Chaos
Chapter IV
"Look at us! There's no good in us!"
"We have black hearts. . ."
"We were lost from the day we were born. . ."
Jean and Phyllis - The Curse of Fenric
The Doctor felt a rage welling up inside him. Captain Sorin had been a good man, a friend, until Fenric murdered him and stole his corpse as his corporeal form. Now, he was taunting The Doctor with that same face, gentle features twisted by unspeakable evil, eyes glowing bright green. It was not Sorin's body, his remains and those of Fenric's other victim, Doctor Judson, another good man, had been destroyed when The Ancient Haemavore sacrificed his life to stop the demonic murderer, "Ah, Doctor," He said in Sorin's voice, "It is good to see you again." He smirked, "A clever trap, my prison. The more I tried to decode the riddle, the more complicated it became. Brilliant. Worthy of The Toymaker himself. But you were also a fool, the prison was shaped around my mind, you did not anticipate that someone else would free me, did you? A poor move, and one that will cost you dearly."
The Doctor was unimpressed, "Fenric. Afraid to face me, are you? Long range communication, you're hardly the creature I fought so long ago. Prison's made you weak, cowardly. . ." Sorin's face contorted with rage, "You will pay for your insolence, you will beg for mercy at. . ." "Your feet, yes, yes, so you keep saying, but it hasn't happened yet, has it?" Hastur's features contorted in fury. "We will meet again, Doctor." The screen went blank.
The cloister bell was almost deafening now.
"Something is wrong. Very wrong." Abaddon said, his horned, dog-like head showing a flicker of concern, "This is madness." Shub-Niggurath indicated her agreement, "Something is happening. There is some evil within our ranks, some treachery. . ." "Perhaps it is merely fear that we sense." Baoht Z'uqqa-Mogg hissed, "This is a frightful proposition." "No, I know evil," Abaddon said grimly, "And there is evil at work here. We must be cautious. Vigilant. . ."
Hastur was a fool, preoccupied with games and riddles. The Beast was gone. Sutekh was dead. He had few allies left. Nyarlathotep paused to consider his new enemies, the boy, Mikaboshi, had great power but poor judgement, he could easily be tricked and dealt with, but this Doctor. . . While he he did not possess the potential for raw power that Mikaboshi held, he had a far greater power. Wisdom. Knowledge. Hastur had been right about one thing, The Doctor was no mere insect.
The Jagaroth. Not the boy. Scaroth. Without Scaroth humanity might never have existed. And The Doctor so loves humanity. A Jagaroth Type I Transport. . . If it had never set down upon primeval earth. No. That would be boring, simply erasing humanity from the time stream. It would be so much more fun to let them develop, let The Doctor become attached to his little pets, and then kill them.
Darian eyed The Doctor warily, "So you want us to return to our original state and fight for you? I was alive during The War, Doctor, I know what Time Lords are like." the Doctor's green eyes narrowed, "So was I, and I know what The Great Vampires are capable of. If I, a Time Lord who fought in The War, am willing to entrust your race with their full powers, then surely you realize that this is pretty bloody important." Darian considered for a long while, "And The Butcher is dead? Without a doubt?" "I saw Rassilon die with my own eyes, well, my eyes before I regenerated, anyway. He was pushed back into The Last Moment of The Last Great Time War. . . He burned. . ." The Doctor's voice was strained, agonized "They all burned. . ." He couldn't tell if the expression on the Vampire's face was exultation or shock. "I will talk to my people, and to Mikaboshi." "We don't have long." The Doctor stressed. "None of us do."
"How do we know this is not a Time Lord trick to lure us out of hiding?" "Would I have brought The Doctor, one of the most important Time Lords in history, here, if I did not trust him implicitly?" Marna snarled slightly, her grey features darkening, "He is the one who slew our King." "The King's servants were evil, and he assumed their master to be the same." His black eyes narrowed, "When I helped your people, I believed that you had come here by accident. You came here because you saw fresh hunting grounds. You know I don't fault you for that, you have a right to survive, but so did the races you preyed upon. One must die so the other must live. Nature plays no favorites. The Doctor did what he had to do, just as he did when he burned Rassilon and his entire race to cinders." The Vampires stood silent for a moment, "If we do this, the universe will learn that we still exist." Darian said, "Our race would once again become hunted." "The Doctor has erased his own name from history, he can hide your existence. And, if you do become known, we can lie, say that we or The Great Old Ones went back to The Dark Times, brought you here to fight, then sent you back or destroyed you." Mikaboshi looked around, "21 inhabited worlds have been destroyed so far by Nyarlathotep. If he is not defeated, the best you can hope for is a life of slavery." An expression of infinite sadness crossed his youthful features, "If we fight, it is likely that some, perhaps many of us will die. I myself may be killed. But if we are victorious, we will have saved not only The Great Vampires, but all life in the universe."
The Doctor was preparing to seal off Planet 5, forever.
"Do you think The Great Old Ones have a secret agenda? Do you think it's possible that they want to destroy the universe?" The Doctor asked. Mikaboshi, being a part of their 'family' had insights The Doctor did not. "No. At least, not all of them." "Well, that's comforting to know." The Doctor had been forced to turn off the cloister bell, it's constant ringing had become too much, and it had gotten the point across. He walked to The TARDIS console and began scanning the time loop that surrounded the remains of Planet 5, home world of the Fendahl and their destroyers. He was going to place it inside a time lock to make sure that Nyarlathotep, The Great Old Ones, or anyone else insane enough to try would never be able to reach them. Planet 5 was the original 5th planet in the Sol System, between Jupiter and Mars. The Fendahl had ravaged it, Mars and, in July of 1977, an escaped Fendahl had nearly ravaged earth as well. The Time Lords had blasted the planet to rubble in a failed attempt to kill the Fendahl, and who knew what lurked in the rubble now? Even more than The Great Vampires or the Weeping Angels, the Memeovores were anathemic to all life, to Time itself. Whatever existed beyond the time loop had no place in the greater universe. A predator that had evolved to destroy the ultimate predator.
Davros would have loved them, even as they sucked out his twisted soul. . .
He set the time lock in place, ensuring that only The TARDIS could break the lock, and prepared to leave.
The cloister bell began to ring.
How could it, when it was switched off. . ?
The control console activated by itself, and the time lock fell. The Doctor rushed forward, trying to reestablish control, but something, and he knew what, was blocking him. The TARDIS was no longer under his control. A massive, horned, scarlet colored figure appeared outside of The TARDIS, a smirk on his thick lips.
Moloch.
They had been betrayed.
The TARDIS was completely helpless. All of it's defenses were being suppressed.
Strange, eel-like creatures of pure energy swarmed from the ruined world toward The TARDIS, seeking food. Memeovores, devourers of the future, of all their futures. . .
To be continued. . .
Notes:
Sutekh was the villain from 'The Pyramids of Mars' an Osiran who tried to destroy all life in the universe before The Doctor caused him to age to death .
The 4th Doctor serial 'Image of The Fendahl' is set in July, 1977. A great evil was visited upon the earth at that time, I was born in July of 1977. The world still hasn't recovered from the Horror.
Abaddon's face reminds me of a pit bull terrier. I find that somewhat endearing. My family has always kept pit bulls, and they are loving, gentle dogs, if raised properly . The people who train them to fight and kill are the monsters.