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Return of the Master
Posted on 2007.05.06 at 20:08The Doctor blinked... he tried to talk but the words clicked in his throat. He swallowed heavily.
" It can't be..." he got out eventually.
Saxon looked at him challengingly. " Can't it? Why not?" He took a step forward, an anger in his eyes. " Why can't it be, Doctor? Because I'm dead? Because we're all dead? Because you left us?" He began to pad around the Doctor like a panther stalking its prey. The Doctor tracked his movements.
" I didn't leave anyone..."
" You didn't?" Saxon said scornfully. " Then how did you survive? What makes you so special... every single time, whatever happens... what makes you different?" An anger was building up in Saxon's eyes... he leaned forward. " You set the skies alight and ran."
The Doctor continued to study the figure in front of him, slight, smaller than him, short brown hair, smartly dressed, full of charm... when he looked closely it was obvious. It oozed out him, like a scent.
" Master..." he murmered.
" YOU LEFT US!!!" Saxon erupted. Spital flew from his lips in the sudden fury. " After the fall of Arcadia, as Karn tumbled from the skies, as the Net broke and shattered... where were you?" Saxon composed himself. " I came back you see... came back for this..." He gestured down his body. " A new cycle... promised before, remember, so I thought, help out, fight the Daleks, gain my life... I didn't expect to be running, screaming, on fire, from your actions! Ha! All this time, all that fighting, all those monsters... and who destroys Gallifrey! You couldn't write it, honestly!"
" I had no choice." Tears whelled in the Doctor's eyes, his voice cracked with emotion. " I couldn't... it wouldn't..."
" Aw diddums... " Saxon said in mock sympathy. " Well, you weren't the only one see... you weren't the only one with a plan." He stepped back... holding his arms out. " Elections on Earth? Ha! I'm already a President! Time Lords are sheep Doctor... passive, idiot sheep. Set light to the touch paper... stand well back, and, suddenly, boom, a Time War!"
" You didn't...?" The Doctor looked on with a sick look, unable to believe what he was hearing.
" Of course I did... millennia of cold war, who else could set Time Lord against Dalek? And what did I get... apart from a new body?" Saxon smiled. " You're right, Doctor... Master in not just name, but deed..."
From the depths of nowhere a wheezing and groaning began. The Doctor, surprised, looked for the TARDIS. But the Police Box didn't appear. Hovering nearby, a simple white cube materialised. Then the sound intensified, and another appeared, then another, then another.
" I led the Time Lords to safety whilst you planned their destruction... we fled to the Void, waiting, watching, biding our time... now, we're back, and I'm in charge... I'm the good guy! Ha!"
Around the amazed Doctor TARDIS after TARDIS appeared, dozens, then scores, then hundreds.
" You'll never get away with this..." the Doctor tried.
Cold insanity flickered behind Saxons eyes. He leaned forward and whispered into the Doctor's ear. " I already have. I am the Master, after all."
The Doctor looked up. The arches of the Panopticon, the Statue of Rassilon, lay in rubble around him. Bizarrely, he could see the sky... that wasn't possible, was it? And in the sky... thousands of them, millions, their metallic screech echoing around with the calls of the dying. He looked down at the plunger... oh my God, he thought, I'm actually going to do it... From what once remained the Presidential staircase two solider Daleks and a Dalek supreme glided from the sky, turning their eyestalkes towards him.
" It is the Doctor!" the chorused.
" Hello there," he tried to smile, but it was way past flippancy.
" We have control of the Panopticon. We control the Eye of Harmony. Your race is ext-erm-in-ated..."
" Not quite." He pulled himself up, dusting off his green frock coat and straightening his cravat... he run his hand through his tumble of chocolate coloured hair.
" Exterminate him!" they grated. " Exterminate! Exterminate! EXTERMINAAAAAAAAATE"
" Good idea..." the Doctor said, and pushed the plunger.
" tor?"
The Doctor shook the thoughts from his head. " What?"
" Hmph, typical..." The Master continued to pad around him, playing with his cuffs. " Not everyone survived you understand, just the, um, chosen." He chuckled to himself. " So desperate were they for survival they turned to me... who fought so valiantly at their sides." He motioned to the TARDISes. " A few forced regenerations and I now have complete control of them. I'm, um... "The Saviour"." As he was speaking he had pulled somehing from his pocket, a stubby, torch-like device. He regarded the Tissue Compression Eliminator with something close to lust. Then seemed to make a decision.
" You will stand trial, Doctor. And be found guilty. Genocide. Again. Ha! Ironic, isn't it?"
Before the Doctor could speak another trumpeting heralded the arrival of a TARDIS. This time however, it was blue and shaped like a Police Box. The door opened and Martha burst out.
" Doctor!"
He ran without prompting, skipping around the white cubes towards home.
Calmly, with all the time in the world, the Master raised the TCE and pointed it at the Doctor's back.
" Give me one reason not to." The voice came from the Master's side, just as the cold end of a gun touched the side of his head.
He looked to the side, curious, but not scared. " Ah, the imfamous Captain Harkness. Or should that be -"
" I said a reason," Jack said. He flicked his eyes away from Saxon. The Doctor had reached the TARDIS.
" Jack, there are other ways."
" Even now Doctor?" The Master scoffed. " What ways? Earth is ours! You even mopped up the Daleks for us! So what now? A blazing triumph. Lock another one behind a wall? Eh, Miss Jones? D'you fancy that? Spending forever in perpetual circles of fear and anger with a man who you barely know..."
Martha looked at the Doctor. Back at Saxon.
" Inside," the Doctor said.
" But..."
" Inside!" Unconvinced, Martha stepped into the TARDIS.
" Jack..." the Doctor called.
Captain Jack stepped away, gun still trained on the Master.
" And you, Captain Harkness... what? Waiting to be abandoned on a dead world again when it suits him? Or take your rightful place as protector of these humans?"
" You sonafa -" Jack looked as though he was going to shoot, but the noise of a thousand TARDIS doors opening changed his mind. He turned and ran to the Police Box. The door closed behind him, and, within a second, the box was gone.
Unruffled the Master looked around... black embossed leather clad Time Lords, stunted wing shaped collars on their clothes, began to emerge, looking around, looking at the Master.
He stood in the centre like a ringmaster, legs spread, arms up.
" Brothers," he said. " Welcome to New Gallifrey."
" It is the Doctor!" the chorused.
" Hello there," he tried to smile, but it was way past flippancy.
" We have control of the Panopticon. We control the Eye of Harmony. Your race is ext-erm-in-ated..."
" Not quite." He pulled himself up, dusting off his green frock coat and straightening his cravat... he run his hand through his tumble of chocolate coloured hair.
" Exterminate him!" they grated. " Exterminate! Exterminate! EXTERMINAAAAAAAAATE"
" Good idea..." the Doctor said, and pushed the plunger.
" tor?"
The Doctor shook the thoughts from his head. " What?"
" Hmph, typical..." The Master continued to pad around him, playing with his cuffs. " Not everyone survived you understand, just the, um, chosen." He chuckled to himself. " So desperate were they for survival they turned to me... who fought so valiantly at their sides." He motioned to the TARDISes. " A few forced regenerations and I now have complete control of them. I'm, um... "The Saviour"." As he was speaking he had pulled somehing from his pocket, a stubby, torch-like device. He regarded the Tissue Compression Eliminator with something close to lust. Then seemed to make a decision.
" You will stand trial, Doctor. And be found guilty. Genocide. Again. Ha! Ironic, isn't it?"
Before the Doctor could speak another trumpeting heralded the arrival of a TARDIS. This time however, it was blue and shaped like a Police Box. The door opened and Martha burst out.
" Doctor!"
He ran without prompting, skipping around the white cubes towards home.
Calmly, with all the time in the world, the Master raised the TCE and pointed it at the Doctor's back.
" Give me one reason not to." The voice came from the Master's side, just as the cold end of a gun touched the side of his head.
He looked to the side, curious, but not scared. " Ah, the imfamous Captain Harkness. Or should that be -"
" I said a reason," Jack said. He flicked his eyes away from Saxon. The Doctor had reached the TARDIS.
" Jack, there are other ways."
" Even now Doctor?" The Master scoffed. " What ways? Earth is ours! You even mopped up the Daleks for us! So what now? A blazing triumph. Lock another one behind a wall? Eh, Miss Jones? D'you fancy that? Spending forever in perpetual circles of fear and anger with a man who you barely know..."
Martha looked at the Doctor. Back at Saxon.
" Inside," the Doctor said.
" But..."
" Inside!" Unconvinced, Martha stepped into the TARDIS.
" Jack..." the Doctor called.
Captain Jack stepped away, gun still trained on the Master.
" And you, Captain Harkness... what? Waiting to be abandoned on a dead world again when it suits him? Or take your rightful place as protector of these humans?"
" You sonafa -" Jack looked as though he was going to shoot, but the noise of a thousand TARDIS doors opening changed his mind. He turned and ran to the Police Box. The door closed behind him, and, within a second, the box was gone.
Unruffled the Master looked around... black embossed leather clad Time Lords, stunted wing shaped collars on their clothes, began to emerge, looking around, looking at the Master.
He stood in the centre like a ringmaster, legs spread, arms up.
" Brothers," he said. " Welcome to New Gallifrey."
Martha stumbled and fell onto her knees awkwardly. Before she could catch her breath, a hand had hooked around her elbow and helped her up... she pushed and tripped away from the figure... a small man with a neat suit and tidy appearance.
Saxon.
Martha looked cautiously at him. No, not Saxon, she had to remind herself... what had the Doctor called him?
The Master.
He held his hands out, palms facing her. " No need to be alarmed, Miss Jones, I was only being courteous..."
He pulled at his cuff, brushed a stray hair from his sleeve. " Despite what the Doctor may have told you, I'm not the monster here."
" That's not -"
" What the Doctor said? I just said that." He smiled coldly at her, words falling from his mouth like treacle. Why did his very presence make her feell stupid.
" Depends what you mean by -"
" Monster?"
Damn, he's done it again, interupting, not allowing her to get a hold of her thoughts or words. She felt surreal, dreamlike, watching him pace around her, smoothly talking, catching her eye.
" Well, turning on and destroying entire planets.. would that count?" Pace, pace. " Genocide on universal levels... that?" Pace, pace. " Or exterminating your own race, without a look back? Hmmm..." Pace, pace. " Maybe on a personal level... abandoning friends to empty ruins floating in space? Exiling them from there home?" Pace, pace. " I wonder who the monster is."
Saxon stopped his incessant pacing, stodd right in front of her, too close, his nose almost touching hers. Martha thought he was going to kiss her. As reality swam away in her head, all she could hear was his voice. See his eyes.
" Ask yourself, Martha," he purred. " What side is the right side?"
She tried to speak, back he put a finger on her lips... then licked his own. " Sssshh... don't think. Just feel." He leaned in on her, brushing his lips against her ear. Then whispered, as she tumbled, disappearing into floating light.
" I am the Master... and you will obey me..."
Saxon.
Martha looked cautiously at him. No, not Saxon, she had to remind herself... what had the Doctor called him?
The Master.
He held his hands out, palms facing her. " No need to be alarmed, Miss Jones, I was only being courteous..."
He pulled at his cuff, brushed a stray hair from his sleeve. " Despite what the Doctor may have told you, I'm not the monster here."
" That's not -"
" What the Doctor said? I just said that." He smiled coldly at her, words falling from his mouth like treacle. Why did his very presence make her feell stupid.
" Depends what you mean by -"
" Monster?"
Damn, he's done it again, interupting, not allowing her to get a hold of her thoughts or words. She felt surreal, dreamlike, watching him pace around her, smoothly talking, catching her eye.
" Well, turning on and destroying entire planets.. would that count?" Pace, pace. " Genocide on universal levels... that?" Pace, pace. " Or exterminating your own race, without a look back? Hmmm..." Pace, pace. " Maybe on a personal level... abandoning friends to empty ruins floating in space? Exiling them from there home?" Pace, pace. " I wonder who the monster is."
Saxon stopped his incessant pacing, stodd right in front of her, too close, his nose almost touching hers. Martha thought he was going to kiss her. As reality swam away in her head, all she could hear was his voice. See his eyes.
" Ask yourself, Martha," he purred. " What side is the right side?"
She tried to speak, back he put a finger on her lips... then licked his own. " Sssshh... don't think. Just feel." He leaned in on her, brushing his lips against her ear. Then whispered, as she tumbled, disappearing into floating light.
" I am the Master... and you will obey me..."
Jack slammed the TARDIS door closed and marched up the ramp to the console. Martha stood to one side, watching, as Jack rounded on the Doctor, who was frantically flicking switches and moving dials.
" Who the hell is that?" Jack said angrily.
The Doctor ignored him, pumping up this thing here, turning that wheel there, watching intently on the scanner as the vortex roared past.
Jack wasn't in the mood for the silent treatment, he strode up and grabbed the Doctor by the shoulders.
" I said -"
" I heard you," the Doctor said in a whisper so loud it shook the room. Jack let him go. The Doctor straightened his jacket and turned back to the console.
" Those mind games he tried to play weren't very sophisticated were they?" Jack tried, calmly.
The Doctor raised an eyebrow. " When I was at the Academy, there was a Presidential election. Pandak the eighth. The other blokes name escapes me... anyway, there was a dirty tricks campaign, but all Pandak did was leave subliminal messages around... vaguely criticising the opposition. Needless to say Pandak was in power for centuries." He turned to Martha and Jack. " That," he nodded to the door, folding his arms, " was the Master."
" A Time Lord?" Jack said. The Doctor nodded.
" But I thought you said -" Martha stopped talking when the Doctor's gaze fell on her.
" I did. It's what I thought. But oh no... " He began his familiar gesticulations. " The Masters devious, cunning, almost as clever as me... a bit hashy bashy though..." He began to move around the console, thinking in movements, running his hands through his hair. " He escaped the destruction of Gallifrey with a handful of Time Lords...wait! No! Yes! Yes,that's it.. the Void ship... the Daleks followed him, they didn't have the guile to think of that... of course! Of course!!"
He turned and looked at them, all giant eyes and manic grin. " There are Time Lords. Hahaaa!"
" And this Master... bad guy I take it? Using his knowledge to get a strangle hold on th British government?" Jack took his phone from his pocket.
" Who are you calling?" Martha asked.
" Gwen, at Torchwood... "
" Wait..." the Doctor put his hand on the phone. Jack looked at him.
" Give me a reason," he said.
The Doctor smiled, a massive, scary, insane smile." Because I have a better idea."
" Who the hell is that?" Jack said angrily.
The Doctor ignored him, pumping up this thing here, turning that wheel there, watching intently on the scanner as the vortex roared past.
Jack wasn't in the mood for the silent treatment, he strode up and grabbed the Doctor by the shoulders.
" I said -"
" I heard you," the Doctor said in a whisper so loud it shook the room. Jack let him go. The Doctor straightened his jacket and turned back to the console.
" Those mind games he tried to play weren't very sophisticated were they?" Jack tried, calmly.
The Doctor raised an eyebrow. " When I was at the Academy, there was a Presidential election. Pandak the eighth. The other blokes name escapes me... anyway, there was a dirty tricks campaign, but all Pandak did was leave subliminal messages around... vaguely criticising the opposition. Needless to say Pandak was in power for centuries." He turned to Martha and Jack. " That," he nodded to the door, folding his arms, " was the Master."
" A Time Lord?" Jack said. The Doctor nodded.
" But I thought you said -" Martha stopped talking when the Doctor's gaze fell on her.
" I did. It's what I thought. But oh no... " He began his familiar gesticulations. " The Masters devious, cunning, almost as clever as me... a bit hashy bashy though..." He began to move around the console, thinking in movements, running his hands through his hair. " He escaped the destruction of Gallifrey with a handful of Time Lords...wait! No! Yes! Yes,that's it.. the Void ship... the Daleks followed him, they didn't have the guile to think of that... of course! Of course!!"
He turned and looked at them, all giant eyes and manic grin. " There are Time Lords. Hahaaa!"
" And this Master... bad guy I take it? Using his knowledge to get a strangle hold on th British government?" Jack took his phone from his pocket.
" Who are you calling?" Martha asked.
" Gwen, at Torchwood... "
" Wait..." the Doctor put his hand on the phone. Jack looked at him.
" Give me a reason," he said.
The Doctor smiled, a massive, scary, insane smile." Because I have a better idea."
Saxon strolled into the newly rebuilt Downing Street with flanking Time Lord Chancellory Guards on either side, all padded black leather and boots. He swept passed Abagail, who stood up from her secretary's desk.
" Mr Prime Minister..."
" Not now!" Saxon called over his shoulder, and shut the door of his office with a resounding clunk.
Inside he turned and stood behind his desk, fists leaning against it. He looked up at the Guards.
" Commander, I'm going to give a general order that you take over control of the armed forces. You'll report directly to me."
" Yes, Lord President," the Commander said with an immovable face.
Saxon looked agitated. He looked around for something to do... lifted a sheef of papers, looked at a book. The Doctor, at large, damn it... He reached for the intercom.
" Abagail? Come here a moment."
Within a second the door opened and Abagail came through nervously, notebook in hand.
" Yes, si-"
He shot her where she stood. The TCE glowed hot and with the sound of ripping skin and crunching bones, the secretary was reduced to a shrivelled husk on the floor.
Saxon wafted away the faint smell of ozone.
" You're fired," he said. " Take a memo."
He giggled insanely for a moment, stuck his tongue out, made a few jittering faces... scratched his head.
The Commander and the Guard exchanged a glance
" Yes, Commander?" Saxon's cold eyes fell on the Chancellory Guard, who swallowed nervously.
" Nothing, Lord President."
" THEN GET THE HELL OUT OF MY FACE!!"
The door was closed behind them before he could finish the sentence.
" What is it," Saxon said to himself, turning from the desk to look out of the window at the view of the Houses of Parliament, " with idiot humans allowing aliens to take over their power seats?" He raised his hands in the air. " Doctor!" He called. " Doctor! Come on, you sick, sad, sonafabitch. Stop me now! Come on, I dare you! Stop me now!"
" Mr Prime Minister..."
" Not now!" Saxon called over his shoulder, and shut the door of his office with a resounding clunk.
Inside he turned and stood behind his desk, fists leaning against it. He looked up at the Guards.
" Commander, I'm going to give a general order that you take over control of the armed forces. You'll report directly to me."
" Yes, Lord President," the Commander said with an immovable face.
Saxon looked agitated. He looked around for something to do... lifted a sheef of papers, looked at a book. The Doctor, at large, damn it... He reached for the intercom.
" Abagail? Come here a moment."
Within a second the door opened and Abagail came through nervously, notebook in hand.
" Yes, si-"
He shot her where she stood. The TCE glowed hot and with the sound of ripping skin and crunching bones, the secretary was reduced to a shrivelled husk on the floor.
Saxon wafted away the faint smell of ozone.
" You're fired," he said. " Take a memo."
He giggled insanely for a moment, stuck his tongue out, made a few jittering faces... scratched his head.
The Commander and the Guard exchanged a glance
" Yes, Commander?" Saxon's cold eyes fell on the Chancellory Guard, who swallowed nervously.
" Nothing, Lord President."
" THEN GET THE HELL OUT OF MY FACE!!"
The door was closed behind them before he could finish the sentence.
" What is it," Saxon said to himself, turning from the desk to look out of the window at the view of the Houses of Parliament, " with idiot humans allowing aliens to take over their power seats?" He raised his hands in the air. " Doctor!" He called. " Doctor! Come on, you sick, sad, sonafabitch. Stop me now! Come on, I dare you! Stop me now!"
He was screaming, but was aware no one could hear him. He's lost his footing, he knew that damned smirking face had twisted his grip, and he found himself dangling over the abyss... an abyss that began to eat him
" You want dominion over the living... but all you do it kill!"
He looked into the jokers earnest eyes, and with the last of his energy he growled.
" Life is wasted on the living..."
He could feel the vortex nibbling greedily at his feet, skittering like electric energy along his legs... he couldn't be not whole, he couldn't be, not again... he looked with hate as a hand was thrust at him...
" Give me your hand!" the Doctor roared above the sound of infinity.
Even now, even after everything that had happened, he was still trying to be good, to "do the right thing". The Master decided he was pulling him in with him, they'd be consumed together ... (and i'm not going out in bits..)
He tried to pull, to yank... he grabbed at the Doctor's open hand, stared into his eyes...why don't they hate! Damn him, damn him to hell ... and the fire raced over his neck, and into his mouth as he screamed again...
The water balloon burst beside him, sending sparkles of water up into the warm air, glittering in the bright sun.
He shaded his eyes... " Thetes...! My books!"
Thetes fell beside him, lying on his back and looking at the sky. " I'm going again tonight, do you want to come?"
He scoffed. " And see your hermit on the hill?" He shook his head. " No, it's fine... I'm going to study, and I think I'm going to change my user name." He hooked his thumbs into his lapels and puffed out his chest. " From now on, I am the Master!"
Thetes laughed again, his long blond hair blowing in the breeze. " Ha! Borusa will love that!"
The "Master" felt a pang of annoyance. " I don't care what Borusa thinks, I like it, it has a sense of authority."
" Meglomanicalness you mean! Come with me... meet him."
" No, no, I don't agree with his ramblings... I agree that this dusty old society needs to change... all this power, all these facilities and all we do is watch and catalogue..we can use what we know and can do for good, we can control everything, manipulate things..."
" We've had this out before Master," Thetes said. " We're not dictators, there are other ways."
Again, that pang of annoyance. " We should be..." The Master looked at the sun. " We could be."
His eyes snapped open. He was naked and shivering. Wracked in pain and cramps. He could see.. see properly... the fire he had been in was gone... the floor below him was marble and cold... He stood up, hugging himself, and caught sight of his face in a buffed statue...
" I've changed... regenerated.. but how?" His voice was odd, it felt funny in his throat. He coughed. It had been century since he properly regenerated. But how had it happened. Then he realised. The Prydonian seal loomed above him in the ceiling. He was on Gallifrey. The Panopticon. How had he come back? How had he got out the Vortex.. escaped the TARDIS? Before he could think further, he realised he had to run. Run for his life. He heard a voice and one word. The last thing he expected.
" Exterminate."
Saxon snapped out of his day dream when he realised someone was standing at the other side of the PM desk, arms folded, face stern. Behind the figure, the hated shape of the police box.
Saxon snarled. " How did you get passed the transduction barrier?"
The figure leaned forward, raised an eyebrow. " Oh, I'm the Doctor." He placed his hands on the desk. " It's time, Master."
As the Master stood up the Doctor took an involuntary step backwards. He eyes his old enemy coldly.
" Time for what, Doctor?" the Master asked, slowly padding from behind the desk, toying idly with a paperweight.
" The truth?" The Doctor watched his every move, unblinking.
" Ok, ok... you did ask."
The Master lifted the paperweight and manipulated it. Around them, the walls stretched and buckled, the windows rippled, the furniture morphed. Before the Doctor's eyes the Prime Minister's office changed, mutated, became something else. A massive room now, arches and stained glass, marbled floors... and in the centre...
" The Eye of Harmony..." the Doctor breathed at the eye-shaped fissure in the centre of the room, squinting as the roar of temporal energy shot from it and up into the domed ceiling.
" Not quite, not yet..." the Master looked proudly at the energy release. " It will be though, I'm drawing the energy from the sun, converting it... ready to power a new fleet of TARDISes under my command, piloted by Time Lords controlled by me."
The Doctor couldn't take his eyes off it. " And Earth?"
" Oh it will be consumed, of course, become part of the singularity. We'll terraform Neptune or Pluto and that will become New Gallifrey. From there... well, anything is possible."
" And the people of Earth?"
" Sheep, idiots. Mindless followers of spin and celebrity. I honestly don't know what you see in them. They will become consumed too, all that will survive are Time Lords." The Master stood proudly next to his creation. " And Omega said it was difficult! Ha! I'm almost finished. Controlling Britain is just the start."
The Doctor looked at him in horror. " If the authorities find out they'll overthrow you. Prime Minister or not."
" Perhaps. Well, yes, probably." He leaned forward conspiritorially. " But they're not going to find out, are they?" He smiled, that cold, insane smile. " Those cretinous monkeys will be burning and begging for life by the time they know what I've done."
The door - bizarrely, exactly the same as the Office door - burst open and the Commander of the Guard came in.
" Lord Pres -"
" Not now! I'm eulogising!" The Master snapped.
" But Lord Pres -"
The Master shot him before he could finish, his body snapping and popping into a tiny crumbled husk. " I SAID..." He took a breath, smoothed his hair. Calmed down. " Not now... argh! Now I need a new commander."
He turned his shark-gaze on the Doctor then grinned a too-wide, crazy grin. " Now Doctor I'm disappointed. No 'I'm going to stop you'? No 'i wont let humanity die'? No 'fight the good fight'?"
The Doctor regarded him for a moment then leaned back slightly.
" You getting this Jack?"
Jack Harkness stepped out from the Police Box door, eyes fixed firmly on the Master. In his hands he held a digital camera.
" Beamed all around the world, Doctor. Every channel and every network. Courtesy of the Torchwood Institute."
" I don't need to stop you, Master," the Doctor said. " You stopped yourself."
The Master looked from Jack to the Doctor and back again. Then to the Commanders body... he'd been trying to tell him... He looked again at the Doctor. Panic, anger, fear in his eyes.
" You bast -"
" Now now. Is that anyway for an ex-President to talk?"
" I'LL GUT YOU YOU SELF RITEOUS HYPOCRIT!! I'LL TEAR THE HEARTS FROM YOUR CHEST!!" Again that explosive, insane temper.
" Temper temper..." the Doctor murmered. Martha joined Jack and the Doctor from the TARDIS. She held a gun in her hand. Jacks revolver.
" No need for guns, Martha," the Doctor said.
Martha pointed it at the Master. He looked at her coolly. He smiled. Held his hands out.
" Go on then, Miss Jones. Do what you have to."
The gun went off four times. Martha recoiled with the force. The Master never flinched.
The camera crashed to the ground. Jack staggered back. He looked up in surprise.
" Martha...?"
She shot him again. And again.
Jack fell backwards, looking bemused at his companion as the Doctor, seemingly in slow motion, moved for her. Jack caught the back of his legs on the edge of the fissure, his back was seered away by the power of the energy.
The Doctor ignored Martha. He flew for Jack, screaming.
" Jaaaaaaaack!"
His hands barely brushed the Captain when he fell back, directly into the fire, consumed by the roaring white noise
The Doctor screamed in anguish, and rounded on Martha Jones. " What the hell have you done?"
Martha had stepped towards the Master. She stood at his side. " I've chosen, Doctor."
Grief stricken, the Doctor fell to his knees. " Wha... why...?" He looked desperately from the fissure to the Master to Martha.
Martha smiled a slanted grin. " Because I was never Rose, Doctor. And you'll never learn."
The Master put a protective arm around her. Behind him his desk morphed into blank white box of his TARDIS. " You beat me again, Doctor... if you can stop the infant Eye." He chuckled. " See you... out there!"
The Doctor didnt stop them. They backed in the TARDIS and with one last look at the Doctor, Martha closed the door. The familiar wheezing and groaning faded them away.
The Doctor knelt on the floor of the chamber, looking blankly at the space. The door opened again and guard after guard came in, one after another after another. They turned their stasers on the kneeling figure of the Doctor.
He stood up, there was no escape.
Then, as one, every guard knelt on one knee.
The bowed their heads and spoke in a chorus.
" The President is dead. Long Live the Doctor! President of New Gallifrey!"
The Master strode up the marble stairs to his TARDIS console and with a sweeping gesture made the Time Rotor begin to rise and fall. The lighting dipped and the familiar wheezing and groaning echoed with a reverbrance around the chamber.
Ignoring Martha, he began muttering to himself, scowling, occasionally banging his head with the heel of his hand.
Martha watched him with a blank expression on her face, Jack's gun held loosely in her hand. She dropped it with a clatter on the floor, but still the Master seemed oblivious to her. She regarded the gun with glassy eyes.
(oh my god, Jack, what have I done??? Oh god, oh please... i didn't, i couldn't - I am the Master... you will obey me- let me finish a sentence I can't concen your will is mine, give in to me trate, i can't think straight I can't I am the Master, do my bidding, follow my instructions... relax get you out of my... get out of my... GET OUT OF MY HEAD!!!!)
But the screaming was inside, and Martha just stood there, looking at Jack's gun, and new she had killed him, no matter what he said. A light came on in her head. Her hand started shaking.
" Oh god...oh god no..." Her body keeled forward, and she held onto the bannister around the stairs. Her legs almost gave way. " What have you made me do?"
The Master regarded her with cold, icey eyes. " Be quiet, theres a good lacky."
Martha convulsed, cramp wracked her stomach. She fell to her knees and was sick.
Again the Master looked up. " And you'll clean that."
She rose unsteadily to her feet.
" Take me back."
" I said be quie -"
The bullet bounced off the console next to the Master's hand and flew into the darkened chamber. He looked up with a start.
Martha held Jack's revolver, aimed at his head.
" And I said, take me back."
The Master watched her coolly. He raised his hands off the console and stepped back.
Martha walked unsteadily up the stairs, eyes and gun trained on the Master.
" Is this where we discuss how many bullets you fired?" The Master tried.
" I reloaded," Martha said. " Now take me back."
" I must admit I'm impressed... very few can break my conditioning. Well done."
Martha fired another shot. " I said take me back!!"
The Master sucked his hand gingerly. " No."
Martha had reached the console. " Then I start pressing buttons."
And she did. Dials and switches, levers and buttons... as the Master tried to stop her she levelled the gun.
" You'e only getting us lost," he tried.
" Then sod it, I'm going get us really lost..."
With that, she emptied the remaining four shots into the console.
The effect was amazing. The console room lurched, the wheezing sound took on a note of alarm, and somewhere, deep inside, a bell tolled.
" How did you..." The Master pushed her casually out of the way and checked the console. " Of all the lucky shots..." He looked up at the now frankly terrified Martha. " You've hit the internal buffer..."
" And that means?"
" I have to dump the fuel I've been using or we explode, you stupid, stupid ape! You've stranded us!!"
In the Vortex the white cube of the vanilla TARDIS buckled and warped, it fell out of the incandescent tunnel with a shudder, sparkling energy trailing behind it, ripping holes in the Vortex walls, across the Time/Space fabric, and into... into...
The Doctor put his hands in his pockets.
" Aw, get up!" He demanded to the Chancellory Troop in front of him.
He looked around, still unable to take in all that had happened. He had to find a way to get to Jack... and Martha! What was she playing at??
He looked as though he was about to talk to the Chancellory Commander when a noise so loud and resonant ripped through the sky. A roar louder than all the thunderclaps ever made all at once.
Everyone clasped their hands on their ears.
Except the Doctor.
He was staring along Downing Street to where the security gates had been.
" Oh no," he murmered. " The Void."
At the end of the road a rippling tear had appeared, and figures where emerging, one after another after another.
" Cybermen."
The Chancellory Guard raised their stasers. In front of them, a batallion of Cybermen raised their arms. In the middle, the Doctor looked frantic.
" DELETE, DELETE, DEL -"
" Stop." The voice came from the midst of the platoon. Female. Electronicky. Out from between the rows of identical Cybermen a female figure came. She was walking with a sexy confidence, almost flirtatiously, occasionally brushing a hand off the metal casing of a Cyberman as he walked past.
She was demure, petite, but clearly upgraded. Steel had been grafted onto her legs and arms, her torso was bare though apart from a corset type arrangement, that led tubes into her neck. Her head was bald, slightly metallic, and the familiar handles of the Cybermen emerged from puckers in her neck and directly into her skull. She looked at the Doctor with huge, silver-specced eyes, and pursed steel coloured lips at him. When she got close she spoke.
" We are the Cybermen," her voice was treated, but low, husky... antipadean? " Resistance is useless, yadda yadda yadda... you will be like us..." She stopped by the Doctor and ran her hand along the chest unit of the nearest Cyberman, then looked and the baffled Doctor with a slanted grin. " Well, like them, actually."
" Who the hell are you?" The Doctor asked.
" Me?" She feigned big doe eyes and fluttered steel lids. " I am the Cybermen..." Then she turned to the troop. " It is the Doctor. Delete him."
" You want dominion over the living... but all you do it kill!"
He looked into the jokers earnest eyes, and with the last of his energy he growled.
" Life is wasted on the living..."
He could feel the vortex nibbling greedily at his feet, skittering like electric energy along his legs... he couldn't be not whole, he couldn't be, not again... he looked with hate as a hand was thrust at him...
" Give me your hand!" the Doctor roared above the sound of infinity.
Even now, even after everything that had happened, he was still trying to be good, to "do the right thing". The Master decided he was pulling him in with him, they'd be consumed together ... (and i'm not going out in bits..)
He tried to pull, to yank... he grabbed at the Doctor's open hand, stared into his eyes...why don't they hate! Damn him, damn him to hell ... and the fire raced over his neck, and into his mouth as he screamed again...
The water balloon burst beside him, sending sparkles of water up into the warm air, glittering in the bright sun.
He shaded his eyes... " Thetes...! My books!"
Thetes fell beside him, lying on his back and looking at the sky. " I'm going again tonight, do you want to come?"
He scoffed. " And see your hermit on the hill?" He shook his head. " No, it's fine... I'm going to study, and I think I'm going to change my user name." He hooked his thumbs into his lapels and puffed out his chest. " From now on, I am the Master!"
Thetes laughed again, his long blond hair blowing in the breeze. " Ha! Borusa will love that!"
The "Master" felt a pang of annoyance. " I don't care what Borusa thinks, I like it, it has a sense of authority."
" Meglomanicalness you mean! Come with me... meet him."
" No, no, I don't agree with his ramblings... I agree that this dusty old society needs to change... all this power, all these facilities and all we do is watch and catalogue..we can use what we know and can do for good, we can control everything, manipulate things..."
" We've had this out before Master," Thetes said. " We're not dictators, there are other ways."
Again, that pang of annoyance. " We should be..." The Master looked at the sun. " We could be."
His eyes snapped open. He was naked and shivering. Wracked in pain and cramps. He could see.. see properly... the fire he had been in was gone... the floor below him was marble and cold... He stood up, hugging himself, and caught sight of his face in a buffed statue...
" I've changed... regenerated.. but how?" His voice was odd, it felt funny in his throat. He coughed. It had been century since he properly regenerated. But how had it happened. Then he realised. The Prydonian seal loomed above him in the ceiling. He was on Gallifrey. The Panopticon. How had he come back? How had he got out the Vortex.. escaped the TARDIS? Before he could think further, he realised he had to run. Run for his life. He heard a voice and one word. The last thing he expected.
" Exterminate."
Saxon snapped out of his day dream when he realised someone was standing at the other side of the PM desk, arms folded, face stern. Behind the figure, the hated shape of the police box.
Saxon snarled. " How did you get passed the transduction barrier?"
The figure leaned forward, raised an eyebrow. " Oh, I'm the Doctor." He placed his hands on the desk. " It's time, Master."
As the Master stood up the Doctor took an involuntary step backwards. He eyes his old enemy coldly.
" Time for what, Doctor?" the Master asked, slowly padding from behind the desk, toying idly with a paperweight.
" The truth?" The Doctor watched his every move, unblinking.
" Ok, ok... you did ask."
The Master lifted the paperweight and manipulated it. Around them, the walls stretched and buckled, the windows rippled, the furniture morphed. Before the Doctor's eyes the Prime Minister's office changed, mutated, became something else. A massive room now, arches and stained glass, marbled floors... and in the centre...
" The Eye of Harmony..." the Doctor breathed at the eye-shaped fissure in the centre of the room, squinting as the roar of temporal energy shot from it and up into the domed ceiling.
" Not quite, not yet..." the Master looked proudly at the energy release. " It will be though, I'm drawing the energy from the sun, converting it... ready to power a new fleet of TARDISes under my command, piloted by Time Lords controlled by me."
The Doctor couldn't take his eyes off it. " And Earth?"
" Oh it will be consumed, of course, become part of the singularity. We'll terraform Neptune or Pluto and that will become New Gallifrey. From there... well, anything is possible."
" And the people of Earth?"
" Sheep, idiots. Mindless followers of spin and celebrity. I honestly don't know what you see in them. They will become consumed too, all that will survive are Time Lords." The Master stood proudly next to his creation. " And Omega said it was difficult! Ha! I'm almost finished. Controlling Britain is just the start."
The Doctor looked at him in horror. " If the authorities find out they'll overthrow you. Prime Minister or not."
" Perhaps. Well, yes, probably." He leaned forward conspiritorially. " But they're not going to find out, are they?" He smiled, that cold, insane smile. " Those cretinous monkeys will be burning and begging for life by the time they know what I've done."
The door - bizarrely, exactly the same as the Office door - burst open and the Commander of the Guard came in.
" Lord Pres -"
" Not now! I'm eulogising!" The Master snapped.
" But Lord Pres -"
The Master shot him before he could finish, his body snapping and popping into a tiny crumbled husk. " I SAID..." He took a breath, smoothed his hair. Calmed down. " Not now... argh! Now I need a new commander."
He turned his shark-gaze on the Doctor then grinned a too-wide, crazy grin. " Now Doctor I'm disappointed. No 'I'm going to stop you'? No 'i wont let humanity die'? No 'fight the good fight'?"
The Doctor regarded him for a moment then leaned back slightly.
" You getting this Jack?"
Jack Harkness stepped out from the Police Box door, eyes fixed firmly on the Master. In his hands he held a digital camera.
" Beamed all around the world, Doctor. Every channel and every network. Courtesy of the Torchwood Institute."
" I don't need to stop you, Master," the Doctor said. " You stopped yourself."
The Master looked from Jack to the Doctor and back again. Then to the Commanders body... he'd been trying to tell him... He looked again at the Doctor. Panic, anger, fear in his eyes.
" You bast -"
" Now now. Is that anyway for an ex-President to talk?"
" I'LL GUT YOU YOU SELF RITEOUS HYPOCRIT!! I'LL TEAR THE HEARTS FROM YOUR CHEST!!" Again that explosive, insane temper.
" Temper temper..." the Doctor murmered. Martha joined Jack and the Doctor from the TARDIS. She held a gun in her hand. Jacks revolver.
" No need for guns, Martha," the Doctor said.
Martha pointed it at the Master. He looked at her coolly. He smiled. Held his hands out.
" Go on then, Miss Jones. Do what you have to."
The gun went off four times. Martha recoiled with the force. The Master never flinched.
The camera crashed to the ground. Jack staggered back. He looked up in surprise.
" Martha...?"
She shot him again. And again.
Jack fell backwards, looking bemused at his companion as the Doctor, seemingly in slow motion, moved for her. Jack caught the back of his legs on the edge of the fissure, his back was seered away by the power of the energy.
The Doctor ignored Martha. He flew for Jack, screaming.
" Jaaaaaaaack!"
His hands barely brushed the Captain when he fell back, directly into the fire, consumed by the roaring white noise
The Doctor screamed in anguish, and rounded on Martha Jones. " What the hell have you done?"
Martha had stepped towards the Master. She stood at his side. " I've chosen, Doctor."
Grief stricken, the Doctor fell to his knees. " Wha... why...?" He looked desperately from the fissure to the Master to Martha.
Martha smiled a slanted grin. " Because I was never Rose, Doctor. And you'll never learn."
The Master put a protective arm around her. Behind him his desk morphed into blank white box of his TARDIS. " You beat me again, Doctor... if you can stop the infant Eye." He chuckled. " See you... out there!"
The Doctor didnt stop them. They backed in the TARDIS and with one last look at the Doctor, Martha closed the door. The familiar wheezing and groaning faded them away.
The Doctor knelt on the floor of the chamber, looking blankly at the space. The door opened again and guard after guard came in, one after another after another. They turned their stasers on the kneeling figure of the Doctor.
He stood up, there was no escape.
Then, as one, every guard knelt on one knee.
The bowed their heads and spoke in a chorus.
" The President is dead. Long Live the Doctor! President of New Gallifrey!"
The Master strode up the marble stairs to his TARDIS console and with a sweeping gesture made the Time Rotor begin to rise and fall. The lighting dipped and the familiar wheezing and groaning echoed with a reverbrance around the chamber.
Ignoring Martha, he began muttering to himself, scowling, occasionally banging his head with the heel of his hand.
Martha watched him with a blank expression on her face, Jack's gun held loosely in her hand. She dropped it with a clatter on the floor, but still the Master seemed oblivious to her. She regarded the gun with glassy eyes.
(oh my god, Jack, what have I done??? Oh god, oh please... i didn't, i couldn't - I am the Master... you will obey me- let me finish a sentence I can't concen your will is mine, give in to me trate, i can't think straight I can't I am the Master, do my bidding, follow my instructions... relax get you out of my... get out of my... GET OUT OF MY HEAD!!!!)
But the screaming was inside, and Martha just stood there, looking at Jack's gun, and new she had killed him, no matter what he said. A light came on in her head. Her hand started shaking.
" Oh god...oh god no..." Her body keeled forward, and she held onto the bannister around the stairs. Her legs almost gave way. " What have you made me do?"
The Master regarded her with cold, icey eyes. " Be quiet, theres a good lacky."
Martha convulsed, cramp wracked her stomach. She fell to her knees and was sick.
Again the Master looked up. " And you'll clean that."
She rose unsteadily to her feet.
" Take me back."
" I said be quie -"
The bullet bounced off the console next to the Master's hand and flew into the darkened chamber. He looked up with a start.
Martha held Jack's revolver, aimed at his head.
" And I said, take me back."
The Master watched her coolly. He raised his hands off the console and stepped back.
Martha walked unsteadily up the stairs, eyes and gun trained on the Master.
" Is this where we discuss how many bullets you fired?" The Master tried.
" I reloaded," Martha said. " Now take me back."
" I must admit I'm impressed... very few can break my conditioning. Well done."
Martha fired another shot. " I said take me back!!"
The Master sucked his hand gingerly. " No."
Martha had reached the console. " Then I start pressing buttons."
And she did. Dials and switches, levers and buttons... as the Master tried to stop her she levelled the gun.
" You'e only getting us lost," he tried.
" Then sod it, I'm going get us really lost..."
With that, she emptied the remaining four shots into the console.
The effect was amazing. The console room lurched, the wheezing sound took on a note of alarm, and somewhere, deep inside, a bell tolled.
" How did you..." The Master pushed her casually out of the way and checked the console. " Of all the lucky shots..." He looked up at the now frankly terrified Martha. " You've hit the internal buffer..."
" And that means?"
" I have to dump the fuel I've been using or we explode, you stupid, stupid ape! You've stranded us!!"
In the Vortex the white cube of the vanilla TARDIS buckled and warped, it fell out of the incandescent tunnel with a shudder, sparkling energy trailing behind it, ripping holes in the Vortex walls, across the Time/Space fabric, and into... into...
The Doctor put his hands in his pockets.
" Aw, get up!" He demanded to the Chancellory Troop in front of him.
He looked around, still unable to take in all that had happened. He had to find a way to get to Jack... and Martha! What was she playing at??
He looked as though he was about to talk to the Chancellory Commander when a noise so loud and resonant ripped through the sky. A roar louder than all the thunderclaps ever made all at once.
Everyone clasped their hands on their ears.
Except the Doctor.
He was staring along Downing Street to where the security gates had been.
" Oh no," he murmered. " The Void."
At the end of the road a rippling tear had appeared, and figures where emerging, one after another after another.
" Cybermen."
The Chancellory Guard raised their stasers. In front of them, a batallion of Cybermen raised their arms. In the middle, the Doctor looked frantic.
" DELETE, DELETE, DEL -"
" Stop." The voice came from the midst of the platoon. Female. Electronicky. Out from between the rows of identical Cybermen a female figure came. She was walking with a sexy confidence, almost flirtatiously, occasionally brushing a hand off the metal casing of a Cyberman as he walked past.
She was demure, petite, but clearly upgraded. Steel had been grafted onto her legs and arms, her torso was bare though apart from a corset type arrangement, that led tubes into her neck. Her head was bald, slightly metallic, and the familiar handles of the Cybermen emerged from puckers in her neck and directly into her skull. She looked at the Doctor with huge, silver-specced eyes, and pursed steel coloured lips at him. When she got close she spoke.
" We are the Cybermen," her voice was treated, but low, husky... antipadean? " Resistance is useless, yadda yadda yadda... you will be like us..." She stopped by the Doctor and ran her hand along the chest unit of the nearest Cyberman, then looked and the baffled Doctor with a slanted grin. " Well, like them, actually."
" Who the hell are you?" The Doctor asked.
" Me?" She feigned big doe eyes and fluttered steel lids. " I am the Cybermen..." Then she turned to the troop. " It is the Doctor. Delete him."
Christmas Special Pretitles Teaser and "Previously on Doctor Who..."
Then...
Two hundred Cybermen lifted their arms in unison. Two hundred Time Lords lifted their stasers in unison.
In the middle, the Doctor looked at the small upgraded woman with frantic eyes.
" We don't all have to die here today," he said, calmly.
" No, we don't," she agreed, " but you do." Then she threw a glance over her shoulder, still regarding the Doctor with those huge, silver-splinter eyes. " Delete on my command."
The noise of two hundred Time Lord Chancellory Guards shifting sounded like a crump.
The woman opened her mouth to speak. The Doctor grimaced, and closed his eyes.
" Dele -"
There was an explosion quite close. The Doctor felt the heat from it against his cheek. He lurched back and opened one eye.
A Cyberman had fallen to its knees, its head it pieces. Then another, and another...
The Cyberwoman looked around, suddenly scared. Then she regarded the Doctor.
" Lucky boy." She turned to her Batallion. " We don't fight yet. Teleport."
With a flash, all the Cybermen, even the dead ones, were gone, and an acrid smoke wafted across the road of Downing Street, obscuring the morphing hole of the Void by the gates.
From that direction, another four shapes emerged. Dressed in dark clothes and carrying big - no, no, the Doctor thought, strike big, huge guns.
As the figures emerged through the smoke, the Doctor's eyes widened. Widened in shock, and surprise, and, for the first time in his entire life, a joy he had never thought possible.
" I can't leave you for a minute, can I?" said Rose Tyler.
But she was already running, and so was he.
Then...
Two hundred Cybermen lifted their arms in unison. Two hundred Time Lords lifted their stasers in unison.
In the middle, the Doctor looked at the small upgraded woman with frantic eyes.
" We don't all have to die here today," he said, calmly.
" No, we don't," she agreed, " but you do." Then she threw a glance over her shoulder, still regarding the Doctor with those huge, silver-splinter eyes. " Delete on my command."
The noise of two hundred Time Lord Chancellory Guards shifting sounded like a crump.
The woman opened her mouth to speak. The Doctor grimaced, and closed his eyes.
" Dele -"
There was an explosion quite close. The Doctor felt the heat from it against his cheek. He lurched back and opened one eye.
A Cyberman had fallen to its knees, its head it pieces. Then another, and another...
The Cyberwoman looked around, suddenly scared. Then she regarded the Doctor.
" Lucky boy." She turned to her Batallion. " We don't fight yet. Teleport."
With a flash, all the Cybermen, even the dead ones, were gone, and an acrid smoke wafted across the road of Downing Street, obscuring the morphing hole of the Void by the gates.
From that direction, another four shapes emerged. Dressed in dark clothes and carrying big - no, no, the Doctor thought, strike big, huge guns.
As the figures emerged through the smoke, the Doctor's eyes widened. Widened in shock, and surprise, and, for the first time in his entire life, a joy he had never thought possible.
" I can't leave you for a minute, can I?" said Rose Tyler.
But she was already running, and so was he.