Chapter Five

"What do you think happened to Madam Vastra and Jenny?" I asked, grabbing the edges of a table and pulling at it. Strax came over and helped to push the table back into place. "Do you think it was the Rutans?" I asked, looking over at the Doctor, who was kneeling over something and sonicing it.

"Could be. But I think that they might have already taken on a human form. Rutans are shapeshifters," the Doctor said. "We should check and see if there's any doubles running around. Most of the time, Rutans kill the person they're impersonating, but every once in a while, if the Rutan is in a hurry, they'll let the person live so they can escape."

"Does the term, 'doppelganger' mean anything to you?" I asked.

"I'm sure I've heard the term before," the Doctor added.

"Well," I continued, "Doppelgangers are known to be evil spirits that turn into someone else and takes over their life, stealing their friends, their job, their family, all the while keeping the person alive to feed off them. I was thinking that maybe Rutans was where the legend originated."

"Close, but I would actually say that that description fits a Zygon better," the Doctor said.

I shrugged. "Oh well."

"The only difference," the Doctor continued, "is that Rutans don't keep their doubles alive."

I looked up from where I was looking, a thought having struck me. "Do you think….do you think that the Rutans might have killed them? Madam Vastra and Jenny?"

"It's always a possibility," the Doctor said. "But I think not. Plus; they're both smart. The would've…figured something out." He sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. "They would've been the most valuable help."

"What do you mean?" I asked, curious. "Shouldn't Strax be the most valuable?"

He turned to me. "Well, Madam Vastra has been on Earth for millions of years. The Rutans have visited Earth over and over again, so she'll probably know a bit about them. Strax is too biased. In his mind, all that matters is that they're scum, and that they must be destroyed, what with the Rutan – Sontaran war. He's mostly involved in taking out Karne."

"Karne?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

"He's like the Rutan version of Strax," the Doctor explained.

"Oh," I said, and we resumed our search for evidence.

Suddenly, I heard a noise. The three of us, (the Doctor, Strax and I) looked up at the ceiling, to the floor above. We all exchanged looks.

From the rooms above, a Rutan ran out of it, and hurried down the stairs, straight for us.

"Avoid the tentacles," the Doctor yelled. "They'll electrocute you."

The three of us jumped apart and surrounded the Rutan, arming ourselves with surrounding items. Originally, I had grabbed a fire poker, but I dropped it once I heard that they're electrical. Metal is a conductor, and if I jabbed the Rutan with it, I'd still get electrocuted. Instead I picked up a wooden bat thing, the type that Amy used to knock out the Doctor in 'The Eleventh Hour'.

With the Rutan surrounded, I unfortunately got an up-close of this thing (which I definitely could have gone without). It looked like a green brain made of jello, with lots of jellyfish stingers hanging down. It was about the same size as a full-grown human, and it was glowing green.

"You," Strax said, pulling out a grenade launcher. While I stared at him with raised eyebrows, he took aim at the Rutan. "Karne."

I looked over at the Doctor and mouthed is that the guy?

He nodded.

"Go," Strax said to the Doctor and I. "Find Madam Vastra and Jenny. I can take care of this Rutan scum," he said, jerking his head over to the Rutan. However, it looked really weird, as Strax doesn't really have a neck. But the Doctor and I still got the message.

"He's right," the Doctor said. "We should probably leave anyway, before they blow the house up." He reached out for my hand and I took it, looking at his eyes. I could see in them how worried he was for his friends, and how he was torn between leaving Strax, and finding Madam Vastra and Jenny.

"Come on," I said, pulling him out the door. If there was one thing Strax had proven throughout the series, it was that he could take care of himself. Though it usually included blowing something up, which would probably include Madam Vastra's house this time. It'd probably do us good to leave before things got explodey, and we had to find Madam Vastra and Jenny anyway.

The two of us raced out of the house, towards the Tardis.

...

"Okay," the Doctor said. "I might be able to use the Tardis to find them. I'll just set the scanner, - ah, there we go. It's searching for them now. It'll only take a few minutes."

I made my way to the dashboard and gently placed my hand on it. "Hello, Sexy. We haven't been properly introduced. My name is Rissa, which is short for Clarissa. I was a stowaway on board." The lights flashed, and the ship made a groaning sound. "I'm sorry for sneaking aboard," I said. "But I didn't ever think that I could get to be on such an amazing ship ever again. It was an incredible opportunity."

If Sexy was in her human form, I'm pretty sure that she would've turned from me, crossed her arms, and let out a huff. But she was also secretly smiling.

"Are you talking to my ship?" the Doctor asked, looking over at me.

"Of course," I said.

The dashboard dinged, and the Doctor grabbed at the screen, quickly reading the results. "Got them," he said. "Let's go."

He reached over for the lever, and pulled it down.

"Geronimo!" he shouted.

"Allonsy!" I joined in. I was having so much fun, I almost missed the look the Doctor gave me, the same one he shoots over at me anytime I do something that lets on that I know much more than I should.

"How did you find them so quickly?" I asked as the door opened and we ran outside. In front of us was an old warehouse, so dilapidated that you couldn't read the worn-out lettering.

"While it might have been harder to find Jenny, there aren't many homo-reptilians on the Earth. Well, the surface of the Earth," the Doctor said. "It was easy enough to pick up a trace."

We slowly and quietly made our way to the front of the warehouse.

"Is this the plan?" I whispered. "Just sneak in the front door?"

"Basically," the Doctor said. He took out his sonic screwdriver and scanned the door. It was all quiet, except the buzzing, until there was a slight clink and the lock fell off.

He looked at me and put his finger to his lips. Then he walked forward and slowly opened the door with a creak.

He popped his head around the door and peered into the room. I squatted down, (I was short in the first place) and peeked around the door underneath the Doctor.

The coast was clear. Or, there weren't any Rutans (or any other unhuman creature) out in the open. But the room was full of heavy machinery that the Rutans could have easily hid behind. Companies must use this empty building as a storage room.

"Come on," the Doctor said, his screwdriver out and ready. We rounded the corner and saw Madam Vastra and Jenny tied up in two chairs.

"Run, Doctor!" Jenny shouted.

"It's a trap!" Madam Vastra warned.

Three Rutans climbed down from the heavy machinery and moved menacingly towards us.

"You deal with the aliens, I'll free Madam Vastra and Jenny!" I shouted at the Doctor, running towards them.

I stopped at the chair and took out my Swiss Army Knife. It was something I saved my babysitting money for, because it was super handy and I could always use it to defend myself. I pulled out the knife and started sawing at the ropes.

Behind me, I heard the familiar buzzing of the Doctor's screwdriver.

Underneath my hands, the ropes snapped, and Madam Vastra and Jenny were free. I quickly got the ropes off and we made the way to the door. I turned and shouted at the Doctor, "Doctor, I got them! To the Tardis!"

Then we turned and ran, and we didn't stop until we had reached safety within the Tardis walls.

The Doctor closed the doors behind him as he entered the Tardis. He rushed over to the dashboard and quickly got us out of there, until we were floating safely in space.

"Whew," I said. "That was a close one."

"It sure was," the Doctor said. "I'm just glad that everybody made it out safely."

In the back of my head, a thought was forming in my mind. I remembered how to kill Rutans! Fire!

"Guys, I know how we can defeat the Rutans!" I said. "I have a plan."