Hey. So, yeah. Sorry about that whole waiting for months thing that I made you guys do for that last chapter. I've been distracted by a bunch of different things and haven't really had the inspiration to continue writing for YANA. I'm back now though, so that's good. The story will be winding up soon, so start reviewing with requests for a sequel NOW! Thanks!
"Citizens of Earth, rejoice and observe." The Master says, addressing the world. The door opens and two guards escort Martha and the Rose into the room. They walks forward alone. Martha glances to the side and sees her family, the Rose glances to the other side and sees Jack. Her eyes dart forward and lock onto the Doctor's, who is standing in his cage. Her hearts clench at the sight. Out of the corner of her eye she sees Jack trying to go to them, but his guard stops him.
"Your teleport devices. In case your thought I'd forgotten." The Master demands. they hand over their manipulators. "And now…kneel." They both lower themselves to their knees. The Rose keeps her eys on the Doctor. "Down below, the fleet is ready to launch. Two hundred thousand ships set to burn across the universe." He goes to comm link. "Are we ready?"
"The fleet awaits your signal. Rejoice!" The man responds. The Master smiles at them. The Rose's stomach twists at the sight. To think that this monster was once her Doctor's best friend.
"Three minutes to align the black hole converters. Counting down!" A clock on the wall counts down the seconds. "I never could resist a ticking clock. My children, are you ready?" Outside the spheres begin to chant.
"We will fly and blaze and slice! We will fly and blaze and slice!"
"At zero, to mark this day, the child, Martha Jones, will die. Ha, my first blood. Ha, any last words?" Martha stays quiet and looks at him with contempt in her eyes. The Rose wants to grin, but doesn't. "No?" He looks at the Doctor. "Such a disappointment, this one. Didn't dear old Rosie here absorb the Time Vortex? This new one's useless." He taunted. The Rose grits her teeth to repress the urge to snap at the Time Lord. He turns back to Martha.
"Bow your head." She slowly lowers her head. "And so it falls to me, the Master of all, to establish from this day, a new order of Time Lords! From this day forward-" Martha begins to chuckle and soon the Rose joins in. "What? What's so funny?" The Master demands. Martha raises her head and continues to laugh.
"A gun?" She asks, snickering. The Master looks confused.
"What about it?" He demands. The Rose and Martha laugh harder.
"A gun in four parts?" The Rose asks, still laughing. She dissolves into belly laughs.
"Yes, and I destroyed it." The Master informs them. 'Oh the bloody idiot!' The Rose thinks and sends to the Doctor. She sees him quirk his mouth in a small smile.
"A gun in four parts scattered across the world? I mean, come on. Did you really believe that?" Martha asks. She looks at the Rose and they smile to each other.
"What do you mean?" He questions. The Doctor grips the bars to his cage tighter.
"As if I would ask her to kill." He rasps. The Rose is greatful that he sounds the same, but at the same time wishes he could still be his usual manic self.
"Oh, well, it doesn't matter. I've got her exactly where I want her." The Master brags. The Rose smirks, a skill that her new body excels at.
"But we knew what Professor Docherty would do. The Resistance knew about her son." The Rose informed him.
"We told her about the gun, so she'd get us here. At the right time." Martha continued.
"Oh, but you're still gonna die!" The Master reminded her.
"Don't you wanna know what we was doing? Travelling the world?" Martha taunted. The Master growled.
"Tell me." He demanded of her. Martha stared him down.
"We told a story, that's all. No weapons, just words." Martha told him.
"I did exactly what I knew would work and Martha followed suit. We walked the Earth, just talking." The Rose added, also staring down the Master.
"And everywhere we went, we found the people, and we told them our story." Martha continued.
"I told them about the Doctor." The Rose said, moving her now blue eyes to meet the Doctor's brown ones. "And I told them to pass it on, to spread the word so that everyone would know about the Doctor." She finished.
"Faith and hope? Is that all?" The Master asked, mocking. The Rose locked eyes with him and gave him her best defiant look.
"No. 'Cause I gave them an instruction." She stood and Martha stood with her. "I told them that if everyone thinks of one word, at one specific time-"
"Nothing will happen! Is that your weapon?! Prayer?!" The Master interupted. The Rose ignored him and kept talking.
"Right across the world. One word, just one thought, at one moment…" she paused for dramatic effect. "but with 15 satellites!" The Master looked startled.
"What?" He said, dumbfounded.
"The Archangel Network." Jack exclaimed. Martha turned and beamed at him.
"A telepathic field binding the whole human race together, with all of them, every single person on Earth, thinking the same thing at the same time. And that word…is Doctor." The Rose finished, just as the countdown reaches zero. The Doctor lights up in a blue glow.
"Stop it. No, no, no, no, you don't!" The Master protests frantically.
"Doctor." Jack says, closing his eyes.
"Doctor." Francine, Martha's mum says, her eyes also closed.
"Do-" The Master tries to protest. The large plasma screens on the walls show people all across the world gathered together, all saying 'Doctor'.
"Stop this right now! Stop it!" He yells. His wife, Lucy, closes her eyes and says 'Doctor'. Jack says it again, louder.
"Doctor." Martha says, smiling. The Rose takes a deep breath and walks over to the Doctor. She opens the cage and let's him out. He floats away and becomes an old man again.
"I've had a whole year to tune myself into the psychic network and integrate with its matrices." He says, his voice almost echoing.
"I order you to stop!" The Master tells anyone who will listen. His wife says his name again.
"Doctor" The Rose says, out loud and in her mind. Her body has started to glow slightly golden as his name echoes across Time, all the way back to the beginning.
TheDoctor's body returns to normal.
"The one thing you can't do. Stop them thinking." He tells the Master. Martha, Jack and the Rose laugh. The Master looks shocked. Using the telepathic field, the Doctor levitates.
"Tell me the human race is degenerate now when they can do this." He says. Martha runs over to her family and they hug.
"No!" The Master fires his laser at the Doctor, but the field deflects it.
"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." The Doctor apologizes.
"Then I'll kill them!" He aims the laser at Martha and her family, but the Doctor throws it across the room telekinetically. Unarmed, the Master panics. "You can't do this! You can't do- It's not fair!" The Master says, breaking down. The Rose looks at him with pity.
"And you know what happens now." The Doctor tells him as he floats toward the Master. He protests and backs away, down the stairs. He's grovelling as he chants the word 'no'. "You wouldn't listen." The Master protests again and the Rose moves closer. "Because you know what I'm going to say." The Master curls into the fetal position. The Doctor lands beside the Rose and together they walk over to the whimpering Master and he wraps his arms about him. The Rose kneels on the other side and rests her hand on his shoulder.
"I forgive you." The Doctor whispers. The Rose repeats him.
"My children!" The Master yells.
"Protect the paradox! Protect the paradox! Protect the paradox!" The spheres chant. The Doctor's eyes go wide.
"Captain! The paradox machine!" He yells. Jack motions to the soldiers.
"You men! With me! You stay here!" With that he takes some of the guards and set off.
The Master pulls out a manipulator and activates it. The Doctor yells 'no' and grabs on. They both disappear.
"Doctor!" The Rose yells. Her entire body glows golden and she disappears, following the two other Time Lords. They materialize on a rocky cliff, the Rose only seconds behind them. The Master spreads his arms wide.
"Now it ends, Doctor. Now it ends." Thunder rolls and alarms sound at the nearby shipyard.
"We've got control of the Valiant. You can't launch." The Doctor reminds him.
"Oh, but I've got this." He holds up small device. "Black hole converter inside every ship. If I can't have this world, Doctor, then neither can you. We shall stand upon this Earth, together, as it burns!" The Master exclaimed. The Rose's hearts broke for him, for the Time Lord she used to know.
"Koschei..." She starts. The Master flinches at the use of his old nick name. The Doctor rests a hand on her shoulder and shakes his head.
"Weapon after weapon after weapon. All you do is talk and talk and talk. But over all these years…and all these disasters, I've always had the greatest secret of them all. I know you. Explode those ships, you kill yourself. That's the one thing you can never do." The Doctor holds out his hand. "Give that to me." The MASTER slaps the device into his hand, reluctantly.
"Koschei, I'm so sorry. Whatever happened to you, you didn't deserve it." The Rose comments, staring at him sadly. The Master growls at her, but they fall to the ground before he can retaliate. The Earth shakes and they all struggle for the manipulator, the Doctor and the Rose fighting the Master. The Doctor manages to take them back to the Valiant.
The ship rocks as the paradox machine is destroyed. Martha stumbles and almost falls but the Doctor catches her. The Rose beams as she can fell the TARDIS begin to get healthier.
Everyone down! Time is reversing!" He grabs the Rose's hand and they fall to the floor, laying face-to-face and laugh.
Frncine spots a gun on the floor that must have fallen unnoticed from one of the guards. She looks over at the Master as he clings to the railings.
The Rose burns with regeneration energy as she returns to her original form. Exhausted, she slumps and goes limp, letting the Doctor keep her safe.
Time rolls back and on Earth, people are screaming, not knowing what is going on. They then disappear as does the statue of the Master and the shipyards. Time slows and the Valiant stills. The major cities on Earth are all back to normal.
The Doctor stands and checks controls once he's sure the Rose is secure. "The paradox is broken. We've reverted back, one year and one day. Two minutes past 8:00 in the morning." He walks turns on the comms and a male voice comes on, asking about the assassination.
"You see? Just after the President was killed, but just before the spheres arrived. Everything back to normal. Planet Earth restored. None of it happened. The rockets, the terror. Even the Rose's regeneration. It never was." The Doctor explained. The Rose smiled at him as she stood back up, feeling better.
"What about the spheres?" Martha asks, just to be safe.
"Trapped at the end of the universe." The Doctor tells her, smiling.
"But I remember it." Francine protests.
"We're at the eye of the storm. The only ones who'll ever know." He says solemnly. He sees Clive and beams. "Oh, hello! You must be Mr Jones! We haven't actually met." He says, smiling and shaking the mans hand.
The Master makes a break for it but is stopped by JACK as he returns.
"Whoa, big fella! You don't want to miss the party." He turns to a guard. "Cuffs. The guard hands him a pair and he cuffs the Master's hands behind his back. "So, what do we do with this one?" He asks the group.
"We kill him." Clive suggests. The Roses's eyes widen.
"We execute him." Tish adds in. The Rose looks around in horror.
"No, that's not the solution." The Doctor protests. Francine aims a gun at the Master.
"Oh, I think so. 'Cause all those…things, they still happened because of him. I saw them." She reasons.
"Go on! Do it!" The Master begs. The Rose shoots him a look that tells him to be quite, he probably doesn't see it.
"Francine, you're better than him." The Doctor reaches out his hand and she gives him the gun.
"You still haven't answered the question. What happens to me?" The Master questions. The Doctor looks at him and glances briefly at the Rose.
"You're our responsibility from now on. The only Time Lords left in existence." The Doctor answers, stepping closer to the Rose as he speaks. Jack goes over to them.
"Yeah, but you can't trust him." Jack protests.
"No, we can't, not anymore. Unfortunately, the only safe place for him is the TARDIS." The Rose says, sadly. The Master looks disgusted.
"You mean you're just gonna…keep me?" He asks, revolted.
"The Rose and I need to keep an eye on you." The Doctor says. He turns to Jack. "He's not much, but he's one of the few people I have left. I've got to keep them safe.
A gunshot rings out and the Master staggers backwards. Lucy is holding the gun. Jack takes the gun from Lucy as the Doctor and the Rose run back to the Master.
"Put it down." Jack suggests softly to Lucy. The Doctor has his arms wrapped around he Master and The Rose is on his other side.
"There you go. I've got you. I've got you." He reassures as they lowerhim gently to the floor.
"Always the women." The Master comments. The Rose wold be insulted, but she's finding it hard to feel anything but sorrow.
"I didn't see her." The Doctor tells his best friend sadly.
"Dying in your arms. Happy now?" The Master asks. He coughs slightly. The Rose can feel the tears building behind her eyes.
"You're not dying, don't be stupid. It's only a bullet. Just regenerate." The Doctor says, a bit frantically.
"No." The Master tells him, chuckling slightly. The Rose feels panic and dread build in her chests. She shakes we head at the wounded Time Lord.
"One little bullet. Come on." The Doctor says, trying to persuade his best friend and greatest enemy.
"I guess you don't know me so well. I refuse." The Master spits out.
"Please." The Rose chokes out. The tears have started to fall.
"Regenerate. Just regenerate. Please! Please! Just regenerate! Come on!" The Docor is hysterical. His voice is starting to break as be holds back his tears, barely.
"And spend the rest of my life imprisoned with you?" The Master asks, contempt dripping from his voice.
"You've got to. Come on. It can't end like this. You and me, all the things we've done. Axons? Remember the Axons? And the Daleks? We're the only three left, there's no one else. Regenerate!" The Doctor begs.
"Please, Koschei. Please it can't end like this, not now." The Rose begs. She can't loose anyone else, even the Master.
"How about that? I win." He takes a pause. "Will it stop, Doctor? The drumming. Will it stop?" He asks. The Master doesn't get an answer, he dies after asking it.
The Doctor holds the Master close, rocking back and forth as he cries. He screams in despair and loss as the others simply look on. Rose sits next to him, silent and not moving.
"I can fix it. I can fix it. Just, just let me..." The Rose begins, her speech broken by sobs. "If I can reach the Bad Wolf... She can fix this, right? I could bring him back." She lets out a choked sob. "We don't have to loose anyone else. We could have him back, I could make him better. You, you could have your friend back." The Rose is in hysterical denial. She's not even sure if the Doctor can hear her, he's still rocking. She attempts to access the Bad Wolf, but the golden being as shielded itself. 'NO! YOU LET ME BRING HIM BACK!' She screams at the barrier in her mind. Nothing happens and she falls to a heap on the floor.
The Doctor lights the Master's funeral pyre. He watches for a bit before walking away, no emotion on his face. The Rose stays only slightly longer, long enough to notice the ring as it tumbles to the shore. She bends down and picks it up for safe keeping. She follows the Doctor into the TARDIS.
Professor Alison Docherty is walking through a park when Martha runs up and gives her a bouquet of flowers.
"Just to say I don't blame you." She says before walking away.
"But who are you?" Docherty asks, calling after Martha.
Back in Cardiff, the Doctor, the Rose, Martha and Jack are standing at the rails by the Pierhead Building looked out over the bay.
"Time was, every single one of these people knew your name. Now they've all forgotten you." Martha comments. The Rose looks at the Doctor out of the corner of her eye. She sees the sadness in his eyes.
"Good." He says, keeping the answer short. The Rose slips her hand into his and squeezes.
"Back to work." Jack says. Both the Doctor and the Rose turn to look at him.
"You could always come travel with us. It would be nice to have the TARDIS Team back together." The Rose suggests.
"We really don't mind, though. Come with us." The Doctor adds. Jack shakes his head.
"I had plenty of time to think that past year, the Year That Never Was. And I kept thinking about that team of mine. Like you said, Doctor, responsibility." Jack tells them seriously.
Defending the Earth. Can't argue with that." He gives the Rose a slightly sad smile. He then reaches out his hand to shake Jack's,but exposes the vortex manipulator.
"Hey, I need that!" Jack protests.
"I can't have you walking around with a time-travelling teleport." He tells him as he uses the sonic screwdriver to deactivate it. "You could go anywhere—twice. The second time to apologize." The Doctor says, dropping Jack's wrist when he was done.
"And what about me? Can you fix that? Will I ever be able to die?" Jack asks. The Rose feels a pang of guilt for causing that.
"I'm so sorry Jack. But I can't do anything. Even if Bad wolf was letting me use her again, I wouldn't be able to do anything. You're a fixed point, not even I could change that. You're an impossible thing Jack." 'And it's all my fault.' She adds in her head. Jack laughs.
"Been called that before." He starts to leave then turns back and salutes. The Doctor gives him a half-hearted salute in return. The Rose just waves. "Sir. Dame. Ma'am." He turns to leave again and stops. "But I keep wondering…what about aging? 'Cause I can't die but I keep getting older. The odd little grey hair, you know? What happens if I live for a million years?" Jack asks, being vain as usual.
"I really don't know." The Doctor says. The Rose shakes her head, indicating she doesn't know either. Jack chuckles.
"Okay, vanity. Sorry. Yeah, can't help it. Used to be a poster boy when I was a kid back on the Boeshane Pennisula. Tiny little place. I was the first one ever to be signed up for the Time Agency. They were so proud of me. They Face of Boe they called me." The Doctor, the Rose and Martha are stunned. "Hmm, I'll see you." He runs across the Plas towards the water tower.
"Can't be." Martha breathes.
"No, definitely not. No." Martha and the Rose laugh. "No." The Doctor laughs slightly too.
"Jack set up our first date!" The Rose exclaims, looking at the Doctor. The both laugh.
Whelp. There you go. Chapter nine. Wow, only one more chapter to go I think. Ten reviews for next chapter. In order to get a sequel, I will need twenty UNIQUE reviews telling me specifically that I should write a sequel. This means you can only review ONCE! So, for example, if you want a sequel, but people aren't reviewing enough, you can't go back and review other chapters to get more reviews. If you do that, your reviews will only count as one. Have fun and happy Hunting!