Chapter Thirteen: And in this Corner
The Doctor stared at the cards in his hand, a faint frown pulling at his lips. This was a game of dumb luck, he decided, though he suspected that that meant he had an advantage. After all, of all the Time Lords he had ever known, he had the best luck of them all. Tugging at the hem of his multi-colored jacket with one hand, he looked at his opponent and grinned, "Give me your jacks."
One card was passed to the Doctor, though not without some audible grumbling. Things were definitely starting to look up.
"Give me your aces," he instructed.
With what could only be described as a malicious grin, the Intellivore told him, "Go fish."
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"I'll see your bet and raise it by ten," the Doctor said, throwing two chips into the pot.
Nodding, the Soul Eater tossed another chip into the pot, "Call."
He suddenly grinned as he laid out three of a kind. The Intellivore grumbled as it set down a pair.
"I believe that hand's mine," the Doctor said smugly.
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The fifth Doctor grinned as he stood at the ready, cricket bat in hand. "Go on, then," he encouraged his opponent.
With a slightly speculative look, the Intellivore bowled the ball.
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"King me," the Doctor grinned in an unknowing echo of his present incarnation's manic smile.
The Soul Eater's gaze was thunderous as it placed a black checker on top of the Doctor's piece.
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With just the tip of his tongue sticking out of his mouth, the Doctor aimed the dart carefully at the board. It wouldn't do to miss; especially since his opponent was ahead. Pulling in a deep breath, he let the tiny dart fly.
"Ha!" he exclaimed rather gleefully, "Bulls-eye!"
Intellivore growled.
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"English words only," the Doctor informed the Soul Eater as he eyed his pieces. "Ah," he said as he laid out the letters to spell out 'XENON,' "That would be a triple letter score for the X..."
"You cheat," it informed the Doctor.
"How can I? Those were the letters in my hand, and you were the one that selected them for me," the Time Lord inserted just enough disdain in his voice to indicate just what he had thought of that development. "It's Scrabble, not rocket science."
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Elsewhere in his mind, the games continued...and the Time Lord won. One by one, the different versions of the Doctor returned along with a far weakened Intellivore.
"NO!" the ancient entity growled, "No one defeats me."
"No one?" The Doctor asked with a smug smile on his face, "Strange, I seem to think that I just did."
"The agreement is terminated," Intellivore informed him, surging towards Rose, "You are mine to consume!"
"Did I ever tell you about one of my favorite things about dreams, Rose?" The Ninth Doctor asked as he reached behind himself to pull out a rather dangerous looking rifle, "I know how to control them."
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Hyperdrive Section
It was definitely time for the heavy weapons, Jack decided as he switched from his sonic blaster to the rifle that he had fondly named Bettie. The creature before him had seemed to absorb the sonic blaster's burst without suffering any damage – something which concerned him greatly. "Let's see how you like this," he growled as he pressed the trigger.
Jack Harkness had to admit to a certain level of satisfaction when, just as his burst hit, the entity screamed.