As Luke knew that Rose and Mickey will soon leave the TARDIS to find themselves on the ship, he took his time to set things into order. Both Michael and Luke plotted to enact their plan to prevent the Doctor from being the one to challenge the leader of the Sycorax. Most of their plans had to keep in mind that the Doctor needed a drink of tea to get his mind into working order.
"How likely am I to defeat the leader and win the planet?" Luke asked Michael while going over what he knew about the scenario. "I know that if I let anyone else interfere, it can invalidate the challenge and they win the planet by default."
"Im sure that the basics of swordplay Guthix taught you will help you in this situation," Michael replied back with a tone of certainty in his mechanical voice. "The Leader of the Sycorax tends to be only mortal and using blood control to scare the human race. We just have to make sure that the Doctor loses his hand in this event because, without his hand, it means that much of the events going to happen won't happen."
Luke knew this was a fact that even the System informed him about. The Doctor's severed hand that was cut off by the Sycorax Leader this very morning held a lot of significance to the future events up until the part with the metacrisis with Donna Noble. He knew that keeping these events somewhat intact was going to be problematic at best considering there would be minor differences due to his existence, but that wasn't all he worried about.
He also knew that The Great Intelligence was also pulling the strings in favor of unraveling all of the Doctor's victories. That bastard was no doubt lingering over the Doctor's timeline and attempting to corrode it even now just as Clara was there to defeat it. Just the mere thought of dealing with the Great Intelligence and the events of Trenzalore was giving Luke a migraine from the pent up anger he felt.
Before he could burst a blood vessel from anger, a System notification appeared in his vision.
[As the embodiment of Anima in this iteration of the Whoniverse, you are naturally protected from temporal manipulation caused by external forces. Enemies, Allies, and even the Doctor themselves cannot alter your timeline without suffering immensely backlash after forced removal. This includes non-corporeal entities such as The Great Intelligence.]
"So, that means they can't fuck with me as much as they can with the Doctor, huh?" Luke muttered under his breath. "Good."
With that, he focused back on the scenario as Rose went to leave and check on Jackie. He knew that this would be fruitless as they had already arrived on the Sycorax ship, yet did not stop the scene from playing out.
=[DW:NG]=
When Mickey and Rose were dragged away from the TARDIS and the doors kept closed to keep out the Sycorax, it left only Luke and the Doctor in the TARDIS along with a spilled thermos of British tea. As the fumes from the tea wafted up through the floor, the unconscious Doctor slowly began to stir. Luke knew that this meant the Doctor was waking up and he began to speak.
"I knew you needed tea to heat up the neurons in your brain, Doctor, but I'm sure you can understand my intentions why I didn't say a word to Rose or Mickey about this," Luke smiled softly as he continued. "I also know that where we are is dangerous for the others. It will be a point where everything begins and I can't have you face it alone. You rest up, Doctor, and I'll handle these creatures who dare to covet this world."
He then walked towards the door to the TARDIS, but before he opened the doors, Luke said one last thing to him. "If you can, Doctor, make sure that you lose your right hand today. I cannot tell you how important it is that you lose that specific hand."
Then, he opened the doors and walked out. He used his Anima to close the doors behind him and that small wisp of Anima vanished once spent.
=[DW:NG]=
When Luke appeared in the central area, the leader of the Sycorax stumbled back a couple of steps in cold dread. Harriet Jones was still listening to her right-hand man translating the language, Rose and Mickey were slightly more confused as if they were shocked to see him walking without a problem, and everything was silent save for the haunting echoes of Luke's footsteps. It was as if the entire place was unable to utter a single sound while Luke was in the room.
"W-what are you?!" The Leader stuttered in Sycoraxic while Harriet's translator translated. He even pointed at Luke directly.
"I am the one who seeks to challenge the leader of this race to single combat," Luke stated plainly in English. While this revelation was being digested by the other humans, Luke continued. "Under the ancient rites of combat, I challenge you for the planet, its riches, and its people."
The leader appeared to pale in fear from Luke's challenge. He appeared to look like he was about to deny the challenge, but then Luke uttered something that ignited the leader's fighting spirit.
"Or is the great Leader of the Sycorax such a coward that he can't fight a lesser being?" Luke taunted.
The leader growled and voiced his acceptance of the challenge.
=[DW:NG]=
Meanwhile.... Back on Earth...
Guthix retained his human form and went to all of the affected people on the rooftops to cancel out the blood control. He had read about it—with help from Michael—that the affected are simply controlled by the blood and there were ways to break it. Ranging from the control machine that used the blood to forcing the survival instinct to break it, Guthix knew that he can break it without much issue as it seemed similar to the Confuse spell most wizards cast. While he can easily break it using his godly form, he also understood that these humans were not favorable upon non-humans and may not take the act in a good way.
So, he decided to keep the magic to minor areas of effect to cleanse the blood control. He also wished he had some ingredients for mixing potions that he remembered from the First Age.
=[DW:NG]=
Meanwhile... In the TARDIS...
The Doctor was stirring awake. He remembered what the stranger said and even knew that his companion Rose seemed to give up on him, yet the remnants in the thermos was just enough for a good cup of tea to heat up the synapses and fix him right up.
"Why did he say I need to get my right hand cut off?" The Doctor thought to himself before he started to drink the last bits of tea.
=[DW:NG]=
The battle commenced as Luke used his steel sword from the quest reward to fight against the Sycorax Leader. Michael had taken a liberty to enforce no one could interfere with the battle by using a type of raw Anima barrier. Luke didn't mind that as he knew that the only person who attempted to intervene in the canon was Rose, but was stopped by the Doctor because it could invalidate the challenge and make the leader win by default.
He wasn't a Time Lord, but Luke knew that Rose wouldn't interfere this time. Even he knew that the Sycorax went silent too when he walked out and that seemed to give him an idea that his innate aura really commanded the room.
Clink! Clank! Clash!
The swords crossed and carried each other as Luke seemed to dance with the Sycorax Leader. The lethality in his graceful moves were beyond what Harriet, Rose, Mickey, and Harriet's right-hand man was capable of understanding, yet Luke's movements were still akin to a novice. As the battle continued, the other humans slowly realized that they could understand the Sycorax. This was obviously due to the Doctor waking up and the TARDIS translation matrix returned in full force.
With the obvious reveal that the Doctor was back and he caught up on what was happening, he knew that no one could interfere with the fight lest they want to lose the planet. To the Doctor, it was clear that Luke was winning.
Then, something happened in the moment right when the first light of midday Christmas shined upon them all. In one moment, Luke defied the imagination as one of his parries forcibly disarmed the Sycorax Leader and sent his sword flying out of his hand. As a result of the opening, Luke quickly put the edge of his blade to the throat of the leader and won the battle.
"I win," Luke stated clearly. "I will spare your life if you take this Champion's command. Leave this planet and never return."
"I—"
"SWEAR ON THE BLOOD OF YOUR SPECIES!" Luke growled as he slightly twisted the blade upward.
"I SWEAR!" The Leader swore, sealing the pact.
Luke lowered his weapon and slowly walked away with no blood spilled by his blade. Even without looking backward, he knew that the Leader would dishonor his agreement as he did so in canon before the Doctor threw a satsuma towards the button to open up a hatch and let the Leader fall.
He looked at the Doctor and smiled as if he did a good thing by not killing him when he could, but something happened. The leader, in a fit of blind humiliation, took out his whip that he used to kill the Major and the astronomer that launch the satellite and flicked it towards Luke.
The warning bells rang out and he mentally cursed himself out as the whip struck him clear and true. He screamed something fierce and innocent before everything went black.
[Oh, dear! You are dead!]
[You have completed three quests at the same time!]
[Quest Completed: The Christmas Invasion.]
[Hidden Quest Completed: Taste of Death.]
[Hidden Quest Completed: Steps of a Myth.]
=[DW:NG]=
His blade cluttered to the ground of the ship as his bones dropped to the ground. The Doctor, Rose, Mickey, Harriet, and her right-hand man were shocked and angered at how cowardly the leader was in killing the victor of the challenge. This led the Doctor to get more angry and the canon played out as it did somewhat. His right hand was severed, grew back, and he defeated the Sycorax Leader along with letting him fall.
The Doctor banished the Sycorax from Earth and Harriet told Torchwood to fire on the ship. That led to her government falling with the six words the Doctor used and continued to the group to reconvene at Rose's apartment.
What surprised them when they returned was a stranger wearing green robes in the kitchen and him telling them that he will return soon.
=[DW:NG]=
Continued in: Lord of Anima.