Disclaimer: Doctor Who does not belong to me and I am making no profit off of this.
War of the Guardians
CHAPTER 1
Somewhere outside of time and space, there was a meeting of great importance taking place. It was a meeting that could potentially have far reaching consequences for the entire universe and each and every parallel universe as well. It was a meeting of the Guardians of Time. The Guardians were a little known but extremely powerful group of entities that had great control over all of time and space. There were six of them that were known to the Time Lords but there were many others that had kept their existence secret even from Gallifrey.
The Guardians were all gathered together in this place outside of reality in order to decide what to do about the vacuum that had been left in the universe after the destruction of the Time Lords. The Time Lords had kept time in order and had prevented the occurrence of paradoxes, cracks in time, and meddling in time by renegade time travellers. They also maintained the connections between parallel worlds so that there was easy access between them. Their extinction was causing many problems throughout time and not all of them could be solved by the one remaining Time Lord, The Doctor.
The Doctor was very good at what he did but not even he could be everywhere at once or solve everything. He also had been having a great deal of trouble with The Silence as of late that had driven him underground as he faked his own death. This had severely limited his ability to deal with any universal crises. His inability to travel to parallel worlds also meant that he couldn't fix any temporal problems that sometimes could and did occur in them also. Something had to be done about this situation. Recently, the Doctor's TARDIS had blown up and almost erased all of reality. The Doctor had managed to fix this problem but who was to say he would be able to do so the next time such an event might occur.
No, the Guardians would have no more of this situation. The Time Lords had to be replaced in some way. Someone had to fill the vacuum and soon. The Guardians were prohibited by their own laws from taking too much of a role in reality and usually used agents to carry out their will. They had decided to gather and hold a special vote to make an exception for this new situation. If the vote passed, then the Guardians would set up a new group to take the place of the Time Lords and use them to start policing time once more.
The vote passed with all of the Guardians agreeing to allow this one time exception to their rules. Now, the real problems began. Which ofthe Guardians would be in charge of fixing this situation? The two Guardians who were vying for this job were the White and Black Guardians. The White Guardian represented order and the Black Guardian represented chaos.
The White Guardian wanted to recreate a new version of the Time Lords that would function just like the Time Lords of old and would include not just Gallifreyans but representatives from all time travelling planets, except for Skaro for obvious reasons. The White Guardian even had an idea of asking the Doctor to be a consultant to this new group. He knew better than to ask him to lead it because he knew the Doctor would never do such a thing for long.
The Black Guardian, however, wanted to create a group that would not be composed of representatives throughout the universe but of beings who would answer only to the Guardians and would bend reality to their will. This appealed to many of the Guardians who had long grown tired of the endless wars and problems caused by free will creatures. They wanted to make their own lives easier by controlling everyone and everything with an iron fist. That way they could be sure that their existences would never be threatened by anything or anyone ever again.
The two Guardians began to gather followers among their fellow Guardians until the Guardians were evenly split between the White and the Black Guardians and a majority vote was not possible. The nature of this new replacement of the Time Lords had to be decided in another way. The Black and the White Guardians decided on a contest to decide which version of the universe would exist. The contest would be a race to reassemble the legendary Key To Time. Whoever reassembled the Key first would decide the future of all. They began to pick their champions and this is where the story truly begins.
Amy Pond was alone in the Console Room in the TARDIS as it drifted aimlessly through the Vortex. She sat and watched the Time Rotor go up and down and thought of nothing in particular as she tried to use the rhythm and the sounds of the TARDIS to lure her into sleep. She had had terrible insomnia as of late and nothing seemed to be able to cure it. She had gotten to the point where she was now hoping that the sounds and flashing lights of the TARDIS might help her fall asleep in the Captain's Chair. She had not slept in days and it was making her ever more cranky and irritable. She knew why she couldn't sleep though and there was nothing that she knew to fix the problem. Every time she tried to sleep she couldn't help but think of the many horrible things that had happened to her in the last couple of years since she had started travelling with the Doctor. This problem had only grown worse lately and she was finding it ever more difficult to be able to relax and fall off to sleep.
Amy had almost managed to finally get some sleep when she was rudely shaken awake by the arrival of a unexpected visitor! A figure dressed all in white suddenly appeared by the TARDIS doors in a blaze of golden energy.
Amy suddenly shot up to her feet fully awake. "Who are you? How did you get in here?" She shouted out as loudly as she could. She was hoping that the Doctor was nearby and would come up to help her. She knew that he hardly ever slept and she hoped that this wasn't one of the rare times when he actually was asleep.
The figure in white came closer to Amy and then stopped a few feet away from her. The being could see that Amy was shaking in fear and did not want to make her even more afraid. The being had on a long flowing white ceremonial gown and a white hood that completely covered its head so that none of its face could be seen. Amy couldn't tell anything about this being. The clothing was so voluminous and all-encompassing that it was hard to tell whether or not the being was even male or female. Amy wondered why this being had gone to such lengths to conceal their identity. Were they someone who might be easily recognized by the inhabitants of the universe? Questions like these flowed through Amy's mind as she stared at the silent figure in front of her.
Finally, the being in white spoke and Amy heard an echoing female voice that spoke in a proper English accent that sounded very posh and regal. "I did not mean to frighten you. I mean no harm to anyone on your ship. I am the White Guardian and I have come to speak to The Doctor. Can you bring him to me?" the figure in white said in a soft, quiet voice.
"Sure! No problem! DOCTOR!" Amy screamed at the top of her lungs as she let out all of her fear at once.
You bellowed?!" came the Doctor's voice as he came near to the door to the console room. He hadn't been far away after all. He hadn't seen the White Guardian yet and assumed that Amy just wanted to talk to him about her problem sleeping so he was walking slowly and was in no big hurry to get to her.
"You don't have to shout so loud, Pond! I was just down the hall. You shouted so loud that you almost made me make a critical mistake in rewiring the TARDIS! I almost let two wires touch that if they had met would have caused a hole the size of Belgium to appear in the universe! That would have been very, very bad! Universal annihilation level bad! I don't know why holes in time and space are always the size of Belgium but they usually are. I always wondered about that. Why Belgium? I guess it's just one of those imponderable mysteries of the universe! Did I ever tell you about an amazing adventure that I had in Belgium once? It involved Charlemagne, a time displaced King Arthur, the Sontarans, and a half-eaten Belgian waffle . I used the waffle to save the world! Oh, it's a good story! Remind me to tell you about it sometime! I got a crown out of from Charlemagne! I should really start wearing that. Crowns are cool! How great would it be if I started wearing a cro-" the Doctor babbled and then stopped in mid-word as he saw the Guardian standing there.
"What are you doing in my TARDIS?" The Doctor said with an angry voice as he quickly came up next to Amy and stood in front of her protectively.
The White Guardian looked at him for a moment as if she were studying him carefully before she spoke. "Bow ties and tweed?! You have really lost the fashion sense you had in your last incarnation, Doctor! You were a very snazzy dresser before! What happened?" She said in a laughing tone.
Amy began to relax somewhat as she heard this. Maybe this White Guardian wasn't so bad after all. Anybody who teased the Doctor about his bow tie couldn't be evil, could they? In fact, the tone that the White Guardian used was a very friendly one almost as if she knew the Doctor. Amy wondered if she was someone who the Doctor had met before. She briefly wondered if it were River, but she knew that River would have revealed herself to Amy immediately and not played games with her. She felt a sense of safety and protection around this figure now that she usually associated with River or The Doctor. She didn't know why that was but it was what she felt around her. She felt as if she could trust this woman and that she meant no ill will to her\. She wondered if the woman was manipulating her mind to make her feel that way but she decided against that thought. This woman seemed to be genuine.
"Oi! Who asked you to come to my home and start making fun of my cool taste in clothes?! Again I ask who are you? You are not the White Guardian. You sound like a woman. The White Guardian always appears as a man, "The Doctor pouted with an indignant tone to his voice.
"It's true. I am not the White Guardian that you knew, Doctor. I have been only recently appointed to the position by the old White Guardian. He feels confident that I can be a proper successor to him and fulfill his goals for the universe. That is what I have come to you to talk about. I wish to get your help in finding the Key To Time once more. I must find the Key before the Black Guardian or there will be no free will left in the universe!" The new White Guardian explained. She then told the Doctor and Amy everything that had happened at the meeting of the Guardians and what was at stake here.
"The Guardians want to recreate the Time Lords?! How arrogant can you get?! What gives the Guardians the right to decide who controls time?" The Doctor said angrily.
"We had to step in and fill in the hole in the order of the universe, Doctor! You cannot do everything! Someone has to be your back-up! You should not have to do it all alone!" The White Guardian said. She said with emotion as if she genuinely cared about the burden that the Doctor always carried on his shoulders.
The Doctor stared at her silently for a moment. This woman seemed familiar to him. He couldn't place her but he knew that he knew her from somewhere.
The White Guardian broke the silence by speaking to Amy. "I see he still babbles on endlessly about nothing. He could talk for hours and still say nothing of any importance! Does he still call the TARDIS sexy?" She asked with a laugh.
Amy looked shocked but quickly responded back by saying, "Oh, yeah! I sometimes think he loves the TARDIS more than he does River! I know if she ever became human again that he would probably divorce River and marry her!"
The White Guardian looked puzzled and even somewhat hurt and shocked as she said, "The Doctor is married? Who is River? The TARDIS was human once?"
"I guess you aren't all-knowing then. I remember the Doctor talking about the Guardians as if they were all wise and all powerful. He actually did tell me about you one time when he told me a story about a companion of his named Romana. Yes, the Doctor is married to my daughter, River Song. I know I look too young to have a grown daughter but it's true! It's a long story! It's all timey wimey as The Doctor always says. The TARDIS briefly became human once when her soul was ripped out of her by a living asteroid named House who wanted to eat her. That's another long story!" Amy explained with an exasperated grin on her face. She didn't want to have to explain everything to this stranger who according to all accounts should already know it all anyway.
"Wait a minute! You mean you're travelling with your wife's mother?! You, who never does domestic?! You've certainly changed over the years, haven't you?" The White Guardian said and then she began to laugh a heartfelt belly laugh.
The Doctor looked at the Guardian suspiciously as he said, "Who are you? Do you know me? You know things about me only a few people could know and yet you don't know that I'm married? You're obviously not all knowing so how do you know so much about me? If you expect me to help you then you need to be honest and forthcoming with me. I won't do anything for you if I don't trust you! Why should I place any faith in you and your mission? Convince me!"
The White Guardian was silent for a moment as she thought of what she could possibly say to convince the Doctor to help her. She knew if she told him who she was that he would help her immediately but she didn't want to do that unless she had to. She didn't want anyone to know who she was. The Black Guardian himself didn't know who she was and she wanted to keep it that way. She would be much harder to beat if he didn't know who she was or how she thought. That was why the old Guardian had chosen her to replace him because he wanted to throw an unknown element into the mix to shake the Black Guardian up and throw him off his game. She was still in a way working for the old Guardian as he was giving her advice on what to do that she usually took. She had the final say so, however. She finally came up with something that she thought would sway the Doctor to her side.
She walked over to the TARDIS console and put her hand on it. She spoke telepathically to the TARDIS and told her who she really was. The TARDIS had already guessed and was ecstatic when that guess was confirmed. The console lit up and all sorts of noises were being emitted from it that The Doctor knew meant that the TARDIS was happy about something. The Guardian mentally asked the TARDIS not to tell the Doctor who she was in any way and the time ship agreed once she explained why to her.
"I just told the TARDIS my name and she obviously trusts me and even likes me. Does that convince you, Doctor?" The Guardian said.
"How do I know that you haven't done something to her to get her to react like that? No, you'll have to do better than that," The Doctor said skeptically.
"Okay. I'll up the ante then, Time Lord! " The Guardian said with a playful tone. Her hands began to glow with golden energy and then suddenly a new figure materialized in the Console Room!
It was a young blonde girl with her hair tied in a ponytail and wearing military fatigues. The Doctor looked at her in shock as he instantly recognized her.
"Jenny?! I thought that you were dead! If I had known that you were still alive, I never would have left you! How did you survive? You didn't regenerate. Your appearance is the same," The Doctor said as he stared at the girl in amazement.
"Dad?! I've been trying to find you for years! Is that really you?" Jenny said as she looked at him with happiness all over her face.
"It's him. I brought you here to him to prove to him that I'm on his side. Why would I bother to tell him about you unless I was? He didn't even know that you still existed. I could easily have left him clueless about you for eternity. Does that convince you, Doctor?" The Guardian asked with a cocky sound in her voice.
"Who is this? How does she know you?" Amy asked as she eyed this new girl warily.
"This is Jenny, Pond! She's my daughter!" The Doctor said still with a shocked look on his face.
"What?!" Amy said with an even more shocked look on her face.
"Now you're starting to sound like his tenth incarnation, Amy! You've been hanging around the Doctor too long I think!" The White Guardian joked.
The Doctor gave Jenny a warm hug as he apologized to her for leaving her behind and not knowing that she was still alive. Jenny was laughing and just happy to have finally found her father again after so long.
The White Guardian looked on at the two with a warm feeling in her heart. She had heard rumors spread throughout the universe of a young girl who travelled around looking for the Doctor everywhere that she went. The girl usually ended up saving whatever world she wound up on from some disaster or another. It wasn't too hard to put two and two together and figure out who she must be. She had learned all about information gathering and establishing contacts from her past employer and that had really come in handy in her new role as a Guardian.
Jenny was yet another person who she would need if she were to find the Key before the Black Guardian. She had many more people to approach and ask for help besides the three people before her. She still had to convince the Doctor though. He was the lynchpin for her plan. If she couldn't get him, then the whole thing would be all that much harder.
The Doctor looked at her at last and said, "Okay. I'm going to trust you for now. That doesn't mean that I'm going to follow you blindly though. I'll be watching you and if I think that you're going to double cross me then I will stop you! I won't let you set up some fascist version of the Time Lords on my watch! For now, though, I'll do what you ask of me because I certainly don't want the Black Guardian controlling all of time."
The White Guardian smiled a wide grin under her hood. Here she was back fighting side with side with the Doctor once again. She had so missed this. She was going to fulfill her end of the bargain with the original White Guardian. He had told her that if she helped him defeat the Black Guardian that he would bring her back to the Doctor and he had kept his promise. The Doctor had moved on with his life since she had left him, but that didn't matter as she knew that she would wait for him for all eternity of she needed to. What mattered was that she was here with him now and was by his side once again. The team was back together again! Shiver and Shake! Mutt and Jeff! The Stuff of Legends!
Rose Tyler just kept smiling under her hood. She was finally back home!