What If...the Empire of the Wolf Began in Tooth and Claw? (Part 5)

Last time, Jack and the Doctor had been betrayed by the Weeping Angels in their attempt to repair the collapsing reality. Rose was revealed to be a clone created by none other than the Master, who had become the Emperor of the Wolf. On Earth, werewolves and Cybermen began the ultimate battle as time was torn apart and put back together around them and both the Doctor's and the Master's TARDISes were materialized into one another.

With reality ripping apart at the seams once again, how will the Doctor and Jack get out of this one?!

Oh, also, the Daleks were about to show up. I did tease that.

The Doctor and the Master's TARDISes are careening through the Time Vortex and within one another - creating a perfect space loop. The Doctor tells Jack that, because the TARDISes are connected, they can enter one just as easily as the other. To break the loop, they'll need to find the focus that is keeping it in place, name dropping Kronos from The Time Monster as he does so. We also get a slight nod to the proper timeline as the Doctor mentions that they'll need more than the wibbly lever to get out of this one. They enter the Master's TARDIS, but are ambushed by the Clone of Rose in full Death Commando mode.

Back on Earth, UNIT comes in to deal with the problem, what with them having lost contact with Torchwood. Captain Magambo from Turn Left and Planet of the Dead turns up and we see bits of her contradicting herself with her orders as reality changes around her, yet she doesn't seem to notice. Within the Torchwood Tower, however, the Cybermen have caught on that something is amiss and are working on some sort of solution using Torchwood's technology. Rather like Cybermen from another What If story I've done, these Cybermen are indeed the Cybus Cybermen from Series 2, but are more advanced due to their takeover of the Earth having not been halted by the arrival of the Doctor, Rose, and Mickey to the other universe.

They don't possess time travel, but they seem to have some knowledge of the theory of it and begin theorizing ways to encourage temporal stability.

This is compounded by the Daleks emerging from the Orb, the rampant temporal energies activating the craft and allowing them to exit with the Genesis Ark. They escape into the basement of Canary Wharf and seal it up, preparing to activate it if they are able.

In the twin TARDISes, Jack and Clone Rose continue their shoot out, the Doctor sneaking about trying to get to the console. The Master, he notes, has oddly not made an appearance or even taunted the Doctor or Jack since they began. Eventually, the Doctor manages to get to the console and Jack disarms CRose with a clean shot, a second shot putting her down for good. It is then, only then, that the Master makes himself known via the viewscreen on the console.

He taunts the Doctor about being a fool and reveals that he's not really there - a hologram projector served his purposes well enough. He deadlock seals the doors so that Jack and the Doctor cannot escape and remotely sets the coordinates of his TARDIS for the Earth's sun. The Doctor tells him that this will in no way destroy his TARDIS...and the safeties begin to deactivate one by one. With it being deadlock sealed, the Doctor could not get into it even if he had the sonic screwdriver.

The Master bids the Doctor and Jack farewell, giving a characteristic laugh as he leaves them to their fate. After trying some ways to hack into the console to no avail, the Doctor starts to pull equipment off the TARDIS, starting to fashion it into something, Jack mentioning that he better move quick or they're going to be a lot warmer.

On Earth, the Master (still as Emperor Saxon) calls up Magambo and demands to know what is going on. Magambo tells him that the people of the United Kingdom and the United Nations Intelligence Taskforce no longer recognize Saxon's authority. The Master is displeased with this, and uses his link with the Wolf to order the werewolves to kill Magambo and the rest of UNIT, leading to the brawl getting even worse as UNIT tends to the paradoxes, the Cybermen, and now the Werewolves as well. It's utter carnage.

Back with the Doctor and Jack, the pair emerge in the Doctor's console room! They've escaped! The Doctor tosses aside the smoking remains of the atomic shredders they used to do the deed and then get back to work, getting to the controls just in time to keep the TARDIS from crashing into the Moon. Unfortunately, because of the interruption from the Master, they are no longer in an optimal position to reseal the rifts in time and space. Jack asks if they can just plug him in again, but the Doctor saying that it's too late.

The balance of the universe is shifting rapidly, and one particular point comes up on the TARDIS scanners - the basement of Canary Wharf, which Jack identifies as the home of Torchwood One...which should be in ruins after his escape some time ago, but isn't due to the shifting of reality over and over and over again as it comes unraveled. Jack worries about what else they might run into that should be gone that isn't, but the Doctor lands regardless and does his best to extend the TARDIS' temporal shields so that his existence outside of the craft won't cause an even bigger tear in space and time.

He also, at one point, clutches his side. Jack shows concern, but the Doctor insists that he's fine. When Jack is away, however, the Doctor reveals that he has blood on his hand...and soaking him under the remains of his tweed jacket. Yes, it seems the Doctor was hit by a stray bullet during the battle. Since we know that, chronologically, the Eleventh Doctor is the thirteen and final incarnation of the Doctor's (first) regeneration cycle...this is definitely not good.

The TARDIS landing is immediately picked up on by the Cult of Skaro, who go into total defense mode.  Unlike in Doomsday as broadcast, they have already begun the sequence of opening the Genesis Ark thanks to the rampant artron energy flowing from all of the individual rifts caused by the paradoxes. Due to the Time War, the Daleks have treated their armor with technology that protects them from the effects of paradoxes in order to better battle the Time Lords. It serves useful here as well, given the circumstances.

Jack gets shot trying to disable one of them with a shot to the eyestalk, killing him yet again. Having picked up on their plan, the Doctor decides to open up the doors for them...letting a legion of Cybermen in. All hell quickly breaks loose. Remember, the Daleks are still superior, but the Cybermen do have a bit of a leg up over their prime timeline counterparts and, more to the point, have numbers over the Daleks.

The Doctor and Jack make it back to the TARDIS and seal up just before the Daleks (in desperation) open the Genesis Ark despite not having the elevation requirements. Canary Wharf is destroyed a second time, as the remaining werewolves and the far fewer in number remaining UNIT troops are stunned as they witness several Cybermen heading toward the crumbling wreckage...and Daleks flying out from within, firing with reckless abandon.

The Master arrives onboard the Valiant, bringing reinforcements in the form of more werewolves and several implements of war. As this goes on, he suddenly begins to hear a drumming in his mind. Unlike in The Sound of Drums and so on, we don't get the retcon about the Master hearing drums in his head from childhood, this is the first time he's ever heard the noise. It competes with the Wolf within him, the noise of the howling and the drumming causing him to clutch his head in pain.

The Doctor uses the scanners of the TARDIS to pick up on the Cybermen that were up in Canary Wharf having been working on some sort of chrono-experiment. Realizing that most of it is still intact, rudimentary as it is, he might be able to use his technobabble skills to get them back on track for repairing the universe. He opens up the TARDIS engines to soak up as much of the artron energy as possible while he lands it within the remains of Canary Wharf. He and Jack have to navigate through some remaining Cybermen who survived the explosion, watching as they wink in and out of existence, temporarily turn back into humans, become Cybermen again, turn into dust, reform, and so on.

Eventually, though, they manage to get around them and retrieve the device, getting back to the TARDIS...only to find Yvonne Hartman waiting at the doors for them as Canary Wharf is once more rebuilt around them. She demands their surrender and begins firing on the pair, only to be dissuaded by a Dalek that flies through and starts peppering the area with shots. While she fiddles with that, the Doctor and Jack slip away into the TARDIS. While this does get the Dalek's attention, they dematerialize before it's too late.

As they work, the Valiant's sensor grid picks up an object entering Earth's atmosphere. The Master, irritated by the drumming and the howling, orders someone to go and get it. Another Rose Clone gets dispatched, finding...a diamond. Specifically a white-point star. Crose 2 retrieves it, bringing it back to the Valiant in spite of the interference of some Daleks...which seems to trigger something in her as she flies back.

Hmm...

The Doctor begins to utilize the device to repair the paradoxes once more, using it to boost the TARDIS' failing abilities. While it isn't going to close all the paradoxes, it should get rid of the biggest ones. As he says this, on Earth, a haggard Magambo is relieved when the werewolves disappear suddenly...replaced by regular people with no memory of what they've done or what they were before. Unfortunately, there's still the remaining Cybermen and the Dalek legion as a pair of very, very pressing concerns.

While UNIT tries to restore order, getting people to safety and losing a lot of people for some Pyrrhic victories here and there and the Doctor and Jack try to restore time, the Master realizes what the White Point Star is and begins to utilize it to make a link with...Gallifrey. He realizes that the drumming is a message from none other than Rassilon - the heartbeat of a Time Lord transmitted across time and space as a link to the Master's present.

The Doctor and Jack, hard at work, hear the Cloister Bell ringing like mad. Checking the scanner, the Doctor is horrified by what he sees...namely, Gallifrey materializing over Earth.

The Daleks make a coordinated effort against the Valiant, but the emergence of Gallifrey sees a silver cylinder TARDIS materialize on the flight deck of the ship...and who should step out by Rassilon. Yes, the Timothy Dalton one from The End of Time, but while not being completely useless. With a snap of his gloved hand, Rassilon begins to tear apart the attacking Daleks from within, the loss of their paradox-shielding armor causing them to rapidly be torn apart and dissolve away into dust. The few that can escape retreat quickly to warn the Cult of Skaro of this new development.

Rassilon does not consider the Daleks a priority.

With his power, having sensed the paradoxes and the Doctor attempting to repair them, he uses Time Lord technology to bring the TARDIS there, as well as using his elite guard to subdue the Master. When the Master attempts to utilize the Wolf form, Rassilon channels his great power to remove the "slight genetic mutation" from the Master, which takes the form of an actual wolf. Showing disdain, Rassilon snaps the creature's neck and lets it fall to the floor.

The Doctor and Jack emerge, and Rassilon makes it clear that the Time Lords are not here to help. The Earth is being drawn into Gallifrey's orbit, and it will be the epicenter of a new empire ruled by the Time Lords. An Empire that will exist from now until the very end of the universe, with him as the Emperor. Rassilon demands that the Doctor, as the savior of planet Earth, tell the human race to kneel before their new masters - the Time Lords. Knowing that the Doctor is dying, on his final incarnation, Rassilon tells him that he will also kneel before him if he wants to live.

...and that's where we're going to leave off. One part left in this one. Will the Doctor and Jack be able to save the day? Will the Master play a part in the events? What of the Rose Clone and her sudden flashes of memory about a life she never had? Can Rassilon truly be defeated seeing as he's significantly more powerful and competent than he is in every TV appearance after The Five Doctors? You'll have to wait until the Finale to find out!

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