Two Doctors, The Master and The Librarian

Chapter 14: An Aptitude for Mind Games

Through the gap where the TARDIS door had been hewn in two, the Doctor and Wong could survey the situation inside. The Master, who was now a woman, was standing next to the console, Eye of Agamotto in hand, and a triumphant expression on her face. The Sorcerer Supreme was lying slumped on the floor, presumably unconscious, though the Doctor could not see any sort of wound. An affliction of the mind then, he wondered, remembering the Master's aptitude for all mind games. 

Within an instant, Wong was inside. He wasted no time marvelling at the TARDIS' larger interior, though of course he wouldn't, as a Sorcerer he was probably quite used to that sort of matter bending, mind boggling trick. 

"Give that here right now." He demanded, holding a hand out. This was a rather lame demand, thought the Doctor, wondering why Wong believed the Master would go to all of this trouble only to hand the prize over at the first mediocre demand. Clearly the Master was in a similar frame of mind. 

"No." She replied simply, smiling sinisterly. The Doctor looked at her. His greatest nemesis, according to the Master them self, regenerated into female form for the first time. (Technically not the first time, but the Doctor wasn't to know that yet.) She had blond hair which was tied up in a complicated knot that twirled around her head. Her eyes were blue, and could have been pleasant if it hadn't been for the hard steel core of hatred that practically radiated from them - the result of a thousand years of vindictiveness and spite. 

"Shall we do this the easy way, or the hard?" Asked Wong, a darker edge creeping into his voice as he drew a weapon from thin air. 

"Wong..b...be careful." Strange's voice came as a guttery rasp from the floor. He was starting to come too, and his injured hands clawed at the floor in an attempt to keep him grounded there. His face was pale and clammy, and he had a haggard, gaunt look about him. 

Wong turned to look at his friend, and the Master took the opportunity, tapping him lightly on the side of the head with her finger. He froze for a second, his muscles held in place, the only thing moving were his frantic eyes, which darted fanatically around the space, staring but not seeing what was in front of them, only the endless tidal wave of moments that were pounding through his head. He keeled over with a thump. 

"Boring but effective." The Master sighed to herself, staring down at the lifeless bodies of the two Sorcerers on the floor. Then she turned to the Doctor. 

"And so, here we are." She said, attempting to stare directly into his eyes. "Just you and me, like it always is, was and ever will be. This encounter was inevitable, and yet it took you this long to get here."

The Doctor shrugged, running his Sonic Screwdriver around his hands like a slightly dangerous fidget toy. 

"Where is it?" She asked. 

"Straight to the point are we? No small talk? I'm almost disappointed." The Doctor pulled off his jacket, throwing it over a suitable bar, like he typically did in his own TARDIS, before casually leaning against the bar. He kept his eyes trained on the Sonic, not looking at the Master. 

"Where is it?" She repeated, her ominously sweet voice becoming more of a hiss. 

"He has it." The Doctor gestured to Doctor Strange. "And don't bother asking me, he did some sort of sorcery...thing to it. He can access it, but no one else can. And that," he pointed to the Eye of Agamotto, "is, I believe, useless without the Time Stone." He smiled, slipping the Sonic away and standing up from his relaxed position. His demeanour was still calm, but beneath the surface was a bubbling ocean, ready to burst, and some of that strength came through in his voice. "So, it appears we have reached a stalemate." He paused, looking to the Master as if waiting for an answer. None came. "What do you want?" He asked, the calm disappearing in an instant, as if flicked off by a light switch. 

The Master thought for a second before answering. "You know, I don't actually know. I mean I know my short term goal, but long term...no idea. And isn't that terrifying?" 

"For me or you?" Replied the Doctor.

"Both of us." There was a pause, as they took this in. "Unusually, this time I'm not going to tell you my goal." The Master continued, grinning. 

"Learned your lesson from a lifetime of failures, have you?"

"No. It's for one reason, and one reason only. And it's not a very good reason at that, but I feel it is probably necessary so as to keep the universe fairly intact and all that."

"And what's that?" 

"Spoilers. If I tell you my plan...oooh BIG spoilers for a future incarnation of you."

She waited for a reply, but on receiving only a look of confusion, she added "Spoilers, Sweetie."  

When not even a spark of recognition crossed the Doctor's face, she realised. "Oooh, you haven't got to that bit yet, have you? Lucky you in some ways, I suppose." 

"Who are you?" The Doctor replied, suddenly struck by a possibility. 

"I'm the Master." The Master gave a little bow. 

"Of course, I know that. But who actually are you?" He looked into her eyes, thinking, "because you're older, older than I've ever seen you, by a long way."  

"Doctor, I know you. I have seen you, many, many different versions, faces, ages. I've seen incarnations of you from your past and your future. I know you." 

"Well obviously not well enough!" The Doctor exclaimed, leaping to grab his coat, and simultaneously pressing a button on the sonic. 

There was a boom, and the TARDIS shook violently, jolting the Master who dropped the Eye of Agamotto....into Doctor Strange's outstretched hand. In the midst of the conversation, the Master had forgotten a very important detail: there were two other people in the ship. In one movement, Doctor Strange leapt to his feet, and began hauling Wong to the door. The TARDIS juddered and vibrated around them, and before the Master's mind had caught up, the three of them were almost at the broken door. In a last ditch attempt to salvage her failing scheme, she ran at Wong, howling like a deranged banshee. Falling into them, her momentum carried all four outside her TARDIS, where they collapsed in a heap. With a gentle wheeze, her TARDIS began to dematerialise, leaving the Master stranded with three people who were really rather annoyed with her.

Thank you so much for reading this far, I really hope you have enjoyed this. I'm planning to have one, maybe two more chapters after this one, and then that will be the end. Please vote and comment, and I'll try and update as soon as I can. Thank you again for reading!