The Door to Eternity

When a being has lived for a thousand years, witnessed civilisations rise and fall, watched generations erase their past, present and future, and been soaked in the blood of innocent screams and victims, they have seen everything... except themselves.

The universe can be a cold and deceptive place, mirroring the millions that inhabit it. Daleks, Cybermen, Ice Warriors and Sontarons, Slitheen, Ood, Silurians and Sea Devils. There is no such thing as an innocent in this world. There is simply the guilty. Everyone is guilty. This galaxy was a failure, there is only one solution. Destruction. As the universe begins to tear itself apart, a lone being watches, a guardian and a god. Today it becomes more, today it becomes Death, the destroyer of worlds. It is known only... as the Eternal.

The Doctor stood opposite the man. A good man. A good man with a gun to a girl's head. "Listen to me very carefully..." The Doctor said softly. "You don't want to do this. Put the gun down. If you harm her in any way then there will be hell to pay. But if you put the gun down now, then everyone gets to walk away..." Tears were swelling in the man's eyes. "I don't know why I'm doing this. I just want it to end. I just want the singing to stop." The Doctor didn't even blink. "Put the gun down..." he said simply, "... before it's too late."

The man's head was throbbing, he could feel his heart racing and his brain pounding against the sides of his skull. He could hear them. The voices. Singing. A choir on angels bringing devastation through the melodies. Why could anyone else hear them? Why was he alone? His mind was banging against his forehead louder now. He saw the old man in front of him step back, his eyes widened. Then the man exploded.

The Doctor stood there in silence for a moment, but it was just a moment, then he was rushing forwards to the girl who now lay sprawled on the floor. Wordlessly, he took off his jacket and draped it over her shoulders. This wasn't the first event this week that he had encountered. It was as if the universe was pulling itself apart...

Stepping out of the TARDIS into the bright sunlight, Sonya blinked up at the sky with her eyes squinted slightly, a hand raising up to shade them before dropping back down as she turned towards the street in front of her. Honestly, that man ought to know better than to leave her alone in the TARDIS for more than a few seconds by now. This would be... Blimey, she couldn't even remember how many times she 'borrowed' Lady from him anymore. Too many, if he complained each time she brought her back, you'd think he'd take better precautions against her taking the ship in the first place. But oh well, tucking her hands into her pants pockets, Sonya grinned at the empty street before striding off down it, the blue doors swinging shut behind her of their own accord.

"Well then... Empty street, busy city, dirty bins... I'd say that I landed in the bad part of London. Not too sure though, he ought to get that scanner fixed. Then again, I'll end up doing it, bragging about how I always do the work needed done for Lady, and he'll come up with some excuse about how 'she's always liked Time Ladies working on her more than him anyway, then we'll be in a stalemate, end up laughing it all off, flying away and get tossed into a cell within the next hour." She muttered to herself out loud, not bothering to keep too quiet considering how where she was happened to be completely empty. Not a living soul for blocks it seemed. Not even... Not even a rat, now that was odd... Stopping suddenly, she turned in a small circle, a frown appearing on her face. "Well then... What have I gotten myself into this time?"

The Doctor lay still face down in his bed, which he used very infrequently. However, after his most recent adventure with Sonya, he needed the rest and he needed it immediately. The adventure included eleven things, eleven things and an egg with the fate of the universe at stake, but when wasn't it? The mad adventure was far too complicated to explain in words, much less through a dream which The Doctor spiraled through at the current moment. Then, suddenly the TARDIS jerked forward, causing The Doctor to awaken from his sleep with a groan, "Sonya!" he hissed, turning over, placing his hands over his face, "The thrust capacitors are acting up again......Sonya?.....Sonya?......oh come on".

Groaning once more, The Doctor unwillingly forced himself up from the bed and dragged himself up the stairs and into the control room where his eyes and attention immediately shifted over to the scanner. Pulling it over he reviewed the systems before his eyes caught the current location coordinates, "Hang on.." he mumbled, "That's..that's..no. Can't be". Smacking the side of the scanner, The Doctor narrowed his eyes as he flipped on his glasses, "Come on. Stop acting up! Blimey i've got to get you fixed, what do you mean she landed here? You take her here?" he asked rhetorically, not expecting the doors to creak open as if answering his question and urging him to take a look. With a smirk and slight chuckle, The Doctor glanced over at the scanner then up to the time rotor, "Still have surprises" he mumbled before dashing down the ramp, snagging his coat and entering the dimly lit street. As his eyes adjusted to the light surrounding him, the doors shut by themselves while he finished putting on his coat and beginning his search for Sonya, "Sonya!?".

With his sonic screwdriver providing him light, The Doctor cautiously wandered through the streets , looking for his intellectual equal and admitted pain in the arse. The Doctor chuckled at the thought before the smirk quickly faded upon sight of a woman being robbed; the robbers bolted away as the women pleaded for assistance only to receive none as the people around her kept walking as if nothing had happened. Squinting his eyes, peering through the lens of his glasses, The Doctor's conscious picked up on an irregular feeling of the all too familiar city, "Something's not right..." he concluded, "Nothing's right....".

Earth was at the centre-point of it all. There were occurrences all across the galaxy but Earth was the epicentre. The Doctor had left the girl and, with a scarf tied around his neck, headed back towards the TARDIS. Then he'd met the old woman. A black hood pulled over her eyes, she had stumbled past him on a walking stick. But then she'd slipped and fell. The Doctor reached to help her up but the hood had fallen back. Where her eyes should have been was... nothing. Darkness. She cocked her head to the side. "Eternity is ending..." she whispered as her cracked lips turned from a dulled red to a decayed yellow and grey.

The Doctor reached out to take her hand and help her up. "What do you mean?" he asked simply. As his hand touched hers, her skin started to crumbled. Her whole body dissolved away at his touch until the only evidence of her existence was a small heap of grey powder resting by the side of the road. The Doctor stood in silence, the woman's words echoing through his mind. "She was an unwitting vessel," he concluded. Then he remembered that no companion was accompanying him so he didn't have to explain. Not out loud anyway.

The Eternal's eyes flickered between shades of yellow as it felt the aftershocks of it's decisions, as it felt the end of all things approaching. From the ashes of the old would the new be born. It had seen too much suffering to believe in hope any more. What was needed was a refresh; a brand new day...

Turning around in a circle, Sonya frowned in confusion, she swore she heard the Doctor behind her but couldn't see anything. "Weird... But alright then." Shrugging her shoulders, she shook off the odd feeling that something was very wrong and continued walking along the empty road, constantly peering into windows and alleyways, searching for any sign of life. "Alright, I give up, what the bloody hell is going on here?" She announced to the empty air, hands planted on her hips as she glared around the road in frustration. It was one thing to want to be alone, but a whole different idea if you actually were completely alone.

Reaching into her pocket, she flipped out her phone and scrolled through the numbers before finding the Doctor's and pressing send. Granted it was the TARDIS phone, but if it rang, she was certain that Lady would make sure he'd hear it. Blast the ringing over the loudspeakers or something at least. "Come on, pick up."

The phone began to ring, buzzing deep inside the seemingly endless left pocket of The Doctor until he finally took it out. Looking over who the phone said was calling him, The Doctor chuckled, "The one time i actually take Martha's phone with me on my person" before flipping it up and answering it. "Sonya, where are you?" He asked her before she could even say anything, "I go to take a nap for ten minutes and you dance around the controls and fly the TARDIS to London..and on top of that, its the wrong London..parallel..has to be..or...sudden sale at a department store. I've never seen the streets this empty..never..and that's saying something".

Listening to Sonya's response through the phone, The Doctor paced around the streets, peering through alley ways and over the window shops standing on the corner. Then something caught his eye, a manikin; it stood half way undressed and leaning up against the window in front of The Doctor, "Sonya.." he finally replied to Sonya, "Tell me, you've lived in London before. Have you ever seen a manikin standing half dressed in the middle of open hours inside of..." he paused as he took a step back and read the sign, "Bourge and Lilith's clothing store before? I mean i know some humans are lazy but i've never seen a manikin standing there undressed......it's like everything suddenly stopped....people suddenly stopped..i don't know...existing".

Artemis had been seeing things, so she thought... her friends had disappeared, even strangers she would occasionally see on the streets had gone too. She hadn't seen any life and she started to worry and panic at the same time, well, inside she was, on the outside she seemed calm and her face was straight and emotionless. She had her pouch of arrows attached on her back and her wooden bow was hidden underneath her dark, green cloak. Her blonde, plaited hair and her face was shadowed by her hood and she wandered the streets, hoping she would find some life, so she wouldn't feel so... lonely.
She had passed many lifeless shops and abandoned alleyways, she would sigh deeply to herself and look around the empty streets, she hadn't given up on it yet, she needed to find someone, she couldn't be on her own again, she needed someone - something - to comfort her and tell her everything is okay, but she knew that it wasn't okay at all, she seemed to be the only one left...
Artemis sighed and grew tired from her walking, she had something catch her eye, she turned her head towards it and her eyes widened in surprise and she did a small sigh in relief, she saw a man. A man who also seemed alone, she whistled at him, "Hey!" she called out, her Scottish accent taking affect, "Y-you are real... right?" she said, slowly walking towards him, her hands still under her cloak, holding tight on her bow.

The Doctor turned in surprise at the newcomer's voice. "Of course I'm real, are you, miss...?" his voice faded as he awaited an answer. He could tell with a glance, that he didn't know this woman. His eyebrow raised when he heard the shattering of glass from nearby.

The Eternal stood overseeing his day of reckoning. This universe's death was supposed to swift, painless, and precise, but he could sense the disturbance. There were forces opposing him, or who would. He could sense them: The Doctor. And something darker. A force he hadn't felt for a very long time, but it was there, cutting him off at every point, slowing the destruction. In essence enhancing the pain. The Eternal would need footsoldiers.

The Doctor spun towards the sound. A shop window was smashed in from the inside. Shattered glass littered the ground. Autons, 3 of them here, millions around the globe, all with one goal: eliminate the opposition. The three plastic dummies marched towards the Doctor and Artemis, their arms outstretched. The fingers fell away revealing a hidden weapon, an alien gun of some kind, ready to fire at will, and extinguish all life it encountered. Especially if that life was Time Lord.

Artemis blinked before nodding, "Of course I am real, I was just concerned about something..." She paused before sighing, "About everyone being gone." She sighed sadly as she remembered, she really missed her friends, the lovely neighbors and people, she then looked down a little, her hood still shading her face.
She heard a shop window smash and she looked to the Autons. Her eyes widened, "Walking dummies? Really?" she sighed and shook her head in disbelief until their arms stretched out and their fingers moved, revealing some sort of gun and Artemis blinked. "Oh god!" she moved her bow from under her cloak and she got an arrow and aimed it at one of them, she shot the arrows towards the hole of the gun in their hands, hoping the blockage would backfire and blow them up.

Suddenly the glass shattered in front of The Doctor as the manikin roared to life and thrust itself after him, it's arms extended outwards as if trying to hug. Jumping back, The Doctor clicked the phone shut and bolted to the right, slipping on the pavement and catching himself with his left hand as he pushed off the ground and continued running. With bolts flying over his head, The Doctor recalled his previous experience with alive manikins which lead to his first encounter with Rose, "Can't be" he reasoned to himself as he found a safe spot in the darkness of a nearby alley way. The Doctor peered out from the shadows, looking at each manikin as they marched by, completely unaware that he was there staring and studying them from afar. "I need to get a signal out..reach Sonya and if i'm lucky..somebody else" The Doctor spoke to himself, a frequently seen thing when he was not traveling with anyone as it kept his mind in check and from going crazy with thoughts, "Guessing that this time it's not a Nestene Consciousness controlling the Autons..because...well...alright then i can't guess that out. If i can get a message to the TARDIS then it can scramble it then send it out..to anyone else it will seem like nothing".

Flipping out the cell phone, Martha had given to him years ago, The Doctor held his sonic screwdriver up to it and pointed it in the direction of the TARDIS. The light atop the TARDIS glowed as it processed the signal, scrambled it, then with a mighty moan the TARDIS sent out the scrambled signal across the globe in hopes that someone would pick it up.

Sonya whipped around at the sudden noises that started and gaped at the Autons stepping out from shop windows and doors, all of them heading towards her. "Well, I see the welcome wagon showed up finally, but not exactly the welcome I was hoping for." She stammered quickly before spinning around and bolting off down the road. Forget about the Doctor right now, he'll find a way to get in contact. Just run! She told herself, her feet slipping across the ground as she sprinted around a corner and pelted right into two people standing there, sending the three of them sprawling to the ground in a ungraceful heap.

"Bloody hell! Can't you see I'm running for my life here? What are you two doing standing there with living... Plastic... Oh." Sonya trailed off at the end, staring at the older man she happened to be sitting on, studying his face with a frown on her own. "You're familiar. That..." She waved at the back of her head in distraction, her focus still on his face as she leaned closer, studying it in minute detail. "Doctor! Blimey, you certainly know how to pop up at the wrong times, don't you." She finally said, a triumphant grin on her face as she finally realized what was so familiar. Of course, she held a psychic connection to him that was stronger than most. Even in a different form it was still there.

Jumping back to her feet, she held out both hands to help the two people up, a wide grin on her face. "Sorry, running for my life. You know, the usual. It's Sonya, by the way, good friend of your tenth incarnation." She spewed out quickly, her eyes finally leaving the older Doctor's face and traveling over to one of the Autons as it made it's way around the corner she just ran around. "Come on then!" With a clap on the Doctor's and woman's shoulders, Sonya sprinted off once more.

Artemis watched as the Autons got closer, she glared at them all. Before she knew it she had fallen to the floor for some unknown reason, she looked up at the woman and didn't recognize her at all, Artemis' eyes widened when she found out the man was The Doctor. She had met The Doctor once before when the Milonians were planning to take over the Earth - again. Artemis grabbed Sonya's hand and then she looked to the Autons that were coming from round the corner.
Artemis looked to Sonya and nodded, she had stayed quiet when she found out that the old man was The Doctor, she didn't know if he remembered her or not. She sighed a little and ran off with Sonya but suddenly stopped when her phone started ringing, she quickly picked it up and answered the call, "Hello?" she was excited that there was someone else out there, but it was an Unknown number, so it wasn't anyone she knew. "This is Artemis Dales speaking, who are you?"

The Doctor was silent as the woman explained, his mind processing the information. "Sonya..." he muttered, letting the word roll through his memory. With a slight nod, he was back on his feet. His head tilted briefly while he examined the approaching Autons. They weren't fast, but they were armed. There were three in total, but one of their weapons was out of commission, jammed up by an arrow. The Doctor turned and ran after the other two.

Then he felt the buzzing in his pocket. His sonic screwdriver was screaming at him. Flicking it out, his watched it in confusion. "Why is the Tardis...?" he started to think out loud as it beamed it's message across the globe. "I didn't do that, why would it...?"

The Eternal winced with an edge of disgust. "The Doctor..." he muttered, his fingers cracking as he curled them into a fist, "Both of them..." his lips twisted into a smile. "Let's see how they like this..."

The Doctor was staring intently at the sonic screwdriver, his legs stopped but his mind focused. He'd lost interest in the approaching army of plastic. Instead, his mind was occupied as he examined his sonic. The only person who could have done this was himself, did that mean...? He could make out Artemis taking a phone call in the background, but he ignored the world around him. Then he felt his chest compress.

Crying out in pain, he fell to his knees, clutching his side. His teeth clenched together in pain. "Crossed my own time stream again, usually sends a slight jolt but not this. It's as if every moment of my existence is converging on me. Something's amplifying the feedback effect!" his eyes screwed shut, he fell forwards, writhing in pain on the floor. He needed to shut off his mind, there were consequences to such an action, but it would cut off the pain, for now at least. His fingers rested on his temples as he tried to stem the tide of pain overcoming him.

Artemis was still on her call with the unknown number. She turned to see the older looking Doctor fall down, her eyes widened and she rushed to him, kneeling down next to him, "Doctor?!" she shook him a little before aiming her bow at the Autons, she noticed the arrow before had jammed up their weapon and she smirked, she stood up and got two arrows, she put them on the bow and fired at the other Autons' weapons, jamming them too. Her head was tilted against her shoulder as she kept the phone call on, hoping the person on the other end had heard, so she called down the phone: "Hello? You there?" she was curious to know who it was, "Artemis Dales is speaking, who is this?" Her Scottish accent was taking effect. But then she heard what the older Doctor had said to himself and she blinked, "Wait, Doctor? Is that you?" she said to the phone, hoping it was the one she knew, the younger one.

(Artemis, only pointing this out. Most of the time on here, we usually go in an order. for example, we started off with 12, 10, me, you. We like to keep in this just so it's easy for people that aren't online at the time to catch up when they get back. That way no one is left behind in any RPs.)

The Doctor listened intently to the cell phone in his hand for a voice, a returned signal, anything that marked a reply to his desperate call for help. Then suddenly, just as a voice echoed through the speaker, a pain shot through his chest sending him to his knee, "Agh!!" he exclaimed, holding his chest and grasping the cell phone in the other as tightly as he could, making sure not to drop it as he placed it up to his mouth and spoke, "Corner of Bourge and Liliths". With no more strength left, The Doctor dropped the phone and fell to the floor beneath him in complete pain and agony. Just as there was with Sonya and his previous and future incarnations when they met, there was a jolting connection sent through The Doctor's mind, fusing them together for a brief moment as they both tried to fight off the pain.

Remember what we told Pompadore...all those years ago. What we saw in the mind of Sonya...doors...imagine doors. Close them all. Together we can lock those doors..lock ourselves out of the equation The Doctor thought, sending a message to the other subconsciously as he scooted further away from the entrance of the alley way, trying to conceal himself from the roaming Autons.

"Criminy." Sonya mumbled, already crouching down and helping the Doctor up off the ground just as her ears caught a familiar voice coming from the woman's phone. "That's him! The Doctor! If this one is in pain, then he is too. Come on." She snapped, her frustration at not being able to help either one of them bleeding through her voice as she jerked her head towards the Time Lord she was supporting. "Throw his other arm around your shoulders like I am, we have to get to him before those things do."

Turning her head back and forth, her mind working furiously for an escape route. She knew most towns and cities in Britain like the back of her hand, and this one looked vaguely familiar. "Come on, I have an idea, but it might cause some vertigo." Sonya finally said, her voice resigned as she shuffled the Doctor towards a nearby door, already picturing the other Doctor in her head as she reached for the handle. Closing her eyes, she opened it quickly and stepped through into an alleyway where a familiar figure lay at the back. "Doctor!" Quickly leaving the older Time Lord with the woman, Sonya ran over to her friend and knelt down next to him, anxiously checking his pulse.

The 12th Doctor groaned. He was getting old, too old. His head was pounding as he clawed at the floor in desperation. He couldn't shut off his mind by himself, he needed the other him. As if he'd heard his thoughts, the voice of his tenth regeneration called out in his mind.

The doors. Of course, the doors. Shut the doors. Shut the doors and everything would be fine. Just have to shut the doors...

With the slam of each door filling his mind, the tension eased, bit by bit, door by door. In theory, the process was simple, like factorising an equation, all you had to do was take the X outside the brackets. Unfortunately, the equation in this case was far from simple. It would take time, but it would get easier as the process got further. The Doctor pushed himself up off the floor, and with a wince, stood up slowly. He almost fell back down but managed to steady himself on the wall nearby, and the woman helping him stand.

"Well I always did think two heads were better than one," he remarked to his younger self, "Let's get this mess sorted out."

The Eternal scowled from his fortress at the heart of sun, darkness clouding his mind. The Autons weren't being controlled by a Nestene Consciousness this time. The Eternal had to focus his energy into using his foot-soldiers, his attention divided between them. He couldn't maintain contact with more than handful at a time, but he could switch to implement a different batch at a moment's notice. The Doctors and their companions would not elude him for long. He would find them, and then... God help them...

The Doctor suddenly shot up from the ground as the last of his doors were slammed shut with the help of his future incarnation, a smile immediately finding its way onto his face as he saw Sonya looking down at him. "Hello" He mumbled as he groaned and sat up, glancing over at 12 upon doing so, "We're getting too old for this kind of stuff don't you think?" he joked, pulling himself up. Peering around for any nearby Autons, The Doctor sniffed then straightened out his back and turned to his future incarnation, "There's only one place where they can't find us. We need to get back to a TARDIS, mine is locked so we don't have to worry about that...just get to one then we can figure everything else...i'm starting to think the consciousness isn't behind this". Turning on his heel, The Doctor began his ran back the way that twelve and the others had come, his coat billowing behind him as he ran, "Where's our TARDIS?" he called back over his shoulder to twelve, "In the center of the square or an alley way?".

"There's another TARDIS, but I can barely hear her." Sonya murmured to Ten once she caught up to him, keeping her voice down to avoid any future questions bound to come up. Turning her attention to the door in front of them, she frowned. "I'd take us to our TARDIS but, I don't really want to use any more energy than I have to. I'm no use if you have to drag me around." Biting down on her lower lip, Sonya thought for a moment, then shrugged her shoulders. "We're going to have to run for it."

Turning to Twelve, she raised her eyebrows. "If your feeling better, Doctor, I'd like to suggest moving along. Wherever we are, I'm sure the Autons aren't far behind."

(sorry for the shortness, I'm on a Ds)

The Doctor grumbled something about age then pointed to his left, "Alleyway, it's not far from here." Seeing his younger self start to run off he scowled but followed at a jog. Autons were swarming towards them now, from all angles, they'd be trapped if they weren't quick. It was as if they were homing in on the Time Lords. He could understand Sonya's desire to go faster. He obliged, picking up the pace. He shouted directions up to the Ten at the front, while keeping his eyes peeled for enemies surrounding them.

The Eternal watched with a faint smirk of amusement from his sanctuary. He knew it wouldn't be long until the Doctors were taken out of the equation but it was fun to watch them run, scurrying around like ants beneath his heel. It had been a long time since he'd had a sense of camaraderie like the adventurers he pursued though. He felt a pang of regret, but he pushed it aside and didn't give it a second thought. He spoke softly, almost painfully: "Lock TARDIS matrix on current location." Something clicked around him.

The Doctor could see the TARDIS now, but he could also see the plastic dummies approaching. He dashed past the other two, reaching the TARDIS door and fumbling for his key. Giving up, he stepped back and clicked his fingers, opening the door, then ran inside, immediately tinkering with the controls. "Get on-board!" he shouted as the TARDIS started to whir. His eyebrows descended, troubled, as he pulled the scanner towards him. "That can't be right..." he muttered, "It's taking us into the sun..."

(Anyone mind if 13 pops in?)

The Doctor bolted in after twelve and Sonya, shutting the doors behind him and immediately taking in the new decor of his future incarnations TARDIS. "Oh..you've redecorated. I don't like it" He muttered in a smirk before the words of his future incarnation reached his ears, causing him to dash up to his side and read the scanner. "But that can't be" The Doctor concluded, taking a step back as his mind began to process what was happening, "I mean there's no way...well..unless the TARDIS is being controlled. But that would take immense power...fearsome even. Who do we know that could constrict the TARDIS' living matrix into doing what it wants?" he asked both himself and twelve. There was a dead still silence from The Doctor as he paced around the control console, his mind working out all of the possibilities to the current issue. Time counted down, the TARDIS spiraling towards the sun under its own or something else's control. The pressure to find an answer was present especially on the facial expression of The Doctor, who at this time had flipped out his glasses and placed them on in the hope that they would spark an idea, "If we can just know who is behind this then we can fight them. The autons can be controlled no problem but to control a TARDIS..that's...that's" he paused, his mind suddenly syncing with his successors, "Are you thinking what i am thinking?" he asked him rhetorically.

Huffing quietly, Sonya leaned her back against one of the walls and folded her arms over her chest, eyes narrowed as they watched the two Doctor's work together. "Blimey, I thought one of them was bad." She mumbled to herself, head shaking from side to side in quiet amusement when her Doctor rambled on about how the TARDIS couldn't be controlled so easily. "Non-Doctor over here, a bit lost in the process as well. Might make things easier if you two would care to let either me in or the poor human over there that's probably even more lost than I am at the moment." She finally called out, gaining the two Time Lord's attention easily.

Raising both eyebrows up, she tilted her head towards the console beside them in question. "I've seen something like this before, remember when your TARDIS started going backwards in our own timelines? The only thing I figure that can do something like this would have to be old, immensely old, incredibly old to have any sort of power like that."

"Old, yes," The Doctor agreed with a nod of his head. In truth he was ignoring most of what the woman was saying. "Older than us," he said gesturing towards his other incarnation. "Much older..." He heard Ten's comments, certain words sticking out and ringing in his ears. He knew what the other Doctor was referring to, but he didn't want to say anything, if only because he hoped they were wrong. Because if they weren't...

The Doctor snapped back to reality, he turned to Sonya and Artemis, "The truth is, we can't be certain what we're dealing with until we meet him." he paused, "It." he corrected himself. "So it doesn't matter if you're not following because there's very little to follow except the yellow brick road into the sun we're already trapped on." he rubbed his eyes tiredly. He was so old now, he'd seen so much, but there was always more. Even he wouldn't live long enough to see it all, would he? could he?

The TARDIS landed with a bump, shaking all inside. "We're... inside the sun..." The Doctor announced looking at the read-outs. He sounded more exasperated than surprised. "We're literally burning at the heart of sun, but I feel quite chilly actually. This is only possible because the laws of the universe are breaking down. When we stop this. If we stop this, we'll have to run. Faster than ever."

A click echoed around the TARDIS, but the noise came from outside. The doors of the TARDIS swung open. stood outside were sentries. Cyber-Sentries. Five Cybermen all stood to attention. "Proceed," the leader spoke, identified from the black coating on the helmet's 'handles.' "They must have been reprogrammed, re purposed. I doubt any of the flesh inside remains. They're just robots. I don't know if that's better for us or not..."

The Cybermen spread apart, like the red sea parting. The leader repeated itself: "proceed. Proceed to the extermination chamber immediately. Purification process must not be disrupted." All the Cybermen at once slammed their fists towards their own chests in salute. "All hail the Eternal, breaker of worlds. Saviour of all." The Doctor raised an eyebrow, his eyes narrowed. He muttered: "Game on..."