They ran through the monastery's stone corridors towards the restroom, in an effort to find Rory and Ganger Jennifer before anything happened. They dashed through the hallways and out through a large wooden door that had been left slightly ajar, only to be forced to come to a sharp stop as their path was blocked by fresh acid that had leaked out across a large section of the corridor ahead of them from a damaged pipe, the substance hissing faintly as the acids odourless fumes spiralled up into the air.
"Explosion must've ruptured the acid feeds," Jimmy realised, using a torch in his hand to light up the puddle for them to see more clearly, "We're going to need the acid suits".
Azezela used her wand to stop the acid leak fixing the pipe, so it wouldn't get any worse. "I don't know how long that will hold, but it's better than nothing." She looked at the slowly spreading puddle. "I don't want to risk it with the acid though, If the spell backfires we could all be in real shit."
"Thanks." Jimmy said with a nod to her. "If she can't sort it fully we are going to need those suits."
"No, no, no," the Doctor shook his head quickly at Jimmy, taking the brunets hand and pulling her back slightly from the edge of the puddle, "We haven't got time to go get acid suits. Back, back, back!" he told Jimmy and Amy, who both jumped back from the puddle as the acid started to leak across the floor towards them. He ushered them back up the corridor before leading the way off down another corridor.
Jimmy quickly took the lead, since they really didn't know where they were even going, and guided them back through the monastery, managing to avoid coming across any more acid leaks on their way to the bathroom. They hurried through a doorway and down a spiral stone staircase that opened up into a large, darkened bathroom. They came to a stop at the bottom of the steps, staring across to where a large hole had been burnt into one of the toilet stalls directly facing the sinks.
"Rory!" Amy cried, looking around the room for her husband, but it was empty.
"Of course," the Doctor sighed, eyeing the hole, "Jennifer's a Ganger, too".
Amy spun back around to look accusingly at the pair, "You said they wouldn't be violent..." she began.
"Scared and Angry makes everyone violent." Azezela sighed rubbing her neck
"An early technology, is what you said," Jimmy reminded them, frowning at the Doctor and Azezela. The Doctor turned away and stepped over to the sink, looking at the smashed mirror, "You seem to know something about the Flesh," his eyes narrowed.
Amy blinked, looking quickly between them, the Doctor still with his back turned to them while the Azezela just frowning at the floor slightly, "Do you?" she asked suspiciously, "Doctor? Azezela?"
They didn't answer, the Doctor finally turning back around to face them, exchanging a quick look with Azezela that didn't go unnoticed by Jimmy or Amy.
"You're no weatherman," Jimmy stared at the Doctor, his expression growing harder, "Why are you really here?"
"We...I have to talk to them," the Doctor said, ignoring everyone, "I can fix this".
"You can at least try." Azezela said simply with a sigh. "Volatile emotions mean volatile people."
"Wait!" Jimmy called, running after them, "What's going on? Where's the real Jennifer?"
No one answered, not having clue themselves as to where the original Jennifer could possibly be in the large building, so instead they continued through the corridors, making their way up another set of stone steps, hurrying off down another darkened corridor, when spray of acid suddenly bust out of a damaged pipe that ran along the side of the tunnel wall, splashing onto the ground. They came to a quick stop, inches from getting splashed. Azezela quickly stopping the leak with a few waves of her wand.
The Doctor took a step back, looking quite startled himself by the near miss, "It is too dangerous out here with acid leaks," he commented, turning back around to face the others. "We can't predict where they are going to be so we can stop them." He looked to Azezela.
"We have to find Rory," Amy insisted, frowning at them.
"Yes. I'm going back to the Tardis." The Doctor agreed before giving them instructions. "Wait for me in the dining hall. I want us to keep together, okay, I'll bring Azezela with me maybe she can help with the acid. No more wandering off." He said pointing in Amy's face knowing exactly what she is like making Azezela try and hide her chuckle behind her hand.
"Hey!" Amy called, frowning at them, "What about Rory?"
The Doctor turned around to answer as Azezela moved on ahead carefully "It will be far safer to look for Rory and Jennifer with the Tardis," he gave her a small smile, before he rushed off after Azezela "Wait up Zela"
Amy still didn't look completely happy, but she still nodded in reluctant agreement.
Jimmy cast his eyes around the small space, "Here we go..." he said suddenly, stepping back over to where a metal box was attached to a wall by the stairs. He pulled the door open, withdrawing a large yellow container, "Distress flairs!" he grunted, sitting the box down onto a stone ledge by the stairs, before turning back to shut the door, only to gasp and jump back at finding the Doctor standing right beside him, having been hidden behind the door.
The Doctor didn't seem to be the slightest bit concerned about the fact that he had just given Jimmy a fright, looking completely oblivious, "Exit?" he asked him.
He exhaled loudly, looking slightly annoyed, "Keep going straight," he instructed him, pointing off down another hallway, "Can't miss it. But you're never going to get your vehicle in here".
He smirked, "I'm a great parker," he turned and headed off in the direction that he had told him.
...
He met up with Azezela finding out she had headed the right way and was nearly at the exit.
"Ah there you are love." Azezela said with a smile on her face, as he took her hand in his.
"Let's go get our sweetie, then love." The Doctor said pulling her into a run down the rest of the corridor. "But first..." He redirected her towards the room with the flesh in it.
Azezela watched curiously as he moved to scan it again. "Well, I guess that is one way to get everyone to talk, their being two of you."
The Doctor just chuckled at that, as his arm shook over the tank of flesh. They soon rushed back out of the room, The Doctor grabbing Azezela's hand on the way out. They ran to the exit then.
They got outside and Azezela paused on the wooden stairs, "Oh crap."
"Oh... what are you doing down there? the Doctor said moving off the steps towards the Tardis, of which you could only see the roof of sticking out of the ground. "Ohh." The Doctor said.
As Azezela shouted. "Doctor the Bloody Acid is everywhere."
So, he shouted and removed his boots before rushing back to the steps where Azezela was.
"God's you can be an idiot sometime Doctor." Azezela laughed as they began walking back.
…
They managed to find the Ganger's on the way through the monastery and invited them to come talk, to come with them.
...
"Until the Doctor gets here," the Doctor called brightly at the same time as Amy, suddenly stepping into the room. They all turned to look as he strolled further into the room, "Hello!" he said happily, leading Azezela in by the hand. Then the Ganger Jimmy, Cleaves, Buzzer, and Dicken entered the room through the same doorway, fully formed this time. Everyone froze, the Ganger's and originals staring back at each other, their eyes wide with shock and amazement to come face to face with people who were exact copies of them.
"This is..." Jimmy breathed, looking at his own Ganger, startled.
"You're telling me," his Ganger nodded, looking quite shocked himself.
Ganger Cleaves shook her head at them, "Alright, Doctor," she turned to him, "You've brought us together, now what?"
"Before we do anything, I have one important question," the Doctor began, looking very seriously around at everyone, "Has anybody got a pair of shoes I could borrow?" he asked hopefully. The others simply stared at him as if he were mad, "Size ten?" he continued, not seeming to notice, "Although, I should warn you, I have very wide feet".
Azezela was stood behind him trying to stifle her laughter over what happened to him.
...
Once a pair of brown boots were found for the Doctor, he took a seat on the edge of the dining table with Azezela sitting beside him, while Amy stood just behind them with her hands in her jean pockets. The Ganger's and the originals had both split off onto different sides of the room, staring back across to each other, but Rory had remained by Ganger Jennifer's side, still acting as her protector even with the other Ganger's there.
The doctor leant forwards, moving his hands as he spoke. "The flesh was never merely moss. These are not just copies." They all looked confused at each other, "The storm has hardwired them," the Doctor nodded, "They are becoming people".
"With souls?" Jimmy frowned slightly, still looking quite stunned.
"Rubbish!" Dicken scoffed, before suddenly sneezing into his hand.
"Bless you," his Ganger remarked, smiling slightly across to him. Dicken sent him a sharp look as he lifted his head.
"We were all jelly once," the Doctor went on, "Little jelly eggs, sitting in goop".
"Yeah, thanks," Amy cut in, grimacing at their backs, really not wanting to have this little talk all over again. It was embarrassing enough the first time, "Too much information".
"We are not talking about an accident that needs to be mopped up." The Doctor said looking at all of them again. "We are talking about sacred life. Do you understand? Good. Now, the Tardis is trapped in an acid pool. "The Doctor complained once he had got them to reluctantly agree on that. "Once I can reach her, I can get you all off this island, humans, and Gangers, eh? How does that sound?" The Doctors voice was higher and happier.
"You always take the risk of creating a new species." Amy repeated what Azezela had said earlier.
"Exactly." The Doctor said looking between Amy and Azezela with a smile.
Some seemed happy about that though others just seemed rather angry.
"Can I make it home for Adam's birthday?" Jimmy asked eagerly.
"What about me?" Ganger Jimmy frowned, looking across to him, "He's my son too".
"You?" he glared at him, "You really think that?"
"I feel it".
"Oh, so you were there when he was born, were you?"
"Yeah. I drank about eight pints of tea, then they told me I had a wee boy and I just burst out laughing," he laughed at the memory, while Jimmy stared at him with wide eyes. The Doctor and Azezela exchanged a quick smile, "No idea why," he shook his head, still smiling, but it grew sadder as he went on, "I miss home, as much as you".
"Children are always one of the best ways to bring people together." Azezela smiled happily at the two. "I know my children did."
They shot her looks that top her they thought she was crazy, probably because of how young she looked and ignored the comment.
The Doctor looked between them for a moment, before standing, "Look," he cut in, holding his hand up as they all looked at him, "I'm not going to lie to you. It's a right old mess, this," he brightened, pointing at the two Jimmy's, "But as you might say up North, 'oh well, I'll just go to't foot of stairs,'" he put on a Northern accent, laughing slightly, seeming to be having great fun while the rest of the room just looked at him strangely, "'Eee by gum...'" he smiled broadly, before glancing at Azezela who was trying hard not to laugh, "Or not?"
"Not," Azezela said quickly.
"Good," he clapped his hands and pointed to her, before spinning back to the others, "Right. First step is we get everyone together, then get everyone safe".
"But we're still missing Jennifer and Cleaves," Amy reminded them, and Rory flinched as Ganger Jennifer suddenly tightened her grip on his hand at the mention of her original.
"I'll go and look for them," Jimmy offered, glancing briefly at his Ganger before he started to head towards the door.
"I'll give you a hand, if you like," his Ganger commented, following him. They both paused by the doorway, looking at each other, "Cover more ground".
"Yeah, okay. Thanks".
The Doctor smiled, happy to see that Jimmy was finally starting to get along with his Ganger. It was a small step, but one that just went to show how easily the Ganger's and their counterparts could get along if they only tried, if they only let themselves see that they were exactly the same people.
"This circus has gone on long enough!" a voice called from behind them, and they all turned around to find that Cleaves had snuck into the room while they had been distracted, glaring at the Ganger's as she held up some sort of device that was crackling with electricity.
"Oh, great," Ganger Cleaves sighed, eyeing her other self, "You see, that is just so typically me".
"Doctor, tell it to shut up!" Cleaves snapped, looking ready to pounce.
Azezela frowned at the item in her hands, "Is that a circuit prob?" She knew a little about technology even if it was only a very little.
"Cleaves, no," the Doctor tried, looking at her as he shook his head, "No. No!"
Cleaves nodded, smirking very slightly as she glanced briefly down at the device, "That's right, Azezela," she agreed, "Fires about, ooh, forty thousand volts?" she looked back to the Ganger's, her expression growing hard again, "Would kill any one of us, so I guess she'll work on Ganger's just the same".
"It's interesting you refer to them as 'it,'" the Doctor said, frowning thoughtfully as he pointed over to the Ganger's, "But you call a glorified cattle prod a 'she,'" he pointed back to the device in her hands.
Cleaves kept her eyes fixed on the Ganger's, not lowering her weapon for a second, "When the real people are safely off this island, then I'll happily talk philosophy over a pint with you, Doctor," she said calmly.
"How can you tell?" Azezela asked then making all of them look at her.
"How can I tell what?" Cleaves called to her annoyed.
"How can you tell which of them is which?" Azezela asked a tilt to her head her eyes thin. "If I mixed them up and asked you to identify which was the original, could you?" she asked. "If we are taking philosophy out of this, what stops me from doing so? What stops me from say doing this?" She waved her hand making Cleaves turn around and freeze. A different move of her hand had them all mixing though slowly enough they didn't get hurt, only leaving the ganger cleaves in place. She unfroze Cleaves who turned frantically looking back to her. "Now which, is which?" she asked, gesturing to the group of her employee, stood on only one side of the table. Cleaves eyes frantically went over the group trying to identify anything that would show they were gangers. Azezela chuckled as even Amy and the Doctor were looking over the group confused. "You can't tell, none of you can. So how can you say they are not people, you created them?" She cocked an eyebrow at her waiting for her to speak.
"They are monsters." Cleaves snarled slightly at her. "you are right, we created them. They are not really alive. We have the right, to destroy them."
Azezela's glare turned furious at that, "Do you have kids Forman Cleaves?"
"No." she said a little amused at the change in questioning.
"Good." Azezela said as the two groups began separating again. Cleaves paling at her words.
"So what are you going to do to them?" Amy asked, shaking her head, seeing that Azezela's words had made no difference to Cleaves mentality about the Gangers.
"Sorry, they're monsters. Mistakes. They have to be destroyed".
"Give me the prod, cleaves." The Doctor said with a glare on his face
"We always have to take charge, don't we, Miranda?" Ganger Cleaves said to her, raising her eyebrows, "Even when we don't really know what the hell is going on. Even when there are clearly people around who know more than you." She looked directly at Azezela at that who was still glaring at Cleaves.
Ganger Buzzer suddenly ran at Cleaves, but she instantly turned and fired the weapon three times, hitting him in straight in his chest. He staggered back, his eyes wide with shock as he collapsed onto the floor. The Doctor ran to his side, but Azezela didn't have to.
"He's dead." She said simply, just looking over at him sadly, "Why did you have to do that?" She asked horrified. "You made them, how can they be monsters!" she repeated and with a flick of her hand the cattle prod flew out of her hands to the other wall where it snapped.
"We call it 'decommissioned,'" Cleaves corrected, glaring in Jennifer's dierection, making her gasp fearful.
"You stopped his heart," the Doctor looked back over to her, just as horrified as Azezela, "He had a heart! Aorta, valves, a real human heart! And you stopped it".
"Jen?" Rory tried, taking a step towards Ganger Jennifer.
She backed away from him, looking terrified, "What happened to Buzzer will happen to all of us if we trust you!" she cried, her skin and eyes taking on their Flesh appearance.
"Wait, wait, Just Wait." The Doctor said as Azezela was looking at everything that was going on with a very distant look on her face.
Rory didn't let her finish as he suddenly took a running leap at Cleaves, "No!" he shouted, knocking her onto the floor and struggling with her for a moment, knowing she would still try and attack them while the Ganger's took off running out of the room.
"You idiot!" Cleaves glared at Rory, trying to shove him away.
"Wait!" the Doctor called after the Ganger's, but it was too late. They were well and truly gone. "Look what you've done Cleaves."
"If it's war, then it's war," Cleaves cut across him, not looking the slightest bit sorry for what she had done, "You don't get it, Doctor," she sneered at him, "How can you? It's us and them now," she nodded, turning to Jimmy and Dicken, "Us...and them".
"Us and them," Dicken agreed, not hesitating.
Jimmy glanced at him before turning back to Cleaves, sighing, almost resigned, "Us and them".
Azezela just sighed knowing this was how it would end up anyway, but she had to try.
...
Amy and Rory were kneeling on the ground by Ganger Buzzer's body, covering his body with a white sheet, speaking in soft tones to each other. Amy seemed rather closed off to what Rory was saying to her, while Rory seemed to be trying to explain to her about something. She didn't want to hear what they were saying, she already had a rather good idea just what it would be about. Amy wasn't happy that Rory had spent so much time with Jennifer, that he had been so protective over her.
Azezela hummed slightly glancing over to where Cleaves was speaking with Dicken and Jimmy in a small circle by the dining table, the conversation seeming to be quite an intent one, judging by their expressions. Seeing them gathered together like that set off massive warning bells in her head. She looked at the Doctor beside her and could tell instantly that he was thinking the exact same thing. Now that Cleaves had murdered one of the Ganger's, the rest remaining would come after them. Cleaves was right, this was war and soon, the Ganger's would be ready to battle.
The Doctor took her hand and squeezed it, "The most fortified and defendable room in the monastery?" he called to the humans behind them, "Cleaves!" he said sharply, when no one answered, "The most fortified and defendable room in the monastery?"
Cleaves looked over to them, "The chapel," she replied.
"Thank you".
"Only one-way in. Stone walls two feet thick".
The Doctor nodded grimly, glancing back to Cleaves, "You've crossed one hell of a line, Cleaves," he told her, his voice soft, "You've killed one of them. They're coming back, in a big way. Come on!" he suddenly shouted, leading the way out of the room.
The others hurried after the Doctor as he led the way out of the room, heading back through the corridors to the chapel. Luckily for them, the chapel was only a short distance away from the dining hall, and they soon found themselves standing just outside the chapel door.
"What about the flares?" Jimmy asked, glancing hurriedly at them.
"Never mind the flares." Azezela told him a little annoyed, she rolled her eyes. "We can deal with them later now."
"Rory!" the Doctor looked back to Amy and Rory as the last of the crew disappeared through the door, "Pond!"
A loud scream suddenly rang out from out in the distance. Rory hesitated, looked back down the corridor, before glancing back to where Amy and the others stood by the door.
"Rory?" Amy turned to him, looking slightly worried, "Come on".
"Jennifer." Azezela sighed looking down the corridor.
Rory nodded, making no move to follow them into the chapel, "Jen's out there and she's on her own," he began to walk back down the corridor.
"Well, if she's got any sense, then she's hiding," the Doctor argued, frowning at him, "Rory!"
"I can't leave her out there!"
"Rory..."
He shook his head, his expression determined as he looked back to them, "I know you understand that".
They both went quiet not wanting to say anything and just watching knowing what both of them would do as they joined hands quietly watching it happen.
Amy looked back to Rory, "Get in here!" she pointed back to the chapel, just as the Ganger's entered the corridor ahead of them, wearing acid suits, "Get in here!"
Rory glanced back to them, before dashing off down a side corridor.
"There they are!" Ganger Cleaves shouted as they approached, glaring at them from behind the acid suits visor.
"Amy!" the Doctor said urgently, running forward and grabbing Amy's arm, pulling her back towards the doorway.
"Rory!" Amy cried, just as Azezela slammed the door shut behind them, just before the Ganger's could reach them.
The Doctor pulled Amy further into the room as she continued to struggle, Azezela staying away from her as The Doctor attempted to speak with her, as the crew hurried forward to start trying to block the door with whatever they could find and move across to the door, "Amy," he tried to calm her down, grabbing her shoulders and holding her firmly, "They are not after him, they're after us".
"Why?" a voice whispered from out of the shadows in the back of the room, making Azezela and the Doctor both turn to look, "Why?"
The Doctor stiffened, letting go of Amy, "Show yourself," he called into the shadows, trying to see through the gloom, "Show yourself!"
"Ah!" a pained groan sounded, but still, there was no sign of the voice's owner.
The Doctor looked at Azezela before slowly stepping closer towards the shadows.
"Doctor!" Amy shouted, seeing that they were getting distracted,
"Pass me the barrel!" Cleaves ordered, reaching to take a large barrel that Buzzer had carted over towards the door.
"We need something heavy," Dicken remarked, looking quickly around, "Anything you can find".
Amy glanced back over to the two, who were still focused on the shadows, not seeming to be paying the slightest bit of attention to what was going on at the door.
"This is insane," Jimmy laughed, leaning against the door, "We're fighting ourselves".
"Yes, it's insane," the Doctor agreed, not looking back to them, "And it's about to get even more insaner," he frowned, "Is that a word?"
"No, it's not." Azezela called out to him from where she had moved over and was helping to move things
"Doctor!" Amy hurried over to him, raising her voice slightly to try and catch his attention, but he didn't look at her, "We are trapped in here and Rory's out there, with them. Hello! We can't get to the TARDIS and we can't leave this island".
"Correct in every respect, Pond," the Doctor's voice came; only he hadn't opened his mouth and the sound had come from out of the shadows, "It's frightening, unexpected, frankly a total, utter splattering mess on the carpet, but I am certain, one hundred percent certain, that we can work this out". Out of the shadows stepped a half-formed Ganger of the Doctor, "Trust me," he straightened his bowtie, "I'm the Doctor"