Games (BE short story)

Summary
Within a grey void, the Mandarin addresses an amorphous cloud of pure evil with the challenge of a game. The Entity becomes a shadowy copy of the Mandarin's form and asks what stakes they will play for. The Mandarin wishes to claim the Entity as his new toy and the Entity wishes the Mandarin's body to be his forever so that he can escape his prison. The Entity chooses the game, four dimensional chess, and as it progresses the Mandarin's position becomes poorer. Realising that he can't win, a new concept occurs to him and he changes his tactics leading the play to a stalemate. The Entity demands another game but the Mandarin tells them they are too evenly matched. As he departs the realm, the Mandarin thanks the Entity for an interesting game and teaching him that winning isn't everything after all.

Characters

 * The Mandarin (Celestial Toymaker)
 * The Entity (Fenric)

Continuity

 * The Mandarin says that in past times he was called a Toymaker. (The Doctor Who Reference Guide uses this to justify placing this after the events of TME: The Nightmare Fair.)
 * He sought out Aboo-Fenrán in Arabia but found that the Entity had already been imprisoned in the Shadow Dimensions. Aboo-Fenrán must have been in Arabia prior to his game with the Doctor in Turkey.