FicWad

Note: Okay, I lied. Here's a second chapter in which the Master and his companions face the Alpha pack. (I almost feel sorry for the Alphas. They don't know what's hit them.) xD Should I add another chapter? And if so, what about? I mean, the Master doesn't exactly take companions off into time and space in his TARDIS like the Doctor does (if he even has a TARDIS, but for this fic's sake, let's say he does) . Plus, there's the whole fact that he tries to take over the universe . . . or at least Earth.

Chapter Two

Derek, Scott, and Peter exchanged glances before looking back at the Master. Unsurprisingly, Scott shook his head. "I'm not a killer."

"Aw, come on. You could rise to the challenge, become an Alpha. That is what you want, isn't it?"

Scott hesitated, but the Master had picked up on it—and he planned on using that to his advantage. The teen wolf insisted, "No. There has to be a way to get rid of the Alpha pack without killing them."

The Master raised one eyebrow. "You're sure you don't have a fob watch inscribed with Gallifreyan anywhere?"

Scott blinked. "No, I don't."

"Anyway!" The Master strode right past the three wolves. "I'm going to go find them. You can come along if you want."

Wait for it, wait for it . . .

The Time Lord smiled as, ten seconds later, he heard three pairs of footsteps hurrying after him.

Pack loyalty. You gotta love it.

And he was planning on having some fun. He deserved it.

The best part was that the Doctor wasn't here to stop him.

-oOo-

Warily, the four of them approached the bank where the Alpha pack had made their camp. Well, the wolves did. The Time Lord just bounded up to the front door and walked right inside.

Night had fallen by now, casting deep shadows over the marble interior. None of them could see the Alpha pack, but that didn't mean they weren't lurking around somewhere.

"Hello-oo!" the Master called. "Anybody home? You have visitors!"

Scott and Derek exchanged slightly-panicked looks. Derek hissed, "What are you doing? Are you out of your mind?!"

"Yep," the Master said with a grin. "It's the drums. They make me do it."

"We're dead," Peter muttered.

"Really? Cos if we were, I could hardly expect to be talking."

"Master?" Derek growled.

"Oh, I love it when you use my name. Yes?"

"Two words: Shut. Up."

Scott's eyes flared gold. "They would know we're here by now, wouldn't they?"

Derek nodded, shifting into his Alpha form. "Yep."

The Master's hand reached into his pocket, curled around his laser screwdriver. Oh, this was going to be fun. This pack of Alphas wouldn't know what hit them. He doubted any of them had even heard of the Time Lords.

Well, they'd find out soon enough. More like right now, in fact, since he saw shadowy shapes slide out from the dark out of the corner of his eyes.

The Master grinned. He was definitely looking forward to this.

"You didn't come alone," one of the male Alphas—the Master thought it was Deucalion, the head of the pack—said to Scott.

"No. You already know Derek and Peter. How about him?" Scott gestured at the alien in front of him.

Deucalion tilted his head. "Interesting. Either his heart is pounding very fast, or—"

"You're hearing a four-beat heartbeat, yes?" the Master said. "There's an easy explanation for that: I have two hearts."

He could have sworn the other Alphas looked surprised at that. Good. At least that meant they'd never encountered the Doctor. Where exactly was the other Time Lord now in space and time? Not that he particularly cared, but he was curious . . . and his thoughts were running away from him. That seemed to be a particular trait of this incarnation.

"That's not possible," Ethan—or was it his brother?—breathed. "Humans don't have two hearts."

"Neither do werewolves," the Master pointed out. "And here's a little newsflash for you: I'm not human." His fingers tightened their hold on his laser screwdriver, but he didn't want to use it. Not yet. Mind games were so much more fun.

"Then what are you?" the only female Alpha asked (What was her name? Kali?), idly checking the length of her claws. She stepped forward, close to the Master, wolf fangs jutting out from her mouth, and studied his face. "Wait, I know you. You're Stiles, the Hale pack's little pet."

The Master smirked, a dangerous glint in his eyes. "Nope. Not human. And Stiles—as you may recall—was human. I'm not him."

"Then who are you?" Deucalion snapped. "You're starting to bore me, and trust me, you don't want that to happen."

"Oh, you're going to love this," the Master said with relish. "I'm the Master, and you're the one who doesn't want to bore me."

"You never answered the question of 'What are you?'," Kali said.

"I'm a Time Lord, one of the last of the Time Lords." The Master folded his arms over his chest, eyed the Alpha pack with a smug and cocky expression.

Yep, that did it. The entire pack stopped in their tracks, puzzlement written clearly on their faces.

Deucalion tilted his head, and the Master could practically see the wheels spinning in his brain. (Oh, wait, he could.) "I've never heard of the Time Lords."

"Yeah, well, you wouldn't. That's mostly because we're from another solar system. I'm guessing you've heard of the Doctor, though, since he loves messing with your planet's history."

"Nope," Aiden said. "Sorry. Doesn't ring a bell."

The Master was aware of Scott morphing behind him into his Beta form. He didn't say anything about that and instead rolled his eyes. "You've got to be kidding me. Harold Saxon, the Prime Minister of the UK? That was me in a previous regeneration. And there's a reason you never want to go to London during Christmas—there's been aliens invading on Christmas for the past . . . oh, eight years now. How did you miss the entire Master race? Well, granted, since everyone was me, I don't suppose you'd remember that anyway, or the Year That Never Was. Still! At least tell me you've heard of the Oncoming Storm (also known as the Doctor, by the way)."

Now there was a flicker of recognition in Deucalion's blind eyes. Typical. Mention the Doctor, and there was nothing. Then you say he's the Oncoming Storm, and fear sparked and sizzled inside. How come nobody remembered him, the Master?

"Are you always this talkative?" the Demon Wolf asked casually.

He shrugged. "I don't know, because I don't really know who I am. I mean, I'm the Master, but what does that mean? Am I funny? Sarcastic? Ginger? No, guess not; but the Doctor would be über jealous if I was—he's always wanted to be ginger. How 'bout sexy?" He grinned roguishly at Kali, who looked completely taken aback. Oh, yes, this was fun. "I mean, judging from the evidence I've certainly got a gob. And I can still hear the drums—but they're always there, as I've explained to this lot behind me. That's some comfort, I suppose."

Ethan's eyes narrowed. "I don't hear any drums."

"Aw, you're breaking my hearts. Wait, what's that one song that was written about me? Ah, yes: Can you hear them? They're coming. They're in the signal, they're in my head. Is it only me? Am I the only one to be called? This pounding in my ears is calling me to rule the world. Rule the universe as the Master of your fate. Can you hear the drums? Don't try to fight them, it's too late. You gotta love Chameleon Circuit just for that one song." He grinned maniacally. "Though, really, you shouldn't have tried hurting the Hale pack. That's just gotten my attention—and nobody wants that. Trust me."

By then, one of the other Alphas—Ennis?—had lost patience, growled angrily, shifted, and charged at Scott. The Beta ducked the blow, retaliated with a swipe of his claws, and was thrown hard down on the floor.

"Oh, now you've done it," the Master muttered, finally pulling out his laser screwdriver. He aimed it at Kali, whose lips curled in a laugh. She raised one clawed hand, slashed down . . .

And one blast from the screwdriver and she was gone, vaporized, dead, like she'd never existed.

Master: one; Alphas: zero.

He whirled around, changed the setting, and aimed it at another of the Alpha pack. This time the werewolf was caught in a rapid dance—much like the one he'd forced the Doctor into onboard the Valiant (and that had actually been highly amusing to watch). Finally he stopped it, and the disoriented werewolf turned on one of the other Alphas.

"Woo-hoo! Yes! I am on a roll!" The Master cackled, pumped a fist in the air, and turned at the sound of Scott's low howl. His excited grin died and anger sparked in his eyes when he saw that the Beta was pinned down by Ennis. Said Alpha was dangerously close to killing Scott—the Master could see that the Beta was starting to shift back to human shape.

Come on, Scott, he thought, sending the thought into the Beta's mind. Kill him. Right now it's kill or be killed—and just think, you'll finally become an Alpha. Okay, so maybe he was using a little hypnosis, but it didn't hurt anyone, did it? Well, maybe Ennis, since Scott—under the Time Lord's influence—swiped his claws along the Alpha's throat. Blood spurted out of the deep claw marks—what did you know, they did bleed red—and Ennis' head lolled back, eyes holding Scott's. The Beta's gold eyes darkened, burning red, and he howled triumphantly.

Derek and Peter were still fighting the rest of the pack, or what remained of it, and the Master decided to go for the Alphas' Alpha. He could probably just use his laser screwdriver to kill all of the Alpha pack, but what would be the point? Picking them off one by one was so much more satisfying.

And the drums were growing ever louder.

Deucalion eyed the Master warily, a flicker of something almost like nervousness in his milky eyes. He couldn't see the Time Lord, but his other senses were so finely honed that he knew where his adversary was standing.

Good.

The Master wanted it to be that way. He preferred having (somewhat) of a fair fight.

"Y'know," he drawled, "we really could have avoided this whole situation if you'd just left town. Well, then again, I suppose if you hadn't, then I would have stayed human for Rassilon knows how long. And boy, was that dull. Granted, there were all these murders happening to keep me busy, but now I am so much more than that."

"Do you always talk this much?"

"Not really, but at the end of the day I am a Time Lord. Blimey, you should have been at some of the Council meetings—now that lot could talk you to death no problem." He idly twirled the laser screwdriver around his fingers and shot the Alpha a contemptuous look.

Deucalion's head tilted to the side. "Where are you from? You sound like an American, but you use British terms."

"I'm from Gallifrey—you wouldn't have heard of it, so don't bother asking. And considering how many times I've ended up in Great Britain over the years, it's no wonder I've picked up the lingo. As for the American accent, sorry, it's entirely this regeneration's fault. Dodgy process, that is. I never know what I'm going to look or sound like. Is there a mirror anywhere?"

"No."

"Dammit."

Eyebrows shot up in surprise. "Bit of an extreme reaction, don't you think?"

"Considering I had to turn human immediately after I regenerated, no, I don't think so."

"What is this 'regeneration'?"

"A little trick Time Lords have. It's our way of cheating death, and sorry, you can't have it."

"Pity."

"That it is, yes. 'Sides, you can't become a Time Lord; you have to be born one."

"Why would I want to? I'm the Alphas' Alpha, the Demon Wolf!"

"Yeah, sorry, but I've heard of the Bad Wolf. You don't want to cross her. She'll take you right out of time and space. It'll be like you never existed." He fiddled with a setting on his screwdriver. "Oh, wait, you're not going to."

Deucalion bared his fangs and lunged, but the Master was quicker. He aimed the screwdriver, pressed a button, and—

Ding, dong, the wolf is dead. He frowned. What is it with me and children's programmes? First Teletubbies, now it's The Wizard of Oz. I need to get a life—aside from universal domination, of course.

The only Alpha pack members left were the twins, Ethan and Aiden. As the Master watched, the twins melded together to form one giant Alpha.

Lovely. He couldn't help wondering exactly how they did that. Science? Or maybe because they had the same DNA?

Ah, well. He'd leave it up for the Doctor to decide, if the other Time Lord ever showed up at all.

Derek stepped back from the giant Alpha, shifted back into human form. "Peter! Scott!" he called. "They're done! Let's go!"

Scott turned his glowing scarlet eyes on Derek, and the younger Hale flinched. Just by looking at the expression on his face the Master could tell that this was not what Derek had planned at all. Not that the Time Lord cared; he'd helped Scott get want he wanted. Besides, if he recalled correctly, Derek had already told Scott months ago that he was already an Alpha with his own pack. So what if a little mental nudging had helped the teenager fully take on the role? It was worth it.

Oh, bugger. Stiles's loyalty to his friend was bleeding through. What was it about this regeneration that seemed so human?

Or maybe spending so much time with the Doctor—and then spending months being human—was rubbing off on him.

The Master cursed under his breath in Gallifreyan. This wouldn't do, not at all. He was a Time Lord, not some lowly ape. Then again, these were werewolves he was dealing with, not humans.

His life had gone to the dogs. Literally.

He really needed to reconsider his priorities.

Before he knew what he was doing, his body was walking toward the new Alpha, stopping in front of Scott. "Oi, Scott, listen to me. Snap out of it."

Scott was still wolfed out and not listening. A small part of the Master was concerned. What if the teen couldn't handle it? He was probably the youngest Alpha there ever was—sorry, the twins didn't count. (The Master suspected they weren't really fifteen years old and were in fact older than they looked.) Right now, with Scott's fangs bared and him looking ready to attack, the Master sighed. "I'm really going to regret this."

He knocked his forehead to Scott's; the impact had him reeling back, holding his own forehead. "Ow. Nobody wins with a head-butt." Thankfully, it did the trick: Scott's eyes closed as he slumped forward in a dead faint.

Derek was there instantly, checking Scott's neck for a pulse. He glared up at the Master. "What did you do to him?" he snapped.

"Relax, would you? Sheesh. I just knocked him out, put him in a deep sleep. He'll be fine. 'Course he'll be; he's an Alpha now."

"And what's in it for you?" The look in Derek's eyes was dangerous, but the Master had seen worse from the Oncoming Storm.

"Nothing. I'll be off in my TARDIS traveling the universe soon enough, taking out several races while I'm at it. Sounds like fun. 'Sides, Scott was my best friend while I was human. Figured I might as well help him out for a change—and you did say he was already an Alpha. I just made it official."

Derek's already-dour expression darkened even further. Blimey, but he'd thought the Doctor had been moody when he'd last seen him—all brown pinstripe suits and eyes and gorgeous tousled hair. Skinny, too. You'd get a papercut if you hugged him.

"Can we get out of here?" Peter asked in a bored voice. "Hate to break up this Kodak moment, but unless you want to get arrested . . ."

"Ah. Good point." The Master headed for the Hale Beta, walked past him, and headed out the door of the bank. Behind him, he was aware of Derek scooping Scott up in the fireman's carry—Time Lord senses were far superior to that of humans, but he didn't know how much more they were compared to werewolves—and decided to say nothing of it. He'd let those two figure out their relationship for themselves (and really, looking back on it, Scott's relationship with Allison was almost sickening. It was a good thing they'd broken up—for everyone involved).

"So!" he said when the four of them were out of the bank. "Where to now? I'm starving. Food, anyone?"

Scott couldn't answer anyone at the moment, and Derek and Peter looked a bit surprised, like they were wondering how he could possibly be thinking of food after everything that had happened.

The Master turned his head back to look at them. "Any suggestions?"

Derek and Peter exchanged glances; then the Alpha reluctantly volunteered, "The Beaconburger has okay food."

"Brilliant! Follow me."

The Master turned his head back round, walked forward . . . and promptly ran smack-dab into a tree.

"Right, bad idea. Nobody follow my footsteps; I walk into trees."