A/N: I hope updating this soon is fine for everyone...I just wanted to put it up seen as it was already written and it's my favourite so far! Thanks to all who reviewed the last chapter:

Jo. Brookes, Simpa007, padmay97, alyssa love (thanks for reviewing 'Mind Swap' and I'm glad you liked it!), Rwyf-Yn-y-Blaidd-Drwg, Shifuni, chibiwolfgurl and MayFairy.

Unexpected Aid

"Doctor? Doctor! What do we do?" Amy yelled, panicking as the Clockworks closed in and the Master's laugh echoed around them.

"I...I don't know." The Doctor faltered. How could he have not seen this? Why, after all this time and all that he had done, had he still trusted the Master? Hope he supposed; hope that now the drums had gone, he had managed to regain some of his old self.

Suddenly, Rory careered around the corner, clutching the silver container Fred had used the day before. "Take this!" He pressed the button and steam burst forth, surrounding every robot in sight.

"Well done, Rory!" The Doctor called over the chaos. However, when the steam cleared, the robots were still there and still advancing.

"What the – "

The Master's laugh became louder, echoing out of the small devices on the walls. "You idiots! They are beyond that now. Do you honestly think I would try and take the universe with robots which are vulnerable to steam? You humans are even stupider than I thought. For that, you will face your deaths. I don't think I'll turn you into robots too, I wouldn't ever trust you. Death is the only way."

Rory swung for one of the robots and hit it with the steel container. The robot wobbled slightly and stopped before raising its head to stare at Rory, as though studying him, and advancing even quicker than before. Rory's back hit the wall and Amy screamed, still trapped with the Doctor.

"RORY! NO!"

Rory laughed weakly, his eyes filling up. "I think I've messed this one up, Amy."

The robot's hand was so close Rory felt it brush the hairs on his skin. Its fingers touched his cheek and Amy screamed again. Rory squeezed his eyes shut, waiting for darkness to consume him. However, all he heard was an electrical whirr. He opened his eyes cautiously and gaped at what he saw. All of the robots had slumped over and were still. Tentatively, the Doctor stepped out from the circle of robots that were surrounding him and Amy. Amy did the same and rushed over to Rory.

"Are you alright?"

Rory brushed her off, clambering to his feet. "Yeah, of course. That was all part of the plan."

"You didn't know that was going to happen, did you?"

"Nope."

Amy laughed and hugged him, relief coursing through her. The Doctor cleared his throat.

"Yes, yes, yes, that's all very lovely, glad you're fine Rory etcetera, but we have a more pressing problem. And it's Master shaped."

Bang on cue, the Master's voice crackled through the speakers again. "What have you done?" He demanded. "What have you done, Doctor? Those robots answer only to me and they cannot be defeated. I made sure of that. So what have you done?"

The Doctor just grinned. In truth, he had no idea what had happened to the robots but he knew he had to stall the Master; he needed more time to figure out how he was going to get to him.

"Whatever, you've done Doctor, you will regret it. I will..." The Master trailed off and the line cut dead.

The three friends shared a look, confused. The Doctor shook himself.

"Come on! We need to find the Master. If he was in the basement, where's the logical place he would go?"

"The lobby!" Amy cried. "If he's trying to get away now all the systems are down, surely that would be the only way?"

The three of them set off at a sprint down the stairs, down the corridor and down the last set of stairs again. Sure enough, the Master stood in the lobby, pulling parts off Mr. Horton and muttering to himself. He didn't seem to have even noticed them or if he did, he wasn't concerned by their presence.

"Impossible." He muttered. "But the only explanation." Finally, he pulled one piece, studied it hard and then cursed.

Something clicked into place in the Doctor's mind. "Mr. Horton? Something was wrong with him wasn't there? He was the lead robot, set all the other's actions but something went wrong with him. So all of the others crashed."

The Master opened his mouth to respond but a whirr filled the air and Mr. Horton began moving again. He glared at the Master and began pulling the bits of his hands and putting himself together again. He moved so quickly, he was done in a matter of seconds and the Master could do nothing about it.

"Impossible." He muttered again. "Impossible to do without me."

"Ahhh, nothing's impossible, not really." The Doctor said, jauntily without knowing what the Master was talking about.

The Master glared at the Doctor. "You have no idea..." But again he trailed off and focussed on something past the Doctor at the top of the stairs.

The three friends turned to see what the Master was looking at. At the top of the stairs stood Fred; her expression unreadable. "You know, you should never forget the woman; especially the one scorned."

She slowly began descending the stairs, her eyes never leaving the Master's.

"What have you done?" The Master asked her levelly, when she had finally reached the bottom of the stairs and passed the Doctor.

"Well, that's quite a funny story." She grinned, and the Doctor suddenly realised that she really had spent way too much time with the Master to be able to smirk like that. "You see, I knew you were up to something. I knew you were doing something that you weren't telling me about."

"How?" The Master bit back.

"Because I know you. I know how your mind works. And I knew you would never know it was me who stopped you because you've always, always over looked me; you always thought I was just some weak human girl clinging onto you. That used to bother me but it doesn't now, not now that it's come in handy anyway. As soon as I knew you were up to something, finding out what was actually rather easy. You should cover your tracks better."

He glared and she grinned again.

"I knew it was something to do with the robots – that much was obvious – and that panel in the basement looked far too complex for the robots to have built so I knew then that you had had a hand in it. So, how did I work out the rest? Easy: you're always whinging on about owning the universe, being the commander of it all. So, when I saw that the Clockworks could turn living beings into robots it became pretty clear that you were using them and modifying them to create more and more until they over run this planet and then the next and the next until...you would rule them all. After all, you built them so they would obey you, wouldn't they?"

"They do obey me."

"They did." She corrected. "They did until five minutes ago when activated the chip I put in Mr. Horton. Let me explain. When I found out you were working on something without telling me, I knew that you would probably jet off without me and leave me alone again. So I decided to take out a little insurance in the form of the robots. While you were busy antagonising the Doctor yesterday, I managed to shut down Mr. Horton and put a chip in him. Once activated, the chip would respond to its owner and its owner only."

She moved so close to the Master, he could feel her breath on his face and said so quietly only he could hear. "You see, if you hadn't been so secretive...who knows? I might have even helped you." She stepped back again and said loudly, "So! If you want to leave here alive..." There was several loud zaps and at least twenty Clockworks appeared alongside her, arms raised and ready to attack. "...You'd better start running."

I hope you liked that! Only two more chapters to go!

I'm also thinking about making a fanmix for this story; I'd have a song for every chapter. I just wondered if anyone would be interested it that...?

Anyway, please review!