Looking over the knife briefly, Sean locked eyes with Mark. Mark smoothed out his clothes, telling him so calmly. "There is nowhere for you to run, Sean. I've already won. Your reign has reached its end." Sean shook his head, retorting sternly. "I don't believe you." Nathan burst in through the door behind him, panting out as he held his bleeding arm. "Sean! We have to go! The Nightmares are..." Nathan stopped talking as AntiSepticEye staggered up to his feet. Blood pouring from his neck and mouth. Sean held up his blade toward Anti but told Mark as he backed up toward Nathan. "This isn't over, Mark! I will save Wonderland! I'll save you!" Mark rolled his eyes, chuckling out smugly. "Neither of you are leaving my Casino. But keep dreaming, Sean. I need the pearls." Sean whirled around to run, and Anti leapt over the couch. Slamming the door before Anti made it out, Sean ran down the hallway with Nathan. While running, Sean asked Nathan perplexed. "What's happening?!" Nathan glanced around, pushing and tugging Sean down corridors. Panting, Nathan told him in a rush. "It's here! The Jabberwock! And... Someone else... I told you this was a trap!"

Sean huffed breathlessly, telling him a little lightly to brighten the fear trying to take him over. "When we get out, I'll buy you a drink. How's that?" Nathan chuckled just a little, before the hallway in front of them exploded. A door blew off the hinges and thick heated black smoke filled the hallway. People in the Casino screamed from the floors above and below. From the Darkness, a man dressed in a nice black suit with one red eye and one blue glared at them. Lifting his gun to aim at them, he started to pull the trigger, until Marvin suddenly jumped up from the black smoke as large purple cat with light purple tiger stripes. Hissing and clawing at the man, the man turned his pistol on the cat and fired, but the cat's body phased out. With a loud hiss, the cat swatted the man's face, causing him to fall backward. Nathan started to push Sean to another hallway, just as large eyes rose in the smoke from the far back of the hallway. Lightning burst forth behind them, causing another explosion as it ignited the powerlines in the walls. As they ran down this new hallway, Sean got a strong sense of Déjà vu. From the hallway that they came from, Anti and Phantom emerged giggling at the chaos around them. From the other hallway, the frustrated deep voice of the other man shouted out. "Don't let them escape."

Sean ran as fast as his legs could take him, when Nathan was suddenly sent flying into a dark hallway from something behind them. Sean stumbled across the floor in his attempt to look back, getting a full view of the man he knew as Phantom. Phantom leaned on his cane lazily, staring down at him with a smile as told him very softly. "I do so enjoy the fall of a monarch. I bet you felt so untouchable... until now." Sean was going to reply, until Nathan rushed out of the dark hallway covered in blood, yelling out to him frantically. "Find the mirror! GET OUT!" Phantom turned to look at Nathan, catching sight of Marvin in the last second from the corner of his eyes. Whirling around, Phantom hefted his cane to blast Marvin away from him. Marvin flew back but managed to land on his feet like a cat, before withdrawing his wand to shoot a spell back at him. While the two fought, Nathan grabbed Sean by the collar of his shirt to yank him upright. Then he shoved him forward to coax him into running. Sean staggered forward, but turned back to help Nathan, until he saw the faint haunting glow in the dark hallway behind Nathan. He felt the heavy vibrations of the Jabberwock's approach and his blood turned to ice.

Sean watched helplessly as the Jabberwock's tail struck out so fast to knock Nathan off his feet and into the wall beside Sean. Then the snake-like head of the Jabberwock slithered out of the shadows with buck toothed fangs and bulging glowing eyes. Sean could see the venom drip from the Jabberwock's fangs but jumped when its gangly long reptilian arm lashed out to grab Nathan's leg. Nathan screamed as he was dragged back into the hallway, but before vanishing into the shadows, Nathan yelled out to him. "Save Wonderland!" Forcing himself to get up, he heard Illinois call out to him from a hallway up ahead. "SEAN?!" Turning down the hallway, Sean called out desperately. "ILLINOIS!" Just after saying his name, a shadow darted up from the floor and slammed him against the wall by his throat. Sean stared into the glowing green eyes within the shadow, before hearing his distorted laugh. Anti's body glitched in to replace the shadows, his laughter dying down as his glitchy distorted voice told him sternly. "Give me the blade! NOW!" Sean coughed, his eyes glancing down at the blade that he'd dropped when he was grabbed. Anti's eyes followed his to the Blade, before grinning.

From the end of the hallway, Illinois spotted them and called out in shock. "Sean?!" Anti released Sean, glitching to the blade. Sean coughed, trying to crawl toward it as he strained out. "Anti, No...!" Anti picked up the blade, the steel glinting in the light. Holding it up to his eyes, he looked over the detailing on the blade with a smirk, then grabbed it and seared off the detailing. Without the detailing, it just looked like a regular knife. Sean's heart raced, when Anti crouched and touched the flat of the blade to Sean's neck. Sean froze so still that he stopped breathing. One good deep cut was enough to decapitate an enemy. He'd barely sliced Anti's throat and nearly took his head off... but unlike Anti, he doubted he'd survive even a cut from the Vorpal Blade. Staring him down, Anti leaned in to whisper to him. "When the time comes... I will kill you... but not because I was ordered too. Understand, Sean? Go. Live. So, I can kill you on my terms." Sean watched him removed the knife away from his neck, gesturing with it for him to go. Sean stared into his eyes, starting to say nicely. "Anti... We don't have to fight. You're fam-" Anti cut him off by suddenly rising to his feet and looking down the hallway.

Farther down the hallway, the man in the suit stood glaring at Anti as he said in a deep menacing tone. "Anti...? What are you doing? Kill him." Anti shrugged, stating out in a rather bored tone. "Why? He's not even a threat... I'm rather bored to be honest." The man stomped toward them and Sean quickly crawled away told Illinois. Anti stood his ground, locking eyes with the man as the man growled back at him. "You have your orders!" Anti faced the man, tapping the flat of the blade against his leg as he told the man in a threatening sneer. "Ya... That doesn't work for me. I like getting my hands dirty... but not because I'm ORDERED to. Don't you feel the same? Even a little?" The man thought about it a minute, then turned to glance back at Natemare and Phantom. When he looked back at Anti, he snorted out in a low voice. "It may have crossed my mind." Illinois helped Sean up and rushed him away before they changed their minds. Leading him through the Casino of frantic and screaming patrons, Illinois guided him to a passage hidden cleverly inside a wall statue of a card soldier with a mirror body. Following the passage, they came out into a dungeon office space that had the large silvery mirror in a glamorous frame of gold with jewels in the shapes of the house of cards and chess pieces.

Sean stopped short as Illinois rushed to the mirror and opened a small glass box on a pedestal beside it. Then removing a ring from his pocket, he placed it on the holder within the glass box and pressed the button. The mirror whirred to life, the silvery reflection rippling like water as it hummed with power from the Ring of Wonderland. When Illinois turned to look at him, Sean gasped out in shock. "Illinois... Where did you get that ring? Only the King of Wonderland has it..." Illinois opened his mouth but shut it as a voice answered behind Sean. "Because I gave it to him." Sean slowly turned to face the man and his heart sank. The King of Wonderland stood proud and defiant when he told him. "I've seen how this plays out, Sean. You'll never make it out of this Casino. This is the only way to save you. So, I'll die in your place. Well... I'll fake your death anyway. But you can't stay here." Sean sighed, asking him curiously. "Is this outcome because Anti got my Vorpal Blade? Could I have destroyed the mirror and saved everyone if I still had it?" The King nodded, walking closer to him as he told him. "Yes. You could have... and still can."

Sean perked up, looking to Illinois as he said excitedly. "Then let's do that! What do I have to do?!" Illinois's face went from excited to suddenly concerned. Looking back at the King, he watched Marvin put his hands on his shoulders before telling him seriously. "I'm sorry, Sean. But I can't allow you to break the mirror. The Looking Glass has power that I still want to tap into... and I can't do it without a pearl. So..." Before Sean could react, Marvin shoved him into the mirror. Illinois rushed out to attack Marvin, but Marvin placed his hands on either side of Illinois's head and used magic to bring him to his knees. Sean screamed out for Illinois unsure what Marvin had done to him as he was pulled through a starry void that faded to a pitch black. Shortly after, he fell out of a long mirror and across a tile floor in a large manor. Coughing and a bit disoriented from the trip, he got up to run back into the mirror but only hit it and bounced off. Falling back onto his ass, he laid back as his exhausted body blacked out. All memory of Wonderland fading from his mind as the Ring of Wonderland was removed from the Looking Glass on the other side.

The image faded and he opened his eyes, taking a deep gasping breath. The gravity turned back on, slowly lowering him to the ground as the last of the gas was cycled out with cool fresh air. The tube hissed and then popped open to let him out. Trying to take a single step, his legs buckled, and he fell into Illinois' arms. CyberNateic turned off the screen, telling them very softly. "I'm ninety-eight percent sure that it worked." Straightening up, Sean buried his face against Illinois' warm chest. He felt the loss and worry as the memories came flooding back to him. Illinois wrapped his arms around him, whispering to CyberNateic. "I'm going to lay him down. Will you be alright?" Bing moved a chess piece on a board and CyberNateic moved his queen to win, causing Bing to pop his joints before growling out. "Again! I see your strategy now!" CyberNateic rolled his eyes but answered Illinois coolly. "We'll keep watch. Rest. He's got a lot to process." Bing reset the board, grumbling out. "I'll give you something to process, you Hacker..." S34N leaned over Bing's shoulders, chuckling to him quietly. "CyberNateic didn't cheat. I told you he knows every move to win. You'll never beat him unless you download the program." Bing huffed, grumbling out. "Fuck that. I'll get him. You'll see."

Illinois walked Sean over to a blanket laid out on the floor, trying to coax him down with him. Sean took a moment to look around the apartment. Noticing how dark it was and that everyone except the androids were fast asleep. How long had he been in the tube? He felt like it should have only just been a few minutes but clearly it had not been. Easing down beside Illinois, Illinois asked him in a gentle whisper. "You wanna talk about it?" Sean looked up at the turned off computer, asking him in return. "I don't know... How much did you see?" Illinois brushed Sean's long bangs away from his eyes, playing with his long hair a little when he told him honestly. "All of it." Sean exhaled, then asked with a heavy heart. "I thought you said that we made it home... That you hid the sword? Or... did he do something to you?" Illinois shrugged, telling him truthfully. "That's honestly how I remember it... So... Maybe he did. I don't recall any of that happening but, in a way... it makes more sense." Sean hoped that Illinois wasn't lying to him, but he didn't believe so. His reaction looked too genuine for someone that would be lying about it.

Illinois laid out his arm and Sean rested his aching head on it, whispering to him more worried. "I don't know what to do. How am I supposed to save Wonderland and everyone in it? I feel like I'm being used and manipulated... I haven't seen Marvin or a trace of that White Rabbit since... forever ago to even ask him." Illinois rubbed Sean's neck to sooth him, whispering sweetly. "You've always said that despite his quirks that you could trust Marvin to know what he's doing. What he did was... questionable... but he did save you. And he did bring you back. Maybe he hid things to keep the future from changing." Sean sighed heavily, mumbling out. "But he wanted a pearl... I don't understand." Illinois chuckled, kissing his cheek, when he told him playfully. "In Wonderland, we take things by the minute. Trust that he had his reasons. He's gotten you this far." Sean snuggled closer to Illinois, whispering more lovingly to him. "I'm glad he brought me back to you." Illinois removed his hat to block them from view of anyone else, before kissing him so deeply and passionately that Sean moaned a little into the kiss. Resting his hands on Illinois' chest, he couldn't resist slipping his hands under his shirt to touch him.

Their kiss grew more intense, and Illinois set his hat down to pull the blanket over them more. Shifting onto his back, Illinois adjusted to lay over him. Allowing Sean to wrap his arms and legs around him to hold him close. When Illinois broke the kiss to nibble a little on Sean's ear, Sean caught Bing watching before pushing his sunglasses up to hide his eyes with a smirk. S34N turned Bing's face back to the game, whispering something into his ear that Sean couldn't hear. Sean thought about stopping, but since they weren't watching him anymore, he decided to keep going for a bit. For the first time, he knew where Illinois liked to be touched and he wanted to savor it. He didn't intend to have sex with him, but the more Illinois continued... The more he got the rush to try it discreetly. So, they did. Sean did his best to muffle his moans. Only allowing himself to inhale a bit more deeply then normal. Illinois kept his thrusts slow and claimed his lips whenever his own moans or grunts needed to be muffled. For as slow as they were going, their orgasms came on fast from just the sheer thrill of trying not to be caught. When it ended, they both were exhausted and fell asleep much easier to the sounds of the androids talking about A.I.'s they felt needed a few adjustments. For a time, everything was calm, but Sean knew that once again it wouldn't last. For in the morning... he'd have to find Anti. To Be Continued...