Doctor Who

by Tyloric

Beta read by the lovely youroctober.

Chapter 6

Dr. Badeau skimmed over the papers in front of him through him thin rimmed spectacles, going over the data time and time again to make sure he was reading it correctly. "How accurate are these?"

"One-hundred percent. I tested them four times each. They're right. I know they are… I just don't know… how." Orchid explained exasperatedly.

"I wouldn't have come to you—I mean I know you're retired—but I had to make sure I wasn't making a mistake." She continued in a rushed tone.

He silenced her with a raised hand. "It's fine, my door is always open should you need it. It's just… the League has access to this kind of technology? I fear what this might mean. What were all of the samples extracted from?"

Orchid brushed a strand of purple hair behind her ear. "They were in incubation chambers; they looked like deformed infants. It was so…"

"Evil?" he suggested grimly.

She frowned but nodded. "So I decided to take DNA samples from each of them, to see if they belonged to anyone, ya know? And then I got the first result back… I thought the machine had made a mistake, so I tested it again and got the same thing. When I tested the second one it also…"

Badeau sighed and leaned back against his chair. "Almost perfectly matched Billy's." he finished.

"There are minuet differences but… yes."

"Damn..." The doctor cursed under his breath.

"Are you going to tell him?" She inquired softly.

He didn't reply right away, thoughts traveling through his head at a mile a minute. After a few moments he sighed again. "I see no reason to keep it from him. Afterall…"

Orchid tilted her head questioningly.

"He might just be another clone."

***

Billy massaged his temples vigorously, his migraine pounding inside his head like a drum line. Hammer was walking a few steps ahead of him, fuming quietly. He had irritated the hero some how, though he wasn't sure what he had done.

They had visited a few other places in Captain Hammer's attempt 'jog his memory' each one completely unsuccessful. He had no sense of familiarity to anything or anywhere they had visited, and Hammer became more agitated with each stop.

They were now about ten minutes away from the Hospital and Billy's head was hurting so bad that he could hardly walk straight.

"Are you going to tell me what I did?" He asked finally.

Hammer glanced over his shoulder briefly but didn't respond.

Billy rolled his eyes. "Oh come on, why are you so angry at me? I didn't even doing anything."

"It's not you." He snapped. "It's… I don't know." He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "I just don't know." Billy frowned but remained silent as to not cause anymore trouble. It worked.

At least until he passed out.

***

Hammer stood outside of Billy's room, leaning against the wall. He was staring up at the ceiling, wondering why he was still here. The man was no longer his problem; he should go and continue his heroic duties. But he couldn't shake the feeling that being here was one of his heroic duties. Billy had just collapsed on the street with no warning.

Perhaps he felt responsible. He was the one who more or less forced Billy to come along, and even against doctor's orders. Maybe this was his fault.

He didn't acknowledge Dr. Badeau when he came close, he just asked the question that was burning in his mind. "So, what's wrong with him?" They'd been here five hours, and he was growing tired of waiting for an answer.

"He's dying." Was the simple, almost detached, response.

An unfamiliar urgency filled Hammer's being. "What is it?"

The doctor regarded him for a long moment, as if sizing him up. "His body is degrading."

"What does that mean?"

"Hammer, as hard as this might be to believe, that is not Dr. Horrible." Before Hammer could reply he continued. "Or even Billy."

The Captain struggled to process this, but failed miserably.

"He's a clone, Captain Hammer, a copy. And the DNA tests confirm it. His body is degrading at a molecular level."

The hero blinked. He blinked again. "A clone?"

"Yes."

The pieces started aligning inside of Hammer's head. "That explains why he didn't remember anything. About anything."

"That would seem like a logical conclusion."

"But then how did he know he name was Billy?"

Dr. Badeau shrugged and shook his head. "I don't know. There are many things about this I don't know or understand. Why would the ELE be cloning, and cloning Dr. Horrible of all people? None of it makes any sense."

"Can you save him?"

Dr. Badeau, formerly Heartwrench, frowned. "No. I can't."

***

One. Two. Three. Four. Five.

Five?

Six. Seven. Eight. Nine. Ten seconds.

"Get him down." Dr. Horrible heard Professor Normal order, followed by the scramble of feet. Hands unfastened the restraints around his wrists, though he had no strength or will to put up any kind of fight. He was broken.

Hands, none too gently, drug him across the room and threw him to the floor. He groaned.

Normal's voice was right next to his ear when he spoke next. "Are you ready to begin… Terran?"

Something inside Horrible's mind, his very essence, screamed out. In the next moment there was no Dr. Horrible.

There was only Terran.

[tbc]

Authors Notes:

If everything continues as planned, this is the official half way point. Sorry updates have been taking so long. No excuses. I'm just lazy.

~Tyloric