Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who, that is property of the BBC, nor do I own WordGirl, property of PBS. Please support the official releases for both, because they give inspiration for fanfics like these.
WordGirl and Doctor Who in...
THE LIBRARY CITY!
Narrator: Today's featured words are 'Society' and 'Scholar.'
When we last saw WordGirl and Captain Huggyface, they had just met their old friend the Doctor, and his granddaughter Susan...before he had ever met her! After a brief standoff, the Doctor eventually decided to take WordGirl on a trip to Planet Lexicon!
"Home of the greatest scholars in their section of the universe!" the Doctor added to the end of the Narrator's recap, just before turning back to the console in the center of the TARDIS control room. "Just a few more seconds... (DING!)… And we're coming up on Planet Lexicon! Brace yourselves, WordGirl, Captain Huggyface!"
Having said that, the Doctor pressed his finger to a button on the central console, and the TARDIS began to land. The entire room shook for a second, and then suddenly stopped as the TARDIS gave out a triumphant CLUNK!
"There we are! Planet Lexicon, present day!" said the Doctor proudly. "Now...to make sure the psychic translator is prepared...millions of people will be speaking millions of languages, and I believe you would prefer being able to understand them, correct?"
Both WordGirl and Susan nodded. "After all, I never did learn the Lexiconian language." Susan said.
"Perfect! So..." The Doctor said as he pressed some more buttons and peered at various screens... and then stood back up and continued with: "Doubly perfect! It'll be able to handle all the languages at once! Now, let's get this trip up and running, shall we?"
Nobody even needed to say yes, before the Doctor decided everyone was eager to see what lay beyond the doors. With a flick of a switch, the doors opened...and everyone got an eyeful of their destination.
The Doctor said: "Welcome to Planet Lexicon, everyone!" although anyone was hardly listening. They were focused on taking in the scene before them: A vast city full of gigantic towers of all sorts of colors, with blueish-green trees and plants of all sorts scattered around their bases. The sky, while mostly colored blue, had an orange tint to it that got stronger around the horizon, which reminded Susan of her native sky from Gallifrey. Two golden lines seemed to be drawn across the sky, crossing each other somewhere between the horizon and the top of the sky. Farther out into the sky, a purple object that resembled a moon was hanging near the intersection of the lines.
But what got Susan and WordGirl really excited wasn't those things, but rather the things that were moving. High in the sky, spaceships of all sorts darted to nearby landing zones. On the ground, monkeys of all colors swung through the trees, and freely interacted with all the various alien species that walked in the streets and sidewalks in between the buildings and plants. And, perhaps most amazing of all, most of the human-shaped people in this scene flew in seemingly pre-determined patterns, leaving brightly-colored trails much like those WordGirl leaves behind when she flies!
Captain Huggyface put his hand on WordGirl's shoulder, and screeched softly into her ear.
Ummm…what did he say?
"He said: 'Welcome home', I think." said the Doctor.
And so the four of them stood in the doorway to the TARDIS, admiring the scenery; Huggy and the Doctor see familiar sights, while WordGirl and Susan see them for the very first time, and all look on in awe….
…
…
….awe which is suddenly interrupted when hundreds of flying people and flying vehicles zip right on past them, creating a massive gust of wind that irritated their eyes!
"Aah!" Susan shouted in surprise, "What was that?"
Suddenly, a flying man dressed in a similar style of clothing as WordGirl (cape, helmet, and even the star-insignia), but colored dark blue, stopped right in front of the TARDIS entrance and asked: "What do you mean, 'what was that'? Don't tell me you haven't heard the news!"
"What news?" asked the Doctor, after he cleared some dust out of his throat.
"And how did you hear me over all that noise?" Susan asked immediately afterwards.
The blue-clothed man flew back a few inches, surprised at the question…but then said: "Oh, you're visitors; that explains a lot! Well, I heard you with my Lexiconian hearing, and the news is that the Great Explorer is returning from outer space! Hurry up and you may get to see his ship land!" Then, obviously not wanting to waste any more time, he zipped off in the general direction of the flying traffic.
"Hm! It seems as though the entirety of Lexiconian society is excited about this 'Great explorer' or whatever that was," said the Doctor as he watched the man fly off. He then put his hand to his chin...and said: "Well, If we stay in the back of the crowd, I'm sure it won't hurt to join him."
"Great! Well, find something to hold on to!" said WordGirl, as she floated outside the TARDIS (which she noticed now looked like a red-and-yellow pillar), picked it up by the door frame, and carefully carried it in the direction of the flying traffic!
*(one scene transition later)*
After a considerable amount of flying, WordGirl eventually saw a large crowd of airborne Lexiconians forming on the edge of the city, just behind a glittering wall of energy. WordGirl found an open space, then trained her eyes towards where everyone else was looking, as did the people in the TARDIS underneath her...which at first looked like a rather boring expanse of red sand separating the cities of Lexicon...
...and then, in a bright flash of light, a blue spaceship with an orange star-shaped decoration (shaped exactly like the one that made up WordGirl's Super-Secret Spaceship Hideout) appeared just outside the wall, and floated down onto the red ground. Four spikes appeared out of the bottom of the ship, which supported the ship when it touched down. Finally, a ramp opened up on the back, and out stepped a large, imposing figure with a blue Lexiconian body-suit, an orange cape, a bald head, and a large metal box in his hand.
"Ah, good to be back in my familiar society once again!" said the man as he approached the dome, as everyone gazed intently at him...
…. "And," he continued, "Just in case any of you doubt it's really me, allow me to say this: A society is a group of people who frequently interact with each other, or a social grouping within a specific area who live by certain rules, or a combination of both. Here, on Planet Lexicon, the people have a very specific way of living and interacting with one another that can be best summarized with the word 'society'!"
Within seconds, everyone was cheering. As the excited crowd parted to allow him and the box he carried to enter (by just passing through the wall, leaving a few ripples), the Doctor raised his eyebrows, and said: "I don't know this 'Great Explorer' or what he's done, other than define 'society', but everyone else seems to think he's a hero!"
To answer that question, WordGirl tuned her super-hearing towards the crowd...and soon heard: "Finally, a Lexiconian has traveled out into space without a monkey doing it for him!"
She quickly told the Doctor, who said: "What? This isn't the great age of Lexiconian exploration?"
Suddenly, WordGirl heard one saying "No doubt about it! Astellakar has brought Planet Lexicon into a new age!" Surprised, she said out loud: "Wait...the Great Explorer is Astellakar? Didn't you say he was your tutor?"
Surprisingly, the one everyone was cheering at suddenly looked in their general direction... and flew over to them, and asked: "Little one; is that a TARDIS, by any chance?"
Everyone was a little hesitant to answer, but then the large flying figure figured it out after a quick glance: "Never mind, I can see that it is bigger on the inside from here. Well, I have taught language skills to some of the Time Lords who visited this planet... They all came eager to learn, and left with enough skill to be considered a language scholar, and teaching that well should be a great source of pride for me... but my greater pride was in getting to teach the one called Theta Sigma. In all my life, there was never a being of any race so dedicated to a life of good than the Time Lord called Theta Sigma. Plus, he was the one who inspired me to attempt this journey in the first place! And provided me a lot of the materials I needed to do so!"
"And," he added as he started to back off, "Before you ask me how I did it, like the little knowledge-seeking scholars I know you all are, I shall reveal my secrets later...after I have settled back into my old home… but until then, farewell!" And with that, he gripped the box in his hand a little tighter, and zipped off towards the inner city.
…..
A little while later, the crowd dispersed, and the Doctor said: "He remembers...WordGirl, Susan, I used to call myself 'Theta Sigma' when I was studying at the Gallifreyan academy, before I became the Doctor."
"...if so, Grandfather, he remembers you fondly." said Susan with a smile... which disappeared as she asked: "We're not leaving now, are we?"
"Nonsense! I was hiding behind you the whole time, Susan! He didn't see me at all, and thus can't report me to the Time Lords! Most of the other Lexiconians shouldn't recognize me either, so as long as we don't act too suspiciously, we should be perfectly safe here!"
Glad to hear him opening up, WordGirl set the red-pillar-shaped TARDIS down and let everyone exit...and then whispered to them: "Anyone mind explaining why all of this planet's society is making such a big deal out of Astellakar being an astronaut?"
"...Captain Huggyface, didn't you tell WordGirl about her own planet?" The Doctor asked the monkey, who responded with a series of screeches.
Anyone mind translating?
"He said that WordGirl was so focused with her new life on Earth, she never really asked that much beyond what related to her." Susan told the Narrator. "Plus, quite a few of his memories have faded over the years..."
After a pause to gather his thoughts, the Doctor said: "Well, there's no time like the present! I'm pretty curious myself as to how WordGirl came to be on Planet Earth, without it being in the Lexiconian exploration age...Come on in, and I'll explain..."
*(one scene transition later)*
"You see, there's an asteroid belt near planet Lexicon...composed entirely of the element the rest of the universe has started calling 'Lexonite.' Any humanoid Lexiconian that approaches it is weakened, both physically and intellectually, and eventually it starts to actually hurt them. Most Lexiconians cannot make it through the Lexonite zone without getting seriously damaged."
"I got that much, Doctor – a meteor landed on Earth a few years back, made out of Lexonite. Caused me a lot of trouble; it made me mispronounce words and stumble around. The villains almost had the opportunity to remake Earth's society in their image, if I didn't find a way to get away from the Lexonite and stop them."
"Ah, well then we need not dwell on that subject for that long. Still, its effects can penetrate even the thickest of their spaceships, which means they cannot go out into space. The Lexonite zone is even the reason these cities have these energy domes surrounding them; at this time of year, Lexicon is really close to the Lexonite zone, and the energies start affecting people down here...the domes keep the energy out. Now before you ask, why don't they just put similar stuff around their ships, well this energy is designed to only handle small doses of Lexonite radiation."
When WordGirl nodded in understanding, the Doctor continued: "But then, who flies the spaceships? Well someone has to! Otherwise, the Lexiconians' sole contact with the outside universe would be people who happened to wander by their planet, who hopefully weren't alien invaders!"
"That's where the monkeys come in: They're immune to the Lexonite, and can thus fly the spaceships! They go out and gather information about the outside, which is then brought back to Lexicon to be put in the massive libraries. And in return, the monkeys participate as much in Lexiconian society as do the Lexiconians themselves!"
"But I believe you would prefer to see some of this for yourselves, won't you?" The Doctor asked WordGirl and Susan, who both nodded in approval.
Captain Huggyface screeched a little, which WordGirl then translated as: "And Huggy apparently wants to see how much has changed since he left all those years ago, so what are we waiting for?"
Later, the Doctor led the group to a massive building in the center of town...
"I guess we were waiting for that." said the Doctor with a chuckle. "Now, Are you sure this is the right place, Captain Huggyface?"
Huggy gave a screech, and WordGirl followed it up with: "So, this is the city's 'beginner's library' then..."
The building they were in front of was a giant red-and-orange dome, with so many doors lining the walls. Out of these doors, multicolored Lexiconians were flying out and in, with many items in their hands. Two towers sprouted out of the top of the building, with three smaller towers branching out of them. In all, the building was several times the size of the tallest skyscraper in Fair City, and just as many times as wide.
Everyone felt so insignificant next to it...but then a green-clothed flying bystander saw them, and floated down to them to ask: "Hey, why are you fellows here, of all places? This is the beginner's library, for toddlers and not-so-intelligent aliens! You guys look like the kind of people who would be looking at more advanced knowledge...after all, you are scholars, right?"
The Doctor looked uneasy, and not the kind of uneasy WordGirl saw him get when he raised his fears about the Time Lords...this was embarrassment. WordGirl quickly guessed what the embarrassment was about, and constructed a response to the Lexiconian according to her guess:
"Um, by 'scholar', which definition are you talking about: one who attends school or studies with a teacher, a student; a specialist in a particular branch of study, a distinguished academic; or a person who is highly educated?"
The green-clothed Lexiconian said: "Well, I guess I could mean all of the above..."
"Well, all of those definitions accept that people like to learn, so we are all scholars! We're just here because these guys are taking a tour of the planet, and they're 'starting at the beginning' you might say. Besides, who's to say adults can't enjoy kid stuff?"
"...I see. Seems that I shouldn't have been so quick to judge. Well, good luck to you all!" the Lexiconian said as he waved and flew away.
"Excellent work, WordGirl!" commented the Doctor, "Lexiconians do tend to look down on people with less intelligence then they have. It's a minor matter, to be sure...but you seem well aware of what works and doesn't work on this world!"
WordGirl blushed, and said: "Well, I saw the way Astellakar won the entire crowd over by defining 'society,' and I figured something like that might work..."
"Well, If you ever decide to move back here, instead of staying on Earth, you would probably be right at home." the Doctor said, not thinking too much into what he was saying.
For WordGirl, however, the comment sent her deep in thought: This should be her real home, yet she has always lived on Earth as far as she can remember! She had family on Earth: Sally, Tim, T.J., and Bampy! she had friends: Violet, Scoops, Tobey...and all the citizens that looked up to her for protection! She couldn't just turn her back on them...could she?
Always, Lexicon to her had been just a few pictures, a few descriptive words, a story from Captain Huggyface. But in the few minutes she had spent actually on this faraway world, she has interacted with its society more or less like she had been there all her life!
After all, she has so far had less trouble explaining her presence to the locals, than she had coming up with an excuse as to why she had to leave her friends and change into WordGirl!
Life here would be a wonderful experience...but could she really give up her friends on Earth for it? She has always said 'no, Earth comes first', but how long before she starts...
Suddenly, Susan interrupted her train of thought by saying: "Um, Becky? WordGirl? Are we going into the library or not?"
WordGirl nodded, embarrassed, and they all walked through the massive doors...
…...
…...
The Doctor and Huggyface looked on in remembrance, while WordGirl and Susan looked on in awe.
Everywhere they looked there were books, books, and more books. Shelf upon shelf upon shelf was lined with books arranged in carefully-considered patterns. The bookshelves stretched all the way up to the ceiling, which was itself amazingly tall. There were Lexiconians flying to and fro among the shelves, and people from other worlds got around on floating platforms they apparently rented at a nearby service desk. As for the books themselves, WordGirl quickly guessed they were color-coded according to what type of book it was; whether it was a novel, a picture-book, a schoolbook, a play, or something else!
WordGirl and Susan took it all in, admiring the sheer size of this wealth of knowledge before them...
….when another bystander, this time a blue-clothed female with a wider-than-usual cape, walked up to them and said: "Impressed, off-worlders? Wait till you get to the other sections; This is just the literature from that Earth-planet!"
"What?" Susan exclaimed in disbelief, "This one room is bigger than pretty much any library I've ever seen...and you're telling me all this stuff is just from Earth?"
"Well, humans haven't been around as long as many of the other aliens in the universe. I mean, they haven't even developed space travel yet! Of course their writings only take up one room!"
"Plus," the Lexiconian went on, "their languages are so easy to learn, they're usually the first alien languages our little children learn! Why, I heard that some alien societies have started using the earthly languages that we taught them as a universal language to communicate between themselves, they're so easy to learn!"
WordGirl grew a little indignant, after having the languages she grew up with put down upon like that; "Hey, There's nothing wrong with Earth's languages!"
"I never said there was, child! In fact, I personally think that Earth is one of the more fascinating planets out there! The things written about them, and by them, I will never consider the time I spent reading those things wasted! For such a young species, with such simple languages, they have a very rich and interesting history, culture, and livelihood! And I believe that when they start heading out towards the stars, they'll join the most advanced of scholars out there in the universe, and become something that will amaze us all!"
…..
… "You weren't insulting those languages at all? Well, thank you! I guess I share your opinion about Earth, miss..."
"Just call me Librarian, child; everyone does. Speaking of which...if you ever need help finding anything, you know where to find me!" And with that, the Librarian flew off.
WordGirl watched her go, thinking to herself out loud: "Well, the people here don't seem that bad..."
The Doctor, however, had already rented a floating platform and beckoned Susan and Huggy onto it; "Well if we're ready to go, I'm in the mood for some Menoptran poetry. I've never actually been to their home planet, Vortis, myself; but I hear the Menoptrans have a peaceful society and marvelous poets, and that's good enough for the moment!"
*(one scene transition later)*
WordGirl, Susan, Captain Huggyface, and the Doctor relaxed on one of the balconies (which also doubled as secondary entrances and exits for fliers) each with a book from an alien civilization in their hands...
When suddenly, everyone heard a loud noise! They glanced over the cityscape...and found that a massive fire had broken out in the middle of town!
"Oh no! Fire! I've got to help! WOOOORRRD U-" WordGirl began to say, but the Doctor cut her off:
"Not so fast, WordGirl – everyone here, scholars that they are, has all your powers, if not stronger versions of them! They can handle themselves in an emergency...In fact, there's the emergency crew on their way right now!"
The Doctor pointed up toward the sky, and WordGirl looked to see a dozen white-clothed Lexiconians flying through the air at top speed straight towards the blaze!
"Now watch as professional heroes do their job." The Doctor said calmly as everyone looked on, watched as the white emergency workers flew towards their goal...
….and then got knocked out of the sky by a black streak of...something flying! All the white rescuers fell to the ground, while the black flier took up position directly above the fire! Several more streaks of light flew towards the black flier...but they all plummeted to the ground before they got anywhere near him!
By the time around twenty Lexiconians had inexplicably fallen, WordGirl had managed to activate her super-vision (a trick she had recently learned) to zoom in on the scene and take a good look at this strange black flier...
Whoever this person was, he or she was covered in black metallic armor that obscured every part of his/her body. There was a human-like shape to it, except there were black claws where hands would have been, there were three horns coming out of the top of the helmet, and there were beetle-like wing cases on the back (which were currently open, revealing a strange alien jetpack that had a flame trail coming out of it). On the chest, there was a large orange glowing crystal.
"That crystal...Lexonite?" WordGirl said to herself as she observed that last detail.
Before anyone could answer, however, a massive booming voice echoed all throughout the city:
"SO-CALLED SCHOLARS OF PLANET LEXICON! BEHOLD THE END OF YOUR SOCIETY! I AM THE ANTI-LITERATE! AND WHEN I'M FINISHED..."
"...Nothing shall remain." his pitch lowered in a menacing manner, but WordGirl and her friends still heard it that far away.
Who is this mysterious stranger? Does the name he gave himself, the Anti-Literate, mean anything for Lexicon's scholars? And if he's up to no good, can WordGirl save the society she is just now starting to learn about, the home she never knew?
For these answers and more, tune in to the next installment of this amazing, colossal adventure of WORDGIRL and DOCTOR WHO!
NEXT EPISODE:
THE ANTI-LITERATE
Out of a white void steps a well-dressed, white-haired old man...
Hello! I'm the Doctor! The original, you might say! And welcome to another edition of 'The Doctor's World!'
An image of space appears...
The first thing one must know about Outer Space, when traveling through it like I do, is that it's big. Very, very big. The best word to describe precisely how big it is, is 'infinite.'
Infinite means 'never ending, limitless or endless in space, extent or size. Impossible to measure or calculate.'
When you look out of a telescope on planet Earth, the massive number of stars you see in the sky are only the tiniest fraction of how many are actually out there! And when your species starts flying out among the stars, no matter how hard you try or how far you go, you will never be able to see all there is to see!
For me, this is a good thing: It means I will never, ever get bored!
Back to the show!
Assuming this silly old author can get his act together and update normally!
The least I can do is know that you all are still enjoying my writing, infrequent as it is.