Hey guys hopefully this will be better than the last episode, I've been evicted from my room for the following week and have finally finished with my Uni stuff (Finally!) Anyway I've had reviews! That's not happened in a while, but given I haven't really updated with a set schedual I can understand why I've gotten so few, but I'm nearly at 100 and I can't wait until i break it. Hopefully before I finish this story.
Any way this should be quite fun for me to write. I do NOT own 'Doctor Who?' not matter how much I wish I did.
Enjoy!
XXX
Recap...
She pulled me up from the ground and I hand her a gun. She hesitated in taking it.
"You're going to need it to survive. The keys work on the sphere's as long as you don't move, this is a precaution." She took it,
"So where are you heading first?" she asked, I shrug,
"Bristol. We get this country out of the way and move on to the next. We've got a year to get things underway." We look back over the destruction of London.
"We're coming back." I nod and give her a hug. Opening the bag that was over my shoulder I pull out the gun holster and strap it on loading the blaster into it and tucking the sonic into the pocket of my Jacket.
"I'll see you in Hell Jones." I salute and took off running from her and out of the feild.
XXX
3 Months later.
It was almost hell.
I'd just gotten out of England, just before it had been levelled. Saxon had spared some of the children, no doubt for slave work. I'd saved a few from mutilation which had resulted in me being nearly disembowelled. I'd left the kids in a safe house stitched the would and disappeared into the night, no doubt the sphere's had reported my sighting to 'him'. I'd gone to Egypt, the pain I had experienced through the link wasn't a great deal but when I did feel the pain it was immense and torturous. At first I thought he was doing it hurt me but I knew that he had never seen my mark nor suspected me of being a time lady. The perception filter around my watch was of time lord creation and therefore well equipt for blocking their minds.
I ducked from a sphere that was on my tail, it was a little to late and a portion of my hair had been lost. I growl in annoyance as I grab my blaster and dive around the corner of the pyramid, as I was arming the blaster I felt the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end and whirled to see another blade coming at me I jump back a slight sting on my cheek. Bringing the blaster to level I pull the trigger and run. I had to get to the safe house.
XXX
6 months...
I stood in one of the safe houses in New York, it was packed to the brim with people of all ages cowering in fear. I didn't blame them, but I had a job to do. I hadn't long stepped out of the bathroom. I had stood there for a good few minutes staring at my reflection. The last 6 months had changed me, both physically and mentally. My hair was shorter, now only coming to my waist, it had lost it's wavy effect and was now quite straight. My amber eyes had had dimmed with bright spots that could look like sparks from fire there were dark circles under my eyes as well testament to how little I slept now.
My body was more muscled, the constant running and climbing having a drastic effect on me. I'd had to scrap my old clothes. My jeans had been ripped in the knees, the top and unfortunately my coat had been ripped, my coat in the back my top hand been ripped when I had saved those kids three and a half months ago. I'd been limited on choices and a Goth girl in Malaysia had given me something as a gift, it wasn't my usual tastes but I grew to like it. And clothes are clothes.
A pair of tight leather trousers, black combat boots that reached my knees, they were steel toed... The top was skin tight, it was styled like a corset with shoulder caped sleeves, a black and white bodice, the back however was held together by a series of buckles, so my back was on show, the tattoo and proof of my link to the Doctor. I had a black leather jacket tied around my waist most times and inside one of the pockets was a pair of hand cuffs, inspiration for the pair came from a day thinking of River Song.
Shaking loose my thoughts I took a seat inside a circle of children a small boy crawling into my lap as I began to tell the tale I had told a thousand times over.
XXX
9 Months.
I'd caught up with Martha in Tokyo, we'd only been able to see each other for a few minutes before we had to run. Somehow Saxon had gotten a hold of our location and had sent an armada to kill us. We'd started a rumour a few weeks after we had began our travels.
We were looking for a way to kill Harold Saxon.
He hadn't taken the news well and that was why he was desperate to get his hands on us.
After that stunt we'd realized that we couldn't be in the same place. There was a traitor in the resistance and that had made us cautious. We'd made it out of Japan and the guilt we'd been holding grew tenfold.
An entire country had been destroyed because we'd been there. Nothing more, nothing less. Just our presence had killed millions of people. I didn't sleep more than a few hours a week after I'd left, I doubt I ever would again.
XXX
12 Months.
I'd been back for two days and am now waiting in the shadows as someone waves down the boat I know is carrying Martha. That someone was no doubt Thomas Milligan. I smile slightly as I see the figure wade through the water and watch Martha walk out of the ink black sea.
"What's your name, then?" She questioned quickly, she almost sounded as if she were in the military, but then again, knowing what I know about the future of her job it wasn't so strange.
"Tom Milligan." I utter stepping out of the shadows, they snap around to see me and Martha smiles before heading to me quickly, I hug her tightly but pull away. "We need to get moving, the longer we're out in the open the more risk there is." I speak as I look around Martha nods and we begin to walk, Milligan quickly kept pace with us.
"No need to ask who you are, the famous Martha Jones and Phoenix. How long since you were last in Britain?" He spoke,
"365 days. It's been a long year. When did you get in Phoenix?"
"Two days ago. He's getting ready for the launch." I mutter, I kept my eyes open. This past year had made be both cautious and after Tokyo I had become paranoid.
"So what's the plan?" Tom asks, I kept silent and let Martha explain,
"This Professor Docherty. We need to see her. Can you get us there?" She kept it simple and short.
"She works in a repair shed, Nuclear Plant 7. I can get you inside. What's all this for? What's so important about her?" I cut him a look,
"Knowledge will get you killed with 'Him' running around up in the sky." My voice wasn't as warm as it had been with Martha.
"Sorry, the more you know, the more you're at risk." Martha reiterated more kindly.
"There's a lot of people depending on you two. You're a bit of a legend." he admits, I raise an eyebrow I hadn't realized anything I had done, other than Tokyo had been noticed.
"What does the legend say?" My friend asked curiously,
"That you sailed the Atlantic, walked across America." He looked at me, "You scaled the Grand Canyon free hand, blew up the Golden Gate Bridge with a flick of your wrist... That you're the only people to get out of Japan alive. 'Martha Jones and The Phoenix', they say, 'They're gonna save the world.'" I lower my head at the mention of Tokyo. It was true though, the Grand Canyon had been an escape. Saxon had caught up with me and sent a load of sphere's after me, I'd had to blow up a load of them and nearly lost my balance three quarters of the way out.
The same had happened with Golden Gate Bridge, he'd sent humans that time, his sphere's to precious to be lost to my power. I'd made it out by the skin of my teeth and only just blew up the bridge as soon as I'd stepped off I'd let loose of my power and ensured my survival. Lives had been lost, the only solace I found was that this year would be erased and the people dead would be alive soon enough.
"Bit late for that." I heard him continue his previous statement. We approached his truck and Martha faltered momentarily.
"How come you can drive? Don't you get stopped?" She questioned,
"Medical staff. Used to be in paediatrics back in the old days. But that gives me a license to travel so I can help out at the labour camps." He explained,
"Great. We're travelling with a doctor." They both get in the truck and I get in after Martha.
"Story goes, that you're the only people on Earth who can kill him. That you, and you alone, can kill the Master stone dead." My voice when I spoke was colder than Tartorus.
"Drive." He set off quickly obviously realizing he'd hit a nerve at his statement. Neither Martha or I relish the thought of killing and I had blood on my hands, more than I wanted.
XXX
In a rocky valley, there is a monumental stature of Saxon carved in rock as I look over the slight hill. I roll my eyes at his obvious arrogance and a passing thought makes me laugh hollowly, Martha looks at me.
"I found the perfect theme song for him." She raised her brow in question, "Lion King's, 'Can't wait to be king.'" She laughs quietly at and smile, I was glad she could laugh in times such as these, it's why she had the most potential. She looks back at the rock carving.
"All over the Earth, those things. He's even carved himself into Mount Rushmore." I snort,
"Sounds like him. I found a few statues of him in New Orleans." I comment to her.
"Best to keep down. Here we go." we crouch behind a few rocks as we look at the shipyard. "The entire south coast of England...converted into shipyards. They bring in slave labour every morning." I shake my head in disgust, Slavery had never been justified in my eyes. "Break up cars, houses, anything, just for the metal. Building a fleet out of scrap." He spoke with contempt.
"You should see Russia. That's Shipyard Number One. All the way from the Black Sea to the Bering Strait. There's 100,000 rockets ready for war." Martha told him, he looked at her confused.
"War? With who?" He asked.
"The rest of the universe." I inform flatly.
"We've been out there, Tom. In space. Before all this happened. And there's a thousand different civilizations all around us with no idea of what's happening here. The Master can build weapons big enough to devastate them all."
"You've been in space?" He asks looking at her with awe, I smile slightly, I missed the Doctor, I wished he could be here.
"Problem with that?" she retorts,
"No. No, just uh... Wow. Anything else I should know?"
"We've met Shakespeare." I tense and my body disappears. I groan as I open my eyes looking out from the very small cave I'd holed up in for the last two days. My powers were developing steadily, it started with the sphere's on instinct as a self defence mechanism and slowly with enough concentration it became the incident in San Francisco. after a few minutes and a bite of bread I close my eyes and concentrate on where I had been. Opening my eyes I saw the to of them slightly in front of me.
"How do you think I travelled the world?" Martha spoke as she held up the TARDIS key.
"A hell of a load of luck." I call, they turn and Tom looks shocked,
"You disappeared into thin air." I nod,
"It's a little something I learned just before the Take Over. It comes in handy when you're in sticky situations." I explain.
"So where are you really then?" Martha asked, Tom looked confused,
"Quite a ways away but you'll see me soon." I tell her. She nodded and went on to explain the key as we walked back to the truck.
"The Master set up Archangel, that mobile network, 15 satellites around the planet, but really it's transmitting a low-level psychic field. That's how everyone got hypnotised into thinking he was Harold Saxon." She starts,
"Saxon. Feels like years ago." he scoffed,
"Phoenix had a hand in making the satellites though."
"I set up a little glitch before it was sent up, but after I had set up the resistance." I explain,,
"And because of the glitch the key's were tuned in to the same frequency. Makes me sort of... not invisible, just unnoticeable." she followed on.
"But I can see you." he points out.
"That's cause you wanted to." she laughs and I smirk at the flirting,
"Yeah, I suppose I did."
"Is there a Mrs Milligan?" She asked casually, I roll my eyes, real subtle Martha.
"No. No. What about you?" he shot back,
"Nah." I don't glance at her, I'd come to terms with things that had changed slightly. "Come on. We've got to find this Docherty woman." she got into the truck and I followed her quickly scanning the area before I closed the door.
"We'll have to wait until the next work shift. What time is it now?"
"Nearly 3:00." Martha and I answer together, she cast a glance at me, her look asking how I knew, I look upwards towards the sky. He started the engine. I put a hand on Martha's shoulder.
"I'll be back soon." before she can say anything I am back at the cave and focusing on where I wanted to go next. I wanted to be on the valiant. I take the blaster from my thigh and the sonic from inside my top placing it beside me. They would be to much of a temptation. Again I close my eyes and focus on the link I had with my Time Lord.
I was on the flight deck within seconds, I hadn't put a lot of focus in as I needed to be unseen. There were two minute until three Saxon comes in followed by Lucy, wearing a red dress.
"Time for my massage. Who shall I have today? Tanya. Come on, sweetheart. Lucy, have you met Tanya? She's gorgeous." I shake my head in disgust, but then I'd expect nothing more from the man. He took off his jacket and threw it on the table. "Tanya, when we get to the stars, I'm gonna take you to Katria Nova. Whirlpools of gold." He boasted, I roll my eyes, he sat down in a chair. "You two should get to know each other. That might be fun." The woman, Tanya, began to massage his shoulders.
"Condition red!" I hear the PA alert from the speakers, the plan had started.
"What the hell?" Saxon shouted as he got up to the bridge.
"Repeat: condition red." I watched Francine grab his jacket from the table throwing it to Latitia who gives it to the Old looking Doctor who takes out the laser screwdriver and aims it at the man on the bridge.
"Oh, I see." He puts his hands up, but I know it's a mere trick.
"I told you. I have one thing to say." But the screwdriver doesn't work, my hand twitches to where the gun holster usually is but I know there is no blaster. Saxon laughs at their failed plan. The Doctor keeps trying the screw driver in vain. Saxon leans over the Doctor and I take a step towards him, he paused and looked at where I was, I hold my breathe. He looks back at the Doctor.
"Isomorphic controls." He plucked the screwdriver from his hands, then backhanding him sending him to the floor, a snarl rips from my throat and the Master looks up actually seeing me, his eyes widening. Mine widen in response to my reaction and stupidity at getting caught. "'Nix'" I let myself fade. Back in the cave I ran a hand through my hair my hand shaking and fire sparking at my finger tips from the lingering rage of him hurting my Link. This would set me back, I'd been off his grid for four months and now he'd have the search tripled.
XXX
I'd stayed in the cave waiting for Martha and Tom to get here, I needed to regain strength, I'd been pushing myself, but my power reserves had grown because of this. But I knew that pushing myself would spread me to thin and my mind would get lost out there, sure the time limit had lengthened but I knew the limits. It took hours for them to get here and I only heard them because Tom was cutting a hole in the fence. Walking out of the cave I salute them as they make their way through.
"How'd you-" I cut Martha off and point to my head, she nods quickly and we gesture for Tom to lead the way. We follow him across the open area for about three minutes before we reach our destination. Inside a woman, Professor Docherty, an older woman hitting a monitor.
"Professor Docherty?" Tom questions,
"Busy." Was her blunt answer,
"They, uh, they sent word ahead. I'm Tom Milligan. This is Martha Jones and The Phoenix." I raise my brow at Martha, when did I become, 'The' Phoenix? She shrugs.
"They can be Royalty for all I care. I'm still busy." I snort,
"I like her." I comment, 'Even if she is the traitor.' I tack on in my head.
"Televisions don't work anymore." Martha points out,
"Oh, God, I miss Countdown. Hasn't been the same since Des took over. Both Deses. What's the plural of Des? Desii? Deseen? But we've been told there's gonna be a transmission." She bangs on the monitor "From the man himself." I tense as static appears on the screen knowing what is to come. "There!" I watch the grainy black and white shot of Saxon appear on the screen. He's looking at the camera.
"My people. Salutations on this, the eve of war. Lovely woman. But I know there's all sorts of whispers down there. Stories of two children, walking the Earth, giving you hope." I watch him stand beside the Doctor, "But I ask you... how much hope has this man got? Say hello, Gandalf. Except he's not that old but he's an alien with a much greater lifespan than you stunted, little apes. What if it showed?" I back to a desk and wrap a hand around the leg, Martha watched me for a second before turning back to the screen, "What if I suspend your capacity to regenerate? All 900 years of your life, Doctor. What if we could see them?" He turns the screwdriver on pointing it at him and the searing pain begins. "Older and older and older." I tasted blood and knew I'd bitten my lip to hard, "Down you go, Doctor." My knees give out from the pain as I know the Doctor's have. "Down, down, down you go." The pain stops and all I hear for a moment is my heavy breathing. "Doctor." I don't look at the screen. "Received and understood, Miss Jones? Nix?" My head snaps to the screen at his nickname, the transmission ends.
"I'm sorry." Tom whispers to us, I push myself up with a sigh.
"The Doctor's still alive." Martha smiles at this,
"Obviously the Archangel Network would seem to be... the Master's greatest weakness. 15 satellites all around Earth, still transmitting. That's why there's so little resistance. It's broadcasting a telepathic signal that keeps people scared." I roll my eyes at the woman,
"Tell us something we don't know."
"We could just take them out." Tom suggests,
"We could. 15 ground-to-air missiles. You got any on you? Besides, any military action, the Toclafane descend." I nod in agreement,
"They're not called Toclafane. That's a name the Master made up." Martha informs,
"It's why I just call them the Sphere's." I voice.
"Then what are they, then?" The professor queries, I don't make a single sound, they'd be better off not knowing.
"That's why I came to find you. Know your enemy. I've got this." Martha pulls a CD. "No one's been able to look at a sphere close up, except Phoenix but it causes her pain. They can rarely be damaged. Aside from Phoenix there was one time. The lightening strike in South Africa brought one of them down. Just by chance. I've got the readings on this." The professor put the disk in the old computer banging it on the side a few times before it loads up.
"Oh, whoever thought we'd miss Bill Gates." Tom looked over at Martha,
"So is that why you travelled the world? To find a disc?" Martha looked back at the screen.
"No. Just got lucky."
"I heard stories that you walked the Earth to find a way to build a weapon." I watched Martha's eyes glaze over as she remembered the Doctor's words. There was a beep bringing her back to the present. "There! A current of 58.5 kilo amperes transferred charge of 510 megajoules precisely."
"Can you recreate that?" Tom questioned, Docherty smiles as she answers,
"I think so. Easily, yes." Martha grins.
"All right then, Dr Milligan, we're gonna get us a sphere." Martha hands him the gun I'd given her a year earlier,
"We need to get it set up then." I push away before going to rummage through the shack.
XXX
The plan had been started, Tom was standing outside with the gun waiting, after a few minutes he squeezes the trigger 3 times and then takes off running. I watched a Sphere follow him as planned. Docherty makes the final preparations.
"He's coming! You ready?!" Martha demands, running past her.
"You do your job, I'll do mine!" She called, Tom rounded the corner,
"Now!" He shouted, the power turns on and the sphere is caught in the electrical field before it drops to the ground. We approach, I kept a slightly larger distance from it to decrease the pain.
"That's only half the job. Let's find out what's inside." The professor says as she picks it up. We walk back to the shack and she places it on the table grabbing some sort of knife. "There's some sort of magnetic clamp. Hold on, I'll just trip the " the clamp opens and the sides are opened like petals on a flower. A rather ironic description because this is nothing beautiful. "Oh my God!" Martha and Tom lean forward to peer inside at what I know to be a human head fused to the machinery of the sphere. Suddenly the three jump back in fright and I step forward wanting to see with my own eyes what had been done to our kind by a crazed time lord. "It's alive." I scoff,
"Of course it is. The shock alone wont kill them."
"Martha. Martha Jones. And Lady Phoenix." I wrinkle my nose at the greeting.
"It knows you." Tom spoke,
"Sweet, kind Martha Jones and Phoenix. You helped us to fly." I close my eyes,
"What do you mean?" Martha questioned,
"You led us to salvation." He continued.
"Who are you?"
"The skies are made of diamonds." I said in tandem with him.
"No." Martha backs away in denile. "You can't be him."
"Hello Creet." I whisper.
"We share each other's memories. You both sent him to Utopia."
"Oh my God!" Martha chokes.
"What's it talking about? What's it mean?" Tom fired out the questions.
"What are they?" I shake my head at Docherty as I step away from the sphere in fear.
"Martha. Martha, tell us. What are they?" Tom presses, I grit my teeth at the repeated question.
"They're us. They're humans. The human race from the future." He tone still has the edge of disbelief to it. "I'd sort of worked it out, with the paradox machine." I flinch at the mention of the TARDIS. "Because the Doctor said, on the day before the Master came to power, he said... When he was stealing the TARDIS, the only thing I could do was fuse the coordinates. I locked them permanently. He can only travel between the year 100 trillion and the last place the TARDIS landed. Which is right here, right now." She spoke word for word of how he'd explained.
"The Master had the TARDIS, this time machine and Phoenix, but the only other place he could go was the end of the universe."
"So he found Utopia." I intone, "He took them somewhere they could live, thrive."
"The Utopia Project was the last hope. Trying to find a way to escape the end of everything." Martha continued to explain, Creet began to talk.
"There was no solution, no diamonds. Just the dark and the cold." I close my eyes his face flashing behind my eyelids him surrounded my darkness crying in despair. "We made ourselves so pretty. But then the Master came with his wonderful time machine to bring us back home." I felt disgust well in my throat.
"But that's a paradox. If you're the future of the human race, and you've come back to murder your ancestors, you should cancel yourselves out. You shouldn't exist." Docherty pointed out.
"And that's the paradox machine." Martha told her,
"He stripped parts of the TARDIS, the time machine, and he used it to bend the laws of space and time to hold this one paradox in place. No one not even a Time Lord has that right." I expand,
"We've come backwards in time to build a brand new empire lasting 100 trillion years." I felt rage build now.
"What about us? If we're the same species why do you kill so many of us?" Tom demanded,
"Because it's fun!" It starts laughing madly and before Tom can raise the gun the sphere burst into flames.
"Phoenix?" Martha looked at me.
"That wasn't Creet." I spat, "His eyes were brown, his voice was human and he had blonde hair. That thing was nothing like Creet, nothing like Alex." The venom in my voice made them recoil.
XXX
I'd calmed down and we'd moved to the Professors living quarters.
"I think it's time we had the truth, Miss Jones. Miss Phoenix. The legend says you've travelled the world to find a way of killing the Master. Tell us, is it true?"
"Just before I escaped, the Doctor told me use the countdown. The Doctor and the Master, they've been coming to Earth for years. And they've been watched." She takes a case from her pack "There's UNIT and Torchwood, all studying Time Lords in secret. And they made this. The ultimate defence." I look at the special gun, I'd crafted it and gave it to her a month after the invasion, I'd told her where to go and what was needed to start the rumour.
"All you need to do is get close. I can shoot the Master dead with this." Tom holds up the hand gun. I chuckle.
"Actually, you can put that down now, thank you very much." Docherty tell him,
"A simple gun won't kill him, he's still got about I don't know four lives left? Maybe more. All you'd do is make him more psychotic if you shot him." I inform.
"Point is, it's not so easy to kill a Time Lord. They can regenerate; literally bring themselves back to life like Phoenix said." Martha tells them both.
"Ah, the Master's immortal. Wonderful." Professor D muttered,
"Except for this." Martha picked the gun up, "Four chemicals, slotted into the gun, inject him... kills a Time Lord permanently."
"Four chemicals? You've only got three." Tom points out.
"Still need the last one cause the components of this gun were kept safe, scattered across the world, Phoenix was tracking them and sending me to their locations. And I found them. San Diego, Beijing, Budapest and London." I nod my head along to keep up with the lie, she was getting better at spinning stories.
"Then where is it?" Tom asks,
"There's an old UNIT base, north London. Martha found the access codes. Tom, you've got to get us there." I order. We get up and take our leave heading towards his truck.
"We can't go across London in the dark. It's full of wild dogs; we'd get eaten alive. We can wait till the morning, then go with the medical convoy." The man suggests.
"You can spend the night here, if you like." Docherty offers, I shake my head with a small smile to the woman.
"No, we can get halfway, stay at the slave quarters in Bexley. Professor, thank you." He shakes her hand and I give her a quick hug.
"Stay strong." I murmur to her before pulling away,
"Good luck." she tells us,
"Thanks." Martha says before kissing her on the cheek.
"Girls, could you do it? Could you actually kill him?" She questions, I shrug as Martha answers.
"Got no choice."
"You might be many things, but you don't look like a killer to me." I smirk at her observation a cold look in my eyes, I'd already done it before.
We set off on our journey and creep through the dark streets rows worth of houses, we sneak past a guard and up to a house. Tom knocks quietly,
"Let me in. It's Milligan." The door opens and we rush in off the dangerous streets. It's crowded with people hardly room to move, it was one of the worst I had seen.
"Did you bring food?" A woman asks.
"Couldn't get any. And I'm starving." he answers, I shake my head and take my pack off digging to the bottom before throwing it to the woman to catch.
"Take it. I won't need any more." she looks so grateful tears gathering in her eyes.
"It's cheaper than building barracks. Pack them in, 100 in each house, ferry them off to the shipyards every morning." Tom tells us, I shake my head.
"Are you Martha Jones? And The Phoenix?" I crouch and smile at the boy,
"Yeah, that's us." Martha spoke,
"Can you do it? Can you kill him? They said you can kill the Master, can you? Tell us you can do it. Please tell us you can do it." I place a hand on his head,
"Who is the Master?" Another woman asks, soon they're all talking at once.
"Come on, just leave them alone. They're exhausted." Tom snaps,
"No, it's all right. They want us to talk and we will." I smile as I sat more fully on the floor as Martha took a seat on the stairs and we began answering their questions, one by one.
XXX
Okay, this was a quick update, the next might take a few days maybe a week but I'm hopeful about this episode. I hope you've enjoyed it and Thanks to everyone who's Favorited, Followed and Reviewed, I really enjoy reading the reviews and knowing that people are watching out for the next chapter.
Shadow OUT!
XXX