You'll have to forgive my borrowing elements from The End of Time and The Eleventh Hour. Thanks again to all who read and review!
In spite of the Doctor's encouraging words, Mickey Smith was still rattled.
"Surveillance, he says. If you ask me, I might as well be at the back of the class with the safety scissors and glitter, or outside talking to the metal dog."
His general annoyance was interrupted by an announcement on the loud speaker. "All pupils to class immediately. And would all members of staff congregate in the staff room."
The kids started rushing into the school. One student, a short, rather overweight kid came over to Mickey. "You're with that new physics teacher, aren't you?"
"Yeah, something funny's going on around here and we're looking into it."
"They ended break time early, and all the others are excited, except me."
Mickey shook his head, "You mean the other kids are happy break is ending?"
The young man nodded emphatically.
Mickey looked down at him, "What's your name?"
"Kenny."
"Kenny, don't you have somewhere to be?" said a teacher who had seen him talking to Mickey. "With the other exempts?" His voice was too smooth by half, a false caress. It thoroughly gave Mickey the creeps.
"There's just two of us," replied Kenny. "My mum has me on a special diet and Seymour has a potato allergy. Going right now."
Mickey clutched his water blaster as he watched the teacher hurry away. He was thinking something didn't set well with the faculty member. For all he knew, he had a zipper on his head and was hiding a giant bat inside.
He ran to catch up with the student. "Kenny!" whispered Mickey. The boy turned around. "Kenny, you said you're on a special diet. Does that mean you're not eating the chips?"
"No, I bring my lunch to school. My mum and dad want me to lose nearly two stone."
"Come with me. We've got to find Dr. Smith."
As Mickey and Kenny ran down the halls, they saw the students at the computers wearing headphones, typing at breakneck speed.
Kenny looks at Mickey as they're running. "They've taken all the other students!"
Meanwhile, Rose and the Doctor had caught up to Sarah Jane and Jack, shooing away students. The Doctor stood there in his element, with wires wrapped around his neck.
"It won't budge," the Doctor groaned in frustration.
"We could try my sonic blaster," mused Jack.
Just then, Mickey burst into the classroom. "It's the chips, Doctor. Kenny hasn't eaten the chips."
The Doctor looked at Kenny for a moment. "What's fifty-nine times thirty-five?"
Kenny's forehead crinkled for a moment. "Uh..." he stuttered.
"Mickey, good lad!"
Sarah Jane gestured at the large display on the wall. "There's the program, Doctor. Maybe you can tell us what it is."
"Damn," muttered the Doctor bitterly as he stared at the swiftly moving symbols on the monitor. "It's the Skasis Paradigm. The Universal Theory...the Krillitane are trying to control the building blocks of the universe. All things at your fingertips, time, space, and matter."
"And they're just using the kids as computers? Like on Satellite 5, where the people were computers!" Rose finished.
"Oh, but it's far worse than that. The oil has made them cleverer. It's a conducting agent."
"Yeah," agreed Mickey. "And all those kids are sitting in classrooms trying to crack the formula right now."
"But why use children?" asked Sarah Jane. "Why not adults instead?"
"It's that spark of imagination they need. Adults don't have that anymore. It's like you humans. No advanced scientific logic necessary, but can solve problems just the way Mickey did with a simple 'A-ha!'" The Doctor's face darkened in rage. "They're using the children- not just their brains, but their souls. We've got to get everyone out of here."
"They've locked everything, all the doors," pointed out Mickey.
Jack thrust his sonic blaster at Mickey. "Krillitane oil won't help you open doors, but this will. Get the kids out."
"Come on, Kenny," grinned Mickey. "It's time to save the Earth."
The Doctor looked at Jack. "You know what has to be done. The oil, the computers..."
"Got it right here in my pocket, Doctor."
"Let the lesson begin," intoned the Headmaster, as the Doctor whipped around to face him. "Think of it, Doctor. With the Paradigm solved, reality becomes clay in our hands. We can shape the universe and improve it."
"All of creation with a face like yours?" snorted the Doctor. "Think things are just fine...no, better off as they are."
"You think you're such a renegade and a radical, Doctor, and yet all you want to do is preserve the old order? Think of the changes that could be made if this power was used for good."
"Something that won't happen at your hands. Not ever," replied the Time Lord in a clipped tone, his arms folded across his chest. "I know you have killed both teachers and students since you've been here."
"What about you, Doctor? The Paradigm gives us power, but you could give us wisdom. Become a god at my side. Imagine what you could do. Think of the civilisations you could save. Perganon, Assinta. Your own people, Doctor, standing tall. The Time Lords reborn."
"Don't listen to him, Doctor," whispered Sarah.
"My home was a beautiful place at one time, Brother Lassa. But I'm the last person you would ever want to have as any sort of god. I speak fondly of my people because that's the way I want to remember them." The Doctor's eyes became unfocused, distant. "Rassilon had to be stopped," he whispered to himself.
Rose clasped the Doctor's hand tightly in comfort. "You did what you had to do."
"And you, Miss Tyler. You could be with him throughout eternity, never to age or die. How will you ever say goodbye, Doctor? How lonely you will be when your Rose finally wilts." The Headmaster spat out the last part viciously.
"No!" Sarah Jane shook her head emphatically. "The universe has to move forward. Pain and loss, they define us as much as happiness or love. Whether it's a world, or a relationship, everything has its time. And everything ends."
"And everything dies," finished Rose, remembering one of the first lessons the Doctor ever taught her.
The Doctor took one of the water blasters and pointed it at the Headmaster. "Where are your brethren, Brother Lassa? I told you that you only had one chance. No to you and your despicable ambitions, Headmaster."
The Headmaster stood still for a moment. "How do I know you're not bluffing? Those water guns could simply be water guns."
"Really? Want to find out?" The Doctor swiftly shot a small arc of oil onto one of the tables. "There's something you need to understand here. For over 900 years, this planet has been invaded by aliens both friendly and hostile. Those that were hostile are no longer here. They all had one common denominator. Me. We're leaving."
"We're not finished, Doctor."
"Yes, you are."
They chased Brother Lassa out with their weaponry, and the Doctor hit the fire alarm with his sonic screwdriver, effectively paralyzing the Headmaster and any other Krillitanes in the building and ran for the TARDIS.
Brother Lassa ripped the wiring from the wall and pursued the three as they headed towards the maintenance room. The Headmaster summoned the other Krillitanes, and they barely made it, with the Doctor grabbing Rose and Sarah Jane's water blasters and tossing them aside before boarding the TARDIS.
"You've redecorated," observed Sarah Jane, as she took in the coral interior, and the faint green lighting of the Time Rotor.
"Do you like it?" asked the Doctor.
"Oh..." stammered Sarah Jane, until she finally settled on honesty. "I do, but I liked it better as it was."
"Pretty common reaction," he chuckled, as he danced around the console, pulling levers and switches.
"Well, I love it," interjected Rose enthusiastically.
"Rose, push that lever down!"
Finally, they disembarked from the TARDIS across the street from the school just in time to see Mickey and Kenny desperately herding the other students out the door.
Jack came running out the doors, his graceful athleticism enabling him to leap away from the building before it exploded.
Mickey rushed over to Jack to help him up. "You're roughed up, mate."
"Uh-oh," said Jack, his bruises and scrapes immediately disappearing.
Mickey's mouth dropped open in astonishment. "Are you an alien, too?"
"Not here," whispered Jack. "And before you say anything, yes, both Rose and the Doctor know."
Both men rushed towards the TARDIS where Sarah Jane and Rose were waiting outside with the Doctor.
"Well, we're about to head off," said the Doctor cheerfully. "Unless you'd like to come with us?" Rose nodded at Sarah Jane, smiling warmly.
"No," replied Sarah Jane regretfully. "I can't do this anymore. Besides, I've got a much bigger adventure ahead. As much as I missed this life, it's not for me anymore."
"Well, what about me?" asked Mickey, looking at the Doctor. "You invited me to come once, you know. Now I'm ready to see what's out there."
Sarah Jane smiled at Mickey. "Go on, Doctor. You need a Smith on board."
The Doctor looked at Rose, who simply smiled and shrugged her shoulders. "Suppose I could do with a laugh," he muttered.
"Oi! First thing's first, Doctor. I'm not a tin dog."
"Mickey, you do know that Rose and I are together. That's something that's never going to change."
"I told you, I get it. Not like it takes a genius to know what the two of you were doing last night at Sarah Jane's anyway."
"Doctor, really!" exclaimed Sarah Jane. "In my house!"
"Well, you gave the room to us! And we are newly bonded."
Sarah Jane recalled the more rugged, rougher texture of this Doctor's hands in comparison to that of the two incarnations she traveled with. Pondering Mickey's information along with that little tidbit made her blush deeply. She shook her head and started to laugh. "It's been great to see you again. I wouldn't have missed the time we had together for the world."
Rose walked over to the older woman and embraced her. "Keep in touch. Let me give you my number, and if you ever change your mind, we'll come get you." She wrote her number down on Sarah's pocket notepad and then disappeared into the TARDIS.
"My Sarah Jane Smith. You are still fantastic."
"Goodbye, Doctor."
"Oh, it's not goodbye. It doesn't have to be."
"Please, Doctor. Just say it."
The Doctor held out his arms, embracing Sarah Jane affectionately. Then he flashed her his manic grin. "Goodbye. My Sarah Jane!"
"Alright, Mickey Smith," as the Doctor entered the TARDIS.
"Well, first I wanna stop by my flat. Pick up a few things. And I want to let Jacks know I'm going with you for awhile. Time you guys stopped by for a visit anyway."
"All of time and space and Rickey wants to see Jackie Tyler," mumbled the Doctor, as he set a course for the Powell Estate.