We were walking around the wasteland, trying and failing to find another human. "I don't get it." Rani whined. "This is Earth, 21st century. Right now." Clyde said. "Sarah Jane must have saved her parents, that was a fixed point in time and space. This," I said, pointing around us, "Is an alternative timeline." I finished dramatically. "The box protected us like it protected Maria the last time the Trickster appeared, when the world changed around her." Clyde said. "This is Earth today?" an incredulous Rani asked. "Yep." I said matter-of-factly. "And this is all that's left of London." Clyde said. "Where is everyone?" I asked. "Gone." Clyde shrugged. "Not happening. Not happening." I said, freaked out.
"Are you okay?" I called back to Clyde, who had been oddly silent. "I've been chased by Slitheen. I've been aboard a spaceship. I've had a Sontaran shooting at me. I've always thought, I don't know, 'All in a day's work.'" We sat down, feeling tired. I could feel a headache on the way. "Cause, it was scary and brilliant at the same time." Clyde finished. "Yeah, that's what I feel." Rani said. "I just haven't gotten to shake an alien's hand yet." I said in disappointment. "But this is different. We're in an alternative timeline. Our world never existed. So how do we get back home from here?" Clyde asked, sounding helpless. "We keep walking." I said, standing up. "Look!" Clyde exclaimed, pulling me down. It was the Graske, again. "He's got to be on his way somewhere." I said, pulling them along with me.
We followed the Graske for a long time. No wonder he's panting so hard. "Why is he still running round? There's nothing here." Rani asked. "Yeah. What does he want with Earth when it's in this state?" Clyde continued. "Fuel, minerals, gems. Who knows?" I answered their questions. Not very well, but who cares. Suddenly, we arrived at a camp. There were people. "Get down. Slowly." Clyde whispered. We ducked behind a rock and slowly peeked over the top. "Humans, stop! Humans, rest!" the Graske shouted to the camp. "They're slaves." Clyde guessed. Yeah. They are. "Oh, no. No, Clyde, Asha. Tell me that's not her. Mum!" Rani screamed at the end, getting up. "Stay back!" Clyde said, puling on her arm. "He's seen us." I said, standing up and moving forwards. "Deviants. You don't belong." the Graske said, moving away. "That's my mum!" Rani cried, getting up again. "Stop, Rani!" Clyde called. We've gotta stay together, there's only one box!" Clyde said reasonably. "Yeah, but we can still go." I said, dragging him away.
"How can she be here?" Rani asked. "Hey, maybe my dad is alive! If there was no war, how can he have died?" I asked, getting my hopes up. I ran off in search of my dad. I searched for a few minutes before I heard a girl's voice call out, in Japanese: "Rich! Rich get back here! RICHARD!" But the voice sounded exactly like mine. But who's Richard? I ran to the source of the noise. "Oh, shut up Asha! I'm bored!" I heard a ten-year-old boy's voice yell back. I caught sight of the two and had to hold in a gasp. It was me! It was me casing a ten-year-old male version of myself. But that means my dad must be alive! "Excuse me!" I suddenly called out. "Sorry, do you know where I can find the Yamamoto family?" I asked. "Yamamoto? That's us. Well, my Dad, mum, two other brothers, baby sister and the two of us." The other me said. "Why?" James asked, looking at me suspiciously. "I'm from the Japanese camp, making sure that all Japanese out of that camp are alive." I lied, feeling rather odd about lying to myself. Hang on, does she know my tell? I don't know my own tell. "Where is your family?" I asked, hoping that they were nearby. "I'll show you. This way." James said, taking my hand to show me.
"Mum! Dad! This is… what's your name?" James asked. "Niko." I answered my brother. Does he count as my brother? I dunno. "Nice to meet you, Niko." My mum said. "Hey! That's my middle name!" Other me, I'm gonna call her Asha, whatever, said. "Cool." I said. "These are my sons. You've met Richard. He's ten. This is Edmund. He's seven. This one behind me is Oliver. He's four. And this is my baby girl. Her name's Elizabeth. She's seven months old. Do you want to hold her?" My mum asked. My mum just asked if I wanted to hold my baby sister. "Yes please. She's adorable." I said, taking the tiny bundle from my mum. "Hello Lizzy. Nice to meet you." I cooed at the baby. "Hello, I'm Reo. Father of these five." A man, who I had only ever in pictures, said, holding his hand out. "Nice to meet you." I said, shaking his hand while hiding the sheer joy I felt for finally meeting my father. "Sorry, I can't stay long. I just want to know what history you're given here?" I asked, hoping that they'll tell me. "Once, this planet was beautiful. Humans were free. But that all changed when he tricked her." Asha said, taking Elizabeth from me. "Who's she? They didn't say." I asked, dreading the answer. "Sarah Jane Smith. She went back in time to meet her parents. They should have died when she was a baby. Poor woman. She was forced to grow up as an orphan." Mum sighed. Asha looked sympathetic. "It makes so grateful that I grew up with both of my parents, despite being a slave." She said, curling into dad. "I don't blame her for doing it. I'd do the same if it were my mum or dad." She continued. I nodded along, but I thought differently. I don't think I would. I don't think I could. That scared me. "I wouldn't want you to." Dad said, kissing the top of Asha's head. "He came of the Abbot's Gateway and sucked the life out of the world!" Oliver squealed, jumping up and down, proud that he knew his history. Edmund then began sucking in the air around him. I laughed standing up. "Thank you for your time. I won't hold you up any longer. It was nice to meet you." I said, walking away, trying to blink back tears. I felt at least one escape.
I met up with Clyde and Rani. "Asha! Where were you? Are you alright?" Rani asked, seeing the tears. "Yeah. Just met the family I might have had. I also met my dad and found out how the world became this." I said, pointing around. "How? We had to force it out of my mum." Rani asked. "Mine was on maternity leave. I had a seven-month-old sister, four year old, seven year old and ten year old brothers and another me. They were very kind." I said, feeling like I was about to cry. Again. "I've got a plan on how to go back." Clyde said, knowing that I hate pity.
"Are you sure about this?" I asked Clyde, once he explained his ridiculous theory/plan. "I'm just gonna do it the way Sarah Jane does it." Clyde said, walking up to the Graske. "We demand audience." Clyde said. "You are rejects. No place here for you. Go." He ordered. "You have very bad grammar mate." I said. "Send us home." Rani demanded. "This is your home. The Trickster makes this your home." The Graske snapped. "They're your slaves, right?" Clyde asked. "Take rocks from this planet. Give Trickster powers to leave, go into space. Take other worlds." The Graske said tiredly. "And then what? Another job for the Trickster? 'Cause they're your slaves, but you're his slave." Rani asked. He stood up. "Graske never enslaved!" He shouted. "Then why do you work for him? What do you get out of it?" I asked. "Human, stupid. Trickster stole me." He said, sitting down. "What happened? Tell us." Clyde asked. "You! Ha! Stupid!" the Graske said. "Can't be that thick if we got this, can we?" Clyde asked, me showing him the box. "Give it to me. Humans must give box to Graske." He cried, standing up and trying to snatch the box out of my hand. "Uh-uh-uh! You tell us how he got you." I said, as he sat back down. "I was stupid. Should have died. Trickster tricked me. I was in a spaceship, burning up. I'm his slave." He admitted. "But you wanna escape? Be free? Look at this. It fights the Trickster's power. It protects us from him. And you." Clyde said, muttering the last part as an afterthought. "Give it to me!" He cried again, trying to snatch it from me. "So you do wanna be free? Think. We can help you." Rani said. "Sarah Jane, the lady you tricked into doing all of this, she's defeated the trickster once before." I coaxed. "But Trickster find me. I never escape." The tiny creature said. "Then I promise, this time, we'll stop him. Then we'll give you this. He'll never find you, you'll be free." I said, handing the box to Clyde. "Open the fissure. Let us go back to Sarah Jane. We can help her. We can stop him like she did before." Rani said, begging the Graske. He considered our offer while we waited in a tense silence. "Will open fissure." He said finally. "Yes! Thank you!" I screamed, hugging the tiny alien. After I let go, he opened the fissure behind us with a device on his belt. "You! Stay with box." He said, grabbing Clyde. "No. We can't do that." Rani said. "What did you think he was gonna say? He needs a guarantee." Clyde said. "A hostage? No, I'm not leaving you here." Rani said. "Then you both stay and I'll go." I huffed, running towards the fissure. "Remember! The Abbot's Gateway!" They called out to me. "Got it! Just remember Hanna from Harry Potter." I called back. I went through the fissure and ended up in 1951, as planned.
"Right. Let's go." I said, running off towards the village where Sarah Jane and Luke were bound to be. I ran into the village hall. "Oh my goodness!" I heard a woman say. For the first time, I'm glad that I wore a dress. That made it look less weird that a 14 year old Japanese girl runs in to a village hall. "Yes, hello! Japanese person in the '50s, hi." I said, grinning. "Listen, please, it's important. Necessary for your survival as free humans." I said. "Not another one." I heard a man's voice say. I turned to look at him. "I'm looking for a woman with brown hair. Roughly my height, brown eyes as well. Oh, and her son. He's a bit taller than me, looks like his mum, a bit, but he's adopted, and super smart?" I asked. "Oh, you mean Victoria and David Beckham?" He asked. "Yes, them. Thanks. I'm rubbish with names." I said, covering up why I didn't just say their names. Victoria and David Beckham? Really you two? I thought, catching the joke in their names. "Well, they were here." Eddie, I'm guessing, said. He had Sarah Jane's face shape. "Right. Where've they gone? Please, I need to know." "They're around. Said they were looking for something unusual. Whatever that means." He said. "Right. Thank you so much Mr. Smith." I ran off, hoping that I could find them and explain what my family had told me.
"Luke! Luke!" I called, running down the square. There was thunder cracking, which just annoyed me. "Asha! Over here!" I heard Luke call. "Finally! Do you know how worried I was about you and your mum?" I yelled, ruing over to him, avoiding saying Sarah Jane's name in public.
"What do you think you're doing here, Victoria? Clyde, Rani and I were worried about you both!" I yelled, making sure that they could here me over the thunder. "How did you get here?" Sarah Jane demanded. "Same way as you did. Now answer my question. You stopped you parents just driving off, yeah? They never got back in the car? Correct?" I asked, making her look spooked. "Yes, but how can you know that?" She asked. "Well, we may have had the box thingy, was protected when you did the stupid thing, met the family I could have had, who are enslaved by the trickster, who you let out, who explained the situation to me, and promised it to the Graske so that he would send me back here to help you fix the mistake of your life. Anyways, what's important is the Abbot's Gateway. Sorry. I'm Asha. You know where that is, don't you? Can you point us in the right direction please?" I asked Sarah Jane's Mum. "It's over there. It's what we call the arch thing." She said, pointing at the arch. "Of course. Religious sites, hallowed ground. Sometimes, that's where the web of time is at it's weakest." Sarah Jane said, figuring it out. We went over to it. Luke stepped inside and said, "I can't see anything." "Same emission patterns, nothing specific." Sarah Jane said, scanning the arch and laying a hand on the wall. "No sign of him. But I know he come through here! Sarah Jane you have to believe me" I exclaim. "How do you know?" Sarah Jane asked. "Gita told Clyde and Rani, and I met my family, who told me." I explained. "Listen, you called her Sarah Jane. Why did you call her Sarah Jane?" Her mum asked me. "Really? You've been here all day and you drag her into this and you haven't told her?" I hissed at Sarah Jane. "Oh, yes. There! A crack in time." Sarah Jane gasped, distracting me. "He's coming through." Luke said. "No need to state the obvious, Luke. We can see that." I said. "What's that? Oh no." Barbara said as Eddie came in. "Barbara, you're coming back home with me, right now." He said, grabbing her hand to drag her home. "Wait, Eddie, look!" She said, pointing at the black thing. "That thing. Something's happening, something really strange." she said, terrified. "We're going home, now. You stay away from us!" He yelled at us. "I didn't want it to be like this." Sarah Jane yelled back in apology. I was holding Luke's arm to keep me up as a migraine took over.
"I can find the frequency you're using to manifest yourself and block it." Was the next thing I heard. Sarah Jane had the sonic out and was using it to scan. "Empty words. Technology can't help you." The thingy said, slowly becoming more solid. "No. I'm going to send you back!" She exclaimed, zapping, or at least trying to zap, the Trickster. "Soon, all three of you will cease to exist. I will step from this door and consume this world in chaos!" He boomed, becoming near fully solid. "It's not to late. There's only one way we can stop him, mum. We've known it all along." Luke said. "No. I can't." Sarah Jane said, making my heart break. "Sarah Jane. I wish that it didn't have to be like this, but you are so lucky that you know that they love you. But you must do this." I said. "Use the sonic. Repair the car." Luke said. "And send your parents to their deaths!" the trickster cackled. "Will you be the agent of their destruction?" He asked. Sarah Jane zapped him and we ran back to her parent's car.
We got back to the car and Sarah Jane repaired it. "He's right. I won't kill my own mum and dad. I can't do it! He's beaten me." Sarah Jane said, close to tears. "Victoria!" I whipped my head around to see the Smiths marching up with baby Sarah Jane. "If we get in the car and drive away right now, then that's the end of that thing under the arch. I know I'm right." She said with determination. "You can't. You mustn't go." Sarah Jane said with desperation. "We've got to. But not Sarah Jane. Not our baby. Take her. Look after her." Barbara said, pushing Sarah Jane to us, nearly in tears. "That's why they left that day. They didn't abandon you mum. They saved you." Luke said. "And the rest of the world with you." I said. "One thing though. It's important. Sarah Jane, our baby, is she safe? Does she have a good life?" Eddie asked. He knew. They both did. "Yes. So many incredible things, you wouldn't believe. Don't go." Sarah Jane begged weakly. "Got to though, haven't we?" Eddie asked. "Like he worked any of it out. I said didn't I? I don't understand it, but sometimes the heart knows things the mind can't explain." Barbara said, very close to crying. Sarah Jane began crying. "Mum. Dad." she said. "Come here, come here." Eddie said, pulling them in for a hug. "Look at you! You're older than us." Barbara exclaimed, looking at the amazing woman that is her baby girl. "And you came all that way to see us." Eddie said with pride. "I thought you'd left me behind. I never knew you, I never had the chance. It was so unfair." Sarah Jane said. "Who said life was fair, eh?" Barbara said, holding Sarah Jane's hand. There was a silence that was broken by Sarah Jane. "I tried so hard to resist the temptation. I knew the dangers. But I just couldn't stop myself. I had to see you." "I'm so glad you did." Mrs. Smith said. "So am I mum." Sarah Jane said, giving her a long overdue hug. Mrs. Smith then went and kissed baby Sarah Jane. "Why don't you leave her a note? I have a paper and pen." I said getting it out. "Goodbye Sarah Jane." Barbara said, writing a note to her baby girl. She tucked it in with her blankets and kissed the older version. "Goodbye Sarah Jane." She repeated. Her dad did the same, only he said goodbye to the older of the two. "Bye dad. I won't ever forget you. I'll never forget you." She said as they got in the car and drove away.
The sun came back as we heard a groan. "No! Stop them, stop them!" The Trickster yelled. I had another moment of dizziness, so I had no idea what was said until later, after he had vanished. "Where were you found?" I asked, rocking the pram to sooth the baby. That did the trick, as she soon fell asleep. "I'm sorry for shouting at you, Sarah Jane. It's just; you have no idea how lucky you are. You got to call them mum and dad. My parents never even knew I was the daughter right next to them." Sarah Jane pulled me in for a hug to show me that I was forgiven.
We walked back to the opening. Luke was making me lean on him due to my double dizzy spell. We walked in and were met with Clyde and Rani, ready to hug us, which they did. "Yes! Welcome home!" Clyde said, laughing. "Sarah Jane, look at you." Rani commented. "You did it! We did it, the team!" Clyde said. "We're missing something, aren't we?" He then asked. "Yeah." I whispered in his ear. "This time, it stays closed." Sarah Jane said. The device buzzed when the fissure closed. She then dropped it and smashed it with her shoe. "Let's go home." She then said, happier than she had been a few minutes ago. She linked arms with the boys as Rani and I went on ahead.
"Hello, you didn't say you were with Sarah." Gita said, once we got out of the car. "Sorry, gotta run. See you all tomorrow?" I asked, walking home. "See you Asha!" Luke called. I turned back. "Bye." I said, and walked into my house.
an: I don't own Sarah Jane