The Doctor dreamed. Before, he had felt the Dark One grabbing his soul and shredding it. Trying to destroy him, to destroy the goodness and replace it with pure evil.

 The Doctor tried to scream, to cry out as the Dark One was destroying his soul, but he found that he could not. He was totally helpless. Then he heard the Dark One's laughter echo in his mind. "You're helpless, Doctor and your body is finally *mine*," he taunted. Then the darkness fell and the Doctor passed into the realm of the unconscious...

 "Wil, where is the Doctor? I thought he was here with you," asked the Abbot.

 "He went to fight the Dark One. We hope he'll come back, but we haven't heard from him. I wonder where he is now."

 He found himself in a vast forest. Flowers and mushrooms covered the ground sporadically. He did not know how long he had been there. Perhaps hours, days, weeks, or months. He looked up and saw that he was sitting under a large oak tree with a little blue jay on one of its limbs.

 He smiled at it and tried to get it to come to him. But instead it flew away.

 "Trying to charm birds now, hm?" said a voice in front of him.

 The Doctor turned and saw his face. . .his original face. He wore a white shirt, black frock coat, string tie, shoes, and yellow square patterned pants. He had a sapphire oval ring on one hand and carried a cane in the other. His long white hair blew in the breeze. The first Doctor stared down at his younger self with a little kindness and a bit of distrust coming from his crinkled visage.

 "No, but it's so beautiful here. I could stay here all day," replied the Doctor.

 "Is it now?" said the older Doctor, with one of his fingers tapping against his chin. Then his hand left his chin and he outstretched his arms. "Yes, it is beautiful. Too bad this is all an illusion."

 "What?" The younger Doctor got up from underneath the oak and faced his older self.

 "Yes, yes. It is. This vast forest is an illusion from our own mind. I remember that because I dreamed about this forest one time... yes, one time. . .long ago." Then he stared into the younger Doctor's eyes. "You've been injured, my boy. Almost to the point of regeneration. He wants to destroy you, to destroy us. But you have prevented that for a time. By going inside yourself, you have stopped him from destroying you completely. But he will come back. . .The Dark One will come back."

 Suddenly, the whole landscape shattered around them. Now, there was only darkness around, pulling at them. Then a full sized mirror came into view before the two Doctors. The younger Doctor went to it and saw his own reflection. Soon, it changed to the reflection of the Valeyard.

 "NO!" cried the younger Doctor.

 "Give up, Doctor!" shouted the Valeyard. "Your sixth self could not stop me. He died trying to get away. And your previous self was so frightened of me that he would meddle with time to ensure that he would never fall into my darkness."

 "That's not true! Not for them or for me!"

 Noble words, Doctor! But futile! You *will* become me in time or perhaps I will become *you*..." Then the Valeyard started to change into the Dark One.

 Then the Dark One changed into a dark misshapen thing with ten inch claws. It flung out one of its claws and struck the Doctor to the ground.

 Dazedly, the Doctor got back up and felt the claw rip his shirt and his pale flesh all at once. Orange-red blood started to trickle from the deep wounds.

 "Give up, Time Lord!" growled the thing as he continued to cut into the Doctor's flesh.

 "No!" shouted the first Doctor. "You must fight it, boy! Don't let him destroy us." Then the first Doctor took something out from his frock coat. It was the same sword that the Doctor had broken earlier, but now it was whole. The first Doctor handed the sword to his younger self. "You must fight!"

 The Doctor took it, and, mindless of his wounds, struck out at the dark creature. In return, the creature lashed out at the Doctor with his claws. They continued to battle until finally the Doctor struck the creature in the side with the sword.

 The creature cried out and tried to swat at the Doctor with his claws. Then the Doctor struck the creature deep into its heart. It screamed and soon dissolved into a puddle.

 The first Doctor smiled proudly at his younger self and clapped him on the back. "Well done, Doctor! We won!"

 "Yes. You've done well, Doctor," whispered a voice in the darkness. Both Doctors turned and saw an old man come out of the darkness.

 "Who?" asked the first Doctor.

 "I am the One."

 "You... have I defeated the Valeyard, or is it the Dark One, for good?" asked the Doctor.

 The old man shook his head. "You have only mentally defeated the Dark One. But as the saying goes, you may have won the battle, but not the war. The Dark One still has the upperhand."

 "Then he no longer needs me, then," said the first Doctor.

 "No. Don't go. I was just getting to know myself again," said the Doctor, smiling.

 The first Doctor smiled. "I will still be with you." He tapped the Doctor's forehead. "In here." Then he shook hands with his younger self. "Good-bye, Doctor. You are doing a wonderful job. It's nice to see the universe is in good hands."

 "Good-bye, Doctor and thank you," said the Doctor.

 "No, my boy. Thank *you*." Slowly, the first Doctor vanished into nothingness.

 Then the Doctor turned to the old man. The old man then began to speak again. "You have to face the Dark One again. At that time, he will have no qualms about destroying you. He is destroying the universe, destroying time. . . Once, Doctor, not too long ago, you were Time's Champion. Would you take that cause up again?"

 "No. . .yes. . .perhaps to save the universe. But I will not become what I once was. . .I guess I did what I had do for all the right reasons. . .Perhaps once. . ."

 "You know what now you must do to save the universe. But I am afraid that in the end, you will pay a large price for the safety of the universe. . ." The old man looked at the Doctor. "I wish that there could be another way. . ."

 The Doctor looked at the man silently with his expressive green eyes. The old man could see the centuries of life within the eyes that stood in a youthful face. He could see the eternal weariness, fear, and countless other emotions in those two emerald orbs.

 "There never is," whispered the Doctor.

 The old man nodded. "Then go, Doctor, Time's Savior. Get your friends. The Three are the key to destroying the Dark One for all time, but it will take the sacrifice of one to ensure the resurrection of the true universe."

 Then the old man vanished and the Doctor awoke. He was in the same place that he had been when the Dark One had tried to take him over. The two bodies of Henry and John lay on the ground. He touched himself gingerly, as if he was about to fall to pieces at any second. He instead found himself healed as if he had not been shot at all.

 Then he left to find Wil and Gilliam.

 "Oh, Doctor! You're back!" cried Gilliam, hugging him fiercely.

 "Are you all right, Doctor?" asked Wil.

 "Fine, Wil," said the Doctor, smiling. Slowly, he untangled himself from Gilliam's arms.

 "Where is the Dark One?" asked the Abbot.

 "Gone. For now. But in the meantime, let's go."

 "Doctor?" asked Wil, puzzled.

 The Doctor walked to his TARDIS, opened it, and entered it without looking back. The others followed him in, slightly puzzled by his actions. They found the Doctor fiddling with the console, setting new coordinates.

 "Are you sure you're all right, Doctor?" asked Gilliam.

 "I'm fine, Peri. Just fine," asked the Doctor cheerfully. The Doctor didn't really look cheerful. Actually, he looked like he was going to a funeral. As if to break the somber mood, Wil went over to where the Doctor was and looked at the entries contained in the TARDIS logs on a small screen.

 "Doctor, look at all these useless files!" said Wil.

 "Hmm. . .what, Wil?"

 Wil continued. "Diagnostic reports for something named K-9? Play-by-play analyses of Romana/Adric chess matches?" Wil turned to face the Doctor. "When was the last time you did any spring cleaning, software-wise?"

 The Doctor looked at Wil with a genuine smile on his face, the kind that showed in his eyes. "Oh, must be several hundred years, at least."

 The TARDIS's time rotor started to move up and down, signaling that the TARDIS was moving.

 "Where are we going?" asked Wil.

 "To the Master's last known coordinates. We will need him."

 Suddenly, after a few minutes, the time rotor stopped. The Doctor opened the doors and everybody looked out. It was a vast dry desert. Golden sand covered every inch of land, but nothing green grew there. It was barren and the stench of death hung in the air. The sky was clear blue with the hot sun bearing down upon the barren land. It was quiet. . .too quiet.

 "Doctor, what's going on?" asked Gilliam.

 "A battle for the universe," whispered the Doctor. He sounded old, as if time had finally caught up with him.

 Suddenly, the sky grew dark and cloudy and thunder and lighting roared. The air became cold to the point of freezing. Then the earth began to tremble and the ground started to split until a six foot crevice appeared. A creature emerged from the depths below. In one claw, it carried the unconscious body of the Master.

 The Dark One had come. It looked at the Doctor and his group, showing them its teeth in a parody of a smile. Then it leapt at the Doctor and went straight for his throat.

 To be continued...