People cheered and gasped as Valhalla's lights all came back on. Sean took the moment to compose himself, pushing down his fears and pain. Lifting his head, he looked into Mark's eyes, telling him far more confident than he felt. "So, what do I have to do?" Damodar piped up in a smooth voice that drew everyone's attention again. "I think he should be taken to Valhalla square. Test him where all can see, and no one can tamper with the... results." Mark straightened himself up, defensively stating aloud. "You think that I would tamper with the results? I'm an Elite-!" Damodar quickly raised his hand in a calm manner, interjecting louder than Mark to cut him off. "An Elite with some strong emotions for this Pet. You claim that you can control yourself... Yet, here you are getting so flustered by my accusations of his character. You might want to watch yourself." Mark's jaw clenched before he moved closer to Damodar. Glaring at each other, Mark calmly told him in a polite clear voice. "I am concerned for his safety. Valhalla laws have been slipping and bending under Elite Matthias. I'm not sure that as his Master, he'll be treated with the same curtsy as other Pets would. This I will not allow."

Damodar took a long pause, causing people to whisper nervously amongst themselves. They fell silent though as Damodar suddenly told him. "Answer your phone." Mark's earpiece began to ring in his pocket again. Glaring at Damodar one last time, Mark pulled the earpiece out and slipped it into his ear. Everyone strained to listen, but even Sean heard nothing. So, everyone just hung onto Mark's every word. "Hello, Mother." Sean held his breath, watching Mark stand in silence. Mark was as silent as the grave, listening to whatever Mother was telling him without expression. Taking a deep breath, Mark told the earpiece after a long pause. "I understand. I'll agree to it... but I want Elite Matthew to gather the results." Sean stood as still as everyone else, watching and waiting. Lifting his chin, Mark told Mother confidently. "Alright. Have Elite Matthias get the square ready... We'll be there in an hour." Without another word, Mark removed the earpiece.

All around them people began to murmur and call people. Sean guessed they wanted front row seats to his fate. While they found it amusing, he was struggling to process what would happen to him. Mark started to walk back to Sean, when Damodar announced with a chuckle to the crowd. "Guess we've got an hour to enjoy the Mutt's going away party!" A few people chuckled, until Mark turned to look at them. They bowed their heads quickly, shrinking back as he approached them. Damodar noticed their retreat and turned to face Mark. People watched with shocked faces. Had Mark ever confronted people in person? Mark reached out, carefully pulling Damodar's monocle off his face. Laying the monocle on the palm of his hand, Mark told Damodar in a dark lifeless voice. "I think power of free speech has gone to your head, Damodar... You think you can just say anything? There is a difference between stating fact and deliberately going out of your way to hurt someone." Damodar straightened his jacket, smugly retorting. "I don't know what you mean. Free speech allows me-" The crowd gasped as Mark's eyes turned a blazing white.

Mark's voice was still eerily calm as he told him in the same dark lifeless voice, but the pitch had dropped into a deeper tone when he cut him off to say bluntly. "It allows you to counter my statements with reasons and facts pertaining to the subject matter. In some cases, your personal opinion is even accepted. But it DOESN'T give you the right to run your mouth off like that. Statements like that make me think that you think you've grown untouchable. A motormouthed bully. In the past... That was a crime." Mark's fingers curled around the monocle, crushing it with a sickening snap and crackling of glass. Staring down Damodar, Mark growled out through his teeth. "I warned you. As of this moment. Your station's funding is cut. You can tell your boss it was because you didn't know when to shut your mouth." Mark turned his hand over, letting the crushed monocle dust fall from his hand. Mark's eyes turned back to normal as he looked across the crowd to point at a young short rabbit woman. The woman shrank as people moved away from her. The rabbit woman shook on her fuzzy feet, hugging a notebook to her flat chest.

Giving her a warm smile, he sweetly told her. "Congratulations. Karat Clock News is now the number one news station in Valhalla. You'll be covering the results tonight." The rabbit woman's ears perked up a little. Sean noticed that out of all the press he saw, she was the only one writing everything by hand. Damodar stomped his foot, snapping out. "You can't-!" Mark whirled around to face him, and everyone bolted from around Damodar. Mark flashed him the brightest smile, smugly answering. "I just did. What do you plan to do? Hit me?" Damodar turned his glare to the rabbit woman, causing Mark to growl out. "Don't look at her. I'M talking to YOU." Damodar reluctantly looked at Mark, who told him in a cool tone of voice. "What's wrong? Can't take what you dish out? I guess next time you'll know when to keep your mouth shut. Now won't you?" Damodar nodded subtly and Mark stepped back from him. Sean shivered watching Mark approach him. Mark was far scarier than he had ever thought. He could see why people were afraid of him.

Mark extended a hand out to him and Sean took it with internal hesitation. He'd seen that hand crush a monocle to dust! As Sean's hand slid over his palm, Sean bit his lip. Mark's palm was bleeding. Mark pulled him close to his side, telling everyone in a cheery voice. "We're celebrating! Let's enjoy ourselves!" The people of the crowd cheered, rushing back to enjoy the sights and drink. A few reporters kept asking questions, but Mark ignored all except the rabbit woman. Upon passing her, he told her nicely. "I've always liked your channel better anyway." She blushed a deep red, bowing so low that her long ears flopped forward enough to show the tiny pink bows at the base of her ears. Unable to resist, Sean reached out to touch her long silky ear. She covered her face with her notebook to hide her blush with a cute squeak. Mark swatted Sean's hand off her, stating out in playful shock. "What the-? Hey! Don't touch!" The crowd giggled and laughed as Mark pulled Sean closer, apologizing to her.

Sitting up, she peeked between her floppy ears, shyly uttering out. "It's ok. Happens a lot." Sean looked at his hand, telling Mark perplexed. "Her ears are so soft, Mark." The crowd laughed more, and Mark dragged him away, mumbling out with a grin. "You can't just reach out and touch people. That's weird." Sean chuckled, telling him a bit louder over the music that was starting to grow louder from on the beach. "I couldn't help it! I got curious." Mark led him off the stone steps and onto the sand of the beach. Sean immediately became enraptured by the sand. Bending down to touch it and run his hand through it. People were taking thousands of pictures of them, but Mark didn't care. Taking him farther down the beach, the Valkyries moved to set up a boundary to keep the reporters back. Removing his shoes, Sean slipped his feet into the warm sand. The feeling brought a smile to his face. Glancing up at Mark, his smile fell a bit as he asked him in a low voice. "Mark... What he said... about everything." Mark moved to stare out at the ocean, reluctantly telling him. "I'm sure you have a lot of questions... but I only have an hour to spend with you. After that... I don't know."

Sean hugged himself, before telling Mark sweetly. "To be honest... I'm more scared about what will happen to you than myself. These people... They could turn on you so easily for loving someone like me..." Mark slowly turned to face him with a small sigh, telling him nicely. "They'll always be looking for my flaws. The truth is that... Mother made my brothers because people started calling me a tyrant. I have money and power. That will always scare them. I'll never make everyone happy and when things go wrong... I will always be the one that takes the fall. I came to terms with that years ago." Mark looked down at his bleeding palm, adding out in a distant voice. "I don't know what Mother is planning to do... but you need to be careful. I don't know what she's really capable of anymore." Sean shrugged, saying firmly. "You know her better than anyone. You are her weakness. She can't run without you, right?" Mark glanced at the crowd. They were a good distance away to not overhear them.

Looking back to him, Mark told him with worry in his voice. "Sean, I only know what Mother has told me. She's told me that I'm the only one that can hear her... But she slipped up recently. I've been around a lot of A.I.s but none of them have ever showed as much emotion as Amy has... I thought it was because Mother used the data she had on Amy to make her perfect for me. But no. She made her version of her to get closer to me." Sean stepped closer, asking curiously. "I don't understand why this is important..." Mark looked up from his hands to say in a serious tone of voice. "Mother is Amy. You could hear Amy talking. You've talked directly to her. Something no one except myself has ever done." Sean swallowed, turning away slightly to say a bit rattled. "Oh... Then that means..." Mark finished for him as he drifted off. "It means she's been playing with me. I've been trying to piece it all together... and only one thing comes to mind. I don't think she's been raising me to be just a ruler of Valhalla. She's been preparing for something else."

Sean shrugged, gasping out. "What could she possibly want with you?" Mark placed a hand on his shoulder, answering nervously. "She's in love with me. And what scares me is that I think Mother is holding an ace up her sleeve. Worst of all... I don't think this is her first time playing it." Sean thought for a long moment, before mumbling out under his breath. "What do you mean?" Mark huffed, gesturing back toward the crowd as he said dryly. "Damodar actually gave me the idea. See... Mother pushed me to get a Pet. I got Amy. I was... falling in love with her. The day of the accident... I was going to announce the abolishment of the law forbidding Masters and Pets to be together. It was the whole reason that they were at war with us in the first place... One of their kids was taken and thrown into the Slums. They claimed we had no right to judge interspecies kids like that. They demanded the kid to take back to their world. Mother and I butted heads about it. Amy convinced me that it was fair. It was the first time that I took Amy's side."

Mark licked his lips, adding coolly. "Mother recently told me that my parents were on the ship. She said she sent them there to see me..." Sean stayed quiet, watching Mark's body tense as he told him. "You know before the party that day... one of my Valkyrie guards tried to convince me to go to my room for something important. I didn't think about it... After she died, Mother worked hard to 'bring the woman I loved' back. Spent years doing everything Amy did and more... some might say... the perfect wife. Then she starts pushing me to get a Pet again... and I got you." Sean let it sink in, before adding on his own. "You think she set all this up to get rid of me like Amy and your parents?" Mark nodded, moving to take a seat in the sand as he said coolly. "Ya. Think about it. Every time someone gets close to me... things conveniently happen. Every Pet I've ever had has died from 'loneliness.' But you... She liked you. And I think it was because she thought you'd run. And then it became about something else... I just don't know what."

Sean sank to all fours in front of Mark, telling him seriously. "Well, I'm not scared of her. And she can't kill me with neglect... I grew up in the heart of hell. I can weather any storm she throws at me." Mark smirked, spreading his legs a bit to look at him better as he purred out. "Is that right?" Sean crawled slowly up between Mark's legs, purring back to him with rich confidence. "I didn't get nicknamed the Green Dragon for nothing." Mark raised an eyebrow, smirking as he asked casually. "And how did you get such a nickname?" Sean braced his hands on either side of Mark's hips, leaning in closer to his whisper over his lips lovingly. "Because I never back down from a fight. Every time I'm knocked down... I get back up a little bit stronger and wiser. As you say... I crawled my way through the mud to see the sun. Nothing stands in my way." Mark brushed his lips lightly across Sean's, smiling as he whispered back. "Did I say that?" Sean shrugged, blushing as he admitted. "It was something like that... The point is that I'm a fighter. A survivor. And I'm gonna fight for you."

Mark cupped Sean's face, bringing him over him more to kiss him. Sean laid over Mark's chest, savoring the deep passion of the kiss. The longer the kiss went on for, the more Sean's heart swelled until he felt stronger. When the kiss ended, Mark whispered to him in a powerful deep voice. "What a wild thing you are. I'm supposed to be saving you, you know." Sean rolled his eyes, leaning in for another kiss as he told him. "We're both prisoners of this social order. But they only win if you let them cage your spirit." They shared another kiss, until Mark's watch started to go off. Their hour was up. The hour had gone by so fast that Sean felt cheated. It wasn't enough. He wanted more. Reluctantly they got up, heading back to the stairs. Sean stopped to put his shoes back on, causing Mark to stop and help him. Putting a hand on Mark's shoulder, Sean lifted his foot. People took endless pictures. Even as Mark noticed the rip down Sean's leather pants. The outside of Sean's thigh was scraped up and covered in light beads of dried blood from the incident at the track.

He'd barely had time to think about it, until Mark's hand caressed his thigh lovingly. Sean closed his eyes, feeling the way Mark kissed his thigh. Straightening back up, Mark took his hand and guided him up the steps to the bike that a Valkyrie was holding for him. Swinging his leg over, Mark turned on the bike. Sean swung over behind him, wrapping his arms tightly around his waist. Without waiting, Mark took off back through the opening gates and back into Valhalla. Sean's arms only tightened around Mark. The closer they got, the more nervous he became. Closing his eyes, he tried to calm himself by imagining Mark fleeing Valhalla with him. The rustling of the wind a comfort rather than a dread to a fast-approaching fate. Pulling up to the curb of a large town square, Sean lifted his head to see the stage and crowd of people gathered all around. Sean was shaking now as he watched a group of white Valkyries part the crowd with their golden metal wings.

Sean looked to Mark's golden Valkyries with white metal wings that had followed him. Mother had made her own Valkyries. Had she known that Mark might take back control of the others? Mark got off the bike, walking toward the stage where a hologram of Mother stood with Matthias and a weird looking machine. Sean didn't like this. Something was wrong. He could feel it. The crowd of people looked anxious. Mark stopped halfway to the stage, asking Mother curiously. "What's going on? Where is Matthew?" Matthias flashed him a grin, then nodded to someone over his shoulder. From behind the stage, a white Valkyrie had Matthew in his arms. Matthew thrashed and struggled, until the Valkyrie released him. Landing across the stage, Matthew lifted a piece of paper in his hand and yelled out. "SEAN, RUN!" Behind Sean, Mark's Valkyries began to glitch before falling to their knees and going offline. Mark scowled at his Mother, starting to run back toward Sean. Sean waited for Mark, when Matthew screamed out to him. "MARK, NO!"

From the crowd, Al leapt out to tackle Mark just before he reached Sean. Al hit Mark's activate forcefield, letting out a sharp scream before hitting the ground. Mark skidded to a sudden stop. Sean gasped as they locked eyes. This was what Mother wanted. Mark's forcefield didn't work outside the walls... but inside... Mark couldn't touch him. Staring at him, Mark yelled out. "RUN!" Sean shook his head, watching as Matthias raised a tranquilizer gun and fired a shot that Mother let enter the forcefield. The shot hit Mark, bringing him to his knees. Sean screamed, sliding into the seat of the bike reluctantly. He didn't want to leave, but he couldn't stay. Another shot went off, hitting Sean in the neck with enough force to knock him off the bike. Landing on the pavement beside the bike, Sean felt the drug start to kick in fast. The world was stretching and tilting all around him. Colors were blurring and mixing to awkward shades. From the stage, he heard Matthias call out to the crowd. "You can't argue with the results. You all saw for yourselves. He has got the genes."

A group of Valkyries moved in to cuff his hands and ankles. Lifting him over the shoulder of one, Sean screamed out Mark's name. In the background, he barely heard Matthew yell out. "Matthias! THAT'S NOT THE WHOLE TRUTH! Let them go!" A Valkyrie muzzled Sean to keep him from yelling anymore as Matthias backhanded Matthew to the ground. The last thing Sean saw before being dropped into the trunk of a car was Mark reaching out to him and calling out his name in groggy voice. To Be Continued...