Hi everyone. Sorry it's taken me so long to add another chapter. Believe me when I say that I know where I want the story to head, but I just couldn't find the words to express it all. And then I was getting inspiration for other stories... But I've finally gotten this chapter down in a way that I find acceptable (at least for the moment), so here it is. I'm starting school again next week; I'd like to say that I'll have the story done before then, but that seems unlikely at the moment. Anyway... thank you all who have continued to follow this story, and I hope you like it...

Warning: Any grievances over the Doctor's results in attempting to save your life will have to be brought up with the Lawyer.

"Well..." said the Doctor.

"You're not seriously gonna stay here like a sitting duck, are you?" asked Jack, itching for some action.

"And what do you propose I do, Jack?" he asked. "It's not like regular weapons can defend us against the Black Guardian. And we have to wait for him to make the first move, anyway."

"And when will that be?" asked Jack.

"I don't know," said the Doctor, honestly. "It could be ten minutes from now, or it could be ten millenia."

"Or it could be right now!" said a deep, bitter voice. Everyone turned. A man dressed in all black stood scowling.

"Hello," said the Doctor. "I'd like to say that this is a surprise, but it's not."

"I know," said the Black Guardian. "My goodly counterpart arrived here first to warn you. But that's no matter; you're dead either way."

"Oh am I?" said the Doctor, raising an eyebrow. Surely his demise couldn't come from this B-movie villain. How embarrassing would that be? He'd never live it down.

The Black Guardian lifted the dark scepter he held in his hand and pointed it towards his nemesis. "Prepare to be vaporized, Doctor."

The Doctor couldn't suppress his laughter, and his amusement burst out.

The Black Guardian lowered his scepter. "What's so funny?"

"Vaporized?" the Doctor breathed. "You're one of the most feared beings in the universe, filled with hate, plotting your revenge for centuries, and you can't come up with something a little more interesting than vaporization? "

"And what is that supposed to mean?" he asked. He had a reputation to uphold.

"I've already been vaporized," explained the Doctor. "Well, if the timing had been off by even a millisecond, I would have. By the Time Lords. They couldn't think of anything better to do with me. Nyssa was there; she could tell you all about it."

"I think I'll pass on that," said the Black Guardian. He paused for a moment in contemplation. "I suppose you're right. You deserve an agonizing death.... I could extract your past selves from you, tearing apart your very core?"

"Borusa did that. Although I do give you props; that was excruciatingly painful, as I recall."

"I could subject you to your worst fears?" the Black Guardian offered.

"The Master did that," said the Doctor. "He called it the Keller Machine."

"That was the Master?" gasped Jack. He remembered that case. He backed out of it after the Doctor became involved (time lines and all that); but at this moment, he couldn't recall the outcome. UNIT had taken control, and Dr. Keller's whereabouts were currently unknown. Well, that solves one mystery.

"Yup," said the Doctor, turning to Jack. "Really bad idea on his part. He eventually had a hard time controlling it. Made me destroy it for him. Come to think of it, he's always messing up and forcing me to clean up after him. You know, this one time-"

"Shut up," interrupted the Black Guardian. He wasn't appreciating that lack of attention, or lack of fear, on the Doctor's part.

"Sorry," said the Doctor, turning back around. "You were saying."

"You will pay, Doctor," he said. How would you like to be rapidly aged? That would be fun, seeing you wither away."

"Oohh..." said the Doctor.

The Guardian read his expression. "Don't tell me, you've been rapidly aged before?"

"On three separate occasions, actually."

"Why don't you summon some of his past incarnations here?" said Jo. "He might just kill himself for you. You should see the tall, fancy version in the same room as the short, scruffy looking one; they hated each other with a passion."

"Jo, you're not helping."

"Sorry, Doctor."

"I want to see you in agony before you die," said the Guardian, angrily. He was really getting impatient now.

"Oh, I'm sure," said the Doctor, nonchalantly. This made the Black Guardian even more upset. Come, he was the supreme master of all evil and chaos; surely he could think of at least one terrifying death. But then he suddenly flashed on an idea. The Doctor may take his own future lightly, but what of all his companions?

The Black Guardian smiled. "You seem very fond of your travel companions. It would be a shame if anything happened to them."

"Yes, it would," said the Doctor as calmly as possible. But it was too late; the Guardian saw the hint of terror in his eyes.

The Black Guardian suddenly grabbed Susan by the arm and pulled her close to his chest.

"Grandfather!" she screamed, struggling against her captor's grip.

"Let her go!" yelled the Doctor. Anyone but Susan....

"I will," said the Black Guardian. "But not here." He waved his scepter and both he and Susan vanished.

Without a moment's hesitation, the Doctor ran towards his TARDIS. Romana followed close behind. "No," said the Doctor, stopping mid-stride so that she almost bumped into him. "You stay here."

"I'm coming with you," said Romana. She wasn't about to be abandoned. She meant to spend the rest of eternity with him, no matter what the situation.

"Twice I thought I lost you," said the Doctor. "I don't want to lose you for real."

"Twice?" asked Romana. "The Time War, and...?"

"On Skaro. I found your grave. I thought they killed you. I started to dig up the mound with my bare hands, and then you just appeared out of nowhere like it was nothing."

"I remember," said Romana. It had been just after the Doctor had finished installing the Randomizer into the TARDIS. The first place they landed was Skaro... he really had bad luck, didn't he? "You started laughing and said, 'I thought you were dead.' And then went on your way like it was nothing."

"It wasn't nothing," said the Doctor. "I can't tell you what went through my mind at that time." He paused for a moment. "But I should have had more faith in you." He started to move again, but stopped a few paces later, still looking straight ahead. "Aren't you coming?"

Romana smiled and ran to his side. No time for dilly-dallying, after all; they had a Guardian to defeat.