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The Doctor, Beth, the man and the creature landed in a cupboard with a bang. The creature removed itself from the Doctor’s leg and as he got up, the Doctor said, “That thing’s a teleport?”
“Genius isn’t it?” the man smiled.
“Hmm, you ok Beth?” the Doctor asked as Beth got up.
“Yeah, thanks…” Beth said without looking at him.
“Explain all this to me,” the Doctor said to the man, placing himself on a nearby bucket, “I’m not moving until you do.”
The creature snarled and the man hushed it, “I suppose it’ll avoid questions later. Where do we start, eh?”
He turned to Beth and she looked away, “Do you want to start?”
She blinked back some tears and stepped forward, looking at the Doctor.
“You know my father?” she asked, “Well, he… he was murdered.”
The Doctor frowned, “I’m sorry… by who?”
“B-b-y…” she stuttered, “It was done to bribe my mother and myself into doing this, believe me I didn’t want to…”
“Beth,” the Doctor said in a hard voice, “Who killed your father?”
Beth took a deep breath, when suddenly the door to the cupboard was opened and two men in suits appeared.
“Come with us,” they ordered.

The Doctor winced as chunky handcuffs were placed around his wrists.
“There’s no need for this you know,” he moaned, “It’s not like I’m gonna hurt you.”
The men remained silent and Beth followed behind, handcuffed also. Stabs of memories were attacking her…

“Hello Mr and Mrs Wright, you must be Beth’s parents,” he had sneered.
“Who the hell are you?” Mr Wright had asked.
“Like you even have the right to know,” he had replied, his head held high.
“You’re just some weirdo who thinks he’s got power!” Mr Wright had snapped.
“Oh really?” he had replied, and produced a gun from within his coat. In a flash, he had shot Mr Wright directly in the chest. Beth and Mrs Wright had watched as he slumped to the floor in a pool of blood, dying.
“Dad!” Beth had wailed.
“Now listen, if you don’t do what I say, you’ll be next.”
Mrs Wright had crouched over her husband, cradled him, his blood smeared across her shirt.
“I don’t care, you can kill me as well,” she had sobbed.
“No, Mum,” Beth had interrupted, “I can’t lose you as well,” she had turned to the man, “What is it? What do you want?”

Beth walked along the corridor, tears streaming down her cheeks. She wanted to brush them away but couldn’t, to her dismay. The Doctor briefly turned around to see her but was pushed forward into a room.
It was very posh; the floor was shiny and looked polished. Panels were everywhere and a round table was in the middle of the room with televisions and gadgets on it. He looked behind to see Beth who was being pushed down onto a chair and released from her handcuffs. The Doctor was pushed onto the floor and remained in his handcuffs.
“Is anyone gonna tell me what’s going on?” he pleaded, “’Cause it’s getting a tad annoying now.”
He was mainly talking to Beth, who hadn’t looked at him since they were teleported.
“Anyone?” the Doctor repeated, “And please remove these cuffs, they’ll give me bruises.”
“Good,” a random nearby security guard sneered.
Beth walked over to the Doctor, the guard’s eyes on her, and knelt beside him, “You alright?” she asked.
“Yeah, I was gonna ask you the same, you looked a bit upset back there,” the Doctor said.
“Just remembering the night he died,” Beth said quietly.
“What-?” the Doctor began to ask but Beth shushed him, “Distract them a minute,” she said, gesturing to the security guards.
The Doctor asked no questions and did as he was told. “What’s that over there?” the Doctor asked, “There, that red light?” he lied.
The guards looked away and he felt Beth suddenly yanking at his handcuffs.
“They’re not gonna budge,” he muttered frantically.“Sonic screwdriver?” Beth asked.
The Doctor gestured in his pocket but the security guards gaze was back on them.
“Sit over there,” they ordered to Beth and she did so, knowing pain was coming the Doctor’s way.
The security guard touched his ear as some information came in. He looked at Beth, “It’s time.”
Beth drew a deep breath nervously and sat there, shaking.
“Well, tell your story!” he prompted.
Beth looked from the guard to the Doctor. She sighed.
“It was a normal night,” Beth said in a weak voice, “I was in my laboratory and suddenly a strong thought filled my head… I knew I had to go somewhere, to save him. I headed towards the…” she swallowed, “the corpse and there it was; the ring.”
She paused to look up at the Doctor who had a stony expression on his face.
“I, I put on the ring like the thought had told me and he appeared in front of me, brand new and powerful. He forced me, with a gun, to go home and that’s when he killed my father, right in front of both of us, and told me to… to follow him and help him do what he wanted… or he’d do the same to us. I had to,” Beth whispered, “I had no choice.”
“Everyone has a choice,” the Doctor said in a choked voice, “Come on, who is it you’re helping?” He asked this, despite the empty feeling in his stomach that told him he knew, deep down.
“That would be me,” a booming voice came from at the top of the stairs and a middle aged man dressed in a shirt and tie and spotless trousers appeared. His jet black hair was brushed back and his eyes were a piercing blue.
As the feeling which told him he wasn’t alone passed through him, the Doctor choked, “No…”
“Yes Doctor,” the man shouted, “I am back, I am the Master and now, I will have my revenge!”
The Doctor stared at the floor for a long while, trying his hardest to comprehend everything that was happening.
“Well Doctor,” the Master said, “I must say I’m disappointed. I expected more of a reaction!”
“Why?” the Doctor eventually asked, ignoring the Master’s comment, “Why did you make Beth do this?”
“Dunno,” the Master shrugged, sitting on the steps. This reminded the Doctor of the Valiant and painful memories hit him, “She was young and pretty, like all your companions. I suppose she fitted the job description.”
“Don’t bring them into this,” the Doctor ordered. There was a long pause, “I see you’ve regenerated. Again.”
“Yeah,” the Master shrugged, “Being shot and then burnt into a pile of ashes tends to damage your cells a bit, you know?”
“That wasn’t my fault,” the Doctor said in a dull voice.
“No, it was my wife, of all people!” he spat, “Killed by a woman yet again…”
“Yet you still rely on them to do all your dirty work,” the Doctor said, glancing up at Beth.
“Doctor?” Beth said quietly, glancing at her hands, “Doctor?”
“Don’t talk to me!” The Doctor yelled at her and Beth staggered, taken aback.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered, tears pricking at her eyes.
“Sorry? Sorry? You think that will suddenly make everything better?!” the Doctor shouted.
“No,” Beth said, “No.”“Just… just… don’t speak to me,” the Doctor said, not looking at her.
The Master laughed as he slowly stepped down the stairs, “I do apologise Doctor, has my employee upset you?”
The Doctor remained silent, heartbroken.
Beth walked over to him, “I really am so sorry Doctor,” she sobbed, “I wanted to stop but he said he’d kill me!”
“What happened to your wife?” the Doctor interrupted, changing the subject.
“Found her in a mental home,” the Master said casually, “Had her killed in the end.”
Beth gulped; wondering if that was going to happen to her or the Doctor.
“What’s all this for anyway?” the Doctor said, getting himself up to face the Master, “Why kill someone’s father and convince them to bring me here? Surely it’s not just for a social call?”
“Always a sense of humour,” the Master said, pressing a button and suddenly the Doctor collapsed to the floor, electricity shooting through him. The Master held the button down for around half a minute, and then let go for the Doctor gasp in agony.
“Electric handcuffs,” he sneered.
Beth edged towards the Doctor but the Master held out his hand, “Don’t,” he said in a deadly voice, “I suppose I should explain all of my plans, go on, fire away the questions,” the Master said, walking over and sitting on a leather chair.
The Doctor gasped, “Where is this?”
“My new spaceship, seeing as those pesky Daleks destroyed my Valiant. I’ll miss that ship… But I needed a new one for my plans to work so I built it, from scratch. Well, not by myself, I had a little help. Anyway, next?” the Master said, clicking a security guard over, “A drink please,” he muttered.
“What is all this for?” the Doctor asked, blinking heavily.
“I told you before,” the Master said now standing up and towering over the Doctor, “Revenge.”
“I haven’t done anything wrong to you! I gave you the chance to live, but you didn’t take it!”
“No Doctor, revenge for everything. And mostly because I loved my old body and you caused me to regenerate!” he paused, “I look older now!”“Everyone ages,” the Doctor said, “Especially we should know that.”
“Anyway, next question?” the Master said, now clutching a glass of champagne.
“Who is he?” the Doctor said, pointing to the man who had brought him here, “And that…?” he said, pointing at the thing the man had claimed to be his pet.
“Oh that’s all part of my plan to take over the Earth,” the Master said, smiling, “Well in answer to the first part, he’s just a loyal follower of mine who owed me a favour,” he looked at the man, who bowed.
“And the creatures?” the Doctor prompted.
“Well, these are the cutting edge thing on Earth, or, they will be!” the Master smiled, “Soon, these will be branded as the hottest thing on Earth, a must have. They’ll be labelled as the ultimate house pet, one that will obey orders and do housework. But when I say, they will devour their owners and the whole human race will be destroyed ready for me to use the whole Earth for whatever I want.”
“Why?” the Doctor gasped.
“Because it’ll shatter you,” the Master said, standing once again face to face with the Doctor, “Knowing all those people have died and you didn’t stop it, it’ll drive you insane. Give you an idea of how maddening it is to have drums sounding constantly in your head.”
“I told you I could stop that,” the Doctor reasoned, “How have you got enough Clamots for the entire population? They’re a new species so I assume you’ve developed them… How?”
“Shut up,” the Master snapped, now pacing around the room. He glanced at his watch, “Ah, it’s time! We can transport them to Earth!”
“What about my mother?” Beth asked.
“Oh Beth, I’d almost forgotten you were here!” the Master said, cupping her face in his hands; she winced at this, “Your mother? She hasn’t done anything to help me has she?”
“But she’s my mother! I’ve helped you,” Beth said desperately.
“I don’t care,” he said and walked over to a panel of buttons, “Now, they will be transported!”
“The human race won’t be happy!” the Doctor said, “They’ll panic and kill them!”“No, but they won’t,” the Master said, “The Battle of Canary Wharf,” he smiled as the Doctor’s face was ridden with pain, “Yeah, thought you’d remember that! The ghosts! The humans were scared of them at first, but they got used to them! They will do the same for the Clamots!”
“Clamots?” the Doctor scoffed, “That’s a bit of a lame name, did you make it up?”
The Master laughed, then pressed another button to shock the Doctor once more.
“Now, time for them to be transported!” he boomed.
He pressed a button and Beth ran for the window as she watched blue lights heading towards Earth; the Clamots were teleporting themselves.
On Earth in the streets hundreds of the Clamots appeared and the nearby humans began running around, panicking and screaming. The Master watched this on a screen.
“Give it 2 weeks, it’ll all be according to plan,” he smiled, “In the meantime, I can have my revenge,” he said, facing the Doctor who had just finished being shocked.
“Isn’t this enough?” he managed, “You’re destroying the human race!”
“Does my face look bothered?” the Master sneered and clapped his hands together, “Just wait until you hear what I’ve got planned for you,” he looked up at Beth, “Now Beth,” he quickly ushered away the security guards, “Come here.”
Beth slowly did so and looked at the Doctor who just stared at the floor.
“Now,” he said, “Press this button.”
Beth looked at the Master in despair, “No.”
The Master grabbed her arm and Beth yelped, “Do you want your mother to live?”
Beth glanced at the Doctor who she could have sworn nodded.
“OK,” she said, raising her hand, “I’m sorry Doctor.”
As she pressed the button, volts of electricity once again passed through the Doctor’s handcuffs through his body. He yelled in pain and Beth looked away, tears stinging at her eyes. She hadn’t thought this would happen, the Master had promised her he would leave her alone…
As the Doctor’s screams filled the room, the Master stood at the top of the stairs.
“Now Doctor,” he shouted, “Prepare for the worst two weeks of your life, and following that…” he paused, “Yours and the Earth’s death!”

To be continued