She's Doctor Brilliant!

Ep. 1 Pt. 2: Fireworks

The next minute Ryan woke up tied to the tree. His head hurt, his arms and chest hurt, and he couldn't move an inch. At least, not without damaging his organs.

"Agh..." he groaned. "Isn't this a bit too tight?"

"Is it?" came a sarcastic voice.

His eyes snapped upwards. He frowned.

Tied to the opposite tree trunk, upside down no less, was a woman with shocks of blonde hair and a defiant arch of the eyebrow. She wore a black coat and trousers, frayed and worn out, and had rope around her shoulders, and knees, too.

"I dare you to say you're worse off than me! And I'm still regener–" she broke off with a cough, and a golden glowing plasma flew out of her lips, soaring lightly away. She closed her eyes for a moment, evidently not enjoying being upside down. Ryan's eyes went wide.

"It was you!" he gibbered. "You're that shooting star that fell out of the sky! How did you make it out alive?"

She got a smug look at that.

"It's a special talent of mine, making it out alive. Just you wait until I get out of this one."

Ryan snorted. "Yeah, right! You think you can get out of those ropes on your own?"

"Of course I can! You don't know who I am! I'm –"

A shadow fell over her face. A creature had stepped out into the clearing.

"Don't bother," it said in a raspy voice.

To Ryan it looked like a tall man in a rubbery Hallowe'en costume. It was a black full-body armoured suit, intricately designed. He thought it was fashionable yet in bad taste, especially on such a fine summer's day, but he decided against saying so.

The Doctor was shooting the newcomer a look of intense loathing.

"Did you just tell me to shut up? I don't like when people say that to me."

"That is irrelevant. You are ours."

"Excuse me?"

"What, you mean we're your captives?" Ryan supplied. The creature pretended to ignore him and continued to address the Doctor.

"You possess advanced alien technology. Our fields sensed you enter our territory. You are ours. Hand it over."

Ryan frowned. Alien what?

"I don't possess an advanced dicky bird. Now tell me who you are and what you're doing on this planet."

"We ask the questions. Hand it over."

"I don't answer questions. Who are you, and what are y–"

"Hand it over."

"HAND OVER WHAT?"

Silence. Ryan stared between the Doctor and the strange creature, which seemed to be calculating whether to grace her with an answer. After a length of time it gave in and replied –

"Your vessel."

This earned a sneer from the woman, and a curious question, too.

"Why should I give mine? What happened to yours?"

The creature instinctively looked up at the sky, and the Doctor and Ryan followed its gaze. . . but soon the magic was lost. The creature was growing impatient.

"This conversation is irrelevant. Names are irrelevant. Histories are irrelevant. All that is relevant is distance. We must distance ourselves from this wretched planet."

"Why?" she asked again. For a moment the creature seemed to puff out its chest.

"Because when we escape, a bomb will be planted –"

"Wait. WHAT?" exploded Ryan.

"– At sufficient distance, it will be detonated. Earth will be des–"

SNAP!

The ropes broke away – the Doctor had been stewing in embarrassment and fury, the pressures building up inside her, and she couldn't bear it anymore. Through pure force of will, she snapped her hands and legs free, earning a searing pain in the muscles. She began to glow golden again as her body raced to repair the damage. She spoke through clenched teeth.

"I can't let you do that. I really can't. This is my world, too."

The creature was nonplussed. Holding a complicated looking gun out towards them, it raspingly replied, "Incorrect. You are from the planet. . ." It stopped. It stepped back.

A grin graced the Doctor's face.

"That's right. You should be scared. What were you going to do now? Destroy the earth, was it?"

"The earth was a miscalculated endeavour. It holds no intelligent life whatsoever. It will be destroyed."

"It does too!" yelled Ryan, still aware that he was being completely ignored.

"That's not even an offense! Let this planet be as it is!"

"A bypass will be built through this solar system, transporting from Alpha Centuri to Sagittarius. This planet was investigated as an attractive destination. But it is desolate. It will be cleared out of the way."

"It is not desolate!" Ryan yelled. The creature flinched.

The Doctor began ranting.

"That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard! Who even are you? Who do you represent? Why have you got it in for humans? –"

The creature looked long and hard at the Doctor, then took off its mask. It was a blue creature with what appeared to be human teeth studded on its cheeks and forehead. It gave a sad smile.

"Because a human saw us land and they attacked us. An army destroyed my spaceship. They took one look at my wife and screamed. They shot her dead, too."

It rounded on Ryan.

"Your kind is the most species-ist, foul, warrior like race in existence. You don't deserve a beautiful planet like the Earth. I am Tzim Sha of the Stenza. My wife was Quara Sha. This world will end tonight, whether I find the distance to escape from it in time or not!"

He began to move away when the Doctor called out, "Wait!"

Tzim Sha stopped where he was, his back to them.

"Why tonight?" she asked quietly.

He closed his eyes.

"Tonight is Sol 19. Quara Sha was born this day." He turned and gave them a defiant stare. "Tonight, prepare to see fireworks!"