Bit of an educated guess, but the Doctor doubted Rory had enough medical training to pull back a Time Lord from his own regeneration. At least Rory II had the sense to stay back, although he could feel the clone hovering just as well as his original could.
With his own clone pinning Rory to the ground, the Doctor couldn't pull him out in time. All he could do was try to shield the human and brace for impact.
The clone Doctor continued to bleed that glowing gold energy until he stiffened on Rory, his eyes unseeing as the regeneration kicked into that final stage. A final, trembling gasp.
The Clone Doctor exploded.
A blast of that gold light splashed outward, nearly knocking the Doctor flat onto his back as he tried to hold onto Rory. The wind hit him next, the Doctor squinting against the light as his Other Self's cells deteriorated so they could form into something...else. Bipedal, he could make out that much. One head (that was good!). He couldn't quite see the face, but from what he could see of the body, the Clone Doctor was still arched back in agony, his mouth a silent O. Another wave of regeneration energy flooded out with a shriek right through the air, sparks swirling and mixing with the ash already drifting down. The Doctor had to shield his eyes as the light grew too bright even for him.
And suddenly it was over.
The Doctor tried blinking the black spots away as the silence settled. Make that relative silence. True silence was the vacuum of space, not a battleground where they were lucky that it was so chaotic that an exploding Doctor didn't bring any more clones running. He supposed they were all busy. Lucky for them! He lowered his hand. The black spots faded. He stared, not quite gaping because Time Lords didn't gape, but coming dangerously close all the same, conventions be damned and okay, he was definitely gaping on second thought.
A woman sat half-slumped on top of Rory, ginger hair hiding her face. That was the first thing the Doctor noticed -- the general gingerness of it all and he couldn't believe his clone's luck. His first regeneration and somehow he hit ginger on his first go! Incredible! It was then that the Clone Doctor groaned and tried to sit up, groping about on Rory for some purchase so she could push her new body into a more or less upright position.
"I - I...wow," the Clone Doctor said intelligently. She blinked, fussed with her bloody shirt, which was now hanging over her like a tent, and then made as if to sweep the hair from her face. She caught sight of her ginger hair and froze. "Is this...?"
The Doctor nodded.
His clone peered at it critically and then suddenly burst into a great big smile, as if she'd won the best lottery in the universe. "Finally!" She turned and hugged the closest person (Rory) and then lunged from him to hug the Doctor before making a go at Rory II before he could think of getting away. She squeezed him, trying to lift her fellow clone off his feet and twirling him around. "I'm ginger, Rory! And squishy, but let's focus on the ginger part, shall we? Rory, your mouth is going to get stuck open like that."
She suddenly let go of Rory II, reaching up to touch her temples. The Doctor could feel the bleed of their shared memories: compared to before, it was only a trickle and he supposed a whole new body even he hadn't had yet probably had something to do with it. Or it could have nothing to do with it and the fact was nothing changed. They still needed to get to the teleporters and he wasn't too keen on staying around while the others could get injured. It wasn't as if the two Rorys could regenerate and get themselves smaller noses for convenience's sake.
Pretend my image here is Ginger!Claudia Black :|
With his own clone pinning Rory to the ground, the Doctor couldn't pull him out in time. All he could do was try to shield the human and brace for impact.
The clone Doctor continued to bleed that glowing gold energy until he stiffened on Rory, his eyes unseeing as the regeneration kicked into that final stage. A final, trembling gasp.
The Clone Doctor exploded.
A blast of that gold light splashed outward, nearly knocking the Doctor flat onto his back as he tried to hold onto Rory. The wind hit him next, the Doctor squinting against the light as his Other Self's cells deteriorated so they could form into something...else. Bipedal, he could make out that much. One head (that was good!). He couldn't quite see the face, but from what he could see of the body, the Clone Doctor was still arched back in agony, his mouth a silent O. Another wave of regeneration energy flooded out with a shriek right through the air, sparks swirling and mixing with the ash already drifting down. The Doctor had to shield his eyes as the light grew too bright even for him.
And suddenly it was over.
The Doctor tried blinking the black spots away as the silence settled. Make that relative silence. True silence was the vacuum of space, not a battleground where they were lucky that it was so chaotic that an exploding Doctor didn't bring any more clones running. He supposed they were all busy. Lucky for them! He lowered his hand. The black spots faded. He stared, not quite gaping because Time Lords didn't gape, but coming dangerously close all the same, conventions be damned and okay, he was definitely gaping on second thought.
"I - I...wow," the Clone Doctor said intelligently. She blinked, fussed with her bloody shirt, which was now hanging over her like a tent, and then made as if to sweep the hair from her face. She caught sight of her ginger hair and froze. "Is this...?"
The Doctor nodded.
His clone peered at it critically and then suddenly burst into a great big smile, as if she'd won the best lottery in the universe. "Finally!" She turned and hugged the closest person (Rory) and then lunged from him to hug the Doctor before making a go at Rory II before he could think of getting away. She squeezed him, trying to lift her fellow clone off his feet and twirling him around. "I'm ginger, Rory! And squishy, but let's focus on the ginger part, shall we? Rory, your mouth is going to get stuck open like that."
She suddenly let go of Rory II, reaching up to touch her temples. The Doctor could feel the bleed of their shared memories: compared to before, it was only a trickle and he supposed a whole new body even he hadn't had yet probably had something to do with it. Or it could have nothing to do with it and the fact was nothing changed. They still needed to get to the teleporters and he wasn't too keen on staying around while the others could get injured. It wasn't as if the two Rorys could regenerate and get themselves smaller noses for convenience's sake.