Hi, Yay13 here, just going to tell you a few things. I'm rubbish at putting disclaimers so if I forget, please take his as an official disclaimer that I don't own any characters apart from Penny. I have also taken several story lines from the series. There are quotes from the stories as well.
This is a gift to my younger sister. The arrangement is that she gives me ideas and I write them. She tells me which episodes she wants me to write about so I put them in too. Hopefully you will recognise the episode it is based on if you don't.
** This one is Invasion of the Bane **
Maria Jackson walked out of her new house and looked around. She watched as the streets descended into chaos around her. She was moving. Her parents had split up so she was moving house. Her mum, Chrissie, was mid-conversation with one of the removal men. She was ordering them about, as if she had control in the chaos. As the removal man turned away, Maria heard her mum begin to flirt.
"Mind you, not bad." her mother said with a nod towards the backside of the removal man.
"Mum!" Maria exclaimed, managing only slightly to suppress the giggles that were attempting to escape. "Stop fancying the removal men!"
Maria couldn't believe what her mum was doing even when she attempted to justify it. She shook her head and let out a disappointed sigh.
"Cutlery, go on." her mother instructed, pointing towards the boot of their car.
As Maria moved towards the car, a duck egg blue Nissan pulled into the drive on the other side of the road. The driver and a teenaged passenger got out. Both were female, both shared the same brown hair. It was clear they were a mother and daughter.
"Hiya!" Maria called, giving them a distant wave.
The woman didn't even turn. She continued up the drive way into the house. The teenaged girl turned. She was about Maria's age. She looked like she was about to wave and then opted for a silent nod instead. Then the girl disappeared inside and shut the front door. Maria wasn't sure whether to be insulted or not. It wasn't like they had been very welcoming.
.
Maria couldn't sleep. It was a new house so she didn't expect to. She spent the night setting up her television and flicked it on to test it.
"Bubble Shock!" it screamed a little too loudly for two in the morning.
Maria quickly turned the volume down as she watched people dressed in neon orange skate back and forth and jump over and duck under objects.
"Contains Bane!" the television said as the advert finished.
Maria didn't know what Bane was. She didn't like the sound of it, nor did it sound very healthy. It sounded like some sort of poison. Maria didn't like Bubble Shock anyway. It was, in her opinion, foul. Suddenly a light was cast around the room. It was a pinkish light, seemingly not natural. Maria glanced at her telly but quickly saw that it was not the source of the light. It was coming from outside. She pulled back the curtains and gasped. The light was coming from across the street, from the large home of the frosty old woman and her strange daughter. Maria slipped on her dressing gown and decided to check it out.
.
The garden gate was unlocked and Maria pushed it open with a creak. The light had been coming from the garden. As Maria opened the gate, she gasped. Several floating pink and fiery creatures were floating in the area around the woman and her daughter. The flames hung off the aliens like cloaks and they looked beautiful. Maria was amazed. One of the aliens floated down and stroked the girl's cheek. Maria watched jealously, she longed to know what it felt like. Song like talking filled the air and the woman was handed a small curved device. She caressed the device and then nodded silently at the creatures. The creatures took off.
"I liked them." the girl remarked. "They were very nice, very friendly."
"They wanted you to return to their planet to be their queen. Of course they were being nice to you." the woman said.
The woman's voice was cold as if all the humour had been taken out of it. There was love in the voice as well but it was hidden well. The woman protectively put her arm around her daughter's shoulders and lead the girl in. Maria watched them for a few moments and then darted back to her house, slamming the door behind her.
.
There was a knock on the door. Maria was sleepy and reluctant to open the door. She opened the door and frowned. There was a girl her age standing there but it wasn't the girl from across the road. The girl looked unimpressed. They had barely exchanged a few sentences before the girl had barged through and into the lounge. She tried to find the music channels but Maria quickly revealed that they didn't have them.
"Kelsey, what are we meant to do?"
"Lets go into town." Kelsey said, getting up off the arm of the sofa where she had perched herself.
"I haven't got any money."
"That's all right, we'll just get the Bubble Shock Bus. It's free. Every half hour. Come on, get your stuff." Kelsey ordered.
Maria sighed and got up, getting ready to leave. She tried to escape her father as she left but ended up being forced to give him an embarrassing kiss on the cheek.
.
As Maria walked outside, she saw the woman returning back from a walk. The girl was listening to music, riding on a skateboard just behind the woman. Kelsey looked at the girl with disgust. Maria ran across the road so this time the woman would not be able to avoid conversation. The teenaged girl didn't pull out her head phones. She watched as Kelsey followed Maria across the road. They offered each other glares.
"Hi, we just moved in opposite. I'm Maria Jackson." Maria said, holding out her hand.
"Hello." the woman replied, almost reluctant to tell Maria her name.
Maria's father must have seen Maria talking to their new neighbours because he rushed across the street to greet her.
"Hi, I'm Alan, Alan Jackson."
"I hope you're not going to make too much noise. It's just I work from home and I don't want to be disturbed." the woman snapped back.
The girl was still giving Kelsey the evils. Maria decided that she would have to ask about that later.
"Okay, nice to be made welcome." Alan said, feeling a bit awkward.
Maria looked at him in horror and then the woman seemed to remember her manners. She smiled.
"Sorry, Sarah Jane Smith." the woman introduced herself. "That's my daughter, Penny Smith."
Penny slipped a headphone out of her ear and shook Maria's hand.
"Good luck settling in." Penny said with a pure smile.
It was the first time Maria had really seen Penny up close. She was very pretty, beautiful even. Maria wondered if that was the reason that Kelsey hated Penny.
"So is there a Mr Smith or...?" Alan was asking as Maria and Kelsey excused themselves.
Her turned to the two girls and watched them begin to move away.
"Where exactly are you going?" he asked.
"Bubble shock factory." Maria answered.
"Free bus." Kelsey explained.
Sarah Jane looked at her daughter. They shared a look with each other for a moment and then Penny nodded. She put down her skateboard and pushed off down the street, following the girls but at a distance. Alan didn't notice where the girl was going. Sarah Jane looked at him as he began to explain his own situation to her. He watched as Sarah Jane began to look a bit restless.
"I'm sorry but I've just remembered I need to pick up a present for Penny." Sarah Jane said and quickly got into her car.
Alan watched as she drove off with a frown.
.
Kelsey and Maria exchanged numbers as they walked towards the bus stop. Maria decided that it was the right time to ask about Penny Smith. "Why don't you like that girl?" Maria asked.
"She's a loony, just like her mother. She's sickeningly pretty, sickeningly good at sports and yet she never talks to anyone, never has anyone around. All the boys fancy her, all the fit ones too, but she doesn't seem to notice. My Mum's friend Kath Ponin says that there's a place for girls like that..." Kelsey began.
Maria stopped her because she was remembering the events of the night before.
"Just because they don't talk to people doesn't mean they're loonies." Maria pointed out, fishing for the real reason.
"It's not just them. It's the things people say they do. Like one day there was this guy in school and he began to talk about this foreign place called Gallafray or something, anyways, Penny punches him when he begins to talk about the fact he's got friends from this place called Sontar. Her mum's no better. This guy Sakkib once saw her by the station, and she was talking to this big crystal thing, and it moved."
"What? Like a monster or something?" Maria gasped.
Maybe what she had seen the night before had not been a dream. Maybe it had been real. She needed to know more. Kelsey didn't have time to answer. The bus rounded the corner. It pulled to a stop and Maria and Kelsey got on. Just as the bus had been about to pull away again, Penny leapt on, picking up her skateboard.
.
"I hate that stuff." Maria pointed out as Kelsey offered her a free bottle of Bubble Shock from the front of the bus. They moved to take their seats. Penny keenly sat on the double seat behind them. She rested her skateboard against one seat and then listened in on their conversation, not allowing herself to be noticed or recognised.
"You're one of the two percent, then. Doesn't work on two percent of the people, and that's a fact, that is. Anyway, it's organic." Kelsey replied.
"Organic doesn't mean everything." Penny muttered.
She was too loud because it caught Kelsey's attention.
"You got something to say?" she asked, confrontationally.
"Organic is not a magic word. It doesn't mean it is any better for you than other drinks." Penny pointed out. "I prefer water."
"See two percent." Kelsey pointed out.
"There aren't a hundred people on this bus." Penny muttered.
Maria could see her logic but didn't want to point it out. She didn't want to lose her only friend so far.
"I don't like Bubble Shock." Maria agreed.
"Good on you. Keep it that way." Penny said, turning to look out of the window.
Maria followed her gaze. Penny was looking at a duck egg blue car that seemed to be following the bus. The car looked a lot like Sarah Jane's.
.
Sarah Jane's car slipped through the gates. She pulled into a hidden parking space so her car was invisible to the workers who were by the front door. She looked at the people getting off the bus and saw her daughter walking in. That seemed fair; Penny took the front, easier to get in but not undetected, Sarah Jane took the back, harder to get in but she was undetected. She raised her wrist and flicked back the panel. She scanned the area and then smiled.
"I knew it."
.
The security scan was a surprise. Maria wasn't sure what to make of it. It was different. She hadn't considered there being a security scan device in pop factory. Kelsey explained it was to protect the recipe. Maria wasn't so sure. It seemed a bit over the top to protect a recipe. With a sigh, Maria walked through.
.
An image of Maria's face appeared on the screen in front of a technician. A series of information appeared by the side.
"Today's first lot is going through now." the technician said. "Transmitting to the Archetype in five, four, three, two, one."
Behind him a woman smiled. She was staring down at a medical slab in front of her. A boy with brown hair was lying there, unconscious. He had an oxygen mask over his face and sensors over his body. He was dressed in a white hospital gown and there was thin netting covering him. Suddenly electricity coursed through him. The woman let her smile deepen.
"He's almost fully mature. I would even say perfect. Mother will be pleased." the woman half whispered.
Suddenly the screen brought up something worrying. It was a picture of a girl: Penny.
"Who is that?" the woman demanded.
"Her name is Penny Smith. It says she's part of UNIT."
"UNIT?" the woman questioned.
She looked at the technician with fury and disbelief in her eyes. She was sure he was lying or that there was a fault.
"UNIT does not employ teenagers!"
"This girl has UNIT clearance." the technician protested. "She might not be a UNIT member but she's had UNIT training."
"Then take her from the group. Bring her to me. Let's find out what she knows."
.
Sarah Jane looked at the door in front of her. She tried the handle but it was locked. She frowned then let a smile cross her mouth. Luckily no door was ever truly locked for her. She produced her lipstick and aimed it at the door. With a click, the lock opened. Sarah Jane opened the door. Her smile faded as she saw two men in orange overalls standing there.
"Wrong door."
.
"Mrs Wormwood, we have an intruder." a crisp voice said over a radio.
"Then dispose of them." Mrs Wormwood, the woman from before, snapped.
"They said their name is Sarah Jane Smith."
Mrs Wormwood remembered the last name from their little UNIT friend.
"Take her to my office and make her comfortable. We'll have a family reunion there." Mrs Wormwood said with a smile.
.
"Just a quick reminder. If you could turn off your mobile phones, that means all of you. We have extremely sensitive equipment here and the signals can interfere with the machinery. So phones off." the tour guide, Davey, said.
"What's a mobile phone going to do? Make the bubbles go flat?" Maria joked.
"Enough lip at the back." Davey called back, staring at Maria.
Then he noticed Penny, standing there a bit detached from the group. He recognised her from the notice that had been sent round. She was wanted by Mrs Wormwood. He would have to wait until she was even more isolated. He got his chance when Kelsey began to text on her phone.
"Turn it off." Maria urged.
"What? You a goodie-goodie now?" Kelsey teased.
"I would turn it off." Penny said, looking at Davey out of the corner of her eye.
"Yeah and that's cause you're a goodie-two-shoes."
"No, it's cause..." Penny trailed off.
She grabbed Kelsey and Maria and pulled from them the room.
.
Pipes bubbles and steamed around. Maria looked in horror at Penny.
"Are you trying to get us in trouble?" Maria asked.
"I'm saving your lives." Penny replied. "You see this was the reason I tried to get on the bus without talking to you. Kelsey drew me into that stupid argument and now you two are in danger."
"From what, you weirdo?"
Kelsey turned to Maria and used the current events to back up her theory. Suddenly there was a mobile phone tone. Automatically, Penny reached into her pocket. She pulled out her phone and took the call. Kelsey rolled her eyes and began to wonder off.
"I'm not staying with her!" Kelsey moaned.
Maria watched Kelsey moved away and then stared at Penny. The girl had gone pretty much white. She was holding her phone to her ear and not saying a word, as if getting instructions. There was a sincerity in Penny's eyes that told Maria she wasn't lying. Maria found herself trusting Penny. When Penny hung up the phone, she roared at it and threw it away. It hit against the wall. Maria scooped it up and turned to Penny. She was clutching her skateboard so hard that her knuckles were turning white.
"What's wrong?"
"Maria, I need you to find Kelsey and get everyone out of the factory." Penny said with such conviction Maria actually considered it.
"No." Maria said. "I'm going to stay with you."
.
Mrs Wormwood smiled as she put down Sarah Jane's phone. The journalist had watched Mrs Wormwood call her daughter and practically blackmail the girl into coming into the office. They had mentioned UNIT so it was clear they were more than just a drinks company. The woman had remarked that Sarah Jane's phone was special. Sarah Jane knew that both her and Penny's phones worked on a different frequency to other phones. They were both UNIT issued. It was in case an alien was trying to find out about Penny's parentage. Mrs Wormwood, however, pretended as if the conversation over the phone had not happened and when straight into a managerial speech about the drink and how good it was. Sarah Jane resisted it all. She refused to believe it because Mrs Wormwood had to be alien or at least the drink had to. Every time Mrs Wormwood tried a marketing tactic, Sarah Jane slated it, managing to find a fault. Mrs Wormwood's attempted escalated until she was offering Sarah Jane a drink. Sarah Jane remembered the first time Penny had brought a Bubble Shock home. Upon hearing the mysterious ingredient Bane, Sarah Jane had made Penny spit out any of the drink she had tried. Her instincts told her that Bane was not a good thing. Sarah Jane stared down at the drink she was being offered and shook her head.
"I would rather die." Sarah Jane stated.
Mrs Wormwood frowned for a second before her forced smile returned. She put the bottle away and got back to business. At least Sarah Jane did, telling Mrs Wormwood about the tests done on Bane. It had resisted them all – almost as if it was alive.
"Where is that daughter of yours? I'm sure she'll be dying to talk about what must be her favourite drink."
To Sarah Jane it sounded like a threat. Mrs Wormwood was trying to threaten her using Penny.
"She doesn't like Bubble Shock. In fact, she believes that the Bane chemical isn't what you say it is as well."
"Such a pity. Her life seems to have been scarred by her mother's alien paranoia. I do hope Penny is your only child." Mrs Wormwood said.
"Yes." Sarah Jane replied.
"And her father, is there a Mr Smith I should know about."
"Her father died before Penny was born. Me and him weren't even married." Sarah Jane said.
The memories touched a nerve. She suddenly felt an anger rise up in her. Before she had found Mrs Wormwood annoying, possibly frustrating, but now she hated her.
"I don't see what this has to do with the drink!" Sarah Jane snapped.
"Such a wasted life. Maybe you should find someone to keep Penny out of the social circles that involve UNIT and such things. Well, goodbye, Miss Smith. I trust I won't be seeing you again."
Sarah Jane got up and was about to leave. Mrs Wormwood's receptionist got up and lead the way to the lift, getting in with Sarah Jane.
"Kill her." Mrs Wormwood ordered over her earpiece.
She paused and then contacted every worker in the factory.
"Kill the girl when you find her."
.
Sarah Jane noticed through the reflective metal of the lift doors that Mrs Wormwood's receptionist was putting a hand to her ear. She frowned. That couldn't be good. As the receptionist moved towards Sarah Jane, the woman elbowed her in the stomach. There was a tone as the lift reached it's intended floor and Sarah Jane raced out.
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Kelsey was grumbling about how much of a bad friend Maria was. The new girl had run off with the weirdo. Kelsey pulled out her phone and put it to her ear. Penny had said it was dangerous but she had taken a call while they had been in the factory. Kelsey rang a friend, deciding to meet up with them since Maria had befriended Penny.
"Hiya, Suki." Kelsey began.
Feedback pounded in her ear. She screeched in pain and dropped the phone. An alarm began. Kelsey looked around terrified. A noise from above her got her attention. She looked up and screamed.
.
The boy under the netting opened his eyes. The alarms were deafening to him. The flashing lights were blinding. He sat up and pulled off the oxygen mask, taking a few seconds to get used to breathing. He looked around. Machines overwhelmed his thoughts. He didn't know what they did, what they were for, anything. He just knew he had to go. He began to pull at sensors, freeing himself from the table. He pushed himself up and looked around. A man was lying on the floor unconscious. That only made the boy's urge to run even stronger. He raced from the room.
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Maria turned the corner, following Penny. Two guards were standing there, their backs to them. Penny glanced back at Maria and mouthed at her to back away silently. Maria began to back away just as the alarms started. She jumped and hit into one of the pipes nearly. The clang got the men to turn. They looked at Maria and then their eyes settled on Penny. Penny winced and bit her lip. She looked at Maria and then the men grabbed her. They pulled her hands behind her back. Penny struggled fruitlessly. Her skateboard had been dropped and she edged it towards Maria. The other girl was unsure what to do. "Our mother will be glad to see you." one of the men whispered into Penny's ear. "A nice little snack."
Maria over heard it. She wasn't sure what to make of it.
Do they intend to feed Penny to their mother? Maria wondered.
Penny was looking at Maria for help. The girl wasn't sure what to do. She took a step forwards and kicked against the skateboard. She picked it up and that was when the men noticed her.
"Another one?" one of the men exclaimed.
"Wormwood never said there were two."
"Pity for you." Penny sneered.
She ducked as Maria swung the skateboard at the two men. It clipped both of them and they fell to the floor, dazed. Before they had chance to get up, Penny was racing off, dragging a rather bewildered Maria behind her.
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Mrs Wormwood winced as she heard the alarm. It had to be Miss Smith and her annoying brat.
"Find them and kill them properly!" Mrs Wormwood spat, leaving the office.
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Kelsey watched as Davey and his men walked in. He looked at her with a look of disgust. Kelsey was panicking, seriously regretting not going with Penny and Maria. Kelsey whimpered at Davey who seemed totally at home near the creature.
"She is not a thing. You are the thing! She is my mother, the mother of us all."
Kelsey simply felt sick. She was terrified and felt ashamed of her own fear. Those emotions both turned to anger when one of the men with Davey stood on her phone.
"That's my phone!" she snapped.
Davey turned back up to the alien creature and smiled, beginning to sooth it.
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Maria was following Penny with fear in her eyes. Penny was leading the way with an eerie calm that was beginning to infect Maria. She could already hear her heart rate slowing. As a group of guards walked past, Penny pulled Maria into the shadows.
"When we get out of here, you have to explain what is going on." Maria pointed out.
Penny nodded and turned a corner. Maria watched Penny hit the floor as if she had been pushed over. She turned, ready to defend her new found friend once again. She didn't need to. A boy was slowly getting up from the other side. He looked confused. He was wearing a hospital gown. Maria helped Penny get up and then looked at the boy. He had brown hair and confused brown eyes.
"Er, hello." Maria said.
"Er, hello." the boy repeated.
"Who are you?" Penny asked.
The boy repeated her question with a frown. The boy seemed really scared but almost as if he was learning by copying them.
"We're lost." Maria tried, maybe the boy knew the way.
The boy copied her once again and then someone grabbed him from behind. It was one of the guards. Penny leapt into action, hitting the guard in the bend of his elbow. He released his grip and then Penny kicked him in the stomach. The blow threw him backwards. It was the boy who began to run first and then the two girls raced after him.
.
Mrs Wormwood walked into the lab that boy was from. She scanned the destruction and her frown grew. She saw the empty medical slab and almost threw something. She put a finger to her earpiece so it switched on.
"The Archetype has escaped. Find him. And for the Bane Mother's sake, turn off these alarms!" Mrs Wormwood barked.
.
"Find the Archetype!" a guard shouted at the group of men following him.
Maria, the Archetype and Penny were hiding under a set of yellow fenced stairs. They all stayed silent, holding their breath.
"We need to find somewhere to hide." Penny murmured when she was sure all the guards has gone.
Maria looked around. She smiled when her eyes settled on a suitable location for them to hide. The three teenagers darted into the toilets. A few seconds later, Sarah Jane hurried down the corridor. Her eyes fell on the toilets and she decided that it was the best place to hide.
.
Maria tried to comfort the boy as they stood in the toilets. He was very confused by the idea of being in the toilets.
"We're in the ladies. I shouldn't be in the ladies." the boy said. "I'm not a lady."
"It's either here or out there." Maria tried but the boy was still looking a bit confused.
"Is there a sign on the door that says no boys?" Penny asked, reasoning with the boy.
He shook his head.
"Then you're allowed in, it's just not suggested you come in."
"Someone is coming in." Maria said.
"Get into one of the loos." Penny instructed.
They all bundled into one of the loos. Sarah Jane walked in and looked around. She could hear movement. She pushed on the loo door and it swung open. She stared at the boy, Maria and Penny, all squashed into the loo.
"Mum!" Penny exclaimed. "I thought Mrs Wormwood had you."
"She did but... There's no time for talk." Then she noticed the Archetype. "Who's that boy?"
"We don't know." Maria admitted.
"Why is there no time for talk?" the boy asked.
Sarah Jane remembered the danger they were in.
"We have to get out of here."
.
Mrs Wormwood was annoyed. Davey had just admitted to her that both of their prey had escaped, more likely than not with the Archetype. It was annoying and put a spanner in the works. It was then that Mrs Wormwood got a smell of humans. She frowned and scanned the area. She caught sight of the ladies.
"Did you search in there?" she snapped.
"But it's for their females only: we are males. Their culture says we must never go in."
Mrs Wormwood managed an annoyed growl and then forced Davey in. She screeched when she saw the open window.
.
Maria got out of the car she had hurriedly climbed into. It was Sarah Jane's car. They were in her driveway. Sarah Jane helped the boy out of the car and Penny lead him towards the house. Maria looked at Sarah Jane. The woman told her to go home. Maria didn't want to. She wanted to understand everything. She ended up playing her trump card, telling Sarah Jane she knew about the things that had been in her garden.
"Now listen to me, Maria. My life is dangerous, and rule one, I don't put anyone else in danger. Especially not a kid." Sarah Jane snapped. "At least, other than Penny."
Maria fought the urge to scream and then hurried across the road, about to cry. Sarah Jane turned to Penny and helped the girl with the boy.
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Kelsey looked at Davey and Mrs Wormwood with a scowl. She began to rant about her phone. Then she began to rant about Davey and how he was insane. Mrs Wormwood could get nothing from her. She sighed and began to tell Davey about Sarah Jane and her pesky daughter.
"You mean the mad woman and her loony daughter? They live on Bannerman road." Kelsey said. Mrs Wormwood smiled and looked at Davey. Then she pounced on the girl.
.
Davey examined Kelsey. She had fainted while Mrs Wormwood had done her work. Mrs Wormwood was sorting through the thoughts she had extracted the Kelsey with a frown. They were chaotic and hard to understand. Soon she found what she wanted to know. "Miss Smith lives with only her daughter. Bannerman Road. Number 13. Just them, alone." Mrs Wormwood said with joy.
She smiled.
"We must get the Archetype back."
"Yes." Mrs Wormwood agreed. "Kill the old woman and her daughter."
She woke Kelsey up and offered Kelsey a lift home.
.
Penny was watching the boy with awe in her eyes. He was sitting on the sofa, looking around the room as if all of the rather exotic and mismatching furniture was beautiful. Penny found it mystical to watch him. When his eyes settled on her, they observed her for only a second as if she was like any of the other furniture in the house. He watched her happily. Sarah Jane walked in with a tray. She handed Penny a mug after putting the tray down.
"What's he been doing?" Sarah Jane asked.
"Just watching." Penny replied. "He seems so... Innocently confused."
Sarah Jane nodded and walked over to the boy with a friendly smile. She decided she had to make the boy feel welcome. It might make him more likely to talk.
"You must have a name." Sarah Jane said. "If I'm Sarah Jane and that's Penny, then you're..."
"All I know is I had to run." the boy murmured.
"But you can talk." Penny reasoned. "You know how to talk."
"Who talk you how to talk?" Sarah Jane asked.
"Everyone." the Archetype replied, simply.
The look on his face was simple. That was the only answer to the question; the only answer the boy knew. It was the only way he could explain.
"What does that mean? Everyone?" Penny asked.
"I am everyone. And then I had to run. I ran into Penny and then saw the other girl, Maria. Then I saw you."
The boy looked at Penny who apologised for running into him. Sarah Jane pressed for more answers. In the end, she knew she wasn't going to get anywhere. She let the boys' gaze fall down onto the tray.
"Is that food?" the boy asked.
"Yes." Penny answered.
"Food and drink." Sarah Jane clarified.
The boy asked which was which. He wasn't sure what to do. A voice interrupted their conversation. Sarah Jane denied it. Penny didn't, she disappeared upstairs, following the voice.
"I thought Penny was your only family." the boy pointed out.
"She is."
Sarah Jane closed the door and looked at the boy. She told him not to go upstairs, not ever.
"I'm just going to scan you." Sarah Jane said.
She flicked her watch open and scanned the boy. He stared at her watch with wonder in her eyes. He wasn't confused any more, merely interested.
"Not alien. A normal, healthy lad. Human. Ageing rate normal, but this says you were born three hundred and sixty years ago. No. You were born three hundred and sixty minutes ago."
"Is that good or bad?" the boy asked, sounding confused once again.
.
Kelsey frowned as Davey pulled the car over. He told her to get out even when Kelsey tried to convince him to let her stay. To lessen the blow, however, he tossed a bottle of Bubble Shock over to her with a reminder to carry on drinking it. He watched her walk away and then turned to look around the street. He began to scan the area. His eyes settled on number 13 and a smile crossed his lips. He got out of the car and moved away.
.
Maria watched as Kelsey looked at her with annoyance.
"Thanks for abandoning me." Kelsey moaned. "You ran off with that loony."
Maria didn't want to be part of a fight. She was in too much of a bad mood to become part of it. Maria began to ask Kelsey about what happened while they were at the factory.
.
Sarah Jane had popped upstairs for a few minutes and sent Penny down to watch the boy. The boy had seemed nervous so Penny decided to let him have some time to relax. She picked up a book she had been reading and glanced at the boy every so often over the top of her book. At first the boy had watched her and then he had picked up a book of his own. He had held the book upside down and then he had turned it the right way. He had been slow at first, taking minutes to labour over each page then it became more rapid. He was turning pages quicker and quicker.
"You can read?" Sarah Jane exclaimed as she walked in.
"I can now." the boy pointed out.
"He just learnt." Penny remarked. "At least that's what it seems like."
"It's easy. Letters and words." the Archetype pointed out.
Sarah Jane took the book off him. The book was very advanced. It was a complex book on South American history.
"Forgive me, but, if you don't mind, could you just lift up your top so I can see your stomach?" Sarah Jane asked.
The boy nodded and lifted up his shirt. Sarah Jane and Penny both gasped, looking at the boy's stomach. He frowned and looked down, trying to find out what they were surprised by.
"You don't have a belly button." Penny said.
"A belly button?" the boy repeated, confused.
Penny slid up her top just enough so the boy could see her belly button. He looked at hers and then then down at the lack of his.
"Everyone who's born has a belly button."
"But I don't have one. Why don't I have one?" the Archetype asked.
"I don't think you were born." Sarah Jane murmured, amazed. "I think you were grown."
Outside, Davey looked in through the garden window. He caught sight of the Archetype and the two Smiths. A smile spread across his face.
.
Kelsey was finishing her story. She finished it by announcing that she had been driven home. Maria gasped. The boy was at Sarah Jane's! If someone from the factory was there then the three of them could be in danger.
"Who drove you home?" Maria asked.
"The muffin!" Kelsey replied.
She meant Davey. Maria was horrified.
"What? The man from the tour? He's here on Bannerman road?" Maria managed.
Kelsey looked at her and nodded slowly. Maria raced from the room and out into the street.
.
Sarah Jane opened the door when she heard her name being called. She looked at Maria and frowned.
"I told you, leave me alone!" Sarah Jane said, trying to close the door.
Maria got in the way, blocking it.
"But it's the man from the factory. He's on the street! He's here!"
Maria was sure that the man had come for the boy. She knew they were all in danger. The danger became clear as an one-eyed alien turned the corner. It's long tentacles were covered in suckers and fixed the creature sideways on the wall. Kelsey was screaming at it, terrified. Maria looked at it and then glanced at Sarah Jane.
"Inside! Get in!" Sarah Jane instructed.
.
The creature thudded against the door as Sarah Jane kept it shut. Kelsey kept screaming. Maria was watching Sarah Jane, trying to work out what to do. Penny and the boy walked out of the lounge as if they had all the time in the world.
"What's happening?" Penny asked calmly.
"Hello, Maria. Hello, screaming girl." the boy said, politely.
Both sounded amazingly calm. They didn't seem to mind what was happening.
"Get upstairs." Sarah Jane instructed.
Penny turned to the stairs but stopped when the Archetype began to resist.
"We're not allowed." he pointed out.
"I'm allowing you." Sarah Jane shouted.
She wasn't in the right situation to have a discussion. Penny took the boy's shoulder and pushed him up the stairs. She let Maria and Kelsey go in front of her to make sure they were safe.
"All of you, just run! As fast as you can!" Sarah Jane bellowed.
Her daughter looked at her. Then the door was ripped away behind Sarah Jane.
"Mum!" Penny called.
Sarah Jane raced up the stairs following her. The creature Davey had become began to chase after them. Kelsey continued to scream as they thundered up the stairs. They stopped at the top landing. There was only a door for them to go through. The creature was catching up. The group stood there, staring down the stairs. Then Sarah Jane turned and looked around. She opened the door to the attic and slipped inside.
"Where's she gone?" Maria asked.
"She won't leave us to die." Penny said with conviction.
"You will die, Miss Smith, you and the squealing pigs."
Kelsey was cowering behind the Archetype. Maria was standing near the door. Penny was standing near the boy's side. Suddenly one of the creature's tentacles wrapped around the boy. It began to pull him down the stairs.
"Help!" the boy shouted.
Penny grabbed the banisters on each side and pushed herself up, kicking the creature in the tentacles hanging below it's one eye. It released the boy and let him scamper up the stairs.
"I will devour you for that. First you, then the screamers, then the old woman."
"Hey, less of the old!" Sarah Jane shouted, pulling out an alien fire extinguisher.
She fired it at the creature. It stumbled back and fell down the stairs, turning back into Davey. Sarah Jane looked down the stairs as Davey got up and ran away. She moved down the stairs and knelt beside the curtain Davey falling had pulled down. A large clump of black gunk was resting on the stairs. Sarah Jane collected it on a pencil.
"What's going on?" Maria asked.
Penny was checking on the boy. The tentacle had wrapped around the boy's leg where the gown didn't reach. She was checking it for bruises or chemicals. Kelsey was staring at them, trying to recover from what had happened. Sarah Jane told her to go. Maria shook her head. Kelsey disappeared upstairs and there was the sound of her voice from the attic. Fury lit in Sarah Jane's eyes.
"No, don't go up there!" Sarah Jane called and raced up the stairs.
.
Kelsey was looking around the attic. Maria thought it was beautiful. It was over-cluttered but the things that cluttered it were strange and alien. They looked as if they should be in an art gallery. Penny smiled as she walked into the room. Her eyes danced with happiness. She loved everything in the attic. Sarah Jane became over protective of all her things. She told them not to touch anything. The boy was the only one who really listened. He was eyeing the objects with the same look he had given the objects in Sarah Jane's lounge. When the questions from Maria and Kelsey came thick and fast, Sarah Jane gave an exasperated sigh.
"I suppose you've seen too much now. It's not as if anyone's going to believe you. Aliens are falling to Earth all the time. It's not just those stories you hear on the news. All sorts of creatures. Some have got lost, like the one you saw me sending home last night. Some of them crash-land, and some of them want to invade. You still believe me?"
"Yes. You're bonkers but I don't think you're a liar."
"That's nice to know." Sarah Jane said.
"And it's correct. We're both a bit bonkers." Penny smirked.
Sarah Jane gently tapped her daughter's shoulder as if to tell her off.
"This place is beautiful." the boy said.
"Thank you."
"Your lounge in beautiful. Your house is beautiful. Your child is beautiful." the boy continued.
Penny blushed as the boy's eyes drifted onto her. Kelsey looked at the Archetype through a magnifying glass.
"No too bad yourself, fella." Kelsey said.
"What does that mean?" the boy asked confused.
Penny smiled but didn't explain it to him.
"He's mine." Kelsey finished up.
Maria gasped to stop herself from laughing at the boy's highly confused expression. She turned back to Sarah Jane so she could see what Sarah Jane was up to. She asked if Sarah Jane had back up, someone there to help her.
"The government knows all about aliens. And then there are secret organisations dedicated to finding them, but they tend to go in guns blazing. I just think there's a better way of doing it."
"Even UNIT?" Penny challenged.
"Especially UNIT." Sarah Jane replied. "Your UNIT ID was what got Mrs Wormwood after you."
"But how did you get started?" Maria asked.
"I met this man."
"The Doctor." Penny interjected.
"Yes. The Doctor."
There was a dreamy tone to her voice. She looked a bit distant as she told her story. Kelsey kept remarking how mad she was. Sarah Jane finished her story and smiled at Maria.
"Then I joined her in her fighting aliens." Penny added.
"And the Bubble Shock factory; it's run by aliens."
Kelsey continued to deny aliens existing to the amazement of everyone else in the room. The conversation was finished by a bleeping sound coming from the wall. Sarah Jane's smile grew. Penny looked round so she could look straight into her mother's eyes. The girl was cautiously hopeful. Sarah Jane raced over to the wall and slid two sections apart. It revealed a safe. Sarah Jane opened the safe and smiled into it. Maria looked over the woman's shoulder and saw space. A black hole, with light getting sucked into it, stared back at her. In front of the black hole was a little robot dog.
"Hey, K-9!" Penny called.
"Greetings mistresses." K-9 said.
"There was a scientific project in Switzerland. They created their own black hole. If it gets free, the Earth would be swallowed up, so K9's sealing it off." Sarah Jane explained.
"K-9, as in canine? That's so lame." Kelsey remarked.
"So was your screaming. At least K-9 is useful." Penny snapped back, defensively.
"He's a metal dog with his bum stuck in a black hole."
"He's saving the planet. What are you doing? Kelsey, anything other than getting in the way because that's clear."
"Can you ever come out K-9?" Maria asked.
Sarah Jane quickly introduced Maria. K-9 answered her with was could have been an equivalent of a smile from the metal dog. Penny shifted to let the boy get a look. He looked at the dog and reached forwards. Penny gently batted his hand down like a mother stopping a toddler from touching something dangerous.
"I regret I must transfer my co-ordinates." K-9 said.
Penny's face fell.
"Can't you stay for just a few more minutes?" Penny asked.
"If I do not return to the distortion then it will engulf the Earth, young mistress." K-9 replied.
Penny let her mother close the safe and when she turned away, she wiped a tear from her eye. When she had been younger, a baby and a toddler, K-9 had been there with her. He had not been in the best condition but he had loved her and they had become good friends.
"I love you, my daft little metal dog." Penny murmured as she slid down the panels that covered the now closed safe.
.
Mrs Wormwood looked at Davey with disgust in her stern eyes. "You know the penalty." Mrs Wormwood pointed out.
They were in her office and Davey had just reported back that the Archetype was still in Sarah Jane's care and none of the children had even been injured in the slightest.
"But she had weapons. Terrible weapons." Davey protested.
"A hunter that loses it's prey is unfit to serve the Bane mother." Mrs Wormwood pointed out.
She turned into her Bane form and attacked Davey.
.
Maria picked up the device that Sarah Jane had been given the night before.
"What's this, then?" Maria asked, looking at it.
It was breath-taking, perfect in every way. It looked a bit like a shield with buttons on one side.
"It's a communicator. The aliens you saw last night gave it to me. They said that if we ever needed help, we could call them." "Then lets call them." Maria said.
Sarah Jane explained that it was not help with alien creatures. It was help to get Penny a husband.
"They were star poets from Aracteen Five. They fell in love with Penny and wanted to marry her. Penny convinced them otherwise but they still wanted to offer their services."
"Let me see." the boy requested.
Sarah Jane nodded to tell Maria it was okay. She passed the device to the boy and he stared at it with wonder. The boy was playing with it. When it bleeped, Sarah Jane decided that it might not be safe to let the boy handle it. They didn't know if he was working for the aliens or not. The boy looked upset so Sarah Jane told him that it wasn't personal. She just didn't like people going through her things. She slipped the communicator into her pocket.
"That device on your wrist, it detects alien life?"
"That's right." Sarah Jane said.
"Then what's it detecting now?"
"How do you mean?" she asked.
She looked at the device as it bleeped from where it was on her wrist. She managed a weak smile and then read the display. Maria was sure there was something outside and Penny moved towards the door, making sure that if something was out there, the door was defended. Sarah Jane was moving across the attic. She was moving towards the sofa that Kelsey was sitting on. Kelsey looked confused but her confusion turned to anger when Sarah Jane snatched up the Bubble Shock Kelsey had been drinking. She scanned it and frowned.
"It's the drink. It's that ingredient, Bane."
Kelsey protested about how it was organic. She didn't understand what the others were getting at. Penny looked at Kelsey, suddenly looking very concerned.
"Is it safe to drink?" Penny asked.
"I don't know." Sarah Jane admitted.
She looked at the screen and began to read out information. If it was not safe then ninety-eight percent of the UK population was in danger.
"It's alive. Species identified, Bane. It's not just an ingredient, it's an alien! This is the secretion of... I need glasses. A Bane Mother. There is a piece of living Bane inside every bottle of Bubble Shock."
Penny and the boy both winced as Kelsey began to fall into hysteria. Maria was trying to calm Kelsey down but the two other children just seemed to find it as a waste of time.
"Don't worry. Ninety-eight percent of the population is in the same situation as you." Penny pointed out.
Maria thought it was a bit harsh but some of the stuff that Kelsey had said to Penny was just as harsh, maybe even more so. Penny got even more offended when Kelsey started accusing her mother of everything.
"It's not my fault." Sarah Jane said.
"Yeah? You've got all this stuff, all these gadgets, and you sit here talking, yapping on all day about planets and monsters. What good is that? Why don't you actually do something?"
"All right, Kelsey. Just you watch. Mr Smith?"
A man's voice responded. Maria, Kelsey and the boy began to look around for the source of the voice. Penny smiled at their confusion and moved to her mother's side. They were both looking at a bricked up chimney that was so plain it was hard to notice.
"I need you." Sarah Jane replied.
There was a fanfare and the chimney opened up. Everyone stared at the computer that appeared. A large screen was revealed.
"Mr Smith's a computer." Penny explained.
"An alien computer." Maria gasped.
"Mr Smith, I want a visual link to Mrs Wormwood at the Bubble Shock factory. Can you get co-ordinates?"
As the computer began to work, Sarah Jane began to talk to Maria. She explained her reasoning and her want to give the others fair warning. Their conversation was cut short when Mr Smith began to say a long string of numbers.
"Whoa." Penny said. "And I thought my phone number was long."
"Visual link connecting." Mr Smith said.
.
Mrs Wormwood looked at the screen with a forced smile. Sarah Jane was on the screen. They exchanged harsh pleasantries until they got down to business. Sarah Jane revealed she knew what Mrs Wormwood was a Bane. Mrs Wormwood took Sarah Jane's words as a threat of war.
"Mrs Wormwood, the universe is huge, and Earth is so small. You don't need to do this. I'm asking you, as one species to another, just leave this world."
"And if I don't?" Mrs Wormwood asked, tilting her head like she was confused.
"Then I'll have to do something." Sarah Jane said.
She didn't make threats. She offered warnings, not threats.
"Very well. In the language of your young ones, bring it on."
.
Mrs Wormwood looked up at the ceiling. She knew that things were going wrong. She didn't doubt their ability to win the fight but she knew their plan needed to change. She let the ceiling slide apart and looked up at the gap it left. A large orange eye with tentacles swirling around it stared down at her. Mrs Wormwood didn't flinch or anything of the sort.
"Mother, events have escalated. We must declare war on mankind. Open your mind, Mother. You must convert the humans containing Bane. They will convert the rest. Let this become Bane World!"
The creature let out a roar.
.
All around the UK drinkers of Bubble Shock stopped in their conversations. Orange glows began to circle the heads of every Bubble Shock lover. This included Alan Jackson. He had been watching the news. He lowered his drink as the orange glow worked it's way over his head.
.
The boy had been stared at Kelsey. He had not been sure what to make of her panicking. The others were ignoring Kelsey. Penny and Sarah Jane were watching the computer. Maria was watching the two of them.
"Kelsey Hooper. Look!" the boy called, pointing towards the girl.
She looked like she was in pain or at least that she was terrified.
"Oh no, it's beginning." Sarah Jane gasped. "Kelsey, fight it."
An orange swirl engulfed her head. As it disappeared, Kelsey straighten up and held out the drink.
"Drink it." Kelsey ordered.
Maria was horrified. Sarah Jane positioned herself between Kelsey and the other three teenagers. She made sure that the children could get out. Penny protectively took the Archetype's arm and led him out of the room. He had been one of the closest people to Kelsey and Penny wanted to make sure that he didn't get put under the Bane's control.
"Out! Quickly! Out!" Sarah Jane ordered.
Kelsey continued to chant the two word phrase even as Sarah Jane slammed the door to the attic and hurried down the stairs.
.
"We need to get to the factory." Sarah Jane said.
"I'm coming with you." Maria said.
"I call shotgun." Penny called, climbing into the car.
Maria briefly wondered how Penny could think about things so trivial at the time like that. She was pulled out of her thoughts when she saw her dad coming out of the house.
"Dad, stay indoors! There's all this stuff happening."
"Drink it." Alan said.
Maria was horrified. She began shouting at her dad. Silently, Sarah Jane took Maria by the arm and lead her into the car.
.
"This is bad, yes? I recognise bad."
"Yeah, Arcy. This is bad." Penny said.
Both her and Maria were scanning the figures that were stumbling, zombie-like, down the road. They were holding out bottles of Bubble Shock and telling the group to drink it. Sarah Jane swerved in and out of the traffic, attempting to not hit anyone. They were getting in the way. It was almost impossible not to crash. Sarah Jane knew she had to be quick but she had to avoid everyone. It was slowing them down. They knew they had to keep going.
.
Sarah Jane reached the gates. She had to keep her hands on the steering wheel but the gates were closed. She handed her sonic lipstick to Penny who was sitting in the seat next to her and got her to sonic the gates open.
"I'm going inside. Penny, you make sure that these two stay here."
"What?" Maria exclaimed.
The gates closed on the zombies.
"Mum, we're..."
Sarah Jane began to attempt to open the front doors. It didn't work.
"Deadlocked." Sarah Jane stated.
"What does that mean?"
"It means the sonic won't work. She can't get in."
Penny wasn't enjoying the fact but she seemed pretty fine with what was happening.
"There's got to be a way of getting in. There's got to be. There must be something. What do I do? Oh, come on, Doctor, help me. Come on. Think." Sarah Jane muttered.
She turned around and looked at the children.
"What's that?" the boy asked.
While Sarah Jane and Maria were trying to work on a way in, Penny took her time to educate the boy.
"It's a bus."
"It's a garishly orange bus." the boy replied to Penny.
"I know. It's a horrible colour." Penny agreed.
"What are you two talking about?" Maria asked.
"We're talking about the bus." "The bus!" Sarah Jane exclaimed. "That's how we'll get in."
.
"All the humans who don't submit will be reduced to liquid. Then Bane will drink them, and what's that noise?"
Mrs Wormwood had been reciting the plans with glee, when she heard the sound of a high pitch squeals that was meant to count as a jingle. It was then that the bus crashed through the wall. Mrs Wormwood was shocked but she understood what was happening when Sarah Jane climbed off the bus. She looked around and then smiled.
"Not too late for the party?" Sarah Jane said.
Penny leapt down after her and began to look around. Mrs Wormwood looked at the girl with a frown.
"Miss Smith and Miss Smith." Mrs Wormwood said with a nasty smile. "I did want to see you earlier, Penny."
"Well, now you have seen me." Penny replied, recognising Mrs Wormwood as an enemy. "I saw your mother earlier so I believe it is time that you met my mother."
Mrs Wormwood pointed up to the ceiling. Both Sarah Jane and Penny looked up.
"Penny, get back in the bus." Sarah Jane instructed, seeing the size of the creature.
"Arcy, your grandmother is hanging from the ceiling." Penny called back.
The creature's tentacles began to drop down. They reached out towards Penny and Sarah Jane.
"Leave them alone!" Maria called, leaping down from the bus.
Sarah Jane looked at her with horror in her eyes.
"Both of you, get back on the bus."
Instead of the two girls getting on, the Archetype joined them.
"Oh, you've brought us the Archetype."
"He is a living, thinking human being and you created him. What for?" Sarah Jane asked, protectively taking the boy's hand.
"He's an assembly of thousands of different humans. A montage, you might say. A collage. On every tour of the factory, we'd scan the guests, all ten thousand of them, and then we fed every strength and every weakness into him. The Archetype."
"I am everyone." the boy confirmed, as if adding to Mrs Wormwood's explanation.
Penny nodded and pulled the boy to her side. She smiled at him to make him feel braver. In a sense the boy was less than a day old. He had memories of only that day in his head. He managed a smile back. It wasn't a scared smile. It was a rather happy smile.
"But why?"
"Why make him?" Penny reiterated Maria's question.
"The two percent that wouldn't touch Bane. The Archetype could tell us exactly how to modify our product. But since we've advanced our plans, he is no longer needed."
There was a moment where Sarah Jane's heart actually stopped. She looked at the boy. She didn't know what Mrs Wormwood intended to do with him. She didn't want to know. The woman twisted her ring and the boy stumbled. He tried to latch onto Penny's arm but he wasn't strong enough. Penny caught him just quick enough to lower him to the ground. Sarah Jane leapt to his side and slipped off her jacket.
"He's only a boy. I'm begging you, let him go." Sarah Jane tried.
"Oh, that's so sweet. But he's dying, and soon you will join him, like all our enemies. Our slave control is activated around the world. The time of man is over. The time of Bane is come."
Sarah Jane and Penny knelt beside the boy. Sarah Jane pulled off her jacket and draped it over the boy's shoulders. Penny kept by his side while Sarah Jane stood up and moved away. Maria pulled out her phone in her anger. She called the first number on the list and pointed her phone at the large creature in the ceiling. It whirred and the Bane Mother screeched in pain. Mrs Wormwood smiled.
"The device is tiny, and now you've angered the Bane Mother. Do you really think that's wise?"
In revenge, the Bane Mother reached down and one of it's tentacles latched onto the nearest piece of rubble, a thick piece of piping. The piece of piping was swung at Maria and the others. Maria and Sarah Jane both ducked just in time. Penny and the boy didn't need to duck because they were both already kneeling. Sarah Jane pulled her daughter to her feet and they all prepared to say goodbye.
"Mother, descend and consume them!" Mrs Wormwood ordered.
"You forgot this." the boy whimpered, holding out the device that Sarah Jane had slipped into her jacket pocket.
"What is that?" Mrs Wormwood snapped.
"A signal device from another world." the boy said weakly. "It's like a mobile phone, only to call across the stars. It must be a million times more powerful."
"It's a good thing you don't know our frequency."
"Mister Smith said it out loud."
"But that was dozens of numbers!" Penny exclaimed.
"I remember them. You gave me the memory of ten thousand humans." the Archetype said, Penny helping him up slowly.
Mrs Wormwood realised that the boy would be able to do it. She frowned and told the guards to grab the boy.
"757562987032105 dash 5. Calling the Bane." the boy managed, his fingers flying over the buttons.
A piercing tone filled the air. The boy stumbled as he threw his hand into the air, the device with it. Penny supported him as Maria and Sarah Jane both covered their ears. The Bane Mother began to squirm in pain.
"The Bane Mother! You're killing her! Archetype, I order you to stop!" Mrs Wormwood barked.
"But you made him human. He's ours! We need to get him out of here." Sarah Jane said.
Penny and Maria each took one of the boy's arms and helped him from the room. Mrs Wormwood watched them with fury in her eyes. Around them equipment was beginning to explode.
.
Penny and Maria glanced back at the factory. They had just escaped in time to see the place explode. Sarah Jane watched as the zombie-like people at the gates began to look around confused. The boy began to take his own weight, a wide smile on his lips.
"Are you okay?" Maria asked the boy.
"Their control is gone; I'm free. That's good, isn't it?"
"Oh yes, that's good." Sarah Jane said.
"That's better than good." Penny agreed.
"I would be dead without you. We all would. You're amazing. The three of you. Amazing!"
"This is happiness, yes?"
The group began to jump up and down in a circle.
"We did it!" they all began to shout. "We saved the world!"
They all began to hug and then began to leap up and down once again, holding each other. They were all so proud.
.
"Dad!"
Maria rushed in and hugged her father.
"Whoa! What's brought this on?" Alan asked, hugging his daughter back.
"I thought I lost you."
"I had a bit of a turn, that's all. It's all over the news. Some chemicals escaped from that factory and gave everyone hallucinations." Alan said with a shrug.
He began to run his hands through Maria's hair because he wanted to make sure she felt safe. Sarah Jane and the two teenagers walked in. The boy was still dressed in his usual clothes.
"Hello." Alan said, eyeing the group.
"Hello." Sarah Jane said with a much more polite smile than she had ever offered Alan before. "We just wanted to check everything was alright."
"That's very neighbourly." Alan said with a smile.
"I'm sorry about before. It's just me and Penny had some things to sort out."
"It's okay. It's been an eventful day for all of us. Is it always like this?" "No, today has been pretty quiet." Penny with a smile, directed towards Maria, who smiled back knowingly.
"And who's this?" Alan asked, pointing towards the boy.
"This is what we're sorting out. It's Sarah Jane's new son." Penny said quickly.
Shock flared up in Sarah Jane's eyes. She looked and her daughter and then nodded.
"I decided to adopt him."
"Hello." the boy said. "Hi, I'm Alan Jackson and you are..."
"I don't have a name."
Sarah Jane, Penny and Maria each gave each other worried expressions. They had not thought about names for the boy.
"That's a rubbish joke." Penny sniggered quickly.
"Yes. He's called..." Sarah Jane trailed off.
She couldn't think of a name. She was saved by Chrissie walking in.
"Look at you, leaving your front door open after everything that's happened. Did you hear about the chemicals? Oh, it was a nightmare. I had Ivan chasing me round the bedroom saying drink it. I told him to get off, but he wasn't having it. Haven't you unpacked yet? Alan, I did say that the longer things stay in boxes, the less it feels like a home. And you are?"
"I'm Sarah Jane Smith. I'm from over the road."
"This is my mother." Maria admitted and looked at her mother.
"What's he wearing?" Chrissie asked.
"These are the clothes I was born in." the boy said as if it was normal.
"Right. Well, er, thank you very much, but if you don't mind, I've had a bit of a trauma. Family time. Thanks for calling in." Chrissie said, turning away from Sarah Jane and her children.
"Okay, we'll be off." Sarah Jane said, offering Maria an awkward smile and wave.
"This woman is rude." the boy stated.
"Yes. Definitely going. Come on, we'll go home and you can get settled in." Penny said hurriedly.
"You don't have to." Maria tried.
Her mother began to talk about the horrors of befriending the neighbours. Alan sighed awkwardly and watched the Smiths leave. They were happy to escape.
.
It was that evening and Sarah Jane had invited Maria round so she could escape from her father's attempts at unpacking. Penny carried out a tray with a jug of lemonade and four glasses. She placed it on the garden table and took a seat in one of the wooden chairs. The three of them lifted their glasses and tapped them against each other.
"Cheers." they all smiled.
"And it's normal pop." Maria said in a victorious tone.
"Hooray for normal pop." Penny said, taking a sip.
"How's your friend? Kelsey?" Sarah Jane asked.
"Back-tracking like mad. She's saying it's all hallucinations. She also thinks that we are all insane."
"Then insanity must be bliss." Penny joked.
Then the boy walked in. He looked a little nervous. He was wearing a pair of clothes that Penny had managed to borrow from a neighbour. Sarah Jane patted the seat on the wooden chair next to her and the boy took it.
"This is good?" the boy asked.
"Yeah."
"We'll take you shopping tomorrow." Sarah Jane said, "Get you all the clothes you need."
"How are you gonna adopt him, then? I mean, you need forms and things. Who are you gonna say his real mum is, the Bane Mother?"
"Mr Smith's been busy." Sarah Jane said, producing a set of forms.
She showed them to the boy and he seemed impressed. They were missing only one thing.
"All you need is a name." Sarah Jane pointed out.
"Penny calls me Arcy." the boy stated.
"It's short for Archetype." Penny explained.
"I don't want my name to link me to them." the boy said.
"Yeah, I see your point." Penny nodded.
"You can chose your own." Sarah Jane said.
"I like Maria. It's a nice name."
Maria laughed. Both Penny and Sarah Jane gave the boy compassionate smiles.
"Maybe not." Maria giggled. "How about Jack? Josh? Nathan?"
"Harry? Patrick? Liam?" Penny asked, looking at her brother.
"Jonathan?" Sarah Jane said.
She watched Penny wince and then frowned. She shook her head as if to show the boy that it wasn't an option any more.
"Alastair? Luke?" "I like Luke." the boy said, stopping the list.
"That's the name I was going to chose if I ever had a boy. I had a girl instead."
"Luke Smith." Maria said. "It has a lovely ring to it. Luke and Penny Smith."
"Luke and Penelope Smith actually." Sarah Jane said.
Penny frowned and looked at her mother.
"I thought I said we were going to get my named changed."
"But Penelope is such a nice name." Sarah Jane said.
"So is there a Mr Smith on the cards? A man, not a computer." Maria asked.
"There was only one man for me. And after him, after he passed away, nothing compared. When I was your age I used to think, oh, when I'm grown up, I'll know what I want. I'll be sorted. But you never really know what you want, you never feel grown up, not really. I didn't feel ready even when I had Penny. You never really sort it all out. I just gave in to the chaos of being a single mum."
"It wasn't that chaotic." Penny answered. "Between us two, the robotic dog and the alien computer, we made quite a good life for us. All that was missing as a boy."
Penny looked at her new brother and gave him a weak smile. Then the group began to look up at the starry sky. There was a light dancing across the sky.
"That's a plane."
"A flying machine?"
"Yeah." Sarah Jane confirmed and they stared up at the night sky until they were too cold to continue.