The end of the world
" Right then, Rose Tyler, you tell me. Where do you want to go? Backwards or forwards in time. It's your choice. What's it going to be?" the Doctor asked Rose as soon as she walked through the doors of the tardis.
"Forwards" was her desicion, a great huge grin across her face.
"Make that double for me" Alyssa replied, arms folded and grinning from ear to ear. She had always wanted to travel through time and now she was doing it, despite it being only a dream but it felt so real to her.
"How far?" the Doctor asked the two girls.
"Hmmm how far do we want to go Ali, what about one hundred years" Rose said to Alyssa who agreed straight away on that and the Doctor grinned before setting the controls to take them hundred years into the future.
"There you go. Step outside those doors, it's the twenty second century" the Doctor told the two of them as the tardis came to a stop.
"You're kidding" Rose replied as Alyssa tried her best not to giggle.
"That's a bit boring, though" the Doctor pointed out, grinning again "Do you want to go further? "
"That's fine by us, isn't it Ali?" Rose asked, nudging Alyssa.
"Yeah" the small Twelve year old girl replied and the Tardis began to shudder again for a few minutes before it came to a halt.
"Ten thousand years in the future. Step outside, it's the year 12005, the new Roman Empire" the Doctor told them.
"You think you're so impressive" Rose teased.
"I am so impressive" the Doctor said in defense.
"yeah right" Alyssa teased.
"You wish" added Rose, both girls grinning at him in a cheeky manner.
"Right, you two asked for it, I know exactly where to go" the Doctor told them before setting up the controls again and the tardis once again began to shudder as the three of them held onto the console in the middle of the room before it came to a stop.
"Where are we?" Rose asked, smiling as the Doctor gestured towards the doors "What's out there?." The Doctor gestured towards the doors again and both the girls ran out the doors to find themselves stood on a huge space station with a huge window that was over looking the earth.
"Oh my goodness" Alyssa muttered as the Doctor walked out of the tardis to join them.
"You lot, you spend all your time thinking about dying, like you're going to get killed by eggs or beef or global warming or asteroids. But you never take time to imagine the impossible, that maybe you survive. This is the year five point five slash apple slash twenty six. Five billion years in your future, and this is the day, hold on " he told them before looking at his watch "This is the day the Sun expands. Welcome to the end of the world."
"You mean the earth's going to blow up, today?" Alyssa asked.
"Yes, come on, let's explore" the Doctor replied before the three of them left the platform and onto a long corridor as they heard a female computer voice speaker over the intercom.
" Shuttles five and six now docking. Guests are reminded that Platform One forbids the use of weapons, teleportation and religion. Earth Death is scheduled for fifteen thirty nine followed by drinks in the Manchester Suite" the computer spoke as the Doctor and his two companions walked down the corridor.
"So, when it says guests, does that mean people?" Rose asked.
" Depends what you mean by people" the Doctor said as the three of them turned a corner and continued to walk on.
"She means people" Alyssa pointed out "what do you mean?"
" Aliens" the Doctor replied and Alyssa began to imagine typical Aliens with their big black eyes, pointed heads and skinny bodies walking around the space station, coming to watch the earth blow up.
"What are they doing on board this spaceship? What's it all for?" Rose asked as the Doctor took out his sonic screwdriver and used it on a wall panel.
"It's not really a spaceship, more like an observation deck. The great and the good are gathering to watch the planet burn" he replied as he scanned the wall panel.
"What for? " Rose asked.
"Fun" the Doctor replied as the walls slid open and the three of them entered a large room with about three display cases and a large window at the end, over looking space "mind you, when I said the great and the good, what I mean is, the rich."
" But, hold on. They did this once on Newsround Extra. The sun expanding, that takes hundreds of years" Rose pointed out as they walked towards the giant window at the end of the room.
"Millions, but the planet's now property of the National Trust. They've been keeping it preserved. See down there? Gravity satellites holding back the sun" the Doctor explained as the three of them walked up to the giant window to see the earth floating in orbit.
"The planet looks the same as ever. I thought the continents shifted and things" Rose pointed out.
"I thought the whole place would have been flooded by now, what with the polar ice caps melting and stuff" Alyssa pointed out " and I also agree on what Rose just said, I always thought that the continents would have shifted about."
"They did, and the Trust shifted them back. That's a classic Earth. But now the money's run out, nature takes over" the Doctor explained to them before Rose asked how long the planet had left and he pointed out that it had about half an hour left before it got roasted.
" Is that why we're here? I mean, is that what you do? Jump in at the last minute and save the Earth? " Rose asked.
"I'm not saving it. Time's up" was the Doctor's reply as both Rose and Alyssa stared at him.
"But what about all the people?" Alyssa asked.
" It's empty. They're all gone. No one left" the Doctor replied.
"Just us left then" Rose told Alyssa who nodded in agreement and pointed out that this meant that she was the last earth kid just as a blue skinned man entered the room and strode over to the three of them.
"Who the hell are you?" he demanded as he came striding over to the three of them.
"Oh, that's nice, thanks" the Doctor replied sarcasticlly as Rose and Alyssa stared at the blue skinned man, not knowing what to make of him.
"But how did you get in? This is a maximum hospitality zone. The guests have disembarked. They're on their way any second now" the blue skinned man pointed out.
"That's me. I'm a guest. Look, I've got an invitation. Look. There, you see? It's fine, you see? The Doctor plus one and two. I'm the Doctor, this is Rose Tyler and Alyssa Benson, they're my plus one and two Is that all right? " the Doctor asked as he showed the blue man who was the Steward a blank piece of paper which Alyssa recognized immedielty as phycic paper.
"Well, obviously. Apologies, et cetera. If you're on board, we'd better start. Enjoy" the Steward replied before he walked over to a lecturn as the Doctor showed the girls his phycic paper.
" The paper's slightly psychic. It shows them whatever I want them to see. Saves a lot of time" he explained to them both in a hushed whisper.
" He's blue" Rose pointed out.
"Is he an Alien because he doesn't look like the sort of Aliens you see in cartoons and comic books" Alyssa pointed out.
"Yeah" the Doctor replied.
"Okay" Alyssa replied slowly as the Steward began to make his announcements.
"We have in attendance the Doctor, Rose Tyler and Alyssa benson. Thank you. All staff to their positions" the Stward said as a bunch of small blue skinned humanoids in black clothes and helmets began walking into the gallery " Hurry, now, thank you. Quick as we can. Come along, come along. And now, might I introduce the next honoured guest? Representing the Forest of Cheam, we have trees, namely, Jabe, Lute and Coffa. " The doors slid open and three tree like people, a woman and two men entered the room as the Doctor grinned in amusement whilst both Rose and Alyssa just stood there, watching andn ot knowing what to make of all this as the Stward continued to make the announcements.
" There will be an exchange of gifts representing peace. If you could keep the room circulating, thank you. Next, from the solicitors Jolco and Jolco, we have the Moxx of Balhoon" the blue skinned man said as a stumpy blue alien sitting on a travel pod came throough the doors as the Steward continued on with the introductions "And next, from Financial Family Seven, we have the Adherents of the Repeated Meme" the doors slid open again and a group of black robbed figures uttering a sinister hum came through the doors as the tree people came walking towards the Doctor and the two girls as the Steward contuned to introduce more guests that where arriving.
"The Gift of Peace. I bring you a cutting of my Grandfather" the tree like woman who was called Jabe said as she handed the Doctor a rooted twig in a small pot.
"Thank you. Yes, gifts. Er, I give you in return air from my lungs" the Doctor replied before breathing slowly on her, making her eyes flutter.
"How intimate" she replied in a rather flirtatious manner making Alyssa raise an eyebrow.
"There's more where that came from" the Doctor said, with a wink.
" I bet there is" said Jabe as the Steward continued to make the guest announcements.
" From the Silver Devastation, the sponsor of the main event, please welcome the Face of Boe" he said as a a large glass case containing a giant head with squiggly hair and squinting eyes came through the doors as the Mox of balhoon rolledo ver to the Doctor and his two companions.
" The Moxx of Balhoon" the Doctor greeted as the blue skinned creature on the travel pod rolled up to them.
"My felicitations on this historical happenstance. I give you the gift of bodily salivas" the Mox said before suddenly spitting in Rose's face.
"Yuck, that's gross" said Alyssa, pulling a discusted face.
"Thank you very much" the Doctor chuckled as Rose wiped the spit from her face as the Adherents glided up to them like a group of sinister dark ghosts, emitting their sinister hum along the way.
" Ah! The Adherents of the Repeated Meme. I bring you air from my lungs" the Doctor said as he breathed on the black robed sinister group.
" A gift of peace in all good faith" said one of the Adherents, handing the Doctor a silver ball as the Steward introduced the final guest to be arriving.
" And last but not least, our very special guest. Ladies and gentlemen, and trees and multiforms, consider the Earth below. In memory of this dying world, we call forth the last Human. The Lady Cassandra O'Brien Dot Delta Seventeen. " The Doors slid open and what looked like a white trampoline with a female's face came sliding in, accompanied by two surgeons in thier white masks and garments.
"Oh, now, don't stare. I know, I know it's shocking, isn't it? I've had my chin completely taken away and look at the difference. Look how thin I am. Thin and dainty. I don't look a day over two thousand. Moisturise me. Moisturise me" one of the surgeons sprayed her as she continued to speak " Truly, I am the last Human. My father was a Texan, my mother was from the Arctic Desert. They were born on the Earth and were the last to be buried in its soil. I have come to honour them and say goodbye. Oh, no tears, no tears. I'm sorry. But behold, I bring gifts. From Earth itself, the last remaining ostrich egg" one of the blue skinned staff walk in with an Ostrich egg "legend says it had a wingspan of fifty feet and blew fire from its nostrils. Or was that my third husband? Oh, no. Oh, don't laugh. I'll get laughter lines. And here, another rarity" she continued on as Rose and Alyssa walked round the back of her to see how thin she was but Cassandra didn't noticed them and continued to speak as a fifty's juke box was wheeled in "according to the archives, this was called an iPod. It stores classical music from humanity's greatest composers. Play on!." One of the small blue skinned people pressed a button on the juke box and Soft cell's tainted love was soon blasting round the room and the Doctor was dancing along to it.
" Refreshments will now be served. Earth Death in thirty minutes" the Steward announced as Rose walked out of the gallery and Alyssa hurried after her.
"Hey Rose, what's the rush?" the young girl asked as she jogged along side her.
"It's all them Aliens, they seem so Alien" Rose replied as the two girls came to a window and looked out of it at the growing sun,
"Tell me about it" Alyssa replied as a blue skinned woman wearing overalls and a baseball ap came round the corner and Rose was the first one to notice her.
"Oh sorry, are we allowed to be in here?" she asked.
"You have to give us permission to talk" the blue woman replied.
"Okay, you have permission" Alyssa replied with a look of confusion on her face.
"Thank you" the blue woman replied with a smile "and no, you're both not in the way, guests are allowed anywhere."
"Okay" Rose replied as the woman walked up to a wall panel and unlocked it "What's your name?."
" Raffalo" the woman replied as Alyssa leaned agaisnt the wall, arms folded.
"Raffalo?" Rose asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Yes, miss. I won't be long, I've just got to carry out some maintenance" said Raffalo as she looked through the open space in the wall " There's a tiny little glitch in the Face of Boe's suite. There must be something blocking the system. He's not getting any hot water. "
"So are you a plumber or something?" Alyssa asked.
"That's right little miss" Raffalo replied.
"They still have plumbers then?" Rose asked.
"I hope so, else I'm out of a job" Raffalo said.
"Where are you from?" Rose asked curiously.
"Crespallion" was the blue skinned woman's reply.
"That's a planet, is it? " Alyssa asked, rubbing her nose.
"No. Crespallion's part of the Jaggit Brocade, affiliated to the Scarlet Junction, Convex fifty six. And where are you both from? If you don't mind me asking" Raffalo aksed.
"No, not at all. Er, we don't know. A long way away. We just sort of hitched a lift with this man. Alyssa here just appeared out of nowhere and he's looking after her until he can figure out where she's from and I just went along with him, didn't even think about it. I don't even know who he is. He's a complete stranger. Anyway, don't let me keep you. Good luck with it" Rose said before she and Alyssa went to leave.
"Thank you, miss. And er, thank you for the permission. Not many people are that considerate" said Raffalo.
"See you around" Alyssa said with a wave before she and Rose turned round the corner and went into the same room the Tardis had landed in when they first arrived here.
"So what were these two guys doing in you're house then?" Rose asked as they sat down.
"Looking for my dad's safe" Alyssa replied " I tried to stop the, but one of them chased me upstairs and he must have hit me over the head because the next thing I know, I'm waking up in the tardis."
"I can't believe he did that to you though, you're just a little girl" Rose pointed out as she tossed the metal ball that had been given to them by the Adherents.
"Maybe I'm dead, maybe I'm a ghost" Alyssa stated but Rose told her that she didn't think she was a ghost because she probably wouldn't be able to see her if she was a ghost just as the computer announced that earth death was in twenty five minutes.
" Oh, thanks" Rose muttered as she put the ball down and picked up the plant pot with the twig inside it "Hello. My name's Rose. That's a sort of plant. We might be related."
"Rose, you're talking to a twig" Alyssa pointed out, raising her eyebrows.
"Fair point" Rose replied, putting the plant pot down as the metal ball that was behind Rose's hand began to hatch and a metalic spider emerged from it and it began to scan Rose's hand just as the Doctor entered, causing it to scuttle away.
" Aye, aye" he greeted as he walked into the room and sat down on the steps "What do you think, then? ."
"Great. Yeah, fine. Once you get past the slightly psychic paper." Rose said.
"And them Aliens out there, they're just so Alien, I mean you look at them and they're Aliens" said Alyssa.
"Good job I didn't take you both to the deep south" the Doctor replied.
"Where are you from?" Rose asked.
" All over the place" the Doctor replied.
" They all speak English" Rose pointed out, indicating the Aliens.
"Yeah, I've never even heard of an english speaking Alien before, are there like yorkshire Aliens or cockney Aliens in the universe?" Alyssa asked curiously.
" No, you just hear English. It's a gift of the Tardis. The telepathic field, gets inside your brain and translates" the Doctor explained.
"It's inside my brain? " Rose asked.
"And mine too?" added Alyssa.
"Well, in a good way" was the Doctor's reply.
"Your machine gets inside mine and Alyssa's heads. It gets inside and it changes our minds, and you didn't even ask? " Rose questioned.
" I didn't think about it like that" the Doctor said, looking a little sheepish.
"No, you were too busy thinking up cheap shots about the Deep South. Who are you, then, Doctor? What are you called? What sort of alien are you? " Rose demanded.
"I'm just the Doctor" he replied and Alyssa was getting the sense that there was going to be an arguement between the pair of them.
"From what planet?" Rose questioned.
"Well, it's not as if you'll know where it is! " the Doctor replied, getting rather irritated now.
"Where are you from? " Rose demanded again and the Doctor was getting annoyed now.
" What does it matter? " he barked.
" Tell me who you are! " Rose said again and Alyssa was begining to get a little annoyed with her continuessly questioning the Doctor about where he was from.
"This is who I am, right here, right now, all right? All that counts is here and now, and this is me" he snapped.
"Rose, I think you should stop now, you're making him angry" Alyssa told the older girl as the Doctor walked over to the large window in a huff.
"Earth Death in twenty minutes. Earth Death in twenty minutes" the computer announced as Rose walked over to where the Doctor was stood with his arms folded.
"All right. As my mate Shareen says, don't argue with the designated driver" she said, taking out her mobile phone "Can't exactly call for a taxi. There's no signal. We're out of range. Just a bit."
" Tell you what" the Doctor said as he took her phone from her and began to take it apart "With a little bit of jiggery pokery."
" Is that a technical term, jiggery pokery? "Rose asked.
" Yeah, I came first in jiggery pokery. What about you? " he asked as Alyssa came walking over to join them.
"No, I failed hullabaloo" Rose replied as the Doctor handed her phone back and she rang her mum up as the Doctor went to talk to Alyssa.
"Have you got a mobile because I could do what I did to Rose's with yours" he suggested.
"I'm not allowed a mobile phone, not until I'm fourteen anyway" Alyssa pointed out "my parents won't let me have one now because they think I'm too young."
"Well you seem pretty old enough to have a mobile phone" the Doctor told her " you must be what, Eleven."
"I've just turned Twelve" Alyssa replied "I asked my parents if I could have one for my birthday but they said no. They are really strict." The Doctor just smiled at her as Rose finished talking to her mum.
"Oh my god I've been talking ot my mum from five billion years in the future" said Rose.
"Think that's amazing, you want to see the bill" the Doctor told her.
"That was five billion years ago. So, she's dead now. Five billion years later, my mum's dead" Rose said in a rather shocked voice.
"Bundle of laughs, you are" the Doctor replied just before the station suddenly shook and a look of confusion spread across his face "that's not supposed to happen." The three of them left the room and ran down the corridor.
"What the hell is going on?" Rose asked as the three of them entered the viewing gallery.
"I'm not sure but that wasn't a gravity pocket. I know gravity pockets and they don't feel like that" the Doctor said just as the tree woman, Jabe walked over to them "What do you think, Jabe? Listened to the engines. They've pitched up about thirty Hertz. That dodgy or what?"
" It's the sound of metal. It doesn't make any sense to me" Jabe replied.
"Where's the engine room?" the Doctor asked.
" I don't know, but the maintenance duct is just behind our guest suite, I could show you, your wife and daughter" said Jabe.
"I'm not his wife" Rose said.
"And I'm not his daughter" Alyssa pointed out.
"Tell you what, you two go and pollinate. Me and Ali are going to catch up with family. Quick word with Michael Jackson" Rose said before she and Alyssa went over to talk to Cassandra whilst the Doctor and Jabe left the gallery.
"Hello there" said Cassandra as the two girls approached her "and what do you two want?"
"We've come to have a word" said Rose " we want to know why you had all these operations?"
"Because I wanted to carry on living for a long time, much longer than all the other people, I'm far more better than them to let myself naturally die. Why die when I can live longer" Cassandra replied before she rolled up to one of the windows as Rose and Alyssa walked with her "Soon, the sun will blossom into a red giant, and my home will die. That's where I used to live, when I was a little boy, down there. Mummy and Daddy had a little house built into the side of the Los Angeles Crevice. I'd have such fun."
" What happened to everyone else? The human race, where did it go? " Rose asked.
"They say mankind has touched every star in the sky" Cassandra replied.
"So, you're not the last human" Rose pointed out.
"I am the last pure human. The others mingled" said Cassandra "Oh, they call themselves New humans and Proto-humans and Digi-humans, even 'Humanish, but you know what I call them? Mongrels."
"Right. And you stayed behind" Rose stated.
"I kept myself pure" Cassandra inquired.
"How many operations have you had? " Rose asked.
" Seven hundred and eight. Next week, it's seven hundred and nine. I'm having my blood bleached. Is that why you wanted a word? You could be flatter, Rose. You've got a little bit of a chin poking out" Cassandra suggested " and what about your young lady friend, does she want the same thing too?."
"No way" Alyssa scoffed "I'm not having a billion operations or what ever you've had to look like a talking trampoline."
"And I'd rather die" Rose added.
"Honestly, it doesn't hurt" inquired Cassandra.
"No, I mean it. I would rather die. It's better to die than live like you, a bitchy trampoline" Rose snapped.
'Yeah" Alyssa added.
"Oh well, what do you two know" Cassandra replied.
" I was born on that planet, and so was my mum, my dad and Alyssa here, and that makes us officially the last human beings in this room, 'cos you're not human. You've had it all nipped and tucked and flattened till there's nothing left. Anything human got chucked in the bin. You're just skin, Cassandra. Lipstick and skin. Nice talking, come on Ali" said Rose before she took Alyssa by the hand and the two girls left, unaware that the Adherents where watching them.
"She's not a very nice trampoline person is she" said Alyssa as the two of them walked down the corridor.
"No she is not" Rose agreed.
"I mean, who wants to have loads of operations to look like that, a talking trampoline with an attitude problem, I certainly wouldn't" Alyssa pointed out "and how dare she assume that she's the last human, she isn't even human, she's a trampoline for goodness sake."
"She's just a snob, don't listen to her" Rose told the young girl just as the Adherents came round the corner and knocked Rose unconscious.
"Rose" Alyssa screamed before she felt something hard collide with the back of her head, causing her whole world to become black.
"Alyssa, Alyssa can you hear me" Alyssa could hear Rose's voice but she couldn't see her "wake up Ali come on." After what felt like forever, Alyssa slowly opened her eyes to see Rose hovering over her.
"What happened, where are we?" Alyssa asked, squinting her eyes as she slowly sat up with her hand on her head.
"In one of the galleries" Rose said as she helped the younger girl sit up "how are you feeling?"
"I have the world's biggest headache, how did we get in here anyway?" she said.
"I think those monk thinks must have knocked us out and put us in here" Rose replied just as a deadly glare began to fill the room.
"Sun filter descending. Sun filter descending. Sun filter descending" the computer inquired and the two girls ran up to the door, hammering on it.
'Help, someone help we can't get out" Alyssa yelled, her voice full of fear.
"Let us out, let us out" Rose yelled. The computer kept making the same announcement over and over again as they both kept banging on the door until they heard a very familiar voice outside.
"It's the Doctor" Alyssa whispered.
"Anyone in there?" the Doctor asked from the other side of the door "is Alyssa in there with you?"
"yes I am" Alyssa replied, almost in tears.
"Let us out "Rose yelled.
"Hold on. Give us two ticks" the Doctor replied as he scanned the door panel.
"Sun filter descending. Sun filter descending" the computer said as the sun rays began to move upwards and both Rose and Alyssa sighed in relieve when suddenly the deadly rays began to move down again "Sun filter descending."
"Just what we need" the Doctor complained "the computer's getting clever."
" Stop mucking about!" Rose yelled, banging on the door.
" I'm not mucking about. It's fighting back" the Doctor pointed out.
"Open the door! " Rose begged.
" I know! " the Doctor replied from outside the door.
"Rose" Alyssa sobbed. She was scared now and she and Rose ran down the steps to get away from the glare as it move further down the door.
" The lock's melted!" Rose yelled to the Doctor who was still outside trying to get the sun filter to rise which he did so but it had jammed the door. Rose and Alyssa ran back up the stairs, towards the door.
"The whole thing's jammed. I can't open the doors. Stay there!" he told them both.
"Where are we going to go, Ipswich? " Rose asked as Alyssa slid down the wall, wiping her eyes.
"Earth Death in five minutes" the computer announced
"We're going to be stuck in here forever" Alyssa whispered as Rose sat down on the floor next to her.
"Don't worry, the Doctor will figure out how to open the doors" Rose reassured her.
"But what if he can't" Alyssa pointed out " what if he can't open the doors and we're both stuck in here until we grow old and die, I'll never see my mum, dad and sister again."
"Well I'm not going anywhere" Rose reassured her, putting an arm round the younger girl's shoulders " well I can't anyway because I can't get out either."
"Heat levels rising" the computer said.
"I'm so hot" Alyssa said, taking off her jacket and tying it round her waist.
"Me too" Rose agreed, also taking her jacket off.
" Earth Death in two minutes. Earth Death in two minutes" the computer said "Heat levels critical." Suddenly, the glass window began to crack.
"What's happening?" Alyssa asked, even more scared this time.
"Shields malfunction. Shields malfunction. Shields malfunction" the computer spoke as random pieces of deadly glare began to lance the room.
"The glass is going to smash" Alyssa yelled "where going to be burnt alive." The two girls began hammering on the door again, yelling for help but no one was coming and the computer was saying that the heat levels where now critical.
"I'm so hot I can't breath" Alyssa pointed out, sweat dripping from her forehead "I'm scared."
"Don't worry, I'm here" Rose said, putting a comforting arm around the young girl despite being just as scared as she was. The two girls then held hands and closed their eyes as the computer began to do the count down the earth destruction.
"Planet explodes in ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one" the computer announced as a force field envelopes the platform just as the earth explodes "Exoglass repair. Exoglass repair. Exoglass repair." Rose opened her eyes to see the cracks in the glass disappearing and the earth now in pieces.
"Are we dead yet?" Alyssa asked, her eyes still squeezed shut.
"No, where alive, I think the Doctor must have fixed everything" Rose told her and the twelve year old opened her eyes to see that the glass had now repaired and the doors had now opened.
"Come on, let's go find the Doctor" Rose said, helping her up. Alyssa was still pretty shaken up and stayed close to Rose as they walked down the corridor and into the viewing gallery where they discovered that the Moxx of Balhoon had got fried by the glare and the Doctor entered and he walked over to the two trees to give them bad news before walking away from them.
" You all right?" Rose asked him.
" Yeah, I'm fine. I'm full of ideas, I'm bristling with them. Idea number one, teleportation through five thousand degrees needs some kind of feed. Idea number two, this feed must be hidden nearby" the Doctor explained as he picked up the supposed ostrich egg and smashed it to reveal a small device inside it " Idea number three, if you're as clever as me, then a teleportation feed can be reversed." He then turned a switch on the device and both the girls watched as Cassandra was beamed back in.
"I bet she had something to do with the sun filters playing up" Alyssa whispered to Rose " I knew there was something off about her."
"Oh, you should have seen their little alien faces" Cassandra said before she realized that she was back on the platform from where ever she had been before she got transported back " Oh."
"The last human" the Doctor pointed out.
" So, you passed my little test. Bravo. This makes you eligible to join, er, the Human Club" Cassandra replied, looking sheepish.
" People have died, Cassandra. You murdered them" the Doctor told her sternly.
"Ha, I knew she was behind it all" Alyssa pointed out.
"It depends on your definition of people, and that's enough of a technicality to keep your lawyers dizzy for centuries. Take me to court, then, Doctor, and watch me smile and cry and flutter " Cassandra said in sarcasm as she began to creak slowly.
" And creak? " the Doctor asked.
" And what? " Cassandra asked.
"Creak. You're creaking" the Doctor told her.
" What?" Cassandra asked before she realized that she was actually creaking "Ah! I'm drying out! Oh, sweet heavens. Moisturise me, moisturise me! Where are my surgeons? My lovely boys! It's too hot! "
"You raised the temperature" the Doctor told her calmly.
" Have pity! Moisturise me! Oh, oh, Doctor. I'm sorry. I'll do anything" Cassandra begged.
"Help her" Rose told the Doctor.
"Are you kidding, thanks to her we almost got burnt to death" Alyssa pointed out.
"Everything has its time and everything dies" the Doctor replied, seemingly agreeing with Alyssa.
" I'm too young!" Cassandra yelled as her sking tightened and she exploded, bits of skin flying round the room. A while later, the platform was begining to close and Rose and Alyssa were looking out the windows at the remains of the earth floated past the giant red sun as the Doctor walked up to the two girls.
" The end of the Earth. It's gone. We were too busy saving ourselves. No one saw it go. All those years, all that history, and no one was even looking" Rose said, almost in tears.
"Come with me" the Doctor said, taking her hand. Rose took Alyssa's and the three of them went back to the tardis and they went back to present day London watching as the people went about their everyday lives.
"You think it'll last forever, people and cars and concrete, but it won't. One day it's all gone. Even the sky. My planet's gone. It's dead. It burned like the Earth. It's just rocks and dust before it's time" the Doctor explained.
" What happened? " Rose asked, still holding Alyssa's hand.
"There was a war and we lost" the Doctor replied.
"A war with who?" Alyssa asked but the Doctor didn't answer her, just stayed silent.
"What about your people?" Rose asked.
" I'm a Time Lord. I'm the last of the Time Lords. They're all gone. I'm the only survivor. I'm left travelling on my own 'cos there's no one else" the Doctor replied.
"There's me" Rose told him.
"And me too" Alyssa added.
"You've seen how dangerous it is" the Doctor replied "You could go home Rose but Alyssa has no idea where her family is. Do you want to go home?"
" Don't know, I want. Oh, can you smell chips? " Rose asked, sniffing up.
"Yeah" the Doctor replied with a chuckle.
" I want chips" Rose stated.
"Me too" the Doctor agreed.
"Me three, I'm starving" Alyssa said with a grin, cheering up for the first time since being trapped in that gallery.
" Right then, before you get us back in that box, chips it is, and you can pay" said Rose.
"No money" the Doctor replied, checking his pockets.
" What sort of date are you?" Rose asked with a chuckle "Come on then, tightwad, chips are on me. We've only got five billion years till the shops close." The three of them then linked arms and walked down the street, grinning happily, a new team forming.