He'd failed again, and was in worse pain than he'd ever been. His hearts ached horrifically, and all he could do was think about her words to him.

You're not my Doctor anymore. You're just like the Time Lords, now.

In a fit of anger, he punched the wall, not caring about the shooting pain in his knuckles. He sat down again, not bothering to apologize, like he normally would've done, and buried his face in his hands, thinking: She's wrong. She'll never understand. She doesn't know what it's like. I'm right. He shot to his feet and burst out of the TARDIS and into the rubbish yard, where he screamed up at the sky. Panting, he looked around and then shrieked, "MASTER!"

The Master was the only one that would understand. He was the only one that knew. Within seconds, the Doctor felt hot breath on his ear, and rough stubble scraping the skin there, and the Master whispered, "The Time Lords Victorious. I like the sound of that."

"I thought you would."

"I knew you could be like this. You used to be so weak. Now look at you. My Doctor."

The Doctor grinned at that. "My Master."

"That's right. We'll rule the Universe."

"We'll create the new Time Lord Empire."

"Yes."

"We don't have to be alone anymore."

The Master ran a rough finger down the back of the Doctor's neck, sending shivers down his spine. "Never." he said reassuringly. The Doctor closed his eyes. "Yes." he said. The Master wound around and grabbed the Doctor's arms. "But first, we'll do what I wanted to before. We'll turn the Earth into a warship and make war with the Universe. Everyone that's done us wrong will be slaughtered."

"Turned to dust."

"The dull people of Earth already trust you, Doctor. This time, you'll come to power. You'll begin it all."

"I will?"

"They already know me. It must be done."

The Doctor liked listening to the Master's voice. It was so smooth and thick, winding around his brain and tucking itself into dark corners of the mind. "O-okay." the Doctor said. The Master grinned madly. "Fantastic." he said.

"We'll get justice."

"Oh, yes. And, d'you know what the icing on the top of the cake would be?"

"Yes."

"Tell me."

"The sequence the Krillitane tried to use to become gods. We're clever - the two of us together would be able to crack the code and become limitless."

"Good boy. Gods. Doesn't that sound magnificent?"

"Yes."

"But that must be accomplished after we've taken the Earth for ourselves."

"Yes."

"Get to it, Doctor. Like you always say," the Master smirked, his eyes gleaming ferociously. "Allons-y."

They were solving the Krillitane puzzle, and were doing a good job on it, although the Master was getting impatient. "How long's this gonna take?"

"I've got a TARDIS. It can take as long as possible, and we've got all the time in the Universe." the Doctor reassured him. The Master leaned against the handrails in the TARDIS and picked at his teeth with a grimy fingernail. He sighed after a few moments and sauntered next to the Doctor to look at the monitor. "Oh, come on! Twenty two percent complete? It's been three hours!"

"If you don't like it, solve it manually."

"What were the Krillitane doing to solve it?"

"They used children, but it was going slower than the TARDIS is." the Doctor replied. The Master growled and paced impatiently around the console. "Alright, you go conquer the Earth and I'll stay here and wait." he said. "At least we can get something accomplished while we wait."

The Doctor nodded and made for the door, stopping for a moment to stare tenderly at the Master, who looked irritated. "What? Are you expecting me to kiss you or something?"

Feeling foolish, the Doctor turned and shook his head. "No - I dunno. Sorry."

The Master snorted and made his way to the controls. The Doctor watched him look over the monitor and curl his fingers around the controls possessively, and there was a tiny itch in the back of his brain that told him that it was a bad idea to even let the Master near those controls. He ignored the thought and pushed it out of him, pulling the doors open and ducking outside. He had landed the TARDIS just a few blocks away from UNIT headquarters earlier - after he'd met up with the Master in the rubbish yard, and he quickly, urgently walked to the great building. He pushed open the door and approached the front desk of the lobby. "'Allo, I'm the Doctor. Here to see the Colonel?" he asked. The secretary nodded and politely asked him to wait as she picked up the phone and punched in a couple digits. "The Doctor for Colonel Mace?" she said. After a moment of listening to the person on the other end of the line, she put the phone down and smiled up at the Doctor. "Go right up, sir."

"Thanks!" the Doctor said with a jolly grin. She nodded and then turned back to her computer, and the Time Lord skipped to the lift, grinning wickedly. He punched in the button that would take him to the top floor of the building and stuffed his hands in his pockets as the lift went up. It slowed down and then stopped with a ding and the doors slid open. The Doctor bounded out and into the Colonel's office, where Colonel Mace was waiting for him. As soon as the Doctor entered, the man snapped to attention and saluted. "Doctor."

The Doctor grinned at the salute and nodded. "As you were, soldier." he said smugly. Mace put his hand down and smiled. "It's wonderful to finally meet you. What brings you to UNIT, Doctor?"

"I wanted to warn you. We need to arm the planet."

"What?"

"You heard me. We need to set up nuclear weapons on every continent to fight the alien threat that is approaching."

"You can't stop it?"

"Not without the nukes. There's too many of them."

Now, the Colonel looked suspicious. "We constantly check sonar for readings near the Earth, and we haven't sensed anything."

This comment irritated the Doctor. He rolled his eyes and snarled, "What, you think that these aliens aren't clever enough to evade your silly little sonar?"

Mace averted his eyes and stuttered an apology. The Doctor nodded. "Never underestimate." he growled. The human nodded and sat down at his desk, typing something on the computer and then punching in a few phone numbers into the telephone on his desk. He took the phone off its hook and placed it on the desk, and then put the phone on speaker. "This is a group call with the United Nations Office of Defense - or UNOD. Go ahead. Tell them what you need to."

The Doctor approached the desk and placed his hands on it, hovering above the phone. "Right. Hello, this is the Doctor speaking."

There was muffled mumbling from the people on the other ends. "There is a huge fleet of extra-terrestrials hovering just above the Earth's atmosphere that cannot be detected by any form of radar or sonar, and they plan to boil the Earth."

"Why?" one man asked. The Doctor chewed on his lip while he thought of an answer. "Because they're mercenaries. They're being paid to destroy the planet."

"By who?"

"I dunno yet, but we need to worry about the fleet."

"What do you suggest we do?"

"We have to arm the planet."

"Sorry?"

"We need to arm the planet against the threat. If we destroy their ships, their employer may not send any more armies to destroy you."

"According to your records, Doctor, you're peaceful."

"Yes, well, this is different." the Doctor said. The most truthful thing he'd said to them so far. "We need to destroy them. They can't have the planet."

"We don't even know where to launch if we can't detect them."

"Give me the codes."

"What?"

"I know where they are, and my TARDIS can detect them."

"So then tell us where they are."

"I am a high-ranking officer of UNIT, probably the top-ranking officer. I've been working for UNIT longer than any of you have been alive. I deserve full access to all weapons and codes." the Doctor explained. After a moment's hesitation, the men on the other lines grumbled assent, and the Doctor grinned despite himself. "I need access to weapons around the world." he said. They paused longer this time. "Why?"

"The fleet is huge. I've seen it. I've saved this world enough times, I think I ought to be able to have access to its weapons." the Doctor said convincingly. The men reluctantly agreed, and then the phone call was ended. "The codes will be sent directly to my computer, and you can send them to your TARDIS, or wherever you need them." Mace explained. The Doctor smiled happily at him. "Brilliant!" he said, swiveling the computer screen around so that he would be able to read any incoming messages sent there. After a few minutes, the codes came through and the Doctor forwarded them to the TARDIS computer, where they would be picked up by the Master. "Molto bene!" the Time Lord cried. He whirled out of Mace's office without dismissing himself and sprinted back to the TARDIS, which was in the same place he'd left it. He flung open the doors and burst inside just as the TARDIS was receiving the codes. As soon as the Doctor stepped inside, the Master whirled on him furiously. "What the hell did you do that for?" the Master snarled. The Doctor frowned. "What?"

"You locked the TARDIS controls!"

"No, I didn't!"

"Well then how can you explain this?" the Master demanded, tugging harshly at a lever. The TARDIS didn't move. The Doctor approached the monitor and scanned the Gallifreyan writing there and frowned. "It wasn't me… the TARDIS locked the controls herself as soon as I left."

"Well, make her unlock them!"

The Doctor scowled up at the Time Rotor. "What'd you do that for?" he demanded crossly. The Time Lord reprogrammed her and smiled. "There. Now, she should let you have all control of the TARDIS."

"Should?"

"Well, I think so." the Doctor said, scratching the back of his neck. He narrowed his eyes curiously. "Why were you trying to fly the TARDIS?" he wondered. The Master chewed his grimy thumbnail absentmindedly. "I was just seeing if I could. It's been awhile since I've piloted a TARDIS." he replied. The Doctor nodded and grinned. "I got access to weapons codes to all the weapons on Earth."

The Master grinned back, something terrible glinting in his honey-brown eyes. Of course, the Doctor didn't see this, he didn't realize how sinister the madman's smile was. "Spectacular." he hissed. The Doctor puffed out his chest proudly, beaming at the Master's praise. The Master jumped excitedly to the monitor and scanned the codes and descriptions of the missiles. "It's a start." he said. The Doctor nodded. "Yeah, and in time, we can turn this whole planet into a warship."

"Like the Death Star."

"What?"

"Don't tell me you've never seen Star Wars."

"Well, I watched the first movie, but they got everything about Space wrong."

"You're kidding. It's a movie, Doctor."

"Yeah, but still." the Doctor said. The Master rolled his eyes and ran his tongue over his teeth. "Right. Now, what?" the Doctor asked.

"We've got to get you in a position of power somehow."

"How're we gonna do that?"

"If I knew, we'd be doing it already!"

The Doctor blushed and looked down at his trainers. "So, what exactly is the Death Star?"

"It's as big as a small planet or a moon and it's completely a weapon. It can destroy planets."

"Ah. Brilliant!" the Doctor beamed boyishly. The Master couldn't hold back a smile. "You know, you've not changed much." he observed. This turned the Doctor's smile into a worried frown. "That's good or bad?"

"I think it's good. You're the same Doctor, but you're not held back by those stupid limits you put on yourself. You're free."

"Oh. Good, then." the Doctor said, smile returning. The Master nodded, crossed his arms, and looked up at the glowing time rotor, sucking in his cheeks thoughtfully. "We'll do it."

After what seemed like a long time, the Doctor was in complete control of most of the Earth - Europe, South America, the Middle East, Canada, Africa, Central Asia, Asia, South East Asia, and Australia. There was only one continent left to conquer. Today, he was standing in his large, lush office, next to the Master, who was lounging in a comfy chair in front of the oak desk. There was a triumphant smile on the other Time Lord's face as he lazily spun the chair on its swivel, his fingers steepled and resting on his belly. The Doctor watched him absentmindedly, poisonous thoughts swimming through his mind. Oddly enough, these thoughts felt… different. They didn't feel like him. They felt like someone else's thoughts. But, of course, the Doctor pushed them away and focused on watching the Master. They were still waiting to hear from the President of America, President Barack Obama. A day previously, they had aimed several nuclear weapons at the continent of North America and demanded complete surrender, like they had done with most other countries. They'd given President Obama exactly one day to decide - and he would have to call at exactly 17:23 or his empire would be reduced to radioactive rubble. It was 17:20. Three minutes for the President to decide. Finally, the phone rang at 17:21. The Master picked it up and grinned smugly to himself. "Mr. President, sir. This is your Lord and Master speaking."

"The Cabinet and I have decided that we will not surrender, and if you fire on us, we will fire back."

The Time Lords simpered wickedly at each other. "Go right ahead." the Master hissed. There was an uneasy pause on the other end of the line.

"Of course, it would be easier to just surrender to the Empire."

"No. America will not surrender to you."

The Master sighed. "I believe you."

He took the phone from his ear and looked up at the Doctor standing behind him. "Launch the missiles." the Master commanded. The Doctor grinned sickeningly and bent over the Master to the computer, where the program that would send the nuclear weapons on their route to America was ready to go. He clicked the 'LAUNCH' button and watched the little red dots on the screen slowly approach North America. The Master smirked and watched the dots as well, putting the phone back to his ear. "What's happened?" Obama was saying. The Master chuckled. "We've jammed your signals, idiot. Did you think we'd just let you blow us up?" he demanded. The President seemed lost for words as he realized what he'd done. "Sorry, it's too late to surrender now." the Master sang happily.

"We would never surrender. America falls standing." Obama said darkly. The Master winced. "Ooh, I always knew your little nation was vain, but… wow."

The Doctor chuckled darkly above him, and the sitting Time Lord daintily hung up the phone and watched the missiles get ever closer. Finally, they inched all the way, and big, red letters flashed on the screen: 'TARGET REACHED'.

The United States of America had fallen. The entire world had received news of this "tragic event". A little bit of Canada had also been damaged, even more flooded with radiation, but what did that matter to the Doctor and the Master? They had all the humans they would ever need, and their species multiplied like flies. Soon, the entire Level 5 planet was enslaved by two Time Lords and a TARDIS. Archangel Network was still running on most devices, so the Master and the Doctor combined their psychic powers to turn every stinking human on the planet into their personal slaves. It would take years, but the Earth was being slowly built into the largest battleship in the history of the Universe. Nothing - no one would stand a chance. The Master and the Doctor danced happily around the control room of the TARDIS, basking in their triumph. They looked out at the humans regally, watching them work themselves to the bone, given limited food, water, and sleep. "The Time Lords Victorious." the Doctor whispered, big eyes sparkling. The Master looked up at him and grabbed his hand, squeezing it a little too tight. "We're the winners." he replied. The Doctor stopped wincing at the pain in his hand and looked down at the other Time Lord with a smile. "The Destroyers of Worlds." he whispered in awe.