The Doctor and Lantro stared at the destruction around them. Everywhere they looked, they found the aged, decaying bodies of a beautiful, bird-like people. Their houses were overgrown and falling apart. The remains of a futuristic-looking car was rusting and decaying into the ground. There was no sound from any animal still living on this planet. Not a bird. Not an insect. Not a person.
A black scorch mark was still smoldering from where it had seared into the planet's surface. It would extend all the way down through the whole crust, the Doctor knew. Its effects would go even further —deep down into the core, causing the formation of hot spots and a resurgence in volcanic activity. In a matter of days, the ground would begin to rip apart, lava shooting hundreds of miles into the air, in a process that wouldn't stop for a few million years.
"You've seen this before, haven't you?" Lantro guessed. "The last time you were here."
The Doctor stared out at the scarred landscape, scenes of horror flashing through his mind. He'd seen this weapon used before. How many times had it been?
"Not here," the Doctor said. "Just... during the War. I wasn't here when..." He stopped himself. His hands clenched into fists. His eyes were hard. "This ends today."
Lantro sighed. "And it will, I promise," he said. "But we can't shut down anything until we find your friend, remember?"
That was when they heard someone scream.
Lantro and the Doctor turned, surprised — as they looked across the site of the explosion, and saw, at the other end, a beautiful, feathery creature bent double and sobbing, and a petite blond girl with an arm around her, soothing her.
"Speak of the devil," the Doctor said, as he began running towards them. He called out to them, "Seo!"
The blonde girl looked up, cursed beneath her breath, then grabbed the bird-creature up and dragged her alongside, as they fled.
The Doctor faintly heard Seo shout at him, "Go away! You can't stop me!"
The Doctor face-palmed. "Oh, that's just brilliant!" He ran after her. "Seo, I can guess what you're trying to do. And since you're running away from me, I can also guess that even you know this is a really, really bad idea!"
Seo flipped him the middle finger, and kept running.
Lantro sprinted, struggling to catch up with the Doctor. "That's your friend? The blond one?" He reached down towards his pocket. "Are you sure?"
"Yes, unfortunately," the Doctor grumbled. Then, calling out, "Seo, we can talk about this! You don't know what you're doing!"
"I don't want to talk!" Seo shouted back, still running. "You never listen — not even when I'm right!" Then, to her bird-friend beside her, "Keep going, Yimi. If we can get to that rock..."
"You have the power to unlock any dimension — but some things need to stay locked up!" The Doctor shouted after her. "Please! Just listen to me! The Apos'alu is extremely dangerous."
Seo stopped running and spun around, her face furious. "I know it's dangerous! I worked that one out ages ago." She threw her hands up in the air. "Why else do you think I'm trying to...?"
The heat of the laser bolt scorched the Doctor's skin as it shot past him and slammed straight into Seo, striking her squarely in the chest. Seo fell to the ground in a crumpled heap, her body still smoldering. Yimi, standing beside her, screamed.
The Doctor spun around — to find Agent Lantro standing there, a cold expression on his face, his gun still smoking from the shot.
"Oh, no," the Doctor breathed, his worst suspicions confirmed. "And I really thought you were just protecting your friend Zeera."
Agent Lantro swung the gun around so the barrel was aimed squarely at the Doctor's chest and pulled the trigger.
"No!" A brown-haired blur jumped on Lantro's back, throwing off the shot. Lantro elbowed her in the stomach and grabbed her by the shoulders, throwing her over his head and smacking her down on the ground. He fired three shots at her — but she'd already rolled out of the way before they had a chance to hit.
Even Lantro was thrown off his guard at those reflexes. "How did you...?"
The woman grabbed a large branch up off the ground and leapt at him, slamming the branch down on his head repeatedly. Lantro sagged, his eyes rolling up in his head as he slumped to the ground.
The Doctor walked forwards, recognizing the woman. "Faye Mutajar."
Faye Mutajar turned on him, her eyes flashing. The vortex manipulator was secure around her wrist, this time. "You recognize me?"
The Doctor frowned. "I..." He stopped. Stared. Then took a step back. "Lantro told me that he was here to rescue you."
"Oh, did he, now?" Mutajar laughed bitterly. Then, just for good measure, she kicked him in the side. "Lying son of a bitch."
Lantro groaned.
Mutajar geared up to kick him again, but the Doctor raced out and grabbed her by the shoulder. "I know you're angry, but I don't think..."
Mutajar glanced back over her shoulder at him, and he fell silent. The Doctor just stared at her, as he slowly let her shoulder go.
"Didn't you get my messages, Doctor?" Mutajar asked. "Don't you know who I am?"
The Doctor stepped back again, not saying a word. Something was tickling at the edge of his mind... something he recognized...
"Biv?" Mutajar prompted. "Bivazeer? Come on. I know I've regenerated, but..."
"It can't be," the Doctor said. "Bivazeer died." He pointed at her. "I saw..."
Mutajar sighed, turning away from him. "I don't have time for this!" She grabbed a thick vine off a nearby tree, and yanked at it — hard — until it snapped at the base. Then she began securing Lantro's hands and legs. "I've got to figure out where it went, and he's the only one who knows."
"It...?"
"The Apos'alu!" Mutajar insisted. "Try to keep up, Doctor. Why do you think I got stuck here in its prison? It escaped!"
The Doctor stepped back again, slowly, his eyes fixed on Mutajar for a few long, long seconds. Then he turned around and ran over to Seo's body, which was still smoking where it lay. The bird person — Yimi — was bent over her, trying to apply pressure to the wound... which, since it wasn't a normal bullet wound, didn't help much.
"You can get through it," Yimi was saying. "I know you can. We've got gods to find and dig up. Remember? We're going to... to find..."
But Seo had stopped breathing. She had stopped moving. She was gone. Really gone.
The Doctor came over, leaning down beside Seo. He scanned his sonic screwdriver across her, checked the readings, then shook his head and tucked it away.
"She's... she's..." Yimi's voice was trembling — as were her hands. She looked up at the Doctor. "I shouldn't have liked her. I know I shouldn't. She stood against everything I believed in. But..." she looked down at Seo, tears brimming in her eyes. "She took a bullet for me. And I was too big a coward to take one for her."
The Doctor put an arm around Yimi and helped her to her feet. He glanced back at Seo... a long, sad stare... then looked away, helping Yimi to make her way back to where Mutajar was still tying up Agent Lantro.
"That was pretty cold of you," Mutajar said, knotting the vine to make sure he couldn't escape. "Your friend gets killed and you just... walk away. Like it means nothing." She stepped away from Lantro. "I hope you didn't do that when you left me."
"I..." The Doctor paused. Wiped his floppy fringe out of his eyes. "You're really Bivazeer?"
Mutajar crossed her arms. "Seriously? You don't believe me?" She shot him a hard glare. "Can't you tell?"
"But... but you died!" the Doctor insisted. "I watched you die. No regeneration."
Mutajar shrugged. "That's what I thought, too. Then I woke up." She looked down at herself. "What do you think? The hips are a little narrow. But it's not a bad body, all in all."
The Doctor didn't have time to answer, as Agent Lantro opened his eyes. The Doctor held up a finger to Mutajar. "We'll talk about this later." Then he turned his attention back to Agent Lantro, who was blinking his eyes open, squinting in the bright light of the sun. The Doctor's face was the first one he saw. "Hello again, Agent Lantro. I believe you were about to tell me why you just murdered my companion."