Friday 18 April 2008

"CRYSTAL": Part 8

“CRYSTAL: Part 8”

LONDON

As Hendridge and her men are leading Ben and the others out of the pub a fleet of UNIT vehicles zoom by.
“Quick men, back inside the pub” Hendridge shouts.
Everyone is forced back inside and Hendridge forces all of the customers up against the wall.
“So Ben Chatham, you called for reinforcements. Well I suggest that you get onto your phone and call them off or we will shoot two of these customers every half-hour. And just to show we mean business……..”
Hendridge twirls round, raises her gun and shoots an elderly man through the head, blood and brains splattering over the bar. However the man’s shocked son lunges at Hendridge, knocking her flying. Kyle and Ben pitch in, helped by the locals, grabbing Hendridge’s men causing random gunshots to spray out smashing bottles. Kyle elbows one of the men in the face and grabs a gun, however suddenly Hendridge gets to her feet and begins to glow, shape-shifting into a spider.
“The red crystals grant the power of disguise. And now you will die.”
The spider leaps onto Kyle’s back, clawing and making him drop the gun.
“Kyle” Ben shouts however the spider turns itself and a spray of acid shoots out from its mouth , straight towards Ben’s face……..

WALES

Donna is restrained by two of Dalton Mayne’s heavies as they watch more images on the plasma screen of animals attacking people in the street.
“I must say that’s a nice screen” the Doctor observes.
“Oh yes, its high definition with surround sound. The DVD player is built in and plays Blu-Ray.”
“Wise choice” the Doctor states, “it becomes the standard format by 2015. Mind you, its still not a patch on the audio-visual technology I have within my TARDIS.”
The banter lulls Mayne into a false sense of security while Donna breaks free from the men’s grasp and boots one in in the testicles:
“Ow me bollocks” he screams while she punches the other in the teeth. The Doctor grabs the spider by its spindly legs and before it can squirt any acid he spins it round and round above his head then lets it go so it flies off and smacks into the wall. Donna grabs the red crystal and they run out of the room and down the corridor.
Finding their way out of the building, the Doctor takes the red crystal from Donna:
“Only one thing to do with this….”
He cricket-ball style bowls it at the wall of the house where it shatters into numerous shards. Back inside the building, the reviving spider shrivels up and dies.
Turning round, the Doctor sees the Torchwood team approaching:
“Well done Doctor” Captain Jack exclaims and the two embrace.

LONDON

The acid flies towards Ben, who just manages to turn around in time as it splats into the back of his jacket, searing into it. Ben throws off the jacket:
“Oh no… no. That cost me nearly £900.”
Kyle wrestles the spider to the ground as Ben shouts at the terrified customers to flee the pub while they can. Katie and Nikki have pitched into the fight however one of Hendridge’s men manages to grab a pistol from the floor. He raises it and aims at the fleeing customers and just at that moment Anselm joins the back of the crowd. The gun goes off…….
Meanwhile, UNIT troops storm the Cedars complex and shoot any spiders that confront them. The red crystal is machine gunned into fragments.
In the pub, the bullet whizzes just past Anselm and out the door as the spider withers and dies. However the man fires again and this time it shoots out at an angle and hits…………



………. Nikki.


EPILOGUE

It is a week after Nikki’s funeral. Ben is lying across the sofa in his dressing gown, a two-thirds empty bottle of French absinthe and a jug of iced water on the table and a glass in his hand. His dark eyes are filled with tears.
“Ben you need to stop this. Drinkin’ aint gonna do anything but make this worse. Hows about I fix you some snap.” Kyle says.
The words pass straight through Ben as he mumbles to himself:
“I should have kept in touch with her. I should never have destroyed those letters. Mum and dad will never forgive me. She’s gone Kyle.”
The door rings and Kyle opens it to see Katie Ryan who barges in:
“How is he? Still the same? *addressing Ben* You need to pull yourself together! This isn’t like you Ben. Its not as if you’d seen the silly cow for years and it wasn’t your fault in any way.”
Ben stares ahead:
“Just shut up Katie, ok? Just shut the hell up!”
The tears roll down his face as he pours another absinthe.
After Katie has gone, Ben turns to Kyle.
“There may be no more investigations Kyle. And no more trips with the Doctor in the TARDIS, at least for a time. I just can’t face it, not after what has happened. Look, I’m sorry I’ve never really appreciated you much, but I’ll make it up to you.”
Just then the door rings again:
“Oh I hope that’s Anselm.” Ben says mournfully.
Kyle opens the door to see a young lad of around 15 .
“Er hi. Are you Ben Chatham?”
“Oh er, no. Who’s askin’?”
“I’m Craig. Craig Chatham. He’s my uncle……”
Kyle ushers him in and Ben turns around:
“Er Ben, this lad says he’s your nephew like”.
“Yes I heard. Is this some kind of twisted joke?”
The boy looks hurt:
“Mum said you were her brother. I ain’t going back to that children’s home, no way.”
“You can’t be a Chatham you’ve got black hair!” Ben replies, sipping the absinthe.
“Mum said my dad had black hair.”
Ben sinks back into listlessness.
“Well you’ll have to go back into care. They’re paid professionals, they’ll help you. What do I know?”. Ben’s eyes fill with tears again and he reaches for his wallet.
“Here’s £100. This should cover the price of a b&b and your train fare back.”
The boy stares at the money.
“I ain’t going back there, not ever.”
Kyle intervenes:
“Ben e’s just a kid and you ain’t thinking straight like.”
“Ok , you can stay here, at least for tonight.”
Ben pours another drink:
*staring into the camera*
“With all this going on, I’ve made the right decision in taking a rest from travels with the Doctor. How long for….. I just don’t know…….”

………. THE END

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