Okay, so here's chapter four. Don't forget to review, etc., etc. I think that's it, so yeah. Read on.
They appeared surrounded by the Vortex and slumped to the ground. The Vortex disappeared behind them and left them panting and gasping.
"Time travel without a capsule, nasty. Like I told Billy, catch your breathe, don't go swimming for half an hour. Is everyone alright? Jack, Martha? Rose?" The Doctor said, stretching.
"Yeah, I'm fine." Martha answered.
"Yeah, just fantastic." Jack said, stealing the last Doctor's catchphrase.
"Perfect, except for the sick feeling in my gut. Should pass fairly quickly though. How about you Doctor?" The Rose asked as she looked over to him. He grinned at her.
"Absolutely brilliant!" The Doctor told the Rose. They beamed at each other.
"We made it. Earth, 21st century by the looks of it. Ha, ha, talk about lucky." Jack exclaimed. The Doctor turned to him.
"That wasn't luck, that was me." He informed the ex-Time Agent. Back on Malcassairo, the Silo planet, he had fixed the Vortex Manipulator and set it to Earth, 21st Century, London. He had then told everyone to put their hand on it. He had sent them through the Vortex and landed them here.
"The moral is, if you're gonna get stuck at the end of the universe, get stuck with an ex-Time Agent and his vortex manipulator." Jack informed everyone. The Doctor and the Rose just gave him an exasperated look.
"But this Master bloke, he's got the TARDIS. He could be anywhere in time and space." Martha reminded them. The Doctor looked at her with anger still in his eyes.
"No, he's here. Trust me." The Doctor told her.
"Right before he dematerialized you did something to the console, didn't you? You locked the coordinates so he could only travel between the last two points we did! Oh, but that's brilliant! You're a genius! Of course there's an eighteen month leeway, but that can't be helped. Even still, brilliant!" The Rose reasoned. The Doctor grinned at her. She grinned back in her famous 'tongue in teeth' style.
"Who is he, anyway? And that voice at the end, that wasn't the professor." Martha interrupted the moment.
"If the Master's a Time Lord, he must have regenerated." Jack told her, unaware she had no idea what he was talking about.
"What does that mean? Regeneration, you keep talking about it, but what is it?" Martha asked, trying to get an answer from the Doctor. It wasn't fair, this Rose girl just shows up, right when Martha thought she had a chance with the Doctor, and sweeps him right back to her. And as if that wasn't enough, it turns out she's a Time Lady!
"It means that he just changed his face and everything else about him. He's got the same memories and same basic personality, but everything else is different. It's a trick Time Lords have, a way to cheat death. You should only have twelve, but the Master has had many more, too many. For some reason the Time Lord Council keeps giving him more, even though he's a complete madman!" The Rose answered. Martha glared at her.
"Yeah but if he just changed his face, how are we going to find him?" Martha asked, pointedly looking at the Doctor.
"We'll know him, me and the Rose, the moment we see him. Time Lords always do." The Doctor explained as he started down the alley to the street. Martha wasn't glad that he mentioned Rose, but was distracted when she noticed the posters.
"But hold on. If he could be anyone... We missed the election. But it can't be." She stopped in front of a telly shop. There on the screen of all the tellies was a man with light sandy brown hair and brown eyes wearing a black suit accompanied by a blonde woman in a black skirt suit with white trim.
"I said I heard that voice! When he spoke on the TARDIS I recognized his voice. That's the voice of Harold Saxon!" Martha exclaimed.
"That's him. The Master is Prime Minister." The Doctor said in a cold voice. On the screen Harold Saxon kissed the woman next to him at the prompt of a reporter.
"The Master and his wife!" Rose added. The reporters asked a question and Mr. Saxon answered.
"This country has been sick. This country needs healing. This country needs medicine. In fact, I'd go so far as to say that, what this country really needs, right now... is a doctor." The Master said the last part straight into the camera. The Doctor scowled and walked off, Rose, Jack, and Martha following him. They start heading toward Martha's flat. Martha unlocks the door and they step in.
"Home." Martha says as she steps through the threshold. Everyone else follows.
"What have you got? Computer, laptop, anything?" The Doctor asks Martha. Jack tries to make a call on his mobile.
"Jack, who are you phoning? You can't tell anyone, we're here!" The Doctor reminded him. Jack shuts the phone and turns to the Doctor.
"Just some friends of mine, but there's no reply..." Jack trailed off. Martha hands the Doctor the laptop.
"Here, any good?" She asks as she holds it out to him. Jack takes it instead. He starts to tap at it.
"I can show you the Saxon websites. He's been around for ages." He begins to pull up the websites. Martha watches him do it and the Doctor and Rose lean over behind them.
"That's so weird though. It's the day after the election. That's only four days after I met you." Martha told them. The Doctor's face darkened.
"We went flying all around the universe while he was here the whole time." He said as Jack clicked through the pages of information.
"You gonna tell us who he is?" Martha asks.
"He's a Time Lord." The Doctor answered evasively.
"Yeah, but who'd call themselves the Master?" Martha asked, trying to get more information.
"That's all you need to know." The Doctor told her, in a cold tone. He then changed his tone slightly as he talked to Jack. "Come on, show me Harold Saxon."
Martha goes off to check her voice mail. There's one from Tish. She listens for a bit and than turns it off.
"Oh, like it matters." She mutters. She returns in time to see the end of a political ad.
"Former Minister of Defence. First came to prominence when he shot down the Racnoss on Christmas Eve. Nice work, by the way." He turned to the Doctor when he said the last part.
"Oh, thanks." He said absent-mindedly. Rose raised an eyebrow at this information.
"Don't you ever have a quiet Christmas?" She asked. The Doctor just turned to her and smiled. Then he turned to Martha when she started talking.
"He goes back years. He's famous. Everyone knows his story. Look. Cambridge University, Rugby blue, won the Athletics thing, wrote a novel, went into business, marriage, everything. He's got a whole life." Martha explained to them. The Doctor stood up and walked away. He ran his hands through his hair.
"But that's not possible!" He exclaimed. The Rose stood up and went to him. She tugged at his arms and turned him towards her. She stroked a hand through his hair, knowing it calmed him when she did it.
Jack stood up and went to make tea.
"But he's got a TARDIS. Maybe the Master went back in time and has been living here for decades." Jack suggested. The Doctor broke away from the Rose and sat at the desk.
"No." He told them simply. The Rose went over to him, determined to calm him down.
"Why not ? Worked for me." He didn't notice the wince the Rose made at his remark. She felt guilty for making him the impossible thing he was now. The Doctor sighed.
"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." He explained to them, something the Rose had already worked out for herself.
"Yeah, but a little leeway?" Jack asked. The Rose decided to answer this one.
"Only about eighteen months, tops. He could only have been here eighteen months, so how did he manage all this? I mean Ko- the Master has always been a little- hypnotic, but how is he managing to do this on a scale this massive? We must be missing something!" She exclaimed, running a hand through the Doctor's hair.
"I was gonna vote for him." Martha said. Jack nodded.
"So was I." He told them.
"Really? Both of you?" The Doctor asked, bewildered. They nodded and shrugged.
"Well, it was before I even met you. And I liked him" Martha defended herself.
"Me too." Jack told them. The Rose and the Doctor exchanged a look.
"Why do you say that?" The Doctor asked, frantic.
"What was his policy? What did he stand for?" Rose added on, just as frantic.
"I dunno. He always sounded... good." Her voice took on a dreamy quality and she started to tap a rhythm of four beats on her leg. "Like you could trust him. Just nice. He spoke about... I can't really remember, but it was good. Just the sound of his voice." She finished, still sounding dreamy. Jack looked just as dreamy and was nodding.
"What is that?" Rose asked. She was looking at Martha's fingers as they tapped the rhythm.
"What?" She asked, startled. Rose pointed at her fingers, still tapping.
"That! That tapping, that rhythm! What are you doing?" She asked. Martha looked at her, anger flashing in her eyes. She stopped tapping.
"I dunno. It's nothing. It's j- I dunno!" She said, indignantly. Suddenly a tune came from the website and the message 'SAXON BROADCAST ALL CHANNELS" appeared on the screen.
The Doctor turns on the telly.
"Our lord and master is speaking to his kingdom." He says sarcastically. The Rose takes his hand and squeezes it slightly. He squeezes back. The Master appears on the screen in front of a fireplace.
"Britain, Britain, Britain. What extraordinary times we've had. Just a few years ago, this world was so small. And then they came, out of the unknown, falling from the skies. You've seen it happen... Big Ben destroyed, a spaceship over London. All those ghosts and metal men. The Christmas star that came to kill. Time and time again the government told you nothing. Well not me. Not Harold Saxon. Because my purpose here today is to tell you this... citizens of Great Britain... I have been contacted. A message, for humanity, from beyond the stars." He nods to someone off-screen and the footage changes to a floating sphere.
"People of the Earth, we come in peace. We bring great gifts. We bring technology and wisdom and protection. And all we ask in return is your friendship." A female voice says from inside the sphere. The footage switches back to the Master. He's making an 'aww' face.
"Ooh, sweet. And this species has identified itself. They're called the Toclafane." He tells the camera. The Doctor and the Rose sit up in shock.
"What?!" They both exclaim at once. On screen the Master continues.
"And tomorrow morning they will appear. Not in secret, but to all of you. Diplomatic relations with a new species will begin. Tomorrow, we take our place in the universe. Every man, woman and child. Every teacher and chemist and lorry driver and farmer. And every... oh, I don't know... medical student ?" He looked at the camera and it seemed like he was talking to them. The Doctor jumped up and spun the telly around to find a bomb there.
"Everyone out!" The Rose yelled. The Doctor grabbed the laptop and sprinted out the door. They reached the street just as the front windows explode.
"Is everyone alright?!" The Doctor yelled.
"Fine" Jack answered.
"Rose?" He turned to find her leaning against a car.
"Yeah, I'm alright." She answered. He nodded.
"Martha?" He turned to find her tying to call someone. "What are you doing?"
"He knows about me. What about my family?" She asked as she listened to the ringing.
"Don't tell them anything!" He told her. She glared at him defiantly.
"I'll do what I like!" Suddenly her mum picked up. "Mum? Oh my God, you're there." The Doctor tuned her out. He looked around and found a car that could fit all of them. He looked around, then soniced it open. He got in and motioned for the Rose and Jack to follow him. Jack grabbed Martha and pulled her into backseat with him. The Rose sat upfront with the Doctor.
"Dad!" Martha yells.
"Martha, what is it? What's wrong?" Rose asks from the passenger seat.
"They have my family! We have to go get them!" She pleads, her hatred momentarily gone.
"It's a trap! That's exactly what they want!" The Doctor tells her.
"Please! I have to help them!" She pleads with him. Rose puts her hand on his shoulder.
"Please, Doctor? I know that if it was my family, Rose's family, I wouldn't forgive you if we did nothing. Do this for her, please?" The Rose asked him. He glanced at her and groaned. He ignited the engine with the sonic and stared to drive to Francine's house. When they got a few houses down they stopped. Francine and her ex-husband were being escorted into police vans. Jack holds back Martha and the Doctor reverses and drives out of there. Martha pulls out her phone again and dials her sister.
"Tish?" Martha asks when her sister picks up. There's silence on this side then a faint yell from the mobile.
"What's happening?! Tish!" She yells into the phone, then turns to the Doctor. "It's your fault! It's all your fault!"
"Martha, shut up! I've been trying to be nice to you this entire time because you remind me of a friend of Rose's in the parallel universe, but I can see that you are completely different! Can't you see how guilty the Doctor is already? Don't add your guilt to his, alright? Because I am literally a new person, I don't know how different I am to Rose, so don't push me!" The Rose yelled at a terrified Martha. The Doctor expecially surprised. Even Jack was surprised, and he was expecting it. The Rose sat back in her seat and relaxed. She closed her eyes and let out a breath.
"Okay, so first we need to ditch the car. Doctor, pull over here." They pulled over and they climbed out. "Secondly, Martha, do you have any other family members that might be in danger?"
"Yeah, my brother Leo."
"Okay, go call him." Martha walked away a bit and called her brother. An few minutes she came back.
"He's going into hiding for a bit. What's the next step?" Martha asked as she put away her phone.
"I need to see your phone. I have to make a call." Martha handed her the mobile.
"Who you gonna call?" The Doctor asked. They all cracked up at the bad joke, they needed to relieve the tension. The Rose sobered first and dialed the phone. She knew it wouldn't matter what number, but unconsciously dialed Rose's mum's number.
"You've reached Jackie Tyler. I'm sorry but I'm out right now. But call later. Ta-ra!" *Beep*
"Miss Tyler how nice to meet you. I'm Harold Saxon." A new, but recognizable voice greeted her.
"Hello Master." She greeted him coldly.
"MMmm... I love it when you say my name Miss Tyler. Or, should I call you the Rose?" He asked over the phone. She tightened her grip on the mobile.
"Call me what you like, it doesn't change what you are. I mean, really? Master? It's a physiologists field day!" She informed him.
"Yes, and what of your precious Doctor? The man who makes people better. How sanctimonious is that?" The Master sneered at her over the phone. The Rose's eyes narrowed.
"So... Prime Minister?" She said, changing the subject.
"I know. It's good, isn't it?" He boasted. The Rose turned around, away from the Doctor.
"Who are those creatures? 'Cause there's no such thing as the Toclafane. It's just a made-up name like the Bogeyman." The Rose asked, she was honestly curious.
"Do you remember all those fairy tales about the Toclafane when we were kids? Back home. Where is it, Rose? You must know." The Master evaded her question. She decided to answer him.
"Gone." Her voice was tinted with sadness. She couldn't look the Doctor in the eye when he turned her to face him.
"How can Gallifrey be gone?" He demanded with confusion evident in his voice. The Doctor heard it over the phone and held out his hand to the Rose. She turned away again.
"It burnt." She told him, her voice cracking slightly.
"And the Time Lords?" He asked. The Rose couldn't decide whether he was worried or hopefull.
"Dead. And the Daleks." She heard the Doctor whisper 'More or less', but ignored it. "What happened to you?" She knew the Doctor wanted to know so she switched to speaker.
"The Time Lords only resurrected me because they knew I'd be the perfect warrior for a Time War. I was there when the Dalek Emperor took control of the Cruciform. I saw it. I ran. I ran so far. Made myself human so they would never find me because... I was so scared. But what about you? How did you end up on Earth?" The Master asked the Rose. She fidgeted slightly and avoided the Doctor's eye.
"I was banished. I was there when the Could've Been King led his Army of Meanwhiles and Nevermores. I was given orders and I didn't follow them. But I was too valuable so they banished me to Earth in my TARDIS. I used the Chameleon Circuit, but something went wrong. I was turned into a baby and left on Jackie Tyler's doorstep. The rest is history." She evaded tithe Doctor's hand when he tried to comfort her.
"So all of the Time Lords are gone? But not the Doctor which means..." He trailed off, waiting for one of them to fill in the information.
"I was the only one who could end it. And I tried. I did. I tried everything." The Doctor replied. They could practically hear the Master's grin.
"What did it feel like, though? Two almighty civilizations burning. Oh, tell me, how did it feel?" The Master was gleeful. He wanted to know what it felt like to destroy whole civilizations. The Rose recoiled in disgust.
"Stop it!" The Doctor didn't want to remember.
"You must have been like God." The Master breathed.
"I've been alone ever since. But not anymore. Don't you see, all we've got is each other." The Doctor looked at the Rose as he said this, making sure she knew he was talking to her as well.
"Are you asking me out on a date? Oh Doctor I'm flattered, but what would Rose think?" The Master teased them. The Rose could see the Doctor was getting angry. She put her hand on his shoulder and took the phone from him. She turned of the speaker and held it to her ear.
"You could stop this right now. We could leave this planet. We could fight across the constellations if that's what you want. But not on Earth." The Rose pleaded with him. It may not be her home planet, but Rose Tyler had grown up here. She felt protective of it.
"Too late."
"Why do you say that?" The Rose didn't like where this was going.
"The drumming." The Rose heard him drum his fingers on the table. "I thought it would stop but it never does. Never ever stops. Inside my head, the drumming, Rose. The constant drumming." He sounded a bit mad, which worried the Rose.
"We could help you. Please, let us help you." She pleaded with him.
"It's everywhere. Listen, listen, listen." The Rose heard him tap on the table again. "Here come the drums. Here come the drums."
A man leaning on the wall near the Doctor begins to tap the same rhythm on his leg. The Rose whirls to look at him.
"What have you done? Tell me how you've done this. What are those creatures? Tell me!" The Doctor looks at her, then at the man tapping on his leg. He realizes what's going on and ushers Martha and Jack away from him.
"Ooh, look. You're on TV." The Master told her, seemingly at random.
"Tell me!" She demanded, not up for his games.
"No, really. You're on telly! The Doctor and his little band, which, by the way, is ticking every demographic box. So, congratulations on that. Look, there you are! Ha!" Rose turned to look at a TV in a shop window.
"They are known to be armed and dangerous" The newscaster tells them from the telly. On it are fuzzy pictures of the Rose, the Doctor, Jack, and Martha.
"You're public enemies number one, two, three And four. Oh, and you can tell handsome Jack that I've sent his little gang off on a wild goose chase to the Himalayas so he won't be getting any help from them. Now, go on, off you go. Why not start by turning to the right?" The Rose turns to the right and notices the camera.
"He can see us! Doctor!" The Doctor uses his sonic screwdriver on the camera and it sparks and apparently turns off.
"Ooh, you public menaces. Better start running. Go on. Run!" The Master taunts over the phone and the Rose turns it off. She turns to them and grabs the Doctor's hand they start running with Martha and Jack close behind them.
"He's got control of everything!" The Rose informed them as they ran.
"Doctor what do we do?" Martha asked, gasping for breath.
"We run!" He told her. They continued to run until they reached an old warehouse. The Doctor soniced the lock and they snuck in, closing the door behind them. They found an empty barrel and old packing crates. They broke some of the crates and put them in the barrel. The Doctor used his sonic to light them and they used the smaller crates as chairs. Jack fiddled with his vortex manipulator and the Doctor set up the laptop. The Rose was leaning over his shoulder, helping him when he needed it. Martha, feeling left out just sat out. That is, until her stomach growled.
"Alright, I don't know about you Time Lords and whatever Jack is, but I'm starving. I think I could manage to get some chips without anyone seeing me. Do you want anything?" Martha said, standing up and stretching.
"Yeah, some chips sound lovely! What about you Jack?" The Rose said, instantly perking up. Rose Tyler loved chips, so she figured she would too. Jack nodded and the Doctor made a noise of agreement. Martha nodded and asked around for money. Jack gave her some, but the Doctor just shook his head. He never carried money for some reason.
"Sorry. I've got money, but it's from the parallel universe. I don't think it works here." The Rose said apologetically. Martha scowled and grabbed her hoodie, stepping out of the warehouse, making sure no one saw her. The Rose went back to helping the Doctor and Jack went back to fiddling with his vortex manipulator.
"So Doctor, I see what you meant by getting a first in jiggery-pokery. I can't believe they actually had a class called that!" The Rose said, trying to lighten the mood. She succeeded and the Doctor let out a laugh.
"Yeah! And do you remember having Whatsamacallums? That was a brilliant class!" The Doctor laughed at the memories.
"Oh yeah! You and Koschei, always getting in trouble! Oh the professors hated you!" The Rose laughed with him. The Doctor sobered slightly at the use of the Master's old nickname.
"You knew us then?" He asked her.
"Everyone knew you! You guys wee infamous! Theta and Koschei, Troublemakers of Gallifrey! I heard of all your exploites! Putting Proffesor Rama in a Time Lock, then throwing him into the Sea of Desperation! That was a classic! Kids were trying to replicate that for decades! They never quite managed what you guys did though!" The Rose was laughing again. The Doctor couldn't help but laugh with her.
"So what was your nickname in school?" He asked her. She tensed a bit, then avoided his eyes.
"Rho Psi. Funny right?" The Rose asked, her voice dripping with contempt. The Doctor was shocked. Then his face transformed with realization.
"You're Rho Psi? You mean Rosy Rho Psi?! But- oh Rose! I'm sorry! I'm so sorry! I-I didn't know! Koschei dared me, in front of everyone, I couldn't say no! I'm sorry. I always regretted not being able to apologize. I'm sorry." The Doctor was horrified at himself. He couldn't believe he had done that, expesially to the Rose! Jack had been quite this entire time, but couldn't help himself now.
"What are you talking about?" He said, fed up with their bonding. The Doctor looked down in shame. The Rose turned to Jack.
"Right after my eighth birthday I was taken to the Untempered Schism. A group of us went, including the Doctor, or Theta as he was known then, and Koschei, his best friend. I went up and they say that when I looked into it my skin and hair turned a rosy pink and my eyes glowed gold. I don't remember much, except this feeling, like there was another presence in my mind. When I snapped out of it and went back to the group, the Doctor called out, 'Look it's Rosy Rho Psi!' Everyone started calling me that, and it continued throughout school. Even after school when I started working with the High Council it stuck. I stayed with the Council through all of the High Presidents, including the Doctor's brief stint as High President. He didn't recognize me until someone called me Rosy Rho Psi. He didn't talk to me thoug." The Rose explained.
"I was embarrassed! I honestly didn't mean it as an insult! I thought she looked pretty! She was all Pink and Yellow, it was beautiful. Back then she had ginger hair and these amazing hazel green eyes. She's the reason I want to be ginger actually. She looked so beautiful, still does actually." He winked at the Rose when he said his last comment. She blushed and looked away, though she was still mad at him.
"Now that is something I'd want to see!" Jack exclaimed. The Doctor stood up and went over to him.
"I could show you if you want. It might feel a bit uncomfortable at first, I would be invading your mind." The Doctor said, kneeling in front of the captain. Jack nodded and the Doctor put his index and middle fingers on Jack's temple and his thumbs on his jaw. He closed his eyes and Jack followed suit. Jack flinched a bit when the Doctor first entered his mind, but relaxed as the images flowed into his head.
The first image was of Rho Psi standing in a field of red grass. Her ginger hair glowed in the light of the two suns and her green eyes sparkled with hints of brown and gold. She was laughing with two boys, one with brown hair and blue eyes, the other with slightly darker brown hair and blue eyes. Jack could tell that the two boys were the Doctor and Koschei.
The next image was of Rho Psi standing in front of the Untempered Schism. At first she was exactly the same as in the last image, but in the next second a mysterious wind surrounded her and her skin and hair took on a pinkish hue and her eyes glowed golden. She looked like a Pink and Yellow goddess.
The last image was of a woman with curly brown hair and bright green eyes wearing a red outfit, the outfit of a High Council member. She was talking to a man in a similar outfit, but whereas her coller was red and orange, his was white and gold. He also had curly brown hair, but his eyes were dark blue. The woman, Rho Psi, turned when some one called her by her nickname and the man's, the Doctor's, eyes widened.
The Doctor pulled out and Jack was left staring at him. He glanced at the Rose, then back to the Doctor.
"No. Fucking. Way! You loved her before you loved Rose! You love both of them! You love her as a Time Lady and as a human! This is so fucking awesome!" Jack exclaimed. The Doctor blushed and went back to the laptop. The Rose was left speechless. They heard Martha coming toward them and Jack went back to his vortex manipulator and the Rose went over to the Doctor.
"How was it?" Jack asked, nonchalantly. Martha set down her bag and took off her jacket.
"I don't think anyone saw me. Anything new?" She asked, handing out the chips.
"I've got this tuned into the government wavelength so we can follow what Saxon's doing." Jack answered. Martha gave him a look.
"Yeah, I meant about my family." She told him.
"It still says the Jones family taken in for questioning. Tell you what, though, no mention of Leo." The Doctor told her.
"He's not as daft as he looks. I'm talking about my brother on the run. How did this happen?" She said, a little hysterical.
"Nice chips." Jack said, changing the subject. The Rose grabbed a chip and smelled it. The Doctor took one and popped it in his mouth.
"Actually, they're not bad." He says. The Rose finally puts hers into her mouth. She chews it once and makes a sound that caused Jack to blush. Everyone looked at her with similar looks on their faces. She realizes what she just did and blushes.
"Th-they were, um, good." She stutters out.
"If you make that noise while eating a chip, I wonder what noises I could get out of you." Jack flirted with her. She blushed and the Doctor made a growling noise deep in his throat. Jack held up his hands in surrender.
"I'm not used to having my Time Lady taste buds back yet. I just spent 22 years as a human, okay? Give me a bit and I'll get used to it again." She tells them. Martha decides to change the subject.
"So Doctor, tell us about the Master." She says.
"So, Doctor, who is he? How come the ancient society of Time Lords created a psychopath?" Jack adds.
"And what is he to you? Like a colleague..." Martha askes, trailing off.
"A friend, at first." He tells them.
"His best friend. He was called Koschei." The Rose informed them. Jack sputters, but Martha just gives them a blank look.
"I thought you were gonna say he was your secret brother or something." Martha jokes. The Doctor, the Rose and Jack give her a look.
"You've been watching too much TV." The Rose tells her.
"But all the legends of Gallifrey made it sound so perfect." Jack says. The Doctor and the Rose get a wistful look on their faces.
"Well, perfect to look at, maybe. And it was, it was beautiful." He leans back. "They used to call it the Shining World of the Seven Systems. And on the Continent of Wild Endeavour, in the Mountains of Solace and Solitude, there stood the Citadel of the Time Lords... The oldest and most mighty race in the universe... looking down on the galaxies below... sworn never to interfere... only to watch... Children of Gallifrey, taken from their families at the age of eight to enter the Academy. And some say that's when it all began. When he was a child... that's when the Master saw eternity. As a novice, he was taken for initiation, it's a gap in the fabric of reality through which could be seen the whole of the vortex. You stand there, eight years old... staring at the raw power of time and space, just a child. Some would be inspired... some would run away... and some would go mad." the Doctor tells them with a faraway look in his eyes. The Rose has a similar look in her eyes.
"What about you two?" Martha asks, adding the Rose in out of curiosity.
"Oh, I was one of the ones that ran way. I never stopped." He said, his mouth full of chips.
"I suppose I was inspired. I don't know. I didn't run and I didn't go mad, but I don't think 'inspired' really summarizes it. I guess I had a different fourth option. 'Become a Goddess'." She jokes. The Doctor gets a bright look in his eyes, but is cut off by Jack's vortex manipulator beeping.
"Encrypted channel with files attached. Don't recognize it." Jack tell them. The Doctor grabs the laptop.
"Patch it through to the laptop." He tells Jack.
"Um, since we're telling stories, um, there's something I haven't told you." He doesn't get to finish because the Torchwood symbol appears on the screen. Both the Doctor and the Rose tense.
"You work for Torchwood." The Doctor growls. The Rose just looks slightly scared.
"I swear to you, it's different. It's changed. There's only half a dozen of us now." Jack tells them.
"Everything Torchwood did and you're part of it?!" The Doctor yells at him. The Rose still looks scared, but it's mixed with anger now.
"The old regime was destroyed at Canary Wharf. I rebuilt it, I changed it. And when I did that, I did it for you and Rose, in your honour." Jack tells them. He knows the look the Doctor is giving him and he's afraid. It's the look of the Oncoming Storm.
"Doctor, it's okay. I'm here now and I'm fine. Doctor, look at me!" The Rose turns his face toward her. She kisses him gently. "I'm fine." She whispers. The Doctor nods and turns on the transmission. A woman is on the screen.
"If I haven't returned to my desk by 2200 hours, this file will be emailed to Torchwood. Which means, if you're watching this, then I'm... Anyway, the Saxon files are attached. But take a look at the Archangel document. That's when it all started. When Harry Saxon became Minister in charge of launching the Archangel Network." The screen changes to show a picture of the Earth orbited by satellites.
"What's the Archangel Network?" The Doctor asks. Martha pulls out her phone.
"I've got Archangel. Everyone's got it." Martha tells him. The Rose pulls out her phone.
"Hang on, I've got it too! I know I didn't have it last time I was here, so why do I have it now?" The Rose asks.
"It's the mobile phone network. 'Cause, look, it's gone worldwide. They've got 15 satellites in orbit. Even the other networks, they're all carried by Archangel." Jack tells them. The Doctor takes Martha and the Rose's phones. He sonics them.
"It's in the phones! Oh, I said he was a hypnotist! Wait, wait, wait. Hold on." He taps the phones on the table. The same rhythm the guy was tapping comes out of the phone. "There it is. That rhythm, it's everywhere. Ticking away in the subconscious."
"What is it, mind control?" Martha asks. The Rose chuckles a bit.
"No, no, no, no. Subtler than that. Any stronger and people would question it. But contained in that rhythm, in layers of code... Vote Saxon. Believe in me. Whispering to the world. Oh, yes ! That's how he hid himself from me. 'Cause I should have sensed there was another Time Lord on Earth. I should have known way back. The signal cancelled him out." The Doctor explains to them.
"What is it with you and mind control? First there was the blood control with the Sycorax, then I got possessed by Cassandra, The Beast used it on the Oods and Toby, Cybus used it to convert people into Cybermen, and you've got that hypno-thing that you do." The Rose asks, still chuckling a bit.
"Oi! I'm trying to save the planet! Shhhh..." He says, putting his finger to his lips.
"Oh no you don't! That won't work on me! You know that only works on lifeforms with underdeveloped brain functions! I'm not human anymore, remember!" The Rose told him, sticking her tongue out at him.
"Any way to stop him?" Jack asked, sick of their couple-y ness.
"Not from down here. But now we know how he's doing it." The Doctor said.
"And we can fight back." The Rose said. He turned and grinned at her.
"Oh yes!" He told her. She grinned back, her tongue poking out between her teeth. Together they took apart the phones and the laptop. They took Martha and Jack's TARDIS keys and donated their own. They took pieces of circuitry and the Doctor soniced them to the keys. He took pieces of string and threaded them through the keys so they could be worn. The Rose's was already on a string so she just took hers back.
"Four TARDIS keys, four pieces of the TARDIS with low-level perception properties because the TARDIS is designed to blend in. Well, sort of, but... Now! The Archangel Network's got a second low-level signal. Weld the key to the network and... Martha," He steps back. "look at me. You can see me, yes?"
"Yep!" She tells him, glad he was addressing her and not the Rose.
"What about now?" He asks as her slips his key around his neck. Martha blinks as he slides to the right. Jack and the Rose laugh.
"No, I'm here. Look at me." He says, his voice echoing slightly.
"It's like... I know you're there but I don't want to know." Martha says, surprised.
"And back again." He takes off key. "See? It just shifts your perception a tiny little bit. Doesn't make us invisible, just unnoticed. Oh, I know what it's like. It's like... it's like when you fancy someone and they don't even know you exist. That's what it's like. Come on!" Martha gets a pained look on her face, one the Rose recognizes well. She jogs up to the Doctor and slaps his arm.
"Ow! What was that for?" He says, rubbing his arm.
"God you must be blind! It's obvious that she fancies you! That's why she's been so hostile toward me, and you just rubbed it in her face! You were right, this regeneration is rude!" The Rose tells him, stage whispering so Martha can't hear.
"And not ginger!" The Doctor adds. The Rose just hits him again.
"Ow!" He notices people coming toward them so he turns to Jack and Martha.
"Don't run. Don't shout. Just keep your voice down. Draw attention to yourself and the spell is broken. Just keep to the shadows." He tells them, reaching for his key.
"Like ghosts. Or, more accurately, like Gelth" The Rose says. The Doctor grins at her.
"Yeah, that's what we are. Ghosts." The Doctor says. He puts on his key and everyone else follows suit. They pass the people silently and they don't notice them.
They make their way to the Tarmac where the President will be landing.
"Mr President, sir!" Harold Saxon salutes him. President Winters walks up to him.
"Mr. Saxon. The British Army will stand down. From now on, UNIT has control of this operation." He tells Mr. Saxon, his tone serious. The Master however is treating this like a joke.
"You make it sound like an invasion." He says, chuckling.
"First contact policy was decided by the Security Council in 1968. And you've just gone and ignored it." President Winters tells him.
"Well, you know what it's like. New job, all that paperwork. I think it's down the back of the settee. I did have a quick look. I found a pen, a sweet, a bus ticket and uh... have you met the wife?" Saxon says, still joking. He motions toward his wife. The President ignores this.
"Mr Saxon, I'm not sure what your game is but there are provisions at the United Nations to have you removed from office unless you are very, very careful. Is that understood?" Saxon mimes zipping his lips, making the President angey. "Are you taking this seriously?" Saxon nods. The President continues, still put out. "To business. We've accessed your files on these...Toclafane. First contact cannot take place on any sovereign soil. For that purpose, the aircraft carrier Valiant is en route. The rendezvous will take place there at 8:00 am." Saxon tries to talk through zipped lips.
"Mm mm-mm-mm-m m mm-m-m m-mm."
"You're trying my patience, sir." President Winters growls at Harold Saxon. Saxon mimes unzipping his lips.
"So America is completely in charge?" He says.
"Since Britain elected an ass, yes. I'll see you onboard the Valiant." The President turns to leave.
"It still will be televised, though, won't it? Because I promised, and the whole world is watching." Saxon says, feigning nice.
"Since it's too late to pull out, the world will be watching. Me." He walks to the waiting car. Saxon turns to Lucy.
"The last President of America. We have a private plane ready and waiting. We should reach the Valiant within the hour." He motions for Lucy to go first. "My darling" He turns and looks right at the spot the Doctor, the Rose, Martha and Jack are standing. He turns away when he hears sirens. A police van drives up and the Jones family is taken out. Saxon runs up to them, like he's greeting old friends.
"Hi, guys! All will be revealed!" He says, laughing.
"Oh my God." Martha whispers. The Doctor puts a hand on her shoulder.
"Don't." He whispers.
"But..." She starts.
"Don't." He repeats. In front of them the Jones family is transferred to a Land Rover.
"I'm gonna kill him." She says, her voice tainted with anger causing it to rise in pitch.
"Say I use this perception filter to walk up behind him and break his neck?" Jack suggests.
"Now that sounds like Torchwood." the Doctor tells him, his voice getting colder with anger.
"Still a good plan." Jack tells him.
"He's a Time Lord, which makes him my responsibility. I'm not here to kill him. I'm here to save him." The Doctor tells them. The Rose turns to him.
"Does that mean I'm your responsibility?" She asks him, her arms crossed. He turns to look at her.
"Yes, but you were my responsibility before you were a Time Lady. Most jeopardy friendly companion I've ever had." He says affectionately. Jack is looking at his manipulator.
"Aircraft carrier Valiant. It's a UNIT ship at 28.2N and 10.02E." He tells them.
"How do we get on board?" Martha asks. The Doctor looks at Jack, an idea in his head.
"Does that thing work as a teleport?" He asks him.
"Since you revamped it, yeah. Coordinates set." Jack says, holding out his arm with the manipulator on it. The Doctor makes sure everyone is holding on to it before activating it. They appear in one of the Valiant's engine rooms. Martha and Jack groan.
"Oh, that thing is rough." Martha complains.
"I've had worse nights." He cracks his neck. "Welcome to the Valiant." He tells them. The Rose and the Doctor stretch, working out the kinks caused by the vortex manipulator. Martha goes over to one of the port windows.
"It's dawn. Hold on, I thought this was a ship. Where's the sea?" She asks them looking out of the porthole. Rose walks up to another window.
"A ship for the 21st century. Protecting the skie of London." Jack tells them.
"It's like the Dauntless back in Pete's World. It was a dirigible owned by Pete's Torchwood. They used it to find active Cybermen, back when they were still around. After that they used it as an Airbase. They used it to track alien ships and hold conferences with other planets. I was at most of those, what with the TARDIS translation in my head. I was surprised it still worked, being in another universe and all." The Rose told them.
"Come on then, allons-y!" The Doctor says, grabbing the Rose's hand and running down the hallway. They run down a bit, with Martha and Jack following them. Suddenly they feel another presence in their minds. A singing they both know well. They stop, grins forming on their faces.
"We've no time for sightseeing!" Jack tells them, running ahead a bit.
"No, no. Wait. Shh, shh, shh. Can't you hear it?" The Doctor asks them.
"Hear what?" Jack asks.
"Doctor, my family's on board." Martha reminds him. She walks past him.
"Brilliant! This way!" He yells at them, turning around. They run down more corridors, going a different way then they did before. The Doctor swings open a set of doors and the TARDIS is sitting there.
"Oh, at last!" He exclaims.
"Oh, yes!" Martha laughs, seeing the TARDIS.
"Oh no." Rose says, freezing in her tracks. No one hears her and they continue towards the blue box.
"What's it doing on the Valiant?" Jack asks. The Doctor puts his hand on the door.
"Doctor, no!" The Rose says, still by the doors leading in. It's too late and the Doctor pushes open the door. The inside is bathed in red light and there is grating around the console.
"What the hell's he done?" Jack asks as he steps in. Rose runs toward them and joins them in the TARDIS.
"Don't touch anything!" She tells them.
"I'm not going to." He tells her.
"What's he done though ? Sounds like it's... sick." Martha says as she looks around at red interior.
"It can't be. No, no, no, no, no, no, it can't be." The Doctor says, running his hands through his hair. He runs around the caged console.
"Doctor, what is it?" Martha asks.
"He's cannibalised the TARDIS." The Doctor tells them his voice pained and angry.
"He turned her into a Paradox machine!" The Rose tells them, her voice just as pained and angry.
"As soon as this hits red, it activates. At this speed, it'll trigger" He looks at Jack's watch. "at two minutes past 8:00."
"First contact is at 8:00 and then two minutes later..." Jack says, understanding dawning on his face. The Rose is slowly backing up toward the door.
"What's it for? What's a paradox machine do?" Martha asks.
"More importantly, can you stop it?" Jack adds looking at the Doctor.
"Not until I know what it's doing. Touch the wrong bit and blow up the solar system." He runs his hands through his hair.
"Then we've got to get to the Master." Martha deduces.
"Yeah. How do we stop him?" Jack asks the Doctor, but looks at the Rose. Her face is contorted in horror and pain.
"Oh, I've got a way. Sorry, didn't I tell you?" He grins, still not noticing the Rose. They run out of the Paradox TARDIS and continue to the bridge. They slow down when they notice guards. Slowly they enter the room, catching the end of President Winter's speech.
"... For as long as man has looked to the stars, he has wondered what mysteries they hold. Now we know we are not alone..." He says into the cameras.
"This plan, you gonna tell us?"
"If I can get this" He holds up the key "around the Master's neck... cancel out his perception, they'll see him for real. It's just hard to go unnoticed with everyone on red alert. If they stop me... you've all got a key." Jack salutes him.
"Yes, sir." He says. The Doctor gives him a look that says 'don't salute me'.
"I'll get him." Martha threatens, glaring at the Master.
"Be careful." The Rose tells him. The Doctor smiles at her and gives her a quick kiss. He starts to make his way around the long table towards the Master.
"And I ask you now, I ask of the human race, to join with me in welcoming our friends. I give you the Toclafane." Three spheres appear around him suudenly. "My name is Arthur Coleman Winters, President-Elect of the United States of America and designated representative of the United Nations. I welcome you to the planet Earth and its associated moon." The spheres circle him.
"You're not the Master." One of the Toclafane says in a male voice.
"We like the Mr. Master." A second one says, this one in a female voice.
"We don't like you." The third one says, in a diferent male voice.
"I... can be Master, if you so wish. I will accept mastery over you if that is God's will." President Winters stutters.
"Man is stupid." The third one says.
"Master is our friend." The first one says as it spins around the President.
"Where's my Master, pretty please?" The female one begs.
"Oh, all right then. It's me." Saxon stands. "Ta-da!" He laughs. "Sorry. Sorry, I have this effect. People just get obsessed. Is it the smile? Is it the aftershave? Is it the capacity to laugh at myself. I don't know. It's crazy!" He says, making his way to where the President is standing. The Doctor freezes for a moment.
"Saxon, what are you talkin' about?" The President asks. Saxon's face turns serious and he faces the President.
"I'm taking control, Uncle Sam. Starting with you." He turns to the Toclafane "Kill him."
One of the Toclafane shoots Winters with a laser and he disintegrates. Chaos erupts as everyone tries to leave the room. Saxon's people pull out their weapons. Saxon laughs.
"Guards!" He yells. They rush forward.
"Nobody move! Nobody move!" One of the guards yells. They point their guns at the people gathered. Saxon looks into the camera.
"Now then, peoples of the Earth, please attend carefully." The Doctor rushes forward, knowing he can't wait any longer.
"Stop him!" A guard yells. Two guards rush forward and grab the Doctor. They force him to kneel. The Master turns slightly to look at him.
"We meet at last, Doctor. Oh, ho! I love saying that!" The Mster luaghs at him.
"Stop this! Stop it now!" The Doctor pleads with him.
"As if a perception filter's gonna work on me. Oh, and look, it's the girlie and the freak. Although, I'm not sure which one's which." Jack rushes him and Saxon fires a laser and Jack falls to the floor. "Laser screwdriver, who'd have sonic? And the good thing is, he's not dead for long. I get to kill him again!" The Master tells them. The Rose notices that he didn't say anything about her and stays completely still, even as Martha goes to Jack.
"Master, just calm down. Just look at what you're doing. Just stop. If you could see yourself..." He tries to reason with him. The Master sighs into the camera.
"Oh, do excuse me, little bit of personal business. Back in a minute." He turns to the guards. "Let him go." The guards push the Doctor to the floor.
"It's that sound, the sound in your head. What if I could help?" He asks him, desperation evident in his voice.
"Oh, how to shut him up? I know. Memory Lane!" Sits on steps facing Doctor. "Professor Lazarus. Remember him? And his genetic manipulation device?Did you think that little Tish got that job merely by coincidence? I've been laying traps for you all this time. And if I can concentrate all that Lazarus technology into one little screwdriver... But, ooh, if I only had the Doctor's biological code. Oh, wait a minute, I do!" Runs to silver case and opens it. "I've got his hand! And if Lazarus made himself younger, what if I reverse it? Another hundred years?" He asks as he aims the screwdriver at the Doctor who screams as he goes into convulsions as his genetic makeup is altered. The Rose holds back the sobs so the Master doesnt notice her. Jack revives.
"Teleport." He handsMartha the manipulator.
"I can't." She sobs.
"We can't stop him. Grab the Rose and get out of here. Get out." He pleads with her, whispering so the Master can't hear him.
Saxon stops and the Doctor now has the body of a very old man. Martha crawls to his side.
"Doctor, I've got you." She tells him as she cradles his head.
"Aw, she's a would-be doctor. But tonight, Martha Jones, we've flown 'em in all the way from prison." He motionsmtoward the door. The door slides open and guards escort in Francine, Clive and Tish. The Rose escapes through the open door. She finds the TARDIS and steps in. She knows there is nothing she can do so she goes deeper onto the TARDIS. She finds her room and goes in, locking the door.
"Mum." Martha exclaims in the bridge.
"I'm sorry." Francine sobs.
"The Toclafane, who are they ? Who are they ?" The Doctor demands, breathing heavily.
"Doctor, if I told you the truth, your hearts would break." He tells him, leaning down.
"Is it time ?" Toc One asks.
"Is it ready ?" Toc Three adds, gleeful.
"Is the machine singing ?" Toc Two asks, twirling over to the Master.
He checks his watch. "Two minutes past." He mounts the steps and stands by Lucy. "So! Earthings. Basically, um, end of the world." Holds up his laser screwdriver. "Here... come... the drums!"
Rogue Trader's "Voodoo Child" comes on over the speakers. 'Here come the drums. Here come the drums...'
The paradox machine activates. 'Baby, baby, baby. You are my voodoo child, my voodoo child...'
Saxon looks out the window. 'Don't say maybe, maybe. It's supernatural. I'm comin' undone...'
Above the Valiant, a rift rears open in the sky. 'Baby, baby, baby. You are my voodoo child, my voodoo child...'
Toclafane by the thousands exit the rift. 'Don't say maybe, maybe. It's supernatural. I'm comin' undone. Baby, baby, baby. You are my voodoo child, my voodoo child...'.
Saxon and Lucy watch from the bridge.
"How many do you think?" The Master asks his wife.
"I don't know." She replies, her voice quiet.
"Six billion." He switches on outside speaker. "Down you go, kids!"
The Toclafane swarm down to Earth, zeroing in on Manhattan, Tokyo, and London. People go into the streets to see and the Toclafane begin firing indiscriminately. The Master turns to Lucy.
"Shall we decimate them? That sounds good. Nice word, decimate." He addresses theToclafane. "Remove one-tenth of the population!"
The Toclafane burst into people's homes. The Doctor whispers something in Martha's ear. Martha can only cry as she listens to the messages coming in from the surface.
"Valiant, this is Geneva! We're getting slaughtered down here!"
Martha stands, leaving the Doctor.
"Help us, for God's sake! Help us! They're everywhere!"
"This is London, Valiant! This is London calling! What do we do?!"
Martha looks at her family.
"They're killing us! The Toclafane are killing us!"
With a last look at the Doctor, Martha activates the teleporter. The Doctor and Jack exchange a look before the Doctor turns to look at Saxon. Martha arrives in a field overlooking the destruction of London.
"I'm coming back." She announces to the world. She runs off.
Back on the Valiant Saxon forces the Doctor to watch the fall of Earth from a window.
"And so it came to pass... that the human race fell and the Earth was no more. And I looked down upon my new dominion as master of all and I thought it... good."
Helplessness is evident on the Doctor's face.
'Rose where are you? I hope you're safe.' He thinks as he watches the Earth being destroyed. Back in the TARDIS the Rose hears him. She doesn't know how she can hear him, but knows that he is able to hear her too.
'I'm in the TARDIS, I'm in my room, and I'm safe. Be careful.' She sends back. The Doctor smiles slightly on the bridge, a plan already forming in his head.
Hey! Sorry about not changing enough stuff, but I think that Rose would be quieter here. I mean she just became a Time Lady again after 22 year of being human! Pretty disorienting don't you think? I hope you like her past, I'll be adding more to it later. So, Last of the Time Lords, Onyx-style will be coming later. Adios!