The Graske slipped through the time vortex, leaving no trace. The module then cut out, sparks flying.
‘We can't pursue him,’ said Sarah Jane, reaching with one arm through the gap in the fence, struggling to gather the module, raking it with her fingers towards her.
‘Then how do we get after him?’ moaned Clyde.
‘We return home,’ said Sarah Jane.
‘What? That's it?’ Clyde sighed.
‘You should know me better than to simply give up, Clyde Langer,’ replied Sarah Jane. ‘We will use Mr Smith to boost the energy in this thing to re-open a sizeable doorway between this world, and the next!’
‘And by then,’ said Luke, ‘The Graske will have delivered the device to the destroyer, who will, by the time we get home, be plotting something particularly nasty…’
‘Let's think about this,’ said Rani. ‘The Graske is serving his master, perhaps as a slave, so therefore this Destroyer is powerful…’
‘So you're asking why the destroyer can't do his own dirty work?’ asked Clyde.
‘I was wondering,’ added Rani, ‘If whether the destroyer is in fact the Trickster?’
‘But why would the Trickster adopt a sillier title, when we always defeat him. Never once since we have encountered him, can he wish to label himself afterwards as “The Destroyer”'laughed, Clyde.
~~~
Watching the foolishness of children from afar, the destroyer gathered his powers, and summoned the Graske forth. As the small creature travelled through the space-time vortex, a tear appeared between the swirling colours of the universe, and he stepped through it.
Through the tear in the very fabric of the vortex itself, the Graske appeared before the Destroyer.
‘Master?’ the Graske trembled.
‘Have you the device?’ announced the destroyer in a grave tone of voice.
The Graske nodded, and stepped forward, as the tear in the universe faded and then disappeared.
‘Give the device to me!’ ordered the destroyer.
The Graske shook his head, the tendrils from which flapped from side to side.
‘What is it you want?’ demanded its master.
‘I want…’ said the Graske, pausing to consider, ‘Graske wants his freedom,’ he concluded a moment later.
‘You want your freedom, Graske?’ repeated the Destroyer.
The Graske nodded.
‘You cannot yet have your freedom, until you part with the device,’ declared the Destroyer.
The Graske stubbornly would not part with it. ‘I cannot be certain my master will grant me my pardon,’ hissed the Graske.
‘Then fear not, small, insignificant creature you are no good to me but as a slave to do as I wish, but now your time with me has come to an end.’
The Destroyer waved his hands ahead of him, before the Graske then suddenly disappeared, the device falling from his once physical hands.
~~~
Having arrived back home, Sarah Jane along with Luke, Clyde and Rani, raced up to the attic.
‘Mr Smith,’ they all said at once, trying to outdo one another. ‘We need you!’ they announced together.
The super computer appeared from beyond the brick wall, and a flurry of a breeze whipped up around the children and Sarah Jane.
‘What can I do for you all?’ asked Mr Smith. ‘I gather, there is a teleportation module nearby?’
‘Yes,’ answered Luke, beating his mother to answering the computer. ‘We grabbed it from the site the Graske teleported home…’
‘Not home, Luke,’ interrupted Rani, ‘But to where its Master's based.’
‘Very well,’ said Mr Smith, analysing the device. ‘It is indeed a teleportation module. What would you like me do with such a device, Sarah Jane?’
‘I'd like you to re-energise the device, Mr Smith,’ answered Sarah Jane.
‘Might I ask for what purpose?’ asked Mr Smith
‘To wander the time-space vortex, in search for the device the Graske stole from UNIT,’ said Sarah Jane, ‘…and we will.’ she continued.
~~~
Luke, Clyde, and Rani hung about the attic, waiting on Mr Smith to do his work. Sarah Jane was downstairs rustling up some orange squash, and then produced a tray of biscuits. She filled three glasses, and added them to the tray then, side stepped into the hall, balancing the tray in hands, and making the climb upstairs.
Sarah Jane knocked the door, and Luke pulled back the handle. Making her entry she enquired, ‘Anything?’
‘Nothing,’ he said.
‘Come on, Mr Smith!’ moaned Clyde. ‘Time is of the essence.’
‘Time and Space and matter are not yours to command, Clyde. You will have to be patient.’ Was the response Clyde wasn’t expecting as he turned to Sarah Jane, as she winked at him. He smiled in return, not letting Mr Smith get to him.
‘I've brought you all some orange juice,’ announced Sarah Jane, ‘Oh, and some biscuits.’
Rani was the first to grab them. ‘These are good,’ she said, while munching on a chocolate biscuit.
‘The work is complete,’ announced Mr Smith. ‘The device is re-charged.’
‘Good work, Mr Smith,’ cheered Sarah Jane. ‘Come on!’ she said, to Luke, Clyde, and Rani.
‘Can't we finish our snacks?’ asked Clyde.
‘Clyde,’ said Sarah Jane, sternly. ‘There's a creature out there with a device of an unknown power source, and what will it use it for?’
‘Mum’s, right,’ said Luke. ‘It's called the “Destroyer”. I think food and drink can wait!’
‘Okay, okay,’ muttered Clyde, snatching one last biscuit from the tray, before the teleportation mechanism was activated.
Ahead of Sarah Jane appeared a vortex like opening, as seen before upon the hill, just on the out skirts of Ealing.
‘This is it,’ said Sarah Jane. ‘Are you all ready?’ she asked, turning to Luke who gave her a clear indication he was, with a nod of his head, and grinning wildly. Rani took hold of Clyde, and did the same. Clyde just wanted to get the whole thing over with.
At once, they stepped forward, into the bright blue rays of the vortex, and they were sucked in. Behind them, the doorway collapsed. There was a strange breeze; far away planets, and approaching stars, despite their position unchanged. They were moving with the vortex, until another doorway appeared, and Sarah Jane darted forward. All the while clinging to her friends, who were being dragged alongside her, until they were all flung through the gap of the space-time vortex, and it closing seconds later.
Picking themselves up off the ground beneath them, and brushing themselves down, Sarah Jane was the first to acknowledge the creature ahead of them.
‘Are we interrupting?’ she announced, striding forward, to meet the gaze of the Destroyer.
The creature observed Sarah Jane and her friends as they approach him. He was seated on a throne, wrapped in a hooded black robe and wearing big, black boots, the hood concealing his face, but a pair of horns pierced the hood.
‘Who are you?’ he bellowed.
‘My name's Sarah Jane Smith.’ She triumphed over the creature's dark, evil nature, trying to keep her nerves from showing.
‘Why have you come?’ the Destroyer snarled.
‘We traced a Graske to these whereabouts. Where is he?’ shouted Luke, his mother holding up her hand stopping him from moving towards the creature.
‘He no longer exists,’ answered the Destroyer.
‘What of the device you stole from the Earth authorities?’ demanded Sarah Jane.
‘So you know of the power I possess?’ snapped the creature, hissing in response.
‘No, I've no idea,’ answered Sarah Jane, but then recognising the hatred in the creature, the group moved closer to one another.
‘But now we're here,’ declared Clyde, ‘We will stop you, and don't get it into your head that we're just kids, because we've saved the Earth on countless occasions, and your just another ant we've yet to squish.’
‘Clyde!’ snapped Sarah Jane, pulling him back from the creature's gaze.
‘Humiliation will not do you service, boy!’ declared the Destroyer. ‘Nor will it buy you time!’
‘When we announced our presence…’ began Sarah Jane, ‘did you think we'd come to wish you well in destroying all we've ever worked for, the Earth as we know it?’
‘I knew there would be opposition,’ answered the creature. ‘Those who oppose me will be the first to die!’
‘But what's the cause of you wreaking havoc and revenge, and destroying a planet, because hey, I'm the destroyer,’ mocked Clyde.
‘Is that true?’ asked Clyde.
‘Of course it is,’ said Sarah Jane, smiling at her friends. It could only mean one thing to her as she stated out load, ‘That's the Doctor he's on about!’
‘He is the reason I so wish to destroy the planet Earth, and with this device I can do so!’ announced the Destroyer, chuckling fiendishly.
‘How so?’ demanded Rani.
‘Notice I am chained to the throne I am seated in. From this, I cannot escape this world, and so have the Graske to do my work for me, but the Graske is no longer of any consequence, now I have in my possession the device.’
‘But we still don’t know what it can do!’ stated Rani, stepping forward with some choice of words.
‘The device can free me from my bonds,’ answered the Destroyer. ‘Then with the powers I possess, I will destroy the Earth!’
The box began to glow.
‘You can't!’ shrieked Rani as she rushed towards the creature, to snatch the device from him.
‘Rani, no!’ shouted, Sarah Jane as the creature lunged forward, sweeping her back with the flurry of his robe. The device had fallen from the grip of the Destroyer, but he had managed to capture Rani. Everything moved fast as the others grabbed the box.
‘Let her go!’ shouted Clyde. ‘We have the device!’
‘And I have your friend. I can kill her, if I so wish.’
‘And without the box, you can never destroy the Earth,’ piped up Sarah Jane.
‘Your choice,’ said Clyde. ‘So what’s it going to be?’
The Destroyer flung Rani from his arms towards Sarah Jane and she in turn caught her young friend.
‘The box!’ demanded the Destroyer. ‘We made a deal?’
‘Excuse me?’ barked Clyde, ‘When did I agree to allow the destruction of my planet? You're not that clever are you?’ goaded Clyde, ‘ You’re not getting this box. Now go away!’
‘Now, Clyde…’ started Sarah Jane.
‘What?’ asked Clyde, boasting his own powers, ‘He can't rise from his throne, so he can't even reach for the device; we've won.’ he declared.
‘Oh no, Clyde Langer, you have not!’ was the angered response of the robed villain behind the proceedings. ‘For I have the key. The box is but a tool, and the key to my bonds is mine; now undone, I will first destroy you all!’
All at once, the chains that bound the creature snapped in two, and he rose from the throne, and instantly the Destroyer swept towards Sarah Jane and her friends.
Sarah Jane ducked and dived out of the way as the Destroyer tried to lash out at her. Clyde put up a fight, clambering about, annoyingly, to distract the beast while Luke snatched the chains, which were still attached to the creature’s wrists, and pulled the Destroyer back, Rani helping out as best she could. During all the commotion there was a familiar wheeze and shudder of something materialising before them.
The Destroyer turned, distracted at once to discover a TARDIS landing in its familiar guise of a Police Box.
‘It's the Doctor!’ Cheered Clyde, swooping in under the legs of the beast, swiping one leg with his own, forcing the creature to tumble and fall.
The doors to the familiar blue box fell back, and from within emerged the Doctor.
‘Great timing, Doctor!’ moaned Rani, as Luke and her pinned the creature down with its own chains.
‘Fashionably late, Rani, and Sarah Jane!’ he announced, warm of heart, body, and soul.
In his usual attire, blue pin striped suit, long brown coat, and trainers, the Doctor stepped forward. His hands were thrust deep into his pockets, which were a whole lot bigger on the inside, and his hair was still a mess. He stared down at the Destroyer and frowned.
‘Oh, you did, didn't you?’ he said, pulling a face, and with one hand, ruffling his hair. ‘You went along with the idea Sarah Jane Smith and her young friends could never stop you…’ and he raised one eye brow, pulling another face, ‘Because,’ and he changed his voice as he was now using a rather gruff tone. ‘I'm the Destroyer!’
The creature, while tied down, roared back at the Time Lord.
‘Is that it?’ chuckled the Doctor, almost hysterically. ‘The Destroyer,’ he went on, ‘Never goes down without a fight, but I think there's no call for it. I mean,’ he carried on, ‘I'm here, you're pinned down, and I'm seconds away from connecting the chains so you can go back onto that throne where you can do no harm to anyone!’
‘And it is so like you, Doctor, to do so!’ grovelled the creature.
The Doctor took his sonic screwdriver from his pocket, aimed it at the chucky metallic bars wrapped about the Destroyer and switched it on, once more trapping him in his own palace, and with the Doctor now in possession of the box and the key, the Destroyer was now his prisoner.
‘You know,’ said the Doctor, now relaxed, ‘I'd like to see the Earth forever safe and sound, but that's not going to happen.’ He turned towards Sarah Jane Smith, and her young friends. ‘It's a good thing the Earth has Sarah Jane Smith and her friends,’ he continued, ‘without whom, the Earth would no longer exist!’
As the Doctor sat the destroyer back on his throne, Sarah Jane took him aside for a moment, and asked, ‘I thought the last time we bumped into you, that was it.’
‘Never, Sarah Jane,’ answered the Doctor. ‘I was going on, thinking, I was gonna die. I did believe so, I was told I would, that he will knock for times, but I still don't know what it means.’
‘He will!’ announced the Destroyer, having overheard from his throne. ‘He is returning!’
The Doctor marched up to the throne, hands deep in his trouser pockets. ‘Stop it,’ he said. ‘What do you know?’
‘Only that your time is running out!’ declared the Destroyer.
The Doctor turned away, glancing back at Sarah Jane, and then to her three friends. ‘Come on,’ he said. ‘Time we were getting you all home.’
Sarah Jane grabbed Luke’s hand and following Clyde and Rani they entered the TARDIS.
With a sideward glance back at the Destroyer, the Doctor followed, and the TARDIS dematerialised.
~~~
Bannerman Road was as calm as Luke, Clyde, and Rani had ever seen it. There was nobody about. Even the Doctor had noticed. Sarah Jane was in awe of her surroundings.
Bannerman Road was quiet.
‘Must be a Sunday,’ said the Doctor.
‘Hmm…’ wondered Sarah Jane, ‘A Sunday back in the 70s more like.’
‘Oh, I'm sure everything’s fine,’ said Rani, rushing across the street to her home and knocked the front door, waiting for an answer. There was none. She turned from the porch to Sarah Jane and shrugged her shoulders.
‘Positive,’ he answered. ‘But why is Earth so…so quiet?’ he mused.
Rushing up to the attic, Sarah Jane, the Doctor, Luke, Clyde, and Rani called on the help of Mr Smith.
Mr Smith did not respond.
‘K9?’ called Sarah Jane.
‘Mistress?’ answered the robot dog.
‘K9!’ bellowed the Doctor, and hugged him as he appeared.
‘What's going on, K9?’ asked Luke.
The attic was still for a moment, awaiting his reply.
‘I see no uncertainties regarding anything irregular, Mistress,’ he answered.
‘I think,’ said the Doctor, sounding absolutely horrified. ‘I think we're in danger.’
TO BE CONTINUED
written by
NATHAN MULLINS
copyright 2015
artwork by
COLIN JOHN
copyright 2015