Chapter 4: New Faces, New Discoveries
It had been a long day for the Master. Even though not much time had passed, putting up with these dull creatures was starting to take a toll on him. From Marcy's persistent questioning of him to Anne and her surrogate family of frogs' cheerful outlook. Oh, how it annoyed him to no end.
After the so-called "lunch", Marcy and the others decided to "introduce him" properly to the townsfolk. While he wanted to see and inspect the music box Marcy told him about and see its viability, he did not argue or suggest it, getting to know the town's population might prove useful. For now, he would have to continue impersonating the Doctor as he did similarly when he was on the planet Gardezza. Before going into town, the Master was led towards a barn to be introduced to a few more of the Plantars' family.
"This is our girl Bessie," said Hop Pop introducing the family's giant snail then gestured down to the smaller pink one next to her. "and this here's little MicroAngelo."
Bessie chirped in response as did MicroAngelo. The Master looked at them and held out his hand to pet the larger snail. Bessie then gently put her head forward allowing him to pet her while MicroAngelo rubbed his foot.
"Charming creatures, Hopediah," said the Master as he patted Bessie (while trying not to be disgusted at the feeling of her slimy skin) "I see you have looked after them well."
"Bessie's been part of the family for years and Polly recently adopted MicroAngelo when we went to Newtopia," replied Hop Pop as he bent down and patted the small snail.
As the Master stopped petting Bessie, a figure slammed the stable doors open. He, Hop Pop, Marcy, and the others turned around to see a frog-like robot standing in their sight. The Master's brow raised in interest. Marcy never mentioned this to him.
A robot? Thought the Master as the Polly bounced towards it.
Now, this just got a lot more interesting.
"Frobo!" yelled Polly as the robot allowed her to bounce on top of his shoulder. "You weren't supposed to come out yet!"
Embarrassed by its mistake, Frobo looked down in shame. The Master then stepped closer to the robot to inspect it. As he got closer, the robot's eyes suddenly began to glow red as it got quickly into a defense position. The Master quickly backed off with his hands in the air.
"Wait!" said Polly "He's a friend, his name is the Doctor!"
"DoCToR?" said Frobo (or at least attempted to say) as it began to calm down with its eyes turning back to its normal yellow color.
Seeing that the robot was no longer hostile, the Master then walked back up to it to inspect it. After a closer look, it was more advanced than anything he had currently seen in Amphibia. After looking at Frobo for a few seconds, he then looked back at Marcy.
"I thought you said Amphibia was not capable of technological feats such as this?" questioned the Master.
"Sorry," replied Marcy rubbing the back of her head with an embarrassed look on her face. "I might have forgotten to mention the part about having a robot-frog."
Typical humans. Always so forgetful.
"Where on earth did you find it?" asked the Master as he went back to examining Frobo.
"Polly found it," said Sprig "Don't know where it came from though."
Suddenly Marcy's head perked up and looked at the Master. "Hey, Wait!" said Marcy "Maybe some secret society built it from some technology you might have left behind on your first visit?"
The Master then scoffed at the idea. "I doubt that," he replied "Otherwise my people, the Time Lords, would have come and sorted the situation out. They don't like it when primitive species gain technology beyond their own world's time. No offense."
"None taken," replied Hop Pop.
"Well, that theory is ruled out," said Marcy as she pulled her notebook out to scribble some more notes but then realized she forgot her pencil.
"Dang it!" she said as she was about to turn back to the Plantars' house to retrieve it.
Quickly, the Master pulled out a silver pen and held it out to Marcy out of his pocket. "Oh, Ms. Wu, you can use mine."
"Thanks!" replied Marcy as she took the pen and wrote down her notes, then gave the pen back to the Master.
"My pleasure, dear child, after you and your friends have been nothing but kind to me," said the Master as he then looked back at Frobo. "Um, Miss Polly, may I take a closer look? If that is ok?"
Shrugging her arms, Polly hopped off the robot's shoulder and then onto the ground. "Sure. Why not? It's not like you're gonna blow Frobo up? Wait are you? ARE YOU?!"
Sprig then gasps "You're gonna blow Frobo up and kill us all! So that was your real plan all along!"
The Master laughed at this. "Oh no, I'm just going to give some tweaks, give an upgrade of some sort if you know what I mean?"
The two Plantar's then calmed down and let the Master do his work. Marcy, who was excited to see a Time Lord at work, began to giggle uncontrollably and then started to squeal.
"OMG! LIKE WHAT KIND OF UPGRADES?! LIKE THE ABILITY TO TRAVEL THROUGH TIME, HAVING IT ABLE TO SHOOT ROCKETS, MAKING IT ABLE TO DISGUISE ITSELF WITH ITS SURROUNDINGS OR-"
"Not quite like that my dear." Said the Master as he opened Frobo's head with his laser screwdriver, with the hatch on top popping open.
Quickly he then got to work. The inside of Frobo's head seemed to be standard, nothing out of the ordinary for a primitive android of its type but then he took a closer look and spotted something. It seemed to be a microchip, probably that was supposed to connect it to some sort of battle network or hivemind. It was blue and seemed to be damaged with the wires appearing to be loose. He then proceeded to remove it and then take a black chip out of one of his many pockets. The Master then places the new chip where the old one was, connects the wires back into place, and seals the hatch shut.
Frobo suddenly powered down, falling on the ground with its eyes turning black. Polly then gasped at her friend's sudden collapse as she rushed over to it. "Frobo!" she screamed "Are you alright? Say something!"
(Play Dr. Who Soundtrack: This Is Gallifrey 2:11 to 2:26)
A few seconds later, Frobo suddenly stood up with its eyes turning back to a bright yellow color. It then turned and looked at Polly.
"YES, POLLY, I AM FINE," spoke Frobo in a raspy, deep voice.
Everyone then looked in shock that Frobo had spoken a clear and full sentence for the first time. Polly then gasped and then looked at the Master.
"What did you do to Frobo?" she asked.
"Didn't I explain myself before, dear Polly?" said the Master "I simply did a little fix on poor Frobo here. Well, at least the brain and vocal processors should be fully functional."
"THANK YOU, FRIEND DOCTOR," said Frobo as he then started to play with Polly.
Anne, who had snapped out of her initial shock, saw the broken chip in the Master's hand. "What is that?" she asked "Looks like some sort of microchip from back home."
"Very good observation, Ms. Boonchuy," replied the Master as he squinted his eyes to take a closer look. "Marcy, you mentioned earlier when we met that Newtopia was the most technologically advanced kingdom on Amphibia?"
"Yeah, why?" answered Marcy.
"I think I might know where your robot friend may have come from."
Anne then gasps in shock. "You don't think that King Andrias guy might have had something to do with this?!"
"Maybe so, maybe not, it could be a third party entirely," responded the Master as he began to examine the chip. "Who knows? They may even be responsible for the creation of the music box that transported you and your friend here too."
"Maybe it was from those swamp monsters that you defeated!" said Sprig.
"Or maybe it could be the work of Sasha and her toad army!" said Hop Pop.
While Anne and the Plantar's discussed possible theories, the Master looked at Marcy and noticed something. She was sweating bullets and had a nervous look on her face as opposed to her usual happy one.
Looks like dear Ms. Wu is keeping a deep dark secret. Thought the Master.
"Are you alright my dear?" asked the Master in a concerned tone. "You seem worried. Is something wrong?"
Quickly, Marcy's expression changed back to its usual upbeat look. "Um, yeah totally fine! One hundred percent!" she said as she quickly tried to change the subject. "So where did that other chip come from? Was it a part of your ship?"
"Um not quite" answered the Master "It was originally built for an android I used to own."
"You owned your very own android?" questioned Marcy, hoping that this conversation would distract him from the chip.
"Yes, but we are getting off-topic," said the Master as he continued to observe the microchip turning his attention away from the 13-year-old.
While doing so, from the corner of his eye, he saw that Marcy was starting to get nervous again. Suddenly he felt a tug on his sleeve. The Master then turned to look at her again.
"Wait!" shouted Marcy "Wouldn't you need equipment from your ship? You know to examine the chip closer and that your craft is currently in the middle of the forest? Maybe folks at Wartwood could help you retrieve it? We did promise to introduce you to them after all."
Looks like someone's getting desperate.
"Marcy, while your kindness is much appreciated I do think I can examine it-"
"Please?" begged Marcy "I know their first impressions weren't that good but I promise that they will accept you as the Plantar's did."
The Master then gave the girl a thoughtful look then said. "Very well. Maybe meeting some more new faces won't hurt after all."
As soon as she heard those words, Marcy quickly rushed over to Anne and the Plantar family (who were still arguing over theories of who created Frobo). Marcy then tugged on Anne's shirt which got her attention.
"Hey, Anna-banana!" said Marcy "How about you and I introduce the Doctor to the citizens of Wartwood?"
"Wait, you never introduced him to the townsfolk?!" said Anne in shock.
"Didn't you give him a tour of the town before?"
"Yeah, I kind of forgot about that," said Marcy "Anyways, they might be able to help the Doctor retrieve his ship!"
"He has a ship?" said Anne as she then remembered how the Doctor traveled in a blue box. "Wait! Does that mean he can take us home?!"
"Unfortunately not at the moment my dear," responded the Master, overhearing the two girls' conversation. "Like I told Ms. Wu when we first met, my ship was attacked and severely damaged causing it to crash onto this world. Even with its self-repair mode, it may take hundreds of years to be fully functional. "
After hearing those words, Anne's previous thoughts of hope were drained eminently which did not go unnoticed by the Master. He then continued. "But with the discovery of more advanced technology, I may be able to speed up the process and should be able to take you and dear Marcy home along with your other friend."
Anne's previous glum look suddenly turned to a small smile at this news. "Really? You'd do that for us?"
"Of course my dear child!" said the Master "No one should be separated from their home! Especially someone your age of course."
Anne then had tears in her eyes as she ran up and hugged the Time Lord's chest. Surprised by this the Master then gently patted her on the back.
"Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" said Anne, excited at the fact she may be going home.
The Master surprised by her outburst slowly pried her away from his chest. "Um, my pleasure but I still will need help retrieving my TARDIS from the forest and some help repairing it. Maybe the townsfolk of Wartwood could assist me?"
"No offense, Doctor, but the folks at Wartwood are not geniuses," replied Anne "How are they going to help you fix your ship?"
"Well not by help in repairs but by supplying things like raw materials like food, metal, chemicals, etc." said the Master as he winked at her. "Also I bet they would love to know that the Doctor has come to visit Amphibia once again."
"Alright but let me warn you that it may take some time for them to accept you," said Anne "Took me almost 2 months to gain their trust."
"Trust me, my dear Anne, I can be very persuasive."
Anne was ecstatic, to say the least. A chance to finally return home! Back to her parents, back to her cat Domino and back to her normal life. How she missed being back on Earth.
Could this be true? Thought Anne.
Do I really have a chance to go back home?
As much as she missed her home, she couldn't help to think about the Plantar's who took her in and the new friends she had made in Amphibia over the past few months. If she goes back home she would be leaving them behind. She was sad at this fact but after all, she did not belong in Amphibia, and her parents (along with Sasha's and Marcy's) were probably worried sick.
Anne focus! You now have a chance to go home! After all, that is what you have been trying to do all this time in Amphibia?
Anne began to think about asking the Doctor about maybe bringing the Plantar family with her to visit Earth when her thoughts were interrupted by the voice of Sprig. He and the others were already walking far ahead of her, realizing she had been standing still for quite some time.
"Yo Anne!" said Sprig "We're heading into town! You wanna join us?"
"Sure thing dude!" replied Anne as she ran up to join the others.
Walking back into Wartwood, the Master, Marcy, Anne, and the Plantar family saw a large crowd had amassed itself in the center of the town. The group saw that the crowd was gathered around a grandfather clock on closer inspection.
Looks like those ignorant fools have done all the heavy lifting for me already.
"Looks like a normal grandfather clock to me," said one of the townsfolk.
"I saw it fall from the sky!" said another of the townsfolk with one eye (from the looks of him, probably the town drunk).
"And you made us drag it into town because?" said another frog.
"Because maybe it has something to do with the outsider who was with Anne's friend!"
The crowd began to argue and bicker over the origin of the grandfather clock and what it meant. The Master gave a loud cough to get their attention. Everyone then stopped and turned away from the clock to look at the Master and co. The crowd then began to converse with each other.
"Look it's the outsider!" said the one with one eye.
"Maybe he has something to do with the clock!" said a yellow one who had red hair.
"Settle down, settle down!" spoke the Master waving his arms around. "I understand that you are all uneasy with my presence."
"You're darn right we are!" replied an old frog lady.
"But there is no need to fear," said the Master, ignoring the last comment. "For I am the Doctor."
After hearing that name, the crowd went silent for a few seconds and then laughed. Several minutes passed before the crowd finally calmed down. A toad (presumably the mayor due to how well dressed he was compared to the others) stepped forward and spoke.
"Seriously?" he said as he wiped a tear from his eye. "You expect us to believe that you are a character from a made-up story from thousands of years ago? You're not even wearing the right clothes!"
"Yeah!" said the yellow one from before. "The Doctor wears a red scarf and has a blue box which you have neither!"
The Master then pulled out his laser screwdriver. He then raised it as he pressed a button near the top as a buzzing sound was heard coming from it. Suddenly, the grandfather clock changed shape, color, and then morphed into a blue nineteen-sixties London police box. The crowd (plus Marcy, Anne, and the Plantar's) gasps in shock with some with their jaws dropping at what had just happened.
"Chameleon circuit," said the Master as he lowered his screwdriver, putting it back into his pocket. "Perfect for blending into the environment unnoticed. Now, do you believe I'm the Doctor?"
"Well, I'm convinced," said the one-eyed one as the other townsfolk nodded in agreement as they began to murmur to each other at this revelation.
"So the stories are true!" murmured one who was missing a hand.
"He is real!" said a short yellow one with orange hair.
"The Doctor?! Here in Wartwood?!" spoke another.
"Why has he reappeared now after thousands of years?"
Hearing these words from the townsfolk made the Master smile. It looked like getting the trust of these idiots wasn't going to be as hard as Anne said it would be.
This is almost too easy. Thought the Master as he planned his next steps.
Firstly, he would need to go back into his TARDIS and assess the damage done by the Daleks and the crash. After the damage assessment, he would then examine the microchip in better detail. He then walked up to his TARDIS doors when the crowd of frogs suddenly surrounded him bombarding him with questions.
"Where is your other companion?" asked the skinny frog from before.
"Where have you been all this time?" asked another.
"Is it true that you can travel through time?" questioned a small light blue one.
"Please, everyone!" said the Master gently pushing the frogs aside. "I will answer your questions later. Right now I need to check on my ship. Oh um, Ms. Wu, would you like to join me?"
Marcy, who had been standing there in shock from the Master's TARDIS's recent transformation quickly switched to a look of excitement. She began to squeal in delight, jumping up and down on the spot. Thrilled to be going inside an alien ship for the first time, she ran up to the Master as he opened the door letting her in first before he entered as well, shutting the door behind him.
(Play Dr. Who Soundtrack: This Is Gallifrey 00:00 to 3:17)
When the Master walked through the doors into the control room he was expecting it to be a mess of rubble and parts but instead it was fine as everything seemed to be intact as if nothing had happened. The large metal Gallifreyan symbols around the console seem to no longer be in bits and the console itself was no longer a melted mess or missing certain controls, buttons, or switches. The Master then walked to the console to run some scans to see how much internal damage the time capsule has suffered.
Marcy on the other hand was shocked and delighted by what she was seeing. Never in her life or her wildest dreams did she expect to be on a real alien ship with a real alien! She could barely contain herself!
"A real beauty isn't she my dear?" said the Master to Marcy as she began to examine the interior of the control room with excitement.
"Like oh my gosh!" exclaimed Marcy. "It's…it's…
"Bigger on the inside?" suggested the Master looking over the controls and starting an internal scan.
"AMAZING!" shouted Marcy ecstatically. "Like it's so cool to be actually on an alien spaceship!"
"Time Capsule, Ms. Wu," said the Master. "Time and Relative Dimensions In Space to be precise."
The Renegade Time Lord then began to read the results of the scan, paying no real attention to the overexcited teenager who was bouncing around, looking in awe at her surroundings.
EXTERNAL REPAIRS COMPLETE
INTERNAL REPAIRS AT 89.22%
MINOR DAMAGE TO DEMATERIALISATION CIRCUIT
DIMENSIONAL DRIVER DRAINED OF POWER
UNABLE TO EXIT DIMENSION
Guess I'm going to need that music box after all. Thought the Master as he looked away from the console to Marcy who was currently looking at the various Gallifreyan symbols scattered through his TARDIS.
"Um, Marcy, may I ask you something?" asked the Master
The girl suddenly stopped looking at the symbols then looked at the Time Lord.
"Sure, fire away!"
"What do you know of the microchip from Frobo?"
Marcy suddenly tensed up. She began to sweat as her eyes darted around trying not to look at the Master's.
"Um… nope nothing!" said Marcy nervously.
"Are you sure, Ms. Wu?" asked the Master, prodding her again. "You seem pretty nervous every time I bring it up."
The thirteen-year-old remained silent still unable to look the man in the eye. The Master then slowly walked up to her from the console. He then put his hand on her shoulder.
"Marcy, my dear child, please tell me what's wrong?" spoke the Master in a kind, fatherly tone. "There is no need to be afraid of keeping secrets. I have been nothing but honest to you."
Marcy remained silent for a few more minutes with her eyes on the ground. The Master internally groaned knowing he may have to prod further.
"Ms. Wu, I am over 900 years old, I can handle whatever you are hiding," said the Master trying again to get answers. "Has it got something to do with your friends?"
Marcy then looked up at the Master. She had a sad look on her face. She then spoke. "Yes," she said sadly. "I know where Frobo came from."
The Master's brow perked up in interest after hearing this new information.
"I made a deal with King Andrias,' she continued "In exchange for charging the gems, he would allow me and my friends to travel to new worlds while he would be able to reactivate his robots and help him explore the multiverse."
"Or conquer it," said the Master "Oh, Marcy, you really shouldn't be helping this King Andrias. He has no good intentions! For all you know, he could betray you!"
"YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND!" she suddenly shouted. "I just didn't want to be separated from Anne and Sasha. My Dad got a new job out of the state so I would have to move away. He was taking away my friends from me! So I tricked Anne into thinking that the box was her birthday present and Sasha got her to steal it. We then went to a park and opened it then-"
Marcy realizing she had said too much covered her mouth in shock, but it was too late. The truth had come out. Tears began to leak from her eyes as she sat down and cried.
He then saw that Marcy was crying rivers of tears. He got out a handkerchief from his pocket and gave it to her to dab her eyes. He then tilted her head up so she could see him eye to eye.
"Dear child," he said trying to calm her down "I can understand you had good intentions with keeping your friends as I too had a friend who I had to leave.'
"You did?" asked Marcy.
"Yes, he called himself the Master," he responded remembering his times with the Doctor on Gallifrey.
"Sounds like a pretty evil name to me," said Marcy as she dried her eyes.
"Well he was a troubled man but he was my friend," said the Master. "We would run around the red fields, play games, and discuss theories between each other."
"So why were you forced to leave him?" asked Marcy.
"Well, we had some conflicting beliefs, he believed the universe should be conquered and destroyed not explored," responded the Master. "So when we went our separate ways I never stopped thinking about how I could have helped him, make him see my vision."
"So you're saying that I was right to not want to be separated from my friends?" said Marcy who had stopped crying.
"Precisely!" said the Master. "Who is your father to deny you what makes you happy? If anything he is to blame for this mess."
"Yeah!" said Marcy who stood up. "It's his fault for not understanding me! He didn't care for me anyway."
"Very good, Ms. Wu!" exclaimed the Master
"Wait are you going to tell Anne and the rest about what I've just said?" asked Marcy curiously.
"No, my dear, that is not my right," said the Master. "It is your choice whether you tell Ms. Boonchuy or not."
Marcy for the third time in the day then hugged the Time Lord who this time accepted it. After a few seconds, they broke away with the Master now asking Marcy a final question.
"Now Ms. Wu may I take a look at this music box you speak of?"
The Master saw that Marcy did not hesitate and pulled the box out of her satchel. She then handed it to the Master. On closer inspection, it was small and was ornamented in gold. On top, there was a picture of a frog with three gems. One was green, the second one was blue but the third one was a dull grey. The Master's face then turned from a smoothing one to that of surprise when inspecting the music box.
"Fascinating," he said while observing it.
"Andrias said that it was given to him thousands of years ago," responded Marcy. "Did your people have something to do with this?"
"Yes in fact they did," responded the Master "This right here is an old relic from Gallifrey's past. A prototype dimensional gateway built by Omega himself."
"So how did it end up here?" asked Marcy
"I'm not sure, according to the Gallifreyan archives it was supposedly lost along with most of his arsenal during his final failed experiment with Rassilon," said the Master.
"Wait! Did you just say arsenal? So is the music box a weapon?!" gasped Marcy as she began to panic. "We need to tell Anne-
"No, we can't."
Marcy stared at the man in shock "Why can't we tell them?! Haven't I lied enough to my friends?!"
"Because Ms. Wu," said the Master. "It's not that I doubt your friend keeping a secret, it's just that keeping it from the Plantar's will hurt her.'
"Then we'll tell them," she responded, "Maybe they could get the town-"
"To do what? Rebel against the kingdom that is more technologically advanced? They would be destroyed before they could reach the gates of Newtopia!"
Marcy looked at him with sadness in her eyes. "But why can't we tell them?"
"To give them hope," said the Master doing his fake impression of one of the Doctor's rousing speeches. "To make sure they do not cower in fear with the knowledge that the King of Newtopia could destroy them in one fell swoop. I don't like it either but I have a plan that will fix everything. You just need to trust me."
The Master saw the doubt in her eyes, knowing that she would have to keep another secret from her friends again, but he counted on her trust in him.
Little did she know that this would be the biggest mistake that she will ever make.
Author's note: Hi. Here is chapter four. Sorry for the late update, work has been a pain. Special thanks to Cylon One and Court of Talons for being my editors while also supporting my ideas. For the interior of the Master's control room look up "The War Master's TARDIS" and the first one from the TARDIS Wiki should be it. On another note, for continuity, this story takes place after the events of the audio "The Devil You Know." Also, Frobo's new voice is inspired by the Nightmare in Silver Cyberman voice done by Nicholas Briggs instead of Matt Braly's synthetic voice. Please review and see you next time.