The Doctor Dies at the End: The End of the World
It seemed only moments ago that The Doctor had brought his brand new traveling companion, Rose, to see the end of the world. But now, as the heat grew and grew, becoming more intense with each passing second, the Doctor found himself at his own end. He had died many times before, but no experience had been quite this excruciating. His body burned away, and his Time Lord biology prepared him a new form. He stood, exploding in a shower of golden energy, his body painfully recreating itself. All of this – for nothing. As soon as the regeneration process was done, the heat took hold one more, bathing the Doctor in sunlight so intense that his body burned away once more. And the process started over.
How had it come to this? How had the Doctor gotten himself in a position that he couldn't escape from? As the Doctor's lives flashed before his eyes, so too did the events that lead him this moment. This last moment – his death.
The Doctor stood leaning against a wall as the gathering of aliens from different corners of the universe spoke to each other. They exchanged gifts, pleasantries, stories about why Earth was important to them...All of them seemingly here for an innocent purpose: to watch the end of Earth. The Doctor's companion, Rose, stood next to him with wide eyes and an open mouth, obviously in awe of the sight. He grinned and turned to her.
"So! What do you think, then?" he asked, he grin spreading from ear to ear.
"Great. Yeah, fine," she started, looking slightly uncomfortable. The Doctor's grin slowly faded. "Once you get past the slightly psychic paper, it's...the aliens. They're all so...Alien!"
"Well, you're not wrong." The Doctor said, turning his attention back to the congregation. Suddenly, the station shook and lurched to one side, sending Rose toppling to the floor. The Doctor scrambled to help her up, and when the movement of the ship had settled, they heard the familiar voice of the stewardess over the intercom.
"Honoured guests may be reassured that gravity pocket's may cause slight turbulence, thanking you!"
The Doctor made sure Rose was okay before straightening up and announcing to the room, "That wasn't a gravity pocket. I know gravity pockets, and they don't feel like that. What do you think, Jabe?" he said, motioning do a humanoid tree alien that he'd become acquainted with earlier. Listen to the engines. They've pitched up about thirty Hertz. That dodgy or what?"
Jabe shook her head. "It's the sound of metal. It doesn't make any sense to me."
"Where's the engine room?" the Doctor asked, taking a step toward the group.
"I don't know," Jabe answered. "But the maintenance duct is just behind the guest suite. I could show you and your...wife?"
The Doctor winced slightly, and shook his head. "Not my wife."
Jabe nodded as if she understood. "Partner, then?"
Once again, the Doctor shook his head.
"Concubine?"
"Nope." He could feel Rose's eyes boring into him from behind.
"Prostitute?"
"Whatever I am," Rose spoke, incredulously, "It must be invisible. You two go and 'pollinate'. I'll stay here and talk to the rest of the honoured guests," she said, the last two words dripping with sarcasm. The Doctor smiled slightly at her as he made to leave.
"Don't start a fight," he called over his shoulder as he exited the room with Jabe.
Rose watched him leave, and then turned to face a particular guest in the room, a "human" named Cassandra. She claimed to be the very last of her species. And in some respects, she was. She was the last "pure-blooded" human in the universe (save for Rose), as all the other humans had spread out and mated with other races. But Rose was disgusted at the lengths she went to keep her title of "The Last Human". She had undergone seven hundred and eight procedures to date, and was now nothing more than a thin layer of skin held together by a metal frame.
All of this information had been gleaned from a few moment of conversation between Rose and Cassandra (she did LOVE talking about herself), and it made Rose sick.
"It seems like it'd be better to die that to live life as a bitchy trampoline like you." Rose spat after Cassandra suggested that Rose could be like her.
"Oh, well. What do you know?" Cassandra muttered in response.
"What do I know?" Rose said through gritted teeth. "I was born on that planet, and so was my mum and my dad. That makes ME the last human in this room, not you. Because whatever you are, it's not human. Not anymore. You're just skin, Cassandra. Lipstick and skin. Nice talking."
And with that, she stormed off. Or rather, she would have, had she not been cut off outside of the door by a group of cloaked aliens. They raised a weapon and struck her, knocking her out cold.
The Doctor and Jabe had made headway in their investigation of what was going on in the ship. They found out, for example, that someone had been planning to sabotage the station by bringing mechanical spider-like creatures onboard under the guise of a "gift in all good faith". The Doctor's mood was decidedly sour when he returned to the main room with Jabe and confronted the guests with this new information, so Cassandra revealing that it was all was her doing didn't exactly help in the regard.
"Are you insane? You're going to burn with us!" Jabe shouted. Cassandra's skin stretched into what passed for a grin.
"Oh, I'm so sorry. But that couldn't be farther from the truth. Spiders, activate!"
The room shook as several explosions rocked the station, sending a flurry of panic through the room.
"Forcefields almost gone with the planet about to explode. At least it'll be quick. Just like my fifth husband." She let out a girlish giggle. "Oh, shame on me."
The on-board computer let out a loud warning, telling everyone what they already knew.
"Safety systems failing."
"Bye bye, darlings!" Cassandra gleefully shouted over the explosions. The air around be began to shimmer, and she was enveloped in a brilliant flash of light. Then she was gone.
The main deck was in total and complete panic.
"Everyone, calm down! Listen to me!" the Doctor shouted over the chaos. But no one did. No one listened. The Doctor had a plan, but he needed at least one person to help. Someone needed to listen.
But no one was.
"Heat levels rising" the computer warned once more. The Doctor needed someone, but there wasn't anyone.
So the heat grew and grew.
It seemed only moments ago that The Doctor had brought his brand new traveling companion, Rose, to see the end of the world. But now, as the heat grew and grew, becoming more intense with each passing second, the Doctor found himself at his own end. He had died many times before, but no experience had been quite this excruciating. His body burned away, and his Time Lord biology prepared him a new form. He stood, exploding in a shower of golden energy, his body painfully recreating itself. All of this – for nothing. As soon as the regeneration process was done, the heat took hold one more, bathing the Doctor in sunlight so intense that his body burned away once more. And the process started over.
And then, reaching the last of his available lives, the Doctor took in one final breath. The sun moved steadily toward the ship, and eventually it consumed it completely in the fiery inferno.
The Doctor, our hero, had fallen. While we no longer required his services on Earth, we might have needed him in the future. With the constant threat of various species throughout the galaxy, such a man as the Doctor is needed. But much like when he needed help and no one answered, we are now doomed the suffer the same fate.
But it's to be expected. The Doctor is our life line. If he goes, we go.
And we went. All because The Doctor Died at the End.