Chapter II

Arrival

The TARDIS doors swung open with a faint creak. A young-looking man stepped out. He wore a brown tweed jacket and a pair of suspenders with a very quaint-looking shirt underneath, the kind someone's grandfather would wear. He wore trousers that were rolled up at the bottom to make way for a pair of black boots. And on top of this, he was wearing a bow-tie. Why? Because bow-ties were cool.

Following him was a younger-looking Scottish girl in a jacket and jeans, with long, titian hair that went down her back.

'Here we are, Pond! The year is 2015, Avatar 2 has just been released—I've seen it twice, actually, once in 3D and once without, not very good in 2D, they could have possibly done without the bit narrated by Morgan Freeman, but no matter—there's also this great restaurant I know in Brighton, or was it Brixton, that will do fish fingers with custard if you ask nicely, they even gave me crayons and a kid's menu, and I completed the maze in just ten min—'

'Doctor...'

'—yes?'

'Are you sure we're in the UK?'

'Of course I'm sure we're in the UK, I've landed there hundreds of times. Except for those thousands of times I didn't. Trust me, getting to Heathrow Airport in that thing is a nightmare.'

'So we're not in the UK?'

'Well, let's see.' the young-looking man, whose name was not known, but referred to himself as "The Doctor", proceeded to go right down to the floor and lick it.

'Hm. So I can still do that trick.'

'Doctor, why did you just lick the floor?'

'Let's see, there's a faint taste of iron in the air, the floor tastes of sushi, I can also taste a heightened amount of Hello Kitty merchandise...yeah, we're in Japan.'

'Japan? We're on the other side of the world?'

'Well, not literally.'

'Doctor!'

'Well, wait, hang on, I haven't confirmed it yet. The old Gallifreyan tongue might be a bit rusty. You don't know these th—'

The Doctor promptly spotted a large map of Japan at the end of the corridor with a red sign pointing at the Hakone region reading "YOU ARE HERE". 'Ah. Right. Okay.'

'So, we're in Japan? Can't you just back up the TARDIS a few thousand miles?'

'Calm down, Amy. Japan isn't so bad. We can stay for a little while. Besides, the UK isn't that exciting.'

'Well...I...yeah, you're right.'

'Good. I like being right.'

'Let me get my bearings...where exactly are we?'

'According to that map, Hakone, a delightful little town in the Ashigarashimo District in the Kanagawa Prefecture. We appear to be underground.'

'There's underground tunnels in Japan now?'

'A lot can happen in five years, Amy. Especially in Japan. Besides, it's probably just a "Staff Only" area of some bullet train station. I'm sure we'll find our way out. What are they going to do, shoot us?'

With that, the sound of running footsteps came around the corner, and a lot of men holding guns pointed them at the two, who quickly raised their arms.

'Me and my big mouth.'

'Wait...maybe I can negotiate. I think I know a little bit of Japanese.'

'No, Pond, don't.'

In a very over-exaggerated and hammy fashion, Amy suddenly cried out in Japanese.

'Konnichiwa! Um...Sayonara? Arigato?'

'Why is she speaking English?'

'What? I wasn't—'

'The TARDIS translates whatever you say. That means backwards and forwards. Just speak normally!'

'What business do you have here?' asked one of the troops.

'Erm, yes, we're missing our train, it's supposed to leave in one minute,' The Doctor improvised.

The Doctor noticed that the troops did not look like normal Japanese soldiers, who dressed in khaki. Rather, they were wearing a beige uniform with scarlet shoulder-pads and red berets. Had there been a change in uniform design in the time between 2010 and 2015?

'Train?' asked one of the men. 'There are no trains here.'

'Really? Oh, well, we're very, very lost. We're just a pair of tourists, is all.'

'You sure speak good Japanese for a pair of tourists.'

'Oh, well, you know. We've been practising.'

'That's besides the point!' shouted one of the troops, who was obviously the young upstart, pointing the gun right at The Doctor's face. 'We noticed a disturbance in this corridor. You had us all worried! You'd better give a good reason for being here before I execute you!'

'That's a Steyr MPi 69, isn't it?'

'Why does it even matter?'

'Just wondering.'

'Okay, wiseguy. Don't play dumb with me. What's your name?'

'Oh, er. The Doctor. Just "The Doctor".'

'Doctor who?'

'Oh, no, no. That's a popular misconception.'

He pointed his gun at Amy. 'And you, kid?'

'Kid?' Amy said. 'You look younger than me! Your hat's not even on properly. Is that gun even loaded? How old are you?'

'Er, 19, ma'am.'

'I'm 21. Don't call me "kid", kid.'

'Yes, ma'am.' The soldier paused, then narrowed his eyes. 'If you don't mind me asking, are you related to one of the pilots?'

'Pilots?'

'It's just that you have red hair, so I thought you might be related...I mean, she's in Germany at the moment, so I thought it was a little off that you...'

'All right, that's enough,' the Doctor said. 'Where exactly are we?'

'That's not for you to know, Mr. No-name.'

'That's DOCTOR No-name to you, Sonny Jim. So, we're obviously intruding. We'll just be on our way, then.'

'Uh, can't let you do that sir.'

'What?'

'It's the rules. We could take you to a superior.'

'That would be nice,' the Doctor said. The men turned and the Doctor and Amy followed.

'So...is this a military base?'

'Sorry sir, can't tell you anything.'

'Hmph. I hate it when I can't know things. I like knowing things.'

'Don't shoot the messenger, sir.' The soldier turned. 'You can put your hands down, by the way.'

'Oh, thank God,' Amy said. 'My arms fell asleep.'

'Sorry about that.'

The men went round the corner, past the large Japan map, and bundled on to an elevator. The Doctor and Amy followed eagerly.

The elevator rose for what felt like an era. The only sound was that of the clicking of the floor-marker as it gradually went up and up to whichever floor this 'superior' was on. Finally, the bell on the elevator went 'ding', and the soldiers pushed The Doctor and Amy out of the elevator.

'Ow, hey, keep your hands to yourself,' Amy said.

'So, who's this "superior" we're talking to, then?' The Doctor asked, only to turn and see a woman, slightly shorter than him, with distinctly purplish-black hair looking up at him. Her face was filled with contempt. The Doctor, ever the one to blissfully ignore things like this, thrust out a hand with a smile. 'Hello, I'm the Doctor.'

She didn't grip his hand.

'What are you doing here?'

'Well, it's a funny story, really, see, I was supposed to go to the United Kingdom, but I ended up here instead.'

'The United Kingdom? You realise that place has been mostly underwater ever since 2000, right?'

'What?'

'How the hell did you even confuse Japan with Great Britain?'

'Never mind that,' The Doctor said. 'Underwater? Underwater how?'

'You don't remember? How do you not remember? Don't play the "amnesia" card with me, pal.'

'Remember what?'

She grabbed him by the bow tie. 'You remember, don't you? The Second Impact.'

'Ma'am...I'm afraid I don't understand. Honestly. I don't. But I'd like an explanation, please.'

'Come with me,' the woman said, and the Doctor followed. Amy was left with the soldiers. She suddenly became aware that almost everyone was staring at her, except a couple of men who just seemed to be gazing down blindly, barely even noticing she was there. She sighed loudly.

Something tells me we're not getting out of here any time soon, she thought to herself...

All characters, settings, and boxes of a blue time-travelling nature are owned by Studio GAINAX and the British Broadcasting Corporation, and other affiliates. I own none of these things. Please don't sue me. I don't like being sued.