The Jazz Monster (comic story)

The Jazz Monster was the twelfth story of the Doctor Who: The Tenth Doctor comic strip series, published in 2016.

Summary
The Doctor, Gabby and Cindy land in New Orleans at the dawn of the Jazz Age, tracking down the source of the Nocturnes, twisted memetic creatures who ride music and use it as a weapon. Can the TARDIS team change the Nocturnes' tune before they infect all life on Earth?!

Plot
Gabby meets the Tenth Doctor for dinner. He asks where Cindy is, and Gabby says they're meeting elsewhere afterwards. The Doctor asks where they will meet.

In the Red Note, Cindy is admiring Roscoe. Roscoe's band finishes playing, and Roscoe goes to talk to Cindy. They kiss, and Roscoe walks backstage.

There, he meets Paradisa. He tells her that Mr. Hitchens won't allow her to be backstage. Paradisa grabs Roscoe's shoulder. She then screams and a flash of red surrounds her and Roscoe.

The Doctor and Gabby meet Cindy, and they sit at a table. Cindy walks off to order drinks, and the Doctor says he notices Cindy seems more excited than usual.

Roscoe, sitting on the floor, is surrounded by other band members. He walks back on the stage, but stops at the last minute. Bernie asks him if he's okay, and Roscoe says he's forgotten how to play. Bernie tells the audience that Roscoe isn't feeling well, which attracts the Doctor's attention. He asks Hitchens how many times it has happened before. According to Bernie and Cuz, it's the third time that month.

The Doctor goes to look backstage, and Gabby follows. Gabby says she noticed that he knew something as soon as he walked into the club. The Doctor says he smelt it, and Gabby compares the smell to Wupatki. She asks him if it's Nocturnes. The Doctor is unsure, saying it seems different.

In the main room of the club, Roscoe notices Paradisa. He accuses her of cursing him. She looks at him and he screams as his eyes turn red.

The Doctor and Gabby continue to look around. Gabby opens a door to find a man. He holds up a trumpet, which emits a loud screeching sound, knocking Gabby and the Doctor back. They manage to knock him down, and he runs off. They follow him, and find Roscoe, Paradisa and some of the other musicians onstage, surrounded by the red glow. Gabby goes back to the TARDIS to get the device that the Doctor used to cure the Shan'tee.

Cuz gets too close to the possessed musicians, and gets possessed himself. Gabby attempts to get out through a window, but she is blocked by a wall of "solid sound".

The man on the stage, Rolf Jackson, announces that "they" have waited, and now it is their time. The Doctor, Cindy, and Bernie hide behind a table as the possessed musicians attack them. The Doctor tells Bernie to gather up as many unaffected musicians as possible, and to "play crazy". He tells Cindy to cover her ears as the musicians attack them again. He blocks it with the screwdriver, which wears out the screwdriver but weakens the musicians. A creature forms itself out of the red glow, and the Doctor signals Bernie and his group of musicians to begin playing. The Doctor deduces that the Nocturne on the stage is a more powerful one than on Wupatki. The Nocturne imitates laughter, and possesses more musicians, becoming stronger. It declares that they will all become its servants.

Characters

 * Tenth Doctor
 * Gabby Gonzalez
 * Cindy Wu
 * Roscoe Ruskin
 * Paradisa
 * Lew
 * Mel
 * Bernie
 * Cuz
 * Mr. Hitchens
 * Rolf Jackson

Continuity

 * Gabby was gifted her musical portrait by a Shan'tee. (COMIC: The Singer Not the Song)
 * The Tenth Doctor is obsessed with "songs ending" (TV: Planet of the Ood, The End of Time).