Chapter 10

'This is pointless!'

The Doctor was pacing agitatedly around a small cafe as Milo ordered them food at the counter.

'Everyone has to eat.' Milo shrugged, but the Doctor waved him off.

'Actually, you have to eat. I could go on a while longer. But that's not what I was talking about anyway. I meant this whole wild goose-chase in the first place. No one is willing to tell us where the games are!'

Milo picked up a tray full of food, and they went to sit in one of the many circular pods that filled the 'open 24 hours' cafe. The door to the pod closed shut and the transparent sphere turned white, leaving them inside their own private room.

With no other leads, the pair had spent the day wondering around the city and asking where the games were. People were either disgusted by the question, or wary of answering.

The Doctor was aware he was becoming emotional, which sometimes lead to irrational thinking. He needed to stay focused.

'I'm sorry, I know you're helping me the best you can. Maybe I am just hungry.' He poked at the food.

'May I be frank, Doctor?' asked Milo.

'You can be Joe and Mark as well, if you like!' He chuckled, but Milo just blinked at him. 'Yes, go on.'

'I think we may be having issues because of your appearance. The people who just seem reluctant to talk... maybe it is because they have never seen anyone like you before.'

The Doctor smacked his hand to his forehead. 'Of course, why didn't I think of that? I mean, half the people we've run into thought I was your pet at first.'

'Well, after we eat I can go out alone and keep asking,' Milo said, biting in his sandwich. A purple gooey substance seeped out of the side as he did.

'Right.' The Doctor stared at the food Milo bought him. 'Still, I can't help but think there's a better way to go about this. If I had my sonic screwdriver I could at least scan the area...'

A shrill beeping abruptly began emitting from Milo's pocket, and he reached inside to bring out the device he'd used to release the Doctor from the laboratory table.

'A multipurpose remote mechanism?' asked the Doctor, reaching for the burger-type food.

'Yeah. MRMs are quite common around here.' Milo pointed to the beeping device. 'A message from Rheia. Do you mind if I...?'

The Doctor waved his hand casually as he bit into his sandwich.

'Not at all!'

Milo clicked a button and motioned to put the phone to his ear, but the sound it made was loud enough for even the Doctor hear. Had they not been in their bubble, the Doctor was quite sure the whole restaurant would hear it.

The device dropped to the table with a clang, Milo covering his ears on instinct. Though the Doctor's ears were throbbing as well, he reached out and picked up the device, drawn by the sound it was creating. He inspected it casually.

A hand shot out and grabbed it from the Doctor, switching it off.

'Why did you not turn it off, Doctor? That noise was painful!' Milo shouted, rubbing his ears. 'I wonder what the hell that was, anyway.'

The Doctor held the device to his eye-level, pondering.

'I'm not sure why it was happening, but that was, without a doubt, the sound of my sonic screwdriver.'

'Come on,' Rheia panted. 'He will be up any moment.'

Amy sat on the ground, staring up in utter disbelief at the scientist.

'What are you doing?' Amy asked her.

'Getting you back to your friend. Now is not the time to ask questions!' she added when Amy opened her mouth to say more.

Rheia helped Amy and Patches up, shuffling them out the door and into the brisk evening air. There was barely any light left in the sky.

'What about Livy?' asked Patches sadly.

'You attacked him, Patches,' Amy explained hastily. 'Who knows what he's going to-'

Amy stopped short. From inside the house, new voices were approaching.

'Go!' yelled Rheia. 'I will distract them.'

'How?' Patches asked.

Rheia opened her mouth but was at a loss for words.

'Tell them I shot him.' Amy said quickly. 'I grabbed the gun from you, then we escaped. No one can blame you then!'

'Are you sure?' asked Rheia.

'Of course! Least I can do after what you did...'

'OK, fine. But you have to go now!'

'Thank you,' Amy said sincerely. She received a grim smile in return, then she and Patches were off.

Rheia watched them run across the front lawn into the night. They were just out of sight when Lycan's cheetah pet and Leo showed up.

'What happened?' demanded Leo as he ran up to Lycan, Dash had grabbing Rheia by the shoulders.

She feigned anger. 'It was those two Speakies! The human grabbed my blaster and shot Lycan! Good thing it was set to stun.'

Leo nodded at the cheetah, who released her. 'Pick up their trail, Dash. They cannot have gotten far.'

'Yes sir.'

Dash ran out of the door at once.

'You hurt, Rheia?' asked Leo.

'No, I am fine, just a bit shaken up. I think I will leave though. I am very sorry about this.

'Not your fault. That human is wild.'

'Yes, apparently she is,' Rheia agreed. 'Think you will get her back?'

'She has nowhere to go and eventually Dash will catch up to her. So as long as no one picks her up, we should be able to.'

Rheia nodded, her head drifting off to the side. There was an awkward silence while no one spoke, until eventually she said good night and left, leaving Leo to help Lycan himself.

She walked out to her hover hastily, getting her MRM out of her pocket as she did. She needed to call Milo right away to get Amy off the streets before it too late. But her MRM wouldn't turn on. She pressed all the buttons, but it wouldn't respond.

'Amy's device must have done that...' she whispered to herself.

Rheia hopped into her hover and engaged it. There was a familiar sensation in her stomach as it lifted off the ground to life and she entered the co-ordinates to her lab in the automatic movement system. Once there, she would be able to contact Milo about Amy, just hoping she wouldn't be too late.

They barely had time to scan their surroundings before bolting away from the house. Patches ran on all four paws, causing him to stride ahead of Amy. This turned out to be beneficial as Patches was familiar with the planet.

Though Lycan's estate was huge, they were still in a large city and the surrounding buildings dwarfed it. Despite the size of the house, it still seemed strange to have a single residence in the middle of such a large city.

Amy didn't dwell on the surroundings, just keeping one foot in front of the other and her eyes on the grey blur that led her.

Patches skidded to the halt on a street corner, his eyes darting back and forth nervously as he caught his breath.

'Why'd do you stop?' Amy huffed, resting her hands on her knees.

'Can't we rest?'

He sat back on his haunches, but Amy shook her head before he could get to comfortable.

'Not yet, they could still find us.'

She took his paw in her hand and gently tugged him upright, and they continued.

Despite the late hour of night, there were many people up and about. They had run to a particularly busy area of the city. Flashing lights and futuristic billboards blinded them, reminding Amy of Piccadily Circus at Christmas. They stopped in front of a cartoon looking statue that was almost taller than Amy. It was an oversized smiling Versutian child, its wide grin slightly unnerving Amy.

She soon became conscious of Versutians taking notice of them, whispering to each other and pointing.

'I think they notice we're not with a Versutian,' Amy remarked.

'Our collars probably don't help...'

Amy instantly glanced down. Around her neck the collar shone like a glow stick, neon blue.

'It's lit up!'

'Yeah... when we left the house. They're programmed to unless set otherwise.'

Amy couldn't believe she had been oblivious to something so apparent until now. In her defence, Patches did have a layer of fur surrounding his, and she had a lot on her mind.

'We need to get somewhere more secluded, like, now.'

Amy turned to go back the way she came but jolted to a halt, an older Versutian woman standing right in front of her. A rather ugly alien that had tentacles running down his face and was holding a small glowing orb stood to the side of her.

'Are you lost, honey?' asked the woman warmly, if not a little patronisingly. She tilted her head to the side.

'No,' Amy said a little too aggressively. 'Just running an errand for the... master. Excuse me.'

With Patches paw in her hand, she stepped around the woman. But she reached out and grabbed Amy's upper arm, twisting her back to face her.

'I have a hard time believing that, sweetie. How about we get you two home?'

Amy ripped her arm away from the woman.

'Ugh! I have had it up to here with being grabbed, shoved, and poked! Do you people not know the meaning of personal space?'

The woman frowned, but seemed undeterred.

'We are going to see an officer about you two,' she said as she reached for them, but Amy sidestepped out of the way, pulling Patches with her.

The woman looked about to try again when a sound, not unlike glass shattering, filled the area.

They all turned their heads to see the statue of the happy Versutian child smashed, its eyes now staring eerily in pieces on the ground.

A small Versutian man frantically sprinted out of the shop. Looking beside himself when he saw the statue, he screamed, and all three of them flinched.

'Who did this!?' he bellowed. 'That cost me a fortune for my shop.'

'Well, darling it was dreadfully tacky anyway,' the woman said.

The shopkeepers face grew dark purple. 'So you admit it? Oh lady, I am getting the police over hear right away.'

As the woman protested, Amy thought she could see Dash across the square. But before she could get a good look, a 'psst' noise sounded behind them.

Amy and Patches looked backwards to see another Catkind, but this one was definitely fully grown. He had more of a humanoid look to him than Patches, just like Dash but with a brown cat face.

'Hey!' he called in a hushed voice, beckoning them to the side of a building.

Amy and Patches looked to each other, than briskly walked away from the situation in front of them to the side of a building.

'Follow me,' he told them.

'Wait, just who are-'

Amy was silenced by a paw being pressed to her mouth. 'Do you wanna ask questions, or do you wanna get out of here?'

She nodded gently and he released her. He led them about to blocks away, avoiding the main areas where there were a lot of lights and people. They slowed down when the neared what looked like the back entrance to a building.

The catkind's yellow eyes darted back and fourth as he checked the surroundings. Obviously satisfied, he opened the metal door, holding it for them.

'Go on!' he hissed.

Amy and Patches scurried inside. Giving one last look around, the stranger clambered in after them.

'It's very dark in here,' Amy noted. She couldn't see a thing other than the blue coming from her neck.

'They're just being paranoid, rightfully so though. Guys, bring up the lights! It's me!'

The lights flickered on slowly, but when they were all on the place was well lit. Amy breathed a gasp of surprise and Patches grip tightened on her when they were surrounded by over twenty people, many cat-kind but other species in the mix, most Amy didn't recognise.

A brown paw was extended in front of them.

'I'm Trig, and we,' he gestured to the group, 'are The Strays.'

Notes: Oh, this chapter is pretty lame. Especially the ending. But whatever! I hope you are enjoying. I'm not getting many reviews but a lot of views compared to fics on my last account, and I'm wondering if it's because I'm not begging for reviews like I used to. Well, just wanted to let you know, I love constructive critisism or would like to hear what you think about the story! Though I feel like my writing style has improved even since I've moved on, constructive crit still couldn't hurt. I'd love to hear from you guys!