Chapter 11: when the Doctor meets the Doctor

David Tennant was alone in his kitchen, cooking scrambled eggs, when someone rang his doorbell. He went to open it, and gasped with surprise. Indeed, right in front of him, he saw… himself! Well, in fact someone who looked like him as a twin. He was accompanied by a young girl with brown hair.

"Hello!" the man said. "I'm the Doctor."

"No, you're not." the actor answered.

"What do you mean I'm not?"

He seemed completely lost by this answer, and looked at the girl.

"Put yourself in his shoes, Doctor. He has been you for over four years. He met his wife during the shooting of an episode, because she was playing your daughter, and his wife's father has been your fifth incarnation. To him, you were just fiction, and then you suddenly turn up and knock at his door."

"Well this is as weird for me as it is for him, and that's not a reason why I should deny his existence!"

"How do you know that about me?" Tennant asked the girl.

"Oh!" She explained. "I'm a huge fan, so thank you Wikipedia! I'm Enaya, by the way. And I must say if the situation wasn't so bad, I'd be more than glad to meet you. But things being what they are, I'm just relieved we found you first. Can we come in?"

And without waiting for permission, she entered the house, followed by the man.

"Doc, would you check the house?" She asked.

"No!" Tennant interrupted. "No, no, no, no. I don't allow you to visit my home, your breaking in a private property."

They both turned to him and looked at him as if he was completely dull. Then, the Doctor, if he really had to call him that way, took out of his pocket…

"Is that a sonic screwdriver?" The actor asked.

"The one, the only, the true one!" the Doctor proudly answered.

Tennant sighed and, resigned, leaned on the kitchen sink, while the Doctor was scanning the house with his screwdriver. The girl was looking at the alien with great attention.

"Anything?" She asked when he was done.

"We're not alone." he answered. "There is something in that kitchen."

They both turned to the actor, and opened wide eyes. The girl turned a little paler.

"Sir, would you get away from this sink, please?" She asked him slowly.

"There's absolutely nothing in this sink." he replied with the smile of someone who spotted a joke.

But this smile quickly faded away when he felt something on his back.

"Don't turn your back!" she recommended.

"Okay…" he said. "What's behind me?"

"Do you have a mirror?"

"Bathroom, second door in the left."

"Fine. Doctor, stay with him." she ordered.

She left the place and quickly came back with a mirror.

"Right," she said, "I'm gonna put it in front of you so that you can see it. Do not panic, and do exactly what I say. Understand?"

"Yeah."

She lifted the mirror, and what's left of color on the actor's face went away. Behind him, was standing a snake entirely made of water.

"Is it dangerous?" He asked with a calm voice that was trying to hide an obvious panic.

"If it surrounds you, it can drown you." she answered very simply.

"That's perfect."

"Don't do any sudden movement. Get away from the sink, and walk slowly toward me. Don't look behind you. If he knows that you see him, he will attack."

The actor listened to the girl's advices, until he passed her.

"It's all right." she said. "You can stop, know."

He sighed, relieved, and turned to face the snake, which tried to attack. The girl interfered, and caught it with her left hand. The creature turned to ice, and she destroyed it with the edge of her hand.

"I don't suppose you could have done it BEFORE." the actor said.

"Sorry sir. Not safe for you."

She turned to the Doctor.

"Apparently they've beat us, here." she said.

"Can you explain me what's going on, here?" Tennant asked.

"How did they find him before we did?" The Doctor asked.

"They must have recognized you in Camelot. They understood we knew and decided to act. We're running out of time to find the others."

"You can't." suddenly said a voice behind them.

They turned to the voice. A young man with a blue cape had suddenly turned up out of the blue. Enaya tensed when she saw him.

"Jake." she said sharply.

"Give up." he said.

"My house isn't a public place!" Tennant yelled.

None of the two seemed to notice him.

"Give up." Jake said again. "Do it for me."

"For you?" She replied. "You're nothing for me. You're not My Jake anymore, My Jake is dead. You're nothing but a puppet."

"My master wants to offer you peace."

"Well he should have thought of it before he took my friends, or before he attacked the Manor to destroy it. I know he wants me to lose control, so that he could prove that I'm dangerous and kill me in good conscience. But it won't happen. I'll bring him down, and I'll do it in respect of the Ancient Laws."

"Don't give away his offer."

"I won't give up. Never."

"He accepts to free your friends if you give him the Doctor."

She laughed sharply.

"I'm not gonna betray the only one who can help me. You will tell your master I will fight him as long as I can breathe. Now, go away. You're not welcome here. And that's an order."

He bowed to her, turned his back, and to the great surprise for Tennant, crossed the wall and disappeared. The actor sat on a chair and sighed again. Enaya, as for her, stood a long time staring at the place Jake was a few seconds ago. She jumped when the Doctor took her hand.

"Are you okay?" He asked.

She just nodded and didn't say anything.

"Can you please tell me what's going on?" Tennant asked again.

They both turned to him, and sat on the chairs in front of him.

"Okay." Enaya said. "What do you want to know?"

"Fine. Let's say I'm ready to accept that you're the Doctor and his new companion. But who is the other guy, this… Jake?"

"Jake is the messenger and henchman of someone called the Puppeteer. The leader of those who attacked you."

"And who are they?"

"Atlantes."

"Is that a kind of sect?"

"No, they're proper Atlantes."

"Stop kidding me. Atlantis doesn't exist; it's nothing but a myth."

"According to you, five minutes ago, I didn't exist either." the Doctor reacted.

The actor had a short silence.

"Okay. Let's admit he is the Atlantes king. Why is he after you?"

"Many years ago, I fell in love with his sister, and she fell in love with me." he explained coldly. "But she was promised to a goddess. She fell pregnant, I've been chased away, the child has been left to death, and she abdicated. The goddess didn't like that, so she destroyed the planet, and he thinks it's my fault."

"So you're basically saying that Atlantes descend from aliens."

"No." Enaya retorted. "They are aliens. They never mixed up with human population. Or very rarely."

"And why are they after me?"

"The Atlantes have an underwater city called Ys." she explained. "They use it as a prison. We have to get Ys back, and you're a part of the solution."

"What about Camelot?"

"Ys was given to the Atlantes by King Arthur and Guinevere, with Merlin as a witness. In order to get Ys back, their descendants must be reunited and present a champion. So we went to Camelot to see Merlin, and that's how we found you."

"Excuse me?"

"You're descending from him."

Tennant laughed.

"It's not a joke." she explained. "We have a DNA tracker in the Tardis, and Merlin's blood took us to you."

He became serious again.

"So I represent a threat for them, right?" He said.

"Yes indeed. And they're gonna strike back. I'm gonna put your house under protection, but if you really want to keep your family safe, you have to come with us."

He took a moment to digest the information in silence, and then looked at her straight in the eyes.

"When do we have to go?" He asked gravely.

She looked at the Doctor, and then answered:

"Now."

"Right now?" He repeated.

"Call you wife." she said. "Explain her."

"Isn't it risky?"

"Dial 940 before you compose the phone number. It will unclench a jammer. If anyone else tries to listen to your conversation, they won't understand anything."

"My phone doesn't have a jammer."

"Trust me."

He stared at her a moment, then grabbed his phone and dialed the number. Enaya and the Doctor left the place to give him some privacy. Meanwhile, the girl called William at the Manor to give several order. The actor joined them a few minutes later, in the front door.

"Can you promise me that my family will be safe?" He asked

"William is my best agent. He's the one I've send to protect them. They'll be fine."

"All right, then. Let's not waste time."

And the three of them went out to the Tardis.