THE DOCTOR'S TRIPLE TROUBLE
Chapter Thirty Four The moment they appeared on Pumice, Jack coughed at the sulfurous air. "Damn, where'd that bastard take you to, Satan's holiday spot?" he said, looking around. "Pretty much," the Doctor said, activating his bypass system. "And as you can see, we need to get back to our TARDIS before we choke. I think I know where we're at so follow me." Everyone except the Doctor covered their noses and mouths with their hands while they followed him. The Doctor turned the corner at a large boulder and saw the rock corridor. He made a face when he saw Sabessa's body was about twenty feet from them. "Friend of yours?" Jack said as everyone came out from behind the rock. "Someone who allied herself with the other Doctor and paid the price for it. We can't do anything for her, just move on," the Doctor said as they walked towards Sabessa's body. The Doctor glanced at Rose and noticed the anguished look on her face as she stared at Sabessa. He realized that he had forgotten to take that memory out of her mind and resolved to do it once they were back in the TARDIS. He held his wife's hand as they walked past the corpse. Ten minutes later they were within sight of the TARDIS and the Doctor grinned, happy to see her again. Then suddenly, they froze when they heard a familiar wheezing sound behind him. The Doctor groaned. "Jack, take the others to the TARDIS. I'm going to deal with this bastard once and for all. Hurry!" he said. "Follow me, everyone," Jack said. The Doctor turned to face the Alternate Doctor's TARDIS as the others sprinted toward the Doctor's TARDIS. The Doctor calmly waited while the TARDIS turned into the boulder and the Alternate Doctor opened the door. His face was twisted with rage and the Doctor smirked at him. "Finally figure out what happened did you?" he said to the Alternate Doctor. The Alternate Doctor stepped out of the TARDIS. In his hand was the samurai sword. "I'm going to take care of you once and for all," the Alternate Doctor snarled at him. "Funny, I was thinking the same thing. Hope you didn't ram that through Bazz, he was ever so good to us." "Bazz betrayed me!" the Alternate Doctor growled. "Yeeeah, he did, didn't he? What'd you do, kill him?" the Doctor said. "No, he…punched me and twisted my arm up behind my back and screamed at me to get out of his sight." The Alternate Doctor glared at his double when he snickered at that. "See, some people wise up to you," the Doctor said. "Then they don't wanna be around you any longer because you're too much even for them. Good on Bazz, I'm glad he stood up to you." "He disabled my suit!" the Alternate Doctor said. "Yeah, sorry about that. We got tired of you controlling Rose so Bazz did us a favor. Remind me to send him a bouquet for that." "I'll send him a bouquet all right. A bouquet from your funeral," the Alternate Doctor said, raising the sword. He tried to slash the Doctor's throat but he dodged and lunged for his double. The two of them began to fight each other, the Doctor grabbing a large rock as a weapon. The Alternate Doctor laughed mockingly when he saw him do that and tried to cut off his head. While they were fighting, everyone else was at the TARDIS watching them. Rose noticed Mara was about to run back and grabbed her arm. "No, this is between the two of them," Rose said to her. "But I can help, mum, I can shape shift into dad and confuse him." "No, don't do anything until the Doctor tells you to do it. He won't want you in the middle of this and he'll be angry if you get hurt. He can take care of himself, trust me." Mara nodded and Rose put her arm around her while they watched. Mara gasped when the Alternate Doctor nearly severed her father's leg but she cheered when the Doctor rushed him and smacked him hard in the face with the rock. The Alternate Doctor staggered backwards and the Doctor seized his wrist. "Now, I'm gonna do to you what I was forced to do to Rose, only I won't stop before I break your wrist," the Doctor growled at him as he put pressure on it. The Doctor was forced back when the Alternate Doctor tried to punch him and he let go of the wrist. "You are so pathetic, how you ever managed to survive past your first life is beyond me," the Alternate Doctor growled as he swung his sword at the Doctor's head. "Funny, I think the same thought when I see you but then again, I think that thought when I see the Master," the Doctor said as he ducked another swing of the sword. He was about to rush the Alternate Doctor again when suddenly Jack rushed up behind his adversary and got the Alternate Doctor in a headlock. "Rose was cautioning people not to interfere but I was never good at listening to people," Jack said as he applied pressure on the Alternate Doctor's neck. "Come on, Scarface, drop the sword or I cut off your oxygen." "You idiot, I have a respiratory bypass system like he does. I don't need to breathe!" He said. The Doctor noticed he was about to run the sword into Jack's eye. He kicked at his wrist and grinned when the sword finally flew out of his hand. Jack continued applying pressure on the Alternate Doctor's neck. "I figured I'll send this little bastard into lullaby land and he can go to a nice prison planet," Jack said. "No, he's going to be imprisoned on my TARDIS forever. I can't risk another prison planet," the Doctor said. "You'll never take me alive," the Alternate Doctor groaned. He stamped Jack's foot as hard as he could and Jack gasped when he stamped again. His arm loosened enough for him to get out of his arms and he instantly lunged at the Doctor, his hands on the Doctor's neck, intending to snap it. The Doctor gritted his teeth at the pressure and he tried to get the Alternate Doctor off him. Suddenly, the Alternate Doctor gasped and the Doctor looked over his shoulder at Jack. Jack had rammed the sword into the Alternate Doctor's back. "Jack, you shouldn't have done that," the Doctor said. "Sorry, I'm tired of the fucker. I want him dead," Jack said. He pulled the sword out, intending to stab him again but the Alternate Doctor looked at his double. "Show me mercy," he said to him as his body began to glow. "I will go with you but don't let him kill me." "Doctor, you're making a mistake if you let him live," Jack said to him. The Doctor clenched his jaw. "No, let him live, get him into my TARDIS. My ship can contain him. I won't let you murder him, that's his way of doing things," the Doctor said. "Grab his hands and put his arms behind his back." "You're making a mistake, Doc," Jack said, throwing down the sword and grabbing the Alternate Doctor's arms. "Okay, idiot, up! You wanted mercy so move!" The Doctor helped his double to his feet and they helped him walk to the Doctor's TARDIS. The moment they got him inside, the Doctor ordered Jack to stand back and the TARDIS surrounded the dying Doctor with a force field. Mara walked to her father's side and asked what was happening. "He's going to regenerate, love," the Doctor said. "Time Lords can change their bodies if they're dying and he's about to do that. Once that's finished, though, the TARDIS is taking him somewhere inside herself where he'll be watched over for the rest of his lives." "Can she contain him?" Jack asked. "I think so. My TARDIS can seal him away where he wouldn't be able to find his way out even if he did get free," the Doctor said. They watched while the Alternate Doctor got to his feet. The Doctor smirked at him. "Well, you won't be able to impersonate me anymore, eh?" he said to the Alternate Doctor. "This isn't over, Doctor," the Alternate Doctor said. Then his head flung back and golden light shot out of him. Mara watched in a stunned silence as the Alternate Doctor's body changed in front of her eyes. Then the light dissipated and they saw a younger man with brown hair that flopped down over the side of his face. "So that's what I'll look like when I regenerate? I'm not ginger, when will I ever be ginger?" the Doctor moaned as his double examined himself for a moment. Then the Alternate Doctor glared at his double and pointed his finger at him. "This isn't over, Doc…" He was taken away before he could finish his sentence. Mara stared at the space where he'd once been and looked at her father. "Where'd he go?" she said. "Oh, somewhere deep within the TARDIS where we'll probably never see him again," the Doctor said. "I'm sure he's somewhere where even if by some miracle he could get out he won't know where he is or where to go and I doubt the TARDIS will tell us where he is. But he's gone now so we won't have to worry about him any longer. We're safe. So…Jack, staying with us?" "I can't, got my own people to look after. However, you better bring my niece for visits from time to time or I will come looking for you." "Will you do something for me then? I can't leave the other TARDIS here where someone might find it. I'll take it onboard my TARDIS and tow it back to your Torchwood if you can store it for me?" "Not a problem," Jack said. "This doesn't mean you can use it," the Doctor said. "I wasn't going to," Jack said, throwing up his hands while Rose laughed. "Are you ever gonna trust me completely?" "Probably not, but give me another couple of centuries," the Doctor said. Jack rolled his eyes while the Doctor gave him a cheesy grin. The Doctor patted him on the shoulder as he walked to his console. The Alternate Doctor looked around him. He seemed to be in a field somewhere but he knew he was still on the Doctor's TARDIS. The sky above him looked real complete with birds and wind that blew his hair around his face. About twenty feet to his right was a small one story house and beyond that was a small pond that was ringed with trees. "So…I'm in a prison that won't feel like a prison," the Alternate Doctor said. He looked around for a door but didn't see any. He snorted. "You can't keep me imprisoned forever, Doctor. I'll find a way to get out of this place and when I do, I'm coming for you. In the meantime, I'll see if I can find a change of clothes and something to eat and start planning for the future." (A few days later…) The Doctor and Rose lay side by side on beach towels on a beach on Mezzaluna while Donna and Mara splashed in the surf. The Doctor laid his head back on the towel, closed his eyes and enjoyed the warm air and the feel of the white sand running through his fingers. He opened his eyes when Rose leaned over him and smiled tenderly at her. "Are you happy?" Rose asked. "Very now that I don't have to worry about my double causing havoc in the universe," the Doctor said. "Why? Aren't you happy?" "I am but…do you still want to be married? We can get it annulled if you want." "Don't you want to be married?" the Doctor said with a frown. "I do but…I figured you'd want to annul this as soon as you could. You know, it's all so domestic," Rose said. "Divorce? And cause our daughter trauma and make her go through years of therapy?" he said. "Not a chance. I told you it doesn't matter one way or another if we're married or not, but since we are, why muck with it. I like calling you my wife, Mrs. Tor." "Will you stop that?" Rose said, swatting his chest. "What? You gotta have a last name, right? So I'll call you Rose Tor and our daughter is Mara Tor. That way you can sign your names to documents and make it legal." He closed his eyes and basked in the sun for a moment but Rose tapped his shoulder again and he opened his eyes. "Doctor, there's something else you should know," Rose said. "I think you need to check me." "For what?" the Doctor said. "Remember what the other Doctor said about not being sterile. I threw up this morning for no reason and I have a feeling…you know…" The Doctor rose up on his elbow and looked at her stomach with a raised eyebrow. "What do you think we should do?" Rose said. "Should I get rid of it if I'm pregnant?" "Abortion?" the Doctor said, making a face. "Um…I really don't want to abort an innocent baby. The child has nothing to do with my double other than him being the father. But…he's me so…in a way, this could be a way for us to have a child…unless you want an abortion. It's your body." "No, I'd rather not go through that. You're right, the child wouldn't be evil and we could bring him or her up properly so it wouldn't be." "Well…" the Doctor said, lying back down on the towel. "I don't think this is an emergency situation. I think the scan can wait till we get back to the TARDIS, eh?" Rose nodded and lay back down beside her husband. She snuggled close to the Doctor and he put his arm around her shoulders while they listened to their daughter playing with Donna in the water. THE END.
Back Home Doctor Who Main Page