CHAPTER 6

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A TEST OF RESOLVE

"Back home at last," The Master said with a smile as she, the Doctor, Osgood, and Lucy reappeared inside the TARDIS.

They had just been sent back to their own reality by the Time Lords of the other universe after Missy and Nightshade had been defeated. That victory hadn't come without a price though. The version of Rose who had recruited them had been lost in another universe along with her Doctor. That bothered the Master so much because she owed her for saving her life, and she really wished that she could have helped find her. She didn't have any more of a clue of where she was than anyone else in that universe did though unfortunately.

"Did you just call the TARDIS home?" The Doctor asked in amusement.

The Master frowned as she said, "No, I was calling this reality home. I would never call this broken down old reject from the scrapyard home."

The TARDIS beeped in protest which made the Master smile as she said, "Oh, be quiet. You're telepathic so you know full well that I was just kidding."

The TARDIS beeped once again which the Master responded to by saying, "Hey, it's not my fault that you've got no sense of humor."

Lucy started laughing as she said, "You look like a nutter talking to a machine like that."

"She always does that. The TARDIS and Clara can't stand one another. Or at least they pretend that they hate one another anyway," Osgood said with a grin.

"Who's pretending?" The Master said with an evil smile which caused the TARDIS to beep once again.

"Oh, shut up!" The Master said.

"You still call her Clara even after knowing the truth about her?" Lucy asked Osgood in surprise.

"Yes, because that's who she is. She's not the Master anymore. She's Clara and she's my friend," Osgood said.

The Master started to get emotional at hearing her say that and turned around so that they couldn't see her wiping away a tear.

"Is there something in your eye, Koschei?" The Doctor asked as he saw this.

"Shut up, Stick Man," The Master said in an irritated voice causing yet another low chuckle to come from the old man.

"See? She's crying. Would the old Master do that?" Osgood said to Lucy in a triumphant voice.

"I'm not crying. The Doctor's right. I just had something in my eye," The Master said with an embarrassed look on her face.

"What did you say? Did you actually say that I was right about something?" The Doctor asked.

The Master knew that the old man was clearly enjoying himself despite the complete lack of emotion on his face. She had known him far too long not to realize that just from his body language alone.

Instead of being angry as the Doctor no doubt was expecting her to be however, the Master smiled at him instead and said, "I suppose I did. Maybe Osgood is right after all. Maybe I am a completely different person these days. I'm certainly trying to be anyway."

"So what do I call this new you now? I certainly can't call you Harry anymore, can I?" Lucy said to the Master with a small smile.

"No, I suppose not," The Master said with a wry grin.

"I already told you. She's Clara," Osgood insisted.

"Do I call you Clara?" Lucy asked.

The Master hesitated for a moment and then said, "Yeah, you might as well, Luce. It's probably for the best that you get used to calling me that from now on so that you don't slip up and reveal who I really am to anyone else by accident. Neither of us wants anyone else to know who we really are, do we?"

"That's only if you're staying with us of course, Lucy. If you're not, then that won't be a problem, will it?" The Doctor said.

"Are you staying?" The Master asked Lucy in a hopeful tone.

Lucy smiled as she said, "I can't get over how different that you are now. Yes, I am going to stay. After seeing all of that devastation and misery in the other universe, I really don't want that to be my last journey with you anyway."

The Master sported a wide smile of approval now as she said, "Let's take her someplace good for her first real trip in the TARDIS then. Besides that Osgood still hasn't had a real adventure with us either. All she's been taken to is a tour of some of my biggest mistakes instead. Give her a proper destination this time, Mr. Stick."

"Mr. Stick?" The Doctor said indignantly.

"That's because you look like a stick insect. So are you going to give our two newest companions something to remember or what? No taking them to someplace dangerous either. Let's just take them to one of the pleasure planets like Argolis instead," The Master said.

The Doctor smirked as he said, "That particular planet wasn't exactly safe for me. I actually ran into quite a bit of trouble there once."

The Master rolled her eyes as she said, "Why am I not surprised? Is there anywhere in the universe where you haven't been in trouble at one time or another? Just take us to the Eye of Orion. Nothing ever happens there."

"Actually . . ." The Doctor started to say.

The Master interrupted him with a loud groan as she said, "You know they should call you the impossible one instead of me. Tell you what. Let's just go to Hawaii instead. I've always wanted to go there ever since I read about it in 101 Places to See. Or have you had something happen to you there too?"

"Not that I can remember," The Doctor said.

"Well, that's something I suppose anyway. Hawaii it is then. Take us there right away, Sticky, while I go make us all a nice fresh soufflé to celebrate," The Master said cheerfully.

The Doctor looked at her again in amusement as the Master realized what she had just said and gasped in horror.

"What is wrong with me?" The Master said in an irritated voice.

"Nothing seems wrong to me. It all seems perfectly right somehow," Lucy said with a warm smile.

"See? She's Clara now," Osgood said.

"I'm not Clara!" The Master said in an annoyed voice.

"Whatever, Clara. Just go make us a soufflé like you promised. I'm starting to get hungry," Osgood teased her.

"I can't believe that I've been reduced to this. I used to be respected and feared throughout the universe," The Master said.

"Feared? Definitely. Respected? I don't think so," The Doctor said.

The Master nodded as she said, "Yeah, you're right. I was never teased like that back then though. I haven't been treated that way since I was at the Academy with you."

Then she began to laugh as she admitted, "I've missed that kind of friendship so much."

The Doctor briefly smiled in approval. She was just like she used to be back at the Academy once again, and he couldn't have been happier for her.

"I'm glad to hear it. I'll have to tease you more often then," Osgood said.

"Don't even think about it, Inhaler Girl," The Master said in a fake threatening tone.

The TARDIS then materialized at that moment as the Master said in surprise, "Well, that was quick. The TARDIS usually takes a lot longer than that."

The Doctor frowned with a concerned look on his face as he said, "That's because we're not in Hawaii. We've been forced to land somewhere else instead."

"What do you mean forced to land? Where are we?" Osgood asked in alarm.

"The TARDIS seems to have suddenly developed a fault in some of her circuits. She automatically landed at the closest destination that she could find for our own safety while she repairs herself. I have no idea where we are," The Doctor said.

"When do you ever?" The Master said with a smug smile.

"If you don't know where we are, is it possible that we're somewhere dangerous then?" Lucy asked.

The Doctor shook his head as he said, "The TARDIS is automatically programmed to seek out a safe destination to take us to in an emergency like this one where she can't leave for a while."

"A normal TARDIS is, yeah. This one has always had a mind of her own though so who knows where she may have taken us," The Master said.

"So it could be dangerous then?" Lucy asked in a worried voice.

The Master realized that she was making Lucy upset and immediately added, "I'm sure it's fine. Not even the Doctor's old antique is that bad."

The Doctor looked at her in approval as Lucy seemed to visibly relax now.

"So are we going to see where we are or what?" Osgood asked.

"Not until I determine whether the atmosphere is safe to go outside in or not," The Doctor said.

"You said that it was supposed to land us someplace safe though," Osgood said.

"Yes, yes, but that doesn't necessarily mean that we can go out and have ourselves a tour does it? Safe just means that nothing in the immediate area is a danger to the TARDIS while it repairs itself," The Doctor said in an irritated voice while he checked the instruments.

"Well, Mr. Grumpy? What's the verdict? Is it safe out there for the rest of us or what?" The Master said.

"Yes, it seems to have a breathable atmosphere and suitable gravity. I still don't know where we are however which bothers me. I'd suggest being very cautious if you do go out there," The Doctor said.

"You're not coming with us?" Osgood asked.

"No, I'm afraid that I have to stay here and monitor the repairs to make sure that they're going properly. The Master can take care of you in my place I'm sure," The Doctor said.

The Master looked at him suspiciously as she said, "Okay, what's up? Since when do you not want to go out and explore a new planet?"

"I have to . . ." The Doctor started to say.

"Yes, I heard what you said but I don't believe it. First the sudden landing and now you're refusing to go outside. What are you up to?" The Master said.

"I'm not up to anything that I'm aware of, Clara," The Doctor said as he hid the faintest traces of a smile.

The Master looked at him with increasing suspicion as she said, "Right. Let's go then, girls. We might as well see what's out there while we're here. I suppose it's too much to hope for that it's a tropical paradise is it?"

The Doctor said nothing as the three women went outside. He already knew what was out there.

As soon as they left the TARDIS, they saw that they were in a vast desert wasteland with nothing around for as far as they could see but sand, rocks, and plenty of cactuses. The sun was beating down heavily, and the heat was intense, almost insufferable in fact, from the moment that they set foot outside.

"Well, it's certainly tropical alright, but it's definitely no paradise," Osgood said as she wiped the sweat from her brow.

"That will teach you to stop wearing that coat and ridiculous looking scarf, won't it? The TARDIS has a huge wardrobe with any kind of clothing that you could want there. Why don't you go back and change into something more comfortable?" The Master said.

"Yeah, I think I'll have to," Osgood said as she started back towards the still open TARDIS doors while wiping rivers of sweat off of her forehead.

Before she could reach it though, suddenly the entire area changed completely. Now it was a grassy field with a cool breeze blowing through it.

"What just happened?" Osgood asked in alarm.

"What were you thinking about just before the planet changed?" The Master asked.

"I was thinking that I'd like to be someplace cool. Then I started to remember a park that I used to go to in the summer when I was a kid," Osgood said.

Then she looked around her in shock as she realized, "In fact, this is the same park."

"What is this place? How could it just change like that?" Lucy asked in a frightened voice.

"I've heard of planets like this but I've never actually been to one. This planet must be one of the worlds that were created to be semi-sentient by a long dead race called the Fomasi. These worlds are actually alive and telepathic to a limited extent. They're designed to completely and instantly reshape themselves based on the desires of their inhabitants so that they'll be perfect vacation spots," The Master said with a thoughtful look on her face.

"So the planet can reshape itself to be whatever we want it to be?" Osgood asked intrigued.

"Exactly. Just think of a place that you've always wanted to go and you'll instantly be there," The Master said.

"Will we really be there or is it just an illusion?" Lucy asked.

The Master smiled at her as she said, "Good guess but it's not an illusion amazingly enough. The Fomasi were such brilliant environmental engineers that they were actually able to come up with a way for the whole planet to instantly reshape itself in a matter of moments. Their abilities in terraforming were unsurpassed and even put what happened on Messaline to shame."

"So it's like the Genesis device in Star Trek where the whole world gets reshaped only it happens based on our thoughts of what we want it to be," Osgood said.

"That's right, Inhaler Girl. You know I think that we're going to like it here. Let me see. What's a good place to imagine us being?" The Master said with a warm smile.

Then suddenly they were standing on a long beautiful beach that was alongside a calm blue sea on a cool sunny day.

"Is this Hawaii then?" Lucy asked.

"It's my idea of it based on the pictures in my book anyway. I've never actually been there," The Master admitted.

"It's nice. I like it," Lucy said with a warm smile.

"Yeah, you're much better at cooking up great vacation spots than you are at making soufflés it seems," Osgood said.

Then the tropical paradise that they were on was suddenly spoiled as several Daleks started to appear out of nowhere. They instantly began firing on the three women as they shouted at them to surrender or die.

"Is this real? Can we be killed?" Lucy asked as she started to panic while the blasts came closer and closer.

The Master shook her head as she said, "No, these planets were designed to keep their inhabitants happy and safe. There were reports of things like this happening where a person's stray thoughts could bring about an unwelcome change in the environment, but nothing that is created from this world is supposed to be capable of causing anyone any harm."

"This planet can create Daleks too?" Osgood asked in disbelief as the Daleks came closer and closer.

The Master could tell that the two humans were becoming more and more nervous by the moment as the Daleks came within firing range of them. She had to set their minds at ease right away.

"They're not real Daleks. They're clever fakes created from the building blocks of this world. They're more like machines than living beings," The Master said.

"Why did they pop up though? I certainly wasn't thinking about them," Osgood said as she continued to eye the approaching Daleks nervously.

"Neither was I," Lucy said.

The Master sighed as she admitted, "I was. I was thinking about how they would love to remake the universe according to their thoughts just as easily as this planet remakes itself based on ours. I'm sorry. I'm trying to stop thinking about them in the hopes that they'll go away, but it's not working. I'm Dark Girl today it seems with my morbid thoughts."

"You're sure that they can't hurt us?" Lucy asked as the Daleks were now almost close enough to shoot them.

"They're harmless," The Master reassured her.

"YOU HAVE NOT SURRENDERED AS REQUESTED. THEREFORE YOU WILL BE EXTERMINATED. EXTERMINATE!" The Daleks said in unison as they fired on the three women.

"No!" Lucy screamed as a blast headed right towards her.

"Lucy, it's not real. Trust me. It's not real," The Master said.

Lucy hesitated as every instinct in her told her to move out of the blast's way, and then she took a deep breath and stayed exactly where she was. The Master smiled as she realized that Lucy did trust her.

It felt so good to have Lucy trust her once more.

The blast hit Lucy in the very next moment causing Osgood to gasp out loud with fear. Then her jaw dropped open as she realized that Lucy was still standing. She was perfectly alright.

"It tickles but otherwise it has no effect on me whatsoever," Lucy said with a joyful laugh as several more blasts hit her.

"See? Contrary to popular belief, I actually do know what I'm talking about sometimes," The Master said happily.

That was when the Daleks immediately faded away. The Master's good mood had finally managed to clear all thoughts of them from her mind and get rid of them.

Then suddenly a group of human soldiers appeared out of nowhere armed to the teeth with guns as one of them said, "Who are you and what are you doing here? This planet has been claimed by the Earth government. There are no unauthorized people allowed here under penalty of death."

"Is this an illusion too because they seem pretty real?" Osgood said nervously.

"Were any of you thinking of soldiers?" The Master asked quickly.

The two women shook their heads as the Master said, "Neither was I. This is bad."

"Oh, I assure you that we're very real. Now you will tell us what you're doing here, and your answers had better be good," One of the soldiers said as they pointed their guns at them.

"We came here by accident because our ship developed a fault. We'll leave soon after we repair it. We're not here to cause any trouble," Osgood said as she started to gasp for breath.

"That's too bad because you've already caused plenty of it just by being here. Now tell us what's really going on," One of the soldiers said.

"She just told you," The Master said.

"Sure she did. Now tell me the real truth or things are about to get ugly very quickly," A soldier said with a disbelieving look on his face.

Osgood started gasping for breath as she became more and more upset. She automatically reached for her inhaler in order to stop an attack.

"She's reaching for a gun!" One of the soldiers shouted as he started to shoot the terrified Osgood.

"No! Stop! It's not a gun!" Lucy screamed.

The soldier fired on Osgood and just barely missed her causing her to begin screaming in terror. Then he took aim and started to fire again as the terrified woman did her best to run.

"Leave her alone!" The Master screamed as she shot the soldier with her laser screwdriver and instantly sent him falling unconscious to the ground.

"She's the one who has the weapon! Fire on her!" The commander of the soldiers ordered.

The Master began to laugh as she said, "Oh, you can try!"

Then she started to rapidly cut down each and every soldier while she expertly ducked and dodged all of their attacks. Within moments, all of the soldiers were lying unconscious at her feet as she walked toward the commander with a smug grin on her face.

She raised him up off the ground with one hand while pointing the screwdriver at him with the other one as she said in a furious voice, "How dare you attack me! Now you're about to learn the price for assaulting your lord and Master!"

The Master smiled with glee as she prepared to kill the commander with a lethal blast from her screwdriver. Then her eyes widened in repulsion as she realized what she was doing.

She immediately dropped the unconscious man to the ground as she said in a sickened voice, "No! That's not who I am. I don't want to be that person anymore."

She broke down in tears and started to openly sob as Lucy wrapped her arms around her. Lucy started to lightly stroke her hair as the Master completely fell apart in front of her.

"It's alright. You didn't give in this time. You stopped yourself," Lucy said in a gentle soothing voice.

"That's right. You proved that you're not the Master anymore," Osgood said.

"I wanted to do it though. I wanted to so badly. I thought that I was past all of that now but the darkness is still there. I don't want to go back to being who I was before anymore. I don't," The Master said in-between sobs.

"You won't. I know you won't. Your will is strong, much stronger than your dark side, and you'll choose to do the right thing from now on. I trust you, Clara. I know that you won't let yourself down. I know that you won't let me down," Lucy said as she softly kissed the Master's cheek.

The Master smiled as she said, "I won't, Lucy. I promise. I don't ever want to let you down again."

As Lucy held her and tried her best to comfort her, she made up her mind right then and there that she was going to help her. She was going to stay and make sure that the Master fully reformed no matter what she had to do or how long that it took. She was going to be there for her as long as she needed her because she realized that she still cared about her.

She wasn't sure exactly what their relationship was anymore but she was still sure of that.

Then to everyone's surprise, the soldiers suddenly faded away.

"They were fakes! The soldiers were all fakes too," Osgood realized.

"Whose brain did they come from though?" Lucy asked in confusion.

"I wonder," The Master said suspiciously.

She started back towards the TARDIS with a determined look in her eyes as Lucy and Osgood exchanged bewildered looks. They had absolutely no idea what was going on, but the Master was sure that she did.

As soon as she entered the TARDIS, she slapped the Doctor in the face as hard as she could!

"Did you have fun with your little test, Theta?" The Master said in a furious voice.

"I don't know what you're talking about," The Doctor said as he rubbed his face and winced.

"Sure you don't. You created those soldiers to test me. Well, I passed it didn't I? I didn't kill them. Happy now? I resisted turning back into the Master. Is that what you wanted to know? Whether you could trust me or not?" The Master asked.

"I honestly don't know what you're talking about," The Doctor said.

The Master looked deeply into his eyes for several moments and then said, "You really don't do you?"

"No, I don't. So I take it that somehow the planet went out of control?" The Doctor asked.

"You knew about what kind of planet that it was then?" Lucy asked.

"Yes, and that's why I brought you here. It was the only safe place that I could think of on short notice. I invented an excuse to stay in the TARDIS because I didn't want the planet to be influenced by my own dark thoughts and ruin your trip," The Doctor admitted.

"No, instead it was ruined by mine. It must have been me that conjured the soldiers up subconsciously," The Master said sadly.

"Possibly," The Doctor said as he checked over the TARDIS' sensors.

"Is there anyone else here that could have influenced the planet?" Osgood asked.

"The sensors aren't picking up anyone but that doesn't mean that they aren't there. They could be hiding themselves somehow," The Doctor said.

"No. Face it, Doctor. They came from my thoughts whether I realized it or not. I still have a long way to go before I can ever become who I used to be again," The Master said with shame.

"We have a long way to go you mean," Lucy said.

The Master looked at her in surprise and then began to smile as she said, "Thank you."

The two of them embraced then even as the Doctor continued to look at his instruments. He still didn't believe that the Master was the cause of what happened.

He wondered if they would ever know for sure what it really was.

"Come on, Skeleton Boy. Let's go. Hopefully our next trip will actually be a nice one for a change," The Master said in a voice that said that she was more than eager to get out of there.

"Okay, Boss," The Doctor said as he immediately dematerialized.

"After all these centuries, I finally get to hear you admit that I'm your superior," The Master joked as she tried her best to keep her spirits up.

The Doctor was so distracted that he didn't even bother to say anything back to her. What had happened on that planet?

As the TARDIS left the near sentient world behind, the former Missy who was now calling herself the Rani once more smiled as she came out of hiding. She had escaped from UNIT recently thanks to the other Missy and had managed to finally track the Master down at last. She had hoped that she could use this world to bring the Master's true self out once more, but it seemed that she really meant what she had said about reforming after all.

Whether she could hold to that newfound resolve of hers was another matter though. The Rani wasn't going to stop trying until she returned her to her old self once more somehow. She would get the old Master back once again no matter what she had to do. She was never going to give up on that because of one very good reason that she would never admit to herself.

She missed her.

Next: The TARDIS winds up back on Earth once more where the Master comes across Danny Pink once more. What will Danny do in order to reassure himself that the Master is really Clara, and will the Master even have a chance of convincing him of that? Or will her secret finally be exposed once and for all?