so many things to write here i don't even know where to begin. first thanks to DannyP and TKLee these guys have given me some interesting ideas, some of which may appear in this story, i will make sure to point out and give credit when i do this, oh yeah as usual i don't own SJA or DW. i wasn't sure about doing more stories after my last, but i really enjoy writing them so i decided to continue, that and i was threatened by DannyP so here you go, please enjoy, and as always reviews are appreciated
Luke was strolling down bannerman road present in hand, he was in the middle of his final year alongside Marcus, but for the moment it was a long weekend and both him and Marcus had been called back for a birthday party
"i've never seen a magician here on earth, i thought humans didn't believe in magic?"
this discussion had been going since they left Sarah-Jane's house
"it isn't magic, just slight of hand, the hand moving faster than the eye can comprehend"
Luke was stubborn in his denial of magic
"alright well i've seen magic on other worlds and it isn't an optical illusion"
Luke frowned at Marcus
"whatever you saw it wasn't magic, there's a scientific explanation for it somewhere"
Marcus's voice was teasing and light
"i don't know Luke, if it looks like magic and feels like magic"
Luke rose to the bait
"yeah and next you're going to tell me if it walks like a duck and talks like a duck, and we both remember how that worked out"
he fixed Marcus with a playful glare
"how was i supposed to know it was the shapeshifter, at least it wasn't a carnivorous species this time"
although the pseudo duck had eaten through just about everything else that wasn't alive, including a decent chunk of Luke's car
"my car is still missing most of it's bumper, and that was my favourite pair of jeans"
Marcus held up his hands in mock surrender, and then slipped closer to Luke so he could steal a kiss
"you know that won't get you out of trouble all the time, especially if you upset the next killer duck we encounter"
they both burst into laughter, turning the corner they were greeted by an explosively excited Jake
"hey guys i can't believe you came, oh this is gonna be an awesome birthday, come on"
Jake grabbed their hands and they found themselves being pulled at high speeds to the building that had been booked for the party
"oh hey boys i'm glad you could come, Jake seemed really excited to have both of you at his party"
despite her calm exterior Marcus could feel tension bubbling beneath the surface, clearly trying to corral the dozen or so kids at the party was taking its toll on Jake's mother
"yeah we were glad to come, oh speaking of which we have a present for Jake"
Marcus pulled out the small wrapped package from his pocket, Jake bounded up to them
"oh is that for me, cool what is it?" he unwrapped it quickly, but looked almost dissapointed at what he held in his hand "it's a ball"
Luke smiled and took the ball into his hand
"oh this isn't just any ball, it's a ball that's almost impossible to catch"
Jake looked confused so Luke threw the ball to him, before Jake could catch it, the ball weaved around his hand and bounced off around the room
"cool how did it do that"
Marcus was smiling at the look on Jake's face
"ah that is a secret, why don't you and your friends see if you can catch it while your mum finishes getting things ready"
Jake took off after the ball chasing it around the room with his friends
"oh good that will keep them busy for a while, can you two grab some of the food from the car"
they both nodded and walked outside finding Lisa at the boot of her mums car
"hey guys, did mum drag you into setup as well"
they nodded and she laughed, Luke reached into his pocket and found the present they had made for lisa
"oh yeah Lisa we got this for you"
she took the package and opened it, she held a small flute in her hands, blowing into it experimentally the instrument produced a delicate sound and a gentle light
"oh wow this is beautiful, is it alien?"
she put the flute away and gave the boys a couple of dishes to carry
"yeah it is, so don't spread it around, but we figure after all you did to stop the trickster you deserve something special"
it took them almost half an hour to get things ready for the party, but eventually the food was prepared and the magician was ready on stage
"okay kids come on sit down"
despite her request the kids kept running around
"but mum we haven't figured out how to catch the ball yet"
Marcus's present was still bouncing around the room
"oh right sorry"
Marcus put his fingers to his lips and whistled, the ball changed direction in mid-air and flew into Marcus's outstretched hand, bowing slightly to the impressed applause Marcus gave the ball to Jake and they all sat down, turning to watch the Magician on stage
"ah ladies and gentlemen i'm so glad you could attend on this magical day"
on the word magical he flicked his wrist and had a card in his hand, throwing it into the air it exploded into confetti, each trick eaned the magician applause, eventually he brought his assistant up on stage, she helped him through a few more tricks, eventually he reached the finale
"and now ladies and gentlemen, i have a very special trick to end with, as you can see behind me i have two boxes big enough for my lovely assistant to fit inside" he gestured to two boxes behind him, his assistant climbed inside one of them "and now the blades of doom" he pulled out several swords that earned him a gasp from the kids in the audience "now silence please"
everyone watched as he slowly lined up the sword with one of the holes in the box, the whole audience took a deep breath and he plunged the sword into the box, at the same time a searing pain ripped through Marcus's mind, Luke noticed and they both slipped outside
"Marcus what's wrong?"
Luke watched as his friend clutched at the sides of his head
"something's wrong with that trick, he's killing her"
eyes wide in surprise Luke rushed back into the room, just in time to see the magicians assistant step out of the other box, completely unharmed
"and there you have it ladies and gentlemen, i hope you enjoyed the show"
Marcus and Luke went through the motions for the rest of the party, eventually the party was finished and they helped Jake's mum clean up, finally they were free to return to bannerman road
"oh hey boys, how was the party"
Luke looked from his mum to Marcus
"well Jake liked his present, but during one of the magic tricks Macus sensed something"
she turned to Marcus curious, he took a breath before he answered
"the woman in the box, i felt her in pain, like she really had been stabbed, but before we could do anything she stepped out of the other box, completely unharmed, it doesn't make sense"
Sarah-Jane considered them both carefully
"hmm, perhaps what you sensed wasn't from this woman" Marcus looked at her confused "there were a lot of children there, and the imagination of a child is a powerful thing"
Marcus considered what she said
"you may have a point, i remember Krell telling me about an old special forces trick that worked in a similar way, if he focused on a painful memory then he could project that pain into the mind of another solaran"
Luke came up behind Marcus and put his arm over his friends shoulders
"now that we have that sorted can we make something to eat, i was too busy worrying about you to eat anything at the party"
they both laughed and Sarah-Jane had a look in the fridge and pulled out a few things, the boys exchanged worried looks and quickly took over
"do you boys not like my cooking?"
she was looking at both of them but neither could hold her gaze
"no we love your cooking mum, it's just"
he turned to Marcus for support
"sorry Sarah-Jane but to be frank, i would like my eyebrows to grow back before you cook for us again"
she laughed in spite of herself and fixed them both with a playful glare
"that only happened with the scrambled eggs"
they both nodded sympathetically but Luke couldn't stop smiling
"yeah mum just the scrambled eggs, and the pasta, oh and not forgetting the salad of course"
she slapped him playfully on the arm
"fine you two can cook, make it something healthy"
she went to sit down while they cooked, after dinner they all sat down for a bit, clyde and Rani still hadn't come back yet so the three of them just sat there, chatting about anything and everything
"ok well i'll leave you boys alone, i've got a few things to finish off in the attic, night boys"
they watched her walk up the stairs before Luke turned and looked at Marcus
"come on then, time for an investigation"
Marcus looked confused
"what do you mean?"
Luke had an amused smile on his face
"i know you won't stop worrying about this until we know for certain what happened in the show"
grinning at luke Marcus bounced up from where he was sat
"hey mum, me and Marcus are going out for a little while, back later...yes i have my phone with me"
grabbing his keys and sonic pen Luke followed Marcus out of the door into the cool evening air, the first place they wanted to investigate was the building that had been hosting Jake's party
"my scans aren't turning up anything unusual, although, that's weird" Luke looked over his shoulder at the readings "i figured the stage was hollow, but its solid"
Luke went over ways the trick could have been performed, most of the time the stage was hollow
"that is weird, i wonder how he did the trick"
Marcus took another look around the stage for some kind of panel, instead he found something else
"umm Luke, i found something, and it isn't stopping me from worrying"
on the floor was an almost unnoticable spot of blood, Luke didn't think much of it until the light caught it and the blood shimmered green
"okay that is definitely not human, do you know what species it belongs to"
Marcus sanned it, the reading came back with a question mark
"it definitely isn't human, but my scanner can't identify it, i think we're gonna have to take it back to Mr Smith"
Luke let his head drop, he just hoped his mum wasn't mad at him for investigating without telling her, exiting the building Luke sealed the door behind them with his pen,
outside in the cool night air they turned towards home, it was good to be there, even for a little while, his final year at university was going to be over soon, and then he would meet River
"are you alright Luke?"
Marcus slipped his fingers into Luke's
"i'm fine, just worried about what happens next, this is the year of peace and quiet, after i meet River everything changes, and on top of that i have to figure out what i want to do with myself after uni, assuming i survive whatever River asks me to do"
Marcus was smiling beside Luke
"don't worry Luke, you like every human on this world spend too much time worrying about getting somewhere, and getting there quickly, maybe you should slow down, it will be much easier to see where you're going"
Luke gave his boyfriend's hand a gentle squeeze
"maybe you're right, maybe after we're finished we should go traveling for a bit, if aphelion is repaired we could go check on Mara, and catch up with your friend Kiara,
oh and i'm sure Mr Smith has some awesome ideas for sightseeing"
Marcus burst out laughing
"sounds like a plan, but in the meantime lets solve a mystery"
nodding with renewed determination they walked up the drive towards 13 bannerman road, Luke found Sarah-Jane upstairs in the attic
"oh hello boys, i wasn't expecting you back so soon"
Sarah-Jane was curled up on the sofa, mug of tea in hand
"we were investigating the magician, and we found some alien blood, we need Mr Smith to identify it"
Sarah-Jane's eyebrows came together in a frown
"i should have known you weren't just going out, alright lets see what you found, Mr Smith we need you"
Mr Smith's fanfare blared as he appeared out of the wall, Marcus plugged his scanner into the USB slot
"Mr Smith we found some blood, can you tell us the species"
a picture of an alien appeared on the screen
"i can do more than that Marcus, that blood belonged to kubla kahn his DNA is part of his criminal profile, he is of the intangible race, they are a race of shapeshifters,
and due to their extensive shapeshifting abilities very few people have ever seen their their true form, last confirmed sighting of this individual was in judoon custody, he was scheduled to be executed, but escaped during transport"
Marcus turned to face Luke in confusion
"how the hell did his blood end up on the floor, do you think he could of shifted into that assistant, maybe he's assumed her identity to hide on earth"
luke nodded, it was a possibility
"well i think we should go talk to the assistant and the magician, maybe the two of them have some answers"
he turned to leave the attic but Sarah-Jane cut them off
"i don't think so boys, it's late, you can investigate in the morning"
both Luke and Marcus opened their mouths to protest
"come on mum i'm an adult now, and technically we're still in the middle of an investigation"
arms crossed she stood firmly in his way
"whoever this magician might be you will only raise suspicion if you go to talk to him in the middle of the night, and technically Luke you aren't even ten years old and it is past your bedtime"
Sarah-Jane smiled quite pleased with herself, Luke's arguement caught in his throat and Marcus was in fits of laughter behind him
"alright mum you have a point, we'll start fresh in the morning, night"
he gave her a kiss on the cheek and followed Marcus downstairs, once in his room he got ready for bed, across from him he could see Marcus in the spare bed his mum had made for them, he had decided against mentioning that to his mum.
"are you still worrying over there"
Marcus's eyes were closed but Luke knew he was still awake
"a little bit, this whole day still reeks of something not quite right, that and i'm kind of lonely over here by myself"
Luke rolled his eyes and climbed out of his bed and into the spare bed with Marcus, warm and content he fell asleep. the next day they were both up bright and early, Luke had used Mr Smith to track down the Magician, after wolfing down some toast for breakfast they took off out the door, the magician lived on the road in a truck full of props, Mr Smith had located the truck stopped in an overnight carpark
"so where is this guys truck"
they both looked around, Marcus's eyes were caught by a brightly colored van in the far corner
"i think i found it, come on"
knocking on the door they waited a few moments for a response, no reply came so Luke pulled out his sonic pen and quietly opened the door, inside the truck was filled from top to bottom with props for the magicians show
"do you reckon this guys a timelord, this truck feels a lot bigger on the inside"
working their way slowly to the end of the truck they came across a sealed door at the far end, Marcus moved out the way and Luke tried to open the door
"it isn't working, it must have a deadlock seal, this guy definitely isn't a normal magician"
they turned to leave the truck but came face to face with the magician, gun in hand
"indeed gentleman i am far from being a normal magician, and juding from your sonic technology you two aren't from earth either" he moved the weapon from Marcus to Luke as if he was trying to make a decision "the two of you would make excellent assistants, now that i'm finished with the old one, the question is which one to pick"
Marcus watched as the gun continued moving
"you try and put me in one of those ridiculous costumes and i will take you up to space and leave you there" he waited for just the right moment "now!"
he pressed his watch and the light blinded the magician, the gun fired but it missed them both, Luke ran forwards and took the weapon and pointed it at the magician
"ok now get up, and release the deadlock seal"
the magician stood up lips curled into a sneer
"oh please you aren't going to shoot me with that"
Marcus stepped up behind Luke, his eyes fixed on the magician
"look you and i both know you aren't brave enough to call anyone's bluff, now do it"
the sneer was replaced by a look of contempt, moving between them to the sealed door the magician entered a passcode and the door slid open, inside was a machine, full of twisting wires and mismatched parts, all wired into the two magic boxes, Marcus stepped into the small space and opened one of the boxes a foul decaying smell entered his nose, pulling open the box all the way they came face to face with a dead alien, it's face bulged out like a dog, and it had dangerously sharp teeth, but it's eyes drew the attention, glassy and white, it was dead
"Luke this is kubla kahn, he's dead, what the hell i though he was the assistant or something"
before Luke could react the magician turned around and knocked him backwards, Luke fell against a lever and found himself trapped as a box closed in from both sides
"Luke!"
Marcus turned on the magician but stopped in place, the Magician held a sword in his hand
"nice try, but it's hard to trick a trickster"
anger burned in Marcus's eyes
"let him go"
the magicians sneer returned he was enjoying being in control
"oh before that i want you to look at something, it's a fascinating little picture"
Luke couldn't see what Was happening from inside the box, all he could hear were the words
"what is that? is it an alien?"
Marcus had never seen an alien like it before
"i'm not sure, but every person that looks at it never even remembers seeing it, and you know what's really interesting is that you are going to sleep"
before Marcus could respond the magician hid the picture in his hand, and Marcus paused in place before collapsing to the floor
Luke had no idea what was going on, what had the magician done to Marcus
"and now for you boy"
luke heard the ringing of steel, the magician was going to kill him
"wait, before you do that, let me figure out what's going on, last request" he heard the magician pause and took his chance "okay so you're here kubla kahn is dead, that's easy to figure out, his criminal record had a bounty attached, dead or alive, you're going to give his body to the judoon and claim the bounty" Luke ran through everything in his head, he needed a few more seconds, he had to keep the guy listening "ok and that equipment, at least part of it looked like a teleport, so that's how you made the trick work, but how did you explain all that to the assistant, oh"
the machinery was more than just a teleport, he remembered technology like that from his first moments of life, it was a modified psycho-graft
"ingenious isn't it, the bodies move but the minds stay put, i get a bounty from the body, and kubla kahn gets a free pass, the perfect hiding place from the judoon, that way everyone is happy, now no more questions"
the magician lined up his blade carefully, and plunged it into the box, but he felt no resistance, and he didn't hear any sounds from Luke, removing the blade he pressed the lever and the box split apart, Luke was gone
"what! where are you?"
he spun in a circle and got knocked in the face by Luke, the magician fell to the floor clutching a bloody nose
"trapping me in a box that is designed to be escaped from, you really aren't that smart, but you are a murderer, you put that poor womans brain inside an alien and killed her, just to make money! we're handing you over to the judoon"
keeping an eye on the magician Luke shook Marcus until he woke up
"oh my head, what happened? hey i though you were in a box"
helping him up Luke turned back to the magician, who was looking surprisingly confident
"you aren't turning me over to the judoon"
from the look on Marcus's face he thought otherwise
"well as much fun as it would be to make you disappear, i think you'll have more fun with the judoon"
he moved forwards to pick the magician up, but the magician got up first
"you aren't taking me to the judoon, see their laws are very strict and the way all those kids at the parties practically ordered me to stab the aliens, by the laws of the judoon, that makes them accessories to murder, an offence punishable by death"
Luke turned to Marcus for confirmation, his friends nodded solemnly, if they turned this guy in, the judoon would execute him, and everyone at the party including Jake and Lisa
"what do we do, we can't let him go, he'll transplant more criminals"
Marcus shrugged, but then a picture on the floor caught his eye
"hey this is the picture he showed me" the alien in the picture was tall and had ghostly white skin "he showed me that, and told me to sleep and then i did"
Luke looked from the picture to the magician
"i don't know what this is, but you used this to hypnotise Marcus, and that gives me an idea"
Luke turned the picture towards the alien, it was strange but he couldn't actually remember what was in the picture
"what are you doing, no don't show me tha..."
Luke made sure the magician kept his eyes focused on the picture
"listen to me, you aren't ever going to mention how this happened to the judoon, the kids the parties none of it, you transplanted the bodies in secret"
covering the picture the Magician's eyes slid out of focus for a moment, before he could react Macus sent out a signal to the judoon, including all of the evidence they had collected, a few seconds later the magician disappeared in a flash of light, Marcus turned to look at Luke a grin on his face
"best trick of the night, come on we'd best go explain this to Sarah-Jane"
he lead the way out of the truck, the sun was already high in the sky, climbing into Luke's car they drove off, back to bannerman road
"well boys it seems you have had quite the day"
it had taken most of the day to explain everything to Sarah-Jane, Mr Smith had kept a careful eye on any judoon transmissions, but it looked like their hypnosis trick had worked
"i wish i could go to sleep and stop worrying, but kubla kahn is still at large, and he isn't the only one, this is the second time he's put on that show, that means there's another criminal somwhere on earth"
Sarah-Jane could see her sons concern, she gave him a comforting hug
"well considering how far these aliens went to hide i doubt they'll do anything to blow their cover, that will give you time to find them"
he gave his mums hand a grateful squeeze, Marcus smiled at the two of them
"well the thing that has me really curious is how you escaped that box, you gotta tell me, one moment you were in the box then when i woke up you were out of the box"
Luke grinned mischievously
"oh now Marcus, a good magician never reveals his tricks"
Luke's joke set loose a barrage of noise from Marcus he picked Luke up from where he was sat and the two wrestled around for a while until Marcus had him pinned and
"you did not just make that joke, oh that was bad, in fact that was clyde bad"
Sarah-Jane laughed at the both of them, she was glad to have Luke home even for a few days, he was back where she could protect him
"alright you two knock it off before you break something, in fact lets go out, clyde and Rani should be back any minute we can meet them in the town"
they all grabbed coats, Marcus chased Luke out of the attic, Sarah-Jane was shaking her head at both of them. elsewhere in space, a dark ship drifted into the earth's orbit
"we have tracked down the ship to eath last surivor must have been onboard, do you have an exact location"
the aliens on the ship slowly closed in on a location
"it is an old facility, labeled in classified earth records as Torchwood"
"very good, assemble the rest of the heretics we will find the survivor and end this"
little bit of a cliffhanger for you, can't resist a good cliffhanger. hope you enjoyed, these chapters are gonna come out slowly, probably a lot slower than previous stories, so please be patient with me, on the plus side if you've just started reading my stories with this one then there are three others that came before this one. even better there are the stories of TKLee which are most definitely worth a read
hint for next chapter: i was just saying hello?