Chaos
Chapter III
"The Queen has begun moving her pawns against us, Brother." "Spare me the chess metaphors, Hastur. Her actions are futile. Their army will not be able to stand against us." He was confident. They had grown weak and complacent, The Great Old Ones, and the mortal races left remaining posed little threat to his power. The Time Lords and Osirans were extinct, the Eternals and Chronovores had fled reality, The Great Vampires had been reduced to insects. There was nothing left to challenge him, now.
The TARDIS shuddered, as if in fear. The bell rang louder and louder as the occupants witnessed horror after horror. "Who could move the stars?" Sargon asked in awe, "Is this Nyarlathotep's work?" "No, his way is to destroy, not to relocate." The Doctor replied, "This is something else. The arraignment of the stars is familiar to me, it is the key to uniting the mind and body of Cthulhu. Quantum Mnemonics, so powerful that they can create or destroy universes. . ." He turned toward Mikaboshi, "He's awake, isn't he?" Mikaboshi nodded, "Yes, but he hasn't harmed earth, at least, not intentionally," he paused, sadness in his voice, "Haiti has suffered tremendously due to his arising. Cthulhu himself has fled to another realm." "Where the other Great Old Ones are waiting." The Doctor murmured, it was becoming clearer now.
"Doctor, Mikaboshi!" Sargon suddenly had a thought, "Maybe we could find a way to defeat him in our libraries, we have many books on The Great Old Ones, and you have much information on The Dark Times." "Sargon, you're brilliant!" The Doctor hugged the young Jagaroth, "We'll need time to find The Great Old Ones, no doubt they're in hiding. Is Shub-Niggurath still in Her realm?" "No." Mikaboshi was shocked, Shub-Niggurath almost never left the safety of Her realm. "No matter," the Doctor said, "We can find them. I just hope we find them in time. In the meantime look through your library, Mikaboshi, no doubt you have such books, Sargon, check mine. . ."
He looked upon the beautiful, glittering world beneath Him. It was literally a gem. Midnight, a planet made of pure diamond. He shattered it with a thought, splinters of diamond the size of continents flashed into the void. He felt that Cthulhu had been freed, but he was nothing to Nyarlathotep. He could be crushed as easily as Midnight.
Later
Mikaboshi read aloud from The History and Nature of The Great Olde Ones, "And they took council, yes, even the most vile and wicked amongst them, Moloch and Yog-Sothoth, all save Hastur, who shared in Nyarlathotep's evil. His form being very much weakened, he could but struggle feebly as they tore his mind asunder and scattered his evil across reality, a thousand prisons holding a thousand evil forms. Each was imprisoned by different device, that he might never again be made whole. . ."
"Is it possible that not all of Nyarlathotep's form has been reunited with his body?" Sargon asked, "A thousand forms, a thousand prisons."
"I hope so, we may find out." The Doctor hurriedly worked the controls, beaming, "I've just found a Great Old One."
It was a mass of tentacles and barbed spider's legs, no body was visible, only hundreds of limbs extending miles in every direction. It dwarfed The TARDIS, like a blue whale beside a rowboat,"Who is it?" The Doctor asked Mikaboshi. "Dagon." "He doesn't look anything like his statues." The Doctor pointed out. "That is irrelevant." Mikaboshi said tersely. "How do we approach him? Is there some special ceremony?" The Doctor asked. Mikaboshi walked brazenly to The TARDIS' doors and swung them open. "Dagon! Nyarlathotep and Hastur have been freed! We need the help of The Great Old Ones!" The mass of tentacles and legs squirmed, twisted and crawled, "We have our own plans, Child of Shub-Niggurath. We are not ignorant of their escape. The Predators of The Fendahl, The Great Vampires, use them." The creature vanished without further explanation, joining its brethren in hiding.
"Well, that was helpful." The Doctor said in frustration, and rushed back to the console.
"What's a Fendahl?" Sargon asked.
"A predator so terrifying that even The Great Old Ones fled this universe to escape them. They devoured a being's life force, what you would call their souls. We Time Lords locked their world into a time loop to prevent their escape, after they'd destroyed all but one other life form on their planet. That life form was even more powerful and terrifying than the Fendahl itself, they were Memeovores, beings who devour concept, the potential futures of living beings, the very fabric of existence. They destroyed the Fendahl."
Sargon was shaken, "Davros said whenever a being does, or doesn't, do something, that it creates a parallel reality. Are you saying that these things feed off of those realities?"
"You're right, but unlike Weeping Angels, they don't just leech off of the possible futures, they destroy them utterly." The Doctor was horrified, "To release such beings upon the universe. . ."
"They must really be desperate."
"I think we're meant to be the distraction to buy The Great Old Ones time either to find a way to stop Nyarlathotep, or to release the Memeovores and allow them to destroy the universe, taking Nyarlathotep with them. . ." He pulled on a lever, causing The TARDIS to lurch violently, "And I want to have a talk with them about that!" "You're following Dagon's trail!" Mikaboshi was shocked, "That could tear The TARDIS apart!"
"Yes, it could!" the Doctor shouted, pushing The TARDIS farther into Dagon's dimensional wake.
Over a hundred Great Old Ones had gathered in conference in a guarded pocket dimension, seeking a solution. Shapes beyond reason, beyond nature, minds beyond comprehension coming together to defeat a common foe. An orange sphere, thousands of miles in diameter and covered completely in eyes of various shapes, sizes and colors floated quiescent in the pinkish void. Azathoth. "We must get them to free the Memeovores before Nyarlathotep releases them. We can control them. . ."
A tall, thin humanoid shrouded in blue flames laughed harshly, "Then why don't you release them, brother?" The Mi'en Kalarash spread out its arms, "We could not stand against the Fendahl, how could we hope to control their destroyers?"
"From a distance. By proxy." Moloch's voice was a low rumble, "We shall have have them released by The Doctor, and once they have achieved their purpose we shall eliminate them. They should be weakened enough from the battle. We can manipulate the Weeping Angels and The Great Vampires into battling them, perhaps we shall be rid of all of them. "
Shub-Niggurath held back from attacking Moloch only because of the threat of Nyarlathotep. "Betray and murder them. Blood and death are the only things that satisfy you, aren't they, abomination?" Before he could respond, she continued, " And you know nothing of these creatures, if they triumph over Nyarlathotep, feed upon his potential energies, they will become all-powerful themselves. No, I am opposed to this course of action!"
"Then what do you suggest?" Baoht Z'uqqa-Mogg, a winged, scorpion-like beast, asked tensely. "If only Yog-Sothoth had not destroyed himself! His wisdom could be of such help to. . ."
The sound of a materializing TARDIS diverted all sensory organs to a Police Box floating incongruously in the endless pink void. The Doctor recognized Shub-Niggurath, Dagon, The Mi'en Kalarash, the Animus, Weyland, Gog and Magog, Abaddon, The Nestene Consciousness, but the others. . . He assumed the squid-dragon creature was Cthulhu. . . The Doctor was overwhelmed by the collection of transcendental being surrounding The TARDIS.
"What is the meaning of this!?" Moloch thundered.
"Who the hell are you to speak to us like that, you murderous freak!" Mikaboshi replied through The TARDIS' speakers, before The Doctor could respond.
"Uh, hello. I'm The Doctor, I believe you know Mikaboshi, Sargon and Maedar. . ." The Doctor began.
"We know who you are." The voice seemed to come from the many-eyed planetoid, but he couldn't be sure, as it had no obvious mouth. "Mikaboshi, who's the chap with all the eyes?" he whispered. "I am Azathoth." The voice answered before Mikaboshi could open his mouth. "I understand you encountered an imposter, using my name to gain personal power for itself. It is good that you destroyed it."
"It's never good to destroy anyone, Azathoth."
"Yet we seek to destroy Nyarlathotep and Hastur." Azathoth pointed out.
"I have no choice, I know what they are. Not as well as you do, mind you, but I know what they are. Why do you want us to free the Memeovores and bring back the full power of The Great Vampires?"
"Because that is the only way we can win." Azathoth stated bluntly.
"And then we can destroy them while they are still weakened from battle." Moloch replied matter of factly.
"I disagree," Shub-Niggurath said, "The Memeovores are too terrible to unleash, and The Great Vampires would be easily slaughtered."
"Everyone in favor of using Moloch as bait, raise a pseudopod." Mikaboshi said icily. Several appendages were raised, but Moloch ignored them.
"I refuse to help free the Memeovores." The Doctor said.
"What makes you believe that you have a choice, Time Lord?" Cthulhu's voice was thick with contempt, obviously he had not forgiven The Doctor for preventing his return in 1915. "We can control you, your mind, your TARDIS. . ."
"If you try to seize control of me or my TARDIS," The Doctor's voice was calm, yet somehow, frightening. "You'll find out why I'm known to the Daleks as The Bringer of Darkness, The Oncoming Storm."
"Is that a threat, Doctor?" Cthulhu hissed angrily.
"You bet it is." The Doctor replied, "You don't frighten me. The only thing scary about you lot is that so much power is in the hands of so many idiots!" He was getting angry, now, "I will not be your pawn!"
"We are all pawns," Azathoth replied, "And we are all buying time for the greater good. I cannot tell of it, but we do have a plan. . . But, the time for talk has ended. Good luck, all of you."
And The TARDIS was in N-Space once again. . .
Hidden away, laying in wait. Strings of pure quantum mnemonics intricately woven into a pattern of energy incomprehensible to all but the wisest of The Great Old Ones. Atlach-Nacha continued to weave his web, his spidery limbs pulling energy streams from his spinnerets, his humanoid face strained with tension and exertion. It had to perfect, or everything would unravel, literally and figuratively.
Mikaboshi sat stunned on the floor of The TARDIS. He didn't know what to do. Before it had been so easy, he simply did what he thought was right regardless of the possible consequences. But he'd learned. And now The Great Old Ones were asking him to not only repeat his mistakes, but magnify them, setting full-sized Great Vampires and Memeovores loose on the universe. He looked at Sargon, who was engrossed in a book on The Great Old Ones. He had sworn never to take him into battle, the boy had suffered enough due to war. Yet, with Nyarlathotep's power, nowhere was safe.
Not even The TARDIS.
The view-screen flickered to life, and The Doctor turned to confront one of his most terrible enemies. The face was that of the late Soviet Captain Sorin, but the eyes shown with a malignant green fire. Fenric.
"Well, it seems fate has brought us together again, Doctor."
To be continued. . .
Notes:
Quantum Mnemonics are the language of The Great Old Ones and the natural laws of the previous universe, depending upon how they are used, they can create and destroy universes in seconds. . . So why don't they? Destruction's much more fun the old-fashioned way.
Atlach-Nacha The spider god, was created by Clark Ashton Smith in his short story 'The Seven Geases.' He is depicted as a gigantic spider with a humanoid face, (this was decades before Lolth and Selvetarm). He was an indifferent entity consumed with the desire to finish his web, which spanned the gap between The Mortal Realm and The Dreamlands.
The Mi'en Kalarash is a Great Old One who fed upon nightmares and was known to the Time Lords. He is described as a tall, thin creature with dark, leathery skin and bestial features, shrouded in flames. He appears in the The 7th Doctor audio story 'Black and White'.
Dagon was usually depicted by humans, (in real life), as a merman type creature, and was a god of crops, fertility and water. Sea Devils saw him as a giant member of their own race.
Baoht Z'uqqa-Mogg, the giant, scorpion-like entity known as 'The Bringer Of Pestilence'.
The 7th Doctor encountered a being falsely claiming to be Azathoth in the book 'The All-Consuming Fire'. He dismissed it as a cheap con.
The Great Old Ones in Doctor Who include Azathoth, Abaddon?, The Beast?, Cthulhu, Lloigar (Animus), Shub-Niggurath, Weyland, Dagon, The Mi'en Kalarash, Derleth, (presumably named after Mythos writer August Derleth), Kwundaar, Valdemar, Hastur (Fenric), Yog-Sothoth (The Great Intelligence), The Celestial Toymaker?, Moloch, Gog and Magog and Nyarlathotep.
? - Not confirmed as a Great Old One
The planet Midnight appears in The 10th Doctor serial 'Midnight'. Probably the scariest episode I've ever seen. There's nothing more terrifying than frightened humans.