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Spiral Scratch: Sixth Doctor Regeneration


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Old 29-04-2013, 20:53
Mrfipp
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Join Date: Jan 2013
Posts: 606

Got a little bored, so I decided to type up, and post the final chapter of the Doctor Who novel "Spiral Scratch" by Gary Russell, which detailed the regeneration of the Sixth Doctor. I rather like this version more than the explanation given in "Time and the Rani", so I figured there was no reason not to put it up somewhere. If you want to know the events that lead up to it, I recommend you go look for the book for yourself. It's rather good.

------

Everybody's Happy Nowadays

The TARDIS control room had never seemed so bright, so warm. So inviting.
Mel was all but dragging the Doctor inside as she looked around her. As if by magic, part of the wall opened up and a long bed emerged - perhaps the TARDIS could tell its pilot was desperately ill, Mel decided.
The Doctor waved a hand almost irritably towards the bed and it was absorbed by the wall once again. "I'm fine, Mel." He glanced up to the ceiling as Mel closed the doors behind them. "No, really, I am." He then smiled at Mel. "We didn't do too badly, did we?"
"We?" laughed Mel. "'We' did nothing. You, on the other hand, just saved the multiverse. Literally for once,"
"For once? Mel, we save the multiverse once a week! Don't we?"
"Not usually, no. You're usually satisfied with a race, or a planet. A galaxy at the most." She could tell he was masking his pain behind his bonhomie, of course. "But seriously, Doctor, I think you need to rest. The Lamprey really took it out of you. Again, literally!"
The Doctor took a deep breath and stood proudly by his TARDIS console. "Nonsense, Mel, what harm could possibly befall one such as I?"
At which point the began coughing and spluttering. Mel ran to his side instantly, trying to pat him on the back, Being considerably shorter than he, this merely resulted in a few ineffectual thumps to a couple of middle vertebrae, He gently eased her hand back. "You know, I think some rest might be in order after all."
"Doctor's orders?" suggested Mel cheekily.
He nodded and smiled back at her.
And Mel's heart went cold.
She'd been traveling with him long enough to be able to read the Doctor well by now. This avuncular man who she trusted with her life. A man whose moods and quirks she could pretty much predicts these days. A Time Lord - so much power contained in such a frail body, despite its appearance of… well, pretty solidness anyway.
But who really knew what made Time Lords tick? Even these days, Mel was aware that she couldn't entirely be sure of how well the Doctor might be.
Having witnessed that final struggle as the Lamprey was extinguished, she was forced to question whether the Doctor should have accepted that constant absorption of energy and light. Could this form really have just taken that punishment and then shrugged it off as easily as he made out?
"Doctor, listen to me. Rummas warmed you what it might take to stop it."
The Doctor was leaning on the TARDIS console, gripping it tightly enough that his knuckles were white with strain.
"So what? Okay, I might not be able to regenerate twelve times. Eleven, ten maybe. Who cares?"
"You should."
"Why? Look at the scanner Me, look at that. All those stars and worlds and races and civilizations. They could all have gone the way of poor Professor Tungard if I'd not stopped it. As sacrifices go, I could afford it and I truly believe it was worth it."
Mel was at his side. She placed a hand on his head and drew it away quickly.
"Doctor, you're ice cold. I mean, absolutely frozen."
"Really?" Can't feel it myself." His gaze was still on the scanner. "Mel, can you press that blue switch please?"
"Why?"
"Because I asked nicely."
Mel did as she was told and instantly the TARDIS roared into life, the central column rising and falling, as they left Carsus for what she hoped would be the last time.
A few seconds later, it stopped and the scanner just showed space again. Mel frowned but the Doctor smiled, albeit weakly.
"Hover mode. I just wanted to look one last time at the local cosmos."
"One.. last… what d'you mean one last time?"
The Doctor finally pried his hands away from the console, trying to work the fingers but to no avail. He stared straight at Mel and she suddenly realized she was facing not a man in his mid-forties as he normally appeared, but a tried, drained man, who just this once she could believe was 900-plus years. His blue eyes were gray, the crow's feet were pronounced and his hair had a few grey roots and curls, especially at the temples.
"We did good, Mel. I'm honored to have had you at my side one last time."
And he fell to the floor with a loud crump.
Mel was at his side in a second, resting his resting head on her lap, massaging his temples. "C'mon Doctor, no time to be sleeping." She looked up at the scanner.
All those stars, still twinkling.
All those planets still revolving.
All the life that owed its continued existence to a man, a wonderful, brave man it had never known.
Might never know.
She realized she was crying and a tear dropped onto the Doctor's face. His skin was very grey now. His eyes flickered open and he smiled tightly.
"Don't cry, Mel. It was my time. Well, maybe not, but it was my time to give. To donate. I've had a good innings you know, seen and done a lot. Can't complain this time. Don't feel cheated."
Had letting his chronon energy be absorbed to that degree really destroyed him. Finally?
"No…" she whispered. "It's not fair!"
"Yes. Yes it is…" she heard him say, but the words seemed to be in her head rather than coming from his closed mouth.
She suddenly found herself remembering their initial meeting in Brighton. An initial enmity that had given way to respect, admiration and finally a great enough affection that she had given it all up to join him aboard the TARDIS. To travel the universe.
The TARDIS lights seemed to have dimmed a fraction, as if it, as if she knew. Understood.
Mel wished she did. Then the TARDIS lurched violently, once, twice, three times. The Doctor was rocked out of her hands and her curled up, facing the bottom of the console.
"Local.. tractor beam…" he said aloud this time, trying to raise his hand. Trying to reach up, grab the console and haul himself upright.
Mel watched for a second, convinced that he'd succeed. Of course he would, if they were under some sort of attack, the Doctor would leap into action and save the day again.
He had to.
"Doctor!" she whispered as, instead, his arm dropped and he was still once more.
His skin was the color of granite now and Mel was sure it was blurring slightly.
Had to be her own tears, distorting her vision.
The force of the tractor beams - another one rocked the TARDIS again - had sent her a couple of feet away from the Doctor and the floor seemed to be at the severe angle.
She tried to crawl towards him, but another blow, then another and Mel suddenly wondered if this was what it felt like to be a deep-sea diver, going down too rapidly. Getting the bends. She felt, somehow, that the TARDIS was indeed going down, being dragged through space, like a rollercoaster car in a freefall.
And then it was all over. The TARDIS landed with an enormous juddering thump, but in her ears, in her mind, it seemed as if the noise was still going on and she knew then, she had failed the Doctor.
He was dying in front of her eyes and her own brain was closing down, trying to block off the effects of the crash-landing, or whatever it was, by making her sleep.
She would fight unconsciousness. She's been knocked out before, she knew that she could catch it, stop it…
She knew she could…
She knew…
No… no it wasn't fair…
Wait.
The TARDIS door was opening. How? No one had operated the door controls. They must have been forced.
Mel could barely keep her eyes open, the darkness that wanted to consume her was winning, and she was losing the battle.
Let it go, she heard her inner voice say. Sleep.
With a final effort, Mel rolled onto her back, facing the doorway.
As unconsciousness took a hold, she was sure there were people there.
They moved towards her and as she finally succumbed to complete sensory deprivation, she heard a strident female voice barking out and order.
"Leave the girl. It's the man I want."
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Old 30-04-2013, 08:26
inspector drake
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Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: Somewhere, UK
Posts: 891
Got a little bored, so I decided to type up, and post the final chapter of the Doctor Who novel "Spiral Scratch" by Gary Russell, which detailed the regeneration of the Sixth Doctor. I rather like this version more than the explanation given in "Time and the Rani", so I figured there was no reason not to put it up somewhere. If you want to know the events that lead up to it, I recommend you go look for the book for yourself. It's rather good.

------

Everybody's Happy Nowadays

The TARDIS control room had never seemed so bright, so warm. So inviting.
Mel was all but dragging the Doctor inside as she looked around her. As if by magic, part of the wall opened up and a long bed emerged - perhaps the TARDIS could tell its pilot was desperately ill, Mel decided.
The Doctor waved a hand almost irritably towards the bed and it was absorbed by the wall once again. "I'm fine, Mel." He glanced up to the ceiling as Mel closed the doors behind them. "No, really, I am." He then smiled at Mel. "We didn't do too badly, did we?"
"We?" laughed Mel. "'We' did nothing. You, on the other hand, just saved the multiverse. Literally for once,"
"For once? Mel, we save the multiverse once a week! Don't we?"
"Not usually, no. You're usually satisfied with a race, or a planet. A galaxy at the most." She could tell he was masking his pain behind his bonhomie, of course. "But seriously, Doctor, I think you need to rest. The Lamprey really took it out of you. Again, literally!"
The Doctor took a deep breath and stood proudly by his TARDIS console. "Nonsense, Mel, what harm could possibly befall one such as I?"
At which point the began coughing and spluttering. Mel ran to his side instantly, trying to pat him on the back, Being considerably shorter than he, this merely resulted in a few ineffectual thumps to a couple of middle vertebrae, He gently eased her hand back. "You know, I think some rest might be in order after all."
"Doctor's orders?" suggested Mel cheekily.
He nodded and smiled back at her.
And Mel's heart went cold.
She'd been traveling with him long enough to be able to read the Doctor well by now. This avuncular man who she trusted with her life. A man whose moods and quirks she could pretty much predicts these days. A Time Lord - so much power contained in such a frail body, despite its appearance of… well, pretty solidness anyway.
But who really knew what made Time Lords tick? Even these days, Mel was aware that she couldn't entirely be sure of how well the Doctor might be.
Having witnessed that final struggle as the Lamprey was extinguished, she was forced to question whether the Doctor should have accepted that constant absorption of energy and light. Could this form really have just taken that punishment and then shrugged it off as easily as he made out?
"Doctor, listen to me. Rummas warmed you what it might take to stop it."
The Doctor was leaning on the TARDIS console, gripping it tightly enough that his knuckles were white with strain.
"So what? Okay, I might not be able to regenerate twelve times. Eleven, ten maybe. Who cares?"
"You should."
"Why? Look at the scanner Me, look at that. All those stars and worlds and races and civilizations. They could all have gone the way of poor Professor Tungard if I'd not stopped it. As sacrifices go, I could afford it and I truly believe it was worth it."
Mel was at his side. She placed a hand on his head and drew it away quickly.
"Doctor, you're ice cold. I mean, absolutely frozen."
"Really?" Can't feel it myself." His gaze was still on the scanner. "Mel, can you press that blue switch please?"
"Why?"
"Because I asked nicely."
Mel did as she was told and instantly the TARDIS roared into life, the central column rising and falling, as they left Carsus for what she hoped would be the last time.
A few seconds later, it stopped and the scanner just showed space again. Mel frowned but the Doctor smiled, albeit weakly.
"Hover mode. I just wanted to look one last time at the local cosmos."
"One.. last… what d'you mean one last time?"
The Doctor finally pried his hands away from the console, trying to work the fingers but to no avail. He stared straight at Mel and she suddenly realized she was facing not a man in his mid-forties as he normally appeared, but a tried, drained man, who just this once she could believe was 900-plus years. His blue eyes were gray, the crow's feet were pronounced and his hair had a few grey roots and curls, especially at the temples.
"We did good, Mel. I'm honored to have had you at my side one last time."
And he fell to the floor with a loud crump.
Mel was at his side in a second, resting his resting head on her lap, massaging his temples. "C'mon Doctor, no time to be sleeping." She looked up at the scanner.
All those stars, still twinkling.
All those planets still revolving.
All the life that owed its continued existence to a man, a wonderful, brave man it had never known.
Might never know.
She realized she was crying and a tear dropped onto the Doctor's face. His skin was very grey now. His eyes flickered open and he smiled tightly.
"Don't cry, Mel. It was my time. Well, maybe not, but it was my time to give. To donate. I've had a good innings you know, seen and done a lot. Can't complain this time. Don't feel cheated."
Had letting his chronon energy be absorbed to that degree really destroyed him. Finally?
"No…" she whispered. "It's not fair!"
"Yes. Yes it is…" she heard him say, but the words seemed to be in her head rather than coming from his closed mouth.
She suddenly found herself remembering their initial meeting in Brighton. An initial enmity that had given way to respect, admiration and finally a great enough affection that she had given it all up to join him aboard the TARDIS. To travel the universe.
The TARDIS lights seemed to have dimmed a fraction, as if it, as if she knew. Understood.
Mel wished she did. Then the TARDIS lurched violently, once, twice, three times. The Doctor was rocked out of her hands and her curled up, facing the bottom of the console.
"Local.. tractor beam…" he said aloud this time, trying to raise his hand. Trying to reach up, grab the console and haul himself upright.
Mel watched for a second, convinced that he'd succeed. Of course he would, if they were under some sort of attack, the Doctor would leap into action and save the day again.
He had to.
"Doctor!" she whispered as, instead, his arm dropped and he was still once more.
His skin was the color of granite now and Mel was sure it was blurring slightly.
Had to be her own tears, distorting her vision.
The force of the tractor beams - another one rocked the TARDIS again - had sent her a couple of feet away from the Doctor and the floor seemed to be at the severe angle.
She tried to crawl towards him, but another blow, then another and Mel suddenly wondered if this was what it felt like to be a deep-sea diver, going down too rapidly. Getting the bends. She felt, somehow, that the TARDIS was indeed going down, being dragged through space, like a rollercoaster car in a freefall.
And then it was all over. The TARDIS landed with an enormous juddering thump, but in her ears, in her mind, it seemed as if the noise was still going on and she knew then, she had failed the Doctor.
He was dying in front of her eyes and her own brain was closing down, trying to block off the effects of the crash-landing, or whatever it was, by making her sleep.
She would fight unconsciousness. She's been knocked out before, she knew that she could catch it, stop it…
She knew she could…
She knew…
No… no it wasn't fair…
Wait.
The TARDIS door was opening. How? No one had operated the door controls. They must have been forced.
Mel could barely keep her eyes open, the darkness that wanted to consume her was winning, and she was losing the battle.
Let it go, she heard her inner voice say. Sleep.
With a final effort, Mel rolled onto her back, facing the doorway.
As unconsciousness took a hold, she was sure there were people there.
They moved towards her and as she finally succumbed to complete sensory deprivation, she heard a strident female voice barking out and order.
"Leave the girl. It's the man I want."
Well, It was a better exit than hitting his head!
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Old 30-04-2013, 08:36
Mulett
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Join Date: May 2005
Location: Essex
Posts: 8,406
The story is a bit daft and complicated, but the regeneration scene at the end is OK.
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