Did I forget to post this? omg I'm so sorry I shouldn't be allowed to write fanfics... Anyway, there's probably going to be a companion-light episode and then I'll start working on the finale. I've already decided on titles for that one- the first bit is called The Collector of Worlds and the second one is The Captive Stars.


Deep below the surface, Joy wandered through an endless maze of dripping tunnels. Even for an Adakitan, the heat was becoming oppressive. There were voices calling, a long way away, but it didn't feel any pull towards them. Instead, it kept walking. The voices went away after a while.

Where is the Doctor? a great voice asked from the center of the world. His presence is strong.

Joy hesitated for a moment, but it didn't see any reason not to speak. "The Doctor is a female," it said in a flat tone.

Regeneration, the voice said. "I don't understand," Joy said.

You wouldn't. Where is she?

"On the surface. In the City of Tales. Not far."

You have done well, the voice rumbled. It seemed closer. Joy rounded another corner and the faint glow coming off its skin illuminated a thin, dark figure. It looked to be Adakitan, but dark and hunched. You have done well, Joy, it told her.

"Eternity?" Joy asked as it looked closely at the dark Adakitan's face. It couldn't be Eternity- Eternity was tall and golden-eyed and quiet.

I am the Core, said the dark Adakitan. The Vastness of Eternity, such a pretty name. Eternity is gone, child. Its body grows weak. A black, liquid smoke began to billow from the Core's mouth, enveloping Joy.

Joy screamed and did not stop screaming.


JOY

by Gakorogirl


"Are we just gonna leave Joy down there?" Alex asked as Wonder pulled on the back of his shirt. The Doctor shook her head. "We've been going too close to the fire rivers- a human can't handle the heat much longer. We'll get Joy back, though."

"Will we?" Maggie said quietly. "Doctor, on the surface there are extra heatsuits. One will fit you, but children can't go into the fire tunnels- none will fit Alex."

"Right then- Maggie, can you get the suit? And Wonder, could you take Alex back to our ship? He knows where it is."

Alex scowled, and the Doctor shook her head. "Maybe next time you can come along, but I promised I would keep you in your room and safe. Clearly I've failed step one and I'm not about to let that second bit get away from me. Back to the TARDIS. Talk to Wonder, about Adakite III or something."

Maggie had already flitted away, and Alex began to trudge up the damp, rocky slope towards the glimmer of light above them with Wonder tagging along behind him. The Doctor sat down and waited, fiddling with the fluffy tips of her hair as she peered into the blackness below. "Mind control, of some kind. Something to do with the fire rivers, I need a sample from those," she mumbled.


Joy didn't know where it was. Did it matter? Nothing really seemed to matter anymore, it was all a sort of fog. A black fog. The Core wasn't talking anymore, but Joy could feel it everywhere. It was moving upwards, and so was Joy, in a vague black fog.

There was the Doctor-of-Time, wearing a grimy white heatsuit with a clear viewport. Sweat was dripping down her face. There was an Adakitan behind her. Maggie. Who was Maggie? Joy used to know who Maggie was.

Was its name Maggie? That was a human name, wasn't it?

That Pain Without Which the Joy would be Meaningless.

I am Joy. No. I am the Core, Joy thought as she fell into the blackness.

"I am the Core," said the Core. That-Pain-Without-Which-the-Joy-would-be-Meaningless- such a long name- had been running forwards, but now jerked backwards, The Doctor- a Time Lady, how interesting- put a hand on the Adakitan's shoulder.

"Joy?" the Doctor called. The long-named Adakitan echoed. The Core was impatient.

"I will rise," said the Core. "It is time for me to awaken. I have been called."

The Doctor narrowed her eyes. "What are you?" she asked warily. "What happens when you 'rise'?"

"Oh, this world will burn," answered the Core. There was nothing the Doctor could do to stop it, anyway. "I've had to reach out through the rivers, take Adakitan to strengthen myself. The rest of them will be gone soon, too. This planet will be turned to a sea of crystal, without life, but a worthy prize for the Summoner."

The long-named Adakitan was saying something. Oh, it was just calling for Joy. And for The-Vastness-of-Eternity, the one with the pretty name. That one had fought for a long time.


"The Summoner?" the Doctor asked. It was hot down here, even with the suit on. The strange black husk of Joy was rocking on its feet as it talked, and the Doctor worried that even if they got this Core to come out of Joy, it would be too late.

"Oh Doctor-Time-Lady," the voice of the Core said, "The Summoner is he who calls us by name. The Camazotz."

Camazotz. "Who is the Camazotz? What does he look like? And how do you know my-"

"Time Daughter of the lost planet, Daughter of Gallifrey," sneered the voice of the Core. A line of black smoke dribbled out of Joy-the-Core's mouth. "I know what the Summoner has told me. And he knows, he watches the spinning of eternity and the dying of the stars. He is always there, watching. And now he calls."

"How does he call you?" the Doctor asked. This Summoner was something very old, then. From the sound of it, older than she was.

"He calls in my mind, he calls my truest name," the Core said. "I have protected this planet for so many years, and I grew tired of the indifference of the Adakitan."

"We don't even know you exist!" Maggie shouted. The Doctor tightened her grip on its shoulder. "Maggie, maybe you should go back up to the surface," she said warningly.

"The Summoner, he has told me that I must rise. That I will cleanse this world, and when he takes it for his own he will give me a new race, a new Adakitan Empire to protect." Joy-the-Core turned and began to walk down into the darkness, and was almost instantly swallowed by the shadows. Its parting words whispered through the air.

"The Summoner can do anything, Doctor-Time-Lady. He could bring back the Time Lords if you so wished."

The Doctor looked into the gloom. "The Time Lords can never come back," she said. Her voice cracked slightly, and Maggie pressed closer against her leg. A dark red glow was beginning to spread from the bottom of the tunnel.

"What's that?" Maggie asked quietly.

"The Core," said the Doctor. "Run."

As rivulets of fire began to creep up the walls of the tunnel, the Doctor and Maggie began to run upwards, slipping on the loose rocks.


"What should we do, Doctor?" Maggie asked as they burst out into the daylight. "The fire rivers will flood in a few minutes."

The Doctor paused and looked around. The sun was setting in the blue-green sky, and the people made of light stood on their rooftops and watched the stars come out. There was a soft wind blowing across the tall white grass, bringing a faint smell of flowers. Very far away, someone was singing.

"I don't know," said the Doctor heavily. "It's just- the planet is alive, I've never seen anything like it. And I don't know what to do."

"They say you can do anything," Maggie whispered. The soft glow of her skin began to fade as she looked away. "That you've saved whole civilizations. The Lord of Time."

"I've destroyed a few, too," the Doctor said quietly. She looked up at the sky for a moment. "Gather the Adakitan. As many as will come with you, we're evacuating."

"There's not time to evacuate the whole planet, maybe not even the city!" Maggie said. Looking away, the Doctor began to run to the TARDIS. The ground beneath her feet was growing warm, and the wind had a slight scent of sulphur.

"As many as will come! Get them to my ship, it's blue, it's bigger on the inside, it's in the white field. Hurry!"


The Doctor runs, just as the Doctor always does. She tries this time. She tries to make amends for a people locked away, erased from existence. But Doctor, last of the children of Gallifrey, how can you ever erase that blood? That guilt, it's chasing you, and you'll never, ever, ever get away from it.

Not in a hundred years, or nine hundred, so Doctor, Gallifrey-Doctor, Fire and Ice and Rage, you'd better keep running.

This little help, a dozen or so of the Adakitan, it won't wash away any of that blood. Not ever, Doctor.

Why are you in my head

Hello, Last of the Time Lords. The Core is right. I can let you bring back the Lords of Time. I can destroy your enemies, finally and forever. The Daleks, the destroyers. They call you Destroyer of Worlds, but that does not have to be so. I can make it so that it was never so.

Go away go away

How many did you save from the fire? How many of the people made of light? Enough? Not enough. One drop of the blood of Gallifrey.

nononogoawaygoawaygetoutoutout

Why? Time Lord Victorious, do I not offer enough?

OUT NOW OUT OUT OUT


Somewhere in the vastness of time, the Doctor slumped against the TARDIS console and began to cry. The tears were hot. It had been a long time. She thought in simple sentences, regaining her stability. Alex's footsteps sounded on the ground and the Doctor straightened.

"I'll drop you off at home, in your room. Your mum must be worried, don't you think?" the Doctor asked. "Maybe next time I'll take you to a nicer planet. One that isn't about to explode."

"I left my book there," Alex said. "I hadn't finished it yet."

The Doctor smiled, wiping away the tears with the back of her hand. "You know what, let's visit that planet now. I'll drop off the Adakitan first, there's no point in dragging them along. And then we'll have a good vacation, and I'll buy you a new copy of The Neverending Story."


Review please! I'm trying a little bit of a different writing thing this week, with some of the changes in POV. I've had some before, but this time I'm working on doing the aliens'. :) It's a little short, I'm sorry.