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The next morning, they both got ready quickly: Zerrex dressed himself with the nanotech armlet and checked over all his things to make sure he wasn't leaving anything behind, and Sammy ran alongside the Drakkaren's feet and kept himself close, his body becoming next-to-invisible as he blended naturally with the environment around himself, his scales rapidly changing colors as he prepared himself for the journey ahead. Cherry, of course, was the last to get up and the last to be ready, muttering about stupid meetings and stupid people before she glanced up at a knock at the door just as she finished holstering the last firearm on her body.

She shoved Zerrex out of the way and walked over to answer it, keeping the handgun readied behind the door... and an agent looked impassively in on them both, saying curtly: "A car is waiting outside for you both. Please be advised that you have ten minutes to be ready. You will be escorted to a private meeting place on neutral territory."

Cherry reached out and gently took the sunglasses off the agent's muzzle before he realized what was happening, and he blinked stupidly as she said marvelingly: "You have such a pretty face, and such gorgeous eyes..." A pause as the raccoon glared at her. "Now they're ugly. But cool sunglasses."

Cherry turned and slammed the door on the agent's face as he reached a hand up, and there was a loud thud outside in the hallway a moment later, as Cherry fitted the sunglasses carefully over her own muzzle, holding them in place as she grinned widely at Zerrex... and he only rolled his eyes, which made her huff as she tucked them carefully away. "I'm keeping these, thank you. I just need to have them adjusted for my muzzle, that's all."

"And the fact you have no ears." Zerrex said flatly, and Cherry paused before her face contorted horribly as she blew her cheeks out, and a moment later, a pair of large dog ears popped into existence on her head, and she struck a pose with a wide grin as her eyes sparkled. Then she slumped and fumed when the Drakkaren said dryly: "Now you're just ugly."

"Fuck you." Cherry gritted her teeth and winced, and then her ears simply fell off, and her eyes watered before she grabbed the sides of her head and screeched, running stupidly around and yelping in pain as she did a little dance of agony. "Fuck, fuck, fuck! Shit... goddamn... fuck!"

Zerrex rolled his eyes, ignoring her as Sammy went over and sniffed disdainfully at one of the ears, before watching as they both rapidly decayed... and then Cherry drew her hands carefully away from the sides of her head, whimpering and the scales bruised where her ears had been. "So okay. That totally did not work out properly. Fucking shit... fuck. What the hell. That totally hurt."

"It was an unnatural transformation." Zerrex headed over to the doorway now, slipping into his combat boots and wishing again that he'd polished them the night before, as he tied them slowly and carefully up. "You never transform out of your species, and you don't naturally possess ears, so when you generated them, you created new nerve endings. And as we can see, when you tried to degenerate them, you promptly cut those nerve endings off because your body didn't know how to absorb them... and just dumped the extra tissue instead."

"Stop speaking in tongues!" Cherry howled morbidly, and then she huffed and crossed her arms, mumbling as she approached the doorway and slipped into her own motorcycle boots, waiting for Zerrex to carefully tie up his other boot. "And stop taking forever, we're gonna be late 'cause of you and your stupid bad lacing habits. Didn't anyone ever teach you how to tie your shoes?"

"No, actually. And it's not my fault, the damned laces are frayed." Zerrex grumbled, and then he stood up, leaning on his cane as Sammy pranced around his feet. "So, bodyguard, you wanna go first?"

Cherry nodded, brightening a bit as she threw open the door and walked out into the hallway, pointedly ignoring the dazed-looking raccoon who was laying on the floor with another agent kneeling beside him, a bit of blood trickling out of one ear. Zerrex winced, but Cherry simply strode onwards towards the elevator, and the Drakkaren sighed and followed as Sammy chirped and pranced over the guard, the two looking confused at the mass that seemed to ripple over the raccoon's body before it was gone, and they looked stupidly back and forth before the agent muttered: "He's the one who got hit, so why am I hallucinating?"

The elevator wasn't crowded, which was good: Sammy was able to hide between Zerrex's feet for the entire ride, and the two weren't crowded by the grossly-rich before the doors opened, and Cherry headed immediately for the exit as Zerrex approached the counter to drop off the keycard. The youth from last night was working at the desk, and he stared as the Drakkaren approached before mumbling something as he took the keycard and slid a paper over to him, and the reptile looked down at this before he smiled slightly.

Balthazar had already signed this paper at some point, his handwriting smooth, legible, and curling... and Zerrex signed his name beside it, to show that he had used the room and hadn't been charged for it or any other services. He made a face at his own signature - an ugly scribble that looked even worse next to Balthazar's - and then the youth wished him a good day before going quickly back to work as an angry rich female approached, yelling about her hot tub not working and waving a fist back and forth through the air.

Zerrex winced and quickly headed to the doorway, and he and Cherry slipped out onto the streets: even though last night it had been ghostly, now they were busy and filled with life and wandering people on the sidewalks and over the cracked streets, and in the parking lot across the road cars were pulling in and out through the crowd to let passengers out and pick people up. The two reptiles made their way across... and they both recognized the driver from the night before, as he waved to them eagerly from the armored limo.

Walker opened the door for them before he climbed quickly back into the driver's seat, sliding down the separator as he said cheerfully: "Gotta take you people to meet President Balthazar today at the Lagoon Lounge. I should warn you, though... place is going to be crawling with security, and I got the feeling from the President that you guys and his security taskforce don't exactly get along."

"Great, just what we need." Zerrex looked mildly at Cherry, who cleared her throat and looked away innocently. "Don't cause a scene or start a ruckus, okay?"

Cherry didn't promise anything... and thirty minutes later, they pulled up at a large, seashell-shaped building through the crowd of people, and Walker let them out before he blushed when Zerrex patted him on the shoulder and handed him a twenty with a thank you. As they approached the glass doors leading into what Zerrex guessed was a theme restaurant, two agents materialized at either side of the reptiles and held their arms out to blockade them, one of the saying curtly: "We need to scan you both to make sure you aren't carrying illegal weaponry."

"Cherry?" Zerrex said mildly, and Cherry grinned as she cracked her knuckles, the two agents exchanging a look... and then Cherry grabbed them both by their ties and jerked them hard together, stunning them both and sending them down on their asses before the muscular female half-yanked them both off the ground, one of them staring at them with horror with his sunglasses askew as the other tried desperately to undo his tie. "Cherry gets mad, you see, when people continually get in our way. Stop stalling us and let us through to see Balthazar, we all know he didn't approve this."

"We're demons, remember. We can see into your minds." Cherry's eyes glowed as she leaned down, making a face that would have been comedic under any other circumstance... but both agents yelped, then scrambled out of the way when Cherry dropped them, one of them covering his head with a wince and the other sitting back against the wall, staring in horror as Cherry easily opened one of the double doors, holding it open so Zerrex could walk through. They strode down the hallway past an abandoned register and counter into the empty dining hall, and the two looked back and forth past silent tables, and then Zerrex pointed at a crescent-shaped staircase leading up to a large balcony on the second level. It was guarded by two agents... and Zerrex made a face as his eyes flicked around the room, catching sight of shapes through the huge aquarium tanks near one wall that were definitely not fish. "How many are we talking?"

"Ten, maybe twelve out here... likely several teams of two hiding in the bathrooms and janitor's closest." Cherry muttered, then her eyes flicked upwards and she added darkly: "Strike team positioned near the skylight and snipers already in place on the third floor. Messy job... I can see the ropes in place already at the skylight. And oh, yeah, there's someone watching us from the kitchen and probably a full tactical strike force in there."

Zerrex nodded, unsurprised as he started for the staircase, the agents remaining impassive. Beside him, he could hear Sammy running quietly along, still blending easily with the purple carpeting underfoot, and Cherry walked slightly ahead of the Drakkaren as she glanced back and forth warily. Then they stepped out onto the second floor dining area, a smaller, quieter rectangle where all the tables had been cleared away and a massive aquarium with all kind of tropical fish swimming around in the tank, and Balthazar sat at the one rounded table that remained, smoking a cigarette beneath a 'no smoking' sign as a waiter nervously stood nearby, two soldiers in BAD gear lurking around the area.

The ferret looked up and smiled tiredly at Zerrex and Cherry, standing and bowing to them as they approached, and the two nodded in return before Balthazar motioned impatiently at the BAD soldiers, who hesitated for a few moments before they both tromped off. The three sat as they left, and then Balthazar said mildly, as he half-gestured in the direction of the floor above them: "I suppose I don't have to tell you this, but there's a group of around fifty soldiers here, waiting for you two to do something terrible so they can descend on you like ravenous coyotes."

"Yeah, we figured that." Cherry said mildly, before she looked at the waiter, who swallowed thickly as he pulled at his collar, Zerrex rolling his eyes as he shrugged his jacket off and hung it on the back of the chair. "Bitch, get me some tacos."

"We... we only serve seafood here, ma'am." the kangaroo said weakly, and Cherry huffed and crossed her arms, glowering at him. "I... I can... get you... here, here's our menu, would you like anything to drink while you think about it?"

He handed out the three menus he was carrying fearfully, swallowing hard as he looked around at the three... and then he yelped when something brushed against his leg, looking down and glancing back and forth before Zerrex rolled his eyes, saying mildly: "Cherry and I will have Frost Cola, thank you."

"I think I'll have the same. Being fed on only the finest grows very tiring for me after a little while, back in my prison at the Marble Dome." Balthazar said mildly, and then he added: "We'll be having coffee later, so you can prepare it now. I'm sure that my soldiers are already making life difficult enough for you as it is, and I don't want them to have any excuse to make you any more miserable than you already are."

"Thank you, sir." the waiter mumbled, and then he left quickly, as Balthazar opened his menu and glanced down at it. Zerrex did the same, and Cherry moodily flipped through hers, muttering something about wanting fish tacos.

Without looking up, the ferret said calmly: "So I heard you had some troubles at the hotel... an incident last night and a story I admit I found very amusing from this morning, all over a pair of sunglasses."

"They were sexy sunglasses!" Cherry defended, huffing and crossing her arms, and Balthazar smiled indulgently over his menu at her, which only made her pout before she added flatly: "Great hotel choice though on your part. The fuckers tried to shoot our faces off."

Zerrex rolled his eyes, then he said mildly: "They were a bit more elitist than I expected... and the manager or whatever didn't take kindly to us being in his establishment, even with your reservation for us. I appreciated the help you sent along, though, and even more the room... thank Fredericks for me if you see him, huh?"

"I will." Balthazar took another drag of his cigarette, and then he put it out on an ashtray before looking surprised as he heard a squeak, glancing back and forth before looking down as Sammy approached his side, his scales shimmering back to normal... and then he laughed and reached down, plucking him off the ground with entertainment. "Well, what is this little fellow?"

"That's Sammy..." Zerrex paused, rolling his eyes as the pseudodragon huffed. "Knight Dove, but we all just call him Sammy. I'm sorry, I should've mentioned him sooner... he's a pseudodragon, a little companion of mine who uh... came in last night. He's more friend than pet and more intelligent than he might seem at first."

Sammy looked proud at this, and Balthazar put him gently down on the table, before smiling as Sammy hopped up on his back legs and danced around for a moment before jumping up onto Zerrex's shoulder. Then the ferret made a face, reaching up to touch a bud hidden in one ear as he said clearly: "You shoot that delightful little friend of Zerrex's, and I'll permit Miss Cherry to shoot you back. Take no action and stop watching us, I'm in the company of friends and allies and you're showing a severe lack of hospitality."

Balthazar paused, then he plucked the bud out of his ear and sighed, shaking his head slowly as Cherry leaned over the back of her chair and made faces at the third floor. "My apologies, Zerrex... but my security staff is a little overprotective. I don't think it helps that they're very much afraid of you two."

"Good." Cherry grumbled, and then she slid away from the table and got out of her chair, beginning to pace around the table as Zerrex rolled his eyes and looked back at his menu, the female continuing sourly: "See, you gotta reign these bastards in. Show 'em you're in charge, make 'em your bitches. You gotta raise that voice of yours, Balthazar, really let them have it."

Balthazar made a face at this as he returned to his own menu, saying calmly: "It's just not my way, Miss Cherry. One day they'll understand... and they know well enough already to not go ahead with anything without my order. I think the very fact they aren't shooting at you shows some improvement however, does it not?"

Cherry only grunted in reply to this, and then Zerrex glanced up as the waiter returned and handed out the round of cola, smiling and nodding before the male asked with a tremble: "Can I get you food now? I mean... what would you like to eat, sirs and madam?"

"I'll have the seasoned pike platter, with a side order of breaded mussels..." Balthazar paused, then he looked across at Zerrex with a slight smile as he handed his menu to the kangaroo. "Their fish is excellent, to say the very least. Then again, seafood is their specialty, so I suppose it's of no surprise."

"I think I'll go with the lobster myself, with a side order of crab... and Cherry will have the full fish platter, extra fries, extra shrimp, garlic and spicy seafood sauce." Zerrex said mildly, closing his menu and taking Cherry's to hand them over to the waiter as the muscular female brightened visibly, licking her muzzle hungrily. "I don't think we're in any rush, so take your time."

The kangaroo nodded numbly, then he headed quickly back for the stairs as Balthazar looked across at the two with soft entertainment. "Your dynamics are fascinating, if I may say so, Zerrex and Cherry. While I see very clearly who the leader is... there's always a power struggle at the same time between you two, that nonetheless you seem capable of settling any time you truly wish to have it settled."

"What?" Cherry looked confused, and Zerrex rolled his eyes, which made her huff and grab the salt shaker, immediately beginning to sprinkle it on Zerrex. The reptile winced and flailed, then his eyes bulged when the lid popped off the shaker and it streamed over his right arm, his shirt visibly tearing as steam rose and hissed up from his arm, the salt eating into his scales like acid as the Drakkaren leapt to his feet and cursed in pain, Cherry yelping and flailing as Sammy leapt off with a screech to run around their feet. "Oh shit, sorry, Boss!"

Balthazar watched in shock as Zerrex shook his right arm back and forth, cursing angrily to himself as pain chewed its way through his body, until finally he was left with a large, gaping tear in the scales of his right arm, a line of agents standing with their guns pointed at the two as the Drakkaren clutched into his damaged limb, before the Drakkaren pointed at Cherry and said in a strangled voice: "Shoot her, she's the one who dumped salt on me!"

"Shut up, jerk, it was an accident!" Cherry waved her hands wildly, and then she winced and ducked behind Zerrex as Balthazar sighed and sat down, before he motioned for the agents to go away even as two approached. They hesitated, then both left when the ferret gestured at them again, before she blushed crimson as the two males looked at her. "Okay, so. Bad move on my part."

"What happened?" Balthazar asked plainly, looking at Zerrex with calm concern and slight apprehensiveness, and the Drakkaren removed his hand from his arm as he pulled up his now-tattered sleeve, revealing an ugly gouge roughly a foot long down his bicep and several inches wide, the scales completely missing and the metal and rock beneath revealed: and around the edges of the wound, his scales had become yellow and ugly, flaking off with the slightest brush of his fingers. "That's... horrifying."

"It's nothing." Zerrex shook his head, making a face as he poked at it absently. The rocky stuff beneath his arm felt a bit soft, but thankfully the salt hadn't eaten too much into the unholy material, as he explained: "Salt is a symbol of purification and serves as a tool to keep out evil spirits and demons... or rather, it used to, in the old days. Strong demons like me can ignore salt lines and stuff... but salt stings like a bitch when high quantities of it make contact with us. Sure, me and Cherry can still eat a bag of chips or something, but if we eat too much salt we get sick... just as if too much of it makes contact with us, it'll burn us like acid. Normally, wounds like this heal fast... but since salt takes a while to deteriorate... it'll take a while for this wound to be able to heal. It's sorta like poison."

Balthazar nodded slowly, leaning forwards and saying quietly: "So you're saying that salt... is one of the most dangerous things to even demons like you?" He paused when they both nodded, and then he shook his head in disbelief, leaning back against his chair as he rubbed at his forehead slowly. "Incredible."

"Lame." Cherry replied mildly, and then she poked at the wound a few times before prodding at Zerrex's torn shirt, the lizard looking at her cuttingly. "I guess the nanomachines didn't like it either. Probably 'cause they're fueled by demonic essence. Just feel lucky I didn't spill that shit on your crotch."

Zerrex grumbled something, then he rose his armlet and tapped a few buttons on it, and a moment later it beeped and the t-shirt he was wearing repaired itself. Balthazar tilted his head curiously, and the Drakkaren smiled a bit as he held up his arm, saying quietly: "A gift from my son-"

"Our son!" Cherry interjected, then she grabbed Zerrex's arm and yanked it forwards, making the reptile wince as he held it out over the table for Balthazar to see clearer, Sammy squawking from the ground and glaring at her. "See, it's a nanotech armlet! He got it when some demon brought it back from a battleground on earth, it was being developed in a lab or something but Priest finished it off. My kid's a genius."

Cherry looked proud at this, letting go of Zerrex, and the reptile sat back and brushed himself off slowly before Balthazar said softly: "Children are a true blessing. They give me hope for the future... and speaking of our future and your children, we should get around to discussing your predicament."

The two looked across at the ferret as he took a sip from his glass, and then he smiled a bit as he said quietly: "Ire will not be helping you in this, but... a private interest has secured a very powerful, four-person helicopter back in your hometown, with stealth capabilities. It should be easy enough to pass through Lunis and international airspace undetected... and Hez'Ranna has a floating landing platform near the island that you can land on, and you'll get further instructions from there. A... mutual friend of ours said that you'll find this whole thing ironic, however... he says you've done cloak-and-dagger things like this before."

"Too often." Zerrex made a face and nodded, smiling slightly across at the ferret as he said softly: "I can't thank you enough for this, Balthazar."

"You honor and thank me with only your presence, Zerrex... it's I who still owe you." Balthazar nodded to him courteously, and then the two looked up as the food arrived, the waiter looking nervously back and forth before he laid the plates out and quickly retreated. "Let's indulge in our meal, and then on full stomachs we can discuss some of the other issues we need to, and with luck, solve a few problems."

The meal was wonderful, and the talk afterwards - over coffee and blueberry pie they ordered as dessert, one of Zerrex's favorites even after all these years - went smoothly, Balthazar generously accepting most of the Drakkaren's ideas and offering his own suggestions, advice, and criticism without ever seeming ass-kissing or overbearing. He was one of the few people the Drakkaren had ever met who could offer an improvement or counterargument without seeming like he was trying to one-up the other person, and who the lizard could actually bear to be corrected by. After all, despite his best attempts, being High King had gone a bit to his head... and he knew that even before then, his oversized ego had never dealt well with criticism.

Eventually, their serious talk fell into idle chatting, Balthazar curious about the workings of Heaven and Hell and Zerrex wanting to know more about the government setup and the way corporations were being dealt with to start subtracting from their current levels of near-infinite power, and they spent almost three hours telling each other about their ideas, plans, and simply how things worked. It was far more pleasant than Zerrex had expected it to be, and he honestly enjoyed himself... and then, finally, an agent approached and muttered something in Balthazar's ear, as they finished their fourth round of coffee together, and the ferret sighed and shook his head with a mumble. "I'm sorry, Zerrex, but I have to cut this off. Apparently the World Council is calling for me to join in their discussions at the UWC Headquarters. So if you'll excuse me, I'll pay for this meal and I have to insist on paying for an additional take-home platter for you two to enjoy... particularly you, Miss Cherry. And if not for you, then for your delightful little friend Sammy."

Zerrex opened his mouth, and Cherry immediately shoved him over in his chair and Sammy leapt up onto his chest, squawking at him, and the Drakkaren cleared his throat from where he lay on the ground, finally saying dumbly: "I guess that would be a yes, Balthazar. But I cover the next meal we have together, which I hope won't be too far away."

"A fair request." The ferret smiled, then he bowed to them both as the lizard sat up with a grunt. "The best of everything to both of you... and remember, Zerrex, the helicopter is parked at the old Valise City Airfield, waiting and ready to go. I wish you the very best of luck... no one deserves to lose a child, much less because of a foolhardy mistake."

Zerrex nodded, then he rose a hand to Balthazar as he turned and left, and Cherry reached down and hauled the lizard up to his feet before she reached down and gobbled up the last of the pie, the Drakkaren sighing and rolling his eyes before she gave him a sour look, juice dribbling down her muzzle and off her hands. "What? I need to keep my blood sugar high or I get all bitchy."

"You've been using that as an excuse for everyone's grouchiness these last few days." Zerrex said flatly as he reached down and picked up his jacket to put it on, and Cherry shrugged amiably, licking at her hands childishly. "And you call me gross. You're gross. And even demons can get fat if they stuff their faces too much, you know."

Cherry looked offended at this, reaching back to slap her rear as she said firmly: "Only my ass and my tits." She paused, then sighed and looked down at her blue-stained hands before she turned around, bending forwards and asking morbidly: "Is it as bad as I think it is?"

Zerrex burst out laughing at the sight of the large blue handprints on her rear, and Cherry grumbled under her breath before she sat down on the seat and wiggled her butt firmly back and forth... but when she stood up, the reptile only laughed harder, the stains still clearly there against her black pants. Cherry grumbled under her breath... and then the two looked up in surprise at the sound of a loud clank, followed by laughter.

Cherry homed in on the sound first, trotting over to a large sliding panel in the wall and opening it to curiously peer inside, and now the laughter echoed up, before there was an ugly slapping sound... and someone's voice said: "Now come on, make us a meal... bitch." Laughter, and a whimper. "Fuck, what's taking so goddamn long? The President's gone right? Are the freaks still here?"

"Dunno, send the faggot waiter to check." Grumbled another voice... and Cherry and Zerrex exchanged dark looks before they both looked down the dumb waiter. It was too small for them to fit inside... and then Zerrex motioned to Cherry to wait a moment as he beckoned at Sammy with his other hand, and the pseudodragon chirped quietly before he leapt up into the shaft, thin claws catching the rope and letting him agilely run almost straight down, and the Drakkaren knelt and closed his eyes, concentrating.

A moment later, he was seeing through Sammy's eyes as the pseudodragon gently nudged at a small panel so his narrow head could fit through the crack... and he found himself staring at an armored back for a moment before the soldier moved aside. Two cooks were sitting, bound-and-gagged, and one was standing in an apron and panties, trembling violently as he stirred soup slowly. There were at least ten soldiers, all of them in black riot armor and all carrying rifles and strangely-shaped grenades Zerrex recognized after a moment as sonic charges: grenades that were designed to release short-ranged but powerful waves of sound and vibration that would cause all sorts of nasty effects, from inducing vomiting to loss of vision. They would hurt even demons like hell... and the Drakkaren made a face, shaking his own head slowly as Sammy's vision remained steady.

The soldiers were equipped with helmets with large, octagonal cups that fit over their ears to filter sound and vibration, their body armor was thick enough to have padding as well as plating, and they had stun rods, handguns, and heavy rifles with boxes of ammo attached to them, likely filled with electrical rounds. Their gear was easily Scanner-level, but they were all of muscular, hardier builds... but Zerrex only smiled grimly as he sent a mental order to Sammy to keep watch, as he heard Cherry grab someone and muffle them. This'll be a challenge...

Zerrex let Sammy's vision fade out of his brain as he opened his own eyes, standing up and shaking his head slowly before he looked at the waiter, who Cherry was holding against her body with a hand over his mouth. She gently released him after a moment and motioned for him to be quiet, and then the three walked down the stairs, Cherry gently guiding the kangaroo before she asked grimly: "So why the fuck didn't you ask for help?"

"They... I... you..." He looked startled, and then he asked in a trembling voice: "Why... why would you wanna help us? You're demons, and the President... he's..."

"He's not like the other politicians Ire has had the wonderful luck of dealing with." Zerrex said mildly, as he grasped his cane by the neck and noted the lack of other guards: and when he looked up, even he could tell that the snipers had retreated as well. "And yeah, we're demons. But we're people too... and I don't like to see people in trouble. How many soldiers are in there?"

"Twelve... they've been making fun of us, making us... do things... and now that the President's gone, they've gotten really rowdy... I'm scared." the kangaroo confessed, and then he sat down at a table and burst into tears, dropping his head on his arms. Zerrex and Cherry exchanged a look, and then he looked up, tears rolling down his face. "I... I don't want... I don't want..."

He broke off into sobbing, and Cherry and Zerrex exchanged a look before she reached down for her whip, saying darkly: "I'll try not to kill them, honest, Zerrex... but that doesn't mean I'm not going to maim the motherfuckers."

"Just secure the hostages first, don't let any harm come to them." Zerrex said coldly, and the two headed for the swinging kitchen doors. They stopped in front of them, stepping to either side, and then Cherry reached out and shoved on one firmly, making it swing back and forth as they stayed rooted in place.

Voices inside, irritated, and then one of the soldiers stepped out, immediately looking at the kangaroo at the table and opening his mouth to shout something... and then Cherry grabbed him and jerked him down into a headlock, yanking him to the side before she slammed an elbow into his forehead, just beneath the crest of his helmet. He twitched, his jaw falling open... and then his eyes slowly crossed as he slurred a curse before collapsing onto his belly, and Zerrex looked over at her as he mouthed irritably: 'that counts as a kill.'

Cherry mouthed: 'fuck you' in return, and the voices inside the kitchen became angry after a minute passed, before two more soldiers pushed through, one of these holding his rifle nervously... and Zerrex snagged one by the shoulders, twisting him to the side and smashing him face-first into the wall to send him down in an unconscious heap with a broken muzzle and cheek, and Cherry grabbed the rifle out of the hands of the other before smashing him under the chin with it, sending up a spray of blood before she seized the barrel like a club in both hands and slammed it into his face like a baseball bat, shattering the stock and sending him down on top of his friend. Immediately, the voices inside the kitchen became panicked, and a moment later they opened fire on the doors, high-powered rounds slamming into the swinging panels and tearing them off their hinges, chunks of wood flying in all directions as the two reptiles winced from their positions on either side of the open archway, and then one of the soldiers shouted: "Who the fuck are you?"

"Concerned citizens!" Cherry replied sardonically, her whip ready in her hand, and then she spun out and snapped it in a firm, underhanded strike, the whip rapidly wrapping around the barrel of a rifle before she spun back to safety as she snapped her whip hard, and the rifle flew far across the dining room to crash into a table, tearing the dining cloth off it and knocking over a chair.

Again, rounds tore through the air before Cherry held up five fingers, then she made a gesture that told Zerrex 'kneeling' and held up two fingers. Five standing, two kneeling... that left two unaccounted for. And then the Drakkaren heard a voice shout: "Grenade out!"

The bullet fire paused for a moment as Cherry shook her head slightly at Zerrex's quick look to her, and then a grenade flew forwards and tinkered along the floor, landing near Cherry... and she immediately hooked a heel backwards and knocked it into the room, soldiers yelling and cursing before it exploded with a distinct crack like a jet breaking the sound barrier, the two wincing but not moving. The soldiers had their helmets on, after all... and then Zerrex heard a sick vomiting sound followed by a loud thud, and he guessed that maybe one of them didn't have their helmet on right after all.

The reptile's head was ringing from gunfire and the sonic grenade, but he could still tell that the soldiers were muttering about something... and the Drakkaren made a face before he pantomimed a gun in his hand to Cherry, and she nodded as she pulled her revolver out, then she closed her eyes, concentrated... and then leaned out, aiming around the corner and firing off four shots in a blur, soldiers howling in agony before a hail of gunfire sounded back in return, and then someone shouted a name before a soldier staggered through the doorway, several fingers missing and his hands a bloody mess as he screamed before Cherry cold-cocked him with the revolver and then stepped in front of his body in a liquid motion, and she slammed a foot into his chest before he could collapse, knocking him back into two of the other soldiers and sending them down as she took aim at another and blew his helmet off just as he pressed the button on the sonic grenade to activate it.

He stumbled backwards, his eyes bulging in shock... and then the grenade went off in his hand, and he dropped it and covered his ears, howling as Cherry ducked under a quick burst of gunfire. Zerrex immediately charged in, seeing two soldiers scrambling up from under the one with the bloody hands, pulling out stun rods as Cherry rushed the soldier still holding a rifle, and the Drakkaren ran past her to twist his cane around in an easy block as both stun rods descended, Cherry grinning as they stood back-to-side, her own revolver pressed so it held the rifle back against the chest of the other soldier and her gun pressed up under his chin as she said darkly: "Fun's just starting, huh?"

She slammed a knee up into the soldier's crotch, shattering the groin plate and making his eyes bulge before he fell over, and Zerrex easily twisted the two stun rods pushing against his cane to the side before he slammed a foot into the kidney of one of the soldiers, knocking him into his pal before he slammed his cane down into his head, shattering his helmet and sending him down in a heap. The second soldier slashed wildly at him with is electrified rod, but Zerrex twisted his cane around and snagged it in midair in the elbow of his cane's handle, and the soldier gaped at him before the Drakkaren shrugged, then simply slapped his cane forwards and shattered the brawny male's muzzle, sending him staggering before Zerrex finished him off with a simple butt of the dragon-shaped handle into his face.

The soldier fell... and then Cherry shouted a warning as two soldiers jumped up from behind the counter, and the Drakkaren cursed as he created a shield of energy, reflexively wincing back as bullets and a grenade bounced harmlessly off it before the grenade went off and the sound waves cracked the shield and staggered Zerrex, the reptile covering his head and cursing as he lost concentration for a moment.

Then Cherry grabbed him and dragged him quickly across the kitchen to crouch behind an island that had two enormous sinks and cutting boards on it, gunfire ringing out but only knocking the pots and pants that sat above it flying as she said urgently: "Look where those last fuckers are, right by the goddamn walk-in freezer! We've taken out most of them out, but they're pretty secure in that area and since we don't see no hostages around... they must've shoved them all in there when the ruckus started, and I don't think they're going to last too long with the door closed. We need to take 'em out fast."

"Agreed." Zerrex muttered, and then he winced when the gunfire stopped and a hail of grenades rained down towards them, but he quickly created a platform of energy as he ducked as low as possible and covered his head with Cherry, and a moment later they exploded, the two thankfully just out of range of the worst of the blast as the sonic grenades shattered the blue platform into motes of light that quickly vanished. "Goddamn, those things are strong!"

Cherry grunted in reply, then she frowned as Zerrex paused before assuming a meditative stance, closing his eyes as he crossed his legs beneath him and rested his hands on his knees. She didn't say anything, however, as she reloaded her revolver from the speed-loader and rubbed slowly at the edge of the charmed rubber ring, watching as the bullets regenerated as she muttered: "You better be doin' something awesome, Boss."

In the dumb waiter, Sammy twitched, before he felt a mental message come in from Zerrex... and moving carefully, he nudged the panel in the wall open a bit more and slipped stealthily out to the counter, crawling over it before dropping to the floor and sitting on his haunches, curiously looking at the soldiers down the short hall formed by the island counter as they reloaded their rifles, the huge freezer door behind them. Zerrex nodded after a moment, and then he opened his own eyes as Sammy's vision faded from his mind, before he created a sphere of energy, charging it until it formed a brightly-glowing blue ball, and then he stood up and grunted as he flung the sphere not at the crouching enemies, but instead at Sammy, who stood up on his hind legs and staggered backwards when it hit him, blue lightning sizzling over his body as the soldiers stupidly looked at him before the dragon shrieked a piercing war cry as it opened its jaws wide and unleashed a brilliant beam of blue light that smashed both soldiers backwards, chunks of their armor tearing off from the force of the energy beam before they struck the wall bonelessly and collapsed in a heap, twitching stupidly as chunks of plaster fell from the wall and Sammy coughed smoke, and then Cherry slowly peered over the island at the little dragon as he shook his head stupidly before coughing a bit of smog again, and she looked at Zerrex, who shrugged with a grin as he walked around the island and over to the pseudodragon, picking him up and kissing his forehead affectionately before he put the tired-looking little beast on his shoulder.

Sammy chirped softly as he nestled himself against the Drakkaren's neck, chewing at his hair tiredly, and Cherry walked over and patted him firmly on the back with a cheerful: "Fuckin' awesome." before she headed quickly over to the freezer door. She tried it, then muttered at the fact it had a keypad lock, before she put her hands against the metal and closed her eyes, concentrating.

The metal began to heat up, glowing red around Cherry's hands... and then the door cracked, steam hissing out of the shattered metal before Cherry stepped quickly backwards with a wince, rubbing her hands against her hips as several large chunks of metal fell to the ground with a hiss and a clank, before she seized the heavy handle and jerked it forcefully open, some mechanism in the pneumatic door snapping apart as she grinned and shouted: "So who the hell wants a warm sunny vay-kay?"

She stepped aside to let the cooks run out, the last one wearing only panties and shivering violently, and all of them looked back and forth in shock as Cherry walked into the freezer for a moment before coming out, absently slapping the cooks on the back or shoulder as she walked by to spread a wave of heat through them with her abilities, making them all twitch before Zerrex said mildly: "Come on, let's get out of here. That freezer's going to go berserk and we don't want to be here for that... besides, all of you look like you could use some warming up."

The cooks nodded dumbly, and Cherry and Zerrex led them out into the dining room to rejoin their waiter friend, who burst into tears again upon seeing his friends alive from behind his barricade. Zerrex grabbed a tablecloth from one of the tables, upsetting everything on it - Cherry, of course, pulled a cloth off the table with a grin when nothing fell - and they both set the cloths around the shoulders of the trembling, panty-clad cook, who looked relieved and thanked them both in a raspy voice as he nodded weakly.

They all sat down at one of the larger tables together, and Zerrex said softly but firmly, as he looked around at the trembling cooks and waiter: "You're going to have to report this to the authorities. As long as corruption doesn't halt it from going up the ladder, you have my word that President Balthazar will take care of it. He's a very good person, and a friend of mine now, I guess you could say... and look at me, I'm a frigging demon."

"I... I don't know what to say." said the waiter weakly, trembling as he held tightly onto the panty-clad cook's hand, as he snuffled and trembled with the blankets tightly wrapped around his slightly-chubby form. "But... you can't trust anyone but your friends these days... everyone's... these soldiers, they..."

Zerrex shook his head slowly as Cherry sat back, tilting her head at this argument that both she and Zerrex often followed themselves... and then the reptile finally said in a low voice, looking around at them all: "The system failed... we all know that. Democracy failed, capitalism failed, the world failed. The law failed to protect us, the armies failed to stay in check and help us, the world leaders failed to do anything but look out for their own asses.

"But you know what? The tyrants failed to rule, the monsters failed to kill us all, and even the selfish sons of bitches who built the mercenary forces that killed so many innocent lives failed to last for more than a few months before they were crushed too. And the game's changed now. The system's changed." Zerrex shook his head slowly, saying quietly: "And it'll take a long, hard time... but how are we going to ensure that law and order and justice prevails if we continue to only rely on our own friends and revenge... rather than try to put it in the hand of a system that might, for a change, make things right? If we don't try, if we don't trust sometimes... then how can we ever know if it works?"

"I'm scared..." whispered the kangaroo, and the other cooks lowered their heads shamefully, murmuring agreements. Cherry snorted in disgust at this, getting up... but Zerrex only smiled a bit, shaking his own head slowly.

"So am I. But hey, you just got your asses saved by two demons." The Drakkaren climbed to his feet, looking down at them with sympathetic entertainment, and then Cherry snorted as she grinned a bit, her eyes glowing as Zerrex sketched a short salute to them through the air. "Demons that are ex-old Ire military, I should add. And if we can change, I think the rest of the world can change too. Good luck to you either way with what you choose to do."

With that, the two left the dining room, and Cherry paused by the counter at the entrance to pick up a plastic container with her name on it, before she shrugged amiably at Zerrex's sour look. "Dude, we just saved the cooks. I totally deserve me this pre-made, dripping-with-bad-chemicals seafood platter."

Zerrex rolled his eyes but didn't argue, before he winced when Cherry hopped the counter and helped herself to another plastic platter sitting on a rear shelf, and he groaned and slapped his forehead when she came back and easily jackknifed the counter with the platter cradled in one arm. Then she picked up the other platter and dropped it on the first, and she shrugged, saying cheerfully: "Victory spoils. Hey, I won't tell anyone if you want to grab one of those pies."

"Move on, handy-butt." Zerrex replied dryly, and Cherry huffed, looking at him sourly before she quickly moved on out the door, followed by Zerrex. They looked back and forth, and then Cherry bounced over to an armored limo parked nearby and leaned down, shoving her face against the window as the Drakkaren slapped his forehead. I wish she'd act normal just for once.

"This is our ride." Cherry said cheerfully, and then she headed to the back door and opened it for Zerrex, who slid inside and climbed into the back seat before Cherry followed and sat on the floor, her food platters in her lap. Then she paused when the driver opened the divider, and she asked before he could say anything: "So where the fuck are we going?"

He made a face at this - Zerrex was somewhat disappointed it wasn't Walker - and then he said in as polite a voice as he could manage: "The Ire International Airport. ETA is forty minutes."

"I could totally have made it in twenty." Cherry huffed, and then she waved a hand at the driver as he rolled up the divider, before she tilted her head back at Zerrex and grinned widely. "Guess it's just you and me for the next forty minutes."

Sammy huffed at being left out, and Zerrex sat back moodily, wondering whether or not he was going to survive this trip... and almost an hour later, the two climbed out of the back, Cherry looking abashed and the male Drakkaren looking grouchy. He gave the driver a five, and the uniformed male bowed to them both as the two demons walked towards a soldier by a private jet who was waving them over.

He held up a satellite phone when Zerrex approached, then held it out as the Drakkaren looked stupidly at him. "Sir! As a parting token, the President wishes for you to have this, so you two can remain in contact at all times, sir! He says the government will pick up the bill for any and all calls, sir! Please have a pleasant flight, sir!"

The soldier saluted sharply, and Zerrex and Cherry exchanged a look before returning the salute, and Zerrex took the phone the soldier was still holding out and tucked it into one pocket before Cherry ran up the ramp into the private jet, and the Drakkaren made a face but followed anyway. He found her inside harassing a flight attendant, who looked horrified for a few seconds before she had an obvious panic moment and grabbed a vial of something from her belt, spraying a thin mist into Cherry's eyes.

The demoness howled and danced down the aisle in pain, and Zerrex sighed and rolled his eyes, shoving her into one of the large, cushy seats before he nodded politely to the stewardess and sat down in the chair opposite, as Cherry blinked a few times, muttering to herself grouchily as the flight attendant rushed by embarrassedly. She vanished behind a curtain ahead, and there was a scuffling and a short argument before she reemerged, saying in a nervous voice: "I'm... very sorry for what happened, I was scared and..."

"Shit happens." Cherry muttered, waving a hand as she continued to rub at her eyes, and then she opened and closed them firmly a few times before she asked flatly: "Can I get me a wet cloth though, babe? And how about your name, while you're at it?"

The flight attendant turned beet-red, and then the jackal vanished behind a curtain as Zerrex looked mildly at Cherry, pointing at her and saying flatly: "See, that's why you can't pick up chicks."

"Hey, I totally am a chick!" Cherry defended, and then she and Zerrex looked at each other for a few moments before they both burst out laughing, Sammy squeaking dumbly on the Drakkaren's shoulder before the two calmed, Cherry shaking her head and grinning. "Okay, okay, so like. Maybe I'm chick-like. Anyway, seriously. The fuck do you know about picking up girls, you've never managed to hold up a steady girlfriend other than me your whole damn life."

"That is not true and you know it." Zerrex said pointedly, and then he paused before asking mildly: "Hell counts, right?"

"No." Cherry said cheerfully, before the flight attendant came back with a cold cloth, and immediately the female began rubbing at her eyes again, and Zerrex wondered how much of it was an act she was putting on: sure, he was sure her eyes actually hurt... but on the other hand, he was also pretty sure Cherry was used to getting maced by now. "Fuck this stings."

The flight attendant made a face, then she began to dab gently at Cherry's eyes, and she rested her head back as she let her work, a grouchy look on her face before she asked mildly: "Still don't got your name."

"I'm sorry... it's Josephine. We're going to take off in twenty minutes, the pilot is just a bit late..." Josephine babbled, rubbing at her forehead and brushing back the long blonde locks that fell from out beneath the prim blue cap she wore. "If there's anything I can do..."

"Sure, let's go on a date." Cherry said bluntly, and Josephine blushed and squeaked before the demoness reached up and grasped her wrist firmly, grinning as she opened one eye and guided her hand to the other. "You know you want to, babe. I'll show you the time of your life... and you did totally mace me, you totally owe me."

Then the young female squeaked in fear as she scrambled at her belt again, and Cherry blinked dumbly before she was maced a second time, falling over in the seat and screeching about her eyes as Zerrex sighed and dropped his forehead in one hand, and Josephine threw the cloth at Cherry's face as she gave a half-frustrated, half-terrified cry and ran off in tears. Zerrex waited a few minutes for Cherry to right herself, her eyes now visibly swollen, and he said mildly: "Smooth moves, Casanova. You have a real way with people yourself."

"Fuck you." Cherry mumbled, and then she brought the cloth up to her eyes, adding sourly: "Dude, this time I ain't bullshitting. I think the bitch actually blinded me with that fucking spray of hers."

"Well, that's what you get for acting like the tough punk out of some movie from the seventies." Zerrex said flatly, and Cherry huffed, grumbling about something under her breath as she sulked and rubbed slowly at her eyes with the cloth. The Drakkaren glanced down to watch as Sammy hopped off his shoulder and sniffed at a bit of the stuff that had floated down to the table, before the pseudodragon wrinkled his muzzle with a squeak, and the reptile climbed to his feet, saying mildly: "Keep Cherry company, I'm going to take a look around the plane."

Sammy nodded as Cherry grumbled to herself, Zerrex already walking down the wide aisle. There were only two other tables in the plane, with four chairs around each... and when the Drakkaren reached the back of the jet, he opened the door and let himself into a closed cargo hatch with only a few boxes of supplies in the otherwise wide-open room, which was large enough to haul a van, perhaps even two. He stood for a moment inspecting the room, and then he turned around and nearly bumped into a fellow lizard in a captain's uniform, who had a sour look on his face as he asked: "Is there anything I can help you with, sir?"

"No, just looking around." Zerrex said mildly, grinning stupidly up at the Dragokkaren: he did not like the fact he had to look steeply upwards to see the face of the very-burly, fourteen foot tall reptile. Then he coughed and pointed down the wide aisle the male was nonetheless blocking with his body, saying dumbly: "I'll just go back to my seat now."

"See that you do. And please try to keep your bodyguard under control. Even for the President, I won't excuse nuisances on my flights." The Dragokkaren rumbled, and then he turned and walked away. Zerrex watched him leave and vanish behind the curtain near the front, making a face as he closed the cargo door before returning to his seat, muttering: "Pleasant dude, really."

"Was that guy a clone soldier?" Cherry asked in a conspiratory whisper, and Zerrex hesitated before he nodded. His scales were the right color, his height was the right approximate size... and his attitude was probably about correct, too. Zerrex knew he'd be plenty bitter, living in a country as a refugee and probably still treated like crap even after all these years for being a synthetic soldier created for the purpose of war on the country he now resided in. "Dude, you don't see lots of them around anymore."

"That's because a lot of countries used the Demon War as a lynching excuse to kill them off." Zerrex said mildly, making a face as he leaned out and shot a glance down the aisle. "Remember, after the Great War, they were everywhere... but then their numbers started to diminish because most cloned soldiers were male, and it was kinda hard for a lot of them to find a girlfriend who was naturally-born. And then during the Demon War, they were either killed in friendly-fire action because 'I thought he was totally a demon' and they were put back to work as cheap soldiers by a lot of different places... and sent in as meat shields, for the most part."

"Fuckers." Cherry said morbidly, still holding the wet cloth against one of her eyes, the other looking reddened and swollen. "And here I was thinking the world had changed."

"I think it's starting to, at least." Zerrex said quietly, and then he smiled a bit when Sammy squeaked softly, petting him absently as he glanced out the window. I can always hope.