AN: The Master in this story is in a pretty nebulous state. So, despite the reference to The End of Time, the Master is pretty much the normal drum and conquest loving person the new series first shows him as. I'm not really sure why this got written but, it's here.

The Sound of Screams and Drums

The Master isn't disappointed when he finds himself on Earth again. After all, there is only one Time Lord (and therefore one TARDIS) left in existence in the universe and the Master knows how much the Doctor adores this species. He is disappointed when he finds he's been tossed far back into Earth's history but the Doctor has to arrive eventually. At least the rush of energy from the mending of time has fixed his body so he can survive without the copious amounts of food he was eating. The citizens here would probably kill him for however many lives he had left if he started eating people again.

The citizens of Ancient Egypt believe that a person is guilty until proven innocent after all.

The Master makes himself at home until he finds a way out of this time. He quickly discovers that the Pharaoh and his Priests are impossible to control. Their pieces of gold, undoubtedly the result of some technology he can't place, protect them from his telepathic abilities. So the Master turns his attention to Egypt's underworld.

It's not hard to pinpoint the leader. Anyone runs around the street laden with gold and proclaiming himself the "King of Thieves" is difficult to miss. No matter what they claim, the leaders of this country can't be searching very hard for this criminal. Or perhaps the Master just has an advantage. He understands the criminal mind in the way the "righteous" cannot. But he finds the leader and is determined to bend the man to his will, whether by telepathy or flattery. The tavern the Thief King likes to frequent makes a suitable meeting place.

"Thief King Bakura," he irreverently greets.

"If you know who you're speaking with, I'd suggest more respect." The man grunts, tearing into the food in front of him. His attitude will change soon enough, however.

"I am the Master," he begins his chant, reaching out with his mind toward the Thief Kings. His mind is allowed in for this man is protected by a power similar (but far more powerful) to the Pharaoh's.

The thief doesn't even notice the Master's intrusion into his mind. "Master? Of the sand?" the Thief King scoffs before his eyes grow hard, cold, and dangerous. "Stop wasting my time."

The Master doesn't have a reply to that. The sounds of screams have flooded into the Master's mind from the Thief King's. It mingles with the drums of his mind, pushing and demanding for blood and conquest. The Master would never had dreamed he'd find someone like him in the least but now he feels a strange kinship with the human who should, by all rights, be far beneath him.

"Listen." The Master urges, pushing his mind further into the darkness until the screams and drums echo eerily inside it. The Master can see that the Thief King understands from the way the other revels in the new sound and the wonder in his face. Massacre and Pharaoh float through the Master's mind while the Thief King's vocabulary now includes words like Time Vortex and Gallifrey.

But more importantly, the Master sees what the Thief King seeks. It is neither riches nor glory, as others would assume. Instead, the Master feels a lust for power and destruction and a need to see someone pay for all wounds suffered.

"I can help you," the Master offers, withdrawing his mind so that the screams fade and only the drums are left. The sense of understanding is gone but the kinship hasn't yet faded. But it is now that he recognizes the irony, that he is copying the words of his greatest friend and enemy.

"I don't need help," the Thief King replies suspiciously. He's seen inside the Master's mind after all.

"My help would greatly benefit you," the Master counters. "Your enemy would stand even less of a chance than he does now." And he would show the Doctor how treacherous these humans really are. He had to tweak Lucy to make her his puppet but this man would willingly destroy the world without the Master having to ask. To see the Earth, devastated by a single human, would break the Doctor's hearts. And the Master can grant this man the ability to destroy everything.

The Thief King is cunning of course, but greedy. He knows the power the Master once possessed. The Master can see it in the way his eyes gleam. "What help do you think you can give me?"

"What I offer is all of time and space," the Master explains. The Thief King knows what that means now, after their minds have freely shared their knowledge. Even if most of the information is already forgotten. "If you travel with me, I will give you the Earth for all eternity. You will be a god."

The Master could offer more but the Thief King is used to thinking of a world as only Egypt. He will not have given a second thought to the fact that he could have more.

"I will travel with you," the Thief King eventually agrees, pretending to be indifferent. They finish their business and go their separate ways, for now.

***

In the dark, Bakura's eyes gleam unnaturally. He knows what the Master can give and the Earth is barely a drop in the Nile. The Master is weak, as if the rest of his race and it is small wonder that the Time Lords were vanquished. But Bakura is the darkness and he is strong. He will learn all about the strange power the Master can access and then take the universe for himself. Instead of the Master, all shall know the reign of the Thief King.