The commercial plane descended with a screaming whoosh, the volume of the powerful engines only slightly louder than the sound of the city below.
Meg stared out the window as London grew closer, the hundreds of buildings swallowing the plane in a mouth of concrete teeth. She watched the people below expand from miniscule dots, to ants, to dolls, before disappearing from view as the plane neared the runway.
Her single bag jostled her foot, causing Meg to look down. The backpack contained everything she'd need for her short, thirty-six hour trip to London, which meant her phone, snacks, water, a change of clothes, and as always, a sleek, practically brand new laptop. Meg never liked to bring more than the barest of necessities anywhere.
"Please exit the plane single file, one at a time! Thank you for flying Blink Airlines!"
The overly perky flight attendant hung up the mic and backed to the side. People began exiting the plane, Meg becoming one with the crowd. Soon after, she exited the airport, turning on her phone as she walked out into the crowded streets surrounding the airport.
She loved London, the giant sardine can of people living their own, intricate lives. Something about the hum and buzz of the city attracted her, like flies to honey. London had an aura, one of curiousity and a deadly hunger and mystery and wonder. Meg had yet to discover a single reason as to why she loved the city. Maybe it was the thousands of years of history, layer upon layer, one century stacked on top of another. It could have been the danger, hiding in the alleyways, and underground, not striking everyone, but striking anyone. There was also the diversity, thousands of people, each with their own story. Meg loved that part.
Unfortunately, it was more practical for her to be in Cardiff. Not that Cardiff didn't have it's own special features, such as a giant rift in time and space. Meg didn't mind Cardiff, she just preferred London.
"129 missed calls. 72 new messages", the automated voice sang out, yanking Meg out of her thoughts. She stopped short in surprise, only to hear the angry exclamation of people behind her. Meg's legs automatically started moving again, no longer registering the city around her.
Jack. Something was very wrong, something he probably needed her help with. It probably included aliens…
A little smile snuck on her face. She yanked it back into a serious frown. This wasn't something to smile about. Jack was in desperate need of help.
Meg opened up her phone screen, quickly scrolling through the apps. She tapped on one. The phone switched screens, displaying a giant, big red button. She pushed it.
"Meg online", a tinny voice said in her ear. Two seconds later, Meg's face contorted into a cringe at the overload of loud voices screaming unpleasantries at her. It all muddled together, comments from five other Torchwood team members overlapping.
"Shut up. What's the matter?"
Jack spoke up.
"Meg, there is an alien that goes by the name Skovox Blitzer currently in northern London. We've tried contacting U.N.I.T, and the other organisations, but we can't get through. We're currently on our way, about an hour out."
Meg raised her hand for a cab.
"Where?"
"Harringay."
"I'm on my way."
It looked like the unexpected alien attack had just consumed the remainder of her time, meaning she would save the world from aliens, change clothes, and jump in a taxi heading toward the interview location.
"Story of my life," She muttered.
"What was that, miss?" The cabbie questioned.
"Nothing. Thanks for asking."
They entered the chaotic London traffic, slowly, but steadily moving towards the danger: more than anyone realised.
"Stop here." The cab pulled to the side of the silent street. Meg paid, and the car drove back the way it had come. She stared down the road. There were no cars, no people. She felt a surge of adrenalin and smiled. She loved the chase, the thrill, the adventure. How she could go without it for more than a day was beyond her. The feeling of energy surging through her bones, tingling in her blood. The clarity of her mind, mapping everything out in front of her, putting together every single piece of whatever puzzle, in record time, was twice as easy.
Meg stepped forward, only to stop.
Dust.
It was everywhere, a fine, gray soot coating the pavement, the walks, the gutter. A slight breeze picked up, causing her to choke on her breath as the dust coated her throat. It tasted of gunpowder and ash.
She walked forward, securing her ever-present backpack on her back, pulling her Torchwood gun out of one of the pockets. This little devil easily got past airport security.
Everywhere Meg looked, she saw signs of a battle. Burn marks littered the sides of brick houses, doors hung open. How U.N.I.T had failed to notice this was beyond her.
Her earpiece crackled to life.
"Meg." Jack's voice was staticy. She frowned. That wasn't supposed to happen.
"What is it?"
"Something is interfering with communication devices. You're earpiece is going off the map."
"Can you guys at base pick up on it?"
"No. Meg, I want you to wait. Don't go into the deadzone until we arrive."
Meg reached the end of the street. In the distance, she could make out the glint of metal. A loud scream resonated clearly. There was the sound of a loud crash, and it faded back to silence.
"Jack, people are dying over there."
"I know. We'll be there in five minutes."
Meg sighed.
"I'm not waiting."
"Meg, sto-"
It was too late. Meg ran toward the street as fast as she could, gun in hand,
That was a disadvantage of working at Torchwood part time. It meant she didn't always have a team member with her to give her a hand. She knew it was careless to just jump into things like this, but Meg found herself preferring to save others lives instead of her own. She had been selfish before with her own life, and the cost had been more than she could bear.
Distant screams came from ahead. Meg ran down the middle of the road, dodging the increasing amount of stopped cars. The Skovox Blitzer was climbing over a Honda, with a mother and son inside, both who were sobbing uncontrollably.
The Blitzer thing was like the mythological griffin, except metal and with a death ray. It had green glowing eyes and an eerie robot voice. They had encountered one similar a few years back, but they still didn't know much about it. Meg knew enough, however, to know how dangerous the thing could be.
The monster continued to make a path, destroying the automobiles in its way. Taking a deep breath, Meg jumped almost right in front of the creature.
"Hello there! This is Torchwood official number two-oh-two, representative of planet Earth. State your species name, your home planet and time period, and your intention." She inwardly flinched. Oh, that was too peppy.
The creature ignored her, instead, scanning her.
"Target acquired. Problem solution: destroy."
" One day that's actually going to work. Okay, plan B!"
Meg dove out of the way as a white flash of light hit the spot she'd been standing in. The screams of the pedestrians doubled as the robot griffin marched forward.
"Problem solution: destroy. Problem solution: destroy."
She had to get the thing out of here. She couldn't shoot for fear of hitting the people running around, fleeing.
I need to clear the area.
Meg took a deep breath.
"Okay, people. I need you to evacuate this street. I repeat, evacuate this street."
Her tone may have been authoritative and confident, but she doubted people would listen. They were all paralyzed.
Meg looked around. She saw a man holding a gun, crawling on his hands and knees under and around cars, towards the robot. Ah, somebody that could help. She dodged another blast from the robot's death ray, then grabbed him by the shoulder. He was a tall, young man, with a military look about him.
"Sir, you need to get people out of here. I'm going to distract the robot, okay?"
He took in her tensed posture, authoritative voice, and gun, then nodded. Meg didn't look back. She leaped in front of the alien.
"Hey stupid, follow me!"
She hit the alien with the butt of her gun. A metal clang rang through the square. The creature stopped, then slowly turned around.
"Target acquired. Destroy. Destroy. Destroy. Destroy."
Meg scrambled backwards as shots flew around her head.
"Destroy. Destroy. Destroy."
She noted with relief that the young man was successfully steering people through an alleyway, in a more organised manner than the original panicked fleeing. The street was almost completely cleared, save the young man with the pistol. He was watching her with alarm. Meg sent him a thankful smile, as she dodged more blasts.
"Just go!"
He hesitated.
"That's an order, sir!"
The young man ran off. Meg turned to face the monster, which was almost upon her.
"Target will be in shooting range in eleven meters. Destroy. Destroy. Destroy."
She shot at it. The blast bounced off the metal, hitting a nearby wall. With a grimace, Meg backed up and switched to lethal. It may have been here for an unidentified reason, but her first job was protecting Earth, not sparing killer mythological robots.
Her phone vibrated. Meg dodged another blast, then picked it up, sparing it a quick glance. Harkness. Her voice was strained when she answered.
"I'm somewhat busy."
"You're welcome for getting through the Blitzer's highly advanced communication marring device in order to help your sorry little backside," Jack replied snarkily.
"Thanks. Now I have a squeaky little voice yelling at me through a primitive device. Why aren't you using the earpiece?" She made no effort to hide the sarcasm and annoyance in her tone. Meg may be good at multitasking, but she could only do so many things at once.
Jack ignored the question.
"Once it locks onto you," he told her insistently, "it will stop at nothing to destroy you."
"Destroy. Destroy. Destroy," the monster repeated, as if confirming his point.
Meg felt a burning sensation as the gun in her hands was obliterated. Great. Now she didn't have a weapon.
"Look, I appreciate the tips and all," she said into the phone, "but why don't you get your backside over here and actually help?"
"I'll be right there. Just distract it."
Meg groaned. Jack was about to say something else, but she turned off the phone and tucked it in her backpack.
"Destroy. Destroy. Destroy."
She began to run, zigzagging around the few remaining cars that the Skovox Blitzer hadn't destroyed. She paused to take her breath, sheltering behind a minivan. The Blitzer began scanning.
There was a whimper, coming from the car. She froze. It was a child. A small toddler, strapped in a car seat, in the back of the car. Who, with any bit of humanity, would leave their child alone?
Meg realised with no small amount of guilt that the child's parents had probably died earlier. This changed everything. People had died because Meg hadn't stopped the monster in time. The least she could do was save the child.
Jack ran into the street, holding two guns. Bless him. Just in time.
Meg stuck her head into the car and unbuckled the child, who stared back at her with big, blue eyes. Meg clutched her close to her chest, shielding her from the Skovox Blitzer.
The monster had found them. Meg had stopped referring to it as alien the second she heard the child. It was a monster now and would feel Meg's vengeance.
"Destroy. Destroy. Destroy."
She dodged the blasts, running towards Jack.
"Get the girl! Get the girl!"
Jack's eyes widened when he saw the child. Before he could process what was happening, the baby had been thrust into his hands, replacing the Torchwood guns. Meg turned both on lethal, and ran towards the Blitzer.
"Get her to safety, Jack."
She moved quickly, hoping Harkness would comply, ignoring the pain flaring in her chest and her ragged breath. The Skovox Blitzer followed, still screeching it's battle cry.
Meg knew it was very stupid to be the one destroying the Blitzer. Jack probably knew plenty more about the monster's weaknesses. He'd be very irritated that she'd not only disobeyed orders once, but twice. But Meg felt like she owed it to the ones who had died. Jack had plenty of choices to provide justice to those who had died suddenly, in fear, and without help. Some little voice inside of her, the unsensible, dramatic, easily provoked one, demanded she do something about it.
Then again, there was also the whole immortal thing. She remembered the time she'd figured that out.
"You can't just jump off a building."
"Or can I?"
"No you won't. You won't survive. Nobody could."
Oh, the smug look on his face when he mentioned the whole-
A blast destroyed the vehicle Meg had taken shelter behind. She took off running for an alleyway.
Right, she reminded herself sternly, don't get distracted while fighting killer robots.
The Skovox Blitzer appeared in the face of the alleyway. Its red eyes gleamed menacingly as it grew closer. It wouldn't miss this shot.
The rough texture of a brick wall met her back. Meg's stomach dropped as she realised: there was no way out.
The metal beast grew closer. Meg backed away, gaze unwavering. The silence was deafening in a way it had never been before, each moment like an eternity.
"Destroy. Destroy. Destroy." The Blitzer was within range.
Time seemed to slow down, the bolt moving at what felt like a snail's pace. Jack appeared in the alleyway, hands clenched tightly, a stormy look on his face. It transformed into one of horror. At the same time, Meg felt a blistering heat behind her, as the at one moment solid wall transformed into a vacuum. She saw a golden light wrap around her body as her feet lifted off the ground.
The blast, which was inches from her face, split into a fireworks of sparks. The alleyway, with Jack's face in the distance, faded away. Meg watched the Blitzer jump in with an angry snarl, only for him to disappear down another… tunnel? The golden light had formed some type of writhing, flowing tunnel, with branches to the side.
Whether it was an eternity, or a split second, Meg would never know. It felt like both. It ended when a loud crack split her ears and reverberated her very atoms. Everything turned white. Then she was falling, falling, falling…
Smack.