Doctor Who © the BBC. I own nothing. Cept Cyphrin. Savy?
--
Across the Universe
"Words are flowing out like endless rain into a paper cup,
They slither while they pass, they slip away across the universe
Pools of sorrow, waves of joy are drifting through my opened mind,
Possessing and caressing me.
Jai guru de va om
Nothings gonna change my world,
Nothings gonna change my world.
Nothings gonna change my world
Nothings gonna change my world."
Fiona Apple, 'Across the Universe'.
--
Earth.
25th Century- 2455
New London, England.
It was harder to see the stars at night these days. After the third World War, most of the Earths green house had been destroyed. The UN and most of the Solar System governments had worked together to restore it, but the process was slow and might take another few decades to complete. That is if humanity stuck to its promise of keeping to alternative means of power.
But that was a promise Cyphrin Fitzroy didn't see staying firm. She laid out atop her apartment building, staring up at the dingy, smoggy night sky. Cyphrin wondered if she would ever see the stars with her own eyes. In her 17 years of life, she had never actually seen the stars. Not even on trips to the country in her childhood. Sighing, Cyphrin hoisted herself up and brushed the filth off her punkish attire.
Red plaid pants, a shirt with the sleeves buckled on and Doc Martins were very out of fashion in the 25th century; but Cyphrin liked old things. Brushing a had through her short, blue dyed hair, she descended the stairs into the building. Stopping at her flat, she freshened up before leaving. She had friends to meet at the coffee house.
The streets of New London were safe enough, but like all major cities they had their bad neighborhoods. It was through such a neighborhood that Cyphrin had to trek through to get to her destination. Looking behind herself, she noticed two rather mean looking men had begun to follow her. She picked up her pace, hoping that they just happened to be going in the same direction as she.
No such luck. The men picked up their pace as well, forcing Cyphrin into a jog to lose them. She made a hard right into an alley, hoping that they wouldn't follow. Also no such luck. As if they knew she'd duck into that particular alley, a friend of her pursuers was there to grab and throw her against the wall.
"Now whats a pretty little thing like you doing out and about in a place like this?" he said, the irony not lost on his bad Cockney accent.
"I dunno. Just felt like going to a dingy alley to get molested by some bad breathed, brutish thugs. Y'know?" Cyphrin replied, refusing to let any sort of fear show.
The other two thugs joined them. They leered at the semi-plump form of Cyphrin, thoughts of the most un-Christian nature running through their minds. Miss Fitzroy clenched her muscles in preparations for the fight of her life. But just as she expected to deliver or take the first blow, someone else joined the fray.
"Excuse me?" said a voice from the opening of the alley. "But I don't think that young lady wants your particular brand of company."
All eyes turned to the stranger. He wasn't a tall man. He couldn't be any more taller than Cyphrin. And he was well dressed. To well dressed for the times as they were. He wore a blue suit with a starched Edwardian style collar with a burgundy cravat. He carried a cane with him, and he was leaning on it in a very confidant manner. His hair was black with visible white hairs. His eyes were blue and his face was rounded and cherubic like. His expression was a mix of authority and curiosity.
"Such an odd grouping of people, isn't it? This wouldn't happen to be 1978, would it?" the man asked, his expression becoming full on curious.
"Who the fuck are you, old man?!" demanded one of the thugs. The stranger cocked his head and smiled.
"Heh. No ones asked me that in a while. Well, just so you know; I am known as the Doctor." he smiled brightly, seeming to forget that he had just interrupted and attempted rape.
"Well, whoever you are, geezer, you're ass is whooped." said another of the group. He stepped forward to the smaller man, almost towering over him.
"Very well, young man. Though I must warn you, I'm quiet spry for my age." he said, still smiling. Though Cyphrin noted that this smile carried an edge of danger to it.
From her perspective, she couldn't see the stranger as the brute stepped in front if him. She could see him take a swing with his fist, but then she heard him cry out in pain as he was apparently struck by the smaller man. The brute fell to the ground, revealing the stranger to be merely holding the index and middle finger of his right hand in front of him. About right were the other mans heart would be. The other men, including Cyphrin; couldn't absorb what the so called 'Doctor' had done.
"Now then," exclaimed the Doctor, that big smile on his face once more. "Do you gentlemen care to leave this girl alone, or do we have to get into a brawl. I must tell you, I dislike brawls. To messy, I say. I prefer to keep things clean..."
Before he could finish his ramble, the other two men rushed at him. Taking up his cane, the Doctor swung once at the side of one man, knocking him into the wall and rendering him unconscious. The other man tried to grab the Doctor, but the smaller man ducked and rolled. He struck him in the back of his knees with a chopping motion of his hand and brought him to the ground in a hard thud.
The Doctor got up off the dirty ground and brushed himself clean. He turned to the stunned Cyphrin, who was against the wall with eyes wide and jaw slack.
"Hello." said the Doctor, still grinning. "I am a Doctor. What's your name?"
