The Gate to Hell
"Open the Nuclear Bolt!" ordered the Master, his Clones moving to obey his commands instantly, two Scientist-Masters swapping places inside the Booth. "Infuse the Power Lines to maximum!"
"Nuclear Bolt accelerating, Sir!" reported a Technician-Master.
"Send the signal back, and the link becomes a pathway," said the Original, placing the White Point Star in a bed of wires inside the self-constructed Beacon, connected to the modified Immortality Gate. Perhaps he ought to consider a new name for this system of devices – the Destiny Gate, perhaps? Maybe that needs a bit of work, he thought, as the Beacon began to transmit the Drums, reaching out to the End of Time. "Come home…"
*DW* Vinvocci Ship… *DW*
Right after the Doctor had come bolting onto the Flight Deck, he, Addams and Rossiter were confronted with a Communications Analysis focused on the planet below. As the System decoded the detected signal, Romana and Wilf joined the group as the gathering heard the sound that had been destroying the Master's mind since the age of 8…
One, two, three, four…one, two, three, four…
"What's that?" demanded Addams.
"Coming from Earth," replied Rossiter, his voice telling her that he had no clue what it was any more than she did. "It's on every single Wavelength…"
"And reaching out to the worst possible place in the Universe," Romana chipped in, taking to two Vinvocci completely by surprise by her understanding of this – not at all shocking, considering they'd believed her to be a Human from Earth. "Wilfred Mott…welcome to the Gate to Hell."
One look from the Time Lady told the Old Soldier just how serious about that claim she was…
*DW*
"Contact," breathed the President, relief swelling inside her entire being as his defeat of the Warrior's plans to end the War. "At last…"
*DW* Naismith Mansion… *DW*
"We have contact!" whispered the Master. He was unable to believe this – it was finally happening. He was about to discover his Destiny…and nothing could stop him. Nothing, not even the Doctor, or his pathetic would-be missus, Lady Romanadvoratrelundar…
*DW*
"Now, the High Council of Time Lords must vote," announced the President, addressing the whole of the aforementioned governmental body stood around him. "Whether we die here, today…or return to the waking world and complete the Ultimate Sanction. For this is the hour when either Gallifrey falls, or…Gallifrey rises!"
"GALLIFREY RISES!" thundered the tumultuous High Council, all of them…well, almost all of them.
"GALLIFREY…RISES!" roared the President, triumph practically shaking the Citadel around them…
*DW* Vinvocci Ship…Flight Deck… *DW*
"But you said your people were dead! Past tense!" reminded Wilf, not understanding what was going on to make the Doctor and Romana act like this.
"Inside the Time War – and the whole War was Time-Locked!" explained the Doctor, focused and frantic all in one bundle as he rushed around to get the Ship working again, the two Vinvocci just as confused as the old Human. "Like, sealed inside a bubble – it's not a bubble, but just think of a bubble. Nothing can get in or get out of the Time-Lock!"
"Do you understand, Wilfred?" continued Romana. "Nothing gets in or out…except something that was already there!"
"The signal!" cried Wilfred, the epiphany hitting him over the head like a sledgehammer. "Since he was a kid!"
"Exactly! If they can follow it back, then our people can escape the War!" she finished…but she didn't sound too happy about that, a fact that confused the Old Soldier.
"Well, then, big reunion! We'll have a party!"
"Sorry, Wilf, not this time."
"But I've heard the Doctor talk about your people like they're wonderful, Romana!" he reminded her in protest, still not getting the reason why they were so horror-struck.
"That's how I choose to remember them," cut in the Doctor, his voice making it clear how imperative this was. "The Time Lords of Old."
If he were to be honest…that wasn't the whole truth. Along with his granddaughter, Romana was the image by which he chose to remember the Time Lords – and using his memory of her truly was a double-edged sword. On the one hand, the image of her his mind, hearts and soul had preserved after all this Time stopped him from speaking ill of the dead…but on the other, it only caused more pain whenever his people were brought up, believing that he'd lost her forever. Thank Omega that such a facet of the pain could now be consigned to a dark chapter of his life that was now about to end.
"But then, they went to war – an endless war, and it changed them, right to the core," continued the Renegade Time Lord.
"Daleks, Sontarans, Cybermen? They're children having tantrums compared to Time Lords with a God Complex, Wilfred," concluded his fiancé, unable to keep a note of sadness out of her voice, fully aware she was misquoting the 6th Doctor's angry tirade against Darkel and the other Time Lords during his trial. She had to force her mind away from the shared memory to stop it from drifting to the one who'd almost succeeded in ending him…
It was her words that finally hit home – if the Time Lords possessed the power that they did, and wielded it with a God Complex…then things were as bad as they could be. He'd seen the Master, and he even sometimes doubted whether that bastard had such a belief that he was infallible. A psychopath he might be…but behaving like he was God? No, the Master was just a brat who couldn't get his own way. The Time Lords, on the other hand, were Gods with the power and wrath to prove it…
"Time Lords?" cut in Addams, bewildered by the conversation Wilf was having with the two unknowable Space Vagrants. "What Lords? Anyone want to explain?"
"Right, yes, you!" replied the Doctor, finally speaking to the Vinvocci. "This is a Salvage Ship, yes? You go trawling the asteroid fields for junk?"
"Yeah, what about it?"
"So, you've got Asteroid Lasers!"
"Yeah, but they're all frazzled!" protested Rossiter, just as the Time Lord threw a lever, causing two alcoves to open on either side of the Flight Deck. Each alcove had its own Laser Controls, ready to blast asteroids – or in this case, missiles – into Oblivion.
"Consider them unfrazzled!" said the Doctor. "Addams," he continued, remembering that Fred had learned her name from reading her ID card, "I'm going to need you on Navigation." He then pointed to Rossiter. "And you, get in the Laser Pod. Wilfred?"
"Yeah?" replied Wilf.
"Laser Number Two – the Old Soldier's got one more battle. Romana?"
"Yes, Doctor?" said the Time Lady, waiting for something to do, not wanting to be standing around uselessly.
"Re-route control of the Stern Lasers to the Flight Deck," he told her, tossing her the Sonic Screwdriver to make it a little faster. "You should be able to fire at anything coming our way from here."
"Understood," replied Romana, moving to do just that, waiting for the Ship to power up again.
"This Ship can't move…it's DEAD!" repeated Addams, feeling like she was talking to a complete simpleton.
"We just fixed the Heating!" said Romana, right before the moment when the Doctor threw another lever. At once, the Ship powered up again, ready to race down toward the Earth and stop whatever the Master had planned.
"But now they can see us!" said Addams, reminding them of why they'd shut the Ship down in the first place.
"Oh, yes!" crowed the Doctor, abundantly aware of this fact…and surprisingly, feeling a thrill for the danger of what he was about to do. Romana was smiling at the sight of his manic grin – there he was, her old Doctor, very much alive after everything that had happened to him. And to think he once thought that the man he used to be was gone forever?
"This is my Ship, and you're not moving it!" snapped the Vinvocci woman. "Step away from the wheel!"
"There's an old Earth saying, Captain," said the centuries-old Renegade Time Lord, giving no sign of complying with her demand. "A phrase of great power and wisdom…and consolation to the soul in times of need…"
"What's that, then?" asked Addams, unable to keep a hint of curiosity out of her voice. Romana, on the other hand, already knew what it was he was about to exult…because he'd already shared that catchphrase with Fred. And sure enough…
"ALLONS-Y!" bellowed the Doctor, sounding like a complete maniac as he sent the Ship on what looked to be a collision course with his fate. Everyone was almost thrown to the floor as the Ship sped down toward Earth at full throttle. "Come on, come on!"
"You are blinking, flipping mad!" exclaimed the Vinvocci.
"Tell me something I don't know!" yelled Romana, relishing the fact that yet another had noticed.
"You two, what did I say? Lasers!" shouted the older Time Lord, his words directed at Rossiter and Wilf.
"What for?" Rossiter demanded, completely confused by the order the ancient being was giving them.
"MISSILES!" roared Romana, fed up with the stupidity of these two Vinvocci to last the rest of her current incarnation. "NOW BLAST THEM OUT OF THE SKY!"
*DW* Naismith Mansion…the Master's POV… *DW*
"All NATO Defences coordinated, Sir, awaiting your command," reported the General-Master.
"I don't need them!" sneered the Original-Master, not about to have his destiny interrupted by anyone. Not his oldest friend-turned-foe, and certainly not his foe's simpering goody-two-shoes of a fiancé. Neither the Doctor nor Lady Romana could stop him now! "Any second now, I'll have Time Lords to spare! Take 'em out! Launch missiles!"
*DW* Vinvocci Ship…Romana's POV… *DW*
"Hey!" Romana heard Wilf calling to Rossiter, and she could hear the bewilderment in the Old Soldier's voice. "How does this thing work?"
"The Tracking's automatic!" replied Rossiter. "Just deploy the trigger with the joystick!"
"We've got incoming!" called Addams – and sure enough, three missiles were inbound, homing in on the Salvage Ship as it continued down toward the target at full pelt.
"You three, open fire!" ordered the Doctor, not at all eager to get blown up before the job was done…or in general, as a matter of fact. Once again, he had Romana to live for, and he wasn't about to die on her again. With some effort, he managed to avoid the trio of missiles – and that three soon became two, thanks to the Time Lady's work on the Flight Deck Control of the Stern Lasers, blasting one out of the Sky. Nothing seemed to be happening with Wilf and Rossiter. "OPEN FIRE! COME ON, WILF!" The message got through, and the other two missiles went down with two shots from Rossiter and Wilf.
"And there's more!" shouted Addams. "Sixteen of them! Oh…and another sixteen!"
"Romana, you ready?" the Doctor called over to her.
"Need you ask?!" yelled Romana. "Firing now!"
*DW*
On the missile destruction went, and with each missile destroyed, a large sum of money went down the drain. If one had to waste lots of someone else's money, then this was perhaps the most stylish way of doing it – flying down to Earth, destroying missiles like nobody's business, trying to race towards the End of Time. And speaking of which…
"LOCK THE NAVIGATION!" ordered the Doctor, struggling to make his voice heard over the ruckus of the air outside, the glass having been shattered upon entering the atmosphere.
"ONTO WHAT?!" yelled Addams.
"ENGLAND, THE NAISMITH MANSION!" roared the Time Lord, steeling himself to revisit a point in his life that had haunted him for three regenerations…
*DW*
"The vote is taken," announced the President, speaking to the rest of the High Council stood before him. "Only two stand against, and will stand, as monument to their shame, like the Weeping Angels of Old!" The two such figures were stood either side of him, doing just as he had described in the posture of the Lonely Assassins…
One was the Counsellor, the Lord of House Heartshaven, as much a traitor as his daughter, Romanadvoratrelundar – it would seem he, too, would treat his duty to Time as a secondary concern. How legendarily hypocritical it was of the Time Lord to condemn the Lord President for doing much the same…
The other was the Human Penelope Gate, the Doctor's mother – he truly expected this of her, being the mother of that foolish runaway. Like mother, like son, to misquote an Earth saying…which left him thinking that if he had reversed the gender pronouns, he might have seen the Counsellor's betrayal. Regardless, here they were, in his power, with no power to stop Gallifrey's destiny…
"Now, the Vanguard stands prepared, as the Children of Gallifrey return to the Universe…to Earth!" he declared, raising his Rod in the most arrogant, pompous way a Time Lord could. At almost that precise moment, the Time Corridor opened, leading exactly where his words depicted…
Where you will meet your inevitable fate, you who have perverted all Gallifrey, the Counsellor snarled to himself. If he could, he would dearly cherish the look of mad fury on the insane Founder's face when the man who would one day become his son-in-law snatched victory from his slippery grasp. As it was, he would merely content himself with knowing his daughter would escape from the fire of the Moment. Get ready, Romanadvoratrelundar – they are coming…
Be strong, Doctor, lamented Penelope, knowing that this would be the last chance to see the man her youngest son had become. Let your beloved be your salvation, and allow her to stop you from falling…
*DW*
"DESTINATION?!" bellowed the Doctor, demanding to know how far away they were from the Mansion.
"FIFTY KLIKS, AND CLOSING!" shouted Addams, trying to make her voice heard over the roaring wind outside the Hull. "WE'VE LOCKED ONTO THE HOUSE…WE ARE GOING TO STOP, THOUGH." When no reply came, both she and Romana looked up to face the Time Lord, with only the Time Lady having any clue as to what was going on in his mind. "DOCTOR? WE ARE GOING TO STOP?"
"DOCTOR?" called Wilf, rushing over with Rossiter now that all the missiles were gone. "DOCTOR, YOU SAID YOU WERE GONNA DIE!"
"HE SAID WHAT?!" yelled Addams, not comprehending what the Old Soldier was talking about. And how would she? She hadn't been present for the thought-provoking moments between himself, the Doctor and Romana.
"BUT IS THAT ALL OF US?" continued Wilf. "I WON'T STOP YOU, SIR, BUT IS THIS IT?"
It had better not be, Theta, warned Romana, very afraid of what was happening right now. You'd better not be about to die on me.
Trust me, Romana, he replied, reminding himself that he once again had something to live for. Come what may, he would never again be alone in the Universe. I've got a mad idea. As he said this, the Ship drew ever nearer to their fate…
Mind if I ask what it is? She pressed, not too happy with being kept in the dark about another crazy little thing of his.
THIS! He yelled, giving the Flight Control an almighty tug upwards. The nose of the Ship pulled up at the last minute, narrowly avoiding a collision with the Mansion by one of the smallest-feeling margins imaginable. Safely above the Naismith Mansion, the Doctor rushed for the Hatch, opening it and taking the revolver in hand. With bulging eyes, she realised what he was going to do, and was right behind him when he jumped…
Down they fell, at a rising velocity that would kill a Human on impact with the ground, and as they closed in on the Mansion, Romana felt a thrill of foreboding concerning what was to come inside the Gate Room, knowing that the Master had to have used the Gate to breach the Time-Lock. The Doctor was the first to hit the glass, slowed only slightly by the impact required to shatter it. Finally, he hit the floor, and Romana landed right on top of him.
Rolling off of his prone form, she first set eyes on the Master as her fiancé groaned in pain, their nemesis illuminated by a strange bath of Light from the other side of the Gate Room. When she turned her head to see what was happening, she really wished she hadn't. Stood before the three Renegades was none other than the Lord President himself. The most prominent of the three Founders of Time Lord Society, the betrayer of Omega, the usurper of her Presidency, the one who was locked in the Dark Tower in eternal sleep, and the one who perverted the meaning of the title 'Time Lord' forever – it could be no other than the ultimate tyrant of the Time Lords…
"My Lord Doctor."
The Founder greeted the Renegade, sneering down at his race's very own mischief-maker, seeing him as little more than a Courtjester. She could tell that this madman was utterly repulsed by the Doctor's representation of the idea that anyone could defy him, that any fool could tarnish, or even destroy, his vision for the Time Lords. It was simply unthinkable, impossible to the Founder…but either nothing was impossible, or he specialised in the impossible. He then raised his head slightly to stare at the Last Time Lady, regarding her with something akin to a warped pity.
"My Lady Romana."
His eyes bored into hers, looking utterly convinced of his supposed power over the Universe, taunting her as if to say that it could be her in that position, if only she'd been a little more willing to make the hard decisions. If only he realised how sorely he'd misjudged Romana…but then again, megalomaniacs always did project themselves onto other people, because such people were, more often than not, narcissists as well. Finally, he spared a glance at his own masterpiece, his very own prize puppet.
"My Lord Master."
If ever anyone had exceeded the Master's madness, then it would be this President – mania just blazed in the man's eyes, leaving no room for anything else…with the exception of rage and self-importance. With the greetings out of the way, he delivered the end of what was supposed to be a grand, imposing announcement of great importance, exceeding the stereotype of most of their ilk, arrogant and full of hubris to the absolute final degree.
"We are gathered…for the End."
*DW* Vinvocci Ship…Wilf's POV… *DW*
"Just turn it round, land it!" Wilf was pleading with Addams, trying to get her to drop him off at the Mansion and allow him to help that wonderful couple.
"We are not going in there!" replied Addams, refusing to put either Rossiter or herself on the line.
"I am not leaving those two on their own!" roared the Old Soldier, now absolutely up to his forehead with the trouble they'd caused him and those two Time Lords who were trying to save the Earth. "Not today!" Finally, he raised his voice, urgency causing all control to vanish. "LAND IT!"
*DW* Naismith Mansion, Gate Room… *DW*
"Listen to me…you can't," breathed the Doctor, knowing it was useless to plead, hoping it wasn't. His knowledge of the futility of pleading with Rassilon was proved correct when the paltriest excuse for a Time Lord President spoke again.
"It is a fitting paradox that our salvation comes at the hands of our Most Infamous Child," said Rassilon, sneering both at the Doctor's words and the Master in general as his eyes drifted to the arguably less threatening madman in the Gate Room. He had to control himself when Romana burst out laughing, sneering at him – the laughter grated on his every last nerve.
"You actually believe he'll help you?" scoffed the now-Renegade Time Lady, deriding the sheer incredulity of the entirety of Rassilon's designs. "I know you have a colossal ego, Rassilon, but this is bloody ridiculous!"
"Hey, no! HEY!" shouted the Master, pointing at her in a gesture to shut up that infuriated his oldest foe. "That's mine, Wench! HUSH!" With Romana temporarily silenced, the Renegade Time Lord addressed the man he had no idea was his puppet-master. "Look around you – I've transplanted myself into every single Human being. But who wants a mongrel little species like them? Because now, I can transplant myself…into every single Time Lord!" The President seemed to realise this as well, as something in his eyes told the three wayward Time Lords. "Oh yes, Mr President, Sir, standing there, all noble, and resplendent, and decrepit – think how much better you're gonna look…as me!"
He pointed to himself in the most cartoonish, pantomime fashion possible for himself…but he was completely unprepared for what happened next. The President raised his Gauntlet, stopping for a moment as it began to glow an eerie blue glow. That way it remained…until he made a snap hand gesture, folding his palm out. At once, every Master Clone began reverting back to their original state as a Human, much to Romana and the Doctor's relief…and the Master's chagrin.
"No, no, don't!" he whined, petulantly, this petulance only eclipsed by the humiliation on the Valiant, where he'd actually screamed about the unfairness of the Doctor's triumph over him. "No, no, stop it! NO, NO, NO, DON'T!" But too late – every Master Clone was now erased from the face of Planet Earth, utterly confused about what had happened to them.
"On your knees, Mankind!" declared Rassilon, revelling in the sense of power it gave him to give these apes orders, just like a typical playground bully. They obeyed, but not without a snort of derision from the still-prone Romanadvoratrelundar.
"You're loving this, aren't you?" she sneered, but before any more could be said between the former President and the current one, the Master once again chose to interrupt.
"No, that's fine," he waved it off, trying to salvage the situation he was currently stuck in. "That's good, because you said 'salvation' – I still saved you, don't forget that!" But Rassilon gave no sign that he'd heard his puppet, for he just looked up in all pomp and grandeur.
"The approach begins…" he breathed, relief that his plan had worked swelling inside him, seeming to exude into the surroundings.
"The approach of what?" demanded the evil Renegade, not comprehending what was happening in the slightest. Until the Doctor and Romana bashed him over the head with it, that was.
"Don't you ever listen, Arsehole?" snarled the Time Lady, utterly fed up with this idiot and his typical Universe-ending folly. "'Something is returning,' not 'someone'. Why is it everything has to be spelled out for you?"
"What is it, then?" growled the Master, not liking the unconcealed slight against his intelligence in the slightest. But his answer came from the Doctor, and just as well, or he might've hit something in frustrated rage – her wartime incarnation had been known to be able to make him do that, she was that infuriating.
"They're not just bringing back the species – it's Gallifrey!" spat his archnemesis, his voice betraying his desperation. "RIGHT HERE! RIGHT NOW!"
The Master then noticed something happening in the azure Sky of Earth – a red planet was materialising right next to the one he was on, threatening to knock the Earth our of its own orbit. But to the Time Lord, it was no ordinary, common-or-garden, ten-for-a-grotzit planet – it was a world that looked shockingly familiar. And so it would, for that red-grass-sprawling world was his childhood home – Gallifrey had returned, escaping certain destruction in the Last Day of the Time War…
"But…I DID THIS!" shouted the Master, ever trying to salvage what was left of his ruined plan and weasel himself into the favour of the Time Lords emerging from the Gate to Hell. The Humans in the Room now fleeing as the world began shaking around them – for all the good that would do. "I GET THE CREDIT – I'M ON YOUR SIDE!"
But Rassilon just gave him an imperceptible smirk, and it frustrated him to no end. A classic example of a megalomaniac Rassilon might be, but he could be incredibly unreadable…when he wanted to be. More often that not, the man would be too busy making grand, imposing speeches to other Time Lords to be effective in the Universe of today's generations. The sight of the Doctor's other companion entering the Gate Room broke this train of thought…
"COME ON, GET OUT OF THE WAY!" shouted Wilf, struggling through the stampede of Naismith's Mansion Staff. "GET OUT OF THE WAY! DOCTOR? ROMANA?" He then caught sight of a Technician, begging to be freed from one of the Maintenance Booths, inside which he was trapped. "Alright, I've got you, mate, I've got you!"
"No, Wilf, don't!" called Romana. Too late – he was already inside the formerly empty Booth, and had pressed the button to unlock the other one, locking himself in as the Technician left in a great hurry. The Master's voice snapped her out of the train of 'DAMMIT!' ripping through her mind.
"But this is fantastic, isn't it?" he demanded, not seeing the problem that was all too obvious to the other two Renegades. "The Time Lords restored!"
"You weren't there," said the Doctor, his tone darker than the Master had ever heard, with the exception of the Destruction of Logopolis. Could something similar be happening now, of all times? "In the Final Days of the War…you never saw what was born…"
"Shatter the Time-Lock, and the entire War will bleed out," continued Romana, a similarly dark vibe colouring her voice in the extreme. "The Daleks are the least of our worries – there were the Skaro Degradations." She had to grimace thinking of those awful creatures. Even by the standards of the Daleks, they were abominations, and that spoke volumes about just how reviled they were…
"…The Horde of Travesties," resumed the Doctor, before he brought up the creature that he'd once thought spelled the end of Davros himself. "The Nightmare Child...the Could-Have-Been King, with his Army of Meanwhiles and Neverweres…"
"…And finally, the Insanity Rhythm," finished Romana, omitting a certain horror she didn't wish to speak of ever again. "The Drums…beaming right into your head, from the Final Days of the Last Great Time War…the War that became Hell in the Universe! And you opened the Gate to that Hell, right above this planet!"
"Hell is descending!" declared the Doctor, adding the words for what he hoped was good measure.
"My kind of world," replied the Master, trying to sound enthusiastic. But there was something in the mad Time Lord's mind that niggled him – the mention of the Drums, or the Insanity Rhythm, as Romana called the noise.
"JUST LISTEN!" bellowed his old friend-turned-foe. "BECAUSE EVEN THE TIME LORDS CAN'T SURVIVE THAT!"
"We will initiate the Final Sanction!" announced Rassilon, pompous and full of hubris, as ever he was, exuding no small amount of gravitas-sourced power as he spoke. "The End of Time will come at my hand…the rupture will continue until it rips the Time Vortex apart!"
"That's suicide!" shouted the Master, blanching at the sheer, incomprehensible insanity of it all. He remembered Logopolis all too well, along with the pride-swallowing lesson that went with interfering with what used to be the Keystone of the Universe. As that incarnation that was about as mad as he'd ever been, he hadn't thought much of it immediately afterward, but in his current incarnation, he'd had Time to wonder if he'd ever been too insane for his own good…
"We will ascend," continued the President, "to become creatures of consciousness alone, free of these bodies, free of Time...and Cause and Effect…while Creation itself ceases to be!" There was no misinterpreting his smug, self-assuring satisfaction – his belief that he would be the victor was unmistakeable. There was no mistaking the mania in Rassilon's voice or eyes – he was, without a doubt, the biggest madman in the Universe at this point, if not of all Time.
"You see now?" breathed the Doctor, imploring, yet defeated at the same time. "That's what they were planning…in the Final Days of the War. I had to stop them…"
"Then…" said the Master, not seeing any other way out for himself, "…take me with you, Lord President. Let me ascend…into glory!"
"DON'T YOU GET IT, YOU IMBECILE?!" roared the Time Lady, utterly fed up with him…and pitying him at the same time, for he was about to get the most horrific shock of his lives as he snapped down to stare at her. "HE ORDERED THE RHYTHM BE PLANTED INSIDE YOUR HEAD! EVERYONE YOU'VE EVER DESTROYED HAS BEEN ON HIS GRIMY HANDS AS MUCH AS YOURS!"
Her hearts were breaking for all that the Master had destroyed throughout Time and Space – the most prominent example was Nyssa, whose history came up when Romana had researched the power-hungry Renegade in the TARDIS Records. That young Trakenite girl was now the last of her kind, made so by the Master's insane schemes…all of which ultimately led to Rassilon. The blood of untold billions was on the Founder's hands, just as much as the one he'd driven insane with that blasted noise…
"You were never the Master," finished Romana, pity now the only thing left to her with regards to him. "You were but a slave to the designs of Rassilon." The words shocked and angered the Master…but when he looked up to face Rassilon, the terrible things Romana said were confirmed in one of the most loathsome manners conceivable…
"You are diseased," sneered the Founder of Time Lord Society, "albeit a disease of our own making. No more." He began raising his Gauntlet as the Master swelled with rage at the admission to manipulating his life for countless years. But just when both President and Renegade thought it was over before it had begun, the Doctor was up on his feet, Wilf's revolver trained on Rassilon. "Choose your enemy well – we are many," he warned the Doctor. "The Master is but one…"
"But he's the President!" the Master reminded his long-time archrival. "Kill him, and Gallifrey could be yours! Or if you wanted, Romana's!"
He knew he'd said the wrong thing the moment the Doctor trained the gun on him, and the Master couldn't help but think he might actually pull the trigger this time. He ought to have known he'd never try to usurp Rassilon – the Doctor had never wanted the Presidency for himself, and unless he was mistaken, Romana truly believed her Presidency to be one of the greatest mistakes of her life. Getting desperate, he tried to remind him of what Rassilon had done.
"HE'S TO BLAME, NOT ME!" he shouted frantically. Then, he reminded himself of what the tyrant had done, and came to an awful conclusion. "Oh…the link is inside my head. Kill me…the Rhythm ends, the link gets broken, and they go back." But he still had the knowledge that killing him was not in his oldest friend's character. "You never would, you coward!" Then he remembered – he'd caused this mess, just like Logopolis…only this time, darkness had infected the Doctor's soul more deeply than ever before. Still, death was better than an Eternity with these infernal Drums. "Go on, then – do it!" he spat, half-wishing the Doctor would just carry out this ironic euthanasia…
*DW* Romana's POV… *DW*
She could sense the turbulent struggle within the Doctor's mind and soul, and wished she could take it away from him, just to stop it from hurting. But the fact remained, and could not be eliminated from the equation – who was he to kill? Shooting either one would solve the problem of Time coming to an abrupt end, but each would have different secondary ramifications…
Kill the Master, and the Enmity of Ages could end, once and for all, never to be reignited. The Doctor would emerge victorious, never to be plagued by another Time Lord foe again. But then, she remembered him telling his old foe; 'I wonder what I'd be…without you.' Neither Romana nor the Doctor had any idea what that would mean after the Time War – a Doctor without the Master might be less than ideal when compared to a Doctor with the Master…
Kill Rassilon, and he'd exact justice for the desecration of Gallifrey's name, and still have his oldest friend, who she supposed he could at least try and help. To be honest, Romana believed the Master to be beyond any kind of help, but just for the Doctor's sake, she would withhold her hindrance as much as her help. After all, if one couldn't make it better, one shouldn't make it worse by trying. But could her Theta actually make himself kill one of their Founders, even if said Founder was a madman?
She was almost taken by surprise when the Doctor pivoted again, training the revolver, once again, on Rassilon. The Master, being the Master, found his enraged bloodlust renewed, and proceeded to egg the Doctor on once again.
"Exactly!" he crowed, hungry for the blood of the one who'd destroyed his mind since the age of 8, as well as made him a puppet in his own designs. "It's not just me, it's him! HE'S THE LINK – KILL HIM!"
"The final act of your life…is murder," Rassilon sneered at the more frivolous Renegade, delighting in his predicament like nothing she'd ever seen before. "But of which one of us?" Seeing that the Doctor just didn't have what it took to decide which of them would die first, he then turned to face his predecessor in the line of Presidents of Gallifrey. "What say you, Lady Romana? Which of us would you have him shoot in cold blood? The Master, Gallifrey's Most Infamous Child…or myself?"
Romana was absolutely repulsed to the core of her hearts – he seemed to be labouring under the delusion that she would actually make her Theta murder someone. That would never be the case, bar two exceptions – if she felt the situation was desperate enough, or if she wanted any future children they had together to be protected from harm. She wasn't sure if he wouldn't kill to save his family after losing his first in the War. She looked up to see him wavering, and she was about to try and help him stay firm, standing up to stare into his eyes, when…
Daughter, she heard, and turned to see the Time Lord it had come from. The Time Lord in question was stood on Rassilon's right, removing his hands from his eyes, just as the woman on the left was doing. While the Woman, whom she now recognised as Penelope Gate, exchanged an unknowable wordless conversation with her son, the Doctor, the Man was revealing himself, and she knew who he was before she saw his face…
Father, she whimpered, feeling her hearts breaking all over again, knowing she was about to say goodbye to him for the final time. Please…you can't leave me now…I'm not ready to say goodbye…
We seldom are, Romanadvoratrelundar, replied the Counsellor, his mind's voice sounding like it was failing him. For the first time in her life, she was seeing her father struggling to control himself, and this was but a reminder as to how strange he was compared to other Time Lords, Renegade or otherwise. That was him – not enough determination to be a Renegade, a smidgen too much emotional connection to his family for the tastes of the Time Lords. He'd just been better at concealing it than some others. You are my daughter, and you will remain so long after I am gone. But you have not needed me for a long time, Romana – not since you were chosen for the Search for the Key to Time.
That doesn't mean it's time for you to die, cried Romana. I can't lose my only surviving parent…
It is too late to save me, Daughter, he sighed in defeat, resigning himself to his fate. But take consolation in the fact that my honour as a Time Lord did not die before I did, and be there for the one you promised to do so. Never abandon him, Daughter – he needs you, more than ever…
I will, Father, she promised…
*DW* the Doctor's POV… *DW*
He stared into the eyes of the one who gave life to him such a long time ago on the planet he was about to condemn. There was no escaping this – he was about to sentence his own mother to a fiery death at the hands of his past self. It almost destroyed any resolve he had…until he saw her staring behind him, and he realised that her attention was not on the Master, but what was behind his enemy – the Beacon.
It was then he remembered – the White Point Star was what had cemented the link. It was part of the problem…which made it part of the solution. With a nod from his mother, the Doctor knew that there was one last thing he could do for her – make her proud to call him her son. And the best way he could do that now? Uphold his own Promise the only way he could…
He pivoted again, pointing the gun in the Master's direction. His archnemesis steeled himself for death, waiting for the bullet that was to come his way. But just when it looked like he might be about to end the Master's life once and for all…
Just a little FYI, in case anyone wants help picturing the likenesses of the two incarnations of Romana's father (named the Counsellor) in this story.
1st Counsellor - Max von Sydow.
2nd Counsellor - Jeremy Irons.
I hope they're satisfactory choices for you. Mostly, I didn't want to use any actors that have already passed on. Yes, Max von Sydow and Jeremy Irons are still with us - thankfully!
