Through Thick and Thin
Journey's End
Thanks to Jazzper's Girl for favouriting this story
Regeneration energy continued to pour out of the Doctor. With great effort, he turned and focussed the energy towards the jar containing his severed hand, causing the liquid within it to glow and bubble wildly. The energy faded away to reveal the Doctor looking exactly the same. "Now then, where were we?" he asked nonchalantly.
The four Humans could only stare at him in disbelief. "Now that was anti-climactic." Shareen muttered to herself.
~8~
Sarah Jane braced herself for the end as the Daleks aimed their weapons at her. "Exterminate! Exterminate!" they bellowed.
Suddenly, there were three flashes of light and Jackie Tyler, Mickey Smith and Shireen Costello appeared, Mickey and Shireen both carrying huge guns which they used to blast the Daleks to smithereens. "Ah, they're not so tough." Shireen crowed.
"Mickey!" Sarah Jane gasped, getting out of her car and hugging the man.
"Us Smiths gotta stick together." Mickey grinned.
"You gonna introduce us, Mickey?" Shireen asked.
"Shireen Costello, Sarah Jane Smith." Mickey introduced.
"And I'm Jackie Tyler, Rose's mum." Jackie cut in bluntly. "Now where the hell is my daughter?" she asked Sarah Jane.
~8~
Ianto and Gwen continued firing at the Dalek, Gwen screaming blue murder. Suddenly, they both noticed something and ceased fire. They cautiously walked forward and saw that their bullets were frozen in mid-air, like they'd been stopped by an invisible wall, while the Dalek hadn't moved either. Gwen slowly reached out to touch the invisible wall, her finger making a ripple in the air. "What the hell?" she frowned.
~8~
The Doctor was kneeling down over the bubbling jar. "There now." he said and blew on the jar, causing the bubbling to stop, then he stood up and turned to his companions.
"You gonna tell us what just happened, Peacock?" Shareen asked him.
"I used the regeneration to heal myself, but as soon as I was done, I didn't need to change." the Doctor replied. "I didn't want to, why would I?" He tweaked his tie with a smug expression, prompting Shareen to roll her eyes at his arrogance. "Look at me! So, to stop the energy goin' all the way, I siphoned off the rest into a handy bio-matching receptacle, namely, my hand, my hand there, my handy spare hand!" He turned to Rose. "Remember; Christmas Day, Sycorax, lost my hand in a sword fight? That's my hand. What d'ya think?"
"You... you're still you?" Rose asked, hesitantly coming forward.
"I'm still me." the Doctor reassured her, and both he and Rose hugged each other tightly.
"Aw, look at them." Jack commented as he, Donna and Shareen watched them.
"You can hug me, if you want." Donna said to him.
"And me." Shareen snorted.
~8~
Gwen and Ianto were checking their instruments to see what had stopped the Dalek. "It's a time lock." Ianto noted. "The ultimate defence programme. Tosh was working on it, never thought she finished it, but she did! The Hub's sealed in a time bubble, nothing can get in."
"But that means we can't get out." Gwen realised.
"Nope. Not without unlocking that Dalek." Ianto confirmed. "We're trapped inside. It's all up to Jack now."
~8~
Unknown to it's occupants, the TARDIS was surrounded by four Daleks. "Report: TARDIS has been located." one announced.
"Bring it here." a deeper Dalek voice ordered over the comm. "Bring the Doctor to me. Initiate temporal prison."
The four Daleks glided back as a shining blue circle appeared around the TARDIS. "Temporal prison initiated." a Dalek announced.
~8~
The lights in the console room suddenly went out, including the Time Rotor. "Power's gone!" the Doctor realised. "They've got us! Some kinda chronon loop."
"Must be the Daleks." Shareen realised. The TARDIS then jolted to one side, throwing everyone over.
~8~
Sarah Jane, Mickey, Shireen and Jackie hid behind a van, watching as the TARDIS was pulled skywards by a tractor beam. "Transferring TARDIS to Crucible." a Dalek announced.
"Cosmic. Those pepper pots have got them." Shireen groaned.
"Those teleport things, can we use them?" Sarah Jane asked. "If they've taken the Doctor to the Dalek spaceship, that's where we need to be."
"It's not just a teleport, it's a dimension jump." Mickey replied. "Man, these things rip a hole in the fabric of space."
The Torchwood of Pete's World had done some refining on their dimension jumps in the years since the Battle of Canary Wharf. They didn't cause as much damage as they used to do and they sealed the holes they created after use, but everyone preferred not to use them unless it was absolutely necessary.
"But can we use them?" Sarah Jane pressed.
"Sorry, not yet." Shireen told her. "They need half-an-hour to recharge after each jump."
Sarah Jane decided there was only one thing for it. "Then put down your guns." she instructed.
"Do what?!" Mickey stared.
"If you're carrying a gun, they'll shoot you dead." Sarah Jane told him, then she came out of cover with her hands up. "Daleks? I surrender!" she said to the Daleks.
"All humans in this sector will be taken to the Crucible!" a Dalek told her.
"She's got a death wish." Shireen shook her head. Although the Daleks were extinct in her universe, she'd heard enough about them from Rose and Mickey to know just how evil the pepper pots were.
"Yeah, but Shirl, if they've got the Doctor, then they've got Rose too." Jackie said. She then came forward with her hands up too. "And us. We surrender!" she said to the Daleks.
Mickey and Shireen exchanged long-suffering looks, then they threw down their guns and came out with their hands up too.
~8~
Martha was getting ready to get to work. "Now Jack's explained the base code, I know how this teleport works, I think." she said as she strapped her teleport backpack on. "But you stay indoors." she told her mother. "There's no Daleks on this street, you should be alright, just erm... keep quiet."
"But where are you going?" Francine asked her.
"I'm a member of U.N.I.T, and they gave me the Osterhagen Key. I've got to do my job." Martha said, holding a hand out to keep Francine at a distance. "I'm sorry."
"Martha, what's an Osterhagen Key?" Francine asked. "Tell me, what does it do?"
"Love you." was all Martha said, then she pulled the ripcords and disappeared.
Martha reappeared in a German forest, about 60 miles from Nuremberg. "Exterminieren! Exterminieren!" she heard a Dalek yell in the distance, no doubt to some unfortunate people.
"Halt! Sonst werden wir sie exterminieren! Sie sind jetzt ein gefangener de Daleks!" another Dalek's voice said.
Martha peered through the trees to see Daleks combing the forest. She turned and ran off in the opposite direction, avoiding them.
~8~
"There's a massive Dalek ship at the centre of the planet." Jack explained to the Doctor. "They're calling it the Crucible. Guess that's our destination."
"You said those planets were like an engine." Donna said to the Doctor. "What for?"
The Doctor turned to Rose. "You've been in a parallel world." he said to her. "That world's running ahead of this universe, you've seen the future. What is it?"
"It's the darkness." Rose replied grimly.
"The stars were going out." Donna mumbled, a memory from the alternate universe the time beetle had created coming back to her.
"One by one." Rose confirmed. "We looked at the sky and they were just dying. Basically, we've been, um, building this travelling machine, this... dimension cannon, so I could..."
"What?" the Doctor asked.
"So I could come back and warn ya." Rose replied. "Suddenly, it started to work an' the dimensions started to collapse. Not just in our world, not just in yours, but the whole of reality. Even the Void was dead. Something is destroying everything."
"And I'll bet ya 20 quid it's something the Daleks're doing." Shareen interjected. "Heck, I bet they're the reason why you were able to come back, Rose. That Dalek probably broke the universe barriers when it teleported away from New York."
"In that parallel world..." Donna began, remembering something else, "you said something about me." she told Rose.
"The dimension cannon could measure timelines," Rose confirmed, "and it's weird, Donna, but they all seem to converge on you."
"But why me?" Donna questioned. "I mean... what've I ever done? I'm a temp from Chiswick."
"Supertemp." Shareen encouraged her.
Just then, the monitor beeped. "The Dalek Crucible." the Doctor swallowed as the TARDIS settled with a thud. "All aboard."
"The TARDIS is secured." a Dalek's voice came from outside.
"Doctor, you will step forth or die." the deeper Dalek voice demanded.
"We'll have to go out." the Doctor said grimly. "Cos' if we don't, they'll get in."
"You told me nothing could get through those doors!" Rose cried in alarm.
"You've got extrapolator shielding." Jack added.
"Last time we fought the Daleks, they were scavengers and hybrids and mad." the Doctor told them. "But this is a fully-fledged Dalek Empire... at the height of it's power, they can do anything. Right now, that wooden door, is just wood."
Donna tuned out the conversation, hearing a heartbeat in her mind.
"We could use these." Shareen suggested, producing the dimension jump Rose had given her.
"They need another 20 minutes to recharge," Rose told her, "and anyway, I'm not leavin' him."
What about your teleport?" the Doctor asked Jack.
"Went down with the power loss." Jack replied gloomily.
"Right then, all of us together, yeah?" the Doctor sighed.
Shareen then noticed the zoned-out Donna. "Donna? Ya still with us?" she asked her, snapping her out of her daze.
"Yeah." Donna said, regaining her bearings. "What were we saying?"
"I'm sorry. There's nothing else we can do." the Doctor told her.
"No, I know." the ginger nodded.
"Surrender, Doctor, and meet your Dalek masters!" the deep Dalek voice demanded from outside.
"Crucible on maximum alert." a normal Dalek's voice added.
"Love the sound of their own voices, don't they?" Shareen laughed nervously.
"Daleks." Rose swallowed.
"Oh, God!" Jack laughed nervously too.
The Doctor faced them all. "It's been good, through, hasn't it?" he said. "All of us, all of it. Everything we did." He turned to Donna. "You were brilliant." He turned to Jack. "You were brilliant." Next was Shareen's turn. "You were brilliant." Last but not least was Rose. "And you were brilliant." He turned to the doors. "Blimey." he exhaled, then he stepped out of the TARDIS and onto the Dalek Crucible with Shareen, Rose and Jack following him. Donna began to follow, but stopped when she heard that heartbeat again.
The Doctor, Shareen, Rose and Jack watched Daleks swarming about in the air, all chanting, "Daleks reign supreme! Daleks reign supreme!"
"Bloody hell, just look at 'em all!" Shareen breathed, the hopelessness of their predicament hitting her.
"Yeah." Rose agreed, standing next to her old friend.
"Behold, Doctor!" the deeper voice said, and the quartet turned to see that it belonged to a larger, red-painted Dalek. This was the Supreme Dalek. "Behold the might of the true Dalek race." it gloated.
The Doctor then noticed that Donna was still in the TARDIS. "Donna, ya no safer in there." he called.
Donna began to make for the doors, but they suddenly slammed shut in front of her. "Doctor? Shareen?" Donna called, banging on the doors. "What've ya done?"
"It wasn't me, I didn't do anything!" the Doctor answered back, running to the TARDIS and trying to open the doors, but they were stuck fast.
"Oi, oi, I'm not staying behind!" Donna grumbled, pulling on the uncooperative doors.
"What did ya do?!" the Doctor glared at the Supreme Dalek, while Shareen tried her key, but the lock wouldn't turn.
"This is NOT of Dalek origin." the Supreme Dalek retorted.
"Doctor! Shareen!" Donna called, frantically banging on the doors.
"Pack it in, ya stupid coke can!" Shareen glared at the Supreme Dalek. "Unlock that door an' let her out this minute! Ya hear me?!"
"This is Time Lord treachery." the Supreme Dalek said
"Me?" the Doctor glared, "The door just closed on it's own!"
"Nevertheless, the TARDIS is a weapon and it will be destroyed." the Supreme Dalek said, and the section of floor beneath the TARDIS promptly opened, causing the box to drop through it.
"What're you doing?!" the Doctor cried. "Bring 'em back!"
~8~
Inside the TARDIS, Donna could only hold on for dear life as the box seemed to be falling through a tunnel.
~8~
"What the hell're ya doin'?" Shareen demanded to the Dalek. "Where's that chute lead to?"
"The Crucible has a heart of z-neutrino energy. The TARDIS will be deposited into the core." the Dalek answered
The Doctor was horrified. "You can't!" he cried. "You've taken the defences down, she'll be torn apart!"
~8~
The TARDIS landed in the white energy globe that made up the heart of the Crucible. The console room promptly burst into flames. Donna was knocked to the floor and she began to inch her way towards the console, hoping to try and pilot the box away.
~8~
"But Donna's still in there!" Rose glared at the Daleks. Just when she thought that the Daleks couldn't get anymore cruel, they went and did this.
"Let her go!" Jack growled.
"You listen to me! You bring that TARDIS back and let Donna out right now!" Shareen demanded.
But the Supreme Dalek wasn't listening. "The female and the TARDIS will perish together." it gloated. "Observe." A holographic screen popped up, showing the TARDIS bobbing in the core. "The last child of Galifrey is powerless."
"Please, I'm begging you, I'll do anything." the Doctor pleaded desperately. "Put me in her place, you can do anything with me, I don't care, just get her out of there!"
But, of course, asking a Dalek for mercy was like talking to a wall, and the Supreme Dalek ignored the Time Lord's pleas.
~8~
Donna was on the floor of the TARDIS, nearly overcome by the smoke. Suddenly, she heard the heartbeat again and then she noticed the jar containing the Doctor's hand starting to glow, like it did when the Doctor had vented his regeneration energy into it. She reached out towards it with her hand and the energy began to sweep up her arm. Then, the jar shattered, throwing her back.
~8~
The Doctor, Shareen, Rose and Jack could only watch the screen helplessly. "You are connected to the TARDIS, Doctor." the Supreme Dalek gloated. "Now feel it die."
~8~
Donna sat up and noticed that the hand was now lying on the floor, still glowing. The energy reached up, forming the shape of a man. Once fully formed, the energy subsided and he sat up to reveal himself as the Doctor. "It's you!" Donna gasped.
"Oh, yes!" the New Doctor grinned.
Donna glanced down at his body, then quickly averted her gaze. "You're naked!"
"Oh, yes." the New Doctor repeated, then got to his feet.
~8~
"Total TARDIS destruction in ten rels." the Supreme Dalek announced, "Nine, eight, seven, six.."
The Doctor and Rose gripped each other's hands tightly, while Shareen balled her fists and glared at the screen, all feeling absolutely helpless.
~8~
The New Doctor mashed some buttons on the console, activating the TARDIS' Hostile Action Displacement System.
~8~
"Five, four, three, two, one." the Supreme Dalek finished it's countdown, and the TARDIS faded from view, apparently destroyed. "The TARDIS has been destroyed. Now tell me, Doctor, what do you feel? Anger, sorrow, dispair?"
"Yeah." the Doctor growled, glaring at the screen, while Shareen gave the Supreme Dalek a positively murderous glare.
"Then surely if emotions are so important, surely we have enhanced you?"
"I'll enhance you!" Shareen growled, and made to rush at the Dalek but Jack stopped her.
"Feel this!" he spat and fired a revolver at the Supreme Dalek, the shots just harmlessly bouncing off it's casing.
"Exterminate!" the Supreme Dalek retorted and fired it's laser at Jack, killing him instantly.
"Jack!" Rose cried, kneeling down next to him. "Oh my God! Oh no!"
"Rose, come here, leave him." the Doctor said to her, knowing Jack would be alright in a few minutes.
"They killed him!" Rose breathed. She didn't know of Jack's immortality. The Doctor had told her that Jack had survived the Game Station and had stayed behind to help rebuild Earth.
"I know, I'm sorry." the Doctor said. "There's nothing we can do."
"Escort them to the vault." the Supreme Dalek ordered it's drones. "They are the play things of Davros now."
A couple of Daleks escorted the Doctor, Shareen and Rose away. The Doctor glanced behind him and saw Jack wink at him.
"I'll get them for this." Shareen said angrily to herself. "Even if it's the last I ever do, I'll make those tin cans pay for this!"
~8~
In the TARDIS, the New Doctor had dressed himself in a plum t-shirt and the Doctor's blue suit trousers and burgundy converse, and was now just finishing up repairing the damage. "All repaired, lovely!" he said. "Shh! No one knows we're here. Gotta keep quiet. Silent running, like on submarines where ya can't even drop a spanner. Don't drop a spanner." He grabbed the Doctor's blue suit jacket and slipped it on. "I like blue, what d'ya think?"
"You. Are. Bonkers." Donna stared at him.
"Why? What's wrong with blue?" the New Doctor asked nonchalantly.
"Is that what Time Lords do? Lop a bit off, grow another one? Ya like worms!"
"No, no, no, no, I'm unique. Never been another like me." the New Doctor replied. "Cos' all that regeneration energy went into the hand. Look at that." He held up his right hand. "I love that hand! But then you touched it, WHAM!"
Donna jumped.
"Shh! Instant biological metacrisis. I grew outta you." He looked taken aback at that. "Still, could be worse."
"Oi, watch it, Spaceman!" Donna snapped.
"Oi, watch it, Earthgirl." the Metacrisis Doctor snapped back, sounding exactly like her: something which he immediately realised. "Oh, I sound like you! I sound all sorta... rough."
"Oi!" Donna hissed.
"Oi!" the Metacrisis Doctor hissed back.
"Oi!" Donna snapped.
"Spanners, shh!" the Metacrisis Doctor shushed her. "I must've picked up a bit of your voice, that's all. Is it, did I? No! Oh, you are kidding me, no way! One heart." He placed his hand on his chest. "This body has one heart!"
"What?" Donna checked for herself. "What, like ya Human?"
"Oh, that's disgusting!" the Metacrisis Doctor grumbled.
"Oi!" Donna snapped.
"Oi!" the Metacrisis Doctor snapped back.
"Stop it!" Donna glared.
"No, wait." the Metacrisis Doctor frowned. "I'm... part Time Lord, part Human. Well, isn't that wizard?" he huffed sarcastically.
"I kept hearing that noise." Donna frowned. "That heartbeat.
"Oh, that was me." the Metacrisis Doctor replied. "My single heart. Cos' I'm a complicated event in time and space. Must've rippled back. Converging on you." He walked over to the console.
"But why me?" Donna questioned.
"Cos' you're special."
"Oh, I keep telling you, I'm not."
"No, but you are." the Metacrisis Doctor said, then he looked at Donna as if he was just understanding. "Oh, you really don't believe that, do ya? I can see, Donna, what ya thinking. All that attitude, all that lip. Cos' all this time... you think ya not worth it."
"Stop it."
"Shouting at the world, cos' no one's listening. Well, why should they?"
"Doctor, stop it."
"But look what ya did!" the Metacrisis Doctor said proudly, then thought for a moment. "No, it's more than that. It's like... we were always heading for this. You came to the TARDIS. And you found me again. Your granddad. Your car! Donna, your car, you parked your car right where the TARDIS was gonna land, that's not coincidence at all! We've been blind. Something's been drawing us together for such a long time."
Donna frowned. "But you're talking like... destiny. There's no such thing, is there?"
"It's still not finished." the Metacrisis Doctor pondered. "It's like... the pattern's not complete, the strands're still drawing together. But heading for what?"
~8~
In Germany, Martha emerged from the woods and reached an abandoned castle. An elderly caretaker came out to meet her. "Hier ist niermand. Was immer sie wollen, gehen sie fort. Lassen sie mich in ruhe!" the caretaker said.
"Ich heisse Martha Jones. Ich komme von U.N.I.T. Agentin fuenf sechs sechs sieben eins, von der medizinishen abteilung." Martha answered.
"Es heiss sie kaemen vorbei." the caretaker said, then switched to English. "That accent, that is London, ja? I vent to London. Long time ago."
"I thought this place was guarded." Martha frowned, noticing that there were no U.N.I.T personnel to be seen.
"There were soldiers. Boys. I brought zem food, every day," the caretaker replied, "but when der albtraum came from the sky... they vent home to die. But not you?"
"I've got a job to do." Martha said determinedly and went inside the castle. She made her way through a dark room and pulled a curtain aside to reveal a hidden door. She typed in a code and put her hand on a palm scanner.
The caretaker entered the room. "London, in those days. To see it! So much glamour. I vas so young." she mused. "I head ze soldiers talking. Many times. Zey would speak of ze Osterhagen Key. I suppose London must be changed, yes? But sill ze glamour."
Martha opened the door and heard a gun clicking. She turned around to see the caretaker aiming a luger at her. "You vill not go." the caretaker said.
"I've got no choice." Martha defended.
"I know ze key, vot it does." the caretaker said and switched back to German. "Sie sind der albtruam, nicht die andred anderen, sie! Ich sollte sie umbrigen, am besten gleich jetzr!"
"Then do it!" Martha retorted.
The caretaker trembled, unable to bring herself to pull the trigger, then she lowered her gun. "Martha... zur hoelle mit dir!" she snarled as Martha stepped into the lift behind the door
"I know." Martha said as the lift doors closed.
~8~
On the Dalek Crucible, the Daleks had taken Jack's body to the waste disposal. "Commence disposal. Incinerate!" a Dalek ordered as the tray Jack's body was in was moved into the incinerator. "Disposal complete." the Dalek announced and trundled away. Once it was gone, the compartment opened and Jack climbed out of the incinerator, a little cooked but still alive.
~8~
In Germany, Martha entered a hidden control room in the castle. She sat down at a console and started pressing buttons. "This is Osterhagen Station One." she said into a radio. "My name is Martha Jones. Is there anyone there? Over."
~8~
Sarah Jane, Mickey, Shireen and Jackie had been brought on board the Dalek Crucible. "Prisoners now on board the Crucible." a Dalek announced. "They will be taken for testing."
The prisoners were herded forwards the Daleks. "One step close to the Doctor." Sarah Jane whispered to her companions.
"Wander how those tin cans built this thing." Shireen muttered to herself. "They've got no hands."
~8~
The Doctor, Rose and Shareen had been brought to the Vault, where Davros was waiting. "Activate holding cells." he ordered, and three circles of lights activated above the trio's heads. "Excellent." Davros said, wheeling closer to the Doctor. "Even when powerless, a Time Lord is best contained."
"Don't think this is gonna stop me." Shareen snarled. "I'm gonna find a way outta this thing and then you're dead, Ena Sharples! You an' ya evil tin cans!"
Davros ignored her. "It is time we talked, Doctor." he said to the Time Lord. "After so long."
"No, no, no, no, we're not doing the nostalgia tour!" the Doctor cut in angrily. "I wanna know what's happening right here, cos' the Supreme Dalek said 'vault', yeah. As in dungeon? Cellar? Prison? You're not in charge of the Daleks, are ya?" He smirked at that. History seemed to be repeating itself. "They've got you locked away down here in the basement, like, what, a servant? Slave? Court jester?"
"We have... an arrangement." Davros squirmed awkwardly.
"No, no no, no, I've got the word." the Doctor sneered. "You're the Daleks' pet!"
"So full of fire, is he not?" Davros snorted, then turned to Rose. "And to think you crossed entire universes, striding parallel to parallel to find him."
"Oi! Leave her alone, ya shrivelled-up old prune!" Shareen glared at him.
"She is mine to do as I please." Davros retorted.
"Then why am I still alive?" Rose asked defiantly.
"You must be here. It was foretold." Davros replied. "Even the Supreme Dalek would not dare to contradict the prophecies of Dalek Caan." He switched on a light to reveal Dalek Caan chained up in the corner.
"So cold and dark." the mutant tittered. "The fire is coming... the endless flames."
"What is that thing?" Rose asked.
"You've met before." the Doctor told her. "The last of the Cult of Skaro."
"It was one of the Daleks at Canary Wharf." Shareen added. "We ran into 'em again in 1930 New York. Three of 'em are dead, but this one ran away like a coward!" she taunted.
"It flew into the Time War, unprotected." the Doctor finished.
"This I have foreseen in the wild and the wind." Dalek Caan said in a sing-song voice, "The Doctor will be here, as witness. At the end of everything. The Doctor and his precious Children of Time." It giggled manically. "And one of them will die."
"Was it you, Caan?" the Doctor said angrily. "Did you kill Donna? Why did the TARDIS door close? Tell me!"
"Oh. that's it!" Davros said gleefully. "The anger. The fire. The rage of a Time Lord who butchered millions. There he is! Why so shy? Show your companions. Show them your true self. Dalek Caan has promised me that too."
"I have seen." Dalek Caan cackled. "At the time of ending, the Doctor's soul will be revealed."
"What does that mean?" the Doctor questioned.
"We will discover it together." Davros replied. "Our final journey, because the ending approaches. The testing begins." He turned away from them.
"Testing of what?" the Doctor asked, certain he wouldn't like the answer.
Davros turned back around to face him. "The reality bomb." he grinned wickedly.
~8~
The prisoners were led into a large chamber elsewhere in the Crucible. "Prisoners will stand in the designated area. Move! Move!" a Dalek ordered.
A woman fell onto her knees. "You will stand!" the Dalek commanded.
"I can't!" the woman whimpered as Jackie and Shireen came up either side of her.
"You will stand!" the Dalek repeated.
"Alright, she's standin'. Keep ya bolts on, R2-D2!" Shireen sassed as she and Jackie helped the woman to stand.
Sarah Jane meanwhile noticed a door nearby. Taking advantage of the Daleks' distraction, she ran over to it and unlocked it with her sonic lipstick. "Mickey! Mickey!" she hissed.
"Jackie! Shireen!" Mickey called as he ran over to join Sarah Jane.
Shireen heard him and managed to slip away to join them but Jackie was too close to the Daleks to avoid their attention.
"Prisoners will stand in the designated area." a Dalek ordered.
"We can't just leave her." Mickey said as he, Shireen and Sarah Jane watched through the window in the door.
"No, Mickey, wait!" Sarah Jane urged, stopping him from going back in as a Dalek gilded in front of the door.
Shireen meanwhile anxiously checked her watch, silently counting down how much longer the dimension jumps had to recharge.
"What does it mean?" the scared woman said to Jackie. "What're they testing, what're they gonna do?"
Jackie looked up to see a huge, circular green device on the ceiling. "I reckon it's that thing there." she said.
"Testing calibration of the reality bomb." the Supreme Dalek's voice said over the comm. "Firing in 10 rels. 9, 8, 7, 6..."
~8~
"Behold... the apotheosis of my genius." Davros said smugly, activating a holographic screen that showed the testing chamber.
"...2, 1. Activate the planetary alignment field." the Supreme Dalek ordered.
~8~
The TARDIS shook suddenly and the Metacrisis Doctor checked the monitor. "It's the planets." he realised. "It's the 27 planets!" He could see a white glow surrounding the planets on screen.
~8~
The Doctor saw the green device on the ceiling of the testing chamber starting to glow. "That's Z-neutrino energy... flattened by the alignment of the planets into a single stream." he realised, then turned to Davros in horror. "No! Davros! Davros, you can't! You can't! No!"
~8~
The Metacrisis Doctor also realised what was happening. "Single stream z-neutrinos compressed into... no!" he breathed in horror.
~8~
Sarah Jane watched the prisoners anxiously while Mickey paced behind her and Shireen counted down the seconds on her watch. "...3, 2, 1." she muttered under her breath then heard a pair of beeping sounds. "They've recharged." she told Mickey.
Mickey raced to the window and showed his dimension jump to Jackie, gesturing wildly. "It's recharged! It's recharged! Use it!" he urged.
Jackie took her dimension jump out of her pocket. "I'm so sorry." she said regretfully to the scared woman and pressed the button, zapping herself to safety on the other side of the door.
The quartet could only watch in horror as the prisoners dissolved into atoms, leaving just the sentry Dalek. "Test completed." it announced.
~8~
"What was it?" Donna asked the Metacrisis Doctor. "Doctor? What did it do?"
The Metacrisis Doctor didn't answer for he was speechless in horror.
~8~
The Doctor, Rose and Shareen had seen everything on the holographic screen. "What the hell was that?!" Shareen stared, horrified at seeing all those people dissolve into atoms before her very eyes.
"Electrical energy, Miss Costello." Davros answered smugly, "Every atom in existence is bound by an electrical field. The reality bomb cancels it out and the structure falls apart. That test was focussed on the prisoners alone. Full transmission will dissolve every form of matter."
"The stars're goin' out." Rose swallowed, it all falling into place now.
"The 27 planets." the Doctor breathed, appalled at what was happening "They become one vast transmitter, blasting that wavelength..."
"Across the entire universe." Davros said smugly, "Never stopping. Never faltering. Never fading. People and planets and stars will become dust, and the dust will become atoms, and the atoms will become nothing. And the wavelength will continue, breaking through the rift at the heart of the Medusa Cascade into every dimension, every parallel, every single corner of creation!" He began to shout manically. "THIS IS MY ULTIMATE VICTORY, DOCTOR! THE DESTRUCTION... OF REALITY ITSELF!"
"And I thought the Master was insane!" Shareen said to herself.
~8~
"Prepare for universal detonation." the Supreme Dalek ordered. "The fleet will gather at the Crucible. All Daleks will return to shelter from the cataclysm. We will become the only lifeforms in existence!"
And all the Daleks began to leave Earth. People ran to the streets to watch them go. "Look, they're leaving!" Sylvia said in relief. "Dad, they're going! The Daleks're going!"
"Going where, though?" Wilfred wandered, not sharing his daughter's optimism. His military experience told him that something was very wrong. "And Donna's still out there. It's not over yet, sweetheart."
~8~
Jack climbed out of a ventilation shaft to find himself outside the test chamber where he also found Sarah Jane, Mickey, Shireen and Jackie all staring at him. "Just my luck." he remarked. "I climb through two miles of ventilation shafts, chasing life signs on this thing." He tapped his Vortex Manipulator. "And who do I find? Mickey Mouse!"
"You can talk, Captain Cheesecake!" Mickey retorted, then he and Jack shared a manly hug.
"Good to see ya." Jack laughed. "And it's beefcake!"
"And that's enough hugging." Mickey countered, and they broke apart.
"Hmm, he's alright." Shireen remarked, checking Jack out. "Who's he?"
"Captain Jack Harkness." Jack introduced. "You must be the other Shareen. Nice hair." He nodded to Shireen's mauve-highlighted hair.
"It's Shireen." the young woman corrected. "Nice coat."
"We meet at last, Miss Smith." Jack saluted Sarah Jane.
"There is something we can do." Sarah Jane said, getting down to business. "You've got to understand. I have a son down there on Earth. He's only 14 years old. I've brought this."
She reached into her pocket and pulled out what appeared to be a diamond pendant. Jack stared at it with open-mouthed awe.
"It was given to me by a Verron Soothsayer." Sarah Jane explained to him. "He said 'It was for the end of days.'"
"Is that a warp star?" Jack breathed, and Sarah Jane nodded in confirmation.
"Gonna tell us what a warp star is?" Mickey asked them.
"A warpfold conjugation trapped in a carbonised shell." Jack explained. "It's an explosion, Mickey. An explosion waiting to happen."
"Well then, what're we waitin' for?" Shireen asked.
~8~
In Germany, Martha had made contact with two other Osterhagen stations: one in Liberia, the other in China. "This is Osterhagen Station five." the Chinese U.N.I.T soldier said over the screen. "Are you receiving, Station one?"
"I've got you." Martha answered. "That makes three of us, and three is all we need."
"My name is Anna Zhou. What's yours?"
"Martha. What about you, Station Four? You never said." Martha asked the Liberian soldier.
"I don't want my name on this." the soldier replied. "Given what we're about to do."
"So what happens now?" Anna asked, "Do we do it?"
"No, not yet."
"But U.N.I.T instructions say once three Osterhagen stations are online, we..."
"Yeah, well, I've got a higher authority." Martha said. "Way above U.N.I.T. And there's one more thing the Doctor would do."
~8~
In the TARDIS, the Metacrisis Doctor was busy assembling a device. "So what is that thing?" Donna asked him.
"It's our only hope. A Z-neutrino biological inversion catalyser." the Metacrisis Doctor replied.
"Yeah, Earthgirl, remember."
"Davros said he built those Daleks outta himself." the Metacrisis Doctor explained as he worked. "His genetic code runs through the entire race. If I can use this to lock the Crucible's transmission onto Davros himself..."
"It destroys the Daleks?" Donna guessed.
"Biggest backfire in history." the Metacrisis Doctor confirmed.
~8~
In the vault, a holographic screen came on, showing Martha in her Osterhagen station. "This message is for the Dalek Crucible. Repeat: can you hear me?"
"Put me through!" the Doctor said to Davros.
Davros seemed amused at Martha's transmission. "It begins, as Dalek Caan foretold." he smirked
"The Children of Time will gather." Dalek Caan cackled. "And one of them will die!"
"Shut up!" Shareen snapped.
"Put me through!" the Doctor demanded.
"Doctor! Shareen!" Martha gasped at the sight of her friends. "I'm sorry, I had to."
"Oh, but the Doctor is powerless." Davros smirked. "My prisoner. "State your intent."
Martha held up the Osterhagen Key up. "I've got the Osterhagen Key. Leave this planet and it's people alone, or I'll use it!" she threatened.
"Osterhagen what? What's an Osterhagen Key?" the Doctor asked, certain he wouldn't like the answer.
Martha swallowed hard then answered, "There's a chain of 25 nuclear warheads placed in strategic points beneath the Earth's crust. If I use the key, they detonate and the Earth gets ripped apart."
"What?!" the Doctor spluttered in horror. "Who invented that?! Well, someone called Osterhagen, I suppose. Martha, are you insane?!"
"The Osterhagen Key is to be used if the suffering is so great, so without hope... that this is the only option." Martha reasoned.
"That's never an option!" the Doctor burst out.
"Don't argue with me, Doctor. Cos' it's more than that." Martha told him firmly, then addressed the Daleks, "Now, I reckon the Daleks need those 27 planets for something, but what if it becomes 26? What happens then, Daleks? Would you risk it?"
"She is good." Rose commented.
"Yeah, but it's not gonna stop the Daleks." Shareen pointed out. "They'll just nick another planet to replace Earth, so it'll be for nothing."
"Who's that?" Martha questioned, spotting the blonde woman beside Shareen.
"My name's Rose. Rose Tyler." the blonde replied.
"Oh my God! He found you!" Martha smiled. Then she noticed that someone was missing. "Where's Donna?" she asked.
"She's dead." Shareen answered sadly. "The Daleks murdered her." She gave the Daleks in the vault a death glare.
Just then, another holographic screen popped up showing Jack holding the warp star, which was connected to some wires, while Sarah Jane, Jackie, Shireen and Mickey stood around him. "Captain Jack Harkness calling all Dalek boys and girls." Jack grinned. "Are you receiving me? Don't send in any of your goons or I'll set this thing off!"
"He's alive!" Rose gasped in relief, then spotted Jackie. "Oh my God! That's... that's my mum!"
"And Mickey." Shareen added. "A-and the other me. Blimey, wasn't expecting that."
"Captain, what're you doing?" the Doctor asked Jack.
"I've got a warp star wired into the mainframe." Jack replied, "I break the shell, the entire Crucible goes up."
"You can't!" the Doctor exclaimed. "Where did ya get a warp star?!"
"From me." Sarah Jane said, stepping forward. "We had no choice. We saw what happened to the prisoners."
"Impossible." Davros scowled, moving closer to get a closer look at Sarah Jane. "That face... after all these years."
"Davros." Sarah Jane nodded, remembering her encounter with the Dalek creator during her travels with the Doctor's fourth incarnation. "It's been quite a while." she said with venom. "Sarah Jane Smith, remember?"
"Oh, this is meant to be." Davros grinned broadly. "The circle of time is closing. You were there, on Skaro, at the very beginning of my creation."
"And I've learned to fight since then." Sarah Jane retorted. "Now let those people go, or this warp star... it gets opened!"
"I'll do it!" Jack added. "Don't imagine I wouldn't!"
"Now that's what I call a ransom." Rose commented.
"Yeah, I just hope it works." Shareen agreed.
Rose then noticed that the Doctor was looking at the floor with guilty eyes. "Doctor?" she asked.
"And the prophecy unfolds." Davros taunted.
"The Doctor's soul is revealed." Dalek Caan giggled. "See him! See the heart of him!"
"The man who abhors violence. Never carrying a gun." Davros continued to rub salt in the wound. "But this is the truth, Doctor. You take ordinary people and you fashion them into weapons. Behold your precious Children of Time, transformed into murderers. I made the Daleks, Doctor, you made this." He gestured to Rose, Shareen and the companions on the screens.
"They're trying to help." the Doctor said unconvincingly.
Already I have seen them sacrifice today, for their beloved Doctor." Davros continued to gloat. "The Earth woman who fell opening the subwave network."
"Who was that?" the Doctor asked Rose.
"Harriet Jones." Rose replied sadly.
"She sacrificed herself to get you here." Shareen added.
The Doctor hung his head at this news. Even after the terrible way he'd treated her the last time they'd met, Harriet had sacrificed herself for him. Ever since the Battle of Canary Wharf and The Year That Never Was, he'd been meaning to find Harriet and make amends. Now, he'd never get the chance.
"How many more?" Davros taunted. "Just think. How many more have died in your name?"
The Doctor looked to the floor, remembering Jabe, Gwyneth, the Game Station controller, Lynda Moss, Captain Reynolds, Sir Robert MacLeish, Angela Price, Yvonne Hartman, the Face of Boe, Kath McDonnell, Chantho, the Van Hoffs, Bannakaffalatta, Astrid Peth, Luke Rattigan, Jenny, River Song and the hostess from Midnight among the many people who had given their lives to save the day.
"The Doctor;" Davros gloated, "the man who keeps on running, never looking back because he dare not out of shame. This is my final victory, Doctor. I have shown you... yourself."
"Enough!" the Supreme Dalek cut in over the comm. "Engage defence zero five."
"It's the Crucible or the Earth!" Martha said, lifting the Osterhagen Key menacingly.
"Transmat engaged." a Dalek in the vault announced, and Martha, Jack, Sarah Jane, Mickey, Shireen and Jackie were all promptly transported to the vault, minus their weapons.
"Oh, that's just cheating!" Shireen grumbled.
"Martha!" Jack said as he helped his friend up. "I've got you, it's alright."
"Don't move!" the Doctor warned the Humans. "Stay still."
"Guard them." Davros ordered his Daleks, then addressed the Humans, "On your knees, all of you! Surrender!"
"Mum, I told ya not to." Rose hissed at Jackie, not happy that her mother had endangered herself like this
"Yeah, but I couldn't leave ya." Jackie defended.
"The final prophecy is in place." Davros crowed in triumph. "The Doctor and his children, all gathered as witnesses. Supreme Dalek, the time has come. Now... DETONATE THE REALITY BOMB!"
~8~
"Activate the planetary alignment field." the Supreme Dalek ordered, and the planets began to glow again while a hatch on the side of the Crucible opened to reveal a larger version of the device in the test chamber. "Detonation in 200 rels." the Supreme Dalek announced.
~8~
"Does anyone have a plan B?" Shareen asked no one in particular.
"You can't, Davros, just listen to me!" the Doctor pleaded. "Just stop!"
But it fell on deaf ears.
"NOTHING CAN STOP THE DETONATION!" Davros laughed with insane delight. "NOTHING AND NO ONE!"
~8~
The Metacrisis Doctor had finished assembling his device. "Ready! Maximum power!" he said and kicked a lever, causing the TARDIS to power up fully.
~8~
In the vault, everyone suddenly heard the familiar sound of the TARDIS. "But that's..." the Doctor breathed in disbelief.
"Impossible." Davros growled as the blue box materialised inside the vault.
The door flew open to reveal the Metacrisis Doctor, the device he'd constructed in his hands. "Brilliant!" Jack laughed.
"What the hell?!" Shareen stared in disbelief.
The Metacrisis Doctor sprinted towards Davros, ready for the kill.
"Don't!" the Doctor warned his doppelganger, but it was too late. Davros fired a bolt of electricity at the Metacrisis Doctor, sending him flying backwards and dropping his weapon in the process.
"Activated holding cell." Davros ordered, and a holding cell promptly appeared around the Metacrisis Doctor.
Donna rushed out of the TARDIS and picked up the discarded weapon. "Doctor!" she called. "I've got it! But I dunno what to do!"
Davros promptly zapped her with electricity too, sending her flying backwards over a console. "DONNA!" the Doctor yelled.
"Are you alright, Donna?" Shareen called urgently. "Donna!"
"Destroy the weapon." Davros ordered a Dalek, which fired at the discarded weapon and incinerated it. Davros then turned to the Doctor. "I was wrong about your warriors, Doctor. They are pathetic!" he jeered
"How come there's two of ya?" Rose asked the two Doctors.
"Really? That's what ya care about?" Shireen asked her incredulously.
"Human biological metacrisis." the Metacrisis Doctor answered Rose.
"Never mind that!" the Doctor cut in, bringing everyone's attention back to the more important issue at stake. "Now we've no way of stopping the reality bomb!"
"Detonation in 20 rels." the Supreme Dalek announced over the comm.
Davros activated a holographic screen that showed the planets glowing with energy again. "Stand witness, Time Lord! Stand witness, Humans." he gloated, "Your strategies have failed, Your weapons are useless And... oh, the end of the universe has come."
"9... 8... 7... 6... 5..." the Supreme Dalek counted. As everyone was watching the screen, no one noticed Donna standing up from behind the console she'd landed by. "4...3... 2... 1." the Supreme Dalek finished it's countdown to the apocalypse.
Suddenly, the screen shut off and alarms started blaring. Everyone looked around in confusion, then all eyes fell on a grinning Donna standing behind the console. "Oh, closing all Z-neutrino relay loops using an internalised back-feed reversal loop?" she said, sounding exactly like the Doctor, "That button there!" She grinned as she flicked a switch, disarming the reality bomb.
Shareen stared at her friend for a moment, then she laughed. "You switched the bloody thing off!" she chortled.
"Donna, you can't even change a plug!" the Doctor said in bemusement.
"D'ya wanna bet, Time Boy?" Donna grinned.
"You'll suffer for this!" Davros snarled, raising his hand ready to strike Donna with electricity again.
Donna simply flicked another switch and the electricity turned back to Davros instead. "Ooh, bio-electric dampening field with a retrogressive arc inversion?" Donna smirked.
"Exterminate her!" Davros ordered his Daleks.
"Exterminate! Exterminate! Exterminate!" the Daleks chanted as they aimed their weapons at Donna, who calmly worked on the console, operating more controls. "Weapons non-functional!" a Dalek cried.
"What?" Donna taunted them. "Macrotransmission of a K-filter wavelength blocking Dalek weaponry in a self-replicating energy blindfold matrix?"
"How d'ya work that out?!" the Doctor stared.
"Time Lord!" the Metacrisis Doctor realised. "Part Time Lord!"
"Part Human!" Donna grinned with delight. "Oh, yes! That was a two-way biological metacrisis. Half-Doctor, half-Donna!"
"The Doctor-Donna! Just like the Ood said, remember?" the Doctor said to Shareen. "They saw it coming; the Doctor-Donna!"
"Huh, they could've warned us about the Daleks, though." Shareen snorted.
"Holding cells deactivated." Donna announced as she messed with more controls. "And seal the vault."
Bulkheads came down, giving them some privacy while the holding cells around the prisoners deactivated.
"Well, don't just stand there, you skinny boys in suits!" Donna said to the Doctors. "Get to work!"
And so both Doctor rushed over to join her at the console.
"Stop them!" Davros demanded to his Daleks. "Get them away from the controls!"
"Hey, Donna, see if ya can make 'em do a funny dance or something." Shareen smirked.
"Aaaand spin!" Donna smirked as she turned a dial, causing the Daleks to start spinning in circles.
"Help me! Help me!" one cried.
"Aaaand the other way." Donna said, turning the dial the other way and making the Daleks spin in the opposite direction.
"Oh, ho-ho, this is priceless!" Shireen chortled, enjoying seeing the Daleks powerless.
"What did ya do?" the Metacrisis Doctor asked Donna.
"Trip switch circuit breaking in psychokinetic threshold manipulator!" she answered brightly.
"But that's brilliant!" the Metacrisis Doctor praised.
"Why did we never think of that?" the Doctor wandered.
"Because you two, you were just Time Lords, you dumbos!" Donna told them. "Lacking that little bit of Human, that gut instinct that comes hand-in-hand with Planet Earth. I can think of ideas you two wouldn't dream of in a million years! Ah, the universe has been waiting for me! Now... let's send that trip-stitch all over the ship! Did I ever tell ya? Best temp in Chiswick!" She wiggled her fingers. "100 words a minute!"
"Donna Noble, you are the best!" Shareen laughed.
"Ha!" the Metacrisis Doctor chortled as he helped Donna relay the trip-stitch all over the Crucible, causing all Daleks except the Supreme to spin helplessly like tops.
"C'mon, Shareen, let's get some weapons." Jack called to Shareen, taking advantage of the situation.
"Right with ya, Jack." Shareen replied, and they dashed into the TARDIS.
Donna meanwhile continued to mess with the controls. "Come on then, boys. We've got 27 planets to send home. Activate magnetron!" she announced.
"Stop this at once!" Davros demanded, moving forward to stop the trio.
Jack emerged from the TARDIS with his and Rose's guns. "Mickey!" he called, tossing Rose's gun to Mickey.
"You will desist!" Davros demanded as he rolled forward.
"Just stay where ya are, mister." Mickey retorted, pointing the gun at him.
Shareen emerged from the TARDIS with a pair of cricket bats. "Catch!" she called, tossing one to Shireen. "Nice hair, by the way."
"Nice shirt." Shireen reciprocated, nodding to her counterpart's Crystal Palace shirt.
"Thanks." Shareen nodded, then the two Costellos flourished their bats and approached the powerless Daleks. "Exterminate this!" Shareen spat as they began pummelling the Daleks with the bats, managing to knock off their weapons and eyestalks, then Shireen gave her Dalek a good kick, sending it spinning across the room.
Rose and Sarah Jane rushed forward to dispose of another Dalek. "Good to see you again." Sarah Jane said to the blonde.
"Oh, you too!" Rose grinned, and they both pushed the spinning Dalek out of the way, while Martha and Jackie did the same to another one.
"Ready?" Donna asked the Doctors. "And reverse!"
All three grabbed a lever each, sending the 27 planets back to their proper places.
"Off ya go, Clom!" the Doctor laughed.
"Back home, Adipose 3." the Metacrisis Doctor pipped in
"Shallacatopp, Pyrovillia and the Lost Moon of Poosh, sorted!" Donna fired off in quick succession.
"Sontar-ha!" the Metacrisis Doctor whooped as he sent Sontar II back home.
"We need more power." the Doctor said, taking out his sonic screwdriver and using it on the wiring.
"Is anyone gonna tell us what's goin' on?" Rose asked as she and the other Humans joined them.
"He..." Donna gestured to the Doctor, "poured all his regeneration energy into his spare hand, I touched the hand, he..." she gestured to the Metacrisis Doctor, "grew out of that but that fed back to me. But it just stayed dormant in my head till the synapses got that little extra spark, kicking 'em into life. Thank you, Davros!" she smirked. "Part Human... part Time Lord. And I got the best bit of the Doctor. I got his mind!"
"So there's three of you?" Sarah Jane questioned.
"Three Time Lords?" Rose stared.
"I can't tell ya what I'm thinking right now." Jack commented.
"Time an' place, mate." Shareen snorted.
"You're so unique, the time lines were converging on you." the Doctor said to Donna. "Human being with a Time Lord brain."
"But you promised me, Dalek Caan!" Davros hissed furiously. "Why did you not foresee this?!"
"Oh, I think he did." the Doctor commented. "Something's been manipulating the timelines for ages. Getting Donna Noble to the right place at the right time."
"This would have always happened." Dalek Caan said. "I only helped, Doctor."
"You betrayed the Daleks!" Davros stared in rage.
"I saw the Daleks. What we have done, throughout time and space, I saw the truth of us, Creator, and I decreed no more!" Dalek Caan answered.
Then Jack noticed the Supreme Dalek descending from a trap door in the ceiling. "Heads up!" he warned, readying his gun.
"Well, if it isn't Coca-Cola, himself." Shareen sassed. "Not so tough now, are ya?" she taunted.
"Davros, you have betrayed us." the Supreme Dalek stated.
"It was Dalek Caan!" Davros blustered, sounding like a kid at school who'd been caught fighting.
"The vault will be purged. You will be exterminated!" the Supreme Dalek said and fired at the console Donna and the Doctors were working on.
"Like I said, feel this!" Jack snarled, firing at the Supreme Dalek, destroying it.
"Oh, we've lost the magnetron." the Doctor groaned as he checked the damage. "And there's only one planet left. Guess which one? But we can use the TARDIS." And he and Donna dashed off inside the TARDIS to get everything ready.
"Holding Earth stability." the Metacrisis Doctor said as he worked at the undamaged part of the console. "Maintaining atmospheric shell."
"The prophecy must be complete." Dalek Caan said.
"Don't listen to him!" Davros cried.
"I have seen the end of everything Dalek, and you must make it happen, Doctor."
"He's right." the Metacrisis Doctor said. "Cos' even with or without a reality bomb, this Dalek Empire's big enough to slaughter the cosmos. They've gotta be stopped."
"So how'd we do it?" Shireen asked him.
"Leave it to me." the Metacrisis Doctor replied, and starting working some controls. "Maximising Dalekanium power feeds. Blasting 'em back!"
One by one, the Daleks began exploding, the Crucible shuddering from the impacts.
"Ha-ha! Good goin', Peacock II!" Shareen praised, impressed at the Metacrisis Doctor's actions.
"What've ya done?!" the Doctor demanded as he ran out of the TARDIS to see what was happening.
"Fulfilling the prophecy." the Metacrisis Doctor answered.
~8~
The Metacrisis Doctor's actions triggered a chain reaction, with the Dalek saucers surrounding the Crucible exploding one by one. The Dalek in the Torchwood hub exploded too.
"There goes the Time Lock." Gwen remarked.
~8~
"Get in the TARDIS!" the Doctor warned everyone as the chain reaction began to spread to the Crucible itself. "Everyone! All of you! Run! In, in, in!"
The Humans all began piling into the TARDIS.
The Doctor paused in the door and held his hand out toward Davros. "Davros!" he called, "Come with me! I promise I can save you!"
But Davros wasn't interested in being saved. "NEVER FORGET, DOCTOR, YOU DID THIS!" he roared over the flames. "I NAME YOU, FOREVER... YOU ARE THE DESTROYER OF WORLDS!"
"Huh, he can talk!" Shareen said to Shireen as they scrambled inside the TARDIS.
"One will still die." Dalek Caan warned the Doctor as he went back inside the TARDIS.
Once inside, the Doctor ran to the console, which was surrounded by all his friends. "And... off we go." he said, pulling a lever to dematerialise the TARDIS.
~8~
The TARDIS dematerialised from the Crucible just seconds before the space station exploded, taking the Dalek saucers with it and apparently ending the Daleks once and for all.
~8~
"But what about the Earth?" Sarah Jane asked the Doctor once they were clear. "It's still stuck in the wrong part of space!"
"I'm on it." the Doctor said and turned to the monitor. "Torchwood hub, this is the Doctor. Are you receiving me?"
"Loud and clear." Gwen answered. "Is Jack there?"
"Can't get rid of him." the Doctor replied, then he noticed that Gwen was the spitting image of Gwyneth, the servant girl who had nobly sacrificed herself to save the day during the business with the Gelth and Charles Dickens in 1869 Cardiff. "Um, Jack, what's her name?" he asked.
"Gwen Cooper." Jack replied.
The Doctor turned back to the screen. "Tell me, Gwen Cooper, are you from an old Cardiff family?" he asked.
"Yes, all the way back to the 1800's." Gwen replied, not sure what that had to do with anything.
"Ah, thought so." the Doctor nodded and turned to Rose. "Spatial genetic multiplicity."
"Oh, yeah!" Rose nodded, not really understanding what that meant, but rolling with it all the same.
"Yeah, yeah, funny world." the Doctor said lightly then got back to the problem at hand. "Now, Torchwood, I want you to open up that Rift Manipulator. Send all the power to me."
"Doing it now, sir." Ianto acknowledged.
"What's that for?" Martha asked.
"It's a tow rope." the Doctor replied, then he turned to Sarah Jane. "Now then, Sarah, what was your son's name?"
"Luke, he's called Luke." Sarah Jane replied. "And the computer's called Mr Smith."
"Calling Luke an' Mr Smith." the Doctor said to the monitor, which now showed the loft of 13 Bannerman Road. "C'mon, Luke, shake a leg!"
"Is mum there?" Luke asked.
"Oh, she's fine and dandy." the Doctor told him, turning the monitor so that Luke could see his mother.
"Yes! Yes!" Sarah Jane laughed in relief at seeing her son safe and sound.
The Doctor turned the monitor back to him. "Now, Mr Smith, I want you to harness the rift power and loop it round the TARDIS, ya got that?"
"I regret I will require access to the TARDIS basecode." Mr Smith announced.
"Oh, blimey, that's gonna take a while." the Doctor frowned.
"No, no, let me." Sarah Jane said, turning the monitor back to her, "K-9, out you come!" she called, and K-9 the robot dog appeared in the loft.
"Affirmitive mistress." K-9 said
"Oh, good dog!" the Doctor grinned, remembering that he'd programmed K-9 with the TARDIS basecode when he'd rebuilt him after Deffry Vale. "K-9, give Mr Smith the base code."
"Master." K-9 acknowledged and rolled over to Mr Smith. "TARDIS base code now being transferred. The process is simple."
"Yeah, that dog's not so silly now, eh?" Shareen remarked to Rose.
"Now then, you lot..." the Doctor announced now that everything was ready, "Sarah, hold that down, Mickey, you hold that." he instructed. "Cos' you know why this TARDIS is always rattlin' about the place?"
"'Cos ya failed ya test!" Shareen said cheekily.
"Well, yes." the Doctor admitted. "Rose, that there." he instructed Rose, who took hold of the controls he'd indicated. "She's designed to have six pilots," the Doctor continued, "and I have to do it single-handed. Martha, keep that level. But not any more! Jack, there ya go, steady that. Now we can fly this thing! No, Jackie, no, no, not you, don't touch anything, just... stand back." He pushed Jackie away, who huffily moved to join the Costellos by the stairs to the gantry. The Doctor turned to the others. ""Like it's meant to be flown! We've got the Torchwood rift looped round the TARDIS by Mr Smith, and we're gonna fly planet Earth back home! Right then, off we go!" he said cheerfully, and pulled a lever. The TARDIS began to move, towing the Earth behind her.
~8~
Luke clung to Mr Smith and K-9, laughing with delight.
~8~
Ianto and Gwen clung on tight to the main computer in the Torchwood hub, both laughing and cheering.
~8~
The Noble house rocked and shook, causing Wilfred and Sylvia to stagger around in scared confusion.
~8~
Francine Jones took refuge under a table as her house shuddered.
~8~
In the TARDIS, the flight was unusually calm as the Doctor and his friends worked as a perfect team. Shareen, Shireen and Jackie all lounged against the gantry steps watching the others pilot the box, while Donna and the Metacrisis Doctor walked around, helping when necessary. "That's really good, Jack." Donna praised. "I think you're the best." Then she and the Metacrisis Doctor leaned back against the Y-beams watching contently. It was certanly a magnificent sight.
The Earth was soon back in it's proper place, and the TARDIS' occupants all celebrated. Laughs, hugs, and cheers went all around the box as everyone celebrated their victory.
~8~
Wilfred and Sylvia looked out of their living room window and hugged each other in delight as they saw blue skies outside.
~8~
Francine stepped out of her house and beamed as she saw a blue sky and the sun above her; no darkness, no strange new planets and best of all, no Daleks.
~8~
The TARDIS materialised in a London park and the Doctor and Sarah Jane stepped out. "You know, you act like such a lonely man." Sarah Jane remarked to the Doctor. "But look at you! You've got the biggest family on Earth!" She hugged the Doctor, then backed away suddenly. "Gotta go!" she said hastily. "He's only 14. It's a long story. And thank you!" She turned around and ran back home.
~8~
Inside the TARDIS, Donna was talking on the phone to her family "Yeah, I'm fine, are you both alright?" she asked her grandfather.
The others meanwhile were all gathered around Shareen, listening as she regaled them with the story of the adventure aboard the starliner Titanic. "... so we're divin' through the atmosphere, engines out, alarms blarin' and we're heading straight for Buckingham Palace."
"What? Of all the places on Earth to crash into." Rose remarked.
"Yeah, tell me about it." Shareen concurred. "Anyway, just when I think we're done for, the computer comes up tellin' us that the engines are workin' again so Peacock pulls up and we miss the palace by about this much." She made a gesture with a fingers indicating a near miss.
"Blimey, that was close." Mickey remarked.
"Yeah, I remember seeing it on the news." Martha said. "Leo said it was just some movie they were filming, but mum, dad, Tish and I all knew better."
"Hey, are they alright?" Shareen asked her. "I mean, have they managed to avoid the Daleks?"
"Well, mum's alright," Martha replied, "but I'd better phone her and see if the others are ok." And she rushed off to call home.
"Hey, I'd better go too." Jack said. "See how Gwen and Ianto are doin'." And he made for the doors, Martha accompanying him.
"I'll see ya both off." Shareen said, getting up to follow them.
Mickey turned to Jackie and Shireen. "I'm gonna miss you both." he said. "More than anyone."
"What d'ya mean?" Jackie asked. "The Doctor's gonna take us home, isn't he?"
"Well, that's the point." Mickey said simply.
"You're stayin' here, aren't you?" Shireen realised.
"Well, this is the world I was born on." Mickey told her. "I think it's time I went home."
Jackie and Shireen both understood Mickey's reasons, so they both hugged him goodbye.
~8~
Outside, the Doctor was disabling Jack's Vortex Manipulator with his sonic screwdriver. "I told you, no teleport." he said. "And Martha, get rid of that Osterhagen thing, eh? Save the world one more time."
"Consider it done." Martha grinned, then she and Jack both saluted the Doctor, who gave a half-arsed one in return.
Shareen just rolled her eyes at the Doctor then hugged Martha. "Great to see again, Martha." she said. "Just wish it didn't take the bloody Daleks to make it happen."
"Well, you've got my number." Martha laughed. "And hey, don't forget, I want you there at my wedding."
"I'll be there, Martha." Shareen promised. "Wild horses couldn't stop me."
Jack and Martha then turned and began to walk away. "You know, I'm not sure about U.N.I.T these days." Jack to Martha. "Maybe there's something else you could be doing."
As the Doctor and Shareen watched them, Mickey came out of the TARDIS. ""Oi, where're you going?" the Doctor said to him
"Well, I'm not stupid." Mickey replied. "I know what happens next. And hey, I had a good time in that parallel world, but my gran passed away."
"Oh, I'm sorry, Micks." Shareen sighed.
"It's ok, 'Reen." Mickey said. "It was nice an' peaceful. Spent her last years living in a mansion. There's nothing for me there now, certainly not Rose."
"What will ya do?" the Doctor asked him.
"Anything." Mickey replied, "Just you watch." And he and the Doctor bumped fists, then he turned to Shareen. "Nice to see ya again, 'Reen. Call me sometime if ya ever wanna have a football match, just like old times."
"I'm definitely gonna do that, Micks." Shareen replied. "See ya!"
"See you, Boss." Mickey said to the Doctor, and ran off after Martha and Jack. "Hey, you two!" he called to them.
"Oh. Thought I'd got rid of you." Jack said with mock exasperation.
The Doctor and Shareen watched them walk off, then they went back inside the TARDIS. "Just time for one last trip." the Doctor told the box's remaining occupants. "Darlig Ulv Stranden. Better known as..."
~8~
The TARDIS materialised on the beach at Bad Wolf Bay in Pete's World. "Ugh! Fat lotta good this is." Jackie grumbled as everyone stepped out of the box. "Back of beyond, bloody Norway!"
"Huh, couldn't have dropped us off in London, couldn't he?" Shireen concurred.
"Ah, Peacock's terrible at gettin' us to the right place." Shareen snorted. "He tried to take Donna an' me to Rome and ended up in Pompeii! Gah, I had nightmares for days afterwards!"
"I'm gonna have to phone ya father, he's on the nursery run." Jackie said to Rose.
"Oh, yeah. You were pregnant, weren't you?" Shareen remembered.
"Had a baby boy." Jackie confirmed.
"Ah, brilliant! What did ya call him?" the Metacrisis Doctor asked
"Doctor."
"Really?"
"No, ya plum! He's called Tony." Jackie snorted.
Shireen meanwhile produced a rather sleek-looking mobile phone, typical of the pattern used in this universe after everyone had wisely decised to abandon EarPods. "Mum? It's me." she said into it. "I'm back in our universe now. In bloody Norway, mind, but Jackie's gonna get Pete to pick us all up, so I'll be back as soon as I can. How's Rose? Aw, that's my girl. Give her some fuss from me, an' I'll see ya both soon. Love you, bye!" And she hung up.
"Was that our mom?" Shareen asked her.
"Yeah, we made up about three years ago." Shireen replied. "Dad and Zara died when Lumic turned half of London into Cybermen so she was only too glad to see me again. What about you? You spoken to your family recently?"
"Well, I met Zara a few months back. Still a total b*tch, but I haven't seen mum or dad in five years." Shareen answered. "Dunno if I want to, really. I mean, I hope they're all alright, don't get me wrong, but if Zara's still the same as she was, then what about mum an' dad?"
"People change." Shireen replied breezily. "My mum did. Tell ya what, give 'em a chance and if they're still the same, then at least you know."
"Yeah, we'll see." Shareen replied. She'd been thinking about her parents for some considerable time now. Although meeting Zara again hadn't gone too well, her recent visit to her grandparents had given her some hope that maybe her parents would be different.
"Shareen, c'mon." the Doctor called to her. "We've gotta go, this reality's sealing itself off... forever."
"Yeah, comin', Peacock." Shareen replied, and joined the Doctor and Donna. "What about Rose?" she asked the Doctor. "Is she coming?"
"No, she's gotta stay here and look after him." the Doctor told her, nodding to the Metacrisis Doctor.
"Oh." Shareen realised. She went over to Rose and hugged her old friend. "Goodbye, Rose." she said. "I'm gonna miss ya. It was great seein' ya again. You take care of yourself."
"You too, 'Reen." Rose reciprocated.
They broke apart and Shareen re-joined Donna and the Doctor.
"Just one thing..." Rose said to the two Doctors, "both of you, answer me this: when I was last stood on this beach, on the worst day of my life, what was the last thing you said to me? Go on, say it."
"I said, 'Rose Tyler'." the Doctor replied.
"Yeah, an' how was that sentence gonna end?" Rose asked.
"Does it need saying?" the Doctor asked, unable to say what he wanted to say.
Rose turned to the Metacrisis Doctor. "And you, Doctor? What was the end of that sentence?"
The Metacrisis Doctor leaned over to her and whispered his answer in her ear. Rose looked at him, then pulled him closer and kissed him. The Doctor watched them sadly for a moment, then he turned and went inside the TARDIS, followed by Donna and Shareen, who both wisely decided to say nothing. Rose pulled away from the Metacrisis Doctor as she heard the door closing and they both watched the TARDIS dematerialise, holding each other's hands.
Shireen came over to them and put her hands on each of their shoulders. "C'mon, you two lovebirds, we've got work to do." she told them.
~8~
The TARDIS was soon back in Doctor, Donna and Shareen's universe. "Ya know, I was actually startin' to like Peacock II." Shareen remarked to no one in particular. "He actually had the balls to get rid of the Daleks."
Donna was tinkering with various things on the console. "I thought we could try the planet Felspoon." she spoke up. "Just because. What a great name, Felspoon. Apparently, it's got mountains that sway in the breeze. Mountains that move. Can you imagine?"
"And how d'ya know that?" the Doctor asked her.
"Because it's in your head." Donna replied "And if it's in your head, it's in mine!"
"And how does that feel?" the Doctor asked.
"Brilliant!" Donna grinned. "Fantastic! Molto bene! Great big universe, packed into my brain. Ya know, you could fix that chameleon circuit if ya just tried hot-binding the binary links and superseding the binary, binary, binary, binary, binary, binary, binary, binary, binary, binary, binary, binary, binary, binary, binary." She managed to stop herself. "I'm fine!" she tried to reassure the Doctor, whose face fell. He was afraid this would happen. For a while, it looked like everything would be fine, but it seemed his fears were being realised.
"Nah, never mind Felspoon." Donna said. "Know who I'd like to meet? Charlie Chaplin! Bet he's great, Charlie Chaplin. Shall we do that? Shall we go and see Charlie Chaplin? Shall we? Charlie Chaplin? Charlie Chester. Charlie Brown. No he's fiction, friction, fiction, fixing, mixing, Rickston, Brixton." She stopped herself with a gasp and clutched her head. "Oh my God!"
"Donna, are you alright?" Shareen asked her urgently, rushing over to her. "What's happening?!"
"There's never been a Human-Time Lord metacrisis before." the Doctor said as he joined them. "And you know why." he said to Donna.
"Because there can't be." Donna sighed, turning away from him. "I want to stay."
"Look at me." the Doctor said. "Donna, look at me."
Donna turned back to face him, tears in her eyes. "I was gonna be with both of you... forever." she trembled.
"I know." the Doctor sighed
"The rest of my life. The Doctor-Donna and Shareen." Donna said wistfully, then she realised what the Doctor was about to do. "No! Oh my God!" she sobbed. "I can't go back. Don't make me go back! Doctor, please, don't make me go back! Shareen, help me!"
"What're you doing, Peacock?" Shareen asked, certain she wouldn't like the answer.
"What I have to do." the Doctor replied, and took Donna by the shoulders. "Donna. Oh, Donna Noble, I am so sorry. But we had the best of time. The best." he said earnestly. "Goodbye." He placed his hands on Donna's temples and closed his eyes, reaching into her mind.
"No, no, no, please!" Donna whimpered as images of all her adventures in the TARDIS flashed before her eyes in reverse order, ending with her first moment in the TARDIS. "No!" she yelled out before she fell unconscious, Shareen rushing forward to catch her.
~8~
Wilfred heard urgent knocking on the front door of his house. "That must be her!" he said, still in good spirits from Earth being back in it's proper place. He opened the door and his face immediately fell. Donna was unconscious, being supported by the Doctor and Shareen. "Donna?!" he gasped in horror.
"Help us!" the Doctor urged.
~8~
The trio had soon taken Donna upstairs and laid her down on her bed. "Goodbye, Donna." Shareen whispered sadly, patting her sleeping friend's shoulder. The Doctor had told her what he'd had to do and it filled her heart with massive sadness.
~8~
The time travellers were soon sat in the living room with the Doctor explaining to Wilfred and Sylvia what had happened. "She took my mind into her own head." he told them. "All that knowledge... it was killing her."
"But she'll get better now?" Wilfred asked hopefully.
"I had to wipe her mind completely." the Doctor replied. "Every trace of me, Shareen, the TARDIS, anything we did together, anywhere we went... had to go."
"All those wonderful things she did." Wilfred blinked tearfully.
"Yeah, I know." Shareen sighed.
"I'm sorry, but that version of Donna is dead." the Doctor said solemnly. "'Cos if she remembers, just for a second, she'll burn up."
That wasn't strictly true as he had put a safeguard in to protect Donna against that, but it was better not to try it.
"You can never tell her. You can't mention either of us, or any of it... for the rest of her life."
"But the whole world's talking about it." Sylvia said. "We travelled across space!"
"It'll just be a story." the Doctor sighed. "One of those Donna Noble stories, where she missed it again."
"But she was better with you!" Wilfred said.
"Don't say that!" Sylvia snapped.
"No, she was!" Wilfred insisted. He'd seen the transformation of his granddaughter during her travels with the Doctor. She'd grown and became the strong, confident woman he believed her to be. Now she was back to square one."
"We just want ya to know, there are worlds out there, safe in the sky because of her." the Doctor said. "That there are people living in the light, and singing songs of Donna Noble... a thousand million light years away. They will never forget her, while she can never remember. And for one moment... one shinning moment, she was the most important woman in the whole wide universe."
"She still is." Sylvia said. "She's my daughter."
"Then maybe you should tell her that instead of naggin' and belittling her all the time!" Shareen said angrily. She'd be damned if she was going to let Sylvia continue to treat Donna like dirt.
Just then, Donna entered the room. "I was asleep, on my bed, in my clothes!" she burst out, sounding just like she had when the Doctor and Shareen had first met her. "What did ya let me do that for?" she asked her family, before noticing the time travellers. "Don't mind me. Donna."
"John Smith." the Doctor said as he stood up.
"Shareen Whitland." Shareen said as she stood up too, deciding to use her birth name as a precaution.
"Mr Smith and Miss Whitland were just leaving." Sylvia told her daughter.
"My phone's gone mad." Donna rambled, looking at her phone, "32 texts. Veena's gone barmy, she's saying planets in the sky! What've I missed now?" She turned to leave. "Nice to meet ya both." she called over her shoulder to the time travellers.
"As I said, I think you two should go." Sylvia said coldly.
~8~
Donna was in the kitchen, talking on the phone to Veena. "How thick d'ya think I am?" she snorted. "Planets? Tell ya what that was, dumbo. That's those two lagers for the price of one ya get down the offy cos' you fancy that little man in there with the goatee! Ha, ha! Yes, ya do! I've seen you!"
"Donna?" the Doctor called as he and Shareen appeared in the doorway. "We were just going."
"Yeah." Donna waved him off. "See ya." And she went back to her phone conversation.
"Bye, Donna." Shareen sighed, fighting back the tears.
~8~
The Doctor opened the front door to find that it was chucking it down with rain outside. "Cosmic." Shareen sighed, pulling the hood of her jacket up.
"Ah. You'll have a bit of this." the Doctor said to Wilfred, who had come to see them out. "Atmospheric disturbance. "Still, it'll pass. Everything does." he muttered to himself, then he turned to Wilfred. "Bye then, Wilfred."
"Look after her, Wilf." Shareen added.
They all shook hands then the Doctor and Shareen stepped out onto the driveway. "Oh, Doctor, Shareen?" Wilfred called after them. "What about you two now? Who've you got? I mean, all those friends of yours, Doctor..."
"They've all got someone else." the Doctor told him. "Still, that's fine. I'm fine."
"Yeah, it's a case of havin' to be." Shareen said.
I'll watch out for you both." Wilfred said.
"You can't ever tell her!" the Doctor stressed to him.
"No, no, but every night, when it gets dark and the stars come out, I'll look up on her behalf." Wilfred said. "I'll look up at the sky and think of you two."
"Thank you." the Doctor nodded, then he and Shareen walked over the road to the TARDIS. Wilfred saluted them as they went inside the box and watched as the box dematerialised.
~8~
Shareen entered her bedroom in the TARDIS. She threw off her soaked jacket, walked up the stairs into the cupola, sat down on the top step and promptly broke down in tears. "Stupid f**cking Daleks!" she sobbed in grief and anger. "I hate them!" She curled up in a ball and continued to cry, mourning the loss of her friend.
Author's notes: And that's RTD's epic series 4 finale completed. Whew! Quite a lot happened here! I couldn't resist having Shireen make an appearance and have her and Shareen going all Ace on the Daleks. Shareen sassing Davros and the Supreme Dalek were fun to write. Being very spiky, it's in character for Shareen to make sassy remarks like that. I decided to make Rose somewhat more likable here compared to her dodgy characterisation in the actual episode. Although she wasn't as bad as she was in series 2, she was still a bit bratty and selfish, so I've tried to put that right. Donna's fate was just as heart-breaking to write as ever. Still, at least we'll be seeing her again in the 60th anniversary special. Note that I've had the Costellos support the Metacrisis Doctor in his decision to wipe out the Daleks. Let's face it, we'd all be on his side if that opportunity arose. Unfortunately, the Doctor himself is too spineless to take such a chance. Metacrisis did have the balls to do it, however. So, hope you enjoy this chapter and I'll see you next time for an original chapter.
