A/N: So I got random inspiration for this fic and decided there was no harm in writing it. The name "Enora" means other, or foreign, so I figured it fit, although I decided to call Mrs. Wormwood Jacqueline in this story for narration purposes (Enora was too tiresome; spellcheck kept autocorrecting it). I was thinking of calling her Samantha after her actress but that seemed like a very obvious and also very bad idea. Anyway, enjoy.

Chapter One

She had never seen the courtroom so packed. In fact, she'd never viewed it from the angle she was viewing it at now. She should be presiding over the trial, or, at the very least, sitting proudly beside the Bane Mother as she delivered the death sentence. Not strapped to a chair in the middle of the room, anxiously awaiting the judge's verdict. And, to top it all off, the judge was her own brother.

"Enora Venetta Jacqueline Wormwood, for failing to protect Her Majesty The Bane Mother and putting our esteemed species at risk, not to mention letting countless amounts of unsuspecting humans escape our master plan, the court hereby sentences you to be eaten alive."

Enora Venetta Jacqueline – we shall refer to her as Jacqueline for simplicity's sake – cast her eyes downward. Her brother, Kich, grinned at her from his post at the judge's stand. They were the last two remaining children of the Bane Mother. Once Jacqueline was dead, Kich would have every right to rule the Banes. And she'd tried so hard to please them. So she'd failed to kill Sarah Jane Smith and reclaim Luke as her own. She'd come closer to dominating Earth than any others had before her, right? Didn't that account for something? Surely, if the Bane Mother were still there, she'd command the trial to be stopped. She would remind everyone, Kich included, that Jacqueline had done so much for them in the past few centuries. She might've even had Kich be killed instead. But the Bane Mother was not there, an act which was all Sarah Jane's fault, and Jacqueline was paying for it.

Two guards seized her, each holding onto one of her arms. She'd chosen her human form for reasons she couldn't quite explain. It just felt more… natural. Perhaps it was all the time spent on Earth, selling as many Bubble Shock! drinks as possible. Or maybe Jacqueline had come to like the way she looked as a human, with her copper tresses, icy blue eyes, and pale complexion. Later she would realize it was probably the latter; but for now she continued to contemplate this as she was dragged into the execution chamber. She was ready for death, a concept she'd wondered about many, many times. What would it feel like to die? Painful? Or would it feel like falling asleep, but the slumber was one where the someone in question never awoke? Jacqueline had nearly died once before, when she was pushed into Horath's portal by her once-ally, Kaagh. She wouldn't have made it out alive if it weren't for the small tear she'd found in the portal wall, just big enough for her to fit through while she was in her human form. What happened after that was mostly a blur. She'd been taken hostage the moment one of the Bane spotted her and brought before her brother, who'd proclaimed her trial would be held in three day's time.

"Well, well, my dear sister," said Kich, approaching her. Jacqueline raised her head so she could align her eyes perfectly with his. In her human form, Kich appeared so much taller, so much bigger. It might have been rather intimidating for Jacqueline if she were anyone else. But Jacqueline merely smiled that wry smile of hers she knew he hated so.

"I never would've thought." Kich clucked his tongue. "My baby sister, the same sister who once told the entire nation that she'd claim Earth for the Bane one day, before she'd even turned six years old. How far away that seems now, hm? I wonder, what would Mother say if she could see how you betrayed us so? Not to mention, you dared return here after we sentenced you the first time. You're a clever girl, sister, so tell me – do you think we'll let you escape again?"

Jacqueline pretended to ponder his question, when in reality, she was counting the seconds to the moment when she would be allowed eternal peace. It couldn't come soon enough.

"I don't know, Kich," she said quietly, without lowering her eyes. "You tell me. Will you? Or shall I outsmart you yet again?" She was building up his temper, she knew. The angrier he became, the quicker he was to kill her, and the quicker she'd be allowed her escape from the life that'd constantly disappointed her.

Kich narrowed his eyes. "You want this to be over, don't you? It's not hard to see. Very well then." Kich licked his lips, ready to devour the Bane woman that stood before him. How delicious the royal blood that ran through her would taste, and how heroic he would look with the blood of a princess dripping from his immense jaw.

Jacqueline braced herself for the inevitable, squaring her shoulders and raising her chin even higher. She closed her eyes so her last memory wouldn't be of her brother's sneer, his slimy face. The world stood still in her final seconds, almost as if it was begging for her to stay a little while longer. The strange thing was, as darkness enveloped her, Jacqueline never once felt a sharp tooth pierce her flesh, nor did she feel any pain whatsoever. Just pitch, black darkness.

Not more than five seconds later, in his bedroom at 13 Bannerman Road, Luke Smith woke with a start. It took him a moment to realize the nightmare he'd been having wasn't real. There was no more Mrs. Wormwood. No more Bane. He was safe, in Sarah Jane's home, just like he had been for the past few months. Maria lay on his bedroom floor; she was staying with them while her parents were visiting family in America. Rani and Clyde were on vacation in the English countryside and the state of Florida, respectively, for summer break.

Luke sat up and found Maria was looking right at him. Her eyes, brown like chocolate, stared at him with concern.

"Is everything okay?" she asked, while detangling her legs from her twisted sleeping bag. Luke nodded.

"I just had a bad dream, that's all."

"What about?"

Luke sighed. "I dreamt Mrs. Wormwood was back. That she hadn't been lost in the portal forever. She kept asking me to be her prince, over and over, telling me we'd rule the galaxy together." He shrugged. "It's a silly dream, I know."

Maria slid out of her sleeping bag and came to sit on Luke's bed. She fingered the mattress as she spoke, "But Luke… What if it wasn't a dream?"