Mind Still Burning

By Lovova

Authors Note: I just really, really wanted an excuse to take a look into the Master's brain. A nonsense little drabble with no other purpose then to cure my itch to write today.

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"Order! Order in the brain!"

The sound of the hammer wasn't quite loud enough to hush the room full of Masters, who were all currently discussing why the room wasn't filled with more Masters.

"There's six of us!" Master number two said, his decayed jaw nearly falling off as he stared in shock at the measly number, "Why is there only six of us! I sacrificed a great deal to make sure we survived past the thirteenth regeneration!"

"You sacrificed!" The first Master shouted back, "What, do you think you just 'happened' to come by that plan all your own? I put years into figuring out how to gain immortality, and look at what you lot have done with it! Six? Why only six!"

"Order already, order!" The fifth Master shouted, once again banging at the hammer. This time he actually got some attention, and he wasn't about to waste it. After all, he knew first hand how easily the Masters minds drifted. "Now, look, we had more incarnations then this! They have simply gotten lost during the psychological trauma that brought us all here in the first place. I'm sure they'll figure their way out here eventually, but for now, we need to discuss the current Masters predicament!"

"And what, pray tell, is the current Master's predicament?" The fourth Master asked, flourishing his cape as he scowled dramatically at the other Masters, "Not that I can't guess. Would it be too far out there to say that Doctors gone and made a mess of our lives again?"

"Where is the current Master anyway?" Third Master said, looking around quizzically, "Did he not make it as well? Well, that will make things difficult, won't they?"

"I'm over here."

The five other Masters looked over to the corner of the room, where the sixth Master was sitting right in the crack of the wall, rocking slightly back and forth, and mild look on his face as he stared pointedly at nothing. He wore his black hoody and red shirt, and the raggedyness of his dyed hair fought to outmatch the raggedyness of his five o' clock shadow. Needless to say, he did not look his best.

"What the fuck is wrong with him?" Second Master rasped.

The fifth Master sighed, "I'm afraid to say that after my regeneration, things did not go well, neither biologically nor in the matter of fate. Current Master's regeneration was extremely unstable, and had a large effect on his mind. This, coupled with other Time Lords playing footsie with our psyche's- that's that drumming sound we've been hearing all this time, by the way-, our death, rebirth, and us accidently creating a situation for ourselves in which we must constantly eat away at our own lifeforce, preventing us from being able to regenerate into a more stable form…it's had a toll."

"That, and all the torture," Sixth Master smiled, still staring off into nothing, his arms curled around his knees, "Gotta love that torture. Can't die because we're not really alive anymore, so it can just go on and on and on…they're so fucking angry!" He suddenly screamed, hands beating at the wall behind him, eyes wide, that pleased smile still on his face, though his skin looked like it was trying it's best not to be associated with it.

"What's he going on about? Torture? Are we torturing someone? The Doctor?" The first Master couldn't keep the hope out of his voice.

Fifth Doctor rubbed at his eyes, "No, no, we're being tortured. Current Master made a very stupid move," Fifth glared at Sixth for a bit, who took no heed by it, "and we accidently got sucked into this kind of pocket dimension where some other TimeLords have managed to survive, and they're rather upset with us, which is why Current Master has receeded mentally into here, to look for both shelter and help."

"So, wait, we're prisoners of TimeLords?" Third said, outraged, "This is rubbish! We we're never anything but loyal to our species! We gave them lifetimes of service!"

"Kid, you have no idea," Sixth muttered, tapping his fingers on the ground to a beat he could no longer hear but would never forget. One, two, three, four, one, two, three, four….

"Yes, well, regardless that is still the situation. We're a prisoners in a world where, even if we managed to escape the prison chambers, nothing exists outside of the city, so there's nowhere to run. Any suggestions?" Fifth said, peering at his younger selves as they all gave a moment of quiet contemplation.

But it was only a moment.

"Could we bargain?" First suggested, "Offer our services in exchange for food and comfortable living?"

"Maybe we could have a year ago, but Current Master, at the moment, does not have the mental capacity to maintain even an illusion of loyal service, let alone actually be able to do it. Other then the ability to serve, we have nothing the Timelords wants, not even information." Fifth informed him.

"Well, dang," First cursed.

"How about a forceful takeover?" Asked the fourth, "Kill off the leaders, take over the city, rule this small world?"

Fifth thought about it, "Maybe if we managed to get out of the prison, Current Master could kill the leaders, but somehow I think maintaining control over the city might be a bit beyond him right now."

"Wait a minute," Second growled, "Exactly how bad off are we at the moment? Can't maintain leadership, can't even properly serve? What the hell have we become?"

In the corner, the sixth stood up. He laughed. Then, quicker then any Master had ever been able to move before, he ran up to Second, grabbing the decaying man by his shirt, probably taking some skin with it, and pointed at his own neck, "Look at this! I took it off months ago, and still I wear it! Even here, in the supposed safety of my own conscious, still I wear it!"

More annoyed then frightened, Second obligingly looked at where Sixth pointed. "…Is that a dog collar?" Second asked, completely disgusted as he pushed Sixth away from him, who released his grip, "What on earth are you doing wearing something like that?"

Sixth once again went back to staring at the thing in the air only he could see. "She said it suited me, the stupid bitch." He laughed, "I would have killed her, but she was me by the time I could. Oh well." Sixth twitched, and his smile turned down, and there was a horror in his eyes as he whispered to himself, "I actually wish he'd come and save me…"

There was no need for clarification. And at that comment, First came up to Sixth, and with no restraint, punched him in the face. Sixth made no move to defend himself or even break his fall, as ashamed of his own words as his younger selves were.

But that didn't mean they weren't true.

With a meekness that the Master would only ever display to his younger, stronger selves, he crawled back into the corner, resting there while the other five went back to the meeting, hoping they could think of something that his madness riddled brain couldn't.

"Well," Fifth huffed, "As you all can see now, we've literally hit rock bottom. Unfortunately, even if we can come up with a plan to escape or to make our quality of life better, we must keep in mind that we are limited by the abilities of the Current Master who so far, mentally, is the weakest of us. There is no current hope in regenerating into someone better, so, knowing what you know now, any ideas?"

Once again there was silence, but this silence was stumped, not contemplative. They literally had nothing to work with. How on earth could they turn this situation into something good?

"We can't die?" Fourth asked.

"As far as I've been able to tell, no. Not permanently anyway. We regenerate, but just back into him," Fifth gestured to Sixth, "with only minor physical changes, like hair color."

"I told him I dyed it." Sixth murmured, "I didn't want him to know."

"Well, okay, we can't maintain leadership, and there's nowhere to hide." Fourth said, "But if we can't die, how about we just try and kill everyone?"

Stunned silence. "What?" First said, "Kill off the last remaining population of Timelords? Are you mad?"

"No, that's me." Sixth giggled.

Fifth frowned. He wasn't too ecstatic about this plan either. "Even if we could, and they didn't catch us and completely imprison us after the first hundred dead…at the moment, there is no indication that we will ever get out of this dimension. Forever is a very long time to spend in complete isolation. The effect on Current Masters mental state would be…tremendous."

"Worst then it is now?" Fourth pointed out, "I mean, look at us. We're not even his real past incarnations, you know? This whole meeting is just another part of his looney psyche playing out. Killing the last of our species is a desperate move, but these are clearly desperate times."

"Kill everyone?" Sixth whispered, "But then we'd be alone…"

"Oi! What's prisoner Sixth blathering on about?" A guard named Marcalus barked, glaring at the blond, raggedy man strapped down to the table, face and body so covered in injuries that one could barely tell it was the once powerful Master strapped down there.

Another Guard named Colethro shrugged warily, reading instructions from the high council, "Him? Nevermind him, he's been mumbling to himself for the last hour. Have you heard? All of our shifts have been doubled. Apparently the Seer saw something bad happening to The City, and the Council's decided to amp up security."

"What?" The guard named Marcalus groaned, standing beside the prisoner, trying to hear his mutterings. It was all just nonsense, "Well, isn't that great. Bet you anything we don't get any extra privileges along with the extra workload. What a bloody waste of time."

"Oh, I don't know," Rasped the prisoner, who had just managed to unbind himself with the key he had swiped from the guard named Colethro an hour earlier, "That Seer could be on to something, there."

And the world keeps turning

So long as the mind keeps burning.

And this boy,

He's burning hot.

-fin-