."
"No. You're new orders is to-"
"With all due respect ma'am…shut up." Alice paused before grinning.
"Alright then." She turned to the Doctor. "You got here in a ship, yes?"
"Yes."
"Then you need to leave."
"We can't just leave you here!" Rose protested.
"I'm afraid you must. I'm not going to let you stay here and neither will my platoon. Now, with all due respect, get off this planet." She ordered.
The Doctor looked at them sadly before nodding. "Take care then."
"You two. And you better get out of here quick. We don't have long until the Cybermen reactivate again." Alice said as Jack led Rose out of the room while the Doctor carried Clara after them. "Soldiers, you know the drill. Distract the Cybermen long enough for them too leave. Then, we blow the planet to kingdom come."
"Yes ma'am." They said in unison before leaving the room, bolting the door shut leaving her with the black device. As the TARDIS group rushed back to the moon landing replica, they entered the TARDIS and quickly took off, while Alice took the bomb and placed it on the table, as the sounds of her men fighting the Cybermen was heard through the door.
"This is Captain Alice Ferry, Imperial ID 1-9-Delta-1-3-B." The bomb whirred to life.
*Bang* *Bang* *Bang* *Slam*
She saw the door smashed open, Cybermen on the other side. "Activate the desolator." The bomb sounded an alarm, ticking down from five, while the Cybermen cocked their heads at her. She smiled smugly at them. "See you in hell, assholes!"
The planet exploded in a storm of fire, sending chucks of rock in all directions of space, while the TARDIS flew away through the Vortex.
December 24th, 2013, Chiswick
The TARDIS landed outside of Clara's house, while the Doctor walked up to Clara, who had been silent through the trip.
"Are you okay?" He asked, grasping her shoulders. She looked at him, giving him a smile yet tears started to prickle her eyes. He took a deep breath before closing his eyes. "Look, I um…"
"I know." She nodded.
He blinked. "You know?"
"Yeah. Planets to save, civilizations to rescue, creatures to defeat. Run a lot. Or were you thinking of something else?" She asked, hoping he would see her pleading eyes, but he simply blinked.
"Yeah…something like that." He said, hoping he would hear his uncertain worry, but she simply nodded.
"Alright then. Till the next time, eh?"
"Till the next time." He nodded. They stared at each other for a few seconds before Clara exited the TARDIS and closed her front door behind her. She heard the TARDIS dematerialise outside, making her collapse onto her knees, sobbing loudly.
"Doctor. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I love you. I love you, Doctor. Come back. Please, come back." She cried, wrapping her arms around herself as she rocked back and forth, her tears flowing out of her eyes like a fountain.
The Doctor walked around the console in silence, working on the controls with a distant gaze while Jack and Rose stared at him with worry.
"Doctor?" Jack called, but silence followed. "Doctor?" This time, he looked up. "Will she be okay?" He said nothing, looking down at the console again.
"Doctor?" Rose called, making him look up again. "She'll be okay, won't she?"
He gazed at them sadly before returning to work on the console.
*Knock* *Knock* *Knock* *Knock*
The Doctor and Jack jerked awake, blinking in surprise as they looked at each other.
"Did we just nod off?" Jack grumbled.
"Yeah, I think so." The Doctor nodded. They heard a groan, looking to see Rose sitting on the chair, rubbing her eyes.
"I'm sorry, but did either of you hear a knocking?"
*Knock* *Knock* *Knock* *Knock*
"Coo-wee?!" They looked at each other with furrowed eyebrows.
*Knock* *Knock* *Knock* *Knock*
"Hello? Doctor? You know it can't end like that, hm?" They stood up slowly, moving towards the TARDIS doors with trepidation. "We need to get this sorted and quickly. She's not all right, you know, and neither are you. I'm coming in." The door opened, as a large man in a Santa Claus outfit strode into the TARDIS, snowflakes billowing in after him while the trio looked at him with their jaws dropped. "Ah! There you are. I knew I'd get around to you eventually. Now stop gawping and tell me…what do you want for Christmas?"
"What the fuck?" Rose breathed.
"Language!" Santa admonished. The Doctor smirked slightly before returning to his gaze of shock.
AN: I hope you enjoyed my different take on Nightmare in Silver. But I can't tell you how much I'm excited for the next chapter. It's going to be great XD Anyway, thanks for reading and leave a review if you wish. :)