In which The Master performs the standard mun-scolding voice check.

[gloriousalternative]

Miss Mundane, while it's only natural you assist me in spreading my influence as far as possible, I fear I don't understand how this will "help." I'm not a highly social man by choice, and I see no way in which this is a means to an end. And the notion that I am to be sent anywhere to "graduate" is an insult. I've been counted as one of the most brilliant-

I am in no way "in your head" to be unable to leave it, my dear. I've attempted, certainly, but you seem to have a frustrating resistance to hypnosis. You'll regret that stubbornness once I find a way around it.

I've been advised that the place you're considering taking me is in no way desirable. And that furthermore, you are in no position to give me the full attention and respect I deserve. I have no intention of being your pawn in this, Miss Mundane.

You will abandon this notion. You WILL obey ME.

...Blast it.

Comments

[thecricketer]

Quite indomitable, aren't they?

[gloriousalternative]

Utterly ridiculous. But I relish the challenge, rea-

[you seem familiar

...ah!]

My dear Doctor. New regeneration, I see.

[thecricketer]

[He grins, and if it's a bit strained, a bit sad, it's only for a moment.]

Fifth, actually. I wasn't fond of it, to be honest, but it's grown on me a bit.

[gloriousalternative]

Ah! How fortunate that it has. I hope the, ah, transitions weren't especially messy.

...naturally my young typist finds that statement amusing for "about fifteen different reasons" and refuses to divulge any of them to me.

[An uncomfortable pause as he recalls the current state of his own mortality. Well, he'll get around to that later.]

[thecricketer]

[Oh, so dry.] I can't imagine why.

[He notes the pause and an absolutely absurd part of him wants to espouse some comforting lie. His mouth turns and his gaze slips away.]

[gloriousalternative]

[he eyes the Doctor thoughtfully for a moment] I suspect you can, but tempting paradoxes wouldn't serve either of us particularly well.

That aside - you, ah, have some experience with these Mundane sorts? I don't recall ever hearing of them before.

[thecricketer]

Indeed.

[A slight nod, as he meets the Master's gaze again.] I can't for the lives of me work out what they are, precisely - the closest comparison I can make is the Eternals.

[He shakes his head.] They all seem to be quite unique. Some more...sadistic than others.

I've been with mine for years now, off and on.

[gloriousalternative]

[pretty much immediately, the Master's mind is on the standard two tracks of "how can I charm this creature into friendship" and "how can I harness its power to my will (until it falls beyond my control and I have to get the Doctor to bail me out)"]

Years, now, really. And you...coexist quite willingly? Pleasantly?

[thecricketer]

[The Doctor knows where your mind is going, Master, and his smile is wryly amused.]

Hmm, more or less, I suppose. They're better than they could be, but then I've my own life to compare them to.

You can't control them, Master. This will be difficult to grasp, but the powers is theirs, completely and utterly.

[gloriousalternative]

[is that an admission of some guilt? His Doctor still plays the curmudgeonly saint, and he finds the contrast intriguing.]

[he frowns.] Nonsense. What have they to show for their supposed power? Allowing for such cosmic bullying - you're growing soft in your old age, Doctor.

[thecricketer]

[He smiles again, wan and weary.] The word, I believe, is "resigned". I'd rather not waste energy on battles I can't win.

Not when I can use it in other ways. [There's that old light in his eyes, suddenly, earnest and sincere.] The things I've seen - I've been to other universes, you know, but this. To meet people from across the multiverse, to learn of their worlds...

[He hesitates, then. After a moment he speaks again, very softly.] To see those you thought you never would again.

[gloriousalternative]

Now that, as incentive for you, I'd believe.

[And for a moment he feeds on the excitement, like when they studied old drawings in the Uxarian city, the shadow of when they were young and eager to know and do more than Gallifrey offered.]

The multiverse itself? Remarkable. Astonishing that we knew nothing of these people, if their power is so great.

[That last thing pings him, and there's a look on his face suspiciously like concern as he wars with his own questions. What happens to him?]

...Don't be ridiculous! As if I'd ever cease to cross your path, Doctor.

"i'm dreadfully sorry but i burned you to death"

[thecricketer]

I can be rather predictable, so I've heard.

[He can't help but grin, every so briefly. He remembers those days, too.]

Isn't it?

[Then he's looking away again, raw conflict and worn remorse creasing his features. If, perhaps, he could warn - no. No, he mustn't.]

"don't worry, I get better! I don't even have to explain how!"

[gloriousalternative]

[The nostalgia fades rather more quickly for him. If he's unable to further his ends here, his mind starts to drift to an issue he's been putting off for a long time. And he doesn't like that look at all.]

Doctor...

[For a split second he looks vulnerable, frightened. Then he subtly draws himself up tighter, his face severe and hard. His voice is dangerously quiet.]

Doctor. What happens to me?

"...what is my life"

[thecricketer]

[His gaze flickers back and that look cuts right to his hearts, make his chest ache.]

I can't -

[But what if he can? Multiple universes. Multiple timelines. And dammit he is so tired of death.

So he draws himself up, meets the Master's eyes, and speaks, low and quiet.]

I'm going to murder you, Koschei.

[He doesn't kid himself. That's what it was.]

"then I'm a cat and a snake. I don't really get it either."

[gloriousalternative]

[He takes it as a genuine, immediate threat for a second, and hates himself for actually flinching in surprise. Then he realizes the statement for what it is - and he laughs, a bit too loudly.]

Oh, come now, Theta. Do - do not lie to me.

"please tell me you didn't purr."

[thecricketer]

[He'd have prided himself, once, on making the Master flinch. Now, it feels like a slap in the face. One, of course, that he deserves.]

I wouldn't. Take a look in my mind, if you like.

[He wouldn't put forward such a dangerous proposition, not usually. But he owes the man some risk, surely. And if he takes advantage, well. Fair is fair, isn't it?]

"...I regret nothing."

[gloriousalternative]

[The prospect of the secrets he could ferret out, the damage he could do, wars with the idea of actually watching that - watching himself die like that, by his hands. Apparently there's something far more frightening than just the Doctor humiliating him.]

That's not how it happens, Doctor.

[suddenly furious] That is not how it ends for me!

"Do you ever?"

[thecricketer]

[The Doctor sees his memory replay before his eyes, and he can feel everything he did that day; conviction, resignation, grief, horror. "Of course I'm all right."]

I'm afraid it is.

[His voice is achingly soft. It would be easy, to look away again, but he doesn't.]

"Eric Roberts. I regret Eric Roberts."

[gloriousalternative]

[The Master stares back in sheer stubborn desire to be right, to come out ahead in how this is making him feel. His voice is soft again.]

Then I suggest you move your flirtation with bloodshed up in your schedule. Because I intend to prevent such a day by any means, and any resulting cracks in time will just have to make do.

"You really do need to think more carefully on your possessions."

[thecricketer]

[His voice is weary, now; he sounds very much like a man of centuries.] Would that it were only a flirtation, Master.

Would I have told you, if I didn't want you to stop it? If I didn't suppose, perhaps, that your timeline may branch in a different direction?

[gloriousalternative]

[That sobers him a bit, and he regards the Doctor thoughtfully.]

Younger and older than ever, face of Apollo and you think you've become some sort of monster. What has become of you, Theta?

[He realizes which name he's used a bit too late.]

At any rate, how fascinating. Your self-righteous stewardship of the universe seems to end with your feelings of guilt.
It's almost disappointing.

[thecricketer]

[The old nickname makes his eyebrows arch and his chest ache, just a little. It's difficult, now, to imagine being so young.]

I can hardly protect the universe if I can't even protect my friends. [How many of them has he failed, now?]

[A sudden, thin smile.] Or former friends, as the case may be.

[iamthemaster]

[He sighs at his young counterpart.]

It never works, you know. You should quit now while you're ahead. Trying to hypnotize them is about as effective as hypnotizing yourself.

[gloriousalternative]

[the Mundane isn't helping him with the identity of this one - he seems familiar, though, and like there's a wrongness, as if this couldn't normally happen]

[a long-suffering sigh] As I'm slowly gathering, my good fellow.

Well, no matter. I hardly possess only one trick-

Miss Mundane, that is not "blatant lies!"

[iamthemaster]

To be more accurate, you have one best trick, for now. Though, you do get quite a collection. All in the name of living up to the chosen name, of course, Koschei.

[The Master doesn't often use that name, but it should spark some recognition in his younger counter part.]

[gloriousalternative]

[It does, and that sense of suspiciously controlled wrongness grows stronger. He meets the other man's eyes, cautious.]

Are we acquainted, sir? I'd entertain the more obvious explanations, but I don't make a habit of play at paradoxes with nothing to gain from them.

[iamthemaster]

[He chuckles darkly.]

There are no paradoxes in this place, but how disappointing, I would think that I would recognize myself.

[gloriousalternative]

[a faint sigh of exasperation] Well, naturally I had a sense of you, but circumstances being what they are -

[a beat as it settles in]

We survive, then. At least one regeneration longer.

[iamthemaster]

Obviously.

[He'll not mention the bit about becoming one of those despicable humans.]

[gloriousalternative]

There's really no need to be rude about it.

...At any rate, that's quite comforting. I'm sure you remember why.

[iamthemaster]

[He doesn't care about rudeness, considering all he's done to survive that long.]

Do I? I suppose it depends on when you are. Though, you being me, surviving is always better than the alternative.

[He chuckles lightly.]

The lengths we go through - actually quite impressive. How's the Doctor?

[darkpath_master]

Difficult, are they not? Tiresome, I suspect is the better term.

I have found that the more subtle forms of persuasion work rather well.