Chapter 4
The Doctor took out his sonic screwdriver and used it on the door to the classroom they had barricaded themselves into. He put the sonic back in his pocket. Alex walked up to him and asked, "Will that keep the thing out?"
"Not a snowball's chance," the Doctor replied.
"Then what was that for?"
"It makes me feel better," the Doctor smiled nervously.
"You seemed to know what that thing was," Crumbs said, "Care to elaborate."
"Yeah sure," the Doctor nodded.
"You guys really think an explanation is the best thing at this very moment in time?" asked Harper.
"Tell me a better time, Harper," the Doctor said.
"Maybe when we aren't on the brink of death."
"We may not survive so I'm going to do it anyway," the Doctor replied, "Okay, where do I start. It's called a Bangalore. It's the top land based apex predator on the planet Oceans. Basically, it's a giant bat that feeds exclusively on mean. That would be us. I do have a question though. The Bangalore is just an animal. It's not capable of technology or science let alone space travel. How did it get here then? Got any theories, Gandalf."
Crumbs shook his head, "You know more about the thing than I do. Perhaps, one of the aliens brought it with them as a weapon."
"Possible," the Doctor said. He ran his fingers through his hair, "Who am I kidding? That's how it had to have happened. I can't think of any other way. Can you guys?"
"No," Crumbs said, "I didn't even believe aliens existed until recently."
"Seriously? You're a wizard and you don't believe in aliens. Now that's what I call funny," the Doctor said.
"I apologize, but I thought I knew a lot more than I actually did," Crumbs said.
From outside, everybody heard the banging of the giant bat monster trying to get into the castle. The Doctor ran towards the east wall and put the side of his head on the wall. He felt the vibrations of the banging. He took his head off of the wall, "It's started to attack the spires."
"That's not good," Crumbs said, "The castle was severely damaged in the fighting. The walls aren't as strong as they once were."
"That also goes for the floors doesn't it?" asked Alex.
"Yes, Alex, it does," Crumbs said.
Harper forced a smile, "Well I guess getting crush to death is better than being eaten alive."
The Doctor looked at her, "Well, you're just little Ms. Optimistic, aren't you?"
"Just stating the facts, Doctor," Harper told him.
The Doctor turned his gaze to Crumbs, "How long has the Bangalore been here?"
"What do you mean?" asked Crumbs.
"You weren't surprised that you saw the Bangalore. It doesn't live here at the castle, but it lives close by," the Doctor explained.
"You're right," Crumbs responded, "I've tried to get rid of it once, but I can't. There seems to be nothing that can."
The Doctor shrugged. He walked around the room before asked Crumbs another question, "How did you survive here for so long?"
"The garden," Crumbs answered, "I used magic to preserve it before the power core was damaged."
The Doctor perked up at the words "power core". He walked up to the Crumbs, "Where is this power core?"
"Wizard City Hall," Crumbs said, "But there's no use in going. That was one of the first targets in the war. I have never seen anything like it. One day my world was perfectly fine and the next thing I know..."
"Everything was torn away from you in a fit of violence that should not have happened. The war took its toll on your world. It destroyed, damaged and devastated your world. The war claimed insurmountable lives, leaving you as the possibly the only survivor," the Doctor interrupted.
"Yes, that's it exactly," Crumbs replied, "How did you know?"
"Personal experience."
Alex walked over to Crumbs, "Same thing happened to him. War destroyed everything he had."
"Oh my," Crumbs responded.
The Doctor stopped in the middle of his pacing and facepalmed himself. He said, "I can't believe I didn't think of that before."
"What?" asked Harper.
"The Bangalore is a bat," the Doctor said.
"So?" asked Alex.
"How do bats move?" the Doctor asked, "Sound. Bats are sound sensitive. If their echolocation is screwed up, they wouldn't be able to maneuver. I have the perfect thing to screw the echolocation up."
"What would that be?" asked Crumbs.
"This," the Doctor pulled out his sonic screwdriver.
"A wand? Wands don't work anymore," Crumbs said.
The Doctor looked offended when Crumbs called his sonic a wand, "It's not a wand, Dumbledore. It's a sonic screwdriver."
Alex chimed in with, "What do you mean wands don't work anymore? Mine does."
Crumbs looked at her, "That's impossible."
"No it isn't. That's how I got Harper here with us," Alex said.
The Doctor soniced the door unlocked as he said, "Alex is a pure conduit. She can pick up on time energy where others can't. I found that out a few weeks back after the Aragon incident."
Crumbs looked at the Doctor with suspicion this time. He asked, "You aren't a wizard are you?"
"Took you that long to figure be out, Beard Boy," the Doctor said, "I'm not a wizard and I'm not a mortal. I'm a Time Lord."
Alex walked over to the Doctor, "What do you mean I'm a pure conduit?"
"You are connected to time more so than most. Maybe even more than me. I'm not sure why, but I do know that you can see things and hear things that other can't. If you apply yourself, you can remember things that others can't. I've got a theory behind it, but I won't share it until I know for sure. It's nothing bad."
"Better not be," Alex said, "So what are you doing?"
"I'm going to go to the roof and blast that hell bat with my sonic. Wanna watch?" asked the Doctor.
"Of course," Alex said.
The two of them bolted out of the room leaving Harper with the old wizards and the muscular alien. Crumbs asked, "They seem like they do that a lot."
Harper looked over at Crumbs and said, "You have no idea. I get left behind a lot."
Harper walked out and followed the two down a couple of corridors until she reached the roof where the Doctor and Alex were. The Doctor had his sonic ready as he yelled, "Come on you giant bat! Let's roll!"
An ear piercing shriek resounded throughout the air. The Bangalore appeared and was heading straight for the Doctor. He held out his sonic and turned it on. The sound of the screwdriver hit the Bangalore like a train. It fell out of the sky like a rock. The bat fell onto a lower spire causing the stone to stab the Bangalore in the abdomen. The Doctor adjusted the sonic's setting and used it on the spire the Bangalore was on. The old, worn down stone crack and crumbled, taking the giant bat with it.
After the Doctor took his finger off of the sonic's button, the screwdriver sparked and short-circuited. The Doctor looked at, "Lost another one. I'm starting to think that I should give up the sonics altogether."
The stones that the trio were standing started to crack on their own. Alex looked at the Doctor in the eyes and said, "You have got to be kidding!"
"Doctor what happened?" asked Harper.
"I'm thinking that the sonic may have been on too powerful a setting and now caused the entire castle to become even more unstable. We need to get to the TARDIS now."
As another spire collapsed, Alex said, "Yeah, I think that would be a good idea."
The three of them off in the direction of the TARDIS. A third, larger spire collapsed as the three of them ran for their lives.