Chapter 8

House found himself facing stairs once again. He watched the thing disappear down the stairs, heading towards the morgue. Great, he thought. Stairs and it's going to catch the other two before they know what to use to kill it. He sighed as began his decent.

By the time the others rounded the corner, there was no sign of either House or the creature. They didn't know which way to go.

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"Here it is!" the Doctor exclaimed as he stared at the screen in the TARDIS. "This is it, now we just have to find these and…"

Suddenly there was a crash against the door of the TARDIS. The Doctor switched his viewer from the formula to show what was outside. He saw the creature pull back a tentacle of itself and smash it into the TARDIS. The Doctor shook his head, the thing was crazy to think it was ever going to get inside. He was about to ignore it and switch back to the formula when it said, "Come out Doctor, or I'll kill him!" it said as it lifted Wilson from the floor. Luckily, the man was still unconscious, but that wasn't going to be much help for them.

The Doctor watched as the thing opened up one of the doors into the wall and pulled out an empty steel bed. It laid Wilson out on it and waited for a response. "I'm warning you Doctor, I will kill him, and I've even been nice enough to do it in a way that's easily disposable. Now come out or his blood will be on your head."

Not seeing much choice, he sighed and flipped the screen over once again to the formula. As he got up and went to the door. "What are you doing?" Rose demanded.

"I'm going out there," he answered.

"But he'll kill ya!" She answered.

"Probably. But if I don't, he definitely will kill that doctor."

"But…"

"Rose, I don't have time to debate this with you. I'll try not to get hurt, and you know how good I am at that, but I need you to stay in here, alright?"

"Doctor…" she said as tears began to well up.

He took her face in his hands and looked her in the eye for a minute. He smiled at her and bent down, gently kissing her forehead. "Oh Rose, I'm sorry. I've gotten you into so much trouble but this time I need to know that you're safe. He can't get in here, you'll be fine."

With that he released her and walked over to the door. "I'll be back soon," he said with a wink and boldly stepped out.

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"If you want to talk to me, could you at least assume some kind of solid form, the liquid stuff is annoying," The Doctor said.

The thing gave a humorless laugh as it began to pull into itself, coming together to form… the Doctor.

"Better?" he heard his own voice ask.

"Well, not exactly what I had in mind, but at least I can look you in the eye. Or would that be looking myself in the eye?"

"Admit it Doctor, you have no idea how to kill me, otherwise you already would have," it said.

"Well maybe I'm not so sure anymore that I want to completely wipe out a race," he said as he casually leaned against the TARDIS.

"Come now, we both know that you're heartless. You ruthlessly killed my people before and I'm sure you wouldn't hesitate now… if you knew how."

Just then, the Doctor saw House enter through the door. The Gleryth didn't seem to notice as his back was turned to the door. The Doctor noticed the look of confusion on House's face. He wasn't sure which one was the Doctor and which one the shape shifter.

"Well, if you're planning on killing me, like I'm sure you are, could you at least do so without looking so much like me. I hate the idea of suicide," he said.

Again, the creature laughed. "Not a problem, I can be anything that you wish. I'll at least be decent enough to allow you to choose your executioner. It switched to a vision of Rose, "perhaps your current companion… or an enemy?" it said as it became first a Slitheen then a Dalek and ended with a werewolf. "What will it be Doctor?" it growled.

Just then it howled in pain as House's cane impacted the back of its head. The Doctor leapt from his position against the TARDIS and grabbed House out of the reach of the ferocious teeth of the wolf.

He grabbed hold of the TARDIS door and threw the man inside saying, "It's on the screen. Come up with it!" and slammed the door closed as he was suddenly knocked off his feet by a swipe from a paw of the werewolf.

It slammed the outside of the TARDIS again, angered that the other creature was able to escape him once again, but that didn't matter. It still had the Doctor to deal with.

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"What's happening?" Rose demanded as the door slammed practically on House's nose.

"Where's the Formula?" House demanded as he turned around. Rose pointed to the screen. House limped over to it, he no longer had his cane, it got dropped somewhere back there when the Doctor shoved him into his… ship?

"This has got to be the strangest space ship that I have ever seen," he said as he began to study the screen.

"Oh right, and how many space ships have you seen then?"

"Good point," he said. But he was completely engulfed in the formula in front of him. He knew this, these were all things that were in the morgue! Wonder of wonders.

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"Well, now that you're done saving the day Doctor, it's time that I finish what I started," The creature said, now reverted to its liquid form again.

The Doctor, who had been lying face first on the ground, turned over, thinking that this thing was about to come after him again. But he was more horrified to see it heading for the still unconscious form of Dr. Wilson.

"You said that you wouldn't kill him if I came out!" he said as he pulled himself off the floor.

"No, I said that I would if you didn't. I never said I wouldn't if you did," the thing laughed as if reached out a tentacle to Wilson.

"What does he matter to you? It's me you want!"

The Gleryth paused and said. "And what is he to you?"

"An innocent man who has gone through more than any human should have to. You shouldn't be here. It's my fault that you're still alive and that makes his suffering my fault as well."

The creature lowered its tentacle and reassumed the Doctor's form. It spun around and glared at him. "Its your fault that my people are dead. Don't you feel guilty about that?"

For a second he was caught off guard as he thought of himself being able to say those words but he quickly shoved his self-guilt aside and answered, "Never. Your people terrorized the galaxy. You had to be stopped."

"We were feeding! We were surviving!"

"No, you could have found another way. You did find another way and you ignored it. You kept right on in your torture and killings. You are the ones who should feel guilty, not me!"

"Well, at least I can wipe your guilt from you about this man," it said as it advanced.

The Doctor began to back away, but there was nowhere to go. He was trapped, and this thing was going to kill him. At least Rose was safe.

At the thought of her, he glanced behind the advancing picture of himself, and saw the door to the TARDIS open slowly. First House, and then Rose slipped out. They had something, now it was up to him to keep the thing distracted. House signaled him that they needed to get to a shelf that was against the next wall. At their current position, the creature would be able to see them.

The Doctor turned and began to back away to the wall opposite where House and Rose needed to get. Unfortunately, this wall was much closer and he didn't have near as far to go.

"There's no escape Doctor. Just accept the fact that you're going to die now and this will go much easier." And with that, the end of the hand elongated and resolidified into a sword.

"What, you're just going to kill me then?" The Doctor said smugly. He prayed that House and Rose would hurry, this new ploy wouldn't gain very much time. "That seems like such a waste to me."

"What?"

"Well you claim that all of your killings are for survival, then why just kill me?"

"Do you want me to make this painful? Are you asking me to make this agonizing for you?"

"No, I just thought that it all seemed wasteful," he answered and he leaned up casually against the wall. It was his way of shaking off stress, just pretend that it was just another common day event.

"I don't understand you Doctor, but just to set you mind at ease…" And it lunged in its liquid form, encasing the Doctor inside of itself. Rose watched in horror as she could make out his form through the liquid, screaming silently… He was in agony.