DOCTOR WHO: THE FINAL STOP
Chapter 6
"You...are...perishable..."insisted the Langhorn once more as it closed in on the Doctor, Rory and Flick. She had her gun and the ready and the Doctor now pointed his Sonic Screwdriver at the beast, but neither dared to go any further. All Rory could do was cower in fear, and he knew that was one thing he did very well since travelling with the Doctor. As the Langhorn then readied its claws for an attack, there was a sudden thwack against its legs which came out of the blue. The Langhorn groaned in pain and crouched down to look at who attacked it. The Doctor, Rory and Flick were just as surprised to see who the attacker was.
"Ma'am..." greeted Julian with a broken pipe in his hand.
"Julian..." said a shocked Flick. "I thought you were dead!"
"No Ma'am...never..." he casually replied. The Langhorn was still reeling from its sudden attack and this now provided everyone with a chance to get away. They soon began to run in the direction of King's Cross St. Pancras for one reason alone.
"The TARDIS..." said the Doctor. "We'll be safe in there!" he added as they ran. As they ran, Flick noticed how scruffy looking Julian was.
"What happened?" she asked.
"That thing tried to send me somewhere, but I held off. Hence the torn uniform and dishevelled appearance, Ma'am..." Julian replied. "Nothing a bit of TLC can't fix, Ma'am..."
"You don't have to call me Ma'am all the time, Julian..." pointed out Flick.
"I know..." said Julian. "I just like to do it...its rather fun!" he added as the four of them ran for their lives.
"How dare they attack me..." roared the Langhorn to itself as it got up. The feeling in its legs still wasn't really there, so it couldn't press forward with the chase. It knew though that those people were there to stop it. This simply couldn't happen. "I have to live..." it cried before slowly making its way after the running pack.
To everyone's surprise, the run back to King's Cross St. Pancras hadn't actually take that long at all, but it had definitely worn them out. The Doctor though, still seemingly full of energy ran straight into the TARDIS with Rory soon following after him. Flick and Julian didn't and elected to take a rest on some seats within the station.
"Has that definitely been doing all this, Doctor?" asked an exhausted Rory as he made his way over to the centre console of the TARDIS. The Doctor just had to look to give him the answer. "But why is it doing that?" Rory then asked. "I imagine all those missing people are dead...why did the Langhorn pick them off?" The Doctor just looked over at Rory once more. He hadn't said a word since getting back into the TARDIS and this was worrying Rory a little. "Doctor, what's wrong?" he then asked.
"It's a big dilemma Rory..." spoke the Doctor eventually. "The Langhorn only does this because its been told to. Beings high above it in the Universe control them and command them to do as their told. The Langhorn does it to survive. It feeds off the people it creates through these alternate realities until those inside them die. It's doing it to survive..."
"So, its survival of the fittest then?" said Rory. "Langhorn vs. the Human Race. Hardly fair is it?"
"No..." said the Doctor sadly.
"Well, how do you stop a Langhorn?" asked Rory. "You know how to do things like this. Your brain is brilliant at thinking up things like this. Why hasn't it done it yet?"
"Because the risks outweigh the benefits..." replied the Doctor glumly. "More will die if we act now..."
"Colonel Jorgensen? Ma'am?" came the fuzzy voice at the end of Flick's communicator.
"Yes boys..." she said as she still tried to gain her breath back from the earlier run.
"We got the results on your search..." came the voice.
"And what were they then?" asked Flick.
"Una Corset died 3 weeks ago. Natural causes, Ma'am. Buried five days ago..." replied the voice.
"Thanks boys..." said Flick solemnly before turning to Julian. "Una...she wasn't real Julian. Well, the one we saw earlier here wasn't..."
"How's that possible?" asked Julian. "We held her hands, comforted her. We saw her Ma'am..."
"The Doctor explained it...something about Semi-Ghosts, but they aren't actually ghosts. That beast, that Langhorn as the Doctor called it held an imprint of her and brought her here...even after she'd died. God knows why..." replied Flick
"But they say life is like this with the Doctor..." said Julian. "So unpredictable...that's why Captain Benson resigned...because of him."
"Oh she did not..." retorted Flick. "She had two kids to look after. They are far more important than UN.I.T can ever be. I wouldn't know, no kids, nothing to show for myself and god knows about you Julian...I don't know much about you."
"Well kids aren't going to be a key priority for me and Steve...there's too much paperwork involved anyway. We're happy together as we are..." he smiled.
"Well whatever we have to show for ourselves outside of UN.I.T, it means nothing at the moment..." said Flick. "We've got to solve this...but we need the Doctor."
"It doesn't look likely though, does it?" said Julian as he pointed towards the TARDIS. Flick then just looked at the magical Blue Box and pondered. She knew that the Doctor and Rory could go at any moment when they were in there, but they hadn't. Why hadn't they? If Flick was in their position, she'd have left as soon as possible, or not even have come in the first place.
"The Doctor's got to save us..." she muttered to herself. "...save us from the inevitable..."
Meanwhile, the Langhorn had now approached King's Cross St. Pancras. The feeling in its legs was most certainly back as it readied itself with a gun it selected from its utility belt adorned around its waist. Its fur had hidden the weapon well, so it was both a stealthy and surprising moment for those around the Langhorn.
"Humans...are...perishable..." it grunted loudly. Flick and Julian had seen it but were brave and didn't falter at all. They just stood up and let it observe them. It scanned them closely, eyes blinking madly. Its mind was obviously telling it one thing, and its heart was telling it another. Flick then plucked up the courage to speak to the Langhorn. She had to otherwise they could be killed there and then.
"Don't you think you've eaten enough lately?" she said to it. "You've got to wait another 12 years, mister...we know how you operate."
"You speak with the mind of someone far more intelligent..." grunted the Langhorn. "Those are not your deductions. Someone else worked that all out..." it added looking at Flick all over. Flick knew she'd been rumbled and glanced towards the TARDIS hoping the Doctor and Rory would soon appear. It seemed an eternity before the door of the Blue Box opened and when it did, Flick and Julian sighed with relief. The Doctor and Rory though looked very serious indeed.
"Hello Mr. Langhorn..." beamed the Doctor. "Or would that be Mrs. Langhorn...I'm not too sure which gender you are...so I thought I'd cover all bases just in case!"
"Mister would be appropriate." grumbled the Langhorn turning in the direction of the Doctor and Rory. It grabbed a tighter hold of its gun, but it didn't point it at them, yet.
"Right then, Mr. Langhorn..." smiled the Doctor. "I think we need to talk...you know what about..." The Langhorn just stared at the Doctor darkly and then at Rory.
"We know your predicament..." said Rory shyly. "We understand why you did what you did, but it needs to stop." The Langhorn just seethed with anger and then pointed its gun directly at Rory. It most certainly didn't like Humans taking authority over it and most certainly didn't like shy Humans like Rory doing that.
"No!" said the Doctor. "Point it at me, not him! He's died too often already...its becoming a little bet between me and his Wife when he'll die next. So, just point it at Me!" The Langhorn simply obliged. Rory then relaxed a little but was still nervous at the Doctor now staring at the Langhorn's gun.
"What do you mean ''you understand'' my problem?" The Langhorn then gruffed at the Doctor.
"We know why you do this..." he replied. "Its a matter of survival...one that comes in some many forms across the galaxies. You let us live, and we'll help..."
"Or else...?" grunted the Langhorn as it tightened its grip on its gun.
"I kill you stone dead with my Sonic device...its sound will split your ear-drums and you'll bleed from the inside. A slow, painful death." The Langhorn looked on warily but still held onto its gun firmly. The lack of a response was causing the Doctor to lose his patience. "So, which is it Mr. Langhorn..." he then began "..Live...or Die?"