"Right then, Jessamine Tyler – you tell me, where do you want to go? Backwards or Forwards in time. What's it going to be?" The Doctor asked me, still holding my hand. He took us to the controls, I could hear the humming again, and it sounded so happy.
"Forwards." I answered him. The Doctor lets go of my hand and presses a few buttons.
"How far?" I picked a random number out of my head, "One hundred years." He pulls a lever and turns a knob. The engines lurch and then stopped after a few seconds.
"There you go, step outside those doors, it's the twenty-second century." I looked over to him in light shock.
"Really?" he nodded his head and then shrugged, "That's a bit boring though, do you want to go further?"
"Absolutely!" I said in excitement, with a big, bright smile. The Doctor starts up the engines again. When they stop, he looks at me.
"Ten thousand years in the future. Step outside, it's the year 12005, the New Roman Empire."
"You think you're so impressive." I grinned at him teasingly.
"I AM so impressive." He grinned back. I laughed lively at him, "You wish!"
"Right then, you asked for it. I know exactly where to go." He revs up the engine, pumping a lever furiously. "Hold on!"
I grabbed onto the console as the TARDIS hurtles through the time vortex. With a pinging noise, the TARDIS stops. "Where are we?" the Doctor gestures towards the doors. I smile excitedly, "What's out there?" he gestures again. I step outside the doors. I find myself in some kind of metal room. The Doctor follows me and with his sonic screwdriver, opens the shutters of an enormous window. We go down the stairs and find ourselves looking down on the planet Earth.
"You lot. You spend all your time thinking about dying. Like you're going to get killed by eggs or beef or global warming or asteroids. But you never take the time to imagine the impossible. Maybe you survive. This is the year 5.5/apple/26. Five billion years in your future. This is the day . . . hold on . . ." he looks at his watch, "This is the day the sun expands. Welcome to the end of the world."
"Shuttles 5 and 6 now docking. Guests are reminded that platform 1 forbids the use of weapons, teleportation and religion. Earth death is scheduled for 15:39, followed by drinks in the Manchester Suite." I make a face at the religion part as the Doctor and I are walking down a corridor. I turn to look at the Doctor.
"So, when it says 'guests' does that mean aliens?" I asked looping my arm with his.
"Yes! Very good, Jessamine!" he nods his head excitedly. I look around the spaceship, thinking.
"So I'm guessing that they've gather here to watch the Earth burn?" I asked again looking up to him just a bit.
"Yes." The Doctor starts to open a door with his sonic screwdriver. I look away and over my shoulder, "It's for fun, isn't it?" I look back over to him. He nods again. We enter a large observation gallery.
"Mind you, it's the great and the good, what I mean is, the rich." He told me, resting his hand on mine that was still resting on his arm.
"The sun expanding though, that takes hundreds of years." I said looking up to him.
"Millions. But the planet's now property of the National Trust. They've been keeping it preserved. See down there?" he points out the window at the tiny glints of light orbiting the Earth, "Gravity satellite. That's holding back the sun."
"The planet looks the same." I peered out the window, "The continents were supposed to shift." I looked back over to the Doctor.
"They did. And the trust shifted them back. That's a classic Earth. But now the money's run out, nature takes over!" I shook my head backing away from the window.
"They should of let nature take over years ago, this is wrong . . . how long has it got?" I miss the Doctor's sad look towards me, he looks at his watch.
"About half an hour. And the plant gets roasted." I looked back at him sharply.
"I'm guessing we're not saving it this time?" I asked.
"Yep, time's up." He answered. I nodded, "Its empty, isn't it? They left it, didn't they?"
"Yes." I look back out the window. Then a tall blue man hurries towards us.
"Who the hell are you?" I just stare at him in wonder.
"Oh! That's nice, thanks." I shook my head at the Doctor sarcasm.
"But how did you get in? This is a maximum hospitality zone. The guests have disembarked! They're on their way any second now!" the Doctor starts digging in his pockets making me move my arm away.
"That's me, I'm a guest, look! I've got an invitation!" he flashes a small leather wallet at the blue man. "Look, there you see? It's fine, see? The Doctor plus one. I'm the Doctor, this is Jessa Tyler. She's my plus one. That all right?" I shot the Doctor a confused look when he called me Jessa, since we first met he's always called me by my whole name. The only one to do that since Pete passed away.
"Well . . . obviously." The Doctor grins. "Apologies, etcetera. If you're onboard, we'd better start. Enjoy." The Doctor nods at him. After the blue man walks off, the Doctor shows me the card he had flashed at the man. I take it out of his hands looking at it.
"The paper's slightly psychic. Shows them whatever I want them to see. Saves a lot of time. See?" I shook my head and handed it back.
"It's blank, Doctor." I told him. He looks at me with a bright, proud smile on his face.
"That just means you're too smart to be fooled by it, Jessamine." I blush lightly at that. I cleared my throat and looked away from him. I pointed in the direction of the blue man.
"Is he related to the Blue Man Group?" he barks out a laugh and shakes his head. The blue man was now speaking through a microphone at the other end of the suite.
"We have in attendance, the Doctor and Jessa Tyler. Thank you! All staff to their positions." He claps his hands and a lot of little blue people start scurrying around. "Hurry now! Thank you, as quick as we can! Come along, come along! And now, might I introduce the next honoured guest, representing the forest of Cheem, we have Trees. Namely, Jabe, Lute, and Coffa." The named Trees walked through the doors. "There will be an exchange of gifts representing peace. If you can keep the room circulating, thank you. Next, from the solicitors Jolco and Jolco, the Moxx of Balhoon." The Doctor smiles cheerily, as my look of wonder soon starts to change into bewilderment. "And now, from Financial Family Seven, we have the Adherents of the Repeated Meme." The Doctor chuckles at the look on my face. "The inventors of hyposlip travel systems, the brothers Hop Pyleen. Thank you!" entered more aliens, "Cal 'Spark Plug'." More aliens. "Mr. and Mrs. Pakoo." And more. "The Ambassadors from the City State of Binding Light."
Jabe approaches the Doctor. On either side of her, her companions are holding plant trays with little shoots in them.
"The Gift of Peace." She takes a cutting and hands it to the Doctor. "I bring you a cutting of my Grandfather."
"Thank you!" he gives it to me. "Yes, gifts . . . erm . . ." he clears his throat and starts feeling his jacket for something, finding nothing, what he says shocks the living hell out of me, "I give you in return, air from my lungs." He blows gently onto Jabe's face, who closes her eyes briefly.
"How . . . intimate." I felt my eyes widen in shock, 'Oh Merlin, please tell me they're not . . .'
"There's more where that came from." The Doctor said flirtatiously, 'Oh sweet loving Morgana, they are!' I gave the Doctor a 'what-the-ever-loving-fuck-just-happen' look. Did he really just flirt with a tree? A talking, walking, breathing tree!
"Sponsor of the main event, please welcome the Face of Bo." I shook out of my shock as a huge head in an equally huge jar is wheel through the doors. I turn to get a better look and become transfixes on him as he passes us and I swear up and down the yellow brick road that he just winked at me. I felt like I knew him . . . that he was someone important to me. The Moxx of Balhoon approaches me and the Doctor.
"The Moxx of Balhoon." I turned to look at the alien.
"My felicitations on this historical happenstance. I give you the gift of bodily saliva." He then spits accurately into my left eye.
"Thank you very much." The Doctor laughs. I gave him a death glare as I rub the spit out of my eye. Next, the Adherents of the Repeated Meme approach us. "Ah! The Adherents of the Repeated Meme. I bring you air from my lungs." He breathes heavily over them all.
"A gift of peace in all good faith." He holds out a large silver egg, which the Doctor takes, throws it up into the air, catches it, and then hands it to me. I shook my head, the egg gave off an ill feeling. The Doctor frowns at me.
"And last but not least, our very special guest. Ladies and Gentlemen, and Trees and Multiforms. Consider the Earth below. In the memory of this dying world, we call forth the Last Human." The Doctor turns and looks at me. I look back at him with a raised eyebrow. The sliding doors open and what looks like a vertical trampoline made of human skin is wheeled through. It has eyes and a mouth, that's wearing red lipstick. My other eyebrow joins the already raised one, while my eyes widen in shock. I looked back to the Doctor.
"That's no human. That's a moveable, talkable trampoline!" I whispered to him. He looks at me in amusement.
"The Lady Cassandra O'Brien Dot Delta Seventeen."
"Oh, now, don't stare. I know, I know it's shocking, isn't it? I've had my chin completely taken away and look at me the difference! Look how thin I am." The Doctor laughs silently but heartily and looks back to me, still looking shock. I looked over to him, "Holy shite! It really can talk!" I whispered to him then looking back to the trampoline with curiosity.
"Thin and dainty! I don't look a day over two thousand. Moisturize me, moisturize me." One of the two men in white body suits who wheeled her in is holding a canister, which he sprays onto Cassandra or Trampoline as I was calling her now. "Truly, I am The Last Human." I snorted as I crept closer for a better look. "My father was a Texan. My mother was from the Arctic Desert. They were born on the Earth and were the last to be buried in the soil." I had been walking around to the other side of Trampoline, to get a good view of her from all angle, she's completely flat! "I have come to honour them and . . ." she sniffs, ". . . say goodbye. Oh, no tears." One of her bodyguards wipes her eyes, "No tears. I'm sorry. But behold! I bring gifts. From Earth itself – the last remaining ostrich egg." One of the staff comes in and displays the egg to the room. "Legend says it had a wingspan of 50 feet and blew fire from its nostrils." I gave the Doctor a 'what-the-fuck' look which he ignored. "Or was that my third husband?" I rolled my eyes but the Doctor laughed. "Who knows? Oh don't laugh. I'll get laughter lines!" she laughs and mumbles to herself for a few seconds. Behind her, a large jukebox is wheeled into the room. "And here, another rarity. According to the archives, this was called an iPod. It stores classical music from humanity's greatest composers." I looked at Trampoline in amazement knowing that the Human Race? Yeah, it just got even stupider. "Play on!" one of the staff presses a button and a record falls into place. The 'iPod' starts playing Tainted Love by Soft Cell. I watch the Doctor bop around appreciatively.
"Refreshments will now be served. Earth Death in 30 minutes." The steward told us. I could feel the lost, overwhelmed expression on my face. 'Everywhere I look there aliens, but no humans . . . well Trampoline technically counts as a human . . . so there's no magical humans . . . like me . . . I'm so alone.' I rush from the gallery after that thought. I was in another part of the ship, looking out the window at the raging sun. I jump when another one of the staff comes into the room, a female this time.
"Sorry, am I allowed to be in here?" the employee looked around uneasily.
"You have to give us permission to talk." She looks at me expectantly. I look at her unsure, the behavior reminding me of house elves.
"Uh . . . you . . . have permission . . .?" I said hesitantly.
"Thank you! And, no. You're not in the way. Guests are allowed anywhere."
"Okay." I nodded my head. She goes to a panel in the wall and enters a code. I watch her.
"What's your name?" I asked her.
"Raffalo." I looked at her with a raised eyebrow, "Raffalo?"
"Yes, Miss. I won't be long, I've just got to carry out some maintenance." She kneels before an air vent. "There's a tiny little glitch in the Face of Bo suite. There must be something blocking the system – he's not getting any hot water."
"So, you're a plumber?" I asked slowly.
"That's right, Miss." I looked at her in shock.
"They still have plumbers?" Raffalo looked to me, "I hope so! Else I'm out of a job!" I laugh.
"Where are you from?" I asked interested.
"Crespallion." I nodded and crossed my arms behind my back.
"And that's where?"
"Crespallion's part of the Jaggit Brocade, affiliated to the Scarlet Junction, Convex 56. And where are you from, Miss?" she seemed to remember herself, "If you don't mind me asking."
"No, not at all. I'm from a very faraway place. I sort of, hitched a lift with the Doctor." I looked away lost in my thoughts. Raffalo name suddenly appears in head on the list, I let out a soft sigh. "Anyway, don't let me keep you. Good luck with it!" I begin to walk away but before I do, I lightly brush my hand on Raffalo claiming her soul as collected.
"Thank you, Miss. And –" I turn around, "Thank you for the permission. Not many people are that considerate."
"Welcome. See you later." I smile to her. Raffalo nods and smiles. When I left, she takes the cover off the air vent.
"Earth Death in 25 minutes. Earth Death in 25 minutes."
I was sitting on the steps, leaning back looking out the window. I look over to the cutting of Jabe's grandfather. I pick it up.
"Hello! My name's Jessamine, though everyone calls me Jessa. My middle name is Rose, though. It's a sort of plant, so we might be related . . ." I start laughing at myself and put the plant down, "I'm talking to a twig."
"Jessamine? Are you in there?" the Doctor calls as he comes through the door. "Aye aye!" he sits on the other side of the stairs. "What do you think, then?"
"It's amazing, Doctor. Absolutely amazing . . . once you get pass the walkable, talkable human trampoline, that is." The Doctor laughs, there's a short pause. "It just makes me realize how truly alone I am, though." The Doctor looks at me questionably, "The Earth you found me on, it's not the true Earth I'm from. My home, Doctor is gone . . . because of me." I looked away from him, "My people got so power hungry, Doctor. I didn't have a choice but I wish I did . . . Oh Merlin did I beg for another way, but there wasn't one." I look back over to him, silent tears running down my cheeks. "My people thought they were better than the Muggles and wanted to get rid of them. Bloody hell, even my own husband agree with the Ministry. So my best friend, Hermonie Weasley nee Granger and I created a ritual that would time lock our world but it came with a price, Doctor." My hands were shaking as I moved them to wipe the tears away. I felt a large hand take hold of both of my hands, startling me. I looked up from the floor to see the Doctor looking at me with a soft and sad expression.
"What was the price, Jessamine?"
"It had to be me or Hermonie by using the veil of death. Whoever did would be taken out of the time lock and sent to another Earth, never to come back cos once activated in a time lock no one comes out and no one comes in. There was the possibilities of the person dying. So I did it, cos death can't take its own Mistress, Doctor." I moved my left hand out of his and moved my selves up, showing him my Deathly Hallows mark. "I can't die, Doctor. I have to watch everyone I love and care about age and die all around me and collect their damn souls. You know what that's like, right?" I look up at him, he nods. I look away from him, embarrassed about spilling my woes to him.
"Where are you from, Doctor?" I asked after a while.
"All over the place." I looked over to him.
"They all speak English, why?" I asked.
"It's a gift of the TARDIS. Telepathic field, gets inside your brain – translates." I nodded my head in thought.
"Does that include humming?" I looked him in the eye. He looked at me in shock.
"Humming?" I nodded, "Yeah, I started to hear humming when you told me the name of the TARDIS." He just keeps looking at me in shock.
"That's never happened that fast." I tilted my head questioningly. "The TARDIS, she can talk and rarely does she talk to my companions."
"I'm just a special case then, yea?" I teased with a small grin.
"Oh, there's no doubt about that." I sat there gob smack as he teased me back. I lightly hit him on the arm, "Jerk!" I laughed. Once I stopped laughing, I turned back to the Doctor.
"But, really, where are you from, Doctor? What are you called? What's your plant called?" I asked again. The Doctor sits up and looks away from me.
"I'm just The Doctor." I frown at him.
"Yea? From what planet?" I pressed.
"Well, it's not as if you'll know where it is!" my frown deepen.
"Doctor, where are you from?" I turned to him, arms crossed.
"What does it matter?" he asked me.
"It matters cos I told you where I'm truly from and the least you could do is to do the same. Tell me who you are." I told him very seriously.
"This is who I am, right here, right now, alright? All that counts is here and now, and this is me!" he said suddenly very angry. The Doctor gets up and walks down the steps away from me.
"Earth Death in 20 minutes. Earth Death in 20 minutes." After a few minutes, I get up and follow the Doctor down the steps.
"Alright . . . as Monie used to say . . . don't argue with the designated driver. . . But so you know, I'm always here if you want to talk, okay?" The Doctor, with his back turned to me, smiles at that. I get out my mobile out of my pocket. "Can't exactly call for a taxi . . . there's no signal. We're out of range. Just a bit!" I tried to get the Doctor to laugh or look at me with that handsome smile of his again. My wish was answered.
"Tell you what . . ." he takes my phone from me. "With a little bit of jiggery pokery . . ." he takes the back off.
"Is that a technical term, 'jiggery pokery'?" I asked with a slight smile.
"Yeah, I came first in jiggery pokery, what about you?" I giggled a bit.
"Nah, failed hullabaloo." I cover my mouth with my hand smothering my giggles a bit.
"Oooh." He fits in a new battery, and hands it back to me. "There you go." I take it and look at him uncertainly. He nods. I get mum's number onto the screen and put the phone to my ear. It rings.
[Hello?]
[Mum?]
[Oh, what is it? What's wrong? What have I done now? Oh, this red top's falling to bits! You should get your money back. Go on! There must be something, you never phone in the middle of the day!] She hears me laugh. [What's so funny?]
[Nothing! You and Rose all right, though?]
[Yeah! Why wouldn't we be?]
[What day is it?]
[Wednesday. All day. You got a hangover? Oh, I tell you what, put a quid in that lottery syndicate, I'll pay you back later.]
[Yeah, um, I was just calling 'cause I might be late home.]
[Is there something wrong?]
[No! I'm fine! Top of the world!] The Doctor laughs. I lower my mobile, stunned.
"Think that's amazing, you want to see the bill." I look over to him.
"That was 5 billion years ago. She's dead now. They're both dead . . . I'm the mistress of Death, when they told me the job description, I think they forgot about mad men and their bigger on the inside blue boxes!" I told him.
"Bundle of laughs, you are." I rolled my eyes at him. The ship then shudders. "That's not supposed to happen . . ." the Doctor said rather pleased and curious. The guests are completely oblivious to the commotion, chatting to each other. The Moxx of Balhoon is talking to the Face of Bo.
". . . this is the Bad Wolf scenario . . ." the Doctor and I enter.
"That wasn't a gravity pocket. I know gravity pockets and they don't feel like that." He fiddles with a control panel next to the door. Jabe approaches us, I immediately start to feel a bit of jealousy. "What do you think, Jabe? Listen to the engines – they pitched up about 30 hertz, is that dodgy or what?"
"It's the sound of metal, it doesn't make any sense to me." I scoffed at her silently, even I could tell the difference of the sound from earlier to now.
"Where's the engine room?" the Doctor asked her.
"I don't know . . . but the maintenance duct is just behind our guest's suite, I could show you. And . . ." she gestures at me. ". . . your wife."
"She's not my wife." I look at the Doctor out the corner of my eye.
"Partner?"
"No." Jabe looks at me, I felt my figurative feather ruffle up.
"Concubine?" that's it.
"Whatever I am, it must be invisible, do you mind? Tell you what, you two go and pollinate, I'm going to catch up with family. Quick word with Michael Jackson. Oh and who knows, I may go offer myself to Mr. Face of Bo over there, yea? And he wouldn't have been able to afford me, anyway." I sneer at her and make my way over to Trampoline.
"Don't start a fight, Jessamine." He said slightly red faced as he proffers an arm to Jabe. "I'm all yours."
"And I want you home by midnight!" I said feathers still a bit ruffled, watching them leave. The Doctor grins back at me.
"Earth Death in 15 minutes. Earth Death in 15 minutes."
I was talking to Trampoline as we looked out a window at the sun and down at the Earth.
"Soon, the sun will blossom into a red giant, and my home will die. That's where I used to live, when I was a little boy." I snapped my head to her, with a 'what-the-fuck' face. "Down there. Mummy and Daddy had a little house built into the side of the Los Angeles Crevice." She sighs. "I had such fun."
"What happened to everyone else? Where'd they go?" I asked her.
"They say Mankind has touched every star in the sky." I understood now.
"You're not the last human but the last pure human." But even then she wasn't, I was and I would always be.
"Yes. The others . . . mingled." She said in disgusted. "Oh, they call themselves 'New Humans' and 'Proto-humans' and 'Digi-humans' even 'Human-ish' but you know what I call them?" she lowers her voice to a whisper. "Mongrels."
"Right. And you stayed behind." I sneered at her.
"I kept myself pure." She sneered right back.
"How many operation have you had?" I looked at her.
"708. Next week, its 709, I'm having my blood bleached. Is that why you wanted a word? You could be flatter, Jessa. You've got a bit of a chin poking out."
"I'd rather die." I laughed bitterly to myself, 'If only I could.'
"Honestly, it doesn't hurt –" I interrupted her before she could go any further.
"No, I mean it. I'd rather die. It's better to die than live like you – a bitchy trampoline."
"Oh well. What do you know?" She said to me rolling her eyes.
"I was born on that planet. And so was my mum, and so was my dad and my sister and that makes me officially the last human being in this room, 'cause you're not human. You've had it nipped and tucked and flattened till there's nothing left. Anything human got chucked in the bin. You're just skin, Trampoline. Lipstick and skin. Nice talking." I walked off, heading to Mr. Face of Bo. I sat in front of the Face of Bo tank. We stared at one another for a good solid five minutes before I started to hear loud chuckling in my head.
"What the hell is with all this physic shite? First Voldemort, then Snape, and now you and the TARDIS. What, is my head like party central or something?" I asked him, his chuckles getting louder and the other aliens near us narrowed their eyes at me when I cursed. I narrowed my eyes right back at them, "What you never hear cursing before? Go back to your gossiping, ya eavesdroppers." They all huffed at me and went back to their chatting. I turned back to the Face of Bo. "What are you laughing, big head?" I crossed my arms and glared at him.
"Even now you're still feisty as ever, my Jessa-Rose." My glare soon disappeared into wide, shock eyes.
"How'd you know my middle name? This is the first time I've ever met you!" I gaped at him. He chuckled again.
"For you, yes. But for me, well I've lost count, my Jessa-Rose." I slowly nodded.
"You're someone important to me, aren't you? I could feel it when you came in earlier, big head." I said to him, memorizing how he looked right now.
"Still very curious about everything, I see. Yes, I'm very important to you, as you are to me, my Jessa-Rose." I stared at him.
"You're not going to tell me, are you? I have to figure it out." I said with a bitter smirk.
"Yes. You were always the smarter one between the both of us, Jessa-Rose." I could tell from his tone that he was smirking just as bitterly as I was.
"And what, you were the bronze of the operation?" I sassed at him.
"Yes, I was actually. You still get mad that I was taller and stronger." He sassed right back. I look back at the doors noticing that the Doctor and the tree weren't back yet.
"Well, big head. I need to find my friend, it was nice . . . talking with you." I said as I got up from the floor.
"As I you, my Jessa-Rose." I nodded and begin to walk always before he stopped me, "Jessa-Rose!" I flinched at the shout. I turned to him with a 'what' face. "There comes a time when you must force the Doctor to save me, will you promise me that? Will you promise to save me?" I frown and start to walk back over to him.
"Yes, of course, I promise. But why do you need my help? Why wouldn't the Doctor save you?" I asked. He chuckled sadly.
"When you meet me again, it will be in my true form and I don't make the best impression on you or the Doctor. But you have the heart and ability to forgive and give second chances. That's what I ask for, a second chance, my Jessa-Rose." I laid a hand on his glass.
"I promise you, Face of Bo, to give you a second chance and to save your sorry arse." I smirked at him. I heard him laugh.
"Once a smart ass, always a smart ass. I'll hold you to that promise, Jessa-Rose." I nodded and patted his tank a couple of times.
"See ya, later . . . big head." I walked towards the doors.
"Till later . . . pipsqueak." I chuckled at that and waved a hand over my shoulder. I left through the sliding doors, with the Adherents of the Repeated Meme watching me leave. I was walking alone down a corridor looking for the Doctor. The Adherents of the Repeated Meme coming from the other end. I smile lightly at them, but the front one strikes me to the ground where I lie unconscious as they drag me off. I could hear 'Toxic' being played loudly as I woke up, rubbing my head.
"Sun filter descending. Sun filter descending."
I sat up in alarm as the sun filter descends. I run to the door and knock on it frantically.
"Doctor! Let me out!" I yelled.
"Sun filter descending."
"Anyone in there?" he asked.
"Doctor!" I yelled frantic.
"Oh, well, it would be you." He said sarcastically.
"Open the door!" I yelled at him.
"Hold on! Give us two ticks!" he yelled right back at me. I quirked an eyebrow, 'Us?' I look back to the room, the whole thing was smoking.
"Sun filter descending. Sun filter descending."
I looked around trying to find a spot to hide from the sun rays. I hid in a corner, then brought my hands up to my faces. Taking a deep breath, I casted a strong protego on the window. I sigh with relief and let the protego charm drop. I walk back over to the doors waiting for the Doctor to open them.
"Sun filter rising . . . sun filter descending."
I froze in my spot on the steps.
"This just what we need. The computer's getting clever." I hear the Doctor mumble.
"Doctor, will you stop jacking around!" I yelled at him.
"I'm not jacking around, it's fighting back!" he yelled at me. "Hang on!" I threw up the protego charm again.
"Just stop the sun filter, so I can get out!" I yelled to him.
"Sun filter descending. Sun filter descending."
"Sun filter rising. Sun filter rising." Panting, I drop the charm again, leaning back against the doors.
"The whole thing's jammed. I can't open the doors." I rolled my eyes and turn on the spot I was standing at. Appariting behind the Doctor with a loud pop, making the Doctor spin around. "Don't . . . move?" I panted tiredly.
"Apparition, lovely thing isn't it, Doctor?" I stumbled to the wall a bit. The Doctor rushed over to me, resting a hand on my shoulder.
"Jessamine, are you okay?" he asked as he looked me over, I nodded.
"Yeah, just shielded the sun with a protego, it took a bit of magic. But I'll be fine in a jiff." I said quietly. He nodded his head.
"Earth Death in 5 minutes."
"The metal machine confirms. The spider devices have infiltrated the whole of platform one." Jabe said looking at her computer.
"How's that possible? Our private rooms are protected by a code wall. Moisturize me, moisturize me." The Doctor takes the destabilized spider out of Jabe's hand. His other arm wrapped around my waist, letting me lean on him a bit. I looked at the sliver spider, 'I knew it was evil.'
"Summon the Steward!" the Moxx of Balhoon cried.
"I'm afraid the steward is dead." Jabe said. 'Ah, so that's why my head still hurting, I couldn't claim his soul.' There was a general gasp of shock. I rolled my eyes at them.
"Who killed him?" The Moxx of Balhoon asked.
"This whole event was sponsored by the Face of Bo! He invited us!" Face of Bo shakes his head. I moved a bit from the Doctor, trying to walk over to Trampoline. The Doctor tightens his grip. "Talk to the face! Talk to the face!" she screeched.
"Oi! Leave him alone, ya bitchy Trampoline!" I yelled to her. Everyone gasped again in shock. "Oh, go choke on some caviar, you bunch of stuck up pricks!" I sneered at them all. I felt the Doctor chest tremble a bit, I looked up to see him holding back his laughter.
"Easy way of finding out. Someone brought a little pet on board." The Doctor shows them the spider. "Let's send him back to master." He places the spider down on the floor, after letting me go first and then again wrapped his arm around my waist. The spider scuttles along to Cassandra and looks up at her. Cassandra looked shifty for a moment, but the spider moves on to the feet of the Adherents of the Repeated Meme.
"The Adherents of the Repeated Meme. J'accuse!" Cassandra voiced screeched again, making my ears ring.
"That's all very well, and really kind of obvious, but if you stop and think about it . . ." the Adherents of the Repeated Meme tries to strike him, but he catches its arm and rips it off. "A Repeated Meme is just an idea. And that's all they are. An idea." He rips a wire out of the arm and all of the Adherents of the Repeated Meme crumpled into a bundle of black cloaks. Everyone gasps. Cassandra and I roll our eyes. "Remote controlled Droids. Nice little cover for the real troublemaker. Go on, Jimbo!" he nudges the spider with his foot. "Go home!" the spider ambles back over to Cassandra.
"I bet you were the school swot and never got kissed." The Doctor and I raised our eyebrows. "At arms!" the two bodyguards with canisters on either side of her raised their canisters.
"What are you going to do, moisturize me?" the Doctor said mockingly.
"With acid. Oh, too late anyway. My spiders have control of the mainframe. Oh, you all carried them as gifts, tax free, past every code wall. I'm just not a pretty face." She said. The Doctor pushed me behind his back just a bit.
"Sabotaging a ship while you're still inside it? How stupid's that?" the Doctor sneered at her. I raised my head in realization, I moved out from behind the Doctor and stood in front of Cassandra.
"Oh, Doctor it's not stupid at all, brilliant almost but you got too cocky a bit too soon, Trampoline. You hoped to manufacture a hostage situation with yourself as one of the victims. The compensation would have been enormous." I said to her with a disgusted look on my face. She looked at me in surprised. I smirked darkly at her. "Just like you, Cassandra, I'm more the just a pretty face and body. Five billion years and it still comes down to money."
"Do you think it's cheap, looking like this? Flatness costs a fortune. I am The Last Human, Doctor. Me. Not this freaky little kid of yours." I violently flinched back from her, my eyes widening just a bit, fear quickly crossed my face and was gone in a second flat.
"Arrest her!" the Moxx of Balhoon cried.
"Oh, shut it, pixie. I've still got my final option." Cassandra said.
"Earth Death in 3 minutes."
"And here it comes. You're just as useful dead, all of you. I have shares in your rival companies and they'll triple in price as soon as you're dead. My spiders are primed and ready to destroy the safety systems. How did that old Earth song go? 'Burn, baby, burn.'" Cassandra said smugly.
"Then you'll burn with us." Jabe said strongly.
"Oh, I'm so sorry. I know the use of teleportation is strictly forbidden, but . . . I'm such a naughty thing. Spiders – activate." There were a series of explosions around the ship. I stumbled a bit falling backwards before the Doctor caught me and pulled me into his side again. "Force fields gone with the planet about to explode. At least it'll be quick. Just like my fifth husband." She giggles, "Oh, shame on me. Buh-bye, darlings! Buh-bye, my darlings . . ." she and her bodyguard's teleport out.
"Heat levels rising."
"Reset the computer!" boy, that Moxx was a whiney thing.
"Only the Steward would know how."
"No. we can do it by hand. There must be a system restore switch. Jabe, come on." Before they left, Jabe name appeared on my list.
"No!" the Doctor stopped and turned to me.
"What?" I walked over to them.
"Jabe, you stay here and protect the others. I'll go with the Doctor." Jabe nodded in agreement and went back in to the suite. The Doctor gave me a look and started to leave the room with me flagging him.
"You lot – just chill!" the Doctor called over his shoulder to the crowd.
"Earth Death in 2 minutes. Earth Death 2 minutes."
The Doctor and I were running through the maintenance corridor.
"Heat levels – critical. Heat levels critical."
The Doctor and I reached the ventilation chamber.
"Oh. And guess where the switch is." The Doctor's sarcasm wasn't very welcoming at the moment. The switch was located at the other side of the enormous fans.
"Heat levels – rising. Heat levels – rising."
The Doctor pulls a lever down and the fans slow down.
"External temperature – 5 thousand degrees."
As soon as the Doctor lets go of the lever, the fans start to speed up again. As the Doctor looks hopelessly at the fans, I pull the lever down again and hold it there.
"You can't. The heat's going to vent through this place." The Doctor said to me, I saw the concern in his eyes.
"I know." I nodded to him.
"Jessamine, you're human. It'll burn you to a crisp or . . ." I chuckled at him shaking my head.
"Doctor, you forget, I'm the mistress of death, I can't die. Now stop wasting time." He grins at me and runs back to the fans.
"Heat levels – rising. Heat levels – rising."
The Doctor dodges the first fan and runs underneath it. He looks anxiously up at the next one. The Doctor is still standing before the second fan. He looks back at me, I'm now sweating and breathing heavily.
"Heat levels – critical. Heat levels – critical."
The Doctor dodges under the second fan. As the Doctor stands before the third fan. I started shaking violently. I gasped in pain as one of my hands palms melts off. I screamed. The Doctor looks back, shock. He see me on kneeling on the floor, my head pressed to the floor; shaking violently. I lifted my head just a bit and looked him right in the eyes. I looked back over to the lever, panting hard, I heaved my body on top of the lever pushing it down again.
"Planet explodes in 10 . . . 9 . . ."
The Doctor closes his eyes. All grows quiet.
"8 . . . 7 . . . 6 . . . 5 . . . 4 . . ."
The Doctor, still with his eyes closed, steps calmly though the fan. When at the other side, he opens his eyes and dashes to the switch, pulling it down.
"Raise shields!" he yelled to the ceiling. The Doctor walks back through the fans. So, I let go of the lever once he's out. I collapse to the floor. The Doctor rushes to me.
"Jessamine!" I chuckled softly at him, cracking my eyes open just a bit.
"I'm fine, Doctor, just really weak right now." I said to him, very softly. He shook his head at me.
"Never do that again, Jessamine." I groan a bit.
"Saved her." I whispered. The Doctor looked at me confused.
"What?"
"I save Jabe. I didn't cause death for once, Doctor. Someone got to live just a bit longer now." I smiled at him.
"Come on, we need to head back." He smiled back at me. He helped me stand up and walk back to the suite.
We walked back into the gallery, where all the aliens are sitting around wounded or dead. The Doctor set me down, leaning back against a wall. He walks briskly over to Jabe a few minutes later after knowing I was okay again. He kept glancing at me as he talked to her and her companions and then he places his hand on her shoulder, leaving them to grieve. He walks back to me.
"You all right?" I asked.
"Yeah, I'm fine. I'm full of ideas, I'm bristling with them. Idea number one – teleportation through five thousand degrees needs some kind of feed. Idea number two – this feed must be hidden nearby." He strides over to the ostrich egg, breaks it open and the teleportation feed falls out. He picks it up. "Idea number three – if you're as clever as me, then a teleportation feed can be reversed." He twists the feed. Cassandra appears before us, apparently in the middle of gloating.
"Ah, you should have seen their little alien faces." She notices her new surroundings. "Oh."
"The Last Human." The Doctor bit out.
"So. You passed my little test. Bravo. This makes you eligible to join the er . . . the human club." She said flustered. I rolled my eyes and pushed myself of the ground, hissing in pain. I slowly walk over to the Doctor hiding my left hand from sight.
"People have died, Cassandra. You murdered them." The Doctor said angrily to her, wrapping his arm around my shoulders gently once he spotted me by his side.
"That depends on your definition of 'people'. And that's enough of a technicality to keep your lawyers dizzy for centuries. Take me to court then, Doctor! And watch me smile, and cry, and flutter . . ." I had the joyous time interrupting her.
"And creak?" I asked smugly.
"And what?" she asked in shock.
"Creak! You're creaking." The Doctor said just as smugly as me. Cassandra's skin was tightening. Her eyes were becoming bloodshot and she was getting whiter and whiter.
"What? Ah! Ah! Oh, sweet heavens! Moisturize me! Moisturize me! Where are my surgeons? My lovely boys! It's too hot!" she was panicking. She's covered in red blotches.
"You raised the temperature." I told her, deathly serious.
"Have pity! Moisturize me! Oh, Doctor!" she said terrified and pathetically.
"Help her." Jabe said shaken. I turned to look at her.
"Everything has it time and everything dies." I told her, 'everything but me.'
I'm . . . too . . . young!" she explodes. The Doctor looks completely cold and not remotely fazed, the same could be said for me; till I fainted from the pain I was in. The Doctor catches me before I hit the ground. He lifts me up in to his arms, bridle style and leaves the room.
"Shuttles 4 and 6 departing. This unit now closing down for maintenance."
The Manchester Suite was now completely empty apart from me, now fully healed. I was standing at the window watching the Earth burn with a very vulnerable and sad look on my face, oblivious to the Doctor watching me from the doorway. Rocks fly past the window, I place a newly healed hand on the window. I turn around slightly when I hear the Doctor's footsteps as he comes to stand beside me.
"The end of the Earth. It's gone. And we were too busy saving everyone, no one saw it go. It's one Earth after the other. I will always be force to watch my home crumble around me, never able to stop it; for the rest of my immortal life." The Doctor looks down at me, "All those years . . . all that history and no one was even looking. It's just . . ." a tear slides down my cheek.
"Come with me." He holds out his hand to me. I take it and we walk away together. We're back in 2005, I step out of the TARDIS. I look around at the crowds, for once seeing them in a new light, instead of just souls waiting for me to collect. The Doctor stands beside me.
"You think it'll last forever. People, and cars and concrete. But it won't. One day, it's all gone. Even the sky." We both look at the sky. After a moment, "My planet's gone." I turn to look at him, this is the first time he's mentioned his home. "It's dead. It burned like Earth. It's just rocks and dust. Before it's time."
"What happened?" I asked.
"There was a war. And we lost." He answered.
"A war with who?" but he doesn't answer, seemingly lost in thought. "What about your people?"
"I'm a Time Lord. I'm the last of the Time Lords. They're all gone. I'm the only survivor. I'm left travelling on my own because there's no one else." He said to me.
"Well, there's me now. We'll be the last of our kind together." I smile at him.
"You've seen how dangerous it is. Do you want to go home?" he asked me. I look at him.
"Have you ever read the Harry Potter books?" I asked him, he shakes his head confused. "Read them and then you'll understand who I am. I'm not afraid of danger, Doctor. I live for it." I sniff the air. "Oh! Can you smell chips?" I asked suddenly very hungry.
"Yeah. Yeah!" the Doctor laughs.
"I want chips." I said looking up to his eyes.
"Me too." He smiles at me.
"Right then, before you get me back in that blue box, chips it is, and you can pay." I said to him.
"No money." I rolled my eyes playfully at him.
"What sort of date are you? Come on then, tightwad, chips are on me." He smiles at me, delighted. "We've only got five billion years before the shops close . . ." we walked down the street together laughing, I nuzzled my head against his shoulder.
