Halfway Out Of The Dark || The Doctor

The Satan Pit

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"Woah! Careful!" the Doctor scolded, "Anyway, it's both of us, me and Ida. Hello! But the seal opened up. All we've got left is this chasm." He looked down at the gaping pitch black hole that lay beyond the open trapdoor.

"How deep is it?" Zach asked.

"Can't tell." the Doctor replied, "Looks like it goes on forever."

"The pit is open." the Artist said thoughtfully, "That voice said; 'The pit is open.'"

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

"No, no. No sign of 'The Beast.'" the Doctor replied.

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"It said 'Satan.'" Rose said nervously.

"Come on, Rose. Keep it together." the Doctor encouraged.

"Is there no such thing?" Rose, but the Doctor didn't respond so she turned to the Artist. "Tell me there's no such thing."

"We can't tell you what we don't know." the Artist told her tactfully.

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"Ida, I recommend that you withdraw, immediately." Zach said.

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

"Okay, that was an order. Withdraw!" Zach ordered, "When that thing opened, the whole planet shifted. One more inch and we fall into the black hole. So this thing stops now."

"But it's not much better up there with the Ood." Ida pointed out.

"I'm initiating strategy nine." Zach told her, "So I need the two of you back up top immediately. No arg..."

Ida turned her comm off and turned to the Doctor. "What do you think?" she asked him.

"He gave an order." the Doctor replied, moving over to the pit.

"Yeah, but... what do you think?"

The Doctor put one foot on the edge of the pit and stared down it thoughtfully. "It said; 'I am the temptation.'"

"If... if there's something in there... why's it still hiding?" Ida wandered.

"Maybe... we've opened the prison, but not the cell." the Doctor pondered.

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

"Oh! Oh, in a second." the Doctor replied, "But then again... that is so human. Where angels fear to tread. Even now, standing on the edge. It's the feeling ya get. Yeah?" He looked into the pit, musing. "Right at the back of the head. That impulse... that strange little impulse... that mad little voice saying 'Go on... go on... go over, go on...' Maybe it's relying on that. For once in my life, Officer Scott... I'm gonna say... retreat." He had decided that his curiosity had caused enough trouble for one day. It was because of his curiosity that he, the Artist and Rose were trapped on this planet in the first place, and now both women were trapped in a base full of possessed Ood, so he decided that his curiosity about the pit could get stuffed. He was going back to help the woman he loved and their best friend. He turned his comm back on; "Artist, Rose, we're coming back."

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"Glad to hear it." the Artist smiled in relief.

"Best news I've heard all day!" Rose grinned, then she saw John release the safety catch on his gun and aim it at Toby. "What you doing?" she glared.

"He's infected." John replied, looking down at Toby, who was cowering on the floor. "He brought that thing on board. You saw it."