Author's note: I have been a fan of Doctor Who for a very long time and have thought of many adventures that the Doctor could take part in. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do. It stars a future Doctor, several thousand years and a few regenerations down the line, so it is not necesarily an alternative universe (until the BBC catch up obviously), and his companion who have already face many trials together.
Full Summary: Regeneration is a complicated process. They are never the same, sometimes they are relatively painless and other times they make the time lord suffer. This time it wont stop. Weeks after the supposed 15 hour period and the aftershocks keep coming. The Doctor has to keep going, facing the trials of his everyday life (saving the universe over and over) whilst trying to find out what is happening to him; before assassins, sent by the one enemy who has given up waiting, kill him for good. How can his companion cope when her calm, wise Doctor is replaced by a young, babbling, all singing and dancing idiot? What is awaiting them at Thoruxa Medio? And why does simply naming the planet bring so much terror into the Doctor's hearts?
Prologue
The sound of the shots reverberated around chamber. Most of the men were nervous, flinching with every explosion, they knew it wouldn't be long now. Only one man ignored the sounds. A lone figure bent over a system of pulleys making calculated adjustments. He was clearly very old, his skin was all wrinkly and he had gone completely bald. He wore a green camouflage jacket, which stood out like a sore thumb in grey tunnel terrain which they currently fought in, over a black and yellow stripy t-shirt, which contrasted with his blue jeans and red converses. He stood up with a grunt and admired his handiwork.
"Doctor," the old man turned to the speaker. The grey uniformed soldier couldn't help but stare into his ancient eyes, like an eternal abyss almost like they had stared into the time vortex itself. "They are coming."
"Thank you sergeant," The Doctor responded, he looked down at his handiwork once more. "Just in time too," he strode into the centre of the room and commanded total attention without having to say anything. "The Klakzons will be upon us shortly. They are well armed and are likely to kill all those who stay in the room before I can put the plan into action. But if I am alone I will surely fail. I do not ask that you all stay, you may take the opportunity leave, all further part in this is completely voluntary."
Several men looked at one another and scarpered for the exit but a few loyally stood their ground including, surprisingly, a blonde haired girl dressed in the clothes native to the 21st century. The Doctor nodded at her, he knew she wouldn't desert him. "Thank you, if we succeed today the rebellion will be crushed. Even though none of us may make it out alive, we will all go down in history," The Doctor finished solemnly. The remaining soldiers set up a defensive perimeter facing the many exits. The girl walked over to The Doctor as he made his way back over to the pulley system.
"You weren't serious about us all dying were you?" she asked, nervously wiping her glasses.
"There is always that possibility," The doctor replied frankly. "Help me with this would you."
She nodded in response and helped him to tie lengths of rope around his wrists. She watched his expression out of the corner of his eye. She had been travelling with The Doctor for quite a while now. They had come up against many dangers but she had never seen him this solemn before.
There was screaming from down the corridor. "They are coming," The Doctor said. "Get behind that plinth Lisa," the girl did as she was told. "Keep hold of that pistol in case I need it."
The screaming was accompanied by banging and shouts, the soldiers looked at one another nervously and then they saw them. Slowly marching down the corridor came the foot soldiers of the Klakzon Uprising. They were all wearing red, a symbol that they would continue fighting for their cause even after all the blood was drained from their bodies, and were armed with various rifles. Over their faces were steel monster masks to hide their identities. They suddenly picked up speed and charged into the chamber firing their rifles in random directions. Lisa screamed as red laser blasts crashed into the plinth she was cowering behind. The soldiers fired back taking down many of the Klakzons. A few good shots took down the sergeant that had alerted The Doctor and a few others.
"Hold your fire!" The Doctor screamed. Everyone stopped, even the Klakzons. Doctor held up his arms that were attached to the ropes. "If I pull this rope, we will all die."
The Klakzons looked at one another and slowly filed sideways. "You can come in further," the Doctor pointed out. "They won't shoot you."
They cautiously stepped forwards slowly parting to allow someone at the back to make it to the front. He was clearly the leader, he stood more upright and wore a Soviet Union flag as a cape. He wore no mask showing that he was human. He had curly black hair and the sort of goatee that villains always seemed to have. "Doctor," The villain snarled.
"Mack Nikon," Doctor replied. "So good to see you again."
"What exactly will happen if you pull that rope?" Nikon asked suspiciously.
"Oh, these," Doctor jangled the ropes. "Several rifles have been strategically placed around this room. When I pull the rope, they will fire."
Nikon looked around the room. "I don't see any strategically placed rifles," he said sceptically.
"Well, I'm hardly going to put them in plain sight, am I?"
"I think you are bluffing," several Klakzons started to take step forwards.
The Doctor stretched the rope taut. "Not another step," he growled. "Do I look like a man who is bluffing."
For the first time Nikon became nervous. "Why are you doing this?" Nikon asked. "You understand my cause. You and I are interested in the same things, we both wish to help the plight of the ordinary individual. Why do you work for the government."
"I understand your cause, I just think you are going about it in the wrong way," Doctor responded. "If you surrender then I will make sure they don't execute you."
"And you can promise that?" Nikon queried.
"Throw your weapons to the floor and I will not pull the rope," The Doctor said simply.
Nikon looked at his men and nodded. Every man threw their rifle to the floor. Once they had all done so the soldiers stood up and pointed their rifles at them. At this point the Klakzons lost their nerve. Many turned and fled back down the corridor they had entered from. The Doctor sighed and pulled on the left hand rope. Doors dropped down sealing all the exits. Nikon stared at The Doctor who shrugged in response.
What The Doctor wasn't expecting was for the rest of the battalion of soldiers who had deserted him to enter. The leader screamed: "Death to the rebels!" and another knocked The Doctor, forcing him to pull on the other rope. They all dived for cover. Several flags unfurled. When nothing else happened the soldiers stood up and looked at the flags. They all had the word 'Bang' written on them.
"You were bluffing!" Nikon exclaimed.
"I'm a Doctor, not an executioner," The doctor shrugged.
"Get the weapons!" Nikon pulled out a pistol and killed many soldiers while the Klakzons dived for their weapons. Doctor jumped down beside Lisa as the lasers began whizzing around the room.
"I was doing so well as well," he moaned.
"You can't win them all," Lisa commented.
"I just wish that people would actually give in when I warn them to," Doctor complained. "Pass me the pistol, it's time to put plan B into action."
Lisa handed him a revolver and wished him good luck. Doctor stood up slowly, he couldn't move as quickly as he used to be able to, and slowly walked into the middle of the chamber; laser blasts whizzing around him. He looked around a few times, as if working out angles before firing the revolver in two specific places. The bullets ricocheted off the walls glancing off the sides of the heads of soldiers and Klakzons before cutting two pieces of rope. Everyone stopped firing and looked up as a huge cage dropped out of the ceiling and landed over all those who had been fighting. The Doctor sighed with relief and turned to leave.
Lisa got up and walked out with him. "Good shot," she said.
"I'm getting too old for this," he said in response (as he always did in these sorts of situations).
After a long meeting with the President, Lisa and The Doctor were making their way back to the TARDIS. Despite the successes The Doctor was more solemn than he normally was. "Cheer up," Lisa said. "You put a stop to the rebellions and managed to persuade the President to follow through with policies that favour the people more. I think things went quite well, if you ask me."
"There's one problem," Doctor replied, "I didn't die."
"And that's a bad thing?" Lisa raised her eyebrows.
"Do you remember that Verron Soothsayer?" The Doctor asked, Lisa nodded in response. "He told me that I was going to die. Here as well."
"Definitely here?"
"Well he didn't specifically say here," Doctor shrugged. "But all the clues he gave suggested that it would happen here."
"Well you aren't dead, are you?" Lisa continued regardless. "You should be happy. The Soothsayer was wrong."
"Verron Soothsayers are never wrong," The Doctor said gruffly. "Even if I don't die here, my body will not last much longer; I have had this incarnation for so long that I have forgotten which one I am."
"Incarnation?" Lisa was not aware of The Doctor's ability to regenerate.
"When a Time Lord comes to the end of his life he or she changes," Doctor explained. "It's a technique that allows us to cheat death, if you like. The wound that almost kills us gets healed and we change into a completely different person. I will still be The Doctor, just not The Doctor that you know."
"And you want it to happen now?" Lisa exclaimed.
"Well, I either wait for my life force to run out in a couple of weeks time. Or I allow myself to receive a quick and spectacular mortal wound here," The Doctor turned a corner and came face to face with the TARDIS. "Looks like I'm just going to have to play the waiting game."
It was at that moment that a man rushed into the centre of the street amongst the largest number of people possible. He threw off a long black cloak to reveal a bomb strapped to his chest. He lifted up a metal monster mask a placed it over his head. "Long live the Klakzons!" he screamed and pulled the two cords that set it off.
With his last ounce of strength the Doctor hurled Lisa behind the TARDIS. He started after her, at which point his back seized up. For Lisa it was over in the blink of an eye, but it felt like an eternity to the Doctor. He turned back to face the bomb as the Klakzon disappeared in a ball of fire. The shockwave threw The Doctor off his feet like a rag doll and cracked the wall where he crashed into it. It wasn't the blast that killed him, it was the shrapnel that followed.
"Doctor!" Lisa jumped back to her feet and ran to his side. "Can you hear me? Doctor!"
Blood poured out of the many wounds that the shrapnel had carved in his chest. The Doctor coughed up blood and a strange golden yellow substance that dissipated upon touching the air. He clicked his fingers and the TARDIS doors flew open. "The TARDIS, quickly," he spluttered.
Using every ounce of her strength she hoisted him to his feet and led him into the TARDIS, resting on her shoulders. The doors slammed shut and he collapsed onto the see-through floor. She covered her mouth in shock as he convulsed and expelled more of the golden yellow substance from various parts of his body. Then he stood back up again and began to press controls on the console. "We need to get out of here," he gasped. "The TARDIS doesn't like taking off straight after a regeneration and I am not keen on explaining how come I have suddenly turned into someone else."
He screamed as the central column began to rise and fall. There was the unmistakeable sound of the TARDIS dematerialising. The doctor turned to face his companion who was completely paralysed with fear. "I'm acting out of character aren't I. The personality of my next incarnation is already exerting itself," his voice was clear again. But it was not his voice. "Hello that's different, my voice has changed already? Aghh," he massaged his head as the golden yellow substance (bio-energy) spat out of the pores on the top of his head. Very slowly brown hair began to grow. "I have hair, I have hair, argh!" The bio-energy exploded across his body healing all the scars that his previous incarnation had picked up over the years and suddenly stopped. The Doctor panted heavily.
Lisa took a step towards him. "Doctor?" she asked cautiously. The young man that stood in front of her jerked his head towards her like a rabid dog. She screamed and jumped back.
He rubbed his top lip and chin. "Never had facial hair before," he commented. Thinking that the regeneration was over he took a step forwards. One of his legs grew a few inches longer, expelling energy as it did so, he tripped and fell. "That's not right."
There was a bang and the TARDIS jerked to one side. "What's going on?" Lisa shouted.
"Basically the shrapnel from the bomb ruptured several organs in my body, forcing me to regenerate in order to survive. For some reason, while I have grown younger and healed all my wounds, other parts of my body haven't changed yet. Most notably, my right leg just changed, while my left leg still belongs to my previous incarnation," The Doctor explained.
"What? No I meant the TARDIS," Lisa specified.
"Oh that, we're being towed," he said casually.
"Aren't you going to do something about it?"
He shrugged and hobbled over to the console. "Birds flying high you know how I feel, Sun in the sky, you know how I feel, Breeze driftin' on by you know how I feel, It's a new dawn, It's a new day, It's a new life, For me," it was only at this point that Lisa realised what he was doing. He was singing. The Doctor she knew never sung. "And I'm feeling good," he finished as the TARDIS jerked out of the tractor beam and continued on its previous destination: Earth.