Leaning his head back, pinching the joint of this marvelous drug of the humans, the Master peered up at the ceiling, dancing with the shadows of trees outside the window, glowing with the pale white of a full moon. The smoke of the drug Lucy had insisted he try burned pleasantly in his lungs, and he imagined it throbbed there in time with the drums inside his skull.
Reaching over, Lucy took the joint for a drag before carefully pinching out the burning ember at the end and setting it on the bedside table. She turned her pot-glazed eyes up to the dancing shadows on the wall, slowly letting the smoke seep out her nose as Harold blew it out in a steady stream, watching it swirl into the air.
"My name's not Harold," he said in a slow-sudden way, crossing his eyes to look down the line of his nose.
"Really?" Lucy giggled. "Then what is it?" Pausing, she looked over at him as he sat there, eyes crossed, looking down at his nose. "The Master?"
"Yes," he said softly, still looking down at his nose. "I am The Master of all things." Lips slack, he let his eyes relax, turning to look at her, laying naked on top of the covers.
She laughed, her nose crinkling as she curled her legs up. "Master of all things," she said in a small voice, reaching out to walk her fingers up his nose into his hair. "Master of all things...Master..."
"Yes," he said, reaching up, snatching her wrist with quick fingers, leaning away from the head of the bed as he bent her arm out.
"Ouch..." She murmured, faint laughter still dancing on her lips.
Ouch. Ouch?
He released her, watched her as she pulled back, rubbing her wrist. It occurred to him that his high was already wearing off. Apparently Time Lord brains needed more than a joint to keep them stoned.
Turning and leaning back against the headboard, the Master lowered his hand to the crinkled sheets beside his thigh, tapping his fingers as the drums beat on the wrong side of his eardrum. "I want to show you something," he said. "Where I came from last."
She would be easy enough to break. She was like a flower...pretty and happy and innocent. Easy to stomp. Showing her the future of humanity would be a stomp enough for her.
He could see it now. He could see her dancing to the drums.
"OK," she said, still laughing slightly as she tugged on a lock of her hair.
Getting up, he walked to the window a moment, feeling the cool of the night seeping through the glass and staining the air about it, feeling it raise goosebumps along his arms. Turning, he grabbed up his pants, pulling them on. "Get up," he said as he zipped and buttoned the slacks, going next for his white undershirt. He buttoned it most of the way up, not bothering with the top three buttons or a tie. Where they were going, ties were entirely unnecessary. "Get dressed."
"OK." Climbing off the bed, Lucy found her clothes, climbing into them and fluffing her hair slightly, eyes shut, smile on her face as she swung her hair back and forth, humming the tune.
Turning towards her, her watched a moment, listening to her humming, reflecting the drums.
The drums the drums the drums.
Taking his eyes from her, he headed towards the door. "Follow me."
"What is this thing?" Lucy asked, looking around at the inside of this...strange thing he had brought her to. It hadn't looked like much more than a blue police box on the outside. Maybe she was just confused. Sometimes pot made her get confused.
Ignoring her question, the Master set the machine to take them to the future of humanity. The terrible future that would stomp Lucy's flower soul.
"This goddamn fucking outdated model," he snarled, beating the control panel with an open palm until the machine shuddered and whirred.
A gagged little shout of surprise escaped Lucy's throat as she fell back against one of the walls, looking up and around at the strange room. "Harold - what is this place?"
"I told you," he snarled, whipping around to face her, leaning against the control panel, smiling, lifting his hands out to the sides. "I'm the Master." His smile vanished as he pushed away from the control panel, replaced with a vicious snarl. "Not Harold Saxon."
The machine gave a jolt, sending the Master stumbling forward, his bare feet grinding against the grate as he knocked into Lucy, forcing her back against the wall.
The disturbance came to an abrupt halt, and the Master pulled back, his eyes rolling towards the ceiling, expecting another jolt. It never came.
Lowering his eyes back to Lucy, he took a deep breath, holding his hand out to her. "This is called a TARDIS," he said, "and we are now 100 trillion."
A small frown crossed Lucy's face as she lifted her hand, resting it in the Master's. "What?"
Fingers wrapping over hers, the Master spun, pulling her towards the door. Throwing it open, he pulled her forward, catching her by the shoulders and pulling her back against him, holding her firmly there, resting his jaw against her soft hair as he looked out into the dark new world the humans inhabited. Only there were no humans in this dead valley - not strictly speaking, anyway.
"This is the planet of Malcassario, where human kind will ultimately end up in the year 10o trillion - the end of the universe," he said, his voice a whisper in her ear.
Standing slack jawed in the door of the thing called the TARDIS, Lucy stared out into the dead valley. No life. No life except the humanoids rushing towards them across the blackened existence, glowing only under the faint light of the distant moon in the sky.
"What are they?" She whispered, her spine tingling with the instinct to hide from these things.
"Why," he said with a grin. "Those are people. They're just like you. They're humans."
"No..." She said softly. "They're not."
"Well...OK, you're half right," he said lightly, releasing her, moving to stand beside her, leaning against the frame of the TARDIS door. "They're called the Futurekind. They're cannibalistic humanoid beings hunting humans," he said. "They can be quite interesting when you get to know them."
They were getting closer, kicking up a puff of dust behind them as they ran forward.
"Close the door."
"But why?" He asked, looking out at the nearing horde. "Don't you want to see one half of what your race will become?"
"Please," she whispered softly, feeling a hot tear trace down her cheek.
They were close enough now for her to see that those were not weapons in their hands. They were gnawed human bones - legs and arms, broken in half for the marrow. These creatures, these Futurekind were stained. Their hands were covered in fresh blood, their faces as well. Blood and frothing saliva oozed from their lips and dripped from their chin as their tongues rolled in their mouths.
"Please close the door."
"All right," the Master sighed. "If you insist." Stepping forward he pulled the doors shut. They were only a few yards away, and their stench filled his nose. He knew that Lucy could smell them, too - their unwashed bodies, their teeth, never brushed, with bits of human flesh caught in them, rotting in their mouths.
Stepping back from the door, shaking softly, Lucy looked up at the Master with tear filled eyes as he turned back to her, lifting his eyebrows. "What are you?"
"Time Lord," he said. "You're kind will never have the pleasure of really knowing the Time Lords," he said, then paused, lifting his eyes towards the ceiling once again. "Actually...would that be a pleasure?" Giving a shrug, he moved toward the controls. "I am one of the last. There is only one other."
Lucy just watched him go, watched him work the controls. She didn't know what she was supposed to say.
"The infernal Doctor destroyed our home planet," he said, turning to look back at Lucy as the TARDIS shuddered into action, to take them back. He would have gone anywhere else, had he the option. No...the Doctor had disabled the TARDIS moments before it had dematerialized before his eyes, with the Master behind the controls. "I was stuck in a sick, old, dying body for years," he shouted, his voice ringing metallic off the walls. "Locked in a prison I didn't even fucking recognize!"
She started at his voice, closing her eyes, pressing out the tears, feeling them burn their way down her cheeks.
Sighing, the Master watched her a moment, shaking his head softly. "It's OK," he said, moving forward, lifting his hands to her cheeks. They felt cold under the heat of his palms. As she opened her eyes to look up at him, he forced a reassuring smile. "You don't have to cry."
"Why not?" She muttered, her voice crackling softly.
"Because," he said, "you are a pretty lucky lady. And a lucky pretty lady." He smiled, pulling her against him, hugging her tightly, resting his chin on the top of her head as she folded against him like a frightened child. Stroking her hair, he closed his eyes, rocking her gently back and forth. "You have me now. Standing by my side, you never have to face that future. Standing by my side, you will face a much, much greater future than any you could possibly imagine."
Now she could hear the bladed edge to his voice, even collapsed against his warm body, his arms curled around protectively, holding her snug. And yet, she somehow found them comforting.