Disclaimer: Kim Possible, characters, likenesses therein, and other Kim Possible content bits are all property of the Walt Disney Corporation, all rights reserved, et cetera. All other non-original content is property of their various right-holders, all rights reserved, et cetera. All original content is property of Sven Endori (me), all rights reserved, et cetera. If you wish to use my content (everything, including characters, plot points, etc.), feel free to do so, but kindly drop me a link to your work so I can read it.
AN: Reviews welcome and appreciated, as always.
"There is a theory which states that if ever anyone discovers exactly what the universe is for and why it is here, it will instantly disappear and be replaced by something even more bizarre and inexplicable. There is another which states that this has already happened." – Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
This is the result of a challenge which I put to myself; I took part of the signature of the person who posted after me (Vampireprincess of ) and turned it into a story. An interesting little one-shot which may get reworked into a dimension-jumping story I've been wanting to write. There is also a level of Doctor Who and Sliders involved in my writing.
Chapter One
"I sing to you this night, my love, that you may remember the end of all things; that all that was, all that still will be, may yet survive in you." It was her destiny; from the beginning of time, and all things had pointed to that one inescapable conclusion. She was always in the right place at the right time, even at the end of time, and now it was her time to save the world one last time. She was always to be the savior of the universe and all within it.
"The universe is coming to an end," Dr. James Timothy Possible said frankly. "It's returning to a state of quantum singularity; all matter and energy condensed into a single dimensionless point."
"How long do we have?" the President of the United States asked.
"A month, maybe two," Dr. Possible replied. "I can't say for sure; needless to say, we've never seen this happen before."
"And there's nothing you can do?" the President asked.
"To stop it?" Dr. Possible asked. "No, but we think we may have found a way around it. We can, in theory, create a device which will bring us out of sync with the rest of the universe, allowing the singularity to come and go without affecting us."
"That's crazy!" the President shouted at him. "It'd never work!"
"Well, sir," Dr. Possible said, "we really don't have any other option."
"You'd need a mad scientist to get something that insane to work!" the President shouted.
Dr. Possible sighed, "I know."
"Shego!" Dr. Drakken shouted, "warm up the hovercraft! They've just finished a new version of the Pan-Dimensional Vortex Inducer!"
"Yeah, not gonna happen," Shego said, squeezing the bridge of her nose as she stood from the seat next to Dr. Drakken; she finished the slice toast which constituted the remainder of her breakfast standing. "Remember what happened last time you tried to use that thing?"
"But they got the bugs worked out of it," Dr. Drakken said pleadingly.
"They weren't the ones with the bugs," Shego retorted. "Besides, I have plans today." She grabbed the television remote from the table and switched it on, flipping from channel to channel; she let it rest when the words "Breaking News" captured her interest momentarily.
"My fellow Americans," the President said on the television. He sighed deeply. "My fellow humans and any beings listening in from among the countless stars, it has become inescapably apparent that our universe is coming to an end. As I speak, there is a massive undertaking underway to protect Earth from the results of the quantum singularity formation which is in progress. However, if we fail, scientists predict that within two months our world will be swallowed up and our lives will be lost. If you have a deity, this would be the time to make your peace."
Shego shut off the television. "Drakken!" she screamed. "What did I tell you about trying to end the universe?"
"It wasn't me," he said innocently. "As far as I know, it wasn't anyone else, either."
"Excuse me," a delivery man said, poking his head into the kitchen, "do either of you know where I can find, um…" He looked at his clipboard. "Drew Lipsky?"
Shego pointed to Drakken, who said, "How'd you get in here? I locked the door and everything."
The delivery man looked skeptically at Drakken for a minute before asking, "So you didn't give us permission to set up in your spare room the lab of one…" He looked at his clipboard again. "Dr. James Possible? The guy with a lab coat and the very angular brown hair told us you said it was alright for us to start moving this stuff in."
Drakken got out of his seat and grabbed the clipboard from the delivery man's hands. "What is going on?" he grumbled angrily to himself as he read through the pages. "James!"
Dr. Possible came running into the room. "Heya, Drew," he said. He tossed him a small box.
Dr. Drakken fumbled with the box as he tried to catch it; he opened it and pulled out a small vacuum tube. "What's this?" he asked, looking it over; he shook it a few times, just to be sure.
"It's the new Pan-Dimensional Vortex Inducer," Dr. Possible said.
Drakken turned to Shego, and asked, "Is this a dream?" She lit her hand and blasted him across the room. "Not a dream," he coughed. James walked over to him and effortlessly hoisted him back to his feet. "What's going on?"
"Have you seen the news?" James asked, pickup the remote and turning the television back on. As he cycled through the channels, nigh-everything was a repeat of the President's speech.
"Yes I've seen the news," Drakken grumbled, taking the remote from him and shutting off the television. "I mean, what are you doing here, in my lair, and why are you moving equipment into my lab space?"
"Because the universe is coming to an end in a few months," James replied, confused at the apparent lack of connection in his former colleague's mind.
Dr. Drakken began to grow impatient, and asked, "What does that have to do with me?"
"You're going to help save the world," James said slowly as he began to grow more and more irritated. "We're getting the band back together." Drakken stared blankly at him, clearly confused; James turned to Shego. "Is he always this dense?"
"Most of the time," she replied, beginning again her habitual nail-filing.
"You and I are going to work with Ramesh and Chen to save the universe," James said, again speaking slowly.
"I'm sorry, Mr. President," Dr. James Possible said with deep sadness as the President stepped out of the science fiction-inspired spaceship. "We've done the best we can, but to pull the Earth out of sync entirely we'd have to use a power source as massive as the sun, which would require a dozen suns to take out of sync on its own; it's simply not possible."
"So, what now?" the President asked, hands shaking as he wiped the bead of nervous sweat from his brow.
"We've found a way to re-seed the universe on a quantum level at event zero; an observer present at event zero would be able to alter the quantum state of the universe such that it could, potentially, spit everything out exactly as it was," Dr. Possible said. "We've run a number of simulations, and we believe that merely the quantum observation of an individual would be enough to set the universe back in order; the quantum singularity reads the state of the observer and extrapolates the rest of the universe from it."
"We've managed to build a ship powered by solar winds which is capable moving into and out of quantum sync with the universe," Dr. Ramesh interjected. "Survivor One has life support capabilities enough for one person, and one person only, due to the weight restrictions of carrying enough food and water. As such, it is designed to be operated by a single pilot, which is all it would take for the quantum observation to take hold."
"Who gets to fly this thing?" the President asked.
"We haven't been able to decide yet," Dr. Possible said. The President looked at him skeptically. "Sir, it's not just who gets to fly it; we're potentially deciding who gets to be the last human in existence."
"I'll do it," the President said.
"No, sir, you won't," Dr. Possible said. "We can't train you to operate it in time. It'll have to be someone with prior experience." He looked around at his colleagues.
"You do it," the President said. "There, problem solved."
"I must decline, sir," Dr. Possible said softly. "I want to stay with my family."
"I told you already, I'll do it," Dr. Drakken said. "I'm fully qualified to operate this thing."
"No, I will do it," Dr. Ramesh insisted. "I, too, am qualified, and I am not a mad scientist."
"Neither of you have spent enough time in space to know what to do if something went wrong," Dr. Chen said, speaking up. "I am the most logical choice."
"I'm the only one capable of fixing the Pan-Dimensional Vortex Inducer if something goes wrong," Dr. Drakken said smugly. "If there is any chance of this working I'll have to do it."
"Yeah, let blue boy do it," Shego said sarcastically as she walked into the room, Kim following close behind. "I'll sleep well at night knowing that the reconstruction of the universe is in the hands of Dr. D. If anyone should do this, it should be me; I can fly anything, and I can weld the hull if there's a breach."
"You have no experience in space!" Dr. Chen interjected.
"I'll do it," Kim said meekly.
"It's not about experience in space, it's about experience flying in the middle of a bat-shit crazy scheme which has no chance of success," Shego said.
"I'll do it," Kim repeated, louder this time.
"Back me up here, Shego," Dr. Drakken insisted. "I'm the best possible candidate for this job, and you all know it. You're just jealous of my brilliance."
The rest of the group burst into laughter, save Kim, who growled under her breath. "I'll fly the God-damn ship!" she shouted loud enough to silence the others. "It's my job to save the world; maybe I can do it literally for once." Dr. Possible opened his mouth to speak, but Kim interrupted him before he could start. "Anything's possible for a Possible, right, dad? That's what you always say, and now I'll put it to the test."
"What the hell do you think you're doing, Princess?" Shego asked, irate. "Don't you ever get tired of saving the world? Let someone else take the credit for it this time."
"This isn't about credit, Shego," Kim insisted. "I've never done it for the credit; not once have my actions been anything less than altruistic."
"You want me to believe that you do everything you do because it's the right thing to do?" Shego asked, finishing her sentence in a condescending tone.
"Yeah," Kim said simply.
"Well, that may be the biggest load of horse sh-" Shego began before getting cut off.
"I don't care what you think it is," Kim said. "I'm still the most qualified person for this mission."
"Do it," the President said. "There's no denying that you're the most experienced out of all of us. I just hope that it's enough, for all our sakes."
"Ignition system ready in 10… 9… 8…" Dr. Possible's countdown sounded over the radio as Kim sat buckled into the seat, her hands trembling. "7… 6… 5…" Kim turned her head toward the back of the craft as she heard the striking of metal on metal. "4… 3… 2…" Kim's eyes shot wide open as she saw a panel fly off of its hinges and a green and black figure crawl out of the storage bin. "1… Ready on your 'go'."
"Shego!" Kim shouted in shock.
"We have a go," Dr. Possible said. "Good luck and Godspeed." Not a second later the engines kicked on, throwing the starfighter-like ship up and out of the hanger at higher and higher speeds. Shego was thrown back against the wall, the metal plate which she'd broken off slamming itself against her left leg.
As the craft reached the outer reaches of the atmosphere, the relative force of motion lessened and Shego, and the metal plate, fell to the ground. "Inertial dampeners my ass," she groaned as she stood, favoring her right leg.
"What the hell are you doing here?" Kim shouted at her.
"What, you think I'd miss all the fun?" Shego said, limping up to Kim.
"This place only has life support for one!" Kim said.
"Life support for one for a month, Princess," Shego said as she took a seat on Kim's lap.
"What… You're…" Kim stammered in surprise at her foe's actions.
"Yeah, I'm sitting on your lap," Shego replied. She rolled up the left leg of her uniform and frowned when she saw the cut on her shin slowly seeping blood.
"You're hurt," Kim said as she, too, looked at the wound. "How bad is it?"
"Not bad, just a cut," Shego said. "Where's the medical kit?"
"Behind the seat," Kim said as she unbuckled herself. Shego stood long enough for her to get out of the seat before stealing it from her. Kim pulled the white box from behind the chair and handed it to Shego, who pulled out a bottle and a roll of gauze.
Shego poured the contents of the brown bottle over her wound and grimaced as it bubbled and fizzed. She wrapped the now-clean wound tightly in gauze before rolling her skin-tight pant leg down over the bandage. "There, good as new," she said, standing up. "So, what the hell do we do now?"
"We get out of my way so I can do my job," Kim insisted, sitting back in her chair.
"Ok, what do I do?" Shego asked, irritated by Kim's perceived self-righteousness.
"Go bake me a cake," Kim said sideways as she checked the various instruments on the panels before her.
"Hey, I don't do cakes," she snapped.
Kim scowled at the response, stood up, and faced her. "I don't give a flying fuck what you do as long as you stay out of my way," she snapped.
As if on cue, the computer chimed. "Earth Terminus has commenced," it said. Kim and Shego both turned to the window to see the Earth stretch as it entered the black hole which constituted the quantum singularity. Seconds later the world outside the ship began to shimmer and blur and fade as the Pan-Dimensional Vortex Inducer activated, protecting the ship from the harshness of space around them, until all was gone to black and stars; the earth, the visible event horizon of the black hole burning with the Sun's star matter, all had faded to empty space and stars.
"Princess, where are we?"