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The episode in question will probably be The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances.
For those of you who voted for ninth in part because you were really looking forward to seeing how they interact DIRECTLY after the Time War, that's not going to be for a while but I swear that it WILL happen. I didn't write 11 pages in small print in a 5 by 8 notebook about that scene for me to NOT end up using it you know?
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The first thing Marion noticed about the room that they were being led to was that it was several degrees warmer than the rest of the city. She could feel it as they entered.
The second thing Marion noticed was how different it was aesthetically speaking from the rest of the city she'd seen so far. The room was large and its floor, walls, and ceiling were made of either carved stone or concrete. Along the wall, thin pillars of tan and brown supported the ceiling. Built into one of the walls, like a picture frame, something glowed brightly.
The third thing Marion noticed was there was a high-pitched ringing noise in her ears and she was not a fan of it. It dug in her brain.
One of the grey cloaked ones walked forward and moved aside to panels that opened out like shutters. Whatever was on the other side was incredibly bright and looking at it made Marion's eyes hurt greatly. It also was clearly the source of the high pitched noise that was making Marion feel sick.
"What is that thing?" Jo asked, staring at the thing.
"It's like a reactor," the Doctor explained.
"But hopefully not as radioactive since the only protection against it seems to be that flimsy grate,"
The guards began to shove the three of them towards the glowing door. Being closer to it didn't make the high pitched sound any easier to listen to.
"It's like that picture! I think they're going to sacrifice us!" Jo exclaimed.
They were pushed forward a little bit more and one of the glowing panels that were similar to the door rose.
As it did, a throne with a little man on top of it was pushed forward. The man looked a bit like the ones in the grey cloaks. But he had a longer head than them and a smaller body. He looked like someone has put the face of an old man on top of the body of a child with the proportions of a toddler.
The throne slid closer and closer to them before it came to a stop.
"My city is forbidden," the man's voice sounded weirdly pitched in a way Marion didn't even know how she'd begin to try to recreate with her human vocal cords. "Why have you come here?"
"I was brought here at spear point," Marion reminded.
"And what of you and the other girl?" the leader was looking at the Doctor now.
"We came to take her back,"
The man was silent for a second considering them and then he said:
"All intruders in the city must die. That is the law."
Marion crossed her arms, "That's not fair! They're only here because I'm here," she jabbed a thumb at her chest, "and I'm only here because your guards," she swung her arm around and pointing at the group of men that had dragged them all here, "hurled a spear at a dude I was with and then dragged me to the city while heavily implying that if I didn't walk with them, I would also be getting a spear hurled at me. We wouldn't be having this conversation if it weren't for that! What was I supposed to do?"
"What my friend is trying to say," the Doctor said. He put a hand on Marion's outstretched arm and pushed it back down, "Is that we have no wish to offend your laws. The race that built this city was intelligent, civilised. They wouldn't condemn the innocent,"
"The law must be obeyed,"
"I'd argue that we were coerced into breaking the law, and wouldn't have broken it if not for that but-,"
"Surely the basis of all true law is justice. Look, all three of us are strangers to your planet. The girl was brought here by your warriors as a captive. All we ask is to be allowed to leave in peace," the Doctor argued.
The man stared at the three of them for a moment.
"I sense that you are a being of superior intelligence and although the creatures with you are of no value,"
At this Jo got an offended look on her face and Marion rolled her eyes.
"I will let you three go. But remember this. If you ever return, you will be destroyed,"
"Well, tha-"
"Thank you, sir," the Doctor pointedly side-eyed Marion, "And may I say that I'm overjoyed to find that justice prevails in your city,"
Marion blinked heavily as she and the rest of them stepped out of the cave.
"Now that we're out of a city, I'll say what we're all thinking. That guy was rude," Marion brushed some of the dust off her pants.
"Oh come now Marion," the Doctor replied, "The man did choose to not have us executed if you'll remember,"
Marion squinted at him, "Not having us executed for breaking a law that we were more or less forced into breaking can't be where the bar is for whether someone's rude or not. Then again, once upon a time, you thought someone fixing your tooth and giving you a gun was a sign of friendship," that last bit was murmured under her breath, "but who knows. What is indisputably rude is the way he called Miss Jo Grant over here 'a creature of no value'. Like, seriously, why would they say that!"
"Marion, he said the same thing about you,"
Marion kept walking. "Yeah, I know that, but that's different,"
"How so?"
Marion was silent for a bit. She wasn't sure how to word her answer in a way that didn't make the two of them think that her habit of making sure she was in between the two of them and the danger had an ulterior motive that wasn't keeping them safe.
"I don't need to be here or exist in order for this universe to run just as well. My existence doesn't change much," Marion called behind her. She said it casually. "Now, let's hurry on to the dome so we can-,"
Marion heard the footsteps behind her stop. She turned around to find the Doctor and Jo staring at her.
"Don't give me that look, I'm just stating facts,"
Marion knew before she had finished that sentence that it was doing the opposite of making things better.
"I mean….," Marion sighed, "Okay so Doctor, I know you know about the Omega Timeline right? Do you Jo?"
"The Omega Timeline?" Jo asked. "What's an Omega Timeline,"
"A person's Omega Timeline is identical to their own timeline except for the fact that they don't exist and therefore, have never made a single action that affected said world in any way,"
"Exactly Doctor," Marion did a finger gun gesture towards the man, "Every living thing that can do any kind of action that affects a single other thing no matter how small has one. And I've seen mine. I've seen this world and how it works if I'm not in it. I started seeing it when I was a child, and I continued to see it as a teen, and then when I became an adult, I still saw it. I haven't been able to see it since I got here, but I still remember. If I didn't exist, things would still turn out just fine. A universe where I don't exist is able to keep spinning and moving with very little struggle or change. And I know that for sure. 100%. And you know what else? I'm fine with it. Truly,"
That wasn't a lie. Marion was fine with it. You can be fine with things that make you feel existential dread when you think about them too hard right?
"It encourages me to try to save people who I know'll die otherwise because I want to have some positive effect on someone even if it doesn't matter much in the grand scheme of things because no one I save like," Marion paused, "Saying they don't need to live sounds really bad. That's not what I'm trying to say. The universe can run smoothly whether or not they are alive so they might as well be? Better they be alive than dead?" Marion waved her hand, "The point is, a timeline without Miss Marion runs just as smoothly as one with her. But a timeline where Miss Jo Grant doesn't exist?" Marion made an exaggerated shudder, "I don't think that there can be one,"
Jo opened his mouth to say something. "It's fine Jo," Marion cut her off. "There's literally nothing you could say to convince me otherwise but I'm not upset about it. I'm fine. Don't worry. Now, we have places to be, don't we?"
Marion's mouth said "I am happy. This is a happy expression. Note the smile," While her eyes said "I am DESPERATE to change the subject. Please if you try to continue this current thread of conversation, I will hurl myself off the nearest canyon and continue to do that until it somehow sticks,"
Luckily, the Doctor could see Marion's eyes or at the very least, had had some form of this conversation with her before.
"We should really be making our way back to the main dome now. The adjudicator will be waiting,"
"Yes!" Marion said quickly, "Yes, let's go. Now. Doctor? Let's go!"
"So, I might've forgotten to tell you something,"
"Did you Marion? Really?"
Marion had been so caught up in trying to explain what she had said without causing concern (and then trying to stop said conversion once she realized that she clearly had failed) that she had forgotten to bring up some of the more important things.
Like, that the adjudicator was a fake.
The dome was filled with people. IMC folks on one side, colonists on the other. And both of them were looking to the end of the aisle at the adjudicator that was actually the Master.
He was an older looking man. He looked like one of those people that was in his early fifties, but a lifetime of decent skincare and minding his own business had made him look like he was barely in his thirties if not for his greying black hair and goatee.
Of course, he was in actuality several (Marion wasn't sure how many) centuries-old, and his current regeneration only looked that "young" but that was beside the point.
Something about the man set her especially on edge. Even more than the Cybermen or the Hyperion or the...well, no not as much as the spiders. But looking at him did make Marion feel antsy for reasons that Marion could not put her finger on.
He spoke normally enough. He seemed taken aback to see the three of them and cleared his throat.
"Since however, the issues are extremely complicated, I shall need time to consider my decision,"
But there was something about the man that made Marion incredibly uneasy. She couldn't quite put on a finger on why. Her best guess was that it might've had something to do with his eyes, but even they just looked like the eyes of a person who's been living on five or less hours of sleep per day and it's taking a toll on their mental state instead of their productivity.
But then again if she thought that that was something inherently unsettling, she wouldn't have felt safe around a single person in literally any of her classes or frankly, when she had looked in the mirror.
'It's probably just because I know who he is what he's done, and what he will do,' Marion figured.
That wouldn't explain why she hadn't felt about the same around the Cyberman, but it was the best that she could come up with.
"This tribunal stands adjourned," the Master said finally.
He walked off into a side radio room. The three of them followed after him. The Doctor and Marion actually walked into the room, while Jo remained by the door, staring at the Master with suspicion.
The Master kept his back to them.
The Adjudicator's uniform looked...interesting.
Marion wanted to know what the conversation led to it.
"So, what's uniform should the people in charge of settling disputes wear?"
"What about a dramatic black robe with a cape, a high collar, and golden trim?"
"Oh, you mean like a cross between a catholic priest and Megamind from the classic film Megamind but with gold trim and no spikes?"
"Yes. Absolutely. I would've said that, but I wasn't aware that you were into classic movies,"
"My God, that's brilliant,"
That wasn't to say that the outfit looked bad but it looked like something out of a 70's sci-fi show.
Which, technically it both was and wasn't.
"Why are you impersonating the Adjudicator?" the Doctor said, sounding angry.
"My dear Doctor, I am the Adjudicator!" the Master spoke like he was talking to a small child.
"Rubbish," It was clear from the Doctor's tone that he clearly wanted to say something else entirely.
The Master turned around to face them.
"What are you doing here anyway? Did the Time Lords send you?"
Marion pointedly didn't say anything.
"Nobody sends me anywhere. I'm a free agent," the Doctor replied.
Marion didn't correct him.
"So you've at last succeeded in escaping from your long exile on Earth. Congratulations," his congratulations almost didn't sound sarcastic. Almost. "What are your plans now?"
"Well, my immediate plans are to expose you as an imposter,"
"That would be very foolish of you. My credentials are immaculate,"
"Forged of course,"
"Of course, but immaculate. May I see your credentials, Doct-?"
"Don't be absurd," the Doctor cut him off.
Marion reached into her bag and pulled out the small wallet with the physic paper.
"Of course we do," Marion opened the wallet, waved it about, and then put it back into her bag before the Master could reach for it.
"Ah yes, Miss Henson, your psychic paper. Tell me, where did a human-like you from your century get a hold of such a thing,"
"A friend gave it to me. We were pretending to be crisis managers...or investigators. I don't quite remember. It was something involving the word 'crisis'. I was more concerned about the giant spiders," Marion shook her head, "The point is, we can get ahold of ID just as well as you can,"
An odd look crossed the Master's face. It contained a mix of bemusement and frustration. "Ah yes but do you really think that that'll be enough Miss Henson? Do you really think that you can mock up all those needed credentials with just that tiny slip of paper?"
"I mean, it hasn't failed me yet,"
The Master shook his head. "Tut-tut. You see my dear Doctor," He held up a silver wallet, "Even with psychic paper, without these, you do not exist. I could have you sent back to Earth as a prisoner,"
"Oh, is that what you plan to do?" the Doctor replied.
"Not, not unless you force my hand. I think you'd be well advised to keep silent, for both our sakes? Now if you'll excuse me,"
The Master turned away from them and walked back into the main room. They followed behind him.
"The tribunal will reconvene," he loudly announced, "Well, I have had time carefully to consider the statements that have been put before me. On the one hand, while I have every sympathy with the aspirations of the colonists, there can be little doubt that their stay here is not proving a success," the faces of the colonists fell. The Master turned to the IMC employees. "On the other hand, we have this planet, rich in duralinium, a mineral that is much needed on Earth. I, therefore, have no alternative but to rule that colonisation on this planet is unsuitable and the settlers will leave here as soon as possible,"
Marion had to hand it to the Master. If Marion didn't know what she knew, she would legitimately believe that he was some kind of regretful bureaucrat. A dude who legitimately felt bad for the colonists. Perhaps one who felt it was his personal duty to convince the poor colonists to go back to earth before they ran out of food and perished.
Of course, Marion knew better. She knew that the Master was merely a lying liar who lies a lot.
After the decision was announced, the remaining colonists held a meeting to decide what would, or even could be done about the situation that they now found themselves in.
Ashe took notes in a small journal while. Marion had sat down in a chair and took out one of the food bars from earlier.
She could hear the liar who…
Marion tapped Jo on the shoulder.
She pointed to the liar.
"Hey Jo, what's his name? I can't keep on calling him 'the liar' in my head,"
"Who Norton?"
"Is that his name?" Marion asked.
"Yes, but what do you mean liar,"
"He's a liar. I sent you a whole note about how you shouldn't trust him. Didn't you get it,"
"Well, yes but how did you-," Jo snapped her fingers, "It's the Omega thingy you were talking about right?"
"Yes? Did the Associate not tell you this?"
"No, you said that now wasn't the time,"
"Probably because she knew I would be telling you now I reckon,"
Marion could hear Norton and Winton arguing from the main room and Ashe added his two cents now and then.
Norton thought that they should take this chance to leave (because he was working for IMC).
Ashe thought that they should appeal the decision to the higher-ups in the government (because when one got down to it, he was a man who wanted things to be dealt with properly with no loose ends)
Winton thought that the best decision was for them to fight back. Take the IMC down, get them off this planet, and then declare themselves as their own independent thing not related to Earth (because he knew that even if they did successfully appeal, the decision before the planet they were living on got completely gutted the IMC has shown that that had no problem with just straight-up murdering them all).
Ashe stood up from his desk and walked back to the room where the three of them stood.
"They're planning another attack,"
He sounded frustrated and exhausted.
"They're planning another attack,"
"Winton again?"
Ashe nodded. "I've got to talk to the Adjudicator. We've got to appeal,"
He quickly brushed past them.
"Why don't you tell them about the Master?" Jo asked.
"Ok Jo," Marion replied, "How exactly should we word it? 'You see fellas, that man was not in fact the adjudicator. He's the Master. Who's the Master? Well, he's an alien megalomaniac with a vested interest in taking over the universe because reasons. No, we don't have any proof of this, but you've gotta trust me',"
"Well, we've got to do something!"
"Yes, well," the Doctor rubbed the back of his neck, "the Master came to this planet for a purpose. I'd like to hear what he has to say when Ashe goes to see him,"
Marion let out a quick exhale of breath.
On one hand, she knew what the men were going to be talking about. Ashe would say "Are you sure there's nothing that can change your mind?" and the Master would say "I mean, is there anything historical around here?" and Ashe would say "Well, there's this ancient city" and the Master would say "excellent, take me there immediately,"
But there might've been some extra stuff going on on the side that she didn't remember or notice.
So she stood with Jo and the Doctor as stopped carefully into a room closer to where the Master and Ashe had gone. The Doctor's listening device only worked for two people. She shook her head when the Doctor offered one of the pieces to her.
"I'll keep watch," she said with a shrug.
"For what?"
"I don't know. Differences? Anything that's not supposed to happen? I'm just watchin' while y'all are listening,"
Marion leaned against the wall facing the door as she waited for the two of them to back away. Marion turned to try to quickly ask the Doctor what they were saying so she'd know what point of the conversation the two men were at when.
BANG
And then
Marion's stomach dropped as she heard a loud noise behind her.
She quickly pressed herself closer to the wall.
Gunfire boomed from outside of the radio room they were in. Marion pressed herself against a wall away from the windows, but close to the doorway leading to the main dome.
It sounded a bit like fireworks.
The Doctor tugged a shaken Jo away from the window, and the two of them pressed against the wall opposite Marion.
"Now you two stay here! I've got to try and stop this senseless killing,"
"You?" Marion replied, incredulous. "Absolutely not. You could get shot! I'll go,"
"You three aren't going anywhere!"
The Master came from the outside of the room. A quick glance at his hand showed what he was in fact holding a gun.
Marion pointedly glanced at the gun and then back at him.
"What uh, what are you planning on doing with that,"
"Oh, nothing that should concern you personally Miss Henson,"
That sounded really ominous when he said it. And even more so when he lifted his gun.
He turned to face all three of them
"It's such a shame. It's always the innocent bystander who suffers eventually,"
"And what's that supposed to mean?"
"I'm afraid you three are about to become the victims of stray bullets,"
"You are aware of the fact that I'll just get back up again if you shoot me right?" Marion deadpanned, slowly moving away from her wall and across the room so that she was standing between the Master and her friends.
"Even so, I'm sure a bullet to the head will make your story seem just the slightest bit unreliable. Wouldn't you think?"
'Jesus Christ!'
The Master moved the gun so that it was pointed directly at her forehead, right below her headband. Marion glanced to the side and saw someone approaching.
"Who can know for sure?" she said evenly. She glanced at the entrance to the room. "Why don't we ask Ashe,"
The man in question rushed past with his daughter in tow.
"Winton! Winton!" Ashe stopped running upon noticing the man who was supposed to be the closest thing the planet had to law enforcement. "You've got to stop this!"
The Master lowered his gun before Ashe could see it. It was lucky that he'd been standing with his body angled towards the door and that Marion was a head shorter than him so that Ashe didn't see his gun.
"Hullo Ashe," Marion said faux-cheerfully, "We were just talking about you but this is much more important," she turned the Master with a slight smirk, "I think that there's another dispute for you to adjudicate. You best get on that,"
"You must do something," the Doctor implored.
"Yes adjudicator, you must,"
The gunfire died down as they approached, the conflict coming to an end with the colonist winning.
As soon as they walked in, Jo took one look around the room and grabbed Mary's arm. "Let's go and see if we can help with the wounded," and the two of them left.
Great idea. Marion wasn't great at first aid.
She made a mental note to study that, or at the very least, get a book on it. Was there a choose your own adventure book but for what do to in case of injury?
"If the patient is bleeding a little, go to page 4, if they are bleeding a lot, got to page 16, if a bone is broken, but there is no blood, go to page 54,"
Maybe somewhere in the TARDIS library somewhere.
At the very least, Marion was going to do her best to acquire a first aid kit. The only medical supplies that she had on hand in her bag was a roll of ace bandages and like, maybe the duct tape.
Actually, maybe there was a futuristic med kit that just had a "heal all wounds" spray. Huh.
Anyway, Marion was glad that Jo and Mary didn't pull her along because she wouldn't know what to do.
"Well, we've done it!" Winton said. He smiled brightly at Ashe and held onto one of the straps of his bag.
Ashe did not match his expression. "You've made us look like criminals, you do realise that, don't you?" He was furious.
"I'm not saying that you're in the wrong, but like," Marion held up her hands, "if any of them report back to Earth about what you've done here, they're going to tell them about what happened in a way that makes you look as bad as possible,"
"You seem to have achieved a temporary victory, young man," the Doctor said sternly, "What do you think is going to happen next?"
"Now we declare this planet's independence. I'm sure that some people from Earth would want to join us," he turned to look at the Master, to appeal to him.
The Master looked up in a way that very much said, "Oh, you're talking to me now?"
"What, join you in starvation on this miserable planet?" he said as is shocked that Winton could have the audacity to suggest such a thing.
Winton glared at the Master and crossed his arms.
"We no longer need your services here, sir," he nodded to the man next to him, "Escort the Adjudicator back to his spaceship,"
"I think you do need my services,"
"Why?"
"It's like the girl said, Unless you want Earth to send a space fleet to wipe you out, you need someone to adjudicate for you,"
"Then you are willing to help us?" Ashe asked. He looked excited. Finally having hope that his problems could be solved legally and bureaucratically rather than in a way that might invoke legal retaliation.
"Yes, I am," the Master stepped closer to Winton, "Mind you, I think that you've acted very foolishly, but I've been impressed by your courage and determination. Now, Ashe and I have had what could be a very fruitful discussion,"
"What discussion? You've already decided against us."
"Well, it appears that this planet of yours has some claim to preservation on the grounds of historical interest. Now, if I could investigate those claims, things could be very different,"
"Investigate?"
"Yes. I should like to go to the Primitive city!"
Despite Marion's pointed eye contact, and the way she shook her hand in the universal gesture for stop talking now, the Doctor started to whisper sharply to Ashe. "I urge you not to-"
"LET!" Marion said loudly, "the Adjudicator go to the city. The only reason they let us leave is that we technically didn't come there willingly. They made it plenty clear that if one of us step foot in there, we'd be killed on sight,"
The Doctor went to open his mouth again.
Marion maintained eye contact with the man. She held up her left palm and made a karate-chopping motion on it with her left hand.
"Stop!"
Marion's knowledge of ASL wasn't overly complex, it was mostly fingerspelling and some very basic vocabulary.
Perhaps if she had known more than she did, she might have said something to the effect of "Hey, they really don't have a reason to believe either of us and they aren't going to want to trust a few random strangers whose credentials basically amount to 'Source: Trust Me' over the official-looking dude who promised to help them and actually has legitimate (looking) papers. This is a bad idea. Stop,"
But her simply signing "STOP" seemed to communicate the phrase. "Hey Doctor, you need to stop the Master from going to the city. Tell them that he's a fraud,"
The Doctor nodded and then turned to Ashe. He pointed to the Master.
"That man is an imposter,"
Marion covered her eyes with her hands and tried not to scream. She managed to just produce a high pitched noise of frustration that she hoped no one else was able to hear.
"My dear Doctor, how can you possibly know that?"
"I tell you," the Doctor insisted, "that he's not the Adjudicator. If he wants to go to the Primitive city, it's for some purpose of his own,"
Marion glared at the Doctor pointedly and even though it was clear that their non-verbal communication skills weren't up to snuff. That being said, there the skills had to have been good enough for the Doctor to be able to tell quite easily that Marion wasn't pleased with him doing what he was doing and pointedly looked away from her.
"Can you substantiate these accusations?" the Master asked rhetorically.
"Why don't you check his credentials with Earth?" the Doctor insisted.
The Master walked closer to the Doctor.
Marion was already taking her psychic paper out of her bag and then she stopped.
What was she going to say? She couldn't think of anything. It wouldn't make sense for there to be some kind of security inspector there. Claiming to be doing a mineral surveyor would in no way endear their group to the people especially when they had specifically said that they were not mineral inspectors earlier.
The point was to gain trust after all.
And even then Marion couldn't think of anything that she could possibly show that would make them seem more trustworthy than an adjudicator without being something too suspicious that they'd feel the need to fact check it instantly.
"Ah. Talking of credentials, might we see yours?"
The Doctor looked at Marion as if to say, "please tell me that you have your psychic paper ready in your pocket,"
To which Marion shrugged and shook her head.
Before the Doctor could try to come up with something, the Master noticed Marion shaking her head. He turned back to Ashe.
"I understand that neither of these two are colonists of yours?"
"Well, no," Ashe admitted, "they just arrived here,"
"Does anybody know who they are?" he looked around the room, "Where they came from? Have they in fact given proper accounts of themselves?" The silence was deafening, "Exactly," the Master finished with a nod. He turned to Ashe "Well now, gentlemen, I think we can continue our discussion uninterrupted,"
"I'm sorry, Doctor," Ashe said with a nod before leaving.
The Doctor rushed towards Winton. "I repeat, do not trust that man!"
"Doctor, at present I have no reason to trust either of you. All I'm worried about is getting Dent and his friends off this planet,"
With that Winton left.
"Doctor, why did you have to say anything!" Marion groaned once Winton was out of earshot, "I told you to stop!"
"And what?" the Doctor replied, "Just let the Master get away with it?"
"No. But leaning on the whole 'don't let him go, it's dangerous' might've actually worked!"
"And you care about the Master's well being?" There was something in the Doctor's tone when he said that Marion couldn't place. Like the statement might've meant something to her if the two of them could meet in the right order, or if she at least had been there when whatever event inspired him to say what he said that way.
As it was, Marion couldn't do much more than make note that he said it and try to explain what she'd meant.
"Well, no, I mean yes, I mean maybe?" Marion lightly gripped her hair, "I mean, he's evil, but you...you seem to care about him kinda? Like, you're kinda friends, but also enemies? Does that make….wait this is off-topic. The point is that while I don't exactly want him dead, that's not the point. The point is that if we had said that we didn't want him hurt and that's why we were against it, we'd have something to work with. If we try it now, though then he can spin it like there's something hidden there that we don't want him to know about!"
"Is there?"
"If there was-," Marion said. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Jo walking down the stairs towards the two of them. Jo was fine, Marion didn't know if there was someone else there. Someone that might be listening. Someone who it would not be good to have overheard anything that they might offhandedly mention to "the Adjudicator". "then the reason why we wouldn't want him to go to it would be because he's you know, a megalomaniac with a god complex. Not because he's a legal official. Which is what he might try to spin. Why else would a couple of randos who literally just showed up accuse the adjudicator of being a fake unless they were up to something shady?"
"Then why didn't you flash your psychic paper?"
Marion pressed the palms of her hands into her eyes and sighed. "Well I was going to, and then someone changed the goal post from us having to prove that we had a valid and legal reason to be here to us having to have a valid and legal reason to be here that also means that we should be listened to over the adjudicator and also our credentials shouldn't be fact-checked. It's a glorified fake id. Not magic,"
"I suppose you're right," the Doctor crossed his arms.
Before the conversation could spiral anymore, Jo finally piped up.
"What's happening?"
"The Master has them eating out of his hand! That's what!"
"Did you try telling them who he was?"
"Well, he certainly tried,"
"Well, maybe if you had-," the Doctor stopped and sighed, "No, you're right. We need to get some real evidence,"
"Where do we find that?"
"I mean," Marion scratched her neck, "his TARDIS would probably be the best place to start. We could look there,"
"I didn't see the Master's horsebox here,"
"My dear Jo," the Doctor started walking away from him slowly, "a TARDIS can change its shape, you know. He changed his to look like the Adjudicator's spaceship,"
"It's called a chameleon circuit Jo," Marion explained, "The disguise thing I mean. It works by..." she paused, "I'm actually not sure how it works. But it takes in its surroundings and makes its outer shell look like, well, however it needs to look to blend in with everything. 'Course, the Doctor's is broken but the Master's isn't,"
"Oh, I see," Jo nodded, "But how are we going to get in?"
"With this," the Doctor reached into his coat and pulled out a key, "Don't you remember? When the Master first came to Earth, I got a hold of the key to his Tardis. I always thought it might come in useful,"
"Oh right! You can use a key to track a TARDIS, can't you? Cuz they're connected to the" Marion waved her hand around, "psychic matrix?"
The Doctor stopped walking and turned around. "Psychic Matrix?" he said incredulously.
"Is that not a thing?"
"No,"
"Oh, well," Marion shrugged, "I don't know what to tell you, man. I'm just saying sci-fi words and hoping that they mean something when I put them together. Their key is linked to the Master's TARDIS and we can follow that link to find it right? It'll look like the adjudicator's ship, but we still have to actually find it. So let's go!"
None of them moved.
"Doctor, I'm following you,"
"Ah, I see," the Doctor nodded, "Come on,"
The adjudicator ship was pretty easy to find. It looked like a red plane that had landed on its tail. It was huge and looked like, it had probably been bright red at one point, but was covered in dirt and dust. Of course, it hadn't been. Because, it wasn't a real ship, but that's what it looked like.
That was the point.
They walked around it until they found a wide closed door, the entrance.
"Now to find the..." the Doctor examined it; holding the key tightly in his right hand. "Ah, there we are,"
The Doctor pressed the key into a slot that Marion honestly hadn't noticed until the key was in it. He turned the key and the doors opened with a click.
"You were right," Jo said, looking inside, "it is a TARDIS,"
"Yeah,"
The Master's TARDIS looked very much like the Doctor's. The only real difference was the absence of that minty green color that the Doctor's TARDIS was filled with. Well, that, and the clear plexiglass tubes against one wall and the file cabinets against another.
Jo and the Doctor started to walk forward but Marion grabbed the back of their shirts and tugged them backwards quickly.
"Marion?" "What's going on,"
"You nearly set off an alarm. Look,"
Marion pointed to the little red light on the little door frame. "See? Here, you just gotta"
She lied down on her stomach and began to army crawl under the beam and into the TARDIS.
"Marion, what on earth are you doing?"
"I don't know for sure how the alarm works. I don't know if it's just monitoring to see if anything disrupts the laser or if the security alarm is everyone above the laser but..," Marion finally made it to the other side.
"But if you crawl under the beam, then you for sure won't trip it,"
Marion stood up too fast and her vision swam slightly. She considered it might've been because she hadn't eaten in a while. She took one of the food bars she had stashed earlier out of her bag and took a bite. Food helped, but it didn't remove the weird feeling that she was getting from the ship.
She shook her head and turned to her friends. "There's not much room. It's only a foot or so above the ground, but if I was able to go under there without my hair triggering the alarm, you two ought to be fine,"
"Marion are you sure?" the Doctor asked, examining the dot himself.
"Pretty sure. You think I'd be crawling on the floor if I didn't think that that was what I had to do?"
The Doctor and Jo got on the ground and wriggled their way into the TARDIS.
Marion took another bite of the bar. Absentmindedly tapping her armband and resetting it.
Once they were fully out, Marion helped them to their feet.
"Hey, Doctor, does the Master's TARDIS feel," she tilted her head, "off to you?"
"It just feels like a normal TARDIS to me. 'Course, it's not The TARDIS. So it's going to feel a bit different from mine,"
The Doctor's TARDIS had a sort of feel to it that Marion hadn't been sure how to put into words until just then. It was a steady presence that was just kind of there. And it came with this feeling that you're being watched that you're being overheard.
And it came with a sense of being monitored with some 6th sense that there wasn't a word for in any language she'd known. But then rather than being frightening, it felt kind of comforting in a way Marion wasn't sure how to put in words.
The Master's TARDIS, on the other hand, felt like it was pretending to ignore them. Not in the way that a hunter might try to lure its prey into a false sense of security mind you. It was more like the way that a teacher pointedly pretends to not see the hand of kids who never answer any question seriously. Aggressive and active apathy.
"That makes sense," Marion said, "Yes, that tracks. Cool. Okay. So it's probably nothing to worry about,"
Marion finished her food bar in one or two bites.
"Sorry did either of you two want one? I grabbed a bunch just in case,"
"No thanks,"
"We ate at the dome while you were in the Primitive City,"
"Gotcha," Marion put the discarded wrapper into her bag so that she could throw it away later.
"Now, we've got some files to look through yeah?" Marion said, walking towards the cabinets.
"Hey is this anything?" Marion asked, holding up a blue folder from the cabinet farthest to the right. She opened up the folder and looked at the contents briefly before handing holding it out to the Doctor without looking at him. The Doctor took it from her hand.
"Ah. Thank you, Marion."
"Is it good?" Jo asked.
"It's a mineralogical survey report about this planet," the Doctor explained.
"Do you think he's after that duralaynium stuff like the IMC people?"
"Duralinium," the Doctor corrected, "There's a lot of other survey reports here too. He's visited a lot of planets recently. He must be looking for something. Marion?"
"No...he's not after the metal. There is something else on this planet that he's interested in, and if he were to get ahold of it...wouldn't be good,"
Jo went back to looking through the cabinets and found a folded wallet shaped thing. She opened it and showed it to the Doctor.
"Hey, look. These must be the real Adjudicator's credentials,"
"Ah-ha. Now that's more like it. Well done, Jo," the Doctor took the id.
Marion looked at it.
"The Master is lucky that neither the IMC nor the colonists were given a photo or a physical description of the adjudicator that was coming to judge their case," Marion mused aloud, "About the only two things that the adjudicator and he have in common are being masculine-presenting and having facial hair. Not even the same kind of facial hair either. They just both have facial hair,"
"I'll look after these if you don't mind," the Doctor slid the id into his pocket.
"Aren't you going to show those credentials to Ashe?"
"Yes, of course, I will, but I want to figure out exactly what it is that the Master is looking for in the city,"
"A weapon," Marion said bluntly.
"Yes but what kind of weapon?"
"Something very big and very dangerous,"
"Yes but what exactly is it?"
"I don't remember specifics other than that it turned a planet into a nebula,"
The Doctor paused at that. "Well, all the more reason to find all the information that the Master knows about this superweapon right?"
"I suppose"
"Come on you guys!" Jo called from by...the...doorway.
'Oh, dear,'
"JO! You triggered the sensor!" Marion rushed towards her. Jo quickly jumped back into the TARDIS.
"Wait no don't-," a wiring noise sounded from somewhere off to the side and Jo began to cough.
Smoke emerged from a pipe in the wall summoning a powerful sense of deja-vu.
She staggered forward and the door to the Master's TARDIS swung closed behind her, trapping them all in.
"-walk back insi-," Marion was cut off by a cough.
She started coughing heavily as well and she could hear the Doctor doing it also. Marion rummaged for her bag and tried grabbing ahold of the small roll of duct tape she kept there and made way to try and shut the gas off.
She pulled the cowl of her sweater above her nose and mouth and tried to hold her breath for as long as possible. She could see the valve where the gas was flowing out of and she staggered towards it.
Marion tried as hard as she could not to take deep breaths like she normally did when she was panicked or nervous. And she tried not to blink. The gas was making her eyes feel heavy and she knew that if she closed them for too long...that's not something that she wanted.
Marion saw the Doctor trying to hold himself up on the file cabinet but his hand slipped, Marion saw his eyes close, and he fell to the ground with a soft thud. Marion was too far away to catch him and she didn't even try. She wasn't sure if she could shut off the gas, but she 100% wouldn't have been able to catch the Doctor. Period.
Marion managed to make a few more steps closer to the nozzle herself before her eyes got too heavy to hold up and so did her body.
Marion's last thought before her vision completely blacked out and she felt gravity finally take hold was:
'Really? Again!'
Next Chapter: Wait. Bodyguard or Human Shield?
Marion: If I had a nickel for every time I'd inhaled gas that knocked me out while trying to shut the valve, I'd have two nickels.
Marion: Which isn't a lot, but it's weird that it happened twice
I really liked writing the beginning part of this chapter because we're really starting to get into Marion's mental state and how this whole situation is affecting her.
I'd say she's taking it (somewhat) well.
If there's any part of this that needs to be trigger tagged, don't be afraid to let me know.
Really enjoyed Revolution of the Daleks. Wish I had, uh, not done Arachnids in the UK so that I could've made references to it when but it just be like that sometimes I guess.
I'm sure many of you are wondering: "Luna, do you plan on using elements from season 13 when it comes out? When the Fourteenth Doctor is revealed, will they also show up?"
The answer is: probably? Like, unless something comes out that completely flies in the face of the overarching backstory I'm working on, I'll probably include it. It might be a bit more difficult if I was just doing nuwho, but since Classic Who is also showing up, and uh, you know very well how long these arcs can take, I doubt that anything could happen to mess me over too badly.
Just to be safe though, I probably won't write a companion in unless they're there for a whole season. Just in case they turn out to be the Master or Romana or something.