The End of the Universe (Doctor Who fanific)

Chapter 12

A/N ok I know I'm posting to this like all the time, but I have got to make up for it because I'm leaving for Alabama on Friday and I won't be back until next Sunday. So I'm trying to get as much as I can done so it's as if I didn't leave. This will be the last bit before my departure. Enjoy!

"Hang on, what if we were to freeze the TARDIS at the exact moment of the explosion?" Ten asked, interrupting what had become a very tense moment. The cloister bell stopped ringing as Twelve returned the TARDIS systems to normal.

"What are you talking about?" Three asked.

"Well, we set the engines to overload, the TARDIS explodes, causing the universe to expand, but that's no guarantee, is it?" Ten continued. "I mean, the universe could just go straight back to collapsing after the explosion stops. But what if it never stops? What if it just keeps going? There'll be no collapse at all!"

"It could work," Eight breathed. "That just might work."

"Yes, but how do we avoid being trapped in an explosion eternally?" Six asked briskly. "Dying for the universe is one thing; being stuck with all of you for eternity is entirely another."

"Oh I didn't think we were so bad," Five said. "After all, we figured out how to save the universe together, didn't we?"

"I've saved the universe with a lot of people," Two said with a derisive laugh. "It doesn't mean I want to spend the rest of time with them all."

"Well said, for once," Three said sarcastically, and Two threw him a dirty look.

"We wouldn't have to," the War Doctor said.

"Wouldn't have to what?" Eight asked.

"Spend eternity trapped in an explosion," the War Doctor continued. When they all stared at him blankly, he rolled his eyes and started entering numbers into the typewriter that was still on the console. "See? The TARDIS doesn't need to stay in the time frame, just the explosion. If there were even one TARDIS outside, we'd be able to freeze the explosive energy in a time-lock! There'd be no danger of us dying."

There was a moment of silence, which Eight broke, saying, "Well, I like it."

They all nodded, leaning in to try and figure out how it would work. Twelve shook his head, "That'll take some careful planning."

"The logistics will be difficult," Seven said. "How will we be able to freeze the explosion without getting blown up ourselves?"

"Oh, that'll be easy?," Eleven said. "We just need to work out the right moment to freeze it so the universe will keep expanding.."

"All right, if you're so clever, how will we know when?" Four asked.

"If I'm right...five minutes into the explosion should release enough energy to keep the universe expanding," Eleven answered, looking at the watch on the inside of his wrist. "We can set most of the calculations beforehand."

"So let's get to it!" Eight said. They all went for the TARDIS console at once, bumping into each other as they did.

"Do you mind?" Two asked peevishly as Three pushed past him.

"Not at all," Three responded with a teasing smile.

"You know, it is rather difficult to see with both of you in front of me like that," Seven said from behind Four and Ten.

One sighed and rolled his eyes from behind them, "Out of the way, all of you. I'll do it."

"And why should you do it?" Twelve said. "I'm oldest."

"Oh, for Rassilon's sake, are you really that childish?" Three asked.

"Shut up, fancy dress, it means I have the most experience," Twelve shot back. "You want him setting up this explosion? He couldn't even figure out how to steer the TARDIS!"

One looked highly affronted, "I'll have you know that I could have fixed the navigational controls any time I wanted. And the chameleon circuit!"

"Bit of a lost cause, isn't it?" Nine asked conversationally, punching in the necessary numbers on the console.

"What is?" One asked. "Trying to fix the ship?"

"No. Lying," Nine answered with a quick smile. "I'm you, remember? I remember everything you're talking about. You couldn't have fixed the navigational controls no matter how hard you tried."

"You still can't. You think she'd let you?" Eleven asked, glancing up at the TARDIS ceiling.

"Excuse me, are we doing this or not?" Six asked peevishly. "I have places to be twenty thousand years ago, if we could hurry it up?"

"All right, all right, we're getting to it," Seven said, entering the last calculation. "Everyone ready?"

The cloister bell started ringing again as the engines built up to an overload. They all stepped back as the temperature increased, watching the scanner.

"It's going to go too fast," Four said.

"No, it's not. It's working," Five said.

"It's not," Four responded.

"Is this really the time for an argument?" Eleven hissed, and they both fell silent.

The explosion built up quickly, and they all turned to look at the console as it started to smoke. "No, no, no, come on! It's working!" Ten cried, pulling out a small mallet and banging on the console. A few more controls exploded but when they looked around, nothing else seemed to be going on.

"Don't take this the wrong way, but shouldn't we be exploding right now?" Six asked.

"Yes, we should be. What happened?" Eleven asked.

"The TARDIS fail-safe, I expect," Five said. "It won't let us overload the engines while we're all in here."

"Well, then, let's get out of here then," Twelve said. They all stared at him.

"The whole point of this is that we can't get out!" Five said. "You want to just give up?"

Twelve swung the screen around so the rest could see it. "Did I say 'give up?' No. The TARDIS is a time machine, yes?"

"She's a bit more than just a time machine," Eight protested lightly. "You make it sound like she has no soul."

Twelve motioned in Eight's direction. "Exactly. She's an intelligent time machine. She can sense the time streams better than I can. So, here we all are, telling her to blow herself up with all of us inside. What does she do? We can't all die here; it's a paradox. Not to mention, taking us out of the time streams will cause irreparable damage to history. So, she refuses. The fail-safes won't let the overload take place."

"So how do we undo the failsafes?" Ten asked.

"We don't. There's an easier way," Twelve answered. "We send all of you away, and I overload the TARDIS. You can freeze the explosion, and the universe can go on existing. Neat."

"But that'll be it! You'll die. I'll die," Eleven said desperately.

"I've already had one life more than I should have," Twelve answered. "Believe me, I'm not happy about it. But you know as well as I do that it's the only thing that'll work."

The others stopped, unsure. "There's got to be some other way," Five said.

"It would work," Seven finally said, quietly. "It gets rid of that little mess with all of us being removed from the timestreams."

One and Twelve caught each other's eyes, and then One went over to the console. "I'm right, of course. Or he's right, whichever it is. There is no other way." He input the commands to overload. "I hope that in the course of my lives, I live up to your example today."

"Don't worry," Twelve answered as he pulled the lever. "You will."