Act 10: A Bittersweet Victory
Lightning now surrounds the TARDIS; in the console room, Grace slides underneath the central console, hurrying to reroute the power. "God, please," she begs under her breath, pulling wires out--then realizes she's made a mess of the wiring. "Oh, what have I done?!" Searching through the tangle of wires, it looks impossible for her to solve now...
...and at the hospital New Year's Eve party, Pete cries, "30 seconds! 29, 28, 27, 26, 25..."
...in the Cloister Room, Eight grunts, trying to fight the Master's influence, and the Master's face begins to change...
...at the Institute, the partygoers continue the countdown: "20, 19, 18..."
...Eight groans in pain; the Master's face is shifting even more, looking nearly reptilian...
..."17, 16, 15..." the hospital workers gleefully count...
...in the Cloister Room, the Master's shapeshifting becomes even more evident--his short hair becomes long and curling for a bit, then switches back...
...above the lighted Golden Gate Bridge, lightning and thunder split the sky...
..."12, 11, 10..." the Institute attendees chant...
..."I thought surgery was difficult!" Grace cries, trying to make sense of all the TARDIS' wiring...
..."9..." the Institute party chants, the word echoing as a whirlwind begins to form between the city buildings, centering on the TARDIS...
...the Master smiles, absolutely triumphant...
..."8..." the hospital workers count...
..."Rerouting the power," Grace says to herself as she struggles to connect two wires...
..."I'm alive," the Master breathes, as Eight screams...
..."7..." the hospital workers chant...
..."Rerouting the power," Grace whispers, hopeful, but the two wires she's connected set off a spark instead, and she yelps.
..."6..." Professor Wagg says.
..."I'm alive," the Master calls. "I'm alive!"...
..."That's all the time we have," says one of the television news anchors...
..."3!" cry the hospital workers...
..."I'm alive!" the Master yells...
...Grace concentrates, puts two different wires together as the TARDIS' warning sound beats out a dying rhythm...
..."1!" Professor Wagg calls, raising his glass of champagne...
...Grace connects the wires, and a surge of energy flows through the TARDIS as the clocks all around them change from 11:59 to 12:00 midnight. Fireworks explode for the New Year, Eight groans with pain, bracing for the worst--and then, the TARDIS' central chamber wheezes back to life, beginning to operate as normal! Grace looks up at the console, shocked; the clock on the console spins backward, faster and faster, and outside, the TARDIS slowly disappears from the alleyway.
Eight's words, "We have to go back before the Eye was open, maybe even before we arrived!" echo in Grace's mind as she looks at the controls. "Alarm clock, alarm clock, think alarm clock!" she instructs herself, and adjusts a few levers and dials. The readout on the screen above her says "ENTERING TEMPORAL ORBIT."
"Temporal orbit?! What's a temporal orbit?!" she cries, dumbfounded--and she heads back into the Cloister Room to check on Eight; scenes of Earth blend together and vanish as the TARDIS leaves Earth, spinning backward through time.
Meanwhile, Eight is conscious again, thanks to the power of the Eye being diverted back into the TARDIS' systems as it's supposed to be. "She did it," he breathes, as the Master's changing face reverts back. Then he turns his attention to the Master. "Your life force is dying, Master."
"NO!" The Master's voice is hoarse and nearly demonic now as he cries aloud.
Grace hurries up the steps to Eight, getting in front of him so her body blocks the light of the still-open Eye. "We're in temporal orbit, Doctor," she says, trying to get him to respond as she frees one of his hands from the chains. "What is it?"
Because the light from the Eye is blocked, the connection between the two Time Lords is broken and the Master is now free to move again; enraged by Grace's interference with his plans, he runs to the other balcony where Eight and Grace are, grabs Grace, and throws her from the balcony. Grace screams as she falls, the sound cut off as she hits the ground.
"GRACE! NO!" Eight bellows; he uses the chains to give him leverage enough to chest-kick the Master back against a pillar with both feet. The Master falls, stunned, and Eight takes the opportunity to undo the rest of his restraints, throwing aside the "crown of nails" as he runs down the steps to check on Grace. But even as he reaches her and calls her name, despairing, she doesn't respond...she looks dead.
The Master, meanwhile, has crept up behind Eight and strikes him across the back with one of the staffs from the Eye of Harmony, growling as he goes on the attack. He kicks Eight viciously in the stomach, once, twice, stunning him, and then grabs him up, trying to throw him into the Eye.
"You want dominion over the living," Eight shouts as he struggles, "but all you do is kill!"
"Life is wasted on the living!" the Master growls. (Yes, this is a deliberate Douglas Adams reference!)
They struggle; finally Eight manages to kick the Master away, sending him stumbling backward, and Eight rights himself. The Master catches sight of Eight as he climbs out, and he rushes toward Eight to tackle him again. Eight grasps for another of the staffs around the Eye and turns it so it reflects light from the Eye into the Master's vision; the pull of the power source yanks the Master forward. The Master ends up clinging to one of the staffs, trying desperately not to be sucked into the Eye.
Despite the Master being trapped in a whirlpool of power, Eight reaches out to him cautiously. "Give me your hand!" he calls, giving his enemy a last chance at life.
"Never!" the Master growls, sounding nearly inhuman. After a brief struggle, he loses his grip on the staff and is pulled into the Eye, disintegrating in a blast of wind. When it dies down, all that is left is Eight and the bodies of his would-be companions...