The white light was blinding, but comforting at the same time, the Master closed his eyes, letting the luminosity float and surround him.
'Lucy...'
He found that in the last few days, he had thought about her more than ever before. He wished it had not ended the way it had. It may not have seemed it, but those last few moments at Broadwell Prison had been the most heart wrenching of his life.
'Till death do us part, Harry!!'
He had loved her. He had so desperately loved her. He wanted to spend the rest of his life with Lucy at his side as he conquered the universe. And she had thrown that back in his face.
The master shuddered, the light was beginning to fade, distant voices and yelling could be heard, but he kept his tear filled eyes tightly closed.
He can never forgive himself for doing something so horrible to someone he loved so much. That entire year he had spent with her... it was like he was two different people. There was Harry, the kinder, loving side, who cherished every waking moment with Lucy, and there was The Master, the raw, unpredictable side that was driven by the insane 4 beat rhythm that pounded his skull and besieged Lucy's world in utter pain and confusion.
"Can't you hear it Lucy?! Can't you hear it?!"
SMASH!
"Please Harry! You're hurting me!"
SMASH!
Plaster cracked and crumbled, falling off the wall like powder, The Master banged her head against the wall, again and again and again.
"Listen! Can't you hear it?!"
"H-Harry! P-Please!"
The Master swallowed back the sob that rose up in his throat, trying to block out the awful memory that he could see so clearly in his deluded mind.
If only he had stopped to think about what he was doing, if only had listened to her pleas, Lucy would still be alive and he would not be so heartbroken.
He would never forgive himself.
The light had completely died away now; The Master slowly opened his eyes blinking back the tears that clouded his vision. Pathetic, only weak, feeble humans cried at memories.
He was alive; at least, sat huddled against the damp wall of a small dark cell. His hands were tied tightly behind his back. Heavy cuffs around his ankles and neck shackled him to iron rings that were fixed to the wall, chaining him up like some wild animal. Twisting round to try and find some sort of loophole, The Master gasped and gritted his teeth to prevent himself from crying out. Pain radiated from almost every inch of his body; deep, dark bruises and stinging wounds that covered most of him, which resulted in a painful throbbing that hurt as much as those beating drums that, in spite of everything, were still banging away in his head, screwing his mind up even further.
"What goes around comes around!"
The Master remembered someone really insignificant saying that to him, not that long ago. Maybe it was that really large woman that ran that Burger van at the scrap yard.
Well, too bloody right.
"Please Harry! You're hurting me!"
SMASH!
Poor Lucy had been forced to endure the pain and misery at his hands, now it was his turn to suffer.
Leaning back and swallowing, The Master felt a flicker of fear take hold inside him, lighting up like a lit match. How the hell was he gonna get out of this one? He was brutally injured, and trapped, with some sort of life forms who obviously wanted him dead.
Damn...
----
The Doctor cranked up the Tardis with a flip of a switch and a whack with the hammer, running his hands through his already messy hair, he yanked down another couple of levers and the time machine groaned at it started to materialise, leaving behind the ruins of Joshua Naismith's mansion.
And the final stand of The Master...
"You did this to me! All of my life! You made me!"
The Doctor brushed away the hot tears that had formed in his weary brown eyes as he thought about his beloved friend. Even though he knew the Master would never have admitted it, but they had once had something, a very special friendship, that had been poisoned and ripped apart by that diabolical beat that had send The Master insane.
The Doctor shook his head sadly and turned away, back to the control panel. It didn't matter anymore; The Master was dead, killed by the very people, their People, who had planted the drumming in his mind and cruelly destroyed his life.
It was over...
----
The door to The Master's cell opened and his distended eyes squinted as the bright light from outside, wherever he was, overwhelmed him. A tall hooded figure wandered in, breathing slowly, its sharp eyes fixed on The Master. Glancing behind them, The Master glimpsed a beautiful pasture of crimson grass that stretched as far as his eyes could see.
Gallifrey...
He was home, on his home planet, the very place he was born and raised, the very place where he had grown up.
Damn, so that meant...
The figure turned and slammed the cell door shut, blocking out most of the light, then it turned back towards him and threw back its hood.
The Master immediately recognised the figure as Wordei, an lecturer from The Academy he had gone to when he was younger, and one of the many time lords that had stood boldly next to Rassilon just as 'The Link' had been broken, but it didn't surprise him, the moment he has seen the red grass, he knew instantly who had done this to him: The Time Lords.
But why?
Thinking he was going to get another pounding, The Master turned his head away, but instead he was spoken to.
"You still alive then?" Wordei's harsh voice boomed out.
"Yeah, sorry to disappoint you, but you can't kill someone as charismatic as me that easily, like you care anyway..."
The older time lord chuckled, The Master, no matter what situation he was in, always had something to say, then the older timelord's expression turned serious. "Wish I could say the same for our Lord President, but I can't".
The Master turned his head and looked at Wordei in the eye for the first time.
"Rassilon's dead?!" He repeated it to himself, in a merriment daze.
"Rassilon's dead!
"You murdered him!" Wordei snapped, losing his patience. "You cruelly and psychologically killed him for no reason whatsoever!" He stood back up again, looking down at The Master, who still had the shadow of a grin resting on his face. Wordei looked down at him, anger rushing though him like electricity.
BANG!
The Master jolted as a heavy foot collided with the side of his head, smashed his skull against the hard wall. Through disorientated eyes, he saw the foot heading back for more, and involuntarily he let out a silent scream in his mind, wondering if anyone could hear him, if anyone would listen, would they WANT to listen?
Yeah right...
----
The Doctor leapt in shock as a loud yell echoed about the Tardis. It ricocheted, bouncing off the walls, sounding horribly pained, but familiar at the same time. Jumping up, The Doctor ran and planted himself onto the control panel, hitting and pulling buttons and levers to try and trace where the yell had come from. He knew The Tardis was liable to pick up messages that people had emitted with their mind, whether they had meant to send them or not. But they had to be very powerful beings with strong minds.
Such as Carrionates, Ood...
Or other time lords...
The Doctor shook his head, as if he was shaking the thought out of existence. Nahh... it's impossible, they had all just perished... he was the last one...
Another yell sounded again, louder this time, and coupled with voices...
"YOU MURDERER! HE DIED A SLOW AND PAINFUL DEATH AT YOUR HANDS AND ALL YOU CAN DO IS LAUGH!
There was a weak chuckle of laughter, followed by a very familiar voice.
"He deserved it... "
More laughter, more shouting...
The Doctor was so shocked he nearly fell over.
Master?!
The voices had faded away again, but The Doctor had heard everything he needed. He was alive, he wasn't sure how, but The Master was alive, The Doctor wanted to jump up and down and shout with happiness.
But there was time for that later ;)
He turned his attention back to the control panel and whacked another couple of levers into action, trying to trace where the voice of the other time lord had originated from.
As he concentrated on tracking the source, The Doctor felt a shiver go down his spine as he recalled the agonising yell, a shiver that spread through his entire body when he realised exactly where the source was.
Coordinates 594-324-435-042,
Gallifrey...
The Doctor inhaled sharply as the Tardis set its course, a hundred chilling thoughts piecing his mind like poisoned arrows. As they drew closer and closer to the planet, he could feel each and every consciousness of every Time Lord in existence, tiny beams of light stabbing softly inside his head, If it weren't for the fact they'd driven The Master completely mad and, by the sounds of it, sentenced him to a slow and incredibly painful death, the Doctor would probably have felt sorry for them.
But not this time...
----