Paradoxical Paradox Chapter 5

[sirwynai]

The Master lunged for his past self before anyone could stop him. He latched onto the Master from the pocket dimension with both hands gripping his arms. An electric blue light appeared, swarming around the two Masters.

“No,” John Smith called out and both Doctors stepped forward.

Jack reached out and snagged them both before they could get to the Master. “You can’t.”

“But it's not right,” John Smith said. “We might be just figures in a pocket dimension, but he’s killing him.”

“He’s killing himself,” the Doctor said. “Is that murder or suicide?”

“It’d be both if you tried to interfere,” Jack said. “Once that device is activated, it sucks energy out of everything it touches. You do not want to get in the way.”

“But, the Master,” John Smith said.

“Look at it this way, at least one of them will live on,” the Doctor said after a second. “At the end of all of this, the Master of this dimension will die. The Master from the time lock will also die as his body slowly degrades.”

“But still, it’s not right,” John Smith said.

The Doctor chuckled. “What is, anymore?”

“But, still,” John Smith said.

Before anyone could react, the light flashed, blinding them. When it dissipated, only one person was standing where the two Masters had been. The grungy looking Master swayed before falling over.

“Wait,” Jack said as both Doctors tried to rush over once again. “You still can’t touch him until those are deactivated. Let me.”

Jack waited for both Time Lords to acknowledge him before he strode over to where Master was. He carefully undid the devices and put them in the pockets of his coat. Both Doctors rushed over, and bent over the Master. The Doctor pulled out his sonic screwdriver and started scanning the Master’s body.

“It looks like it’s stabilized, which means that part worked,” the Doctor said. “I’ll have to wait for him to wake up to see about the next part.”

“Did you know he was going to do that?” John Smith asked.

“No, and if I did, I would have tried to stop him,” the Doctor replied. “But, he might have saved you a lot of trouble now that he did.”

John Smith got up and stalked away. Jack gave the Doctor one last look before followed after his doctor. The Doctor sighed and slumped down next to the Master’s body.

“Is he all right?” Amy asked. She nudged the Master with her toe before sitting down next to him.

“He should be all right,” the Doctor said.

“What are you going to do with him?” Donna asked. She sat down next to him. “You aren’t going to just leave him here in this dimension, are you?”

“No, I can't do that,” the Doctor said. “That would be cruel and he’d find some way to get out of here. No, I’ll have to take him with me.”

“He doesn't seem to be a very nice person?” Rory hesitantly said.

“No, he’s not,” the Doctor said. “But, he has a bit of goodness in him somewhere.”

“Hidden very deep away,” the Master said. He groaned and sat up. “What’d I miss?”

“Well, your body seems to have stabilized, but I would like to check to see about the connection,” the Doctor said. “Because we don't quite want the Time Lords to try that again, do we?”

“Not if they’re going to kill me,” the Master said. He put a hand up to his head. “There are no drums.”

“Well, that’s something at least,” the Doctor said. “Here, let me check?”

The Master glared at him before nodding. “Go ahead, if it’ll drive you crazy.”

“Right, then, this will only take a minute,” the Doctor said.

“You’re bloody chipper in that form,” the Master grumbled.

“He is,” Amy agreed. “Like a kid in a candy shop.”

“I don't know, I think he can be very serious at times,” Rory said.

“But those times are rare,” Amy said.

“All right, shut up, you lot, and let me focus,” the Doctor said. He leaned forward, clasped his hands on the Master’s head and looked into his eyes, checking for the signal that the Time Lords had put out. After a moment he eased back and let go of the Master’s head.

“Well?” the Master demanded.

“Nothing,” the Doctor said. “I would guess that the Master from this dimension only had a sort of a feedback loop of the drums.”

“He had the drums because he had the drums,” the Master said.

“Translation?” Amy demanded.

“Oh, um, the Master in this timeline, the timeline that is the pocket dimension, had a connection to the Time Lords through the sound of drums. Now, the connection was broken in the future, but it still echoes back through time.”

“I had the bloody drums when I went through this the first time, so I had it when I went through it the second time,” the Master said.

“I think I like you better,” Amy said. “Will you always speak plainer than the Doctor?”

“You picked up a loon this time around,” the Master said, leaning away from Amy, coincidentally leaning into the Doctor at the same time.

“Thank you, I do try,” the Doctor dryly said.

The Master frowned when he noticed how close he was to the Doctor. “Do you have to crowd around me like this?”

“Yes,” Amy said. “The other one is sulking over there and frankly it’s depressing. Were you always that way?”

“No, I wasn’t,” the Doctor said. “But, we’ve got it easy in all of this. We get to go home at the end of the day.”

“What’s going to happen now that the threat is gone?” Amy asked.

“Hey, who says that the threat is gone?” the Master asked. “I’m still here, in case you’ve forgotten. And I’m evil.”

“If you say so,” Amy doubtfully said, poking at the Master.

“Hey,” the Master slapped at Amy’s finger.

“Don't hit my wife,” Rory interjected.

“Come now, children,” the Doctor said.

“Well?” Amy asked, turning her attention back to the Doctor.

“The Doctor of this pocket dimension will be able to fix the Tardis, reverting everything back to normal, and this dimension will cease to exist,” the Doctor said.

“Really?” Amy asked, wrapping her arms around her legs.

“That’s the way it works,” the Doctor said. “Of course, he could always let the year play out, but he’d be trapped here on earth and the dimension will end anyway.”

“Well, this is a great honeymoon,” Amy said.

“I’ll take you somewhere better, I promise,” the Doctor said. “How about I leave you on a space cruise for while?”

“A space cruise?” Amy perked up. “You mean it?”

“There are quite a few around. I know, I’ll even put you on the Christmas tour,” the Doctor said. “There’s nothing quite like a Christmas cruise.”

“On a space ship,” Amy said.

“On a space ship,” the Doctor agreed, grinning at her.

“Oh, gag me with a spoon,” the Master grumbled out.

“What about me, Doctor?” Donna interrupted. She fiddled with the device around her wrist. “This halts the degradation of my mind, so my brain won't melt, but will it allow me to stay here and not destroy the whole universe?”

“Oh, Donna,” the Doctor said. He reached out and touched her arm. “You could come with us?”

“Really?” Donna asked.

“You won’t be able to return home, but I can arrange for you to meet with your grandfather at least.” The Doctor frowned. “Your mother doesn’t seem to like me that much.”

“That’s my mum,” Donna agreed. “But I can really go back to exploring the universe with you?”

“Of course,” the Doctor said. “I’m already making room for this lump; I can make room for you as well.”

Donna leaped forward and hugged the Doctor, sniffling into his jacket. “Oh, thank you.”

“It killed me to leave you behind,” the Doctor said.

“Yeah,” Donna said, tears still shining in her eyes.

“So, what’s the verdict?” John Smith asked. The look in his eyes was distant.

“We’ll be leaving you,” the Doctor said. “With us gone, you can fix the Tardis and return everything to normal.”

“And life will go on for you,” John Smith said with a nod.

“At least you didn’t end up aged until you looked like a house elf,” the Doctor said.

The Master burst out into laugher. “Oh, that was a good one.”

“It wasn't very pleasant, I’ll have you know,” the Doctor said, frowning at the Master. “In fact, it was very uncomfortable.”

“I didn't do it for your comfort, Doctor. I did it to stop you from stopping me,” the Master said.

“Well, there’s no need for that now,” the Doctor said. “We’ll get you settled in the Tardis and keep you entertained and out of trouble.”

“Sounds boring,” the Master said.

Amy laughed. “If you’ve ever traveled with the Doctor, you’ll know that nothing is boring for very long.”

“It’s true,” Donna said. Her lips quirked. “The one time I got a proper rest, he ended up fighting with this alien creature who almost stole his voice.”

“That was horrid,” the Doctor said with a shudder.

“Well, I guess your natural destruction powers could be entertaining when not focused on me,” the Master said.

“I do not have natural destruction powers,” the Doctor said.

“He kind of does, doesn’t he?” Donna said as she looked at the Doctor.

“That and a horrible sense of timing,” Amy said.

“You’re never letting that go, are you?” the Doctor asked.

“Never,” Amy said. She gave the Doctor a pointed look. “Twelve years and four psychiatrists.”

“Really?” the Master asked.

“I kept biting them,” Amy said.

“You know, you might not be so bad after all,” the Master said. “Any chance that you could bite the Doctor?”

“She’s not biting me,” the Doctor said, holding up his hands to ward her off. “Or kissing me.”

“You take all of the fun out of life,” the Master said.

“Hey, I just returned the universe to life,” the Doctor said. “And I’m freeing you, so be nice.”

“Nice?” the Master scoffed. “I don’t do nice.”

“Well, just get us off of this ship. We should probably leave now that we can,” the Doctor said. He stood up and turned to his past self. “You should be able to track when we have left this dimension, so you’ll know when to start fixing your Tardis.”

“Right.” John Smith’s eyes darted over to the Master and then back to the Doctor. “Watch out for him and I guess I don't have to tell you to take care of the others, do I?”

“After all we’ve been through? No, you don’t,” the Doctor said. “You have a hard road ahead of you, but it’s worth it.”

“Of course it’s worth it,” John Smith said. “You remember that as well.”

“As fascinating as this all is, can we get a move on?” the Master grumbled out. “Come on, now, break it up, or I’ll leave you behind, Doctor.”

“I’m coming, I’m coming,” the Doctor called back. He waved at Martha and Jack. “Good to see the two of you again.”

“Well, now that we’ve met the others, you should introduce us for real,” Martha said.

“Right, I’ll do that,” the Doctor said. He bumped his hands together for a second before motioning towards his group. “Well, I guess this is goodbye, then. So, goodbye.”

“Goodbye, Doctor,” Martha said.

Jack reached out and snagged the Doctor, kissing him for a second. “Goodbye, Doctor.”

“Oi,” the Doctor said. He grinned at the trio before heading over to his group.

“It’s about time,” the Master said. He led the way out of the room and down to the flight bay. “You,” he called out to the pilot who had flown the Master and the Doctor up to the Valiant. “Take us down to London. You, arrange a car to meet us at the airport.”

“Yes, sir,” the second soldier that the Master had talked to said, saluting.

“Didn't I just bring that guy up as a prisoner?” the pilot asked, pointing at the Doctor. “Do you want me to restrain him again?”

“Nah, I think he’ll behave himself this time,” the Master said.

The pilot arranged for a larger aircraft and flew them down to London, where a car was waiting for them. The Master directed the car to where the Doctor had hidden his Tardis. He gave the Doctor a look whenever he went to speak, but was perfectly happy to talk with Amy and Donna.

Finally, they arrived at the Tardis and this time the Doctor took the lead, opening the doors with a snap of his fingers.

“Show off,” the Master said before he pushed past the Doctor.

Amy and Donna also brushed past the Doctor on their way into the Tardis. Rory awkwardly patted the Doctor on the shoulder as he went past. The Doctor shook himself out of a daze and then bounded into the Tardis.

“We’ll, let’s get on with things. As I recall, we’ve got to go save the Orient Express,” the Doctor said, running around and flicking switches.

“In space,” Amy added.

“Can't forget that part,” the Doctor said.

The men waiting on the Master outside in the car startled as the blue box in front of them started whining. Slowly, the box vanished. As they searched to find out what happened, a flash of light swept over them and they knew no more.

--

The End.

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