Sorry, it's been a while. No excuses though. Don't hate me.
I don't own the Sarah Jane Adventures.
Clyde looked at the two girls with a frown. He didn't like the idea of getting killed by the alien. He grabbed Penny and Maria by the arms and pulled them away from the creature.
"Run!" he instructed.
They raced around a desk with the Slitheen waddling after them. They pulled the door open and flew outside and into the other room, hoping that Mr Jeffrey wasn't there.
.
Mr Blakeman lunged at Luke. The boy dodged and pushed Mr Blakeman towards the machines. He didn't understand the need for violence but it had gotten Penny out of trouble with aliens. Luke ran out of the secret room and sprinted down the corridor.
.
Slitheen Janine had got Sarah Jane in her reach. Sarah Jane knew she needed escape before Janine managed to hit her. She needed to think of a plan to escape.
"Good sense of smell, have you?" Sarah Jane asked, a plan forming.
"Oh, yes, best nostrils in the galaxy, official." the Slitheen boasted.
"And you like my perfume?" Sarah Jane added.
"Lovely!" Janine remarked.
Sarah Jane reached into her handbag and produced her perfume.
"Then sniff this!" Sarah Jane shouted and sprayed the perfume.
Janine screeched in pain and pulled back, trying to make sure that she didn't breath in too much. Sarah Jane smashed the bottle on the floor and raced from the room, through the fire escape. She pulled the door closed behind her and soniced it shut. Then she drove off.
.
Luke smiled when he saw Penny and Maria running towards him. His smile fell when he saw Clyde and the Slitheen child.
"I've found a secret room." Luke said proudly.
"Not now, bro." Penny called, half pushing Luke towards the doors.
The automatic doors refused to open even as the teenagers slammed against them. They all looked over their shoulders, spying on the approaching Slitheens.
"Get it open!" Maria called.
"It's locked." Luke reported, sounding scared.
"That thing's real, isn't it?" Clyde asked.
"It's real." Penny replied.
"This place is sealed. You're finished, right here, right now." the young Slitheen taunted.
Two Slitheens were moving towards them. The teenagers looked at each other and then decided that they had to race off before they were cornered by the creatures.
"This way." Maria called, heading down one corridor.
Suddenly the two Slitheens blocked the way down the corridor. Luke, Clyde and Penny looked at each other with wide eyes. The boys and Penny ended up running up the stairs.
"Hurry up!" Luke called.
.
Sarah Jane was driving along at high speed, trying to get to the school as soon as possible. She had to warn the teenagers about the danger they were in. She made a hands-free phone call to Luke to warn him.
"I was wrong, it is aliens." Sarah Jane said.
"I know." Luke said.
There was a roar down the phone to demonstrate how clear it was to her son that there was an alien.
"Make a smell. Make a big enough smell and you can get away." Sarah Jane said.
.
Clyde looked at Luke as if he was insane. Luke had just explained what his mother had said. Penny looked at Luke and nodded.
"What will we do?" Clyde asked. "Fart our way out?"
Penny was about to tell Clyde to stop being stupid when Luke asked if it would be funny.
"What?" Clyde exclaimed.
"Come on, little ones." Mr Jeffrey called down the corridor.
Penny pulled Luke and Clyde behind a wall. She knew it wouldn't be very useful in stopping Mr Jeffrey from finding them but it might help Clyde think better. Penny had ditched her school bag when they had first seen the Slitheen and Luke would have remembered if he had put anything that would make a big smell. Clyde began to look through his bag.
"They're nearby daddy, I can smell them." Carl said.
"Hurry up." Penny urged, glancing round the corner. "Think, Luke, Clyde, strong smells."
"A skunk?" Luke suggested.
It was Penny who shot Luke a completely confused look as if he was insane.
"Where are we meant to find this skunk?" Penny asked, letting Clyde sort through his bag.
"Yes, found it." Clyde said, victorious.
"Wolverine, pure masculine action." Luke read.
Clyde pulled Penny and Luke behind him and held up the spray. He sent a massive burst of the smell at the creatures. The Slitheens fell back and wriggled in pain. They began to cough.
"Go, go, go!" Clyde ordered.
The three of them thundered down the stairs.
.
Sarah Jane rushed forwards. She looked at the doors. Maria had found the others. They rushed over to the doors.
"Hunt them!" Mr Jeffrey bellowed.
"Sarah Jane!" Luke shouted, slamming on the door.
"Come on, Sarah Jane!" Maria called.
"Mum! The door's locked!"
Sarah Jane realised what he daughter was saying and realised she needed her sonic lipstick. She fired it at the door and it opened. She rushed forwards and opened the next set. The teenagers rushed forwards and towards the car. Sarah Jane soniced the doors closed on the Slitheens as soon as the teenagers where in the car. As the car started, Clyde turned to Luke.
"What's that?" Clyde asked, nodding towards the sonic lipstick.
"Sonic lipstick." Luke answered.
"Oh, of course." Clyde muttered.
Sarah Jane turned to Penny who was, like normal, sitting next to her.
"I let you have one friend, what's that boy doing here? Luke, Maria and now this boy; how many more, Penny?"
"Sorry." Penny muttered. "Another life in my hands is all I need." Sarah Jane said.
.
Mr Jeffrey turned to Mr Blakeman. Mr Jeffrey was still in his Slitheen form as was Carl.
"They're getting away." Mr Jeffrey moaned.
"That's not fair, Daddy. The woman cheated. I want my hunt." Carl added.
"That woman had some sort of sonic disruptor. This is a level five planet, they're primitives. How did she get that? Who is she?" Mr Blakeman asked, considering Sarah Jane's tool.
"The galactic police!" Mr Jeffrey gasped. "She could be one of their agents."
"No, she's human. The human child said that was her mother and she smelt soupy. They all do. Still, if that's her only weapon, she's no big deal." Mr Blakeman pointed out.
.
Clyde took in the wonder of Sarah Jane's house. Sarah Jane and her two children moved into the house in a rush. Clyde managed to catch onto Maria's arm, stopping her from disappearing into the massive building.
"I want answers. I've just been chased by aliens and you aren't even freaking out. Why? Who are you?" Clyde asked.
Maria paused and looked at Sarah Jane who glanced back at her.
"I'll be up in a minute." Maria said.
She guessed Sarah Jane was expecting a repeat of how Kelsey had acted, a barrage of insults and screaming until everything she had seen had been denied.
"You've got to go home." Maria instructed. "Forget this ever happened. Go home."
"No, I'm part of this now. I want to find out the truth. What's in there and who's that woman?"
"Just leave us alone, okay? You clearly don't think we're cool enough to hang around with you." Maria tried.
"The police won't leave you alone when I call them and tell them what happened. That woman would end up in prison and Penny and Luke... Who knows? Show me." Clyde said.
Maria pulled a face, looking hesitant. Clyde probably didn't know how much damage he could do if he called the police. Sarah Jane would be put in prison or made to change her identity; her whole life would be taken away from her. Penny would end up getting put into UNIT's care because Sarah Jane had let the secret get found out. Luke would end up in some sort of prison due to his differences. Maria had no idea what would happen to her or her dad. She frowned and then nodded at Clyde. She let him follow her up the stairs.
.
Mr Blakeman turned to Mr Jeffrey. They had sent the boy away so they could talk.
"At last, we've waited so long for this moment." Mr Blakeman said with a smile.
"Time's have been hard." Mr Jeffrey added with a nod of agreement.
"They've been closing in on us from all sides. Judoon, forcing us out, the other families against us. This will give us a new beginning. Wealth, security." Mr Blakeman replied.
"When we have the money, what then?" Mr Jeffrey asked.
"We'll buy a fleet of battle cruisers. Return home to Raxacoricofallapatorius. I shall smite the Grand Council, crush the Senate. The Blathereen and the Hostrozeen will beg for mercy at my feet! But we mustn't get carried away. First things first. We have the equation. Nothing can stop us. Now it begins."
.
Sarah Jane was pacing the attic. Penny was watching her and Luke. The boy was coping with what was happening very well. Sarah Jane was reading from her wristwatch scanner. Luke had remembered the name of the alien.
"The inhabitants of Raxa, Raxa, oh..."
Sarah Jane gave up and let Luke read the name of the plant off the scanner.
"Raxacoricofallapatorius." Luke said.
"Great name. Why can't our planet be called that?" Penny asked.
"Because humans need to be able to pronounce the name of the planet." Sarah Jane smiled.
Penny nodded and let her mum get back to reading from the wrist watch.
"The outcast Slitheen Family are scavengers, thieves of others technology. Known to infiltrate low-tech planets by hiding in the skins of the dominant native species." She paused. "Slitheen in Downing Street."
"What?" Luke asked.
"Something a friend said once." Sarah Jane said.
"What that before or after someone blew it up?" Penny asked.
Sarah Jane shrugged. She got back to reading.
"Gas exchange from skin compression often results in..."
"Farting!" Luke exclaimed. "Farting's funny."
Penny looked at Clyde and Maria as they walked in. She sighed, looking at Clyde.
"I thought you were getting rid of him." Penny said; she turned to Clyde. "No offence."
"Great. Nice to feel popular." Clyde replied. "What's going on here?"
"Why don't you bring all your friends round? The whole school?" Sarah Jane asked.
She directed her fury at Penny and Maria. She knew that this boy was Clyde because Penny had mentioned his name on the way. She didn't direct it towards Luke because she knew he didn't really like Clyde much.
"If he tells anyone, who's going to believe him?" Maria asked.
"Whoa, wait. I've just had monsters from outer space on my back and no one's me what's going on." Clyde interrupted.
"Shut up for the minute, will you. I'm busy, and right now you're not important. Even if it is getting like Clapham Junction up here. Right. The Slitheen must have taken over Coldfire Construction, put up buildings all around the world. Why?" Sarah Jane asked to no one in particular.
"I think I know." Luke said. "There's a hidden room in the school. I saw inside."
"What's in there?" Maria asked, turning to Luke.
"I've got a theory. Mr Smith could help." Luke said.
"Okay, call him out." Penny said.
"Who's that? Your dad?" Clyde asked.
"Mr Smith, I need you." Sarah Jane said.
Mr Smith opened up. Penny turned to Clyde. She had seen the fractures start to appear in his calm nature. She saw the way he reacted. He half-leapt back, half-watched with a smile. He was amazed.
"Good afternoon, Sarah Jane." Mr Smith said. "I trust Penny and Luke had a good day at school."
"Yeah, it was great." Penny said.
"Is that a computer?" Clyde almost screamed.
"Who's that?" Mr Smith asked. "Nobody." Sarah Jane said. "Mr Smith, Luke would like some help."
"Certainly." Mr Smith replied in his crisp tone. "Hello, Luke." Maria moved towards Mr Smith, losing interest in Clyde and becoming more interested in the computer.
"Hello, Mister Smith. Bring up our satellite image of London. Now plot the exact positions of every school put up by Coldfire Construction." Luke pointed at a section of the map. "Ealing, that's us."
Sarah Jane began to list off the places they had each place there was a site. It was Clyde who made the link first.
"The ends of tube lines!" he pointed out proudly. "If I'm allowed to speak."
"You have permission only if you're saying something useful." Penny said with a regal nod.
"This is real. All of it's real. The talking computer's real, the Slitheens are real."
"Now you're not being useful. Could you take everything in silently or leave the room so we can save the planet without needing to listen to you?" Penny asked.
She offered Clyde a smile to show him she was only joking but it did it's job and Clyde fell quiet to allow Luke and Sarah Jane to work on their map.
"Mister Smith, plot the position of every Coldfire building put up in the last eighteen months around the world."
"Accessing." Mr Smith said. A map of the world appeared on his screen and several dots decorated. Sarah Jane scanned them. They weren't all capital cities. In fact Sarah Jane struggled to make a link between them all. "They all have underground railways." Maria pointed out.
Sarah Jane turned back to the map and frowned. Maria was right.
"You don't have to thank me." Clyde said.
"We weren't." Luke replied simply.
"Oh, Langer, I believe my bro just burnt you." Penny joked.
"London, Barcelona, Washington DC, Santiago, Los Angeles, Sydney, Beijing, Moscow, Naples, Paris." Mr Smith listed.
"There has to be at least one Slitheen at each site." Luke predicted.
"Ten cities. Ten sites." Clyde breathed. "Call the army!"
"Oh right, because that always makes things better, doesn't it?" Maria snapped.
"It's not your job." Clyde replied.
"Only it is." Penny smirked.
"There's a cleverer way of going about things. But what's it all for? What are they doing? The secret room, what was in there?" Sarah Jane replied.
Luke had come to a sickening realisation as his mind danced over the memories of the room. He had remembered the room's equipment and what it clearly was for. He turned to Sarah Jane and looked straight at her, searching for forgiveness and reassurance.
"Sarah Jane. I've done something really stupid. A really bad social mistake. I told the Slitheen how to destroy the world." Luke murmured, having gone white.
.
The Slitheen prowled their control room with smiles. Everything was going to plan.
"I've input the boy's catalyst equation. Now it works perfectly. We'll take the night side first, build up the charge section by section. This is Glune Fex Fize Sharleveer-Slam Slitheen to all Slitheen units. Is everybody ready?" Mr Blakeman said with a loud laugh.
.
Luke was still distraught. He was looking guilt and could barely keep eye contact with the others. He felt so ashamed like he always did when he made a mistake.
"It wasn't working until I gave the the answers." Luke mumbled.
"Oh, Luke." Sarah Jane gasped and hugged her son. "It's okay, bro." Penny called, moving towards her brother.
Luke continued to think every step though, half silently but every so often saying a sentence. Maria herself had come up with something strange. Luke had said it was for storing massive amounts of electrical energy.
"But out candles when out and that's not electrical." Maria said.
"When the capacitors are charged up they act as transducers, converting heat and light into electrical energy. That's how the loop works, it's not connected physically." Mr Smith explained.
Penny and Maria both nodded, pretending to understand the theory completely.
"But what have underground railways got to do with that?" Penny asked.
"The system must generate enormous heat. The underground railways must act as a cooling system." Sarah Jane pointed out.
"Oh, I'm glad we got that sorted out." Clyde muttered sarcastically.
"People getting ill, food going off, that's the effect of living or working next to the capacitors." Sarah Jane added.
She was giving an confirming answer from Mr Smith. Penny had moved over to her brother and was trying to calm him down while Sarah Jane worked.
"With this system they can drain every last drop of energy from the Earth. Our school's the last link in the chain." Luke said, still feeling guilty he had made it possible.
"But it needs the whole chain all together to do that?" Maria questioned.
Luke nodded slowly.
Clyde smiled at Penny and suggested they bomb the school. He had an excited glint in his eye as if he actually believed it was an option. Penny shook her head but didn't say anything.
"If we could get in there, could you destroy the power system safely?" Sarah Jane asked."I think so." Luke said, not completely sure. "If we reset the system, shut it down for just a second. I'd need a cutting tool." "What about this?"
Sarah Jane produced her sonic lipstick. Luke nodded.
"How do we get past the Slitheen?" Maria asked, wondering if Sarah Jane had even thought about it.
"We bomb them?"
"Can you stop talking about bombs?" Sarah Jane asked. "You're as bad as Penny when she first started dealing with aliens."
"Oi." Penny cried, pretending to be offended. "I thought we should shoot them."
"Sarah Jane, I've just picked up this report on an American news channel." Mr Smith announced.
Everyone turned to face the screen as an America News reporter appeared on it. The words 'Breaking news' were on the bottom of the screen.
"Breaking news. There's a massive loss of power on the west coast of North America. Los Angeles has gone dark." the reporter said.
"It's starting." Penny breathed.
"And I told them how to do it. The day I was born I saved the world. Now I've helped to destroy it." Luke whimpered, sounding like once again, he was the terrified and confused Archetype.
Sarah Jane snapped into action. She looked at Penny and made sure her daughter was comforting Luke. They needed him to be at his best.
"Mr Smith, give me everything you've got on the inhabitants of..." Sarah Jane trailed off, pointing at Luke and Penny.
"Raxacoricofallapatorius." Luke and Penny said simultaneously.
"You're making that up." Clyde accused.
"Yep and we made up the Slitheens too." Penny replied sarcastically.
Sarah Jane ignored them. Penny had always been a bit cheeky. The girl had always been able to stay calm in any situation but, when she was with another children with a cheeky or jokey attitude, Penny took up that characteristic with a vengeance. Sarah Jane loved that about her daughter. When most people saw what they had, it aged them. With Penny it made her even more youthful.
"Any weaknesses? Anything we can use against them?" Sarah Jane requested.
Mr Smith began his work. Maria turned to Luke and began to comfort him.
"Anyone could have made that mistake."
"No, only he could." Clyde pointed out.
"Clyde!" Penny exclaimed. "Shut up."
"Well, duh. Let's have a high school musical moment. A group hug will sort everything out."
"Clyde, I just hope you remember we're all in this together." Penny smirked.
Clyde laughed at that. He patted Penny on the back. Luke was beginning to calm down, being disarmed by the fact that none of them had even made a serious move to blame him for what happened.
"You're right. As if a teacher could have worked out that diagram." Luke said.
Mr Smith stopped going over the creatures of the universe and brought up a news report. It was the same reporter and she had even more grave news.
"And the power loss is spreading westwards. China is now without power, and it may be only a matter of time before the effect spreads here." Then the lights went out where the woman was. "Oh."
The signal died and Mr Smith announced he had lost it.
"Anything on the Slitheen yet?" Sarah Jane pressed.
Mr Smith got back to work.
.
Everything was going on plan. Each of the other nine sites had finished their work. It was only London to go. Mr Blakeman thanked France, the last site to turn out their lights before theirs and then got to work. He threw orders at Mr Jeffrey who, still in his Slitheen form, galumphed about. It soon became clear that Mr Blakeman would be a lot quicker doing everything for himself.
.
The attic had been a buzz of energy before. Now it was almost silent as Mr Smith worked. The silence gave Clyde chance to take everything in. Aliens. The weird, half hidden, Penny Smith, her strange mother and two new children fought aliens. Clyde looked at them all with disbelief. He couldn't believe it. That morning aliens had been the production of dodgy films, now aliens were attempting to kill them. He had used to fancy Penny. He had thought she was sweet. He kinda still did. Her weirdness had stopped her from him asking her out. This weirdness kinda made her seem even more beautiful. When he had seen her in the park that night, he had been trying not to blush throughout their whole conversation.
"Mr Smith does like to take his time." Sarah Jane said, pulling Clyde from his thoughts.
"Come on." Maria urged.
Suddenly Mr Smith came back with answer.
"Raxacoricofallapatorians. Calcium-based life-forms." Mr Smith announced.
"Give us the weaknesses." Penny said.
Everyone had jumped to their feet the moment Mr Smith had spoke. Clyde found himself amazed the he was also caught up in the adrenaline. He was an into it as the rest.
"Weaknesses." Mr Smith began. "They are a naturally hardy race. However their bodies are notoriously hypersensitive to..."
The power went out. Everyone stared at Mr Smith's blank screen for a few moments and then they felt an overwhelming sense of hopelessness.
.
Sarah Jane was staring down at the sonic lipstick. It had no power. Luke was looking at the wires and makings of Mr Smith but Penny knew that nothing could be done. "Penny did say we would be stuffed if the power went out." Luke said.
Penny pretended to wipe a tear from her eye and smiled proudly, "You got an expression right, Luke."
"Don't congratulate him. It's real. The end of the world, thanks to him." Clyde moaned.
Penny knew he didn't really mean it but he wasn't used to what was happening. Truthfully, her and Sarah Jane were the only people used to it but Penny wasn't going to say that.
"Will you shut up?" Maria spat, not knowing that Clyde hadn't really meant it.
Penny had her head resting in her hands. Sarah Jane looked at her for help, a plan.
"No Mister Smith, no sonic lipstick, no plan B." Sarah Jane summed up.
Penny nodded and looked at the others. Luke looked on the verge of tears. Clyde looked like he was caught up in the action and not ready to come up with a plan. Maria was comforting Luke and focusing on that.
"But we're the only people in the world who can stop this." Penny said. "Only us. Four teenagers and a journalist who everyone thinks is not all there. We're all that can save the world."
"And we will." Sarah Jane said, gaining motivation. "Time to go back to school."
.
They hurried down the stairs and were at the door when they finally let Clyde speak.
"Without the sonic thing we can't stop them. Plus they'll get us before we even reach there." Clyde said.
It was negativity they didn't need. They were already having their doubts about their plan; the group didn't need someone picking holes in it. Sarah Jane looked at him.
"If you can't say anything useful, go home."
Clyde searched the faces of Luke, Maria and Penny. He suddenly realised something: if they survived it then he was never going to have a normal life again. He was always going to have the memories of the creatures and the sense of enjoyment he was experiencing. He was never going to be able to look at anything else in the same way every again. Only those three would properly understand him; their ages and experiences matched. He suddenly knew he had to prove himself or lose the three teenagers.
"Wait! This morning, Jeffery, the Slitheen Jeffrey, he went mad when he nicked my bag."
"So?" Maria asked; they didn't need a waste of time.
Clyde turned to Penny and Luke, trying to force them to remember.
"What's a Slitheen gonna care about that? You saw him. He sniffed it. He was scared."
"It was your lunch. He sniffed your lunch." Penny pointed out.
"Well what was in your lunch?"
"Cold chip sandwich. I made it this morning. I wasn't going to eat anything from the canteen of death." Clyde laughed.
"So, the Slitheen are allergic to potato? Bread? Butter?" Maria asked, frantic.
"The Slitheen who attacked me was eating a sandwich." Sarah Jane said. "What was on those chips?" "Just salt and vinegar." Clyde remembered.
"Salt." Maria said. "If the Slitheen are made mostly of water, it would dehydrate them, like slugs." Luke reasoned.
Penny shook her head.
"No, they put extra salt in everything. Bread, butter. It's got to be something else." She turned to her brother. "What do you do to slugs?"
"It's got to be the vinegar." Clyde decided.
He looked at the others to see if they approved.
"Vinegar," Luke reasoned, "that's acetic acid. It reacts with calcium."
"Slitheen are made of calcium. I'm right, it's the vinegar." Clyde said.
Penny and Maria beamed at him to show him he was finally being useful. Sarah Jane turned and marched away.
"Kitchen!" she ordered and the teenagers raced after her.
.
Clyde didn't know where everything was so was standing in the kitchen as everyone rushed around him. Luke and Penny were looting the cupboards, taking out everything and anything that contained vinegar, and Maria was helping Sarah Jane find plastic squeezies to make spraying the vinegar easier.
"So what are we going to do, just stand there and throw pickled eggs at them?" Clyde remarked.
Luke smiled as he put the pickled eggs on the table, thinking he had finally do something socially right.
"I knew they were useful for something." Penny laughed, undoing the lid.
"I was joking." Clyde told them.
Sarah Jane put the empty spray bottles on the table and told the teenagers to get it all in. Penny nodded and began. Clyde looked at the bottles disapprovingly.
"Don't you have a water pistol or something?" Clyde asked Penny.
"I had no siblings." Penny said with a shrug.
Clyde realised that Penny had never really had any friends and guessed that fighting aliens was the reason. Penny handed Clyde a bottle of vinegar and a spray bottle. He began to help. When they were nearly finished, Luke looked at his mother.
"The car's not going to start. We'll have to run." the teenager pointed out.
His mother didn't seem to mind. Neither did Penny who actually smiled at the idea of a run.
"No everyone is UNIT fitness trained." Maria remarked, catching sight of Penny's smile.
The girl shrugged back in reply and left the room.
.
People were getting out of their dead cars and staring at the other drivers. The group had to swerve to avoid them in their running. Clyde was intent on asking questions. He was going to run into deadly danger and he wanted to know why and who with.
"Right, so all this alien stuff, you've been doing it for years?" Clyde asked.
"Not now, Clyde." Sarah Jane snapped.
"What, did you actually go up to the career guy at school and say, I want to defend the planet from alien invaders?" Clyde asked.
Sarah Jane pulled him to a stop so she could talk to him properly.
"It's a long story. If we survive, I'll be happy to tell you."
Suddenly the sky went dark. Everyone began to look around until Penny looked upwards. She elbowed Luke in the ribs and he looked up. Everyone else followed suit. The sun was blue, looking like it had gone out.
"What's going on?" Clyde asked.
"It's transduction, like the candles." Luke explained, not taking his eyes off the amazing sight above them.
"They've switched off the sun." Maria gasped.
"No exactly. They're converting all the energy that reaches our planet. Still lots but the sun is still heating the other planets. The Venusians will be happy about that." Penny said with a nod.
"It's getting cold." Maria said.
"Yeah, we're all going to freeze unless we stop it." Penny replied calmly.
"We've got about thirty two and a half minutes." Luke said.
"About?" Penny exclaimed. "That's pretty precise." "Everyone's going to die." Clyde murmured.
"I told you, we're going to stop them." Sarah Jane replied with determination.
"What? The five of us with vinegar in plastic squeezies?"
.
Carl frowned as he spotted the group of five moving across the car park. He made the camera zoom in on Sarah Jane.
"Daddy, she's come back." Carl moaned.
"So what? She's an old woman with a funny lipstick. End of." Mr Blakeman snapped.
"My hunt!" the boy protested. "I want my hunt."
Mr Blakeman considered it for a few seconds. His son loved hunting and the woman was probably no danger. Yet the children had escaped him once before and he didn't want them to again. They were so close.
"I think an adult had better deal with them this time." he said and unzipped his forehead.
.
"They let us walk right in here." Clyde remarked as they scanned the empty tech block.
"Makes a nice change from breaking and entering." Penny smirked.
Luke put an end to their conversation with a sensible comment.
" It's a good thing too because we want to be in here. The secret room?" Sarah Jane said, addressing Luke.
Luke pointed down a corridor showing the way. Sarah Jane gasped as a massive Slitheen walked down the corridor towards them. It was Mr Blakeman, his voice made it clear when he talked.
"Oh, human children. The stench of Haribo and chicken nuggets."
"Humans are meant to taste like pork." Penny remarked. "Not chicken."
Sarah Jane cast her daughter a slightly annoyed look and then focused her attention in the alien once again.
"Get off this planet." Sarah Jane commanded.
"Hush now. It's time to hunt. The hunt is an instinct with us. The only way to keep our food safe in the days when the Baaraddelskelliumfatrexius beasts wandered the plains of Raxacoricofallapatorius." the Slitheen said.
Clyde pulled a confused face. Penny wondered how new everything must feel to him. His whole world had changed in the process of a day. People had snapped after much less.
"They're sort of like giant squirrels. We killed them all centuries ago, but the hunting instinct remains." Mr Blakeman said, leaping towards the closest child which was Luke.
The boy leapt back just as Clyde, Penny and Maria raised the spray bottles at the Slitheen and began to spray thick mists of vinegar at it.
"Didn't like that, did you?" Clyde taunted as Mr Blakeman stumbled back from Luke.
"Vinegar." Penny laughed, taking the situation in her stride.
"Get back." Maria commanded.
Luke turned to Sarah Jane, knowing that the others would have to deal with Mr Blakeman. They were running out of time.
"Sarah Jane, this way."
"Penny?" Sarah Jane asked, wanting to make sure her daughter would be fine if she left.
"Go, mum. You do your bit, we'll do ours."
Sarah Jane and Luke disappeared down the corridor. Clyde, Penny and Maria continued to spray. Suddenly the nozzle on Clyde's spray bottle jammed. Penny and Maria looked at him and, as Penny moved to take Clyde's place, her vinegar was knocked onto the floor where it began to leak. Maria pulled both Clyde and Penny against the wall as Mr Blakeman lunged at them. He almost Clyde across the chest. The teenagers had no where to run and Maria was the only one of them who could use vinegar against Mr Blakeman. She wasn't sure if she could.
"Keep back." Maria ordered.
Mr Blakeman moved closer. He began to stroke one of his claws over Maria's cheek, taunting her. Her hands were shaking. She didn't want to use the vinegar against Mr Blakeman.
"You're afraid. A Slitheen girl your age would do it. Wouldn't think twice. But all the fight has gone out of you. You just stand there shaking in your shoes. That's why we survive. That's why you're losers. All of you on this rubbish planet. That's why we win." Mr Blakeman taunted.
Maria suddenly couldn't take it any more. She ripped the lid off the spray bottle and threw the contents over Mr Blakeman. He screeched in pain and every last drop of Maria's vinegar covered him. Clyde had the same idea and threw his vinegar at the head teacher. Suddenly the creature exploded. The trio were caked in green gunk. It dripped all over them. For a few seconds they stood there in silence and tried to work out what to do. Then they let laughter take the silence's place.
"Oh, great." Clyde said, examining his clothes.
"I did it. I exploded the Headmaster." Maria laughed.
"At least he can't exclude you for it." Penny joked and patted Maria on the back.
.
Mr Jeffrey and Carl suddenly felt a wave of pain rush over them. It wasn't a fiery pain; it was dull and over in a second but they realised what it meant. They scanned the CCTV and their eyes settled on Penny, Maria and Clyde standing over a pile of green gunk and trying to brush it off their clothes. "It's Glune. He's been vinegared." Mr Jeffrey whimpered, turning to the microphone Mr Blakeman had been talking into a few minutes before. "This is Kist Magg Thek Lutovin-Day Slitheen calling the Family. We are under attack. Glune Fex Fize is dead. Emergency Plan A. All operators here, now."
The rest of the family beamed in. They were wearing their skin suits and were from every race and country. They had stern expressions on their faces.
"They're here." Mr Jeffrey smiled.
Suddenly the door to the secret room was opened. The Slitheen family reacted like whiplash, grabbed the two intruders. Sarah Jane and Luke both began to struggle as they were dragged into the room.
"And so are our uninvited guests." Mr Jeffrey laughed. "Behold, the capacitor. We drain the energy into these and store it. In ten minutes this planet's atmosphere gets snatched away, but we'll be safe and warm in here."
He gestured all around the room with pride. Luke and Sarah Jane both struggled to take everything in even though Luke had seen it before. It was so vast and complex.
"And then a spacecraft picks us up and we sell everything we've collected." Janine taunted.
She was holding Sarah Jane. A Slitheen in a skin suit they had never seen before was holding Luke.
"Why are you doing this?" Sarah Jane tried; she needed to find a way of convincing them to stop.
"The Family came here once before, just a routine job, but they never came back." Janine explained.
"I think I might know what happened." Sarah Jane said, thinking of the Doctor and how his companion had mentioned Slitheen. "Who happened." she corrected herself.
"This planet will pay in blood! They were our family." Mr Jeffrey roared.
"You're threatening mine!" Sarah Jane spat.
Suddenly Sarah Jane wasn't so sure if Penny would be safe. She wished she hadn't left Penny and the others alone against that Slitheen.
"This will give us a new beginning. My son won't have to live like I've had to, cringing in the darkness." Mr Jeffrey said.
"And I want my children to live, to grow up. I want what's best for them."
It was clear the Slitheen were parents so Sarah Jane knew that the only way she was going to even possibly get through to them was to talk to them, one parent to another.
"Your stupid son gave us what we needed!" Mr Jeffrey laughed, looking at Luke.
Luke suddenly began to struggle harder.
"I didn't!" he shouted.
Mr Jeffrey looked at him confused. Luke continued.
"I thought I did, but I didn't. You made the mistake. When you showed me the diagram, you didn't tell me that you was going to steal power from the sun. It'll explode!"
Janine wasn't so sure, accusing Luke of bluffing. When Luke revealed that he didn't understand what a bluff was, Janine suddenly lost her confidence. "The boy might be right." she stammered.
Suddenly the machine began to explode. All the Slitheen leapt back and Sarah Jane tried to shield Luke. She couldn't get between her boy and the sparks so simply hoped none would hit him.
"It's happening. Turn it off!" Sarah Jane tried.
Three new faces entered the room: Maria, Clyde and Penny. They had their spray bottles raised and pointed them towards the Slitheen hold Luke and Sarah Jane.
"You heard her, turn it off. There's vinegar in this." Clyde said.
Janine smiled and pushed Sarah Jane into the hands of another Slitheen. She grabbed Clyde and restrained him.
"Water." she spat and turned to Luke. "That's a bluff."
Soon the girls were both being held by Slitheen.
"I knew it wouldn't work." Maria grumbled.
Penny shrugged and told her it was worth a shot. Annoyed at the childish interruption, Mr Jeffrey turned to Luke.
"If I reset the system, you can cancel the overload, make it safe?" he asked.
Luke nodded. He seemed nervous at first and then became sure.
"Right." Mr Jeffrey nodded and turned to Carl. "Son, reset the system."
The boy pulled on a lever. Penny watched the screen as the power went up. She wanted to be sure that the Slitheens weren't tricking them. She nodded at her brother when the lights went on over CCTV.
"It's reset. The system's off. Now I just have to synchronise the mega-wattage." Luke said and then looked at everyone. "Now!"
The humans freed themselves and put distance between them and the Slitheen. The Slitheens began to cry out in their confusion. The Slitheen thrashed around for the humans but only succeed in separating Luke from the others.
"MUM!" Luke cried instinctively because calling Sarah Jane mum just seemed right.
"Luke!" Sarah Jane called back, throwing her sonic lipstick to the boy.
Mr Jeffrey realised that suddenly the humans had become a great threat. He began to hunt down Luke.
"Get him!" he called.
Luke raced through the machinery, using the sonic on anything he was close to. He managed to cut several wires but didn't stop because the Slitheen were getting close.
"It's going to blow up!" Janine shouted.
"Out, now!" Sarah Jane ordered as Luke and the others ran up to her.
They moved out of the room and left the Slitheen inside.
.
Jeffrey and Carl were trying to get out when the door shut on them. Sarah Jane and the others stared at them. Penny moved between the Slitheen and her brother because Luke had destroyed their machine.
"You can't leave us in here. Use your sonic device, open the door. Open the door!" Mr Jeffrey shouted.
"I'm only twelve." Carl begged.
Sarah Jane looked at Penny. She remembered when her daughter had been twelve and the child's innocence. It was heart breaking. She got her sonic back off Luke and was about to open the door.
"You can't let them out." Clyde protested.
"They don't deserve to die." Penny murmured.
Suddenly there was a blaze and the two Slitheen were gone. The door closed on them. Silence overwhelmed the group and then the lights flickered on. Penny patted her mother on the shoulder and began to lead her away from the door.
"Oh, look, the lights are coming back on." Maria remarked with a smile.
"The machine burnt itself out." Luke replied as he turned away and began to walk down the corridor with Maria.
Clyde was left standing there, staring at the door. Suddenly Penny appeared by his shoulder.
"It was either them or us, right?" Clyde murmured.
Penny nodded sadly and Clyde followed her down the corridor.
.
They were all in the lounge of Sarah Jane's house. Penny had made them all drinks and they were all relaxing. Sarah Jane was on the phone while the teenagers talked through what they had just experienced.
"Some of the Slitheen out away." Clyde said. "I saw them vanish."
"Good for them." Penny said.
"The machine is useless now." Luke added, sitting on the sofa. "We broke the chain."
"Except there's buildings round the world with secret rooms and all that alien machinery inside." Maria pointed out.
Sarah Jane finished with her phone call and took a drink from Penny.
"Did you give my love to the Brig?" Penny asked.
"As always. But he's expecting a report on the whole situation." Sarah Jane said. "UNIT are going to sort out the machine.
"What's UNIT? A furniture shop?" Clyde asked.
There was a knock on the door and Luke went to go and get it.
"UNIT are Penny's bosses." Maria said with a smirk.
"They aren't my bosses." Penny said. "More like baby sitters."
Then Luke came in with Chrissie and Alan. He winced as if to apologise for letting them in. Penny smiled slightly. Chrissie ran right up to Maria and put her hands on her daughter's cheeks.
"Where were you? Come here. Oh where've you been?" Chrissie asked.
"We just went up town, grabbed some burgers." Maria lied with a smile.
Chrissie continued to ramble and Penny and Luke quickly excused themselves from the situation – although it was more like Penny excusing herself and dragging Luke upstairs with her. Then Chrissie turned to Sarah Jane.
"Oh, Sally Anne, bless you for looking after my Maria. My head was full of terrible things that could have happened."
Alan let Chrissie leave the room and put his arm around Maria, joking about her being a useless liar. They all knew he wouldn't push it any further than that. The Jacksons left, leaving Sarah Jane and Clyde both standing in the lounge alone.
"Penny makes a nice cuppa, doesn't she?"
"Yeah." Clyde said in a dreamy tone. "Never thought she would ever be doing something like this."
"I never thought I would ever be doing something like this either." Sarah Jane countered, reminiscing.
"But you never told me. How did you discover all this stuff, aliens and things?" Clyde prompted.
Sarah Jane smiled and took a seat on the arm of the arm chair. She looked straight at Clyde and clasped her cup of tea with a smile.
"I met this man, called the Doctor. He was an alien, too." she began.
"Like a big green thing?" Clyde exclaimed.
"No." Sarah Jane laughed, struggling to imagine the Doctor as a Slitheen. "He looked just like you and me, except he was nothing like you and me. He took me out into space far away from Earth."
"You travelled in space?"
"And time. I saw planets and galaxies and all sorts of creatures, things you would never imagine." Sarah Jane managed.
"This Doctor sounds cool. Is he Penny's, you know?"
Sarah Jane looked confused. Clyde frowned. The subject was awkward to talk about. The woman silently prompted for more.
"Dad?" Clyde finished.
Laughter filled the air. Sarah Jane shook her head with an amused smile on her lips.
"Oh no. No. Penny's dad was human. He was an amazing man. He taught me that I didn't have to stop what I was doing just because I couldn't go with the Doctor any more. We were going to start a family together. Never stop what we did but... I suppose I carried on because of him. Him and the Doctor."
"And he was killed by an alien?" Clyde pressed.
He didn't want to press too deeply but he knew he had to get everything straight in his head.
"Yes. Two weeks before Penny was born. We were due to get married long before then but we put it on hold for Penny's birth and then... Life's precious, Clyde. Remember that. And keep asking questions because that'll get you answers."
"Sarah Jane! Penny's got a call from a man called Captain Jack Harkness." Luke called down. "He says he wants to talk to us as well."
"He's gone back to calling you Sarah Jane?" Clyde exclaimed. "It should be mum."
"Do you think?" Sarah Jane asked.
"Yeah. Tell him."
"I don't know how." Sarah Jane whimpered.
.
Sarah Jane and her children had left the room for just a few seconds to read a set of figures from a book to Jack. They had left Clyde in the attic alone. He turned to Mr Smith and raised an eyebrow. He began to press buttons, trying to work out how the computer worked.
"Diagnostic checks completed. All systems are functioning normally." Mr Smith announced.
"Where are you from?" Clyde asked.
"All systems are functioning normally." Mr Smith repeated.
Clyde continued to press random buttons. Suddenly Mr Smith electrocuted him. Clyde pulled back in shock.
"Beware your curiosity, boy." the computer warned.
Clyde considered running to one of the others and telling them but it would only get him into trouble anyway. He moved away from the computer when he heard voices and laughter coming up the stairs.
"Freak weather conditions?" Maria suggested, entering the attic.
"Bubble Shock chemicals altering the atmosphere's visibility levels and the levels of energy conversion?" Penny laughed, pointing straight at Luke to show it was his turn.
"Temporary reversal of the Earth's magnetic poles?" Luke tried.
Sarah Jane nodded approvingly and told Mr Smith to start the rumour about what had happened. Clyde looked at them all confused.
"I can't believe we can't tell anyone." Clyde said. "We should get millions for what we did today."
"If we told people what we did then none of us would be able to live normal lives." Penny pointed. "And your mum would be in danger."
"I would be able to protect her. I worked out the vinegar. If it always this easy then..."
"Easy." Maria scoffed. "You know what, you better go to the bus stop."
"Maybe his head will have deflated by tomorrow." Penny laughed.
Clyde turned to leave and then turned back. He smiled at the Smiths.
"You were right. This is great. Weird, but great. And you lot need me. I can't believe you were going to save those Slitheen. They tried to destroy the entire planet. Billions of people. What was the big dilemma?" Clyde smiled.
"Bus stop." Penny said, pointing towards the door.
Clyde suddenly clamped his hands on Luke's shoulders.
"You were good. And if anyone says you're not cool, I'll set them right." Clyde assured Luke, shaking hands with him and patting him on the back.
Clyde and Maria left and Penny and Sarah Jane turned to Luke.
"Clyde's right. You were amazing." "Again." Penny pointed out.
"I nearly destroyed everything." Luke moaned. "I messed up."
Sarah Jane shook her head.
"I messed up. New block, the strangeness of it? Of all people, I should have seen it. Instead, oh, I sent you two and Maria right in there and that was nearly the end of both of you." Sarah Jane smiled.
"We're still here, mum." Luke reminded her.
"And we always will be." Penny smiled.