Jack and the rest of the volunteers were positioned behind a barricade, guns at the ready. The lift doors slid open to reveal the Daleks, who glided slowly towards them.
''Open fire!'' Jack commanded. They all did so, but it had no effect. The Daleks continued gliding closer.
''It's not working!'' Davitch shouted.
''Concentrate your fire!'' Jack insisted, ''Eyestalk, two o' clock!''
Finally, a Dalek was hit in the eyestalk, blinding it, ''My vision is impaired! I cannot see!'' it screeched.
''We did it!'' the female programmer cheered, only to be blasted down seconds later.
''No! Nooooo!'' Davitch screamed, jumping over the barricade and firing madly at the Daleks, and in doing so making himself an easy target, being shot and killed within seconds. Jack continued firing, roaring with rage at the death of his new friend.
''I've got a problem,'' Lynda said over the comms.
''Human female detected,'' a Dalek screeched.
''They've found me,'' Lynda uttered.
''You'll be all right, Lynda,'' the Doctor promised, ''That side of the station's reinforced against meteors.''
''Hope so!'' Lynda said, trying to keep her spirits up, ''Know what they say about Earth Workmanship...'' A few moments later, the Doctor heard glass shatter and Lynda screaming, and sighed as he realised what had happened.
''Last man standing!'' Jack shouted, still firing at the Daleks who were in pursuit, ''For God's sake, Doctor, finish that thing and kill them!''
''Finish that thing and kill mankind,'' the Dalek Emperor jeered. The Doctor was working as quickly as possible.
Angus watched as the truck that Joshua brought accelerated. It was connected by the chain to the panel on the console.
''Come on dad!'' Jimmy called.
''Put your foot down!'' Angus shouted. Joshua slammed his foot down.
''Keep trying!'' Olivia shouted. The metal was starting to creak.
''Give it all you've got!'' Jimmy screamed. Joshua roared with frustration as he pushed the accelerator with all his strength. Finally, the panel burst open, a beautiful bright light emanating from it. Olivia looked into the light, which then reflected into her eyes, making her whole body glow gold.
''OLIVIA!'' Jimmy screamed, seeing what was happening to her. He went to grab her and pull her away, but the moment he touched her the power went through him as well. Through the combined will of Olivia and Jimmy, the TARDIS set into flight, returning to the last place it had been...
The Daleks chased Jack to floor 500, ''Doctor, you've got twenty seconds maximum!'' Jack called. The Doctor was still working, putting the Delta Wave machine together.
The TARDIS hurtled through the vortex, faster than it had ever gone before. Jimmy and Olivia stood over it's heart as though mesmerised, Jimmy still with his arms around Olivia, as the two felt the power of the Time Vortex coursing through their veins.
Jack was backed into a corner. His gun soon ran out of bullets. He threw it away and pulled out a smaller gun and began firing that instead, still to no effect. His new gun also ran out of bullets, and Jack realised there was nowhere to run. He faced the Daleks, calm and dignified.
''Exterminate!'' the first Dalek roared, pointing it's gun at Jack.
''I kinda figured that,'' Jack spat. He opened his arms, ready, as the Dalek blasted him down, killing him instantly and painlessly.
The Doctor pulled a lever on the Delta Wave machine, ''It's ready!'' he realised, only for Daleks to emerge from all possible exits. He was surrounded. The only thing he do now was use the Delta Wave, ''You really wanna think about this,'' he warned, '''Cos if I activate the signal, every living creature dies.''
''I am immortal,'' the Emperor insisted on the screen.
''D'you wanna put that to the test?'' the Doctor challenged.
''I want to see you become like me,'' the Emperor countered, ''Hail the Doctor, the Great Exterminator!''
''I'll do it!'' the Doctor screamed.
''Then prove yourself, Doctor,'' the Emperor taunted, ''What are you - coward or killer?''
The Doctor placed his hands on the switch, ready to press, trying his hardest to press it. However, despite his best efforts, he just couldn't bring himself to do it. Even if it was the greater good, he just couldn't bring himself to kill all those innocents on Earth. He recalled that terrible night, when he had finally realised how many children were on Gallifrey on the final day of the Time War. '2.47 billion' he reminded himself silently. For that reason, he couldn't do it again. Couldn't doom the lives of so many innocent people. Finally, he let go of the switch, ''Coward. Any day,'' he said, answering the Emperor's question.
''Mankind will be harvested because of your weakness,'' the Emperor jeered.
''And what about me?'' the Doctor asked weakly, ''Am I becoming one of your angels?''
''You are the Heathen,'' the Emperor sneered, ''You will be exterminated.''
''Maybe it's time,'' he sighed. He closed his eyes, seemingly for the last time, as the Daleks prepared to destroy him.
Suddenly, the sound of the TARDIS materialising, the most beautiful sound in the universe, filled his ears, ''Alert! TARDIS materialising!'' a Dalek panicked. The Doctor whirled around to see the TARDIS appear before him.
''You will not escape!'' the Emperor shouted. The TARDIS doors swung open to reveal Jimmy and Olivia bathed in beautiful golden light. The Doctor knew instantly what this light was, and he stumbled back in shock.
''What've you two done?''
''We looked into the TARDIS,'' Olivia said, sounding absent and ethereal.
''So the TARDIS looked into us,'' Jimmy finished, his natural ''street'' accent he picked up from the estate completely gone.
''You looked into the Time Vortex,'' the Doctor panicked, ''No one's meant to see that.''
''This is the abomination!'' the Emperor snarled.
''Exterminate!'' A Dalek shouted, firing at Olivia. The beam hit her directly in the chest and over her heart, but it had no effect, forcing the Dalek to retract it's beam.
''We are the Bad Wolf. We create ourself. We take the words...'' Olivia began.
''We scatter them in time and space...'' Jimmy continued.
''A message to lead ourselves here,'' Olivia finished.
''You've got to stop this. You've got to stop this now,'' the Doctor begged, ''You've got the entire vortex running through your head. You're gonna burn.''
''We want you safe,'' Jimmy said.
''Protected from the false God,'' Olivia finished.
''You cannot hurt me,'' the Emperor sneered, ''I am immortal!''
''You are NOTHING!'' Olivia replied.
''We can see the whole of time and space,'' Jimmy said, ''Every single atom of your existence, and we divide them.''
One of the Daleks in the room crumbled into dust ,''Everything must come to dust... all things. Everything dies,'' Olivia said. The Daleks around them all crumbled into dust.
''The Time War ends,'' Jimmy said.
''I will not die. I cannot die!'' the Emperor screamed pathetically, and the Doctor watched as it's single eye closed and it's mutant formed literally dissolved into nothing.
''You've done it,'' he said to his friends, ''Now stop. Just let go.''
''How can we let go of this?'' Jimmy whispered.
''I bring life,'' Olivia said.
Jack suddenly gasped as he awoke. The last thing he remembered was the Daleks killing him, and yet, here he was, alive, and the Daleks were... gone.
''But this is wrong!'' the Doctor exclaimed, begging anything left of his friends to understand, ''You can't control life and death!''
''We can,'' Olivia said, sounding slightly more like her old self, ''The sun and the moon... the day and night.''
''But they hurt,'' Jimmy said, voice cracking, ''they hurt so much.''
''The power's gonna kill you and it's my fault,'' the Doctor realised.
''We can see everything,'' Jimmy continued.
''All that is... all that was... all that ever could be,'' Olivia finished. The Doctor knew that his friends were possessed by the vortex, and he needed to save them before the energy destroyed them both from the inside. He realised something after seeing the way the two acted. They way the finished each other's sentences. They were one being! A unique fusion of Olivia's personality, Jimmy's personality, and that of... the living TARDIS. Three beings merged as one. The Doctor realised that in order to save Jimmy and Olivia, he had make them become one physically. They needed to touch, and the best way to do that was to make them separate mentally.
''But what did you see before, Olivia?'' the Doctor asked.
''I saw as any Human,'' the blonde replied. That clearly wasn't her voice.
''But you saw what?'' the Doctor pressed, ''What did you want, so much?'' Olivia did not answer, but the Doctor saw a spark of something else on her face. Was it... confusion?
''Remember earlier?'' the Doctor continued, ''When you thought Jimmy was dead?'' Remember that! Use that!
''Jimmy, what about you?'' the Doctor asked, ''Remember when you thought that Dalek killed Olivia?'' Jimmy's eyes narrowed as he remembered.
''Use that!'' the Doctor cheered, ''Remember what you both were. Remember all those times. All those good times. Remember when you danced on the TARDIS. Remember that necklace he bought you,'' Olivia raised her hand slowly, fingering the diamond pendant, ''Remember what you were, remember what you loved.''
Suddenly, Jimmy and Olivia turned to each other before kissing each other on the lips. The Doctor watched as energy flowed from both their eyes, meeting in the middle. The Doctor took his chance, wrapping his arms around the two kissing teenagers and placing his hands on each of their temples, drawing the energy from them completely. He let go of them, watching them collapse to the ground, unconscious, Olivia on top of Jimmy with her head resting on his chest. The Doctor stepped back, eyes glowing with the energy of the Time Vortex, before exhaling it back into the TARDIS. He smiled softly at his two sleeping friends.
Jack stood up weakly, groaning and wincing as he did so. He noticed a pile of dust in the same position the Daleks that killed him had stood. He ran his hand through the dust but jumped when he heard the TARDIS roar into life. He ran to the control room but it was too late, the TARDIS was already fading away. Jack sighed, hurt and confused.
The Doctor piloted the TARDIS, making it drift through the vortex. He saw Jimmy and Olivia start to stir.
''Hey,'' Olivia said, waking up with her head on his chest, she smiled at first, bright green eyes looking into Jimmy's dark ones, before realising where she was and jumping up.
''What happened?'' Jimmy wondered.
''Don't you remember?'' the Doctor asked.
''Last thing I remember was you sending us home,'' Olivia said, ''Then it all goes blank.''
The Doctor looked at his two friends and smiled. They truly were a fantastic pair of kids.
''I was gonna take you to so many places,'' he told them, ''Barcelona - not the city Barcelona, the planet. You'd love it. Fantastic place - they've got dogs with no noses. Imagine how many times a day you end up telling that joke, and it's still funny!''
''Why can't we go?'' Jimmy asked.
''Maybe you will. And maybe I will,'' he said, ''But not like this.''
''What are you talking about?'' Olivia asked.
''You might never know what I'm talkin' about again!'' the Doctor chuckled, ''I might have two heads. Or no head!'' He chuckled at the thought, ''Imagine me with no head! And don't say that's an improvement...'' he hesitated slightly, ''But it's a bit dodgy, this process. You never know what you're gonna end up with-'' he staggered backwards violently as his body glowed for a split second.
''Doctor,'' Jimmy said, concerned.
''Stay away!'' the Doctor warned urgently.
''What's happening?'' Olivia asked.
''I absorbed all the energy of the Time Vortex, and no one's meant to do that!'' the Doctor answered, his breath laboured from the pain, ''Every cell in my body's dying.''
''What are you gonna do?'' Jimmy asked.
''Time Lords have this little trick,'' the Doctor explained, ''it's... sort of a way of cheating death. Except...'' he stopped to look at his two friends, ''And I'm not gonna see you again. Not like this. Not with this daft old face,'' he knew that in actual fact he would see them again, but he knew what this process did to him, how unstable his mind became in the early stages. They would be lucky if he spent most of the regeneration cycle unconscious. He hoped that he wouldn't get a repeat of his fifth regeneration, when he had lost control and almost killed Peri, ''Before I go, I just wanna tell you, you were both fantastic,'' he smiled at his two friends, so proud of them both, ''Absolutely fantastic.''
Jimmy and Olivia looked at the Doctor in confusion, wondering what was about to happen.
''And d'you know what?'' the Doctor continued, ''So was I!'' He gave one last huge grin.
Olivia and Jimmy returned the Doctor's smile fully, before powerful orange energy exploded out of the Time Lord's body. The process was painful. If the Doctor could scream in pain, he would be screaming as the energy ripped itself from his body, changing and morphing him. He felt the hair on his head grow longer, his muscles grow bigger, and most painfully, the bones on his face reforming. The Doctor threw his head forward as the energy faded away, looking at Jimmy and Olivia.
''Well, hello,'' he said in a voice which he did not recognise, yet knew was coming from his mouth. He took a deep breath and looked at them, ''This is... new. New and... odd. This one's going to be... a tricky one...''
Well, that's ''the Parting of the Ways'' everyone. Hope you liked my version of it and hope you liked the twist at the end, a different outcome of the regeneration. It isn't because I disliked the Tenth Doctor (come on, it's David Tennant. What's not to love?), but because I figured that Ten was pretty much made for Rose. Nine was deeply in love with Rose and so became a man who was, in essence, perfect for her. In this version of events, yes Nine obviously cared for Jimmy and Olivia, but he didn't love them the way he loved Rose, so when it was time to change, the influence of his state of mind upon the change was very different. I'll give you a very brief description of Alternate!Ten, with more revealed over the coming chapters of the Children in Need scene and ''The Christmas Invasion''. He's a young, handsome man in his late 20's, with a very posh accent.
I will miss Nine, though. My first and favourite Doctor. My Doctor. I certainly enjoyed writing him.
Enjoy and please leave a review.