The planet Temos, located in the near-center of the universe, was home to a natural tear in spacetime. Though the tear was mostly harmless – and only caused occasional magnetic storms to the planet – it could theoretically be mined for its temporal energy resources.
And at that moment, someone tried to test that theory.
The Time Lord criminal known as the Master had gone by various names throughout his many lives. Currently, in a female form, she went by "Missy" (short for "Mistress").
Though she walked across a very alien landscape, she was dressed in very human-like attire: a deep plum-colored jacket, matching ankle-length skirt, a brooch under her throat. A black boater hat adorned with fake fruit sat crooked atop her mess of black hair. More than one earthling had described her as an "evil Mary Poppins", especially when the ensemble was complete with her umbrella.
As she walked, Missy carried an odd spike-like device under her arm. It was about a meter in length and colored a dull, gunmetal grey, affixed with blinking green lights and a short, cylindrical terminal at the one end.
At last, Missy arrived at her destination. Before her lay the famous Tear of Temos. It was like a fissure in the earth, though it had no depth, but shimmered with light of a thousand colors. Small bolts of electricity crackled out of the rift as if with minds of their own.
Missy grinned a toothy, malicious smile as the tear's lights cast sharp shadows from her high cheekbones.
"Hello there, sexy," she said to the tear.
With both hands grasping the spike device, she raised it high and struck it into the spacetime rift. Larger bolts of lightning flew from the tear, and Missy's hair and coat fluttered from nonexistent wind. She had to take one hand off of her device in order to keep her hat from flying away.
When the winds and lightning had died down, Missy started inputting temporal codes on the device's terminal keyboard, giggling as she did so. When the last code had been entered, she dramatically clicked a large green button in the center, cackling like a child.
At the moment of the button's pressing, the spike's lights lit up with the same colors as the tear. Both the device and the rift glowed with such intensity that Missy had to avert her eyes. The lightning and wind kicked back up, stronger than before.
When the tear's forces had died down, Missy turned back to see that there were five new, smaller tears floating in the air. Each one of them shifted and shimmered with the same light as the main rift.
As Missy stood there admiring the spacetime rifts, they began to glow and change shape with the sound of crackling thunder. Eventually, the tears developed human-like shapes, and as the light faded, five beings stood before Missy.
And all of them were the Master; different incarnations of the same Time Lord from across time.
The first Master was the oldest incarnation there – his thirteenth body from his first set of regenerations. He had dark hair and a goatee – both streaked with grey – and was dressed in a black Nehru jacket with matching gloves.
The next incarnation looked similar to the previous Master, only without the greying in the hair and beard, and wore a black, high-collared tunic with puffy sleeves. During this time, the Master stole the body of an alien named Tremas to replace his rapidly decaying Time Lord form.
The Master next to him was taller, with a strong jaw and slicked-back hair. He wore a black leather jacket – the collar popped up – and a pair of aviator sunglasses to hide his reptilian eyes. This body once belonged to a human EMT called Bruce, until the Master possessed him during a clash with the Doctor on Earth in 1999.
The next Master was old, with white hair and dressed in a dark waistcoat and cravat, an innocent and pitiful look on his face. This incarnation was the one who ran to the end of the universe to escape the horrors of the Time War, where he used a chameleon arch to wipe his memories and transform himself into a human called "Professor Yana."
The last Master was a young man with brown hair and an impish face. He wore a black suit and tie, and Missy recalled this incarnation as the one who took over the Earth by becoming Prime Minister of England under the pseudonym "Harold Saxon."
Missy smiled as she looked down the line of her former selves, remembering the wicked times she had as each of them. The past Masters looked around the landscape and at themselves in confusion.
"What is this?" the Tremas Master demanded. "Where am I?"
"I was on Earth a second ago," the Bruce Master said in his American accent. "This isn't Earth."
The Saxon Master looked down the line. "Oh, it's you lot again. Good times."
"What do you mean 'again'?" the Old Master said. "Who are all of you?"
Missy clapped her hands together, and the other Masters turned to look at her.
"Gentlemen, Masters, attention please," she said. "I know you're all very confused right now – as you should be – but trust yourself, you've been brought here for a reason."
"What do you mean 'Masters'?" the Old Master asked, stepping forward. "I am the Master."
"As am I," the Tremas Master said, stepping in front of the Old Master and earning a glare.
"We're all the Master," the Saxon Master said.
"Wh-Who is the Master?" the Yana Master asked as he cowered. "Will someone please tell me what's going on? Is it the Futurekind? Have they done something?"
Missy sighed. "Oh, right. I forgot that he has no memories of being the Master. Will one of you—"
"Got it." The Saxon Master reached into the Yana Master's waistcoat and produced a fob watch on a chain.
"What are you doing?" the Yana Master asked. "Th-That watch doesn't work, I can assure—"
The Yana Master shut up when the Saxon Master pried open the watch. Immediately, the white-haired Master's face was bombarded with golden light, and his expression changed from scared to cold and menacing.
He snatched the watch from the Saxon Master as his face contorted into a snarl.
He whispered, "I…am…the Mast—"
"Yes, yes," Missy interrupted, "you're the Master, he's the Master, I'm the Master. Glad we've gotten introductions over with, Prof."
The other Masters looked at her with disbelief. The Tremas Master laughed, a loud, booming cackle.
"You?" he said. "You are my future self?"
"A woman?" the Yana Master snarled. "That cannot be."
"I concur," the Bruce Master said.
"I've gone through worse phases," the Saxon Master said, tilting his head. "And she did know about Professor Yana's memories."
"That means nothing," the Old Master said. "I have a hard enough time believing any of you are my future selves, but I can scarcely believe a future where I become a woman—"
As the Old Master went on his tirade, Missy stepped over to the spike device and tapped on it four times. Tap-tap-tap-tap, mimicking the rhythmic drumming that had plagued the Master's head for all of his lives. That maddening, ever-present drumming.
Missy continued drumming her fingers, and the other Masters flinched at the sound. A few of them grabbed at their ears, and even Missy showed subtle signs of fear.
"The drums…" the Yana Master said.
"Always with the drums," the Tremas Master said.
"Always there," the Old Master said.
"Never leaving," the Bruce Master said.
"One, two, three, four," the Saxon Master said.
Missy stopped drumming and looked over her past forms, whom looked at one another as if in sudden realization.
"Well, now that we've all been assured that we're the same person," Missy said, "let's get down to business."
"Well I certainly hope it's important enough," the Saxon Master said, grabbing his suit lapels. "I was right in the middle of my campaign for British Prime Minister."
"And I still have to steal the Doctor's body," the Bruce Master said.
"And this is why you're all here," Missy said. "Each and every one of you has tried to take over the universe at some point, and all of you have failed because one certain man has stuck his cute little nose into your business every time."
All of the Masters developed the same grimace on their faces.
"The Doctor," they snarled in unison.
Missy sneered. "Bingo. And so, if the greatest mind in the known universe cannot concoct a plan to eliminate his rival and take over the universe, surely six versions of that mind can."
"Well I believe there's only one course of action here," the Yana Master said. "We have to eliminate the Doctor, once and for all."
"Easier said than done," the Tremas Master said.
"I truly must have gone mad at some point in the future," the Old Master spat. "The Doctor is the most worthy adversary I have ever faced. Without him, the universe would just be…"
"Dull," the Saxon Master finished. "For all of eternity." He looked over to the Old Master, and the two shared a knowing nod.
"I agree the Doctor must live," the Bruce Master said. "But only because I still need his body to gain his regenerations."
The Yana Master snarled at him. "Idiot. You obviously gain your regenerations back in the future, else half of us wouldn't be here."
"But I need them now," the Bruce Master said. "This body is already starting to deteriorate, and I cannot wait any longer."
"I can't blame him," the Old Master said. "If I were him, I'd want out of that body as soon as possible."
The Bruce Master turned to him. Though his eyes were hidden by sunglasses, they still stared daggers at the Old Master.
"And what is that supposed to mean?" he asked. "I stole this body from Earth."
"Oh, and it shows," the Old Master said. "I mean, it's so brutish. And what's that you're wearing? A leather jacket and sunglasses? Hardly sophisticated."
"Well at least I realized the error of that stupid beard," the Bruce Master said, pointing a finger.
"The beard is not stupid!" the Tremas Master said, stepping in front of the Bruce Master's finger.
"It's a little stupid," the Saxon Master said.
The Yana Master gave him a smack to the back of his head. The younger Master yelped in pain.
"Respect the classics," the Yana Master scolded. "Lord, I can't believe you're who I become. You look like a child in that suit."
The Saxon Master held his mouth agape in shock as he ran his hands down the front of the suit. "How dare you! I'm going to be Prime Minister of England! At least I'm going places in this regeneration, you doddering old fool who was so afraid of the Time War that he became a human!"
And thus, an argument broke out among the Masters. The Old Master bickered with the Saxon Master, who was already being berated by the Yana Master. The Bruce Master pointed fingers at the Tremas Master while the Old Master attempted to defend his beard.
After a few moments of this, Missy rolled her eyes, stuck two fingers in her mouth, and whistled. The loud, shrill noise filled the air, and immediately the other Masters shut up and looked at her.
"Now boys, you can measure them later," Missy said. "But I didn't bring you all here for a squabble with yourselves. No one is leaving this planet until we come up with a good enough plan to get rid of the Doctor and take over the universe."
The Masters stood there, thinking in silence, the only sound a distant crackling of thunder. Many of the Masters crossed their arms in contemplation. The Yana Master scowled at the grown, while the Old Master steepled his fingers underneath his nose. The Bruce Master stared straight forward, his blank sunglasses making him look all the more enigmatic.
Missy blew air through her mouth. "Did anyone happen to bring tea?" she asked. "I could use a spot right about now."
The other Masters shook their heads. The Saxon Master patted himself down to make sure, but came up empty and shrugging.
Missy sighed and looked to the sky. "Typical me," she mused.