The Shadow Hospital's electro-magnetic euthanasia pods were lined up in softly-lit rows. They were silver and chrome, each about the height of a telephone box with a sleek, egg-shell like appearance.
The Doctor wasn't exactly sure why the Shadow Proclamation needed so many - executing criminals was hardly an en masse operation, after all. He mused if they'd perhaps got a bulk deal on the pods.
The Master and Lord were talking quietly a few metres away. The Doctor stood by the door, holding the Agni sphere under one arm and watching them.
It was eerie to see the Fission Clones interacting so closely - almost like an optical illusion or trick photograph. The Master said something and Lord laughed, such a familiar noise yet it still sounded irregular, like a jarring note in a song.
Doubts kept batting at the Doctor's mind like flies. What if his plan didn't work? If Lord and the Master remained separate, he had no other technology to undo what had been done to them.
He tried to come to grips with the idea of having two halves of the Master, forever.
Lord was now splaying his hands to mimic an explosion, complete with sound effects, and the Master animatedly joined in. The Doctor couldn't suppress a smile. At least they seemed to have finally found some common ground.
Martha opened the door, jogging him out of his thoughts. She closed her phone as she walked in, smiling at the Doctor.
"That was Malcolm. He said everybody at UNIT has fully recovered. Half the country felt that mental spike earlier - the news are chalking it up to 'unusual atmospheric pressure'."
"Humans." The Doctor rolled his eyes, but his tone was affectionate.
They approached the two Fission Clones, who turned with identical expressions of amusement, like they had just shared a hilarious in-joke.
"Okay, here we go," said the Master with a dramatic sigh. "Time for the Doctor's next stupid and dangerous plan."
The Doctor gave a trace of a smile. He walked over to the nearest pod and swung the doors open, bowing like a butler. "Your chamber awaits, milords."
"Are you sure about this?" Lord turned to the Master. He still looked pale from his surgery, but carried himself with a mask of confidence. From somewhere (the Doctor had no idea where) he had managed to procure a top hat which hid the bloodied bandage on his head. It also matched his suit.
"Absolutely not," replied the Master with a grin. "But it's not the craziest thing we've ever done, is it? Worst case scenarios are; we both regenerate with new bodies, or we die."
"One of those is significantly worse than the other," pointed out Lord.
"I was hoping you wouldn't notice that."
Lord sighed and closed his eyes.
"It was nice, just for a bit. To have the silence."
The Master tilted his head. "Silence always ends."
"You're being remarkably insightful today," remarked the Doctor, watching the two clones with interest. "Maybe you should split your personality in half more often."
Lord chuckled as he turned to face the Doctor and Martha. "Well, this whole experience has been extremely fun."
"For you, maybe," muttered Martha. Lord laughed.
"Don't worry, Martha. I'll see you again very soon." He glanced at the Master. "On his bad days."
The Master folded his arms and ignored the comment, focussing on the Doctor instead.
"Doctor." He opened his mouth as if about to say something meaningful, then apparently thought better of it and just smiled. "See you on the other side."
The Doctor held the other Time Lord's gaze for a long moment before nodding, moving back and letting the two Fission Clones step up into the pod.
It was white and clinical inside - spacious for one person, but slightly cramped for two. Lord and the Master positioned themselves back-to-back - the mirror effect was even more striking now they were in profile. The Master still had a faint scar on his cheek from his time on Gallifrey, but that was the only difference between them.
The Doctor gave the clones one last look before pushing a button on the control panel beside the pod. It lit up and began to shudder, sending vibrations through the floor.
"I hope we don't get stuck in here," muttered Lord, closing his eyes. "You might start crying."
"Don't worry," said the Master brightly. "I'm sure there will be plenty of time for that during our eternal prison sentence."
Lord grinned, and then his eyes opened again with confusion. "Wait, what?"
Then the doors of the pod swung closed with a hiss and it started to glow - first with a white sheen and then a sudden explosive orange, like a fire had started inside.
Martha moved beside the Doctor and gripped his hand in hers.
The glow became almost too bright to look at, burning all colours of the sunset now. The Doctor felt heat radiating from the pod like a furnace.
And then, all of a sudden, it was over.
The light faded, the pod hissed open and a single figure collapsed outwards, dressed in a scruffy hoodie, jeans and crooked top hat, which fell off and rolled away as he crumpled to the floor with a thud.
The Doctor moved forward cautiously in the silence. The figure lay motionless, smoking slightly. Then a head of chalk-white hair shifted, arms pushed against the floor and with a grunt the figure rolled onto his back.
And then their Lord and Master opened his eyes and grinned up at them.
"Did you miss me?"
The Doctor raised an eyebrow. "Both hearts beating?"
The Master paused, counting. "Yep."
"And the drums?"
"Still there, same as always." The Master manoeuvred himself up into a sitting position and rubbed his skull, blinking furiously. "Ouch. That's a lot of information."
"You've got two sets of memories to process," said the Doctor, hunkering down and watching the Master with caution, as if afraid he might bite. "And Lord time travelled, so his will be out of sync with yours."
"I am him," said the Master. He looked up at Martha with an expression that was half respect, and half indignation. "And you punched me."
The Doctor raised his eyebrows at Martha. "Really?"
Martha shrugged. "I was upset. And he deserved it."
The Master blinked again as if re-watching a film at high speed. "Oh. Yeah, I guess I did."
He struggled to his feet, ignoring the Doctor's offer of help, and then checked himself over. "Everything… seems to be in order. I'm astounded that actually worked."
"My plans always work," said the Doctor, straightening up too and beaming. "You're welcome, by the way."
At that moment, the door behind them swished open and three Judoon guards marched in, their boots clattering on the metal floor. The middle guard stomped to a halt in front of the Master while the other two circled around to flank him.
"The prison is prepared," it grunted. "You will come with us."
The Master sighed. "Right. Yes. Of course."
The Judoon each grabbed an arm and began frogmarching the Master back towards the door.
The Doctor turned to Martha, handing her the Agni sphere. "Here. Take this to the TARDIS and plug it into life support - there's a a blue wire under the console, like a telephone cord. Then pull the triangular lever all the way to the left."
Martha nodded, taking the sphere gingerly like the Doctor had just given her a baby to hold. "What are you going to do?"
The Doctor was already striding to catch up with the Judoon. He called back over his shoulder. "I need to say goodbye."
Illustration for chapter 32 on DeviantArt: atlantihero-kyoxei/art/Fusion-877694751