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The reptile rolled his eyes, then instead he looked to Anathema, who was walking quietly along at his other side as she looked up at the sky. The reptile looked at her, watching her as they walked along in quiet for a few moments... and then finally she gazed back at him, saying quietly: "Everything's so strange and different here, Zerrex... and even the stars in the sky look so very different from when long ago, we Naganatine lived with Naganis in Eternity... I remember how... how wonderful everything was, back in those years before the Great Split..."

She sighed softly, then smiled a bit and reached out to touch Zerrex's arm, saying softly: "But it's not all bad, at least. The mortal realm does have some perks."

"Yeah, but even Hell I found out has perks." Zerrex replied gently, and Anathema smiled a bit, and they walked along in relative quiet back towards their home, the Drakkaren eventually digging out the pamphlet and reading it over again with eyes that were somewhat disbelieving. Even with his little knowledge of political gambits on the mortal plane, he could tell exactly why the National Socialists had rewritten their rules to be so open-minded: with the world in the shape it was, a lot more than ten percent of the population had at least experimented with homosexuality and a lot less people were diehard religious after finding out about Heaven and Hell. Both were ironic in their own way... the world, after all, was low in population, and all its people had experienced interaction with Hell and Heaven in one form or another... and yet now they chose not to believe in their faith and their gods.

Zerrex guessed it was probably pretty hard to keep up with religion once you knew, however, that Heaven and Hell were a very far throw from anything that was written about in any popular bible... and worse, of course, how many of the 'most zealous followers' of many different religions had ended up down in Hell for crimes like warmongering, prejudice, hatred, and especially wrath.

But now the Nazi party was supporting the Unity religion... although as he read the pamphlet a bit closer, he realized that it was more the ideology they were trying to follow, and the modified, present-day ideology at that. Compassion, kindness, tolerance, etcetera... and Zerrex shook his head slowly as he muttered: "Lots of nice catchphrases here... they're almost sugary-sweet. Yet it just makes me more nervous that Kafka's going to do something horrible all over again..."

"Of course he is. You think we can ever catch a break?" Cherry asked mildly, and Zerrex grunted before the female glanced over at the undead Naganatine, adding dryly: "What do you think? Are we in trouble here?"

The undead Naganatine shook her head slowly, saying quietly: "I'm not sure... mortals, as I've been learning, are very dangerous. Slaves to their emotions and using technology to overpower anything stronger than them... and all this propaganda, and such... such strong waves of hatred I can feel it from here. They are so consumed with belief they forget to look at the world around them... and often become so consumed with emotion they forget their own beliefs."

"Deep." Cherry said dryly, and then she glanced up as a few demons and mortals ran by, waving Nazi party flags and whooping. "This is getting kinda scary. This must have been what Frerica was like in the days leading up to the great revolution."

"Yeah, but Kafka's smarter than Hitler... and perhaps worse than that, someone else is holding his leash and guiding his actions." Zerrex muttered, flipping through the thick little booklet and then pausing at another page as they approached the door to their home, reading aloud: "'We must tolerate the current government and status quo until such time as is right to make our move with the greatest effectiveness.' That makes me nervous, right there."

Cherry nodded with a grunt as Anathema only remained quiet, and then the Drakkaren shoved the pamphlet back into his pocket as the demoness bounced ahead to open the front door, letting Zerrex slip in with the hookah pipe cradled against one arm. He strode into the kitchen and put this down on the table with a sigh, and then Cherry tossed the backpack up onto the table beside it and opened it, taking out the different boxes of herbs and putting them aside before she grinned and headed for the den, calling cheerfully: "I'm gonna see what of the shit I did manage to get my hands on works, Boss!"

"Oh Gods." Zerrex rolled his eyes, then he watched with dry amusement as Anathema pulled her clothes quickly off, rubbing at her body distastefully. She caught him looking and glowered at him, and the reptile shrugged after a moment, saying mildly: "Well, you know, most chicks I can enjoy watching undress..."

"Oh, go back to Hell." Anathema said moodily, and then she threw the shirt she had been wearing at him as she walked over to the fridge, opening it and digging through it for a moment before she pulled out an egg carton. She paused and opened this, then brightened as she obviously recognized what the little white ovals were... before Zerrex winced as she put one into her mouth, shell and all, and simply swallowed it.

She paused, then closed the carton and put the eggs back with an almost-disappointed look on her face, glancing over at him and asking with a frown: "Why were those eggs unfertilized? It was only the yolk."

"Because most people think eating a bird fetus is gross." Zerrex replied mildly, and Anathema sniffed disdainfully as she stepped away from the fridge before he stared as her head moved in a slow roll and her insides trembled, and then she spat the egg out, still fully-formed, into her hand. "That... that's... also really gross."

"Why do you eat them, then? And how? Show me." Anathema held the egg out to him, and Zerrex winced before he reached out and took the slimy shell, before he sighed at the almost imploringly-curious look on her face, obviously not aware of all the rules of etiquette she had just broken. Then the reptile put it carefully down on the counter, muttering to himself as he ducked and opened the drawer beneath the stove to dig out a pan.

Some minutes later, Anathema was cheerfully sitting at the table and scooping egg up into her muzzle, smacking her lips every now and then as she looked delighted. Cindy was staring at her with horror from one corner of the room, but Zerrex was only reading through the pamphlet absently with Sammy curled up in his lap, over his horror now. Everyone else was off getting prepared for Balthazar's arrival... well, almost everyone. Marina was sound asleep in her room, curled up in a nightdress with her blankets thrown over her form... and the reptile thought it was probably best to just let her sleep.

"The party here's really set out some amazing ideas. I'm sad to say I'd probably vote for them if I didn't like Balthazar so damn much." Zerrex said mildly, not looking up at Cindy, but he felt her attention sharpen on him after a moment or two. "Listen to this, they want to revamp the senate... since we have the technology now, they want to have an elected head from every city across Ire take part in all their different votes and stuff. A lot different from the current system, where they just have lots of members from each party sitting in the Senate and supporting their issues. They also want to create a Unionized Business Council... a federal council made up of all the major businesses throughout Ire that can discuss different work issues and work on them together."

"It sounds like they want to play off a lot of Balthazar's work." Cindy said mildly, and Zerrex looked up at her curiously as she crossed her arms, saying softly: "Well, you were gone, Daddy... but I was here, and Marina and Cherry and I all followed what he was doing pretty closely over all the years he's been in power. One of the first things Balthazar got rid of was the Irenic Governing Council... you know, where Ire had 'fairly appointed officials' from each 'city area' representing their 'common goals and beliefs?'"

"Right, yeah. After they declared permanent martial law through half the rural countryside and turned all the major cities into their own personal kingdoms for the rich people." Zerrex said dryly, nodding as he remembered those old days. "So now that Balthazar's done all the dirty work deconstructing the bad parts of the country... they're trying to make it look like all they want to do is build."

"And of course with the ideas the Nazi party has, even Old Ire politicians are going to support them, and they unfortunately still have a lot of power. They're corporate leaders, rich people, and military officials for the most part, after all." Cindy added, leaning over Zerrex's shoulder and making a face as she looked at the pamphlet. "And Balthazar's been suffering a lot of attacks over the death of Animaxander... I think Kafka's been using subterfuge and misdirection to try and pin it on him, though, because he hasn't openly come out and accused him, but lots of other people have."

"He's playing by the old political rhetoric... not attacking his opponent but pretending he feels he's an equal." Zerrex murmured, and Cindy grunted before the Drakkaren put the pamphlet down as Anathema stood up from the table, saying mildly: "Can you put that in the sink?"

Anathema looked confusedly down at the plate, and then she looked up at Zerrex, asking curiously: "Why? Is there something wrong with it?"

"When plates get dirty, you put them in the sink to be washed off. Bacteria and all that." Zerrex responded, and Anathema frowned for a few moments, then she finally did so, and when the two only went back to glancing at the pamphlet, she looked relieved at the fact they didn't seem to be playing a practical joke on her and wandered over to join them.

Two hours later, Zerrex was still seated at the kitchen table, polishing the hookah pipe as Sammy stared into the eyes of the dragon-headed cane as if it was alive, growling a bit every time the little pseudodragon ended up having to blink. Cherry and Mahihko were playing one of the video games she'd stolen, and Cindy was tidying up the kitchen absently as Anathema roamed the house like a ghost - which wasn't exactly too great a stretch, all things considered. Then the Drakkaren glanced up as he heard a loud knocking at the door, and Cindy smiled and patted him on the shoulder as the reptile put the rag down. He got up and followed her to the door nonetheless, and then both of them smiled as his daughter opened it and they saw Balthazar standing on the other side, Blueberry and Mercy flanking him.

He smiled, then chuckled as Blueberry threw herself through the doorway and hugged her father tightly around the waist, the reptile stumbling backwards and almost tripping over Sammy as he curled between his feet with a squeak, and then the Drakkaren laughed as he hugged her back and Cindy courteously said: "Do come in, President Balthazar... I'm Cindy Narrius, and it's a pleasure to meet you in person and to welcome you to our little home here."

"Thank you... it's a pleasure to meet you." Balthazar stepped inside, then gently took her hand and kissed it, making Cindy smile warmly as he added softly: "And please, do call me anything you like, apart from President... it's only a job, the duties of which are... surprisingly tiring these days."

"I think I've been able to see why." Cindy replied gently, and then she half-bowed as he walked past before she traded a tight hug with Mercy, adding quietly: "And it's really good to see you too... how are you holding up, huh?"

Mercy smiled and nodded, then she traded an embrace with her father as he finally managed to pry Blueberry off his body, the little sapphire-scaled female looking happily around at them all before Zerrex said gently: "It's great to see everyone here... and Balthazar, come here, Cherry and I picked up a gift for you."

"Oh, now there was no need for that." Balthazar said mildly, and Zerrex snorted before leading him into the kitchen, and the ferret immediately strode over to the table and reached out to reverently examine the nargile, looking amazed. He tilted his head back and forth, and then he looked over his shoulder, asking in a surprised voice: "This can't be for me."

"And those wooden boxes. I don't know if they're drugs, herbs, or just weeds, but I figure at least one box has something you can use." Zerrex added, and Balthazar glanced at the wooden boxes before he picked one up and opened it, and an expression dawned over his face that made the reptile think he had just found some sort of long-lost relic. "It's... good then?"

"To say the very least... Zerrex, I haven't seen herbs like this since my youth, when I lived in the desert." Balthazar picked up one of the slender plants up, murmuring quietly: "This is... sacrament, almost, to my people. A cousin of the holy Divine Child's Fingers... Zerrex, this truly is far too much..."

"It only means something to me if it means something to you." Zerrex said firmly, patting Balthazar on the back, and the ferret smiled warmly up at him as he closed the box, before the Drakkaren glanced at the hookah pipe, asking curiously: "And what about that?"

Balthazar reached out and stroked a finger down it, and then he murmured quietly: "This is perhaps sixty years old, an antique Tornado pipe as used by the nobility in my country... its almost as valuable as my own heirloom nargile. Perhaps you should keep it yourself..."

"Believe me, it's a fine treat, but the last thing I want is Cherry and my wolves huffing and puffing away all day long until one of them breaks it." Zerrex said mildly, and Balthazar laughed a bit, nodding slowly before he turned around... and then stared at the sight of Anathema, as she wandered towards them to see what all the fuss was about. "Oh, right... President Balthazar, this is Anathema, a... friend of mine from Hell. She was the one who destroyed the zombies."

The two sized each other up for a moment as Mercy and Blueberry both looked at each other hesitantly for a moment... and then Balthazar extended a hand, saying quietly: "Then if you have aided me and my country... I owe you a great debt of thanks, Miss Anathema."

Anathema glanced down at his hand... and then she finally nodded and took it, shaking it slowly as she said dryly: "It wasn't for you, it was a favor for Zerrex and my sister. But you're the President are you... and who are these two, more kids of yours?"

"This is Mercy and Blueberry, two of my daughters and Ambassadors, so to speak." Zerrex said quietly, putting an arm around both, and Anathema looked bemused for a moment before he turned his attention to Balthazar, saying quietly: "But perhaps we should start getting business talks underway."

Balthazar nodded as he sat down at the table, and Zerrex leaned over to Mercy, saying softly: "You and Blueberry can stay if you want, or go and see Cherry... she's in the den with Mahihko, and I have no clue what they're doing."

They both nodded, and Blueberry bounced cheerfully away, scooping up Sammy as she left... while meanwhile, Mercy sat down at the table. Cindy and Anathema were already sitting themselves, and the Drakkaren paused just long enough to slide the Nazi pamphlet over to Balthazar, who looked down at it with a dry smile as the lizard sat. "So they've come to you too, have they?"

"We did some reconnaissance and I managed to get invited to a rally... I'll likely go there and see what else I can dig up on Kafka, and if I can determine what his next move will be." Zerrex said quietly, and Balthazar nodded slowly as he laced his fingers together. Then the reptile paused as his eyes narrowed at the stiff movements of the male, and the ferret frowned and tilted his head before Zerrex said softly: "You're injured."

"Only a minor scrape... my arm took a bullet several weeks ago fired from a Possessed guard, and it hasn't been healing too well." Balthazar quietly touched his arm through the thin windbreaker he was wearing, and then he smiled dryly. "I hear, however, that if anyone suffered serious injury... it was you."

"Yeah, but that happens to me on a regular basis." Zerrex replied with a bit of a smile. "Oh, and before I forget... your communications are being monitored by National Socialist spies. Cindy listened in to the last conversation you and I had, just to see what she could hear... and there were some very distinct voices near the end, something about information gathering for Kafka. You'll need to get a new secure line... although I'm well-aware that in this day and age, nothing is completely unhackable."

"A sad truth." Balthazar murmured softly, nodding slowly. "Yes, I'm not surprised... my security advisors kept telling me the line was clean, but I was more than a little skeptical. They've been overconfident in the past, after all, to say the very least... and I know that Kafka's been getting information from sources that were supposedly totally secure. His influence is growing in leaps and bounds, especially over these last two weeks... and now it seems that he's even being recognized internationally, which I'm starting to believe was his original intent."

Zerrex tilted his head curiously, and Balthazar smiled a bit with a slow shake of his head. "As you're well aware, I was never elected... instead, I was placed in power by the World Council. They are my support, and unfortunately, also my backbone in times like this... so if Kafka becomes more popular with the countries that make up the delegates, then I will likely be removed from power and replaced by him after a mock election of some kind. Ire, like several other countries, is currently on a special watch-list of the World Council, you see, all of which are countries either heavily-damaged or which have notably caused considerable aggravation before and after the demonic war. As the world itself is currently governed more by international lawmakers than by separated nationalities, they have the power to force any leader of any country on the so-called 'Red List' to step down and put someone new in their place... and despite my best efforts, Ire is still on the Red List because of its many, many war crimes.

"It's a sad truth that the World Council is doing this out of necessity more than a hunger for power... after all, imagine if I was kicked out of office and a member of Old Ire was reinstated? With the technologies developed for combating demons, they could create a massive military fiasco with another nation, or worse, destroy the diplomacy developed between Heaven and Hell." Balthazar paused for a few long moments, then he said softly: "And I don't have to remind you that there are other nations out there that will exterminate demons on sight, or even angels. And all the World Council can really do with these countries that refuse to recognizes its laws or protocols is give the order to all its members to refuse to do business with them... but as a humane organization, they obviously cannot refuse sending in cargo ships with minimal supplies and food. After all, we have no right to deprive the needy and force them to starve to death for the crimes of their leaders."

The reptile nodded at this, knowing it was a thin and deadly line: if they forced a country into starvation or cannibalism, it made the World Council no better than however few or many people in that nation who wanted to exterminate demons or angels or other mortals. "It's not complicated... but we like to pretend it is, don't we?"

"Well, we feel that pretending things are complicated excuses us from being made at fault for anything terrible that might happen as a result of our interactions." Balthazar replied with a smile, and then he laughed quietly and shook his head slowly, murmuring softly: "But to the point, Fuehrer Kafka is intelligent to the extreme. His political maneuvering is top-notch, and his rhetoric is impressive beyond that of the 'simple person' he claims to be. More than just gifted, he is skilled... he has worked long and hard on becoming what he has become, and I can tell that he will not do anything to jeopardize that position of power he is currently in... which makes me worried. After all, he cannot forever continue to half-support me... eventually, he'll be forced to make a move one way or the other, for better or worse, to consolidate his power."

"It's like a game of chess." Zerrex said softly, looking down for a few moments, and then he made a face and nodded. "Alright. But I'm afraid I have some news that might be worse than Kafka... because if it's better, well... we're probably screwed anyway."

Balthazar frowned... and then for the next hour he listened as the Drakkaren did his best to explain how time had become distorted in Heaven and Hell, and how they were slowly coming to manifest in the physical world... and then, steamrollering any questions Balthazar might have had, he'd gone on to tell him about what had become of Animaxander and the terror of Athéos.

Finally, the ferret was left sitting quietly, holding onto a half-full mug of coffee Cindy had prepared sometime during the story... and he looked up and asked quietly: "What do you want me to do, Zerrex? Anything at all I can... I will. I would even be more than happy to bring you before the World Council so you could express these concerns to them yourself, or to even simply go ahead and try to do it on my own, as insane as I would sound to them."

"No, they'd support Kafka for sure then... if only out of fear." Zerrex said quietly, then he smiled a bit. "It's kinda hard to swallow that Gods are flying in on spaceships to destroy the world... but on the other hand, the distortions in space should be visible with a powerful enough telescope. I think what you need to do is to follow Lunis's lead in the space colonization program... except pump even more money into that sector and see what happens. Create jobs, fast-track the training of workers, and accelerate the construction of the space stations... it might even give you a bit of an edge against Kafka."

Balthazar nodded slowly, rubbing quietly at his chin. "But won't they be sitting ducks for these... what did you call them, Old Gods? Surely a space station would be easier to strike and destroy than a planet."

"Easier to defend, too, though. I think what they're going to try and do is land Old Gods actually on our planet, and they'll do the dirty work themselves." Zerrex responded quietly, and the ferret nodded after a moment, frowning a bit. "Athéos has a power beyond anything I've ever encountered before... and while I... I'm pretty sure that when the time comes, we'll be ready for the confrontation... I don't want to be left with my pants down if he tries to outflank us somehow. I don't want this physical world to fall to Athéos or his minions."

"We should try to communicate with some of the humans that the Scanners captured, then." Balthazar said softly, and Zerrex tilted his head with a frown. "No, not false humans... real ones. Apparently they were mixed into the group... but many of them are in very bad condition, crippled or wounded and all of them terrified out of their minds. Animaxander must have been using them as slaves, or perhaps just bases to model his strange puppets off of. They, in any case, all died at the moment their master fell, it seems."

"Mortals cling so tightly to their lives. And so do demons, it seems like." Anathema spoke up dryly, and then she stood and glanced around at them, making a bit of a face. "At least you're all interesting... but you also seem to do nothing but talk-talk-talk."

"Talk is essential before action." Balthazar replied softly, and Anathema grunted before she left the room. Mercy frowned a bit, and then the ferret smiled slightly as he looked at her with a bit of a shrug. "Eloquence can't be a gift we all have, dear Mercy. Your father, after all, often can speak well enough... but his words have a certain lack of grace to them that works very well in getting his point across. For some people, proper eloquence at all times is only a handicap to their speech."

"Not to you, obviously." Zerrex said dryly, and the ferret chuckled quietly before the Drakkaren leaned back with a sigh, shaking his head slowly. "So what other problems do we have to cover? I have the time if you do."

"I've troubled you enough for now... and the issues you've brought to my attention will take a lot more thought and effort." Balthazar replied calmly, and then he stood up from the table. Zerrex quickly did so himself, but the ferret rose a hand with a smile, saying quietly: "I can see myself out, really..."

"No you can't." Zerrex said stubbornly, and then he leaned down and kissed Mercy's cheek, asking her gently: "Do you mind grabbing one of those things for him? I don't want him straining his arm, after all."

Mercy nodded with a smile back at her father, and they exchanged a hug before she picked up the nargile and headed towards the doorway, the ferret and Zerrex exchanging a glance before Balthazar said finally: "I appreciate your kindness... you really are a true friend in these hard times, Zerrex. I just hope that we'll both live to see better days."

"I'll try my hardest to make sure of it." Zerrex gently slapped the ferret's shoulder, and then he picked up the boxes of herbs and pushed them into his chest, Balthazar smiling a bit. "Now go on, huh? And take Blueberry with you, too, she seems to be having a ball hearing all your stories."

He laughed softly, striding out of the kitchen, and Blueberry quickly stumbled down the hallway with Mercy, who had apparently thoughtfully decided to get her half-sister. They both paused at the doorway, and the Drakkaren gave them both a tight hug to his body as Sammy ran around their feet in a circle, before he looked at Balthazar and said quietly: "Watch out for yourself. And if you ever need me, don't hesitate to ask."

"Of course. The same to you, Zerrex... it was a pleasure to see your endearing little home here." Balthazar replied softly, and then he left as Blueberry held the door open, the three heading for an armored vehicle still parked out front. The Drakkaren watched them go as he stood in the open doorway for a moment, and then he closed it and looked down at Sammy, who stood up on his hind legs and chirped quietly at him before the reptile snorted and nodded. Yeah. It's gonna be a long next few days...

The night of the rally found Zerrex sitting outside at an abandoned bus stop, reading a newspaper as Cherry sat beside him and fidgeted. Anathema was back at home, trying her hardest to get along with Marina and Cindy... but her lack of fondness for mortals put her slightly at odds with the other females, who were too nice and too... alive... for her to be friendly with them unless they were feeding her something. She was starting to remind Zerrex of a bad-tempered dog... and he smiled a bit at this metaphor in his mind before Cherry asked in a whiny voice: "Come on, aren't you ready yet?"

"I'm ready, but we don't want to show up at the start of the rally. If Kafka or one of his hotshot officers are there, we can't be seen." Zerrex reminded her for what felt like the fifteenth time that night. Then he handed her the classified section of the newspaper, adding dryly: "Here. Look up stuff that you want to buy or something."

Cherry grumbled, but proceeded to do so as a few cars rolled by, making the Nazi flags on the lampposts to either side of them flutter. The female was wearing a tight exercise top that showed off almost all of her body and arms and just barely covered enough of her breasts to be legal, as well as an old pair of camo pants - her reasoning was that the Nazis would like them, which... Zerrex didn't understand, but he had long since learned to not argue with her weird logic - and the Drakkaren had his Nanotech Armlet on, which had simulated a tight muscle shirt over his body and a pair of heavy black pants. It left the swastika tattoos on both of them clearly visible, and the male paused before he smiled a bit at her, saying quietly: "Remember when you first got that swastika?"

She looked at him for a moment, then she laughed and nodded, grinning slightly. "Yeah, how the hell could I forget? You made such a big fucking deal over it... fuck, you were both pissed and amused. 'You dumb bitch, don't you know how much of a pain in the ass mine already is, why the hell would you go and get one yourself?'"

"'But Boss, it's cool, just like yours! I just wanted you to not be alone.'" Zerrex imitated her voice badly, and they both laughed before he nudged her lightly, saying with dry amusement: "And who'd think that one day we'd be here, using our tattoos to gain access to a Nazi rally. At least with Balthazar's new space initiatives, he's already getting more support in the polls, if only because of how many jobs it's created. I hear it's had a nice effect of making other countries feel competitive, too, so they're setting up space colonies all over the place."

"And it was real nice of him to contact some of the other world leaders and let them know the deal... the ones that would listen, anyway." Cherry added, and then she paused before saying quietly: "But I've been thinking... we've been dealing with a lot of shit here, but what's the rest of the world look like, do you think?"

Zerrex frowned a bit, glancing over at her... and she smiled a bit, before lowering her head as she murmured: "I... I dunno." A pause and an awkward rub at her skull as she blushed quietly. "Okay okay. Maybe I just... you know, since we're in kinda a lull here... maybe we can go to Hez'Ranna. Not on work, just as... a... vacation, before the shit really hits the fan."

The reptile's first instinct was to refuse her... and then he looked down and thought hard for a few moments to himself about what that would mean to not only him, but the rest of his family. About responsibility... and the responsibility he held not just to the world, but to himself and those closest to him... and finally, he nodded a bit as he said quietly: "Yeah. I think you're right, Cherry... besides, we can see how things are doing down there and if... everything's okay, we can just relax for maybe a few days, maybe a week, depending on how things are going... and then head back to work, hopefully rejuvenated and with... things settled."

Cherry smiled warmly at this, looking across at him with relief as she reached out and slapped him on the back. "I knew that somewhere inside you there was a little bit of a reasonable person left! Fuck yes, I'm totally gonna run around hitting on everything in sight at the beach. 'Cept for those ugly fat chicks who insist on wearing bikinis so tight it like, you know, makes all their folds spill over their waistband and covers up their crotch anyway so it looks like they're naked..."

Zerrex shuddered at the visual, then he climbed to his feet and headed quickly for the downtown core, and the demoness jumped up and followed him with a cheerful spring in her step. The only sound for a few moments was the reptile's cane tapping against the ground... but soon, they both were able to hear a muffled voice getting steadily stronger, announcing in different languages about a 'party meet and greet' that was happening at the abandoned Golden Day Theater.

The lineup was surprisingly long, and there was a crowd of Nazis in red clothes yelling at a crowd of protestors that had lined up all over the streets and sidewalks, many of them on either side getting way too excited and shoving and taunting things far larger than themselves. As the reptile walked, he was shocked as a mouse darted out of nowhere and shoved him, then shouted in his face - or at least, leaning up to try and get in his face, despite his three foot height advantage - with visible rage: "Nazi fuck!"

Zerrex just gaped, not knowing what to do or say... and then Cherry stepped up from beside him and pointed at the mouse's head, shouting to the others: "Hey, this guy says he was only pretending to help out the protestors to give us Nazis inside information, since they're all stupid faggots!"

Immediately, at least half a dozen protestors turned on the mouse, glaring at him with far more wrath than the sign-waving fanatics had faced the National Socialists with, and the mouse squeaked before he was forced to flee as rocks and sign-waving protestors shot towards him, yelling furiously. Cherry looked pleased with herself, and then she huffed when Zerrex only gave her a sour look, the demoness saying glibly: "Hey, I totally solved that confrontation without violence. It's not my fault they didn't take it well."

He only rolled his eyes, and they continued forwards towards the doors, carefully shuffling in with the others and both smiling as best they could manage at the various National Socialists that greeted them cheerfully. But finally, they emerged into the old lobby of the gutted theatre, where tables had been set up and officers in Nazi uniforms were handing out both armbands and ID cards... and Zerrex made a face as he looked around, saying quietly: "It's like every clone soldier in Ire is gathered here... but look, there's a lot of Old Ire military, too. You can tell because they're sticking together and half of them are in uniform..."

"Ooh, a food table!" Cherry bounced off through the crowd, and Zerrex groaned before he followed her over to the buffet to start stuffing crackers and cheese into her mouth. He decided to pretend she was doing something productive after a moment of watching her, and instead left her to her devices, turning around and heading down to the other end of the long buffet... and then he winced when a Dragokkaren in an officer's uniform turned around and he found himself face-to-face with Rasputin.

They looked at each other for a few long moments, the Dragokkaren slowly chewing on the food he was eating and holding a handful of cheese sticks... and then he finally offered one of these to the Drakkaren with a distinctly sour expression. "Cheese doodle?"

"No... thank you." Zerrex paused, feeling awkward, and then he reached out and picked up a handful of shrimp. He put one in his mouth and chewed, pulling the little tail off and dropping it into an empty tray... and for a moment, they uncomfortably regarded each other before Zerrex asked: "How'd you escape Charon?"

"He let me go once he felt he placed me in the right circle... after that, it was just a matter of portalling out of Hell." Rasputin said dryly, and then he put another cheese stick in his mouth. Again, there was an painful silence, and then the Dragokkaren finally cleared his throat, asking dryly: "Thinking about joining the party?"

"Not too much. What about you, are you a supporter or just someone who works for Kafka?" Zerrex asked mildly, and Rasputin shrugged, making a face that told Zerrex all he needed to know. "So in that case, are we going to interrupt the rally here to fight, or what?"

Rasputin cleared his throat again, then he looked down at the cheese sticks still in his hand before mumbling: "Maybe later." A pause, and then he asked mildly: "So, is surrender still out of the question? Because you should realize by now that once Athéos is finished with the mortal plane, Heaven and Hell will be next."

"Yeah, well, I think we can put up enough resistance to fight him off. I mean, I beat the crap out of the asshole once already." Zerrex made a face when Rasputin snorted in amusement and looked at him dryly, and finally the reptile sighed and rolled his eyes. "Okay, I got lucky, maybe. But the point is, I still won."

"He was only a... literal thought-process made physical then, however." the Dragokkaren pointed out, and then he ate the last cheese stick in his hand, turning towards the buffet and waggling his fingers as he looked back and forth over it for something to eat, bits of cheese crumb falling out of his jaws. "What do you think is going to happen when you end up fighting him in his real form, that he's going to be weaker or stronger? And hey, do you see the sweet cake anywhere?"

"No... here's sugar cookies, if you want something sweet." Zerrex said mildly, picking up the tray, and then he tilted his head when Rasputin made a face and held up his hands.

"Sorry, I'm diabetic." the Dragokkaren admitted, and Zerrex snorted in amusement, which made Rasputin tilt his head sourly. "What?"

Zerrex coughed as he looked awkwardly away, putting another piece of shrimp in his muzzle before he grinned slightly at him. "You know, that's the lamest weakness for a supervillain ever. Invincible to everything but chocolate bars."

Rasputin paused and thought about this, then he started to laugh himself, and then the two looked at each other with surprise before they both cleared their throats, Rasputin adjusting the tie on his dress uniform before he said seriously: "But you know, from my point of view, you're the one who's a supervillain."

"Oh, don't get started with that crap. Believe me, I've already gone over it from every angle." Zerrex grumbled, and the Dragokkaren smiled slightly at him, looking entertained. "Fine, you're the hero of your own story. But then again, most people are."

"Are you?" Rasputin asked quietly, and Zerrex looked at him sharply, before the large male nodded slowly, saying softly: "Somehow I'm not surprised. Come, walk with me, Zerrex. This room is too crowded and I think all the chanting and singing is giving me a headache."

The reptile had to admit, the atmosphere was a bit irritating: not only was it thick with large, burly Dragokkaren - many of whom obviously hadn't taken a bath for quite some time - there were a lot of yelling voices and chanting of old morals, codes, and parts of Frerica's national anthem, which sounded like it had been re-adopted as the anthem for the National Socialists. Zerrex walked along with Rasputin, not bothering to signal Cherry and knowing that she would probably see him leave or follow if necessary... and otherwise, he'd be able to find her pretty easily, since if she started causing trouble, the trail was always easy to find.

Rasputin signaled to two large, scary-looking guards in uniform as they approached, neither Dragokkaren but both easily the size and muscle of the clone soldiers, and they pushed open a door leading into a sterile hallway with a gentle downwards slope... and the moment they entered, the sound was muffled from the outer hall, as Rasputin sighed and said mildly over his shoulder: "Isn't it hard sometimes, fighting for what you don't believe in? Admittedly, I'm... sad to know that with every minute that passes, the world is a minute closer to destruction... but the Old Gods have given me great powers and healed my frail form, and so now I must serve them and their agents."

"Everyone always has a choice." Zerrex said quietly, and Rasputin smiled a bit at him again before he pushed open a door at the end of the hall, politely holding it for the Drakkaren. Zerrex nodded to him, and then he glanced back and forth with slight surprise as he stepped into what had once been a storeroom, but was now little more than a shelter against the rain, the walls on two sides shattered and a door likely leading back into the theater boarded closed, huge chunks of broken concrete stacked in front of it.

There was silence as the two looked out through the large gap that had once been a corner of the building at a rusted chain-link fence in front of the road, and then the Drakkaren sighed a bit before he looked mildly at Rasputin, asking quietly: "So is this the part where we fight?"

"Not yet." the Dragokkaren sat down on an old pile of boxes, and then he winced when one of them snapped under his weight and he quickly leapt up to his feet, brushing dust off his rear with a mutter. "Disgusting, how the refuse piles up and we still haven't done much about cleaning things up..."

"So where are you from then, Sergei Rasputin?" Zerrex asked mildly, hoping to catch him off guard, but the strange reptile only looked up at him with a slight smile, shaking his head a bit.

"My home country is Isbana... one of the countries that was destroyed, sadly, during the Hez'Rannan Great War." he replied calmly, then he glanced down, rubbing the back of his neck slowly. "I spent most of my life in neighboring Polshinka, to the south of Lailland... a country fortunately shielded from much of Hez'Ranna's attacks by the treacherous mountains and cold climate. It was a hard living, especially since I was of weak and small body, but I survived and prospered nonetheless... cutting firewood, helping with building cabins, digging in the caves for treasures that could be traded for food.

"Thankfully, when the demons invaded, I was also saved by those cruel mountains... that, and their interests were mostly in the far-greater developed country of Lailland. Polshinka might have been large, but she was a barren and cruel land with an icy climate thanks to how high the land was there. I remember when I finally came down off those mountains after the Demon War, how much air I seemed to inhale with every breath..." Rasputin laughed a bit, shaking his head slowly.

There was quiet for a moment as Zerrex carefully sat down on a large concrete block, and then the Dragokkaren continued calmly: "It was in southern Lailland that I met an emissary of the Old Gods, who offered me my job and my powers... and I was brought into the presence of Athéos himself, and then sent back to the world., to fulfill my duties. I have seen him in true splendor, Zerrex Narrius... and he is a being of great terror and even greater power. I do not know how you plan to stand against his might, when I fear he could blow this world out like a candle if he truly chose to..."

The Drakkaren nodded slowly... and then he shrugged a bit, saying with a slight smile: "Well... we all got choices to make. I made mine and you made yours... and it's a pity we're on opposite sides of the field. I don't think I mind you half as much as some of the other people I have to deal with all day."

"It is a pity indeed." Rasputin sighed as he carefully unbuttoned his dress jacket, and then he tossed it aside and pulled his tie loose to drop it, a gust of wind catching it and pulling it out into the streets as he took up a ready position in his plain white shirt and dress pants, his dark brown eyes locking on Zerrex's emerald as he said quietly: "Well, whenever you are, Lord Zerrex... I am ready. Let's make this session a good one."

The Drakkaren smiled a bit as he tossed his cane to the ground, letting it clatter loudly against the dusty concrete floor before he assumed his own ready position, saying mildly: "Don't be offended when I kick your ass, okay?"

Rasputin only snorted at this, and then he reached down and grabbed up one of the broken wooden planks, throwing it hard at Zerrex... but the reptile easily stepped out of the way before he threw a punch into another that flew at his face, shattering it into pieces before he threw a hard kick into Rasputin's side when the Dragokkaren ran forwards, and he was knocked staggering with a grunt before Zerrex's foot slammed under his jaw and knocked him into the air, the brawny male flying in a low arc before he crashed down on top of a wooden crate and shattered the top, half-laying trapped inside of it with his limbs sticking out, his head awkwardly mashed against the side of it as he cursed angrily and flailed. Then he stared when the Drakkaren approached and looked down at him, and Zerrex put a foot against the wall of the crate before he kicked hard, sending it skidding across the floor to shatter against the wall in a burst of foam, ancient candy, and chunks of wood.

Rasputin groaned as he sat up, rubbing slowly at his skull with a wince... and then he cursed as he staggered to his feet, his clothes tattered and covered in dust and bits of wood as he pointed at the Drakkaren and shouted: "That was an unfair move!"

"Hey, you're the one who landed ass-first on the crate." Zerrex replied mildly, and the Dragokkaren snorted before he charged stupidly with his head lowered like a bull... and Zerrex snapped a palm into his forehead, knocking his skull back and staggering him as he grunted before he squeaked as Zerrex stabbed his fingers forwards in a V into the reptile's eyes, Rasputin rubbing wildly at them before the Drakkaren stepped forwards and slammed a knee into his solar plexus, all the wind rushing out of the Dragokkaren's lungs as he fell to his knees. "Now that... that was an unfair move."

The reptile walked over to where Rasputin had dropped his dress jacket, picking it up and doing a quick search of his pockets. He mused as he found an epinephrine pen, a notebook that he pocketed, and a few sugarless mints... and then he smiled slightly to himself, muttering: "Gotcha." as he pulled out a PDA with Rasputin's ID card taped to the back of it, and he slipped this into his pocket.

"Get out of my stuff!" wheezed the Dragokkaren, and he stumbled to his feet before he turned around and ran at Zerrex again... and then his eyes bulged as the Drakkaren leapt into the air and caught his head in a scissors lock. Before the reptile could twist and slam him into the ground, however, the Dragokkaren grunted and spun around, grasping Zerrex's ankles, and the reptile was jerked through the air with a wince before he flew free and smashed into a pile of skids, reducing them to debris before his weight crushed the fragile-with-age ones beneath his body and more wooden pallets rained down on top of him.

Zerrex stuck his head out of the pile of broken wooden planks with a grunt, and then his eyes bulged as he saw Rasputin's foot lash out at the last moment before it smashed into his face and sent him rocketing backwards, shattered boards flying in all direction before chunks of concrete joined into the hail as the reptile was slammed through the half-collapsed wall behind him, landing heavily on his back in the alley and then wincing and rolling to the side as several large pieces of grey stone fell through the air and almost landed on him.

Before he could climb to his feet, something grabbed his ankles and jerked him sideways, and the reptile was thrown bodily towards the solid wall at the back of the old stock room... except this time, Zerrex managed to turn around and bring his feet up, landing in almost a kneel on the surface before he kicked off and flipped gracefully through the air, landing on his feet with a grin... and then wincing as he looked down and stared at the broken PDA on the floor. It had fallen out of his pocket at some point with him being thrown around so much, he had just landed on it... and Rasputin grabbed at his head, shouting angrily: "The names of all the party members were on there!"

"Pity I broke it, then." Zerrex muttered, and then he winced when Rasputin picked up a massive chunk of fallen concrete, holding it above his head with a snarl before the Drakkaren kicked a rock laying on the ground hard into the Dragokkaren's crotch, and his eyes bulged before he dropped the heavy chunk of concrete on his head, knocking himself to the ground. He groaned, then slowly tried to drag himself free from beneath the broken concrete laying over his head... and then his eyes widened in shock as the reptile charged at him before he kicked a foot hard into his face, knocking him skidding backwards for a few feet from the sheer force of the hit before his limp legs flew up over his head and he landed awkwardly on his back.

The reptile rested for a moment, watching as Rasputin slowly climbed to his feet, his wounds instantly healing as he rubbed at his face and gave Zerrex a distasteful look... and then his eyes widened as the Drakkaren picked up the fallen slab of concrete and hurled it hard at the Dragokkaren. It struck him hard in the chest, making him yelp in pain and surprise as he staggered backwards, arms curling around the rock that was almost the size of his body... and then he grinned as he managed to anchor himself without falling over, then paled when Zerrex charged brazenly forwards at him.

He stupidly tried to throw the chunk of concrete forwards, and it plopped to the ground in a short arc... but Zerrex winced as he tried to stagger to a half before his shin collided with the chunk of concrete and he fell over it, slamming his face against the ground and yelling childishly as he grabbed at his head, agony pulsing through him before Rasputin kicked him hard in the forehead and sent him flying backwards to crash on his back, still gripping at his aching skull. The Dragokkaren leapt the rock, obviously wanting to try and finish things... but Zerrex lashed out bad-temperedly with one foot into his knee to knock him to a kneel as he slammed the other upwards, and it caught him hard in the throat, making him gag and choke for breath as his head whipped backwards and he clutched at his neck.

He fell to the ground, and for a moment both reptiles lay on the concrete floor, clutching at their different injuries. Then Zerrex slowly sat up, and Rasputin glared at him from his mostly-prone position, and then he rolled backwards as Zerrex rose his fists in front of himself gamely, a bit of blood trickling down around one eye as he said darkly: "Come on, I haven't even begun to fight yet!"

"Cocky bastard." Rasputin rasped, and then he launched himself into a sprint and dropped a shoulder, and the sudden movement caught Zerrex off guard before he grunted as he was hit by the hard bodycheck, flying backwards before he snarled and slammed both feet into the ground to catch himself as he threw his body forwards at the same time. The Dragokkaren looked surprised as the Drakkaren skidded to a halt, but then he immediately threw himself into another mad charge, hoping to this time knock the reptile far enough backwards to make him hit the wall.

Zerrex, however, simply sidestepped and strode one long step forwards, swinging his arm out... and Rasputin's legs tried to keep running as his face smashed into the reptile's right limb, mashing into it as his back arched awkwardly before he fell to the ground with a groan of pain. Then Zerrex booted him hard in the side and kicked him into the air like a pole, the Dragokkaren's body flipping lazily before he fell back down towards the ground... and then his eyes bulged as the lizard snapped a knee up into his lower spine and snapped it like a twig, Rasputin howling in anguish before Zerrex grabbed a leg with one hand and shoved the other down on his upper chest to literally bend him in half backwards.

Rasputin's eyes bulged with agony, and then Zerrex lifted him above his head before he threw him across the room and into the still-standing wall hard enough to make the Dragokkaren leave a dent, grumbling under his breath as he watched the tall, brawny male flop to the ground... but a moment later, he slowly unfolded and then twitched a few times before picking himself up, panting hard as he stood and swayed on his feet, then he winced as he cracked his back, muttering: "I'll never be able to hear that sound again without thinking of the horror of what you just did to me."

"Good." Zerrex grumbled, and the two readied themselves to launch at each other again... but then the door flew open, and Cherry walked out, a hamburger in one hand and a salad bowl full of punch in the other as she looked from one to the other curiously, crumbs falling out of her muzzle as she chewed loudly.

The two stared at her, and she rose the hand holding the hamburger and waved it, saying in a muffled voice as chunks of food fell out of her mouth: "No, no, just ignore me, pretend I'm..." She broke off as the patty fell out of her hamburger and splattered on the ground, and then she sulked, dropping the bun as well with a loud mumble before she brought the punch bowl up to her muzzle and poured it into her mouth, dribbles of juice leaking down her chin and staining the shirt over her breasts.

Rasputin winced away from the demoness, and then he looked at Zerrex, saying flatly: "I see you have enough to deal with already, so I'm going to take my leave... I have to start recompiling that list now for Fuehrer Kafka, anyway." He paused, then looked sourly at the Drakkaren before he saluted him in the old Irenic way. "Da svidaniya, Zerrex Narrius. Until we meet again."

"Until then." Zerrex said mildly, and he saluted him back, watching as Rasputin brushed himself off before he turned and quickly left through the alleyway, and then he shook his head slowly. With the beating he had given the Dragokkaren, it only further proved that he was invulnerable... and that was going to take some strategic thinking to figure out how to actually put the bastard out of commission. Then he made a face as Cherry belched loudly and threw the bowl against the wall to make it shatter, saying grouchily: "Can you be any more rude?"

"I can burp the alphabet." Cherry rose a finger, and then she winced and shrank back under Zerrex's glare. "Hey, I thought you might need backup! I didn't know who the big fucker was, I only knew that... well... uh... moving right along." She cleared her throat, and then looked over him seriously and at the bloodstains on his body. "So it looks like he hurt you more than a bit a few times."

"Yeah, but nothing really serious." Zerrex shook his head slowly, rubbing at his forehead absently as he muttered: "It's more my pride that's hurt than anything else... but the bastard did land a few hard hits to me. Nothing that isn't already healing, though... but I couldn't kill him no matter what I did."

"Great." Cherry grumbled, and then she looked over at him imploringly as he walked over to pick up his cane, asking mildly: "Can we go on that vacation now?"

The month that followed was mostly uneventful: casual phone conversations with Balthazar, a few trips to Hell that lasted only weeks now, and with the time distortions meaning they returned mortal minutes to mortal days later, and a few other rallies, where they gathered information on Kafka's movements. Zerrex and Rasputin met up once or twice more, but it didn't result in any combat: instead, they talked and argued with each other until they were forced to go their separate ways.

In Hell, everyone was getting prepared for the worst: as expected, no one in the Barred City would listen, however, and they were convinced that they would be able to survive the AMP blast with their 'evolved form of magic,' but everywhere else was ready to listen and build their defenses. One of the first things Zerrex instructed they had to deal with, however, was the Abyss: at first it seemed ridiculous that they put effort into constructing new walls and barriers there that wouldn't require magic to keep them stable, but after a moment's thought, it made sense. After all, if magic stopped working for even a few minutes, it would be more than long enough for the monsters in the Abyss to riot... and more than long enough for them to figure out that the magical barriers usually keeping them locked in that dark and desperate place weren't working. If the creatures from the Abyss escaped into a Hell that had no magic, it would be a disaster... and countless more lives would surely be lost to their lusts and wrath.

But even in Hell, Zerrex wasn't needed so much... and he was surprised to find out how glad it made him they were able to get along fine without his help, and that many operations had already begun that would ensure the safety of at least the demonic cities. The Ravenlight Estate and the Palace had already both been fortified, as had the Central Spire... but that was a worry point. Despite the fact it was ancient and fortified by architectural methods long lost even in Hell... in a physical world that had weather, among other things, it might be one of the first things to collapse, with its sheer height and mass. Thus, as a precaution, it was to be evacuated once the temporal distortions started getting especially violent and the planes started to merge.

At the moment, however, Ixin had been able to say they were still a good bit away... and with Cherry still poking at him, Zerrex had finally agreed to go to Hez'Ranna, and that they would vacation for a week or so... but only after he was able to make sure from Albatross himself that everything was okay. They were being flown in on a private Hez'Rannan jet that was likely already waiting for them at the airstrip, and Zerrex was just finishing packing his bag, Anathema's bone armor clinging to him as he muttered: "You know, you still stand out a lot like this."

They won't question you. Besides, I need to rest for a little while and your life force keeps me energized. Anathema replied in his mind, and the reptile rolled his eyes before he picked up his duffel bag and held it so it wouldn't grind against the blade of Blackheart, which was resting on his back. Why are you bringing that, anyway?

"Old habits die hard." Zerrex muttered as he left his room, and then he tossed the duffel bag down to the first floor before sliding down the ladder and picking it up. He walked outside, then made a face at the rusting hatchback truck Cherry had bought and started fixing up, the demoness grinning brightly and sitting up on top of the roof.

Cindy and Marina were sitting in the front, with Mahihko stuffed between them: the wolf was small enough he could curl up almost comfortably, although from his fidgeting Zerrex knew that sooner or later Lone was going to pop his ugly head out. Cherry, meanwhile, had insisted on sitting in the open back of the vehicle with Zerrex and their luggage, as if it was treat... and the reptile sighed as he threw his duffel bag and sword into the back before hopping up into it himself, grumbling under his breath: "I don't know why I agreed to this..."

"Because you don't want to leave your motorcycle at the airstrip." Cherry replied cheerfully, and Zerrex sighed as he rolled his eyes, the demoness slipping down off the roof and knocking firmly twice on the window, and little Mahihko slid a slot open in it and stuck his head out curiously before he winced back as she shouted loudly, pumping a fist in the air: "Let's get it on, my bitches from the ditches! Time to rock and roll!"

Zerrex dropped his head into his hand, and this time Anathema didn't ask what Cherry meant: after the first week or so, she had obviously started to pick up on the fact that the demoness did not always make sense when she spoke. Then the battered blue truck started up, and Zerrex grasped the handle of Blackheart, squeezing it firmly as he mumbled: "Just let this go well for a change of pace..."

The ride to the airstrip outside of town was pleasantly-smooth, and it was easy for them to drive past the guards and start loading up the jet: a private vehicle probably meant for ambassadors, and one that reminded Zerrex of the plane he had used to fly around in while doing undercover work for Albatross. The problems, however, came about when they tried to take off... and they were promptly informed that the Hez'Rannan pilot had ordered a search of their things.

An argument had broken out between Cherry and the Irenic soldiers, who looked simultaneously like they wanted to do their duty and crawl under a rock somewhere and hide. Finally, Zerrex had told Cherry to step back and let them down their job... and after they found 'nothing suspicious' despite the various weapons they were bringing with them, they were allowed to board the plane themselves, walking through the cargo room and into the posh cabin, which included a television on either side of the long hall and four beautiful tables with velvet-backed chairs locked into a rail on the floor: they would never come loose, but they could still be moved back and forth for comfort.

A pretty Drakkaren stewardess was also waiting for them, offering them Hez'Rannan delicacies and specialties like rose petal wine... and Cherry ordered a round for the beverage for them with a bit of a smile to Zerrex, who nodded after a moment. There was no alcohol in it, despite the name... and he was able to relax with a glass of the stuff as the plane thrummed loudly and prepared for takeoff, anxiety twisting through his belly even as he tried his best to remain calm and placid.

Mahihko excused himself from the table he had been sitting at to run to the cargo room... and five minutes later, he came back, looking a little bit smaller than before and followed by Lone, who looked both relieved and queasy at the same time. The two wolves sat down together across from Cindy as Cherry, Marina, and Zerrex sat at another table, Cherry shuffling some cards she had dug out from Gods-knew-where, before the stewardess reappeared from behind a curtain and announced calmly: "We are now preparing for takeoff... please, do not stand up until the light above turns green."

She pointed at the red rectangle above her head, then she frowned at Lone, who cheerily waved at her... before she shook her head and vanished back behind the curtain, likely to strap herself in to her own seat. Zerrex took a long breath, shifting awkwardly in place, and then Cherry said dryly, as she made the cards shoot in weak arc from one hand to her other: "Oh come on, even if the plane crashes you'd survive."

"That's what scares me. It would suck and it would hurt." Zerrex replied flatly, and Cherry rolled her eyes before she winced as the plane lurched forwards before the sound and pressure built as it rolled down the airstrip, the reptile gritting his teeth as he felt the jet leaving the ground. Seconds later, the green light blinked on as the jet evened out and the feeling of pressure vanished, and Zerrex sighed, rubbing slowly at his forehead before he looked at Cherry, accusing immediately: "You were scared too!"

"I was not." Cherry said in an offended voice, and then she began to deal out cards, grumbling: "I dunno why I play you and psychic-pants here. Poker's supposed to be a game of skill but she can read my brain and you play like a jackass."

"Shut up." Zerrex muttered, picking up his cards, and then he sighed as Lone bounced across the aisle and grinned widely, looking pleadingly at him. "Deal in mister smooth here, too."

"Yeah, yeah." Cherry did so, and then she glanced over at Mahihko and Cindy. The little wolf was sketching, and the female was reading... and then they both looked up as the demoness asked mildly: "You guys wanna play? We ain't betting anything or nothing, not even clothes. Boss says it's rude to play strip poker on a plane for some stupid reason."

What a strange mortal pastime. Anathema said musingly in his head, and the reptile was glad that they were only doing this to pass the time: between flying and the undead Naganatine, he'd be sure to lose every hand. Then the lizard sighed as Cherry slapped two cards down and took two from the pile in front of her, grumbling, figuring that at least this was better than flying alone.

Thankfully, once he got his mind settled on something else - and admittedly, even Cherry and Marina getting into a fight that eventually had them both rolling around in the aisle was a welcome distraction, if not completely pleasant - time passed quickly, and before he knew it, they were slowly touching down outside the city of Tek'Kanna, the capital city of Hez'Ranna.

"The last time I was here, we were holding a funeral service for Father..." Cindy said softly, as the plane rolled to a halt, and Zerrex looked up with dry amusement, smiling slightly across at her. She smiled faintly back, and then she added quietly: "Not that I feel like that's foreshadowing anything or anything."

"Gee, thanks." Zerrex said mildly, as the plane rumbled slowly to a halt. A moment later, the stewardess emerged from behind the curtain and headed to the end of the aisle, opening the cargo door and then bowing aside with various cheerful goodbyes as the reptiles and wolves filed carefully out.

The Drakkaren picked up his sword and duffel bag as Lone and Mahihko fought over a backpack, then Lone yelped when Cherry shoved a suitcase into his arms, mumbling grudgingly but carrying it anyway. Zerrex looked back and forth over his family as they all picked up their luggage, and for a moment, he had a sense of the past, a feeling that he'd been here before... when they'd been smaller, then, and with less burdens weighing on them... and all alive and well. That had been just before the start of the Great War... and Zerrex quietly touched his swastika after he put his sword on his back, murmuring: "I don't know if you'd be disappointed or enthralled, Mengele Tstegi..."

He shook his head a bit, then he watched as Cindy hit the button to lower the cargo ramp, and she hopped down after a moment to walk out onto the warm tarmac... and Zerrex followed a moment later, looking back and forth in surprise as he found an honor guard of Dragokkaren Enforcers standing at the ready on either side of them, all of them dressed in their heavy black armor despite the sweltering heat, all of them frozen in salute. Then he smiled a bit, looking forwards to see Albatross resting on his cane, a bit of a smile on his face... and the High King of Hez'Ranna, Pagan Churchill.

The Dragokkaren was tall, and his features had lost some of their sternness over the years as lines of age had creased his scales, making him look weathered and more knowledgeable than wise... something that had remained true over all these years, even if he had gained some wisdom. Once upon a time, Churchill had fancied himself a General ready to follow in his father's footsteps, trained at a private academy and tutored by the very best, and who had possessed little real battle experience. That had all changed over the course of the rebellion, even if for the longest time he and Zerrex had been enemies more than allies... but now, even wearing his beautiful robes and long cape and crown, as Zerrex set foot down on the airstrip, he saluted proudly and said in a truly-happy voice: "High King Zerrex Narrius... it is an honor to see you after all these years."

"High King Pagan Churchill... the honor is all mine." Zerrex replied softly, saluting in return as his family filed out around him... and then the reptile smiled a bit as he glanced over the Dragokkaren, walking slowly forwards and saying quietly: "You know, I don't see you wearing any kind of officer's weapon of honor."

"My honor comes from what I do, not from whatever gilded ornament I wear." Churchill replied gently, and Zerrex laughed quietly and smiled a bit: he had heard that Churchill had calmed down over the years, but this was a far-different Dragokkaren than the one he had known. Then the tall male bowed a bit, motioning towards a set of strange carriages shaped like large spheres on four-wheeled discs with small chariots attached to their fronts, asking calmly: "Shall we head to the castle, then? We can find you a place to stay and discuss business there in comfort."

"Thanks, Churchill." Zerrex said softly, and the Drakkaren walked towards one of the carriages, watching as a canine wearing a loincloth and all manner of golden jewelry quickly pushed a short flight of stairs in front of the carriage. Zerrex smiled a bit at the wolf, who looked plenty happy despite obviously being a slave, and it made him think of another little wolf who was travelling with them in a cute little pair of cutoff jeans and a pink, tied-at-the-front blouse: far different from the bigger wolf who also fancied himself as far-badder, in his vest and leather pants.

Zerrex walked up the steps and into the carriage, sitting down on the bench that went around almost the entirety of the inner room, dropping his duffel bag at his feet and holding his sword across his lap. He was joined by Churchill, Albatross, Marina, and Cherry... and Mahihko, Lone, and Cindy filed into another carriage, as Churchill said embarrassedly: "I hope you don't mind, Lord Zerrex... or should I call you High King Zerrex?"

"Just call me Zerrex." the reptile said mildly, and then he glanced over at Albatross, who was shaking his head in quiet amusement. "What do you think is so funny?"

"You two." he said with a slight smile, glancing over at Cherry with his one violet eye. "Look at these two, not trying to kill each other, not even competing about who has the better or worse job."

"Well, don't bring that up, one of them is sure to start bitching and whining now." Cherry said mildly, and the Drakkaren rolled his eyes as she looked at him pointedly. Then he winced as she added flatly: "And we are here to fucking relax, is that understood? You can do your like. Weird little business dealings thing. Then we're going to fucking relax."

Albatross cleared his throat after a moment of awkward silence, and then he glanced over at Zerrex, saying calmly: "Well, in that case, you'll be pleased to know that we are in fact taking President Balthazar's advice seriously... and as much as I know this will both amuse and pain you, we're using the recovered schematics for Narrius's Paradise floating fortress."

"Seriously?" Zerrex asked dryly, and Churchill mumbled something awkwardly as he looked away, so the Drakkaren turned his glower to Albatross instead, who managed to meet both of his glaring eyes with his one single violet one. "I'd blame that error on your lack of depth perception, but they say everyone has twenty-twenty hindsight."

Albatross opened his mouth, but Cherry giggled stupidly as she covered her muzzle, then she nudged Marina firmly with her elbow, grinning at her as the younger female rolled her eyes and grumbled under her breath. "Oh come on, Bebop, that one was good! Dude, that was awesome, seriously. He totally got you, Albatross!"

Cherry accented this by snapping her fingers, and Albatross sighed and rolled his eye before he said mildly to Zerrex: "While I recognize you obviously are not a fan of Narrius or his inventions, and that Paradise is likely a particularly bad memory for you... it is for all of us. The reason I went ahead with using it as a base is that you and I both know it was large enough to be a floating city and still propel itself around... and a few modifications have made it completely airtight and the armor design will ensure it is almost impervious to even meteorites. Besides, we don't plan to keep many of the weapon turrets active... only enough for sufficient self-defense."

"That was a... very political thing to say." Zerrex said mildly, and Albatross made a face, but then he nodded grudgingly. And finally, the Drakkaren sighed and nodded slowly, muttering: "Well, yeah... I can see why you'd go with that. But where the hell are you building it?"

"That was the easy part... the same place that the original Paradise was built, Uroboros." the blue-scaled Dragokkaren responded calmly, and the reptile grunted at this, looking a bit distasteful but not offering up any other argument. "The pit where it was originally constructed still mostly exists, and we salvaged a lot of the equipment that was used in that process... it will take years to build, but with the money and the help we're getting from Lunis, it won't take nearly as long as you might think to have it up and running."

The reptile nodded slowly, and then he said quietly: "Well, we might only have a few years to do this, Albatross... I guess the main argument I can bring up against Paradise is... well... it was the size of the space colonies Lunis has been working on for years themselves now, and is only most of the way done. Even working day and night, that will be difficult..."

"Yes... but we have demons helping us, too, with all different abilities." Churchill finally spoke, and then he blushed a bit when all eyes turned on him, the Dragokkaren rubbing slowly at his head as he murmured embarrassedly: "Well, since we have a portal open here between Hell and the mortal plane, and they all seem very willing to work... and since this colony won't need the clone production lab, or any of those specialized systems that Paradise did... we've cut out a lot of production time. The two biggest, most technical things that have to be built are the life-support and the rocket engines... and we've already modified some of our weapon factories to produce what we've coined Mobile Engineering Armors that should be able to move around in space without trouble."

Zerrex looked thoughtful at this, nodding slowly after a moment... and then he finally rubbed a hand through his hair as he glanced over at Marina, asking her mildly: "Well... what do you think, then?"

Marina closed her eyes for a moment, and Zerrex could tell by the uneasy shifting of the Dragokkaren that she was brushing through their minds, gathering up the information she could... and finally, she looked at Zerrex and gave a nod and a grunt. It was all the approval the reptile needed, and he smiled a bit before he shook his head slowly and looked quietly through the mostly-transparent sphere at the city outside, letting his eyes trace over the large, gold-stone buildings they passed as the carriage motored quietly along through crowds of Drakkai. "I forgot how beautiful it was here..."

Albatross nodded, and there was quiet for a little while as they drove along the dusty stone streets, very few other motorized vehicles moving past them and the yellow stone buildings stretching almost to the sky, very little technology visible apart from the odd clock here and television there. Most of that had been pulled apart... and the reptile marveled at the beauty of it all, at the jungles in the far distance in every direction and the ivy that crawled here and there over buildings, not cut down or considered a nuisance but just another beautiful part of nature. All of this had taken them forever to reclaim and rebuild after the regime of Narrius had ended, and so much war-oriented technology, Zerrex knew, had been cut out of the buildings and removed from the streets... and even during the war against the demons, the Hez'Rannan people hadn't returned to using the twisted technologies Narrius had developed. Here was one of the few places in the mortal world where clone soldiers were treated as people instead of manufactured troops... here was one of the few places in the world where nature and tradition had been blended almost perfectly with technology and present-day knowledge and awareness.

As they rolled down the streets towards a large palace in the far distance, Churchill sighed and rested back against the wall of the carriage, saying quietly: "Perhaps peaceful times aren't meant for us... and you know, one day, like all young fools, I suppose, I looked forwards to times of war and desperation, of pitting one's mettle against the minds and swords of the enemy... and now here I am, old and feeble and far too well-aware of my own shortcomings to be of much use. Worse yet, I've realized how foolish this all is... and it makes me question if this... Athéos... could really be a god of any sort. After all... if I lived so long and had such power and knowledge and wisdom... I'd want to use it for peace." He paused, then murmured quietly as he glanced down: "I hope I'd use it for peace."

"Athéos does believe he's using it for peace..." Zerrex said mildly, and then he looked towards Churchill with a dry smile. "The problem is, he believes that 'peace' means everything has to go his way... and anything that goes against those rules he's already made up for himself and his friends should be exterminated."

"A fool's peace." Marina murmured, then she glanced at her father, saying his thoughts before the Drakkaren could even piece them together. "Then again, no matter whether it's for good or evil... a person of immense power who crushes his opponent like a bug is a tyrant. Whether he crushes a dictator, or crushes a saint... if he is so powerful that nothing can stand against him, he's still a tyrant. Life's meaning comes from the struggles we face and the pains we endure and the joys we achieve... not from using our power to wipe out another person before even attempting to reason with them. Only after you fail to negotiate with someone, to reason with them, should brute force be employed."

Albatross nodded slowly, and Churchill frowned a bit, asking quietly: "What if that person is attempting to wipe out an entire race, or... I don't know... something equally horrible, and they come begging for help? What do you do then, if you're so powerful that you could squish them like a bug and they're purely evil?"

"Kill only when killing is necessary: it's better to imprison a person for all eternity rather than exterminate them." Zerrex said softly, glancing down at the floor quietly. "Life is something we take too much for granted... and we too often fail to recognize that it is valuable in all its forms, good, evil, right, and wrong. Everyone has a part to play... and besides. When you just erase someone, you don't just take away their chance to at least explain why they did what they did... you take away all the many years they could be forced to live with both what they've done and with what they failed to do. Believe me... the souls in Hell who have been killed right away are often a much-bigger pain in the ass than the souls in Hell who spent a lot of years even alone in a jail cell somewhere. People forget that... even the hardiest of us sometimes has trouble hanging onto our beliefs and grudges."

Churchill nodded a bit, and then Albatross said softly: "But when that person is too dangerous to leave alive... you never hesitate, do you?"

"Good relates to emotions... right and wrong, unfortunately, tend to relate to logic as much as morality." Zerrex said ironically, leaning forwards a bit. "Is it good to kill one life to save many? Not really. Is it the right thing to do, to take one life to save many? Sadly, yes, it is, when you can't possibly save both... unless, of course, that one life will save just as many lives in the future, but well... you know how it all gets retardedly complicated."

"You always were good at damaging your own arguments when allowed to ramble for long enough." Albatross replied with soft amusement, and Zerrex rolled his eyes in dry amusement before he tilted his head as the blue-scaled Dragokkaren tapped his cane loosely against the floor of the carriage and then asked finally: "So do you believe someone is capable of decisions like these?"

"I like to think that someone, somewhere must be." the Drakkaren said thoughtfully, nodding slowly, and then he looked amused at the expression on Churchill's face. "No, it definitely is not you, and it certainly isn't me, either. But I believe in balance... and logically, if there's someone out there who is completely incapable... there has to be someone who is."

Naganis was always pressured like that... I think that's what drove him into such a deep brooding depression for so long. Anathema said moodily in his mind, and the reptile tilted his head upwards curiously, frowning slightly. I'm sure you can sympathize... but just try and imagine the pressures he faced, being God of a world, and having so many crying up to him for help... and all after we... betrayed him.

Zerrex was quiet for a little while, only taking in the scenario: the towering homes made of heavy stone that had multiple levels and multiple families present, the friendly atmosphere, the beautiful nature that was slowly crawling its way back through the entire ravaged country. He smiled a bit, then looked down curiously at a beautiful blue river filled with glimmering stones as they passed over it on a bridge made of logs and vines instead of metal girders, and the reptile felt... strangely at home, in this beautiful place, as the carriages burbled slowly to a halt after circling around an immense statue made of marble and gemstones.

The Drakkaren stood up and picked up his sword and duffel bag, not really paying attention until he almost heard Marina's smile in his mind... and as he stepped out of the doorway and hopped easily to the ground below without waiting for the servant to get the steps, he found himself staring up in surprise after a moment at a statue of him, his scars reverently carved and his angelic wings extended... but more importantly, behind him, standing even taller on raised steps, stood Cindy, Marina, and Cherry. It was a beautiful shrine... and Zerrex smiled faintly over at Albatross, who was walking slowly down the flight of steps pushed into place by the servant. "When we heard about your death... it was the very least we could do. We had another statue, but... when you died, it broke apart. It was a terrible omen... and for us, the real start of the war, even if we met some very loyal and very good-natured demons as well."

He paused as he stood beside Zerrex, leaning on his cane as they both looked at the statue together, and then he added softly: "Your ashes are entombed here. I hope you don't mind."

Zerrex smiled a bit, and then he reached up to squeeze Albatross's shoulder, murmuring softly: "I could think of no better place."

They stood for a little while as the others filtered out, and then, as the carriages drove away, two massive Dragokkaren demons strode down the steps in Dragokkaren Enforcer armor, Zerrex looking at these burly, horned goliaths with interest. Both of them were carrying traditional spears of the nation, and they both looked at Churchill with utmost respect, as they half-bowed to him and he smiled faintly over his shoulder at the others. "Come, let's head into the palace. We can speak more there."

The reptile nodded, and then he followed, Albatross on one side and Marina his other, Cherry and Cindy keeping Lone and Mahihko quiet and at the back of the line. Mammals here weren't as welcome as the Drakkai, after all, for a variety of reasons... and as it was, for Albatross and Churchill to treat them both so kindly was a courtesy very few other mammalian races would ever receive.

They were led down a beautiful golden-stone pathway, between two rows of cherry blossom trees that made Cherry grin stupidly and half-spin around in a circle like the petals once or twice before Cindy slapped the back of her head, making her huff and mumble. Zerrex smiled despite himself, though, feeling serene and truly at ease in this environment, as he wrapped an arm around Albatross and helped him up the stairs at the end of the walk despite his protests.

At the top of the stairs was a beautiful, rounded fountain and a massive archway leading into the tall palace, statues of Drakkai posed on either side of this and along the narrow ledge at the top... but there were also both Drakkai and demons wandering around the perimeter of the half-courtyard, heading towards a beautiful garden a short distance away around one of the corners of the building. Clone soldiers carrying heavy weaponry were also present, and as they passed through the archway, these saluted proudly to the reptiles... then paused and took aim at the wolves, but before one could even bark an order, Churchill halted and said kindly: "Allow them inside. These are... ambassadors, and must be treated with the utmost respect."

Immediately, both clone soldiers kneeled, and Lone pompously strutted inside as Mahihko blushed furiously and tried his best to hide behind him. Zerrex rolled his eyes at their antics as they strode through the lush, carpeted halls of the huge palace, glancing curiously at the tapestries on the walls and the beautiful statues here and there that mixed in with the architecture, gazing curiously even at the Iuratus, demons, and servants they passed.

Finally, Churchill turned and bowed deeply to them, his elite guards doing the same as he gestured towards a set of large, redwood double doors. "I know your family doesn't like to be separated, Lord Zerrex, so I'd like you to have these private quarters. I'll give you... two hours to settle in, and then I'll send a servant to find you for a strategy meeting... but of course, feel free to wander the palace. Make yourself at home... you deserve it more than I do."

"Nah." Zerrex waved a hand dismissively, looking embarrassed before he strode to the doors and opened them... and he took a soft breath at the beautiful, wide room that lay beyond. Slightly-rounded, there was a small entrance space and a wide closet... and then two steps led down curving stairs to a play room, with two huge couches covered in thick pillows and a pool table near the wall. An enormous flat-screen television hung from the ceiling on a rail system that allowed it to be moved around, and a mini-bar area was set up in one corner of the room... except Zerrex could tell that it was stacked with all non-alcoholic beverages. Past this, a beautiful open series of archways led out to a wide balcony that gazed over the expanse of the city of Tek'Kanna below.

Zerrex strode down into the room, gazing at the other amenities provided: a luxurious bathroom with an immense, bowl-shaped tub, three bedrooms, all outfitted with huge, low-to-the-ground beds and fluffy pillows... and as Zerrex turned around, gaping, Albatross waved a hand and smiled a bit, saying mildly: "You should see my room. It's even better."

The Drakkaren snorted, then he looked past the one-eyed Commander with amusement to see that Churchill had already fled... and finally, he sighed and rolled his eyes as Cherry gleefully hopped up onto the couch with her boots still on, kicking the remote sitting on the table with one heel and sending it flipping through the air in a low arc that landed perfectly in her outstretched hand. This made Albatross make a face, and then he shook his head slowly, looking over at Zerrex with wry entertainment. "I often wish I had precognition, Lord Zerrex... but I'd do my best not to squander it like she does."

"You know Cherry." Zerrex said mildly, and then he held a hand out. Albatross took it, then his eyes widened as the reptile pulled him forwards into a firm one-armed hug, saying quietly: "Thanks for everything."

Then he let the Dragokkaren go and smiled at him, patting him on the shoulder as he turned around and added, letting his eyes rove over the others: "I'll be looking forwards to our little strategy session, Albatross. Me, you and Churchill... if only Huck were up from Hell, it'd be just like old times."

Albatross smiled at this, nodding slowly before he murmured softly: "One day we'll see each other again, though. Until then, well... I still remember him." He paused, then turned and left, saying mildly over his shoulder: "See you in two hours, Lord Zerrex."

Zerrex nodded, and then he looked around the room again: Cherry was watching television, Cindy had retreated to one of the rooms, Marina was out on the balcony sketching, Lone was trying to look cool at the pool table, and Mahihko was... in the bathroom, giggling like a child and sitting naked in the tub, splashing water everywhere even as it slowly began to fill. The reptile rolled his eyes, then he walked over to the pool table, holding his hand out. "Come on, I'll play a short game with you."

"Ooh, ooh, me too, let's take turns!" Cherry leapt to her feet immediately, grinning widely before she gave a pleading look at Zerrex's glare. "Oh, come on, Boss! I promise not to win by too huge a margin, seriously!"

Two hours passed quickly: Zerrex and Cherry played against Lone and Cindy, and despite the Drakkaren's several very-bad shots, thanks to Cherry's precog - and to a lesser extent, Cindy's complete disregard for the game, since she took most of her shots while reading some book on Dragokkaren culture, infuriating Lone - they won the game. Then Lone insisted on playing Cherry, to try and maintain his pride... and in the time it took Zerrex to check on Mahihko, roll his eyes at the fact he had covered almost the entire bathroom in bubbles, and then scold him for leaving the door open, Cherry won the game and had already started in on a victory dance that made Lone look like he was ready to shoot her in the face.

Marina came in a short while later from the balcony to show her father a sketch she'd done of the city, and when the reptile approved of her amazing artwork, she blushed like a schoolchild and happily bounced back to the balcony to work on another. Zerrex had taken the time to simply try and relax some on the couch as Cherry and Lone played another round of pool together, but as always when he was waiting for something, anxiety built in his body... and he wondered morbidly how the hell he could be a demon and yet suffer anxiety attacks over the smallest of stupid things.

An Iuratus wearing a plain loincloth showed up sooner than the reptile expected, inviting him to come and join Albatross and Churchill... and the reptile hesitated, then he nodded and went alone. The others were enjoying themselves, after all... and he smiled a bit as he walked down the halls, thinking mildly: Besides. If anything big happens, I've always got Anathema with me.

Well thanks for noticing me. Anathema said dryly, but she didn't sound overly offended: more grouchy than anything else, as Zerrex rolled his eyes with a slight smile. But I take it you trust these people... so what could go wrong?

Lots, believe me. It's not them I'm worried about. Zerrex replied quietly in his mind, looking back and forth slowly before the Iuratus pushed open a door in the hallway and let him pass inside, bowing deeply. He nodded politely to the fellow lizard as he walked into the room, and then he glanced around the plain area he entered into with a slight smile, Albatross and Churchill already seated at the wooden table that dominated the room. Several Dragokkaren Enforcers regarded him respectfully for a moment, but they left without hesitation when Churchill waved them away, and Zerrex sat down at the table with a sigh of relief as he glanced back and forth, asking mildly: "So what's up, then?"

"The usual, of course... diplomatic relations, all that." Churchill said meditatively, lacing his fingers together as he looked across at Zerrex, and then he laughed and shook his head, saying softly: "I keep thinking back to all those years ago, how much I hated you... Gods above, how the old me would hate the new me and how I've come to depend on you and Commander Albatross."

Zerrex smiled a bit at this himself, and then Albatross looked across at Zerrex, saying softly: "It's a mercy Churchill has reformed himself a bit... just as how you've been able to get back on the mortal plane. But I've been meaning to ask... what is that thing you're wearing on your shoulder? You do realize that you were scanned once you entered the palace... and that two distinct signals were detected."

The Drakkaren coughed and rubbed the back of his head, asking mildly: "This isn't going to be a repeat of that whole Nephilim mess, is it?" He paused, and when Albatross only rolled his purple eye and motioned for him to continue, he grumbled, then said mildly as he pointed at the skull: "This is Anathema. I thought I introduced you guys already but I must have been thinking of Balthazar... she helped me stop an undead plague."

"So she was the one that stopped those poor lost souls dead in their tracks..." Albatross nodded slowly, and then he smiled a bit. "Yes, President Balthazar did mention you had a new friend, which is... good to know."

Golden fire alit in Anathema's eyes, and then her voice said icily: "I am not his friend. I am more of a... business partner. We have mutual goals that we're aiming to accomplish."

Churchill winced away, but Albatross only shrugged a bit, looking unsurprised as he said calmly to Zerrex: "And here I thought you were done with symbiotic life forms. But in that case, I am sorry if I offended, Anathema. It's only a method of speech, after all."

Anathema grumbled as the light faded from her sockets, and Zerrex rolled his own emerald irises, saying dryly: "It's best to just ignore her sometimes. So anyway, you two... want to fill me in on any other programs around here I should know about? How's that demonic portal working?"

"Very well... I'm sure you've noticed how many Hez'Rannan daemons are around here." Albatross smiled faintly, clutching the top of his cane with both hands for a moment. "It's strange to see how true the old religions have turned out to be... the only worrisome thing is that the jungle has come alive with more terrors than just the Great Spiders and the many other beasts inside it. Nothing seems to venture very far out of the jungles, however, and security teams have already been deployed to all settlements that reported having trouble with strange creatures. We might not have as advanced weaponry as the Scanners of Ire, but our troops are tough and often ascended Dragokkaren."

Zerrex nodded at this, and then he asked: "And what about the space stations or colonies, apart from the... Paradise one. Ugh. What did you call it? It better damn well not be Paradise II."

"Of course it isn't." Albatross rolled his eye at this, shaking his head slowly. "No, we've decided to name it the Asylum." He paused, then snorted at the look Zerrex gave him. "Not as in insane asylum. As in refuge, or safe haven. When the construction's complete in a few years, it'll be able to hold at least a hundred thousand people. Additionally, other smaller spaceships are under construction. We're in the process of modifying several beached Juggernauts, actually: we should be able to give them more than enough thrust to launch out of the atmosphere, and once they're in space they'll be able to orbit the world and keep enough supplies for at least ten thousand crew."

The Drakkaren nodded again, rubbing slowly at his forehead, and then he said quietly: "This is a hard one... how are you deciding who gets to board?"

Albatross was quiet for a moment, and then he sighed, shaking his head slowly. "A lot of demons say they're willing to risk... whatever dangers there are back home, and return to Hell. Obviously, crew will be on the ships already when they launch... and after that, we'll be taking important and necessary workers, engineers, etcetera. The nobility of Hez'Ranna will likely buy its way on board the Asylum, but well... there's not much we can do about that. And either myself or Churchill be aboard with our handpicked crew... but one of us will be staying behind as long as possible to facilitate the launching of whatever other ships there are available.

"I don't like this idea of running away... so Hez'Ranna will wait as long as possible before launching." Albatross said finally, looking quietly but firmly across at Zerrex. "I recognize what you're trying to do here, but... if we all run away now, then Athéos has already won."

Zerrex nodded slowly, looking down for a few moments... and then he gazed back up at Albatross, saying softly: "I don't want to run away either, Albatross, and I will give it my all... but I know once Athéos gets close, he's going to target the mortal world. He wants to destroy all of us, yes... but I think it's the world he really wants to wipe off the map. It... threatens him somehow, threatens his superiority. But I do agree... and I know some nations will stay and ride it out, too.

"But this is all just in case... something really bad starts to happen." Zerrex finished, rubbing the back of his head with a frown. "I've just... got this feeling that we all need to be as ready as we possibly can for what's coming. But... well... how's the construction coming along, then?"

"Narrius built Paradise in roughly seven years... we think we can build this in three-to-five." Churchill said quietly, raising a hand. The Drakkaren glanced over at him curiously, and the aged Dragokkaren smiled a bit, continuing: "We have better technology now, we don't have to work in secret, and we have the aid of demons and pre-built systems from Lunis. The only setback we hit is well, today... for some strange reason, the weather's been odd in the Uroboros area, and it must be interfering with communications. We've sent in a team of Dragokkaren Enforcers to investigate the area, but they haven't reported back yet."

"I'll go take a look." the Drakkaren volunteered, but Churchill shook his head, gently motioning for him to sit.

"Let the soldiers do their job. I promise you, tomorrow, if there continues to be no signal, you can go and take a look for yourself to see what's going on." Churchill shook his head slowly, an amused expression playing across his features. "Of course, you'll also have to explain to your family about why you're suddenly taking away some of their vacation time... I'm sure Cherry and you will have a nice chat about that."

Zerrex looked at the Dragokkaren for a few moments, and then he sat and crossed his arms, looking sourly amused. "I see that you're still a douchebag, then, Churchill." He paused, then glanced at Albatross, who looked just as entertained as the other Dragokkaren. "You shut up too. But... thanks, Churchill, I can wait until tomorrow. What other information should we go over, now? I dunno if you dealt with humans or not here, but well... let's just say, that was a bit of a mess."

For the next forty minutes, the three discussed various topics: economics, trade being Heaven and Hell, and the need to better develop space-age technologies and the coming 'Rejoining' of all the dimensions. With the last, Zerrex felt comfortable enough to express his worries about the two divine planes... but Albatross made him feel both irritated and comforted when he said calmly that whatever happened, happened.

Then Cherry kicked the door open and glared at Zerrex, and the reptile winced before she grabbed him and dragged him off, grumbling about how he was becoming a workaholic as the reptile tried to protest, before he sighed and waved at Albatross lamely as she threw him over one shoulder and stomped down the hall with him, saying dumbly: "I guess I'll see you later."

"He's the most unprofessional, vulgar, cynical person I've ever met... and yet at the same time, he's undeniably one of the few people I'd trust with my life for some reason." Albatross said mildly aside to Churchill, and then he shook his head with a laugh. "Come on, let's try and get through to the city again."