"Oh Doctor, give us a wave then," sang the dancers in the deep voice of the Master.
"Master," the Doctor said with sad anger, the dancers turned their heads to look at him. The room was silent, but for the young girl on the Doctor's table who was crying quietly into her mother's chest.
The dancers laughed.
"That's right, Doctor."
"You burned…you can't have regenerated -"
" 'Ay, think so till experience change thy mind' " the dancers chuckled.
"Then show yourself!" spat the Doctor standing now, Jack stood at his side and reached for his gun which he was pleased to feel hummed gently at his touch despite its time frozen.
The Doctor stepped forward towards the edge of the ring of dancers, their large masks suspended in the darkness, and their long limbs were mere streaks of colour hanging at their sides, like puppets.
"SHOW YOURSELF," spat the Doctor, looking round, the lights of the dancers span in the corner of his eyes.
"Oh but Doctor, I'm already here"
The dancers cackled and began to glide at speed along the sides of the red carpet, their lights appeared to merge into an impenetrable wall as they moved faster and faster, shining brighter.
Jack glanced out the window and saw the stream of lights moving through the furthest windows of the ship. The Doctor had stepped back from the dancers now, people all along the tables were screaming of cowering, some sat frozen, others now had their backs against the glass in an attempt to get as far away from the dancers as possible.
The continued cackling of the dancers drowned out most of the screams, and it seemed to be reaching a crescendo now, even the Doctor had shielded his eyes as the speeding wall of light grew brighter.
The Master's voice began to ring out in a manic sing-song manner.
"The danger must be growing
Are the fires of Hell a-glowing
Is the grisly reaper mowing?
Yes! The danger must be growing…"
Then Captain Jack Harkness let out a muffled shot from his gun, hitting one of the dancers directly through the forehead and everything stopped at once, and the brightness faded.
Silence reined, and the lights of the lone dancer crumpled to the floor like its strings had been cut. Moments passed ,with only the distant screams from those out of sight to be heard.
"Was that out of Charlie and the Chocolate Factor?" asked the Doctor incredulously, his stony face relaxing.
"Yes," came the lone voice of a man from somewhere near by, "You know how much I like that film, Doctor."
The Doctor's face became serious again, he turned to Jack, the dim light shining off his features. Jack shrugged and looked guiltily at his gun - had he done the right thing?
The dancers on either side of the Doctor's table parted, the light they emitted increased, illuminated the figure before them with a sinister blue light, the dead dancer was crumpled between them and the red carpet on which the figure stood shone a deep purple in the light.
The Master stepped forward. He was younger than before, and skinny with dark, unkempt brown hair and deep brown eyes that held the same obsessive madness. His cheeks were hollow, his face handsome but for the madness that was clear in his widening smile. He was wearing a plain black suit, the tie undone and hanging round his neck, the top two buttons open, the sleeves rolled up.
Then the smile disappeared suddenly.
"Doctor," he said.
"Master," returned the Doctor, with clear hatred for using the name.
Jack shot at the Master. A light flashed in front of them and when they re-opened their eyes another dancer lay dead on the floor, having dived faster than the bullet in front of the Master.
"Cool," said the Master, kicking the dancer onto its back. "Although, Jack" he emphasised the name in a sinister-playful manner, "you'll regret that when you find out who they are."
The Doctor crouched next to the dancer closest to them and slowly lifted off the mask, it felt like it would to pull the shell off a snail.
Underneath was a female, human face, with veins unnaturally running from her hairline and spanning around her heart shaped face. There was a clear bullet hole in the side of her head.
"A few thousand humans I picked up in the 51st century," said the Master.
Jack looked horrified, and lowered his gun slightly, the Doctor stood again and glared at the Master.
"Oh don't look like that," mewed the Master, "There were millions of others left, and I'm pretty sure these aren't quite dead, although they didn't take to mind control."
The Master grinned.
"Well, it was that or…"
Somewhere further down the room somebody tried to run through the barricading dancers, there was a shot of light and screams again filled the room. The dancers were electrically charged. Out the window such flashes could be seen in other parts of the long, circular room.
"Oh quiet down," spat the Master, but the screaming continued. He reached into his pocket and drew out a microphone.
"QUIET!" he shouted into it, and it was shouted by the dancers. The room was quiet again, with only a few distanced screams and muffled wails.
"That's better," he said light-heartedly.
"How are you here?" said the Doctor.
The Master merely felt the ring on his finger, the stone shone in the blue light.
The Doctor nodded sadly.
"What is it?" asked Jack.
"Remember how a fob-watch can contain the consciousness of a Time Lord? Well certain rings are able to contain the regenerative energy of a Time Lord. It meant he didn't die forever in my arms, and he knew it," the Doctor's stony face relaxed momentarily as he looked at Jack, "very Harry Potter," Jack gave him a bemused look, "…like a horcrux? Never mind."
"Oh but what a heart-felt goodbye it was, Doctor!" he laughed.
The Doctor stared back; fire in his eyes.
"I win," the Master cackled, "But now, to business!"
The smile dropped from his face as he held up a sonic-screwdriver. He pressed a button, it clicked and extended. The Doctor and Jack took a sharp step backwards.
"Oh wait -" muttered the Master, "I had something else in mind first."
Madness shone in his eyes as the sonic-screwdriver was returned to his pocket.
He clapped his hands four times.
"Do you remember the drums, Doctor?" the madness stared starkly out of the Master's eyes..
"I can help you -"
"NO, Doctor. Just listen," he smiled maliciously.
The dancers around the room began to mimic the clap; the drums that had turned the Master mad.
The clapping grew louder and surrounding the Doctor on all sides, the drums from earlier began to beat the rhythm loudly, and it echoed incredibly loud through the room. Engulfing him.
Jack covered his ears, and the people all around the tables did the same with painful grimaces on their faces.
The Doctor couldn't raise his hands to block out the sound, he fell to his knees.
"That's it Doctor," the Master shouted encouragingly, although his voice was mostly lost between the drumming, "can you feel it?"
The Doctor was on all fours now, his hearts were mimicking the beating rhythm.
DUM-DUM-DUM-DUM
The Master clapped again and the drumming stopped.
The silence felt unnatural.
"Doctor?" Jack said edging towards the Doctor, his gun back in its holster, his ears buzzing slightly.
But all the Doctor could hear was his twin hearts beating.
Dum-dum-dum-dum
He looked to Jack and leaned back on his knees, he run his hands through his hair, and laughed.
The Master laughed too now. The Doctor's eyes were shining with the same madness.