The crowd cheered as Sean vanished into the dark tunnel. This was the Tech portion of the track. They were the only ones with headlights on their vehicles. However, Since Sean had hit his plasma charge, the flames coming off his back tires gave off enough light to allow him to see the ramps to avoid the mud pits. Leaning hard right, he raced up a ramp. The ramps were a speed bikes wet dream. They were the only thing that he knew that replenished plasma charges for speed bikes. As his tires rushed over the dim speed strip, he watched his Plasma charge refill as the bike launched off into the air. While airborne, Sean risked a quick glance toward the middle of the track. Al's truck was built for Impact and his track demo hadn't shown him where Al would have to go in here. To his surprise, Al's truck came with some improvements. Al's blazing headlights shined on the mud pit and his big tires expanded to shred through the mud like it was nothing! Those were traits of Tech vehicles, not Impact! Sean landed hard across the track, cursing out loudly. "Son of a bitch!"

Over the com-link, he heard Al chuckle out. "Feeling played, Sweetmeat? Did you not know that my Master builds most of these vehicles?" Sean adjusted on his bike to try keeping his lead. He had never seen a vehicle that have used parts from other types. It wasn't even possible! The parts never synched well together without stalling the engine. It shouldn't even be legal! Sean tried to stay focused, when his tires ran over a thin layer of water in the tunnel. Instantly, his flaming plasma charge died and left him in the dark. He could feel the water spraying up his back. The panic was setting in now. He wasn't told about the damn water in this part of the tunnel! Al chuckled on the com, causing Sean to look back in his visor to see the headlights bouncing up behind him. Taking a deep breath, Sean gritted his teeth and pulled to the far side as Al's headlights revealed the turn just ahead. Al stormed through the water, drifting across the center flawlessly and spraying icy water all over Sean.

Shivering from the icy water, Sean smirked and raced up behind Al. If he couldn't see, then he'd let Al light the way. Plus, Al's truck was parting the water and taking the full resistance of wind. Allowing his bike to work less as it drafted him around the next few sharp turns in the dark. As Al drifted into the turns, he let out a deep growl over the coms. Sean drifted right with him, uttering over the com-link with a chuckle of his own. "What's wrong, Al? Am I taking all the fun out of it for you?" Al flicked him off through the window of his truck, then muttered out over the com-link. "Enjoying the view?" Sean smugly blew him a kiss with a wicked grin. Al's snarl vibrated the com speaker. Sean chuckled to himself. Impact racers were always so short-tempered. He was counting on that to be his downfall. What he didn't count on... was Al being smart. On the next turn that fell into a spiral spin of sharp turns, Al yanked up his brake, causing his truck to turn around and face him!

The hood popped up and Sean uttered out a loud frightened curse as his bike slid sideways in the water and right toward the hood! Sean quickly raised a leg to brace on the hood of the truck, desperately trying to keep his bike from sliding directly in. He was thankful that this bike was lighter than his other one, or the weight would have been an issue. Over the com-link, Al purred out to him in a deep hungry voice. "Don't fight it, Sweetmeat. It will only make it hurt more." Sean huffed over the com-link, shouting out slightly distressed. "Ya? Fuck you!" Al laughed, sweetly cooing out. "Oh, don't be such a bitch. I bet you'd like it if you tried it." Sean couldn't answer, his leg was starting to shake too much from the pressure. Al pumped his brake and gas, causing Sean to yelp as his leg was forced off the hood! His bike rapidly skidded to the mouth of the hood, the back-tire slamming into the far headlight as his drift started to send him out wide. Al cursed, yanking on his brake again to straighten himself back out as the last turn approached in the spiral.

Back in the office, Mark sat in his booth typing away on forms. He had events to plan and things to budget out for the Expo tomorrow. Making sure that certain diplomatic Pets were put in bigger showcases. While verifying that everything was going as scheduled. He had just finished writing out all the catering opinions to the Expo kitchen, when one of his monitors started to beep with an incoming call. Sending the catering menu, Mark touched the button and droned out. "Hello, Frank. Did you figure out how to fix the Mixer model yet?" On the screen, Frank's face came into view. He was a scruffy looking man in overalls that showed off his large arm muscles in a white tank top. Frank huffed grimly but told him lightly. "Sadly no. I can't get the speed bikes to accept a mixer function. It's driving me crazy... It's my own damn design and I just can't-" Mark rolled his eyes, continuing to type out the confirmations lists as he droned out. "Frank, why are you calling me if you have nothing to report? Can't you see that I'm in the middle-" Frank cut him off to bluntly state out. "Did you leave your Mutt at the Pet Center?"

Mark stopped typing to finally look at Frank. Frank's eyes looked hurt, telling him with worry. "The link went live four minutes ago. I've got sponsors RIDING MY ASS! You need to fix this! If Al loses to your fucking Mutt... My shop if going to tank in profits and Al will lose his mate at the Expo! I've waited sixteen years to breed him! Don't do this to me! You know how hard it was to get that female to this planet!" Mark swiped his hand across the middle screen to clear it of information before bringing up the Pet Center feed. Mark listened to Frank, reassuring him calmly. "Frank, take a breath. I'm bringing it up now." Frank shook his head, anxiously retorting. "If that mixer loses to a fucking generic speed bike... I'm ruined... I told you that we should have held off on releasing the Mixer vehicle until the fucking speed prototype was finished! The Impact/Tech Mixer was NEVER designed for one on one races! Al has already chewed through his Tech plasma charge... He only has his Impact one left... If he doesn't get that bike for the speed charge... He'll lose him!"

Mark raised a hand to silence Frank, before watching Sean speed through the Impact and Tech racers part of the tunnel. It was a long stretch of well-lit but rocky uphill gravel. Trucks built like Al's were king on this kind of road. Barreling through it like savage monster trucks. The track was supposed to give Impact and Tech racers a chance at a lead before the speed racers got their chance. However, as he watched Sean for the first time... he realized Sean wasn't like any normal racer. He was impressive in his strategies. The fact remained though... If Sean won this race, he'd ruin Al's chance at repopulating his homeland and Frank wouldn't be able to use his connections to get the parts for Sean's bike. If Sean was racing on a bike built by Frank's shop this wouldn't have been an issue... but he was racing on a bike built by his rival company. A generic rival bike too. Which only made this whole thing sting a bit more. If Sean won on that thing... the other company would demand that he changed vehicle companies. In the long run, Frank had better quality and pricing than THAT off-world brand. Groaning, Mark quickly hacked into the Pet Track system. He hated doing this, but he didn't have a chose. He wouldn't let Sean fuck with his companies.

In the tunnel, Al adjusted his truck and slammed the lid down to take off toward a rocky incline. Sean quickly yanked his bike up at the end off the spiral, flooring it toward the wall just to get himself upright again. His bike would drag ass on this gravel incline. His engine wasn't made for the power that this required, and bikes rarely worked on gravel. This had to be designed for four-wheeled vehicles. He was just reaching the incline, when in his visor he saw a thin speed strip on the wall. Sean smirked to himself, flooring it toward the wall. Just as his front tire hit the wall, Sean ignited a plasma charge. His tires whirled to life with red flames and allowed him to dash up the wall over the gravel track. From the center of his tires, a set of gravity magnets extended on their own to keep the bike hugging the smooth wall as he raced up the incline. The hardest part of this was just keeping his own ass in the seat. Squeezing his thighs to the frame, he practically hugged the tank as the incline grew steeper for him.

His orientation became increasing hard to tell as their tracks seemed to spiral around each other straight up and then curl gradually to the side. Over the com-link, Al chuckled out with fascination. "Impressive, Sweetmeat! I didn't know that was there... but can you hang on to that bike for this straightaway?" Through the visor, Sean saw that while the gravel road turned to a straightaway of hilly dirt track... His would put him upside down! Sean clenched his jaw and tightened his grip. He was not going to risk switching tracks. His path twisted him to the ceiling until Sean hand to resort to hooking his feet under the pegs of his bike. His muscles burned from clinging to the bike so hard, but he was just thankful he didn't have to worry about the bike falling over. The gravity magnets would keep the bike upright... but steering was a fucking NIGHTMARE! Unable to contain himself, he let out an increasing yell as his muscles threatened to release the bike. He didn't have the strength for this! Al laughed over the com-link, telling him playfully. "Let go! I'll catch you... with MY TEETH!"

Sean's foot slipped on the peg, causing his heart to leap from his chest. The incident shifted his handlebars off course just as he was ramped off the ledge. The gravity magnets rapidly adjusted to bring him to the floor of the next area... but his bike was no longer centered. As his bike landed, the left magnets hit the metal floor at an awkward angle and broke off. Sean yelped as sparks flared up over his bike as it slid sideways along the metal track. The sparks bounced off the arms of his leather jacket, before he could shift his weight to the opposite peg to get the bike back up. Once he was upright again, the magnets on the right folded back into the wheel well and he focused on dodging the hologram pillars that began to appear. He barely missed the first two, because his bike was off balance now. He had to sit on the left side to counterbalance the loss of those stupid left magnets. A thundering roar blared through the tunnel as Al hit his plasma charge. Sean glanced back, nearly swallowing his tongue.

Al's truck was blasting through the holograms like a massive beast and gaining on him FAST! The hood of his truck chomped and smoked like a menacing predator. He was coming straight for him! Sean felt his body tremble with fear at the sight of it, before his rational thought snapped him out of it. He only had one plasma charge left. He had to make it count. Sean squeaked around pillars just as Al blasted through them. Al was on his ass and he couldn't shake him! Sean screamed as the heat from Al's vehicle puffed across his back. Sean revived his engine harder, but the speed gauge couldn't stay maxed. Dodging these pillars was eating up his speed! Over the com-link, Al asked him in a deep menacing voice. "How would you like to be eaten, Meat bag? Tenderized or minced?!" Sean was starting to panic. He was focusing so hard on dodging pillars that it had become a matter of life and death! Then ahead, he saw a turn coming up with just a few more pillars before daylight. He was almost there!

The straightaway would be his saving grace. He started to shift his weight to cut the turn sharp, when Al's bumper nudged his back tire. Sean screamed as his back tire shuddered sideways and then toppled the bike onto its side again. Sliding helplessly across the track, he watched Al extended the hood into a ramp. Sean thought about jumping off the bike, until Al turned his truck better to scoop him up. Al had been too aggressive though, and the ramp slammed into Sean's bike hard enough to push it closer to the far wall. They were just now rounding the turn to the straightaway and Sean exhaled with hope. If he could just break from Al, he could have a straight shot! Revving his engine, he saw a message on his visor read out 'Track found.' Sean glanced back to see his back tire was running against the wall as Al's truck pushed it around the outside edge. Grinning, Sean hit his last plasma charge and quickly engaged the hover wheels. The wheels locked sideways as they ignited, allowing the back tire to use the wall to speed him up faster than Al's truck! Al cursed loudly and Sean held his breath.

The second he ran out of tunnel wall, he switched out of his hover tires and gunning it. His tires squealed across the pavement as his speed gauge maxed out and took off out into the open air. Staying low to the bike, Sean kept his eyes on the finish line. It was so close he could taste it! This was by far the hardest race he had ever endured. He deserved this win! He was just a few feet from the finish line, when his visor began to flash with an error warning. It claimed to be due to an 'engine failure' and locked up both the forward and backward brakes for safety. Sean screamed in frustration as his bike squealed to a halt, sending grey smoke and the harsh scent of burning rubber into the air. His bike died inches from the finish line, allowing Al to steal the victory from him. The feeling was such a bitter defeat that he couldn't bare to breathe. Swinging his leg off the bike, his body shook violently from the muscle strain. Releasing the bike, he let it topple to the pavement as he fell to his knees. Throwing the visor glasses off his face, he let out a loud frustrated yell to get out the pent-up anger and adrenaline in his veins.

The crowd gasped and chatted loudly amongst themselves. While others cheered for Al. Sean couldn't move. He felt so cheated. Al walked over to him and Sean closed his eyes with reluctant defeat. Al kneeled down, placing a firm hand on his shoulder as he whispered into his ear in a deep purring voice. "Come with me." Sean shook his head, refusing to move. Al's warm breath puffed over his neck, telling him threateningly. "Deals a deal." Sean climbed to his feet, grumbling out darkly. "Fine!" Death felt better than the shame of that defeat anyway. Sean stormed his way through the crowd with Al right on his heels. Whenever someone tried to speak to him, Al snarled at them and they fled in fear. Everyone seemed to know what Al was going to do to him and they shot him pitiful or worried glances. Al led him to an elevator inside the building, pressing a button to take them up to the pool. Sean huddled himself in the corner, asking Al softly. "Will it be quick?" Al chuckled, not looking at him as he uttered out. "Hardly. I like to enjoy myself."

Sean adjusted his jacket to hide his growing reluctance. As the doors opened, Al's presence caused the Pets in the pool to scatter. Sean blinked and swallowed prominently. Al pushed him past the big lap pool to the smaller and more private ones behind a side door. Beyond the door was a large hallway with a cluster of interesting tropical designed circular pools. Some looked like jungle pools. Others were like hot springs. Al took him to a swampy looking one in the back. The thick trees acted as cover to separate the pools from each other, making everything seem a little too isolated. Sean rolled his shoulders with a more defined reluctance. Now that he was starting to think more clearly, he couldn't help thinking that he had made a drastic mistake in the heat of the moment. Watching Al undress, he told him nervously. "Look... I know I gave you my word but... Can I just buy you a big lunch and we call it even? I mean... You're not really going to kill me... right?" Al dug at something between his teeth with the talon of his index finger, before chuckling out darkly. "Who said I was going to kill you?" Sean gestured to the door, mumbling out confused. "Ricky said you-" Al moved closer, making Sean fall silent.

Al grinned wickedly, before telling him in a deep purr. "It is true that I have killed a few fuckers that got under my skin... but I'm on a diet. So, you're in the clear. Besides, It's hard to find good competitors." Sean stayed very still, trying to process this. When Al grabbed ahold of his jacket and started pushing it down his shoulders. Shuddering from the contact, Sean mumbled out a little relieved but shaken up. "So... when you said you'd 'eat me'... You meant...?" Al slid his nose over by Sean's ear, whispering sweetly enough to give Sean goosebumps. "I have this fetish for sweet ass. So, you let me lick your ass and our deal is settled. Or I can throw you into the water now and do it anyway. Which would you prefer?" Sean exhaled jaggedly. He couldn't fight Al's strength and size without suffering major injuries. Besides, Slum Dogs were bound by their words. Even if he had no intention of losing when he made the bet... He had still agreed to the terms. The only comfort was that at least this wasn't a death sentence like he had expected.  

Reluctantly pulling off his shirt, he told Al in a low honorable tone of voice. "As long as you're only licking me. No penetration. No other contact. And only for a minute." Al lifted his chin with a taloned finger, forcing him to look him in the eyes before hissing out lovingly. "Make it five minutes and we have a deal." Sean stared into Al's bright green and yellow eyes, seeing the seriousness in his features. Taking a deep jagged breath, Sean answered very softly. "Deal." Al nodded, backing away from him to point at the pool, upon telling him openly. "Get in and face the wall. Oh, and if anyone asks you why you're still alive later. Tell them I simply wasn't hungry." To Be Continued...