The Doctor pressed his face against the white wall of the parallel Torchwood, trying to feel a connection to the main universe.
''You told us there'd be more Cybermen,'' Molly recalled, ''So we sealed them up. Locked them inside the factories.''
''But people thought the Cybermen were still human,'' Jamie muttered, ''Thought we should try and help them. There was this big political debate.''
''But the Cybermen made plans,'' Molly continued, ''They infiltrated this version of Torchwood, mapped themselves onto your world, and then vanished.''
''How long ago was this?'' Jimmy wondered.
''Three years ago,'' Molly answered.
''It's taken them three years to cross the void, but we can pop to and fro in a second,'' the Doctor mused, ''Must be the sheer mass of five million Cybermen crossing all at once,'' something occurred to him, ''And where's Jake?'' he asked Jamie.
''I sent him ahead,'' Molly answered first, ''As soon as the Cybermen disappeared, we sent him there to gather intelligence.'' She lead him to the window, showing a peaceful city with Zeppelins above, ''Look at it. A peaceful, new world, with not a Cyberman in sight. They call it the 'Golden Age'.''
''Who's the President now?''
''Harriet Jones.'' The Doctor paused. He still regretted what he had done to Harriet, even though there wasn't another option. ''But something's going on, Doctor,'' Molly continued, ''Temperatures are rising rapidly. The ice caps are melting. There's predictions of floods, adverse weather, everything.''
''It's the breach,'' the Doctor spat, ''That's why travel between universes isn't possible. Because it leads to this. This whole weather situation is a side effect of the Daleks breaking down the walls with the sphere.''
''Daleks?'' Molly repeated.
''The Cybermen travelling across made it worse,'' the Doctor continued, ''And then you lot with those teleport discs. Every time you jump between universes, you make another puncture in reality. Keep this up, and both worlds will fall into the Void.''
''Can't you seal the breach?'' Molly asked.
''Leaving the Cybermen and Daleks on my world,'' the Doctor retorted.
''Not my problem,'' Molly spat.
''Your daughter's alive on that world,'' the Doctor pointed out.
''My daughter died,'' Molly rasped dangerously.
''Maybe you can prevent her dying again,'' the Doctor sneered callously. Jimmy shook his head at this, which was a new low in terms of the Doctor's rude remarks. Granted, Molly had just said she didn't care if the Daleks and Cybermen ravaged their world so long as hers was safe, but it was still a cruel thing to say. ''Come with us and help us save her. We can stop the Cybermen and the Daleks and close the breach. Put an end to all this madness. But we need all the help we can get.''
''Fine,'' Molly sighed, though she looked like she wanted to punch the Doctor across the face.
The Doctor nodded, ''Let's go!'' The group jumped back to the main universe.
''I need to make a call,'' Jimmy said, pulling his phone and calling Alice.
''You two, guard the door!'' Jamie ordered two of his troops.
Alice answered the phone, but all Jimmy could hear was unintelligible, panicked sobs. ''Al, you're alive!'' he cheered, but the girl continued to cry and panic, ''Calm down!'' Jimmy ordered.
''They tried to upgrade me, but something happened and I ran away,'' Alice explained.
''Where are you?'' he asked
''Some staircase,'' Alice replied.
''Anything to mark it?''
''It says 'N3'...''
''N3, thanks,'' Jimmy said, ''Keep moving, and for God's sake, keep your voice down!''
''Don't leave me, Jimmy!''
''I'm sorry, I have to,'' Jimmy responded, hanging up. He considered his priorities. Alice had managed to escape the Cybermen. She was intelligent and could evade them for the time being. Olivia, on the other hand, was trapped in that room with the Daleks, and they could kill her any time they wanted.
''Jamie,'' the Doctor called, taking the blaster gun out of Jamie's hands, ''If I can open up the bonding chamber on this thing, it could work on polycarbide.''
''Poly-what?''
''The skin of a Dalek,'' the Doctor explained. Neither Molly nor Jamie had any clue what these 'Daleks' were. The Doctor got to work modifying the gun.
Once he had finished, the Doctor walked up to a few Cybermen.
''Do you surrender?'' one asked, pointing it's gun at him.
''I surrender,'' the Doctor answered, ''Unto you... a very good idea.''
''Final stage of awakening,'' the high pitched Dalek announced, and the four Daleks moved back from the Ark.
''Your handprint will open the Ark,'' the black Dalek said to Olivia.
''I'm not doing it,'' she declared.
''Obey or the male will die.''
Olivia sighed and stepped towards the arc. ''I can't let them kill you,'' she said to Jake, who tried to stop her.
''Place your hand upon the casket,'' the black Dalek insisted.
Olivia knew how Daleks worked. She knew that if the activated the Ark, the Daleks would kill her and Jake once they were no longer of use. She decided to have some fun with the Daleks, both to annoy them and to play for more time.
''Did you ever find out how the Time War ended?'' she asked casually, ''What happened to all your Dalek mates?''
''Place your hand...''
''What happened to the Emperor?''
''The Emperor survived?'' the black Dalek asked in shock.
''For a while,'' she giggled, ''Then me and my friend took the Time Vortex and killed the bastard. You're messing with the girl who brought down your Emperor.'' She laughed in the Dalek's face.
The black Dalek's casing began to literally shake with rage, ''You will be EXTERMINATED!'' it roared.
''Oh no, you don't,'' the Doctor's voice called from the door. Olivia turned to see the Doctor and Jimmy entering the room, the Doctor wearing his 3D glasses.
''Alert, alert!'' the black Dalek panicked, ''You are the Doctor.''
''Sensors report he is unarmed,'' the high pitched Dalek reported.
''Don't place any bets on that,'' the Doctor warned.
''You are powerless,'' the black Dalek mocked.
''We'll see about that,'' the Doctor muttered, before turning to Olivia, ''You OK?'' he asked the girl, who nodded. He turned to Jake, ''Pleasure to see you again.'' Jake raised an eyebrow, completely unsure if the Doctor was being sarcastic. Jimmy gave Jake a fist bump and hugged Olivia.
''Social interaction will cease!'' the high pitched Dalek ordered. The Doctor responded by making a particularly rude hand gesture at this Dalek, which made Jimmy, Olivia and Jake laugh.
''How did you survive the Time War?'' the black Dalek questioned.
''By fighting,'' the Doctor snarled, ''On the front line. I was there at the fall of Arcadia. But you weren't. You fled like the cowards you are.''
''We had to survive,'' the black Dalek argued.
''The last four Daleks in existence,'' the Doctor remarked, ''Let's see if we can't do something about that...''
''Doctor, they've got names...'' Olivia remarked, ''Or at least one of them does.''
''I am Dalek Thay,'' Dalek Thay introduced.
''Dalek Sec,'' the black Dalek introduced.
''Dalek Jast,'' the high pitched Dalek screeched.
''Dalek Caan,'' a deep-voiced Dalek rasped. Olivia glanced at this one. The others had been speaking since they arrived. Sec, the black commander, had been giving orders, Jast, the high pitched one, had been making various status reports, and Thay had sneered at her when the Daleks killed Rajesh. But this one? It hadn't spoken at all until then. Something about this particular Dalek made Olivia's blood run cold.
''No way!'' the Doctor remarked, sounding terrified and excited at the same time, ''I'm dealing with the Cult of Skaro! I thought you lot were just a legend!''
''Who are they?'' Olivia wondered.
''A secret order,'' the Doctor explained, strolling around the Daleks, ''Above and beyond the Emperor himself. Their job was to imagine. Think as the enemy thinks. Even dared to have names.'' He stared menacingly into Dalek Jast's eyestalk. ''All to find new ways of killing.''
''But what about this Genesis Ark thing?'' Olivia questioned, ''They said it was Time Lord.''
''I don't know,'' the Doctor admitted, eyeing the Ark, ''Never seen it before.''
''But it's Time Lord,'' Jimmy pointed out.
''Both sides had secrets,'' the Doctor stated, turning to Dalek Sec, ''What is it? What have you done?''
''Time Lord science will restore Dalek supremacy,'' Sec crowed.
''What's that meant to mean?'' the Doctor snapped, ''We don't have time for riddles. Tell us what it is!''
''They say it needs a touch from a time traveller,'' Olivia said.
A nasty grin appeared across the Doctor's face, ''Touch,'' he mocked, turning to the humans, ''Imagine being a Dalek. Imagine never touching anything. Never feeling that sensation. Never seeing anything except through a screen, never hearing anything except through your audio units. An entire life spent secluded and cut off from the rest of existence. That's what it means to be a Dalek. That's what it means to be the supreme being.''
''The Doctor will open the Ark!'' Sec shouted, tired of the Doctor's ranting.
''The Doctor will not,'' the Doctor spat.
''You have no way of resisting,'' Sec pointed out.
''I've got this,'' the Doctor reasoned, taking out the sonic screwdriver.
''A sonic probe?'' Sec scoffed.
''I believe the proper term is 'screwdriver'.''
''It is harmless,'' Sec jeered.
''You know, for the supposed most advanced war machines in universe, you really are fools,'' the Doctor taunted, ''You don't seem to realise that with the right practitioner, anything, no matter how seemingly harmless, can be utilised as a weapon.'' He pointed the sonic into the air, ''Like this.''
He activated the sonic, causing the sealed doors at the back of the room to explode inwards, letting Jamie, his troops, and several Cybermen in. The Cybermen were carrying blaster guns while Jamie fired a machine gun.
''Delete!'' a Cyberman shouted, ''Delete! Delete! Delete!'' It fired the blaster at Dalek Thay.
''Alert!'' Thay panicked, ''Casing impact, casing impact!''
The Doctor, Jimmy, Olivia and Jake threw themselves to the ground to avoid the bullets and blasts.
''Get out!'' the Doctor called to his friends. Olivia tried but stumbled to the ground again.
''Fire power insufficient!'' Dalek Sec called as the Cybermen started to overcome the Daleks, ''Fire power insufficient!''
Olivia found herself helped up by... her mother! Molly had no time to explain, and the two hurried off towards the door. Jimmy scrambled for one of the blaster guns, which had been dropped, picking it up and cocking it.
''Daleks will be deleted,'' a Cyberman called, ''Delete! Delete!''
The Doctor and Jake met up with Molly and Olivia at the door. ''Jimmy, hurry up!'' Olivia shouted at Jimmy.
''Adapt to weaponry!'' Dalek Thay called.
''Fire power restored!'' Dalek Sec cheered, blasting down a Cyberman. Jamie and his troops managed to make it to the door, but Jimmy was knocked down by a Cyberman. Instinctively, he stuck his hand out to break his fall, not realising that he was leaning against... the Genesis Ark. Jimmy felt a burning sensation in his hand and yanked it away, but it was too late. He bolted out of the room to join the others.
Once Jimmy was out, the Doctor sealed the Cybermen and Daleks inside. ''Jamie, Jake, protect the stairwell,'' he ordered the two, who headed in a different direction, ''The rest of you, come on!''
''I didn't mean to touch that thing,'' Jimmy assured the Doctor, before transferring the blaster gun to his other hand as his good hand was still burning.
The Doctor ignored him. He had no idea what was inside the Ark, but the fact that the Daleks were using it meant that it was very dangerous.
As they ran, Olivia tripped and stumbled, but Jimmy quickly swooped down and caught the girl before she hit the ground. He lifted her back up and looked into her eyes, before kissing her passionately. Olivia pulled away, before looking at Jimmy and seeing how passionate he looked. She slowly moved back in and kissed him on the lips.
''I thought I'd lost you when the sphere opened,'' Jimmy said, ''I'm not gonna lose you again.''
''But... what about Alice?'' Olivia asked.
''I do love Alice,'' Jimmy admitted, ''But she's not you, Liv! I've loved you for years. You're who I always wanted to be with. When this is all over, I'm gonna break it off with her. That is if you want to...''
''Oh, stop talking,'' Olivia said, pulling him into another kiss. Jimmy pulled away after a moment and reached into his pocket, pulling out Olivia's necklace and gently placing it back onto her neck. Olivia smiled and was about to kiss him again, only to notice the Doctor glaring at them.
''Finished?'' the Time Lord asked.
''Not even started,'' Jimmy joked.
''There's a time and a place,'' the Doctor lectured, ''And this isn't it, now come on.'' He started running again and the others followed.
''By the way, Liv,'' Jimmy said as they sprinted along hand in hand, ''Keep that lab coat.''
Olivia realised she was still wearing the lab coat she had stolen from Torchwood, ''Why?'' she asked.
''Might come in useful sometime.''
Olivia went bright red as she realised what he meant. Shed shook her hea and continued on. A much more petty part of her couldn't wait until this was over so that she could rub it in Alice's face. Just earlier, Alice had taunted Olivia about how she was always second best, yet here was Jimmy saying that the only reason he didn't return Alice's feelings was that Alice wasn't her. She had no doubt Jimmy would try to make the breakup as painless as possible, but Olivia intended to make Alice suffer. She could just picture Alice's smug face turning pale before running off to sob into Daddy's chest.
Finally, the Doctor led them to the doors to the main room at Torchwood and burst in. What they saw could only be described as carnage. An intense battle was taking place between the Cybermen and Daleks. Blasts zoomed past from all directions and roars of ''Exterminate!'' and ''Delete!'' filled the room. Torchwood soldiers and Jamie's troops were firing at both sides, but this only served to make the situation worse.
The Doctor waited for the right moment before diving into the fray. Jimmy, Olivia and Molly watched anxiously as blasts zoomed above the Doctor. He picked up the two Magna-Clamps that Yvonne had showed him earlier and used them to deflect the blasts. After a moment, the Doctor headed back towards the door, tripping over a dead Cyberman. He got back to his feet and hurried out, Olivia closing the doors. The Doctor peered back inside, now wearing his 3D specs, and watched as the Daleks finally managed to get themselves and the Genesis Ark to the centre of the room.
''Override roof mechanism,'' Sec called, and the roof slowly opened up, ''El-ev-ate.'' Dalek Sec and the Genesis Ark began to rise into the air.
''Why do they need to get outside?'' Olivia wondered.
''Time Lord science... WHAT Time Lord science?'' the Doctor questioned, ripping off the 3D glasses, ''What is it?'' He lead the others back into the corridor, ''We've gotta see what it's doing, we've gotta go back up!'' he decided, ''Come on! All of you! Top floor!''
''But it'll take us ages to get up there!'' Jimmy protested.
''We could always take the lift...'' a voice said. The group turned to see Jamie and Jake popping their heads out of the lift. The Doctor nodded and the group hurried inside. Jimmy held Olivia close to him as the lift headed towards the top floor. Finally, they arrived, and everyone sprinted to the window, where they could see Dalek Sec and the Genesis Ark, which was open. They watched as a Dalek flew out. And another. Another two. Another five. Another ten. Another fifty. Another thousand...
''Time Lord science...'' the Doctor surmised, ''It's bigger on the inside.''
''The Time Lords put those Daleks in there?'' Jimmy asked.
''It's a prison ship,'' the Doctor said.
''How many Daleks?'' Olivia asked.
''Millions,'' the Doctor answered as a vast swarm of Daleks covered the skies. To make matters worse, another large group of Cybermen marched into view, stopping when they reached the bottom of the tower. They pointed their weapons at the Daleks and fired.
''Exterminate all life forms below,'' Dalek Sec bellowed, ''Exterminate.'' The Daleks began firing downwards at both humans and Cybermen. The alien war was causing mass panic, as people rushed to get away from the Daleks and Cybermen. The Doctor and his friends watched as the two races began to fight to the death, with humans about to be massacred in the crossfire...
After two ''seasons'' Jimmy and Olivia finally declare their feelings for each other! I loved doing this chapter. The question is, will they survive this day? And if they do, how will Alice react?
As an added note, I hope you all liked Olivia's reaction to Dalek Caan. When I was rewatching the episode I realised that each member of the Cult has a distinctive voice. Sec, Thay and Jast speak constantly, but Caan remains silent. RTD being the genius that he is, I can't help but wonder if this was deliberate. And the Doctor giving the Dalek the finger... I always thought that's the kind of thing this Doctor would do when confronted with his greatest enemies.
Hope you enjoyed! Please leave a review and say what you think!
