Series 27 Episode 4: Warriors Game Part 4

Warriors Game

Part 4

Inside of the TARDIS, the Doctor had just admitted defeat. This was an event that had never happened before. Destari, the woman who had stolen some of his most precious memories and knew everything about him, had apparently destroyed the planet Earth, and took away everything he loved. The Doctor, Gina and Ace all stood in the TARDIS, pondering their recent defeat. All of them had faced their own different losses. Gina had lost Nathan, her planet, her home, and potentially everything she loved, while Ace had been gutted that Destari had taken the Doctor away from her.

Using the base which controlled the Earths weather, Destari and the Rutans had joined forces to destroy the planets atmosphere in order to transform it into a massive battleground between the Rutans and the Sontarans, two races who had been in battle with each other since time commenced. They would find any opportunity they could to fight each other. Destari had formed a deal, and they had been successful. The Doctor failed in his chance to thwart their plots, and yet Destari had managed to win.

She knew the Doctor inside out. She had taken his memories. She had taken his future regenerations. She had taken any chance he had of success. For some reason, she wanted revenge. Somehow, Destari seemed to believe that her and the Doctor had encountered each other before. The Doctor, however, was unfamiliar with this encounter. Perhaps it lay in his future, or perhaps it was something much more complex.

Destari grabbed her gun, as the Doctor surrendered his now mortal life. She hovered her gun in the direction of the Time Lord, prepared to end his life. Suddenly, a shot fired into the TARDIS. Destari dropped her gun to the ground, before placing a shield around herself as she had done before. Ace and Gina attempted to protect themselves. A sontaran revealed itself in the doorway. It began to shoot lasers out of its gun towards the direction of everybody inside. Ace and Gina hid behind the console. The Doctor hid behind the doorway. Destari grabbed both Ace and Gina and pulled them towards the Sontaran, throwing them on to the ground.

“There you are, Sontarans,” Destari announced, “These are my sacrifices.”

“We are here for select blood,” The Sontaran confirmed, “All Rutan forces shall be eliminated. The Doctor and Destari shall also be eliminated. We are unfamiliar with their visual appearance. State your names and identities.”

“I am the Doctor,” he said, surrendering himself to the Sontarans. The Sontaran grabbed him, and pulled him towards him, “And that woman over there is Destari.”

“Destari is in allegiance with the Rutans. She must be destroyed at all costs.”

“No!” Destari protested. “I am an ally of both the Sontarans and the Rutans. I am impartial.”

“You are a threat to the Sontaran regime. All threats to the Sontaran regime will be destroyed. The Doctor shall be eliminated. We shall take you all with us.”

Four more Sontarans materialised outside of the ship, and dragged the Doctor, Destari, Gina and Ace out of the TARDIS and back into the apocalyptic wasteland. All of them had their hands behind their heads. The Sontarans led them all towards an industrial form of building which was located nearby. It was very recognisable to all of their hostages. It was the Snowzone base. They must have seized it when the Doctor, Ace and Destari managed to transport themselves away. They all walked inside, and much to their collective surprise, it was all in one piece, connected together unlike it was before. There were many more Sontarans hovering around the area.

“This is the Doctor, Destari and their allies,” The Sontaran confirmed, “We have brought them here to be tortured and eliminated. They are enemies of the Sontarans and allies of the Rutan Empire. They must be eradicated.”

Another of the Sontarans nodded. “This world is ours now. All enemies of the Sontarans and the Rutans that can survive the vicious climates shall be destroyed.”

“Go on then,” Ace screamed, “Kill us!”

The Sontaran hovered their hand over their gun, but before they could shoot, a bombardment of shooting came from another direction. A hoard of Rutans floated into the Snowzone base, preparing themselves for attack. The Doctor, Ace and Gina rushed out as a battle commenced between the two races, taking advantage of their conflict. Destari remained in the base, much to the others surprise. She did not click her fingers. She did not run. She must have had something planned.

The rest of the crew raced towards the TARDIS, entered and then closed the door abruptly from behind them. Lazers continued to be shot at the door. The Doctor frantically piloted the ship away, desperately attempting to control the materialisation process. Ace and Gina panicked as the Doctor attempted to do this. The emergency lockdown was secured once again, to ensure that nothing entered. There was a pause. They could not move. They could not travel. They had just stopped.

“What is going on?” Gina asked. “Why aren’t you getting out of here?”

“I can’t,” The Doctor responded, “And anyway, why should I? I have nothing left to live for. My whole past has been stolen.”

“What about Earth?” Ace questioned. “You can’t just leave it like that.”

“I have no choice. Time can change at any second and that’s what happens. I can’t change it back because that would just cause all kinds of mess. We are at the end of the planet Earth. Outside of that door, everything you have both ever known has come to an end, thanks to Destari and the Rutans. A Rutan and Sontaran battleground that will be used for the rest of eternity. There’s nothing I can do about that. It’s too late to save the planet.”

Ace sighed. “So we’re just stuck here then? You’ve got to get us away.”

The Doctor attempted again, but failed once more. “The TARDIS does not want to budge. I don’t know what’s up with the old girl. Maybe Destari did something to it. There’s no way of telling. We’re safe here for now, but we cannot move.”

Gina intruded. “And Destari? Who is she? What does she want? Are you going to do anything about her? You’ve got to stop her?”

“I can’t. She’s too powerful for me. Too powerful for any of us.”

“I wish I could have warned you earlier,” Ace said, “That woman earlier, she told me that Destari was the one who would bring the end to this world. I never thought that it would be now. I never thought it would be in 1990.”

“It won’t be the end forever. There are always people out there. Somewhere in the world, humans will continue to thrive, and one day humanity will be back to the way it was before. And then again, it will be destroyed. There’s not just one end of the world. They’ve happened before. This is just one I didn’t know about.” The Doctor then reflected on what he saw outside. “You said you knew what the six on the mountains meant, Ace? You said there was some sort of relevance for that?”

“Yeah. This woman came up to me and told me that Destari was some sort of eternal god and then listed off these weird names. The Dominatrix, the Kingdom Comer. Something like that. It seems like something much bigger is coming for us.”

The Doctor turned towards her. “The Dominatrix?”

“Yeah, that’s what the woman said. You sound like you recognise that name?”

“I do. Something in my past. It was a long time ago. I never thought it’d be important. I’ve never heard of the Kingdom Comer though.” The Doctor looked confused. “All of this is just too much to take.”

“Tell me about it,” Gina cheekily remarked, “I guess Nathan’s lost now then.”

“I’m sorry, Gina,” Ace replied, “But he’s gone. He’s one of the Rutans now. There’s nothing we can do about that now.”

“How do you do it? How do you just move on? It’s like this is normal for you.”

“It is,” The Doctor replied, “This is our lives, Gina. This is what we must struggle through each and every day. Pain, misery, loss, suffering. But sometimes there’s hope. I could do with a bit of hope today, more than ever.”

“We travel across time and space,” Ace confirmed, “The places we’ve been and the things we’ve seen. I could never put them into words.”

Gina smiled. “I always knew there was something more out there.”

Back in the Snowzone base, the Sontarans and the Rutans continued to battle against each other, as the constant conflict between the two forces continued to strive. Destari grew irritated. She grabbed her weapon, moved up to the Sontarans neck and whacked it, causing the Sontaran to fall to the ground. Another Sontaran shot at her, but nothing happened, as she still appeared to be protected by a shield which surrounded her. Destari pointed towards one of the Sontarans, and a vast ray of energy was released from her fingertips, causing all of the Sontarans to drop to the ground and be destroyed. The ray turned orange, and began to surround herself. She looked at it in shock.

“This is the Doctors doing, it must be,” Announced Destari, “This is regeneration energy.”

“What is this trickery? What are you doing?” Questioned one of the Rutans.

“The Doctor is a man who I managed to defeat, but he always has a little trick up his cards. Earlier, I destroyed his ability to regenerate; He became mortal. Now the regeneration energy is inside of me, taking control of me. It won’t be me that the regeneration energy affects.” She continued to stare at her hands, and looked up at the Rutans. “We need to act fast. This is not over. I won once, and I will win again. You need to contact the Rutan embassy, and tell them that the Doctor must be destroyed at all costs. Tell them that I will be back for them one day, and will aid them once again.”

The Rutan she spoke to transformed into Nathan. “I shall inform them.”

“You must leave instantly. The whole base will be imploded. If I get the facts right, the regeneration energy will restore life on Earth to the way it was beforehand. That means all Rutans and Sontarans on the planet will be eliminated, and the humans will have no idea what happened here. The Rutan empire must thrive.”

Nathan nodded. “Indeed, Destari, and I shall ensure it will. The next time we meet, we shall be successful, and the next time we meet, the Doctor will be destroyed. Properly, this time.” Nathan transported himself away, leaving Destari inside of the base, continuing to radiate regeneration energy from all over her body. Her head became infected with the energy. She looked at herself, and groaned.

“I thought I’d succeed,” Destari revealed, “I thought I’d done it.”

The regeneration energy was released through her body, and the Snowzone base blew up into flames, with Destari inside. Suddenly, everything reverted to the way it was. The temperature became normal. Everything was fine. The only thing different was that the Snowzone base had been destroyed. Human life was back.

Inside of the TARDIS, the console began to vibrate again, and lift off commenced. The Doctor, Gina and Ace clutched on tightly. Gina grinned as the TARDIS moved, delighted and hopeful as a result. The ship halted without warning, and found itself at its next destination. The Doctor pressed a button, causing the doors of the TARDIS to open.

The Doctor strolled out of the ship, and his face transformed from one of fear to one of hope. Ace followed, and then Gina. Ace grinned as she realised where she had arrived. Around them, life was thriving. It was 1990, back to the way it should have been. There were kids playing, dogs barking, trees whistling. Everything and everyone was back to the way they should have been.

“It’s perivale!” Ace exclaimed. “This is my home.”

The Doctor grinned. “Maybe I didn’t lose after all. This is 1990. Things are back to the way they should have been. It seems we just got lucky.”

“How could this be?” Asked Gina. “How could things have changed so suddenly.”

“I don’t know, but I didn’t lose. I didn’t lose everything.”

Ace’s face dropped. “But you lost me. We’re in Perivale, and it looks brighter and more beautiful compared to what we just saw, but at the same time it’s darker than it was before, because you didn’t even know this was where I lived. You still don’t remember me.”

“I know, and I’m sorry. That’s not my fault. She stole you from me.”

“Will you ever remember me, Professor? Will you ever remember everything we’ve been through?”

“First of all, my name is the Doctor, young lady, and secondly, I’m unsure.”

Gina broke the awkwardness. “At least we’ve found some victory today. We’ve all lost a lot. Can I go home now then? Is it safe to go back? I don’t know whether I want to stay in the Snowzone base but I want to go back to Antartica. I never belonged in the Snowzone base anyway. Nathan always told me that and I never believed him. Today's events just proved it.”

“Of course we can get you back, Gina,” The Doctor replied, “Antarctica, yes? Quite a big place if you ask me, so we may need some directions.”

The Doctor, Gina and Ace walked back into the TARDIS. Inside, a familiar face greeted them. It was Destari. She was not in a physical form, only a mere hologram placed directly next to the console, but she seemed pretty realistic. Everybody's face turned upon seeing her. They already knew all was not over, but this just confirmed it.

“Are you really here? Can you hear me?” The Doctor asked the hologram.

“Yes, I can hear you,” The hologram responded, “The shield you have used to protect the TARDIS means I am forbidden to enter, but I can still contact you in a non physical form. I could still greet you face to face if you released the shields.”

“There’s no chance that’s happening, space witch,” Ace explained, “We’re not letting you back in to the TARDIS because you’ll lead us into a trap.”

“I would do nothing of the sort! Actually, I’m lying there. But I still think it’d make sense if we got to speak face to face. I have quite a few questions to ask all three of you, and I’m sure all three of you have a lot you want to ask me.”

“We can talk like this,” The Doctor demanded, “That’s fine by me.”

“How did you do it then? How did you manage to defeat me? I’m sure you haven’t explained it to your two little friends here.”

“You took my regeneration energy, but my regenerations are mine, so I still have control over them, whoever they belong too. I used them to revert everything back to normal. I had to use one regeneration up in order to do so, but now they have travelled safely back into my body again. My regenerations are my own. I’m back to being not mortal.”

“The one trick in the book that neither of us knew about. I applaud you for defeating me, Doctor, but all is not over yet. I’m sure you’re aware of that. The best is still to come.”

“And I’ll always be there to stop you. I may not remember Ace, but I am doing my best to regain that memory, and me and her will be there whenever you return to stop you in your tracks, whatever the cost.”

Destari chuckled away. “I know everything in your mind. Try to think outside of the box again next time, if there’s any more tricks left to play. The thing is, Doctor, you won’t be ready for it, because the next time I return, will be now.”

Destari hovered towards the console and clicked on a button. Despite her not being in physical form, the doors still opened. She then transformed into solid matter suddenly. The Doctor, Ace and Gina clutched tightly onto the TARDIS console, desperately preventing themselves from being chucked out. Destari continued to laugh away to herself, delighted by this predicament. Destari grabbed Ace and forced her fingers off from the console, causing her to fly out of the TARDIS. The Doctor and Gina remained tight. The Doctor moved along the console and pressed a button, causing the ship to lock itself once again.

“Ace!” The Doctor remarked, frantically attempting to pilot the TARDIS to save her.

“You don’t even know who she is,” Destari commented, “You know her just as well as you know Gina, or me. She’s not worth your energy.”

“Get off my ship right this instant. You have no right to be here.”

“I just wanted to warn you. Warn all of you. Wherever you go, wherever you are, you are never safe from me. When I strike next, I will be willing to do anything to get my revenge, and blood will be spilt. The Rutans and the Sontarans will not forget you either. Today was just a warning for you. I haven’t done anything yet. Just you wait.”

Destari vanished. The Doctor rushed over to the console, and steered the ship away. The TARDIS crashed through the time vortex, hurtling after Ace, wherever she was. The TARDIS crashed down towards the direction the Doctor thought Ace was in, and quickly landed. The Doctor and Gina were taken back by the sudden arrival.

“Oh my god!” Gina exclaimed, shellshocked by all that had happened. “Can I go home now?”

The Doctor shook his head. “I need to get Ace back first. I’m sorry, Gina, I will get you home as soon as I possibly can. But for now, I just need to get Ace. I know I don’t remember her but I still-” He paused for a moment, abruptly preventing himself from speaking for the time being. Gina looked confused as he moved back towards the console.

“Doctor? Why are you pausing? What are you thinking?”

The Doctor grinned. “I remember her. My memories of Ace have returned to me. I remember. I remember Iceworld. I remember Fenric. I remember the planet of the Cheetah People. I remember the Metatraxi. I remember it all. I remember her.”

Gina’s expression widened. “That’s great news. How come?”

“I don’t know, but I do. She just came back to me, and now I need to save her more than ever.” The Doctor opened up the doors of the TARDIS. “So then, are you coming with me, or are you staying in here? Whatever lurks out there could be dangerous.”

“Danger’s my middle name!” Gina joked, as she clutched tightly on to the Doctor’s hand. “We’ve been through a lot as it is, so I don’t see why we shouldn’t go through any more.”

Gina and the Doctor strolled out of the TARDIS. They found themselves in a dimly lit corridor, with no light in sight. Their hands were closely connected to one another. The conditions were humid. They were not outside. Indeed, they were in an interior of some kind. There was no sign of Ace from anywhere close to them. Gina looked up to see a torch lighting up the corridors, but it suddenly got blown out. There was a noise from a distance. The Doctor turned around, and began to quicken his speed. Gina did the same, as she continued to hold on to her new friend. They rushed through the corridors of the building, away from whatever was behind them. A door approached them from in front. The Doctor walked through, and Gina quickly followed. They slammed it behind them.

“I don’t see Ace anywhere around here,” Gina remarked, “Do you think that she might be elsewhere? Do you think we’ve gotten the wrong place?”

“Quite possibly. She could be anywhere and anywhen in time and space.”

Gina jumped as something knocked on another door in front of them. The Doctor slowly shifted towards it, and opened the door. A regular, unintimidating man greeted them. He was dressed in an old fashioned attire. He removed his top hat, and moved it towards them, as if to show them they were welcome here.

“Good evening, sir and madam,” The man began, “Are you here as guests.”

“Why would we be here if we weren’t?” The Doctor asked rhetorically. “Yes we are. My name’s John Smith, and this is my associate, Gina.”

“It is nice to meet you both. Have you met the Applebeys before.”

“We have not. We were invited out of warning.” The Doctor turned towards Gina, and began to whisper. “I’m sorry about this, Gina, but we may have to go along with this. We don’t want to make this awkward or anything.”

Gina sighed. “But Ace doesn’t seem to be here.”

“We’ll find her. For now, it seems like we’re expected for dinner. Come along, ma’am!”

The story will continue in Identity Theft.