HP/DW: Clarke's First Law (11.2/?)
Summary: Rose is stuck in Fred's World and the Doctor knows that getting her back is impossible. Then again, doesn't the universe just love to prove him wrong? Meanwhile, trouble is brewing for Rose on the other side of the wall. Sequel to Clarke's Third Law.
Disclaimer: I don't own Doctor Who or Harry Potter. I just decided that it would be a good idea to combine them (and I wasn't the first to come up with that idea, either).
Note: Sequel to Clarke's Third Law!
(Chapter 10 part 1 here)
Chapter 10: The Master (Part 2)
“That was a very nice speech,” Saxon congratulated. “But you should be afraid.”
“Why?” Rose argued. She turned to Saxon, trying to convert her fear into anger or bravery or anything at all other than the crippling ball of tension that had now settled in her stomach. “You ‘aven’t done anything that I should be afraid of! Kidnapping? I’ve been kidnapped loads of times.”
“Oh, this is so much bigger than you, Ms. Weasley.”
“What’s it about then?” Rose demanded. “Go on! I’ve heard it all! What?”
“The Huon particles.” Saxon said.
“Huon particles!” Rose exclaimed, only to be stopped short. Alright, so she hadn’t heard that one before. “That energy in me? What about it?”
“As it turns out, Huon particles are crucial to the inner workings of a TARDIS.” Saxon told her. It took Rose a moment to figure out what Saxon was implying.
“You- you want to build a TARDIS?” she asked incredulously. “But TARDIS’s are grown, not made.”
“Very good! It’s nice to see that you’re not completely ignorant.” Saxon looked a bit impressed. “I crash landed here in my own TARDIS. The shell is still intact, even if the Chameleon Circuit is broken- the darn thing is stuck in the shape of an ice cream truck. It’s been a pain keeping young brats away. The “soul” of the TARDIS, to put it simply, is alive as well. But it took quite a bit of power to ride the waves from the Time Lock. She’s drained now.”
“So you need energy?” Donna clarified. “To make this TARDIS thing go? What is a TARDIS? It’s not even a real word!”
“It stands for Time and Relative Dimension in Space,” Saxon and Rose answered together. They glared at it each other.
“What kind of name is that?”
“It’s- well, she is- a time machine, Donna,” Rose said gently.
“Oh,” Donna said dumbly.
Taking advantage of Donna’s momentary silence, Saxon said, “I could get ahold of Atron energy without any trouble. It tends to cling to most time travelers-” That, at least, was something else Rose was familiar with. “-And with you wizards whizzing about with your primitive, little Time-Turners, it was no trouble at all harnessing some Atron energy from some Ministry workers. The Huon particles were a bit more troublesome, so I must thank you for that, Ms. Weasley.”
“I try,” Rose said sarcastically.
“If you really are trying to build a ‘TARDIS’ or whatever,” Donna pointed out, “Why go through all the trouble of becoming Muggle Representative?”
“Everybody needs a hobby.” Saxon shrugged. Then, suddenly, he seemed incredibly animated, “And, since I never thought I’d be able to get the TARDIS functioning properly again, ruling the Eart seemed nice. Muggle Representative was such a nice stepping stone, and so ironic! Don’t you agree? Muggles being represented by somebody who is clearly their superior in every way? They wanted their representative to do something big, so I thought, ‘I’ll give them big, alright!’
“That was all before, of course,” Saxon sniffed, reigning himself in just as suddenly as he’d exploded.
“What changed?” Donna followed up.
Saxon snapped, “I thought we’d just gone over this!”
“The Huon particles, Donna,” Rose interjected, before Saxon did something rash. Seeing Donna’s still blank expression,
Rose elaborated. “He needed them to make the TARDIS work, but they were all gone until I showed up.”
“From your parallel universe?” Donna finished hesitantly.
“Exactly!” Rose beamed, glad that Donna seemed to be keeping up. She knew how difficult it could be when you were thrown into this sort of thing. “That’s when he changed his plans.”
Still, Donna looked hesitant, but she finally mustered up the nerve to tell Saxon, “Eventually somebody is going to find out what you’re up to!”
Saxon laughed, as though he had never heard anything more hilarious in his life. Through his laughter, he managed to choke out, “That’s what the Archangel network is for. You didn’t think it really was a communication revolution or whatever they’re calling it these days?” He seemed delighted at their befuddlement. “Oh you did! Well, you were wrong, quite clearly. If I wanted to become Muggle Representative- and then go further than that- I needed people to trust me. The Archangel Network emits a weak signal of four drumbeats, which tell people to do just that. It can also be converted to emit a low-level psychic field if need be, but you apes are so primitive that simple hypnosis was all that was needed. ”
“That’s horrible,” Rose gasped.
“You’re the only one who seems to think so,” Saxon retorted. “Well, the both of you, which really is quite annoying. You, Ms. Weasley, for reasons I have yet to understand- The parallel world? The Huon particles interfering?- and you, Ms. Donna Noble, affected by the temporal backlash when I crashed near your house. Both of you are no longer as susceptible by simple hypnosis.”
“I knew I couldn’t trust you,” Donna said hotly.
“Why else do you think you get that job?” Saxon raised his eyebrows. “I needed you close by. To keep an eye on you. I should’ve just killed you.”
Donna’s face flushed in anger and Rose quickly stepped in. No need to have either of them doing something rash.
“How did you know that I came from a parallel world?”
“You didn’t think I was a complete fool, did you?” The Master snorted. “A mysterious source of energy that should no longer exist? Of course I tested it first. I detected-”
“Void stuff,” Rose said in realization.
The Master wrinkled his nose in faintly veiled disgust. “I suppose you could call it that. After I detected it, I managed to trace the energy back to you- who must’ve come in during the invasion, before the breach closed. You baffle me, Rose Weasley. Even if the Time Lords continue to exist in your world, those Huon particles inside of you should not.”
Rose’s mind had been turning the entire time and she smiled slowly. “You wanna know how I’ve got Huon particles in me, Mr. Saxon? Do you really want to know?” Saxon didn’t say anything, but Rose knew that the curiosity was eating up at him. “When I was traveling with the Doctor back home, I looked into the heart of the TARDIS. That’s where I reckon’ the Huon particles came from. When I looked into her heart and she looked into mine.”
“No human could survive that,” Saxon denied. “You would’ve burned.”
“The Doctor saved me,” Rose said softly. “He always saves me.”
“He doesn’t seem to be saving you now,” Saxon goaded. “You’ve been trapped here for how long? A year? More? Your Doctor seems to have forgotten you, Ms. Weasley.”
Her voice died in her throat as Saxon voiced one of her biggest insecurities. She didn’t fault the Doctor for not coming for her. Rose knew the breach couldn’t be opened without destroying the universe (or something to that effect). Still, Rose couldn’t help but wonder whether or not he had forgotten her.
How long had it been for him?
Had he gotten a new companion? She hoped he had. Rose hated to think of the Doctor all alone. Hopefully Al and Hugo (Oh, Al and Hugo and how were they and what did they tell her parents and...) would make sure he was alright.
“It doesn’t matter how Rose got that energy stuff,” Donna argued, seeing that Rose was currently speechless. “You draining it from her is hurting her.”
“I don’t care about her,” Saxon shrugged. “You’re both meaningless. I needed the Huon energy to run the TARDIS. A few lives are nothing in the bigger picture.”
“And what is the bigger picture?”
“The usual, of course. Once I have my TARDIS, I won’t be limited to your primitive little planet. So I’ve decided to take over the universe.”
Following that dramatic statement, there was an even more dramatic bang as the door to the holding cell flew open, hitting
the wall. Saxon whipped around angrily and glared at one of his subordinates.
“What?” Saxon demanded. “What could be so important that you had to interrupt me now of all times, hm?”
The young man stuttered. “You’re going to want to see this for yourself, Mr. Saxon...uh, sir. I can’t really explain it.”
“Try,” Saxon ordered.
The worker and Saxon moved over to corner and started whispering. Neither Rose or Donna could hear what they were saying to each other, but Saxon’s face grew extremely pale and his hands started to shake. He didn’t even bother saying anything to his prisoners before running out the door, the worker following and closing the door firmly behind him. There was the faint click of the lock.
“Saxon really is completely barmy, ain’t he?” Donna gaped.
Before Rose could answer, the door opened again and Saxon popped his head in, looking slightly more composed, but still very tense.
“By the way, please. Call me the Master.”
Then he was gone, leaving Donna and Rose alone in their cells, wondering what exactly it was that had Saxon- or, rather, the Master- so terrified.
(Next chapter here)