The End of Time: Part Two
I didn't fight while the guard/Masters took us to another room and tied me, my uncle, my daughter, and my friend to chairs. I was still too upset at what happened to my adopted family. The Doctor was strapped into some strange wheeled chair. He had a gag over his mouth, another strap holding his head back and straps all along his arms and legs. Wilf, Annabelle and I were all tied to regular office chairs.
The Master got right into The Doctor's face and said. "Now, then. I've got a planet to run." he walked to the center of the room and looked at a computer screen, "Is everybody ready?"
The Nasimith/Master was running things from the lab, "6,727,949,338 versions of us awaiting orders."
I felt the tears starting to fall, from my eyes. Then, I hear my baby girl's voice in my head, "Don't worry, Mom… We'll get Grandma, Grandpa, Uncle P.J., Uncle Gabe, Aunt Charlie, and Uncle Toby back…"
I looked at her and smiled and she smiled back.
Then the President/Master came on the screen, "This is Washington. As President of the United States, I can transfer all the United Nations protocols to you immediately, putting you in charge of all the Earth's defenses."
"UNIT HQ, Geneva reporting. All under your command, sir." said another clone.
"And this is the Central Military Commission here in Beijing, sir, with over 2.5 million soldiers, sir. Present arms!" reported another clone. Then a video came on the screen of Master clones in Chinese military uniforms came on the screen. They were standing in front of the Forbidden City, all presenting arms.
"Enough soldiers and weapons to turn this planet into a warship," said The Master, "Nothing to say," He looked at me and Annabelle. Then he looked at my uncle, "Doctor?" He walked back over to The Doctor, "What's that? Pardon? Sorry?"
"You let him go, you swine," said Wilf
"Oh, your dad's still kicking up a fuss."
"Yeah? Well, I'd be proud if I was his dad… or theirs," said Wilf as he nodded his head toward us.
The Master put a finger to his lips, "Hush, now. Listen to your Master."
Just then Wilf's cell phone started to ring, "But that…that's a mobile."
"Yeah, it's mine, let me turn it off," Wilf then tried to free his hand to turn of his phone.
The Master walked up to him, "No, no, no. I don't think you understand. Everybody on this planet...is me. And I'm not phoning you, so who the hell is that?" He knelt next to Wilf and started to search him.
"It's nobody. Probably some ring-back call," said Wilf.
The Master opened up Wilf's jacket and reached inside. Then he pulled out a WWII era revolver and showed it to us. I couldn't believe that Wilf was carrying that, "Ooh, and look at this. Good man!" He dropped it on the floor and continued the search until he found the phone, "'Donna.' Who's Donna?"
"She's no-one, just leave it." pleaded Wilf.
The Master answered the phone and we heard Donna's voice, "Gramps… Teddy… Don't hang up. You've got to help me. I ran out, like Teddy said… Everyone was changing."
"Who is she? Why didn't she change?" asked The Master.
"Gramps, I can't hear you," said Donna's voice
"Well, it was this thing The Doctor and Teddy did…" explained Wilf, "The Metacrisis."
"Oh… He loves playing with Earth girls. Ugh!" said The Master with disgust.
"Are you there?" asked Donna's voice.
"Find her. Trace the call," said The Master to the screen.
"Trace the call." said the Nasimith/Master
"Are you still there? Can you hear me?" asked Donna.
"Say goodbye to the freak, Grandad." said The Master as he held the phone to Wilf's ear.
"Donna, get out of there!" said Wilf. "Look, Just get out of there! Run!"
"She's on Wessex Lane, Chiswick," said a Technician/Master.
"Open the phone lines." said the Naismith/Master, "Everyone on Wessex Lane - red alert.
"What do I do?" said Donna's voice.
I thought for a moment, Then I said telepathically, "Donna… Can you here me? If you can, reply telepathically…"
"Run, sweetheart, that's all. Run for your life!" said Wilf.
"There's more of them," said Donna.
"Donna? What's happening? Are you still there?"
"I can here you…" said Donna, telepathically. "How can I hear you? I thought you could only talk to blood relatives telepathically."
"They're everywhere…" said Donna out loud.
"Well, isn't not so much blood relatives…" I said, telepathically, "I can talk telepathically to any one I share biological energy with… now listen… I need you to concentrate and think about everything you did with The Doctor and me…"
"Look, I'm telling you. Run, Donna!" said Wilf
"What good will that do?" asked Donna.
"Just run, sweetheart. Just run!" pleaded Wilf.
"Trust me Donna… Just do it…" I said.
"What's going on…" asked Donna, "I'm seeing little snippets of different creatures… There's the Vespiform… Oh, My head…"
"Donna!" said Wilf, "What's happening?"
"…it hurts. My head, it keeps getting hotter, and hotter, and hotter, and hotter, and hotter!" Then, Donna screamed. Then very softly she said, "What did I...?" Then the phone went silent.
"Donna? What was that? Donna...? Donna, are you there?" asked Wilf.
The Master looked over at The Doctor who looked like he had a big smile on his face under his gag. Even though The Doctor couldn't hear what I was saying to Donna, he knew what I did.
"Donna...! Donna! Donna…" called Wilf into the phone.
The Master then got up, walked over to The Doctor and removed his gag, "That's better. Hello. But really, did you think we'd leave our best friend without a defense mechanism?"
"Doctor, what happened?" asked Wilf.
"She's all right, she's fine, I promise. She'll just sleep." said The Doctor.
"She had to burn off some excess Time Lord Biological Energy that built up from all the excitement of everything going on," I said, "When she wakes up, she'll be just fine."
The Master looked The Doctor, "Tell me, where's your TARDIS?"
"You could be so wonderful." said The Doctor.
"Where is it?"
"You're a genius. You're stone-cold brilliant. You are, I swear, you really are. But you could be so much more. You could be beautiful."
" With a mind like that, we could travel the stars. It would be our honor," I said.
"You don't need to own the universe, just see it," said Annabelle, "To have the privilege of seeing the whole of time and space. That's ownership enough."
"Would it stop, then? The noise in my head?" asked The Master.
"We can help." I said.
"I don't know what I'd be without that noise."
"Wonder what I'd be, without you," said The Doctor.
The Master sniffles, "Yeah."
"What does he mean? What noise?" asked Wilf.
"It began on Gallifrey," said The Master, "As children….Not that you'd call it childhood." he sat down in an empty chair, "More a life of duty. Eight years old. I was taken for initiation. To stare into the Untempered Schism."
"What does that mean?" asked Wilf.
"It's a gap in the fabric of reality," I said, "You can see into the Time Vortex itself. And it hurts…"
"They took me there, in the dark," continued the Master, "I looked into time, old man, and I heard it calling to me. Drums, the never-ending drums… Listen to it." He looked at The Doctor, "Listen."
"Then let's find it," said The Doctor, "The four of us."
"Except…" The Master stood, "Oh! Oh, wait a minute. Oh, yes. Oh, that's good."
"What? What is?" asked The Doctor.
"The noise exists within my head. And now within six billion heads. Everyone on Earth can hear it. Imagine! Oh... Oh, yes!" The Master laughed before his face flashed to a blue skeletal figure before he dropped to his knees.
"The Gate wasn't enough. You're still dying," I said.
"This body was born out of death. All it can do is die." said The Master as he stood, "But what did you say to me, back in the wasteland? You said, 'the end of time.'"
"We said something is returning," said Annabelle, "We were shown a prophecy. That's why we need your help."
"What if I'm part of it?" asked The Master, "Don't you see? The drumbeat is calling from so far away, from the end of time itself. And now it's been amplified six billion times. Triangulate all those signals. I could find its source!" He looked at The Doctor, "Oh, Doctor... That's what your prophecy was. Me!" he slapped The Doctor, "Where's the TARDIS?"
"No. Just stop. Just think." said The Doctor.
The Master pointed at Wilf. "Kill him." Just then a helmeted soldier walked over to Wilf and aimed his gun at him, "I need that technology, Doctor. Tell me where it is, or the old man is dead."
"Don't tell him." said Wilf.
"I'll kill him, right now!"
"Actually," I spoke up, "The most remarkable thing about you is that you are as big of an idiot as The Doctor."
The Master rolled his neck, "Take aim." The soldier aimed.
"You've got six billion pairs of eyes, but you still can't see the obvious, can you?" I asked.
The Master looked at me, "Like what?"
"That guard is one inch too tall."
The Master turned to look at the soldier and got at rifle butt to the face. The soldier took his takes off the helmet to reveal the male Vinvocci.
"Oh, my God, I hit him. I've never hit anyone in my life." exclaimed the alien.
Just then Addams ran into the room and started to untie Wilf, "Well, come on! We need to get out of here, fast." The male went to go free The Doctor
"God bless the cactuses!" said Wilf.
"That's CACTI," said The Doctor.
"That's racist!" said the male alien.
Addams got Wilf untied then she worked on me while Wilf untied Annabelle. Just then we heard the Naismith/Master, "This prophecy of yours, Doctor...where did it come from? Doctor?"
"Come on! We've got to get out." said Addams.
"There's too many buckles and straps." said the male.
"Just...wheel him!" said Addams as she got me loose.
Before I could go over to help, the male started wheeling The Doctor out of the room. "No, no, no! Get me out! No, no, don't! Don't! No, no, no…"
"What's going on?" asked the Naismith/Master, "Doctor!"
"Which way?" called the male.
"This way!" said Addams, as she took the lead.
"No, the other way!" said Annabelle, "We've got our TARDIS!"
"I know what I'm doing."
"Augh!" I exclaimed, "Will you just listen to us!"
"Not the stairs... Not the stairs!" said The Doctor.
The aliens continued to ignore us. Addams ran down the stairs first with the male alien pushing the Doctor down with Wilf following him. Annabelle and I couldn't get close enough to use our sonics to free The Doctor.
The Doctor grunted in pain with each step he it, "Worst...rescue...ever!" As we reached the tech room in the basement, my uncle said, "Just...stop, and listen to us!"
Just then guards appeared blocking our way out, then The Master arrived with a smile on his face, "Gotcha."
"You think so?" asked Addams. She brought her watched up and pressed it.
"No, no, no - don't, don't!" said The Doctor but it was too late. The Vinvocci took us to their ship. "Now get me out of this thing!" Annabelle and I quickly stared to unstrap The Doctor.
"Don't say thanks, will you?"
I gave a stare to the Vinvocci female, "Why would we thank someone who wouldn't listen to us and took us to their ship without asking us?"
"He's not going to let us go," said The Doctor.
Will looked out of a window, "Oh, my goodness me... We're in space!"
Once he was free of the chair, The Doctor used his sonic to disable the teleport control. It exploded in a shower of sparks. "Where's your flight deck?" he asked.
"But we're safe!" said Addams, "We're a hundred thousand miles above the Earth."
"And he's got every single missile on the planet ready to fire!" said Annabelle.
"Good point."
Addams lead the way. I stopped when I realized that Wilf wasn't following. He was staring at the Earth below us. I walked up to him and took Wilf by the arm and started to lead him out, "But we're in space!" he said.
"Yes… Yes we are," I said with a smile.
We ran onto the flight deck and I said, "We've got to shut this ship down!"
"No chance," said the male alien, " we're going home."
"We're a salvage team," said Addams, "Local politics has nothing to do with us. Not unless there's a carnival. Sooner we get back to Vinvocci space the better."
"You're not leaving," said The Doctor. Then us three Time Lords took out our sonics and pointed at the controls then she ship. Then, the ship went dead. The Doctor shushed us as she ship creaked.
"No sign of any missiles…" said Addams, as she looked out the window, "No sign of...anything. You've wrecked the place!"
"The engines are burnt out," said the male alien, "Just auxiliary lights. Everything else is kaput. We can't move. We're stuck, in orbit."
"Thanks to you. You idiots!" Then, Addams stormed out.
"Well… if you would have stopped and listned to us," I said, "We wouldn't have had to drag you into this.
Wilf walked up to us and looked at The Doctor,, "I know you, though. I bet you've got a plan, haven't you? Eh? Come on! You've always got a trick up your sleeve. Nice little bit of the old Doctor flimflam, ha-ha-ha, sort of thing? Eh?" The Doctor looked up at Wilf with a solemn look on his face, "Oh, blimey."
A short time later us Time Lords were working on the ships wiring to get the ship going again. I looked out the window and saw a meteor hading for Earth. We all stood up, walked to the window, and watched as the object fell to Earth. We all looked at each other, whatever it was it wasn't a typical meteor…
A short time later, we were still working on some wiring when Wilf walked in, "Aye, aye. Got this old tub mended?" asked Wilf.
"Just trying to fix the heating," said The Doctor.
Wilf sat down beside us with a sigh, "D'you know, I've always dreamt of a view like that." He looked out of the window, he chuckled, "I'm an astronaut. It's dawn over England, look. Brand new day. My wife's buried down there. I might never visit her again now. D'you think he changed them, in their graves?"
"I'm sorry," I said.
"No, not your fault."
"Isn't it?" said The Doctor.
Wilf smiled and looked out the window again, "Ooh... 1948, I was over there. End of the Mandate in Palestine. Private Mott. Skinny little idiot, I was, stood on this rooftop, the middle of a skirmish. It was like a blizzard, all them bullets in the air. The world gone mad. Yeah, you don't want to listen to an old man's tales, do you?"
I chucked a little, "The Doctor and I are older than you…"
"Get away."
"I'm 196."
"I'm 906," said The Doctor.
"What, really, though?" said Wilf.
"Yeah."
"900 years… We must look like insects to you."
"I think you look like giants."
Just then Wilf reached into his jacket and pulled out a gun, "Listen, I... I want you to have this. I've kept it all this time, and I thought…"
"No." said The Doctor.
"No, but if you take it, you could...
"No," I said, "You had that gun in the mansion. You could have shot the Master there and then."
"Too scared, I suppose," said Wilf.
"I'd be proud," said The Doctor.
"Of what?"
"If you were my dad."
"Oh, come on, don't start. But you said...you were told... he will knock four times, and then you die. Well, that's him, isn't it, The Master? That noise in his head? The Master is going to kill you."
"Yeah."
Wilf held the gun out to The Doctor, "Then kill him first."
"And that's how the Master started. It's not like I'm an innocent. I've taken lives. I got worse - I got clever. Manipulated people into taking their own. Sometimes I think a Time Lord lives too long. I can't. I just can't."
"If the Master dies, what happens to all the people?"
"I don't know," said The Doctor.
"Doctor, what happens?" asked Wilf
"The template snaps," said Annabelle.
"What, they go back to being human?"
Us three Time Lords nodded, then Wilf said, "They're alive and human? Then don't you dare, sir. Don't you DARE put him before them. Now you take this, that's an order, Doctor. Take the gun. You take the gun and save your life. And please don't die. You're the most wonderful man and I don't want you to die!" Wilf started to cry as he took The Doctor's hand and put the gun in it
"Never," said The Doctor as he pushed the gun away.
Just then The Master voice came from the speakers, "A star...fell from the sky. Don't you want to know where from? Because now it makes sense, Doctor. The whole of my life. My destiny. The star was a diamond. And the diamond...is a Whitepoint Star." the jaws of us Time Lords dropped and the Master continued, "And I have worked all night to sanctify that gift. Now the star is mine. I can increase the signal and use it as a lifeline. Do you get it now? Do you see? Keep watching, Doctor. This should be...spectacular. Over and out."
"What's he on about? What's he doing? Doctor, what does that mean?" asked Wilf.
"A Whitepoint star is only found on one planet, Gallifrey," said Annabelle, "which means… it's the Time Lords. The Time Lords are returning." she said with a smile.
"Well, that's good, isn't it? That's your people." said Wilf, and Annabelle nodded.
The Doctor and I looked at each other, we were not as enthusiastic as my daughter was at the prospect of The Time Lords returning. The Doctor grabbed the gun from Wilf's hand and ran from the room. We followed the Doctor onto the flight deck of the ship. He rushed into the room and turned on the PA. We here four familiar beets repeating over and over. "What's that?" asked Addams.
The male checked the computer, "Coming from Earth. It's on every single wavelength."
"But you said your people were dead, past tense," said Wilf.
The Doctor started to work on some equipment, "Inside the Time War, when the whole War was time-locked - like, sealed inside a bubble."
I rolled my eyes and continued, "It's not a bubble but think of a bubble. Nothing can get in or get out of the time-lock. Nothing can get in or get out… Except something that was already there."
"The signal. Since he was a kid," said Wilf.
"If they can follow the signal, they can escape, before they die," said The Doctor.
"Well, big reunion. We'll have a party."
"Sounds good to me," said Annabelle with a smile.
"There won't be any kind of party, " I said.
"But Mom… You and The Doctor have told me such wonderful stories about our people…"
The Doctor and I looked at each other and I sighed, "That's how we wanted you to think of them, The Time Lords before the War. But then they went to war, an endless war, and it changed them, right to the core. I purposely left out any information about the Time War when we did our knowledge transfer… I wanted you to be proud of our people. You've seen our enemies, Annabelle. The Time Lords are more dangerous than any of them."
"Time Lords?" asked Addams, "What lords? Anyone want to explain?"
The Doctor ignored Addams question and pointed at her "Right, you! This is a salvage ship, yes? You go trawling the asteroid fields for junk?"
"Yeah, what about it?"
"So, you've got asteroid lasers!"
"Yeah, but they're all frazzled," said the male alien.
"Consider them unfrazzled," I said as I flipped a lever and two doors on opposite sides of the room slid open.
"You there" said The Doctor as he pointed to Addams, "I'm going to need you and Annabelle on navigation." Then, he pointed at the male, "And you, get in the laser-pod." he looked at Wilf, "Wilfred?"
"Yeah?"
"Laser number two. The old soldier's got one more battle."
"Right." said Wilf as tapped The Doctor on the arm and stood.
"This ship can't move. It's dead!" said Addams.
"Fix the heating," said The Doctor, as he pushed two large levers on either side of the control panel and the ship started up.
"But now they can see us."
"Oh, yes!" said The Doctor as he and I stepped up to the wheel.
"This is my ship and you two are not moving it. Step away from the wheel."
"There's an old Earth saying, Captain," I said, "A phrase of great power, and wisdom, and consolation to the soul in times of need."
"What's that, then?"
I looked at her and smiled, "Allons-y!"
The Doctor pulled back on the wheel and we started to head to Earth. "Come on!" said The Doctor. We saw the window in front of us glow gold as we entered the atmosphere. "Come on...!"
"You are blinkin', flippin' mad." said Addams.
"You two." I said to the male alien and Wilf, "Get to the to the lasers."
"What for?" asked the male alien.
I rolled my eyes, "Because of the missiles. We've got to fight off the entire planet!"
The male alien and Wilf headed to the laser pods. A few moments later, Annabelle said, "We've got incoming!"
"Open fire!" I called to the male alien and Wilf.
The Doctor had to take evasive action to avoid two missiles, "Open fire!" said my uncle, "Come on, Wilf!"
"And there's more. 16 of them," said Annabelle.
"Oh! And another 16," said Addams
"Annabelle," said The Doctor, "Go to the rear-gun lasers!"
"Got it!" she said.
"Everyone, open fire! NOW!" I said.
The Doctor continued to veer the ship from side-to-side, just managing to avoid the missiles, "No, you don't!" he shouted as he turned the ship upside down in a full spin. Then all of the sudden the front window blew away.
"Lock the navigation!" I said.
"Onto what?" asked Addams.
"England! The Naismith mansion!"
"Destination?" called The Doctor.
"50 klicks and closing." said Addams. Just then, the ship reached the English coast,"We've locked on to the house. We are going to stop, though?" The Doctor didn't answer. "
Doctor? We are going to stop?!"
Just then Wilf, the male alien, and Annabelle walked back onto the flight deck, "Doctor! Doctor, you said you were going to die." said Wilf.
"He said what?!" said Addams.
"But is that all of us? I won't stop you, sir, but is this it?"
I looked at my uncle he kept looking straight ahead. He aimed the ship right at the mansion, and pulled up at the last moment. "Teddy… with me…" The Doctor lifted a hatch from the flight deck floor.
I looked at my daughter, "Stay here with Wilf…" She nodded. Then I looked at my uncle and took his free hand. In the other hand he had Wilf's gun. Then, we jumped from the ship. We fell through the air and crashed through the glass dome in the celing of the lab in the Naismith Mastion and landed on the floor hard. I landed on my stomach and growned as I looked to my left and saw what I didn't want to see, President Rassilon, with two guards and two women kneeling covering their eyes like weeping angels. The Doctor lift the gun Wilf gave him at the President but he was too week from the fall so his arm just dropped to the floor and then we both struggled to stand.
The President started to walk forward, "My Lord Doctor. My Lady Theodora. My Lord Master. We are gathered for the end."
The Doctor and I slowly got to a kneeling position and he said, "Listen to me. You can't…"
"It is a fitting paradox that our salvation comes at the hands of our most infamous child," said the President.
"Oh," I groaned, "he's not saving you… Don't you realize what he's doing?"
"Hey, no, hey!" said The Master, "That's mine. Hush. Look around you. I've transplanted myself into every single human being. But who wants a mongrel little species like them? Because now I can transplant myself into every single Time Lord. Oh, yes, Mr President, sir, standing there all noble and resplendent and decrepit. Think how much better you're going to look as me!"
The President didn't say anything. He simply raised his left hand, that was covered by a gauntlet that started to glow. The smile disappeared from The Master's face as the President opened his hand and release a glow of blue energy. I looked around and saw all the humans start to shake their heads quickly like they did when they turned into The Master.
"No, don't...!" said The Master, "No, no, no, stop it! No, no! No, no! Don't!"
Then, all the humans were back to normal, "On your knees, mankind." ordered the President and then all the humans in the room dropped to their knees in fear.
"No, that's fine, that's good, because you said salvation," said The Master, "I still saved you, don't forget that."
The room started to shake "The approach begins," said the President.
"Approach of what?!" asked The Master as he looked over at the Doctor and me for answers.
I rolled my eyes, "Something is returning," I said, "Don't you ever listen? That was the prophecy. Not someone, something."
"What is it?"
"They're not just bringing back the species," said The Doctor, "It's Gallifrey. Right here, right now."
The Master's eyes got wide and then The Earth shook. All the humans in the room began to panic and run out of the room. The President just watched with a smile on his face. The Master got on one knee, "But I...I did this. I get the credit! I'm on your side."
Just then we heard Wilf's voice, "Come on, get out of the way! Get out of the way! Doctor... Teddy…"
Then, Annabelle voice, "Mom!" she said as she ran over to me, "Are you OK?"
I smiled, "I am now," then we hugged.
Just then we heard someone knocking, once of the technicians is locked in the Nuclear Bolt.
"Somebody, please!" said the technician.
"All right! I've got you." Wilf went into the empty booth.
"Wilf, don't…" said The Doctor, "Don't!"
Wilf pressed the button to release the other booth, "I've got you. Come on. Go on." Then the technician ran from the room.
The Master stood, "But this is fantastic, isn't it?" The Doctor and I glared at him. "The Time Lords restored."
"You weren't there in the final days of the War," said The Doctor, "You never saw what was born. But if the time-lock's broken, then everything's coming through, not just the Daleks, but the Skaro Degradations, the Horde of Travesties, the Nightmare Child, the Could-Have-Been King with his army of Meanwhiles and Never-weres, the War turning to hell. And that's what you opened, right above the Earth. Hell is descending!"
"My kind of world."
"Just listen!" I said, "Because even the Time Lords can't survive that!"
"We will initiate the Final Sanction," said the President, "The end of time will come at my hand. The rupture will continue, until it rips the Time Vortex apart."
"That's suicide." said The Master.
"We will ascend to become creatures of consciousness alone, free of these bodies, free of time, and cause and effect, while creation itself ceases to be."
"You see now?" said The Doctor, "That's what they were planning in the final days of the War. I had to stop them."
"Then take me with you, Lord President. Let me ascend into glory," The Master fell to his knees with his arms outstretched.
"You are diseased, albeit a disease of our own making," said the President, "No more."
The Master lowered his arms. He relized he couldn't talk his way out of this. The President held out his gauntlet-covered hand. We saw the blue energy start to build. Then there was a click. The Doctor had gotten to his feet and was aiming the revolver at the President, as he stood in front of The Master.
"Choose your enemy well," said The President, "We are many. The Master is but one."
"But he's the President," said The Master, "Kill him, and Gallifrey could be yours!" The Doctor turned and aimed the gun at The Master. "He's to blame, not me!" said The Master, "Oh, the link is inside my head. Kill me, the link gets broken, they go back. You never would, you coward. Go on then. Do it." The Doctor turned back to the President. "Exactly," said The Master, "It's not just me, it's him. He's the link, kill him!"
"The final act of your life is murder. But which one of us?" asked The President.
Just then I looked past the President and saw one of the woman kneeling lower her hand from her face. I instantly recognized who it was. I smiled and she smiled at me, "Who is that, Mom?" asked Annabelle telepathically.
"That's your great-grandmother…. Uncle Theta's Mother…" I replied.
The Doctor saw her as well, and he turned to back toward The Master. The Master looked at him somewhat sadly. "Get out of the way." said The Doctor. The Master smiled and dove out of the way and The Doctor shot the device behind The Master that completed the link. The machine burst into flames. "The link is broken," said The Doctor, "Back into the Time War, Rassilon. Back into hell."
"You'll die with me, Doctor," said the President.
"I know," said The Doctor.
The Preisdent held out his hand and aimed his gauntlent at The Doctor. Just then The Master stood, "Get out of the way." The Doctor jumped aside just as The Master shot a bolt of energy at The President, hiting him in the chest and knocking him backwards. "You did this to me! All of my life!" said The Master as he used his other hand to shoot another bolt, "You made me!" He shot a bolt with each step he got closer to The President, "One! Two! Three! FOUR!"
On his last step, he stepped into the light and was pull back with the into the time lock and sent back to Gallifrey.
Us three Time Lords looked at each other, "I'm alive."
"You're alive," I said with a smile.
"I've... There was…" He pushed himself into a sitting position "I'm still alive." Annabelle & I ran over to my uncle and gave him a big hug as we all started to laugh. But our happness was short lived, when we heard four knocks. The three of us slowly turned in the direction of the sound as the four knocks repeated twice more. We saw Wilf still in the booth.
He gave us a little wave, and he said, "They've gone, then? Good-oh. If you could let me out...?"
"Yeah," said The Doctor.
"Only, this thing seems to be making a bit of a noise."
The three of us stood, and I said, "The Master...left the nuclear bolt running. It's gone into overload."
"And that's bad, is it?" asked Wilf.
"No…" said Annabelle, "Because all the excess radiation gets vented inside there. Vinvocci glass contains it. All 500,000 rads, about to flood that thing."
"Oh!" said Wilf with a chuckle, "Well, you'd better let me out, then."
"Except it's gone critical," said The Doctor, "Touch one control and it floods." he took out his sonic, "Even this would set it off."
"I'm sorry."
"Sure," said The Doctor with a whisper.
"Look, just leave me." said Wilf.
"OK," said The Doctor, his voice broke, "OK. Right, then...I will. 'cause you had to go in there, didn't you? You had to go and get stuck, oh, yes! 'Cause that's who you are, Wilfred. You were always this. Waiting for me all this time."
"No, really, just leave me. I'm an old man, Doctor. I've had my time,"
"Well, exactly. Look at you. Not remotely important. But me? I could do so much more." The Doctor yelled at the ceiling, "So much more! But this is what I get. My reward. And it's not fair!" He shoved some stuff off a desk and started to breath heavy.
Annabelle and I went over and gave him a hug, "You have to do this…" I said.
He nodded and sighed, "Ohhh... Lived too long." He broke the hug and then he walked across the room toward the Nuclear Bolt.
"No...no, no, please, please don't," pleated Wilf as The Doctor reached the booth, "No, don't. Don't... Please don't! Please!"
The Doctor put his hand on the door of the empty booth and looked at Wilf, "Wilfred...it's my honor. Better be quick. Three, two, one." The Doctor then stepped inside the empty booth and pressed the button to release Wilf from his booth but flooded his booth with radiation. Annabelle and I looked away and closed our eyes. We couldn't bear watching The Doctor in so much agony. Soon, the groaning stopped, Annabelle and I turned and saw our uncle curled up on the floor of his booth. We slowly stepped up next Wilf and then the Nuclear Bolt turned off. Then, The Doctor slowly started to uncurl and sit up.
"Hello," said Wilf.
"Hi." said The Doctor, as he got to his feet.
"Still with us?"
"The system's dead. I absorbed it all. Whole thing's kaput," said The Doctor as he tried flipping a few switches. Then, he put his hand on the door and it opened, "Oh. Now it opens, yeah." I rolled my eyes and Annabelle and I walked over to him as he stepped out, and gave him a hug.
"There we are then, safe and sound," said Wilf, "Mind you and Teddy are in hell of a state. You've both got some battle scars there."
The Doctor and I both had cuts on our faces from when we crashed through the dome. Then Doctor then covered his face with his hands. There was a slight sizzling noise, and, when The Doctor removed his hands, the cuts were gone.
"But they've... Your face! How did you do that?" asked Wilf, as the Doctor put his hands over my face.
"It's started," replied my uncle, as he removed my hands and my cuts were healed. Wilf walked over to The Doctor and sobbed into his jacket
A short time later, we returned to the street outside the Noble home. We walked out of the TARDIS and saw Sylvia standing in the doorway of her house, smiling, "Oh, she's smiling. As if today wasn't bad enough," said The Doctor.
I rolled my eyes and said, "Anyway... Don't go thinking this is goodbye, Wilf. We'll see you again, one more time."
"What do you mean?" asked Wilf, "When's that?"
"Just keep looking. We'll be there."
We turned to go back into the TARDIS and Wilf asked, "Where are you going?"
"To get my reward," said The Doctor.
Annabelle and I stayed in the TARDIS while The Doctor got his reward. He Saved Mickey & Marta Smith from a Sontaran that was about to gun them down. He kept Sarah Jane's son Luke from getting hit by a Car. He helped Jack find a new 'friend,' Alonso Frame, from the Starship Titanic. And, he visited Joan Redfern's granddaughter, Verity Newman. She found her grandmother's diary about meeting The Doctor and she turned it into a novel. The Doctor wanted to know if Joan was happy in the end, she was.
After leaving Vertity, our next stop was Donna's wedding. We made it just in time. It was a very beautiful small ceremony. After the wedding, we were watching Donna having pictures taken outside the church.
"Right, come on then, you lot. Get in!" said Donna, as she pulled us over, "This photo is just with friends. Come on. And I want all of you in it, come on. That's it. Well, friends, and Nerys." Donna looked over at Nerys, "I'm only joking. Oh, look at her!"
"You made me wear peach," said Nerys.
"That's 'cause you are a peach. Furry skin, stone inside, going off."
"OK, smile," said the photographer.
"Cheese!" we all said.
Once the pictures were done, Donna, Wilf, and Silvia walked with us back to the TARDIS.
"So… I guess this is good bye," said Donna.
"Yeah," said The Doctor, we explained to Donna what happened when with The Master. So she knew he was dying, "But, you never know… I could show up again…"
"Before we go," I said, " I want to give you our wedding present." I reached into my jacket and pulled out an envelope and handed it to Donna.
As she started to open it The Doctor said, "Thing is, We never carry money. So we just popped back in time, borrowed a quid off a really lovely man. Geoffrey Noble, his name was. 'Have it,' he said." Sylva gasped and tears came to Donna's eyes, "'Have that on me.'"
Donna tore the envelope open and her eyes got big when she saw it was a lottery ticket, "From what I hear," said Annabelle, "It's a triple rollover this week, You might get lucky." She said with a smile and a wink.
We all hugged Donna good-bye and us three Time Lords got into the TARDIS. I could tell The Doctor was getting very weak, so Annabelle and I set the coordinates for The Doctor's final trip, while he sat on the jump seat.
I had to help The Doctor out of the TARDIS when we arrived in the courtyard of the Powel Estate. We walked across the courtyard to a dark spot where The Doctor could see Rose but she couldn't see him. Just then we heard Rose's voice, "I'm late now, I've missed it. It's midnight. Mickey'll be calling me everything. This is your fault."
"No, it's not," said Jackie's Voice, "It's Jimbo! He said he was going to give us a lift, then he said his axle broke. I can't help it.
"Get rid of him, Mum, he's useless."
"Listen to you! With a mechanic. Be fair though, my prime of life, I'm not gonna do much better."
"Don't be like that. You never know. There could be someone out there."
"Maybe. One day. Happy New Year."
"Happy New Year! Don't stay out all night."
"Try and stop me."
Then, Rose came around the corner. The Doctor had just wanted to see Rose one more time. But, then he groaned in pain. Rose stopped and turned toward us, "You all right, mate?"
"Yeah."
"Too much to drink?"
"Something like that," I said.
"Maybe it's time he went home," said Rose.
"Yeah," said The Doctor nodded.
"Anyway... Happy New Year," said Rose.
"And you," said The Doctor. Rose started to walk away when he asked, "What year is this?"
"Blimey, how much have you had?!" The Doctor shrugged and Rose said, "2005, January 1st."
"2005? Tell you what. I bet you're going to have a really great year," said The Doctor.
"Yeah? See ya," Rose smiled and ran off, into her building.
The Doctor grunted in pan as I helped him walked back to the TARDIS. I could tell he was struggling to stay up right as he groaned and fell to his knees in the middle of the courtyard. As I tried to help him back up I looked at my uncle's face and I could tell he was staring at something. I looked in the direction he was looking in and saw Ood Sigma, "We will sing to you, Doctor. The universe will sing you to your sleep."
Just then, The Doctor started to stand slowly. "Annabelle!" I called out. Then, she ran out of the TARDIS and helped me get the Doctor back inside.
"This song is ending. But the story never ends," said Ood Sigma.
Once we were back inside Annabelle ran up to the console and got the TARDIS ready for departure. The Doctor pulled his jacket off and threw it over one of the Y-beams as he and I started to walk up to the console. He looked at his right hand and saw it start to glow with regeneration energy. We reached the console and he set the TARDIS in motion. Then he started to walk around the console. Stopping to give Annabelle and I each a hug on his way past us. Then once he made one compleate lap around the console he stood there looked at the two of us and said, "I don't want to go." Then, regeneration energy started to flow from his face.
"Annabelle!" I called out, "Over here…" We both stood behind the jump seat, and then he threw hia arms out to his side and his head back as he exploded with regeneration energy. Annabelle and I ducked behind the jump seat. But the power of The Doctor's regeneration was too much for the TARDIS, as it caught fire and Y-beams started to collapse.
A few moments later, the regeneration energy died down and Annabelle and I looked up from behind the chair at our uncle's newest incarnation. I walked over to him and shook my head while Annabelle started to run around the TARDIS trying to figure out how to get the ship under control. My uncle was a bit taller, a bit thinner, and a lot younger! I looked about 20, Annabelle looked to be 18, and but The Doctor went from 38 to 27!
"Legs. I've still got legs, good," said The Doctor as he kissed he new knees, "Arms. Hands. Ooh, fingers, lots of fingers. Ears, yes. Eyes, two. Nose, I've had worse. Chin, blimey. Hair…" He hair was a little longer and he freaked out, "I'm a girl!" then he felt his Adam's apple, "No! No... I'm not a girl," he pulled some hair in front of his eyes, "And still not ginger!" He looked at me and saw the look on my face. "What?" he asked.
"906 and your 11th incarnation is a little to late to behaving a midlife crises…," I said.
Just then there was an explosion, "Mom, Doctor," said Annabelle, "A little help! Because in case you hadn't figured out… WE'RE CRASHING!"
The Doctor and I ran to the console and he threw a lever, "Geronimo!"
To Be Continued…
A/N: