"You have ten seconds, exactly ten seconds to leave this planet, or I will force you to do so."
The Doctor is trembling. His voice ragged. Anything. Everything short of killing the creature before him, he's tried. If it chooses to call his bluff, he'll be forced to take it down or risk it feeding on half of Dublin.
The creature lowers its hood, revealing the wolf-life snout and teeth and the hungry, lurid purple eyes. It sniffs the air, letting its tongue slither out to taste it. So much fresh meat. So near. Its eyes connect with the Doctor's, and it pauses, head tilting slightly.
The Doctor raises his sonic screwdriver and waits. 4…3…2…
A snort of beast raises its hood and vanishes in a silent, but bright burst of time energy. There's a moment, a suspended pair of heartbeats that the Doctor doesn't believe it worked, that the Alcelupian is gone. He holds his aggressive stance, waiting.
"Was that a werewolf?"
The voice is young, but calm. Curious. The Doctor spins on his heels and locates the speaker, a small boy with dark hair and a pair of flannel pajamas that have been bought to grow into. He's standing on the sidewalk, staring at the spot where the Alcelupian vanished. The Doctor pockets his sonic and goes nearer.
"Werewolf? Nah, don't be silly, not even a full moon tonight. Though actually, it's not the full moon that does the trick for werewolves -"
"Did you do that?" interrupts the boy, pointing at the car parked across the street. A long gash is streaked down the side now, a result of long claws scrabbling for purchase against the smooth metal.
"No, it was the Alcelupian," the Doctor says, sitting down on the curb wearily.
"Alce- what?"
"It's…" The Doctor casts around for a good analogy. "It's a bit like the Big Bad Wolf. Lots of huff and puff and then a heap of 'I think you'd be delicious with chips' when it feels threatened."
"From fairy tales? Those aren't real."
"They are so!" The Doctor pats the pavement next to him, and the black-haired boy sits. "Fairy tales are all around us, you know - people just change the names to make it more exciting. Look -" he flips his sonic and thinks. "Have you got anyone at school who bullies you?"
The boy's forehead creases. "Carl makes fun of me all the time. Laughs at me."
"There you go, then - a dragon. A nasty, fire-breathing dragon trying to burn our brave knight, Sir - what is your name?"
"Jim. What's yours?"
"The Doctor. So, you've got a dragon at school, Sir Jim?"
"I'm not a knight!" The boy says indignantly.
"No?" The Doctor laughs at that, an old, tired laugh. "Me neither, Jim."
"But you fought the… the wolf. You made it go away, just by talking to it."
"Yes," the Doctor says, getting to his feet and putting his sonic back in his jacket pocket. "And in the Alcelupian fairy tales, that makes me the dragon, doesn't it? Every fairy tale needs a good old-fashioned villain. Just depends who's telling the story."
The boy smiles. "I like that."
"Do you? Well, good. Consider the idea a gift from me."
He starts to walk away. The boy scrambles to his feet and takes a few steps after him.
"Will I ever see you again, Doctor?"
The Doctor pauses, half-looking over his shoulder.
"Oh, just look for smoke and fire. I'll probably be around. Fighting dragons."
"Or being one?"
The Doctor tries to muster a laugh and can't.
"See ya, Jim."