CHAPTER 36

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HELLO EVERYONE, MEET YOUR NEW PSYCHOTIC TEAMMATE!

"Rani, please let me in!" Clyde screamed in terror as he already feared that he was too late to save her.

Suddenly Lady Jane Grey opened the door to Rani's TARDIS, and Clyde rushed by her in a blind panic. Lady Jane looked at him in surprise but made no move to stop him. She could tell that he was very upset over something.

"Where is Rani?" Kali asked as Clyde ran down the corridors of Rani's TARDIS calling her name.

"I don't know. I haven't seen her at all today. I was just about to read this note that she left in my room when I heard Clyde banging on the door and went to answer it," Lady Jane said.

"Note? Oh, no. No!" Kali shouted as she feared now that she hadn't brought Clyde back in time.

"What? What's going on?" Lady Jane asked as she followed Kali down the corridors of the TARDIS.

Clyde meanwhile was searching frantically like a madman until finally he came to a room that was all lit up and glowing with energy. He instinctively knew that this must be where the Chameleon Arch was kept, and he ran into that room as fast as he could.

As he entered the room, he saw Rani sitting in a chair with the Arch on her head while her finger hesitated over a control. He quickly pulled her hand away from the control as she looked at him in shock. Then he yanked the Arch off of her head and wrapped his arms around her protectively as he pulled her close to him.

Rani continued to look at him like he wasn't real as he just held her tightly and wept.

"Clyde?" Rani asked in disbelief.

He didn't answer for a long moment and then he finally said, "Don't you ever do that again! Don't even think about doing it!"

"Lady Jane read my note before I used the Arch and called you didn't she? I knew I shouldn't have hesitated to use it for so long. I just . . . wasn't sure," Rani said with a sigh.

"Don't you understand what you almost did? Rani, you almost destroyed yourself! If you had used that, you would have blown out your mind!" Clyde said in a voice filled with equal parts of fear, guilt, and anger.

Rani looked at him with doubt as she said, "You're overreacting. I know what I'm doing. The worst that it would have done would have been to erase a few memories that I didn't want it to. It wouldn't have been that bad."

Clyde violently shook his head as he said, "No, it would have made you into a complete vegetable. I saw it. I saw it happen to you in the future. Well, it would have been the future if not for Kali."

"Oh, so Kali put you up to this? I knew it! Even as one of the good guys, she's still interfering with my life," Rani said in an annoyed voice.

Despite her tone though, she privately hoped that this whole incident was about to make him change his mind about their relationship.

Clyde held her face gently in his hands as he said, "Rani, I almost lost you. I saw what happened, and I don't ever want that to become the future. Do you hear me? I don't ever want to lose you. I love you!"

Rani exploded in anger then as she pulled herself away from him and said, "Then why did you leave?!"

"I wanted to protect you. I thought that I would wind up getting you killed. Instead of protecting you though, I almost wound up ruining your life in a different way. I'm sorry," Clyde said.

"You should be. You really hurt me by just leaving without even talking to me about it like you did. You just ripped out both of my hearts," Rani said as she tried to hold back tears.

"I am so sorry. I'll never leave again. I promise. I only left because I didn't want anything to happen to you. I mean I know that I'm pretty awesome, but even I didn't think that you'd go nuts just because I left and try to lobotomize yourself! I must be even more perfect than I thought that I was," Clyde said as he tried to make her laugh in an attempt to bring them back together.

Rani started to laugh as she said, "Shut up."

They both burst into laughter and held each other for a while until Rani said, "I wasn't trying to do anything to myself. I just wanted to forget you. It hurt too much to remember. I didn't know just how much that I loved you until you left me. Please don't ever do that again."

"I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to cause you so much pain. Why did you go to that much trouble for me though? I'm not that special. Your dad was right. You could do so much better than me. You're too wonderful to be so upset over a nobody like me," Clyde said in all honesty.

"Don't ever say that about yourself again, Clyde. You're not a nobody. I love you just the way that you are. I admit that I lost it and went too far because it just hurt me so much the way that you left. You just dropped me without even a good bye. You made me feel like a nobody," Rani said.

"I never meant to do that. I just . . . I was being a coward by not talking to you about it because I knew that I couldn't leave you if I had to face you first. It would hurt too much. I really am sorry, Rani, and I promise that I will never leave you again. Just please don't ever try to do something like this to yourself again for any reason. Please don't. I don't ever want you to hurt yourself especially not over me," Clyde said in an extremely upset voice.

"I wasn't trying to hurt myself. I didn't do it on purpose. I think I must not have set the machine up right because I was too upset to think straight," Rani said.

"I'll say that you were. What were you thinking about doing that? What did you mean by leaving me a note saying that you hoped that you still remembered me? Were you trying to forget me too?" Lady Jane said in a hurt voice behind them where she now stood along with Kali.

"I was about to do delicate memory removal to my brain. I was going to keep memories of you and Henry but delete everything to do with Clyde. I wasn't sure how his absence in my mind might affect things since he was a part of my meeting both of you. I just thought that I would warn you about that," Rani said.

"What was supposed to happen if you forgot Henry? Was I supposed to just take care of him by myself? I love him but he doesn't consider me his mother. You're his mother not me," Lady Jane said in anger.

"I wouldn't have forgotten him. I know I wouldn't have," Rani said.

"Rani, you would have forgotten everything. You weren't even able to think anymore. I saw it happen," Clyde said.

"See? I would have been left all alone to raise him by myself, and I'm only a few years older than he is. It would have been a disaster," Lady Jane said.

"I'm sorry. I just lost it. I won't ever be that reckless again," Rani said in tears.

Clyde held her even closer to him as he said, "No, don't blame yourself. It's my fault. I caused all of this. If anyone was being too reckless, it was me. I'll never charge blindly into a fight and almost get you killed like that again, and I'll never leave you either. I've just been making mistakes left and right lately, and it's going to stop right now. I never, ever want you to feel that full of despair ever again."

"Why don't you both just blame it all on me and forgive yourselves? I did all of this by manipulating those Moonites into acting scared of Clyde and giving him a false sense of self confidence," Kali said.

Clyde smiled at her as he said, "Is that why you were so set on helping me? I knew that was you. I knew that it was all a fake. I'm not stupid. I was just trying to show that I wasn't useless. I just got swept up in the moment like an idiot."

"It wasn't my fault?" Kali asked with a look of relief on her face.

"No, it wasn't. It was all on me," Clyde said.

"I still shouldn't have done it though. I won't ever do something like that again," Kali said.

"Well, it looks like we all learned something today, doesn't it?" Rani said.

"Yes, we all learned that we make a lot of mistakes and need to be a whole lot smarter in the future," Clyde said with a small smile.

"That's not what I learned. I learned that I'm going to have to pay more attention to Rani in the future. I can't believe that she almost accidentally destroyed her mind on my watch. I would have blamed myself for that forever," Lady Jane said in a somber voice.

"I'm sorry. You don't ever have to worry about something like that happening again. I promise," Rani said.

"I'm going to be watching you much more closely from now on to make sure of it," Lady Jane said.

"Oh, wonderful," Rani said with a grimace.

"She won't be the only one either," Clyde said.

"I said it was just a mistake caused by being too emotional. It won't happen again, okay?" Rani said in disbelief.

"Don't worry about it, Annika. Ushas treated me that way for a while too after I first regained my sanity. Now that she knows that I'm okay she doesn't do that. At least not as much as she used to anyway," Kali said with a grin.

"Great," Rani said with a frown.

Clyde smiled at her reassuringly and gave her a tender kiss to make her feel better. It was a kiss that quickly deepened and became more and more passionate. The two of them had finally discovered what they really meant to each other at last while they were apart, and Kali and Lady Jane could definitely tell that they were making up for lost time.

Kali motioned for Lady Jane to follow her out of the room with a smile on her face. She wasn't sure just how far that those two were going to go, and she definitely wanted to give them some privacy for whatever happened next between them.

"Maybe you should steer clear of this area for a while," Kali said to Lady Jane who blushed.

"Yes, I believe that you're right. Thank you for saving her, Kali. I'm so glad that you're watching out for her now instead of working against us," Lady Jane said.

"So am I. I'm going to watch out for all of you from now on," Kali said.

Are you? Well, it looks like you're going to have your work cut out for you then, Kali, because I'm here now. A familiar voice said in Kali's mind.

You! Kali thought in alarm.

Yep! It's little old me! I'm moving into Sarah Jane's house. I'm going to be your new teammate! Circe replied with laughter.

"What?!" Kali said out loud as Circe's laughter continued in her mind.

"What is it?" Lady Jane asked.

"Sarah Jane's in terrible danger!" Kali said as she suddenly teleported away leaving the former Queen wondering what in the world was going on now.

It seemed as if everything about living with Rani was about going from one crisis to another. She had to admit that it was all worth it though. Rani was just like a sister to her, and she would do anything for her. After all if it wasn't for her, she wouldn't even be alive in the first place. If the price for her continued existence was a little crisis every now and then, that wasn't very much to ask now was it?

The others in Sarah Jane's social circle were definitely about to have very different sentiments however as they were introduced to Circe for the first time. Sarah Jane came back to her house with a sense of dread as Circe followed her and smiled warmly at her. The Chronovore seemed to be enjoying every moment of this to Sarah Jane's dismay.

"Who's that?" Sky asked as soon as Sarah Jane and Circe appeared.

"Oh, hello there! You must be the sweet little daughter who could wipe out the whole planet if she wanted to. I'm definitely glad to meet you. It's always great to meet the competition in the chaos creating department," Circe said as she hugged Sky.

"Leave her alone," Sarah Jane said in a threatening voice.

"Oh, don't worry. I'd never hurt your family, Sarah Jane. I can't anyway, remember?" Circe said with that same unnerving grin of hers that she always wore.

That was when Kali appeared and punched Circe in the jaw sending her flying across the room. Circe landed hard again the wall as she glared at her attacker.

"Stay away from Sky! What are you doing here anyway?" Kali said as she stood protectively in front of Sky and made Sarah Jane smile.

"That's what I'd like to know along with who the heck is she?" Sky said indignantly.

"What's going on here, Mum?" Luke asked as he walked into the house hand in hand with Maria.

"Oh, it's little Luke the Bane Boy! You're so cute!" Circe said as she raced right over to Luke and kissed him right on the lips.

Luke immediately pushed her away from him as she laughed at him and said, "I guess I don't have to ask whether it was good for you too, eh?"

Maria practically growled at him as she said, "Stay away from him, whoever you are!"

Circe continued to laugh as she said, "Here I thought you were supposed to be the nice one of the group, Maria Jackson. I guess that's all just an act for Lukey Boy's benefit, eh?"

"Mum, who is she?" Luke asked in dismay as Circe continued to stare at him with a seductive gaze and Maria burned holes in her head as she continued to glare at her.

It was Kali who answered instead as she said, "She is Circe, a Chronovore. She has incredible power and can do almost anything. What she usually wants to do though is cause trouble, and she always does that in spades. I've met her before. We crossed paths centuries ago when she tried to go after my sister, the Rani. She was trying to manipulate her into becoming her puppet in order to get at Arkytior. You were always so afraid of Arkytior, weren't you? Now it's Sarah Jane that you've gravitated to. Are you afraid of her too? Is that why you're here? You're afraid of what she'll become?"

Circe's smile faded somewhat, and Sarah Jane couldn't help but notice it. It seemed that Kali had struck a nerve.

Apparently Circe did see her as some sort of threat to her if that reaction was anything to go by. Maybe that was the reason for her tricking her into bonding with her or at least part of it anyway.

Sarah Jane quickly explained what was happening to the others while Kali continued to watch Circe warily.

"You're up to something tricking her that way and whatever it is isn't good. I'm not going to let you bother her like you did Ushas. I can guarantee you that," Kali said.

"I won't either," Rani said as she suddenly appeared in the room with Clyde.

Sarah Jane smiled as she saw that the two of them were obviously back together again by the way that they looked at each other. At least that was one thing that was going right lately.

Circe's evil smile now returned as she said, "Hello there, Clyde. Did you miss your Rani? It's too bad that you didn't miss her earlier today. I'd have one less irritating pest to deal with."

Rani's face lit up with anger as she said, "I don't know what your plan is, but you won't get away with it whatever it is. None of us will stop watching you for a minute."

"Good for you. You just keep looking at my pretty face. It's good for you to have something to aspire to, Annika. Maybe if you survive long enough to reach your next regeneration, you can make yourself look more like me. I'm sure Clyde would appreciate it. As for stopping me, there's absolutely nothing to stop. I'm completely innocent. I'm a sweet little naïve angel, don't you know?" Circe said grinning malevolently at her.

"Does she really have to stay her?" Sky asked Sarah Jane.

"I'm afraid so. She'll stay in the guest room so she won't put anyone out. Don't worry though, Sky. I'm going to find some way to get rid of her. I can guarantee that. She isn't staying here for long," Sarah Jane said.

"That's what you think. You'll never find the way to release me from you, and even if you did I'd no longer be under your control. Then I'd be able to hurt you and your family. You wouldn't want that now would you? Face it, Sarah Jane. You're stuck with me whether you want me or not," Circe said grinning away at her.

"We'll see about that. I've defeated worse enemies than you before," Sarah Jane said.

"Maybe but none of them were as clever as I am I'm sure. Don't worry, Sarah Jane. I like your family. I wouldn't harm a hair on their precious little heads. Well, I don't know about Kali and Annika, but the rest of them I like. Especially Lukey Boy," Circe said as she put her arm around Luke and gave him a kiss on the cheek.

"Must kill," Maria said in a low voice as Circe laughed.

"You like him? Well, there's no accounting for taste I guess," Clyde joked.

The others couldn't help but smile at the return of Clyde's sense of humor despite how serious things were. It reassured them all somehow.

"Oh, I like you too, Clyde. Don't get me wrong. It's just that Luke is just so much more . . . innocent. I like that. I just love the innocent," Circe said as she looked at Luke like a predator.

Sarah Jane started toward her with a furious look on her face as Circe removed herself from Luke and said with a warmer smile, "No need to worry. I won't hurt your son, Sarah Jane. I wouldn't even think of it."

"Why don't I believe you?" Sarah Jane asked.

"That's because you're clever, Sarah Jane. You're not as clever as me but still very clever nonetheless. I like you, Sarah Jane. I really do," Circe said as she put a friendly arm around her.

Then she stared right into Sarah Jane's eyes with an almost tender look as she said, "That won't stop me from killing you though when I get the chance. I'm truly sorry about that. I promise it'll be painless though because I like you."

"Why would you want to kill me? I don't even know you," Sarah Jane asked curiously despite herself.

"I know. Believe me, Sarah Jane. It's nothing personal. You're just in my way. Sorry but that's just the way that it is. You won't know when it's coming or how, but one day I'll get rid of you. I truly am sorry because you're such a nice person. Normally I don't bother people like you, but when I must I must I'm afraid. Until then though don't worry about it. Relax and put your feet up. How about we watch something good on the telly, eh?" Circe said with an earnest expression on her face.

"In other words, you're a nice, friendly psychopath then?" Clyde asked.

"Yes, isn't that refreshing from the usual run of the mill murderers that are always out to get you? I'm very nice about it," Circe said with a warm grin.

"Yeah, that really reassures me I'll tell you," Sky said shuddering.

"Oh, don't worry, sweetie. I really don't think that I'll kill you. At least I don't think so anyway, but that could always change later I suppose," Circe said in a nonchalant voice.

Sarah Jane became more and more alarmed by the moment at the casual way that Circe was threatening her daughter. She was going to have to get rid of this demon in her midst before it was too late. She was also going to have to find out exactly what it was that she wanted and how she was standing in her way.

In other words, she was going to have to go back to her roots as a reporter and investigate. This was going to be the biggest story of her life, and she couldn't afford not to get all of the facts on this one. One little mistake could cost her and her family their lives.

She had to uncover the truth behind Circe before it was too late.

Next: Sarah Jane investigates Circe while trying to keep what she's doing secret from her despite her being almost attached to the hip to her at all times. Sarah Jane meanwhile isn't the only one doing some investigations as Circe is also watching and gathering together facts on her in an attempt to find something that she can use against her. It's a race for information as both sides seek to get rid of the other one. What will both of them find?