Storm: Storm is Brewing

The Almost People

"Argh!" The Ganger Doctor, now looking fully like the Doctor, screamed in pain, holding his head as he struggled while Ganger Terry had curled into a ball in the corner as she held her head between her knees.

The Doctor and Terry slowly moved forward, coming closer as Ganger Doctor gasped: "What's happening? I wonder if we'll get back. Yes, one day. Argh!"

"Five little ducks went out one day," Ganger Terry was whispering in a cracked voice, "over the hills and far away-"

"-I've reversed the polarity of the neutron flow." Ganger Doctor moaned over her, while the Doctor frowned.

"What?" The Doctor asked a little sharply, and Terry explained, looking at him oddly: "The Flesh is struggling to cope with your past regenerations. Don't you remember reversing the polarity of the neutron flow?"

"No, no, not me." The Doctor said impatiently. "You."

He nodded at Ganger Terry, who had continued to coo softly: "Mother duck said: 'quack quack, quack, quack'. But only four little ducks came back."

"She's singing. Why are you singing?" The Doctor asked, sounding alarmed, while Amy said in a puzzled voice: "That's the five little ducks nursery rhyme. Why's she singing that?"

"I don't know." Terry admitted, when suddenly the Ganger Doctor piped up in a strange voice: "Would you like a jelly baby?"

Terry blinked as she recognized the fourth Doctor's voice, while the others stared, and Ganger Terry moaned: "Oh, oh, unlucky thirteen, unlucky thirteen, stay away from unlucky thirteen!"

"Why?" Ganger Doctor moaned as he gripped his chest: "Why? Why? Why?"

"Hold on." Terry soothed, reaching for him, while the Doctor asked in a puzzled tone: "Why, why what?"

"Hello. I'm the Doctor." Ganger Doctor greeted, before he shouted: "No, let it go, we've moved on!"

"Why?" The Ganger Doctor asked desperately through their telepathy. "It's all the eyes say. 'Why?' I can feel them as they work each day, knowing the time was coming for them to be thrown away again."

Terry's eyes widened and they filled with tears as the images flashed through her and the Doctor's minds as well, while the Ganger Doctor moaned: "Not again, please. And then they are destroyed and they feel death, and all they can say is, 'why'?"

"Shut up, shut up, shut up!" Ganger Terry screamed at him, opening her eyes and glaring at him with wild eyes.

"Okay, it's okay, hush." The Doctor said hastily, reaching down to pull Ganger Terry gently into his arms as Terry reeled a little before she forced herself to regain her composure. She had to help these two, these two she and the Doctor had helped to create. Just like the humans had created their Gangers.

Amy also took a step forward worriedly, but Jimmy reached out and grabbed her, keeping her back in alarm while Terry reached for the Ganger Doctor as she soothed: "Hold on, you'll be fine, you can stabilize, trust me."

"Brave heart, mmm, I wonder, aha!" Ganger Terry gasped at the Doctor, making his eyes go wide, while Ganger Doctor babbled at Terry: "I've reversed the jelly baby of the neutron flow. Hint: spoilers."

"Their minds have connected." Terry realized in horror, while the Doctor said anxiously: "My regenerations are confusing them both while your knowledge is overwhelming them."

"Duck, duck, ducks in a pond." Ganger Terry stuttered, while the Ganger Doctor said desperately: "Would you like a Doctor, Doctor, I'm, I'm the. I can't."