Everyone froze at the sight of this new creature. The Master looked round at the group. His eyes lit up at the sight of Buffy. "The Slayer..." he purred.
Buffy stood up and took on her fighting stance.
"No Buffy," cried the Doctor, "Wait..."
"Stupid child," murmured the Master as he raised his hand. Buffy felt herself being lifted in the air by a force she could not see. It seemed to be dragging her by the neck. She drifted over to the Master, helpless to his spell, as his hand clawed around her neck. "And it isn't even my birthday," he purred. "You shall join your friends for the experiment."
Willow looked at Xander, terrified. "Tangible...T-A-N-G-I-B-L-E"
Xander nodded. "Naked Buffy, Jello, Peanut Butter..." Willow gave him a look. "Oh, and a really big spoon."
"Umm," Wil stammered. "Warm TARDIS, hot cocoa and . . ." he suddenly felt two sets of eyes peering at him.
"Sorry, it's the best I can think of on short notice!"
"Cocoa?"
"AAHAAH!" The Doctor roared out triumphantly, as he pulled a sonic-screwdriver out of his pockets and aimed it at Wil's shackles. His voice echoed throughout the hollow room, several times.
"Hello, guys!" Buffy was now hanging upside down like a ragdoll dangling from a child's hand. Her loose-fitting shirt was beginning to dangle over her face.
"Ni-ice!" Xander smiled, feeling like he had died and gone to heaven.
"Buffy!" Willow began to blush.
"Well gee, there ain't too much that I can do about that right now, is there?"
"I guess not."
"Excuse me, Nosferatu, but I'm not exactly one of those stretchy toy thingies."
"The Slayer doesn't appreciate what I'm about to do to her?"
"No, I guess not."
"Gotcha!" The Doctor said, as Wil's arms hung free.
"Think fast!" Wil picked up several fist sized rocks that were laying around and began to juggle them, then one at a time hurled them in the Master's general direction.
"Don't--!" Buffy screamed, as the first rock hit the Master on the side of the head. His concentration was distracted just long enough for him to lose his invisible grip on Buffy, and she came plopping down like a sack of potatoes, right on her head. "OW!"
"Sorry," Wil apologized.
"You fool!" The Master hissed at Wil, as blood dripped down the side of his head. "You bloody fool!"
"Good one!" Willow cheered from her shackles, as the Doctor waved the sonic screwdriver over her shackles. "Take that!" She started to shadow-box the Master with the hand that just popped free and hit the Doctor in the nose.
"Will you watch it!" The Doctor blocked Willow's second punch.
"Sorry!" Willow giggled.
"Boy, everybody's sorry around here," Buffy pulled a silver crucifix from her pocket and waved it at the Master, "including you!"
The Master began to laugh sinisterly, then after abruptly stopping and turning his laugh into a scream of horror, he began to run away into the depths of the caves.
"That's right, you big old coward, run away to wherever you go to cower!" Xander began to laugh.
"Wha--?" The Doctor dropped his sonic-screwdriver, then looked up. "I just got the strangest feeling."
"What is it?" Buffy decided not to pursue the Master for the moment, and turned to the Doctor. She gripped him by the shoulders and steadied his stance.
"I'm not sure exactly." The Doctor paused for a minute, breathed in and out several times, then sighed.
"Gas?" Xander asked.
"No dummy, it looked like he had some sort of premonition or something." Willow said.
"Is it contagious?"
"Yes," Buffy fought back a smirking laugh. "And I heard it'll kill you in a matter of days."
"That's mean!" Willow whispered. "That's the kind of trick that a certain friend of yours would pull."
"Who, the chatter-box who think's she's better than God himself?"
"Yeah. You know, someone should knock her down a peg or two, show her how people on the other side of the tracks REALLY have to live."
"I wish," Buffy said, "but it'll never happen."
"Let's go!" The Doctor began to march forward.
"Is everybody here?" Buffy asked.
"Yes." Fiona said.
"Almost forgot that you were here, with me fighting off the Master."
Something was wrong, that much was for sure, yet he didn't know just what.
"Well?" Giles placed down the book that he was reading. "How'd it turn out?"
"We . . . were . . . distracted." Buffy forced on a smile.
"By what?"
"Not what, who!" Buffy nodded her head in Willow's way, but only because she was the closest in proximity.
"I'm sorry!" Willow pouted.
"So you didn't fight the Master?" Giles asked.
"Let's just say it was more of a run-in," Buffy replied, "you know, we encountered, he pulled some of his mumbo jumbo, started to bite me, didn't, decided to hang me upside down, Wil threw a rock, he started to bleed . . ."
"I get the picture." Giles sat down, then looked up. "The Master bled?"
"Yeah, just a little though." She paused for a moment, then squinted her nose, "Vampires don't bleed though, do they?"
"No, they don't."
"Maybe this Rani did something to the Master." Willow suggested.
"Like what?"
"Like maybe she cloned him?" Wil suggested.
"Possible, but unlikely," The Doctor thought for a moment, "but maybe somehow The Master really is in on this, but in a level I never even thought about."
"No duh," Willow gave the Doctor a strange look. "Like, welcome to the conversation!"
"No, I think he means his Master," Giles fixed his glasses. "My question is, how did he do it?"
"That's what we still have to figure out."
"Did what?" Buffy asked.
"The Doctor's Master had altered his looks in some way so that he could appear as our Master."
"Is that bad?" Willow asked.
"No-o!" Buffy said with a heavy hint of sarcasm.
"But where is our Master?" Giles asked.
"Destroyed for all time?" Xander smiled.
"Too much to hope for," Buffy said as the library doors were kicked open.
"Buffy, we need to talk." Angel stood just outside of the library.
"Well come in, and we'll talk about it!" Buffy said, as Angel slowly walked in, apprehensive of the Doctor's presence. "Oh, have you met the Doctor?"
"We've met." Angel studied the face of the Doctor, the face was different, and the scarf was gone, but it was the same man.
"Angel?" The Doctor poised himself for a fierce fight.
"You've changed since we've last met," Angel looked at the Doctor sheepishly, "and...so have I."
"Of course," The Doctor eased up, and held out his hand, "It's nice to meet you again, then."
"Buffy," Angel insisted, "well, I guess he should know anyway, since it involved an old "friend" of his."
"Now I must know what you're about to say." The Doctor peered into Angel's eyes.
"All right," Angel said. "I don't know if you noticed this during your fight with the Master but--."
"How do you know about our fight with the Master?" Buffy inquired.
"I was . . . looking into things from my own angle."
"All right."
"Anyway, I'm not sure if you noticed this during your fight with the Master but--"
"Didn't you just cover that part?" Wil asked.
"Who is this clown?"
"I'm not a 'clown', I'm a 'jester'."
"Yeah!" Willow cheered.
"Willow, will you and Wil wire your yappers?" Buffy smiled nervously. "Did I just say that?"
"Where was I?" Angel asked. "Oh, yes. The Master didn't appear to be himself, so after you left I followed him."
"And?" The Doctor asked.
"Well, he entered this strange looking coffin, which in itself is weird, because . . . this sect of Vampires don't traditionally don't use coffins."
"Did you open the coffin?" The Doctor asked.
"Yes," he appeared guilty. "It looked like it was some sort of another dimension inside, like . . . you know." He looked at the Doctor.
"A third T.A.R.D.I.S.." The Doctor said. "That confirms it, The Master -- the one I know -- is here. Did you go inside?"
"I was beckoned, so I entered. I saw the Master hooked up to a machine, with another man, quite similar, hooked up to a similar machine."
"So that's what the Master is doing here, he's stealing the Master's body!!" the Doctor exclaimed.
"This doesn't mean that we have to SAVE the Master, does it?"
"Maybe not save your Master, but prevent the Master from taking over his body."
TO BE CONTINUED . . .