InsaneJournal

WHO: The Master, Adam Young, & Molly Suresh (OPEN to replies from The Doctor (10))
WHAT: Jude is hurt, and Adam intends to take his anger out on the person available to him.
WHEN: After this
WHERE: The Master's Flat
RATING: PG-13
STATUS: Log; COMPLETE

Jude was hurt.

That was the only thought going through Adam’s mind as he made his way toward the Master’s flat. The Toclafane had avoided him as he’d made his way down the street. Even in the state they were in, they were able to recognize the power radiating off the young man when he passed too closely by. The Antichrist had never really allowed his power free reign before. He had always kept that part of himself under tight wraps, far too frightened of what he might do in a city as closed in on itself as Colligo. Now, however, he didn’t care.

Jude was hurt. That was all that mattered. She was hurt; she might die. If she did, he felt sorry for everyone in his path. He knew, if he truly lost her, he wouldn’t be able to bear it. He would lose control and anyone who even looked his way would pay. It wasn’t fair, it wasn’t right as he would have proclaimed in his youth.

Neither was facing life without her.

His hands tightened into fists as he finally reached the Master’s flat. He didn’t bother knocking. He simply willed the door to open and stepped inside. Power seemed to pour off of him in waves, the effect almost staggering as he stood in the foyer and tried to calm himself enough to properly deal with one of those he held responsible. The Master - one of the last of the Time Lords, mad in a way no human could truly comprehend - was going to pay, if it was the last thing Adam did.

“I warned you,” he at long last stated. His tone was calm. Collected. It carried through every crevice of the flat, clear through the TARDIS sheerly by force of his own will. He didn’t move any further into the flat but simply waited in the foyer to be sought out.

The Master had been inside his TARDIS since he’d found Lucy murdered at the foot of it. There had been little left for him to do under the circumstances but hide himself away and wait for the Toclafane to get bored with the slaughter or run out of people to kill. He’d attended to Lucy, taken her inside and cleaned her up. He’d laid her body out in the Zero Room, what for purpose he wasn’t sure since he knew that it would hardly have any effect, but it seemed the most appropriate place for the time until the opportunity to find somewhere better arose.

He hadn’t expected any company. With the Doctor dead, Reinette having left, and the other Doctor having seemingly given up on his pleas for assistance, The Master had expected to be left to his misery, but as the voice rang through the halls of the TARDIS, he knew that he could hardly hide in here, a heavy sigh leaving his lips as he flipped the switch on the console to open the outside doors and stepped into the living room, seemingly sliding out of the fireplace to any untrained eye.

“They do what they like. Whatever issues you have, go outside and take it up with them.”

Adam didn’t blink at the sudden appearance of the Master. He could see where he stepped out of what looked like the fireplace, from where he casually stood waiting in the foyer, but he had seen the entrance of the TARDIS the second he’d entered the flat. He took a few steps toward the entrance of the living room as the Time Lord spoke, his hands still in fists at his side as he stared without blinking. His face was twisted into an intense expression of dislike and disdain.

“I intend to deal with them soon enough,” he said simply, his tone flat. He shrugged his shoulders but the movement wasn’t casual. It was dangerous; offering a warning to anyone who paid close enough attention. “I was destined to end humanity some day. The way I see it, I’m just living up to my destiny.”

Whether or not Adam meant it was anyone’s guess, but he certainly sounded sincere. He paused for a moment, simply studying the Master. It was odd, for someone like Adam to look at a Time Lord. The way they cheated death was impressive, to say the least, but it made them look… off. It felt as though he could see every one they ever had been and everyone the either would or could be some day. The faces rippled, shifted, before settling down. It left him with a feeling akin to vertigo, in a way.

“For now, however,” he finally said in a deceptively casual way even as the very air around him seemed to quiver when he moved closer still, “I intend to deal with you as I assured you I would, should anything happen to those I care about.”

“I think you’ll find you’re wasting your time,” The Master said, unphased by the threats as he turned away from Adam, crossing the room to retrieve the liquor that he’d left so thoughtlessly outside the TARDIS. He really did not want to have to deal with this sober. Or anything sober. Not for awhile yet. Pouring himself a large drink, the Master turned, offering Adam a skeptical gaze before flopping back on the couch and crossing one leg over the other, appearing far more relaxed than he felt. “I’m no more responsible for your friend’s injury than I am for those things outside. No more capable of changing either, either.”

Not that he’d tried. Not that that mattered. He was rather firmly assured that any action he’d taken would hardly have made a difference. In fact, if he had told them to stop, they probably just would have killed him along with Lucy simply to make sure that no one was going to try and make them not play their game.

“Maybe you can reason with them. Child to child.”

Adam had to admit, there weren’t many who could stand up to him in such a blasé way. He’d known the Master was insane, in his own way, but Adam hadn’t imagined he’d also had such a death wish. Truth be told, it was taking everything in his power not to kill the Time Lord right there on the spot. He knew he couldn’t simply blink him out of existence but he saw no reason he couldn’t hold the Master accountable for his actions. And although Adam was quite possibly the only Antichrist in any reality who had not killed someone before, he really had very little issue making an exception just this once.

“You’re wrong,” he finally spoke, refusing to rise to the bait of being called a child. He wasn’t the one who became giddy as a toddler over rather pointless, inane things. He simply arched one eyebrow. “You could have made an effort and you might have very well succeeded. You may speak in absolutes when dealing with humans and your own kind but don’t waste your energy with things like that on me. I know better.”

He had entered the living room by that point but paused just within the threshold. “And you seem to be misinformed on how I do things,” he added mildly. “I don’t reason with humans. I make them do what I want, after which very bad things tend to happen that involve four very specific individuals – one of which is in the city already, mind,” he gave the Master a thin, humourless smile.

“Then the planet goes away.” A brief pause, less than the time it might take to draw a breath, and he tacked on pointedly, “Although not before I put you out of your misery. If nothing else, I do tend to keep my word on most things.”

The Master took a sip of his drink, staring up at Adam with a heavy skeptical gaze, allowing a prolonged silence to fall between the two of them before asking bluntly, “Am I supposed to be frightened?” It wasn’t as though he had anything left to lose, and Adam’s actions would be purely on his conscience. Antichrist or not, he acted human enough to surely have one. Taking another drink, the Master reached out, setting the glass on the table next to him before leaning forward, propping his elbows on his knees and peering up at the young boy in his living room.

“Let me tell you something about the universe, sonny,” The Master said, his voice sounding sickeningly sweet as he stared up at Adam. “It is far more complex and far more grand than you could ever understand. Whatever you’ve been told your destiny is, whatever you think you’re supposed to do, you’re wrong,” The Master said, standing and stalking towards Adam, a predatory glint in his eye. “And if you allow your own petty angers and issues affect your judgment and push you into taking meaningless and bias revenge on anything that you feel has slighted you, you’ll end up sad, pathetic, and alone.”

The Master stared at Adam, having approached him to where there was barely a foot of space inbetween them, his eyes boring into the other boy’s before the gaze was broken and the Master was pivoting carelessly on one leg, “Buuuuuut, then again, if you really want to,” He said, sweeping back over to the couch and scooping up his glass, flopping carelessly back down in the place he’d just abandoned. “Do it. See if I care.”

He had known he wouldn’t frighten the Master. Others, yes. Him? No. Adam wasn’t stupid. He might not be the most intelligent higher being that ever existed but he knew that there were very few things that could frighten the insane and Adam, to be frank, wasn’t willing to brush enough against the Master’s mind to figure out what those triggers happened to be. He also knew the Time Lord was right. If he gave into his urges, he would become the very thing he’d fought so hard to avoid. He would be the thing both sides had wanted him to be, what felt like an entire lifetime ago. He wouldn’t be himself anymore and there was a very good chance, if Jude did survive, he might lose her because of it.

He also didn’t particularly care.

Well, that wasn’t entirely true. The thought of losing Jude hurt far more than he could even articulate. However if she was alive he could accept it. And there would be zero doubt as to whether or not she would be alive if it weren’t for the Master. If he’d simply tried, things could have turned out differently. Would have turned out differently. He was certain of it.

“Oh, I want to,” he said assuredly as he stepped ever closer. “I want to very much. However you’re right. I’m going to stop being me if I give in and, well,” he shrugged then smiled thinly. “Frankly, I’m not certain you’re worth it.”

Was he stalling until he’d worked up the nerve? Possibly. It was also possible he was trying to talk himself out of it. He’d done so much of both since Jude’d been injured that he wasn’t certain which was which any longer. He just knew he was angry and there were only a very select few he could blame. The Master just so happened to be one of them.

The Master’s expression twisted in a self-satisfied grin. Of course he was right. He knew he was right. It was impossible to be wrong, after all, about something that you’d gone through yourself. Taking another sip of his drink, the Master allowed himself to lull back, his entire posture relaxing as he laughed. “Not worth it? And not a moment before you were waxing poetic about your destiny and about having warned me. Are you really so changeable? I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised, being raised weak and human. If you’d had any stomach for it, your world would have ended a long time ago,” Just like so many of the ones he’d destroyed along the way. “They say the first one’s always the hardest. You haven’t even killed anyone, have you?”

He was too self-assured to have, too set in his power, and too full of the bluster of someone who loved to intimidate but likely wouldn’t follow through on a threat. Just like the Doctor, in some respects. Just like most of them, never had the will to follow-through.

“You don’t know what you’re missing.”

Adam gave a slight shake of his head and told himself not to rise to the bait. Clearly the Master was trying to get a reaction out of him and he wasn't going to give him the satisfaction. However when he heard the words weak and human, heard a being like the Time Lord before him dare to disparage everything he'd stood for and try to convince him to take a life as though it would be fun? Adam felt his fists tighten until his nails bit into his palms.

His face twisted into an expression of revulsion. His hair began to blow in a sudden gust of wind that seemingly came from nowhere and everywhere all at once. The clouds outside, around the building, began to darken and lightning crackled once, twice, three times, before striking the balcony just behind where the Antichrist stood. He fixed the Master with a hard look.

"I can't see one single reason to spare your life, Time Lord," he said simply. Casually. He prepared to say more, prepared to make it official, but another voice spoke in place of his. Soft yet determined, coming from the doorway.

"Rule number three. Adam will never ever use his power to make it so someone doesn't exist, no matter who it is or what they do."

Adam froze, the sudden gust of wind vanishing as he blinked then slowly glanced toward the doorway. Molly stepped the rest of the way into the room and offered him a soft smile. "Death says to move your ass," she stated. "And the rules say you can't do this. So… don't."

She glanced at the Master, lips pressed together in a thin line as she shook her head solemnly. "I may lose one best friend tonight. I won't let you take another from me by convincing him to kill," she offered as the only warning she would give on the subject.

The Master didn’t appreciate the new face on the scene, but he wasn’t about to protest considering she seemed to have calmed the sudden uprising of storm. Death and the Master had never been very good friends. In fact, the Master had gone out of his way to avoid it at every turn, even when it seemed inevitable, so the idea of being killed by a child didn’t really sit very well with him. It was hardly a dignified death. Even when he was still equipped with his back-up plan.

Draining his glass and setting it aside, the Master pushed himself to his feet, leveling the pair in front of him with an unimpressed gaze, “So. You’ll be leaving now?” He could only hope. He hardly had the patience for yet another lecture.

Adam likely would have turned to leave, even willing to accept the Master's less than polite dismissal, if not for one thing. Molly still stood there, not moving so much as an inch. The look she shot him made him stop cold, confusion flickering across his features until she finally spoke again.

"Just because I don't want my best friend killing someone doesn't mean I'm such a hero that I'm opposed to something being done about you," she said as she looked past Adam, to the Master. She studied him for a long moment before drawing in a breath and looking back to her friend. Her hands slid into the pockets of her jeans as she moved closer, a speculative gleam in her eyes.

"Make him human."

Three simple words that caused Adam to blink in faint shock. He tilted his head slightly. Molly flashed him a small, determined little smile. "If you want him to suffer, make him human, Adam. Turn him in to the one thing I can promise you he doesn't want to be. A plain, everyday, perfectly average human being."

Adam paused and looked to the Master, considering.

The Master was good at concealing many emotions. Sadness, concern, affection, pretty much anything positive that an individual could experience he was able to deny, but the shock that flashed in his features at the suggestion was more than obvious despite his last second attempt to twist his features into something resembling blase contempt. “What good do you think that will do?” He demanded, an edge in his voice. “It won’t change anything that’s happened, and it will hardly change me. You humans are just as destructive and disgusting as I could ever appear to any of you, far more than most other races in the galaxy. If anything, you’ll make me worse.”

Because that was the best way to put them off the idea, right?

Adam listened. To be completely fair, he listened to everything the Master had to say on the subject and considered each objection. However when he looked to Molly, it was clear that he was prepared to do whatever she suggested. This was her area of expertise far more than his own. And she didn't look moved by what had been said in the slightest. If anything, she looked angrier than she had before the Master had begun speaking. Adam refrained from digging and finding out why. He didn't have to wait long to figure it out, though.

"Good people are dead because of your inaction. The Doctor is dead because you couldn't be bothered to help. Yes, you might have failed but at least you would have tried," she said sharply. "So spare me your opinions on my race because, say what you want about us, at least we put forth the effort. And this isn't about teaching you a lesson. We both know you're beyond that."

Stopping, Molly exhaled sharply and looked to Adam. "Do it," she stated, tone flat. She turned abruptly on her heel and left the flat, calling over her shoulder, "Then let's go check on Jude."

Adam nodded and looked back to the Master. He glanced skyward, then toward the ground, before fixing his stare on the Time Lord. A few complicated hand gestures and he stuffed his hands into the pockets of his jacket, looked the man up and down a few times, and then nodded once. "Right then," he said, his tone much calmer than it had been before Molly's unexpected arrival. He still wasn't sure he was doing the right thing but it did seem the best option, considering. "You're human, now. I'd say you're welcome but the way I see it, you aren't going to be thanking me anytime soon."

The Master initially didn’t feel any different. The change was so sudden and so swift that the jarring idea left him too stunned to really notice the changes, but slowly, they began to filter through: the odd breathing of only a single heart, the sudden limit to his senses, his inability to force control over any “involuntary” action, and, strangest of all, the sudden absence of the noise that had been with him for most of his life. Blinking dully at Adam’s words, the heaviness that suddenly sunk over him was immense, as if he was slowly drowning in the universe without his ability to see the whole of it.

“Fix it,” The Master managed to croak, staring at Adam. “You can’t leave me like this. It’s not fair.”

"Fair?" Adam replied with the simple arching of one eyebrow. "It's not fair?" He took a few steps closer, his expression thunderous. "People - good people – are dead. Tell me, how fair is that?" Shaking his head, he forced himself to breathe evenly until he'd calmed himself. The anger was still there but the urge to throttle the Master had passed. For now.

"Don't talk to me about fair," he said dully as he turned away, toward the door. "If this world were fair, I would have willed you from existence and been home in time for tea." Pausing, he looked to the Master. "Nothing you say will change my mind on this so you're really wasting your time even trying. And now if you'll excuse me, I have things to do. If you find there's something you need given your new circumstances…"

Adam shrugged and stated as he turned away, "Contact someone else. I want nothing more to do with you." And with that, he was gone.