Newspapers suddenly took to the air, discarded glass bottles began to roll away as a strange blue box appeared in the alleyway. A stray cat arched its back at the incomprehensible sight, hissing loudly before running away. The doors swung open wildly as a young man stepped out. The first thing he felt was the hot sun beating down on his face, making him happy that he had remembered to wear a hat. He loved hats. They were just so varied and colourful. He was beginning to regret the fact that he was wearing his beloved tweed jacket, immediately feeling some sweat form, but he remembered that fashion had to take precedence over comfort. It was one of the main mottos he had followed throughout all of his lives. He thought this as he smugly straightened his bow tie. The Doctor, in his eleventh incarnation, picked up one of the bits of newspaper the Tardis had swept up to make sure that he had arrived at the date he had wanted, allowing a somewhat reasonable margin for error due to his track record.

"Huh. Surprisingly accurate," he mumbled, astounded at his own brilliance. "I tell you what," he said louder, "nine hundred odd years of flying this thing and I'm finally getting...the hang of things." He remembered that there was no one to talk to, no one to see his talent like he usually enjoyed. What was the point of having companions if they wanted some 'alone time' and wanted to spend their 'anniversary together'? Amy and Rory had just returned to normal life when the Tardis had gone berserk, showing him the worrying levels of temporal energy being focused in the place and time he was in now. He hadn't been able to resist. It had been on a peculiarly small scale, which had interested him the most. It was time to do some detecting. He placed a pair of sunglasses on his face and walked out onto the busy street.

New York wasn't the hive of activity that he remembered it to be. He frowned. It was only a few years into Amy's future so he was sure that nothing too drastic had happened to society to cause something like this. He whipped out his sonic screwdriver from his jacket, scanning the area as he spun around in a circle. Maybe it had something to do with the temporal anomaly his ship had picked up on. That was strange. He was now getting two readings, one significantly larger than the other. The sonic was wanting to take him deeper into Manhattan but also...up. He pointed it in that direction, his eyes nervously following, and he stumbled back in shock. The rift in the sky loomed over him like a twisted, golden smile. No wonder the Tardis had wanted him to come here. This was bad. How had he missed it in the first place? He really needed to work on his observational skills. A million questions were running through his head. At least he now knew why there were no people outside; they must have all been hiding in their homes, frightened about what was going to happen. It was a perfectly reasonable response. All he had to do was find out what had caused the tear, reverse that, then fly away after a good day's work. Easy.

He would have been able to start focusing on that if he hadn't then heard the Tardis engines going. He began to run back, worrying about who was taking his ship. His ship! The audacity of some people. Fair enough, he often left it lying around in remote places but that didn't mean someone could stroll in and fly it away. Who would know what it was anyway? That was the troubling issue. Someone with knowledge of a Tardis and how to use it was someone who was incredibly dangerous. He rounded the corner and stopped, his feet skidding audibly against the ground. He frowned once again. His Tardis was still there, in the exact same position as he had left it. That was good. That wasn't a disaster. What was, was the sight of another Tardis, a generic silver cylinder, standing right next to his. That was impossible. It couldn't be there. He had the last one. They had all burned with Gallifrey, he'd made sure of that. But it was there. In front of him. The evidence was quite substantial. He tentatively approached the other ship, holding his sonic like it was some sort of weapon. He didn't know why he did that. Maybe it was because it was undeniably cool.

He jumped back as the doors opened and his confusion only grew. A young woman emerged wearing robes that he knew were Gallifreyan in origin, followed by two older men. They all looked very disheveled as they shakily walked out. The Doctor's mouth was agape at their presence, opening and closing as he tried to form a reasonable response. They were...Time Lords. What had the rift done to the universe to make it possible for them to be standing in front of him. He was filled with a sense of strange hope and optimism after so many years of thinking they were dead but he also took note of the feeling of trepidation of what this all meant.

Ko Sharmus was bent over with his hands on his knees, feeling the effects of their wild flight, but he still could not stop the deep chuckle that escaped from his mouth. He stood up straight again and grinned at Cassandra, patting her on the back. She grimaced, realising that he was a lot more touchy-feely than most Time Lords.

"Well, you got us here through the rift!" he exclaimed. "Just about safe and sound."

"Although I don't think you'll be remaining as our primary pilot," the General moaned as he stretched his arms out with a wince.

"It was my first time flying the damned thing!" Cassandra defended herself, her long hair whipping about violently. "And, if you hadn't noticed, we were flying through a gaping hole in reality!"

"Now, come on. This is no time to be bickering," Ko Sharmus said, trying to stop an argument from breaking out. "This looks like Earth so you did the job. And you seemed to have parked right next to his...Tardis." That's when the trio noticed the Doctor's presence, the legendary man glaring at them. "Oh no."

"Surprised to see me?" the ancient traveller asked. "Hoping to take my ship whilst I was distracted?"

"How...is that possible?" Cassandra asked, looking at the other two.

"The rift," the General answered. "It's distorting, bending time around this planet. Nothing to stop him from coming here."

"Okay, I'm picking up on some actual concern now, which I wasn't expecting," the Doctor said, wringing his hands. "Why would I be stopped from coming here? I love Earth! If anything, you shouldn't be here!" He marched up to them. "Because. You. Shouldn't. Exist!" He accentuated each word with a firm prod on the General's chest.

"He doesn't know," Ko Sharmus whispered.

"He hasn't lived through it yet," the General explained.

"Lived through what? What aren't you telling me? You'll find that I'm not someone you should keep secrets from." Why did he sound so angry? Had their arrival stirred something up inside him? The guilt at his actions? The pain of the sacrifice he had made?

"We can't explain everything right now. As you can tell we're in a rather difficult situation."

"But it was if you were surprised to see me…" Ko Sharmus and the General shared a look, debating whether they should tell him. It would make everything a lot easier, that was for sure. Cassandra, not willing to wait for their decision, took the matter into her own hands.

"Because we last saw a future version of yourself," she admitted, not acknowledging their wide eyes. The Doctor had not anticipated that.

"Future? You must be mistaken. This is it! I'm it! The end of the road. There can't be another one. You've counted wrong. Did he have an umbrella with a question mark? He always liked messing with people."

"This couldn't be going worse," the General sighed. "Who knew that we'd be blessed with multiple versions of the same man. I hate time travel sometimes."

"Isn't it a good thing though?" Cassandra proposed with a hopeful smile, the tales she had been told as a child bubbling up to the surface of her memory. "All of those stories we've heard about him. If the situation is as extremely dire as we expect, then surely it's a good thing that we have two of him on hand."

"She does make a valid point," Ko Sharmus reasoned.

"It's more about the logistics of dealing with two of him that I'm more worried about," the General said, shaking his head at the strange man in front of them.

"What else do you know?" he asked them. "Putting aside your inexplicable presence here, Time Lords don't normally get so anxious about a time rift. Surely it's still within your means of sowing it back up." The Doctor stared at them as they looked at the floor or anywhere apart from his piercing, calculating eyes. "Oh dear. Unless the Time Lords don't want to sow it up. Maybe if they're using it."

"We had to run away because we questioned those actions," Ko Sharmus pleaded with him. "Again, you can't know the full story so just accept that some on Gallifrey will do anything to help it return."

"Including ripping a hole through the universe," the Doctor figured out grimly. "That sort of event, it wouldn't go unnoticed." The cloister bells of both Tardises began to chime before the ground began to shake. They looked up to the sky and the sight they all dreaded the most slowly floated above. "And of course they would pick up on it." A hoard of Dalek ships spun above the towering buildings of New York and the Doctor now realised why everyone had been hiding.

It had taken quite a while to explain to everyone who he was in relation to the old Scotsman that had just left them. It had taken even longer to catch the Doctor up on recent events. He had sat and listened, a rather unusual activity for him. He normally liked to be the centre of attention, always being the one to do the explaining, not a blonde woman he hadn't met before. Or yet. Kate had done her best to give him as much of the details as possible, knowing what telling him too much would do the time streams and, ultimately, the universe. She had broached this dilemma with him in a candid fashion. She was already growing on him. He'd pieced it together quickly though after being told about the time rift. If another incarnation of himself was hopping about somewhere (he could practically feel the faint traces they had left), that meant reality was slowly breaking down. If they got out of this substantial mess, then he probably wouldn't remember a thing about it until he reached the point of becoming this later version of himself. It was a sobering thought but one that Kate seemed to be happy with, realising that it meant she didn't need to hold back on her briefings.

Despite the obvious panic and danger that they found themselves in, the Doctor had still been thrilled to catch up with those he remembered in the UNIT headquarters. Wilf had been a bit too reluctant in letting go of him when he hugged the Doctor, who had been equally as surprised to see him. It was just another example of the old man popping up in his life at the most unexpected times. The interaction that had most confused him was with Jenny. He'd been chucked in at the deep end today but the revelation that she was still alive had knocked him for six. She tried to explain what had happened to her but he'd simply swung her about in a happy, tight hug, almost forgetting about what they were about to face. When Jack had asked for a similar greeting, the moment had been slightly ruined as they both gave him a shake of their heads.

That was where the fun had ended. After introductions were finished, the Doctor had brought his focus back to the immediate threat. Kate told him about the instructions the other version of him had given and he had to agree that it was the best course of action. It was reassuring to know that he didn't lose all of his sense during the centuries in between. As Perkins, K9, Sarah Jane (to keep an eye on the robot dog), and Mickey (since he had the most experience of fighting against them) went off to work on the two Cybermen heads, the others had congregated in the main hub. The Doctor, with his glasses on, observed the screens as they showed an increasingly troubling array of events happening. CCTV cameras relayed videos of Cybermen battling against Judoon, with the latter looking to be holding its own despite their inferior numbers. They were the best at intergalactic policing for a reason. They'd also managed to bring up surveillance from other countries, seeing the sorts of aliens that had landed. It seemed so far that the bulk of the armies were made up of the races bred for war. The Sontarans were marching across Moscow, the Daleks beginning their assault across the States (the White House had already fallen). The Doctor told them that, from what they could see, the majority of the Alliance weren't getting involved with the fighting. They were waiting above the planet just in case the unlikely event happened that their comrades required more support. As they watched the destruction that was already unfolding, they couldn't figure out whether that was a good or bad thing. The Doctor switched them off, chucking the remote away.

"Alright then!" he began, cracking his neck. "There's no point in us moping about down here as we watch what's happening. We need to get involved as soon as possible."

"You've got a different definition of 'need' to me, Doctor," Martha commented.

"Oh, come on, Miss Jones...oh wait...Mrs Smith...oh I do not like that...Martha! This is what we used to do. This is what you still do according to the reports I've seen. Nice work with the Graske by the way." She smiled at him, enjoying the fact that he had continued to monitor her progress after her departure.

"Still, there's never been something on this scale."

"The Earth gets invaded all the time! It's like you've been playing a game and you've just levelled up. Time for the big boss."

"What do you expect us to do?" Wilf asked. "You just tell me, Doctor, and I'll follow your orders."

"I'm not usually the ordering type…" River looked at him incredulously, wondering how he could have the audacity to say such an obvious lie. "I've already told you what has to happen. Well, I did from the future. My future. You get the gist." Graham and Brian's faces told him that they really didn't. "We can't win this by trying to beat them all. We have to face them individually. They say that they're an Alliance but that's a lie. They're not programmed to work together, no matter what promises they may have said to one another. Meaning they'll be attacking each country in their own style."

"So we've just got to send them away one at a time?" Jenny asked, one of the few who was managing to follow his reasoning.

"You make it sound so simple," Jack said sarcastically.

"She's right though. There's enough of us here, enough experience of dealing with their threats, that we can do this. I believe in you all. And you've told me about all of the brilliant work you've done already. The Judoon will stay here, then the Zygons and Silurians will be able to team up with the other groups. Sorted! I love it when a plan comes together."

"It's just a matter of who goes where," Kate reasoned. The Doctor nodded his head.

"And how we get there," Graham pointed out. They all looked at him. "We can't exactly travel to these countries via plane, can we? It's like what happened to your helicopter." He gestured to Mackenzie and those who had gone on the Silurian mission. "With everyone else in hiding, we'd be spotted straight away."

"Yeah, that's a good point," the Doctor admitted, running a hand along his chin in thought. "Although the Tardis can do the job. Might be a bit tricky with the temporal energy spinning about. She's a pain when it comes to landing in these situations." An angry noise rang out from said ship in response and he had the good grace to look suitably admonished.

"Then it wouldn't make sense for us to all leave at once," River added. "Imagine if the groups leaving here got stuck in a Tardis that refused to land."

"That wouldn't be very good, no. No time like the present to split up then. Again. At the moment, we need three groups. One will stay here and deal with the Cybermen, one with the Sontarans and the last with the Daleks. The easiest one to infiltrate will be Russia."

"Lots of open space," Kate expanded.

"And the Daleks always seem to have the ability of smelling the Tardis from a mile away. If they had noses to smell out of, that is." He smirked dangerously. "There's only one option then really. Anyone up for facing the cold. I'll wait for you to grab your coats."

The Doctor casually strolled out from the Tardis, his hair even more messed up than usual. He'd discovered that Clara had roaming hands when she properly got going, although he had made sure to cut it short before they both got too carried away. She'd sent him a calculating smile at that, promising that, once this was all over, there would be no getting away from her. He couldn't see himself doing that anytime soon. He was wearing a bright smile, something that was unusual for his incarnation. As Clara stepped out of the time machine behind him, she nudged him in the back to make him stop. She was just as overjoyed as he was, the conversation going even better than she could have possibly imagined, but it wouldn't do to be smiling so much when they were trying to cut a deal. It was a strange feeling for her. This revelation had left her feeling the happiest she had in her life but her emotions had to be brought back down because of the trouble they were in.

Guards wearing golden uniforms, all armed with blasters of the same colour, came charging over to them. Clara immediately put her hands up in surrender, having learnt that it was usually the safest option. The Doctor simply rolled his eyes at the arch of people in front of them. It seemed that this was becoming an even more regular problem that he had to face.

"Stay where you are!" one of the soldiers ordered. They were rather young for a job like this, he noted. He realised that the Empire had been waging a war against the Cybermen for so long that they would have had to rush the process of pushing people up the ranks. It was a sorry sight to see but it wasn't his main issue. "You have no authorization for your presence here! Unexplained behaviour will be met with sufficient force!" They both shared a look, knowing what that meant. These lot were obviously trigger happy. The Doctor reached into his jacket, rummaging around in his pockets for a few seconds. Clara nervously smiled at the guards as her patience began to wear thin at how long it was taking him. He whipped out his psychic paper, holding it open in a forceful manner. That usually helped to get the best possible alias. The guard who had spoken to them, the one they presumed was in charge, cautiously took it from his hand, his eyebrows raising as he discovered what it said. "Primary Imperial Legate?" The Doctor, a perplexed expression on his face, looked at the blank space of paper, and shrugged his shoulders.

"That's me," he responded. "I just love...legating. This is my…" He gestured at Clara but found himself unable to find the right words to sum her up. She arched an eyebrow at the struggle he was in, wondering what was going on in his head. The problem for him was that, after what had transpired in the Tardis, he no longer knew how to refer to her. He was already struggling with how to act around her, which he knew she wouldn't appreciate.

"I'm his advisor. Close, personal advisor. He'd get nowhere without me," she finished for him. He smiled at that; it was incredibly accurate.

"Although I can see that that's true, I know you're lying about who you actually are," a voice sounded from the back of the room as a door electronically opened. They couldn't see who it was with the crowd in front of them but recognised the voice. The soldiers turned to see who had caused the interruption, immediately dropping to their knees in salute as a small figure emerged. Porridge grinned at them as he was finally able to see them properly. "I saw your arrival on the screens in the throne room. I knew it was you straight away though. There'd be no way of you landing that ship of yours in here if I hadn't allowed it to."

"We normally find a way to counteract such measures," the Doctor replied. The Emperor examined this seemingly new man in front of him. Their scanners had picked up on the Tardis trying to break through their defenses. What had worried them was that it had been on the brink of succeeding before he realised who it would be. He just hadn't expected the young man he had once met to be replaced with the figure looming over him now. At least Clara looked as lovely as ever.

"Well, I'm sure Time Lord technology has some superior capabilities." The Doctor looked shocked for a moment, something he enjoyed to see. "Your legend does precede you. Otherwise I would have been completely shocked by your appearance and, if an emperor can't do one thing, it's look shocked. I'm sure you will tell me about it," he said as he led them into the room he had come from. It was the large atrium that they had teleported to after they had escaped the Cybermen, the blackness of space all they could see out of the large viewing glass. Porridge took a seat in his golden throne, sending away a servant with a polite smile. They were both seeing a theme developing with the colour scheme - every ruler always liked the lavish lifestyle. "I have to admit, I was surprised when I saw you coming here. I'm hoping that Clara has changed her mind and is reconsidering my offer of marriage." His tone was playful, although there was definitely a hint of hopefulness in it. The Doctor grabbed her arm protectively regardless of whether the other man was joking.

"That won't be happening." The steely nature of his response surprised the other two people. Clara hadn't expected him to be so territorial so soon. She admired him for it but she needed him to know that there was no point to it, especially if it meant he acted ruder than he normally did. She caressed his hand softly with her thumb to try and calm him down, happy when it looked to be working. He closed his eyes with a sigh to compose himself. "This isn't a social call."

"I didn't expect so. You don't seem like the type, Doctor. You need something from me."

"Your help," Clara responded.

"What do you mean?"

"You probably have the most experience of taking on the Cybermen, this empire of yours," the Doctor said.

"The Cyber wars have stretched on for generations. There's nothing remotely special about what we do. We've just benefitted from centuries of improved technology."

"Frankly, that's what brought us here."

"Why would you need access to such weapons?" He was eyeing the duo curiously.

"In my time, Earth is under attack," Clara explained. "Probably the biggest...no, definitely the biggest threat it's seen and the Cybermen are a part of that."

"That's not possible," Porridge whispered as he got up from his chair, taking the steps slowly. "There's no record of such a battle taking place until centuries after."

"Time is in flux," the Doctor expanded. "History is being rewritten throughout the Earth's existence. Everything you think you know about your race's past could change in an instant if we don't stop it."

"What do you want me to do about it?"

"You have men. You have weapons. All trained and designed to cause maximum damage to Cybermen. We request that you lend us some."

"If you haven't already noticed, we haven't completely removed the threat here. I can't sacrifice our chances of ending this godforsaken war."

"You won't have an existence to defend if you don't help us!" the Doctor heatedly countered. "It's quite simple really."

"There's no way we could transport that many people back in time. They could damage their own histories, kill an ancient predecessor. I'd have expected you to consider the paradoxes that would occur."

"Like I said, time is already damaged. We might be able to get away with a bit more than usual. It's a risk we've got to take." Clara, her big brown eyes staring at him, took him by the hand so that she could speak to him.

"Doctor, this isn't like you. You don't break the rules. Well, these rules. Time is damaged. That's what you said. What if that caused it to tip over the edge?" He looked at her softly, regaining some of his senses.

"I can't let your planet be destroyed."

"And it won't be. We already have support. We didn't come here thinking we'd get more soldiers. You are not the Doctor of War any longer. We'll figure out a way to do this without sacrificing what you stand for."

"And what do I stand for?" he asked softly. Sometimes he didn't really know the answer to that. It was never quite as simple as it should be. She placed her hand on his cheek.

"Hope. Always hope. And, I'd like to think...love."

"You should know more than anyone else that that's the case."

"What do you mean by that?" His eyes just remained locked on hers, the truth hitting her hard. She was taken aback by how open his soul was to her. He didn't have to say it because she already knew. And it told her that they would get through this. Because the other option didn't bear thinking about.

"There's a weapon," Porridge told them, breaking them from their private conversation. The Doctor looked at him questioningly. "Centuries of fighting. Both sides upgrading. I see the irony, by the way. We had to develop new ways of defeating them. Some more unsavory than others." The downcast look on his face told them that he wasn't taking this lightly.

"What did you create?" Clara queried, feeling sorry for him, guessing what horrors he had to survive.

"Their strength comes from their lack of emotions. Reverse that and they no longer have the thirst to kill."

"Remove the inhibitors and all of that pain comes tumbling out. The world would no nothing but screams," the Doctor said.

"I told you it was unsavory. Some things are just a necessary evil." The Doctor's eyes were focused on the floor. He knew that more than most. "If this threat you face is as severe as you make it out to be, then this is your only chance. Other than blowing up the planet. You can have it. I'd say you could consider it a gift but no one wants a present like that." Clara nervously nodded at the Doctor. Even if they took it, that didn't mean that they necessarily had to use it. Wasn't it better to be safe than sorry?

"We could use someone like you," the Doctor commented. "You could come with us, you know."

"I already have an empire to look after. Adding another planet would require the resolve of a much greater man."

"Why are we running?" The General's voice was loud and strained as he struggled to keep up with the Doctor as they raced through the streets. Cassandra was the only one able to keep up with him, a lot younger than her two counterparts. The running thankfully relented as the Doctor stopped by a wall, looking out over an abandoned park. "We should be hiding. Calling for help. You have a lot of allies on this planet, I've heard."

"That comes later," the Doctor explained. "Daleks are the big problem, that's perfectly obvious. But you always focus on the most curious issue first." He was scanning with his sonic screwdriver, the small device almost having a life of its own as it pointed him in a new direction. As he walked off, they had no option but to follow him.

"How can you concentrate on the trivial?" Ko Sharmus rasped. "The Daleks will destroy this planet if you do not act quickly."

"You told me that there was already another me working on that. Sometimes, too many cooks spoil the broth. You're not thinking of the important things here." They doubted whether there could be anything more important than stopping their greatest enemies. Cassandra's eyes lit up as she partially figured out the answer.

"Where are you leading us?" she queried with a knowing smile. The Doctor smirked as he pointed at her, his eyes lit up.

"The Tardis locked onto an anomaly of a troubling size. After I saw the rift, I naturally assumed that it had meant that. But I was wrong. There's a second signal. You created the rift like the bumbling fools that you are." They tried not to take offence at his words. "So what if that created another anomaly?" They continued to move throughout the streets, constantly thinking about the prospect of the Daleks spotting them.

"It wouldn't be as important," the General said, perplexed at why he was so intent on discovering the cause of this mystery.

"Don't be so...close-minded. It all depends on what this smaller one is. The sonic is worked up about it. The Tardis brought me here! To New York! It could have landed me anywhere, normally London because they're always in trouble. But not this time. So why?" He moved his hand as the sonic let out increasingly frequent beeps, flashing as he pointed it at a large building. He looked at it curiously. "What do you notice about that building?"

"We're not exactly experts on human architecture."

"It's too new," Cassandra commented, surprising the two older men. The Doctor looked at her impressed. "The other buildings like it...they're more worn down. That looks like it's just been built."

"Bingo!" the Doctor exclaimed. "Maybe it's been plucked from its original time. We just need to find out why. I think we've found our second anomaly." And they proceeded to walk over to Winter Quay Apartments.

"How could they just escape?" Rassilon barked furiously, banging on the table that filled the room at the top of the citadel, overlooking the rest of the planet. A young soldier barked away from him carefully, already knowing about his dangerous reputation.

"They will have had help," a female voice came from the door. Ohila, flanked by two other women, strolled into his council chamber with a cold smile. The President's fury just rose at her presence.

"The Sisterhood of Karn have no place here. Especially you."

"And yet you need us more than ever. When we discovered the portal you had created to Gallifrey, we just couldn't resist greeting you again."

"I'd say that's beyond your means of capability."

"I'd say you should respect who gives you power," she bit back.

"You think they had help?"

"Undoubtedly."

"From who?"

"Does it matter?"

"It'll matter when I get my hands on them."

"Always so filled with anger, aren't you? Wait...fear. I get them mixed up." Rassilon's eyes glinted menacingly.

"You will speak of no such thing."

"The truth?"

"Blasphemy!"

"So you see yourself as a god now?" She quirked an eyebrow at him. She never knew his ego had grown so large.

"I built this planet from the sands to where it stands now. Most gods could only dream of doing such a thing."

"But you still require the service of the renegades. You must have been desperate if you brought three of them together. Where are they now?"

"How should I know? Finding the Doctor so he can be stopped."

"Your creations work without your knowledge. You worry that the Doctor will thwart your plans."

"They are more than plans. Even he can not stop destiny. For Gallifrey shall rise again!"