Chapter Six:
The two Doctors stood in the console room, sitting on chairs that Jack had brought up since they'd be waiting a while. The console had alerted them to the fact that two more portals were being created on two different sides of the galaxy. Jack had wandered off to find his old room in the T.A.R.D.I.S while they sat in silence; listening to the sound of the ship's engines.
"Have you ever counted?" H-Doctor asked.
"I'm sorry what?" The T-Doctor asked, looking away from the screen on the far wall of the console room.
"You're older than me so you've had more time to think," The H-Doctor said taking his hat off his head to let his bright orange hair breathe. "Have you counted how many died? In the Time War? In all the wars we've been in? All the innocents we killed and harmed in the name of our so called 'Justice'? Because so far I've tried to stop counting but all I seem to do is count in my head; over and over again."
T-Doctor just stared at his hands which were clasped together. He couldn't meet the other Doctor's gaze.
"You've forgotten, haven't you?" The H-Doctor growled, getting angry. "You forgot how many we've killed!"
"I've moved on."
"Moved on from what Doctor? From where can we move to?"
"I had enough of it," The T-Doctor replied in a strangely calm tone. "I was you. I was angry, depressed and deranged. So when the time came for…change, I decided to change my views. I moved on from the past and came into a whole new life. I was angry when I took this body; I was young and blonde but now I'm old and grey and now look at me; after all this time I'm finally happy. But now you're here…it brings back memories."
"Memories of the past or yourself?"
"Both," he replied with a sigh. "It was fun being you and I'm not just saying that because you're here; it was. You were passionate and angry and powerful; you made people tremble with your voice alone. That was fun and exciting but I wanted a change. I wanted to be you but in a more concealed way. All of our incarnations were angry but you showed it the most and as soon as you entered a battlefield; you were a true warrior. But after you, I was The Doctor not a fighter but a healer and peacemaker. You were a powerful weapon for justice and hope, but so am I; we're just on different sides of the spectrum."
"So you're saying you'd never resort to violence?"
"Only if it was a last resort, I prefer words and large gesticulations; maybe a cup of tea but all of that has worked for me so far; but you have…different methods."
"Well I don't see why I can't break a few bones to get a few answers."
"We'll have to agree to disagree," The T-Doctor sighed.
A brief moment of silence was filled by the sound of the T.A.R.D.I.S but H-Doctor spoke, "How do I…go?"
"How do you die?"
"Yeah, how do I become you?"
"You know I can't say that."
"Please tell me, I have to know."
"I can't," T-Doctor sighed, leaning against the arm rest of his chair. He stroked his beard once. "But I will say that you die in a blaze of glory."
"Epic battle?"
"Oh yes," T-Doctor winked. "As always."
"Well at least it wasn't me falling over a brick and bashing my head in or something stupid like that."
Both of versions of the Time Lord laughed. "No that definitely is not the way it happens."
The console beeped and they both turned their heads to look at the scanner screen. "That's the biggest one yet!" The H-Doctor exclaimed as they both jumped out of their chairs and ran to the console.
"I think we've found our portal," The T-Doctor said as he checked the coordinates.
"So where and when is it?"
"In the year six trillion and five; on a satellite moon around the planet Jurano," The T-Doctor explained. He pressed a variety of controls. "Inputting the coordinates now and we'll be there."
"So what are we going to do when we get there?"
"Do what the miners did in Cornwall back on Earth," The T-Doctor smirked as slammed down a lever, setting the ship inflight. "Send down a budgie or in our case…a man who can't die."
The top light of the blue box flashed as it materialised onto the dimensional plane. The doors swung open and The Doctor stepped out, adjusting his long coat and pulling on his gloves. Scarlett exited the ship behind him, dressed in a pink t-shirt, jeans and blue hoodie with white trainers; in her hands was The Doctor's black cane which had a perfectly crafted silver handle.
She passed it to the Time Lord with a smile; she did find his dress sense rather funny. He was incredibly attractive but his clothes seemed to ward off anyone who wanted to try anything.
Scarlett looked out onto the horizon to see perfectly white hill and mountains that went on for miles. It looked like snow but the grass and ground were just white. On the horizon, far off into the distance, sat a large city which had towers that spiralled into the completely blue sky; it was the blue-est blue to ever exist! So she did what she often did when looking upon a new planet; she compared the scenery to the highlands in Scotland back on Earth. This one definitely beat her home.
"This is…" she was lost for words at the beauty of the place.
"Beautiful, fantastic, breath taking?" The Doctor grinned as he locked the T.A.R.D.I.S doors.
"Yes," she breathed out. "It's so white!"
"Yes it is," The Doctor replied walking away from the blue phone box, his cane moving with each step. "I believe it's meant to be showing the place's purity but I think it's something to do with the planets basic make-up."
"Do you have to suck all the magic out of things?"
"Because I'm just one big magic vacuum."
"A black hole for mystery and wonder."
"Mystery, no, I like mystery but wonder…um; sometimes."
Scarlett smirked and decided to stay in silence as they walked across the hills. The Doctor may have liked to label everything under 'science' but he still made her think and absorb the wonder and joy that came from the universe.
She remembered when she first met the magical man. He was different back then…he wore a strange blue tuxedo and had a grey beard that he groomed every morning with precision. She was working on a time and space warping machine the size of an old 21st century mobile phone but The Doctor stopped her as she was really making a time machine for a bunch of aliens who were going to use it to take over the universe. Using her help, The Doctor stopped the aliens and returned back to his T.A.R.D.I.S.
She travelled with him for a long time after that. She was by his side when the battle came which forced him to regenerate and become the loveable character he was now; dressed like a fictional Victorian character with the looks of a model and the physique of a body builder.
A long time had passed since then and she had grown to love him with a burning passion. She suspected the feelings were mutual but he made it very clear that he had given up on love and that it was a distraction, a weakness and something that would end up disappointing him.
Their relationship was a strange one, constantly shifting and changing, but the one constant was that they stuck together through thick and thin and kept each other safe; though The Doctor ended up saving her much more than she did him.
The large city grew as they approached and Scarlett realised that the whole place looked like a basic depiction of heaven with white walls and buildings which had gold leaf paint running along the tops. Large golden gates sat at the front with two guards standing by them; they both wore golden armour and carried heavy spears.
"Halt!" they both shouted in unison, stepping closer to the two travellers in a threatening manner. "Who are you?" one of them asked.
"Hello, I'm The Doctor," the Time Lord doffed his top hat to them in a very formal way. "And this is Scarlett; we are here to see the High Priest."
"You don't look like a Thinagarian," the second guard snarled.
"The inhabitants of the city," The Doctor explained in a hushed tone to his companion. He turned back to the guards with a hardened expression, "No we are not Thinagarians."
"So how did you get here?" they both barked.
"That's my little secret," the Time Lord smirked.
The first one spoke again, "No outsider can set foot in the city."
"Well I'm asking nicely."
"Be gone!" the second one shouted. "And take the flame hair girl with you! We do not take kindly to outsiders and we treat them all the same; that includes you too Doctor, if that's your name."
"Am I going to have to use my magic then?" The Doctor asked.
Scarlett supressed a puzzled look as she guessed the Time Lord had a plan since he wasn't magic and he knew it; so clearly he was going to trick them.
"You, a magician?" the first guard scoffed. He stepped forwards and pushed The Doctor backwards with the blunt end of his spear. "Quit with your lies and shunt off!"
"Okay then, I've warned you," The Doctor sighed. He reached into his waistcoat pocket and then outstretched his arm. The Time Lord glared and suddenly the first guard was shoved backwards, off his feet and sprawling onto his back.
The metallic plates clanked as he hit the floor and he groaned as pain coursed through his spine. The second guard jumped back in shock; he truly believed he had witnessed magic. He instantly ran to the gates and pulled a lever to open it. The gates clanked as Scarlett stepped close to The Doctor and whispered in his ear, "Sonic screwdriver?"
"Yes," he replied in a hushed voice. "The device is based on sonic and radio waves so all I had to do was amp it up and he went flying; he thinks it was magic but really I hit him with a bunch of sounds."
"That's not very magic," she smirked as The Doctor slid the sonic screwdriver, a slim metal tube with a red light at the top, back into his pocket.
"Shh you or I'll get you with my magic powers," The Doctor joked as the gates were finally open and both guards had stood aside so that they could enter.
The city was breath taking and captivating but all Scarlett could tell was that her and her time travelling friend were being stared at by all the people in the city; all of them looking at them through windows, doorways and every way possible. The cities inhabitants were beautiful, blonde and muscular. Scarlett guessed that set her and the Time Lord apart from the crowd as well as they're clothes; all of the city's inhabitants wore basic cloth clothing with belts around their waists.
"Where are we going?" Scarlett asked.
"I told the guard, to see the High Priest," The Doctor told her, smiling at every glaring face they passed.
"Who's the High Priest?"
"I don't know, I just guessed a title and got a response. After that I deduced that the High Priest was the most important person here so he must inhabit the tallest building," he pointed up to the sky and Scarlett looked at a gigantic white and gold tower. "That's where we'll find our famous friend who will most likely have the arrow we need in his possession."