Towards the Light (Doctor Who)

Towards the Light is the tenth episode of the first series of Doctor Who produced by The 56Studios. It features the return of the Darkness.

Story
“For all of time, the darkness as been present. Since the light of the first star fell across the surface of the first planet, shadows have abounded across the universe.”

His footsteps clanged on the metal deck as he paced. The wheezing of the engines filled the room. There was a light shuddering as they transited through the time vortex.

“We take darkness for granted, and rightfully so. But, if we didn’t have darkness, we wouldn’t have night. Then, we couldn’t see the stars. Darkness is foundational part of the universe, and we cannot live without it.”

Clara looked at him with a quizzical expression. “Yes, but what does this mean? Why are you telling me this?”

“Because,” he replied. “I need to get you accustomed to what I’m about to say.”

He paused before continuing.

“The Darkness – the entity we encountered several weeks ago – is an ancient force, with untold and seemingly natural control over the darkness. Since our first encounter with it, I have been studying it. Books, scrolls, tablets. Anything I can find with any mention of the Darkness.”

“How much have you found?” she asked.

The Doctor shook his head. “Not much, unsurprisingly. Not many people want to think about the dark being alive, but it is something everyone fears.”

“So,” she crossed her legs in her seat on the stairs. “What did you find?”

He smiled.

“It thrives on destruction. It thrives on death. There are accounts of whole planets just dying out overnight. I believe that planet that the Darkness transported us to the last time we encountered it is one of its victims.”

“Is it omnipotent? Omniscient? Omnipresent?” Clara asked.

“Definitely not omniscient. Omnipotent to a degree. Probably omnipresent,” the Doctor answered.

“Have you read anything about that?”

“It isn’t every shadow, but it can be any shadow. It inhabits the darkness. Thrives in it. It is ruthless, and unforgiving.”

She watched him for a moment. “How long have you been studying this?”

“Since our last encounter with it,” he replied.

“Yes. But how long?” she pressed.

He didn’t meet her eye line. After a moment, he walked to the other side of the console.

“Anyway. I’ve exhausted my resources for information on the Darkness,” he began flipping switches and pulling levers. “Except for one place, and I thought it would be good to have you with me.”

She got to her feet and crossed to the console, still eyeing him with worry. Regardless, she joined him, watching the panels above the console spinning above them.

“Where are we going?” she inquired.

The Doctor looked at her, a slight smile on his lips. “The biggest library in the universe.”

The echoing of their footsteps off the marble floors was muffled by large amount of people making their way through the Library. Massive bookshelves towered over them, expanding for miles in every direction.

As they walked, Clara looked around in awe. It was unlike anything she had ever seen. She had loved to read when she was a kid, and still did, and this was like something out of a dream. When she was a kid, books were gateways to other worlds for her. Her mum used to read them to her at night, which often led to dreams of fantastical worlds and daring adventures. She missed those days.

Of course, now she was really visiting fantastical worlds and going on daring adventures. Everyday with the Doctor was a new one, and she loved it.

“What is this place, other than one big library?” Clara asked as they walked through a sky walk, looking out over a large city. The sun glittered off the metal surfaces of the skyscrapers, making the city look like gold. She stopped and looked out at it. The Doctor joined her.

“It is the single-biggest collection of knowledge that there has ever been in the history of the universe. Every book ever written is here. All first editions,” the Doctor replied.

“That’s amazing,” Clara said, stopping and picking up a shining copy of Summer Falls. She smiled at it before replacing it on the shelf.

They continued walking.

“Now we need to find the mythical entities section,” he said, leading them around a corner. “If I can just remember where…”

“You’ve been here before?”

“A long time ago. Last time I was here, it was very different.”

“How so?”

“The Vashta Nerada had invaded and began feeding on anyone who would fall into their shadows. To save them, the computer of this place uploaded everyone and saved it to her hard drive. That’s how I found it when I came here. I met a team of archaeologists that came here to find out what happened. River was one of them, actually. That’s how I met her.”

“Why was River there?”

“She was exploring, Actually called me to come and help. Unfortunately a younger version of me intercepted it. One who had never met her.”

“What happened then?”

“Well, after many people died, I made the Vashta Nerada leave the Library, and restored everyone who had been saved.”

“River mentioned that you had saved her to the biggest Library in the universe…” Clara slowed. “Is that this library?”

The Doctor nodded. “Yes,” he said quietly.

Silence fell between, and Clara thought that it would be best to keep it that way for a while.

They kept searching. After a while, and after consulting an automated kiosk that appeared to be a statue with a human face, which personally freaked Clara out, they found their desired section.

It was a collection of three or four shelves. It apparently was a less-trafficked area of the Library. The floors had a light coating of dust on them, and the woman saw several cobwebs hanging from the lights above. The books in the section appeared to be untouched.

“Alright,” the Doctor said. “This is what we’re looking for. Let’s get to work.”

“What are we looking for?” Clara asked as he began searching through books.

“Anything and everything on the Darkness,” he replied. “We need everything we can get our hands on.”

“Okay then,” she nodded, beginning to look through the vast collection of texts.

As she skimmed over the titles on the spines of the books, she realized that they hardly meant anything to her. She felt like she was back in school, doing research for a paper that she hardly had any interest in. Only a few moments after starting, she let out an involuntary yawn.

On the other side of the shelf, the Doctor had already pulled out a number of books and was tearing through the texts, his eyes moving a mile a second. It seemed as if he would discard a book a minute or two after picking it up.

Clara, deciding that she should at least try to find a book. As she looked, her eyes fell upon a very old book. It stood out from all the others. Shrugging, she took it from the shelf. Dust trailed from it. Taking a deep breath, she tried to blow the residual coat off. It worked, but it also blew back at her, causing her to gag for a moment.

Clearing the dust from her lungs, she finally held up and opened it. It creaked as she did so, indicating that it had not been opened for a long time.

Gently, she began looking through the pages. The text, though being translated, appeared strange and unlike anything she had ever seen. It was all messily handwritten, with some words looking to be nothing more than scribbles.

However, she got the gist of what the writing was about from the horrific scribbled images that accompanied it. They depicted monsters from her darkest nightmares. As she looked at them, one after another, she felt that the monsters’ eyes were staring into her very soul.

“Doctor…” she said, trailing off. “What is this?”

Across the room at another shelf, the Doctor looked back at his companion. Setting down the book he had been flipping through, he walked over to join her. Watching her for a moment, he turned his attention to the book she had in her hands. He frowned at the drawings.

“That’s bizarre.”

“What is this?” Clara asked.

He took the book from her and turned it over, examining the cover.

“This book shouldn’t be here,” the Doctor said, still inspecting it.

“Why?”

“Because everything in this library is first edition, and kept that way. Mint. This is old. Very old. Its worn and coated in dust. This would hardly pass at a rummage sale.”

“So what’s it doing here?”

“I have no idea.”

Just then, a voice came in front of them. “I do.”

Looking up, they saw a man wearing a long trench coat. He was trying to impose a peaceful demeanor, but he looked very shaken.

“Who are you?” the Doctor asked, instinctively putting him between the man and Clara.

“I’m Ben,” the man said. “I’m a Time Agent.”

“What are you doing here?” the Doctor pressed.

“I fled here from the Darkness,” he replied, which caused the two to recoil. “I saw that you two seemed kind of peculiar, and followed you. Then I heard you talking about the Darkness. Why are you looking for it?”

He raised an eyebrow. “What’s it to you?”

“I want to know why you’re looking for the Darkness, because I want to save you.”

“And why would you care about two strangers you heard talking in a library?”

“Because I don’t want to let anyone else die because of the Darkness,” Ben answered. “It’s the least I can do.”

The Doctor watched him for a moment, before responding. “What do you know about the Darkness.”

Ben took a deep breath. “I was on a research mission with my team. We were doing data collection on the Darkness, looking through ancient ruins on a planet that had allegedly been decimated by it. And then…” he stopped, as if the rest of the story was too terrible to tell.

“And then…?”

“The Darkness attacked. It killed everyone. I only barely managed to get away,” he finished.

The Doctor let the story sink in. Clara stepped out from behind him. “Why did you come here?”

“My team and I came here before we set off for the planet. This was the last destination in my vortex manipulator prior to that planet. I didn’t mean to come here.”

“What planet were you researching?”

“Why?”

“I want to know,” the Doctor pressed.

“Defaelos. 2014.”

“Back in the present?” Clara asked.

“Looks like we found where we need to go,” the Doctor said, and turned and began walking away. Clara followed.

Ben looked confused. “Wait. Where are you going?”

“Defaelos.”

With a shocked expression, he began following them, yelling his pleads. “No! Wait! You can’t! You’ll get yourselves killed!”

“Not yet,” the Doctor replied, continuing his strides.

“Please! Don’t do this!” Ben struggled to keep up.

“No one tells me what to do except for me,” he shoved his hands in his pockets.

“Why do you want to find the Darkness? Why would you risk your lives to find it?”

The Doctor abruptly stopped and spun on his heel to face him. “Because I’m going to destroy it.”

Ben looked at him for a moment before his face became determined.

“Then let me help you.”

Ben looked up in awe at the rotating panels and pulsating lights of the TARDIS. He chuckled a little as the ship shuddered as it transited through the time vortex. Clara watched him with a smile.

“Having fun?” she asked, crossing her arms and joining him on the outer ring of the deck.

“This is incredible. Absolutely incredible,” he exclaimed.

“Do you have anything like this in your time?”

“No. Nothing even close,” he shook his head. “This is beyond anything that I could imagine.”

“You’ve got that right,” the Doctor said as he danced around the console room.

“Where are you two from?” Ben asked, looking at Clara.

“Oh, I’m from Earth, 2014,” she replied. “He’s from Gallifrey.”

“Gallifrey? Wasn’t that destroyed?”

“Theoretically,” the Doctor interjected.

“He’s one of the last of the Time Lords,” then woman said. “Or that’s what he keeps saying, anyway.”

Ben awed again. “That’s amazing.”

Clara smiled again. “He’s alright.”

The TARDIS continued to fly through the vortex, skimming the edges of the swirling tunnel of light as it went.

The large blue box began to materialize between the tall trees in the seemingly endless woods. It stood still for a moment, before the door opened and three figures emerged. They stepped out onto the forest floor, looking around. The sky was dark and gray above them.

Clara shivered a little, hugging herself. “It’s a bit cold here.”

“Defaelos is just on the edge of the habitable zone of its home star,” Ben replied. “So yeah, it’s a bit cold.”

“Who used to live here?” she asked.

“The Defaelii,” the Doctor answered before Ben could. “A relatively peaceful people, if I remember correctly.”

“That’s right,” Ben nodded.

They stood still for a moment, letting a chilling breeze rustle through the woods.

“Where was your camp?” the Doctor inquired finally.

Ben sighed. “This way,” he indicated the direction. “I still don’t think that this is a good idea.”

“You should’ve said that before you showed us where it is,” he replied, setting off in the direction that he had pointed.

“That’s a good point,” the man scratched his head before following the two as they walked.

They crunched their way through the forest for a while. Clara watched the dark clouds swirling in the sky above them. Ben seemed nervous, occasionally letting his hand run across his vortex manipulator, as if ready to make a quick escape.

Eventually, they upon an encampment. There were several tents set up around a pile of equipment. As they entered, Clara noticed that it looked abandoned, and recently.

“Is this how you left it?” the Doctor asked, beginning to look through the pile.

“Yeah,” Ben said, standing back a few paces.

“What happened, exactly?” he followed, standing up.

“We were getting ready to head out to another temple of the Defaelii. Matthew was riding me for getting up late. We were gathering our equipment when everything suddenly got darker. We were confused for a moment, before the darkness starting consuming us. Matthew was the last one I saw get taken before I ran. The Darkness chased me, and that’s when I activated my time manipulator.”

“How did you know it was the Darkness?”

“I just assumed, based on what we were studying.”

“And what were you studying?” Clara asked.

“The Defaelii. They disappeared hundreds of years ago,” Ben began. “It had long since been legend that the Darkness had killed them. This is, according to the legend, the birthplace of the Darkness. We were looking for what had happened to them. We were looking for the last date that they were alive, in order to go back and see what had happened.”

“Why the interest? I’ve never known time agents to be archaeologists,” the Doctor crossed his arms.

“It’s a new initiative,” Ben said. “We’re trying to branch out.”

The Doctor looked at him for a moment when there was a noise from behind. Swinging around, they saw two men approaching them with guns in hand. To their left, two more appeared, before a final two on the right. They surrounded the three, their weapons glowing with energy.

“Who the hell are you?” one of them barked.

“I’m the Doctor,” he replied. “Who are you?”

“Time agents,” his aim didn’t waver.

“Ben?” one of the others gasped, seeing the man. “What the hell are you doing alive?”

“I could ask you the same thing,” Ben replied, shocked.

“We saw you die,” another said. “The Darkness took you!”

“I saw the Darkness take all of you,” he answered, his eyes still wide.

The Doctor turned on Ben, he approached him with a fierce expression n his face.

“Who are you?” he demanded.

“What? I’m Ben! I told you! You know me!”

“Apparently Ben was taken by the Darkness,” the Doctor said. “They all affirm that. You’re the only one with a different story.”

“How does that make me a liar?” he replied, his anger apparently rising. “Something’s wrong here!”

“You came to the Library. You found Clara and I. I don’t think that was by accident. That was by design.”

“Design? What the hell are you talking about?” Ben took a step back. “You’re insane!”

“I guarantee you that we saw Ben die,” the lead one replied. “We were exploring a temple when it took him. We tried to save him, but we were forced to run. He died.”

“Then who is he?” Clara asked, looking confused.

“I don’t know,” the Doctor said. “But he should be locked up until I can sort out what’s going on.”

“Wait! What if they’re the ones lying. Ever think about that?” Ben took a step forward, growing more agitated.

“Stay calm-,” the woman tried to reason with him.

“Stay calm? You’re betraying me! This isn’t right!”

“Ben-,” one of the men said.

“No! You’re not Matthew! Matthew died! I saw it!”

Ben suddenly produced a gun from his coat and pointed it frantically around. The group grew more tense as soon as he did. The Doctor and Clara took a step back.

“You’re not going to do anything with me!” he yelled, his weapon charging up. “I’m not going to fall for this-.”

Suddenly a blast of energy struck him in the back. He stood still for a moment before his eyes rolled backwards in his head and he fell forward, hitting the ground with a thud. Behind him, a man lowered his weapon.

“James,” Matthew lowered his own gun. “That wasn’t necessary.”

He nodded. “Yes it was,” James said. “He’s just stunned, anyway.”

“Well, it’s done now,” the Doctor stepped forward. “And now, I need to know what’s going on.”

They had moved Ben to a makeshift holding cell. They had taken any weapons he had on him, as well as his vortex manipulator.

Clara watched him sleep for a moment before turning around. The Doctor and the time agents were gathering in a circle a few away from the pile of equipment.

“What are you doing here?” the Doctor asked, sitting down beside them. Clara joined him a moment later.

“We’re an archaeological unit,” Matthew replied. “We were investigating the demise of the Dafaelii.”

“Ben told us the same thing.”

“Interesting,” another, Aaron, muttered.

“The Defaelii disappeared several hundred years ago, but we didn’t have an exact date. We came here looking for anything that would indicate the time they disappeared.”

“How do you think the Defaelii vanished?” Clara asked.

“The Darkness,” Matthew answered. “This is historically the birthplace of the Darkness, after all.”

“Were you worried about the Darkness when you came here?” the Doctor inquired.

“Not really,” he said. “We had thought that it was long gone from this planet. We were wrong.”

“Tell me about the day the Darkness attacked.”

Matthew inhaled. “It was a few days ago. We had discovered another temple, and we hoped that this would be the end to our quest. But, when we got there, we knew that something was wrong.”

“The Darkness.”

He nodded. “We were only in there for a few minutes when the Darkness attacked. We ran. Ben was right behind me when he got grabbed. I tried to help him, but ti was too late. He was gone. We barely made it out of there alive.”

“Are you sure that you saw die?” Clara asked.

“Positive. His neck snapped as he was grabbed.”

“Then how is he there?” the woman indicated the cage.

“No idea.”

“Perhaps his vortex manipulator malfunctioned as he was taken, and created some kind of clone of him,” the Doctor pondered.

“Is that even possible?” James asked.

“Anything is,” he responded.

“Either way,” Matthew said. “He died.”

Silence hung in the air for a moment before the Doctor stood up. “I want to see it.”

“See what?” he looked confused. “The temple?”

“Yes.”

“Why?” Aaron raised an eyebrow.

“Because I want to see it. I want to see what I can find on the Darkness.”

“That’s insane. It could still be there!” another, Timothy, interjected.

“I came here looking for information on the Darkness,” he retorted. “I’m not stopping here.”

“That’s suicide. You’re suicidal,” Richard gasped.

“Maybe I am,” the Doctor said. “But I need to know as much as I can about the Darkness if I am to destroy it. That is what I need to do. I need to destroy it.”

They watched as he stood there, his piercing eyes glaring back at them. Finally, running his hand through his hair, Matthew stood up to face him.

“Okay. I’ll take you.”

A smile broke across the Doctor’s face.

The Doctor, Clara, Matthew, Aaron, Richard, and Fredrick, were marching through the woods towards the temple. The time agents were uneasy, and understandably so. They had lost a friend there, and now they were heading back. Almost like lambs to the slaughter.

“This is still insane,” Richard muttered to Aaron. “Insane.”

“He thinks that he can kill the Darkness,” Aaron replied. “Maybe insane, but I legitimately think that he might be able to.”

On the other side of the group, Clara was looking through the old book that she had found in the Library. The Doctor saw her looking at it and raised an eyebrow.

“What are you doing with that?” he asked.

“Reading,” she replied.

“You took it? From the Library?”

“Yep,” she didn’t look up from it.

“That’s not yours. You stole it.”

“You’re the one who said that it didn’t belong there,” Clara said. “And it probably has information we can use.”

“You don’t know that.”

“It literally says ‘the Darkness’,” she indicated a scribbled line in the book.

“You don’t know that.”

She rolled her eyes. “Okay.”

The Doctor turned to Matthew. “What did you hope to find with the civilization here?”

“How they lived. How they worked. What happened to them,” he shrugged. “The usual.”

“What do the legends say about what happened to the Defaelii people?” Clara pocketed her book again. “Besides the stuff with the Darkness.”

“Essentially that the Darkness emerged from the shadows from which it had been born, and overnight, wiped out the entire people. Simple, but tragic.”

“It is,” she said.

They continued walking for some time before a tall circular structure loomed over them. Stopping before it, they looked up at the temple.

“This is it,” Richard said.

“I can see,” the Doctor stepped towards it. He found a carving, running his hand over it.

Clara stepped up beside him. “What is it.”

“A word in the Defaelii language,” he stared at it. “’Temple of the Sun’.”

“Did they worship the sun?” she asked.

“Every culture worships the sun at some point in their history, Clara,” he turned away from it. “Just as, at some point, every culture worships the dark.”

The Doctor moved towards the entrance. Behind him, the time agents stayed in their place.

“We’re going to stay out here, if it’s all the same with you,” Matthew said.

“Okay,” he replied. “I don’t need you right now, anyway.”

Turning, the Doctor turned and stepped over the threshold. Clara smiled faintly at the crew before following the Time Lord into the darkness.

Inside, the Doctor pulled out the Sonic Screwdriver. Adjusting it for a moment, a ray of brilliant light shot from it, illuminating the temple. It was a simple circular room, with engravings covering the floor and the walls. They were all written in the sane language as the carving outside.

“Woah,” Clara said as the Doctor began reading the symbols on the wall.

“This… is not what I thought it would be,” the Doctor said after a while.

“What do you mean? Does it mot talk about the Darkness?”

“No. It only talks about the Darkness. That is all it talks about here. Nothing about the sun or their religion. Only the Darkness.”

“That’s good, isn’t it?”

“Yes. But strange.”

“What does it say?”

“It’s speaking of something called the ‘First Stone’. It mentions it a lot in reference to the birth of the Darkness.”

“Have you ever heard of that?”

“No,” he shook his head. “I haven’t. I’m both very interested and very worried.”

“Is that good or bad?”

“I don’t know yet.”

Ben banged against the wall of his cell.

“Let me out!” he yelled. “Let me out, right now! Let me out!”

He threw his weight against it again. It creaked as he hit it.

Outside the cell, James appeared in front of the door. He looked strange, as if the light was hitting properly. His form was darker, his eyes staring dead ahead at Ben.

“James? What are you doing? Let me out of here!” he came up to the wall of his cell.

The man didn’t respond, opting to continue to stare at him. A cold shiver went down Ben’s spine.

“James? What’s going on?”

He stood silent for a moment before his mouth quivered. Slowly, it dropped lower and lower, complete darkness filling his jaws. He was stretching unnaturally, looking inhuman.

The man pressed himself against the wall of his cell. “What… what are you?”

“'I am the night. I am the shadows. You were correct,'” James said, his voice deep and sounded as if it were coming from all around. “You team was dead. I killed them. I only spared you in order to find the Doctor. I knew that he was searching for me, and I could not reach him in that time.'”

“How did I help you, then?”

“'I corrupted your vortex manipulator. Sent you to the time and place in which I knew the Doctor would be. You were the bait, and the Doctor took it without reservation.'”

“So I was just a pawn?” his voice shook slightly.

“Yes.”

He held his head. “I led the Doctor and Clara to their deaths unknowingly… I warned them… but I never knew that it would be like this….”

“You had no choice in the matter,” the Darkness replied. “You are human, so you are at an automatic disadvantage.”

“What are you going to do with me?” Ben asked.

“Kill you.”

James suddenly thrust his arm forward. A stream of shadow shot from it and impaled Ben in the chest. He cried out in shock, before gagging as his lungs filled with blood. He stood there looking in horror at his former comrade standing before him. Pulling arm back, the shadow disappeared. Ben’s corpse, now free, slumped to the ground in a lifeless heap.

The body of James watched him lie there for a moment with a blank expression before. Then, it stirred. Slowly, Ben’s body rose from the ground. His form was dark, and his eyes were lifeless.

“The end is now,'” both of them said, as their bodies became shadow.

“What does it say about the birth of the Darkness?” Clara asked, watching the Doctor reading the glyphs on the wall of the temple.

“Well, if I’m reading this right,” he replied. “This writing seems to imply that the First Stone is what gave birth to the Darkness.”

“That’s crazy,” she said.

“Yes. It is. If the First Stone is powerful enough to create the Darkness… I’d hate to see what else it can do.”

Clara frowned. “Does it say anything else?”

“It reiterates concepts we already knew. It says that the Darkness wipes out planets, because it wishes to see the universe submerged in shadows. It wants to restore the universe to what it thinks it should be.”

“So it did kill this planet?” she looked disgusted.

“Most likely. But again, we already knew that.”

“Does it give any indication if it can be stopped?” Clara inquired.

The Doctor stood and stared at the writing. After a moment – a long moment – he looked down.

“No.”

She blinked. “No?”

“No,” he repeated, looking at her this time.

She swallowed. “Anything else?”

He shook his head. “The story ends there.”

“You’re right,” said a new voice.

Matthew and the others were standing in the entryway, accompanied by the others from the camp, including Ben. The Doctor and Clara looked confused.

“Ben? Matthew? What’s going on?” Clara asked.

“They are dead,” all seven of them said in perfect unison.

The Doctor’s eyes widened. “No!”

“Yes, Doctor,” the Darkness boomed. “It is I!”

The forms of the time agents shimmered, becoming nothing more than shadows. Darkness grew around the room before they faded into the black, disappearing from view. The Darkness surrounded them. The light from the Doctor’s sonic screwdriver quivered slightly.

“What do you want?” the Doctor stepped forward. Clara stayed close by him.

“You,” it said, “to die.”

“And what makes you think that that will happen?” the Doctor replied defiantly.

“I made a promise to you the last time we saw each other,” the shadows continued to deepen. “I told you that I would kill you, and I intend to keep that promise.”

He chuckled. “Many have promised my death. None have succeeded.”

“None are like me,” the Darkness retorted.

“There are always monsters like you,” the Doctor stepped forward again. “Always. You may think that you’re different, and you may think that you’re special, but in reality you are just another monster seeking their own glory.”

“'And what are you, Doctor? Do you not seek your own glory?'”

“No, I don’t. That’s the difference between the two of us. You desire to play the role of the monster. The role I play is to stop the monster.”

The laughter of the Darkness filled the temple, reverberating around them.

“When did you kill the time agents?” Clara asked, finding her courage.

“When Ben told you that I had,” the Darkness replied. “'He was not lying. I only killed him moments ago.'”

“So they were all what? Puppets being used for a ruse?” the woman said angrily.

“'Indeed. I needed to keep the mystery going. After guiding Ben to you, I decided that it would be beneficial to me to sow seeds of doubt. That’s when I used their bodies to sway your opinion. Keep you interested. I knew that you couldn’t resist.'”

The Doctor stayed silent.

“'Now. I have been planning this attack since our last encounter, and I shall no longer delay in my plan. Unlike you, Doctor, I keep my word.'”

“I don’t keep my promises?” the Doctor gave a mocking smile. “Here’s a promise: I don’t care what you think you are, or what kind of god complex you have. I will destroy you.”

“Goodbye, Doctor.”

The shadows began to grow closer. Clara pressed her back the Doctor.

“What do we do?” she asked, panic bleeding into her voice.

The Doctor thought for a second before blurting out. “What’s the First Stone?”

The shadows stopped.

“The First Stone is the first stone,” it replied. “'It was there before the first atom exploded into existence. It exists through all time and space, and has the ability to end the universe and begin it anew.'”

“How?”

“Enough stalling,” the Darkness finally said. “This is the end for you.”

The shadow began their progress again. The two watched with wide as the circle around them grew smaller and smaller by the second.

“Goodbye, Doctor.”

“Yes,” the Doctor smiled. “Goodbye.”

A split second later there was a massive blast of light. It shone like a sun in the middle of the temple. There was the deafening roar of the Darkness as it cried out in pain. Everything went white.

Outside the temple, the Doctor and Clara burst through the entrance, running into the forest. The tip of the Sonic Screwdriver was still glowing.

“What was that?” Clara yelled as they ran.

“I planned on meeting the Darkness here,” the Doctor replied. “So I came prepared. Based on some old Time Lord technology. Thought that we might need it for a quick getaway.”

She smiled. “What now?”

“Get to the TARDIS and get the hell off this planet!” he said.

Behind them, the temple stood silent for a moment before it exploded. However, the fragments were consumed a second later by a wave of shadow washed over them. There was a roar of rage from the Darkness, followed by it rushing forward through the woods.

Glancing backwards, Clara saw the black wave rushing behind them. It was like a tsunami, growing closer by the second.

“It’s coming for us!” she yelled.

“Keep running!”

And so they did. They continued through the forest, their feet pounding against the ground.

“Call the TARDIS!” she said frantically.

“I can’t! I used the charge on the blast!” he responded, panting.

The Darkness grew closer, yelling after them.

“'DOCTOR! YOU WILL NOT ESCAPE!'”

Clara’s lungs were burning, and her legs felt like they might just shatter. She wanted to stop. She wanted to rest. But the sight of the wave of death rushing them out of the corner of her eye was all the motivation that she needed to keep running.

They ran for what seemed like hours, running through what had to be miles of forest. The Darkness was very close now, only several paces behind them.

“Doctor, look!” Clara suddenly said, looking ahead of them.

The TARDIS was standing there. It shone like a beacon in the darkness.

“We’re almost there!” the Doctor yelled.

“'YOU WILL NOT ESCAPE ME AGAIN! YOU WILL DIE, DOCTOR!'” the Darkness yelled in rage. “DIE!”

Approaching the box, the Doctor snapped his fingers. The doors of the TARDIS swung open. Picking up the speed, they barreled through the opening and into the box. As soon as they crossed the threshold, the Doctor snapped his fingers again, the doors slamming shut.

As soon as they did, the Darkness slammed against the outside of the ship. They could see the windows of the doors become pitch black. They got up as the ship shuddered as the Darkness shook it.

Getting up, the Doctor swung to the other side of the console and began pulling levers and pressing buttons. The panels above the console began to rotate as the engines began to groan. They watched as the lights began to pulsate around them as they drifted away into the time vortex. The black on the windows were replaced by flickering colors.

Finally, Clara caught her breath.

“Woah.”

“Yeah,” he ran his hand through his hair. “Woah.”

They stood silent for a moment, catching their breaths. Clara sat down on one of the chairs holding her head. The Doctor watched one of the displays on the console before Clara looked up at him.

“I want to go home,” she said.

He looked up at her. “Really?”

“Just for a little while,” she said. “To take a break.”

After a moment, he nodded. “Okay.”

Crossing to another part of the console, he entered in the coordinates for her apartment building, and pulled the lever. The ship shuddered slightly as they changed direction.

“Is everyone on that planet dead, then?” she asked.

“Yes,” he replied.

She stopped for a moment. “We need to destroy the Darkness.”

“That’s what I intend to do,” the Doctor replied. “I keep my promises.”

There was a wheezing noise in the field outside Clara’s apartment building as the TARDIS materialized. It was sunny outside and there was a light breeze.

The doors opened and the Doctor and Clara stepped out. She stood in the sun, taking it in as the wind rustled her hair.

“I missed this,” she smiled. “I really did.”

“How long do you think that you’ll stay here?” he asked, putting his hands behind his back.

“A little while. Just to rest,” Clara said. “I’m not abandoning you,” she added with a smile.

They stood there for a moment.

Clara turned to the Doctor to say something when there was a sudden noise above them. Looking up, there was a swirling circle of light in the sky. They watched it when it exploded in a blast of light before being replaced by a saucer-shaped spacecraft. It hung in the air, rotating silently.

“What is that?” Clara asked, shielding her eyes from the sun.

“It looks like a-,” the Doctor said when a bolt of energy shot from it. It landed several feet from them, exploding as if a grenade had gone off there.

“Run!” he yelled, grabbing Clara’s hand and dragging her towards the TARDIS.

Above them, the saucer started to follow them, firing more bolts of energy at them as they ran. Reaching the doors, the Doctor pushed them open and ran inside, followed by Clara. She closed the doors just as a blast of energy hit outside the ship. The box shook slightly on impact.

Running to the console, the Doctor activated the ship. It shuddered as it began dematerializing into the time vortex again. They leaned on the console, catching their breaths again.

“Okay,” Clara panted. “Now what was that?”

“I don’t know,” he replied. “It looked like a Dalek saucer. But it couldn’t be.”

“What would the Daleks being doing on Earth?”

“Obviously it was looking for me,” he said. “Still impossible, but obvious.”

She watched the displays on the console when there was a sudden beeping that pierced their ears. Looking around, the Doctor pulled one of the screens over and looked at it. He furrowed his brow.

“What is it?” Clara asked.

“These readings. They’re… impossible.”

Behind them, a saucer flew through the swirling vortex. It was slowly approaching the TARDIS.

Inside, the three Daleks watched the TARDIS flying before them. They were all stationed at consoles.

“THE TARDIS IS IN RANGE. WE ARE APPROACHING THE SPACE-TIME COORDINATES,” one of them screamed.

“WEAPONS LOCKED,” one of the others announced.

The lead one narrowed its blue eye.

“EXTERMINATE!”

Characters

 * Twelfth Doctor
 * Clara Oswald
 * The Darkness
 * Ben
 * Matthew
 * James
 * Aaron
 * Richard
 * Fredrick
 * Carlson
 * The Daleks

Trivia

 * This story features the second appearance of the Darkness in Series 1.
 * This episode is one of the earliest story concepts for the series.