Chapter Sixty Three
*BOOM*
The smell of sulfur filled the house while Theta ran into the living room and smoke floated along the ceiling.
"What happened?" he demanded as he ran into the kitchen and saw pink and orange ooze dripping off the counter of the kitchen island. Slowly, two small, ooze covered heads rose from behind the kitchen island and the eyes behind the goggles blinked at him. Theta's nine year old son, Cameron, and his nine year old granddaughter, Zoe, were covered head to toe in the pink and orange ooze while tiny puffs of smoke rose from the volcano model sitting on the counter and some of the ooze dripped down from the ceiling.
"Hi, Daddy," Cam said softly as Theta walked closer then stopped at the edge of a large puddle of ooze.
"Um, we can explain," Zoe said sheepishly and Theta half lowered his eyes and gave them a smug look.
"Go on," Theta said with a nod of his head.
"We were assigned a project in science class and agreed to make a working volcano for the science fair on Friday," Cam said.
"We tested the lava compound and it is the right consistency of real lava but without the thermal element," Zoe said.
"We also constructed the base of the volcano from chicken wire and used some real lava rock from your collection."
"We also borrowed some sulfur and brimstone to give it the right scent but the fault was in the detonator. I think we wired it wrong," Zoe sighed and Theta nodded, wiping the ooze that had fallen from the ceiling out of his hair.
"And why were you testing it in the kitchen and not outside?" Theta asked.
"Because Mommy would freak if we got it all over the deck," Cam said and Theta blinked.
"And she's not going to freak when she sees this?"
"We were going to clean it up," Zoe said and Theta nodded, smiling.
"Well, let's have a look, shall we?" he said as he walked to the kitchen island and noticed some of the ooze was dribbling down the cupboard doors. "Your mother is going to…."
"Oh my….!" Frankie said when Theta turned around and held his hands up.
"Love, this isn't what it looks like!" he said as she walked toward them and he felt the anger in her mind. "Right, when I say run, you run. Run!"
Theta headed for the back door but couldn't get the door open and turned, looking at Cameron standing in the doorway. He was grinning at them and was wiggling his fingers. Cameron was telekinetic which enabled him to keep the door closed and Theta sighed, walking back to the kitchen island.
"Frankie," Theta said as his pissed off wife walked closer and she growled at him.
"What have you done?" she asked when a large glop of ooze landed on her head and Zoe and Cam pressed their lips together, trying not to laugh.
"It wasn't Daddy's fault," Cam said, giving her sad puppy dog eyes.
"Then whose fault was it?"
"It was out fault, Nan," Zoe said and stuck her lower lip out like her father, Jamie, did when he was upset.
"See? I am completely innocent!" Theta said with a grin then his face became serious when he saw she wasn't smiling.
"What did you kids do?" Cameron asked as he walked into the kitchen then looked at the ooze and closed his eyes. The ooze slowly wiggled back inside the volcano as he wiggled his fingers and Frankie smiled. With help from the Doctor and Theta, Cameron had gained control over his power and he sighed, opening his eyes.
"We were making a volcano for the science fair but the detonator didn't fire right," Zoe said as Cameron nodded and walked to the kitchen island.
"Let's have a look, yeah?" he asked as they walked to the kitchen island and stood next to him. Cameron looked at the detonator while Theta walked to Frankie and gave her a hurt look.
"Well?" he asked and she looked at him.
"Well what?" she asked.
"Are you going to tell me you're sorry?"
"Why would I do that?" she teased and his mouth dropped open.
"You practically accused me of blowing stinky pink and orange ooze all over the kitchen!"
"Well, you were standing there covered in it."
"And you immediately thing I did it! Thanks a lot," he said then stormed out of the kitchen while they looked at Frankie and she sighed, leaving the kitchen. She found him lying face down on the couch as she knelt down and touched his back. "Go away."
"Oh, come on, I'm sorry," she said but he shook his head and placed a small cushion over his head, crossing his arms over the top of the cushion. "You're acting like a baby."
"You didn't even let me explain," his muffled voice said as she moved his arms down and took the cushion off his head. Rolling onto his side, he pouted with his lower lip sticking out and she moved closer, kissing his lips. She gently sucked on his lower lips as she moved back and he sniffed, wiping his nose on his sleeve. Looking at the sadness in his eyes, she gently stroked his hair as he blinked and picked at a thread on the couch cushion.
"So tell me what happened," she said softly while he rolled onto her back and she rested her chin on his chest.
"I was in the TARDIS when I got hungry. I wanted a piece of that chocolate mousse cake that Sarah Jane gave us the other day but, when I came in here, there was this loud boom and smoke coming from the kitchen. There was this pink and orange ooze everywhere and it stunk. Cam and Zoe stood up and told me what happened and I was going to see what went wrong when you came in and yelled at me."
"I didn't yell."
"Not with your voice but your mind was yelling at me. I don't make all the mess around here, you know."
"What about the vacuum cleaner?"
"It wasn't working right."
"Yeah, and now it can pick up dirt from across the street!" Frankie teased but he only pouted and looked at the ceiling.
"What about the toaster? That wasn't my fault!"
"Yeah, you're right. That was Cam's fault. But he was three when he did that. You were the one that painted the walls in the kitchen with a banana and kiwi smoothie."
"That was because I forgot to put the lid on the blender. It was Adam who broke the dishwasher in the TARDIS."
"When did he do that?" she asked and he gave her a scared look.
"Well, you remember the time we had to buy all new plates, silverware, cups and bowls?"
"Yeah, but you said you were the one that broke the dishwasher."
"Well, Adam was still human then and you looked like you were going to kill someone. Better me then him," he said and Frankie smiled, sighed and rolled her eyes.
"Remind me to give him a wedgie," she said and he nodded.
"I guess we better go see what they're up to," he said when Frankie crawled on top of him and slid her hands under his shoulders. She started kissing him when he moved his head back then smiled. "Or we could go upstairs."
Getting off of him, Frankie held her hand out as he took her hand and she helped him off the couch. Hushing her, they walked to the stairs then snuck upstairs and Frankie softly giggled.
The auditorium was crowded while Zoe and Cam stood at the table and the volcano softly puffed little rings of smoke into the air. Cameron had fixed the detonator for them and a small village sat around the base of the volcano. The houses were made of stone with columns going around the houses and a small marketplace was near the end of the village. There were miniature people dressed in togas and sandals and ox drawn carts stood on the small cobblestone streets. There were also some chickens in cages and some pigs were tied to the poles of one stall in the marketplace. There were four other volcano projects in the room as well as several robots, seven bottle rockets, some mazes, a few plant growing tables and five solar systems displays. The judges walked by the tables as they looked at the projects and Theta sighed, looking at his hands.
"You ok, Love?" Frankie asked as she videotaped Cam and Zoe puttering around their table and Theta nodded.
"Just remembering the science project fairs from when I was a kid. I always had the best projects but something always happened to it. I swear that my Koschei sabotaged them but never had any proof. Top it off was the fact that my father never came but would lecture me for hours about losing and how stupid I was," he sighed as she placed the video camera down and hugged him.
"Yeah, my dad was the same, Mate. He never came to see my projects either. Then again, I usually had the winning project. He would just snort and ask if they had bigger trophies. I told him they did but that was for bigger projects. He was really pissed off when I entered a working miniature nuclear plant for my senior project," Cameron said and Theta's eyes went wide.
"Where did you get the radioactive material?" he asked
"I knew a guy who knew a guy who…" Cameron said and Theta nodded. "Got suspended from school and nearly went to jail. My dad had some powerful friends and the charges were dropped. But, all in all, it was worth it to see the look on my teacher's face when I told him what it was."
"His teacher had a stroke," Frankie whispered and Cameron shrugged. Jamie and Jenna were sitting with their family behind Theta, Cameron and Frankie and Jamie looked at the other projected in the room. He looked at the robots when he tapped Theta's shoulder then pointed at the large robot standing to their left.
"Look at the size of…" Jamie said and Theta turned his head toward him, softly laughing.
"That is getting really old," he teased and Jamie smiled.
"Aye, but I cannae resist saying it," Jamie said with a wink and Theta nodded. They watched the judges as the judges listened to Zoe explain how they made the volcano when Cameron got an idea and closed his eyes. He knew the placements of the miniatures when the miniatures started moving and the judges looked at them then at each other.
"How are they doing that?" Zoe thought.
"I don't know," Cam said then looked at Cameron and blinked. "I think Uncle Cameron fell asleep."
"No, I think he's doing it with his telekinetic powers! Let's see what happens when we set the volcano off."
"But isn't this cheating? No one else has moving miniatures."
"Aye, they dinnae but I ken that Melissa Rogers' daddy built her volcano for her an' Billy Carlson's uncle bought his robot for him."
"It's still cheating."
"Do you want the trophy or nae?"
"Yeah, I do."
"Then let's light it up!" Zoe thought with a smile and Cam smiled back. The judges chatted when Cam pushed the buttons and the volcano started growling. The miniatures stopped moving as they looked at the volcano and the smoke grew thicker, causing the smell of sulfur and brimstone to fill the air. Suddenly a loud boom fill the air as the pink and orange ooze ran down the sides of the volcano and the miniatures ran around, trying to find places to hide. The ooze spread across the village as the miniatures waved their arms then slumped in the ooze and several of the buildings became buried in the ooze. The judges looked at each other then wrote on the clipboards and Cam and Zoe looked at Cameron, who opened his eyes then smiled at them.
"Thanks, Uncle Cam," Cam thought after setting up a privacy block and Cameron winked at him.
"I don't understand why you are so mad!" Cameron said while Frankie paced back and forth and he crossed his arms over his chest.
"You used your powers so Cam and Zoe's volcano would beat the others!" she half shouted and he flopped down on the bed, looking at the ceiling.
"Sis, everyone cheats at these things."
"That isn't the point! We wanted them to win based on their own merit!"
"But a volcano with a tiny village isn't much if it doesn't have a little action to it."
"It's still cheating!"
"Fine, give back the bloody trophy then. It's still going to make them feel like losers," he said when Frankie sat next to him on the bed and stroked his hair.
"Is that how you feel?" she asked and he looked up at her.
"Yeah, sometimes I do. Think about it. All this knowledge in my head and I get sucked into working for the Master," he sighed and she nodded.
"But, if you hadn't then I wouldn't have met Theta, became a Time Lady, got married, came here, had Cam and got reunited with my snotty brother," she said and he smiled.
"True, but it still hurts, you know. Why didn't Dad like me?"
"Maybe he was jealous of how smart you were."
"Or he might have been jealous that I got more action then he did when he was in school. I was very popular!" Cameron said with a grin and she laughed.
"You still are," she teased and he shrugged.
"Do you think I'll ever find the right person to fall in love with?"
"You never know," she said then patted his chest, got off the bed and left the room. Sighing, Cameron looked at the ceiling then smiled, got up and left the room, closing the door behind him.
"So I have to give it back?" Cam asked while looking at the large trophy sitting on his desk and Theta nodded.
"Yep," Theta said, popping the "p".
"But no one knows Uncle Cam was the one moving the miniatures."
"You know," Theta said as he tapped Cam's forehead and Cam sighed, nodding his head. "Besides, it's the right thing to do. Uncle Jamie told Zoe the same thing and she agreed to give the trophy back and tell them what happened."
"You're right, I can't keep it," Cam said when Theta picked the trophy up and walked to the door. Turning, he looked at his dejected son when he looked at the trophy and smiled.
"Cam?" he asked and Cam looked at him.
"What?"
"Trophy or not, I am very proud of you!" he said with a wink then left the room and Cam smiled.