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"What?" Zerrex turned around in surprise, and then he rose his hands when he saw Loki standing only some dozen feet away, the otter looking horrified and terribly vulnerable. Immediately, the Drakkaren rose his hands, saying clearly: "Look, Loki, I just got here, I didn't do this..."

The demigod was shaking violently, clutching a small red and gold box between his hands hard enough to crack the wood as he snarled at Zerrex, looking absolutely furious... and then he threw this to the ground, before he pointed at him accusingly, yelling: "So because you failed to find me, after all these years you decided to... to attack my father in my own home? You're scum! Dishonorable scum!"

The Drakkaren shook his head, and then he leapt backwards in front of Odin as Loki rose a hand... and as expected, the otter hesitated as one of his hands burned with eldritch flames, and the reptile shouted in a clear, serious voice: "This was not me, are you listening? Not me. I would never do something like this, so don't go accusing me, Loki... if memory serves you're the one that attacked me at a fundraiser, by the way."

That made the otter halt, and he snarled, but his dark eyes were pull of pain and sorrow more than rage as he stroked his streaked hair out of his face before he adjusted the K-shaped collar of his leather trenchcoat. Then a strange transformation underwent his features that Zerrex recognized all-too-well, and he immediately anchored himself into a ready position as the otter said in a slow voice full of twisted logic: "But if I kill you... they promised me anything I wanted if I killed you, and the Great One has powers bordering on the infinite... this time, no games, Zerrex!"

Loki snarled as he dropped to a kneel and shoved his palms into the ground, and there was a terrible rumbling before a glowing shape slowly rose up out of the floor beneath him, semitransparent ripples flowing across the cement as Loki rode the gigantic shape slowly higher... and Zerrex stared as it slowly formed into a massive, feral-looking wolf, the quadrupedal beast's hunched back and large, muscular limbs making it all the more imposing. Its fur was an ugly, streaked black and grey, and its face was stupid and vengeful, the teeth black and yellow, the eyes glaring and cruel as it shook its head wildly back and forth, foam running from jaws fastened shut with a rope before it threw its head back with a furious howl.

The waves of sound shook all of Valhalla, Zerrex grunting and covering his face with his arms as he tried to steady himself, and then he snarled and narrowed his eyes as the gigantic wolf snapped the rope around its jaws, foam and saliva splattering down to the floor as it barked several times at the Drakkaren and shoved its huge paws against the floor, the broken iron chains on the shackles around its limbs and dangling from the studded collar around its neck clattering loudly. The massive, twenty-foot tall at the shoulder wolf-beast roared at him furiously again, and Zerrex winced back before Loki spread his arms and exclaimed in a crazed voice: "This is Fenrir, Lord Zerrex! I don't think even you can deal with both of us at once!"

"I don't have to." Zerrex shouted, reaching out for his... oh crap. He winced as he looked back and forth, then down at his hands stupidly, as he realized he didn't have his cane with him... and then he pointed at Loki, who was looking at him flatly. "So maybe I do have to fight you alone, but I've totally survived even worse situations. Of course, that doesn't mean I'm adverse to actually reasoning things out, though..."

Loki simply snorted in disgust as Fenrir focused its ivory eyes on Zerrex, pawing at the ground and snarling before the otter pointed at him, saying darkly: "Do you really think I'll let you off that easily, mighty High King of Hell? Do you really think I'll... sit and talk things out with you? Or that I'll sit around here and let you figure out some way to flee, after everything you've done here, after what you did to me?"

His voice rose into a scream, but this time, his body language didn't match his tone... and the reptile narrowed his eyes as Loki grinned darkly at him, his eyes flashing... and the reptile looked down with a frown at Fenrir's shadow, which for some reason was stretched out towards him, despite the fact that the biggest light source in the room was the braziers behind the lizard... and then the reptile's eyes widened as he tried to leap back but instead hit the stone base of the throne, and the shadow ripped up off the ground, following Fenrir's movements as the wolf lunged its head forwards and bit down hard.

Shadow-teeth bit deep into the reptile, ripping into his body and his nanotech armlet and sending up sparks as the Drakkaren's shirt immediately dissolved, followed shortly by his jeans. Then he was thrown hard to the side, and he crashed into a pillar, sliding slowly down it with a curse before Fenrir loped forwards and stomped a paw down on top of him, his greasy claws digging into the reptile and making him twitch and curse as he shook his head back and forth with a snarl, Loki laughing above him as the otter threw his arms out and screamed to the ceiling: "Not so tough anymore, are you?"

Fenrir rose his paw with a loud growl... and a blade shot forth from Zerrex's rocky wrist before he slammed it hard up into the wolf's foot, and the massive wolf hissed in pain as blood splattered down over the reptile before he was slapped hard to the side, but this time Zerrex managed to twist himself in midair and catch himself on the wall next to a brazier, wincing as he kicked off and leapt high into the air, creating a sphere of energy in his hand and throwing it hard at Loki as he threw himself at the demigod.

The otter looked surprised for a moment, but the huge wolf he was riding on leapt up with a snarl, opening his jaws and chomping down hard on the sphere to absorb it before he slapped a paw out and smacked Zerrex hard down into the ground, the reptile grunting in pain before he rolled quickly to the side to avoid the huge wolf's jaws from snapping closed on him.

The monster's shadow suddenly burst up in a tidal wave, forming a monstrous pair of jaws that tried to snag the lizard... but the reptile leapt backwards before he created a sphere of energy and threw it hard into Fenrir's shadow, and when it exploded, the shadow was blasted apart and Fenrir screamed, the wolf backing rapidly off as Loki cursed and whipped several green fireballs at the Drakkaren. Zerrex ducked behind a pillar, and he winced as each contact released a huge conflagration of eldritch flame, the lizard taking a moment to assess himself and the situation before Loki shouted angrily: "You can't hide from me, Zerrex."

The otter snapped his fingers, and dark energy crackled through the air by the Drakkaren before a shockwave blasted the reptile out from behind the pillar, the reptile managing to stay on his feet even as he pinwheeled his arms for balance before Fenrir charged forwards and slammed him with a headbutt, knocking him flat on his back before the wolf's jaws latched into him and shook him violently back and forth as the reptile let out an agonized cry. He flailed hard, then slammed his rocky fist forwards to bury the rocky blade into Fenrir's nose, and the wolf shrieked and shook his head violently before he snapped his muzzle upwards, and Zerrex flew into the air, blood raining down from the wounds in his body before the Drakkaren's eyes met the otter's as Loki drew back a hand to throw a crackling sphere of dark energy-

Zerrex snapped a hand out, releasing not so much a blast as a pulse of energy in a desperate defense... and the unstable sphere in Loki's hand twisted into the shape of a bean as the otter staggered backwards, Fenrir arching its back and snarling before the sphere exploded, and the gigantic wolf was shoved flat to the ground as if by a massive hand, its fur catching aflame as Loki screamed and hurtled across the room. Zerrex landed a moment later, and as the wolf dazed staggered up to its feet, the Drakkaren snarled as he looked into its eyes and let his mind lash out with one of his demonic abilities, his pain, his rage, every negative emotion releasing at once in the form of a powerful blast that hit Fenrir square in the face and sent the massive wolf monster into the air, head snapping back as it flipped once before it crashed down on its side and skidded down the hallway, the flames on its body greedily spreading through the beast's fur, further fanned from the blast it had just taken.

Zerrex staggered backwards, grasping at his skull with a wince as a terrible ache tore through it... and then he straightened and readied himself, taking a moment to glance at his armlet before he shouted: "Emergency reboot!"

The nanotech armlet buzzed at him in reply, then it gave a metallic scream before sparking... but a moment later, it buzzed to life, and clothing slowly spread over the Drakkaren's body once more, leaving him standing in a plain black shirt and pants, lacking texture but still covering him effectively enough. He rolled his shoulders slowly, then he flexed his rocky arm slowly as Fenrir got to its feet, the gigantic wolf snarling before it shook itself violently... but otherwise it didn't seem to even notice the flames lapping over its body, before the monster roared and charged towards the reptile, its dark shadow twisting to either side in parallel crescents to try and pincer the Drakkaren.

They both became wolf heads that snapped towards him as Fenrir eagerly opened his own jaws... but Zerrex threw his arms out to his sides with a snarl, releasing unfocused bursts of energy from his hands that repelled the shadow-forms, Fenrir yelping and shaking his head from side to side as blood burst from his ears, his charge turning into a drunken stagger as his huge body crashed into a pillar... and then the Drakkaren sprinted forwards as the wolf's legs buckled and it lowered its head, before his twisted arm became a massive axe as he leapt up and landed on its muzzle, running along it before he smashed the rocky blade of the axe hard down into its skull between its ears, and Fenrir jerked away, shaking its skull wildly with a scream of anguish as blood burst up and skull shattered under the reptile's attack.

Before Zerrex could hit it again, a fireball smashed into his side and sent him flying, the reptile cursing in pain as he let his body hit the ground heavily on his side and go into a roll that put out the green flames, shoving himself up to a kneel at the last moment as his nanotech clothes slowly closed over sear-marks on his scales, the Drakkaren breathing hard in and out as Loki jumped back onto Fenrir's back, the otter snarling and looking displeased. He was no longer wearing his trenchcoat, and part of his arm was still smoldering... but he looked more furious than anything else, as the flames over his hands turned from green to black as he rose them slowly, saying furiously: "Not this time, not this time, Lord Zerrex!"

The Drakkaren snorted and only grinned coldly in return, and this just made the otter snarl before he yelled something at Fenrir and pointed at Zerrex, and the wolf howled before it charged forwards and dived at him... and the Drakkaren glanced at the pillar behind himself before he spun around and smashed the warped axe blade of his arm into it on a downwards angle before he twisted hard, and a massive chunk of the base tore free before the reptile leapt out of the way when Fenrir lunged at him. Its head smashed into the base of the pillar, which rocked and groaned as cracks spread through it... before Zerrex aimed a sphere of energy at the wall behind it, throwing it hard and focusing on it to make it bounce off the surface and hit the back of the pillar high up, the explosion putting just enough push on the tall structure to make it slowly rock forwards as the wolf stepped backwards with a shake of its head and Loki looked up with a shriek of surprise, the otter leaping out of the way and yelling at the wolf... and it looked dumbly upwards before yelping and spinning to the side to try and lunge out of the way, but far too little, far too late.

The pillar smashed down into its back and crushed it under its weight and momentum only a moment later, and there was a horrible cracking sound as its spine snapped like a twig, the wolf clawing at the ground with a scream as chunks of broken pillar settled around it, the stone column having shattered after impact with the rest of the stone hall. The cloud of dust it threw up made everything confused, as Loki looked back and forth in desperation and Fenrir tried to claw its way forwards as its hindquarters jerked uselessly... and then something landed on its back, before it leapt up onto its cracked skull, and Fenrir tried to look up stupidly before Zerrex slammed his rocky limb straight down through the visible, bloody dent, forearm and hand morphed from axe into sword.

The gigantic wolf howled as its brain was pierced, arching its back convulsively as its shadow tore up around it into multiple, mutated wolf faces that all screamed... and then the Drakkaren threw himself into the air away from the beast as he created a sphere of energy in his hand with a dark-pulsing core, throwing this hard into the wound he had further opened... and the wolf's eyes exploded, blue light shining out of the wound in his head, and the empty sockets, and then his jaws, mixing with foam and a spray of gore before its whole head simply exploded as the reptile landed some twenty feet away.

He snorted in distaste, grasping his rocky forearm as it slowly turned back into a claw... and as the dust settled, he saw Loki standing on the broken pillar resting atop the now-headless corpse, a pool of blood slowly spreading around the monster as the shadow heads now howled soundlessly, slowly sinking into the ground as the darkness they were made of dissolved bit-by-bit into nothingness. The two stood across from each other, the otter clenching a hand shut as he snarled at him, tears leaking down his cheeks... and then he finally asked in a whisper: "Why... why are you so intent on taking everything from me?"

"Funny question for you to ask, Loki." Zerrex said darkly, as he assumed a ready position... and then he snorted when a battle axe with a silver edging appeared in the demigod's hands, and then the otter vanished in a burst of darkness... but Zerrex only threw an elbow hard backwards, and Loki almost dropped the weapon, staggering backwards and clutching at his bloody muzzle with one hand as the blade of the axe clanged to the floor, gripped only loosely by the otter as the reptile looked over his shoulder with disgust. "Your emotions have made you sloppy. Stop this nonsense, I am not your enemy... at least not right now. If there's one thing we can agree on, it's wanting to find who the hell killed Odin."

"Fucker!" Loki spat, and then he hauled the axe back over his shoulder before he charged forwards and swung hard... but just before the blade contacted with Zerrex's rocky arm, as he brought it forwards to block, the otter vanished from sight, and a moment later Zerrex felt the axe smash into the back of his bad knee, the reptile howling in agony as he crumpled to a kneel on top of the blade still buried into his leg, eyes bulging as Loki leaned forwards and applied pressure to the wound with the axe, shouting at him furiously: "Not so fun to be mocked when you're wounded, is it?"

"Fuck you!" Zerrex burst out, and then he reached out in a flash of fury and grabbed the handle of the axe, Loki looking shocked before the Drakkaren threw his head back as he shoved the butt of the weapon into the otter's own chest, knocking him onto his ass and causing him to release the weapon, but at the same time dragging the wicked blade across the wound in the back of his leg and tearing it wider. Then the reptile slowly got to his feet with the weapon... but then he felt it take on a strange consistency, and when he looked at it again he was instead holding the tail of a massive scorpion, which snapped its huge pincers angrily at his legs.

Zerrex cursed and flung it hard at Loki, but the otter vanished from where he had been knocked over to reappear behind the Drakkaren, kicking his wounded leg hard to try and knock him over, but the reptile only hissed through his teeth before he shot a long, conical spike out of the back of his rocky elbow and stabbed it backwards into the otter's gut when he lunged to try and grab him with hands that burned with dark energy. The male immediately screeched in pain, his eyes bulging as the flames around his hands died out and he lunged backwards, vanishing in another torrent of darkness before reappearing on top of pillar that had crushed Fenrir, and he pointed at a large, broken section of the column before slowly raising his hand.

The stone cylinder trembled before rising into the air, and Loki shoved his hand at the Drakkaren... but the reptile reached up and threw his hands out at the last moment, feeling his arms forcibly shoved backwards as he skidded several feet along the ground, bad leg screaming its protest but the reptile turning the pain into fuel, into another reason to end the confrontation quickly as he threw the large chunk of stone hard at the demigod. Loki's eyes widened in shock, but he vanished from sight before reappearing only ten feet away, already in mid-sprint as he rose a hand that glowed with dire darkness.

Zerrex's own snapped out and caught his wrist before the otter's fingers could touch him, and the otter looked surprised before he howled in agony when the Drakkaren twisted hard to the side and snapped it, before, with an expert, upwards yank and another twist, he dislocated the otter's elbow. Loki shrieked in pain, then he rose a fist that burst into eldritch flames as he gave another mighty yank backwards... and the lizard released him at the last moment, the otter staggering backwards before the Drakkaren's hand shot forwards and seized his skull.

Slowly, the reptile's rocky fingers crushed the otter's skull, making him howl as he grasped uselessly at the lizard's wrist, green and red flames uselessly scouring along the stone and metal of his warped limb... and then the lizard jerked Loki off his feet before he slammed him headfirst into the ground. The stone floor shattered around the demigod's skull as he collided, Loki's cries of pain catching in his throat before Zerrex released him, his eyes bulging as blood ran down his features... but then the Drakkaren dropped to a kneel and slammed his fist down into his ribcage, and the otter curled up like a bow around his hand before he managed to throw a blast of fire into the lizard's face, Zerrex half-falling back on his ass and brushing wildly at his features before he snarled and got to his feet, his eyes quickly finding the demigod crouched some thirty feet away.

"What's wrong? No bad one-liners, no grin, no showing off..." Loki panted hard as his squished features visibly healed, becoming handsome again as he stood up and rolled his head on his shoulders... but his healing rate was slowing, and his eyes betrayed fear now as well as anger as a plain broadsword appeared in his hand out of thin air, the otter glaring across at Zerrex before he snorted and snapped his fingers... and Zerrex felt vertigo rip at his senses as he said distastefully: "Once more, we're down to this... the trickster and the king, battling it out."

"I've had enough fighting!" Zerrex shouted, gesturing angrily... and then he staggered as he rose his right hand... except it was his left that he rose, and somehow that was his rocky arm now instead of his right. He frowned... then he realized that Loki had reversed what he was seeing somehow, and the Drakkaren cursed as the otter grinned darkly, raising his sword... and the reptile narrowed his eyes at him as he said coldly: "Surrender."

"Better to die on the battlefield... I never understood that until today." Loki replied with a grin... but there was pain in his eyes, and then he shot forwards, slashing hard at Zerrex's left side, and the reptile tried to rise his left arm... but somewhere along the line, his instincts and his mind got confused and he rose the wrong arm, and the reptile took a cut across the ribs before he shoved both hands out... but Loki had already danced away, and the otter snorted as he tilted his head towards the lizard, asking callously: "Having trouble?"

Zerrex replied by charging forwards, and the otter winced, stumbling backwards before he ducked under a haymaker and sliced across the Drakkaren's body at waist-level with the sword, making the lizard gurgle before the otter threw a hard thrust kick into the reptile's crotch, and when the Drakkaren bent forwards, he slammed the pommel of his sword into his face, knocking his head back and giving Loki a chance to prepare a finishing blow, readying a thrust into the lizard's exposed throat... but then the reptile's own booted foot slammed into Loki's crotch, and the otter squeaked before Zerrex reached both hands out and seized his skull, slamming his knee under the otter's chin and knocking him onto his back.

The Drakkaren jumped into the air and slammed both boots down hard onto Loki's stomach in a childish but effective stomp, and the air wheezed out of the otter's body as he swung weakly at the lizard with his sword... but Zerrex let his instincts do their work, and his stony hand reached out and caught the blade across his body, before vertigo tore at his mind and his vision returned to normal, and the reptile tore the blade out of Loki's hand and tossed it aside as he stepped his boots out to straddle him... before he snorted as the otter simply vanished in a puff of darkness.

He looked back and forth, but didn't see him... and then he heard footsteps behind him, and he saw Loki charging wildly with a sword readied... but something tugged at the Drakkaren's mind even as he readied himself to smash in the otter's face... before the demigod grabbed him from behind, and the illusion vanished as Zerrex howled in agony, smelling his flesh charring as Loki's hands burned with dark fire and he was forced forwards to his knees, before the otter seized his skull, the lizard's hair catching on fire as he screamed down at him: "Why aren't you laughing, ain't it a great joke?"

Loki's head fell back as he either laughed or sobbed, the Drakkaren couldn't tell as agony seared his mind and he felt his brain starting to boil... and then his angel wings tore free from his back, and Loki's laughter turned to scream as the white wings slapped him backwards, the pure energy burning his flesh as he staggered away... before Zerrex backstepped and extended his wings to their full length, spinning hard around to slap Loki forcefully across the body and knock him to the ground, the demigod howling as his front suffered terrible burns and he gargled uselessly... and then the Drakkaren shot a blade out of his warped wrist before he slammed it down through the demigod's stomach, pinning him as he created a sphere of energy in his other hand before he shoved it down into Loki's face.

It exploded in a magnificent sapphire blast that blew Zerrex's hair back and made his eyes ache, the nanomachine clothing covering his body burning slightly away before it slowly repaired itself, the only noise after a moment his sparking armlet buzzing away as his wings slowly vanished from sight... and then the reptile blinked as he saw he had just blown a crater in the ground and Loki was gone, looking back and forth before he snarled as he heard a noise behind him.

Loki was staggering away towards the open doors leading out of the hall, clutching his stomach and half his face missing, the skull bare and the eye rolling crazily in the socket even as flesh and fur crawled slowly back into place over it, looking over his shoulder as he shrieked... and then the Drakkaren brought his flesh and blood arm up to shoot a swarm of four bony, thorny tentacles out, the long appendages twisting and racing eagerly through the air before they seized Loki around the wrists, body, and neck, the otter howling a loud, long: 'No!' in the moment he had before the sound was cut off by the tentacles tightening around him, and he gagged before he was jerked through the air in a long, wide arc, Zerrex grunting as he snapped the otter over his head before the long, slithering appendages released him, the bone hooks tearing out of his body as they lashed firmly upwards to send the male flying through the air, and then he crashed into the raised platform and rolled to a halt, laying prone at the feet of his dead father.

Tears rolled down his cheeks as his face finished healing, as did his stomach... but he was still visibly beaten and humiliated, other minor wounds very visible on his body and still clutching his gut as if it ached. He trembled violently for a few moments, and then slowly sat up as Zerrex leapt over the fallen pillar and advanced towards the demigod... and the otter looked up at Gungir, where it was impaled through Odin's skull, before he looked at the tip, still buried in the ground... but when he reached for it, Zerrex rose a hand and shouted, only twenty feet away now and just past the platform: "Wait! Will you defile Odin's glory, just to win a battle?"

Loki trembled... and then he screamed and grabbed the spear, yanking it out of the ground... and the weapon rapidly shrank down until it was only seven feet long, Odin's skull trembling before it rolled slowly out of his lap... and the otter staggered out of the way, pinwheeling his arms before he held a hand out helplessly as the head fell and shattered against the stone, bone cracking apart and becoming nothing more than a broken heap of fragments and dust underneath an old helm... and slowly, the now-cracked glass eye rolled free. It slowly made its way to the end of the platform, and hesitated at the lip... before it fell forwards, but Zerrex reached out and gently caught it, looking at the spiderweb of cracks through the white eye before he sighed quietly as he looked up at the demigod, watching Loki stagger to his feet and cock the spear back, screaming: "It doesn't matter what happens, as long as I avenge my father!"

He threw the spear, the god-killing weapon gleaming bright as it flew through the air... but it seemed to move in slow motion, as the Drakkaren had enough time to shift the eye to carry under one arm, to register Loki's expression of pain, rage, sorrow, and confusion... and then to reach up, and easily catch the spear by the neck, as if it was being held in front of him instead of thrown. There was no force, no pushing forwards, no need to even flex his muscles as he held it by the neck... and he looked at the weapon, asking it quietly: "You only want the blood of the ones who did this, don't you?"

It sparked, and Zerrex smiled a bit before he looked up sourly as Loki looked back and forth in horror... and then he threw the spear backwards, and it went with the ease of throwing a feather-light dart: the weapon flew back at the otter, who gaped before he shrieked when the butt of it smashed into him, knocking him flat as the spear flew high into the air, spinning violently before Loki covered his face and curled his knees up to his chest, shrieking... and then the spear landed point-first in the ground next to his head, and slowly, the demigod looked through his fingers, before he gargled when Zerrex's hand closed around his throat, the Drakkaren lifting him above his head with his twisted claw as he held Odin's glass eye in his other hand.

Loki swung a foot out at him, and the Drakkaren grunted as it contacted with his chest, but did little damage... and then the other kicked the glass eye, cracking it further and knocking it out of the reptile's grip. The lizard vainly reached out to catch it, his claws just scratching the surface before it arced through the air... and it shattered apart on the stone platform, turning to a broken heap much like the skull before Zerrex snarled and sun on the spot before he threw Loki hard at the wall.

The demigod squawked when he collided with it, before he slid down it... and when Zerrex charged, he held a hand up, a blast of darkness searing the air directly in front of the reptile and knocking him flying backwards before Loki swung his hand to the side, and another dark blast caught the lizard in the center of the back, sending him into the sky, before a final explosion appeared just above him, sending him flying straight down to crash into the ground as the otter climbed to his feet, breathing hard as he rasped: "Don't push me..."

Zerrex snorted, shaking his head as he slowly got up... and Loki stared in shock before he snarled and sidestepped as he snapped his fingers... and another explosion ripped the air behind the lizard, sending him flying face-first into the stone wall next to the otter before a searing pain tore through his back, but the reptile slammed a foot backwards into Loki's kneecap, the demigod cursing and falling to a kneel before Zerrex spun around and brought a knee into his cheek, the bone shattering as Loki's eyes bulged in pain and stupid surprise, and then a final hard hammer-fist from the Drakkaren smashed into his face and knocked him sprawling on the ground.

He lay there in a bleeding heap, his wounds not healing anymore, beaten and bloodied as he looked up at Zerrex with fear and loathing and hatred... and then the Drakkaren sighed before he extended a hand to the otter, and the demigod whispered a question up to him: "Why? Why, after everything I've done to you, after how I betrayed you and ignored you last time... why again extend a hand to me?"

"To help you up." Zerrex said simply, and he stood silently for a moment, hand still extended before he finally added softly: "Maybe you have a reason now to help me out, Loki. Because there are nasty monstrosities putting in some guest appearances all over the place... and I followed them here to Valhalla. Snow Beasts, Infernal Devils, a goddamn Jabberwocky... and now Odin's dead. And I'm guessing you aren't behind any of this, god of trickery or not."

Loki shook his head after a moment... and then, hesitantly, looking at Zerrex like a distrustful animal, he slowly reached out his hand, until his fingertips brushed against the reptile's... and he winced when the Drakkaren seized his hand in a strong grip, trying to shrink away as if expecting an attack... and when nothing happened, he finally nodded and let himself be helped to his feet, before he looked down at his hand when Zerrex released it, as if he'd never seen it before.

Zerrex gave him a moment, and then he looked down at the floor before he hopped off the platform, walking over to the little wooden box the demigod had brought in as Loki said finally: "So I guess you didn't kill him, then."

"I'm flattered you think I could, but I've been having kinda a long day." Zerrex replied mildly, as he brushed the box off a bit, and then he walked over to Loki and offered it to him. The otter looked surprised, and then the demigod finally took it with a mumble, opening it and silently pulling out a velvet-wrapped object. Loki looked at this for a few long seconds, and then he carefully unwrapped it and held up an old eye made of smooth white wood with a lightning-shaped crack down it... and he sighed softly before wrapping it back up and putting it back in the box, and in a single deft movement he made it vanish in a puff of dark smoke.

The otter finally looked at him, and he snorted in distaste before he hopped off the platform and staggered past the Drakkaren, muttering: "Come on, then. Show me what the hell you were talking about."

Zerrex relaxed, feeling relieved as he followed Loki, rubbing slowly at some of the wounds still covering his own body. The otter was already regaining some of his energy, as he hopped the pillar... and the lizard, meanwhile, awkwardly clambered over it and half-fell down the other side, earning a look from the otter as he crossed his arms and asked sourly: "How can you be so graceful in combat and then so sloppy outside of it?"

"How can you be so shut the hell up?" Zerrex replied flatly, and Loki rolled his eyes before the two continued out into the hallway, and the Drakkaren pointed at the closed portcullis at one end of the hall. "Through there."

"Wait." Loki held an arm out, and then he pointed upwards... and the lizard looked up blankly at the darkness above before the otter rolled his eyes, saying dryly: "I forget sometimes that Valhalla is a bit confusing for those who aren't used to it... watch this."

Loki held a hand out and created an illusionary copy of himself some ten feet away, which strolled casually towards the portal... and then a horde of the leathery-winged fire-spitting devils descended on the illusion, tearing at it wildly before they shrieked and looked confused as it vanished, and a moment later, they returned towards the ceiling. Zerrex made a face, and then Loki snorted before he snapped his fingers and everything dimmed, the otter walking boldly forwards as he said darkly: "Come on, I don't want to take all day."

The Drakkaren rolled his eyes but followed nervously nonetheless, but he figured Loki had cast some sort of illusion over the area that barred them from sight... and then the otter jerked his head at the portcullis when they reached it, asking mildly: "And how do you plan to deal with this?"

Zerrex rolled his eyes, then he reached down and grabbed the bottom of the gate, and the otter stared as the Drakkaren's tired muscles flexed and he slowly hefted it above his head, grunting as he glared at him: "Well, move it!"

Loki ducked through, and Zerrex carefully shifted his grip as he turned his body, sidestepping to end up on the other side of the portcullis before he let it drop, and he let out a wheeze, panting quietly before looking over his shoulder to see Loki standing at the vortex with a look of disgust. He slowly limped over to the platform, and the demigod glanced at him before he jumped down and approached the control panel, saying meditatively: "Valhalla is not supposed to be a place for people to enter and leave as they please... which is part of the reason I was thrown out of here. All these portals are supposed to have a lock on them, and only certain gods, full-blooded gods unlike myself, were able to activate them... but I do know one little secret..."

The demigod grinned darkly, and Zerrex watched him tinker with the coordinates for a few moments before he stepped back... and the vortex began to buzz strangely as energy fed into it, before there was a crackle as white lightning arced out of it in all directions, the reptile covering his head as Loki clapped and laughed before the wolf and dragon statues exploded into chunks of rocky shrapnel, and the Drakkaren held up his rocky arm, a few chunks of these bouncing off it as the otter hid behind the platform, still cackling. Zerrex looked at him sourly, and Loki shrugged and grinned before he stood up, asking: "So where shall I drop you off?"

"No, you're coming with me. You've got a lot to explain." Zerrex said flatly, and Loki frowned, looking like he was ready to argue or fight before Zerrex grabbed him by the neck and hefted him into the air, glaring at him. "Listen, you chose the smart option back there. Choose the stupid option now, and I'm going to rip your intestines out of your stomach, then shove them back down your throat, rip them out the hole in your gut again, and fucking tie you up like a present, you got that?"

"Yes!" Loki squeaked, and then Zerrex dropped him, and the otter gagged and rubbed at his bruised throat, glowering at the reptile. "You really need to work on your anger issues, bud."

"A friend's a friend, a pal's a pal, but a buddy is someone you sleep with." Zerrex muttered, and Loki gave him a confused look before the reptile rolled his eyes, saying tiredly: "Anywhere in Hell is fine. And you are coming with me. Believe me, I'll give you plenty of free reign... but only after you prove to me you aren't going to go traitor-berserk on me."

"Fuck you, you're just like Odin was." Loki said disgustedly, and then he made a face and flapped his arms. "Rules, rules, rules! Do this, do that, don't do that, don't do this!"

Zerrex looked at him meditatively as he continued to ramble childishly, wondering if this was his way of working through his issues... and then he sighed, decided he didn't have the patience or tolerance for this today, and he reached out and slapped the otter firmly upside the head, knocking him over and making him blink stupidly as the reptile leaned down and said mildly: "All you need to do is get us out of here, tell me what's been going on with these gods you claimed to be an emissary of, and then you can go wherever the hell you want, I don't care."

"How do you know I won't just go back to them?" Loki asked, looking up at him with a deep frown as he stood slowly, once more looking distrustful, as if he felt he was about to be the butt of another cosmic joke.

"Because if you went back to them, they'd probably kill you in an even worse way than I would." Zerrex replied mildly, and Loki opened his mouth before he shut it, suddenly looking pale and ill. The reptile looked at him with entertainment at this, winking at him. "Bet you didn't think of that, huh? Then in that case, we better head for the Central Spire... or better yet, the Ravenlight Estate. Pretty sure you know where the latter one is."

Loki muttered something, then he held a hand up and created a glowing vortex, saying darkly: "Let's just go before something bad happens."

Zerrex agreed with this sentiment for once, keeping pace with the otter as they entered the portal, and in a few moments they emerged in front of the main gates of the Ravenlight Estate. Loki looked up at the huge, fortified building with discomfort he tried to hide with contempt, and then he finally looked at the reptile and bragged: "Valhalla's bigger. The entire pocket dimension is almost all just the one massive keep."

"I prefer log cabins myself. I keep this for family." Zerrex replied absently, and then he looked up and shouted: "Sin!"

Loki winced away from him... and then he stared when a portal opened and Sin emerged. She looked at Zerrex, then at the otter... and a moment later she flicked her wrist, and Loki was bound by purple chains that wrapped around his body, the demigod screeching as he toppled before the Naganatine looked at the Drakkaren with concern: "Are you okay? We fended off the attack, but the lab... is he behind this?"

Sin turned a look of such anger on Loki that Zerrex carefully stepped between them with his hands raised, saying calmly: "No, he's not... and Odin is dead." He stopped to let that sink in for a moment, Sin frowning quietly, and then the Drakkaren said quietly: "I don't know who or what did it, but we need to regroup. Loki's on our side now. Aren't you?"

"I could get out of these any time I wanted." the otter shouted irritably, as he wiggled and squirmed, and the reptile made a face before he reached down and picked him up, throwing him over his shoulder and sighing as he figured maybe the binding wasn't such a bad idea out here: he had a feeling Loki would be less inclined to possibly try and run off once he was in a building and realized no one was going to kill him. "Put me down! Filth! Scum! Asshole!"

"Just shut up." Zerrex said tiredly, as Sin quickly opened the gates for him before falling into pace beside him, grasping his shoulder nervously. As they approached the doors leading into the Estate, the Royal Guards that were now posted around the clock at the mansion to defend it from attack quickly opened them, looking apprehensive as Zerrex carried Loki inside... and then he finally put the otter down on his feet and looked at Sin, who nodded and reached out to touch one of the purple chains, and the bindings on his body vanished.

Loki was looking moodily back and forth, and the Drakkaren looked at him flatly, saying mildly: "I want your word of honor that you aren't screwing with me. Give me yours, and I'll give you mine that no harm comes to you and you'll be free to leave afterwards and treated with respect. That's how trust works: it's a two-way street."

Zerrex held out a hand, and Loki looked at it strangely before he finally sighed and nodded, the impish look vanishing from his dark eyes as they met Zerrex's emerald ones, taking his hand and shaking it slowly as he murmured: "By Valhalla, by my heart, by my honor. Odin... strike me down if I..."

The otter halted, then he looked at Zerrex and asked quietly: "He's really dead, isn't he? I mean... he's really not going to come back."

The Drakkaren nodded, and the otter slowly pushed his fingers together as they stood in the entrance hall together, Sin quietly standing off to the side before Loki closed his eyes and turned away, muttering a short something before he turned back around and said softly: "A good portion of me wants to escape right now and trick you. But I know that... the only gods that could kill Odin are them... or maybe some of their higher-tier servants. The really dangerous ones, the really scary ones. But... alright. I'm ready to talk."

Zerrex nodded, and he half-led Loki up the stairs as Sin followed behind them, keeping her eyes open for any trickery. Within minutes, the three of them were sitting at a table in the library, and they were silent, the Drakkaren giving the otter time to put his thoughts together as he frowned at the table.

Finally, he sighed and murmured: "They approached me... millions and millions of years ago now. More years than I can count... than I even care to count. They wanted me to act as a spy at first, which I did easily enough..." He halted, then shook his head slowly. "No, that's not what you're interested in. I can keep it short: I was a spy, and I helped activate portals and deal with the mortals and their goods. Call me a general manager of the operation.

"I reported to one of two different people... one of them was Animaxander, who I've heard has started his little operation on the mortal coil now." Loki made a face of disgust as Zerrex narrowed his eyes and even Sin leaned forwards a little bit. "He's... he's important enough that people like me have to report to him... but unimportant enough that he has to report back on all his activities to the big bosses. A lieutenant, so to speak... but whatever else, he's had a lot of experience in this game, and he'll eradicate anything and anyone that defies him or gets in his way.

"The other guy I reported to... well... Animaxander caught him shorting shipments, taking crystals for himself to sell on the black market." Loki grinned sourly, shaking his head in disgust. "Let's say it wasn't pretty. These last few years, I've just been reporting to Animaxander, and no one's come to replace Bas.

"I don't know much about the operation, Animaxander kept that secret and all he wanted me to do was to cause chaos." Loki leaned back, slapping the table lightly and then creating two small balls of dark fire, juggling them back and forth in his hands as he looked at them both pompously. "Which you know I do very well. The only thing he wanted me to make sure I did was kill you or at least keep you busy... and he was talking about destroying any of your operations that might threaten his plans. He was very upset when Wulfe was killed, for example... apparently even back then he was going back and forth from the mortal realm to wherever the fuck he comes from, and trading information and promises of power for technology and crystals. When the crystal supply was choked off, it put some wrench into the plans... and that's why Animaxander is here now."

Loki halted and put his hands on the table, lowering his head before he glanced up and said softly: "They're coming, you see. Animaxander and his cronies have been tasked with softening up the populace and taking care of any threats or problems... but Animaxander's bosses are coming here, and they happen to be Old Gods, Elder Gods... things more ancient and more powerful than God ever was. And God, I remember, was strong... before Father threw me out, I remember he and Odin shaking hands and talking things out... and they would argue all the time, Father about war and God about peace, but they both cherished honor and Odin was glad to lend him his services... and yet now the halls of Valhalla are empty and cold... I don't know where Thor or any other others are, likely scattered over the world, and the War-Makers and Danes and Vikings are gone..."

He stopped, then he looked down as he wiped slowly at his face, before he looked at Zerrex quietly. "I came to hate you so much... and I still do. But I thought I hated my Father, too... and now that he's gone, I... I loved him. And he died disappointed in me, before I could even return his eye..." Loki clenched a hand into a fist, and then he looked across at Zerrex, saying slowly as he pushed a finger into the table: "If you help me take revenge on whoever did this... if you will help me even find out who slew Odin, you have my word I will never bring harm to you or your kin again, and I will help you at every turn on the way there and unto the end of the world."

The Drakkaren looked across at Loki, and then he nodded, saying quietly: "I will. We'll find whoever killed Odin, Loki... but I think you've shared enough with us for now." He stood, and the otter looked surprised as Sin rose as well. "You're free to wander the Estate as you like and to come and go. You fulfilled your end of the bargain, and I'll fulfill mine."

"You... what?" Loki looked almost lost, before he said slowly: "This... you're serious? I can leave if I want?"

Zerrex smiled a bit, reaching down to squeeze his shoulder and making the otter wince. "I don't go back on my word... at least, not most of the time." He winked, then added quietly: "You're not a bad guy, for... you know, the god of jerkiness and all that. There are a few empty rooms downstairs, feel free to rest in them if you like. You can think over what you'd like to do for the next while. I, unfortunately, have a few nasty things to tend to myself, so don't expect to see much of me here for the next few years. Oh, and before I forget, watch out for Cherry and Selena. Neither of them are exactly the 'forgiving' type."

Loki nodded dumbly... and Zerrex smiled again before he and Sin left the library. They walked down the hall together side-by-side, and then the Naganatine asked softly: "Is that really such a wise idea, Lord Zerrex?"

"Yeah, I think so. But maybe I'm just gullible." the Drakkaren replied softly, but he knew what a big deal honor and one's word was to the warrior gods, and figured that even Loki would have had it ingrained deeply in him... and then he made a face, asking quietly: "How's the lab?"

Sin shook her head slowly, then she created a portal when they paused in the hallway and led him through it... and the Drakkaren stared when they stepped out into the room, which had been devastated by explosions. Chunks of metal were stuck in the walls, and complex machinery was half-hanging, destroyed and ruined, out of large, shattered holes in the ceiling... and Ixin looked up from where he was carefully putting books back into shelves, looking over his shoulder at the two morbidly. "Well, where the hell did you go? I am glad you at least took down the Yetis outside, that would have been a nightmare to deal with in here... by the way, you do know you look like shit and... oh look, your techno-bracelet is busted."

"It's an armlet. It fits over my entire forearm, see?" Zerrex held it up and shook it, then he winced when it fizzled and buzzed before sparking, and his clothes vanished, leaving him standing in just his boxers as Ixin cleared his throat awkwardly and Sin blushed a bit, covering her muzzle. "Can this day get any worse?"

"Don't say that! At least, not in here." Ixin snapped, and then he sighed before he looked at Sin, asking flatly: "I don't suppose you can repair all this, right?"

"There's too much damage... my repair spells can fix walls and cracks, but not... wreckage of this magnitude." Sin said quietly, but as she spoke, her voice faded out a bit. The Drakkaren reached up to touch his forehead, closing his eyes and wondering if the pain and the still-untreated wounds were what was making him dizzy... and then the voice of the Princess whispered silkily in his mind: It's a perfect time to try it out.

"Time for what? Try what out?" Zerrex mumbled, and the Princess laughed a bit as both Ixin and the Naganatine looked at him oddly, but he felt a strange feeling growing in his mind, a strange sensation tickling through his body as he slowly rose his arm... and then he winced before his jaw fell open as he felt a power flow through him and out of him, like he was merely a sieve that water was running through, like something else was powering both it and him for a moment as the whole room took on a strange, purple glow.

Slowly, dirt and rock lifted up and returned to the cracks and damage in the wall, as burnt and broken metal girders twisted themselves back into shape and ash and char whispered as they vanished into the air. Dents popped back out as if hammered from the inside, and gears and cogs and bars and wires floated through the air to lock together back into position; heavier girders and larger metal pipes waited their turn patiently, and then slowly floated up and locked into position where they had been before.

Tables popped up and repaired themselves, as beakers floated back into their original positions and the potions Ixin had wiped up floated out of the sinks and strained themselves out of rags and towels to return to their vials and glass bottles, and books rearranged themselves on the shelves as pages floated up and into them; even cobwebs returned to their cozy homes in the upper shelves, attached between book and wood as Ixin and Sin continued to gape and Zerrex felt his energy starting to drain just as the glow began to fade, focusing now only around the center of the room as the last of the complex machinery and girders snapped into position. And finally, the glow vanished, and Zerrex fell back on his ass, panting quietly as blood ran from his eyes and muzzle, and the Princess whispered inside his mind: Don't think this is all for you. I help you... and you help me.

Zerrex didn't reply to that, but he felt the Princess fading out of his mind anyway... and he looked stupidly up as Ixin gaped and walked around the room, examining the white center cell: the Drakkaren could see now that the mage had built it so that it was shaped almost like a ribcage, but the lowest 'rib's seemed capable of swinging open so a person could step inside it, where there were three round, massive rings surrounding a central chair that was suspended somehow in the middle of the device. Then he looked at Sin as she extended a hand, and he took it and let her help him up to his feet, swaying slowly on them before he held up a finger as Sin opened her mouth, smiled apologetically, then leaned away from her and vomited blood.

"Oh fuck, you go and clean up my lab and then you mess the whole fucking place up." Ixin said disgustedly, as the Drakkaren vomited bile again and Sin winced, holding on to him so he wouldn't fall over. The mage walked over to a table, muttering and rolling his eyes as the Drakkaren began to shudder violently, looking pale, and then he picked up a vial and mixed it into a beaker before walking over to Zerrex.

He stepped quickly back when Zerrex puked a third time, a disgusting mess that Ixin didn't even want to look at, and when the Drakkaren looked up with a miserable expression on his face, Ixin grabbed his muzzle, jerked it open, and poured the concoction inside. Immediately, Zerrex's eyes bulged at the horrendous taste, but Ixin held his muzzle closed and jerked his head back, and the Drakkaren swallowed after a moment before he moaned dumbly at the feeling of swallowing back more than just potion.

It made him want to vomit again... but after a few moments, his stomach slowly settled, and he breathed softly as Ixin walked away and Sin cast several powerful cleansing spells that made Zerrex's scales and nostrils burn, getting rid of at least most of the puke. She gently rubbed his back, looking at him apologetically as she said softly: "I can't heal you right now... I'm drained after dealing with the gargoyles."

"I thought they were devils." the Drakkaren said slowly, his voice thick and his head tingling. He looked stupidly at Sin, and she smiled and nodded before the reptile slapped his forehead, mumbling: "Right. Some gargoyle breeds aren't constructs, they're... right." He stopped, then he added loudly: "Thanks, Ixin. I feel a lot better."

"Good!" Ixin called from inside the device he'd built, tinkering with something on the floor before he finally stood and left, looking at the Drakkaren thoughtfully as he watched Sin gently help him remove the armlet he was wearing. "Where'd you get that level of reality control?"

"The Princess..." Zerrex said tiredly, shaking his head slowly. "She's inside me, remember? She's trying to barter her way to life by sharing her abilities with me."

Ixin frowned at this, then he slowly paced back and forth as Sin gently massaged the Drakkaren's back... before the mage finally looked at the reptile and said quietly: "We went over what that machine would do to you. How you might lose yourself to the power of Mephistopheles... but I didn't think about the Princess. She will almost surely try to seize control if we put you in there, you realize, and she'll be able to do a fuck of a lot more than just raw power looking for an outlet could."

The Drakkaren sighed at this, rolling his eyes. "Like something horrible isn't going to happen anyway. Let's just put me in there and get this over with now. I mean, I'm in the perfect condition for it right now anyway... grouchy, exhausted, low on energy." He looked from Ixin to Sin, smiling a bit as he patted his bare abdominals. "And I'm pretty much naked."

"Uh. No." Ixin said mildly, and Sin nodded, making a noise of agreement even though she blushed when Zerrex looked at her. "Yeah, we put you in now, and sure, maybe it'll be for the better. But if you end up turning mortal - again, big, big, big chance of that happening - you will uh. Exquisite is the only word that comes to mind to tell you how much pain you're going to be in, except I really doubt you're going to enjoy it at all."

The mage crossed his arms with a huff, and then Zerrex held up a hand and asked mildly: "Who here is High King?" A pause, and then he put his down and crossed his arms, ordering flatly: "We're doing this. Now."

Ixin looked at him for a few long moments... and then he sighed and rolled his eyes, grabbing at his skull and hissing like a teakettle in frustration as he stomped his feet and threw a temper tantrum. Then Zerrex looked over at Sin, who was looking down quietly... and he gently stroked under her chin, saying softly: "Whatever happens, these are my orders. I need Priest to repair my armlet... I need Cherry to help prepare the Emergency Response Teams... and I need you not to worry about me. If I do go into a long hibernation... put me in the Well at the bottom of your Tower. I think Ixin will agree to that much, at least."

The mage looked up at this, frowning, and Sin shook her head with a quiet laugh, saying softly: "I'll take care of everything, Lord Zerrex... and I'll... keep you safe, whatever happens." She paused, looking embarrassed... and then she silently kissed his cheek before she took his arm and quietly helped him to his feet, murmuring: "I still disapprove. And I will still worry. Because I care about you, Zerrex."

"Yeah, and you're a real douchebag prick sometimes." Ixin added vehemently, and then he huffed when the Drakkaren gave him a sour look. "What, you totally are and I think you know that, you asshole."

The lizard finally grunted and shrugged as the mage opened the lower 'ribs' of the cage, and he looked up at the chair suspended in midair before saying finally: "I uh. I don't think I'm going to be able to get up there by myself."

"Here, Lord Zerrex." Sin said with soft amusement after a moment, and she waved a hand, three small platforms of silvery metal forming in front of the Drakkaren. Zerrex smiled a bit to her after a moment, and then he stepped carefully up them with her still tenderly holding onto his hand, letting go only as he turned around and sat down in the plain steel seat.

He grasped the arms, then winced when manacles clamped over both his wrists and ankles, before several belts of metal snaked their way across his chest and jerked him firmly back against the chair to hold him tightly in place. He looked at Ixin flatly, and the mage held up a hand, saying clearly: "Hey, those totally aren't just for show. You're gonna just wish they were real soon. And uh, Sin, you might wanna back out of there, I'm gonna start the draining process and if two people are in there, things are going to get real ugly."

The Naganatine nodded, hesitating a moment as she looked up at Zerrex, and then she finally stepped out and carefully closed the bottom 'ribs,' and Ixin looked up through the girders and pointed at something, and Sin nodded, heading around the device as Ixin said mildly up at him. "Seriously, dude, if you wanna back out of this now, go ahead and say so. I totally won't think any less of you. And... I might even be a little relieved. 'Cause otherwise this is going to hurt a lot."

"Well, I can't have that now." the Drakkaren said blithely, and Ixin rolled his eyes with a grumble before the mage pulled out his flute, and the reptile frowned a bit at this, but before he could say anything, the Immortal began to play a haunting, slow melody, and Zerrex felt his body weakening as it became hard to concentrate on anything.

He let his mind become fuzzy, his thoughts spiraling out as he dropped his head forwards, not even noticing when Ixin stopped playing and left the room. He sat there drowsily for a few moments, and failed to also notice the blue light that began sparking around the 'ribs' of the cage or the rings staring to gyrate around the chair.

Zerrex came back to reality when a painful burning seared over his scales, and he looked up stupidly before his eyes bulged as agony tore at his form, body arching against the restraints as he felt like his insides were being siphoned out... and then he clenched his eyes shut as the light inside the cage became bright enough to scorch his vision, before he let out a long howl of agony as the burning sensation and the siphoning feeling both rapidly grew, a horrible whistling filling his ears as the rings spun in a blur around him, lightning crackling over the cage of the machine as it glowed with white and blue light.

And just as quickly as it started, it stopped... and Zerrex was left staring for a moment, panting hard in and out as he trembled in the restraints before he simply slumped and fainted. The darkness that covered his senses, however, was not total for long... and he shuddered violently as he felt himself passing in and out of consciousness, vision and feeling fading in and out but the pain chasing him to the very edge of the deepest shadows, always making itself known, always making itself there.

He heard murmurs and half-saw shapes he barely registered above, felt them move him around but didn't feel them plug needles into his arm: he didn't know how he recognized someone had put an IV and some other scary things into him, he just knew it. A shudder ran through him, and the reptile groaned, dropping his head back, as someone's voice echoed: "Can't you do something about this?"

"I am!" argued Ixin angrily, clear through even the haze, and then everything simply blanked out... and the next thing Zerrex knew, he was laying sprawled-out in an ugly metal hallway in his mind, cables and broken piping hanging from the ceiling and steam hissing out steel pipes along the walls. Rust-colored water dribbled from a few of these, and as the Drakkaren slowly climbed up to his feet, he looked down to see the floor he was walking on had barred grates in it every few meters... and there were hands locked around many of these bars as discordant groans and pleas rang throughout the hallway.

The reptile looked over his shoulder to see that the passage behind him had collapsed... and then he looked ahead, watching as steel pressure doors sparked occasionally as the pair slowly opened and closed, opened and closed, something obviously caught in the mechanism. He examined these for a few moments, and then he shook his head as he walked around the grates, looking down to see eyes of people insane, furious, mournful, and all of the above trapped inside them.

He walked in front of the pressure doors, reaching up to part them... and then the grating beneath his feet snapped and the Drakkaren fell into a vent instead, grunting as he landed on his back before he skidded down and out into a white room made of bone, where the few pieces of vegetation had become drained and dead. She examined Zerrex with a smile on her ugly, scarred face and her mask in her lap, looking over him as she said softly: "We have a deal, Lord Zerrex... my power... for my life. But the only way I can live... is if you die. All your energy has been drained, and obviously you can't continue to sustain us both... but while you are tired and weak, I am strong and ready to continue to endure."

"Don't kid yourself." Zerrex said softly, and the Princess frowned at him before the Drakkaren glanced down at his hands, then he gestured at the dead vines covering the skull wall... and the vines trembled before they twisted and grew, springing back into life as she looked disgusted, leaning away in her throne from them as they crawled slowly down the wall. "This is my reality, not yours... you already tried this before, and..."

Zerrex frowned a bit as he began to get lightheaded, and now the Princess looked more sure of herself, as she replied silkily: "Feel something strange, Lord Zerrex? It's not me this time, so you can't stop it... this time, outside sources are accidentally making this even easier for me. You see, whenever you go wandering your own mind, it creates a state of increased activity in your brain... and right now, that idiot mortal mage Ashcroft Ixin is trying to shut down all your brain activity, thinking that will keep me from accessing it."

The Princess stood up, bringing her mask to her face and settling it on as she continued softly: "You still don't have the strength or the energy to actually use my abilities, so I have no need to fear any violent reprisals from you while I take this opportunity to kill you... already, you're weakening so quickly that..." She paused, then her green eyes sparkled as she saw the space Zerrex had occupied last was empty, asking with soft, playful disappointment: "Now, you didn't think that would work, did you?"

She spun around and caught Zerrex by the throat when he lunged at her, and the Drakkaren choked and gagged as she squeezed down on his throat, grabbing her wrist before he looked up at her weakly and said finally: "Nope."

The Princess frowned... and then Zerrex created a blade of energy in his hand before he slashed it hard downwards as it glowed white, and the Princess screamed like a banshee as her hand was cut off at the wrist. She grasped at it with her other hand, looking furious as Zerrex landed with a grunt and staggered... and then she simply blasted him across the room with a telekinetic glare, sending him crashing into a wall before she lifted up her throne with her mind, snarling: "You always have to make things so difficult!"

Zerrex stood with a grunt, feeling his energy inside his body flickering and his mind softening, tiring... before the throne smashed into him and struck him hard enough to send him crashing through the skeletal wall behind him. He landed heavily on his back, dazed and stupid, looking up at... green and blue and... sunlight?

He gaped as he looked back and forth, surrounded by ferns, foliage and trees that were all vibrant, beautiful greens, and high, high above past the treetops, the reptile could see a blue, clear sky, light shining clearly through the thick, long leaves and a few animal sounds reaching his ears as he felt the soil beneath his toe-claws... and then he looked dumbly at the ivy-covered dome of bone as it trembled, the Princess yelling furiously inside the dome before the Drakkaren's eyes rolled up in the back of his head and he fell on his back as a sudden wave of weakness came over his body.

From the forest in his mind, vines slowly whispered out and wrapped around the reptile... and these gently lifted him off the ground and carried him into the treetops, where ferns and great large leaves fanned over him as they pulled him towards a safe hiding place to nestle inside the trunk of a treat ancient tree. And on the ground, the Princess was now stomping through the forest, her hand reattached to her wrist, but she was still clutching it as she cursed and burned her way through the jungle as if it was a diseased place, shuddering with loathing at every leaf that brushed her as she nonetheless forced herself to leave her collapsing dome on a wild chase after the Drakkaren, knowing that to survive, she had to kill him.

But Zerrex was safe in a place she'd never look... and when she tried to reach out with her mind, the plants and the entire jungle felt like the Drakkaren's mind, were full of thoughts that immediately lashed out at her... and even with her abilities, she couldn't hope to burn down the mental jungle. She was hopeless... and soon, hopelessly lost, her burnt trail vanished behind her as the trees and plants shifted themselves around, and her screams of outrage echoing through the jungle.

Zerrex, on the other hand, was dreaming, both of strange, twisted things, and things he pulled somehow out of reality: he dreamt of running from a terrible monster, and of Loki returning to Valhalla to try and find a way to honor his father's death; he dreamt of dancing with his family, and of Sin murmuring that the transfer was done, as she pulled a tube out of her arm that was attached into his own; he dreamt of flying up towards the light, and of being locked up and pushed slowly down into a well full of darkness, as his Iuratus all stood at the ready, Cherry whispering to him about how she loved him before she pushed him gently down, down, down...

And then he was standing on a massive stone bridge above a pit of terrible darkness, and although there was a bright sky above, the light couldn't penetrate into here. Zerrex looked at the two statues that adorned this end of the bridge - one of Mephistopheles, and one of the Princess - and he could tell why, before he looked across the bridge to a tall island that seemed to float above the pit... and he saw one of himself, larger than the others but with less decoration, yet imposing nonetheless for more reasons than mere size.

He strode out onto the stone bridge, his demonic eyes adjusting... and then Ravenlight appeared beside him out of nowhere, sipping at a mug of coffee and looking exhausted, but dressed in his full battle armor and neat and polished as always, the younger, handsomer Drakkaren saying mildly as he brushed at his hair with his other hand: "Fucking Centrifuge took a lot out of me."

"Well, I'm glad you did. Life just wouldn't be the same without you in my head." Zerrex replied dryly, and he wasn't entirely sure if he was being sarcastic or not, as they walked side-by-side down the bridge, the reptile's hands behind his back as the evil version of him sipped from his mug, dragging his feet and barely managing a retort besides raising his middle finger at Zerrex in mid-sip. "You look a little retarded for a supervillain."

"You look a little retarded for a retard." Ravenlight retorted, and then he yawned loudly and stretched out, and the Drakkaren frowned, pausing for a moment as he watched dark energy stream off Ravenlight before he cursed under his breath and shook himself violently, and a puff of smoke came off him and his body flickered once before solidifying. "Fuck... my... goddamn. Ixin is going to suffer, I swear it..."

"I think Ixin suffers every day, really... not allowed to go to the mortal realm, not allowed to see any of his descendants other than Raze, always smiling and laughing..." Zerrex said meditatively, and Ravenlight mumbled something before the Drakkaren shot him a look, as they neared the end of the bridge. "Hey, just pointing out some people are already in far worse pain than even we could ever put them through."

Ravenlight disagreed with this by grunting again, and then he halted at the end of the bridge, pointing at the huge statue, and Zerrex followed his finger to see the large cracks throughout it as he said mildly: "This used to look a lot different... in fact, this used to look like this."

He snapped his fingers, and a moment later, a statue of a massive, monstrous Zerrex in full demonic glory was standing there instead. The reptile looked at this sourly for a moment, and then he leaned over to Ravenlight and asked: "How about we go with a fountain instead? Or maybe even a modernist sculpture. I actually really like this neat ones where they twist all the girders around... or hey, I know, a tribute to the Demon War, a statue of a Black Hole being held up on the backs of mortals, angels, and demons, how about that?"

The evil version of him closed his eyes and breathed slowly, and then he opened them and glared at Zerrex darkly, saying flatly: "How about you shut the hell up? Now look at that."

Ravenlight pointed at the bottom of the statue now as it returned to the previous form, and Zerrex frowned a bit as he saw a set of stairs leading down to a plain metal door with an eye scanner next to it. The Drakkaren looked at him curiously, and Ravenlight smiled grimly, explaining: "All your demonic characteristics have receded, including the powers of Mephistopheles, while you've entered hibernation. From what I've gathered, since I can at least snoop on your senses even while you're out cold to know if I've got to take over and get the fucking job done, you've been put into hibernation and you're in the Well, and they finished a month's worth of transferring energy into you. Everything that the Lucifer's Eye did to you has been removed, siphoned out, separated off, and put into storage somewhere... and now your demonic characteristics are going to start to emerge, some for the first time.

"But you aren't a mortal right now, either... you're... something in between." Ravenlight paused meditatively, tapping a finger at his muzzle slowly. "And maybe it was because of the Princess's interference and her reality-control, but now it looks like you can alter what you truly wish to become in that chamber, add and subtract demonic characteristics or... I'm not sure. Something special, that's all I know..."

Zerrex nodded slowly, frowning, and then he asked quietly: "How did you find all this? And why exactly are you bringing me here?"

Ravenlight sipped at his coffee again... and then he tossed the mug over the bridge, sending it plummeting into darkness as he looked at Zerrex with a hand resting on one of the twin .52s holstered at the front of his belt, looking across at the Drakkaren with mild entertainment. "Now I thought that would just be obvious. You see, Zerrex, I'm left to prowl your mind while you have fun playing around with the physical body. I get to wander in and out of your consciousness and subconscious all day, but I never really get a chance at the controls... so I know when something changes in your mind, and unlike Good or Cold, I don't feel guilty about bringing you here to fucking fix it, because it's your goddamn mind.

"See, what I figure, anyway, is that despite all your goodness and more annoyingly, your rightness, you, like everyone else, will look at all the pretty controls and say: 'one more won't hurt.'" Ravenlight grinned at him, and Zerrex narrowed his eyes as the Drakkaren turned away, throwing his arms out. "You, despite your preaching, will go right on ahead and make yourself as powerful as possible... and you'll reason it all away, but in the end, it's cause baby, I'm locked and loaded into your fucking brain."

Ravenlight spun around, pushing a finger against Zerrex's forehead as he leaned in close, saying darkly: "And if you don't power yourself up, you're just stupid. Because believe you me, I get to replay your memories like movies, so while you might have forgotten the battles in the past and how narrow your ass escaped, I sure as shit haven't. It's a push, Zerrex... and you're going to have to become as close to Father was as you can if you want even a hope of surviving."

Zerrex snarled at this, and he shoved Ravenlight hard... and the armored lizard laughed as he staggered backwards before tripping over the edge and falling into the darkness, and Zerrex winced as he stepped forwards and looked carefully over the edge... but Ravenlight was gone, and the lizard made a disgusted face before he shook his head slowly and walked towards the hot the statue stood on top of, descending the stairs and punching in the eye scanner when it beeped at him and asked for recognition out of sheer frustration.

It hissed and sparked, then the door fizzled, and the reptile rubbed his head embarrassedly, wishing he could take back the childish maneuver but at the same time glad... his lashing out may have cost him, but now he couldn't get inside and tamper with things... and then he stared when the electronic door slid open anyway, and he slapped his forehead before he sighed and entered... and immediately it snapped shut, leaving the reptile in a hexagonal room lit only by the ghostly glow of monitors that lined the walls of the room, several more hanging from the ceiling above on an angle and three monitors forming an interior cubicle inside the center of the room, likely a control chamber of some sort.

Before he could step too far inside, a device of some kind lowered from the ceiling with a whirr and created a holographic projection, and Zerrex found himself staring at Markus Requiem Narrius. The gigantic reptile was covered in enormous musculature, his body powerful but his features calm, cultured, and intelligent. The two gazed at each other, and then the projection of Requiem said softly: "In order to attain control, we must relinquish it: the harder we grip into something, after all, the greater the chance our own grip will break it... and if we let go entirely, often what we have been searching for finds us instead. Control and power both require a gentle grip to maintain... and more importantly, wisdom to keep and endure even when we are shaken to the core.

"If there is no trial, there is no reward: if there is no test, then what is the point to happiness? Pleasure without meaning is only another form of manipulation, of desensitization, of weakening people: but to tempt someone after teaching them meaning, and to have them resist, then both student and pupil are rewarded in ways that the average person will not understand entirely.

"Zerrex... you know I'm not here, you know that this... recording, is but messages of your perception of Requiem, woven together by thought-strings into data." the image continued softly, and the Drakkaren felt sadness run through his senses, as he nodded quietly. The image seemed to watch him for a few moments, and then it said softly: "But that makes this message... my message... no less true. These machines behind you will give you total control over what you become. They alter reality: they are designs of the Princess, but she is lost and alone in the wilderness right now, unable to find her way back to the security of her tumor in your soul. She will die soon, and there will be no grand climax or great story behind it: she has simply spent too much time outside of the environment for herself, and become too fearful, let her emotions cripple her senses and her faith... and in the end, aren't souls only faith given substance?" The holographic Requiem smiled a bit, then he urged softly: "Turn around. Do not fear. Do not hesitate. Remember... a gentle grip."

And the holographic image vanished... and Zerrex frowned before he looked over his shoulder, then back into the room. He wanted to turn around, to believe, but instead, he walked quietly into the room, closing his eyes as he rubbed a hand over the machines, gazing at the monitors... and there were controls that modified abilities, designer bodies programmed and waiting to be activated, corruption level indicators and so many other things... and then Zerrex stopped in front of one of the larger monitors at the back of the room, reaching up to touch a structural layout of his body before he whispered: "Am I just a machine to her?"

And he knew the answer to that: it was yes. He looked around at the machines, and then he staggered backwards, shaking his head dumbly before he hit the back of one of the central monitors, and he spun around and grabbed it with a snarl, yanking it off the small cement wall and throwing it across the room to crash into a set of levers and switches, and then he created a sphere of energy before throwing it hard across the room. It crashed into a bank of computers, and they went up in a gout of flames as red lights began to flash and a claxon went off, even as the Princess's voice filled the room in an interested drone: "Journal Entry 22-7-22-1. I've been researching a strange trait in this reptile that I hadn't considered before... the high-energy content of his body. With the right tools and circumstances, his form could be reshaped into anything, thanks to the fact his organic composition has a less-dense mass than your standard organic creature... but it would still be difficult due to the fact he is not wholly energy..."

"Shut up." Zerrex snarled desperately, looking back and forth before he ran out of the room, and he fell over on the stairs with a grunt, landing on his chest splayed like a fallen child for a moment before he crawled to his feet, shaking his head slowly as he rubbed at it. His skull ached, and he felt terrible trembles running through his body, as his breath whooshed in and out... and then he finally got slowly to his feet and climbed the last of the stairs, feeling embarrassed about his panic attack but putting it down to... well... whatever the hell's happening to me... dude, Ravenlight is going to be pissed...

The reptile stepped out onto the bridge... and then something groaned and creaked behind him, before the Drakkaren looked over his shoulder in shock to see the statue of him step slowly down from the hut. It did not breathe, its eyes did not glow, it did not yell or snarl... and someone, the soulless emotionlessness of the statue made it all the more terrifying, as Zerrex immediately turned and sprinted away, but the cracked stone statue behind him was far larger, and when it moved, a single footstep covered a terrible distance.

Its huge strides moved over Zerrex, and he skidded to a halt as the stone statue turned around... and when it spun, its tail collided with the statue of Mephistopheles, and both it and the tail of the Drakkaren statue shattered into brittle stone. Zerrex winced... and then he stared when the Zerrex-statue reached out and tore the top half off the Princess statue. "Hey, now, wait-"

The construct threw the broken upper half of the Princess statue at him, and Zerrex leapt over it, flailing his limbs awkwardly as it scratched his belly as it passed beneath him before it shattered on the edge of the bridge... and the Drakkaren cursed under his breath before the statue reached out to tear another chunk of the statue up. As it did so, the reptile looked back and forth before his eyes settled on a broken cement chunk, and he picked this up before he threw it hard at the statue's face.

It shattered in part of the cheek and eye, but the statue evidently cared little as it rose the stone chunk above its head... and Zerrex snarled before he picked up a barrel-sized piece of debris himself and threw this at it, this time hitting the wrist. It shattered, chunks of rock hailing down as the statue looked up, and then the broken lower half of the Princess fell on top of it, shattering its head in and knocking it off balance, and the huge, broken statue of Zerrex staggered before it fell off the bridge and plummeted into the darkness below.

Zerrex let out a sigh of relief... and then he winced as reality slowly began to turn white around him, dissolving and leaving him standing for a moment in nothingness as he heard a slow clapping... and slowly, he turned around to see Ravenlight, the male looking disgusted as he said darkly: "Now you've really gone and fucked us all to hell."

Zerrex snorted, but he didn't respond... and immediately, Ravenlight leapt to his feet, shouting angrily: "Don't you get it? We need more power! Power, to crush our enemies with! Power, to dominate Hell with! Power, power, power, we want it, we need it, we deserve it, goddammit, with everything we've been through, with who our father is!"

"Our father who art in Heaven." Zerrex said ironically, the beginning of an old Unity prayer, and instantly Ravenlight had one of handguns drawn and shoved into his forehead... and Zerrex only grinned, asking him darkly: "What are you going to do, Raves? You know you can't kill me. And you still don't understand what true strength is."

Ravenlight snarled, his eye twitching... and then he clenched them shut for a moment, and Zerrex immediately swept a hand up to grab the handgun by the barrel, Ravenlight looking surprised before he yelped when Zerrex drove his other hand into his wrist, nearly snapping it and forcing his darker side to release the gun and quickly back away before the reptile speedily disassembled the .52 magnum, looking with distaste across at the snarling male who was cradling his wrist. "You get way too complacent sometimes, Ravenlight. And you're way too fond of your big, clown-like faces. Now get lost. Real strength isn't just power... real strength takes a lot of things."

He dropped the slide and tossed the handle away, and Ravenlight snorted before skulking slowly away, and bit-by-bit, a forest faded in around the reptile, and he yawned and stretched, looking around in surprise before he stepped forwards... and then quickly brought his foot back as he heard something groan in protest. He looked down to see something rusty and faded, and then carefully reached down, picking it up... and he found himself holding the Princess's golden mask, except now it was faded and damaged instead of perfect and beautiful, covered in splotches of decay and moss.

He brushed at it absently, then held it against his chest as he carefully looked back and forth around the area... and in only a few minutes, he found the Princess... or what remained of her. And just as Requiem had said, she had died, her scales now whitish and her dress tattered and ruined... and the expression on her mossy, half-decayed features was one of stupid frustration. Zerrex looked at her for a few moments, and then he smiled a bit as he quietly fitted her mask back over her scarred face and patted it gently, murmuring softly: "None of us can run for long, Goddess... none of us, not the lowliest worm to the highest of gods. But maybe you'll find peace in death... maybe we all get to find peace when we... I dunno, go on to what might be next, or just break down and dissolve. You aren't my enemy anymore, though... and... much as I hate you, I want to thank you now, too, for letting me have some of your abilities. I hope one day I'll master them, because you really were one of the strongest beings I've ever fought... although you were also one of the cruelest, and stupid for all your wisdom. But listen to me ramble on..." Zerrex laughed a bit, and then he straightened and cracked his back, looking down at her vine-covered corpse. "Sleep now."

And as the Drakkaren turned away, her body and mask both slowly dissolved into nothingness, the plants on her form trembling a bit as they sank down into new homes on new places, and Zerrex walked slowly away, lowering his head in thought and not even noticing as the forest turned to darkness around him, or the changes that went over his body before he looked up in only the mildest of surprise as he found himself standing now inside a shrine of some kind, a large pool in the center of the circular room reflecting a crest he half-recognized on the ceiling, making Zerrex wonder what secrets his mind had in store for him.

The floor surrounding the pool was tiled stone, and huge pillars with statues of various magical beasts twisting around them held up the huge dome roof. They were evenly spaced, some eight or nine around the circular building, and Zerrex could see between them out into the shadows... and the reptile realized after a moment that he could see outside for miles upon miles.

He smiled a bit, and then he slowly walked over to the pool, and he gazed down in it... before he looked at himself in surprise, touching his face quietly. His scales were smooth and his eyes were bright, his scars gone... and then he looked up in surprise to see another version of himself sitting cross-legged across the pool with a flute, looking at him with a warm smile as he said softly: "Sit with me, Conscious Walker. I'd like to sing you a song."

"Can you tell me what happened first, Good?" Zerrex asked softly, and the aptly-named version of him smiled and nodded, patting the space beside him. Carefully, Zerrex walked over to him, rubbing at his now-smooth scales over his chest and then looking at his arm, but it was bare of the tattoo that had made so many people resent him over the years.

Good was a bit smaller than him, and visibly more cheerful, this side of his personality bright and positive and rarely seen by Zerrex: usually the only part of his mind that manifested itself and tried to communicate with him was Ravenlight, the darker part. The Drakkaren looked at him for a few moments, and Good gazed back before he cleared his throat and recited in a slow, careful voice: "Remember my darling, never you change... not morning noon or day... for always will I love your dearly... you're perfect in every way."

"S-stop." Zerrex rose a hand, and Good looked surprised as the Drakkaren lowered his head, murmuring softly: "Allie. That was... a poem I recited for her once. I tried my damndest to write a good one, but..."

"It was good." Good said emphatically, and then he reached up and gently patted him on the shoulder, saying softly: "And don't you remember her saying that back to you?"

"What does that have to do with anything?" Zerrex asked weakly, stricken by the words he had just heard and the memories they awoke... memories of great happiness and great sorrow. "Come on, Good, usually it's Ravenlight who tortures me."

"Shush now. Think about it." Good urged, and Zerrex lowered his head, closing his eyes... and then he finally sighed and looked up at him dumbly, and Good shrugged a bit, saying softly: "Your new demonic characteristics are settling in... think of it as... an upgrade. But for every one that does will come a new temptation with it... I just thought I'd let you remember that even if you gain the ability to hide those scars... you shouldn't. Be proud to be you, Conscious Walker... even if you hate yourself, which you really shouldn't, because I don't hate you."

Good gently nudged Zerrex's muzzle with his fist, and the reptile smiled a bit, closing his eyes for a moment... and when he opened them, Good was gone. The Drakkaren looked back and forth... and then he sighed, lowering his head in confusion as he rubbed his hands through his ragged white hair, gazing down at the pool... and his features, in front of his eyes, went from young back to old, the scars slowly settling back over his body, crawling with a tingle their way back onto his chest and face as he murmured softly: "I just can't escape who I really am."

Zerrex sat for a while, thinking... and then he waited for something to happen. When nothing did, he was almost disappointed, and he stood up and tried to leave... but the cliffs were steep, and the reptile wasn't ready yet to try flinging himself to his death. He poked the pool, tapped some of the animal sculptures, wished himself away, and then finally took off his clothes and jumped into the water... but as he bathed and washed the grime off his body and out of his hair - imagine, getting dirty in your own goddamn head - nothing continued to happen... and even when he tried concentrating really hard, he found himself still in the same place, which made him wonder if he had entered reality at some point and simply become delusional.

Eventually, Zerrex crawled out of the pool and laid on his back, nude and tired, one hand on his chest and the other splayed out as he let the air dry his body... and then his eyes slowly closed, and before he knew it, he started to feel too tired to keep his mind together... and moments later, he was fast asleep once more.

When the Drakkaren awoke, he was on his back in a field, a sky that reminded him of Hell swirling above him... and slowly, he sat up to find Ravenlight squatting nearby, looking at him with disapproval as he played his fingers through the tall grasses. "I think it's time for you to wake up. But first... I want to know what kind of demon you are?"

"Gee, you better use a Scan spell on me from your white magic ability list." Zerrex snapped irritably, and Ravenlight glowered at him as the reptile rubbed at his aching skull. He guessed all these little mental side trips were wearing quickly on him, combined with everything else he was going through, and then he said darkly: "Ravenlight, I can't just magically tell you what I am, when I don't even know if I'm a real demon or not anymore. Nor can I show you inside my own mind until I've actually seen myself in real reality what the hell I am. This ain't reality. Besides, I thought you were... magical... I can see into your mind guy."

"Don't you get it?" Ravenlight threw his arms out in frustration, and then he stood up, motioning angrily around at the fields. "For once in your life, don't just roll with things, stop and think about what you can actually do! Look around, think about all these environments you've been going through... don't you see? Zerrex, think. This hasn't been like your other mental trips, with one of us trying to kill you... you, for once, are actually in control of your own mind, of this cracked and twisted world you call a brain, and what do you think that means you can do?"

"I can't seem to make you go away."Zerrex retorted automatically, but he was already frowning in thought as he looked at Ravenlight, who sighed and rolled his eyes sourly. "But wait... you mean... like a lucid dreamer? Like I'm controlling my reality inside my subconscious?"

"Instead of letting us, your subconscious, control you. Don't you feel different? Doesn't everything seem different to you?" the dark version of him asked, looking sourly entertained, and the reptile rubbed at his muzzle slowly as he looked down in thought, trying to concentrate through the faint haze that felt like it was tickling through his mind. For a moment, he only looked at Ravenlight... and then he made a face when the evil version of him took aim at him with a snap-draw of one of the .52 handguns, saying thoughtfully: "But then again, maybe things only seem different from my angle, because I'm the one who sees the effects... and I have to say, I'm very interested in seeing just what happens if I-"

Zerrex threw himself to the side, and Ravenlight twisted his magnum handgun sideways, pulling the trigger several times rapidly in succession and using the recoil to strafe the gun after the Drakkaren, rounds hammering into the ground behind the lizard before the reptile slammed a hand down into the earth and created a wall of rock, crouching behind this as several shots rang off the other side and Ravenlight shouted at him irritably: "Get out from behind there, I just want to see what happens if I put one or two bullets into you!"

"Yeah, I'm not that stupid, Ravenlight." Zerrex muttered, then he created a sphere o energy between his hands before he carefully turned around and peered over the top of the wall, and then he yelped when Ravenlight shot him squarely between the eyes, knocking him flat on his back in a spray of blood. He landed sprawled on his back, the sphere of energy still glowing in one hand before the Drakkaren snarled and kicked back up to his feet, throwing it hard overtop the wall, and on the other side, Ravenlight had a moment to wince before it collided with him and exploded, sending him flying backwards before he vanished in a burst of dark smoke.

"I guess I am that stupid." Zerrex said dumbly, as he peered awkwardly over the wall and looked back and forth, wondering just what the hell had happened to Ravenlight... and then he put this aside for the moment as he rubbed slowly at his own skull, grumbling a bit under his breath about his stupid broken mind. He sighed after a moment, looking down at his bloody hand, and then he finally grumbled and poked at his forehead, glad to feel that at least it was healing before he paused and frowned, looking up as something flickered just along the edge of his field of vision.

He followed the shape, frowning a bit as his eyes caught sight of something that flickered white and blue, and he immediately gave chase after it, running through the field and then down into a narrow canyon, raising a hand as the shape continued to move away, calling out as his heart caught in his chest, the sensation of the shape so familiar and sad as he called: "Wait, please! Don't be scared!"

He continued to run after the shape as it rounded a corner, and the Drakkaren barreled past it before he skidded to a halt, a female figure glowing faintly blue and white, mostly outlines... but his mind quickly filled in the details as he looked at her, throat going dry. As he stared at her as she leaned back against the wall of the canyon, he thought dumbly that at some point, he had probably absorbed maybe a bit of her energy without even knowing it... or maybe, just maybe, she had been following him all along: he'd never seen any traces of her in Heaven or Hell, after all.

Allie looked up at him and uncrossed her arms, then she reached up to touch his face gently, and he felt it so clearly, pushing his cheek into her palm... but when he reached out to grasp her shoulders, he grasped nothing, and she turned to only blue dust under his fingers. And then everything around him faded out to darkness, and the reptile threw his head back as he fell to his knees with a cry of pain and sorrow, clutching at his hair for a moment before he dropped his head forwards and clenched his eyes shut... and then moments later, his eyes snapped open as bubbles shot up past him, the Drakkaren saturated in some dark liquid that pulsed and thrummed around him, his body hitting the walls of the narrow chamber he was in as he shook violently back and forth before he propelled himself rapidly upwards, slamming his fists into the bottom of some kind of lid, claustrophobia sending him into a panic that overwhelmed his senses-