Journey into the Heart of Death
Colonel Mace stood to the side as the Doctor controlled the TARDIS; he hadn't said a word since they'd left the Defiant. The silence seemed deafening.
"So Doctor, you were President of the Time Lords?" Mace asked trying to strike up a conversation.
"Yes, twice," the Doctor wasn't in the mood for that type of conversation, ever since he'd seen the painting of the Last Day he'd been lost in memories, seeing Rassilon kill Narvin with the Guantlet, shooting K-9 and Arla. The battles themselves, it was all the Doctor could do to keep going.
Suddenly shaking the Doctor and Mace were nearly thrown from their feet, taking hold of the console the Doctor tried to make sense of the readings as the TARDIS initiated an emergency landing.
"Doctor, what was that?" Mace asked straightening his uniform.
"Extreme time distortion," the Doctor said as he powered down the engines. "We were nearly knocked off course."
Taking a deep breath the Doctor headed towards the door only to be stopped by Colonel Mace.
"Doctor no, I'll go first," Mace took out his pistol, the Doctor grimly nodded as he pulled open the door, together the two left to find themselves in a gutted metal hallway, some sort of organic fibres made their way through the ceiling and the floor.
"I've been here before…" the Doctor mused as he set off. "Colonel, this is an order, if there is any trouble you are to return to the TARDIS immediately."
"But sir-"
"No arguments," and the Doctor's tone brokered none either.
From the shadows they were observed.
"Another one of him has arrived,"
"It does not matter, begin the invasion of Earth…"
"Doctor, do you feel as if we're being watched?" Mace asked, his pistol raised to be ready at the slightest sign of trouble.
"Yeah," the Doctor pulled out his sonic and begun to scan the area, before finding a gaping hole in the wall.
Lowering the screwdriver he headed in followed by the Colonel, the Doctor took in the massive sphere before going to the console. He pressed a few controls before he grinned.
"I've disarmed the blackstar, good thing to; it could have shattered this entire solar system," the Doctor turned to Mace so he could see that the smile hadn't quite reached his eyes. "Now to set the self-destruct."
"Doctor!" Mace shouted as he raised his pistol.
"What is it?" the Doctor scanned the wall with his eyes; as such he didn't see the gathering shadow behind him.
Mace keep the gun trained as the shadow whipped forward and touched his arm, burning pain swept through as he fell to the floor, the Doctor rushed forward to help but was stuck by a second one, he was raised off the ground and into the air. Just as vision faded Mace could have sworn he saw someone in a blood red cloak, as his eyes closed Mace head a gunshot and the pain receded.
The Warking walked the corridors, he knew where he was, it was obviously a Time Lord warship. Ducking into the side the Warking saw the TARDIS materialise, it seemed different the windows were lighter and the box was larger, he immediately screened his mental presence so he'd be harder to sense.
Two individuals came out, the first an upright military man, the Warking smiled, at least I regenerate into someone who has a duty and will follow it. However that smile faded when a second individual came out, he wore a tweed frock coat and a bowtie, his hair was flapping over his forehead and he couldn't seem to keep his hands still, but what most alarmed the Warking was that he recognised the aura. No, he thought, desperate not to turn into such an incarnation, his opinion of his future self improved when he saw his future self-give the Colonel a direct order.
As he trailed them the Warking felt more and more disgusted by his future self, based on his observations in order to cope with the guilt this version of him had mentally recessed to the mentality of a child, I mean, I wasn't even that immature at the Academy, the Warking thought derisively.
The Warking watched as his future self and the Colonel walked around, briefly distracted by the ring on his figure, it was an ancient relic from the Old Times. They were used by the first chrononauts to help fly the early TARDIS', this specific ring was one of two, the other belonged to the house of Blyledge and had belonged to Patience. As he looked up once more he was relieved to see his future self had finally located the door to the weapons platform.
Skirting the edge of the room the Warking noticed the two shadows form, he knew exactly what they were, something that should have passed on long ago.
As his future persona deactivated the blackstar the Warking removed his vortex gun and primed it, he could tell that his future self was unaware of the shadows by the fact that he was focusing on the console.
"Doctor!" the Warking turned as one of the shadows reached out to grab the UNIT officers arm, the Warking felt sympathy as paradoxes and impossibilities spread causing the worst pain imaginable. The Warking raised the firearm ready to fire till he heard another moan, then he saw that another shadow had taken hold of the Doctor, the energies and Paradoxes did far worse to Time Lords, even the slightest echoes of the powers of the Paradox.
Making a split decision not entirely based on the facts the Warking shot the shadow assaulting the UNIT colonel, watching in satisfaction the shadow dissolved as the corrupted loa fell into the vortex to be destroyed. The Warking turned and stepped into the light; he removed his shroud and looked up at his future.
"Hello Warking, fancy meeting you here," the Warking smiled as he raised the gun and took out the shadow.
His future Persona fell to the floor, the Warking stood over him.
The Doctor felt agony as the shadow lifted him up, his lungs, his heart and his brain burnt in agony as the impossibilities ate away at him, he could feel every moment of injury magnified as if it was all happening now. Ten years spent in the TARDIS fleeing Metebelis III with radiation poisoning, falling from the Pharos, watching as Patience died the first time, losing Adric, the Spectrox, torture at the hands of Fenric, the sandbags dropping on his chest and crushing his ribs…
Luckily the Doctor was able to refocus on the outside world when he heard a shot, he looked up to see and feel the aura of his past self, the one who fought in the Time War after Romana died, the blood red cloak, the clothes barely held together and an armoury of weapons. The Doctor felt euphoria as the Warking discharged the vortex gun destroying the shadow.
He fell to the ground and started to catch his breath.
"Hello Warking, fancy meeting you here,"
The Doctor looked up in rage.
"Warking! I'm not you I'm the Doctor!" the Doctor felt disappointed that his past didn't flinch, in fact he focused on the Doctor's eyes and spun around.
The Warking has just seen the reflection before he spun round, the person stood over the Colonel, he or she wore worn grey robes and hood and on their face was a mask of bone looking like a cross between a human and a bats. He or she raised a knife over the Colonel's throat, bloodstains covered the knife and pieces of gristle and skin flaked off.
Little more than a blur the Warking crossed the room and grabbed the knife, he crushed the cultist's wrist and crushed as he spun the hand back causing the cultist to scream in pain, a few dry brittle locks of hair spilled from the hood.
"Doctor, get the Colonel back to the TARDIS!" the Warking ordered as he stood between the Colonel and the cultist, he could tell it was a she now.
The Warking stretched out his senses to try to gain an impression but found nothing; surprised the Warking pushed further, but still found nothing.
"Who are you?" the Warking asked.
"What do you mean 'who are you', is it not clear to you bloodthirsty mind, their Faction,"
"No she's not, I can't sense anything, she may look like one but she's not, there's no Paradoxes," the Warking smiled. "So who are you and why are you trying to steal a Time Lord warship? Where are we anyway?"
"On course for Earth," the Doctor said quietly.
The Warking looked at the Doctor before looking back at the cultist; the gun still trained on her.
"Well, what do you want with the Earth," the Warking began to circle his opponent. "I mean you're clearly not Faction, I can't sense any instabilities, so who are you?"
"Time Lords, this planet is ours…" with that the cultist form shifted to turn into a Zygon. "The Earth is ours…"