The concept of a Tardis had other applications in good hands. Condensing space could be used to house unpleasant people in prisons the length of continents. No noise echoed from the Doctor's footsteps as she walked by leafless trees on a path leading to this realm's only occupant.
There were no weapons, need for food or drink, and no means of escape unless one's jailers permitted it. The Doctor never knew these Wardens to be so lenient. Not when one of the worst of the Deca finally was asked to answer for her crimes.
"Still disappointed I spared you, Rani?"
The renegade Time Lord pouted, sitting in the pale sand under a cloudless sky. There were no restraints or bars, because threats of violence to visitors or efforts to escape were futile. The Doctor knew one better reason to not fear harm as they sat side by side.
The Rani's curiosity could never permit her to kill the only person who could explain why the experiment failed.
"Did you know that Master died?"
The Rani was silent.
"Yeah," the Doctor continued. "Regenerated into a woman, Missy she called herself, and honestly she seemed to be having a lot more fun in those days." Her next words came out in a strained tone.
"Missy's prior regeneration killed her, ending their timeline completely, I think… he did it because he believed she w-… had changed for the better. He was afraid that a kinder future caused his past, where he had been 'strong', to become meaningless."
"He succeeded where you failed then." The Rani finally said. "You decided to continue your little games of playing hero, instead of permitting a proper end. Becoming the Valeyard and stopping yourself would have given you proper end. I dread the nightmare you may become by rejecting a simpler path." Her smirk implied anything but fear. The smile became thin as she noticed a lack of trouble on the Doctor's face.
"You really don't understand how you lost, do you?"
"You cheated!" The Rani snapped.
"Well you were manipulating the deaths of millions, seemed fair to make sure it stopped where it did." The Doctor said with a shrug.
"More importantly, you think the Master ending his future was an act of victory. Not so, it would have been braver to be more than the Deca made us to be. The Valeyard was what they wanted me to be, not a Doctor, in the same way they wanted a Master, a Mad Monk, a War Master, and even a Rani. All of us, reduced to little scary stories for the universe to quake before, so Gallifrey could be protected in fear. Just another form of control by Rassilon."
The Doctor placed a hand on the Rani's shoulder, she flinched as if kindness were more toxic than poison.
"We're the only two left, Rani," the Doctor said. "The rest became the villains they were expected to become and died evil deaths. Our paths are bigger than madness or doom, living as long as I have, embracing a greater skill of help, those choices made someone bigger than anything I could have been. Maybe, with time, you might know what that's like too."
The Rani chuckled grimly.
"Even after all I've done, you expect I'll make parole?"
"What I'm saying is that you're going to do some good."
The chuckling stopped.
"What?"
"The Sisterhood is going to make you appreciate the value of life and how to better protect it, from you especially. My suggestion, you see, I believe you can be good. Missy proved that, that is the only reason the Master would dare take their lives. I beat my demon, and I'll stand by you to help face yours, redeem millions lost by the billions yet to be saved."
The Rani looked at her, not with anger or fear, only awareness. This astute gleam had been what made them become dear friends.
"You've become… so human." The Rani was too baffled by the conclusion to properly convey how such a revelation could be seen.
The Doctor shrugged as she stood up, knowing without any communication that their time had ended.
"That's the trick, Rani," the Doctor said. "The lesson I take from my companions. I am at my best when I can echo theirs."
As the gap widened with every step, the Doctor noted a slight shift in the tension within that space.
That sensation proved that hopefully all that had been lost would be redeemed in the end, by shaping something… more.
The surface of the planet Karn always looked as jagged the mood of their head Priestess, Ohilia. The woman had become a familiar face in the Doctor's life, the one who crafted a War Doctor. She was a defining moment that shaped the Time Lord's life, even to this day.
That gave her the potential of being the most dangerous force in the Doctor's life.
"The return of the Rassilon may redeem some of your antics, Doctor, but I expect Gallifrey may always be an unpleasant realm to visit." She spoke in the same mythical tone that promised everything horrible with the indifference of stepping in a puddle.
"Good point," the Doctor said with a sigh. "Maybe giving out a fruitcake every Christmas might ease the pain a bit, you reckon? You do know what fruit is I hope?"
Ohilia did not dignify an answer. The Doctor's mood shifted to a more serious tone, out of respect as much as clarification.
"My friend is to be given a chance to be better, punishment through community service. I have your word on that."
"You do not command me here, Doctor, Lord President or not, Karn owes you no favors."
"True," the Doctor said. "But you also know how unwise it is to be disagree with me at times too."
Ohilia's face showed no emotion. The Doctor nodded, her message received, and proceeded down the stone pathway to her Tarids. She stopped after a few feet, without turning around.
"Those potions you made, could one of them make a Valeyard?"
Her silence expressed a greater purpose than 'destiny' in making a Doctor of War, perhaps the hint of… experimenting.
"Community service," she said flatly. "I'll be watching."
She didn't need or desire to hear how that action would be mutual while walking back to her beloved ship.
Max was sitting down, a medical brace helped in repairing the leg broken from before. The companion made no sign of arguing with the Rani's fate. She knew that the Doctor would not disrespect those fallen out pity for a former friend.
"You'll make it count, Doc," Max said. "You bend the whole damn universe if that's what it takes."
"I will." The Doctor said.
The two nodded, and with that the actions of Ramification Nightmares were finally finished.
With a flick of the switch, they started the long journey home. It lasted less than a few minutes in silence. The chasm started before any further words were needed. Max Lin looked to be standing on her own feet even without the brace. This was the woman who defeated the Rani, and the Doctor would fight to make sure she could be worthy of that level of strength.
When the Tardis landed, the finality of it all set in. The worlds seen, people met, and victories made were about to became as transparent as the ship that would soon depart. The Doctor's hands hovered over the controls, she'd be lying if the act of immediately going anywhere else wasn't very tempting. Max again proved her strength.
"Doc," the Doctor turned to see a Tardis key handed back to her. "Thanks for helping me get back."
The Doctor looked at the key, knowing that the tale had come to an end. One of the first to know her in this fresh start, but never the last. Whoever came afterwards, they would be phenomenal souls, just like Max Lin.
"It's been my honor." Gripping the key, she had freed her friend from the horrors of Time Lords.
They stood, awkwardly, realizing how much changed from that crazy little moment in a locker room. This was not a sad farewell. That acceptance in both their eyes made what happened next much easier. The Doctor snapped her fingers.
The Tardis doors opened, outside it was at least 10 minutes after Max's teammates from the Rift games had been dropped off. The Doctor suddenly felt arms wrap around her in a tight hug, one that returned in kind.
"See you around?" Max said.
"Possibly," the Doctor said. "Keep an eye out for a big blue box, phenomenal camouflage but you've learned to notice things that might stand out."
That made Max laugh a bit, a tension in her body implied many of the horrors would need to be settled with time. The Doctor could only wish her friend luck, knowing that if anything ever happened, the Time Lord would be there, always. They let go after a moment, and Max Lin returned to Jaret V. Her comrades barely noticed the difference, Max had explained she got lost in the Tardis but found her way home. Nothing helped a lie like a bit of truth.
No one noticed the Tardis fade away as Max Lin walked back to her final destination.
The house still stood where it had before. A red building that radiated like a ruby at night. Max Lin walked up to the door, no hesitation. She knocked three times, trying to ignore how hollow the noise seemed on the other end. Waiting a lifetime in a minute, Max almost felt like turning when she heard a metal lock click open. Light from the hall painted everything like an angelic halo around golden hair. Her eyes were wide with shock, almost looking prepped to wake up from a dream. Max had a way, the only way that kept her going, to prove this to be true.
She walked over to the garden next to the front door. Hooking her fingers through soft soil, Max pulled up a small cube from the dirt, damn near indestructible. Unlocking it showed a priceless promise.
"Sorry it took so long," Max said. "I just needed to make sure nothing stopped me from asking you something. Been on my mind for three years. I know it's s—"
Lips collided with hers. They fell right onto the grass. Tears drenched both their faces. Even when the kissing stopped, it was more than enough to just hold the other. She barely processed, how much time they spent there. While standing, Max noticed a slight glint on Candace's finger.
"We can take all the time we need," Candace said. "Can I… just wear it for the night? I really like how this feels." There could be a debate if that meant the ring or the hand holding Candace's. Max nodded, she had learned all about the value of time.
Epilogue
Alone in a Tardis, the story of the Doctor's life. Her first bit of time with this new face was very exciting. Between new friends and old, the path ahead was clear. She had embraced it when fulfilling the right of passage and renewed it now with both her Granddaughter and a former athlete clear in her mind. She had rejected the Valeyard, but that left the question that may always haunt her, always drive her.
Who are you?
The name was one thing, but everything it promised to be… that was worth finding an answer to.
With the flick of a switch, the Tardis began its wild journey to everywhere at any time. The Doctor rested, looking forward to new friends, dangers, and whole worlds to discover.
The journey continued from where it began in a junkyard in England.
An adventure continued, and far from over.
End of the 13th Doctor Adventures (Year 1)