Chapter Six: Rushing

"I know where you're from. Forgive me for intruding it's remarkable that you even exist."

-Jabe

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The Pharaoh reached for him without thinking, grabbing his hand and beginning to walk away. It was only when they stepped out into the hallway that he realized what he was doing. The two of them stared at their jointed hands before dropping them, just as the shorter members of staff came around the corner. Most of them went into the room while one came to stand in front of the Pharaoh.

"Are you the owner of the blue box?"

"Yes."

"We'll move it to a more secure area. Here's your ticket." He was handed a ticket, pushing Yugi absently out of the way as the staff began to move the TARDIS. He felt Yugi tense, only realizing then that Yugi didn't feel safe not knowing where the TARDIS was, not being able to sense her like he could. He offered a smile to Yugi, not sure that it would help him before he began to walk towards the main room, Yugi running after him.

He kept up his quick pace, heading for the main viewing room, the doors sliding open to admit him. He looked around, not listening to the worried chatter of the aliens, searching for an entrance. He jumped as the female ambassador from Cheem came up to him, tipping her head to the side. "I am not familiar with the workings of metal, but that did not sound…natural."

"It wasn't." The Pharaoh glanced at her before turning in a slow circle. "I need to get to the maintenance ducts."

"They start just before our room." The tree looked back at her guards before nodding. "I will be happy to show you."

The Pharaoh smiled, catching Yugi scowling at him out of the corner of his eye. The human could deal with being separated from the TARDIS. Yugi could learn to trust a bit more. He nodded, holding out an arm for the tree to take, noticing her hesitate.

"Shouldn't your husband come with us?"

The Pharaoh laughed, speaking at the same time as Yugi. "He's not my husband."

The tree woman lowered her lashes, looking embarrassed. "Partner?"

"No."

"Concubine?"

"No." The Pharaoh was amused by the look on Yugi's face, nearly losing his attempt to remain indifferent at the woman's next question.

"Prostitute?"

"Okay, apparently I'm invisible." Yugi threw up his hands, backing away. "Just go on and do whatever with whoever you want. I'll stay here and…mingle."

The Pharaoh raised an eyebrow as Yugi stormed off, wondering what had set the human off again. He shrugged and turned back to the ambassador from Cheem, the tree woman smiling at him as they walked out of the room, the Pharaoh partially aware of the glare that was directed at his back by Yugi. His attention was brought back to the woman who was walking beside him. "I am Jabe."

"The Pharaoh."


The Steward settled himself at his desk, staring at the keys in front of him toying with the metal sphere he had been given before setting it aside, pressing a button to talk to the computer. "What was that tremor?"

There was a series of beeps, the Steward nodding his head before sitting back with a scowl. "What do you mean you don't know? And don't answer, that's rhetorical. That wasn't routine nor did it have anything to do with the debris."

More beeps followed, the Steward shaking his head. "But there has to be something. It cannot just be called sabotage unless we have proof. Nothing has been proven."

He blinked at more beeps, staring at his office doors. "This wouldn't happen on some of the better stations. Of all the places to be assigned, a little backwater platform with a computer who insists that there is something wrong within the system when there is no…"

The beeps increased in frequency, the Steward staring at the ceiling before nodding slowly. "Yes, yes, it would have to be small for us not to notice it."

His attention was attracted by something moving on his desk. He stared at the metal sphere as it unfolded, revealing a metal spider with one red sensor. The spider clambered out of the sphere and onto the desk, focusing on him. The Steward blinked, staring at the creature. "I expect that it would look much like that."

The spider moved over to stand by the keyboard, looking at one button before looking up at the Steward, the machine's intention clear. The blue humanoid shuddered, holding out a hand to stop the machine even as it pressed down on the key. "No!"

It hopped off the desk and scurried to the vent, leaving the Steward to turn and stare at his window as a female voice because to speak. "Sun filter, descending. Sun filter, descending."


Yugi glared at the ground, biting his lip to keep from screaming. How dare the Pharaoh let that tree insinuate such things?! He was certainly none of those things! And she thought that he was the prostitute? She had been hanging off him like moss hung from a tree, flirting with him and the Pharaoh had no idea. Or he acted like he had no idea.

The man was too cold to tell.

Yugi sighed and rubbed his forehead, suddenly wanting nothing more than to run away and find something familiar. Despite his bold words, he still felt very lost. And the Pharaoh had just left him here among aliens. There was no one here to connect with, not with the Earth about to be destroyed and his mother so far away in the past.

She was dead now. He tensed at the thought, his eyes widening and moving to look at the Earth below them. His mother was dead and buried on that planet below him. But he had just talked to her with ease a few minutes ago. He groaned and shook his head. He just didn't want to think about these things.

Out of the corner of his eye he spotted the Lady Cassandra, relief rushing through him. While he couldn't speak to anyone he knew, at least someone of his same species would work. She could understand what he was going through.

He walked towards the little group that had gathered around her, all thoughts of talking to her on any kind of level disappearing quickly. "So that was my seven hundredth and eighth operation. I have another one soon, getting my blood bleached. So that would make it seven hundred and nine." She paused and looked up at Yugi, sighing. "I remember when I was like him, all awkward and angular. You could do with a few operations."

Yugi shook his head, disgusted by the manner of this…he hesitated to call her a person at all. All his fear was gone, replaced by disgust and horror in the face of what Cassandra had put forward. "I'd rather die."

"It won't hurt." Cassandra lowered her lids, her voice becoming a purr, "and you'd be so handsome."

"I would rather die." Yugi growled out the words, backing away. "Because…you're not human anymore."

"What?"

"You've had all that taken away from you, Cassandra. You're just skin and…nothing human." Yugi shivered, realizing that he had just assigned himself the role of the last human. He backed away, not wanting to stick around the flap of skin anymore, the shock returning. He felt like he was drowning again.

His feet began to take him back to where the TARDIS had been, suddenly wanting to be alone. The Pharaoh would find him again and probably scold him, but Yugi didn't care. He had to get away and sort out the emotions that were running through his head. He was so lost in his swirling thoughts that he nearly ran into the Adherents of the Repeated Meme, stumbling backwards at the last minute.

"Sorry, I wasn't-" He was cut off as one of the Adherents hit him in the side of his head with its metal claws, Yugi losing consciousness and crumpling to the ground. The Adherents waited a moment before beginning to drag him away down the corridor.


The Pharaoh ducked under a bundle of pipes and wires, hearing the gentle bend of Jabe behind him. He didn't look back as he continued to edge his way through the shaft, listening to the graceful movements of the tree woman.

She sighed, shaking her head. "I have never been able to understand the language of metal and envy the people who do in this age."

The Pharaoh nodded, his eyes landing on the terminal that he was looking for, kneeling down in front of it and pulling out his sonic screwdriver. He easily hacked into the systems, smirking to himself at the speed at which that was achieved. He might have been out of practice with adjusting Earth technology, but he could still work his way through a computer system easily. He was falling into his old pattern, easily moving through the system as he looked for the mechanical source of the tremor.

He nearly jumped as Jabe began talking again, watching the tree woman out of the corner of her eye. Her relaxed demeanor was soothing after having to deal with Yugi, whatever that human's problem was. He tensed a bit as she began to pace, the movement carrying her closer to him. "So you can imagine I didn't believe my metal machine when I got the results of the scan I did of you."

Scan? He paused, not looking back at her before deciding it didn't matter. It had been done without his permission but it was his fault for not noticing the device, a thing he would remember to pay attention to. Of course, it was all Yugi's fault in the end. He had been running after the human to try and find him before he lost himself. Of course he hadn't been paying the attention he should have to his surroundings.

His silence must have been enough to make her keep going, Jabe taking a deep breath before taking a step forward. "At first the metal machine didn't want to confirm your existence, but when it did, even I didn't believe it. But it had to be true. And I just want to say that I'm sorry. So sorry for you."

The Pharaoh had gone completely still when Jabe had started talking, his hearts pounding in double time. Some one knew. Some one knew what he was. They knew and they were apologizing. He swallowed, surprised to feel an obstruction in his throat. He was amazed that a simply apology, one person just knowing what he was, meant to him.

Jabe rested a hand on his shoulder, the Pharaoh hesitating for a moment before raising a hand to rest on hers, a slight squeeze. It was the only thing that he could bring himself to do. He was still too scarred from the war, too used to being closed off. It was how he lived after the war, trying to ignore the silence in his head, attempting to pretend that nothing was wrong. And, for one horrible moment, he was vunerable again.

But, for some reason it was alright. Jabe was offering him the sympathy that was never there. There had been no one else after the war, just him and the TARDIS supporting each other. He had never realized how much he needed to hear someone sympathizing with him and his loss rather than condemning him.

The Time War had caused so much trouble through the universe, most of the races blaming him for what had happened to their planets. He had played the bad guy for so long that it was a good, this switch. The Pharaoh sighed, closing his eyes for a second, a smirk crossing his face. Why couldn't Yugi understand like this instead of pushing him for something that he couldn't give?

He ignored the fact that he had told Yugi nothing, instead releasing Jabe's hand and returning to the screen in front of him. The Pharaoh forced himself to focus, training his thoughts on the now rather than the silence that he felt in his head. He blinked, the focus suddenly snapping back into place as he stared at what the screen was telling him.

Things were wrong here. The computer was reading failures in certain parts of the system, certain points that couldn't be going down. The Pharaoh stood up, Jabe's hand sliding unfelt from his shoulder, pocketing the sonic screwdriver and continuing to stride down the narrow corridor towards the cooling room. He ducked under another bundle of cables, staring at the giant fans that were visible on the other side of the doorway.

He walked through the door, looking at the three giant fans that cooled the station as well as serving as an impediment to get to the override switch. The Pharaoh shook his head and turned to look around the room, frowning as he realized what was going on. "The heat is rising despite those fans."

Something moved above their heads, the Pharaoh reacting instantly. He pulled the sonic screwdriver from his pocket again, aiming it at the metal spider that was on the wall and freezing it. He was considering his next move when a whip-like vine flashed into his vision and snatched the metal spider from the wall, dropping it towards the ground. The Pharaoh reached out and easily caught it, barely examining the thing before looking back at Jabe.

"Nice."

Jabe blushed. "I usually do not show that, for modesty's sake."

The Pharaoh gave a twisted smile, moving off towards the maintenance corridor again, hurrying back to the main part of the viewing platform. There was something going on here, made dangerous by the imminent destruction of the Earth. If the viewing platform was not kept cool, the inhabitants of the platform could all be burned at the same time as the Earth. Now the important thing in his mind was finding out the one responsible for all of this.

The metal spider was shoved into one of the pockets of his coat as he stepped out into the main corridor of the viewing platform, the tangled mess of tangled piping and cables giving way to polished marble. The Pharaoh gave a long sigh, pausing and taking another breath as he caught a smell that didn't belong. He turned to help Jabe out, watching as she too seemed to find something wrong.

"Is something burning?"


"Friends, friends, gather." Cassandra called all the ambassadors together, everyone turning their gaze to her. Tears shown in the corner of her eyes as she looked towards the Earth. "The Earth is entering her final moments. Let us celebrate her passing with a traditional Earth ballad."

One of the attendants booted up the jukebox again, the selected song coming out and blaring in the small room, the opening notes of Toxic marking the beginning of the end for the planet below them.


Yugi groaned and sat up, rubbing the side of his head. There was a dull pounding at his temples, but nothing more than that, which he was thankful for. He pushed off the ground, moving until he was resting against one of the large steps.

He couldn't remember what had happened, just that he had met the Adherents of the Repeated Meme before he had fallen unconscious. Yugi dropped his pounding head into his hands with another groan. It would be just his luck to have caught some alien disease. The Pharaoh was the only one that he knew that could help him, which meant more time stuck with the grumpy alien.

Yugi pushed himself from the ground, relaxing as he realized that he was in the first viewing room that they had arrived in. At least he would be able to be found at the end of this, even if he wanted to see the end of it. Although, he wasn't really sure anymore. He felt that he should see the end of Earth, as the planet had been his home for so long, but he didn't want to watch it burn because then it was so…final.

Yugi shook his head, taking a look at the planet below and wincing at the realization that it probably didn't have a lot of time left. This was it then, the end of everything that he had known. Yugi gave a harsh laugh, trying to see Japan from where he was standing. "I might be buried down there."

His short burst of laughter was brought to an end when the next breath of air he drew it felt dry, less cool than he was used to. Yugi took another look at the approaching sun before backing away from the window. He began to sweat as the room grew hotter, looking around for an explanation for the change that came in the next minute.

An almost cheerful feminine voice announced his doom as Yugi backed up the steps. "Sun filter, descending."

Yugi squeaked and rushed for the door, slamming his shoulder into it and whimpering as it wouldn't give. All the doors here were automatic…unless they were locked. He clawed at the door as he looked over his shoulder, gasping as he saw the top of the room beginning to blacken, a clear line slowly descending. He slid to the floor, crouching on the ground as he watched the horrible slow progress.

He tensed as he heard something on the other side of the door, pressing his ear against it in the hope of actually figuring out who was on the other side. His heart sunk as a familiar voice called out. "Hold on!"

"I'm dead!"

There was a pause on the other side, Yugi able to picture the look on the Pharaoh's face perfectly, one of repulsion. "Oh, it's you!"

"Of all the people to rescue me, it's the one who could care less!" Yugi looked back at the room, giving another undignified squeak as he noticed that the blackened line had drawn closer, sinking completely to the ground as he watched his death inch closer to him.

"Yes!"

"Sun filter, rising. Sun filter, rising." Yugi breathed a sigh of relief with those words, getting ready to stand up when he heard the voice again, throwing himself to the ground. "Sun filter, descending. Sun filter, descending."

"Are you trying to kill me?!"

There was a muffled grunt from the other side of the door and then a curse, Yugi biting back a smile at the image of the Pharaoh cradling a hurt hand. It was a little light in his life, which was getting shorted by the minute. He cut off his laughter as the Pharaoh spoke again. "The damn computer isn't letting me in! I'm trying the long way!"

"I don't have time for the long way!" Yugi yelped as the door came under the assault of the sun, his breath coming in short pants. He was going to die years into the future and his mother would never know. None of them would ever know. He would have just disappeared one day and never come back. Yugi closed his eyes and pressed himself further against the floor, praying for a miracle.

"Sun filter, rising. Sun filter, rising." His eyes snapped open at the voice, looking up to see the slow crawl of burnt material had stopped, leaving one third of the door melted in its wake. The temperature of the room also returned to normal, Yugi panting for breath as he cautiously sat up. His joy was cut short by a curse from the other side.

"I can't get the door open! Still, you're probably safer in there, can't wander off!" There was a pause. "There's another sun filter deactivated!"

Yugi gasped as he heard footsteps retreating, throwing himself at the door as he realized what it meant. That stupid alien was just going to leave him here! Yugi punched the door, screaming from the pain in his hand and he slid down the metal surface, glaring at the view out the window. Now he was stuck here until the Pharaoh decided to let him out, if he remembered one insignificant human in the mess that they were in.


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