Ok, so here's the thing. I edited this over like two-three weeks ago. Normally I would do one more read-through the day before I post, but I don't have time for that right now. I have Friendsgiving in the morning. This is just getting the grammarly once-over otherwise this chapter isn't coming out on time.
Can't wait to meet Fourteen. There was another chapter of "Death Was A Temporary Inconvenience" in case you're not following it. It features Peri and Marion and Peri references a conversation from there.
It turned out that it was for the best that she hadn't bothered to try the psychic paper with the guard.
The only way she'd be able to get away with flashing it at Ravensworth is if she tried to pass it off as some invention of hers she wanted to show off, and she was pretty sure that based on the logic of the show, Ravensworth was only going to see a blank sheet of paper so even that wouldn't work.
No, he'd probably just think that she'd done some sort of forgery and was trying to hide the evidence. And then she would also have to apologize over and over again the way the Doctor currently was.
"Your guard is quite right, of course. We shouldn't have deceived him. But how else would we have got in here?"
Ravensworth marched past him, hung up his hat, and spun around sharply on his heel. "Spare me the dubious pragmatism."
"Dubious Pragmatism" Marion liked that. "Dubious Pragmatism" She was going to start using that phrase to describe that thing she did where she used the psychic paper, a confident-sounding voice, and pretended to be some kind of Inspector. It had a nice ring to it.
"You came to see George Stephenson, you said?"
"I am a great admirer-"
"Yes, you must be if you're prepared to resort to trickery. But how do I know you're not in league with these machinery wreckers, these wretched Luddites!"
Marion blinked. "How do you know he's not in league with the men who tried to murder him?" Marion gestured broadly in the direction of the well. "They-they tried to murder him. Just now."
"Besides!" the Doctor added, "Do I look like a man who would wreck machines?"
Out of the corner of her eye, Marion saw Peri wince. In the Doctor's defense, when he wrecked machines it was either entirely by accident because it was trying to kill people. It was rarely on purpose.
Marion herself had a small hammer in her bag dedicated to wrecking machinery but in her defense, when she had gotten it, she had gotten it in case of robot murder spiders. And she ended up not using it!
Ravensworth took the Doctor's hand in his and turned them this way and that. He hummed thoughtfully.
"Well, you've certainly never done a day's labour in your life," This was the first time Marion had heard such a thing being said about another person in a way that was meant to be a compliment. Eighteenth-century England was a whole different world. "and I suppose it is possible you might even be a gentleman." He looked up from the Doctor and over to the two of them. "Do sit down."
"Shall we get up a search for the two who attacked this er, gentleman, my Lord?"
"There were three," Marion said. "I think one of them ran off."
"One of them fell into the pit while you were on the ground Mari,"
"Oh,"
"No, leave them," Ravensworth brushed off the concerns, "They'll have gone to ground by now."
"Leave them?" Peri sounded indignant, "They tried to kill the Doctor."
"And if they try again I'll send them into the ground," Marion said under her breath almost without thinking. No one seemed to hear her except for Peri. And Marion only knew that she heard her because her eyes flickered to hers for a moment before facing forward again.
"I don't dispute that, young woman." Ravensworth continued further showing that he had not heard Marion's little remark "A brutal attack on a complete stranger," Ravensworth paused and turned his head to stare at the Doctor with suspicion, "I take it you were not acquainted."
"Oh, I'd met the big fellow briefly when I tried to help him."
"We found him on the side of the road, unconscious," Marion explained, "While we were coming into town. We tried to get him up, and he ran away from us."
"Yes, that'd be Jack Ward," Ravensworth turned around. "Over thirty years he's worked for me and in all that time I've never once seen him raise his fist to another man."
"Well, then there's something going wrong with him."
The Doctor looked at Ravensworth for a moment. Probably wondering whether or not the industrialist had anything to do with what was going on. It wasn't a terrible guess. But as far as Marion was aware, the man had nothing to do with this.
The Doctor began pacing back and forth.
"And the disruptions only started recently?" the Doctor said slowly.
"Disruption's hardly the word for it. Oh, I know there have been Luddite attacks on machinery all over the country, but here-"
"People have been attacking more than just machinery." Marion finished.
"The violence has been horrendous." Ravensworth agreed.
"You mean murderous!"
"Peri!" the Doctor admonished.
"Doctor!" Marion replied in the same tone of voice with careful emphasis at the beginning of each syllable. "They Tried To Mur-Der You!"
The Doctor opened his mouth to say something, but whatever it was, got cut off-
"No, the young ladies are quite right. I just don't understand what's going on. I've always had an excellent relationship with the men. Flattered myself I enjoyed their trust and respect. Now this," Ravenswoth stood up from his desk. "this nightmare."
Marion didn't remember whether or not Ravenworth's claim was true about him having that good of a relationship with his employees but that was neither here nor there. But that definitely sounded like the kind of thing a person who claims that their company is like a family would say.
Marion could hear a lot of chatter outside of the window. Mostly women's voices. Ravensworth crossed the room to glance out of his window.
"They've obviously heard about the accident."
"Accident!"
"Yes Peri," Marion replied dryly, "The accident."
Ravensworth glanced at his guard. "Go and bring those women in here, will you?"
"Yes, my lord."
"It's only the men that are affected?" The Doctor looked at Ravensworth, but for a few moments, his eyes flickered to Marion. Her eyes flickered to the side, trying to remember.
That sounded correct? Marion nodded.
"Yes," said Ravensworth, "They become savage, go berserk, seem to suffer a complete change of personality."
The guard let in two women. One of them was younger and was carrying a baby in her arms, and the elder one wore a dark grey shawl around her shoulders and over her head.
"It's my husband Josh, your Lordship," said the woman holding the baby. "He's been missing for days!"
"It's not just her Josh that's missing." the older woman added, "Our Tom's gone, too."
Marion stood up out of her chair and walked towards the women. She smiled sympathetically. "I am so, so, so, sorry to hear that. You must be worried?"
If Marion was remembering correctly, there was a high chance that at least one of their husbands was dead and a decent chance that the other wouldn't be too far behind. Naturally, she didn't say that.
"When?" the Doctor said far less sympathetically. Neither of the women responded at first, probably because of the little disapproving noise that Ravensworth made in response. The Doctor turned to look at him, "Forgive me, Lord Ravensworth, it is important. When did they go missing?"
"Well," said the older woman, "nowt's been seen of them since they come off shift together."
"Perhaps they joined these Luddites?"
The two women started at Peri appalled.
"Join that mob of lunatics? Smashing and rampaging day and night, frightening folks out of us beds!" The older woman sounded offended.
"My Josh wouldn't join them. He wouldn't harm anyone." The younger woman sounded like she was near tears.
The woman turned to talk to Ravensworth and Peri quickly climbed out of her chair and raced to the Doctor.
"Doctor, let's get out of here," she tugged on the Doctor's arm, "away from Killingworth."
If Marion remembered right, the town was actually called "Killington" which was like, barely better and only a step up from Slaughtersburg.
"I can't do that." The Doctor shook his head.
"But you're in danger. That attack wasn't random. Those louts tried to kill you." Peri turned her head to Marion. "C'mon! Tell him, Marion! Tell him we need to leave! The Doctor could DIE."
There was a good three or so seconds after Peri said that when Marion had to stop to consider the logistics of getting the Doctor to go inside the TARDIS, somehow get Honey to promise not to open the door, and then just have Peri and her deal with the whole situation themselves.
But…AGH. That wouldn't work, even if the Doctor didn't just sneak out somehow, and that was kind of like saying "Even this ball doesn't drop when I let go," Marion didn't know if she remembered enough about what happened to fix things on her own without the Doctor to figure it out.
She sighed deeply and let out a low groan,
"Marion?"
"I'd like to-" she sighed again, "We can't leave, even if we wanted to we can't. And we can't have the Doctor go in the TARDIS while we investigate because between the-. The-."
FUCK.
"The what Mari."
"The people behind all of this whose names I'm apparently not allowed to say!" Marion directed that last bit toward the sky.
Peri looked disappointed.
"Aren't you interested in why they should want to make me a target?" the Doctor asked.
"No, not in the least," Peri shook her head, "I can't think of a better reason for abandoning this visit."
"I agree." Marion said, "Unfortunately, there are even more reasons that we have to stay," Marion put a hand on Peri's shoulder. "No matter how much I wish that there were not."
God Marion hoped that the Doctor didn't "die" at some point during this trip. Even if it wasn't permanent, just the idea made her feel like dry heaving.
"You're forgetting." the Doctor added, "We didn't just stumble into this place, we were hijacked."
"I'm forgetting nothing. The Luddites are not our problem." Peri said flippantly.
"I agree," said the Doctor.
"The Luddites aren't the problem. Are they?" Peri said slowly, looking from Marion to the Doctor.
"If the problem was just the Luddites and only the Luddites, we would be halfway back to the TARDIS by now."
"Yes," said the Doctor, "Quite. Mari, come with me. Peri, stay here."
Two men were carrying a cart away from the pit. The two men had clearly either just been inside of the pit or otherwise inside of the mines. Their faces were smeared with coal dust. The cart was clearly carrying a body and the body was covered in a black cloth. The Doctor strode confidently over to it, stopping the cart in its place. He lifted the cloth to look under it. Marion looked away.
The Doctor looked from under the cloth and then he looked at the faces of each of the men. He walked over to each of them, his hand under their chins, and examined them.
"What in the blazes is he doing!" Ravensworth stared at Marion for explanation.
"He's a Doctor," Marion remarked. "And you're the one who said that the men who attacked him suddenly started acting strangely. He's trying to see if he can find something in death that he couldn't find in life. Any hint that might point him in the correct direction."
"Oh!" said the man, "I see. Do you know if he's learned anything?"
"I'm not a Doctor, you'll have to ask him."
"All right, thank you!" The Doctor dismissed the men and they walked off.
"Doctor," asked Ravensworth, "Did you learn anything from your examination."
The Doctor held up a hand. "Later." he dismissed, "You said that the son of one of my attackers worked for you?"
"Yes, Luke Ward, George Stephenson's assistant. Very capable young man. My protégé as a matter of-"
"Find him for me, will you, there's a good chap." Marion felt the Doctor's arm grab ahold of her wrist and she quickly followed along with him lest she be dragged behind. The man walked with a purpose.
Ravensworth seemed flabbergasted that someone would dare talk to him and dismiss him in that way.
The Doctor tended to have that effect on people. Especially people who were used to having some measure of authority over others. Especially the even-numbered ones.
Once they were back inside the office the Doctor began pacing. Ravensworth had gone to retrieve Luke, and while he was gone, the Doctor was brainstorming.
"I know I was on the right track with examining that man. But I'm missing something, and I don't know what-" the Doctor held up a hand "Marion don't tell me, I need to figure this out myself. Mari, can you tell me how bad it is? And how much danger this place is truly in."
"On a scale of one to ten?"
"If you'd like."
Marion tilted her head to the side and tried to think. She needed to consider Six, and what he had done in this point, and what he in particular would consider as terrible and how that might relate to his previous incarnations and how they thought about things and she thought she might be getting a bit of a migraine and also that she was perhaps doing a we bit of overthinking.
So she thought less and said the first number that came to mind.
"A Six. Possibly a Seven. Depends on a few factors, how well it all goes to plan."
"I see-" said the Doctor, "Is there anything else that you could-"
The door to Ravensworth's office swung open and the man himself came into the room followed closely by another man, mostly dressed in shades of dark brownish yellow. He had a bit of a scholarly look to him. Like an undergrad.
"Ah!" the Doctor greeted him, "You must be Luke Ward,"
"Yes, I-"
The Doctor cut Luke off. "You're the man whose father went missing right?"
"Yes. He was perfectly normal this morning. And then he went off to work this morning and we haven't seen him since."
"And" the Doctor hummed thoughtfully, "and your father was perfectly normal this morning?"
"The lad's already told you he was!" The Doctor hadn't been talking to the young man for very long but Ravensworth seemed to be very quickly losing his patience.
"Yes, I know." The Doctor shot back, "Bear with me. The answer's probably staring me straight in the face. I just can't see it." the Doctor hunched his shoulders and threw up his hands in frustration.
"Face is right," Marion said under her breath. The Doctor glanced at her, and his brows furrowed further.
"When did you last talk to him, Luke?" Peri tried.
"When he came off shift. He were on his way to bathhouse."
"Bath-" the Doctor cut himself off. Marion could see the moment when things started to click together. His eyes went wide and he stared intently at Luke, "Bathhouse?"
Luke was unaware of the fact that he'd handed the Doctor the missing dot in the puzzle and elaborated as if the aspect that the Doctor was shocked by was the concept of a person going to a bathhouse after work.
"Well, to get cleaned up like-" he explained.
"Doctor, when we went past-" the Doctor cut Peri off.
"Luke, can you find me an old coat?" the Doctor asked the young man.
He glanced at Ravensworth, silently asking for permission. The man nodded and he ran off. The Doctor started taking off his coat.
Peri ran forward and tried again to show the Doctor that she'd figured things out.
"Doctor, when we went past the bathhouse, that instrument of yours-"
"Reacted." the Doctor finished, "Yes, I know. I said the answer was staring me straight in the face, didn't I? It was, literally. Take this for me, Mari." The Doctor shoved the coat into Marion's arms.
"I don't get you!" commented Peri.
"I'm glad it isn't just me," added Ravensworth.
"You explain it, Mari. I'm trying to focus."
Marion took a deep breath. "The two men who carried the body were covered in coal dust but the men who attacked us looked relatively clean. Mix that with the fact that the last time Luke saw his dad was at the bathhouse, and the fact that the device has been going haywire near said bathhouse."
"Well, it certainly paints an interesting picture. Doesn't it? Thank you Luke!" The Doctor took the coat out of the young man's arms and raced out of the office. Marion sighed and raced after him.
As she walked out the door, she could just make out Ravensworth and Peri talking.
"Are they often like this?"
"Too often."
"Now Mari, I know that look on your face-"
"What look? I have a look?"
"Well, now it's changed to the look you get when you have a look on your face I recognize and I call attention to it, and you get annoyed. I figured by your eye that you were on the younger side, but that confirms it."
"Doctor…"
"Ah right."
"What look did I have on my face."
"That look you have when I'm about to walk into a trap that has to be tripped by me no matter what and you're not happy about it."
"I wasn't aware that I had a face for that."
"You do. You bite down on the inside of your cheek and your eyes narrow slightly and flicker between myself and something off to your left."
"Does that expression worry you? Perhaps make you rethink your plan?"
"No, no, of course not. It's a men's only bathhouse, and even if you could sneak in, I'd feel much better knowing that someone was making sure that Peri stayed safe.." That- was an oddly sweet sentiment actually. "And besides, you've got much more concerning expressions."
"Such as?"
"The one you make when I'm going to my death, and there's nothing you can do to stop it."
She wasn't aware she had an expression for that.
"And that expression would be?"
"Well, I can't tell you that. You'd get self-conscious and overly police the way you look at that would make you even more stressed than you already are. Wrinkling your nose like that will give you migraines you know. Now-" the Doctor continued in the same breath as if he hadn't just said to her the thing that he had just said. "Help me smear this coal dust on my face. I have to look like I've just walked straight out of the mines so I can- well, you already know my plan, don't you Mari."
"Sure."
Marion decided not to comment on that further or think any deeper about the fact that she had such a face and the Doctor knew how to identify it.
Marion folded the Doctor's coat so that it could fit through the opening of her bag and reached down and picked up a small chunk of coal that had to have fallen off from the side of a card. She fidgeted with it in her hand until her hand and fingertips were coated with black.
"Lean down," Marion said, "I can barely reach your face. You're far too tall,"
"Perhaps the problem is that you're too short."
Marion very lightly tapped the side of the Doctor's face.
"No, I don't think it is."
Having a sixty-degree body temperature meant that touching your skin would feel cold to someone whose temperature was a much warmer 98.6 (give or take). And yeah, the Doctor had cold hands, but Marion hadn't really ever touched his face for long enough to really realize how cold the rest of him was.
The best she could describe it was that smearing coal dusk on the Doctor's face felt like she was rubbing her fingers in a stone statue that was somehow alive.
As Marion worked, the Doctor adjusted his borrowed scarf on his neck. Marion stood back for a second and observed her work.
"Hey Doctor, real quick, rub your hand on your face like you're thinking."
"Like this?"
"Like that!" Marion nodded, "Perfect."
"Well, now what's going on?"
Marion and the Doctor turned to find that Peri had finally joined them.
"I am about to follow what you would term as a 'hunch'." The Doctor said that last word in a mildly exaggerated American accent.
"Must you?" Peri let out the deepest most tired sigh and looked between Marion and the Doctor, "Okay, where do I fit in?"
"You stay here with her, where you'll be safe."
"I've hardly been safe from the moment I first found myself in the TARDIS. And now the two of you are going off God knows where!"
"Actually," Marion said, "It's just the Doctor going off to the bathhouse." she held up her hands, "That's why his face is covered in soot."
"You're letting him go alone?"
Peri didn't sound outraged or concerned. She sounded confused?
She must have seen Marion having one of her…episodes
No, calling them episodes made them sound like a bigger problem than they were.
She must have been around during one of those times where Marion felt Less Normal.
That was somehow better.
"There isn't really a way for me to go in with him on account of me being. You know. A woman. So, I'm looking after you." Marion blinked, "Not that you're a second choice or something. I don't mind looking after you and trying to keep you safe. Obviously, it's just-"
"Marion, don't worry. Peri assured. "I understand what you meant."
"I- good."
"Good," said the Doctor. "You two stay safe. I'll be off."
Marion knew where the bathhouse where the Doctor was going was. And she knew that the Doctor had arrived there when her anxiety started to hit different and her vision started to go a little bit swimmy. But she was within sprinting distance of the bathhouse, so she wasn't going to run in just yet. If she needed to, she could Marion leaned against the brick wall.
"Oh, Peri." Marion said, suddenly remembering something.
"Yes, Marion?"
"Before I forget to say it, it's nice to meet you."
"Nice to- OH, the first time I met you wasn't the first time you met me. And now this is the first time you're meeting me?"
"Yup. First time I've met that particular Doctor too."
"That particular. Oh," replied Peri replied, "How many have you met at this point."
"Eleven."
"Eleven You- well- future you, told me about a couple of them."
"Which ones?"
"Four and Three and One."
"I didn't tell you about Two?"
"You said you didn't want to taint my impression."
Marion thought for a moment. "Yes. That makes sense.. You should be meeting him sooner rather than later…not today don't worry. Why didn't I tell you about the later ones?"
"You didn't want the Doctor to overhear."
That was fair. Marion didn't try to get in the habit of talking too much about the Doctor's future faces outside of off-handed vague quips except for perhaps that time when a dying Three had asked her specifically about Four. It felt morbid somehow.
"Speaking of the Doctor, any sign of him?" Peri asked.
"No." Replied Marion. "And there won't be." Marion leaned around the corner just in case she caught a glimpse of him somehow. The feeling Marion got from moving her hand made her consider going to a convenience store the next time she was able to and getting herself a bottle of dramamine. If only she had managed to make it to the CVS before getting dragged away.
"Is the Doctor in danger?"
"Nothing immediately fatal," Marion said quickly.
"How can you be so sure? He's been in there a while! And you've told me that things don't always go the way that you're positive that they should."
"I'm sure." replied Marion, "If the Doctor was in immediate danger of death, I would know."
"How?" Peri asked, "Is it some kind of psychic Time Lord thing?"
"Peri, you know I'm not a Time Lord, right? I thought we established this."
"Well yes, but he is. And I know you aren't together. Not in that way, but you are very close. Did you and the Doctor form some kind of bond?"
"I mean-" Marion thought for a moment, "that's probably not it. And if the Doctor had that sort of bond with anyone, it would probably be the TARDIS. No, I just kind of, well, know."
"How?"
"If I knew, I would tell you."
"Would you?" Peri asked pointedly. Very pointedly.
"Sure." Marion looked away. She wasn't lying, but she was avoiding the question. She didn't know why the Doctor being in danger made her feel sick, but she did know that it did. That couldn't be an answer to Peri's question. But she didn't want it to be. "Don't see why not."
"Well if you're sure," Peri replied. She turned her head and then she paused. It seemed that something had caught her eye. "Hey look."
"Hmm?"
Marion turned her head to see the woman running the bathhouse slowly walking away. Marion pushed herself away from the wall and instantly regretted having done it that fast. She blinked carefully.
"That's our cue," Marion said. "Come on, let's see what kind of trouble the Doctor's managed to get himself into."
The moment Marion stepped through the threshold of the bathhouse the nausea decreased and was replaced with anxiety. The anxiety wasn't ideal, but it was easier to work with than her vertigo.
"The Doctor's still in here Marion? Isn't he?"
"Why else would we be in here?"
"Maybe there's something important for us to see. Or he left through a secret underground tunnel whose entrance hides under the bathhouse."
"This bathhouse is hiding something," Marion agreed, "but not that. Great guess though."
The bathhouse was large and open. High ceilings and large stone walls that Marion was having trouble trying to figure out if they were intentionally grey and speckled or if it was just a side effect of having coal miners as your main clientele.
A man was lying face down on the floor on a mat. Marion crouched down next to him put her fingers to his pulse and listened.
"He's alive." Marion remarked, "Just unconscious."
"Well that's all well and good but where's the- DOCTOR!"
Peri ran across the room. Marion followed. At the other end of the room, there was a laboratory. The Rani's laboratory.
There was a large machine. In between the machine, was a pair of black beds. On the bed on their left, was the Doctor. He was chained to it. There were two men standing around the bed on the right. Their eyes were glazed and their posture seemed mannequin-like.
Marion walked towards the Doctor's bed, remembered something, and then pivoted towards the other bed.
"Marion!" Peri said in a sharp whisper, "What are you doing!"
"The right thing," The Doctor replied from the bed."Touch me and their orders are to kill that man over there."
Marion grabbed a hold of the man's bed and started to push. She wasn't sure where she was going to push him to, but she knew she had to take him somewhere.
"But I can't just- I mean- I must do something."
"You can do something," replied the Doctor, "What Marion is doing. Getting that poor fellow out of danger."
"Isn't it heavy? How could I help"
"Peri," Marion replied, wheeling past her. "It's on wheels. Now hurry up and help me, if we do it quick then we might have time to get the poor guy out before-"
Marion felt a shock of vertigo and moments later, heard the creak of the door to the bathhouse and the sound of footsteps. Her shoulders slumped.
Two people walked into the room. A woman and a man. The woman who looked middle-aged, but like, she was a Time Lord so- actually, she probably was middle-aged by Time Lord standards, it was just a coincidence that her face looked the way that it did. She had long brown hair and cold blue eyes and her brow furrowed deeper the moment she got a look at them.
But, it was the second person that made Marion do a double, triple and quadruple take.
The main villains for this incident had been the Master and the Rani. Marion knew that their presence was not a surprise.
She recognized the man of course. But that was the problem.
The Ainley Master was a tall man, with black slicked-back hair with a black mustache and beard and was most typically seen in a black velvet suit with gold embroidery around the collar.
However, the man standing next to the woman was a few inches shorter than he ought to be. He had salt and pepper hair ending in a widow's peak, tanned skin, and wore a more vaguely military-looking top with a high collar.
In other words, the man standing there was most certainly the Master, but it was the wrong Master. The same one she had met before. But the thing was that Marion knew for certain that it absolutely shouldn't have been.
And so because of this, when the woman, the Rani glared at them and said:
"Who're these brats?"
And the- the Master responded to that question with: "My dear Rani, quite unwittingly you've made my triumph utterly complete. Allow me to introduce the Doctor's Associate, Marion Henson, and their latest traveling companion, Miss Perpugilliam Brown, although their traveling days will soon be over."
The only words Marion could get out of her mouth where: "The fuck?"
Marion's first thought was that things had gone sideways and that somehow, there were TWO versions of the Master running around.
That wasn't ideal. It complicated things. Marion wasn't sure what she would do if that was what was going on.
"I had thought that you knew I was here. Or are you in just the habit of hurling insults at scarecrows?" The Master said, taking a step towards her. Marion resisted the urge to step back. "But you seem surprised to see me."
"A bit," Marion replied, her voice raising a bit at the end. "Isn't one of you enough? Why are there two of you running around?"
"Two of me?" the Master replied, "My dear Miss Henson, surely you are not referring to the Rani are you?"
"No? No, I'm not. I'm talking about-"
"He's alive." Peri exclaimed, "But how?"
Marion turned to look at Peri in shock. "You recognize him."
"Yes. Of course, I recognize him. But- I know what you told me, but I thought he was dead!"
"Dying isn't the kind of thing that the Master does, and if it seems like he's doing it, he's not. I think the universe keeps him alive as a bit. A key component of a cosmic comedy."
"Your dear Doctor, on the other hand, is about to, I believe your modern expression is, snuff the candle. A cosmic tragedy."
The Master started stepping closer to the Doctor, and Marion found herself moving to stand in between the Master and the Doctor without being fully conscious of the movement of her legs. It was more reflex than anything. Her arm hadn't started hurting yet, but she wasn't taking any chances.
"Snuff the candle?" the Doctor scoffed, "You always did lack style."
"Style is hardly the prime characteristic of your new regeneration."
"Oh, this coming from the man dressed like the big bad from a musical where the villains are a thinly veiled allegory for the Catholic church."
The Rani put her hands on her hips and sighed. "Oh, do stop squabbling and get on with it."
The Master raised something from one of his pockets. Marion shifted herself in front of Peri and held an arm out.
"I have a score to settle with Miss Peri first. When we last met, you could have saved me and you didn't."
"I you don't lower that fu-"
"No, don't kill the girl!" said the Rani.
"Thank you, Rani. I'm glad to see you haven't sunk to quite the Master's depths."
The Rani moved around Marion, who wouldn't move from where she was standing with the Master still holding up his tissue compressor and grabbed ahold of her arm tightly.
"No, let go of me!"
"Oh, be still," The Rani brought her fingers to the side of the man's neck and listened in. "Human."
"So? What of it?"
"Her brain's as good as anyone else's."
The Master smiled and lowered his gun.
"No comment Doctor…" the Master trailed off.
"What are you talking about?" Peri asked.
"A hyperactive Peri. Too ghastly to contemplate."
"We're being treated to an example of his famous sense of humour. I'm afraid, Doctor, that even that will desert you soon."
"What of this one?" the Rani asked, poking Marion. Marion felt two fingers pressed against the side of her neck. Marion froze. "She's human as well." the Rani remarked.
"Allegedly," the Master replied with an eye roll. "But even if she is fully human, I fear her mind would be far too difficult to control, even for someone like yourself. And she's already got enough violent impulses without adding insomnia-induced irritability to it. She'd be more trouble than she's worth,"
She didn't really like how the Master was implying that at some point, some of those thoughts she was having would stop just being thoughts, but hey, if the Associate had done something to make the thing she was about to say credible enough to be concerning then she would take it. She smiled brightly at the Master and spoke cheerfully. "Keep it up and you'll get a front-row seat to exactly how violent an impulse I can have!"
"Lovely to see you're just as charming as always." The Master very pointedly looked away from her and down at the Doctor. "A turbulent time, Doctor, in Earth's history."
"Not one of its most tranquil, I agree." the Doctor replied.
"A critical period."
"You could say that."
The Rani had stepped away from Peri and Marion and was hunched down over a machine. Marion couldn't quite remember the details of Rani's plan.
She knew that the Rani was removing something from human brains because she needed it. And it had the unfortunate side effect of making the people who got it extracted very easily angered and irritable.
The other thing that she remembered about the plan was that when she had watched the episodes, she had gone on a long rant about how dumb certain aspects of the plan were and how it all could've been easily avoided.
Unfortunately, she had forgotten what the specific detail that made her react that way was. Genuinely very frustrating. And listening to the Master and the Doctor argue back and forth was not helping much.
"Doctor, do you get his drift?" Peri asked.
Marion hadn't been paying attention to most of what they said. She had a general idea.
"He wants to pervert history."
"Not that the Prince of Darkness here would see it as perversion."
"Maudlin claptrap. The talents of these geniuses should be harnessed to a superior vision. With their help, I could turn this insignificant planet into a power base unique in the universe."
"Wonder how long it would take for the humans to betray and try to kill you. You know, with your track record or teaming up with other species and all. Been a bit of a pattern."
"Mari, I believe that he intends to use the Rani's bag of tricks to achieve this egocentric scheme."
Marion pretended to hum thoughtfully. "You know, mind control might help him buy a few extra months. Might stiffen the inventor's creativity a bit though."
"One of these days," the Master replied, "I'll either figure out the secret of what's guarding your mind or figure out how to finally kill you. And I can assure you, Miss Henson, I eagerly await that moment."
"I eagerly await that moment!" Marion mocked. "Keep waiting."
"And you Doctor, are indeed a worthy opponent. It's what gives your destruction its piquancy."
On the other side of the room, a machine started to beep and buzz loudly.
"Excellent!" the Master smiled, "Feast your eyes, Doctor, on the imminent demise of the TARDIS."
The screen was tinted red and the perimeter was lined with a thick line of red. Through viewpoint, Marion could see a bunch of men pulling a cart with the TARDIS on its side.
Marion remembered Twelve saying something about how if the TARDIS was at its actual weight, it would crack the crust of the earth and so he set the TARDIS to make it lighter.
Probably should make a note for the ship to always be just on this side of too heavy to be pushed over and carried that way.
"The TARDIS!" Peri exclaimed.
"Finito TARDIS. How's that for style?"
"Terrible!"
"Oh, Doctor, if they destroy the TARDIS-"
"Very clever. Optical illusion created on the screen. I've tried that but never succeeded."
"It's no illusion," the Master replied gravely.
"Hope you're right, Doctor."
"He's not," cut off the Rani.
"Believe me, I am. The Rani's cleverer than any of us. She's managed to modify that scanner so it presents what's in the mind instead of what's happening in reality."
"No it's real footage," Marion said, her eyes not leaving the screen, "But like, TARDIS travels through the vacuum of space, the Time Vortex, and will at some point, go through the digestion of a T-Rex. I don't think falling into a pit is going to do much."
"A T-Rex?"
"Ah- Doctor don't worry about that, that won't happen for a while. Hasn't even happened for me yet. Don't know when it will happen," Marion thought for a moment and then remembered that Deep Breath had happened just after the regeneration of Eleven into Twelve. And while Eleven had died of old age, Marion still wasn't looking forward to seeing the Doctor die for any reason. "Hopefully not anytime soon for me. The T-Rex isn't the point. The point is that I THINK it can handle falling into a coal pit,".
"You put far too much faith in the brief glimpses the Time Vortex feeds you," the Master replied.
The only thing that the Time Vortex fed Marion was a relaxed vocal filter, blurry vision, and a whole lot of dopamine. But then it occurred to her that brief visions from the Time Vortex was probably the explanation she had given the Master. A suggestion that her knowledge of the future was far more limited than it was.
And like, on one hand, as much as Marion didn't really want to admit that the Master might have had a little bit of a point on that, well, his current appearance was proof that things didn't always go the way that it seemed they must.
On the other hand, she refused to reply to the Master in a way that showed agreement. So, she simply rolled her eyes. "It's not that I'm overconfident in the Time Vortex, I simply have very little confidence in you."
The Master marched toward them. In moments, Marion had pushed Peri behind her and was glaring up at the Master.
Marion still didn't like his eyes.
"Well, Miss Henson." the Master said, "Why don't you help Peri push the Doctor outside so that you can see the destruction of the TARDIS for yourselves."
Marion looked at the gun in the Master's hand. He still had it raised.
"Lower that tissue compressor first."
"If you stand where I tell you, then I won't be able to shoot your dear Peri Brown without shooting through you first"
She glared daggers at the Master and put her hands on the bar. Pointedly remaining between Peri and him.
She might've growled if that had been a noise that her throat could make.
"No. He doesn't leave here." the Rani said sharply.
The Master retrieved something from the inside of his pocket. A clear vial filled with something clear and milky. He removed the cap and tilted it off to the side as if he was prepared to dump it out.
"I wonder how many weeks of work this represents and how many of the Doctor's precious humans have contributed."
Marion tried to remember what exactly was inside of the vial. It was some chemical that had to deal with sleep.
The Rani glared at the Master and then the two of them. "Do as he says."
"You shall have the girl when we return." The Master ordered, "Push unless you prefer a swifter end. And you," the Master addressed Marion directly. "Try anything stupid and the Rani's experiment or not…"
"No by all means keep threatening Peri. I didn't get it the first time."
"Walk."
The sun was bright, and the cart wasn't heavy at all. Marion was pretty sure the Master was gloating, but all Marion could really focus on was the way that she was vacillating back and forth between a dull pain in her upper arm and nausea and it was happening too quickly for her to have time to get used to either.
Marion was waiting for the Doctor to Do A Thing. She didn't remember what the thing was, but it got the Master's weapon out of his hand, so he needed to do it, and once he did it, Peri Marion and the Doctor could take off.
If things went on for too long, she supposed she could try to tackle the Master and tell them to run. That would require leaving them alone. If only she could be in two places at once, but like, she could do it.
She could hear shouting in the distance that slowly got louder as they pushed in the direction that the Master sent. A bunch of men had a cart, on the cart was the TARDIS, and the TARDIS was being pushed towards a pit.
She would have to see if the Doctor could set the TARDIS to be too heavy to do that from now on. She knew that that was a setting he could mess with, he had done it with Clara. Or, at the very least, he will do it with Clara.
"The last rites, Doctor." the Master laughed.
"I can't really see from this far away."
"You can hear."
"I gather they're going to throw it down the pit."
"All the way down, to the bottom."
"It's not that deep of a pit," Marion remarked contrarily.
Marion could just see the men move the TARDIS on a rolling cart down the rough roads and begin to shove it forward. It tilted forward and fell into a pit just out of view.
Despite Marion knowing that it would be fine, she winced.
"Sorry Honey" she whispered.
The Doctor's eyes pointedly flickered towards Marion. She didn't nod back but she did subtly change her stance as she held onto the bar of the bed. She leaned forward ever so slightly and prepared to push off with her foot. She maintained eye contact with the Doctor and flickered her eyes to the side carefully.
The Doctor gave her the tiniest of nods and then kicked his leg out at the Master's hand, knocking the gun out of his hand.
"Peri RUN," Marion said, and she took off holding tightly to the bars of the cart.
Running downhill holding a wheeled cart was certainly something. And the fact that she wasn't getting tired and her feet weren't hurting made it even more something. There should have been pain from the way her feet were slapping on the pavement, but there was one. And the fact that the further she got from the Master, the less her vision swam and the less nauseous she felt.
The issue of course Marion quickly realized, was going to be stopping.
She-
"MARI! SLOW DOWN!"
-was going awful fast.
Marion turned around to look back to see how far Peri had gotten. The woman was wearing more appropriate shoes, after all, so Marion figured that she had to have gotten further than her canon counterpart.
A few things proceeded to happen in this particular order.
So the first thing that happened was that Marion turned around to look for Peri. She found the woman, she was fairly close by. She looked back further and found that the Master was pretty far back.
The second thing that happened was that she realized that she was feeling grooves in the bar from her hands and needed to loosen her grip.
The third thing was that after loosening her grip, she tried to slow down the cart slightly. Just enough to control the descent more.
The fourth thing that happened was that in the process of stopping, her foot got caught on a small pothole in the road and the cart slipped out of Marion's loosened grip as she fell.
Was that the feeling of a broken toe?
The fifth and final thing that occurred in this little sequence was that both the Doctor's cart and Marion started rolling uncontrollably down the hill.
Marion attempted to brace herself with her arms and she felt a loud snap and she dimly realized that her right arm was currently positioned in a way it shouldn't be. Then could feel the grunt and grind ripping the skin on her exposed arms and her face and she could hear both Peri and the Doctor shouting.
For a moment, but just a moment, Marion stared up at the sky and felt what had to be a terrible case of road rash start to close and bones slip back under skin and back into place.
'Marion!"
"I know," she replied, Her arm still felt sore, but the bones were all in one piece the way that bones are supposed to be. She looked down. The Doctor was still careening down the hill heading straight towards the men who had dumped the TARDIS in the pit and the pit itself. "I'll get him."
With that, Marion took off.
Marion: You know. I'm pretty sure I'm prepared for anything. Nothing shocks me.
Delgado!Master: Hi
There are many different continuities on how the Delgado Master ended up Crispy. The one I'm using is a slightly modified version of the 2017 comic "Doorway to Hell" as the one that happened in the Celery Universe or at the very least, nearly happened, since it works the best for my plans. I know that there are many retellings of the story, some that were written earlier and some that one could argue, have a harder claim to canon.
I do not care.
Doctor Who continuity is a salad bar and if I want to fill my plate with nothing but cucumber and cantaloupe, that's my business.
The Associate saved the Master instead of letting him burn. Why would she do that? Well, she had a very good reason; one that I'm pretty you guys should be able to figure out.
Here's a hint: The fact that the Master himself benefited from not getting burned was just a side effect and not Marion's goal.