"Whoa, look at that," Arthur murmured as everyone struggled to their feet on an artificial surface, which for Arthur, the walls are the same. "Everyone good?"
"What happened?" Amy pondered.
"We jumped," River reminded her.
"And we're up," Arthur added.
Amy blinks. "Wait…Where are we?"
"Exactly where we were," River noted.
"No we're not."
"Move your feet," the Doctor said before sonicks a circular hatch in the floor, with six inset lights around it.
"Doctor, what am I looking at? Explain."
"Oh, come on, Amy, Arthur had told you. The ship crashed with the power still on, yeah? So what else is still on? The artificial gravity. One good jump, and up we fell. Shot out the grav globe to give us an updraft, and here we are."
"Doctor, the statues. They look more like Angels now," Father Octavian observed.
"They're feeding on the radiation from the wreckage, draining all the power from the ship, restoring themselves," the Doctor said. "Within an hour, they'll be an army."
The circular hatch opens. A light goes bang.
"Crap," Arthur cursed. The blood all over his body began to run cold. "They're taking out the lights. Quick! Look at the Angels!"
"Into the ship, now. Quickly, all of you!" The Doctor insisted before he entered the corridor.
"How?" Amy asked.
Arthur drops through the open hatch into a circular corridor. "Don't worry, it's just a corridor. The gravity orientates to the floor. All of you, get in."
"Don't take your eyes off the Angels," the Doctor added. "Move, move, move."
"Okay, men. Go, go, go!" Father Octavian yelled while the Doctor and Arthur were working on a control panel so the hatch closed. "The Angels. Presumably they can jump up too?"
"They're here, now. In the dark, we're finished."
"No!" Arthur realised too late as a bulkhead further along the corridor started to close.
"This whole place is a death trap," Father Octavian remarked.
"More like a time bomb."
"Well, it's a death trap and a time bomb," the Doctor added. "And now it's a dead end. Nobody panic."
Arthur startled as he heard a banging. He really didn't like this situation. Really, really disliked it. "Yeah, not helping at all."
"What's through here?"
"Secondary flight deck," River replied.
"Okay. so we've basically run up the inside of a chimney, yeah?" Amy guessed. "So what if the gravity fails?"
"We're dead," Arthur answered as he and his mother helped the Doctor to open the bulkheaded. Everyone minus Amy, the Doctor, and River was just staring at him, stunned. "What? She asked, I answered! Do you think lying will make it better!?"
"The security protocols are still live. There's no way to override them. It's impossible," the Doctor pointed out."
River glances at him. "How impossible?"
"Two minutes."
The outer hatch is opened. Oh boy.
"The hull is breached and the power's failing," Father Octavian asserted before the lights go out. When it comes back, An arm is silhouetted against the open hatch. "Mr. Jonas. Please tell us what you know about what will happen next."
"With the Angels around?" Arthur asked back, ignoring the throbbing at the back of his neck as the Angel was starting to enter. "I'm sorry, Father Octavian. But even with my power, the presence of Weeping Angels completely disoriented my visions. I can't see the past itself!"
Another flicker, and four are inside and the hatch is closed behind them.
"Clerics, keep watching them."
"And don't look at their eyes. Anywhere else. Not the eyes," the Doctor reminded them. "I've isolated the lighting grid. They can't drain the power now."
"Good work, Doctor."
"Yes. Good, good, good. Good in many ways. Good you like it so far."
"So far?" Amy repeated.
"There's only one way to open that door. Someone needs to route all the power in this section through the door control," Arthur shared.
Father Octavian looks carefully at him, at the son of a woman who committed a crime. "Do it."
"All the lights will go down as well. Are you sure?"
"How long for?"
"If we can be fast…3 or 4 minutes."
"If?"
"My powers aren't working with the Angels around!" Arthur huffed. Even though Arthur had clearly told him this.
"Arthur, we lost the torches. We'll be in total darkness!" Amy denoted.
"No other way," the Doctor shook his head.
Father Octavian glances at River. "Doctor Song, I've lost good Clerics today. You trust this man?"
"I absolutely trust him," River insisted with confidence.
"He's not some kind of lunatic, then?"
"I. Absolutely. Trust. Him."
"Excuse me," the Doctor quickly said, walking to the panel.
"I'm taking your word, because you and him are the only one who can manage the Doctor," Father Octavian pointed out. "But that only works so long as he doesn't know who you are. You two cost me any more men, and I might just tell him. Understood?"
"You tell him that, I let him a secret that will make you and your men his next target," Arthur intimated, raising his chin up. Over time, Mr Octavian made Arthur upset with him. This man didn't even know what Papal Mainframe would do to his family and he had the right to threaten him and his mother?
River hurriedly clapped his arm, silently telling him not to anger Father Octavian. As much as River hated Papal Mainframe, they were the only ones willing to commute her sentence. "Understood."
He nods. "Okay, Doctor. We've got your back."
"Bless you. Bishop," he said.
"Combat distance, ten feet. As soon as the lights go down, continuous fire. Full spread over the hostiles. Do not stop firing while the lights are out. Shot gun protocol. We don't have bullets to waste."
"Amy, when the lights go down, the wheel should release. Spin it clockwise four turns."
"Ten," Amy replied.
"No, four. Four turns."
"Yeah, four. I heard you."
"Ready!" He plunges his sonic screwdriver into a control unit.
"On my count, then," Father Octavian ordered. "God be with us all. Three, two, one, fire!"
The lights go out, the Clerics plus Arthur start shooting at the approaching Angels.
"Turn!" Arthur yelled.
"Doctor, it's opening. It's working," Amy shouted as she get the bulkhead open just enough to squeeze through.
"Fall back, everyone!"
One by one, they all went through the bulkhead, leaving the Doctor by himself. The rest run along a short corridor and into the secondary flight deck.
"Doctor, quickly," River and Arthur exclaimed.
"Doctor!" Amy screamed.
The Doctor dodges inside at the last second, as the door closes, and runs to the controls. The Angels thump on the door and the wheel starts turning.
"Doctor! What are you doing?"
Father Octavian has placed a device on the door. The wheel stops turning. "Magnetised the door. Nothing could turn that wheel now."
"Don't say that," Arthur warned…and the wheel turned. "Crap. You jinxed it."
"Dear God!"
"Ah, now you're getting it," the Doctor commented. "You've bought us time though. That's good. I am good with time."
"Doctor," Amy shouted before the wheel on a second door to the right of the main one started to turn.
"Seal that door. Seal it now," Father Octavian instructed, which Marco obeys.
"We're surrounded," River remarked.
"And more incoming," Arthur added, notice the door on the left also starts to turn.
"Seal it. Seal that door," Father Octavian commanded. "Doctor, how long have we got?"
"Five minutes, max," he calculated.
"Nine," Amy uttered.
"Five."
"Five. Right. Yeah."
"You said nine," Arthur recalled.
"I didn't."
"We need another way out of here," River remarked.
"There isn't one," Father Octavian replied.
"Yeah, there is. Course there is. This is a galaxy class ship. Goes for years between planet falls," the Doctor stated and snapped his fingers. "So…what do they need?"
"Oh!" Arthur remembered.
"Oh?" Amy repeated.
"Can we get in there?" Father Octavian inquired, already knowing why Arthur reacted like that.
"Well, it's a sealed unit, but they must have installed it somehow. This whole wall should slide up," the Doctor shared.
"The clamps. We can release the clamps," Arthur suggested.
"What's through there? What do they need?" Amy pondered.
"They need to breathe," River responded. Then, the rear wall of the flight deck slides up to reveal many trees.
"But that's…That's a—"
"A forest? It's a forest that serves as an oxygen factory," Arthur denoted.
"And if we're lucky, an escape route," the Doctor added.
"Eight."
River takes a sharp look at Amy. "What did you say?"
"She said eight," Arthur remarked. Okay, this is scary. What's happening to her?
"Is there another exit?" the Doctor asked. "Scan the architecture, we don't have time to get lost in there."
"On it. Stay where you are until I've checked the Rad levels," Father Octavian suggested.
"But trees…on a space ship?" Amy wondered.
"Oh, more than trees. Way better than trees. You're going to love this." The Doctor takes out a section of bark from the nearest tree, revealing a sinuous tangle of fibre-optic cables, lights streaking along them. "Treeborgs. Trees plus technology. Branches become cables become sensors on the hull. A forest sucking in starlight, breathing out air. It even rains. There's a whole mini-climate. This vault is an ecopod running right through the heart of the ship. A forest in a bottle on a spaceship in a maze. Have I impressed you yet, Amy Pond?"
"Seven," Amy gushed.
"You're counting down," Arthur noticed.
"No. I didn't."
"I think you did."
"Doctor, there's an exit, far end of the ship, into the Primary Flight Deck," Father Octavian interrupted.
"Oh, good. That's where we need to go," the Doctor remarked.
"Plotting a safe path now."
"Quick as you like."
"Doctor? Excuse me? Hello, Doctor? Angel Bob here, sir," Angel Bob suddenly called.
The Doctor grabbed a chair, lounges in it, banging his feet up on a console. "Ah. There you are, Angel Bob. How's life? Sorry, bad subject."
"The Angels are wondering what you and the Explorer are hope to achieve."
"Achieve? We're not achieving anything. We're just hanging. It's nice in here. Consoles, comfy chairs, a forest. How's things with you?"
"The Angels are feasting, sir. Soon we will be able to absorb enough power to consume this vessel, this world. And all the stars and worlds beyond."
"Well, we've got comfy chairs. Did I mention?"
"We have no need of comfy chairs."
"I made him say comfy chairs."
"Six," Amy replied.
"Okay, Bob, enough chat. Here's what I want to know. What have you done to Amy?" The Doctor demanded.
"You should ask the Explorer instead. He knows the answer."
Amy turns around, staring at Arthur. "Do you?"
"You won't like it," Arthur warned. Curse Angel Bob and his deadly words to make him feeling more guilty.
"Tell me!"
"An Angel has entered your mind when you looked at its eyes. That's why you're counting."
Amy quickly grips the edge of her red shirt. "Why?"
"I genuinely don't know. I know someone who got an Angel in their mind, but they didn't count."
"Then, the countdown…it's counting down to what?"
"I don't know!" Arthur snapped, frustrated. He didn't know who to be upset with. Himself who couldn't use his abilities because of the Angels or Amy who kept pestering questions to him.
"We shall take her. We shall take all of you. We shall have dominion over all time and space."
"Pish off, Bob!"
"There's power on this ship, but nowhere near that much," the Doctor mentioned.
"With respect, sir, there's more power on this ship than you yet understand."
There is a screeching sound.
"What's that?" River demanded. "Dear God, what is it?"
"They're back," Father Octavian stated.
"It's hard to put in your terms, Doctor Song, but as best I understand it, the Angels are laughing," Angel Bob answered.
"Laughing?" The Doctor repeated.
"Because you haven't noticed yet, sir. The Doctor in the Tardis hasn't noticed."
"Doctor," Father Octavian called.
"No. Wait. There's something I've missed—"
"Holy crap," Arthur blurted as he notices a steaming stretched W-shaped crack in the bulkhead above the entrance, and how it is widening. "It's here. The crack."
"Yes. Two parts of space and time that should never have touched," the Doctor remembered.
"Okay, enough. We're moving out," Father Octavian insisted.
"Agreed. Doctor?" River called.
"Yeah, fine."
"What are you doing?"
"Scan it," Arthur realised before the Doctor did it.
"We're not leaving without you," River stated.
"I keep him safe. You go first!"
"Be careful," River whispered in Gallifreyan and took Amy away.
Arthur nods. "I will," he swore, then takes a step closer to the Doctor.
"So, what are you?" He wondered, looking at the readings from the screwdriver. "Oh, that's bad. Ah, that's extremely very not good."
"Doctor?" Arthur called, patting him to look at their surroundings that had many Angels.
"Do not blink."
"Don't think I can."
They climb over the console to get past them. One of the Angels grabbed the Doctor's jacket collar, holding him. "Why am I not dead then?"
Arthur turns, his eyes wide open as he realises the Angels have their hands up to the crack as if worshipping it. "Maybe because of a giant crack nearby?"
The Doctor looks in his direction. "Good, and not so good. Oh, this isn't even a little bit good. I mean, is that it? Is that the power that brought you here? That's pure time energy, you can't feed on that. That's the power, that's the fire at the end of the universe. I'll tell you something else…"
There's a loud rumbling, which Arthur quickly grabs the Doctor's hand and says, "Never let him talk!"
They run into the forest, leaving the Doctor's jacket in the hands of the Angels.
▪︎▪︎▪︎
Arthur can hear Father Octavian's voice. "Our mission is to make this wreckage safe and neutralise the Angels. Until that is achieved—"
"Father Octavian," River interjected. The Doctor holds Arthur from stepping closer. "When the Doctor's in the room, your one and only mission is to keep him—and Sunny—alive long enough to get everyone else home. And trust me, it's not easy. Now, if he's dead back there, I'll never forgive myself. And if he's alive, I'll never forgive him." She paused. "And, Doctor, you're standing right behind me, aren't you?"
"Oh, yeah," the Doctor answered.
River glances at Arthur. "And you didn't say that to me?"
"He stops me," Arthur replied.
"I hate you."
"No, you're not."
"Bishop, the Angels are in the forest," the Doctor informed as he steps closer to Amy, who's laying down.
"We might need visual contact on every line of approach," Arthur added.
River glances at her son. "How did you two get past them?"
"We found a crack in the wall and the Doctor told them it was the end of the universe."
"What was it?" Amy inquired.
"The end of the universe," the Doctor replied. "Let's have a look, then."
"So, what's wrong with me?"
"It's slowly killing you," Arthur noticed.
"Sunny!" River scolded.
"Yes, you're right. If he lie to her, she'll get all better!" The Doctor huffed. "Right. Amy, Amy, Amy. What's the matter with Amelia? Something's in her eye. What does that mean? Does it mean anything?"
"Doctor, Arthur," Amy muttered.
"Stay still, Amy. We're here," Arthur assured her.
"Arthur, what do you know about the person who got an Angel in their mind?" The Doctor asked.
"Well," he gulped as he heard more Angels coming from two Clerics. "I know the person briefly, but only your future self knows the full detail. It was an odd case. An Angel purposely hides inside someone's head, which makes the host slowly turn into an Angel. But I don't think that's the case with Amy. Her body hasn't changed into stone."
"Three," Amy counted. "Doctor, Arthur, it's coming. I can feel it. I'm going to die."
"Please just shut up. I'm thinking," the Doctor said, taking the communication device. "Now, counting. What's that about? Bob, why are they making her count?"
"To make her afraid, sir."
"Okay, but why? What for?"
"As a punishment, sir."
"Because Amy looks at the eyes?"
"Because Arthur Jonas has escaped our prey once. He defied his fate to stay forever in the past, sir. The Angels hate that, sir. We vowed to make sure he suffered by our hands."
Arthur freezes, holding his mouth in horror while River glares angrily at the communicator. The brunette man remembers Claire's warning many years ago, when he was young, still a child (for a Time Lord, of course). How his punishment would come upon him. This is what she meant. They would kill Amy, his grandmother, and change the timeline so that Amy died earlier than she supposed to be, making River practically not existed, which will make sure he was never born at all and forgotten.
In a flash, his mother takes away the device and smashes it with her fist. The fact that the Angels were deliberately doing this as revenge for whatever her son will do didn't put her at ease. AT ALL. "I really start to hate that Angel," River barked.
"Arthur, what's happening to me? Please tell me," Amy pleaded.
"The Angel is climbing out of it, and it's coming to shut you off," Arthur reluctantly replied, rakes his fingers through his hair.
"Then what I do?"
"If it was a real screen, what would we do?" The Doctor asked. He didn't know what the Angels' problem with Arthur was, but the Doctor didn't like the indications. One thing was for sure, he wasn't going to let the Angels win by taking Amy away. "We'd pull the plug. We'd kill the power. But we can't just knock her out, the Angel would just take over."
"Then what?" River demanded. "Quickly."
"We need to starve the Angel. Ah!" Arthur gasped. "Amy! Close your eyes!"
"No. No, I don't want to," Amy insisted.
"Good, because that's not you, that's the Angel inside you," the Doctor implored. "It's afraid. Do it. Close your eyes."
She squeezes her eyes shut. The med scanner changes from red to green. Arthur exhaled in relief. "She's normalising."
"Oh, you did it. You two did it!" River beamed.
"Sir?" Phillip called. "Two more incoming."
"Three more over here," Pedro added.
"Still weak. Dangerous to move her," River checked.
"So, can I open my eyes now?" Amy inquired while Arthur helps her to sit down.
"Amy, listen to me. If you open your eyes now for more than a second, you will die. The Angel is still inside you. We haven't stopped it, we've just sort of paused it. You've used up your countdown. You cannot open your eyes," the Doctor denoted.
"Doctor, we're too exposed here," Father Octavian informed. "We have to move on."
"We're too exposed everywhere. And Amy can't move. And anyway, that's not the plan."
"There's a plan?" River inquired.
"I don't know yet. I haven't finished talking."
"Oh, that's helpful."
"Right! Father, you and your Clerics, you're going to stay here, look after Amy. If anything happens to her, I'll hold every single one of you personally responsible, twice. River, Arthur, you two and me, we're going to find the Primary Flight Deck which is," He wets a finger and holds it up. "A quarter of a mile straight ahead, and from there we're going to stabilise the wreckage, stop the Angels, and cure Amy."
"How?"
"I'll do a thing."
"AKA, you make it up along the way," Arthur remarked.
"No. Respect the thing. Moving out!" The Doctor insisted.
"Doctor, I'm coming with you," Father Octavian decided. "My Clerics'll look after Miss Pond. These are my best men. They'd lay down their lives in her protection."
"I don't need you."
"I don't care. Where Doctor Song goes, I go."
He stares at River and him. "What? You two engaged or something?"
"Yes, in a manner of speaking," Father Octavian stated.
"I have Arthur with me. He can take care of us."
"He's biassed."
"Hey!" Arthur fumed.
"Marco, you're in charge till I get back," Father Octavian said, ignoring him.
Arthur grumbles while Marco nods. "Sir."
"Doctor? Please, can't I come with you?" Amy asked.
"You'd slow us down, Miss Pond," Father Octavian answered.
"I don't want to sound selfish, but you'd really speed me up."
"We know," Arthur grips her hand. "But here…you'll be safe."
"We can't protect you on the move. I'll be back for you soon as I can, I promise," the Doctor vowed.
"You always say that," Amy accused.
"I always come back. Good luck, everyone. Behave. Do not let that girl open her eyes. And keep watching the forest. Stop those Angels advancing. Amy, later. River, going to need your computer!"
"Yeah. Later."
▪︎▪︎▪︎
Father Octavian is leading Arthur, River, and the Doctor through the forest. There is a beeping and the Doctor checks the device.
"What's that?" River asked.
"Readings from a crack in a wall," Arthur informed.
"How can a crack in the wall be the end of the universe?"
"Here's what I think. One day there'll be a very big bang, so big every moment in history—past and future—will crack," the Doctor deduced.
River frowns. At this time, Arthur knows River had experienced the Pandorica, while according to her before they started this mission, he had existed in her womb for three weeks (and nearly gave poor Rory a heart attack when she shared that story). "Is that possible? How?"
"How can you be engaged in a manner of speaking?" He asked her, gesturing towards Father Octavian.
"Why do you ask?" Arthur retorted.
Father Octavian steps in. "Dr. Song is in my personal custody. I released her from the Stormcage Containment Facility four days ago and I am legally responsible for her until she has accomplished her mission and earned her pardon while the Explorer helps her mission. Just so we understand each other."
He stares seriously at River. "You were in Stormcage?"
"Not the main issue," Arthur insisted as the device beeps.
"What? What is that?" River asked.
"The date!" The Doctor shared. "The date of the explosion where the crack begins."
"And for those of us who can't read the base code of the universe?"
The brunette man gulps as he reads the date appears on the bottom as 26/06/2010. His mind flashes back to that moment when River hugged him, mere a child, as the Tardis exploded because of the Silence's interference, even after 948 years passed for him.
"Let's hope that's not the case," he lied as the Doctor takes readings from the handheld, while Father Octavian looks for a way in and River and Arthur stand guard.
"It doesn't open it from here, but it's the Primary Flight Deck. This has got to be a service hatch or something," Father Octavian informed.
"Hurry up and open it, time's running out," River said.
"What? What did you say?" He looks at River. "Time's running out, is that what you said?"
"Yeah. I just meant…"
"I know what you meant. Hush! But what if it could?"
"What if what could?"
"What if time could run out?" Arthur clarified.
"Got it!" Father Octavian shouted.
"Exactly!" The Doctor pointed out. "Cracks in time, time running out... No, couldn't be. How is a duck pond a duck pond if there aren't any ducks? And she didn't recognise the Daleks! Okay, time can shift. Time can change. Time can be rewritten. Ah! Oh!"
"Dr. Song, Mr. Jonas, get through, now," Father Octavian said, helping them through the hatch. "Doctor? Doctor?"
"Time can be unwritten," he realised after doing calculations in the air. "It's been happening and I haven't even noticed!
"Doctor, we've have to move."
"The CyberKing! A giant cyberman walks over all of Victorian London and no-one remembers."
"We have to move it! The Angels could be here any second," Father Octavian insisted, puts a hand on the Doctor's shoulder, which he shrugs off.
"Never mind the Angels. There's worse here than Angels!"
The lights go out and the Doctor turns to see and Angel has its arm around Father's neck. "I beg to differ, sir."
The Time Lord quickly uses the screwdriver on Angel. "Let him go."
"Well, it can't let me go, sir, not while you're looking at it."
"I can't stop looking at it, it'll kill you."
"It'll kill me anyway. There's no way out of this, not even the Explorer can. You have to leave me!"
"Can't you wriggle out?"
"No. it's too tight. There's nothing you can do," Father Octavian remarked. "Sir, there's nothing you can do."
"You're dead if I leave you," the Doctor pointed out.
"Yes, yes, I'm dead. And before you go…"
"I'm not going!"
"Listen to me. It's important! You can't trust her."
"Trust who?"
"River Song. You think you know her, but you don't. You don't understand who or what she is."
"Then tell me."
"I've told you more than I should. Now, please, you have to go. It's your duty to your friends."
"Just tell me. Why she was in Stormcage?"
"She killed a man, a good man, a hero to many."
A hero to many… "Who?" He demanded. There's two people who fit that criteria. And he personally doesn't know which is worse.
"You don't want to know, sir. You really don't."
"Who did she kill?!"
"Sir, the Angels are coming. You have to leave me."
"You'll die."
"I will die in the knowledge that my courage did not desert me at the end. For that, I thank God and bless the path that takes you to safety."
"I wish I'd known you better."
"I think, sir, you know me at my best. Just like you know Arthur Jonas," he kindly replied before closing his eyes. He knows that the moment that young man volunteered into this mission and how fiercely protective he was of his mother. He always wondered where he got that from. Looking at this legendary man…he should figure it out sooner.
"Ready?"
"Content."
The Doctor runs for the hatch and closes it behind him.
▪︎▪︎▪︎
"There's a teleport!" River informed as Arthur checks on it. "If we can get it to work, we can beam the others here."
Arthur glances behind. "Where's Father Octavian?"
"Octavian's dead, so is that teleport. You're wasting your time. I'm going to need that communicator," the Doctor said and took the communicator. "Amy? Amy? Is that you?"
"Doctor?" Amy called.
"Where are you? Are the Clerics with you?"
"They've gone. There was a light and they walked into the light. Doctor, they didn't even remember each other."
"No, they wouldn't."
"What is that light?" River asked Arthur.
"Time is running out," he replied darkly.
"Amy, I'm sorry, I made a mistake," the Doctor apologised. "I should never have left you there."
"Well, what do I do now?"
"You come to us. The Primary Flight Deck, the other end of the forest."
"I can't see. I can't open my eyes."
"Turn on the spot," Arthur suggested at the communication device.
"Sorry, what?"
"Just do it. Turn on the spot," the Doctor insisted. "When the communicator sounds like my screwdriver, that means you're facing the right way. Follow the sound. You have to start moving now. There's Time Energy spilling out of that crack, and you have to stay ahead of it."
"But the Angels, they're everywhere."
"I'm sorry, I really am, but the Angels can only kill you."
"What does the Time Energy do?"
"Erasing you from existence," Arthur replied quickly. "Now go!"
"It's never going to work," River pointed out.
"What else have you got, River?!" The Doctor snapped at her. "Tell me!"
"Well, shouting won't help, that's for sure!"
Before Arthur can say something, there is a loud whooshing and clanging. "The Angels running from the fire?" He guessed, glancing at the Doctor briefly.
The Doctor nods. "They came here to feed on the time energy. Now it's going to feed on them." He talks to Amy. "Amy, listen to me. I'm sending a bit of software to your communicator. It's a proximity detector. It'll beep if there's something in your way. You just manoeuvre till the beeping stops. Because, Amy, this is important. The forest is full of Angels. You're going to have to walk like you can see."
"Well, what do you mean?" Amy asked.
"Look, just keep moving."
"That time energy," River said. "What's it going to do?"
"Er, keep eating."
"How do we stop it?"
"Feed it."
"Feed it what?"
"A big complicated space-time event should shut it up for a while."
Arthur gulps. "You mean…like us?"
The Doctor quickly turns around at Arthur, how he looks fine but his eyes. Oh, his eyes are screaming how terrified he is at the crack and the Angels. Like he had very personal experience beyond knowing it like he thought before. "What do you know about the crack?"
"You won't believe me."
"Try."
A high-pitched beeping echoes through the flight deck.
"What's that?" Amy asked.
"It's a warning. There are Angels 'round you now. Amy. listen to me. This is going to be hard but I know...you can do it. The Angels are scared and running and right now they're not that interested in you. They'll assume you can see them and their instincts will kick in. All you've got to do is walk like you can don't open your eyes. Walk like you can see. You're not moving. You have to do this. Now."
On a cue, Arthur bangs his hand against the instrument panel as River fixes the teleportation.
"Doctor? I can't find the communicator. I dropped it. I can't find it, Doctor. Doctor! Doctor! Doctor! Doctor!"
Amy immediately arrives and Arthur catches him. "Stay close to me. Don't open your eyes. You're on the Flight Deck. River helped you out." An alarm blares. "What's that?"
"The Angels are draining the last of the ship's power, which means the shield's going to release," the Doctor explained. The bulkhead into the forest rises to reveal an array of Angels. "Angel Bob, I presume."
"The Time Field is coming. It will destroy our reality," Angel Bob stated. Arthur hates it, reminded how the Baby Angels used his own voice to taunt him at Grayle's basement.
"Yeah, and look at you all, running away. What can I do for you?"
"There is a rupture in time. The Angels calculate that if you throw yourself into it, it will close, and they will be saved."
"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Could do, could do that. But why?"
"Your friends will also be saved."
"Well, there is that."
"I've travelled in time. I'm a complicated space time event too. Throw me in," River volunteered.
"Wait, I had a Time Vortex that allowed me to time travel. I'm much more complicated than you two," Arthur pointed out.
The Doctor rolls his eyes. "Oh, be serious. Compared to me, these Angels are more complicated than you two, and it would take every one of them to amount to me, so get a grip."
"Doctor, I can't let you do this!"
"No, seriously, get a grip."
"You're not going to die here!" River insisted.
"No, I mean it. River, Arthur, Amy, get a grip."
"Oh!" Arthur gasped and quickly grips into something.
"Sir, the Angels need you to sacrifice yourself now," Angel Bob reminded him.
"Thing is, Bob, the Angels are draining all the power from this ship. Every last bit of it. And you know what? I think they've forgotten where they're standing. I think they've forgotten the gravity of the situation. Or to put it another way, Angels."
River puts Amy's hand on the handles of a console module. "You hold on tight and don't you let go for anything."
"Night, night."
Their feet leave the floor. The spaceship tilts and the Angels fall backwards through the Forest. They disappear into the crack, which then closes.
▪︎▪︎▪︎
"He can be very frustrating, your father," River commented as she and Arthur looked at the Doctor and Amy having a conversation. "Especially the younger one."
Arthur blinks. "Have you seen all versions of his?"
"Some. But I tried to avoid his 9th and 10th incarnation."
"Why?"
Her eyes blazed with anger. "Last thing I need is to talk to a stubborn man who thinks he can blame someone to make himself better."
Arthur creased his brow, not expecting that tone of hers when talking about past Doctors. "Mama…he changed."
"Maybe. But those two men? None of those two are your father. And I will never forgive either of them."
The young Time Lord opens his mouth, ready to object when the Doctor goes over to River.
"You, me, handcuffs." River gestures on a pair of high-tech cuffs that beep in her hands. "Must it always end this way?"
"What now?" He questioned.
"The prison ship's in orbit. They'll beam me and Sunny up any second. I might have done enough to earn a pardon this time."
"They better do," Arthur growled.
"Octavian said you killed a man," the Doctor recalled, making the brunette cursed. Of course he said that.
"Yes, I did," River confessed, no point in lying about that.
"A good man."
"A very good man. The best man I've ever known."
"Who?"
"It's a long story," Arthur sadly replied, remembering their situation back on Utah. "And so much complicated. I can't even tell you more than that."
"It has to be lived. No sneak previews," River agreed, then paused. "Well, except for this one. You'll see me and Sunny again quite soon, when the Pandorica opens."
"The Pandorica," the Doctor scoffed. "Ha! That's a fairy tale."
River and Arthur chuckles. "Doctor, aren't we all?" River pointed out. "We'll see you there."
"I look forward to it."
"I remember it well."
"Bye, River. Bye, Arthur," Amy said.
"See you, Amy," River told her.
"Tell Rory I said hello," Arthur smiles before using the teleport device that's beeping. "Our ride's here."
"Can I trust you, River Song?" the Doctor asked for one last time.
"If you like," River laughs. "But where's the fun in that?"
With that, River and Arthur are beamed away in a whirl of sand.