Tower of Heaven

Part 2

They all came to a stop once they reached the shore. Everyone but Natsu and Soron hurried onto a nearby rowboat but turned to look at them upon realizing that Natsu and Soron weren't following.

"Why are you just standing there, you two?" Lucy asked.

"Him I can understand being hesitant, but you?" Gray added as he looked at Soron.

"We'll never catch up to them in time," Soron said bluntly as he produced a gold-colored key. "Not in that dinky thing."

"Do you have any better i-" Gray asked irked. However, he was interrupted just as a big red box materialized around him and Natsu. Gray, Lucy, and Juvia all dropped their jaws upon seeing that.

"How… I don't… huh?" Lucy asked baffled.

Curious, they headed toward the box and just stood at it. Suddenly, the door opened and Natsu's head poked out of the doorway.

"Well, what are you waiting for?!" Natsu exclaimed impatiently. Hesitantly, the trio stepped inside of the box and if it was possibly their jaws would drop to the floor. They immediately ran out, around the box, and then returned inside and gulped.

"This box is…" Lucy said weakly.

"Bigger…" Gray added.

"On the inside." Juvia finished.

"Draft," Soron said from the control console. Still unsure if she believed it, she shut the entrance.

"You have a lot of explaining to do," Gray said as he narrowed his eyes at Soron.

"I don't have to explain myself to you, nudist," Soron grunted as he fiddled with the controls.

"What kind of magic is this?" Lucy asked more curious than angry.

"It's not magic," Soron snorted. "It's science."

"Why are we standing around talking?!" Natsu shouted. "We need to go after Erza!"

Instead of answering, Soron walked toward the flame-brain and grabbed his arm. Before the salamander could object, he pulled him toward the console.

"This isn't going to hurt," Soron said as he picked up a sharp needle that was attached to a cord.

Before Natsu could respond, Soron stabbed the needle into his hand. That made Natsu cry out in pain.

"I lied," Soron said before he headed toward the monitor.

"What the hell did you do to him?!" Lucy exclaimed.

"I connected him to the tardis's telepathic circuits," Soron explained half-paying attention. "With any luck, the tardis should be able to follow the trail that Natsu's nose was leading us on."

"Huh?" Natsu and Lucy asked confused. Soron just rolled his eyes before he walked toward the handbrake and flipped it. The tardis began to wheeze and groan as the pillar in the middle of the console began to move up and down. With a sigh, Soron pressed the blue stabilizers and the room stopped shaking. He turned to look at Natsu who had immediately fallen to the floor.

"Are we there already?!" Natsu asked with a hopeful expression as he got to his feet again.

"Hardly," Soron snorted. "You just can't feel us moving anymore. Your motion sickness is all in the mind, and if you believe that we're not moving you won't get sick. Now, go sit down."

"I'll let you all know when we arrive," Soron said as he turned back toward the monitor.

A few minutes later…

Soron quickly hurried to the door upon seeing something on the monitor. As soon as he opened it, he widened his teeth. The others except for Natsu followed him and looked out the door as well. Soron didn't need to see them for him to know how close they were, but personal space didn't matter right now. Birds were in the process of falling to the ocean below.

Soron hurried back toward the controls and quickly fiddled with them.

"That wreckage down there," Gray said grimly. "That's a Fiore Naval Ship."

"And that…" Lucy said nervously as she stared straight ahead. "That must be the tower of heaven."

"Alright," Soron said. "Shut the door. I have just turned on the cloaking mechanism."

"Uhhh," they said dumbly.

"I made us invisible," Soron said with an eyebrow twitching.

"Oh," they said in unison now that they understood.

Meanwhile, with Erza…

Erza stood with her arms bound behind her with her captors next to her. She had her eyes widened with fear upon seeing a tower of gargantuan proportions.

"The tower of heaven," Erza asked. "It's been completed?"

"I don't know why you're so surprised," said Shou. "We've been working on it since you left almost ten years ago."

"Has it been that long?" Erza glared at him. "It's amazing how much you've all changed."

Thirty minutes later…

Erza had been placed into a cell that was several floors up away from the ground, and the metal-jawed man stood guard as Shou chained her up.

"The ceremony will take place later tonight," Shou informed Erza. "You'll be staying here until then."

Ceremony? Erza thought. They're going to activate the R System?

"I'm sorry," Shou said genuinely. "But this is the price of betrayal, and although you've hurt him, Jellal's giving you a special honor."

"He's chosen you to be the sacrifice for the ceremony," Shou grinned insanely.

"I'm sad I won't ever get to see you again," Shou said. "But you're going to help us get to heaven."

"Oh," Shou said surprised. "You're trembling. Are you afraid of being sacrificed, or does this cell bring back memories?"

After a few minutes of remembering their horrible past, Shou looked at Erza with regret.

"Even though you were the one being punished," Shou said. "I'm the one that came up with the plan, but I was too scared to say anything."

"I'm sorry," Shou continued. "It was my fault."

"That's in the past, Shou," Erza said sternly. "Right now, I'm worried that none of you realize how dangerous it is to resurrect someone using the R System."

"Wow," Shou said impressed grinning insanely again. "I didn't expect you to know what its purpose was. That's quite a surprise."

"The Revive System," Erza said bitterly. "In exchange for countless sacrifices, it brings a single person back from the dead. It is inhumane forbidden black magic."

"Sure, it's forbidden," Shou reasoned. "But whoever said magic had to be humane? I happen to believe magic wears away at one's humanity."

"That's a black magic philosophy!" Erza exclaimed. "Are you one of them now?!"

"Are you seriously comparing us to those idiots?!" Shou asked irked.

"They thought this tower was only good for resurrection magic!" Shou continued as he turned around. "We know better because we've been enlightened. Jellal told us that he can use the tower to get us into heaven."

Unknown to him, Erza was slowly pushing herself up the wall with her feet to free her bound hands from the broken curved pipe above her.

"To heaven?" Erza asked.

"You see," Shou continued as he stepped toward the cell door. "Once we use the R System him , the world will be reborn. And we will become its rulers! The cult members who kept us, prisoners, for all those years! The loved ones of the sister who betrayed us! The citizens who live their entire lives blissfully ignorantly! Those fools on the magic council!"

"We're gonna put fear and sorrow into the hearts of every last one of them!" Shou shouted manically. "They'll be stripped of their freedom and denied any rights once we're in control! They'll have no choice but to bow down before us!"

At that moment, Erza jumped off the wall now that she was free of the pipe. He turned around just in time to get kicked in the side of his head and sent into the bars to the side of the open doorway. As Shou slumped to the floor unconscious, Erza bit the cat-rope and pulled until it shattered into nothingness.

"Shou," Erza said sadly and angrily for the boy she once knew. "What could have possibly caused you to change so drastically?"

A second later, she was enveloped in bright light and another second after that she was back in her usual outfit.

Jellal , Erza thought angrily. What has he done to them?!

Several minutes later…

The tardis landed smoothly and without any sound at all. As soon as it did, Soron removed the needle he had stabbed into Natsu's hand and pulled the handbrake.

"I'll meet you all outside," Soron said as he walked toward a corridor. Without another word, he vanished from their sight. They immediately exited the tardis.

When Soron emerged from the tardis, he had a different outfit on. A black leather jacket with a hood, black leather pants, and black combat boots. Strapped to his back was a quiver full of hard light arrows, and a bladeless sword handle on his thigh.

"What's that outfit supposed to be?" Lucy asked.

"Something from my past," Soron replied as he pulled a metallic stick from its sheath right next to the quiver. With the press of a button, it transformed into a bow with a hard light string.

"Let's go," Soron replied as he bolted up some stone steps with the others close behind them. For the most part, the path was empty. However, now and then they encountered the random guard. Each one received a hard light arrow to the chest before they could cry out. As the wizards looked at the bodies Soron was leaving behind, they grew concerned. They had never seen him be this murderous.

He must care about Erza a great deal more that he admits, Lucy thought as she saw Soron spartan kick a guard off of the stares to the rocky earth down below.

Eventually, they reached a landing that happened to have several guards and lookouts. Soron had already taken three down but was backed against a ledge by the rest.

"End of the line, intruder," said a guard.

"Ice-Make: Lance!" Gray shouted and ice spears flew at the guards impaling some in non-fatal locations while the others dodged.

"Fire Dragon: Iron Fist!" Natsu shouted as he charged in with a flaming fist. He knocked one out.

Soron pulled out a hard light trick arrow and fired it at the remaining three. It split into three and impaled the guards in their throats. As they fell to the ground, Soron looked up the remaining stares and growled.

This is taking too long, Soron said. He looked at the rest as he came to a decision.

"We have to split up," Soron said. "It'll be faster finding Erza this way."

"Agreed," Gray nodded.

"What about Erza's captors?" Lucy asked. "We didn't stand a chance against them."

"They caught us off guard before," Gray said. "This time, we'll be ready."

Soron immediately put away his hard light bow and turned the dial on his Megatrix. A golden flash later, and a velociraptor-like alien stood in his place.

"XLR8!" Soron shouted before he sped up the stairs.

The others immediately ran off with resolve to save their friends.

With Jellal…

He watched as XLR8 sped up the stairs knocking out anybody he came across.

The power this man possesses… it's insurmountable, Jellal thought with a smirk. However, it's nothing compared to mine.

Back with Soron, a minute or so later…

Soron skidded to a stop upon seeing that he had reached a dead-end. A dead-end that appeared to be recently constructed. With a golden flash, he transformed into Four-Arms and walked up to the rubble. He prepared to punch through it, but before he could he saw something in the corner of his eyes. It was something navy blue. He turned toward it and followed out of curiosity. Eventually, he reached what looked like the banquet hall. He didn't feel like destroying the doorway, so he transformed back to normal. Inside, he found guards waiting.

"It's impressive that you made it this far, intruder," said a guard. "But you shall proceed no further."

Soron raised an eyebrow as he stepped forward in defiance.

"Kill him!" shouted the guard. The guards swarmed him, but Soron immediately grabbed the handle on his thigh and pressed a button.

A glowing hard light blade appeared just in time for him to block an attack. He punched the guard in the face before he stabbed him with the sword. He grabbed one of their magic rifles and began blasting away at others. The magic rifle was knocked out of his hands by a multi-colored beam. Soron quickly used a guard as a human shield before deactivating his hard light sword and pulled out his hard light bow.

"Hello again," said a familiar voice.

"Oh, you," Soron said bored upon seeing the blockhead.

"That's all I get?" the blockhead asked offended. "No, 'thanks for sparing my life'?"

When Soron didn't respond, the blockhead sighed before blasting a multi-colored beam into the guard in front of Soron. Soron immediately pulled out a hard light arrow and fired, but blockhead dodged inhumanly fast. Soron immediately rolled behind the banquet table and used it as cover. They each fired at each other, but neither could hit the other.

Soron pulled out a trick arrow and fired again, and just like before the blockhead dodged.

"You do realize it's pointless trying to hit me with your fancy arrows, right?" blockhead asked incredulously. "You're just going to keep missing."

"You sure about that?" Soron asked. Blockhead grew a confused expression before he heard a beeping sound.

"What was-" Blockhead asked as he slowly turned around. Just as he turned around, he was engulfed in a fiery explosion. The blockhead was sent flying into the wall opposite him.

"You may be faster than my arrows," Soron said as he stood up. "But not even you can evade an explosion."

Suddenly, he heard the sound of feet quickly approaching. He immediately whirled around knocking an arrow as he did so. However, when he did he saw guards fly through the hole in the wall he had just made. He lowered his bow upon seeing the one that had sent them flying. It was Erza, and she had two bloodied swords in her hands.

"Erza," Soron said as he returned the arrow to the quiver.

"Soron?" Erza asked shocked. She suddenly became angry and stomped forward.

"What are you doing here?!" Erza shouted.

"I came here for you," Soron replied unphased even though she had a frightening expression.

"Go home!" Erza demanded. "This place is far too dangerous!"

"No," Soron said bluntly. "Not without you."

Erza widened her eyes upon hearing that before she tightened her grip on her swords.

"If you don't leave, you'll die!" Erza shouted.

"And so will you!" Soron shouted in return. "I will not let another person that I… I will not let you die!"

"If you won't listen to reason, then I'll beat it into you!" Erza shouted as she charged at Soron with her swords. Every time she slashed, Soron dodged. The more Soron dodged, the angrier she became. Eventually, she got tired of their little dance and when Soron dodged her again she quickly delivered a spinning kick into his chest. The kick was so strong he was sent flying into the banquet table and promptly cracked it in half. She walked toward him till she stood over him with a sword pointed at his face.

"Erza!" exclaimed several voices. She looked up to see Natsu, Lucy, Gray, and Juvia.

"Thank goodness you're okay!" Lucy exclaimed happily.

"You're here too?!" Erza exclaimed shocked as she stumbled back a step.

"Looking for you," Lucy replied.

"I already went over this with Soron," Erza said sternly. "So, I'll be brief with you. Leave, or you will all die."

"You're not going to scare any of us into leaving," Soron said as he stood up.

"That's right," Natsu agreed as he punched a flaming right fist into his other hand. "I ain't going anywhere till that blockhead gets-"

He was interrupted when Gray pointed at the downed form of the blockhead.

"What?!" Natsu exclaimed. "He's already beaten?! Come on!"

"You have to go," Erza said sternly.

"But why?" Lucy asked.

"Your friends kidnapped Happy!? Natsu shouted. "I can't leave here without him!"

"They got him too?" Erza asked shocked. "It must have been Milliana."

"Where can I find him?!" Natsu demanded.

"I'm not sure," Erza replied.

"This means war," Natsu stated as he scratched his nose with his thumb.

"Who are you declaring war against?" Gray asked with a raised eyebrow.

"The jerk that kidnapped my little buddy!" Natsu shouted as he sped off kicking up dust as he ran.

"Wait!" Erza tried but he was already gone. "Natsu!"

"What a moron," Gray said quietly.

"Poor Natsu," Juvia said as quietly.

"Let's go and help him!" Lucy shouted as she punched her fists into the air.

"No!" Erza said loudly as she held her sword up in front of them. "You don't have to worry about Happy. Milliana is a cat-lover. She'd never do anything to hurt him."

"I promise that I'll bring them both back to the guild with me," Erza said as she lowered the blade. "But you four need to leave immediately."

"Goddammit, Erza!" Soron said angrily. "Stop being so fucking stubborn! When are you going to realize that none of us are going to leave you to die here on patchwork Island?!"

"I don't want any of you here," Erza said coldly. "This is my problem, and it doesn't involve you."

"I'm making it my problem," Soron said bluntly as he grabbed her arm. "They kidnapped you and brought you to Hell on Earth. They nearly killed Natsu, me, Gray, and Lucy. Like it or not, I'm staying to take these assholes down."

"Us too," Gray stated.

"Erza," Lucy asked. "What's up with this tower, and who's this Jellal guy?"

"I can understand if you don't want to tell us," Lucy said with a small smile. "You said the creeps who kidnapped you used to be friends of yours, right?"

"Well, we're your friends now, and we're here to help you," Lucy continued. "And no matter what happens, we're always going to have your back."

"Yeah," Gray agreed. "She's right."

"Leave!" Erza demanded as she shook.

"I understand," Soron said calmly. "You don't want to risk us dying, because this place holds too much pain and loss for you. You're afraid the trend of losing people you care about will continue. However, you mustn't forget that even the most skilled warrior needs back-up now and then."

At that, Erza turned around and looked at them with tears threatening to leak out of her left eye. Everyone except for Soron widened their eyes upon seeing that.

"I'm sorry," Erza said as she wiped the tears away. "But you can't help me now. The odds are stacked against me. Win or lose this battle, I'm staring death in the face."

"Don't think like that," Soron said sternly. "You are NOT going to die. None of us are. The only ones that will lose their lives are Jellal and his crew of douchebags."

"You don't understand!" Erza shouted.

"Then make us understand!" Soron said.

"This tower… it's designed to kill thousands just to restore life to one person," Erza explained. "Anyone who's inside or on the tower WILL die."

"Then we destroy the tower and the island itself," Soron said bluntly.

They all looked at him shocked and baffled.

"I don't think we can do that," Lucy said wryly. "Destroying a tower like this and an island? Not possible."

"I have done the impossible multiple times," Soron said. "I can destroy this tower and the island, and without causing anyone on our side to die in the process."

"Jellal will never let you!" Erza said. "He will kill you before you can!"

"Then I will kill him first," Soron said simply.

"He is too strong!" Erza shouted. "Stronger than Jose, even! You barely survived him, so what makes you think you can win against Jellal?!"

"Because I now know what I'm fighting for," Soron said as he stared into her eyes. "Or rather… who I'm fighting for."

Suddenly, everything around Soron flickered like a tv does when there is static. Erza and everybody returned for a second but then vanished again. Soron suddenly found himself in the middle of a fenced-in part of the land with a cylindrical object sort of like a missile partially embedded in the ground.

"What the hell?!" Soron exclaimed. "What's going on?!"

"Hold on," said a disembodied voice. "I'll be with you in a minute. The Judoon systems are a bitch to crack."

"You want to see moves, Rose?" asked a voice with a northern accent. "I'll show you moves."

Soron looked toward the voice and saw a man in a black leather jacket with a buzz-cut. Suddenly, the man launched golden specks of light toward a wall of people.

"Hello, excuse me," Soron said as he tried to get their attention. However, they didn't seem to hear him.

He ran toward them and stood in front of them. He stepped back upon seeing that the man didn't have a face, and neither did the blonde teen next to him.

"I think I'm finally starting to lose it," Soron said.

"Couldn't be further from the truth," said the disembodied voice.

Suddenly, a man appeared in front of the cylindrical capsule.

"Did ya miss me?" the man asked as he held his arms out.

"Who the hell are you and what is going on?!" demanded Soron as he moved to pull out an arrow but found that he wasn't even wearing the same outfit from before.

"Having memory problems, I see," the man said as he walked toward Soron. "Let me see if I can fix that."

"Stay away from-" began Soron before the man suddenly locked lips with Soron. As soon as the man did that, images began flying across Soron's mind. When the man stepped away, Soron grabbed his head as it began to ache.

"Give it time," the man said calmly. "You have a lot of memories that are still returning to you."

"Jack?" Soron asked confused as he looked up at the man in the WWII trench coat.

"The one and the same," Jack smiled. "I like the new body. Delicious lips. Tastes like strawberries. Too bad it's as fake as the life you've been living up till now."

"What the hell are you talking about?" Soron asked confusedly.

"You ever see the movie called The Matrix?" Jack asked as he looked down at a thing on his wrist. "It's kind of like that."

Soron looked down at what Jack was inspecting and immediately recognized it as a Vortex Manipulator.

"Are you saying I'm in a computer simulation?!" Soron exclaimed.

"Exactly," Jack replied as his expression grew sour.

"Dammit," Jack said. "I thought I'd have more time. The Judoon's antivirus software is really tenacious."

"What's going on?" Soron asked. "Also, why would the Judoon put me in a computer simulation."

"A combo of punishment and a reward," Jack replied as he typed on his vortex manipulator. "I don't know why, but they had a warrant for your arrest and managed to nab you. However, after your capture, they must've decided that you deserved to be given the best life-imprisonment ever. Brand new life, and all that."

"Then why are you here?" Soron asked. "If I did something to warrant imprisonment, I should remain here."

"The universe still needs you, and you were unjustly imprisoned," Jack replied. "I'll see you soon."

Suddenly, he vanished in a flash of white light.

A second later, Soron was being surrounded by gas-mask zombies. He hurried on top of the capsule but, the followed him. He closed his eyes willing them to be gone, but he could still hear them… until he couldn't. When he opened his eyes, he found himself in a white cubic room.

What the hell? Soron thought to himself as he sat up. He felt something attached to his head and reached up to find a device of some sort. He pulled it out of his head and gritted his teeth from the pain. He got off the cot and collapsed. He slowly got up and pulled himself to a nearby reflective surface. He widened his eyes upon seeing a woman with long blonde hair and blue-eyes. A woman that happened to be naked. Upon seeing her face, the rest of his memories returned.

"My name isn't Soron MacLeod," the woman thought out loud in a thick Yorkshire accent. "I'm the Doctor."

Suddenly, the door to her cell opened and the Doctor widened her eyes.

"Hello, sweetie," said the familiar voice of River Song. "I do like your new body."

"River," the Doctor said pleasantly surprised. "I never thought I'd see you again."

"Neither did I," said River Song as she tossed the Doctor her clothes. "Now get dressed, we can reconnect later."

Just a minute later, the Doctor was dressed and armed with a sonic screwdriver. She walked toward River and grabbed her hand.

"Just like old times," the Doctor grinned.

"But better," River grinned in return before they bolted down a hallway.

Meanwhile, with Captain Jack Harkness…

Jack Harkness hurried around on his stolen Dalek saucer completely focused on keeping the Judoon everywhere the Doctor and River weren't. To do so, he had to control Dalek drones that were just little floating Dalek eyeballs more or less. They happened to both explode and shoot Dalek lasers.

"Be ready for us in about thirty minutes," said River's voice through his Vortex Manipulator.

"Understood," Jack replied as he pressed a button which exploded a drone near the prison's armory. "Just hurry. I don't know how much longer I can keep the Judoon otherwise occupied."

He immediately pressed a few buttons and some drones killed several Judoon with their lasers.

Now, all I need to do is ensure that the Judoon maintain their blame on the Daleks for this little attack on them, Jack thought to himself as he moved to another console to control another drone. The Doctor will definitely have some ideas on how to do that… though she'll probably prefer it if the Judoon kept their attention on her. Maybe I can have the security footages wiped by exploding a drone near their storage area?

He immediately looked up the schematics for the Judoon prison and searched for where the security footage is stored. Once he found it, he set a drone's target location for the storage area and put it on autopilot.

Back with River and The Doctor…

The Doctor followed River through a door and down another hallway. Eventually, they reached the door to the airlock. The Doctor aimed her sonic at the panel to open it, but it didn't work.

"Oh dear," the Doctor said as she pocketed her sonic. "Looks like I have to do this manually."

Suddenly, they heard the sounds of the Judoon's stomps getting closer.

"We have no time for you to hack the door, sweetie," River said as she turned to the Doctor.

"Of course we do," the 13th Doctor said as she hacked at the panel.

"No, my love," River said sternly as she turned the Doctor toward her. "We don't."

Suddenly, River kissed the Doctor long and hard. When she broke away, she stepped back.

"I'm sorry," River said. "But there's no choice."

Suddenly, River pulled out a cylindrical device and pressed a button on it. The next second later, the Doctor was standing inside of a Dalek saucer. She felt around on her person and found a small device that had a bulb on it.

"A personal teleporter designed for only two trips," the Doctor thought out loud. She heard feet and saw Jack messing with controls.

"What are you doing?" the Doctor asked as she attempted to grab Jack's vortex manipulator from his arm.

"Doing what I can to keep the Judoon off River," Jack replied. "Unfortunately, I'm running out of Dalek drones."

"River," Jack said into the coms. "I can't get any drones to the security camera storage. Do you think you can make it?"

"Depends on how close it is," River replied.

"It's not far," Jack replied as he stopped the Doctor from taking his vortex manipulator. "Take the lift up, and go to the middle of the next floor."

"Got it," River replied.

"Give me your vortex manipulator, Jack," the Doctor said as she aimed her sonic at the ex-time agent.

"Sorry," Jack said unapologetically as he turned toward her. "I can't do that."

"Why not?!" the Doctor demanded.

"River and I came here to rescue you," Jack stated. "If you return, you'll end up captured and undoubtedly executed this time. Besides, you and I both know how River dies. She will survive this."

Reluctantly, the Doctor lowered her sonic as tears began to well up. Jack didn't say anything, but he did pull her into an embrace. Suddenly, Jack grunted in pain and fell down holding his groin.

"Sorry Jack," the Doctor said honestly. "However, I can't just stand by and do nothing while River's in danger."

The Doctor quickly grabbed his vortex manipulator and typed in the coordinates for the storage area. As Jack got to his feet, the Doctor teleported away.

A minute ago, with River…

River ran corridor to corridor until she reached the stairwell. She looked down and saw some Judoon marching up the stairs below, and some Judoon marching down the ones above. Fortunately, she'd be able to make it to the floor she needed to without getting seen. Unfortunately, she'll be backed in a corner when she gets to the storage area.

She hurried up the stairs and didn't stop running until she reached the storage. Unfortunately, when she arrived she found that it was locked behind an energy field. She immediately blasted it three times with her Alpha Meson Blaster. It didn't do anything.

"Blast," River said. She hurried to the panel next to it and pulled out the sonic screwdriver that the Doctor had given her back when the Doctor was an angry Scotsman.

"Deadlocked," River said irked. She pulled a com device to her mouth, but before she could speak someone appeared next to her.

"What are you doing here?!" River exclaimed.

"Coming to your rescue," the Doctor replied.

"The Judoon are going to be here any minute!" River said angrily. "You're being very stupid."

"So are you," the Doctor said just as angrily. "Breaking in here to set me free was very sweet, but incredibly dumb because the Judoon will arrest you changing your future in the progress. The first day I met you has to happen. It's a fixed point, and if it gets changed in any way… well, you know what will happen."

"As long as you're free, I don't care," River stated.

"Fine!" the Doctor said as she aimed her sonic at the panel. "We don't have time for this right now. We'll talk later."

"It's deadlocked," River said.

"Two sonics can override a level one deadlock," the Doctor said. "So, what are you waiting for?"

River immediately aimed her sonic, and the two devices managed to force the panel to deactivate the field.

"Sweetie," River said as she inserted a device into the storage's control panel. "Run."

"Not without you," the Doctor said. "What will that do?"

Suddenly, the lights were replaced with red lights and an alarm started blaring. An announcement in the Judoon tongue came from the speakers, and the Doctor stared angrily at River.

"You ordered the prison to self-destruct," the Doctor said.

"As if I had a choice," River replied. "Besides, none of the Judoon or the prisoners will die."

"You can't be certain," the Doctor argued.

"Of course I can," River smiled. "I wrote the code that gave the order, and I now have full control of the prison's systems. Which means I can…"

She proceeded to type in commands with her vortex manipulator and the blast doors closed just as the sounds of marching Judoon got louder.

"Just a little bit of transmat," River said as she typed again. "And there. No more Judoon on this soon-to-be exploding prison sphere."

"And the prisoners?" the Doctor asked.

"The only life signs left are you and me," River replied. "Also, I just wiped your record from the Judoon universal database."

The Doctor immediately grabbed her hand before she teleported them back to the Dalek ship. The Doctor returned the vortex manipulator to Jack and began to pilot them away from the prison.

"So," Jack asked as he strapped his vortex manipulator. "Everything went as planned?"

"Of course not," River said. "She returned to the Judoon prison, after all."

"Which you were supposed to keep her from doing, by the way," River added with a disappointed tone.

"She kneed me in the balls!" Jack said defensively.

"Men," River scoffed.

Once they got far enough away, the Judoon prison exploded just like the Death Star in A New Hope. Suddenly, a rippling blue vortex appeared in front of them and they got sucked inside. As soon as they were enveloped by the wormhole, it closed leaving no trace they were ever there.

THE DOCTOR WILL RETURN IN

STAR TREK: GUARDIAN

I'm sorry for the abrupt ending, and for retconning practically everything that has happened in the story up to the bit after Soron is reunited with Erza in this episode. However, I was bored with this whole thing and wanted to end it in a way that I found perfect. After the DW season 12 finale... I had come up with the perfect idea. Admittedly, the Chibnall era of DW is pretty crap. However, I did enjoy some aspects of the 12th season. And the final scene of season 12's finale? that was what gave me this idea.