Journey's Endings
Part Seven: Oopsie!
Author's Comments: Kim, Ron, Oscar Diggs and the Fourth Doctor have returned to the Doctor's TARDIS with the captured Empath, only to find Drax, another time lord, waiting for them. They are also met by the Second Doctor, a previous regeneration of the original Doctor. They are then told that in the universe of the time lords, Kim, Ron, Rufus and Oscar do not exist! This could make returning them to their proper places in time somewhat difficult.
My thanks go to Mahler Avatar, CajunBear73, Coot, smith5576 and all others who have read the previous chapters. Please feel free to leave a comment about this story at any time. I will do my best to reply.
KPDWKPDWKPDW
For a moment everyone was silent, and then Rufus gave an indignant squeak that seemed to echo through the control room. The mole rat chattered sharply for a full minute, shaking a paw at the two Doctors in turn.
"Master, Rufus takes strong exception to what you just said. Mistress Kimberly and Master Ronald are real; they do exist. Please explain your statement." K-9's translation was in his usual calm manner, but Kim thought that the robot dog had an angry tone in his voice.
"Yeah! What do you mean, KP isn't real?" Ron growled. "And Rufus? And what about Oscar?"
"Oh, no, no, no! It's not that way at all," said Doctor Two, and Doctor Four shook his head. "You're not in the wrong universe, Ronald; I am. That is, we are." Doctor Four waved at himself, Drax and Doctor Two as he spoke.
"Time Lords, Cybermen, Daleks, Ice Warriors, all of them," said Doctor Four, "just don't exist in this universe. Neither does Gallifrey, for that matter."
"But you do," Doctor Two added, "this is where you belong. There are some other differences as well."
"But you just said that something was 'awkward,'" Kim asked.
Ron nodded his agreement. "Yeah, what's the glitch in this sitch, anyway?"
"The 'glitch' appears to have been caused by the Empath and the stolen TARDIS," said Doctor Four. "Let's see what he has to say, shall we?" He turned to what looked like a high school student's locker that stood against one wall of the control room, opened it and gestured to Doctor Two with a broad smile.
"After you, Claude."
Doctor Two grinned, bowed in return and said, "No. After you, Cecil." Then both Doctors laughed as they went through the locker door.
Drax looked at the bewildered teens and explained, "Comedy turn from about 1940." He led them through the locker and into the stolen TARDIS. Once inside the control room, Drax set to work examining the control consol while both Doctors knelt beside the Empath and removed his gag.
"Now then, fellow, suppose you explain yourself," said Doctor Two.
"Yes. Just what were you trying to do?" asked Doctor Four. "Disrupt Earth's history for the thrill of it?"
"You don't understand!" the Empath gasped. "It's only when I feel emotions that I'm truly alive! Without them, I'm just an empty husk," he added in a tone of self-pity. "Once I realized that time lords were visiting Empathios I saw my chance to really live!"
"So you stole this TARDIS and went looking for an emotional 'high?'" Kim asked in disgust. "I suppose it didn't matter if you changed history and caused a few wars along the way."
"No! I didn't create wars and disasters; I just soaked in the emotions when they did happen," the Empath protested.
"If that's the case, why did you choose to visit the Earth and its history?" Doctor Four asked.
"The time lord in this machine told me about the Earth. He said it was the favorite planet of an eccentric time lord, and it had a history rich in conflict and crisis," the Empath moaned. "I disabled the tracer circuits so I couldn't be followed or found and then headed for a period when a great war was going on. But something happened and the machine landed in a peaceful exhibition instead."
The Empath paused and shook his head in frustration. "I talked to people and figured out where I was and when this 'Civil War' had actually taken place. I was going to go there when a building caught fire. I didn't cause the fire, but I couldn't pass up such an opportunity, so I stopped to absorb ― to enjoy! ― the emotions of the spectators."
"And the people trapped inside the burning building!" Kim snapped. "You were feeding on their pain and suffering."
"Then I realized you were looking at me, and you knew about me!" the Empath went on. "I had to flee, so I headed for the war. But once I was there some of the local soldiers showed up and I had to leave again." He gave a sob of frustration, and Doctor Two put the gag back in place.
"'Eccentric?' I may be unconventional, but 'eccentric' seems a bit extreme," Doctor Two said indignantly. He turned to Doctor Four and asked, "What have you been up to lately?"
"Nothing 'eccentric,' I assure you; I just have fun," Doctor Four protested. "But more to the point, what do you make of him?" He pointed at the Empath.
"It's just as I thought ― he's become addicted to strong emotions."
Doctor Four nodded in agreement. "It can happen. But leaving Empathios to soak up emotions on some other world is strictly forbidden by both the laws of Empathios and time lord law."
"He said he disabled the tracer so he couldn't be found, Doctor. But you were able to track him. How did that happen?" Kim asked reasonably. "Have you found anything yet?" she added to Drax, who was half-way into a hatch in the lower part of the control consol.
"Maybe . . . 'arf a mo' . . . needle-nardle noo! That's it!" Drax triumphantly remarked. Then he slid backwards out of the hatch, wearing a broad grin.
"What did the Empath do, and why did it make all three TARDISs land in our universe?" Kim asked.
"He tried to disable the tracer so we couldn't find him," Drax began. "Trouble is, he picked the wrong one an' nobbled the anti-collision circuit instead."
"And that means . . . ?" Kim prodded.
"The anti-collision circuit prevents a TARDIS from passing through a locus in space and time at the same moment some other TARDIS is passing through the same place," Doctor Two explained to Kim.
"But with that circuit in the stolen TARDIS unserviceable it failed to dodge mine," Doctor Four continued. "When we met, with both in motion, my TARDIS took evasive action. She jumped from my universe into yours and made an emergency landing in Middleton."
"You say that as if the TARDIS was alive," said Ron, and both Doctors smiled.
"Why, yes ― I did, didn't I?" said Doctor Four.
"This fellow," Drax pointed to the Empath, "kept on toward the Civil War but he clipped my TARDIS just when I was going to land in 1893. That time both of us jumped to your universe, an' landed. My TARDIS packed up in the bargain, so I was stuck there for a while."
"So, all three ― you, Drax and the Empath ― landed in our universe," Kim said to Doctor Four. "But why did you all stay there when you started traveling again, instead of going back where you belonged?"
"Those collisions did a bit more than just bounce us around," Drax explained. "Each TARDIS had its controls knocked for six, an' it was only when Chancellor Borusa told me about it that I knew what 'ad 'appened. I got my TARDIS put right an' went to Gallifrey in my own universe, back where I was supposed to be." He gave a nonchalant shrug and added, "Bob's your uncle!"
"Actually, his name is 'Slim,'" Ron said helpfully. At the puzzled expressions of Drax and both Doctors he added, "Kim's uncle, I mean."
"Now that we understand what happened and why, Drax can repair this stolen TARDIS and use it to take the prisoner to Gallifrey in our universe," Doctor Four explained. "He's also repaired my TARDIS ― sorry, our TARDIS," he nodded to Doctor Two ― "with an adjustment so we can take you youngsters back to your proper places before we head back to Gallifrey ourselves," he finished.
"It's a rather tricky thing to do," Doctor Two explained. "That's why I was plucked out of my time stream and brought here. Just to be sure that everything goes right, you see?"
"I think that I could have handled it by myself ― that is, with Drax's technical assistance," Doctor Four remarked.
"Just a minute!" Kim interrupted. "Why are you two arguing? After all, you're both the same person ― sort of ― aren't you?"
"It sounds like somebody arguing with his reflection in a mirror," Ron observed, and Rufus chirped, "Yeah!"
"A valid point, Master," said K-9 calmly, and the two Doctors stopped and looked at the others before looking back at themselves. Then they both grinned broadly, and Doctor Four turned toward Drax.
"How soon can you have this stolen TARDIS ready to return to Gallifrey?"
"About ten minutes," he replied, as he dived back into the control consol. "I'll get right on it."
"We'll just leave you to it, then, and wait in the other TARDIS," Doctor Four remarked, and he led the group back out of the 'locker' into the familiar control room.
KPDWKPDWKPDW
It was exactly ten minutes later that Drax joined the others and reported that all was ready for him to take the stolen TARDIS and the captive Empath back to Gallifrey. There was a general shaking of hands and 'thank-yous' all around before he went out through the door of the 'locker.' A moment later the familiar 'wheeze-whoosh' sound was heard and the 'locker' faded away.
"Splendid fellow, Drax. Even if his grasp of temporal theory is shaky," Doctor Four remarked.
"Now, let's see about getting the rest of you all back to when and where you belong, shall we?" He bowed slightly to Doctor Two.
"If you would be so kind . . . ?"
Doctor Two nodded in return. "My pleasure, young fellow. Here we go!" The time rotor began its steady rise and fall
KPDWKPDWKPDW
"Well, Oscar, we're back in 1862, just half an hour after we left it," said Doctor Four. He worked the controls of the scanner and they could see the ruins of a small shed a short distance away. In another direction two Union soldiers wearing dazed expressions were slowly getting to their feet.
"Those are the two soldiers K-9 stunned," said Kim. "We moved them away just before that Confederate cannon shot smashed the smokehouse the TARDIS was in. Remember, Ron?"
"I guess I have to go now, Miss Kim." Oscar held out his hand. "This has been a great trip, and I wouldn't have missed it for anything!"
"You were a big help, Oscar," Kim replied, shaking the boy's hand. "I'm glad you enjoyed it all."
"You got to see your Grandfather in action at that battle," Ron remarked. "What do you think of battles, now that you've seen one up close?"
"I think they're pretty messy," Oscar replied. "I see why my Father insisted that I stay out of the Union Army."
Doctor Four shook the boy's hand. "It has been fun having you along, Oscar. Just remember what I said about science being the key to a world of wonders."
"I'll remember, Doctor. Say, will I ever see any of you again?" he added, looking around at Doctor Two, K-9, Kim, Ron and Rufus.
"I'd hesitate to say," Doctor Four replied with a grin. "After all, you know that 'Anything is possible . . . for a Possible.'"
After shaking hands with Doctor Two and Ron, and letting Rufus shake him by the finger, Oscar turned and went out the door of the TARDIS. A moment later they saw him in the scanner as Oscar hurried over to the two Union soldiers, and began to help them down the hill toward the Balloon Corps camp.
Doctor Four closed the door, gave a sigh and punched a control. The time rotor began moving again, and he remarked, "Next stop, Middleton, Colorado!"
KPDWKPDWKPDW
Once the TARDIS had materialized, Kim turned on the scanner and was delighted to see that they were just outside the Middleton Mall, in the same place where she and Ron had first entered the Doctor's machine. Doctor Four checked the local time and announced that it was just two hours later than when Kim and Ron had come on board.
"Well, we'd better get ourselves home," Kim said firmly.
"Yeah! I don't want to upset your dad," Ron remarked with a shiver.
"Goodbye Kimberly ― Ronald ― and you, Rufus," Doctor Four said as he shook hands with each of them. "It's been a pleasure meeting you all," Doctor Two added as Kim opened the door. The two teens and pet gave a final wave and went out into their own time at last. As the TARDIS faded out Ron pointed to the local transit stop and suggested that they catch the next bus, to which Kim agreed. As it happened a bus pulled up just as they got to the shelter, and they were soon off for home.
Walking up to Kim's house Ron remarked on how nicely familiar it all was.
"We've had quite an adventure, KP," he added.
"But no supervillains to fight, this time," Kim replied as she opened the front door.
They went inside to find Kim's parents, her twin younger brothers and Ron's parents, all in the dining room and all looking concerned.
"Kim! Where have you and Ron been?"
At her father's sharp question, Kim hesitated. Clearly, something was wrong.
"At the mall, Daddy." She could see both worry and disbelief on James Possible's face.
"Remember, Mister Doctor P? That's where we said we'd go," Ron put in.
"Kimmie, that was Saturday ― yesterday," Kim's mother replied. "You've both been gone for twenty-six hours."
"Uh, oh!" Rufus muttered, while Kim and Ron stared at their families. Then Ron gulped apprehensively.
"He got it wrong, KP. The Doctor blew it."
"Doctor? Ronald! What have you and Kim been up to?" The tone in James Possible's voice sent a chill up Ron's spine.
"Daddy, Mom, everybody, please sit down and I'll explain where we've been." Kim made a 'keep calm' gesture to everyone in the room. "It was a really strange sitch, though. You might not want to believe me, but it's all true." Kim paused, took a chair, and then began.
"When we got to the mall it looked like rain, so we ran for cover . . . "
TBC . . .
Author's Disclaimer and Notes:
The Disney Company owns the Kim Possible concept and characters.
The British Broadcasting Corporation owns the Doctor Who concept.
The term TARDIS is also copyright by the BBC.
The plot of this story is my responsibility.
"Knocked for six" is an English phrase that means the same thing as "knocked for a loop."
"Nobbled" means "messed up" or "sabatoged."