If *I* Had Written... End of Days...

It's my birthday, I'll post whatever crap I feel like... actually, it is pretty melodrammatic rubbish... but better plotted!


ROHL DAHL PLASS

The gang are scrambling up the steps as the vibrations get worse and worse.

JACK
Keep moving!

GWEN
It's going to be all right, Jack!

JACK
No it isn't, so MOVE!

Billis steps out of the shadows.

BILIS
From out of the darkness, he is come.

OWEN
What's he talking about?

BILIS
The Son of the Great Beast. He was cast out before time, chained in rock and imprisoned beneath the rift. And the only weak point in the rift is where it touches Earth.

JACK
Finally admitting it, huh? You've set us up from the start!

BILLIS
Further than that. The wars of time and space and heaven. The empire of the wolf. The destruction of Downing Street. A thousand lines intersecting to bring about this moment.

Another massive earth tremor, causing more alarms to go off.

GWEN
You killed Rhys?

BILIS
It is undone. As I promised. What happens now is not my responsibility.

JACK
Now that something in the dark is coming into the light.

BILIS
Yes, Captain.

OWEN
You drugged me, I... I...

BILIS
We are beyond recriminations now. Beyond everything. All hail Abaddon! All hail the Great Devourer!

The vibration suddenly fades off leaving silence.

IANTO
It's stopped!

TOSH
The rift's fully open.

IANTO
You see? Everything is going to go back to normal!

OWEN
And no sign of your great beast.

BILIS
You're looking in the wrong place.

Bilis lazily points behind them. Cautiously, they turn to look. Taller than the Millennium Centre, with flesh like liquid concrete, boasting two curled ram-like horns and a face of pure evil. It growls with the roar of a wild beast and the voice of a very old man.

ABBADON
I am free. And now I shall feast on life itself.

BILIS
The whole world shall die beneath his shadow.

Ianto rounds on him and draws his gun. Billis laughs.

BILIS
You think threatening to kill me will stop him?

IANTO
If he is going to destroy the world, what happens to you?

BILIS
I am beyond your reach. And his.

ABBADON
Look upon your God and know your work is done.

Billis smiles.

BILIS
Farewell, Torchwood. I leave you to the world as you have made it.

Ianto fires the gun. A bullet explodes against a wall far behind where Bilis was standing, but he is gone.

ABBADON
Now, I shall feast on life itself.

Jack blinks suddenly, as if remembering.

JACK
I understand now. Gwen, get out of here. The rest of you, get going. Hide somewhere, underground. Go!

IANTO
No, I won't leave...

JACK
Do it! Your my team, this is my problem and my responsibility.

TOSH
You can't stop it!

JACK
I can try! Go!

GWEN
Jack...

JACK
Get out of here!

Ianto moves to stop him.

JACK
GO!

Gwen grabs Ianto and runs off. Owen follows. Tosh gives Jack one last look and follows. Abbadon laughs.

JACK
If you ARE Abaddon, the bringer of death, let's see how you deal with me. If you feed on life, then I'm an all-you-can-eat buffet!

Abbadon laughs.

JACK
Go on! What is it? Ain't I kosher? What are you waiting for?!

ABBADON
I can afford patience. I have been trapped for eternity as you understand it. A few minutes will not deter me.

JACK
Confident, aren't ya?

ABBADON
My shadow brings death. My shadow IS death.

The beast sweeps its arm out, the shadow slicing across the plaza. Caught in the shadow, Jack goes totally limp and crumples to the ground, eyes staring. The beast roars and steps over the plaza. Jack blinks and groans, alive again.

ABBADON
Come little liar, return to the mortal coil.

Jack groggily gets to his feet.

JACK
Ab-Abbadon! I'm giving you one chance to get the hell off this world!

The beast laughs and sweeps its arm back, the shadow flooring Jack again.

ABBADON
Which I choose NOT to accept.

Jack groans and retches.

JACK
Y-you think this is... this is the first time I've died...?

ABBADON
Oh no, my Captain. I see all of time and all of space. I saw your pathetic defiance that cost you your life, defending a madman without the courage to sacrifice his own life. I saw the Bad Wolf scorch reality into a new shape.

JACK
She brought me back! She's been keeping me alive for this! Because she knew about you!

ABBADON
I saw her coming. And I planned for it.

The beast steps closer. Jack screams and manages to fall out of the moving shadow, looking exhausted and pale. He tries to rise but cannot.

ABBADON
She relinquished her powers, and I filled that vacuum. The history of this world is in a new shape, a shape with Torchwood. Your tiny, pathetic lives dedicated to eradicating all that could have saved you. The Lonely God is far from here, the Bad Wolf banished from this realm. You are all that is left. And soon, not even that.

The beast steps closer, casting the shadow over Jack who writhes and convulses before going limp. Chuckling, the beast steps back, letting light shine on Jack who convulses again, but otherwise does not move.

ABBADON
Feel the cold. The unspeakable agony that holds you silent. The pain that narrows the world. A hurt too much for you to understand. Too much for words, for tears for thought. Feel it. Feel it. Feel the unstoppable force meet the immovable object.

Jack sobs once.

ABBADON
You think you could stop me, little liar? You do not understand. The Bad Wolf did not forge you as a weapon. You are a peace offering. A sacrificial pawn. Taking your energy will allow me to go anywhere. Anywhen.

Jack sobs, feverish.

JACK
Then do it! Leave!

ABBADON
No. You are a bonus to the prize. I considered allowing you live long enough to see this world scoured clean. But you don't even entertain.

The beast stands over Jack who lets out a horrible, long scream, writhing on the floor, shaking uncontrollably.

ABBADON
There is not much left, is there? You burned like the sun. But no more.

Jack is letting out an incoherent moan.

ABBADON
I grant you the small mercy you have desired. The freedom to die.

The beast jabs a claw onto Jack's chest. Jack suddenly screams very loudly and goes limp. The beast straightens up.

ABBADON
The twenty-first century is when it all changed. And you weren't ready.


EXT. CARDIFF (DAY)

Abbadon marches over the city, footsteps shaking the ground. Screams as people start to flee. Abbadon leans forward, casting its shadow across the streets. As the darkness touches the fleeing Welshmen they die instantly, dropping to the ground. The rest continue to flee. Roaring with laughter, Abbadon stalks after them, casting the street in shadow. A few survivors hiding are caught in the darkness and slump dead.

INT. NEWSROOM (DAY)

The Newsreader is terrified.

NEWSREADER
The Cult of Abbadon is declaring this the last hours of life on Earth. Cardiff has been cordoned off from the outside world.

Footage of Abbadon marching through the city, traffic going haywire as fleeing commuters die at the wheel.

NEWSREADER
Armed response is already being organized, but it seems that...

EXT. CARDIFF

This is shown on a monitor in a newsvan. The reporter and the camera crew are sprawled dead nearby. A bit further up the street are a handful of police corpses, including Andy. Birds have dropped out of the sky. The beast roars as it moves over the industrial area. Its shadow leaves more dead bodies. Around a back alleyway, Gwen and the others run for cover.

OWEN
I think there's now a shitload of empty real estate now on the market.

GWEN
There's got to be some way to stop it!

OWEN
The glove's smashed, the Hub's in pieces, Jack's dead so what can we do?

GWEN
We don't know he's dead!

OWEN
No, that's the one thing we can be sure of - NOTHING is getting out of here alive!

IANTO
It's the Battle all over again. Except this time he's not going to save us!

OWEN
Who?

TOSH
You KNOW who!

GWEN
We can't just give up!

A deep roar above them. They turn. Abbadon stands over the street. Gwen's eyes widen in horror. The beast leans down and roars, then straightens up and moves off. We pull out. Gwen, Ianto, Tosh and Owen are all sprawled lifelessly on the ground. Quite, quite dead.

EXT. WASTELAND (DAY)

Abaddon stomps and a whole tower block crumbles. That's a lot of flats.

JACK (VO)
So. You're the son of the Great Beast.

Grunting, Abbadon turns around, surprised. Jack stands at the end of the ruined landscape, alive and serene.

JACK
I don't care who your old man is. You got one chance. You wasted it.

ABBADON
You are the last one in this city. The others fell. ALL who oppose me will fall. You just need time to realize that.

The beast turns and sweeps its arm over Jack... but somehow the shadow does not touch Jack, as a gaping hole in the shadow stops it touching him. Growling, Abbadon sweeps the arm back the other way. Same result.

JACK
Like I said. All you can eat. MORE than you can eat.

ABBADON
The Bad Wolf...

JACK
...gave you a chance. If you took my life and left Earth, left humanity alone, you two woulda been square. But you had to be greedy. Because I'm no gift basket anymore. I'm the last thing you'll see in this life, as I undo all you have ever done.

The Beast bursts out laughing, then reaches down and snatches up Jack, unresisting.

ABBADON
I'll crush you!

Abbadon squeezes. There is a sickening crack and blood wells beneath its claws. Jack flinches, but instantly heals up with a brittle crunching. Abbadon squeezes again, growling louder and louder. A low hissing, crackling noise can be heard.

JACK
You shoulda stayed in the darkness, Abbadon. Out in the light, you can get burned.

Abbadon crushes Jack again, and the crackling gets louder and louder. Abbadon growls, twisting as if Jack is burning its stone flesh. It howls in pain.

ABBADON
I am the Great Devourer! No force can stop me! Nothing can...

It roars in pain. Blue light is seeping through the grey sinews and muscles of its arm. Jack stares calmly up at the demon as its claws unwillingly begin to release him, as if pushed aside. We see Jack's body is now starting to glow with gentle blue light, energy barely contained within him. The flesh of the massive hand around him is starting to crumble, disintegrating as the light touches him.

ABBADON
THAT'S IMPOSSIBLE!

Abbadon screams in agony and falls to its knees, its mangled paw holding the unrepentant Jack.

JACK
Someone as powerful as you should be used to pain.

Abbadon brings the stump Jack now stands on closer to its face, but the building light slashes into its cruel face.

JACK
Feel the cold. The unspeakable agony that holds you silent. The pain that narrows the world. A hurt too much for you to understand. Too much for words, for tears for thought. Feel it. Feel the unstoppable force meet the immovable object.

Abbadon, half its body now dissolving, collapses massively. Jack stays where he is, hanging in thin air. Great ropey strand of light spill from his body and plunge into Abbadon's howling remains which decay further. Jack glows brighter and brighter.

JACK
All I have to do is save the world. No sweat.

He closes his eyes. His body is now blazing like a sun, then there a gradual, blinding flash.

EXT. CARDIFF (DAY)

The light gradually fades. Birds are starting to sing. The streets are full of bodies... but now living bodies. People are picking themselves up, looking confused. The city is still wrecked, though, and sirens are being heard. The film crew are worriedly checking their dropped equipment for damage. On the screen, the baffled newsreader can be heard.

NEWSREADER
...reports still sketchy, but the monster appears to have vanished. Emergency services are being organized and the Prime Minister is...

In a side street, the Torchwood team are getting to their feet.

GWEN
He stopped it... Somehow. He... he stopped it.

OWEN
How?

IANTO
Who cares? He saved us all.

TOSH
So where is he?


EXT. WASTELAND (DAY)

There is a whacking great empty space where Abbadon once lay. Jack is sprawled on the concrete, dead. His skin is pale and dark rings around his eyes and mouth. He's not breathing. On the edge of the rubble, Gwen moves into view and her face falls as she sees his body. She goes to her bluetooth.

GWEN
Ianto. I've found him. By where the old estate was.

IANTO (VO)
On our way. Is he...

GWEN
No. I'll check anyway.

She moves towards the plain when a girder collapses causing a mini tidal wave of rubble. Gwen falls over and is knocked into a ditch.


INT. HUB RUINS (DAY)

The hand in the jar lies under a girder. Suddenly it starts to twitch. The fluid starts to bubble and seethe.


EXT. WASTELAND

Swearing, she struggles to climb out. A breeze ruffles her hair, accompanied by a familiar wheezing groaning sound. Above her, a blue light shines on Jack's corpse as wind blows his hair.


INT. HUB RUINS (DAY)

The hand is the boiling fluid is now glowing with a golden light which pulses in time with the noise.


EXT. WASTELAND (DAY)

Gwen manages to scramble out of the ditch as the noise continues, then fades to silence. Ianto, Tosh and Owen appear through the rubble.

TOSH
Gwen? You OK?

GWEN
Yeah. Just slipped. Come on, Jack's just over...

They turn. The plain is empty. No sign of Jack's body.


INT. HUB RUINS (DAY)

The jar is full of boiling fluid. The hand has vanished.


EXT. WASTELAND (DAY)

Ianto examines where Jack's body lay. Tosh has a handheld scanner.

GWEN
He was here, I tell you.

TOSH
DNA traces agree with you.

OWEN
But he's not here now. Even if he wasn't dead, he couldn't have moved without us seeing him.

IANTO
Someone's taken him. Taken Jack.

OWEN
But who?

Gwen looks up at the gathering dusk.

GWEN
The right sort of Doctor.

We see the quartert in the ruins of Cardiff, pulling out further and further, through the clouds, then final darkness.

THE END.