A Second Chance (A Doctor Who fanfiction)

The Boy Who Lived

"Now I'll never know if I was right," Adric said miserably, though there was no one around to hear it. He was all alone. The others had left and the cyberman that had attacked him was now lying dead, its lifeless body still burning and crackling with the occasional spark. A light layer of smoke from the fire began to fill the room, causing the air to become thick and hard to breathe.

Adric glanced out of the window to see the distance left between the ship and the planet below. He stared in horror as Earth grew closer and closer. It all looked so close, much too close to give him time to escape. Oh, gods. He was going to die. The realisation made his stomach drop and his head began to spin. How had it all gone so horribly wrong?

Guilt and shame washed over him, nearly overtaking the fear and panic filling his chest. If he hadn't been so stubborn and left with the others, then this wouldn't have happened. He really could be so stupid sometimes. How he wished he had listened to the others and left when he had the chance!

As the ship hurled ever closer to the Earth below, Adric reached into his pocket and pulled out Varsh's belt almost without thinking. He gripped the garment tightly, trying to calm himself, but it was no use. He couldn't focus. He was in a ship that was on a collision course with Earth and he was going to die. There was no escaping that fact. Adric was going to die, just like his brother Varsh had. He didn't believe in any sort of afterlife, but he had always held out hope that he would see his brother again. He just didn't expect it to be so soon.

Warning alarms began to blare as the ship entered the atmosphere. Any moment now, it would crash into Earth in a fiery collision. Adric squeezed his eyes shut, bracing himself for the impact, but it never came. Instead, a familiar wheezing and groaning noise filled the air. He slowly opened his eyes and took in his surroundings, expecting to see the familiar white walls of the TARDIS. But it wasn't the TARDIS. Well, it wasn't the Doctor's TARDIS, anyway. The sound of loud, evil laughter filled the air and his blood ran cold. He knew that voice. He turned around to see the Master standing at the controls of his TARDIS.

"What do you want with me?" Adric asked, forcing himself to speak despite the sudden surge of fear that ran through his body. He could almost hear his heart racing in his chest and he tried to suppress the panic rising in his throat.

The Master smiled, but this only accentuated his evil features. He said calmly, "It's quite simple, really. I want your mathematical talent. Your brain is quite remarkable, Adric. The Doctor never appreciated its full potential. But I do. And I plan to harness that in ways he never would have dreamed of. Just think of everything we can accomplish together! With you by my side, I can conquer the entire universe!" The Master spoke with his usual dramatic flourish. Evidently, this speech was supposed to persuade Adric to join his side, but Adric was less than impressed. He had seen the sort of ambitions that the Master had and he had no desire to take part in any of it.

"No. I won't help you," Adric replied as defiantly as he could manage through the terror that clawed at him. He gasped in pain and surprise as the Master slapped him right across his face. The Master then scowled at Adric, sending shivers down his spine.

"Stupid boy. If I hadn't saved you from the explosion, you would be dead right now. In fact, you should be thankful that I even bothered to step in and rescue you," the Master said with a nasty sneer.

"That's not true! The Doctor would have saved me. And he'll save me from you, too!" Adric cried in reply, but he couldn't deny the feeling of dread that he felt at the Master's words.

The Master's horrible grin returned as he said, "oh dear boy. You realise, of course, that the Doctor thinks you're dead. He and your friends have abandoned you to your fate." There was a hint of triumph in his voice that made Adric doubt his friends, just for a second, before he quickly regained his courage.

"No! They wouldn't leave me! They know I'm not dead," Adric practically shouted. He knew that the Doctor, Tegan, and Nyssa would rescue him. It was only a matter of time. He just hoped that he could survive long enough for that to happen.

The Master shrugged. "See for yourself. They won't be coming to your rescue." After a brief pause, the Master spoke again. "Now, I have some grand plans for you, Adric. But first, you will get out of my way. I must plot some coordinates and get us out of here. I would really hate to die in such a pathetic way." It was as though he was mocking Adric with that last statement. The Master shoved him aside and nearly pranced over to the TARDIS console, where he began to set a course.

Adric knew that if he wanted to have any chance of escape, he must act now. He racked his brain for ideas, anything that would give him an advantage. His eyes landed on the TARDIS console. The Doctor had been teaching him how to fly his TARDIS. He understood the basics of it. Maybe he could figure out how to sabotage the Master's TARDIS and force him to let him go. The Master seemed focused on flying the TARDIS; hopefully he wouldn't notice what Adric was doing.

Adric crept over to the console as silently as he could. He had hoped to recognize some of the controls, but nothing looked familiar. The Doctor had always said that his TARDIS was out of date; the Master must be using a newer model. It was still a TARDIS, though. If he could just figure out which buttons to press and which switches to flick, then he was certain that he could disrupt things enough to cause some damage.

His heart hammered loudly in his chest as he examined the controls. Any moment the Master could discover what he was doing. Suddenly, a gleeful cackling laugh echoed throughout the console room, startling Adric and breaking his concentration. He looked around frantically, but the Master was nowhere in sight.

"Oh, dear." Adric heard the voice of the Master but still couldn't see where he was. "Did you really think that you could sabotage my TARDIS? I'm disappointed in you, Adric. But, no matter. I have other plans for you and I don't necessarily need you conscious right now." At that moment, something collided with the back of Adric's head and he fell to the floor in a crumpled heap.

Author's Note:

Thank you so much for reading! I hope you enjoyed it. I plan to post an update soon, so please stay tuned for more!

-musicismyhappyplace