Dezi was the one who put out the message to the universe. She supposed some could see it as a kindness to protect the universe from entering into the fray on Earth, but it wasn't. It was an entirely self-serving act to keep the rest of the universe away from them while she and her brother built up weapons. Keeping the universe away stopped anyone from knowing what was going on, making their final plan all the more satisfying. Besides, it wasn't like the message was elaborate or hard to send; all it did was just repeat that Earth is closed, and that traffic should stay away.
She could sometimes hear the message when she passed by the control room, like she was doing a year later from the successful take-over by Harold and Daniella Saxon, though now she and her brother refused to go by the fake names. Even though her brother still dressed like the successful politician in his black suits, Dezi had changed the dresses and heels to "sweatpants" of varying colors, a black shirt, and very soft flats. She let her blonde hair stay down, not wanting to deal with the headaches her buns and hair styles had caused her. She had heard that the humans had, eventually, figured out that there was something decidedly non-human about her and her brother, yet their ears on Earth still reported that they were referred to with their fake names or simply the "Saxons." Their ears on Earth had been helpful with keeping the siblings up to date on the happenings of the planet, but they had failed in one crucial task: Finding Martha Jones. The would-be doctor had disappeared and the only things their ears had seen or heard were ghosts and rumors.
"She sailed around the world."
"She's going to be free us all."
"She left Earth and is on the moon treating with Martians to come back and stop the Saxons!"
Dezi had laughed at the rumors, but her brother had been furious. Their goal of killing only one-tenth of the population was to scare the people, but Martha Jones' rumors made them hopeful. He had ranted for hours and had gone as far as to blame Dezi for Martha's escape. The only thing that saved Dezi from her brother's rage was Christmas Day. Their ears heard that Martha was in Japan, so they attacked, wiping out half of the population of the country before broadcasting their message to the public, "Harbor Martha and be the next Japan."
They had heard that the people tried to revolt, but Valiant was far above the crowds and untouchable. After their Christmas message, a new normal had settled on Earth, one of acceptance that this would be the daily life for the rest of their lives. They had settled for that because it wasn't fear but it wasn't hope either, it was just apathy. And apathetic workers made for less revolts.
And on the Valiant, their own normal had settled in as well. It always started out the same, "Citizens rejoice. Your lord and master stands on high playing Track 3,"
Dezi and the Master walked into the conference room, exactly a year after they had taken over Earth. As the music the Master had picked out started to play, the Master gave Dezi a spin as he started to sing along, "I can't decide whether you should live or die. Though you'll probably go to Heaven. Please don't hang your head and cry…"
Letting her go, the Master went to the conference table and sat in one of the chairs to give it a spin, "No wonder why my heart feels dead inside. It's cold and hard and petrified. Lock the doors and close the blinds, we're goin' for a ride…" as he sang, Francine, in her maid uniform, poured a cup of tea for him, over sweetened the way he liked. In front of the seat across from him, Francine poured a cup of tea for Dezi as well, containing a minimal amount of cream.
Not going to join her brother, Dezi went over to the Doctor's tent and connected to him to mentally call, 'Get out,' the Doctor did as ordered, crawling out and climbing into his wheelchair with a small amount of help from Dezi. As humorous as it would be for him to fall, the Doctor was a Time Lord and deserved a marginal amount of respect. Even if he was an only child.
Getting up from his chair with Dezi's tea in hand, the Master handed the cup off as he started to push the Doctor around, still singing along, "I can't decide whether you should live or die though you'll probably go to Heaven. Please don't hang your head and cry. No wonder why my heart feels dead inside. It's cold and hard and petrified. Lock the doors and close the blinds, we're goin' for a ride…"
Dezi followed the two, sipping her tea as they ended up in front of the large window that allowed them to look over their dominion. It had been an idea of the Master's when he designed the Valiant; he had argued that they would want to be able to look down on Earth occasionally, and Dezi had to admit she had been wrong in her original protest for the window, it was nice to be able to see Earth. Even if she didn't like the people that didn't mean she had to dislike the planet. Though the effect was no lost, considering the greenery and the blue sky had long-since been replaced with the pollution from all the factories.
Their journey over, the Master knelt down so he was eye level with the Doctor, "It's ready to rise, Doctor," he said, "The new Time Lord Empire," but the Doctor didn't answer. Instead his eyes following a few spheres flying past the window on a hunt for dissenters.
Dezi sighed and knelt down next to her brother, "They broke your hearts," she said softly, "ever since you worked out what they really are. But I know something that will make your hearts pump again: Martha Jones has come back home. Why would she do that?"
"Leave her alone," the Doctor demanded, or at least he tried to. As a frail old man in a wheelchair, the last thing the Doctor could do was be threatening enough to actually demand anything.
"Not until you told us what you told her," Dezi replied with a frown, "Remember? When my brother and I took over? What did you tell her?"
"I have one thing to say to the two of you. You both know what that is."
"Oh, no you don't!" the Master shouted. He got up and pushed the Doctor until he hit the walls with a huff.
"Valiant now entering Zone One airspace. Citizens rejoice."
"Come on people!" the Master yelled with a clap of his hands, "What are we doing? Launch Day in 24 hours!"
Neither of the siblings noticed as the Doctor signaled Francine with three fingers pressed against his thigh, a signal that traveled through the rest of the ship as a way to plan a rebellion.
The Master was getting his weekly massage from his latest hapless human female, something beginning with a 'T.' Dezi knew exactly why the women would line up to entice him with their looks; the Master required them to live on the Valiant 24/7, taking away a hungry mouth from their hungry family. Of course when the women died, which they always did, a sum of money would be sent to their family that would keep them fed for a year. The women seemed to think that their death was a small price to pay to keep their family fed.
It had been a quiet afternoon, and Dezi was just thinking about practicing Old High Gallifreyan, it was a language that needed constant work to be passable at best, but the PA suddenly screeched, "Condition red!"
"What?"
"Repeat: condition red."
Growling, Dezi stormed out of the room and to Jack's cell. She knew the man would be dead by the time she got there, but that wasn't the point. There was no way the Jones family was behind this, and since the Doctor had been so apathetic lately the only one who could have planned him was the immortal bastard himself.
It would take him a few minutes to revive, long enough for Dezi to have him chained by his wrists once more. When his eyes popped open and he gasped for breath wildly, Dezi watched silently as he tested the chains.
"Not even long enough to lean against anything," Jack whistled, "I must have pissed you off."
"You set off a condition red," Dezi pointed out, "Did you think death and being uncomfortable was all you would get?"
Jack's face fell as Dezi whistled and two spheres appeared around her and bobbed ominously. He watched as Dezi came forwards, starting to struggle in his chains as she did so, "What are you gonna do? Torture me? I've had worse."
"I don't doubt that, Mr. Time Agent," Dezi said softly, "But pain is pain and this should leave a bit of an impression.
She whistled once again and pointed at Jack, "Have fun," she said in a sing-song command. As ordered, the spheres came towards him with knives out. Not bothering to stay to watch, Dezi walked out of the cell. She would check back in a few hours when it was time for the broadcast her brother had been planning ever since he had heard that Martha Jones was back.
Just as she had planned, Dezi wheeled a TV screen into Jack's cell. At the noise, Jack looked at her in alarm, "Again?" he asked hoarsely.
Dezi didn't acknowledge his reply, instead trying to figure out how to turn the TV on. She had never liked human technology the way her brother had. She cursed in Gallifreyan under her breath as she clicked the wrong button again, "It's the big one," Jack suggested. When she turned to stare at him, he tried to shrug at her, "You only bring that TV in for a broadcast. I want to know what it is."
Wanting to come back at him with some sort of retort, Dezi pressed the largest button and winced as the TV turned on as Jack said it would. She could feel his eyes on her, but when she turned to look at him they were firmly fixed on the image of the Saxon logo on the TV. For a moment, Dezi stared at the man, taking in the cut, which was quite deep, still bleeding on his cheek. She frowned lightly at the sight. From her experience with Jack, it was hard to injure him in a lasting way. He would heal within a few minutes, an hour at most. The fact that the cut was still bleeding meant that the spheres had been much harder on him than she had intended. She would have to talk to them again, though she doubted if it would do any good. Despite her brother's claim that the spheres listened to them equally, Dezi felt as if they only pretended to listen to her. This would be, after all, the third time she would speak to the spheres about their treatment when punishing Jack. Perhaps it would be easier for her to punish Jack. While she did hate getting her hands dirty, at least that way she wouldn't fruitlessly yell at the spheres.
Her thoughts settling, she moved so she could see the TV. Despite the minimal distance, she could feel an itching on her skin from being in such close proximity to the immortal man and she started to rub her arm closet to him. If anything, that just made the feeling worse. At least when the Master came on, the feeling faded as her attention was given to her brother, "My people. Salutations on this, the eve of war," the Master greeted as the footage came on, "Lovely woman," he added as an afterthought, "But I know there's all sorts of whispers down there. Stories of a child, walking the Earth, giving you hope."
Dezi watched as her brother walked from his seat position to the Doctor, who was sitting in his wheelchair with an exhausted look. She heard Jack suck in a breath beside her and hiss, "Why isn't he fighting back?" For a moment, she thought about setting up a punishment for him because of his remark, but she supposed that this broadcast would be enough.
"But I ask you…how much hope has this man got? Say hello, Gandalf. Except he's not that old but he's an alien with a much greater lifespan than you stunted, little apes. What if it showed? What if I suspend your capacity to regenerate? All 900 years of your life, Doctor. What if we could see them?"
The Master took out his screwdriver and pointed it at the Doctor. As the beam hit him, he fell out of his wheelchair and convulsed on the floor while screaming. His convulsing sped up, faster and faster until he was blur and then…gone.
"Where is he?!" Jack cried out, straining against the chains to look at the screen.
On the screen, the Master bent down and moved back the Doctor's clothes, revealing a large, domed head with massive eyes, still the Doctor's color, blinking at them. Making sure the camera got a long look at the new version Doctor, the Master eventually turned to the screen and asked, "Received and understood, Miss Jones?"
Next to Dezi, Jack struggle against his chains, continuing even when the broadcast was completed and the screen turned to back. Dezi was about to leave him to it and focus her attention on the TV, when she heard a creaking noise and Jack's movements became more frantic. She huffed and stepped in front of the man, drawing his attention forcibly, "Relax. He's still alive."
"Barely," Jack spat.
Dezi rolled her eyes, "You're acting like this isn't easily reversible. You would rather us force him to regenerate and kill him before he can?"
"Is that how you kill you guys?" Jack asked, a gleam in his eyes that made Dezi take a half-step back before she could stop herself.
"It's one of the ways," she admitted.
"I'll keep that in mind."
"Careful, that sounds like a threat."
"Good," Jack gave Dezi a grin with just too many teeth to be considered friendly, "It is."
Closing her eyes, Dezi shook her head, "You humans never learn," she said in a low whisper to herself, "I'll pretend I didn't hear that; I don't think you can stand another round with those Toclafane and I don't want to lose my favorite toy just yet."
Turning away from Jack, she started to push the TV out of the room as she walked out. She was surprised when Jack didn't yell something from behind her, but she supposed that her words had gotten to him – he wouldn't last very long with the Toclafane again. Perhaps she had even managed to surprise him by ignoring his blatant threat. The last thought made Dezi smirk; toying with her enemies was fun. No wonder the Master did it so often.
It is really weird to write a villain, which Dezi really is. I've tried to show that she has some goodness in her, like with ignoring Jack's threat at the end or yelling at the spheres to get them to not really harm Jack, but she's undoubtedly on the dark side when it comes to events. It's going to be a long time until she's less of a villain and more of a gray spectrum.
Just to clarify a statement I made in the last chapter about the schedule of books being published. Kayla is the name of an already existing OC and is the character in my Kayla Hark Series. Currently I am working on the fourth book, Away From the Doctor, which will be published soon. I hope that makes things clearer.
And now...review time:
NicoleR85: Thank you!
time-twilight: Thanks! I will warn you that it isn't really great. I've come a long way in my writing and Kayla was my first book. I would not hold it against you if you decide to switch to something else if you don't like it.
skye-speedy: I hope my statement above answered your question.
Guest: Thank you! As for the rest of your questions...you'll find out!
PrincessMagic: I'm glad you like it!
