AND THE STORY GOES ON . . . FOREVER: THE CONTINUING STORY OF SARAH JANE SMITH

CHAPTER 1

I do not own Doctor Who or The Sarah Jane Adventures, and I am making no profit off of this.

This series is set in my War of the Guardians universe, and the first chapter takes place after the storyline begun in The Adventures of Rose Tyler, Time Lady Chapter 69 and after the upcoming Sarah Jane story in It's Better With Two.

It was just another ordinary day for Sarah Jane Smith. It was only noon, and she had already had a long, eventful day. She had stopped two alien invasions, gave a woman who was complaining about werewolves the number of Martha Jones, and helped Captain Jack Harkness to identify several of the alien artifacts that were soon to be placed within the rebuilt Torchwood archives once their new headquarters was finished.

She smiled to herself now as she wondered what the rest of the day might bring. She didn't have too long to find out.

"Sarah Jane, I have a report of an alien presence at Park Vale Comprehensive School. A young woman who fits the description of Rani Chandra has been spotted there along with what appears to be two Slabs. The Slabs seem to have made her their prisoner and were seen to be escorting her into the school against her will," Mr. Smith, Sarah Jane's sentient Xylok computer that lived in her attic, suddenly reported.

"What's Rani doing there? She's supposed to be at Oxford University with Luke and Clyde," Sarah Jane asked in a worried tone.

Rani had graduated from Park Vale and was now attending Oxford with her two friends. She still came to visit Sarah Jane from time to time though along with Luke and Clyde, and sometimes they still helped her with her alien problems when they could. She knew that Sarah Jane couldn't do it all by herself after all, and Sky could only help so much.

"I have received no reports that indicate why Rani is there. It does seem that she is not there voluntarily however," Mr. Smith replied.

"I have to get there immediately then. Sky may be in danger too depending on what the Slabs want. I just hope that Rani hasn't been dragged into this because of her association with me," Sarah Jane worried.

"Do you wish me to notify anyone else to help? I can try to reach Luke and Clyde assuming that they have not been captured as well by whoever has employed the Slabs. I could also contact the Doctor, Rose Tyler, Donna Noble, Captain Jack Harkness, or Amy Pond and Selene," Mr. Smith offered.

"Try contacting everyone. I may need all of the help that I can get. Those Slabs could be working for anyone," Sarah Jane answered.

Sarah Jane knew full well that everyone that she knew was probably too busy to even answer their phone much less able to find the time to come and help her. It was probably all up to her to save Rani and possibly Sky and all of the students and staff at the school from whatever was going on there.

That was the way most of her adventures usually went after all, and she was fine with that. She had long ago gotten used to saving the world all by herself. She had been doing it off and on ever since the Doctor had left her on Earth for the last time after all.

Sarah got into her car and quickly drove to the school. Once she arrived there, she noticed that several UNIT soldiers were there already. She could see that they were already preventing the general public from entering and had cordoned the entire school off. She needed to get permission from someone in charge in order to get in quickly. She just hoped that whoever was there would be someone that she knew. She could always sneak past them of course, but doing that would take time that she might not have.

She quickly saw Martha Jones there and sighed in relief. She wasn't always sure of getting ahold of someone who she could work with or who she could trust. The UNIT of today was not like the one that she had dealt with in the past after all, and their methods and ways of doing things didn't always seem right to her.

"Sarah Jane, it's nice to see you again!" Martha said with a warm smile as Sarah Jane attracted her attention.

"Martha, I need to get in there quickly. My daughter goes to school there, and I have reason to believe that my friend Rani is also in there and being held hostage by the two Slabs that went inside," Sarah Jane hurriedly explained.

Martha smiled and shook her head as she said, "Why am I not surprised that you already know as much as we do? Sure, you can go in. I'll take you in myself so that there are no problems. To be honest, I wanted an excuse to go in there anyway. I hate waiting out here when all the action is going on in there."

"Being with the Doctor never does leave you, does it?" Sarah Jane said with a grin as she began to follow Martha through the cordon and up to the entrance of the school.

"No, it doesn't. Once you get used to this kind of life, you just can't let it go ever. I don't have to explain that to you though," Martha said as she flashed her ID badge to the UNIT soldiers guarding the entrance to the school.

"No, I understand that better than anyone. So you really don't know anything else about what's going on here?" Sarah Jane asked as soon as the two of them had entered the building.

"I'm afraid not, no. I wish that I could tell you more, especially with Rani and Sky in there," Martha said sympathetically.

"That's okay. I'll just have to do what I usually do in situations like this: improvise," Sarah Jane said.

Both of them looked at each other then as they realized exactly who Sarah Jane had just sounded like.

"Don't even say a word, Martha," Sarah Jane said with a groan as Martha struggled not to laugh.

The two women eventually reached Sky's classroom, and Sarah Jane was relieved to see that Rani and the Slabs were not there. Sky left the room immediately to join her mother as Martha quietly signaled the UNIT soldiers guarding the students in the room that it was okay for her to leave.

"I've heard that Rani's here. Do you think that she's alright?" Sky asked in breathless excitement.

"I don't know, Sky. I certainly hope so," Sarah Jane replied as the three of them began to walk down the hall as they searched for the Slabs.

"I can't understand why she would be here unless they knew that she used to help you," Sky said as she thought out loud.

"I certainly hope that's not the case. It may be because her father is the head teacher of the school. Maybe they're using her to get to him for some reason," Sarah Jane said.

"Why would the Slabs or whoever they're working for be interested in the head teacher of a school though?" Martha asked.

"I guess we'll soon find out what they're here about because I can hear Rani's voice up ahead," Sarah Jane said.

The three of them stopped and slowly inched forward as they looked for any signs of the killer androids' presence there. They could hear Rani's voice getting louder and louder now, and they could soon hear her father, Haresh, speaking as well.

"I already told you, Dad. These androids aren't going to let either one of us go until they get what they came here for. They want to know the exact location of a student who's attending here now. Someone called Henry Barnes. I don't know why they want him for, but they won't leave here until they find him," Rani explained.

"I haven't heard them say a word since they brought you in here so how do you know any of this?" Haresh asked.

"They don't speak .Their employer is the one who told me about it when they brought me to her after they first kidnapped me out of my dorm room at the University," Rani said.

"Did they hurt you?" Haresh asked in concern.

"No, not yet but if they don't get what their employer wants, I'm sure that they will," Rani said.

"So these things are machines you said?" Haresh asked as he sounded like he was struggling to understand what was going on.

He knew about the existence of aliens of course, but their world was still an unknown one to him. Furthermore, he had always wanted it to stay that way. He had no idea that his daughter already knew more about aliens than he could possibly imagine from her many adventures with Sarah Jane.

"Yes, they're androids. They work for a woman named Mrs. Wormwood," Rani answered.

Sarah Jane stiffened at the sound of that name. She was one of an alien race called the Bane, and she had created Sarah Jane's son, Luke, to help her destroy the human race. Luckily, Luke had been more interested from the start in being a normal human boy than in helping the Bane. The last she had seen of Mrs. Wormwood was when she had been lost in another dimension with a Sontaran Commander named Kaagh.

"She's the alien that you said that they worked for then?" Haresh asked as he tried to make sense of what was happening.

"Yes, she is. I have no idea what she wants with that boy, but I'm sure that it's nothing good," Rani said.

"I can't just give this boy up to these things! They could do who knows what to him!" Haresh protested.

"I don't want you to do it either. If you don't though, they've been ordered to kill both of us and search this office for the information that they want anyway," Rani warned.

Sarah Jane decided that she had waited long enough. She didn't want Haresh to find out the truth about her, but she had no other choice. She pulled out her sonic lipstick and started to aim it at the two Slabs, but Martha shook her head at her. Martha knew that Sarah Jane valued her secrets after all, and she decided that she would take care of this one. She owed all Slabs in general one for terrorizing her on her first adventure with the Doctor anyway.

Martha pulled out a specially designed sonic device given to her by Donna and used it to fry the circuits of the two androids. The two Slabs fell over and stopped moving immediately as they were permanently put out of commission.

"No! That's only going to make things worse. She said if anything happened to those two that she was going to send more," Rani said upset.

"How many more?" Sarah Jane asked as a feeling of sudden dread passed over her.

"Dr. Jones! There's a whole army of androids suddenly appearing out of nowhere! They're surrounding the entire building!" one of the UNIT soldiers called out to Martha over her communicator.

"They'll continue to keep coming too until I find the boy. Right now, they're programmed only to stun and not to kill. That could change on a moment's notice, however," Mrs. Wormwood threatened as she stepped around a corner accompanied by two of the Slabs on either side of her.

"Why do you want him so badly for? What possible interest could he be to you?" Sarah Jane asked.

"He is Luke's successor. I created him to serve me and to help restore me to favor with the Bane. He escaped from me, however, and used his intelligence to create a new identity for himself so that he could live life as a normal child. I have no idea why he should wish to do that though when he could be so much more. He could help me to conquer this miserable planet for the Bane and then stand by my side as I retake my rightful place among them afterwards for handing them the human race," Mrs. Wormwood said.

"He fled because he's a child and not a weapon! It also might just be your winning personality. It just seems to drive everyone away from you. I can't imagine why," Sarah Jane said sarcastically.

"Bring me the child, Miss Smith, or I will have my androids raze this school and everyone in it to the ground. This is your final warning!" Mrs. Wormwood said.

"I'll take you to him," Rani suddenly blurted out.

"Rani, no!" Haresh said.

"I have to, Dad. I can't let everyone else die," Rani said.

"Rani, she's going to use him to try to take over humanity. You can't let her do it," Sarah Jane warned.

"I knew if I pressed you long enough that one of you would eventually give in. Lead the way, Miss Chandra. Slabs, keep the rest of them here," Mrs. Wormwood ordered.

Mrs. Wormwood left her Slabs there to keep Sarah Jane, Martha, Sky, and Haresh from leaving as she went off alone with Rani with a gun pointed to her back.

"Rani!" Haresh screamed in anguish as Rani disappeared from sight.

"So where is he?" Mrs. Wormwood asked impatiently after the two of them had walking past classroom after classroom for several minutes, and it seemed as if they had reached a dead end.

"I have no idea," Rani said in a calm, almost happy voice. She acted as if she were totally in control of the whole situation now.

"What?! You lied! How dare you?!" Mrs. Wormwood said in a fit of rage.

Rani suddenly spun around with an evil grin on her face as she said, "You know you're really so easy to fool. You have such a pathetic excuse for a mind after all."

"That's it. You're going to die now!" Mrs. Wormwood threatened as she pulled the trigger on her gun.

Nothing happened, and Mrs. Wormwood looked completely shocked. She tried again and again to pull the trigger, but nothing would come out.

"Aw! You little gun not working? What a shame! It seems that someone had a small handheld device in their pocket that they whipped up on the spur of the moment that slowly drained the energy from your gun over time from a distance. I'm afraid that it's made your gun into nothing more than an over-glorified paperweight now," Rani said as she kicked the gun out of Mrs. Wormwood's hand.

"Who are you? You're not the Rani that I knew," Mrs. Wormwood said with fear in her voice.

"No, I'm not. I'm so much better than that pathetic waste of space ever was. You see I'm the real deal while she was nothing more than a copy. It seems that I've spent quite a while on this planet as her. It was much longer than I would have expected. Do you know that she actually liked being human and wanted to become, of all things, a journalist?! Can you imagine? What you said earlier about why would the boy want a normal life when he could be so much more? I wholeheartedly agree. I am so much more now than she ever was. I am no longer Rani Chandra now. I am Kali!" Rani shouted in a voice oozing with pure hatred.

"You've lost your mind! Kali died centuries ago after the Time Lords executed her for attempting to destroy an entire planet just because one of its inhabitants insulted her!" Mrs. Wormwood said in disbelief.

"They thought that they killed me, but I used my superior mind to switch brains with someone else at the last minute. I actually lucked out with that deal. She was much younger than I was, and I gained all of her regenerations, almost a complete life cycle of them. I then used the Chameleon Arch to hide from the Time Lords on Earth as the girl that you came to know and loath. Believe me, I agree with you in your low opinion of her. I'm so glad that she's history, and now so are you," Rani said with a sneer.

Mrs. Wormwood felt Rani invading her thoughts and taking over her mind. She realized in terror that she was going to kill her.

"Kneel before me!" Rani shouted.

The Time Lady began to laugh as Mrs. Wormwood knelt before her on the ground against her will. She then reached out and began to attack her mind with her mental powers. Mrs. Wormwood began to scream in incredible pain as Rani began shutting her brain down slowly one piece at a time.

"No! Please!" Mrs. Wormwood begged.

"You want mercy? Do you honestly expect me to grant you of all people mercy?" Rani asked with a smirk on her face.

"Please don't!" Mrs. Wormwood cried out in soul crushing agony.

Rani's expression seemed to change then, and a terrible sadness came over her face. She was now overburdened with guilt and knew that what she was doing was wrong. This was not who she wanted to be! She was not Kali anymore. She was Rani Chandra, and this was her life now!

Rani let go of Mrs. Wormwood's mind and fixed it back to its previous condition wherever she had damaged it as she allowed her back full control of her body once more.

"I'm so sorry! That wasn't me. Go and take your androids with you. Please just go before she regains control again," Rani pleaded with Mrs. Wormwood.

Mrs. Wormwood nodded and ordered the Slabs to leave with her. She wasn't going to take a chance of Rani changing her mind.

Before she left, Mrs. Wormwood turned around for just a moment and said in a heartfelt voice, "I'm sorry."

"Thank you," Rani said to the Bane's rapidly retreating back.

This is impossible. You should no longer exist! You opened the watch and freed me once the Slabs were close to capturing you. You should be gone forever! Kali protested inside of Rani's mind.

You know what, Kali? It's time that you learned something. Sometimes things don't always go your way. Sometimes life just sucks! I know mine is certainly no barrel full of monkeys right now. Rani said sadly back to her.

You can't retain control forever. Mine is the superior intellect. Sooner or later I will triumph, and then I will drive you out forever. You can't win, Rani. Kali promised as she filled Rani's mind with laughter.

I can certainly try. This is my life now. They're my friends and my family. I'm keeping them, Kali. I'm going to win because I have something worth fighting for! Rani promised.

At the moment, Haresh came running up to her and asked, "Are you okay, Rani?"

"I'm fine, Dad. Everything's fine now. She decided to cut her loses and leave when she found out that I was just bluffing with her. I had no more idea where the boy was than she did," Rani said.

"That doesn't sound like her. Are you sure that there wasn't more to it than that, Rani?" Sarah Jane asked suspiciously.

"That's all, Sarah Jane. I think that she just decided that she had enough and that it just wasn't worth the trouble anymore," Rani lied.

"How did she know you and Rani anyway, Sarah Jane?" Haresh asked.

"She learned about both of them due to their connection to you no doubt, Mr. Chandra. She was looking for anyone that she could use to convince you to give her the boy. Sarah Jane probably knew about her from talking with us in the past as she did research for one story after another. You can pick up a lot of things when you hang around our group long enough," Martha said as she tried to cover for Sarah Jane.

"Yes, of course," Haresh said but he sounded unconvinced.

"Are you sure that you're okay, Rani?" Sarah Jane asked.

"I'm fine, Sarah Jane. I've never felt better," Rani said with a pleased smile on her face.

She was going to beat Kali and lock her away forever. She was not going to let her take everything away from her that she had fought so long and hard for.

"Dr. Jones, we searched for the boy that the androids were after, and we could not find him. His teacher said that he was out today. He called in sick," one of the UNIT soldiers reported to Martha.

"It seems that he expected something like this might happen today," Sarah Jane deduced.

"We have to find that boy, Sarah Jane. We can't let him fall into her hands. I'm going to need his address, Mr. Chandra," Martha said.

Haresh went to look the information up, but Sarah Jane suspected already that it was going to turn out to be a fake address. She was sure that someone as intelligent as this boy must surely be would have already covered his tracks so that no one could find him. It didn't mean that she wouldn't try though.

Mrs. Wormwood reported to Madame Kovarian not long after her escape and told her that she had failed to recapture the boy and use him as a way to regain control of the Bane for the Silence. Kovarian was needless to say not pleased.

"You idiot! I gave you an army of Slabs, and you still fled before one girl. I rescued you from that nightmarish dimension for the express purpose of adding the Bane and their technology to our cause, and you couldn't even do that! Maybe I should just finish the job that she started. What do you think?" Kovarian said as several members of the Silence began to surround Mrs. Wormwood.

"I can still deliver the boy to you, Madame Kovarian. I just need more time. If you give me another chance, I will find him and use him to regain favor with the Bane once more. I promise," Mrs. Wormwood said nervously as she stared at the Silence surrounding her.

"One last chance, and that's all," Kovarian said.

"I have to admit that this girl intrigues me. She could have killed you with the power of her mind and yet chose not to. You said that she seemed to be at war with herself. Maybe I could use that situation to my advantage somehow. I will have to think long and hard on how best to approach this. If we could bring her to our side, we could use her to kill the Doctor from a distance; and no one would ever suspect her of planning anything because she is one of his allies. It would be perfect," Kovarian said with an evil smile.

Next: Rani tries to go back to her normal life as she acts like nothing has changed. That's easier said than done though when Kali is constantly attempting to regain control from her at every turn. Meanwhile Sarah Jane tries to locate the boy that Mrs. Wormwood wanted before she does. Can she succeed, or will Mrs. Wormwood use him to hand control of the Bane and possibly the Earth itself over to the Silence?