high_seas | All fun and games

Through all the chaos, she barely registered what exactly was going on around her. Likely, the Doctor had seen her before she noticed him. So Ace and The Doctor were here. Maybe that did mean some kind of safety for her. Selphie lifts her face towards him, her good eye blinking at the unusual weapons he had with him.

But then he smiled at her, and sounded so casual that it made her head spin. He was acting so sure, like things were going to be okay. With all her fear, pain, and confusion, none of that made sense. It made her feel suddenly sick, and she threw her head forward again, taking deep breaths to calm herself.

The big marine that he's basically ignored puffed up his chest and took a step closer, brandishing a long saber. Clearly he's not appreciated such treatment.

"Now I don't know how you plan on doing that, pirate. You're surrounded and I don't know who you think you are but..."

The Doctor's attention snaps to focus on the man, cutting him off with a glare, and his soft expression hardened to the implacability of a mountain. His eyes burned, and his voice grew monstrously loud, echoing throughout the courtyard even over the noise.

"I'm the Doctor, and you just made the biggest mistake of your life, soldier. You hurt someone that I happen to like, and now you're trying to get between us. And that is not a very good position to be standing in. Let. Her. Go and you can get out of this without any further reprisal."

The marines around him all scoffed, laughing and drawing swords and guns. "Yeah, Doctor? Heard this from all sorts of pirates before. Dunno what you think is different about you."

When they stepped forward, of course...the Time Lord simply glowered and raised his screwdriver, clicking it on. And then every single gun held by a marine roared in sudden, deafening explosions that send the navy men sprawling to the ground with cries of pain and surprise. The big officer gapes and takes a step back as the Doctor steps forward and gives Selphie a little wink.

"Gunpowder. Pretty volatile substance. A little sonic energy and there it goes."

Meanwhile, Selphie can barely look at him. It's exhausting for her to really pay attention and to understand what is happening between the Doctor and her captors. She shakes her head slowly, as though trying to tell him to leave. He can't be here - what if they do the same to him?

From the corner of her good eye she sees him wink at her, but it doesn't make sense. Why would he do that? Right now? Despite everything?

That friendliness, and his desperation to get her safe, all at once it overwhelmed her and made her want cry. So she hangs her head again, determined not to let him see how upset she is, with her swollen eye and burst lip, and how horribly upset she was.

The soldier, though, is having none of it. The obvious dismissals are not exactly...popular...with officers. He snarls and launches himself at the Doctor, sword whirling in a swashbuckling cut.

"Think your clever do ya?"

Skipping back a pace to dodge it, the Time Lord bares his teeth in a fighting grimace.

"Oh I don't think it, I know it!"

His own sword comes up, buzzing and snapping as the lights and wires all come on at once. And as they do, a low thrum fills the air around him, followed by the rattle and clink of metal on metal. The swords used by the downed marines are all straining to come loose.

And then they do. Swords, belt buckles, knives, rings, earrings, discarded manacles...they all fly into the air and surround the Doctor in a a tight ring of floating ferrous material. Including, of all things, the officer's own sword.

"Y'see that?" asks the Time Lord over the thrumming of the magnetic field he'd generated. "One of me...and a dozen a' you! You sure you don't want to just cut your losses and run?"

Edited 2013-11-28 12:34 (UTC)

Had Selphie been in a happier frame of mind, and feeling much fitter too, she would have loved this. Thw Doctor was putting on quite the performance, freaking the soldiers out as well as physically winning. She will remember this later, and will no doubt smile about it, but for now she's just too frightened, as uncertain as the soldiers as to what was going to happen next. Finally, she does lift her face fully towards him, if only because she wants to see as much as possible what is going on, and she'd like to see these soldiers beaten.

The soldiers on the ground, now recovered from their daze, do just that, scrambling backwards on their hands to get away from the Doctor and his ring of pointy, sharp, flying things. Their leader, though, stands his ground.

"Can't let you." he growls out, stepping closer and winding up for a punch.

"Then don't say I didn't warn you," is the Doctor's only answer.

With a roar, the big man charges, fist first, only to have an enormous metal manhole cover drift into his path. Bones crunch on metal and he howls in pain but tries to sidestep, and right into a floating iron pike. The Doctor twitches his wrist, jerking a few of the jury-rigged controls, and the butt of the polearm cracks down onto the marine's head, laying him out like a Christmas ham, alive, but definitely unconscious.

Turning, he raised his sword and fiddled with something, and the field of magnetism intensified. Metal lamps and braziers, light fixtures, torches...doors, hinges, nails, and all sorts of ferrous knicknacks all over the fortress began to shake, rattle, and move towards the center of it all. Glaring around, the madman from Gallifrey's voice echoed once again.

"This is what you get! Do not test me again or next time it'll be more than a fortress that gets taken apart! Mark my words I will pick you apart bit by bit...not because I want to, but because you will have made me angry. I'm the Doctor, last of the Time Lords, and you would be wise to remember it!"

Tirade over, he casually strode over to Selphie and knelt down beside her as the entire fort began to shake and shudder. For a moment, his expression softened, worry apparent.

"Can you walk?"

When he gets closer, she lowers her face, not wanting him to see the extent of the damage on her face. She takes a deep breath, her voice choked, like she hasn't had anything to drinkin days.Then she shakes her head, wincing at the pain in her ribs.

"Alright then, no worries. I got you."

Carefully, he slings the sword over his back and reaches out, picking her up like a child. He's no weightlifter, but she's not exactly heavy. Rising slowly, he deliberately begins moving towards the gateway, metal orbiting him like an asteroid belt.

With a nod to Ace and the other Spades there he keeps going, trusting that they'll free Kairi, Natsuno, and anyone else who'd been captured. Selphie needed immediate attention.

"Not far now, and we'll get you and everyone else out. Trust me, alright?"

When she tries to speak, it comes out as a strangled sob, and she grits her teeth, bracing herself from him lifting her, knowing that however he does it she will feel pain in her bosy somewhere. In his arms, though, she sighs gently and allows herself to go limp against him. It's the safest she's felt by far in days. Her eyes followed behind them, making sure that there wouldn't be anyone left behind, worried that his attentions would be better spent on Kairi, for example. Selphie gives another long, shaky sigh, groaning as even the effort of that hurts her ribs. "S-so-sorry..." The first word she's spoken, because she feels like she needs to apologise for being such a waste of his time.

Walking away, he spares a glance back at the others, long enough to see Ikki taking care of Kairi. Everything there will be alright. The young man is doing his damnedest to get her loose, and that's enough for the Doctor. When Selphie speaks, he looks down with a gentle smile.

"It's alright, no need to apologize. Just you hang on till we're clear, alright? Then we'll get you patched up right as rain, understand?"

A knot of soldiers scurries out of their way when he approaches the main gate, the hinges of the great wooden doors flying loose and whizzing into orbit around him. With another twist of his wrist, he adjusts the field, tearing free the nails holding the wood together, sending the great oak planks tumbling hurly-burly all over the ground. The marines all just gape, frightened whispers going on as they pass by.

Pausing on his way, the Time Lord regards the men for a long heartbeat.

"You lot may want to stop standing around and start putting out the fire before it spreads much farther."

As he says that the administrative complex of the fort, empty of clerks and staff for the morning execution, belches a gout of flame. The lamps he'd set up to be caught in his little gizmo had fallen and the fire had quickly spread. Not the best way to go about things, but one made do with what one had. Especially when one wanted to cripple a particular facility.

"And remember next time, should there be a next time," he said with a glower, "That I was playing nice."

When she notices Ikki helping Kairi too, she feels able to mentally relax a little, since she trusts Ikki to look after her. Whatever magic that the Doctor was using, for an exhausted and battered Selphie, it was a little frightening in places. With what strength she had, Selphie held onto him tighter, her fear keeping her close. She wants to be 'right as rain' as he put it, but she feels so far from being better. But, for his sake, and out of relief, Selphie tries a wobbly smile. But that bursts her freshly split lip, and red blood quickly forms there instead.

The soldier's jaws drop even further and they take off towards the offices while the Time Lord just keeps walking. The gates are no obstacle, and once outside, he reaches back and clicks off the device, his grip on Selphie loosening slightly. Swords, nails, torches, hinges, screws, pots, pans, and all manner of metal objects caught in his trap fall to the ground with a clattering din, throwing up sparks and catching a bale of hay on fire.

Down the path he goes, confident as you please, all the way to where the getaway skiff is resting. Setting Selphie down, he looks back at the burning fort, a scowl on his face. It takes a minute for him to tear his eyes away, but he does, though his face is still somewhat haunted as he looks down at her. Forcing a smile, he brushes some hair out of her face and pulls out the sonic.

"Right. Now, let's get that lip and eye looked at."

Edited 2013-11-28 16:45 (UTC)

The loud noise frightens her, and she gives a hard kick of her legs, like she's trying get away from something. The metal clash reminded too much of some of the torture she'd received, the heavy blows that cracked her ribs. In her fright she lets out a tired scream of fear, and when she realises her mistake she holds onto the Doctor even tighter, nails digging for security.

Being put down, careful as it was, hurts too, and she looks like a woman beyond tired with being hurt. When she sees the tool, she starts, flinching away from it. "Wh - what is that?"

He looks down with a tired smile, reaching out a hand to hers, offering a squeeze.

"It's called a sonic screwdriver. It's a tool I use to fix things, make things, and heal things. It won't hurt, I promise. Just relax. Trust me."

And then he ever so slowly brings it nearer, a faint whirring sound issuing from it. It, as promised, doesn't hurt, and the cut on her lip seals up almost immediately. Several other small injuries on her face begin to recede as well, and the pain with them. It's not a substitute for time, but it's a start.

Just in case, she screws her eyes tight shut, though she does trust that he wouldn't hurt her, the idea of having less pain seems almost farfetched now. Along with the unusual sound, comes a slow release of pain. Her face has been hurting badly for days, but now she's actually able to look at him with both eyes. She touches her eye and her mouth gently with her fingers, seemingly pleased with the bad swelling gone. "How...do I look?" And she's serious with the question, remembering the taunts of the soldiers, who messed up her face then were cruel about how it disfigured her.

The confusion is normal, he thinks, and he gives her a weak smile. "You look a little bedraggled, but nothing a bath, some good tea, and a warm meal wouldn't fix. You'll be alright, nothing permanent. Still lovely as always."

He pauses, running the screwdriver down a little bit further checking for more serious injuries.

"Sorry I couldn't get here sooner. Had to set all that up."

The very thought of a bath, and tea, and food, it's all enough to make her eyes swell up with tears, and she nods, agreeing that these things will help. For his efforts, she does manage a small smile for him, exhausted as she is.

"N-no. It's okay. It's good." She watches at he moves the little wand thing, not sure what he's doing, but there's broken ribs and some cuts that might scar down her inner thigh.

The Time Lord frowns at the screwdriver as it tells him about the state of her injuries. The scars in particular draw a near growl from him and he looks back up at the fort. Smoke billows up from it, cinders raining down around it in a hellish cloud. He doesn't pick up any internal damage down below, though, which is a relief. That would be cause for him to go back up there and break that vow against killing, probably. No reason to bring it up unless she does though.

"Two broken ribs and some cuts that'll need attention. You'll be alright dear. I can have you back to bouncing around in a few days time. Doesn't look like you were drugged either, which is good. All we've got to worry about now is triage and making sure you don't get an infection."

He rises and pulls a blanket and pillow out from a chest, setting her head down and covering her up so she can watch the fire.

"They'll remember this day. And if they have any common sense, they'll never, ever, so much as think your name again. This will not ever happen to you again. I swear it."

"B-broken?" Selphie's eyes widen at that piece of news - she'd assumed they were just badly bruised. She looks down at the screwdriver, and back up at him. In better health she'd be squealing about the seemingly magic wand, asking how it works, all sorts of things. But that'll have to wait for later.

Covered with the blanket, she watches the fire with an intense interest. She hopes the others are safe, but would happily watch that entire crew burn to cinders if she could. Her attention is drawn back to him when he speaks, and she hitches a breath to stop herself from crying, "D-Doctor? Th-thank you..." And that would be another thing she would have to do properly another time.

"It's alright. Just rest now. Get some sleep."

He nods once, a bit of his usual congenial demeanor returning. One hand reaches up to gently stroke her hair, and he releases a bit of psychic energy. It's not something he does often, but she needs the rest. The last thing she'll hear before she drifts off is a faint humming, an old Gallifreyan lullaby.

All fun and games

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urgh that sent before I wanted it to (2/2)

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