I always felt the Night of the Doctor showed so many possibilities for different War Doctors, but one that lived beyond the Time War. In this world, the Eighth Doctor realises the Time War does not need another Time Lord warrior, but someone who can look beyond it and fight it out. The new female Ninth Doctor is here, portrayed by Katie McGrath, who showed she was lethal in Supergirl and Merlin, and she will make worlds tremble in this series of one-shots.
Enjoy.
The Ninth Fold of the Thirteenth Fold Woman.
Xxxxx
"Help me, please," Cass yelled, flinching as the cockpit exploded around her, struggling to keep up with the little jobs as the ship began crashing into the atmosphere of a planet. The engines were shot, so she couldn't warp out of orbit, the structural integrity of the hull was non-existent, and the ship was so badly damaged during the crossfire between yet another skirmish in the Time War with the Daleks and the Time Lords. "Can anybody hear me?"
"Please state the nature of your ailment or injury."
Cass snarled. Computers, even ones with AI, are rarely thought at all. She knew the computer was falling to bits, and the last thing she wanted was for it to think she needed medical aid when she was more interested in calling for help, or at least sending a beam pulse out, so her people could pick it up.
She knew the Time Lords wouldn't do anything for her; the pompous bastards had their heads so far up their own backsides, they would not lift a finger to help.
The Daleks were too busy to send an extermination squad after her, thank Gods.
"I'm not injured, I'm crashing. I don't need a doctor," Cass said patiently, "I just need to send a transmission home."
Xxxxxx
In the Time Vortex, the TARDIS travelled slowly to avoid the sensor sweeps and scopes of the Daleks and the Time Lords; the old Type 40 TT capsule knew only too well that the Time Lords wanted the Doctor because of his knowledge, experience, and ingenuity. While she looked out into the Time Vortex, looking for some kind of hope, the old TARDIS felt despair in her hearts.
She often did this.
She often looked for hope in the universe, as the timelines began shifting; there had been massive shifts in the vortex ever since the Time Lords brought Rassilon back from the dead.
The TARDIS shuddered, remembering the entire anti-time mess with Zagreus when Rassilon hijacked her in that world. The number of timelines where Rassilon's return would be beneficial was diminishing with every power-mad decision the ancient Time Lord made; when the Time Lords destroyed Ysalus by throwing its timeline into reverse, the timelines had rippled around her, and the TARDIS knew nothing good would ever come from Rassilon's return.
The only good thing was Romana had tried to kill the deranged Time Lord, who was more dangerous than the Master could ever hope to become, but the timeliness favouring a more benevolent Rassilon was fading.
Hope was diminishing as was compassion, all she could see within the Time Vortex were destroyed remains of her sisters, their bodies floating through time while their pilots were exposed to the energies of the vortex or the vacuum of normal space. Most of the more peaceful of her sisters were dead or repurposed until they cried in torment at how the Time Lords mutilated them to become weapons of war, while her newer sisters were more violent and wanted nothing more than to tear planets apart in the name of victory.
It saddened the TARDIS; she was armed herself, with the Validium weapons module she had kept hidden for centuries as part of the Halfling project, but she wanted to see the universe, but the newer sisters she had wanted nothing more than to shred the universe to atoms.
The TARDIS turned her attention to the Doctor. He was trying to get some rest, sitting in her console room as he tried to drown out the rage he was feeling within, the rage of seeing so much death and destruction. He blamed himself, but while the TARDIS could understand it, she knew there were too many timelines where the Doctor's fourth incarnation would have died, he might have left Time Lord technology behind and given Davros knowledge of the Time Lords and time travel.
But the Doctor found it hard to rest. He was reeling and furious at the loss of so many lives, but the death of that child had reminded him that one day he would need to stop ignoring what was happening and get involved before the war ended the universe for good. As they'd left, the Doctor had leaned on her console, furious with what had happened when the Dalek saucers and Time Lord ships remained in orbit, firing at each other. At the time he'd been too furious to think straight.
He had cried, a terrible, animalistic cry of loss, fury, hearts-break, and a burning desire to destroy. She couldn't blame him. For some time since, however, he had let the anger bleed away, but he'd spent time twisting her and the forbidden Demat-Gun. The TARDIS was also being changed, the Doctor was constantly looking into her weapons module, modifying it, making it more powerful while she tried to resist, but he fought back.
Now he barely lifted a finger to stop, to help where he could, to be the Doctor.
The TARDIS knew it was coming, the day when he would change. This universe no longer needed this incarnation, and he couldn't cope in this world that was falling apart. This Doctor, the eighth fold of the thirteenth (or eternal?) fold man, had already stopped the destruction of a version of Gallifrey, ended the threat of the Council of Eight, Faction Paradox, stopped the Ravenous, the Dalek Time Controller, the Eleven, the Doom Coalition…but he was not capable of fighting and ending a Time War.
No.
The TARDIS was sad to accept and know this. But the truth was there. The universe needed a new Doctor, a Doctor who was unafraid of fighting in the Time War, and ending it all. The TARDIS knew from the timelines there were dozens of possibilities for the new Doctor, but it depended on what happened to Karn.
When she picked up the right ship, which had been attacked in the crossfire between the Daleks and the Time Lords,
Xxxxxx
The computer ignored her. Great. "A clear statement of your symptoms will help us provide the medical practitioner appropriate to your individual needs."
"I'm trying to send a distress signal. Stop talking about doctors."
"I'm a doctor," an unfamiliar voice called behind her, and she turned around and saw a tall man with short hair wearing a long dark coat that was battered. Everything about him was battered, but she didn't let that distract her too much; the Time War had a habit of ageing people before their time, sometimes with time weapons. "But probably not the one you're expecting. Where are the rest of the crew?"
"Teleported off," Cass replied.
"But you're still here," the Doctor sounded confused.
"I teleported them," Cass told him.
"Why you?" The Doctor asked curiously, wondering why she had been the one to make the decision to teleport the entire crew off the ship.
"Everyone else was screaming."
The Doctor turned to her. He needed something like this, he realised. Someone to talk to him, someone to help him, someone to make him what he was in the past….
He knew the day would come when he would need to stop running and fight the war, but if he could hold off and make a difference while he worked on a way to end the war…
"Welcome aboard," the Doctor said with a charming smile, that was a trademark in his current life.
"Aboard what?" Cass smiled.
"I'll show you," the Doctor smiled, leading her along the corridor away from the bridge.
"Where are we going?"
"Back of the ship."
"Why?"
"Because the front crashes first. Think about it though. Oh!" He yelped when the bulkhead sealed itself shut.
"Why did you do that? We're trying to leave!"
"Not me. Emergency protocols. The ship is falling apart. The computer can't work out where we are."
"Stupid machine," the Doctor said as he took out his sonic screwdriver.
"What's your name?" The Doctor asked as he ran the sonic screwdriver over the door.
"Cass," Cass replied with a smile.
"You're young to be crewing a gunship, Cass," the Doctor commented.
"I wanted to see the universe," Cass shrugged with a casual smirk. "Is it always like this?"
"If you're lucky," the Doctor had forgotten how good it was to have a casual conversation about the wonders of the universe since the Time War had lasted a long time already.
Finally, the bulkhead door opens to reveal the TARDIS. Cass came to a juddering halt as she realised she hadn't bothered to ask the Doctor how he had gotten onboard her ship.
Everything inside her was screaming.
Please let this be a teleport pod, linked to another ship….
"Don't worry, it's bigger on the inside," the Doctor said nonchalantly.
"What did you say?" Cass repeated, her suspicion growing into hardening horror, as the Doctor stupidly gave his clue out freely. "Bigger on the inside, is that what you said?"
"Yes. Come on, you'll love it."
Cass's voice hardened. "Is this a TARDIS?"
The Doctor was beginning to realise he'd made a mistake. "Yes, but you'll be perfectly safe, I promise you."
"Don't touch me!" Cass screamed, jumping back.
The Doctor wished he had done something to persuade her to trust him, but he had forgotten that the reputation of the Time Lords, never really great, had gotten worse during the Time War. And the destruction of so many worlds and people had made it worse. "I'm not part of the war. I swear to you, I never was," he said, but deep down he knew it would not work.
It didn't.
"You're a Time Lord," Cass spat, disgusted that this monster had touched her.
The Doctor tried not to flinch at the way she spat the name of his people's ruling elite. It wasn't his fault the Time Lords were arrogant, self-righteous people, so prepared to save themselves and damn everyone else, but he could understand her hatred; with everything going on, Cass and everyone else had a right to hate everything the Time Lords stood for.
Or used to stand for, as the case may be.
Ever since the Time Lords destroyed Ysalus with a temporal blast that erased the planet before it could even exist, something that went against the Laws of Time, and everyone heard about it, the Doctor had been even more determined to avoid the Time Lords, who wanted him and his knowledge to fight the Daleks.
Well, he wasn't going to do it. He refused to fight for them.
"Yes, I'm a Time Lord," the Doctor said patiently, "but I'm one of the nice ones."
"Get away from me!" Cass screamed, yanking her hand free.
The Doctor stared at her, finally seeing there was no way he could persuade her to listen or trust him; every time someone found out he was a Time Lord these days, they attacked him.
"Well, look on the bright side. I'm not a Dalek."
Cass let out a mocking laugh, "Who can tell the difference any more?" She snapped before she closed the bulkhead door between herself and the Doctor.
"Cass!" The Doctor leapt forwards and banged on the door desperately. "What are you doing, open the door!"
"No. It's deadlocked. Don't even try with that stupid little toy," Cass shouted through the bulkhead door.
The Doctor put away his sonic screwdriver. "Cass, just open the door. I'm trying to help. I can take you away from here?"
Cass laughed scornfully. "Help me? Yeah, like your filthy race helped Ysalus? Are you going to wipe me from time, Doctor?" She mocked his title, believing he didn't deserve it while he listened, his hearts tearing themselves to bits at how she thought he was a monster. Perhaps he was.
No, he knew he was.
He had been there, he had held those wires together.
He could have stopped the Time War.
He could have stopped Davros; he'd had the chance in his fifth and sixth lives to kill the Daleks' creator, and his seventh self had scorned them all for not having the guts to do what was needed. But even his seventh self had messed up, allowing Davros to survive, and Samson and Gemma had paid the price, along with millions of people when Davros, now more insane than ever, had created and unleashed a virus that transformed millions of humans, twisting them painfully, into a new Dalek paradigm.
What had he done, let the Daleks go free without destroying them!
And look at the results. "Go back to your battlefield. You haven't finished yet. Some of the universe is still standing." She grinned at the thought of doing the universe a favour and ridding it of one monster at least.
"I'm not leaving this ship without you," the Doctor said desperately; he might have screwed up badly in the Time War, and beyond, but if he could save one more life….
"Well, you're going to die right here," Cass's face filled the whole of the Doctor's sight. "Best news all day."
The Doctor held back the urge to shudder at her words.
Desperately the Doctor smacked his hand against the blast door. "Cass, Cass. Cass! Cass! Cass!"
Xxxxxx
The gunship crashed into the planet's surface with a massive explosion.
High Priestess Ohila smiled sadly, "And here he is at last. The man to end it all. My sisters, the Doctor has returned to Karn. We have always known in our bones that one day he would return here. Such a pity he's dead."
Xxxxxxx
In the temple, the Doctor woke up with a start.
"Cass!" He yelled desperately, but as he looked around he realised he wasn't in the TARDIS, or onboard the spaceship. Instead, he was in a cave, which was decorated like a shrine.
The Doctor, who remembered everything, recognised this place even before an ancient-looking woman knelt dressed in red robes. He recognised her, but he was still shaken by what happened.
"If you refer to your companion," she said, "we are still attempting to extract her from the wreckage."
Wreckage?
Oh, so the gunship had crashed, he realised.
He sighed. "She wasn't my companion," the Doctor said sadly.
Ohila shrugged. "She's almost certainly dead. No one could survive that crash."
"I did," the Doctor pointed out with a charming smile, but it was tinged with fear and worry. He could feel the impending regeneration as it crept up to him.
He could feel it.
He could feel a tell-tale burn inside of him, but it was far off but it was drawing closer.
Ohila didn't look amused. "No," she corrected, "We restored you to life, but it's a temporary measure. You have a little under four minutes."
Ah, so that was why it felt off.
But how could she do that?
"Four minutes? That's ages. What if I get bored, or need a television, a couple of books?" The Doctor shrugged. "Anyone for chess? Bring me knitting."
But deep down he was scared because he had no idea what would happen when his new self left this planet, would they run, like he had, or would they fight?
Ollistra had hoped his next self would be more involved in the Time War, maybe now she would get her wish.
Ohila gazed at him with pitying contempt, "You have so little breath left," she said, "Spend it wisely."
Suddenly the fog vanished. "Hang on. Is it you?" He said as he got to his feet, realising where he was and who was in front of him. "Am I back on Karn?" Yes, this was the Sisterhood's hall, alright. It had barely changed in the centuries since he had last been here with Lucie. "You're the Sisterhood of Karn, Keepers of the Flame of utter boredom."
"Eternal life," Ohila spat, sounding like an angry cat.
"That's the one."
Ohila got over her annoyance quickly, as there were more "Mock us if you will, but our elixir can trigger your regeneration, bring you back. Time Lord science is elevated here on Karn. The change doesn't have to be random," she gestured around at the red-robed women who were a part of the Sisterhood who were holding steamy goblets. "Fat or thin, young or old, man or woman?"
The Doctor couldn't believe this; he knew the Sisterhood were clever, but he had never known them to be like this. The Doctor stopped, eyeing her curiously with a lot of suspicion. "Why would you do this for me?"
"You have helped us in the past."
The Doctor shook his head, "You were never big on gratitude," he said.
Every time he met the Sisterhood, they usually tried to lynch him.
"The war between the Daleks and the Time Lords threatens all reality. You are the only hope left," Ohila said as he paced up and down, never taking his eyes off her.
"It's not my war," the words sounded bitter in his voice. "I will have no part of it."
Ohila gave him both barrels. "You can't ignore it forever."
"I help where I can," the Doctor stated stubbornly but deep down he didn't believe his resolve to stay out of this war. "I will not fight."
"Because you are the good man, as you call yourself?" Ohila said mockingly, just like he had mocked them in their own shrine.
"I call myself the Doctor."
"It's the same thing in your mind," Ohila commented.
"I'd like to think so," the Doctor nodded.
"In that case, Doctor, attend to your patient," Ohila turned just as two of the sisters carried Cass's body and laid her on the altar stone. Quickly the Doctor took out his sonic screwdriver and scanned the body with it. The Doctor knew it was hopeless even as he continued running the scan over her body, but he had to try. He couldn't give in, not like this-!
"You're wasting your time," Ohila said with surprising gentleness but her voice was still firm. "She is beyond even our help."
"She wanted to see the universe," the Doctor whispered.
"She didn't miss much. It's very nearly over."
The Doctor shook his head. "I could have saved her," he said, regretting he hadn't done more to make Cass trust him. "I could have got her off, but she wouldn't listen."
"Then she was wiser than you," Ohila's brutal honesty had the Doctor turn in shock. "She understood there was no escaping the Time War. You are a part of this, Doctor, whether you like it or not."
"I would rather die," the Doctor whispered, the words sounding hollow.
Because he knew she was right. He was a part of this, no matter what he did. No matter what he had been trying, the Time Lords had been desperately trying to get him to join, to fight. How many times had Ollistra tried to rope him in, manipulating him, playing games? How many times had the Time Lords wanted him to work with them, to fight?
Romana had contacted him telepathically, telling him that the Time Lords were changing the personal histories of the renegades to make them into the perfect warriors.
That made him more determined to avoid the Time War.
"You're dead already," the High Priestess said. "How many more will you let join you? If she could speak, what would she say?" She asked, gesturing to Cass.
"To me?" The Doctor snorted as he gazed down at Cass sadly. "Nothing. I'm a Time Lord. Everything she despised," he spat, knowing it was all justified considering what the Time Lords had been doing for so long now.
"She would beg your help," Ohila began, but the Doctor interrupted. "Do you believe that?" He sneered derisively. "The universe hates the Time Lords and my lot are crazy. Does the universe really need another Time Lord? What can I do to make a difference in a world that's becoming increasingly darker?"
"You are different from other Time Lords, Doctor," Ohila pointed out. "You've experienced so much of the universe, more so than some of the other Time Lord adventurers or old. You can see things differently from the others, and we now beg your help to stop this war. The universe stands on the brink. Will you let it fall? Fast or strong, wise or angry. What do you need now?"
The Doctor was tempted to tell her to make him a warrior, knowing she likely had the potion needed to do it. But he paused for a second, thinking that the Time War had dozens of warriors. What they needed was someone who could come up with a plan. The Eighth Doctor had always derided his predecessor, comparing him to the Meddling Monk for his ends justifies the means mindset, but he had to admit that his seventh self would be perfect in this mess.
Someone like that would be perfect in the Time War.
What if he became someone different who wouldn't be trapped in the same loop as the other Time Lords, fighting for centuries as time fixed the battles over and over again? What if he regenerated into a body that was determined to end the War?
But how?
And then the Doctor realised, one of the goblets was here.
The woman one.
The Doctor turned to the other Sisters, seeing their steaming goblets. "Do you have a potion for strategists?"
The high priestess looked put out. "Yes?"
"And a warrior?"
"Yes," she admitted.
"Get them to me," the Doctor ordered. "The Time War doesn't need just a warrior, but a strategist, someone wise enough to look beyond the obvious."
Ohila came back with two goblets. The Doctor took them and poured one of the goblets into the other. "Now, give me the goblet that is for wisdom, and the one for fast, and the other for strong. What other potions do you have?"
Ohila still looked put out, more put out than ever now. He had foiled one of her plans. Boo-hoo.
"We have Smart. Crafty. One-Person Army. Anti-Hero. Pirate. Inventor. Daredevil. Scientist. Liar. Spy. Genius. Wrathful. Thief. Sophisticated. Martial Artist. Militant. Lethal."
"That's a lot of choices," the Doctor breathed. "Next to Fat, Thin, Man or Woman, Young or Old. Give me the woman and young goblets, and give me the rest along with warrior."
The Doctor fingered Cass' baldric, thoughtful; his mind was whirring. With all of the potions.
"This is the Warrior goblet, Doctor," Ohila told him, passing him the goblet. "I took the liberty of preparing this one myself."
Like the rest, the Doctor poured the mixture together, but for some of them, the Doctor simply poured small droplets into the mixture. When he was finished the Doctor held the sonic screwdriver over the goblet and mixed them with the sonic vibrations. Finally, the Doctor held the goblet up.
"Get out. Get out!" The Doctor shouted before he turned to the Sisters, who were leaving the shrine. "All of you." Ohila lowered her gaze and moved away. "Will this hurt?"
"Yes."
The Doctor snorted, "Good. Charley, C'Rizz, Lucie, Tamsin, Molly. Friends, companions I've known, I salute you. And Cass, I apologise. Physician, heal thyself."
The Doctor drank down the elixir in one go and he staggered around, dropping the chalice. Before he had time to think, it started. Regeneration energy started to surge through his body. He doubles over screaming in pain.
The last thing that the Eighth Doctor felt, was the first thing that the Ninth Doctor felt, as she felt the fires of regeneration tear through her body. Where he felt fiery death, she felt a fiery rebirth.
When the Doctor recovered, he - or rather she found Ohila standing over her. "Is it done?" Ohila asked.
"Yes," the Doctor said, clapping a hand to his/her mouth, seeing how dainty and smooth it was. Her voice was powerful and elegant. "This will take time to get used to…," she said, standing up, bouncing and feeling her new body. This would take some getting used to. She had wanted to be a woman because it had come to her, on and off over the centuries.
Once she was done she walked over to Cass's body. The Eighth Doctor had been sorrowful, but the Ninth Doctor looked down at Cass and she realised…
She did not care.
At all.
This little bitch was responsible for the loss of her previous life, even if she had been a complete weakling. Since when had she thought that way before? But then again, all of her predecessors were stupid; her fourth self was stupid, for letting the Daleks get out of hand and her fifth was pathetic for letting Davros get away with murder. Her sixth was just as guilty. Her seventh had used the Hand of Omega to destroy Skaro's sun, for Omega's sake.
Why not go further? And don't get started on the parasitic Kisebya mess.
The Doctor turned around, and Ohila found herself shuddering; in this light, she had a sinister look on her face, but the Doctor didn't notice and walked off. "Thanks for the regeneration," she called over her shoulder. "I'm back with a new lease of life. Last Great Time War, if you thought you were bad before, guess again because I'm here!"
When she got back to the TARDIS, the Doctor laughed. Her terrifying laughter echoed through the room and into the vortex. At that moment, everyone that would ever live and be alive felt the same fear. On Gallifrey, everyone felt fear, including Rassilon and Ollistra and Mantus. They felt the fear of a mad woman who was going to cause so much pain and punishment to the whole universe and she would end the war. She wanted the war to end for good. And she would find the right way to do it.