When Martha saw the figure of the woman in black in the distance, her heart skipped a beat. Where was Rose? How had Rose lost? Was Rose dead? The mere thought caused pain to slice through her very being.
As much as the logical part of her brain tried to tell her that it was unlikely that this highly suspicious person had left her best friend alive, the optimist in her refused to let go of hope.
Rose Tyler was a force of nature, and wasn't dead until Martha saw the body. She had to believe she was okay.
"Inconceivable!" Saxon cursed in the meantime, furious, and making Martha roll her eyes at his continuous misuse of the word. "Give the Duke to me, catch us up as soon as you can."
"You want me to kill her?" Martha assumed.
"No, I want you to throw her a tea party with all the friends you don't have," Saxon snarled sarcastically. "Yes, I want you to kill her!"
Martha, with greatly practiced calm, nodded instead of answering or slamming his head into a nearby boulder or tree. As he scurried away with the Duke, she picked up two large rocks and weighed them in her hands. It would be easy to wait until the woman in black came into view, and then kill her with sheer force by hitting her over the head with one of them. But that would require the element of surprise, and Martha had to know what happened to Rose.
Instead, when the stranger came into her line of sight, Martha threw the first rock and let it crash into a boulder just behind the woman's shoulder.
"That was a warning," Martha said as she stepped out into plain sight, and the woman in black nodded. "You're here, which means you defeated Rose. Did you kill her?"
"I never kill people who are both beautiful and talented if I don't have to," the woman replied. "She'll have a headache when she wakes up, but nothing more."
The tension that had coiled in Martha's body began to ease. She let out a tiny laugh of relief. "Thank you," she said genuinely.
The woman smiled, and tilted her head, a funny little sparkle in her eyes. "I don't suppose it means we could skip this, and you could go to her, while I could go after the Duke and Saxon?"
It was tempting, for a moment. But then Martha shook her head. "If I fail, Saxon will kill me."
"Mm," the woman in black said, frowning. "Well, not if I kill him first. If I come out of this on top, I promise I will."
"Really?"
"Really. Why don't you just let me pass, and I'll kill him for you, and you could can go find Miss Tyler?"
"Saxon might be an idiot, but he's still a genius," Martha said, hating the words coming out of her mouth. "I can't be sure you'd beat him. He'll have a plan for if you get past me. And for all I know, you killed Rose and are just lying to get me to trust you."
"Fair point. But why would I bother to kill one and convince the other? Wouldn't it make more sense to spare both of you, or kill both of you? Your theory doesn't exactly scream consistency."
"No idea. I don't know you. But you're wearing a mask, which doesn't exactly make me think you've got an honest nature."
"How do you know I'm not just wearing it because masks are terribly comfortable?" The woman asked, a cheeky grin forming on her lips.
Martha rolled her eyes. "Can we fight now? No swords, no rocks, just hand to hand."
"I know that gives you the advantage, I saw you climbing up that rope," the woman in black said, sighing, "but sure, why not. I'll put down my sword, and you put down your rock, and we can try to kill each other like civilised people."
"Sarcasm doesn't suit you," Martha told her.
They began to circle each other, the woman in black poised and ready to strike while Martha didn't bother. Despite this, neither of them tried to attack, both waiting for the other.
Martha grew impatient, and decided to take the initiative. But when she made a grab for the woman in black, she dodged out of the way with surprising speed. The next time she was ready, and slammed the masked stranger into a boulder with a sound crack. The woman groaned in pain.
"You're really quite remarkable, has anyone ever told you that?"
"You'd be the second to say so," Martha said, frowning. She took hold of her shoulders before she could recover, and pressed her arm again the woman's throat until she could see the pain on her face. "Now, tell me honestly. Is Rose Tyler dead?"
"No," the woman in black said through clenched teeth. "I told you, killing talented beautiful people - at least ones who aren't absolutely set on killing me - is against my... personal code. Which is why I'll leave you alive, too."
Martha blinked at her, wondering if she'd just been paid a compliment, or if against all sanity this woman was trying to flirt while her windpipe was in danger of being crushed. Martha released her, letting her stumble and gasp for air.
To Martha's surprise, her adversary recovered almost instantly and leapt onto her, legs around her neck and yanking her to the ground, which was hard and unforgiving as Martha crashed into it with a yelp. The woman in black wasted no time in adjusting her position, clearly aiming for Martha's neck, but Martha was easily able to push her off, sending her flying through the air once she broke her grip.
"Fucking hell," the woman moaned. "You're a bloody force of nature."
"Well, Saxon didn't hire me for my looks," Martha told her with a smirk.
"He could have."
"Do you flirt with everyone you try to kill?"
"No, just the ones I've decided not to," the woman in black said, chuckling as she got back onto her feet. Martha rolled her eyes. She still wasn't convinced of the other woman's claim. She wanted to believe her, but that wasn't enough.
Their dance began again, Martha trying to make grabs only for the woman to dodge, or the woman trying to get Martha only to be kept back by the woman's strength.
The fatal moment came when Martha lost focus for one second. That was all it took for the woman in black to get behind her and get her arm around her neck, pulling and driving Martha to the ground as she gasped for breath. She instantly knew she was beaten.
"You'd better kill that bastard Saxon," Martha wheezed. "Even if it means he'll never learn I'm far from the idiot he thinks I am."
"I'll see if I can let him know," the woman assured her, as she felt her consciousness slipping away and her strength wavering,
Martha felt the sting of failure prick at her as she slumped. The woman in black left her with a final whisper.
"I hope you find your friend."
Queen Melissa of Gallifrey was, for reasons unfathomable to her guards, in a wonderful mood.
By all logic, her fiance's capture should have been more alarming. But she had dismounted from her horse with a smile and was eagerly tracing the footsteps left in the dirt at the clifftop.
"A mighty duel," she remarked, softly, and then again at a higher volume. "A mighty duel!" She hurried up the stone steps and then jumped off, moving back and forth as she imagined the swordplay with the eye and mind of a master, from what she could make out of the markings on the terrain. "All over this place. Two masters, certainly."
"How did it end? Who won?" her closest friend and advisor, Count Thascalos, asked. He was a striking man of Spanish and French descent, and although not more than a few years older than her, in many ways her mentor in regards to some of her...darker pursuits.
Missy examined the dirt around her more closely, tilting her head to the side as she analysed all the details.
"The loser ran off, that way," she said, pointing, "And the winner..." Her finger snapped in the opposite direction, where the terrain turned to rocky green hills. "Followed these footsteps towards Skaro."
"Shall we track them both? I could-"
Missy cut the Count off before he could finish the pointless sentence, cocking an eyebrow. "Why would I care what the loser's doing? They're nothing. Only my dear John matters."
"This was obviously planned by warriors of Skaro," Count Thascalos said to her.
"Obviously," Missy said with annoyance, "we must be ready for anything."
"This could be a trap."
"I always think everything is a trap, Emil," she said, smirking at him as she mounted her horse, "that's why I'm still alive."
He chuckled and they rode on after the duel's victor.
So, Thascalos is Delgado!Master. In case that wasn't clear. Thanks for reading, let me know what you thought!