If you could go back in time...

The Master's ice cold glare drilled into the heart of the man in the suit in front of him. "I've come for my TARDIS" he stated. The man in the suit laughed, a cruel deafening chuckle. The Master's face twitched with irritation. The man in the suit faded away, nothing more than a projection and a swarm of mechanical Hive soldiers flooded into the room, weapons aimed at the Master.

The old man with messy black hair and lines besetting his face sat on the crate, twirling a small gun around his fingers. He dropped it to the ground by the sizzling robotic bodies that had tried to kill him just moments ago. The Master allowed himself a moment to straighten his jacket and run a hand through his hair. Then, with a sigh, he pulled away the curtain in front of him. An old grandfather clock stood proudly.

He pulled it open and stepped inside it as if it were a car. Inside, he was met with the looming glowing console room of his TARDIS, finally retrieved from the Hive.

If you could go back in time, what would you do? Would you try to correct your mistakes? Change the past? Eradicate an enemy? See the future? Regardless, The Master had always known what he would do. A few flicks of switches and levers and a familiar whirring filled the room.

He flung open the doors and stepped out of the clock in the dusty backroom of a seafront shop. he slid his way out of the building unnoticed and took a seat on a bench overlooking the pale ocean. It was a normal Earthern town from 2012. To a common observer he seemed like a nostalgic old man, watching out over the deep blue sea.

Arianna gasped as she exited the TARDIS. She and the doctor had just returned from a planet where they had been chased after by giant man-eating spiders, and had decided to take a break. "It's beautiful!" she smiled at him, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath of the cool sea breeze. Opening them, she saw a shop nearby and began to go towards it, she stared around at all the surrounding land, it was one of those places that you needed to look at things twice or more to be able to take it all in.

(Hope you don't mind me joining!)

(I don't mind but you're going to have to wait until you've been approved. That's alright though, it gives time for any interested others to join as well.)

Lea wandered down the beach, enjoying the quiet, broken only by the sound of the ocean. She'd asked the Doctor to drop her somewhere for some time alone. After so many years of keeping to herself, it was overwhelming at times dealing with a hyperactive Timelord who seemingly never stopped talking.

He'd asked her to keep her phone on her at all times in case of emergencies, and she'd promised to call him when she wanted to leave. She checked the battery level and frowned; she'd have to remember to charge the thing later. For now, she was just enjoying a stroll in the recent past.

Growing bored with just walking around, Lea searched out a bench and sat herself down near some old man. She pulled a small Rubik's cube from the pocket of her jacket for a calm, sedate activity to do. For once, she hoped, she wouldn't find herself in the middle of a giant disaster.

The Master's eyes flickered over the girl who now sat next to him. He didn't say anything but he watched the cube, his mind working through the stages of solving it silently. He glanced up and saw nothing had changed yet. He sighed, inaudibly, and ran a hand through his messy black hair, his cold tired eyes dancing back to the girl: still there. "It's a good view," he commented, his voice barely making it out of his mouth, torn to shreds in his throat.

Lea started slightly as the man spoke, his voice rough and quiet. She looked up at the horizon. "Yeah, suppose it is," she said. "Nice day to be out here, too." She continued to work at the cube, manipulating it carefully. Once it was fully solved, she tucked it back into her jacket and contented herself with gazing out at the sea. Clearing her mind as best she could of her usual worries, she simply appreciated what lay before her.

Feeling awkward after a while, she looked over at the old man sitting beside her. "I'm Lea, by the way," she finally said. "What's your name?"

"I..." he paused, "I've had many," he said. "I usually go by the Master but it's more of a title than a name." He swallowed as he saw a group of laughing figures approaching. They didn't look at him or Lea. A man, a woman and a child. The child was a girl, in her teenage years. The man and the woman were arguing about something, probably unimportant.

"I guess you can call me..." he paused, searching for an acceptable name. "Donald," he decided with a slight shrug. It wasn't his real name but it was one he used occasionally. He watched as the young blonde girl sat down on the sand, her chin resting in her hands, gazing out over the waves. He snapped his attention away from the past and turned to face Lea, forcing a smile onto his old features. "It's good to meet you Lea."

The flashing of the cameras,and the females that gawked always sickened Syra. She knew that her and her brother needed extra income and his job allowed them to seem normal. She slowly stood from her seat,and walked away from the photoshot location. As she walked down the street,she opened her parasol and did not mind the stares her clothes received. Her clothes were respectable and not those of bar wenches. She was wearing on of her favorites,a victorian style dress that was purple,with black lace overlaying the purple on the skirt part.

Syra always wore princess gowns or victorian outfits,as she wanted people to know there was something off about her. That if they valued their lives they would stay away,and it worked for the most part. She was always bumping into people,and found herself yearning for someone to see past the facade. She turned from the street and headed towards the beach,maybe she would see a child with a loving mother.Her victorian boots felt weird as she stepped towards a bench,she did not see the two talking till she got closer. The young woman and older gentlemen were in a conversation,so she waited till they had finished introductions,as she approached," I there room for one more,"she asked. She turned and saw the happy child,and then turned back towards the bench. She knew there was room,but she had to get an ok,because it was the proper thing to do.

(( Sorry a little rusty,just thought I should try to get my muse back))

Even though it wasn't exactly summer weather, being spring and all, Dakota decided to head down to the beach and get some rays. She had a beach towel, sunscreen, and her phone. Kota didn't want to be... weighted down, as she needed time to think. The phone was just for emergencies, anyways. She saw a quaint shop that had quite a few benches overlooking the ocean. Dakota decided that 'tanning' on the beach could wait, she would get a much better view from one of the benches. Besides, she could at least window shop even though Kota hadn't though to bring money. One bench was occupied by a man and a woman, one significantly older than the other. Another woman in strange attire approached them as Dakota watched. Dakota didn't really feel like chatting at the moment, so she took a seat at the bench next to the occupied one. She then closed her eyes and fell into the vastness of her thoughts.

The Master paused, his eyes drifting back to the girl on the sand. He was vaguely aware of another woman taking a seat on one of the other benches. The Master nodded. "Yeah, there's room," he answered weakly. He could see the clouds starting to gather over the beach. Rain couldn't be far away. "Fantastic..." He muttered, clearly commenting on the weather.

((I've only got a tablet for the next few days, so responses might be slow. Sorry, guys.))

Lea moved over to make room for the new woman, edging closer to the old man.  She eyed her strange outfit warily; was this another time traveler or simply a fan of eccentric dresses? For now, at least, she'd assume the latter. Hearing the man's mutter, she followed his gaze and saw the rapidly accumulating rain clouds. She groaned slightly in response. There goes the nice weather, she thought.

Judging by the hesitation before he gave a name, "Donald" wasn't all he seemed to be. Lea reflected that her nice, normal day was quickly taking a turn for the weird.

She looked over the lady's gown again. It was beautiful and elegant, but... "Is there a convention in town or something?" she asked. "A Victorian dress can't be comfortable on a warm beach. Er, sorry if that was rude. Anyway, what's your name?" She resisted the strong urge to cringe at her feeble attempt at small talk.

As she sat down,Syra closed her parasol,and leaned it on the side of the bench. She looked to the clouds,as she noticed the cloudy weather,and said," Thank you, I believe you said your name was Donald," she then continued," Forecast did not call for rain,I should now my brother is narcissistic when it comes to his hair. Plus I only brought my shade parasol."


She looked at Lea,and then down at her outfit. "No there is no convention,I just prefer to be dressed properly,must clothes these day a bar wench would not touch. Maybe the town harlot,proper ladies leave nothing to the imagination of men."

For normal people it would be do hot,but she was not entirely human anymore." I can not die from a heat stroke,I will properly far outlive you. I stopped being normal at five. My animosity lies toward my mother not you,so that was not to be rude either. My name is Lady Syra Darkangelle,but the Lord and Lady status mean nothing these days,so Syra well do."

She looked over at Dakota,as she said," Penny for your thoughts,because if I did than you would be rich. All that is going on in that little mind of yours. I am telepathic you are venting in my direction alot of people are actually,not just you."

"Forecast isn't always right," The Master stated. He'd met many strange people over his lifetimes so this woman didn't phase him. The storm was fast approaching. But it wasn't just a storm. The Master had chosen this time specifically. This was a temporal storm, a time storm that was set to freeze all people caught in it for a few minutes. When the storm passed, they would awaken as if nothing had happened. One moment in time, that would last several. It affected everyone, unless they were out of place, out of time, not supposed to be there... The storm was crackling, drawing closer. "It's time..." The Master muttered, then it was apon them.

Syra turned towards Donald,and she answered back at him," and sometimes five minutes turns into a hundred years."
Syra tried to keep her hatred down,but sometimes it bubbled to the top,it was probably the part of her that wanted to be saved. She wondered if he ever tried to find her again,or did he just write her off as a lost cause. She turned her attention back towards the storm,maybe something would happen,and make her not see this as another boring day. She had over 30 years of just another day,she heard his muttered words,and wondered what they were for as she waited for him to say something else. She waited for the other girls to speak to her,and she was only trying to get a rise out of them.

(( was not sure if the storm would do anything to Syra given that she is over 300 years old. I took a guess it would not.))

Lea ignored Syra's jab at Donald and instead looked at the man. "What do you mean, time for wh-" she stopped abruptly as the storm started. As one, the few people on the beach stopped. Unable to keep a moment's sheer panic off her face, she ignored her initial impulses and ran down to the sand.

At first glance, she would assume some sort of psychic interference, stopping every person here, perhaps everywhere, dead in their tracks. She continued to observe, however, and noted a couple key details. No one was breathing, and several seemed caught midfall, frozen into positions impossible to balance in. Secondly, everything around them was stuck as well. Clothing, food, even the waves hitting the shore, all were still in the positions they'd been in as the storm hit.

Most importantly of all, absolutely EVERYTHING had ceased to move forward in time, except for two groups: those who had been on the bench, and the clouds above.

Lea gulped and looked back at the only people stuck in this strange limbo with her. Her voice coming out rather more light-hearted than she intended, she managed to choke out, "Ah, well, time appears to have stopped. Almost completely. We should probably do something about that."

"It's only a temporal storm, it will pass," the Master stated, easing himself to his feet. His messy black hair had previously blown wild in the wind but now sat still on his head. The Master's long dark coat had ceased to bellow as well. The wind was silent. It didn't show, but he was surprised That the others were unaffected. Less so by Syra, whose appearance reeked of time displacement, but Lea had seemed genuinely ordinary. The young blonde girl he'd watched earlier still sat on the sand alone, unmoving, frozen. The Master seemed to be slowly edging towards those sandy plains. "I had planned on being alone in the storm, but I guess your inclusion makes no difference," he spoke softly. "The storm will pass on in 10 minutes, do as you will with that time," he now found his well-worn shoes crushing prints into the shallow sand particles.

Syra looked at him and asked,"how often to these occur?"

 She slowly stood herself,and said," If we are stuck in time for ten minutes,will we aren't no use using my abilities to hide." As she finished speaking the back of the dress vanished,and a pair of dragon wings appeared. As she watched him walk away,she added," what is so special about that little girl."

 " Yeah,you could go raid some person home,because it is supposed to be haunted. Graffiti the walls and claim that you were in the so called house,tell me any of you two visit Dakangelle Manor. I guess since I did smash all the angel statues it does look desolate." she said," it has been my home for over 300 years,and the kids your age think it is fun to destroy it."

 She smirked,as her ice blue eyes turned red and reptilian." Ten Minutes that the world stopped and my nice side is taking a nap,more like she is retreated back into her little blue box,and reliving the day she died. She met The Doctor,and he promised five minutes. I most have been a fixed point in time,because I massacred an entire family. I see your innocence of the world out there,the ones who promise you sanctuary or the ones that are your enemies."

((I was bored,and this popped in my head so, decided to go ahead and post, Syra's split is in control at the moment. I have done the nice one for a while,time to give the darker one some attention.))

"They're pretty rare," the Master croaked. He stopped near the girl as he became aware of a change occurring in Syra. The tired old man faded away into a man filled with anger, and nothing left to lose. His eyes were ablaze as he turned to face Syra. When he spoke this time it was wit confidence , with a sharp edge to his voice that could make gods tremble.

"Calm yourself youngster. You think your darkness can in any way stand up to mine? You are mistaken. I am the Master, the blood of infinites are on my hands and entire galaxies burn in my name. You are 300 years old? I am over 1000. Your home is occasionally vandalised? I caused a war between deities of the skies that destroyed my planet." The Master's eyes narrowed, his boast ending. "You can quench your thirst for death if you need to, just not today," he spat out. His demeanour started to shift back to the frail old traveller with the messy black hair and the line-beset face.

"You asked me who the girl is," his voice was soft and weak once more. "She was my daughter," he sat down on the hot sand, no longer cooled by the wind, cross legged by the blonde girl. "Until I killed her." The last words were quieter, weaker, than an aged man on his deathbed, mumbling for his last goodbye.

Lea stared between "Donald" and Syra. Both had, as she'd suspected, turned out to be more than they seemed. Although, she hadn't really expected the dragon wings. She hoped that they were done boasting of their darkness; she got the message. Of all the people to be stuck alone with, she'd ended up with two murderers. Excellent.

She contemplated calling the Doctor and getting the heck out of there, but she wasn't sure if the TARDIS would fare well in a temporal storm. She was fairly certain she'd be fine; the more fearsome of the two didn't seem forgiving of any murderous rampaging today. In fact, his face had seemed downright human as he spoke of his daughter.

Lea walked back to the two. "So, what do you want to do with your ten minutes here?" she asked Donald quietly. "A goodbye? A last message? Or," and the possibility made her uneasy, "change the past..."

She trailed off, thinking of her sister. Even if they were in the right place, Adaline had been dead for over 7 years by this point. Oh, what she wouldn't give... but, apparently, she couldn't cross her own time stream to see Addy, and any attempt to prevent her death would be incredibly risky if not impossible. Trying to take her mind off of such sad times, she stared out at the eerily still ocean.

Her red eyes looked at the Master,as she answered him," I do not think my darkness can stand up to yours. But the one thing that is different is I do not feel remorse,because I was protecting weak little Syra. The thanks I get is she gets her little dragon friend to lock me up so she can play goody two shoes. That french pig literally broke her heart,and she died of a heart attack. I had to teach them a lesson,like I taught every little vandal."

She then turned and locked eyes with Lea,as she her lips curled into a smirk. She knew The Doctor would probably have carried the two girls at one time. They could also be aliens or modified like her,but there would never be any like her. The Master had destroyed his home planet,or caused it."I have already fed so you do not have to worry about me killing anyone."

She was quiet to give The Master time to tell his daughter goodbye," If you are like the Doctor,even with being part human,would your genes not be the dominant ones. Are was it only certain gallifreyians that could regenerate."

"Time is a funny thing," the Master commented, gently easing his tie looser and opening the top button of his shirt. "You'd think a time traveller could never run out of it, but that's it's cruellest, you can change anything except your own past. Even if I could, there was no other way, there's nothing I could do then or now, but say goodbye."

"Regeneration depends on how they die," he answered Syra quietly. His head was hanging forwards as if he was searching for words. "Look at you," he breathed out, his head jolting upwards. It was clear he was talking to the frozen little girl. "So young, so much more to do. But even now, it's there in your eyes. You knew this was how it had to end." His eyes weren't watering but there was a sadness to them unrivalled. "I had to kill you, the Hive left me no other option. What kind of a father could let his daughter be used as a pawn and a weapon for the rest of her life? But then, I guess, what kind of a father could kill his own daughter?"

"I don't need to explain, I know you understood. But I do need to tell something I should have told you so many times before. Even though you can't hear me, carry this with you: I have always loved you, and I will never forget."

He pushed himself to his feet and breathed out a cold sigh. "Thank you," he whispered to Lea and Syra, they'd allowed him his moment of closure. His sad worn eyes were the only part of him that didn't harden and cool into any other tired ageing old man who'd seen more than anyone should have to. "3 minutes left," he stated, his voice weak still but colder. Tired and cold.

At the old man's confession, Lea stopped dead for a few seconds. She kept the shock of it off of her face; she understood his reasons, from what she gathered. Still, the warmth was leaving his voice. She knew that as soon as the storm ended, it would be best to leave. Quickly.

"I know what you mean," she said. "About running out of time. There was something I wanted to change, something that was my fault, with the direst of consequences... but that doesn't matter. I'm sorry for your loss." She knew from experience, though, how inadequate those words were. How little they helped.

She sat down on the sand, unsure of what to do with these last few minutes.

As she heard The Master's confession,and looked at Lea," Killing to protect your daughter was noble,my mother tried to kill me because she never wanted a child. She wanted the prestige that came with being the wife of a Lord,but not bothered with children. She tried to drown me,and the only way to save me,will my father did what he had to save me."

Syra looked at the ground,and tears came from her eyes. black inky tears but tears none the less."We all have things,we would of liked to change. But we can't. No matter how much blood stains our hands,we can never make them completely clean."

She wiped the tears away,and said,"You try being 16 forever and see how screwed up you become,teen angst and raging hormones. My own brother became immortal just so he could be with me. But where ever he is,he is probably thinking he stunned everybody with his beauty. You know,you could move people into weird positions so when time unfreezes they will be in a weird pose."

She walked closer to The Master,as she said,"So was your daughter the only reason you came or did you come for another reason also?"

(So sorry guys, I've been away for a bit and haven't had time to reply.)

Dakota saw the dark clouds, heard the thunder. The other three people on the bench next to her started talking, but the only words she heard were "temporal storm". That sounded a bit frightening... Everyone else that was on the beach appeared to be frozen in time, leaving only the four on the benches. Well. Kota hadn't planned for this! She decided that she would just continue to sit there, to try to not get noticed. The woman in the dress and the man seemed a tad crazy at the moment, and Dakota didn't want their rage projected onto her. She didn't want to get the attention of... Lea, was it? because it may attract the other two.

As Dakota sat, she was half listening to the conversations of the other three unfrozen. One little girl on the beach that was frozen was apparently the old man's daughter... and he had come to say goodbye? Dakota didn't fully understand how time worked, not yet, so she was more than slightly confused. Oh well, this is why she stayed on her bench.

She heard the man say that there were only a few minutes left to this storm. Good, she thought. She was sick of this weird feeling that she didn't belong. It was quite weird, having everyone frozen but a handful of people. The sooner this storm was over, the sooner Dakota could get away from these people. I mean, really! She HAD to get stuck with people involved somehow with the Doctor! The only reason she knew they were somehow involved with him is that Dak heard his name said, and also heard the name of his people. So what did that mean? Was this old man somehow... related to the Doctor? Were they friends? Dakota had no clue, but she didn't want to stay longer than she needed to to figure it out. Kota had had enough crazy for one day.

She couldn't wait until this storm was over.

"Why does the universe raise such broken creatures..." The Master muttered a the other two's words. Dakota's presence had seemed so insignificant to him, that he hadn't even registered she wasn't frozen. He looked Lea right in the eye and a speck of warmth returned to his croaking voice. "I've spent over a lifetime blaming myself. Let me give you one piece of advice: don't bother. The sooner you learn to live with it, the quicker you can move onto bigger and better mistakes."

The words were hypocritical, flying from his mouth. No matter how hard he tried, he could never forgive himself for what he'd done and he imagined the pain was the same for her. If he could have reached out, placed a finger to her head, and sent a jolt of forgiveness through her so powerful that even she would be forced to conclude she was innocent, he would have. But he couldn't; that wasn't something within his capabilities.

Syra's question struck the Master like a bullet. Nothing had even traced a line on his mind except the chance to say goodbye when he had retrieved his TARDIS. It was the one occasion he had no dual motivation. "No," he answered bluntly, more shocked at his answer than angry at the question. It was an innocent question she had every right to ask. It was just it felt like he was betraying himself with his answer.