Doctor Who: The Beast of the Wear

Part 3: Return of the Dragon

"Who's Tantalos?" Shirley asked.

"An ancient dragon the Time Lords sent to Earth some millennia ago." The Doctor replied, "I fought him back in 1800 and let him free under the condition he never left the Bermuda Triangle."

"He also possessed the Doctor and had her knock me out." Jessica added, "Never held it against her."

"Huh." Kate responded, "Good for the both of you. How the hell did he wind up at the eastern shore of England?"

"If I'm betting my life on anything, it's the Black Guardian's doing. Me and Jessica are working together to stop him for good."

"Whoever this Black Guardian is, we can find and neutralise him. As for the dragon, we can just shoot him down and force him back to the Bermuda Triangle."

"It's not as simple as that. Tantalos is also a powerful psychic. As Jessica said, he possessed me. I doubt he's going to go for me. Instead..." The Doctor directed her attention towards Shirley. "I think he might go for someone like you, Shirley. Or should I call you Tantalos?"

Shirley gave a smirk to the Doctor. "Got me." Tantalos stood up, leaning against Kate. "This vessel has spina bifida. I can't stand up for very long as a result. Troublesome for me, but worth it. How did you see through my bluff?"

"Because you said "who" instead of "what" when you asked who you were. You also had a slightly annoyed look when I explained how I know of you."

"Because you cheated! You rigged the game that we were playing so that you would win!"

"Because you killed innocent people and tried to use me as a vessel to conquer the universe. Let me guess how you got out: a man with a bird in his head visited you, made you a deal to wander freely as long as you kill me and Jessica, and overrode the lock I put on you because he is more powerful than me."

The sky began to be full of dark clouds as Tantalos had to sit back down. "This is why you annoy me: you're so smart and clever that you think you can predict what's happening. I mean, you're correct with your assumption, but I don't care about that crow-headed freak. I just wanted to be free from the prison you made me reside in. No more."

Shirley's body slumped as the true body of Tantalos flew out of the coast and made its way towards the city. The UNIT soldiers that were present readied their guns and fired them at Tantalos, only for the bullets to merely drop as they failed to pierce the scales. Tantalos got to the Doctor, Jessica, Kate, and the unconscious Shirley. "It's over, Doctor." he said, "I will burn this planet to the ground, and you can't do anything about it."

"True, Tantalos." the Doctor replied, "That thing might, though."

"What do you-"

The replica of the Lambton Worm jumped out of the water and tightly wound around the neck of Tantalos, beginning to strangle him. The Doctor took a few steps forward. "I have a deal. Go back to the Bermuda Triangle and swear to never go near the shores of Britain ever again. In exchange, the beast will let you go. Promise?"

"I promise! I promise!"

As soon as he said that, the worm stopped strangling him. The dragon moved forward slightly so that the Doctor could put her hand on his head and let out a brief flash of light. Tantalos flew away immediately, feeling pain from being outside of the Bermuda Triangle. Shirley woke back up as the Doctor was walking towards her and the shoes cleared to show the shining sun again. "He won't bother us until the end of complex life on Earth." the Doctor said confidently, "The Bermuda Triangle will forever be his home."

"Thank you, Doctor." Kate said as she extended her hand and the Doctor shook it, "We couldn't have actually done it without you."

"Oh no, I didn't really do anything. Hold on. I'll bring the woman who made this to you real quick."

The Doctor quickly ran off into the crowd to search for something: the Rani's TARDIS. She managed to get to the Rani just as she opened what seemed to be a door for a litter bin. The Rani turned around to see the Doctor, who was barely exhausted. "Oh," she said, "you're back."

"Yeah." the Doctor replied, "I need you to come with me for a bit. I got a couple of friends to introduce to you."

"In that case..." The Rani knelt down. "Get on me."

"Oh, a piggyback." The Doctor jumped onto the back of the Rani before she stood back up. "Let's go!"

The Rani ran as fast as she could with the Doctor on her back, all the way to the edge of the Wear. Kate and Shirley turned around. "Oh," Shirley said, "you must be the person the Doctor was looking for."

The Rani let the Doctor jump off of her back. "She sure is." the Doctor said before turning to the Rani. "Rani, these are Kate Lethbridge-Stewart and Shirley Anne Bingham,  Chief Scientific Officer and Scientific Advisor, respectively, for UNIT dedicated to protecting the world while I'm absent." The Doctor turned to Kate and Shirley. "Kate. Shirley. This is the Rani, the Time Lady who genetically engineered the serpent that stopped Tantalos."

"Tantalos?" the Rani replied, "The dragon the Time Lords sealed on Earth millions of years ago?"

"Faced him. Possessed by him. Beat him twice."

Kate extended her hand for the Rani to shake. "Thanks for your work, Rani." Kate said, "How does work as a scientist in UNIT sound?"

"Are there any catches?"

"No."

The Rani shook Kate's hand. "I'm in."