It didn't take the Mistress long to assemble the Autons. They were under her control after all. All she had to do was snap her fingers, and they lined up for her.
Fristly she had them shut down all production in the factory, since they would no longer be needing it and had no intention of returning. The Auton's soon completed that both quickly and effectively. After that, she had them change from their Farrel's Plastic jumpsuits and into a bight yellow suit to match the daffodils they'd be giving out. She'd also had them don large plastic heads with smiling faces, to hide their own featureless plastic ones.
She'd come with the whole outfit while the Master had been producing his plastic flowers, and now, the human race would be eating out of their hands. With a cute gimmicky happy face, and something as harmless as a plastic daffodil, it would be hard for the humans to resist. Which was exactly what the Mistress was counting on.
While the Autons got changed, the Mistress had Mr. Farrel order several mini busses for their army. She and Mr. Farrel would go with one bus load of Autons around London, while the others would spread out across the country, handing out as many daffodils as they could. That way they'd have the greatest impact when the time came to attack.
Before the Mistress knew it, all the busses had arrived and the Autons had been shipped out across the country, until the only bus left in the yard was the one for her. "We're ready to depart, Mistress," Mr. Farrel informed her from the steps that lead onto the bus.
"Very good, Mr. Farrel. I shall inform the Master," said the Mistress before heading back inside to find the Master no longer in his business suit but instead in a jumpsuit, not unlike the ones the Auton's had been wearing.
"Am I to take it by this change in outfit that you're not coming with us?" inquired the Mistress as she gave the jumpsuit Master a once over. None to pleased with his latest choice in clothing. She much preferred him in black or in business cloths. They each made him look more powerful.
"No, my dear, I'm afraid I won't be."
"And where are you going?" asked the Mistress as she folded her arms, refusing to leave until she got her answer.
Seeing this, the Master let out a regretful sigh before saying, "I'm going to stop by UNIT headquarters." Knowing that was where the Doctor might be, the Master quickly continued before she could insist on coming with him. "And no, I'm not going to see the Doctor. I'm merely going to set up another little surprise for him."
"What kind of surprise?" asked the Mistress eagerly, unable to contain the curious smile slipping onto her lips.
"One which I will show you later," he promised as he straightened up, now fully changed after tying his work boots. "But I must do this alone. If we both try and sneak into UNIT like this we'll most likely be caught. And I need you to keep an eye on the Autons and make sure the distribution of the daffodils goes according to plan."
"Very well, go off and have you fun while leaving me to deal with all the hard work," teased the Mistress, to which the Master smirked.
However, he did step over and plant an affectionate kiss on her forehead. "I wouldn't trust anyone else to oversee this. And I promise I'll make it up to you later."
"That's quite a lot of promises your going to have to fulfil," pointed out the Mistress as the two grinned at one another.
"I look forward to being at your mercy," replied the Master, sending a tingle of pleasure up the Mistress's back, as she thought of what she'd have him do for her.
"Maybe if you're good, I'll lessen the punishment," she whispered, her fingers running through his goatee, before they began to play with his hair.
"I would never want to cheat you out of your fun," the Master whispered back, before the Mistress leaned past the side of his face and the rough side of his goatee brushed her sooth skin.
"And that's you mistake," she whispered menacingly back, before pulling away with a foreshadowing grin on her face. Unable to stop himself, the Master shivered, smiling in anticipation as the Mistress backed out of the office with her eyes still on his, until they were gone.
"I told Farrel where to collect me!" the Master called out from the office as the Mistress descended the stairs.
"You better not keep me waiting!" the Mistress shouted back, before then joining Mr. Farrel on the bus and sending them on their way. And from there they went all over London, to all the landmarks and shopping centres and even a few markets. They made sure to get as many of the daffodils out as possible. With each new stop, the Mistress would snap her fingers and the Autons would march on out in single file, like the well trained soldiers they were. They'd then wait a few minutes while the Autons handed out the daffodils, the Mistress would then ask Mr. Farrel how many they'd gone through – since she'd assigned him to keep count – and then they'd return to the bus and move onto the next spot.
In no time at all they'd gone around the whole of London, before finally reaching the last stop before the location where they were to collect the Master. Just like last time the Mistress snapped her fingers and the Autons did their thing. She asked Mr. Farrel how many they'd handed out and then asked how many they had left. When he informed her they still had a few dozen more, the Mistress decided that once they picked up the Master, they'd take another lap of London until they were ride of all of them.
Then, like every time before that, she snapped her fingers and the Autons returned to the bus, followed onboard by Mr. Farral and herself. Only this time when the doors closed behind her, she saw that one of the Auton's was removing its plastic smiling head, which she'd specifically forbade them from doing.
"Why are we not moving?" demanded the Auton.
"We're waiting for the Master," answered the Mistress against her better judgement. "And put your head back on, I told you never to remove it unless instructed.
"We must drive to the next distribution centre," continued the Auton. Ignoring the Mistress's command for him to put his head back on, which surprised her as she glared back at the thing.
"I said," snarled the Mistress as she stepped towards the rebellious Auton. "Put. Your helmet. Back on."
There was a long silence, as the tension slowly rose between the Mistress and the Auton. So much so that Mr. Farrel even began to sweet. Until finally the Auton replied, "Very well," as it put its head back on. "We will wait a little longer for your Master. If he's not then returned, we shall drive on."
The Mistress didn't miss the Auton's stubble statement of, 'your Master.' Nor did she miss the blatant disregard for her authority when the Auton declared they'd leave when it decided, rather than her.
Something was wrong here, the Autons were supposed to be completely slaved to herself and the Master. They were supposed to obey them without question. Only now, there was one Auton here who was questioning her, trying to overrule her even.
Uneasily, the Mistress's eyes scanned over the smiling plastic heads of the Autons, as she reached out with her mind to probe for any sign of a double cross. But as far as she could tell, there was none. They still seemed docile towards her, even the one that had just challenged her. But how long would that last, she wondered, before sitting back down to await her Master's return. She would feel better once he was by her side again. Against the both of them, the Autons wouldn't dare rebel.
Unfortunately however, the Master took quite a while to return to her. So long in fact that the Auton that had spoken up before, was speaking up again. "We will leave now," it boldly declared.
"Not until the Master returns," the Mistress snarled without even glancing back at the Auton.
"We shall leave without him," the Auton then declared, to which the Mistress sharply stood up and swung around to face the defiant Auton.
"How dare you!" she snapped in outrage, her blue eyes ablaze with a dark fire within them. "You are under my command. You will obey me, and we are not leaving until the Master returns is that understood!"
The Mistress assumed the Auton was about to reply, but then the side door to the buss slid open to reveal a strange man in a jumpsuit just like the one the Master had been wearing. "Who the hell are you?!" snapped the Mistress, about ready to kill the man without a second thought, until he removed his face to reveal it was the Master in disguise.
"Is everything alright, Mistress?" asked the Master, genuine concern in his voice as he frowned up at her from outside the bus.
"Yes, sorry. Yes, everything is fine," she said, voice strained as she found herself wiping her brow. Apparently Mr. Farrel hadn't been the only one who was heating up from her confrontation with the Auton.
"Come out here, it's cooler," instructed the Master, offering her his hand as he helped her step out of the bus. He was right, the air was cool and refreshing. Just what she needed.
With her hands on her hips, the Mistress took in a deep breath of calming air, before looking to find the Master with a child like giddy grin on his face. And in that moment she forgot all about the Auton's defiance, reminding herself that she still had no idea what the Master had been up too. "What are you so cheerful about?" she asked eagerly.
"You'll find out very soon, my dear," promised the Master, before leaning into the bus to speak to Mr. Farrel. "Now listen here, Farrel. I want you and the Autons to finish handing out those daffodils as quickly as you can. Then, I want you to take this bus to the quarry near the radio telescope. Myself and the Mistress will meet you there once we've seen to the Doctor, and then we shall summon the Nestene to Earth," declared the Master confidently.
Mr. Farrel nodded before closing the door and then driving off to the next distribution spot, leaving the Master and the Mistress behind in the car park.
Now alone, the Master offered the Mistress his arm, and she eagerly took it. Unable to contain her smile at the thought of finally confronting their old friend. "Now, Mistress, are you ready to meet our old friend, the Doctor?"
"Absolutely, Master," declared the Mistress in turn, before they set off laughing in dark merry, at the nearing end of planet Earth.