"I'll always remember when I was the Doctor." The Doctor said the words, each syllable, like it were his last. He then took off his bow tie, the truest article of clothing he ever wore, and watched it cascade to the floor of the Tardis.
Clara watched in horror as the yellow-gold energy of regeneration spread over The Doctor's body. She protested but all he did was smile. A smile that belonged to a person at peace, a smile few have earned at the end.
And without warning, the Doctor changed.
This was different, no overwhelming energy needed to channel the cycle. The Time Lords had given him a new cycle, a fresh start. Things are always quickest at the beginning.
In an instant, the Doctor was a new man. Same clothes but he was now slightly taller. He was an older man with grey hair, an aged face, and fierce eyes that seemed to look through a person.
He stared at Clara, leaning in very close, as though he were trying to remember an old friend and understand the stranger who had appeared before him at the same time. Clara was silent, her eyes wide.
They were seeing each other for the first time and neither of them knew how to handle the situation.
Suddenly the Doctor lurched back as something sparked within him.
"KIDNEYS!" He screamed in a slight Scottish-like accent. "I've got new kidneys. I don't the color." He said bitterly.
"Of your kidneys?" Clara asked nervously. This wasn't her Doctor anymore, this man was a stranger. A stranger with the Doctor's knowledge and skills. A truly terrifying force to face.
The Tardis lurched violently, forcing them both to stagger for their lives.
"What's happening?" Clara asked.
"We're probably crashing." The Doctor said as he pressed buttons on the console of the Tardis, but they seemed to have very little effect.
Clara couldn't believe how disastrously things were going. Not only had she lost her best friend, she was now stuck with a strange man and the Tardis was now in a sudden death spiral for some unholy reason.
"Keep calm." The Doctor muttered as he continued to work on the Tardis' controls. "Oi, just one question. Do you happen to know how to fly this thing?"
And like that Clara knew things were very bad.
But things had to get better, right?
I mean, how could it possibly get worst?