Disclaimer: I do not own WordGirl or Doctor Who, properties of PBS and BBC respectively.
Sorry for the lack of updates, but…college…ugh.
Plus, I waited for Man of Steel to come out for inspiration...but we're not here to talk about that movie, we're here to enjoy my story!
WordGirl and Doctor Who in…
THE ANTI-LITERATE!
Narrator: Listen for the words 'Literate' and 'Spectacle.'
When we last saw WordGirl and her friends, they had just arrived on Planet Lexicon, intending to see the sights…but no sooner did they settle down to become literate in alien culture, than the city was attacked by someone calling himself 'The Anti-Literate!' Right off the bat, he appears to be preventing Lexiconian rescue-workers from helping those trapped inside a burning building!
"There..." the deep voice of the armored 'Anti-Literate' echoed throughout the city; "Now, I can work in peace." And with that, he floated down into the burning building, punching in a wall to enter... and then disappeared. More white streaks – belonging to rescue-workers – attempted to enter the building, but no sooner did they approach than they fell out of the sky again.
WordGirl looked on with utter horror at what was going on. "Doctor, are you seeing this?"
"Yes indeed, WordGirl... a grim spectacle," said the Doctor as he peered through a spyglass he pulled out of his coat, "And it pains me to say that none of us can get involved."
"What?!" WordGirl asked in disbelief: "Is this more about the Time Lords? Come on, we've got to do something!"
"I know! But, even if I acted through persons that could deny any connection to me or Susan, such as yourself, I'm sorry to say that you won't stand a chance against this so-called Anti-Literate! You saw what he did to those rescuers? That jewel on his chest... I don't know how he got that on the planet surface unnoticed, but that was obviously a piece of Lexonite! Your superpowers – your sole advantages, will be useless against the likes of that villain!"
WordGirl, accepting that the Doctor had a point, clenched her fist in frustration...but then, her Lexiconian brain suddenly fired into action, and she got an idea!
"Doctor, my powers aren't my sole advantage! I have the advantages all Lexiconians possess... including super-intelligence! If we can't take the Anti-Literate on in a straight-up fight..."
"Then we just approach the problem from a different angle!" exclaimed Susan, finishing WordGirl's sentence.
"Exactly...Huggy, Doctor, Susan, let's all get back to the TARDIS. I have a plan..."
*(one scene transition later)*
The Anti-Literate laughed as he searched through every storage space within the building, grabbing small pieces of machinery and stuffing them into his armor. "Heh heh heh... I made quite a spectacle out there. By now, all of the evil literate ones of Planet Lexicon will know their doom approaches, and they will feel the fear and pain that they-"
"HEY! ANTI-LITERATE! YOU BIG UGLY HELMET HEAD!" a small voice shouted from outside, interrupting his thoughts.
"What...who..." He angrily stomped to the nearest window, and shouted: "WHO DARES?"
No sooner did he ask, however, than he got a response: "I DARE! I AM WORDGIRL, AND I'M HERE TO STOP YOU, AND SAVE EVERYONE IN THAT BUILDING!"
The Anti-Literate turned towards the voice's source...and as he saw that his challenger was a small child in a red suit, flying a considerable distance above the ground, his anger changed to disbelief.
Then, the child followed up her challenge with: "Sorry about the insult, but I had to get your attention somehow!"
The Anti-Literate couldn't hold it in any longer."HA HA HA! A child? You think you can defy the fate that awaits all Lexiconians?"
"Well, I can try... After all, this is my home planet you seem to be threatening. And no one else seems to be trying to stop you, so..."
"That's because there are none who can! I am the punishment that all of Lexicon deserves, and cannot be stopped!... But, since you are a child, and cannot grasp this concept at all, I will allow you the chance to fight me."
And with that, the Anti-Literate closed a metal flap on his chest, obscuring the Lexonite from view... as he said to himself: "Besides, it will be a real spectacle to see me be so merciless to a child...they will fear me even more, and that's what I'm here for."
And with that, the Anti-Literate opened up the 'wing' cases on his back, revealing his jetpack, which started to glow. Then, he twitched his arms a little, and massive metal objects swung forward...transforming his claw-hands into even bigger claws, this time resembling those on a crab! Thus altered, the Anti-Literate launched himself upwards, straight towards WordGirl...
...who ducked when he just about reached her, causing him to fly right over her, allowing her to grab his legs and start spinning him around in the air!
"Whoouuhhuuuuhhuuuhhh...Let me go, you little-!" the Anti-Literate shouted, very dizzy.
But before he could finish his sentence, WordGirl said: "OK!" and let go...sending him hurtling off into the sky, even farther away from the ground, at which point WordGirl zipped on after him.
Meanwhile, on the ground...
The Doctor, Susan and Captain Huggyface looked up into the sky, and saw that the fight had started. "Quickly now – we don't know how long we have before he gets wise to our plan!" shouted the Doctor, as they ran towards the burning building.
Then, they saw what they were looking for: several of the white-clothed Lexiconian rescue-workers, still dazed from the Anti-Literate's Lexonite attack. All of them moaned in pain.
"How come they haven't recovered, Grandfather?" Susan asked, to this response from the Doctor: "Well, a fall from a tremendous height after a Lexonite exposure will do that to you, I suppose...we're lucky they didn't come to any more harm than they have! Now hurry!"
So, they all got to work. Susan focused on one well-built man, pressing her hand against his chest in an attempt to get his breathing back to normal. In a few minutes, he started coughing, and after asking a few questions, (to which Susan responded: "No time, you're still needed up there!") zipped up to do his job.
Captain Huggyface did something similar to another such worker...except he started slapping the guy around, who said "OK, OK, I'll stop lying down on the job." when he woke up, before he took to the air.
The Doctor, meanwhile, started rubbing his ring (which soon started glowing) against the forehead of the one he was helping, saying to himself: "Hopefully the Metebelis crystal should get his brain working at – ah!" he exclaimed as he felt a jolt, which shocked the Lexiconian back to consciousness. The first thing he noticed was the burning building, and he flew right back up again.
With these three conscious again, the Doctor and friends moved on to the next three...
Back up in the air...
The Anti-Literate's frustration was growing by the minute. Every time he swung at WordGirl with his massive claws, she simply dodged. And the last time he kicked at her, she twisted her body around and threw him away by his leg. And this was a child – one he believed would be a pushover, who he would effortlessly defeat and thus strike terror into the hearts of the Lexiconians!
Thinking of trying something new, he grabbed the pointy spire on top of a nearby building, ripped it clean off, and swung it at her like it was a giant club...but with one punch, she shattered the makeshift weapon the instant it reached her!
Then, the Anti-Literate saw her do something strange: she used her Lexiconian speed to grab all the resulting debris before it hit the ground, and threw it all at him as projectiles! Sure, he was able to block them all, but the reason behind her doing so eluded him...for a brief moment.
"Worried about the people those rocks might have fallen on?"
"Well, yeah...I am here to keep you from harming anyone-"
"Well you shouldn't!" shouted the Anti-Literate; "Every single being on this planet deserves what I bring! Every single living thing on this planet is a literate being, and that means they are all evil!"
"...Wait...What?" WordGirl asked in disbelief. "I think you're confused here, mister Anti-Literate! 'Literate' doesn't mean evil, it means 'able to read and write' or 'well-educated in some particular area of study'! In the case of the Lexiconians, it means they know a lot about the languages of the universe, and thus are literate in that area!"
"I know...and that is why they are evil! And their evil is why I am their enemy, the Anti-Literate!"
WordGirl continued to stare at him in disbelief. "What you're saying doesn't make any sense!"
"You wouldn't understand. You're one of them. And soon, you, and all of Lexicon, will pay for your crimes against the universe...that burning building back there is a taste of what is to come!"
WordGirl glared at him angrily... then took a close look at the building directly behind the Anti-Literate and laughed: "What burning building?"
Confused, the Anti-Literate turned around... to see white-clothed rescue-workers breathing ice all over the building, cooling it off! At the same time, others were dashing inside and outside the building at lightning-speed, pulling helpless victims out of the blaze!
"What? No! This cannot be!"
"Oh yes it can, Anti-Literate. You made quite a spectacle down there, but now it's all over! Once those guys are done there, they'll be coming for you!"
"...We'll see about that!" the Anti-Literate shouted angrily, as the red eyepiece of his helmet started to glow...
And the instant he started firing a heat-ray from that eyepiece, WordGirl had already zipped in front and blocked it with a blast of ice-breath! She had instantly recognized that move as the type Miss Power, an alien with all the Lexiconian powers (except she derived her powers from bullying others) used to defeat her by catching her off-guard, but now she was prepared for something like that.
"Grrah...That's it! You're finished, WordGirl!" And with that, the Anti-Literate moved his claws towards his chest, folded back the big claws to reveal the old, smaller claws, and began to open the flaps on his chest...
...prompting WordGirl to shove him away with all the strength she could muster before the Lexonite affected her that much. Luckily, after he was sent flying well over a hundred feet, she was able to recover after falling a similar distance.
The Anti-Literate, meanwhile, re-oriented himself and fully opened his chest-panel, once again exposing Lexonite to the surrounding area. In rage, he prepared to force his way to WordGirl and finally take her out of the picture...when he noticed that all the rescue-workers had joined her, and were whirling their arms to create miniature tornadoes, headed his way. As he blocked the wind-assault, he must have finally realized it wasn't worth it to stay around much longer.
"YOU WIN THIS DAY, LEXICONIANS! BUT YOU CANNOT STOP ME COMPLETELY! THIS PLANET WILL BE A SMOKING RUIN BY THE TIME I'M DONE!" And after shouting that out, the Anti-Literate turned around and set his jetpack to its highest level, leaving only a black streak behind him.
As WordGirl watched him go, she felt disgust at what he tried to commit, confusion regarding the things he said...and disappointment that he left before she could deliver a snappy comeback! "Aw, and I had at least three witty responses to give him!"
"Oh, I think you've done enough, child...more than enough!" said a female rescue-worker, as she patted WordGirl on the shoulder. "The people in that building, they will all owe you so much after today...I shudder to think of what could happened had you not distracted that monster!"
"...Monster?" asked one of the other white-clothed rescuers.
"Given what we know of him, and what he tried to do, I can safely say that 'monster' is one of the best words to describe him...assuming one uses the 'threatening force' or 'someone who is extraordinarily ugly, evil, or both' definitions."
"Good point." said WordGirl; "However, soon all of Lexicon will know of his existence, and we won't be such an easy target next time."
The female rescue-worker nodded, and then said: "Meaning we should be ready as well. Let's go home – you can handle the reporters, WordGirl!"
Before WordGirl could say anything, another of the rescuers moaned: "Aww, Seycurea, why can't I do it?"
"It's her fifteen minutes of fame, as the earthlings would say. I say, let her enjoy them." Then, after giving a sincere smile to WordGirl, Seycurea flew off, taking the rest of her group with her.
WordGirl reflected on her words for a minute ("She basically told me to enjoy the reporters...and there was no sarcasm in that?") before flying back to where she left the Doctor's TARDIS...
*(one scene transition later)*
And she found the Doctor hiding behind Susan and Captain Huggyface, desperately trying to avoid several monkeys and flying Lexiconians, all with futuristic notepads and cameras.
"You don't understand! I simply cannot be seen by every literate being on Lexicon!"
"Oh, please!" pleaded one of the reporters: "All of Lexicon will want close details on this spectacle, and you're the only ones we can find! I truly hate to put myself up in your personal space like this, but otherwise our readers won't find our story complete!"
"We could avoid mentioning your name in the story! Would that work?"
"No, I'm afraid it wouldn't," said Susan. "Why not ask WordGirl, she's the one who came up with the whole plan!"
WordGirl took that as a cue: "Yeah, I am right here after all!"
Instantly, all the reporters looked at her, and moved (or floated) over to her as one of the monkeys said (in monkey-screeches): "Well, talking to a Lexiconian will make things all the easier...So, you're WordGirl, right? The one who challenged the so-called 'Anti-Literate' to a fight?"
Phew...got those subtitles in just in time...
"Well, yes... What would you guys like to know?"
"First, I'll ask if you want to talk anywhere other than here, if you want to."
"Hmmm...here's fine."
"Right then...How about you start from the beginning, WordGirl? Where were you when this all started?"
"Well, I was at the library over there, just having myself an easy read, when the whole spectacle started to unfold before me...and by 'spectacle,' I mean the 'performance or display that leaves a massive impact when seen' definition, not the fancy word for reading-glasses."
"It's OK, we knew what you meant." said one of the reporters, and the interview continued...
So, WordGirl described her experiences up in the air, while leaving a few details out...
"You don't mind that, right? Me leaving a few details out?"
"Oh it's perfectly acceptable! You have a private life, and we're not here to intrude on your private life if you don't want us to."
"However," said a reporter-monkey, "There is one question that still haunts my mind...why did you call yourself 'WordGirl'? It seems like a pretty simple name someone like yourself."
"Oh...I was...well, I got the idea from him calling himself the 'Anti-Literate' and all. If he hated literate people so much, I thought it would be poetic to be defeated by someone who stood for truth, justice, and becoming well-educated about things... like words, especially since us Lexiconians are all about words!... I guess I went with WordGirl because I was on a little bit of a time crunch."
"I see...Well, if you ever want a different name, don't hesitate to try something new – after all, that old Earthling once said: 'What's in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.' I wish I could remember which earthling it was..."
"That's William Shakespeare! Romeo and Juliet!" WordGirl exclaimed, instantly recognizing the phrase from Juliet's famous 'wherefore art thou Romeo' monologue. Romeo and Juliet was her favorite of all the Shakespeare plays, especially since she was involved in one of the strangest performances of that play ever: She and Violet co-starred as twin Juliets, while her then-crush Scoops played as the wall!
"Ah, that's the one! Good to know someone shares my tastes in off-world literature!" said the reporter with a smile.
Then, another asked: "How about 'The Doctor?' How does that sound for a name?"
WordGirl expressed confusion at the reporter's choice, and the Doctor expressed shock...until the reporter explained himself: "In some languages, the word 'doctor' means 'healer'. Your actions allowed everyone trapped in that building to get the healing they needed, so that technically makes you a healer. In some languages, the word 'doctor' means 'wise or skilled one', which can easily describe you after what we've seen and heard from you. In other languages still, like the language of the Gamma Forest, the word 'doctor' means 'mighty warrior', and after seeing you hold your own on someone who is bigger, and likely stronger and faster, than you, I can safely say you're a skilled fighter."
"So," WordGirl said, summarizing: "if I called myself something like 'The Little Doctor,' It would describe me no matter what language I was speaking in. I can see why you chose that! But, I think I'll stick with WordGirl for now."
*(one scene transition later)*
Minutes later, WordGirl and the Doctor watched the reporters leave, with the monkeys riding on the humanoids' backs. WordGirl had given them all the details on the encounter she just had that she was willing to share, and they were intent on turning the information into a story to give to the people of Planet Lexicon.
But WordGirl had gotten something out of the interview as well: "You know...I really enjoyed that!"
"Well, Lexiconians are the kind who enjoy a good conversation," said the Doctor, "and so the news-reporters of this planet take that into account...they're very rarely up-in-your-face like the press on Earth. They make sure the person they're interviewing is comfortable, and knows what he or she is talking about (which they usually do). I would have joined in if the Time Lords who come to Lexicon weren't likely to be reading this sort of news."
Makes you feel right at home, doesn't it, WordGirl?
"...yeah..." WordGirl said to the Narrator. And she agreed. For the past few hours, she had not felt like an outsider even though she technically was one. She actually felt like a Lexiconian.
Just then, the Doctor asked: "Well then, back to the grand tour of Lexicon! Where to next?"
"Where else? After the Anti-Literate!" said WordGirl quite suddenly, and to the Doctor's shock.
"What? But – WordGirl! He's-"
"Incredibly powerful and dangerous, and I only beat him that one time because I got lucky, probably won't defeat him the same way twice? Yeah, I know that. And no, I'm not letting the spectacle I made out there go to my head; that's something the ten-year-old me would have happen."
"You see," she said, looking at everyone (especially Captain Huggyface), "Even though I didn't grow up here, this is still the 'home I never had'! And I should do all I can to protect it!"
WordGirl could see the Doctor looking for a new objection to going after that villain, and a few seconds later, he did: "But there are professionals here to do just that! You've given the Lexiconians the time they need to prepare – he won't be able to strike again without being stopped!"
"Oh, I don't know...he caught everyone off-guard that first time...and everyone had super-hearing!"
The Doctor reluctantly nodded...and then said: "Still: We cannot become too involved. We are time-travelers, and cannot alter the times we visit too much, or the worlds we left behind...possibly even the worlds that created us, might never exist! If we become part of the events here, we risk utterly destroying Lexicon's future!"
Captain Huggyface screeched angrily here, and WordGirl translated: "He said 'The Anti-Literate will destroy Lexicon's future if he has his way!' And I agree with him!"
"Besides!" Susan said, "What if we're already part of the events here? Then our leaving things alone might cause problems, not our interference!"
"Doctor, please!" pleaded WordGirl, training her quivering eyes on the Doctor...
...and finally he said: "Oh, very well...But Susan and I cannot be part of this! We'll have to leave early if things start to heat up... and if it takes you longer to stop the Anti-Literate, you'll have to find alternate means of getting home, because we will leave in the TARDIS."
But last episode, you said Lexiconians can't use spaceships!
It didn't take the Doctor long to come up with an answer: "But Astellakar did! If he shared his secrets with WordGirl, she and Captain Huggyface could leave all by themselves!"
"And with her being famous, she could very easily convince him to help!" interjected Susan.
Well...I think that'll work!
"Then we have no time to lose!" exclaimed WordGirl, as they all rushed off to try to find Astellakar...
...unaware that a shadowy figure was watching them the whole time! As they left, he whispered to himself: "I can't let them interfere..."
But will WordGirl be able to convince Astellakar to help them? Will the Anti-Literate catch them by surprise yet again, and lead to a shocking ending?
All these answers and more on the next spectacle of the adventures of WORDGIRL!
NEXT EPISODE:
THE TRIAL OF CAPTAIN HUGGYFACE
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'!
All throughout my life, I have travelled to several different times and places...and as a time-traveler, I must make sure I never cause a paradox."
Someone off-screen taps the Doctor on the shoulder, he apparently doesn't notice...
"What's a paradox, you might ask? Well, it's a little more complicated than what you usually are exposed to, but the word itself means 'a seemingly false statement or one that apparently contradicts itself, but may indeed be correct if explained.'
An example of a paradoxical statement is 'you can save money by spending it,' or 'I am nobody' or 'be cruel to be kind'. None of those statements match up at first glance, but if phrased in a different way, or interpreted, they can actually make sense!"
Someone off-screen taps the Doctor on the shoulder, he apparently doesn't notice...
"Now, a time paradox happens when contradictory events happen at the same time, like someone turning left and turning right all at once! When time travelling, one must take special care to not alter history so that a paradox will ensue...or in trying to figure out which event happens at what time, the universe might unravel itself!
Someone off-screen taps the Doctor on the shoulder...and this time he notices.
"What do you want?"
"Doctor, would you consider this a paradox...or a 'Pair Of Docs'?"
The asker of the question, the Fourth Doctor, grins...
"...Oh dear...ummm...(pushes his future self off-screen) back to the show!"
LOL Tom Baker u so crazy...
See you sometime soon, hopefully before the summer ends!