Mardi Gras Massacre (short story)

Mardi Gras Massacre was the sixteenth short story in the Short Trips anthology Short Trips: Indefinable Magic. It was written by Arnold T. Blumberg. It featured the Sixth Doctor and Peri Brown.

Summary
The Doctor and Peri travel to New Orleans in 1932, arriving during the Mardi Gras festivities. They are searching for a Mykosian Pod that has crashed into the bayou. Peri is hungry, however, and the pair split up while Peri goes into a restaurant called the 'Legendre Lounge'. She befriends the restaurant's owner, Cassandra, and orders a bowl of gumbo. She also wants to try the house speciality, a drink called 'The Elixir of Life', but Cassandra warns her that it might be too strong for her. The Doctor meets a fortune teller, Madam Ledanois, who accurately reads the Doctor's mission from a pack of playing cards. Together they set off to find the Mykosian pilot. On the way they notice that the carnival-goers are being turned into zombies after drinking free shots of 'The Elixir of Life'. Peri is attacked by zombies in the restaurant kitchen and discovers that chicory returns them to their normal selves. She sets out through the city streets to find the Doctor and rescues him and Madam Ledanois from zombies. The three of them eventually find the Mykosian in a cage. Cassandra has been using its blood as one of the ingredients in her drink. They return to find Cassandra and discover that she has been taken over by the Mykosian pendant she is wearing round her neck. The pendant has been making her turn people into zombies so that they will revolt against the government and help a Mykosian invasion of Earth. The Mykosian takes back its pendant and restores the zombies to normality. Unfortunately, Cassandra's mind has been ruined by the experience. Madam Ledanois volunteers to take care of Cassandra while the Doctor and Peri spend some time at the Mardi Gras. Afterwards they agree to return the Mykosian to its home.

Characters

 * Sixth Doctor
 * Peri

Continuity
to be added