The sound of drums, part 1.
In an alleyway in the middle of London, a Time Vortex suddenly opened, blowing rubbish and poster on the walls around as the Doctor, the Hatter, Martha, and Jack were dumped on the ground before it sealed its self.
"Oh, my head!" Martha groaned, learning heavily against the side of the alley wall, holding her head.
"Tell me about it," the Hatter winced, pulling herself up, rubbing her lower back, "Time travel without a capsule…"
"That's a killer," the Doctor nodded, cracking his neck as Jack did the same before they started walking out of the alley and down the street.
"Still, at least we made it," Jack remarked, looking around the busy street, "Earth, 21st century by the looks of it. Ha ha, talk about lucky".
"That wasn't luck, Jack," the Hatter told him, thinking back to when they were still at the end of the Universe, "That was the Doctor and I".
They made their way over to a set of seats and sat down, the Doctor and the Hatter all the while looking around the street.
"The moral is, if you're gonna get stuck at the end of the Universe," Jack smiled, "Get stuck with an ex-Time Agent and his Vortex Manipulator".
"Or two Time Lords," the Hatter shrugged, eyeing the humans going about their daily lives all around them.
"But this Master bloke," Martha shook her head, frowning, "He's got the TARDIS. He could be anywhere in time and space".
"No, he's here," the Doctor corrected, looking around, "Trust us".
"Who is he, anyway?" Martha wondered, "And that voice at the end, that wasn't the professor".
"If the Master's a Time Lord, he must have regenerated," Jack said to Martha, the Doctor and the Hatter glanced at each other as they heard a faint tapping sound close by. They glanced in its direction to see a homeless man standing a short distance away, tapping on his mug.
"What does that mean?" Martha asked, recalling the Hatter mentioning it a few times before but never explaining it further.
"Changed his face," Jack explained, frowning slightly as he noticed the Doctor and the Hatter watching the homeless man, "Voice, body, everything. New man".
"Then how are we gonna find him?" Martha sighed.
"We'll know him, the moment we see him," the Doctor answered, forcing himself to look back to them, the Hatter gave herself a shack and faced them, "Time Lords always do".
"Most of the time, anyway," the Hatter added, smiling slightly.
"But hold on…" Martha frowned, noticing the 'Vote Saxon' posters all around them, "If he could be anyone…we missed the election," the Doctor and the Hatter slowly stood, catching sight of something as Jack followed them, "But it can't be…"
"Oh, but it is," the Hatter breathed, walking closer to a giant screen that was projecting the news, Martha, the Doctor, and Jack following close behind her.
"Mr Saxon has returned from the Palace and is greeting the crowd inside Saxon Headquarters," the newscaster was announcing, a clip of a man dressed in a black suit, walking down a staircase, surrounded by other people and reporters, a young blonde women at his side.
"I said I knew that voice," Martha gasped, staring at the screen in shock and horror, "When he spoke inside the TARDIS. I've heard that voice hundreds of times. I've seen him. We all have. That was the voice of Harold Saxon".
"That's him," the Doctor and the Hatter stared at the screen, their eyes widening, "He's Prime Minister".
"That is so like him," the Hatter muttered, shaking her head.
"Mr Saxon, this way, Sir!" one of the photographers on the screen called, "Come on, kiss the lady, Sir".
"The Master is Prime Minister of Great Britain," the Doctor breathed as Saxon kissed the blonde women standing at his side, both the Doctor and the Hatter's mouths dropped as they gaped at the screen, "The Master and his wife!"
"I did not see that coming," the Hatter breathed, "How in the name of sanity did he get a wife?" she shook her head, "And I thought him marring my older sister was a massive age gape, now he's gone out and married a human?"
"What?" Martha and Jack blinked but the Hatter shook her head, giving them a look to be quite as the Master stepped forward on the screen, talking into one of the cameras.
"This country has been sick," he said, "This country has been tricked. This country needs healing and laughter. This country needs medicine and fun. In fact, I'd go so far as to say that, what this country really needs, right now…is a doctor and hatter," he grinned widely at the camera.
The Doctor, the Hatter, Martha, and Jack glanced at each other, knowing the true meaning of his speech.
….
It wasn't long after they watched the news cast that they made their way to Martha's flat. They quickly found a car and the Doctor used his sonic to steal it before they drove off, following Martha's directions. It only took them a few minutes to reach an ordinary street were Martha lead them into one of the houses.
"Home," Martha sighed, feeling pleased to be back in her own space as she led the group into her living room. The entire way, the Doctor and the Hatter had been questioning Martha and Jack for information on Saxon.
"What have you got?" the Doctor asked, looking around the small space, "Computer? Laptop? Anything?"
The Hatter turned away from where she had been peeking through the window to see Jack on his phone, "Jack, what are you doing?" she frowned, looking slightly alarmed as the Doctor turned around, "Who are you phoning?"
"You can't tell anyone we're here!" the Doctor added, taking his glasses out and putting them on.
"Just some friends of mine, but there's no reply…" Jack sighed; the Hatter looked away, feeling slightly guilty for letting the stress get to her when she knew that Jack and Martha would be concerned for their friends and family.
"Here we go," Martha found her laptop and passed it to the Doctor, "Any good?"
Before the Doctor could even glance at it, Jack grabbed it and place the laptop on Martha's desk, "I can show you Saxon website," he told them, typing something, "He's been around for ages".
"That's so weird though," Martha shook her head as the Doctor and the Hatter looked over Jack's shoulder to see the computer screen, "It's the day after the election. That's only four days after I met you".
"We went travelling through time and space," the Hatter sighed, looking over her shoulder, "All over the Universe while he was here the entire time. We've been such fools for not noticing it sooner".
Martha crossed her arms, "You two gonna tell us who he is?"
"He's a Time Lord," the Doctor said vaguely.
The Hatter rolled her eyes, "A very foolish one at that. Sadly, he has a brilliant mind, if only he would use it for good".
"You said something about him being married to your sister," Martha pointed out.
"I would hardly call it marriage," the Hatter shook her head, "They were married for seventy years or so before he dumped her. I have no idea why they even married in the first place but I think it might have something to do with the fact my sister and I looked almost exactly alike, she was slightly taller than me, though. She was two hundred years older than myself and the Master".
"He always did have a thing for you," the Doctor muttered, looking upset as he thought about it.
"That was centuries ago, Doctor," the Hatter shrugged, "I doubt he still has feeling for me, if anything, he probably hates me as much as you".
"What about the rest of it then?" Martha asked, frowning, "I mean, who'd call himself the Master?"
"That's all you need to know," the Doctor told her seriously, turning to Jack, "Come on, show us Harold Saxon".
Martha sighed, relishing that she wasn't going to get anything else at of them so she turned away and checked her answering machine, seeing that she had a message, "Martha, where are you?" Tish's voice came over, making the Hatter blink and look up before realising that it was just the machine, "I've got this new job. You won't believe it. It's weird, they just phoned me up out of the blue. I'm working for…"
Martha rolled her eyes, "Like it matters," she mumbled, turning it off.
"I'm voting Saxon," Martha looked up as she heard the voice Sharon Osborn coming from over were the Doctor, the Hatter, and Jack were sitting around the laptop, "He can tick my box any day".
"Vote Saxon!" McFly came on next as Martha walked over to see for herself, "Go Harry!"
Next was Ann Widdercombe, "I think Mr Saxon is exactly what this country needs. He's a very fine man," she glanced at Saxon who was standing beside her, "And he's handsome too".
Jack stoped the campaign commercials and started reading information of Saxon's website, "Former Minister of Defence. First came to prominence when he shot down the Racnoss on Christmas Eve," he glanced at the Doctor and the Hatter who were sitting on Martha's sofa, "Nice work, by the way".
"Oh, thanks," the Doctor said absentmindedly, the Hatter didn't bother to comment as she was too lost in thought.
Martha walked forward, "He goes back years," she told them, looking at the computer, "He's famous. Everyone knows his story. Look. Cambridge University, Rugby blue, won the Athletics thing, wrote a novel, went into business, marriage, everything. He's got a whole life".
The Hatter sighed, running her hand through her hair before standing, "Let's see what else I can find out about Saxon," she gestured for Martha and Jack to move so she could sit in front of the laptop and began typing, "Shouldn't take too long".
"Right, I'll go and make some tea," Jack said, heading into Martha's kitchen as the Doctor came up behind the Hatter, watching her, after a while of them sitting in silence, "But he has the TARDIS," he called to them, "Maybe the Master went back in time and has been living here for decades".
The Doctor and the Hatter shook their heads, "No".
"Why not?" Jack asked, walking back into the room, somehow holding four cups of tea, "Worked for me".
"When he was stealing the TARDIS, the only thing that I could do was fuse the coordinates," the Hatter explained, not taking her eyes of the computer screen as Jack put a cup beside her, passing another cup to the Doctor, "I locked them permanently".
"He can only travel between the year 100 trillion and the last place the TARDIS landed," the Doctor added, "Which is right here, right now".
"Yeah, but a little leeway?" Jack raised his eyebrows.
"Well…18 months, tops," the Doctor said thoughtfully, glancing at the Hatter who nodded, "The most he could have been here is 18 months. So how has he managed all this? The Master was always sort of….hypnotic…" the Hatter laughed, "What?"
"Sort of hypnotic?" the Hatter raised her eyebrows, glancing at him, "How many companions of yours did he put under his influence? Or though, you are right, he never did something this massive. It would have been extremely draining on his mind," she shook her head, "He once tried it on me when we were only in school. Too bad for him that my mind is stronger than his".
"You have always been strong minded," the Doctor grinned, kissing her forehead.
"I was gonna vote for him," Martha told them, making everyone look at her.
"Really?" the Doctor and the Hatter frowned.
"Well, it was before I even met you," Martha shrugged, "And I liked him".
"Me too," Jack nodded.
"Why do you say that?" the Doctor asked, eyeing them, "What was his policy? What did he stand for?"
"I dunno," Martha shook her head, looking off into the distance, looking slightly dreamy, "He always sounded…good," she started tapping the same rhythm that the homeless man hand being doing, the Doctor and the Hatter began to grow even more concerned, "Like you could trust him. Just nice. He spoke about…I can't remember, but it was good. Just the sound of his voice…"
"What's that?" the Doctor asked, staring at her hands.
"What?" Martha jumped, coming out of the strange trance she appeared to be under.
"That!" the Doctor and the Hatter said slightly louder, pointing at her hands, "That tapping, that rhythm! What are you doing?"
"I dunno," Martha shrugged, looking confused, "It's nothing. It's j…I dunno!"
Suddenly a tune started playing on the computer, making them all turn and look at it as it announced Saxon's broadcast live on the website. The Doctor jumped out of his chair and turned Martha's TV on, "It seems out lord and master is speaking to his kingdom," he commented.
The Master appeared a moment later, sitting in front of a fireplace in the Cabinet Room, "Britain, Britain, Britain," he smiled, sounding like a proper Politian, "What extraordinary times we've had. Just a few years ago, this world was so small. And then they came, out of the unknown, falling from the skies".
The Hatter glanced at the Doctor as a clip of a Slitheen ship was shown, hitting Big Ben, "You've seen it happen," the Master continued, "Big Ben destroyed, a spaceship over London," more clips were shown, "All those ghosts and metal men. The Christmas star that came to kill. Time and time again the government told you nothing. Well not me. Not Harold Saxon. Because my purpose here today is to tell you this…citizens of Great Britain…I have been contacted," the Doctor and the Hatter exchanged looks, "A message, for humanity, from beyond the stars".
The Master nodded to someone off camera as the footage changed and a silver sphere appeared, flouting in mid-air, "People of the Earth, we come in peace," the sphere told them in a childlike voice, "We bring great gifts. We bring technology and wisdom and protection. And all we ask in return is your friendship".
"Ooh sweet," the camera switched back to the Master, "And this species has identified itself. They're called the Toclafane".
"What?" the Doctor and the Hatter almost shouted. The Toclafane had been nothing more than a bed time story that was told by older children to their younger brother and sister to frighten them, they most certainly never existed.
"And tomorrow morning they will appear," the Master continued, "Not in secret, but to all of you. Diplomatic relations with a new species will begin. Tomorrow, we take out place in the Universe. Every man, women, and child. Every teacher and chemist and lorry driver and farmer. And every…oh, I don't know…medical student?"
The Doctor and the Hatter whipped around to look at Martha before the Doctor spun the TV around to revel a bomb strapped to the back, counting down. They jumped up, the Hatter grabbing the laptop as Jack pulled Martha out with him. The Doctor quickly pulled the Hatter out just as an explosion went off in the abounded flat behind them, spraying them with glass.
"Alright?" the Doctor asked, looking around at them as they pulled themselves up from the road.
"Fine, yeah, fine," Jack said, pulling himself up.
"Hatter?" the Doctor turned to her, grabbing her shoulders and started looking her up and down to check for injures until she hit his arm.
"I'm fine," she rolled her eyes, looking around to see Martha was on her mobile, "Martha?"
"What are you doing?" the Doctor demanded, turning around to see for himself.
"He knows about me," Martha told them, focusing on her phone, "What about my family?"
"Don't tell them anything!" the Doctor warned.
"I'll do what I like!" Martha snapped, glaring at him until someone answered the phone, "Mum? Oh my God, you're there!" she turned and walked a short distance away, still talking while the Doctor, the Hatter, and Jack were left to stand back and wait.
"Dad!" Martha suddenly gasped, turning around to face the others, looking shocked, "What are you doing there?" she waited a moment, "Dad? Just say yes or no. is there someone else there?"
They watched as her mouth dropped in horror, "Dad!" Martha called, "What's going on? Dad?" she shook her head, running toward the car, "I've gotta help them!"
"That's exactly what they want!" the Doctor called after her, frowning, "It's trap!"
"I don't care!" Martha shouted, trying to open the door as the Hatter walked over to her, she quickly whirled around and glared at the Time Lady, "There my family!"
"Yes," the Hatter said calmly, looking slightly amused as she held out her hand, "And despite this being a trap, I agree that we should try and help them. But I do have a slight issue…"
"What?"
"You driving," the Hatter smiled, "Jack may be immortal but the rest of us aren't and I would rather hold off on regenerating until everything is sorted, I rather like this body. May I have the keys, Miss Jones?"
"Hatter…." The Doctor started but he cut off by a glare the Hatter sent him.
"Doctor, you used to let me drive old Bessie and you loved that car," the Hatter said, turning back to look at Martha, "If I could drive her then I think I can drive a boring car like this one".
Not waiting for the Doctor to reply, Martha shoved the keys in the Time Ladies hand and jumped in the back, followed by Jack. The Doctor rubbed the back of his neck as he got in the front, eyeing the Hatter as she hoped in the drivers and started the engine.
"Put your seatbelts on, kids," the Hatter called back, grinning as she cracked her knuckles, "Something you don't know about me, Jack, Martha," she glanced at them in the revision mirror, "I love to speed," and with that, she took off down the street, wheels spinning, laughing.
"I knew this was a bad idea!" Doctor groaned, the Hatter only laughed louder as she drove recklessly down the road, "Corner!" the Doctor suddenly shouted, leaping across and grabbing the steering wheel, turning it sharply, making the wheels squeal loudly.
"Back street driving," the Hatter muttered, batting his hands away with one hand, "I'm in perfect control…"
"Look out for that truck!" Jack shouted from the back, the Hatter quickly turned the wheel and passed the truck, quickly getting back to the right side of the road before anything else could happen.
"See?" the Hatter smiled, sighing in relief, the Doctor stared at her in disbelief, "Perfect control. Martha, give your family a call, try to warn them if you can".
Martha took her phone out and dialled, "C'mon, Tish. Pick up…"
"Martha, I can't talk right now," Tish answered, "We just made first contact. Did you see…what are you doing?" there was a thump as she dropped the phone, "Get off! Linda, tell them!"
"What happened?" Martha shouted into the phone desperately, "Tish!" she looked up and glared at the Doctor, "It's your fault! It's all your fault!"
The Hatter winced slight, turning the wheel sharply before hitting the brakes quickly at seeing Martha's parents being forced into a van, men and women all around them with guns.
"Martha!" Martha's mother cried, spotting them, "Get out of here! Get out!"
The group of police took position, ready to fire.
"Sometimes I hate being right," the Hatter sighed, quickly reversing as they aimed their guns, she did a 3-point turn, speeding off as fast as she could as they opened fire, "Duck!" she shouted over her shoulder to Jack and Martha.
Jack and Martha ducked just as bullets hit the back window, shattering it.
"The only place we can go…planet Earth," Martha rolled her eyes, looking extremely upset, "Great".
"Careful!" the Doctor shouted as the Hatter turned a corner sharply, making the tyres sequel.
"I know what I'm doing, Doctor," the Hatter shook her head, "We need to ditch this car".
"We gotta pull over," Jack agreed, "Right now!"
The Hatter turned another corner and drove down a steep hill. She slowed down and pulled up, turning the car off as they started on foot.
"Martha, come on!" the Doctor called, looking over his shoulder to find her already on her phone, trying to warn her brother.
They continued walking until Martha started shouting, "Let them go, Saxon!" they turned around, the Doctor and the Hatter running over to her, "Do you hear me? Let them go!"
The Doctor quickly grabbed her phone as the Hatter gestured for Jack to help Martha before she ran over to the Doctor, listening to everything that was being said, "We're here," the Doctor told the Master.
"Doctor," the Master replied, sounding slightly breathless as if he hadn't really expected to hear from them, "Hatter".
"Master," they replied in unison.
"I like it when you use my name," the Master said before adding, sounding as if he was smirking, "Especially you, Hatter".
"Still fooling yourself I see," the Hatter said coldly, putting a hand on the Doctors arm as he looked as if he was about to throw the phone, "I thought I told you that I'm not interested in lunatics, especially ones who kill people I like. Besides…" she glanced at the Doctor, smiling slightly, "I've got someone much better".
The Doctor grinned, talking back into the phone, "You chose yours. Psychiatrist's field day".
"Oh, that was a good one," the Hatter whispered to the Doctor, "Why didn't I think of that?"
"What can I say so you won't hit me?" the Doctor whispered back but before she could reply, the Master cut her off.
"As you chose yours," the Master said, "The man who makes people better and the women who makes people laugh with…"
"A touch of madness," the Hatter cut in, remembering telling him the same thing once before, "Or tries to, anyway".
"How sanctimonious is that?" the Master continued.
"So…" the Doctor cut in, "Prime Minister".
"I know," they could almost hear him smirking, "It's good, isn't it?"
"Who are those creatures?" the Doctor asked, frowning, "'Cause there's no such thing as the Toclafane. It's just a made-up name like the Bogeyman".
"Do you remember all those fairy tales about the Toclafane when we were kids?" the Master asked, the Hatter sighed and nodded, already guessing that was where he got the name from, "Back home. Where is it, Doctor, Hatter?"
"Gone," the Doctor and the Hatter swallowed hard, feeling sick that he didn't already know.
"How can Gallifrey be gone?" he demanded.
"It burnt," the Hatter breathed.
"And the Time Lords?"
"Dead," the Doctor said, "And the Daleks…more or less. What happened to you?"
"The Time Lords only resurrected me because they know I'd be the perfect warrior for a Time War," the Master explained, "I was there when the Dalek Emperor took control of the Crucilform. I saw it. I ran," the Hatter shivered, remembering reading the first hand reports, she could understand why, "I ran so far. Made myself human so they would never find me because…I was so scared".
"We know," the Doctor sighed.
"All of them? But not you, which must mean…"
"He was the only one who could end it," the Hatter cut him off, closing her eyes painfully, "If there was any Time Lord that needed to live, it was the Doctor. And I tried. I tried so hard to find a way for him not to be alone," she opened her eyes and looked at the Doctor, taking his hand and holding it tightly, "I tried everything, even turning myself human in the hope that one day he might find me and no longer be alone".
The Master laughed darkly, "What did it feel like, though Doctor? Two almighty civilizations, burning. Oh, tell me, how did it feel?"
"Stop it!" the Doctor snapped, seeing the guilty looks that passed over the Hatter's face as she closed her eyes tightly, looking away from him.
"You must have felt like God. And you, Hatter, how does it feel to be the one to force your so called friend to do that?"
"How dare you speak to me about friendship," the Hatter hissed, almost shaking with angrier, "I did what I did because the Universe needs the Doctor. Do you really think I wouldn't have done anything else? It killed me and I have never hated anything more then I hated myself in that moment. You of all people have no right, not after the things you have done".
"Touched a nerve did I?" the Master asked, they could hear him grinning madly on the other end.
The Doctor took a deep breath, forcing himself to remain calm not matter how angry he felt, "I've been alone ever since, but then I found the Hatter. And now you. Don't you see? All we've got is each other".
"Are you asking me out on a date?" the Master laughed, not sounding as if he was laughing because he thought it was funny, "Finely over the Hatter, are we? Did you know he used to keep notebooks with drawings of you under a lose floor board in his room at the Academy, Hatter?"
"You could stop this right now," the Doctor tried as the Hatter blinked, looking surprised as she glanced at the Doctor, feeling a faint blush spread across her face, "We could leave this planet. We could fight across the constellations if that's what you want. But not on Earth".
"Too late," the Master replied after a moment.
"What do you mean?" the Hatter asked, dreading the answer.
"The drumming," The Master replied, the Hatter gasped, "You remember the drumming, don't you? I thought it would stop but it never does. Never ever stops. Inside my head, the drumming. The constant drumming".
"We could help," the Doctor pleaded, "Please, let us help".
"The Hatter tried," the Master said, the Hatter shivered as she remembered how horrible it felt to have that rhythm inside her head even for a moment, let alone always, "It's everywhere. Listen, listen, listen. Here comes the drums. Here comes the drums," they frowned as they heard tapping, looking up to see a teenage boy, leaning against a wall as he tapped the beat on his leg.
"What have you done?" the Doctor and the Hatter demanded, looking horrified, "Tell us how you've done this," the Doctor continued, "What are those creatures? Tell us!"
"Ooh, look," the Master said, ignoring them, "You're on TV".
"Stop it!" the Doctor snapped angrily, "Answer us!"
"No, really," the Master sounding as if he was almost laughing, "You're on Telly! You and your little band, which, by the way, is ticking every demographic box. So, congratulations on that. Look, there you are! Ha!"
The Doctor and the Hatter looked inside a shop window to see a TV with a newscast on, picturing photos of them from Lazarus Labs, "…they are known to be armed and extremely dangerous," the news reporter was saying.
"You're public enemy's number one, two, three, and four," the Master informed them, "Oh, and you can tell handsome Jack that I've sent his little gang off on a wild goose chase to the Himalayas so he won't be getting any help from them," the Doctor glanced over to see Martha and Jack watching, he nodded and they walked over, "Now, go on, off you go. Why not start by turning to the right?"
"He can see us," the Hatter gasped, turning around to see a camera. The Doctor pulled out his sonic and flashed it at it, causing the camera to spark as he short circuited it.
"He's got control of everything," the Doctor realised. They could faintly hear the Master still talking over the phone.
"What do we do?" Martha asked, hugging herself.
"We've nowhere to go," Jack added, sighing.
"Doctor, Hatter," Martha glared at them, "What do we do?"
"Run for your life, Doctor, Hatter!" they heard the Master shout over the phone.
The Doctor and the Hatter looked at each, saying in unison, "We run".
And with that, they turned and ran through the shopping arcade, not stopping for a moment.
I bet no one saw the Master being married to the Hatter's sister, hmm? We'll also find out why the Hatter is so angry with the Master about calling himself a friend and it's something the Doctor has never been told. Also, I highly recommend watching this clip: www . you tube watch?v = Jt oEp 4zdq X0, it really is brilliant and it I think it would suit both the third Doctor and the tenth. Hope you liked it, please review :)