Prologue
The air is quiet. Almost too quiet for the Doctor's liking, especially after the recent events of the day. Events that now fill him with utter dread. The last of the Time Lord's now stands alone in his ship, the Tardis, once more, looking down at the console. For a few minutes, he allows his mind to be overcome with thoughts of what has just happened.
The one battle they have been desperate to stop from happening has now happened, and things are only going to get worse from here. The battle will continue for as long as it takes to destroy the Cytracik.
UNIT has fallen in battle and so has the Hollerford family. The Doctor has lost his friends in war. A war for nothing but the greed and desperation of power. And because of it, the Doctor is once again ridden with guilt for having done nothing but stand there and watch his friends die in battle.
Only two have survived the battle. The twins. Declan and Suzzette Hollerford's thirteen year old twins: Maxwell and April Hollerford. It is their thirteenth birthday today. The police would be at their house by now, informing the twins of the news of their parents death.
What has become of the universe? The Cytracik was created in the form of a black box. Jack Gruntler explained it as a version of Pandora's box. No one knows what is inside. But the box can latch onto the one it thinks will posses its power. That person or species will answer its call. However what is to happen after was never clear. Not until now.
The battle for the Cytracik commenced as soon as word got out across the universe of its power: species desperate to have the power the Cytracik apparently possesses, and the Doctor fighting alongside UNIT, trying to follow Jack Gruntler's orders to destroy it. But everyone failed. The fighting may have temporarily stopped as the shape shifters and Daleks have become weak, but the Battle of the Cytracik continues. The battle will not end until the Cytracik has been destroyed.
Where the Cytracik is now, no one knows. But that is the Doctor's job. Jack Gruntler, the wisest man in the universe, also known as the one who knows all – the Doctor rolls his eyes at this title – has sent the Doctor on a mission to track down the Cytracik and destroy it before the prophecy of the Hollerford twins can be fulfilled. A prophecy given to them because...
Out of anger, the Doctor stops himself from thinking about the reason why. Instead he yells out in rage and whacks his fist harshly down on the Tardis console. The Tardis lets out a small rumble as the Doctor bows his head, resting heavily against the console.
But there is something else niggling the Doctor's thoughts. Not only has the Battle of the Cytracik begun and that he has to find the Cytracik and destroy it, but he also thinks about Declan Hollerford and his dying wish.
Declan was killed only moments before the Doctor returned to the Tardis and there was one thing he made the Doctor promise. And that was to keep his children safe.
Apparently April and Maxwell Hollerford were left at their home in Wandsworth while their parents left to fight. But as the Doctor checked readings on the Tardis console, Maxwell seems to be nowhere in sight. There does not to be a trace left of him anywhere in London, let alone anywhere in the twenty-first century. But April is still there.
In order to bring the Hollerford twins back together, the Doctor has to find April first.
Standing alone in the Tardis, the Doctor grits his teeth as he stares down at the green lights radiating off the console, willing himself to not be overcome with grief. He has lost his friends. Once again. He watched them die in battle and yet he stands here unhurt and still alive. Rose Tyler is back at home. He can't imagine what would happen if she stayed with him. But how many more times can the Doctor go on travelling through the universe watching the ones he cares for die?
The Doctor takes in a slow, but shaky breath in, and then exhales. He does this a few times with his head still bowed. His hair falls into is eyes but he doesn't flick it out the way. Instead he thinks the same wish over and over in his mind:
No one else is going to die for me. I won't lose anyone else.
Trying to keep his thoughts away from his grief on the task at hand, the Doctor pushes himself away from the console, spinning around in a pirouette as he does so. He then reaches for a dial on the console and twists it anticlockwise on the console. Immediately a holographic image of himself appears a few feet in front of himself. For a few moments the Doctor stands there with his hands in his trouser pockets, staring at his reflection in the hologram.
He then clears his throat and starts to speak.
"This is emergency program 0.00505. This is not the same as emergency program one where it means that I must be against an enemy. I repeat this is emergency program 0.00505. And if this is triggered than it can only mean that we have lost the Battle of the Cytracik.
"The only people who know of this trigger will be Terry, Colonel Aaron Brimikawood, and Jack Gruntler. But the Colonel is dead so the other two will probably have triggered this. To clarify I have recorded this message the day the Battle of the Cytracik started. Declan Hollerford was powerful enough to open the Cytracik. This ended in himself and his wife, Suzette being killed by the Daleks. The consequence of the Cytracik is not clear. But Declan has asked me to save April and to look after her. Maxwell is nowhere in sight.
"But there is more to this message. The only reason why this message can be triggered is if we have lost the Battle. The shape shifters have won. And I am dead. Or at least about to die. The truth is if I die during the battle, I cannot regenerate. Time can erase itself but it cannot heal during this. But that's okay. I just hope that everyone else is still alive when I die.
"The only thing I ask of is five things. Very simple. But just five. The first is to send Rose Tyler home and keep her there. Perhaps erase her memory. Send Rose Tyler back to the Powell State in London. Back to her mother, Jackie Tyler. Whether or not you erase her memory is up to whoever triggered this message. If her memory of me or this battle will put her in danger as a target to the universe, then save her by letting her forget me.
"Secondly, I want you to find April Hollerford if I have not done so already. If I have then make sure she is okay. Make sure that she is happy and that she can live her life away from the Cytracik. I fear that what her father has done, it will affect her and Maxwell. She has a home in a cul-de-sac in Wandsworth, south-west London. She will be safe there. Just keep her alive.
"The third thing is the Tardis. If I'm dead then the Tardis will not be able to function properly, unless there is someone else who can fly my ship. As far as I am aware there is no one. So for me, send it to Jack Gruntler. If you are Jack, then keep it," the Doctor then chuckles slightly. "Lock the door and let my ship to die. Bury it in your garden or use it as decoration. Whatever you fancy, Jack. The Tardis has a trick that nothing in the universe can find it. Aliens and humans will walk past it but won't even give it a mere glance.
"The fourth thing is to never stop fighting to end this battle. There will be moments in the universe where nothing is happening and it seems that nothing is going for the Cytracik. But we're at the stage now where the news about the Cytracik and its power will have spread across the universe. Unfortunately I don't know what the shape shifter's plans are, but I am sure that they are preparing for something big. So please do whatever you can to destroy it. And I have to admit that even I don't know how to destroy it. But I believe in you to find out.
"And finally," the Doctor pauses and closes his eyes and thinks of the fifth thing in his mind. And then without further ado, he flicks a switch on the console. There is a brief pause before the silent air around him is suddenly filled with music. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. His 25th Symphony rings across the console room.
And then the Doctor pulls down a leaver, making a mental note to himself that he must go back in time one day and meet the man himself. The Tardis starts to fly away from London and through the Time Votex.
The hunt for April Hollerford has begun.