The End of the Time War

by professorriversong

Prologue: The Voice

“Haha, yes!” The Doctor bounded around the TARDIS console, swaying slightly with the shaking ship. If he didn’t execute this particular maneuver absolutely perfectly, his beloved ship might just be torn to pieces. He quickly brushed his hair out of his eyes as he paused a moment and stared at the monitor. “C’mon, old girl!” The ship rattled again as he ran to a squiggly sort of lever and started shifting it downward as he worked at the keyboard with his free hand. Almost there… the TARDIS was tearing through the time vortex, just the right trajectory to finally get to-

In an instant the monitor went dark, the lights blinked out, even the whoosh of the time rotor broke off. Gas masks on cords fell from the ceiling. The Doctor ran his hands through his hair in shock and confusion. This shouldn’t have happened; the trip would either have worked or torn the ship apart. Nothing should have made his TARDIS stop. Last time this had happened, the TARDIS had strayed into a parallel universe. “That can’t be right. That time was a quirk, it was all Mickey’s fault…” He slowly turned around toward the door, wondering what he would find outside.

“WAIT.”

The Doctor froze. The voice was so deep that it rumbled through the console room, almost as much a feeling as a sound. He briefly wondered if humans would be able to hear it, then shook his head. Something more important was going on.

“THE LAST OF THE TIME LORDS, THE ONCOMING STORM. THE LONELY GOD, AS THEY SAY.”

The Time Lord was taken aback, but hid it well. “Who are you? How do you know who I am?” he challenged, putting on his usual casual bravado. What being could possibly be powerful enough to stop my TARDIS?

“THAT IS IRRELEVANT,” the voice boomed ominously.

“All right then, what have you done to my TARDIS?” A dangerous edge crept into the Doctor’s voice. “If you’ve harmed her in any way, I can promise that you will regret it.”

“I HAVE NOT DAMAGED YOUR MACHINE. I HAVE MERELY STOPPED IT. I WILL RESTORE IT, IF YOU COOPERATE.”

“You know, I’m not really in the habit of cooperating with big booming voices from nowhere. Well, except for that one simulation arcade on Phoxell IV, now that’s a brilliant game… But surely you could have the decency to threaten me to my face.” He leaned casually on the console, the usual mask of self-assurance and a bit of arrogance on his face, but his voice betrayed his barely-controlled anger.

“I AM NOT OF THIS DIMENSION. IF I WERE TO MANIFEST MY FORM HERE, THE IMPLOSION WOULD ELIMINATE THREE-QUARTERS OF THE UNIVERSE. IF YOU DO NOT COOPERATE, THE CONSEQUENCES WILL BE DIRE.”

“Yeah, yeah, you destroy my TARDIS and probably kill me as well. But why, what for?”

“I DID NOT MEAN FOR YOU,” the voice rebuked. “THIS AND EVERY OTHER UNIVERSE IS IN GRAVE DANGER.”

The Doctor was surprised. “Really? How’s that?”

“THE FIXED POINT AT LAKE SILENCIO WAS NEARLY BROKEN. ALL OF HISTORY HAPPENED AT ONCE. TIME WAS DYING. YOU STOPPED IT, BUT THE EFFECTS WERE NOT COMPLETELY ERASED. ECHOES OF THAT WHICH NEVER HAPPENED HAVE RIPPLED ACROSS ALL OF TIME AND SPACE… INCLUDING THE TIME WAR.”

He felt as though he had been punched in the stomach. “The Time War is time locked. Nothing can affect it.” The bravado was completely gone now, replaced by shock and, perhaps, a touch of fear.

“DALEK CAAN PASSED THROUGH THE TIME LOCK, EVEN BEFORE THAT DAY. NOW, AFTER THE EVENTS THAT NEVER WERE, THE TIME LOCK IS DISINTEGRATING.”

“Disintegrating? That’s impossible! I executed the time lock myself. I protected it from temporal anomalies.” Dread rose inside of him. If the Time War is set loose on the universe again, the consequences will be unimaginable…

“NO ONE HAS EVER TRIED TO REWRITE A FIXED POINT. YOU KNOW WHY; YOUR WIFE DID NOT. THE TIME LOCK IS DISINTEGRATING, AND UNLESS YOU INTERVENE, THE RESULTS WILL BE DISASTROUS FOR THIS UNIVERSE AND ALL OTHERS.”

“You’re telling me.” He rubbed his eyes, suddenly feeling every day of his thousand and some years weighing down on him. Nobody knows better than I do that reality would not survive much longer… The Doctor sighed to himself. Still, this voice, whatever it was, didn’t need to threaten the TARDIS to get his attention on something this important. “You could have just asked, you know. Like everyone else does. No need to endanger my ship.”

The voice ignored this comment. “I AM SENDING YOU TO AN ALTERNATE DIMENSION. I WILL ASSIMILATE YOU AND YOUR SHIPAS NEEDED; HOWEVER, YOUR USE OF YOUR MACHINE WILL BE LIMITED BY REMOVAL FROM THIS UNIVERSE. I CAN KEEP IT CONNECTED, BUT NOT FULLY. FORTUNATELY, YOU WILL NOT NEED MUCH. EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO PREVENT THIS CRISIS WILL BE WHERE I SEND YOU. YOU MUST FIND IT, AND SOON. EVERY HOUR DELAY IS ANOTHER CRACK IN THE TIME LOCK.”

“Why can’t you do this yourself? I’m nobody’s errand boy.” The irritation was plain in the Time Lord’s voice. A request for help was one thing, but orders? He dropped into a nearby seat, sulking. This is too much like the Time Lords back in the old days, sending me about when they didn’t want to get their hands dirty... “And anyway, what exactly are you asking me to do? You’ve been pretty vague on the details.”

“YOUR TIME IS RUNNING OUT, TIME LORD.”

The Doctor held up his hands in surrender and got back to his feet. “Oh, all right, I’ll go. Not that you’ve given me much choice.”

As suddenly as it had stopped, the TARDIS came back to life. The rotor started up, a few extra creaks and groans in distaste at having to leave its home universe. The Doctor stumbled and grabbed the nearest railing; this was gonna be a bumpy ride.

Comments

[The I-Brony]

Judging by your love of "Who" I can only assume you are a nerd too. And to that I say: ohmz.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/sticker375x360.png

[Anonymous Assassin]

This looks very interesting... I will continue reading.