Footsteps in the Sand
Chapter Six
Deep bangs erupted from far off, the Doctor and Jack spun to see out the window a distant spec of fire engulf the room on the far side; it grew fast, moving swiftly through the room, growing larger and enveloping all. The dancers were exploding, falling like dominoes.
Screams engulfed the room before the fire. So many had already died, and the Doctor was consumed by it. There was nowhere to run in a circular room.
The Master clicked his fingers and the TARDIS door opened as it would only for a Time Lord. He looked around.
"It was supposed to be quicker than that…ah well - ta-ra Doctor!"
The Doctor dived at the Master before he could enter the TARDIS. They both toppled to the floor and the Doctor punched him hard on the head, holding him down between his legs. The Master surged forwards and the Doctor lost his balance, he tried to drive his knee into the Master's side but an elbow hit his face and he fell back. The Master stood quickly and kicked the Doctor in the stomach until the Doctor grabbed his foot and kicked him in the other shin. The Master fell to the ground again, but managed to boot the Doctor in the head.
Blood erupted from the Doctor's nose and as he stood and loomed over the Master it fell onto his already bruised and blooded face. He leaned his knee into the Master's chest pushing the air out and the Master coughed and tried to push him off, the Doctor punched him again, but as he shifted his balance the Master rolled them both over and began punching the Doctor about the head. The Doctor kicked out at the Master, pushing them apart and they both scrambled to their feet. The Master fled towards the open TARDIS doors, but as the Doctor had got to his feet he had grabbed the broken gun and threw it directly at the Master's head - it cracked on the Master's skull and he fell to the floor unconscious.
The fire was in sight now at either end of the room. What was visible out the window was now completely enveloped. He would save who he could.
He reached into the Master's pocket and pressed the red button again. The fire stopped spreading at the same speed as the dancers stopped erupting, but fire still consumed the rest of the room.
He would get those left into the TARDIS. He dropped the sonic screwdriver without a second thought and he and Jack attempted to shout over the screaming for all the people to follow them, people began to scramble over chairs and tables to get through the dancers, who were inane without the Master's control. The growing group ran behind the Doctor and Jack towards the TARDIS, but then the Doctor stopped only a few metres from the beckoning door of the TARDIS.
The Master was sitting up, the sonic screw-driver back in his bruised and bloodied hand. He grinned and pressed the button. The dancers exploded as they had done throughout the room, and fire cascaded around them, quickly engulfing them all. The Doctor looked directly into the Master's eyes, the smoke between them couldn't muffle the Master's madness or the Doctor's grief. The Master stumbled into a run directly towards the TARDIS, the Doctor and Jack followed, running through the fire and burning now as all the others had.
The air around the TARDIS was the only patch not on fire, it seemed the shields were protecting her and those within reach; the Master, the Doctor and Jack hurtled into the small smoke filled clearing one after the other. Before the Master could reach the door the Doctor tackled him and they both fell into the fire.
Jack stood next to the door, bouncing in frustration as he waited for the Doctor to emerge, he could see them scuffling in the flickering flames - surviving in heat no human could. He reached for his gun on the floor, intent on killing the Master, but he couldn't get a clear shot. He put it away and hesitated only a moment before he dived into the flames after them - the heat was unbearable now, it had completely consumed the room but for the protective bubble of the TARDIS. The Doctor stood over the Master, the flames avoiding them both - the Master likely had some device, but to Jack it seemed to frame the Time Lords' power. He grabbed the Doctor's tense arm, he seemed resistant to move, staring so intently down at the unconscious form of the Master.
"Doctor!"
The Doctor reached to grab the Master, he would save him at least. But the flames broke in on them now, scorching his skin. He tried to drag the Master with him, unable to lift him off the floor, but the fire burned them now, and Jack was calling him although he couldn't hear his voice anymore.
He would stay, burn with the last, as the last.
Jack grabbed his face in burnt hands, and their eyes locked.
"Doctor, we need you."
An eternity of thought passed in a millisecond, he blinked and allowed himself to be lead away by Jack's strong grip on his arm. His eyes never left the Master's body. They ran back towards the TARDIS, hurtled through the doors and into the cool metal of the consol room. The door slammed shut behind them, and the flames couldn't be heard, only the soft hum of the TARDIS rearing to go.
"Home," said the Doctor as he collapsed next the Jack, it was the one reliable place the TARDIS could take him on her own, without him at the controls.
The TARDIS whirred and began to shake violently, Jack was breathing in sharp gasps, his skin scorched and cut by the explosions, then he stopped gasping for breath and was still.
It was just the Doctor now, and he screamed in grief and pain while the TARDIS shivered.
"Memories are dangerous, Doctor," Jack shouted as the Time Lord moved with renewed vigour towards the TARDIS, he silently cursed not getting a more talkative Doctor.
"I know," the Doctor returned sorrowfully, "we're leaving - now."
The boy scuffled to his feet.
"Is that a TARDIS?" he asked awestruck.
The Doctor and Jack looked at the boy, who was walking towards the TARDIS. Jack looked confused, but the Doctor looked tense.
"Doctor, is - ?" Jack moved closer to the Doctor.
"I think he's me," the Doctor answered simply, not looking at Jack. He shook his head, "Just a memory imprint, he's not even substantial. I can feel him weakly in my consciousnesses. It was the residual energy from the regeneration, and this planet -" he scuffed his foot in the blood red sand, "it's dust and ashes." The last word caught in his throat and he placed his hand on the TARDIS door. It hummed gently at his touch.
The boy had stopped in front of him.
"Why is your TARDIS blue?" he asked with wide eyes.
The Doctor tried to ignore him, and went to step into the TARDIS.
"Why are you on your own?" asked the boy trying to tiptoe and peep through the door.
The Doctor stopped. He turned and looked at the child, who had yet to - moments from his life flashed through his mind; his deaths, their deaths…the wars.
The Master lay at his feet as they were both engulfed in flames.
He would die with him, burn with the last as the last.
"Jack, we're leaving," The Doctor said cautiously, he walked into the TARDIS without looking back, Jack followed close behind him, the boy stood there both vulnerable and powerful.
Jack closed the door gently behind him. The new Doctor was already running around the TARDIS, with a different kind of movement to the previous Doctor, pulling levers, spinning buttons, pressing digits.
"Setting…course…for - Cardiff" rang the Doctor between jabs at the controls.
"Cardiff?" questioned Jack, there was nothing left there for him. The Doctor gave him a look - where else?
"Right," Jack nodded sadly, "Cardiff."
The Doctor sat in the consol chair with his feet up on the TARDIS controls. Jack saw the stony look on his face, one he recognised from both the previous Doctors.
"Jack, put the kettle on, I'm dieing for a cuppa," the Doctor called, running his hand tiredly over his new features, as Jack headed deeper into the TARDIS. Not bad, he thought feeling his strong chin, and young he noted with some disappointment - they would never take him seriously.
The TARDIS whirred; the consol room was empty now. The Doctor turned on the monitor, it showed the deep red of Gallifrey, and the small child standing in the sand. The Doctor watched as the child reached towards the TARDIS with small fingers. He pulled his hand away sharply as the solid form burnt his skin, the wind caught him now and golden dust was taken from his body. He looked directly at the monitor and spoke.
The Doctor sat up as he watched the child's lips move, he reached for the volume on the side of the monitor and the child's voice rang through the TARDIS, chanting remnants of memories in dead voices.
"Goodbye, Susan. Goodbye, my dear"
"Donna Nobel, I am so sorry…goodbye"
"I'm not just a Time Lord, I'm the last of the Time Lords"
"Rose Tyler, I…"
"It can't end like this -- you and me, all the things we've done"
"REGENERATE"
"This is the way the world ends
This is the way the world ends
This is the way the world ends…"
"…Not with a bang but a whimper." finished the Doctor, as the child turned back into dust, leaving nothing but footsteps in the sand.
Jack walked slowly towards the Doctor and handed him a large mug of tea. He nodded his thanks.
"T. S. Eliot," said Jack "The -"
"Hollow Men," completed the Doctor.
He turned off the monitor and caught his new reflection in the black screen, his eyes filled with tears and flashed with the moving lights of the TARDIS.
Not quite hollow, he thought, not yet.
Even the Doctor can't win every time.
He pulled a lever and set the TARDIS into motion.
Wouldn't stop him trying.
"Run," whispered the final memory.
Somewhere deep in space, fire had engulfed the inside of a huge circular ship, the air filters traitorously fuelled it with oxygen and it burned to dust all that was inside. Soon a crack appeared in the ship's wall which widened and eventually opened onto space - all air was taken from the room in a moment and the fire drowned in emptiness. The ship broke apart, and ashes were scattered like the shadows of stars into the deep black of space.
A ring floated innocently by; with a stone that shone unnaturally golden in the thick darkness.
The End
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