CHAPTER 7

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THE BATTLE FOR ALURA BEGINS

As the TARDIS doors opened to let Clara back out until the next Wednesday, the three Time Lords faced a pressing question. Where was the Moment going to stay until next week?

The Moment herself answered this question for them as she stepped outside with Clara and looked around at her home with a huge grin of satisfaction on her face. Then she looked at Clara with a hopeful look that also held a trace of fear.

"So you want to stay with me? Is that it, Wolf Girl?" Clara asked with a warm smile.

"Yeah, I'd really like that if I won't be too much trouble. I want to stay near you as much as possible so that I can protect you. Is that alright? I swear that I'll keep out of your way as much as possible. You won't even know that I'm here," the Moment said.

Clara smiled as she said, "Well, I do have to admit that I kind of like the idea of having more time to get to know you better. I also like the idea of having another adult around to help me with the kids. Alright, Rose. You can stay."

The Moment frowned making Clara look at her in surprise as she asked her, "What is it? I thought you'd be happy about getting to stay here. Don't tell me that you've changed your mind already."

The Moment smiled as she said, "No, I am happy about that. Thank you for letting me stay here, Clara. It's just that you called me Rose."

"What's wrong with that?" the Doctor asked curious as to her response.

"I'm not Rose. I never will be. I'm not even human," the Moment said.

"You seem human to me. That was a very human reaction when you saw Clara's home just now. You were happy to be back in a nice normal human home again weren't you?" the Doctor asked.

"Yeah. I've missed that. It's nice to be in normal surroundings for a change. It's nice to at least pretend that I'm human sometimes even if I'm not," the Moment said.

"Why?" the Master couldn't help asking.

"I'm a part of Rose Tyler even if I'm not her, and being human is a very important part of who she is. That makes being human important to me too," the Moment said.

"It's very overrated to me. I was human once and I definitely don't miss it one bit. You're so much more than what they are. I'd be glad that I wasn't one of them instead of wasting time wishing that I was one," the Master said.

"I liked being human too, and I agree with her that staying connected to the human side of her is very important. It's important to me too. Like it or not, Koschei, I am Clara Oswald now not Alura. I'm just not that person anymore," Clara said firmly.

The Master looked at her sadly for a moment until she gave him a kiss on the cheek and said, "I'm still your friend though, and I always will be. Nothing will ever change that. As long as you don't mind being friends with someone who actually wants to stay human that is."

The Master smiled at her as he said, "I'll make an exception in this case."

"Good. I'd hate to ever lose you," Clara said.

The Moment watched the two of them together with a smile as she envied Clara so much now for having two such good friends. She remembered that Rose used to have two best friends as well. They were called Shareen and . . .

The front door of Clara's house opened just then, and the Moment forgot herself for a brief instant as she rushed towards the entrance. She immediately wrapped her arms around the man who was now standing there with a shocked look on his face.

"Mickey!" the Moment shouted with joy as she hugged him tightly.

The Doctor couldn't help but laugh at her because she looked and sounded exactly like Rose in that moment. Even Mickey seemed to think so as he looked at her with a huge smile on his face.

"Rose! How did you get back? I thought that you were trapped back on Pete's World forever now. That's what Jack told me anyway," Mickey said as he eagerly returned the Moment's embrace.

Clara could now see Martha, Tish, and Merry joining Mickey. The Jones sisters had been taking Merry out for a day of shopping for some new clothes for her and a bit of bonding with their new goddaughter.

Clara could see from the surprised look on Martha's face that finding the Moment here was the last thing that she had ever expected.

The Moment had her eyes closed and a large smile on her face as she hugged her, no Rose's, best friend. As she remembered that Mickey was Rose's friend and not hers, she quickly pulled away from him with an apologetic look on her face.

"I'm sorry. I'm not Rose. I forgot who I really am for a brief instant. I hope that I didn't upset you," the Moment said to Mickey.

Mickey now looked at her in absolute puzzlement as he asked the Doctor, "What's wrong with her?"

"I know it's hard to believe, but she's really not Rose. She's an energy being with Rose's personality and memories. She calls herself the Moment," the Doctor explained.

"So you're like a copy of her?" Mickey asked the Moment in disappointment.

"Yes, just a copy. That's all I'll ever be," the Moment said sadly.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to upset you," Mickey said.

He couldn't help but apologize to her because she looked and acted so much like Rose. He still had to keep reminding himself that she wasn't her because part of him still didn't want to believe that.

"You didn't. Don't worry about it. You've actually made me very happy just by being here," the Moment said as she gave him one of Rose's face wide grins.

"What kind of name is the Moment? Don't you want a real proper girl's name?" Merry asked suddenly.

"Merry! You're being rude," Clara said admonishing her.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to be. I'd just hate to be called something silly like that," Merry said.

"What's wrong with it? It's just as good a name as the Doctor," the Doctor said pouting.

"You're right. It does sound like a Time Lord name. Maybe I should pick another one," the Moment mused as she lightly rubbed the top of Merry's head.

"Oi! What's wrong with Time Lord names?" the Doctor protested.

"The Doctor is not a proper name. How many times do I have to tell you that?" the Moment said with a mischievous grin.

"Are you sure that's not Rose?" Mickey asked Clara.

Clara grinned and shrugged as she said, "I'm sure she's not the original Rose, but the jury's still out on whether she's really Rose or not."

"So that's the legendary Rose that Mickey and the Doctor are always going on about, huh? She's alright I guess, but I don't know what all the fuss is about. She's a bit common, isn't she?" Tish said.

"You're jealous," Martha said grinning at her.

"I am not. I just don't see it is all," Tish said dismissively.

That was when Rose suddenly stiffened and began to glow with power. Tish backed away from her in fear as she said, "I apologize. I'm sorry."

"It's not you, Tish. I think she senses something nearby," Martha said.

"How do you know?" Tish asked.

"I can sense it too. I have an ominous feeling going doing my spine like someone just walked on my grave. The last time I felt it was when . . ." Martha said.

Then she was stopped in mid-sentence as the Moment suddenly yanked her and Tish out of the doorway just seconds before a Dalek appeared there in their place. Clara immediately grabbed Merry's hand and raced for the TARDIS with her as the Dalek raced after her.

"IT IS THE TIME LADY ALURA. SHE MUST BE CAPTURED ALIVE SO THAT WE CAN USE HER POWER TO BECOME UNSTOPPABLE. ALL OTHERS ARE UNNECESSARY AND SHOULD BE EXTERMINATED," the Dalek shouted.

Suddenly several more Daleks appeared inside of Clara's home as they began rushing after her. They began to open fire on her now as she picked Merry up in her arms and raced towards the still open doors of the TARDIS with her. Before she could reach them however, a Dalek suddenly got in-between her and the TARDIS blocking her escape.

"No!" Clara said as she looked at Merry in alarm.

"HALT! DO NOT MOVE! DO NOT MOVE!" the Dalek in front of her ordered.

The Doctor watched in horror as Clara and Merry were quickly surrounded by Daleks on all sides. He was already cut off from her by a massive wave of them who seemed to have poured into the house out of nowhere and was being driven further and further back by the moment. There were simply too many of them. With a sinking feeling in his hearts, he knew that he would never reach her in time.

The Master meanwhile was in a deadly clash with the Daleks nearest to him as they had suddenly decided that he was too dangerous to remain alive. Several of them had surrounded him in a deadly ring of death and were continuously opening fire on him as he tried his best to get away from them.

He would be no help to Clara either it seemed.

"Clara, are we going to die?" Merry said in a frightened voice as the Daleks continued to come closer and closer to them while they shouted at them to surrender.

"Not if I can help it," Clara said.

Without consciously wanting to, she immediately saw ahead a full minute into the future and knew exactly what each Dalek around them would do. She could foresee that they were about to stun her with their gunsticks and then take her unconscious body away while Merry screamed in fear. She wasn't about to let that happen.

Without warning, Clara suddenly pulled out her own copy of the sonic screwdriver and used it to fling all of the Daleks surrounding her backwards all at once. Even as she grinned in triumph, she foresaw another group of Daleks coming at her in the next few seconds and still shooting her down as soon as she tried to enter the still beckoning TARDIS that was now just inches away from her.

Knowing exactly where each of her future assailants would be at that moment, Clara used her sonic to cause all of them to fly into each other even as they rushed towards her. They all fell to the ground with sudden screams of surprise and fear as Clara now raced towards the TARDIS with absolute confidence. She knew that none of the Daleks would be able to reach her in time now.

She had already foreseen it.

As soon as Clara was inside, she snapped her fingers and shut the doors. Then she set Merry down while quickly checking her over for injuries. Satisfied that Merry was fine, Clara then set the TARDIS in motion as she dematerialized it.

"Where are we going?" Merry asked in an excited voice.

Clara smiled at how quickly her daughter was beginning to enjoy this and take to it, and then smiled again as she realized that this was the first time that she had thought of her as her daughter. She immediately turned on the monitor and began to set coordinates as her hands flew across the console while she watched the Daleks and the others moving around outside.

"In about three minutes, the Doctor, the Master, the Moment, and the others are all going to be corralled into the middle of the room and surrounded by the Daleks. They're going to try to kill them all at once at that moment. I have to get there right before they do and materialize the TARDIS around them. It's going to take split second timing," Clara explained to Merry.

"Do you think you can do it?" Merry asked anxiously.

"It'll be easier than making a soufflé," Clara said with a confident grin.

Merry smirked at her as she said, "Forget I said that. I can do it, Merry. Don't worry."

"I'm not worried. Not as long as you're here," Merry said smiling at her with a serene look on her face.

Clara smiled at her and kissed her forehead in appreciation as she said, "Thank you, sweetheart."

While Clara waited for the perfect moment to materialize the TARDIS, Martha looked at the empty space where the TARDIS used to be in disbelief. She knew that Clara would never abandon them, but it still brought a lump to her throat to see her only means of rescue just disappear like that.

Now the only protection that Martha, Mickey, and Tish had was the Moment's force field, and it seemed to be shimmering and threatening to buckle more and more as each Dalek blast hit it. Martha couldn't help but wonder just how much longer that it was going to last.

"Don't worry. She has a plan," the Moment told her as she saw the worried look on her face.

"I know. I just wish she'd hurry up with it. I don't suppose you have a plan do you?" Martha said with a hopeful smile on her face.

"Waiting on Clara is my plan. Don't worry. This is all going to work out. I hope," the Moment said.

"That makes me feel so much better," Tish said with a groan.

Then something happened that Clara hadn't foreseen because she was only getting a brief glimpse of the future due to still having a subconscious fear of using her full power. A Dalek finally broke through a crack in the Moment's force field and flew straight towards a screaming Martha. It seemed as if Martha was going to be shot down mercilessly in the very next second.

That was when something incredible happened.

Tish ripped a Dalek gunstick out of the casing of a dead Dalek nearby and began firing it right at the eyestalk of the dive bombing Dalek. The Dalek died instantly right before it would have reached Martha as the blast from the gunstick in Tish's hand went straight through the eyestalk and hit the Dalek inside through its attachment to it.

The Moment immediately rebuilt her force field and then waited for what she knew was about to come. She could already feel that Tish was no longer the same even if the others didn't realize this yet.

"How did you do that?" Martha asked Tish in disbelief.

"Yeah. Have you been taking shooting lessons and not telling us?" Mickey asked.

Tish dropped the gunstick in horror as she said, "I - I don't know. I didn't even know how to use one of those things a minute ago."

"Well, you must be a fast learner under pressure then," Mickey said.

"Y-Yeah, I guess that's it," Tish said suddenly shaking all over in fear.

Then she went stiff and her eyes bulged out in terror as she suddenly gasped in surprise.

"Tish, are you alright?" Martha asked with concern.

"Martha, I hear someone talking to me in my head. Am I going mad?" Tish said in a frightened voice.

"No, that's not when you're mad. You'll know that you're mad when you start actually talking back to them. Sometimes it's not so bad even if you do though. I often have to talk to myself because I'm the only intelligent conversation available in the room," the Doctor said as he and the Master finally joined the others.

"I'm adding self-deluded to the long list of things that I hate about you, Doctor," the Master muttered in annoyance.

"You should talk! With a name like the Master, you have no right calling anyone self-deluded," the Doctor said grinning evilly.

"Clara loves him. Clara loves him," the Master kept repeating to himself in a low voice as he tried very, very hard not to attack him with his laser screwdriver.

"This isn't funny, okay? I'm hearing someone talking to me in my head and telling me to open a watch," Tish said in a panicked voice.

The Doctor and the Master both became alarmed immediately while Martha started to shake in fear. She immediately started searching through every pocket in Tish's clothes as Tish watched her in disbelief.

"This can't be happening. It's not true. I know it's not. I'm not one of you! I know I'm not!" Tish shouted in absolute terror.

That was when Clara finally materialized around them all. She yelled in triumph and then immediately dematerialized in the very next moment. She then collapsed on the floor and gave an immense sigh of relief.

"I did it," Clara said grinning madly.

"Yes, you did. I knew you could do it. My Impossible Girl always comes through for me in the end. Always," the Doctor said as he picked her up off the ground and gave her a tight hug.

"Go ahead. Tell me how cool I am, Chin Boy," Clara said proudly as she wrapped her arms around him and kissed his cheek.

"You're the coolest person I've ever met, Clara Oswald. And the most beautiful," the Doctor said making Clara catch her breath in surprise.

Then before either of them realized it they began to kiss. They kissed for an entire minute before they finally pulled apart and stared at each other in disbelief.

What was that?

That was the question that quickly passed through both of their minds at once, but they were both too afraid to say it out loud. They both began to act like it had never happened even as everyone else in the room except the Master stared at them with a smile on their face especially the Moment.

Then they were all distracted as Tish pulled a fob watch out of her pocket and held it out in front of her in horror. Martha began to immediately break down in tears at the sight of it.

"Tish, don't open it. Please! I don't want to lose you," Martha said in a terrified voice as images of Professor Yana and the Master flashed through her mind.

"Martha, I'm afraid," Tish said as she recoiled from the watch in horror and held it as far away from her as she possibly could.

"Tish, give it to me," Clara said as she held out her hand for it.

Tish practically threw the watch at Clara and then burst into tears in Martha's arms. The two sisters held each other tightly as they both shook in absolute terror.

"There's no need to get so upset, you two. You might be one of the good ones like Clara," the Doctor said as he tried to console them.

"And she might be like the Master. I can't take that chance. I'll lose her forever then. I won't let that happen. I won't. I'm sorry because I know that she's one of your people, but I can't let that happen. She's my sister and I love her. She might not be my sister anymore at all if she opens that," Martha said between sobs.

"I won't open it, Martha. I won't. I promise. I'll never open it. Clara can keep it forever as far as I'm concerned," Tish said as she sobbed away herself.

"She would still love you even if she did open the watch, Martha," Clara said.

"How do you know that? Did you see the future?" Martha asked.

"No, it's because I know who she really is. I can sense her mind inside of the watch," Clara said as she held it in the palm of her hand.

"Who is she?" Martha asked not being able to help herself.

"Don't say it. I don't want to know. I'm still not sure it's even real. I think it's someone playing some kind of sick trick on me. That's it, isn't it? It has to be," Tish said in a state of denial.

Clara put the watch in her pocket and said, "I'm going to hold onto it and keep it safe, okay? You can have it back when you're ready for it, Tish. Alright?"

"You can keep it. I don't want it," Tish said with absolute certainty.

"I don't think that you'll forget your sister or who you are now. I didn't," Clara said.

Tish continued to shake her head no as Martha held onto her tightly afraid to let her go. Mickey meanwhile just continued to watch the whole thing in shock.

"I can't believe that she's a Time Lord," Mickey said to the Moment.

"Why do you think I brought the two of them together for? Or did any of you really think that it was a coincidence that two of the Doctor's companions already knew each other before either of them ever met him?" the Moment said as Clara, Tish, and Martha all looked at her in shock.

"You knew?" Tish asked in anger.

"I know exactly who you are, but I'm not going to tell you. I'll let you discover that for yourself in your own time," the Moment said.

"Who is she?" the Doctor asked.

Clara whispered it in his and the Masters' ears, and both of them looked at her with surprise. The Doctor started to smile as he said, "I guess that explains a few things then."

"Explains what? What are you babbling about now?" Tish said in an extremely upset voice.

"It's alright, Tish. It's going to be okay," Clara said in a reassuring voice as she wrapped her arms around her.

Even as Clara consoled Tish, a large strange looking man in a trenchcoat walked through the ruins of Clara's home and silently cursed to himself in an alien language. He had just missed her.

The man pulled out a communications device and said, "This is Commander Stor. I'm sorry to say that those accursed upstarts at warfare, the Daleks, arrived here just before I did. The Lady Alura has already left the house before I had a chance to capture her thank to their meddling. I am now awaiting new orders."

"Stor, remain where you are. We must now execute our contingency plan. Our intelligence states that the Lady Alura has a strong attachment to her human family so we know that she will return to them sooner or later to check on their safety especially after this latest Dalek attack. That is when you will be waiting for her. You are to capture her father alive and keep him unharmed until she returns. You will trade his safety for her agreement to lead our forces to a final decisive victory against the Rutan Host. With the Oracle of Gallifrey at our command, we cannot lose. Soon we will achieve a final victory at last! Sontar-Ha! Sontar-Ha! Sontar-Ha!" General Styx shouted back to him over the communicator.

"Sontar-Ha!" Commander Stor said back to him as he switched the device off.

Then he proceeded on foot to the house of Dave Oswald, Clara's human father. Soon they would have her completely at their mercy, and once they did no one would be able to stop them. With Alura at the head of their armies, the Sontarans would be invincible!

Next: Clara returns to Earth to find herself caught right in the middle of the Sontarans' horrible trap against her. Will she be able to free herself and her father or will she become the Sontarans' slave? Don't think that the Daleks are gone from the picture either. They'll be back as well. Meanwhile as everyone fights to capture Clara for their own purposes, Clara receives the shock of her life as she comes across the very last person that she ever expected to see again. It may not be the happy occasion that she's expecting though. Plus more clues about who Tish really is.