Dizzy Land

It was rather fine by the Master that he hadn't seen the Rani either.

Of course, since the Doctor wasn't hounding him today, it stood to reason that he would run into the only other person he had a mind to avoid.

It didn't help matters that when he came upon her, she was scavenging for parts. It begged his interference; he couldn't stop himself from sticking his nose where it really didn't belong. This was mainly due to the fact that, "That piece is only going to be good for so much scrap metal. The rest of it might help if you're having problems temperature regulators in your lab, or if you need replacement paneling for your console room." The jelly babies were left alone for now, as he gnawed on a red licorice rope.

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–Omega's left te–

She lowered the piece of sheet metal (about thirty centimetres square) she'd been eyeing and scowled at him. "Haven't you got someone to corrupt or torture instead?" –that girl, for example– Not that he needed to know that she knew about that. Or about the frequency with which he'd been letting himself into the Doctor's TARDIS.

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The Master grinned. "Nope." He took a few steps toward her, still careful to keep himself out of arms reach. –or, more importantly, kneeing distance– "All those who could be tortured and/or corrupted do require a rest every so often. Otherwise how could I maintain such vigorous levels of disorder?"

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"Mm. And I suppose even you need time every now and then to calculate your newest baroque and twisted plan." She tapped the piece of sheet metal and flexed it slightly. –might do to replace that panel in the hydroponics lab, assuming the conductivity is what it needs to be–

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He tugged on the candy rope a little with his teeth before snapping off the end of it. "As someone who spends most of her time in a lab, I would think you of all people could appreciate how much time twisted plans can take." –that sheet metal isn't going to do her any good if she doesn't properly ionize it–

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"Oh, naturally. Good to see you've learned to pace yourself, if nothing else." –need an ionizer, yours has a short circuit, but you're not going to ask, oh no–

"And how is our softhearted friend these days? Seen much of him, have you?" As if she didn't have a fair idea.

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–and if the conductivity is wonky then she's well and truly hanged anyway, so really– "Don't forget, I am benefiting from more experience than you now. You'd do well to be wary; no telling what I've picked up in your absence these days," he said smugly. As far as softhearted went—

"Well, you know, if I don't keep an eye on the puppy he piddles on people's carpets and chews up their shoes, and then everyone comes crying to me about it, so I find it's best to keep an eye on him."

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"You built a Paradox Machine. That tells me much of what I need to know." Well, it's not as if she's going to agree with him outright, is it? She shrugged and put the sheet metal in the hand cart she'd been pulling around. –run a few tests on it first, try and patch that short circuit–

She snorted, almost a laugh. "Hasn't changed much, has he? Never could stay out of other people's things. Suprised, though, that he hasn't found some shrieking ninny to keep him company."

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He looked puzzled for a moment. "Oh, that's right, you only ever met the shrieking ninnies. Unfortunate, really. It would have been very... interesting to see you handle some of his other associates." He had a few names in his head, ones that had caused him trouble as well.

He was curious as to how much she'd pressure for information on companions, in fact. She could glean some very important pieces of information if she asked the right questions, but he had the feeling that she wouldn't realise that.

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She was intrigued despite herself. "Interesting how? Do you mean the others were actually competent and not hanging on his every syllable?" She smirked. "It was rather funny, really. Proof that certain traits never change across regenerations; in this case, the pathological desire to be liked and admired."

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It was then that T-Rex came stomping toward them, talking, as usual, loudly and to himself: "So, okay, let me tell you all! I am SO TIRED of the 'Batman and Robin are gay!' jokes. It's not that I have a problem with Batman being gay, it's just that HE'S LIKE ROBIN'S ADOPTED FATHER, GUYS. The idea of them making out is REALLY KIND OF FREAKING CREEPY WHEN YOU THINK ABOUT IT. I mean, would you want to make out with your adopted father? I'm thinking no!"

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He was about to laugh –because it really always has one of the other's most pathetic traits, that needy– when a great booming voice sounded in their general vicinity. He was already getting that tingly sensation at the back of his skull, the one that told him he really didn't want to know.

There was a something coming toward them. Stomping.

Really. The person running this place clearly had the sickest sense of humour. He would admire it, were it not so often turned on him.

"Erm...."

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It was one thing to see the blasted creature from a distance and hear it yammering. It was another entirely to have it closing in and babbling about Rassilon and Omega only knew what—

The Rani shot a hard glare at the Master. "And you missed this creature how, exactly?"

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"By virtue of a very refined state of denial that I've been perfecting over the past months," he answered in monotone, never taking his eyes off the creature.

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It was then that T-Rex seemed notice them. "Hello, tiny people!" he said, before everything in his brain suddenly skidded to a stop! He knew these tiny people! Both of them!

"OH MY GOD, IT'S ... IT'S ... THE RANI AND THE MASTER! HI, THE RANI AND THE MASTER!"

And then he remembered he didn't like either of them. They were villains, after all.

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As if the day couldn't get any better.

"And it knows who we are," the Rani grated out to the Master. She started backing away.

Being faster than the Tyrannosaurus wasn't the issue. Being faster than the Master was, and this time she was going to get a lead on him.

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"How...?" he started to ask, and then abruptly stopped. His brain had just hit a brick wall marked 'For Rassilon's Sake DO NOT ENTER', and for now, he was going to listen to it.

When he managed to pry his eyes away for long enough to glance over, he noticed that the Rani was inching away. In an opposite direction.

–Oh no you don't–

"Running so soon?" He backed up a bit himself, even as the words came out. "This is supposed to be your area of expertise, isn't it?"

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"Well, I'm sorry, but I hadn't planned on running into a sentient Cretaceous reptile this afternoon and I haven't got my tranquilizer gun." She glanced down at the bracelet on her wrist. –damn it, you even knew the thing was here and you didn't load any reptilian tranquilizer pellets, bloody oversight, won't happen again–

She didn't take her eyes off T-Rex, but she kept the Master in her peripheral vision. All the better to know which way she needed to run.

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Here, the mighty T-Rex found himself at a crossroads. On one hand, they could probably help him build all kinds of Really Cool Stuff! On the other hand, they clearly were not to be trusted and he hadn't gotten to stomp on a person -- or Time Lord -- since his arrival.

"You looked better with the goatee," he told the Master. "It made you look a lot eviller. I know that's not really something you get to decide, but if you get another, try and aim for a goatee, all right?"

But there were other things to discuss.

"Also, I feel that it's my moral duty to stomp you! Both of you! I mean, what with you being evil and all. Who knows what you could get up to if I don't?"

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–how in the Pythia's name can it know that—impossible, killed that one, dumped its corpse in pieces out into the Vortex, no thanks to–

"Should we even bother trying to reason with it?" she asked the Master rhetorically; the speed with which she was backing away was already increasing.

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–DO. NOT. ENTER.–

"You don't think you'd have any luck?" If she thought for a moment that he wasn't going to match her every move, she had another thing coming. "Even with your astounding mediation skills?" Of course, said skills usually involved scathing insults and an insistence that the subject stop whining before more pain was inflicted on him, her or it.

Honestly, where was the bag of tricks? The needles, the explosions, the flashy plasma screens, something. If they weren't about to be crushed under the scaly feet of a rather loquacious, should-be extinct reptile, he might have sounded disdainful. He made a fairly good go of it, as it was. "Are you really telling me that you don't have anything prepared? Have you actually gotten that sloppy?"

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"You have your TARDIS wrecked by a troupe of bloodsucking human-sized bats and see how organised you are," she snapped. Still, the old challenge had to be answered somehow; no way was she letting him have the last word. She raised her arm, pressed a few buttons on her bracelet, and a tiny dart went flying toward T-Rex's head. It was a generic sedative and probably wouldn't do much to slow the dinosaur down, but maybe it would provide a distraction. -if only I could call my TARDIS; poor thing's still incapacitated-

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T-Rex listened to them argue for a little bit before he took it upon himself to inform them, "I'm a he, not an it! I can hear you, you know." And with that, he raised a giant green foot, intending to bring it down heavily on one or both of them.

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"Bugger this," snarled the Rani, and she bolted. Surprisingly quickly, given the height and spikiness of the heels on her boots. Not quite away from T-Rex; her path would actually take her slightly alongside and then behind him. She was counting on him not being able to manuever too quickly, thus gaining her a fair bit of distance before he could turn in pursuit.

The Master? He could bloody well take care of himself.

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