Chapter Text
Epilogue: The Beginning of the End
The T.A.R.D.I.S.es of the four Gladiators and the Doctor’s Type-40 model piggybacked each other once again. They all barreled down the swirling multicolored time-space energy that was the infinite dimensional corridor, until it metamorphosed into blue and red, fast-moving energy. This was indication of their arrival through the time vortex associated with the Doctor’s T.A.R.D.I.S.
Within one of their conjoined console rooms, Carrie and the Mystery Inc. gang thanked Tuck Pendleton, reverted back to average size, for succeeding in his mission inside of Alexis.
“What was it like to traverse the inside of a human body?” Velma probed.
Her question prompted a heavy sigh out of Pendleton. “Something I won’t ever forget…no matter how hard I try.”
Close by them were Alexis and Jeff, who still remained in his Meteor Man outfit.
“So…how does it feel to be a superhero?” she asked him.
Jeff swelled with a sense of buoyancy Alexis had never seen in him before. “It felt…exuberating…like I’m a whole new man.” His enthusiasm then dwindled. “Of course, the Doctor says that it’s only temporary. The more I use my powers, the more I exhaust them.”
“Well,” Alexis said, “we’ll just work on you using them sparingly.”
“Does that mean we’re still…you know…together?”
Alexis knew what incited him to question their future; she did herself, soon after she regained her Time Lord physiology. “Jeff, I’m sorry you had to find out the truth about me this way.”
“You mean the truth that my girlfriend of four months is actually an alien from another dimension?” Jeff’s tone insinuated some humility over the fact, which was surprising to Alexis. “After being hit by a meteor and blessed with superpowers, you’d better believe I’m willing to go the next level.”
Alexis was moved by his response. “You are such a wonderful man, Jefferson Reed.” She locked her lips with his and, for a brief moment, there was a literal spark between them – a discharge of meteorite energy.
Further across from their kissing session, Bradlee waltzed his way into the Doctor’s portion of the console room. There he was, secluded from everyone, fiddling with the controls. As much as Bradlee appreciated the coral design of the room, it was rather dim, illuminated by the glow of green light from the time rotor column in the center and the lights in the hexagons on the walls.
Bradlee took this moment alone with him to bring up a secret he and Neas hadn’t the courage to tell him: “The Time Lords ordered me to bring you back to Gallifrey.”
“Did they now?” The Doctor didn’t sound the least bit concerned.
“You’re not surprised that they’re even back?” the troubled Bradlee inquired.
“You come from a point in time far beyond mine, whether it’d be the past, present, or future. To you, the Time Lords still exist. To me, they’re still gone. So, it wouldn’t matter if you bring me to them or not.”
Bradlee accepted this logic with a subtle nod. “Fair enough. I mean, it wasn’t you they were after anyway – that is, not this version of you.”
“I suppose I’ll have something to look forward to then.”
Through this entire exchange, Bradlee sensed antagonism in the Doctor, and he had a feeling it wasn’t due to the Time Lords’ bounty. “What’ve you been hiding?”
No matter the regeneration, Neas was a sharp-minded individual.
They knew the Doctor better than most.
“I have been hiding…and running…quite a bit lately,” he finally confessed.
“From what?” Bradlee pressed, hoping to learn more.
The Doctor stepped away from the control console, hands in his pants pockets, exhaling heavily. “My song is ending – at least, that’s what the message is across the universe. No matter where I go, it’s always there, reminding me that I have to die. I’ve been to Mars, met a man who I believed was my next self, and even married Queen Elizabeth the First!”
Bradlee chuckled at that last one. “Seriously?!”
“Yes,” the Doctor laughed. His mood turned somber again as he continued: “I don’t know what to do next. I’m scared…scared of the inevitability.”
Bradlee saw that he was, and it was rare when he did.
“Go on a long, quiet vacation,” he advised. “Maybe to Hawaii.”
He got the Doctor started with a straw hat, sunglasses, and flower lei that he kept stored in the T.A.R.D.I.S. wardrobe room.
Wearing them, the Doctor felt his spirits lift a little.
“Thank you, Bradlee.”
After saying farewell to the Doctor and returning Pendleton back to his home dimension, the Gladiators dispersed one-by-one back to their respective points in their timeline with their companions.
Alexis departed with Jeff.
And Bradlee set off with Steven Universe and the Crystal Gems.
Neas and Carrie were the last two left, their T.A.R.D.I.S.es still piggybacking over each other back down the dimensional corridor. Carrie, on the other hand, didn’t want to leave. She appreciated the company of her successor, who was as great of a man as she figured (when not under the influence of Regen-8).
She prolonged her stay with casual conversation.
“Scooby and the gang agreed this’ll be our last adventure together,” she told Neas, only realizing after that he probably already knew that, since her travels with Mystery Inc. were essentially in the past for him.
That much was obvious when he replied, “Yeah…they’ve journeyed with us in earlier regenerations. But, hey, you got Craig and Willie to look forward to.”
Carrie’s gaze widened at that spoiler. “Really? Huh.”
“Don’t worry. You’ll grow to love ‘em.”
“Oh, I already do. They’re great fellas. Craig always has my back – even if he is a little headstrong, and I’ve grown pretty fond of Willie’s barbecue. Can you believe he fed it to me, thinking it’d awaken my ‘inner brotha’?”
Neas frowned at the term. “Inner brotha?”
“That means you.”
As ludicrous as it sounded, Neas sincerely deliberated on the idea. “I dunno. In some circumstances, regeneration can be strongly influenced by the subconscious mind.”
“Well, whatever the case, I’m glad that I’ll one day be you.”
“And I’m grateful for the time that I got to be you.”
Carrie couldn’t help but to discern a hint of solemnity in his voice when returning his gratitude. “Why do you sound so sad?”
Neas naively shrugged. “Feelin’ nostalgic, I guess.”
Carrie’s T.A.R.D.I.S. detached from Neas’s, dematerializing away successively.
Neas was left with the companionship of Jane, Rania, Al-Lee, and newcomer Fawn. Everett and Chanley stayed on briefly to say they goodbyes. While they did so, Rania took Neas aside to give him a hug and a kiss on the cheek.
“What’s that for?” he asked.
“For coming to Themyscira and saving my butt, silly,” she said. “If it weren’t for you and your friends, we would all be dead right now.”
“But I almost helped cause it!”
“Oh, nonsense. You were just as much a victim as I was.”
Rania comfortingly wrapped her arms around his as Chanley and Everett approached them.
“Welp, it’s our turn to go,” Everett said.
“Need a lift back?” Neas offered.
“Nah,” Chanley declined. “We’ll just use my vortex manipulator.”
Seeing the device on her wrist helped Neas come to a realization: “So that’s how you got aboard my T.A.R.D.I.S., you lil’ sneak!”
Chanley teasingly batted her eyes to him.
Neas could only smile, admiring her ingenuity.
“Bro,” Everett addressed him. “I got somethin’ for ya.” He presented Neas with a vial of a glowing gold liquid – the same type of vial LeMarier once bestowed upon him. “I know what you’re thinking. Why am I giving you the very thing that caused us all so much misery in the past hours? That’s ‘cause this is an even more concentrated, stabilized version of the formula…and I think you’ll know when it’s the right time to use it.”
Neas looked on the vial in Everett’s proffered hand for a long minute.
He readily took it from his twin brother and somberly agreed, “I do know.”
INFINITE DC: REGENERATION