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The reptile glanced around, and found himself unsurprised to see that Requiem's car was already here... and slowly, he climbed off his motorcycle as he turned it off, then he left the keys in the ignition as he walked carefully out of the parking lot and into the park, glancing slowly back and forth before his eyes settled on an enormous figure in the distance, dressed in ceremonial battle clothing and holding a simple bamboo spear. Zerrex smiled slightly at this as he approached, then he held his arms out and tilted his head quietly, calling: "Just because you're old doesn't mean you have to use ancient weaponry."

"Go to hell." Requiem retorted, but he smiled a bit nonetheless, glancing up and down Zerrex and then nodding slowly to him as he stopped ten feet away. The Drakkaren looked different than the Zerrex he had fought a week ago, and he was smiling, confident and perhaps even happy for what they were about to engage in... and then Requiem let his eyes carry over the reptile before saying softly: "You look like you've gone and picked up some obnoxious fantasy sword, yourself."

"I suppose this applies to what I just said, too... but don't judge before you see what it can do. It's the carpenter, not the tools, after all." Zerrex responded, and then the two smiled at each other before the Drakkaren reached over his shoulder and easily yanked the blade free from the magnet on his back, holding it in one hand before turning it and stabbing it point-down into the ground - something he wouldn't usually do for fear of dulling the blade, but Blackheart was a sword that would never dull. "I'm ready, Requiem Narrius, to meet you and honor you with battle."

The Dragokkaren nodded, becoming more solemn now as he spun his spear easily, then stabbed that down into the ground as well, leaving the two powerful combatants to regard each other over the tops of their weapons. "Then I shall honor you as well, Zerrex Narrius, and hold nothing back. We fight to the death, no mercy and no surrender. Do you accept the rules of the challenge?"

"I do." Zerrex said softly, then the faintest of grins bridged onto his muzzle as he began to walk away from his sword, parallel to Requiem as the Dragokkaren strode in the same direction. "Like you have to ask."

The giant chose to ignore this last statement, then he stopped and the Drakkaren halted as well, turning to him once more. The two faced each other, then both stepped backwards once before taking up ready positions, Requiem in a cultured battle stance that kept both arms in front of him and one raised slightly above his head, Zerrex in a looser streetfighting pose. For a few moments, their eyes locked together, emerald and sapphire clashing but at the same time embracing and recognizing each other as an equal, respectful and even full of that odd happiness that came only with the most dangerous of thrills and deadliest of battles... before both uncle and nephew glanced up with confused looks to one another as they heard the sound of a sports car screeching to a stop, and then a loud scream of "Attack, attack, attack! Help, Boss! Help!"

"What the hell..." Zerrex muttered, then he glanced apologetically at Requiem, but the Dragokkaren was already frowning and had loosened his stance to look at Lone as the wolf pelted towards them, looking remarkably upset about something. Zerrex bowed his head a bit respectfully, then he turned as well as Requiem bowed back and gave a silent gesture that meant he would wait until the Drakkaren had dealt with whatever apparently-too-important-to-wait issue that the lupine had brought with him. "Lone, I swear, if you interrupted us for anything less than-"

"Cherry... Cindy and Tinny... in trouble! Massive... army attacking the windmill!" Lone panted, and Zerrex gritted his teeth, his eyes flashing before he glanced over his shoulder as Requiem approached. The Dragokkaren reached up and squeezed his shoulder, then the giant looked down at the wolf as well, who was currently bouncing from paw-to-paw and babbling the same message over and over again. Upon seeing Requiem, however, Lone's eyes grew round and he fell over, tail curling up between his legs and ears flattening as he began to whimper loudly.

The Drakkaren turned to look up at his uncle, opening his muzzle... but Requiem immediately held up a hand and shook it, saying softly: "This is my fault. I left Cindy alone and vulnerable... I wasn't thinking properly. Of course everyone in town knows who you are and why I'm here... and of course she'd be a target. But let's not waste any time... I'll go back with you to the windmill and offer the support I can. I don't want her hurt anymore than you do."

"Thank you." Zerrex nodded, feeling amazingly relieved before he ran for Blackheart, as the Dragokkaren moved to collect his own spear: then the two were both sprinting for their vehicles, Zerrex easily vaulting onto his motorcycle and twisting the keys in the ignition before he twisted the throttle and made the bike roar, shooting forwards towards the park before he jerked the handlebars hard to the right and threw his foot out, spinning on the axle of his leg and then firing off towards the road, snarling as he jumped the curb and then roared down the road, soon after followed by Requiem in his oversized blue car. The issue being that the Sanderson Windmill is on the other side of town... even rushing like crazy, it'll still be at least ten minutes before we can get there... I just hope they're still secure in the mill.

Lone, however, had been knocked unconscious for a good twenty minutes before he'd managed to jump in his vehicle, and then it had been another dozen or so to get across town to warn Zerrex of what had happened: and the wolf was still wobbly, as he whined in his throat and forced himself to his paws before jogging towards his sports car, staggering back and forth a bit. His head ached like all hell, and his vision was a bit blurred from the force he'd hit his head... and worst of all, he couldn't remember bits and pieces of his past. All he knew where some choice names and had the vaguest idea of their relationships... and that Zerrex was someone who he was supposed to be dedicated to and help out however he can. He also remembered there was a sniping point or something on the hill where he'd come from... and the wolf nodded to himself before setting his face grimly and starting off in the same direction as the others. After all, the least he could do for screwing up by taking a goddamn forced nap was to help out and give the two badasses he'd just run crying to some cover fire.

The lupine drove fast, almost catching up to Requiem before he turned off down a side road with a grunt, gritting his teeth as the sports car skidded a few feet before he winced as he went off the pavement and onto a dirt road with a hard bounce. The wolf continued to drive forwards at his insane speeds, however, a strange urgency filling his mind before he hit the brakes as he twisted the car towards the shoulder.

The handling on a dirt road was far different than on the concrete, however, and the wolf let out a short shriek as the sports car went into a long skid, the tires unable to grip the dirt effectively and the expensive, cherry-red vehicle smashing through the wooden fence that surrounded the area, causing the car to rock violently before it plunged into the deep ditch. The sports car smashed into the ground, one rear wheel spinning lazily as the front end crunched in, sitting awkwardly with the back end in the air. Lone lay against the wheel, his eyes closed, sprawled out forwards and bleeding slowly from his nose, mouth, and one ear, a large gash in his forehead and his clothes torn and bedraggled.

Smoke slowly rose up from the wreck, spiraling towards the sky... and it would go completely unnoticed as Zerrex and Requiem both headed over the bridge, Zerrex snarling at the mass of cars and clenching his handlebars furiously, his emerald eyes cold as heads turned in shock from what looked almost like a gathered army of punks, vandals, scum and gangsters.

The other question that rose in the Drakkaren's mind was how long had they been here... and he would have been shocked to find out that it had been over forty minutes since the pseudo-army had surrounded the windmill. Cherry, Tinman, and Cindy were all painfully aware of how long it had taken, however, since all three of them had been sitting silently and keeping track of the time.

The muscular female had, of course, gotten quickly frustrated with this... but both Tinny and Cindy had shown far more patience, sitting quietly and checking over their weaponry. Cherry, too, sat with her sniper rifle across her lap and her hands clasped tightly together, head bowed forwards and eyes closed, her small stone between her hands as she tried to ignore the soft conversation of the others, as Cindy filled Tinman in on what she had been through.

It had been twenty minutes since the idiots had gathered outside... and Cherry could hear someone giving some speech. She would have been unsurprised to find out that Tank was pacing back and forth on top of the humvee, screaming his message to the ignorant masses before him and frothing, eyes maddened with victory so close in his sight. From the few words she could make out, of course, she, the other female and the badger had all been labeled monsters and enemies of society, and both she and Tinman were supposed to be exterminated while Cindy was taken hostage. It made the muscular female feel a twist of disgusted anger through her body... then she cracked open one eye and snarled at the other two: "Will you fucking shut up? I'm trying to fucking listen!"

Cindy looked at her with genuine hurt in her eyes, but Cherry simply snorted and closed her eyes again, listening hard to try and hear the ranting yelling through the walls... but now it had stopped, and there was only the shuffle of movement and growling of motors outside. Then there was a fumbling at the door as another vehicle pulled away loudly, and the female's eyes snapped open as she cursed under her breath and took aim with her sniper rifle at the security door, popping one of the sidepacks on her bandolier open at the same time so she could have quick access to rounds for the rifle.

Both Tinny and Cindy also tensed, Tinman approaching the edge of the walkway and looking over his shoulder at the younger female with a bit of a smile, nodding to her and reaching out to pat her shoulder gently. "You stay back here for the first while, alright? Get used to the sounds and the sights of battle if you can, and be ready. We'll do our best to protect you, but if there's enough of them we'll need all the help we can get to hold them off."

"Fuck, Tinman..." Cherry muttered under her breath, leveling the rifle against her shoulder as she lay flat, letting the barrel rest gently against the bottom of the walkway. The badger winced slightly, but then he nodded encouragingly as Cindy slowly stepped backwards and sat down quietly a bit away from the others, more into the alcove where they had decided to hide. She felt strangely subdued and almost abandoned as Tinny turned away and drew nails out of his pouch between each finger... and also horribly useless, as her eyes moved quietly to look at her mother-figure's back. In front of her were two amazingly-skilled, trained soldiers who both had strange abilities that couldn't be easily explained by nature and science, both former subordinates of her father - and now friend and wife. She, on the other hand, had been a waitress before she'd moved in with Zerrex... a pacifistic, never-say-no girl who took more pleasure out of watering plants and talking about her day than in dominating through force or killing for sport.

She felt decidedly weak as she played silently with her whip... an on-the-spot construction that looked more like a toy than anything useful, and was a kiddy version of the massive, razor chain that Cherry carried on one hip. Before she could get into feeling too much self-loathing, however, there was a sound of grating steel as a car engine revved outside, and then the huge metal security door was ripped off its hinges and they heard a clear yell from outside... before something else smashed into the wall of the windmill and caused the entire building to shudder violently. Cherry cursed furiously as Cindy looked back and forth, throwing herself backwards and nearly panicking as she fell over, and then Cherry yelled angrily: "Bring it on, motherfuckers!"

Her shout was emphasized by three quick shots from the sniper rifle, her fingers moving with incredible dexterity as they shot the bolt, snapped in another round, and then locked the bolt again: in only a second, she had performed three reloads perfectly and felled the first three gun-toting scumbags who had tried to storm the windmill. The next two who forced their way in through the door were taken quickly out by Tinman, who had a cold expression on his usually kind face as he tossed first one handful of nails with a sound like a shotgun blast, then the other: both of the bikers who had formed the vanguard flew backwards with screams of agony, the dead bodies blocking the doorway and causing their once-anxious compatriots to try and force backwards against the flow of people attempting to enter the building, shrieking.

"Ricochet!" Cherry snapped, and Tinman nodded as he rose a hand, a sawblade popping immediately out of his pouch before he threw it with a simple flick of the wrist: it spun through the air, then suddenly halted and floated in the air, tilting back and forth until Cherry grunted a sound of affirmation, and the badger held the sawblade in the air with his powers, one hand extended as the other dug out another handful of nails, and he fired the volley into another wannabe soldier who was pushed into the room by the flood of his friends.

The muscular Drakkaren, meanwhile, had lain nine bullets out in front of her and was breathing slowly through her grit teeth, eyes closed tightly as she grimace... then her expression suddenly twisted into a violent grin as she leveled the sniper rifle up somewhat and snarled: "Countdown!"

Tinman immediately raised both his hands, focusing on the sawblade and hardening it as he held it firmly in place with his powers, only a moment before Cherry opened fire, squeezing the trigger, working the bolt and reloading, and the repeating again and again. The first shot bounced off the sawblade and drilled through the skull of one of the enemies, causing his brains to blow out the back of his head and all over his friends, who both screamed in terror a moment before both of them were slammed backwards by the heavy rounds. The crowd that had once been so anxious to storm the windmill suddenly broke up from around the doorway as seven more rounds bounced off the gleaming, dented sawblade before the last shot knocked it flying, Tinny grunting and stumbling backwards a step as he released after the bullet impacted, the damaged piece of hardened steel flying across the room as the last shell ricocheted and then tore into the gut of one of the gangsters outside, sending him screaming to his knees before he simply fell forwards and began to twitch.

At this point, several of the once-devoted-military of Tank turned tail and fled, leaping into their cars even as the badger screamed for order from where he stood, safely back from all the others. He snarled, looking back and forth before spotting Mika panting and clutching his chest, leaning on the wheel of his armored and now dented military vehicle, then he pointed at the humvee and shouted furiously: "Ram it again, fuckhead!"

The coyote looked up, intense agony burning through his body, but then he grit his teeth and nodded, stomping on the gas and shooting down the laneway between the soldiers and smashing into the wall of the windmill again... except this time, the humvee tore through, sending brick and chunks of wood flying as Mika whacked his head off the steering wheel, and blood began to drip down his face as he groaned, reaching up to rub for a moment at the gouge on his forehead. Then he slowly forced himself to back up, tears rolling down his cheeks as he trembled violently at the cheers of the others, hating their sounds of triumph but at the same time not wanting to be hurt anymore... and the knife stuck in his thigh was testament to just how far the badger was willing to go in order to get his way, as the canid sobbed quietly and clutched the steering wheel.

The three on the second floor felt the entire sawmill shudder violently, Cherry cursing angrily as part of the walkway blew out as the humvee smashed through. The entire level they were on seemed to tilt slightly, wooden girders groaning as the female saw an appreciable hole had been left in the hall from the huge, apparently-real military vehicle, then it slowly backed out over broken bits of lumber and masonry as the Drakkaren snarled at Tinman: "Can you quick-fix it?"

"Even the girders aren't made of steel... I can't even build a shield." Tinman responded quickly, then he reached into one of his pockets and produced a set of caltrops, tossing them into what was now a large hole in the walkway, then wincing as he heard several angry curses and yells of pain below as the soldiers began to flood in, but many of them stepping on the small spikes. Cherry cursed quietly at this, then she reached up and snapped off her bandolier, throwing it to the ground and tossing the sniper rifle behind her, glancing over her shoulder and snarling at Cindy, who looked at her with shock in her eyes. "Use it if you can! Tinman and I are going down there to try and stop them at the gates if we can."

"I don't know if that's an option, Cherry!" the badger replied, wincing as enemies flooded in from both the broken doorway and the massive tear in the wall, many of them looking around in confusion but a smart few pointing at the pair crouched together on the second floor walkway. Then guns opened up on them, and both the muscular Drakkaren and the badger leapt backwards as bullets smashed through the railing and into the ceiling above, bits of sawdust and wooden fragments hailing down.

"So much for going out in style..." the female muttered angrily, drawing out her revolver and then glancing back at Cindy: the female was slowly looking over the sniper rifle as if she'd never seen such a thing before. "What the fuck are you doing? Bullets are in the pouches, the gun is already loaded, and I taught you myself how to use a bolt-action! Come on, you wanted to fight, here's your chance to fight!"

"Cherry, lay the fuck off her!" Tinman suddenly shouted furiously, the usually-quiet badger rounding on the muscular female and causing her to blink and cower back in surprise. "You've done nothing but yell at her this whole time! She is not a soldier, and she'd be holding up fucking fine if you weren't constantly shitting on her! You want to play dominatrix, we can do that some other time, but right now it's three of us against a hundred of them and we're trapped like rats... we have to work together."

Cindy blushed silently, tears rolling down her cheeks as she shook her head, hugging the rifle tight against her body and whispering in a near-silent voice. "No, Mr. Pettigrew, it's okay... I deserve it... please don't yell at Cherry."

The older female looked back and forth from the badger to her almost-daughter, then she bowed her head silently and closed her eyes, tapping the barrel of the revolver against her muzzle and feeling decidedly ashamed of herself and shaken at the fact that Tinman, of all people, had actually yelled at her. It felt like she'd just been punched in the face by Zerrex... but Cindy had still gone and defended her, and that made her feel even more shitty. In fact, it was worse than the fact there were bullets pattering all around them and an army of idiots parading around on the floor below, yelling and screaming. She opened her eyes, then sighed quietly even as her precog kicked in and she cocked the hammer of the revolver back, aiming across her body and glancing up as a grenade flew through the air towards them: she fired a single shot, and it scratched the very top of the explosive, leaving the smallest of dents in the metal where the pin had once sat and causing it to fly backwards through the air and into the screaming masses.

The explosion shook the entire windmill, dirt and bits of wood flying up as the second floor trembled violently and groaned as if in pain, and in the deafening blast the muscular female looked across at Cindy and mouthed a quiet apology. Cindy smiled a bit at this, then she wiped at her eyes and nodded silently before slowly looking back down at the sniper rifle and taking it quietly up to her shoulder as Tinny looked oddly relieved. Then there was silence for a few moments before crying and broken moans filled the air, along with a series of angry curses from someone outside, and a voice shouted furiously: "What the fuck are you idiots doing in there, playing catch with the fucking grenades? You guys, get your asses in there! Blow them apart! They have to be at least wounded by now!"

"Check in three." Cherry ordered, but the command wasn't as harsh as it was before, as she rose a fist, then popped up one... two... three fingers. Immediately, both she and Tinny stood up, the badger with a cluster of nails in each hand and the muscular female with the huge revolver: they were greeted, however, not by a hail of gunfire but screams as the gang members broke up, a few shooting wildly over their heads.

Two of them were quickly taken out by Tinman's nails, and seven more fell as Cherry fanned the hammer of the revolver, her eyes flashing as her precog kicked in and told her where to aim and when to shoot. The first three went down almost simultaneously in a spray of blood and brain matter, then Cherry blasted a fourth in the chest before grinning and taking aim at the oversized medallion hanging from around the horse's neck: another shot, and the round ricocheted neatly off the solid metal and slammed into the temple of a fleeing raccoon, knocking him sprawling into his compatriots, eyes glazed over and body twitching. The last two bullets went to killing the bikers that were actually trying to aim, before both she and Tinny ducked as the demoralized and devastated first wave was joined by another platoon.

"Go, go, go!" yelled the voice again, apparently the commander, as Cherry glanced at Tinman, then nodded to him as he held out a hand that already had several of the large sniper shells in it. She flicked the revolver open and emptied the empty cartridges into his hand, and the badger winced slightly before clenching his hand shut around the golden, gleaming metal, a thick wave of heat coming off his hand for a moment as the smell of singed fur floated up before he lobbed a golden ball of metal over the edge, mumbling numbers under his breath before clapping his hands firmly.

There was a small pop, then a sound like a tank cannon as dirt flew up and hailed down on the three, Cindy wincing back and letting out a short shriek as Cherry ignored the hail and sound, instead rapidly reloading the revolver before snapping it closed with a flick of the wrist and cocking the hammer. Tinny paused a moment to take a few deep breaths, then he carefully peered over the edge and into the screaming crowd below.

Once more, they were disoriented and disorganized, a few of the soldiers nearby grabbing at their legs with expressions of agony from being hit with the grenade Tinny had made through combining the gunpowder in the shells, residue left over in the cartridges, and the lightweight metals of the bullet casings. Cherry leaned over the edge as well, taking aim with her revolver into the panicking crowd and unloading eight more shots without reserve into the people she thought were acting as team leaders - generally also the people who held the biggest guns. Seven of them fell, but her last shot only blew off the shoulder of a wolf wearing a bulletproof vest and what looked like suit pants, and he stumbled before turning and drawing a modfified handgun with a snarl.

He opened fire at Cherry with a quick three-shot burst, but the female Drakkaren only grinned as Tinny rose a hand and caused the bullets to veer in all directions, one of them slamming down into the skull of another wannabe and sending up a good spray of gore as he fell. Then the two quickly withdrew before Cherry said mildly: "I know this is asking a lot of you, Tinman, but can you detonate all their clips?"

The badger frowned a bit at this, then he shook his head slowly as Cindy watched from her place in the background, trembling a bit as she once more hugged the sniper rifle against her and feeling so inadequate compared to the two before her. "No... I thought of that already, but they're coming in waves. It'll use up a good amount of my energy to pull off a trick like that, even more than usual because I can't see them, and I can't do it over and over again... and the ceiling's too high and made of wood, so I can't magnetize that. In fact, there's nothing big enough for me to magnetize and remove their weaponry... the most I can do is set up a barrier around us, but if they pump too many bullets into it, the shield will break. And really heavy weapons firing at us from all directions will do the same as well."

Cherry nodded thoughtfully as a shotgun blast rang out and obliterated the railing near her head, but she seemed unfazed as Cindy gave a little shriek of terror. Tinman jumped, but it was the younger female he looked at instead of the broken railing, eyes full of concern. It made her blush... and then they all looked up as the voice of whoever was controlling these minions yelled furiously: "Hit it!"

"What the fuck-" Cherry started, and then there was an echoing explosion, several of the gangsters flying across the room with cries of pain as the wall across from where the three were hiding blew inwards, sending a rain of dirt, concrete fragments and broken wood hailing down. On the other side of the now-gaping hole there was a roar, however, and then another wave of would-be troops flooded into the crowded sawmill through the cloud of dust and smoke left behind.

The second floor buckled again, then Cherry let out a loud curse and wrapped one arm around Cindy and the other around Tinman before she leapt high and backwards a moment before the floor beneath them tore away from the wall and collapsed, girders and wooden supports collapsing under the strain of the damage to the building. Gang member howled in pain, many of them blasting wildly into the air as the heavy second floor walkway fell onto them, and then Cherry grunted as she felt her back collide with the wall, Tinny and Cindy both crying out in her arms before she kicked off the wall and dropped the two, going into a roll and holstering her revolver in the same liquid movement.

Immediately, her hands moved to snap out both her whips, snarling and then yelling angrily: "You think you can fuck with me?" She accented this by lashing out with both whips to her sides, the leather one wrapping around a shotgun and the chain around an unfortunate's neck, before jerking both and ripping the gun out of one gangster's hand and the other's head clean off, sending it flying through the air as she revolved her whips quickly above her head to ward off approaching enemies. "You have no idea who you are fucking with!"

Tinman shakily climbed to his feet, shaking his head quickly, then he looked up just in time to see a large, grinning horse level a double-barrel shotgun at him, before opening up with both barrels. The badger was slammed backwards with a shriek of pain, but instead of blowing him off his feet and ripping him to shreds, he only stumbled, the pellets tearing through the Kevlar and imbedding into his body... before he snarled and glared back up at the horse, straightening as the equine stared in shock. He broke his gun to reload, the shells flying free, and Tinny pointed at him in the pantomime of a gun before his cocked thumb went down, and he grunted as he stumbled backwards again, a bit of blood spurting from his body as the pellets embedded in his chest shot free and pounded into the horse, ripping through him like paper as he flew backwards with a scream of pain.

Cindy groaned, rubbing at her head before she stood up: somehow, she'd dropped the sniper rifle but kept her hold on the whip. She blinked quietly as she looked around, then gasped and staggered backwards as a grinning wolf approached her with a revolver, saliva falling from his muzzle and the gang crest on his jacket shining in the light, four other canines with similar gang wear and colors approaching as he said hungrily: "Well, aren't you a pretty bitch?"

She stumbled backwards again, and then the light-furred timber wolf turned into Lone, and suddenly she was the old weak Cindy, back behind the bar, a gun trained on her and the wolf ripping down his pants and grabbing at her, about to rape her: at the vision, tears filled her eyes, but a deep anger and resentment surfaced as well and reminded her of who she was... and then they were all laughing at her, as the boss spoke again and stepped over a broken piece of lumber, saying in a voice audible even over the battles the others were locked in: "I think we'll take you to be pack property, if you get my drift... you got a nice set of everything. What the fuck, we kill you, your friends, then those other shitheads... and I'm sure that Tank will let the pack get their paid dues in flesh..."

Then he stepped forwards, grinning and swinging with the revolver at the same time, and Cindy felt her body automatically start moving to defend itself: the twitch was enough to break her fear's control over her, and she consciously took over the movement, catching the gun in both hands, then spinning so her back was to the wolf and slamming an elbow into his muzzle.

He screamed in agony, head snapping back and blood spraying up, then Cindy turned to face him again, causing his arm to twist painfully before she swept his leg out from under him and yanked hard: his shoulder dislocated as he left the ground, still letting out a girlish cry of pain before he flipped onto his back and slammed heavily into the floor below, groaning in agony. Then the female looked up at the other four, who were all staring in shock, and she quickly snapped out with the whip that Tinman had made for her as the first went for the gun tucked in his pants.

He screamed, his hand shattering as she hit him with a hard, rising blow, then the female twirled on the spot with all the grace of a dancer, lashing the whip out in a hard crosswise strike that caught all four of them in the chest and sent them crashing down onto their backs, tearing apart their shirts and jackets and leaving a long, bloody gash on each of them. One of them curled up and began sobbing, hands over his face as the others merely lay flat, staring with horror before Cindy snapped her whip and shouted: "Get out!"

Immediately, the four scrabbled to their feet and fled past several other shocked gangsters, and Cindy snarled back and forth at the others, tensing her body as she cracked her whip, then she looked down and kicked the fallen wolf's revolver up to her hand, holding it out and ready. Her body was filled with conflicting emotions: fear, anger, hate, love, sorrow, and pain... but there was also a deep, unsettling joy that scared her, a vicious thrill as she turned the revolver back and forth and said in a low, dark voice: "I don't want to kill. But there are plenty of non-vital points I can hit that won't kill but leave you in a lot of pain. Who wants to test me first?"

Cherry, meanwhile, was reaping through opponents like corn, twisting her body back and forth to avoid the occasional bullet: because of how crowded the windmill had become, however, most of the enemies had switched to close-quarters weaponry, and she couldn't help but feel a vicious pleasure in the ease with which she tore through their ranks. She punished weaker opponents with her leather whip... and killed strong enemies outright with the sharpened chain.

Someone was screaming orders, and then she sensed more than heard someone behind her, and she quickly stepped backwards before drooping her shoulder, letting the chain whip fall to the ground as she revolved the leather whip in a quick helicopter spin above her head: she heard a scream of pain as it likely collided with the muzzle of the unlucky assailant, and then she spun with a roar, her powerful muscles flexing as she tore the chain whip in a hard outwards lash that ripped the wannabe soldier that had attacked her completely in half, sending out a fine spray of blood and innards as he fell in two pieces. Enemies all around her shrieked in fear, many of them turning tail and fleeing even as she snapped the leather whip out to catch the ankle of another enemy across from her, then jerking back hard to trip him and several others who tried to step over her whip as she snapped it upwards, catching a few others in the crotch and knocking them flat. Then she grinned viciously as she snapped her chain whip down on their backs, making them scream in agony as she laughed, snapping the razor-sharp whip down again and again and ripping apart their backs as she shouted with a psychotic grin: "Scream for me! Scream!"

Without even pausing, she suddenly snapped her leather whip backwards, and a bear who had been sneaking up behind her with a heavy axe grunted and grabbed at his stomach, dropping his weapon as the Drakkaren turned and then wrapped an arm tight around his throat, choking him before tearing hard to the side and snapping his neck with the ease of breaking a twig. She grinned viciously, then blinked as ghost images played in front of her eyes before turning with him instead of dropping him.

A line of what looked like five ex-military opened up with fully-automatic fire from one of the holes in the breached windmill, wielding what looked like some kind of foreign automatic rifles: Cherry winced as one of the rounds scratched along her face, digging a shallow cut and making her snarl in pain as the other rounds pounded into the thick corpse of the ursine. Then she dropped him, relying on the continued, focused fire to keep him upright for a few moments before throwing herself to the side and performing a handspring, then shoving herself off her hands with a snarl and flipping once as she lashed both whips down in a vicious arc, ripping apart the squirrel who had been about to blast with her with a shotgun, before landing and rolling behind the heavy, damaged wooden support pillar where they had first found Cindy. She cursed under her breath as the automatic fire tracked her for a few more moments and the screams of others mowed down by the guns; it sounded like soon this unorganized attack was soon going to devolve into a free-for-all.

Tinman glanced up from where he had been blasting enemies with nails, then he took a quick look around at the mutilated corpses and the few panicking, fleeing enemies before dropping the handfuls of nails he held and pulling out a roll of steel wire. He quickly tossed this into the air, then concentrated, and the entire length unrolled before twisting itself into a new shape that stood at ten feet high and ten feet wide, and the badger smiled grimly before shoving both hands forwards and sending the square, checkerboard-style net shooting through the air and into the line of soldiers.

Only the first managed to even turn in time to see the net coming towards them: he screamed, forgetting all his combat training for a moment that cost him his life: the net ripped halfway through his body, leaving him stuck on the steel wires like a piece of half-filleted meat, blood flying from his body as he was carried backwards and into his friends: then they slammed into the wall, the net tightening as his four fellows struggled hopelessly, eyes bulging as blood ran through their fur and over the steel wire.

Tinny easily held the net on them, eyes cold as he lowered his other hand, focusing on the rifles that he was slowly cutting through with the pressure the wire was putting on the struggling soldiers, watching as another group of enemies began to enter... and then he snarled and clenched his hand into a fist, and the clips detonated inside the assault rifles, the guns exploding and killing the soldiers and the few standing nearby, corpses plowing into their living once-allies from the force of the explosion and knocking them flat.

Cindy snarled, on the last bullet in the revolver, with a good group of ten or so still around her... but they were all looking nervously back and forth with the fact that five of their compatriots lay on the ground, several clutching at shattered kneecaps and one moaning and bleeding sluggishly as he held his stomach, coughing blood and whispering over and over that he needed a doctor as he looked around the area with blank eyes. Then one brave fox jumped forwards, and Cindy blew his foot off, causing him to fall flat on his face and scream as he clutched at his destroyed paw, rocking back and forth as one of the others yelled: "Get her!"

Cindy winced, then she threw the revolver hard at the face of the nearest, knocking the rat flat on his back as the gun bounced off his skull before she snapped her whip in front of her: the effect it had was startling, as the once-advancing group of soldiers instead all leapt back. They looked at each other nervously, then one of them cursed and blew out a handgun, and the female's eyes widened before she let out a shriek as he fired a round into her leg, the bullet knocking her to all fours as she clenched her eyes shut with a moan, the leopard shouting angrily: "Doesn't feel so good to be shot, does it, bitch! Grab her, grab her!"

The female Drakkaren's body was ablaze with pain... but then, the moment she felt hands snag her wrists, she snarled and quickly revolved her hands before her own finger sealed in an iron grip around the arms of those who had tried to restrain her, making the two look at her stupidly for a moment before she jerked her arms across her body and slammed them together as hard as she could. Their heads knocked together and they both feel with grunts of pain, one of them moaning and clutching at his skull as the other lay flat and unconscious... but then there was a gun in the Drakkaren's face, and the leopard that had shot her was glaring down at her furiously, yelling: "Move and I blow your brains out and say-"

Cindy's hand shot up, then tore the slide back before she tilted her head away and tore down, and then the feline was left with only the handle, blinking as he looked down at it with something like mild surprise: when he looked back up, Cindy had shoved herself up to her feet and cocked an arm back, and he rose both hands in a stupid gesture of surrender, gun falling to the ground.

The female didn't bother to heed this, instead stepping forwards on her bad leg and throwing a hard punch, letting out a scream of fury as she slammed a right hook across the leopard's face with all her strength. She staggered forwards, bad leg almost giving out and causing her to half-topple before she righted herself, but the feline got it much worse: he flew backwards across the room, knocking over one gangster who was just trying to climb to his feet before bouncing on his back like a flat rock on water, then he went into a rapid roll and finally crashing to a halt next to Cherry, who paused long enough in her rampage with both whips to gape stupidly at Cindy.

The young Drakkaren panted harder, snarling as she looked back and forth, then she rose her fist threateningly. "Who wants some, huh? Who..." A pause as she looked out the hole in the wall of the windmill, then a strange, twisted grin spread over her features as she whispered: "Oh, you guys are fucked now. I recommend running real fast. I promise not to tell on you."

She gazed around at them all... and three of the would-be soldiers of Tank paled at the look in her eyes before taking her advice and fleeing. The others merely hesitated nervously, looking back and forth before readying themselves to attack again and try to force the female down with numbers as another group of gangbangers flooded into the sawmill.

Outside, Zerrex was just crossing the bridge, snarling at the sight of the smoking sawmill... but he continued down the road for a few moments, not letting his anger get the better of him as he instead checked out the area, ignoring the pointing groups of soldiers and the fact there were vehicles parked all around him. Then he twisted the handlebars to the side as he saw Requiem simply stop on the bridge, then climb out of his car and slowly roll his shoulders before walking forwards, and the Drakkaren couldn't help but grin at the visible shudders he saw as he headed towards one of the groups, near where a badger he recognized as one of the Godkillers was parading around on top of a humvee with a minigun and a bullhorn; he was currently pointing at him and screaming, likely something about killing him.

The powerful reptile grinned a bit, then he leaned hard to the side before bringing one leg up and turning his body, kicking hard off the bike as it overbalanced and fell heavily, spinning rapidly along the ground and crashing into the front ranks of the gathered group, causing them to scatter and a few unlucky individuals to be knocked flying or crushed beneath the massive armored motorcycle.

"You're all fucking useless! I want my handpicked team out here!" Tank shouted at the top of his lungs, then he snarled and threw away the bullhorn to instead level the minigun at the Drakkaren as the reptile charged towards the group, trying to ignore the fear he felt as the reptile moved forwards and unable to help but wonder with something like terror if he'd already finished off the giant Dragokkaren. He pulled the top trigger of the minigun, causing the electric motor to whirr and the barrels to begin revolving as he glared furiously at the reptile, but he couldn't shake the deep fear in his chest: after all, he was only down to about a third of the original number of soldiers... one last push was all they had, and if the reptiles and their bitch-badger friend somehow broke the final line of Tank's elite...

Zerrex didn't bother to halt his charge as he reached the first in line, a tall bull who was wielding a metal pipe: instead, he simply swung an arm out and caught the pipe as he leapt into the air, slamming both feet heavily into the brawny male's chest and causing him to topple backwards with a yell before the tall Drakkaren kicked off and ran forwards, slamming another foot down between the ears of some other unfortunate victim and cocking the steel pipe back before tossing it in an exaggerated overhand motion at the badger on top of the humvee.

The pipe struck Tank squarely in the face and sent him down with a shriek of pain, head snapping to the side and blood bursting up before he crashed heavily, half-sprawled off the armored vehicle and twitching a bit before the entire machine rocked as Zerrex landed heavily on the roof. He grinned slightly as he bent and then hefted the minigun up in one hand, Tank's body coming with it before the reptile ripped the shoulder strap loose and kicked the top off the ammunition box that was currently feeding the gun, letting the belt hang low as he depressed the trigger to cause the barrels to revolve. Then the Drakkaren grasped the stock, a few stray bullets hailing around him but most of the gang members running in terror as Zerrex looked up with a vicious grin, ignoring the madly-firing guns as the minigun's barrels spun faster and faster, then he pulled the lower trigger.

The whirr of the revolving barrels was drowned out by the high-pitched howl of the heavy automatic weapon opening fire, and the reptile slowly strafed it in a line, aimed low at the feet of his enemies and ripping apart their ranks like paper in a hurricane. Most of the two dozen or so gangsters fell screaming, many of them silenced moments later as Zerrex strafed the powerful gun back over the ranks of fallen soldiers before the Drakkaren released the firing trigger, jumping down onto the hood of the humvee and snapping a good length of ammo belt off out of the box, spinning around to see another of the Godkillers staring with something like relief at him. The barrels continued to rotate as Zerrex leveled the minigun again, ignoring the screams from all around him as he issued a visible challenge to the driver... but the coyote only rested back against the seat of the vehicle and closed his eyes, and Zerrex snorted at the lack of sport before he pulled the trigger and strafed it back and forth over the front of the humvee, the huge rounds tearing apart the hood of the vehicle and blowing out the windshield before the gun silenced as the huge weapon ran out of rounds.

Zerrex tossed the empty gun to the ground, then he snorted quietly and glanced over his shoulder for a moment, catching sight of another of the Godkillers standing inside the windmill, her face pale and her hands over her muzzle... but then he saw Cherry heading towards her and instead turned his attention quickly to the remaining stragglers outside, snorting and wiping off his hands. There would be no mercy today for anyone, and the only choice he would give them would be to die on their knees or die fighting... but either way, they would die.

Requiem, meanwhile, had simply walked towards the group of not-soldiers that was currently flocked in front of a gaping hole in the wall, one of them - a trenchcoat-wearing lynx with goggles up over his eyes, and holding what looked like a block of plastic explosive in one hand and a detonator in the other - apparently acting as leader, as he yelled orders before laughing madly as he lobbed the explosive charge over the heads of the others and at the Dragokkaren. The giant merely made a face, however, then he quickly kicked a chunk of broken wood up to his hand before throwing the piece of debris in an easy underhand motion, striking the block solidly and sending it plummeting down into the ranks of the gangsters. Immediately, most of them screamed and ducked for cover, a few unlucky individuals trying to run past the giant as he continued to walk casually forwards.

One hand shot out and snatched up a fleeing canine like a toddler, before simply crushing in his throat, then Requiem threw down the body and slammed his elbow into the head of another unfortunate wannabe gangster as he also ran a bit too close to the Dragokkaren from fleeing the plastic bomb on the ground. He fell lifelessly, and then Requiem merely stood, pausing a moment as the trenchcoat-wearing mad bomber snarled and backpedaled into the windmill before hitting the button to detonate.

One of Requiem's arms moved up to shield his eyes, the giant wincing a bit as the plastic explosive blew up in a great blast of smoke and fire, dirt and small pieces of debris pattering against his chest as most of the members of the would-be army went flying, a few of them falling into the nearby creek. He snorted quietly in distaste, barely rocking from the forceful push from the bomb, before starting forwards again and silently stepping through the haze of smoke, lashing one hand out without even needing to see and snagging the trenchcoat-wearing idiot bomber, causing the feline to shriek and grab at the giant's wrist wildly. The Dragokkaren hefted him up to eye level, looking at him with disgust, then he glanced down as the coat flapped open and something caught his eye. Then the behemoth snorted quietly before reaching into the lynx's ridiculously-oversized trench and pulling the pin on one of the grenades in his inner pocket, saying softly: "Live by the sword, die by the sword: like all explosive-wielding idiots, at least you get to go out with a bang."

Then the giant turned, hauling the lynx back like a football before stepping forwards and throwing him with all his mighty strength, muscles bulging as Requiem snarled. He sent the cat spinning head-over-heels through the air, his goggles falling off as he screamed and clawed at his coat: then, just as he began to fall over the creek, still a good thirty feet up, he exploded in a massive fireburst, bits and pieces of ash, lynx and flaming trenchcoat floating down to settle on the grass and water below.

The Dragokkaren snorted quietly, looking at the ball of smoke in the air as it slowly was torn apart by the faint breeze, then he paused and turned around, frowning to himself as an aged dragon in a long, regal black robe approached, accompanied by an otter. The latter wore what looked like a ceremonial white silk gi, with a black sash tied tight around his waist and a pair of wooden traditional sandals on his feet, and in one hand he carried a simple katana in what looked like a lacquered wooden sheath. The giant had a faint sense of both amusement and complete out-of-placeness as he looked at the two, recognizing them as pupil and master of some martial arts clan almost immediately before asking dryly: "Isn't this the wrong time and place for this crap?"

"Not at all." said the wizened, gold-scaled dragon with a smile and nod, reaching up to place his hands inside the loose, open arms of his robe, as the lithe otter glared at Requiem arrogantly. "After all, we were looking for a proper challenge. We are of the Oda Clan, and were recruited as 'specialists' by the leader of the Godkillers, a Mr. Tank. My young apprentice, Caine, should be more than enough of a match for you, despite your impressive stature and strength-"

"I don't have time to play games." Requiem said dryly, glancing back and forth at the scattering soldiers, then he rose a hand and beckoned idly as the dragon frowned and the otter snarled angrily. "Either get to the point or leave. I suggest leaving, myself."

"Show proper respect to my master!" The otter, Caine, snapped sharply, then he suddenly stepped forwards, one hand on the hilt of the katana and the other the sheath, slamming the hardwood towards the giant's stomach. Requiem, however, moved faster than the otter could match, one of his hands reaching down and catching the end of the sheathed weapon before shoving it backwards, slamming the hilt into the stomach of the otter.

Caine's eyes bulged, and he stumbled backwards, clutching at his gut with one hand and holding the sword tight in the other, before snarling and drawing the katana, then pausing as his master said something sharply in another language that Requiem didn't recognize. A moment later, however, the otter slowly sheathed the katana, then threw it to the ground before taking up a traditional battle stance that the reptile was far more familiar with. He smiled slightly, then Caine let out a yell, hands striking the air in front of him in almost a windmilling motion before he charged.

Requiem swung a fist in, and, as expected, Caine caught the simple thrust punch and turned to throw him over his shoulder: before the otter had the chance, however, Requiem's arm suddenly wrapped around his throat, hauling him into the air and back against his powerful body as the other grabbed his head. Caine struggled, letting out a screech, then he was silent as Requiem pulled both arms hard to the side, twisting the otter's head almost entirely around and snapping his neck. Then he snorted quietly, dropping the body and looking at the aged dragon, saying softly: "You sicken me. Cheap and tawdry fools who would play at being masters of the martial arts, simply because you know a few neat kicks and have some pathetic physical power. The saying goes that a monk does not sell himself for a handful of rice, but it looks like you've given up your soul for only the promise of a few grains."

The dragon's face twitched, then he growled before kicking up the katana to his hands and drawing the sword in a liquid motion, revolving both the blade and sheath around himself in a rapid spin as he stepped quickly towards the Dragokkaren, cursing at him in his own tongue. Then he suddenly stabbed forwards, flat of the blade parallel to the ground as he bent slightly forwards, one hand behind his back and still holding the sheath as he took up what was nearly a fencing position... and Requiem almost absently kicked the dragon's hands with the toe of one loafer, causing the sword to fly up into the air, spinning slowly. The dragon stumbled backwards, his eyes wide with terror instead of fury now, but before he could do anything else, the sword above began to fall and the huge Dragokkaren revolved one arm with the palm out in a huge pinwheeling motion, his palm striking the pommel of the katana and shoving it down through the dragon's throat.

The wizened reptile stumbled, choking and clutching at the sword buried through his neck, blood spurting up before he collapsed forwards, and Requiem snorted quietly, wiping his hands together as if he'd touched something dirty. Then he turned towards the windmill, heading slowly for the gap in the wall and the few remaining gangsters fell over themselves to get out of his way, many of them crying and screaming in horror at the sight of the giant striding through their broken ranks.

Inside, as the roar of Zerrex's motorcycle had filled the air, Cherry had looked up and grinned viciously as she spotted Cindy surrounded... but with an expression on her face that let the muscular female know that the cavalry had just arrived. Immediately, the powerfully-built Drakkaren turned and lashed both her whips out, wrapping them tight around the support pillar and then roaring, muscles bulging as she'd stomped hard backwards and pulled as hard as she could, causing the weakened pillar to crack along the bottom, then slide free with a groan of wooden timbers and fall, heavy girders and logs collapsing from the ceiling above as Cherry released her whips and jumped backwards, swaying her body to the side as she looked up to narrowly avoid a heavy wooden crossbar as parts of the third floor rained down, rotten wood, still-healthy timbers and heavier chunks of oak and maple hailed down, sending most of the remaining gangsters fleeing. Many of them, however, were crushed under the weight of the chunks of third floor, and one unlucky individual was squashed as the huge central support pillar struck the wall, then the end slid backwards until it too smashed into the other side of the windmill, crushing a rabbit between the base of the wooden support and the sawmill's wall.

Tinman stared in horror as he saw what Cherry was doing, then he abandoned his own current fight, simply using his powers to cause the bits of chain on the floor nearby to leap up and wrap tightly around the three gangsters in front of him, dragging them down to the ground and choking them as the badger ran quickly in the other direction. He paused ,however, as he spotted a trapdoor with a heavy metal lock on it, then he quickly made a twisting motion that popped the hatch in the floor open and simply jumped inside, catching the short wooden ladder on his fall into the pit and then falling heavily with a grunt into a cobwebbed storage space, blinking foolishly around the area as he landed heavily on his rear. A few moments later, Cindy too literally dived inside after shoulder her way through the enemies in front of her, then she landed on her hands before pushing off the ground and landing in a crouch with a wince, rubbing at her arms slowly as Tinman stared: the movement had been worthy of her father, with the fall of at least fifteen feet. "Holy hell, but is she trying to collapse the entire windmill?"

"That's Cherry. She's a bit theatrical..." Tinman paused as Cindy sat on the floor, the two wincing as several Godkillers fell in through the open entrance and both moving back a bit as their bodies hit the floor heavily, followed by a large block of wood that landed across the back of one of them. He didn't react, however, and only one of them groaned and twitched at all, opening his eyes... but he only gazed at them stupidly as Tinny his full attention to the female. "You're hurt... looks like a bullet wound. Did it go through?"

"No... hurts like hell, though." Cindy managed a bit of a smile as she rubbed at her leg, trying to cover the hole and blushing quietly as she said softly: "You look a lot worse than me."

Tinman had long since abandoned his shredded Kevlar vest, and he laughed faintly as he rubbed at his bloody stomach and chest, shaking his head slowly. "I... I'll be fine. But let me get the bullet out, it'll hurt for a moment but it'll be less uncomfortable for you afterwards..." he said softly, then, before she could protest, the badger made a quick beckoning motion with one finger, and Cindy cursed loudly as the bullet and several broken fragments came out of the wound with a small spurt of blood, Tinman wincing. "Oh, damn. Hollow points. Sorry... um... how do you feel?"

"Fine." Cindy responded icily, teeth grit as she glared at the badger, then she blinked as he clapped his hands tightly together over the broken shards, before smiling meekly and holding out a fully formed bullet that was bare of its casing. The Drakkaren female took it, then glanced up at him curiously.

"It's an old tradition..." the badger blushed quietly, rubbing the back of his head, then both of them winced and looked up as the entire windmill above shuddered before their gazes returned to meet each other's again. "You keep the first bullet you were ever shot with... sorta like a charm, you know? Some people would tell you that if you have it on you the next time you're shot, that bullet won't kill you, no matter where it hits." His face turned a bit more crimson as he looked at Cindy embarrassedly. "And some people just like to keep it to prove that they were actually shot."

"I like the first idea... thanks Tinny." Cindy said softly, then she glanced up and frowned as the two heard another loud yell. "What the hell is Cherry doing up there? I'm going to check."

Cherry, however, was cheerfully taking care of the rest of the Godkillers private army amidst the falling pieces of lumber and wood that composed most of the windmill, at the same time dancing around the broken bits of timber hailing down around her. Most of the not-exactly-military had fled, however, leaving only the 'specialist' forces that Tank had chosen to form a quasi-elite team: people who looked different than the usual gangster and could handle themselves a bit better, in other words.

One of them was a massive Doberman with bulging muscles, grinning stupidly as he approached the female, then swung hard: the female dodged back easily from the swing, however, then ducked before reaching up and easily swinging her hands out in a sweeping motion, no longer armed with her whips but feeling that her hands would be more than enough to deal with this oaf. He laughed as her hands only scratched over his chest, then he thrusted his powerful form out towards her, challenging in a deep voice: "Go on! Hit me as hard as you can!"

The movement, however, caused the only piece of clothing that the Doberman was currently wearing to fall down, however: after all, Cherry's initial chop hadn't been aimed at him, but instead at snapping the clasps that held up his suspenders, leaving him standing naked. He blinked, staring down at himself as the Drakkaren looked down musingly at a pair of very-shrunken testicles, then she shrugged and smiled patronizingly as he looked back up at her with a ridiculous blush. "Steroid use. Damn. Bet this'll still hurt, though."

Then she stepped forwards and swung her foot viciously up into his crotch, reducing his balls to jelly and causing his eyes to bulge as his black-furred face turned pale white, his jaw clenching and unclenching as a bit of drool fell from his muzzle and his enormous hands grabbed at his now bloody-crotch, the spikes from Cherry's motorcycle boots ripping into his groin even after she had pulverized his private parts. Slowly, the thickly-muscled, gargantuan behemoth canine fell to his knees, then his eyes rolled up in his head and he fell forwards as Cherry easily walked around him, patting him condescendingly on the shoulder as he fell past her.

Three of the other remaining soldiers snarled at this... the one of them was crushed by a falling log, which caused his friend to scream and flee the windmill without a look back over his shoulder. Then the entire windmill shuddered as Cherry laughed, grinning and shaking her head as she looked up at the ceiling, a bit of dust hailing down before looking at the last soldier who had any fight left in him, an equine in a rumpled tuxedo with a drum-loading machine gun. He looked straight out of a nineteen-twenties gangster flick, except for the curving sunglasses perched on his head, and then he snarled as he hit a switch on the side with an exaggerated motion before raising the gun to his shoulder and shouting: "Stupid bitch, I'll fucking kill you! Eat this!"

Cherry's eyes flashed as she focused her precog, then she grinned and swayed to the side, tilting her head as the horse fired a short burst of bullets at her: they soared by, inches from her face, then she straightened and slowly waggled a finger, saying softly: "Don't go calling names now, or making promises you can't keep."

The stallion only looked more infuriated at this, then he adjusted his aim and fired again, but Cherry easily spun to the side and threw her arms up as she bowed slightly, the bullets causing the fabric of her exercise top to whisper before she dropped to a kneel. Another burst went over her head, then the equine let out a snarl of fury before switching to full automatic and opening fire as he strafed back and forth.

The female Drakkaren grinned as she jumped forwards and shoved herself up to balance precariously on one hand, then she shoved off the ground and arched her back, feeling bullets whizz under her as she flicked her tail upwards, before forcefully flipping her body at the last moment and bowing her head forwards slightly to allow another storm of bullets to shoot over her head. Then she simply straightened and walked forwards as the equine finished another strafe, before he rose the gun to head level and pulled the trigger.

The gun clicked, dry-firing, and the stallion had enough time to look down stupidly at the weapon before Cherry suddenly lunged forwards, grabbing the large barrel of the machine gun and using that to slam the weapon upwards and into the face of the horse, causing him to stumble before she spun her body to the side, wrapping her other arm firmly around the stock and grasping the handle of the weapon, then slamming the butt of the gun into the horse's ribs and knocking him flat on his ass. Then she turned and easily shoved the barrel against the horse's head, grinning viciously down at him as he trembled violently, then barked a harsh laugh: "It's empty, bitch!"

"I said not to call me names. And whoever said I was going to shoot you?" Cherry asked pleasantly, and the horse had enough time to blink before the female stepped forwards and smashed two hard toe-kicks into his chest, causing him to shriek and topple backwards with a set of crushed ribs and blood spraying from his mouth. He spasmed a few times on the ground as Cherry snorted, throwing the machine gun to the side and then glancing around the ruins of the windmill before pausing as her eyes settled on one last intruder, then she snorted and ran quickly forwards, figuring she could at least make this quick.

It was simply bad timing on Felicity's part... she had taken a back way to the windmill, deciding it would be safest to come down from the hills, since she was fairly sure Tank would attack from the road and that the badger would want to stay safely back from the main fighting. The vixen had been shocked to come across Lone sitting in the ruins of the sports car, bloody and bruised, perhaps even dead... but when she'd gently nudged him, he'd groaned and then fallen out of the open door of the car. She'd winced, but then decided to leave him alone before running quickly up the hill and finding the wolf's gear and sniping point before finding herself staring stupidly at what looked like a war zone below.

She'd charged quickly down the hill, stumbling and sprinting as hard as she could, the vixen determined to find Tank and put a halt to the violence inside if she could... and then she'd managed to sneak past a trenchcoat-wearing psychopath who was yelling orders at a group of gangsters, none of whom saw her in the tunnel vision they all had from the ongoing battle. Once inside, she'd almost been knocked out by a falling chunk of wood, finding herself horrified at the destruction that had been wrought... before a feeling of infinite amazement filled her being as she saw a familiar figure leap down from the hood of Mika's humvee. All she could do was stand and stare as Zerrex straightened, his body gleaming like it was forged of emerald metal and dark blue stone instead of made of flesh and scale, and the fact he already held Tank's minigun suggested that he had already dealt with the badger... something that filled her with a surge of pride.

But then her hero turned... the minigun whirring, and he took aim at the humvee. And now the vixen could see Mika sitting inside, blood dripping from his muzzle, but a strange smile on his face as he closed his eyes... before she screamed, her idol betraying all her dreams and desires as the huge automatic weapon opened fire and ripped apart the humvee and killed her coyote brother, her closest friend, the only male she had ever truly loved. She felt her dreams falling to pieces around her, trying to rationalize what Zerrex - her hero! - had just done, and feeling hate and sadness and anger welling up inside of her as she shrieked again... but all he did was toss a cold look over his shoulder before he simply walked outside, and another scream broke from her lungs before a hand grabbed her shoulder like a vise.

She turned, tears streaming down her face... and the last thing she saw before the lights went out Cherry's grin and the female's vicious glare before a fist smashed into her muzzle and sent her down in a broken heap. And for a little while, there was only darkness, as she spasmed on the ground and her thoughts rocketed wildly in her head... then she slowly opened her eyes and watched as her once-hero walked slowly back in, glancing over to the other hole in the wall and speaking to someone he couldn't see in a mild voice: "Did you get the rest of them?"

"Yes. They're all dead." replied a calm, strangely-gentle voice, and she turned her head, then she felt her heart drop as she saw the feared giant standing nearby, Requiem. He stood by a trapdoor, his arms crossed, and Cherry... Cherry was helping Cindy and the badger that everyone called Tinman up from the cellar... they were all standing together, and she could hear Zerrex walking over to join them, and she felt a strange feeling hit her.

It had all been a lie... they had all been deceived. Everything Tank had said about Zerrex... it was all true... it was all true. And the vixen felt... a strange, dark power growing inside of her as she snarled, a few last tears leaking down her face as her eyes burned with anger, with the need to lash out, and something deep and hateful woke up inside of her... something that wanted to get even with the world for all the pain it had caused.