HEHE! I'M FIRST.
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The planet below was shrivelled like an obese walnut. Here and there small fires erupted, lacing intricate lines of lava over its surface like a veil.
“Fullaloola Raganta-gori” announced the Doctor to no one in particular, “ or ‘Planet of Fire-Webs’ to the locals. Devastatingly original name don’t you think?” His voice echoed pitifully around the empty TARDIS, bouncing back at him in fainter and fainter tones. He listened intently, almost convincing himself that he heard a reply, but there was only the TARDIS itself, humming away in a detached manner. Sighing, the Doctor returned to his silent appraisal of Fullaloola. It truly was a beautiful place, he decided as a plume of purple flame burst from a crevice in the rock into the perfect imitation of a lily. A list of facts rushed randomly through his head; atmosphere oxygenated sulphur, largely made of solid mercury and nickel and there was golden grass coating the inside of the crust. Enthusiasm flaring like one of the incinery geysers below, the Doctor opened his mouth to share the information, before remembering that there was no one to share it with.
A marble block of loneliness seemed to slump onto his shoulders. From the next burst of flame from Fullaloola, he had a mental flash of sweeping red hair. ‘Watch it Alien-boy!’ said a voice from the pool of his memory. A tiny smile tweaked at the corner of his lips. He wondered whether Fullaloola would have impressed Donna. He was sure she’d have found the name amusing; would have repeated it slowly with a twinkle in her eye. Martha would have raised her eyebrows at him. And of course Rose wouldn’t have been able to pronounce it. The Doctor frowned at the pang of regret that vibrated up his spine. He’d never be able to show any of them this glorious sight. The TARDIS varied its persistent humming to a sort of purr as if in response to The Doctor’s rush of feeling. The Doctor glanced back at it, and smiled sadly.
“You wont leave me, will you old girl?” He said fondly, dashing over to give the controls a friendly pat. “It’s just you and me now. As it’s always been,” He smiled again at the lightly undulating blue cylinders, trying to smother a certain guilty longing, “and as it should be! What do we need any of those humans for anyway?” he continued hurriedly. The TARDIS suddenly wobbled, as one of the giant cylinders plunged downwards with a coaxing screech. The Doctor gripped the side-board and braced himself. His ship dropped a few metres closer to the edge of Fullaloola’s atmospheric sphere.
“Alright! Alright!” He raised his hands in placation then dashed over to the doors to check their position. “You want to be careful doing that!” He said, waggling a finger at the ship. “We’re not that far from the planet, you know.” The TARDIS’ humming lowered a tone in response. The Doctor sighed. “Yes, I know, you’re right.” He ran his fingers lightly along the metal railings by the door as he wandered back towards the consol. Casting a morose glance around the TARDIS’ walls, he murmured, “We do need someone.”
The trouble was, there were so many past someone’s; Barbra and Ian, Susan of course, Sarah Jane Smith, K9, the Brigadier, Liz, Jo, Tegan, Turlough, Peri, Romana, Ace, then Rose, Martha and finally Donna. How was he supposed to move on and find someone new again? Surely it was too much to ask of anyone? He leaned forward against the consol and glared into the green light that radiated from underneath. Another fact swam across his thoughts. It was made of Doncrystalline, normally found orbiting the edges of black holes, but that was The TARDIS for you. As every human he’d ever introduced to her had aptly said, ‘This is impossible.’ Though they were usually preoccupied with the fact that ‘it was bigger inside’. And that was just a simple Relative Dimension Filter -Elementary school children made them back on Gallifrey - the Doncrystalline was far more interesting. Why had he never explained this to any of them?
“Time.” He muttered. “There’s never enough Time.” He snorted. If that wasn’t ironic, then he didn’t know what was. “It’s a Timey-wimey Spacey-wacey thing.” He explained to The TARDIS. “But of course you know that better than anyone.” The TARDIS didn’t reply. It seemed its inexplicable responsiveness had come to an end. But then of course, that could just have been the engine faltering (as it sometimes did when they actually flew); it wasn’t often The Doctor caught a whiff of The TARDIS’ immense consciousness, and he doubted somehow that it would show itself just because he was feeling a little low.
At home, they’d always said The TARDIS’ were living creatures, and The Doctor had barely needed to set foot inside one to understand the truth of this. The ship was bursting with life. It was just at lonely moments like this that he rather wished it would share a little of that with him.
“Just a short conversation,” he said pleadingly to the monitor, “is that really too much to ask for?” He waited a moment; nothing. He sighed. “Fine, have it your way.” The Doctor returned grudgingly to his place leaning against the doorframe. Fullaloola glimmered indifferently beneath him. He closed his eyes, and let the store of guilty wishes rise to fore of his mind at last. ‘I wish Rose was here. I wish I had let the universe splinter to keep her here. I wish Martha wasn’t getting married. I wish Donna hadn’t assimilated my DNA. I wish Sarah Jane had decided to stay, hell I wish Mickey had decided to stay. And Jack too. Even Jackie wouldn’t have been too unbearable. Well, maybe not her.’ And now, as if a gate had opened, the rest of his misfortunes rushed over him in a tide. He hurried on desperately, knowing that until he owned these desires, he couldn’t conquer them. ‘ I wish The Master was here. No, if I’m wishing, I wish my people were alive. I wish Gallifrey was not lost. I wish the war had never been. I wish the Daleks had never existed. I wish I was not the last. Of all, I wish that the most.’
The Doctor exhaled sharply and clenched his teeth together. In his mind, he saw the many ships of the Time Lords as they flew into the final battle. They had been glorious in death, that he knew. But in the end, it had all been for nothing, he was orphaned from his species for nothing.
“Ah,” he gasped, turning away from Fullaloola, his movements jerky, “we need to move. There’s only one thing to do,” he wiped his eyes and shut the TARDIS doors with a lithe click of his fingers, “keep travelling. Just keep travelling.”
The planet below was shrivelled like an obese walnut. Here and there small fires erupted, lacing intricate lines of lava over its surface like a veil.
“Fullaloola Raganta-gori” announced the Doctor to no one in particular, “ or ‘Planet of Fire-Webs’ to the locals. Devastatingly original name don’t you think?” His voice echoed pitifully around the empty TARDIS, bouncing back at him in fainter and fainter tones. He listened intently, almost convincing himself that he heard a reply, but there was only the TARDIS itself, humming away in a detached manner. Sighing, the Doctor returned to his silent appraisal of Fullaloola. It truly was a beautiful place, he decided as a plume of purple flame burst from a crevice in the rock into the perfect imitation of a lily. A list of facts rushed randomly through his head; atmosphere oxygenated sulphur, largely made of solid mercury and nickel and there was golden grass coating the inside of the crust. Enthusiasm flaring like one of the incinery geysers below, the Doctor opened his mouth to share the information, before remembering that there was no one to share it with.
A marble block of loneliness seemed to slump onto his shoulders. From the next burst of flame from Fullaloola, he had a mental flash of sweeping red hair. ‘Watch it Alien-boy!’ said a voice from the pool of his memory. A tiny smile tweaked at the corner of his lips. He wondered whether Fullaloola would have impressed Donna. He was sure she’d have found the name amusing; would have repeated it slowly with a twinkle in her eye. Martha would have raised her eyebrows at him. And of course Rose wouldn’t have been able to pronounce it. The Doctor frowned at the pang of regret that vibrated up his spine. He’d never be able to show any of them this glorious sight. The TARDIS varied its persistent humming to a sort of purr as if in response to The Doctor’s rush of feeling. The Doctor glanced back at it, and smiled sadly.
“You wont leave me, will you old girl?” He said fondly, dashing over to give the controls a friendly pat. “It’s just you and me now. As it’s always been,” He smiled again at the lightly undulating blue cylinders, trying to smother a certain guilty longing, “and as it should be! What do we need any of those humans for anyway?” he continued hurriedly. The TARDIS suddenly wobbled, as one of the giant cylinders plunged downwards with a coaxing screech. The Doctor gripped the side-board and braced himself. His ship dropped a few metres closer to the edge of Fullaloola’s atmospheric sphere.
“Alright! Alright!” He raised his hands in placation then dashed over to the doors to check their position. “You want to be careful doing that!” He said, waggling a finger at the ship. “We’re not that far from the planet, you know.” The TARDIS’ humming lowered a tone in response. The Doctor sighed. “Yes, I know, you’re right.” He ran his fingers lightly along the metal railings by the door as he wandered back towards the consol. Casting a morose glance around the TARDIS’ walls, he murmured, “We do need someone.”
The trouble was, there were so many past someone’s; Barbra and Ian, Susan of course, Sarah Jane Smith, K9, the Brigadier, Liz, Jo, Tegan, Turlough, Peri, Romana, Ace, then Rose, Martha and finally Donna. How was he supposed to move on and find someone new again? Surely it was too much to ask of anyone? He leaned forward against the consol and glared into the green light that radiated from underneath. Another fact swam across his thoughts. It was made of Doncrystalline, normally found orbiting the edges of black holes, but that was The TARDIS for you. As every human he’d ever introduced to her had aptly said, ‘This is impossible.’ Though they were usually preoccupied with the fact that ‘it was bigger inside’. And that was just a simple Relative Dimension Filter -Elementary school children made them back on Gallifrey - the Doncrystalline was far more interesting. Why had he never explained this to any of them?
“Time.” He muttered. “There’s never enough Time.” He snorted. If that wasn’t ironic, then he didn’t know what was. “It’s a Timey-wimey Spacey-wacey thing.” He explained to The TARDIS. “But of course you know that better than anyone.” The TARDIS didn’t reply. It seemed its inexplicable responsiveness had come to an end. But then of course, that could just have been the engine faltering (as it sometimes did when they actually flew); it wasn’t often The Doctor caught a whiff of The TARDIS’ immense consciousness, and he doubted somehow that it would show itself just because he was feeling a little low.
At home, they’d always said The TARDIS’ were living creatures, and The Doctor had barely needed to set foot inside one to understand the truth of this. The ship was bursting with life. It was just at lonely moments like this that he rather wished it would share a little of that with him.
“Just a short conversation,” he said pleadingly to the monitor, “is that really too much to ask for?” He waited a moment; nothing. He sighed. “Fine, have it your way.” The Doctor returned grudgingly to his place leaning against the doorframe. Fullaloola glimmered indifferently beneath him. He closed his eyes, and let the store of guilty wishes rise to fore of his mind at last. ‘I wish Rose was here. I wish I had let the universe splinter to keep her here. I wish Martha wasn’t getting married. I wish Donna hadn’t assimilated my DNA. I wish Sarah Jane had decided to stay, hell I wish Mickey had decided to stay. And Jack too. Even Jackie wouldn’t have been too unbearable. Well, maybe not her.’ And now, as if a gate had opened, the rest of his misfortunes rushed over him in a tide. He hurried on desperately, knowing that until he owned these desires, he couldn’t conquer them. ‘ I wish The Master was here. No, if I’m wishing, I wish my people were alive. I wish Gallifrey was not lost. I wish the war had never been. I wish the Daleks had never existed. I wish I was not the last. Of all, I wish that the most.’
The Doctor exhaled sharply and clenched his teeth together. In his mind, he saw the many ships of the Time Lords as they flew into the final battle. They had been glorious in death, that he knew. But in the end, it had all been for nothing, he was orphaned from his species for nothing.
“Ah,” he gasped, turning away from Fullaloola, his movements jerky, “we need to move. There’s only one thing to do,” he wiped his eyes and shut the TARDIS doors with a lithe click of his fingers, “keep travelling. Just keep travelling.”