Inside, Manchester Suite...
The Doctor and the Guardian entered the main gallery again, and the Guardian nodded to Jabe, seeing her safe with her fellow Trees.
"You both alright?" Daisy asked as she and Rose walked up to the two Time Lords.
"Oh, yeah. We're fine." The Guardian stated, a fierce fire growing within her eyes. "We're full of ideas. Aren't we, Doctor?"
"Oh, bristling with them." He agreed. "In fact, idea number one: teleportation through five thousand degrees needs some kind of feed. What does that mean for idea number two, though? Ari?"
"Idea number two: this feed must be hidden nearby." The Guardian walked over to the ostrich egg on its podium, picked it up, then smashed it on the ground, revealing a small device. "Ooh, well, would you look at that?" She grinned, picking it up before tossing it to the Doctor. "Idea number three, my friend?"
"Idea number three," He began as he caught the little device. "if you're as clever as Ari and I – then a teleportation feed can be reversed."
The Doctor used his sonic screwdriver on the device, and they heard Cassandra's voice again. "Oh, you should have seen their little alien faces!" She laughed as she was beamed in, and she stopped, eyes wide when she saw where she was. "Oh."
"The last human." The Guardian glared as Daisy and Rose came up on either side of her and the Doctor.
"So you passed my little test." Cassandra stammered. "Bravo! This makes you eligible to join the, er... the Human Club!"
"People have died, Cassandra." The Guardian practically growled, the Doctor nearly doing the same – both of them keeping in mind that Daisy and Rose had nearly died as well. "You murdered them!"
"It depends on your definition of people. And that's enough of a technicality to keep your lawyers dizzy for centuries." Cassandra rolled her eyes. "Take me to court, then, Aria. You and the Doctor can watch me smile and cry and flutter –"
"And creak?" The Doctor raised an eyebrow.
Cassandra blinked. "And what?"
"Creak." The Doctor nodded at her. "You're creaking."
"What?" Cassandra looked down at herself as her skin was bleaching, showing veins. "Ah! Ah! I'm drying out! Oh, sweet heavens! Moisturize me, moisturize me! Where are my surgeons? My lovely boys! It's too hot."
"You are the one who raised the temperature." The Guardian pointed out.
"Have pity! Moisturize me! Oh, Aria! Doctor! I'll do anything! I'm sorry!"
"Help her." Rose whispered, Daisy clutching onto her arm.
"No." The Guardian said simply, not a hint of sympathy in her eyes as the Doctor stayed quiet. "It's like what I said when we arrived here – Everything has it's time. Everything ends...And everything dies."
"I'm... too... young!" Cassandra wailed.
Her skin then exploded, but the Guardian and the Doctor didn't even flinch. They then headed for the door, the Tyler twins following after them.
"Daisy Tyler." A voice suddenly spoke, making said young woman stop when she heard the voice in her head while Rose, the Doctor and the Guardian continued on.
Daisy looked around. "Who said that?"
"Look behind you, Daisy."
She did, and was met with the Face of Boe staring right at her. "Are you... Was that you?"
"Yes. I have telepathic abilities, and can control who hears my voice in their head."
Daisy walked over and crouched in front of his glass case to look at him more directly. "How are you like this? What made you this way?"
"Someone dear to us both gave me life again."
"Us both?" Daisy frowned. "What d'you mean?"
"You will understand in time."
Daisy tilted her head, but decided not to comment. "You're pretty old, aren't you?" She asked. "You've seen a few things... What does Earth mean to you, in the grand scheme of things, so to speak? You know, if you don't mind me asking."
"I consider it a home. I lived there once, too, Daisy. A long time ago, though, I'm afraid... You travel with the Doctor and Aria, yeah?"
"Just started, actually..." She nodded slowly.
"Please believe me when I say this, Daisy... Hold onto that life for as long as you can. Do not take it for granted. It will not last forever. As the Guardian says – everything ends."
Daisy blinked. "Who's the Guardian?"
"As I said, you will understand in time. The further you go in your journey, the more you will grow. Believe me, I've seen it."
"What the hell are you talking about?" Daisy squinted at him.
"Farewell, Daisy Tyler. Farewell."
•••••
Inside, Viewing gallery...
"Shuttles four and five now departing. This unit now closing down for maintenance."
Rose stood between the Doctor and the Guardian as they looked out at the remains of Earth floating past the huge, red Sun. "The End of the Earth." She said softly just as Daisy entered the room before walking down the steps to join them. "It's gone. We were too busy saving ourselves. No one saw it go. All those years, all that history, and no one was even looking. It's just..."
"Everything ends..." Daisy whispered.
The Doctor glanced their way, smiling softly before offering Rose his arm. "Come with me."
"Where were you?" The Guardian asked quietly as she and Daisy followed the Doctor and Rose.
Daisy didn't say anything at first, but then breathed in before answering as they exited the room.
"...Just stopped and spoke with Jabe on my way out."
•••••
Outside, London, Day...
Rose stepped out of the TARDIS onto a busy modern day London street, followed by Daisy who was then followed by the Doctor and the Guardian as people flooded past them while they went about their everyday business. "Big issue!" Someone was shouting. "Big issue!"
"You know, you think it'll last forever, people and cars and concrete, but it won't." The Doctor said as the four of them stood amongst the hustle and bustle. "One day, it's all gone. Even the sky." They all looked up. "Aria and I... Our planet's gone." He said quietly, Rose and Daisy sparing him a glance while the Guardian kept her gaze on the sky. "It's dead. It burned like the Earth. It's just rocks and dust... Before its time."
"What happened?" Rose whispered in shock.
"There was a war, and we lost." The Doctor said flatly.
"A war with who?" Daisy asked, but neither the Doctor nor the Guardian answered. "Sore topic, then." She thought before asking another question. "What about your people?"
"We're a Time Lord and Time Lady." The Guardian finally spoke up, gesturing at the Doctor and herself. "We are the last of the Time Lords. They're all gone, and we're the only survivors." She let out a shaky breath as she felt the Doctor wrap an arm around her shoulders. "We're left traveling on our own 'cause there's no one else."
The Tyler sisters looked from the Guardian to the Doctor before sharing a look with each other. "There's us." They offered in unison, looking back to the duo.
The Doctor spared a glance their way as he kept his arm around the Guardian's shoulders, absentmindedly rubbing her shoulder with his thumb. "You've both seen how dangerous it is." He told them. "Do you want to go home?"
"I don't." Daisy replied surely, smiling as the Guardian looked her way. "Not yet, anyway."
"Me neither." Rose nodded in agreement, not being able to hold back her own small smile. She opened her mouth to say something else, but paused before starting to grin. "Oh. Can you smell chips?"
The Guardian quirked an eyebrow in confusion before sniffing the air. "You know... Yeah, I do." She responded, laughing a bit. "Yeah!"
"I want chips." Daisy decided, liking the sound of that.
"You know what?" The Doctor asked as he took his arm from the Guardian's shoulders. "Me, too."
"Right, then." Rose nodded before pointing at the Doctor and the Guardian. "Before you two get us back in that box, chips it is, and you can pay."
"No money." The Guardian grinned, shrugging as she stuffed her hands into the pockets of her leather jacket.
Daisy stared at her, amused. "What sort of friends' day out is this, then?" She nodded at them. "Come on, then, tightwads. Chips are on me and Rose."
Said Tyler laughed, looping her arm through Daisy's as the four of them started walking. "We've only got five billion years before the shops close." She joked.
The Doctor and the Guardian laughed as they strode off down the busy street with the two sisters. The Doctor and the Guardian glanced at each other, grins spreading across their faces before they looked back ahead again. What Daisy had said hadn't gone unnoticed by them... and then their grins widened even more as the Tyler twins began telling them more about themselves.
Apparently the four of them were friends now.
A/N: Phew! That was long overdue.
Anyway, what did y'all think...? *smiles hopefully*
Do you think I did alright with the character portrayals? I tried dividing up the dialogue as evenly as possible. Please, do not be afraid to tell me if there's something I need to work on.
All the same, though, I hope you enjoyed it! Hopefully, there won't be as long a wait for the next update (there won't be, trust me). I'm done with the semester, so I'm going to have more free time.
Anyway, that's all for now. There's going to be a little filler chapter coming up next! :)
Leave your thoughts in the comments! (Maybe I can finish writing "Robot of Sherwood" for 12 and Lexi 2.0 in The Stars of Time? We shall see... )
Until next time!
💋 Love always,
~Maddy