Journey's Endings
Part Eight: Epilogue
Author's Comments: Kim, Ron and Rufus have returned home, only to discover that the Fourth Doctor and the Second Doctor have landed them in Middleton on Sunday, the day after they left, instead of on Saturday. Both teens find their parents in the Possible home, and Kim's father wants to know: Where Have You Two Been? Kim has explained, but will James Possible believe it?
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.
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"Kimmie-cub, I know that you've done a lot of remarkable things. And you've always told the truth about your missions." James Possible gave a sigh and shook his head. "But! I can't really swallow what you've just told me. It's just too . . . incredible."
"It may be incredible, James, but that doesn't mean it didn't happen," said Kim's mother. "I'm willing to accept it; where's the proof that it isn't true?"
"A machine that's bigger on the inside than it is on the outside and travels in space and time? An alien from a planet in a different dimension, who can regenerate himself when he gets too old? An intelligent robot dog? I just can't believe it, Ann!" James Possible looked across the dining room table at Kim and then turned back to his wife.
"I don't think I'd believe it even if this 'TARDIS' machine appeared right here in front of me, in my own house."
There was a wheeze-whoosh-groaning sound, and everyone turned to see the Doctor's TARDIS appear in one corner of the room. Ron heaved a sigh of relief, while Rufus gave a small cheer.
No one spoke. Then the door of the TARDIS swung open, and Doctor Two stepped out. He glanced at the others and spoke directly to Team Possible.
"Kimberly, Ronald, it seems that we landed you a day later than intended. You're not in trouble because of this, I hope?"
"Yeah, Doc, we are," Ron hastily answered. "Our folks don't think that you're real."
"Well, Ronald, not only am I real, but here I stand to prove it!" said Doctor Two. He turned and called into the TARDIS, "There's some bother about it, young fellow. We'll have to explain some things in order to set it right."
A moment later Doctor Four stepped out, looked at the room's occupants and smiled. "How do you do? I'm called the Doctor, and so is he." He pointed at Doctor Two as he spoke. "Would you introduce us, Kimberly?"
"Certainly, Doctor." Kim was smiling with relief, and calmly went around the table with names and explanations.
"This is my father, Dr. James Possible . . . "
"How do you do, sir?" Doctor Four shook James' hand vigorously. "You have a very remarkable daughter; you can be very proud of her."
" . . . my mother, Dr. Ann Possible . . . "
"She's a brain surgeon," Ron helpfully added.
"I can see where Kimberly gets her beauty, as well as her intelligence," said Doctor Two. "The medical field always attracts intelligence of the highest order."
" . . . and these are my brothers, Tim and Jim," Kim finished in an exasperated tone.
"Ah, yes ― a couple of imps, I'd say," Doctor Four chuckled. "You both must be very clever, having such intelligent parents and such a courageous sister."
"Thank you," Tim said, and Jim added, "We think we're brilliant." Kim rolled her eyes, but only Rufus noticed.
Ron introduced his parents to the Time Lords. Doctor Two bowed to Jeanne while Doctor Four shook Gene's hand. Whereupon they gravely reversed actions and subjects.
"My dad is an actuary," Ron explained. "He's been Colorado Actuary of the Year five times, too."
"Ah, mathematics! The key to all science," said Doctor Four with a broad smile.
"Halt! You may not enter!"
Kim turned and saw K-9 in the doorway of the TARDIS, blocking Tim and Jim from the entrance. She shook her head and stepped over to her brothers.
"Don't try it, Tweebs! K-9 has a stunner and a laser, and he knows how to use them."
"Yes, and his reflexes are much faster than those of any Time Lord or human," Doctor Four said as he joined Kim. "He's both an intelligent computer and a superb watchdog. Aren't you, K-9?"
"Affirmative!"
"You know, I've never had a dog before," Doctor Two remarked to Ann Possible. "It's nice to know that eventually I will."
"Kimmie told us that you can regenerate your body when you get old, and that you are actual him, only from an earlier time. Is that correct?" Ann asked Doctor Two.
"We regenerate, yes," Doctor Two replied. "But we always come out of it looking different."
"Can you also quickly heal any injuries you get?"
"Well, we heal quickly, but we still have to be careful about injuries."
"Yes. Injuries can be painful, and as you know, pain hurts," Doctor Four observed.
"I can see that regeneration ability having a serious effect on the life insurance industry," Gene Stoppable remarked to James Possible, who was staring at the TARDIS with a dazed look on his face.
"A space-time machine . . . you visited the past and met General Custer and Dolley Madison . . . Kim, it's really hard for me to accept it, but I do now. I'd like to know just how this TARDIS works, sir, if you don't mind telling me," James said to Doctor Four.
"And I'd like to know how you healed bullet wounds with this 'sonic screwdriver' Kimmie told us about," Ann added. "How can you clean a wound and close it with just sound?"
"Well, it's just called a 'sonic screwdriver,'" Doctor Four explained. "It uses special force fields and sterilization rays as well as ultrasound when dealing with injuries."
Doctor Two frowned and shook his head. "You kids always get the new gadgets," he sighed.
"You don't have a sonic screwdriver, Doctor?" Kim asked him.
"No. Our fellow Time Lords provided me with one in my next regeneration. That is, from my point of view, they will. Do you see?"
Kim nodded, but with a slightly bewildered expression. "I think so . . . sort of."
"So, you're actually younger than he is, but you're both the same person, correct?" James asked Doctor Four while pointing at Doctor Two.
"That's exactly right, sir!" the Doctor replied. "You have an excellent grasp of the situation."
"But should both of you be in the same place at the same time?" Jeanne Stoppable asked them. "And shouldn't you know about this, because it has already happened to him?" She spoke directly to Doctor Four and pointed at Doctor Two.
"Actually, we aren't supposed to meet ourselves at any time and place," Doctor Four explained. "And in this case I have no ready memories of our meeting in this fashion."
"Really a very curious thing," Doctor Two remarked. "We must get the matter cleared up as soon as we get back to Gallifrey."
"Before I forget, Kimberly, you left this in the TARDIS," said Doctor Four, handing Kim a small box.
"Oh, yes! I bought this for you, Daddy, at the 1893 World's Fair," Kim explained, passing the package on to her father. James Possible hefted the box, opened it, and took out a large engraved mug made of brass.
"I've heard you say that your morning cup of coffee is always too small, Daddy, so I thought you might like this one," Kim explained.
James Possible nodded his thanks, for the mug could easily hold two standard cups of coffee at breakfast time.
"May I see it, James?" James passed the mug to Jeanne and she studied it closely for almost a minute. "Kimberly, this is hand-hammered brass, and it's beautifully made. Where did you get it?"
"In Cairo Street on the Midway Plaisance," Kim explained. "The clerk in the brass shop wouldn't sell it until we dickered about the price for five minutes." She dug a coin out of her pocket.
"It cost seventy-five cents in 1893, so I gave him that silver dollar you gave to me, Doctor. This was the change." Kim held up a gleaming quarter, which Doctor Four examined and then handed back to her.
"That's one of the commemorative coins that were minted for the Columbian Exposition, Kimberly. Its certainly worth a good amount on the rare coin market today, so I'd hang on to it if I were you. Those were the first American commemorative coins ever made, you know," he added to Doctor Two.
"Yes, young fellow, I know," Doctor Two answered. "They weren't very popular, so most of them got melted down and the metal was reused. A shocking waste of fine work, really."
"May I see it, Kimmie?"
Kim passed the quarter to her mother, who studied the coin carefully.
"It looks as if this came from the mint last week; there's not a scratch on it. That's more proof for you, James," Ann observed. "If this coin is brand new and was minted in 1893, Kim must have been in that time in order to get it."
"I'm convinced." James looked up from the cup and added, "I'm sorry I doubted you, Kimmie-cub. You travel all around the world, so time-travel shouldn't really surprise me."
"A very flexible attitude," Doctor Four remarked.
"A man of your specialty needs that," Doctor Two added to Kim's father. "Space flight is full of surprises."
"Just as someone like your wife, with her specialty of brain surgery, must be ever ready for medical emergencies," said Doctor Four.
"Does everybody . . . " Tim Possible began.
" . . . have a specialty, Doctor?" Jim Possible finished.
"Certainly! Kimberly, Ronald and Rufus specialize in helping people," the Fourth Doctor explained. "K-9's specialty is knowledge. You know everything that I know, don't you, K-9?"
"Yes, Master. And more," K-9 replied smugly. Rufus smothered a chuckle.
"Do you have a specialty, Doctor?" Tim and Jim asked Doctor Four in unison.
"Of course. My specialty is wisdom!"
The Second Doctor looked sternly at the two boys. "Do you lads know what wisdom is?"
"Uh . . . no, sir," Tim stuttered.
"I don't," Jim added.
"Ah," the two Time Lords looked at each other, nodded and spoke in unison. "A wise answer."
James Possible cleared his throat, and hopefully asked the Doctors, "Could you stay for a few days? There are several hundred questions I'd like to ask you, if you don't mind."
Both Doctors chuckled. "I'm afraid we can't. We have to get back to Gallifrey so that I can be returned to my time period," Doctor Two replied. "It's rather a serious matter, meeting yourself like this, you see." He gestured at Doctor Four. "Even though it happened once before."
"Of course, that was an extremely serious situation," Doctor Four remarked.
"Do you think you'll ever come back here again?" Ron asked. "I mean, it's nice to be able to talk to Rufus, and have him talk to me." At the four parents' puzzled looks, Ron explained that K-9 could understand Rufus and translate him perfectly. Just then the mole rat ran down Ron's arm, hopped onto K-9's back and began to chatter, looking first at Ron, then the others, and finally pointing at Kim.
"Master Ronald, Rufus has said something he wants me to translate exactly for you all," K-9 began. "Translation follows: 'Anything is possible where a Possible is concerned.'"
"That's right, Rufus," Kim remarked, with a smile. "We might meet the Doctor again someday. After all," she continued with an impish expression, "it would just be a matter of time."
Tim and Jim groaned at Kim's pun, but the two Doctors both smiled.
"Well, we must be on our way," said Doctor Four briskly. "You know how it is. Places to go; people to see."
"So much time . . . so little to do," added Doctor Two, and then he corrected himself. "No . . . reverse that."
There was another round of hand-shaking, K-9 and both Doctors went back into the TARDIS and the door swung shut behind them. The TARDIS began its wheeze-whoosh-rumble sounds, and the space/time machine faded away.
Jeanne Stoppable gave a sigh. "They were both so nice!"
"Yes," Ann Possible agreed. "You can bring people like that around anytime, Kimmie."
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Somewhat later, after Ron and his parents had gone home, Kim slipped off to her room and began checking through the items on her bookshelves. She found what she was looking for, took it over to her bed and stretched out to do some research on family history.
Kim read the title out loud: "An Account of the Cruises of Rodger Possible, Captain of a Privateer During the Late War With England."
Now, does this say anything about him being at the Battle of Bladensburg? she wondered. It was a puzzle ― and she was going to solve it!
The End
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.