Chapter Nine
The laboratory was large and complex; filled with devices and machines that surpassed the time and most of Earth's future. The Rani moved from the different areas, all showing different experiments, admiring her work with a slight sneer.
"Please let me go!" came a voice from the far of the room. The Rani looked over to the metal cage which sat in the corner; residing within that cage was a scrawny man dressed in rags, sitting on a pile of straw. He began to cry; this only made The Rani want to laugh at how pathetic he was. "I'll do anything!"
The Rani turned her head with a snap and glared at him. "The only thing I want from you is your body."
"I can't be a father!" he interrupted.
"I don't want to reproduce with you!" The Rani spat. "I want to experiment on you." Rani turned her head, flicking her hair over her shoulder, and saw the needle sitting on the side. The liquid inside was glowing; it was finally ready. "And now it's ready."
The Time Lady swiped the concoction off the side and made her way towards him.
"What's that!" he exclaimed; wriggling towards of the cage.
"It's a little thing I've been working on," she replied; drawing nearer. "I'm trying to see if I can create a poison which kills almost instantaneously. This is what I've come up with after at least ten test subjects; the first of which died screaming for over an hour." She closed her eyes for a moment as if to imagine it. "I'll never make that mistake again. What a noise."
The Rani then crouched by the cage and stared at him with curiosity. "I think you'll be a screamer. I can always tell." She flicked the needle. "Now lean forwards for me and prepare to scream."
"I don't think that will be necessary," Kara said; yanking the Rani by her hair and flinging her from the cage to the far wall.
The Rani hit the wall and grunted. She turned around, still leaning against the stone surface behind her. "How did you-"
"Sneak up on you?" Kara asked; interrupting her. "I worked for six months in a U.N.I.T covert operations group; I'm great at sneaking up on my targets."
"Targets?" The Rani asked; almost confused. "Who are you?" Her hand slowly made its way towards a nearby surface; littered with devices.
"I'm Kara Landy, soldier, time traveller and the woman who's about to kick your arse."
The Rani clasped a photon blaster and fired. Kara dodged the strike and slid across the stone floor; ducking behind the counter. She noticed that part of the mortar holding the bricks together was chipping away.
"Using firearms on an unarmed opponent," Kara remarked as she started scratching her finger nails along the cracks between the bricks. "That's not very honourable."
"Who said I have to be?" The Rani swept the weapon across the room; ready to fire.
Kara scooped up a handful of the chipped mortar and dust. "Great, that'll make my job a whole lot easier." The Irish woman rose out from behind the counter, dodging a random misfire from the Time Lady and threw the contents of her hand in her direction. The dust covered The Rani; forcing her to close her eyes.
Kara leapt at her; one hand on the blaster and another readying a strike. As the Rani blinked away the dust, Kara extended her opponent's arm, brought it to her chest and swung her other hand over the limb. An audible crack resounded and the Rani screamed.
The Time Lady tried to make a blind swing for her face but Kara blocked it with her forearm and punched her in the stomach; winding her. The Rani gasped and stumbled backwards. Not giving The Rani time to make random strikes; Kara grabbed The Rani by the neck and swept her feet out from under her.
The Rani's head hit the brick flooring and instantly passed out.
Kara panted, feeling the adrenaline rushing through her. She flicked her hair out of her eyes and grabbed random cables from the nearest counter top. Bending down; she bound the woman's hands and feet, she wasn't letting her get away again.
"Please help me!" shouted the man in the cage.
Kara had forgotten about him. She rose to her feet and strutted over to the cage. She realised the key was in the lock; how had the trapped man not noticed? Kara turned the key and pulled the door wide open.
"You'd better run," Kara told him. "Guards will be swarming here in a few minutes; so get out by then."
"Thank you," he smiled; turning on the balls of his feet and breaking into a run. He sprinted out of the door. "Thank you!"
Kara smiled to herself. It felt good; saving people. Was that why The Doctor did it? To feel good? Being the narcissist he was; probably.
Pushing the thought aside, she swiped The Rani's weapon and shoved it into her while pocket while Kara bending her knees. With a solitary grunt, she hauled The Rani over her shoulder. Luckily the woman was light so carrying her down shouldn't be a problem; the hard part was yet to come.
No, no, no! You imbecile! Heat travels along metal because of the atomic bonding! It's the electron's!" The Monk berated, swiping with pudgy fingers at the Friar. "It has nothing to do with 'God's Word'!"
Kate slipped in to the small chapel quietly, without gaining any notice from its occupants. There were a small group of priests at the altar, watching with great fear as the Monk demonstrated basic physics. It looked amusingly like a failing science lesson. But with a more deadly meaning behind it. This would probably be what the Doctors had meant by 'littering the timeline'.
"Get out of my sight, all of you!" He cried, at once being deserted as the priests raced out of the building.
Kate dodged them, hiding behind a pew before sneaking her way along the wall. She had no idea what she was going to do. Kara was more suited for something like this, she could use force to get rid of the stout Time Lord. All Kate could do was talk him out of it, but the chances of that seemed slim. Too slim to even recognise, if what her Doctor had said was true. What was she doing?
"Come out, my dear." The sickly oversweet voice of the Monk called to her. "I know you're here."
Even the element of surprise was lost to her now.
"Do you know why?" She asked back, standing to face him from the safety of three pews away.
"You're an associate of the Doctor, no doubt here to convince me to stop." The Monk sneered, looking at her with an air of superiority. "You know, I met one of his first companions. An annoying little woman. I think her name was Vicki."
"I met another one of his old friends. Clara." Kate replied, feeling small in his arrogant gaze.
"So you know it won't last forever. Very good." He said, taking a few steps towards her. "You're just a speck in the lives of the Time Lords. One day, you'll be another ghost to him."
"It's better to spend time while you have it."
"But why would you spend it with such a tricky individual?" He asked, turning the corner to face her. "Don't you see? The Doctor isn't on the path of light. He's shrouded in shadow. All of him. Did he ever once mention all those people he travelled with? Clara? Vicki? Tamsin? Lucie?"
"Stop it." Kate said, quietly.
"Peri? Adric? Sarah Jane?"
"Please, stop it." She insisted.
"Kara? Scarlett? Fitz? Jack?"
"I said stop!" Kate shouted, surprising herself with her force.
The Monk stopped, a pleased smile spreading across his fat face. He had got to her, found that one weakness all his companions had. That thought where, since the Doctor took them with him, they were special. As if they mattered in the universe. The Renegades all knew that a measly human would never matter as much to the cosmos as a Time Lord did.
"Did he ever once tell you about Susan? She was his granddaughter. She was the very first to go with him. I still remember that news, on Galifrey, all those years ago. The misfit and his descendant fleeing the planet in a worn out TARDIS." The Monk continued advancing, almost meeting Kate now. "Some girl, not even a high rank of Time Lady, helped him escape."
Kate stared at him now. He was only just taller than her, but the fear in her eyes betrayed her brave stance against him. The words he spoke, they very well could have been the truth. But she knew they weren't.
"He runs because he doesn't want to face those ghosts. After all the damage he's done, he's barely worthy of that high title. He chose 'the Doctor' because he helped people. But his future name is much more befitting."
Roughly, the Monk grabbed Kate's arm and dragged her to the altar, forcing her down in front of his makeshift physics apparatus.
"You see, I help people. I really do. The Doctor will tell you that these people, right now, can't have an understanding of the world around them. He holds onto the long dead laws of my long dead people." The Monk lectured, grabbing Kate's hair and now forcing her to look at him. "Those are the laws that give him power, that he uses to stop us."
"You're wrong." Kate said, eyes wet with fear. "The Doctor isn't any of those things."
"But he is! And we should know! The Master, the Rani, the War Chief. They all know him much better than you do!" He bellowed. "We know his true name!"
"His name doesn't matter." She returned, holding on to her faith in him. "What you know of him doesn't matter."
The Monk let go of her to listen. This would be fun, bearing the pathetic arguments of apathetic creature.
"You think you're doing what's right for everyone. You do it for selfish reasons. It's your names that matter. 'Master'. 'Rani'. 'War Chief'. Those are grand titles, but they don't carry a promise for anyone but their bearers. They chose those because they want to rule. He chose 'Doctor' because he could help people. In any way he could, every way he could. He would make the difficult decisions, life and death in keeping with right and wrong he has no control over." She calmly said, not taking her eyes off the Monk.
He couldn't find a flaw with her argument. If anything, she eloquently detracted from his points.
"And he doesn't forget us because we shame him. He doesn't forget us. I saw it, when he saw Clara. The pain of loss. You think we don't live long enough to matter to him, but we do. His friends remind him of all the things he fights for, they're why he continues. And he's why we continue. He's why I'm here, asking you to stop this. You can live peacefully, he'll give you anything if you come peacefully. I know he will. He's kind."
The Monk hit her. His soft, flabby palm smacked across her face at an unnatural speed with unnatural strength. How dare she suggest the Doctor is the great man everyone thinks he is. He was no better than the rest of them.
"He'll give me anything except what I want! He can't let me have that!" He began yelling. "You stupid girl! Talking about this man with such high zeal! That arrogant, big headed, evil-…"
The Crucifix struck him before he even noticed it moving. Kate had reached the first thing to hand, the very object he had been demonstrating conduction on, and swiped at him in a fit of anger so unlike her. He swung around, dazed and shocked, before his eyes rolled back in his head and he fell to the cold, stone floor.
Kate dropped the cross, horrified at her action. Never had she snapped like that, but never had she faced a man like that. She had given up her morals in those few seconds, given up convincing this Time Lord there was another way before she had a chance. He was so repulsive, and she was so weak to have taken up arms against him.
She sat next to the unconscious Monk in silence, shaken by what had just happened.
Moments later, the door to the chapel burst open as Kara rushed on wielding pistol.
"Are you alright?!" She cried, rushing to Kate and taking aim around the room. "The Doctor said you'd gone to get the Monk, and-…"
She stopped when she noticed the still figure on the floor, the cross lying beside it. Then she looked up and saw the red mark on Kate's face, the way her hair was stuck up at an odd angle on one side. It didn't take long to figure out what happened.
"Looks like Kate's got claws." Kara joked, trying to break the tension.
Kate looked up, distressed by the situation. "Don't tell the Doctor." She whispered, taking a cover from the altar and draping it over the Monk.
"Mine or yours?"
"You know which one." Kate said, before walking out of the chapel to get some air.
Steel on steel had become an unfortunately familiar sound to the Doctor. He had managed to avoid it in his previous life and this, but nothing masked that homely, sickening familiarity that came with its reappearance.
This was a part of himself he had tried to leave behind. Yes, he had been the War Doctor, and yes, he had battled for centuries as Chinboy, but they were needed. They were prepared. He wasn't. It was apparent he was more like the first few incarnations; fighting with words rather than actions. Earthbound Fancypants had been the exception. That one was more like the parallel. The 'Fifteenth' as he'd labelled himself. Where he had left war behind him, this counterpart revelled in battle.
Such as it was, he felt like he had drawn the short straw in facing the War Chief. The breeze flapped through his coat and sent his dark locks all over the place as he watched his fellow Time Lord battle a shaking Knight. Mud squelched under their feet as their blades met, again and again. The Chief seemed to enjoy. The Doctor knew he was capable of some much more in combat.
He waited quietly by the entrance to the training yard until his adversary noticed him.
"They sent you?" The War Chief said, eyes off his opponent but no less effective in battle. "I knew you would escape, but I didn't think you would come and face me."
"To be perfectly honest, I thought the same." The Doctor agreed. "But Mugsy insisted on taking on Good King Arthur upstairs, and our friends went after the other two."
The War Chief knocked the Knight down, sweeping his legs out from under him. The sword was then brought down on the helmet, dazing the downed guard before a neck chop sent him unconscious.
"That was merciful." The Doctor commented, wondering just how much damage that strike did.
"Soldiers should only be killed on the battlefield." The War Chief explained. "Anything else is pointless."
"Says the great strategist who ran away from the war." The Doctor returned, stepping out into the yard to meet.
"It was obvious someone would have to carry on our race. We had to survive."
"Now you sound like a Dalek." He said, smirking slightly. "The War Chief, the man who was brave enough to change the power source of the Citadel. The man who formulated and executed one of the greatest tactical strategies in history to take on the Mutter's Spiral. The man who attempted to steal my lives long before the Master did."
"What are you getting at, Doctor?" The War Chief was scowling at these memories.
"You're a great man. One of the most brilliant people I've ever met. You could help me." The Doctor said, the loneliness returning to him. "The plan is take you and comrades, and seal you back in the void, but that doesn't have to be the way."
The two Time Lords stood opposite each other, the War Chief towering over the Doctor. He seemed to regard the 'great warrior' thoughtfully, ready to hear the offer.
"The Time Lords aren't gone. They're just lost, in a pocket dimension." The Doctor was imploring his enemy to do what was good for both races. "I have been searching for them for so long, and I know you can help save them."
"You locked them away, safely? Where the universe won't know if they lived or died?" The War Chief asked, disbelieving.
"Yes." The Doctor whispered, only just close enough to be heard. "You can free them Magnus. Think about how they would reward you, be grateful for your service. You can lead them out of that stagnating society and begin a new Galifreyian history, free of the inadequacies of the old one."
The War Chief was startled at the use of his true name. He could be Magnus again, that boy who dreamed of leading his people to new enlightenment. Not this scarred, landless conqueror, who ran with cowards from the battle.
"You and I can battle it out forever afterwards. We need only save our people, reinstall them into the universe, then we can settle the score. Come with me. Forget this idea of conquest. Please." The Doctor begged, hoping he would see the truth.
For a moment, the briefest glimmer of a moment, the War Chief seemed convinced. But then his gaze hardened.
Before he could even register, the War Chief smacked the Doctor and sent him flying into the bricks of the castle. In his daze, the bear of a Time Lord leapt towards his enemy, swinging the sword wildly at his neck.
Only just did he avoid the fatal strike. He tried to role away, but the Chief grabbed his coat, and lifted him off the ground; sword forgotten.
"You think I'd fall for that?!" He roared, flinging the Doctor back into the corridors. "We weren't isolated in the Void! We could hear whispers from all kinds of reality!"
The Doctor attempted to get back to his feet, but was knocked down by the Chief, who began beating him mercilessly.
"We know what you become!" The fear was unmistakable in his voice, as he kicked the Doctor further into the castle. "Even you must know of the Valeyard!"
There was brief respite in the attacks, a pause which the Doctor used to prop himself up. His nose was bleeding from the strike, but otherwise it appeared this body was one of the more durable ones. It would take a longer time before any real damage was done.
"I escaped the Valeyard." He insisted, horrified that this could still be his destiny but masking it with certainty. "He was averted before I could be him."
"You're wrong Doctor." The War Chief stood over him, having retrieved the sword. "So many worlds already have a Valeyard. In some, past versions of you combat him. In others; you are worse than the Master."
He placed the sword at the Doctor's neck, meeting no resistance as the news was taken in. Measuring up the blow, he drew the blade back to shoulder height, ready to deliver the strike.
"I will kill you here, take your TARDIS and find the Time Lords myself." The War Chief swore a promise to his people. "Anything to save the universe from you."
The Doctor eyed the blade held high above him, before meeting the War Chief's gaze.
"The best part is; I can rid two worlds of the Doctor, and get rid of your insipid companions as well."
He started to swing the blade, eyes still focused on the Doctor's. The soft worry fell into unburdened anger at this last statement, and the most inhuman snarl sounded from the downed Time Lord.
"Like hell you will!" He yelled, leaping up, dodging the blade and gripping at the War Chief's oversized head. Each of his fingers on one hand fell across the crescent scar. "Contact!"
The War Chief was instantly swept from the real world, and found himself deposited in a burning city from the Doctor's memory. The ghosts of crying children and screaming adults filled this place, crashing ships falling from the sky and the unending noises of war echoing through the streets. Bullets, blaster weapons and the sound of steel on steel became a cacophony of death. But the War Chief knew this place. He had lived here, worked here. Been born, married and ruined in the city. Arcadia.
"You think it's easy? Ceaselessly fighting?" A younger voice said.
The War Chief looked around to find a tall, saintly handsome man in a green blazer scowling at him.
"You strategized how to win, but never did you go through this!" The green dressed man yelled.
Before his eyes, the figure morphed into a big chinned, bow tie wearing gentleman in a purple coat and a bow tie.
"I've fought for peace in a universe split by evil and hatred!" Big Chin growled, before twisting into a messy little fellow with a bowl haircut. "I've battled the likes of you, and the Daleks, and Cybermen, and Ice Warriors."
The War Chief watched the horror around him, tears beginning to leak from the corners of his eyes while never losing focus on the figure.
"Youth and hope have been given and taken away from me so many times." A blonde cricketer spat, to be quickly replaced by a leather wearing northerner. "Even when I had nothing, I carried on."
These faces seemed familiar, but the confusion happening around them and rapidly tear blurring vision of the Chief diminished how recognisable they were.
"My freedom has been stripped from me." The now grey haired, velvet clad gent related, phasing into a skinny, nerdy chap. "Loves lost and friends forgotten."
Each transition was grotesque, as if unsequenced.
"Twisted the people I relied on into people ready to take lives." The Scottish bur of an umbrella carrying imp was swapped with an angry looking older man. "Abandoned and disappointed so many."
"Watched the death of my family, my people." A romantic, Edwardian character transitioned into a beat old man, weary eyed with a scruffy beard. "Made decisions no one should ever make. Just so there would be no more bloodshed."
His gravelly, aged voice was the most shocking to the now cowering War Chief. This one blended seamlessly into the ruins, and came back the Trilby wearing man.
"My identity and authority challenged. The lives of many put in the crossfire of right and wrong." This one flourished with colour, as a man on the most ridiculous coat took his place. "You think the ghost of my future will stop me? You think you will stop me?"
The War Chief was dragged up by this demon of a figure, who's many other faces flashed by quickly, each giving their own look of disdain and disgust. Eventually he was faced by an old man; silver haired, wizened and leaning on a cane.
"Ask yourself this, my boy. Do you ever think I will forget the costs? What I have given up to save everything? Hmm?" He berated, intimidating despite his short stature.
"No." The War Chief tearfully said, broken by this onslaught. The images of what he had run from.
"Good." A long haired man in a cutaway coat and a fun waistcoat stood before. "I am the Doctor. And I will give up all my lives before I fall into the evil I have combatted for all of them!"
Fingers left the scar. The War Chief fell to the cold stone floor; a shocked, blubbering, unconscious mess. The Doctor stood over him, wiping the blood from his face, a look of fear etched into his features.
"I gave you a chance." He whispered, before sitting down beside the Chief.
The Throne Room. Elegant and large. It just screamed The Master. The Doctor knew his opponent well; he'd fought him through countless regenerations. He knew that The Master wouldn't be waiting with a gun, ready to shoot him, he'd want to something more elaborate; something long and dull. He would gloat for hours before either of their deaths.
The Doctor pushed open the large doors and entered the space; his coat flapping behind him. He stared forwards as The Master stared back; their eyes locking in battle, first one to look away is the weakest. He had moved his throne off the podium and in front of chest board, another chair in front of that; that was clearly The Doctor's chair. There were no guards inside. Just the two of them; facing off against each other; one on one.
"Hath thou mighty ruler moved himself off his great podium?" The Doctor smirked as the door closed with a bang behind him.
"Ah Doctor, always one with clever quips," The Master replied.
"I prefer; sarcastic remarks."
The Master stared at him with a strange twinkle in his eye. "Please sit down," he motioned to the chair on the other side of the chess board. "You're making the place look untidy."
"Oh it'll look very untidy in a minute," The Doctor replied; making his way over to the chair, still not looking away from The Master. "I'm thinking of covering the walls in red. Not paint; blood, your blood to be precise."
"And here I was thinking I was meant to be the violent psychopath."
The Doctor took a seat. "Oh don't worry, you are." The Time Lord pulled off his leather gloves and stared at the game. "Chess? Since when did we make threats while playing chess? Since when did they have chess in this era?"
"I thought we could spice things up a bit. And I invented the game…well not really but I have now."
"The Master invented chess…that's comforting."
"It's my kind of game," The Master smirked. "It's all about strategy, distraction and deception."
"If only it also included shrinking people down and squashing them with your boot."
"Yes well I had to make some sacrifices," The Master moved a 'pawn' forwards two spaces; still staring into The Doctor's eyes. "So what's your plan?"
The Trilby Doctor stared at the board. "I'm not playing."
"Why not?"
"Because I don't wish to."
"That's not nice; you're my guest, you should play my games."
"I thought it worked the other way round."
"Not in my world it doesn't."
"Oh well then; you could take your rules and shove them right up your-"
"Now, now, Doctor," The Master interrupted. "There's no need to be unpleasant."
"Oh that wasn't unpleasant, I'll show you unpleasant." The Doctor knocked the board off the table, using it as a distraction, while leaning across and punching The Master in the nose.
The Master's throne rocked as the Time Lord took the blow. Blood began to trickle from his nose and The Master grinned. He took his finger and swiped the blood away before licking it. "Blood. Don't you just love the taste?"
The Master leapt forwards from his throne, whipping off his crown and swinging it widely. The Doctor caught his hand and twisted. The Master dropped the crown with a hiss but before he could make a bone break; The Master went in for a kick to the knee. The Doctor dodged the strike, letting the hand go and assuming a strong stance a few steps back.
The Master came forwards once more; going for a haymaker to the face. The Doctor moved fluidly as he ducked under the attack and swung multiple punches into The Master's stomach. The enemy Time Lord reeled back under the strike; giving The Doctor the right amount of time to kick him in the knee. The bone snapped and The Master hit the floor with a short outcry. He clutched the wound.
"What happened to The Doctor whose words were his weapons?"
"I changed," The Doctor replied; cracking his knuckles. "I'm more of a man of action." He straddled The Master, trapping his hands, and swung a wide punch at his face. He swung another and another and another and another and another until he stopped and took in deep, shallow, breaths. He then started again.
Memories of people dying at The Master's hand flashed through The Doctor's mind. The acts he'd performed on The Doctor's past incarnations. The acts of evil that this one being had performed on the universe.
He heard a voice mumbling in the background as he kept swinging punches; over and over and over again. The voice grew, "Doctor!" That's when he felt a firm hand on his shoulder and he spun; ready to punch the owner of the limb and noticed it was Kara. The snarl on his lips died and he lowered his raised fist.
"Doctor!" she exclaimed. "What are you doing?"
The Doctor slowly turned his head around and saw what he'd done. The Master's face was battered, bruised and lumpy. He'd beat him senseless.
Slowly he got off The Master's limp body and picked him up; slinging him over his shoulder.
He noticed that Kate was standing in the doorway; cowering slightly. The Doctor looked at his feet almost sheepish. "I'm sorry." He slowly walked out of the throne room; as he passed Kate and looked into her eyes. "I'm sorry for scaring you." He then left the throne room and made his way down the corridor.
Kate turned to Kara and looked at her. "What was that?"
"I honestly have no idea," Kara replied; walking to the doors. "But it's an improvement I suppose."