There was a terrible noise coming from somewhere that was making a great deal of racket. She wasn't happy. There weren't many occasions where she allowed herself to sit down on the sofa and enjoy a spot of trashy American television, mainly because she usually told Kamala that they were above such petty indulgences. So, when she did give in to such temptations, mainly when her children expressly weren't around to witness her small moments of weakness, it was perfectly justified for her to be annoyed at any disturbances.

"Yusuf!" she yelled angrily. "Are you playing with another of those gadgets that Bruno made for you? Because, if you carry on, the poor boy will be having to fix his latest project. And you, for good measure!"

There was no response and she muttered under her breath. Muneeba reached for the remote control lying on the coffee table and paused her show, turning her head to look across the living room. If it hadn't been for the intrusive noise, it might have been considered peaceful, with everyone keeping to themselves. She would normally say that a family had to spend time together to create suitably strong bonds. But, then again, she did cherish the times she got to have on her own. Her own company was just that good.

If anything, the sound was only getting louder. It was a strange, groaning sort of noise that seemed to be emanating from outside. She wasn't the sort of person to shout at kids playing too close to her home but she was the sort to glare at them from her window. And, typically, such a powerful scowl was enough to drive them away. She didn't know how kids would be behind such a noise. It was awful and twisted, as if something was breaking apart. Then again, she didn't know what to expect in this crazy world she lived in. The latest developments, affecting her and her family personally, had just brought the craziness closer to home.

With an irritated huff, she got up from her seat, intending to march over to the door and give whoever was outside a piece of her mind. Thankfully, Kamala wasn't home (she was concerned enough about that as it was, likely adding to her stressed demeanour) so she wouldn't be witness to what was about to unfold. Her daughter would only lord it over her like she always enjoyed doing when she got to see her mum's standards slip.

Yusuf slowly trotted down the stairs just as she was about to reach the door. "Were you shouting for me, my love?"

"Don't give me that," Muneeba snapped. She didn't enjoy it when he was calm whilst she was this agitated. "Are you behind this? Or is it that daughter of ours, messing around again?"

Yusuf had his finger in a pot of yoghurt, a habit she had tried unsuccessfully to get him to stop doing. He paused just as he was about to lick some off, frowning at his wife. "I know that I'm supposed to obediently listen to whatever you have to say as your husband, but I have absolutely no idea what you're talking about this time."

She flung her arms into the air. "That noise! Can't you hear it? It's like…it's like…well, I don't know how to describe it because nothing remotely compares. It was a wheezing sound, perhaps some sort of engine! I thought the entire house was going to shake because of its volume!"

"I can't hear anything." He was giving her a bemused expression, the edges of his mouth twitching as he tried to consider whether now was the best time to smirk. He knew better than most that it was never a good idea to poke her when she was like this.

Muneeba came to a stop. He was right. At least, he was right now. The sound had seemingly stopped whilst they'd been talking, much to her annoyance. It was exceptionally irritating when it had been happening, but it was somehow even more testing to know it had stopped at the precise moment that made it look as if she'd lost her mind. She would have him know that she was perfectly sane.

"I wasn't imagining it!" she quickly told him before he could question her mental wellbeing.

He grabbed her arms tenderly. Muneeba wasn't able to ignore that he'd gotten the yoghurt on his finger on her top. That would have to go in the washing. "I don't think you were! You said it was like an engine, yes? Then that's what it must have been. Perhaps a car was backfiring outside. You can never tell with these new cars on the road. They're always breaking down."

"Yes…maybe you're right." She was slowly nodding her head. It certainly made sense. She was just on edge with everything that was going on. That was a reasonable reaction. There was nothing to be worried about.

"Now then…we've solved that little mystery…how about we make the most of an opportune moment?" He was starting to gently sway her from side to side. "Aamir is in his room, blasting his awful music away in his headphones. Kamala is…somewhere…doing whatever it is that she does now. We basically have the house to ourselves." Yusuf raised his eyebrows suggestively with a mischievous glint in his eyes.

They were prevented from having any proper alone time by the door suddenly opening. Kamala stood there, hair askew and face flushed, coming to an unexpected stop as she found people already waiting for her. She tried not to look as guilty as she was feeling, her mouth hanging open. But her eyes narrowed suspiciously when she spotted her parents jump away from one another at her arrival.

"What were you doing?" she asked in greeting before it slowly dawned on her. "Oh, hold on." Her nose scrunched up at the thought, bile threatening to rise up her throat. "Come on, guys! Every single time you're left alone! You're like randy teenagers!"

Muneeba crossed her arms, clearly displeased with how the tables had been quickly turned on them. "Excuse me, I'm not going to apologise for finding your father attractive. I just hope that, one day, you find someone who can get your motor running after all these years."

"Please…stop…talking." Kamala dragged a hand over her face as if that would help to delete the memory of this conversation. "And don't ever call dad attractive again."

Yusuf was smirking at his daughter's behaviour, but his wife was more focused on what was happening outside. Two women and a man were rushing out of a tall, blue, wooden box, coughing and spluttering as smoke billowed out from within. She didn't know how a fire could even start in such a confined space. One of the women, a bob of blonde hair flowing wildly with her every move, held up a silver tube and pointed it at the box, before promptly closing the doors. Kamala seemed to sense where her mum's gaze was falling, whose lips had formed into a straight line.

"Anyway, I don't think it is you who should be asking what we've been up to," Muneeba said pointedly. "I know that you have…extra responsibilities nowadays…but that does not mean you can leave your room in the state that it's in."

Kamala frowned. "What are you talking about? What's wrong with my room?"

"What isn't wrong with it? Your entire wardrobe has been smashed in! What happened? And who are those people outside?"

Kamala looked towards the trio, who were slowly edging closer towards the house, unsure as to whether they were allowed to enter. "They're my…friends." That was the easiest way of describing them for the time being.

"Are they superheroes like you?" Yusuf asked giddily. One of the major advantages of his daughter's new found abilities was surely the fact that he could meet more of these superheroes she had been banging on about for years.

"No, no. Well…I don't think they are. We only just met really. It's complicated…"

Muneeba was still visibly unimpressed. "You've only just met but you're already calling them your friends. That is a very American way of living your life, Kamala. Are they the ones that destroyed your room?"

"No! I don't…think so anyway. Everything's a bit confusing at the moment."

"Do they have names?"

"I…don't actually know what they're called."

Thankfully, the Doctor had been subtly eavesdropping into their conversation whilst pretending to be doing exactly the opposite. She hopped up a few of the steps and landed ungracefully by the door. "Sorry about that. We were in a bit of a rush and I must have forgotten to give you the basic greeting package. What am I like, hey? Social interactions aren't really my forte but I'm working on it." She pulled at a few strands of her hair, already feeling awkward. "I'm the Doctor, and those two down there are my mates, Yaz and Dan." She turned her gaze towards the older pair. "And you must be Kamala's parents! She was very worried about you, which is why we brought her straight back home."

Muneeba was struggling to process what the other woman was saying, with her ability to talk at a rapid speed. "What? Why would she be worried about us? Where did she go?"

The Doctor winced and looked at Kamala. "Have you not got to that bit yet?"

"I was working on it!" the girl hissed in response.

"It was just that you were talking to them for quite a while so I just assumed that you would have…you know…covered all the bases by now."

Kamala sighed tiredly. "Ammi, Abbu…can we please just come inside and talk things through?"

"Of course!" Yusuf replied. "Where even are my manners? Allowing Kamala's new friends to freeze outside! Come in, come in!" He beckoned them inside with a wave of his hand, ignoring his wife's look of protest.

"Thanks," Yaz said gratefully. "Though, given where I'm from, this is probably some of the warmest weather I'm going to experience this year."

"Oh, now that sounds interesting! Where are you from? Some distant planet? A frozen star?"

"Sheffield."

"Ah…maybe not as exciting then."

"Is that Kamala?" Aamir poked his head over the bannister, looking down at them from upstairs. "Yes! Finally!"

Kamala watched with a high degree of suspicion as her brother trotted down the stairs. "Why are you so happy to see me? You're never this happy to see me."

"What can I say? You should have seen their reactions when they saw your room was trashed so I've been waiting until you got back to hear your explanation."

"I keep being told about something being wrong with my room but I have no idea what you're talking about!"

She was about to march up the stairs to see what all the fuss was about but her mum had a firm grip on her arm. "Ah, ah, ah…you're not going anywhere until we get that explanation from you."

"First of all…let me get this straight. You saw my room was a complete mess…saw that I was missing…and you haven't done anything besides wait around?"

"What would you have us do?" Yusuf asked with a shrug. "We understand that you're a powerful superhero now! And we know that will come with some unusual behaviour. Of course, we were concerned. But we also trust you to keep yourself safe. We can't lock you away or wrap you in bubble wrap, as much as we may want to."

"I'd actually advise against wrapping anyone in bubble wrap," the Doctor inputted. She lost some of her vigour when everyone's attention was placed on her. "It's just…I've had bad experiences with that stuff." Yaz nodded her head in agreement.

"Your new friends are rather strange, Kamala," Muneeba murmured, unsure as to who exactly they'd invited inside their home.

"That's probably the nicest way someone has described us lately," Dan commented.

Kamala took a breath. "So…you wanted to know where I've been today…"

Muneeba nodded her head. "That's probably a good place to start." She was perched on the arm of the sofa whilst Yusuf sat next to her. Aamir was loitering off to one side.

"Well…there's no easy way to put this but…I've been to…space." She waited for some sort of reaction. Any change in their demeanour would have been better than the silence she was currently experiencing. She began to mess with her fingers, a nervous habit.

"Space…"

"That's right."

"As in outer space."

"That's the one."

"As in…not on this planet."

"Very far from it, yes."

Yusuf scratched his beard. "And how did you get to space?"

"That…is something I don't know. I'm working on figuring that out and I'll get back to you as soon as possible."

"We're thinking it was down to a long range teleport of some kind," the Doctor added, thinking she was helping. "We just don't know where she would have come into contact with one. Or who would want her to be teleported. But I'm firmly of the belief that none of this was Kamala's fault."

"So you're not the ones who teleported my daughter from her home?" Muneeba asked.

"No! We're the ones who saved her! We were just…passing by."

"You were in space as well?"

"Yep."

"How?"

"In a spaceship."

"You own a spaceship?"

"Sometimes I think she owns me but yeah."

Yusuf looked towards Yaz. "I thought you said you were from Sheffield. That's in Yorkshire! I know because I'm always watching the cricket and they have never mentioned a space program being there on commentary."

"It's very…top secret," Yaz replied, not knowing what else to say.

Aamir was visibly enjoying this. "Can I just add, Kamala, that I love having you around and I love your new powers? Because it means that, whatever I do, it's never going to be worse than anything you're capable of. I could get a tattoo down the entirety of the left side of my face and Ammi wouldn't even bat an eyelid."

"I certainly would!" Muneeba was quick to rectify him. "Is this something that you're planning? And you haven't even discussed it with us! What does Tyesha think? I doubt she would have married you if she'd known of these stupid plans of yours!"

"Can we…get back on track?" Kamala suggested before a whole family dispute started. That would take them hours to resolve. "I feel like you're not reacting properly to the fact that I've actually been to space."

"It's just a lot to process, Beta." Yusuf reached an arm out and placed it on her shoulder. "We're very proud of you. But, next time, could you give us a head's up before you go on such a trip again? I'll make sure to fortify your wardrobe."

"You're not supposed to be proud! You're supposed to be confused, like I am! I don't know if there will be another time because I have no control over it!"

"So this isn't to do with your powers…" Muneeba said slowly.

"I don't think so. But it might. They might come with extra abilities that I haven't figured out yet. And that's…terrifying. Because…because…I could have been teleported into space and…if these guys hadn't been there, I might never have…seen you again." She could feel the tears threatening to escape and, not caring about what her new friends thought of her, she allowed them to fall.

Her mum stood up quickly, wrapping her in a hug. Aamir looked suitably guilty now for joking about the events that had unfolded. "Here, here…shhh, it's okay now. You're home. You're safe. There's no harm done. I'm sure that we'll be able to figure something out. I can't claim to understand any of this…none of us can…but we will always be here to lend a helping hand. Even your brother."

"Especially your brother," Aamir confirmed strongly, nodding his head.

"Is there anything that you need us to do now?" Yusuf asked. Maybe it helped him cope with all the changes going on to know that his daughter still needed him sometimes.

Kamala's head was reeling as she tried to recover from the onslaught of desperate emotions. "I think…I'm just going to go upstairs for a bit. I need to see what happened in my bedroom. That might help me to understand some of this nonsense." She slowly began to head towards the staircase.

"Do you want me to call Bruno?" Muneeba asked. "He's always by your side for things like this."

"Yeah, that sounds good. Just send him up when he gets here. He's the best at making sense of stuff like this."

They watched as she trudged up the stairs, making each step look difficult. The Doctor turned to her parents. She'd always been good at managing the families that were involved. Besides the few times she'd been slapped by her companions' mums. That was never a great look.

"Don't worry," she told them softly. "We're here for Kamala. We want to understand what's going on just as much as her. I get the strange sense that that teleportation was a one time thing, so hopefully she's out of that particular danger." She wasn't going to tell them about how she felt that there were only more different types of danger waiting on the horizon.

"Would you like a drink? Or some food?" Muneeba looked at them as if she needed to be busy. "I can't have guests inside my home going hungry! I won't stand for it."

By the time the Doctor, Yaz and Dan made it up to Kamala's room, she was already standing in the middle of it dejectedly. Dan was holding a plate stacked full of food that Muneeba had somehow filled within ten seconds of going out of sight. Yusuf had labelled it as her own superpower. They crept into the bedroom, surveying the damage for themselves. Mostly everything seemed to be intact. It was just one section of the room that was looking worse for wear. The wardrobe door had been caved in, the wood splintered and cracked. It was a labyrinth of splinters as the Doctor moved closer, scanning the area.

"Are you sure that you weren't attacked?" Yaz queried.

"I think it's something that I'd remember," Kamala responded.

"This isn't following the usual pattern you'd see of an attack," the Doctor commented. "And, trust me, I've been through my fair share of them. No, if you had been attacked, there would be more damage. There's no sign of anyone forcing their way through the door or the window."

"Saying that though…I definitely don't remember leaving my window open like that."

"Maybe your parents opened it after they heard the commotion," Yaz offered, trying not to jump to conclusions.

"Maybe," the Doctor murmured. "Something isn't adding up. There's huge energy signatures coming off from this precise location in the room. And I mean huge. Off the scales sort of thing. The sonic can barely cope with reading it. I can't imagine what it must have been like to experience it firsthand."

Yaz was by her side. "That's probably why she can't remember anything and why she was unconscious when we found her. Her brain literally couldn't cope with the massive surge in energy."

"Hello! Can you not talk about me as if I'm not standing right next to you?" Kamala had her hands on her hips. "I'm struggling with this enough as it is. I've been dealing with this sort of energy for weeks now. The experience…it felt strangely familiar."

"As if the energy was working on the same frequency as your powers," the Doctor concluded, mulling it over. "That could be the case, though I have no way of knowing for sure. The sonic can't understand the readings you're giving off."

"Because of the… thing ?" Yaz asked in a hushed whisper. They hadn't chosen to fill Kamala in on the whole 'completely different universe' hypothesis. They felt she had enough on her plate for the time being.

"Potentially. Though I still don't know whether that thing even exists." She winked, not subtle at all, believing that she was successfully playing along.

"What are you hiding from me?" Kamala looked at them suspiciously.

"Nothing at all!" The Doctor didn't want to make her panicked. The last thing they needed was a repeat performance of her abilities like they'd seen in the Tardis. Dan would probably choke on the samosa he was currently making his way through. "But do you have a computer that I can borrow? I just need to do a bit of research which might help with understanding the situation we've landed ourselves in."

Kamala pointed to the laptop sitting on her desk and the Doctor hurried over. "You'll need the password to log in. Bruno hooked me up with the latest security software."

The Doctor simply waved her sonic at the screen and it turned on, revealing the homescreen. "There aren't many updates you could make that would stop me and me sonic. Hopefully I haven't also wiped all of your files in the process. Because there would definitely be no chance of you recovering them."

Kamala tried not to worry about that comment. With everything going on, there was really no time to have any concerns about lost homework. Did superheroes even need school? They could save the world regardless of whether they had a diploma or not. Then again, her parents would definitely be keeping her enrolled and ensuring she missed as little of her lessons as possible. She didn't even want to picture what her mum would be like if she suggested dropping out.

Dan, a mouthful of onion bhaji clogging up his teeth, wandered over to her. He picked up one of the posters that had fallen to the floor in the chaos. "It's safe to say that you're obsessed with her."

"You would be too if you ever saw her. I can't believe that there's people in our society who don't like her! I've gotten into many an argument on the forums because of it."

"Forums?"

"Mainly for nerds like me who are obsessed with the Avengers. We like to discuss what they're doing when we don't see them. Like, what do they do in their downtime? What boxsets are they getting into? The important questions."

"Who knows…maybe those forums will be talking about you soon."

"That's the dream." She sighed happily. It was a nice thought. She turned her neck to look at him admiring some of the artwork. "You've really never heard of her before…"

"Superheroes are strictly fictional from where I come from."

"Your life must be incredibly dull then."

Dan looked over to where Yaz and the Doctor were hunched over the computer, staring at them fondly. "That couldn't be further from the truth."

Yaz couldn't make sense of the screen in front of her, mainly because the Doctor was causing it to scroll uncontrollably fast. She had no idea how her friend was taking any of it before she realised that there was no need. The sonic seemed to be doing the work for her, glowing its usual bright yellow as it was pointed at the device.

"What are you doing?" she asked. She didn't like it when the Doctor went quiet, mainly because it became even more difficult to understand what she was thinking or planning.

"Downloading as much information as I possibly can," the Doctor replied, her eyes unmoving from the screen. "This is the quickest way in finding out whether this Earth is different to the one we're used to."

"I don't know about that. I feel like I can already sense that it's not the same. Like the air tastes differently or something."

"You might just not be used to New Jersey. It does take some getting used to." The Doctor flashed her a quick grin. They were still able to joke around, even when the situation was as seemingly dire as it currently was. That's what made their relationship so fun. "Now then…checking for the latest news updates. Let's see what we're working with."

Some of the headlines were rather tame to begin with, stories that could easily have come from their reality. But then things started to pop out that they couldn't ignore. Tales of strange goings on in Egypt, with reports of the stars moving and a caped crusader flashing through the dark streets of Cairo. An update on what caused the Times Square Christmas tree to collapse, with rumours that someone with a bow and arrow had been involved. There was an advert for a podcast hosted by a man called Scott Lang, who claimed to be able to control ants. And that was just the tip of the iceberg.

"She's telling the truth," the Doctor said quietly, almost dejectedly. "Unless she's hacked the entire internet, which I don't think she's capable of. Then again…she can make her body parts enormous and glow quite brilliantly so what do I know?"

"We're actually in another universe." Yaz didn't really know how to react. "Wait…does that mean there's another me walking around somewhere? What about my family? Do they exist? What about you? There can't be a universe without you in it!"

"Yaz, these are questions that I simply can't answer right now. I don't know how we got here or why. I don't know the truth behind this reality. But I will get you back. I promise."

"Is everything alright over there?" Dan asked them from the other corner of the room.

The Doctor gave him a hard look. "Just confirming a few theories…" She watched as his face fell, realisation dawning.

Kamala looked between them. "Why are you talking so cryptically? Why can't you include me in…the…conversation…"

She was distracted from the discussion as she looked towards the window. There was a bright light coming from outside, like golden flames licking at the window. The Doctor rushed towards it, scanning frantically, and seeing that the readings were of the same pattern as she'd seen earlier.

"You know, it's rude to point at someone you don't know."

The flames died down and Dan was sure that he had to be dreaming. Because there was a woman floating right in front of them. In midair. And they were on the top floor. The woman, her blonde hair waving as if she were in water, was radiating a sort of power that none of them had even seen before. And she matched the numerous posters lining the walls of the bedroom.

That was when Kamala fainted.