AU meme: Three & Jo
This is the third (and, to date, final) set of drabbles.
liadtbunny gave me the choice of the Monk, or Three & Jo. And having thought of how Three and Jo would handle the Apocalypse, I knew what I'd have to write.
1. Wild West
"But that railroad's going right through Cheyenne territory!" Jo protested. "Surely the law can't allow Mr Stevens to do that!"
Doc Smith shook his head. "I'm afraid it can."
"Well, it shouldn't." Jo folded her arms. "Can't you do anything? You saved the town from those lizard people, didn't you?"
"That wasn't the same. This is politics. Not really my field."
"If you won't help them, I will!"
The Doctor watched Jo bustle away, holding her parasol as if prepared to spear Stevens through the heart with it, should the occasion arise.
"So," he mused. "A fledgeling flies the coop." 2. Coffee Shop
Jo jumped back as a jet of boiling coffee shot heavenward from the kettle, unerringly striking the electric light in a shower of sparks. She yanked out its power cable, snatched up the fire extinguisher and aimed it at the wildly spinning coffee grinder. The jet of foam hit the whirling armature dead centre, and was splattered in every direction; but to her relief the mechanism shuddered to a halt.
The door flew open and Jo's supervisor surveyed the devastation, of which there was quite a lot. "You hamfisted bun vendor!"
"I was only trying to help," Jo said meekly. 3. Shapeshifters
"Doctor?" The Brigadier hurried forward as the Doctor staggered out of the Axons' spaceship, accompanied by a great deal of purple smoke. He took in the tattered figure in the Doctor's arms. "Miss Grant?"
"I'm OK," Jo said feebly.
"While I was trying to connect the TARDIS to the core of Axos, I'm afraid Jo took matters into her own hands," the Doctor explained. "It seems to have permanently affected the Axons."
The Brigadier looked over the Doctor's shoulder. His eyes widened at the dozen dazed Jos stumbling out of the ship.
"Really, Doctor," he said. "One was quite enough." 4. Fantasy/Fairy Tale
"Late again," the great wizard Quiquaequod remarked, as his apprentice hurried up the staircase of his tower.
"I'm sorry." Jo divested herself of her travelling cloak. "There were merchants in the market selling these." She held up a triangular length of glass. "They called them 'prisms.'"
"Frivolous trinkets."
"It's a funny thing," Jo persisted. "If you hold it up to the light, you get a rainbow. How does that work?"
Her master exchanged a glance with the stuffed crocodile that hung from the ceiling. "I can see, Jo, that I'm wasting my time trying to make a wizard of you." 5. . . . In SPACE!!
By the time they'd reached the quarters assigned to Doctor Smith, Ensign Grant was, to say the least, curious. According to her briefing, the man had violated the highest laws of the Federation, and if he had not been needed in the present emergency, would have been serving a life sentence. And yet, he seemed perfectly reasonable and polite.
"Sir," she said. "If I might ask..."
"What I did?" He chuckled. "I cured a genetic illness that would have wiped out a civilisation. They," he gestured upwards, "called it breaking the Prime Directive. What would you call it, Ensign Grant?" 6. Apocalypse
The Third Angel peered into his trumpet, then handed it to the golden- haired seraph at his side.
"Hold this for a moment," he said. "And whatever you do, take care not to blow it."
"Why?" the seraph asked. "What happens if someone does?"
"A star called Wormwood falls out of Heaven, and poisons a third part of the waters of the Earth." The angel pulled his celestial screwdriver from his velvet robes. "At least, it will once I've sorted out that valve."
"Got it." The seraph gave the trumpet a more respectful look. "No blowing. Not even a tootle." 7. Schoolfic
Inspired by tales of Jon Pertwee and Katy Manning goofing around on the jet bikes during the filming of The Sea Devils.
"See you at the motocross club this evening?" Jon asked Jo, as they walked out of the school gates.
"I'd love to," Jo said. "But I need to catch up on my revision."
"That's a pity. Mr Stewart says he's bringing a new Suzuki to test. Maybe we'll get a go on it."
"I hope it'll work better than that trike thing." Jo giggled. "It was so slow you could walk round the track faster."
"You'll never know, will you? Unless you come this evening."
Jo succumbed to temptation. "OK, I'll come. Who needs a General Science A level, anyway?" 8. Police/Firefighters/Medical/any other emergency service I can think of
"Looks like he got away, sir," Detective Constable Grant said, shining her torch around the cellar that had, until recently, been Victor Magister's base of operations.
"I wouldn't expect anything less of him. Any sign of the painting he stole?"
"Um..." Grant was peering into a cupboard. "Sir, I think you'd better see these."
The Inspector joined her. Six flawless copies of Van Klomp's Fallen Madonna, each bearing a small label reading THIS IS A FAKE, smiled serenely back at him.
"Sometimes, Grant, I think he does this just to annoy me."
Jo concealed a smile. "Can't think why, sir." 9. Supernatural
"Jo!" The Doctor turned as a cloud of golden smoke coalesced into humanoid form beside him. "What are you doing here? You're supposed to be keeping King Peladon busy."
"It's all right," Jo said. "I tried distracting him, but he didn't want to play Ludo or Scrabble, and I don't know Bezique. So I just bonked him on the head and tied him up." She looked at his expression. "Wasn't that right?"
"It's not what I was expecting you to do." The Doctor narrowed his eyes. "I thought you'd trained as a succubus?"
"I didn't say I passed," Jo admitted. 10. Regency
In a sense, I've already done this; Business as Usual is set in 1793, which isn't quite Regency but should be close enough. And if 1793 is good enough, so is 1801, when this drabble is set.
The Doctor looked up as the Brigadier strode into the his improvised laboratory.
"Something the matter?" he asked.
"Major Rand's had word from Kennalu. Apparently young people are being carried off by women with leopards' heads."
"I see." The Doctor rubbed his neck. "Jo, you'd better pack the usual equipment. We'll head over there and see what we can do."
"Sonic disruptor," Miss Grant began, writing on an ivory notelet. "And lemons for the batteries, of course..."
Brigadier Arthur Wellesley shook his head. "I don't know what you two do to the enemy, but there are times you terrify me."
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