Disclaimer: I don't own Doctor Who that goes to the BBC
Inside the submarine's manoeuvring room, Stepashin was alone making repairs with a flashlight in his left hand when he suddenly heard a familiar growling sound and aimed his flashlight towards the source of the growl. He pulled out his pistol with his right hand and slowly walked forward with his flashlight.
"Hello. Who's there?" Stepashin called out to the growling sound, "Who's there?" He then heard the growling again as he looked between the banks of machinery, "Who's there?!" Stepashin heard a sound and turned around as behind him, two clawed hands reached for him, one on his left shoulder and one on his head, causing Stepashin to shudder as he realised that the creature that was keeping him still was Skaldak, "What do you want with me?"
"Much," Skaldak answered.
"Comrades, you know our situation. The reactor is drowned. We are totally reliant on battery power and our air is running out. Rescue is unlikely. But we still have a mission to fulfil," Zhukov told his crewmen as they stood in the submarine's control room with Clara, Rose, Sydney, the Doctor and Grisenko as he had his arms crossed, "If the Doctor is right, then we are all that stands between this creature and the destruction of the world. Control of one missile is all he needs. We are expendable, comrades. Our world is not. I know I can rely on every one of you to do his duty without fail. That is all."
"Listen to me," Stepashin panted as Skaldak now had his left hand on his face and his right hand over his head, "We both understand each other. This... This mewling time of peace, it doesn't suit us. We are both warriors. And together, we can form an alliance."
"An alliance?" Skaldak said with disbelief in his voice.
"Yes," Stepashin confirmed, "To win the cold War."
"Cold War?" Skaldak asked him with confusion in his voice.
"Both sides are capable of completely obliterating the other," Stepashin explained with a grunt, "It's a state we call mutually assured destruction."
"Mutually assured destruction," Skaldak muttered to himself, "But this has not occurred."
"No," Stepashin confirmed.
"Not yet," Skaldak told him.
Back in the submarine's control room, the Doctor was sitting at one of the banks of controls with Rose standing next to him with her glasses over her eyes again as she stared at the computer screen as Clara sat next to him, facing the room with Sydney standing next to her.
"Even if a missile did get launched, that wouldn't be it, would it?" Clara asked the three Gallifreyans.
"'It'?" The Doctor repeated with confusion in her voice.
"She's asking if it would end the world, love," Rose explained.
"Indeed, Mum's right," Sydney said, agreeing with his mother, "From the stories you've both told me, Clara seems to be asking the same thing Mum did when you both were in Cardiff, 1869 with Charles Dickens back when she was chameleon-arched."
"They're right, end of the world, game over," Clara stated, agreeing with them, "I mean, what if they fired one by accident? What would happen then?"
"Well, we told you, Clara, Earth is like a storm waiting to break, right now," the Doctor reminded her, "Both sides baring their teeth, talking up war. It would only take one tiny spark."
"And there were few instances of it nearly happening," Rose added, "But those were just faults in the systems."
"But the world didn't end in 1983, did it?" Clara reminded them, "Or I wouldn't be here."
"You. History is in flux. It can be changed," the Doctor explained, "Rewritten."
"Do you mind if I take a phrase from your last self?" Rose asked the Doctor as she looked at him, "Feels fitting, given our history."
The Doctor's expression softened, a silent agreement passing between them.
"Go on then," the Time Lord replied, his voice tinged with affection and a hint of curiosity.
With a nod, Rose turned back towards Clara, her demeanour shifting to one of a seasoned time traveller.
"Time isn't a straight line, Clara," the Time Lady explained, "It's more like… a big ball of wibbly-wobbly, timey-wimey… stuff." As she spoke, she made familiar gestures that the Doctor's last incarnation did when they were trapped in 1969 with Martha, "Every moment we live has the potential to change the future. And sometimes, those changes are so significant, they can change history itself."
"So, what we do now could change the past?" Clara asked her.
"Indeed," Rose confirmed before she leaned in and her voice taking on a solemn tone, "However, not all moments are up for grabs. Some are what we call 'fixed points,' events that must always happen. They're the pillars that hold up the fabric of the universe. Change them, and everything unravels."
"Can you give me an example?" Clara asked her as she widened her eyes with the gravity of the concept.
"Plenty," Rose replied, "Take the eruption of Mount Vesuvius, or even the sinking of the Titanic. Or even further back, the meteor strike that led to the extinction of the dinosaurs. These events shaped humanity and the Earth in profound ways. They're fixed points, non-negotiable."
"The Christmas Armistice during World War I is another," the Doctor stated, "A moment of peace in the midst of chaos. It had to happen."
"And the Moon landing in 1969," Sydney added, "A defining moment of human achievement and exploration."
"These events are the cornerstones of history," Rose finished, "They remind us that while we have the power to shape our destiny, some things are meant to be, providing a structure to our existence and a narrative to your species, Clara."
"Enough talk of time and its fixed points," the Doctor said as he stood up and walked over to Zhukov, who held an AK-47 in his left hand, "How many of us are left?"
"Twelve," Zhukov answered, "And we can't find Stepashin."
"We split up and comb the sub," the Doctor stated, "One team stays here to guard the bridge."
"That's it?" Zhukov asked him with disbelief in his voice, "That's the plan?"
"Well, it's either that or we stay here and wait for him to kill us," the Doctor explained.
"The Doctor's right," Rose said, agreeing with her husband as she walked towards them, "We need to be proactive. But let's just hope that Stepashin is all right and hasn't been found by Skaldak. But he won't hesitate, and neither should we."
"Okay," Zhukov muttered as he walked away from them.
"Is it true you've both never seen one outside of its shell suit?" Clara asked the Doctor and Rose.
"'Shell suit'?" The Doctor repeated with disbelief in his voice, causing Clara to shrug her shoulders.
"That's one way to put it," Rose chuckled, "Ice Warrior armour is a bit more… formidable than your average shell suit."
"Mum's right," Sydney said, agreeing with them, "Calling it a 'shell suit' is like calling a tank a tin can. It's an understatement."
"Clara! For an Ice Warrior to leave its armour is the gravest dishonour," the Doctor explained, "Skaldak is desperate. He is deadly. And we have got to find him."
"Will these help?" Grisenko asked them as he held up the Doctor and Rose's sonic screwdriver with both of his hands.
"Ah! You saved it!" The Doctor said as he ran towards him and took his screwdriver from him with both of his hands.
"Brilliant, Professor!" Rose exclaimed, her eyes lighting up as she ran towards him and took her screwdriver from him with both of her hands as well, "Never underestimate a good sonic."
"No, no. It was on the floor with this," Grisenko corrected the Doctor as he held up the doll that the soldiers took out from the Doctor's pockets earlier with his right hand.
"Oh!" The Doctor said, happily as he took the doll from him with both of his hands and kissed it, weirding Clara, Rose and Sydney out, "Oh! Professor, I could kiss you!"
"If you insist," Grisenko muttered.
"Later," the Doctor told him as he turned around and walked away from him as he happily activated his screwdriver, "Ah!" He then stopped using his screwdriver as he flicked it open.
A while later, Onegin and a Soviet officer with light skin, dark brown hair and blue eyes named Belevich were paired together in the search as they walked down one of the submarine's corridors with Onegin having a torch in his right hand and a pistol in his left hand, while Belevich held an AK-47 in his hands with a flashlight attachment connected to it.
"Do you think it's true, sir?" Onegin asked Belevich, "A Martian?"
"I don't know what to think," Belevich answered as he shook his head.
Onegin and Belevich then continued on down through the corridor.
In a different section of corridor, Clara was with the Doctor, Rose, Sydney and Grisenko as she left the hatch to the corridor behind her as the Doctor had his sonic screwdriver out and in both of his hands as he scanned the area with it.
"So, why have you got a cattle prod on a submarine?" Clara asked Grisenko.
"Polar bears," Grisenko answered.
"Ah, right," Clara muttered to herself.
"We run across them when we're drilling," Grisenko explained as the Doctor walked ahead of them, "Can be quite nasty, you know?"
"We've faced down all sorts of dangers in our travels," Rose told him, "But I must admit, I've never had to fend off a polar bear."
"Well, Mum, there's always room for new experiences, right?" Sydney asked his mother with a grin on his face, "Who knows, maybe polar bear wrangling will be our next big adventure."
"You know, I'd like to see that, Sid," Rose admitted as she laughed and shook her head in amusement at her son's remark, "Polar bear wrangling. Now that would be a first."
"I'd swap one for an Ice Warrior any day," Clara muttered, "Cuddlier."
"Courage, my dear," Grisenko told her when the Doctor suddenly flicked a switch in front of him with his right hand's index finger, causing an alarm to begin blaring as he tried to shut it off with his screwdriver, "I always sing a song."
"What?" Clara said with shock in her voice.
"Singing?" Rose muttered with shock in her voice.
"Well, that's a new one," Sydney stated, "Can't say we've ever tried singing our way out of a tricky situation before."
"To keep my spirits up," Grisenko explained.
"Yeah, that would work, if this was Pinocchio," Clara muttered as they continued walking down the corridor.
"Well, Clara, I can't say I've ever heard of singing working outside of a Disney film," Rose chuckled, her voice filled with amusement.
"Yeah, if only all our problems could be solved with a song," Sydney said, agreeing with his mother as the Doctor was still trying to stop the alarm as he pulled on it towards him with both of his hands, "It would certainly make things more interesting."
"Do either of you know 'Hungry like the Wolf'?" Grisenko asked them.
"What?" Clara said as she, Rose and Sydney stopped and looked back at him.
"What do you mean by that?" Rose asked Grisenko, agreeing with Clara.
"Indeed, what do you mean by 'Hungry like the Wolf,' Professor?" Sydney said, agreeing with them.
"Duran Duran, one of my favourites," Grisenko explained, "Come on!"
"I'm not singing a song," Clara told him.
"I have to agree with Clara on this one," Rose muttered as she laughed softly and shook her head, "Singing isn't really my strong suit. I'm more of a listener when it comes to music."
"I have to admit, I don't know the lyrics," Sydney admitted as he shrugged his shoulders with a sheepish grin on his face, "Spent most of my time travelling with my parents, not exactly keeping up with pop music."
The Doctor suddenly opened a hatch in the wall with a rush of air with his right hand. He stuck his head into the hatch and reactivated his screwdriver. There was an eerie groaning that all of them noticed as the Doctor pulled his head back out of the hatch.
"What was that?" Clara asked them.
"Pressure. Just pressure," the Doctor answered, "We're 700 metres down, remember?"
"No, it sounded more than just pressure, love," Rose told him.
"Mum's right, Dad," Sydney said, agreeing with his mother, "It sounded more like…"
"Don't worry about it. Think of something else," Grisenko urged Clara, "Da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da. I am hungry like the wolf."
"I'm not singing," Clara reminded him.
"Don't you know it?" Grisenko asked her.
"'Course I know it," Clara answered, "We do it at karaoke, the odd hen night."
"'Karaoke?' 'Hen night?'" Grisenko repeated with confusion in his voice, "You speak excellent Russian, my dear, but sometimes I don't understand a word you're talking about."
Clara then smiled and continued on with Rose and Sydney following her.
In another section of the submarine, Onegin and Belevich continued their search through the submarine for Skaldak as they left a hatch into one of the submarine's rooms with Belevich exiting the hatch behind Onegin.
"If we get out of here, we'll be bloody heroes," Onegin told Belevich.
"If we get out of here," Belevich muttered to himself as he took a few steps ahead of Onegin.
"The first people in the world to discover a genuine, living…" Onegin went on when Skaldak's hands suddenly reached down from the ceiling and gripped Onegin by the head as he pulled him up.
"Alien? I don't know," Belevich muttered, "You hear stories, don't you? Stories about the things the Kremlin don't want us to…" He then turned around and saw that he was now alone and that his fellow crewmate had suddenly vanished, "Onegin? Onegin!"
Back with the Doctor, Rose, Clara, Sydney and Grisenko, they heard snarls, growls and screams. The Doctor ran towards the sounds and entered a corridor with the others following him.
As they reached the section of the submarine where Onegin and Belevich were, the Doctor was the first to enter the room and find their bodies and knelt beside one of them. The Time Lord had a horrified look on his face as he saw that the two Soviet soldiers had been dissected. Rose, Sydney, Clara and Grisenko weren't too far behind him and stopped as soon as they entered the room as Clara looked shocked as she looked at the two Soviet soldiers.
"Good God!" Grisenko muttered as he entered the room with a horrified expression on his face as he looked at the two soldiers, "Torn apart. He's a monster, a savage."
"You can call it savage if you like, Professor, but think about what Skaldak is dealing with," Rose told him, "This isn't mindless brutality."
"No, she's right, Professor, not savage. Forensic," the Doctor said, agreeing with his wife, "Well, he's dismantled them. Skaldak's learning. Learning all about you. Your strengths. Your weaknesses." He then pulled out his sonic screwdriver from his jacket with his right hand before he activated it and scanned one of the bodies with it before he stood back up, "Come on!" He then dashed from the room.
"Right behind you, Dad," Sydney replied as he and Rose followed him.
Grisenko then followed them out of the room as Clara couldn't seem to look away. Grisenko noticed this and took her arm with both of his own and pulled her away and out of the room. The Doctor hurried down another corridor with his sonic held out in front of him before he suddenly stopped.
"Stay here," the Doctor ordered Clara.
"OK," Clara replied.
"Stay here, Don't argue," the Doctor ordered Clara again as he began to climb up a ladder next to him, "Rose with me."
"I'm not!" Clara assured him.
"Right!" The Doctor said as he paused for a second, "Good."
"Sydney, stay with Clara and the Professor," Rose ordered her son as she looked at him as the Doctor continued up the ladder, "You need to keep them safe. You've got this."
"Got it, Mum," Sydney replied with a soft smile on his face as Rose smiled back at him before she followed the Doctor up the ladder.
"It's a young man's game, all this dashing about," Grisenko grunted as he sat on the lip of the door behind them before he saw that the nanny was pacing around, "Clara, what is it?"
"Yeah, you look a little tense," Sydney said, agreeing with him.
"I was doing okay," Clara told them, "I mean, I went in there and did the scary stuff, didn't I? I went in there with the Ice Warrior and it went okay. Actually, it went just about as badly as it could have done but that wasn't my fault."
"Not at all," Grisenko said, agreeing with her.
"Definitely," Sydney muttered with a small smile on his face, "From what I've heard from my parents, all the terrible stuff they've encountered during their travels wasn't their faults. So you don't have to blame yourself for all that is happening. It just sort of happened."
"I guess you're right, Sydney," Clara said as she leaned against the ladder and took a deep breath, "It's just… all of this is so overwhelming. But knowing that it's not my fault, that it's just part of the adventure… it helps. So, I'm happy about that."
"Yes," Grisenko told her with a smile on his face.
"Sure," Clara muttered to herself.
"And so you should be," Grisenko added, "So what's the matter?"
"Absolutely," Sydney said, agreeing with him, "What's really bothering you, Clara?"
"Seeing those bodies back there, it's all got very real," Clara answered before she looked at Grisenko, "Are we going to make it?"
"Yes, of course," Grisenko answered.
"Is that even a question?" Sydney retorted with a confident smile on his face, "With my parents, we're bound to survive."
Just as the young Gallifreyan finished speaking, the ship's metal clanked again, causing them to look up.
In another corridor, Zhukov was with two other crewmen with their rifles at the ready and aimed up at the ceiling before they heard a hissing sound as Zhukov saw something pass by a grate in front of him.
"It's in the walls," Zhukov told his crewmen as he walked past the grate.
As the Doctor and Rose neared the manoeuvering room, the Time Lord opened the door to the room before they ran down the room and skidded to a stop when they saw the body of Stepashin. Rose had an expression of sadness on her face as she saw him lying dead on the floor as he knelt down and picked up a wallet lying on the floor. Inside was a photo of a woman with blondish hair and his ID card, it was smeared with blood.
"Oh, Stepashin," the Doctor muttered to himself.
"Despite everything he claimed we were, I didn't want to see him killed by Skaldak," Rose said, softly, her voice filled with sorrow, "No one deserves that, no matter what."
"You're right, Rose. No one deserves that," the Doctor muttered, agreeing with her before they heard metal rattling and retreating footsteps above them before they looked up as he pulled his sonic screwdriver back out and activated his sonic screwdriver as he scanned the ceiling with it.
"It's bad, isn't it?" Rose asked him, her voice tinged with worry.
"Oh, it's very bad," the Doctor confirmed, his expression servious but with a hint of his usual determination, "But we can handle it. We always do." He then ran along the ceiling, still looking up before he deactivated his sonic screwdriver, "Oh, oh! Oh! Fast. He's fast."
"We need to find Skaldak before he hurts anyone else," Rose stated, her voice firm with determination, "We can't let this get any worse."
"Agreed," the Doctor said, agreeing with her as he reactivated his sonic screwdriver and aimed it up at the ceiling again as they ran back down the room from the way they came from, "Let's move quickly."
"What was that?" Clara asked Sydney and Grisenko as she heard an eerie groaning sound from within the corridor they were inside of.
"I'm not sure," Sydney answered, his voice tinged with uncertainty, "But I hope it's nothing we have to worry about."
"The Doctor told you both, it's just the boat settling," Grisenko reminded them, "Tell me about yourselves. What do you two like doing? Clara? Sydney?" Clara heard some metallic rattling and looked around before Sydney suddenly heard the sound as well and looked around as well, "Clara? Sydney?"
"Stuff, you know, stuff," Clara answered in a distracted manner.
"Stuff. Very enlightening," Grisenko muttered to himself, "And what about you, Sydney?"
"In my free time, when I'm not on adventures, I do what my parents want me to do," Sydney answered with a small smile on his face, "That means studying."
"And the Doctor… What he said, is it true?" Grisenko asked them, "You're... from another time? From our future? Clara? Sydney?"
"Yes," Clara answered.
"Actually, I'm from nowhere and everywhere at the same time," Sydney added, his tone thoughtful, "It's a bit complicated."
"Tell me what happens," Grisenko urged them as he stood back up.
"I can't," Clara told him.
"Nor can I," Sydney said, agreeing with her.
"Well, I need to know," Grisenko told them.
"We're not allowed," Clara stated.
"There are rules of time travel," Sydney added, "And one of them is that we can't tell people about the future or its outcomes."
"No, please," Grisenko pleaded with them.
"We can't!" Clara and Sydney both protested at the same time.
"Ultravox, do they split up?" Grisenko asked them.
"Funny. You're funny," Clara laughed as she pointed at him with her right hand's index finger when they suddenly heard a hissing sound as Skaldak's hands reached down and gripped both sides of Clara's head, causing her to widen her eyes in shock.
"Clara!" Sydney yelled in fear.
"Let her go!" Grisenko ordered the Ice Warrior as he pulled out a revolver and held it with both of his hands before he fired it at Skaldak, causing him to let go of Clara and pull back into the ceiling as began breathing deeply as he grinned, "See? I don't just like Western music." He then twirled his gun with his right hand.
Suddenly, Skaldak reached down from the other side of the ceiling and grabbed Grisenko the same way he did with Clara.
"No, please, don't hurt him," Clara pleaded with Skaldak as the Doctor and Rose came up running behind her and Sydney, "Please! Please!"
"You attacked me," Skaldak told her with anger in his voice as the Doctor and Rose looked up at him, "Martian law decrees that the people of this planet are forfeit. I now have all the information I require. It will take only one missile to begin the process to end this Cold War."
"Grand Marshal, there is no need for this," the Doctor pleaded with the Ice Warrior, "Listen to me."
"He's right. There's no need for more violence," Rose said, agreeing with her husband, "We can find another way."
"My distress call has not been answered. It will never be answered," Skaldak argued, "My people are dead. They are dust. There is nothing left for me except my revenge." He then snarled at them when they suddenly heard a beeping sound, causing Clara and Sydney to look around them.
Inside the submarine's torpedo room, Skaldak's armour suddenly closed back up on its own.
"There is something left for you, Skaldak," the Doctor told the Ice Warrior, "Mercy."
"Mercy?" Skaldak repeated with disbelief in his voice.
"You must wear that armour for a reason, my friend," they suddenly heard Zhukov say as he and his two crewmen arrived as they aimed their rifles at Skaldak, "Let's see, shall we?"
"No, Captain, wait!" The Doctor protested as he turned around towards him before he grabbed the barrel of Zhukov's rifle and pushed it down.
"I will do whatever it takes to defend my world, Doctor," Zhukov told him.
"Yes, great. Fine, good," the Doctor muttered to himself as Clara and Sydney looked at Skaldak, "But we're getting somewhere here." He then began to hold his hands in a placating gesture, "We are… We are negotiating. Jaw-jaw, not war-war."
"Churchill?" Grisenko asked the Time Lord.
"Churchill," the Doctor confirmed as he pointed at him with his left hand's index finger.
"Absolutely, Churchill," Rose added with a nod, "He's an old friend of ours. Trust me, this is the way to go."
"Very well," Zhukov relented, "We'll negotiate but from a position of strength." He then aimed his rifle at Skaldak again.
"Excellent tactical thinking," Skaldak complimented Zhukov, "My congratulations, Captain."
"Thank you," Zhukov replied.
"Unfortunately, your position is not, perhaps, as strong as you might hope," Skaldak told him before he hissed, causing the Doctor and Rose to look around.
"What do you mean?" The Doctor asked him when Skaldak's armour suddenly arrived in the room behind Grisenko with the chains still trailing from the armour's ankles and wrapped around the torso before the Ice Warrior growled as he streaked over to the suit with it closing shut around him, "He summoned the armour."
"How did it do that?" Clara asked them.
"Sonic tech, Clara," the Doctor explained, "The song of the Ice Warrior."
"Yes, Clara, it's a form of sonic technology," Rose said, agreeing with her husband, "The Ice Warriors have their own advanced tech that responds to their commands. It's quite sophisticated."
"And from what I've read about them, their sonic tech is often used for combat and defence, unlike how we typically use it," Sydney added.
Suddenly, one of the crewmen rushed forward and began firing his rifle at Skaldak as the Ice Warrior turned around and walked away.
"No!" The Doctor yelled as he grabbed the crewman with both of his hands as he stopped him from shooting the Ice Warrior any further.
"My world is dead!" Skaldak told them as he continued walking out of the corridor, "But now there will be a second red planet. Red with the blood of humanity."
"Skaldak! Skaldak, wait!" The Doctor called after the Ice Warrior as he ran after him with the others following him.
As Skaldak made his way through the submarine's corridors, two of the crewmen were firing their rifles at him as he approached them in a threatening manner.
As Skaldak entered the submarine's control room, wires extended from his armour's gloves and entered the openings in the control panels. As did so, the key ports turned around before the lights turned red. Two of the submarine's bays suddenly opened, exposing its nuclear missiles.
"No! Skaldak, wait!" The Doctor pleaded with the Ice Warrior as he and Rose ran into the control room with Zhukov following them, "Wait! Wait!"
"He's arming the warheads!" Zhukov announced as he aimed his rifle at Skaldak.
"It doesn't have to be this way, Skaldak!" Rose stated, urgently, her voice firm yet compassionate, "There's always another way. We can find a solution without violence."
"And where is the honour in condemning billions of innocents to death?" The Doctor asked the Ice Warrior, "Five thousand years ago, Mars was the centre of a vast empire, the jewel of this solar system. The people of Earth had only just begun to leave their caves. Five thousand years isn't such a long time. They're still just frightened children. Still primitive. Who are you to judge them?"
"Think about it, Skaldak. Your people were once proud and noble," Rose pleaded with the Ice Warrior as the wires retracted from the control panels and back into Skaldak's gloves, "Is this really how you want to be remembered? As a destroyer, not a saviour?"
"I am Skaldak," the Ice Warrior stated as he turned around to face the Time Lord couple, "This planet is forfeit under Martian law."
"Then teach them! Teach them. Grand Marshal, show them another way," the Doctor pleaded with Skaldak, "Show them there is honour in mercy. Like Rose said, is this how you want history to remember you? Grand Marshal Skaldak, destroyer of Earth?" Clara and Sydney then caught up and entered the room, "Because that's what you'll be if you send those missiles. Not a soldier. A murderer." Skaldak then grunted and turned back around towards the control panels, "Five billion lives extinguished. No chance for goodbyes." Skaldak then hovered his right hand's index finger over the launch button, "A world! A world snuffed out like a candle flame! All right, all right, Skaldak, you leave us no choice. I'm a Time Lord, Skaldak."
"The Doctor's right, Skaldak. There's no honour in this," Rose said, agreeing with her husband, "Think about your legacy, your people. I can't believe it's come to this. And I'm a Time Lady."
"We both know a thing or two about sonic technology ourselves," the Doctor added as he held his sonic screwdriver out towards Skaldak.
"A threat?" Skaldak said as he turned around towards them again, "You both threaten me, Doctor and Rose?"
"No. No, not you. All of us," the Doctor corrected, "I will blow this sub up before you can even reach that button, Grand Marshal, blow us all to oblivion."
"You would sacrifice yourself?" Skaldak asked him.
"In a heartbeat," the Doctor confirmed as he held his sonic screwdriver upwards and extended it before he activated it as its emitter turned red.
"Mutually assured destruction," Skaldak stated before he turned around and put his left hand above the launch button.
"Look into my eye, Skaldak," the Doctor ordered the Ice Warrior, "Look into my eyes. Tell me you're capable of doing this. Huh? Can you do that? Dare you do that? Look into my eyes, Skaldak, come on! Face to face."
"Well, Doctor," Skaldak said as he turned around towards him before his helmet lifted upwards and moved over his head to reveal his face, which slightly resembled a humanoid crocodile with red eyes, "Which of us shall blink first?"
As they looked at Skaldak, the Doctor and Rose were both stunned by their first view of an Ice Warrior without their armour.
"Why did you hesitate? Back there, in the dark?" Clara asked the Ice Warrior before she pointed at Grisenko, who was standing next to her and Sydney with her left hand, "You were going to kill this man, remember? Me and Sydney begged you not to and you listened. Why show compassion then, Skaldak, and not now?"
"Clara's right, Skaldak," Sydney said, agreeing with the nanny, "You showed mercy before. You can do it again."
"The Doctor and Rose are right," Clara added as the Ice Warrior hissed before she walked forward, "Billions will die. Mothers, sons, fathers, daughters. Remember that last battle, Skaldak? Your daughter. You sang the songs…"
"Of the red snows," Skaldak finished with reminiscence in his voice when suddenly, there was a crashing sound, causing the submarine to shake as everyone grabbed something in the room to take hold of.
"What's happening?!" Clara asked them as an electronic whirring sound and a beam came down to encapsulate the submarine.
Above the sea, a spaceship hovered in the sky above the submarine, which was the source of the beam.
"My people live," Skaldak said with shock in his voice, "They have come for me."
As the Ice Warrior said that, the beam began to raise the submarine from the sea floor.
"We're rising," Zhukov realised as he watched the submarine's depth gauge begin to rise, "We're rising!"
"600 metres," Grisenko reported, "550."
As the spaceship continued to raise the submarine, it suddenly broke through the ice.
"We've surfaced," the Doctor announced, "Your people have saved us."
"Saved me, not you," Skaldak corrected the Time Lord.
"Just go, Skaldak, please," the Doctor requested, "Please, go in peace."
"Skaldak, listen to the Doctor. Please, go in peace," Rose said, agreeing with her husband, "Your people have saved us. Now, show us mercy and that you can choose a different path."
As she finished speaking, Skaldak was suddenly transported onto the spaceship.
"We did it," Clara muttered to herself, "We did it!"
"Not quite yet, Clara," Sydney told her.
"No. No, no, no, no, no," the Doctor muttered as he walked over to the console, "Sydney's right, it's still armed. A single pulse from that ship... I'll destroy us if I have to." He then held his sonic screwdriver against his forehead, "I will destroy us if I have to. Show mercy like Rose pleaded, Skaldak. Come on, show mercy."
"Please, Skaldak, please," Rose muttered to herself under her breath as she closed her eyes, "Please, show them you're better than this."
"Da-da-da-dah I'm lost and I'm found and I'm hungry like the wolf," Clara sang, nervously as a klaxon sounded.
Suddenly, the key ports switched back as the lights turned green again before the missile hatches closed back shut. Rose then reopened her eyes with a smile spreading across her face as Sydney smiled as well. The Doctor then deactivated his sonic screwdriver and wiped his right hand across his forehead.
"Now we're safe," the Doctor told her before Clara sighed as she walked over to the Doctor and hugged him tightly, surprising him.
"Saved the world, then?" Clara asked him as she ended the hug and cleared her throat.
"Yeah," the Doctor answered.
"We definitely saved the world," Rose confirmed with a smile.
"Indeed, just like we always do," Sydney added.
"That's what we do," Clara stated with a smile on her face.
"Yeah," the Doctor said, agreeing with her.
A while later, the submarine's hatch opened up as Zhukov stepped out onto the tower, followed by the Doctor, Rose, Sydney, Clara and Grisenko as they looked up at the ship before the Doctor whistled in appreciation.
"The TARDIS!" Clara suddenly remembered, "Where's the TARDIS? You both never explained."
"Oh, well, don't worry about that," the Doctor said with embarrassment in his voice.
"Stop saying that," Clara ordered him, "Where is it?" She then looked at the Time Lady, "Rose, where did it go?"
"It's a bit difficult to explain, Clara," Rose answered with a small, sheepish smile on her face, "Let's just say it's… temporarily misplaced."
"Mum? Dad?" Sydney said with a serious expression on his face, "Where is it?"
"Yeah. Well, we weren't to know, were we?" The Doctor retorted.
"Exactly. It's not like we planned for this," Rose said, agreeing with her husband.
"Know what?" Clara asked them.
"Yeah, what exactly didn't you both plan for?" Sydney said, agreeing with her.
"I've been tinkering, breaking her in," the Doctor explained, "I'm allowed."
"Yeah, he is allowed to do that, you know," Rose said, agreeing with him, "Besides, it's what makes him… him."
"Doctor, what did you do?" Clara asked the Time Lord.
"I reset the HADS," the Doctor mumbled to himself.
"Huh?" Clara asked him.
"I reset the HADS," the Doctor mumbled to himself again.
"The what?" Clara asked him again.
"The HADS!" The Doctor explained, "The Hostile Action Displacement System. If the TARDIS comes under attack, gunfire, time winds, the sea, it... relocates."
"Oh, Doctor," Clara muttered to herself.
"Haven't used it in donkey's years," the Doctor added, "Seemed like a good idea at the time."
"It's been more than donkey's years, Doctor," Rose told him as she giggled, "It's been centuries, not since after you faced the Beast on Krop-tor. Remember how close we came to losing everything?"
"Yeah, I've heard that story a few times," Sydney chuckled, "Dad, you were 900 and Mum, you were 220 when it happened. You two really know how to find trouble."
"We definitely do, Champ," the Doctor replied, "Anyway, never mind, it's bound to turn up somewhere." Suddenly, his sonic screwdriver buzzed, "Ooh! Ha!" He then pulled his sonic screwdriver out from his jacket's pocket with his right hand, "See, right on cue. Brilliant." He then flicked the screwdriver open to look at its readings.
"Brilliant," Clara said, agreeing with him.
"Indeed, Molto bene," Rose muttered, agreeing with them.
"Where is it, Dad?" Sydney asked his father.
"The TARDIS is at the Pole," the Doctor answered.
"Not far, then," Clara stated as she headed for the hatch.
"Given our history, it may not be as easy as it seems," Sydney stated with a knowing smile on his face.
"Indeed, it's not at the North Pole, but the South Pole," the Doctor added as he put his screwdriver back in his jacket's pocket.
"Ah," Clara muttered as she stopped heading towards the hatch.
"Could we have a lift?" The Doctor asked Zhukov.
"Yes, a lift would be great," Rose said, agreeing with her husband, "We could use a bit of help getting there."
Zhkov, Clara and Sydney laughed, while Grisenko smiled as they went back inside. As they left them, the Doctor mimicked Zhukov's laugh. After they've gone, he and Rose both watched the spaceship before they saluted it by putting their right fists over the left side of their chests as it flew away.
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