The Door to Eternity

"Oh no, Oh no, Oh no, Oh no!" The Doctor said. "Alright, the TARDIS is crashing into the sun, There are cybermen there, I'm out of crisps, and blimey, I hate marriage!" He exclaims. Long story short, The Doctor married a companion in Vegas by accident before she knew him, he ran into Queen Elizabeth the 1st, she ordered his execution, and now he's crashing. The fabric of reality was now breaking apart by his calculation, and his past selves were on the sun, and he was about to be too. Well, actually, he was about to be inside of the sun. Landing, and opening the doors of this old machine, there were Cybermen. Five of them. "Has anyone seen a Badger named Charlie?!" He yells. He couldnt remember his past incarnation's answer, but he assumed it was no.

The Doctor peered through the now open doors of the TARDIS, his eyes narrowing on the cybermen as they created a path way for all to step towards the Eternal that eventually loomed in the distance. "The one that escaped" He mumbled, glancing over to Sonya, "All those years ago we faced three Eternals...and one escaped...he's come back...back for revenge on those that stopped him" he concluded, turning back to the open doors with a sigh. Taking a step forward, The Doctor stood next to his future incarnation, glancing over to him, "Allons-y i suppose" he whispered before striding out of the TARDIS, the light immediately causing his eyes to squint and adjust to the sudden change. "Blimey..you talk about bright" He mumbled as he walked past the saluting Cybermen, his eyes finally adjusting as he placed his hands nonchalantly into his pockets and slowed his pace down so the others could catch up.

Sonya felt a tremble work it's way up from the base of her spine. All those years ago, those horrible figures they faced in that nightmare of a maze, and now it was back. Suddenly feeling very much like a child, she stumbled slightly in her rush to catch up with her Doctor as he strode out the TARDIS and past the Cybermen. Walking unnecessarily close to his side, she cast glances back and forth at the rows of metal men guarding them. Just a few years ago, she had nearly been turned into the Cyber controller, blimey time flies when your facing death nearly every day.

Looking up at the Doctor, she bit down on her lower lip before sighing slightly. "It would figure we end up meeting with them eventually... Granted I wasn't much help at the first time, but still..." She trailed off, unsure of exactly what to say right now. Her mind was running in hundreds of different directions on what she should do right now. Run? Hide? Help or try to act like the situation didn't bother her? Of all the things in the universe to scare her, it had to be the boogeyman from her past that showed up this time.

There was a hissing sound from the looming figure in the distance. It wore it's ceremonial armour and mask. None had ever seen an Eternal without it's armour, none had seen it's skin. None that lived anyway. It spoke, turning to face it's adversaries finally. "Doctors. Remember that this is your own doing. We Eternals were one then three now one. You shattered the three-in-one, and so you brought about... desolation."

The 12th Doctor had been present all those years ago fighting alongside his fellow regenerations and comrades against The Eternals and their black mirror. He hadn't been on the front lines though, he'd kept back, and it was only now that he felt the Eternal's true power. He could sense the fear it derived and spread, but he had an advantage over the other's, he'd met fear like this before and overcome it. It was a familiar feeling to look into this being because it was like looking at himself. The Doctor, the man who drops from the sky, makes armies run and overturns civilizations because he doesn't like the smallest detail. He'd seen the worst in himself, techinically so had Ten but he wouldn't remember, the day he met the incarnation he feared the most. He'd seen him, worked with him, and overcome his tragedy. There was no fear left in him to feel.

"You, Doctor, are living proof of the failure this universe has become, it must be eliminated for a new world order to rise from it's ashes." The 12th Doctor cocked his head to the side, confusion clearly spread across his face: "In what way?" The Eternal made a clicking noise as if rolling it's tongue against it's cheek before responding, "You would sacrifice all for one but not one for all. Since the Time War, you have grown weak." The Doctor's eyes narrowed, scolding the Eternal with his glare. "You doubt me?" The Eternal asked with a slight smugness to it's slithering voice, "Then prove me wrong. Kill your companion. If the time lady dies, then I will let this universe live. One for all..."

A small spark of anger flared in Sonya's eyes at the Eternal's words, growing rapidly, it pushed aside the fear that crowded her mind just moments before as her head snapped around to point a glare at the figure. "Kill me? Killing me has less effect than anyone expects! I've been melted, brought back, killed off in the time war, banished to two different universes, then brought back only to find out you freaks used the one half of me that did manage to live on Gallifrey!" She shouted suddenly, a finger pointing at it as she advanced a few steps.

"You've killed me enough, robbed me of any childhood I might have had, forced my best friend to keep secrets from me because of what he had to do to keep me alive! And even now you demand me to make another damn sacrifice! I've had enough of you deciding how I'm going to die, considering you've failed how many times in the past to kill me. I think its time for you to know what it's like to be desolate, alone and afraid for once." Pausing suddenly, Sonya froze at her words, a faint memory rising from the foggy parts of her thoughts, the memories that were still wounded and healing from past damage. "You weren't even around when the Nightmare Child wrecked havoc, you just watched me destroy countless people, Gallifreyans and Daleks alike, not to mention all the others that were drug into the war.." Trailing off, she glanced over at her Doctor, realization dawning on her. "You have fears just like everyone else, you fear so many things, you kept away from the one thing that could show you what they were."

(No idea why I wrote this, but I panicked and couldn't think of anything else to say without making Sonya look like a complete idiot. So there you go, random darkness sprouting from her.)

"That's where you're wrong Eternal. Since the Time War, we've, The Doctors, have grown stronger than you could possibly imagine. Me, the last Doctor, I've seen the birth of this universe, and I'll be there when the last planet burns .And I'll be damned if I kill Sonya. I've destroyed planets, I've died twice and I'm 13,346. I'm the last of the Time Lords, and most of all, I'm The Doctor! So, 3 Doctors, and 1 Eternal. Seems as though the roles have switched since last time. So what's it gonna be? We're on the sun, so I dont mind watching an Eternal burn here." He threatened. 13 was not amused. Going through this 3 times takes a lot out of a man. Plus, the universe was kind of destroying itself so he needed to hurry. "The Doctor is living proof of the triumph this universe has. Proof of the hardship it has over come. You, Eternal, are the hardship in our way right now. And just like time and time again, The Doctors, are here to send you back to the hell you came from." 13 was beyond angry.

The Doctor listened to the testimony from his future incarnations, a frown settled prominently across his face as he glanced over to each one as they spoke then finally over to Sonya when she posed the part of her speech to him. "When you've lived for as long as we have Sonya...all of us...there's only one thing that is a truth that no matter what you do, you cannot escape it" The Doctor replied to Sonya, his facial expression unchanging as his true age peaked through his eyes as he turned back to the looming form of the Eternal, "Death" he spat. Stepping forward, The Doctor broke from the formation the three Doctors and Sonya had created before the Eternal, "There were three of your kind. Mighty race...so mighty even Omega feared you but yet here you are. The last one...standing there acting as if you have power over us!".

The Eternal stayed silent, his eyes peering between each Doctor before finally resting on the tenth incarnation, "And there you stand! Telling us to kill her, when you known damn well what that'l do. Both of us know......i've faced it. I've faced the Nightmare Child, i've banished it away from the body of Sonya. I've scattered it across the universe, the galaxies never to be seen again. Killing her will just reunite those pieces back together! The child will devour everything in it's path...even you..and i'm the only one that can stop it".

The Eternal laughed, it wasn't mocking or cruel, it was a genuine laugh. The Eternal was amused. "Oh Doctor..." he whispered with an air of sympathy to him, "We are but one now, but we were one to start with. Ultimately you'll make the only choice you can, the choice to save the universe by killing your companion, because at heart that is you. You are capable of making the right choice here and sparing everything. Or at least, one of you is..." his eyes darted from the tenth regeneration to the thirteenth to the twelfth back to the tenth.

"At Sonya's death, the Nightmare Child is drawn together again, but it takes a host to hold it's spirit, to guide it. You Doctor. The three Doctors, standing so tall and triumphant now, but all it takes is one death and Doctors become Eternals, the true Three-In-One. The sick irony of this situation is that, you can't beat me, because I am your worst fears, I am you!"

The 12th Doctor hadn't shouted in defiance at the Eternal but stood in silence, allowing the information to soak in. As he had suspected, his counterparts had had enough determination between them to more than make up for his silence. That said, he felt a shiver run down his spine at the Eternal's revelation. Which one of them was this last Eternal, did it matter?

"I hope you'll forgive the cliché of the 'villain' revealing his plan, but it really is inevitable now. You of all people know that there are fixed points in time, and you can feel this is one. The universe doesn't die today because you accept your destiny, and with the power of an Eternal, choose to spare it, satisfied with your own proof that at least some people are capable of making the right decision. Your move, Doctors..."

The 12th Doctor's face was blank, any opinion he had was hidden. He stepped forwards towards the Eternal. There was a grim acceptance in his eyes. He spat on the ground by the monster's feet. "I. Am. Time." the Doctor stated, rage starting to flare up in his eyes. He didn't have a plan. Not yet anyway. But he had a mission. He had a purpose. He had to win...

Flicking her eyes between the Eternal and the Doctors, Sonya narrowed them in thought. So that's what the Eternal's game was. Save the universe by killing her off only to doom it by releasing the NightMare child once more. Or... Join the Eternal and doom the universe anyway. Either way, they were to loose. But if she were to... Shaking her head sharply, she closed her eyes tightly, forcing the faint voice that tried to rise up in her thoughts. Telling her the only thing she could do would be to regenerate, keep the Eternal at bay with the energy. But regenerating would only cause the problem anyhow.

"Doctor, I'm not sure what..." She said faintly, her shoulders slumping slightly. She really couldn't see how they could get out of this. They could run, of course they could do that, but if they did, the Eternal would only go on another rampage. Three choices, and all three resulted in the universe being destroyed. They could kill him, that would be a good choice, but how? It took a lengthy battle just to kill two of them last time. And with them out of the way, there would be no telling how strong this one was.

"Eternal, I'll be damned if anyone besides you dies here. Now, you defy us, The Doctors. Last of the Timelords, against the last of the Externals. We are the oncoming storm. A storm, that will break down everything in its path. Now then, are you going to move, or shall this storm break you. Because, the Nightmare child has enough power to destroy all of us. Even you. Now I warn you, leave and forget this, or follow through with this plan, only to get destroyed, with the rest of the universe. So if you value your life. I suggest you go, and hide. Because if you try this, ever again, I will hunt you down. And next time, it won't be 3 of me, but all 13." He threatens. He couldn't remember anything. He didn't know what came next, but it obviously wasn't good.

The Doctor peered over to his future incarnations, his eyebrow raised as they spoke, listening intently to their replies and especially to twelves. Although he was silent, there was a rage deep within his eyes, a rage not seen since he himself was considered the present doctor. Turning back to the Eternal once thirteen had finished, "Our move hmm?" he repeated, his mouth making up time while his mind pondered the situation and all possible routes, "There were three Eternal's the last i saw of them. I saw two fall before me, dead. And one run away like a coward and there he stands before me, all three of me, claiming to be..what? Us? And what do you stand for? All Eternal's had a purpose. If i remember correctly, yours was fear".

Pacing back and forth, The Doctor worked out the situation both through his voice and in his mind, "And you claim to not have fear. But you did...i saw it, the day you fled from me. All of me. You ran because you were afraid of what we were going to do to you. Well...here we are. Time to settle this once and for all. No more running away, i've done that for over a thousand years...it's time to face my demons head on. Our move? Instead of worrying about your speeches, maybe you should be worried about what we might do next".