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Doom 3 Hell on Earth [Part 4]
By Aragorn
INT. MONASTERY - CORRIDOR
Trague rattles a jammed door. The Mercs release Father Kelly.
ROLAND TRAGUE
Where is it, Father?
Father Kelly glances out a window and sees the tower nearby.
FATHER KELLY
I don't know, exactly.
ROLAND TRAGUE
Why don't I believe you?
The executive approaches another door, tugs at the handle. Father Kelly passes his hand over the icy stone wall, watching his breath rise into the air...there is a sliver of rock sticking out of the wall. He pulls on it.
It's another runestone.
ROLAND TRAGUE
Father...
Father Kelly quickly lowers his hand and hands the runestone.
FATHER KELLY
Yes?
ROLAND TRAGUE
(turning around to face Father Kelly) Tell me what you know or I'll have to do something unpleasant that I really don't want to do.
FATHER KELLY
It...I...(giving in) It's the tower.
ROLAND TRAGUE
Romero?
One of the Mercenaries walks past them to the last door. He slams the butt of his rifle against it. The other Merc goes to help him as Trague smiles at the priest.
MERCENARY
Got it!
The door opens to reveal a mass of fallen rock. It's blocked completely. A few pebbles clatter at their feet.
ROLAND TRAGUE
Hmm.
He spins and slugs Father Kelly in the stomach.
ROLAND TRAGUE
Don't play games with me, Father! The sphere! Now!!
FATHER KELLY
There...must be...another way...
Trague yanks Father Kelly forcefully down the hall before he has a chance to recover from the punch.
INT. MONASTERY - FRONT HALL
Sabando loads a single bullet into the chamber of her pistol. Taggart watches with a smirk.
SABANDO
You're quite happy for a man who's about to die.
TAGGART
We're all gonna die.
SABANDO
You first.
She places the barrel between his eyes. He stares straight at her, unblinking.
TAGGART
I'll be waiting for you on the other side, bitch.
Sabando smiles at him. Suddenly The Unmaker's black beam tears across the chamber, blowing
huge chunks out of the wall and sending all parties scrambling for cover.
The Imp walks into the monastery, shearing a Merc's face off with surgical precision. Sabando leaps onto a staircase and Taggart runs. She fires, but misses him.
SABANDO
Kill that goddamn Imp!
The three remaining Mercs change targets from Taggart to the Imp and open fire. The Imp sidesteps their bullets with ease.
Taggart rolls behind a Merc and slips a combat knife from his belt. The Merc feels the knife leave and turns just as Taggart swipes. His throat opens like a fountain of red liquid. Another Merc spins to kill Taggart and is caught by the Unmaker's deadly beam. Taggart hurls the knife and it embeds into the last guy's heart.
The Imp's got Taggart in its sights now. Taggart rolls behind a fallen stone, and is showered with jagged splinters.
Sabando races up the steps to a ledge overlooking the chamber. She shoots the Imp in the side. Without so much as a flinch, the enraged demon turns its dark beam on her.
The ledge explodes and Sabando topples to the floor.
Taggart takes the opportunity to run at the Imp. He snatches the combat knife from the dead Merc on the way, and rears back to bury it in the Imp's head. The Imp turns at the last second and slaps him with the Unmaker. It and sends Taggart cartwheeling into the nearest wall.
TAGGART
You call this fair?!
The Imp tries to impale him on the weapon. Taggart rolls out of the way, kicks himself off the wall and slashes the Imp's shoulder with the knife. It discharges the Unmaker straight into the floor, catching Taggart up in a wave of debris.
INT. MONASTERY - CELLAR
Unaware of the chaos in the front hall, Trague and Father Kelly descend into the damp catacombs of the monastery.
ROLAND TRAGUE
There.
He points to a wooden spiral staircase, faintly illuminated from above by a beam of light.
ROLAND TRAGUE
That'll take us up. Father, you go first.
FATHER KELLY
Not so eager to claim your prize now, are you?
ROLAND TRAGUE
Get going!
Trague motions for the two Mercs to follow. They cross a symbol carved into the floor - the ice and grime make it difficult to discern, but suddenly the symbol seems to heat up as the group passes it, and it becomes all too clear: a grinning goat demon's head.
The place begins to quake.
ROLAND TRAGUE
What's going on?
FATHER KELLY
Why are you asking me? This is my first time here too!
A pillar smashes right through the ceiling, flattening a Merc. More pieces of debris begin to rain down. Trague rushes for the staircase. The demon's-head seal burst, vomiting forth a four-armed, floating crustaceous horror covered in bile and blood: THE MOTHER DEMON.
She shrieks at the sight of the humans. The final Merc peppers her with machine gun fire, but
the Mother Demon grabs him with all four arms and tears him into four pieces, each arm taking a its own piece. Immense amounts of blood spill onto the floor
ROLAND TRAGUE
Holy…fuck.
Father Kelly turns to run and stumbles over a rock, slamming face-first into the floor and spilling the contents of his robes. The three runestones slide out, each bearing its own evil symbol. He glances up and sees the same three symbols carved on the wall.
The Mother Demon generates a massive energyball between her four claws and launches it at Trague. He throws himself to safety, but not quite far enough to avoid injury from the impact
wave.
ROLAND TRAGUE
God help me!
Father Kelly laughs insanely at the cry as he places each of the runestones into a slit below its corresponding symbol on the wall.
The wall slowly retracts.
Trague's leg is shattered as the shockwave from another energyball reaches him. He claws vainly at the frozen earth as he tries to crawl away. The Mother Demon hovers toward him, whispering in its alien tongue.
ROLAND TRAGUE
Leave me alone! We had a deal!
Father Kelly pulls a bio-mechanical gun out of the recession in the wall. It's threaded with both cables and huge arteries, and it has a glowing central shaft which hums as he turns toward the Mother Demon.
FATHER KELLY
Guardian!
The Mother Demon turns from Trague and growls at Father Kelly.
FATHER KELLY
I have the key.
With that, he fires the blistering laser, a thick red beam that pierces the Demon clean through and starts boiling her flesh. The Mother Demon howls in agony as Father Kelly keeps the laser on her. She melts into herself, in a putrid display, finally settling on the floor before going out in one final, disgusting rupture of blood and pus.
The priest stares with satisfaction at the creature's volcanic demise.
FATHER KELLY
That wasn't so bad.
BLAM!
He flies backwards, out of sight. Trague pulls himself over the Mother Demon’s vile husk, clutching a pistol.
INT. MONASTERY - FRONT HALL
WHAM!!
The Imp slams the Unmaker into Taggart's chest. This has been going on for a while. There's hardly an inch of Taggart's flesh that isn't black and blue with bruises.
TAGGART
I ain't got all day here...pussy.
Taggart spits blood onto the floor. The Imp roars and kicks him in the face. It's worked Taggart
into a corner..
TAGGART
Keep it comin'. I like it rough.
It roars again as it gives another brutal backhand. Blood gushes from Taggart's lips.
TAGGART
You just can't get the hang of this, can ya?
The Imp sets its jaw and steps back. It's going to blow him away, but Taggart just shrugs and flips him off. Sabando sneaks up from behind and doesn't just drive her knife into the Imp's throat, she shoves it in all the way to the hilt, then pushes her fingers in, grabbing the Imp's head in her other hand, tearing it off.
When the Imp falls down, clearly dead as it lays in a pool of its own gushing blood, Sabando tosses the knife and retrieves her pistol.
TAGGART
All that so you could just cap me yourself.
SABANDO
I like to keep it simple.
TAGGART
Me too.
He throws his legs up and wraps them around her neck. She fires the gun once before dropping it, then grabs his ankles and tries to twist free. Taggart brings her slowly down to the floor, looking into her eyes the entire time, giving her one last grin before that final
SNAP!
TAGGART
That was for Lorelei.
INT. MONASTERY - CELLAR
Taggart half-walks, half-slides down the stairs with the Unmaker in his grip.
TAGGART
Padre!
FATHER KELLY
(O.S.)
(weakly) Flynn...
Taggart rounds the corner and sees that Father Kelly's been shot in the thigh. He's bleeding profusely. Taggart tears his sleeve off and ties a crude tourniquet above the wound.
TAGGART
What the hell were you doing down here? Smells like shit.
FATHER KELLY
Trague's going to get the mega-sphere.
TAGGART
What?!
FATHER KELLY
Up those stairs, Flynn. I couldn't follow him, I'm sorry...
TAGGART
Relax. I've got this handled.
Taggart turns and starts up the spiral staircase.
INT. MONASTERY - TOWER
It's a small dark room, lit by a single candle on a rotting desk. Taggart nudges open a trapdoor in the floor and scans the room. No Trague, and no mega-sphere either. He climbs all the way up and sighs.
TAGGART
Fuck. This. FUCK!
The candlelight flickers, as if touched by a wind, and he narrows his eyes. Something's wrong with the wall behind the candle. It's...
Moving. Alive? No, it’s a Gateway.
He walks over to the desk and shoves it aside; it disintegrates in his hands. He steps into the wall.
INT. SPHERE CHAMBER - HELL
Red and green lights, eerie unnatural lights, are cast upon the granite walls. More horrible demon faces are etched into the floor and ceiling. Across the chamber sits an altar, and upon the altar, a glowing white sphere, throbbing as if it can't contain itself and yet its light is not cast throughout the room. Its light is repulsed by its surroundings.
There's a figure in brown robes kneeling before the altar, his back to Taggart.
TAGGART
You must be Brother Augustine.
He glances to his right and isn't so surprised to see Roland Trague stripped naked and nailed to the wall by a dozen metal spikes.
TAGGART
I see you made it to your meeting. (to figure) So, Augie, you got your precious sphere back. Hell wins. Now what?
The figure rises and stops. Contemplates the sphere for a moment. Then he turns and pulls the hood back to reveal his hideous, empty, skeletal, glistening white face.
THE ARCH-VILE.
TAGGART
I…I killed you. Years ago…
The Arch-Vile opens its claws and drops the robe.
TAGGART
I guess an eternity in Hell is an eternity in Hell. Sucks for you.
There is a nightmarish rage building in the demon. It stays fixed on Taggart, the only things moving are its razor claws.
ROLAND TRAGUE
(O.S.)
(weakly) Taggart…
Taggart turns and sees the impaled corpse look up and speak with blood drizzling from its mouth.
ROLAND TRAGUE
(weakly) Immortality. Resurrection. It can be yours. You can bring her back. She can be yours again. Forever.
Taggart's voice shakes.
TAGGART
What the hell do you mean?
ROLAND TRAGUE
(weakly) The sphere. His soul, it belongs to us now.
The Arch-Vile tilts its head at the exact same time as Trague; it's puppeting him, speaking through him.
TAGGART
You're saying...
ROLAND TRAGUE
(weakly) You can have her again. All you have to do is join ussss.
Taggart looks from the dead eyes of Trague to the soulless eyes of the Arch-Vile. The Unmaker wavers in his hand.
Silence follows, for what seems like an eternity.
TAGGART
No deal, buddy.
He blasts Trague's corpse to pieces with the Unmaker. The Arch-Vile claps its hands together and engulfs Taggart in flames. He staggers into the wall, firing blindly. The Unmaker's dark beam batters the granite but it does not find the Arch-Vile.
Taggart is lifted off the ground and propelled into the opposite wall. Every movement only excites the fire racing over his limbs. The Arch-Vile flails its arms, flinging Taggart around the room with its terrible power.
He's then rolled across the floor, which extinguishes all but the smallest of flames. Taggart comes to rest in a smoking heap, not moving.
Then one blackened eye opens. The Arch-Vile screams in rage and prepares to repeat the process.
Suddenly a red laser punches through the chest of the demon and straight into the mega-sphere. Father Kelly steps through the gateway and his aim stays true. A white light begins filtering out of the Arch-Vile's chest, into the red beam. It follows the beam into the mega-sphere.
The Arch-Vile's deformed head issues forth a scream of immeasurable pain and fright, and then, finally, it dies.
Father Kelly carefully sets the laser down on the floor. He stares in wonder at the mega-sphere, exactly as he'd imagined and yet nothing he's ever conceived of in his entire life. He takes a step toward it...
But then sees Taggart.
FATHER KELLY
Oh my Lord, Flynn!
Taggart shifts a little and grunts.
FATHER KELLY
What can I do?
With what he can manage of a smile, Taggart answers through cracked lips.
TAGGART
(weakly) Last...rites.
FATHER KELLY
Flynn…
He trails off as there's no sense in arguing. Father Kelly reaches into his robes; his crucifix isn't there. Regardless, he closes his eyes and whispers softly over Taggart's body.
FATHER KELLY
...Amen.
TAGGART
(weakly) Doesn't hurt...like I thought it would.
FATHER KELLY
I'm glad.
TAGGART
(weakly) Hurts…worse.
Father Kelly suddenly lets out a sob. He covers his mouth and sits down beside Taggart.
FATHER KELLY
I'm sorry.
TAGGART
(weakly) Don't be. Look...you take that sphere, take it back. Take it where no one will ever find it, ever again.
FATHER KELLY
I will.
TAGGART
(weakly) I mopped up all the UAC guys for ya. Shouldn't have any
trouble...getting out... (coughs) Watch those barrels out there. Big boom.
FATHER KELLY
I will.
TAGGART
(weakly) Arlene. And Al. Tell them...I don't know. Tell 'em something nice.
FATHER KELLY
I will.
Taggart settles back to die. He looks up at the ceiling and says goodbye to Hell one last time.
FATHER KELLY
Flynn?
TAGGART
(weakly) Yeah, Padre?
FATHER KELLY
I asked you a question once...you said you'd answer, at the end...
Taggart nods weakly.
FATHER KELLY
What's God like?
Taggart looks back at the priest.
TAGGART
(weakly; smiles) He's like you. He's just like you.
The light leaves his eyes.
Father Kelly sits there for a few minutes, not really looking at Flynn, just sitting alone in that room in Hell, and then he gets up and walks over to the mega-sphere.
The light from the sphere expands to fill the screen.
EXT. CEMETERY - DAWN - RAINING
Father Kelly strides across the wet cemetery lawn, hands clasped behind his back. He stops before the graves of Flynn and Lorelei Taggart. He gets down on his knees and places a lily on Lorelei's grave, while he places a 9mm Beretta on Flynn's.
Just in case a soldier's work is never done.
THE END
2/12/2006 4:11:57 AM
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