Thank you everyone for your comments!

Ayiana89: Thank you very much. And here you are.

Issy: Thank you very much. And that's a very good point. Hopefully I have rectified that in this chapter. I really appreciate the critique.

Dengirl: It gets much worse. And thank you.

The Doctor was fairly certain they had entered a building, because the stars overhead suddenly disappeared. There weren't any windows (but he supposed windows wouldn't really be necessary if it was too dark to see out of them) otherwise he might have been able to see a little bit, but wherever he was, it left him completely blind.

They carried him into a wide entryway; wide enough for three average sized houses to fit in- or at least he guessed. He couldn't see, but judging from the long echoes of the creatures' footsteps, the room sounded very large.

He was carried across this room before being unceremoniously dropped onto the floor on his hands and knees. Then he was left alone, feet scurrying off and away from him.

Slowly, he got to his feet and brushed himself off, wincing when he accidentally wiped at a cut. He then tried to get his bearings (a difficult feat when he couldn't even tell if his eyes were open or closed). "Hello?" he shouted, listening closely to the echoes and determined that he was at the far end of the room, meaning the only door he was aware of was a good 60 feet away; too far to run to if worse came to worse. He would have to be sneaky if he wanted to get closer to it.

"Doctor."

The Doctor cringed. This voice was likely the worst he'd heard all day. It was slightly smoother than all the others, but he could hear what could only be described as evil dripping from that voice. It was also slow and precise, suggested to the Doctor that he must have been talking to Him.

"Oh, hello!" he said cheerfully, masking his disgust and fear. "Thought I was alone. Hard to tell. It's very dark. Can't see a thing. So... who am I speaking to?"

"I have heard of you,

" He said, ignoring the Doctor's question. He paused and the Doctor knew he was smiling wickedly. "You shall make me gleischlak."

"I'm sorry?"

"You speak my language but do not know this word?"

"I have a translator, but there must not be any words in the universe to translate gleischlak into. Though I'd guess by the context that its some perverted form of happy," the Doctor guessed.

"Hap-py?"

"Yes, happy. The feeling you're having right now. That's happy."

"You make me happy."

"Good!" the Doctor said with a smile.

"Gud?"

"No word for that either, eh? It's... well... well its not bad."

"Ah, but bad makes me hap-py."

"That's not a good thing."

"Gud doesn't exist here, Doctor."

"I see that. Otherwise you would know what those words meant. What about joy?"

He stared at him, the word obviously lost on him.

"Alright, what about peace?" he waited, but there was only silence. "No? What about nice? Pleasant? Love? Mercy?"

"Mercy. Yes, I know the word. Many have begged me for it."

"Did that planet beg for it?" the Doctor asked, letting anger seep into his tone.

"They did.

"And you ignored them," the Doctor said. He couldn't keep their screams from suddenly invading his mind and it took some effort to force them away.

"Indeed."

"Who are you?" he said it more as a demand.

He didn't answer.

"I asked you who you are," the Doctor said, more sternly than before.

"You think yourself entitled to my name, Time Lord?" He asked scathingly. "You have much pride... but not for long."

"Who are you?" the doctor asked, his voice raising so that it reverberated off of the walls and echoed in the darkness.

"I have many names. I have been called Devil, Evil One, Dark One, Devourer, Destroyer, but my first name was Akdevor."

"Never heard of you," the Doctor said coldly.

"You wouldn't. All who have met me are perished or Legion," Akdevor said.

"That reminds me, I wanted to talk to you about them," the Doctor said, unable to keep the anger out of his voice. "They were hundreds of different species. What have you done to them?"

"They were reborn... In my image."

"Reborn? There's nothing left of what they were!"

"Precisely."

"You destroyed them! What they were is gone! They're nothing but husks!" the Doctor shouted furiously, taking his hands from his pockets and clenching his fists.

"They are Legion; born as I was of pain and hate and suffering. Some became beautiful, some were lost. I suspect you shall be beautiful."

The Doctor felt creeping into his hearts, but he was too angry to really notice it. All his mind could think of was the planet, and those people at the town, deformed and empty of all that they were; dead. "So that's what you do, then? You gather people up and turn them into those... things in the town? Let me tell you now, that is over."

"Oh? And who is to stop me? You?"

"Yes, me," the Doctor said, glaring daggers into the thick blackness.

Akdevor laughed, the sound sickening to the ears and it took the Doctor effort not to cringe and cover his ears. "We will see..."

The Doctor heard the footsteps coming and tried to get out of the way, but he couldn't see and ended up moving straight into one of the creatures' path. Several clawed hands grabbed him again, more viciously than before, cutting into his arms, sides and legs. Too fast for him to defend himself or stop them, they began dragging him away.

Martha was slowly getting used to the darkness and could see a few feet ahead now. It wasn't ideal, but it was much better than before. She and Jack had been walking for what felt like hours, trying to find a cave or maybe an empty building to hide in. Occasionally, she would look back to see if the Doctor (or anything else) was following.

They were steadily climbing back up the mountain, going about it more slowly than their last trip as they searched for good places to hide and rest. Finally, Jack called out. "Martha! I found something."

Martha met him at the entrance of what looked like a cave, although it could have been a black hole. She wasn't sure.

"What if something else is already in there?" Martha asked.

"That's what this is for," Jack said, holding up his gun with a grin. "Come on. I'll go first."

"I wish we had a light," Martha said longingly.

"And draw attention to ourselves? No, it's probably better this way," Jack said as he stepped into the pool of black, his foot disappearing into its shadows.

"Ugh, the darkness here is so thick," Martha said as she followed after him, becoming immediately engulfed in darkness. "You could drown in it."

Jack walked forward a few feet and then abruptly stopped. "Oh. It's not that far in. I've aready hit the wall," he said, knocking on the rock surface to demonstrate. The sound echoed shortly before dying out.

"That's good," Martha said. "Less to worry about." She hugged herself as another cold breeze rolled into the cave and wished absently that they could start a fire. Even if they'd wanted to, there was nothing to burn; all of the trees disentigrated at the slightest touch. "Why do you think the TARDIS brought us here?"

Jack shrugged. "Who knows? I never really got the TARDIS... then again it never really got me, either. It doesn't like me. Maybe it wanted to dump me here," he teased.

"The Doctor wouldn't leave you in a place like this... maybe somewhere else, but not here," she said playfully. "Maybe the TARDIS didn't bring us here. Maybe something else brought the TARDIS here."

"That's impossible," Jack said.

"No, it isn't. It's happened before," Martha said. "Not a lot."

"You know, sometimes the TARDIS goes places because that's where the Doctor needs to be," Jack said. "That happens a lot."

"Do you think he's here to help those... things? Legion?"

"Possibly," Jack said. He paused for a moment and then touched her arm. "Hey, why don't you get some sleep? I'll keep watch."

"You are not good at watching."

A gun firing echoed loudly in the cave followed immediately by a flash of light that revealed a creature standing in the shadows of the cave. Martha didn't get a very good look at it, but what she did see was that it was very big, animal-like and skeletal. She threw herself down onto the cave floor and pressed herself against the wall, trying to keep out of the line of fire.

There was a loud hiss of rage and then grunts as two bodies fought against each other. Realizing that Jack was physically fighting it, she got up from the floor and made her way towards the noise. She grabbed at something slick and leathery (she was pretty sure she had hold of the creature's arm) and began pulling to get it away from Jack.

"Mercy!" the voice cried, hunkering down and back away, trying to get out of Martha's grip.

"Martha, let go of it," Jack said.

She couldn't understand why on earth Jack would want her to leg go, but she complied nonetheless and released her hold. The creature scurried back but did not run away. Instead, he sat at the foot of the cave so that its outline could be seen in contrast to the entrance of the cave.

"You saw me earlier," Jack said.

"I did," it said.

Martha stared at it, marveling at the size of it. It was much bigger than it had felt, she could see and it did not sound in the least bit tired from the scuffle- both she and Jack were panting- so why it would have asked for mercy was a mystery to her. It could have easily taken them both without growing tired. Why hadn't it?

"Why didn't you attack us earlier?" Jack asked, quickly getting control of his breathing and sounding calm but dangerous at the same time.

"I need the Doctor."

Martha's brow went up in surprise and she knew Jack had a similar look on his face. "Why?" she asked. "How do you know him? Where is he?"

The creature made a noise like it was uncomfortable. "He has him."

"Who has him?" Martha asked angrily.

"I dare not speak his name. He has the Doctor and his blue box. I need the Doctor."

"You said that already. Why? Why do you need the Doctor?" Jack asked.

The creature shifted on its haunches, like it wasn't used to so many questions. Martha guessed that he didn't talk to anyone very much. "The Doctor must help me."

"Help you how?" Jack pressed impatiently.

"The Doctor must help me."

"Just answer him," Martha snapped, her own patience wearing thin. She was also growing concerned that this was some sort of trap and that there were more of whatever this thing was waiting nearby.

"The Doctor must help me to remember. I cannot remember. I am different."

"Different?" Jack asked curiously. "What do you mean?"

"Legion is the same. I am different. I remember... small things. I cannot remember. The Doctor must help me."

Martha could tell that this conversation was going in circles and wouldn't stop, so she moved on. "Where is the Doctor?"

"With Him."

"Where exactly?"

"Mountain. In the mountain. I need the Doctor."

"Yeah, we know," Jack said irritably. "Is the Doctor alive?"

"Alive. He is alive. But He has him. I will help you help the Doctor. The Doctor must help me. I need the Doctor."

Martha listened to the creature with a grimace. It wasn't very intelligent. It could barely clear its thoughts enough to answer questions and she couldn't help but find herself taking pity on it.

"Can you take us to him?" Jack asked.

The creature hissed loudly. "No! No! No! He has him. You will be Legion. No. No. I need the Doctor. No!" it hissed again wildly and started swaying back and forth as though it were dizzy. "The Doctor must help me. He has him. No! NO! No!"

"Calm down!" Jack shushed it, looking out of the cave to ensure nothing heard it. "Shh! Wait, go back. What do you mean we will be Legion?"

"We are Legion," it said.

"I know, but you said we would be Legion," Jack said.

"He takes them. They become Legion. You will be Legion. No." It started pacing the entrance of the cave, shaking its head furiously. "You must not. No. I need the Doctor. I need the Time Lord."

"What did you say?" Martha said.

It suddenly stopped its pacing and turned its large, canine-like head towards her. "... I cannot remember. We must help the Doctor."

"How are we supposed to help him if you won't take us to him?" Jack said hotly.

"You must not be Legion. Must not. Must not. No, no, no, no, no.

" It growled in frustration and was silent for a moment. Then suddenly it raised its head and looked out of the cave. "Legion! Legion!" it shrieked quietly, almost completely silent. It rushed out of the cave and looked back inside at them. "Must not be Legion. Come! Legion! Legion! Come!"

Martha's eyes widened as she realized the creatures meaning. Others were coming. She reached blindly out until she found Jack's arm. "I think we should follow it," she said.

"Follow that thing?" Jack said in disbelief. "I'm not following it."

"If it wanted to kill us, it would have already," Martha pleaded, keeping her voice low while watching the creature. It was pacing hurriedly and looking inside at them. "We're running out of options."

Jack growled angrily. "Fine, but stay close to me." He bent down, searched the floor for a moment, before finally picking up the gun he had lost in the scuffle. Then, he went to the entrance, glaring at the creature as he came out into the open.

"Come! Come!" it said. "Legion! Legion comes!" It started to reach out to Jack.

Jack immediately raised his gun at it and the creature recoiled.

"You are weak, human. Legion comes," it said, reaching out slowly again. Martha, now outside of the darkness of the cave, could see its clawed hand reached for Jack. She could also see its huge, ghost-white eyes staring at nothing. There were no pupils and she wondered if perhaps it was blind.

"Weak? Who're you calling weak?" Jack asked.

The creature hissed at him, barring its sharp, jagged teeth. It then run around in a circle around them and Martha realized it was demonstrating its speed. It was much faster than she or Jack could run even if the sun was shining and the ground was flat and without obstacle.

"You want to carry us?" Jack gaped. "No. No way. Forget it. We'll walk."

It growled angrily. "You will be Legion!"

Suddenly the sounds of footsteps- fast approaching footsteps- echoed up to their ears. Martha looked back, but still couldn't see well enough to spot anything more than a few mere feet away. She turned to Jack. "Jack, more are coming. I think we should just let it carry us."

"Are you out of your mind?"

"You think I want to? Those things are coming and it is our only chance," she said.

"Come," it said. It reached out and grabbed Jack's arm. Without warning it hoisted him into the air and put him none-too-gently onto his bony back. It did the same with Martha, not waiting for either of them to get situated or grab hold before it started sprinting through the darkness.

Martha nearly fell off when it started to run. She just barely had time to grab onto an oddly placed bone to save herself. Jack had his arms around its neck, a look of misery on his face. Martha hoped desperately that she hadn't just made a huge mistake.