Okay, here's the eighth and final part of Love and Monsters, there will be a filler between this and Fear Her, but I don't know if I'll be writing it tonight or at the shop tomorrow, I'll see how I feel when I've finished putting this one up. Here we go.

Elton wasn't happy. He was telling everyone about what had happened with Jackie "....And she was right! It's shameful, we USED that woman--"
"I KNEW I couldn't trust you!" Victor boomed "You broke cover, you STUPID little man, you failed step five!"
"I don't CARE about step five!" Elton yelled "Because it's all gone wrong, Mr Kennedy, ever since YOU turned up! We used to come here every week, and we'd have a laugh. We were friends. No wonder they stopped coming. I mean there's no Bliss any more, and even Bridget, she hasn't turned up."
"I've been phoning and phoning her, there's no reply." said Mr Skinner
"And who can blame her?!" Elton exclaimed "I'm sorry Victor, but you're on your own. Because I am leaving! And so are you, Mr Skinner! And as for you, Ursula -" He walked over to her desk and stood over her "You're coming with me. And we're going to the Golden Locust and we're gonna have a Chinese."
"What's that got to do with it?" Ursula asked
"I mean you and me." he said "Together. Having a meal. If you want..."
Ursula was touched "Oh... I'd love it." she said
"But you can't leave." Victor said "You'll never know what he was doing, the Doctor. You'll never know what he was doing in your house all those years ago."
"No. I'll never know." he paused "Ursula, get your stuff. Mr Skinner, are you coming? Not to the Chinese, if you don't mind, just sort of walking out."
"I certainly am!"
"Victor. Good luck. Good bye." said Elton
"Mr Skinner!" said Victor "Would you stay for a minute, please?"
"We're walking out."
"I've got numbers for Bridget!" he said "I've kept records, I've got old numbers." He rummaged around in his back "We could track her down. Together. You and I."
Mr Skinner exchanged a look with Ursula and Elton and shrugged "That's more like the old team spirit." he said "You two have a nice time."
"I hope you find her." Ursula said
"I'll email you." Elton said as he and Ursula turned towards the door and Victor gestured for Mr Skinner to come over to his desk
"Just come a little closer." Victor said "Come on."
Mr Skinner approached the desk.

--

Elton and Ursula walked briskly along the street outside, hand in hand. "Mm, prawns!" Ursula said
"Yeah, I like prawns." Elton agreed
"Do you?" she asked
A scream from Mr Skinner emitted from the building, which neither of them heard.
"Crispy aromatic though." he said, answering her question
"Oh, I left my phone..." Ursula said her hand in her pocket.
"Really?" he asked
"Yeah!" Ursula said "It's not in my pocket."
"So much for the big exit." Elton said
"Yeah... come on." They turned back "Hurry up."

--

The lift clunked back down to the basement. Elton and Ursula opened the gates and stepped out.
"I'm not stopping, I just left my... ph... phone." She trails off as she notices the lack of Mr Skinner. Victor is at his desk, hidden behind a paper. "Victor?"
"Take your phone and go." he said, his voice panicky and slightly strange.
"Where's Mr Skinner?" Ursula asked as she looked around
"He's gone to the toilet."
Elton and Ursula edge towards him slowly "But... we haven't GOT toilets. We have to use the pub on the corner."
"Well-- well--- well that's... that's where he is, then." he said, keeping his face behind the paper
"Help me..." said Mr Skinner, but his voice was slightly muffled
"... What was that?"
"Nothing, it was nothing, it was nothing!" Victor said, his voice higher than usual.
"Help me!" Mr Skinner said again
"Shut up." said Victor
"That's Mr Skinner..." Elton said
Ursula was staring at the clawed green hands that were clutching the paper "Victor... look at your hands." she said
"Look at the rest of me." he said, as he lowered the paper. Victor was revealed in his true form- a blob-like green alien, he was fat and looked quiet disgusting and he had a mane of black hair. "You've dabbled with aliens... Now meet the genuine article."
"Oh my God." said Ursula, disgusted
"You're a... thing!" Elton said
Victor was put out "A THING? This THING is my true form." he said indignantly. "Better than that crude pink shape YOU call a body." Mr Skinner's face is poking out of Victor's fat green belly.
"What happened? Where am I?" Mr Skinner asked
All Elton and Ursula could do was stare.
"Ursula?" he asked "Is that you?"
"That's Mr Skinner!" she said, sounding horrified "What've you done to him?"
"I've absorbed him." Victor licked his lips. Bridget's face was sticking out of his back.
"Colin? Is that you? Colin?" she said
"Bridget, my love?" Mr Skinner said
"Oh my God! That's Bridget!" said Ursula
"Colin, where are you?" Bridget said desperately
"I'm here, Bridget! It's all right - I'm close."
"You've absorbed them BOTH!" Ursula realised
"What about Bliss? Where is she?" Elton asked. The sound of Bliss straining to say something came from within Victor. "... What?" Victor tilted to one side, taking his weight off one of his buttocks.
"I said "you really don't want to know" said Bliss. Victor shifted his weight back and Bliss groaned
"You've absorbed her." Elton said. Victor nods with a twisted smile "Are you some sort of... Absorbathon? An Absorbaling? ... An Absorbaloff?"
"Yes! I like that."
"Let them go." Ursula said "I'm ordering you! Let those people go!"
"Oh, but they taste so sweet." Victor said " Just think about the Doctor... oooh, how will he taste? All that experience - all that knowledge - and if I've got to absorb Jackie Tyler to get to him, then so be it."
"Don't you dare." said Elton meanacingly
Ursula suddenly grabbed Victor's cane and brandishes it at him. He cowered "If I have to beat them out of you!"
"Oh, no! Please don't hit me!" he said in a simpering voice "Look at me - I'm such a slow and clumsy beast. Please don't hit me."
"Well then... give them back." Ursula said
"What... you mean like this?" he asked as he grabbed her arm "Just one touch... that's all it takes!"
"Oh, no!" Ursula said. She watched, helpless as he arm was absorbed by the absorbaloff. She was scared "Oh... oh no!"
"No!" said Mr Skinner
"No!" said Bridget
"Leave her alone" Elton tried again.
Ursula screamed and she was absorbed head first into Victor. Victor shook, squirming with pleasure as the outline of Ursula's face began to emerge onto his chest.
"Yes." Victor said
"No, that's not fair!"
"She tastes like chicken." Victor said conversationally as Ursula's face had fully appeared on his chest
"Elton, where are you?" she asked
"Please... Mr Kennedy, please. I'm asking you. I'm begging you." Elton said quietly "Give her back to me."
"I can't." Victor said unsympathetically "Once they've been absorbed, the process is irreversible." He sniggered
"Wait a minute..." Ursula said "now I've been absorbed, I can read his thoughts. Oh my God, Elton... you're next... get out of here..." Victor looked up at Elton with a smirk on his face "Now you've seen him, he can't let you go. Just run! Go on! Never mind me, get out!"
"Isn't she the clever one?" Victor said
"Run, Elton! Run!" Ursula screamed
"Save yourself, boy!" said Mr Skinner
"Run for your life!" Bridget told him
Elton hesitated and Victor saw this as an opportunity he leapt up with surprising agility for a creature his size. He leapt right over the desk and roard. Elton ran

--

Elton ran out of the library and down the street with Victor hot on his heals, he reached a dead end and slammed into a closed gate. Victor came to a halt, cornering him, he had no where to go, no escape so he sank to the ground and knelt defeated in front of Victor
"Ohh, what's the matter?" Victor asked mockingly "Have you given up so soon?"
"There's no point." Elton said helplessly "Where would I go? Everything I ever wanted... has been absorbed."
"Oh, Elton." said Ursula "Don't say that."
"But it's true!"
"Then join us. Join us, little man." he said, as he walked towards Elton beckoning to him "Come on... everlasting peace. Come on. Join us. Dissolve into me..." He reached out to touch Elton's forehead. Elton closed his eyes, surrendering - when they heard a sound and felt a breeze that made Victor look around and Elton open his eyes. The TARDIS materialised right in front of them, and the Doctor stepped out, looking less than amused
"Someone wants a word with you." the Doctor said to Elton as Rose stepped out of the Tardis. She looked murderous and advanced dangerously on Elton
"You upset my mum." she said getting straight to the point
Elton stared, and then glanced up at the Absorbaloff whom the Doctor and Rose had completely ignored much to his bewilderment. "... Great big absorbing creature from outer space, and you're having a go at me?" he said
"No one upsets my mum." Rose said, ignoring his previous comment
"At last. The greatest feast of all. The Doctor." Victor said gleefully
The Doctor looked at him, trying to figure out what he was "What's this thing? A sort Absorbatrix? Absorba...clon? Absorbaloff?" he asked, the rare expression of confusion on his face
"Absorbaloff, yes."
Rose moved to stand beside her husband "Is it me or is he a bit... Slitheen?" she said to the Doctor quietly
"Not from Raxacoricofallapatorius, are you?" he asked Victor
Victor looked insulted "No! I'm not the swine! I SPIT on them! I was born on their twin planet."
"Really? What's the twin planet of Raxacoricofallapatorius?" the Doctor asked, still confused
"Clom." Victor answered
"Clom." repeated the Doctor
"Clom. Yes. And I'll return there victorious, whilst I possess your travelling machine." Victor gestures to the Tardis
"Well, that's never gonna happen." the Doctor said skeptically
"Oh, it will. You'll surrender yourself to me, Doctor, or this one dies." he said. as he gestured at Elton "You see, I've read about you, Doctor. I've studied you. So passionate, so sweet. You wouldn't let an innocent man die. And I'll absorb him - unless you give yourself to me."
Rose looked up her husband with an amused expression on her face as he scratched the back of his neck.
"Sweet... maybe." he said "Passionate... I suppose. But don't ever mistake that for nice." This was obviously not what Victor was expecting. "Do what you want." The Doctor waited, as though he was completely indifferent about what happened to Elton. Rose glanced up at him again
"He'll die, Doctor." Victor warned
"Go on then." the Doctor said
Victor hesitated, completely wrong footed. Even Rose looked slightly worried. "So be it." Victor said and then he turned to Elton
"Mind you, the others might have something to say." the Doctor said
"Others?" Victor asked
"He's right." Ursula said "The Doctor's right. We can't let him. Oh, Mr Skinner... Bridget... PULL!"
"No!" said Victor
"For God's sake, pull!" Ursula urged the other three
"No, don't - get off, get off!" Victor said. The three of them strained outwards, stretching Victor apart.
"If it's the last thing we ever do - Bliss! All of us together! Come on! Pull!" Ursula said as Victor wailed in pain and panic. "LINDA united! PULL!" Victor dropped his cane. "Elton! The cane!" Elton picked it up. "Break it!" Elton snapped the cane in half, and it emitted a shower of blue sparks. The hands on the end opened outwards, revealing a glowing light.
"My cane!" Victor cried "You stupid man-- oh no!" He roared one final time, turned into liquid and fell into the pavement, gone.
"... What did I do?" Elton asked
The Doctor looked at the bubbling remains of Victor. "The cane created a limitation field. Now it's broken, he can't stopped. The absorber is being absorbed." he answered
"By what?" Elton asked
"By the Earth" came the simple answered. Victor dissolved into the paving stones. For a fleeting moment, the shape of Ursula's face appeared on one. Elton lunged towards her.
"Bye bye, Elton." she said "Bye bye." And she sank back into the paving slab. A tear ran down Elton's cheek. Rose felt her anger at the man disappearing in light of his loss
"Who was she?" she asked
"That was Ursula." he answered tearfully
Rose looked at him for a moment, and then went to him and put her arms around his shoulders as he cried quietly.
--

Back in his room Elton was back in front of his camera "And that's it." he said "Almost. Because the Doctor still had more to say.

--

The Doctor and Rose sat on either side of Elton "You don't remember, do you?" the Doctor asked

--

"And then he explained." Elton continued "That night. All those years ago."

--

"There was a shadow in your house." the Doctor explained as Elton relives the night in his head for the third time "A living shadow in the darkness. An elemental shade had escaped from the Howling Halls." he paused "I stopped it, but... I wasn't in time to save her." he looked Elton in the eyes "I'm sorry."

--

In the living room, Elton's gaze moved from the Doctor to a blonde woman lying dead on the floor

--
"Because that was the night my mother died." Elton sighed and closed his eyes. Remembering his mother. "We forget because we must."

----

Elton switched the camera on - it's now pointing at his computer desk. He settled himself in the chair. "So, there you go." he said "Turns out I've had the most terrible things happen. And the most brilliant things. And sometimes - well - I can't tell the difference. They're all the same thing. They're... they're just me. You know, Stephen King said once, he said... "salvation and damnation are the same thing". And I never knew what he meant. But I do now." He thought about this for a moment "Cos the Doctor might be wonderful, but thinking back... I was having such a special time. Just for a bit. I had this nice little gang." He remembered his friends. "And they were destroyed. It's not his fault. But maybe that's what happens if you touch the Doctor. Even for a second. I keep thinking of Rose and Jackie. And how much longer before they pay the price."
"Oh, now don't get all miserable." Ursula said from behind the camera "Come on, Elton. You've still got me."
"Oh yeah. 'Cos the Doctor said he could do one last thing with his magic wand..."

--

The Doctor held his sonic screwdriver to the paving slab into which Ursula dissolved. "If I can key into the absorption matrix and separate the last victim... it's too late for total reconstruction, BUT..." He stood up. Looked up, eyes wide. "Elton! Fetch a spade!"

--

"Even then, after all that... the Doctor saved me one last time." He stood up and retrieved a paving slab which had been sitting on the desk just out of frame. He sat back down and set it on his lap. "Here she is."
"Could be worse." Ursula's face was peering out of the paving slab. "At least I'll never age. And it really is quite peaceful, you'd be surprised."
"It's a relationship... of sorts... but we manage." he said "We've even got a bit of a love life."
"Oh, let's not go into that." Ursula said
"And I don't care what anyone thinks. I love her."
"Ahh." she said, smiling up at him.
"But the thing is..." He picked up a remote control and pointed it at the camera - it zoomed in and refocused on his face. "There we are... I've even bought a remote zoom." he put down the remote "But what I wanted to say is... you know, when you're a kid, they tell you it's all, grow up. Get a job. Get married. Get a house. Have a kid, and that's it." he shook his head "Ah. But the truth is, the world is so much stranger than that. It's so much darker. And so much madder." He paused and smiled "And so much better."

Okay, that's finally the end of this episode and I'm glad, cause it was driving me mental. Right, seeing as my mum and dad aren't back yet, I'll do the filler, it will be quiet short, so be warned. Oh and tomorrow I'll start Fear Her, but if I don't go to the shop you might not get any updates until sunday, cause my little sisters might want on the pc. We'll see what happens.

TTFN

Julie