Evil Incarnate Part 6. The Penultimate evil (do you see what I did there?)
"Captain Yates? What the devil do you think you're doing man?" Lethbridge Stewart growled at the new arrival.
"I get the feeling that he's trying to take over the world." Mickey threw the comment, with an accompanying sneer, in the direction of Mike Yates.
"No, that's where you're wrong. I don't want to take over the world; I just want to improve it. Make it better. You understand, don't you Doctor? There's evil everywhere, up there, " Mike looked skyward, "and down here. The world needs protection, and I'm going to provide it."
"You're going to protect the entire world from evil? You're going to wipe out all evil? But who decides what is evil? You Mike? Do you only eat fish on a Friday? Because if you don't, that's evil in your own faith. Do you rest and give thanks on a Sunday? Another evil."
"There are degrees of evil Doctor, you know that as well as I do. I'm no religious zealot. I mean the law; I can be the ultimate law enforcer. I can stop them, even as they're drawing up their plans. They wouldn't get a chance to put the plan into action." Yates was smiling; Rose recognised that smile, the grin of a man on the brink of doing something terrible.
"And just how are you going to accomplish this feat Mike? Where did these powers come from?"
"I'll show you if you like Doctor." The Doctor saw a glimmer of hope for his friend as a genuine smile shone from his face, hope for redemption grew in the Doctor's hearts. "Follow me."
As Yates led the way through the eerie corridors the Brigadier turned to the Doctor. "Is he being controlled? Please tell me he's being controlled Doctor." The Doctor shook his head sadly.
"No! The shout took the group by surprise. All eyes were suddenly on Mike once more as he strode purposefully towards Lethbridge Stewart. "I am not being controlled Brigadier. That will never happen again, I won't allow it. I am my own man, in my own mind and in control of my own thoughts. I won't ever be controlled again, I guarantee it."
"So, that's it?" The Brigadier asked, almost incredulous. "You've been mind controlled a few times and this is what? Payback?"
Yates simply laughed, "I didn't expect you to understand Brigadier. But you will, all of you will."
"Now that just sounded ominous. Did anyone else get the ominous vibe from that?"
"Thanks for stating the obvious Ricky; we'd never have picked up on that without you."
"Oi, you've been told about calling me Ricky. Hang on, that's the first time you've called me that since you changed, where did that come from?"
"Oh, I don't know, it just seemed appropriate. Would you prefer to be Mickey the idiot? I could go back in time and alter your birth certificate you know." An impish grin appeared on the Doctors face, which Rose couldn't help but smile at. "Oh look, I think we've arrived."
The group entered a large open room, disused storage room the Doctor guessed. "So here it is. The device he..." Mike pointed at the Master, "created to control the world."
"That's a psionic resonator. That is just beautiful." The Doctor moved towards the device, putting on his glasses as he did so. Only to find his way blocked by a Yeti. "Oh, hello, do you mind if I get past?" The Yeti didn't budge.
"I'm sorry Doctor, but I do know you of old. How foolish do you think I am? You get up to the device, tamper with it, and all of a sudden, poof, it's all gone. You may be able to shield your thoughts from me, somehow, but you're so predictable, I don't need to know what you're thinking to predict your actions."
"So, how did you get control of this thing?" Mickey, stood forward, determined to show that he wasn't as useless as the Doctor and Rose seemed to believe.
"I was destined to find it. I was assigned to the team sent to locate and retrieve the Yeti. We tracked them down here, and we found The Master working on this thing. He was using it to control the Yeti. He killed my team. He forced two of them to shoot each other." Yates stopped as he closed his eyes, trying to bury his feelings. "Another two were killed by the Yeti, he wanted to test his control over them, the fifth, he ordered him to stand perfectly still while he used his shrinking gun on him." Yates struggled against the tears that were welling behind his eyelids. "He'd just become a father, you know that? Now he's dead because of him." His eyes open, Yates stared intently at the Master who screamed in agony and slumped to the floor. Rose ran to him and checked he was still alive. He was still breathing, but unconscious. Rose turned back to Yates as he continued his story.
"I managed to avoid capture. I hid in plain sight, in the air conditioning vent over there." He pointed towards a small grate in the wall. "I heard him talking, ranting, about you Doctor, and about what you'd done, how you had forced him into this. Slowly, I realised I wasn't hearing his voice, I was hearing his thoughts. The machine was affecting me. It was giving me the power that he had wanted for himself. So I focussed. After all of the times I had been controlled, I had learned all of the nuances. So I used the power I had gained to stop him. I made him into what he claimed to have been, a simple little human scientist from Brighton." Yates laughed at his own idea of a fitting punishment. "So now, I have what he wanted. The power to control, the power to change, the power to improve the human mind."
"I thought you didn't want to control the human mind Mike. I thought you didn't want anyone else to go through what you've been through?" The Doctor questioned.
"A slip of the tongue Doctor, nothing more." Yates turned away from the group. "No human will ever fall under alien influence again. I swear it."
"You shouldn't swear, there is a lady present." Rose jumped as the Master rose from out of her supporting arms. Gone were the near innocent eyes of Professor Padrone, replaced by dark, menacing eyes. Evil to the core.
Mike turned and focussed once more on the Master, trying to redo what he had done, a look of panic crossed his face as he discovered it was much harder to do without the element of surprise on his side. He crumpled to the ground.
"And so ends the reign of a simpleton." The Master walked towards his machine.
"You're going nowhere near that thing." The Brigadier stood in front of the Master, defiantly blocking his path.
"Be silent and still, little man." The Brigadier froze on the spot, and the master sedately side stepped around the now statue like figure.
"Oh good, no damage done." The master scanned the device. "Now, Doctor, tell me, what do you think of my plan? Elegant, no?" The Master looked intently at the Doctor.
"Oh, eminently so, I would expect nothing less from you."
"Good, I'm glad you approve." A slight sneer appeared on the Master's face. "Since it was you who brought this fate upon this world." The Master moved to the stricken form of Mike Yates and nudged him away with his foot. "Did this fool explain it all to you? No, I sense from the confusion of your male friend that he didn't. Well, now for the full story."
To be concluded.