"Just one more thing." the Master said, pulling the Doctor in for an embrace. The Doctor knew what would come next, and he hardly had the hearts to object. His head was yanked down and he felt another presence in his mouth, a familiar one. After a brief moment of confusion, the Doctor responded very well to the sudden repossession of his mouth. He pressed closer to the Master's body, after missing such moments like this for so long. But then the other man broke off. "You murdered her. She was your friend, she trusted you, you made her just like you, foolish and passionate and, though you wouldn't admit it, a fighter. She wasn't any of those things. You corrupted her, made her put all faith in you, and you tore her apart. My daughter. And I'll never forgive you." he spat. Though his eyes had returned to normal since the brief possession of the gauntlet, they still had a nightmarish quality that the Doctor thought would probably never disappear. But the gun was unexpected. Three shots, and then a furious shove off the edge of the chasm, full of hunger and rage and hatred and betrayal. The Doctor fell, fast. Everything seemed to move in slow motion after that. The Master fled, Ace chasing after him, seeing him hack a teleport and get away. Coordinates had been wiped and the teleport locked from further use. The Master was gone.
Surrounding the circular floor were five vast stone barriers, behind which an uncertain number of calcified grey seats had been positioned. The rows of seats seemed to go on forever, but the general feeling was that this was some form of debating chamber, the forgotten Parliament of a fallen corner of civilization, a senatorial arena to defy that of even ancient Rome. A single symbol painted in faded colours on that distressing black floor: a closed eye. And in the dead centre of the chamber, in the dead centre of the eye, lay the Doctor. He was covered in blood, barely breathing. Yet the unmistakable look of betrayal and mourning was displayed on his nearly dead face, halfway obscured by a curtain of hair fallen out of place, in messy, blood covered strands of ash and coal and snow in the dead of winter.
Will and Nico watched with careful eyes as the Doctor and the Master talked. Nico began to usher the others out, Will carrying Vix. But Vix woke during the shots. She screamed as she watched the doctor fall. Vix glanced at her father and pushed him out with the others before diving after him. She landed after the doctor did, using magic to slow her fall. She rushed to the doctors side, ignoring the blood. "Doctor… Doctor can you hear me?" She called softly, beginning to carefully take the bullets out. "You're not dying on us, understand?" She says softly, breathing heavily.
No answer. Soon after, Ace swung down on a grappling hook. Not wanting to waste any time, she checked his pulse and breathing. "Both hearts have stopped, and he isn't breathing." she gasped. Ace began double CPR, beating on both sides of the chest (due to the two hearts). "His body is at a much lower temperature than it's supposed to be. Fifteen degrees Celsius is the norm, it's nine right now. He's in a healing coma." she diagnosed. Gallifreyans, when mortally wounded, or faced with immense trauma, would be able to force a deathlike state in order to heal themselves. However, there was a risk of regeneration, or even the potential of actually dying. But nine times out of ten it would work, with Gallifreyan physiology as robust as it was. "We just need to wait. I have a medical kit, to stop up the bleeding." she said. With a deep breath, she tore open his waistcoat and shirtsleeves, a horrified grimace on her face when she examined his chest. It was absolutely torn apart, dark blood, darker than a human's, with a slight orange tinge to it spilled out violently. The wounds were deep, smelling like the acrid smoke you got from burning flesh. "Here, put pressure on the wound." she said, handing Vixianne a white plaster made of a sort of sturdy metallic cloth unlike anything you could find on Earth.
Vix nods and obeys her orders, fear rushing through her. She glances at the doctor. "Would my healing work on him, Ace?" She asks, her eyes wide.
"It's worth trying. We need to get this idiot out alive, and honestly, anything that works, works. Show me what you can do, sweetie." Ace said dryly, but worriedly.
Vix nods and hovers her hands over the doctor. She began to slowly mutter spells, the wounds healing slowly, blood reversing back into the doctors body. She whispered softly orders reaching into the doctors mind, calling for him on a psychic level.
"Woah! Hoo! Right, what just happened?" the Doctor immediately shot up. "And what happened to my shirt?" he looked for at his chest. Ace facepalmed. "You were bleeding to death, idiot." she growled.
Vix pulled away and falls to the floor groaning softly. That had taken a lot more energy then she expected. "I'm just gonna sit here flr a few minutes." She mutters.
"Wait, who are you? And you? And what am I doing here? What even is this place?" the Doctor hurriedly stood up, but stumbled, as there was still some residual pain to work out. "No, no, no, you're that shouty girl, and you're the shy one, right? Sorry, bit of a wobble, just need to get my bearings."
Vix waves weakly before shutting her eyes. She just needed to get her bearings. She curls up, ready to sleep.
"Right. Okay. I'm actually offended that the first thing to come to mind upon seeing me would be the descriptor of 'shouty', but you're obviously addled, so I'll let it slide." Ace said. "Okay, I remember now. Except… oh, it'll come back eventually. We're in the tomb of what's-his-face, right? Yes, right. So… and then I got shot, I think. It's all a bit hazy in-ooh!" he tripped over his own feet, stumbling down. "It's not the wisest to stay here. Let's go, Doctor. Vix, you coming?" Ace asked, tugging on her rope to make sure it was secure to climb up.
Vix groans. "I guess…" She stumbled weakly, running a hand through her hair. She didn't feel that good. She felt as if she were going to be sick at any moment.
"Right." the Doctor began to climb, somewhat unsteadily, but he still managed to get to the top. Ace looked to Vix, who seemed ready to pass out. She sighed, picking the girl up and letting her piggyback-ride up the wall, letting Ace do most of the work for climbing. When they got to the top, she set Vixianne down, pressing a hand to her forehead. "You feel a little hotter than I'd like. Here, take this." she said, handing Vix a cold compress and laying it on her forehead. "Are you okay?" Da'in asked Vix.
Vix allows herself to be carried. She was extremely light anyways. She takes the cool compress with a small thank you, leaning back and just trying to steady her breath. She smiled at Da'in. "Using to much magic can have a toll on my body. It's okay."
"Oh, okay. Well, hopefully you'll be alright.." Da'in trailed off. After a few minutes of pacing, "We need to leave, now." the Doctor concluded. "Right. The shields are up to full power since the recent attacks, but I think-" Ace began, but cut herself off. "We'll get out of here. You guys ready?" she asked.
Vix nods, rubbing her eyes. She takes a deep breath. "Let's get going…" She mumbles, she just wanted to get home. She glances at the others and smiles.
"Okay, come on. If he didn't betray me and just dis us in this crazy temple, my TARDIS should be parked somewhere outside." Ace said, leading them outside through the safer way they had come in. She set up a rope ladder down, and after everyone had managed to climb to safety, she walked up to a tall, silver metal cylinder with rounded white doors. "Well whadda ya know? Alright, everyone in." she said, opening up the doors.
Vix follows her and stumbles a little before straightening. She could barely see, her body was shutting down, begging for sleep. She groans and stretches to wake her up a little.
"Hmm, classic I see. All…. white." the Doctor noted. And it was true, the tall ceiling of the Doctor's interior design was missing, favored by a simpler one, the walls covered in white roundels, with a squat console in the middle, more like a proper spaceship than the Victorian dials and levers the Doctor seemed to favor. And it was a complete mess. There was a futuristic motorbike lying casually to the side, gadgets scattered across the floor. "I thought I taught you better than this." he criticised. "It's organized! Ish." Ace protested. She then noticed two long white boxes, with a blinking panel on the side. "Stasis pods? Those weren't there before." she cocked her head to one side. "Just get us to Karn for a pit stop, I haven't refueled in a while and their planet is bursting with energy. We're on good terms either way. I'll try and bypass the security codes on these." she turned to the Doctor. He nodded, beginning to work on the controls whilst Ace focused on unlocking her stasis chambers. "Hey, is there any bedrooms, a medical bay? Vix looks out of sorts, and I think she should lie down." Joe said, concerned. "Yeah, two doors down the left." Ace said absentmindedly. "Thanks. C'mon, Vix. We'll get you some water and you can take a nice rest before we go out and about doing anything." Joe turned to her kindly.
Will checks in on his daughter, running a quick medical check. "M… Okay… Dad. Just tired…" She mumbles softly, leaning into her father's touch. He smiled softly as he kissed her forehead. "I know, sugarplum. We'll get you taken care of." He looks up at Joe, then towards the Doctor and Ace. "Yes. She needs her sleep. And some medicine." He says gently. Vix shakes her head. "I'll be okay Dad. I don't need my meds. And yes please Joe. That sounds wonderful right about now." She mumbles tiredly.
"C'mon, we'll get you to the medical bay." Joe helped support her down the hallway. The TARDIS landed a few moments later with a gentle thud, and the room was silent from then on. Nobody dared break the quiet, but at the same time, it was an uncomfortable silence.
Vix allows herself to be supported to the medical bay, her eyes falling between open and shut. She stumbles a little and quickly apologizes. She looks towards the medical bay and allowed herself be be set down on one of the beds. She shifts so she was more comfortable.
Joe left to allow Vix to rest, heading back into the console room. "So how do you know the Sisterhood? Karn is, no offense, a little private. They probably wouldn't accept any new members to guard the Flame, and they show hostility to most who aren't of their number, so I really must know." the Doctor said to Ace. "Oh, Iris Wildthyme introduced me. We traveled around for a bit. Lovely woman, but mad a s a hatter, really. Although, it was a joy to hang around her, and Panda was such a dear old thing. The two of us really enjoyed going out for some girl time, but then again, staying in with her was equally good. We parted ways after she regenerated into her next face, she just wasn't really the same to me, and we both decided it was for the best." Ace nodded. "Should have known." the Doctor muttered. "Is Vixianne alright?" Da'in asked Nico, looking up at the man with worry.
Nico glances at Da'in after listening to the doctor and Ace's conversation. Will smiles and takes Nico's hand. "Yes. She'll be fine. She gets rather weak if she uses to much of her ability. Healing the doctor at such a low strength drained her of her energy. After she gets some rest and eats something she'll be as good as new. You don't need to worry about a thing." He smiled at the younger. Nico nods. "Will is right. She'll be fine." He offered a small smile.
"If there's anything I can do to help Vix, let me know. I really care a lot about her, especially after all we've gone through." Da'in said softly.
