Mad

Chapter Ten

"What does he mean? What noise?" Wilfred asked, confused. Kayla gulped and shuffled in her uncomfortable chair. "The drumming?" She timidly spoke out, making The Master look to her for a few seconds in question, then turn back to Wilfred. "It began on Gallifrey. As children."

Inside The Master's head, a young boy walked quietly, face softened with nerves. "Not that you'd call it childhood. More a life of duty. Eight years old." The child hesitates in his walking, looking back at an older Timelord. "I was taken for initiation. To stare into the Untempered Schism."

"What does that mean?" Wilfred cut in, staring at The Master accusingly. Kayla inwardly sighed at how Wilfred broke the story-like atmosphere. "It's a gap in the fabric of reality. You can see into the Time Vortex itself. And it hurts." The Doctor explained, as The Master watched him.

"They took me there, in the dark." An image of the Untempered Schism flashed in his head. "I looked into time, old man, and I heard it calling to me." The Master had his eyes closed, deep in thought.  "Drums." He whispered. "The never-ending drums." His eyes re-opened. "Listen to it... Listen!"

"Let's find it, you and me." The Doctor said, trying to persuade him. The Master seemed to think to himself for a moment, before looking to The Doctor in shock. "Except... Oh! Oh, wait a minute. Oh, yes. Oh, yes that's good."

"What? What is?" The Doctor asked, confusion lacing his voice. "The noise exists within my head. And now within six billion heads. Everyone on Earth can hear it. Imagine! Oh... Oh yes!" The Master began to laugh, before there is a skeletal flash and he drops into a crouch on the floor.

"The gate wasn't enough. You're still dying." Kayla spoke up, watching The Master's struggling figure. "This body was born out of death. All it can do is die." He growled out, before standing up again. He looked to The Doctor. "What did you say to me, back in the wasteland? You said 'the end of time.'"

"I said something is returning. Kayla and I were shown a prophecy. That's why we need your help."

"What if I'm a part of it? Don't you see? The drumbeat is calling from so far away, from the end of time itself. And now, it's been amplified six billion times. Triangulate all those signals. I could find its source!" The Master was grinning now, a plan quickly forming in his mind. "Oh, Doctor... That's what your prophecy was." He threw his arms out dramatically. "Me!"

There was a second of silence before The Master's hand met The Doctor's face, the sound echoing around the room. Wilfred gasped at this. "Don't you touch him!" Kayla shouted, glaring furiously at The Master. He ignored her. "Where's the Tardis?" He asked lowly, a murderous look on his face. Kayla felt a prick of fear spike her heart. She had never really feared him, but this look had her averting her gaze in stone cold fear.

"No. Just stop. Just think." The Doctor whispered. "Kill her first." The Master pointed to Kayla, and a helmeted soldier walked over to Kayla, aiming his gun at her. She couldn't suppress the feeling of déjà vu.

The soldier's gun clicked as it loaded, and Kayla flinched lightly, but not at the guard. Was The Master about to try and kill her again? There was no hesitation on his face like before, no lingering look. Perhaps this was it.
"I need that technology, Doctor. Tell me where it is or she's dead." The Master threatened lowly, glancing to Kayla. "It's fine, Doctor. Don't tell him." Kayla spoke up hastily, but The Master cut her off, "I'll kill her, right now!" He shouted, making Kayla shut her eyes, trying desperately to not look at his murderous expression. "Doctor no you can't let this happen." Wilfred shouted across from his seat, but a blazing glare from The Master made him stop.

The Doctor watched on, slight amusement in his eyes. "Actually, the most impressive thing about you is that after all this time, you're still bone-dead stupid."