\u201cI don\u2019t like this,\u201d muttered Amy at one point.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cDo any of us?\u201d asked the Doctor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cShould we really trust the same person that gave Eggman the means to split the universe apart?\u201d asked Amy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cOkay, to be fair to Miss Tarae,\u201d conceded the Doctor, \u201cwe BOTH told him how bone-headed it was to roboticize a TARDIS.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cGallifrey calling Thanakian Ship,\u201d Romana said to a screen. \u201cThanakian Ambassador, come in please.\u201d A horrifying monster appeared on the screen. \u201cAh, there you are. This is Romanadvoratrelundar, Romana for short, Lord President of the High Council of Time Lords and duly elected spokesperson for Gallifrey. It is my understanding that Miss Tarae told you that we can accept refugees.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThat was the impression,\u201d replied the monster, the Thanakian Ambassador, \u201cbut, forgive me for saying this, all we see is rubble and ruin. Under better circumstances, we would help you rebuild your world.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYes, well, that\u2019s thanks to one of our number learning the truth about our past and throwing a tantrum. I understand the Rutans are after you lot?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThey have ravaged our planet! We cannot hold against them! If the Rutans are not shown that the universe will stand together, they will commit worse atrocities than the Daleks just to destroy the Sontarans!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThat doesn\u2019t sound like what we saw of their timeline,\u201d said Romana, \u201cbut, then again, we haven\u2019t been able to see ANY timeline as of late. \u2026I sympathize with your plight, but, as you see, we\u2019re not in a place to accept refugees.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cGallifrey, we beg you! All we ask is a place for our chief executive so that we may coordinate a plan of campaign!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201c\u2026I\u2019ll see what can be done if anything CAN be done,\u201d sighed Romana.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe are grateful,\u201d replied the Thanakian Ambassador. Romana switched the call off and went off to find Rassilon. Much as she hated the former Lord President Eternal right now, Romana needed the advice of a previous ruler.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As the call went on, Miss Tarae and Amy were in a room alone. The Doctor and Lurra Rus had just gone for a cup of tea. \u201c\u2026What ARE you doing here, Miss Rose?\u201d asked Miss Tarae once the silence was uncomfortable for her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHelping Rassilon restore Gallifrey, like the Doctor promised,\u201d replied Amy. \u201cGotta admit, the work\u2019s coming along nicely\u2026although, I\u2019m not an engineer, more of a muscle-.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYou want to see me destroyed,\u201d observed Miss Tarae.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201c\u2026I don\u2019t want you to pull a Toymaker,\u201d corrected Amy, \u201cand turn the universe into your playground. There IS a distinction. And, given what few interactions we\u2019ve had, well\u2026not the best first impression, gotta say.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201c\u2026Even if Gallifrey were restored, I\u2019d still be alone,\u201d muttered Miss Tarae. \u201cAn outcast from my people.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cOnly because they probably know your nature, probably not as well as the Doctor, granted.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201c\u2026Indeed. \u2026Miss Rose, do you know who is the nearest non-Time Lord that I have to a friend?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cNope.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201c\u2026You.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cMe?!\u201d Amy was taken aback at that! \u201cBut-!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe have been through a lot in our few interactions, have we not?\u201d asked Miss Tarae. \u201cWe are both women forging our own destinies. You said so yourself, you\u2019re not an engineer, but your intellect lies not in that! It lies in bringing peace and prosperity to everyone! We have that much in common!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe\u2019re not friends, Miss Tarae,\u201d reminded Amy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cNo, we\u2019re not,\u201d conceded Miss Tarae. \u201c\u2026But I often think that, in some strange branch of history, we might have been. Fate has made us allies, Miss Rose! Imagine what we could achieve together!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYou\u2019re dangerous.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAll beings of destiny are!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cBeings of what?\u201d laughed Amy. \u201cDestiny? Before I met the Doctor, I was a heroine that lived her life in a linear pattern. Maybe I have a different perspective on fate and destiny.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYou do, yes,\u201d replied Miss Tarae. \u201cBut you are one of the Elite of Mobius! It was YOU that organized a successful resistance against Dr. Eggman when he was playing with the Phantom Ruby! The same resistance that freed Sonic from prison and led to the final victory in that campaign! The Doctor doesn\u2019t pick her friends from the Rabble! I think Rassilon and Romana are like us! We CAN achieve great things!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYou can\u2019t have four supreme beings, Miss Tarae, by definition.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI always thought it was a question of destruction! \u2026But I see now that the constant fighting just cancels out any gains. If we can work together-!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cTo what end?\u201d asked Amy. \u201cLike I said, I don\u2019t know you as well as the Doctor, but I know you well enough! I know your nature!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201c\u2026Your people had abandoned the death penalty long before your birth, yes?\u201d quizzed Miss Tarae.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201c\u2026Yes,\u201d replied Amy, not sure where Miss Tarae was going with this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201c\u2026Why?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201c\u2026Well, because, deep down, we all hold life to be sacred. We believe that even the worst criminal could be rehabilitated.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cPrecisely!\u201d Amy blinked as she realized what Miss Tarae was driving at.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYou\u2026think you\u2019re a reformed character?\u201d she asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cNot yet, Miss Rose,\u201d replied Miss Tarae. \u201cBut I HAVE been given a new chance and I intend to take it!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe Doctor introduced me to a saying the humans have; a Dalek can\u2019t change its bumps.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI am not a Dalek!\u201d snarled Miss Tarae. \u201cUnlike those monsters, I have always been in control of my destiny!\u201d Her face softened and she looked away, holding her forearm. \u201cI have\u2026misused that power. \u2026Done terrible things.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201c\u2026But now you\u2019re going straight?\u201d asked Amy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201c\u2026I understand your skepticism,\u201d replied Miss Tarae. \u201cAll I ask is that you judge me by my actions.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cDon\u2019t worry, we all will,\u201d snarked Amy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As Amy and Miss Tarae talked, Susan approached the Doctor. \u201cAh, Susan!\u201d greeted the Doctor. \u201cExcellent! I\u2019ll need some with-.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cGrandfather, I just learned why Miss Tarae did what she did,\u201d interrupted Susan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201c\u2026She did a great many things, Susan,\u201d replied the Doctor. \u201cYou\u2019ll have to-.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI\u2019m talking about the Timeless Child, Grandfather! About you!\u201d The Doctor paused her labors. Susan wasn\u2019t going to let this go. \u201c\u2026They didn\u2019t change your original bio-data, did they? Rassilon and her former friends?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201c\u2026No, they didn\u2019t,\u201d sighed the Doctor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThen there\u2019s a very real chance that\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201c\u2026Yes, Susan, barring any fatal damage between regenerations, you very well could have endless lives like me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201c\u2026Does this mean that, even if and when we restore Gallifrey, we\u2019ll live beyond its final end?\u201d The Doctor didn\u2019t want to hear that question, but it was one that played in her mind. She already hated the fact that she would outlast her companions, but this\u2026this was far more horrible. An immortal among immortals. And with Susan having the potential to regenerate endlessly like her grandfather\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201c\u2026Susan\u2026I don\u2019t know,\u201d the Doctor finally sighed. \u201c\u2026But this time, we\u2019ll be there for each other if and when that time comes.\u201d The Doctor finally gave Susan the long-overdue hug she needed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThey\u2019re still waiting,\u201d Rassilon said to Romana.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWell, Rassilon? Your advice?\u201d asked Romana icily. Lurra Rus sighed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cPerhaps,\u201d interjected the Twi\u2019lek, \u201cyou two could fill me in on what\u2019s going on between you two? This feels like unresolved trauma and the engineer in me wants to get that out of the way before it turns into something that ends badly like it did between me and my parents.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201c\u2026To begin,\u201d said Romana, \u201cthe Time Lords were at war with a race called the Daleks. It was known as the Last Great Time War at its conclusion.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYou fought those monsters across time and space?\u201d asked Lurra Rus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cExactly,\u201d replied Rassilon. \u201cAnd I went mad with power, deeming myself a god as the Emperor Dalek did.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAnd it was because of her madness that I crafted an assassination plot,\u201d continued Romana. \u201cIt failed and I was exiled into that pocket dimension with all of Gallifrey\u2019s archives to be an archivist. So, why DID you bring me back, Rassilon? Needed to set yourself up as a god again and needed a historian?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201c\u2026Atonement, somehow,\u201d replied Rassilon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAtonement?!\u201d scoffed Romana. \u201cWhat, do you regret being a madman?!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWell, after travelling with the Doctor on a quest for the Key to Time, wouldn\u2019t you?!\u201d snapped Rassilon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYou\u2019re lying!\u201d accused Romana.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAsk the Doctor or Amy! Look it up in the TARDIS! You\u2019ll see I\u2019m telling the truth!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cShe is, Romana,\u201d called the Doctor\u2019s voice. Everyone turned to see the Doctor and Susan approaching. \u201cBefore Miss Tarae did all this to Gallifrey, I exiled Rassilon. She managed to make it time travel capable, but bumped into the Black Guardian, ordering her to retrieve the Key to Time.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe Guardian said that order was overrunning the universe, making it stagnate and eventually fall into chaos,\u201d continued Rassilon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cSomething you\u2019d think the Guardian of Chaos and Destruction would want,\u201d said the Doctor, \u201cbut, apparently, the Guardian needs to dictate how that\u2019s supposed to go down.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAnd if I didn\u2019t get the Key within six incarnations, I\u2019d be her plaything forever,\u201d Rassilon went on. \u201cI wasted five incarnations to make my bowship time travel capable, then I found the Doctor.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAfter that, we went on a hunt for the segments, found them all\u2026and Rassilon grew along the way,\u201d finished the Doctor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201c\u2026I learned that just because the rest of the universe is not temporally sensitive,\u201d said Rassilon, \u201cit doesn\u2019t mean its suffering is less real. \u2026But it\u2019s a struggle every day. I still don\u2019t know if I\u2019ve fully changed.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cSo how did you get out of that situation?\u201d asked Romana.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWell, remember the end of our quest for the Key to Time?\u201d quizzed the Doctor. \u201cWhere the Black Guardian posed as the White before we figured it out and stopped him?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYes, that\u2019s why we had a randomizer installed in the TARDIS,\u201d replied Romana.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWell, the White Guardian was doing the same,\u201d explained the Doctor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cTurns out it was the WHITE Guardian that sent me on that quest to teach me a lesson,\u201d explained Rassilon. \u201cAt least, according to her, I passed her test, but\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cBut you\u2019re not sure if you fully believe that,\u201d said Romana.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cNo,\u201d admitted Rassilon lamely. \u201cI suppose that\u2019s why I\u2019m doing what I\u2019m doing, to restore Gallifrey.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYou could just start over elsewhere,\u201d remarked Romana.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI don\u2019t have a choice!\u201d retorted Rassilon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201c\u2026You do, actually. But you chose an option that served Gallifrey over you.\u201d Romana drew herself up to her full height. \u201cUnderstand that I have not forgiven you for your past sins, but I can see you\u2019re attempting to repent as best you can.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201c\u2026Whose idea was it to clear the air now?\u201d asked the Doctor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cLurra Rus,\u201d replied Rassilon. \u201cShe correctly figured that not addressing it would be bad for Gallifrey in the long run.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cGood work, Lurra,\u201d praised the Doctor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWell, I didn\u2019t want the mistakes of my past to be repeated,\u201d replied Lurra Rus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201c\u2026Speaking of resolving things for the good of Gallifrey, we\u2019d better make sure Amy and Miss Tarae don\u2019t kill each other,\u201d said the Doctor as she headed off.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u201cI don\u2019t like this,\u201d muttered Amy at one point. \u201cDo any of us?\u201d asked the Doctor. \u201cShould we really trust the same person that gave Eggman the means to split the universe apart?\u201d asked Amy. \u201cOkay, to be fair to Miss Tarae,\u201d conceded the Doctor, \u201cwe BOTH told him how bone-headed it was to roboticize […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":6809,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[959,1067],"tags":[515,35,963,962,997,1068,1069,63],"class_list":["post-7518","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-doctor-who-crossings","category-the-specials","tag-amy-rose","tag-doctor-who","tag-fan-companion","tag-fan-doctor","tag-rassilon","tag-romana","tag-susan-foreman","tag-the-master"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/samueljvinton.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7518","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/samueljvinton.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/samueljvinton.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/samueljvinton.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/samueljvinton.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7518"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/samueljvinton.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7518\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7519,"href":"https:\/\/samueljvinton.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7518\/revisions\/7519"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/samueljvinton.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6809"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/samueljvinton.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7518"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/samueljvinton.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7518"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/samueljvinton.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7518"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}