Ali finally takes command, and just what does the Beast have to say to her?

Enjoy "The Satan Pit!"

***

"Open fire!" Jefferson ordered, and Rose flinched away as he, the guard, and the Alchemist started shooting at the approaching Ood.

"We're stabilizing," Zach reported after the Ood fell. "We've got orbit."

Rose ran back over to the comm as the Alchemist leaned hard against one of the scanners, taking a few deep breaths. "Doctor?" she called. "Doctor, can you hear me? Doctor, Ida, are you there?"

"Open Door 25."

Danny yelped when he got a face full of the Alchemist's blaster. "It's me!" He held up his hands quickly, and the Alchemist quickly lowered her gun. "But they're coming.

"Close Door 25."

"It's the Ood. They've gone mad."

"How many of them?" Jefferson asked.

"All of them! All fifty!"

"Danny, out of the way," Jefferson shook his head, going for the door, but Danny blocked his way. "Out of the way!'

"But they're armed! It's the interface device. I don't know how, but they're using it as a weapon."

Jefferson ignored him and opened the door. "Open Door 25."

The guard screamed when the Ood in the lead stuck its globe in her forehead, and she died immediately. One shot from the Alchemist's blaster shot the Ood down. Jefferson quickly closed the door and called out orders. "Seal Door 25! Seal Door 24! Seal Door 25!"

"Jefferson, what's happening there?" Zach asked.

"I've got very little ammunition, sir, and the Alchemist is remaining constant," Jefferson answered, looking over at the raven-haired woman as she checked on those horrible wounds of hers. It was a miracle she was even still standing, but judging by how sweaty and pale she was, she wouldn't be for long. "How about you?"

"All I've got is a bolt gun, with, er . . . all of one bolt. I could take out a grand total of one Ood. Fat lot of good that is."

"Given the emergency, I recommend Strategy 9."

"Strategy 9 agreed. Right. We need to get everyone together. Rose? What about Ida and the Doctor? Any word?"

"I can't get a reply," Rose bit her lip, holding onto the mic, seeing the Alchemist really was getting worried, more so because she was in pain, Scooti doing her best to help her, but it was obvious that she had little to no skills in this area. "Just nothing. I keep trying, but it's - "

"No, sorry, I'm fine!" the Doctor suddenly cut in, sounding through the static. "Still here!"

Rose glared at the mic angrily. He'd been there listening, not saying a single thing, when her older sister was up here fighting for her life?! "You could have said, you stupid - !" she yelled.

***

The Doctor jerked his head back, thankful feedback shot through instead of whatever curse he was sure Rose threw at him. "Whoa, careful! Anyway, it's both of us. Me and Ida. Hello! But the seal opened up. It's gone. All we've got left is this chasm."

"How deep is it?" Zach asked.

"Can't tell. It looks like it goes down forever."

"The pit is open," the Alchemist recalled. "That's what the voice said."

"But there's nothing?" Zach asked. "I mean, there's nothing coming out?"

"No, no, no sign of the Beast," the Doctor confirmed.

"It said Satan," Rose whispered.

The Doctor closed his eyes. He could feel how much pain the Alchemist was in, even though he knew she was most likely as stoic as she could be at the moment. She was stubborn that way, stubborn enough to refuse to do the one thing that could save her, just so he wouldn't have to be alone. But he could feel it, the pain she was in . . . and Rose was the only one up there he really truly trusted her with, save Scooti. Rose was her little sister, for God's sake! "Come on, Rose, keep it together," he pleaded.

"Is there no such thing? Doctor, tell me there's no such thing!"

"Ida?" Zach interrupted. "I recommend that you withdraw. Immediately."

"But we've come all this way!" she protested.

"OK, that was an order. Withdraw. When that thing opened, the whole planet's shifted. One more inch, and we fall into the black hole, so this thing stops right now."

"But it's not much better up there with the Ood."

"I'm initiating Strategy 9, so I need the two of you back up top immediately, no ar - "

The Doctor winced when he heard feedback go off, their comms turned off. Ida just turned to him. "What do you think?" she asked.

"I think they've an order," he shrugged.

"Yeah, but what do you think?"

The Doctor tilted his head. "It said 'I am the temptation.'"

"Well, if there's something in there, why is it still hiding?"

"Maybe we opened the prison, but not the cell?" he suggested.

"We should go down. I'd go. What about you?"

"Oh, oh, in a second," he grinned. "But, then again, that is so human. Where angels fear to trend." He hopped onto the edge of the seal, looking down. "Even now, standing on the edge. It's that feeling you get, eh? Right at the back of your head? That impulse, that strange little impulse. That mad little voice saying, go on, go on, go on. Go over. Go on. Maybe it's relying on that. For once in my life, Officer Scott . . . I'm going to say retreat." He huffed, jumping back off. "Oh, now I know I'm getting old." He turned his comm back on. "Alice? Rose? We're coming back."

***

"Thank Rassilon," the Alchemist sighed.

"Best news I've heard all day," Rose said happily.

Scooti squeaked suddenly, and they turned to see Jefferson aim his gun at Toby. "What are you doing?" Rose gasped.

"He's infected," Jefferson answered. "He brought that . . . thing onboard. You saw it!"

"Are you going to start shooting your own people now?" Rose folded her arms. "Is that what you're going to do? Is it?"

"If necessary."

"Well, then, you'll have to shoot me, too," the Alchemist glared at him, and she saw Jefferson's gaze flick to her wounds, blood still visible . . . and still wet. "And you've seen how my Bonded gets when I'm hurt. I don't think he'd like hearing someone explain why I have a new face when he gets back."

Jefferson glared. "Any sign of trouble, I'll shoot him."

"Get in line."

Rose crouched by Toby. "Are you all right?" she asked.

"Yeah," he nodded shakily before shaking it. "I don't know."

"Can you remember anything?"

"Just . . . it was so angry! It was fury and rage and death. It was him. It was the devil."

The Alchemist leaned against the scanner, picking up Scooti's vest and pressing it back against her wounds, wincing a bit, feeling her head winded. She was losing too much blood.

But no way in hell - literally, if there was the devil involved - was she leaving these guys alone.

***

"What's Strategy 9?" the Doctor asked as they got into the capsule.

"Open the airlocks. We'll be safe inside the lockdown. The Ood will get thrown out into the vacuum."

"So we're going back to a slaughter?"

"The devil's work." The Doctor sighed as Ida turned her comms back on. "OK, we're in. Bring us up."

"Ascension in three, two, one," Jefferson counted off.

The power shut off, and a deep voice echoed. "This is the darkness. This is my domain."

***

Rose jumped away from the scanner, seeing the Ood on every monitor. "You little things that live in the light, clinging to your feeble suns which die in the - "

"That's not the Ood," Zach said. "Something's talking through them."

"Only the darkness remains."

"This is Captain Zachary Cross Flane of Sanctuary Base Six, representing the Torchwood archive," Zach said diplomatically, and no one noticed the Alchemist's narrowed eyes at the name. "You will identify yourself."

"You know my name."

"What do you want?"

"You will die here. All of you. This planet is your grave."

"It's him," Toby started to panic. "It's him. It's him!"

"If you are the Beast, then answer me this," the Doctor interrupted. "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?"

There was a pause, then the Beast spoke again. "This one knows me as I know him. The killer of his own kind."

"I take offense to that," the Alchemist said loudly. "So if you're going to call him that, might as well apply it to me, too. It was my weapon that did it. And I want to know something. How the hell did you end up on this rock?"

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

"And when was this?"

"Before time."

She blinked. "What does that mean?"

"Before time."

"What does before time mean?" the Doctor asked.

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

"That impossible. No life could have existed back then."

"Is that your religion?"

"It's a belief."

The voice chuckled. "You know nothing, all of you, so small. The Captain, so scared of command." Zach. "The soldier, haunted by the eyes of his wife." Jefferson didn't do anything, except tense a little bit more. "The scientist, still running from Daddy." Ida gasped softly. "The little boy who lied." Danny shuffled on his feet nervously. "The virgin." Toby looked down. "The lost girl." Scooti pushed her hair behind her ear. "The valiant child so far away from home, who will die in battle so very soon."

"Doctor, what does that mean?" Rose asked in horror.

"Rose, don't listen," the Doctor began.

"And the golden woman." The Alchemist looked up when the Beast spoke to her next, hearing the malice clear in its voice. "The soldier and the savior. Stubborn and fierce, who does not know the power she will have . . . the power she has now and cannot see. The golden girl who will die . . . today."

The Alchemist swallowed. "No way I'm letting that happen!"

"Alice, just stay calm," the Doctor told her.

"I think I'm the only one that is!"

"Doctor, what does this mean?" Rose asked, horrified.

"You will die and I will live."

A roaring horned beast replaced the Ood on the screens, then they cut out. "What the hell was that?" Danny gawked.

"I had that thing inside my head!" Toby gasped.

"Doctor, what did it mean?" Rose tried to say.

The Alchemist looked back and forth as everyone began talking at once, and shook her head, leaning against the scanner, then gasped in pain when her open wounds came into contact with the hot piece of machinery. She slid to the floor, biting her lip, and Scooti ran to her side immediately. "Alchemist!"

Feedback suddenly went through the comms, making everyone stop. "Alice?" the Doctor asked, his voice concerned. "Rose, give the mic to Alice!"

Rose swallowed and handed it to her, and she took it. "'M here," she said, wincing as Scooti tried to find out what was wrong this time.

"Alice, you need to start that coma," he told her.

"I'm not going to!"

"I can feel what you're going through, and it's terrible. The others might not be able to tell, but I can, and this will kill you."

Rose swallowed hard, but the Alchemist shook her head. "Then I'm taking that risk."

"Alice - !"

"No!" she shouted. "I'm not leaving you alone through this, and I'm not leaving them, either!"

"You won't be able to get far with those. I actually am a doctor, you know. Alice, you might not even have two hours!"

"Well, then, soddit, and the Beast is right. That's one thing he got right."

The Doctor huffed. "Fine. But the rest of you lot, you want voices in the dark? Then listen to mine. That thing is playing on very basic fears. Darkness, childhood nightmares, all that stuff."

"But that's how the devil works!" Danny protested.

"Or a very good psychologist," the Alchemist pointed out.

"Yeah, but how did it know about my father?" Ida asked.

The Doctor huffed. "OK, but what makes his version of the truth any better than ours, hmm? 'Cos I"ll tell you what I can see. Humans. Brilliant humans. Humans who travel all the way across space, flying in a tiny little rocket right into the orbit of a black hole just for the sake of discovery. That's amazing! Do you hear me? Amazing. All of you. The Captain, his Officer, his elders, his juniors, his friends. All with one advantage: the Beast is alone. We are not. If we can use that to fight against him - "

The cable suddenly snapped with a bang. "The cable's snapped!" Ida shouted.

"Get out!" the Doctor yelled.

"Doctor, we lost the cable," the Alchemist called, struggling to stand back up, Danny now helping her as well. "Doctor, are you all right? Doctor!"

"Comms are down," Zach reported. "I've still got life signs, but we've lost the capsule. There's no way out. They're stuck down there."

The Alchemist sighed. "Bozo."

***

The Doctor looked at the wrecked capsule before turning to Ida. "How much air have we got?"

"Sixty minutes," she answered, then checked her time again. "Fifty five."

***

"But we've got to bring them back!" Rose protested.

"They're ten miles down," Jefferson shook his head. "We haven't got another ten miles of cable."

"And I'm not that good, Rose," the Alchemist shook her head.

Something started banging on one of the doors, and Jefferson took a look. "Captain?" he said into his comm. "Situation report."

"It's the Ood," Zach said. "They're cutting through the door bolts. They're breaking in."

"Yeah, it's the same on Door 25."

"How long's it going to take?" Rose asked.

"It's a basic frame, so about ten minutes?" Scooti estimated when another bolt was cut. She blinked. "Eight."

"I've got a security frame," Zach said. "It might last a bit longer, but that doesn't help you."

"Right," Rose nodded. "So we need to stop them, or get out, or both."

"I'll take both, yeah?" Danny said dryly. "But how?"

"There was a reason the Doctor was cut off. He was making sense," the Alchemist said. "The Beast knows that his greatest fear is that I'm going to die, for good, and it fed off of that. I know that I'm worried sick that something's going to happen to Rose that I can't stop. We need to think our way out of this, starting with these lights. Is there another sort of power here?"

"There's nothing I can do," Zach grumbled. "Some Captain, stuck in here, pressing buttons."

The Alchemist smirked. "What if the Captain presses the right buttons?"

There was no reply for a moment, but when Zach spoke again, there was a new sort of hope in his voice. "They've gutted the generators, but the rocket's got an independent supply. If I could reroute that . . . Mr. Jefferson? Scooti? Open the bypass conduits. Override the safety."

"Opening bypass conduits, sir," Jefferson answered as he and Scooti worked.

"Channeling rocket feed in three, two, one. Power!"

Rose cheered when the lights came back on. "There we go!"

"Let there be light!" Danny grinned.

"What about that Strategy 9 thing?" Rose asked.

"Not enough power," Scooti said. "That needs one hundred percent."

"Then we need a way out," the Alchemist said, looking around. "Zach, Jefferson, Scooti, start working on that. Toby, what about you?"

"I'm not a soldier," he grumbled. "I can't do anything."

"I'm a soldier, and I can't do everything," the Alchemist countered. "But you're an archaeologist. Do you know anything about the pit?"

"No. We can't even translate the language."

"If that thing was inside your head, something might still be there. There's nothing at all?"

Toby thought for a moment, then said slowly "Maybe. Since that thing was inside my head, the letters have made more sense."

"Then get to work," she ordered. "Anything you can translate, do it." She straightened and turned to Danny. "Danny, you're in charge of the Ood. Is there any way of stopping them?"

"Well, I don't know," he began.

"Then you better find out. The sooner we can get control of this place, the sooner we can help the Doctor and Ida." They all stared at her, surprised that a woman so injured could be like this, and she huffed, rolling her eyes. "Move it!"

They all scrambled, and Rose smiled proudly. "That's my big sister!"

***

"Well, we've got all this cable, we might as well use it," Ida shrugged. "The drum's disconnected. We could adapt it, feed it through."

"And then what?" the Doctor asked.

"Abseil into the pit."

"Abseil . . . right . . . "

"We're running out of air with no way back," she pointed out. "It's the only thing we can do, even if it's the last thing we ever achieve."

"I'll get back," he glared at her. "Alice and Rose are up there."

"Well, maybe the key to that is finding out what's in the pit," Ida pointed out.

The Doctor nodded, thinking it through. "Well, it's half a good plan," he admitted.

"What's the other half?"

"I go down. Not you."

***

"Opening junctions five, six, seven," Scooti reported as she worked.

"Reroute filters sixteen to twenty four," Jefferson told her. "Go."

"There's all sorts of viruses that could stop the Ood," Danny said as he worked, the Alchemist leaning on the scanner and looking over his shoulder. "Trouble is, we haven't got them onboard."

"Well, that's handy, listing all the things we haven't got," Rose rolled her eyes. "We haven't got a swimming pool, either. Or a Tesco's."

"Or a blood replenisher," the Alchemist whispered to herself.

The screen suddenly flashed AFFIRMATIVE, and Danny's eyes widened. "Oh, my God, it says yes! I can do it!" he cheered before turning to them. "Hypothetically, if you flip the monitor, broadcast a flare, it can disrupt the telepathy. Brainstorm!"

"What happens to the Ood?" Rose asked.

"It'll tank them spark out," Danny smirked.

"There we are, then. Do it!"

"No, but I'd have to transmit from the central monitor. We need to go to Ood Habitation."

"Then that's where we're going," the Alchemist nodded. "Jefferson, Scooti? Any way out?"

"Just about," Jefferson nodded. "There's a network of maintenance tunnels running underneath the base. We should be able to gain access from here."

"Ventilation shafts," Rose nodded.

"Except there's no ventilation," Scooti shook her head. "No air at all. They were designed for machines, not life forms."

"But I can manipulate the oxygen field from here," Zach said. "Create discrete pockets of atmosphere. If I control it manually, I can follow you through the network."

"So we go down, and you make the air follow us by hand?" Rose asked dubiously.

"The Alchemist wanted me pressing buttons."

"And you're pressing the rights ones," the Alchemist assured him. "Work out a route to Ood Habitation."

"Yes, sir," Jefferson said, about to do it, when he realized what he said. "Why did I call you that?"

"Who wouldn't take orders from you?" the Doctor suddenly spoke.

The Alchemist almost jumped a foot in the air. "BOZO!"

"Sorry! Sorry, just heard what he said. Taking charge up there, are you?"

"First time I'm feeling useful with this condition."

"Namara, it will help - "

"Would you rather them be faring for themselves?"

She heard him sigh. "Namara . . . be careful."

"You, too, Kasterborous."

"Blimey," he muttered before he broke the connection.

***

"That should hold it," Ida said, finishing tying the cable around the Doctor. "How's it going?"

"Fine," he nodded. "Should work . . . doesn't feel like such a good idea now." He stepped onto the edge of the trapdoor and looked down. "Hmm . . . there it is again. That itch. Go down, go down, go down, go down, go down."

"The urge to jump," Ida smiled, bringing the drum over. "Do you know where it comes from, that sensation? Genetic heritage. Ever since we were primates in the trees. It's our body's way of testing us. Calculating whether or not we can reach the next branch."

"No, that's not it," the Doctor shook his head. "That's too kind. It's not the urge to jump. It's deeper than that." He grinned. "It's the urge to fall!"

He jumped down into the chasm. "Doctor!" Ida shouted, then the cable stopped his descent. "Are you OK?"

"Not bad, thanks," the Doctor answered, looking around, looking at the walls of the chasm. "The wall of the pit seems to be the same as the cavern, just not much of it. There's a crust about twenty feet down, and then nothing. Just the pit." He took a deep breath. "OK, then. Lower me down."

"Well, here we go then," Ida sighed, lowering him down.

***

"Danny!" Scooti shouted as they pulled the grating out of the floor.

"Hold on!" Danny called, working furiously. "Just conforming . . . "

"Dan, we got to go, now!" Jefferson shouted. "Come on!"

"Yeah!" Danny grinned, grabbing an orange chip from the machine and running to them. "Put that in the monitor, and it's a bad time to be an Ood."

"We're coming back," Rose told them. "Have you got that? We're coming back to this room, and we're getting the Doctor out."

"OK," Jefferson nodded. "Danny, you go first, then you, Miss Tyler, then the Alchemist, then Scooti, then Toby. I'll go last in defensive position. Now, come on, quick as you can!"

Danny dropped down, and Rose waited until he was out of sight to follow. She winced as soon as she got a whiff of the tunnel. "God, it stinks." She looked at Danny. "You all right?"

"Yeah, I'm laughing," Danny rolled his eyes as the Alchemist dropped in next, softly so she wouldn't get hurt. "Which way do we go?"

"Just go straight ahead," Zach answered as Scooti came down next, Toby right behind her. "Keep going till I say so."

"Not your best angle, Danny," Scooti smirked, looking past the Alchemist and Rose as they shuffled on hands and knees, Jefferson closing the grating behind him.

"Oi!" Danny glared at her over his shoulder. "Stop it!"

"I don't know," Toby remarked. "It could be worse."

Rose glared, seeing he was looking at the Alchemist more than her. "Oi!" she barked.

"Straight on until you find junction seven point one," Zach said. "Keep breathing. I'm feeding you air. I've got you."

Danny stopped when he reached the junction. "We're at seven point one, sir," he said.

"OK, I've got you. I'm just aerating the next section."

Danny squirmed as the six of them crowded in the tunnel. "Getting kind of cramped, sir. Can't you hurry up?"

"I'm working on half power here!"

"Stop complaining," Jefferson huffed.

Scooti looked at Danny. "Mr. Jefferson says stop complaining."

"I heard," Danny grumbled.

Rose leaned forward to see Jefferson. "He heard," she said.

"But the air's getting a bit thin," Toby mused.

"He's the one complaining now," Scooti told Jefferson.

He gave the girls a look. "I heard."

The Alchemist inhaled to breathe evenly when she furrowed her eyebrows and sniffed again. "Is that you, Danny?"

"I'm not exactly happy!" the boy complained.

"I'm just moving the air," Zach said. "I've got to oxygenate the next section. Now, keep calm, or it's going to feel worse."

They heard a bang down in the tunnels, and the six leaned forward to try and see. "What was that?" Danny asked.

"Mr. Jefferson, what was that?" Rose asked.

"What's that noise?" Toby asked.

"Captain, what was that?" Jefferson asked.

"The junction in Habitation Five's been opened," Zach answered. "It must be the Ood. They're in the tunnels!"

"Well, open the gate!" Danny shouted.

"I've got to get the air in!"

"Just open it, sir!"

"Where are they?" the Alchemist cut in. "Are they close?"

"I don't know. I can't tell. I can't see them. The computer doesn't register Ood as proper life forms."

"Fantastic," the Alchemist huffed. "Who's idea was that, again?"

"Open the gate!" Danny shouted.

The gate slid up, and they started crawling through as fast as they could. "Danny, turn left," Zach said. "Immediate left."

"The Ood, sir, can't you trap them?" Jefferson asked. "Cut off the air?"

"Not without cutting off yours. Danny, turn right. Go right! Go fast, Dan, they're going to catch up."

The Alchemist paused. "Scooti, go around," she said.

"What?" the girl gaped at her.

"I'll hold them off."

"No way!" Danny shook his head. "You're hurt!"

"And has that stopped me yet?"

"You heard what the Doctor said!" Rose told her.

"Trust me, Rose, I've had much worse before. You do not want to be on the receiving end of a Delta Wave."

"We'll maintain defensive position," Jefferson corrected. "You have your tasks. Now see to it."

"Rose," the Alchemist told her. "Go."

Rose swallowed, but nodded and started following Danny again. Scooti and Toby scurried after them, and soon, they could hear Jefferson's gun and the Alchemist's blaster fire. "Eight point two," Danny said as they arrived. "Open eight point two. Zach, open eight point two!"

"I've got to aerate it!" Zach shouted.

"Open it, now!"

"I'm trying!"

Danny started hitting the gate, and Scooti grabbed his wrist to stop him. "That's not going to help, Danny!"

"Zach, get it open!" Toby shouted.

"Jefferson, Alchemist, I've got to open eight point two by closing eight point one. You've got to get past the junction. Now, move!"

"Get going!" the Alchemist shouted.

"I'm going to lose oxygen, you two. I can't stop for dramatics!"

The gate slid open, and Danny brightened. "That's it!" he cheered, going through. "Come on!"

"Danny, turn left and head for nine point two," Zach said. "That's the last one. You two, you've got to move faster. Move!"

Rose turned to see the gate had started to close as the two approached, Jefferson behind the Alchemist. "Ali!"she called.

"Come on!" Scooti cried.

Just before the gate slid halfway closed, the Alchemist reached out and grabbed it, wincing but managing to hold the gate in place. "Get under," she told Jefferson, wincing. "This isn't going to hold long!"

Jefferson just stared at her. "How are you - ?"

"Just go!" she shouted, straining, and Jefferson quickly crawled through. The Alchemist fell onto her back, using both hands to hold up the gate before pushing herself under, letting go quickly and letting the gate fall with a crash. She blew out a breath. "It's good to be a Creator sometimes," she said.

They continued going on, and Danny stopped. "Zach, we're at the final junction. Nine point two."

"Opening nine point two," Zach said.

Scooti screamed when they saw an Ood in front of them. "Lower nine point two!" Rose shouted. "Hurry, Zach!"

"Back!" Danny shouted as the gate slammed shut. "Back! Back!"

"We can't go back!" Jefferson shook his head. "The gang point's sealed off. We're stuck."

The Alchemist reached up and pushed the floor grating up. "Come on!" she called, hauling herself up. "Up!"

Scooti scrambled out next, and they helped the others out. "Toby, come on!" Danny called.

"Dan, get out!" Jefferson ordered.

"Help me!" Toby cried, scrambling, Jefferson and Danny helping him out. "Oh, my God, help me!"

Rose looked down the corridor as Ood approached. "Come on," she said.

"It's this way," Danny pointed, and they took off running.

"Hurry it up!" Zach called.

They burst through into Ood Habitation, and Danny ran for the computer. "Get it in!" Rose called.

"Get down!" Jefferson ordered, starting to fire at the oncoming Ood.

"Transmit!" Scooti cried.

"I'm trying, I'm trying!" Danny shouted, fumbling to get the chip. "I'm getting at it!"

"Danny, get that thing transmitting!" the Alchemist shouted.

Danny finally pulled the chip out and slid it into the computer. The reading fell from Basic 100 to 0, and the Ood grabbed their heads, writhing in pain before slumping. "You did it!" Scooti gasped before laughing and hugging him tightly. "We did it!"

"Yes!" Danny cheered, hugging her back.

"We did it, sir," Jefferson said as Rose hugged the Alchemist. "The Ood are down. We've got to get the Doctor and Ida now."

"I'm on my way," Zach answered.

***

"You get representations of the Horned beast right across the univesre, in the myths and legends of a million worlds," the Doctor told Ida, trying to calm his nerves as she lowered him down. "Earth, Draconia, Velconsadine, Daemos. The Kaled god of war. It's the same image, over and over again. Maybe that idea came from somewhere, bleeding through. The thought at the back of every sentient mind."

"Emanating from here?" Ida asked.

"Could be."

"But if this is the original, does that make it real? Does that make it the actual devil, though?"

"Well, if that's what you want to believe. Maybe that's what the devil is, in the end. An idea."

The descent suddenly stopped, and Ida said, "That's it. That's all we've got. You getting any sort of readout?"

"Nothing," the Doctor sighed, shaking his head, looking down into the blackness of the pit. "Could be miles to go yet." He paused. "Or thirty feet . . . no way of telling." He tilted his head. "I could survive thirty feet."

"Oh, no, you don't," Ida said, and she started pulling him back up. "I'm pulling you back up." The Doctor stopped it again, halting him. "What're you doing?"

"You bring me back, then we're just going to sit there and run out of air. I've got to go down."

"But you can't! Doctor, you can't!"

"Call it an act of faith."

When Ida replied, her voice was small. "But I don't want to die on my own."

"I know," the Doctor whispered softly as he started undoing the caribiners.

***

Rose ran right to the mic when the group of seven arrived. "Doctor, are you there?" she asked. "Doctor, Ida, can you hear me?"

"The comms are still down," Zach said, working at it. "I can patch them through the central desk and boost the signal. Just give me a minute."

Danny turned and blinked, seeing the nauseous look on the Alchemist's face. "Alchemist?" he asked, walking over and putting an arm around her, Scooti quickly checking her wounds to see if anything had happened. "What's wrong?"

She just swallowed, shaking her head, knowing the Beast had been right, she was going to die, because there was no way she would survive what was coming. Because if the blood loss wasn't going to kill her . . .

If the Doctor was wrong about what he was about to do and died in the process, she wasn't going to survive thinking about that at all.

***

"I didn't ask," the Doctor told Ida as he kept unclipping caribiners. "Have you got any sort of faith?"

"Not really. I was brought up by Neo Classic Congregational because of my mum. She was . . . my old mum. But no, I never believed."

"Neo Classics . . . have they got a devil?"

"No, not as such. Just, er . . . the things that men do."

The Doctor sighed. "Same thing in the end."

"What about you?"

"I believe . . . " He thought for a moment. "I believe I haven't seen everything. I don't know. It's funny, isn't it? The things you make up. The rules. If that thing had said it came from beyond the universe, I'd believe it, but before the universe? Impossible. Doesn't fit my rule. Still, that's why I keep traveling. To be proved wrong." He paused, one last caribiner in place. "Thank you, Ida."

"Don't go!" she pleaded.

"If they get back in touch, if you talk to Alice, just tell her . . . tell her . . . " He sighed. "Oh, she knows."

"I do," the Alchemist whispered. "And if you die because that fall isn't thirty feet, I'm going to kill you, bozo."

He smiled to himself, then released the last caribiner and fell into darkness.

***

"Doctor, are you there?" Rose asked as the comms were brought back, the Alchemist looking devastated, already knowing what had happened. "Doctor, Ida, can you hear me? Are you there, Doctor?"

"He's gone," Ida whispered.

Rose narrowed her eyes. "What do you mean, he's gone?"

"He fell into the pit. And I don't know how deep it is. Miles and miles and miles."

"But what do you mean, he fell?"

"I couldn't stop him. He said the Alchemist's name, I think. He said Alice."

Rose turned to look at the Alchemist to see her leaning against the railing, her arms wrapped around herself, that nauseous look still on her face. Her jaw dropped, realizing her older sister had known exactly what the Doctor had planned on doing, and she froze, knowing how much that hurt her more than any wound she could have received. Zach took the mic from her to speak to Ida. "I'm sorry. Ida? There's no way of reaching you. No cable, no backup. You're ten miles down. We can't get there."

"You should see this place, Zach," Ida said. "It's beautiful. Well, I wanted to discover things, and here I am."

"We've got to abandon the base. I'm declaring this mission unsafe. All we can do is make sure no one ever comes here again."

"But we'll never find out what it was."

"Well, maybe that's best."

"Yeah."

"Officer Scott - "

"It's all right. Just go. Good luck."

"And you." Zach put the mic down and turned to the others. "Danny, Toby, Scooti, close down the feed links. Mr. Jefferson, get the retrotropes online, then get to the rocket and strap yourselves in. We're leaving."

"I'm not," the Alchemist finally said.

"And me," Rose said firmly.

Zach turned to them, surprised. "There's room for both of you - "

"No," the Alchemist said, shaking her head. "He's still alive, I know he is. And I'm staying until I know he gets back safe."

"I'm sorry, but he's dead," Zach shook his head. "There was no way for him to survive - "

"He did!" Rose exploded at him. "You don't know what the two of them share, but if she says he's alive, then he is! And how could we leave him all on his own, all the way down there? No way we're leaving!"

Zach sighed. "Then I apologize for this. Boys? Make them secure."

Scooti bit her lip and watched as Jefferson struggled with the Alchemist, the woman struggling furiously, but not enough, as Jefferson managed to inject her with a sedative, and she slumped, Jefferson hauling her up bridal style. But Rose fought just about tooth and nail against Danny and Toby. "No, no, no! No! No! Let me go! Get off me! I'm not leaving!" Zach just managed to inject her as well, and Rose slumped. "No," she whispered.

***

The Doctor slowly stirred, noticing his face plate was broken. He stood and looked around before blinking. "I'm breathing. Air cushion to support the fall," he realized, then checked the comms. "You can breathe down here, Ida. Can you hear me, Ida?" There was no reply, then he heard the telltale roar of engines. He looked up, swallowing. "A rocket."

At least his girls were safe.

***

"Dislocating B clamp," Jefferson reported as he helped Zach get ready to fly, the Alchemist stirring from where she was strapped in behind Scooti, by Toby. "C clamp. Raising blu-nitro to maximum."

"Toby, how's the Negapact feed line?" Zach asked.

"Clear," Toby answered as the Alchemist blinked sluggishly, Rose starting to wake up as well. "Ready to go, sir. For God's sake, get us out of here!"

"Captain?" Danny said from the other side of Rose as the girl sat bolt upright. "I think we're going to have problem passengers!"

"Keep an eye on them."

"Wait," Rose blinked. "We're not - "

"It's all right, Rose," Danny said. "You're safe."

"I'm not going anywhere!" Rose shouted, scrambling to find the release on her seat belt, the Alchemist struggling to do the same thing. "Get me out of this thing! Get me out!"

"Lift off!" Scooti announced as the rocket took off. "Whoo!"

There was the click of a gun, and Rose stared in shock as the Alchemist aimed her blaster at Zach, for once, her aim wavering. "Take us back to the planet," she ordered, her voice steady, however. "Take us back!"

"Or what?" Zach asked.

"Or I'll shoot."

"Would you, though?" Zach asked. "Would you really? Is that what your Doctor would want?" The Alchemist glared at him, but she slowly lowered her blaster, slumping back, wincing in pain, feeling her headache get worse. "Sorry, but it's too late anyway. Take a look outside. We can't turn back. This is what the Doctor would have wanted. Isn't that right?"

***

The Doctor shone his torch on the walls of the pit, looking at the paintings. "The history of some big battle. Man against Beast. I don't know if you're getting this, Ida. Hope so. Anyway, they defeated the Beast and imprisoned it." He turned his gaze to two bronze urns on pedestals in the paintings, then turned to see them solid in front of them. "Or maybe that's the key." He walked over and touched one, and both lit up. "Or the gate . . . or the bars."

He slowly looked up as a huge horned beast woke from its sleep, chained to the walls by horns and limbs. OK . . . now I wish Alice was here.

***

Toby laughed suddenly, and Jefferson frowned. "Is there a joke, Toby?"

"Just . . . we made it," Toby grinned. "We escaped. We actually did it!"

"Not all of us," Rose mumbled dejectedly.

"We're not out of it yet," Zach said. "We're still the first people in history to fly away from a black hole. Toby, read me the stats."

"Gravity funnel holding, sir," he answered. "Always holding."

***

The Doctor sighed, nodding. "I accept that you exist. I don't have to accept what you are, but you're physical existence. I'll give you that. I don't understand . . . I was expected down here. I was given a safe landing and air. You need me for something. What for? Have I got to . . . I don't know, beg an audience? Or is there a ritual? Some sort of incarnation or summons or spell? All these things I don't believe in, are they real?" The Beast didn't answer. "Speak to me! Tell me!" The Beast just grunted. "You won't talk. Or . . . you can't talk." He grinned. "Oh, hold on, wait a minute, just let me . . . oh! No! Yes! No, think it trough. You spoke before. I heard your voice. An intelligent voice. No, more than that. Brilliant! Just the body. You're just the body, the physical form. What's happened to your mind, hmm? Where's it gone? Where's that intelligence?" The Beast just laughed, and the Doctor froze, realizing too late. "Oh, no."

***

"Stats at fifty three," Toby read off, a smirk on his face, not noticing the Alchemist slowly turn to glare at him, her eyes narrowing to slits. "Funnel stable at sixty six point five. Hull pressure constant. Smooth as we can, sir, all the way back home. Coordinates set for planet Earth."

***

The Doctor glared at the Beast for the threat against his Bonded. "You're imprisoned, long time ago. Before the universe, after, sideways, in between, doesn't matter. The prison is perfect. It's absolute. It's eternal." He grinned. "Oh, yes! Open the prison, the gravity field collapses. This planet falls into the black hole! You escape, you die. Brilliant! But that's just the body. The body is trapped, that's all. The devil is an idea. In all those civilizations, just an idea. But an idea is hard to kill. An idea could escape. The mind. The mind of the great Beast. The mind can escape! Oh, but that's it! You didn't give me air. Your jailers did. They set this up all those years ago! They need me alive, because if you're escaping, then I've got to stop you. If I destroy your prison, your body is destroyed. Your mind with it!"

He raised a rock to destroy one of the urns, but he froze, dropping it. "But then . . . you're clever enough to use this whole system against me. If I destroy this planet . . . I destroy the gravity field. The rocket. The rocket loses protection and falls into the black hole." He turned slowly to face the Beast. "I have to sacrifice the Alchemist."

The Beast laughed, clearly enjoying that torment.

***

"You know, here's what I'm wondering," the Alchemist said. "We escaped, but why didn't the Beast kill us? There's thousands of ways it could have. Why is it letting us go?"

Rose got it, too, and looked at her. "Unless it wanted us to escape?"

"Hey, you two, do us a favor?" Toby glared. "Shut up." The two sisters exchanged looks as Toby went back to his jobs. "Almost there. We'll be beyond the reach of the black hole in forty, thirty-nine . . . "

***

The Doctor shook his head, now beyond angry at the Beast. "So, that's the trap. Or the test, or the final judgment, I don't know. But if I kill you, I kill her. Except that implies in this big grand scheme of Gods and Devils that she's just a victim. But I've seen a lot of this universe. I've seen fake gods and bad gods and demigods and would-be gods, and out of all that, out of that whole pantheon, if I believe in one thing, just one thing . . . I believe in her!"

The Doctor smashed one of the urns, and the Beast roared in pain.

***

The Alchemist clung to the armrests of the chair as the rocket began to shake. "What happened?" Scooti asked, looking around. "What was that?"

"What's he doing?" Toby shouted, almost angrily. "What is he doing?!"

"We've lost the funnel," Jefferson reported. "Gravity collapse!"

"What does that mean?" Rose asked.

"We can't escape," Zach answered worriedly. "We're headed straight for the black hole!"

***

The Doctor smashed the last urn and turned to glare at the Beast angrily. "This is your freedom!" he shouted, glaring at the creature that had dared to use his Bonded against him. "Free to die! You're going into that black hole, and I'm riding with you!"

***

"It's the planet," Rose looked at Kroptor as it fell towards the black hole. "The planet's moving. It's falling."

"I am the rage!" Toby suddenly roared, his face covered in symbols, eyes red.

"It's Toby!" Rose panicked. "Zach, do something!"

"And the bile, and the ferocity!"

"Just do something!"

"I am the Prince and the Fall and the enemy. I am the sin and the fear and the darkness."

"It's him!" Danny shouted as Scooti screamed. "It's him! It's him!"

"Stay where you are!" Jefferson ordered. "The ships not stable!"

"What is he?" Zach asked as Toby blew out fire. "What the hell is he?"

"I shall never die! The thought of me is forever! In the bleeding hearts of men, in their vanity and obsession and lust - " The Alchemist rolled her eyes and pulled out her blaster again. "Nothing shall ever destroy me. Nothing!"

The Alchemist just aimed at the front screen. "Oh, go to hell!" she spat, firing. She reached over to unbuckle Toby's seat belt . . . when his hand grabbed the abandoned bolt gun, put it to her chest, and fired right at her. She screamed, nearly collapsing, blood now pouring from the shot in her chest.

"Ali!" Rose screamed in horror, reaching over to push her off of Toby before unbuckling the boy's seat belt herself, Toby flying out of the rocket.

Scooti quickly pressed a button, and a metal shutter sealed the hole. Rose quickly unbuckled with Scooti, the two of them climbing over the seats to try and stop the blood flow, but the Alchemist was breathing heavily, getting irregular, her eyes threatening to shut. "We've still lost the gravity funnel," Zach swallowed. "We can't escape the black hole!"

"But we stopped him," Rose swallowed, looking nauseous at the blood flowing over their hands as they tried to stop it. "That's what the Doctor would have done."

"Some victory," Zach shook his head. "We're going in."

"The planet's lost orbit," Danny reported. "It's falling! The planet's gone. I'm sorry."

"Accelerate," Zach ordered Jefferson, who nodded. "I did my best. But, hey! The first human beings to fall inside a black hole. How about that? History."

"Just hang on," Rose begged the Alchemist. "Hang on!"

" . . . trying," she mumbled, coughing and squeezing Scooti's hand so tightly the girl gasped.

The rocket suddenly stopped shaking, and Rose looked around. "What happened?"

"We're turning," Jefferson answered, shocked. "We're turning around. We're turning away!"

There was static on the comms, then a cheerful and familiar voice said, "Sorry about the hijack, Captain! This is the good ship TARDIS. Now, first things first, and this is very important. Have you got an Alchemist onboard? And her sister?"

"We're here!" Rose shouted. "Oh, my God, where the hell are you?!"

"I'm just towing you home. Gravity schmavity. My people practically invented black holes! Well, in fact, they did. In a couple of minutes, we'll be nice and safe. Oh, and Captain? Can we do a swap? Say, if you give me my beautiful Bonded and her sister, I'll give you . . . Ida Scott? How about that?"

"She's alive?" Scooti gasped.

"Yes!" Danny cheered.

"Thank God!" Jefferson sighed.

"Yeah," the Doctor grinned. "Bit of oxygen starvation, but she should be all right. I couldn't save the Ood. I only had time for one trip. They went down with the planet. Ah! Entering clear space. End of the line. Mission closed."

The Alchemist suddenly screamed, her first real show of pain the entire adventure, and Rose blanched, seeing her double over, her eyes squeezed shut. "Ali!" she cried. "Doctor, it's Ali!"

"What happened?" the Doctor demanded, all nonchalance gone from his voice, replaced with anger and worry.

"Toby shot her!"

"I'm getting to the holding bay. Rose, you have to get her to the TARDIS, now!"

Rose unbuckled the Alchemist's seat belt and stood up, Scooti helping her, wrapping the Alchemist's arms around her shoulders. "Let me help," Danny urged, unbuckling as well, taking her legs.

Rose heard the wheezing of the TARDIS as they hurried through the rocket, Zach and Jefferson taking care of the rocket. They found Ida outside of the TARDIS, starting to stir, then the Doctor came out of the TARDIS and with one look at the Alchemist, he narrowed his eyes. "What happened to Toby?" he asked, running up and taking the Alchemist as she nearly collapsed.

"Flew out into a vacuum," Rose answered. "He's . . . dead . . . oh, my God," she blanched, watching orange energy start to seep out of the Alchemist's skin.

The Doctor shook his head. "No, no, please, no," he begged, stepping into the TARDIS with the Alchemist, Rose hurrying in after him, the door shutting before Scooti or Danny could get in as well. "Don't let it be right!"

" . . . held it back to get here," the Alchemist ground out, stumbling away, raising up her hands as the orange glow strengthened. "Knew it was coming . . . didn't want to do it anywhere else."

"Oh, my God," Rose breathed, realizing what was happening. "Is this what happened to you?"

"Yes," the Doctor swallowed, nodding. But what could happen, when a Bonding was interrupted by regeneration . . . it could ruin everything they'd worked up to! It had almost never happened! "You wanted to know what happened to me? She's regenerating."

The Alchemist let out one last groan of pain before crying out, throwing her arms out and her head falling back, her regeneration taking over. Rose flinched and backed up, but she didn't take her eyes off of the Alchemist, just like the Doctor. She watched the Alchemist's features warp, changing, most obviously her height as she shrunk a bit. The moment the energy started to diminish, the Doctor stepped forward, and when the Tenth Alchemist fell out of her regeneration, stumbling a bit, he was there to catch her.

Rose stared at the Alchemist, stunned. The Alchemist blinked her now hazel eyes, shaking her head, seeming a bit dazed. Her hair was honey blonde and remarkably straight, slightly past her shoulders. Her skin was a bit tanned, not as pale as her past self's had been, but still slightly pale.

In fact . . . the Alchemist looked an awful lot like . . . her.

"Hey," the Doctor whispered, brushing a lock of her hair out of her eyes. "You all right?"

The Alchemist opened her mouth to answer when she coughed, a bit of regeneration energy floating out. "Might need that healing coma now," she mumbled, her voice a bit higher than before, then she promptly collapsed.

The Doctor was there to support her, Rose running forward to help. "Is she all right?" Rose asked worriedly.

"She will be," the Doctor nodded. "Just needs to sleep through her regeneration cycle."

"How long will that be?"

"Fifteen hours, hopefully."

Rose took a deep breath. "Maybe she could stay at home? Like you did?"

The Doctor nodded. "Let's get her to the med bay first."

Rose nodded, taking the Alchemist's legs to support her as they carried her down the TARDIS hallways . . .

Neither of them paying enough attention to her to see the wisps of gold surrounding her fingertips.

***

"I don't know," Ida mumbled. "I can't remember."

"Well, it looked like a box," Danny frowned.

"What do you mean, a box?" Zach asked.

"Down in the hold, a big blue box," Scooti insisted. "It just appeared!"

***

"Zach?" the Doctor called later, back in his suit, the Alchemist lying in a bed in the medical bay. "We'll be off now. Have a good trip home. And the next time you get curious about something . . . " He sighed. "Oh, what's the point? You'll just go blundering in. The human race."

"But, Doctor, what did you find down there?" Ida asked. "That creature, what was it?"

"I don't know," the Doctor shrugged. "Never did decipher that writing. But that's good. Day I know everything? Might as well stop."

"What do you think it was, really?" Rose asked.

"I think we beat it," the Doctor answered. "That's good enough for me."

She shuffled on her feet. "It said I was going to die in battle."

"Then it lied," the Doctor said bluntly.

"It didn't lie about the Alchemist."

The Doctor clenched his jaw, then turned back to the comm, still not happy at all that his Bonded had died and he hadn't been there to protect her from it. "Onwards and upwards. Ida? See you again, maybe."

"I hope so," Ida answered.

"And thanks, boys, Scooti!" Rose called.

"Doctor?" Scooti said. "Whatever happens with the Alchemist . . . thank her again, for risking her life to save mine."

The Doctor's gaze softened. "I will," he promised.

"Hang on, though, Doctor," Ida spoke up. "You never really said . . . you three, who are you?"

"Oh . . . " The Doctor shrugged with a grin. "The stuff of legend."

He cut the connection and made the next flight plan, heading for the Powell Estate.

Hopefully, this time, there would be some peace while they waited for the Alchemist to finish her regeneration cycle . . . and no invasion of Earth like there'd been last time.

***

Bye, Cobie Smulders. :( And hello . . . Dianna Agron! :) It's weird, both of my "Tens" - Teresa Palmer and Dianna Agron - were in the same movie, "I Am Number 4," which I promise was not planned, and they're all blonde, too! I must have a pattern going. ;)

A rare interlude for this series will introduce you all to our new new Alchemist, and I'll show her theme, too. Might be a while, because spring break starts tomorrow, so I probably won't update for a while. But I will say, this is the only regeneration mid-season you'll see from my OCs.

Have a good day/night, everyone!