A/N: It has been far too long since I updated, and I apologize for that. Christmas season in retail murdered me. If I wasn't at work, I was sleeping. But my store has recovered from Christmas, and my hours have been slashed, which sucks but also means I can finally start this again! I feel bad for taking such a long time off, especially since I did it in November too, but then I realized I did it a lot in the first story as well, and then it was just because I was lazy. At least I had good reasons this time.

Previously: Far below, the trapdoor sunk and the earth shook as it opened. The Wolf ran to solid ground.

"I am the sin and the temptation and the desire. I am the pain and the loss and the fear."

"We're moving!" Zach yelled. "The planet's moving!"

"Get that door open!" Jefferson ordered.

"The gravity field, it's going! We're losing orbit! We're going to fall into the black hole!" Zach yelled into the comm.

"I have been imprisoned for eternity. But no more."

"Door sealed," the computer announced.

"Come on!" John shouted, punching at it.

"Door sealed."

The Wolf peered over the edge of the now fully open trapdoor, which revealed a deep shaft leading into blackness. A voice suddenly resonated up from the bottom of the pit, echoing around the cavern.

"The Pit is open. And I am free," the Beast growled.

Then it laughed.

Voices in the Dark

"Open fire!" Jefferson yelled. He and the female guard began shooting at the Ood, who quickly fell to the ground.

"We're stabilizing," Zach said over the intercom. "We've got orbit," he announced with relief.

John ran for the comm. "Wolf? Wolf, can you hear me?" he called. "Wolf, Ida, are you there?"

"Open door twenty-five," the computer droned.

Jefferson and the guard raised their weapons, but Danny sprinted through, arms raised. "It's me!" he yelled. "But they're coming. It's the Ood. They've gone mad."

"How many of them?" Jefferson asked.

"All of them!" Danny shouted, close to panicking. "All fifty!"

"Danny out of the way." Jefferson motioned away from the door. "Out of the way!"

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

"Open door twenty-five," the computer said again. Jefferson opened the door, and the leading Ood stuck its globe onto the guard's forehead. She screamed, a shock going through her, and collapsed to the floor, dead. Jefferson began shooting again.

"Jefferson, what's happening in there?" Zach asked over the radio.

John vaguely heard Jefferson and Zach discussing ammunition and their lack of it, and something called Strategy Nine, but he focused on trying to get in touch with the Wolf. They had been out of contact for too long – since the Ood had attacked.

Zach calling his name got John's attention again. "John? What about Ida and the Wolf? Any word?"

"I can't get a reply," John said desperately. "Just nothing. I keep trying, but it's –"

"No sorry," the Wolf's interruption broke through the static. "I'm fine. Still here."

John's eyes narrowed, his relief overpowered by a flash of anger. "You could have said you stupid – "

The Wolf flinched as a powerful burst of static screeched in her ear. John's reprimand was broken up, but he ended with " - useless Time Lord!"

"Whoa, careful!" the Wolf exclaimed. "Anyway, it's both of us. Me and Ida. 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," John recited. "That's what the voice said."

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

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

"It called itself Satan. Is that a thing, Wolf?" John asked. "There's no such thing as Lucifer, the angel that fell from heaven. Right, Wolf?"

"I don't know, John. I honestly don't know."

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

"But we've come all this way," Ida protested.

"Okay. That's no longer a recommendation. It's an order. Withdraw," the captain said firmly. "When that thing opened, the whole planet 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," Ida pointed out.

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

Ida switched off the comms. "What do you think?" she asked the Wolf.

"I think he gave us an order," the Wolf replied.

"Yeah, but what do you think?"

"It called itself the temptation," the Wolf mused.

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

"Maybe we opened the prison but not the cell?"

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

"Oh. Oh, in a second," the Wolf admitted. She moved to look into the pit, before catching herself and stepping back a fraction. "But then again, that is so human. Where angels fear to tread. Even now, standing on the edge. It's that feeling you get. Right at the back of your head. That impulse. That strangle little urge. A mad little voice saying: Go on. Go on, go on, go on. Go over, go on. Maybe it's relying on that," she realized. "And John's up there, waiting for me. I promised. No, for once in my life, Officer Scott, I'm going to say retreat." She sighed, stepping further from the black pit. She turned the comms back on. "Oh, now I know I'm getting old. John, we're coming back."

John sighed in relief. "Best news I've heard all day," he said happily. He turned to tell the other guys the good news, but was just in time to see Jefferson aim his rifle at Toby. "What are you doing?" he asked incredulously.

"He's infected," Jefferson snapped. "He brought that thing on board. You saw it."

"So you're just going to start shooting your own people now? Is that it?" John demanded. Jefferson hesitated. "Well, is it?"

"If necessary," the soldier decided.

John stepped between him and the archaeologist. "Well then, you'll have to shoot me as well, if necessary," he said angrily. "So what's it going to be?" He gestured at Toby. "Look at his face. Whatever it was, is gone. It passed into the Ood. You saw it happen," he pointed out. "He's clean."

Jefferson didn't move for a long moment, but then lowered his gun. "Any sign of trouble, I'll shoot him," he threatened, walking past them.

"Until then, keep your gun pointed at the ground, and if you have to shoot someone, make sure it's an Ood," John shot back. "Are you alright?" he asked Toby.

"Yeah." He shook his head. "I don't know."

"Can you remember anything?"

"Just – it was so angry," Toby shuddered. "It was fury and rage and death. It was him. It was the devil."

"I know," John agreed. "I heard him. In my head. But come on. Up you get." He helped Toby up and slung an arm over his shoulders, leading him over to where Jefferson and Danny were standing.

"What's Strategy Nine?" the Wolf asked as she and Ida returned to the capsule.

"Open the airlocks," Ida explained. "We'll be safe inside the lock down. The Ood will get thrown out into the vacuum."

The Wolf's stomach dropped. "So we're going back to a slaughter?" Another massacre on her shoulders.

"The devil's work," Ida replied grimly. They both stepped into the capsule and the Wolf closed the doors behind them. "Okay, we're in. Bring us up."

"Ascension in three, two, one," Jefferson said.

"This is the darkness. This is my domain," a voice announced.

"Wolf, it's him," John said into the comm.

The shuttle rattled and before it could begin lifting, the power suddenly went out, leaving the pair in the dark. They didn't have any time to wonder what had happened before the voice of the Beast echoed over the comms once more. "You little things that live in the light, cling to your feeble suns which die in the night until all that you see is the dark," it sneered.

"That's not the Ood," John said. "That thing's talking through them."

"Now only the darkness remains," the Beast gloated.

"This is Captain Zachary Cross Flane of Sanctuary Base Six, representing the Torchwoof archive. You will identify yourself."

"You know my name," the Beast answered.

"The Beast," John whispered.

"What do you want?" Zach asked.

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

"It's him. It's him. It's him," Toby whimpered until John hushed him.

"If you are the Beast," the Wolf interrupted, "then answer me this. Which one, hmm? Because 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. So which devil are you?"

"All of them," it answered.

"What, then you're the truth behind the myth?" the Wolf scoffed.

The Beast paused. "This one knows me as I know her. The Bad Wolf. The only one with the hope to one day be my equal. The killer of her own kind."

"How did you end up on this rock?" the Wolf asked, growing angry.

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

"When was this?"

"Before time."

"What does that mean?" the Wolf asked, confused.

"Before time."

"What does before time mean?"

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

The Wolf shook her head. "That's impossible," she denied. "No life could have existed back then."

"Is that your religion?" the Beast asked gleefully.

The Wolf hesitated, stuck. "It's a belief," she finally admitted.

"You know nothing," the Beast hissed. "You could be powerful. A god. But you live you so very small. All of you, so small. The Captain, so scared of command. The soldier, haunted by the eyes of his wife. The scientist, still running from Daddy. The little boy who lied. The virgin. And the lost boy, so close and yet so far from home. The fading storm that will be lost in battle so very soon."

"Wolf, what does that mean?" John asked, uncertain. "Was that about me?"

"John, don't listen," the Wolf replied immediately. John calmed slightly at her voice.

"You will die and I will live," the Beast roared before an image of a horned beast momentarily replaced the one of the Ood.

"What the hell was that?" Danny yelled.

"I had that thing inside my head," Toby moaned.

"Both of you calm down," John ordered.

"What do we do?" Danny asked, panicking. "Jefferson?"

"Captain? What's the situation on Strategy Nine?" Jefferson radioed.

"Zach what do we do?"

Everyone started talking over each other, only John and the Wolf staying anywhere near the realm of calm. John was trying to keep Toby and Danny from panicking, but that wasn't working very well. The Wolf was just listening, until the shouting reached a point where she decided to step in.

"Stop. Everyone just stop," she ordered. It didn't work. They all kept talking. Rolling her eyes, the Wolf opened up the capsule communications screen and sent feedback through to the surface to get everyone to shut up for a moment. "You want voices in the dark? Then listen to mine," she commanded. "That thing is playing on very basic fears. Darkness, childhood nightmares, all that stuff."

"But that's how the devil works," Danny whined.

"Or a good psychologist," the Wolf pointed out.

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

"Okay, but what makes his version of the truth any better than mine, hmm? Because I'll tell you what I can see," the Wolf said, capturing everyone's attention. "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!" she said excitedly. "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 –"

There was a sudden ear splitting screech, then the cable sheared from its mooring and fell into the shaft.

"The cable's snapped!" Ida yelled.

"Get out!" the Wolf ordered, pushing her out the doors and away from the capsule. They threw themselves to the ground as ten miles of metal cable fell and crushed the capsule's roof.

John snatched up the radio. "Wolf, we lost the cable! Wolf, are you alright?" he asked desperately. "Wolf!"

"Comms are down," Zach informed him.

John wasn't going to give up on her so easily. Not after everything. They had to have made it out in time. "Wolf? Wolf, can you hear me?"

"I've still got life signs, but we've lost the capsule," Zach said.

"Say something," John nearly begged. "Wolf, are you there?"

"There's no way out," Zach said grimly. "They're stuck down there."