Chapter Two
After several years of traveling together, the Doctor finally did part ways with his granddaughter. He also began collecting and losing traveling companions the way trendy cultures go through different fashions. He eventually regenerated a couple of times until he became eccentric enough for him to finally resume his plan to save the universe.
In fact, the Doctor had already saved the universe and most planets in it several times over by this point. But this long-term plan of his was tied up with the ultimate fate of the entire universe, and it was called Ragnarok. It was the final battle between the forces of good and evil.
Eventually, he returned to his home world of Gallifrey for the second time. During this visit, the president was promptly murdered. The Doctor was accused of the crime, and he only got out of it by running for the job himself. Not something that would have occurred to most people. But then, he did have his earlier incarnation making subconscious suggestions to him that were steering him along the right path.
He had absolutely no desire to actually be the president of the Time Lords. And so once he was finally able to prove that the murder had been masterminded by his former best friend from his old school days, he then left Gallifrey before he could be forced to become a full-time politician. Eventually however, he found himself back on his home world again and reluctantly taking part in his own inauguration. And finally, much to his own annoyance, he actually became president of the Time Lords of Gallifrey.
The Doctor's inauguration just happened to coincide with an invasion of the planet Gallifrey by a race known as the Vardans. And as the Doctor was probably the only one who was capable of handling such an invasion, the timing was a lucky stroke for the Time Lords. But defeating the Vardans wasn't the Doctor's main motivation. His main plan was to get his hands on the Great Key of Rassilon.
Very quickly, it was revealed that it was in fact the Sontarans who were the real force behind the Vardan invasion. During the invasion, the Doctor then fled into his TARDIS, where he was chased by Sontaran troops who were determined to get their own hands on the Great Key, which was now safely in the Doctor's possession. He and his current traveling companion Leela ran up and down the many corridors, dodging and fighting the invading soldiers.
At one point they turned a corner and found three Sontarans coming their way. They quickly ducked back around the corner. Sontaran weapons firing past them... in spite of the fact that the TARDIS was in a state of temporal grace in which guns couldn't be fired. Leela only had her knife, but she was ready to use it going down fighting.
The Doctor held her back and hissed, "Wait!"
"There are only three of them, Doctor! I can take them!"
The Doctor opened his mouth to respond, when he was suddenly distracted by an image of his first incarnation. He saw himself standing before him, looking calm and slightly impatient. "Ah, there I am," his younger yet older-looking self said.
The Doctor was annoyed at this interruption, "What are you doing here?! Did you know we're in the middle of a Sontaran invasion of Gallifrey!?"
Leela grew concerned at the Doctor's outburst, and asked her friend, "Doctor, are you all right?"
The vision of the first Doctor said, "She is not able to see me, I'm afraid. I am only an interactive memory… projected into the optic centres of our brain."
Leela asked again, "Who are you talking to?"
The Doctor waved a casual hand at the empty space before him, "I'm just talking to myself, obviously." He then turned to his earlier self, "I'm sorry, but I'm a little pressed for time at the moment. Do you think you could come to the point, please?"
The image of the first Doctor tutted in irritation. "I am coming to you in this vision in order to tell you something which will be to your disadvantage. Our subconscious has been steering us on a path that will take us where we need to be. A war is coming. The final war. Ragnarok."
"Oh, THAT!"
"Yes… THAT! And we must not let the universe end in evil and chaos."
The Doctor thought about that for a moment, before finally saying, "Well, that sounds like a good idea to me. But I mean what did we have in mind to do about it?"
"The Time Lords have incarcerated Thor, the god of thunder. And he is crucial to the final battle. He must be set free. He is currently imprisoned on Shada."
The fourth Doctor's eyes popped wide open. "Shada?" That name rang a bell. He looked up at the ceiling and shouted, "SHADA!?" Leela winced, while still standing ready to hold any Sontarans who might come around the corner.
"Yes; Shada! The first part of our plan was to steal a TARDIS, because only a TARDIS can get us to Shada. And then you became president for a reason. Have you forgotten?"
"Well, I mean…"
"You have. But that was part of the plan too. So let's confer. Contact…"
"Contact."
The Doctor accessed his old and buried memories. And then it all came back into his consciousness. His plan to save the universe. The reason he left Gallifrey. The reason he had a TARDIS. The reason he now had in his possession of the Great Key! Of course! Only the key of Rassilon can open the doors of Shada.
"And so now that you have obtained the Great Key, you can go to Shada and release Thor. And then proceed to the end of the universe and assist him in the final battle."
The Doctor thought about this for a moment. Then he sniffed bravely, adjusted his scarf and said, "All right."
"Well, go on, then!"
The image of the first Doctor vanished. The fourth Doctor found Leela still beside him, keeping a weary eye on the corner, from which still came the occasional blast from a Sontarans weapon.
Leela put out a gentle hand to her friend, "Are you all right?"
The Doctor nodded. "Yes."
At that moment, the Sontarans burst round the corner! There were three of them, weapons ready to fire! "Stop!" the Doctor shouted very loudly, holding up both hands. The Sontatans were so taken aback by the authority in his voice that they did indeed stop. They still held their guns out, of course, but no longer with the determined grip of a warrior ready to kill his enemy. Leela too stopped, knife in hand.
The Doctor went on, "Thank you. Now… this whole thing is really a waste of our time and quite petty actually compared to what's waiting for us."
"And what is that, Doc – tor?" asked Commander Stor with all the menace he could muster in a whisper.
"The end of the universe itself."
"What do you mean?"
"I mean the end of the universe is coming. And something's got to be done about it."
"What do you suggest?"
The Doctor wasn't sure how they would react to his plan. So, with some reluctance, he said, "Well… I suggest that we team up. Just until the universe is safe, of course. Then we can resume the hostilities… as it were…"
"Why?"
"Why!? Why!? Well, tell me this: why do you even exist?"
"To defeat the Rutan menace and fight for the glory of the Sontaran empire!"
"Well, obviously. I should have known. But can you do this if you're all dead?"
The Sontaran hesitated. He did not fear death. But clearly this Time Lord was trying to trick him in some way. "No," he finally answered. "Not if we're dead." He was going to have to take this conversation very slowly and very, very carefully. Commander Stor was not good at conversation, and he knew it. So, he thought to himself, if this got too confusing, he would simply shoot the chatty Time Lord.
"Good, good," the Doctor said. "And if the universe is destroyed, you'll go with it. Yes?"
There was another long pause as Stor thought this one through. "Yes…?"
"And indeed," the Doctor went on. "If the universe is destroyed, there won't be any glorious Sontaran empire at all, will there?"
"No."
"Then it would seem to be necessary for you to help me save the universe first, before we can resume our petty squabbling over one mere planet. Even if it is Gallifrey. Make sense?"
Stor turned back to look at his troops, who still wore their battle helmets and thus conveyed no facial expressions he could read. He then turned back to the Doctor and said, "Very well, Doc – tor! But just until we have saved the universe. And THEN… we will RESUME… our differences…" he whispered as menacingly as he could.
"Good, good!" said the Doctor. Then he reached into his pocket and pulled out a small white bag, "Now that we're all allies… would you like a jelly baby?"
