The Final Game

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## Plot

*The Doctor is hiding a secret that he's never told before. Dovewing never expected to be caught in a battle between Dark and Light. Firestar has a vision of his forecoming future. All have secrets.*

*But then the Master returns.*

*All three cats lives are put to the test, especially the Doctor's. Something long ago will come to rise, and the Doctor and the Master will be put to the test.*

*Secrets will be revealed, and someone will die.*

## Summary

The Story starts with The Doctor pacing around his den back in ThunderClan, and a thought is in his mind, something about a cat and him being close friends. Then he realizes Firestar had been standing there, and the ginger tabby asks him to take a walk. The Doctor refuses at first, telling the leader he didn't want to be hanging around a bunch of random cats, but Firestar tells him that it would just be a walk around camp, and thus, the Doctor accepts.

Next, they are standing at the edge of camp, and the Doctor grows nostalgic and talks about past travels, and Firestar tells him that he doesn't make sense some days. The Doctor then quotes Socrates, saying that 'the only true wisdom is knowing you know nothing', and after that it grows silent before Dovewing comes and tries to bowl the Doctor over. The Doctor says that she always follows him around like a shadow, and she grows confused, and the Doctor explains to her that a shadow means he follows him everywhere.

The Doctor now is in his TARDIS, and seconds later Dovewing rushes in saying that a a cat named the Master has been spotted, and the Doctor freezes and asks her to repeat it, and thus she does. The Doctor tells Dovewing to watch the TARDIS, and leaves.

Now at the border between ThunderClan and ShadowClan, the Doctor calls for the Master, and a raven caws, making the Doctor to tell it to shut up. Then he is tackled by the Master, and the evil tom asks,"Did you miss me?"

The Doctor, unable to speak, asks for the Master to get off of him in a muffled voice. The Master then speaks of the Doctor's mate and daughter, and in effect is pinned to the ground by him as the Doctor shrieks in his ear that he'd never should have said that, and that he'd never should have killed Purple Rose in front of him.

The Master goes limp, but the Doctor isn't fooled, and he holds his reinforced claws to the Master's throat, but ends up only scratching his cheek. The Master makes fun of him, telling him that the Clan of kittypets have made him soft. There is only silence, before the Master screeches loudly and thrusts the Doctor backwards.

As the Doctor recovers, the Master tells him 48 hours, and that the Doctor has a scratch down his leg, which the latter turns out to be true.

The Doctor is now back in ThunderClan in his den; he has taken his jacket off and lay in his nest as Jayfeather wals in and asks if he was in a fight, which the Doctor tells him yes, and thus Jayfeather begins complaining. Dovewing comes out of the TARDIS and freezes, then relaxes, telling the Doctor she thought he was a BloodClan warrior. The Doctor mutters that he once was and now regrets it.

Dovewing asks about what provoked this fight, and the Doctor tells him that jealousy started the whole fallout. Jayfeather mutters that the Doctor should stop the pointless fighting, and the Doctor shuts him out, dozing off in the process.

The Doctor wakes up at the next sunrise and puts another jacket and cape on, then heads out of the den, realizing he's one of the first ones up, besides Firestar. The Doctor goes upon Highledge, and greets Firestar and joins him. The two talk before being interrupted by a patrol of injured warriors, one of them being Sundew, which turns out they were attacked by the Master.

Now back in his den again, the Doctor is pacing and yowling at the top of his lungs. He slams into the wall of his den, dislocating his shoulder, and calls for Jayfeather. As he waits, he thinks about the injured patrol and tells himself that it's all the Master's fault. Jayfeather comes in and fixes the Doctor's shoulder.

Dovewing comes back later, asking if the Doctor is okay, and he replies blankly that he's fine, but Dovewing notices, and asks what is bothering him, and the Doctor replies that it's the Master.

Dovewing then goes off topic, asking how old the Doctor is, and the Doctor tells her once again that he's older then the Clans put together (Him being 560, the combined age of the Clans being about 160).

Dovewing tells the Doctor that the Master was spotted again, and the Doctor gets up and leaves in frustration.

The Doctor finds the Master perched on a branch, and the cat tells him that he'd never thought he'd come, and asks him if he remembers them as youngsters.

The Master ignores him,and asks if the Doctor saw his warning, telling him that the patrol didn't stand a chance against him. The Doctor retorts that they almost died.

The Master tells the Doctor that he'll be attacking WindClan later that evening, before attacking the Doctor and disappearing.

The Doctor slumps down in his nest back in ThunderClan, regretting that he can't save WindClan, and Dovewing tells him that one cat against a whole Clan isn't fair. The Doctor tells him that the Master took on a pride of lions and won.

Dovewing tells him that she hopes WindClan stays in safe paws.

The Doctor dreams, and spots a figure, which turns out to be a mortally injured Master, and wakes up and stands, waking Dovewing, and tells her that they need to head to the border.

They find the Master on the border, in a rabbit burrow. The Master growls weakly that he didn't expect to be helped by a traitor and the Doctor replies that he would help anyone, even if they betrayed him. Then he helps the Master back to ThunderClan.

Firestar has a vision of him against Tigerstar, which turns out to be his final battle in the Great Battle, then before he sees his end, he is awoken by the Doctor bringing the Master into camp.

The Master is muttering something under his breath, before being lead into Jayfeather's den by Dovewing.

The Doctor attempts to visit several times, only to be turned away by Jayfeather each time. He finally visits near dawn, where the Master regenerates,snarling that he wished that the Doctor had died so long ago, and whispers 'brother', and blinds him in his left side, which Jayfeather informs him.

The Doctor remembers Purple Rose, and screeches out of the blue, "All he did was allow her to die!" Prompting Jayfeather to ask what was wrong. The Doctor doesn't reply, but buries his head in his paws and cries.

The Doctor is now watching WindClan, and the Master's words haunt him, then clears the thought.

Dovewing comes up on his blind side, surprising him, and she tells the Doctor that Firestar needs him for a 'serious matter'.

Firestar is with the Doctor in his den, begging him to interpret his vision, which the Doctor refuses and tells him to visit Jayfeather, and they head over.

The Master was pacing, frustrated that he'd lost his plans along with the regeneration, then it comes to mind that he'd wipe out the Clans, and smiles evilly.

Back in Jayfeather's den, even the medicine cat says he can't interpret the vision, and Jayfeather demands that Firestar leaves, and asks the Doctor if his vision was the one where Firestar dies, and the Doctor nods,explaning that he can't tell them for risking the future possibilities. Jayfether sighs, saying that he doesn't want Firestar dying before his time.

Night falls and a small rainstorm is in the sky, but the Doctor risks a cold to watch for his brother, but gives up and heads to his den, where he finds Mousewhisker,who tells him he needs to tell him something, which Sundew has died. The Doctor looks at him in shock, and asks for Mousewhisker to confirm what he said, which he does. The Doctor grows angry and snarls, "I'm done with my brother's threats. I'm going to haul him into camp, and i will kill him before all of you." And whispers that it was time to prove what a warrior really was.

The Master and the Doctor fight again, but the Master is defeated this time.

The previous Master watches from the StarClan-Dark Forest border, and this memory comes to his eyes:

*"Take one more step, and I rip her throat out." He threatened, and saw the black she-cat glance helplessly at her mate, the Master's brother. The Doctor.He was in for a surprise; Purple Rose whirled around, pinning him to the ground and pinning his forelegs uselessly beside him. He struggled, and Purple Rose demanded, "What was it that you wanted to tell me?"The Master freed a forepaw and unsheathed his claws. "This." With a quick swipe, he tore out her throat, then ran.*

He collapses, before Star, the first cat to die, asks him if he would rather have mercy or evil.

The Master chooses mercy.

The cats prepare for battle and that day comes,and they meet on the WindClan border. The Doctor regrets going, as it would have been against his will, and looks sadly at Dovewing as he does so, saying that he hopes he'd return.

The Master is looking at his claws, and tells himself he wishes he'd taken over the Clans as Sol, Darktail, and others, and the Doctor arrives, telling him he is prepared.

The Master peeks behind the Doctor, and asks why he was followed. The Doctor tries to deny it before whipping his head around and spotting Dovewing, yowling for her to leave. Dovewing yowls for the Doctor to duck, and the Master barely misses him, before remarking that ThunderClan had made him soft, before asking what life the Doctor was on (Obviously, Third) and after the Doctor replies, the Master attacks, slamming the Doctor to the ground and demanding for Dovewing to run back to ThunderClan.

The Doctor asks how WindClan would like it if they found traitor blood on the territory, and pushes the Master onto his back. The Master smirks evilly, snarling that it would be the Doctor's blood, before swiping at the Doctor's face, missing vainly, and the Doctor picks him up by his scruff and throws him.

Purple Rose appears and demands what the useless fighting was about. The Doctor stares at her, disbelief clouding his gaze. Purple Rose's eyes were narrowed, directed at the Master, and she tells him that he was lucky that one of his regenerations made it to StarClan. The Master looks on in disbelief, and the fight commences as Purple Rose leaves.

The Master grows bored, saying that The Doctor's mate was pointless. He starts to speak about their father, but the Doctor tackles him to the ground, Screeching for him to not talk about his father, and that his mate was not garbage.

The cats start circling each other, before the Master leaps for the Doctor and pins him to the ground, spitting, "Sadness makes you pitiful, doesn't it?"

The Doctor denies this, and leaps up, slamming the Master's head, tearing of his right ear. The Master stands up, notices, blood trickling down his face, and tells the Doctor that his past regeneration showed sympathy for him.

The Doctor ignores him, and tells the Master that he'd be deaf by the time he was done with him. Firestar then comes, bowling the Doctor over, snarling that fights are pointless.

The Master tells Firestar to shut up, a look of regret passing over his face, an Firestar points that out, and The Master grows more enraged, calling Firestar a bastard. Firestar recoils and asks why the Master insulted his heritage, but the Master collapses before he can reply. The Doctor looks at his own paws, and realizes he's wounded, before collapsing as well. Firestar takes him to ThunderClan, where Dovewing grows shocked to see him in such a state, and attempts to reassure herself as she says that Jayfeather could fix him up. The Doctor tries to confess to Dovewing, but dies before he can finish his words.

He then finds himself in StarClan, and his first life reassures him that Dovewing will be in safe paws with the next Doctor.

## Who Won The Battle?

The battle at the end of the book that the Doctor and The Master had. Due to The Master making it out alive with only a missing ear, he is the physical winner of the battle, as the Doctor regenerated into his next incarnation due to his injuries. The mental winner of this battle was the Doctor, as he did not lose his sanity from trauma after the battle. The Master grew to believe that everyone but him must be killed, and he inspired Tigerstar to become evil for him, not Thistleclaw.

So it is unclear who exactly won the battle at the end of *The Final Game.*

## Trivia

* This is based off of an unproduced Doctor Who episode of the same name. It was intended for the Doctor and the master to be confirmed as brothers, but was in fact, unproduced due to the current Master Roger Delgado's sudden death.
* The Master and the Doctor are only Half-brothers, only related through their father Falling Ember.
* Falling Ember did in fact still care for Swirling River, even during his affair with Silver Wing
* Moongem is the Master's sister. This was confirmed in *A Christmas Frozen In Time.*

## Errors

* Seven cats were on the patrol that was attacked, but later the Master states there were five. The correct number of cats was seven.

## References

1. ↑ http://tardis.wikia.com/wiki/The\_Final\_Game\_(TV\_story)