Chapter 6: Farewell to the Great Destroyer

Jyun ran through the empty blue hallway, headed for the maintenance sector. He wasn't entirely certain that was where he was meant to be going, but it was the best destination he could come up with based on the available information. You'll know it when you see it. The familiar, feminine voice in his head reminded him.

"I know, Bhai." He muttered under his breath, stumbling and leaning against the wall. "I—No!" He clutched his head, wincing. Another two versions of him leaned out of him, wrestling with each other.

"Oh no you DON'T!" The one on the left, the Master exclaimed with a feral growl, pushing on the other ones -Koschei's- face.

"Stop him!" Koschei demanded, pulling them back into one whole. Jyun slid down the wall losing consciousness, his collar flickering from gold to red to blue at random.


The dreamscape had once again taken on the form of the little clearing that Koschei and Theta used to visit together in their childhood.

"Where is he?" Koschei demanded furiously. Jyun just shrugged, characteristically blank. "What are you going to do, Master? This isn't a fight that you can win! You're in my head! I make the rules!" Koschei shouted, looking around them for any sign of his elusive alter.

"You think so?" Came the Master's reply, echoing around the clearing. There was a movement in the bushes behind Jyun, but when they turned to look, the Master had already vanished. "I'm not giving up that easily!"

""I don't plan on giving you a choice." Koschei responded tightly. The Master stepped out of the trees a few feet behind him, wearing the fine, silk robes of a Stilkean Master.

"Those are bold words." He remarked, smirking. He looked over at Jyun. "He wants to get rid of us. You know that. Are you really going to let that happen?" Jyun stared at the Master for a long moment then gracefully took a seat on his favorite boulder next to the brook. The Master scoffed. "Well then. I guess it's just you and I. No matter." He sent out a bolt of bright white charge, hitting Koschei right in the center of his chest. The blast threw him back into a tree with a loud crack, and the top half of the tree shifted to lean precariously over him. "You see, the fact is, even before the weaponization process, I was the fighter among us." The Master explained, strolling across the clearing towards Koschei as he struggled to get back up. "As I remember, that's exactly what made you hate me, even when all I did was protect you." The Master frowned down at Koschei in mock concern as he pushed himself up onto his hands and knees, coughing. "Things change." The Master added, kicking Koschei hard in the stomach. The tree above them finally fell and the Master leapt swiftly out of the way, turning back to survey the damage as the dust cleared. Koschei had vanished. He looked over at Jyun to see him standing on the other side of the little brook, helping their core personality to stand.

"You traitor." The Master accused in an oddly approving tone.

"Sajyuol." Koschei returned, breathlessly. The Master grinned broadly at him.

"It took you long enough." He remarked, beginning to build up more charge in between his joined hands.

"Run. Now." Jyun prompted, pushing Koschei towards the treeline. Koschei leaned against the trunk of the closest one, hesitating briefly. "Go!" Jyun ordered and he ran.


Amy slapped a hand on the scanner beside the entrance to the Doctor's suite.

"Come on!" She demanded impatiently.

"Visitor registered." The Computer announced.

"Yes, brilliant. Now let me in!" Amy snapped and darted in as soon as the door slid open. "Doctor?" She called, then caught sight of the prone figure lying on the floor, next to the overturned sofa. "Doctor!" She rolled him onto his back and shook him urgently. "Come on, Doctor! Wake up!"

"Hmngh?" The Doctor groaned unintelligibly.

"That's it! Wake up!"

"Agh… Yes, alright, I'm waking up." The Doctor muttered irritably, sounding a bit drunk. "You are being very loud. D'you know that?"

"We don't have time for this! We've got to find Rory. I think the biosynths took him!" Amy urged.

"Nope." The Doctor slurred. Amy glared at him.

"Nope? What is that supposed to mean? Listen, if they've got Rory, there's no telling what they might be doing to him! Jyun's the mole, yeah? Did you see which way he went?"

"No… Jyun!" The Doctor exclaimed sitting bolt upright and sobering in record time. "No! He's not the mole, but he's up to something. He kissed me and then he drugged me! He told me not to stop him. Who does that by the way? He does that. That is so rude! Isn't that rude, Amy?"

"Um… Sorry. What?" Amy asked, completely nonplussed.

"Nevermind." The Doctor dismissed, leaping to his feet and beginning to pace. "What is he planning, and why now? He said that we hadn't got long… Amelia, how long have I been out?"

"Well, I don't…"

"How much time have we got left?" The Doctor amended. Amy checked her watch then paused, taking into account the extra hour on the local time-cycle.

"About forty-five minutes."

"Ooh that's not good. Not at all. Very, very not good." The Doctor thought aloud. "But they already had a biosynth in place. He's not a problem, so why bring in River Song… He is a problem. Of course he is. He began to resist his objective!"

"Doctor, what are you on about?"

"They knew that he was having second thoughts, so they had him call in help. One biosynth against two targets, maybe more. It would've been easy but he isn't cooperating. That's why they had to call in an outside source for assistance, someone they thought he'd have trouble swaying."

"Who would? Who—"

"I'm sorry." The Doctor replied earnestly before turning and hurrying out of the room. Amy took a little longer than usual to chase after him when realization hit.


"Come now, Kos." The Master taunted as he chased after his core. "You're running from your own shadow! What can you possibly hope to accomplish from this?" He stopped as he stepped out of the trees, arriving at a very familiar lake. This was the site of their first death and regeneration. His jaw tightened and he rubbed his hands together, building up charge in order to attack.

"I want my life back." Koschei answered, stepping out of the shadows to his right and tackling him. He grabbed Koschei's face and shocked him making him cry out in pain.

"I'm a living weapon, remember?" The Master declared, regaining his footing. He growled low, sparking as Koschei stumbled to his feet in front of him. "I am the creation of the greatest civilization! I AM THE MASTER!"

"So am I." Koschei replied and lunged forward shoving Sajyuol back into the lake. The water flashed and steamed as it carried the electrical charge. Koschei sighed in relief and closed his eyes, opening them in the waking world to see his daughter's image standing over him.

"Hello Bhai." He greeted with a sad smile. The Phantom tilted her head to one side, regarding him with a neutral expression before turning and running away down the hall. Then he jumped to his feet and followed after her.


"Alright Doctor, think. If I were a desperate stray biosynth, where would I hide?" The Doctor asked himself, still walking briskly down the hall. Amy jogged up beside him.

"They seem to like the maintenance sector." She offered, a little out of breath.

"So, not the maintenance sector." The Doctor concluded, earning himself a quizzical look from Amy. "He's hiding from the others so that they can't turn him against us. He'll have to be somewhere shielded enough that the enigma device can't penetrate… The Hanger maybe? No, too crowded. They could easily come after him there and no one would ever realize. Cold storage? Hmm… Wait. What am I thinking!" He turned to Amy, grabbing her shoulders and leaning in close to stare straight into her eyes. "This is Rory. You know him better than anyone. Where would he hide?"

"I don't know! It's a biosynth I don't know how robots think."

"No, no, Amelia. He's a biosynth. Doesn't matter, he's always been one, living as a human with you, growing up, becoming a nurse, falling in love. This is still that Rory, just not quite as human as we thought. He's still your Rory, so tell me: where could we find him?" Amy stared at the Doctor, feeling understandably overwhelmed before shaking herself and snapping out of it.

"Um… Okay." Amy sniffed. "There was some Private Flight Section or something that I remember passing the first time we came to check out our rooms. He wants to escape, yeah? Maybe he'd go there?"

"Good! That's brilliant!" The Doctor encouraged. Amy gave him a small smile. "Lead the way, Amy Pond. Let's go get your fiancé."


"Wait! You move too fast and I might lose track of you!" Koschei cautioned as he chased after Mita's 'ghost'. He rounded the next corner that she'd disappeared around to find her standing inside one of the docking suites, waiting patiently for him to join her. "That's better." He stepped into the cozy little room to stand beside her, surveying his surroundings. There was a stylized readout on one wall showing a map of the base. It had been programmed to look more or less like a tapestry. There was a blue and a red dot moving towards them through the residential section. The blue was the Doctor. The red: Amy Pond. To the right of the readout was the red metal door to the pod, and on the wall opposite the entryway was a window opening out into the black. He turned back to the entryway just for confirmation. It was plain, standard white.

"Of course it is." Koschei observed drily. He laughed at the irony turning more somberly to the red door to the shuttle. He took a deep breath and gingerly placed his hand on the scanner.

"Access Denied. This is a private—" The Computer Voice stopped short as he sent a thousand volts into the scanner pad, frying the circuits. The door rolled open. "Hello Rory."

"I've been waiting for you." Rory said not turning to face him from where he sat in the pilot's chair, leaning his elbows on the console. "You knew it was me didn't you?"

Koschei nodded stepping into the shuttle.

"I covered for you." He replied. Rory smiled slightly, a tear rolling down his cheek.

"The screwdriver." He remembered.

"You ran off back in the maintenance sector. That when you sent the message?"

"Yeah…" Rory confirmed roughly, still not facing him. "You didn't try to stop me."

"Nope." Koschei agreed. "You weren't hurting anyone. You lot aren't the only ones who want me dead. I've stopped taking it personally."

"You don't understand." Rory moaned in frustration, finally turning to face him. "They aren't just sending me after you. You're the secondary target!" His eyes flickered like a malfunctioning television screen from familiar, kind human eyes, to black glass lit with pinprick blue lights, to static and back again. "I don't want to hurt you. Don't let me—" His voice malfunctioned, making a strange electronic whine before his human voice returned. "I can't -stop mmeEeEE!" Koschei flinched as Rory's head twitched violently to one side. "Ple-ee-Ease!" He begged, his voice wavering deep and artificial sounding. "Don't let me k-kill you." Rory stood up and stepped towards him. His eyes were mechanical blue lights. Koschei ducked as Rory moved to punch him smashing the console behind him and crumpling part of its metal frame instead.

"Zi'jaien!" Koschei exclaimed and somersaulted past him. "Sorry, Rory, this is going to hurt." He informed the biosynth as he grabbed the back of Rory's neck and electrocuted him. He did do his best to slow the larger man's fall, though, then froze as he heard a pulse pistol being charged. He looked over at the doorway, taking a couple slow steps back.

"River." He greeted.

"Koschei." She returned guiltily.

"I thought so." He told her raising his hands. She swallowed, her eyes glassy, aiming her gun at his left heart. "Well, then?"

"I'm sorry…" She told him truthfully. "But you know: paradoxes." She shot Koschei and he dropped to his knees. She flinched, taking a little longer than necessary to prepare for the next shot. He looked up at her, coughing up blood and pushing himself up off the floor as she aimed for his other heart.

"River?" Amy's voice interrupted their unspoken exchange. River jumped and lowered her gun, looking in the direction of Amy's call. "What are you…Koschei?" River turned back, raising her gun again, but Amy lunged into view grabbing her arm.

"No! How could you?" She cried out furiously. Koschei whipped out an arm, shooting a bolt of electricity into the emergency release. "Koschei!" Amy called out to him, still struggling with River. River and Koschei's eyes met and she tossed her gun to him through the closing doors. The Doctor hurried over to them and ran up to the doors right as the airlock sealed, and he saw what only Koschei and Rory had noticed up until now: The thin glowing crack, spreading quickly across the engines systems inside the pod.

"Goodbye, Theta." Koschei whispered, letting himself fall back onto the floor. The Doctor shook his head in adamant denial, beating against the glass and shouting as the shuttle drifted away. The panels inside the shuttle began to spark as the engines went critical, the fail safes and power regulators ceasing to exist as the crack spread. ~Only seconds to go now.~ Rory stirred, regaining consciousness at the same time that engine one went critical. He opened his eyes and the bright blue lights flickered and became human in appearance once again while he looked around.

"Koschei!" He shouted, then saw the dangerously sparking console at the helm ignite and threw himself on top of Koschei. "No!"

Koschei didn't flinch or even wince, just closed his eyes, slipping River's gun into Rory's hand as the bright light consumed him.

"How could you! You killed him! He was your friend!" Amy raged as the Doctor pulled back from the window, looking stricken. There was a flash of warm golden light and a loud rumble that shook the room. Amy turned to look at him.

"What was that?" Amy asked, shocked.

"That was the shuttle." The Doctor supplied hollowly.

"Rory and—"

"He survived." River told her. "Biosynths are tough." She looked up at the Doctor's back as Zala came running in with two human officers. "I know where they've hidden the Device. It's in maintenance sector seven hidden in tunnel C1 with a perception filter. I assume you know how to disarm it?" The Doctor nodded. "Good." River stood and held her hands out to Detective Zala. "Arrest me. I've just committed premeditated murder, under coercion from the Great Combined Function." Zala looked at Amy and the Doctor. Amy crossed her arms over her chest and nodded, taking a step back, away from River Song. The Doctor walked silently past to go defuse the Enigma Device, not looking at River.

"I'm sorry." River said quietly as he passed. He ignored her. Amy followed just as silently behind him.


The TARDIS was horribly quiet that night. The only sounds where those made by the functions of the ship herself. Rory was resting in their bed while his burns healed. The Doctor was sitting in silence in the control room, mourning, and Amy was wandering the halls, unsure of what else to do. She found herself standing outside Koschei's room, uncertain how she'd gotten there, and stepped inside to look at Koschei's wall collage. One of his mandalalike notes was beginning to peel off of the wall and she righted it, biting her lip when her sleeve caught on Rory's repurposed pocket-knife. She shrugged it off and was surprised when something long and metal, wrapped in paper, fell out of her pocket and rolled away across the floor. She picked it up and unwrapped it. It was the Master's laser-screwdriver. The paper wrapped around it was a note.

Bhai,

I'm sorry for what I am about to do. Well, from your perspective I've done it already, but that's beside the point. I'm beginning to remember things. I think I understand what's happening to us and if I'm right, you're going to need to stay alert and strong because things are about to get complicated. You need to be ready to defend yourself. Use this. Further instructions are hidden where I know you'll find them, in your wardrobe. I've programed the laser to only respond to either my DNA or yours, but still don't lose it.

-Koschei

P.S. And yes, Doctor, there is a stun setting. Honestly! Amy, Love, when you see the rest, don't flip out.

Amy frowned at that last bit, wiping away a tear as she searched for 'the rest of it'. She turned the note over, and when the light hit it, her eyes widened.

"No..." She thought aloud in disbelief, turning and bolting out of the room. "Doctor!"


A/N: So, yeah... Please don't kill me! This is not the end of the story. Thanks for reading this guys. Special thanks to Time Travelling Animagus, Elura Seregin, and Mabudachi-trio for reviewing. As always, please review.