It's been a long year since I've been suppressed in the back of my own mind and I remained pushing back on the wall that was threatening to push me out into non-existence. All the while their was a foreign entity that lived happily in my body…an entity I learned that caused my sickness, lived within the Paradox Machine that the Master had caused, waited until I was weak enough, and took over my body.
I glared at the Master as his voice could be heard over the speaker, "Citizens rejoice! Your Lord and Master stands high playing track three!"
The Master spun and danced with the entity as they entered the lobby while the song, "I can't decide by Scissor Sisters", started playing. Then he kissed them, like he always did, then he went to his wife and kissed her.
I wanted to tell her, "I was sorry", so badly, but by the look on her face she was just as disgusted by him as I was, and that's when I saw the bruise on her cheek for the first time. When the entity noticed this, they reached out to touch her cheek, but she slapped their hand away.
"Don't", she warned as the Master sat in his chair, while Martha's mom sat down a tray of tea cups on the table and he glared up at her like he always did, expecting a good cup of coffee. However, he was never satisfied, he spat it out and dropped the cup dramatically on the table.
Then the Master walked up the stairs to ring a bell to signal the Doctor to come out of his tent that was set up at the bottom of the staircase. The entity ran over, and it would've seemed they tried to help him out but danced with the Doctor instead.
"Are you still there", the Doctor telepathically asked me.
"Yes…I'm sorry about this", I said as the entity continued to dance with him, "There's nothing to apologize for, they're not you", he told me.
"Stay strong", the Doctor encouraged, "You too", I told him as I continued to hold back the mental barrier while the Master went down the staircase and brought over a wheel chair.
They both then pushed him into it and then rolled him around, before pushing him toward a window.
"It's ready to rise Doctor and Voyager", the Master said as the entity looked up at him from underneath the fedora they found, where they placed a feather on top.
"The new Time-Lord empire. It's good isn't it", the Master asked us.
"Yes", the entity said darkly and the Doctor glanced at them only for a moment, "What do you think Doctor", they asked him and he said nothing.
"Anything…No? Anything", the Master asked as he waved a hand in front of the Doctor's face, "Ohh, but they broke your heart, didn't they? The Toclofane and her…ever since you worked out what they were and what happened to your dear Acacia", the Master told him as he pointed towards me and/or the entity.
"The last evolution of the humans and her dark side coming to life…I didn't think it would be so easy to push her out or that they'd be so attracted to me", the Master told the Doctor and then chuckled cruelly.
"They say…Martha Jones has come back home…now, why would she do that", the Master asked the Doctor after a while of him not speaking.
"Leave her alone", the Doctor and I said at the same time.
"But, you said something to her, didn't you? The day I took control, you can thank Voyager for that, she's the one who pointed it out on the telly. Now…what did you tell her", the Master ordered.
"I have one thing to say to you…to both of you", the Doctor said as he turned his head towards the entity, "…and you know what it is- "
"Oh, no you don't", the Master cut the Doctor off, before pushing his wheelchair away.
"Valiant now entering Zone One Airspace, citizens rejoice", we heard the speaker say, "Come on people! What are we doing", the Master said as he clapped.
"Launch day in twenty-four hours", the Master said as I knew the Doctor was planning a way to stop the Master, the entity knew this as well, but they didn't want to take the chance of the Master finding out that they failed to erase me.
The Master and Lucy left, while the entity went ahead and played, "Starlight by Muse", over the radio and danced to it. They went around the room singing the words, especially to the Doctor…most of us didn't take amusement out of it though.
In the middle of the song, the Master came storming back into the lobby with Lucy behind him. That's when we noticed the bruise on Lucy's eye had gotten worse, before the Master pulled the entity to him.
"Come here", he said, before kissing them roughly and then twirling them away, "Now, it's time for my massage. Who shall I have today? Tonya", he said as he pointed to his Secretary.
"Come on, sweetheart", he said as he sat in the head chair at the table, "Lucy and Voyager, have you met Tonya", the Master asked us excitedly as he took off his jacket.
"She's gorgeous", he told us as the entity walked over to Lucy, this time she allowed them to touch her cheek as they lightly caressed it to examine her eye.
"For someone who's given into their "dark side" …you're quite gentle", Lucy told them, and the entity knew that she couldn't entirely me trusted, but even if it was only a little, I felt the wall that was suppressing me weaken a little.
"You three should get to know each other, that might be fun", we heard the Master say as the entity retracted their hand to look back to see Tonya massaging the Master's shoulders.
Suddenly, alarms started going off, "What the hell", the Master exclaimed, then the entity watched as Martha's mom tossed her other daughter the Master's jacket, who then gave it to the Doctor. He the pulled out the Master's laser screwdriver and pointed it at him.
The Master turned around, "Oh, I see", he said, before raising his hands in surrender mockingly, "I told you…I have only one thing to say", the Doctor told him, and the Master laughed.
The laser screwdriver, that the Doctor tried to use, wasn't working, "Isomorphic controls", the Master told him, before taking it away from him and then punching him in the face.
"Doctor", the entity and I exclaimed at the same time as we ran to the Doctor and then held him up.
"Oh, what's this?! Seems like Acacia has come back from the grave! Or was she just taking a nap", the Master asked angrily as the entity and I glared up at him.
"I'm okay, I'm okay", the Doctor reassured me, and the Master continued to look at us angrily, before he smiled darkly.
"It's funny…all this time I thought you disappeared and now you can see what I'm going to do", the Master told me, before ordering his guards to lock up the Jone's family.
The entity and I helped the Doctor up to sit in a chair as Lucy ran over to help him in his coat.
"Oh! Do you know…I remember the days when the Doctor and Voyager, those famous Doctor and Voyager, were waging a Time War. Battling Sea Devils and Auxons. They sealed the rift at the Medusa Cascade! Look at them now…stealing screwdrivers", the Master said as he was looking at the Doctor and then glanced over at me, "Kissing the enemy…oh, how did they come to this", the Master asked cruelly.
The Doctor and I/the entity looked up at the Master, "…Oh yeah! Me", the Master told us and then laughed.
"I just need you to listen", the Doctor told him, "No, it's my turn! Revenge! Best served hot! And this time, it's a message for Miss Jones", the Master told us.
The Master then picked up and old camera, started a live feed, and then began talking, "My people! Salutations. On this, the eve of war…there's a lovely woman, but I know there's all sorts of whispers down there. Stories of a child walking the Earth, giving you hope", the Master said and then walked over to the Doctor.
"But I ask you, how much hope has this man got", the Master asked.
"Leave him alone", the entity and I warned, then the Master slapped me, and this sparked fire within me as I swung my fist to punch him in the face.
He easily grabbed my fist, before I tried swinging my other fist before he grabbed the other one, but he grabbed it and twisted it behind my back and placed a hand on my throat.
The Master then forced me to look directly into the camera and said, "And this represents all your hope", then he proceeded to choke me, and we could hear the Doctor choking in behind us.
"You don't think I have enough power to find you and snuff you out! You'd be wrong", the Master said and then let go as I gasped for air.
"She and him are aliens with a much greater lifespan than you stunted little apes, but what if it showed", the Master asked as we turned to face the Doctor.
"What if I suspend your capacity to regenerate? All your nine hundred years of your life, Doctor? What if we could see them? Would you still be attracted to him", the Master whispered the last part in my ear and I flinched away.
The he pointed his laser screwdriver at the Doctor and aged him, "No! Doctor", I screamed as the Master held the entity and I in place.
"Older and older and older", the Master said as tears rolled down my cheeks as the Doctor screamed in pain, "Down you go, Doctor! Down, down, down the years", the Master said until the Doctor almost disappeared and then he lowered his hand.
"Doctor", the Master asked, and we waited, but there was no movement.
So, I decided to say something, "Doctor? Are you alright", I asked worried.
Suddenly, there was movement inside of his shirt and when the Doctor moved his collar down to look up at us, he looked small, frail, and a much older version of himself than he was.
"He's still alive", I said relieved, then I heard the Master growl and then he threw me to the ground next to the Doctor.
Then the Master faced the camera, "Received and understood, Miss Jones", he said and then turned off the camera.
I looked up to see the Doctor was touching my face, before the Master stormed up and took him away. A large bird cage was hung up, the Master placed him inside, and locked it.
Then the Master placed handcuffs around my wrists and shoved me into a chair, "This is what I get for letting you take over", the entity whispered, complaining. He then dragged me with him as Lucy joined us, so we could all go to bed.
"Give me back the controls", the entity said annoyed, "No…this is my body and I will take it back", I told them.
The Master glanced back at me with a solemn expression, while Lucy looked confused.
The next day, we returned to the lobby, "Tomorrow they launch", the Master said as we walked inside and approached the Doctor.
"We're opening up a rift in the Braccatolian Space. Won't see us coming. Kind of scary", the Master told the Doctor as he brought me over to the bird cage, while Lucy stood back.
"Then stop", the Doctor told him, "What are you planning", I asked angrily, just as the entity asked curiously.
"Once the Empire is established, and there's a New Galifrey in the heavens…maybe then it stops", he told us.
"The drumming. The never ending drumbeat. Ever since I was a child. I looked into the Vortex and that's when it chose me. The drumming…the call to war. Can't you hear it", the Master asked the Doctor and I.
"Listen! It's there now, right now. Tell me you can hear it Doctor…Voyager", the Master asked us as he pulled me closer and placed his forehead on the Doctor's cage.
As I was forced to listen by the entity, I sighed and closed my eyes and tried to telepathically listen, "It's only you", I heard the Doctor say.
"Good", the Master said, but before he could stand I grabbed his arm.
"Wait", the entity and I said, we listened…it was faint, but…, "Dun, dun, dun, dun", we heard it and our eyes opened and gave him a shocked expression.
The Master stared back at us, just as one of the spheres entered the lobby, "Tomorrow, the war! Tomorrow, we rise, never to fall", the sphere exclaimed.
"You see? I'm doing it for them", the Master told the Doctor and I as he moved to stand next to the sphere. "You should be grateful. After all, you love them. So very, very much", the Master told us.
The Master then moved to sit in the head chair at the table, "I took Lucy and Acacia to Utopia. Two Time-Lords and their human companion. We took her to see the stars. Isn't that right, sweetheart", the Master asked Lucy.
"Trillions of years into the future. To the end of the universe", Lucy told the Doctor, "Tell he what you saw", the Master ordered.
"Stop it", I said, but she continued, "Dying. Everything dying, the whole of creation falling apart, and I thought…there's no point…no point to anything. Not ever", Lucy told the Doctor.
"And it's all your fault", the Master told us, "No, it's not...you shouldn't have taken her there in the first place", I told him.
"Correct me if I'm wrong, but you've taken your companions into all sorts of dangerous situations. How was that any different", the Master asked me.
"You took her to the end of the universe, she witnessed the end of everything, the end of the human race. That is what makes it different", I told him.
The Master grinded his teeth, "You should have seen it, Doctor. Furnaces, burning. The last of humanity, screaming at the dark. Human invention that had sustained them across eons turned inward. They cannibalized themselves", the Master said as tears rolled down my cheeks.
"We made ourselves so pretty", the sphere said happily.
"Regressing into children, but it didn't work. The universe was collapsing around them", the Master said.
"But then the Master came, with his wonderful time machine. To bring us back home", the sphere said.
"My masterpiece, Doctor, a living Tardis, strong enough to hold a paradox in place. Allowing past and the future to collide in infinite majesty", then the Master looked at me cruelly, "Of course, I didn't know what would happen to Acacia as I experimented with various parts of the Tardis. She became sick and weak, since we are the last of the Time-Lords and I knew she was connected to the Tardis…I locked her inside", the Master told the Doctor as I remembered trying to get out of the Tardis…sometimes screaming and crying…but after a while I stopped.
"That is until she came out with a different personality", the Master finished.
"You're changing history. Not just Earth. The entire universe", the Doctor told him and then pointed towards me, "And she's still sick."
The Master glanced at me, but showed no emotion, "How do you mean", the Master asked, "The Paradox Machine…it's still effecting her. Dual personalities was never supposed to exist", the Doctor told him.
"And what if that is her", the Master asked leaning forward, "It's not", the Doctor told him, and the Master looked away.
"Why come all this way just to destroy", the Doctor asked.
"We've some backwards in time all to build a brand-new empire! Lasting one hundred trillion years", the Sphere told him.
"With me as their Master. Time-Lord and humans combined. Haven't you always dreamt of that, Doctor and Acacia", the Master asked.
Then the Master stood and walked over to us, "Humans…the greatest monsters of them all", the Master told us, "Night then", he said, before dragging me so that he, Lucy, and I could go to bed. I looked back at the Doctor as he grabbed hold of the bars to his cage.