AN: Once again, it's been a loooong time. And for that, I am sorry. Thank you to GammaTron, Kubasaki, Stargirltc, LongLive-MaxRide-TMI-THG-HP TheNumber1Hero, insanitysShadow, Doom the Sandwich, .pandas, Kuroi In a Black Hole, JustAnoutherFan, YeshaThorn, meshalok, Natalie Potter The Time Lady, Anonymous Heavy on the Anon, cheshireskitten909, trulymetalwings, elmoisemo6, Lin-Net23, doctor-who-addiction, and Tammy251 for the follow/favorites.
Chapter 5- Ambiguous Clones
The Doctor was tinkering around in the console room with Rose flipping through one of her magazines, looking very bored. She yawned and closed it with a snap.
The Doctor jerked his head up to look at her. "What'dya do that for?"
"'m bored," she sighed. "We're in a town, perfect for explorin', and instead you have us holed up in 'ere while you tinker around with the TARDIS."
"I am doin' somethin' important!" he said, hurt.
Rose walked over to him. "Whatcha doin' then?"
"Well, I took a dirt sample yesterday, when we left the librury, and I'm tryin' to detect any strange traces in it."
"And have you?" she asked.
"Oh, all kinds," the Doctor grinned at her, excited.
"So, what are we still doin' here?" she asked.
"Been tryin' to pick up that bloke on the radio," he informed her.
"You hear 'im if you just step outside," Rose rolled her eyes.
"But the town seems to listen 24/7, and it's always the same man. How can that be?"
Rose was about to answer, when she saw he was talking to himself and not to her.
"Come along, Doctor, the town is in need of your help. But be wary of where you go, for you might not know who the real ones are."
"There's that voice again!" he exclaimed.
"It sounded like a distress signal," Rose said.
"What did he mean not knowin' what the real ones are?" the Doctor muttered to himself. "Oh well, let's find out!" He grabbed Rose's hand and they ran out of the TARDIS.
…..
A scream sounded off to the left and they followed it. It led them a forest.
"A forest?" the Doctor cried out in disbelief. "There's no forests in the desert! Unless they're cacti forests!"
He pulled his sonic screwdriver out of his jacket pocket and started scanning the area. "That's odd," he said.
"What is?" Rose asked.
"The sonic registers the forest as not here."
"But we're lookin' right at it," she said, confused.
"Exactly! Oh, this is fantastic!" the doctor exclaimed with joy.
The pair walked further into the forest only to see the town behind them grow hazy like a mirage.
"I would say it's the Sun, but the trees are so dense, they're blockin' it," the Doctor muttered.
They stopped in front a large metal vat.
"But what's inside?" he wondered.
Rose looked at him and grinned, and looked around the sides until she found a small ladder laying on the forest floor.
"We could try this," she suggested and he kissed her forehead.
"Rose Tyler, you are fantastic!" he proclaimed and they pulled the ladder up and over the pot.
The two climbed the ladder quickly and peered over the side. The weirdest sight greeted them. The liquid inside was metal but it swirled around, with faces popping out of it every now and then.
"Doctor?" Rose asked nervously.
"Yeah?"
"Are they dead?" she asked.
The Doctor pushed a button on his screwdriver but it was bringing back some interesting results. "They never were alive," he told her, and just as he said that, all of the faces opened their arms and screamed.
"We are alive!"
A groan sounded from the ground and they climbed down to locate the source. A woman lay on the ground, very badly injured.
"What happened?" Rose asked, stroking the woman's arm.
"I...I don't know. I was going into work and the next thing I know, I'm laying on the ground and you guys are here."
"Was that you that screamed?" the Doctor asked.
"Yes," she replied. "Where are we?"
"We're still in Night Vale," he assured her.
The woman sighed.
"What's your name?" Rose asked.
"Dana," she said. "I work at the radio station as an intern."
Rose exchanged looks with the Doctor and he nodded.
"Do you know a man that works there? Talks on the radio all the time?" the Doctor asked.
"Cecil? Yeah, I work for him." The woman grimaced as she pulled herself into a sitting position and Rose tried to help her as much as she could.
"Right, Cecil. Is he the only one that works there?"
"Yes."
"Does he broadcast all night?" he frowned.
"No," the woman looked at him strangely. "Only for four hours in the morning and four at night."
Rose looked at the Doctor again.
"Let's get you back then, shall we?" he asked Dana, and she nodded.
Rose helped her stand and the Doctor took her other side. They walked together with her until the edge of the forest.
Another Rose and the Doctor walked across the street from them.
"What?" he demanded. He spun around to see another Dana walking towards them, her hand outstretched.
"Wait!" she called. "That's not the real me!"
The Dana they were supporting twisted their wrists behind their backs and grinned mischievously.
"She's right, you know," the Dana holding them said. "I'm her ganger."
The real Dana caught up to them and brandished her keys in her hand. "I'm not afraid!"she called. "I'll plunge the keys right into you."
"It won't hurt me," the ganger Dana smirked.
The real Dana buried the keys deep into the eye of ganger Dana with a cry. The Doctor protested and Rose gasped.
But nothing happened. The keys popped out with a Schlup! and slid down the ganger's body.
"Told you. Didn't even feel it."
"Those keys did give me an idea, though," the Doctor said, and he quickly twisted out of the ganger Dana's grip. He held up his screwdriver and the whirring noise cause the ganger to cover her ears and scream, dropping Rose from her grip as well.
She calmly stepped over by the Doctor.
"Okay, what's the plan?" she asked.
"Follow me!" he called to real Dana and Rose. He started to run back through the town to the TARDIS. He reached the doors and Rose ran inside, closing the doors behind her.
"What about Dana?" he asked.
"I don't know which was the real one!" she cried, and motioned for the Doctor to look out the door.
He carefully peeked his head out to see both Danas struggling. He groaned. "Ugh! There's no time!"
The Doctor piloted the TARDIS into the forest and strapped a large magnet to the the bottom of the ship.
"What'dya do that for?" Rose asked.
"The pot is metal, so it will attract to the magnet. I'll fly the TARDIS into the outskirts of town with the pot, tellin' the gangers I'll drop it. They'll be so concerned with gettin' the pot that they won't notice the sandstorm I'm goin' to create."
"What sandstorm?" she asked.
"The TARDIS' fans are going to kick into overdrive and send a one time wave of sand flying over the ganger's heads and absorb them," he informed her.
"Won't that mess with the TARDIS?" she asked.
"I dunno," the Doctor admitted.
"What?" Rose exclaimed.
"Never mind that, we have to save Dana!"
She nodded cautiously and went to stand at the console with him. The pot attached like the Doctor said and they flew over Night Vale, a faint sloshing heard under them at all times. Just like predicted, whenever they hovered over the desert, the gangers were assembled underneath, looking rather angry indeed.
"Okay!" the doctor shouted, and the cacophony of the gangers ceased immediately. "Now, I have what you want! The goo that controls how you form, how many of you you can make, and I'm goin' to dump it unless you stop me!"
The gangers hissed at this, trying to climb on each others shoulder to get at the pot.
The Doctor turned to look at Rose.
"I know we haven't been travellin' together a long time, Rose Tyler, but I just wanted to let you know it's been absolutely fantastic." He grinned at her, and she smiled back.
"I feel the same, Doctor," she told him, and he grabbed her hand.
"Might be our last hurrah together, so let's make it good, eh?" he asked and she nodded. The Doctor pointed his screwdriver at the control panel, and Rose saw the red flashing lights as the fans kicked into overdrive. Below them, the sand was starting to stir.
The engines were groaning and she wondered how much longer they were going to stay flying. Just as Rose started to think about that, a giant wave of sand cascaded below them and wiped over the gangers.
"That went well," the Doctor said, impressed.
They looked over the edge to see Dana standing there on the sand, away from the wave.
"She's definitely the human," he informed Rose. "Humans have a natural built in fight or flight. She musta noticed the wave and ran like hell."
Rose nodded, feeling a bit uneasy. What if it was ganger Dana and she killed the real Dana? Regardless of her feelings, they piloted down to let Dana inside.
…
"Intern Dana has been acting strangely, dear listeners. She brought me a cup of very watery coffee this morning, and has been rubbing her eyes frequently, muttering about a key. Is she the original or the double? Guess we'll have to wait around and see."