Kim Possible and all related characters are the property of Disney.
Doctor Who and all related characters are the property of the NNC.
This chapter features the Eighth and Tenth Doctors.
I apologize for not responding to reviews. The truth is this place has changed more than the TARDIS console room after a new show runner has taken over and I have no idea what I'm doing! I guess my hiatus was longer than I initially thought.
The still quiet of the Japanese mountain was broken by a groaning wheeze that grew louder with each repetition. As the sound amplified, a strange object slowly began to appear. When the noise finally ceased, the object was solid. It was a blue box, taller than a grown adult, and had a flashing lantern on top. On it were written the words "Police Box. Public Call."
The door opened, and two men emerged. One was dressed like someone out of Edwardian England, and the other was a blond man in tan cargo pants and a heavy jacket. "It's definitely warmer than Middleton," the blond man, Ron Stoppable, said as he slid the coat off, revealing a red jersey over a black long sleeved shirt.
"I'd say it's summer here," the first man said. He was the Doctor, a Time Lord from the planet Gallifrey in the constellation of Kasterberos. He put his hands in his pockets and began to walk.
"Where are we going?" Ron asked.
"We'll know when we get there," the Doctor said.
"Wait, hold up. You don't know where we're going?"
"Not usually," the Doctor admitted. "Travel is about the journey, not the destination."
Ron groaned, then looked over at his naked mole rat Rufus who was sitting on his shoulder. "That's what my dad says when he's lost."
"I'm not lost, Ron," the Doctor said calmly. "I just don't know precisely where I'm going."
"Isn't that the textbook definition of being lost?" Ron asked, running to catch up.
"That depends on the textbook," the Doctor replied. "Not knowing where you're going is just life. I didn't know where I was going when my granddaughter and I first came to Earth in 1963."
"You have a granddaughter? You don't look old enough."
"As I told you before, I'm older than I look. We Time Lords can live virtually forever, barring accidents. Of course, with the way I live my life, I won't have quite that long of a lifespan. But enough of that. Look around you! You're in Japan in the Fourth Century!"
"Uh, yeah, why are we here in the Fourth Century?" Ron asked.
"Sensei was adamant that we needed to be here at this specific point in time," the Doctor replied. "What's so important about the year 338?"
Ron searched through his memory, which was sometimes a hit or miss proposition. "I think that was when Toshimiru carved the school out of the mountainside with the Lotus Blade."
"Ah yes, the Lotus Blade," the Doctor said. "I've heard about it, but never seen it."
"I've used it," Ron said with no small amount of pride. "In fact, I used it to help defeat a major jerk named Fukushima."
"Does it live up to its reputation?"
"It changes shape," Ron confirmed.
"Interesting." The Doctor was quiet for a moment. "I've always wanted to see it in action, but I've never had the opportunity. Sensei always told me he needed someone with mystical monkey power to make it work and, despite the things Sensei can do, he says he doesn't have that power. I'd love to know how he does the astral projection and the levitating, but he's never let me run any scans on him. He's rather tight lipped about himself." He thought for a moment. "Come to think of it, even though he's mentioned it more than once, I have no idea what mystical monkey power even is."
"I have MMP," Ron said. "So does Rufus, and so did this nut job who called himself Monkey Fist. I used it to stop the Lorwardians." He closed his eyes and hung his head. "I used it to kill them." Ron stopped dead in his tracks.
"Ron, I'm sorry." The Doctor walked over to his new friend. "Taking life is never something you want to do. Would you like to talk about it?"
"They were gonna kill Kim. I finally, FINALLY, was able to use the power intentionally. I saved Kim, and threw those two alien clods into their ship, which blew up." His shoulders slumped. "I saved Kim. She said nothing would come between us, but after a few months in England, she ditched me for some dude she met there."
"That's rough," the Doctor said. "What reasoning did she give you?"
"She said she was lonely!" Ron exclaimed. "And I wasn't?! I didn't get into any of the schools I applied to, so I was stuck at home. Almost all my friends were gone! The only people who were still around were my buddy Wade and a few people at work. Kim and I did video chats a lot at first, but then she got busy with her classes. We did a few missions here and there, but they started to taper off.
"One of those missions was in London. I thought she'd be able to show me around while I was there. I was wrong. UNIT swooped in and recruited her on the spot. I think I only saw her for ten whole minutes that entire trip."
"It's odd that they didn't recruit you as well," the Doctor said.
"I always get ignored," Ron said in a sad voice. "I thought that Kim was the one person who wouldn't, but she did. Now that I think about it, she did it more than once. This time it just hurt worse. She didn't even notice that I was gone until I was halfway over the Atlantic."
The Doctor nodded. "You're a strong man, Ron. You just have to believe that about yourself."
"That's the problem," Ron lamented, "I don't believe it. Not now."
They walked in silence for the next hour. The further they progressed, the more familiar it became. "This looks like the path to the Yamanouchi school," Ron finally said.
"It will be," the Doctor agreed. "You have to remember that we're over sixteen hundred years in the past."
"I wonder if that means we'll meet Toshimiru," Ron said, almost to himself.
"It would be interesting to meet your predecessor. What would you ask him?"
Ron sighed. "I'm almost afraid to meet him. I'd hate for him to see what a loser his successor turned out to be."
The Doctor stopped walking and watched as the younger man continued on. Your self esteem was already bad, he surmised. Your girlfriend breaking things off with you the way she did just made it worse. He started up again and picked up the pace to catch up. Maybe there was something he could do to help Ron before he had to go and make sure this impending Time War didn't eat up too many innocent lives.
An arrow shot out of nowhere and buried itself in the ground at Ron's feet. He was immediately aware, his eyes glowing a bright blue as he subconsciously called on the mystical monkey power. He quickly took Rufus off his shoulder and made sure his little friend was out of the battle zone.
A glowing blue blur came out of nowhere and made a beeline to Ron. The Monkey Master's body exploded into a monkey shaped blue aura, and he launched himself at his attacker.
The Doctor gaped as he saw two glowing combatants attacking and counterattacking while the air was filled with the sound of shrieking monkeys. Rufus had scampered up the Doctor's pant leg and hiding in the Time Lord's pocket.
Ron traded blows with a stout man in samurai armor; punches were thrown and blocked, and kicks were swatted away. Neither man could gain the upper hand, and neither man backed down.
The fight was quick, brutal, and ended when both combatants knocked each other back several feet. "You will not pass," the samurai said as he drew a katana blade that turned into a long spear.
"Not happening!" Ron exclaimed. He instinctively extended his arm and opened his hand. "Come here, Lotus Blade!" The spear flew from the samurai's grasp and into his own. He turned it into a mace.
"How did you do that? And how is it you share my power?" The samurai relaxed and his glow faded. He scrutinized the two men before removing his helmet. "I have never seen anyone resembling you before."
"Not yet, but give it about a millennium," the Doctor said. "Ron, I don't think we're in any danger. Give the man back his katana."
"Wait," Ron said. "My Japanese sucks, and English wasn't spoken till the Fifth Century." He thought about what he just said. "And it's a fine time to remember that now! I flunked that history test!"
"Ron, focus," the Doctor groaned.
"How am I understanding him, and how is he understanding us?" Ron finally asked.
"The TARDIS is translating, and telepathically sending that translation to our brains. You're hearing English and he's hearing Japanese." The Doctor approached the other man. "I'm the Doctor, and my young friend here is Ron Stoppable. Who might you be?"
"I am Toshimiru," he said. "Your friend has my Lotus Blade. How did he call it to him and how did he gain my power?"
Upon hearing the name, Ron's jaw dropped. "You're Toshimiru? The first Monkey Master?"
"I am the only Monkey Master!" Toshimiru exclaimed. "My sword!"
Ron presented the blade to its original master, and then stepped away. "Wait," he said. He really took a look at the shorter man. He had dark black hair in a top knot, and a thin mustache and beard. "You look like…"
"It does not matter whom I resemble, foreigner! All that matters is that you have done what even I am not able to do by calling my weapon to you! How did you do that, and how have you gained my power?"
"Toshimiru," the Doctor said, trying to get control of the situation, "we're not a threat to you. We're not here to hurt you. In fact, we've been sent here to help you."
Toshimiru scowled. "Indeed?" he said incredulously. "By whom?"
"You wouldn't believe us if we told you," the Doctor replied. "Let's just say your future depends on us. Now, we're rather exposed out here, and it looks like night will be falling soon, is there anywhere we can take shelter?"
Toshimiru sheathed his sword. "Follow me, but do not mistake this act for hospitality or mercy. I do not trust you to not betray me. Come, and make sure you keep up. I am being hunted, which means you are as well."
Ron wasn't surprised when they arrived at the future home of the Yamanouchi school. He had expected to see the beginnings of its construction, but the mountainside was untouched. All that was there was a small hut made from wooden poles and animal skins. The three men sat on the ground, and Rufus made a nest in Ron's cargo pocket. It was definitely nap time.
"I had ventured to China with members of a secret order of warrior monks," Toshimiru said when they settled in the hut. "I was learning their martial arts, specifically their monkey kung-fu."
"Tai Sheng Pek Kwar," the Doctor said. "Well, that answers that question." He'd been curious about how a Chinese fighting style came to be taught in a Japanese school.
"I was there training with the sages," Toshimiru continued. "Some of them were from my own homeland. It was they who deemed me worthy and placed me in the middle of a circle of four jade monkey statues."
"Been there, done that, bought the t-shirt," Ron said.
"I gained great power, as did my sword, which surprised the sages." Toshimiru let out a sigh. "Then everything went wrong. One of the monks, the very one who first proposed my inclusion, double crossed the others. He slaughtered them in cold blood. I, too, would have been slain, but…" he trailed off, the burden of his coming admission weighing on him. "I am a coward. I fled. I fled the field of battle and was chased by an inhuman beast."
"An inhuman beast, you say?" the Doctor said, almost to himself.
"Yes. It gave chase after the other monks were dead. It even followed me across the water to my homeland. I did not have the courage to fight the traitor or his monstrous pet."
"Nothing wrong with being afraid," Ron said. "I'm always afraid. I'm terrified of monkeys, yet I'm the Monkey Master. Go figure."
"How did you gain the power, Ron Stoppable?"
Ron looked to the Doctor. "Uh, how much do I tell him? I mean, I don't want to mess up the future."
"I think you'll endanger the future more if you don't say anything."
"Huh?" Ron was more than a little confused. "Wait, I've seen a bunch of time travel movies, and they always warn against saying too much."
"Well, this isn't a time travel movie, and I'm a Time Lord, so I think it'll be okay."
"You both speak in riddles," Toshimiru said. "I do not understand any of what you are saying."
"You two need to have a chat," the Doctor said. "Tell you what, while you're doing that, I'll get some firewood."
The Doctor only made it a few steps away from the shelter when he heard someone walking up to him. "I assume that, since I hear you stalking me, you want to be heard."
"You assume correctly, foreigner," a smooth voice replied. "Who are you?"
"Yes," the Doctor replied.
"I do not understand," the voice said.
"Never mind. The joke would be lost on you. I'm the Doctor. Who might you be?"
A figure in a cloak stepped out of the shadows. He was tall with a lean face and a top knot much like Toshimiru's. "I am Tolkran," the man growled. "You will need a doctor, as will the sniveling coward you came here with. It will be easier for you to die than to wash the stink of his dishonor off of you."
"Really?" the Doctor said. "It seems to me you're the dishonorable one here. Tell me, what does a Zygon want with a samurai warrior?"
The man chuckled and his body stretched and expanded. Where a human being once stood, there was now a red skinned creature with an almost conical head and a deep set face with cruel features. He was covered in suckers like those of an octopus. "How did you know?" the creature asked in a raspy voice.
"You have to ask? Toshimiru said that one of his allies suddenly betrayed him and his fellows, and then that a monster had been chasing him. A traitorous monk and a murderous beast together? Not likely. They had to be one and the same."
"You're too smart for your own good, human," Tolkran growled.
"Oh, I'm no human. I'm a Time Lord, and I've had some experience with your kind." In 1975 after your homeworld was destroyed, which means you're more than a few centuries early. "Why are you here?"
"None of your concern," Tolkran hissed.
"Fair enough," the Doctor conceded. "I'll repeat my earlier question; what do you want with Toshimiru?"
"His weapon," the Zygon said. "None of the other monks possessed something so magnificent. A sword that changes shape like I do! It will come in handy when the Zygons take this planet!"
"It will not work for you, monster," came a growling voice. Toshimiru and Ron had exited the hut and were now assuming combat stances. "Only those gifted with the power of the Mystical Monkey may wield it."
The Zygon again assumed the form of the monk. "And how do you know I don't have this power?"
"He's got a point," Ron said. "How do we know he doesn't?"
The Doctor reached into his coat and pulled out a very special device. It had a silver handle, at the top of which was a red ring. He waved it at the Zygon, and it emitted a loud whirring buzz. Then he waved it at Ron and Toshimiru. He held it up to his ear, listening intently as if the device was telling him something.
"My sonic screwdriver isn't picking up any exotic energy signatures from him. However, both you and Toshimiru are emitting a type of energy neither my screwdriver nor the TARDIS have encountered. That means we're dealing with your garden variety Zygon. A foul smelling shapeshifter, but nothing too special."
"That was rude, Doctor," the Zygon said. "And more than a little racist. I will disembowel you with the sword after I slaughter your friends."
"I dishonored myself on the mainland, vile creature, by not avenging my brothers. Today I shall be redeemed!"
The Zygon smirked. "I killed all of your precious monks. What makes you think you will not share their fate?"
"Not all of them," the Doctor said. "The one whose form you've stolen must still be alive, otherwise you wouldn't be able to continue mimicking him. And he must be fairly close."
"You'll never find him."
Toshimiru smiled. "I would have fought you for vengeance, but I would have lost, for I would have nothing to lose. My death would have been a forgone conclusion, just as yours would have been. Now that I know I am fighting for my friend's life, my victory is assured!" Toshimiru summoned the mystical monkey power, and a blue monkey shaped aura exploded around him.
"Booyah!" Ron exclaimed, tapping into his own power. "That's what I'm talking about!"
"You face two Monkey Masters, creature!" Toshimiru said. "You will not succeed."
While they contend with the Zygon, the Doctor thought, I'll go see if I can find the monk. The Doctor took off running, which was the Time Lord in his natural state of being.
He pulled out his sonic screwdriver and waved it around, trying to find the correct telepathic frequency connecting the Zygon to his prisoner. That was his job. It was the job of the Monkey Masters to fight off their shapeshifting enemy.
Tolkran assumed the same combat ready stance as his enemies, using the skills of his captive. "I may not possess the same energy you have, but I have your friend's innate abilities."
"Doesn't matter, dude," Ron said. "You are going down!"
Tolkran glared at Toshimiru. "You brought dishonor upon yourself and your family by fleeing battle. Now you compound that dishonor by fighting me with unfair advantages. You have an ally, as well as your magic sword and powers. I, meanwhile, am willing to fight you as a human. Will you further dishonor yourself by fighting with the odds tipped so far in your favor?"
Toshimiru dropped the sword and let his aura fade. "Very well, monster. We fight hand to hand, one on one."
"What are you doing?!" Ron demanded, his aura still burning brightly.
"He is correct, Ron Stoppable. I must reclaim my honor. You are an outsider, so you do not understand the importance of this."
"He could kill you!" Ron protested.
"Yes," Toshimiru agreed. "But I would die with my honor intact. Do not interfere. If you truly have any respect for me or my future, then you will allow this."
"It's your future I'm worried about!" Ron shouted. Man, I do not want to have to take your place in history!
"Promise me, Ron Stoppable!" Toshimiru shouted. "Promise on the life of one whom you love without hesitation and would see no harm come to!"
Ron's mind immediately went to both his baby sister Hana, and to Kim. He would die before he let anything happen to Hana, and even though she broke his heart, he wouldn't let Kim get hurt either.
Toshimiru saw the look of resignation on Ron's face. "Promise me," he said again.
"All right," Ron reluctantly said. "I don't like it, but I promise." His aura faded.
Toshimiru bowed to the strange young man. "Thank you." He turned back to Tolkran. "Do not think, monster, that wearing the face of my friend will save you from me." Toshimiru assumed a fighting stance. "I know what you really are."
Tolkran went on the attack, sending a flurry of punches at the warrior of legend, who blocked or dodged them all. Tolkran continued to attack, but none of his blows landed.
Ron watched the one-sided battle between an alien shapeshifter and his predecessor. He wanted to jump in and help, but he was honor bound to stay out of it.
"Not good," Rufus squeaked. The little mole rat had climbed out of his human's pocket and up to his shoulder.
Ron was about to agree when he really looked at what Toshimiru was doing. He wasn't fighting back, he was only defending; blocking kicks and ducking blows. It was all he could do to not belt out a joyous "Booyah!"
The buzzing of the sonic screwdriver grew louder the closer the Doctor got to his objective. He found a large depression in the earth, covered by leaves. "There we go," he said, and he put the screwdriver back in his jacket pocket.
He started clearing the leaves off the small ditch and found the missing monk. He was covered in a slimy residue, courtesy of his Zygon captor. "Come on now, old chap, it's time to wake up."
The battle was slowing down. Tolkran was moving more sluggishly as he grew weaker and more tired. That was when Toshimiru finally smiled.
"It is time to end this, monster." Toshimiru had been letting his opponent wear himself out. Now it was his turn to strike. In a flash the Monkey Master was a flurry of motion, a storm of punches and kicks that all hit their mark and drove his enemy closer to defeat. Then, when Tolkran was on the ropes, Toshimiru stopped.
"Wh…wha…." Tolkran couldn't catch enough of a breath to form a single word.
"I will not kill you," Toshimiru said. "There is no honor in your death." He glanced over at Ron, who was beaming. "Besides, I get the feeling my new friend will approve of this act of mercy."
"Booyah," was all Ron said.
Tolkran only growled, then he resumed his true form. He stood up straight and extended his arms, his fingers splayed wide. Sparks and arcs of electricity jumped from and between his fingertips.
"Liar!" Toshimiru barked. "Now who is without honor?"
"I care nothing about honor, you backwards fool! All I care about is your death!"
Ron acted on instinct. He again sheathed himself in the monkey shaped aura of his power and leapt in front of Toshimiru. The lighting from Tolkran's fingers shot out like javelins, right into Ron. His screams of pain joined the chorus of monkey shrieks.
"No!" Toshimiru ran at his foe and performed a perfect jump kick that landed in the creature's forehead, knocking him back and breaking the circuit. Ron collapsed to the ground. Toshimiru charged over to where his opponent was and landed a devastating blow to the creature's head, knocking him unconscious. Tolkran was defeated, and Toshimiru did it without the Lotus Blade or the mystical monkey power. His honor was intact.
"My friend!" Toshimiru cried out. He was by Ron's side in an instant, helping him up. Ron's shirt was smoking. "Are you all right?"
"I will be. I think." Ron let the power return to its slumber. "I'd be a lot worse if I didn't power up. Sorry about breaking my word."
"Had you not, I would be dead, a victim of his most dishonorable attack. I thank you, Stoppable-san."
"You… haven't… won…" Tolkran sputtered as he woozily got back to his feet. He'd regained consciousness a lot faster than Toshimiru expected. "You will not… find… your friend…"
"You mean this friend?" Everyone turned to see the Doctor helping a man in a flowing cloak stay upright.
Toshimiru grabbed the Lotus Blade, willed it into the form of a chain and shackles, and restrained the creature. Then he ran to his friend. "Sato! You live!"
"It feels like I was dead," Sato said.
"You were in a deep trance," the Doctor said. "But once our shapeshifting friend there was weakened, you were able to shake it off."
"What are we gonna do with Tolkran?" Ron asked. He was finally starting to feel more like himself. "I mean, we can't let him keep hurting people."
"I'll take him with me," the Doctor said. "I'll return him to his home planet."
"What home planet?" Tolkran snapped. "Zygor was destroyed in the Time War your people started, Doctor! That's how I fell backwards through the millennia to this backwater, primitive world! I would rather die than be your captive."
"There is no reason for more death," Toshimiru said. "I will use the Lotus Blade to carve out this mountainside and forge a prison."
"Zygons can live a long time," the Doctor said. "Will your powers allow you to live for centuries?"
Sato spoke up. "No, that is not one of the gifts our power bestows. Toshimiru, I don't think making this serene place a prison is the right idea."
"He's right," Ron said. "This is gonna be a school!"
Sato looked to Toshimiru, and then to Ron. "This stranger has a good idea."
Toshimiru thought about it for a moment. "I agree," Toshimiru said. "It is a good idea. This mountainside is the perfect place to teach our art. And you, Stoppable-san, must stay and help us build it."
"You don't need me," Ron said in a sad voice. "No one needs me."
"Your heart is broken, but it is strong, my friend," Toshimiru said. "Besides, you come from a time long after now. You have done great deeds, but those deeds must be written down so, in my future and your past, we will know what to do to ensure your destiny, just as you have helped to ensure mine."
The Doctor smiled. "Tell you what," he said, "I know of a place where we can take our friend here where he won't hurt anyone else. I'll go do that while you, Ron, help Toshimiru record the prophecies you will fulfill."
Many years ago, the Doctor had visited a forgotten world called Shada, that the Time Lords had used as a prison planet. It was there that he took a sedated Tolkran, so that the Zygon would sleep until such a time that the Doctor could figure out what to do with him. When he returned to the future location of the Yamanuchi school, several months had passed.
"Well now," he said as he stepped out of the TARDIS, "this is more like it." The familiar campus was beginning to take shape. He saw Toshimiru, sans armor, using the Lotus Blade to hammer out the rock and make room for the buildings that would one day make up the Yamanouchi school.
"Doctor!" Toshimiru happily exclaimed. "Welcome! Stoppable-san was worried you would not return."
"I wasn't gone that long," the Doctor said.
"Two and a half months," Ron said, coming into the nascent courtyard carrying some wooden poles. "Two and a half months of me relying on my sucky Japanese!"
"Sorry about that," the Doctor said. "Sometimes the TARDIS has a mind of her own. It seems like you were able to understand each other well enough without the TARDIS's telepathic circuits feeding you the translations. Where's Sato?"
"He went back to China," Toshimiru said. "He has family there he wished to return to."
"He's also gonna scatter the jade statues," Ron said. "They'll wind up where they're supposed to be in the next thousand years or so."
The Doctor smiled at Ron. "You look a little better. How do you feel?"
"I still hurt," he replied. "I don't think I'm gonna get over that."
"Most likely not, Toshimiru agreed. "The one who hurt you is not worth you torturing yourself. Speak to her, and free yourself."
"He's right," the Doctor said. "You about ready?"
"The prophecies have been recorded," Toshimiru said. "And," he ran into his hut and returned with a scroll showing depictions of Ron and the Doctor, "this will be preserved so my descendants and future school masters will know when Stoppable-san claims his destiny, and when you arrive, Doctor. That way my successors will know to send you to this time to aid me."
Toshimiru bowed before Ron, who returned the gesture. "Stoppable-san, thank you. Thank you for your help, and for showing me the best use for this place and for our power."
"Thank you, Toshimiru," Ron said, "for being a true friend."
"No, Stoppable-san, we fought together, and we share the mystical monkey power. That makes us brothers." The two men embraced and said their farewells. Ron went with the Doctor to the TARDIS.
The Doctor started to set controls for roughly the same time they left Middleton, but then stopped. "Why are you so afraid to go home?"
"Kim," Ron said. "She's so dead set on talking to me that she doesn't realize I'm not ready to listen to her yet. She wants to justify what she did and try to force me into accepting it. I mean, I know I'll have to accept it. Kim made her choice, and it's not me. I'm just not ready to talk to her. I might never be. It's been over two months! You'd think I'd be ready."
"Well then," the Doctor said, saving the temporal coordinates, "let's table that for now. We have a Type 40 TARDIS at our disposal. She can take us to any planet in the universe at any point in that world's history. Let's see where we end up first."
"But don't you have that Time War thing?" Ron asked.
"The thing about a Time War is that it exists in all places and all times. It will still be there whether I want it to be or not." He put a comforting hand on Ron's shoulder. "This may be my last chance to help someone who needs it."
"Thanks," Ron said.
"Anytime. Besides," he looked at Ron. The young man had longer hair, had grown a beard, and his clothes were ratty, "we need to clean you up before we get you home. First, though, I think we need to go to Japan sixteen hundred years from now and check in with Sensei."
To Sensei, it seemed as if the TARDIS rematerialized almost immediately after vanishing. He smiled when the door opened and the Doctor emerged, followed by a disheveled Monkey Master. "Doctor, Stoppable-san, welcome. I trust your mission was successful."
"If by that you mean we ensured a predestination paradox making sure that not only would this school exist, but so would the prophecies about Ron, then you would be correct." The Doctor noticed that Sensei was holding a worn looking scroll. "Is that the portrait that Toshimiru made of us?"
"It is." Sensei unrolled it and showed it to the Doctor. "When first we met, I was confused, Doctor. Upon becoming master sensei, I was shown this scroll, so I knew the Doctor and Ron Stoppable would be coming. However, you looked so different when we first met in 1978."
"My fourth persona," the Doctor said.
"I thought 'Doctor' was a title handed down through the generations. Imagine my surprise when you came for a visit years later, looking like an entirely different man. That was when I knew you would, eventually, arrive looking as you do now."
"Sensei," Ron said. "I thought maybe you and Toshimiru were the same person. I mean, he looked a lot like you."
"The family resemblance is strong," Sensei explained. "I am his descendant. He held you in high regard," he continued. "He wrote in his private journals about how you honored his request to fight his own battle against the shapeshifter, and how you saved him from treachery. He knew you were a good man. Now," he took Ron's arm and ushered him towards the school, "what is next for you?"
"I don't know. Kim left me, I couldn't get into any schools… I feel stuck."
"Then come back here," Sensei said. "Learn more about the power and yourself. Discover who it is you wish to be, and let your broken heart heal."
Ron smiled a genuinely happy smile. "I'll do that. I need to go home and quit my job first."
"Before that we need to take a quick jaunt around the universe," the Doctor added. "That will help get you in the proper headspace."
Two hours after the TARDIS faded from the Stoppable home's front yard, it rematerialized. The door opened and out stepped Ron, looking much the same as he had when he first left. He was standing taller and seemed more confident, but no one could have taken a quick look at him and known that he had been gone for almost a year.
"I'm never gonna see you again, am I?" he asked when the Doctor stepped out.
"I don't know," the Doctor replied. "I… I rarely visit my companions after I've brought them home. Most of the time, I'll have regenerated so they wouldn't recognize me anyway."
Rufus, who had been sitting on Ron's shoulder, wiped a tear away. "Bye bye," he said in a sad voice.
"I'll miss you, too, Rufus," the Doctor said. "Take care of Ron for me."
Rufus nodded and scurried back into Ron's pocket. Ron hugged the Doctor. "I can never thank you enough for what you did for me."
"I'm glad I could help." The Doctor released Ron and stepped back. "Thank you for letting me help."
"Ron!" a voice called out.
Ron's shoulders slumped. "Of course she's here. Well, I put it off for a year. Time to face the music."
"You'll do fine, Ron, with this, and with the rest of your life. I expect nothing but great things."
With that, the Doctor stepped back into the TARDIS, and with a loud grinding wheeze, the blue box faded away.
The Doctor looked at the console room, with its wood paneling and bookshelves. "A little too audacious for a war." He glanced down at his clothes. "Then again, so am I."
He started flipping switches and pressing buttons on the console. "Time for a new desktop theme, old girl. Something a bit more minimalist. As for me, I think I need to put function before fashion." He ran his fingers through his hair. "And maybe a shorter hairdo. I'll be right back, old girl. Time to go see about a haircut and a new suit".
He returned about twenty minutes later. His hair was cut short, and the elegant clothes had been replaced with a basic pair of trousers, boots with spats over them, and a plain white shirt with a less refined looking cravat. Finishing off the ensemble was an ankle length coat.
"Very nice," the Doctor said when he saw the console room's new layout. "I missed the round things."
The walls were white, with lighted circular indentations. There were what looked like coral supports running up the walls, from the floor to the ceiling. Gone were the bookshelves and the woodwork. The console itself was circular, and the controls looked more basic. The Doctor took his normal position.
"Come on, old girl, it's war. Let's see who we can help." He thought about the friend he left behind on Earth. "Good luck, Ron."
"Are you all right?" Kim asked after the TARDIS faded from view.
"I will be," Ron said. He looked at Rufus, who had an almost pained look on his face. "Do you want to be here for this, buddy?"
"Nuh-uh," the little mole rat said, shaking his head.
Ron opened the front door. "I'm gonna take Rufus upstairs for a snooze," he told Kim. "Wait here and I'll be right back."
"Are you gonna hide up there for two hours like you hid in that phone booth thing?"
Ron let out a sigh. "Two hours. Right." He looked Kim in the eyes. She saw a resolve in him that scared her a little. "I'll be back down in a few minutes. You can time me if you want."
Four minutes and twenty-seven seconds later – and yes, Kim timed him – Ron came downstairs and took a seat. He didn't sit next to Kim, which she noticed, but sat on the recliner kitty-corner from the couch.
"Okay, Kim," he said, deliberately not using his nickname for her, "what do you want to say?"
"I'm sorry," she said. "But you have to understand that I was lonely! You weren't there!"
"And what's-his-name was," Ron said in a monotone voice.
"His name is Reed," Kim retorted. "Reed Place!"
"I don't care what his name is," Ron said, almost too calmly. "He took my place in your heart and in your life."
"I was lonely," Kim said again.
"So was I!" Ron snapped. Kim flinched. "I was here, you were in London!"
"At least you still have your fam around!" Kim declared defensively. "Mine was thousands of miles away!"
Ron looked around the room in an exaggerated manner. "My fam is here? Oh, you mean the fam that went on a whirlwind world cruise six weeks ago and didn't bother to tell me?"
That made Kim look around. "Where's Hana?"
"With my 'rents. At least, according to the note they left for me that told me they'd gone and won't be back until sometime next month."
Kim sighed and hung her head. "I didn't know. But you still have friends here."
"Only Wade, and he's busy getting his PhD. Face it, Kim, I have virtually zero support network! All I had was the knowledge that I still had you, even though you were on another continent." Ron stood up and started pacing around the room.
"I was lonely, too," Ron said, reiterating what he said before. "But I never thought about looking for love somewhere else with someone else. All I could do was wait for you to come home. I was willing to wait for you, but you wouldn't wait for me."
"Like you had opportunities," Kim snorted.
Ron glared daggers at her. "Is that how you feel, or how Mr. Wonderful feels?"
Kim looked away. "I'm sorry. That came out wrong. I just meant - "
"I don't care what you meant!" Ron snapped, cutting her off. "It sounds like you don't think I can attract someone! I'll have you know that I've been getting hit on by more than a few customers! I've even had a few slip me their phone numbers!
"And if I can't attract another girlfriend, what does that say about you?" he demanded. "Were you with me out of pity? Were you rebounding from that synthodrone phony and you just wanted to be with someone and I was convenient?"
Kim scowled. It was all she could do to keep from springing to her feet and slapping Ron. "How dare you?" she growled. "How could you even think that?"
"You're the one who was cheating," Ron shot back. "You don't have any room the be angry. Besides, you didn't hear Bonnie and some of the other cheerleaders saying the same thing behind your back during senior year!"
Kim was taken aback. "I… I didn't know. You never said anything."
"Because I didn't believe it," Ron said. "After the battlesuit sitch, I believed you when you said you wanted to be with me. Now I'm not so sure." Ron looked away. There were questions he needed answers to, but he was afraid to ask them. "Was this guy a classmate? You never mentioned anyone."
Kim looked away again. "No. He's another UNIT recruit."
Ron rolled his eyes. "Of course he was. Probably some golden hottie type." Kim was about to say something, but Ron held a hand up to stop her. "It doesn't matter. What does matter is you decided to date him when you were supposed to be with me. I can only assume you're sleeping with him."
"Yes," Kim said quietly.
Ron let out a breath he didn't realize he was holding. "I figured."
"I'm sorry," Kim said.
"Sorry doesn't cut it," Ron said. "You were supposed to be my girlfriend, not his!"
"If you met him, you'd know he's a nice guy!" Kim protested.
Ron's eyes were the size of monster truck tires. "A nice guy?! Really?! Did he know you were dating someone back home?" Kim nodded. "Then Mr. Wonderful went after a girl he shouldn't have! And even if he didn't know you were dating someone, you knew! You should have known better!" Ron sat down and took a deep breath to calm himself.
"We were both lonely, Kim, but you never told me how bad it was," he finally said. "And when I told you how lonely I was, you'd shut me down."
"That's because it reminded me that we were separated by an ocean and most of the continental United States!" Kim protested.
"You were the one who decided to go to college overseas! You were the one who decided dating and sleeping with someone else was okay, and you were the one who decided to end us! So that's it. We're done. We're over. We haven't had many missions lately anyway, so it's not going to be hard to give those up."
"Wait, what? No more missions?" Kim asked, clearly surprised.
"Come on, Kim! You haven't done a mission since you joined UNIT! I did one…" Ron almost said "last year," but Kim didn't know how long he and the Doctor had been traveling. "I did one a few weeks ago, and the people I went to help told me to get lost because I was, and I quote, 'that loser sidekick'!" Ron looked away from Kim, who was starting to tear up.
"I fought off the Lorwardians," he finally said. "No one knows that, though, so I'm still seen as a loser. Well, I'm done being the loser, and I'm done being the sidekick! It's time for me to see who exactly Ron Stoppable is. And I have to do that without you."
"What? No!" Kim shouted. "You can't just toss me aside!"
"Why not?" Ron had made the decision to cut ties at the same moment he said the words. He'd thought about it the entire time he was in Japan and when he was with the Doctor, but he hadn't committed to that decision. He was more calm than he thought he would be, and that calmness scared Kim. "Why not?" he asked again. "You tossed me aside first."
Kim now had tears streaming down her face. "You can't mean this! You can't!"
"What do you want from me, Kim?" Ron asked in an exasperated voice.
"You! In my life! I still need you to be my best friend!"
Ron closed his eyes. "There's a problem with that, Kim. Friends trust each other."
"I trust you!" Kim was about to stand up and go over to Ron, but the look on his face made her stop. He was blank, emotionless, like the outburst he'd just had had drained all the emotion from him.
"I don't trust you," Ron said, his voice both sad and dull at the same time. "You cheated on me, lied to me, betrayed me… you killed that trust. I still love you, and I wish I didn't. If I didn't, cutting ties with you would be easier."
Hearing that Ron wished he didn't love her shattered what was left of Kim's composure. "Please don't do this to us," Kim sobbed.
"I didn't do this to us," Ron said. He stood up and went to the door. He opened it, and looked over to Kim, who took the hint. She was being kicked out of both the house and Ron's life. "You did this to us, Kim. What I'm doing, I'm doing for me. Goodbye, Kim. I hope you and Mr. Wonderful are happy."
Kim gave Ron one last sad look. "I'm sorry." She walked out the door. The Possible/Stoppable team was over.
When Kim got back to her parents' house, which her family had recently moved back into after it had been rebuilt, she went straight to her room. Her mom, sensing something wrong, followed her.
"I take it things didn't go well with Ron," Ann Possible said.
"No." Kim's voice was almost monotone. "I knew he'd be hurt, but I didn't think he would decide to kick me out of his life." Kim sat on her bed.
"I warned you," Ann said.
"I know. I just thought he'd realize that the distance was killing us."
Ann sat down beside her daughter. "Kimmie, sweetie, you knew the risk you were taking when you decided to go to England and try to do a long-distance relationship." Ann knew this was going to be hard for Kim to hear, but she had to hear it. "You should have known that cheating on Ron was horrible."
"I didn't set out to do it, Mom!" Kim protested.
"You didn't stop it, either," Ann pointed out.
"I didn't plan this!" Kim said defensively.
"I didn't say you did. But again, you didn't stop it. You didn't stop Reed from pursuing you, and you didn't stop yourself from letting him catch you."
Ann was quiet for a moment, trying to figure out what to say. There was a story she and James hadn't told any of their children, but she knew now that her eldest needed to hear it.
"I was engaged twice," Ann finally said. Kim looked at her mother with surprise. "I had a fiancé before your father. His name was Harold. Harold Butler. We were both pre-med students at the University of Upperton together."
"Why didn't you ever tell us this?" Kim asked.
"It wasn't important," Ann replied. "It was a long time before I met your father."
"Did he cheat on you, or did you cheat on him?" was Kim's next question.
"It was him," Ann replied. "We went to different places for medical school. I stayed in Colorado, and he went to Stanford. The first year we made it work. The second year, it went bad. He found someone else and left me far behind."
Kim nodded. "How bad did that hurt?"
"Bad. And for a long time. I didn't date for a couple of years after that. It took some friends setting me up with this nerdy guy from the Middleton Institute for Science and Technology to get me out of my shell again."
Kim smiled. "Dad?"
Ann returned the smile. "Your dad. That first date went well, but I wasn't ready to jump into anything. Your dad understood. He didn't push. He gave me his number and left it up to me if I wanted to see him again or not."
"How long did you wait to call him?"
"Three weeks," Ann replied. "I took a chance, called him to go to a movie, and that was it."
"Do you know what happened to Harold?"
Ann nodded. "He's a pediatrician in California now. He came back to Colorado several years after we split up. He tried to rekindle things with me, but when he took one look at me, he knew that ship had sailed."
"Why?"
"I was married to your father and eight months pregnant with you." Ann put her arm around Kim's shoulders. "I'm disappointed with the way things between you and Ron ended, but it was your choice. Now, you have to live with that."
"Yeah," Kim said, totally unconvinced. "You didn't hear him, Mom. He was yelling at me. He's never yelled at me like that before. And the arguments he made… it was almost as if he'd been mulling it over for months instead of a couple of hours. I thought maybe, if I really explained it, he'd understand. He countered every argument. And then he said our friendship was over. I never thought we would ever not be friends."
"That's the danger when a friendship goes to the next level. If the relationship ends badly, then that could be it. What are you going to do?"
"I'll give him a day or two to calm down, then plead my case again."
Ann shook her head. "That's a bad idea, Kimmie. If you do that, you could push him away from you for good."
"I can't lose him, Mom!"
"Kimmie, you lost Ron when you started seeing Reed behind his back."
True to her word, Kim went back to Ron's place a few days later. No one was home. When she went to Smarty Mart to see if he was there, the managers told her he'd quit suddenly. A quick call to Wade told her that Ron had left for Japan. That was it. The friendship was truly over. When Kim returned to England, she threw herself into her schooling, her training with UNIT, and her new relationship with Reed.
Several years would pass before she saw the Doctor again. She was now a full operative with UNIT, not one of their military personnel, and was helping handle logistics when a Sontaran plot to pollute the atmosphere, turning Earth into a cloning world was discovered.
The Doctor looked a lot different now. He was taller, his hair was shorter and stuck up more, and he had long sideburns. He also changed the way he dressed. In the place of the Edwardian garb was a blue pin striped suit, red Converse shoes, and a long brown coat. He was currently traveling with a red headed woman named Donna Noble.
As for the Doctor, he was more world weary than he had been before. He told people he was in his early nine-hundreds, but he knew it was a lie. He'd been in his nine-hundred and seventies in his seventh incarnation, long before the Time War. Now he was in what he called his tenth incarnation, even though he'd regenerated three times since Kim had last seen him.
That wasn't vanity, either. The trouble with a time war was the time aspect. Time would flow forward and back, move quickly or slowly. He really wasn't sure how old he was now.
The Doctor regenerated into a younger man during the war and grew to an old man during the course of that war. By the time he regenerated again, he was wrinkled and gray. Of course, he didn't call himself the Doctor during this incarnation. He'd taken up arms, and he ended the war by destroying both sides. He disavowed that life, even though it continued to haunt him.
Kim had harbored a hatred of the Time Lord that grew deeper with each passing year. It was all she could do to not try to high kick his head off when she saw him. The threat was over now, the Sontaran ship had been destroyed, and the air was no longer toxic. Well, not as toxic. Kim strode up to the Doctor and Donna, ready to give the Time Lord a piece of her mind.
"Kim Possible!" the Doctor exclaimed. "No uniform, no gun, but still wearing a UNIT logo."
"Wait, THE Kim Possible?" the other redhead asked. "I'm Donna Noble! I'm a big fan!"
"Ms. Noble," Kim said, acknowledging her. "I'm an operative, not part of the military forces," she told the Doctor. "I am fully trained on and proficient with firearms. I don't like using them, though." She glanced at Donna. "Would you excuse us, Ms. Noble? The Doctor and I need to talk about something private."
"Oh," Donna said, a little disappointed. "Okay. I'll, uh, I'll go talk with Martha," she said, referring to Dr. Martha Jones, another former companion of the Doctor's.
Kim and the Doctor found a quiet place away from any eavesdroppers. "I assume this is about Ron," the Doctor said.
"You turned him against me!" Kim spat.
"I really didn't," he responded.
"After two hours with you, he was ready to completely cut me off and run away to Japan!" Kim continued, ignoring what the Doctor had said.
"He went to Japan because Sensei invited him," he told her.
Kim raised an eyebrow. "You know Sensei?"
"Oh yes!" the Doctor declared. "I first met him, oh, so long ago. I was a young man back then with a penchant for scarves and jelly babies. And for your information, Ron was with me for longer than two hours."
"Don't try to play me," Kim warned. "I may not be a Time Lord, but I can read a clock! Two hours passed from when your little phone booth disappeared to when it came back again!"
"For you it was two hours," the Doctor said. "For Ron it was almost a year."
Kim's brain misfired. "A year?"
"Well," the Doctor replied, drawing out the word, "eleven months, two weeks, eighteen days, but close enough. He spent two and a half months in Fourth Century Japan, helping Toshimiru get the Yamanouchi school set up and getting all the Monkey Master prophecies recorded, then he travelled with me for about another nine months."
"A year," Kim said again.
"Kim, he knew you wouldn't give him a chance to figure out what he wanted. You being at his house waiting for us to return was proof he was right. So, he travelled with me. We fought some evil, saved some planets, and he was able to start processing his pain."
"That's why it seemed like he'd had months to think about things. He'd had a year." Kim collapsed against the wall. "He let me have it when we talked. He didn't listen to any of my reasons or my excuses, and he just…" Kim trailed off, fighting the tears threatening to well up in her eyes. "He ended our friendship. When I went to his house a few days later, he was gone. He'd left for Japan, and I haven't seen him since."
"I'm sorry," the Doctor said. "I'm so sorry."
"It's my own fault," Kim replied. "As much as I hate to admit it, it's the truth. The whole sitch also strained things with my friends Monique and Wade. We patched things up eventually."
"And your new guy? What was his name? I was never told," the Doctor said.
"Reed," Kim said. "Sergeant Reed Place. We're still together. He was part of the task force on the ground for this sitch."
"So, you haven't heard from Ron at all?"
"Not directly," Kim said. "You haven't checked up on him?"
"No." The Doctor sighed. "It's hard meeting up with old friends, especially after so much time has passed for me and I'm wearing a different face. I ran into an old friend named Sarah Jane not that long ago. It was a bit tense at first."
"I've met Sarah Jane Smith," Kim said. "Apparently, she and Ron are friends now. She wouldn't tell me how he was doing."
"I don't blame her," the Doctor said. "Being caught in the middle like that is the last place anyone wants to be."
Kim nodded. "He wrote a book. Ron did. He wrote a book. It just came out last week."
"Really?" the Doctor said. "Good for him! What's it about?"
"It's an urban fantasy novel called The Obsidian Scourge," Kim said. "I had no idea he could write like that! A cursed artifact called the obsidian emerald winds up being delivered to an electronics warehouse by mistake. A forklift driver gets in over his head trying to keep it out of the wrong hands.
"I stayed up all night reading it," Kim continued. "The end brought me to tears. There was a love story that ended badly. The hero, his name was Derek Hoffs, got left high and dry by his wife. I know it was an analogue for what happened with us. I knew he hurt, just not as badly as what he put in that book."
"It sounds like he used the written word to process his heartbreak," the Doctor said.
"It was so sad. Reed woke up to me crying. He saw who wrote the book and thought Ron wrote a tell all and trashed me in it. He didn't, but Reed wouldn't listen. He wanted to hop on the first hypersonic transport to the United States and go find Ron so he could beat him up."
"Your new guy sounds a bit on the violent side," the Doctor said with worry in his voice.
"Only when he's been drinking," Kim said. "He was nursing a hangover that morning, which put him in an even worse mood. Ron didn't bash me, or even mention me. His author bio didn't even talk about when we did missions together. It was like he had just cut me out of his life. I can't say I blame him."
Kim let out a sound that was somewhere between a sigh and a laugh. "I've had a lot of growing up to do. I want to talk to Ron one more time and apologize. Really apologize and not make excuses. I may not be able to."
"Kim," the Doctor put a hand on her shoulder, "take it from someone who, quite literally, lost his whole world. It's only too late if you wait until one of you is gone. Don't wait that long."
Kim nodded. "Easier said than done." She stood up straight and gave the Doctor a weak smile. "Thanks. For talking to me. And I'm sorry I was blaming you."
The Doctor grinned. "It's all right."
"Doctor," Kim said, "is there any chance of going with you? I'd love to go back in time and tell myself to break up with Ron before I started seeing Reed."
"Kim, time travel isn't some 'undo' command for mistakes. Where would it end?"
"What do you mean?"
"Let's say I took you back in time, you did exactly what you just said, and he still resented you for it. Then what? How many changes do you make if things continue to not work out the way you want them to?"
"I don't know," she replied quietly.
"And all those planets Ron and I saved and the people we helped, what about them? Kim, Ron did a lot of good with me when we traveled together. We saved so many lives. If you changed the future to save yourself some hardship, then those lives might be lost." He smiled. "And he definitely wouldn't have written that book."
Kim closed her eyes. "I understand. 'The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few, or the one'." Kim couldn't remember where she heard that quote, but the Doctor recognized it.
"Star Trek II. Great movie!" He smiled at Kim. "We all have done things we're not proud of, but we have to learn to live with them. It's all part of life, I'm afraid. All we can do is learn from our mistakes and make sure we don't make them again. I have to get going. Will you be okay?"
Kim nodded. "Eventually. I think the UNIT shrink is going to be seeing more of me than she wants."
The Doctor was quiet for a moment. "Did you say Ron's book was called The Obsidian Scourge? The main character is Derek Hoffs?" Kim nodded. The Doctor smiled. "That's brilliant! Just brilliant! I had no idea he was going to beTHAT Ron Stoppable!" He saw the confused look on Kim's face. "Your ex-boyfriend is going to have quite the career! The Obsidian Scourge is only the first of dozens of bestsellers he'll write! He's going to be quite prolific, and quite famous."
"I'd erase his career if I went back and changed things," Kim said sadly.
"Most likely," the Doctor agreed. "You have to let it go, Kim. This guilt is doing you no favors."
Kim smiled at him, but it was a sad smile. "I'm working on it."
"Take care, Kim, and don't give up hope. Ron may have forgiven you after all this time. Who knows, maybe that bad ending to his book's love story was him finally letting go of his anger and his hurt."
"Maybe." Kim was unconvinced. "Or maybe his next book will have my proxy character dying a horrible death."
The Doctor smiled. "That's not him and you know it."
As the Doctor walked off, a man in UNIT combat fatigues and a red beret walked up. He was tall with broad shoulders, a strong jaw, and dark eyes. "Was that the Doctor?" he asked.
Kim smiled at him. "Yeah, Reed, that was the Doctor."
"I didn't hear any shouting. I thought you'd have bitten his head off, what with how bad you say you hate him."
Kim put her arm around Reed's waist. "Call it misplaced aggression. We had a heart to heart. Or would that be a hearts to heart, since he has two of them?"
"You said he turned your ex against you, though."
"No, babe," Kim said, "I did that myself. I just didn't want to admit it."
Author's note:
I'd planned on checking in on Ron and his future writing aspirations, but this was too good of a natural endpoint for this chapter.
For those wondering when or if Kim and Ron will bury the hatchet, well, that would be telling. You'll find out soon enough.
Next chapter will jump ahead a few more years, and maybe a regeneration or two from where we ended. Which version of the Doctor will we meet next? Stay tuned!
I hope everyone has a safe and happy new year! May 2024 be amazing for all.