Helloooooo, readers!
So good to see you all again. Hope things have been going well since the last time we saw each other. Please enjoy the new chapter and take care!
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Chapter 8: Revenge Plans
Luke finished his last class before lunch period. He sighed as he stuffed his things back into his bag and shuffled off to head towards the club he had signed up for. He hoped he would feel better after spending some time doing something enjoyable. So far, the other students only snickered and laughed at him with almost everything it felt like. He still felt confused about why they found almost everything he did as 'funny.' He was also confused with the one class he had with Clyde in why the other kids found 'trouble' as humourous. There was still so much he felt he needed to learn to be like all the others and make true friends here. Though, all of this was not what made him feel rather dejected. There was also the fact that even though he promised Sarah Jane he would not interact with Aleena today, he still wanted to see her. He felt bad, conflicted, that he still wanted to see the strange girl when his mother wished against it.
He stumbled a bit when someone bumped into him from behind. Keeping his footing, he heard laughter followed by seeing a few boys pass him by. They were rather tall and burly and smirked rudely as they walked past him.
"Watch it, freak," one of the larger boys said while all the rest chortled crudely. Luke frowned as his spirits lowered even more.
Suddenly, all of the boys tripped and fell onto the ground in a heap. A passing teacher holding a bucket of some sort of liquid for a science class suddenly gasped as the bucket just seemed to fly out of their hands before they too fell to the ground. The bucket arched in the air before tumbling down, spilling its slimy contents all over the rude boys. Each one of them made exclaims in alarm and disgust as they tried getting up but kept stumbling and tripping over each other as the slim made the floor a slippery mess. Every student in the hall barked in laughter, pointing at the boys as the messy scene continued. Luke could only blink, wondering how all of this happened in a matter of seconds.
"Yo, Luke, what's happening?"
He blinked out of his shock when seeing a grinning Aleena standing beside him. She had her arms crossed and smirked rather proudly as though she had done something fun just now. When did she get here? How had he not noticed?
"An accident happened just a moment ago," he stated, pointing at the boys. Aleena smirked even more.
"Yeah, I saw. Serves them right for making fun of you. Though that's not exactly what I meant when I asked you 'what's happening,'" she replied smoothly, throwing an arm around his shoulder as she steered him away from the scene before them.
"Then why would you ask that?" he questioned with his curiosity outweighing the reminder his mind tried to tell him about the promise he had made to Sarah Jane.
"It's just a way to ask how you're doing and if everything's been fine. You can respond 'everything's everything' if you've been doing great and have nothing to report." Aleena winked at him, giving him a bright smile as she began to walk backward to face him. "So, where are you heading?"
Luke did not answer her for a moment, taking in her appearance. She looked exactly like she did yesterday. Right down to the very small ketchup stain on her white button-up shirt. It was almost as though she had not left school at all. His promise to Sarah Jane popped into his mind again. He should keep to his promise . . . "I'm going to a lunchtime science club meeting."
"Science! Groovy! Let's go!" She turned around, skipping forward down the hallway with a laugh trailing behind her.
Adjusting the bag on his shoulder, Luke ignored his anxious mind and continued on. He wondered if maybe Sarah Jane might have been just too cautious in thinking Aleena was dangerous. She was a kid just like him. How dangerous could she be?
When Luke arrived, Aleena was already in a seat. She smiled at him, patting the seat beside her eagerly. He sat down, glancing at her before looking at the whiteboard in front. No one else was in the room yet. They were all alone. He felt even more nervous now. Should he leave? Yes, he signed up for the club, but he also promised Sarah Jane to stay away from this girl. Then why did he feel as though he should stay and talk with Aleena even more than before? Feeling a tap on his shoulder, he looked over to see a rather guilty looking Aleena.
"Sorry about yesterday, by the way. I was . . . a total square," she said, sounding deeply sorry. "Look . . . you're totally awesome, okay? Don't think I'm not wanting to be friends with you . . . I just don't think you'd want to be friends with me after . . . well, after you get to know me." She looked away, twisting her hands together while she rested her arms on the counter in front of them. "Almost everyone does. Once they get to know me, they tend to run away and hide." Now she looked very sad. Even sadder than yesterday.
He could only stare at her, feeling empathy for her. It was just like Sarah Jane had said. Aleena was just as scared making friends as he was. "You're as nervous as I am in making friends," he stated in observation.
"Well . . . yeah, just a bit." She rubbed a hand at the back of her neck, ruffling her hair a bit. Glancing at him, she smiled hesitantly. "Think we could be buddies? Until I gotta leave again, of course."
"I think so." At least this way he would be keeping his promise to Sarah Jane. Once Aleena was gone, he would no longer be around her. Until then, he could talk to Aleena and figure out what she wanted to investigate from this school. In fact, he found he wanted to as well. If something bad was happening here, should he not look into it like Sarah Jane did?
Aleena blinked as she stared at him, then slowly smiled. "Okay. Glad you came to that conclusion. So . . . when's this science club supposed to start?"
Just then, Mister Jeffery, the teacher Luke had for science class, stepped into the room. The teacher smiled largely at them with a strange glee in his eye. Luke sat up straight to be polite. Aleena slumped forward with her elbow resting on the counter and chin in her palm. Her brown eyes stared at the man coolly, keeping a steady gaze on him.
"Welcome to Lunchtime Science Club," greeted Mister Jeffery. "I had hoped for a slightly higher turnout, but never mind."
"Maybe it had something to do with having a club during lunchtime," Aleena spoke up, earning the teacher's attention. "Most ankle biters don't take kindly to getting their lunchtime interrupted. Even if the lunch is too foul to eat." Mister Jeffery narrowed his eyes, staring at the girl in annoyance before looking confused.
"And who are you? I don't remember you from class," said the teacher.
"Aleena," replied the girl smoothly. "There was a mix up with my paperwork. I'm not on the registry. Talk to Grace upfront. She's trying to straighten it out." Luke glanced at her, remembering this was the same thing she said yesterday whenever a teacher was confused by her being in class. He wondered how her paperwork had been mixed up. Just then, the door to the lab opened and in stepped a rather husky student.
"Hi. I'm Carl," greeted the boy as he walked in and sat near Luke. The two nodded at him before giving their attention back to Mister Jeffery. The man turned over to a nearby desk, grabbing large clear slides of some kind. Going back to the board, he then placed each on top of each other while speaking.
"Take a look at this," he said while doing this. "Over the summer, I've been having tons of jolly fun working on a new project. What do you make of this?" He turned on the light of the small board, showing them all the designs on the slides. Luke and Carl stood up to get a closer look. Aleena just sat there, staring intently at it. Luke frowned as he stared at it. It looked like blueprints of some kind. How strange though. But he did not think too much of it as Mister Jeffery did say he created them.
"It's a model for a giant capacitor system," Luke said to the teacher.
"And purely theoretical, of course," added Mister Jeffery. "Nobody could possibly build anything like this for real."
"Of course, has to be theoretical," spoke up Aleena, earning everyone's attention. She held the same steady gaze as before, right on Mister Jeffery. "The 21st century is nowhere near this kind of technology yet. I mean, not unless it's extraterrestrial." She then smiled real big when Mister Jeffery suddenly looked nervous. "I'm just messing with you, Mister Jeffery. Obviously, there can't be aliens running around this school, making giant capacitors, right?" She let out a laugh and wink, smiling even more.
"Right," Mister Jeffery said after clearing his throat.
"You designed this?" Luke asked curiously, not really thinking much about what Aleena had just noted.
"Yes, I'm wasted here," Mister Jeffery joked. "Do you like it?"
"It's amazing," Luke complimented politely.
"It's pretty neato," Aleena spoke up beside Luke. He blinked in surprise, not even realizing when she had come over to stand next to him. She had her hands in her pockets, staring at the blueprints in a very inquisitive way. "Though it has a fault, doesn't it?"
"You're right," Luke agreed with her as both of them got closer to the slides. "With this you could store huge amounts of electrical energy. But there's a loophole."
"Yep," Aleena said with a pop in the 'p' as she pointed at the spot on the diagram. "The storage here won't be able to stabilize." She smiled lightly. "Something which could have been made worse if, say, I don't know, a person decided to stamper with a few circuits in the secondary storage over here." She pointed at the other storage, glancing over at Mister Jeffery when he frowned heavily, giving him a bright smile. "All theoretical, of course."
"Yes, well . . . that's my problem," muttered the man.
"What, someone tampering with the secondary storage?" Aleena questioned lightly. She blinked as though talking very innocently about all of this. Though there was a slight spark in her eyes as she stared at the grumbling teacher.
"It's wrong here," Luke said, not really paying attention to the seeming conflict between Aleena and teacher. He pointed at the spot on the blueprint, frowning as his mind raced to correct the problem. "You need to add an equation into the computer control." He moved quickly, grabbing a nearby marker and began writing on the whiteboard; his mind speeding through the equation as he wrote it swiftly down. He turned to the others with a smile after he was finished. Aleena came up, giving him a happy clap on his back.
"Brilliant job there, Luke!" she praised with a bright smile. "Though, it's missing a little something." She took the marker from him and added a small negative sign to the 'v' at the end of his equation. "There. That'll help with any future fluctuations." Luke frowned as he stared at it. That could not be right. The equation would still work fine, but having the negative there will make it so after a few minutes . . .
"But that's—," he tried correcting her, but winced as she suddenly stepped hard on his foot and gave him this sort of look that he assumed meant for him to stay quiet. Something which went unnoticed by Mister Jeffery and Carl as they just stared at the equation on the board in awe.
"Well, if that's all for today, Mister Jeffery, I think me and Luke here are gonna head to lunch before all the food's gone. Later!" Aleena said very quickly before wrapping an arm around Luke's and steering him out of Lab A. He stumbled along as she moved very fast down the halls, weaving them around different students who were mingling about. Soon, they came into a secluded corner of the hallway before finally stopping. Aleena let out a sigh, turning to Luke. "Sorry about that. Couldn't let him know that my changes wouldn't work."
"But why would you do that? It ruins his project," Luke replied, staring at her in puzzlement as to why she would purposely go against a teacher's project (or anyone's for that matter).
Aleena glanced around as though to make certain they would not be overheard before looking at him again. "Remember the power going out last night? Well, he and a few others are the reason for it. Now, I was able to make enough adjustments to their power units so it would happen. But there was a fault already in their system, so I didn't have to do much work."
"So, you did stop the power outage," Luke responded, looking at her in interest. "You're trying to stop something bad from happening."
"Well, of course. Why else would I be investigating this place and skulking around a school? Do you think I'd ever go to a school willingly? I've only done that a few other times decades ago—mostly just to get knowledge, though there was the one time with Rose Tyler 'cause I wanted to get to know her . . . anyway—and, trust me, I don't plan on doing it again just for the hell of it."
"'Decades'?" He blinked in astonishment, staring at her in pure bafflement.
Aleena winced. "Ah, forget I said anything." She walked away fast, going through the hallway and weaving her way amongst the students.
Luke pushed his way through, trying to keep up with her. "But what do you mean? And what's happening here? What are you trying to stop?"
"Sorry, Luke, but the less you know, the better." Aleena looked back at him briefly. "I don't want you to get hurt, so just . . . go be with your other friends and enjoy the day. Let me handle this."
He tried to protest, to catch up with her. But the crowd of the students became a mess, bumping into him and making him fall back from Aleena. Before long, she disappeared into the crowd, vanishing from his sight in a blink.
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As Luke began to walk out of the building at the end of the day along with his fellow peers, he could not help but keep his eyes cast down as he just could not find himself feeling too happy about the day. Sure, classes were getting better, but the incident with Aleena just made him worried. Plus the girl truly seemed to want to be friends with him but was just too nervous about it all. Just like Sarah Jane said. He wondered if he could ask his mother if they could come back and help Aleena with what she was investigating here at the school. He was certain Sarah Jane would want to assist. After all, she did say that she was starting to investigate the school and other schools this morning.
"Someone doesn't look too happy."
Luke looked over, seeing Maria walking beside him and staring at him in concern.
"Still not getting along in school?" she asked him.
"No, school was fine," Luke responded, showing her that he was not all that down by giving her a smile. "It's just . . . I met up with Aleena again."
"That girl who said she didn't want to be friends?"
"Yes. I feel as though she wishes to talk to me, but she says she's trying to keep me safe by keeping her distance. It has something to do with this school. Said she's trying to investigate and stop something from happening." Both glanced back at the school, feeling a sense of dread while staring at it.
Maria looked back at Luke with certainty. "I guess it's perfecting timing for us, then. Sarah Jane phoned me, she wants us to look inside the new block."
"Perfect." Luke smiled, feeling more confident with his spirits lifting. "This gives us a chance to find Aleena and help her. I'm certain Sarah Jane would want us to help anyone who's also investigating."
"What are you doing?"
Luke and Maria both slumped forward as arms wrapped around their shoulders. Each of them glanced over to see a grinning Clyde holding onto them. Maria instantly looked annoyed while Luke just blinked in surprise.
"We're gonna investigate the new block," Luke told Clyde truthfully. He blinked when Maria sent him a 'look' though. Something told him he was not supposed to say that.
"I left something in the new block," Maria said quickly, correcting Luke's mistake. Clyde just stared at them both in suspicion now. Maria hurried off, ready to get to work. Luke was about to follow but was kept back by Clyde.
"What is it with you and her?" questioned the boy. "I've seen weird people, I know weird people. But you two? You're beyond weird." Something about this statement and Clyde's attitude struck a nerve in Luke. The only thing Luke could think to describe it was . . . annoyance. The first time he ever felt that way. He frowned at Clyde and moved his shoulder to get the boy to let go of him.
"Go find some normal people, then," he replied, keeping his tone polite and to the point. He then marched off, feeling Clyde still following right after him. But Luke paid him not much mind. Even when Clyde began to question him on all the usual things he suspected fellow kids would ask: where one is from, where they had gone to school prior, and so forth. He answered all of Clyde's questions truthfully, not really caring if the boy found them weird. Luke only wished to focus on the task at hand and figure out the mystery of the school. His mind spun in its work, trying to figure out what might be wrong with the new block. There had been something bugging him since coming to the school. Something off about the building's structure. Aleena had even mentioned it as well. The layout of it was incorrect. So that meant . . .
Eventually, he found it. The small hallway that led to an empty white wall. It was blank but looked as though there were panels hidden behind the paint as there were creases in the wall. Clyde seemed to have an enough by this point, leaving Luke to pace as he tried to think of a way inside whatever laid behind the walls. He could tell there was more space behind this wall. It made sense as he knew from the outside there was much more to this building. There had to be more space in this point of which he stood. Only question was how to get in. He even found himself muttering out loud as his mind raced for a solution. Finally, as his hand trailed along to feel the wall where he knew a handle should be, the wall slid to the side and opened, revealing to him a gloomy, grey hallway on the other side. He hesitated only for a moment before stepping inside.
It was the missing piece of the building all right. It was much longer than any other of the rooms in the new block. With steel, grey walls lining all the sides, wiring all strung about above on the ceiling, and control stations everywhere—which gave off electrical charges—with advanced computer systems that he knew could not be normal for schools. Mostly because he studied what most schools in London had for computer equipment. Nothing in this room matched what he had studied. If anything, if he had any guesses at all, he would actually say that all of this matched Mister Jeffery's schematics from earlier. So, Aleena had been right. Mister Jeffery had something to do with this. This only made Luke wonder what other teachers were involved from the school.
"So, Luke, how do you like our little science project?"
The boy looked over quickly upon hearing the voice. His eyes widened in shock and alarm when seeing Mister Blakeman, the headmaster, standing just down the way by a few more control monitors. The man smiled sinisterly as he stared at Luke. A shiver went down the boy's spine as he felt almost as though Mister Blakeman were staring at him . . . hungrily. As though the man wished to consume him in some way. Knowing what sort of creatures there could be out there in the universe (something Sarah Jane had him study over), Luke did not doubt that this man possibly could consume him in some manner. In fact, Luke's mind began to race through all the different ways species from outside Earth did consume humans. As his mind whirled and his body stayed frozen on the spot in fear, Mister Blakeman began to stalk towards him with a large smirk on his face.
"Come on, boy. Don't you want to get a closer look?" the man sneered at him, his voice almost rumbling in how he talked. Luke stood there on the spot, staring at the man who stalked slowly towards him. He felt it. This man wanted to kill him. His racing heart and hairs standing on end told him of this instinctual knowledge of when a predator had him cornered. Before the flight response could kick in, he felt a hand grab his in a tight hold. He looked over quickly to his right, seeing Aleena right there with an urgent expression.
"Run, dummy!"
She did not have to tell him twice. His body finally reacted, going into the flight response and running beside her as they bolted from the room. The same time Blakeman launched himself at them, letting out a wild snarl of some sort. Neither one looked back. It was too risky as it might give the headmaster more chances to get them. It was only until the metal door that was hidden in the wall slid behind them in their escape did their bodies ease somewhat. Though neither one stopped running, too focused on getting as far away as possible in case of anything else coming after them. It was eventually that they came across Maria and Clyde in the entrance area of the block, who also appeared to be running for their lives.
"Hello! You must be Luke's girlfriend Maria!" Aleena greeted brightly once she and Luke came to a halt beside the two others, with a demeanour as though running for their lives were just a normal exercise.
"Girlfriend?!" Maria exclaimed in shock, blinking at Aleena in disbelief. "I am not his girlfriend."
"Oh! Sorry, I forget this generation doesn't use that as a friendship term," Aleena apologized, giving a sheepish smile. "Would you prefer 'lady friend'?"
"Just 'friend', thanks," responded Maria, frowning a bit in confusion at Aleena.
"Hey, can we focus on getting out of here?!" Clyde yelled, in clear panic and fright from what he and Maria had just gone through. "That thing is coming to kill us!" The four of them ran to the doors to the front doors to the new block. The doors stayed in place when Maria and Clyde yanked on them. They were locked in. Clyde started to panic even more. "It's locked!"
"This place is sealed. You're finished, right here, right now," they all heard the echoing voice of Carl coming from behind them. They also heard the sound of scraping claws dragging across the tile floor in the distance. Whatever was running towards them, it was large and powerful.
"Everyone, stand back!" Aleena yelled, pushing the three others away from the doors. They backed away, watching as Aleena sucked in a breath before throwing out her hand towards the doors. The glass shattered, and the metal frame was flung away from the doorframe. The first section of doors crashed into the second and even those were shattered and thrown back. The four twisted doors landed quite the distance into the parking lot. The three teenagers blinked, looking back at Aleena in utter shock. She grimaced as she lowered her hand. "Oops. Think I used a little too much force there."
"But how—?" Luke tried to ask but was interrupted when they heard a wild snarl from Carl come behind them.
"Don't worry about it, just run!" Aleena yelled, yanking him out with the other two just behind them. The four of them ran across the schoolyard, getting themselves as far away from the place as they could. Just behind them, they could hear the snarls of Carl and Mister Jeffery. No one looked behind to see what exactly the two inhuman beings looked like. All too focused on escaping from the danger. Luke's mobile phone began to ring at this time, but he had no chance of answering it without having to slow down. So, he kept running, just focusing on keeping his hand locked with Aleena's. Alarm went through him when she suddenly let go and stopped, letting the three teenagers get behind her. They all halted, staring at her in shock.
"You three, keeping running! I'll slow them down!" Aleena ordered them all, narrowing her eyes dangerously as the two massive green aliens with long, muscular arms that had massive sharp claws on the end, and a mouth full of sharp teeth running towards them from the school. It was hard to believe that these beings were once Carl and Mister Jeffery. But they were fast, almost upon them now.
"Aleena, wait!" Luke tried protesting, going towards her.
"Just go!" Aleena shouted as she ran back towards the green aliens. Luke was yanked back as Clyde and Maria dragged him back. He had no choice but follow along with them. He only happened to glance back, seeing Aleena fling out her hand and the two large green aliens flying backwards. Each of them were almost flung all the way back towards the school itself. Mister Blakeman, who had been coming out of the building, was thrown back as well. The sound of screeching car tires alerted Luke to stare towards the road. He felt relief when seeing Sarah Jane come speeding up to the three teenagers, halting the vehicle on the side of the road and jumping out of the car.
"Into the car!" she yelled at them. The three rushed forward, immediately scrambling to get into the car. Sarah Jane looked at Clyde in surprise. "What is he doing here?"
"Sorry," Maria said to Sarah Jane before climbing into the back seat after Clyde.
"Someone else's life in my hands, just what I needed!" Sarah Jane exclaimed in exasperation as she got back into the driver seat. Luke did not get into the vehicle just yet, staring off towards Aleena and seeing how she was keeping the large aliens back from getting to them still.
"Aleena!" he shouted. The girl looked back at him, seeing the car just there. Glancing back at the two aliens briefly, she then bolted over to the car.
"Mind if I catch a lift?" she asked rapidly, not even waiting to hear an answer as she practically threw herself into the back with Maria and Clyde. Luke got into the car after this, just glad that all of his friends were okay in the end. As Sarah Jane had them speed off, they heard the scrapping of claws along the side as one of the large aliens tried to smash into them. But Sarah Jane easily managed to get them away from the school before anything happened to them.
"Damn, Slitheen," Luke heard Aleena muttering from the backseat. He looked over, seeing her squished between Maria and Clyde. She was rubbing at her temples, leaning forward a bit and looking as though she were a mix between being in pain and going to be sick. "Why do the Raxacoricofallapatorian have to weigh so much? Ugh. I'm not going to be able to travel anywhere for a while."
"So, you're Aleena Tate I presume?" Sarah Jane asked carefully, glancing back at the brunette.
"How did you do that? How did you throw those things back, and the doors, and the—," Clyde began to question rapidly, staring at Aleena in awe. But Maria quickly shushed him. Aleena looked up slowly, smiling nervously at Sarah Jane.
"Um . . . Yes, ma'am," she answered politely. "I'm a new transfer to school—."
"You can cut the lies right now," Sarah Jane scoffed, "I know you're not a student there. You're not even on records."
"There was a mix-up with her registry," Luke explained, hoping to help Aleena in explaining herself.
"No, there wasn't," Sarah Jane answered evenly, her eyes staring hard towards the road in front of them. "The name 'Aleena Tate' doesn't even exist anywhere on record in London. So, tell me, is that even your real name?"
Aleena was quiet for a moment, before letting out a sigh, glancing at Luke as he stared at her in surprise. "It's my real name . . . I just won't be registered anywhere because, well, I'm not supposed to be. I can't really . . . be traced back in case I get discovered and . . . other stuff."
"Ah. So, then, you must work for Torchwood. I thought so. You lot always are so arrogant."
"What's Torchwood?" Luke asked curiously.
"An organization that I don't want us any part of," Sarah Jane answered tensely, her eyes growing hard as she stared at the road. Confusion went through Luke as he did not understand why Sarah Jane would seem so angry about such an organization. Glancing back at Aleena, he was surprised to see how . . . sad she looked. The girl kept her eyes averted down, staring at her knees, while her posture was slumped as though something horrible had happened.
It was only a moment later that they arrived at Sarah Jane's home. Luke got out the same time Sarah Jane did, allowing the three people from the back of the car to step out as well. Aleena appeared rather reluctant to step out of the vehicle, staring at Sarah Jane in uncertainty. But she placed on an even face, gazing at the woman in a calm, polite manner.
"So, you know who those aliens are?" Sarah Jane asked her, crossing her arms as she stared at Aleena.
"Yeah, they're the Slitheen from Raxacoricofallapatorius," Aleena replied, her voice rather subdued and quiet. "I've . . . dealt with them before."
Sarah Jane began to type into the small computer wristwatch that she wore, walking away from the group. She paused, glancing back at Aleena. "I want you to tell me everything you know. Something you should have done in the beginning."
Aleena nodded and followed along after Sarah Jane. Luke followed as well, still glancing at the girl as they went into the house and up into the attic. He still felt strangely concerned as Aleena just seemed so down. Like the same way he had felt when the kids at school had made fun of him. He wondered why that was. As well as why Sarah Jane seemed so tense and curt with the girl. Was this normal behaviour of Sarah Jane around new people?
"So, who are these 'Slitheen'?" Sarah Jane began to question the moment they were in her attic. "What are they doing here? Do you know?"
"They're a wealthy family from Raxacoricofallapatorius," Aleena began to explain as quickly as she could. "Or, at least, they used to be wealthy. They ran the government there for a while until they were kicked out after an uprising. Now they're just a bunch of criminals causing trouble throughout the universe. Mostly harmless as they're only focused on scavenging. But lately, they've been bolder in trying to gain back political power over Raxacoricofallapatorius. You know about the incident on Downing Street, right?"
"Yes, but what does that tell us about what they're doing now?" Sarah Jane questioned, frowning as she typed this all quickly into her wrist computer. Luke glanced over the woman's shoulder, seeing that she was looking up all this information on the Slitheen as well. Why was she doing that? Was she double-checking Aleena's information?
"Easy. They want to absorb energy from Sun, destroy the Earth, and make a profit out of it all so they can take a whole mess of ships back to their homeworld for another power struggle in their government, hoping to take back control and be the leading family on the planet." Silence rang through the room as Luke and Sarah Jane stared at Aleena in alarm. The relaxed demeanour on the girl changed as she shifted on the spot and tugged on her earlobe. "But, I mean . . . I wasn't going to let it happen. I had it all under control."
"All life of the entire Earth is at stake and you have it all under control?" Sarah Jane retorted, looking very cross now. "You nearly got yourself and the others killed tonight by the Slitheen."
"Actually, Sarah Jane, she saved us," Luke spoke up, feeling the need to correct the situation as he felt there was a misunderstanding.
"Yeah, I mean, she blasted those doors to let us escape," came the voice of Clyde. The three in the room glanced over to see Clyde and Maria coming into the attic. "We'd be Slitheen food by now if it wasn't for her." The boy began to gaze around the attic in surprise, looking at all the strange gadgets that were throughout the room. Sarah Jane frowned at Maria, making said girl blush in embarrassment.
"Why don't you bring 'round the whole school?" spoke Sarah Jane sarcastically.
"If he tells anyone, who's gonna believe him?" Maria countered, waving a hand at Clyde in exasperation.
"And for your information, if I had been told beforehand about aliens being a part of all this, then none of you would have been in danger in the first place," Sarah Jane disputed to Clyde's earlier claim.
"Well, it's not like I knew you were also investigating anything," Aleena spoke up in a mutter, shifting on her feet.
"Wait, wait, wait," Clyde spoke up, stopping anyone from saying anything else, "I've just had monsters from outer space on my back and no-one's telling me what's going—." He was shushed by Sarah Jane, making him frown heavily.
"Right, so, the Slitheen have taken over Coldfire Construction and placed up buildings all over the world to harvest the energy from the Sun," the woman began to speak rapidly, pacing a bit even as she thought it all over. "How? That's the question."
"Again, easy," said Aleena, shrugging a bit, "they've made connecting sites throughout the world in major cities using the subway lines as cooling for their system's output. Each one's connected and when they activate their powers together, then, well . . . out go the lights." She began tugging on her earlobe again, looking sheepish as Sarah Jane gave her a stern expression. "Look, I had a plan, all right."
"Oh? And what plan was this?" questioned Sarah Jane. "How were you going to stop the destruction of Earth?"
"The equation," Luke blurted out quickly, smiling as he knew now why Aleena had given the Slitheen the wrong formula. "Today, during lunchtime science club, Mister Jeffery asked us to solve the problem to their—."
"—catalyst solution," Aleena added, smiling and nodding at Luke. "Their capacitors wouldn't line up properly before. But now they can after Luke and I gave them the solution."
"So, you helped the aliens destroy the Earth?" Clyde asked slowly, staring at the two in utter shock.
"No, we didn't," Luke said quickly. "Aleena changed the equation so it won't work for them once all sites are connected. It'll send a short that will diffuse all sites once they've connected—."
"—rendering them all useless and thus destroys all of their hard work," Aleena finished proudly, smiling brightly at Luke. "So, they think the equation is going to work. Their systems are going to think so, too. But once they do connect them all together, the main site will malfunction and be disabled."
"And you've been working to counteract the backlash of energy during your investigations," Luke added, feeling confident that Aleena truly did have it all under control. But then Aleena's smile slowly faded as a look of shock crossed her face.
"Uh-oh," she breathed.
"'Uh-oh'?" Sarah Jane repeated, raising a brow at the girl.
"I forgot to factor that in," Aleena muttered. She gave her forehead a slap and let out a sound of frustration. "Gah! So stupid! I'm such an idiot stick!"
"Wait, so what happens if there's a backlash?" Maria asked, looking back and forth between Luke and Aleena. The two glanced at each other. Luke feeling surprised that Aleena had not thought of that while the brunette girl just looked completely humiliated.
"It can possibly cause a chain reaction between all sites, making them all go into a meltdown," explained Luke.
"That's good, though, right? I mean, gets rid of them all," said Clyde, not at all fazed by the worried expressions on Luke and Aleena.
"Not without taking out about ten city blocks that each site is located at," Aleena said in a gush of breath. She clapped her hands and had a determined expression. "No worries! We just get back there, and I can correct the problem!" With a quick burst of speed, she left the attic and rushed downstairs. Luke went after her immediately, wanting to help her. He found her in the kitchen, rushing around the place and gathering up different things.
"What do you need?" he asked, wanting to help her along.
"Anything vinegar," she said in a rush. "These guys are calcium-based in their genetic makeup, so vinegar will—."
"—react with calcium because it's an acetic acid," Luke finished for her, working fast to help her along as he knew what she was now doing. He pulled out empty spray bottles from under the kitchen sink, placing them on the table where Aleena had been gathering anything vinegar-based from the cupboards and refrigerator. Together, they began to pour the liquid contents from the jars of olives, pickles, pickled eggs, and even just one jar of white vinegar for cleaning. While they were working, the power in the house went out. Already the Slitheen were starting their work. It was then that Sarah Jane and the other two came into the kitchen, blinking in shock at the mess Luke and Aleena had created.
"So what're we gonna do, just stand there and throw pickled eggs at them?" Clyde asked sarcastically, looking sceptical at the work Luke and Aleena were doing.
"Aleena figured it out," Luke explained quickly as the girl began to hand everyone their own bottle. "We can use vinegar to fight against the Slitheen since their calcium-based lifeforms."
"We don't really have to squirt them, either," Aleena said, grinning as she held a large squirt bottle in hand. "Just give enough of a spray to frighten them off if they try to attack. It'll give us enough leverage to get inside the hidden chamber to shut down the machine and rewrite the program to self-destruct without blowing the entire block to pieces." She flipped up her wrist, glancing at a watch that Luke just now noticed she had on. It was a strange watch, golden around the sides, and the surface was that of tiny planets instead of the hour and minute hands. "We've got only a small window of time to get there before the chain reaction begins. So, we should really hurry."
"The car's not gonna start," Maria added, looking at Sarah Jane for answers. "How are we going to get back to school?"
"We run," Sarah Jane answered simply.
"Groovy! Let's go!" Aleena exclaimed brightly, beginning to run out the door. But Sarah Jane blocked her path with arms crossed and staring at her sternly. The bright smile on Aleena's face slowly faded before letting out a sigh. "Right. I'm not welcomed to help."
"No," Sarah Jane said with a shake of her head. She did not sound angry, but she did not sound at all happy, either. Luke blinked in shock, staring at his adoptive mother in confusion.
"Why can't Aleena help us?" he questioned.
"Because a long time ago I let Torchwood help me once. I'm not about to make that same mistake again," Sarah Jane answered evenly, holding out her hand for Aleena to give her the squirt bottle the girl held. The girl reluctantly handed it over, staring down in dejection.
"It was . . . just a mistake last time," muttered Aleena. "I . . . Torchwood is better now."
"Thank you for all your help up to this point. But we've got it covered from here," Sarah Jane replied, not answering to the girl's statement. Luke could only stare at his adoptive mother in disbelief. He felt so confused. Why would Sarah Jane not let Aleena help? That seemed highly detrimental to their current situation. Would it not be more logical to take help where it was offered?
"But Aleena's helped us through so much," he argued. "Why can't she help us stop the Slitheen? We might not be able to do it on our own."
"Yeah, what if we need her to throw them back again like she did before," Clyde added, frowning as he too stared at Sarah Jane in confusion to her strange decision. Maria just sort of shuffled on her feet, looking uncomfortable. It appeared she wanted to side more with Sarah Jane on this, but also did not wish to say anything that would anger Luke or Clyde her only two friends.
"Because the technology she used to do that will be useless now that the Slitheen activated their little machines," Sarah Jane answered smoothly. She looked at Aleena, seeing the girl standing there in shame. "Am I right?" Aleena opened her mouth for a moment before reluctantly closing it and nodding her head. Again, Luke frowned. He could tell the girl appeared to want to say more. He recognized the familiar behaviour like that from some of the television shows he had watched. Sarah Jane then looked at Luke. "You can stop the chain reaction from having a meltdown, right?"
"Yes, all I need is a cutting tool," Luke answered with a nod. "But—."
"It's fine, Luke," Aleena interrupted him, giving him a look that made him grow quiet. "You'll . . . you'll be able to stop them. Trust me. Besides . . . I'm just in the way here." She looked at them all, giving them a wavering smile. "Good luck. You all will be brilliant. Trust me."
She turned and rushed off, running out of the house before anyone could say anything. Everyone, even Sarah Jane, had not missed the tears that had gathered in Aleena's eyes as she ran away from them. Luke went after her, ignoring the calls from Sarah Jane, Clyde, and Maria, going outside to look for Aleena. But the girl was gone. Vanished into thin air in the same way they had met. And all he could think was that he hoped she would be okay.
XxXxXxXx
Aww, now I feel bad for Aleena. Wonder if she'll be okay. Can't wait to find out. ;) Hope you all enjoyed! Please let me know if you did in a review. Every time I get to hear from you guys, it helps my writing get even better. And as always, never hesitate to tell me when I'm doing bad. I want to know when the story isn't doing so good, that way I can improve. :)
Reviewers:
Aliza Shepard: There will be more adventures with Sarah Jane and the crew. Hope that you don't mind that. Sort of doing some things different with this story as I said before. Sorry if it's not something you were hoping for in this story. :( I promise that there will be a lot more DW stories than any others with Aleena. Hope that you enjoyed the new chapter! Take care! :)
FREYA ASTRID NOVA: I've always loved Luke and am just as excited as you are in seeing him interact with Aleena. They are very similar in some ways, I think. Both feeling a bit out of place and wondering what they're supposed to do in life. Hope that they might have more chances to hang in the future. :) Haha She pretty much is a mini-10th Doctor, isn't she? Maybe it's because that incarnation was the one to get Wanda pregnant in the first place. ;) But who knows really lol. And of course, there's quite a bit of her mother in her as well. It's just more under the surface than the Doctor part I think. But of course, Aleena is also her own person. :) Well, of course, Jack is going to be around. He does need a niece after all. ;) Really hope you enjoyed the new chapter! See you next time!
bored411: Glad you liked it! I think Aleena and Luke are already friends. They just need more time to hang to get to know each other better. Plus Sarah Jane needs a chance to get to know Aleena as well. Glad to hear the heat hasn't been too bad. Rain is nice, yes. Hope you got some. We went through a bad heat wave just recently. But luckily rain moved through and cooled things off. Aleena is definitely the Doctor's daughter. lol Can't wait to see what you think of the new chapter. :)
mjahappy: You're welcome! Glad you liked it. Hope that it continues to be a good read. Doing things a bit differently in this story. :) Hope to see you again soon!
alwaystherereading: haha She does seem to have similar traits as the Doctor. Like father like daughter i guess. lol ;) Very big time skip since the chapter before. Aleena is now far older than when we last saw her. Something which we'll explore later down the road. ;) But yes, definitely more sure of herself. Years of experience can do that. Hope you enjoyed the new chapter and to see you again in the future. :)
N7SpaceHamster: Yay! Glad you got time to yourself to relax and read. :) So glad to see you again, was beginning to worry a bit. I'm doing great! Hope things are going well for you, too! My job consists of helping those in recovery from addictions and/or mental health. Just helping people who really need support in their lives. :) Sadly not much of the Doctor, Martha, and Wanda. But at least Aleena got a chance to chat with Martha. Bad Wolf will definitely be a guide to Aleena in how to avoid any 'spoilers' and such. Also, a bit of a friend to have around I suppose. But yes, there's really not much else Bad Wolf can do or cannot stay for very long. Hopefully, Aleena can start making more friends. Like the friends she had in Hooverville. Definitely, something new I did. Kind of like Hansel and Gretel thing with aliens. haha The fish smell is kind of like a pheromone that the woman produces naturally. It affects other species differently, so luckily for Aleena it did not have the same effect as it does on humans. Flash of the white light came from Aleena herself. She has the same powers and backlash like Wanda. Aleena being so young, there's a lot she needs to learn. Even the Aleena from this recent chapter. And Aleena really is trying to follow her parents' footsteps.
Trying something a bit new with doing the other adventures that take place in the DW universe. I hope that it works out okay. I know most people have only seen DW and not the other alternate stuff. I'll try my best to make every adventure a treat to read. :) Oh, Aleena has really grown since the last time we saw her. Try a couple of decades or so. ;) We'll find out in the next chapter of how exactly she found herself there at the school. Well, from what we can gather from this chapter, seems Sarah Jane had a bad encounter when meeting Aleena. Maybe. Guess we'll find out later. Hope that you enjoyed the new chapter! So happy to see you again, too. :D Until next time!
All The Stories Are True 24601: Yay! Glad to see you again. :) So glad you enjoyed it. Hope you liked the new chapter as well. Can't wait to see you again in the future!
Thanks to all for the lovely reviews! I cannot wait to see what everyone thinks of this chapter. :)
~Tinker~