Back in the courtroom, everyone was busy comparing notes, trying to make sense of all that was going on. All that had been established so far was that Peri had been snatched up just a few days after the events on Thoros Beta, while Mel had been plucked from the Doctor's own future, shortly after the terrifying incident with the Vervoids. The two girls had placed themselves in the dock which the Doctor had to occupy and they were both furious that their mutual friend had been forced to go through an unfair show-trial so that the real criminals could get off the hook. They were also worried for his safety now that he was having to fight for his life in the Matrix.
"Isn't there anything we can do to help?" asked Mel fretfully.
On the Matrix screen, the Master simply smiled and shrugged casually. "Remain calm. Concentrate your thoughts. Prepare for the worst."
"Huh! Sounds a bit gloomy if you ask me," retorted Peri, still suspicious as to why the Master was apparently so eager to aid the Doctor.
"You have any other suggestions, my dear Miss Brown?" responded the Master, raising an eyebrow.
The Inquisitor frowned at the Master. "Assuming I accept what you say about the evidence against the Doctor, how much of it had been contrived?" she demanded, determined to get to the truth once and for all.
"For a lie to work, madam, it must be shrouded in truth," answered the Master. "Therefore most of what you saw was true."
A horrible thought suddenly occurred to Peri. "Hang on a sec, which kind of evidence was phony?" she asked, remembering the Doctor's relieved reaction at seeing her and the Valeyard's subsequent assertion that she was the vile Mentor Kiv.
"Oh, nothing major," said the Master innocently with an evil smile. "Just sequences like the Doctor betraying you on Thoros Beta and leaving you to have your mind replaced by that of the Lord Kiv. All of which culminated in that delicious scene where that warmongering fool Yrcanos gunned you down."
Peri was visibly shocked. "WHAT?! But that's not what happened at all!"
"Does the witness refute the evidence that had been displayed on the Matrix?" asked the Inquisitor formally.
"Of course she refutes it!" retorted Mel. "Isn't her being here at all enough to show that your so-called evidence was faked?"
"This court requires a statement for the record as to the true events that occurred," said the Inquisitor crisply.
"Oh yeah?" said Peri dryly. "Well, if you must know, the Doctor and I got separated after King Yrcanos messed up his attack on the induction centre. From what I heard later on, the Doctor was made to help Crozier under duress, but he was later able to help free Yrcanos and the other slaves from the Mentors' mind control implants."
"And the mind transfer experiment? Do you claim that did not take place at all?"
Peri shuddered at the memory. "Well, yeah, I was forcibly prepared for the surgery, but for some reason, Kiv didn't turn up at the lab and Yrcanos was able to rescue me in time."
"If I may clarify," said the Master. "The Lord Kiv's meeting with the Posicarian delegate took much longer than anticipated and as a result, Yrcanos was just able to reach the laboratory first. Quite a close shave, wouldn't you agree?"
Peri glowered fiercely at the Master regarding that last remark. The forced shaving of her head had been considerably distressing and her now bald skull was a constant and unpleasant reminder of her traumatic experience and just how close she had come to suffering a fate far worse than death. However, since her hair currently showed no signs of growing back, she had decided she would have to learn to cope with her baldness and just be grateful that she was still alive and had her own mind still intact.
"Yes, that was clever of the Valeyard, exploiting the affection the Doctor had for you, my dear," continued the Master. "But then, of course, the Valeyard would know precisely how the Doctor felt."
"Then the evidence in that instance was incorrect. I am pleased," said the Inquisitor sincerely, remembering how distressed the Doctor had been at seeing the footage depicting Peri's apparent demise.
The Master gave another cold chuckle. "Sentiment will not keep the Doctor alive, my lady. At this very moment, he and Sabalom Glitz are about to walk into the lion's den, so to speak."
"You'll catch cold lying there," said the Doctor as he paced around Glitz who was still lying still on his back on the paved ground, his chest full of arrows, but with no blood showing. Unfazed, Glitz opened his eyes and glowered at the Doctor.
"You're a hard man, Doctor. I could have been killed!" grunted Glitz.
"Not when you're wearing a mark seven postidion life preserver," pointed out the Doctor as he pulled one arrow out of the protective vest that had just saved Glitz's life.
"Yeah, well, whoever let off those arrows didn't know that," complained Glitz as he got to his feet and began to pull the arrows out of his life preserver. "So much for illusions. Anyway, I thought it was you he was trying to kill."
"Yes, he's playing games. Wants to humiliate me first," replied the Doctor as he looked around, apparently expecting to see his opponent eavesdropping nearby.
"Oh, I see," said Glitz sarcastically. "He humiliates you by turning me into a human pin cushion! Makes a lot of sense."
"Your presence here makes his task more difficult. He knows that. He also knows that together we can fight him."
Glitz was clearly not keen on this idea. "Look, Doctor, I'm a small-time crook with small-time ambitions, one of which is to stay alive. I'm sorry, Doctor. I wish you every good luck, but I'm on my way. I've done my bit."
He was just turning to leave, but the Doctor's next words stopped him dead in his tracks.
"If you leave and I die, what future do you think you'll have? As the only witness to events here, the Valeyard will be forced to seek you out and kill you."
Glitz gave a nervous gulp. For a self-centred coward like him, the prospect of having to spend the rest of his life on the run from some murderous psychopath was even less desirable than having to spend another minute in this nightmare world.
"All right, I'll help you," he said at last.
The Doctor smiled. "Good man. Now, button your life preserver and let's get on with it."
And with that, they made their way to the entrance of the Fantasy Factory, where stranger and even deadlier dangers awaited them.
"In all my experience, I have never before had to conclude a case in the absence of both the accused and the prosecutor!" fumed the Inquisitor, still feeling irate at the way the trial had been completely disrupted and the increasing likelihood that she would have to hold another inquiry, this time looking into the Valeyard's activities!
"One and the same person, madam," pointed out the Master.
"So you've said, but can you prove that?"
"I know them both," shrugged the Master. "But I suggest you question the High Council. They set up this travesty of a trial, making a scapegoat of the Doctor to conceal their own involvement."
"Is there any reason why I should accept that allegation from a renegade Time Lord?" asked the Inquisitor coldly.
"Yes, if you're as concerned with learning the truth as you claim," said the Master.
"Then explain to the court why the Valeyard opted to use the events on Ravalox as part of his evidence, if the High Council were so keen to cover up their involvement in the incident?"
"A laughable double-bluff on the High Council's part," explained the Master. "By being the first to draw attention to that episode, they could reinforce the pretence that they had nothing to hide."
Peri gave the Master another incredulous look. "What I don't get is what you hope to gain out of all this. You're not seriously expecting us to believe you're now worried for the Doctor's safety, are you?"
"Oh, indeed not, Miss Brown," confirmed the Master. "The Doctor's well matched against himself. One must destroy the other."
"How utterly evil!" said Mel in disgust.
The Master seemed flattered by this. "Thank you. I think I'd lay a shade more odds on the Valeyard, though the possibility of their mutual destruction must exist. That would be perfect."
"You're despicable!" exclaimed Mel, her face becoming as red as her curls.
"So many compliments. May I say, you're a charming child," said the Master pleasantly.
"You beast!" added Mel, becoming more angry by the second.
Peri put a comforting hand on Mel's shoulder. "Oh, don't bother, you're only encouraging him. He loves getting under people's skins like that."
The Inquisitor regarded the Master with a disapproving expression. "Am I to take it that some base desire for revenge is your motive for interfering?"
The smile on the Master's face grew even more sinister than before, like a crocodile ready to eat them all up, and he gave another hollow chuckle.
"There's nothing purer and more unsullied, madam, than the desire for revenge. But, if you follow the metaphor, I've thrown a pebble into the water, perhaps killing two birds with one stone, and causing ripples that'll rock the High Council to its foundations! What more could a renegade wish for?"