Lalwende marched forward, bobbing her head from side to side. At the doorway, Davem lent up against the wall and swayed his legs. He pushed his small, circular sunglasses up his nose and grinned. The smouldering fumes from the room hovered just above their ankles, grappling at their feet.
“Ah!" Said The Phantom, “I’m glad you’re here. I’ve caught these fugitives for you.”
“Shut up you!” Lal shoved him backwards, “Now, all of you, out of the window.”
“This window?” asked The Doctor,
“Any window!”
“Perfect! Come on!” He leaped past the two officers closely followed by the others. Lal gave chase while Davem sunk to his knees and began inhaling the smoke.
Hookbill glanced behind. Lalwende was getting closer, with her teeth gripped and her weapon waving in the air. He leaped over the fallen Werewolves who all had jelly babies in their mouths.
The Doctor leaped down the stairs and peered out of the first window. The figure in white waved to him from the top of the next hill.
“Who is that?” asked Hookbill, running into him,
“Doesn’t matter right now,” he mumbled, kicking the window down, “let’s keep escaping!”
They raced along the pathway going north. The Saucepan Man shook his head as he clattered and clanged along the way. The rain was still thick and soup-like. Chicken flavoured, Hookbill noticed. Harsh thunder rattled through the air, accompanied by a small earthquake. The Doctor stopped and listened as an aftershock shuddered through them.
“Ah,” he said, “the epicentre was north… North West.”
“The Great Barrow?” said The Phantom,
“Probably. Shall we go and see?” he grinned and swung his scarf around, whipping Lalwende in the face. She growled and clasped the two of them by the shoulders. Hookbill was already in the mud a few feet behind, groaning. The Saucepan Man was trying to lift the biggest pot off his eyes, but the dents were too tough.
“When I said, ‘Any Window’,” Lal began,
“Oh, you menant from
that floor?” The Doctor shook his head and then her hand, “I do beg your pardon. This way is it?” he turned and pointed towards the Newspaper building. As Lal nodded, he strode forward, ripping the hair off her arm in one fell swoop. She cried out and swore at him with strong breaths.
Hookbill peered up and saw the police officer on her knees tending her arm while The Doctor analyzed the hair with his Sonic Screwdriver. There was some mumbling from The Phantom as he kicked over a small bucket close by.
“Just as I thought,” The Doctor turned to the others, “the Virus isn’t a virus after all! It’s living hair!”
“What?” Phantom raised an invisible eyebrow,
“Yes, interesting isn’t it? You see, when our friend, the little man poet, took over the world; he was just doing it for fun. But, if I remember rightly, he was a keen astronomer, who knows what he saw falling from the skies. This kind of living hair exists only on a few planets. And wherever it goes, all other life leaves. Not a pleasant thing by any stretch of the imagination.”
“What does this mean?” asked Hookbill,
“We need to find those bacteria,” he said, “and fast. It could still be the key. You, you’re coming with us.” He picked Lal up and pulled her along. Dazed and wobbling on her feet, she followed.
A flash of lightning wormed through the air as if it were badly constipated. Lommy poked Groin in the stomach with a stick as he fumbled with the sack. The two Penguins tapped their feet with grins. The Dwarf patted down his thick beard and mumbled again and again.
“What’s all this for?” asked Greenie, “What does old Mac want with all this… whatever this is?”
“Oh, well,” Groin scratched his head, “to make explosives.”
“Pardon?”
“This stuff, and the other stuff in the basements, set them alight and BOOM!”
Lommy tilted her head and then chuckled.
“I like this.” She said.
The Great Barrow Itself was no longer a sight to be marvelled at. It hadn’t been since The Barrow Wight’s last party, but it was no better now. The writhing hair twisted and spun around, flicking the air and grappling with the grass. The Doctor grimaced, wiping his brow with a small handkerchief.
Making their way down the hills, the travellers hid behind the Standing Stones, cold and tall. The entrance was down the pathway, but three Werewolves guarded it. Their faces were stern, their eyes bright and their teeth were always on show. The Doctor patted his pockets and frowned. He produced one empty bag of Jelly Babies and tossed it away. The Saucepan Man grinned and stood up.
“Watch and learn,” he said, tossing a pan towards the Wolves.
Two minutes later, they were bound and gagged. The Phantom kicked The Saucepan Man at every opportunity he got. A wolf prodded them with a blunt spear, forcing them down the passageways into the Great Barrow. The hair scuttled across the floor like lines of snakes, feeling the travelers and ticking their toes. Lalwende pulled at her hand ropes, growling at every wolf she saw.
Down, down, down into the deep darkness they were prodded. There was hair all over the walls, fidgeting, fighting and fermenting. Soon enough, there was no light. Even the Werewolves began bashing into one another. They continued on until, at last, they stumbled into a wide chamber. The air was cooler, yet dry, full of a deep musty smell. The floor was carpeted with hair. At the centre of the room rose a small shape, its purple eyes glowing like something purple that glows.
Torches were lit all around the room, the brightness, compared to the dark tunnels, was almost blinding. Macalaure stood up. He was a mass of hair. His beard seemed to have taken over his entire body, flowing over and out into the rest of the building. It moved by itself, turning this way and that, as if looking, or smelling, for something.
He stepped down and wandered towards the travellers, humming and chuckling. He reached out a fury arm and gripped a leaver. When he pulled it, the whole place began to shake, dust fell from the ceiling and the Wolves howled.
“Do you know what I’m going to do?” asked The Master,
“Well,” began The Doctor, but before he could speak any more, there was a brilliant flash of yellow light.
With hasty movements, the two Penguins backed their way out of the cellar leaving a trail of gunpowder. Groin raced on ahead, wiping his brow and saying ‘Oh Dear’ a lot. Once they were out in the open, some feet away from the main bulk of the Great Barrow, Lommy dropped a match on the trail and ran up the next hill.
“How long will it take?” she asked as Groin slipped down beside her,
“Oh, a good few minutes yet.” He replied, “I set a good long-”
The Great Barrow erupted in a mighty flame. Werewolves were flung miles into the air, falling all over the Downs with many a thump. The grass, stone and mud that built the Barrow scattered this way and that, dirtying Legate’s windows for one.
“A few minutes?” Lommy poked Groin in the face, “Dwarves.” She rolled her eyes and got up, dusting her robes down. Greenie trotted forward and hummed.
The Great Barrow was now a large hole, but raised above it was a large metal framework. Its long steel legs dived into the ground from a central point where it bulged out in a fat compartment. Green lights flicked on and off all along the legs and red ones blinked in the central section.
There was some groaning behind them. Turning they saw The Doctor struggling to his feet, flakes of ash all over his scarf. A few feet away, Hookbill and The Saucepan Man lay with The Phantom already sitting on a rock near by.
“Come on,” he said, throwing a rock at The Saucepan Man, “get up. If we survived that, then Mac surely did as well.”
“Look!” cried Greenie.
A short, hairy figure was clambering up the metal legs of the framework. He was grunting and sniggering loud enough for them to hear. The Doctor rushed forward and placed his hand on his forehead.
“Do you know what this is?” he exclaimed as the others caught up, they shook their heads, “It’s an earthquake machine. I’ve never seen one this big before.”
“Yes, Doctor!” shouted Mac, his beard was burning at the edges and he swayed as he stood on top of the machine, “I was going to break Middle Earth in two. I promised half of it to the Daleks, I felt a physical break would be good enough to make the distinction. But now, you’ve depleted the power! All I can do is destroy The Barrow Downs and everything in it!” he flung a large red switch and began laughing, “Goodbye Doctor! Goodbye, everything! This will give me satisfaction!”
“Only as long as those cables hold!” The Doctor dashed towards the metal frame and clambered up. The earth was beginning to shake; the machine struggled into life, firing sharp pulses into the earth.
Lalwende shook the mud out of her hair and stood up. Glancing to the right she saw the metal contraption firing beams of light into the ground. All of a sudden, a hand gripped her on the shoulder. Turning around, she almost fell backwards,
“I thought you were missing?” she said. The figure nodded and ran past.
The Doctor crawled along the scaffolding towards the large black cables fixing the power source. Mac was rushing towards him, but as he got close he tripped up. The Doctor’s scarf was tied across the gangway. Cursing, he flung the scarf back at him. He grappled the Doctor’s legs and tried to throw him off, but he fought back, knocking Mac towards the edge.
All of a sudden, he turned his attention to the control room. With a grin, Mac dashed back and vanished through a small door. A second later, the gangway was moving, tilting upwards. Mac laughed and willed The Doctor to fall.
Gripping onto the side with his bare hands, Volo began to regret the decision to clamber up so high. He swung his scarf towards the cables and pulled himself towards them. Gripping with both hands, he pulled them free. There were sparks as The Doctor swung low on the cable. Mac shouted his annoyance and began to clamber down from the structure. As he reached the bottom, a dart hit him in the neck. Turning he saw the figure of Rikae standing over him with a blow tube in her hand and two raised eyebrows.
But The Doctor’s grip was slipping. He swung towards the metal gangway, but he missed, plummeting down to the earth, flailing his arms and legs as he went. Hitting the ground he felt many things go into places they shouldn’t.
The Penguins dashed forward, followed by the others. Sliding down the crater of The Great Barrow, they made their way to where The Doctor lay. Sitting around him they called to him. For a while he didn’t move even his eyes, but at last he looked up at them and grinned.
“It’s the end,” he said, “but the moment has been prepared for.” He lifted his hand behind his head and pointed at the white figure that was walking towards him slowly. As he came in contact with the Doctor, he seemed to fade into him, as if they were fusing together.
“The watcher!” cried Greenie, “He was the Doctor all along!”
With a flash of light, The Doctor’s face changed, his hair became shorter and his eyes changed colour. Lalwende stood up and turned her back.
“No,” she said, “I’m not having this! The Scarf, the hat, even the Sonic Screwdriver I could just about take, but Regeneration? No, I’m not having it!”
“I suddenly have the urge to play cricket” said The Doctor.
Rikae carried the mumbling Macalaure away from the devastation. They passed the body of a Werewolf. The hair was disappearing, except for on top of its head. Slowly, it became a Barrow Wight again. Rune Son of Bjarne. Mac chuckled to himself and pointed at the Wight.
“He doesn’t has beard.” He managed,
“No,” replied Rikae, “Well spotted.”
“Are you going to bury me?”
“No, I’m going to help you.”
“Good! Let’s have some pizza!”
Brushing the filth off his desk, Hookbill sat on his old chair and smiled at his burning office. He placed his feet up and leaned back. The stench of mouldy bread was becoming more prominent. Opening an eye, he was presented with Workm’n hobbling at the Door with some papers.
“We have the new front page,” he said, “Just like you asked.”
Hookbill took it and frowned at the headline.
“It’s just as true as every other headline,” he mused, “print it up.”
Th’ended
The Phantom and Alien are annoyed...
The Inside Pages...
