Doctor Who (Fan Fiction): The Dragonfire Legacy

Doctor Who © BBC Doctor Who logo © BBC 2010 Matt Smith image ©BBC The Dragonfire Legacy © Stephen Henderson 2011 This is a non-profit-making fan fiction e-book. No attempt has been made to supersede the copyrights held by the BBC or any other persons or organisations.

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Doctor who THE DRAGONFIRE LEGACY

By Stephen Henderson

Chapter One K'all was eleven. He'd lived on Koop Taer all of his life but he always dreamed of seeing the stars. One day. One day when he was older. He would never get to be older. Something was at work on Koop Taer. The children had nursery rhymes about the dark creature that would envelop whole townships. Koop Taer, although a very old planet, had no ancient customs. Nobody had bothered to start one. Either that or they had all died out. Lack of interest? Change? Or something much worse?

Koop Taer was unlike Earth. There were no countries. No continents. Just one big land mass surrounded by water. This water was undrinkable, but the the people of Koop Taer had evolved far past the need for water. Photosynthesis had been harnessed by the scientists of the planet. There was a scientist.

He was called Mr Dragonfire. He was highly successful and had become quite the public figure. In the year 50-2.4/Delta/9, Mr Dragonfire was elected the supreme leader of Koop Taer. He was the last elected leader Koop Taer, he soon turned the planet into a dictatorship. Mr Dragonfire ruled supreme and would never leave.

His word was final and nobody had any other choice. The Dragonfire rule was terrifying. People would randomly go missing.

Walking home from school. Playing in the park. One of these people was K'all. Someone, or something, had taken him. He'd been playing, a tradition that was practised the universe over, but was becoming a rarity on Koop Taer. It was just too dangerous.

K'all would never be found. Everyone had given up hope. There was no hope, the world over. People whispered about the disappearances, in fear. So much fear. They whispered because Mr Dragonfire could hear. He could hear everyone. Anyone who opposed him, anyone who plotted against him, anyone who spoke out of turn would mysteriously disappear. This in itself was a taboo subject. Mr Dragonfire was not his real name. Nobody knew what his real name was. Out of fear nobody asked. The same fear kept him in power. It was not a dictatorship. Even a dictatorship has some rebellion.

Around 3 light years away from Koop Taer a small blue box was floating about in space. It was clammering about like... well, a blue box in space. It could only be the TARDIS. Contained inside this tiny insignificant wooden box was a very large control room.

The room was alive. So much was going on. There were flashing lights on the large hexagonal control panel and surrounded by the controls was a big time rotor. It was a big glass column with another glass column rising up and down.

Inside this room was a very strange man. A man who'd had eleven faces and two hearts and so many friends. He had a costume that matched the eccentricities of the man, a tweed jacket, blue trousers with braces to keep them up - “belts are so last year” claimed the Doctor one particular occasion – and finally topped off with some black boots, a far cry from the trainers he once wore on a previous incarnation. The friend who he was with on this such occasion was Amy Pond. A fiery red head who was more than a match for the Doctor. She had carried on the TARDIS tradition of trainers along with a skirt barely reaching he knees along with the purple top that Rory had bought her on one trip to a space market.

The man in question was not in the TARDIS at this moment.

He'd been left behind, the Doctor had promised to go back for him once he'd found a dichromatoren device for the TARDIS. The Doctor knew no such device existed but Rory was happy in the knowledge that he was on a vital mission to safeguard the life of his beloved, or so he thought. The Doctor had begun to feel a little left out of all the private jokes Rory and Amy shared and had devised this plan to get to know Amy a little better. He was jealous, but he was too far into his childish plan to turn back.

A little dish started to whirl around on the TARDIS control panel. The screen started to flare up and the TARDIS was displaying all the tell tale signs of a distress call. It was essentially an email like message, except this was a video. This was at least eleven years old. The dating had become corrupted in the transmission but the outdated video format allowed the Doctor to

deduce its age. “They stopped using standard .bee files years ago” the Doctor exclaimed to Amy hoping that she would be interested in this random trivia the Doctor delighted in knowing.

The message began. “Help”, spoke the young boy on the screen, “Please help. Something strange is going on. People are going missing.”

The video began to distort, the Doctor groaned as if this was a regular occurrence. The video continued struggling through “If anyone can hear this please help me. There is this man...” The video cut out.

“That wasn't a distortion.” said the Doctor.

“What was it then?” Amy questioned.

“It was, as if someone... “ the Doctor paused, horrified at the thought going through his mind, “ someone had cut him off because, he was about to tell us something. Something they didn't want us to find out.”

“Who's they?” Amy asked, hoping the Doctor would answer with a more positive answer than the one that it was following.

“I can't imagine they're very nice people.” the Doctor said in a worried tone. The Doctor knew that their was no hope for the boy in the video. He would have been long gone – especially eleven years later.

“We're going to help though, aren't we?” Amy asked in her rather scared tone. Amy was not scared for the dangers she may face, she and the Doctor had been in dangerous situations before. Amy was scared for that little boy, for the horror he had faced all those years ago. “'Course we are, Amy. You know me never one to shy away from danger” The Doctor pulled the levers he had used so many times before, the TARDIS whooshed into life signalling that they were landing. The Doctor could smell something. Something was wrong. There was something so familiar yet so indifferent in the air. The nose of a time lord could smell danger at 50 miles. The Doctor couldn't work out what was wrong. He'd just received a distress call. Could this be the reason for K'all had sent the cry for help.

The TARDIS landed accompanied by a large clunk. The doors opened...

Chapter Two Amy took her first nervous steps onto the green pavement of Koop Taer following the Doctor's every footstep. Despite the evils at work, of which the Doctor and Amy were yet to discover, the planet was a beautiful place. The core of planet was made of emerald. It glistened when its three suns hit the bare exposures of the planet. Once in a millennia the light of the three suns line up exactly and the green light floods the Boon Galaxy. The after effects can even be seen on Earth. Very occasionally a small green star can be seen reflecting the green of Koop Taer.

The emerald colour meant that the sky was also green. The entire planet had a green tinge. It was beautiful place, but the Doctor could still smell evil at work. It was stronger that at first.

Amy spotted a shadow quickly moving across the green street.

Then the Doctor spotted a similar running shadow. The another.

Then another. Then the recipient of one such shadow, obviously not looking where she was going, slammed right into the Doctor. It was a dishevelled old woman, judging by Earth age she could be about 70. It was a wonder she could run the grand old age she had lived to.

“You shouldn't be here” the old woman croaked “It's not safe, out here in the dark.”

“Oh why's that then.” The Doctor knew something very wrong was going on and he was determined to follow his nose.

“Oh, can't tell you here! It's not safe. Where've you been living?” the old woman asked genuinely flabbergasted that the Doctor didn't know.

The Doctor and Amy followed the old woman into her house.

The house was in a close, quite similar to those in old parts of the cities on Earth. It was probably someone from Earth who'd built

them. The population of Koop Taer were directly descended from humans.

“Oh nice house” Amy said.

“Don't patronise me!” snapped the old woman. The house was not nice. She was clearly quite poor. She had a budgie in a cage tweeting away and a small black and white television in the corner. The television was not for entertainment, it was for important announcements by Mr Dragonfire. Everything else was broken. The brown sofa was broken. The only light came from the static of the television. The room was dark and dingy.

“Now, why the bloody hell don't you know about the dangers of this place” she asked “We're not exactly from around here.” answered Amy. “You can say that again!” the old woman said. “Koop Taer is a very bad place. Such evil. Such danger. If I were you I would just leave the same way you got here.”

“What makes it so dangerous” the Doctor enquired.

“In amongst the shadows, evil lurks. People go missing.” she responded, in a whisper.

“People don't just go missing! They have to be somewhere!” the Doctor exclaimed. “And why where you whispering? Because do you know what I think? People whisper when they are scared. So! Who are you scared of?”

“Him” was all the old woman said, anything else would have her taken in a similar fashion to K'all and the others. The Doctor spotted a newspaper on the table. It was at least one week old reporting upon the disappearance of another person, a man in his fifties. The next days newspaper was sitting next to it on the table – it reported the mysterious death of the reporter.

The Doctor jumped.

“Yes! OK! June!”

“How the hell do you know my name?” the old woman questioned.

“I'm just a little bit psychic...” the Doctor responded, continuing the gleeful mood he had suddenly found himself in. Even with a mind of such superiority as the Doctors, you can still show off when you work something out.”... and your pension book is sitting on the table!” A small green book as dishevelled as its owner lay on the table. Quite clearly on the front, in official looking letters it said:

“Ms. June Boon – Bhel III. The Doctor continued with the speech that had caused him to leap into the air, causing the budgie in the corner to flap around like something possessed. “People are going missing, in amongst the whispers. But why whispers?

Because your scared!”

“You've already said that Doctor!” Amy said, whilst she had the opportunity – It could be ages until this explanation the Doctor was on drew to a close.

“Amy! Don't interrupt me! My concentration may go again at any moment! Right! OK! Whispers! People whisper when they don't want other people to hear! So the million dollar question... WHO'S LISTENING?” shouted the Doctor with ever increasing volume.

The Doctor dashed from the small flat into the green tinted street with such speed he created a whirlwind of week old papers.

They had been there for over half an earth hour. The Doctor was waiting for Amy by a lamp post it was one of the many Earth retro artefacts he had saw on Koop Taer. Amy was still in the flat, ready to leave, when June grabbed Amy's arm. She whispered in Amy's ear, “You should really leave. Now. There is so much evil at work.”

Amy left the flat.

Amy met the Doctor in the street. She had been going over K'all's video message in her mind. He had mentioned a man.

“Doctor,” Amy enquired as the Doctor fixed his coat, “that boy in the video, he mentioned a man. And then June said she was afraid of... him” “You see Amy, that's why I love you!” the Doctor said with a beaming smile on his face. “You can always see the one thing I can. So, who is the man? The man that's listening?”

The Doctor and Amy set of along the street into the distance.

Chapter Three A strange man was by the fireplace in a grand old house. The green flames were burning in the fireplace surrounded by green emerald tiles as green as the planet. Emeralds were in abundance and they were exported around the universe. This entire house was lined with the green stones. Even the bathroom was green. The house was owned by Mr Dragonfire, the notorious leader. The house itself was modelled on Buckingham Palace, continuing the theme of Earth retro that the Doctor had spotted in the lamp posts.

Dotted along the edge of the house were black vans. These would drive out every night at the setting of the third sun. One by one they would return. Nobody knew what the purpose of these vans was. If you knew, it was already too late. Nobody would talk about them. Anyone talking about them disappeared suddenly.

They were nicknamed The Shadows. This was how Mr Dragonfire kept himself in power. Out of fear.

Mr Dragonfire could hear the entire planet. He had surveillance everywhere. There were a few blind spots but nobody knew where they were. The mysterious goings on were not discussed. When Mr Dragonfire heard anything out of the norm, anything different, anything that he didn't like, anything opposing him: he would send out a shadow and the person was never seen again.

Mr Dragonfire was a mysterious man. He dressed quite smartly. His black boots were reflective. His black pinstripe suit was stitch perfect. His green tie matched the planet he ruled over.

His face was pale. As white as a sheet due to the fact he never left his green palace. He was erratic. He would jump from room to room at lightning speed. He had many eccentricities. He only brushed his hair with one brush. He only had 3 servants, all named Jeremy and he had a big cellar. A cellar only he was allowed in.

It was the ultimate controlled state. Alike in their fear, personalities died out as extinct as the golden dragon that once inhabited the surface. This was where Mr Dragonfire took his name from, he never told his real name to anyone. Nobody called him Mr Dragonfire to his face. They were far, far too scared. He was the master of Koop Taer – his title was simply Master. The Master.

The green lit Dragonfire mansion was up ahead. The Doctor still couldn't put his finger on it. He had no idea of the trouble that was ahead. They were far greater than he could imagine. He would normally have a good idea of what was to come. It was why he could always find his way out of a tricky situation. He had the foresight to plan ahead. There was something wrong this time. He couldn't tell what. Something that can stump the mind of a Time Lord was something far too dangerous to comprehend. They were at the gates. Both Amy and the Doctor were shaking: Amy with the normal anticipation that accompanied every adventure, the Doctor with cold blooded fear. This was one of the rare occasions when he was scared. Scared of the unknown. Instincts were telling him to leave this beautiful dangerous planet.

Ten minutes had passed. They still hadn't buzzed the bell.

Finally it was Amy who plucked up the courage to press it.

“Yes” a fuzzy crackling voice came over the intercom.

“Emerald inspection” the Doctor bluffed his way into the mansion.

“You are not expected” said the now much clearer voice.

“Ah, well, you see surprise inspection” replied Amy. “You better come inside then” this voice was not Mr Dragonfire. It was one of the Jeremys.

They made their way up the long path to the Dragonfire mansion. The green all around glistened. Only the best Emeralds were used to make the palace. The front doors opened. The two weary travellers took their first fumbling steps into the house.

Jeremy met them, “The Master will meet you in the library” “Who?” the Doctor asked with worried tone, he'd heard that name before. Too many times before. There were many Masters in the world. It couldn't be the Master he had met many times before.

Could it?

Chapter Four The library was full of many different books. Lots of books from around the world, around the universe. Even books that he'd written himself 'Mr Dragonfire: The Life and Times' was in every classroom. It was taught like the Bible. Mr Dragonfire was standing by the fire. He was sipping his glass. His black hair was combed back, as shiny as his spit polish boots. He looked over to the doorway. There was that mysterious emerald inspector and his red headed companion.

The Doctor had no idea what he was doing there. June had hinted towards Mr Dragonfire, K'all had mentioned a certain Mr before his untimely end. Mr Dragonfire was the supreme leader of Koop Taer. What the hell was he doing here. Investigating?

Investigating what? He would just play along with the emerald inspection. See how that came along.

“Hello there!” the Doctor said in a rather official tone, “Lovely emeralds!”

“Oh, thank you”, Mr Dragonfire remarked in an indifferent tone, he'd heard such a compliment on so many occasions.

“So, do you mind if we have a look around?” Amy enquired.

“I don't think so. Jeremy will accompany you on your movements around the house. He has been informed where you are not allowed.”

“Like where?” the Doctor asked .

“My private domains. My bedroom for example.” responded Mr Dragonfire after some hesitation.

“Right!” said the Doctor.

The Doctor and Amy were accompanied out by Jeremy.

“Jeremy” shouted Mr Dragonfire. The called for man ran back.

“Yes master!” he responded.

“Both you and I know there is no such thing as emerald inspectors. Let them scout around. Let them find what they are looking for. That man will never win. I know him too well. He will never find out. Besides, they'll be good stock.” he said with chilling tone to his voice.

Meanwhile out in the hall, “He's hiding something!” said Amy “I know Amy”, responded the Doctor “I can still smell something weird, but I can't put my finger on it. He can't be who I think he is” “Who?” questioned Amy. “A man I used to know. He was a Time Lord, just like me. But he died. It can't be him I'd be able to smell him. Time Lords can do that.” responded the Doctor.

“You can't smell him?” asked Amy. “No, but something else!” said the Doctor. He was about to tell Amy the 'grand plan' when Jeremy came along, “Sir has instructed me to tour you around the building.” said Jeremy is his dull butler voice.

They had only been been touring the building for about a minute when Jeremy stopped suddenly. He turned 180 degrees and walked into a room.

“Follow me.” said Jeremy, the two visitors followed.

Chapter Five

They had toured every room. They had found nothing. Only one room remained. The cellar. It was a small wooden walled room filled with wine. Jeremy gestured for them to go inside. A particular Neptunian artefact took the Doctors interest when. The door locked behind them. They were trapped.

Mr Dragonfire was slightly psychic. He spoke to Jeremy, “Is it done, Jeremy?”

“Yes, master” the loyal servant answered.

“Excellent, they are trapped! Soon they will discover the truth, but it will all be too late for the time traveller and his companion.

“Let me out! Jeremy! LET ME OUT!” Amy shouted.

“Don't bother” said the Doctor in a beaten voice, he'd didn't know how he'd find his way out of this but he was there for a reason.

But why? Mr Dragonfire was not the man he said he was. The Doctor was worried. A part of him, down in his gut, was that Mr Dragonfire was someone he knew. He just looked and smelled different. A thought entered into Amy's head, “Doctor, this is a pretty big house...”

“Yeah, I know that.” answered the Doctor. “... so why is this cellar so small?” Amy questioned.

“Good point!” the Doctor exclaimed. “There must be a false wall...but where?” the Doctor and Amy started tapping like the walls testing their soundness.

“Doctor!” shouted Amy. A strange button on the back wall. Red, square and glowing. It was begging to be pushed. The few seconds during the button push were the longest of Amy Pond's life. She could have no idea of what was to come.

Pneumatic pistons hissed into life. White smoke billowed into the small cellar as the back wall parted. Now in their view was a large room. It was white with blue lighting. Its white expanses were filled with 'beds' at 45 degree angles off the floor. Tubes were connected into the bodies of the people who were lying unconscious in the beds.

The Doctor recognised the un-aged face of K'all. He had been in that bed for at lest eleven years. The room was much bigger than it should have been. It was as large as a football pitch. Maybe even two of them.

They hadn't noticed the sudden arrival of Mr Dragonfire. He couldn't possibly have been there all that time. He creeped up behind the Doctor and Amy. “Doctor!” Mr Dragonfire laughed.

“Who are you?” the Doctor enquired.

“I think you know!” Mr Dragonfire responded.

“But how?” the Doctor asked with a look of absolute astonishment. “I couldn't smell you.”

“Deodorant!” Mr Dragonfire responded sarcastically “No! I should have known it was you, even in a new regeneration” the Doctor said.

“I know that Doctor! I am a Time Lord just as you. Everything you know, I know!” replied the man who was stood in front of the Doctor and Amy. “Who is he, Doctor” Amy asked the Doctor.

“Remember that man I was talking about? That man who was dead. He's got a tendency of not staying dead. ” “ I am the Master” responded Mr Dragonfire.

“No your not! There's something else lying down in your DNA something hiding yourself from me.”

“Doct-aaaaaaaaaaar” a familiar voice echoed through the mouth of Mr Dragonfire. The Master was Mr Dragonfire but Mr Dragonfire was not the Master. Mr Dragonfire was a creation of the Master. Hr had recreated himself from the ashes and become a new person. But this person was someone else. He was the combination of his former self and someone else. That other man was a past incarnation of the Doctor.

Lights beamed out of all of Mr Dragonfire's limbs. His features distorted and there were massive explosions all over the cellar. The Doctor and Amy looked on in astonishment as one person became two. One was a blonde man, he was scruffy looking. He was laughing. Laughing uncontrollably. This was the Master's true form. The other man was lying on the floor. He was

weak, his energy had been stolen by the Master. His brown pinstripe suit was torn to rags and he was struggling to breath.

This was the Doctor's previous incarnation. The Master had kidnapped the Doctor when he was at a low point of his life. He had been caught off guard. He had just lost his best friend Rose.

The Master sensed an opportunity. He took the Doctor took over his body, the two Time Lord DNA cells combined to create Mr Dragonfire. The DNA cells had now separated and Mr Dragonfire was dead.

“You see Doctor!” the other Doctor said finding his was to his feet. “It was me. I was sending out that message to you. I needed you to save me and then save yourself.”

“Because a world without the Doctor is sooo bad!” said the Master sarcastically.

“Shut it you!” snapped Amy. “You couldn't smell me because the two Time Lord smells were cancelling each other out” the tenth Doctor croaked.

“But, what are all these people doing here?” Amy asked anyone who would answer her.

“They are my power” answered the Master “taking over the DNA of your greatest enemy takes a lot of power and there is nothing greater than the power of human descendants. Once you harness that power: you can do anything.”

As the tenth Doctor became stronger and stronger, the Master became weaker. All of the people in the basement were beginning to wake. They had no idea where they were. The screams of hundreds of prisoners echoed in the basement.

“You see what you've done!” screamed the eleventh Doctor.

“You don't understand what is going to happen!” said the tenth Doctor. “All these people have the combined power of a small sun. And they are angry! So angry! I'm sorry Master! In a few minutes all that power is going to go through you.”

“What?” the Master panicked. “There's a back up holding cell I'll feed it through that!”

“Oh, how convenient!” said Amy. “Nothing wrong with convenience, Amy!” responded both the Doctors simultaneously.

The Master continued with his plan. A red light flashed and the emergency klaxon screamed as loud as the prisoners restrained in their beds. He fiddled with levers and pushed buttons, still growing weaker and weaker. He was a dying man when he had overtook the Doctor's body and now he was getting worse. The lights went off and the siren halted. A bright white light shone from the prisoners bodies.

“The influx of energy was enough to send them back to where they were captured. They have returned. A little late. That's all.” the Doctor quipped.

The Master collapsed. The Doctors and Amy ran over.

“Why aren't you fighting this?” asked the tenth Doctor. He knew what was happening but he equally knew he could resist it.

“The Master and the Doctor the same person, wouldn't that be scary?” responded the Master “You don't get it, do you? There's two of you! A different you! Even if win, you just keep living beating me. I will never win” “This isn't about winning!” said the eleventh Doctor.

“Yes it is! Why do you do this? Coming here? Inspecting my emeralds? You just cant help yourself....”, the Master stopped mid-sentence. His body turned to dust.

“Oh my god!” Amy was shocked. All the energy had drained out of the Master's body. “He's dead!”

“Ah, I wouldn't be so sure!” said the tenth Doctor. “He'll be out there some where! One form or another.”

Chapter Six The planet of Koop Taer was elated. Their missing people had returned. June's family were back with her. Her grandson K'all hadn't aged a day. Neither had her sons. Mr Dragonfire left behind a legacy. Most legacies are born from tragedy. He was no longer the evil mind who had ruled over the planet. He was a hero. The legacy was that he had been trying to find all these people and died in a mortal fight with 'The Shadows'. Most legacies are also false. But the people of Koop Taer needed an explanation. Sometimes the truth hurts.

The tenth Doctor returned to his right time and place. The TARDIS in it's way of things thought it would be best to remove that part of the Doctor's memory. The eleventh Doctor and Amy continued their adventure. They too forgot all about this trip, for the sake of the Universe. They picked up Rory who hadn't found the non-existent part for the TARDIS. The Master drifted through space as dust. But the Master had a tendency to not stay dead for long. One day, the Doctor and the Master would meet again.

Based on characters created by Steven Moffat & Russell T. Davies. Portrayed on television by Matt Smith, Karen Gillan, Arthur Darvill and David Tennant. Written by Stephen Henderson

K'all was eleven. He'd lived on Koop Taer all of his life but he always dreamed of seeing the stars.

One day. One day when he was older. He would never get to be older. Something was at work on Koop Taer. The children had nursery rhymes about the dark creature that would envelop whole townships. Koop Taer, although a very old planet, had no ancient customs. Nobody had bothered to start one. Either that or they had all died out. Lack of interest? Change? Or something much worse?

The truth can only be revealed by a mad man in a small blue box.