The Temptation of Sarah Jane Smith
Shopping centre...
A bespectacled young boy runs out of a wibbly energy fissure into an empty clothes shop, then into the mall proper.
"Hey! Wait! Stop!" Nora said.
The boy runs.
"Get after him! Shout at him, brilliant!" Rani said.
"That's not a good plan." Ren said.
Clyde, Rani, Ren, and Nora chase the boy while Sarah Jane continues her scan.
"Got anything?" Jaune asked.
"Got it! In there." Sarah Jane said.
Street...
"Stop! Please, I can help you! Please!" Rani said.
Clyde cuts the boy off and grabs him, "It's okay. You're safe. You're safe."
Empty shop...
"A time fissure. We're staring into time. It's beautiful." Luke said.
"That kid, that poor kid, went through the rift of time. And he ended up here. In the fall of 2009. It happened before. Missing people. Lost in time. Like those group of people. That ended up in Cardiff 2007. They came from 1953. Diane Holmes, Emma-Louise Cowell, and John Ellis." Jared said, thinking of how Owen Harper was close to Diane Holmes. "Torchwood Three bonded with them. It was a bittersweet adventure for them. I cried a bit when watching it on TV."
"Jared, if we stepped through there. We could travel in time. Like the good old days. Right?" Ruby asked, grabbing Jared's hand.
"It's not safe." Jaune said. "We don't know where or when we'll end up."
"Jaune's right. We can't go through." Sarah Jane said. "We'll send the kid back home then I'll use the Converter to reduce the energy ratio and close the gap, I hope."
"It's like you have a time rift repair kit!" Ruby said, happily.
"Yup, she does." Jared said, smiling. "Exactly like that. And I bend time a little so I can have my friends with me."
Clyde, Rani, Ren, and Nora return with the boy.
"Jared! Sarah Jane! We got him!" Nora said, happily. "It took a while. And a four way corner."
"What's going on?" Oscar asked.
"Don't worry, everything will be okay." Ren said.
"Hi." Ruby said, walking towards Oscar. "What's your name?"
"Oscar. Who are you lot? Where am I?" Oscar asked.
"Don't worry about that. You're going home, Oscar. Just step through. You'll be safe. There's nothing to be scared of." Sarah Jane said.
"Go through. I promise you'll be safe." Rani said.
"No. I'm scared." Oscar said.
"Luke." Sarah Jane said, handing the gizmo to Luke then take's Oscar's hand.
"Come on, you guys!" Jared said, grabbing Ruby's hand and Jaune's hand. "Oscar, everything is gonna be okay. I promise. Back in two minutes! Geronimo!"
(Jared's POV)
Field...
"A long way from Beacon." Ruby said, looking at an old stone tower nearby and a village down the hill.
"Yeah." Jaune said.
"Totally." I said, smiling. "I love this. Seeing all of these places with you."
"Oscar, this is your home." Ruby said. "Right?"
"Yes. I was just going for a walk and suddenly I was in that strange place." Oscar said.
"Forget it ever happened. Forget us. Okay?" Sarah Jane asked, turning back with Ruby, Jaune, and I as a cock crows.
"Son of a..." I said, seeing a milestone - which ought to be by at least a track - that says Foxgrove 1 mile. "This day. I have to get through it. I know I can. It's not that big of a deal."
"No, it can't be. What's the name of that place?" Sarah Jane asked.
"Foxgrove. It's where I live." Oscar said.
"What year is this? Please, tell me the date."
"It's 1951. July 1951."
"No. Go, go, go!" Sarah Jane said, and Oscar runs off.
"No, I did this way back when Rose tried to save her dad. It backfired immensely when Reapers came. I tried to save Penny and Pyrrha the same way but the Fall of Beacon still happened." I said, looking between Ruby and Jaune. "Third time is not the charm. Come on, we're getting out of here, Sarah, Ruby, and Rose."
Sarah Jane takes a final backwards look before going through the rift with Ruby, Jaune, and I, which then closes.
"Did I do it properly, sir?" Oscar asked.
A black mist solidifies into a cloaked figure with just a mouth full of pointed teeth.
"You did it beautifully. Soon I will do battle once more with Sarah Jane Smith. And I'll battle with Jared Shay for the first time. One of my Brigade may have failed. They will return here. The one time and place that they cannot resist. And this time, the triumph shall be mine! Bwahahahahaha!" The Trickster said.
Empty shop...
"How did it go?" Ren asked. "Did everything turn out okay?"
"Yeah, it did." I said, smiling. "We sent Oscar home. There's nothing to worry about, Ren."
"Are you okay?" Nora asked.
"Yeah, I'm fine." I said, grabbing Ruby's hand. "Why shouldn't I be?"
"Ren, Nora." Jaune said. "Drop it."
"What's on the other side of that?" Clyde asked.
"Yeah, what was it like? Did you see anything?" Rani asked.
"Nothing much. This place used to be countryside. Right. Better close it up." Sarah Jane said.
"We could go through there, into another time. We might never get the chance again."
"Can't we just have a look? Five minutes?" Clyde asked.
"No Clyde, it's too dangerous." I said, walking towards Clyde. "Have you not seen Back to the Future? One tiny change and it has terrible consequences. I know from experience, because I changed some things along the way. And look at the hell I brought to this universe. Witches, Familiars, Uwasa, Rumors, the Walpurgisnacht. And guess what else, Noise, Autoscorers, the Lunar Attack, the Frontier Incident, Shem-ha. I then find out the Marvel Cinematic Universe is a thing too. The answer is no."
"Sarah Jane, Jared, Team RNJR, you lot have travelled through time in the Tardis." Rani said.
"With the Doctor, who knew what he was doing, most of the time. This is different, and I'm closing it up, forever." Sarah Jane said, and the rift vanishes. "Job done. Let's go home."
Outside Sarah Jane's home...
"Ren, Nora." I said, looking at Flower Power. "Stay with Rani."
"Why?" Nora asked. "Don't you want us with you?"
"I do, it's just..."
"Complicated." Ren said. "Right. You get some sleep with Ruby and Jaune."
I entered the house as I'm in a concerned mood and I feel a lot of grief kicking in knowing how tomorrow will turn out.
"No good at hiding how they feel, do they?" Luke asked.
"They said they were fine." Nora said, smiling.
"Mum and Jared spent the whole ride back staring ahead, not saying anything. Mum didn't even complain when Steve Wright came on the radio."
"Yeah, not even when he played the Hoosiers." Clyde said.
"And Jared, he was blaring I Burn, Armed and Ready, and Ignite." Ren said. "On the radio. While he was driving us back here on a SUV. That he rented from UNIT."
"That means Jared's pissed and worried about something. He must have gathered a good amount of guilt." Nora said. "Why didn't he ask us to help him?"
"Something happened when they went back in time." Rani said.
"And it's up to you, my young padawans, to find out the whole story." Clyde said.
"Ciao." Rani said, walking to her house with Ren and Nora. "Let's go, Ren and Nora."
Attic...
"The energy spike now registers minimal activity, Sarah Jane, Jared. The fissure is no longer active." Mr Smith said.
"That's good." I said, sipping on some bubble tea. "Can you give us the information on Foxgrove? Within the last century. It's a village. Somewhere in the UK. Don't know much about it, actually."
"The village of Foxgrove was sited here. It was mainly noted for the ruins of a Cistercian abbey. The entire village was demolished in 1964 to make way for an A road. The area now comprises housing on the edges of the Broughton New Town." Mr Smith said.
"It's right there. Oh, why didn't I realise?" Sarah Jane asked.
"Because you were being slow. And I was putting the burden onto myself." I said, standing up from where I was sitting. "Sorry. Sarah, I'm not looking forward to this adventure."
"What's wrong with this one? Aren't you happy most of the time?"
"Yes. Nowadays. But why here? And why now? When I brought Team RNJR to hang out with."
"I'm sorry, Sarah Jane, Jared, I don't understand your questions." Mr Smith said.
"Jared and I were talking with each other. About things." Sarah Jane said.
"I see. Sorry I spoke. Sarah Jane, Jared, forgive me, but is there anything else I can help you with?"
"No, thanks."
"Nope, I'm good." I said, finishing up the Piña Colada Bubble Tea. "Don't need anything else."
"Are you sure?" Mr Smith asked. "Both of you?"
"Positive." Sarah Jane said.
"I've got Ruby and Jaune. There's nothing to worry about." I said, smirking.
"Goodbye for now."
Mister Smith goes back into the fireplace.
Sarah Jane takes an old picture from a drawer, "Oh no, you don't, my girl. I can't, I mustn't, and I won't."
"I'm not doing the charm the third time." I said looking over at Sarah Jane. "I've done it twice already. The second time went worse than the first time."
"I know." Sarah Jane said.
"You okay?" Ruby asked, entering the attic with Jaune.
"Yeah." I said, smiling.
"No, you're not." Jaune said. "We know that face. It's the one where you're trying to hide that you're worried."
"Mum? Jared? What's the matter?" Luke asked, entering the attic behind Ruby and Jaune.
"We're fine. We're fine. Why is everybody asking us if there's anything wrong? Rani, you, Ruby, Jaune, even the computer." Sarah Jane said.
"I've got to say, Mum, Jared, you're very, very unconvincing." Luke said.
"Oh. It's that bad? Oh, Luke. I'm sorry." Sarah Jane said.
Ruby takes the photograph, "Who are they?"
"It's the people I wanted to save next. For a long time. After Penny and Pyrrha. I got lucky with Donna." I said, sadly. "Like really lucky. With some help of course. I didn't want to lose my super temp. But this, it hit close to home for me again."
"That's because it affects you Jared, and Ruby Rose in a way. In terms of not knowing some of your loved ones properly. This is Barbara and Eddie Smith. My mum and dad." Sarah Jane said.
Lounge...
"They died when you were just a baby. What happened?" Ruby asked. "Really?"
"We lived in a village called Foxgrove. That's where I was born. One afternoon in August 1951, they got in their car, drove off, and they never came back." Sarah Jane said.
"Was there an accident?" Jaune asked.
"A tractor had broken down in the lane. They went straight into it."
"You got out okay." Luke said.
"I wasn't with them. They left me behind, in my pram, at the side of the road, alone."
"They must have had a reason."
"They left a three month baby on its own." I said, letting out a sigh. "And it hurts. It hurts walking to my aunt's grave. And I get all depressed whenever I walk with Ruby to her mom's grave."
"So Mum, your Aunt Lavinia brought you up?" Luke asked.
"Dad's sister, the family genius. She did the best she could, but she was always so busy. Never in one place long enough to lick a stamp. She always said my mum and dad were the best parents in the world. But I couldn't help thinking, was she covering up for them? Because that day they just upped and left their baby alone. Left me behind." Sarah Jane said.
"Where were they going in the car?" Ruby asked. "Was it somewhere cool? Somewhere cute? Where?"
"Nobody knew. They just took off. I've never told anybody this. Not even the Doctor. Only Jared knew, because he watched my show on the telly. He forgot about it since it hurt him and it was a bit similar as to how he lost his aunt when he was a child. All these years I tried to forget, more so than Jared, to pretend it didn't matter, and then today we found that time fissure. It leads right there, to Foxgrove, July 1951. A month before they died. I actually saw the village. My mum and dad, they're down there."
"You want to go back. Well, why not? Just for a moment, just to see them." Luke said.
"We can't! Stepping back in time, into your own past, is so dangerous. And think about it. It's all too convenient. It could be a trap." Sarah Jane said.
"It definitely felt like a trap when I was able to go back to the Fall of Beacon easily." I said, kicking my foot back and forth. "Like, I was crossing into my own past. Thank god the academy was huge so I could avoid myself as much as possible."
"Or it could be a coincidence." Jaune said.
"It has to be a trap." Ruby said. "It must be. I would easily want to go see my mom again. Yang wants to find out what happened to her mom. That's why we shouldn't go."
"Somebody's been very clever. But not clever enough. They've put the idea in my head, in Jared's head, and in Ruby's head, put the bait on the hook. But this one's not biting. We're strong enough to say no." Sarah Jane said.
Attic...
Sarah Jane gets out some old clothes, and eventually settles on a pink outfit, "I must be out of my mind."
I found a nice 50s Black Red Rose Taffeta Full Skirt Tea Length Party Dress for Ruby Rose, and the silver eyed girl then placed her belt on it, so she can still have Crescent Rose on her.
I gave Jaune Arc a nice suit and tie that fits the time period, and I decided to go with a leather jacket and a t-shirt underneath since it fits the 50s so well.
Front door...
"Mum? Jared? I know where you're going, and I'm coming with you guys." Luke said.
"No, I'm not letting you risk coming with us." I said, wearing the nice comfortable leather jacket. "You don't even have weapons. Or at least a form of protection, Luke."
"I just want to make sure the four of you are all right." Luke said.
"Oh, Luke." Ruby said, frowning. "You remind me so much of Jaune."
"I'm right here." Jaune said.
"Not a school night either, is it?" Luke asked.
"We'll go straight there, straight back and we won't tell anybody." Jaune said. "That'll keep Sarah Jane, Jared, and Ruby from temptations."
"Where'd you get the clothes?" Luke asked.
"Back of my wardrobe. Simple, classic, it'll do the job." Sarah Jane said.
"Kanoko made these for me, Ruby, and Jaune. Right down to the specifications I requested." I said, smiling. "Like, she made outfits for Karin's play. They looked cute in them from the pictures Kaede took. I paid her back in Grief Seeds. For this simple request."
"Mum, you used to wear that? Seriously?" Luke asked.
"Luke, the Fifties came back in the Seventies. Back home, the Eighties came back in the Two Thousands. Hell, the Eighties and the Nineties came back in the Twenty Tens. At the same time." I said, laughing a lot. "Stranger Things, that's one hell of a show, Mike and Eleven. Lucas and Max. Dustin and Suzie. The Upside Down."
Empty shop...
Opening up the fissure.
"We can still change our minds. We can still walk away. I could meet myself as a baby, that's so dangerous. If I touched her there could be a huge explosion." Sarah Jane said.
"No, that'll cause Reapers to appear. And it goes after the oldest thing or structure." I said, recalling Father's Day. "I can't let that happen at all cost."
"But you know that, so you won't. It's your choice. It's only dangerous to go back in time if you change something, and the three of you are not going to." Luke said.
"What would you do?" Sarah Jane asked, looking at Luke, Jaune, Ruby, and I.
"Well, I'd go. Hell, I went back to the Fall of Beacon to change things. It backfired. But at least I tried." I said, happily. "I managed to at least see Penny and Pyrrha again before that version of me died. Yet somehow I came back afterwards. Don't know why though."
"Any normal person would go." Jaune said. "If I was able to see Pyrrha again, and save her. I would."
"I think even I'm normal enough to know that." Luke said.
"And if it is a trap, this is the only way to find out who's behind it. That sounds like a good, rational reason I can give myself, anyway." Sarah Jane said.
"There you go." Ruby said. "We're in this together, right?"
"Thank you. You know something? You're brilliant. The fissure should stay open for about an hour, but I'll be back before then." Sarah Jane said, going through to the past.
Ruby activated her semblance and turned herself into rose petals and she carried Jaune and I through the portal.
"Mum, Jared, Ruby, Jaune, it's closing. No! Mum!" Luke said, diving through the small hole before it shuts completely.
"Yes! The trap is closing! Bwahahahaha!" The Trickster said.
Field...
"Luke! The hell were you thinking?" I asked, looking at Luke.
"I had to come though. It was closing up, I had no choice. It's gone! Mum. Jared." Luke said.
"Don't panic. Give me the Converter. It's okay. Time fissures, they can be erratic. But it's still active. I can open it again. We can get back." Sarah Jane said.
"We're back in time. 1951. It's incredible. It's daytime."
"Yup, time travel at its finest." I said, grabbing Ruby's hand. "It's beyond jet lag. And I used to fly a ton back in the day."
"The village." Jaune said. "It's not overrun with Grimm. Since those don't exist here."
"Luke, you should go back. Mind you, every time I use this, it weakens the link. Well, now you're here, you might as well come with us." Sarah Jane said.
"Is that okay?" Luke asked.
"You're part of the family too, aren't you?" Sarah Jane asked.
"Come on, Luke." I said, smiling, as we walked down the hill. "It's the 1950s. I'm thinking of playing a song here. That'll be 58 years too early."
"She did it." Oscar said. "Sarah Jane did it. And Ruby, Jaune, and Jared will be as tempted as her."
(Open POV)
Outside Sarah Jane's home...
"They're not answering." Ren said, as Nora is ringing the bell.
"Come on. Where are they?" Nora asked.
Clyde shouts through the letterbox, "Luke! Lukey-boy! Flash Gordon! Carmen Sandiego! Tart!"
Outside Rani's bedroom...
"Rani! Rani!" Gita said.
"Mum, it's a Saturday." Rani said.
"You've got visitors."
"What? I'm having a lie in." Rani said, while she opens the door.
"Can't keep trouble away. Good job your dad didn't see Clyde. At least he has respect for Ren and Nora."
Attic...
"Sarah Jane's, Luke's, and Jared's phones are off, and Ruby and Jaune's Scrolls are off, and me and Luke are meeting up. He never ever forgets. I tell you, my Clydey-sense is tingling." Clyde said.
"They could have just gone out." Ren said. "Jared does like stocking up on snacks then eating them afterwards."
"Or what if Sarah Jane and Jared had been grabbed? Right. We'll make a list of all their enemies." Clyde said.
"Great idea. Shouldn't take us more than fifteen years. Mister Smith, I need you!" Rani said.
"Where are Sarah Jane, Luke, Jared, Ruby, and Jaune?" Nora asked.
"I have no information." Mr Smith said.
"Come on. Did they say where they were going?" Ren asked. "Because I've got a bad feeling about this."
"No, Ren, they did not." Mr Smith said.
"See, that's weird. What if it's aliens? They've been abducted. They could be being probed right now." Clyde said.
"There are no signs of alien activity. In fact..."
"In fact what? Spit it out." Rani said.
"It is not my function to venture opinion, or to prognosticate the behaviour of humans, but I have a theory about where they've gone. Or rather, when." Mr Smith said.
"Oh. I don't like how that sentence finished." Ren said.
"Mister Smith, give us your theory. We have to know." Nora said.
"Sarah Jane was born here in the village of Foxgrove. She lived there as a baby at the exact period to which the fissure leads." Mr Smith said.
"Her mum and dad! They were alive then. She's gone back to see them. And Ruby Rose, she lost her mother when she was a tot. She would have sympathized with Sarah Jane." Rani said.
"And Jared, he told me he lost his aunt as a kid." Ren said. "Jaune, he lost Pyrrha a while ago. All four of them might want to change things together."
"Now that sounds like a trap." Nora said. "Why's it that obvious?"
"Like if it was you, you wouldn't go?" Rani asked.
"Information. Energy pulse detected." Mr Smith said.
"Where is it?" Nora asked.
"Behind you." Mr Smith said.
"Ooo, it's glowing." Nora said, and the Verron soothsayer's box is glowing.
"Oh no. Bad news." Clyde said.
"That box can't be that bad. It's glowing."
"It's bad, Nora. Last year some really weird stuff went down. I never got my head round it, but some alien thing took Sarah Jane out of time completely. But Maria could still remember her because she had this box. It protects you against some other alien. Little midget thing, the Graske. And, er, bad time things in general." Clyde said.
"How does this box protect you?" Ren asked.
"I don't know. With its boxy goodness?"
"But we can remember Sarah Jane, Luke, Jared, Ruby, and Ren. Nothing's changed." Nora said. "Time is still the same."
"But something is making it glow." Ren said. "But what?"
"We've got to get after them, warn them." Rani said.
"Sarah Jane would have taken the Converter. We can't get through the fissure." Clyde said.
"We can try, and that might help us. It's only half an hour on the train."
(Jared's POV)
Village square...
"Ah, the 1950s, I was here in this time period a long time ago. With the Doctor and Rose." I said, happily. "It was interesting to say the least. Kirito and Asuna came along too."
"Kirito and Asuna?" Ruby asked. "How come?"
"Oh, it was some experimenting. Did you want your face stolen?"
"No. No, I don't think so."
"How about you, Jaune?" I asked, looking at the blonde.
"Nope." Jaune said. "I don't."
Bunting and Union flags on the railings around the War Memorial.
"There's no one here." Ruby said, looking around.
"Look." Jaune said, spotting that a banner proclaims Foxgrove village fete this way. "They must be down there."
"Come on!" I said, dragging Ruby away with Jaune following behind me with Sarah Jane and Luke. "This way. I want to party!"
"Just one look. I just want to see them, that's all." Sarah Jane said.
"I know. Me too." Luke said.
Fete...
"It's not a fancy pansy party." I said, and we're walking along the stream, over the stile, across the road, to a field with various tents and stalls. "Like the one the ice queen came up with. This is the domestic approach."
"But Luke, Jared, Ruby, Jaune, they abandoned me. What kind of people are they? Do I really want to know the answer?" Sarah Jane asked.
"You can't turn back now." Ruby said. "We're here. To support you, Sarah Jane Smith."
A thin lady is making an announcement over the loudspeakers.
"Everybody, could I have your attention, please? The raffle prizes will be announced at five o'clock sharp. Thank you." Mrs King said.
"These people, they look so excited." Luke said.
"This beats a party my family hosts." I said, looking back at Ruby and Jaune. "Not as fancy as the dance. But it was similar."
"In what way?" Ruby asked, as the children are dunking the teacher for a penny.
"Men wearing suits and ties, women wearing dresses. I get bored after two to three hours of spending time with people I know or don't know."
"Besides us, Weiss, Blake, and Yang. Ren, Nora, and Pyrrha. Sun, Neptune, and Penny." Jaune said, and there is a sack race going on. "You didn't really know anyone at that dance. You don't know a lot of people here either."
"Nope." I said, walking with Ruby and Jaune. "To the socially awkward, again. Anyway, this is 1951. The British, they're still on rations after World War II. And the London Blitz. There's no cell phones, no TV, no video games. They still had comic books."
"I see. This is what old people call making your own entertainment." Luke said, as Ruby, Jaune, and I are right behind him and Sarah Jane.
"Yup. The simple life."
"Sarah Jane! Look what Mummy's got for you, Sarah Jane." Barbara said.
"It's her, my mum." Sarah Jane said, looking at a woman in a yellow dress is holding a baby wrapped in a lace shawl.
"Sarah Jane."
"And that must be..." Ruby said, grabbing my hand.
"I know. Me." Sarah Jane said.
The baby is put back into the pram.
"Looks like a pretty good mum." Luke said.
"So why did she leave me?" Sarah Jane asked.
"Sarah, go on, ask her." I said, happily. "I did it all the time back then. When, um, when Team RWBY was still together."
"Yeah. You're right, I can." Sarah Jane said, looking back at me. "If I'm careful."
"That wasn't the plan. You wanted to see her. Now you have." Luke said.
"Plans change. It's her. My mum." Sarah Jane said, and we walked over to Barbara. "Hello."
"Oh, hello. Sorry, I thought you were. I thought you were. I thought I knew you." Barbara said.
"Oh, that's all right. Lovely baby."
"Yeah, thanks, she is. Come on. Guess how many gobstoppers in there. Penny a go."
Luke throws some coins into the tin box. Barbara picks them up and looks at them curiously.
"I'd say it was six hundred and seventy six." Luke said.
"Show off." Ruby said, rolling her eyes with her arms crossed. "Still, Weiss would have figured it out too."
"You what? What did you say?" Barbara asked, looking at Luke.
"Six hundred and seventy six. If you take the cubic volume of the jar in centimetres, and then divide by the size of each sweet, allowing for the approximate spaces in between." Luke said.
"Just put your name down there. Centimetres? You from abroad?" Barbara asked.
"Luke, 14 years too early." I said, frowning. "The metric system didn't get introduced to Great Britain until 1965. This is 1951."
"And we're not from abroad." Sarah Jane said. "We're from London."
"Me and my friends here." I said, looking back at Ruby and Jaune. "We're from America."
"Your baby." Ruby said, looking at baby Sarah Jane. "What's her name?"
"Sarah Jane." Barbara said.
"You look like you adore her." Jaune said. "Like how I used to adore one of my friends. I loved her."
"Yeah. Eddie. Made it eventually, then?" Barbara asked.
"Oh, had to leave the car up by the memorial. Ruddy horsebox parked outside the house." Eddie said.
"Hello." Sarah Jane said.
"Hi." Ruby said.
"Hello." Jaune said.
"Hi." I said, with Ruby squeezing my hand. "What's up?"
"Hello, strangers. Welcome to the village fete. Fete worse than death. You staying over the pub?" Eddie asked.
"No, just passing through. A little holiday." Sarah Jane said.
"Oh. Well, lovely day for it. Eddie Smith."
"I'm, I'm Victoria Beckham."
"And I'm David Beckham." Luke said.
"I'm Emmett Brown." I said, smiling. "This is Jennifer Parker and Marty McFly."
I motioned my eyes towards Ruby and Jaune.
"Nice to meet you." Eddie said.
"I'm Barbara." Barbara said.
"How's my little darling? She been behaving herself?"
"Quiet as a lamb."
"Beautiful, ain't she? Oh, Mrs King says can you help out in the tent? They're a bit short-handed. Go on, I'll mind the stall."
"Righty-ho. Bye, bye. Bye, bye." Barbara said.
Sarah Jane, Ruby, and I go with Barbara, and Luke and Jaune tag along.
"So, we're living Back to the Future." Ruby said, looking over at me.
"Similar. Yeah. I love this." I said, happily.
"Why do you love Back to the Future?" Jaune asked. "Isn't it a time travel movie?"
"Yeah. But we're in the 50s. And we time traveled almost 60 years into the past."
"60 years. We haven't been born yet." Ruby said, sadly.
"I know. Isn't this awesome?"
"What if we mess something up?" Jaune asked.
Oscar is there. He waves at Luke and Jaune and runs off. Luke and Jaune chase him.
"How many sweets in the jar? Come on, lovely prizes. Step up." Eddie said, nearby.
Luke and Jaune loses Oscar but finds a newspaper. The Hertfordshire Time proclaims that Festival of Britain continues to draw crowds.
Refreshment tent...
"Thank you so much, Mrs Smith. We can always rely on you." Mrs King said.
"That's all right, Mrs King. Where's Mister Beckham today, then? Your husband." Barbara said.
"I'm not married." Sarah Jane said.
"So, um, what are we gonna do now?" Ruby asked.
"I don't know. It's been awhile since I last watched this adventure." I said, happily. "But I know it's gonna be awesome."
"Yeah. You were out of control against the 456. Sayaka told me."
"Of course she did. Why wouldn't she?"
"A couple more. That's always been the plan. Don't want her growing up on her own, nobody to play with. Here, I was doing this when I first met Eddie." Barbara said.
"In a canteen or something?" Sarah Jane asked.
"The NAAFI, yeah. Eddie came in every afternoon, three on the dot. Milky tea and a teacake. Used to leave me silly notes. Miss Wilson, be mine. Miss Wilson, I adore you. Then one day, Miss Wilson, will you be Mrs Smith? So I sent one back. Mister Smith, I will. We still do it, look. Mrs Smith chips for tea please. You probably think we're soft, Victoria."
"I don't. I think it's lovely."
(Open POV)
Empty shop...
"The rift in time is closed." Ren said. "The box. See if it does something."
"What am I supposed to do?" Clyde asked.
"Ooo, maybe hold it up!" Nora said, happily. "Like how I would with my hammer!"
"Er, hocus pocus? Open sesame? Oh, I don't know. Oh, Jumanji!" Clyde said, and nothing happens. "I feel like a right fool."
"Look at that. It's going crazy." Rani said.
"It's trying to tell us something."
Refreshment tent...
Eddie wheels in the pram, "Watch out, here comes madam."
"Oh! Look at her, so peaceful. What's she thinking?" Barbara asked.
"Thinking about her tea, I reckon." Eddie said.
"Eddie thinks she's going to turn out like his sister, the brain of Britain."
"What do you think will happen here?" Ruby asked.
"Besides the time traveling." Jared said, taking out a piece of paper and pen to write a letter. "Knowing things might go wrong. Ren and Nora will need to know that we're fine."
"How will you get that to them?"
"I'll find a way."
"She's the best little girl in the world. We'll always be there for you, won't we, darling?" Barbara asked, looking at baby Sarah Jane.
"I'd better go. It was nice meeting you. No, it was incredible. Goodbye." Sarah Jane said, walking away.
"Serena." Jared said, taking out his phone. "Ruby, Jaune and I are in 1951. With Sarah Jane and Luke Smith. I think the date is August 18th, 1951. I'm in a village called Foxgrove, England. There's a letter you need to deliver to Ren and Nora. I'll leave it inside the refreshment tent."
The fanboy began typing away on his phone, he placed the red envelope on a table. The envelope is marked with 'Ren, Nora, open it.' Jared walked out of the building with Ruby Rose, and on the letter and envelope is the same material used for the Verron soothsayer's box.
"They're funny ones." Barbara said.
Village square...
"Jared, Ruby, Sarah Jane." Jaune said. "We need to go, now. Back to Fall 2009."
"Yes. I'll never know why they left me that day, but I do know that they loved me." Sarah Jane said.
"I thought I'd take this back to show Clyde and Rani. A souvenir, if that's okay?" Luke asked.
"Why not." Sarah Jane said, seeing the date on Luke's newspaper. "No. No, it can't be."
"Sarah Jane, are you okay?" Jaune asked.
"Today's date. August the 18th. It's the day they died."
"The boy, Oscar. He told you it was July. Why would he lie?" Ruby asked.
"They drive off today. They leave me today. This afternoon. Now." Sarah Jane said.
"We have to go, now." Jaune said.
"There, that's the car. My dad said, you heard him, he parked it by the memorial." Sarah Jane said, running to the car.
"We're going home, now." Luke said.
"I could save them with the sonic. I could put the car out of action, then wherever they were going, they'd never leave."
"But it's a fixed point in time. We know it happened."
"But why? Why is it Sarah Jane's parents? This is so unfair!" Jared said, angrily.
"You know you can't do it." Jaune said. "And neither can I. Ruby can't either. The three of us lost so much. Sarah Jane too."
"Luke, Ruby, Jaune, I've saved the lives of a lot of people." Jared said, rolling his eyes. "Sarah Jane saves lives too. It's people we know and people we don't know. I've had so many adventures where I saved people with the Doctor and Team RWBY."
"Jared's right, he's like me since he cares, Miners on Peladon, all the people drinking Bubbleshock, without a second thought. But this is my mum and dad. And this is similar to Penny and Pyrrha, for Ruby, Jaune, and Jared." Sarah Jane said.
"The four of you know you're not meant to." Luke said.
"But why? Why can't we? Why can't we save them too?" Jaune asked.
"Those two are right, since they're emotional." Sarah Jane said. "I want to save them the most. I want to save my Mum and Dad."
"Mum, what about the way you were brought up? If you changed it, then what if you never meet the Doctor? What if you never meet me?" Luke asked.
"I only want to look through the fissure, see what my life becomes if they survive. If there's anything wrong, we come back and set it right again."
"What if this is the trap?" Ruby asked.
"Why do we have to think this is something terrible? What if this is a good thing? All these years I've been putting other people first. There has to be something at the end of it, doesn't there? Something for me. What if this is it? My reward?" Sarah Jane asked.
"Sarah, I think we should stop for a moment and think." Jared said, grabbing Ruby's hand. "This is wrong. This is so wrong. Totally wrong. But we have to do this. The four of us together."
"If we do, we'll change our minds." Sarah Jane said, and she sonics the car for it to shake. "There, I've disabled the engine. Now they can't go anywhere."
"You always did say that changing time is dangerous." Ruby said, smiling. "Yet you do it all the time with us."
"Because I know what I'm doing. I hope. Come on, let's go back to the rift in time. I mean, um, the time fissure." Jared said, walking away with Ruby and Jaune.
Sarah Jane and Luke are behind the trio.
"Maybe the whole world will be better." Jaune said. "Or it could be worse."
"Jaune, don't worry. It's just an experiment. We have to see." Sarah Jane said.
They run past the ruins of the Abbey. A crack appears in it.
Fete...
Clouds and thunder.
"Weather's turning." Eddie said.
"Forecast said sunny all day." Barbara said.
"One day they'll get it right. But there's no clouds, that's weird."
Oscar peers round the tombola, "It's happening. Time for me to collect my prize."
Empty shop...
"Why has it turned red?" Rani asked.
"What? I don't like this at all." Clyde said.
The fissure appears.
"It's Luke. Luke!" Rani said.
No, it is Oscar.
"Get away from him." Serena said, entering the shop.
Maria Cadenzavna Eve's younger sister gave Ren and Nora an envelope, she then took out her Relic, and she did her chant.
"Seilien coffin Airgetlám tron." Serena said. "Jared told me about that kid. Oscar. He's a bad guy."
"Oscar, what's wrong? Where's Sarah Jane, Jared, Ruby, and Jaune, the people who helped you?" Rani asked.
"So stupid, humans." Oscar said.
"I've got a bad feeling about this." Ren said.
"Tell me about it." Nora said. "What now?"
Oscar shakes vigorously and turns into the little alien Graske, who produces a gun.
"Run!" Ren said.
Street...
"Let's split up." Clyde said.
"Hey." Serena said. "Jared told me that the Verron Soothsayer's cube and the letter with the envelope will protect you. From any changes. He said you'll find out what he means. But the Graske is still after you."
"Let's not split up."
"That was a lot of running." Ren said. "That felt like a workout."
"Yeah." Nora said.
Further on, they hide behind commercial wheelie bins. Serena went back to her world through a portal nearby. Ren and Nora read the letter and Nora grabbed the envelope.
"Here." Clyde said.
"Something's happening." Rani said. "It feels a bit off."
"Shush!"
"Clyde, hold on to me! Ren, Nora, hold the letter and the envelope!" Rani said, and the three do as they're told.
The world goes wibbly and spins a lot. They scream as the bins get blown away.
Field...
"I can't see anything. What's happened?" Luke asked.
"Come on, we're going through." Jared said, crossing his arms. "I've got a bad feeling about this."
"Wait for me!"
Westminster...
"This is our time, our world." Luke said.
"And this isn't the Walpurgisnacht's doing." Jared said, looking around. "This is something else."
"Oh, my god." Ruby said, sadly. "This is London."
"What happened here?" Jaune asked.
They emerge next to the ruins of the Houses of Parliament clock tower.
"That's impossible. What's happened to London? It's been destroyed!" Sarah Jane said.
Greenford...
"What just happened? Where are we?" Nora asked.
Westminster...
"Bwahahahaha! Sarah Jane Smith. Jared Shay. Ruby Rose. Jaune Arc." The Trickster said.
"Oh, no. Not you." Sarah Jane said.
"Sarah Jane, what's wrong?" Jaune asked.
"Where is this place?"
"This is what you wanted to see with Jared, Ruby, and Jaune. Earth on the day that you left. Do you consider your experiment to be a success?" The Trickster asked.
"The hell have you done?!" Jared exclaimed, as he's clutching his pendant. "Where's the Magical Girls? Where's Symphogear?"
"It was Sarah Jane. Her, Ruby, Jaune, and you gave me the power to walk this world. The four of you gave this planet to the Trickster! Bwahahahahaha! You gave me what I wanted all those years ago, in 1951."
"You're lying. How could me saving my mum and dad with Jared, Ruby, and Jaune do all of this? They're just two ordinary people." Sarah Jane said.
"This place is a weak point on the web of time. In the grand scheme of things, yes, you, Sarah Jane, saving your parents with three people with similar consequences to you was a tiny thing. But the village is on the faultline, and you smashed right through it." The Trickster said.
"Was time ripped apart?" Jaune asked. "Because of what we did?"
"I existed only in the Limbo Dimensions. I could only walk in the shadows, appear only in your reality for fleeting moments. But you four gave me a path into this world. I exist here, in the flesh, for ever."
"Like, I'm gonna let that happen!" Jared said, looking at the Trickster. "We will stop whatever mess you're trying to pull, Trickster. And we will stop you! Sarah Jane and I have defeated you before. On my end of things, it was with Donna's help. We're going back to August 18th, 1951."
"Do you not understand? The battle is over. You've already lost." The Trickster said.
"Jared, come on." Ruby said, pulling Jared away.
"Bwahahahaha!"
Greenford...
"What happened?" Nora asked. "Everything was fine a couple minutes ago."
Looking like a quarry now.
"I don't get it." Rani said.
"This is Earth, twenty first century, right now. It's an alternative timeline. The box protected you and me Rani, and the letter Jared sent to Ren and Nora protected them, like it protected Maria the last time the Trickster appeared, when the world changed around her." Clyde said.
"This is Earth? Today?" Ren asked.
"Yep, and this is all that's left of London. The moon's probably full, which means the Lunar Attack didn't happen."
"Where is everyone?" Nora asked.
"They're gone." Ren said, sadly.
Field...
"It's all my fault!" Sarah Jane said.
"It's easy, right? All we have to do to change things back is fix the car." Ruby said, happily.
"And then what? I order my mother and father inside and send them off to their deaths?" Sarah Jane asked.
"Sarah Jane, I'm, I'm sorry." Jared said, sadly. "It's the only way. And Symphogear is the last line of defense."
"I can't do it. If it was Ruby, Jared, could you?"
"No, I couldn't. Ruby, Weiss, Blake, and Yang. They're so precious to me. I can't lose any of them."
"What about Ren and Nora?" Jaune asked. "We literally went back in time without them. And time changed around them."
"Yeah. I know." Jared said.
"What are we gonna do? We're in the past again."
"Jaune, don't worry. Everything's gonna be fine. Assuming we defeat the Trickster and send Sarah Jane's parents to their deaths. That alternate 2009 will be changed to the real 2009. Instantaneously transforming around Ren and Nora. Ren and Nora will be fine. And they'll remember that horrible place with Clyde and Rani. If there's any Magical Girls I hung out with before you guys, they won't remember that horrible place."
"Jared, what if we don't succeed?" Ruby asked.
"We must succeed." Jared said, grabbing Ruby's hand.
"I won't kill them! There must be another way. There's always another way! Look, negative energy readings coming from the village. He's breaking through somewhere down there." Sarah Jane said.
"It's so cold." Ruby said, as the storm clouds are building.
"That's not natural. It's starting. He's coming through!"
Fete...
"Looks like rain. Astonishing how it's turned. Right, everybody inside. Come on! Look lively! Into the village hall! Come on!" Mrs King said.
"Never seen it turn so bad so quickly. It's creepy." Barbara said.
"Come on, love, let's get inside." Eddie said.
"Chop, chop. Everybody into the hall." Mrs King said.
Greenford...
"Are you okay?" Ren asked.
"I've been chased by Slitheen. I've been aboard a spaceship. I've had a Sontaran shooting at me. I always thought, I don't know, all in a day's work. Because it was scary and brilliant all at the same time." Clyde said.
"Yeah, that's what I feel." Rani said.
"Same here." Nora said. "Like defeating Grimm is easy."
"Nora, this is different." Ren said. "We're in another alternative timeline."
"Our world never existed. And there's no Gjallarhorn. That complete Relic Symphogear uses to search for abnormalities and to travel across the multiverse. So how do we get back home from here?" Clyde asked.
"We keep walking?" Rani asked.
The Graske walks past an outcrop of rocks.
"Look!" Nora said, looking at the Graske. "A Graske!"
"He must be heading somewhere." Ren said.
Foxgrove...
"I can't get an exact fix on him." Sarah Jane said.
"But he's here somewhere. I'm lost. We saw the Trickster in the future." Jaune said. "You said that this is like Back to the Future. How is it like that trilogy?"
"Because it is like it. The Trickster hasn't manifested himself yet." Jared said, smiling. "It'll happen, right here, right now, in 1951. If we can find him, we can stop him."
"But how? What's the other way? How can we stop him?" Ruby asked.
"I don't know." Jared said, looking over at Ruby. "There's only a few people in the multiverse that will help us straight away. It's the Doctor, Weiss, Blake, and Yang. Where are they when we need them?"
And there, down an alley is a police telephone box.
"Yes!" Jared said, happily, looking at the blue box. "The Doctor picked up the rest of Team RWBY! I can't believe it! He picked them up! Doctor! Weiss! Blake! Yang! It's me! It's Jared!"
He knocks on the door and it opens.
"You won't find a doctor in here, sir. What do you want?" PC Ferguson asked.
"Whoops. Sorry, officer." Jared said, walking away towards Ruby and Jaune.
"It's just a police box, that the Tardis looks like. They were everywhere in this time period." Sarah Jane said, walking past Jared to the police officer.
"That's as may be, but if you don't mind, missus?" PC Ferguson asked, and he shuts the door again.
"I don't need them, now. Ruby, we'll see them again. I promise. This, right here, with the Trickster. We can do this ourselves." Jared said, excitedly. "We've got Jaune Arc. We've got Sarah Jane Smith. And we've Luke Smith by our side!"
Greenford...
"Why is he still running 'round? There's nothing here." Rani said.
"Yeah, and why does he want Earth? While it's in this state. Get down!" Ren said.
They hide behind a boulder.
"Slowly. But steadily. There's four of us. So let's be careful." Ren said.
"Right." Nora said, and they carefully peer over the top of it.
There is a group of people in rough weave clothes loading rocks into mining buckets, near some tents and a campfire.
"Humans, stop! Humans, rest!" The Graske said.
"They're slaves." Ren said.
"Oh, no. No, Clyde. Tell me that's not her. Mum!" Rani said.
"Stay back! He's seen us!" Ren said, looking back at Rani. "This is bad."
"Deviants! You don't belong." The Graske said.
"He's scared of us." Nora said, sadly. "Why?"
"That's my mum." Rani said.
"Stop, Rani. We've got to stay together. There's only one box, and there's one envelope and one letter." Clyde said.
"No."
Village square...
"Where is he? This all looks the same." Ruby said. "We have to stop him, somehow."
"Wait. The Trickster must have been planning this for a while, before we even came here. Someone in the village might have seen something strange that could lead us to him." Sarah Jane said.
"You're avoiding the question. How do we stop him?" Jaune asked.
"We worry about that when we've found him."
"Of course, the Village Hall!" Jared said, looking at a sign for the fete that says it has moved to Village hall. "It's like the Enchantment Under the Sea Dance. Come on!"
Greenford...
"How can she be here?" Nora asked. "It's not like that can be Rani's mom."
"Jared told us about this before." Ren said. "Like what happened with Donna's world. When time goes wrong, it tries to compensate. Keep people on the same track. With Team RWBY and with us being part of Team JNPR. The Trickster compensated with those versions of us. That version of Team JNPR died with Gwen Copper and Ianto Jones facing the Sontarans. And that version of Team RWBY and Captain Jack Harkness were transported to the planet Sontar."
"Mum?" Rani asked.
"No talking. Go away." Gita said.
"Mum, it's me, it's Rani."
"Why are you walking free? Nobody walks free. Graske says no talking. Go away."
"What is he making you do?" Ren asked. "Want to tell us?"
"We're digging. The world's dead. It fell apart. The Graske made us dig. He won't stop till the last minerals are torn up." Gita said.
"Well, you could organize a rebellion." Nora said. "Where is everyone else? I thought the world would be filled with more humans."
"We're the last humans."
"What have they done to you?" Rani asked.
"Go away!" Gita said.
"Mum, please. Where's Dad? Your husband. Haresh."
"No husband. Go."
"She was born into this world. Never met my dad. I don't exist any longer."
"Nora, Rani, Clyde, come on. We're heading back." Ren said.
"There's always a way. What happened? How did the world die?" Rani asked.
"Everybody knows the legend. It was her." Gita said.
"Who's her? I mean, who's she?" Clyde asked.
"Sarah Jane Smith."
"What? You're not serious."
"She handed the world to the Trickster."
"What happened?" Ren asked. "What did she do? Did Jared, Ruby, and Jaune stop her?"
"The legend says, years ago, he tricked her. And no, they couldn't stop her. Neither could her son, Luke Smith. There was a car. Her parents never left in the car, and that made a hole in the world, in the Abbots Gateway. The Trickster walked through the Abbots Gateway and sucked the life out of the world." Gita said.
"The Abbots Gateway? What's the Abbots Gateway?" Nora asked.
"Humans! Back to work. Go!" The Graske said.
"Mum, I'll save you, I promise. Everything's going to be all right, I promise." Rani said.
"No talking. Go away." Gita said.
"The Abbots Gateway. Hang on, I'm working this out. We have to get back there and tell them that the Trickster's coming through the Abbots Gateway, whatever that means." Clyde said.
"And Jared must have forgotten that important detail." Ren said. "He tried to stop Sarah Jane. But he forgot where the Trickster would manifest himself in 1951."
"How can we get back there? The fissure's shut, and it's the only way back." Rani said.
"The Graske works for the Trickster, right? But why? What does he get out of it?" Clyde asked.
"I don't know." Nora said. "Ooo, maybe he gets all my pancakes out of it! Pancakes..."
"That can't be it, Nora. He can't grab us or send us anywhere weird if we've got the box, the letter, and the envelope." Clyde said.
"Nowhere can be worse than this." Ren said. "And Jared always puts us through dangerous situations."
Village hall...
The food and produce stalls get set up.
"It's getting worse out there. Shame. I thought we could go for a drive later." Eddie said.
"Here we go. Sustenance for the troops." Mrs King said, while she has a tray of teacups.
"Oh, hi. Hi there. You're going to think this is very strange, but we need to ask you something." Sarah Jane said.
"In the last few days, have you noticed anything new or strange in the village? Something that wasn't there before?" Jaune asked.
"No. What are you talking about?" Barbara asked.
"Come on. Please think. This is important." Ruby said.
"Are you lot having a laugh?" Eddie asked.
"You know the village." Jared said, happily. "Just come with us. Tell us if anything has changed. Please. I need you to trust us."
"But why? What's going on?" Barbara asked.
"Um, we can't tell you." Ruby said, frowning. "I'm sorry."
"Sorry, what is all this? Are you taking the mick?" Eddie asked.
"Look after Sarah Jane. I won't be five minutes." Barbara said.
"Barbara, what are you doing?"
"They look like they're in trouble."
"None of our business. What's got into your mummy, Sarah Jane?"
Greenford...
"Are you sure about this?" Rani asked.
"I'm just going to do it the way Sarah Jane and Jared do it. We demand audience." Clyde said.
"You are rejects. No place here for you. Go." The Graske said.
"Send us home." Ren said. "To our reality. Where everything is alright. And lively"
"This is your home. Trickster makes this your home."
"They're your slaves." Nora said. "Why do you have slaves? Why do you need them?"
"Take rocks from this planet. Give Trickster powers, to leave, go into space, take other worlds." The Graske said.
"And then what? Another job for the Trickster? Because they're your slaves, but you're his slave, aren't you?" Rani asked.
"Graske never enslaved!" The Graske said.
"Then why do you work for him? What do you get out of it." Ren said.
"Human stupid! Trickster stole me."
"What happened? Tell us."
"You! Ha! Stupid!"
"Can't be that thick if we've got these, can we?" Clyde asked, taking out the box and Ren and Nora took out the letter and envelope.
"Give them to me! Humans must give box, letter, and envelope to Graske." The Graske said.
"No way." Nora said. "Tell us how he got you."
"I was stupid. Should have died. Trickster tricked me. I was in spaceship, burning up."
"That's actually a sad story." Nora said.
"It is." Ren said.
"Why did the Trickster trick him?"
"I don't know."
"I'm a slave." The Graske said.
"But you want to escape, be free? Look at these. It fights the Trickster's power, it protects us from him. And you." Clyde said.
"Give it to me."
"So you do want to be free. Think. We can help you." Nora said. "We know how you can be free. Just let us help you."
"Sarah Jane, Jared, the people you tricked into doing all of this? They defeated the Trickster once before." Ren said. "Jared may have defeated him once with the help from Rose Tyler and Donna Noble. But it still counts."
"But Trickster find me. I never escape." The Graske 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." Clyde said.
"Open the fissure. Let us go back to Sarah Jane and Jared. We can help them. We can stop him like they did before." Rani said.
"Will open fissure." The Graske said.
"Yes! Thank you!" Rani said, and the Graske does so with a device on his belt.
"Thank you." Ren said, holding Rani's hand.
"You two, stay with box and envelope." The Graske said.
"No. We can't do that." Ren said, looking at the Graske. "Nora can get reckless without me."
"What did you think he was going to say? He needs a guarantee." Clyde said.
"Hostages? We're not leaving the both of you here." Rani said.
"We'll be fine." Nora said. "Just come back safe."
"And if this is what it's like, I've had a bellyful of time travel and Nora has been through a lot with Ren anyway. Go. I'll keep her safe." Clyde said.
"Clyde." Rani said, kissing Clyde on the cheek.
"Ren." Nora said, hugging Ren before letting go.
"Hurry, go." The Graske said.
"Cool. Must be heroic more often. Remember! The Abbots Gateway!" Clyde said.
"I'll save you, Mum." Rani said.
Rani and Ren goes through the fissure, and it closes.
Field...
"Right, let's go." Ren said, running off with Rani. "Nora and Clyde have each other. They'll be fine."
Village square...
"I can't see anything, Marty. It all looks the way it always has. The way it always will be." Barbara said.
"I don't know, there must be something off." Jaune said. "Where is it?"
"Hey, you guys, over here! I think I found something!" Ruby said, happily.
Ruins...
"Ruby, Jaune, this adventure is reaching its end." Jared said, looking at his two best friends. "I can feel it."
Barbara is intrigued by Sarah Jane's wrist watch tricorder, "What's that? Tell me."
"What have you found, Mum?" Luke asked.
"An unusual energy reaction." Sarah Jane said.
"I can't see anything, but he must be here."
"Yeah." Ruby said.
"So, where is he?" Jaune asked.
"I don't know. Can't remember." Jared said, pacing back and forth.
"Listen! I'm helping you, and you've not listened to me, you've not answered any of my questions." Barbara said.
"I'm sorry. I really am sorry, but we can't. I wish I could." Sarah Jane said.
"You think I'm stupid, but I'm not. That thing, the way you talk. Energy reaction. Are you from somewhere else?"
"No. And I don't think you're stupid, Barbara. I think you're amazing, and a brilliant mother, and more than I ever hoped you'd be, but I can't say anything more."
Village hall...
"No sign of your winner yet, Mister Smith?" Mrs King asked.
"No. Something's not right with that lot." Eddie said.
"Sandwich? Ham there, cheese there."
"Never say no to free grub."
"Do you see them?" Ren asked.
"Uh, no." Rani said.
Rani and Ren run in.
"Oh! My goodness." Mrs King said.
"Yes, hello. Ethnic person and a Chinese man in the Fifties. Hi. Listen, please. It's important." Rani said.
"Not another one." Eddie said.
"We're looking for Sarah Jane Smith and Jared Shay." Ren said.
"What? Well, what do you want? Sarah Jane. She's right there." Eddie said, looking at the baby.
"Oh, wow. And you're her dad, right?" Rani asked.
"What do you two want? What's going on?"
"No, I didn't mean I was looking for her. I mean, I'm looking for a woman. Short, brown hair, very pretty. Probably with her son and her friends. He's a bit weird."
"You mean Victoria Beckham?"
"What? Who's Victoria Beckham?" Ren asked, looking at Rani.
"I'll tell you later. Jared must have not caught you up on music." Rani said. "Like the Spice Girls."
"Well, they were here." Eddie said.
"Okay, where did they go?" Ren asked.
"They're around. Said they were looking for something unusual, whatever that means."
"Right. Thank you." Rani said.
"Thank you." Ren said.
Rani and Ren run out.
"What on Earth was she wearing? Can that really be the fashion in the Punjab? And that man, what was he wearing? The upper half looked like a kimono, but what were those trousers?" Mrs King asked.
"Mrs King, will you watch the baby, please?" Eddie asked.
"Of course. Off you pop."
Village square...
"Ruby! Jaune!" Ren said.
Lightning and thunder.
"Rani! Ren! Over here!" Jaune said.
Ruins...
"Jared?" Ren asked. "Sarah Jane?"
"The hell are you doing here?" Jared asked.
"You told us to come."
"No, I didn't. I only gave you and Nora the letter and the envelope to keep you guys safe."
"Oh. Sorry. But it's a long story."
"Why did you call her that?" Barbara asked, looking at Ren.
"Sorry. This is complicated." Ren said.
"Who are you, and why did you call her Sarah Jane?"
"You stopped your parents driving off. They never got in the car, right?" Rani asked, looking at Sarah Jane.
"Yes, but how can you know that?" Sarah Jane asked.
"Doesn't matter. The important thing is, the Abbots Gateway. The Trickster is coming through the Abbots Gateway."
"What's the Abbots Gateway?" Ruby asked.
"It's over there. It's what they call that arch thing." Barbara said.
"Of course, I forgot the importance of them!" Jared said, happily. "Churches! Temples! Cathedrals! Religious sites! Holy grounds. Sometimes that's where the web of time is at its weakest. The bigger they are, the harder they fall."
"Jared, I can't see anything." Jaune said. "It looks like a normal building to me. Or the remains of one."
"Same emission patterns, nothing specific. No sign of him." Sarah Jane said.
"But we know the Trickster comes through here." Rani said.
"How do you know?"
"My mum told us."
"Gita?" Jared asked. "Did time compensate for her? Good. How about Symphogear?"
"They, they weren't there." Ren said. "The Lunar Attack and the Frontier Incident didn't occur."
"Listen. You called her Sarah Jane. Why did you call her Sarah Jane?" Barbara asked, looking at Ren.
"Oh, yes. There!" Sarah Jane said.
Black smoke trying to solidify.
"A crack in time." Jared said, looking straight ahead. "Two parts of space and time that should never have touched, pressed together."
"He's coming through." Ruby said. "Jared, got any ideas?"
"What's that? Oh, no." Ren said, walking towards Jared. "That doesn't look good."
"Barbara! You're coming back home with me right now." Eddie said.
"Wait. Eddie, look. That thing. Something's happening. Something really strange." Barbara said.
"We're going home now. You stay away from us!"
"I didn't want it to be like this." Sarah Jane said, watching her parents walk away.
"Soon I'll be free!" The Trickster said, nearby.
Village hall...
"There you are. All settled, I hope." Mrs King said.
"The storm's getting worse. Not that anything bothers madam." Eddie said.
"I'll leave you both to it, then."
"Look, let's cheer ourselves up a bit, eh? We'll go home, switch on the wireless and see what's on the Light Programme tonight." Eddie said, picking up an orange which instantly goes mouldy. "What the heck's going on? It's rotten."
"It's to do with us. Eddie, look." Barbara said, brushing her hand against a vase of flowers, which turn to dust.
"What's happening?"
"Everything we touch turns bad. It's us. Something's wrong with us."
Ruins...
"Ah, I can breathe. Soon, I will be strong." The Trickster said.
"I can find the frequency you're using to manifest yourself and block it." Sarah Jane said.
"Empty words. Technology cannot help you."
"Nope, we're gonna send you back to the darkness where you came from, Trickster." Jared said, grabbing Ruby's hand. "We're the light, and we know we can kill you."
"Soon all seven of you will cease to exist. I will step from this door and consume this world in chaos."
"Sarah Jane, it's never too late." Ruby said, looking at Sarah Jane. "There's only one way to stop the Trickster. You have to do this."
"No, I can't." Sarah Jane said.
"You can." Jaune said. "We're here for you. Use the sonic. And fix the car."
"And send your parents to their deaths. Will you be the agent of their destruction?" The Trickster asked, looking at Sarah Jane.
Village hall...
"That Indian girl, she said something to Victoria. She said, you stopped them driving off. They never left in the car. As if it was a bad thing that we didn't go. And not going, that let out that terrible creature under the arch." Barbara said.
"None of this makes sense." Eddie said.
"It does if you think about Victoria, who she really is. That girl, she called her Sarah Jane. I said I'd seen her before."
Ruins...
"Too late! I'm growing stronger!" The Trickster said.
Village square...
"It's too late. They won't drive off and you won't make them." Rani said.
Sarah Jane repairs the car with her lipstick, "Rani's right. I won't kill my own mum and dad. I can't do it. He's beaten me."
"Victoria! 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." Barbara said.
"You can't, you mustn't go." Sarah Jane said.
"We've got to. But not Sarah Jane. Not our baby. Take her. Look after her."
"Sarah, this is why they left you." Jared said, smiling. "They didn't abandon you. They saved you."
"They did." Ren said. "They saved the entire world."
"Because they saved the world, Symphogear saved the world now and then too." Jaune said.
"So let them save it. Let your parents save the world, okay?" Ruby asked, looking at Sarah Jane.
"One thing, though. It's important. Sarah Jane, our baby. Is she safe, does she have a good life?" Eddie asked.
"Yes. So many incredible things. Things you wouldn't believe. Don't go." Sarah Jane said.
"Got to, though, haven't we?"
"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.
"Mum. Dad." Sarah Jane said, letting out tears.
"Come here, come here." Eddie said.
Family hug.
"Look at you, older than us." Barbara said.
"And you came all that way to see us." Eddie said.
"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 asked.
"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."
"So am I, Mum."
"Goodbye, Sarah Jane." Barbara said, looking down at the baby, before at the adult version of her daughter. "Goodbye, Sarah Jane."
"Goodbye, Sarah Jane." Eddie said.
"Bye, Dad. I won't forget you. I'll never forget you." Sarah Jane said.
"And there they go." Jared said, sadly. "This was as hard as Rose's dad."
"I know." Ruby said, grabbing Jared's hand. "It's okay."
"You brought us with you. Because you were scared." Jaune said. "And you couldn't confront this on your own."
"Yeah." Jared said. "I couldn't."
"What now?" Ren asked. "Are we gonna watch them die?"
"Yup."
"That's horrible." Ruby said, frowning.
Eddie and Barbara get into the car and drive away.
"I know." Jared said, as Ruby squeezed his hand. "Thanks, Little Red. What do I do to deserve Teams RWBY and JNPR?"
The clouds vanish and the sunshine returns.
"No! Stop them. Stop them! You have denied me! My hunger..." The Trickster said.
"I did nothing. That was my mum and dad saving the world..." Sarah Jane said.
"It's something we can't help doing." Jared said, as he looked at the Trickster. "Them Smiths, and us being huntsmen and huntresses. We help people, and we save the world in the process."
"But you, Sarah Jane Smith, you couldn't do it. I knew you could never do it. And I was assuming Jared could do it, but he could never do it either. He's too grounded with Ruby Rose and Jaune Arc around." The Trickster said.
"You were right though, Trickster." Jared said, smirking. "Sarah and I, we could never send them off. Ruby, Jaune, and I may have lost people close to us. We're reckless separated, but together, we're strong."
"But you didn't count on one thing. They were brilliant. They worked it out, they went by themselves. My mum and dad defeated you." Sarah Jane said.
The Trickster explodes and vanishes with a scream.
"We've got to put things back on track. We've got to leave her." Luke said.
Greenford...
"What's happening?" Nora asked, as the world started to shake.
"Whoa. Hold on. This is it!" Clyde said, happily.
The Graske grabs Clyde while Nora holds the letter and envelope as the world spins.
(Jared's POV)
Empty shop...
"Yes! See? I told you. They did it! Sarah Jane is the man! And Jared's the bomb with Team RNJR!" Clyde said, excitedly.
"Tell me something new." Nora said, crossing her arms.
"Give box! We did deal." The Graske said.
"I'm a man of my word." Clyde said, and he gave the Graske the Verron Soothsayer's box.
"Ha! Free!" The Graske said, and he disappears.
"Right. Come on, Sarah Jane, Jared." Clyde said.
Back in the field in 1951, Rani, Luke, Sarah Jane, Ruby, Jaune, Ren, and I took one last look at Foxgrove before activating the Converter and going through the fissure.
"Yes! Welcome home! Sarah Jane, Jared, look at you! You did it! We did it, the team! I'm missing something, aren't I?" Clyde asked.
"Yup, you did." I said, sadly. "That was one of the hardest adventures yet with Team RNJR. I hope nothing bad like this happens again anytime soon."
"This time, it stays closed." Sarah Jane said, and she closes the fissure then stamps on the Converter. "Let's go home."
Outside Sarah Jane's home...
"Hello! You didn't say you were with Sarah and Jared. I've been phoning all afternoon. I was just about to get worried. Oh, I like your look. Where've you been, somewhere nice?" Gita asked.
"Mum, come here." Rani said, giving Gita a big hug.
"What's brought this on? What are you after? Sarah, Jared, come on. What's she done?"
"Nothing, really." I said, laughing a lot. "Rani, she was awesome."
"In other words, she was out of control. You should have seen her." Ruby said, looking at Gita.
"Out of control?" Gita asked.
"Like Jared said. She was awesome today."
"Yeah, Rani was great." Jaune said.
"She really was." Ren said.
"Rani, the state of your room, like a bomb's hit it." Haresh said.
"Dad! I'll go and clean my room right now. I'll do anything you want." Rani said, hugging Haresh.
"What did I do to deserve this? I thought you were too old for cuddles." Haresh said.
"Oh, no. Not for as long as you live."
"Bye, Sarah, Jared. Bye, boys and girls. Come on, you." Gita said.
"You still have to do your room." Haresh said.
"Ruby, Nora, Jaune, Ren." I said, looking at Team RNJR. "Thank you for being there for me today."
"No problem." Ren said.
"We know how hard this was for you." Nora said.
"You can count on us." Ruby said, smiling.
"For being there for you. When you need us. We're your friends. And we're part of your family across the multiverse." Jaune said.
Gita, Haresh and Rani go across the road.
"I'll be off home, then. Today I've been to an alternative timeline and now I'm saying I'll be off home, then?" Clyde asked.
"That's the life we lead. Sometimes it brings you such joy, and sometimes it brings you the worst things in the world." Sarah Jane said.
Clyde leaves.
Attic...
Sarah Jane shows Luke, Team RNJR, and I the photograph of Eddie and Barbara, "That's all I ever had of them. But life goes on. It has to. Oh, Luke, Jared, Team RNJR, they were my mum and dad. And they were wonderful."
"It's made me realise. I'm so lucky, because I've got my mum. I've got you." Luke said, as he hugs Sarah.
"And I've got Team RNJR. When Team RWBY reunites, my whole family will be back together." I said, looking back at the four members of my family I'm with. "Sarah, you, Luke, Clyde, and Rani are part of the extended family of my time traveling family."
Sarah Jane hugs Luke, and I went into a group hug with Team RNJR.
"I know." Sarah Jane said, as she looks at the back of the photograph, where it says Mr Smith I need you. "All of us together, we make a great team."