Chapter 21

The field had been closed off. It was the first time since Callidus opened that there had been such a disturbance. The area beneath the field was unreachable and no fight was going on. People were upset in the stands, screaming about the games being rigged and what would happen to their bets.

'The Ogron better have won. He was one blow away from destroying her, I better get my money!'

'Will the human still be put up for bid?'

'I hope the police do not show up!'

The man in charge of the games didn't mind what was going on. He was convinced the Time Lord and human were dead. She may have been either electrocuted or crushed by the arena, but surely she was dead. And if was anywhere near her, he was too.

But his business partner cared what was happening. If they didn't get things sorted out soon, the audience would begin to riot. He knew all to well that somewhere in the stands was his daughter, danger now too close to her for his liking.

What he didn't know was this particular girl was happy to see the human escape. She wasn't sure where she'd gone to, but the little Versutian was gleeful at the chance she was still alive.

The whole arena was bustling with noise and movement, until something began to materialise onto the field. It was a time and space machine, but most of the onlookers didn't know that. They only became quiet out of curiosity.

Out stepped the Doctor, casually walking out of the TARDIS in his tweed and bow tie as though he were an expected celebrity. To add to the rockstar look, there was a small microphone attached to his head.

'Hello everyone!' the Doctor shouted into the mouth piece, his voice echoing through the arena's speakers. 'I'm the Doctor, level nine intelligence if anyone is interested, but the point I'm trying to make is that that doesn't matter so pretend I never said anything. Are you all having a nice time at the games, eh? Well, if you answered yes to that I'm here to tell you one thing: you shouldn't be.'

The Doctor paused, allowing for some intrigued conversation to quietly shift through the crowd. He started up again, his voice booming.

'You are Versutians! A species capable of such high intellect you can build machines to see the stars when you're still children and go to the other end of the galaxy when you're an adult. You have such potential. And what are you doing with it? You force "lower species" to fight for your entertainment. Do you know what I say to that? Shame on you all! If you think you are better than a species, help it to rise up! Don't squander their own potential.'

The Doctor tapped on his TARDIS, and Rheia came out, her stigorax Luna hot at her heels. The Doctor nodded encouragingly to her, and with a gulp, she stepped forward.

'My name is Rheia Seeds and I work for the Doctrina Biological Facility. I have run tests on many of the species that I know you see in these games. But we are not cruel. You abuse these creatures for sport and it is not right! You have pets, companions, in your homes and then you come to see this? I would hate to see my companion here.' She leant down, rubbing Luna affectionately on the head. 'And I am guessing you would not want to see your own pets here either.'

'I can guarantee that everyone here has someone that cares about them and if you can think of one person you wouldn't like to see in these games, you may just want to re-evaluate your thought to being here,' said the Doctor.

The stands were filled with a collective mumbling. When a slow clapping filled the air, the crowd went silent. Luna growled.

'Very nice, Doctor,' said Virgil as he walked onto the field, flanked by Dash and Lycan. 'A good attempt, I applaud you! Your words are quite valiant. But that is all they are: words. You cannot change the mind of a race of people with a few words.'

The Doctor held his hands up in defeat. 'No harm in trying. But you're right, it's nearly impossible to change peoples' minds with just talking. As they say, actions speak louder than words.'

At that moment, every entrance to the field was flooded with creatures. Cat-kind, Tivolian, Ood... Hundreds of speakies that were being held just below them ran out towards the centre where the TARDIS was, creating a mob just behind it.

In the front of the group was Trig, jogging up to the Doctor as he waved the sonic screwdriver madly in the air before plopping it into the Doctor's open palm.

'Woo-hoo! That thing is amazing. It unlocked every cell and took off the collars! I only did the speakies though, letting out the others right now would probably end in a blood bath. But still, I have got to get me one of those!'

The Doctor smiled smugly at Virgil, who looked rather stunned at the appearance of the creatures. Dash and Lycan were equally as shocked, but Virgil was the only one to recover his composure.

'This is quite an inconvenience you've caused me,' said Virgil. 'But I do not really see the "actions" you were boasting of.'

'The action is in their very being. If you've seen them before they were crushed souls, now they have one ounce of freedom and I believe you can easily see the difference. I hope you all can!' The Doctors voice rang through the speakers.

The TARDIS doors then opened with their usual creakiness. Amy and Patches emerged, closely followed by a Judoon in a uniform black space suit.

'Or of course, you could just listen to Rhino-face here,' Amy said as she poked a thumb towards the Judoon.

'Virgil Callidus,' he said in a rough Judoon voice, 'you have been accused of creating organised underground fights including species of level three intelligence and above. According to the Shadow Proclamation, clause 2923, you are under arrest. Your upper atmosphere is surrounded with backup.'

'Aha! See, these big boys aren't like your police!' said the Doctor, patting the Judoon on the shoulder and earning a glare. He quickly recoiled and flashed a sheepish grin. 'They actually follow the rules. In fact, they're a bit obsessed. Went to some extremes in the past I wasn't too fond of, but for now we see eye to eye! So if you want to make it out of this alive, I suggest you call it quits and go with them.'

Virgil chuckled. 'Oh Doctor, I am not going anywhere.'

The Judoon automatically raised his gun at this, but Dash already had his out and fired. The rhino-man crashed to the ground with a loud thud and slumped over.

'What have you done?' screamed the Doctor as he inspected the Judoon. He was dead.

The creatures behind the TARDIS began getting restless. Some were nervous but most were angry.

'I know we stress intelligence quite often, but that is not only what Callidus is about,' said Virgil. He waved his hands forward and a group of gun toting Versutians came onto the field.

'It is also about strength, and those who have both will always be the victor.'

The Versutians charged straight past Virgil and towards the creatures behind the TARDIS. The Doctor braced himself for a blow from an approaching Versutian when Trig pounced onto the assailant. He ripped away the gun, beginning to chew apart the Versutian's clothes. The Doctor saw another taken down by Luna, and soon everyone was involved in the fight.

'No. No! Everyone stop fighting! We are supposed to be making peace for everybody!' shouted the Doctor, as he walked towards the battling creatures. He shouted over them, but they didn't pay him any mind.

Amy had backed up into the TARDIS, Patches holding her hand next to her. When she looked at the exit to the field, she saw Virgil running toward it, nearly there.

'Oh no you don't...' she mumbled.

'Amy?'

'You stay here, Patches. Go in the TARDIS, where it's safe.'

She sprinted after the Versutian as quick as she could. When she was off the field, her eyes glanced in both directions before catching a glimpse of his red suit and a wisp of blonde hair. By the time she caught up with him, he was getting into a small vehicle.

'You coward!' she shouted. He turned his head with a start, but seeing who it was, he smiled calmly.

'Human! Come to see me off?' he asked, coming out of the vehicle and stepping towards her.

Amy scowled. 'You sent all those people out there to fight just so you could get away?'

'Of course. I am rich dear, that is what I do.'

'Even if you do get away you broke the law. They'll be after you.'

'It will quiet down soon enough. I am sure they can be persuaded to forget about this little mishap, people always are.' He took another step in her direction. 'And when they do, I will come back, and things will be just the way they were before. Even if I did decide to retire, nothing would change. You lower species would still be the menials of the planet and we would find some way to make entertainment out of you.'

With great speed, Virgil lunged at Amy, wrapping her into a bear hug so that her arms were pinned at her sides.

'Let go of me!'

'Not quite yet. Having you in my craft may not stop the Judoon, but it will certainly slow down your Doctor!' Virgil began hauling her backwards towards his ship, and despite her struggling, he did it with ease. 'You see? The highest of beings have strength and intelligence. You poor thing, you barely have either.'

He awkwardly reached his hand out to open the door, leaving one of Amy's arms free. She seized the advantage and slammed her collar she'd been secretly clutching onto his neck, prancing out of his grip when he was distracted.

'Or maybe you're not quite as clever as you think.' Amy held up a small remote and Virgil immediately began patting down his sides to look for the item just previously in his pocket. 'I mean, being tricked by a level four twice? You may want to get yourself intelligence tested.'

'Give that to me!' he shouted.

'Sure! As soon as you turn yourself in, and tell everyone the games are off. For good.' She held out a microphone, similar to the Doctor's that he had given her.

'You idiot girl! If you think I am going to go to prison, just like that , you are out of your mind!'

Virgil was interrupted by his own screams as Amy delicately pressed her hand to the remote. She had only done it for a few seconds before he put his hands up in surrender.

'Alright, alright! Give it to me.'

She tossed the mic to him, not wanting to get too close. He caught it in between his palms and quickly switched it on.

'Hello,' his voice rang unenthusiastically through the building. 'The Callidus Games are over. Everyone go home.'

He turned it off and threw it back to Amy. 'No, no! Not like that!' She tossed it back to him.

'I did what you said.'

'No you didn't.'

'I do not know what else you want me to say.'

'You have to say who you are!' Amy said with frustration. 'The creator of the games. And that it's over for good.'

She tossed it back to him for a final time, as each time they spoke they would throw it back to the other. He now held it in his hand, and Amy saw that it was shaking with anger. She thought he may break it, so she held the remote up again to remind him what the stakes were.

'This is the creator of Callidus...' He glanced at Amy, who was giving him directions in the way of mouthing. 'Virgil Callidus. This will be the last night of the games. I am turning myself in to the Shadow Proclamation.'

In the arena, the fighting had stopped to listen to the announcement that was loudly broadcasting. When it had stopped, everyone looked at each other momentarily. The Doctor quickly deduced what was going through their minds. The Versutians were of course under employment of Virgil, and would have no desire to quarrel further with the creatures. But on the other hand, most of the speakies locked beneath the arena were probably jonesing for Versutian blood. They were about to continue when a huge silver spaceship broke into the atmosphere.

'Attention!' rang a voice, obviously Judoon, through the arena speakers which they were using to broadcast. 'All fighting will cease until we reprimand the creator of the Callidus Games and anyone who has participated in them to face the justice of the Shadow Proclamation. Spectators will not be persecuted. Anyone standing in the way of the investigation will be brought to justice.'

As soon as the their message ended, Judoons were appearing everywhere on the field by way of teleport. Everyone stood at a standstill as the men began to search the arena.

'You hear that?' said Amy. 'No escape now. All we have to do is wait here for you to be picked up.'

Virgil ignored her statement. 'Do you know what amuses me the most about you, human?' He spat the last word like he wanted to get the taste of the name off his tongue. When Amy didn't answer, he continued. 'You protest the lower species being sought over for entertainment purposes when that is, in fact, all that you are.'

'What?'

'You are the Time Lord's companion! His pet. Do you not see it? He keeps you around for his own amusement. To look impressed when he does something your mind would think of as clever, which would be of course be quite often. You are there so he has a convenient hand to help him, while not being better than him. It is exactly what many people do here!'

'He knows we're equals. He cares for me!'

'Rheia Seeds loves her stigorax. It does not mean she finds the thing her equal. You are nothing more to the Doctor than a pretty, simple minded-'

'Stop it.'

'-easy-to-keep, animal.'

'Shut up!' she shouted, and before Amy even realised what she was doing, her finger was on the remote again.

And she wasn't letting go. Amy watched as the grey man fell to the ground, writhing with the same pain she'd experienced at his hand. It gave her a great feeling of fulfilment. The thought even crossed her mind to not let go until he'd stopped breathing. He had tried to to do it to her. But she soon noticed the man was smiling, as though it all was some strange, cruel joke.

Her eyes widened with realisation. He wanted her to get upset. He wanted her to kill him. Maybe it was a better option than letting the Shadow Proclamation get a hold of him.

Her finger immediately let up on the button and he let himself crash on his stomach on the ground. His raged breathing blew strands of long blonde hair that sprawled out in front of the smile on his face as he looked past her.

'A-Amy?'

She whipped around to see her small feline friend cowering in the corner of the room, as if he'd just seen a monster. Standing next to him, with a disconcerting mix of disappointment and expectance on his face, was the Doctor.