There is a madness outside of time and space, a dank and malevolent corruption which feeds upon the lives of man and taints the souls of those which survive it's slaughterhouse feeding.

This force is ancient and evil beyond the measure of intelligence; it stalks the empty places where nightmares breed and screams fill the air until it runs as thick as treacle.

Those who might understand this madness fear its influence and dread it's coming. They cower under the stairs and pray to their gods for a quick and painless death, for they know it will offer them neither.

***

Inside the control room of the TARDIS a young woman, called Ace, hefted the weight of the cricket bat in her hands and tried a few practice swings. "This is well naff professor, it's too heavy. The balance is all wrong for hitting Cybermen with."

"It's not designed for hitting anything else other than a cricket ball Ace." The Doctor took his old bat out of his friend's grip. "This is a finely crafted piece of sporting equipment, it's not for attacking Daleks and other terrorising creatures with."

"Yeah, yeah Professor I know. Violence is not the answer to all of life's problems. That's what Nitro's for!"

The Doctor turned his head sharply to look at Ace. "Explosives are not the answer either Ace. If you must fight you should use far more effective weapons, like your legs."

"Kick them where it hurts Professor?" Ace smiled, now the Doctor was talking her language.

"No Ace. Legs are for running away from danger with." The Doctor picked up his umbrella just before the console pinged. "Ah good, we've arrived. This shouldn't take more than a few moments. You can stay inside the TARDIS if you prefer." He picked up his dark brown jacket and pulled it on over his thin woollen pullover to keep warm.

Ace saw the slight tremble of worry lines on the Doctor's forehead. "No chance Doctor, wherever you go, I go. We're a team Professor." She pulled on her bomber jacket and picked up her army surplus backpack. When the Doctor wasn't looking she stuffed the cricket bat into it, just as a precaution.

"Very well Ace, keep your eyes open and your mouth shut. Words can be very, very dangerous and names even more so. Words and names have power Ace, sometimes too much power, so beware."

Ace stifled a yawn as the Doctor slipped into lecture mode. "Yeah, whatever Professor. I'll be quite from now on." She mimed zipping her lips shut.

The Doctor and Ace made their way along the preternatural darkened path of the caves. The Doctor pointed the paths they needed to take with his umbrella but despite their good progress they were still walking after two hours. Ace sat down on a large smooth rock, her feet hurt and she wanted a rest.

"Come on Ace, there's no time to dawdle. We have to get there before it's too late." The Doctor pulled Ace to her feet.

"Wotcha Professor," Ace muttered as the Doctor's brolly caught her kneecap.

"Shush Ace." The Doctor put his hand over Ace's mouth. "We don't want to wake it up."

"Wake what up Doctor?" Ace asked.

dOctOr?

Ace's voice echoed around the large cave.

DocTor?

"Ace!" the Doctor exclaimed loudly as stalactites started to rain down from above. "You've woken it up."

doCtoR!

"Sorry Professor." Ace pulled the Doctor's cricket bat out of her army surplus backpack. "What is it?"

"It doesn't have a name, it's before languages, even High Gallifreyan. It's before Time and it's always hungry." The Doctor pulled Ace to one side as a large chuck of stone crashed down near where she was standing. "We have to unbind it from reality before it's too late, before it awakens fully."

"What's going on Professor? What are you not telling me?"

"There's no time for explanations now Ace, we have to release its grip on our Universe and banish it back outside of existence."

***

Ace clung onto the leather grip of the cricket bat while they ran further into the large network of cave tunnels. There was a faint trembling in the ground, as if something was making it shudder like a plucked string on a guitar.

The Doctor knelt down and picked up a small golden sphere. "Ah so there you are." He cupped the sphere between his palms and squashed the glittering ball until it broke into a fine power. "Just in time." He blew the dust from his palms and onto the floor where it mingled with the rest of the powdered debris.

Ace poked at the sparkling powder with the cricket bat. "Wicked Professor, so what was it anyway?"

The Doctor stood up and offered Ace his arm. "Imagine a being spawned outside of this Universe. It is forever trying to find a way into reality where it can manifest itself and gain a corporeal existence. This time it was trying to grow itself a body inside that egg. If it had hatched the creature would have eaten its way through this galaxy like a hungry man walking into a restaurant. Those it did not consume it would taint with its corruption and control like mindless puppets."

"Well boggling Professor." Ace tried to imagine such a creature. "It sounds worse than the Daleks."

The Doctor tapped his young companions nose with his index finger. "Infinitely worse Ace and infinitely more deadly. Now lets get out of here and go somewhere a lot more interesting."

***

Against the backdrop of stars a shadow moved across them, a dark and sinister cloud that had been denied existence, for now. One day though Bliss would return....