"Detonation in 55 seconds." Mr. Smith tells us. "You must run. Now." He is more worried than I've ever heard him, which isn't great for my anxiety levels. "Mr. Smith, Stop it!" Rani commands him. "Won't work, he has to obey Sarah Jane. Even if it wasn't actually her, Androvax used her voice codes." I remind them all. Luke and I start pressing various buttons while Clyde tries to reason with Mr. Smith. "Detonation in 40 seconds. Only she can command me to disarm." He tells us sadly. "I stop." Tybo grunts as he points his gun at Mr. Smith. "No! We need Mr. Smith to find Mum!" Luke cries, pushing the gun away from Mr. Smith. "Then do something now." Tybo snapped at him. "We're trying!" I shout at him. "You have 32 seconds." He sounds resigned now. I'm not entirely sure what to do now. "Come on Luke, Asha. You can do this!" Rani shouted over the blaring alarms. "Your faith is appreciated, Rani, but not helpful." I snap. "I'm trying to think." Luke sounds desperate. Don't we all. "You don't have time to think! You're a genius! Both of you. What would Einstein do?" Clyde seems to think this is helpful. "He didn't have an alien computer in his attic that turned into a bomb!" Rani shouted back. "SHUT UP! BOTH OF YOU!" I yelled. "22 seconds. Please, run!" Mr. Smith was begging us. He's started glitching. I stop dead. "Mr. Smith, you're a Xylok, and what is most important to a Xylok?" Luke questioned. It's nice knowing that we still exist on the same brainwave. "I was expecting wire cutters, not chit-chat!" Clyde shouts at him. "Purpose." Mr. Smith replies. "And what is your purpose?" I ask, standing next to Luke. "To defend and protect Earth." He answers, barely comprehensible. "And that purpose over-rides all other protocols?" Luke questions. "Yes." He agrees. "Ten earth seconds." Captain Obvious speaks up. "Mum's/Sarah Jane's orders endanger Earth." We both say. I stop to let Luke finish. "Your purpose over-rides her command, you have to stop the detonation." Luke begs. I hate this situation so much. "Your point seems logical. I will have to consider it." Mr. Smith says, still glitching. "No, just do it!" Rani orders him firmly. "Detonation suspended." Mr. Smith says, just as his timer reaches 1. We all breathe out a sigh of relief. "Who else could talk a bomb out of going off?" Clyde said, patting Luke on the shoulder and giving me a one armed hug. I lean into him, far too tired to deny the comfort. "Mr. Smith. Where is Mum" Luke asks. He's a weird mix of angry, scared, and tired.

Mr. Smith pulls up an image of a spaceship. "In 1947, a spaceship crash landed in New Mexico." Mr. Smith began. "You're talking about Roswell." Rani stated. "You mean that really happened?" Clyde asked incredulously. "Obviously, Clyde. Keep up." I teased him. He did the mature thing and stuck his tongue out at me. So I did the same back. "The US military re-engineered a craft from the wreckage. Androvax had me acquire the schematics from their dreamland base in Arizona." Mr. Smith carried on. I got serious again. Luke seems to have the plan worked out. "She's taken them to Genetec. Of course! Nanoform technology could build it from raw atoms." Luke explained. Oh. That...that's really not good, especially considering that they would tear the planet apart on activation due to the huge energy requirements. "What are you talking about?" Clyde demands. "This morning, Sarah Jane was interviewing someone from Genetec for her article on nanoforms. They're essentially tiny robots that can build anything from atoms. He wants them to build him a spaceship." I explain quickly. "Before the Judoon get here in 30 minutes?" Clyde doesn't seem happy with that time limit. Join the club, mate! "But nanoforms have to be stored dormant at sub-zero temperatures because of the massive energy they create when activated. They're fast, Clyde." Luke says. "Fast is an understatement." I say, pulling an apologetic face when they all glare at me. "Must hurry. Stop Androvax escaping." Tybo pipes up. "Sarah Jane, or Androvax, knew you would follow. So my self-destruct protocols were engaged." I'm learning so much about Mr. Smith today, turns out he can also express guilt. "Yeah, well, Androvax isn't gonna leg it with Sarah Jane. Because we're gonna stop him. Before Captain Tybo's space-plods get here. No offense." Clyde is sounding much more confident than I feel. "The matter is much more pressing than that, I'm afraid, Clyde." Mr. Smith, the barer of goof news, everybody(!)

We quickly drive the borrowed police car to the Genetec building. We spot Sarah Jane's car. Boy, am I glad that she has such a recognizable car. "Look, Mum's definitely here." Luke says, gesturing at the car. "That's great, but does someone want to tell me what's going on up there?" Clyde asks, pointing me in the right direction. "What is that?" Rani asks. I personally thought it was obvious, given the black swarm taking over the roof. "The nanoforms." I sigh. "They're building Androvax's ship." Luke agrees. "Come on, we've only got about 10 minutes until Judoon enter Earth's orbit!" Rani reminds us, startling us into movement. "Judoon will secure building. Androvax trapped." Tybo tries to tell us. "Yeah? And what about Sarah Jane?" I ask, not bothering to face him as I walk. "Humans irrelevant." Tybo says. "How can you say that? Sarah Jane's my mother!" Luke snaps, half turning to shoot a small glare at him. "He's really starting to annoy me now." I whisper to Luke. "Halt!" Tybo calls. I am so tempted to just keep on walking, but the others stop, and so do I. See, I can do what I'm told. "Do not infringe directive." He grunts at us, pointing at the pay and display sign. I roll my eyes at the ridiculous Captain. And these are the aliens trusted with law enforcement around the universe? Great(!) We all check our pockets. Fortunately, Rani and I have enough money between us for a ticket. Once Tybo is satisfied, we try the front door. And just our luck today. Locked. Just as Tybo is about to shoot the door, Clyde presses a button that allows the door to open. Thank You, Clyde Langer! We hurry through the doors.

We hurry to the front desk, where there is a map of the place already spread out. Luke, Rani and I pour over it. Luke points at a lab. "That's where she must be. The laboratories." He announces. "Which one? There are loads, this place is huge!" I argue. "Er, right now, we've got another problem." Clyde pipes up, making us all turn around to where the security guards have gathered. "Er, it's all right." Clyde says, popping out from behind Tybo. "He's police, honest. Evenin' all!" He does a weird accent, like a little boy from the 40s. "You obstruct Judoon." Aaaaand out comes that stupid gun. "No!" Rani cries, trying to push Tybo's hand away. "No one said anything about fighting aliens in the contract!" One of the men whimpered as they all ran away. I honestly don't blame them, I would have done the same. "Come one, this way." I began walking towards an exit.

I got separated from the others quite quickly. I burst into a lab, just as Androvax's tongue flicks out. Oh, why can't I just learn to look before I enter a room. "Well, if it isn't the little genius girl. Not so clever now, are you?" Sarah Jane hisses. Well, Androvax. "Let her go." I said as defiantly as possible, which, being me, is quite a lot. "And let her try and stop me? As if. I've been inside her head, I know everything about her. And everything she knows about you. I could use you...but not where you can talk back." And suddenly the world was black.

Luke's pov: (They've just shut Androvax in the electro-dampening chamber.)

"Hey, have either of you seen Asha?" I ask as we run out of the lab. How could I have lost track of her? She takes up so much space in the room, despite being tiny, how did I completely lose track of her? "What? You mean, we now have to find her, and Sarah Jane and Androvax, before the Judoon get here?" Clyde sounds anxious. I think. I don't know, other people's tone of voice still confuses me. "Asha will be fine, she's more capable of keeping herself alive than the rest of us." Rani said. I think she's trying to be comforting. "But this is Asha!" I tried so hard to stop myself from shouting. I'm scared for her. She's...I don't really know what I'm thinking.

I'm cut off that train of thought when we burst into the main lab. MUM! No, is that...Asha! I knew it! I stop dead in my tracks. Clyde and Rani do too. My eyes are flickering between my best friend and Mum. "Luke." She says, her voice is creeping me out. She sounds...slimy? Mum's not meant to sound slimy, Mum's voice is warm, full of affection, not...this. I don't like this, I really want Mum back. "I've missed you so much." I turn to look at Clyde and Rani. They look as lost as I feel. I turn back as she says "What's wrong? Don't you want to give me a hug?" She actually hisses that part out, her arms raised awkwardly. It's really sinister. "There are more Judoon here now. They'll find you. So take your spaceship, and give me my Mum and friend back." I say as angrily and defiantly as possible. I try to channel as much Asha as possible. She has no problem talking back to aliens, just have to pretend this isn't my Mum. "I don't think so. I've come to know Sarah Jane quite well, and I don't see her as the type to wave me off. And Asha is much more use to me like this." Well, at least he's stopped pretending to be my Mum. And what does he mean about Asha? I glare at him. "How can you do that? Take over someone else's body? It's horrible!" Rani demands, stepping forwards. "You body snatching, alien scumbag." Clyde does the same as Rani, but in a lower voice. I think he's trying to be intimidating. Or serious, they sound pretty similar with him. "We won't let you get away with this!" I tell him. At this, he turns away from us, doing this awful laugh. It sounds wrong coming from...no, not thinking like that. "You're not only little more than children! You are human children." I really don't like that voice. It's now more gravelly than slimy, but it's still wrong. Also, we've been following from a distance since he started moving. Asha probably would have stayed still, just to be contradictory. "You've barely dried off since your species crawled out of the sea! I am a veil!" He announces, sounding smug. That, probably only would have made sense to Asha. Why isn't she waking up? "My kind were conquering worlds when yours was little more than a super heated ball of gas." He turns to face Rani and Clyde during his little monologue. "And all you've evolved into is a killer, that destroys planets and takes over other people's bodies?" Rani demands angrily. "My Mum will beat you. I don't care what you are, she's strong and is going to kick you out." I burst out when I see him turn to Asha. I can't let him hurt her. "You can fight him, Sarah Jane!" Rani agrees. Androvax starts to stumble. Mum! She must be able to hear us! She's fighting back! "We know you're there. We know you can hear us." Clyde chips in "You can fight this alien, you're stronger than he is!" Rani tells her. I walked up to her. "You can beat him!" I'm almost pleading. Please Mum? You have to. You have to beat him. Suddenly, it's like her eyes are clear. She's back! "Luke? Oh, I love you!" "Mum!" I'm so relieved. I do take the offered hug this time. Then, it all goes black.

I'm jolted out of my trance by a tap on the head. I turn around and see...Mum? But, I thought...oh. She couldn't do it. He was just pretending. Hang on, where are Clyde and Rani? Asha's still where she stood when we came in. "Hello, Luke. Enjoy your nap?" He asked, still in that horrible voice. "Where's Clyde and Rani? You better not have hurt them!" I shout, only going a few steps closer to him. "You're the Boy Genius. What do you think?" He asked, tilting his head slightly. He suddenly stops. "Grown from synthesized DNA, the perfect human being." I hate being called that. At least when it's my friends saying it they always clarify that they're joking. "Oh, you were part of an alien invasion. Sarah Jane really has a habit of meddling. Pity she didn't take up knitting instead." I really wish he would stop. "She's saved more planets than you've destroyed." I snap back at him. Just as he turned his back on me. "In time, those planets would have died." He hissed at me. Hang on, why is he sounding sad about that? "It is the way of the universe." He finishes. That is concerningly close to what Mum once said. Pain and loss, they define us as much as happiness or love. Whether it's a world, or a relationship, everything has its time, and everything ends. "Now come one. The nanoforms have completed my ship." He announced, turning to the door. I quickly glace back at Asha, taking a double break when I see her moving to follow us, but still with her head down, still in a trance. It's almost painful seeing her like this. Asha's meant to have her head up, talking back, not...this. I quickly follow her, hoping that if I can keep him busy, he'll leave Asha alone.

We walk into the ship on the roof. It's beautiful! "The nanoforms built this? It's amazing." I say, looking around. It's a coppery coloured ship, the control panels ling the edges. It's an oval like shape, with a support pillar in the center. I start to walk closer to Androvax. Asha stopped once we got inside the control room. "You've got your spaceship. The Judoon aren't going to find you. Let my Mum and Asha go." I try again. "And give them both a chance to try and save Earth? If you think I care, then you're talking to the wrong species!" He moved to another computer. "Why don't you care? Why destroy all these worlds?" I ask, latching on to the new information. "Because his own world was destroyed, Luke." He...no, She said. "Mum, is that you?" I ask. Yes! I knew she could fight back! "That's enough!" Androvax snaps at us. "She knows everything about you. Just like you do her. Which is why you want her dormant." I whip around and see Asha, leaning against the door controls, acting as though she's been a part of the conversation the entire time.

back to Asha's pov:

I may have judged my timing badly. I only really woke up once we reached the ship, but I just stayed quite, knowing that Luke would distract Androvax for as long as he could. I needed to get to the controls, and fortunately for me, neither of them looked my way. "Asha!" Luke cried, engulfing me in a hug. I gladly went along with it, knowing that I might have scared him when we got separated. "Are you okay?" He demanded, pulling back to look me in the eye. "I'm fine, I promise. I'm sorry." I should have stayed with them. I know I should have. I looked back at Androvax. "So? Why did you do what you've done?" I asked again. "He's so angry Luke, Asha." Sarah Jane tells us. "No more!" Androvax is back. And he doesn't sound happy about what Sarah Jane just told us about him. "Oh, of course. That makes so much sense!" I exclaimed, all the pieces were coming together. "That's what you meant, when you said all worlds die. You saw it happen to you're own world. What happened?" Luke asked, compassion coming through. "Our sun turned cold while I traveled the stars. I returned and found my world a ball of ice, my people frozen at it's heart. I was alone, so alone, and I had seen so many worlds that teemed with life, happiness, hope. Fools! I would teach them what the universe would do to them!" He sounded so sad, so hurt, but still so hateful. "You destroyed them, because you were jealous?" Luke and I demanded. "Because the only truth of the universe is destruction! And it's so close again!" He called, sounding giddy. He's...clearly insane.

Luke and I moved to the Ionic fusion bar. We need to subtly remove it before he tries to take off. We see Clyde and Rani run up the stairs, heading right towards us. Androvax makes his way to one of the screens. "It's time to leave." He announces, raising a hand to press a button. He then hisses something at the screen, so I'm assuming Sarah Jane made a comment he didn't like much. "Luke! Asha!" Clyde called, dashing into the ship. "Asha! You alright?!" Rani asked, pulling me in for a quick hug. "Yeah, I'm fine." I promised. "How did you get in here?" Androvax demanded. "Mr. Smith showed us the schematics of this place. Including the door control panels. We know everything about this ship." I tell him, rather happy with ourselves. "We also know that you can't go anywhere without this ionic fusion bar." Luke says, pulling it out from behind his back. "Give it to me!" Androvax shouts. "You can have it, Androvax, but you have to come and get it. Not my Mum. Release my Mum and you can take off after you've disabled the nanoforms." Luke is trying to bargain, which honestly, will probably save all our lives. "What do you say? Deal?" Rani offers. "No wonder she's so proud of you. It makes me want to be sick." And he's stepping out of her. I lunge forward to make sure she doesn't hit her head on the floor when she collapses. Suddenly, an swarm of Judoon enter. "Androvax the ann..." I tune them out. Clyde and Rani are now sat with Sarah Jane, so I go to one of the computer screens. I start typing, slowly, because I may be smart, but I don't have a perfect recall. It would take Luke less time, but I think I gave him a good head start. "Luke! I need you here!" I call him over, he comes over quickly. I move aside and let him finish my work. I then move over to a now conscious and moving Sarah Jane. We all congregate around Luke, just as he presses ends, the shaking stops immediately. "You did it!" Sarah Jane Exclaimed, so shocked, but still so proud. "Oh, I missed you!" Luke pulled her into a hug. "I knew I could count on all of you!" "The Nanoforms have all been deactivated." I say from where I had been monitoring the cameras. "They're harmless now." Luke agrees. Androvax growls at this. Sarah Jane moves to confront him, so I turn away. I feel like this is a conversation that Sarah Jane deserves, but I still don't want to listen to it.

Androvax is escorted out by the Judoon. Captain Tybo turns to talk to us. "Listen, Captain, about earlier..." Clyde begins. Under circumstances, sentence commuted." He grunts, holding up a document. "Revocation of interstellar travelling rights." Rani pulls a face as she takes the document. "What?" Rani demands. "Sentence, confined to Earth." He says, in a final tone of voice. "Hang on, we're grounded? On Earth?!" Clyde does not sound happy about that. "Hang on, who does this apply to? It's just, I wasn't with them for most of this." I ask, hesitantly. I really don't want to be grounded on Earth. "Boys. And That One." He grunts, pointing at Rain. "What did you three do?" I hissed at Rani, who I was standing next to. Tybo places the fusion bar back in its place. "Drive power restored. I take Androvax to teleport. Spacecraft confiscated by Judoon. Humans, go." He said, sounding almost fond. He then turns and marches off with the others. "That's not the only reason we need to leave, Sarah Jane." Rani said, sounding worried. "Why? What's wrong? I ask. "My mum and dad are here." She tells us. "Oh. Oh, we need to go." I say, starting to speed walk out of the ship. We run through Genetec, trying to make sure we reach home before Gita and Haresh do. We do almost run into them, but we make sure we are out of sight when they turn around.

We pull up into Sarah Jane's driveway. When we get out of the car, Sarah Jane starts talking. "You know, I almost feel sorry for Androvax. All alone and so angry at the universe." She does have a point. "He believes the universe is about destruction." I point out. "He believes that ultimately, everything is about death." Luke expands on my point. "But that's only part of the truth. Parts of the universe are dying all the time. Planets, stars, people. But the amazing part is that it isn't the end. It's only the begining of something new and exciting being born." As she says this, the Bloomin' Lovely van screeches to a halt across the road. Gita hurries across to us, calling Rani's name. "Mum, what is it?" Rani says, all of us preparing to play dumb. "Aliens. We've seen aliens." Gita tells us in a bit of a rush. "Aliens? Sir, you've seen aliens?" Clyde asks Haresh, incredulous. "Yes, yes I have." Haresh says, sounding far off. "That's not fair! I've always wanted to meet an alien!" I protest, hoping that my GCSE drama class is paying off. "Aliens, Gita? Are you sure?" Sarah Jane sounds curious. If I didn't know what I know, I would probably believe her. "Ten feet tall. Covered in metal. With these huge helmets, like Rhinoceroses." Gita tells us. Well, she's exaggerating the height a bit, they're typically only 2 meters, but whatever. We keep prodding them about it, which somehow end in all of us going round for a quick interview and a cup of tea. Well, this has certainly been an interesting Sunday. I can't wait to see what the universe has in store for us next.

A/N: Not gonna lie, I really enjoyed writing in Luke's perspective. I do genuinely think that's how fast his mind processes things. And yes, they do both have a small crush on each other, but neither of them are really sure about it. I'm not the best at writing about having a crush, as an AroAce, but I think they would be cute, so that will be staying. As always, I don't own the Sarah Jane Adventures, that all belong to the BBC