A/N) Good news everyone! I have completed CHOICES! It is all finished! Now all I need to do is update! So, every two days I will be updating! :)
Chapter Thirty-Four: The Sound of Drums (part three)
Plans had been made and now Rose Tyler and Martha Jones were in the middle of preparing for an assault on the Master's home in the hope of rescuing the Doctor. Jack was busy discussing with Colonel Mace about the strategy for the operation, as there were some difficulties that would arise once they were on site. For a start the Master had a few UNIT soldiers employed, and they would be loyal to him.
"We need to strike while the iron is hot," said Rose as she looked over the floor plans of the Master's residential homes, or the plans that were available... It was fairly obvious there would be hidden spaces not included on the map, and it was her and Martha's job to work out where hidden spaces might exist. "We don't have long with this strike, Martha. It is tomorrow morning these Toclafane are going to arrive. We need to get in and out before that time, with the Doctor."
Martha was unconvinced. "I don't think the Doctor will be there. If the Master has been planning this for ages then he wouldn't leave the Doctor at his home. He will have no time to go back there. Rose, I think this raid is pointless. We're wasting time, when really we should be keeping an eye on where the Master goes, because where he is, the Doctor will be. He's had this planned for months, worked out every intricate detail. The Doctor won't be there."
Rose was shaking her head, feeling disappointed in her friend. "He'll be too busy to even think about the Doctor, Martha."
"Which is why he would have dealt with him before all of this escalated. From everything UNIT has told us about the Master he isn't someone who doesn't plan every detail, he does. Rose, if I'm wrong I'll gladly apologise, okay?"
Rose sighed. "All right." She scratched the back of her head and leaned back down to look at the map. "So, where do you think UNIT should search?"
Martha frowned, her forehead scrunched up as she considered every option. Finally, she placed one finger on a very small room that was situated in a stand-alone corridor. It seemed to be some-way off from any other rooms in the house. It was on its own, right at the back of the house. "There. That room all on its own, odd isn't? Perfect place to hide a prisoner."
"Or build something underneath it, further underground," added Rose. "So it is a proper prison."
01:00am, 7 hours till launch time
Troops of UNIT soldiers lined outside on the lawns on the Prime Minister's marital home, guns at the ready and all of the regiment were primed to run into the building at Colonel Mace's command. Rose and Martha sat in a UNIT jeep under the watchful eye of new recruit Ross Jenkins.
Rose leaned against the window, her nose pressed up to the glass, her eyes sweeping across the area until she found Jack standing next to Colonel Mace, his own gun still in his holster. "It's not fair that Jack can participate and we cannot."
Martha rolled her eyes. She had heard the same words from Rose ever since Mace had told them they could not be part of the ground force and they would have to wait a safe enough distance away while the raid was carried out. "Look Rose, I've already said this, but Jack can die and come back to life. With him being included it minimises the risk of the other soldiers getting hurt. If Jack goes into uncharted territory first, then he will be able to give them the signal as to whether it is safe to enter or not. Rose, do you want to die?"
"Of course not!" replied Rose furiously. "I just want to help the Doctor and DO something instead of sitting here waiting for it to happen! I'd rather be in the thick of it and at risk of death then be here with boring Ross Jenkins!" She looked apologetically at the soldier. "Look, I'm sorry, but you really are. You have no personality what-so-ever."
"Rose! That was mean!"
"Well, it is true! He never talks!" yelled Rose, her own fury rising. "The only thing he has said since we got into this jeep is 'hello, I'm Ross'."
"He is only a new recruit!"
"And that gives him an excuse to be rude to us and not say a thing?" Rose folded her arms and turned away from Martha, instantly regretting what she had said about Ross, but she couldn't bring herself to apologise just yet. She was too angry and her anxiety over the Doctor wasn't helping her.
A hand was laid on her shoulder and she tried to shrug it off, but a calm voice stopped her. "Rose, I can understand what you are going through. I know you are worried about the Doctor but you've got to keep focused otherwise we are going to fail him. Taking it out on Ross is unfair. Please, just accept that we are out here instead of in there. Out of all those soldiers we are not the ones in danger of losing our lives. Rose, sometimes we can't have it all our own way, sometimes we have to accept others choices for us, no matter how much we may dislike them."
Rose was silent recognising the truth in her friend's words but not wanting to admit it. She was letting her worry for the Doctor cloud her choices but she couldn't help it. She didn't want to lose him, otherwise there wouldn't be much to live for, would there? She sighed and said: "Ross?"
"Yes?" he replied, looking over his shoulder at her.
"I shouldn't have said what I did. I'm sorry. I'm just stressed."
He nodded. "I know: that's why I took no offence."
Rose breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank you Ross."
A thorough search of Saxon's house revealed nothing: it was completely empty. The only evidence they had of the Doctor even being there was a few blood stains in a cell block which the soldiers had discovered when they had entered the lonesome room Martha had pointed out on the map.
The soldiers filed out of the house, Rose opened the door of the jeep and stepped out. Her eyes cast over the soldiers searching for Jack, and then she saw him. His brown eyes sought out her face. She knew instantly by his expression that they had been too late: that the Doctor was gone. Shock overcame her and her knees buckled as she sank to the ground.
"No..."
Jack crouched beside her, wrapping his arms around her. "Rose, I am very sorry. But there was no sign of him. Wherever the Doctor is now..."
"We'll find him, Jack. I know we will," said Rose, adamantly, cutting her friend off.
Martha walked up slowly behind them, her eyes watering. She felt so sorry for Rose. Her friend had truly believed they would find him here. "Come on. We still have a chance. It's not over yet."
Rose swallowed, a tear trailing down her cheek. "I know, but where can we go from here?"
3am – five hours to go
With everyone having returned to the base, Colonel Mace took Martha, Rose and Jack to his desk, where he sat down, hands clasped together. "I received intelligence just over forty-five minutes ago concerning the whereabouts of the Prime Minster and the Doctor."
Rose went white, her hands shaking in trepidation of bad news.
Mace turned his gaze towards Martha. "First I regret to inform you Miss Jones, but for a reason we are unable to fathom, the Prime Minister has taken your parents and your sister into custody. Your brother, fortunately, escaped and has gone underground with his girlfriend and child."
"What?" Martha's mouth hung open in shock. "But why?"
Mace pulled out a pile of paper from his desk and placed it on top. He lifted up the first sheet and showed it to the three of them. "You, Miss Tyler and the Doctor was spotted at the Lazarus party only a few days ago. Your sister was the PR representative. We've been keeping a tab on your family as we had noticed Saxon had an unhealthy interest in you. Investigating further your sister was phoned up out of the blue and offered the job only a week before the function. Our deduction tells us that Mr Saxon, based on what you have told us, was hoping to trap the Doctor... though knowing that his future self was a prisoner at that time does confuse us somewhat."
"If I may, I have an answer to that question," said Jack, leaning forward.
Mace nodded at him to speak.
"I believe that the Master was simply testing out a new toy that he had discovered... and that the Doctor wasn't meant to be involved but due to circumstances he was."
Martha nodded. "That makes sense. If I hadn't needed to return home then we would have never been involved with that..." She bit her lip, as if dreading what she was about to add further. "What if Saxon intended to kill my parents, brother and my sister but the Doctor got in the way? And he failed in that so has waited till now to bring them in..."
"A trap for you, Miss Jones?" Mace questioned.
"Possibly. The Master knows that we are the Doctor's companions, and he must realise that we can still cause him trouble. Taking my parents and my sister in might draw us out." Martha sagged, anger coursing through her. Her family shouldn't be involved with this but they were and all because she travelled with the Doctor. "But it is not going to work. I'm not going to rush blindly into danger to save them."
"If you had wanted to do that, Martha Jones, we would have stopped you," said Mace calmly.
"I know," she replied softly. She lifted her head, facing Mace once more. "You mentioned the Doctor earlier?"
"I did." Colonel Mace leaned back in his chair, a stern expression on his face. "The Prime Minster has taken a plane to the UNIT Carrier, Valiant. It is here the US president will welcome the Toclafane to our world. We didn't know this until recently but it has come to light that Saxon designed the Valiant and submitted it under a posthumous name. In precisely four hours and forty minutes, whatever the Prime Minister has planned will be unveiled. The Master and his wife, along with your family Martha were seen boarding the plane that will take them there. I really hate to say this, but a limp body was seen being carried by two soldiers into the plane as well. We couldn't get exact identification but we believe this was the Doctor."
"So he anticipated the attack on his house and moved the Doctor," said Rose through gritted teeth.
"No," replied Mace. "We believe he moved him before you even arrived here. He was probably intending on doing that, but I don't think he could predict our attack. I'm sorry, but we have no way of getting onto the Valiant undetected. All the UNIT soldiers already posted there are loyal ones to the Master, hypnotised by him to do his bidding. I'm sorry."
"You're wrong." Jack lifted his right hand, pointing his finger at the Colonel. "We do have a way to get onboard. It's a bit unconventional but I have the means to sneak myself, Rose and Martha onboard."
"How?"
Jack lifted up his arm displaying his Time Vortex Manipulator. He was smiling as the Colonel looked on in wonder, as he asked the Captain exactly what the Vortex Manipulator did.
As consciousness began to return to him the Doctor noticed that he was no longer in the cell that he had become accustomed to. Now he was in one completely different, and this time it was more of a cage then a cell, and he was not alone either. He blinked rapidly as his vision returned and he recognised those that were in the prison with him. He tried to move his arms but found to his dismay that the Master had seen fit to tie his hands behind his back and his ankles together too. The Master still obviously thought that the Doctor was a threat to him, but he wasn't. He just didn't have the strength.
He swallowed, his dry throat hurting as he tried to speak. "Hello Mrs Jones."
Francine just glared at him, her dark eyes blazing at him. "I should have known this had something to do with you! If you hadn't gotten involved with my daughter none of this would have happened!"
"Mrs Jones," began the Doctor. "What have I ever done to hurt you? All I've done is to show your wonderful, brilliant daughter the universe. You have been told things that are simply not true about me. Mr Saxon has betrayed you, hasn't he?"
Francine didn't hold back, instead she stood up from the bench she sat on and advanced towards the bound Doctor who cringed as she neared him. "No, you are a terrorist, a threat to a society and you have clearly brainwashed Martha into thinking that you are harmless! Tish as well!"
The Doctor rolled his eyes. It was time to change the direction of the conversation. "Why are you here, Francine? If you were passing information about me to Harold Saxon why has he imprisoned you and your family? Surely now that I am his prisoner he would reward you for all your hard work?"
That caught Francine off-guard enabling the Doctor to continue.
"The truth is Francine is that I've been a prisoner of Saxon's for eighteen months now. He was using you to get to Martha, not to me. He knows that while there are any accomplices of mine still out there he has to eliminate them otherwise they are a threat to him. He used you to get to Martha. You've put your daughter into far greater danger by siding with him and have only got yourself to blame for the predicament you are in. If you had listened to your daughter and given me a chance then you wouldn't be here."
"Don't you dare try to convince me you are sane, Doctor!" hissed Francine. "Eighteen months? Hah! You were with my daughter only a few nights ago so unless you have a serious screw loose, then you are clearly not in the right frame of mind!"
"Mum," began Tish, but she was cut off as Francine glared at her, whispering to her daughter that the Doctor had twisted her mind, but Tish persisted until her mother gave up and let her speak. "Let me just say this before you condemn him: look at his eyes and forget everything that you have been told about him. Look at him with a clean slate in your mind."
"Why?" demanded Francine sharply.
"Please mum," begged Tish.
"Francine... do this for your daughter," Clive spoke up, his tone soft and his eyes beseeching at his estranged wife to trust their daughter.
Francine didn't even look at her husband; instead she nodded, deciding to do what her daughter had asked of her. Once she had achieved that to the best of her ability, Tish spoke up once more.
"Does he look like someone who has been a prisoner for only a few days or even hours?"
For the first time Francine truly took in the state of the Doctor. His hair was messy; his suit torn and creased; patches of dried blood covered his clothes. A foul smell assaulted her senses and she realised he hadn't been washed in months. He was much skinnier then he had been only a few days ago but he looked malnourished. This type of damage couldn't have happened in the space of a few days, she was certain of that now.
Sadness and horror erupted in her for she had been so wrong about him. Rising from where she sat on the bench, she walked over to the Doctor and knelt beside him. Carefully, Francine lifted his head up a few inches and stared into his brown eyes. The full horror of what had been done to him sunk in and she swallowed the bile that rose in her throat. She had been deceived: the Prime Minister was the monster she had been told was the Doctor.
"I am so sorry," she whispered as she gently laid his head back on the floor.
"Now you know his true colours," coughed the Doctor.
Francine had paled. Everything she had been told had been a lie. She had put her faith in Saxon and he had betrayed her trust. She couldn't even begin to comprehend what she could say to make atonements for her error. She swallowed the lump that had formed in her throat. "Who are you?"
"Me? Oh I am just someone who showed your daughter the universe. And by me doing that, I got you involved with this when by right it should have just passed over you," the Doctor said, his voice broken. If he hadn't showed Martha the world her family would be safe now."I'm not human. I don't know how aware you are of aliens...but I'm one of them. You had a right to be suspicious of me, Mrs Jones."
She was stunned. "But you look human...?"
"My species does... I have two hearts. So does Saxon. He's just like me: an alien and not a very nice one at that. His real name is the Master. This is his ultimate victory Francine. I tend to get in his way a lot, stopping him from doing too much damage, but this time he's caught me. I can't do anything about it. It is all down to your daughter: your wonderful and brilliant daughter, Martha Jones."
"My daughter has to fight that man?" asked Clive, shock in his eyes.
"No, not fight, but do something about it, but she doesn't know what yet. I'm sorry for the way I've split your family apart, and I'm not placing blame on Martha's shoulders but I was drawn to her. She has shown me that there is hope in the human race when I thought I had lost that ability to do so...Your daughter has saved my life in more ways than you could ever imagine. Without her I would be dead a thousand times over."
There was silence in the cage. Despite the Doctor's reveal that Martha still had something important to do Francine could no longer hate the Doctor. She had judged him unfairly, and though he hadn't given her a good first impression, she should have given him a chance to prove himself to her. She didn't know why but she felt fondness for him now.
"Oh, Mrs Jones, you were so easy to manipulate to turn to my bidding!" Chuckling sounded all around them: dark and joyful at the same time. The laughter of victory.
"Stop playing games, Master, and show yourself!" yelled the Doctor. If he had been able to he would have got to his feet, but being tied up was a problem in that respect.
"Still being mouthy, Doctor?" The Master strode into the light, a grin spread across his face. "I thought you would have learnt your lesson by now."
The Doctor glared at his foe. "You think you can control me, but you can't. You can't stop me from saying what I have to say."
"I can't stop you?" laughed the Master. "Oh, Doctor, so wrong you are. I can do more than that. You are my prisoner: I am the one in control of your fate. I could kill you right here right now, but I'm not going to do that because you must see the end of the world... the end of everything you have fought for. You have failed Doctor and your belief in your companions is pathetic. They cannot stop me nor save you. I know they will attempt to come here, but they will not succeed. With you as my prisoner I control them. Poor Rose Tyler will do exactly as I say when she sees the state you are in."
"Shut up," growled the Doctor.
"What did you say?" asked the Master, leaning in closer to the cage.
"I said 'shut up'!" the Doctor shouted, spit flying in the Master's general direction.
"Oh, I don't think that is going to happen!" The Master looked over his shoulder. "Guards: bring him. Oh, and do me a favour and shut him up will you?" He turned away as two UNIT guards walked forward from the shadows.
They opened the door to the cage, one holding a gun to the other three occupants of the cell while the other picked the Doctor up by his collar and stuffed a rag into his mouth, tying it round at the back of his head so that he was completely gagged. Then, with his gun still pointed at the Jones family, the other soldier lashed out and kicked the Doctor in the stomach. Nodding at his companion, the soldier walked out of the cell, and waited for the other to drag the Doctor out.
As he was pulled away the Doctor kept his eyes on Francine Jones, knowing that at least he had a friend in her and that she had put her trust in him, even though he could do nothing to change their circumstances.
The Colonel had no other choice other than to accept Jack's terms. He had wanted to send UNIT soldiers with Jack instead of Rose and Martha but the Captain refused. Before departure Jack had asked about a perception filter, wondering if UNIT had any in development. They did not as the Colonel had no idea what a perception filter was. Jack had explained it was a device that warped people's perceptions: that it was capable of making people look away from them. If the Master was to succeed in his plans then they would need something that would enable them to hide from him and allow them to pass unnoticed. It wasn't the most perfect device but it would prove useful if Jack was able to rig three up.
Jack had sat at a table for about forty-five minutes with the three TARDIS keys they had in their possession. Jack had kept his safe ever since he had been separated from the Doctor all those years ago and now it would come in useful. He laid the keys out in front of him and thought back to his training years as a Time Agent. He had learnt many things, some of which had come in useful in his everyday life within the Torchwood hierarchy. Today, one of his earlier lessons in the agency came in useful in his attempt to replicate a perception filter to some degree. Rose and Martha watched from the sidelines as the Captain bent over the table, fiddling with wires and the keys, twisting them all together until they melded within each other, and with a final grin at his two friends, Jack handed the keys back to them.
"Are you sure this is going to work?" asked Rose, trepidation in her stomach as she lifted the key up to her line of sight. She could see no difference despite having watched Jack as he worked.
"Let's give it a try, shall we?" grinned Jack as he lifted his own key chain over his head. "What do you see, Rose? Martha?"
The two girls started at Jack blinking rapidly.
"It's like I know you are there... but I don't want to know," said Martha, confusion wrought on her features.
Jack took off the key. "It shifts your perception a tiny little bit. It doesn't make us invisible, just unnoticed."
Rose was dumbfounded, an expression of incredulous on her features. "But how did you manage that?"
"Ah, now this is the clever bit," said Jack. "A TARDIS is meant to blend in with their surroundings. I didn't mention this before, but at the raid on his house I found some papers regarding the Archangel Network. It's a phone network, devised and set up by the Master. I've even got it on my phone." To demonstrate Jack pulled out his mobile and showed them the signal operator. "And this is where he's been clever. No Prime Minister that I know of has ever had an overwhelming majority of people vote for them like that...and it is all down to the Network. It taps into your brain, telling you to vote for Saxon. The Archangel Network has a second low-level signal and by using that and welding the TARDIS key to components on three spare phones I have been able to tune us into the network, so that we can be hidden, however if people really want to see us, it won't work. But it is the only defence we have."
Using Jack's Vortex Manipulator they transported onto the Valiant, appearing in one of the engine rooms.
Martha swayed on her feet as she fought to keep her balance. "Oh, that thing is rough."
Jack shrugged his shoulders as he helped Rose up from the floor. "I've had worse nights." He looked around taking in his surroundings. "Well, this is the Valiant."
Rose was already walking away from them. "Come on, we need to find the Doctor."
"And the Master," growled Martha, her thoughts turned towards what he might have done to her family.
Keeping their keys around their necks the three companions made their way through the ship. Their first test came when three UNIT soldiers marched round the corner but they did not even stop to question Jack, Martha or Rose which proved that their keys were in fact working. They made their way to the bridge where the Toclafane were due to appear at 08:00 on the dot. Slipping in through the door the three companions arrived in the middle of the American President's speech to the world. All the cameras were on him.
Rose swept her gaze over the assembled guests and found the Master sitting at the front of the delegation, looking up at President Winters as he addressed the nations. She leaned in close to Jack and, barely moving her lips, asked: "Do you have a plan?"
"No."
"Great," muttered Rose.
"We need to confront the Master," whispered Martha, "but how?"
Jack frowned and without saying a word began to step forward. He didn't know what the Doctor would do in his situation but he had an idea.
"And I ask you now, I ask of the human race, to join with me in welcoming our friends," continued President Winters. He turned to the right, waving one of his hands in the air. "I give you the Toclafane." Flashes of light appeared in front of him, the spheres that were the Toclafane had arrived. The President pushed out his chest, making himself more important in the face of the new species. "My name is Arthur Coleman Winters, President-Elect of the United States of America and designated representative of the United Nations. I welcome you to the planet Earth and its associated moon." He partly bowed to the three floating Toclafane.
"You're not the Master," said the first Toclafane, a male voice coming from its speakers.
A female voice from the second one joined in. "We like the Mr Master."
A third Toclafane floated forward, with this one having a more male defined voice. "We don't like you."
Jack kept his gaze upon Winters, knowing that he was baffled by this very public humiliation and he was trying to decide how he could salvage the situation in his favour.
"I… can be Master, if you so wish. I will accept mastery over you if that is God's will."
Jack winced. Wrong answer, mate.
"Man is stupid," continued the third Toclafane floating away from the President.
"Master is our friend," the other male explained.
The female was bobbing up and down, her voice getting higher and higher in excitement. "Where's my Master, pretty please?"
And then, just as Jack didn't need the Master to make his presence known, Saxon stood up, spreading his arms wide in triumph.
"Oh, all right then. It's me! Ta-da! Sorry. Sorry, I have this effect. People just get obsessed. Is it the smile? Is it the aftershave? Is it the capacity to laugh at myself? I don't know. It's crazy!" The Master was insane.
President Winters whirled towards the Prime Minister, an expression of confusion still on his face. "Saxon, what are you talkin' about?"
The Master folded his arms and glared at the President. He tapped his left foot up and down as if the situation was obvious. "I'm taking control, Uncle Sam. Starting with you." He glanced at the Toclafane. "Kill him."
One of the Toclafane flew forward towards Winters and then it shot him straight in the chest, disintegrating him immediately.
And then all hell broke loose.
Jack rushed forward as reporters, politicians and tv crews ran for their lives. Rose and Martha stayed where they were, unsure of what they could do in this climate. Saxon was laughing, one of insanity. Guards surrounded the fleeing people, all of them pointing their weapons at them. Slowly everyone halted, scared of what was happening, wondering what they had gotten themselves into.
The Master leaned into the functioning camera that had been broadcasting the whole episode to the world. "Now then, peoples of the Earth, please attend carefully!"
Without even thinking about what he was doing Jack pulled out his gun from his belt and pointed it at the Master. One shot and he could end it, but then guards grabbed him by the arms, twisting his arm so that the weapon dropped from his fingers.
"Oh, look who it is! It's Captain Jack and the girlies. But guess what? You are too late!" he yelled. The Master reached into his pocket and pulled out a device, one that looked suspiciously like the Sonic Screwdriver. "Laser Screwdriver, who'd have Sonic?" He pointed it at Jack and fired, and the Captain fell to the floor, dead.
"Jack!" Rose rushed forward, falling to her knees where his body lay.
"And the good thing is, he's not dead for long! I get to kill him again!"
"You're insane Saxon!" yelled Martha, her eyes flashing. She stayed where she was breathing heavily, trying to control herself.
"Am I? Really?" smiled the Master. It was then he noticed the cameras still pointed at him. "Oh yes, my esteemed audience! Please do excuse me I've got personal business to attend to first. Back in a minute."
Martha watched as the Master strolled towards her, his eyes on her. "Did you know the Doctor had so much hope for you three, that you would find a way to stop me! But you haven't! You have lost, Martha Jones!"
"Where is he, Saxon?" shouted Rose from behind him who he had walked in front of. She now stood, her hands clenched into fists at her side.
The Master pointed his Laser Screwdriver at a panel in the wall to the left of Rose. It slid back revealing a compartment big enough to hold three men. Rose nearly collapsed in shock, for hanging in that compartment was the Doctor. His hands were tied above his head on a rail and he was gagged, but his eyes were alert suggesting that he had been aware of all that had been going on while inside his small prison.
"Doctor!" breathed Rose, stumbling forward towards him.
"It's over," the Master said. "Surrender to me."
Rose stopped where she was, heart pounding in her chest. "No."
"No?" The Master queried.
Shaking her head Rose repeated herself. "I said no. I will not surrender myself."
"Then you will die." The Master raised his Laser Screwdriver at Rose, pointing it right at her forehead but she didn't move, standing tall and proud in the presence of the evil Time Lord. She did not fear death. If this was to be her fate, then so be it.
As the Master pressed the button that would unleash the laser that would end Rose Tyler's life, someone pushed her aside, getting hit by the ray themselves. When she turned to look, Rose saw Jack's still body on the floor. He had obviously revived and seeing her in harm's way had thrown himself in front of it. Martha ran towards Jack, while Rose took the opportunity to run to the Doctor.
The Master was busy co-ordinating the Toclafane who had chosen at this moment to speak up, dragging his attention away from Rose.
Standing on tip-toe Rose managed to release the Doctor from the rail, but his hands were still bound but no longer being wrenched from his sockets. He fell in a crumpled heap to the floor and Rose knelt beside him, slipping the gag out of his mouth so that he could talk to her.
"Rose..." he coughed. "You have to get out of here."
"I'm not leaving you!" whispered Rose harshly.
The Doctor glared at her, his eyes blazing in anger. "If you don't escape then there will be no hope."
"But..." stammered Rose. How could she leave him after all this time?
"If you stay the world is lost, but if you escape you will give me hope that the Master can be taken down."
Rose swallowed, already knowing that she had no choice. She had only just found him again and he was asking her to leave him to the mercy of the Master. Tears cascaded down her cheeks. "What must I do?"
"IT IS TOO LATE!" shouted the Master as he leapt down the stairs, bounding towards Martha who was just standing up from Jack's side, clutching something in her hands. "You cannot escape me, either of you!" He focused his cruel gaze upon Martha, who shivered under his dark stare. "You just want to heal the world, Miss Jones, but you cannot do that. You would not leave them behind would you? Your family?"
"What do you mean?" she shouted in response, only for the doors to slid open behind her and in walked a company of guards and in the centre of the group was her mother, father and her sister. "No..."
Her mother was crying but Martha could do nothing to help them. Guards were closing in on around her and she ran towards Rose, grabbing her by the arm, pulling her up from the Doctor's side.
"Let me go!"
"Rose! We've got to get out of here!"
An angry look passed across Rose's features. "I'm not leaving him!"
"Rose, just do it! Go with Martha!" The Doctor's voice broke Martha's heart but she had to stay strong. Looking down at the Vortex Manipulator that she had taken from Jack, she glanced back at the guards that had surrounded them, their guns pointing at them. A smile crossed Martha's lips and she locked gazes with the Master.
"You're too late." Grabbing Rose's hand, Martha pressed down on the Vortex Manipulator, disappearing from the Valiant just as bullets went through the air where she and Rose had been standing.
"Aww, shame, the girlies got away, but not for long, eh Doctor?" The Master raised an eyebrow at his enemy who was still lying on the floor.
"You won't win!" hissed the Doctor, his jaw clenched.
The Master chuckled a high-pitched laugh. "I have already won, Doctor. Nothing can stop me, not even your way-ward companions. They will be found and killed in due course."
The Doctor chose not to reply, his anger boiling underneath the surface. Still, at least he had the advantage. Rose knew what to do. He had faith in her that she would carry out the task to the best of her abilities, but he knew too well that she was simply not ready for what she or Martha had to do in order to overcome the Master.
A string of voices interrupted his thoughts as the three Toclafane spoke, demanding his attention as they circled the Master.
"Is it time?"
"Is it ready?"
"Is the machine singing?"
The Master looked at this watch. "Two minutes past eight." He ran back up the stairs to stand beside his wife Lucy who had since joined him when the commotion on the bridge had settled down. The Master leaned forward so that the cameras stationed in the room would broadcast his image and words all over the world. "So, Earthlings! Basically, um, end of the world!" He held up the screwdriver, yelling: "HERE COME THE DRUMS!"
A blast of music echoed through the room as the song came forth from the speakers located on each of the four walls. From his vantage point on the floor the Doctor could just see out the window where a great rift had opened up in the sky and thousands upon thousands of Toclafane descended upon the Earth. The Paradox Machine had worked. And the Master had won.
For now.
Rose and Martha appeared on a hill overlooking the edge of London. Above them the sky cracked open and Toclafane descended, heading straight for the capital. Rose stumbled forward, her eyes locked on the ghastly image before them.
"They're killing everything..." she whispered. Tears were in her eyes as she stood watching the destruction. "And I left him..."
"I know you wanted to stay, but if I had let you, he would have killed you. I don't know what he said to you, but you have to tell me. We are way out of our depth here, and if the Doctor told you what to do, then you are the only chance this world has," said Martha, her voice quiet.
Rose took Martha by the shoulders. "I don't know how I am meant to accomplish what I have to do, but the Doctor believes as long as we stick together we have hope. We are coming back here, Martha. We've just got to survive."
Hand in hand, the two companions turned away from the destruction before them and fled into the wilderness.
Standing on the bridge, with the Doctor forced to stand between them, the Master and Lucy watched as their new world was created; as their allies slaughtered the human population. The Doctor trembled with anger in their grip. He couldn't believe what he was seeing.
The Master leaned in closer to the Doctor. "And so it came to pass...that the human race fell and the Earth was no more. And I looked down upon my new dominion as master of all and I thought it...good." He smiled as the Doctor tried to pull away from his grip.
The Doctor felt helpless. There was nothing he could do.
Planet Earth had finally fallen to the Master.
To be continued...
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the-writer1988