CHAPTER 14
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THE NEW LORDS OF TIME
Even as the Doctor stared in horror at the nightmarish spectacle of the Time Lords actually acting and sounding like the Daleks while willingly working alongside them, his mind was already racing through every possible interpretation of what could actually be happening. He simply refused to believe that what he was watching could actually be the truth. Not even the High Council could possibly be that stupid as to willingly give into them.
His desperation to know what was really happening made him immediately risk being shot by the Chancellery Guards as he used his sonic screwdriver on one of them. He instantly smiled a moment later as he finally understood what had to be really going on here at last once the results of the sonic's scan were finally in.
"Of course! That just had to be it, didn't it? I should have realized it at once because it makes perfect sense in hindsight. The only part that I haven't figured out yet is how you got access to the Time Lords' biodata in order to clone them," The Doctor said in a smug voice.
"HOW COULD YOU POSSIBLY KNOW THAT THEY WERE CLONED? THEY WERE MADE TO EXACTING DETAIL IN ORDER TO ENSURE THAT THEY WERE AS CLOSE TO THE ORIGINALS AS POSSIBLE. EXPLAIN. EXPLAIN," A Dalek ordered even as it pointedly refused to answer his question which began to worry him.
Was it actually possible that the Daleks had already found and killed the original Time Lords?
"Apart from the fact that there's no way that you'd ever get the real Romana on your side because she's far too stubborn and headstrong which I know all too well from personal experience it's the fact that you've gotten your recreation of Gallifrey all wrong. The gravity and air density is slightly off and the atmosphere doesn't smell right," The Doctor said with a disapproving tone.
"THE ATMOSPHERE HAS NO SMELL AT ALL," A Dalek responded in a confused tone.
"Exactly! The air around the Capitol is always filled with the scent of red grass because it has an especially fragrant smell especially just after a thunderstorm. Your grass doesn't smell at all and neither does anything else in this completely sterile copy of Gallifrey that you've created here. Then again I wouldn't expect Daleks to get important details like that right. That would take being able to actually notice and appreciate the simplest and most important details of life wouldn't it?" The Doctor said in frustration.
The Emperor of the Daleks now appeared beside the others as he proclaimed in a voice filled with pride, "SUCH THINGS ARE INCONSEQUENTIAL. ALL THAT MATTERS IS THAT WE INITIALLY FOOLED EVEN YOU AND THEREFORE WE SHOULD EASILY FOOL EVERYONE ELSE. NO ONE WILL EVER EXPECT THAT THE TIME LORDS THAT HAVE RETURNED ARE NOT THE TRUE ONES UNTIL IT IS FAR TOO LATE. WE WILL SOON USE THEIR MANY ALLIANCES WITH THE OTHER GREAT TIME TRAVELING RACES OF THE UNIVERSE TO OUR FULL ADVANTAGE IN ORDER TO COMPLETELY WIPE THEM ALL OUT ONE AFTER ANOTHER. IN THE END, THE DALEKS WILL BE THE ONLY ONES LEFT AND WE WILL BE THE SOLE, UNDISPUTED LORDS OF TIME. THEN ALL OF TIME AND SPACE WILL FINALLY BELONG TO US FOREVER."
"You're overlooking three vital details though: Me, Clara, and Lucy. We'll all know the truth and Clara and Lucy aren't here so there's really no use in going on about exterminating them is there? I didn't bring them I'm afraid," The Doctor said with a smirk.
"IT DOESN'T MATTER. NO ONE WOULD EVER BELIEVE THE NOTORIOUS RENEGADES KNOWN AS THE MASTER AND THE RANI. THEY'RE DONE FAR TOO MUCH DAMAGE TO THE UNIVERSE FOR ANYTHING THAT THEY SAY TO BE ACCEPTED AS FACT. THAT LEAVES YOU AS THE ONLY ONE WHO COULD POSSIBLY STAND IN OUR WAY," The Emperor replied.
"So same old, same old then," The Doctor said with seemingly no concern whatsoever.
"NO, DOCTOR. THIS TIME YOU'RE ALL ALONE ON A PLANET THAT'S COMPLETELY CONTROLLED BY THE DALEKS. YOU'RE ENTIRELY AT OUR MERCY NOW," The Emperor said.
"Yes, like I said. Same old, same old," The Doctor said with an arrogant smile.
"THERE IS NO ESCAPE THIS TIME. NOT ONLY WILL YOU HAVE TO FIGHT US BUT ALSO NEAR PERFECT COPIES OF YOUR OWN PEOPLE," The Emperor insisted.
"You think that's somehow something new? Yes, because me being the odd one out among my own people has never happened before. You're definitely going to have to try something better than that. You lot must really be desperate for ideas this time around although I will give you credit for creating your own Time Lords. That actually took some ingenuity. So who did you steal that idea from I wonder?" The Doctor said with still no concern being displayed in his voice whatsoever.
"Oh, that would be from me. You're quite right of course. There's definitely no way that this bunch of pathetic pepper pots could come up with something that imaginative," A woman's voice suddenly said in an amused tone from behind the Doctor.
The Doctor immediately whirled around to see a blonde in her mid-forties dressed in what seemed like almost a bizarre parody of his Eleventh incarnation's outfit only it was all in black even the bow tie. At first he had absolutely no idea who she was until he looked deeply into her eyes.
The eyes of a Time Lord were always the same in every incarnation after all.
"So you finally found a new set of regenerations at last then? What did you do? Steal them from a clone of us? I must say that your fashion sense is as terrible as always though despite the new body. Didn't anyone tell you that bow ties aren't cool anymore?" The Doctor said with a sound of disgust.
"Somewhere Eleven is crying out in absolute agony right now," The Valeyard said with a sinister smile.
"As if I care what the universe's oldest man child thinks," The Doctor said with a snort.
"Enough bashing our past selves, Doctor. As fun as that always is, I'd much rather get to the point. Have you figured everything out yet or do I have to explain it to you slowly? You are getting a bit long in the tooth after all and I can't expect the doddering old man to think as quickly on his feet as he used to, can I?" The Valeyard said with a massive smirk on her face.
"That's funny. I've always suspected that you were far older than I am if you were truly created from me at the end of my life whenever that is. Maybe it's you that's far too ancient to think clearly anymore. That would explain quite a bit about you actually if you were a senile version of me," The Doctor shot back.
"Admit it, Doctor. This is burning you up inside isn't it? You've already worked out exactly what I did and you just can't stand it," The Valeyard challenged him.
"Yes, I am completely repulsed by it if that's what you mean. The Biodata Archive was always meant to ensure that Gallifrey survived in the event of a catastrophe. It was never intended to be used to remake the Time Lords into the puppets of the Daleks. You've twisted everything that our people ever stood for far worse than even Rassilon ever did by doing this," The Doctor said in a disgusted tone.
"Well, it's not like you were doing anything with it. You can't tell me that you couldn't have found Braxiatel's hiding place for it if you had really tried. He was our brother after all. Who else would know enough about how he thought to figure it out? In fact, you know that he was counting on exactly that happening if the worst ever happened. If you had decided to actually use it to restore them properly, then I would never have been able to do anything to them at all now would I? The blame for this is on your head just as surely as it is on mine, Doctor," The Valeyard said with no concern whatsoever.
"They would never have been the same no matter how identical that they were. What the Biodata created would never truly be them," The Doctor protested.
"Is that really it or was it because you feared that they might wind up restarting the Time War all over again since they came from the time just before it and never had to live through it as the originals did? Now you no longer need to worry about that though do you? No, don't bother to thank me for it. That look of pure hatred on your face is all the thanks that I'll ever need," The Valeyard said with an evil laugh.
"YES, HE HATES YOU WITH AN INTENSITY THAT ONLY A DALEK COULD MATCH. I MIGHT ALMOST DESCRIBE SUCH A LEVEL OF PURE SELF HATRED AS BEAUTIFUL. YOU BECOME MORE AND MORE LIKE US WITH EACH NEW REGENERATION, DOCTOR," The Emperor taunted.
"Well, now you're just being nasty," The Doctor said in an insulted tone.
"Yes, but truthful. Now that you've seen the full extent of our plan to become the new Time Lords of this reality, you can finally see that you never had any hope of ever beating us. Not even you're good enough to beat the combined forces of yourself, the Daleks, and . . . the Master," The Valeyard said with a smirk as she saw the surprised look on the Doctor's face at her last words.
The Doctor's eyes widened in fear as he said, "That's why Clara and the others weren't there. You led them into a trap. You're planning on changing her back."
The Valeyard laughed as she said, "You're so worried about your precious Clara that you can't even see the obvious can you? Why should I try to turn her when I already have my own copy of the Master already working with me that's just as evil as ever?"
The Doctor became even more alarmed as he said, "You sent the other Master to kill her."
"Now he finally gets it at last. I separated you from her rather nicely with my false promise of the return of the real Gallifrey didn't I? Now she's trapped on Earth being hunted down by a completely merciless version of herself because unlike the Daleks I don't believe on taking any chances with her whether anyone believes what she says or not. She'll never stand a chance of winning especially without you there to help her," The Valeyard said in a self-assured tone.
"Oh, I wouldn't count her out just yet. You're confusing a benevolent Clara with a weak one, and one thing that no version of Clara Oswald has ever been is weak. She might just surprise you," The Doctor said proudly even as he became filled with worry for her.
The Valeyard's smile faded ever so slightly as she said, "Perhaps but unfortunately you won't be alive to see it. Exterminate him!"
"I GIVE THE ORDERS HERE NOT YOU. I WILL DECIDE WHO IS EXTERMINATED AND WHEN, TIME LADY. THE DOCTOR WILL REMAIN OUR PRISONER FOR NOW UNTIL HIS FATE IS FINALLY DECIDED AT OUR TRIAL," The Emperor argued.
The Doctor immediately smiled in triumph as he said, "Ah, dissension in the ranks already, is it? Something tells me that you're not going to last much longer than I do. After they kill me, what will they need you for anyway? They've already gotten what they wanted from you, so what more could you possibly give them? Or were you so full of your own importance that you couldn't foresee that?"
The Valeyard immediately shook her head as her smile returned at full force while she said, "No, Doctor, they still need me because I haven't quite given them everything that I can just yet. There's still one thing that I'm withholding in order to maintain my own existence. I know exactly where the original Time Lords are."
The Doctor's hearts fell as he said, "And you'd give them all up to them in a heartsbeat, wouldn't you?"
"You mean in order to save myself? Yes! For the moment though, since their location is keeping me alive the others are quite safe I assure you," The Valeyard insisted.
"Yes, for the moment," The Doctor said with a deep frown of disapproval.
"THE LOCATION OF THE TIME LORDS IS IRRELEVANT AT PRESENT SINCE THEY ARE NO DANGER TO US AT THE MOMENT. WE WILL DEAL WITH THEM ONCE AND FOR ALL ONCE THE ENTIRETY OF THE WEB OF TIME FINALLY BELONGS TO US AT LAST," The Emperor said dismissively.
"Yes, once it's far too late for them to save themselves," The Doctor said in a furious voice.
"EXACTLY. NOW YOU WILL PROCEED TO YOUR CELL TO AWAIT YOUR UPCOMING TRIAL. MOVE. MOVE," The Emperor ordered as several Daleks and Time Lords all suddenly pointed their weapons at the Doctor in unison.
As the Doctor was helplessly driven along, the Valeyard laughed as she said, "Soon enough now you'll die, Old Man, and then it will be Clara and Lucy's turn to fall. Then there will be no one to stand against us," The Valeyard said with a merciless laugh.
"She'll turn on all of you next once I'm gone, you know? It's inevitable," The Doctor warned the Daleks as he reluctantly moved further and further away from the TARDIS.
"WE LOOK FORWARD TO IT," The Emperor said without hesitation and with a tone of obvious delight.
Even as the Doctor tried his best to think of a way to escape, Clara definitely shared that very same feeling at that moment back on Earth as she stood face to face with Missy. She wanted nothing more but to get herself, Lucy, and Osgood as far away from her demonic alter ego as she possibly could.
Things weren't quite working out that way however.
"You will lay down your weapon and surrender to us immediately or we will be forced to fire," Kate Stewart warned as her UNIT troops all aimed their guns at the mad Time Lady at once.
Missy actually laughed however as she said, "Oh, please, dear. With my superior reflexes, I'll take out all of your little tin soldiers before any of them can even so much as pull a trigger. Let's just save all of us a whole lot of trouble here and not give in to your usual impulses to do something completely stupid, shall we?"
"What is it that you want here exactly? Somehow I find it hard to believe that it's just to prove that you and Clara are not the same person. Even your ego can't be that huge," Kate said in a suspicious tone.
"You'd be surprised," Clara muttered in a low voice making Missy immediately laugh at her.
"Actually she's right, poppet. I'm not here just to prove that we're not the same person. I'm actually here to make certain that no one ever gets a chance to confuse the two of us ever again. I mean it's pretty hard to think that you're me if I'm still alive and you're dead isn't it?" Missy said as she pointed her weapon straight at Clara.
"Yeah, you definitely have a point there," Clara said in a nervous voice as plans to save herself began to run through her head.
She could see it all now and it actually was a bit of an ego thing despite Missy's protests. Missy, whoever or whatever she was, wanted to completely take her place as the Master and didn't want anyone to ever know that Clara had repented and changed her life. She knew that such a thing would completely dilute the collective sense of fear and loathing that people held for the Master throughout the universe and she just wouldn't have that.
After all, she had an image to maintain.
Clara wasn't about to let Lucy, Osgood, or anyone else die for her other self's vanity issues however. Or even to preserve the good name of Clara Oswald.
Clara let out a deep breath now as she finally revealed the truth about herself at last and pointed her laser screwdriver at Missy as she said, "Well? What are you waiting for, Laughing Girl? Pull the trigger and we'll see which of us is the fastest. I'm betting it's the one, true Master instead of a third rate knockoff."
Kate now looked at Clara in stunned silence at her sudden admission as Lucy quickly said, "No, not now, Clara. You can't give into your delusions of being the Master now. That's all that we need."
"There's no use to try to save me. It's too late, Lucy. I can't let anything happen to you just to preserve myself. I have to face Missy with everything that I've got and not hold back in the slightest in order to beat her," Clara said in a sad voice.
"And now even you're insisting that you're me. No wonder everyone is so confused. And they call me mad! Well, not to my face but still," Missy said in amusement.
Clara now looked at her in confusion. Why was she still insisting that Clara wasn't the Master? What possible reason could she have to continue that charade now?
Was it truly ego or something else at work here?
Clara hesitated now because she could sense that something wasn't quite right, and she didn't want to kill anyone not even another version of herself unnecessarily. She had done that far too many times already in her life.
Missy began to laugh now as she said, "And you call yourself the Master? You're hesitating to fire. Would the real me ever hesitate to kill especially if it was to save herself? I think that says it all, ladies and gentlemen. That's right. You're looking at the one and only original Master. Accept no substitutes."
Kate's eyes now filled with uncertainty as she said, "She's right. Clara must be suffering under the same delusions that Martha told us about before again. There's no way that the real Master would ever hesitate to kill."
She would if she truly had changed Clara thought to herself.
"Exactly and now that I've finally proven my point conclusively once and for all I suppose it's time for me to leave. I'd kill you just on general principle for daring to say that you were me, but it's just not worth wasting a regeneration on because they'd kill me just as I finally got you. I might not be half as beautiful as I am now next time around either. Don't worry though, Clara. I'll definitely be back to kill you later when your bodyguards aren't around. Until then think of something nice to use for your last words, hmm?" Missy said as she suddenly vanished.
"What was that about?" Clara said in disbelief.
"That's just what I was wondering," Kate said as she studied Clara closely.
"Don't worry. Clara's completely fine now. Her delusions only came out because she was confronted by the real Master once again. Now she's fine once more with her gone. Isn't that right, Clara?" Lucy prodded her.
"Yes, that's true. She's always perfectly normal as long as no one reminds her of the Master," Osgood added.
Kate studied Clara closely as she asked, "Is that true? Do you still think you're the Master now?"
"She doesn't just think it. She is the Master. I heard her say it herself and she knew things only the Master would know. I don't know who that other woman was, but this is the real Master right here in front of you. Don't let her go," Carmen pleaded.
"Well, Clara, what do you have to say to all of that?" Kate asked as she patiently waited for an answer.
Clara hesitated now because she finally wanted this over with once and for all. She was so tired of worrying if anyone was going to find out the truth about her or not especially when she couldn't afford to hold back anymore now that another version of her was out to kill her.
And yet part of her still wanted to hold onto the life of Clara Oswald so badly and would truly hate to lose it.
"I say that this woman is very much mistaken. I've been following the real Master for some time now and that is most definitely not her," A voice that Clara hadn't heard since the Time War suddenly said behind her.
She immediately turned around with a shocked look of recognition on her face but said nothing as Kate asked the newcomer, "And you are?"
"My name is Romanadvoratrelundar, Lady President of Gallifrey, but you can call me Fred if you like," Romana said with a warm smile.
"She's a liar!" Carmen protested.
"Okay, so my name's not really Fred. Actually, I go by Romana. Everything else is the absolute truth however," Romana said with a wry grin.
"Yes, I know who you are. You're a former companion of the Doctor's. So you'll swear that the woman who just teleported away was the true Master then?" Kate asked.
"Yes, without hesitation. I've been following her since I learned that she and the Valeyard were working together with the Daleks on some new plan to take over the universe. They've even captured the Doctor by luring him to their own fake version of Gallifrey," Romana said.
"What? You mean that wasn't the real Gallifrey?" Clara said in disbelief.
"No, it's a fake filled with false Time Lords that were created to fool all of the other temporal powers into a false state of security until they can be slowly dealt with for good one after another. They wanted the Doctor out of the way because he's the only one who could have revealed them all to be clones of the originals," Romana explained as she gave her an urgent stare.
Clara could sense that Romana wanted her to come with her immediately, but she still wasn't sure exactly what was going on here just yet. Too much about this situation just didn't make any sense to her.
"Then where are the real Time Lords and how are you here? I mean who's to say you're the real Romana?" Clara asked.
"That's a very good question actually. Can you prove that you're not one of these clones of theirs?" Lucy added.
"We wouldn't even know about them if she hadn't told us though," Osgood pointed out.
"True but it could be that she told us just enough of the truth to get us to trust her until she turns on us later," Clara explained.
"You would know about lies alright," Carmen insisted.
"That's enough out of you. Take her away. She obviously has no more idea of what's going on than the rest of us do at the moment," Kate ordered some of her soldiers.
"No, you can't do this! She IS the Master!" Carmen shouted even as she was led away.
"I'm sorry about that, Clara, and about your illness. I hope that you'll be completely over it someday soon," Kate said in a sympathetic voice.
"Yeah, me too. I'm completely fine right now though," Clara said as she gave her a reassuring smile.
"Yes, and she's not violent even if she wasn't," Osgood said in a concerned voice since she was worried about Kate trying to lock Clara up for being mad.
"I know, Petronella. I'm not going to do anything to her. Don't worry about it," Kate reassured her as she silently ordered the rest of her soldiers to leave.
"Well, I suppose you'll all be going along with me now to help me find the Doctor then? What about you? Are you coming as well?" Romana asked Kate.
"No, I'd love to help but I'm afraid that my job is protecting the Earth first and foremost. I do hope that the Doctor is alright though," Kate said in a sincere voice as she started to leave with the rest of the UNIT soldiers.
As soon as Kate waved good bye and left, Romana suddenly let out a sigh of relief as she said to Clara, "Well, I'm certainly glad that's over with so that I don't have to worry about them carting you off anymore. Right now I need all of the help that I can get."
Clara now looked at her in absolute confusion as she said, "So you do know that I'm the real Master. Why did you lie then and who was that other woman?"
Romana smiled now as she said, "Oh, her?"
Then she hit a switch on her wristband and suddenly looked like Missy for a brief moment before switching back once more. Clara could now see that the wristband was a shimmer and had been disguising her as Missy all along.
"So that was you?" Osgood asked in amazement.
"Yes, I posed as her in order to keep Clara from being suspected as the Master and taken away by UNIT. I need both her and Ushas' help in order to free the Doctor and stop the Valeyard and the Daleks. We're the only ones who can right now I'm afraid," Romana said.
"Why? Where are the other Time Lords? Why aren't they here if you are?" Clara asked once again.
"It all started when we finally escaped the pocket universe that we had been trapped in and relocated to the end of time instead. Unfortunately for us, however, the Valeyard found us there and put all of Gallifrey into a time loop before anyone could stop him. I was the only one who escaped in time and even I almost didn't make it out after a clone of the Master that the Valeyard created called Missy nearly killed me. Fortunately for you however, Clara, I wound up killing her instead. I've been trying to find the Doctor ever since then. When I found him with you, however, I wasn't sure if you were working with the Valeyard or not in order to fool him so I watched you secretly until I was certain that I could trust you. Unfortunately I came to that conclusion too late to keep the Doctor from being taken by them. Now it's up to all of us to save him, the Time Lords, and the Web of Time itself from the Valeyard before it's too late," Romana explained.
"So let me guess. We're going to this fake Gallifrey and break Mr. Grim out from wherever they're holding him. Then we'll take on the whole planet, yeah?" Clara said with a growing smile.
"That about sums it up, yes. Are you up for it?" Romana asked hopefully.
"You know me, Romana. I've always been just a bit too mad for my own good. Besides if anything happens to my favorite daft old man who am I going to have to boss around?" Clara said without hesitation.
Romana smiled as she said, "And what about you, Ushas?"
"I go wherever she goes. It's in our contract with one other," Lucy said as she gave Clara a warm smile.
"Finally something in these new rules of yours that I can completely get behind," Clara said with approval as she gave Lucy a hug.
"The two of you have changed more than I thought. It used to be that you couldn't stand one another," Romana said in surprise as she watched Lucy hold Clara close to her.
"You certainly couldn't tell it now, can you?" Osgood said with a chuckle.
"What about you, Osgood? Are you going or staying here? I really have no right to ask you to put yourself in danger like this so I'm giving you a chance to gracefully back out if you want it. The final decision is up to you of course," Romana said.
"The Doctor is my friend. I'd never just leave him to die somewhere without trying to help him in some way," Osgood said in a tone that suggested that should have been obvious to her right from the start.
Romana smiled as she said, "I never doubted your courage, Osgood. I just wanted to make sure that you knew what we were in for first because you're not a Time Lord."
"Maybe not but that doesn't mean that I can't help," Osgood said in a determined voice.
Clara knew what was really going on of course. Romana was afraid that Osgood would die because she was only human. Clara had almost spoken up to ask Osgood to stay behind herself for that very reason, but when she saw the stubborn look on Osgood's face she knew that her friend would never accept that. That was why she hadn't even bothered. She was far too much like Clara herself in that way after all.
That was what worried her.
Romana nodded now as she said to Osgood, "I wish you good luck then because we're about to go into one of the most dangerous situations that I've ever been in. Are all of you ready? I can take us straight there with my time ring."
"I still have a TARDIS if you'd rather use that instead. We could go in invisibly that way," Lucy suggested.
"That's even better then because we're going to need every advantage that we can get against what's to come. Let's go. I just hope that it's not too late to save the Doctor. If we lose him, we may not have a chance at winning this at all anymore," Romana said in a worried voice as Lucy started to lead the others to her TARDIS.
"He wouldn't dare be dead, Romana. Not if he knows what's good for him. He's supposed to always stay alive somehow no matter what happens. That was a direct order that I gave him a long time ago. He'd better not disobey it either or I'll kill him myself," Clara said in a hard voice.
"Please be okay. You hear me, Doctor? Don't you die on me," Clara whispered to herself as she struggled to hold back her tears.
Next: Clara and the others invade the false Gallifrey and take on an entire world filled with enslaved Time Lord clones and murderous Daleks while simultaneously dealing with the sinister machinations of the Valeyard. Will they somehow be able to get past all of this in order to rescue the Doctor in time? Even if they can, will they be able to put an end to the Valeyard's plans and save the universe or is this one time that even the Doctor is in way over his head?