Part II
The Dotor and Andrea have landed in the middle of a war between the Cybermen and Earth. Now racing to stop the Cybermen from destroying the planet, the crew of a human vessel reluctantly use the Doctor's help to fix their ship and return them back on course to save Earth. But as they try to stop one of the Cybermen vessels, one of their shuttles is used to transport someone over to the enemy's landing bay. As the person steps off of the shuttle's ramp the Cybermen are shocked to see just who it is. It is the Doctor.
"Who are you?"
The man steps out of the shadows and now becomes totally viewable in the lights.
"I'm the Doctor."
It is indeed the Doctor, the mauve smoking jacket and miss-matched clothing are the very garments he was wearing not more then a few moments ago. Smiling away like a madman the Doctor soon begins laughing to top of his lungs in an overly evil tone. The Cybermen look at one another in confusion as the Timelord laughs away, the echo bouncing off the metal interior of the shuttle bay making it sound deep and forbidding. The Doctor slowly steps down out of the shuttle and comes face to face with the lead Cyberman.
"The Doctor must be destroyed. You are the Doctor..." the Cyberman says like a confused machine.
"Yes I am...now be a good tin man and open up your data files. M915-22104 to be exact...Open the one called ' Phoenix' "
The Cybermen all hear the command given by the Timelord and seem to twitch as they search for the memory file within their brains. The lead Cyberman stopped his twitching and looked back at the Doctor very calmly.
"I understand...."
The Timelord smiled evilly again, "Good...take those commands and repeat them to the rest of the crew. Repeat and obey...."
"Yes...leader."
The Cyberman turns around and points at the others to obey his instructions, they all nod in unison and head back into the ship's corridors. The slivery mechanical man turns around and faces the Doctor again.
"Everything you asked for is prepared. Though...I do not understand how we come to know all of this."
The Timelord smiles an evil toothy grin, "It was arranged a long time ago. A few simple command structures into your basic programming and so forth."
The Cyberman still stands there struggling to understand, "But what of the other Cybermen vessels...are we to.... contact them as well?"
The Doctor knocks on the metal man's head, "Oh don't blow a fuse over it...they will proceed to Earth and kill the humans. You will join the battle soon enough...but first, I need to have a look at my lab you've secretly constructed for me and I in turn will show you the secrets of the Timelords. Come..."
The Doctor confidently walks out the room with the Cyberman and proceeds to walk down the long spartan halls of the ship.
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"What are they waiting for?" The captain says on the Earth ship.
They've all been watching the viewer intensely as the Cyberman ship hangs there silent in space, gun poised at them and looking very forbidding. The aging commander shakes his head in confusion as he is obviously waiting for their end to come.
"Well if they won't finish us...we'll finish them instead. Fire all weapons!"
The two pilots press their buttons on the console, but nothing happens. The two look at each other in disbelief and try to push the buttons again repeatedly.
"Nothing sir!" The black female pilot shouts.
"Same here...I'm getting no response!" The young man hollers back as well.
The captain leans back in his chair with a face of utter hopelessness and sighs under his breath.
"So...we're dead."
Down in the shuttle bay, Andrea runs into the room where the TARDIS still sits. It is the same bay area where the shuttle was launched moments ago. Noticing the fact, she quickly runs over to the police box and screams for the Doctor, pounding on the blue door, she soon discovers that it wasn't properly closed. She dashes inside and enters into the white perforated console room. Frantically she searches all about for the Timelord friend, still calling out for his name and even peeking in and out of the few doors that lead deeper into the TARDIS. She soon realizes that he is nowhere to be found and now believes her worst fears have come true. The Doctor was on that shuttle.
"Why.... why would he go? Why would he leave us?" She says wiping away the tears and trying to think of a reason.
"Think girl, think.... what have I over looked?"
Across the room, she notices the small wooden cabinet had moved from its original place, the one that seemed to hum and had the other black glove placed on top of it earlier. She wandered over to study it and even felt it again to feel the vibration. With great curiosity she began looking behind the wooden cabinet, she noticed the back panel was open and there was room enough for one person to get behind it. As she stepped into it's space, she began to crawl into the opening until she was fully inside. Suddenly, she could feel herself almost falling in and landed on her feet. As she stumbled in wards towards a bright light, she quickly realized she had entered another room. Looking around quite surprised by the fact, she noticed an eerie familiarity about the new room she had been pulled into. Slightly darker in color and with an odd red light shining around the perforated walls, she blurted out where she had seen this sort of place before.
"I'm in the TARDIS?" She says with amazement. "How can this be? I was just in this room...but...wait...it's different in here. I don't remember it being so gloomy and red."
A strike of realization hit her like a bolt of lightning, "I was right! This is another Timelord ship. Oh my god! But...how did it get in here? Who is this bastard doing this to us?"
Walking over to the control panel, she notices how slightly different in design it is compared to the Doctor's machine.
"Whoever this person is...seems like they have the same taste in decorators. But that still doesn't help me any. Oh Doctor...where the hell are you? I could really use your help right now."
As she studies the controls and looks at the various objects within the room, she fails to notice that the large doors behind her are slowly closing without making a sound. As they finally slam shut together, she turns around to see them completely locking her in. Desperate to get out, she runs over to them and tries to pry them open with her hands and fingers. The panicked woman screams for them to open up and even kicks it with her foot as if it would make a difference. A whooshing noise begins to build, as Andrea turns her head back at the console to see the large pulsating center column moving up and down.
"Where are you taking me?!!" She screams to the top of her lungs.
She collapses on the floor and holds herself tight fearing that she absolutely has no control over what is going on. The pulsating sound of the darker TARDIS fills the room as the column continues to move up and down. The horror of being trapped in a strange Timelord ship other then the Doctor's frightens her to no end.
On the bridge of the ship, the captain looks over at Megan who is trying to contact Andrea on the intercom.
"Andrea.... Come in Andrea. Please give us a status...is the Doctor alright?"
"Where the hell are those two?" The captain demands at her.
Megan opens her mouth as if to continue talking into the intercom, but quickly shuts it to answer her commanding officer.
"I...I don't know sir. Someone reported seeing her on 'C' Deck and then.... well she's gone missing as well."
The captain stands up in a furious anger and paces around the bridge.
"Two missing persons...a shuttle boarding an enemy ship and now no weapons to even fire. How could I have been such a fool? We should have shot them on sight!"
Megan steps away from her console and stands in his path in defiance.
"Sir. With all due respect I still don't think either one of them is the traitor. Andrea and the Doctor have managed to keep us afloat and even back up to spec engine wise. If the two them were spies that wanted us to fail...why not simply let us blow up?"
The captain stares her down and explodes with anger, "Because they wanted us here to do it that's why!! Just look at our position, the only ship left from the outer rim that could help the Earth defense stop the last remaining Cybermen from stomping the planet out of existence!!!"
The crew looks at the raving commander as his shouting sends a chill down their spines; his screaming like a wild mad man gives them fear that this is a hopeless battle and even a doomed mission. Megan still stands in front of him with a defiant look, she's not afraid of his harsh words, nor his insane manner. But calmly gives her advice once again.
"Sir. No offense...but that's a load of crap. The Cybermen don't care where or how they kill, they don't even need to trick us to do it. We've all seen how they attack and how they keep using the same strategy over and over again. I can't say why or who was on board that shuttle...but who ever it was just bought us some time. I recommend we go to immediate full speed to Earth and repair the weapons as quickly as we can."
The captain nervously chews on his finger as he looks at her, his eyes dart around as he thinks about her recommendation and quickly nods.
"Yes...Yes you're.... You're right. We need to secure Earth. To hell with them...lets press on and hope the other ship doesn't follow us. I'm in command...yes.... that's right...I'm the captain."
Sitting back in his chair giggling to himself, he shakes off his madness and comes back into focus.
"Helm...double time to Earth. Move!"
Both pilots nod and steer the ship for home. As the ship moves away from the silent Cyberman vessel, it suddenly jumps into hyperspace and disappears from sight. The Cyberman ship begins to move, and turns itself in the direction of the human vessel, it slowly builds up speed and quickly pursues after the other ship. Inside the Cyberman craft, the metal men continue to monitor the other two vessels well ahead of them, on the floating screen around the Cyberman pilot shows two red dots approaching a larger blue dot.
"Leader, Our vessels have finally entered Earth orbit."
The Cyberman behind him with darker colors on his helmet nods gently.
"Excellent. Have they begun the attack?"
The pilot touches the screen and a scrolling alien text appears before him.
"It has begun Leader. The humans were unprepared for our close jump and are losing a major part of their defense forces. It seems that we are about to win the war at long last."
The lead Cyberman raises his head in pride and clutches his fist.
"Perfect. All our enemies will be crushed and now with the Timelord helping us... we will become the masters of time and space."
As the Earth ship races for home, the young pilot Raynard suddenly notices the Cybermen catching up to them. Looking panicked and breathing heavily he shouts out to his captain about the coming vessel.
"Sir!! The Cybermen are right behind us! Gaining speed and...and..."
The captain would here none of it, "Shut up! Keep going to Earth...we'll deal with it when we get there!"
The black female co-pilot looks at a monitor and studies the data coming in on it, with wide eyes she looks back at the captain and reports.
"Sir scans ahead report Earth is under full scale attack!"
Megan's face gives a look of horror.
"No..." She gasps.
The captain punches the button at the side of his chair and leans back into softly.
"Attention all hands." the Captain's voice transmits throughout the ship. "All available personal are to report to main engineering and ship defenses. Repairs are a priority one condition; I want weapons online as soon as we have them. This is it...time has run out and Earth is now under attack. Remember your loved ones and friends who need us to stop the Cybermen at all costs. Do your duties and never wavier...once more unto the breach dear friends. For Earth, for each other, for the very survival of humanity..."
Turning his head towards Megan, who looks at the captain with tears in her eyes, he gazes at her and gives the command.
"Red Alert. Battle Stations!"
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Deep inside the pursuing Cybermen vessel, in a room full of mechanical equipment and strange objects that only a scientist could dream of building himself lays the Doctor on an inclined table restrained and unconscious. Metal straps surround his top head like a crown, with wires and large pulsating fiber optics sticking out all over it. The Timelord slowly opens his eyes and tries to rise from his position. But as he moves he realizes his hands and feet are strapped down, his jacket removed and looking very confused.
"Wha...where the hell am I? I was on my way to the weapons area..."
A voice booms out from behind him, covered in shadow and wearing the same black gloves that Andrea and he had discovered before.
"Ah, Good...you're finally awake Doctor. I was hoping you would be..."
The Doctor still struggles, trying to see whom it is that is talking to him from behind.
"Who's there? What are doing to me? Where am I? Hm?"
The shadowy figure laughs out loud.
"Oh Doctor...such the inquisitive one aren't you. But then again, you've always been that way...if it eases your mind, I'll tell you. You're on the Cybermen vessel, in one of their laboratories."
The Timelord's eyes grow wide with panic, "What?!"
The mysterious man continues to snicker and comes closer to the Doctor's ear. His gloved hand sits within the corner of the Doctor's right eye, the only part of the man the Doctor can see for the time being.
"Yes Doctor." The man now says to him in a lower tone of voice. "You are on their ship...on your way to witness the end of humanity as you know it. Or it could be the end of the Cybermen's...however you wish to view things. One way or another...it is the end for all of us now."
The Doctor again looks confused by the man's mutterings.
"Us? You mean the Cybermen or Humans don't you?"
The shadowy figure steps out of the light and faces the disabled Timelord sitting helpless on the table. As he comes into full view, the Doctor gazes on the man's face and peers at him to recognize the man's identity.
"Who are you?"
"Look closer Doctor..." the man says to him.
The man standing there is dressed in a black; everything he has on is dark black in color. His boots with a polished shine, his pants that slightly cover the boots even tucked into them, his one piece jacket that has a collar raised around his neck and his slicked back crop of hair even looks as black as midnight. If the Doctor had to guess...the man was in his early 30's or late 20's, a Caucasian gentleman with no facial hair at all. His eyes didn't look human, grey in color but pupils were almost as small as pinholes. Shaking his head, the Doctor hadn't the slightest idea who he was.
"Sorry...can't say I remember the face. But those eyes of yours aren't real...cybernetic implants perhaps?"
The man giggles to himself and steps closer to the Doctor.
"More then that my dear friend. Still you do not see? No...I don't suppose you would. Changes I've had many, but this is the ultimate one I've ever had done. Look close Doctor...look close and see the face of your greatest nemesis. I've only ever had one name to call my own...."
The Doctor's face becomes gaunt and now shutters in terror as he realizes whom it is standing in front of him.
"The Master?!"
The man in black laughs with sheer insanity, and gives a wide toothy grin with delight.
"In the flesh...so to speak."
"It's not possible!" The Doctor shouts shaking his head in doubt. "You are not him! The Master was destroyed...he was destroyed a long time ago!"
The man leans in and smiles at him, "No Doctor. I'm right here."
"You...you can't be him..." The Timelord repeatedly states. "He was killed in a struggle...in my TARDIS...he was pulled into the Eye of Harmony. The power core of the TARDIS, there is no escaping from it..."
The man steps back and rubs his chin in thought.
"Yes...I did die in that accident Doctor. My body was ripped apart, flesh was stripped, bones crushed into powder, there was nothing left of me..."
The Master faces away from the Doctor and closes his eyes in memory.
"But my essence endured. My thoughts, my mind, the very will power I managed to summon up as I became one with the Eye. For me...time and space became one. I felt as if the cosmos was part of me, stretching to every corner of existence known. There I stayed...and there I waited."
The Doctor couldn't help but listen to the man ranting on; it was fascinating to him and at the same time almost too great a story to believe. The Master turned back around and opened his eyes at the confused Doctor, now shaking his dark gloved fist at him and continuing on with his rambling.
"Just long enough to pull myself back together and return to a singular form. I realized I was still inside of your TARDIS, that the core as limitless at it was, it was still a part of your machine. Revenge was all on my mind now, revenge on you, the Timelords and the universe at large. I wasn't going to let myself die so easily...not when I still have so much work to do. That's when I took over your TARDIS and planted myself into your brain!"
The Doctor scoffed him.
"Please...You're utterly insane. I have no memory of you doing such a thing..."
The Master leans in closer at him.
"Are you sure about that? Let me refresh your memory...Doctor. You were calmly traveling through the vortex, when all of a sudden a power surge came out of the space/time corridor. The controls became erratic and a bolt of energy spiked out of your main column."
The Doctor soon had the memories come back to him, in his mind's eye; he could see it all take place as the Master told him of what happened.
"You tried to reach the override and bring the TARDIS to a halt. But the energy bolt leapt out and struck you down..."
"Yes..." The Doctor now remembers. "It felt like pure energy was ripping every cell in my body. I reached the controls and managed to force the TARDIS to land...I felt like I was on fire...or like...like..."
The Master stood up and grinned down at him.
"Like you were having a Regeneration."
"My God!", The Doctor says to him with anger. "It was you...I could feel your mind inside...my body thought it was dying and...and...and it regenerated. You Bastard!"
The Master laughed, "A forced Regeneration my dear Doctor! Something no Timelord has ever done to another by sheer will alone. Not since the days of Rassilon. I am a God!"
"No...NOOOO!!!" the Doctor screams.
Continuing to laugh, The Master walks over and pinches the Doctor's cheek. The helpless Timelord strapped to the table violently shakes it with all of his strength in a futile effort to break free. Anger at the evil Timelord makes him growl with hatred at the man and finally gives up once he discovers it is useless. The Master smirks at his rival and sits in a steel chair beside him. The only chair in the entire room or even the ship, seeing how the Cybermen do not need them at all.
"Poor Doctor." He says to him still chuckling slightly. "All this time, I was inside of your feeble brain. When Andrea found you in the Canadian Rockies, I was changing your body to fit my needs. I only came out when it suited my needs...remember Roswell Doctor? No? I took over you're mind as you made the Cyberman discovery there. (- See Encounter at Roswell) I took over when we ran into the Rani ( - See The Time Gambit)...who owed me a favor I might add. It was because of her I was exterminated by the Daleks, she betrayed me and told those creatures where to find me."
The Doctor now calming down, looked up at the evil man and began to see the pattern.
"Ah...so she helped you, the whole Dalek capture was a ploy. She helped you to get revenge on me. I should have known...you never were one that could be killed so easily. No wonder you asked for me specifically to take you back home..."
"I needed your body Doctor..." The Master adds in. "But circumstances on Earth prevented me from acquiring it...those miserable humans made sure of that. This was the plan I had in store for you Doctor...to take your body...use the TARDIS to steer me to the Cyberman home world in the past (- See The Lost World) and have them create a new body for me in the future. And here it is."
The Doctor scowled at the man and rolled eyes.
"So I was only a pawn in your whole scheme of things...terrific. All you had to do was ask..."
The Master shakes his head.
"Even now you joke. I couldn't stand being inside your mind Doctor...such a jumble of stupidity and genius at the same time was appalling. It's a wonder your brain is stable at all."
"So what now, hm?" The Doctor says to him. "Kill all the humans and Cybermen? For what? Was that part of your...grand plan was it?"
"You mock me Doctor."
"Sorry...but after being in my brain you'd think that would be obvious, wouldn't you?" he says smirking at him for a change.
The Master straightened up and clenched his fists.
"So damn smug...so foolishly like child. I'm going to enjoy watching you die Doctor...But not before the Cybermen destroy Earth in the past."
"I beg your pardon?" The quirky Timelord asks.
The Master backs away slowly from his rival and grins.
"I've given the Cybermen just what they've always wanted. The secrets of the TARDIS. Now they can launch a full scale invasion into Earth's past...and forever end the human species."
The Doctor now moves his head up with great interest.
"What have you done?! But if that's true...we destroyed the vehicle in the past already...hadn't we?"
The Master still walks back towards the doors leading out of the room and laughs.
"Don't be so sure Doctor...who's to say they only had one ship."
As he walks out the Doctor calls out for him and once again struggles to get free.
"Wait....wait! Come back...come back here! MASTER!!"
The Dotor and Andrea have landed in the middle of a war between the Cybermen and Earth. Now racing to stop the Cybermen from destroying the planet, the crew of a human vessel reluctantly use the Doctor's help to fix their ship and return them back on course to save Earth. But as they try to stop one of the Cybermen vessels, one of their shuttles is used to transport someone over to the enemy's landing bay. As the person steps off of the shuttle's ramp the Cybermen are shocked to see just who it is. It is the Doctor.
"Who are you?"
The man steps out of the shadows and now becomes totally viewable in the lights.
"I'm the Doctor."
It is indeed the Doctor, the mauve smoking jacket and miss-matched clothing are the very garments he was wearing not more then a few moments ago. Smiling away like a madman the Doctor soon begins laughing to top of his lungs in an overly evil tone. The Cybermen look at one another in confusion as the Timelord laughs away, the echo bouncing off the metal interior of the shuttle bay making it sound deep and forbidding. The Doctor slowly steps down out of the shuttle and comes face to face with the lead Cyberman.
"The Doctor must be destroyed. You are the Doctor..." the Cyberman says like a confused machine.
"Yes I am...now be a good tin man and open up your data files. M915-22104 to be exact...Open the one called ' Phoenix' "
The Cybermen all hear the command given by the Timelord and seem to twitch as they search for the memory file within their brains. The lead Cyberman stopped his twitching and looked back at the Doctor very calmly.
"I understand...."
The Timelord smiled evilly again, "Good...take those commands and repeat them to the rest of the crew. Repeat and obey...."
"Yes...leader."
The Cyberman turns around and points at the others to obey his instructions, they all nod in unison and head back into the ship's corridors. The slivery mechanical man turns around and faces the Doctor again.
"Everything you asked for is prepared. Though...I do not understand how we come to know all of this."
The Timelord smiles an evil toothy grin, "It was arranged a long time ago. A few simple command structures into your basic programming and so forth."
The Cyberman still stands there struggling to understand, "But what of the other Cybermen vessels...are we to.... contact them as well?"
The Doctor knocks on the metal man's head, "Oh don't blow a fuse over it...they will proceed to Earth and kill the humans. You will join the battle soon enough...but first, I need to have a look at my lab you've secretly constructed for me and I in turn will show you the secrets of the Timelords. Come..."
The Doctor confidently walks out the room with the Cyberman and proceeds to walk down the long spartan halls of the ship.
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"What are they waiting for?" The captain says on the Earth ship.
They've all been watching the viewer intensely as the Cyberman ship hangs there silent in space, gun poised at them and looking very forbidding. The aging commander shakes his head in confusion as he is obviously waiting for their end to come.
"Well if they won't finish us...we'll finish them instead. Fire all weapons!"
The two pilots press their buttons on the console, but nothing happens. The two look at each other in disbelief and try to push the buttons again repeatedly.
"Nothing sir!" The black female pilot shouts.
"Same here...I'm getting no response!" The young man hollers back as well.
The captain leans back in his chair with a face of utter hopelessness and sighs under his breath.
"So...we're dead."
Down in the shuttle bay, Andrea runs into the room where the TARDIS still sits. It is the same bay area where the shuttle was launched moments ago. Noticing the fact, she quickly runs over to the police box and screams for the Doctor, pounding on the blue door, she soon discovers that it wasn't properly closed. She dashes inside and enters into the white perforated console room. Frantically she searches all about for the Timelord friend, still calling out for his name and even peeking in and out of the few doors that lead deeper into the TARDIS. She soon realizes that he is nowhere to be found and now believes her worst fears have come true. The Doctor was on that shuttle.
"Why.... why would he go? Why would he leave us?" She says wiping away the tears and trying to think of a reason.
"Think girl, think.... what have I over looked?"
Across the room, she notices the small wooden cabinet had moved from its original place, the one that seemed to hum and had the other black glove placed on top of it earlier. She wandered over to study it and even felt it again to feel the vibration. With great curiosity she began looking behind the wooden cabinet, she noticed the back panel was open and there was room enough for one person to get behind it. As she stepped into it's space, she began to crawl into the opening until she was fully inside. Suddenly, she could feel herself almost falling in and landed on her feet. As she stumbled in wards towards a bright light, she quickly realized she had entered another room. Looking around quite surprised by the fact, she noticed an eerie familiarity about the new room she had been pulled into. Slightly darker in color and with an odd red light shining around the perforated walls, she blurted out where she had seen this sort of place before.
"I'm in the TARDIS?" She says with amazement. "How can this be? I was just in this room...but...wait...it's different in here. I don't remember it being so gloomy and red."
A strike of realization hit her like a bolt of lightning, "I was right! This is another Timelord ship. Oh my god! But...how did it get in here? Who is this bastard doing this to us?"
Walking over to the control panel, she notices how slightly different in design it is compared to the Doctor's machine.
"Whoever this person is...seems like they have the same taste in decorators. But that still doesn't help me any. Oh Doctor...where the hell are you? I could really use your help right now."
As she studies the controls and looks at the various objects within the room, she fails to notice that the large doors behind her are slowly closing without making a sound. As they finally slam shut together, she turns around to see them completely locking her in. Desperate to get out, she runs over to them and tries to pry them open with her hands and fingers. The panicked woman screams for them to open up and even kicks it with her foot as if it would make a difference. A whooshing noise begins to build, as Andrea turns her head back at the console to see the large pulsating center column moving up and down.
"Where are you taking me?!!" She screams to the top of her lungs.
She collapses on the floor and holds herself tight fearing that she absolutely has no control over what is going on. The pulsating sound of the darker TARDIS fills the room as the column continues to move up and down. The horror of being trapped in a strange Timelord ship other then the Doctor's frightens her to no end.
On the bridge of the ship, the captain looks over at Megan who is trying to contact Andrea on the intercom.
"Andrea.... Come in Andrea. Please give us a status...is the Doctor alright?"
"Where the hell are those two?" The captain demands at her.
Megan opens her mouth as if to continue talking into the intercom, but quickly shuts it to answer her commanding officer.
"I...I don't know sir. Someone reported seeing her on 'C' Deck and then.... well she's gone missing as well."
The captain stands up in a furious anger and paces around the bridge.
"Two missing persons...a shuttle boarding an enemy ship and now no weapons to even fire. How could I have been such a fool? We should have shot them on sight!"
Megan steps away from her console and stands in his path in defiance.
"Sir. With all due respect I still don't think either one of them is the traitor. Andrea and the Doctor have managed to keep us afloat and even back up to spec engine wise. If the two them were spies that wanted us to fail...why not simply let us blow up?"
The captain stares her down and explodes with anger, "Because they wanted us here to do it that's why!! Just look at our position, the only ship left from the outer rim that could help the Earth defense stop the last remaining Cybermen from stomping the planet out of existence!!!"
The crew looks at the raving commander as his shouting sends a chill down their spines; his screaming like a wild mad man gives them fear that this is a hopeless battle and even a doomed mission. Megan still stands in front of him with a defiant look, she's not afraid of his harsh words, nor his insane manner. But calmly gives her advice once again.
"Sir. No offense...but that's a load of crap. The Cybermen don't care where or how they kill, they don't even need to trick us to do it. We've all seen how they attack and how they keep using the same strategy over and over again. I can't say why or who was on board that shuttle...but who ever it was just bought us some time. I recommend we go to immediate full speed to Earth and repair the weapons as quickly as we can."
The captain nervously chews on his finger as he looks at her, his eyes dart around as he thinks about her recommendation and quickly nods.
"Yes...Yes you're.... You're right. We need to secure Earth. To hell with them...lets press on and hope the other ship doesn't follow us. I'm in command...yes.... that's right...I'm the captain."
Sitting back in his chair giggling to himself, he shakes off his madness and comes back into focus.
"Helm...double time to Earth. Move!"
Both pilots nod and steer the ship for home. As the ship moves away from the silent Cyberman vessel, it suddenly jumps into hyperspace and disappears from sight. The Cyberman ship begins to move, and turns itself in the direction of the human vessel, it slowly builds up speed and quickly pursues after the other ship. Inside the Cyberman craft, the metal men continue to monitor the other two vessels well ahead of them, on the floating screen around the Cyberman pilot shows two red dots approaching a larger blue dot.
"Leader, Our vessels have finally entered Earth orbit."
The Cyberman behind him with darker colors on his helmet nods gently.
"Excellent. Have they begun the attack?"
The pilot touches the screen and a scrolling alien text appears before him.
"It has begun Leader. The humans were unprepared for our close jump and are losing a major part of their defense forces. It seems that we are about to win the war at long last."
The lead Cyberman raises his head in pride and clutches his fist.
"Perfect. All our enemies will be crushed and now with the Timelord helping us... we will become the masters of time and space."
As the Earth ship races for home, the young pilot Raynard suddenly notices the Cybermen catching up to them. Looking panicked and breathing heavily he shouts out to his captain about the coming vessel.
"Sir!! The Cybermen are right behind us! Gaining speed and...and..."
The captain would here none of it, "Shut up! Keep going to Earth...we'll deal with it when we get there!"
The black female co-pilot looks at a monitor and studies the data coming in on it, with wide eyes she looks back at the captain and reports.
"Sir scans ahead report Earth is under full scale attack!"
Megan's face gives a look of horror.
"No..." She gasps.
The captain punches the button at the side of his chair and leans back into softly.
"Attention all hands." the Captain's voice transmits throughout the ship. "All available personal are to report to main engineering and ship defenses. Repairs are a priority one condition; I want weapons online as soon as we have them. This is it...time has run out and Earth is now under attack. Remember your loved ones and friends who need us to stop the Cybermen at all costs. Do your duties and never wavier...once more unto the breach dear friends. For Earth, for each other, for the very survival of humanity..."
Turning his head towards Megan, who looks at the captain with tears in her eyes, he gazes at her and gives the command.
"Red Alert. Battle Stations!"
â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢
Deep inside the pursuing Cybermen vessel, in a room full of mechanical equipment and strange objects that only a scientist could dream of building himself lays the Doctor on an inclined table restrained and unconscious. Metal straps surround his top head like a crown, with wires and large pulsating fiber optics sticking out all over it. The Timelord slowly opens his eyes and tries to rise from his position. But as he moves he realizes his hands and feet are strapped down, his jacket removed and looking very confused.
"Wha...where the hell am I? I was on my way to the weapons area..."
A voice booms out from behind him, covered in shadow and wearing the same black gloves that Andrea and he had discovered before.
"Ah, Good...you're finally awake Doctor. I was hoping you would be..."
The Doctor still struggles, trying to see whom it is that is talking to him from behind.
"Who's there? What are doing to me? Where am I? Hm?"
The shadowy figure laughs out loud.
"Oh Doctor...such the inquisitive one aren't you. But then again, you've always been that way...if it eases your mind, I'll tell you. You're on the Cybermen vessel, in one of their laboratories."
The Timelord's eyes grow wide with panic, "What?!"
The mysterious man continues to snicker and comes closer to the Doctor's ear. His gloved hand sits within the corner of the Doctor's right eye, the only part of the man the Doctor can see for the time being.
"Yes Doctor." The man now says to him in a lower tone of voice. "You are on their ship...on your way to witness the end of humanity as you know it. Or it could be the end of the Cybermen's...however you wish to view things. One way or another...it is the end for all of us now."
The Doctor again looks confused by the man's mutterings.
"Us? You mean the Cybermen or Humans don't you?"
The shadowy figure steps out of the light and faces the disabled Timelord sitting helpless on the table. As he comes into full view, the Doctor gazes on the man's face and peers at him to recognize the man's identity.
"Who are you?"
"Look closer Doctor..." the man says to him.
The man standing there is dressed in a black; everything he has on is dark black in color. His boots with a polished shine, his pants that slightly cover the boots even tucked into them, his one piece jacket that has a collar raised around his neck and his slicked back crop of hair even looks as black as midnight. If the Doctor had to guess...the man was in his early 30's or late 20's, a Caucasian gentleman with no facial hair at all. His eyes didn't look human, grey in color but pupils were almost as small as pinholes. Shaking his head, the Doctor hadn't the slightest idea who he was.
"Sorry...can't say I remember the face. But those eyes of yours aren't real...cybernetic implants perhaps?"
The man giggles to himself and steps closer to the Doctor.
"More then that my dear friend. Still you do not see? No...I don't suppose you would. Changes I've had many, but this is the ultimate one I've ever had done. Look close Doctor...look close and see the face of your greatest nemesis. I've only ever had one name to call my own...."
The Doctor's face becomes gaunt and now shutters in terror as he realizes whom it is standing in front of him.
"The Master?!"
The man in black laughs with sheer insanity, and gives a wide toothy grin with delight.
"In the flesh...so to speak."
"It's not possible!" The Doctor shouts shaking his head in doubt. "You are not him! The Master was destroyed...he was destroyed a long time ago!"
The man leans in and smiles at him, "No Doctor. I'm right here."
"You...you can't be him..." The Timelord repeatedly states. "He was killed in a struggle...in my TARDIS...he was pulled into the Eye of Harmony. The power core of the TARDIS, there is no escaping from it..."
The man steps back and rubs his chin in thought.
"Yes...I did die in that accident Doctor. My body was ripped apart, flesh was stripped, bones crushed into powder, there was nothing left of me..."
The Master faces away from the Doctor and closes his eyes in memory.
"But my essence endured. My thoughts, my mind, the very will power I managed to summon up as I became one with the Eye. For me...time and space became one. I felt as if the cosmos was part of me, stretching to every corner of existence known. There I stayed...and there I waited."
The Doctor couldn't help but listen to the man ranting on; it was fascinating to him and at the same time almost too great a story to believe. The Master turned back around and opened his eyes at the confused Doctor, now shaking his dark gloved fist at him and continuing on with his rambling.
"Just long enough to pull myself back together and return to a singular form. I realized I was still inside of your TARDIS, that the core as limitless at it was, it was still a part of your machine. Revenge was all on my mind now, revenge on you, the Timelords and the universe at large. I wasn't going to let myself die so easily...not when I still have so much work to do. That's when I took over your TARDIS and planted myself into your brain!"
The Doctor scoffed him.
"Please...You're utterly insane. I have no memory of you doing such a thing..."
The Master leans in closer at him.
"Are you sure about that? Let me refresh your memory...Doctor. You were calmly traveling through the vortex, when all of a sudden a power surge came out of the space/time corridor. The controls became erratic and a bolt of energy spiked out of your main column."
The Doctor soon had the memories come back to him, in his mind's eye; he could see it all take place as the Master told him of what happened.
"You tried to reach the override and bring the TARDIS to a halt. But the energy bolt leapt out and struck you down..."
"Yes..." The Doctor now remembers. "It felt like pure energy was ripping every cell in my body. I reached the controls and managed to force the TARDIS to land...I felt like I was on fire...or like...like..."
The Master stood up and grinned down at him.
"Like you were having a Regeneration."
"My God!", The Doctor says to him with anger. "It was you...I could feel your mind inside...my body thought it was dying and...and...and it regenerated. You Bastard!"
The Master laughed, "A forced Regeneration my dear Doctor! Something no Timelord has ever done to another by sheer will alone. Not since the days of Rassilon. I am a God!"
"No...NOOOO!!!" the Doctor screams.
Continuing to laugh, The Master walks over and pinches the Doctor's cheek. The helpless Timelord strapped to the table violently shakes it with all of his strength in a futile effort to break free. Anger at the evil Timelord makes him growl with hatred at the man and finally gives up once he discovers it is useless. The Master smirks at his rival and sits in a steel chair beside him. The only chair in the entire room or even the ship, seeing how the Cybermen do not need them at all.
"Poor Doctor." He says to him still chuckling slightly. "All this time, I was inside of your feeble brain. When Andrea found you in the Canadian Rockies, I was changing your body to fit my needs. I only came out when it suited my needs...remember Roswell Doctor? No? I took over you're mind as you made the Cyberman discovery there. (- See Encounter at Roswell) I took over when we ran into the Rani ( - See The Time Gambit)...who owed me a favor I might add. It was because of her I was exterminated by the Daleks, she betrayed me and told those creatures where to find me."
The Doctor now calming down, looked up at the evil man and began to see the pattern.
"Ah...so she helped you, the whole Dalek capture was a ploy. She helped you to get revenge on me. I should have known...you never were one that could be killed so easily. No wonder you asked for me specifically to take you back home..."
"I needed your body Doctor..." The Master adds in. "But circumstances on Earth prevented me from acquiring it...those miserable humans made sure of that. This was the plan I had in store for you Doctor...to take your body...use the TARDIS to steer me to the Cyberman home world in the past (- See The Lost World) and have them create a new body for me in the future. And here it is."
The Doctor scowled at the man and rolled eyes.
"So I was only a pawn in your whole scheme of things...terrific. All you had to do was ask..."
The Master shakes his head.
"Even now you joke. I couldn't stand being inside your mind Doctor...such a jumble of stupidity and genius at the same time was appalling. It's a wonder your brain is stable at all."
"So what now, hm?" The Doctor says to him. "Kill all the humans and Cybermen? For what? Was that part of your...grand plan was it?"
"You mock me Doctor."
"Sorry...but after being in my brain you'd think that would be obvious, wouldn't you?" he says smirking at him for a change.
The Master straightened up and clenched his fists.
"So damn smug...so foolishly like child. I'm going to enjoy watching you die Doctor...But not before the Cybermen destroy Earth in the past."
"I beg your pardon?" The quirky Timelord asks.
The Master backs away slowly from his rival and grins.
"I've given the Cybermen just what they've always wanted. The secrets of the TARDIS. Now they can launch a full scale invasion into Earth's past...and forever end the human species."
The Doctor now moves his head up with great interest.
"What have you done?! But if that's true...we destroyed the vehicle in the past already...hadn't we?"
The Master still walks back towards the doors leading out of the room and laughs.
"Don't be so sure Doctor...who's to say they only had one ship."
As he walks out the Doctor calls out for him and once again struggles to get free.
"Wait....wait! Come back...come back here! MASTER!!"