Chapter Nine: Evil Never Dies...

Talween
Hyperdrive Section

'Food,' the massive creature that was the Soul Eater coiled itself in the engineering core. The ancient entity could sense the approach of more morsels to fuel its never-ending appetite for the delicate thoughts that whispered in the minds of those puny mortals. Banishment still stung it, still angered it, for it was the rightful master of the universe. These creatures that crawled upon it were its food, its right.

It suddenly realized that there was something different about one of the morsels that approached it – something very familiar. It had sensed several minds such as that one before its banishment and it immediately gave voice to the creature's name, "TIME LORD..." If the entity could smile, it would have. The time of its revenge drew ever closer with each step the mortals took into its lair.

At the door to the engineering bay, the Doctor and Rose paused in what appeared to be fright, but instead was great trepidation. The creature that lurked beyond the seemingly solid doors had destroyed so many of their counterparts. 'We have to kill it,' the slender woman reminded herself forcefully. 'Or to at least destroy it.'

Without any effort on their part, the engineering doors slid open and they were greeted by a sight that caused both of them to stop in shock. Something was in there, and it coiled and wafted around the massive hyperdrive engines that supplied power to the Cruiser. More gaseous than solid, the creature almost completely filled the room.

Fear sent a spear through her heart, and behind them, the doors to the engineering deck slammed shut with a resounding BANG.

Rose and the Doctor moved back towards the shut doorway behind them, keeping a wary eye on the thing before them. It seemed to pulse and writhe around the massive hyperdrive of the Talween, only now tendrils were snaking ever closer to where she and the Doctor stood. She knew that if one of those tendrils brushed against her, she would be eaten, so she kept an eye on them.

"Welcome," the voice rumbled throughout the engineering bay and vibrated in Rose's chest. The voice was dark sounding, and infinitely old.

"Are you the Soul Eater?" Rose asked, unsure why she responded, or why she asked an obvious question.

"I am that and more. I am the past, the present, and your future. I am the beginning and the end. I am hunger and I am pain. I am hatred and anger. I am the dark of night and the fear of the unknown. I am a world's torture and another world's destruction. I AM," the last two words echoed through the large chamber as the being shifted again.

"Time Lord..." it whispered, and the Doctor reflexively stiffened. "TIME LORD!" The Soul Eater's tendrils moved violently as it repeated the Doctor's title.

The Doctor could feel the weight of the creature's regard as he stood next to Rose, but he suddenly grinned, "That's me! Hello!" He waved cheekily at the creature.

The ancient entity rumbled its anger. The being shifted again, only this time the two could see a pair of glowing eyes moving closer to them, "The time for my revenge has come at last..."

Rose felt the Doctor stiffen at her side and she turned towards him with a question in her eyes, "Doctor?" His name conveyed dozens of questions. What can we do? How can we stop it? Are you okay?

Suddenly, Rose realized that something was terribly, horribly wrong. The Doctor's eyes, normally conveying the hint of an oncoming storm, were blank. There was no life in his eyes, and Rose's earlier fears reached a crescendo.

"Doctor!" She shouted, reaching out to touch his face. She ignored the laughter of the entity; all that mattered was the Doctor. The moment she touched his skin, the world disappeared.

In an instant she could see her life passing before her eyes. She saw her parents, Mickey, the Doctor, Jack, and the TARDIS...and then the images changed. She saw a planet of whose name she did not know, she saw a massive house of which she suddenly knew was called Lungbarrow, she saw a massive Citadel rising above the plains, she saw a laughing woman with long brown hair who became someone else yet was still the same person, she saw herself and Jack laughing on the TARDIS floor, and then she saw nothing.

Her life had become a blank slate; a landscape of white that stretched from horizon to horizon. Then came the Presence. It appeared as a dark spot that tainted the purity of the mindscape. It called to her, coaxed her, and pleaded with her all in the space of a heartbeat. 'Come to me; I will give you what you have always wished. Your memory will be with me forever. Forever will be as long as you shall live.'

Forever stretched across an infinity of worlds, and she saw far more into the mind of the Presence than she sensed it would ever want her to know unless she was a part of it. Soul Eater was but one of its many names, but the one that had stretched across the eons was Intellivore. It was far more than it seemed, and far more evil than any mortal mind could fathom.

Evil had a name and form to her now, beyond Daleks, beyond the Slitheen, beyond the Gelth, and it was Intellivore.

It was the essence of all that was vile, and the stench of all that was tantalizing in her darkest part of her mind. It was an offer of infinity and an offer of eternal torment. It was the easy offer of the dark, but she resisted it. "No," she said, and the word echoed across the mindscape, "I will not."

Rose felt the Presence's anger as it rushed over her like a tidal wave. There was nothing to brace herself against, nothing to prevent her from being swept away...until she felt his hand grab her own.

"Doctor," Rose identified him by touch alone and she watched the white landscape fade away to be replaced by a bizarre world of multi-colored jackets, question mark umbrellas, four foot long scarves, and sprigs of celery. "Where am I?" she asked, looking around in amazement.

"Rose Tyler," the Doctor said, "Welcome to my mind."