Chapter 9: Aliens?
"What are you talking about?" Regina asks in shock.
Crystal swallows and looks at the man with concern. He gives her another nod to allow her to reveal what she knew.
"He's not human," she says bluntly.
"What?" Emma says.
"How can you tell?" David asks.
Crystal hesitates, not wanting to reveal her hidden abilities to the strangers… even if this guy was an alien himself and could have powers of his own. However, the idea of explaining magic to them is out of the question considering they are technically people from the Land Without Magic.
Before she can answer, the Doctor takes out his screwdriver and scans Crystal up and down. She flinches at first but when it doesn't do anything, she just lets it happen. However, everyone else is not as accepting.
Emma's hand is on her gun again.
"What is that thing?" she demands.
"It's a sonic screwdriver," the Doctor replies checking the data his device had gathered. "Lovely little device. Obviously does more than an average screwdriver, but always good to have in a pinch."
"Definitely an alien," Crystal mutters sarcastically.
"Interesting, it's similar patterns to the shorter gent over here," Eleven mutters to himself.
"Watch it Bow Tie," Leroy growls, he keeps his pickaxe on his shoulder to make the point.
"Bow ties are cool," the Time Lord says bluntly. He adjusts his screwdriver further and continues to wander around like a scientist would, looking for readings of some kind.
"Can you maybe curb the… whirring or whatever and stand still to tell us where the hell you came from?" Regina asks.
"Can't exactly help it, Love, when in any situation with unknown variables, I must do a full evaluation. How is this technology making the area completely camouflaged?"
"Uh, Doctor…" Amy mutters. "Maybe you should do what the woman says, or maybe we should…"
Both Ponds begin to back away towards the barrier.
"Now, now Amelia, we've encountered something rather big here, it would be a shame not to investigate."
"And how is this big? It's a town," Rory points out.
"A town that we did not know existed until you discovered it."
"By accident."
"Some of the greatest advancements in history were accidents."
"Don't give me a history lecture Doctor."
"Boys!" Amy snaps.
Those from Storybrooke watch the interactions with a wariness that any second, this… claimed alien could figure out their secret. The other question is, how did they manage to get through the barrier like that?
Regina and Crystal walk back towards the others and gather to talk in lower tones. The shock of being in the presence of an extraterrestrial has yet to sink in.
"Are you sure he's…" Rumple begins.
Crystal just nods. "100%. My vision never lies."
"What about the other two?"
"Human. Gray forms, red hearts, it's how most humans from the outside world appear to me."
"So, what makes Bow Tie Doctor… alien?" Emma asks.
"He has two hearts, and his energy is… off."
"How off?" Snow asks.
"Off enough that I know he's not lying. He has to be an alien,"
"You're sure?" David asks.
"Why would I make something like that up?"
"The problem is, he's on to us too," Leroy grunts. "He says my magnetic or genetic makeup or whatever is wrong and… knowing where we all came from…"
"But why would we be that different?" Belle asks. "I mean we are human."
"With Dad, I'd put that up for debate."
Rumple glares at his daughter but remains focused.
"I just don't get why I'm supposedly so different," Leroy questions.
"Well, dwarves are also born from eggs…" Belle adds. "Meaning you don't exactly come into the world in the conventional way…"
"It's probably the magic he's detecting," Rumple says a matter-of-factly.
"Can science even detect magic?"
"It might be seen as a different source of energy. Science and magic do not mix well," the Dark One continues.
"Are we even sure that bloody thing is scientific?" Killian asks.
"It's too complex for any human to have," Emma confirms. "Who's ever heard of a sonic screwdriver?"
"My point exactly," Crystal says. "And the fact that the three of them just appear from out of nowhere and are able to come through the barrier puts this on a new level we haven't seen before."
"But aliens…?" Emma says skeptically. "Seriously, how can they even exist?"
"Emma… none of us should technically exist but we do" Regina retorts. "We're supposed to be imaginary, made up from books and movies. Magic to this world are card and coin tricks. And considering what we've faced in the past, this should not be a shock to any of us. None of this should be out of our realm of possibility and yet here we are..."
They go quiet. No one could disagree with the former Evil Queen's words. Why do they act so shocked by new encounters? How are they not bored by it? While aliens were a new entity that they haven't seen before, they could handle it because it seemed like this Doctor Alien didn't want to invade or hurt them in any way.
"Regina's right, we were due for aliens at some point," Crystal smirks.
Everyone rolls their eyes.
"So, who are the humans then? Are they, his…abduction victims… abductees?" Snow asks.
"I don't think so," Killian replies, glancing over at the redhead and her blonde husband. "They don't afraid and look like they trust him. I suspect they might be his crew."
"For his UFO," Emma moans. Her head is spinning, and she leans on her husband for extra support.
"Perhaps it gets lonely exploring the stars," the pirate shrugs.
"Certainly does," a voice comes from behind, scaring all of them.
They all turn to see the Doctor standing there as if he was part of the conversation the whole time.
"How… how long were you listening?" David asks.
"Not long… but long enough for me to learn that you should all be imaginary, and you believe in magic. Also, it seems that you've encountered much stranger things than the Ponds and I."
"So, you basically heard everything," Emma glares at him.
Those from Storybrooke begin panicking, afraid that they've unintentionally revealed themselves and their secrets to the alien.
"Did anyone ever teach you not to listen to other people's conversations?" Regina snaps, making her fear.
"No, and it can't be helped because Gallifreyan Time Lords develop rather keen hearing. When you encounter what I have, you learn to keep those ears open. Fortunately for me, this time around they're less conspicuous."
Everyone looks at him in confusion.
"So why should none of you exist? Why would you believe in magic? Is this town an asylum of some kind?"
"Watch it Big Nose!" Leroy warns.
The Doctor then pokes David to ensure that they're not holograms first. "You all seem real to me… Let me ask you, what year do you believe it is?"
"What in God's name does that have to do with anything?" Regina snaps.
"I want to make sure we didn't travel to another planet where the citizen's minds are still stuck in medieval times, while the rest of society advances as normal." He pauses and then opens his mouth to taste the air again. "Maybe not planet, it's still Earth… wormholes… Have any of you encountered a wormhole or rather a big shiny magical doorway recently?"
Emma glares at him while trying to follow his train of thought. This guy just gets nuttier and kookier the longer he's here, and whether intentional or not, he's openly insulting them. Everyone is ready to strangle him at this point or throw him back over the town line. What's shocking is he did accurately describe the portals they use to travel from realm to realm, but it sure as hell wasn't a portal that brought them here all those years ago.
However, Crystal steps forward to cut the angry tension building between the two parties. "We know it's 2019. We know what cell phones are…" She removes her own from her pocket to make the point. "And we know about the Internet and as you can probably tell, we all know how to drive cars. It's safe to say that your little theory is dead upon arrival."
The Doctor looks at her rather surprised but then smiles.
"Then why shouldn't you exist then? And why would you talk about magic? Is that what you believe hides your little town?"
"We don't believe…" Crystal says. "We know."
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