On a night in 1996, in a small town named Leadworth, a young Scottish girl is kneeling beside her bed, eyes closed, saying her prayers. "Dear Santa. Thank you for the dolls and pencils and the fish. It's Easter now, so I hope I didn't wake you, but honest, it is an emergency. There's a crack in my wall." She briefly glances at the crack on the wall beside her, but quickly continues her praying. "Aunt Sharon says it's just an ordinary crack, but I know it's not, because at night there's voices, so please, please, could you send someone to fix it? Or a policeman. Or a—"
The young girl turns her head towards the window when she hears a weird noise from outside her house. "Back in a moment," she said, gets up from the floor, picks up a torch from the nightstand, runs to the window and pulls back the curtain to look outside. A blue police box appeared on the side and knocked down part of the shed. There is smoke rising from it. Not far from it, a young brunette man lying on the grass, his face winced while groaning. A backpack can be seen on his left side.
This must be the help!
"Thank you, Santa," she whispered, looking above the sky before stepping outside wearing a red jacket and matching wellies.
By the light of the torch, she makes her way through to where the police box has crashed and the man already sits down, holding his arm. "Ouch," he muttered.
"Are you okay?" She asked him.
"Huh?" He looks at her, startled a bit as he looks around. His eyes widen open, then look again at her. He seems to want to say something, but he just says, "Oh yeah, don't worry. My arm just broke. It will heal soon enough."
"What happened?"
The doors behind them suddenly open, stopping the man from answering the girl's question. Then, a rope with a grappling hook is thrown out, latches onto a lawn roller. They both watch as first one hand appears, then the other comes over the edge followed by the Doctor's head. He looks soaked. "Could I have an apple?" He asked out of topic. "All I can think about. Apples. I love apples. Maybe I'm having a craving? That's new. Never had cravings before."
"Let me help," the brunette volunteered, using his other arm that's not broken to help the soaked man to sit on the edge of the police box.
He looked inside it. "Whoa. Look at that."
"Are you okay?" She asked this man.
"Just had a fall. All the way down there, right to the library. Hell of a climb back up."
"While I got thrown out," the brunette added, not happy.
"You're soaking wet," the girl pointed out.
"He was in the swimming pool of the library," the brunette explained. Ah, that explains it.
"Are you two policemen?"
"Why? Did you call a policeman?"
"Did you come about the crack in my wall?"
"A what?" The brunette repeated, his mouth trembling…before the soaked man gasped in pain as he fell to the ground. "Doctor!"
"Are you all right, mister?"
"No, I'm fine," the man called the Doctor assured them. "It's okay. This is all perfectly norm—" A breath of golden energy comes from his mouth.
"Who are you?" She pondered.
"I don't know yet. I'm still cooking."
"Does it scare you?" The brunette asked her. "The crack in your wall, I mean."
"Yes," she admitted.
The Doctor suddenly stands up. "Well then, no time to lose. I'm the Doctor. That's Arthur. Do everything I tell you, don't ask stupid questions, and don't wander off."
"Wait," Arthur warned as he started to turn around. "There's a—"
The Doctor walked straight into a tree.
"Tree," he finished awkwardly before he and the girl looked down at him. "Just let me help, okay?"
▪︎▪︎▪︎
As they entered, Arthur's feelings began to become mixed. Even though 900 years had passed, he still remembered this house. The house where his grandmother lived, the house where Arthur and his mother visited during the Pandorica incident...and the house where he was kidnapped by the Silence.
"If you're a doctor, why does your box say Police?" The girl—Amy—wondered after Arthur gave the Doctor an apple that he got from the fridge.
The Doctor bites into an apple, then spits it out. "That's disgusting. What is that?"
"An apple," Arthur replied. "Duh."
"Apple's rubbish. I hate apples."
"You said you loved them," Amy remembered.
"No, no, no. I like yoghurt. Yoghurt's my favourite. Give me yoghurt."
"Just…do as he told you," Arthur suggested to Amy.
She sighs, gets him a pot from the fridge. He pours it in his mouth and then spits it out. "I hate yoghurt. It's just stuff with bits in," the Doctor complained.
"You said it was your favourite!" Arthur and Amy pointed out at the same time, confusing him with the way their tone of voice sounds similar.
"New mouth. New rules. It's like eating after cleaning your teeth. Everything tastes wrong. Argh!" The Doctor twitches violently as he slaps his forehead.
"What is it? What's wrong with him?" Amy inquired towards Arthur. He seems to be the sensible man in this room.
"He's being picky," the man remarked in annoyance. He thought dealing with the Twelfth Doctor is hard enough, but the Eleventh Doctor just takes its level of being a pain in his butt. "Okay, let's just test all sort of you you had, Amy. Then—"
"Amy?"
"Oh…right. Sorry, Amelia. Old habit."
"How can you know my name?"
"I'm a psychic. I can mostly see the past, present, and future."
Amy raises her eyebrow. This is going to be a weird night.
▪︎▪︎▪︎
And so, both Amy and Arthur had tried to please the new regenerated Doctor. Amy makes some bacon, to which the Doctor thinks that Amy tried to poison him. Arthur tried with warm beans…that made the Doctor spit it out in disgust. Even a simple bread and butter makes him so upset, he throws it at a poor cat!
After some time, they finally settle on something he can eat without any complaint. And that food is…fish fingers and custard.
That explains why his father loves that food.
The Doctor contentedly dips the fish fingers into a bowl of custard and eats, while Amelia and Arthur have ice cream.
"This is nice," Arthur remarked at the ice cream. "Been a while since I ate ice cream."
"How long since you had one?"
"Oh, I'm not sure. Maybe…200 years ago?"
"Funny," Amy commented, shaking her head at him and the Doctor.
"Am I?" The Doctor pondered.
"You kinda are," Arthur admitted.
"Good. Funny's good. What's your name?"
"Amelia Pond," Amy introduced, guessing he didn't pay attention when Arthur called her Amelia. Not a surprise, with the way he acts.
"Oh, that's a brilliant name. Amelia Pond. Like a name in a fairy tale. Like yours, too!" He pointed out to Arthur. "Arthur Jonas, the Explorer."
"I had a classmate whose middle name is Arthur."
Arthur raises his eyebrow. "Really? Who?"
"Rory Williams. He's shy, but nice. You kinda remind me of him."
He smiles in appreciation. Sometimes River and Amy had said that to him, that while he picked up some of the Doctor and River's quirks, he mostly had a similar personality like his grandfather. "He seems lovely," he said.
"Are we in Scotland, Amelia?" The Doctor wondered.
Amy looks sulk. "No. We had to move to England. It's rubbish."
"So what about your mum and dad, then? Are they upstairs? Thought we'd have woken them by now."
"I don't have a mum and dad. Just an aunt."
Arthur grips his spoon. So the crack had taken Augustus and Tabitha Pond away. He can't save them from being erased. But he suppose…he can't always force to save everyone he wants.
"I don't even have an aunt," the Doctor shared.
"Lucky you," the brunette man remarked, thinking of how Bad Wolf, his aunt, can be really annoying sometimes.
"I know. So, your aunt, where is she?"
"She's out," Arthur replied. He never met her exactly, but from what Amy told him back at Manhattan, she's not exactly a responsible person.
"And she left you all alone?" The Doctor asked, shocked that her aunt is careless to leave her alone.
"I'm not scared."
"Course, you're not. You're not scared of anything. Box falls out of the sky, men fall out of a box, men eat fish custard, men eat your ice cream, and look at you…just sitting there."
"It's been a weird day for her," Arthur shrugs, which Amy nods, agreeing.
"Exactly," the Doctor agreed. "So you know what I think?"
Amy frowns. "What?"
"Must be a hell of a scary crack in your wall."
▪︎▪︎▪︎
Arthur gulps as he watches the crack on Amy's bedroom. The crack is about three to four feet long, an elongaged W shape. This isn't his first experience with the crack, yet somehow, it still makes him uneasy, knowing that the crack was created from the explosion of the Tardis and how he and his mother were at the centre of it.
This very own crack will never stop appearing…and he can't say that to them without destroying the timeline.
"You've had some cowboys in here. Not actual cowboys, though that can happen," the Doctor mused, looking at Amy's bedroom.
"I used to hate apples, so my mum put faces on them," she shared, giving the Doctor an apple with a smiley face cut into it.
"My grandma used that to me as well," Arthur recalled, reminiscing of those days in Manhattan. He and Anthony love apples, and they craft more after Rory grows an apple tree at their place.
"They sound good, your mum and your grandma. I'll keep it for later," the Doctor remarked and put it in his pocket. "This wall is solid and the crack doesn't go all the way through it. So here's a thing. Where's the drought coming from?" He scans it with the sonic screwdriver. "Wibbly-wobbly timey-wimey. You know what the crack is, Arthur?"
"For ordinary crack, just a simple crack. But this one…" he shivers. "Amelia has a good point. This is no ordinary crack. I can sense it from here, trying to get closer and taking us away…"
The Doctor nods. He can tell Arthur knows than he let on, but he probably did this to keep the young girl from freaking out. "If you knocked this wall down, the crack would stay put, because the crack isn't in the wall."
"Where is it then?" Amy asked.
"This crack is…everything, everywhere, all at once," Arthur replied before wincing, realising he had just said a reference none of them understood. Too early. "Anyway, this crack is like…a split in the skin of the world. Two parts of space and time that are pressed together right here in this wall." He glances at Amy. "Can you hear…?"
"A voice. Yes."
There is a vague growling from somewhere. Arthur bites his mouth, notices the familiar growling of a Silent. He takes a deep breath while the Doctor empties Amelia's nighttime glass of water and uses it to listen to the crack as Arthur steps back. He shrugged at the baffled Amy at what he did to her glass of water.
"Prisoner Zero?" The Doctor pondered.
"Prisoner Zero has escaped," both Amy and Arthur repeated, earning an amusing look at each other.
"That's what you heard," Arthur guessed.
Amy nods. "What does it mean?"
"It means that on the other side of this wall, there's a prison…and they've lost a prisoner," the Doctor explained. "And you know what that means?"
"What?"
"You need a better wall," he said and moved a desk from the wall. "The only way to close the breach is to open it all the way. The forces will invert and it'll snap itself shut. Or—"
"What?"
"You know when grown-ups tell you everything's going to be fine and you think they're probably lying to make you feel better?" Arthur asked.
"Yes," Amy nods before realising why he asks that. "Oh."
The Doctor takes Amelia's hand while Arthur takes another hand of her to be held. Then, the Doctor aims the sonic screwdriver at the crack. It widens, flooding the bedroom with bright light. "Prisoner Zero has escaped. Prisoner Zero has escaped."
"Hello? Hello?" The Doctor said…before a giant blue eye looked at them through the crack.
"What's that?" Amy whispered.
Before Arthur can say something, a bolt of light goes to the Doctor, and he doubles over, before the crack closes again, permanently.
"There, you see? Told you it would close. Good as new," the Doctor pointed out.
"What's that thing? Was that Prisoner Zero?" Amy asked.
"I think that was Prisoner Zero's warden," Arthur theorised, shaking his head.
"Whatever it was, it sent me a message. Psychic paper. Takes a lovely little message," the Doctor added, then checking his psychic paper. "Prisoner Zero has escaped. But why tell us?"
"Because he escaped...through here."
"But he couldn't have. We'd know," he argued before running into the corridor. Arthur and "It's difficult. Brand new me. Nothing works yet. But there's something I'm missing, Arthur. In the corner…of my eye."
The Tardis Cloister Bell tolls. "Doctor!" Arthur called.
"No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no!" The Doctor realised as he ran back to the Tardis, with Amy and Arthur following. I've got to get back in there. The engines are phasing. It's going to burn!"
"But it's just a box. How can a box have engines?" Amy doubted.
"It's not just any box, Amelia. It's a time machine," Arthur added.
"What, a real one? You've got a real time machine?"
"Technically, it's mine," the Doctor corrected then. "And it's not for much longer if I can't get her stabilised. 5 minute hop into the future should do it."
"Can I come?" Amy pleaded.
"It's not safe there," Arthur reminded her.
"Not yet," the Doctor agreed. "5 minutes. Give me 5 minutes, I'll be right back."
"People always say that," Amy alluded sadly.
"Hey," Arthur taps her nose as he's kneeling beside her. "He'll try. I know we just met, but I can tell you, he'll try to keep his promise." Amy nods, still sulking. Arthur sighs. No wonder Amy often looks sad at him when he was in Manhattan, waiting for 31 years until Canton took him. "Tell you what," he glances at the Doctor. "I'll stay with you until the Doctor comes back."
Her eyes brighten. "You will?"
The Doctor looks unsure. "Arthur, I don't think—"
"I'll be fine. Besides, for all we know, it might take a while for you to get back. I can keep an eye on Amelia and anyone in here."
The doctor looked at Amelia and Arthur with sadness. He didn't want to leave them. But he needed to get inside the Tardis to fix the problem with the engine. And he couldn't guarantee their safety if they went inside the damaged Tardis. "I'll be back," he swore, looking at them intensely before jumping down into the Tardis.
Both Amelia and Arthur hear a splash before the door closes and the Tardis dematerialising, leaving them both in a quiet night.
▪︎▪︎▪︎
The doctor didn't come back 5 minutes later.
No matter how long Amelia waited, he never came. He seemed to have disappeared without a trace.
But Amelia knew that he was real. Because Arthur Jonas was real.
At first Aunt Sharon didn't agree to let Arthur stay with them. Naturally, because to her, Arthur was a strange man and he might disturb them. But Amelia insisted on letting him stay for various reasons, like not making her lonely or helping her with her schoolwork. Either tired or having changed her mind, Sharon Pond allows Arthur Jonas to stay as a boarder.
It was then that Arthur started looking for various part-time jobs to pay for his rent and living expenses. Several people began to notice him over the past few years as the person living in the Pond residence…and the only person who believed in the existence of Amelia's imaginary friend after Melody Zucker, an orphan girl who also lives in their house per Arthur's request when she arrived in Leadworth a month later.
There were times when Amelia felt a little bad when discussing the Doctor. She knew the Doctor was real, but no one ever wanted to believe him like Arthur and Mels. Rory also annoyed her sometimes, even if only a little. Amelia started to get frustrate because she was considered insane for believing in her fantasies, to the point of getting therapy by four psychiatrists.
That's one of the reasons she changed her name to Amy Pond. Amelia Pond was too much of a fantasy, and she hated the reminder of it. But another reason that Amy became uncomfortable with the topic of the Doctor was how stubborn Mels was about it, even more so than Amy herself. Every question that teachers ever ask to her always answers the Doctor. She always gets into the principal's office. And Arthur always got into trouble since he's her only guardian and the only teacher who's never questioning her behaviours. She feels bad about that, seeing how many people are just angry at Arthur for being irresponsible with Mels, even though none of those is his fault!
Even then, sometimes she and Rory had to deal with Mels' crazy antics. Like now, for instance.
"It was late. I took a bus," Mels defended as she lay on the bed, playing around the Tardis' toy in her hands in Amy's room.
"Technically, you stole a bus," Arthur corrected her. "A new record, I must say."
"This isn't something to celebrate!" Amy huffed, walking around. Of all things he could say, that's what he was supposed to say? Amy knows Arthur is a tolerable person, but he's too tolerable around Mels. "Who steals a bus?"
"I returned it," Mels pointed out.
"You drove it through the Botanical garden," Rory added.
"Short cut."
"Maybe next time, don't steal a bus?" Arthur suggested as he's sitting on Amy's bed near Mels. "I know you love to be creative, but maybe…tone it down?"
"Why can't you just act like a person?" Amy demanded of her friend. "Like a normal, legal person?"
"I don't know," Mels shrugs, leaning herself closer to Amy. "Maybe I need a Doctor."
"Stop it!" The ginger huffed and grabbed the toy back.
"Er, I'd better go," Rory informed as he's packing. "I'm on earlies tomorrow."
"Remember the breathing exercise," Arthur reminded him, knowing how nervous Rory is with tomorrow's interview at Royal Leadworth Hospital.
Mels secretly smiles at Arthur. People always call him Absurd Arthur because he believes in the Doctor. Those people never really see what kind of person Arthur Jonas is. A patient and kind man who wants to help. That's why so many kids like him at school. "It's all right for you. You've got Mister Perfect keeping you right," she quipped, bringing another topic to talk about.
"He's not even real. Just a stupid dream when I was a kid," Amy insisted before throwing at Arthur, giving him an apologetic look about the Doctor being a 'stupid dream'.
"She's talking about Rory," Arthur elaborated, giving the toy to Mels right as Rory opened the door.
"What, Rory? How have I got Rory?"
"Yeah, how…how's she got me?" Rory asked, turning around, panicked.
"He's not mine."
"No. No. I'm not hers."
"Oh, come on. Seriously, it's got to be you two," Mels remarked, looking at her parents in exasperation. "Oh, cut to the song. It's getting boring."
"Nice thought, okay, but completely impossible," Amy stated.
"Yeah, i-impossible," Rory agreed reluctantly.
"Why not?" Arthur smirked, daring them.
Amy looks around nervously. "I mean, I'd love to. He's gorgeous. He's my favourite guy. But he's, you know—"
"A friend," Rory replied while Amy says, "Gay."
"Wow," was all Arthur could mutter, not sure because of whom. Mels simply snickers at her parents' response.
Rory looks at Amy. "I'm not gay," he pointed out.
"Yes, you are," Amy insisted.
"No. No, I'm not."
"Course you are. Don't be stupid. In the whole time I've known you, when have you shown any interest in a girl?"
"Penny in the air," Mels mumbled while Arthur made a fake cough.
"I mean, I've known you for, what, 10 years? I've seen you practically every day. Name one girl you've paid the slightest bit of attention to?"
Heartbroken, Rory flees. Confused, Amy turns to Mels and Arthur, who give her the look. She slowly realises what they imply. "Oh…my God! Rory!" She reacts, runs after him after
"And the penny drops," Mels muttered as she put down the toy.
"Finally," Arthur noted. He never had that trouble with Delaney in Trenzalore. The moment he realises he likes her (like, really likes her), he confessed it right at her face. "Took a while to make it happen."
"Wanna go to the pub to celebrate?"
Arthur looks around and the noises below them. "Yeah, why not?"
Mels grin. "You know you're gonna pay, right?"
"Don't remind me," Arthur huffed at the teenage version of his mother who's laughing in the room. The brunette takes some steps outside the room, briefly looking around the corridor, frowning. Sometimes he can sense something…odd about this place. But he can't be certain what it is. "Help your parents first. Then, I'll consider paying."
"On it!" She agreed and threw the toy away.
▪︎▪︎▪︎
Two years later…
"Here you go, Mitch!" Arthur smiles as he gives a box of some medicines to a staff member who works there. Among being a teacher, Arthur also works in delivery.
"Thanks," he replied, took the medicine, and signed off the paper Arthur had brought.
"Arthur?" Someone called him from behind. The brunette turns around to see Rory in his blue scrubs, looking nervous. "Can you accompany me?"
"It happens again?"
"Yeah."
"What?" Mitch asked. "What happens again?"
"Nothing too serious. Just some equipment to fix," Arthur assured Mitch before he walked out of the storage room with Rory. "Have you told Dr. Ramsden?"
Rory nods as Dr. Ramsden walks past them, giving them 'no nonsense' glare before they all march into the ward. All the patients inside the ward are unconscious. The woman stops in front of one of the beds while Rory and Arthur stand beside her.
"So. They all called out at once, that's what you're saying?" She asked them. They both nod. "All of them. All the coma patients."
"Yes," Arthur replied as she looked at the patients' file.
"You do understand that these people are all comatose, don't you, Mr. Jonas? They can't speak, if your brain cannot understand."
"Yes, Doctor Ramsden," Rory remarked, trying to be patient at what she had stated. This isn't the first time doctors and nurses in this hospital commented on Arthur's idiocy. So many times Rory wants to argue back…and so many times Arthur told him to let it go. Right now, he needs to remind himself of that.
"Then why are you two wasting my time?" Dr. Ramsden demanded.
"Because they called for you."
"Me."
The male coma patient behind them is speaking. "Doctor. Doctor. Doctor."
Then, a woman behind Arthur repeats the same. "Doctor. Doctor."
Soon, all patients start to say 'doctor' over and over and over. Arthur watches silently, frowning. He knows Prisoner Zero has something to do with these patients who keep calling his father. But for what…he had no clue. No visions he got can clear this up.
After they stop chanting, Dr. Ramsden examines the first patient to speak. The brunette notices some pictures of the man and his dog are on the nightstand. "I don't think they were even conscious," she concluded.
"So why did they call 'doctor' repeatedly?" Arthur pondered.
"Dr. Ramsden, there is another sort of, um, funny thing," Rory alluded.
"Yes, I know. Dr. Carver told me about your conversation and you keep bringing him as well," she addressed, gesturing to Arthur. "We've been very patient with you, Rory. You're a good enough nurse, but for God's sake!"
"We've seen them."
"These patients are under 24-hour supervision! We know if their blood-pressure changes. There's no possibility you or Mr. Jonas has seen them wandering in the village! Why are you giving me your phone?!"
"It's a camera too," Arthur added after Rory held his phone out.
She reaches for the phone before the pager beeps. Then, she takes it out. "You need to take some time off, Rory. A lot of time off. And stop bringing Mr. Jonas into your mess. Start now."
"Dr. Ramsden—"
"Now!"
Rory reluctantly nods before leaving. Arthur simply shook his head, disappointed at the woman before leaving as well. He had a vision of this scenario happening. He hoped if he accompanied Rory as a witness, she would buy it. Apparently not.
"Sorry," Rory said after they're in the lobby. Not only Rory had to drag Arthur into his own problem, but he also got another insult.
"Don't be," Arthur said with a reassuring smile. "I'll go buy some ice cream for us. How about it?"
"Ice cream sounds good. But—"
"But not too much. Got it."
▪︎▪︎▪︎
"Hi, Frank!" Arthur greeted Frank, who sells ice cream on a van. "Two chocolates, please!"
"In a minute," he replied, ready to play Clair De Lune over the speaker…when a loud, familiar voice comes out instead.
"Prisoner Zero will vacate the human residence or the human residence will be incinerated. Repeat. Prisoner Zero will vacate the human residence or the human residence will be incinerated."
"What's that?" A voice demanded from behind, scaring Arthur when he realised the Doctor had stood behind him. He also spots Amy walking to him. "Why are you playing that?"
"It's supposed to be Claire De Lune," Frank said, frowning at the radio.
"Doctor? How did you…" Arthur's mouth opened wide as new visions filled his head. "Nevermind. Come with me."
"What?" Amy asks as Arthur leads them into Mrs. Angelo's house.
"Hello, Mrs. Angelo. Sorry about breaking in. We're going to check the TV."
"Hello, Arthur. Good to see you," Mrs. Angelo greeted him, giving him the remote TV before the Doctor snatched it. "Oh, hello too, Amy dear. Are you a policewoman now?"
"Well, sometimes," Amy mentioned.
"I thought you were a nurse."
"I can be a nurse."
"But you said you're a nun," Arthur suspiciously recalled.
"I dabble," Amy added.
"Really, Amy? Even now? I told you to stop doing that!"
"Who's Amy?" The Doctor asked, shifting his attention from the TV to them. "You were Amelia."
"She didn't like it," Arthur answered before she did.
"I know you, don't I? I've seen you somewhere before," Mrs. Angelo guessed at the Doctor.
"Not me. Brand new face," the Doctor stated and opened his mouth widely. "First time on. And what sort of job's a kissogram?"
"I go to parties and I kiss people," Amy replied awkwardly. "With outfits. It's a laugh."
"And I hate it," Arthur articulated.
"You were a little girl 5 minutes ago," the Doctor argued.
"You're worse than my aunt," Amy huffed.
"I'm the Doctor. I'm worse than everybody's aunt. And that is not how I'm introducing myself."
Arthur takes a radio on, trying to play a different channel that only repeats the same thing in different languages. "They're broadcasting to the whole world," he informed the Doctor, who looked out of the window.
"What's up there? What are you looking for?" Amy inquired.
"Okay. Planet this size, two poles, your basic molten core? They're going to need a 40% fission blast," the Doctor calculated as Jeff comes in and the Doctor speaks to him. "But they'll have to power up first, won't they? So assuming a medium sized starship, that's 20 minutes. What do you think, 20 minutes? Yeah, 20 minutes. We've got 20 minutes."
"20 minutes to what?"
"Save the world from going boom," Arthur answered.
"Are you the Doctor?" Jeff theorised.
"He is, isn't he? He's the Doctor! The Raggedy Doctor. All those cartoons you did when you were little," Mrs. Angelo remembered, then looked at Arthur with another realisation. "Which means…you're really his sidekick! The Absurd Arthur!"
"Arthur the Explorer," Amy corrected.
"Absurd…Arthur?" The Doctor repeated, offended.
"People always call him that," Jeff affirmed, not understanding why he looks angry. "The Absurd Arthur. Amy always insists on that."
"I called him 'Arthur the Explorer', after one of my favourite kids shows," Amy explained, embarrassed and annoyed at the same time. "You people started to call him that! Not me!"
"Can we focus on our main issue?" Arthur pleaded, exasperated to get into this argument back. Not only the Earth is in danger and they need to stop it, but he didn't want a repeat incident of this matter. It's quite enough that Mels had broken Veronica Stackmore's collection of barbies after she called Arthur 'unhinged man' and how it almost made Mels expel from school. "Somewhere up there, there's a spaceship, and it's going to incinerate Earth if we don't find Prisoner Zero."
"Right, right!" The Doctor nods. He wants to argue about that stupid nickname that Arthur doesn't deserve. But that's not what Arthur wants. Right now…he needs to save Earth.
▪︎▪︎▪︎
The Doctor, Arthur, and Amy walk down the middle of the road.
"What is this place? Where am I?" the Doctor demanded. He never got a chance to ask where he was beforehand.
"Leadworth," Arthur answered. "It's a small town. And before you ask…no, there's no airport, no nuclear power station, no car, and the nearest town is Gloucester, which took half an hour by car. Also, none of us have a car after someone destroys it!"
"It's not my fault!" Amy remarked.
"It's totally your fault. Do you know how much money I spent on that car and you destroyed it during your driving exam?"
"Well, that's good. Fantastic, that is," the Doctor complained. "20 minutes to save the world and I've got a post office. And it's shut. What is that?"
"It's a duck pond," Amy answered.
"Why aren't there any ducks?"
"Someone poisoned the pond and killed the remaining duck," Arthur replied honestly. "You're getting distracted again."
"I'm not—ah!" The Doctor clutches his chest in pain. "This is too soon. I'm not ready, Arthur. I'm not done yet."
"What's happening? Why's it going dark?" Amy pointed out that a black disc covers the sun, like a total eclipse.
"The sun's fine, but we're looking at it through a forcefield. They've sealed off the Earth's upper atmosphere," Arthur explained, gulps. "They're getting ready to boil the planet."
"Oh, and here they come. The human race. The end comes, as it was always going to, down a video phone," the Doctor mocked.
"This isn't real, is it? This is some kind of big wind up," Amy insisted.
"Why would you think that?" Arthur asked.
"He told me you had a time machine."
"And you believed me," the Doctor reminded her.
"Yeah…Then I grew up."
"There's no point in being grown up if you can't be childish sometimes," Arthur recited with a meaningful smile towards the Doctor, not even bother to explain how he knows. "Amy…believes in him."
The ginger frowns. "What?" She repeated. She usually doesn't shock Arthur's ability to predict what might happen. He does that sometimes, just in a subtle way (since he told her it would be bad if anyone starts to think he can see the future). What he just implied…he knows what she'll do to the Doctor…and he told her—in his own way—to not do it.
"Just believe in him, like you believe in me, okay? It's all worth it."
Amy looked back at Arthur and the Doctor. In fact, she was still finding it hard to accept the fact that all this had happened. But seeing Arthur's eyes pleading with her to trust the Doctor...Amy couldn't bear to betray the trust he had placed in her for the past 12 years. "What do we do?"
"Get your boyfriend," he smirks as he runs onto the village green and greets Rory. "Rory! Sorry, but no ice cream."
Before Rory can say that he doesn't mind not getting an ice cream, the Doctor grabs his phone and takes a look at it. "The sun's going out, and you're photographing a man and a dog. Why?"
Rory frowns. "Arthur? Amy?"
"Hi!" Amy greeted him. "Oh, this is Rory, he's a friend."
"Boyfriend," Rory and Arthur corrected her.
"Did you find something, Rory?" Arthur hurriedly asked him.
Rory's mouth is ready to answer what he just found…when he takes a good look at the Doctor. "Oh my God, it's him."
"Just answer his question, please," Amy told him.
"It's him, though. The Doctor. The Raggedy Doctor. Which means Arthur—"
"Rory, please focus," Arthur interjected.
"But he was a story. He was a game we used to play together with Mels!"
The Doctor grabs his shirt, demanding, "Man and dog. Why? Tell me now."
"Because he can't be there. Because he's in a hospital, in a coma," Arthur revealed and separated them, eyeing the Doctor. "That's not nice, coming from you."
"Knew it. Multiform, you see? Disguise itself as anything, but it needs a life feed. A psychic link with a living but dormant mind."
The man near them barks at them.
"Oh boy," the brunette man noticed. "Is that…Prisoner Zero?"
"What? There's a Prisoner Zero too?" Rory asked.
"Yes," Amy replied regarding their questions as one of the eyeball spaceships comes down.
"See, that ship up there is scanning this area for non-terrestrial technology. And nothing says non-terrestrial like a sonic screwdriver," the Doctor claimed as he uses it, making all the streetlights explode, the car alarms go off and a poor woman's mobility scooter zooms off down the road. A fire engine goes past on its own, two tone blaring, causing a fireman to shout at the truck.
"You went overboard," Arthur commented before a red telephone box blows up, then the screwdriver explodes. "Told ya."
"No, no! No, don't do that!" the Doctor huffed.
"Look, it's going," Rory pointed out at the spaceship that moved away.
"No, come back. He's here! Come back! He's here. Prisoner Zero is here. Come back, he's here! Prisoner Zero is…"
"Turns into goo," Arthur interrupted, gesturing at a drain cover where Prisoner Zero enters as a goo.
"You could have warned me," the Doctor grumbled.
"What do we do now?" Amy asked.
"It's hiding in human form. We need to drive it into the open. No Tardis, no screwdriver, 17 minutes. Come on, think. Think!" He looks at Arthur. "You've been here for 12 years. Any clue on Prisoner Zero?"
"Not much like you," Arthur shrugs. "I've been trying to find Prisoner Zero, but that thing must have messed up my brain at some point. Everytime I search Amy's house…nothing."
"So that thing…that hid in my house for 12 years?" Amy theorised.
"Multiforms can live for ages. 12 years is nothing to them. But how come you show up again on the same day as Prisoner Zero's warden, Doctor?"
"They're looking for him, but they followed me. They saw me through the crack, got a fix, they're only late because I am," the Doctor explained.
"What's he on about?" Rory whispered.
"He helped Amy with a crack on her bedroom's wall which Prisoner Zero uses to hide from the warden. His Tardis had a problem, which he intended to fix before he searched Prisoner Zero in this town," Arthur elaborated while taking Rory's phone to the Doctor. "Unfortunately, he got late, making him arrive 12 years later. And since the warden is stalking him to find Prisoner Zero…you can guess."
"...Okay."
The Doctor flicks through the images on the iPhone. "These photos, they're are all coma patients?"
"Yep," Arthur nods. "They also at some point called your name."
"8 comas, 8 disguises for Prisoner Zero."
"He had a dog, though," Amy noticed. "There's a dog in a coma?"
"Well, the coma patient dreams he's walking a dog, Prisoner Zero gets a dog," the Doctor explained before remembering. "Laptop! Your friend, what was his name? Not him, the good-looking one."
"Jeff," Arthur said. "And don't take offence, Rory. He tends to do that to anyone. Why do you need his laptop?"
"I need Jeff's laptop. You three, get to the hospital. Get everyone out of that ward. Clear the whole floor. Phone me when you're done."
"Your car. Come on," Amy decided as they took a run to Rory's Mini car.
"But how can he be here? How can the Doctor be here?" Rory demanded.
"He always exists," Arthur remarked and took the driving seat. "He's just…late."
▪︎▪︎▪︎
Amy, Arthur, and Rory speed along to the hospital and run inside. Rory takes a moment to talk with other nurses while Amy is on her mobile. Rory soon rejoins them. "Something's happened up there, we can't get through," he informed.
"Zero," Arthur guessed. "Amy, phone him."
"I'm phoning him," Amy said and the call connects. "Doctor? We're at the hospital, but we can't get through. Oh!"
"What did he say?" Rory asked.
"Look in the mirror," she turns to see the reflection. "Ha-ha! Uniform!" She notices and puts her hair up. "Are you on your way? You're going to need a car."
"He's inside a fire truck," Arthur assured her.
"What do you mean…oh, nevermind. I heard it."
▪︎▪︎▪︎
After they manage to sneak in and enter the lift, the three of them get out of the lift and see the corridors are a mess. Gurneys and tables overturned, scrubs and utensils litter the floor. A woman holding the hands of her two daughters sees them. "Officer."
"What happened?" Amy asked.
"There was a man. A man with a dog. I think Dr. Ramsden's dead. And the nurses."
"Is that so?" Arthur pondered while Amy phones the Doctor again.
"Are you in?" the Doctor inquired.
"Yep. But so's Prisoner Zero," Amy mumbled.
"You need to get out of there."
"What did he do?" Arthur pressed to her.
This time, the woman answers with a little girl's voice. "He was so angry. He kept shouting. And that dog, the size of that dog, I swear it was rabid. And he just went mad, attacking everyone. Where did he go, did you see? Has he gone? We hid in the ladies."
"Uh huh," the brunette mumbled as the three of them slowly stepped back.
"Oh, I'm getting it wrong again, aren't I?" Zero realised. "I'm always doing that. So many mouths."
"RUN!" Arthur yelled, getting Amy and Rory to run. They went down the corridor into one of the wards. They close the doors and slide a broom through the handles and back away from the doors to the centre of the ward.
Amy grips her phone, informing the Doctor. "We're in the coma ward. But it's here, it's getting in."
"Which window are you?"
"First floor on the left, fourth from the end," Arthur responded quickly before Prisoner Zero breaks through.
"Oh, dear. Little Amelia Pond. I've watched you grow up. 12 years, and you never even knew I was there. Not even your precious Arthur Jonas knows me," Zero sneered. "So easy to tweak those stupid brains of yours. Such a disappointment, don't you think, little Amelia Pond?"
"Shut up," Amy barked as Arthur shielded them with his body.
"For 12 years he's been keeping you and your friends safe. But not this time, Amelia."
"Duck!" Arthur warned and kneeling. The moment Amy hears the wail of the siren, she wastes no time to push Rory down just as the ladder from the fire engine breaks through the window, giving the Doctor a way to join them.
"Right! Hello. Am I late?" He asked.
"Still on time."
"Time for what, Time Lord?" Zero mocked.
"Take the disguise off. They'll find you in a heartbeat. Nobody dies," the Doctor ordered.
"The Atraxi will kill me this time. If I am to die, let there be fire."
"Okay. You came to this world by opening a crack in Space and Time. Do it again. Just leave."
"I did not open the crack."
"It's true," Arthur confirmed.
"The cracks in the skin of the universe, don't you know where they came from? You don't, do you? Oh but he knows," Zero stares at Arthur, speaking into a girl's voice. "You were at the centre of it. Living and dying over and over again. How does it feel?" Now, Zero speaks back to the adult voice. "The universe is cracked. The Pandorica will open. Silence will fall. And the Craftsmen shall reach you…"
Arthur shuddered. The memory of being trapped in the exploding Tardis and Tasha's declaration came back. However, he also gets some new visions from Zero's last remark.
He's looking out of a round window at a host of buildings, which reminds him to the theory of Dyson Sphere.
"Why does it have to be this?!" The Doctor (Tenth Doctor, but look older) yelled in frustration and rage, looking tearful at a boy with wavy red hair and amber eyes. "Why I had to lose you again?!"
"Oh, but he is recognising me," the strange man remarked to the Doctor, a teenager with mahogany hair and a ginger women. "Your son knows too. Are you not gepleased, Herr Doctor, to see me again, after so many years?"
The doctor glanced at Arthur, worried. Amy and Rory just stared at each other in confusion, but the Doctor was unsettled by what Prisoner Zero had just said. Pandorica, Silence, Craftsmen...he didn't know what any of that implied, but Arthur definitely knew. His eyes glancing down, his body trembling, and his fingers squeezing his t-shirt...whatever Prisoner Zero meant, Arthur was terrified. And if Arthur Jonas is so scared...he should be wary of the crack.
"And we're off! Look at that. Look at that!" The Doctor announced, distracting Arthur from his thoughts as the brunette noticed the clock said 0:00. "Yeah, I know, just a clock. Whatever. But do you know what's happening right now? In one little bedroom, my team are working. Jeff and the world. And do you know what they're doing? They're spreading the word all over the world, quantum fast. The word is out. And do you know what the word is? The word is Zero. Now, me, if I was up in the sky in a battleship, monitoring all Earth communications, I'd probably take that as a hint. And if I had a whole battle fleet surrounding the planet, I'd be able track a simple old computer virus to its source in, what, under a minute? The source, by the way, is right here." There is a bright light outside. "Oh! And I think they just found us!"
"The Atraxi are limited. While I'm in this form, they'll still be unable to detect me. They've tracked a phone, not me."
"That's where you're wrong," Arthur bragged, can't help but smirk.
"This is the good bit. I mean, this is my favourite bit. Do you know what this phone is full of? Pictures of you. Every form you've learned to take, right here. Ooo, and being uploaded about now. And the final score is, no Tardis, no screwdriver, 2 minutes to spare." The Doctor spread his arms. "Who da man?"
"No offence, Doctor, but no one cares."
"Oh, I'm never saying that again. Fine."
"Then I shall take a new form," Zero concluded.
"Oh, stop it. You know you can't. It takes months to form that kind of psychic link," the Doctor argued.
"Don't you dare!" Arthur warned suddenly.
Zero smirks, transforming as Amy collapses. The Doctor and Rory ran to Amy, checking her while Arthur stares at Zero who changes his looks to be the exact replica of his father.
"Well, that's rubbish," the Doctor commented after Rory pointing at it. "Who's that supposed to be?"
"It's you," Rory replied.
"Me? Is that what I look like?"
"You don't know?"
"He didn't check," Arthur alluded, glaring at Zero. "Stop it already. Don't copy him or her."
A duplicate of young Amy comes from around a curtain and holds the Doctor's duplicate's hand. "Why?" Zero leered. "Why do you bother to keep an eye on her? You know she doesn't care about you. None of them care. Even the Doctor abandoning you."
"She cares. Even now."
"You just keep saying that to yourself. But deep down…you know that's the truth. One day, the Doctor will stop caring about you…and he will hate you."
"Yeah? Well, guess what? You're just getting distracted."
"What?" Zero frowns before realising what's happening. "No. No. No!"
"Well done, Prisoner Zero. A perfect impersonation of yourself," the Doctor mocked, standing beside Arthur.
"Prisoner Zero is located. Prisoner Zero is restrained," a deep voice announced with a bright light pointing at it.
"Silence, Doctor. Silence will fall," Zero snarled and disappeared in a rush of wind.
"The sun. It's back to normal, right? That's, that's good, yeah? That means it's over," Rory concluded as Amy woke up. "Amy. Are you okay? Are you with us?"
"What happened?" Amy wondered.
"We save the Earth," Arthur addressed. "And the Doctor's making a call. I'll pay for it."
Rory frowns. "Pay for what?"
"The bill," the Doctor muttered and phones the Atraxi. "Oi, I didn't say you could go! Article 57 of the Shadow Proclamation. This is a fully established level 5 planet, and you were going to burn it? What? Did you think no-one was watching? You lot, back here, now." He gave the phone to Arthur. "Okay, now I've done it."
"Uh…Did he just bring them back?" Rory gaped as Amy followed him.
"Yep," Arthur verified, rubbing his nose, exasperated and bringing Rory with him as they followed the others.
"Did he just save the world from aliens and then bring all the aliens back again?"
"Yep. Where are you going?"
"The roof," the Doctor answered. "No, hang on," he added and entered the locker room.
Amy frowns. "What's in here?"
"I'm saving the world, I need a decent shirt. To hell with the raggedy. Time to put on a show."
"You just summoned aliens back to Earth," Rory reprimanded him. "Actual aliens…deadly aliens…aliens of death…and now you're taking your clothes off."
"Yeah, let's just go outside," Arthur decided. He's not particularly like to see his dad naked. Again. "You too, Amy. No but! "
"Fiiine," Amy grumbled, walks out of the room before Rory, then Arthur.
▪︎▪︎▪︎
The Doctor walks out in a new shirt with several ties draped around his neck. The Atraxi is hovering overhead.
"So this was a good idea, was it?" Amy guessed. "They were leaving."
"Leaving is good. Never coming back is better," the Doctor acknowledged.
"Come on! Chop chop! The Doctor will see you now!" Arthur articulated, using his teacher's voice that Amy and Rory were familiar with whenever he got serious.
The eyeball drops onto the roof and scans the Doctor and Arthur. "You two…are not of this world."
"No, but I've put a lot of work into it," the Doctor admitted, looking at his selection of ties. "Oh, hmm, I don't know. What do you think?"
"Is this world important?"
"Important? What's that mean, important? 6 billion people live here. Is that important? Here's a better question. Is this world a threat to the Atraxi? Well, come on. You're monitoring the whole planet. Is this world a threat?"
There is a projection of the world between them. "No."
"Are the peoples of this world guilty of any crime by the laws of the Atraxi?"
"No."
"Okay. One more. Just one. Is this world protected? Because you're not the first lot to come here. Oh, there have been so many. And what you've got to ask is…what happened to them?"
A run through of all the previous Doctors, then the Eleventh Doctor steps through the projection with a jacket and bow tie. The one Arthur knows his entire life. "Hello. I'm the Doctor. Basically, run."
The eyeball zooms back to its ship and leaves, very fast. Arthur briefly hears a materialisation sound, then the Doctor takes a glowing Tardis key out of his new jacket pocket. "She's ready," he told him.
"Is that it? Is that them gone for good? Who were they?" Amy asked Arthur, not noticing the Doctor already walks away.
"100% safe. Although… you might want to wait."
Rory frowns. "Wait for what?"
"For him to get you."
Both Amy and Rory looked at each other before realising what Arthur meant. Arthur just nodded slowly, letting them process the information they heard as he walked off the roof.