This is a very long chapter but you will understand why when you read it. This isn't the end of the story as I have tone of thing other surprises yet in store for you so please, please keep reading. Please R&R.
Not Everyone Wins.
Phoenix stands in the open ground, her former lover and his team, a Special Ops team and a small army all fighting behind her were she was stood, alone, waiting for the scariest thing she had ever come across to arrive and she had come across some scary things in her time. She could feel the sickness in her stomach rising as the Devourer came closer. It was soon time, time to release the energy that she had absorb thanks to the Doctor and the TARDIS. Phoenix prepared herself because releasing stored energy in the form that she had absorbed it was harder than absorbing it in the first place.
Legs apart, hands out to her side and tilting her head back, she began to push the energy out from her body, releasing it upwards to where The Devourer was, streaking through the sky towards them all, towards Earth. The energy burnt as it was forced out of her body, burning and quiet painful but nothing she couldn't handle and nothing compared to the pain she would be in later. At first, The Devourer wasn't going in the direction where it's minions were but then it almost seemed to stop. It looked as though it had been searching for something but then it just seemed to stop.
It seemed that Phoenix's plan had worked as it seemed to sense the energy Phoenix was releasing and it seemed to like it. The big, black, cloud looking entity that was The Devourer, seemed to switch it's direction and headed for Phoenix as she had intended. The energy that the Doctor had given Phoenix was starting to run out so Phoenix knew that she would soon have to take action. Releasing the last of the energy, Phoenix dropped to one knee briefly, it taking more out of her than she had expected. She takes a few deep breaths in and then gets to her feet again.
The Devourer still heads towards Phoenix, her plan working with great affect and she knows that it was time, time to face The Devourer, time to take the little girls revenge, time to take everyone's revenge, time to protect Earth and time to protect Torchwood. Phoenix closed her eyes and allowed herself to relax a little as her hands start to tingle, the skin on her hands starting to glow, a little to start with and getting brighter by the second. Soon the tingling feeling spread to her entire body, reaching every inch. Soon her body felt like she had pins and needles everywhere and she shone brightly, glowing white, even her clothes looked as though they were glowing.
She opened her eyes and even they were white, no pupils just bright white. She looked at the Devourer cracking her neck, preparing her body for battle, sizing it up, her now being in full Adina mode. The Devourer, it had it's agenda, to feed, devour but Adina, her agenda was stronger, to take revenge, to kill it. Now fully ablaze, Phoenix put her hands out to the side and started to levitate, The Devourer coming ever closer and Phoenix didn't want it to get too close, especially not to the TARDIS or Jack. Them both together were a regular buffet for The Devourer. She levitated at first to about 30 feet in the air as it came closer. Ianto looked to the sky and saw what she was doing, that her fight was about to begin.
"Jack. Phoenix is starting," Ianto tells him, leaning into him as he sliced across the chest of a minion.
Jack looked up at the skies and sees a bright, glowing Phoenix levitating in the air. He loved that sight and had only seen it in bed and twice on a battle field. He never grew tired of that sight but this time it was different. This time he didn't want to see Phoenix doing this, he didn't want her to become Adina, he knew that it wouldn't be for long. Jack drew on the strength buried somewhere deep inside him and he fought harder.
Phoenix was now about 35 feet in the air and levitating in place, waiting for The Devourer. She ran through things in her head as she waited, knowing it wouldn't be long, wouldn't be long until they met, wouldn't be long before they tried to out absorb each other, wouldn't be long until the excruciating pain and then the end. Closer and closer The Devourer was coming and then it arrived. Phoenix could feel it all around her, getting a feel for her, touching her skin and making it crawl, flicking out at her, tasting her like a snake tasted air, sensing it's pray.
"You want to play do you? Let's play," Phoenix says out loud, creating an energy ball in her hand and then throwing it at The Devourer as a small part of it swirled around her, absorbing the energy ball and it seemed to tremble.
"Oh, you like that don't you?" Phoenix asks it and it seemed to reply yes by shuddering.
Phoenix created an energy ball in each hand and again throw it at what seemed to be the main body of The Devourer, it absorbing the energy, twitching and shuddering in almost delight.
"Now you've had a taste of me and you like it, why don't you come and take the rest of me?" Phoenix asks The Devourer almost half expecting it to answer her and in it's own way, it did.
Phoenix could feel it around her, attacking her, just slightly, testing the water and she let it take some of her energy, laying the trap for it. Once The Devourer felt that Phoenix wasn't offering any defence to it, it began to attack her properly. It surrounded her, as though it was putting arms around her, it's main body still away from her and once Phoenix could feel it starting to drain the energy from her, Phoenix fought back.
Letting her hands run through The Devourer, it feeling like she was running her fingers through thin soup, Phoenix began to absorb the energy that The Devourer contained, what it had left over from when it last siphoned energy from an alien race and planet. She could feel the energy, a new type of energy, not an energy she had felt before. The more she absorbed, the more she wanted, like a drug to her. Adina was making her presents very known. This is she want she did, geting a taste for the energy she was absorbing and wanting to take more and more.
The more energy Phoenix absorbed from The devourer, the brighter she shone in the sky. The Devourer felt what Phoenix was doing and it tried to get away from her but it was too late for The Devourer. Phoenix was becoming stronger the more energy she absorbed, her abilities feeding on the new energy, The Devourer trying to move away from her, it knew, Phoenix could sense that it knew that it's time had come to an end.
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On the ground, the minions started to fall. One by one they start but then they started falling more. Landing on the ground and twitching as The devourer lost it's control over them and they returned to death, their bodies no long under control and flopping to the ground. Captain Matthews know that it was nearly time, the minions had started falling of their own accord, like Phoenix had said they would, not at the hand of any human. As the minions began to fall, Captain Matthews gathered each of his men and told them that it was time to remove Captain Harkness and the Torchwood team.
Captain Matthews knew that Jack would be a problem and that if he kicked up a fuss, then in all likelihood, so would Ianto Jones, Phoenix had warned him already. As the rest of his men spoke to Owen, Gwen and Toshiko, Captain Matthews got on the radio and advised Jack's personal sharp shooter of the situation and that he was to prepare to take Captain Harkness down if he resisted. Armed with 3 of his men, Private Franks, Private Green and Private Hawkins, Captain Matthews made is way to Jack and Ianto who were still fighting but only just as the minions fell in front of them.
"Captain Harkness. I have be ordered to remove you and your team from the battle field so if you could please come with me sir?" Captain Matthews asks Jack and takes him very much by surprise.
"I beg your pardon. Who has ordered you to take myself and my team off of the battle field?" Jack asks him as he knocks down another minion.
Captain Matthews just looks up at a burning Phoenix, blazing in the sky like a star dancing in the sky, a star fighting with a dark cloud, getting it to leave the sky so the star could burn.
"No. She didn't tell you to do this. Why would Phoenix tell you to remove us?" Jack asks Captain Matthews.
"Miss Phoenix has her reasons. She doesn't want you all around to see the end. She told me that when the minions started to fall of their own accord, I was to get my team, you and your team off of the battle field, leaving the Army to mop up any minions still standing while she prepared to finish The Devourer," Captain Matthews tells Jack.
"Jack. Why are they taking us off of the battle field? They have already taken Owen, Gwen and Toshiko off and are trying to take me," Ianto asks him with Private Green and Private Hawkins at the side of him, ready to take him by force.
"Your not taking me off of this battle field. If she thinks that I am not staying here then she has another thing going. I need to be here, I need to be here in case she makes it and there is no way I'm coming off of this battle field without a fight," Jack tells him.
"If you don't come of your accord Captain Harkness, then we will take you by force as instructed," Captain Matthews warns him and Private Franks, a 6 foot something tall, broad soldier makes his presents known.
"I'd like to see you try. I'm staying here, she needs me here," Jack tells them and turns to see Phoenix in the sky, burning brightly.
Captain Matthews indicates to Private Franks to stand back and then he gives the nod to the sharp shooter. A single shot rings through the noise of the winding down battle as though it were the only sound. No-one saw the bullet flying through the air, not it's intended victim and not anyone else there. The first thing that anyone knew about it after it's firing was when a strange grunting noise came form Jack, his head snapping back as the bullet entered his back and left through his chest, passing through his heart. Jack feel to his knees and then slumped forwards, landing face first on the ground.
"NO! Why did you have to do that?" Ianto screams at Captain Matthews as he tried to get to Jack but Privates Green and Hawkins secured him.
"He was given the option Mr Jones and he chose this one," Captain Matthews replies as he and Private Franks get Jack off of the floor by his arms and start to carry him away, his feet dragging across the floor as Ianto struggles against the two privates that had him secured.
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Phoenix could feel the energy burning inside her, the pain that she felt was on the wrong side of comfortable but she needed to put that out of her mind and concentrate on what she had to do. She could see that The Devourer was being affected by what she is doing, it wasn't fighting back as much, Phoenix's hold strong on The Devourer. The pain increased the more energy she took and it was burning her up inside. She was burning brighter than anyone had seen her burn, she looked as though she were on fire. An aura had formed around her, almost a mile wide in the sky, Phoenix burning in the centre of it.
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Jack came to and he was in Ianto's arms, his team around him and Captain Matthews men around them, keeping them secured to that location, Captain Matthews nowhere in sight. The doctor was with them but he was free to leave at any time.
"What's going on?" Jack asks as he comes around in Ianto's arms and seeing where he was, very confused.
"It's begun Jack. She is in the final stage. This is it," the Doctor tells Jack as everyone watches Phoenix in the sky. The Doctor knew exactly what was going to happen now.
The sight was amazing and not something they were going to forget in a hurry. It looked like the ultimate battle between good and bad, light and dark. A huge white mass in the sky with a bright white figure in the centre of it battling a dark mass. Each pushing the other, each moving in the sky, the battle in full swing.
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Phoenix looked down at everyone she had left behind on the ground. She saw that captain Matthews had done what she had asked him to and secured Jack and the Torchwood team away from the battle. The Army was mopping up the rest of the minions. Phoenix sensed that no-one had died that wasn't meant to and that everyone, though maybe battered and bruised, everyone was ok and she smiled.
"Goodbye Earth. Look after yourself. Goodbye human race and goodbye Torchwood. Keep fighting and be happy. Goodbye my love. Be happy and look after Ianto," Phoenix says out loud though she knew that no-one could hear her.
She then turned and faced The Devourer for the last time.
"Let's get this done," she tells The Devourer, tightening her grip on it.
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"Goodbye Phoenix," the Doctor says out loud looking up at the sky, knowing that it wouldn't be long now.
"No! I need to be there," Jack says hearing what the Doctor said and he jumps up.
He tries to push his way through Captain Matthews's men but they held fast. Ianto, Gwen, Toshiko and Owen all go up and helped their leader try and fight his way through the Special Ops team but they were ready for this. The Doctor walked over to Franks and put his hand on his shoulder, Franks being next in command to Captain Matthews.
"Let him go. He can't stop it now," the Doctor tells him knowing that it would all be over in the next couple of minutes.
Franks nodded to the others and they stepped aside, releasing the whole Torchwood team, Jack breaking into a run as he watched Phoenix in the sky. Phoenix was getting brighter and brighter by the second and then something strange happened, something that no-one expected. The black mass, The Devourer seemed to consume the white mass, Phoenix. They almost seemed to merge together except the dark mass looked like it swallowed the light mass.
The sharp shooters on the roofs put down their weapons and watched what was going on in the sky. The Army troops that weren't mopping up the last of the minions stopped what they were doing and looked up to the sky. General Stanley and the men in the tents communicating orders came out of the tent and look up the sky. Captain Matthews who had now joined his men holding Phoenix's things, stood with his men all looking up at the sky. The Doctor stood in the doorway of the TARDIS and looked up to the skies. Jack, Ianto, Owen, Gwen and Toshiko looked up at the sky.
The dark mass, The Devourer had almost devourer Phoenix, you couldn't see much of her left, they couldn't see much of her light. Everyone watching feared the worst, fearing that Phoenix had failed but couldn't stop watching the skies, could stop watching what was unfolding, as though their own will had been taken away. Then came the scream. It was to most gut wrenching, pain filled, blood curdling scream anyone had ever heard coming from the skies, coming from the black mass, The devourer but it wasn't The devourer, it was human in tone.
When the scream ended, there was an almighty flash in the sky. It looked as though someone had set the sky on fire and it was burning bright white. The flash so bright, it blinded everyone who saw it, making them turning away and then came the blast. The blast felt like more than an earthquake, the ground trembling under everyone, people feeling it all over England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales. Windows were blown out for miles around, buildings shaking, alarms going off from the evacuated houses, shops, warehouses, factories and cars. Jack was thrown to the ground first, him closer to the blast and then the rest of the team who were following Jack were thrown to the ground.
Everyone shielded their eyes as the blast and the flash swept over the Earth and then it was gone. Everyone looked back up at the sky and there was nothing but blue skies. No Devourer, no Phoenix, no light and no dark. Nothing. It was over.
"NO!" Jack screams looking at the sky.