The Doctor ran, the charm of two hearts gave her double the adrenaline to rush about the fallen facility. Nothing mattered but the ability to reach Max, no threat would dare to cross her path. The Time Lord would save her friend.
Broken Sponsors and shriveled coils of Devil Leeches littered the floors. The desecration scared her, because she knew far worse still awaited them. Once again, She managed to sneak back within the universe and tear things apart.
These encounters with Time Lords always forced the Doctor to remember just how easy it would be to become the Devil in the story. Her peace came from knowing what never to be, even by accident. The greatest tragedy came from the fact that whenever a Time Lord was involved, something worse always came into play. This place had become drained of evil, her enemy's purpose had been fulfilled… and still no Max in sight.
The Doctor ran faster.
Making it to the stairs, the Doctor discovered they'd been reduced to rubble in the chaos. Elevators were never a smart move, even when working, which left the Time Lord with very few options. Except… a fun little trick she had tinkered with. Taking off her shoe, she shook out the Tardis key while taking out the Sonic Screwdriver. Centuries of quiet arguments through meditation next to the control console, after multiple incarnations, the Doctor finally acquisitioned the right to a rare boon from her craft.
It was time to pay up.
Flicking on the sonic, the Doctor concentrated a specific frequency at the Tardis key. Shimmering gold from the action, a familiar groan entered the Doctor's ears. Newest car key, she thought with a grin, now the car comes to You.
Taking a breath, the Doctor hoped that the trick for calling her ship worked for multiple keys at once. Her hearts sank as she witnessed a solitary gold key arrive on the console's dashboard. Sorrow shifted to determination as she used her screwdriver to get a read on its previous location. Jamming the device into the console, the Tardis casually slipping along streams of reality to place itself a little to the left of where the key had been.
Arthur's body had been left out for her to find. The stress on his face implied an agonizing end. She would avenge her brief comrade, and save Max.
The Tardis opened, the Doctor failed to relish its reassuring warmth. This was a loss, and a blinking light on the console made both hearts sink. She had a call.
A quick button press brought up the woman's face. The same red hair, cold eyes, and sweet grin from less than an hour ago but they carried a greater weight. That was curse of knowing names, and it would be spoken again.
"Rani." The Doctor's voice was laced in bitterness.
"Doctor," The Ran said with a cruel grin. "It's so grand to hear my name gives you dread. Those eyes of anger, if I had known, I would have revealed myself much sooner. That fury is… exquisite." She gushed while saying the word.
"You won't feel the same when we meet. But that can change; release Max, now."
Bemusement faded to annoyance with a grinding of teeth.
"Must we play these petty roles, Doctor," the Rani said, closing her eyes, lazily pantomiming her next words. "She's innocent in this, let her go. It is between us, not blah, blah, blah…"
"Honestly, after almost two thousand years, you still prattle along like a child playing hero. Battling the cruel sorceress and saving the fair damsel, I even made her a sleeping beauty just so we could talk uninterrupted. You and your stories." Her chilling demeanor grew more frosted with the words."
"I love my stories; the heroine saves the universe these days."
"Not for long," the Rani said. "You see, I don't play fables and make believe. I believe in real things, like the many ways I can make Max Lin's stay on my Tardis the worst of her life and the longest of yours, should you wish to continue these petty games."
The Doctor paused, the time apart has made both Time Lords change. This parable could poison any chance of saving her companion. The Rani's skills were the Doctor's, she knew it would be nightmarishly easy to simply abandon Max somewhere in time and space to rot in total ambiguity. The only way for Max's survival to risk her own.
"You did all of this just to meet me, planning every detail to lead me to Ramification Nightmares."
"More or less," the Rani said. "That scene in the docking bay wasn't planned too well. You saved my life." Her smile was a stab at both hearts.
Recovering, Doctor decided the time for chat had faded.
"Okay then," the Time Lord said. "The game's done. You get to take charge. What exactly are you after? Why go through this if I was the target?"
The Rani, given a chance to explain, relished it.
"It has been some time since we last met, almost 35 Earth years. The Hell it took to be free of my own personal trap… never be mistaken in thinking me merciful considering how I could have done this. Simply put, I wished to understand you. When we met, simple minions and a mine cart were capable of doing you in. But now, now, you warped reality itself countless times, all with a sonic screwdriver. You now save planets, no longer mucking about in petty conflicts in the timestream. I've heard you called champion and demon with the same level of awe. After all these little tests, I must concur you surpassed me, chaotically."
"But I will have my victory, Doctor, the way only I can," the Rani typed at the screen as she talked. A series of special and chronological Gallifreyan symbols appeared. "And it starts now. These coordinates will place you exactly where and when I want you to suffer. Oh, and this code came with some tracking software. Should you choose to meander or bring friends to make it a party, even I might cringe at what Max will suffer in your negligence. See you immediately, my old friend."
The screen went black and the Doctor's thoughts grew darker. If the Tardis were tagged, she could only go to the unknown horror the Rani decided for her. A trap that would ensure her and Max's doom. However, fear was the smallest emotion in the Time Lord's mind.
She knew her enemy.
What started in a crooked nightmare of a sporting event, to a casino, and so many twisted factories now would end with the Rani. Just another troublemaker the Doctor had taken responsibility for in the past. Things had changed, the Time Lord had come to understand with every journey how the universe was built to crumble. Eventually, she came to understand the one constant element that negated the end countless times. The Doctor.
While she could never go back to those simpler, harder times, the impact of her actions boomed throughout galaxies. And yet the Rani had decided to not run with all the proof seen in these small conflicts. In that uncertainty… there is a chance.
With a breath, the Doctor confirmed the coordinates; twisting dials, pressing buttons, and pulling back a key lever. The Tardis hummed as the core came to life. A slight hitch in the sound echoed with concern.
"I know, girl," she said with a hand touching the console. "But this is the way we win it, for Max, the Tirolians, Jack, and Arthur. Time to give the Rani a proper education on what it means these days to be an enemy of the Doctor."
As the Tardis barreled into the timestream, the Doctor eyed the vortex calmly. She allowed herself one thought, the thought of if being the last time to see the flow of existence. A personal prayer as much as a decision. Confirmed with two simple sentences.
I will see the stars again.
If not, I'll make they're there for the rest.
And the Doctor went to war again.