"Arrest her", said another guard and just as I felt myself being dragged away, I heard the Doctor say, "Hey! It was me…only me, she had no idea and nothing to do with it", the Doctor told them. I looked at the Doctor with wide eyes, "She was standing right here, looking into her mirror when it happened", Ruciable added, the other Time-Lords were suspicious but remained silent.
"Fine, consider this a warning", the guard said as they walked away with the Doctor who smiled at me comfortingly, before he was escorted away. Then another guard came up to me and escorted me out of the Ponopticon; then we walked down the hall, entered a room, and told me I had to wait here. I wasn't a suspect, but they were still suspicious of me.
After the guard had left a room, I felt a stinging sensation in my head until it was a full blown electric shock and I screamed out in pain as I grabbed my head. The guard from before was quick to rush in and asked me if everything was alright, "It's just my head", I said trying to brush it off, but I kept wincing.
"It sounded like you were being tortured, that couldn't have been…", then he paused as a look of realization washed across his face. "Come with me", he ordered as he walked away, and I followed close behind, unsure of what was wrong.
I was led into the Doctor's trial as he sat at a glass table; when I looked over to the man, in his red and orange robe sitting in a throne like chair, I noticed it was the same man that was outside of the Tardis from before. Other Time-Lords were in the room as well I noticed, and the Doctor looked up from what he was drawing to wave at me before continuing.
The man in the red and orange robe that sat in the throne-like chair glanced at me questioningly, before turning his attention back to the witnesses as they spoke. The guard waited beside me as the trial continued. There was a man who said, that the Doctor had said, "Let me go, they'll kill him", and the man in the throne-like chair brushed it off and asked the man if he was sure that is what he heard. I glared at the man as it was clear to me that he was trying to manipulate the trial.
"Yes, when it comes to age…I suppose you can expect these things", the man said clearly offended and I sighed annoyed, "You have something to say", the man asked from his throne. I bit my lip as the Doctor shook his head at me, "Nope", I said through gritted teeth. The poor man was being insulted for his age and I couldn't say anything about it.
"Now, is it possible he could've said, "Let me go, I will kill him"", the man said as he sat on his throne and my glare turned to full blown daggers at this point. "I suppose it's possible", the man said unsure and I was getting upset, this couldn't be happening!
"Now, does the suspect have any last words", asked the man in his red and orange robe sitting on his throne. "Yes, I invoke article seventeen", the Doctor announced, and the Time-Lords began whispering to each other as he gave me a wink.
The man who sat in his throne noticed that with a lifted brow and then asked as if it was some sort of joke, "Article seventeen?"
"I candidate myself for president", the Doctor declared, "I invoke article seventeen that guarantees liberty", the Doctor told them as he stood.
"As a juror, I must say that by law, invoking article seventeen, it protects him from this trial and execution", another Time-Lord said to the man in the red and orange robe.
That man's an idiot, I thought annoyed and I saw the Doctor try to hold in his laughter as the guard beside me watched our invisible interaction with great interest.
"He's abusing technicalities", said the man in the red and orange robe, "No sir, I am claiming a legal right", the Doctor told the man.
"This court must be adjourned until the election is over", the Juror told the man who slumped in his throne-chair, then the man sighed, "Very well…but do not think you can escape justice. Castellan Spaniel", the man in the red and orange robe called.
"Yes sir", Castellan said, "See that the accused gets no escape from capital and make sure his friend doesn't as well, see to it they are kept separated", ordered the man in the red and orange robe. "Yes sir", replied Castellan, then the other man left as the Castellan walked up to the Doctor and I was beside him when he told the Doctor, "Four to eight hours."
"Yes, well…it's better than three", the Doctor told him, I was scared for him, "What are you going to do", the man asked the Doctor. "Suppose, I convince you that I didn't do it", the Doctor told him, "Alright…convince me", said the Castellan, before a random Time-Lord started speaking with him.
As he was distracted, the Doctor came up to hug me, "I'm glad you're alright", he told me as I smiled while hugging him back, "Oi! Oi! I was told to keep you two separated", Castellan told us.
"Alright", the Doctor said and sighed before releasing me, then the guard who had escorted me to the trial room, walked up to the Castellan, and whispered something in his ear. Castellan's face went from confusion to realization, then looked over to the Doctor and I but kept silent.
The man in the red and orange robe saw the exchange, I noticed, as he spoke to some Time-Lords before leaving; for some reason I felt like that man seemed suspicious. "He's making sure he keeps a close eye on you two", Castellan told me as if reading my mind, "Well, I can read your mind…you think the Doctor and yourself are the only ones who can speak telepathically to each other", he asked me.
"Well…no", I admitted as I remembered that the master had read my mind before when I was in a semi-coma.
Castellan nodded, "Alright, you're free to roam inside of the capital as long as you have a guard with you at all times. I will be with the Doctor as he proves his innocence", Castellan told me, and I nodded sadly.
Then I sighed, "Well…I'm going for a walk to get some fresh air", I told them, "Alright", the Doctor told me unsure as I waved goodbye, with a guard following me.
After a while of walking, I heard a warning from the Doctor within my thoughts, "The Master is here, be on your guard", I knitted my brows in confusion, "The Master? The last time I saw him, he caused a bit of problem back on Earth before he was captured…on the festival of Mayday", I thought. We both thought fondly of that memory, "What is he doing here", I wondered, "I don't know…but whatever it is, it can't be good", the Doctor told me.
The Doctor soon found out that it was the Master that sent him the vision of the President being assassinated, then he figured out he had to go into a dream simulation to enter the Master's mind, and find out where he was hiding a brain circuit. He was also aware the possibility of going into a dream simulation could kill him and in return kill me as well, "Do you understand", the Doctor asked me within my thoughts.
"You have to stop the Master before he kills again or destroys Galifrey", I thought back, "Do you understand that this may kill you as well", he asked me, "I understand, the Master has to be stopped", I told him firmly.
There was a moment of hesitation, before he finally said, "Agreed…alright you might want to- ", then I felt a sudden jolt within my mind and the pain was unbearable, I screamed out before I fainted. The next thing I knew, I woke up next to the Doctor; then we both helped each other to stand and when I took a good look around, I did not expect to wake in the desert or was it a forest…a swamp?
"Where are we", I asked the Doctor, "Some sort of dream sequence", the Doctor told me just as an alligator snapped its jaw at us and then disappeared. We heard laughter in the distance, "Although it's hard to tell what's real or not", he said, before the ground beneath us disappeared and we were slipping down a cliff. Quickly, we grabbed onto the edge before we could fall down the bottom less pit. Then the Doctor took off his scarf to swing it around a small tree, once it was tightly wrapped around it, the Doctor grabbed me, then pulled me close, so we could both get up.
However, someone appeared and cut the scarf, then we found ourselves falling of the ledge of the cliff; everything went black and my eyes finally opened, I glanced over to see the Doctor laid out on a gurney with a…doctor treating him? "Doctor", I groaned as my body hurt all over and he quickly looked over to me as his breathing quickened.
"My, my, what do we have here…looks like you're still kicking", the "doctor" mocked and the Doctor turned his head over to glare at the man. "You were a fool to let yourself and your friend or is she your lover? To be trapped in my dimension", it was the Master! "Oh my, what's this I see…have you finally turned her into a child Time-Lord. That's very naughty Doctor", the Master mocked as he held up a giant needle that was filled with red liquid.
Then the Master tried to the Doctor a shot with the giant needle, before he managed to tear off his oxygen mask, roll off the gurney, grabbed me, and we both rolled the rest of the way down the cliff. We were on the ground once more and as we stood, bombs were being set off all around us while a man wearing a gas mask pulled a donkey along while a child rode on it.
Then the Doctor grabbed my hand and we ran away from the bombs, we ran through a forest and then finally found ourselves in an open area. When we tried to walk, the Doctor and I found that he foot was stuck in the train tracks…we had no idea where it came from, it just suddenly appeared. A train was heading right for us and I tried to help the Doctor out, but he yanked his arm away and told me to leave him.
I refused, "I'm not leaving you", I told him firmly and he looked at me surprised as I tried to help pull his foot out.
Laughter rang out as the train got closer and closer, the Doctor then stopped and looked up at me before hugging me; my eyes went wide before I hugged him back and closed my eyes tight before the train noise faded. My hearts were beating so fast as I checked to make sure the Doctor was alright, we stood, and the Doctor managed to remove his foot, "It's an illusion", he said relieved.
There was laughter again and we looked around to see where it was coming from, before the Doctor and I tried to deny the dream, but it ultimately failed, and we fainted, only to found ourselves back in the desert. The Master was playing with our fears and no matter what we did, it seemed like there was no escape.
We walked what seemed like hours in the baring heat of the sun as eyes stared down at from the sky as the Master said, "I warned you, this is my world and there is no escape", and then the eyes disappeared.
When we looked down to the sand, it revealed a mirror with an image of a clown laughing right at the Doctor and right next to it was a girl crying as she was covering her eyes. When she removed her hands, I saw that she was crying blood and then began laughing manically at me.
The Doctor was quick to cover the image with sand and the Doctor grabbed my hand as we treaded along; the fears that was revealed to us were ones we couldn't face ourselves or tell others otherwise.
After escaping a plane after it had swooped down several times, trying to hit and shoot at us; we quickly ducked into a forest to hide and the plane flew away. I winced then lifted my dress to see that had a deep cut and that it was bleeding pretty bad. I noticed that the Doctor had the exact same cut after he revealed it by pulling up his pants leg. Then I proceeded to rip my dress to dress the wound, as did the Doctor with his shirt; then we stood and helped each other along.
We heard several gunshots and quickly ducked into cover behind a rock, "What was that", I whispered, "Must be our assailant, they're not giving up", the Doctor whispered back. Then we tried running back through the trees again…at least until we saw a man holding a sniper rifle and ran back. Quickly, we hid in a small bush…where we had to hide considerable close since it was so small we pulled our knees up as we watched the sniper walk past and then snuck down the mountain before he stopped a few feet away.
The sniper pulled out a canteen and started drinking from it, I didn't realize how thirsty I was and then I heard a chewing sound, I noticed the Doctor chewing on a leaf; I would've been amused if I didn't have the urge to do the same thing.
"They're going to need water", I heard the man whisper as he took out a map to look at it, placed it back, and walked off. He left a backpack and a canteen behind we managed to sneak our way to his supplies, however the canteen was empty, and the Doctor took out a grenade from the sniper's pack. The Doctor used the grenade as a trap, so that when the sniper walks through a trip wire, the grenade will be set off as he tries to get his supplies.
We were careful to avoid the trip wire as we headed towards the sniper's direction, just as he was coming back. When we were a good distance away, we heard the grenade go off, but nothing happened; for a moment we were dizzy from dehydration. "Thought this nightmare would be over by now", the Doctor told me, "Me too", I agreed.
We continued walking until we hit a stream, the Doctor was about to drink from it until he paused, "What's the matter", I asked as I knelt beside him to examine the water.
"It's been poisoned, he intends for us to die of dehydration ", the Doctor told me, "What do you suppose we do now", I asked. The Doctor then looked around for something and then his eyes lit up as he grabbed a bamboo plant, then turned it into a straw. I lifted a brow as he started drinking from a leaf with it, he only took a couple of sips before handing the straw and the leaf over to me, I hesitated before doing the same thing.
Once it was gone, we placed them down and that was when we heard footsteps nearby; we quietly walked away from the area to avoid the sniper. Then the Doctor bumped into a thorny bush, I pulled him away before any of those dripping thorns could scratch him with its poison.
He grabbed one of its branches and said, "If I could get to high ground and shoot him with one of these coated with the poison he tried to use on us back at the stream. It may give us a chance to get a head of him", the Doctor told me as he pulled off one of the thorns with his shirt, as well as the straw we used to drink the water from the leaf.
"Right, so what do you need me to do", I asked, "Hide nearby, if you see him just signal me and I'll come get you when it is done", he told me. I nodded as I hid in a non-poisonous bush nearby and the Doctor climbed up a tree, then sat on a branch.
When I saw a glimpse of our attacker, I did a long whistle to signal the Doctor that I saw him and when he saw him, the Doctor was quick to use the straw to shoot the poisoned thorn in the sniper's leg. The sniper knelt down in pain, then lifted his gun to shoot the Doctor in the arm, and I had to bite my lip from crying out as I looked down at my arm to see that it was bleeding.
I quickly stood as the Doctor rushed over to me to look at my arm, "Okay…we need to get out of here", the Doctor told me as he grabbed my hand and we ran away from the scene. We struggled as we tried to get away from the sniper and the Doctor grabbed a wooden staff to use a walking stick to help us with walking. Then we trekked through water, so the sniper wouldn't be able to track us, there was a noise, and we quickly ducked into a slightly larger bush then the one before.
Then we heard the sniper yell, "Doctor! Acacia! Where are you?! You can't win", the Sniper exclaimed, "What do you want from us", the Doctor yelled, "Only your lives, Doctor…your lives for my Master", the Sniper yelled.
The Doctor glanced back at me before yelling, "Maybe we can bargain with you", "No! No Bargaining! Show yourselves! Do you hear me", the Sniper ordered.
"Doctor, if we show ourselves…he'll shoot us the first chance that he gets", I told him, he nodded before yelling back, "No! You show yourself, your real self."
"Very well, Doctor", the man yelled back, then took off his mask to reveal that he was the man in the red and orange robe from before…the one who wanted to execute the Doctor!
"He must be under the control of the Master, like Jo was", I whispered to the Doctor and the Doctor gave me a confused expression, like he didn't know who that was.
"Right", he played it off and I gave him a knowing look, before he yelled to the man, "Alright…you win", called the Doctor as the man looked around as he held his sniper rifle. Suddenly, the man was caught a flame and my eyes widened in horror as he cried out then quickly jumped into the water.
"Come on", the Doctor said gently as we began making our way to the water to see that the man had disappeared.
Just as I thought that, the man suddenly jumped out of the water to attack the Doctor, "Doctor", I exclaimed, and I was about to help before he yelled, "Get back!" The men started fighting, then I looked around until I saw a log, and then I had an idea; I grabbed the log right when the man held the Doctor under water. I began to spit out the water, but I didn't let it stop me as I hit the man on the head with the log which knocked him out.
The man fell back, just as the Doctor raised up from the water and took a deep breath, then he grabbed my hand, and we ran as he thanked me along the way. Suddenly, we both woke up back in the real world of Galifrey, "They're waking up", I heard a voice say as I blinked my eyes open.
"My dear, are you alright", I heard the Castellan ask beside me, "Do you mind? This is a smoke free zone", I heard the Doctor joke beside me, as a machine was breaking down behind us.
I turned my head to look at the Doctor and noticed he was smiling at me, before I looked away and I felt my cheeks grow hot. "Are you two alright", I heard another man ask, "Yeah, just tired, "the Doctor replied, "I'm not surprised you both took quite the beating", Castellan told him.
"You should see the other guy", the Doctor joked and chuckled. "Speaking of which, where is he", I asked as the Doctor and I sat up, "Who", Castellan asked as he made sure we were both alright.
The Doctor then told him about the man who wanted to execute him before and how he was working with the Master, "That's why he wanted you executed", Castellan said in realization, "Yes", the Doctor agreed, "Goth, the man in the red and orange robe, must have his own link to the matrix", the Doctor told us as I learned the man's name.
"What if he recovers", I asked, "Yes, we need to track him down before that happens, what's under here", the Doctor asked the last part to the older men.
"Just an underground shaft…with the same machine we used in the old times", the man told the Doctor.
"Show us", the Doctor said, and the men nodded as they took us to the lower levels, we stopped as soon as we saw a hooded figure lying on the floor in the room where the older version of the matrix machine was located.
We snuck in and made our way towards the hooded figure, the person's face was hidden and all I could see where their hands which were void of skin; you could see the person's muscles, veins, and the structure of the bone and I felt sick just looking at it. The Doctor removed the hood where the head was the same as their hands…void of any skin, bulging eyes, muscle, veins, and you could see the structure of their skull.
I had to look away, "Is that the Master", I asked, "Yes", the Doctor replied, "Something must've gone wrong with his regeneration", the Doctor said sounding shocked.
"Is he dead", Castellan asked, "Yes", the Doctor replied, "Goth is still alive", said the other man as he stood next to Goth on the other side of the room.
The Doctor and I quickly went to his side as he was laid right beside the old matrix, "Doctor…Acacia…you've defeated him", Goth said as his voice was hoarse…he was dying.
"Why did you do it", I asked, and the Doctor glanced at me, before he turned his attention to Goth, "Wanted power…but, he cheated me…did not tell me…of his plan", Goth told us.
"What was his plan", the Doctor asked, "Dying…wanted a body…no more regenerations possible. Promised…to share…all his knowledge…bring him to Galifrey", Goth said as his voice turned more and more into a whisper.
"Goth, Goth! What was his plan", the Doctor asked, "Can't fight his...mental dominance…did everything…he asked", Goth told us sadly and then he died. I covered my mouth in shock as the Doctor sighed, "Typical politician, no straight answer to a question", he said, and my eyes turned towards the Doctor, not believing what I was hearing.
"He's alright, he'll regenerate", the Doctor said as his back was facing me, the Doctor and I followed Castellan to meet up with the Juror.
The Castellan told the Juror everything that had happened with the Master, Goth, and the Matrix; however, the Juror did not seem happy about it. After the Castellan was done with his explanation, the Juror then walked up to the Doctor and I, and told us that he would "need to adjust the truth." The Juror planned to have the body of the Master burned and tell the people that Goth died a hero tragically.
I began seething, the Juror had no intention of telling the people the truth, "Of course, your charges will be dropped…after you and your young friend leave Galifrey tonight", the Juror told us.
"Somehow, Cardinal, I don't want to stay", the Doctor told him, "Very good...anything you want to add", the Cardinal or Juror asked me, "Why? So, you could "adjust" the truth to fit your own means, no actually I have nothing to add", I growled. "Quite the catch you got there", I heard the Cardinal tell the Doctor awkwardly, "Isn't she just", I heard the Doctor reply amused.
I turned my head to narrow my eyes at the Doctor as we followed the other man lead us back to the records chamber where the new Matrix was located. The man handed us some drinks as the Doctor said in confusion that there had to be a reason for the Master to be on Galifrey…but what?
Then I thought about what Goth had said; a new body…the Master had used up all his regenerations. If he was talking about the Master, it would have meant the Master had used all his lives and planned to take another one to extend his life. So…the Master wasn't really dead then?!