With the knowledge that they won't be able to help the victims of the shopkeeper, that their bodies became akin to the silk that typical spiders wove around their prey and their innards liquified before thickening, it led to Theodore and Lila questioning how they'll tell the MacDonalds.
"I didn't promise them," Theodore reminded Lila that he didn't get the MacDonalds' hope up, he never guaranteed that he'll find Daphne, much less bring her back alive, but he can guarantee that he'll bring justice for her death and give closure.
Blinking, Lila says that while he's right, she reminded him about how emotions run rampant in parents during dire situations such as this, and how they'll take any sliver of hope as a chance, even when they know it won't come to pass, sooner than accepting the truth.
"My father always told me it was never easy. Al, is there anything you can find that'll help us?" Theodore asks him if there's anything in his limited search that'll help them against the arapulo and as he's pondering to himself, Al finally responded, saying that whatever killed Basil's effective.
Though, that's still debatable, the brain mushed, liquified, spilled out of his tiny ear holes, no way for them to be sure as to what happened, but the point is, whatever happened to Basil, got him before he got whoever did it.
"If he follows the usual tenets, he'll fall down hard, he'll bleed, his skin isn't made of diamonds," Al summarized that with the limited knowledge he has, if someone killed Basil, they can kill this one, but it has an advantage in the sewers, as it acted like an underground tunnel.
The intelligence on the arapulo, Al's not sure, but he's well-aware when the police activity increased after he took Constable Matthews, but not bright enough to hide out until the heat died down, but it's possible that with the apathetic police enabling him to hunt with impunity, he became bolder when choosing his quarry, like a tiger accustomed to hunting humans after killing enough without consequences.
He's not afraid, because he's used getting his dolls, as he called them, that he won't turn away from his hunting ground just because of the officers.
He'll likely do whatever it took keeping his tracks covered, go as far as hunting the officers if he's forced, just to keep his hunting ground.
"I don't even know how we're even going to tell them," Lila noted that when everything's said and done, they'll have one problem, breaking the news to the MacDonalds that their daughter and nanny's dead, long after they've been taken, and that it was the work of an alien that made its way through a tear.
Not even a political spinner could make that palatable for them.
While thinking to himself, Theodore sighs as he says that they'll do what they can to bring closure to the MacDonalds, even if it means having to tell them that it was the work of an alien, how well that'll go, Theodore won't doubt it'll be emotional.
However, he never promised them that he'll find their daughter alive. He only said that he'll work to find her, if that.
His father always told him never to make elaborate or greater promises he can't possibly keep, it's both bad form on his part and causes problems.
Don't make promises he can't deliver, as his mother summed.
"You know, something hit me, like a space rock. Hear me out. He wouldn't want to eat his dolls, would he, no, he wouldn't even want to poke holes in them to drain the fluid just to keep their integrity and keep them from reverting back," Al suddenly had an idea why he found the rat population in the sewers dwindled in a way that's impossible at this era.
Some migrated the moment the arapulo moved into the sewers, some became his meals so he wouldn't have to prey on his beloved dolls.
Snorting, Lila mentioned that for someone who loved his dolls, he certainly didn't drop a tear when the bratty girl unknowingly killed her best friends in her tantrum.
Which is a nightmare of its own right once that little girl realizes what happened, and the nightmares that may follow her for the rest of her life, should she believe the truth.
And yes, she had a point about the arapulo showing anger and violence to the little girl for breaking his dol.
One expected someone who loved his unnatural doll collection to show more emotions when one gets broken, but Al pointed out that the arapulo's probably scheduling a visit to the little girl who broke his doll, and if he's spiteful enough, he'll take her under her parents' noses, if not them, too.
Assuming he hadn't already B-lined to their residence after moving everything else underground and coming back up from the sewers to track them down, time works differently in the TARDIS than it did outside.
Which of course, they couldn't prevent if they wanted, the arapulo would've already bitten them, the venom overtaken them by, now.
The best they can do's stopping it with conventional means, but warned that with it being an alien, don't expect the population to take it face value, they'll likely think it's the work of the serial killer, Jack the Ripper, before settling on the idea their killer's not of this world.
It dawned on Theodore and he asks Al if he's able to get into contact with David and Al snorts as he says that he's capable of contacting people with their radios.
He stopped when he realized that David would know more about the arapulo through Basil, it's not enough because of the limited sample, but if he knew enough about Basil, maybe he knew what the arapulo did or didn't like, something that'll work in their favour.
"You didn't think about that sooner?" Lila winced as she stared at Al before he defended himself, saying that he can't think of everything, and he reminded her that he had to be careful with contacting David and other Doctors.
You can't exactly ask for help when they're not even in the console room, much less if they're in danger, it'd be rude.
"Right. Al, contact David, get what you can from him, find where it goes when it's not above ground, we'll figure out the rest," Theodore ordered Al as the avatar put out his latest cigarette in the phantom ashtray before lighting a new cigarette almost immediately.
Giving an 'ok' sign with his free hand, Al disappeared, leaving Theodore and Lila working out a way to deal with the arapulo.
He's a threat to humans, there's no way he'll leave willingly, without fear he'll simply come back at a different time, and it'd be a different situation if he was like Basil.
"Alright, we're dealing with basically a spider, spiders aren't that difficult getting rid so long they're not Australian. He doesn't use silk, so we have that going for us, he's adapt at hunting humans enough that he can get them without them fighting back, and if he bites us, we're screwed," Lila went down the laundry list of what they know about the arapulo.
Nodding as his wild hair bobbed, Theodore responded that it's the gist of what they're dealing with and they wracked their minds over their plan.
It'll be safer for them luring the arapulo out of the sewers and into the open, but they had to worry about people getting caught in the crossfire, if they can find a location close to the nest, they can draw it out in the open, prevent it from escaping, deal with it the only way they know how, and ensure the body isn't found.
Once that's done, they'll look for the victims and go from there.
"Only thing's how we're going to get him out in the open," Lila sighed as she pondered how they'll lure the arapulo out of hiding long enough that it can't escape through the sewers.
It's been doing this for who knows how long, it's not going to take kindly to two yokels who stepped out of their blue police box telling it can't do that and it's a danger to humans.
Surprisingly, she noticed that the arapulo didn't take a shine to Theodore, given his icy blue eyes, but Theodore suggested the slight of the broken "doll" made it overlook Theodore, and the fact it wanted them gone, presumably because it knew it'd only be a short time before the "doll" reverted back to its natural state, exposing the arapulo.
Which alone, made some unpleasant implications that it wasn't the first time the arapulo had a "doll" break on it, learning how its venom worked, then.
Going by what they know about the long arms and legs, they accounted the arapulo's attempts at trying to escape and kill them, but if they wrapped up its legs and keep it from escaping, once they done that, the arms will be a problem.
Strong enough to lift a grown man, with the six arms after them after tying up its legs, it'll be like avoiding an AI controlled Goro from squishing them in his cheatingly six arms within seconds of the first round starting.
Even with his legs immobilized, he's got six arms, two he can use as legs, he'll get back up with ease.
Meaning, they'll have to further immobilize him by trapping his six arms, assuming wherever he's hiding's close to an area where that's possible.
Leaving Theodore to suggest they use the arapulo's nature against it. If they can't immobilize it one at a time, immobilize all-at once.
"How're we going to do that?" Lila asks as Theodore spun around the console room, his mind pacing, as he's coming up with something for them to use to immobilize the arapulo without a chance of it escaping easily.
He's thinking and he decided on a plan, looking over to Lila with his icy blue eyes.
"What do we know about spiders?" Theodore asked Lila a question while she crossed her arms, her brow raised as she's curious as to what he's planning.
Shrugging her stout shoulders, Lila says that they make webs in corners of the bedrooms and bathrooms, sometimes scaring Billy and Ethan when they're near the toothbrushes.
"Exactly," Theodore points at her before explaining that they'll treat the arapulo like a spider, trapping it in their web, like spiders in nature do to others that wander too closely.
Since the arapulo's akin to a wandering spider, meaning it doesn't produce webs, it won't know what to look out for, giving them an edge.
"Essentially, it'll be like a brown recluse dropped into a black widow's web," Lila haphazardly understood Theodore's plan.
Both the arapulo and the brown recluse don't build webs and usually maneuver on the ground, they're helpless when introduced to a different spider's tactics, their web, that they'll be unable to fight against their respectful quarry.
As he nodded with his wild hair bobbing, Theodore affirmed that it's like that, and once they enshroud the arapulo in their trap, it's a matter of how to end it.
"Actually, David told me similar," Al spoke up as he reappeared, having contacted David, and getting what he can from the elective man while he's busied with his own adventure, Al says that David knew that Basil preferred living underground than topside.
Seeing their form, it's not surprising that Basil didn't want to venture topside, despite his strength, he was still weak in places.
He'd rather prey on underground creatures than anything bigger than a mole, one good punch, it'd risk mortally wounding him.
"And he says that he hadn't come across others during his side of things and that Basil never mentioned his species or where they even came from. They're primary solitary wanderers, he says, they don't even come together for the holidays, heh. You won't find a colony of them like you would daddy long legs for that reason, though David couldn't tell you about nurseries or whatever of that nature. When he was with Basil, he did notice that Basil negatively reacted to bright lights lights, as he primary lived in a low-lit underground library," Al went through what he found during his call with David, who happily picked up the phone, and answered all his questions for him, while giving updates on his end on what he's doing since he's been back in the game after leaving his show. "They don't produce silk, Basil only knew he was there by the vashta nerada reacting when he showed up, there's no strong sense of smell that he's aware of so trying to use pepper bombs probably won't work."
David believes that due to the nature of their evolution, arapulo didn't need a strong sense of smell, living underground, but their vision's evolved for hunting in low-light to darkness, for hearing, despite those small holes on the sides of his head, Basil heard him down the aisle, but that's probably because it's a form of echolocation.
Where the arapulo originated, don't ask David, he doesn't know, Basil didn't disclose very much when he was alive.
"Right, web, bright light, no trouble," Lila summed their tactics in subduing the arapulo.
Nodding, Al tells her that it's what he shook out from his initial call with David, who also gave his well-wishes on their adventure, and hoped to chat with them when things settled down.
Clicking his tongue against his teeth, Theodore asked about Al's search for the nest, which Al said that by going from what David told him, that there's a maintenance area in the sewers that went unused for a while after another one was constructed closer to the access point, it's roomy enough for the arapulo, but for his victims, it's hard for him to say.
As he clicked his tongue against his teeth, Theodore said, "It's better than nothing. Now, come along, we've got a spider to catch."
TO BE CONTINUED ON… "Along Came a Spider"