xxxxx Chapter 10 Escape
The Master was the first to wake up. Just in time too, he slapped his sleeve until the fire went out. When that was done, he grabbed his screwdriver off of the floor, stood up and looked around.
The Judoon were all knocked out, but so were his companions (heh, irony), he crossed his arms with an, "Oh, man!"
Then Jack woke up, he flew to his feet and looked around, "What the hell happened!"
"Not a clue, but considering how everyone is knocked out, I'd say it was a psychic energy feedback burst of some kind."
"A what?"
"It's sort of like an EMP for brains."
"Right...," Jack looked around at his friends. "So, now what do we do?"
"I don't know about you and the others," the Master started, grinning at Jack. "But I'm taking the Doctor and heading for the TARDIS while the Judoon are still out."
He bent over and picked up the Doctor and carried him, as Jack had said earlier, like a princess. He started to head for the lift, when Rose, Gwen and Pete started waking up.
"Oy!" Rose yelled after the Master. "Where do you think your going with him?"
"Anywhere but here," the Master said over his shoulder.
Pete got up and went to stand in front of the Master, "You can't just leave us here like this, the Doctor would never forgive you."
The Master rolled his eyes and sighed. Rhys woke up, slowly rubbing his head. Then it was Luke who woke up, then Clive and Mickey, then Tosh, Ianto and Owen. The Judoon were still out cold.
Clive looked around at everyone, "What happened?"
"What the hell?" Mickey mumbled, looking around.
"What the bloody hell is going on, Jack?" Gwen asked.
"Jack, what happened?" Tosh asked. Ianto looked at Jack, the same question in his eyes.
"Not sure, we'll figure it out later. For now we need to get everyone out of here before the big horny beasties wake up," Jack answered them all.
Gwen looked around at all of the people who were still knocked out, then at the people who had woken up. "I can't see any way to get everyone down four levels with just us."
"We're gonna have to figure something out."
Luke was checking his mother for injuries, when Martha woke up. She checked her mother and the baby she was holding, Anwen, who thankfully landed on her mother's chest. She checked her sister for wounds and was about to check Leo, when he woke up with a jerk and almost conked his head into hers.
"Oh, sorry," he said. He looked around, confused. "What's happened?"
"I don't know, but we need to get out of here," Martha said. She'd had enough experience to know not to sweat the small stuff when you have a chance to escape from a dire situation.
Rose was worrying over John, and little Tony. They were both still out cold.
The Master turned around and looked at Jack, "The ones with the weaker minds are going to stay unconscious longer than the stronger ones."
"So, why is the Doctor still out?"
"Because he's just had his brain ransacked by a bunch of albino inbred swine!" the Master looked at Jack like he was stupid.
"Oh, yeah." Jack looked at Rhys, confused a bit by the thought that his mind was stronger than Sarah Jane's or even Jackie's.
"So, is that the same with John, then?" Rose asked the Master.
"I'm pretty sure," the Master answered.
Rose turned back to John and brushed a piece of hair from his forehead. Pete was torn between carrying John or Jackie or Tony, when Jake woke up.
"Oh, good! Jake can you carry Jackie and Tony?"
"Um," he looked around confused for moment before answering, "I could carry Tony and I might be able to handle Jackie, but I can't carry both of them at once," Jake looked regrettably at Pete.
"Let's not be finicky about who carries who. We just need to get out of here before the Judoon wake up!" Jack yelled at all the people who were awake. He bent and picked up John and carried him the same way that the Master was carrying the Doctor.
Pete picked up Jackie and Rose grabbed little Tony. Martha handed Anwen to Gwen and then bent to pick up her sister and help get her over Leo's shoulder in a fireman's carry. Clive grabbed Francine and carried her the same way. Mickey and Luke managed Sarah Jane together. Tosh and Ianto carried Sylvia between them. Rhys, the Strong Man, picked up Donna and carried her over his shoulder, he flung the Doctor's coat over his other shoulder and grabbed Wilfred and carried him under his other arm, like a sack of potatoes.
Everyone accounted for, they all ran for the lift, or well, walked as fast as they could carrying heavy cargo. It wasn't big enough for all of them, so they went down in three groups. The Master with the Doctor first, with Jack and John, Pete and Jackie and Rose and Tony following close behind. They were only able to go down two floors and then the Master started down a left corridor right away.
"You know the way?" Jack asked him.
"Yes, the TARDIS knows that the Doctor is unconscious and that I have him, so she's leading me to her."
"Oh," Jack said. "But wait a moment, we need to wait for the others, or they'll get lost!"
The Master sighed and slowed his pace. Jack knew that was the best he was gonna get, so he slowed his own pace a little more, keeping the Master in sight but hanging back enough for the lift to make it back down to them before they went too far. There were a few Judoon laying unconscious in this hallway, whatever knocked them out had a long reach, the Master thought.
Next was Rhys with Donna and Wilfred, Gwen and Anwen, Leo and Tish, Clive and Francine with Martha and Owen tagging behind. They reached the right floor, and started after the others, who were a little ways ahead of them. They went quickly and carefully, Owen tagging behind the others, waiting for the lift with the others.
Last was Mickey and Luke with Sarah Jane and Tosh and Ianto with Sylvia and Jake was with them to press the buttons, as the other's hands were full. They stepped out of the lift, slowly. Owen was waiting for them and he gestured them in the right direction. He followed behind them, keeping watch for awakening Judoon.
The Master found his way to a set of stairs, Judoon were strewn across them, making it difficult to maneuver. But he just stepped on them, it was easier. Jack did the same, the others were too kind for that, so it took them longer, but they all managed to get down the two flights of steps. They left the stairwell just as the Judoon were starting to stir. The Judoon started moving and trying to sit up and several of the women shrieked as a Judoon moved next to them.
The Master made it to a storage room, he could see the TARDIS and he smiled. Even though there were about three dozen Judoon surrounding it, conscious ones. He slowed and hefted the Doctor over his shoulder, freeing his weapon arm. He took aim just as the Judoon saw them and aimed their guns at them. Just for the fun of it, he lasered them all in half with one slow swipe of his screwdriver. He smirked and stepped over the steaming dead rhino pieces and made his way to the TARDIS, he was about to fret over finding the key in the Doctor's pocket, when the door flung open on it's own. He flew inside, Jack and everyone else following quickly behind. He laid the Doctor, gently, onto the pilot seat and started dashing around the console and started flipping switches. No one stopped him, not even the TARDIS.
Some of them looked at the blue box, perplexed about how they were all going to fit in there, the ones who had never been in it. Those same people gawped when they made it through the door. Everyone was gathered around the console, staring at it.
Owen was the last one in. He went inside, stopped, backed out, went all the way around it and then went back in.
"It's bigger on the inside!" Owen and half a dozen others said at the same time.
"Yes! Now get in here and close the damn door!" the Master bellowed.
Owen did as he was told and the Master threw the Dematerialization lever and the TARDIS shuddered into life.
The TARDIS vanished as a whole platoon of Judoon entered the storage room.
A man in a white suit with black hair and red eyes, watched the TARDIS vanish on a computer monitor, he growled and slammed his fist against the desk.
"Damn!" he growled. "I need to get him back! Were you able to trace their path?"
A slimey green, slightly humanoid creature next to him, shook its head and spoke in a voice that sort of sounded like a deep winded cricket, "No, time works differently in this universe, it's more complex than in ours. There is a time vortex, not a time pool, and the Doctor's vessel seems to have the ability to drift inside the vortex, outside of time; he left, but didn't go anywhere."
"What the hell is that supposed to mean?"
"Sorry, sir. There is no way to know."
"Then send troops to every era in human society! Since the Doctor seems to love them so much, he'll be more comfortable with them and he's sure to go to them in some safe era, or so he thinks will be safe. We'll make sure to catch him though!"
"Yes, sir!"
The TARDIS stopped shuddering from its take-off. The Time Rotor was still going and the Master relaxed a little, so did everyone else. Mostly, some of them were still gawping.
"Are we just in the vortex?" Jack asked.
"Yes, I figured we needed a chance to collect ourselves before we go anywhere. Especially considering how they brought us there in the first place. If we aren't anywhere, they can't find us, can they?" the Master smirked.
"I suppose not," Jack conceded.
"You mean, we're not going home?" Rhys asked, obviously confused and getting angry.
"Not yet," Jack answered him. "We need to make sure everyone is okay and properly fed and rested and figure out what the hell to do in case we run into those psychos again."
The Master turned and picked the Doctor up, his skull flashed but he just gritted his teeth and made his way to the Med Bay. Martha, Rose and Jack had everyone follow.
"How far does this go?" Gwen asked.
"Still haven't found the end yet," Jack snickered.
Gwen nodded in wonder, Rhys didn't seem to care - he just wanted to put the heavy Donna and Wilfred down, Leo and Clive looked both scared and excited carrying Tish and Francine. The rest of the Torchwood team were fascinated, especially Tosh.
"Do you think the Doctor will let me have a look at how it all works?" Tosh asked, trying to look at everything all at once and trying to carry her half of Sylvia.
"Will you pay attention, Tosh?" Ianto barked.
"Maybe. We need to get him awake and make sure he's alright first, though," Jack smiled, carrying John into the Med Bay and answering Tosh. Tosh smiled with excitement.
"I hope he does, because I want to know too!" Luke chimed in behind them, carrying his mother with Mickey.
They all made it into the Med Bay and the heavy lifters put their charges down on gurneys. The Med Bay was huge, it was full of countless machines, handheld and larger. There were just enough beds for all the unconscious people.
"Guess the TARDIS is making sure we have everything we need. There's never been this many beds in here," Jack smiled.
"They don't call him 'The Doctor' for nothing, do they?" Owen said, looking around.
"His Medical Bay has always been impressive, as far as I know," Martha said, tending to her mother and sister.
Sylvia shot awake and shrieked with surprise.
"It's okay! You're safe now!" Jack said, walking over to her.
"Oh, where's Donna?" she asked.
Jack stepped aside to show Donna laying in the next bed. Sylvia sighed in relief.
"Is she alright?"
"I'm not sure. The only one who would know, is the Doctor and he's still out cold."
Sylvia got up slowly, sniffled and went to check on her father, on her other side. Francine woke up and Martha greeted her with a smile.
"You're awake! Don't worry, Mum, we're safe now. We're in the Doctor's TARDIS," Martha told her.
Francine visibly relaxed and sighed. She looked to her other daughter, who was still unconscious.
"Jack!" Rhys bellowed. "Anwen isn't waking up! What's wrong with her?"
"Is she going to be alright!" Gwen asked.
"The infant is fine, it's just sleeping. Now, will you all shut the hell up!" the Master shouted. He was bent over the Doctor, checking his vitals and checking his brain waves with a little handheld scanner. He growled and threw the device to the floor. He placed his fingertips on the Doctor's temples and closed his eyes.
Several people walked up to the Doctor's bedside, careful to stay out of the Master's way.
"Is he alright?" Jack dared to ask. The Master didn't answer.
Everyone went quiet and waited. When the Master opened his eyes, he sighed and ran his hands up through his hair.
"What is it?" Jack prompted.
"Nothing," the Master answered. "He's fine, he's just going to be unconscious for a few days."
"Is that the same with John then?" Pete asked.
"Yes, I believe so. He might wake up a bit sooner, though."
"So, why do you looked worried?" Martha asked the Master.
The Master gulped and looked up at them, "I don't have a few days."
"Oh," Martha said, looking scared.
"Well, could you suffice with my artron energy until he does wake up?" Jack asked.
"I don't know, maybe," the Master answered.
"Well, how would you go about completing your resurrection?" Luke asked.
"The Chameleon Arch, but I'd need the Doctor to feed the TARDIS's own energy into me and I doubt she'd do that for me on her own." the Master sighed.
The TARDIS surprised them all, though, with an answering warble. No one understood it, but the Master looked positively gleeful, when he dashed from the Med Bay and headed for the Console Room. Martha, Rose, Luke and most of Torchwood followed, leaving the others to tend to their sleeping friends.
"Is there anything I can do?" Ianto asked Jack.
"Not yet. Just look after everyone here," Jack replied and left to follow the Master to the Console Room.
They emerged into the Console Room and the Chameleon Arch was already dangling from the ceiling, the TARDIS's panel was open and glowing. Tosh and Luke went to look into the open panel but Jack and Rose pulled them away.
"Don't look in there. You never know what it might do to you," Jack said, pushing them back. They looked confused and excited. Jack realized he'd have to keep on his toes with these two. Who knew what trouble they'd get up to, trying to figure out how the TARDIS worked.
Wires snaked their way from the open panel and lay below the Arch. The Master cackled and connected all of the wires to their proper places. He sat down onto the pilot seat and positioned the Arch on his head.
He grinned at them all and said, "This is really going to hurt."
He threw a switch on the console with his foot and started screaming when the Arch activated. Blue energy was curling around the wires and engulfing the Master's body, his skull flashed a couple of times and then he started to glow gold again. This went on for a few minutes, the Master screaming the whole time. The Master's wounds healed and he actually started to look more solid, which was odd because, Jack could have sworn he was solid before this. Apparently he was wrong.
Torchwood, Rose, Martha and Luke were all watching, flabberghasted. When the energy ceased and the Arch turned itself off, the Master's glow faded and he slid to floor, breathing heavily. Then he started laughing, first in a low chuckle and slowly getting louder and higher until it was an insane cackle. They all watched him warily.
He stopped laughing, out of breath and smiled at them, "I'm back!"
TBC