If Theodore had a coin every time, he ran his mouth thinking an adventure goes smoothly, he'll have enough coins to mint his own, if not cause economic instabilities along the way.
The shambling man came towards them with his head limp, his eyes hidden behind the darkened glass visor, and the way he shuffled towards them, made him look like a puppet.
"Be a good time for any good ideas," Lila looked up at Theodore for any thoughts as he looked at the shambling man.
Chewing on his inner lip, Theodore admitted he didn't have an idea, other than trying his hand at talking with it.
Looking at him like he's got two heads, Lila breathlessly asked him how that's going to help them and he reminded her that he didn't have anything else coming to mind.
"And what exactly are you going to ask him, how's the weather?" Lila pointedly asked Theodore what he planned to ask the shambling man that evidently's not going to answer.
Shushing her, Theodore inquired if there's ever doubt about his abilities as the Doctor.
"Well, you almost got us killed by the Judumbs when you accidentally insulted their leader," Lila thoughtfully answered of an incident where Theodore's linguistics failed him and made Judoon irate with him so much they almost obliterated the entire block they escaped from.
Shirking in his spot, Theodore replied it wasn't his fault that the language of the Judoon remained complex. It wasn't like they dealt with them on enough occasions that he's able to talk to them confidently. Not to mention that he's doing good in comparison, besides that, nobody's made a handy Judoon translation book for him to skim just in case they run into them during an adventure.
"So, what about the book, David wrote?" Lila inquired what's different about the book David wrote about the Judoon language and Theodore reminded her that it's filled with primary insults.
Not exactly something that they needed, though it'd be nice to toss some insults back at them once a while without risking their lives.
"Fair point," Lila notes that Theodore wasn't wrong, despite their troubles in the past, nothing paled having Judoon chasing them down to the ends of the universe after calling them insult after insult.
Returning to the problem at hand, Theodore took a deep breath and stepped forward, forcing Lila behind him, as he stared down at the lurching man coming towards them at a snail's pace.
"Who are you?" Theodore calls out to the man as he shambled towards them like a zombie without the gurgling groaning nosies as zombies known to produce as they lurch in the darkness.
Silently, Lila watched as the man slowly stopped moving, standing in one place, as he seemingly processed the question.
For a little while, he remained this way, before Lila heard a grotesque response, guttural, wet, and inhuman.
"Eh-vee-ree-one," replied the guttural man as his vocal cords sounded rough, like wet metal coils rubbing against each other.
The vagueness in his response confused the two, but Theodore continued and asked him another question, "What happened here?"
Lila caught sight of the man's eyes, as his head lifelessly moved as he answered Theodore's second question, still shadowed by the glass and the muddy hair stuck to his forehead, but Lila sees vacant cloudy eyes with a rough sheen on them.
There's a guttural response, "Waaaaaaaaaaaaaar."
Within seconds, Theodore's mind becomes overwhelmed by a intruding thought that briefly blinded him, when he recovered, he found himself in the hallway, it looked different somehow, but as he searched around, he notices that Lila's nowhere.
"Lee?" Theodore called out to her, but she didn't response, and he's suddenly jolted when he heard a commotion of people running through the hallway.
Customers, workers of the power plant, everyone ran through the hallway, going through Theodore as if he wasn't there, frantically trying to escape the bombs that have dropped in the city.
Turned around, Theodore went with them as they're running, trying to find a safe place, unable to think with their petrified minds.
Following them, Theodore finds himself in the basement, where everyone hunkered down as they huddled close together, their eyes alit with terror as their bodies trembled.
Outside, Theodore hears the sirens blaring, destruction outside the walls of the power plant as the sound waves battered buildings, tearing up the roads, and distinctively Theodore felt the earth under them rattling from the quakes, the doors they went through covered in debris as part of the ceiling collapsed.
The staircase they used, cracked, and destroyed, preventing anyone from escaping even if they successfully removed the debris blocking the doors.
Screaming, panicking, wails of fear, echoed through the basement as people realized they're trapped in the basement, unable to escape their prison, and on their faces, Theodore saw the realization behind their petrified faces.
Nobody's rescuing them.
They're trapped and with the chaos outside, there's no chance anyone's stumbling upon their wails for help.
Above the lights fluctuated until it plunged the basement into darkness, faintly, Theodore sees something dripping near one of the walls, iridescent, and before he's able to respond, there's a bright flash, plunging him back to reality as he felt Lila squeezing his nose.
She stopped the moment she saw him stir from his spot and it took him a moment before he realized he's standing in his original spot, his icy blue eyes fixated straight.
"How long was I out?" Theodore thoughtfully asks Lila as she recoiled, looking at him with concern in her chestnut eyes.
"Almost two minutes, you just zoned out. I tried to snap some sense into you, but the lights were on, but nobody home," Lila responded to him before she pointed towards the lumbering man that dropped to the ground the moment Theodore zoned out.
Looking up at him, Lila asks Theodore what happened, and he responded that he saw a flashback of the power plant the moment the bombs dropped.
Everyone escaped to the basement, but unable to leave as they're trapped by the destroyed stairs and debris.
He's certain now, what they're dealing with, as he spotted a clue among the chaos, iridescent liquid leaking in after the quakes.
If the math's correct, the liquid puddled after a few hours, and the desperate people ended up drinking it to prevent dehydration, despite them knowing exactly what's causing the iridescence.
Unfortunately, Theodore recoiled as his mind flashed scenes of the unpleasantries that went on as people desperate for survival did everything they could, hoping for a miracle, but a miracle never came for those poor souls.
Something happened to them, he saw them malformed from drinking too much of the iridescent liquid, their skins sloughing off their bodies, their eyes bulging out, their wails echoing throughout the basement, and their flesh melding together like fabric as individuals disappeared into a river of flesh that moved like liquid as it poured into the centre of the basement.
Eyes bulging out of the reformed flesh, going from liquid back to solid, a pinkish hue body with large brown bruises, several arms of various lengths and widths poking out the sides, there's ears sticking out on the top of the round flesh blob, and the multitudes of disfigured mouths, contorted in pain and wails, appearing on front of the blob as it pulsates, before it started moving like a top-heavy slug, using the various arms to propel it forward.
It only dawned on Theodore that as the creature formed, that the brains of those people collectively formed into one Frankenstein brain, amplifying the intelligence, coupled with the radiation further endowing it capabilities impossible to the common man.
Thirty-four.
Thirty-four people dissolved and reformed into that creature.
Unfortunately, this revelation didn't end on that note, as Theodore saw flashes of people lured to the power plant, finding themselves near the edges of the gaping hole leading into the basement, their eyes unfixed, and they flung themselves into the darkness below, but there's no thuds.
Peering into the darkness, Theodore sees what became of those affected by the creature, this fleshy beast, the red coated mass of flesh as it pulsates after consuming the victims.
Seeing it move and slither, the way the unfocused eyes seemingly worked in unison, and the way the mouths moved, if nobody knew it beforehand, they think it's only nightmare.
As the scenes faded from his mind, Theodore's eyes blinked numerous times before Lila asked what happened this time, and he only summed that he knows what they're dealing with, but she doesn't want to know what it is, and that they needed to find the others.
Following Theodore, Lila ran with him as he searched for the others, fortunately he nearly ran into Boris who stepped out of the room after searching it for valves.
"Are you trying to get shot, boy?" Boris recoiled as he stared at Theodore before Theodore quickly told him that he knows what they're dealing with and he needed to find Vodka and Artyom.
Hearing that they're dealing with, made Boris queasy, but he believed Theodore nonetheless, and he helped him and Lila track down the others.
Found Vodka, he found stowed bottles of bootleg alcohol, left behind by someone who temporary stayed in the power plant, and he found the quality's something left to be desired. Not only that, lethal if anyone's stupid enough trying to drink a whole bottle.
"Where's Artyom?" Boris asks him and Vodka shrugged as he said that Artyom went to find Cyrus. He couldn't stop the man if he wanted and it led them fearing the worst until they saw something coming towards them from the corner of their eyes.
Sharply turning their heads, they see Artyom coming towards them, hoisted over his shoulder, Cyrus, having located, and knocked him out so he couldn't fight them.
"Where was he?" Boris asks Artyom.
He responded with a simple, "He was almost at death's door before I threw something at his head."
Checking Cyrus, they see him unconscious, but alive, and with them regrouped, Theodore told the other two what they're dealing with and asked how they're doing with the valves.
Vodka looked at him with his wide eyes as he muttered something under his breath before Artyom told Theodore that they turned all the valves they found leading into the basement.
"I need to make explosions, something strong enough to collapse the walls in the basement, damage the pipes further. Is it possible the bootleg liquor's potent enough for that?" Theodore looked to the men for answers and Vodka said that with some mixtures from the bottles he brought with him on top of what he knows about basic explosives, he'll make some bombs.
Though, they'll only have six bottles worth and he's not sure if they're enough for whatever Theodore's planning.
Nodding, Theodore told him to do it and for Boris helping them craft a makeshift javelin that they're able to push down the hole that'll land on it's sharp side without fail. Heavy enough it goes through the flesh and stuck to the ground beneath and it can't yank it out. Tall enough that it can't easily slough itself off the pole.
"Javelin?" Boris' confused until Theodore explained that he wants to kill the biomass by exploding the surrounding areas, the javelin's just a way for them making sure that it sticks.
"But how'd you know, what if it doesn't work?" Boris pointed out that they risk the javelin plan not working because the biomass wasn't affected by it, despite Theodore's plan.
He tells Boris that it'll have to do, at best it'll stun it, and while it's unable to think as it's writhing in pain from the javelin, the explosives on the back end sets off, and that's that.
They don't have much options and Theodore wasn't leaving until he's certain the biomass' dead. Whatever it was in life's dead long before it formed, no tears shed from him once he's certain it's dead from their plan.
If they don't do anything, they risk more people falling into that hole, and seeing how it grew each time it consumed a person, Theodore didn't want it getting any bigger.
Any bigger, there's no telling what'll happen to anyone in the surrounding areas, and he isn't sure he's strong enough against something like that.
That said, it ends now, and he quickly telepathically told Al of their plans.
Al said that he's on standby with some added touched, ensuring the biomass won't escape and hurt anyone else.
Their plan in motion, Theodore worked with everyone doing what they can with what they have around them, doing what they can to suppress any intrusive thoughts not their own, unable to stop as they're pressed for time.
The javelin's made with several loose long medium-sized metal pipes tied with large metal brackets torn from the wall, the ends of the pipes sharpened like needles. Long and sharp, the javelin's on a wheel cart tied down with three bombs safely underneath the javelin with three more on the javelin itself.
Al's ready for them and with Theodore's command, everything fell in place, with the men forcing the wheel cart through the hallway, building up speed, before leading it propel itself further ahead towards the gaping hole.
Vodka made sure that if the wheel cart loses traction, that he rigged it with some poppers he brought with him as bait, making sure it continues on course.
On Al's command, Theodore fled with everyone out of the power plant, no barrier preventing them from escaping, and their legs didn't stop them until they were well-away from the power plant before they finally stopped.
Looking behind, they see the large columns collapsing into themselves, the building exploding inward, the earth under them rattling as the explosion rippled through the underground, until finally subsiding.
In awe, Vodka remarked, "Some liquor!"
Boris, curious, wondered if there's any more biomass like it that they haven't found yet, cleverer than this one that seemed inhibited by the constant radiation.
Artyom replied that he's certain they'll find another one, this one's just an introductory of what's to come, and that the next one they have a misfortune encountering isn't something easily taken down.
They've seen what the radiation's capable with the wild animals turning into horrendous beasts, biomass made of humans, that's just another thing they needed to worry about.
"Never look at the stars," Artyom summed his disposition on the manner as he looked at them.
"So, what do we think, this thing mind-controlled people into telling wild stories about the power plant housing supplies or someone wanted to call our numbers really bad?" Lila asks what the men think about their situation as she wearily looked around the quiet area away from the collapsed power plant.
Boris summed that if the biomass got into Cyrus' head, then it could've gotten into anyone's head, it probably knew that it couldn't reliably have victims, so it formulated its own plan.
The few humans it didn't kill, it influenced them that there's something in the power plant, and the influence strong enough that it becomes an obsession.
"Talk about ordering out," Lila summed.
Camp Alpha found out about the biomass, somehow, and by then it was too late for them preventing the team from Camp Prime.
Though, Artyom pointed out that if they didn't have the permission, an influenced Cyrus might've forced them, anyway.
The team moved on from the area, following the map, through ingenuity on Al's part, they didn't have any troubles from the roaming beasts, or anything preventing them from getting back to the camp.
By then, Cyrus woke up, groggy, irate, but from conversing with him, it's shown that the biomass' influence on him waned, and he's back to his old self.
"I need a drink," he muttered.
Vodka replied with a smile, "I'll drink to that!"
Returning to the camp, Dimitri checked them over for any signs of radiation, bites, other, and when he cleared them, Josef learnt what happened.
He's shocked, but happy that his team survived against all odds, but petrified that with the existence of one biomass, though dead as it may be, that there's others, and Artyom assured him that if they remained resourceful and watchful, they shouldn't have any problems.
"If it looks untouched, there's a reason," Artyom tells them what possible sign of a biomass lingering around looked like.
An untouched building, looking pristine despite the destruction around it, and seemingly the beasts won't go near it, bound to have something inside that's the cause for it.
Maybe another anomaly, but perhaps something beneath it's the reason.
Once everything's situated and they returned their gear back to Rasputin, Theodore and Lila looked forward returning to their world, and while they stood around trying to find a semblance of normalcy, Lila asked a question.
"You think they're going to make it?" Lila asks him what're the odds that humanity in its current form survives to see another day in the distance future.
Thinking to himself, Theodore replied that he's not sure, but he didn't want to jinx their efforts.
If the fear's realized and the feared darkness becomes permanent, maybe not, but humanity's fickle and famously stubborn.
Suppose, they really don't know.
Rubbing the bottom half of his face, Theodore gestures with his free hand as he leads Lila, preparing to find the TARDIS.
He called out to Al in his head, but the TARDIS didn't respond initially, but he sees the avatar distributing supplies to the grateful people as they hurried away with boxes worth of food and clothes.
Seems Al couldn't stand the situation as much as them and in his infinite ways wanted to aid the camp, even if it's temporary.
He noticed them walking over and beamed a smile, while wearing one of the gaudiest outfits known to mankind, but in this situation, nobody's looking at a gift horse's mouth.
Once the last of the supplies went with a family, Al hurried towards them as he tells them that everything's kosher. He put on a convincing facade as a camp leader who went out searching for Theodore and Lila. He convinced Josef that they're like family to him and he became desperate when he didn't hear from them.
He came here when he heard that two people matching their descriptions came through with a team from there.
In thanks for saving and housing them, Al provided the camp surplus supplies as payment for protecting them.
"Figured it's the least I can do, I mean kid, even your mother couldn't stand the thought of eating RATT packs. You ate six, here!" Al summed his reasoning.
With everything that happened, Theodore wasn't going to twist Al's ear for that, he just wanted to go home.
"Hey, not to be a downer, but, what about the shadow?" Lila remembered that they spotted a shadow. It went away and Lila doesn't recall them seeing it again while they're rushing to destroy the biomass and the power plant.
Thinking to themselves, Al and Theodore replied they don't know, but Al said that he didn't pick up anything on the scanners. Just them and the biomass.
"Whatever the case may be, I think I'm done here," Theodore pulled on his stitched lapel as he called this adventure a success and ended his time here.
Al led them to a secluded area of the camp where they're able to enter the TARDIS without anyone noticing a man turning into a machine.
As she's about to step inside, Lila stopped for a brief moment and turned her head.
She didn't see anything but the makeshift walls.
Blinking, she turned her head, walking back inside the TARDIS, and closed the door behind her.
The TARDIS dematerialized, leaving an empty spot where it once stood.
Briefly, there's movement, and something moved along the walls, darker than the unlit area, it's in the shape of a person wearing a fitted suit.
"Tick tock," a ghostly whisper.
THE END