We finally reached the final segment! The adventure ends right here.

Chapter 12: Journey's End

"Excuse me, but I think that's my friend that you're scaring!"

Martha turned at that voice to see another figure approaching her, also looking like the Doctor but she was feeling too drowsy to even care. "Hiya," she called out hoarsely. "Can you make this guy go away?"

"That's up to you, I'm afraid," the Doctor told her. "After all, you conjured him up."

"But how?" Martha tried to pull away again but the phony Doctor's grip was too tight. "How am I supposed to-?"

"The heart's desire," the Doctor replied.

"But that was…" Martha sighed and bowed her head. "I only wanted to see you again, but… I don't believe I ever wanted this."

Suddenly she felt the fake Doctor's grip loosen for a moment and she looked up and saw him flicker for a moment. "Gotcha!" With renewed strength, she got to her feet and stared defiantly at this figure. "I said, I don't believe this!"

At once, the figure flashed bright blue and then faded away. "Oh YES!" Martha cheered.

The Doctor smiled at Martha's victory. Then he became aware of a faint voice calling out to him. He turned around to see… but then he looked away again. "Oh, don't even try to find my heart's desire."

As the voice faded, Martha ran over and grabbed him in a big hug. "Hello, you. Proper you."

The Doctor chuckled and hugged her back then pulled away with an indignant look. "Now then, Martha, aren't you going to ask me how I got here and hear about my adventures on Volag-Noc? How I bottle-fed Squawk on molten gold until he was at proper flying age? How I managed to repair and reprogram Locke to run a better prison? Come on, it has been three years, you know?"

Martha gasped. "Three years?"

"Well, two and three quarters. I regained a bit of time by flying past light-speed, of course."

"Light-speed? But how?"

"Well, Squawk's engines were running a bit slow, so I gave them a little pep, a little zing, a little-"

"Va-va-voom?"

"Yeah."

Martha squeezed him tight. "I knew you'd be back."

"Never let you down, have I?" The Doctor then took her hand. "Now come on, I had to abandon Baltazar when I heard you scream. Who knows what's happening to him now?"

As they set off across the rusty hallways, Martha glanced around her. "So, this is the Infinite?"

"Oh yes. Every pirate and freebooter and treasure hunter have been searching all over the galaxy for it, each one dreaming of being the first one to find it."

"And receiving their heart's desire." Martha turned to him. "What did it show you, by the way?"

"Doesn't matter. It didn't work on me." The Doctor took a breath. "Anyway, whatever great power this place once had has been fading away day by day. Now this whole ship is being held together only by wishes and hopes."

A shiver ran down Martha's spine. "There's nothing alive here, isn't there?"

"Not now," the Doctor agreed. "But one of the Great Old Ones was here once. He died out here, alone and lost, screaming its rage and fury into the deep solitude until its unique power dissipated. Just left a little fading echo, just about enough to give us a glimpse of our heart's desire."

Just then a familiar laughter echoed through the passageway. "And it sounds Baltazar's getting his glimpse," the Doctor gasped. "Come on!"

They set off at a run and soon found Baltazar standing in the middle of a vast hold, and spread out before them were several piles of treasure! "Oh no," the Doctor groaned.

"Look at it!" Baltazar crowed, running his hand through some coins and jewels. "Gold! Diamonds! Treasure, Doctor! There's enough treasure to buy a new ship, a whole fleet. And then I can destroy you, Earth, Volag-Noc and everything in between!"

"Oh, and be Scourge of the Galaxy again?" the Doctor scoffed. "Is that really the best you can think of?"

"It's not real, Baltazar," Martha called out. "It's just an echo of its power."

"He's not listening, Martha," the Doctor sighed, pulling out his sonic screwdriver. "This ship's so old and rusted, just held together by wishful thinking. Which makes it easier for me to do this!" And he raised his screwdriver up and pressed the button.

Suddenly the ship began to shudder and shake, and the piles of treasure faded from view.

"What?" Baltazar gasped. "Where is my treasure?"

"I did tell you!" Martha shouted. "What's happening, Doctor?"

"I managed to tap into the main circuitry of this ship and set its generator to overload." Just then a loud explosion shuddered the ship, nearly knocking the Doctor off his feet. "And any minute now, this whole thing's gonna collapse! So, basically… RUN!"

"Come on, Captain Useless!" Martha yelled, dragging Baltazar out of the hold.

Down through the passages they ran, as all around them, the ship began to fall apart. Staircases crumbled behind them, walls bent and buckled, ceilings broke loose and crashed to the floor, making it crack open like an eggshell. Martha and the Doctor got ahead of Baltazar as they finally saw the hole in the Infinite's side.

As they ran out, the Doctor raised his voice. "Squawk, the Infinite's falling apart! Get ready to catch Baltazar the moment the TARDIS disappears!"

"I'm on it, Doctor!" Squawk raced along the asteroid's surface and took off into the cosmos. "Squawk!"

Martha's eyes widened. "Squawk? What is he-?"

"No time, Martha!" The Doctor pushed her towards the TARDIS and flung the doors open. "It's time we weren't here!"

As Martha leapt into the TARDIS, Baltazar emerged from the Infinite and ran towards them, but the Doctor barred his way. "Sorry, Baltazar, we're full up. But don't worry, there'll be another one along in a minute. Cheerio!" And he ducked inside and slammed the doors.

"Doctor, wait!" Baltazar yelled, as the TARDIS began to groan. "You can't leave me here!" But the TARDIS faded away.

Just then, another explosion rocked the asteroid and threw Baltazar off his feet. He could only watch helplessly as the Infinite blew up in a giant ball of flame…

Inside the TARDIS, the Doctor scurried around the central control console, checking every button and panel was still running then he saw Martha looking towards the doors. "You thinking about Baltazar again?"

"Of course," Martha replied. "I mean, I know that guy was rotten to the core, but still, he doesn't deserve this fate."

"Oh don't worry." The Doctor's eyes twinkled cheekily. "I have left a way out."

As the asteroid was blown apart by the Infinite's destruction, Baltazar clung on to a fragment drifting into the depths of space. Suddenly he felt something grab onto his jumper and yank him off the rock. He looked up and found himself in Squawk's clutches. "You! Where are you taking me?"

"Where the Doctor says you truly belong," the bronze bird replied, taking off into the cosmos. "Squawk!"

"Good for you, Doctor!" Martha beamed. "So Squawk has rescued him?"

"Oh yes," the Doctor replied. "Of course, it'd only matter if I didn't know exactly where Squawk was going to drop him off."

Baltazar couldn't believe his luck. He'd just escaped death only to get carried across the depths of space and end up at, of all places, Volag-Noc. Once Squawk had dropped him off and flown away, he was immediately apprehended by Locke's warders who sentenced him to imprisonment for murder, kidnapping and grand theft TARDIS.

"Curse you, Doctor!" Baltazar bellowed as he was thrown into a prison cell. "Curse you throughout eternity!"

"Nice one, Doctor!" Martha cheered then she sighed and turned away.

The Doctor looked up from his work and when he saw her face, he came round to join her. "What's wrong?"

Martha just glanced towards the doors. "It's just when I first heard about the Infinite, the thought of adventure seemed great. And in the end, I was expecting to… find something wonderful, I don't know. But instead the ship almost used me to power itself. Some treasure…"

The Doctor nodded. "I wasn't expecting too much there. But you know what they say: The thrill of a hunt is in the journey there, not the rewards at the end." A big grin crossed his face. "Searching for your heart's desire, Martha? Never been all it's cracked up to be."

At once, Martha realized that the whole journey hadn't been for nothing. After all, they'd defeated various types of pirates, ended a war and saved countless lives from death. She smiled and turned to the Doctor. "Thank you again, Doctor."

"What for?"

"For yet another brilliant adventure, and for coming to my rescue, of course."

"My pleasure." The Doctor then ran around the console again. "Now then, Martha Jones. I've another job for you."

"Oh yeah? What's that?"

"Well…" The Doctor's hand hovered over the controls. "Start giving me some random numbers."

"Oh, not again!" Martha groaned.

"Come on! It'll be fun!" The Doctor's grin grew wider. "I mean, when I have ever let you down?"

And as the Doctor burst out laughing and flicked some switches, sending the TARDIS back into the Time Vortex, Martha knew in her heart that wherever they went, whatever time they'd wound up in, this incredible, impossible man had never once let her down, not now, and certainly not ever…

Aaannnd, we're done!

Thanks to everyone who'd been following this story, however few there were.