ignite ➝ Doctor Who¹

XXXVII

"I could take out a grand total of one Ood. Fat lot of good that is."
— Zach, The Satan Pit

The shaking around the women hadn't woken them, or the screams of their friends. What did wake up Penelope, however, was the horrible creeping feeling that something had gone terribly wrong.

She sat upright, scaring Zach, who stood at the control panel. She smiled apologetically, looking around confused. "Where's the Doctor?" The way he looked at her caused the distinct feeling of dread to trickle down her spine and try its hardest to paralyse her. But she stood, albeit shakily, and made her way to the panel. "The hell has he gone Zach?"

"The surface."

"Th- The surface."

"Specifically the hole that we dug to the center of the planet." She pinched the bridge of her nose, more disappointed in that man now than ever before.

"The idiot has gone to the center of a planet teetering on the edge of a black hole? Is he alone?"

"No. Ida is down there with him. And we have a situation. The Ood have gone rouge, we're operating strategy nine."

"What does that mean?"

"It means we need everyone together." He pressed a button on the panel, linking to whoever was on the other end. "Rose, any word from Ida and the Doctor?" She came through quite statically.

"I can't get a reply. Just nothing. I keep trying, but it's-" She was cut off by more static than before, then a different voice replied.

"No, sorry. I'm- we're fine. Still here. How's Penelope?" The ginger woman fought the relief at hearing his voice and focused on the anger that he left her here. She leant forward, pressing the button despite Zach's protests.

"She'd be a hell of a lot better if you hadn't left her up here alone, Doctor."

"Penelope. You're okay." The softness to his voice was enough to make her melt, but she knew that she had to hold it together, he can't be forgiven just like that.

"Like I said, get yourself back up here now and I would be so much better. You stupid f-" feedback cut her off, which was probably a good thing considering what she was going to call him. She was suddenly very aware of her headache, and stumbled backwards slightly. Zach caught her arm and led her to a chair. Perhaps she isn't as good as she thought, what had even happened? She barely remembered how she got back to the control room.

He shook her shoulder lightly, gesturing to the screen, which showed the Doctor and Ida in a small lift. "Penelope, I'm coming back up." She laughed, light-headed and happy.

"Best news I've heard all day." Jefferson started to bring them up for ascension down in the drilling room when the power went out. Penelope reached forward, holding onto Zach to pull herself to her feet. That disgusting pull of dread had returned and threatened to shut her down in the face of a panic. A picture of the Ood flickered onto the screen, Penelope knew they had a problem, she didn't know it was this bad.

"This is the darkness. This is my domain. You little things that live in the light, clinging to your feeble suns which die in the-" Zach interrupted, not that the voice stopped, and spoke into the intercom.

"That's not the Ood. Something's talking through them." Penelope shushed him, terrified. It just kept talking, and so did Zach.

"-Only the darkness remains."

"This is Captain Zachary Cross Flane of Sanctuary Base Six, representing the Torchwood archive. You will identify yourself." Penelope turned to him sharpish, recognising the Torchwood name instantly, but couldn't ask anything, the voice speaking over any questions she would've formed.

"You know my name."

"What do you want?"

"You will die here. All of you. This planet is your grave." The Doctor took over, being able to sense the rising panic in Penelope despite being at the center of this planet, the planet he should've just walked away from when the writing wouldn't translate.

"If you are the Beast, then answer me this. Which one, hmm? Cos the universe has been busy since you've been gone. There's more religions than there are planets in the sky. The Archiphets, Orkology, Christianity, Pash Pash, New Judaism, San Klah, Church of the Tin Vagabond. Which devil are you?"

"All of them."

"What, then you're the truth behind the myth?"

"This one knows me as I know him. The killer of his own kind."

"How did you end up on this rock?"

"The Disciples of the Light rose up against me and chained me in the pit for all eternity."

"When was this?"

"Before time."

"What does that mean?"

"Before time."

"What does before time mean?"

"Before light and time and space and matter. Before the cataclysm. Before this universe was created."

"That's impossible. No life could have existed back then." Penelope knew that he was dead-set on this. They had talked about it before funnily enough. Whilst their ramblings hadn't included the devil itself, she couldn't change his mind on that. He wholeheartedly believed nothing lived before the universe.

"Is that your religion?"

"It's a belief."

"You know nothing. All of you, so small. The Captain, so scared of command. The soldier, haunted by the eyes of his wife. The scientist, still running from Daddy. The little boy who lied. The virgin. The lost girl, so far away from home. The valiant child who will die in battle so very soon." Penelope frowned, trying to talk though the comms again, wanting to comfort Rose, assuming the one about the battle was her. She doesn't know why, but it doesn't seem like it was talking to her.

"Rose-" There was a sudden booming in her head and chest, the panic rising again as she realised that this was the devil they had been talking to.

"And of course, the false child of the stars left behind in the aftermath of a war."