Air. He needs air. He can't breathe! He's in space with the Doctor, Ryan, Yasmin, and Graham. No oxygen around. Just stars and space and no oxygen and no gravity and nothing else that Arthur can do as he's floating and floating...
He gasped, clutching his chest, slowly managing to open his eyes. Everything surrounds him just shaking and bumping and noisy. He steps out from what appears to be a... stand pod? Yeah. A stand pod. The boy slowly walks to arguments nearby.
"How can it be there?" The race-cloth man argued.
"Does it even have a name?" The Doctor asked.
"Only a symbol. Or a warning. Closest word is... Desolation," he reported, stands up. "Right. I can do this. I am not going to be beaten. Move!" He ordered, checking his monitors. "I've still got a few tricks up my sleeve."
"Manual shield activation? Wow, this thing should be on Antiques Roadshow."
"Right, blast shields up. Don't know how long they'll last for, though."
"Brilliant. About to crash land on Desolation. Real grounds for optimism." Then the Doctor looks up at Yasmin before darting her eyes at Arthur. "Sunny!" She approaches him. "Are you okay? Is your lungs fine? Are you hurt? Can you breathe?"
"I, uh, okay," the blonde shrugged, but surprised a bit with those bombard's questions.
"Do you not understand anything?" The man addressed the Doctor as he checks his engines. "I can't even get us there, because of the fuel... because of the fuel I've wasted scooping you up!"
"I'm on a spaceship," Yasmin muttered, seeming shocked. "Okay."
The Doctor holds Arthur's arm. "I can get us into the atmosphere if we jettison the rear section."
"Listen to me. Nobody is jettisoning anything. This is the Cerebos, all right? She's the envy of millions."
"Really?"
"Yes, people have written songs about her."
"They'll be writing operas about our pointless deaths if we don't take drastic action right now."
"We're about to die?" Yasmin looks around.
"Oh, sorry, Yaz, I forgot you were there. All going to be fine," she assured her before alluding to the man. "Five systems down, 6 minutes left on life support. Are we doing this or what? Because I want Sunny to survive this place."
He doesn't say anything, thinking. "Rekk. Let's do it. Last stage, anyway." He gets a couple of packs from the rear compartment, throwing those to three of them. "Catch! And you," he ordered, takes one from himself.
"What's actually happening?" Yasmin demanded as he closed the bulkhead door.
"No need to panic," the Doctor calmed her. "Yaz, Sunny, we're just going to blow the back off this spaceship."
"What?" Yasmin and Arthur frown.
"Jettisoning."
"Do it," the man told them as the Doctor pulled out a cylinder and the spaceship started shaking. From the window, Arthur can see half of the shop separates.
"Whoa," he muttered, looking around to see the Doctor and that man working on the engines.
"All systems offline! We're not going to make it!" The race-cloth man muttered.
"Extra hand here!" The Doctor gestures to Yasmin for help. She takes over from the Doctor.
"Come on."
"You can be honest with me. Are we going to die?" Yasmin asked.
"One day, yes. Comes to us all. But not right now, not if I've got anything to do with it," the Doctor replied, looking at Arthur briefly, before focusing back on touching the screen's monitor. "This ship is old school. I'm good at old school." She kneels down. "Manual stabilisers. Pull these two levers up. They'll pull down and to the left. Pull them up and to the right as strong as you can."
Arthur nods and Yasmin says, "Got it."
"That descent pattern won't work," the Doctor pointed out at the man who's controlling the ship.
"We're about to die and you're still having a go? You think you can do better?"
"Yes," she determined, taking the pilot's seat.
"Doctor, I don't think Yasmin and I can hold these stabiliser handles much longer," Arthur reported.
The woman nods, looking at the race-cloth man. "Let go. And by the way, level three shield hazing."
"What, seriously?" He muttered. Cannot hold it any longer, Yasmin and Arthur approach them, holding at the seats. "Drive power failure. We're heading into the... the gravity belt."
They're entering the planet, passing the atmosphere and see nothing but yellow at the surface. Arthur gulped, and started to feel that they would crash down.
His eyes wide when noticing Graham, Ryan, and a woman with similar clothes like the man getting closer. "Doctor!" He shouted.
"Brace!" She responded, pulling up so the impact won't hit them. Surely, the ship slowly landed with violence and a lot of shaking.
Eventually, the ship stops moving. The Doctor soon holds Arthur closer as they all go outside and help Graham and Ryan.
"Doctor! Arthur!" Ryan called.
"Sorry about the mess," the Doctor apologized.
"Yaz, you're alive!"
"We thought you were dead," Graham admitted.
"We thought you were dead," Yasmin responded.
"Right, quick update. I made a terrible mistake. We shouldn't be here. I'm going to fix it and get you guys home, I promise. Soon as I figure out where we are," the Doctor asserted.
"How are you going to do that?" Graham wondered.
"Not sure. Treating it as a chance to surprise myself. Oh, by the way, welcome to what I presume is your first alien planet. Don't touch anything. Come on, let's try this way."
She leads them in the front. Then, suddenly, a loud sound, seems like a klaxon one, blaring.
"What's that?" Arthur asked.
"Here we go," the woman, Angstrom, muttered happily, walking on a different route.
"What you mean, here we go? Here we go where? To what?" The Doctor wondered as the five of them follow Agstrom and the man, Epzo.
"Yeah, where are we actually going?" Ryan also joins in.
"Come on," she simply said.
"Oh, I forgot I put stuff in these pockets," the Doctor mumbled beside Arthur.
"All this sand is getting in my eyes something rotten," Graham uttered.
The Doctor pulls out sunglasses. "Want to borrow my shades?"
"Oh, ta," Graham thanked and took it.
"Like an old pair of mine. I say mine. Can't remember who I borrowed them off now. It was either Audrey Hepburn or Pythagoras."
"Eh? Pythagoras never wore shades."
"You obviously never saw him with a hangover."
Arthur takes out a glass of water from his backpack and drinks it. "Want some?" The boy offered. Of course, since the weather is super hot, they all need water and gladly take his offer.
Soon, they can see a white tent has been put up in the middle of the desert.
"Do you two know what that is?" The Doctor asked.
"It's a tent," Epzo replied and moved forward.
"Obviously, it's a tent. I meant... Oh, never mind. Come on, no dawdling." They follow Epzo and Angstrom and stop in front of the tent. "Be careful. I still don't know what's going on. It could be dangerous. Probably dangerous."
"Can I ask, if we are on an alien planet, with aliens, how can we understand them?" Graham wondered. "Ain't they talking alien?"
"Let's have a look." She pulls down the back of Graham's collar. Arthur notices a pink light coming from his back neck. "Yeah, medipods have put implants into each of you. Standard procedure. Checks for a universal translator, implants one if you don't have one."
"Eh? Well, can people and things stop putting stuff inside me without my permission!" Graham protested as Yasmin and Ryan check their back neck.
"If I had my Tardis, you wouldn't need them. Anyway, shall we?"
▪︎▪︎▪︎
Arthur looks around with wanderous. "Awesome," he admitted, looking at a man with wealthy clothes that reminds him of those royals from the Aladdin movie.
"This is lavish, for a tent," the Doctor agreed. I'm the Doctor, these are my new best friends, Ryan, Graham and Yaz. And this sweet boy beside me is Arthur. Now," the Doctor puts her hand through the seated figure and both he and the tent flicker. "Oh. See? Hologram. Thought it might be. Good one, though. I love a good hologram. I was a hologram once, for 3 weeks. The gossip I picked up. What are you, projection reality or AI interface? Cos if you're an interface," She bends down and up, "those are excellent nose hairs."
"Who are these people?" The wealthy man asked.
"Bonuses," Angstrom responded.
"No."
Epzo frowns. "What?"
"I told you, bonuses and snaketraps are over."
"They were hanging in the starfield when we exited hyper. Are you saying we scooped them for nothing?"
"Yes."
"I sacrificed my ship!"
"Yeah, sorry," the Doctor consoled. "Some of this is my fault. Hi. We were loads of solar systems away, I was trying to find my own ship, I got a fix on it here... and then it all went quite badly wrong, actually. These three are being very good not going on about it," she glances at Epzo and Angstrom. "Very grateful you came along." Then, she looks back at the wealthy man. "Can I ask, what is actually going on here? Cos I'm confused." She promptly looks at Yasmin, Graham, Arthur, and Ryan. "Are you confused?"
"Pretty confused," Yasmin admitted.
"Proper confused," Ryan shared.
Graham takes off the sunglasses. "I'm way beyond confused."
"You're intruding on the final stage of the last ever Rally of the Twelve Galaxies," the wealthy man denoted.
"Like a race one... but in space?" Arthur guessed.
"We're the finalists," Angstrom confirmed.
"Four thousand entered, two are left. Only one will claim the prize," the wealthy man added.
"What's the prize?" Ryan asked.
"For the final ever race, 3.2 trillion krin."
The Doctor looks confused. "3.2 trillion what?"
"Krin," Arthur replied, also confused.
"How much is a krin?"
"200 kavlons," Angstrom noted.
"90 forvalars," Epzo added.
"No," the Doctor shook his head, not getting it.
"4,000 trynties," Angstrom imparted.
"Well, in old money," Epzo commented.
"Bit behind on my exchange rates," the Doctor fretted.
"Enough to provide a lifetime of comfort in a safe world for the winning pilot and their entire clan," the wealthy man denoted.
"Are we eligible too?" Ryan inquired.
"No," Angstrom and Epzo disagreed.
"You're irrelevant," Epzo replied, looking at the wealthy man. "Get on with it. Tell us the task."
"The final challenge is to cross the terrain, survive the planet, make your way to the other side of the mountains, and the first one to get to the site marked as the Ghost Monument will be crowned the winner and transported off this planet. The loser... will not."
"You can't leave one of us here," Angstrom argued. "The ships are out of fuel."
"Don't tell me what I can and cannot do with my own race," he warned her. "You knew the risks when you joined. Biggest ever prize," he spreads his hands wide, "biggest ever risk."
"Oi, hang on," Graham cut in, "what about us?"
"Shut up. You're not part of this," Epzo shushed.
"'Scuse me, we are human beings. Show a bit of solidarity."
"I'm Muxteran. She's Albarian."
"Never even heard of Moomanbeans," Angstrom acknowledged.
"Beings. Human beings," Ryan corrected. "Earth?
"Nope," Epzo shrugged.
"Pretty cruel race, leaving the loser stranded," the Doctor leered.
"The rally is a test of survival. How far will we go? How will we react when challenged? It's the ultimate test," the wealthy man bragged.
"Interesting use of the word we, seeing as though you're not here." She waves her Sheffield sonic over Ilin. "Projected in from a very long way away."
"I started the rally. I competed and I won, and now I'm going to end it. No sabotage, no injuries and no killing each other."
"Shame," Epzo mumbled, making Arthur walk away from him, scared of what he implies.
"Instant disqualification applies. Now, take your meds, don't travel at night, and don't drink the water. In fact, don't even touch the water. This entire planet has been made cruel."
"How cruel?" Arthur shuddered.
He ignores Arthur's question. "This stage must be completed before one full solar rotation. You have one single piece of assistance. Transport, provided by the water. Get across the water, through the ruins, and the site of Ghost Monument is on the other side of the mist swamps."
"Mist what?" Yasmin questioned.
"Your route trackers are over there. Good luck."
"I know you prefer to ignore me, but what is it, this Ghost Monument?" The Doctor appealed.
"The site was named by the ancient settlers. It appears in exactly the same place every thousand rotations," the wealthy man informed.
"I've got my tracker, I'm good to go," Angstrom noted.
"See you for the prize, Ilin. I'll finally get to light my Althusian cigar," Epzo shows up. "Saving it for the win."
With Epzo and Angstrom leaving, the Doctor asks again, "What does it look like, this monument?"
"What does it matter?" Ilin muttered, walking past the Doctor.
"Look at us. Five people who barely know each other, stranded on a planet called Desolation. No route trackers, no way off, and judging by what you've just told us, very little hope of survival. I need all the information I can get. Including, but not limited to, what this Ghost Monument actually looks like when it appears."
Ilin calls up a hologram of an old blue police box that feels... home. But that doesn't make any sense at all. Arthur never saw that blue box before in his life. Maybe he's just imagining it.
"That's an old police box," Graham pointed out.
"Yeah, like the one on Surrey Street. Only the one in town's green," Yasmin mentioned. "This doesn't make any sense."
"Makes sense to me," the Doctor muttered, looking so relieved. "Oh, thank you. Thank you so much. That'll do."
"Well, I'm sorry I can't be of any more help," Ilin admitted.
"I don't think you are."
"You're right."
With that, Ilin and his tent vanish.
"Bye, then. He was a bit full of himself," the Doctor admitted.
"I've got a couple of questions," Yasmin shared.
"A couple? I've got a book full," Graham added, puts back the sunglasses. "But shouldn't we keep up with those two before they get too far away?"
"Yes. Now, I know this is a bit of a shock," the Doctor began.
"Well, you could say that. I mean, we have been dumped in space, we got spaceships crashing all around us and now we are marooned on a planet that everyone else is racing to get away from."
"All right, anyone can focus on the negatives."
"Well, what are the positives?"
"What he called the Ghost Monument, that's my ship. It's here."
"The blue box?" Arthur asked, curious as ever.
"Didn't look all that," Ryan commented.
"It's very all that, thank you very much," the Doctor defended. "Don't you see? I got it mostly right. I tracked my Tardis here, but the planet had fallen out of orbit. We landed where the planet should've been. It looks like the engines are stuck in a loop, phasing in and out of time and space. If we get to it when it phases in, I should be able to stabilize it. Then I can get you back home."
"Definitely? If we get there, you can get us off this planet alive?" Yasmin cajoled.
"Yaz, I promise, I will keep you alive and I will get you back home. I'm really good in a tight spot. At least, I have been historically. I'm sure I still am. If we stick together, if you trust me, we can get out of this. Right, let's get a shift on."
▪︎▪︎▪︎
Arthur doesn't know how much time passes after that. He knows they're walking for a long time. Evidence by his legs that slowly hurts each time he moves it. The Doctor sometimes offered to carry him, but the blonde boy always declined. He might not know much about the Doctor and why she cares so much for him, but he won't bother the woman. Right now, finding her spaceship is what she should be concerned about.
Eventually, they spot a boat sitting high in the water, with a curved canopy keeping the sun off most of the deck.
"I said stay away from the boat," Epzo warned, aiming his gun at Angstrom.
"You don't get this to yourself," Angstrom argued.
"This blaster says I do."
"Put the blaster down," the Doctor interjected. "We all know you're not going to use it. No injuring, no killing, no sabotage, isn't that what whatsisface said?"
"Yeah, well, maybe I don't play by the rules."
"Did you practise those lines in the mirror?" She holds up her little finger. "See this?" The Doctor touches his neck, causing Epzo's paralysed.
"That's cool!" Arthur confessed.
"Thanks." She winks at him. "Venusian Aikido. Grand Master Pacifist. Temporarily paralyses, while also being fundamentally harmless. Very clever, those Venusian nuns." She let go of her pinky finger and Epzo gasps for breath. Graham, Yasmin, and Ryan arrive.
"And this boat doesn't work," Angstrom added.
"Oh. Well, me and Ryan'll take a look," Graham offered.
Ryan frowns. "Will we?"
"Yeah, well, those NVQ classes must be good for something. An engine's an engine."
"Not a space engine."
"You don't get to take charge here," Epzo remarked. "This is about me and her fighting to win."
"We're all going to the same place, and that boat is big enough for all of us," Yasmin exclaimed.
"I agree," Arthur affirmed.
"I know what this is. You're part of Ilin's game. Saboteurs, sent to throw us off," Epzo provoked.
"You think the whole universe is out to get you," Angstrom noted.
"How's your family, Angstrom?"
That question makes Arthur tightened his hands into fists, looking at Epzo with annoyance. Realizing how upset he is, the Doctor takes him away from Epzo and sonicking the water. "So that's why he said don't touch the water," she realized. "Flesh-eating microbes, millions of them, living in there. Toxic atmosphere, killer water. Very dangerous planet." She glances at Arthur. "We'll be safe. I promise."
▪︎▪︎▪︎
Eventually, they rode onto the boat.
"This planet doesn't make any sense," the Doctor muttered, sitting as Angstrom standing at the tiller. "No other life forms except us and the microbes in the water. No people, no animals, no insects, no nothing. But he talked about the old settlements. What happened here?"
"No-one cares," Epzo replied.
"Don't take him personally," Angstrom added. "He treats everyone like this."
"I don't need other people."
"We all need other people, mate," Graham pointed out.
"We're all alone. That's how we start and end, and it's the natural state of all points in between."
"Were you born that miserable, or did you have to work at it?"
Epzo chuckles bitterly. "You know, when I was 4, my mum told me to climb a tree. She made me climb until I was too scared to climb any higher. Then she told me to jump into her arms. 'Don't worry,' she said, 'I'm your mum, I'm here for you, I'll catch you.' So I jumped... and she moved out of the way."
The Doctor and Arthur stare at him. "What?" The blonde woman responded, shocked.
"Sorry, did you say your mum did this to you?" Yasmin asked.
"I smashed into the ground," Epzo gestures to one of his arms. "Broke this arm, shattered that ankle. And she stood over me and she said, 'Now you've learned. You can never trust anyone in this life.'"
"That is messed up," Ryan commented.
"Best thing she ever did for me. I loved my mum."
Arthur looked at his hands. He knows that so many children, including himself, at his orphanage want to get out of that place and live with great parents. His orphanage wasn't what normal people call a good one. Sure, the staff are nice and educative, always patient whenever Arthur or other kids make troubles around. But his life there isn't always bright and sunny.
Among the children, there are some 'classes' between them. The bullies, the victims, and then no respond. Sadly, Arthur suffers under the victims one, constantly belittling and bullying by senior kids by his words and attitude. He doesn't understand why those kids hating him just for talking about science fictions and aliens that happens lately. Even while reporting these to the staff, those children still nagging him around, to the point the staff started to ignore his complaints.
He won't admit it... but he never font stayed at the orphanage again.
"Your mum was wrong. We're stronger together," the Doctor disagreed, holding Arthur's closer than before.
▪︎▪︎▪︎
Time passes by. For a while, Arthur falls asleep on the boat due to tiredness. But he gets up as soon as they walk across the coast and spots an abandoned place that reminds Arthur of an old diner in the 1950s.
"Big set of ruins. Wonder who those were built for?" The Doctor wondered.
"Why do you even care?" Epzo asked.
"Where are those people now? Why are there so few signs of life? What happened to everyone?"
"Bye," Epzo suddenly said and walked into another path. Ha!"
"Good luck," Angstrom added and walked down a different path.
"You've already lost, Angstrom!"
The Doctor sonicks the ruins.
"What, we're just letting them go, are we?" Graham pointed out. "How do we know what to do, where to go?"
"First thing we have to do is make it through those ruins safely," the Doctor denoted, checking the result. "Because these readings are all over the place, and I don't know why."
"Maybe it's too much for the sonic?" Arthur proposed.
"Could be. Yeah," she agreed as five of them climbed up to the ruin. After all of them arrive, they look at the sky. "Those suns are starting to set. They're moving way faster than I realised."
"Well, back in the tent," Graham suggested, "that bloke Ilin said, 'do not travel by night'."
"We need to move, fast."
They turn around and see several armed figures behind, holding a gun.
"Whoa! They weren't there when we came in," Graham recalled.
"Where did they come from?" Ryan wondered.
"I don't know," the Doctor admitted, scanning them rapidly.
"Oh, my God, Doctor!" Yasmin hissed.
"So much for no life forms on this planet," Graham grumbled.
'They're not alive. They're robot guards. Why would you need robot guards on a deserted planet? Good news is, they're not fully active. So, what we all need to do is very slowly, totally unthreateningly, back out of here." But just as they slowly move away, the robots aim their weapon. "Argh! They've been activated!" The Doctor realized. "Run!"
"Move! Move, everyone!" Graham shouted as they ran upstairs and into a long field. "Come on!"
"Ah! Ah! Swerve! Don't run straight! They're predicting our path!" She added as they kept running. "In here!" She gestures at a hole. None of them protest and comply with her. It seems they're in some sort of chamber with sands around. "Well done, all of you, nice running. Ah!"
They are startled by shapes on sticks popping up from the sand.
"Oh! Okay, come on. Oh! What have we here?" She wondered, walking and sonicks an old uniform and equipment lying in the sand. Arthur doesn't know what that is, but it looks so broken.
"Got anything there, Doctor?" Yasmin asked.
"Information," she reported. "Oh, that's bad. They're SniperBots. We just walked into the middle of the shooting range. Everything within the perimeter is target practice."
"Which would explain all the targets in here," Graham remarked. "And looking on the negative side, they're human-shaped targets."
"If that's the way it is, time to stop messing about," Ryan said, picking up the robot's weapon.
"What are you doing?" Arthur asked, worried with how easy Ryan is for carrying a weapon.
"Fighting back."
"No," the Doctor disagreed. "Guns, never use 'em."
"They're shooting at us."
"I know."
"They're going to kill us with their guns!"
"He's got a point, Doc," Graham admitted.
"Put the gun down, Ryan."
"What's your better idea?"
"Out-think them."
"You can't out-think bullets," Graham added.
"Been doing it all my life," the Doctor noted.
"Uh-uh. Sorry. Call of Duty, man. I've trained for this," Ryan insisted, running outside and proceeding to fire his weapon. But not much later, he comes back with a scream.
"Made it worse?"
"Just a little bit, yeah."
"Now do you see why I don't like guns?"
"Don't go on about it."
"I will go on about it. A lot!"
"Doctor!" Arthur shouted, pointing at the robots that were already inside.
"They're here. Take cover behind the pillars," she instructed, dragging the wrecked SniperBot with her while keeping Arthur safe as those robots are still firing.
"You know we're completely surrounded?" Yasmin affirmed.
"Yep!"
"With no way out whatsoever," Graham added.
"Here's the lesson. The answer was on the floor. You just reached for the wrong thing."
"I don't get it," Arthur alluded.
"You will, Sunny. Now, the best thing about robots is, they're powerful. Literally packed with power. Super-powered." The Doctor proceeds to trigger a pulse that radiates out through the ruins, causing all the robots to fall over.
"Wow!" Ryan muttered.
"Okay. Now that was impressive," Graham avowed.
"Thank you. I aim to please," the Doctor accepted, walking around.
"What exactly did you just do?" Yasmin asked.
"Disable them?" Arthur lilted.
"Close, but not right," the Doctor shared. "Electromagnetic pulse. Basically fried their systems. I reckon we've got about 5 minutes before they reboot and recover. See? Brains beat bullets. Come on."
▪︎▪︎▪︎
Soon enough, they find Angstrom and Epzo in a corridor. Using Angstrom's tracker device, they discover a sealed hatch that leads into a hidden tunnel underground. Since the tunnel has small light, Arthur takes one torch from his backpack and uses it to himself like Epzo.
"These tunnels run under half of the planet," the Doctor noted. "Think of the technology, the civilization required to build all that. And then ask yourselves, where are they?" She glances at Epzo who groans. "How's the injury?"
"It's painful," he confessed.
"Hope it's made you reconsider your entire philosophy."
"Nope."
"Doctor?" Graham called, pointing at the wall. "Scorch marks all along the walls."
"Not exactly encouraging, is it?" The Doctor pondered.
"No."
"Still, best feet forward," she walks further along and stops. "Oh, big locked door. I love a big locked door." She sonicks it open. "Ominous."
They all enter a room that seems much more like a laboratory.
"What happened here?" Arthur wondered.
"There's another room next door," Yasmin informed. "We'll take a look?"
"Yeah," Ryan agreed as they moved into another room.
"I don't want to be here," Angstrom shared. "We're off route. We need to move on."
"You went into the ruins without knowing what was there. You want to keep going without knowing why it's bad to travel at night?" The Doctor suggested.
"Whatever happened here, it's in the past," Epzo stated. "What does it matter to you?"
"This was a living, breathing planet once, with an ecosystem, organic life, and a population. There was a catastrophic event here. And as hard as it is for you to understand, you are not the only life form in this universe. Some of us feel a duty to others who might be in trouble. So fix your wound, take one of your heroic naps, and we'll wake you when we leave, if you're lucky."
"Fine."
"Now do me a favour. Give me something that will finally make sense of this planet," she hoped, scanning the lab with her sonic screwdriver. One of the monitors lights up. "There. That's more like it. Angstrom, bring me that route mappy thing." Angstrom complies and the Doctor sonicks again. "If we sync it, this shows us the whole network of tunnels. Your friend Ilin warned us not to travel at night. We could use the tunnels to keep moving while it's dark, avoiding whatever's on the surface."
"It's better than that, though. Look," Angstrom pointed out. "There's the site of the Ghost Monument. This network could help us cut a diagonal through the route, then bypass most of the mountain terrain. We could cover the distance in half the time."
"Well, if you leave now, you could get there before Sleeping Beauty. You could win," Graham offered.
Arthur frowns as he, and others, hear some sort of machinery noises. "What was that?" He asked the Doctor.
"There's something through there," she gestures in front. They walk into another room, finding some scribbles on the floor. "Inscriptions on the floor."
"What is it, some sort of cave painting?" Graham wondered.
"Almost. Left by the people who worked here."
"Can you read it? What does it say?"
The Doctor slowly walked around and read, "'We are scientists. Abducted, tortured and made to work, while our families are held hostage. We are forced to find new ways of destruction. Poisons, weapons, creatures. We gave them our minds and they made us the creators of death. This planet has been left scorched and barren from our work. The atmosphere and water are toxic. Killing machines and creatures inhabit every corner. We had no choice but to obey... the Stenza. We are trying to destroy all of our work before they use it against others.' There's two words below that. 'They're coming.' That's how it ends."
"The Stenza? That's the thing we stopped in Sheffield, right?" Graham asked.
Angstrom glances at him. "You know the Stenza too?"
"My wife died because of them."
"Mine too," she shared with tears. "I'm sorry. They took our planet, sent us into hiding, cleansed millions of us."
They hear someone's muffled screams. As they rush, they discover Epzo's mouth and nose covered with some sort of cloth.
"Epzo!" The Doctor called.
"Oh, my God," Angstrom muttered.
"Nothing's working on it."
Angstrom cuts through the cloth with her knife and Epzo gets free.
"We've seen them before," Graham remembered. "Like, all over the planet. Like they were lying dormant."
"Lying dormant till night, across the whole planet... clearing up the wounded," the Doctor realized.
Yasmin appears. "Doctor! I found you! The SniperBots are on their way down after us."
"We need to get out of here. Everybody, move fast!" The Doctor ordered, sonic some doors to be closed and running from behind.
"Why have we stopped?" Yasmin asked.
"Listen," she said. Arthur can hear some machine noises stops working. "They've shut down the life support systems, depriving us of air."
"A man could really take against those robots," Graham suggested.
"We need to get out of the tunnels."
"But it's night."
"This exit ladder will take us up and out to the surface," Angstrom reported.
"What's up there?" Yasmin asked.
"Acetylene fields."
"Acetylene, like the gas?" Ryan pondered.
Arthur gulped. That doesn't sound good at all.
"We're running out of air and options, so let's go up," the Doctor said, letting Graham and Arthur go first.
▪︎▪︎▪︎
After everyone has already gotten out, they start running again.
"That's some smell," Yasmin admitted.
"What is it, garlic?" Graham wondered.
"Wait. Everyone, stop," Ryan told them. "Look, it's like the ground's moving."
The ragged clothes before weave towards them and surround them. "Finally, a big feast of lives..."
"Nobody move," the Doctor instructed.
"Don't let them touch you. They'll squeeze the life out of you," Epzo added.
"Yes, squeeze the life from all of you."
"The talk is to distract you," the Doctor pointed out. "That's how they were designed in that laboratory."
"You can't save them. We smell your fear too. The strongest of all. Especially the boy. The youngest."
"You want fears? I've got a dozen lifetimes' worth."
"A dozen lives? We'll take you and the boy first."
"Remember any facts, Ryan, as we climbed?" The Doctor asked.
"It's lighter than air," Ryan replied.
"Yes. Smells like garlic and lighter than air. That's right. And one other thing about it, but we'll all have to dig deep for that, right?"
"What are you talking about?" Epzo asked, confused. "What are you doing?"
"Shut up and dig, Epzo," Angstrom insisted as they shuffled their feet in the sand to make holes for themselves.
"You lead but you're scared, too, for yourself and for others," it whispered.
"Yeah, well, who isn't?"
"Afraid of your own newness. We see deeper, though, further back. The Timeless Child."
That name got into the Doctor. "What did you just say?"
"She doesn't know."
"What are you talking about?" Arthur frowns, still digging.
"We see what's hidden, even from herself. The outcast, abandoned and unknown. And we see how naive you are. The one who's spinning across time, never being the same yet suffers the same."
That certainly got into the Doctor as she steps forward, hissing, "Don't you dare talk about him! And get out of my head!"
"Now we crush those fears from you."
Arthur yelped as those clothes started to circling him. He can feel the danger, despite the danger coming from some clothes.
"Enjoy your feast, whatever it is," the Doctor blabbered. "You know what some people like after a feast? Graham?"
"Huh?"
"Not me. Some people."
"Do it," Epzo whispered as Graham takes Epzo's celebration cigar from his belt
"Oh, yeah. A nice cigar," he realized and threw it into the air.
"Down!" The Doctor warned beforehand. They all fall flat on their backs and the Doctor snaps her fingers. The cigar lights itself and ignites the gas layer just above them. She hugs Arthur beside. "Third fact, ignites very easily. Good old acetylene. See? Teamwork. Now, move. Come on."
They crawl away under the broiling air.
▪︎▪︎▪︎
Arthur doesn't remember much about what happened next. He must get tired and fall asleep along the long walk. Because the moment he gains his consciousness, the Doctor is already carrying him on her back as they're inside a tent before. Ilin's tent.
"Ilin, you've made this a living hell for us. I promise you that whatever happens, I will get off this planet, and if we don't get what we both fought for, I will hunt you down and ensure that whatever time you have left is both short-lived and agonising," Epzo warned him. "Do we understand each other? Now, recognise your equal winners."
"Pay the prize, or pay the price," Angstrom stated.
"I'm honoured to declare a unique joint victory... and equal split," Ilin begrudgingly said.
"Now, get us off this rock," Epzo ordered.
"Fine."
"And them," Angstrom added.
But Ilin just laughs. "No."
"No!"
But Ilin has snapped his fingers, causing him, Angstrom, and Epzo to disappear alongside the tent, leaving them alone.
"Doctor?" Arthur mumbled, still sleepy.
"Sleep well?" She asked, gently put him down.
"They're gone," Ryan muttered.
"We're stuck here, are we?" Graham asked.
"I'm sorry. I've failed you. I promised you and I let you down," the Doctor apologized, looking sad.
"Maybe we can wait," Arthur suggested.
"Yeah. We've got each other," Yasmin agreed.
"No, we'll be dead within one rotation," the Doctor sadly informed.
"Who says so? We've come this far, ain't we? Who says we're giving up? Any of us? Really? Even you, Doc? No. Come on, we ain't having that, are we?" Graham pondered, looking at others.
"Nope," Yasmin addressed.
"No," Ryan noted.
Arthur's just about to open his mouth when he hears a distant wheeze.
Yasmin frowns. "Can you hear that noise?"
"Yeah," the blonde boy nods as the Doctor holds him tight.
"Come on, please. Give us this." She takes her sonic and uses it. "It's all right, it's me! Stabilise. Come to Daddy... I mean Mummy," she quickly added. "I mean, I really need you right now."
Arthur can see the blue box slowly appears more solid.
"My beautiful Ghost Monument," she whispered, taking Arthur's hand andrunning over the box. "Hello, you. I've missed you. And you won't believe this, but Sunny's here," she introduced, tracing the box. "Ah, you've done yourself up. Very nice. Lost my key. Sorry."
The box's door opens.
"But it's an old police box," Graham pointed out, chasing after them.
"Sort of. Not really," the Doctor shrugged.
"You expect us all to fit inside there?" Ryan asked.
"Yep."
"At the same time?" Yasmin pondered.
"Wanna try?"
"Yeah!" Arthur cheered.
The Doctor smiles. "I left it in a bit of a mess," she recalled, entering the blue box alongside Arthur. Upon their first step, Arthur gasped, steps forward, looking at the interior with... well, he can't explain it, to be honest. It just looks so... incredible. Words cannot tell much how he feels when looking inside.
Quietly, he heard soft humms. The boy frowns, as if the machine itself... just chuckles? Or simply thanking him for the compliment? He doesn't know which one's right. But he feels safe and sound inside. Like he belongs here.
"This is my Tardis," the Doctor introduced, making Arthur turn to her. "Like it?"
"Definitely," the boy beamed.
"Wow," Yasmin mumbled.
"Yeah," Ryan agreed.
"It was a police box," Graham pointed out.
"It still is on the outside," the Doctor denoted.
"How do you fit all this stuff inside a police box?"
"Dimensional engineering."
"You can't engineer dimensions," Yasmin argued.
"Maybe you can't."
"Can I press any of...?"
"No," she said, stopping Ryan.
"It's a spaceship," Arthur uttered, hearing another humms. "And... a timeship as well."
The Doctor smiles, looking at the console with gratitude, before morphing into sadness after hearing the Tardis' noise. "Indeed."
"This... is proper... awesome," Ryan admitted.
"I thought maybe you didn't believe me that I'd get you home."
"I thought you didn't believe yourself for a second back there," Yasmin countered.
"Who, me? No. Never doubted. Don't know what you mean. Home, then?"
"You can get us there? Really?"
"Start believing," she told them, set an hourglass running, pull a lever, a glass 'Tardis' rotates rapidly.
Arthur curiously pulls a second lever and a biscuit is dispensed as the time engines start up. The boy takes the biscuit and eats it as the Tardis sends them away.
▪︎▪︎▪︎
The Doctor looks at the monitor grimly. After she dematerialized the Tardis, she showed them their temporary bedroom, knowing how much they need for sleep. Including Arthur as well, who needs more sleep than others.
The Tardis quickly informed the Doctor anything necessary about the blonde boy. She sighs. She genuinely hope she can spend more time with Arthur. But alas, she knows. Her suspicious got confirmed the moment the Tardis gave her the result of her secret test regarding Arthur.
It's just a matter of time until he starts his real journey.
"Nothing we can do, eh, old girl?" She murmurs and starts walking into Arthur's bedroom, the one the Tardis always keep up. She sits on his bed, slowly shaking his body. "Sunny. Sunny. How are you feeling? Is your head hurt?"
"Yeah," he admitted after waking up, feeling his head hurt more than usual.
"Then that means it's not a normal one," the Doctor noted, quickly taking his backpack and filling things that's necessary for him.
Arthur slowly sits up, confused. "What?"
"Now listen to me, Sunny. You're going to move sometime in my timeline. Either past or future, I don't know. I can't explain much." She puts his green jacket and backpack at him, gently holding his cheeks. "I've put some clothes, food, and drinks inside your backpack. I'd put your diary inside your backpack as well. The diary contains some photos of me from the past. Those two are important items you require when you're travelling."
"I don't..."
"I know," she interjected. "You shouldn't understand first. It wasn't until later you will. Spoilers and stuff." She closes her eyes. She never wants him to leave. But it's now or never. "Goodbye, Sunny. See you soon."
"Doctor, I...!"
A bright light soon engulfed him, cutting his words as he disappeared from this room.
Note: and thus, the real journey begins!
Frostspiderman: I won't spoil much about Arthur's mother, since that's a spoiler teritory. But I can say his parents is going to be vital for his journey in here.