Imaginary Worlds

"You know? You made a comment before about when I was willing to let you go. I'm not going to now. And you know why? Because I'm not losing you. Would you be happier with the drums? A constant headache that pushes and drives you to destroy and fight?" the Doctor asked slowly.

He wasn't going to let it go so easily. Not this time around. He couldn't. "Can you tell me that you honestly would rather give up on this? Do you know how many pointless and dead end things you constantly tried at over the centuries? How many things were beyond failed that you kept at? And this? This is your failing point?"

"I can't make you happy and you can't make me happy, I know I've been through more failure than most but I can call a loss when I see a loss. You can't cling to this useless universe!" How could he? It clearly wasn't working and the Master had no desire at all to remain. He'd tried and to be honest, he'd rather the drums than this torture.

Because it hurt to see what he wanted and know he'd never have it because it simply didn't work. "I'm going, okay. You can't stop me from going. I have my own freewill and I chose to call this off and go! I will never be the man you want and I will never be happy here."

And there was their problem. "You...I don't want you to change or anything. I fell in love with the Master. Not the person who continues to change for me. The man who would smack me and tell me to get over myself. Not the person who coddled me and tells me I'm doing the best I can. The person who tells me to try for better." the Doctor said softly.

He approached, shaking his head slowly. "I like this place and I do love you. What I don't like is how much change the two of us have done, just to see you unhappy again. What we need is balance. Not sacrifice." the Doctor murmured softly.

"The real me doesn't want to be here, he'll be miserable if he's stuck here. The real you wouldn't want to be here either. You change yourself and I changed myself so much now that there is no real version," there was no Master and Doctor here, there was two shells of Time Lords playing pretend with one another. That was it.

"If you make me back into me, I'll leave. If I change, you change. Because you're not you. If you were you, you wouldn't be here. You don't like domestic, you don't like staying still and you should bloody well miss your TARDIS," the Master snapped because those were all things the Doctor would be doing if he hadn't edited his mind beyond recognition. "To be ourselves, we have to leave."

"I do want a domestic life. But I am restless and I do miss my Tardis. But...She has trouble. Every time I get close, I can feel her fear and revulsion. I can't just...I can't put her through that. And I can't leave. I don't think so, anyway. Do you remember? When we first started here?" the Doctor asked slowly.

Back when he'd hit the edge of their imaginary town and be in severe pain because he could feel it. The pull of the energy dragging him back. "I tied you to this place as well. You're as trapped here as any of the illusions in this place." the Doctor murmured.

"No, no, no, no! You said you could fix it. I left, remember! Through that door! If I can't leave via TARDIS then I'll leave that door!" the Master snapped because he wasn't being stuck here. he knew there was always a way out, they'd gone to leave so many times... they could do this easily and the Master knew it.

"I'm going so you can either help me or rot alone here with your illusions because we're not happy and I'm tired of being miserable with you!" the Master spat out, feeling himself slowly pull his mind back together. The Master was a strong mind, beyond that of most Time Lords, he knew he didn't belong here but at least he could pretend before... the Doctor reminding him just set everything off.

"Yes. And it took so much of the energy that it started to kill me. You have that same power coiled within you now as well. I tried to let you leave before. Remember? I came back and tried to fix it so you'd be happy. That you'd forget this place. I couldn't fix it." the Doctor murmured softly.

It wasn't a very good thing. Because there really wasn't away for them to get out now that they were in so deep. "I can't. We can alter this place again. Make it better. But we can't leave now. Worse for you, really. You have more of that energy than I do." the Doctor said softly.

"No! No more altering, no more changing! I don't want to be here," the Master snapped as he took off towards the basement, throwing the door open, he dashed down the steps and greeted the TARDIS with a small sigh. He had to make this work, he had to leave and he had to do it before the Doctor had any more bright ideas.

Slamming the door shut behind him, he started working to decode this universe, he had to just untether the TARDIS from this world and then he could leave in the TARDIS and it would be so much safer.

The Doctor was honestly curious to see how long it would take the other to realize the impossible. The Tardis wasn't what was connected to this world. They were. And they couldn't just undo it. He'd tried before.

Heading down, the Doctor leaned agains the Tardis and sighed, trying to ignore her attempts at rebelling against their presence around her. It was just a little depressing. Worse was that he honestly had nothing he could do but to wait.

"Why won't you work, you rust bucket!?" the Master yelled and probably spent half an hour trying to make it work for him and let him fly it. He messed around with every possible cable, wire, lever... he got no where. He eventually dropped on the floor and eyed where the heart of the TARDIS sat-- last resort?

He inched closer slowly and toyed with the merits and cons of doing this. Sometimes it could grant wishes, all of time and space must have some sway here. Hell, he could eve absorb it and use it... nothing could stop him with all that power, he could punch a hole in this universe and tear his way out surely.

The Doctor figured the man had had enough time and slipped in, pausing as the ship came to life despite her will. He actually felt bad upon seeing the man eying that particular spot. "It's no longer there." he murmured softly, shaking his head slowly.

"I used it to bring you back. I've been drawning energy from the Eye of Harmony to keep alive with it. The ship isn't what she was before. Just a near lifeless vessel full of too many empty rooms. I'm sorry, but we can't leave. We did too much." the Doctor said softly, actually sincere.

"No! No, that isn't fair. I can't be here any more. This place has ruined my life, I had a destiny! The drums I-- I forgot about the drums and this stupid domestic hell is all your fault," the Master yelled, kicking the TARDIS console before scrambling out of the bloody machine and dashing up the stairs. Well, he still had plan B.

That door still existed and he knew it did. He knew exactly where it was, he'd been in the real world before and he wanted to go again. He was not being doomed here for the rest of eternity because of the Doctor.

It wouldn't end well once the Master learned the flaw. To leave was to die. He couldn't pass through that door anymore. That would mean the energy would lose it's host. And that jus wasn't acceptable.

The Doctor honestly felt bad. "I'll be here when you realize that it's pointless. We can work something out. Figure something else out. But you can't leave and neither can I." the Doctor murmured as he followed along. He wasn't stopping the other. This was something for the Master to personally learn.

The Master never learned and he never listened. It was a horrible thing to realise you were trapped in a prison with a man you couldn't be around. He tried his hardest to get out and yes, he did kill himself in the process. He had been so close as well, he could almost hear the drums but that was it, he woke up not long after.

It didn't matter now many times he made a run for it, he was practically repelled from the world and left for dead. He didn't go home though, why would he? He couldn't. He could face this failure or this prison. He was losing it big time.

The worst part was that the Doctor did love the man. Enough to slowly unravel the illusion around them. They would be easy enough to recreate and he left Marnal and Koschei. He doubted the kids would understand the sudden absence of life, Marnal confined to a near empty house and Koschei locked away in an abandoned institution.

But that didn't matter. The Master would return eventually and they would work it out then. But, until that point, the Doctor was simply drifting. He made sure that Marnal had food and was cared for. But nothing more and nothing less. There wasn't a point at the moment.

The Master couldn't bring himself to go back for a while, he didn't even move from the failed door for a day and spent the rest of his time wondering through the empty streets of this universe feeling the misery tug against him.

When he finally came back to the house, he didn't greet the Doctor or ignore the Doctor or even mind Marnal being there. He just attacked him. Everything here was entirely the Doctors fault and how could he resist lashing out. "You trapped me! I'm stuck forever now! You've ruined my life and your own for this stupid world!"

The Doctor really wasn't phased. He struck back dully, shaking his head a bit. "Wrong. I did it to keep you. I told you. I'm not going to let you roam free. Nor am I going to be alone again. That simple. Make the most and be happy." he asserted.

Then again? Was there a point? The Doctor backed off and glared, pointedly turning away to head back up the stairs. He wasn't putting up with it. "I love you. But we're both stuck here. You might as well just...Give up. I know I did a long time ago."

"I'm not giving up! I have a destiny, I shouldn't be here! You can't be happy here... I won't let you," the Master snarled before grabbing Marnal up by the back of his shirt and holding the surprised boy up so the Doctor would look at him and take the bait. "I'll kill him. And Koschei. I'll kill everyone here, I have the power to."

The Master was a bit off, he'd admit that something must of snapped but why not? Why bother with any of this? "Imagine it? The two of us... locked in a universe for the rest of eternity with no company, no one but us and I won't even give you the time of day. Do you want that? Do you want to be locked away forever?"

The Doctor turned and bristled, his eyes narrowing. "I gave up. I figured that I may as well be happy. But you make that damn near impossible and when you do manage it, you turn around and remind menof how miserable I'm making you." he hissed bitterly.

"So think very carefully about what you're doing and threatening. Youremember how I was before? How I so desperately made thugs until I had that disturbed little clone that would parrot things back? Now. Imagine what happens if you kill either of them. Imagine sending me back to that except, this time, all of my attention is solely upon you." the Doctor said slowly as he stalked forward. This was never going to end well.

"I'm not scared of you, I never will be," the Master stormed over to the front door and dumped the boy outside before slamming the door on his face and leaving Marnal out there to cry and bang his fists on the door. It was dark, scary and everything had gone weird.

The Master ignored him and went down into the basement, retreating far into the TARDIS to keep himself safe and hid himself in the library to try and avoid the crushing facts of the reality he was trapped in.

That just wouldn't do. The Doctor calmly yanked the kid back inside before he headed down to deal with the Master in a none to friendly way. He followed the man and smirked coldly. "You had to go for the kid. Didn't you?" he asked slowly, shaking his head.

"You know what's funny? I know how to deal with this. Easy." he murmured softly. "Enjoy. I'll let you out in three weeks." the Doctor murmured, closing the door and locking it tight. He was even cold enough to cut out all power to that room before returning to drifting about. The Master wouldn't try that again.

"What? Doctor! Oh fine, sod off!" the Master yelled, kicking the door before storming back across the room and yanking a handful of books of the shelf. Not the best place to lock the Master, he could amuse himself easy, even if he didn't have much light. And at night there was practically none. Or he could for a little while. there was something stressful about being stuck in here. But he was trapped anyway.

He was hungry as well and it only got worse. The next day, he was starving and he couldn't see a fucking thing he was doing/ So he just started throwing books at the door and waiting for the Doctor to come back.

The problem was relatively simple. The Doctor lost track of time while drifting from day to day. Especially no longer having the time schedule he'd adapted to. He was at least kind enough to remember Koschei. But three weeks very quickly turned to five before be remembered.

Calmly opening the door, the Doctor just gave a dull look. "Are you ready to behave and stop with the threats? Or should I not even bother?" he asked slowly. He wasn't playing around anymore.

Five weeks was a very long time to be locked in a room with no food, no water, no light and no one to talk to. Not even the drums. Everything that broke the silence was too loud, his eyes had adjusted to the darkness and he'd died more that 15 times-- a lot more. But he couldn't name how many. His mind was on the verge of shutting down.

His eyes couldn't adjust to the light so the Master hid behind the sofa by dragging himself behind it. His eyes were burning and the Doctors voice was too loud. He hadn't learned his lesson, he wasn't going to give in... but he'd lie to get out happy. "Yes."

"Touch or threaten one of my sons again and this will be the least I do to you. Now come on. You need nourishment and whatnot. You could be happy. You just refuse to." the Doctor chided as he backed off, heading back up the stairs.

The house had changed. The Doctor had boarded and locked it up tight to keep Koschei and Marnal in place. Speaking of the two, he needed to make food. Another thing about five weeks of no true interaction? Children tended to fall silent as well.