Spirits of the Jungle (comic story)

 was a comic story published in Doctor Who Magazine.

Part one: Spirits of the Jungle
The Doctor and Clara are among a group of people riding a spacecraft entering the mesosphere of Unnamed BX-4. An unseen enemy fires at the vessel, and the Doctor estimates that they will crash in a mere two minutes.

Clara reflects on how the Doctor talked her into the experience; at Coal Hill School, though the other specifics are not mentioned. Even earlier, the Doctor had a conversation with Mr Hitch, who knows of a sentient super-weapon called the Hadax Ura that went awry. Hitch is the only one who knows where the weapon is, and he has elected to combine his muscle and Blueboy's piloting skills to make a recovery team. Hitch asks the Doctor to join the team, using his technical expertise to its advantage...

Back in the present day, the recovery team uses jet packs to reach the planet. The ship's crash conveniently means that the group has been given up for dead, despite actually being alive. Supposedly, the attack came from the Hadax Ura, which the group plans on approaching.

The Doctor and the rest of the team encounter hostile Pterosaurs, which the team narrowly escapes. Clara, however, is nowhere to be seen, and she has presumably dropped into the jungle canopy. She could be anywhere...

Clara lands in a lake, and is unsurprisingly lost in the jungle and covered in mud. The Doctor insists on finding her, and despite Gela's objection, Hitch agrees to satisfy the Time Lord. During the search, Hitch explains that the Hydrax Ura was developed by the Hub Alliance to end its war against the Axis Worlds, before escaping from its laboratory. Gela, meanwhile, feels like the jungle is somehow watching them, and indeed, the group is seen through a high-tech view-screen...

The group encounters a hostile group of primitive Anthropoids. The species is usually nonthreatening, so the Doctor speculates that the Hadax Ura cybernetically augmented them to find the group - which they have succeeded in doing. And after the Anthropoids are knocked out, a bigger creature arrives on the scene. Clara, meanwhile, hears a noise in the forest. The source of the sound is revealed to be... Danny Pink!

Part two: From Beyond the Grave
The Doctor recognises more cybernetic implants on the creature. He throws his sonic screwdriver into its mouth, knocking it out with a "sonic brainstorm". Getting the device back proves to be unpleasant...

Clara disbelieves Danny's identity, since she knows he is dead. She instead assumes the man to be a clone, shapeshifter or robot. Danny recalls a memory with Clara; however, when she asks him about his favorite primary school teacher, he is unable to remember. Clara claims that nobody forgets his favorite primary school teacher; in reality, he doesn't know because she doesn't. Clara realises that this copy of Danny was made from her memories. He admits that this true; he took on Danny's form so Clara would trust him. Clara is not happy about this...

No-one other than the Doctor wishes to find Clara; if they do not find the weapon it will keep trying to kill them. The Doctor, however, insists on reaching his friend without them. He encounters another creature, and this time the sonic screwdriver proves useless.

The rest of the group has gotten lost. Contacting Blueboy to get the weapon's location, Wiremu accidentally reveals themselves to the Hadax Ura. A group of hostile creatures immediately arrives...

The Doctor manages to escape the creature, finally finding Clara. The Danny duplicate explains that it is an organic avatar created for the group's assistance - an avatar for the jungle. It explains that the entire jungle is a computer: the rivers are data streams and the trees are information servers. As the Doctor explains, "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from nature!" The Hadax Ura is enslaving the creatures of the jungle, turning them into "tools of war"; the Danny duplicate urges the Doctor to destroy or move the weapon. Unfortunately, though, the three are standing on a cliff overlooking the Hadax Ura, and there is no clear path to it.

The rest of the group encounters a partially mechanic creature, this one claiming to be the Hadax Ura itself. It plans on converting the group into soldiers. The Doctor arrives at that instant, explaining that the weapon wants to end war by wiping out both sides. Using the sonic screwdriver, the Doctor causes the Hadax Ura to explode. However, its servants grab Clara... and convert her into a mostly technological being loyal to the Hadax Ura...

Part three: A Flight to the Death
to be added

Characters

 * Twelfth Doctor
 * Clara Oswald
 * Mr Hitch
 * Blueboy
 * Gela
 * Mr Wiremu
 * Organic avatar (in the forms of Danny Pink and Clara Oswald)
 * Hadax Ura

Continuity

 * Clara says that "Danny Pink is dead." (TV: Dark Water)
 * Clara again bids an emotional goodbye to an apparition of Danny. (TV: Last Christmas)