The Master Chase! (The Master Plan)

[Deleted]

Her hips were not happy with her. Not happy one little bit, but her hips and lower back would just have to deal with it. As far as her arms were concerned, they could really shut up because the Doc… Meddler was touching her gently and… she really didn’t know how to handle simultaneously feeling so good and being fussy over a few broken bones.

Not when said bones were going to be healed soon enough, anyway.

"Tell me if there is any significant pain, or if you feel bone shift," he said, sounding worried.

“I… I’m fine.”

Or I will be.

And then he was holding her, and Emilie wrapped her arms around him in return. She was perfectly content to ignore his advice and just be. Because what could she say? ‘No, you’re more important?’ That would be a psychiatrist’s field day. Which Emilie figured probably meant that it was wrong to say or, as was her personal opinion, that not enough factors were being taken into account.

Which may or may not include the fact he was more important….

Of course, then things got really interesting and she was falling on top of him. The movement was a dull agony, poking and prodding but - thank you God if you exist – nothing popped out of place.

"Uh... hi," the Meddler managed, sounding either surprised or as if he found the situation awkward. This would be more interesting to Emilie had she not been equally entranced. He was so close and his hands were sliding, and Emilie decided that actually, fake Doctor or not, she really liked being right here right now.

Surprise, surprise. They were interrupted. Typical villains with their aggravating timing. Not only were they interrupted by the disturbing child, but the ship jerked. Something the…Meddler… seemed even more displeased about than she was, using words that she could put her fingers around but not quite grasp. Familiar and foreign in a very strange way, but the message was clear enough.

"We're powering down. You win. This round, at least."

Having hobbled slightly to the console, Emilie took the Meddler’s hand as she soothed their daughter to peace, powering off their defenses to save energy as much as a token of surrender.

Just because they were surrendering quietly didn’t mean the process would be gentle. No mother willingly surrendered her child. But fleeing clearly was not the answer.

That just meant they needed to find another way to get them all out in one piece.

[Deleted]

Once Sunny was inside her cell, Koschei flipped the switch and activated the energy barrier. 400 years old? Just...what is she?

He should talk to his other self about this.

"The TARDIS is-"

Then the PA broke in.

"I...Have to go. Just stay there and you'll be safe for now," he said as he left her alone in the holding cell areas.

---

The bullet shaped capsule was slowly moved by a series of tractor beams to the underbelly side of the Master's TARDIS. A rectangular hatch opened up. It was slowly raised up into the Master's TARDIS. Then the rectangular hatch closed.

The Child Master, Koschei, (and maybe Cyborg Master if you're ready to bring him in again First) were standing in front of the capsule once it was brought on board.

"Alright. Come on out now. Slowly, one at a time, hands above your head, you know the drill," the Child Master said as he held a black gun in his hand.

Koschei was still armed with the Staser he used to direct sunny in her cell. He had no clue who they had captured this time, but it looks like he was about to find out.

---

The Dalek next to Sunny's cell turned its domed head towards Sunny's direction. In a slow, raspy almost distorted voice, it asked painfully.

"H...Help...Us..."

It began again.

"Help Us..."

Once more, it spoke.

"Help...Us...the Daleks."

[Deleted]

Sunny walked into the cell and then turned around on her heels. Finally, Koschei left and she was alone with her own thoughts. First of all, this was an energy shield. Should be easy enough, and she had committed to memory. The place was relatively easy to remember, but she didn't catch any traps in the TARDIS itself, plus it seemed pretty big. One she felt his steps fade, she then held ehr hands out.

They starts to glow red, sparks and flames erupting all along her arms until it finally started to glow from a brown, to a red, then a bright yellow... hot, hotter and hotter until it was a white color and capable of blinding someone. She then held her hands out to the energy barrier, pressing the flames against it.

Energy against energy, Sunny grimaced as she could feel the pressure and the reverb causing pyrokinetic strain on her mind as she forced her way out (with Ken's permission) the energy barrier overloaded and exploded, sparking and ending. Sunny would let her arms fade into a deep red color, knowing it'll take awhile for them to cool off.

She stepped out and then turned over to glance at the Dalek. She knew what it was, and it was in pain. But would she let loose a Dalek? It seemed a bit risky. She pulled her hair back, looking at the Dalek.

"I'd help you, but I know what you'll do." She's not stupid. "Well, if there's any way to escape a giant ship, it's to let loose a giant monstrosity as a distraction." She let out a sigh. With that her arms glowed white hot again, pressing against the energy barrier in a means to overload that one, reaching in to try and free the Dalek.

[Rob "the Meddler" Goodfellow]

Finally, he sighed, and stabbed the communications button.

"We're powering down. You win. This round, at least."

He glowered at the monitor as it switched off, then sighed as Emilie took his hand. "I'm sorry," he said. "In a few days, even, things might have gone differently. But right now..?" He shook his head.

Then, resting his other hand on top of hers, he winked. "Doesn't mean, though, that we're beaten." His hands began to fly over the console, adjusting settings more by touch than by sight. Finally, satisfied, he lifted a pencil of coral from the panel.

He stared at it for a moment, then sighed. "Also..." He swallowed, nervously. "I... fear that I owe you an apology, Emilie. I... I am not the Doctor."

He kept his eyes fixed on the time rotor, not wanting to see her expression. "I say this because, well, the man that pilots that capsule will not be under any illusions about my identity. And I would rather tell you myself."

The deck trembled beneath their feet.

"I... that is... the Doctor... the Doctor is dead, Emilie. My name is the Meddler. I am..." his gaze flickered towards the blank screen, "was the sole survivor of the Last Great Time War. And so, when your UNIT called him for help, I felt that it was important to respond. To honor his memory."

He closed his eyes, and swallowed hard. "I did not mean to deceive you, Emilie. I would not have hurt you, not for anything."

---

"Alright. Come on out now. Slowly, one at a time, hands above your head, you know the drill," the Child Master said as he held a black gun in his hand.

The man who'd been calling himself the Doctor emerged first, hands raised above his head. One hand was higher than the other, of course, since his trademark black cane with a silver klein bottle handle was tucked under one arm, and a lopsided smile was on his lips. "Yes, yes, or course I know the 'drill' as you so quaintly put it Master."

His booted feet clanked to a halt on the deck. "As I recall, you threaten me. I bluff. You threaten a little more. I then seemingly cave to your demands, only to lash out unexpectedly at some inconvenient moment." The grin grew broader. "Which causes both of our plans to explode in our faces."

The smile faded, expression becoming serious as he examined the three Masters. "Ah... that explains it. You didn't survive the War, did you? You were plucked from the time stream, probably minutes after abandoning the Cruciform." His eyes flicked to the youngest Master. "And you... are you even calling yourself 'the Master', yet? Or are you still Koschei, agent of the CIA?"

Finally, he peered at the stocky cyborg behind them. "And you... I have no idea."

He shook his head. "No matter. Sed fugit interea, fugit irreparabile tempus, singula dum capti circumvectamur amore,, hey? And speaking of amore, allow me to introduce Doctor Emilie Gunnar of UNIT."

[Deleted]

No part of their current situation was the Time Lord's fault. She understood why he might feel guilty, of course, but that was not the same as actually being responsible. In this case, he was shouldering an unneeded burden. Interrupting him now when he was in the middle of something important was not a good idea either. Emilie opted to just wait patiently.


"Also..." He swallowed, nervously. "I... fear that I owe you an apology, Emilie. I... I am not the Doctor."


Since they didn't have time for her to take the slow, sensitive response to that, the girl nodded in agreement.

"I suspected as much."

He continued to speak, appearing nervous or perhaps just worried about her reaction. Quietly, Emilie took one of his hands as a gesture of support, of stability.


"I... that is... the Doctor... the Doctor is dead, Emilie.



That felt like a punch to the gut. It couldn't, couldn't be true. She had seen her skinny love not so long ago. The Doctor had been in fine health then. He was all skinny, gangling legs and too much caffeine. This man had to be wrong. He just didn't know. An honest mistake, yes, that had to be it.

Because otherwise... what was the point of her at all?


"I did not mean to deceive you, Emilie. I would not have hurt you, not for anything."



If it was the Time War... then there was hope, Emilie decided, firmly ignoring the twist in her hearts of the Doctor even possibly being dead. She squeezed the Meddler's hand then, leaning in and ghosting a kiss across his cheek.

"You have not hurt me, my friend. This changes nothing between us."

---

Emilie let the Meddler take the lead in handling his old acquaintance. All she really knew about the Master was what she had read in UNIT's database. Namely, that he was cunning, clever, and damn near impossible to kill. A Gallifreyan cross between a genius and a cockroach, at least in UNIT's eyes. Not that UNIT tended to look kindly upon anything it could not shoot.

When the Meddler introduced her, Emilie curtseyed. It very rarely hurt to be polite. She was, however, blushing slightly at the fact he had used 'amore' as a segway for her.

It had been a nice attention grabber though; Emilie had gotten distracted feeling this TARDIS. She was so very large and fierce and ready for a fight. Emilie wondered briefly if she would like watching wrestling.

"I see we like our guns." Emilie paused. "I'd say they weren't necessary, but as you say... I know the drill. You wouldn't believe me anyway. Although I can't imagine it's safe to be handling a weapon in a child's body."

Perhaps that was just an Earth prejudice.

[Deleted]

Koschei just stared at the Meddler in shock.

"Meddler?" he asked in shock as he took a step closer. "By the black scrolls of Rassilon...What happened to you? Your mind...It's..."

"Crippled," the child began to explain. "Paranoid fool thought the only way to escape the CIA was to cause himself a grandfather paradox by murdering himself out of time. Now his telepathic abilities are even weaker than they were before. A foolish gesture, if anything. There are still hundreds of way to track someone through time without the need of following their psychic imprint. It's just a matter of knowing how to look. Still I believe some corrections are in order. Koschei, answer the nice man's question."

Koschei looked back at the child and withheld a scowl. "I am...Koschei. Formerly of the CIA I believe you could say. I had...just assassinated Lord President Slann, one of the most evil Lord Presidents our society had ever known. Sadly, my...attempted revolution failed. I'm sure you... remember it."

After he left Gallifrey, but before he met Ailla. A good enough point to pick him out of anything. Still, Koschei was troubled, not just by his recent failure, but also because of who it turned out to be they were attacking. He wasn't expecting to see one of his old friends and allies turn out like this in his future.

"I, of course, wasn't plucked out of time as you so insist," the child began. "I found a nice little spot away from the Time War. One which I planned to use as a base of operations as I waited for both sides of the Time War to weaken and cripple each other, maybe even finish the war. I was interrupted in mid flight and asked for assistance from a later version of myself. And my dear..." he moved the barrel of his weapon to Emilie. "This is no mere gun. Tissue Compression Eliminator. A rather nasty way to go, and my own personal calling card. I could very easily make you both into doll sized corpses with only a couple of shots, and believe me, no Time Lord has ever regenerated after getting shot by this. As for him..."

He pointed his gun-shaped Tissue Compression Eliminator towards the Cyborg Master before pointing it back to their new prisoners. "I'll let him explain his own back story."

---

The shield to the Dalek's cell had fallen. The Atron energy flooding through the ship at this very second was now free to fill the cell and the battle damaged Dalek sitting inside.

"HIGH LEVELS OF ATRON ENERGY!" it shouted, its armor slowly beginning to repair and heal itself. After a few seconds, the damaged dalek was all bright, shiny, and new looking.

"EXTERMINATE!"

It fired a bright blue beam at Sunny. The level of energy it chose to use in the blast was the standard level used to kill a human, as the Dalek assumed Sunny was. Hopefully though, as a rock, she should be able to survive the shot. It proceeded to leave its cell, and moved down the corridor to the remaining prison cells, extending its sucker to the key pads and working out the codes needed to unlock at least twenty other cells. Cells each containing its fellow comrades.

Daleks fresh from the Time War, each one now being flooded with an unlimited supply of Atron energy from the very Time Vortex itself at this very moment. This won't end well for anyone.

[Deleted]

Sunny's eyes widened when the Dalek expressed gratitude by shooting her. She was glad that it didn't hurt her as much as it did but she was winded for some time as she watched the Dalek open the cells, and a whole bunch of Daleks exit. She backed up slowly before she tore through the door, running for her life.

Luckily memorizing the entire route here, she was able to find the place where she crashed into. She burst into the console room, unsure of what she should do. Really, she could run through the corridors by luck and run into someone, but at the same time, she could stay here in the console room...

[Rob "the Meddler" Goodfellow]

He shook his head. "No matter. Sed fugit interea, fugit irreparabile tempus, singula dum capti circumvectamur amore, hey? And speaking of amore, allow me to introduce Doctor Emilie Gunnar of UNIT."

Emilie blushed in a particularly adorable fashion at the introduction, even if the blush was was reddish-pink instead of orange-red, and her response was to curtsey. A... peculiar gesture, that, and so very human.

"I see we like our guns." Emilie paused. "I'd say they weren't necessary, but as you say... I know the drill. You wouldn't believe me anyway. Although I can't imagine it's safe to be handling a weapon in a child's body."

The young-looking Master's response was to rant and rave in his typical and tedious fashion. The Meddler had braced for that, but still winced when he casually described what he had done to become the Grandfather Paradox. Finally, winding down, he directed the chronologically younges Master to introduce himself.

Koschei looked back at the child and withheld a scowl. "I am...Koschei. Formerly of the CIA I believe you could say. I had...just assassinated Lord President Slann, one of the most evil Lord Presidents our society had ever known. Sadly, my...attempted revolution failed. I'm sure you... remember it."

"Clearly," the Meddler assured him. "And, if I'd known then what I know now, I'd have been able to give you a few other names for assassination. Emmehujidat and Xandavier, to begin with."

But then the young-looking Master ranted some more, claiming that he had performed a strategic withdrawal from Gallifrey. That it hadn't been a paniced flight. The Meddler folded his arms and shook his head. "Clearly," he muttered, "you remember things... differently."

"And my dear..." he moved the barrel of his weapon to Emilie. "This is no mere gun. Tissue Compression Eliminator. A rather nasty way to go, and my own personal calling card. I could very easily make you both into doll sized corpses with only a couple of shots, and believe me, no Time Lord has ever regenerated after getting shot by this."

"You could, yes," the Meddler agreed. "But, you haven't. Which implies that there is something you need from us. May we take it as given that we are suitably awed by your genius and intimidated by your power over life and death, and move on to what you want and why?"

The young-looking Master wasn't in a mood to indulge him. "As for him..." He pointed his gun-shaped Tissue Compression Eliminator towards the Cyborg Master before pointing it back to their new prisoners. "I'll let him explain his own back story."

Leaning on his cane with one hand, he caught one of Emilie's hands with the other. "Hmm hmmm hmmm hmm hmmm... Pokemon," he sang under his breath.

[Magos Heinrich Kruller]

"As for him..." He pointed his gun-shaped Tissue Compression Eliminator towards the Cyborg Master before pointing it back to their new prisoners. "I'll let him explain his own back story."

The cyborg clanked a little as he stepped forward, clothing squirming a little as the mechadentrites responded to his urge to rip and kill. "I'll pass," he snarled, voice buzzing with a hint of feedback.

He glared at the repellent, time-breaking form of the Meddler, hardly sparing a glance or a thought for the human at his side. "He raises a good point, though. Why don't we just kill them both, and chuck them out? Be simpler than chucking them in a cell, and it'd have the benefit of not having to listen to him prattle."

Raising his "cane" - really the cogwheel-headed power-axe prized as a symbol of office of the Priests of Mars in the Third Great and Benevolent Human Empire - he stepped forward. As he did, blade-tipped cybernetic tentacles emerged from tailored slits in the back of his coat. "If you don't want to waste charges in the TCE, then I'll do it."

Before he could take a fourth step towards the eye-hurting Meddler and the human, warning klaxons began to sound. He hesitated, looking towards the 'child' Master. "What the hell's that about?"

[Deleted]

Why didn't bad guys rant and tell you all about themselves more often? It would be ideal to be told the plan and exactly how to thwart him - i.e. save her daughter - but being told about a TCE and what it did was still more information than Emilie had before.

"You could, yes," the Meddler agreed. "But, you haven't. Which implies that there is something you need from us. May we take it as given that we are suitably awed by your genius and intimidated by your power over life and death, and move on to what you want and why?"

Ooh, daring. Emilie grinned up to the Meddler then. Clearly whatever he had done to the TARDIS wouldn't take too long to help her if he wasn't embracing the opportunity to stall.

The third member of their captors reminded Emilie of the Borg. So much so that she was honestly surprised to hear 'I'll' instead of 'we'll'. He wasn't paying her any attention though, so Emilie let her own attention wander as well. Her focus drifted right back to the TARDIS they were currently inside.

Why don't we just kill them both, and chuck them out? Be simpler than chucking them in a cell, and it'd have the benefit of not having to listen to him prattle.

Mister Cyborg was not very friendly. Emilie absent mindedly rested a hand on the wall of the TARDIS, listening to the hum of the TARDIS. Despite the differences, she could understand her to an extent. A TARDIS communicated more in senses, images especially, so a language barrier didn't precisely exist. There was a bit of what you might call a personality barrier, however.

Emilie didn't even hear the continued death threat, no doubt appearing to be completely brain dead in the process, but the TARDIS had begun yelling so loud Emilie had to jerk her hand away from the wall and sever the partial connection. Seconds later the klaxons went off.

"You complete morons!" She yelled then, her head aching still from the flood of images. "You keep live Daleks on board a ship full of artron energy. Is it too much to ask that you commit suicide on your own without involving us?"

[Deleted]

"He raises a good point, though. Why don't we just kill them both, and chuck them out? Be simpler than chucking them in a cell, and it'd have the benefit of not having to listen to him prattle."

Raising his "cane" - really the cogwheel-headed power-axe prized as a symbol of office of the Priests of Mars in the Third Great and Benevolent Human Empire - he stepped forward. As he did, blade-tipped cybernetic tentacles emerged from tailored slits in the back of his coat. "If you don't want to waste charges in the TCE, then I'll do it."

The blond haired child looked alarmed at this cybernetic version of himself. Didn't he remember? TARDISes that form a close enough bond with their pilots would disappear into the TARDIS graveyard after their pilots died. And the TARDIS graveyard itself would be hard enough to find. He had heard some rumors of a being that ate TARDISes, but that was a different graveyard entirely.

Before he could take a fourth step towards the eye-hurting Meddler and the human, warning klaxons began to sound. He hesitated, looking towards the 'child' Master. "What the hell's that about?"

"You complete morons!" She yelled then, her head aching still from the flood of images. "You keep live Daleks on board a ship full of artron energy. Is it too much to ask that you commit suicide on your own without involving us?"

"The shields on their cells were to prevent ANY Atron Energy from entering their cells and rejuvinating them. I know because I've had them stored as test subjects there for at least 100 battles during the Time W-" The child's eyes glared to Koschei. "You...Fool...What did you do!?" He raised his Tissue Compression Eliminator towards his first self. "What did you do while you were taking the prisoner away?!"

"THIS IS NOT MY FAULT!" Koschei yelled. "I ONLY THREW THE GIRL INTO HER CELL AND HIT ONLY THE CONTROL MEANT TO RAISE THE SHIELDING ON HER CELL! YOU CAN CHECK THE SURVEILLANCE FOOTAGE YOURSELF! IT'S ALL THERE! AND SINCE WHEN DID DALEKS RELY ON ATRON ENERGY!?"

"I should kill you where you stand but we have more important things to do," the Child said as he began to make his way to the door way. "We must get to the console room at once."

---

And now the Daleks began to release more and more of their kind from the Master's prison cells, slowly navigating their way through the Master's Destroyer TARDIS, going through every hallway and into every room they could find, disabling or destroying whatever traps they came across.

"WE MUST FIND THE TIME LORD RESPONSIBLE FOR THIS SHIP! WE MUST EXTERMINATE HIM! WE MUST BRING THIS TARDIS BACK TO OUR SUPERIORS! EXTERMINATE ALL LIFE ON THIS VESSEL!"

"I OBEY!"

[Deleted]

Sunny herself finally managed to make it to the room, and decided to forget about any plans of escaping. She had to deal with those Time Lords-they were TIme Lords, right?- on board. She would run down the corridor, and not long at all run into the Two Masters, and two other people she couldn't recognize. Her expression at first conveyed surprise, before she suddenly went into a very friendly, hilarious grin.

"Hi! There's Daleks on board and we're all going to die!" She spoke up in the most cheery and offbeat tone possible. She then offered her hand out to The Meddler and Emilie. "Hi, nice to meet you. The shielding on the cells kind of exploded and released a bunch of Daleks and they shot me. Seriously, how rude!"

What a strange girl The Master had on his TARDIS.

[Rob "the Meddler" Goodfellow]

The Meddler flinched involuntarily as warning klaxons began to sound. "What the hell's that about?" demanded the literally axe-crazy cyborg Master.

Chaos followed in the wake of the question.

"You complete morons!" Emilie shouted, "You keep live Daleks on board a ship full of artron energy. Is it too much to ask that you commit suicide on your own without involving us?"

A thrill of utter terror crawled down the Meddler's back at the word Dalek. They were dead, he knew that. All of them. How could...

"The shields on their cells were to prevent ANY Atron Energy from entering their cells and rejuvinating them," insisted the young-looking Master.

"Really?" asked the Meddler, using sarcasm to cover his fear. "We're in a TARDIS, and you were going to shield them from artron energy?"

"I know because I've had them stored as test subjects there for at least 100 battles during the Time W-" The child's eyes glared to Koschei. "You...Fool...What did you do!?" He raised his Tissue Compression Eliminator towards his first self. "What did you do while you were taking the prisoner away?!"

The Meddler caught Emilie's hand again. "I feel like I should be eating popcorn right now," he murmured, watching the Master threaten the Master. "Except for the fact that we're all in imminent danger of being murdered by Daleks."

"THIS IS NOT MY FAULT!" Koschei yelled. "I ONLY THREW THE GIRL INTO HER CELL AND HIT ONLY THE CONTROL MEANT TO RAISE THE SHIELDING ON HER CELL! YOU CAN CHECK THE SURVEILLANCE FOOTAGE YOURSELF! IT'S ALL THERE! AND SINCE WHEN DID DALEKS RELY ON ATRON ENERGY!?"

"I should kill you where you stand but we have more important things to do," the Child said as he began to make his way to the door way.

Glancing at Emilie, the Meddler grinned. "Oh, by all means. Don't let us stop you. We'll just be getting back in our TARDIS, and leave you to your inevitable falling out..."

"We must get to the console room at once."

"You're too kind, but we've already occupied too much of your time." He turned towards Emilie's TARDIS. "We'll just see ourselves out."

[Magos Heinrich Kruller]

"You're too kind, but we've already occupied too much of your time." The Meddler turned towards the captured TARDIS. "We'll just see ourselves out."

A mechadendrite lashed out as the Master stepped forward, wrapping around Emilie's throat with bruising pressure. "Not so fast, freak," he snarled. "Take another step towards that capsule, and I'll cut your little pet's heart out."

He stared at the Meddler with one organic and one cybernetic eye, face twisting into a horrible parody of a grin. "Anything funny to say now, freak?" he asked, a second mechadendrite rising like a scorpion's sting. "Anything?"

[Deleted]

There was a very strange, cheery girl on board the TARDIS that was apparently meant to have been a prisoner. From the little interaction Emilie had with her so far, she would hazard a guess that the girl was the polar opposite to Marvin the Robot. Instead of being horribly depressed with the brain the size of a planet, she had boundless enthusiasm despite all odds.

Or she was axe crazy. Emilie did not have near enough information to know either way.

The Master began to argue with himself, and the brunette quirked a smile at her friend's jibes.

We'll just see ourselves out.

Any plan that did not end with being killed by Daleks sounded magnificent to Emilie, so she had followed the Meddler's lead right until she was jerked still by a rough grip on her throat.

"Not so fast, freak," he snarled. "Take another step towards that capsule, and I'll cut your little pet's heart out."
He stared at the Meddler with one organic and one cybernetic eye, face twisting into a horrible parody of a grin. "Anything funny to say now, freak?" he asked, a second mechadendrite rising like a scorpion's sting. "Anything?"

"He's far less a freak than you," Emilie hissed. Big words for someone currently terrified. True, she wouldn't die instantly from losing one heart, but she could still bleed to death... and who knew how anyone would react if they realized how much of a freak she was.

Honestly, she couldn't understand what he had against the Do- Meddler.

"What are you master of? The Borg? Wasting time when there are Daleks on the loose in a confined space?"

A confined space that could materialize in any space-time. It was like these nuts wanted the universe to consist only of Daleks. They certainly were surrounding the rubbish bins on wheels with more than enough technology to do so.