The Sontarans seized control of the Chimeran Hammer and aligned it with the fleet. The Doctor, her team, Dr. Psychobos, and Vilgax were brought to the Command Ship as prisoners. They were all brought to the command deck. “The Hand is charging, General,” reported a Sontaran. “It will be ready for use in two hours.”
“Very good, Commander,” replied Skrem. “This will be the last disgraceful day of the 10th Sontaran Fleet’s existence.”
“As long as we have time,” remarked the Doctor, “I confess I’m curious.”
“When aren’t you?” scoffed Skrem. “What troubles you now, Doctor?”
“Why have us here? We’re obviously not going to remember it.”
“Your fellow prisoners, no. But you, Doctor? It will live on in the back of your mind, even when you regenerate into new forms!”
“Then why don’t you tell me how this whole operation intends to work once the Hand reaches full charge? I mean, we’re all prisoners here.”
“I have a better idea, Doctor, than blabbing about our plans and giving you a chance to undo it all. While we wait for the Hand to reach full charge, why don’t we FIGHT!”
“…Fight?!” repeated the Doctor.
“What do you say, my warriors?!” Skrem called to his men.
“Fight! Fight! Fight! Fight!” chanted the Sontarans.
“I’ll take up that challenge!” called Amy.
“Hold on!” roared Vilgax. “They were MY allies! I’LL be the one to kill Skrem!”
“Such ardor!” cackled Skrem. “New plan, Doctor! I’ll fight your companion! Of course, I’ll have an ally with me! Commander Velt!”
“Yes, sir!” replied the Sontaran Commander. “Will I be facing Vilgax or the pink thing?”
“Hm, good point,” remarked Skrem. “Who will be taking on the pink thing?
“The pink thing has a name, you know!” snapped Amy.
“Amy, I sure hope you know what you’re doing!” hissed the Doctor.
“Doctor,” Amy whispered so the Sontarans couldn’t hear, “this might be our only shot at stopping them! While they’re distracted-!”
“I know what the goal is, Amy, but fighting a Sontaran might prove fatal!”
“Then you and Ben better hurry and figure this out!” Amy wouldn’t be dissuaded, much to the Doctor’s chagrin.
“…Stay alive, will you?” muttered the Time Lord.
“Naturally,” assured Amy. She and Vilgax then approached Skrem and Velt. “How are we doing this?”
“With gravity clubs!” replied Skrem.
“You Sontarans use those things in duels?” grunted Vilgax. He turned to Amy. “Gravity clubs have a relative weight of ten pounds, but the weight doubles every few swings until its wielder cannot lift their club to defend themselves or their skull is split open by their opponent’s club.”
“…Charming,” muttered Amy.
“Bring forth the clubs!” ordered Skrem. A Sontaran carrying a case came forth. He opened the case to reveal four metal clubs. Skrem, Velt, Amy, and Vilgax took up their clubs. “I shall take the first swing!” cackled Skrem. He swung his club hard, but Amy and Vilgax leapt out of the way. “Velt, let’s see your swing!” said Skrem.
“Yes, Sir!” replied Velt. He swung his club, but Amy and Vilgax dodged again. “A gymnast, hm?” chuckled Velt.
“You two will not be so agile after a few rounds!” cackled Skrem. “Your turn!”
“Your mistake!” snarled Vilgax. He swung his club and made a dent in the floor once his Sontaran opponents dodged.
While Amy and Vilgax were fighting their Sontaran opponents, the Doctor snuck away with Ben and Rook following. “Why’d you need us?” asked Ben.
“Because I have a theory,” remarked the Doctor. “You being discovered on Vilgax’s ship seemed to be like the lot of you were going through the motions. And Skrem’s talk of the entire 10th Sontaran Fleet being desperate also looked like they said it so many times. On top of that, my TARDIS detected unusual chronon activity before Professor Paradox grabbed it and forcibly landed us in front of Rook’s squadron. …What if the Hand of Eon put everyone into a time loop to defend itself?”
“A time loop? How would we know?” asked Rook.
“Clockwork might check,” said Ben.
“…Ben, I have a better idea. Scan me,” directed the Doctor.
“Huh?”
“I know what I said, but I need another Time Lord’s help. Now scan me!”
“…Well, if you insist,” said Ben. He aimed the Omnitrix at the Doctor and a scanner light surrounded the Doctor briefly. It vanished after a few seconds.
“New alien DNA now available,” reported the Omnitrix.
“All right, let’s test this out.” Ben selected the new alien hologram, slid the Omnitrix’s cover back, then pressed down on the core. The watch then sunk into his arm…then the Omnitrix symbol appeared on his chest.
“…I think you accidentally unlocked the human form,” remarked Rook.
“No, no, hang on,” said Ben. “There’s two hearts in here. …And telepathic powers. …And temporal sensitivity. I’m a Time Lord like the Doctor here. …And there’s definitely temporal energy looping back on itself, but it’s fading around Rook and the rest of us.”
“So the Hand of Eon DID put you all into a time loop,” remarked the Doctor. “Well, we’ll have to minimize the time loop’s field around the Hand so it only loops on itself and not everyone else around them. I did a similar trick with Axos and the Vardans.”
“And that’s why you needed another Time Lord’s help,” realized Ben, “to double-check your work.”
“It’s very delicate work. Mind if I walk you through it? Telepathically? It’s a bit involved and we’re pressed for time.”
“All right. Contact.”
“Contact.” The two closed their eyes and workshopped the plan telepathically. They then opened their eyes.
“All right,” said Ben, “let’s get to it. It’s most likely down this corridor.”
Back on the command deck, the duel still went on. Amy and Vilgax were moderating their swings a lot better than their Sontaran opponents. “Stop…prancing about, Pink Thing!” panted Skrem. His and Velt’s clubs were now at 320 pounds, heavy for a Sontaran, but not impossible to lift. Amy’s and Vilgax’s were only at 80 pounds, rather light for Amy, considering how heavy her hammer is.
“…How is this possible?” asked Vilgax. “I know this is my first time dueling Skrem, yet I feel as though I fought him before and the fight is different somehow!”
“Might I offer my two cents?” asked a voice. Amy dodged a blow from Velt and looked behind her.
“Professor Paradox!” she yelped.
“Good afternoon, Miss Rose,” greeted Professor Paradox.
“What are you doing here, Time Walker?!” demanded Vilgax.
“Oh, clearing things up, as usual,” replied Professor Paradox. “Now, let’s see, the Doctor will most likely be theorizing, correctly, I may add, why I brought her TARDIS into this time loop.”
“Time loop? Ridiculous!” scoffed Skrem.
“It’s really simple,” the Doctor said to Rook as she and Ben worked around an armored hand in purple, “the Hand of Eon is the literal hand of a temporally-powerful madman.”
“And any ‘sane’ madman,” said Ben, “would take steps to protect themselves.”
“So it created a time loop to protect itself?” asked Rook.
“Specifically to prevent anyone other than its owner to use it,” summarized the Doctor.
“So anyone that ISN’T Eon,” realized Gwen, “would be imprisoned until Eon came back for it.”
“Precisely, Gwendolyn,” confirmed Professor Paradox. “And Vilgax and his poorly-chosen allies served as the perfect prisoners. …Although, you lot getting involved upset my calculations.”
“Obviously, since you lot are his friends,” continued the Doctor, “he needed to get you out. But the time loop was causing too much temporal turbulence for him to safely enter.”
“But he knew what the power source for the time loop was,” Ben summarized, “so he needed something with enough strength to break into the loop and stop it from the inside.”
“Cue him hijacking my TARDIS without asking,” grumbled the Doctor.
“Well, the outer plasmic shell could break through it, but it would be nice to have a shell with shields, like a TARDIS.”
“Still, without asking!”
“…Ben, how are you able to keep up with the Doctor?!” protested Rook.
“I don’t know, how do I know what gas I use when I’m Gutrot?” asked Ben.
“Lies! All lies!” snarled Skrem as Paradox finished his explanation.
“And why would I lie about the time loop?” asked Paradox. “Or about Eon? He’s too much of a paranoid genius to leave things to chance. But, no fear, the time loop will be broken-,” a wave of energy then bowled everyone over, causing a cascading effect directly to where the Hand of Eon was held! “…Right about now!” chuckled Paradox.
“It won’t matter!” snarled Skrem. “My club will flatten you all!” He and Velt raised their clubs, straining under the weight!
“640 pounds,” chuckled Vilgax darkly. “That’s too much for a Sontaran.” That was when the two Sontarans fell to the floor in convulsions. “Thankfully, my 80 pound club is enough to paint the floor in your blood and brains!”
“NO!” shouted Amy. She whacked Vilgax in the ankle, toppling him.
“You DARE!” roared Vilgax.
“There’s no point! The duel is over!” insisted Amy.
“Miss Rose is quite right,” remarked Professor Paradox. “You’re about to have more immediate problems to deal with.”
“BOOSTERS!” called a Sontaran. “REVITALIZERS! NOW!” A Sontaran Trooper then arrived with a medical kit and tended to his fallen commanders.
“Amy…Rose…!” gasped Skrem. “You…did this! …I shall…form…a phalanx…of engineers…tasked solely with designing…new and exotic…ways to torture you!”
“They’ll have to have time machines for that,” remarked Amy. “Or standing orders.” That was when alarms rang throughout the ship!
“The air attack warning!” called a Sontaran.
“Air attack?” asked Vilgax.
“Mr. Levin DID ask for a heavily armed Plumber fleet to assist during the time loop,” replied Professor Paradox.
“After getting caught in the crossfire of Sontarans and Rutans,” remarked Kevin, “I didn’t wanna take any chances.”
“We better get the others and get out of here!” called Gwen. Her friends agreed and followed her. Vilgax, meanwhile, snarled as he decided to return to his ship and punch an escape hole. Thanks to Sontaran bungling, there was no way the Chimeran Hammer could handle a battle between the Plumbers and the Sontarans.
Gwen and her group ran through the corridors, dodging Sontarans all the way. They then bumped into the Doctor and her group. “Amy!” said the Doctor.
“Doctor, you’re all right!” said Amy. She then spotted someone…that looked like Gwen in Ben’s clothes. “…Did…Did Ben add your DNA to his watch?”
“She was okay with it,” replied the Gwen Clone. “I’m thinking of calling this form Time Walker.”
“Much as I appreciate the discovery of a Time Lord’s abilities,” said Professor Paradox, “we’re rather pressed for time. Everyone, gather around!” Everyone gathered and Professor Paradox opened his Chrononavigator. They all vanished as the Plumber fleet arrived to deal with the Sontarans and Vilgax.
They had returned to Plumber HQ, right in front of the TARDIS. Rook checked with the Plumber fleet. “…Skrem and his men have been arrested,” he reported. “Vilgax had returned to his ship and escaped. Dr. Psychobos fled in a Sontaran Scout Sphere.”
“Oof, arrested!” muttered the Doctor. “That will chafe a Sontaran. There’s no chance of him or the fleet regaining their honor.” She was then interrupted by a beeping noise.
“Sorry, that’s me,” said Time Walker as the Omnitrix symbol flashed.
“Ah, a cool-down period?” guessed the Doctor. Time Walker forcibly returned to being Ben Tennyson.
“Yeah, sometimes it happens at the worst time,” he said.
“Well, I’m sure you have a lot to do,” said the Doctor. “In the meantime…” she then swiped the Chrononavigator.
“I beg your pardon!” protested Professor Paradox as the Doctor fiddled with the Chrononavigator. “That’s delicate, Doctor!”
“I can’t have you,” replied the Doctor, “barging into my TARDIS like that. Next time you need my help, you call.” She finished her work on it and handed it back. “Speaking of TARDIS, let’s get going, Amy.”
“Goodbye, everyone!” called Amy.
“Oh, Doctor,” called Rook.
“Yes, Rook Blonko?”
“While Gallifrey as a whole is still banned from travelling to Revonnah, you, specifically, are no longer banned.”
“Are you sure you can make that decision?” asked the Doctor.
“I did not make that decision,” replied Rook. “My planet did.”
“…I’ll ask how later. For now, goodbye!” The Doctor and Amy entered the TARDIS and took off.
“…Goodbye, Doctor,” remarked Professor Paradox. “Until our next meeting.”