Rose careened rather wildly through the tunnel, in her excitement to reach her mystery destination. When the weird brown smoke cleared, she gasped in utter amazement. She felt as if she was Willy Wonka; the room looked as if it was filled with edible delights. Rose's head spun. Am I dreaming? Why would the Doctor keep a room like this on the TARDIS? Just as her head was about to explode with all the unanswerable questions, she saw something that made her heart stop. A little orange man, with a face like a pug dog was hobbling over to her. Rose thought about backing away, but then laughed at herself. The Doctor would never keep dangerous things on the TARDIS, she was sure of it.
So, I the weird man walked up to greet her, Rose stood tall, and waited for his first words. Seemly slightly out of breath, the orange thing made it all the way to Rose. From this proximity, she realized he was even shorter than she thought. Standing right in front of her, the small creature stood only as high as her thigh. His skin was a dull, burnt orange color, and his hair was green, but the most striking thing about him, was the eyes. They were huge, taking up almost half of the space on his scrunched up face, and they were a deep crimson color. Rose blanched, the only thing she could think of were the evil Ood; they had the same color irises. But she relaxed again as the thing opened its mouth to speak, and a childlike peal of laughter emitted from it. Rose smiled, almost in spite of herself, and said, "Hello, I'm Rose Tyler. What is your name?" What she really wanted to ask was what are you, and why are you here on the TARDIS, but Jackie had raised her daughter well. She could not forget her manners, even in a galaxy, far, far away.
The thing smiled (or at least, she thought it smiled, it was hard to ascertain expressions with all the folds of skin). "Hello Rose, we know who you are, the Doctor has told us much about you. I am Jazub, one of the many Munjgins the Doctor rescued from extinction." Rose didn't really know how to respond to any of this. The fact that the Doctor had saved an entire species from extinction and chose to hide them in his time machine, or the fact that he talked about her to said species, or the fact that she felt as if she had just entered a children's movie.
"You said you were called munchins?" Rose felt a laugh bubble up in her throat, but crushed it down.
The orange fellow answered, "No Rose. Munjgins, formerly of the planet Cocoa. We were the working class of our wonderful planet, harvesting the cocoa bean and forming it into various delicacies that were enjoyed all throughout the universe."
Rose was puzzled. "Then what happened to you? Why did the Doctor need to rescue you and keep you on the TARDIS?" This whole situation was a bit to surreal for her liking, but Rose was still genuinely interested as to the Munjgins origin. The little man seemed happy enough, but she couldn't imagine what had torn him from his home planet. Rose knew she would be devastated if she had to leave Earth, never to return. As she asked Jazub her question, she saw his eyes flash with pain. "For centuries, my people worked with the cocoa bean, shaping and molding it to perfection. We had joy in our hearts, for there is nothing the Munjgins enjoy more than seeing people gain happiness from chocolate. We felt as if our work meant something; every person that ever ate our chocolate was another validation of our good work." Jazub paused and took a deep breath before continuing. "Our golden age ended once other planets got greedy of our talent. A neighboring race invaded our planet as we were working and anihalated my race. It was over so fast. They had some sort of weapon that gas." Rose was stunned.
"But how did you escape with so many of your people?" Rose could see many different groups of Munjgins in the distance, working among leafy green trees that sprouted up everywhere. How big was this place?
Jazub smiled again, and responded, "That is where the Doctor enters our tale. Somehow, I managed to evade the monsters that were killing my friends and family. I tried to gather as many of my people as I could, and together we barricaded ourselves in an old cave underground that we used to store our surplus cocoa. The invading troops almost had our defenses down, and were about to attack, when I heard the strangest noise. It was almost a whine, like that of one of our largest cocoa processors. When I thought all hope was lost, a mysterious blue box appeared, along with a leather clad man with the largest ears I had ever seen. He beckoned to us, and somehow I knew I could trust him. I think it was his eyes, they belied a certain wisdom, a wisdom of the ages. I managed to herd our people onto the strange ship, and the Doctor got us away."
Rose still wasn't satisfied. She didn't want to poke at an old wound, but she had to know. "Why are you still here, and not back on your planet? It must have been ages since the invasion." Jazub hesitated, but still answered her question. "The invading people were called the Sventon. They wanted our planet for the riches the cocoa could give them. Once they realized that they could not cultivate the plant like we had, the Sventon turned on each other. They had wanted world domination and riches by chocolate. Once that avenue was burned, they ruined the planet with their petty squabbles. All the various factions within their race fought until there was nothing left of our home to return to. The Doctor offered to bring us to any other planet we wished, but nothing else could ever compare to our beautiful Cocoa. Instead, I suggested we stay aboard the Doctor's ship, and he agreed. The TARDIS quite generously made us a replica of our beloved home, and so far, we have never wanted to leave. We have everything we would wish for. Plus, the Doctor packages our cocoa and sends it to earth so that people can still enjoy it. Therefore, we are content."
Rose felt better. At least their tale had a happy ending, thanks to her Doctor. Even if it had been the previous incarnation, their hearts still contained the same goodness, the reason she was in love with him. She still had one last question. "What is the name of your chocolate on earth?" Rose had to know.
Jazub had a twinkle in his crimson eye. "I think the Doctor mentioned the name of Mars?" Rose couldn't help it, she burst out into a fit of giggles. That was just like the Doctor, getting all indignant if she called him a Martian, and yet pinning the name on another alien race. She would have to make sure to bug the Doctor about that when she found him. For now, Rose turned to her new friend. "Jazub, this place smells so good, and what I've seen of it has got h=me very curious. Would you mind showing me around a bit?" She smiled her tongue-in-teeth smile, and waited impatiently for his answer. "Of course Rose Tyler, anything for a friend of the Doctor."
He led her down a narrow path that seemed to go on forever, and explained things to her along the way. He pointed to a purple plant that looked like a mushroom with hair, and told her to try it. Rose was more than a little hesitant, but Jazub promised her it was not dangerous. She was more worried about the feeling of hair in her throat, but Rose shrugged and broke off a piece, carefully chewing it, and then swallowing. She broke out into a smile as she fully tasted the plant. It was kind of bubbly, and distinctly grape. As she was pondering the distinct flavor of the mushroom plant, Jazub spoke up, "We extract the liquid from this plant to make grape soda." Rose squealed in childlike delight. How could this day possibly get any better? And then it did, over and over again. Jazub showed her fantastic sights that were both beautiful and very, very delicious. The only thing that would have made her happier was if she could have shared all of this with her Doctor. Speaking of the Doctor, she decided to leave the wonderful world of the Munjgins and continue on her search. After saying goodbye to Jazub, she reluctantly left the room, and shut the door behind her. As she looked around the familiar hallway of the TARDIS she smiled. Mum would never believe any of this. For now, she had so much more to accomplish. What else had the TARDIS been hiding from her? Rose couldn't wait to find out.