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(Alright everyone I'd like to state that this isn't my story. It's written entirely by Zerrex Narrius. The entire 1100 page epic can be downloaded at Epiphany. Please direct all praise to Zerrex and not me. Alright this series is markes as extreme, if ya are under 18/21 GTFO yadda yadda yadda, NOW on with the show.)

(This part is about 200 pages long. As will future parts.)

Third Sphere: Conflict

Naganis sat quietly across from a tall, serpent-headed god wearing a heavy black robe, the larger male looking moodily down at him before the smaller god of creation smiled as he reached forwards, sliding a playing piece made of white stone across what looked like a strange, rounded chess board, saying calmly: "Your move."

Thanatos grimaced and crossed his arms as his strange, deep eyes surveyed the board, rays of light streaming in through the enormous glass window beside him. They both rested in thick black chairs made comfortable for their sizes, and the library was spacious enough to accommodate them both without trouble, as the God of Death muttered: "This game is insipid and childish. Besides, I should automatically win. Soldiers, heroes, villains, and tyrants all die."

"Yes, but even you can't steal the immortality of their stories." Naganis smiled warmly up at Thanatos, and the snake-god gave him a look of sour distaste as he finally seized a heavy, black-stone piece and rudely used it to bat one of Naganis's ivory pieces off the edge of the board, sending it down to shatter against the ground as the Naganatine rolled his eyes. "Oh, very mature."

Thanatos only growled at him in response, looking up towards the arched, whitewashed ceiling high above before he muttered: "And I can easily deal with their immortality by destroying their worlds. Death of a person, death of a civilization, death of a planet: they're all the same to me."

"Oh, they are not. Can't you just lose gracefully for once?" Naganis paused as he absently slid another white playing piece forwards through the hole left in the God of Death's defenses from his last move, and Thanatos stared as Naganis gently set the piece down right in the middle of six of his other offensive pieces, yet none of them properly angled for attack as Naganis said kindly: "Your castle is under siege. Again."

"Shut up." Thanatos muttered, and the serpent growled in frustration, reaching up to adjust the small, black cap on head, his mix of bird and cobra-like features twitching with irritation before he finally grumbled and simply shoved the entire board off to the side, sending the pieces spilling in every direction and the broad cracking in half, but Naganis only laughed, by now used to the bad-tempered God of Death. "An exercise in redundancy. It would take more than a single pawn of an army of mortals or monsters to kill me, as you very well know."

"It's a game, Thanatos. A game of strategy and wits, not of raw power and destroying things. That's why I enjoy it... because it goes to show how the smallest piece can take down the largest and most powerful opponents, with the proper use of one's mind." Naganis smiled as he reached up and tapped his own temple gently, and then he absently held his hand out over the strategy board, and it shuddered on the ground before snapping itself rapidly back together, the statuettes quickly reassembling themselves and hopping onto their appointed positions around the circular, strangely-marked board. "Anyway, I did ask you here for a reason apart from wanting to see if you'd gotten any worse at Conqueror's Field."

"Yes, yes, yes." Thanatos stood up, towering over the Naganatine at thirty feet tall and glancing irritably out the wide, beautiful window and into the courtyard beyond, where several Naganatine were laughing as they relaxed, one singing a song and playing a strange, guitar-like instrument with a gnarled neck as the others clapped in easy time. "Something about my Messengers not being as efficient as they should be?"

"Oh, stop taking everything personally." Naganis stood up and walked towards the window, then he smiled, pointing quietly down at one of the majestic, enormous trees that was casting a deep patch of cool shade over the area, as he said softly: "Isn't that amazing? They provide natural atmosphere and oxygen... a feat some gods replicate on other worlds by using magic stones and constructs. Far less appealing, in a lot of ways... these, at least, don't need to be powered, you don't have to worry about them breaking... they seed the ground before they die, and more grow up in their place."

Thanatos, however, only looked mildly at Naganis for a few moments, and when Naganis looked back at him with a warm smile, the God of Death asked flatly: "You're fascinated by trees, Naganis? Are you not a God of Creation, who has created twenty in his likeness, who has plans to develop an entire race of sentient creatures?"

Naganis, however, only punched Thanatos gently in the hip, answering easily: "First of all, I only plan to nudge mortals gently in the right direction now and then, towards equality and hopefully towards being able to understand each other. Second of all, how can these mortal creations hope to continue to exist without me watching over them all the time without things like trees, and water, and grasses, and all the other beautiful little parts of the picture? The details, Thanatos. The details are often as important as the great sweeping swoops of the sky overhead, or the towering-"

"I get it." Thanatos said sourly, and then he crossed his arms as he looked moodily out over the Naganatine, asking quietly: "Have you informed your younglings yet? You should know that children often do not handle the news that there will be a new baby in the household very well. They may not be entirely pleased to discover your plans, my friend."

Naganis, however, only smiled over to Thanatos, replying quietly: "I appreciate your concern, but I think you're worrying too much about this. Not everyone has as hostile a temperament as you... I mean, look at them out there. Warden, Justice, and Sin. They all look delighted, do they not?"

"And Anathema. She's hiding behind the tree. Strange little girl, shy around her own family." Thanatos said musingly, and Naganis peered curiously at the tree, then laughed and clapped his hands as he realized he could see an anxious face half-peering around the thick trunk. "I think she's waiting for Sin to take her on another adventure. But that kind of attitude is part of what worries me... your Naganatine are all different personalities, living together in a carefree harmony here in Eternity, because you are their leader, the father they all look up to, and furthermore, they have no reason for qualms or quarrels. No concept of territory, no need for jealousy because your attention is devoted unto them... and now you're going to upset the balance between them all, assign them jobs, build a new status quo. I fear for how this will go for you, Naganis. That you may be putting too much faith in them... and too much faith in your own ability to keep the peace."

Now the Naganatine looked ruffled as he glanced up at the God of Death, but the serpentine, ancient god only looked calmly back before Naganis sighed a little and rubbed awkwardly at his face, muttering: "I have every bit of faith in them though, Thanatos. They're my family... families always find a way to get along, right? And besides, I'm not going to abandon them... I just... want to help this world prosper a little. Find out more about myself, where I came from, watch these mortals grow and evolve and see how they develop to try and understand myself, how I developed... and maybe one day, walk among them, creatures that I only needed to nudge and push gently now and then, not to be worshipped but only to be a part of their great family that will span across the world in harmony with nature..."

"You're delusional, Naganis." Thanatos said quietly, and the smaller male glanced up at him sharply with a grimace. "It saddens me to say this, but I know from past experience no family is without cracks, without enemies from within, without the lunatic and the traitorous. Having faith in them is all well and good, but you must realize who is your close family... and who is merely bound by blood, smiling false smiles to stay inside your trust, only interested in using you for their own gain.

"And no world has ever developed like that... I watch over every world in the universe, from those that belong to that overblown idiot Athéos to yours, to gods you have never known the name of and never will, no matter how often you take your great sojourns into physical space." Thanatos held up a hand, and transparent planets flickered into being in a wide circle, floating eerily and silently in the air as they revolved like dancers. "And every one of these worlds is either in a state of passive, silent obedience, where there is no creativity, no compassion, not even what you can call real life, only robotic, slavish sentience that can only follow the will of a single deity... or it is stained with evil and corruption, in one place or another. People, left to their own devices, left to evolve, are not inherently good, Naganis: mortals, just like gods, seek only to fulfill their own passions and desires, slaves to their primal drives, never rising above to overcome their natural urges."

Naganis looked silently up at the God of Death, who closed his eyes and then his fist, the ring of planets vanishing as the ancient god said quietly: "I am very sorry, Naganis. Believe me, I am. But your high expectations will be met only with disaster... and I fear for you. For your safety, for your sake. You are the strongest, most resilient god I have ever met, and are compassionate and idiotic and wise..." Thanatos glanced over towards the Naganatine quietly, then he reached out and gently touched his shoulder. "And you are my friend. It will do me no benefit to see you suffer, so please. For your own sake, be careful."

"Thank you, Thanatos... but... I think you're wrong." Naganis said quietly, and then he looked back towards the window, reaching up to stroke it silently as the Naganatine outside laughed and began to dance in a circle, pulling the shy littlest sister of their group out from behind the tree and making her dance with them, laughing even as she blushed furiously. Then the panes of glass turned black and became smitten with twinkling stars and images of the cosmos, Naganis saying softly: "Isn't the universe beautiful? And beauty can be dangerous, true... I know that well. Thegragon was obsessed with her own beauty, after all... and with creating a beautiful world on the backs of slaves.

"I don't expect my world to be without evil elements in it... elements I may not even remove, because I understand that without any evil in the world, good has no meaning: if every day is sunshine, we'd soon become thirsty for rain." Naganis smiled over at Thanatos, then he gestured towards the shimmering image of space in the mirror. "But the universe isn't slanted, Thanatos. The stars are great nuclear furnaces that burn all their lifetime, giving heat and light, beautiful from a distance but ravishing up close, of vast power and dedication. But even if all the stars in the universe burn only for themselves, their heat and light nonetheless warm the worlds of countless gods. And they don't show favor, and they don't show hate.

"I believe the entire universe must be like that: impartial, but providing nonetheless for everything around them. And I know that if there are other worlds that have existed for millennia, full of wondrous cities and smiling faces... where people have prospered, with or without gods. I know there will be trials... I know I will never be able to satisfy everyone... but I have to try, nonetheless. And I have faith in my family..." Naganis smiled warmly over at Thanatos, who looked unconvinced as he slowly crossed his arms. "After all, I leave Eternity on my voyages quite often these days, gathering ideas and materials from other planets and researching the efforts of other Gods to develop their own worlds. Absolutely fascinating, by the way... worlds are so different and so strange..."

Thanatos only shook his head as Naganis looked dreamy, the illusion of space in the window fading out before the God of Death asked brusquely: "But you had an idea for my Messengers. Mass-implementation?"

"Sort of." Naganis smiled... and as he and Thanatos returned to the table, the image became blurry. Things faded slowly, as if the lights on a stage were going out, as if this were only a play with no real consequences, that could do no harm to the world... but then, new images filtered in, took shape, formed in reality, and Naganis was looking back and forth in horror as trees burned with terrible black flames and a massive explosion went up in the distance, most of a building going up in broken pieces.

Naganis immediately ran down the stone path between the burning trees, looking up in shock to see that one of the statues of him next to a portcullis leading into the courtyard in front of the comfortable, sprawled palace where they all lived together in harmony had been blown into pieces, and the other was laying on its marble face, arms broken off it... and to one side of this, Amiglion was sitting in his robes, trembling and crying a little, covering his face. Naganis looked towards him, but then cursed in shock as he heard another blast go up before someone screamed in pain, and instead the god ran through the warped-open gate and skidded to a halt, staring back and forth with disbelief at the sight of ten Naganatine on one side of the courtyard, eight on the other... and between them, the ground had been tattered and ripped apart, much of the vast ivory and gold palace behind them burning with awful black flames, as the towering Mephistopheles shouted furiously: "He betrayed us, and you side with him?"

"God! God, please, help!" Silven pleaded, his white robes singed and tattered, his large, dome shaped shield over his arm dented and warped, before he cursed and half-hid behind this when Sin snarled from the other side of the field and flicked her wrist, sending a bolt of electricity shooting forwards that was barely deflected off the shield, the Naganatine staggering backwards before he pointed towards a statue as tears rolled down his cheeks. "Justice, look what he did to Justice!"

"I only regret I didn't kill the mouthy cunt!" Mephistopheles snarled, the huge, looming male glaring over at Naganis as he looked at the statue and went pale, trembling and reaching a hand up as he realized it was one of his own, petrified into solid stone. And his children... his beloved disciples, were bloodied and bruised, all except Mephistopheles, who stood tall and cold, towering over the others at twenty feet, the other nine Naganatine clustered around him... but now they looked nervous as they looked towards Naganis, as Mephistopheles accused: "This is your fault! You were going to replace us with your cute little mortals, mortals who do little more than crawl around in the mud and mire and their own shit... what do you hope to learn from these creatures, oh benevolent Father?"

"This is wrong." Geryon added, but he looked nervously over his shoulder at Mephistopheles, the much-smaller Naganatine breathing hard before he straightened a bit and said emphatically: "Didn't you say we were the First Breed? Didn't you tell us we were the ones who you'd always take care of?"

Sin nodded, adding coldly: "You lied to us. And you'll allow us no part in your plans now? You create... but do you really think other Gods will allow this to transpire? Are you really so selfish that you shall not even give us a part in your great scheme?"

"Sin, listen to reason!" pleaded Warden, and Sin merely snarled at him before Warden screamed as dark flames erupted over his body, falling to all fours before Epoch leapt to his side and tore his own robes off, tackling him and extinguishing the black fire.

"Reason?" Sin laughed sharply at this, even as the shorter Anathema quailed against her brash sister, hugging her arm from behind with her head down as Sin only grinned savagely and challengingly. "Mephistopheles has promised me a place in the new order that will be built on the bones of our falsely-loving father! You eight are the ones who should listen to reason... Amiglion hiding and crying, Justice frozen in stone, there are nine of you and ten of us and we are the stronger, you are merely the passive flunkies of a father who betrayed us!"

Sin's voice cracked with fury as she snarled at Naganis, looking both hurt as well as enraged and hateful... and Naganis closed his eyes before Mephistopheles lunged suddenly forwards with a savage grin, the ground on either side of him shattering and erupting into deadly spikes as he charged forwards, huge metal blades appearing in mid-spin all around the Naganatine as he rose his claws like an animal, pouncing towards Naganis as the blades whirred downwards and the rocky earth erupted upwards in deadly spikes...

And then Mephistopheles and everything else simply froze, and Naganis turned silently away, walking past the crowd of eight aghast Naganatine to sit under a gnarled tree with its branches frozen in flames, cinders and embers twinkling silently from where they were trapped in midair before the god sat down with a tremble, his back to his children, and he lowered his face into his hands as he began to cry. Tears flowed down his cheeks as he gave long, shuddering sobs, hugging himself as his eyes clenched shut, but unable to get rid of the images of hate and revulsion and worst of all, disappointed pain, on the faces of his own disciples, his own children... and he only cried harder, rocking back and forth silently, unable to bear the task of looking over his shoulder at them, only sobbing as he rubbed at his face convulsively and tears fell from his muzzle and cheeks.

More than an hour later, he finally stood, trembling and wiping the last of his tears away, and he walked slowly forwards, back through the ensnaring trap of stones, and he hugged the snarling Mephistopheles around the neck, pushing his face silently against the nape of the giant Naganatine's neck as he whispered: "I'm so sorry."

Naganis walked next to Azazel and Astaroth, twin brother and sister who were watching with hunger and greed... and he hugged first one, than the other, whispering apologies to them as well. He apologized and embraced each of the ten betrayers in turn, tears dripping down his cheeks silently as he heaved for breath... and finally, he turned silently around and walked up the stairs as time resumed its normal flow.

Mephistopheles crashed through his own stone pillars, the enormous, crescent-shaped blades of whirling steel uselessly crashing into the ground as the Naganatine looked up in dumb surprise, the others staring and murmuring in shock... and then he snarled in fury, clawing his way to his feet and looking down the path with fury as he shouted angrily: "Come back! Come back coward! Fight me, Naganis, fight me!"

"No." Naganis said quietly, and he closed his eyes, a look of intense sadness passing over his face as he simply held a hand out behind himself, palm towards Mephistopheles... and reality itself rippled before energy sparked violently through the air, the Naganatine looking up in shock before Mephistopheles began to raise a hand... and then he snarled in horror as nothing happened, only a few weak sparks buzzing down his limb before he was lifted into the air as reality twisted violently above the heads of the crowd, then shattered apart into a deep, vast hole filled with terrible white light.

The huge Naganatine immediately howled in terror and fury, spinning away and lunging back towards the ground, managing to get his feet down before he dug his claws into the earth and kicked forwards, clawing savagely at the soil even as Azazel and Astaroth both screamed as they were yanked off their own feet and pulled towards the terrible hole, sucked into it and vanishing in bursts of golden light as reality trembled and shook through the courtyard.

Mephistopheles managed to leap forwards, seizing Geryon's ankle, the smaller Naganatine trying to stagger away before he looked down in shock... then squealed when Mephistopheles and snarled and yanked him backwards, flinging him out of the way. The pull of the powerful vortex caught Geryon in midair, yanking him towards the portal and absorbing him next as Mephistopheles reached towards a tree... but his claws only scraped the bark before he was yanked back into the air and pulled into the portal, howling for a moment before he vanished into the terrible ivory light.

Sin and Anathema went next, clinging to each other and screaming, tears flying from Anathema's eyes... and then one-by-one, the remaining Betrayers were yanked into the air and absorbed into the portal, before terrible, powerful streaks of energy and lightning ripped through the air around it and it slammed closed with a shockwave powerful enough to knock the rest of the Naganatine off their feet and extinguish the black flames burning still on both the trees and the palace. And the survivors only looked up in shock as Naganis slowly walked towards the open doors of the palace, shoulders slumped and head down, dejected and despairing, before he turned around and silently grasped the golden doors to pull them closed, sealing himself inside the immense, broken ivory bastion.

Zerrex's eyes flickered open as he sat up in bed, rubbing slowly at his face with a grimace. He was naked and tired, but at least the latter would fade soon enough, and hopefully the ghostly memories would go with it. Memories of the Naganatine, of the Betrayal, which had appeared more than once through his head... and this time, they were likely brought back yet again by the figure curled up quietly beside him, still asleep: Justice.

She had barged into his room last night while he had been resting, and then simply seized him by the shirt and kissed him hard... and the next thing he knew, here they were. He smiled awkwardly at her, knowing she had the best intentions at heart, she just lacked tact... and the inability to see that sometimes when the Drakkaren wanted to bury himself in physical affection for a short escape from life, it just left him feeling worse when he next got up. Not that he blamed her for stirring up the old thoughts on purpose... he knew that memories like these were sometimes simply triggered by the right thing at the wrong time, by a random throw of the dice, an unlucky draw of the cards.

He reached out and quietly stroked her face, and her blind eyes opened after a moment, blinking blearily before she sat up as well, and then she leaned across and kissed his cheek, murmuring: "Now I think I really must be pregnant."

"Oh, lay off the pregnancy jokes." Zerrex said tiredly, and then he slipped carefully out of the side of his bed to head to his dresser, as Justice only smiled over at him before she comfortably pulled his blankets up and around her body, cocooning herself on his bed with a relaxed sigh as the reptile glanced over at her with a smile. "I'm going to go out with Daria today, and probably Sephire, since I know she'll want to do her job. She might seem unprofessional, but she's far from it."

"I got that feeling. I think the real reason she went with Carmen yesterday was so she could probe her for information." Justice replied as she closed her eyes and settled her head on the pillows. "I forgot how nice it was to just lay down and sleep. I'm going to spend my day here, then... safe in your room, under the ten thousand layers of security you have to maintain your privacy. Of course, they'd all work better if you'd actually close your goddamn door."

Zerrex grumbled at this, shaking his head a bit before he said dryly: "Do me a favor and die while I'm out today, okay?"

"I'll try, but I don't promise anything. And if I do, you know I'll only come back like Anathema did." Justice replied with a yawn, and the Drakkaren rolled his eyes as he managed to find a good pair of boxers and jump into them. Then she looked up curiously as the reptile approached a large wooden box on the side table, opening it and carefully removing a sheet of red velvet from overtop a beautiful silver armlet. "A magical device?"

"Technological. Close enough, though, all things considered." Zerrex said absently as he slipped it on over his left arm. It was a perfect fit, and the Drakkaren smiled as it locked itself smoothly but comfortably against the limb, flexing his fingers slowly before he tapped a short button to turn it on. It engulfed almost completely from wrist to elbow, with a large, disc-shaped protrusion near the bottom end of the device, and a flexible, slightly arched keyboard over the rest of it, the lizard muttering under his breath as he tapped a short command in and gazed down at the tiny screen above the keypad, saying clearly: "Plain clothes. Black."

A moment later, small dots seemed to stream across the Drakkaren's body before they rapidly assimilated themselves into a black t-shirt and a black pair of jeans. The lizard absently pulled against the fabric on his chest, and he nodded after a moment at the feeling of it: not entirely like cloth, but the texture was close enough, the lizard smiling amusedly before glancing up at Justice's gape. "What?"

"That's incredible! I've never seen such a device... what else can it do?" Justice asked curiously, worming her way up to a sitting position even with the blankets wrapped around her, and Zerrex rolled his eyes in amusement before he picked up his mala from the side table and absently spun it several times around his hand, beginning to toy with the beads idly. "I am not an idiot, don't look at me like that. I see what you're thinking but it's not true."

"You make me so uncomfortable I'm comfortable again." Zerrex said flatly, and then he shook his head a bit as he held his left arm up, saying mildly: "And this, again, is technology, not magic. It's fueled by demonic crystal, yes, but that's only so I don't have to recharge the batteries every goddamn day with all the juice this thing sucks up. It powers and programs nanomachines, which rapidly assimilate any kind of clothing I want and can also be used to get into computers and... other things."

Zerrex grimaced as a bad memory surfaced, and Justice looked up at him curiously for a few moments before she nodded slowly to him, saying softly: "But it sounds as if you have little to worry about from that regard any longer. Besides, Zerrex Narrius... monsters only gain more power when you fear them, and memories can only hurt you if you give them the power to."

"I... go back to sleep." Zerrex said flatly, and Justice smiled at him amusedly before the Drakkaren rolled his eyes, then he kissed his mala in a nervous gesture before he unstrung it from around his hand and slipped it back over his neck, carefully tucking it away beneath his shirt. "Anyway. I'll be back as soon as I can, alright?"

Justice nodded, and then she flopped back on the bed and curled up with a sigh of contentment, and the reptile rolled his eyes in amusement before he shook his head slowly and headed out the door, making sure to carefully close it before he looked up with a slight smile, unsurprised to see Sephire standing just a few feet down the hall with her arms crossed over her armored chest, her heavy mask over her face but popped open to reveal her grin as she asked amusedly: "Have a good night?"

"I could ask you the same question. Knowing Carmen, you went to at least one strip club and probably had all kinds of inappropriate grandma-sex." Zerrex said mildly, and Sephire rolled her eyes before she reached back and grabbed the handle of the enormous sword across her back, growling threateningly. "Okay, okay, don't beat me with your goddamn stupid weapon."

"Hey, Storm King Face is not a goddamn stupid weapon. You're a goddamn stupid weapon." Sephire retorted with a huff, but then she bowed courteously out of the way when the lizard walked forwards, falling into step behind him and asking curiously: "So about Daria... she's real dedicated to you, huh? But you killed her."

"Oh please, can we not get into this? This is like trying to explain Little Arcy to people, it never goes well." Zerrex rubbed at his face slowly, grimacing a bit and realizing too late this was probably only going to make the female more interested, and the goddess grinned widely now as she slapped the male on the back before reaching quickly ahead to open the door for him, the reptile smiling despite himself at this: for all the similarities between them, Cherry, Carmen and Sephire each all had their own distinct ticks and quirks as well.

The female was grinning much like her descendants had a tendency to, however, and the reptile looked at her sourly before she winked and nudged him teasingly as they headed down the stairs. "I bet you had sex with her. You totally had sex with her, didn't you? Dude, she looks like she's about five years old."

"Okay, she's several million years old, for one thing, and for another, I don't have to answer your question." Zerrex said embarrassedly, and he cleared his throat before adding in a mutter: "If it'll shut you up, though, yes. I killed Daria. I... well. I say that I raped her, but it wasn't rape at all. It wasn't even just harsh sex... it was almost making dark love, in a way."

Sephire snorted at this sentiment, but then she smiled and held her hands up in a gesture of surrender when Zerrex glared at her, and the reptile shook his head before he muttered: "But yeah. She's dedicated to me because she believes she's evil, that she's something... terrible and wicked at the heart of the matter. She says that I... I'm what stops her from turning on the world."

Sephire softened at this, looking up as Zerrex reached up and absently fumbled through his beads once they reached the bottom of the stairs, and she said quietly: "I guess I get that pretty good. For me, that was Lord and Raze at first, after... after this and shit." She gestured at herself awkwardly, looking down and murmuring softly: "After what happened to... to my other kids especially, it got hard not to want to lash out at Heaven and burn the whole place down with me, you know?

"Once Lord and I began to... grow apart, though, him 'cause of work, me 'cause of... other reasons... well, it got harder to contain myself." Sephire nodded slowly, reaching up and rubbing slowly at the scarred side of her face as Zerrex gazed at her quietly. "Raze was always there for me, he's a good boy. Awkward around me, yeah, but... he's a good boy and he understands what it's like to have that anger bubbling inside me. Lord, he's got anger too, but his is... different, you get me? He buries it under so many layers of nicey-niceness that... it's something altogether different than the rage me and Raze are always looking to take out on the world. Poor Raze... shit, all the mistakes I made with him, I feel so goddamn bad every fucking day. Especially because I don't want to just be his mother. I always wanted to be Raze's friend first, 'cause I don't got no advice to give but I could at least give him my loyalty and my trust as well as all the love I can muster... but Raze only ever looks at me as the female who gave birth to him, and sometimes I think... he doesn't see anything else."

Sephire shook her head a bit, looking down at the ground, but then she smiled and glanced up, slapping Zerrex on the shoulder gently. "But you get me, and I like that. That's all I ever wanted, all I ever need. And I might seem like a flake at times, I get it, but I'm loyal to the people who deserve loyalty, and I know you ain't gonna cross me. Even if I do already get jealous that you're fucking other bitches before you fuck me."

Zerrex slapped his forehead at this, and then he glanced up as a portal opened, and Daria emerged through this with a soft smile, butterfly stickers over her generous bosom and her loincloth swirling quietly around her knees, eyepatch resting perfectly in place. She approached them and gently traded a tight hug with Zerrex first, before pulling back... only for Sephire to immediately hug her as well, making her blush with surprise as she gently patted the armored female's side, Sephire saying warmly: "So I hear you're as nasty on the inside as I am, babe. Bitches like us gotta stick together, you hear me?"

Daria only smiled awkwardly, even as her eye shone with gratefulness, and then Zerrex rolled his eyes before wrapping an arm around them both, the demoness snuggling against him as the Goddess grinned and leered down at him, and the Drakkaren smiled slightly in return before they simply vanished from the spot, reappearing a moment later in a mostly-empty street in front of a massive, black-stone building that towered to the sky, smokestack-shaped and with a large white-stone butterfly standing out as the only distinctive sign on the surface of the monolith, the several sets of doors in the front closed tightly and a single minotaur relaxing against one wall, a collar around his neck with a butterfly on it as he smoked a cigarette slowly, wearing nothing but a pair of shorts and showing off his smooth, powerful chest.

He looked up dumbly as Zerrex, Daria, and Sephire approached, and immediately he gaped before running over to the side door and pulling it open for them as he bowed his head humbly a few times, saying rapidly: "Canny, Zerrex, wow, what an honor! Missy Ella is at the front, I... wow, I really... wow!"

"Damn, you guys command some respect here." Sephire looked up and down the street, which had only a smattering of demons out, most of them seedy whores looking for business among the shops and heavy stone buildings that all advertised catering towards different carnal delights and physical pleasures. "Well. Respect at the only place it looks like it's worth getting respected at here, anyway."

Zerrex let Daria take the lead down the short, sterile white hallway and through an ajar, barred door into the first section of the Toxic Beauty nightclub: the enormous rear area of the building had the coat check, a wide bar, and a set of wide, round tables, several of them with large bars currently being scrubbed busily down with disinfectant by cleaners in coveralls. The lounge area, in other words: it was separated from a wide, sprawling dance floor by a trench with several large, grated steel bridges across the top of the thirty foot wide, forty foot deep metal valley: at the bottom of the trench, however, were all kinds of racks, chains, and torture implements also being busily sterilized and cleaned, Zerrex peering down into this as Daria led them over one of the wide bridges and Sephire whistled. "Like a semi-private room. Nice."

The Drakkaren rolled his eyes as they crossed onto the dance floor, which was currently dimly-lit instead of with the multicolored rave lights, the cages that hung from the ceiling and shackles and chains on the wall that surrounded the sparkling-clean floor all perfectly clean. The lizard smiled despite himself as he looked down, watching as their footprints left faint flashes of light as they walked across the dance floor towards a private table in front of a wide, long stage, where several succubi were practicing a dance number... and the single figure sitting at the table glanced up as they approached, the elderly raccoon's face breaking into a smile of delight as she stood carefully up and leaned on her cane, beckoning to them warmly. "Lord Zerrex, and my lovely little girl Daria... it's good to see you!"

"Mistress Ella, I'm glad to see you too." Daria walked around the rope and traded a tight hug with the graying, ancient demoness, kissing one of her short, conical horns in a sign of respect before she looked over with amusement at a Wrath demon, the vaguely-ursine creature wearing tight-fitting black combat armor embossed with a white butterfly over the breast and the shoulder-pads, his features covered in natural, rocky armor on top of this, metallic plates instead of fur glimmering on his body. "Saint, looking kind as ever."

"Daria." Missy Ella's security chief said sourly, holding a large silver platter as the raccoon sat carefully back down. Saint glared at Zerrex as he passed, but the Drakkaren only shrugged amiably as the raccoon carefully shuffled to the side, moving her tall walking stick out of the way so Daria could sit beside her as Zerrex and Sephire sat in the other bench seat, and the newt gazed tenderly at her old mentor before Saint asked disgustedly: "Is there anything I can get you all?"

"Good boy, Saint. Get some coffee and some snacks while we chat, I have a feeling this isn't entirely a social call." Missy Ella said kindly, and Saint rumbled before he nodded and turned, carrying the silver platter with him as he headed towards a set of swinging 'Employees Only' doors.

"How's the business going, Miss Ella?" Zerrex asked politely, as Sephire looked curiously up towards the well-lit stage, watching the slow acrobatics of the succubi. "I hear things have slowed down a little."

"Only a little, though." Missy Ella looked over at him with a slight smile, fur that was still faintly blonde almost glimmering in the dim light as she grasped the top of her walking stick gently, squeezing into the golf-ball sized diamond as her dark brown eyes surveyed him curiously from the tan mask of fur around them. "But you aren't here to talk business now, are you, Lord Zerrex? Nor are you here to share pleasantries with an old crotchety lady."

"Ha, crotch." Sephire grinned and leaned on her elbows, dropping her face in her hands, but she looked strangely admiring as Zerrex glanced at her with curiosity. "Yeah, I know who you are now. Ellen Geraldine... they tell legends about you in some places in Heaven, you know. First real lady in the business world, how you ran all kinds of illegal operations on the mortal plane, how you managed to find a loophole in your punishment in Hell and how you even rose up down here to become one of the big leading tycoons... I gotta say, I admire you, babe."

"And the only reason I don't tan your hide for not addressing me proper is because I know that you're the First Lady of Heaven." Missy Ella picked up her cane and poked Sephire's nose with it firmly, but the raccoon looked entertained despite herself as she shook her head a bit. "We're very formal around these parts, though, even when we hold it casual."

Sephire slapped at the cane, grumbling a bit, and Zerrex rolled his eyes before he elbowed her firmly as Daria smiled behind one of her hands. "Stop being a bitch, you remind me way too much of Cherry sometimes. And well, I guess I can't say you're wrong, Missy Ella... I suppose I should get right to the point and ask if you know anything about these murders that have been cropping up, or if there's been anything strange here at Toxic Beauty lately."

"We happen to specialize in 'strange,' Lord Zerrex..." The raccoon hesitated for a moment as Saint returned, but then she sighed a bit as he quickly handed out mugs and plates of buttered scones. "Saint, tell our guests about the unfortunate little run-in you had just the other day."

Saint grimaced visibly, but then he nodded slowly as he slid a large pitcher of cream and a jar of sugar onto the table, before he poured coffee for each of them in turn. "Alright, Mistress Ella. There was a male prowling up on the catwalks above, snooping around. He was wearing a cloak, which means he snuck in, because the rules are strict about what you can and can't wear into the building. We don't like people wearing cloaks or heavy capes or shit that lets 'em hide who they are. We got enough problems with all the shapeshifters that come in here, we don't need people further hiding their identities in a place like this.

"Anyway, so me and the security team go up there to find him, and he's gone... but there's blood all over the fucking place. Turns out he killed some shapeshifter who used to be a regular here... Kelly or Cindy or something... spread her all over the fucking place, all that was really left in one piece was her fucking sweater and that was still pretty messed up..."

"Candy." Zerrex said quietly, and Daria frowned a bit before her eyes widened, and Zerrex nodded slowly to her, saying softly: "Exactly. The same shapeshifter that was stalking you for a little while, Daria, trying to be your best friend... the same shapeshifter who was with me that night when I first came to Toxic Beauty looking for you."

Missy Ella nodded, saying softly: "I thought it was familiar, but this old mind of mine can't remember everything in clear detail anymore... and to be frank, I was hoping against hope that it didn't have anything to do with you or my little girl here. Not that a murder is bad for business when you're in my line of business, considering the sick minds of the people who come here... but nonetheless, it's disheartening to think of this kind of death happening under my roof, especially to a poor, stupid girl who thought all we do here was play games. She probably didn't even realize what was coming... just went off with him because she thought he wanted to play a silly little game."

Zerrex grimaced a bit, rubbing at his face slowly before he looked at Saint as the bear gazed back at him meditatively. "When did this happen?"

"Five days ago, give or take a few hours. We removed the body and one of my security boys filed a report down at the law office in town, but I doubt it'll ever reach the Hall of Justice. This city is a shithole built around the one goddamn place with standards, this nightclub, right here. Nothing but whores and crooks and con-artists all playing off the fame of our good, respectful name, drives me fucking crazy."

"Calm down now, Saint. Be a dear and go fetch me a glass of wine." Missy Ella instructed gently, and Saint rumbled before he nodded and headed back towards the door, carrying the empty platter with him as Zerrex slowly added cream and sugar to his coffee, stirring it and watching as the black became tan-brown, listening closely to the raccoon as she said quietly: "You're in a dangerous position, son. I don't have to be old as the seas to know it. And even with my little girl here watching your back, and you watching hers, I fear for you both... whether or not you do got powerful allies here with you.

"I know you didn't strive to bring this on yourself, and I understand you're probably here not just to get information, but to kindly warn me to watch my own back." Missy Ella paused meditatively. "Believe you me, that is advice I am going to heed, too. Saint and I are going to take a little vacation with some of my trusted girls. We're going to shut Toxic Beauty down for a week, maybe two, let the heat cool and see if anyone shows up while we're gone... if the pressure stays on, I may be tempted to relocate my business somewhere a little more profitable and a little less... dangerous."

"Missy Ella, don't let this murderer drive you away..." Daria pleaded, squeezing the raccoon's arm gently, but the thin, elderly raccoon only smiled wanly, glancing at the newt as Daria bowed her head a bit with a blush. "I... sorry."

"No girl, you have every right to be a little mad at me, and to be a little unhappy with my decision." Mistress Ella replied soothingly, gently reaching up and touching Daria's face as she gazed kindly down into her eyes. "I was always your mentor, but you were the one who came up with the idea for your club... and even now, the Toxic Beauty is far more your idea, your vision, and your home than it is mine. Oh sure, I can be a lusty old thing every now and again, but what I love most apart from you, Canny, is my endless piles of money. And now, out of fear, I freely admit, I am taking all my money as if they were winnings out of a casino, after winning the once-in-a-lifetime gamble against the house and cleaning its clock.

"No, I got no right to do this to you. But I'm doing it anyway." Missy Ella shook her head a bit and smiled wryly as she pushed her mug of coffee away, sighing a little as her other hand squeezed slowly at the head of her cane. "And I know, and know well, that in the time I'm gone, the minimum security I'll be able to leave here without you able to keep an eye on this place twenty-four-seven and Saint at my side, it ain't gonna be enough to keep out anyone who might take it into their mind to mess the place up for kicks. With me gone, your mysterious assassin might even decide to wreck this place up. The only condolence I can give is that nothing material is ever beyond being repaired or replace, especially for us demons, Daria. Especially with a god like your beloved master behind the wheel."

Daria was trembling a little, however, her single dark eye shining pleadingly as she whispered: "But why? You and I went through so much, the Toxic Beauty was our whole livelihood and provided homes for so many street-whores that would have otherwise just been... hurt and abused and broken... Missy Ella, are you even planning to tell me what you're doing, where you're going?"

"I'm not, Canny." the raccoon said gently, touching Daria's arm and looking at her with both pain and shame. "Old ladies like me get scared easier than you might think. I know I always put the fear of god in you, girl, but the truth is, I'm old and weak now. I used to be able to whip up a fearsome spell or two, but I don't got the strength to take up no quarrels with no monsters. You, Daria, are strong and young and fierce, and you got a real master to devote yourself to, someone who ain't driven by the lust for coin like I am. And who won't pull up the stakes just because he's scared. I can't tell you where I'm going with Saint. And if things still seem dire by the end of my vacation, I don't think I'll ever return; I don't think after this visit, we'll ever see each other's faces again."

The newt looked betrayed and hurt, trembling as she hugged herself and slipped back from Missy Ella, shaking her head numbly, and then the raccoon sighed before she carefully stood up and tapped her cane impatiently against the ground as Saint approached... not with a cup of wine, but with several large suitcases, security guards in matching armor behind him and several Dius in butterfly collars and simple street clothes, all of them carrying bags of their own. Daria looked weakly over the bench at them, and then the raccoon said in a dry voice: "Girls, take off your collars. You don't need 'em for where we're going."

The Dius did so silently, removing their butterfly collars and tossing them silently onto the table as the succubi on the stage ceased dancing to watch... and Missy Ella closed her eyes, pain visible on her face before she looked sternly up and said quietly: "Saint, take the girls out front and bring the carriage around. Daria, Crystal will have the keys for the nightclub. The girls are paid up for two weeks, and if I don't return, some people will be by. The girls will be sent to various brothels and guilds, and the Toxic Beauty's assets will be liquidated and the building sold off."

"You can't do this!" Daria stood up suddenly, shouting angrily at the raccoon as she snarled in betrayal and desperation, and her body rippled as her features became more skull-like, clenching her hands into fists as she visibly fought to maintain control even as Missy Ella looked at her coldly. "You bought everything, but I provided the idea, found the clients, worked my ass off for this place! You were my mentor, like my mother, but I protected you, served you, and-"

"Exactly. Don't you mouth off to me, Daria, I'm still Mistress Ella to you. And like you said yourself, I bought all this. It ain't fair to you, but it's well within my right to sell it off as I please. This was our place... don't you forget that you left here with Lord Zerrex, either." Missy Ella replied sharply, and then she winced backwards when Daria snarled and her body bulged, the demoness increasing by more than a foot in height as her scales tore as her muscles expanded slightly, horns beginning to push out of her head as her single eye glowed solid, terrible obsidian. "Daria, you... you get yourself in control now, hear?"

"Daria!" Zerrex said sharply, standing up... and the newt clenched her eye shut before her body shuddered and slowly shrank back down, as the raccoon clutched her chest and breathed a bit harder, and then Zerrex said quietly: "Ella. Be reasonable."

"Missy Ella, did I not just have to tell your new consort that?" Ella said dryly, pointing her cane at him... and then her eyes widened when Zerrex stepped forwards and seized the end of the walking stick, yanking it out of her hand before he snapped it in half and tossed it to the ground with a look of disgust, even as two Dius stepped up on either side of the raccoon, snarling.

Zerrex was unfettered, however, as Sephire loomed up at his side, her mask snapping down into place over her face as she slowly drew her sword off her back: a few Dius and an ancient Greed immortal would be no match for Daria alone, let alone two gods. "You'll get the respect you earn from me, Ella. I can understand running away, but I can't understand how you could try and steal this nightclub from Daria , especially after the way you two always talked about each other. Have you no shame?"

"Some things are worth suffering shame for." Ella looked to the side with a grimace as Saint approached, and then she rose her hands, saying quietly: "It ain't up for discussion, though, no matter how much you want it to be. The sale's already pre-arranged, and as it stands, it looks like either way I better stay away from you two. There's nothing more to talk about here."

Ella turned away... and Daria stepped forwards with a snarl, her eye blazing as she slammed an arm across the female's back and knocked the raccoon flying with a scream of pain, the elderly female crashing to the ground some ten feet away on her front as Saint immediately leapt in front of Ella and the Dius all flocked to the fallen female. Daria was breathing hard, the newt radiating fury, her hand looking strangely swollen and her fingers no longer fingers, but instead warped, hideous claws as she gritted her teeth and her scales slowly began to melt away from her face, revealing the bare skull beneath as she rasped: "I gave everything to you... always listened to you... and at the end of it all, you betray me?"

"Daria." Zerrex said sharply, even as the security team surrounded her... and the newt clenched her eye shut before she nodded slowly, breathing hard: this time, her features didn't restore themselves, however, her anger obviously leaving her tottering on the edge of control before Saint grimaced and motioned quickly to the security team, which withdrew around Ella as she was helped slowly to her feet.

The raccoon moaned piteously in pain, her legs dragging beneath her as she trembled a bit, and then she whispered: "Come on, Saint. We need to get out of here. What's done is done, we need to leave before things get any worse."

"I won't ever forget this." Daria hissed, looking up with a snarl as her body shuddered and pulsed, pointing towards the raccoon as a look of terror passed over Ella's features. "You're not my mistress, not anymore. I should have known all along you were only using me... teaching me to hide what I was just so I could fulfill your fucking need for money! I'll come for you, Ella. I'll come for you, and when I do, I'll kill you. I'll kill you, I'll kill Saint, I'll kill all your friends and family and I'll feast on your remains, I'll eat every bit of you up right down to your filthy fucking soul!"

"Daria, enough." Zerrex said quietly, walking around the table and silently hugging her... and the demoness trembled as Ella was quickly half-carried away, and the newt's features slowly restored themselves as she trembled hard and they watched as Ella left. Zerrex had far from expected this... and he closed his eyes tightly as he held Daria against his chest, whispering softly: "I'm so sorry."

"No... don't apologize. Don't apologize." Daria murmured, hugging him tightly back and digging her claws into his back as she trembled hard, pushing herself against him... and Sephire sighed a bit as she sat at the table, idly picking up her mug of coffee and sipping at it slowly as the newt began to cry quietly, and Zerrex only held her close, shushing her gently as he stroked soothingly along the back of the skull of the demoness.

Finally, Zerrex gently pulled her over to the bench, sitting down with her as Daria wiped at her eyes, looking miserably at the tabletop as she murmured: "I just... I guess I always knew that to Ella, safety and money came first, but... I thought... I always thought she'd at least respect this place. We built it together, after all... but maybe after... I finally left with you... fuck, I thought she really wanted me happy, but... fuck..."

She curled herself against his side, bringing her knees up against her chest as Sephire murmured: "Real kick in the nuts, huh? I know exactly what you mean, Daria... how sometimes, at the end of the day, people just aren't as interested in you for you as they like to pretend, they're really interested in... something else. And that even the people who do care about you sometimes... still care more about themselves."

Sephire shook her head slowly, looking gloomy, and Zerrex glanced from one female to the other before he sighed quietly as he simply hugged Daria against his chest, kissing her forehead tenderly as the demoness shivered against him. They had caught a glimpse of the vengeful, wrathful side of the female, true... but it made her despair and agony now no less real. Daria thought she was a monster, and she had a part of her that was truly terrifying, no one could deny that... but that didn't mean she was incapable of feeling, or that she was any less a person because of it. If anything, Zerrex only admired that she could keep that side of her in check... knowing all too well how hard it must be for her.

Time passed in silence, the Drakkaren only holding Daria quietly until he looked up in surprise as succubi and Dius and other lust demons approached, silently surrounding their table as Zerrex and Sephire both looked back and forth... and then Daria looked up, wiping at the trails of tears down her cheeks as she asked bitterly: "Are you here to turn in your collars, too?"

"No, Daria, not at all." said one of the females emphatically, a Dius who was covered in terrible scars, the female's scales lustrous where they were run through with white and red marks: Sweetheart, if Zerrex remembered right. "We don't want to leave... and we don't want to see you so sad, after what Mistress Ella did. We... we'd really rather stay with you. Continue to be... what you were training us to be. Not call-girls and whores, but... entertainers, dancers, and exotic but... only touching those who we want to touch. Not prostitutes who have to walk the streets, or who get blindly set up with other people who just want to use us and leave us."

"We want to come with you." added a succubus, and there were other nods in agreement from all around as they gazed at Daria tenderly. "You were the head, the manager, the person who guided us all, who often took us all in and helped us. Toxic Beauty has been a beautiful home for us, but you're the one who made it home. Our home is with you."

Daria smiled warmly at this, rubbing at her eyes slowly... and then she gazed at the Drakkaren, saying quietly: "The... a lot of them are masochists and the rest of them are all used to intense stuff, I... Zerrex, can't we give them a home? They'd fit right in with the Sacrifices... they'll do labor when they're not entertaining, I'll vouch for all of them..."

She looked up at him pleadingly, and Zerrex looked silently into her eye, able to feel her emotions, hearing whispering through his mind as she thought so loudly, so clearly: I don't want them back on the street. I don't want to see all my work ruined. I don't want them being sold like cattle to the prostitution rings, whether they go to good places or bad ones. I don't want to lose my friends to greed.

The Drakkaren lowered his head, then he glanced up, asking quietly: "How many people are we talking about here?"

Daria looked radiant, glancing eagerly over to Sweetheart, who blushed deeply and said quietly: "Fifty two staff total, forty exotic dancers, eight servants, three bouncers, and the administrator, Kiki. I think Missy Ella was just going to fire her... most of the rest of us were given contracts with guilds and brothels across Hell, but only about a dozen of us signed on with them and were bought and paid for. The deadline is just after Toxic Beauty was scheduled to be liquidated and sold... I think that... I think Missy Ella was hoping that the shock of losing the nightclub would force the rest of us to sign on so she could get the 'seller's fee' from the various guilds."

"Let me see one of the contracts." Daria held a hand out, becoming businesslike even as she rubbed at her face to clear the last of her tears away, and there was a shuffling through the crowd before a thick scroll was handed forwards, neatly secured by a black ribbon. Zerrex simply sat back, watching curiously as Daria opened this and unrolled it, her eye flicking back and forth over the words before she muttered: "There's... there's no protection fees, there's nothing in here about health care or security precautions, and... a lot of these guilds are unregistered but willing to pay exorbitant fees. It's legal slavery... selling you to non-official, illegal guilds for a high amount of money, stripping you of your rights the moment you signed the contract, paying a massive up-front fee to keep you silent about it and then probably minimum returns from each client served afterwards, this... fuck, this is exactly why Toxic Beauty was first built, to get you girls away from this bullshit..."

"Daria, why don't you gather these contracts up, then? I'll take them to Sabnock, and she can see about closing the guilds down. I know a lot of the ringleaders will probably just cut and run, but it's at least evidence about what Ella's been up to and... it'll hopefully save a few of your girls from being sold back into slavery." Zerrex said quietly, and Daria glanced up at him nervously as a visible nervous twitch went through the crowd, before the reptile smiled a little. "I know, I know. You and these others aren't... the most fond of Hell's legal system, but there are laws in place to protect prostitutes, even if the official guilds aren't completely fair in terms of pay. But they do at least protect people from pimps, from violence, and have healthcare set up across most of Hell... and I won't go to the guilds. I'll go to Sabnock. You know Sabnock."

Daria finally nodded, looking down quietly before she murmured softly: "I'm... sorry, for hesitating. I just... after what Ella did..." She clenched her eyes shut, muttering: "I'll never forgive her. I feel... I feel so..."

"We all do. But that's why we're here to help... we're a family, Daria, and even if Missy Ella has turned her back on us, we're still your family. You understood us better than anyone else ever did." Sweetheart murmured softly, and she leaned over the bench and silently hugged the newt, who smiled faintly before the scarred Dius slowly stroked along the female's collar, adding tenderly: "Besides. Whenever you visited, you told us so often of what life was like... now that you had your place at your master's side..."

Sweetheart gazed at Zerrex, who gazed back with a bit of a smile before Sephire leaned on her elbows across the table, adding helpfully: "And you know, we could always hunt that bitch Ella down and kill the shit out of her, too."

Daria snorted at this, then she said in a soft, cold voice: "There will be time for that later." She paused, Zerrex feeling a little chilled at how that sounded like a promise more than anything else, as dark smiles spread over the faces of some of those in the crowd gathered behind them, Sweetheart nodding in ruthless vindication. "But for now... we need to make sure that the girls and boys stupid enough to have signed on with these guilds don't end up in worse trouble than they're already in. Zerrex, I... I just worry that... Sabnock..."

"Sabnock will only care about those endangered by the illegal guilds... she won't care about Toxic Beauty's... bending... of certain laws." Zerrex said delicately, glancing over his shoulder at the others as a few squirmed awkwardly: it wasn't like the Toxic Beauty nightclub curtailed itself perfectly to each and every law in Elysium, after all, especially with the dark delights it did its damnedest to cater to. "You have my word and my personal guarantee that this won't come back on any of you. And I'll give all of you sanctuary in my Cloister for now... while it'll be crowded with... so many people moving in, you can share bunks with the Sacrifices and the Beasts for now. Anyone... too squeamish for that, though, can also stay at the Ravenlight Estate." Zerrex rubbed at his face slowly, saying quietly: "Besides, this is my fault... the murderer is what put Toxic Beauty in danger and-"

"No, this is Ella's fault." Daria said firmly, slamming a fist down against the table and looking sternly at Zerrex, making the Drakkaren wince a bit as she poked his chest a few times, saying quietly: "I love you, and adore you, and honor you, and look up to you, but I won't let you ever, ever, ever blame yourself for this nonsense, Zerrex. If anything, it only insults me and what we just went through when Ella showed her true colors. No, this is Ella's fault... she's the one who has to pay for her sins. Not you." Daria hugged him suddenly and impulsively, and the reptile looked down at her silently for a few moments as she squeezed him fiercely and whispered: "Never, ever, ever you. Don't ever blame yourself for this... if anything, all I can do is thank you for being so wonderful and kind for taking in my... my old family."

Zerrex hugged her tightly back after a moment, closing his eyes and rubbing silently along her back as he laughed a little, saying finally: "It's... no trouble, Daria. I have the resources and..." He paused, glancing over with a smile at Sweetheart as she gazed down at him affectionately before she blushed in pleasure at the way his eyes drew over her scantily-clad, horrendously-scarred body. "And I guess they kind of cater to my tastes, too."

"Just the way I always hoped." Daria leaned back, smiling faintly as she rubbed at her eyes, murmuring quietly: "After all... I designed everything about this place with... with you in mind. Just like everything else about me, Zerrex... it's all about you. My lover, my master, my god..." She looked at him with a tremble, touching his shoulders and whispering: "Thank you so much for this, though, still. It means... it means so fucking much to me. And it reaffirms why I should have always put my faith in you, not... not in Ella. Why I should have run to you the first chance I got instead of... wasting it with her..."

"Now hey. I know you're mad at her, and you have every right to be... but you helped a lot of people. Look at them all... your family." Zerrex stroked Daria's face gently as he gestured towards the crowd around them, and Daria blushed a bit as Zerrex said softly: "Besides. Like it or not, you did learn some things from Ella... and now you can use what she taught you to prove that you're made of better stuff than she is. To continue to help these girls instead of... just helping yourself and me. And I'll aid you every step of the way, and... I won't turn my back on you. Not ever. Not like Ella has... I swear to you, Daria. I swear."

"Thank you..." Daria hugged him tightly again, pushing her head against his chest... and then Zerrex laughed a bit as Sweetheart hugged him as well, kissing his cheek quietly as the Drakkaren smiled warmly before the newt looked up with a bit of a laugh, saying softly: "You're going to end up with a very full bed tonight at this rate..."

Sephire snorted at this, slapping the table and saying firmly: "Well, count me in on some of that, then! Everyone knows a good orgy puts the mind at ease, and you would not believe how hard it's been for me to get laid up in Heaven and shit." The female nodded a few times, crossing her arms and then huffing at Zerrex when he gave her a flat look. "Shut the hell up, it's true. I'm Lord's wife and the giant scary mechanical goddess bitch. Look at my mask, this is not a face that makes it easy to go up to someone in a bar and say 'hey, handsome, want to have some casual sex in the alley?'"

Zerrex sighed and rubbed slowly at his face, then he glanced over at Daria as she shook her head a bit and smiled faintly before saying quietly: "Either way... I'm very glad you are the way you are, Zerrex, and I know that... the girls and I will work hard to make sure you don't regret this decision. We'll do everything in our power to help make you comfortable... I promise that, from the bottom of my heart."

The Drakkaren smiled back at her, and then she finally slipped away as Sweetheart straightened, the newt shaking herself out a little before rubbing at her face and saying quietly: "Tell you what, Zerrex... let me get their stuff in order, and move them over to the Cloister, and then we can go to see Sabnock together this afternoon, how about that? I'll be fast... they won't need much more than a few introductions and a look around, and it shouldn't take me long to organize all their contracts and look through them in deeper detail. And you and Sephire should be okay by yourself investigating Rose's... although it's not run by her anymore, is it?"

Zerrex shook his head, saying softly: "Just before she died, she passed it on to her... adopted daughter she called her, although she was really more like... a student who she'd become especially fond of. Her and I get along well, though... and she still calls it Rose's Tavern in honor of her dead... mother, so to speak."

Daria nodded a little, rubbing at her face a bit before she stood up... then she stroked Zerrex's face slowly, saying quietly: "Thank you for not letting me go berserk. I know it would have... just led to more trouble right now, with everything else we're dealing with. I don't think I ever really appreciated how... how interwoven everything is until you made me stop and think about that, years ago now..." She smiled a little, then took his face gently in his hands, saying softly: "I'll send a message for you when I'm ready. Don't worry... I'll find you, no matter where you are. I can always promise that.

She leaned down and kissed his forehead quietly, and Zerrex smiled softly up at her before she kissed his lips, and their mouths worked together slowly before she drew back with a bit of a blush, bowing her head to him before she looked over at her gathered family from the nightclub, nodding to Sweetheart. The scarred Dius lingered for a moment, however, and Zerrex smiled despite himself as he reached back to take her hand, gently kissing her knuckles before he nipped at the back of it, and the Dius blushed quietly and gazed at him warmly as the Drakkaren said kindly: "Don't forget that Daria is your leader... your real mistress, by all accounts. Don't worry though, Sweetheart... you were always headlining my favorite shows whenever we visited. I'm not going to forget about you... and I'm certainly going to invite you for some pleasures when we have the time to relax."

Sweetheart smiled at him, then she slipped backwards before turning away, and Daria laughed quietly as she followed and tossed a shy wave over her shoulder to Zerrex. The Drakkaren watched them as they headed towards a side door, and then he shook his head a bit before glancing over at Sephire as she leaned forwards on her elbows, asking quietly: "So do you think Ella's in on whatever the fuck is going on here? Greed demons... money can make 'em sneaky. But Ella... she looks like she was cursed with immortality."

"To never become a demon, yeah. She was." Zerrex murmured softly, rubbing his fingers slowly over the varnished wooden table. "But I don't think she is... I think she honestly is just terrified out of her mind. I think she might know something about what's been going on that she isn't telling us... and I think she's willing to run the risk of Daria actually hunting her down, too, rather than face whatever this is. But for a demon to be frightened away enough by something like this..."

"Especially a Greed demon, from a cash cow like Toxic Beauty." Sephire added with a grimace, nodding and rubbing at her face absently. "I might not believe a lot of the bullshit Heaven's pulled together in the stories about Hell, since I fought my share of battles against Hell in the glory days and I met way more demons I'd rather have as friends and a lot of angels I prefer to know as enemies... but shit. I know my big names, and Ella, like I said, was a big name in Heaven, not 'cause of her skill as a mage of any shit, but 'cause she's real old, and real competent when it comes to business shit. Apparently has her fingers in a lot of pots... and while I understand that Toxic Beauty and shit is probably worth so much money to sell that it makes for an excellent fallback..."

"It's worth more to hold onto and maintain. Except apparently something scared Ella so badly that she's willing to part with all those assets and even sell her own goddamn family." Zerrex picked up his coffee, grimacing at the fact it was cold... but he concentrated on it, and a moment later the coffee bubbled as the liquid heated, the Drakkaren sipping carefully at it and then wincing at how hot it had become. "Goddammit. Selena and Cherry can heat stuff up fine."

"Yeah, but they use fire and temperature, I'm betting, while you use your fucking mind and just wish shit to happen. Here, let me, I can do it." Sephire shook her head and then held her hand over her own mug of coffee, and her fingers glowed faintly for a moment before she slid the mug across to Zerrex, and the reptile took it, sipping hesitantly at the black coffee... and relieved to find it was just the right temperature. "Anyway, yeah. The only thing Greed demons value more than money is their own lives, I hear. 'Cause it's hard to be greedy when you end up dead and shit."

"An eloquent way of putting it." Zerrex said flatly, but he nodded nonetheless as he sipped slowly at the coffee, grimacing not at the taste but instead at the thoughts that came to mind. "But if she's a target of the murderer, and she knows she is... running away isn't going to help her."

"So maybe she's running before she becomes a target. Or maybe our murderous friend threatened her." Sephire said softly, and Zerrex didn't like the implications of the latter: considering the fact that so far it had just been ripping apart and killing everyone it had come across, the reptile thought that choosing to scare a target away because they had a lot of friends meant a greater agenda... or that others were involved in the situation, before Sephire glanced up to the catwalks overhead, pointing towards them and muttering: "Something tells me that maybe a clue or two is up there, right around where Saint said he found the dead body of Daria's ex-stalker. You teleport us on up?"

Zerrex nodded, putting down the mug of coffee, and then he held a hand out to Sephire, the female taking this before they both vanished from the spot. They reappeared a moment later on a catwalk above, and Sephire coughed beneath her mask before she reached up and popped it open, wheezing and grumbling: "Fucking hell, that stung."

"Sorry, I must have... lost concentration for a second." Zerrex rubbed at his face slowly, looking back and forth across the array of long catwalks that went back and forth: at one end of the room, a huge cabin sat silently: Missy Ella's room, but the Drakkaren was willing to be that had long been cleared out. Instead, he looked back and forth over the spiderweb of catwalks, at the back of huge spotlights and electronic circuit-boards in various states of being taken down, the lizard muttering: "Looks like Ella was planning to bail and sell this stuff off no matter what... probably just said 'in case things don't cool off' so Daria wouldn't kill her flat out..."

"They really go back, huh?" Sephire asked quietly, and Zerrex nodded a bit as he closed his eyes and concentrated before opening them... and then he cursed and covered them with his arm when one of the catwalks lit up with violently-bright purple light, the female immediately grasping his shoulder and asking sharply: "What is it?"

The Drakkaren winced a bit as he slowly lowered his arm, letting his eyes adjust as they faintly pulsed with pain, and he pointed at the catwalk that was still glowing like a neon sign, muttering: "Huge energy concentration... not just blood and invisible runic writing, but a big splotch. A definite, definite threat. Come on."

Zerrex led the way to one of the outer connecting walks, and they made their way carefully around to the long metal path that the Drakkaren had pointed out. As they did so, the lizard looked carefully back and forth, realizing he could see other splotches on the walls, as well as hidden security runes... but many of these were shot through with cracks, meaning that something had been disabling even the most intricate of magical traps by using pure brute force, before the reptile stopped and looked down with a mutter of: "Gods above..."

His name was written all over the catwalk... and when the reptile looked up, he saw it on the ceiling above, all in Enochian runes. But more than that, he could see that Ella and Daria's names had also been scrawled all over the place... as well as all manner of death threats and a strange motif the reptile didn't recognize. Sephire was looking at him oddly, and Zerrex concentrated on this last before he held up his hand, and a moment later the strange shape - like a triple-layered half of a horseshoe lined up one overtop the other, with several small dots and a flurry of lines half-curled around it - formed out of blue energy, floating silently above the lizard's hand as he asked quietly: "Do you recognize this rune?"

Sephire immediately grimaced and nodded, then she reached up and carefully undid the clasps of her helm, Zerrex frowning at her before she removed the full helmet and mask... and then she pulled the front of the mask open as she held it out towards Zerrex with a look of disgust, the reptile staring in surprise at the same symbol as the one floating above his hand vanished; the only difference was that the rune engraved in the female's helmet had a line sharply cut through it. "You mean this one? It's an old Enochian tracking rune, used to spy on people from a distance and keep track of certain 'dangerous, special cases' like me, to make sure we don't go running off... not that I didn't solve that problem nice and quick. Why, you see one here?"

Zerrex grunted, and then he concentrated and made a short cutting gesture in the direction of the rune glowing on the wall, and a moment later, a thick, ugly line ripped through the stone, the rune sparkling violently before it took on a duller tone and texture as it faded into normal sight, and Zerrex closed his eyes, letting them return to normal as Sephire said quietly: "Oh fuck, and by the way that burned up... it was active, too, and transmitting information... probably to someone up in Heaven. These runes aren't used by just anyone after all... first you gotta have a working knowledge of Enochian runes, and second you gotta have the right tools and implements to put 'em in place... and third, you gotta key them to a specially-receptive item. It's an angelic talent..."

"And the cloak is of specialized angelic make, too. So with all that in mind, our friend is probably from Heaven." Zerrex shook his head with a grimace, looking at Sephire as she dropped her helmet with a mutter, and it disintegrated before it could hit the ground, the reptile muttering: "Not that it really narrows it down... a lot of people in Heaven want me dead."

"Yeah, except that all this shit has to be made by someone with know-how, deep-pockets, and who either is unscrupulous enough to make very rare, hard-to-get shit for a scary-ass stranger for the right price, or is working with the killer for personal reasons. That narrows it down quite a bit." Sephire said darkly, shaking her head slowly as she crossed her arms. "We should tell the Archangels about this... Lord might dawdle and drag his feet and try to find the good in everyone, but Lucifer will immediately start compiling a list of all the people with the knowledge and tools to make this crazy shit."

The Drakkaren hesitated, and Sephire looked at him for a moment before she softened and reached up to grasp his shoulders, saying quietly: "Now hey. Don't go giving me that worried look of yours, Zerrex. I know that... asking you to put faith in Heaven and the Archangels is asking a lot. Raze tells me all the time how you never seem to trust anyone, never seem to be able to let anyone else handle your problems... but we all gotta work together on this. Didn't you agree to that yourself?"

"I... yeah. Yeah, I guess I did." Zerrex muttered after a moment, rubbing awkwardly at the back of his head as he grimaced to Sephire, who nodded firmly. "But is this stuff really that rare?"

"Well, I figure the guy's gotta be getting his shit from the same supplier at least... and while there's maybe a thousand crafters across Heaven who can actually make or supply a cloak that can hide energy signature so neatly as well as everything else, there's probably only a hundred or so that can get their hands on all the materials you need in order to put tracking runes like that one together." Sephire gestured over at the burnt-out rune, then she added quietly: "The only thing that worries me is a lot of those angels are the same Research and Development workers who had no qualms about doing shit like this to me. If it turns out to be one of those guys, they work under the Council. And while the Council don't seem like it's got a motive..."

Zerrex grunted, rubbing at the back of his head slowly. "Wonderful. So Heaven might be trying to assassinate me, Eslovius is on the verge of rioting and general chaos, and there's still the Strange Beasts to contend with. This is only getting worse by the second, Sephire."

"Yeah, it'll get worse... but it can only get so bad before it'll start to get better." Sephire grinned a bit at this, winking to him, and the reptile rolled his eyes with a sigh. "Hey, fuck you. Be a little positive, squirt."

She bopped him firmly on the head with a fist, and Zerrex grumbled under his breath before he shook his head slowly, saying quietly: "So what now? Do we jump to Heaven or something?"

"Oh, no, wait, I totally got this." Sephire said cheerfully, and Zerrex rolled his eyes before watching as the female fumbled awkwardly at one of the manacles around her arm, before she managed to slide a hidden door open, revealing a green, dome-shaped gemstone inset into the metal below. Zerrex tilted his head curiously as Sephire muttered and traced a rune slowly over the surface of this, her claws leaving red marks that burned like concentrated fire... and then a moment later, the gemstone glowed and the rune sparked before vanishing, and a moment later, the symbol of Heaven was projected, floating eerily above the inset jewel as Sephire said clearly: "Lord Atrox."

The shape hummed, the image blurring slightly... and then a moment later it reformed into Lord's head, Zerrex staring in shock as he stared back at them stupidly before Sephire said cheerfully: "Hey hubby. Can you and Lucy put down whatever you're doing for a minute? We have some kind of important information for you two."

"Sephire..." Lord's voice was tinny and faint, and then he frowned a bit as he peered at the image, saying slowly: "Something seems... different... about you..."

Sephire waved this off quickly, however, grumbling a bit and then saying dryly: "Seriously, Lord, no time for small talk. You'll want to hear this."

"Lucifer isn't here right now, why don't you just tell me? And what are you wearing around your neck?" Lord frowned a bit, and Sephire glanced down dumbly before she looked back up, frowning at him.

"I have no idea what you're talking about." she lied clearly, and Zerrex looked at her with dumb disbelief. Lord frowned deeper, obviously detecting the fact she wasn't telling the truth, but then he grimaced when Sephire said in a more serious voice: "We found out about another murder, and we've got information about the killer, too, that might help us track him down."

"Okay, what is it?" Lord asked quietly, thankfully letting the subject drop in favor of this new bit of information. Zerrex felt relief course through his veins at this, leaning back against the railing of the catwalk with a grimace as Sephire glanced over at him with a bit of a smile, then returned her eyes to the floating projection of Lord's head to explain what they had found.

When she had finished, after going into acute detail and even trying to show Lord the image on the wall, despite him continuously complaining that he couldn't see anything unless it was about a foot away from the gemstone, the Archangel had finally said hesitantly: "Well, it could be a good lead... but it's also possible someone's just gathering up all these materials from different suppliers and-"

"Lord, focus on the fact that it might nonetheless help us find what we're looking for." Sephire said grouchily, and she rubbed at her forehead before saying flatly: "Look, we can worry more about that shit after we round up the crafters capable of stuff like this... or rather, after you and Lucy and whoever else in Heaven you're going to assign to this job does."

The Archangel still looked unconvinced, however, saying slowly: "Sephire, I know it seems like a great lead and all, but... getting all those people, that's going to require a lot of hours of work. We'll have to send out Vanguards and Paladins, and we'll need to request permission from the Council beforehand if we want to do that, and of course we'll need to get warrants and summons from the Court Officers of Heaven, and-"

"Lord, you're breaking up!" Sephire shouted suddenly, and Lord winced before the female bad-temperedly punched the gemstone on her arm, making the image fizzle out before she slammed the covering back closed over it and muttered under her breath: "Ugh, he's such an asshat at times. Sorry, Zerrex... I guess we'll just have to wait and see if he at least tells Lucifer his suspicions, or if... well... you know."

She stopped, looking lame as she rubbed at her face slowly, and then she sighed a bit, finally managing a smile as she asked the Drakkaren quietly: "So like. Did you wanna go over to Rose's Tavern, or whatever you called the place? Is it another place like this one? 'Cause I could really use a lap-dance to cheer myself up."

Zerrex rolled his eyes when Sephire winked at him despite the fact she still seemed clouded with apprehension... and he reached up and touched the scarred side of her face, making her flinch embarrassedly before the reptile cupped her cheek and leaned forwards to kiss the other side of her face softly, saying quietly: "What'll happen, will happen."

"Fuck that." Sephire grumbled, shoving him backwards, and Zerrex snorted in amusement before she looked moodily skywards, adding flatly: "I swear though. If I turn out to be right and Lord wasn't the one who ordered the angels into action, I'm going to kick his ass. And then I'll divorce him and get married to you. Awkward as that would be for Raze, now fucking his Daddy as well as his Mommy."

Zerrex grabbed at his forehead in frustration, and then he reached out and grabbed Sephire as she grinned widely before they both vanished from the spot to reappear a moment later in front of a massive wooden building. The female gave a loud wheeze as she wrapped her arms around her stomach, grunting as she fell on her knees to the dusty street with a dazed look, and the reptile said mildly: "My apologies, Sephire. I must not have been concentrating hard enough. Looks like I left you with a little vertigo."

"Fuck you. I could teleport too if I wanted." Sephire muttered as she hugged her stomach and glared up at him, and Zerrex smiled a bit before he extended a hand to her, the female mumbling before she finally took this with a grunt and allowed him to haul her up to her feet. She shook her head out a bit as she stood, then looked up over the wooden building, made of thick logs and large, varnished boards, the goddess rubbing at her muzzle before she closed her natural eye, the red orb in the other side of her face glowing faintly. "I might not be able to make out stuff hidden by magic too well, but I see a lot of electrical-technological shit and some pretty strong demonic residue. You sure this is the place?"

"Yep." Zerrex said mildly, motioning to Sephire as he headed towards the stairs, and the female rumbled a bit before she crossed her arms over her armored chest and followed hesitantly, her one eye still closed as the red synthetic glass glowed in her skull. The reptile glanced over his shoulder as he stepped up onto the wide deck in front of the building, and then he rolled his eyes, saying flatly: "Funny, you being squeamish about technology and all."

"I... fuck you." Sephire said lamely, and her blue iris opened with a rapid blink before she glared at him in frustration. "Besides, you asshole, maybe this shit worries me so much because I know how dangerous this shit is, you ever think of that? Anyway, I don't get it. This is a nightclub, right? Why all the technology and why the hell am I detecting big-level demons instead of more middle-tier creepy Dius?"

Zerrex slapped his forehead at this with a sigh, and then he walked past wooden furniture that had been pushed out to either side with the chairs stacked neatly over the tables. It was still morning here, the sun half-risen in the sky... and the Drakkaren knocked twice on the door before he looked towards the small eyehole and said clearly, as Sephire hovered behind him: "I'm an old customer, looking for an old friend."

There was silence... and then the door clicked loudly before the reptile pushed it open, glancing over his shoulder at Sephire and motioning irritably at her. Sephire grumbled as she trundled behind him, the two stepping into a cozy entrance hall with a closet to their right, and another doorway just ahead, with a camera above this clicking as it zoomed in on them and scanned over the two, Sephire immediately pointing at this and asking loudly: "Dude, what the hell is that?"

The Drakkaren slapped his forehead with a grumble, and then he shook his head a bit before waving absently at the camera, saying clearly: "Sorry, she overreacts. It's me, Zerrex, and she's Sephire Atrox, First Lady of Heaven. We're here to see Cecilia. She better damn well be awake and have coffee on, too."

"Oh yeah, you're real good with ladies. Why the hell is it that you have so many female friends again, Lord Zerrex? Is it 'cause you have so much machismo or is it 'cause none of us have any self-respect?" Sephire punched him lightly in the back, and Zerrex only rolled his eyes before he held up a hand, and immediately the female gargled before she gave a wheezing giggle even as she clutched at her collar before it loosened. "That was both sexy and horrible all at once."

The Drakkaren shook his head slowly with a grumble, and then he crossed his arms as Sephire glanced at the closet before reaching for the doors... and without turning around, the lizard said dryly: "It's empty, for one thing. For another, there is the large security camera staring at us and the electrical emitters in the walls as a security precaution. Please don't get me zapped, like Cherry has a tendency to."

"Me and her really must be related. Crazy shit, though, when you can see a resemblance between you and some descendant fifty people down the line." Sephire muttered, shaking her head a bit as she pulled the closet doors open and peered back and forth, inspecting the indeed-empty space beyond. "What, do they not cater to overnight visitors?"

"Only guests who aren't on the trusted list yet have to stash their stuff. It's just a security precaution to make sure no one brings in weapons or other undesired items. This is a meal club, Sephire, it caters to a particularly-bizarre clientele." Zerrex responded, and then he grinned slightly as Sephire gagged and pointed a finger into her gaping jaws. "Oh, well now. Have we found something you can't stand?"

"Oh fuck you. It ain't that I mind being cut into, as you goddamn well know from how many times we've stabbed the shit out of each other with big pointy swords and laughed about it afterwards, it's the 'getting eaten' part when it's not a euphemism for oral sex that bugs me." Sephire muttered, rubbing at her jagged head-fins. "Bugs me almost as damn much as these things tend to on a regular basis. Fins, fucking fins. I wasn't born with no fucking fins."

"'Woe unto the female, who shall wear the crown of sin upon her skull, for bowing her head to the primal nature.'" Zerrex recited, and Sephire glowered at him moodily, the Drakkaren smiling slightly over his shoulder at her.

"Old wives' tale." she scoffed finally, looking down and rubbing embarrassedly at her fins again. "Besides, I was born a goddess, not a goddamn Drakkai like goddamn you and goddamn Lord. I don't remember no Goddess above me, popping me out and shit."

Zerrex rolled his eyes a bit, and then Sephire snorted, crossing her arms and adding in a mutter: "But wouldn't that just be peachy-keen, huh? Imagine if on top of everything else, I was related to the fucking Goddess Thegragon. You ever learn anything more about her?"

"Not a good talking subject right now." Zerrex said finally, glancing towards the locked door... and then he smiled a little when Sephire stepped up beside him and squeezed his shoulder gently, letting her hand rest on it.

"I understand." she said softly, and then smiled at him... and the Drakkaren couldn't help but smile back before he nodded a little to her, and then they both glanced ahead as the door was finally opened by a tall wolf dressed in simple country clothes, his shirt neat and pressed and his suspenders clean and tight, tucked into a large pair of black leather cowboy boots. The grizzled timberwolf stepped backwards, bowing his head courteously as he closed his red and black eyes: the only thing about him that marked him as a demon.

Zerrex nodded to him as he led Sephire into a large, comfortable bar area, a single pole on a small raised stage at the back of the room with a curtain behind this leading into a dressing area, but at the moment, there was only another wolf demon behind the bar - the little brother of the lupine that had just let them in, their fur and features the same, except for the fact this wolf had a set of ram's horns as well as the strange black-and-scarlet eyes - dressed in simpler clothes. He smiled at Zerrex as he dried out a glass, a succubus half-asleep at the other end of the bar and wearing an untidy corset and tall high heels, the male barking at her after a moment: "Honey, wake up, we got guests here, and good ones at that!"

The female only grumbled and rolled her head the other way, remarkably slothful for a lust demoness, and the wolf sighed after a moment as Zerrex and Sephire approached the bar: the female was looking around the inside of the brothel with marked interest, at the flat-screen televisions on the walls and the cameras around the area, as well as the stairs that led up to the private room and a locked security door that led back into the security center. The larger, silent wolf headed towards this, sliding a clearance card through a key reader beside the door, and it clicked loudly before the wolf opened the heavy armored door and walked through it, as Sephire muttered: "Shit, this place is well-insulated and well-secure."

"I'd hope so. Rose was the first one to put in all these security precautions, but after she passed, God rest her soul, Cecilia decided the best thing she could do was make sure the rest of her girls and boys stayed safe inside this place. Too many times, even during Rose's leadership, we had people sneak in here with the sole purpose of stirring shit up in their minds." the wolf explained amiably, putting the glass down and then sighing as he threw his towel at the succubus's head when she only mumbled. "Ignore her. Everyone says Honey's daddy was from Sloth and I'm inclined to believe it."

"I have a sleeping disorder." the succubus mumbled in response to this, and then she grumbled a bit as she buried her head deeper into her arms, beginning to snore quietly. Sephire shook her head, and then she sat down at one of the stools outside the bar, looking curiously back and forth.

Finally, the goddess said mildly, as Zerrex leaned absently back against the countertop beside her: "This don't seem like no freaky eating club. The weirdest shit I see is that."

She pointed at the large rack of spices and various jars that sat in a neat little shelf beside the larger shelves of liquor bottles and other beverages, and the wolf laughed at this, smiling benevolently towards the female. "Well, it ain't exactly top-hour yet. And besides, this is a meal club, not someplace like that Toxic Beauty or a bondage bar. People come here to watch the pretty people dance and enjoy a light snack while they do, they don't come here to cut and bleed and hurt the hell out of each other, ain't that right, Lord Zerrex?"

"That's exactly right." the Drakkaren agreed, looking over at Sephire with amusement before he returned his eyes to the wolf, asking curiously: "So where's Cecilia at, Lionel? Don't tell me she's still in bed with her boys?"

"You know Miss Cecilia, she's got a lot of energy." the wolf replied in an amused voice, and then he reached down and produced a pair of wine glasses from under the counter, pushing them towards the two before he snagged a bottle without bothering to look, saying kindly: "On the house. Rose petal wine, sweetened just a touch with apple sugar."

He filled both glasses neatly, and the reptile smiled at him with a nod of appreciation before he picked it up and sipped slowly at it as Sephire looked curiously around the brothel again, saying mildly: "Dude, I should own a place like this then. I mean, not exactly like this. But getting to stay in bed all day with a bunch of people, I like the sounds of that."

"Oh no, no, Miss Cecilia might spend much of her free time with her boys, but that doesn't mean she ain't never busy." Lionel said easily, smiling over at Sephire as he slapped the cork back into place in the bottle before sliding it back onto the shelf. "Her work might be a brothel that caters to special tastes, but ever since she took the job on, she's been taking her duties very seriously. She does a great job of looking out for all her workers, and she always makes sure to go that extra mile for each and every one of them, always making sure they're as comfortable as possible with what they do... whether it's me back here, tending bar and preparing meals when the chefs aren't available, or the girls who do the pretty dances and then act as the home-cooked meals we specialize in."

Sephire stuck out her tongue and blew a raspberry at this, and then she sipped at the wine again and muttered meditatively: "Just don't you go thinking you can make me into one of those home-cooked meals. Besides, unless you're eating me out, I ain't good eating. Zerrex totally knows and shit, I already fold automatically out and I'm all stuffed full of metal parts."

Zerrex sighed and rolled his eyes, and then he sipped at his own glass of rose petal wine before looking over his shoulder with a smile as he heard the creak of the stairs, watching as a female descended with three enormous males in tow: both her bodyguards and her personal servants, bound to her in body and mind and soul.

Cecilia walked towards them, the female half-lidding her eyes lovingly, dressed only in a black bikini top and a long loincloth stitched with symbols of both Hez'Ranna and Acheron upon it. Surprisingly, however, she was not a Dragokkaren, but instead a tall leopardess with pale golden fur and instead of spots, jet-black rings over her body, her claws short but hooked, her smile revealing dangerous-looking fangs in a mouth full of sharp teeth. "Lord Zerrex..."

Long black hair fell around her head, cut to her shoulders at the sides but tied in a ponytail that fell halfway down her back, much neater and trimmed than the Drakkaren's own messy ivory hair... and as her red eyes gazed kindly up at him, he slid off the stool and they gently kissed each other's cheeks, making her smile in delight as she spread her arms, the silver bands wrapped around either forearm glinting as she said cheerfully: "Delicious to see you here, darling! And with such an honored guest, too..."

Sephire, however, was staring at the female... and then she frowned a bit as she leaned against the bar and said slowly: "You're..."

"Lustewilde." The leopardess smiled slightly, then she turned around, flicking her fingers absently at the males. The enormous Salamander, wolf-demon, and Wrath minotaur - his denomination noted by his differently-shaped horns, larger build, and fang teeth - all immediately bowed to her before heading away, covered in golden bands of their own, tribal tattoos, and wearing only loincloths. Very obviously her Iuratus, in other words.

But what drew Sephire's attention was when the Lustewilde brushed her hair out of the way, revealing a series of black runes tattooed down her back amidst the natural dark rings that spotted her fur, the female saying kindly: "I volunteered a long time ago for a process Zerrex and Sin were trying out. I was already Rose's student at the time, but I had... a bad habit of hurting her, even though I just wanted to express my love for her. He gave me this wonderful gift... tattoos of control runes that help me keep my temper and my hungers in check. He will never admit it, but his dark experiments in his terrible dungeons with those nasty little people have helped many, honey, who suffer from similar-like afflictions but have the soul enough to feel bad for what they do."

"Now stop that." Zerrex reached down and patted her buttock gently, and the Lustewilde's long tail flicked as she laughed delightedly before turning around and embracing him firmly, and Zerrex hugged her back as he said softly: "Besides, you and I both know that it's based around what you want. It's you who fixes you, not me."

"Modest bastard." Cecilia stepped back, then half-bowed to him before she looked kindly over at Sephire, who was sipping slowly and moodily at her rose petal wine. "So try not to worry, honey, I ain't about to dig my claws in..." She paused and grinned, holding a hand up as her hook-like claws extended slowly, becoming large, threatening blades. "Unless you want me to."

Her eyes pulsed with faint orange light, and then Zerrex slapped her rump firmly again, and the Lustewilde jumped with a squeak and then laughed as her long tail snapped teasingly against the reptile's side, saying amusedly: "You trying to get me all riled up here?"

Zerrex rolled his eyes, and then he reached out for his glass... and as it passed, the female quickly reached one still-extended claw out and ran it along the rim of the glass, two drops of the orange-colored poisons that were the Lustewilde's greatest weapon dripped into it. The Drakkaren looked at her flatly, but she only winked before turning and sitting primly at the bar, crossing her legs and looking from one to the other as she asked curiously: "But why are you honoring a poor ignoble pelt like myself with a visit?"

Zerrex sipped at his drink, swirling it slowly in his jaws: the added dash of lust toxin from the Lustewilde added a certain spice to the rose petal wine, and since the Drakkaren had both demonic origins and was a god of fertility, it wasn't nearly enough to get him aroused... just enough to excite him a little, and make him relax slightly. Sephire, however, was giggling stupidly, and the Drakkaren sighed before she blurted: "Pelt? What the fuck, are you a lizard-wannabe or something?"

"Yes." Cecilia said simply, and that shut Sephire up as she stared dumbly at her, the female leaning on the bar and smiling teasingly as she reached a hand over and stroked slowly over Sephire's armored forearm, making her wince a bit as her claws scratched tenderly against the metal. "I was a slave in ancient Hez'Ranna when I was mortal... and the only dream I ever had was to be like the superior Dragokkaren. The Dragokkaren who I was weaker than and inferior to in every way... the Dragokkaren who ruled our proud nation, and who enforced slavery and control over the weaker pelts, but never dictatorship, never tyranny. I, for one, enjoyed being a slave: they gave me a bed of hay, they fed me regularly, I was not allowed in the Dragokkaren's home except for on special occasions, but they let me bathe after I became dirty and they gave me lodgings in the servant's stables. The others may not have been... quite as happy as I was, but I knew we were lucky. I see it even more so every day, with the difference between Hez'Rannan slaves... and Irenic slavery, where they beat you, whip you, rape you, kill you, all for no reason except that they are weak and cruel and heartless. In Hez'Ranna, we pelts were expected to work and to serve... but few of the Dragokkaren ever treated us like the Irenic slave-masters would have.

"One day, I was given the honor to become an Iuratus to one of the sons of the household... he cared for me very deeply, and I for him. I was his favorite female, and he treated me sweetly... during feasts, he even brought me into the household by having me act as a table servant." Cecilia reminisced, closing her eyes with a warm smile as she tilted her head back. "My dedication eventually won the family over, their worries about the oddity of a pelt Iuratus disposed when I showed them how much I cared for their son with my hard work and love for him... and they let me stay in the servant quarters with their Drakkaren slaves, who were awkward around me at first, but when they saw my Iuratus tattoos and my affection for the soon-to-be master of the manse, they became much more welcoming, and began to treat me as one of their own.

"But the pelts were unhappy with the fact that while I had become an Iuratus, they were left in their stables, often punished because of their insolence and laziness... they set the stables aflame one night to draw the Dragokkaren out, and when they tried to save their wicked pelt slaves, they were ambushed and locked inside the burning stables. My master was burned beyond recognition... I was forced to kill him, the one I loved more than anything else in all the world." Cecilia shook her head slowly, saying softly: "He was suffering too much, far too much... and then I hunted down and killed the pelts who only proved at the end of the day they were animals, and treated with better respect than they deserved, before I was tattooed by one of the survivors as a leaderless Iuratus. They sold me to a new household, and I served the Dragokkaren there faithfully. They were kind to me despite sadness making me slow... they even made me the head of the pelt servants, letting me stay in the house, letting me tend to them physically. But when the pelts discovered what I had done, they called me a traitor and a slut and strung me up when the masters were away."

Cecilia rubbed at the underside of her muzzle slowly, saying softly: "Funny, isn't it? Pelts struggle for equality with Drakkai, and now demons and angels both struggle to be seen by mortals as people, not as monsters and martyrs. People are never satisfied, though... and none of them ever realize that sometimes a controlled lifestyle is the very best lifestyle you can hope to achieve. Yes, I strive now to be like the Dragokkaren I admired, noble First Lady of Heaven... they are handsome on the outside, and sweet on the inside, just like the delicious Heartfruit of Hez'Ranna. But I know better than most that the pelts were not subjugated because of their fur and their smaller stature: they were subjugated because they believed they were superior, and they had to be shown that they were no better and no worse than anyone else."

Zerrex grunted as he sipped at his rose petal wine, and Sephire only looked confused before she grumbled and crossed her arms, saying flatly: "Still goddamn weird that you like big lizards so much. Some people would call that a fetish."

"Honey, I have much more interesting fetishes than that." Cecilia leaned forwards with a wink, stroking her claws gently under Sephire's muzzle, and the female stared at her as the leopardess's eyes glowed slightly. "Have you ever experienced a Lustewilde's affections?"

"Personal space!" Sephire shouted suddenly, and she shoved Cecilia backwards before seizing a plate sitting on the bar and holding it between their bodies like a shield, wincing a little. Cecilia laughed loudly at this, however, grinning amusedly as she swayed backwards before looking dreamily towards Zerrex, as the reptile laughed and shook his head. "Oh fuck you both! I spent millions of years killing demons for Heaven and being told all kinds of scary stories about shit I never saw myself because Lord would never let me on the actual front lines, but I know that at least half the shit about you Lusty-butts is true and that scares the boobs right off me!"

"Your boobs aren't even real." Zerrex remarked, and then he winced when Sephire glowered and flung the plate at his head, the reptile quickly ducking before he glanced over his shoulder, and the plate vanished in midair before the Drakkaren held out his hand and it reappeared on his palm... then promptly cracked into pieces and fell to the ground. "Oh goddammit."

"I love that it's porcelain and shit that gives you trouble." Sephire remarked dryly, as one of Cecilia's Iuratus quickly ran over with a broom and dustpan, sweeping the mess quickly up before bowing to them and leaving, and Sephire glanced after the male and muttered: "By the way, that is some freaky shit."

"Anyway, games aside... Cecilia, has there been anything strange happening around here?" Zerrex asked softly, and the Lustewilde gazed at him with gentle sympathy as she shook her head slowly before standing up and reaching out to touch his face quietly.

"Poor, poor Lord Zerrex, God of Acheron, King of Hez'Ranna..." the Lustewilde murmured softly, tickling her claws silently along his features, and then she took his face in both her hands and leaned her head forwards, their height perfectly matching, letting their foreheads touch gently as she whispered: "The Prophecy of the Hunter comes to mind."

Zerrex grunted, and Sephire frowned a bit as she looked up, before the Drakkaren reached up and gently squeezed Cecilia's shoulders, saying quietly: "That's a Hez'Rannan legend, Cecilia. Nothing more."

"So was the Goddess. So was the Red Beast." the Lustewilde replied gently, touching Zerrex's chest reverently and stroking her hands slowly along his frame as she looked down a bit, murmuring softly: "And so was the Prophecy of the High King."

Now the reptile seemed a bit more hesitant, leaning his head back and forth before he glanced over at Sephire, who was looking at them both curiously... and the Drakkaren nodded a little after a moment before he squeezed Cecilia's upper arms quietly, rubbing his fingers along the golden bands decorating her body as he said quietly: "The Prophecy of the Hunter states that if the Goddess was ever felled, and Hez'Ranna was destroyed, a Revenant sealed away by her would rise up and kill the usurper who sought to take her place, working his way first through the tyrant's loved ones before stealing the soul of the false king and transforming him into a terrible monster. That the Goddess would be brought back from death-beyond-death by his energies and powers thanks to an ancient ritual and divine intervention."

"I know that Hez'Ranna worshipped the Goddess and all because of some crossed wires... but did no one get that Thegragon was kind of fucking horribly evil?" Sephire asked flatly, and Zerrex snorted before he glanced down at Cecilia as she turned around, but let herself rest comfortably back against Zerrex, smiling quietly as she gently grasped his wrists.

"Religion is a difficult thing, honey. It's more about faith than it is about fact... so even when the facts are proven to be different than your faith believes, your faith often still wins out. No Dragokkaren wanted to believe that they were created for an evil purpose, by an evil being... those slaves who escaped Acheron, who found themselves in a beautiful world, were entranced by the harmony of it. Said to be so entranced and so thankful, that they began worship of the earth instead of their evil goddess. The Goddess referred to in much of Hez'Rannan lore is not Thegragon... it is nature. It is harmony. It is the world itself."

Sephire rumbled a bit, but didn't argue... and then she looked up for a moment before asking moodily: "But shit. The Goddess is dead, not their... good Goddess, their bad Goddess... and Hez'Ranna was burned to the ground and destroyed. And I hate to say this, Zerrex, but you are now the master of Acheron, the Goddess's real domain... and this thing, whatever the fuck it is, has been going to great lengths to screw with the people who care about you first and foremost."

"And it hasn't dared to come here. Perhaps it's only coincidence, but many of the runes I do use to protect this place are from Hez'Ranna and that I learned from my studies under you and Rose and in Acheron." Cecilia added softly, gazing up at Zerrex before she turned around and gently scratched her claws along his chest, smiling lovingly into his eyes. "But no matter what you face, Lord Zerrex, I shall be there with you. I am not a Disciple, but I am your friend, and a worshipper of Hez'Ranna and a student of Acheron, my sweet."

The Drakkaren hesitated, tilting his head back and forth with a grimace before he finally sighed a bit and smiled faintly as he stroked her face slowly, before he looked amusedly up at Sephire. "And would you believe I've never had sex with her?"

Cecilia laughed as Sephire stared in shock at the two, and then she smiled over her shoulder at the staring female. "It would be blasphemous on my part to dare to try and make a move on Lord Zerrex... and Zerrex's previous experiences with Lustewilde make him hesitant, as does the fact that... my boys get a little jealous." She glanced over towards her own Iuratus, who were all sitting at a far table but looking moodily towards the three. "Iuratus can be very clingy, you know, especially when trained properly... and the fact that I bathe Zerrex in attention whenever he's here makes them a little upset. All three of them may carry some immunization to my poisons, but there's so much of my toxin coursing in their veins that they nonetheless feel a powerful fixation and attraction towards me. Zerrex is mostly immune to my effects, which makes him a more appetizing target... but he also gets twitchy around me, especially when I show off the Lustewilde's signature talent."

Cecilia winked as her fur suddenly became bristly and metallic, turning into blue steel wire, and the male winced as he felt her grind playfully back against him, just hard enough to scrape some of his scales off before his own body became metallic, and there was a quiet shriek of metal against metal before Cecilia threw her head back and laughed, and Zerrex rolled his eyes before he hugged her around the waist, steel wire and alloy scale grinding firmly together with a screech as Sephire grabbed at the sides of her head. Lionel, behind the bar, only continued to wash dishes, humming absently to himself as Honey groaned on the stool and the slothful succubus finally looked blearily up, blinking slowly and looking over her shoulder before she shouted angrily at the two: "Some of us are trying to rest here!"

"Oh Honey." Cecilia only said kindly, and then the Lustewilde's fur returned to normal before she stepped forwards as her claws extended and she sank them into the female's upper back. Honey, however, only twitched once as she dropped her head back on her arms, and now Cecilia looked a little less-than-thrilled, pulling her hooked claws free even as orange veins visibly pulsed beneath the female's scales, before she said sharply: "Honey, wake up!"

Honey grumbled and waved an arm at her, and Cecilia looked down in distaste at her own hand before her claws slid back into her fingers, muttering: "Guess I've used that trick one too many times now. I thought you were a succubus, not a deep sleeper."

"I thought you... were a... not..." Honey yawned slowly, curling up tighter against the countertop before she began to snore, and Zerrex shook his head in slow amazement as Sephire turned around and poked the female's side a few times. It had no effect except to make the succubus twitch, however, and the goddess snorted before she looked at Cecilia with dry amusement.

The Lustewilde only rolled her red eyes, however, sighing a bit before she turned back towards Zerrex as the Drakkaren rolled his shoulders and his metallic scales became smooth and natural again, the female saying quietly: "Sweetie, though... you need to be careful. And I want you to give me a call if something happens or you need any help at all, you hear me? We Lustewilde have a powerful influence throughout Hell, and I'm well-known throughout the Hez'Rannan community. I can be at least a little bit of help to you, I know I can, honey."

"Don't need no help..." Honey mumbled at this, and the Lustewilde finally glared at the succubus and shoved her hard off the stool. She crashed to the floor and flailed weakly, but then only curled up and promptly went back to sleep, and the Lustewilde rubbed at her forehead slowly as Sephire giggled stupidly and Lionel sighed in distaste.

Zerrex looked down at Honey, then he glanced up at the female, saying thoughtfully: "Well, there is one thing you can do for me, at least... I'm looking to have my daughter, Ambrosia, released from prison, just until things cool down. I don't want this murderer sneaking in there... but the problem is..."

"She made a lot of Hez'Rannan folk angry, yes." The Lustewilde only smiled sympathetically however, nodding and saying kindly: "I'll be glad to offer her a place here, where she'll be even safer than at your Ravenlight Estate. Would you like that, sweetie?"

"Actually, I was just going to ask you to talk to some of the Hez'Rannan demons you knew, maybe get them to either back off their vendettas a bit or at least acknowledge the feuds can wait until we figure out what the hell's going on with this murderer... but if you're willing to give her a room here, too, that she could stay at if she needs extra safety..." Zerrex said slowly, and then he winced and rubbed at his face slowly, muttering: "The one thing is she'll need to be watched. Ambrosia might honestly be scared, but..."

"It's very easy to slip back into old habits, yes." the Lustewilde said quietly, glancing down at her claws before she smiled at Zerrex, reaching out to stroke gently along the underside of his muzzle. "Then allow me to watch her, Lord Zerrex. My Iuratus and I are more than capable of handling a demoness... even a Proud One like your daughter."

Zerrex softened as he looked at her, reaching up to touch her face gently. "Your business, Cecilia, this place..."

"Lionel and Angus can look after it easily enough." Cecilia said dismissively, shaking her head and glancing over at the wolf, who smiled kindly and nodded confidently. "I can take a break from things without it all going to hell, I'm sure, and you come before business dealings, in any case. Your family is my family... you were like Rose's family, and if I truly want to honor her memory, then my first duty is to honor you."

Cecilia gazed tenderly at the Drakkaren, who looked warmly back... and then he reached up and squeezed her shoulders slowly, kissing her forehead and murmuring: "Thank you, Cecilia. In that case, I'll let you know the moment Ambrosia is out of prison. And thank you for sharing your thoughts on the murderer, too... I just... I just hope you're wrong."

"I do too." Cecilia said quietly, looking up at him silently. "Because as far as I'm concerned, you are the rightful heir of Hez'Ranna, no interloper king: by blood as the son of the Red Beast, by right as the destroyer of the wicked bitch herself. But if there is a creation of hers stalking you... you must be prepared to face it down and deal with the worst of possibilities."

Zerrex grimaced a bit at this thought, looking down and rubbing at his face slowly... and then he shook his head and said quietly: "Then we'll deal with that when the time comes. For now, we'll continue to prepare for the worst and do our best to stop whatever's coming."

Cecilia nodded in return, and the two looked at each other for a few moments before she kissed his cheek softly, then stepped back and said kindly: "Then go, Lord Zerrex, and First Lady of Heaven. Go, my darlings, and remember that I'm here to help your cause. That if you ask it, all of Hez'Ranna, all of Elysium, perhaps even all of Hell would rally behind your cause... and never hesitate to ask us for help in saving your life."

The Drakkaren looked at her for a few moments, and then the leopardess bowed quietly to him, and the lizard nodded slowly back. They gazed at each other, and then she smiled and turned, long tail flicking as she said primly: "Boys, come now. The Mistress wishes to relax."

Immediately, her Iuratus all but leapt after her as she began to ascend the stairs, and Zerrex shook his head a bit before he sipped the last of his rose petal wine meditatively from the glass and put it down on the countertop, glancing over at Lionel. "Thanks for the drinks, at least. Tell Honey when she wakes up that I said 'hi,' okay?"

Lionel smiled wryly at this as Honey snored loudly on the floor, and Sephire looked down at the succubus before grunting and waving to Lionel, and then she hurriedly followed the reptile as she reached up to grasp the long handle of her enormous sword, saying moodily: "I dunno about this shit, Lord Zerrex. Storm King Face says he's got a bad feeling about this."

"Storm King Face is just a large hunk of metal, what does he know?" Zerrex asked grumpily as he opened the security door and stepped into the entrance hall, and Sephire gasped and covered her muzzle before the reptile smiled a little over his shoulder at her, adding finally: "Although at this point... I guess I'd be willing to take advice, even from an ugly-ass sword like him."

"Shut your mouth, my sword is great." Sephire said grumpily, crossing her arms beneath her enormous bosom as she followed him towards the exit door, the Drakkaren pressing a hidden button in the center of it to make the electronics lock disable before he shoved it firmly open. "Crazy technology, a goddamn Lustewilde, no wonder my sensors were going nuts. How the fuck did you tame a fucking Lustewilde and why?"

"The process only ever worked on Cecilia... you heard her story, you can guess why she became a Lustewilde." Zerrex said softly, and Sephire nodded slowly after a moment: she had killed someone she had truly loved. Unlike most Lustewilde, however, she hadn't done it for any of the wrong reasons... it had been out of mercy, not because of madness or passion or sin. "Most Lustewilde are cursed because they hurt or killed the people they cared about in life for mostly their own gain. Cecilia ended up in Hell because she felt like she had sinned and failed. Her combination of wishes for revenge and the fact she couldn't get over what she had done in life led her to become... Lustewilde."

"Oh, I get it, I think, yeah... most Lustewilde are combinations of sorrow and passion... but she actually wanted to change, didn't she?" Sephire cocked her head curiously. "I mean, most Lustewilde wish they could control themselves better, I know that's a fact, but... she probably had to pay the piper in more ways than just by getting a huge-ass magical tattoo down her back, right?"

Zerrex nodded as they walked across the patio and down the steps, replying quietly: "Yeah. She can't 'jack-in' to a person's nervous system anymore through touch, for one thing... the most dangerous and powerful ability of the Lustewilde. She can't bio-synchronize with other life forms anymore, either, unless she's already injected a copious amount of her toxin into them and she's able to bite them as well as dig her claws in. She's still dangerous and powerful as hell, but... part of the reason she doesn't kill by accident anymore is because a lot of the accidental-death-causing-powers have been locked down pretty heavily."

Sephire nodded a bit, then she stepped forwards and hugged Zerrex firmly, the Drakkaren grunting as she made herself as small as possible and muttered: "Okay, teleport us or some shit now, I'm totally ready."

Zerrex rolled his eyes, and then he concentrated before they vanished from the spot, and a moment later, reappeared in the Ravenlight Estate's main hall. Immediately, Sephire peered back and forth before she carefully straightened, then brushed her chest off and muttered: "Shit, at least that didn't dissolve my stomach this time. Or punch me in the vagina."

The Drakkaren sighed and rolled his eyes, and then he glanced up curiously as his mala reverberated around his neck, Sephire peering at this suspiciously before a portal opened across from them, and Sabnock emerged with Serenity, the latter female looking frustrated as she crossed her arms but the wolverine as calm as ever as she held up a slip of paper. "Despite your vocal daughter's protests, I went ahead and gave you the courtesy of ensuring a speedy release of Miss Ambrosia. While in the past I would have questioned your judgment... I think that now..." She stopped, looking across at Zerrex, and then smiled thinly. "I've learned that sometimes, friendship and respect means trusting others, especially when they take actions that seem... shall we say... a little foolish."

"A lot foolish is more like it." Serenity muttered, arms crossed as she glared at Zerrex, but the Drakkaren merely smiled amusedly at her before she snarled and snapped: "Ambrosia is a manipulator! I have no idea how you convinced Mercy to go along with this, but I refuse to participate in this... this lunacy or be suckered in by her, I am going to watch her like an Infernal Dragon watches a Draybeast before it moves in for the kill!"

"Look at me, my name's Serenity, and I'm a bitch." Zerrex said loudly, as he took the papers from Sabnock... and Serenity's eyes blazed with fury before she punched him in the chest and knocked him flat on his back, the reptile wheezing and then holding up a finger even as Sephire stared and the wolverine only sighed, before the Drakkaren wheezed: "I just proved my point."

"What point?" Serenity shouted angrily down at him... and then she narrowed her eyes dangerously as Zerrex grinned dumbly and slowly sat up. "What the hell's so funny?"

"Anyone can be pushed into doing anything with the right circumstances. Even those who are supposed to protect." Zerrex replied, and then he winced a bit and rubbed slowly at his chest, adding flatly: "That really goddamn hurt, by the way. And before you yell at me or think about lashing out at me again, I'll take this chance to swiftly point out that no matter what a bitch Ambrosia was, she's never attacked me physically. While you hit me on a regular basis."

Serenity rose a hand, then only looked stupid before she slowly blushed, kicking at the ground and then looking down as she muttered: "But Ambrosia was... she was just after... I mean... she..."

She quieted as Zerrex opened the paper and looked down on it, Sabnock turning her attention back to the Drakkaren before he frowned a bit, then glanced over it at the wolverine... and the female simply shrugged, saying calmly: "It was the simplest way to go about the endeavor. Besides, Thoth's ruling may have been a bit unfair on his part. He is a close personal friend, true, but I have discussed with him before the fact that he may have not been entirely impartial because several of the stolen artifacts were from his own collection."

Zerrex looked up in surprise, and Sabnock shrugged a bit, saying quietly: "I never told you because I did not wish to jeopardize either your trust or Thoth's. It was a bad decision, perhaps... but yes. The gemstones and artifacts owned under the name Baron Kingsley are in fact, Thoth's. The name is an inside joke between myself, Thoth, and White. Yes, White and I are capable of telling jokes."

"I remember last year's harvest party." Zerrex replied drolly, and then he nodded a bit and folded the sheet closed before tucking it into his pocket, saying quietly: "In that case, I'll go right now to the prison and hand this over to the Warden."

"I already had an additional copy of the documents sent over by courier from the Hall of Justice, so there can be no confusion or any other problems." Sabnock replied calmly. "I expect they'll be dissatisfied with the prospect of releasing her but shouldn't provide you with any additional problems. If they do, please, simply let me know and I will handle it."

Zerrex smiled at the wolverine, nodding to her, and she looked at him for a few moments before saying quietly: "Lord Zerrex, if you'll forgive me... I would like to spend some time with you when you have a free hour or two. I have some things I'd like you attend to for me."

And with that, Sabnock rose a hand and created a portal, heading through it... and a moment later, Sephire's eyes went wide before she covered her muzzle and giggled stupidly as Serenity only frowned, and then the goddess cackled and pointed at the Drakkaren as he looked at her sourly: "You're a call-girl!"

"Don't be stupid." Serenity snapped irritably, and then she looked flatly at Zerrex, disregarding the faint blush on her father's face - likely so she could continue to ignore the mounting evidence that Zerrex had actually slept with Sabnock - and instead asked: "So what's the papers say? Don't tell me, she gets to be an Iuratus by order of High Queen Vivien on top of everything else, right?"

"You're silly." Zerrex said mildly, reaching up to poke her nose, and Serenity glared at him darkly before the Drakkaren shook his head a bit, saying mildly: "No, it's a discretionary release order. It means that while she's out of prison, it'll still count as time served towards her sentence... and that if she continues to behave properly, I'm permitted to give her an early release from prison."

"What?" Serenity looked horrified at this, and Sephire tilted her head curiously as the Iuratus spluttered and fought for some kind of response, looking stupefied before she snarled and flailed her arms through the air childishly. "Ridiculous! Favoritism!"

"Not really. If I don't give her a spectacular review and send her back to prison, she'll have to serve her full sentence, with only a minimal chance of time off for good behavior." Zerrex replied mildly, and then he reached up and tapped the green-scaled female's nose gently. "And furthermore, if she's stupid enough to commit another crime while out on this release, she'll be thrown in the Abyss. Same goes if she breaks the law within the next five hundred years if she's released now, and fifty years if she's released at a future date."

Serenity crossed her arms, but she looked a little vindicated now, nodding slowly and muttering: "Alright, alright. I guess that's... I mean..." She hesitated, then looked almost childlike for a moment as she asked quietly: "Am I allowed to feel a little sorry for her after how I was just acting, without coming across as hypocrite? Because... I mean, jail, yeah, I think she should be thrown in there, even a Pit of Torment, but... but the Abyss..."

"Preventative and escalation laws apply to everyone, not just civilians and soldiers." Zerrex said softly, looking down at Serenity, and the female grimaced a little as she rubbed slowly at her face before nodding a few times. Then he glanced over at Sephire as she rose a hand and waved it back and forth, sighing a little and asking dryly: "Yes, Sephire? Do you have a question for the class?"

"How the shit does that work? Laws and shit in Hell? Up in Heaven we were taught that all you guys did was bust each other's balls when something went wrong, no... jail or legal system or shit. Well. Okay, maybe I knew a little about the legal system shit but still." Sephire said lamely, opening her arms a little bit, and Zerrex shook his head.

He looked at her for a few moments, and then he said mildly: "Well, for one thing, demons who are born here are 'original demons,' official residents of Hell. And souls that come here only gain 'residency,' so to speak, once their Punishments are complete. Until they see their Punishments through, however long or short they are, they have restricted rights and privileges. But when someone's born here... you can't fault them for that. So instead of being Punished and re-filed as Prisoners instead of Residents, they end up being sent to jail, usually. Punishment is reserved for serious sinners... or demons who spend a lifetime screwing up, and then they go through their 'second coming' to Hell and they have to suffer for their sins as well, and usually to a much worse degree. The souls coming here from the mortal world think they have it bad... but imagine what it's like for demons who lived in Hell their whole lives, taught to control and confront sin and about balance and achieving self-control, and they end up getting thrown into a system designed to completely mulch a person's pride and soul to pieces so they can be rebuilt from the ground up?"

Sephire nodded a little after a moment, rubbing at her head slowly. "Heaven ain't like that... they just chuck most of their criminals into 'purification pools' and literally leave them there for years, then fish them out... and by then, they're usually insane but don't do much else but twitch for a few days, then become nice, subservient little angel-slaves. The Council passed the laws that let them do that, as well as the laws that the 'schools' that take them in and teach them and shit how to be 'put to use in society' also have to teach them to operate only during specific times in specific places. So they're mostly rumor in Heaven... few people know that it's sadly a sick fucking truth these things really exist. Ivory Serfs, they're called. Made from anyone unlucky enough to not be of esteem in the community... if you want the truth, I think the Council got the idea from when mortals first started making other mortals into slaves by removing chunks of their brain. Everyone knew that long-term saturation in the Purification does... does bad things to you."

Sephire shook her head quickly, and Serenity looked disgusted as Zerrex gritted his teeth, before the goddess looked over at him and said quietly: "It's why I wish Lord had a fucking backbone, like he used to. Why I wish he and Lucy would stand up to the Council instead of letting them get away with so much... even if it would mean a civil war. Maybe I ain't seeing the big picture, I dunno, but I wouldn't mind even half the white planet dying now... if it didn't mean Heaven would sacrifice even more lives later. It ain't that I'm not scared of all those lives being lost, especially since I know I'd have friends and allies and past comrades on both sides in such a conflict... it's that I'm terrified of what the Heavenly Council is going to do one of these days, and what they're willing to sacrifice in order to get their way."

Zerrex nodded slowly, and then he glanced over at Serenity as she shook her head, muttering: "Great. Before we get bogged down in another big-ass discussion, though, can we just go to the prison and get Ambrosia? I'm scared she's already pickpocketing the guards."

"Ambrosia would never do that, Serenity, that would be like you beating up a child." Zerrex paused reflectively as he held his arms out, Sephire immediately leaping against his side as Serenity looked at him sourly and grabbed him awkwardly by the wrist. "I... well. Beating up a child for no reason apart from the fact that you can be a little... moody."

Serenity only grumbled at him, and the Drakkaren rolled his eyes a bit before he vanished from the spot, reappearing a moment later once more in front of the prison... and then looking dumbly up in surprise as he saw Ambrosia was already waiting on the bridge for him, a wide grin on her face and her arms crossed over a simple exercise top, tattered work jeans on and sandals over her feet, her purse over her shoulder as she remarked to the large, burly prison guards standing moodily behind her: "See, I told you he'd show up sooner rather than later. You're just mad because you had to watch me this whole time."

"Keep mouthing off, bitch, I'll shove you into the moat." one of the guards muttered, a heavyset, armored demon with a clipboard in his hand, and then he sighed as Ambrosia only blew a raspberry at him before the Wrath demon stomped past her and held the clipboard out towards Zerrex, saying flatly: "Please sign here, indicating that you've shown up to retrieve the subject and will be doing everything within your power to look after her and prevent her from engaging in any... negative lifestyle choices."

Ambrosia huffed at this, and Zerrex took the clipboard as he read quickly through the contract, before looking for a pen... and when the guard only looked at him moodily, Zerrex sighed before using the tip of one claw to scrawl his signature where it was indicated, his name glowing faint blue for a moment before it turned to solid ink. Then the lizard grinned and handed this back to the guard, who looked down at it, unimpressed, before he grunted and shoved Ambrosia towards him, the female stumbling and then glaring over her shoulder at the wrath demon. He grunted at her, and when he turned, she rose a foot... but Zerrex glared at her pointedly, and she sighed dejectedly, muttering: "Oh, and here we go. Back to being a decent citizen, not even allowed to defend myself if something happens, or they'll throw me in the Abyss. What a shitty deal."

"Better than you deserve." Serenity said icily, and the two demons immediately glowered at each other before Zerrex sighed, rubbing slowly at his forehead as Ambrosia stomped forwards and stood almost nose-to-nose with Serenity, their eyes locking and the air around them seeming to ripple as the two snarled at each other, then the scarred female rose one hand poked the other female's chest firmly. "I'm going to be watching you, and watching you goddamn close, do you understand me? If you even look at me wrong..."

"It's impossible for me to look at you right, Serenity, you're too much of a self-centered cunt." Ambrosia replied sourly, and Serenity gritted her teeth as one of her eyes twitched before her sister leaned back and crossed her arms, the fellow Pride demoness asking haughtily: "So. Cut anyone else's eyes out lately?"

"Shut the fuck up. At least I admit my mistakes." Serenity said darkly, her eyes glowing with psychic wrath... and then Zerrex stepped forwards and yanked the two apart, glowering from one to the other and making them both wince a bit.

"Enough." Zerrex said firmly, and he looked from one to the other as they both mumbled disconsolately. "Serenity, not that I don't trust you to do your job... I trust you'll do too good a job. Ambrosia is to be under our protection, and Cecilia has kindly offered her both lodgings and to help look after her. I think even you can agree to that, right?"

Serenity snorted, then hesitated visibly as she looked up at her father... before finally sighing and nodding, muttering: "I guess... I can't really complain about that, no. A Lustewilde and myself should be more than sufficient to keep little miss thief under control."

Ambrosia, on the other hand, looked suddenly nervous, glancing up at Zerrex and asking hesitantly: "Isn't she a worshipper of Hez'Ranna, though? I mean... I've always gotten along well with her but she was the person who told me about the Eye of Hez'Ranna to begin with, and... well... you know..."

The Pride demon looked suddenly humble, and Zerrex reached up and patted her cheek gently, saying kindly: "She offered to protect you herself, Ambrosia. Having her as an ally and friend will also help convince any Dragokkaren that are still mad at you about the little incident with the Eye to keep their hands off you, too. She's as devout a follower as any of them, but very well respected throughout Elysium... especially since she's the only Lustewilde we've ever known who can completely control herself."

The female nodded slowly, and then Serenity crossed her arms, adding in a grumble: "Don't think I'm not going to be around still though, little sister, or that this means you get to go wherever you like. I'll dictate where we go and what we do, and I think for the most part, just to ensure your safety, we're going to spend our time in Acheron."

"Wonderful, I could use a vacation." Ambrosia retorted, and then she smiled over at Zerrex, touching his chest gently as she asked kindly and Serenity's eyes blazed: "But you won't mind us taking a short sojourn to the Ravenlight Estate, will you? I'd really like to take a bath... and of course, change out of these grubby clothes."

"And I'll be right there watching you." Serenity said darkly, and the two glared at each other angrily again before Zerrex grumbled under his breath and snapped his fingers, and Serenity squeaked as her collar glowed and tightened, stumbling and falling to her knees as Sephire snorted laughter in the background and Ambrosia winced a little in shock. The Iuratus made loud gagging noises for a few moments, and then she snarled as the chokehold loosened and she leapt to her feet... but at the stern look Zerrex gave her, she immediately lowered her head and mumbled quietly: "I'm sorry."

Zerrex grunted, and then he looked over at Ambrosia, who winced a little at the flat look on her father's face. "Now listen. I want you two to at least pretend to get along, and no baiting each other, understand? Yes, Serenity is emotional and has made mistakes. And yes, Ambrosia screwed up big time and has also made mistakes. Do you see the theme here? You've both made mistakes. Hell, I've made a lot of mistakes, and sometimes people do still hold it against me, but goddammit, you two are just going at each other now for the sake of pissing each other off, and I hate seeing my daughters at each other's throats. I've seen that happen enough."

The reptile put his hands on his hips, glaring back and forth before he said quietly: "Now listen. I want you two to watch each other's backs, and to listen to Cecilia. She's much older than either of you and probably a lot wiser too. Not to mention, she isn't blinded by pride all the damn time. Let's all head back to the Ravenlight Estate so I can take care of some other business for now, and Ambrosia can have her bath and get changed while I check up on the other people still at the Estate and Cindy's mom and Celeste and then probably go get yelled at by Vivien. Please don't add to my plate by causing a ruckus."

His two daughters now only looked embarrassed, glancing shamefully at each other before they both nodded with mumbles, and then Ambrosia stepped forwards and hugged him silently, pressing her head against his chest and saying quietly as she closed her mismatched eyes: "Of course, Father. Anything for you... I've always meant that. Always."

Zerrex nodded a little after a moment, and then he kissed her forehead quietly before Serenity saluted sharply... and the reptile sighed and reached out to grab her by the head, but he only squeezed slowly before letting go, gazing at her with both entertainment and exasperation. "Let's just get out of here before we all get arrested or the warden comes out. I've got a lot to organize and... time's got that funny feeling to it again."

By the end of the day, Zerrex was laying flat on his stomach in bed, face half-pressed into the pillows as he mumbled disconsolately to himself. The positives had been that he had indulged in another session with Sabnock, and she had allowed him afterwards to cuddle her for exactly ten minutes before she had gotten up, gotten dressed, thanked him, and left with an awkward little smile on her face, and - much more surprisingly - the Drakkaren had gone to see Vivien after a summons had come in the late afternoon, and she had actually applauded his attempt to bring Ambrosia out of prison and informed him quietly that Eslovius had broken into chaos. It didn't seem like exactly the best of news... but then she had gone on to say that almost all of the troops stationed along the borders had been pulled back, and the Emperor was being besieged by very angry fish-demons who wanted a few very large policy changes and his head on a platter. Chances were, if the rebellion was successful, the nation might start being friendlier towards outsiders, even if still cutthroat... while either way, whether a new regime came into play or not, Vivien had coldly and logically noted that their military strength was going to be drastically reduced, and they would be left in no position to make any threats or incursions on Elysium. Zerrex didn't like thinking in such cold terms... but he had to admit that she was very right, all the same.

Less fun had been a short and cryptic visit with Celeste, who had told him gently that he needed to look inside himself for answers, and then she had simply closed her eyes and gone back to half-snuggling herself against Marina: a little awkward, since his daughter had blushed the entire time and was in the middle of painting a beautiful picture of the Strange Beast standing in a golden hall on an artist's easel. And even less fun had been trying to talk to Cindy, only to find her yelling angrily at Cherry and throwing things at the muscular hermaphrodite as she had leapt back and forth, dodging heavier objects and catching breakables as she babbled apologies and excuses and accusations of her own until Zerrex had throttled them both with their collars and scolded them like the children they would apparently never stop being, no matter how old and wise they grew up to be. Then Cindy had broken down into tears, and Zerrex had felt awful as he had hugged her and soothed her and reminded her that since Jessica was still here, it would probably all work out okay. Probably. Maybe. Hopefully...

Most frustrating, however, was the fact that he had to keep yelling at Serenity as she hounded Ambrosia, who was looking more and more frustrated... but apparently had spent a lot of time in prison learning more self-control than Zerrex had guessed, as she refused to rise to the female's bait... which just made Serenity angrier. Finally, Zerrex had been forced to call on Cecilia, who had come marching in with her three Iuratus... and as Zerrex explained the situation while Serenity glowered at a washed-and-neatly-dressed Ambrosia, the reptile had been called away by Daria, who had completed the listing of contracts, and Zerrex had acted as a messenger, hand-delivering it to Sabnock at the Hall of Justice and pointedly ignoring the fact that Thoth glared at him the entire time from the office across the hall.

Now he was exhausted: running around, dealing with people, trying to get other people to cooperate... it was tiring. And the reptile's eyes slowly opened, looking quietly up at the picture of his long lost soulmate on the wall before a voice said kindly: "It's not all bad."

Zerrex yelped and leapt up to his feet, spinning around and then wheezing as he saw Justice standing calmly in the doorway, leaning against it with her wings wrapped around her waist and her metallic appendages covering her breasts, naked in a way that nonetheless left her neatly covered as she smiled at him. The Drakkaren smiled awkwardly back, and then Justice held up a scroll, saying softly: "Documents, express-delivered from Heaven by my brother, Silven. It seems that Epoch's change of heart wasn't just because of stress after all... he got these out of Job's private library and felt he should send them along. I hope... that means there's still hope for my idiot brothers upstairs."

She looked down for a moment, then her blind eyes glanced up as she held the scroll out, and Zerrex took it as the female said quietly: "And yes. I got the idea of what's written in here from Silven, but... obviously I can't actually read. It's funny... I hear that mortals devised a system that allows the blind to see words, but it never really occurred to even Naganis to create such a thing... I... I think sometimes, that while Naganis was never entirely right about mortals, from the awful things they've done to what they call the supernatural races and to each other... he wasn't entirely wrong, either."

"People are people, Justice." Zerrex said gently, taking the scroll from her and snapping the ribbon holding it shut to roll it open, looking down at it and muttering quietly to himself... and he frowned a bit as Justice tilted her head curiously. "These are work orders of some sort... for a research and development division, I think. Yeah... yeah, I see now. This is proof that the Heavenly Council ordered the construction of a super-massive laboratory, one in space that would be capable of carrying on advanced genetic and military research, to 'provide defenses should Hell rise up against Heaven's gates, or if mortals ever attempt to force their way into Paradise.'"

"Reasons that make it sound like all they want to do is protect themselves... when their real reasons for this are much nastier, aren't they?" Justice asked quietly, and Zerrex snorted at this, closing the scroll and nodding grimly.

"The Council, as I've learned, is made up of the kind of people who don't just say 'build me a nuclear bomb because everyone else has one,' they're the kind of people who say 'build me a bigger nuclear bomb, and then give me a target to 'test' it on.'" the Drakkaren replied quietly, and he shook his head a bit before he looked up towards the ceiling, squeezing the scroll slowly in his hand. "Did Silven say whether or not he was submitting this to Lord and Lucifer as well?"

Justice began to shake her head, but then she glanced over her shoulder as there was a clanking in the hall, before Sephire stuck her head around the doorway. She looked at Zerrex for a moment, and then grinned a bit, saying mildly: "Let me guess, you just found out that the big thingy you found floating in space is only one chunk of some giant-ass secret lab they built, right?"

Zerrex grunted, and then Sephire tapped at her arm, saying in a more serious voice: "Listen, I know you've been busy today, but Lucifer just dropped me a message saying that the Council is now scurrying to cover its ass by ordering the Centrifuge be destroyed. While it's technically Elysium's property, since you found it in space and shit... the fact it's still floating around up there means-"

"Means Heaven can send extermination teams of angels or divine gods if they want, and Elysium won't be able to stop them. But what the hell do you want me to do?" Zerrex asked flatly, and Sephire looked at him meditatively before she brightened, and the reptile slapped his forehead. "I'm not going to like this, am I?"

"You can teleport big objects, right?" Sephire asked inquisitively, and immediately the Drakkaren winced and shook his head vehemently.

"I've never moved something that big before, Sephire! I'm not even sure I could!" Zerrex said immediately, and then Justice reached up and gently touched his right arm, gazing at him with a sudden, strange tenderness.

He looked back at her, and a smile spread across her face as she said softly: "If you had the right Disciples with you, Lord Zerrex... I think you could. If we share our energies with you, add our strength to your own... it might give you enough strength to make a jump with it down to the mortal planet. It's close to the planet's orbit, as I recall, is it not? You can bring the Centrifuge to an abandoned area on the mortal coil... or maybe to the oceans outside Hez'Ranna. Heaven won't be able to send destroyers to the mortal planet, and Lord and Lucifer can easily pull the authorization of the Council by reminding them that the Council's wishes are to stay aloof from the mortal plane. Once it's inside the planet's atmosphere..."

Zerrex nodded slowly, looking at her awkwardly... and then he sighed softly as he reached up and slowly began to play with his mala, mumbling: "Still. I... I dunno about this..."

The two glared at him, and the Drakkaren winced back from both the blind eyes of the Naganatine and Sephire's mixed ruby and sapphire glare, and the male rubbed slowly at his face before he muttered: "Fine. Fine. Gather the Disciples you can then, and... meet me in the front hall in five minutes. I'll send out a callout, too, but... I want to grab a few things here, first."

The two nodded, and Zerrex absently reached down and tapped a few buttons on his armlet, his nanotech shirt dissolving and leaving his chest bare as Justice hesitated for a moment, and then she looked at him quietly, saying softly: "I think this is important. I think this Centrifuge might be the key to figuring out what we're looking for."

Zerrex looked back at her for a few moments, and then Justice turned and left with Sephire... and the Drakkaren shook his head a bit before he rubbed at his face slowly, then looked up and called quietly: "Sammy, you around?"

A moment later, the skeletal pseudodragon popped into being on his shoulder with a concerned chirp, and the reptile smiled a bit, saying softly: "I need to do a... pretty big feat. Moving a huge object and a bunch of people inside of it any distance is going to be tough for me. But honestly, what has me most worried is the fact that Negative still... seems to be missing in action, so to speak. He's never been gone this long... and while it would be extremely hard for him to force me to Invert after a massive energy drain, he might still try and use my weakened state to get in my head or screw with me. I have a feeling he's not staying gone now because he's hurt... but because he's mad as hell at me and is waiting for an opening, for... for a vulnerability or something. If something starts to go wrong, I'm trusting you to help Epiphany and Anathema Sin bind me down, okay?"

Sammy nodded after a moment respectfully, then he quietly nibbled at the Drakkaren's hair, making Zerrex smile a bit and close his eyes as he reached up to slowly stroke over the bony pseudodragon's spine. Despite his small size and stature, Zerrex and Sammy had a pact, a bond between them that ran even deeper than his pact with many of his Disciples: it meant that if Zerrex started to lose his fragile grip on his own sanity, the small pseudodragon was one of the few creatures that could temporarily immobilize him, usually just long enough for his Disciples to move in and bind him down or restore his mind.

The trick was that Sammy had to be able to make contact with the Drakkaren... but he was swift, and they had done it before when Negative had attacked Zerrex's mind. The Drakkaren and Anathema Sin had worked together to teach Sammy the trick due to a terrible battle in the past where something else had invaded the Drakkaren's body, and almost resulted in the deaths of all those near to him... this way, they had a failsafe if anything went terribly wrong. Zerrex wanted to take every precaution to make sure that he never hurt those close to him again... and that if he ever did lose his mind, there would be measures in place to ensure he could be bound, sealed, or even killed.

Power, as Zerrex had learned, did not come without responsibility... nor without a very high cost. Everything he did now affected something else, and attracted troublemakers interested in the fame that would come with battling the legendary Lord Zerrex Narrius, thinking there was glory in wounding him... or white knights who had decided without ever meeting him, without ever knowing him, that with all the power he held he must be a corrupt tyrant, especially because he had warrior-slaves like the Iuratus at his beck-and-call and a group of dedicated Disciples. Worse yet was the fact he hadn't yet learned to just keep his goddamn mouth shut sometimes, and thus everyone knew about his intense dislike of the Heavenly Council... and as a former demon turned god, it admittedly made it look like he was just one of the old original demons who still loathed Heaven on principle instead of any good reason. It was easy for people to forget that he had been mortal once... just as it was easy for people to overlook the fact he had spent more than half of his mortal life trying to make up for his thirty years of being a selfish, murderous asshole and only remember the rapes, the murders, and the other exceedingly-bad things he had done.

The Drakkaren shook his head a bit, and then he held his hand out... and his dragon-headed cane lifted into the air from the corner of the room before floating over to him, the reptile grasping this gently by the neck and looking quietly down into the ruby eyes of the beautiful, ornate object, murmuring quietly: "Some days I still wonder if it's all worth it... if any of us can ever truly change."

Sammy nipped at his muzzle, and the reptile snorted in amusement, swaying to the side before he swatted at the pseudodragon, but the little creature simply vanished from one shoulder and reappeared on the other, leaning up and putting his little claws against his head as he nibbled at his scalp. The lizard rolled his eyes in amusement at this, and then he shook his head a bit before he headed for the door, carrying the cane by the neck still as holy runes pulsed quietly over it before the Drakkaren entered the hallway, walking down it and murmuring: "I just hope this goes well... the last time I tried to move something of any size was that goddamn huge-ass ship, the Muan, for Priest. And we all know how that ended up going."

Sammy chirped as he sat placidly beside the Drakkaren's head, the reptile exiting into the main hall as he closed his eyes and gently brushed his fingers through his mala, half-concentrating on sending out a gentle call to his Disciples in the vicinity: a trick that was harder than it seemed, especially when his emotions were so ramped up and he felt so nervous about everything. He also didn't want to accidentally call every Disciple from Acheron to come to him, which would likely trigger a panic... or accidentally summon any of his Black Rose guards, who had started patrolling the mansion earlier in the day.

Two of these were actually standing near the doors, and looked up curiously: not because the Drakkaren was walking down the stairs of the main hall, but likely because at this distance his mental signal had likely been picked up clearly by them. The reptile only smiled and gestured for them to be at ease, however, and the two Amazons nodded to him respectfully before the lizard crossed his arms and waited patiently.

It wasn't long before they began to appear, and the reptile was surprised to see among their ranks Epiphany and Anathema Sin... but when Justice grinned at him, the Drakkaren glowered as he realized she had likely contacted them somehow, saying flatly: "You know, here I thought you said you were bad at magic."

"I am, but I'm still capable of contacting my Sisters without trouble... the Naganatine have always had a bond, and as their Deacon, I've always had little difficulty with sending them messages, no matter how near or far they were." Justice said comfortably, crossing her arms before she glanced at Epiphany as the youngest daughter of Zerrex smiled shyly. "Besides, your daughter's powers will be necessary to provide the extra energy you require."

Marina gave a small sound of envy from where she was standing with a disgruntled-looking Cindy and Cherry, and then Zerrex looked up in surprise as Celeste detached herself slowly from his youngest daughter and carefully made her way forwards, looking over them all curiously: at tired-looking Daria and grumbling Serenity and Ambrosia, at smiling Cecilia and calm Lily standing next to tender Mercy, at proud Sephire as she leaned against a banister and grinned a bit... and then she turned her eyes to Zerrex, saying softly: "Please. Allow me to come as well. My energies are different from yours... but they should nonetheless be compatible enough for me to lend a little of my strength to your cause."

Zerrex glanced awkwardly at Lily, who shrugged a bit and gave him a flat look in response, and the Drakkaren rolled his eyes, grumbling: "Well, you're the biggest administrator here. I figured you'd have some input."

"Yeah, but they're all your Disciples, Zerrex. Except for me, Cecilia, Ambrosia, and Celeste, and Ambrosia might as well be Iuratus-" That earned a horrible look from Serenity, enough that it made Lily wince back even as she continued in an awkward voice: "And... Cecilia is... pretty close to a Disciple too."

Serenity muttered under her breath in obvious distaste, and Zerrex smiled amusedly despite himself before he finally nodded a bit to the Strange Beast, saying quietly: "I won't turn away your help, then, Celeste. I know you mean well and... I know I'll need every bit of help that I can get, too."

He nodded a little bit, and Celeste smiled hesitantly at him before she said softly: "Your daughter has been teaching me much of what you call mortal emotions. They're very interesting... I think right now, what I could feel is... happiness. And companionship. Strange, the things that you translate your emotions to... the terms that you apply towards them. Strange... but not entirely bad."

She glanced down quietly, then nodded slowly to herself before looking back up, saying softly: "Yes. I have faith that you will be able to move this object. Strange as it sounds like it is."

Zerrex smiled a bit at her, and then he glanced down at his cane, squeezing it slowly and watching the holy runes glow over its steel body before he looked back up, saying firmly. "Alright, then. I'm going to take us to the Centrifuge... what I need from you all is you to lend me your energies, and I'm going to make a jump-"

"Shoop!" Cherry exclaimed, flailing her arms, and then she grinned in embarrassment when a portal opened beside her and she almost knocked over Mary, who winced and ducked under it as she came through. "Whoops, sorry babe. Hey, you seen Maria? Ain't like her to miss a party."

"Cherry, please don't interrupt." Zerrex said tiredly, and Cherry blushed as she looked forwards again, rubbing at her face awkwardly even as Mary smiled a little and quickly leaned up to whisper something to the female, and the Drakkaren shook his head as he continued: "Anyway. We'll travel to the Centrifuge by way of vortex. It's going to be bumpy when I transport everything down to the mortal world, though... I'm not sure everything will hold together, and I can guarantee there's going to be a lot of vertigo and possibly even an injury or two. This is your last chance to back out."

There were a few mumbles, and then Cherry pumped a fist in the air, saying cheerfully: "Bring on the brain damage!"

"Yeah, I don't think you have to worry about that, Cherry." Zerrex retorted, and Cherry looked stupefied as there were a few laughs, before she growled and crossed her arms sulkily. Then the Drakkaren closed his eyes as he held his cane out to the side, concentrating... and a moment later, the holy runes over it glowed again as the ruby eyes burned brightly, a swirling portal of blacks and whites spiraling open as the reptile said clearly: "Quick, go through before my concentration breaks, I'll follow last."

The others quickly fell into a double line, heading towards the portal as Celeste hesitated before Marina gently took her by the wrist, and the Strange Beast was instantly soothed, smiling in her awkward fashion again as they joined the others. Zerrex slowly stepped towards the vortex, still holding up his cane... and then he lowered it and headed quickly into the swirl, grimacing a bit as he felt it shuddering around him and beginning to close as he followed the end of the line, stepping out of the other side of the tunnel and into the bottom room of the Centrifuge only a few moments before the vortex crackled, then closed.

Zerrex looked awkwardly back and forth, clearing his throat and rubbing at his muzzle with a grimace as Epiphany blushed deeply... but by now, not only had the ivy been cleared out of the area, every inch of the floor had been swabbed. The Drakkaren grimaced as he looked over at the computer systems, knowing full-well they might be damaged in the transportation... before he glanced awkwardly down at his armlet on his left hand, remembering when he had worn a modified version of it that had restricted his powers, and how many years it had taken him to control them. How it had been redesigned once upon a time to help him keep himself under control instead of performing seeming miracles and feats of power... and then he smiled a little as Cherry spoke up first, saying amusedly: "Remember when you grew so big you were able to move the space colonies around? Why don't you just do that, Boss?"

"Because the bigger you are, the harder you fall." Zerrex replied softly, glancing over at her with a bit of a smile. "Do you really want to find out what would happen if I got really big, hugged the Centrifuge against my body, and simply tried to drop down into the atmosphere? I'd burn up, accidentally cause a tsunami, or rupture the earth and create a brand new fault line and likely cause a massive earthquake in the process. Not to mention what might happen to this Centrifuge."

Cherry grunted, and then Cindy looked across at him, saying softly: "I think you should aim for the oceans around Hez'Ranna, Daddy. They should be shallow enough the Centrifuge won't be crushed by pressure, and even if the outer hull cracks, there's heavy security shutters all over the place that can be closed to prevent flooding and damage. Besides, we've got most of the computer information already... but something... something about this place..."

She shook her head slowly, unable to put it into words, but Zerrex knew exactly what she meant. There was a clue here, something hidden, something not in the obvious electronics, but the very walls of the place... and they looked at each other for a moment before Zerrex silently held out his hands, and Anathema Sin and Epiphany automatically stepped up on either side of him, lacing their fingers with his as his daughter said quietly and lovingly: "I'll give you all the energy I can, Father... and I'll make sure to act as a conductor for the others, too, it's not hard for me. Mother and I can regulate their energies... ensuring they don't give too much, making sure that what they do give, you can use to the best of your ability."

Zerrex nodded a bit, closing his eyes as the others linked hands as well, forming a tight circle as the Drakkaren let his mind begin to loosen and wander, knowing better than to force himself to concentrate. His greatest feats of power always happened when he simply let himself go, when he stopped trying hard to make something happen and instead just allowed it to happen, like he was no more than the guide, the tool, the clay...

He took a slow breath, letting his head fall back as the mala around his neck jingled quietly and seemed to twist itself slightly, energy rippling through the air around the group as a faint humming began to build, and then the reptile murmured softly as he felt himself relax and his mind loosen: "I am not the potter, but the potter's clay. Yes..."

And reality trembled for a moment around them before massive arcs of energy tore around the Centrifuge as all present winced in various states of pain and concentration and tensing in preparation for what was to come... and a moment later, the massive orbital structure simply vanished before reappearing some ten feet above the oceans just off the coast of Hez'Ranna, floating for a moment before it crashed down into the water, several heavy chunks o steel and wire ripping loose and falling around the enormous Centrifuge as several Dragokkaren stared in shock from where they were on the beach as the immense, upside-down pyramid structure listed heavily and crashed down on its side, a massive splash going up and knocking over a small fishing boat and sending Dragokkaren flying with yells of shock.

Inside, Zerrex and company lay sprawled against several broken computer consoles and over the walls of the tipped Centrifuge, before the reptile coughed and gagged hard, a splatter of blood coming out of his muzzle as Sammy leapt back and forth nervously over his chest, chirping sharply. Then the reptile managed to dazedly open his eyes, reaching a hand up and rubbing slowly at the trails of blood dripping from his nostrils as he mumbled: "I'm starting to remember why I was never a fan of doing that."

Slowly, the reptile shook his head as he sat dazedly up, then he winced at the sound of cracking under his ass and he looked dumbly down to see that he was sitting on top of a shattered flatscreen monitor, the reptile muttering under his breath. Slowly, he looked back and forth, and saw most of the others were picking themselves up, and that Epiphany was already on her feet and quietly shaking Anathema Sin awake, the golden flames in the female's socket burning low and showing she was short on energy... but far from dead, at least. The Drakkaren sighed quietly in relief at this, and then he grunted as he carefully dragged himself up to his feet and stumbled woozily over to Daria's prone body, as Sammy ran quietly back and forth around him... and then the lizard dropped to a kneel with a grunt and silently touched the back of the female's neck.

The newt's eyes flickered open at his touch... and she smiled faintly, a bloody tear leaking down her face as she whispered: "You're... always there for me..."

"Let's get you sitting up. It'll hurt like hell at first but then you'll feel better." Zerrex said quietly, then he turned his head to the side as he gave a raspy cough, a bit of blood splattering out of his jaws before he spat to the side, muttering: "Goddamn, feeling lightheaded... but I bet once that passes it's just going to be a pain-train..."

"Here, allow me to help, Daddy." Epiphany said quietly, and Zerrex winced and then promptly fell on his side, groaning as his right leg kicked and gave an extra howl of pain for good measure, his daughter covering her muzzle and turning scarlet. "Oh, oh Gods, I'm so sorry Daddy! I didn't mean to startle you!"

Zerrex only mumbled, letting the side of his face rest against the metal of the broken computer he was now laying on and glancing dazedly up at Epiphany: she seemed to be right as rain still, despite the fact that everyone else seemed to be in varying states of stupefaction and outright pain. The only thing that was off was that one of the stitches across the scale vest she was wearing over her body had popped open... but otherwise, she was as fine as she had been before, smiling a little as she gently touched her father's skull, before looking down in concern as Daria slowly sat up and coughed a few times, raising a hand with a grimace.

"I'm... I'm okay. My head's just spinning, but... I don't seem to be bleeding much." Daria reached up and brushed away the bloody tear before she gently probed at her eyepatch, and when there wasn't any gush of blood, she smiled a little and then looked at Epiphany, saying quietly: "I think your father would appreciate you checking on the others, though, since... he and I and a lot of the others here don't seem to be in the best of shape to do that."

"I can help as well." added Celeste's kind voice, and Zerrex half-rolled onto his back with a grunt to turn his head and see the Strange Beast was already standing. She had a small gash in her arm that was sparking a bit with her energized blood, but when she glanced down at this, it visibly flexed before healing... and Zerrex wondered dumbly what other surprises Celeste had in store as she touched at her collar quietly, saying softly: "May I remove my collar, Zerrex? I will better be able to feel the emotions of others... I understand their pain will be unpleasant on my mind, but it is not the worst thing in the world to me. I would rather feel pain than feel numbness, or nothing at all."

Zerrex grunted after a moment, then he nodded and rubbed at his skull slowly, wincing a bit: his own numbness was fading now into pain, and he felt like he had to disagree with Celeste on that point. He would much rather be numb right now than dealing with the steadily-growing throbbing in his skull. "Go ahead, Celeste. Just try not to pick up on the thoughts of people outside the Centrifuge, I'm sure we caught someone or something's attention when this thing dropped down out of nowhere."

Celeste nodded with strange solemnity, and then she reached up and carefully pulled her collar off her neck, looking back and forth quietly before she headed over towards Marina... and when the Strange Beast gently touched her back, Marina's eyes snapped open and she gasped, her green eyes glowing solid in her skull for a moment before she half-rolled over in shock and stared up at the female, who looked back down and said in her serious, quiet voice: "Hello Marina. I am sorry to disturb your dreams, but we must tend to the others."

"A thousand thoughts in a thousandth of a second." Marina muttered, rubbing at her skull slowly, but then she nodded a few times and carefully struggled her way up to her feet, asking quietly: "Daddy, are you okay? My... my mind's a little jumbled from the jump."

"Shoop." Cherry croaked from where she had awkwardly been jammed between two computer consoles, a large gash cut along one breast from a jagged chunk of metal that had torn upwards... but she was much better off than the computers, one of which had been ripped into pieces, while the other had the Drakkaren's cane buried through it like an arrow pierced into soft flesh. "Oh holy shit. Forget Zerrex. Come massage me."

Marina ignored her older sister, instead stumbling her way towards her father, then grunting quietly as she dropped to her knees beside him and reached down to silently grasp his skull, the reptile wincing with a groan as Daria squeezed his arm soothingly... and a moment later, waves of calmness began to move slowly through his mind, gradually making the heavy throbs of pain settle into something much more bearable as he breathed slowly in and out. He automatically reached a hand up, brushing quietly at his mala... and he grimaced as he realized the prayer beads were stuck to his scales, almost fused into them as he pried them slowly upwards and free; thankfully, they were resilient, and his scales had taken more damage than the beads had, likely because of the energy that had been travelling through the materials he was especially sensitive to.

Finally, Zerrex sat up as the others slowly gathered around him, Cecilia wincing and careful not to tread on the electronics as she looked at them nervously, Ambrosia grimacing and looking disgusted by the fact Serenity was still looming after her, despite the gashes and bleeding scars on the body of the Iuratus, and the others all in varying states of bruised lethargy. The reptile looked lamely back and forth as Cindy brought his cane over to him, the female blushing a bit as she handed it over, and Zerrex took it and squeezed it slowly, looking down at it as Celeste quietly snapped her collar back on and he murmured softly: "I'm glad that you're still innocent enough you can touch this without it hurting you, Cindy. No matter what you've gone through. I'm glad."

Cindy smiled both embarrassedly and radiantly at this, and then Zerrex grunted as he used the cane to help himself shakily stand, Sammy leaping up and scrambling onto his shoulder as the reptile rubbed slowly at his face, and then he muttered: "Anyway. Come on, everyone, let's... get back to Elysium so I can have a goddamn nap. It looks like we could all use some rest, in fact..."

The others nodded in agreement, and then Cecilia hesitantly rose a hand, saying quietly: "Lord Zerrex, honey... would you mind if... since we're here, if I took a look around... Hez'Ranna? I am more than capable of making a vortex back, but... I can feel the homeland calling to me. I haven't been here, in so very many years, sweetie, it would mean so much to me if... you could spare me even five minutes..."

"Serenity, go with Cecilia, treat her with more respect than you give me. I'll look after Ambrosia." Zerrex said quietly, and Ambrosia smiled in warm relief as Serenity cursed under her breath, but she at least seemed a little too tired to argue. The Lustewilde, meanwhile, smiled brilliantly at Zerrex, and the Drakkaren smiled faintly back at her, saying quietly: "Just do me a favor. On the way up and out of here, make sure there isn't any major flooding. I know you can't do much repair work without magic working, but... you and Serenity should be familiar enough with mortal technology to figure out how to close the armored shutters. They're probably hooked up to their own power supplies so... yeah."

The two nodded, and Serenity saluted him crisply before Zerrex rolled his eyes, then held a hand out towards her and muttered under his breath before grinning as the blood vanished off the female's body, Serenity looking down at herself in surprise before the lizard glanced at his own fingers, still grinning even as they steamed a little bit due to overuse of his powers. "It's nice when the laws that apply to everyone else don't apply to you. Of course, the fact I expend my own energies in order to do magic... not as good."

"Please don't strain yourself, Zerrex." Lily said quietly, reaching out and gently touching his shoulder, and Mercy nodded in agreement as she looked pointedly at her father, the two gazing quietly at him... and Zerrex softened before he nodded back to them. Then he looked up to watch as Cecilia bowed deeply and Serenity grunted before the two turned and made their way carefully towards the gaping vault door, which rested heavily against the wall like a broken jaw.

Then the lizard glanced back and forth tiredly, before Sephire looked up at the damaged cage and the jungle of cabling overhead, several of the thick tubes and wires now hanging loosely, damaged and broken... and then she shuddered as she kicked absently at the broken flatscreen under her booted feet, muttering: "Shit, let's get the hell out of here. This place reminds me way too fucking much of the goddamn labs where they did all the crazy-ass stuff to me to turn me into... this. All I know is that Lord better stop wimping around with the Council if they're still pulling shit like this."

"We can discuss that later, Lady Sephire... for now, we should just head back." Anathema Sin said softly, and then she gently touched Epiphany's shoulder, asking quietly: "Will you please lend me some of your strength so I can create a vortex? I can still use magic without corruption or purification in the air, but it takes up a lot of my strength, and I'm still very disoriented, daughter."

"You mean like this, mother?" Epiphany asked in a voice that was half-kind, half-haughty, and she flicked her wrist... and all present stared as spiraling vortex slowly opened, the female smiling up at the fused Naganatine with a strange kind of superiority as Zerrex gaped, no longer feeling like his feat of using a simply cleaning spell on the planet was nearly as impressive. "Shall we go?"

"A daughter should not disrespect her mother so unkindly." Celeste said softly as she passed by with Marina, half-pulling the daughter of Zerrex towards the portal... and Epiphany looked surprisingly-stricken by the simple comment from the Strange Beast, flushing now with humiliation instead of pride as the two passed into the vortex. Others carefully walked towards the tunnel of swirling black-and-white themselves, and Anathema Sin and Zerrex followed second to last as Sammy chirped nervously on the lizard's shoulder... but Epiphany finally came when the two hesitated at the mouth of the tunnel, dragging her feet and looking like a child that had just been reprimanded, upset and sad, seeming like she was sulking... but by now Zerrex had enough experience with children to know that she was honestly just feeling very low, and unlike a full adult... she hadn't yet learned how to hide that natural body language, or to compartmentalize the pain to push it away for now and deal with it when things had settled down a bit.

Epiphany was very much a physical adult... but she was very much a child, all the same. Her emotions were untamed, her sense of self was not all there, her confidence went from sky-high to scraping the bedrock in seconds. She was a talented child who required constant stimulation and difficult challenges, trapped in the body of a fully-grown adult. She had all an adult's biological drives and needs, but all of a child's mind and powerful, sometimes too-complex emotions... and Zerrex smiled at her supportively before he gently wrapped an arm around her as they passed into the vortex, Anathema Sin soothingly rubbing down her lower back.

Epiphany smiled a little as they walked through the tunnel, then emerged back into the Ravenlight Estate, Zerrex's right leg wobbling a bit as he leaned a little on his cane. He breathed quietly as the vortex spiraled slowly closed behind them, seeing that most of the family had already dispersed... and then Anathema Sin glanced towards Zerrex, the Anathema part now the dominant personality instead of the Sin half as she said mildly: "There's some shit I should take care of, and since Epiphany's still in such good shape, I think I'll have her help me out a little around the cottage and the tower. You don't mind, right, my little girl?"

Epiphany glanced up with a quiet smile at the tone and the softness in her eye and the flames that filled the metal socket. It wasn't a hidden order, but an actual question, despite Anathema Sin's tone and phrasing. While she could be a harsh bitch to everyone else - particularly the Anathema side of Anathema Sin - she treated her children with deeper love and affection than even Lily did... which sometimes got on the nerves of the High Princess when it was brought up, considering the fact that Lily had once upon a time spent literal years trying to teach Anathema how to properly care for a baby.

The girl-adult nodded, shuffling one foot before she said softly: "Yes, Mom, I'd really like that... especially if we got to go through the Tower a little bit together, I think that'd be real good and... and stuff."

Zerrex smiled softly... and then he nodded as Anathema Sin turned to him, hugging her gently with one arm before they kissed softly, working their mouths slowly, gently together... and when they drew apart, she gazed at him fondly, stroking a finger under his muzzle slowly as Epiphany blushed a little. "Don't strain yourself, Zerrex. I realize we'll probably be heading back to Acheron soon... but try and relax while you can while we're here, alright? And enjoy the company of your friends who can't follow us back."

The Drakkaren nodded a bit, and then Anathema Sin flicked her wrist, creating a portal before she blew the reptile a kiss and winked, Epiphany shyly waving before the two turned and left through it... and Zerrex laughed quietly and shook his head slowly before he glanced over towards Ambrosia as she looked at him, the two alone now in the entrance hall: Zerrex had the feeling that everyone had left so quickly in order to give the two this time together alone, in fact... and he wondered quietly who was behind that as they regarded each other for a few quiet moments before the Drakkaren said finally: "You could have disappeared at any time, you know. But you didn't. I... appreciate you not running away, Ambrosia."

"To where?" Ambrosia asked bitterly, walking towards her father... and then she sighed and shook her head as she brushed her hands down his bare chest, muttering: "Look at you... same as always, pants and those ugly boots on and no shirt."

Zerrex smiled a bit at her, reaching up to tug quietly at her exercise top, which barely covered the upper half of her smooth stomach and left her toned arms and plenty of cleavage bare. "And you still wear the same outfit you always did, too... upper body that looks like you're going to the sexy gym, lower body clad in those ass-hugging jeans of yours I always loved and hated at the same time, and your stupid goddamn..."

"Cowboy boots." Ambrosia finished softly, stamping the ivory boots against the ground and looking down at them with a soft blush. They were lined with black velvet on the inside, and the outside was made of thick white leather, engraved with all manner of designs... and then she looked up at him before she slowly took his free hand, saying softly: "Let's go to bed."

The Drakkaren looked back at her quietly, and then he smiled a little bit, nodding slowly as he allowed her to pull him towards the stairs. The lizard grunted and stumbled a bit up the first few risers, looking embarrassed, but Ambrosia only laughed quietly and shook her head slowly as her father leaned on the cane, wrapping his arm around her shoulders and muttering: "You've always been so stubborn... even worse than me or Serenity. Not to mention I think we get our bitchiness from you, too. Mom might have quite a temper sometimes, but it's nothing compared to your constant moodiness."

"Oh shut up." Zerrex grumbled, and Ambrosia smiled a little as he leaned against her and sighed a bit, mumbling under his breath and grimacing as they carefully made their way upwards, step-by-step. When they reached the landing, the lizard wheezed, his right leg giving a distinct throb of pain before he flexed his knee, clenching his eyes shut and muttering: "Let's just keep going."

Ambrosia helped him up the next set of stairs without complaint, and down the hall to the Drakkaren's room, where she then gently took his cane from him - carrying it only by the golden handle to avoid contact with the holy runes that burned over the body of it - and putting this delicately aside as if it were a real thing as Sammy leapt off Zerrex's shoulder and chirped quietly at him. The lizard sat down beside the pseudodragon, mumbling a bit as he awkwardly tapped a short order into his armlet... and a moment later, his pants and boots both dissolved and the armlet popped free, letting the Drakkaren remove it before Ambrosia snatched it up from him and glanced it over, muttering: "Interesting piece of technology. More for the visible technological applications than its current use and structure, I'd say I could fence this for... five hundred thousand? Maybe six?"

"Try adding a million to that figure, at least." Zerrex grumbled a bit, grabbing at his armlet... but Ambrosia only snorted before she turned and headed towards his night table, opening the wooden box on it and slipping the armlet inside before she gestured irritably at Sammy. The skeletal pseudodragon only chirped at her in response, however, running in quick circles along the top of the bed, and the female sighed a little before she watched as Zerrex slowly slid his way into bed, saying quietly: "Go ahead, Ambrosia."

The female hesitated for a moment... but then she slowly took her cowboy boots off before slipping her top off, and finally opening her jeans to wriggle them slowly down her hips and off her lower body with her panties. She stood naked in front of her father, as Zerrex rested back in his boxers... and then she quietly slipped forwards and slid overtop him, grasping his shoulders and kissing his neck gently before she laid herself beside him, taking one of his hands in both of hers as her lithe, beautiful body flexed a bit and she murmured softly: "Thank you for... for everything, Dad. I know this can't be easy for you. I know it's not easy for Serenity, either... and I'm thankful you're... not treating me like a criminal, despite the fact..."

She looked away and laughed a little, then squeezed his hand slowly before bringing it up to her chest, holding it tightly over her heart and closing her eyes as she said softly: "I want you to know that I'm... always going to be here for you in the way you are for me. That I know I can be a bitch but... I do love you. That I know I need to be a better daughter, and I'm starting by... not getting into arguments with Serenity, at least not while you're around." Ambrosia smiled a bit, glancing awkwardly up at Zerrex, who half-turned his head to gaze at her quietly before she reached up and slowly stroked a bit of dried blood from his face. "You're all dirty..."

"You're dirty." Zerrex mumbled, and Ambrosia sighed before Sammy scampered up over her hip, chirping at her and nipping at her side lightly. The female grimaced a bit at this and shoved at him, but Sammy only pounced on her forearm and then scampered up the limb to nip at her face, making her grumble as Zerrex snorted a bit. "He's either jealous or he likes you. He's like Cherry that way, whether it's for better or worse everything comes down to her hitting you."

Ambrosia grumbled as Sammy nipped at her again, then chirped before saying clearly in Cherry's voice: "Stop trying to make babies."

"I am not trying to make babies with my father." Ambrosia said stiffly, and she pointed a single finger at the pseudodragon when he tried to nip at her again, the bony creature squeaking before he was suddenly ensnared in a circular prison of water, the liquid tightening and becoming almost solid around the pseudodragon before she shoved the ball of made-solid liquid firmly and it rolled down the bed and off the blankets to strike the floor with a loud splash, and Sammy squawked in frustration as Zerrex sighed and rolled his eyes. "Little ingrate."

The Drakkaren only sighed and rolled his eyes at this, however, ignoring the grumbles of both Sammy and Ambrosia as he rolled onto his side and curled up a bit, and yet nonetheless smiling when his daughter wrapped her arms around him and pressed against his back, and the wet pseudodragon managed to leap up and contentedly curl up against the lizard's broad chest with a quiet chirp.

A few days later found the Drakkaren sitting in a semi-private council with Vivien, rejuvenated but looking bored as he rested his head on his arms and she snapped at him: "Either sit up straight or get out of here!"

"What would you do if I actually did leave?" Zerrex asked tiredly, glancing up at her mildly, and Vivien looked stumped by this response before she glared at Amiglion when he giggled behind a hand, and the Naganatine immediately swallowed thickly... before he started to giggle again when Justice leaned over and whispered something to him. Vivien sighed, rubbing at her face slowly, and then she looked over at Lily and Mercy meditatively as they both simply shrugged.

On Zerrex's other side, Ambrosia was sitting with Serenity and Cecilia: the female was looking raptly back and forth over the table, at the faces of Sabnock, Mary, and Raze. The last had his arms crossed grouchily, but the Drakkaren knew by now that it was only Raze's way of showing impatience, not that he was unhappy to be here... quite the contrary, the lizard thought. In all likelihood, this was probably far more enjoyable for the angel than it was for him, since he was acting as a diplomat today instead of a messenger boy between Heaven and Elysium.

The Drakkaren rubbed absently at his face, and then he sighed a bit as Vivien started to talk on foreign policy and dealing with Heaven again, as Mary smiled at him supportively. With everyone else either on lockdown or in Acheron - or in Maria's case, exploring the Unworld for any signs of Theophilius - the Council was only doing minimal duties these days... in part because now the focus on finding the murderer was such a huge task and so much of both Elysium and Heaven were anxious to see justice done.

An attack had also occurred on one of the colonies that still floated ominously around the mortal world, and it had been heavily damaged but was refusing all help except for those from the other 'pure' colonies, where neither supernatural entities nor 'land dwellers' were permitted. They were bitter, antisocial nations by now that hated the very world they had come from, loathing their dependency upon the planet and lashing out occasionally against its peoples for no real reason. Their own governments, after all, had been the ones to decide they should stay up in space instead of landing. The colony that had been hit was now using the damage done by what was probably a maddened Old God to denounce all supernatural beings as monsters... but what concerned both Heaven and Hell was that since most of the Old Gods had been either imprisoned, driven off, or killed, the time of the attack and the growing threat of this cross-planet killer couldn't be ruled out, despite the fact there was no obvious connection between events.

Further investigation, however, had revealed trace amounts of not the murderer's call-sign, but instead the energy of Strange Beasts, although Celeste had spoken up curiously at this point that Strange Beasts had no need or use for mortal technologies, and to them - despite the fact the colonies put off such massive electrical signals, which seemed to be part of what drew Strange Beasts in - the 'floating islands,' as she called them, would not be of any interest. They attacked the planets because the planets were part of their ancient, long-lost home of the universe... the synthetic colonies in space, meanwhile, were merely new additions to the universe, homes not suited for Strange Beasts but instead where they probably thought these new races of mortals properly belonged.

The only information the colony had released was that one of their armories had been the key subject of attack by 'supernatural entities of undisclosed origin.' Vivien had told them she would handle the issue, brought it up briefly a little while ago, and then promptly closed it as 'not their problem.' Zerrex didn't entirely disagree with this course of action, but it nibbled at him all the same, as he finally sat up... only to glance down at his knee and pat it twice, and a moment later, Sammy popped into existence in his lap, the reptile absently beginning to stroke along the little skeletal pseudodragon's spine as he glanced towards Ambrosia, who smiled over at him awkwardly as she rubbed at her side a bit.

He could just imagine how strange this was for her: she had gone from being in jail, to all of a sudden being part of the Council's meetings, in a literal matter of days. Serenity, meanwhile, was still fuming, but had settled down at least a little... and Cecilia was smiling kindly, her Iuratus all positioned outside and waiting patiently on one of the balconies for the meeting to end. The reptile only wished absently that things would come to a halt quickly as he slouched back in his chair, dressed today in plain black clothes, mala jangling quietly around his neck, booted feet absently tapping against the ground.

Vivien slowly looked over at him as she came to the end of her speech, and Zerrex looked innocently back even as Sammy scampered up onto his shoulder and nibbled at his hair, the High Queen dressed in a flowing black dress and her facemask on the table in front of her as both Lily and Amiglion winced at the glare in the Celestial Devil's eyes... and then she sighed and said drolly: "You do realize I invite you to these meetings for a reason, correct? That you're here to help Elysium. That despite how slow the process is, we are working to catch someone who is causing you a great amount of pain and frustration."

"You do realize that I don't care, right?" Zerrex asked mildly back, leaning forwards on his elbow and resting his head on his muzzle as he grinned widely: this was the part of the game where he and Vivien would see who could piss off the other person first, and it was a game Zerrex won three out of four times with how hard he could be to frustrate and how easy it was to hit Vivien's obnoxiously-oversized anger button. "Besides, you and I both know I'd be doing a better job of that if I was out there. Except every time I try to go out there, you reel me back in here, making me do more work I'm really awful at, which just results in me harassing you the whole damn time and you eventually exploding like a volcano. A scary blonde volcano."

The Celestial Devil gritted her teeth, and Zerrex could imagine steam coming out of her ears like in the old cartoons before she visibly took a breath, replying sourly: "Ambassador Zerrex Narrius. It is not your place alone to make such decisions. We have to work together to stop this killer... since you've failed so far to accomplish this feat by yourself."

The Drakkaren was visibly stung by this comment, leaning back a bit and glaring slightly as all heads turned to look at him now... but then he merely grinned a little, raising a hand and waggling a finger as he said quietly: "If this were an organized sport, Vivien, I think the referee would have taken a point away for that last little maneuver."

"It's not a game!" Vivien shouted, leaping to her feet and slamming her hands against the table, making it rattle violently before she pointed towards the balcony and yelled: "I've got everyone from Thieves' Guilds to gods like Gilgamesh working around the clock to try and find this killer! Heaven has dispatched Hounds and even Reapers are working with us to try and stop this murderer as a favor to both Anathema Sin and their new leader! What can you do that they can't, apart from being a magnet for every fucking Strange Beast on the fucking planet?"

Zerrex looked at her mildly, and she glared back... and then she suddenly added flatly: "Besides, you males are no good at finding anything. That's why you need several dozen females to take care of your pathetic little ass."

The Drakkaren twitched at this, Vivien looking smug for a moment at the fact she had hit one of his nerves: she knew as well as he did that he utterly loathed gender arguments. He finally crossed his arms and grumbled under his breath, however, but before he could think of any witty retorts, Ixin appeared on one of the balconies and ran into the room, wincing at the council before he half-staggered into Vivien's throne, making her snarl before he urgently hissed something into her ear, and she cursed under her breath, immediately looking at Zerrex and saying sharply: "Gather what Disciples you can and prepare for immediate move-out. Ixin has detected a massive energy fluctuation on the planet below, of unknown quantity or effect."

"All I know is that it's some kind of crazy breech." Ixin replied with a grimace, looking up over the council as the Drakkaren nodded and stood up with a grimace, glancing over at Serenity and nodding curtly to her, and she immediately turned and ran out towards the balcony. "But it's pumping out so much energy, it's so... alien that even the rest of the Archmages are listening to me, and normally you know how they like to shun each and every opinion I make. What's so weird about this though is that it doesn't seem to be emanating Strange Beast energies alone, but it... it ain't like a vortex, either. It's almost like a fucking Crack... except any Cracks that exist aren't going to lead between the mortal planet and Heaven or Hell anymore with us in the same plane of existence."

The Drakkaren grimaced at this, not liking what the mage was implying... and then he shook his head quickly and glanced over towards Sabnock as the wolverine said calmly: "Then Hell's forces should be mobilized as well, just in case the situation warrants a full intervention on our part. With Eslovius in disarray and our borders secure with only a minimum guard required at this point in time, the timing could not be better despite such an unwarranted and hostile situation arising."

Vivien frowned a bit, but then she nodded slowly, asking quietly: "Are you worried that it's an invasion force from either remaining Old Gods or something else entirely?"

"My concern is that there are more players in this game than meets the eye, and that while the murderer is the obvious cause for concern at this moment in time, the last time we were lured to the mortal plane we dealt with a full assault force led by a Chanter of extreme power." Sabnock said quietly. "Alliances with other forces have been implied, by both the murderer's equipment and Eratosthenes's behavior and his very own words. These allies on either side of our enemy's fields may have decided to hazard stepping into the game in order to draw Zerrex or his friends out... and work to remove them from whatever equation they happen to be building."

"Thanks, Sabnock, that really helps to alleviate my worries." Zerrex muttered, rubbing at his face and grimacing slightly: he hadn't even though of those possibilities. He glanced awkwardly over at the wolverine in her coarse suit, and he couldn't help but ask hesitantly: "So... how exactly do you always manage to think three steps ahead anyway?"

"By always visualizing four moves in the future." Sabnock replied calmly, and then she stood up as well, looking squarely at Zerrex. "Please don't do anything too rash. I would not enjoying seeing you die."

Zerrex grunted as he began to head towards one of the balconies, and then Vivien shouted: "Wait!" The Drakkaren winced at her tone, turning around... and he looked with dumb surprise as the High Queen approached him quickly, the Celestial Devil's eyes glowing faintly before she grabbed his wrists and locked gazes with him, saying softly: "Head to the Ravenlight Estate first. Gear up. I'll have your Disciples meet you there."

The lizard nodded hesitantly, and then Vivien released him, stepping backwards and glancing over her shoulder as she shouted: "Everyone, emergency response orders as stand! Ixin, get me a reading!"

She turned back around, and most of the faces left the council table as Zerrex closed his eyes and concentrated, vanishing from the spot before reappearing in his room at the Ravenlight Estate with a grimace... and on his shoulder, Sammy chirped nervously as the reptile grunted, muttering: "I know, whatever this is has to be bad news... "

The reptile approached the heavy holders in the wall, reaching up and grasping the black handle of his sword, Blackheart, and the blade sparked with blue energy as the reptile removed it from the wall and slapped the flat of it against his back. Even without any visible binding, the sword stayed: the weapon and the Drakkaren shared much of the same energy, however, and the sword would obey his will... at least most of the time.

Zerrex grinned wryly at this as Blackheart sparked faintly again, and the reptile turned as Sammy jumped off his shoulder and skittered nervously over the bed as the Drakkaren muttered: "I know, old friend, I know, it's been a while since you've been out... maybe I should get the Armor of Naganis, too. But that would require an extra trip to Acheron, since I think Daria took it with her when she headed there last..."

The reptile shook his head a bit: no, he had his sword, and that was more than he usually prepared in most situation these days anyway, as his mala jangled quietly around his neck. Then the Drakkaren paused for a moment before glancing over towards his dresser, and on impulse he snatched up the small summoning card, rolling it between his fingers before he tucked it away in his pocket and nodded with a grunt to Sammy, who chirped at him from the bed before leaping up and scrabbling back onto the Drakkaren's shoulder.

Zerrex smiled a bit at this, and then he headed out into the hallway, breathing slowly and feeling a strange sensation in the pit of his stomach. Anxiety, the fear of the unknown, the thrill and excitement of a coming battle... and the Drakkaren's frame flexed a bit before he shoved the door open and quickly descended the stairs to the landing. When he glanced out over the entrance hall, he was surprised to see many faces already there, and then Carmen stepped forwards and rose a hand with a wide grin, her chest flat and masculine today, dressed only in a pair of shorts layered with overlapping steel plates: but her lower legs and arms had transformed entirely into stacked, serrated steel that looked much like the elegant form of the Drakkaren's metal arm, as she said cheerfully: "Serenity's going to have Cherry and the rest of your Disciples from Acheron meet us at the battle site. We're gonna pincer the hell out of the fuckers."

Zerrex gazed over the group: Carmen looking eager for the fight, Sephire with her full armor and mask on, clutching the long handle of her sword, Lily wearing ceremonial armor overtop flowing white robes, a crown upon her skull and all of it pulsing with runes. In one of the High Princess's hands was a massive, deadly weapon known as a Smiting Rod: it had a three foot long handle, and a six-foot long, four-flanged blade. The heavy, massive weapon was additionally empowered by all manner of curses and blessings, a bastard child of a Greatsword and Great Mace, with both cutting and crushing power making it a truly deadly weapon.

Mercy had heavy bracelets of shaped demonic crystal on both her forearms, her robes discarded and dressed only in simple clothes, and Anathema Sin and Epiphany stood on either side of her, the latter looking eager and the former smiling in her sultry, knowing way even as the golden flames in her metallic socket blazed ravishingly.

Vampire, Mahihko, and Lone stood nearby as well, the huge black wolf leaning on a heavy spear and grinning from ear-to-ear, dressed only in a golden loin-plate as his muscles flexed, while the wolves were dressed in their simple clothing, Mahihko carrying a large, weighted hoop in either hand and Lone with a collapsible pole folded across his back, a heavy revolver hanging on one hip as he breathed slowly in and out. They both looked at Zerrex as his gaze lingered on them for a moment, and then the two wolves nodded hesitantly... and the Drakkaren nodded back in relief before he finally walked down the steps, shaking his head slowly and murmuring: "So many people here... and yet, why am I worried..."

He stepped off the stairs, and a moment later, the doors to the Estate were thrown open as Vivien marched in, looking back and forth coldly. She was dressed in heavy white and gold gothic plate, spikes jutting out of her dome-shaped pauldrons that covered her shoulder and the symbol of Elysium embossed over the stomach plates of the armor. A chain mesh skirt hung around legs that were plated just as heavily as the rest of her, and yet she moved with surprising grace and ease as she looked imperiously back and forth, Sabnock standing on one side of her in her own armor and Ixin on the other, his flute spinning nervously between his fingers.

Zerrex looked at her with surprise as her crowned features turned towards him, her hair tied back in a rough ponytail that hung out from beneath the ceremonial golden crown over her skull... and she smiled grimly for a moment before she fitted her silvery, draconic facemask over her features, locking it into place with one hand; from the other hung a massive axe, the varnished wooden handle perhaps some ten feet long and ending in a nasty-looking spike, the double-headed blade wide and brutal-looking. "I'm glad to see you've prepared fast for once. Are you ready to get moving?"

The Drakkaren couldn't help but grin a bit at this before he nodded, and then he glanced over towards Mercy, who smiled immediately to him as she ran ahead and shoved open the doors of the Estate. As the Drakkaren walked forwards, Sephire and Carmen fell into step behind him, the others around the hall quickly falling into line with the Drakkaren as Vivien turned and walked side-by-side with him, saying coldly beneath her mask: "I've asked your daughter Marina to stay back. Not just to watch the Strange Beast Celeste, but because... I would prefer her presence here. Mary, however, went immediately to Heaven... while Lord Raze, I believe, is already scouting the battleground. His dedication to you is admirable. His bloodlust perhaps even more so."

"I like how you like that." Zerrex said amiably, and Vivien snorted as they walked outside to see Mercy concentrating before she spread her arms... and energy sparked violently through the air before a massive, swirling vortex appeared, Mercy slumping slightly as she panted quietly through her stitches but looked pleased nonetheless, especially as her father reached out and touched her arm as they passed. "Good work."

Then, without hesitating, he looked ahead into the swirling tunnel and stepped into it, walking quickly through the vortex and resisting the urge to run as Vivien easily rested her the long handle of her axe on her shoulder, saying quietly: "I haven't fought beside you for years, Zer. Let's make it memorable, huh?"

"Believe me, Vivi, I have a feeling that no matter what this battle is going to be well-remembered." Zerrex replied softly, and he smiled at her as he sensed her smiling back at him, before they both looked ahead as they approached the end of the swirling tunnel and stepped out onto solid ground... and immediately the Drakkaren looked up sharply as Raze shouted a warning from some thirty feet away, pointing ahead towards a group of three Chanters... and Eratosthenes, who stood beneath a massive, slowly growing sphere of radiant, blue-white energy.

"Took you long enough!" the Librarian shouted as he stepped forwards, grinning savagely as he clenched his hand into a fist... and then he snarled as Zerrex and Vivien both ran forwards, even as the others began to pour out of the vortex, automatically forming into battle lines. "Naganis, you coward! How dare you try to raise an army against me!"

"Oh, you haven't seen my army just yet." Zerrex said coldly as he reached up and snapped his fingers, a small, visible flare of energy sparking around his hand for a moment... and a moment later, two massive vortexes opened on either side of the enormous square Eratosthenes had chosen as his battleground, more of the reptile's Disciples pouring out on either side of the squat, wide building he and his Chanters were standing on.

The Librarian winced as he looked back and forth, even as the Chanters continued to sway back and forth, arms raised above their heads as their jaws moved silently in unknowable mantras. The area that he had chosen now likely no longer seemed appealing: a run-down, single floor school, the building wide and squat, the roof like a stage for the egotistical Strange Beast and probably why it had appealed to him so much... that, and the fact that all around it for at least the length of a football field, there was empty space, and high buildings with narrow gaps between them - except for the street - created a kind of fencing. One that would have made it a pain in the ass for Zerrex to escape... but now would work against the Strange Beast's favor.

Further enhancing the odds, another vortex opened... and Zerrex looked up in surprise as Francis flew out, leading a platoon of white-armored angels that perched themselves around the buildings, the mouse covered in bandages but wearing his vest proudly, handgun in one hand and a golden sword wreathed in holy flames in the other. His taloned feet slammed down against the edge of the building as another figure - a lithe, athletic badger wearing simple mortal clothes, with a heavy utility belt covered in pouches and pockets around his waist - immediately appeared beside him, smiling grimly as his golden-ringed hazel eyes surveyed the area, silver wire glinting in his hands. Corey Pettigrew, also known as the Tinman, the son of White Phoenix.

And Mary, too, was there, appearing at Francis's other side, her hands glowing quietly with holy energies as her black eyes burned... but then, suddenly, Eratosthenes laughed, throwing his head back before the Strange Beast grinned savagely even as Vivien stepped forwards and shouted: "Surrender and you will be shown mercy... but if you fight, no quarter or leniency will be given!"

"Iron! Keep our guests busy!" Eratosthenes shouted suddenly, and there was a terrible rumbling before the front wall of the school all-but-exploded as the massive half-Primordial, half-Strange Beast ripped his way through it, Zerrex cursing in shock as Vipers flooded out of the hole behind the creature as it roared and charged straight towards the Drakkaren... but in a flash, Vivien stepped in front of him, holding her hand out, and a golden aura zapped over the creature, making the Strange Beast hiss and stagger in mid-charge as its body began to melt slightly before the High Queen half-revolved her body as she cocked her battle axe back, then slammed it forwards with a snarl as the blade glowed with white energy, the huge weapon smashing into Iron's side and sending the creature hurtling through the air as there was a tremendous golden flash.

The half-primordial howled in shock as it was battered upside down, flipping violently before it crashed halfway up one of the tall apartment buildings with enough force to rip through the wall and shake the entire run-down structure, angels immediately leaping away in shock... and Zerrex snorted in both disgust and entertainment as he slapped Vivien on the back, shouting even as the line of Disciples and warriors ran forwards to engage the Vipers flooding through the area: "Go kill your own Strange Beasts!"

Vivien slapped the pole of her axe against him without looking, making the lizard wheeze before she ran towards a Viper as it snarled, and her eyes glowed out of the sockets of the mask before a massive explosion of light and golden energy blasted into the creature, knocking it flying backwards with a shriek of pain as neon energy ripped over its chest and body. Then Zerrex looked towards the school with a wince as two more holes were ripped through the front wall of the building, a pair of enormous, armored Leviathans storming out of these before one of them hissed something in a guttural, terrible language and pointed one of its ugly cleaver-swords forwards, and two Viper Aegis swarmed out of the school as well, golden armor glinting and dome shaped-shields glowing with strange malevolence as Zerrex grimaced to Sammy and ordered: "Get Cherry and Cindy to engage those things!"

Sammy chirped and vanished from his shoulder, before the Drakkaren ran forwards... but a Viper that had been charging almost straight at him suddenly veered away, and the reptile frowned a bit before he looked back and forth and realized with dumb surprise that he was being given a wide berth: that if anything, the Strange Beasts had worked to separate him from the rest of the group, luring his allies away as the reptile snarled up at Eratosthenes as the Librarian grinned down at him before he pointed and shouted an order, and the reptile's eyes widened as the Chanters levitated slightly off the ground as they spread their arms and arched their backs, visible arcs of energy coursing over their bodies and up towards the enormous sapphire sphere.

The reptile could feel his own body tensing in reaction, his mind racing as time seemed to slow, watching as the energy almost solidified even as it rippled visibly... and the Drakkaren realized what was happening as his eyes widened before he desperately held his hands up and created a blue shield of energy in front of himself, his hands bracing against the solid sapphire wall as the massive, crackling orb of blue-and-white sparked before it unleashed a terrible, pulsing white beam that shot towards the Drakkaren like a laser, hammering into his shield and bearing down with tremendous force, massive bolts of energy arcing back and forth off the concentrated beam as the lizard's sapphire wall warped visibly, cracks spreading through it as Zerrex cursed and concentrated not only his own energies, but on the energies bursting down towards him... before the sapphire wall shattered and the beam smashed into the Drakkaren, sending him skidding backwards as it ripped over his arms and hammered against his chest, smoking rising from his scales as the lizard barely managed to keep his footing with a snarl of pain and concentration, wincing... and then howling as the energy coursed over his body in terrible, powerful bolts.

The reptile's eyes snapped open, glowing solid green as he forced back against the beam... and then he roared as Eratosthenes snarled in disbelief, watching as the Drakkaren anchored himself against the beam even as steam and smoke continued to rise from his body, several of his scales charring away as he pushed back against it, concentrating on the massive rush of pure energy as he slowly drew one fist back... and then punched hard upwards as he released a concentrated pulse in response. The beam of energy rippled, almost crystallizing as it travelled back upwards to the orb, arcs of energy seeming to freeze in place... and then the pillar of energy erupted into sudden life, transforming from pure energy into enormous vines that clenched uselessly for a moment against the Drakkaren before falling away, racing upwards and greedily eating away at the white-and-blue beam before it struck the sphere and became a massive forest of vines and tendrils that shot greedily downwards, ivy seizing around the bodies of the Chanters, ripping into their forms as they screamed and Eratosthenes looked stupidly over his shoulder for a moment before the immense sphere of now-jungle instead of energy fell through the air and crashed down on top of him.

"Selena!" Zerrex shouted immediately as he leapt backwards, ripping free of the vines that had half-ensnared his own body as his scales continued to smolder: he had barely been able to match his wavelength to the energy beam in time, and still so much had been striking him at once that it had hurt like hell. Then he grinned as Selena looked quickly up from where she was engaging one of the Leviathans side-by-side with Cherry, and the Passion grinned widely before her eyes turned solid black as she simply rose her arm to block a hard strike of the Strange Beast's cleaver with one metal-covered forearm.

The green vines and ivy trembled for a moment... then simply exploded in a blast of flames that sent Zerrex staggering backwards with a wince, ash and chunks of blackened organic flying in all directions as a thick puff of smoke burst upwards through the air. The spontaneous combustion was short but immensely powerful, as neon explosions followed up from the corpses of the annihilated Chanters on the rooftop... but Zerrex cursed as he saw Eratosthenes fly limply into the air before he crashed back down onto the charred roof with a loud squawk of pain, and the Drakkaren tore Blackheart off his back as he ran forwards, determined to end this confrontation with the Strange Beast here and now.

Cherry, meanwhile, had the Great Diviner in one hand held in reverse position, leaping upwards with a roar before she slammed the sword down into the throat of the Leviathan as it ground its blades into Selena's black armor as she snarled and shoved back against it... and the creature hissed in pain, but then simply slammed the side of its huge face into her, knocking Cherry loose with a grunt to crash down onto her back and roll quickly backwards, her sword still buried in its throat. It was gushing blood, neon lightning bursting from the wound but the creature not seeming to mind or care, even when Cherry grabbed the chain and yanked the sword free, and then Selena shoved the monster backwards before she punched hard down into the ground, and a crack ripped open beneath the Strange Beast's feet, a vent of magma erupting upwards and knocking the monster backwards with a scream of pain as its armor was melted back against its body.

Cindy, Daria, and Sephire, meanwhile, were engaging the other Leviathan, Cindy's size increased and her scales turned to steel as she slammed vicious punches against it, but to little effect even as the creature's armor cracked and a bit of neon blood dripped down its front. As she leaned forwards again to deliver another blow, it swung hard outwards, snapping a sword into her stomach and knocking her backwards as she gagged and cursed, metal scales ripped away by the ugly blade before a tentacle snapped around the Leviathan's neck, launched from Daria's arm and wrapped several times around the limb before the surprisingly-strong demoness snarled and hauled backwards as she cocked her spear back with her other hand, dragging it down to a kneel even as it slammed a blade down. The newt hissed in pain as the sword ripped through the flesh of the tentacle, a spray of black blood going up as the stumpy appendage lashed uselessly to the side, but at the same time she leaned forwards, shoving her spear through the creature's eye and making it howl in agony as it reared backwards, allowing Sephire to slip around behind it as she snapped her hand out.

A slew of metal daggers appeared in midair, ripping into the creature's back and lodging there like a staircase, and the female immediately ran forwards up this before she swung her huge, heavy sword down into the junction of its shoulder and neck. The Strange Beast gagged, arching its back as its arms spasmed, losing focus for a moment as it swung one weapon wildly outwards... and in that moment of no defense, Cindy leapt forwards and smashed both her hands into its chest, crushing in its ribs and front and making blood explode from its jaws and wounds in shocks and arcs of neon lightning as Sephire winced and leapt forwards, doing an awkward flip before she landed in a kneel as the Leviathan crashed on its back and skidded backwards with a half-groan, half-growl of pain.

Across the battlefield, the half-Strange Beast, half-Primordial Iron laughed as Vivien slammed her axe into the flesh-and-blood side of his body, dark ooze exploding upwards before he easily slapped the weapon away, then he grunted in irritation as an arrow of ice shot into his face, shattering and leaving motes of blue frost over his skull as he rasped: "Oh, Iron remembers this game..."

He turned towards Sabnock, who was guarded on either side by Serenity and Desire as the wolverine calmly created another arrow and loaded it into her golden bow... and Vivien snarled at the creature, taking her axe into both hands and running forwards as she shouted furiously: "Don't disrespect me, monster!"

Iron's eyes flicked back to her as he snarled in disgust, swinging a hand down to attempt to crush her... but the Celestial Devil nimbly leapt backwards before she slammed the pole of her axe into the ground and vaulted up onto his shoulders, tearing her weapon upwards with her ascent as the tall monster snarled and shook itself back and forth, but Vivien allowed herself to skid down the metallic back of the creature before she suddenly half-turned and slammed the blade of the battle axe into the back of Iron's skull, the monster's head lashing forwards as it cursed in pain before the High Queen's fist glowed with radiant energy, and she punched hard into the flesh and blood side of his back, the monster's back arching with shock as golden streaks of energy erupted over his form for a moment before his chest simply exploded outwards, Vivien kicking off the creature as Iron slumped slowly forwards onto his front and landing neatly, axe held out behind her in one hand as she almost posed for a moment... and then one of Iron's large feet rose up and donkey-kicked her hard enough to send plates of metal flying in all directions, the female crashing backwards into the wall of the apartment with a curse of shock as her mask was rattled free from her face, bouncing across the asphalt as Iron slowly stood back up... and he turned slowly around before glancing down with disgust at her facemask, stomping one huge foot on it and crushing it to dust as the terrible wound in his body filled with that strange, disgusting ooze and he rumbled: "Oh, Iron understands now... you do not wish to play, you merely wish to die..."

Vivien cursed under her breath as she scrabbled for her axe even as the massive monster took a lumbering step forwards... and then four enormous pillars of stone ripped out of the ground around the creature, and it looked back and forth with a snarl as purple walls of energy erupted into being around it as the sound of a flute cut through the air above the din of battle, the violet walls glowing brightly before Ixin shouted: "That won't hold for long, so get the hell out of there, Vivien!"

The High Queen winced as Iron pounded one fist into one of the violet walls before it was violently repelled, steaming slightly as the half-primordial snarled in rage at being robbed of its prize as the Celestial Devil snatched up her weapon and ran... and then it roared in fury and slammed its hands against the ground, and all four pillars surrounding it shattered into pieces as massive spikes of steel and earth ripped up around it, a Viper looking up too late from mid-battle with Justice as the blind Naganatine cursed in shock before leaping upwards as her black tentacles snapped backwards and formed into dark metal wings that propelled her skywards. She flew into the air, just grazed by an eruption of metal from the ground as the Viper all-but-exploded from the massive spikes of earth that tore through it, and even Zerrex staggered as he felt the shockwaves pass through the ground, cursing in shock at the sight of the forest of rock and metal spikes jutting out of the earth.

Then the lizard looked forwards again as he felt a different vibration... and he looked up to see Eratosthenes half-kneeling at the lip of the school, snarling as he held up some kind of glowing beacon... and a moment later, portals opened: not Gateways, not vortexes, but black portals fuelled by magic, Zerrex skidding to a halt with shock before his eyes widened in horror as an army of demons began to surge through, minotaurs and Craven and Salamanders and creatures of every shape and size... and worse yet, many of them had robotic implants, and others were in the cockpits of Combat Armors and metallic exoskeleton suits, others dressed in the remains of ancient military uniforms as they carried mortal weaponry with them, both old and new, as Eratosthenes shouted furiously: "Spread out! Keep the others busy while the attack team deals with Naganis!"

Zerrex snarled in shock and dismay as demons - and even a few angels - swarmed through the area, and Vipers ripped through the portals with them, running side-by-side with the creatures as a Salamander wielding a massive, stone-headed maul charged towards Zerrex... and the Drakkaren half-ducked before he lashed Blackheart out, slicing its legs out from under it and sending it down with a howl of agony before the lizard vanished from the spot as several others tried to converge on him. He reappeared a moment later beside the Strange Beast, but Eratosthenes was already leaping backwards with a curse even as the Drakkaren swung his sword down, the blade biting into the rooftop as he shouted angrily: "What are you doing? What did you promise them?"

"These people, as you call them... they desire nothing but power, Naganis! You failed in your creation of them... they aren't like us! None of us ever betrayed you, we were loyal, honorable, until you betrayed us! They are all reflections of you... greedy for power!" Eratosthenes shouted furiously, and then the Librarian snarled as he snapped a hand upwards, and Zerrex cursed as he was blinded by a flash of light before a blast of dark energy smashed into his chest and knocked him flying backwards to skid along the lip of the building, the reptile wincing as several bullets shot by him as demons yelled and rioted beneath him, the battle rapidly devolving into a wild brawl as Iron stormed through the ranks of friend and foe, crushing both with his huge, swinging movements as he snarled and looked back and forth for his prey. "This is not my fault... this is your own doing!"

"I am not Naganis!" Zerrex shouted as he kicked up to his feet, his attention locked on the Strange Beast as he began to raise his sword... and then he howled in agony as a bolt of electricity shocked into him from the side, feeling cracks spreading through his body as he dropped Blackheart and fell to his knees, the sword clanging heavily against the ground as it rippled with energy and he looked dumbly to the side, half-expecting to see the cloaked murderer... but instead, his eyes stared stupidly at the sight of a Craven, the tall wolf demon drooling slightly from his crooked jaws, one eye dead black and the other an insane ivory, a single ram's horn twisting out one side of his skull. He was wearing heavy-duty fiberglass armor, a black leather belt around his waist and a heavy harness over his chest and shoulder connecting to an immense, strange-looking cannon with several tubes that fed into some kind of power unit on his back... and Zerrex looked weakly at the half-demon as he adjusted a knob on the side of the huge, rectangular weapon, the twisting coil that ran down the front of it sparking with electricity.

Then he pulled the heavy trigger of the huge gun ahead, and a blast of lightning shot from the cannon, smashing into Zerrex and making his eyes bulge in agony as he arched his back with a howl, white light glowing out of the cracks spreading over his body as blood burst from his jaws and he screamed in agony before the reptile simply shattered like glass, bursting apart into shards and motes of blue energy with a flash of light. Immediately, all his Disciples present reacted violently, some screaming, some staggering, and some few lashing out savagely even as demons and Strange Beasts both tried to press the momentary advantage while angels, Vivien, and those other few present not linked to the Drakkaren worked desperately to cover their incapacitated allies.

A moment later, however, Zerrex reformed on the rooftop on all fours, his pants shredded and mala dangling around his throat, looking groggy and stupefied as he coughed weakly: it had been a long time since he had been disassociated by force, after all. He shook his head wearily... and then he winced as he realized where he was, trying to wobble to his feet... but before he could, there was the quiet tink of metal on cement, and the reptile cocked his head dumbly as a small steel ball rolled slowly in front of him, staring at this before it exploded in a blast of plasma and energy, and the reptile's features were charred and his hair set aflame as he was knocked onto his back with a scream of agony, arcs of energy ripping back and forth across his body as a second grenade went off beside him and knocked him back towards the lip of the school, before Eratosthenes quickly stepped forwards and punted the reptile in the side, making him vomit blood as he lay prone.

Then an arc of concentrated electricity tore into the Drakkaren, making him howl in pain as he arched his back, bolts of energy surrounding his frame as the Strange Beast shouted, his words barely making sense to the reptile: "Disassociate him a second time! Then we can cage him!"

Zerrex tried to struggle... but then a second blast from another gun tore into him, a cheetah Craven similar to the wolf laughing as electricity ripped along the Drakkaren's scales, feeling the ionized particles fusing with his energy, transforming his molecular structure and making cracks rip through his form even as he tried to concentrate enough to change his energy signature... but the agony was too great before he arched his back and screamed as he shattered into the disassociation a second time, leaving a thick splatter of blood on the concrete roof this time as a third Craven stood ready with a mesh net in his hands, snarling to the Strange Beast as he immediately knelt: "This better work."

Out in the battlefield, Selena staggered backwards as she felt Zerrex's pain, before a foolhardy Viper tried to leap at her... and then she screamed and grabbed her skull, leaning forwards, and a massive column of magma erupted into the air around her. The Viper was almost instantly disintegrated as lava hailed down in a terrible rain of fire, splattering demons, friends and foe alike as they ran for cover away from the Passion as much of it washed back over her as she gave hitching, sobbing breaths.

Mercy's eyes rolled up on her head as blood dripped out of her muzzle, and she fainted dead away beside Mahihko and Lone, the latter wolf falling to his knees as the former screamed and his body pulsed before exploding with muscle, ripping the simple military uniform he was in as his eyes glowed and electricity burst over his form in wild arcs, and then he roared and easily slapped a minotaur to the ground as it ran towards him before punching it again, again, again, crushing it into a bloody corpse even as its body began to rot away.

Ambrosia looked up sharply, fighting beside Cecilia as she punished opponents with vents of pressurized water and steam, easily able to tap into the still-functional sewer system beneath the city. Serenity, beside Sabnock, was flagging visibly, her eyes staring sightlessly even as two silvery swords spun violently around her, but a Salamander in a massive combat armor was walking towards her, the huge vise-hands of the bipedal machine raised as its triangular snout drew closer and its arms reached slowly forwards... and Ambrosia made a sound of disgust before she flicked her wrist, and inside the machine, the coolant system ruptured with a loud clank before liquid nitrogen and hot steam exploded at almost the same time into the Salamander's face and body, the demon howling in an intense expression of agony and kicking the control stick, making the armor awkwardly sidestep before it crashed onto its side as the demon half-shattered in a gory mess over the seats.

Serenity looked up in dumb surprise at the sound of the crash, then she stared from the combat armor towards Ambrosia even as the female turned her back on the Iuratus, gritting her teeth and flicking her wrists upwards to create a wall of fog as several demons with machine-guns tried to aim at her and the Lustewilde, as Cecilia dug her claws into the throat of another demon and pumped poison into it, making it scream for a moment before a bit of drool dripped from its gaping jaws and it collapsed limply backwards.

On the rooftop, Eratosthenes muttered a complex spell before he squeezed the strange golden orb in his hand... and a moment later, Zerrex reformed in front of the Strange Beast, dragged forcibly out of the disassociation. He was panting and bloody, cracks still spread throughout his body, trembling weakly as he gargled... and then the Strange Beast snarled over his shoulder and winced as a massive explosion went up in the ranks and Anathema Sin roared over the sounds of battle: "I'll flay your skin from your bones for what you've done to him!"

Another massive blast of psychic wrath tinged with the terrible undead energies of Anathema ripped through the air as Anathema Sin snarled, blood leaking from her metallic socket as Epiphany only stared in horror at her mother, before the fused Naganatine laughed cruelly as she lashed both arms forwards and upwards, and a long wall of black flames exploded forwards from her, racing through the ranks of demons and vaporizing those caught in it before she flicked her hands to either side, and the remains of half-dissolved corpses snapped violently upwards, transforming into gruesome arrows and spears that she launched towards the roof of the school... but immediately, they clanged uselessly into an invisible barrier, ivory shattering as ripples passed through a translucent wall, and the female's eyes burned with rage and hate as she locked onto the sight of a Chanter standing with a metallic rune raised in one hand, looking calm and cold even as more demons ran out from beneath the school and passed easily through the transparent shield.

The team of Craven looked nervous... but the Librarian only snorted in disgust before he motioned towards them, saying darkly: "Yes, yes, he's weak enough. Cover him with the net to make sure he can't escape."

The Craven grunted, then he tossed the net in an easy snapping motion, making it spread out in midair as the weighted silver covered the Drakkaren before binding itself against him, the reptile gargling, his head exposed as he looked weakly upwards... and the Strange Beast grinned down at him savagely as the lizard twitched, barely conscious, mind reeling with agony and even the noises of battle dull to his ears as he said coldly: "Yes. It's all over, Naganis..."

The Strange Beast knelt slowly reaching out as his clawed hands flexed, the metallic coverings over his fingers seeming to glow for a moment before he gently slipped them between the mesh as the Craven watched, and he dug these gently into the Drakkaren's chest as his other hand reached up, touching his own forehead as he murmured a short, strange prayer... and Zerrex looked weakly upwards for a moment before Eratosthenes looked coldly down at him, the two in their own silent bubble for a moment as the Drakkaren whispered: "Why?"

"Because we loved you, Naganis. And you turned on us... for them. For the very creatures that now fight you... that have betrayed you, as you betrayed us. I did not have to promise them more than that I would not set the Strange Beasts upon them... they were eager to hurt you. .They were eager to destroy you. They called you names and mocked your privilege... they are disgusting." Eratosthenes looked up silently, and Zerrex realized weakly that they were not in reality any longer: they were, and yet as they spoke, they were outside of it, time frozen around them, their minds connected somehow as the Strange Beast knelt over the bleeding, broken Drakkaren. "I wish..."

And then he closed his eyes... before tearing his claws suddenly back and upwards, and Zerrex screamed in agony, back arching, as a long, blue coil of energy was torn free from him, swirling through the air before the Strange Beast arched his back and spread his arms as white and black and blue energies swirled above the Drakkaren's form, twisting into a strange and terrible shape above his body before it swirled towards the Strange Beast as he opened his jaws and eyes wide, a mist of energy flooding over him as the impossible shape broke apart into streams that spilled into his jaws, into his eyes, pulled into his body as the Strange Beast rasped for breath and then staggered backwards.

He closed his eyes... and then gave a jagged laugh as he arched his back, a glow pulsing around his body, sapphire energies rippling over his form... and then he spread his arms and gestured violently upwards, and the very skies above their head seemed to ripple as Zerrex vomited blood over himself and his head lolled backwards, eyes slowly sliding closed.

Across the battlefield, energy ripped over the bodies of Zerrex's Disciples, their bodies jittering, screams of rage, of pain, of agony ripping through their jaws before Daria fell forwards and vomited black blood, and then her eye snapped wide, turning pure black with a terrible red pit for a pupil as her body rapidly expanded, her chest seeming to rip itself open as her intestines spilled out and then tore themselves in half, growing terrible hooks as the scales melted from her face, leaving her bare skull visible. Draconic horns lengthened their way upwards and out of her head as bone plates ripped through her black scales over her body, spikes tearing free of them as her tail became segmented, a massive, deadly stinger forming at the end of it as acid dripped from her jaws before she looked sharply up and vomited a stream of black, terrible poison over the nearest demon, and it screamed in agony as it fell backwards, flesh dissolving rapidly away as the demoness grinned insanely and lumbered slowly to her feet.

Cherry gargled, dropping the Great Diviner as her eyes bulged, and terrible, black veins spread through her scales before her height increased... and she gave a frenzied, twisted grin of her own, head snapping to the side as she glared at a Viper that was trying to limp away from the battle... and a massive psychokinetic blast ripped through the air, the Viper exploding into pieces as Cherry laughed... and then grabbed at her skull, clenching her eyes shut and falling to her knees as she screamed: "No! I won't give in again! I won't betray Zerrex again goddammit, no, no matter what, no!"

Cindy, on the other hand, was roaring in fury, her body bulging with raw power as metal scales flexed even as blood dripped from wounds scored through them by weapons and the pure savagery of the Strange Beasts: yet now, terrible spikes and blades jutted from her arms, her fingers deadly claws as she snapped her limbs back and forth with furious snarls, striking out at everyone around her as she howled: "Give him back! Give him back!"

Anathema Sin staggered to a halt, the flames in her socket whiffing out as Epiphany ran forwards with a scream of surprise and terror even as blood ran from her own eyes, and she caught her mother in her arms as she began to slowly topple backwards before the youngest daughter of Zerrex gritted her teeth and clenched her eyes shut, a dome of ivory stone ripping out of the ground around them even as demons and angels charged towards them, battering uselessly at it. She took a hitching breath as she stared down at her mother, who blinked her single violet iris slowly before she whispered: "The link was broken... we are Disciples without a god..."

On the rooftop, Eratosthenes laughed, looking down in delight at his hands... and then he glanced upwards with disgust over the battlefield. Despite their superior numbers, despite the fact that many of Zerrex's Disciples were in varying states of shock and agony... some were still fighting, and the dregs of demons he had recruited were being rapidly killed by the Disciples that had broken down into inarticulate rage. He glanced over his shoulder to the Craven as one of them pulled a handgun from his holster, pointing it at the Drakkaren's face... and the Strange Beast held up a hand, saying coldly: "No. I will require further study of him to better learn how to harness his powers. But he is harmless, nothing but a mortal now, I've completely drained him of his godly essence. Take him back to the Fortress. I will meet you there after I give our friends something to keep them busy for the next little while."

The Craven nodded, and the wolf reached down and easily picked the netted Drakkaren up, Zerrex groaning weakly as blood and saliva dripped from his jaws, his eyes flickering as numbness spread through him... and he stared mindlessly not at Eratosthenes, but instead at the grinning, contemptible shape of Negative as he stood beside the Strange Beast, invisible to everyone but the lizard even as he tried to croak something out... but then he only slumped and fainted.

Eratosthenes, meanwhile, surveyed the chaos below before he held up the beacon over his head, and it gave a single pulse... and immediately, the Strange Beasts still present in the battle turned and ran towards the school building as the Chanter below created a Gateway inside the burnt-out, wrecked hallway. At the far end of the battlefield, Iron snarled in disgust as he loomed only a few feet from Vivien, the female rasping hard, her armor damaged and broken. Blood dripped down one half of her face as Sabnock knelt beside her, her eyes shut and looking strangely calm despite the thick spear of steel ripped halfway through her body, bent violently almost up her back and lodged in her... and Ixin was grasping at a broken arm, his flute clutched weakly in his other hand. "You get lucky today, bitch. But Iron will be back for you. Iron will be back for all of you."

With that, the half-Strange Beast, half-Primordial laughed roughly as a Gateway opened behind him, the creature slowly vanishing through this with a cold grin before it snapped closed the moment he vanished into the light... and Vivien cursed under her breath before she looked up with a snarl at Eratosthenes as he rose a hand with a cold smile and then easily flicked his wrist... and above their heads, reality trembled before it shattered violently, revealing a terrible white hole in the sky... but it was only empty for a moment before something hideous and unidentifiable began to rip its way through, with a long, mottled body covered in grey skin, feelers sticking out of its skull almost at random as terrible, stalk-like limbs clawed at the air, sunken soulless eyes glaring back and forth as huge teeth gnashed in its face. It was like a worm with the head of a whale and the jaws of a shark, wriggling and twisting its way slowly into reality as those still sane winced at the sight of it, while Daria only snagged the enemies nearest to her, tearing them apart with her claws, as Cindy smashed a Combat Armor to the ground and wildly pounded on it with screams of fury and despair.

Then Eratosthenes vanished from the spot with a laugh... and Vivien cursed as the hole in reality shattered wider before the monstrosity dropped to the ground, some sixty feet long as it crashed to the ground on its back, legs sticking out of its seemingly at random as the monster screamed and roared, huge body tail snapping back and forth as it crushed the school beneath its weight. It was layered, almost like a crayfish, and the end of its tail possessed a massive, scissors-like pincer that clacked back and forth as Ixin shouted desperately: "Fuck this shit, I wanna go back to being imprisoned for all of forever! We can't fight that thing!"

Then the monster managed to roll itself over in the cloud of dust as demons and creatures both fled, and Daria took off after the fleeing demons, led away from the battleground as she roared in primal, savage hunger... and Cindy, meanwhile, slapped Carmen aside when the female tried to stumble over to her before she hissed as Cherry leapt in front of her, raising a fist and then punching Cherry hard in the face, knocking the demoness on her ass.

Cherry immediately glared at her... but despite the black veins pulsing through her body, the visible corruption, she only forced herself back to her feet before Cindy seized her by the shoulders, drool dripping from her jaws as her eyes burned unnaturally and she leaned slowly down, and tears fell from Cherry's eyes as she looked up at her sister, her lover, and whispered: "If you really want Zerrex back... why the fuck are you acting like this?"

Cindy shuddered... and then the sanity returned to her eyes as the violent light faded from them, and she staggered backwards before Cherry cursed under her breath as Raze flew down and landed beside them, his black wings furling over his back as he said roughly: "We need to go find Zerrex."

"No, first we rip this monster to pieces, and then we find Zerrex and rip that fucking son of a bitch Strange Beast out his own ass." Cherry growled, and Raze snarled before she looked at him darkly, eyes tracing over the wounds on his body left by Vipers. "If you think you're hurting now, think of what it's going to be like explaining to Zerrex that you ran away from the giant monster that looks like it could eat half the fucking city in one gulp."

Raze gritted his teeth... and then Tinman landed beside Cherry as well, looking at her worriedly before he motioned towards the monster as the wormed turned its way slowly around, its dark eyes blinking as its jaws opened and closed rapidly before it seemed to lock onto them, head snapping in their direction. Cherry cursed under her breath even as Carmen grimaced, and then Sephire joined them, the female's mask half-torn from her face and her armor sparking lightly, Storm King Face dangling from her hand. "Shit..."

"Serenity, Ambrosia, tend to Mercy and the wolves!" shouted Vivien as she walked forwards, and all attention was brought to her for a moment as Sabnock limped beside her, Ixin gone from sight. Serenity looked blankly up from where she was standing by herself, but Ambrosia nodded, grabbing her sister's arm and half-dragging her towards where Lone was crying and shaking Mercy uselessly, Vampire wincing as he tried to hold Mahihko down on his stomach even as the wolf tantrumed and screamed and raged, electricity bursting off a body that had literally trebled in size and become muscular and immense. "Cecilia, Lily, see if you can get Anathema Sin and Epiphany out of that shell! Selena... where the hell is Selena?"

"H-Here..." Selena whispered as she walked slowly towards them, looking weakly towards them as she gazed blankly back and forth. Then she looked up sharply as the terrible worm began to writhe towards them hungrily, before it screeched when Francis dived down with his flaming sword and a V-shaped squadron of angels following sharply behind him, lashing their own weapons out in perfect rhythm to batter against the creature's ugly, mottled skin... but to little effect, ripping only minor wounds in it as it snarled and lurched at the air, jaws biting wildly and tail stabbing fiercely upwards.

"Selena, Cherry, burn it from below on my signal, yours will be the first attack to surprise it and draw its attention." She glanced to the side as Lily slammed her Smiting Rod into the marble shell protruding from the ground, and then she grimaced when there was no real effect, glancing over at Lily and shaking her head. "Fine. Lily, Carmen, we'll hit it with concentrated energies and soften it up. Tinman, Sephire, combine your talents. Raze, add your power to their attack."

The others nodded quickly as Sabnock slowly knelt, the spear removed from her stomach and ice sealed over her wounds, but her features were pale... and all around the battleground, other Disciples lay in varying states of damage, pain, and simple, brutal defeat. Vivien cursed under her breath, knowing they would have to do this themselves as Francis led his squadron down on another attack, watching... and as the angels lashed their swords out and the creature's attention was drawn upwards, she shouted: "Now! Don't think, only do!"

It was the right thing to say: immediately, without hesitation, Selena and Cherry both shoved their hands forwards at the same moment, concentrating and shouting in fury as magma and flames erupted from beneath the worm, spreading rapidly beneath its body as the creature bucked and screamed, looking suddenly down instead of up at the angels as it tried to pull itself forwards... and Lily and Carmen both shoved their hands out, sending beams of golden light rocketing into the monster's face, dragging thick black burns over its features as it shrieked before Vivien snarled as her eyes glowed, clenching her hand into a fist and sending up a massive eruption of golden flames and arcs of golden electricity over the monster, making it shriek, quailing automatically downwards into the magma beneath it, only to howl and attempt to lunge forwards again... and with but a flick of her wrist, Sephire formed a single massive, barbed spear above her head the size of a tree, and sharp razors tore out of it before Tinman shoved forwards, sending it rocketing into the worm's ghastly features, its head snapping backwards with a squeal before Raze roared as his eyes glowed with psychic rage and he shoved his own hand forwards, hammering the spear jutting from its face with a powerful telekinetic blast that rammed it deeper through the thing's ugly hide, skin tearing loudly and acidic, dark blood splattering over the ground below as its lower carapace melted and sizzled in the magma and flames.

It skidded backwards and fell still... and then lunged suddenly forwards with a scream, and Vivien's eyes widened as it lurched into the air, flesh and stony underside and black blood raining down as it defied gravity, flying upwards and then diving towards them... and then it simply halted, and Cherry slowly glanced to the side in amazement to see Epiphany standing with one hand raised, holding it in a tight psychic grip as her eyes burned, even the terrible black blood of the monster levitating in basketball-sized droplets around the beast before she whispered softly: "You tried to hurt my family. I think you need a time out."

Massive, silver chains snapped violently around the monster, squeezing into its carapace and making it howl and writhe as it was bound savagely... and then a moment later, it simply vanished from sight as Epiphany closed her eyes, bloody tears leaking down her face as she hung her head and whispered: "We failed Daddy."

Cherry trembled weakly at this, falling to her knees as Cindy swallowed thickly, slowly reducing in height... and Vivien closed her eyes, not wanting to admit the pain she felt as she lowered her head and slowly turned her face away, flushed with shame and humiliation even as she felt terror running through her veins at the thought of what had happened... and what would now happen to them all, the Disciples without a god... and the nation without its defender.

Cherry silently stood in the Ravenlight Estate, waiting quietly in front of the stairs with her arms crossed over her chest. Only a day had passed, but it was the longest day she had ever experienced. Sure, there was a sliver of hope in the fact Zerrex wasn't dead, that there was still the faintest hint of his energies in their collars, that even if they didn't know where he was, they still knew all the same he was alive... but at the same time, knowing he was helpless and ensnared in the hands of the enemy made it worse than when he had been dead, years ago. At least then, she could tell herself he was at peace... now, she didn't know what kind of condition he could be in.

The female sighed quietly as she reached up and rubbed slowly over her face. A lot of the Disciples were in the Healing Cathedrals, and almost all of them were dealing with some kind of backlash from whatever Eratosthenes had done to Zerrex. Cherry still had the dark veins of corruption pulsing visibly through her body, as if Negative's power over her had somehow grown... but despite the whispers of her dark instincts and primal lusts, she resisted his call. She spent most of her time with Cindy, with Priest, or with Markus, with the people who could keep her safe... who would help her if she tried to do anything stupid.

Cindy was spending a lot of time with her mother, crying occasionally: an immensely-strong female who was back in the mindset of the old Cindy, who had never been able to do anything but be passive. It had gotten so bad Jessica had quietly approached Cherry and asked her to try and bring that spark back to her daughter... but Cherry had only shaken her head and finally said that only Zerrex could do that now... and she had no idea where Zerrex was.

Maria had been in the Unworld, talking to Theophilius... and the Broken had been startled off by Maria's sudden convulsions of pain. She had come barreling to the surface, but too late... but the one thing she had managed to do was help trap Daria. The Abhorrence had given full vent to her darker side, raging and almost burning with malignant energy as she ripped her way through homes and chased down any victim's path she crossed, gorging herself on blood and flesh and ripping her way through the soldiers dispatched to try and bring her in... but Maria had managed to snare her in her chains, binding her and draining her energies, hating that she had to go to such length as to feed on the demoness to get her to calm down but knowing no other recourse.

Now Daria was locked up in her room in the Cloister, a wall of powerful, transparent holy energy forming the door to her luxurious, gilded cage... and although she was back in her mortal body, her true form hidden from the world, her eye was still dead black, with that terrible, unnatural light in it. She would push her face into the holy barrier every now and then as she leaned against it, letting it burn away her scales so her skull was visible, and she'd whisper for them to come play with her... but so far, only Mercy had braved going in with her... and she'd come out badly-injured, covered in both acid burns and claw marks, and yet not seeming to care.

She was numb and no longer able to speak... just as Justice was found blindly stumbling around on the rooftop of one of the buildings and gently guided back to Elysium by an angel. Without Zerrex around, Mercy could not talk with her collar either on or off... and Justice could no longer see energy, meaning she spent most of her time silently sitting beside Anathema Sin, trembling and holding her sister's hand as Amiglion occasionally came by to offer the comfort he could. She had once been the blind who had seen more than anyone else in all the world... and now she was simply blind.

Selena spent most of her days in bed, being tended to by Aluinnia, who seemed just as concerned as everyone else... and Raze was wandering the halls of the Ravenlight Estate, occasionally snarling and smashing his sword into things, which someone would quietly repair for him later. Cherry preferred to see Raze angry than sad, however... when she'd confronted the male with Sephire about what he was doing, he had actually started to tremble, and then broken down into tears in his mother's arms, and Sephire had simply rocked him silently, looking every inch the mother Cherry had always tried to be for her own children in that moment.

Lily was shellshocked, but it was nothing compared to Desire and Serenity. Serenity was still creakily watching out for Ambrosia, but Ambrosia was more taking care of her than anything else, as Serenity just kept shaking her head and muttering about how it was impossible, all impossible. And despite the rivalry and even the stirrings of hate between them... it visibly killed Ambrosia to see her sister like this, as she looked silently at the broken Pride demon and tried her best to comfort her, as Cecilia stayed around not as a guard, but as a friend.

Epiphany was in Acheron: despite being visibly depressed, she was still strong... and Marina and Celeste had gone with her. Marina needed some quiet time to herself as she kept cursing Vivien for making her stay back, and uselessly looking for any sign of her father on the mortal planet, until Celeste had kindly told her that part of being a good daughter was to have faith in her father when there was nothing she could do... and instead, to make sure she took care of herself, so she could better serve him when he finally returned.

She had been comforted by this, despite Cherry half-expecting her to explode... and then she had quietly gone to Acheron. Earth had lost most of her powers and could no longer influence the dimension, so Marina's psychic abilities were greatly needed in order to repair some of the damages done and restore stability to the dimension, as were Epiphany's. Now there was always a sense of slow-falling in Acheron... as if the loss of Zerrex meant that the entire dimension had lost its reason to exist.

Dray, meanwhile was back in bed, his arm rusted and body visibly thinner, gasping quietly in the dragon's body he had while his brother treated him with traditional remedies and helped him keep faith in the idea that when Zerrex returned, he would heal too. He was sick, and it was a sickness that burned in his very soul... it was like his body was trying to reject his very spirit, and Earth was deeply worried for what that could mean and was unable to do much to help except send Dragokkaren to and from Hez'Ranna to get special herbs and other remedies she knew of to delay the worsening of the sickness.

Mist and Shine were in Acheron as well... and so were a number of other Disciples, all of them suffering from various states of pain and despair. Not to mention the state that Zerrex's children were in... and even the Dragon Warriors seemed upset, listlessly patrolling the halls and rumbling quietly to each other when they passed, occasionally trading short hugs with the Sacrifices and the Beasts, as if they were all trying to comfort one another silently. And the cells of the prison above the Cloister were filled with rumors and laughter.

Elysium was a madhouse. The worst of it was the spreading rumors and lies, like Zerrex had abandoned them, or that Zerrex had been murdered by the killer, who would be going after the High Queen next. Vivien herself was under attack from the Heavenly Council and several 'interested political factions' in Hell for 'going into a dangerous situation without authorization,' and Lord was only adding fuel to the fire with his own waffling back and forth between half-agreeing with the Heavenly Council and half-defending Vivien's actions. Lucifer, meanwhile, had made the rare, special trip down to Elysium to find out what had happened: he held no one at fault, and seemed far more interested in finding a resolution than pinning the blame on anyone, saying quietly that dissidence was the enemy's greatest weapon against them... especially since there had been angels as well as demons in the ranks of the small army summoned by Eratosthenes. Somehow, someone had been recruiting forces from Heaven and Hell... and managed to go about it without anyone knowing, likely by choosing very specific people to target and lure in to become part of their army or alliance.

Cherry finally glanced up as Gilgamesh, Thor, and Priest pushed in through the door, and she said quietly: "You three are late. Any progress?"

"I dunno, Mom. What makes you so sure they're on the mortal planet?" Priest asked quietly, and Cherry gritted her teeth, half-wanting to lash out at him just for the sake of it as Thor and Gilgamesh both nervously looked at the tall Dragokkaren-demon. "It's not that I doubt you, but... I recalibrated all my sensors for the thousandth time, and Driz swears up and down he's been all over Ire now and even investigated the sub-sea colony Lunis has been building, and... there's no sign of him."

"Tell Driz to..." Cherry closed her eyes, reaching her hand up and rubbing at her forehead slowly, remembering her promise to herself... and to Zerrex. Because he's still alive. He's there... somewhere... "Tell Driz to come home and get some rest. Hell, I'll tell him myself... assuming you three are still up for a little looking around, that is."

"Of course, Lady Cherry. We shall find the lost Lord Zerrex, fear not for him." Thor said kindly, stepping forwards and reaching out to squeeze Cherry's shoulder gently, and she glanced up at him for a moment before grunting quietly and nodding slowly to the caracal, managing a faint little smile.

"I hope so. Maria should be dredging the Unworld right now, looking for that crazy fucker Theophilius... and we've got eyes in Heaven, eyes in Hell, eyes on the fucking mortal world doing all they can. It just drives me nuts that... that we can't find even a speck of him..." She looked away silently, crossing her arms before she glanced down quietly... and then she sighed a little, returning her gaze to her son as Thor squeezed her shoulder again. "You see Vivien lately? Or Sabnock even? Fuck, I said I'd try and make it to the council meeting but... I guess I just... couldn't."

Priest nodded slowly, his eyes calm and sympathetic as he said softly: "She's still beaten up pretty bad from that fucker Iron, but shit, I gotta say I'm amazed she held her own. I guess I never stopped to think about what she's capable of... and well, Sabnock's in a bad state. Real grouchy, ain't just because her side still hurts, too. She got close to Dad, I think, or rather he got real close to her... and... now it's like she's lost both the guys she cared about in the space of a month."

"I hate to rush us... but the trail may be growing cold. I suggest we head down to the meeting place on the mortal world now and prepare for another hunt." Gilgamesh said softly, and Cherry looked at him, but then only nodded in agreement. The most they could do right now was search for Strange Beasts... and for any clue that would lead them to her missing father.

The 'Fortress' that Eratosthenes had referred to, Zerrex had realized, was a famous landmark from his past days... and ironically a place where they had been once before, on an assassination mission for the Goth Legion many years ago. It was unassailable by conventional weapons and means... but they had always been far from conventional, even back in those days.

Empyreal Throne, a mighty bastion in the far northern Lailland region, so far up in the mountains that Zerrex was gasping for breath in the cage that sat in the back of a massive trailer being pulled along by an armored freight truck. Along with his cage, there were several crates of steel likely containing supplies... not that Zerrex could have done anything about anything, weak and broken as he felt, rasping air in and out of his lungs as he shivered in the biting cold of the frost-speckled brown stone mountains.

They had come up from the ruins of a town that had never been rebuilt that seemed to act as their staging ground, weaving their way through a complex labyrinth of roads, and now they were so high up that snow fell and the wind bit around them, the fortress's walls looming ominously in the distance. It was frosted over here and there, and light shone dully in the tinted, reinforced and barred windows: patchwork had been done with cabling, chains and steel, but it was an ugly job that did little to keep the exterior walls of the three-level fortress together.

Sitting almost completely off the cliffs was the first level, a large, square stone structure supported by heavy steel rails and stone columns that extended down the steep cliff face of the mountain. Chains were attached from the top of this cement box to the other side of the towering rocks: while they dropped sharply away beneath the stone building and there was nothing but gaping space and dark fog on one side of the structure, on the other the mountain continued to tower upwards, its true peak still almost a mile above: it looked almost as if part of it had been scooped away, just so that the fortress could be built in as awkward a position as possible.

The second level of the fortress was behind the first cube, a bit wider and raised higher, looking almost like an entirely separate section. More supports and joists were in place, holding this up, but Zerrex could make out less of it with his tired eyes... and he only knew from memory that the much larger third section lay behind this, on a wide plateau in the mountain and shaped almost like an immense, rectangular crown with its wide, buttressed walls and the tall, square chamber that sat upon its back.

What truly made the fortress impressive, however, was the fact that the heavy, rusted steel doors led not into the first section... but instead had been built into the mountain itself. Tunnels and rooms both had been shaped in the hollowed-out, volcanic mountain, and layered with marble and tile, and legends said that there was apparently a deep well that ran all the way to hidden underground passages that may have surveyed even to this day, masterworks of crafted stone and ancient architecture.

The creatures that had apparently taken residence at this place had also flattened out the rocky plateau in front of the fortress into a parking lot of sorts, and they had managed to carve a wide, square archway into the mountains, a raised shutter open here and a forklift driven by a Craven - a half-demon, trapped in a state of half-transformation - busily moving in and out, carrying crates being unloaded by large, burly Wrath demons and angels with tarnished wings.

Despite the condemned stickers still pasted over the doors and walls, the ugly damage, the places where doors had been pried open and left gaping or even broken off... the Fortress was obviously fully operational. As Zerrex was yanked out of his cage by one of the armored Craven, he had seen strange sights, such as several Chanters inside a beautiful library, standing around a floating, violently-sparking orb inside a circle of glowing runes, hovering overtop a tall antennae-like structure, and spectral shapes that seemed to float back and forth, either unnoticed or ignored by demons as they whispered quietly to the air now and then, and stared at the Drakkaren when they realized he was looking at them before they quickly vanished into the walls.

The Craven knew their job, knew their destination: they took the Drakkaren high up into the mountain-side of the fortress, and into an ugly, moss-covered room. Cold water dripped from the stone ceiling above, likely the result of melting ice... and one of the half-demons had kicked him once, almost breaking his ribs and making him moan weakly in pain as he slumped on his side, before they had laughed and left. He was weak and hurting, his lungs were burning, unused to needing to breathe on top of the thin, stale air of this place... and he slowly let himself lay against the cold stone, his body shivering and unable to deal with the severe temperatures as well anymore, either.

Slowly, his emerald eyes flickered open, forcing himself to stay awake as he surveyed his surroundings. Black and brown stone walls and rocky ceiling, but smooth cobblestone underfoot, marred here and there by scrapes, specks of moss, and stains of blood and other substances. It stank, too... and the Drakkaren grimaced as he forced himself to sit up before turning around, his head spinning weakly.

The wall to his back wasn't natural rock, but white brick and mortar, aged and crumbling... and the Drakkaren punched it lightly, wincing in pain and cursing under his breath... but when he drew his fist back and looked at it, he saw it was covered with white dust. Furthermore, the brick was cracked... meaning the walls were particularly weak. Considering that Zerrex had been able to punch in concrete when he had been mortal...

He smiled wryly at this thought, leaning back and trying to ignore the sight of the chains and manacles and shackles dangling from the weak stone surface. Mortal... hadn't this been what he'd always desired? To be mortal again... irresponsible, unimportant, weak. But now someone had stolen his powers, the powers he had inherited and absorbed over the years... and the Drakkaren closed his eyes before he pushed his hands against the wall and slowly started to force himself up to a standing position.

It hurt, and his right leg gave a long groan of pain, the Drakkaren wheezing and gasping as he felt like he was trying to lift an entire world on his shoulders before he managed to stand, arching his back and cracking it loudly with a wince... and then he cursed quietly at the pain that travelled through his right leg. It throbbed and moaned and complained, and the reptile was all too aware of the fact that his mortal body was stuck with a much lower pain tolerance than his godlike form had possessed... but then again, the fact he still felt like he had been turned inside-out probably had something to do with that, too.

Slowly, the Drakkaren dragged himself towards the doorway... and he half-staggered into it, rattling the metal loudly as he looked out into the hall beyond. He could see a small window, broken glass covered by semitransparent plastic that wasn't doing much to keep the powerful, biting wind out... and the lizard grimaced as he dropped his head against the cold bar door of his prison before he rattled it firmly in frustration. But there was no one out in the dank hallway, nothing paying attention to him... he wasn't even worthy of a guard.

The lizard didn't have long to wait, however: ten minutes later, as the Drakkaren silently played with the mala still hanging around his neck, the cell door opened... and the lizard gritted his teeth and slowly wobbled his way to his feet as Eratosthenes made his way into the room, looking coldly at the lizard before a Gateway opened beside him... and Zerrex hissed through his clenched jaws as Iron emerged from this, the huge, half-Primordial grinning down at him and taking up more than half the dungeon, the enormous creature's head almost brushing the ceiling as he whispered: "Iron is going to have fun with the little mortal..."

"I'm going to talk to him first, Iron. And you cannot kill him. Not yet." Eratosthenes said coldly, and Iron grunted before the Strange Beast stepped forwards as Zerrex slowly clawed his way up to his feet, leaning heavily on the wall and grimacing as he panted softly. "It must be strange to be mortal, Naganis. Although I see somehow you've locked down your memories... but no matter. My talent was always with extracting information... it shouldn't take me long to decode your abilities, your powers. And yet even now I see that you retain a bit of your old self... a speck, enough to make you special amongst mortals, maybe... but even you will see there is nothing but foolishness in the idea of trying to escape this fortress."

Zerrex cursed under his breath, and then he glared at him, saying in a frustrated voice: "Do you not get it? I'm not Naganis!"

"Of course you're not. You're just a mortal shell. Now, I'm the one with all the powers." Eratosthenes said coldly, and then he snapped his fingers, ordering: "Chain him up, Iron."

Zerrex began to step forwards, and then Iron's palm slammed into him, crushing him into the stone wall and shattering bricks like thin strips of wood, the reptile's ribs cracking into pieces as his arms snapped out and his skull snapped back, blood vomiting from his mouth as Eratosthenes shouted something in anger even as Iron only grinned savagely and laughed.

The reptile blacked out... and when he awoke, his body was bruised and throbbing, a bit of blood trickling from one nostril and his mouth as he hung suspended more than a foot in air by his arms, which were held far out to either side by the chains and shackles dangling from the wall... and he cursed weakly as he struggled uselessly against them before his eyes flickered open and focused, staring dumbly down at the Strange Beast... and a cloaked figure the Drakkaren recognized all too well, a chill running through his system as he rasped: "No..."

"It seems we have a mutual acquaintance..." Eratosthenes said softly, glancing towards the cloaked figure before he smiled coldly as he returned his eyes towards Zerrex... but the Drakkaren couldn't help but notice, even in his pain and shock, the sense of... distance... between the Strange Beast and the creature next to him, as if the Librarian was scared of the cloaked murderer. "Allies of my friend here provided me with the means and information I needed to defeat you, Naganis, and-"

"Zerrex..." rasped the murderer, and then he gave a bizarre, broken laugh, and Eratosthenes winced a bit before the murderer held up a stained brown sack, Zerrex unable to do anything but watch with horror as he reached into it... and then the Drakkaren moaned in horror, shivering hard and pressing back against the wall as the murderer withdrew a decapitated head... but plastered to it by blood, despite the fact more than half the screaming features had been melted away, was a small, torn beret.

Little Arcy's head stared at him with the single eye left in the side of the face that hadn't been torn apart... and Zerrex yelled in horror and fury, shaking the chains back and forth as he snarled and braced himself against the wall, Error staggering back a bit with a look of disgust even as the murderer only continued to stare from the depths of his dark cloak up towards the Drakkaren as he screamed, almost frothing at his jaws: "I'll kill you! She was an innocent little girl, how could you? How could you?"

"By the First Gods..." Eratosthenes muttered, as the murderer dropped the skull on the ground and then slowly removed another object... and Zerrex shook his head in weak denial, tears rolling down his face as he pushed back against the wall in horror at the sight of a tiny, bloody dress, which the killer loudly sniffed at before there was a disgusting slurping sound from beneath the hood, a tongue writhed in shadows slurping over it, teeth sinking into the fabric and ripping it... and then the killer gave another cracked laugh before dropping this off to the side and then grabbing the sack in both hands, turning it over and spilling out body parts, heads, pieces of ripped clothing, the Drakkaren moaning at the stench of rot and the sight of limbs and faces, trying his hardest not to play the sick guessing the game the murderer obviously wanted him to play: what belonged to what, who belonged to who, before his breath caught in his throat as he saw a vintage red vest among the remains.

His eyes stared mindlessly at this, knowing that it could only belong to one person... and then he slowly looked up at the murderer as tears streamed down his face, whispering: "Why? Why do this to me?"

But the murderer only tittered and hugged himself, swaying back and forth in his heavy cloak... and then he snarled when Eratosthenes hesitantly touched his shoulder, immediately flinging the Librarian's arm off before Error swallowed thickly and said slowly: "He is only mortal now... don't... don't excite Naganis-"

"Zerrex!" the murderer screamed, leaning forwards, and Eratosthenes staggered backwards in shock before the killer began to point both insistently and excitedly at the horrified Drakkaren. "Zerrex! Zerrex! Zerrex! Zerrex! Zerrex!"

And then, without warning, he lashed his hand across Zerrex's chest, ripping a claw mark over his scarred body and making the reptile convulse with a howl of pain before the killer's hand slammed into his side, his fingers sinking into him like knives as he laughed insanely before he simply ripped a thick chunk of the Drakkaren's flesh and scales from his body, a spray of gore arcing through the air as the lizard howled in agony and his eyes rolled in his head and the murderer greedily beginning to lick at his palm as Error gaped in horror, and then the Strange Beast winced and turned towards Zerrex, snapping his fingers and making the reptile twitch as energy sparked violently over his form before it healed, before the Librarian pointed at the killer and shouted furiously: "Get out! Get out, our business is at an end, if your superiors wish to talk to me they can do it themselves! Get out!"

And in a flash, the killer spun around, seizing the Strange Beast by the neck and choking him as he leaned in slowly, slowly closer, the Librarian gargling weakly as he grabbed uselessly at the shadowy cloak... and then the murderer spoke, his voice strangely-lucid and clear as Zerrex looked up stupidly, wondering if the agony and disorientation was making all of this a terrible dream as a voice he recognized, he goddamn recognized, whispered softly: "You don't give me orders, understood? Everyone has a place in the world. Yours is below mine, as mine is below Lord God's."

Then the cloaked figure released Error with an absent, contemptible flick of his hands, Eratosthenes staggering backwards and choking loudly as he clutched at visible burns around his throat, before he looked up with a snarl... but then the cloaked figure was simply gone, and the Librarian stared back and forth in horror before Zerrex gave a cracked laugh, the Strange Beast snarling over at him with desperation and terror in his eyes. "You have no idea what you've gotten yourself into, do you? For all you act like you understand our emotions... you have no idea why you don't make friends with the people who never show you their face... no wonder you're named Error..."

"S-Shut up!" Eratosthenes shouted angrily, and then he pointed at the Drakkaren's bruised body, snapping: "I have all your powers now, Naganis! I can heal you or have you destroyed at my will, at my askance, understood? You're only alive because... because I will it!"

"Power is a cage." Zerrex murmured quietly, hanging his head and looking silently down at Little Arcy's skull... and a tremble ran through him as he whispered: "If I had no power, if I was never a target... then Little Arcy and Elliot would both still be alive... you never would have come after me... I could be dead and at peace, maybe in whatever lies beyond, nothing but intermingling energies with the person I cared for more than all the universe. How many sacrifices have you made to attain this power, Error? And how many people will this power steal away from you, now that you have it?"

The Librarian trembled a bit at this, and then he shook his head in denial, whispering: "I won't let you get in my head. I won't let you confuse me, Naganis. I'm not like you, I'm... I'm righteous!"

Zerrex only tilted his head slowly upwards as tears trickled down his cheeks, mixing with the blood and grime, making his bruises and scars sparkle as he looked at him silently... and Eratosthenes trembled a bit before he snarled and turned away, vanishing from the spot in a surge of blue lightning. Then the Drakkaren slumped weakly, closing his eyes, feeling broken and defeated and terrified of how many others would die while he was trapped here.

Again, however, he wasn't alone for long: within minutes, a Gateway opened and Iron appeared for the first of several torture sessions, a Chanter standing silent, uncaring sentinel nearby to heal Zerrex should any 'accidents' occur. Iron took great glee in punching the Drakkaren's easily-broken body, breaking bones, crushing organs, making him vomit blood and scream in agony... and the Chanter seemed emotionless, going no further than restoring Zerrex when he came too close to death. When Iron grew bored, they left, Zerrex dripping blood and fainting... only to be awoken a few hours later by Iron shoving his head back into the wall and crushing his skull slowly as he murmured about 'soft little mortals.'

Time passed in this rhythm: occasionally Eratosthenes would appear, to shout and rant, to take a blood sample, to just stare at him sometimes: the last was always the most unsettling, since it was often not with seething rage any longer, only with... confusion. And Zerrex understood it all too well: Eratosthenes had conquered his obstacle, and yet he had centered himself so much around revenge that he had nothing else left. And Iron would come, usually once in the morning, once in the afternoon, once at night, and beat on the Drakkaren until he grew bored or was called away.

The Drakkaren felt broken and beaten for the first two days, crying a little on occasion, unable to repress his emotions, unable to see a point to going on... but as the third day came on and he dangled by his aching arms from chains that were now loose in the broken wall, his booted feet resting in the rotting gore on the floor, he felt more and more like he had to escape. Like he had to figure out a way to take down Eratosthenes and get his powers back... if only because he knew that with each day, each hour that passed, the murderer was looking for someone else to kill. He wasn't satisfied after all with Zerrex being immobilized... and the Drakkaren was terrified for his friends and family, after seeing the people the son of a bitch had already so ruthlessly slaughtered.

Zerrex breathed hard in and out as he rested back against the wall, malnourished, exhausted, tired: the wall was cracked and damaged, and he thought he could probably pry the chains free if he wanted to, despite his stiff, sore muscles and how weak he was with going without food or sleep... and he stank of sweat, blood, and urine. The reptile's body was back in its old mortal ways... and he shook his head slowly before closing his eyes as a shiver rolled through his frame. So far, they had searched him - and even though they'd figured out the nature of his summoning card, Eratosthenes had said distastefully it was of no more importance than the mala around his neck, since now that he possessed the Drakkaren's energies he could sense any if any of his Disciples were in the vicinity - and they had taken enough time to implant him with a marble-sized purple gemstone covered in strange red runes, which burned silently beside the lizard's collarbone. It prevented his energy signature from being tracked, so that even if this area was scanned and somehow got past the defenses and shielding precautions already in place... neither Heaven nor Hell would be able to pick up Zerrex's energy signature.

The reptile grimaced a bit at this: Eratosthenes's strange magic and artifacts made him prepared as hell for any situation and let him protect himself and his allies in ways Zerrex wouldn't normally believe... and it was only made all the more complicated by the fact that now he had technology and an army of demons and angels working for him as well. Not to mention the fact that even if anyone did get in here, they'd have to deal with the Strange Beasts and other creatures as well as the natural-and-not defenses of the fortress... and he glanced up as a Gateway opened as if summoned by the lizard's dark thoughts, Iron emerging through this for their second torture session of the day.

"Tell me, Iron, what's going on around base?" Zerrex asked ironically, and the half-Primordial snorted at the Drakkaren, reaching a hand forwards and pushing teasingly against his chest to make the reptile's bones groan. "You can tell me that, can't you?"

"If Iron wanted, Iron could. But Iron does not want to." The Strange Beast drew one of his enormous hands back, then he slammed a palm forwards into the Drakkaren, making him gargle as he rocked hard and pushed back against the wall... and then the lizard's eyes widened slightly as he felt the crumbling wall behind him give slightly, hearing several bricks toppling out of place.

Iron didn't seem to notice or care, instead grinning widely at the lizard as he reared his head upwards slightly, a look of entertainment on his half-scaled, half-steel features. "Well, what is this? Little lizard seems to be doing better with Iron's blows... perhaps that means Iron should hit harder..."

"Perhaps it means Iron forget to take his vitamins today." Zerrex retorted, grimacing a bit as the amusement fell away from the monster's features and knowing this was running a stupid risk, but might at the same time be his own chance of escape. Yet he could also hear people moving back and forth in the hall beyond: activity had been steadily growing through the base, and the Drakkaren was all-too-well aware that he could easily die at any point and time in the near future. "Zerrex thinks Iron should go back to lifting weights instead of kissing his boss's ass."

"Shut up." Iron said coldly, snarling a little now as he leaned his huge face down, glaring angrily into the Drakkaren's eyes even as the reptile forced himself to meet the monster's gaze, gritting his teeth and bracing himself as best he could as he saw the creature's anger only building. "Do not look at Iron like that. You are inferior, mortal. You are Iron's toy."

"The real toy here Iron, is you." Zerrex retorted clearly, and the half-Primordial growled as he leaned backwards before the Drakkaren added disgustedly: "With the way you kowtow to your precious handler though, maybe you're more like a lapdog-"

Iron's fist smashed into the lizard, snapping his ribs and making him howl in agony as he was punched backwards through the brick wall, crashing into the wall of the hall opposite as the chains binding his wrists snapped, the lizard crumpling against the brick before switches snapped on in his mind as he realized what had happened. He snarled in pain, hugging himself as two minotaurs stared in shock and one dropped his load of paperwork, and the reptile staggered up to his feet even as Iron roared in frustration and lashed his hand though the wall blindly just as one of the minotaurs began to run forwards.

The bull demon was snagged by Iron's hand, which clenched around him as he squealed and immediately rolled over, clawing madly as he was dragged into the hole... and then Iron yelled in rage: "Idiots, out of Iron's way!"

There was a sickening splatter and a burst of gore from the hole, which made the remaining minotaur yell in terror and bolt in one direction as Zerrex winced and took it as his cue to run in the other, staggering down the hallway in just his pants, mala bouncing around his neck as he hugged himself around the waist and the chains dangling from the rusty shackles around his wrists clinked and swung around him. He turned a corner as he heard the wall behind him all but explode as Iron tried to force himself into the narrow hallway, the half-Strange Beast, half-Primordial roaring with frustration as the Drakkaren looked over his shoulder with a wince... and then crashed into a closed, barred door, grabbing uselessly at it and then snarling at the sight of an electronic lock as a Craven guard on the other side of the door looked up in shock, then snarled and threw a switch on the wall beside him, a klaxon blaring as Zerrex looked desperately back and forth before his eyes settled on gaping window covered in plastic... and without hesitating, knowing he didn't even have time to look, the reptile leapt forwards and tore through this, the plastic half-wrapping around him and blinding him as the reptile fell through the air and then struck hard against the frost-covered mountainside, cursing in agony as rocks ripped and tore at him and he flopped awkwardly, bouncing again down the steep cliffs before he managed to shove the plastic off his face as he half-rolled over onto his stomach to look up with a grin at the sight of the vanishing fortress in the distance... before he looked stupidly over his shoulder a moment too late, just in time to see the icy edge of the cliffs ahead before he went flying off and into a deep ravine, claws grasping too little, too late at the rocks as the reptile howled in shock and flailed wildly as he flipped through the air cold, chilling air down, down, down... and then he smashed through the thin layer of ice below and plunged deep into a rushing river, gargling once before his eyes rolled up in his head in shock as he was dragged along by the powerful current.

Above, Iron stood at the edge of the ravine, looking away in frustration as Eratosthenes stood beside him, saying quietly: "It's of no importance, at the end of the day. He is mortal: the cold water will kill him, and if it does not, I'm sure either the brigands or the World Carver will."

"Iron will destroy him, Librarian. Iron will hunt him and all his friends down in time." the monster snarled, and Eratosthenes glanced towards the creature, then only shook his head slowly before Iron turned away in disgust and slowly began to pull his way back up the cliffs, muttering: "Iron does not need your supervision or your help, bookworm..."

Eratosthenes grimaced over his shoulder at this, and then he returned his eyes down to the river below, rubbing his hands together slowly even as the snow melted beneath his feet and the rock sprung into grassy life... and then he shook his head, saying quietly: "You can't run forever, Naganis. Sooner or later... we'll meet again. And you may find that what I was doing was best for us all: even I am not so cruel as to throw you to the hands of God's drooling butcher."

Then he closed his eyes and hugged himself in the cold wind, the Strange Beast lowering his head and staying a moment longer on the edge of the cliffs before he simply blinked out of existence, and the grasses he had left behind quickly died and blew away in the cold, terrible winds.

Zerrex awoke with his back against a tree, on top of a hill, the mountains like great hands that reached towards the sky in the distance. He blinked slowly, knowing that awakening here was impossible... but yet here he was all the same.

The Drakkaren shook his head slowly, reaching up and touching his forehead as he brushed his sopping hair back, shivering a bit in cold... but even though it was dusk and the stars were beginning to sparkle in the firmament of the night sky above, it felt strangely warm to his body. He shook his head weakly, then managed to sit up, cursing at how much his muscles ached and looking down with a grimace at the cuts and bruises that covered his form before his eyes slowly followed a visible path in the long grasses leading to a pretty, gravelly riverbank. He could see rapids in the distance he had likely rolled all the way down... but here, the river went from deep to much shallower as it passed over a wide sandbar and beneath what looked like an ancient fairytale bridge.

The reptile rubbed at his eyes slowly, so unused to being unable to see in the dark as well as in the light... and then he slowly forced himself to sit back against the large, dead tree again as he took stock of what had happened. He remembered the icy waters, rushing him along, unable to breathe... he remembered being thrown through a wall of ice on a frozen waterfall long enough to take a breath before he had shattered through another layer of ice, and it had been back to being dragged down the river... and he remembered a lot of being battered around down the mountainside.

Apparently, he had washed out here at some point... likely hours later, from the sky above... and crawled on instinct out of the shallow water and all the way up the hill to sit against his tree. He didn't know why or how... and slowly, Zerrex tried to sit up before he only succeeded in toppling himself and rolling down the hill, landing at the bottom of it with a moan of pain and cursing under his breath before he shook his head weakly and forced himself up to all fours. He rasped hard breaths in and out, closing his eyes and trembling a little before he managed to bit-by-bit make his way up to his feet... and he swayed dizzily on the spot, then wrapped his arms around his stomach, muttering: "Gods... gotta... find something to eat. And somewhere to rest..."

The Drakkaren took a few staggering steps forwards through the grasses, and then he looked towards the bridge in the distance, his instincts telling him that was the way to go... and he sighed quietly before stumbling his way around the hill. His legs found a weak pace as his muscles slowly limbered up a little, one manacle still clanking quietly around his wrist, chains dangling from it and dragging through the green grasses and weeds as he made his way tiredly forwards, until he looked down with dumb realization at the fact he was walking on a beaten path of some kind.

It made him a bit more confident, and it was easier going... but still, the reptile panted softly as his right leg mostly-dragged behind him, cursing under his breath at the pain rampant through the limb as shudders tore up and down his body. Not that life was easy when he had been a god, not that he'd never felt agony then, too... but he had long forgotten what it was like to be truly hungry, and to truly need sleep... and those feelings were playing absolute hell on his system as his stomach continued to clench piteously and his feet dragged along the ground slowly.

He closed his eyes as he managed to reach the bridge, reaching a hand up and quietly grasping the railing as he started to cross, breathing roughly... and the reptile grimaced as he halted halfway up the arched wooden structure, rubbing at his face slowly and muttering: "God... damn... assholes..."

The Drakkaren groaned a bit, looking up and seeing an apple tree in the distance... and for a moment, ghost images filled his mind, of pretty girls at harvest time, laughing... and then the reptile reached up and touched his skull, cursing quietly and wondering if he was going insane as his legs trembled beneath him before he forced himself to keep walking forwards down the beaten path.

After ten minutes of walking as night began to settle in and the only light came from the stars overhead in the brilliant sky, the reptile felt like giving up... except he realized that several shapes in the dark were too regular, too familiar, to be landscape. He forced himself back to his feet along the beaten path, his eyes blurry but focusing just enough in the darkness to let him make out the shape of a rickety barn that groaned quietly as a breeze passed through the warm air, looking as if it were on the verge of collapse... but far better shelter than the reptile could have asked for. He approached this with a wheeze, letting himself through the ajar door with a grimace and smelling fresh hay as he closed his eyes... and he wondered absently if he could eat hay before his eyes settled on a basket of freshly-picked apples, illuminated through the ajar door.

The Drakkaren almost fell over as he approached this, dropping down in front of it and picking one up in either hand: it would more than suffice for now. He ate greedily, devouring four of the large, juicy apples before deciding not to press his luck any further with his stomach, instead carefully making his way towards a large pile of hay and carefully slipping around to the rear end of it, flopping down with a grunt and curling up a bit as he half-pulled some of the thick yellow straw over himself with a mumble. It was scratchy, but far from unpleasant compared to what he had just been through... and within moments, the reptile felt his eyes closing before he fell into a deep sleep.

Yet it was not entirely dreamless: thoughts of friends and family, of mortal days wasted, and visions of the past haunted him, frustrating him and soothing him and everything in between as the reptile groaned quietly. By the time morning came, however, his exhausted mind had settled enough that he was able to sit up with a grunt, looking up at the sunlight streaming through the rickety boards of the barn as the lizard blinked a few times and sat up, brushing the straw off... and flexing slowly as he looked down at himself. Most of his bruises had healed, his cuts were now minor scratches, and his mind felt... clearer, more-receptive as he shook his head out a bit, then stood up and carefully walked a few steps before nodding slowly. He was in much better shape, he was... he had healed just like he had back in his prime days as a Drakkaren who hadn't even known there was a Heaven or Hell and that life had one hell of a punchline to its grand joke.

The lizard shook his head a bit before he headed quietly towards the basket of apples, picking another one up and biting into it to chew slowly... and he smiled a little even as he absently rubbed at his right leg. Then he looked up sharply as he heard a truck door slam before a voice said angrily: "-bastards from the city are going to run us out of house and home! This is our farm, Rebecca!"

"I know, honey, I know." said a soothing female voice, and then it faded as they walked towards the homestead in the distance. The Drakkaren cocked his head curiously at this, carefully approaching the ajar doors... and he looked out to see two figures walking up the steps to a large home that rested on stilted supports, the lizard watching as the male - dressed in a rumpled suit, some kind of canine - fumbled with the keys as the female in her flowery sundress patted him soothingly on the back.

Then they managed to push into the house, and Zerrex wheezed before he turned around... and stared dumbly at the sight of a female in denim suspenders holding a basket of apples, the female staring back, her long blonde hair falling around her face and her brown eyes wide with shock. She was a golden retriever of some sort... and the Drakkaren grinned weakly at her as he slowly held up the apple, saying lamely: "I... good?"

"Oh my stars!" the young-looking female exclaimed, and Zerrex winced as he looked back and forth, preparing to bolt as the canine dropped the basket and shouted: "Momma, Poppa, there's a hurt mortal in here, you better come and look!"

Zerrex was halfway out the door when he halted dumbly at this, turning and looking over his shoulder at her as the canine leapt the basket and rushed over to him without hesitating, the lizard grimacing a bit as she began to poke along his body and saying embarrassedly: "Now, stop that, I just... fell... hey, stop that!"

She tugged at his pants, and then she huffed when he managed to finally push her back, surprised at the strength it took as she glared up at him with her brown eyes. "You stop it, I've been to more than one rodeo in my day, you know! What, you ain't never seen no angel before?"

"I don't see no wings on no angel." Zerrex said flatly, and then she shoved him over and he fell heavily on his back with a groan of pain, before wincing as he saw the suited canine from before and his wife hurrying towards the barn. "Can you take off my pants after your parents leave? I find that's always awkward for a girl to do with her parents around."

But now the canine only laughed at this, slapping his leg and saying amusedly: "Don't you be silly! They ain't my real Mom and Dad, I just call 'em that 'cause he's the Reverend of the church down the ways and she's my real Momma's sister."

"You're a Benevolent, not an angel." Zerrex said finally, and the canine glared at him before she slapped his abdominals, making him wheeze and his eyes roll in his head in pain. "You're also a-"

"Hush you now." the female said moodily, and then she looked up as the male and female reached them, Zerrex mumbling disconsolately on the ground and blushing a bit, still clutching the apple in his hands. "He looks like he's been through a nasty time, said something about falling but I don't see how no falling could do this to no person, 'lessen he fell from the top of some mountain."

"That sounds about right." Zerrex muttered, rubbing at his head slowly with a grimace and making the chains on the manacle attached to his wrist clink quietly. Then he winced a bit at this before the jowly, dark-furred canine male knelt on one side of him, checking his pulse with a grimace as his wife covered her muzzle with surprise, her eyes wide beneath her straw hat.

"Let's get him inside, Missy... I see you're hungry, too, sir, so maybe you could prepare him a meal, Ma. Show this poor fellow a little kindness." the reverend said softly, and Zerrex smiled awkwardly... but before he could protest, Missy easily grabbed him and hefted him up by the waist, the lizard wheezing as he was tossed over her shoulder and blinking in dumb surprise: but then again, even a Benevolent wouldn't have much trouble lifting even his bulky body with ease.

"I got him, Poppa, I'll bring him right on in to the guest room right away and check him on over." the Benevolent smiled at them, and then she walked quickly forwards, muttering under her breath as they passed by the truck and Zerrex saw the two older mortals argue uncertainly for a moment: "You ain't gonna do anything stupid, are you?"

Zerrex snorted at this, replying flatly: "Yes, I'm here to kill everyone and steal all your apples. Obviously I was just caught up in my awful scheming when you caught me."

The Benevolent only rolled her eyes, however, saying irritably: "Oh, don't you take that tone of voice with me, you might be a big tough male but you ain't nothing compared to the kind of folk that journey 'round these parts. You talk like I talk, though, like you're from Ire, and don't think I didn't notice them there chains. You piss off the wrong folks and get yourself in a bind, mister?"

"That's my life." Zerrex admitted in a mumble as they ascended the stairs towards the front door of the shack, and the Benevolent snorted in amusement at this before she shoved it open and carried the Drakkaren down the hall as he added moodily: "I can also walk perfectly well."

"Well, bust my britches for trying to be nice and happening to not mind doin' you the favor of carrying your fat ass." replied the Benevolent mildly as she reached up and slapped the Drakkaren's rear firmly, and he grunted in pain, making his mala jangle around his neck before she kicked a door open and finally set the Drakkaren down in a plain blue-walled room with a dresser, a few pictures on the walls of a church, and a neat little bed with sheets and comforter draped across it.. "Now take those pants of yours off, hurry up now, I wanna check you over. I used to be a healer in Heaven, you know."

"You're a bad liar." Zerrex said mildly, and then he winced when the female shoved him backwards to sit him on the bed, feeling all the moodier at how even a Benevolent was tossing him around with such ease. "You're lucky it's been a really awful last few days or I'd be kicking your ass right now."

"Oh really?" the female grinned at this, then she reached out and grabbed the dresser, pulling it between them before she firmly slammed her elbow down into one side of it and grinned widely at him. "Let's arm wrestle then, we'll see who could kick whose ass."

The reptile huffed at this, then he glared at her challenge before finally setting his own elbow against the dresser, moodily figuring he needed a good judge of his strength anyway... and while he wasn't yet healed to top condition as he could get this mortal body, it wasn't like he'd be able to go into whatever nasty situations were likely coming up in perfect shape anyway. "I can't believe I'm doing this..."

She took his hand, then grinned at him as she grasped the edge of the table... and Zerrex grimaced as she licked her lips slowly before shouting suddenly: "Go!"

Zerrex gritted his teeth and immediately flexed his right bicep, before he looked dumbly at it as he realized that it was all flesh-and-blood now, there was no longer metal beneath the scale... and the Benevolent, meanwhile, cursed in surprise as she only managed to force the reptile's arm a few inches to the side, grunting as her fingers dug into the side of the dresser and she leaned her whole body into the movement.

The Drakkaren winced as his arm slowly began to tip downwards further... and then he gritted his teeth and shoved back, his wrist bending slightly, then forcing her arm back in the other direction as she gaped and Zerrex gritted his teeth with a grin, grunting quietly as he leaned forwards a bit and muttered: "Come on... come on..."

His muscles bulged explosively as he forced her down a little bit... and then the female winced before she reached her other hand up and seized his wrist, Zerrex squawking and yelling obscenities at her as she shouted them back and pulled hard on his arm, trying to force it the other way... but now Zerrex grabbed the dresser, leaning hard forwards and gritting his teeth with a snarl of effort as he forced nonetheless against the cheating Benevolent and forced her wrist down, down, down... and then he slammed the back of her hand against the dresser and threw his hands in the air with a shout of victory as the female gaped in shock, looking down at her hands and spluttering in stupid denial before she pointed at him and accused: "Cheating bastard! I can lift a truck!"

"Well... I can lift two trucks." Zerrex retorted, and then he grinned as he rose one arm and flexed his bicep. "Bam." A pause, and then he rose his other arm, flexing it as well as he looked at her smugly. "And bam."

The Benevolent shoved the dresser across the floor, glaring at him... and Zerrex quailed back a bit, holding his hands up with a wince... but then she only smiled and extended a hand suddenly, saying warmly: "My name's Madeline, I'm the farmhand around here, doin' the work of any five other people out in the orchard. You can just call me Missy, though, all everyone does."

"All everyone, huh?" Zerrex couldn't resist, and she sighed and slapped him across the face with her extended hand, making him wince before she held it firmly towards him again, and he took it after a moment, her grip firm and tight as he shook and said softly: "Zerrex Narrius."

She looked at him oddly for a few moments at this, and then she laughed and slapped his right arm lightly, saying in an entertained voice: "The tattoo is a nice touch, but nice try, big boy. Fine, don't tell me your real name, I'll just call you Biggs."

The reptile rolled his eyes but didn't bother to argue before she pointed sternly at the bed, saying clearly: "Now lay back and take off your goddamn pants. Better I do it now when neither Momma nor Poppa gotta see whatever's down there than later. I may not be no expert healer, but I did take care of more injuries with my brothers and the idiot farmhands than I reckon most doctors ever tend to in their entire lives."

Zerrex grumbled under his breath, but when she grabbed at his pants again, he finally shoved her away before removing them and his dirty boxers... and the Benevolent stared, then giggled stupidly at the sight of his member as her eyes went wide before she grabbed his pants when the Drakkaren reached for them, saying embarrassedly: "Now you stop that, you should take it as a compliment. I never rode the bus at the rodeo before, after all, the most I ever got was a bull that didn't have no horns to gore me good and proper with."

"Oh will you shut up?" Zerrex covered his face with a groan, and then he grimaced when she began to pilfer through his pockets, before she frowned a bit when she removed the summoning plate, looking at it curiously. "And don't play with that. I'll need to use it to... call a friend later."

"Well now, I'll be. Here I was just making jokes about you and it turns out you might have your butt burning in a deep-ass frying pan after all." the female muttered, shaking her head a bit before she put the plate aside, and then she glanced over at him, adding quietly: "Anyway, Biggs. Let's have a look at you and maybe you can tell me what happened."

The Drakkaren grunted, letting her check his body over... and she did seem to actually know what she was doing, occasionally probing an area here or there a bit closer as the reptile stayed mostly silent... but when she finally nudged him and looked at him flatly, the lizard sighed and rolled his eyes, saying awkwardly: "Alright, alright. I made some enemies... who locked me up in the fortress near here, Empyreal Throne. You know it?"

"Way up in the mountains, yeah, but I thought it was falling apart. I thought it was more likely you got yourself jailed in Temptation, the town near the foot of the mountains. It's nothing but a festering pit of jackasses by now, angels and demons and mortal all just sinnin' away and rippin' good folks off." She nodded a bit, grimacing a little as she touched along his face. "Shit, and here I was hoping these weren't all scars on you, but I guess most of these are. You look like you gone and fell outta the ugly tree and hit every damn branch on the way down 'fore the damn thing fell on you for good measure."

"Well thanks, Missy, you're a real hoot." Zerrex muttered, and the golden retriever grinned at him as she brushed her long blonde locks back. "Can I have my pants back now?"

"Them grimy old things? I don't think so. You stay right there, I'm gonna go get a bucket, a sponge, and something for you to wear, you're filthy as a worm in the garden." Missy replied mildly, and she picked up the Drakkaren's jeans and boxers as the reptile huffed and grabbed uselessly at her, but she easily made her way out of the room and shut the door primly behind her, the reptile grumbling under his breath tiredly at this.

He glanced towards the summoning plate, wondering who he should contact... but he already knew that making any contact with his Disciples would be dangerous, just like how the node implanted above his collarbone ached faintly... but the reptile well-knew taking it out would not only make him visible to allies, it would let his much-closer enemies lock on to his location as well and put everyone around him into danger. At least this way, even the murderer probably couldn't find him... and Zerrex closed his eyes as he sat slowly up on the bed, rubbing at his grimy hair and thinking quietly about how he had been granted his selfish wishes, to be mortal, to be powerless... and the cost of it was that everyone he had ever cared for was suffering, if they weren't already dead.

The reptile shook his head a bit as he sighed softly, knowing he was in an impossible position: on one hand, if he called for help, he'd be endangering himself but more importantly, his family... and on the other, he couldn't exactly go running up to Eratosthenes and just punch the crap out of him. The Strange Beast had stolen his powers... and the reptile grimaced a little before he glanced up as there was a quiet knock at the door, and he quickly half-wrapped the comforter around him, hiding his nakedness as he called awkwardly: "Uh... come in?"

"Here, sweetie, I brought this for you." the older female smiled softly as she pushed he way in through the door, a large tray in her hands loaded with a simple sandwich, a salad, some crackers, and a glass of some deep red liquid, two ice cubes floating in what the reptile suspected was punch. It all smelled wonderful... and he smiled warmly at her as she set it down on the dresser, not seeming to notice it was a little out of place. "I don't think we've been introduced. My name is Rebecca Hardy... and my husband is the Reverend Jason Hardy, who runs a church outside Temptation that... hasn't been doing quite so well in recent times. Missy said we should just call you Biggs."

"That works." Zerrex smiled a little, feeling awkward as he glanced up at the motherly mortal female, noting the resemblances between her and Missy in the eyes, the shape of the mouth, even the slenderness of their form. "She... well..."

"Oh, don't you mind Missy. It's just been an adjustment for her, working on our little farm here instead of going back to Ire like she expected... but when the colonies landed where they could, we took on the jobs we could too, you know?" She smiled at him again, kindly, generously. "It's very different here than it is over in Ire, different climate, temperatures, fruit... but we make the best we can of things. Having an angel around is a big help... she's always been like a daughter to me, though. It's like our own little miracle, having her around again."

Zerrex nodded a bit at this, and then he hesitantly slipped an arm free from the comforter to pick up one of the sandwich halves and take a bite out of it... and then he chewed slowly, relishing the taste of it and smiling at her in return. "This is good. Real good."

"I'm glad you like it, dear. I'll go put on some coffee, for later. Don't you worry if Missy gets a little pushy, it's just her way... she's a lot like her poor mother, but she's sturdy and kind. She'll treat you right, Mr. Biggs." she said gently, patting him lightly on the knee before she turned and left, and the reptile smiled amusedly at the new nickname he had picked up, shaking his head slowly before he put the sandwich down to take a sip of the punch.

He relished the taste of it, strange, a little sharper, and... oh shit. His eyes widened, and the reptile spat the liquid out of his muzzle convulsively just as Missy pushed into the door, the Benevolent wincing at the splatter of red liquid before she scolded: "Well, howdy do to you, Biggs, what in hell's name was that for?"

"Is this red wine?" Zerrex asked a little sharper than he intended, and the retriever looked up in surprise before she shrugged a bit, now looking more curious than anything else as the reptile put it aside, looking a little nauseated as he rubbed at his face. "Oh hell..."

"What, what is it? Yeah, watered down a little with cider and the ice... apple wine, we call it, make it and bottle it right here, has kind of a strong aftertaste to it, don't it?" Missy said absently as she used the sponge to quickly mop the liquid up before it could stain, and then she dipped it in the soapy water in the bucket, wringing it out and adding flatly: "You better not spit none of that sandwich stuff out, ain't like I ever get to eat that stuff."

"You don't even need to eat, you're a Benevolent." Zerrex muttered, and then he grimaced a bit as he put the alcohol aside before scraping at his tongue moodily, even as his eyes lingered on the glass. "I... I can't have alcohol, anyway. It's.... yeah."

Why, one more sip won't hurt... one glass, just to test how your system reacts to it... innocent, harmless, you don't have to have any more than that... Ravenlight whispered inside of his mind, and the Drakkaren clenched his eyes shut as he tried to block him out... but instead, all he saw was the image of the male grinning widely, a wine glass in one hand and raised, filled with amber liquid as he said mockingly: Bottoms up, Zerrex. Anything to get rid of the pain.

"Whoa, hey there, sport, come back to the planet now." Missy slapped his cheek lightly, and the Drakkaren grunted, shaking his head out a bit as the female looked down at him curiously. "If it's a problem well... I saw coffee's on. Can you have that at least, you big baby?"

"You're... a baby." Zerrex muttered, and then he grumbled when the female pushed him onto his back and pulled the covers away from him, adding grumpily: "Also, I am capable of going to take a shower by myself-"

"Yeah, well, shower's all the way outside, by the latrine, and I highly doubt Momma and Poppa want you using their private bathroom. Poppa's a little touchy about stuff like that." Missy said mildly, as she began to lightly sponge the Drakkaren. "Anyway, I used to volunteer at the old folks' center so I know what I'm doing with wrinkly old geezers like you. I'm glad that even if you ain't much in the looks department, you still got a good body, though."

Zerrex grumbled, but let her go about her work, cleaning him off and doing a thorough job, blushing only a bit as she wiped down his groin... and when she was satisfied, she had him stand up and gathered up the dirty covers and her bucket and sponge, saying kindly: "Just sit down, eat your lunch, I'll bring some coffee in to you and some new clothes."

The Drakkaren nodded a bit, and then he said awkwardly, just as she was leaving: "Thank you, Missy. Really."

"That's just what decent folk do." the retriever smiled benevolently over her shoulder at him, then she winked and headed outside. Zerrex took her advice, but ate slowly, savoring the food as he filled his body's hunger... and when she returned, Zerrex was surprised to see the female had brought him not only a mug of coffee but also a pair of heavy cloth pants.

She tossed the pants in his lap and sat beside him, smiling at him as he smiled awkwardly back at her, the two sipping in quiet for a few moments... and then she took a slow bite of her apple before saying quietly: "You know, it's funny, Biggs. You don't strike me as the kind of trash 'round Temptation-parts. Y'all also seem to know a little bit about Heaven and Hell... and a lot of mortals these days ain't never even learned about the real facts of those matters, and don't seem quite so interested in learning anything their religion ain't gonna teach 'em. Even with schools starting to be running more and more these days, you know that they've been having all kinds of fighting about what they should teach and shit. Lots of them concerned parents peoples who just like to stir shit up and who protect their kiddies so much they drown 'em think that even though the planets of Heaven and Hell are right on up there, floating around our heads, they still count as religion... and you know you can't have none of that religion stuff in most schools these days, a lot of that thanks to Ire's influence."

Zerrex grunted and nodded a bit, rubbing absently at his face. "Yeah, I remember that back in the day. The Universal Accord for Separation, to avoid 'influence and fanaticism that is currently rampant in many school systems' and stuff. That was passed... when I was young."

"You must've been young a long time ago then, Biggs." Missy smiled a little at him, glancing over him curiously before she nudged the Drakkaren lightly. "So you know. I've heard legends of this Zerrex fella. They say he was the High King of Hell, and then he became a God after mysteriously vanishing for ten years. How the hell does that happen? 'Cause mister, if I could vanish for ten years from the face of the planet and come back a goddess, I damn well would. Then I could make the goddamn apples pick themselves off trees and the baskets walk their lazy butts to the barn from the orchard, instead of me doing all the work while the other two farmhands laze around like the idjits they are. I think Momma and Poppa keep 'em on just out of the kindness of their hearts... we only got the one orchard and the one berry crop, and I handle most o' both of those myself good and easy, after all."

Zerrex rolled his eyes at this, shaking his head a little and saying softly: "Yeah, except a lot of gods only have direct dominion over one or two things. You could end up a goddess of the apple orchards... and not able to do anything else at all. Not even able to beat me at arm wrestling." Zerrex paused, then punched her shoulder lightly as he sipped at his coffee, making the female grunt and rock a bit. "Oh wait, you already can't."

"Proud of picking on a girl, are you?" she asked flatly, but she looked miffed nonetheless as she slowly rubbed at her shoulder. "Shit, and here I thought it was always a great joke to go down to the bar on my nights off and wrassle some with the big jerks there. Even the Minotaurs I used to be able to outdo now and then, so long as I was careful about it. Sure, you may be stronger, but I bet I could kick your ass."

"I would love to see you try." Zerrex said amusedly, sipping slowly at his coffee, and as the female glowered at him, he frowned a bit and then looked over at her curiously. "You know, for a Benevolent who works on a farm, you're goddamn hot-blooded. What, were you some kind of warrior princess in your former life or something?"

"I ain't no princess of nothing!" the female said in an offended voice, punching his right arm firmly, and the Drakkaren winced and grunted as he swayed to the side, wincing at the way the muscle flexed... and yet unable to stop himself from staring at this, slowly rolling his fingers and marveling at how it was real flesh even as the canine rambled: "And anyway, who're you to judge me? Damn, that's why I left Heaven in the first place, snuck on right out of there and got myself through one of them fancy immigration portals. Then I had to run like heck for a little while, but them angels ain't really interested in catching the people who're sneaking out... all they care about are trying to catch the people who attempt to sneak on back in, that's the part you really need one of them fancy ID thingies for."

"You know, if they ever send a Hound out, it's going to lock on to you and eat you." Zerrex said flatly, and then he sipped slowly at his coffee, feeling like his mind was working a little faster, his body was healing a little better, as he rubbed absently at his chest with his other hand before glancing down at the manacle still locked over his arm. "Do you have the tools to help me get this off?"

"What? Oh, that, sure, no problem at all. It'll be just like when Jake got his leg stuck in that mailbox." the female remarked easily, and she waved a hand airily. "I'm pretty damn good with the big saw out back... 'course, with you, maybe I'll just use a hammer and chisel. Thing looks rusted as fuck."

She took a sip of her own coffee, looking curiously up and down the Drakkaren as he put his mug aside and picked up his sandwich again to munch quietly, and he winced a bit as he glanced awkwardly at her, but she only continued to half-stare at him. Then, as Zerrex finished the sandwich, he stood up and carefully slipped his way into the cloth pants, and the female immediately took the opportunity to start talking again, saying cheerfully: "Them there pants belonged to an old client of Poppa's or something. One o' those big fellas, the Dragokkaren types, so I hope they ain't too small for you. You gotta be... what, nine feet tall?"

Zerrex rolled his eyes as he slipped the pants on, glancing over at her and replying dryly: "Eight foot two. But you were only off by ten inches, so don't feel too bad, Missy."

The female rolled her eyes, biting out another large chunk of the apple as she said sourly: "Well, la-di-da, Biggs, I'm sorry I ain't exactly able to get things exactly right."

The Drakkaren grumbled a bit in response to this as he glanced down at the pants: they hung a little loose, revealing some of the smooth scales of his groin, but he thought they were okay. He could always do something more about it later... and the lizard grabbed the summoning plate from the dresser and tucked it into his pocket before he grimaced a bit when Missy said firmly: "Now hold on, Biggs. Don't think all this is gonna be for free. I convinced Poppa to let you stay the night, but only 'cause I fell a little behind on the orchard-picking, so you're gonna stay tonight and at least part of tomorrow. We'll get that thing off you, but then we're gonna do some work. You look like you're in good enough shape for a little work, after all."

Zerrex grumbled a bit, looking at her moodily... but then he sighed and nodded, realizing he didn't exactly have much of a choice, anyway. Until he figured out what he was going to do, he might as well stay here... and he did owe these kind people at least that for taking him in. Despite all the big stuff looming over him... he couldn't start just ignoring the little stuff now, either. Besides. Maybe it'll be good for me. I just hope that... enough of those thoughts. "Alright, I'm not in any position to argue, but I can't stay more than today and tomorrow, maybe tomorrow night."

Missy looked a little surprised, but then she nodded slowly before saying quietly: "Alright then, Biggs. Come on. Take that tray out and follow me, we'll talk to Poppa and Momma a bit, I'm sure they wanna know what's going on too."

Zerrex grunted a bit, putting the mug of coffee on the tray and picking it up... and then Missy snatched the apple wine off the tray and guzzled it quickly before she let out a sigh and put the glass back down with a grin. "And you didn't eat your damn salad, either."

"Well, you take it." Zerrex said moodily, and Missy quickly snatched the bowl up as the Drakkaren shook his head a bit, then allowed the country girl to take the lead, heading into the hallway and following her, past the entrance door and into a small, slightly-rounded kitchen.

Rebecca took the tray from him with a smile, and Zerrex smiled awkwardly back as he picked up a handful of crackers from it before sitting at the cluttered square table, as she asked kindly: "Shall I refill your coffee, Mr. Biggs?"

"Please." Zerrex nodded to her with another smile as Missy sat in a chair beside him. They both sat across from the reverend, who now had a small pair of glasses on over his muzzle and a pile of religious texts in front of him... but what interested the Drakkaren most was the variety of scriptures. Unity Bible, Zionist Scrolls, Pre-Ire Testaments... guy knows his stuff.

The reverend glanced up at him, and the older canine looked thoughtfully over Zerrex's scarred body as he rubbed anxiously at his tattoo, before the jowly dog nodded a bit and then sighed at Missy when she dropped a bit of salad over some of his papers. "Missy, do you mind?"

"Not at all." Missy said cheerfully, then she smiled when Rebecca approached, refilling her cup and passing a new mug full of coffee to Zerrex, and as the elderly female turned back to the counter, Missy sprung out of her seat and headed over the fridge, calling: "Biggs, you want some cream and sugar?"

"Sure." Zerrex glanced at her, feeling embarrassed at where his thoughts first went to... and then she gave him a devilish grin behind her father's back as Rebecca looked with exasperation at their semi-adopted Benevolent daughter, but the reverend barely seemed to notice as he continued to look at Zerrex, frowning a little. The Drakkaren looked back awkwardly, and then he cleared his throat, saying lamely: "Thank you for... being so generous. I really appreciate the help."

"We're just doing what good people do. Although if you could give us some assistance in return, I'd appreciate it..." The reverend pulled his glasses off, rubbing slowly at his face for a moment before he replaced them and said quietly: "Normally my wife and I are around to supervise and help out with chores... but because of some struggles in Temptation right now, I've been having to spend a lot of time at the church and Rebecca usually comes with me to help clean things up and look after the bookkeeping. I'm no damn good at the bookkeeping."

Rebecca only smiled kindly as she approached the table with her own mug of coffee, sitting on the far side as Missy returned with the cream and sugar, then shoved herself against his side as she sat down, making him grumble and shove back against the Benevolent childishly. They bickered for a moment, and then Rebecca commented softly: "Just like siblings already. I'm sure you and Missy will be able to look after things fine... that is, Mr. Biggs, if you're okay with helping out some. You seem like you're... in a hurry."

"Yeah, but I need... to do some thinking anyway. This will help with that, I'm sure." Zerrex replied with a bit of a smile, and then he made a face at Missy when she began to dollop sugar and cream into his coffee. "You know, I can do that myself."

"Shut up." Missy replied cheerfully, and then she stirred the Drakkaren's coffee a few times before pulling the spoon out of the almond-colored liquid and putting it in her mouth, sipping at it absently. "Just 'bout right. Poppa, why don't you tell Biggs here what you want him to do? He seems plenty eager to work, so we'll get right to that after we get that nasty manacle off him."

The reverend glanced back and forth, and the jowly canine sighed a bit before he closed the bible in front of him over a note-covered sheet, saying mildly: "I'm sure you can do that yourself, Missy. Biggs, admittedly what interests me more is learning a little about the situation you were in... Temptation is a foul place where anyone can get into trouble, and I'd feel a little more comfortable knowing a little more about you."

The Drakkaren rubbed at his head a bit, the chain jangling beside his head as he tried to think of how to phrase it... but then Missy said firmly, as she slapped the Drakkaren on the arm: "Don't you worry, Poppa, Biggs here might be a little rough around the edges, but he's a smart-enough fella from what I've gathered. Besides, I'll be keeping an eye on him... for now, why don't we best just let him get his thoughts in order?"

"You really are an angel, Missy." Rebecca said kindly, and the reverend sighed a little before he nodded slowly, even as he looked nervously around the table. Zerrex glanced awkwardly back and forth before he picked up his mug of coffee, and he barely had time to take a sip of it before Missy suddenly grabbed his arm and half-yanked him to his feet, the Drakkaren wincing as he stumbled a bit before she firmly tugged him into the hallway, Rebecca calling: "Be careful out there! And watch the skies, it might start raining!"

"Got it, Momma!" Missy called cheerfully back as she shoved the door open and yanked the Drakkaren down the steps, a bit of coffee sloshing out of the mug he was still holding before she pulled him towards the barn, saying easily: "Let's get on going then and... hey, you in your damn bare feet? Well, no matter, there's some boots in the barn that ought to fit you."

Zerrex grumbled under his breath, but he nodded a bit as she continued to tug him ahead, sipping at his coffee as the female continued easily: "Anyway, job's simple, pick the apples, put 'em in the baskets, don't drop 'em, all that stuff. I'm gonna do most of the apple picking today, though, 'cause that's always been the way and I ain't gonna screw up my record for your damn sake. But there's some dying trees that need to be cut down near the edge of the orchard... think some nasty beetles got into the wood and ate 'em all up, so we gotta cut the tree down and burn it before the bugs spread."

The Drakkaren nodded a little at this, taking another long drink of his coffee as Missy shoved the barn door open, and then rushed over to a half-hidden storage cabinet, yanking the rusty door open and digging through it with a grumble before she held up a chipped axe and a pair of large rubber boots, saying mildly: "How's this look?"

The reptile grimaced at the sight of the boots: they were gunky, covered in cobwebs, and gross, in a word. He automatically held a hand up and muttered a cleansing spell... but nothing happened whatsoever, and the lizard only felt embarrassed after a moment as Missy looked at him oddly, then held the boots out towards his outstretched hand. "What was that you was mumbling about?"

"Just that I hope nothing bites me when I put these on." Zerrex replied morbidly, only a half-lie as he turned the boots upside down and shook them firmly... and a patter of black something-or-other fell out, making the lizard wince before he wheezed as he realized it was just dead leaves. "I hate bugs."

"Big strong guy like you, and you're scared of some little buggy-wuggies?" jeered the female with a wide grin, and the Drakkaren glared at her before he quickly stepped into the footwear... and then looked down with surprise at how well they fit. "Yeah, one of the farmhands is a bigger guy with big feet, 'cept right now he's probably either snoozing above our heads or snoozing in the bushes somewhere. All that time he spends in Temptation catches up to his sorry ass."

"So what exactly is Temptation? I was in a town briefly, but it was so rundown I thought it was abandoned." Zerrex said slowly, and Missy smiled a little at him as he took the axe next, automatically rubbing his right thumb along the blade and grimacing in distaste: not at the slight pain in his scales from pressing too hard, unused to that part of him being flesh-and-blood... but instead at how ugly and ragged the blade was. "What the hell did you try and cut with this, stone?"

"Hey, you gotta make do with what you can find!" the female said flatly, and then she shook her head a bit, rubbing at the underside of her muzzle slowly. "And well... only Temptation's main drag stays open all night long, you see. Main Street and Red Light Alley. Gambling parlors, bars, strip-joints, whores and con-artists and thieves, it's a real den of inequity. The rest of the town is just a ramshackle, ugly-ass place where too many good folks go wrong and even the bad folk are scared of going out at night... apparently folks disappear on a regular basis, day or night, so most people stick inside their houses when they ain't trying to stick up some other poor slob and steal the clothes off his back."

Zerrex grunted a bit, nodding and rubbing at his head slowly before Missy added, her excitement of talking to someone new apparently overwhelming whatever little restraint she had: "And well, not to mention that there's supposed to be some kind of cult up in the mountains, one that worships those crazy-ass Strange Beasts or whatever they're called, that everyone's got a bee in their bonnet about these days. You ever see one of them Strange Beasts?"

"Don't ask." Zerrex grimaced a bit as Missy looked at him curiously, and then she headed back into the storage closet before she emerged carrying an anvil, grunting a bit and dropping this to the barn floor and wincing when the wood cracked a bit beneath the straw. Zerrex looked dumbly at this, and Missy disappeared for another moment... only to return with a chisel and mallet, the Drakkaren wincing and raising his hands hesitantly. "Now wait..."

"Don't be a baby." the golden retriever grumbled, and Zerrex glowered at her before he sighed and dropped to his knees on the other side of the anvil, wincing a bit as he held his arm out and took one last guzzle from his mug for reassurance before tossing the cup aside in the straw, and Missy quickly took his manacled forearm and turned it back and forth before she settled on a large crack in the metal near the rusted hinge, saying quietly: "Just hold still for me, alright?"

Zerrex gritted his teeth... then he winced when the female hammered firmly on the chisel, and the hinge popped upwards with a clank as the brittle metal cracked. Zerrex wheezed a bit at faint, pinching pain, glad the chisel hadn't sunken into his arm... and then the female repositioned the chisel, and the Benevolent hammered it into a small space between the other hinge and the shackle, making it bounce weakly once before she hammered again, a little harder, and it popped open , the armlet snapping in half in a brittle hail of metal slivers and revealing the Drakkaren's bruised, dirty forearm.

The reptile grumbled as he rubbed at this slowly, and then he smiled awkwardly at Missy as she smiled back, saying kindly: "Wasn't so bad, was it? Now anyway, Biggs. I'll show you around to work. Don't you go half-assing anything on me, though, I'll shove that axe right up where the sun don't shine."

Zerrex grumbled under his breath as he stood up, and then he automatically reached down and picked up the anvil with a grunt, muscles flexing as the Benevolent said embarrassedly: "No, hey I can get that!"

"Oh, shut up. You're not even a real angel. And I already beat you at arm wrestling." Zerrex said flatly, and Missy huffed and blushed deeply as the Drakkaren turned and carried it into the storage closet. He put it down... then turned around with an awkward smile when he saw her still standing out in the barn, looking away. "I'm... sorry, I'm just... it's been a rough few days."

"It's okay, no harm done now." Missy walked towards him, holding out the chisel and mallet, and Zerrex took these from her, turning to a large tool shelf and quickly locating where the hammers were hung and the chisels were kept, the reptile admiring the organization despite the messy state of everything else before he turned around... and saw the female was still standing awkwardly close, wincing a bit down at her as she gazed up at him softly. "I could have been an angel, you know. But it just... didn't feel right. Heaven didn't feel right. The only thing that's felt right so far is bein' here on the mortal planet... and Poppa studies all kinds of lore and Momma's always so nice, not like my real Momma, who is an angel up in Heaven..."

She shook her head a bit, and then the retriever smiled at him awkwardly. "Sorry, Biggs, my mouth starts running and my mind takes too long to catch up sometimes. So where do you think you'll end up when you die?"

"Hell." Zerrex replied mildly, and Missy laughed and slapped his hip lightly before she grabbed his forearm, yanking him along again and stopping only so she could pick up the chipped axe as the Drakkaren only sighed this time. "You know, you can just ask me to follow you if you want me to go somewhere..."

"And where's the fun in that?" the female asked cheerfully, and Zerrex grumbled under his breath as they headed to the back of the barn before she shoved her way through a large back door, and they almost plowed into a sleepy-looking bear with large, Y-shaped horns sticking out of either side of his skull, his paunchy belly hanging low in front of him over his jeans and his white t-shirt speckled with dirt and grass stains. The ursine had thick, powerful limbs, and dull, dumb eyes, his fingers ending not in claws but large, simple nubs as the Benevolent scolded: "God damn it, Jake. Where the hell have you been all morning?"

"In... back. I was helping." the bear half-defended himself, and then he yawned a bit and trudged past them, paying no attention whatsoever to either of them except to mutter: "I need some coffee..."

"Prick!" Missy shouted after him, and then she sighed as Zerrex snorted in amusement before glaring up at him. "You see the kinds of help I have around here? Claims he's a demon, once helped lift the goddamn truck back on the road, and yet now he don't do jack-shit around here!"

Zerrex, however, only shook his head in amusement, saying mildly: "Well, he is a demon. He's a Sloth demon, an Everest, though... and you can't really motivate Sloth demons to do much of anything."

Missy looked stupefied at this, and then she frowned at him as Zerrex looked mildly back, before she asked slowly: "Biggs, how the hell do you know so much about everything? Half the mortals I run into think I'm an angel just 'cause I came from Heaven and assume I got wings and all that nine yards. I reckon I don't do much to try and dissuade people from that mighty fine assumption about me but still, you recognized me no problem and now y'all know what the hell kind of demon someone is just by looking at them? You some kind of fancy-pants supernatural bounty hunter or something?"

"Yeah, that's me. A fancy-pants bounty hunter." Zerrex said mildly, and Missy grumbled before she began to pull him along once more, axe swinging easily at her side as the Drakkaren added flatly: "And it's really not all that hard once you get the basics down, by the way... besides, the reverend looked like he knows a thing or two about Heaven and Hell and all that, with the way he had all those different texts out there..."

Missy snorted in amusement at this as she pulled him down a narrow path towards a wide field filled with apple trees, the Drakkaren looking up in surprise at the size of the orchard as she said mildly: "Oh yeah, but that's just a guessing game he plays, really, and demons and angels both ain't worth shit to talk to themselves about their own... everything. But Poppa does know enough to know that I'm a Benevolent, and that getting your wings in Heaven is a real hard feat these days unless you kiss ass to the Council... and he knows that demons ain't all bad, and about Inquisitors and Punishment and all that stuff."

The reptile nodded a bit, and then Missy became more businesslike, pointing towards the edge of the field and two visibly-withered trees. "Now, see those? I need you to cut those down, and drag 'em a little ways down the path. Just ten, twenty feet or so, and then we'll burn them when you get 'em both moved."

The Drakkaren nodded a bit, glancing towards her, and Missy smiled after a moment at him, saying quietly: "As for me, I'm gonna be working the last acre or so. Won't take me long... in fact, normally I'd expect to be done before you, but you already surprised me once so I ain't gonna underestimate you again. Cut them trees down, drag 'em off, wait for me. Can you handle that?"

She thrusted the axe towards him, and the Drakkaren rolled his eyes as he took it, saying flatly: "Don't tempt me to hack you with this thing. I know even as a Benevolent you'd heal faster and can survive a lot more damage than mortals can."

"Speaking of surviving damage, you look like you've survived more than any mortal I've met... and that's saying something." Missy said softly, reaching a finger out and stroking over his chest thoughtfully, and the reptile winced and flailed at her before the country girl laughed and slapped his breast firmly, making the reptile hiss through his teeth in pain as his fractured ribs groaned. "Oh, suck it up, peachy-pie. You behave yourself today and I'll let you take me on a date tonight."

"Maybe I'm not interested in dating guys." Zerrex muttered, and Missy looked at him stupidly before she glared at him, but visibly failed to come up with a good retort, making the Drakkaren snort in entertainment before he turned and headed towards the nearest withered tree, calling easily: "I don't have any money, so you're paying, either way."

Missy shouted a nonsense vulgarity at his back and then stormed off, and the Drakkaren shook his head a bit before he touched the tree absently... and then he drew back in surprise, looking at his fingers curiously. Slowly, he reached out and touched the bark again, closing his eyes and concentrating a bit more... and he could feel the pulse of its energy, the way it connected to the ground, to everything around it, its slow decay as creatures inside it tunneled and writhed... and then he stumbled backwards and looked down at his hand again, murmuring softly: "What the hell..."

He could still sense energies... and when Zerrex closed his eyes and took a slow breath... he could vaguely sense where Missy was without having to look up, somehow... strangely sure she was still stomping away, yet her energies were excited. He couldn't sense her emotions... but nonetheless, he could tell she was in a raised state of alertness, and that she wasn't mortal. Just like he was somehow sure there was someone at the edge of the field... and the Drakkaren frowned a bit as he glanced towards the tall grasses before he hammered the head of the axe against the rotting tree, and an ugly, small apple fell from the branches above, the lizard reaching out and catching this with a slight smile at his own reflexes before he almost absently lobbed the apple towards where he could still vaguely sense the energy signature... and the apple vanished into the tall grasses before there was a loud clunk as it hit something, and a surly voice shouted: "Okay, okay, I'm up!"

A moment later, an exhausted-looking weasel slowly crawled his way out of the pushes, wearing ragged work clothes, eyes sunken and two small, triangular horns standing out of his skull. He looked moodily up, and then his eyes widened slowly as he stared at Zerrex before quickly leaping to his feet, holding his hands above his head with a squeak. "Oh shit, dude, oh shit! Listen, listen, tell Carbone I got the money, really, he doesn't have to do this!"

"Like most Greed demons, I see you're an idiot." Zerrex muttered, and he took the axe in both hands, the male immediately squealing as he covered his head with his arms... but the Drakkaren only turned and slammed the chipped blade into the trunk of the tree, satisfied by the loud crunch of bark and how deep he was able to dig the damaged axe-blade. The tree was narrow and the rotten state of it meant it was easy work, as he yanked the blade back and slammed it home again, chopping a wide triangular cut into the wood, already halfway through as the Greed demon slowly uncovered his face.

The Drakkaren slammed the axe home into the cut again, and the tree trembled and listed slightly... and Zerrex reached out to grab the body of the narrow trunk before he pulled it towards himself as he stepped out of the way, grimacing a bit as his right leg grumbled angrily at him and he held his arms over his head as several loose branches pattered down as the tree fell forwards with a loud crunch. Zerrex glanced at the base of the tree, where a bit of rubbery wood was still connecting trunk to stump, and the lizard slammed the axe into this to sever it completely before he glanced up at the now-relieved Greed demon. "Can you gather up the fallen branches and everything while I drag this away to be burned?"

"Sure, chief, no problem!" the weasel said eagerly, and Zerrex grunted before he carefully grabbed two of the larger branches, hefting the fallen tree with a grunt as the weasel dashed over and began to hurriedly pick up branches, saying quickly: "Sorry for the scare there, I... I mean, I was the one who was scared but... you know what I mean. My name's Derek, Derek Louis... are you a new farmhand? You replacing that oddball Jake? You from Temptation too?"

Zerrex smiled a little at this, saying mildly: "I camped out in the barn last night and Missy and her family helped me out a bit, so... I'm going to stick around for a few days when I sort things out. I'm not from Temptation, but I think I'm going to have to head through there and up into the mountains-"

"Oh, dude, you don't want to do that." the weasel said immediately, and Zerrex tilted his head curiously as he dropped the tree a good distance away, on a dead patch of grass where it looked things had been piled before. Derek hurried over to him, dropping his armload of branches he had gathered up, and looked up at him seriously as he said: "See, you obviously... can guess what I was doing in Temptation, if you know about the place at all. And then I took a real dumb bet, too, to go up into the mountains myself, but I barely started going up that way before I ran into what the folks around there call the Serpent Rex. It's... some kind of giant... squiggly... thing!"

Zerrex looked at the Greed demon for a moment, and then he shook his head and headed towards the axe, and Derek followed after him, the all of five-foot tall demon flailing and gesticulating wildly as he continued excitedly: "See, we all knew there were weird-ass transports and patrols and cults and shit, all kinds of crazy stuff in the mountains, but it's like that thing is guarding them, and only certain people can pass at certain times, it's crazy! They say it's a legend to stop people from going any further than Temptation but I swear to you I saw it myself, and now Carbone wants me dead because I dropped the shit I was supposed to deliver to some... castle in the mountains or something, I dunno."

The Drakkaren looked at him sharply at this, and the weasel flushed, holding his hands up and stammering: "D-Don't tell Missy, okay, I mean... it was a one-time deal, normally I don't mule shit like that and I never bring my... my work home or my home to work or-"

"Carbone knows the people in the Empyreal Throne?" Zerrex overrode him clearly, and now the weasel looked relieved, the Greed demon immediately brightening and nodding a bit.

"Yeah!" he exclaimed brightly, and then he grinned as he picked slowly at one of his yellowed teeth, looking appraisingly up and down the Drakkaren. "You know... I might even be able to cut you in. You know, you act as a kind of middle between me and Carbone until he cools down enough that he doesn't want to kill me anymore, and I fence whatever he gives to sell and shit... and you know, there's-"

"Just tell me about Carbone." Zerrex said flatly, as he picked up the axe and then half-turned to slam it into the foot of the other tree, and the weasel's eyes widened as he winced and stared at the sight of the axe buried more than halfway through the trunk, before the Drakkaren simply leaned against the handle and twisted firmly upwards, sending cracks radiating through both the stump and the body of the tree before the Drakkaren shoved his palm against it with a grunt and it slowly slumped forwards, the weasel stumbling out of the way and staring stupidly as Zerrex easily hammered one last axe blow into the bottom of the rotten tree, severing trunk from stump completely.

Derek swallowed a bit as Zerrex dropped the axe and easily grabbed one of the larger branches, and immediately the weasel started to gather other fallen branches, saying quickly: "Carbone is one of the kingpins of Temptation, he... he runs drugs and smuggles shit all over the place. There's him, Lester, and Stallone, those three run the different rackets between themselves and every now and then take out one of the smaller players who are honing in too much on their work. The reason they get along is 'cause they all handle different shit... Lester works the slavery and prostitution rings and Stallone controls the casinos and stuff.

"They... all work for one dude apparently, though, some guy who doesn't involve himself in Temptation... they're supposed to be a team of recruiters or some shit who set themselves up as underground kings when their boss wasn't looking. Every now and then people disappear, but usually they end up dead or in Lester's slave trade, but sometimes... they're just gone. Other people pop back up after months, claiming they were in the mountains working for some crazies... I dunno, it's all rumor and hearsay, though." Derek paused, looking over at the Drakkaren as the reptile tossed the tree down, and then he grinned a bit as he dropped the branches, saying slowly: "You know, I might remember more for the right price, though..."

Zerrex's response was to simply pick up one of the small, dead apple trees and then snap it in half with his bare hands, the rotten trunk breaking like a twig as his biceps bulged powerfully, and the weasel's eyes slowly widened before he pulled at his collar and mumbled: "Oh... I... I might... remember one or two tidbits more after all, yeah. Dunno if this will help you but... I tried to rush the job, it's why Carbone wants me dead. I didn't go when he told me to, I tried to take the drugs up to meet his client a few hours early, and that's when I saw the Serpent Rex. I dropped the drugs and ran like hell, but... thankfully the thing didn't follow me very far. It must be trained or some shit... but the thing barely left a goddamn mark behind itself, I shit you not."

The Drakkaren nodded after a moment with a bit of a frown, and then he headed over towards the rotten, narrow stumps, yanking the axe up from where it was buried halfway into one before he glanced over his shoulder at the weasel as he hovered curiously around the Drakkaren. "Why you so interested in that anyway? You got a beef with someone up at the top of the mountain? Because if I were you, I'd drop it. Ain't no way past the Serpent Rex."

"Then I'll just kill it." Zerrex said mildly, and Derek started to laugh... before he caught the seriousness in Zerrex's eyes even as he smiled slightly, absently resting the axe against his shoulder as he said softly: "Anything dies if you hit it enough times."

"I... I think I'm going to go now." the Greed demon grinned weakly, stepping backwards and raising his hands, and then he turned and bolted as Zerrex rolled his eyes. He was glad he had the extra information... but all the same... now it just seemed like things were going to be even harder, as he sighed a bit and let his eyes slowly close, brushing his ivory hair back and shaking it out with a grimace. He could feel it tickling against the middle of his back... but he couldn't remember how long it had been when he'd gone into battle, so it was impossible to guess how fast it was growing. He was healing ridiculously fast for a mortal, too, though... but not nearly as fast as he had even back as a demon, the lizard shaking his head slowly and knowing that maybe there was a second blessing in this delay he was suffering after all. He was mortal again: he had to remember the limitations that came with.

He had to eat... to sleep... and he would take time to heal. His body would tire quickly instead of showing endless reserves of stamina, his eyes could no longer see in the dark, magic didn't work and he couldn't alter reality... and the Drakkaren held out a hand in front of himself, then grimaced when he only achieved a few weak sparks of energy above his palm. His energy powers had been stolen, too, and those he had actually possessed when mortal... but then he paused and frowned a bit, glancing upwards thoughtfully. Wait, no. I could sense... can still sense... energy signatures. I'm still receptive to them... to a point where I can even detect how alert a person is, even if I can't read their emotions. It doesn't feel like I can create a sphere, but...

Zerrex held his hand up, clenching it into a fist as he concentrated... and his muscles flexed, pain whispering through the limb for a moment before they began to shimmer faintly with faint blue radiance, and the Drakkaren smiled grimly before he slammed his aura-shrouded fist down into the stump... and it shattered like glass, the Drakkaren grunting at this before he rose his hand and flexed it slowly, his knuckles only faintly stinging. He was starting to understand now: he had lost his major abilities, perhaps, but he could still concentrate his own energies and sense others... and then he winced as he heard a crash, looking dumbly over to see Missy gaping at him, a basket of apples overturned at her feet before the Drakkaren wildly shook his glowing arm until the aura faded, grinning dumbly: "Spontaneous combustion?"

"What the fuck was that?" Missy blurted, and then she cursed and almost tripped on the apple basket before glaring at it and flipping it back upright, rapidly gathering the apples back into it as she muttered: "You're just full of surprises, ain't you? Strong as an ox and knowing so much about the not-mortal and now showing off some weird kind of supernatural powers, what the hell are you, Biggs?"

She looked up at him querulously, and the Drakkaren shrugged a bit before the female stormed over, the Benevolent snatching the axe away from him and tossing it aside before she prodded his chest firmly, saying flatly: "You got five seconds to give me a damn good answer or I'm gonna wrassle you to the ground and make you beg for your mommy, you hear me? One-"

"Okay, enough!" Zerrex said flatly, holding his hands up, and then he sighed a bit, rubbing at his face awkwardly and muttering: "I wasn't... I mean, I was a mortal. Then I wasn't and now... I'm mortal again. They stole what makes me... me, up on top of that mountain."

"The disappearances! Maybe that's what they're doing, that damn cult!" Missy exclaimed, and she began to dance back and forth, grinning widely and throwing fists at the air as Zerrex stared at her dumbly. "What a rush! We should high-tail it up there ourselves and slug it out and get you your powers back... I bet you was a demon, wasn't you? What were you, Wrath? Pride? Or maybe Lust?"

She grinned at him, leaning in close, and Zerrex reached up and grabbed her shoulders, saying quietly: "I know you have good intentions, Missy, but these are not people you want to tangle with. You're a Benevolent. It's not just demons and angels up there, it's Strange Beasts. You can't get involved."

"Dammit, I ain't no little girl!" Missy shouted and shoved him backwards, and then she shook her head vehemently, saying sharply: "My whole damn life I've wanted to be something more... when I was growing up under the rich girl's roof, I dreamed of getting out of there... and I did for all of six months after my mother died 'fore that big storm of shit hit the world and killed me dead. I went to Heaven and hated it, all I wanted was to leave, it was like being stuck back in the fancy-pants house all over again, except this time my dumb greedy mother had finally gotten out of debt with everything and everyone and had managed to find her way into some strange rich angel's bed and gotten herself all the luxury she felt she deserved.

"I don't want luxury, though, I want adventure, and competition, but the Vanguard wouldn't accept no newbie and Benevolent ain't allowed to join the ranks of the Angelic Army, not 'lessen they wanna clean slop or be a grunt. I don't wanna be a grunt, I wanna be an adventurer!" Missy clenched her hands into fists, and Zerrex half-admired, half-pitied the childishness that had seemingly never died out of this brave and brazen country girl. "I don't care how hard it'd be... and... goddammit, I love it here, I'd wanna return here, but I wanna live, too. Don't you get it? I wanna live."

"If you want to live, Missy, then you should live here. And not die trying to climb that mountain." Zerrex said quietly, and the golden retriever looked up at him, trembling a bit as he grasped her arms gently. "I lived a life full of adventure, you know. And while I wouldn't change it... don't think that I don't strive for a boring life these days. Trouble... just keeps finding me. And I've lost... so many friends now." He looked away, watching as a breeze ruffled through the apple orchard, eyes closing. "It's not always worth it, Missy. Not when you realize that the more successful you are... the more your friends will be put into danger."

Missy looked at him silently for a few moments... and then she beat her hands against his chest quietly before sighing and pushing at him, muttering: "You should still let me help, you asshole."

"And I will. But you aren't going to come with me." Zerrex said emphatically, and the female grumbled a bit before they glared at each other... but then the reptile shook his head a bit, walking over and picking up the basket of apples. "Come on. Let's finish up work here. We got that date tonight, don't we?"

That cheered the golden retriever up a little... and she perked up more as Zerrex helped her in the orchards, harvesting apples and inspecting trees. While they worked, the Drakkaren thought quietly about his own words, knowing more and more he was going to need help... and he settled finally on the one person he knew he could contact safely with the summoning circle, although it might still attract unwanted attention. He would do it tonight... and as they moved from picking apples to the two standing side-by-side as they set the dead trees aflame and watched them burn and smolder inside a safety ring of wetted grass and piled up-dirt, the reptile knew that Missy has thoughts of her own in mind.

She surprised him by keeping quiet, however... at least until they were heading back to the house, and then she turned around and stopped him at the bottom of the stairs, saying firmly: "Stay right there. I'm going to go and get my purse and the keys for the truck, and we'll go out for ice cream and you're gonna tell me more about yourself, you hear?"

Zerrex grumbled a bit at her, but then he nodded, and she nodded firmly back before turning and heading into the house... and the Drakkaren glanced off to the side, rubbing absently at his head before he frowned a bit at the sight of the Sloth demon from earlier sitting against one of the supports and snoring quietly away. The reptile inspected the Everest for a few moments... and then he walked towards him and booted him lightly in the hip, but he only grunted and shifted a little, snorting and then continuing to snore loudly in his sleep.

The reptile shook his head a bit, then he glanced up as Missy came out of the house, running quickly down the stairs with a messenger bag thrown awkwardly over one shoulder and a set of keys jangling in her hand as she motioned towards the pickup, saying easily: "Come on, Biggs, let's get moving. Don't you go ordering too much shit, either, I only get paid so much you know since I'm kind of doing this as a favor for Momma and Poppa. I swear, I'm in my forties and I still feel like and get treated like a damn kid."

"You still look like a damn kid, too, you know." Zerrex remarked, but Missy smiled and obviously took this as a compliment as she gazed over at him with entertainment, the Drakkaren rubbing slowly at his face as he walked with her towards the truck. "How old do I look to you, out of curiosity?"

"I dunno. Forties, maybe your fifties? You seem like you're in too decent shape for that, but I guess if you ain't lying about this 'stealing powers' shit up on top of the mountain, maybe you got lucky. They say up in Heaven that after you die, you permanently 'lock-in' to the age you felt your best at, right? I dunno how true that goes in Hell too, though."

"The physical soul takes on the appearance of the age it was best represented by, yeah." Zerrex said softly, smiling a little over at the female as he reached the passenger side door... and then he grimaced at how small the interior of the pickup truck looked, and instead he grabbed the side of the back of the truck and vaulted easily into the bed, wincing a little at the twinge his bad leg gave as he sat back against the rear window as Missy sat comfortably in the driver's side and popped the rear window open, looking amusedly out at him with a grin. "I'm not going to fit in there. I didn't even know they made trucks with fronts that small."

"Welcome to Lailland. Believe me, this was the biggest one Poppa could find, too." Missy said amusedly, and then she shook her head a bit and started the engine, saying softly: "I ain't gonna pretend I understand how the hell this all happens. How we can be souls... and yet not, at the same time: how the hell we can even exist, all things considered." She halted as she glanced ahead, making sure all was clear up ahead before she drove along the tire prints in the ground, rumbling forwards as Zerrex grunted at the lack of shocks as he was bounced up and down. "So how long were you dead for? You an old-timer demon?"

"I ain't now, am I?" Zerrex grumbled, and he winced a bit as he bounced again before shaking his head a little, saying quietly: "Been a lot of years since I died. Pre-Merge, too, so... that's a lot more years right there, if you know about the old time differences between everything."

The female nodded a little, replying easily: "Yeah, I thought they were legend, too... just like that Zerrex guy, wasn't he really just an allegory or something? I mean, when you mention him to some demons, they say he's just some Ambassador working for the new High Monarch... and a lot of people talk about how he was always supposed to be involved in this battle or that, but the official records are really hard to get because some historian or another is always trying to get his hands on them to examine the events."

The Drakkaren grunted, and Missy continued curiously: "So why him? I mean, everyone knows the legend, you can't fool anyone. They say he's a huge Dragokkaren, all covered in muscle and handsome despite his scars, that he bears a tattoo from the evil things he did in life before he changed. He's supposed to be a metaphor for redemption, I thought."

The lizard snorted in amusement at this, tilting his head and asking with a bit of a grin: "Tell me more about what you've heard about him."

"Well... uh... lessee. They said that he became High King because he was able to single-handedly defeat Hell's previous ruler-to-be, and uh... he had about a thousand children, but his bloodline was diluted through the years, and twenty wives and even a few loyal husbands and stuff. That's kind of weird, ain't it, having all those wives and kids? I mean, what the fuck do you do for your anniversary?" Missy glanced through the window as the Drakkaren laughed. "Well, okay, I know the Hell culture is different, and that even here in Lailland you had mortals who had multiple wives but shit. I think about it, and it don't make me sick or nothing... hell, I wouldn't mind being in a kind of relationship where I could have an occasional fling with some hot dude myself and be comfortable with it... but still, marriage, that's heavy, you know?"

She glanced back ahead as they passed onto a dirt road, but continued to speak loudly and clearly as she drove forwards, Zerrex listening with interest. "Anyway, they say that... he was the one who put a stop to the Old Gods who were attacking, but he vanished. A lot of people say the rumor is the Old Gods took him in when they fled, because they were so impressed with him, and bestowed great power on him. He was supposed to have come back after that big battle and restored the planet mostly by himself with all that power... but they say that then he went into seclusion, because he was betrayed by the world, and now he lives in Hell with countless Disciples and soldiers, in his own little nation."

The Drakkaren smiled a little, shaking his head a bit as he said softly: "People and their stories. It's rarely the truth, you know."

"I know, Biggs, but people like a good story. You seemed to get a kick out of it." Missy retorted, and then she smiled and nodded, saying easily: "Look up ahead, there's the place."

The lizard glanced over the cab curiously, and he rested his arms on the roof of the truck, the wind in his face blowing his hair pleasantly back as he saw they were approaching a large wooden building, with a small, metallic food stand beside this that was still open. The sun was starting to set, and the reptile thought their timing couldn't be better: there were only a few cars and a handful of old motorcycles parked out front, and from the 'For Sale' sign in front of the latter, the Drakkaren guessed they didn't belong to any of the customers as he eyed them with interest.

Missy pulled the truck to a halt in front of the small metal food stand, and when Zerrex looked down in surprise as his stomach rumbled, she laughed and grinned at him from the window. "Fine, guess you worked enough to earn a good meal too. Dinner and dessert, I could use a meal myself, anyway."

The Drakkaren looked at her with embarrassment as he jackknifed the side of the truck, wincing expectantly as he landed on his right leg... but the throb was less this time, and the reptile guessed he was getting used to the old quirks of his body as he walked forwards and said lamely: "Look, you don't have to-"

"Oh stop that." Missy grabbed his arm and entwined it with her own as she pulled him forwards, saying amusedly: "You feel so badly about it, you can pay me back by-"

And then a scream went up from inside the wooden building before one of the windows shattered as a chair flew through it, a minotaur half-falling, half-leaping out in the wake of this with a curse and landing heavily on the broken glass. A ski-mask half-covered his face and was awkwardly caught on one of his horns, and he was clutching a backpack in one hand as his leather jacket flopped around him, bills streaming out of this as the Drakkaren gritted his teeth and immediately shook Missy off, the female only able to stare as the reptile ran forwards even as the minotaur looked stupidly up-

The lizard leapt into the air and slammed both feet into the minotaur's face, and his head snapped backwards as he was knocked sprawling with a howl of pain as Zerrex landed with a grunt in a kneel, wincing a bit at the pain that went through his body... but the satisfaction of watching the larger, burlier male skid painfully across the rickety patio more than made up for it as his gun was knocked loose from his hand... and then the lizard's eyes widened as a Salamander kicked the door open and then half-covered his head with a curse when a loud shotgun blast went up behind him, a voice inside screaming: "Thieves! Thieves! Th-"

It was cut off as there was a smaller but somehow worse bang, followed by a crash... and then another demon leapt through the window... and Zerrex's eyes widened as he recognized the cheetah in the leather jacket as one of the Craven from the night before, a handgun dangling from his grip and another pack that was leaking bills across his back as he stared in shock at the Drakkaren... before Zerrex leapt forwards and tackled him, but the cheetah only staggered backwards with a curse before he slammed a fist into Zerrex's stomach, shattering one of his already-damaged lower ribs and making the lizard cough blood before he was shoved off and the Craven rose his handgun with a curse.

Zerrex, however, leapt forwards and slammed his shoulder into the half-demon's breast, making him stumble before the lizard slammed his right fist across the cheetah's face, and the Craven staggered with a snarl of pain, blood bursting from his nose. The Salamander was running forwards too now, however, and Zerrex's eyes widened before he seized the dazed cheetah by his jacket and simply threw him into the larger, burlier demon, and the two became tangled with each other even as the Salamander swung his crowbar stupidly as he fell.

Zerrex easily slid out of the way, but caught the crowbar as it went by, yanking it free from the Salamander's grip before he crushed the Craven beneath him under his burly body, and the cheetah howled as his handgun went flying. Without hesitating, Zerrex flipped the crowbar as the Salamander began to look up, and he slammed the J-shaped business end of it hard down into the demon's skull, shattering it like a ripe fruit and sending up a burst of blood as Missy screamed in shock behind him.

The minotaur, meanwhile, looked up in shock, and instead of scrambling for his revolver, he turned to bolt... but Zerrex only slammed a foot into the other side of the Salamander's head, knocking him rolling onto the pavement with a gargle of agony as he clutched at his broken skull before the Drakkaren threw the crowbar forwards into the minotaur's legs, and the demon was tripped up by it, yelling wordlessly as he fell forwards and whacked his head off the hood of a car, crumpling to the ground. Only the Craven still seemed ready to fight, the cheetah snarling as he leapt to his feet and pulled a butterfly knife out of his jacket... but just as he began to flip it open, the lizard stepped forwards and slammed a left hook hard into his kidney, making the half-demon wheeze and his fingers stutter, catching on the hinge mechanism of the knife and only pinching himself painfully as the blade clacked loudly.

Then the Drakkaren slammed his foot into the cheetah's knee, an d the half-demon's eyes watered as this bent backwards, falling to a kneel and almost breaking his fingers in the butterfly knife as it caught in his fur... and before he could do anything else, the Drakkaren seized the ram's horn twisting out one side of his skull and yanked firmly on this, the feline howling in misery and embarrassment when the Drakkaren twisted slightly, cracks forming near the base as he snarled: "Don't make this any worse!"

"Okay, okay, I... I give!" the cheetah pleaded, beginning to raise his hands... and then he snapped the butterfly knife suddenly upwards, this time managing to pop the blade into a locked position before he stabbed forwards into Zerrex's stomach, and the reptile hissed in agony and grabbed at the wound left by the thin steel blade, cursing as blood spilled through his fingers before the cheetah leapt up and tackled him with a snarl, trying to force the knife down towards the lizard's throat as he snarled: "Fucking asshole, I'll teach you to fuck with me!"

Then a foot smashed into the cheetah's face, crunching in his muzzle and half-flipping him onto his back, his nose nothing but a bloody crater as he screamed in misery and seized at his broken face, jerking back and forth as tears spilled from his eyes, and Missy shouted angrily: "You stupid sons of bitches ain't got a lick of common decency! Biggs, damn, you okay?"

Zerrex only shook his head a bit as he sat up, rubbing slowly at the thin wound and coughing a bit... but he thought he'd gotten off lucky. The bleeding already felt like it was stopping... and it didn't feel like any organs had been pierced by the narrow blade, as he shakily managed to stand up. It throbbed painfully, but he was far from agonized before he looked up as an elderly mortal emerged in the doorway, the female still clenching her shotgun but bleeding heavily from a nasty shoulder wound, her arm hanging limply. "I'm fine, Missy, get her to lay down and tend to her, call the paramedics if you have any in the area..."

Missy hesitated, but then nodded as the shopkeeper looked up weakly, and the Benevolent soothed her as she took the gun from her and then automatically tossed it to Zerrex. The reptile caught the shotgun with a half-smile to her, glad that he hadn't even had to ask... and then he pointed it towards the minotaur when he started to get slowly up, the male looking over his shoulder with a tremble, ski-mask splattered with blood as the reptile said softly: "Take the backpack off, and your jacket for good measure so I can see you don't have any other prizes hidden on you. Then run. Don't go to Temptation, don't go to your bosses in Empyreal Throne. If I see you again, I'll cut your horns off. Understood?"

"Y-Yeah, I... yeah, I'm going look, see?" the minotaur babbled in terror, shrugging the backpack off as he stared at the barrel of the shotgun, shivers wracking his body before he almost tore his jacket off, tossing it aside on the patio before he stood up, and then he reached down to his pockets, turning them inside out and spilling coins and a wallet and an old watch out as he babbled: "Look, see! Everything take... take everything, just... dude, let me live... I'm... I'm going, okay? See? I'm going, you'll never see my face again!"

And then the minotaur turned and bolted, and Zerrex shook his head slowly before he looked down at the cheetah, who was staring up at him with horror as the Salamander lay beside him, twitching a little bit. The Drakkaren grimaced at the sight of the demon: he had broken the creature's skull open like the shell of an egg, and he didn't think the Salamander was going to live through the night... and if he did, he probably wasn't going to ever be in what you'd call 'fit' condition ever again. "You're one of the Craven who helped kidnap me. Funny, seeing a mercenary knocking over a ma-and-pa store like this."

The cheetah frowned a bit through the blood covering his broken face... and then he slowly paled, his eyes widening as he began to shake his head in disbelief, croaking: "No... no... no fucking way... we... Iron, and the big boss... you... you're supposed to be mortal!"

"The scary thing is I am mortal." Zerrex reached down and grasped the shotgun with both hands now, raising it to his shoulder as he pumped a shell into the chamber, and the cheetah began to hyperventilate as the Drakkaren asked softly: "Guess that means I start with a clean slate, huh? Wanna help me earn my way back down to Hell? Killing in cold blood's a good way to get there."

"Wait, wait, oh fuck!" the Craven shoved himself backwards... and then his eyes snapped to the side, and Zerrex frowned a bit before the half-demon lunged for his handgun... and the Drakkaren only shook his head slowly, watching as the cheetah's body lunged through the air, turning slightly as his arm reached almost slowly past the Salamander's fallen body... and then a single shot rang out as the Drakkaren fired the shotgun almost point-blank into his exposed back, and the mercenary screamed in horror as he fell overtop the Salamander, the Craven bucking and gargling as blood ran out of his jaws and his eyes stared sightlessly before he shivered, then slowly slumped forwards. Demons, even Craven, were much more durable than mortals... but even a half-demon couldn't take having its spine being blown through its stomach by buckshot at close range without inevitably dying from the experience.

The Drakkaren ejected the empty shell from the shotgun, then shook his head slowly and muttered: "Not like I was going to get any information out of you anyway, was I?" He paused, then knelt by the half-demon's corpse and rolled it off the Salamander, who was now splattered with his ally's blood as well as his own. The reptile pulled the mercenary's jacket open, ignoring both the look of horror and the blood and gore slowly soaking through his black shirt, as well as the moans of shock and terror from the gawkers gawking... and then he pulled out a wallet out of his jacket and flipped through his ID cards.

The Craven had exceptionally well-forged fake IDs... only instinct told him they were fake, and the fact that Elysium would never hand out real ID badges to half-demons as violent as this one. He also still had his mortal driver's license from only a few years back, and the Drakkaren thought this pointed to accelerated demonic growth... which was likely why he had become a Craven. Someone had tampered with the process, maybe even turned him into a half-demon while he was still mortal... and the reptile shook his head slowly as he tucked the IDs into his pocket, and he finally sighed a bit as he removed the money from the wallet as well, tossing the wallet down and muttering: "Rest in peace. At least it looks like there's enough here to repair the damage you did to this store... even if you can't give that poor mortal her safety back."

He shook his head slowly, then gathered up the money he could and the backpacks, heading into the store and putting these and the bills on the counter... and the Drakkaren gazed back and forth curiously before he followed the sound of Missy's soothing voice towards a back room. She was treating the elderly female here... and Zerrex peeked his head in, then smiled a bit when the shopkeeper gazed up at him thankfully and motioned to him quickly with her good arm, looking much less pale already now that she was sitting down and had a glass of water and some pills beside her, whispering: "Oh thank you. Thank you sir... and you too, Missy, oh... it's so good you two showed up when you did! I called the sheriff's office, he's going to be here in just a jiff, and so will the medical examiner, but... god knows they can't do anything with how all of Temptation is run by crooks and vandals. I'm just so glad that you saved my store... can I ever repay you? I really insist that I must give you something, anything..."

The Drakkaren only smiled awkwardly at this, however, glancing back and forth before he carefully put the shotgun in an empty rack hanging on the wall of the small bedroom, and he said finally: "You really don't-"

"Now, don't be offending us gentle country folk by refusing to let us help a poor needy fool like you out, Biggs." Missy said firmly, and she looked thoughtfully at the Drakkaren, adding mildly: "Besides, you could use some real clothes, for one thing, and something other than those silly galoshes I got you wearing. Or heck, maybe one of them bikes you've been trying to sell for years, Mrs. Crawford, or is that askin' too much?"

"Those bikes are just rusting out there, no one else is interested... and you two saved my store and my life, that's almost asking too little!" the elderly female replied empathetically, and then she smiled up at Zerrex, her messy gray hair falling around her muzzle as she asked quietly: "Would that be okay, dear? Take one, take any one you like... and you and Missy can help yourselves to anything else in the store, too. They almost robbed me blind, took all the money in the vault... it's the least I can offer you two."

Zerrex nodded after a moment at this, realizing he might not get a better chance at transportation... and Missy smiled warmly, slapping Zerrex on the hip. "Then go on and pick one out, and wait out front for the sheriff. Just be nice and honest about what happened and don't be a butt, I'll join you once I'm done making sure Mrs. Crawford here is okay."

The Drakkaren nodded after a moment, and then he rubbed absently at the wound in his stomach before Missy frowned a bit, the retriever asking quietly as the reptile turned to leave: "You sure you're okay? You should at least disinfect that..."

"I've had a lot worse. I'll bandage it up, don't worry." Zerrex smiled a little over his shoulder at her, and then he nodded politely to the elderly shopkeeper before leaving, heading back into the store and grimacing a little as he glanced through the aisles. They were in a disarray... but as he wandered into the shelves, neatening things here and there, he was able to locate the bandages and basic medical supplies pretty quickly, picking up a bottle of peroxide and some cotton ball as well as some white cloth tape.

The Drakkaren made his way outside, and he sat down at the edge of the window with a quiet grunt as he carefully poured some of the disinfectant onto the cotton, before leaning back slightly and closing his eyes as he spilled it over the wound... and he cursed under his breath at the unfamiliar pain and burning sensation. It had been a long, long time since he had to do this... and yet he remembered the process like yesterday, as a bit of blood burbled out of the wound and it seemed to fizz lightly, before the Drakkaren quickly but gently wiped around the edges of the hole, cleaning blood off his scales. Once it was clean, it didn't look half as bad... and the reptile wheezed a bit as he put several cotton balls against the wound and then applied the cloth tape to hold them in place. The bleeding had mostly staunched already, thankfully: surprising, but the reptile had to admit he was glad for it.

The lizard put the medical supplies down after a moment, carefully getting back to his feet as the few gawkers looked at both him and the bodies on the ground warily... but the Drakkaren ignored them as he headed over towards the bikes parked at the side of the building. Only two of them were larger models, meant for larger people like him... and the Drakkaren was drawn towards one of these, what looked like an old Lunis police model, streamlined and advanced. He fumbled at it until he found a side panel, and popped it open to see it used an energy cell as its power source... and was thankfully fully-charged, the reptile grunting and nodding a little in approval.

There was a little bit of rust, but it otherwise seemed in fairly good condition... and the Drakkaren glanced along it, wishing he had gotten Priest to teach him more about motorcycles. He had always been okay at fixing the little things here and there and keeping it in good shape... but he had never been able to handle the bigger problems, much as he'd babied his armored bike between using it horribly. The lizard smiled a little at these thoughts... and then he glanced up as Missy approached and crossed her arms, looking at him and saying softly: "I guess I may have misjudged you a little... maybe you aren't just all talk after all. Maybe you're even a better guy than I was hoping."

The Drakkaren snorted in amusement at this, and then he smiled a little and nudged her lightly, asking with soft entertainment: "What was your first clue?"

The female only smiled slightly, however, shaking her head and replying flatly: "Now don't go ruining all my conceptions of you all at once, you big jerk. Why did you do that, though? Any other person... even me... would have just stood by and let it happen."

"You didn't stand by and let me get knifed." Zerrex replied softly, and Missy blushed a little as she glanced down, but then she only looked up with visible relief as a police car rumbled down the road and pulled into the parking lot, the lights flashing on top but no siren blazing, followed closely by a large, deep-blue van.

The reptile watched curiously as the door of the police car opened and a tired-looking snake emerged, sighing loudly as he rubbed slowly at his face before resting an old, well-worn officer's cap on the slope of his skull that was obviously much older than the rest of the lithe male. His long, thick tail trailed behind him as he walked forwards, feet quietly striding through the gravel as he leaned on the hood of his car and looked at the broken corpse and dying Salamander... and then his brown eyes glanced up and over towards Missy and Zerrex, and he looked at them meditatively as the golden badge pinned to his uniform sparkled faintly in the lowering light before he gestured at them, the mortal clearly exhausted.

The two approached, and the snake nodded to the corpses as a rabbit in a white, ugly uniform carried several black body-bags towards the dead bodies, clearly unfettered with his work as he tossed them down and then roughly rolled the Craven's corpse over. Zerrex was surprised it hadn't deteriorated worse than it already had, considering the nasty habit of demon bodies to rot quickly away... but at the same time, it only went to further prove that it was likely a mortal who had become a demon without dying first, which made the rules a little different. "You two. I heard you were both involved in this... Missy, you wanna explain this to me?"

Missy blushed, but then Zerrex stepped forwards, saying quietly: "No, it was me. All Missy did was knock the Craven off me so he couldn't kill me... I did everything else."

The snake looked at him for a moment, and then the sheriff sighed and closed his eyes when there was an ugly crunch, and Zerrex looked up in shock to see that the medical examiner had just stomped on the Salamander's head and whiffed out whatever life had been left in the demon, the Drakkaren staring in shock as the Salamander's corpse began to rot immediately and the rabbit only looked distastefully down at the putrefying body. "Rules around Temptation are different, Mister... Biggs, is it?"

"Yeah..." Zerrex said slowly, watching as the rabbit brushed his hands off, then fumbled at his uniform. He put a cigarette in his muzzle, rolling it between his lips before he lit it, and then he went back to work, not seeming to care that he was dripping ash now and then on the bodies as folded the corpse and the remains of the Salamander's rotted form into their respective body-bags. "Not to preach-"

"Then don't." the Sheriff cut him off curtly, and then he reached up and took his hat off, rubbing a hand slowly over his smooth, emerald-scaled skull... except Zerrex saw it wasn't entirely smooth, a deep scar running down one side of his head as he said dryly: "Listen, even two years ago... things weren't like this. It was a peaceful little town, Temptation, Lailland, a melting pot like all the colonies are, of all different people from across the goddamn world. Lots from Ire, lots of natives from here, even people like me, who came from the far, far south. You don't have to tell me what just happened back there was wrong. I come from a nation where killing bugs is wrong, and I was raised in that system of religion and belief. But this place, Temptation... everything's gone sour. Everything's gone topsy-turvy, and I can't even uphold the law because everyone's a fucking criminal and when I arrest someone, some politician or scumbag lawyer has them out five minutes later... sometimes literally. It's a cannibal town, and you best stay out of there... because it's spreading. This just shows that the sickness is spreading."

He gestured with disgust, then sighed a bit and looked up at the darkening sky. "Anyway, I don't care. Self-defense, and you saved the life of an old lady who lost her husband to Temptation already. I can respect that. I ain't gonna hold that against either of you... Missy, I know you're good stock, and if you hold company with this stranger, I guess he can't be all that bad either. But I'd like a word with you, Biggs, if you don't mind, little Missy."

"Not at all. Listen, Biggs, I'll go get the keys for that motorcycle and put us together a little take-home dinner, okay?" Missy looked at him, trying to smile, but she seemed worried nonetheless... and the Drakkaren didn't have to ask her why, as his eyes travelled past the solemn sheriff to watch as the rabbit dragged one of the body-bags through the stained blood on the pavement towards the medical van, still with that same bored look on his face.

He nodded nonetheless, though, and patted her gently on the shoulder... and the Benevolent nodded back after a moment before heading towards the store, giving both the examiner and the corpses a wide berth as the snake looked at him squarely and said softly: "I'm giving you this warning to protect you, stranger. Stay away from Temptation... I warn everyone in these parts about that, because the place is only getting stranger and stranger... sometimes, I think it's even starting to get in my own head, no matter how much I fight it." He stopped, looking down quietly and brushing his cap off silently, and then he put it back on his skull, sighing softly as Zerrex's eyes roved over it, seeing letters he didn't understand. "My father... used to be a peacekeeper. I keep this on to remind me that whether or not he's watching me, I gotta honor his memory. The only things I can do to keep the peace in this place is either let the thieves kill each other and warn everyone else to steer clear.

"You got a dangerous look about you, Biggs. I don't mean because you're big and strong enough to take on demons and win, even if they were obviously nothing but lousy cowards. I mean that when I look into your eyes, I see something scary in there. You look like a mortal on the outside, maybe you even are, but if I've learned anything... it's that you can't judge a book by its cover or even what section it's in, especially not these days." The snake paused, looking down before he muttered vindictively: "I used to think my religion was full of shit. That every form of life was equal and important... but more and more these days, I'm seeing flies killing gods and demons getting knifed in the back by angels, literally and figuratively. I've learned you gotta peer into someone's soul to really judge what they can do... and you got this look in your eyes that tells me killing you would take a whole lot of firepower... and that it might not be enough to do more than stop you up for a day or two. You got a look in your eye that says you're after someone's throat... and part of why I'm warning you to stay out of Temptation is because no matter how righteous your revenge seems, that town has a way all its own of twisting you on your head and turning you into everything you hate."

Zerrex looked for a few moments at the sheriff, and then the snake shook his head slowly before he turned and opened the door of his police car, sliding into his seat and then slamming the door... but he only sat silently behind the tinted window, and the Drakkaren looked for a few moments at the serpent before he stepped backwards. He grimaced as his foot struck something, and he looked down in surprise to see the revolver the minotaur had been wielding, the Drakkaren bending and picking this up before he knocked on the window of the police car and held the slightly-scratched gun up... but the serpent only glanced at him before he shook his head and looked away, and the lizard sighed a bit before he popped the cylinder open, glancing down at the five bullets in the chamber before snapping it closed and holding it loosely in his fingers as he examined it slowly again. Metal grip, plain steel barrel, a bit ugly, probably a .357... but maybe it'll come in handy.

He shook his head a bit, then looked up as Missy emerged, tossing a set of keys towards him... and the reptile caught them on reflex, the Benevolent jerking her head towards the truck as she held up a large plastic bag in her other hand and called awkwardly: "I'll take the truck, you take the bike... you gonna be okay driving?"

The reptile touched his side... but then he nodded a bit, smiling despite himself. He'd probably disturb the wound a little, but he'd done worse... and right now, his ribs throbbed a little more than his stomach did as he waved to her awkwardly and headed towards the row of motorcycles, glancing down at the pair of keys jingling quietly in his palm.

He opened the storage compartment on the back of the motorcycle first, tossing the revolver into this with a grimace before slamming the small door shut. It clicked locked, and then the Drakkaren carefully wheeled the motorcycle forwards, surprised there wasn't even a tire lock on it... but then again, they were on the back roads here, and few people would be interested in trying to hotwire and steal a motorcycle when trucks were the much saner and cheaper choice on these back roads. If anything, it sounded like Mrs. Crawford had been unable to even give the bikes away... and so it surprised the lizard all the more when he started the ignition and the motorcycle rumbled to life, the engine not laboring in the slightest: despite the rust on the outer body, it sounded like the insides had been well-maintained over all the years that had passed.

The lizard twisted the throttle slightly, rumbling out onto the dusty road on the heavy, studded tires, and he smiled a little at the sensation: he had missed this. Nice as it was to be able to instantly go everywhere, he had missed his motorcycle, the feel of it, the sensations... and he watched as Missy guided her truck out and then motioned irritably at him as she began to rumble down the road, and the Drakkaren took off after her, the motorcycle growling beneath him as he quickly caught up to the truck and pulled slowly alongside her despite the fair clip she was driving at, the golden retriever looking surprised before Zerrex winked and let himself fall back behind the truck, passing behind her and then driving up on the passenger side before cutting sharply in front of her, seeming to appear out of nowhere and making the female curse and half-brake before she growled at him.

He laughed as she accelerated threateningly on the tail of the motorcycle, but he easily picked up speed, keeping a narrow gap between them and letting his worries fall away as the open wind rushed around him, smiling and closing his eyes as he tilted his head back... and it was like the motorcycle was guiding him instead of him guiding the vehicle as his eyes opened and he easily swerved around a pothole that Missy ran over, the truck jouncing loudly and making her curse again in frustration before Zerrex let the motorcycle draw back a bit, driving side-by-side with her as she called irritably: "Are you done showing off?"

"Hey, I'm relaxing for once, leave me alone!" Zerrex shouted back over the wind, and then he smiled as she shook her head amusedly, letting her take the lead again. For the Drakkaren, the ride back to the farmstead was too short... and he was almost loathe to leave the motorcycle as Missy parked in front of the barn and the Drakkaren drove a little further onwards to curve around the side of the ramshackle structure, halting in some weeds and carefully dismounting before he pulled the keys from the ignition and stroked a hand slowly over the cloth seat with a smile.

"Now, you as a biker, that's a little less surprising." Missy said softly, and Zerrex turned around to see the retriever standing by the barn, looking at him with strange softness before she held up the plastic bag, saying quietly: "Let's sit and talk a little. Maybe you can get over shit like just happened so fast but me... well... I ain't seen much stuff like that before."

The Drakkaren nodded after a moment to her, softening a bit as the female opened the tailgate of the truck, and she pulled herself up to sit on it before the lizard joined her, sitting beside her as she pulled out several bags of chips and a pair of hamburgers that were neatly wrapped in napkins, the retriever smiling awkwardly at him. "Hope you don't mind they're just catsup. I wasn't sure what you liked otherwise."

The reptile nodded, saying softly: "Nah, that's no problem at all." He took a bite, relishing the taste of it as he chewed slowly, and then he smiled a little as he closed his eyes. "Microwave burgers, right? You just threw these in while I was talking with the Sheriff, huh?"

"Yeah. You're pretty observant." Missy glanced at him curiously for a few moments before she took a bite of her own burger, chewing slowly. She swallowed, then rummaged in the plastic bag again before pulling out a bottle of cola, saying softly: "Here. Since... you know. You don't drink and all."

"Thanks for remembering." Zerrex smiled a bit more at her, taking it and easily opening the plastic top with his teeth, and for a few moments the two ate in silence before the Drakkaren nudged her gently, saying softly: "You know you probably saved my life today, right?"

"It's what decent folk would do. You sure made me feel like a fool, though... all my big talk about adventure, all your talk about being a silly little girl about it... and you're the one that goes and kicks their asses." Missy smiled faintly, glancing down and rubbing at her face slowly as she looked embarrassed. "And maybe it's because being around Temptation and the way people get crazier the closer you get to it is... getting to me, too... but... I heard you kill that demon, and I didn't... even care. Is that wrong?"

"Yes and no." Zerrex said softly, looking up at the darkening sky overhead, and Missy looked at him curiously as the reptile took a bite of his burger and chewed meditatively, then he answered finally: "When... you stop caring entirely, when you start forgetting that all life has value... then it becomes bad, and wrong. But sometimes it's necessary to not care for... for even just a little while when it's kill or be killed. It's important, though, to always remember... that you're taking a life. Another real life, that lived, cried, laughed... and now died. That it had value once, even when they're scum, because who knows what made them that way. That makes it harder to kill... makes it hurt to kill. But at the same time, it's a lot better than becoming a sociopath and losing sight of what's important in the long run. I'd rather feel pain and know part of me still has a living soul than... become numb to everyone and everything in the world."

Missy nodded a little after a moment, looking at him before she reached out and touched his wrist gently, saying quietly: "You knew them, didn't you? You said something about the fortress way up in the mountains... they were the ones who did this to you, weren't they?"

"They took my powers. Much of everything else... I have only myself to blame for." Zerrex said softly, gesturing at himself before he finished the hamburger in two more large bites, and he smiled at her, saying quietly: "Thanks for everything, Missy. For helping take care of me when it's been so long I can barely remember how to properly watch out for my stupid mortal self. It means a lot to me."

Missy only smiled a little back at him, though, saying quietly: "I'm just doing what good folk do, Biggs, that's all. I ain't doin' nothing special at all, really... and besides, you've helped me quite a bit here at the farm already, whether you know it or not." She stopped, then looked down at the half of burger left in her hands before offering it to the Drakkaren, and the reptile took it after a moment as she said softly: "Eat up, get your strength back. Something tells me... you're going to need it."

She stopped, then glanced up as Rebecca called for her, and the two looked over their shoulder to see the elderly female waving towards them from the top of the steps. Missy smiled and waved back, then she slipped off the truck and said softly: "I'll be right back, Biggs. Don't you run off nowhere, okay?"

Zerrex nodded to her, and he ate the rest of the burger in silence except for the chirp of the crickets and the quiet rustle of unevolved animals in the bushes. The reptile glanced down as a tiny, unevolved chipmunk ran out of the barn, and the lizard smiled warmly at the sight of it as it ran up to his boot... and then he laughed when the little animal leapt onto his leg and scrabbled its way up to his lap, the Drakkaren reminded of Sammy... and that brought back both good memories and pain as he looked down at the little animal, reaching a single broad finger down to stroke its skull slowly as it looked up at him with its black eyes, not apprehensive in the slightest of the huge lizard as he murmured softly: "Hey you."

It tilted its head, and Zerrex carefully reached back for one of the bags of chips, wincing a bit at how loud it was when he opened it... but the chipmunk only continued to sit quietly on his knee, and the reptile smiled a bit as he pulled a chip out of the bag, snapping a small piece off and holding it out. The chipmunk took it in its tiny front paws, nibbling rapidly at it... and then the reptile looked up in dumb surprise as a majestic, unevolved buck slowly walked around the barn, the deer enormous and looking curiously at the lizard, its crown of antlers tall and proud as it slowly stepped towards him, bobbing its head before the Drakkaren held a hand out... and its long tongue flickered out, licking up the salt from the lizard's palm as he gazed at the creature with amazement.

Even mortal, he'd had an affinity for animals... and once upon a time, a sweet little kitten girl in Heaven had told him that he'd been blessed by the beasts because of the way he lived. He hadn't believed Little Arcy at the time... and Zerrex closed his eyes, leaning his head forwards as he shuddered quietly at the thought of what the murderer had done. Had killed a harmless little girl, a Prophetess who wouldn't lift a finger to hurt anyone or anything. The reptile gritted his teeth at this thought, eyes clenching... and then the deer leaned forwards and licked his face quietly, and the Drakkaren leaned back a bit before he reached up and stroked over the buck's skull as the chipmunk peered up at him from his knee, the reptile mumbling: "You guys are great and all... but did you bring another friend, maybe a dragon or something with you?"

The buck tilted his head... and then it looked up sharply at the sound of crunching grass before snorting and then turning around, white tail flicking as it ran around the barn. The chipmunk stayed only a moment longer before it too skittered away... and Zerrex half-turned to see the Sloth demon slowly walking by, yawning and looking miserable, apparently not noticing the Drakkaren or much of anything else as he dragged a shovel slowly behind him.

The Everest vanished down the path... and the reptile shook his head slowly. He ate chips quietly as he looked up into the darkening twilight, and then he finally glanced over his shoulder curiously as he sensed more than heard the Benevolent approaching, and Missy smiled a little at him before she held up a flashlight and a simple knife, saying softly: "Come on, Zerrex, one last job to do. You can finish that stuff later."

The Drakkaren nodded a bit, taking a last handful of chips before he rolled the bag closed and shoved it back into the plastic bag. The other, unopened bag of chips went in as well, and the lizard took a moment to toss this into the passenger side of the truck before he grabbed his cola and headed over to Missy, following her as she said softly: "Simple enough task. We gotta trim some of the vines around the berry bushes. Best to do it at night, because the bugs don't bother us... the ground around the bushes has some nasty critters living there. We don't get rid of 'em, though, because they keep the other predators away during the day."

Zerrex nodded, sipping at his cola as she led him around the side of the house, and then he said slowly: "You know, I saw Jake go by with a shovel..."

"What, worried he's gonna kill you in your sleep?" Missy grinned a bit, and Zerrex rolled his eyes. "No, he's supposed to uproot the stumps. He was supposed to do it all damn day... I'm not surprised he's only getting to it now. Say, how well can you see in the dark?"

Zerrex started to answer, and then Missy flicked off the flashlight and the Drakkaren immediately tripped over his own feet, cursing under his breath before the Benevolent laughed and turned the light back on, grinning as she shone it over her own features. "Not too well, huh?"

"No, I can see alright, my eyes just take a little while to adjust... and more importantly, it's goddamn weird to not be able to see everything clearly anymore." Zerrex muttered, rubbing at his head before he snatched the flashlight from the Benevolent when she began to wave it back and forth over her face, shining it ahead and grumbling a bit under his breath. "All my senses feel limited. It's not a fun sensation."

Missy only snorted in amusement at this, however, shaking her head before they headed onwards down a narrow path through the fields until they reached a large orchard of almost-spherical berry bushes planted in neat rows. The reptile frowned a bit as he shone the flashlight over these, and then he said slowly: "Wait, I know what these are. These are from Heaven, Blessed Berries or something. Raze gobbles these down."

"Raze, huh? He your boyfriend?" Missy teased, and Zerrex smacked her in the shoulder with the flashlight, making her huff. "Anyway, Biggs, this'll only take a few minutes. It's a one-person job, really... just let me know if you see any grass scorpions."

Zerrex grimaced at this, and the Benevolent smiled wryly at him before she turned and carefully began to cut at the creeping ivy that was starting to make its way up along the bush, smothering the leaves. "Spiderweb ivy from Hell... or at least, most people think it's from Hell. But it ain't, you know, it's always been here. It's just that it used to grow over trees instead of bushes... but now it's evolved a little, and it eats up the nutrients from the bushes as well as worming its way into trees. I... I love this stuff, you know. I love working here, on this little farm... every day can be like an adventure, and I don't get how city folk are so bored coming out here to this wide open space and think there ain't nothing to do just 'cause you don't got seven-elevens at every corner and no grand theater or some expensive sushi bar. There's a million things to do out here... sights you'd never believe if you just look. But I guess lookin's too hard a thing to do, even these days."

"Amen." Zerrex muttered in agreement, and Missy smiled radiantly at him before the lizard glanced down and grimaced a bit at the sight of a large black scorpion slowly crawling its way up from beneath the bush... except instead of pincers, it had serrated, blade-like arms, and its curled, segmented tail was abnormally long. "Uh, Missy?"

"What?" Missy glanced down, then grimaced a little at the sight of the scorpion. "Shit, them buggers are usually all curled up in their burrows by now. 'Lessen that's a true scorpion... is it green or black? I can't see it through the leaves here."

Zerrex shone the flashlight on it, saying awkwardly: "It's... black, and it's got like... a really long tail that's all curled up, and little claws like a praying mantis instead of pinchy-things..."

Missy grimaced a bit at this, hurriedly cutting the last of the ivy from the bush and tossing it away, and then she backstepped until she bumped into Zerrex's chest, the two looking down at the creature as she hugged herself quietly. The reptile looked down at her in surprise, and she smiled awkwardly and blushed a little as she glanced up at him... but she didn't move away as she said softly: "That's a Murder Scorpion, not a Grass Scorpion... Grass Scorps aren't even really scorps at all, though, they're some weird little bug from Hell. Murder Scorpions are actually native to Lailland... a... a long time ago I got stung by one." She glanced down, rubbing at her face slowly. "I didn't pull through."

Zerrex looked at her softly, and she smiled awkwardly at him. "A friend... had one. A friend from when I was livin' with my real Momma, he came out to visit... and he brought his weird little pet with him. You know how rich folk are, though... when stuff gets popular, they just gotta have it and all that shit.

"Anyway, he..." She stopped, then shivered a bit as the Murder Scorpion seemed to look up at them with its almost invisible black eyes, and she turned and pushed gently at Zerrex, murmuring: "Let's go."

The Drakkaren didn't argue, turning with her as they headed down the path in silence... and then the Benevolent continued abruptly, as if she had never paused: "See, there was a fire at the ranch house, when... the riots started. When people were pushing and shoving at each other to try and... escape the Old Gods. My friend came out to visit only a week before that, and... I guess he thought it would be okay to invite his other friends, thinking for some damn fool reason the countryside would be safe when the whole world was cracking apart, rich but not rich enough to buy his way onto the space colonies... and the damn fool's friends told their friends, and... it was a riot at the barn. Momma and Poppa barely escaped, and me, well..."

She looked down and laughed a bit. "I tried to go back inside to grab some of my things... and the house was on fire afore I knew what was going on, by some bitter bastard we told couldn't stay on our property because there was just too many of 'em trying to camp out in our front yard and we were all leaving for the colonies anyway... and the roof caved in. I got trapped... and that fucking aquarium broke." She shuddered a bit, hugging herself quietly. "That Murder Scorpion was in a rage, skittering all over the place... and then it crawled right onto my face and stung me again and again while I was helpless, pinned under the roof, and... the poisons, they just spilled through me and I lost all my strength and that and the smoke and the fire... fuck, I hate those damn things. I'm gonna set a bug bomb tomorrow whether Poppa likes it or not, don't care if I kill the little grass buggers too as long as I get rid of whatever Murder Scorpions have snuck their way onto our property."

She closed her eyes, shivering again, and then she smiled a little when Zerrex wrapped an arm around her and they halted in the middle of the path, looking up at him silently before she reached up and stroked over his face slowly, asking quietly: "How... how did you die, Biggs?"

"Disembowelment after being tortured. Very painful." Zerrex smiled a little, and the female blushed a bit before the reptile held his hand out, and she looked at him curiously before the reptile said softly: "I need your knife. I'll come back to the ranch in a minute but... I need to make a call."

Missy looked at him for a few moments... and then she shook her head and smiled slightly, poking his chest lightly and saying firmly: "Now hey, I'm in this deep already. Besides, I ain't got angel blood, but my Benevolent blood will still work better than your mortal blood if you're gonna be doing a little runic magic, right?" She grinned a bit at the surprised look on the Drakkaren's face, putting her hands on her hips. "What, Biggs, you think I didn't pay any attention in school up at Heaven? I ain't gonna say I ever got or was interested in the advanced magic shit but hey, I know the basics. I even got a piece of crystal 'round here to use for magic when no one's looking, since Poppa gets real mad at me if I ever show my tricks off."

Zerrex rolled his eyes and sighed a bit at this, even if the crystal piqued his interest... and he hesitated for a few moments before finally grumbling and pulling the summoning plate out of his pocket, and the reptile looked down at it for a few moments. He tried moving one of the runes, then grimaced when the plate only hummed weakly and glowed for a moment, but the rune refused to budge... and he figured it was because of his limited energy powers. He couldn't transfer the necessary amount of energy anymore, as he'd feared... but then he glanced over at the female as she looked at him curiously, and the reptile looked back down at the runic circle, smiling a little. It was already set to the one he wanted, at least, except for the one rune he'd poked at... and the Drakkaren said finally: "You know, cutting you is going to hurt. And I'm going to need a lot of blood and a flat place to do this, preferably away from the ranch."

Missy looked at him for a few moments... and then she smiled and nodded, grabbing his hand and pulling him quickly along, and the reptile laughed despite himself as he allowed her to pull him down the path, guiding him around obstacles as the beam of the flashlight jittered back and forth over the ground and stars shone weakly between thick clouds overhead. It was deep darkness... and yet Missy led him safely across the bridge and towards the very spot the Drakkaren had first awoken, and he heard faint laughter in his mind, the laughs of young females... and he rubbed at his head awkwardly before Missy halted at the top of the hill and patted the thick tree the Drakkaren had first awoken against.

The reptile smiled a little at this, surprised... and then he watched curiously as Missy peeled bark off the trunk of the tree, making a smooth, bare spot of wood... and the reptile couldn't help but grin a bit in pleasant surprise at the creativity of the female, before she took the knife and hissed quietly as she cut into her own arm... and the reptile looked at her with surprise as blood ebbed out of the wound, the Benevolent cursing and then saying flatly: "Hurry up and do your thing, Biggs. I don't wanna cut myself up too much, I ain't into that."

Zerrex rolled his eyes, but he swept up some of the blood on his fingers, quickly beginning to etch out the runes and knowing they didn't have to be perfect: they would resonate clearly enough, especially with the angel's blood, that they should be able to alert the person he was aiming to. He worked quickly, and Missy only had to make a few more cuts as her supernatural healing kicked in, repairing all the damage to her body rapidly as she muttered in irritation... and finally, the Drakkaren put the summoning card back in his pocket as he drew the last rune into the circle: the only one he had to remember.

It looked complex, blurry, and had dribbled a bit down the side of the tree... but when the Drakkaren touched the center of it quietly, he knew that it had worked somehow. He closed his eyes, pressing his palm against it and waiting patiently as Missy looked nervously back and forth, rubbing at her bruised arm as the last of her cuts slowly healed and she tried to wipe blood away... and then they both looked over their shoulders in surprise at a soft crunch of grass before a voice said quietly: "We've been worried about you."

Zerrex smiled in relief at the sight of White, the badger looking up at him quietly, a massive revolver with a three-foot long rifle barrel hanging in a holster around his waist and a long, thick duster coat quietly swaying around him in the breeze, cowboy hat covering his head and shadowing his features in the night. Yet the lizard could still clearly see his eyes as he walked down the hill, and White glanced over him before he said quietly: "Feels like they stole your essence from you... being undead and all, that's real easy for me to tell. And that's real bad news for us. I'll take you to council."

"No." Zerrex said softly, and White tilted his head slightly in silent question, the Drakkaren smiling a bit as Missy watched quietly and curiously, hugging herself a bit. "I... I need you to do two things for me. And one of those is to stay quiet about what's going on... while the other is... I need some equipment. Something that'll give me an advantage against demons and what I'm going to be up against... I know that when you were... well..."

"Before this revenant ended up in Hell, I was a hunter, yes." White said softly, and he looked down at his black-gloved hand, flexing his metallic fingers slowly as the faintest hint of a frown emerged over his face. "I don't understand your reasoning."

"Eratosthenes stole my powers... almost all of them. He's got all those abilities inside of him now... and he can sense the presence of my Disciples, of people... near and dear to me. You're a good friend, White, but you aren't one of my Disciples... even Sabnock these days is... well... I think he might be able to sense her presence. But you're... not a demon. You're under the radar. You're someone I can trust... and who will understand when I say I have to do this alone, and I can't afford to put anyone else in danger." Zerrex said quietly, and the two looked at each other for a few moments, the badger still visibly hesitant. "Please, White. As a favor to me."

The badger sighed and reached up to adjust his hat, looking away... then, when Zerrex reached up and squeezed his shoulder, he looked at him for a few moments before saying quietly: "Demons are weaker on the mortal plane, and... I can prepare something for you if you give me a little over twenty-four hours. The problem is I can only do so much for you: it ain't the idea of you taking on demons that bothers me, it's the fact that Strange Beasts don't follow the same rules. They ain't fueled by corruption or restricted by mortal physics. I don't see how you plan to take down even a Viper with the state you're in, much less something like Eratosthenes... or worse, Iron. For the sake of everyone who's worried about you, let me ask you one more time: will you come back with me?"

"No. I can't. Not until I set things right." Zerrex replied quietly, and their eyes locked for a few moments... and for the first time Zerrex could remember, it was White who looked away first, the Drakkaren smiling faintly as he squeezed the badger's shoulder slowly again. "Please, White. I know I'm asking a lot of you, but... you're the only one who can do this for me."

"No, Zerrex, you're not asking a lot. You're askin' me to give a friend a little help, that's all... and to have a little confidence in him." White nodded after a moment, then he turned away and held up a hand, a faint glow emanating from the crystal bolo tie he was wearing before a vortex slowly opened, the badger looking into the spiraling black and white tunnel before he said quietly: "I'll find you when it's ready. All I ask is that you stay in this vicinity so I don't have to go lookin' too hard and I know that you ain't tangling with anything dangerous before your gear is ready."

"I'll be at the small farm over there." Zerrex pointed vaguely in the direction of the ranch house, and the badger nodded without looking at him. He stood for a moment longer, then finally glanced over his shoulder and tipped his hat before walking into the vortex, and it slowly swirled closed behind him as the Drakkaren shook his head slowly and rubbed at his face quietly. "Thank Gods. That went well."

He glanced over his shoulder to see that the angelic blood had already faded from the tree... and Missy was only staring in shock before she looked dumbly at the Drakkaren, and she whispered: "What was that? You must have friends in high places, because... I mean..."

Zerrex smiled a bit: White had a presence that was impossible to miss, and the reptile shook his head a bit before he glanced at the female over his shoulder and said softly: "Don't worry about it. I know he's a little scary, but White's a good guy. A Judge of Death in Hell... very esteemed, very well-respected, and very talented. I feel bad asking for help from him but... I know I'm going to need all the help I can get."

Missy looked at him for a few moments, and then she walked over to the Drakkaren and quietly grasped his wrist, studying him silently in the darkness before she said softly: "You're something real special, Biggs, aren't you? I... come on. Let's head back. You need your sleep, anyway."

"I think I also need to use the bathroom." Zerrex held up a hand, and the female rolled her eyes before grumbling under her breath as she pulled him along. The Drakkaren rubbed embarrassedly at his head as they walked forwards, his stomach cramping a bit as he wondered moodily if he was going to hate this process as much as he had when he had been mortal.

Twenty minutes later, Zerrex made his way back to the ranch house, grimacing a bit and rubbing his hands together in distaste. The latrine had been dusty, gross, and there had been several large bugs crawling on the wall while the reptile had done his business, staring in disgust and hoping nothing from the smelly, deep hole in the ground tried to bite him in the ass. The outhouse obviously wasn't used very often... and Zerrex had spent a lot of his time bitching loudly about stupid mortal processes, only glad that Missy had gone inside before he'd finally hurried out and used the outdoor shower to wash his hands off.

The lizard walked up the steps... and he was surprised to find that the lights had already been turned low. Missy was sitting in linen pajamas, a matching long-sleeve shirt and pants both decorated with rainbows and prancing, unevolved ponies, and the reptile looked at her as she sipped from a bottle of water before smiling up at him, saying softly: "Poppa and Momma like to turn in early because they tend to get up around five in the morning, sometimes even earlier. I usually nap a little myself at night, just because it's nice to... and there ain't really much else to do, anyway, not when it gets real dark out. We're far from Temptation but... I don't like to press my luck. Especially... after what happened today."

She quieted, looking down and rubbing at her face before brushing her blonde locks back, and Zerrex nodded a bit, saying softly: "I guess I'll turn in too, then. Been a long time since I needed to sleep and I don't know... how much of it my body's going to need." He stopped, then reached up and slowly played with his mala, playing the prayer beads between his fingers as he thought of how fortunate it was this hadn't broken on him... but then again, they seemed to withstand the test of everything. He had been bludgeoned, blown up, shocked, thrown off cliffs, and now turned mortal and rudely dragged down a river for miles... and they had withstood every bit of it without a scratch. It was almost enough to make him believe there really was a greater power at work...

Missy caught his musing, though, and she smiled a bit at him, saying softly: "Don't go thinking too deep about things then, Biggs. If you do, you'll never get any sleep."

Zerrex looked at her, then he smiled a bit and nodded. "Good advice." A pause, and then he awkwardly raised a hand to her and mumbled a 'goodnight' out before starting to walk past... and she grabbed his wrist, looking up at him quietly.

"Listen, I'm a big strong girl, but... I'm still... a little freaked out over today. It's been... such a strange day and things have happened that I never wanted to think about so..." She stopped, fumbling for a moment before she looked up at him quietly, asking softly: "Can I stay with you for a while?"

Zerrex gazed at her softly and nodded, starting to turn to sit down at the table... but Missy only smiled softly as she stood up and whispered: "Not like that."

She gently pulled him down towards his guest room, and then pushed him towards the bed as she closed the door with a quiet snick... and she pushed the Drakkaren in first, the reptile blushing a bit as he glanced down at the pulled-back covers... but when Missy slipped in, she only turned around and pressed herself back against him, grasping one of his wrists and pulling his arm around her, resting back against him and murmuring: "Don't think you're getting no sex from me that easy. Last boyfriend I had, I didn't even touch his dick 'til he took me out to dinner, bought me some flowers, and made me feel like a real sweet girl. You just mock me and make me pay for everything."

"Yeah, but you like that more than being treated like a helpless damsel, I think." Zerrex said softly, squeezing her back against him, and the female smiled a little as she closed her eyes, not bothering to reply. They lay together... and after a few minutes, both fell into a deep, quiet slumber. As they slept, she slowly rolled over... and curled herself comfortably up as the Drakkaren hugged her instinctively close, the Benevolent almost glowing in his arms as the reptile felt comforted even in the deepest of his dreamless sleep.

When Zerrex woke up, he rubbed blearily at his eyes before dumbly looking up to see that Missy was already dressed... and that the golden retriever had set up a little table with a mug of coffee... and a heaping stack of pancakes smothered in butter and syrup next to a handful of thick strips of bacon, the female saying awkwardly: "Just... a little something for you. Since you been so nice to me. I thought I'd give you breakfast in bed, and... listen, Poppa and Momma have already gone to town, the orchards are harvested, Derek's watering the berry crops today so they can be picked in a few weeks... so this is the rare day off. I'd like to do a few repairs around the barn and stuff, but... I'd really like to spend most of the day getting to know you better."

Zerrex nodded as he sat slowly up, and Missy sat beside him, touching his arm as she blushed a bit and said softly: "So talk to me, Biggs. Tell me... your story."

The Drakkaren looked at her... and then he picked up his mug of coffee as the female picked up her own, looking eager before the reptile said softly: "I will, but later. For now, let me enjoy breakfast... and you can tell me more about yourself while you do. This was very sweet of you, after all, Missy... not at all what I'd expect from such a down-home country girl who seems so intent on beating everyone around her up."

Missy snorted at this and punched him in the shoulder, and the Drakkaren grunted and swayed a bit as she said flatly: "Well, clearly you're forgetting all them years I spent learning how to be a proper lady. I'm sure you well know with how well you speak Irenic that to them, 'proper lady' means a servile little wench, so I got all kinds of training in how to prepare shit for the 'master of the house.' Yes, I make a mess in the kitchen, but I make a mean flapjack, too."

Zerrex snorted in amusement as he used his fork to cut away part of the pancakes before shoveling the food into his mouth... and he grunted in surprise and agreement, nodding a bit to her as the dog grinned widely, looking pleased with the Drakkaren's assessment of her culinary skills. And as he ate, she began to talk more, slowly and steadily opening up about her life... and the Drakkaren smiled a bit as he realized part of the reason why he got along with her so well, why she already felt like many of his other friends and family members: it was because like all of them, she remembered her days as a mortal, thought of herself almost as a mortal person instead of a Benevolent, a 'greater-than-mortal...' and perhaps she even longed to have those old days of mortality and her old mortal life, however troubled it had been at points, back.

The Drakkaren reflected again on the irony of his situation as he finished the pancakes: they were indeed delicious, almost delicious enough to distract him from his current plight. He smiled a little as Missy finished a long, rambling story about life at her mother's bourgeois apartment, and then he said softly: "The food was excellent. Thank you for it."

Missy blushed a bit in pleased surprise, and then she reached out and slapped him on the back, saying softly: "And now you tell me 'bout your life, Biggs. I ain't gonna judge you based on your past, so don't you go leaving any details out, either."

Zerrex smiled a little at this, glancing over at her for a few moments... and before he knew it, he found himself speaking. He talked first, as he often always did when asked about his mortal life, about how his unit had been disbanded from the military and he had been sent out on his own... and about how he had come to a small town known as Baskin's Grove, split into two unequal and distinct sections known as Comfort Town and Apple Villa.

He told her about how he'd been a mercenary: he'd taken his pay in cash and sex and material items he would break or play with and then grow bored of. He told her about how a sixteen year old kid had once hired him to beat up an eighteen year old bully... and how he had only taken the job because he'd heard that said bully was targeting a lot of other people with much worse harassment. So he'd kicked the crap out of him and the kid had paid him with a video game system and a bunch of games... and the Drakkaren hadn't liked it all at first but soon found himself killing time when bored by first watching movies... and then slowly picking up games. He thought they were childish, he hated them... and yet he'd still come back to them and he'd never thrown the system away.

He told her about the job that had led him to meeting Mary, who had changed his life... he told her about Lone Wulfe, who had been another catalyst in his own way... he told her about Cindy, how they had met, fallen in love... and found out that she was his daughter, born of rape. He told her about how she had struggled with it in silence... and about Cherry, trying to kill him, his ex-lover from the past coming back with her own twisted sense of honor, and how he had only won the battle because her own ferocity turned against her when she had snagged him with her terrible chain whip... and the Drakkaren had managed to force through the pain to simply crush her down into the ground when she had been unable to break the grapple she had initiated herself.

He told her about Mary's death. About the toddler in the park. About fighting his way through a veritable army to Lone Wulfe when he had taken the town over, and blown out his shins. How he had left him alive as the first true symbol of his change: how he had finally decided to end the bloody feud between the two sides of the town, even if it was with pure, unwavering force and dark determination.

She listened in rapt awe as he told her about the changes he had gone through, and about how even greater changes had come when his uncle, his mentor, his true father-figure had come looking for him to settle a pact of honor. About how the mighty Dragon of Comfort Town had been beaten into a bloody pulp like he was a child trying to fight the world heavyweight champion... and that had been much of what it had been like. He reflected on how cowardly he had felt after that: all those years of fighting no one near his level in Baskin's Grove, and how he had fought victorious battle after battle... but they had been honorless triumphs. He told her about how Markus Requiem Narrius had kidnapped his daughter Cindy, and how she had come to look up to him over the course of a single week as a true warrior and even a hero... and he told her about Felicity, about the bastard Tank, about the Goth Legion imitators known as the Godkillers gang, and about how they had all been duped into fighting one-another. About how he and Requiem fought side-by-side with his family to stop Tank's ambition to take over the town... about how he had killed the best friend of his greatest admirer by mistake... about fighting Felicity in the wreckage of an ancient sawmill. He told her about how Tank had stolen one of his best friends away from him, a friend who had stepped in front of them and saved countless lives... he told her about how Tank had been broken but Requiem had stepped and left him alive, because there was no honor in killing him... but he had ensured Tank would never live a comfortable life.

He told her about the final battle in the fields where Mary lay at rest, about the chase through the forest, about nearly dying on the cliffs... and about how Cherry, then his wife, had rejected him because she couldn't stand at his side as equal. Because she did not feel worthy, did not want to be husband-and-wife... she only wanted to serve. He told her about his reunion with Cindy... and about how she had become pregnant with his daughter.

He had stopped because he had spoken for hours, feeling embarrassed... but Missy had only asked him quietly if he wanted anything before he continued. They had gone out to the kitchen table, and she had poured Zerrex another coffee and prepared him a simple sandwich to munch on... and then the Drakkaren had continued his story. About how Marina, then just a little girl, had been kidnapped: about how it had all been a trap to lead him to Hez'Ranna, where his father had been revived from death. He told her about Narrius... about how he'd killed him in his sleep, about the monstrous things he had done... he told her about being trapped in his own mind for seven long years. He told her about the Great Hez'Rannan War from his point of view, and the rebels he had joined with, and the battles he had fought. He told her about watching his family suffer and die, losing them all... and regaining them in a miracle.

He touched his tattoo quietly as he explained why he wore a swastika on his arm: about what it meant to him, and that it reminded him every enemy he fought could have been a friend in better days. That almost everything declared 'evil' was good to someone else, that everyone had feelings, emotions, their own sense of right and wrong and justice and righteousness. He smiled a bit, feeling awkwardly like he was climbing onto a soapbox with what he was saying... and he'd moved quickly on, talking about Paradise, the terrible floating fortress armed with nuclear rails... and worse, the Godsmite virus, which was programmed to destroy all life that didn't have a specific genetic marker programmed into it.

He talked about fighting his father to the death... and a betrayal of a powerful ally at the last moment. He talked about the destruction of the fortress as he was chased by a monster from his worst nightmares until he'd leapt skywards before the mighty bastion of destruction had crashed and gone up in a nuclear inferno he thought would surely kill him... and about discovering his own latent powers as he'd fallen slowly from the sky, shielded by energy, somehow absorbing the radiation as wings of white energy had allowed him to slowly descend towards the ground. He talked about how even as a mortal, he'd been blessed and cursed with power... and how he had foolishly thought, in the wake of the defeat of the Patriarch and how his armies worldwide laid down their weapons and surrendered at the news, that he would be able to live a peaceful life back home in Ire, with his family - new and yet old, the same people and yet all of them different and yet not, Cindy, Cherry, Marina, and Mahihko, the wolf that had formerly been Lone Wulfe and was now acting as his adopted, childlike son - but how the peace had never lasted. How the peace never did seem to last, no matter what the Drakkaren did to try and sustain it.

Another few hours had passed in the telling of this story... and yet Missy still seemed enthralled, and Zerrex couldn't help but smile awkwardly. The Benevolent, after all, longed for adventure and thrills... and if there was one thing the Drakkaren's life had admittedly been full of, it was wild journeys into the unknown.

He had stopped there, and they had sat quietly, just studying one another before she had finally taken a slow breath, closing her eyes and composing herself, before asking hesitantly: "You weren't lying before, were you? You really are Zerrex Narrius... oh my stars, I thought you were just a myth, just... a kid's fairy tale!"

"Most fairy tales are based on real things... that's why a lot of the originals have such bad endings." Zerrex said softly, but Missy only stared at him with wonderment before the reptile slowly flexed his right hand, grimacing a bit at it as he said quietly: "Besides, I was never anything special. For every good thing I did, I did two bad things and two more selfish things. For all my powers as a god, I couldn't save myself. I couldn't even save my friends... and now someone out there is hunting down and killing my friends and family one-by-one. It's part of why I can't involve you in this, Missy... why no one can know that you helped me here. It would put you all in danger... and it's also why I can't risk summoning my friends and family to help. I do that, the bastard that stole my powers will lock right in on us, and we're all dead."

"Yet charging up that mountain alone is your solution, and you think that ain't gonna end with you dead?" Missy asked vindictively, and she glared at him a bit as she slammed her fists on the table, saying quietly: "You need my damn help, Biggs, like it or not: you're a mortal, and even when that scary cowboy comes back, you're still gonna just be a mortal, just with some fancy shit. Fancy shit that won't mean shit to some of the things you're hunting, I'm willing to bet."

"It's the carpenter, not the tools. You saw me in the fight against those demons." Zerrex said mildly, shaking his head a bit before he glanced down at his hand, saying softly: "And I still have some of my innate abilities. Some of the powers from when I was mortal... that, and the knowledge I have of demons and even Strange Beasts, and most of all my own skills, that I've always been able to trust in... that should be more than enough to at least get me up that mountain. How I'll fight Eratosthenes, I don't know... he's a god now as well as a Strange Beast, with all my powers, probably the closest thing to omnipotent since the First Gods themselves..."

Zerrex frowned a bit at this thought, rubbing musingly at the underside of his muzzle as the female said softly: "You make it sound so goddamn hopeless... and when you talk like this, when you... get this look in your eyes... it makes me think you're hoping you'll be dead by the end of this whole confrontation."

The Drakkaren smiled faintly over at her, saying softly: "I've lived for more years that I can count, Missy... ten, eleven million years, I don't even remember anymore. I've lost friends and family... and most of them have died because of me. Because of my actions or my inaction. Because for all my power... I'm weak, vulnerable, and foolish. Yet I can't seem... to stay dead. Do you know how many times I've died, and yet been dragged back from beyond? Sometimes I question why... why Naganis chose me. Other times... I wonder if Naganis hated me, with all I've experienced now and been through."

"Naganis... the forbidden name of God..." Missy closed her eyes and smiled faintly. "Said to kill mortals if they try and speak it..."

"Only in Heaven. Heaven resonates with his name... I don't think it was Naganis's intention nor his doing, either, I think the Heavenly Council put that in place to make their God more faceless, to forget... who they truly owe fealty to." Zerrex muttered, looking away and picking up his mug to drink the last of the cold coffee from it, grimacing at the bitter taste. "Do you want to get to work now, Missy? I've talked all day and I... still have until tonight to wait. I'm sure White will show up when he's ready."

"No, let's not work." Missy stood up and walked over to him quietly, before she dropped on her knees beside the Drakkaren, grasping his leg gently and looking up into his eyes as the reptile looked back down at her with surprise, and she studied him for a few long moments before saying quietly: "Listen to me, Zerrex. You gotta pull yourself outta this rut... and you gotta stop worrying about what's going to happen to me, or to your friends, or your family, or everyone else if they get involved in what's going on here. Goddamn, you gotta accept you can't protect everyone and everything... and that it ain't your fault when we get involved with this to try and help your stupid, selfish ass out of these big old messes it sounds like you keep getting in the middle of. Yeah, we're gonna get hurt, and don't forget I know damn well how scary it is to die. Yet... I'm here. I'm willing to help. I ain't gonna be much help maybe, but... let me try. And if something happens... I want you to know it ain't your fault. It's my own damn fault for being a stupid little fantasizing girl who thinks she can play hero with the big boys like you."

She reached up and touched the scarred side of his face, looking at him silently as Zerrex gazed back down at the Benevolent, and then closed his eyes and sighed softly, saying finally: "Missy..."

"And how are you gonna stop me anyway? Look, it's better that you just accept the fact I'm coming with your dumb ass... then you take off from here and I sneak out in the truck after you. I already know where you're going... and I got a feeling that once you get to Temptation, it ain't gonna be hard to find your trail." Missy smiled a little up at him, and Zerrex grimaced awkwardly in return before she suddenly stood up, taking his face into both her hands and kissing his mouth firmly, making the reptile's eyes widen... but she pulled quickly away, the kiss more chaste and affectionate than passionate as she grinned at him. "You know what they say. Steal a kiss from a boy, and he's gotta do a girl a favor."

"What... who says that?" Zerrex spluttered, staring up at her, and the Benevolent put her hands on her hips and huffed at him before the Drakkaren grabbed his face with a groan and a mutter, saying darkly: "I don't like this. I don't like being pushed into things or having things decided for me and especially not you putting yourself in danger, but-"

"But nothing. I'm coming with you and that's that." Missy clapped her hands together, and then she turned to the fridge, pulling out a bottle of beer and a bottle of cola, tossing the latter to the Drakkaren as he sighed and then grimaced when Missy grinned and popped her glass bottle open with her teeth before spitting the cap out as she held the bottle up. "Cheers to our new partnership, Biggs."

Zerrex grimaced, but then he opened his own bottle... then sighed and leaned forwards, bumping plastic against glass with a dull thunk before they both took a drink, and he shook his head slowly as he muttered: "Great. I should have asked White to make you something too, in that case... do you even know how to defend yourself?"

The Benevolent grinned widely, and Zerrex looked at her meditatively before she said easily as she winked at him: "Just stay right there for a second. Got something to show you."

The Drakkaren leaned moodily back in his chair, sighing a bit as he sipped at his cola and muttered grumpily about the situation he'd gotten himself into as he tapped a foot slowly against the ground... and ten minutes later, Missy walked back into the room and spread her arms with a grin, an ancient lever-action shotgun in one hand and a huge, bolt-action rifle across her back. "Ta-da!"

Zerrex stared at her: she was dressed in a faux-leather trenchcoat now, with thick black denim pants beneath this and a tight white shirt on with a camo-patterned harness overtop that held several small packs over it, and when the trenchcoat fluttered open with her movement, he could see that she had a knife holstered on one side of her waist and a handgun of some sort on the other. Mirrored sunglasses were propped up on her forehead, and her hair was neatly tied back as she said excitedly: "So what do you think?"

"Lose the jacket." Zerrex said flatly, and he grimaced a little over her, asking grouchily: "Why do I get the feeling this is a dress-up costume?"

Missy looked both insulted and embarrassed, but she shrugged the bolt action rifle off and put it aside as she dropped the shotgun on the cluttered table... and Zerrex couldn't help but reach forwards and pick this up. Walnut stock, black metal lever, comfortable, well-worn grip and the silver barrel scratched but sparkling, the barrel sawed short: he had to admit, her weaponry at least looked good. "I... I'm taking this seriously, I am, but... I spent so many years planning, thinking about going out and adventuring... and... I'm sorry if I seem like an excited little girl but I guess in a way, I am an excited little girl, you know? I ain't gonna say this is a dream come true, 'cause I... I can see how serious this is, I really can... but it's something I've been preparing for nonetheless."

She had folded the jacket nervously down into a tight square of cloth, now looking much more serious as she stood in the tight top and looked with much-greater nervousness at the Drakkaren... and Zerrex couldn't help but smile a little as he looked over her slowly. The harness was a nice touch, and he was willing to bet the pouches on it were filled with ammo... and when he motioned for her to spin as he put the shotgun back down on the table, she did so quietly and carefully, and the Drakkaren saw not only that she had a can of mace on her back, next to her tail, but what looked like a set of lockpicks as well: just as he realized the handgun wasn't a handgun at all, but a taser. "Can you use those picks?"

"Oh, yeah, for simple stuff. I'm not very good at it yet but I practice a lot... I heard it was a real useful skill to have." she said softly, smiling awkwardly at him, and Zerrex grunted as he nodded a bit. Then the lizard stood up, evaluating her before his eyes turned to the bolt-action rifle, surveying it musingly before the Benevolent said hesitantly: "I'm a good shot... and I... I can make my own ammo. I learned how to when I was mortal, actually, when I was fifteen or sixteen, since I went on a hunting trip with Poppa... he showed me the trick to doing it, and... I caught on real fast. He said I had a knack for it."

She rubbed at her face slowly, then smiled a bit as she picked up the bolt-action rifle: it was long and sleek, with a full metal body, smelling of oil and obviously a newer model... and exceedingly-well taken care of. The reptile took it when she offered, working the bolt to eject one of the bullets from the internal magazine and catching it in his hand... and he looked at it curiously as he realized it had a strange shimmer to it.

The jacket seemed like normal copper, but the head of the bullet was gleaming silver... and the female mumbled embarrassedly: "I... there's an old mine a few miles away. I hike out there sometimes, and every now and then I get lucky and find some silver in the ruins and wreckage. I make the rounds for old times' sake and... because I wanted to get out of here one day and adventure, I just figured... you know, it would be after Momma and Poppa didn't need me anymore or something. So I was preparing and stuff, I wanted to prove myself so I could one day maybe join the Angel Army or... you know, something like that. Every bullet's engraved with a prayer or blessing... I heard that hurts a lot of things even more. I got bullets made of silver, bullets made of iron, and every one of 'em blessed and... I hope you don't think I'm just like the little girl who say she's gonna run away from home and never does and grows up to marry some poor old poacher who treats her like garbage."

She rubbed at her face, visibly embarrassed... but Zerrex only smiled at her before he easily snapped the rifle open and slid the round back in, saying softly: "I'm impressed. I didn't expect you to... actually know this much about things."

"I studied hard in Heaven to try and join the Angel Army and stuff... to... anything to get away from Momma." the female smiled awkwardly up at him, blushing a bit at the praise before the Benevolent took the gun and glanced down the sights, saying quietly: "This one here, she's my favorite. She's the one I made most of the bullets and stuff for... I didn't want to use up my silver making ball-bearings for the shotgun so that one just uses shells loaded with iron buckshot. Momma and Poppa don't exactly encourage it but... they don't say nothing bad about it either, since I think they both know that in this kinda world we... we gotta be ready for whatever's comin' our way, you know?"

Zerrex nodded after a moment, and then she put the gun aside and smiled a little, patting the taser and saying embarrassedly: "This is what Poppa bought me one year when I was going in to Temptation to help out with raising awareness for the church, before... before things got really bad and they decided to never go closer than the church itself, which is out in the outskirts. It's got a powerful wallop to it... I shot Jake with it once and it was enough juice to get that lazy bastard running, so it must pack a serious wallop... and this knife was a gift from one of Momma's friends in Heaven. The only one I liked..."

The Drakkaren glanced at it curiously as the female drew it from its leather scabbard... and then he whistled after a moment at the sight of it: a long, black steel blade that was edged with white and covered in glowing runes, with a rubberized handle that the golden retriever's fingers fit perfectly. The shape of the blade was slightly-waved and solid... and when the Drakkaren reached up and touched it, he murmured: "That's a demon-killing weapon. Not a 'you die and go back to Hell' kind of killing, a 'killing-them-dead' kind of killing."

"Yeah. He said I should only use it in emergencies." Missy said softly, looking at it quietly as the blade resonated with dangerous light, and then she spun it easily before slipping it back into the sheath, smiling awkwardly up at the Drakkaren. "And my mace... something else Poppa bought for me. Not just the hot pepper stuff, either, this has salt mixed into it too so it'll really hurt even a supernatural entity."

Zerrex smiled a bit at this, saying softly: "I guess I can't say you aren't well-outfitted, then... and I... guess..." He hesitated, not wanting to build her up too much but unable to stop himself from admitting quietly: "I guess that it could be a lot worse and... maybe you can help me after all. But if things go bad..."

Missy hugged him tightly around the waist, and Zerrex winced a bit as she pushed herself against him, muttering: "Now don't go ruining this sappy moment, Biggs, just shut up for once. Because no, I will not abandon you to the goddamn hounds if something bad happens, I'll stay and fight, like I should have helped you more when you fought off those demons back at the store."

"You saved my life!" Zerrex argued, and the female glared up at him, Zerrex grumbling under his breath before he pushed the Benevolent back and said flatly: "Anyway, how much combat training could you have? A real life situation is a lot different from any simulation, and no offense, but you don't exactly seem like the practiced type."

"Hey, I was a black belt!" the female argued, and when Zerrex grinned and crossed his arms as he looked at her pointedly, she sulked a bit and muttered: "Okay, I was a first-degree black belt, but I still could hold my own and I was a damn fourteen year old girl at the time."

"So did you continue your training at all?" Zerrex asked curiously, and when she fidgeted, he nodded a bit and asked quietly: "But with the 'death effect,' the way memories of mortal life become crystal-clear after you die... you remember all your skills and techniques, right?"

"Oh, yeah!" Missy smiled up at him, then she grinned and held up her hands gamely. "You wanna go outside and spar a little, Biggs? See for yourself what I can do?"

The reptile looked at her for a few moments, long enough for the female to become nervous... and then Zerrex grinned a bit as he reached up and poked the five-foot canine's nose, saying amusedly: "You know, I often dream of meeting pretty girls who say things like that to me. Just don't be too embarrassed or angry when you end up flat on your back, okay?"

Missy snorted at this, then she quickly unhooked her harness and dropped it over the back of her chair, saying easily: "Don't you go judging me just yet, Biggs, don't forget that I don't get tired like you will, you old fart." She slapped him on the arm as she strode towards the door, looking eager as she motioned at him and laughed, pushing through and leaping down the steps. "Come on, come on!"

Zerrex couldn't help but smile softly, despite the fact she obviously wasn't taking it quite that seriously... yet he couldn't really blame her all the same, and moreover... he had to admit, that it was a little cute. She also seemed honestly excited to spar and to learn... and the reptile had to respect that, as he pushed through the door and headed down into the wide yard.

Derek was watching curiously from where he was sitting beside a sleepy Jake... and the Drakkaren smiled slightly as he approached and then stood some ten feet away from Missy, the two looking at each other before she grinned and put her hands on her hips, leaning forwards and winking. "You ain't gonna go easy on me 'cause I'm a girl, are you?"

"I'd make a comment about that but my obviously misogynistic mind is too busy thinking about your boobs." Zerrex said flatly, and Missy grumbled before the reptile rose a hand and beckoned to her, smiling slightly. "Try and keep up with me, doll."

"Oh I'm gonna kick your ass." Missy threatened, and then she ran forwards before halting and throwing out a short, sharp kick at the lizard's shin, the Drakkaren grinning widely as he danced backwards from the attack before bringing his leg up to block her next quick thrust-kick, wincing at the painful impact against her shin but the female staggering backwards with a grunt, knocked off balance by the unexpected stop.

She caught and anchored herself, and the reptile let his arms hang loosely at his sides as he winked at her, leaning back a bit and taking on a relaxed pose as she looked at him with surprise and the reptile said kindly: "Come on now, you can do better."

She glared at him and leapt forwards, swinging a fist out... and Zerrex sidestepped before he snagged her arm, lightning quick, and her eyes had just enough time to widen before the Drakkaren swept one of his feet forwards, knocking her legs out from under her before he threw her easily to the ground.

Missy crashed and skidded forwards dumbly on her face, blinking a few times before she looked stupidly over her shoulder at him, and Zerrex shrugged a bit, saying mildly: "Deception is one of the greatest weapons you have. Looking defenseless, provoking the enemy, inciting an attack... it all can be used to great advantage in combat. See, when I purposefully drop my guard... I let my body completely relax. I'm not tensed up, which can make you twitch or freeze entirely... I'm ready to move with whatever the enemy might throw at me, and to defend myself in an instant. My strongest attacks are overhead smashes... but my best attacks don't drop down, they rise up."

Missy nodded a bit, then she grinned and shoved herself to her feet, bouncing a bit from foot-to-foot in her heavy boots as Zerrex grinned a bit, his bare feet roving through the grasses as she said eagerly: "Okay, okay, I can remember that... but what do you mean, they 'rise up?' Like your arms rise?"

"Kind of. They come from below... it's unexpected, and more likely to hit a soft spot on the enemy. A lot of people go for the face and head because that's kind of what sticks out... they forget that the torso has a lot of soft spots, even if they're built like a tank." The reptile gestured at himself, and when he saw how closely Missy was paying attention, he turned slightly, making a fist and doing an upwards, hooking punch from waist level as he rolled his body with the movement, smiling awkwardly at her... but admittedly enjoying teaching her. "See that? It's a hard movement to master, because it has to be done smoothly... but if you can do that, you can learn to hook your fist right into the solar plexus or a kidney, just below the ribs. And when you're practicing, don't sacrifice your technique or take shortcuts. It might go faster, but you can get into bad habits that can make your form suffer... and if your form suffers, you can lose both strength in your attacks as well as hurt yourself more when you hit someone or something."

"Yeah, yeah, I got the same lecture from all my teachers, I know." Missy said grumpily, but nonetheless, she tried hard to replicate the Drakkaren's movements, concentrating visibly as she muttered: "Like this?"

"No, no. Here." Zerrex walked over, quietly stepping behind her and grasping her side with one hand... and Missy blushed but smiled as the Drakkaren flexed his body against her and showed her and let her feel the movement of his muscles and arm, cradling her body back against his form as he said quietly: "Get it better?"

He did it again, and this time she moved with it... and she nodded after a moment, saying softly: "I... I do. Can... can you teach me more?"

She gazed up at him, and Zerrex gazed back... and the two intermingled light sparring with teaching, the Drakkaren surprised not only by how quickly she caught on... but also by her sheer strength, when she mimicked one of his reverse thrust kicks and actually managed to knock him stumbling backwards with a curse despite blocking her with both arms, wincing at the throb of pain that went through them... and then grinning widely as she lowered her leg slowly with a blush of pleasure and embarrassment and excitement.

They practiced until the reverend and Rebecca arrived back home... and Missy had looked at them, and they had looked back at her as they'd climbed out of the truck before Rebecca had walked quickly over and hugged her fiercely, whispering that they were very proud of her... and they wouldn't stand in her way. Zerrex was surprised and touched by how well they knew the Benevolent they had taken in... and Missy had smiled radiantly as the reverend had taken Zerrex aside and made him promise to take care of her as they stood in the kitchen together, the old, jowly canine sighing quietly as he polished his glasses.

"But I can't say... I didn't expect this. She's been looking for adventure all her life... for a way off this farm, much as she enjoys it here. It's... listen, I love her. Her mother was trash but Madeline is the sweetest, most gracious little girl I've ever had the pleasure of knowing." the reverend said quietly, looking slowly along Zerrex as the Drakkaren stood awkwardly, rubbing at his forehead slowly. "I want you to take care of her... but I also already know that you will. Missy has always been an excellent judge of character, and she knows what's right for her. She thinks she's gotta help you... she's talked a lot about it, Biggs. Helping you... and well, Rebecca and I can't hold on to her forever. I just wish... I just wish this was a world where little girls never had to grow up, and people didn't have to go and fight secret wars, and demons and angels and Strange Beasts were all back in their own rightful places and things were black and white, instead of so god-awful mixed up... and of course, that us foolish mortals could agree about one damn thing or open our eyes to the truth instead of hiding our heads in the sand."

He sighed a little, then glanced at Zerrex for a few moments before he asked quietly: "Is there anything I can do for you? Anything you need? And this isn't just out of the generosity of my heart, Biggs, this is because I have a feeling that your success in this endeavor directly affects my sweet little Missy's safety."

The Drakkaren smiled a bit, saying quietly: "A male will be by later tonight to drop some things off for me... don't worry, he's not from around here and he won't leave a trace of himself behind. Missy... I'm only going to take her with me as far as the mountains. I think she knows that, too. A taste of adventure, I'm hoping, will be enough to satisfy her for now... but if things work out..." He looked down awkwardly, rubbing at his head slowly before he looked back up, saying quietly: "If things work out, I know a place where she can get the training she desires, and I have some friends who can help her find a better place than... being a grunt in the Angel Army. She can do better than that. I know she can do better than that, and I've only known her for... well... a day or two, now."

"Good. Then you have respect for her, at least... and that soothes me a little." The reverend sat down, shaking his head a bit and leaning back at the table before he glanced towards the door with a quiet sigh. "So are the rumors true? Is there something up in the mountains, in the old fortress up there, stealing the souls of demons and angels?"

"Close enough. What have you heard about it?" Zerrex tilted his head curiously as the reverend looked towards him, and the jowly canine hesitated for a moment... but then he grunted and quickly shuffled through the papers on the table before holding out a newspaper clipping.

Zerrex took it, and grimaced at the headline: 'Husks found; who's to blame?' "Temptation's in even more of a foul state than it's ever been before... even the profiteers and criminals are starting to pack up and cut town, leaving only the worst of the scum around. I hear you and Missy actually killed one of the gang leaders who was trying to cut and run... Stallone, I think his name was. Or rather, was the name he was going by among his followers. The Sheriff figured out it was him earlier this morning when some angry politicians came looking for the scumbag, thinking he'd been arrested, not killed."

The Drakkaren looked up in surprise as he remembered the cheetah... and the pieces fell into place in his mind. Four mercenaries who had been working directly under Eratosthenes, outfitted with the best-of-the-best by him: it made sense. They likely were the marshals of his army, and since the Strange Beast obviously didn't yet understand how mortals worked, he had empowered them and let them loose in town, thinking they would do his dirty work for him... and instead, his army of demons and angels and scumbags was starting to slowly fall apart because they were all now trying to pursue their own interests instead of their big boss's. Goddammit... if only it had happened sooner, then maybe he never would have been able to capture me in the first place.

He glanced towards the reverend as the canine sighed quietly, then shook his head and muttered: "It's a sin to think some of the things I think about these foul people, but I've started to wonder if Heaven is really worth all this trouble. There's just as many angels in Temptation as there are everything else... and as the sheriff likes to say, demons are honest, but angels smile while they betray you. I just fear that what's happening there is connected somehow to what's happening in that fortress you've expressed an interest in."

Zerrex nodded a bit... but any further conversation was cut off as Rebecca and Missy came inside, and the two insisted on preparing a large meal together. The males sat in awkward quiet while the females talked with each other cheerily and worked together... but dinner proved a good experience overall, and Rebecca kept smiling at the lizard in a way that made him feel all the more apprehensive about taking their daughter away.

When Missy went off to shower, Rebecca poured Zerrex a mug of coffee and handed it to him, then exchanged a look with her husband before quietly taking the reverend's hand, saying softly: "Mr. Biggs, don't think this is too forwards of me... but I'm thankful that if Missy is going to leave, it's with you. I know she's heading into danger... but I know that you'll do her best to keep her safe, even in Temptation. And I know it must feel like a lot is being placed on your shoulders... but I want you to know that... that if something does happen... please don't be ashamed or afraid to come back here. Despite your... rough appearance, you have been very kind and you've brought Missy's dreams back to life. She's a wild spirit... and this is a world that I'm afraid... needs people like you and her in it. It's not the same world we grew up in... even after the wars. This world... is getting wilder and wilder."

Zerrex nodded a bit, saying quietly: "Like I told your husband, though... I'm only going to take her as far as the mountains. She won't come with me to the fortress, that would be... asking too much, putting her in too much danger, and-"

Rebecca only smiled softly, holding up a hand and saying quietly: "Why don't you just let her decide when the time comes, then? I know... she's not like you, Mr. Biggs. But she is special, and I think you see that already in her. The best things are always tried in fire... and while my sister wasn't... the best of people, Missy is. Missy is just like her long-lost father, God rest his soul."

The Drakkaren didn't know how to reply, so he only sipped at his coffee... and he glanced up towards the sounds of the shower running before asking softly: "I hope it's not rude, but... she hasn't... mentioned her father at all..."

"Her father was an Angel, and I mean that in a literal sense." Rebecca said kindly, and when the reverend made a grumbling sound, the female only smiled amusedly at him. "Now stop it, honey, you know that Missy won't talk about it, and Zerrex should know. Her father was a Holy Knight, one of the few sent down to the planet after the demons first made their appearance throughout the world... and he was very quickly seduced into bed by my sister, who wanted... well... wealth and power.

"Missy never got to really know her father because he was killed shortly after she was born... but I spent time with him, and he was a good and virtuous male. Very strong-willed, extremely generous, and willing to throw his life on the line to protect anyone. He was killed not by demons... but by mortals. PMCs, I believe they were called... mercenaries, scum." Rebecca shook her head slowly, then she sipped quietly at her own glass of red wine and murmured: "Poor Missy will never talk about her father because she's ashamed that he was led into bed by her mother."

"That explains her strength..." Zerrex murmured softly, rubbing slowly at his face. After all, even though most Benevolent would be stronger than mortals... the fact that Missy could throw punches and kicks hard enough to stagger even him had started to make him question how she could be so strong. "It explains a lot about her, in fact."

Rebecca nodded, and then she said softly: "I always knew in a way this day would come. She's driven... and she doesn't even know that the warrior instinct, the need to protect, is in her very blood. She knows her father was an angel, but not the full story... and if you don't mind, Zerrex, I'd like to have a little privacy to talk to her about that tonight."

"Of course." Zerrex smiled a bit, and then he stood up before glancing over the two awkwardly, asking quietly: "Are there any tools in that case, that I could use? I'll go out and do some tinkering with my motorcycle, and... that should be more than enough time to settle things. I won't interrupt."

"I appreciate it." Rebecca smiled a bit, then she patted her husband on the shoulder as the reverend grunted, but then nodded, looking a little embarrassed. The Drakkaren understood though, and he only smiled a bit, which seemed to settle the two a little and displaced some of the awkwardness in the air.

"There's tools and a floodlight in the barn, in the storage area. Help yourself to whatever you need, and you can take some of them with you if you want, nowadays I have a mechanic worry about my repairs instead of fixing anything myself." the reverend finally answered, and the Drakkaren smiled again at this, heading towards the door before the jowly canine stood and cleared his throat, the reptile looking curiously over his shoulder as he asked quietly: "Can I ask... why you wear those prayer beads?"

Zerrex looked down at his mala, drawing his hand through it quietly... and then he smiled and said softly: "Because even I need something to believe in... and when I wear these special beads... I feel safe. I feel like someone's watching over me. I feel like... things are going to be okay, even in the worst of time. They represent my faith, not just in myself or... something else, but... in the balance of things. In harmony."

The Drakkaren blushed a bit... but the reverend slowly smiled, nodding a few times and saying quietly: "I think you just soothed any last worries I may have had about you, Biggs. Don't stay out too late... it's better to be in Temptation early than it is to be there late at night."

Zerrex nodded with an awkward 'thank you,' and then he headed outside and walked over towards the barn. He easily wheeled his bike in front of the wide doors as he looked up at the purple-red sky overhead, and then he shook his head slowly before frowning a bit at the sight of Derek talking excitedly on a cellphone. When the Greed demon's eyes caught on Zerrex, he winced a bit and rambled something else... and the Drakkaren frowned before he rested the bike on the kickstand and walked towards the demon, who blushed a bit and then held up his hands as the reptile crossed his arms and asked dryly when he drew within a few feet of him: "So. You weren't ratting me out just now, were you?"

The Greed demon blinked a few times... and then he laughed in relief, shaking his head quickly and wheezing loudly. "Oh holy shit, no, not at all, Biggs... I might be a Greed demon but I ain't entirely stupid, if you get my drift. I like it here, you see... close to Temptation, not so close as I have to worry about my head getting cut off in the middle of the night due to all the people I piss off." The weasel hesitated, and then he added in an embarrassed voice: "And... they're nice people. Good people, you know? Aww, fuck, I think they're even starting to rub off on me and shit. You know the last time I was in town I gave a fucking quarter to a beggar? A whole fucking quarter, I could have used that quarter in the slot machines and won me a fucking million dollars, but I gave it to a goddamn beggar. And I guess... I didn't feel half-bad about it, either. Weird, huh?"

The weasel rubbed at his head... and Zerrex smiled a bit, saying quietly: "Well, begging is seen as an act that brings good karma, you know. It gives people a chance to give away money like you did, without expectation of anything in return... which is another act that builds good karma."

"You're so frigging weird for a big guy, you know that? You look all muscle but you talk all this crazy shit." The weasel gestured back and forth with his arms widely, and Zerrex rolled his eyes before the small demon smiled up at him. "Anyway, no. To be honest, I was trying to line up a deal with Carbone... see, I ain't about to go rat that you and Missy killed Stallone, 'cause I don't want to see that nice girl hurt and Carbone would kill me, Jake, and the nice old mortal geezers in the house just by association with you two, but it puts him in kind of a bind. Like you probably remember, Stallone ran the casinos and a lot of the bars and those places... but now other people are quickly trying to take over Stallone's racket, and it's leading to a whole mess of infighting in town.

"And where do you think most of Carbone's drugs were sold?" The weasel tapped his nose. "Exactly, the casinos and the bars. Now with Stallone gone, and his enforcers in disarray and often killing each other to try and become the 'new Stallone' so to speak, a lot of people have just taken Carbone's drugs and money from where they were stashed in the casinos and the bars and the strip joints and bailed ship. Now Carbone is desperate to get some of his stock back and to find decent drug-runners... I figured it was a way back into his good books. I could get paid, and he wouldn't kill me afterwards because everyone and everything else is busy screwing each other over. I'd get my pat on my head and more importantly, my bag of gold and silver, and I could skip on the hell out of Temptation and maybe make a decent living out here."

Zerrex grunted, and then he said mildly: "Derek, since I find you likeable and you aren't entirely a douche, I'm going to give you some advice. Stay away from Temptation for a week or so, because if you think things are topsy-turvy there now, I think they're about to get a whole lot worse."

Derek looked up at him querulously... and when the Drakkaren turned around and headed back towards his motorcycle, the demon quickly ran after him, his eyes widening as he clapped his hands together; the noise apparently loud enough to make Jake, who was sleeping against the side of the barn, stir in his sleep with a grumble, the Sloth demon groaning moodily. "What, whoa, wait-wait-wait! You're gonna go and mess some heads up, aren't you? Holy hell, you're like some... dark avenger, ain't you? Like all that shit you were talking about killing the Serpent Rex, that ain't just talk, is it?"

Zerrex grunted in response as he headed into the barn, but the weasel tagged excitedly along, clapping his hands a few times and bouncing energetically from foot-to-foot. "Like when you were fighting with Missy! I mean, that girl can hit but you were handling her like a toddler... and geez, you were even nice about it too, showing her all that stuff, and not just 'cause I can tell you're sweet on her."

The reptile grumbled from inside the storage closet before he found a large, circular lamp hooked up to a large power cell... and when the reptile flicked the on button, he winced at how bright the light was even though the lamp was turned away. Yep. That's a floodlight. "What do you want, Derek? Estimates about how many people I'll probably kill so you can make some crazy bets with the wrong people? Or to come with Missy and me and help us clean up the town, old west style?"

Derek's eyes widened in shock at this, and he babbled immediately: "You can't take her! Hey, she's sweet-as-pie and... sure, she can throw a punch and all, but that little girl deserves better, even I think that and I'm a damn demon!"

"I know, I know." Zerrex muttered as he emerged from the barn with the floodlight in one hand and a toolkit in the other: it seemed to have most of the basic tools he'd been looking for to do simple tune-ups on the motorcycle, and he only hoped he remembered what Priest had taught him between showing off his engineering skills when they'd worked on repairing motorcycles together. "But she's made up her mind and there isn't exactly a lot I can do about it now, Derek. You want to argue with the scary country girl?"

Derek made a face at this as the reptile dropped the floodlight just past the doorway of the barn and turned it on, half-turned away from the house so it covered both the truck and his motorcycle in a bright-as-day luminescence... and Jake cursed as he was caught in the bright light where he was laying at the side of the barn, fidgeting before the Sloth demon rolled over and forced himself to his feet with a surly mutter, storming away from the light as Zerrex rolled his eyes and dropped the toolkit.

The Greed demon didn't speak for a while, and Zerrex was surprised when he eventually fidgeted and left, even as the Drakkaren made his way in and out of the barn. He started by removing the rust and buildup on the exterior of the bike, using a cloth and various bottles of liquid he'd found in the barn... and once it was as clean as it was going to look without the body being rebuilt and the deteriorated plating replaced, the Drakkaren popped open the panels that hid the internals of the bike from view and went to work with a mumble, trying to remember how this and that worked, but once again surprised by how spotless the insides of the motorcycles were... by the look of it, someone had been regularly tuning up the motorcycles while they were outside.

Not long after the reptile had managed to figure out how to get to the motor on the motorcycle, and as he was cleaning a bit of excess grime off with a rag, Missy quietly came down the steps and approached him, holding something in her hand. When the Drakkaren turned towards her, she slowly unwrapped the object from the blanket, swallowing a bit... and Zerrex stared as she removed a golden, beautiful broadsword from the cloth, holding it up by the ebony handle, the blade three feet in length and with beautiful ruby patterning engraved through the grooved blade, the female asking quietly as a single tear dripped down her cheek: "Can you teach me how to use this?"

Zerrex looked at her for a moment... then he reached up and stroked her face slowly, saying softly: "I will... but tomorrow." He stopped, then his eyes roved to an ivory locket now hanging around the female's neck... and she blushed a bit as she reached up and quietly stroked over the surface with her thumb, along the embossed image of a dove. "I think you'll catch on fast."

Missy nodded a little... then she turned and swung the sword through the air, and it sizzled before bursting into golden flames, making the Benevolent gasp and drop the weapon as she staggered backwards in surprise... and Zerrex smiled despite himself before he wiped his hands off on the rag and quickly began to pack up his tools, saying quietly: "Looks like I might not have to teach you much after all."

The golden retriever swallowed thickly and nodded... and then Zerrex walked around the bike and hugged her tightly, and she turned around and hugged him fiercely back, burying her face against his chest as she sobbed once, only once... but tears still flooded down her muzzle as she whispered: "I wish every day that I had known my father. I think he would have been... a lot like you, Biggs. I think he would have been a lot like you."

Zerrex looked down at her softly, quietly stroking her face gently... and then he hugged her tightly again, feeling her trembles slowly soothing, slowly calming, as he held her tightly in his arms... and finally, she pulled back with a shuddering sigh, gazing up at him before she looked embarrassedly at the sword on the ground and hesitantly picked it up: the golden flames had whiffed out, and they hadn't left so much as a mark on the grasses behind them as she surveyed the weapon slowly, the way it thickened slightly near the top and the beautiful scarlet patterns grooved into it... before she slowly put it down in the dropped cloth and wrapped it back up, saying in a firmer voice: "Okay. Come on, Biggs, let's head inside. I wanna spend time with Poppa and Momma and... it'll be good for you to rest up, too."

Zerrex nodded after a moment... and Missy stood quietly and watched as the reptile put the tools back in the barn and turned off the floodlight before wheeling the motorcycle back around to the side of the listing structure... and then Missy grabbed his wrist and pulled him insistently forwards and back towards the ranch house.

It was awkward, but not entirely uncomfortable, as they sat quietly around at the kitchen table, chatting softly for the next few hours. The reverend retired first, but he promised to drive with them to his church outside of Temptation in the morning... and Missy had been touched by the gesture. Zerrex had been glad of it himself, admittedly... and as he sat, mostly watching Rebecca and Missy talk, there had finally been a quiet knocking at the door.

Missy leapt up and ran to answer it as Zerrex stood, Rebecca looking curiously up... and then Missy called eagerly: "Your friend is here, Biggs! White, right? Please, please come inside and sit down!"

"I'm just here to drop this off..." White began, and then he grimaced a bit when Missy grabbed him and pulled him along, a faint blush rising in his collar... and Zerrex grinned a bit as he finally saw the resemblance between White Phoenix and the Tinman as he tried to shake her off, looking a little ruffled as he held a large, cloth-wrapped package in his arms, rectangular but with a very large bulge in the center. "Ma'am, please let go of me."

Missy finally did so awkwardly, blushing a bit but looking excited as a child on her birthday as Rebecca stood up and asked kindly: "Would you like some coffee, sir?"

White only shook his head, however, approaching the table and carefully laying the cloth-wrapped bundle over it before he reached up and quickly removed his hat, bowing his head politely. "No miss, but thank you kindly. I can't stay long... I just wanted to give this to you, Zerrex... would you mind trying it on before I leave? Just in case any alterations have to be made."

Zerrex tilted his head curiously, but then he nodded slowly as he reached out and carefully opened the bundle... and the reptile's eyes slowly widened at what he saw inside, White saying quietly: "I also took the liberty of bringing you a change of clothes and... something I know that you can put to good use."

The Drakkaren smiled slightly over at the badger as he reached out and touched the hilt of his sword, Blackheart, and the Drakkaren muttered: "You know once they find out you took this, they're going to kick your ass."

"In for a penny, in for a pound. I won't tell a soul until I have to where you are... and I'll keep that promise until you say so otherwise. But my job is to make you as well prepared as possible for what's to come." White replied softly, and the Drakkaren couldn't help but smile at this sentiment before his eyes roved to what White had made for him... and he whistled slowly as he picked up part of it, the badger saying quietly: "I based it off the design of your arm, made it all to play off your natural talents."

The Drakkaren nodded slowly... and then he looked awkwardly at Rebecca and Missy, but they only stared, enraptured, at the beautiful silver and iron designs the badger had brought. So the lizard grumbled a bit as he quickly slipped out of his loose pants and snatched the neatly-tied change of clothes from beneath part of the gear, and he almost leapt into his boxers and jeans and slipped the tight black shirt over his head with a bit of a smile, the thick-weaved fabric clinging to him almost like a bodysuit, the fiber resistant and padding his body well, just as the pants did.

Then the Drakkaren pulled down the next item that caught his attention: heavy, black and silver steel boots with plated shin-guards that extended almost to the knee, emblazoned with patterns of black roses and with thick, cleat-like spikes on either side of the ankle and foot, the toes overlaid with solid, squarer metal plates... and after this, the Drakkaren donned a tight double-belt of dragon-scale leather, which locked into thick metal plates that locked over his groin and upper legs, protecting them as they snapped neatly together. A black, stylized breastplate edged in silver fitted over his chest, designed so that it left his obliques bare but covered his abdominals and upper chest with solid, embossed black steel shaped perfectly to fit over the lizard's body and imitate his powerful musculature. Heavier plates layered the Drakkaren's back in a slightly-stacked format, giving it a shell-like look that led down into a simple set of plates that covered the upper base of his tail, giving him more than sufficient protection: only his sides were left vulnerable, but it kept the armor lightweight and mobile.

Lastly, the reptile slid his arms into the sleeves of armlets that were already linked into gloves... and both these beautiful silver, full-arm-protectors were shaped exactly like his metallic arm had always been when in its elegant form: made of stacked plating that locked into rounded pauldrons that fit over the shoulders, these half-domes connecting neatly into the heavy breastplate. Chain mesh and supple fabric ran beneath the stacked armor, only the elbow joint left slightly open to ensure maximum mobility, but each elbow tipped with a large spike... and each gauntlet that covered the hand and wrist was made of countless tiny silver and iron plates, each of these subtly edged and the fingertips ending in short claws: they were not just armor, they were weapons, and Zerrex could feel both holy power and demonic energy thrumming through them as he flexed his hands slowly, amazed by how it felt almost like he was wearing nothing at all... before he realized that both forearms had an added layer on top of them, and when he looked at White, the badger nodded.

On instinct, the Drakkaren flexed and clenched his hand into a fist as he snapped his wrist down... and a hidden blade shot out of the thick forearm, just above the wrist, Missy's eyes widening in surprise: the blade was simple and only a foot long, edged in white and almond-shaped... and Zerrex grinned slightly before he loosened his fingers, and the blade immediately receded, the reptile muttering: "White, you have truly, truly outdone yourself."

"Just remember, I had to cut out the side plating to reduce the weight of the armor and make sure that it can bend a little easier." White said softly, and Zerrex nodded before he looked down at the cloth with surprise to see that the badger had included a set of black leather pouches as well, that all looked like they would fit on the belt... and the badger gave the slightest of smiles as the reptile touched one of these, realizing it was full of something. "Just... trinkets from the old days. Salt bombs, mercury rounds, a few other treats you'll put to better use than I will. I don't half-ass things, Zerrex. Your sword and that armor will only take you so far... I'm hoping that these extra tools will give you the edge you need to take you the rest of the way."

The Drakkaren grinned a bit over at White before he opened his belts and began to quickly pick up the pouches, sliding them on as Missy slowly stepped forwards and touched along one arm of the armor, and then she pulled her hand quickly back and looked down at her fingertips with surprise as they glowed faintly. "Laden with energy... that's some powerful stuff you're wearing, Biggs..."

Zerrex nodded with a grunt as he slipped the last sidepack onto his belt, then easily redid the buckles before looking up as White glanced up sharply, the badger's eyes narrowing slightly before he drew his massive revolver. It gleamed elegantly and dangerously, a humongous black weapon with a rectangular barrel a meter long and a massive, engraved cylinder that held eight rounds, the heavy handle perfectly fitting his grip as he held it hanging lightly at his side and said quietly: "We've got uninvited guests."

With that, White walked calmly to the door and yanked it open, the badger stepping out onto the landing in front of the steps... and his eyes flicked back and forth before he easily rose the huge revolver and fired off one, two, three shots into the darkness of the night, and screams of shock and pain went up as tall grasses rattled and chunks of barn flew in all directions, the last round piercing through the corner of the wall... and then a minotaur slowly staggered into view as Zerrex looked out the kitchen window with a snarl, watching as the lightly-armored creature clutched at its chest with a gargle, a handgun dangling loosely from its fingers as blood and silvery liquid spilled out of its chest and from its obliterated heart before it fell to its knees and collapsed forwards on its face as it began to rapidly rot away.

Yells went up as Rebecca gasped and Missy snarled, then Zerrex shouted: "Get her to safety and bring out whatever guns you got, now!"

Missy didn't have to be told twice, grabbing her aunt by the wrist and yanking her out of the kitchen as outside, White's eyes surveyed the dark night as voices shouted, and then he glanced slightly up as a truck on a massive set of eight-foot tall tires began to roar towards the house, and calmly, White rose his revolver, aiming at the snarling demon behind the wheel before he twitched the barrel of the gun to the side slightly and fired, and both the glass windshield and Wrath demon's shoulder was blown away, his arm was almost torn off: the force of the bullet caused the demon's body to twist as he howled in agony, his other hand still gripping the steering wheel and yanking it into a too-tight turn.

The huge truck twisted and careened into the fields as the tires squealed against grass and demons and angels in hiding dove out of the way, before an unlucky thug screamed as the truck finally spilled over and crashed onto its side and on top of the angel trying too late to run, wheels still ripping up dirt and grass in a thick spray for a few moments before the engine died. White only shook his head in distaste, and then he grimaced as gunshots went up from the field near the road and two rusted but armored vans approached before they half-turned and skidded to a halt, forming a barricade and a protective wall as doors opened in the other side and mercenaries poured out.

Zerrex, meanwhile, had the bolt-action rifle in his hands, watching out the window before he turned and headed quickly towards the doorway, and White glanced at the Drakkaren, then stepped onto the stairs to let him out as he asked calmly: "Can you see them?"

"Well enough." Zerrex muttered as he rose the rifle to his shoulder, and the badger nodded as he easily opened the cylinder of his revolver with a flick of his wrist, reaching beneath his heavy coat and pulling four bullets free from his pocket, reloading them with an easy flick of his wrist that slipped them all into place almost at once.

Despite both the ability of the badger and the awkward comfort of having White at his back, however, the Drakkaren couldn't help but grimace: he could make out the vague shapes of at least two dozen demons in the tall grasses and around the road, more sensing than seeing a lot of them in the darkness... and then a voice shouted angrily as Missy came back with an old, rusty-looking hunting rifle and a snarl on her face: "Give us the big lizard and the bitch who killed Stallone, or we burn down this whole fucking place!"

Zerrex grimaced, and then he rose his rifle as White said quietly: "We may have a problem here. It seems you've already stirred up trouble."

"Accidents happen." Zerrex muttered, and then he rose his rifle as a tall Wrath demon covered in thick metal plates growing out of his hide tried to sneak forwards... and the Drakkaren fired twice, working the bolt quickly. The first round only grazed the enemy and made it twitch, but the second round caught the demon full in the chest, armor plating sizzling and frying as it flew backwards with a howl of pain... and it stayed down, the lizard grinning a bit despite himself as he muttered: "Guess Missy knows her stuff after all."

"Thanks, Biggs, now move out of the goddamn way." the golden retriever muttered, then she snarled when Zerrex glanced up at her with a shake of his head and a grunt. "What? Goddammit, let me-"

"Go to the kitchen window, better angle." Zerrex replied shortly, and the Benevolent hesitated for a moment, then nodded as she looked nervously at the Drakkaren and White. She turned to head down the hall... and then a roar went up from outside, and a hail of gunfire erupted all at once towards them and the house, Zerrex cursing and dropping flat against the landing as White continued to only calmly stand on the steps, raising his massive revolver and returning fire slowly and leisurely: every shot he took sent down another opponent, though, his bullets ripping through chests and skulls like paper, spraying blood and mercury into the air.

Then the badger grimaced as two rifle rounds smacked into him, knocking him back a step... but otherwise barely fazing him as he shook his head quickly, the wounds nothing but bloodless dark holes in the male's chest before a third bullet smacked into chest, but this time White didn't even twitch as he rose his revolver and fired a short, fast strafe across the top of the armored van, and three demons that had taken to the roof of the vehicle were all knocked flying with gargles and howls of dismay.

White popped the revolver open, then he said quietly, without glancing up as he quickly reloaded the cylinder from one of the inner pockets of his jacket: "Two o'clock. Runners."

Zerrex glanced with a curse towards the barn, where a gaggle of five demons were charging forwards... and in front of them, Derek was running with his hands covering his head, the Greed demon yelling in terror and staring back and forth with horror before he shot into the barn. The lizard snarled at this sight, but he concentrated on taking his anger out on the demons instead, firing rifle rounds into their ranks and downing two of them as a third's leg was blown out, the lizard-like Swamp Spine hissing in pain, the large spikes that jutted out of his back here and there like quills trembling as it quickly tried to drag itself behind the barn.

Zerrex cursed and covered his face as a rifle round tore into the landing, sending up a thick spray of wood chips over his face as other rounds battered the walls and windows of the house, keeping Missy at bay as she shrieked from inside... and then the retriever leapt to her feet as there was a pause in the gunfire, raising her hunting rifle to her shoulder and firing two rounds into the chest of a Craven that was making a dash towards the house, the half-demon staggering when the first round hit him and blasted clear off his feet when the second pounded into his chest, sent flying backwards to crash onto his back. Then she ejected the clip from the rifle, seizing another and slamming it into place before taking aim through the window and firing a round into the skull of a minotaur raising an assault rifle, the bull-like creature's head exploding as it tumbled backwards and fired uselessly into the air, startling the demons and angels around him and sending them all diving for cover.

Zerrex tossed the rifle aside as the two mercenaries that had managed to reach the entrance to the barn peered around the edge of the door... and then one leapt out when White turned to return fire towards the vans, raising his rifle as the Drakkaren gritted his teeth... before a heavy wooden crate fell from above and crashed down on top of the angel, loaded with metal and old lumber, and the mercenary was crushed to a pulp as the other Craven gaped in shock... and without looking, White's revolver flicked to the side and fired a single bullet that tore through his temple, making his head explode like an overripe tomato, the half-demon crumpling to the side.

The lizard looked up in surprise to see Derek at the top of the barn, shouting angrily and shaking his fist towards the mercenaries... before he squealed as bullets blasted towards him, and another trio of enemies ran forwards as White gave a quiet curse and snapped the cylinder of his revolver open, spilling the spent jackets out and beginning to reload before he said quietly: "Wait for a break in the fire and make a run towards the barn. I'll cover you."

Zerrex nodded... and then White's eyes widened at the sound of a growing rumbling, and a moment later a stream of electricity erupted from between the vans, crashing into the wall of the house and ripping a black char-mark along the wooden wall of the structure before White ducked with a grimace, the concentrated stream of electricity ripping just over his head and crashing into the wall on the other side of the doorway before it came to a halt, leaving the walls charred and weak flames crackling along the wood as a wolf Craven in fiberglass armor began to walk forwards with a snarl as his hands twisted the knobs on the side of the massive electrical cannon he was wearing, shouting furiously: "You fucking son of a bitch, you think you can just-"

White calmly held his right, gloved hand above his chest and flicked his fingers, and the three rifle round lodged in his chest floated eerily out of the wounds with a quiet squelch before the bloodless holes in the male's chest simply sealed themselves, and then the badger's gold-rimmed, cold eyes looked forwards as he flicked his wrist in the direction of the ranting Craven... and the twisted metal rounds reshaped themselves into sharp cones before they seemed to simply vanish from the spot with a sharp bang, but the Craven's eyes went wide as he flew backwards, limbs flailing outwards and electrical cannon flying uselessly through the air, fiberglass armor shattering and twinkling through the night air around him as blood exploded from his chest before he crashed down and skidded some ten feet backwards through the grass into the van, and there was dead silence for a moment before yells of shock went up and several of the mercenaries simply turned tail and ran, even as the trio that had managed to reach the barn during the distraction flooded inside it with curses and snarls of fury.

"Go." White said quietly, and Zerrex didn't need to be told twice as he leapt to his feet and past the badger, the male raising his revolver and firing off two rounds as a hulking Salamander tried to make a dash for the electrical cannon, and he was blown backwards in a hail of blood and gore, crashing to the ground and rolling several times.

The Drakkaren reached up and seized the hilt of his sword, energy bursting along Blackheart's blade in almost-excited pulses as one of the mercenaries looked over his shoulder, then turned around with a snarl... and Zerrex yanked the sword off his back, twisting it so the flat shielded his face as the angel fired two shots at him, the shotgun booming and pellets smacking against the blade and the armor over the lizard's body in a wide cone, making him wince and flex, stumbling slightly before he leapt to the side so the third blast scraped by, sparks flying from his armor before the lizard revolved his sword out to the side and leapt suddenly forwards as the angel's eyes widened... before he slashed him neatly in half, and the mercenary gargled and howled, his legs staggering backwards as his torso flew forwards and crashed to the ground, staring mindlessly. The other two had made it to the back of the barn, however, and Zerrex gritted his teeth: it was dark in here, putting him at a disadvantage as one of them began to climb towards the second floor, and the other - merely a strange shape in the shadows to the lizard, but his senses seeming to fill in the rest of the details for him - turned around, and the Drakkaren leapt to the side on instinct as a short volley of gunfire blasted towards him.

The reptile hit the door of the storage closet, and then he flung this open and ducked behind it, Blackheart scraping against the wooden doorway before the reptile's eyes settled on the floodlight as it glimmered in the dark... and he dropped his sword for the moment, seizing this instead before jumping out and turning it on as he pointed it towards the minotaur, and the mercenary cursed angrily and covered his eyes, firing his submachine gun wildly into the ceiling before Zerrex dropped the bright lamp and barreled forwards, the minotaur's eyes widening as he adjusted too late to the brightness before the Drakkaren's armored fist sank into his stomach.

He lurched forwards, gagging as blood splattered out of his jaws, and then the lizard slammed his elbow across the minotaur's muzzle, and his head slammed to the side and smacked firmly into the wall before his eyes rolled up in his skull, even as Zerrex caught him by the throat... and then he tossed the unconscious, stupefied mercenary to the ground before looking up towards the hayloft at a yell... and the lizard leapt onto the ladder, climbing quickly up before he winced and ducked his head back down the moment he'd reached the top, a splatter of gunfire shooting in his direction as a Benevolent shouted furiously, the cat's form almost glowing but the aura around him tarnished instead of pure: "Stay away you son of a bitch! You killed Carbone but goddammit, you ain't won yet!"

Zerrex grimaced, then he reached down and felt at the pouches on his waist, letting his fingers touch along them... before he pulled out a large, capsule-shaped explosive from one. The reptile looked at it for a few moments, at the markings on it... and then he grimaced before pressing down on a white mark on the top of it, making it hiss quietly before the Drakkaren lobbed it into the hayloft, and the Benevolent frowned a bit from where he was standing beside a bloodied Derek before the small device exploded into a white cloud, and immediately the Benevolent began to choke and gag as iodine-enriched smoke spilled through the hayloft, smothering his senses as the cat fired his handgun wildly in the direction of the ladder. "Fuck!"

Then the feline's eyes widened, and he looked over his shoulder to see a tall, indistinct figure in the fog, raising his handgun too little, too late... and Zerrex caught it by the slide before he easily tore it out of the cat's hand, then he seized the Benevolent by the throat, the male choking loudly, kicking weakly as he was hefted into the air until he was eye level with the Drakkaren... and the lizard only grimaced with distaste before he half-turned and threw him hard.

The cat puffed out of the already-dissipating cloud of smoke and flew through the open doors of the front of the hayloft, limbs flailing wildly as he screamed before he crashed to the ground far below with an ugly thud. Still, it was only enough to stun the Benevolent and bloody his muzzle, the cat's eyes glimmering weakly as he slowly began to force himself up... and then he stared weakly upwards at the sound of a gun cocking in front of him, shivering a bit as he looked up at White's emotionless face and cold, cold eyes. "Pray."

The cat began to open his muzzle... and White pulled the trigger, the round blowing apart the Benevolent's skull and sending him crashing backwards with enough force to flip his body completely before he smacked down onto his stomach, twitching weakly before his corpse slowly began to disintegrate. A moment later, he was joined by Missy, who winced a bit as she held the rifle easily between her hands, and the badger slowly reloaded his revolver, not looking at her as he asked quietly: "Are you okay?"

Up in the hayloft, Derek coughed a few times, eyes watering from the smoke as the last of it cleared, several bloody bullet holes in his chest... but the Greed demon only cursed and rubbed at the wounds, wincing a bit as he rasped quietly for breath before smiling weakly when Zerrex offered him his hand. "Thanks for saving my life... I... I know this must look bad..."

"I don't think they would have been shooting at you too if you'd called them. Besides, that Benevolent seemed pretty eager to kill you..." Zerrex paused for a moment as the Greed demon took his hand, slowly hefting Derek to his feet before he muttered: "But then who-"

The Drakkaren's question was answered by a shovel to the back of his head, lights flashing in front of the lizard's eyes as he staggered past the Greed demon, gargling, as his mind went blank before he turned around... and he swayed on the spot, struggling to keep conscious as Jake snarled at him before the Sloth demon stepped forwards and kicked him hard in the stomach, knocking the lizard out of the hayloft to crash onto the bloody ground below with a loud, painful thud that made his bones rattle. He lay spread eagled and stupefied as Missy screamed and White looked up sharply, but then the Sloth demon seized Derek and yanked him up as a shield, holding him tightly around the throat as he dropped the shovel and shouted furiously: "Goddammit, why can't you just fucking die? You're a mortal, why the hell won't you stay down?"

Zerrex blinked slowly, and then he grimaced a bit as he slowly shook his head, feeling Missy's hands on him as White took aim with his revolver... but then lowered it with a grimace when the Sloth demon quickly dragged Derek backwards, holding the five-foot demon in the air with his chokehold against his body as he gargled weakly and his eyes bulged, the Sloth demon's enraged voice continuing: "Now fucking Carbone is dead and this is just going to complicate shit for me and all I want is to sleep, do you hear me? All I want is a little rest! And no, you gotta keep making me miserable, shining light on me, talking around me, shoving me around... I don't think so, not anymore! I'll kill you all myself!"

Then Derek screamed as he was thrown down the ladder, landing with a loud thud on the barn floor... but the weasel only winced before he quickly skittered away, hugging one arm around his body as the other three limbs yanked himself along the barn floor before a shovel flew down and speared into the ground, the Everest screaming: "You want me? Come and get me, Biggs!"

Zerrex groaned as he sat up, and Missy snarled as she muttered: "I can't fucking believe it. I cannot believe this, that... that bastard, I-"

"There might be more mercenaries around the area. Miss, you should go and check on your parents." White said quietly, and the golden retriever winced as she looked over at him, but the badger had already turned his eyes to Zerrex, saying quietly: "You handle him, then. I'll make sure there's no one else around here, looking to try and settle the odds or get revenge."

"Alright. Missy, you better head back to the house." Zerrex said softly, and the Benevolent frowned a bit before the Drakkaren rolled his shoulders with a grimace. "Believe me, I'm not going to get whacked in the back of the head again. My body aches like hell but this isn't the first time I've been chucked off a building."

The female sighed a bit, then she reached up and patted his cheek, saying softly: "Then hurry back." She paused, then shook her head a bit instead of speaking again and instead turned and headed towards the ranch house as White walked calmly towards the cars, huge revolver held easily at his side.

Zerrex watched the two go... and then he turned and walked into the barn, pausing only to pick up Blackheart where he'd left it on the ground near the storage room, before heading past where Derek was trembling and resting against a hay bale as he wheezed slowly for breath. The Greed demon watched him silently for a few moments, then he said worriedly: "Biggs, that guy up there, he's a big guy... he might be an Everest, sure, but look at the freaking size of him, and dude, he seems pissed..."

"I've dealt with worse, Derek. Go to Missy, I bet she's real worried about you despite everything... she's just caught up and scared right now. She could use your company." Zerrex said softly as he approached the ladder, and Derek nodded after a moment before the Greed demon stood up and limped quickly towards the house. Zerrex watched him for a moment, then he patted his right leg, muttering softly: "Behave just a little longer, okay?"

His right leg seemed to give a grumble of pain in agreement... and the Drakkaren once more climbed up the ladder, heavy sword across his back as he looked nervously back and forth... but the Sloth demon was standing with his back to the open doors, snarling and shirtless now, revealing his powerful chest and pectorals and thick gut. He held a heavy, ugly machete in one hand, the black blade speckled with blood-colored rust as he grinned insanely, the huge ursine's expression maddened as a bit of drool dripped from his jaws. "Come and get me!"

Zerrex hauled himself up into the hayloft, walking forwards and raising his metal-covered fists gamely, and the two glared at each other before Zerrex lunged forwards: immediately, the bear began to raise the machete, but the Drakkaren caught his wrist before the seized him by the throat with his other hand, and the ursine cursed as he grabbed uselessly at the lizard's armor with his other hand before the Drakkaren half-turned and threw him hard down on his back.

Jake cursed as he crashed down with enough force to crack the wood and bounce lightly, and then he lashed out hard with the machete, Zerrex wincing at the surprising speed of the Sloth demon as the weapon scraped loudly against one of his metallic shin-guards, sending up a flurry of sparks. He leapt backwards when Jake kicked uselessly at him, then he readied himself, dropping his body slightly as the ursine began to climb to his feet, before the lizard lunged forwards as the Sloth demon raised his head and the reptile's fist lashed out in a jab thrown from the shoulder as his entire body leapt into the hard punch that smashed the bear right between the eyes.

The Sloth demon was sent tumbling backwards, rolling and flopping hard onto his stomach with a gargle as he dropped the machete, deep cuts torn in his cracked skull as blood spilled over one of his eyes... and the lizard grimaced, shaking his gauntlet-covered fist out slowly. It was a little cheap, perhaps, but the lizard wasn't about to start pulling punches against the Sloth demon after nearly getting all of them killed... apparently just to get a little sleep.

Then Jake slowly began to rise up, and the reptile's eyes widened in surprise as a bit of drool dripped from the bear's muzzle before he laughed rustily, snarling: "Is that the best you can do, you fucking son of a bitch?"

Zerrex winced, and then the demon ran forwards, extending his arms with a roar as he bulled towards the Drakkaren like a charging zombie, and the reptile winced before he ducked under the bear's arms when he grabbed at him before slamming a hard one-two combo into the ursine's gut, and the demon staggered backwards with a grunt... but his stomach was like rubber, repelling the worst of the damage even as the Drakkaren dug thin rips across his stomach due to the silver and iron buildup of his gauntlets. He cursed under his breath, then sidestepped and dropped low when Jake swung a heavy fist out at him in a haymaker, evading the attack before he swept a leg hard forwards and knocked the demon's ankles out from beneath him, the bear's arms flailing wildly before he crashed down onto his face with a snarl of pain and frustration.

Immediately, Zerrex leapt onto his back, slamming the Sloth demon's muzzle forwards into the ground and making him shout in anger more than anything else before the Drakkaren clenched his other hand into a fist and snapped his wrist downwards, and one of the short blades shot out of his forearm before the lizard slammed this down into the demon's upper back... and Jake howled in agony, writhing and bucking before he finally managed to roll over, attempting to smother Zerrex beneath his heavier weight as the blade tore out of the smoldering wound and demonic blood spilled over the iron and silver armor, which steamed violently at the contact, and the Drakkaren cursed as Jake bore down against him, crushing him under his heavy body as he ground his back down and the lizard clawed uselessly at his shoulders.

"I just want rest!" the Sloth demon screamed... and then Zerrex wrapped an arm around Jake's throat, and then bear's eyes widened for a moment before the lizard roared as he yanked hard on his neck and rolled at the same time, and he forced Jake to roll over, the lizard once more on top of the bear as his stomach thudded into the ground, pressing face down into the hayloft before the Drakkaren snarled as he wrapped his other arm around the bear's head and violently twisted.

The demon's neck snapped loudly... and Jake shuddered and rasped, trembling for a moment longer as his eyes fluttered... and then slowly closed, and beneath him, the Sloth demon slowly began to turn to stone as Zerrex stood up and staggered away from the corpse with a grimace, rubbing at his muzzle with a quiet curse as Jake let out one last, whispering moan before he petrified completely in death. The lizard shook his head slowly at this sight, gazing at Jake more with pity than anger now... and then he sighed a bit and kicked the stony remains, the statue shattering into chunks of solid rock and falling quickly apart as the Drakkaren muttered: "Ashes to ashes, dust to dust, sleep the sleep of eternity."

With that, the lizard reached up to grasp the hilt of his sword for a moment, and Blackheart sparked quietly over his back before the reptile looked down at the blade extending from the forearm of his armor. He examined it for a few moments, and then he flicked his wrist upwards... and the blade immediately vanished back into the armor, which was a little dirty now... but there otherwise was only minimal scratching from even the shotgun pellets that had bounced off it, and all traces of demonic blood had vanished entirely. The reptile smiled a little after a moment at this, and then he quietly brushed his metal-covered hands over the plates that protected his body, muttering: "White did a fantastic job."

The lizard headed towards the ladder, climbing carefully down to the ground before he grunted in pain as a bolt of sharp agony went through his right leg, and the reptile smiled a moment as he patted his hip quietly, muttering: "You know what? I don't mind for once. You held up your end of the bargain, after all... anyway, we can rest now, at least for a little while. How does that sound?"

His leg twitched a bit, as if in agreement, and the Drakkaren nodded after a moment before he headed through the barn and across the yard. White was waiting quietly outside, standing just in front of the steps... and the two looked at each other for a moment before the badger pointed at the electrical cannon, the weapon slightly-battered but obviously still in good shape. "With your leave, Zerrex, I'd like to take this back to Hell for someone to examine. Someone like Priest, who can understand this much better than I can. I think it's very important we find out how they built such technology... and even if this has the symbol of one of those space colonies engraved on it, even I can tell someone tampered with its electronics."

The Drakkaren nodded after a moment at this, saying quietly: "Go ahead then, White, by all means. I agree..." He smiled a little after a moment. "Although you know it's probably going to complicate things a little. They're going to ask you questions about where you got this... and they're going to want you to answer them."

White only nodded in return, however, saying quietly: "And I won't lie, but I won't tell them more than they need to know at this point, either. I've been thinking about what you've been doing here, Zerrex... and I guess it ain't all that ludicrous when you get down to it. It sounds crazy, sure... but it don't seem so crazy after you spend a little time seeing what you're capable of."

For a few moments, the badger and the lizard studied each other... and then White said softly: "You got a look in your eye that says not to fuck with you. You wear a smile on your face, but sometimes when I see you, I think about how your smile is a better mask than my poker face will ever be; but you can't hide that sensation even I get around you, despite being dead as I am. You pass it off well... but a wise person knows to go with his instincts and judge a person on their actions, not their talk."

The Drakkaren grumbled a bit, glancing away, and then White glanced over the reptile measuringly before nodding a bit. "The armor is holding up fine, anyway, and that's what's important. If you need anything, don't hesitate to call me. I'll keep your secrets for now, because I know you're just trying to keep your family safe... but if things start looking too dire for you, and the enemy's found your location, you better send a signal out one way or the other, understood?"

"Sir yes sir." Zerrex smiled a little, and White grunted a bit before the badger turned away and held up his hand. A vortex slowly spiraled open... but before the male could walk into it, Zerrex called awkwardly: "Thank you, White. For... for everything. You're a good friend."

"And you watched out for my son for two decades. This is a drop in the ocean compared to what you did for me, without even knowing you were doing me a favor. Sure, you and the others were assholes and rough on him at first..." White glanced over his shoulder, and he gave the smallest of smiles. "But you also protected him. And near the end, you helped him find a home, friends, and... was better family than I ever was to my own son. So don't thank me. 'Cause I still haven't thanked you near enough quite yet."

Then the badger picked up the electrical cannon before he turned and walked into the vortex, and Zerrex smiled faintly at this before he shook his head slowly as the tunnel of black and white slowly closed... before the lizard glanced quietly up as Missy emerged in the doorway and sighed a bit, looking down the steps at him silently and saying quietly: "I can't believe this is happening. I can't believe it's gotten so bad in Temptation now that they're all crawling out of the woodworks like this... Poppa and Momma are hiding out still in the little storage room and... God, is this what it's like? Minutes that feel like hours passin' by, shooting wildly at one another and hoping your bullets hit, killing without thought and... at the end of it all, being hit by what just happened..."

She closed her eyes and punched the doorframe quietly, and Zerrex walked up the stairs and reached out to touch her shoulder, saying softly: "It's hitting harder not just because this was your first big fight... but because they attacked your home. But it sounds like we took down Carbone, one of the other crime bosses... and from the looks of him and the armor he was wearing, he was another of the mercenaries that helped take me down. When Temptation finds out what's happened, the town's going to be in disarray... but it's going to make it even more dangerous for us now. When we go into Temptation, there's going to be a lot of people there who are going to be eager to get a piece of you and me now... and... your family..."

"Momma and Poppa will be fine." Missy said softly, looking up at the Drakkaren quietly before she reached out and touched his face, wiping a bit of blood away from the lizard's muzzle. "Come on now. It looks like you need to clean up a little. Is the cowboy gone?"

"White's gone, yeah. He doesn't tend to stay around and chat." Zerrex smiled awkwardly at this, glancing out over the wreckage and the corpses before he sighed a little, saying quietly: "And I'll be inside in just a minute, then. Let me take care of these dead bodies, first, and these weapons."

"I'll help... gotta... get used to this anyway. Derek, come on, give us a hand!" Missy called, and the Greed demon walked towards them and nodded a little, even as he winced a bit. But the Benevolent smiled reassuringly despite her own obvious anxieties, and then the three headed down the steps together and the Drakkaren sighed a little, shaking his head with a grimace.

The bright side was that many of the corpses had rotted away to nothing already, or vanished... but Craven and a few other bodies and body parts still lay here and there, and there were bloody clothes and other remains to be dealt with. To make it a little easier on her, Zerrex told Missy to gather up the weapons first, and then he and Derek began to drag corpses and other grisly remains off to the side to pile up, the Greed demon looking distasteful but also used to the process as he sighed a little and shook his head, before looking at Zerrex as they hefted a particularly-large Craven corpse between them, and he muttered awkwardly: "Thanks for... for saving me. But even more than that, I mean... thanks for... for not judging me."

"I did judge you, though. The moment I saw you running, I thought you were the one who had made the call..." the lizard admitted with a bit of a smile, and Derek looked up at him embarrassedly before the reptile continued softly: "But then you may have saved my life when you pushed that crate out. That was kind of a big tell it probably wasn't you, especially when they started shooting at you afterwards."

"Yeah. But I gotta admit, I do look like the bigger suspect in this kind of situation... and fuck, I can't believe it was Jake, you know?" Derek shook his head a bit, looking down as they tossed the Craven's corpse onto the pile of rotten bodies, the two wincing a bit at the sickening sound that went up when it landed on them. "I guess... no matter what your sin is, it can get to you, can't it? I just never pictured a Sloth demon... like that. Jake wasn't exactly friendly but... I thought he'd at least be loyal."

Zerrex nodded a little, looking up towards the dark night sky before he rubbed slowly at the armor over his chest, and he said softly: "Violent sins are obvious ones. When you measure them, Wrath, Lust, Pride, they seem a lot worse than Gluttony, or Sloth, or even Greed or Envy. But yet... it's when the other ones, the ones that seem like they do the most harm only to the sinner themselves, that really cause the most damage to the world around them. Because they're laced with betrayal... and Sloth might not seem like much, but you saw how Jake became at the end. He went into a frenzy all because I accidentally shone the floodlight on him while working on my motorcycle. Because to him, sleep was the most important thing in the universe... and he was trying to protect that. To drown himself in that."

Derek nodded with a sigh, looking down and muttering: "I know exactly what you mean. I had a friend who was a Wrath demon, big ass bully bastard, you know? Real jerk. But at least he was always a jerk, and he tried sometimes to be nice. And then I had another friend, from Gluttony. You know. We'd make fun of him, he was a fat-ass, always stuffing his face... and one day my Wrath demon friend knocks some of his food out of his hands because he was eating too loudly and frankly, it was pretty disgusting. You know, that was just his way, he was a Wrath demon and more importantly, he was a jerk and a bully, but at the end of the day of the day he wasn't all that bad. Just... grumpy. But the gluttonous guy, he just goes psycho. He goes just crazy, tackles him to the ground, and he beat on him and bit him and god damn was it horrible. And my friend probably could have taken him like that..." Derek snapped his fingers. "Except... it was just so shocking. So sudden. So unexpected and shit, that we finally had to drag him off and pin him down.

"And sure, yeah. The guy from Wrath was mean every day to all of us, but we recognized it was his sin. The gluttony guy though... it scared the shit out of all of us when he freaked out like that, and then went back to stuffing his face. We should have known better, but none of us did... we forgot that just 'cause his sin didn't seem like a violent one... didn't make him no less a demon and no less dangerous." Derek finished, and he looked down for a moment before glancing up with an embarrassed smile. "You're uh. You're not gonna make me come to town with you two, are you? 'Cause you may have noticed that I'm a really big coward."

The reptile rolled his eyes at this, then he looked over at the nervous weasel with a bit of a smile. "Then we'll cut a deal, like you Greed demons like to do. You stay with the reverend and Rebecca, help them out a little... I see, after all, that whether or not you're the toughest demon on the block, you're still capable of handling plenty of damage your average mortal can't. They're only mortals, after all... they might need a little help. And in the worst case, a little protection: besides, I get the feeling that once you're away from the temptations of Temptation... you might just be a pretty decent guy."

Derek smiled at this a little, saying quietly: "Thanks, Biggs. Considering what I've done over the course of my life, that's a damn nice thing of you to say." He halted, then looked at Zerrex for a few moments before nodding slowly, murmuring: "Okay, I can do that. I know how to use a gun, at least, and I think Missy will let me have a few of her silver bullets, or at least some of the iron ones. Between that and my ability to talk my way out of every other situation I think we'll be okay."

Zerrex nodded back, and then he glanced up as Missy approached, motioning with a grimace towards the pile of guns and other weaponry sitting near the house. "There. Obvious ones, anyway... is... is it okay that I couldn't bring myself to look through their pockets?"

"It's fine. I doubt any of them were carrying much of importance." Zerrex replied quietly, and then he approached the last corpse as Derek and Missy followed nervously: the reptile had purposefully left the armored Craven's body alone, wanting to inspect it a bit: especially since, like the last mercenary Craven they had killed, it wasn't rotten at all. Someone else who became a half-demon without dying... maybe Eratosthenes was offering power to mortals in the form of infusing them with corruption but... somehow that doesn't seem like his style. He talks about how he understand mortal emotions, but I think he only understands the basics... like anger. And his own anger has blinded him to how greedy and power-mad mortals can become.

Zerrex knelt beside the body, carefully stripping broken plates of fiberglass armor off it and tossing them towards the pile of corpses before he reached up as he noticed a chain around the wolf's neck, his features still frozen in a snarl of half-rage, half-shock... and he carefully tugged this upwards, grimacing a bit at the sludgy blood that coated part of the small silver beads before the reptile pulled a set of dog-tags at the end of the chain free from beneath the broken armor over the half-demon's body.

He snapped the chain from around the wolf's neck and lifted the tags up to eye level, gazing at them musingly for a few moments before he shook his head slowly, muttering: "These are fakes. ID numbers are all wrong... they're made to look like they're from Ire but none of the information is correct. A wannabe soldier... that makes me wonder..."

Zerrex carefully rolled one of the sleeves of the lupine to his bicep, examining it slowly... and then he nodded slowly as both the Benevolent and the Greed demon leaned over him curiously. "Cindy taught me this... when a mortal becomes a demon without going through the whole death thing, usually by extreme amounts of concentrated corruption, they tend to be tougher to kill... but it also leaves visible marks on their mortal body. Stretch marks where new muscle grows in, scarring around other areas that have changed... and you can measure those scars to tell what they probably looked like as a mortal... see, see how the fur is all patchy over his arms? That's because they've lengthened... and it looks like there's thick scarring around the biceps because the skin has stretched so much... yeah, when this Craven was entirely mortal, he was skinny and probably a lot shorter."

The Drakkaren leaned back, then checked the wolf's pockets as the Benevolent frowned a bit, saying slowly: "But if they're so tough, why the hell did he die so fast?"

"Take a look at the exit wounds." Zerrex replied quietly as he pulled a wallet free from the Craven's pants, and he stepped back and began to go through his ID as the Benevolent and Greed demon glanced at each other... and then rolled the Craven's corpse over before they both winced at the sight of half-healed, bulging craters in the wolf's back, huge rips in his armor and gaping flesh and broken bones showing through, sick tendrils of what had once been organs hanging here and there. "White knows his stuff. He probably aimed for vulnerable areas, too... heart, lungs, and stomach, aiming to inflict massive trauma all at once. You can kill a demon with a shock to their system, after all... if he suffered these wounds one after another, he might have survived, but White basically hit everything at the same time."

Missy shuddered a bit, and then Derek looked up with a grimace, muttering: "White Phoenix, right? Judge of Death, only mortal to ever take on that position in all of Hell's history. Reputed to have killed the legendary Mephistopheles... you got some friends in real high places, Biggs. Real high places."

Zerrex glanced over at the Greed demon with a bit of a smile, then he returned his eyes to the wallet as he shuffled through it until he found an old ID badge. It was crude, made of cardboard and likely kept as a memento from his days as a mortal, from some kind of game club... but it was also dated and included the age he'd been at the time, the Drakkaren muttering: "Like I thought. He was probably twenty years old... probably only a Craven for a few months. Just a punk... and much as I hate Eratosthenes and know he's capable of some goddamn low blows, this is too low for even him. He's working for someone... or being supplied by someone and doesn't yet realize he's just a puppet."

Zerrex closed his eyes, not liking this thought at all as memories of the murderer came to mind, of how the Strange Beast - even with all of Zerrex's powers - had been terrified of the cloaked figure... and how the monster had mentioned 'Lord God.' He shook his head slowly, but then sighed and reached down, seizing the Craven's corpse by the ankles and quickly dragging it towards the pile of dead bodies that rested near the vans on the dusty road, feeling tired as he muttered: "Come on. Let's just burn these and... then I think I need to go to bed."

Missy didn't argue, instead heading towards the barn to get fuel as Derek rubbed at his arms slowly before he sighed and walked over to one of the vehicles. He started it, and Zerrex watched with a bit of a smile as the Greed demon slowly drove the van off the road and down the grassy drive, parking it carefully beside the truck: however awkwardly they'd started, he was glad at least Derek was turning out to be a good guy.

The weasel repeated the process with the other van, getting them out of the way... and Missy came back with fuel and a box of matches, pouring this over the corpses and hesitating only a moment after she had emptied the canister over them before lighting a match and tossing it onto the pile... and she cursed in disgust at the smell that went up almost immediately as the fuel and bodies caught fire, beginning to burn brightly. They were joined a few moments later by the reverend, who looked pale and haggard in his nightgown, and a trembling Rebecca... and the group stood silently around the pyre, watching as the corpses of demons, angels, and a few misled mortals burned slowly and smoke rose up towards the cloudy night sky above.

Zerrex sipped coffee slowly in the ravaged, bullet-riddled kitchen, plastic sheeting covering the windows as he rested calmly at the table, strangely fitting in with the surroundings in his comfortable armor. He had gone for a short jog this morning - both to check the surroundings and to test his endurance - and he found that White had done an astounding job: maximum protection with minimum weight, all of it evenly distributed over his strong frame, the reptile panting only a little after the thirty minute run around the property and his right leg giving the barest of throbs.

Missy, the reverend, and Rebecca were outside, talking a bit: the lizard had decided to give them the time together for now. Derek, meanwhile, had spent the night in the barn and was still there, to the Drakkaren's knowledge... although he'd noticed that the petrified remains of Jake had all been tossed out onto the lawn.

The lizard grimaced a bit... and then he looked up as Missy entered and stood in the hallway for a moment, sighing quietly and resting her head against the wall, golden sword across the back of her waist, resting just above her tail and half-wrapped in the blanket. The hilt and the tip of the blade stuck out from either end of the homemade sheath, but it worked well enough for its intended purpose... and she finally glanced over at him with a faint smile, saying quietly: "I'm ready to go. Well... I'm not really ready, but. I'm as ready as I'll ever be. Poppa is gonna take the truck with Momma, you can take your motorcycle, and I'll take one of the armored vans. I already loaded her up with all the gear I think I'll need and... I..."

She looked down a bit, hugging herself around the stomach... and then she nodded before turning to the door and pushing it slowly open, saying softly: "Come on, Biggs. Let's get going before I get cold feet."

Zerrex nodded and stood up, walking around the table as Blackheart gleamed quietly over his back, and she smiled a little at him as she stepped outside and held the door long enough for the Drakkaren to grasp it himself. She walked down the stairs, and Zerrex followed her as they headed across the yard, the lizard saying quietly as he glanced towards the truck, surprised to see Derek was already sitting in the back, looking grim but prepared... and then he reached out and touched Missy's shoulder as she headed towards the van. "You don't have to do this if you don't want to."

"No, no, I... I do." Missy smiled faintly over at the reptile, rubbing at her face slowly as she muttered: "I'm scared now, yeah, a lot more scared than excited... but I also... am scared of what's going to happen in Temptation. It's a goddamn bad town and all but... I don't want to go killing everything and everyone in it, you know?"

Zerrex laughed a bit at this, but the sound was a little less than cheerful as he shook his head a bit. "I've been thinking a lot about it, Missy... and I think there must be something in Temptation that's partly responsible for this. We'll find out more once we get closer to town, but... just remember to keep your wits about you, alright?"

Missy nodded, and then she opened the door of the van before halting and glancing over at the Drakkaren, giving him a bit of a smile as she said softly: "Try and keep up now, you hear? Don't want to be waiting all you all day."

The lizard shook his head a bit with a laugh, and then he walked around to the edge of the barn, jumping on the motorcycle and turning the keys still in the ignition. A bad habit... but he smiled nonetheless, closing his eyes and leaning his head forwards as he muttered: "Not that it matters much, considering the stuff that went on here last night."

He glanced up as he heard the sound of vehicles rolling forwards... and a moment later, the reptile drove out to the front of the barn, following easily behind the armored van. Despite the worries gnawing at his mind, the drive soothed him... and the Drakkaren closed his eyes as he leaned his head forwards, able to follow on instinct more than sight as a slight smile crested his muzzle before he grimaced as he hit a bump, the motorcycle shaking slightly before he accelerated a bit as he glanced up at the van ahead, watching the way Missy swerved easily around a pothole and following her movements. She wasn't the best driver, but considering the most Zerrex could do with cars was crash them, he couldn't exactly say she was the worst, either.

Twenty minutes passed in relative peace... and then Zerrex glanced up as the van suddenly accelerated, realizing immediately something was wrong before he glanced to the side... and his eyes widened at the sight of what had obviously once been a church, but was now little more than a burnt-out grayed husk, a tall bell tower listing slightly to the front overtop a pair of shattered doors, but the rest of the building nothing but a skeletal wreck. Broken, blackened wooden timbers lay over the ashen remains of pews and a stone statue at the front had been shattered and vandalized as well as heavily damaged from smoke, fire, and the collapse of the ceiling, made to look now more like a featureless obelisk than the symbol of faith it had likely once been... and then Zerrex's head snapped to the side with a snarl as he heard a distinct whistling sound: the sound of an explosive, rocket-propelled projectile rushing sharply through the air. "No!"

The rocket struck the rear side of the truck just as Derek began to leap free, eyes wide... and then it exploded, sending up a powerful blast that sent the vehicle skidding off the road and Derek flying backwards, smacking loudly against the windshield of the van even as Missy tried to skid to a halt, the Greed demon flipping bonelessly up into the air and bouncing once against the roof of the vehicle before he flailed his limbs and smacked to the road. The truck, meanwhile, was shoved ruthlessly off the dirt highway, tires struggling to maintain traction before it slid into a ditch and went into a violent roll, and Missy screamed as she threw her door open and immediately ran around the halted van, charging towards the vehicle as Zerrex slid to a halt and looked down at Derek... but the Greed demon coughed blood as he slowly forced himself up, wheezing: "I'm okay, g-go, help them!"

Zerrex gritted his teeth, and then he gunned the throttle, a rooster tail of dirt kicking up behind him before he shot off the road and into the field, and one of the thugs in the tall grasses looked up dumbly before the reptile yanked back on the handlebars and went into a wheelie, the demon's eyes widening in horror before the front tire crashed onto his face just as Zerrex leaned hard forwards and slammed the motorcycle down, crushing the demon under the heavy bike and making it bounce and buck into the air, the lizard grunting as he shook up and down but clung easily to the bike, swerving a bit through the grasses past the crushed demon as the two Benevolent that had been tagging along looked in shock over their shoulders, before the one with the rocket launcher screamed at his friend, who clawed desperately at his rifle as Zerrex skidded around in a short arc.

He shot towards them, and this time the reptile leaned to the side as he swung an arm out just as the Benevolent began to bring his gun up, clotheslining the angel and almost tearing his head completely from his shoulders as his feet left the ground and he was dragged several feet through the air, the reptile wincing at the impact on his arm before he twisted the bike around again, and the last Benevolent simply threw the rocket launcher to the ground before he held up his hands in surrender, trembling hard... and Zerrex snarled before the mercenary turned and ran. Immediately, the reptile shot forwards on the motorcycle, running over the stomach of the Benevolent he had already crushed and grimacing only slightly at the bump, the fox vomiting blood over his own face before his eyes rolled up in his head as he fell still, and then the reptile leaned hard to the side and twisted the handlebars hard as he came up behind the fleeing male, the bike half-spinning and the rear tire slamming into the back of his legs as Zerrex skidded to a halt and the Benevolent's lower limbs were torn out from under him, one snapping like a twig as he screamed and flailed his arms before he crashed down on his back.

The Drakkaren dismounted the motorcycle, reaching down and seizing the crying equine by the collar, yanking him into the air to head level, and the palomino uselessly clawed at his wrist, eyes going wide with terror as he babbled: "God no, god no, god no, please, please, listen to me! I didn't have a choice! Oh shit, don't do this!"

"Talk." the Drakkaren ordered coldly, and the horse gasped for air before he nodded rapidly, shivering hard as tears spilled down his cheeks, and the lizard gritted his teeth as he looked towards the burnt-out church before asking darkly: "Who sent you? The last so-called kingpin here?"

The Benevolent rasped for breath, and then he nodded weakly, and Zerrex dropped him to his knees, the horse giving a howl of pain as he clutched at his broken leg, tears dripping off his face before he whispered: "Y-Yeah... oh come on, please don't... I mean... you killed my friends!"

"And you better hope you didn't just kill mine." the Drakkaren said quietly, and the palomino trembled a bit before the reptile looked towards the distance, down the flat stretch of land and towards the strange shapes here and there in the distance, the much-more looming shape of tall, craggy mountains and peaks beyond this. "What's going on in Temptation?"

"Guys... came back last night... now Lester's the only one left, he... he's freaking out, and dragging everyone he can out of their homes, making them all work for him... he and some friend of his are scrambling to run everything, but other players are making moves too, it's all in fucking chaos... they... they told us to watch the roads, they're expecting you. They want you dead. They're gonna kill my family... oh god, you can't let them kill my family..."

Zerrex shook his head slowly, and then he watched as the Benevolent shakily began to claw his way to his feet as his broken leg visibly healed, the horse moaning weakly as this nonetheless trembled beneath him before the reptile said quietly: "Stay out of my way and hope that things go well for me today, then. Do you know anything about things beyond Temptation?"

"There's... a small settlement higher up in the mountains, apparently, and a fortress that Lester goes to and from now and then with some other guy... that's... that's it, though, I swear!" The horse held up his hands, and Zerrex grunted before he looked towards the ruins of the church... and then he sighed a bit and headed back to his motorcycle, leaping onto it and driving wordlessly through the fields, the horse watching for only a moment before turning and bolting, away from the wreckage, away from the Drakkaren, away from the town behind him.

The lizard pulled up onto the road, then he carefully dismounted and approached... and Missy was crying as the reverend knelt beside his wife, who was breathing shallowly in and out before the Benevolent looked up with both fury and relief, whispering: "Thank God, thank... thank God, Zerrex, they... Momma and Poppa are gonna be okay."

"The rocket looked low-impact... they don't seem the best outfitted." Zerrex said quietly, kneeling beside Rebecca and looking down at her quietly, surveying the damage, her shallow breathing... and he checked her pulse before grimacing a bit at how erratic it was. "I... we shouldn't move her. I..."

"I know. It's bad." the reverend said softly, not looking up as he stared down at his wife, and Missy looked up with a tremble. "She may be dying, Madeline. We need... we're going to need to call for help."

"Oh God, the... the sheriff's office in town, or the clinic or... or something..." Missy began, and Zerrex frowned a bit, looking down as she whispered: "What, what is it?"

"They're waiting for us, Missy... I have a feeling that the moment we get into town it's going to be a fight." Zerrex shook his head a bit, and then he stood up, looking down at her and saying quietly: "Listen to me. Stay here-"

"No." Missy said forcefully, and she stood up and shoved him, making the Drakkaren wince as he staggered backwards. "This is my fight as much as yours, Biggs! I know that... leaving Momma and Poppa alone out here, even with Derek to help protect 'em, is dangerous. But goddammit, what if they figure out I'm out here with them and you're the only one in town? If they really want us both, then they'll send a bunch of people out here and... and... I can't protect Momma and Poppa all at once and... I don't... I need your help."

She looked up at him silently, reaching out as if to push him again but instead resting her hands against his chest, whispering: "Please. Please Zerrex, don't... just trust me, okay? Just trust me, and don't think you gotta do this yourself. We... if we work together, I know we can get help, and we'll draw everyone who wants to hurt us to us. Momma and Poppa won't be in any danger if they think..."

She closed her eyes, lowering her head... and Zerrex nodded after a moment before he said quietly: "Alright. Then... let's take the van into town." The Drakkaren glanced over at Derek, the Greed demon rubbing at his muzzle and grimacing a little, a shotgun across his lap. "If something happens... use my bike to get to town, find help if you can or find us if... you know. You might not be popular there but..."

"I think Carbone was just trying to get to me as a bonus last night... I think they'll be too busy with you guys there to notice me." Derek smiled awkwardly and nodded a little, rubbing at his face slowly.

Zerrex nodded, and then he glanced down as the reverend finally looked up, reaching out and touching the lizard's knee quietly as he whispered: "Please. Help my wife."

The reptile looked at him for a few moments... and then he nodded again before glancing over at Missy, saying quietly: "Time's wasting. Let's move."

The golden retriever grunted, and the two quickly headed for the van, the Drakkaren pulling Blackheart off his back and opening the rear door to throw this in the back atop the littering of weapons, metal clanking lightly against metal. He slid the door closed and grasped the handle of the passenger side... and then he clenched his eyes shut as a voice whispered in his mind: You can't do it. You can't save anyone. All you can do is take lives.

"Shut up." Zerrex muttered, punching the side of the van... and then he quickly opened the door and slipped into the passenger seat, swallowing hard as he grunted to Missy, and she looked at him for a moment before frowning a bit as she looked forwards and carefully drove around the revered, his wife, and the Greed demon, accelerating rapidly as she drove past the burnt-out church and down the dirt road.

Zerrex kept his eyes forwards, and then Missy laughed shortly, and the reptile glanced at her with surprise before she muttered: "Just strikes me as weird and all. Fuck, I was so scared before... and so upset... and you were so calm and cool-headed. But now that we're actually moving... I feel a lot better. I almost feel... good, sick as that sounds, even though we're headin' right on into the den of inequity and poor Momma might be dyin' and Poppa looks at the end of his rope. But you... got this awful look on your face. Y'all look like I'm supposed to feel and I feel like you're supposed to look, how did that happen?"

The Drakkaren couldn't help but smile a little at this, glancing over at her... but instead of responding, he only looked ahead and asked quietly: "How long until we hit the town? This is on the outskirts, right?"

"Yeah, the outermost outskirts, though. Even driving like this, it'll still be ten, fifteen minutes before we start passing into the city itself... and who knows how long from there until we can find someone willing to help us? The sheriff is usually somewhere in town, but... the poor bastard's been beaten down by what's happening so much he's gone a little crazy from it. That medical examiner... he gives me the creeps. The clinic is the only place I can really think of..." Missy closed her eyes for a moment, then opened them and nodded to herself with a mutter: "I ain't been there for a year or so now, since the last time Momma had a sinus infection, but back then at least it was still a good and proper place, you know?"

Zerrex nodded a bit, rubbing at his face slowly... and they sat mostly in silence for the rest of the ride as the sun rose. It was a bright and cheery day, the skies above blow, a soft breeze blowing through rolling fields, a few white, fluffy clouds rolling by overhead... and the reptile shook his head slowly as he reflected how the world could be so beautiful... and yet full of so much evil and spite despite it all.

Missy began to slow down as they neared the town, obviously wary of any lurking ambushers... and the lizard grimaced a bit as looked nervously out the window as well, but his eyes surveyed not just the sparser, dead-looking fields here, but also the rickety, ramshackle buildings, the rusting hulks of cargo containers and old transport trucks, the broken rocks that lay in shattered piles, as if some angry child had smashed them into pieces with a hammer.

The air here felt... different, and the buildings were grey and dead-looking, like enormous, many-eyed skulls... and the lizard shook his head slowly as they began to roll through town. The first sign of life on the rundown streets was a seedy whore standing and shivering beside a broken building, a large bruise on the succubus's face as she looked silently down at her feet, and the reptile reached out and touched Missy's arm, saying quietly: "Pull up beside her."

She looked at him curiously, smiled a bit as if about to tell a joke... but then her eyes lingered on the succubus, the bruise on her face and the emaciated look to the demoness's almost-naked body, and instead she only said softly: "Okay."

The van rolled to a halt, and the succubus looked up with a bright, surprised smile, breathing a little harder as she immediately stepped up to the window as Zerrex rolled it down, asking him eagerly: "Hey, stranger, I... you and your girl looking for a good time? Only five bucks for each of you, I... good prices!"

Zerrex dug in his pocket, producing the wallet from the Craven he'd held onto, and he pulled out the three twenties stashed in the back of it, the female's eyes widening slightly as the Drakkaren said quietly: "I want information. And you get all this."

"I..." the succubus looked back and forth, then she trembled a bit and whispered: "Let me in the back, then. I'll talk, tell you everything you know, and suck your cock while I do but... these buildings. They got eyes..."

Zerrex nodded, leaning back to grasp the handle of the back door and shove it open... and the succubus immediately leapt in and slammed the door behind her, the lizard-like female demon sighing in relief and greedily snatching the money when the Drakkaren held it out to her, shoving it into her miniscule bikini top before she swallowed thickly as her eyes travelled over the arsenal in the back, then over Zerrex and Missy as she half-hid behind the seat, whispering: "Y-You guys must be the ones who Lester was talking about... oh... oh shit, I can't be seen with you two. I... what do you want to know?"

"First, who gave you that bruise?" Zerrex asked softly, and the female snarled a bit at him despite the surprise in her eyes at the show of compassion.

"None of your fucking business." she snapped rudely, and when Zerrex only looked at her, she flushed and muttered: "My pimp, who else? He don't know the meaning of not damaging the goods... this place ain't like Hell or the rest of the world, it ain't civilized and all you can do is try and get your own... hey, listen, listen, I... I can't be seen with you two. Why don't you drive to a little secluded alley I know? We can talk better there, and... no one will see us. Just drive to the intersection, turn right, and keep going. Follow the curve of the road and make another right into the niche between the two old apartment buildings"

Something about this struck Zerrex as off... but nonetheless he glanced over at Missy and nodded slowly before facing ahead... but he kept his eyes on the rearview mirror. The succubus had her eyes down, her hands fumbling at her skirt... and the reptile frowned a bit as the female snuck a glance up towards him before she winced when he asked softly: "So are you going to tell me what you know now or what?"

"I... sure, yeah. Yeah, okay." the succubus said slowly, glancing back and forth before she leaned up to look nervously out the window as they rounded a curve, and she pointed quickly ahead, saying a little too anxiously: "Yeah, yeah, there it is, see?"

Zerrex glanced towards the dark alley... and then the succubus snarled and wrapped one arm around his throat as the other brought a large, ugly knife up around the other side of the sheet as Missy shouted in shock, hissing: "Gonna get me a nice fuckin' payday for this, you-"

The Drakkaren caught her wrist in his other hand, looking unperturbed before he simply squeezed... and the succubus squealed, tears filling her eyes as her wrist was torn open and blood spilled down the armored gauntlet, the reptile muttering under his breath about unoriginal traps before he glanced over at Missy when two large, burly demons with crowbars ran out of the alley, saying curtly: "Drive."

Missy stomped on the accelerator as one of the demons rose his crowbar, only to stare in shock as the van lurched forwards before running him down, Missy wincing at the sick crunch of the large, bear-like demon under the wheels of the van as the other demon staggered rapidly backwards into the alley. The succubus, meanwhile, screamed in pain and frustration before Zerrex suddenly twisted, still holding her wrist... and bones snapped loudly as she finally dropped the jagged knife, screaming before yanking her hand free and falling back into the pile of weapons, trembling violently as they shot down the street and swerved onto another, past shuttered windows and broken, derelict buildings, before the reptile glanced over at the golden retriever... and she halted the van in front of a large, run-down apartment complex across from an empty lot covered in garbage and rusting barrels.

Zerrex slipped out of the van and then opened the back door, and the succubus only whimpered when he grabbed her by the arm and yanked her out, throwing her against the chain-link fencing surrounding the apartment building before he held up her knife in his other hand, saying darkly: "Talk, or this is going through your face. And from the looks of you, you've already been pretty badly beaten up recently, so if your regeneration is slowed so much you can't heal that bruise, and your arm is staying that mangled... I don't think you'd survive a knife into your brain."

"Okay, okay!" the succubus whined, and she trembled a bit before she whispered: "Lester put a bounty on your heads, okay? A big one, a big payday and... you gotta take what you can get around here. I thought... it'd be easy, that you'd let your guard down, just... I mean... please. Please, come on, let me go, okay? I'll do anything you want... anything a big, handsome boy like you wants..."

She grinned up at him, trying to look enticing as she begged with her eyes, rubbing her hands along his armored chest with a whimper even as steam faintly rose from her contact and her broken wrist twitched, her fingers more flopping against him than anything else... and Zerrex sighed, shaking his head slowly as he tossed the knife away before muttering: "It's not even worth it to kill you. Go running back to your friends there. Or at least the one who's still alive."

"O-Okay, yeah, I... I'm going!" the succubus looked at him with relief as she stumbled away down the sidewalk, then turned and bolted, and the reptile shook his head as he slammed the back door of the armored van before climbing back in, and he grimaced a little over at Missy, who scowled out her window as she shook her head slowly.

"At least we know there's some folk here who really want us dead now." She muttered, and then she glanced over at the Drakkaren when he snorted in amusement and shook his head a bit. "What, this funny to you or something, Biggs?"

"This is my life on a regular basis." Zerrex said dryly, gesturing widely around himself as he shook his head slowly, and then he smiled a little over at the female as she gazed at him with soft entertainment. "Anyway. Let's keep moving... we still have to find some help and... at least we're not being shot at, right?"

Missy smiled a little at this, and then she nodded slowly before looking ahead down the street and continuing to drive quietly forwards, saying softly: "I gotta say though... this ain't at all like what I envisioned. It's not the kind of thrills I'd thought it'd be... and the adrenaline feels more like it's setting my insides on fire than it's doing any good for me, you know? I feel... a little sick to my stomach, and I ain't at all excited to find these doctors... 'cause now I ain't thinking about who I'm gonna save, I'm only worrying that something else is gonna go wrong, or I'm gonna be too late. A large part of me wants to just run back to bed, curl up there forever, and pretend I ain't never wanted to be no adventurer in the first place... that all I ever wanted was to pick apples in the orchard."

"And yet here you are." Zerrex said quietly, and he grimaced a bit as he caught sight of several people in cloaks, one of them a Wentaku who looked at them distrustfully before he grabbed his hood and pulled it tighter over his face, turning away as the other black-cloaked figures hugged themselves... and yet the reptile had the sense that they were far more scared of him than he was of them. This is a bad place, alright... and more and more... "Do you feel that in the air?"

"Yeah. Corruption. I ain't never felt corruption afore except from slices of demonic crystal... but that..." Missy shook her head slowly. "It's undeniable. Makes all the more sense why demons are drawn here, too..."

"And why angels and Benevolent seem tarnished and more violent." Zerrex said softly, looking out the window. "Corruption influences the emotions, the passions. It's why demons seem so wild sometimes... but also why on the physical plane, they don't seem just weaker, they're often either a little more sane... or a little more insane. It balances and yet it also creates... a lean towards extremes."

"Don't make no sense but nonsense, except... I get what you mean, I think. God above knows that when you do nothing but think logically all day, you might run the risk of ending up even crazier than a fox in the henhouse." Missy mumbled, and then she grabbed the steering wheel with both hands and winced as she stepped on the breaks as a small child ran into the road, crying, wrapped only in an ugly little brown dress. "Oh, what now?"

"Ma'am, help me, please, the bad males stole my ball!" the child whined outside the door... and Missy shook her head before she began to open the door... and Zerrex reached out and squeezed her arm, shaking his head curtly. Missy frowned a bit... and then she glanced down to see the child was still sobbing, hands covering her face and ragged black hair hanging over her features... and Zerrex looked out the other window nervously, towards the ragged, ugly park the child had come from, before he winced a bit as he saw faint images of ghosts walking silently back and forth as others simply stared and shook their heads, as if in slow warning.

"Missy, drive." Zerrex said sharply, and Missy hesitated... and then she screamed when the little girl uncovered her face and leapt up to shove her eyeless features against the window, furless and shrunken and wrinkled, nothing but gaping holes in her skull for sockets and a mouth as terrible red embers burned inside her skull.

"Why won't you help me, aren't I pretty?" rasped the little girl in an unearthly, horrible voice, molars clacking together and a thick, putrid tongue slipping out from between its jaws, and Missy screamed again as the creature ground and clawed against the glass, hissing: "Let me in! Let me in! Let me inside, Benevolent, there's a bounty on your soul!"

Zerrex calmly extended his arm towards the creature as he saw a faint black essence steaming off it, Missy screaming again and turning to bury her face against his arm... and the reptile sketched the sign of the Judgment Cross in the air as he murmured a blessing in Hez'Rannan, and the puppeted corpse screamed as it fell backwards off the windshield and writhed wildly on the ground before a terrible black shape tore out of the empty holes in the dead body's face, the evil spirit violently swirling up towards the air before fleeing towards the tangle of broken buildings in the distance.

"Oh God oh God oh God oh God..." Missy moaned, shivering against him, and then she looked up, tears in her eyes as she whispered: "Oh my stars I ain't never seen anything... oh god... is it gone, what did you do, is it gone?"

"Yeah, it's gone. It was an evil spirit... the Judgment Cross and some fancy words were all it took to drive it off." Zerrex said soothingly, hugging her close for a moment as the Drakkaren nervously looked towards the pathway leading to the decrepit park... but the ghost images had faded now, and the lizard shivered a bit before he returned his eyes to Missy as she whimpered a bit and slowly leaned over to the window, breathing hard as she stared down at the grimy corpse on the ground and shuddered at the look of it. "Evil spirits possess bodies... but the older and more damaged the corpse, the easier it is for them to be driven out of it. Plus it was the corpse of a dead child, so... listen, Missy, are you okay?"

"I... I just... shit." Missy hissed through her teeth, looking back and forth nervously. "I just ain't never seen anything like that. I've seen the walking dead before, even ghosts... but... I ain't never thought anything would be so low as to disrespect the poor body of a little girl like that..."

Zerrex nodded slowly, and then he sighed a bit, rubbing at his face slowly as he replied quietly: "Yeah. We can't put anything past our enemies, it seems... we better find that clinic fast. The succubus will probably cut and run, but evil spirits... have a nasty tendency to head straight back to their bosses to let them know what's going on, mostly so they can beg for a better host."

The female nodded a bit, but before she could start the vehicle, a Craven in black fiberglass armor stumbled out into the street ahead from a side alley, and Zerrex's eyes widened in shock at the sight of the male: it was one of the Craven that had captured him, the other wolf from before, and Missy snarled as she leaned forwards... but as he came towards them, Zerrex reached out and grabbed her arm, then slipped out of the door as he realized both that the Craven had his hands raised... and his armor was broken, black blood dripping down his side as he rasped slowly for breath.

The Drakkaren stood up, looking towards him as he stumbled forwards with a groan, then he fell forwards to his knees, catching himself against the van and panting hard as Zerrex stepped forwards, before he snarled when the wolf grabbed at his right leg... but before the Drakkaren could say anything, the Craven looked up and rasped: "Behind me... w-watch... out..."

Then the Craven slowly slumped down and fainted, and Zerrex stared with dumb shock down at him, wondering if the mercenary had mistaken his identity or was really desperate enough for help he had likely sought them out... before the lizard winced at the rumbles that went through the street, looking back and forth as Missy got out of the armored van as well... and then they both stared in shock as a Gigataur rounded the corner, the massive bull demon looking down at them and then grinning slowly, revealing its sharp, massive teeth.

Gigataurs were ascended minotaurs: full-demons and not just creatures that happened to come from Hell, they were massive and monstrous, towering above their brethren and serving as Hell's heavy infantry. From its massive bull horns to its steel-hard, enormous and sharp hooves, it was covered in muscle and protected by thick, rusted steel plates that layered its outer limbs and had been crudely welded together into an ugly breastplate and metallic leaves that hung over its groin and legs, leaving little of its thin chestnut fur visible. Its eyes were a terrible, glowing red, and a single large ring hung from the bull-demon's nose... and, instead of the usual massive two-handed weapons favored by most Gigataurs, the creature instead had thick sets of steel, spiked knuckles on, its fingers flexing eagerly as it rumbled: "Well, well, here I am chasing down the spy and I luck out and run into little itty-bitty mortal Lord Zerrex. Ain't this just my lucky day?"

Zerrex growled as he leaned down and picked up the Craven, half-lifting him up to shove him into the passenger seat before the Drakkaren stepped backwards and opened the rear door of the van, yanking Blackheart out... and the sword sparked before the reptile looked coldly up at the creature as he rested the heavy blade on his shoulder, saying darkly: "Maybe you've forgotten this, but I used to kill Gigataurs even when I was mortal, and an old geezer at that. If I were you, I might think twice about starting a fight with me, especially since it's already been a bad goddamn day and now I'm just looking to pick a fight with someone, and all this corruption in the air is only making me feel all the more riled-up."

The Gigataur only grinned wider at this, however, smashing its huge fists together and making the steel knuckles it was wearing spark. "You talk a big game, asshole... but I wouldn't be surprised if that's all you are, big talk. You and the Benevolent are gonna be fun to play with."

The massive bull demon laughed... then it snarled and ran forwards, each step cracking the street and making the world seem to shake around them, and the lizard grimaced before he charged forwards and then leapt to the side when the bull demon slammed a fist down with a roar, shattering the road where the reptile had been standing a moment before, and then it dragged its fist hard to the side, trying to slap Zerrex into a building.

The lizard half-spun as he lashed Blackheart fiercely into the side of its armored hand, and the Gigataur snarled in surprise as its fist was repelled, even if Zerrex staggered backwards as well from the recoil. The huge demon, however, cursed and grabbed at the side of its gauntlet, blood spilling out from a narrow gash ripped in the side of its hand before the Drakkaren ran forwards and leapt upwards, kicking off one of its shins and slamming the flat of his heavy sword as hard as he could into the creature's kneecap, making it howl in pain as it staggered back a step now before lashing its other arm quickly outwards and this time managing to connecting with its clawing fingers, sending the lizard flying backwards with a curse.

The scooping motion sent him crashing onto his back along the street, the reptile rolling several times with a grunt until he crashed into a net of barely-standing chain-link fencing... and then the Gigataur reached down and tore a fire hydrant out of the ground, snarling at him: "Little prick!"

It threw the hydrant at him, and Zerrex winced as he scrambled out of the way, the hydrant tearing through the steel fencing and crashing to the ground behind it to send up a thick spray of dirt, the lizard cursing before he ran forwards, lunging past the huge demon when the Gigataur leapt ahead and tried to stomp on him with both enormous hooves, the rattle it sent up enough to make the armored van bounce and Missy yelp. The Drakkaren winced, knocked to all fours by the shockwave but thankfully behind the massive bull demon as it rose one of its hooves dumbly, and then the reptile's eyes caught on its slender, long tail, and the reptile broke into an immediate spring before leaping up and snagging the end of the appendage, yanking on it and using it like a rope as the Gigataur howled in vexation and half-spun around, Zerrex cursing as he was whipped through the air by its tail before the momentum of the moment carried him around to the bull demon's upper side.

He stabbed Blackheart savagely forwards with his other hand as he swung towards the creature, and the massive sword ripped through the rusty armor over its body and tore between its two lowermost ribs, the Gigataur squealing as it staggered backwards and grabbed at itself... but Zerrex had already kicked hard off the handle of the huge sword, his gauntleted hands clawing madly at the armor-layered chest of the enormous demon before he managed to seize a hold between the plates, quickly beginning to scale the creature's chest even as the Gigataur grabbed the hilt of his sword and then ripped it out, gasping as the blade was torn from its stomach and tossed down to the ground, splattered with demonic blood. Then it snarled, clenching its hands into fists as Zerrex reached the beast's breast, before he half-rolled when it brought one of its fists crashing back, swinging both legs up and kicking hard out to halt the fist from crushing him, cursing with a wince as he felt the muscles of his legs straining even as the Gigataur shouted furiously: "Why won't you just die?"

Then several gunshots rang out, silver rounds smacking into the bull demon's face and ripping through its jaws, cheek, and one of its eyes, the massive creature staggering backwards with a howl as its arms flailed outwards and Zerrex winced, barely managing to cling to a crack in its armor before it snarled in fury, eye socket filling rapidly with blood as part of its crushed optical organ glared out at Missy, who winced as she rose her bolt-action rifle and took trembling aim at it again before the Gigataur began to storm forwards... and then Zerrex propelled himself upwards, clenching both hands into fists, the blades springing out of his forearms before he slammed both savagely into the throat of the bull demon before he yanked hard to either side, flaying its neck open and sending down a waterfall of blood even as the Drakkaren kicked hard off its neck.

The Gigataur's eyes widened as it choked hard and staggered backwards, clutching at its throat as blood spilled down its hands, and Zerrex flipped once before he crashed down on top of the armored van, denting it as the thirty foot demon staggered drunkenly back and forth... and then it groaned as it toppled slowly backwards, the reptile turning slowly around to watch the giant fall and crash heavily down in the street. It lay still for a few moments... and then metal plates began to loosely collapse as its body slowly started to rot away to nothingness, the lizard giving a grim smile as he muttered: "I warned you, didn't I?"

The reptile shook his head a bit... and then he quickly hopped down off the van and grimaced as he rubbed absently at his right leg, the blades retracting back between the plates covering his forearms as he headed over to where Blackheart had fallen. He reached down and picked the heavy sword up, examining it for a few moments as he held it above his head, watching the blood drip off the spotless blade as it glowed faintly... and then he smiled a little as he spun the blade once before snapping it against his back and turning around to nod to Missy, who nodded hesitantly back as she rubbed slowly at the top of her bolt-action rifle, saying shakily: "I ain't never seen nothing like that before... heard about 'em, yeah, but I ain't never actually seen anything like it. That was a Gigataur, wasn't it?"

"Yeah, it was." Zerrex said softly, and he studied her for a moment as she blushed a bit before he said softly: "Thanks for the help, Missy. If you hadn't distracted it, it might have squashed me." He glanced down at his arms, adding in a mutter: "It's a good thing this armor is imbued with so much power. Blackheart can do nasty damage, even to demons, but it's not designed for fighting supernatural opponents."

He paused and smiled a bit as the sword sparked faintly over his body, arcs of blue energy travelling along the blade as the lizard muttered: "Well, okay. You weren't originally... and hey, whether or not you agree with me, demons heal after I hit them with you. Demons don't heal when I lash them with these blessed blades."

Then the reptile shook his head a bit before his eyes returned to the van as Missy looked at him oddly, and he walked quickly towards the passenger side, opening the door... and grimacing as he found the Craven sitting groggily, still clutching at his side as he wheezed softly. The retriever opened the other side of the door, looking almost surprised to see the half-demon was still there... and then she glared at him, asking shortly: "So what the hell do we do with this bastard, huh? Is he one of those guys who was working up at that fortress yonder?"

Zerrex grunted and nodded, and then he grabbed the Craven and yanked him out of the passenger seat, and the half-demon groaned in pain as he was forced out of the van and staggered weakly before slumping against the side of the vehicle, sliding slowly down it with a whine of metal on broken fiberglass armor until he was left sitting on the pavement. Missy circled around the van, and the two looked down at him as he looked blearily back up, saying weakly: "Wait... before you kill me, hear me out... aw, shit this hurts..."

He clutched at his side with a curse, and the Drakkaren frowned a bit as he knelt in front of him, pushing the wolf's hands away and then carefully peeling a large, broken piece of armor away from the wound, the wolf gasping quietly... before the lizard grimaced a little. Shrapnel was lodged in a wound that smelled like cooked meat, and the Drakkaren muttered: "I'm not going to pretend this is going to hurt me more than it hurts you."

The reptile reached forwards and dug his gauntleted fingers into the wound, raking firmly across it, and the Craven screamed as he slammed his head back against the wall of the van several times, even as chunks of small steel and black blood gushed from the wound. Zerrex winced a bit, his gauntlet steaming as he continued to scrape his fingers firmly through the injury in the wolf's side, the half-demon gargling as Missy shuddered a bit and stepped back, grabbing at her muzzle and staring... but the Craven didn't fight, and Zerrex finally nodded a bit as he stepped back, most of the shrapnel raked out of the wound... and more importantly, most of the 'infected' flesh and blood. You know. Demonic infection, that is... as in purification. As in salt poisoning. Of course, since my gauntlets are iron and silver, that's going to take a long, long time to heal... "How does it feel?"

"Hurts like hell. So I guess it feels better." the Craven muttered, and then he smiled grimly, rubbing slowly at his forehead as he breathed shallowly. "So I guess that actually must mean I'm doing better. Shit..."

He coughed once, a bit of blood dribbling out of his mouth, and then he grimaced and shook his head weakly, saying quietly: "Don't you recognize me, Captain Ravenlight?"

Zerrex looked down sharply at this as Missy only frowned a bit, and then the Drakkaren knelt in front of the Craven, tilting the male's head up and examining the timberwolf's features slowly, the details of his face, the ashen color of his patchy fur... and then he began to shake his head before he suddenly grabbed at the lupine's shoulder, yanking at his pauldron and tearing the already-loose rawhide straps to reveal a plain white tattoo of a wolf's skull, and the lizard leaned back a bit as he looked down at him and said softly: "Yeah. I remember you now. Not your name... but that you were part of Project: Scarecrow all those years ago..."

"And died horribly. Got beaten to death by that fucking lunatic slave-driver who was running the tests." the wolf muttered, rubbing at his face slowly before he looked tiredly up at the Drakkaren. "It was nothing personal, this job. At least, it wasn't supposed to be. I was hired by an outside source, some angel, told to do my job and bring down a god. I don't ask questions about contracts... it's why I'm cursed, a Craven, instead of a full demon. Not that I could ever settle on one sin, either... but I guess Pride is probably the closest."

He closed his eyes, and Missy snarled a bit... but Zerrex held a hand up to her, asking in a surprisingly-kind voice: "Can you stand? Just long enough to get into the back of the van, I mean... we need to get out of the street."

The Craven nodded after a moment, even as the Benevolent frowned and grabbed Zerrex by the arm, stepping close and hissing quietly up to him: "Right in the back sitting pretty in all our weapons? What's to stop him from shooting us, ain't this stupid?"

"That's not how things worked." Zerrex replied softly, and Missy glared at him as if he was telling a joke or a riddle... before she cocked her head as the reptile reached down and took the wolf's hand, helping haul him up to his feet as the Craven groaned in pain before the Drakkaren opened the back door for him... and as naturally as if they had trained this way for years, the wolf held his hands up and Zerrex pulled Blackheart off his back, the lupine taking the sword and wincing at the faint glow of the weapon before he slipped it into the back of the van, then crawled slowly in after it himself with a quiet wheeze.

The reptile got in the passenger side... and Missy grumbled to herself, not understanding before she finally stormed around the front of the vehicle and slipped back in the driver's seat. Zerrex looked over at her with a reassuring smile, and she sighed a bit as the Craven leaned back against the other side of the passenger seat behind the lizard, clutching at his wounded side and rasping quietly before he murmured: "I thought... the other guys were also freelance hires. A few of them were... but the rest of them... well, you've probably noticed, Lord Ravenlight, it's not like I don't know who you are now, a little... a little too late.

"That Gigataur wasn't one of Eratosthenes's soldiers, and he and two others were the ones who messed me up. I... I thought Eratosthenes was the head of this operation, was the one doing all the fires-and-hires, but he ain't. More and more, I get the feeling he's just someone's tool, that he's being made to feel like he's in charge and in control when he's far from it." The mercenary coughed a few times as Missy began to drive nervously, but Zerrex reached out and patted her soothingly on the shoulder as he looked back at the Craven, who was only staring listlessly at the ground. "The moment I found out things were... a lot more complicated than they were supposed to be, I tried to bail. Whoever is actually in charge obviously didn't like that, didn't like that I was going to talk to Eratosthenes about what was going on, and had that big asshole ambush me. Reminded me of dying all over again.

"Those other Craven, for example, who I was working with... they were just fucking kids. They looked like me, they fought like me... but they were just stupid adolescents, probably seduced by the promise of being real demons..." The Craven coughed a few times, rubbing at his muzzle slowly and cursing quietly under his breath. "Some sick bastard... some asshole who thinks mortal lives are worthless is doing this."

"You're a mercenary, what the hell do you know about the value of life... if that's all so sweet and important to you, then why the hell would you kill people for a living?" asked Missy sharply, and the Craven snorted and grinned at the floor bitterly as she looked over her shoulder angrily, the van skidding to a halt. "What the hell's so funny?"

The male shook his head slowly, saying quietly: "Don't you judge me before you know me, cutie. You're a Benevolent... so far, I bet you've gotten lucky and done little of the work, letting the Lord Ravenlight here handle everything. You don't have a look to you that says you've been tested yet... you have no idea what it's like out in that world, where the wild things are, where monsters roam. You gotta pave your way somehow and I have always been nothing but a soldier, and even that I ain't very good at. But I do have honor, and I keep my word. I'm not saying mortals shouldn't be killed now and then. I'm just saying that to me, mortals, angels, demons and gods are all the fucking same."

"He's Irenic ex-military, you get a little bitter, trust me." Zerrex said dourly, and then he shook his head and looked over his shoulder at the Craven as Missy grumbled and accelerated slowly, a few cloaked figures ahead running across the street and ducking into an abandoned-looking building, obviously scared of them. "The corruption in the air, what's generating it?"

The Craven shook his head hesitantly, and then he rubbed at his face and muttered: "I don't know. One thing I can tell you is that this ground isn't... hallowed, so to speak. They haven't just poured demon blood all over the place and allowed it to naturally start to corrupt the environment, it's... it's worse than that. It gets stronger the closer you get to the main drag of town, though, nearer towards the mountains than this... it ebbs and flows, though... like... like someone adjusts it over the day to crank out more power the closer it gets to the busy hours of the night."

The reptile nodded slowly, rubbing at his face quietly, and then Missy sighed and muttered: "Look, there. The clinic is only a block or so away, I think we might actually make it..."

The Craven grimaced a bit at this, hugging himself and muttering: "Carbone did a lot of business at the free clinic... you better let me go in and get the supplies you need."

"Awful generous of you." Missy said distrustfully, and even the Drakkaren grimaced a little at this... but as they rounded a corner and drove past a metal sign pointing them in the direction of the clinic, he couldn't help but wince at the sight of the building up ahead: very clearly the medical center not only because of the flaking coat of white paint and the slowly-peeling sign, but the wounded and badly-bandaged people flocking around it, many of them shivering in various states of withdrawal as they clustered around a pair of open windows.

As Zerrex looked at the irregular design, he realized that it had likely been converted from a burger joint, and that those open windows had once been the drive-thru... and the lizard shook his head slowly as he watched a Dius in a blue medical uniform walking around with a clipboard, nervously looking from person-to-person as screams and sobbing came up from the clustered, frustrated crowd, but Missy immediately pointed at her and said quietly: "That's Momma's doctor, let me just go talk to her-"

"No, I'll go." rasped the Craven, and he and Missy both glared at each other before the half-demon gestured at the crowd again, saying harshly: "Most of those people are junkies looking for a fix... one of them figures out who you are, he's going to scream that you're the one who killed Carbone, and the whole crowd will descend on you in revenge and rip you to shreds. Stay here... I'll just walk over there and send her over here, okay?"

Zerrex and Missy glanced at each other, and even the golden retriever began to hesitate as she looked at the crowd again, watching as a single bottle of pills was handed out the window... and half the crowd lunged for it, the victims of both themselves and others attacking each other in plain sight as the Dius shouted angrily but uselessly at their backs. "I... Biggs, what do you think?"

"Yeah. Yeah, I don't want to have to kill anyone here. Go ahead..." He stopped, then glanced over his shoulder at him, saying softly: "Still don't have your name."

"Spike Watanabe." the wolf said finally, and then he grunted as he yanked the door open, slipping out and holding his side with a grimace as he muttered: "It's a stupid fucking name."

Zerrex rolled his eyes, and then he leaned against the window, watching as the lupine slowly limped down the sidewalk, one arm wrapped around himself and the other hand of the Craven resting on the handle of his handgun, his black eyes focused. He took in the lean build of the timberwolf, tall and thinner than he'd expected now that he was seeing him out of the armor, the white skull tattooed on his shoulder almost glowing starkly against his dark fur... and then he smiled a bit even as Missy said flatly: "I don't trust him. I don't trust him one damn bit."

"Because, like me, he was ex-military, from what was basically an organized crime unit run by the government, and now here he is, trying to help us, grumbling and bitching about how everyone sucks and he just wants to do his job?" Zerrex asked flatly, and Missy glowered at him before she looked at Spike's back, shaking her head slowly.

She was quiet for a little while, though, until she finally muttered: "No, because... this place screws with you. Why... what the hell did you mean before, anyway, that ain't how it's done? There some right way and a wrong way to go about murdering people?"

Zerrex smiled amusedly at this, glancing over at her and then nodding, which only made her look at him moodily for a few moments before she seemed to realize he was at least half-serious, and then the Drakkaren said softly: "He's a mercenary, a bounty hunter, but he doesn't take the jobs seriously and I don't think that... ruthless as he is... he enjoys killing. I think he just does what he has to... and he does all of it as up front as possible. The people who got pulled into Project: Scarecrow were all screwed up people, after all, working for a nation that believe me, was far crazier than even the nastiest history books write it... but we all had our own ideas of right and wrong, and our own reasons for... why we were the way we were."

Missy looked at him for a moment... then she grimaced and pointed out the windshield as Spike approached the Dius, who glared at him... then frowned a bit as he motioned back towards their van, the two exchanging heated words before the Dius finally grabbed the Craven by the arm and pulled him towards the closed doors of the clinic. The Craven tried to shake her off, and the Dius finally nodded grumpily when he said something else, the wolf turning and yanking one of the badly-patched glass doors open to head inside as the Dius walked past the crowd of junkies and towards their van, looking moody.

The golden retriever opened the side door, the Benevolent hesitantly stepping out onto the road and straightening... and the Dius's eyes widened as she gasped before hissing and making violent motions towards the van, and Missy winced and quickly ducked back into the driver's seat behind the tinted window as the Dius rushed forwards, muttering: "Oh Lucifer, and here I thought that Spike was just being full of shit as he always is... Madeline, what have you gone and gotten yourself into here, do you have any idea how mad those people over there are? With Carbone dead, the drug trade's slid to a halt and I'm even having trouble getting non-narcotics delivered here because people keep attacking the cargo trucks coming into town and stealing pills... I lost a whole fucking boatload of freaking antacids this morning because the crooks are too stupid or strung out to realize what they're stealing!"

Missy looked down, wincing a bit and trembling faintly at the chastisement... and then Zerrex leaned across the female, saying curtly: "Rebecca is dying or lapsing into coma out on the road outside of town. It's been maybe forty minutes since we saw her last and she wasn't doing well. She needs help."

The Dius grimaced at this, rubbing at her forehead and closing her eyes as she muttered: "Aww, shit. Okay, okay, I... let me go get my things and see who's available to take over for me while I'm gone and... Madeline, I'm sorry. I didn't..."

She stopped awkwardly, hugging her clipboard as Missy only looked at her lap silently, and then the female shook her head slowly before turning and heading quickly back towards the clinic. Zerrex reached out and quietly squeezed the golden retriever's shoulder soothingly, and she whispered: "I... I thought I was helping, Biggs. Did... we just make things worse? Fuck, this is so different than I expected... the bad guys are helping us and the good guys don't like us and now I learn that even the guy who captured you might just be being toyed with by someone bigger and meaner... how does that all even work?"

Zerrex smiled faintly at this, glancing at her awkwardly before he shook his head a little, saying finally: "That's... sadly the way it often goes, Missy. Solving some problems often create other problems, and... there's very few true bad guys in the world. Spike himself was hired to do a job, and he figured out too late who he was after... and while later on, yes, I might just kick his ass if I find out he's been hiding anything from me, for now we're going to leave him alone if he leaves us alone. My beef is with Eratosthenes... and more importantly, I need to find Error and get my powers back, if only so I can find out who the hell is behind all this and... get back home."

The Drakkaren halted, and Missy looked over at him before she touched his shoulder quietly, murmuring: "I'm really worried about Momma. Don't lie to me now, Biggs... do you think she's going to pull through this okay?"

Zerrex glanced down at this, rubbing slowly at his forehead before he closed his eyes and said softly: "In all likelihood... she's going to be in bad shape for a while. But with the Reverend and Derek looking after her, they won't let her just die on the road... and if we can get to her sooner rather than later, we stand a much better chance of her being healed. What we need to do is make sure we run into as few distractions as possible, that's all."

Missy nodded a little... and then the two glanced up as the clinic doors opened and Spike limped out, dressed now only in his combat pants and boots, a dirty dress shirt hanging from his hand and cloth bandaging wrapped around his stomach. His lithe arms swayed a bit as he walked towards them, and then he slipped the shirt on and began to button it slowly up, looking at the van moodily.

He grunted to them as he approached, yanking the door open and wheezing as he slid carefully into the back, and Missy glared over her shoulder at him, snapping: "And exactly what the hell do you think you're doing here, anyway?"

"I got nowhere else to go." Spike muttered, and he dropped himself back against the passenger seat again, Zerrex grunting as the Craven made it rock slightly before he pulled his handgun out and began to look over it: an ancient Irenic model, black steel and silver grip, with a built-in laser sight on the bottom of it and obviously customized heavily over the years. "Anyway, you can use all the help you can get for now, can't you?"

"You're a mercenary!" Missy gritted her teeth... and then she cursed under her breath when a large white car rolled out from behind the clinic, coughing exhaust and with a brightly-glowing red emergency light on the roof flashing bright red. "Great... fine, but I swear, you so much as look at Momma or Poppa wrong..."

Spike only grunted in response, continuing to check over his handgun as Zerrex looked forwards, the pepper-furred, lean timberwolf closing his eyes as he reached a hand up to rub at a thin scar over his face and his single chipped ram's horn. The Drakkaren glanced into the rearview mirror as Missy followed close behind the white car in the armored van, but all he could see was the back of the wolf's skull, and the way his hands worked fluidly over the handgun, disassembling it and juggling the parts between them as he checked for any signs of damage. It was an awkward car ride, but it went smoothly until they reached the edge of town... and then thick steel netting was yanked suddenly up between two ruined buildings, and the white car skidded into this as Missy cursed and slammed on the breaks, Spike coughing and snarling in pain as Zerrex was almost thrown into the dashboard.

The car in front of them was caught against the chain-link wire as a gang of six thugs emerged from the shadows, surrounding the two cars with wide grins on their faces, dressed in ripped clothing, ugly steel masks, and two of them armed with rusted assault rifles, the apparent leader - his chest bare, the Pride demon swaggering forwards and swinging a revolver back and forth, red symbols painted along the elk's athletic chest as his double-set of antlers gleamed golden in the air - grinning widely as he shouted: "Boys, looks like we got ourselves a caravan, and a nice catch at that! Now listen, fellows, what say-"

Spike muttered under his breath as he snapped the clip back into place in his reassembled handgun, and then he simply yanked the door open and fired three shots into the elk's chest, tracing a neat line of holes up the exact center of the Pride demon's body and sending him staggering backwards before he reached slowly down and touched one of the bloody rips in his body, and then his mask slowly toppled away from his stunned eyes as he dropped his revolver, swallowing thickly and trembling violently from the heavy iron slugs... and then Spike rose his handgun slightly and shot the elk between the eyes, blowing his head back and sending him crumpling backwards with a weak yell. The other demons around the van seemed shocked... but the moment the timberwolf slipped forwards to glare at a Swamp Spine clutching an assault rifle, the lizard-like demon yelled and rose his assault rifle, firing a wild burst at the lupine and making him curse as he grabbed the van door and yanked it quickly in front of himself, bullets bouncing off this as the other demons broke their paralysis with yells of both fear and fury.

Zerrex winced as an angel charged towards the van, raising a glowing white knife... and the reptile pulled the door-handle to pop it open before he kicked it hard when the angel drew close, the armored metal door slamming into the jaguar and sending him crashing onto his back with a squawk, his knife flying into the air as the Drakkaren leapt out of the van and then snagged the cat by one of his ankles, the angel wincing before the lizard half-turned and snapped him hard through the air to throw him into the Swamp Spine that was still shooting wildly at the back of the van with his assault rifle.

The feline crashed hard into the demon, the two knocked sprawling before the reptile cursed under his breath as he saw a goatling beating violently on the rear door of the white car, trying to smash his way into it as the occupants inside yelled and screamed... and the lizard ran forwards, hopping the hood of the van and skidding over it before he leapt towards the goatling as he rose his steel pipe again, and the demon had enough time to glance dumbly towards him before Zerrex slammed an uppercut under his muzzle, knocking the goat demon into the air with a squeak before the Drakkaren seized him by the throat in mid-flight and yanked him savagely downwards to throw him hard down into the ground.

It knocked most of the fight out of the Goatling as Missy cursed and leapt out the driver's side door, yanking the taser out of her holster as a Nightmare began to aim his assault rifle towards Zerrex, and she fired just as he began to squeeze on the trigger, a pair of needles launching from the weapon and smacking into the Nightmare's bicep, making him wince before he howled and arched his back, body shaking violently as electricity shot down the conductors and into the demon's body, and then he toppled backwards with a groan of pain, hitting the pavement and looking more dazed than hurt. The Benevolent grinned widely at this... and then she looked up in shock as another Nightmare came charging towards her, his red eyes glowing, his muscles larger and more impressive, and this one armed with a heavy war axe as steam snorted out of his nostrils and his black mane floated behind him like smoke, rubbery skin gleaming terribly in the light.

He rose his weapon as she dropped the taser and grabbed the hilt of her sword, yanking it free from where it was half-sheathed in the blanket and swinging it upwards with both hands as he brought the blade crashing down, and their weapons ground loudly together as Zerrex began to run towards Missy, wincing at the sight of the Benevolent struggling to keep the heavier axe from slicing into her, the Nightmare grinning savagely... and then the male looked dumbly to the side as the other door of the van slid open before Spike pointed his handgun at the demon's knee and fired a single shot that blew his kneecap off, the male howling and leaping backwards, yanking his axe backwards and letting it hang loosely at his side as he clutched at his leg-

Missy leapt forwards and gave a raw yell as she slammed the golden sword down into the horse's skull, and it all-but exploded as the demon was sent crashing onto his back, the weapon bursting into golden flames as blood splattered up over the female and she stood, shuddering, splattered with the Nightmare's crimson life essence, the sword held out in front of her almost as if she hadn't yet struck, breathing hard as the corpse of the horse twitched once before beginning to slowly dissolve. Zerrex skidded to a halt behind her and Spike glanced up towards her as Missy stared at what she had done, trembling a bit: to kill with a gun was one thing, there was the distance, there was never having to see what you had done, the ability to reason or explain it away... but to kill with a sword was an entirely different thing, both more and less elegant.

Missy slumped slowly, the flames dying out around the sword as she looked down at one of her hands with disbelief... and then she looked at the dissolving corpse before shaking her head weakly, and Spike muttered: "Him or you, girlie."

"Missy... I know this is hard, but we need to keep moving." Zerrex said softly, and the golden retriever looked up at him blankly. "Get back in the van. I'm going to help remove the netting so we can get out of here."

She nodded mutely after a moment at this, and Spike grunted before he slipped out as well, holstering his handgun and following the lizard past the unconscious goat demon. Behind them, the Nightmare that had been blasted by the taser was trying vainly to stand up, but he could barely lift his hand as he gargled a little on the street... and on the other side of the street and slightly behind the armored vehicle, the angel and Swamp Spine lay in a broken pile, riddled with bullet holes.

The Drakkaren motioned towards the side of the building, where the netting was attached to a winch... and Spike grunted as he approached this while the lizard quietly knocked on the driver's window. The Dius lowered it slightly, looking up at him and trembling a bit as she asked weakly: "Are... are they gone?"

"Yeah. That's a good way to put it." Zerrex said softly, glancing down at the Dius before he absently touched the back door of the car: it was mashed up and the thick, barred window was cracked, but thankfully it was the worst of the damage. Then the lizard shook his head a bit, heading around the car and towards the other side of the road, clenching his right hand into a fist and flicking it downwards to make the blade spring free before the Drakkaren used this to quickly cut through the ugly metal netting.

He carried this past the front of the car, untangling it from the bumper and where it had caught a bit against the hood, and the moment the lizard stepped out of the way and tossed the netting aside, the white car quickly drove forwards, not wasting any time. Not that Zerrex could blame them... and he shook his head as Spike leaned against the side of the building beside the winch, his eyes closed and breathing hard as he grabbed at his injured side. "You need to let yourself heal."

"You need to not worry about the people hired to kill you." Spike muttered, and then he shook his head a bit, grimacing a little as he straightened. "I'll be fine, it's just... hurting like a son of a bitch. Besides, I figured you wouldn't mind seeing me in pain, Lord Ravenlight."

"Will you just call me Zerrex or something?" the reptile asked flatly, and the Craven grunted at him before heading back towards the van, the Drakkaren rolling his eyes a bit as he followed the lithe, tall timberwolf. "And maybe it's a false sense of camaraderie talking, but it sounds like you managed to figure out a little bit of what's important in life before it got too late... and I know that for a Craven to have survived for this long in Hell, you'd need to convince a lot of people you weren't just a drooling psychopath."

"Like most Craven are?" the half-demon asked dryly, and Zerrex smiled slightly at this, nodding. Spike looked at him for a moment, and then he gave a bit of a smile in return, saying dryly: "Who says I'm not? I must be fucking nuts to help you out, after all."

Zerrex shook his head at this with a bit of a laugh, and the two climbed back into the van to find Missy had calmed down a little, the female with her sword once more sheathed behind her waist in the sleeve made by the blanket, smiling awkwardly from the Drakkaren to the Craven before she looked ahead and silently began to drive.

As the buildings began to fade into the distance behind them, Zerrex felt the field of corruption lifting, the sense of pressure fading from his spirit as Missy seemed to throw off her gloomy thoughts and Spike only closed his eyes and crossed his arms, resting back against the passenger seat and rubbing slowly at his side. In the distance, the white car was continuing to move forwards, little more than a speck, and Zerrex was glad at least they were hustling to get out to Rebecca... even if at the same time, he figured it was probably also a fear of being too close to the outskirts of the city, with everything that was going on.

When they finally pulled up to the side of the road near the burnt-out church, Missy barely paused before leaping out and running towards where the Dius was slowly checking over Rebecca, shaking her head slowly. The female was pale and trembling, but her minor wounds had already been treated... and as Zerrex began to climb out of the van, Spike asked quietly from the back of the vehicle: "Do you think mistakes can be remedied? That sins can be forgiven? Or are you really so damn altruistic that you're wasting time helping this girl with no hope of your own redemption, only because she obviously is in damn need of a little fine-tuning, however talented she might be?"

"Missy offered to help me. I'm giving her some of that help back... and like it or not, she's made... a few good points to me that I can't seem to ignore, no matter how much I want to rationalize otherwise." Zerrex said softly, leaning in the doorway of the van... and then he slammed the door before opening the back and offering a hand to the lithe wolf, who glanced up at him with surprise. "Come on, get off your ass. You can at least help keep watch."

The timberwolf looked at him for a few moments... then he nodded and grunted as he grabbed his side and carefully slipped out of the van, and the Drakkaren grabbed him by the shoulder and helped steady him as the male muttered: "You're kind of a jackass, you know that?"

"Yeah, I get that a lot." Zerrex said mildly, and the two walked together around the van and towards where Missy was kneeling with the reverend, Derek standing nervously nearby with a shotgun held tightly in his hands. The Dius was muttering to herself now as she fumbled through her medical supplies, an apprehensive-looking squirrel standing nearby and nervously rubbing her hands together, her own medical uniform dusty and the badge pinned to her rumbled blouse smudged with various powders.

The Dius muttered something and held a hand out, and the squirrel fumbled quickly at her pockets before she pulled out a small bottle wrapped in a baggy. The Dius took this as her dexterous fingers picked up a needle, and Spike glanced over at Zerrex, saying meditatively: "Always interested me how Lust demons make the best healers."

"Shut the fuck up, Spike, I'm busy." the female muttered grouchily as she filled the needle from the bottle as the nurse dropped down and quickly prepped one of her arms with a swab. Then the Dius inserted the needle, and Rebecca moaned weakly even in her unconscious state, Missy and the reverend both trembling a bit as the Dius grunted at the squirrel, who nodded and checked the female's pulse, wincing for a moment... and then looking relieved and nodding a few times, the Dius sighing softly. "Alright, I... okay. I'm putting her into a deep sleep... so deep, you could call it a controlled coma. If there had been damage to her heart, it would have killed her, but it's all I can do for her to get her away from the pain for now. Reverend, we need to get her back to your farm, and set her up in bed. She'll be unconscious for days, and I'm going to need to bring out some medical supplies to you... normally I'd say bring her to the hospital, but since Temptation doesn't have a hospital and the town is in a worse state than it's ever been in before, I'd feel safer with her at home than anywhere else right now."

She stopped, then the Dius looked over at Missy, saying quietly: "I'm sorry I yelled at you earlier. I've just had a lot to deal with, and I know that... you're doing your best. You can't control what other people do, you can only react... and I should know that short term pain for long term gain is better than letting Carbone and Lester and those other idiots rule Temptation forever. No offense, Spike, I know you run with them."

"Not after they sent the Gigataur after me." Spike muttered, rubbing at his wounded side slowly as the reverend looked up angrily for a moment, then only seemed confused by this statement. "Sandy, not to doubt your medical expertise, but are you sure this is a good idea? Any number of thugs hellbent on revenge or just thinking they can make some quick dough might try and attack these folk. More importantly, how the hell are you going to get the medical supplies out of Temptation when we were attacked trying to leave the goddamn place by a gang of bandits looking to score cheap drugs? And it's only going to get worse... I have no doubt by now someone's started talking all about Lord Ravenlight... I mean, Zerrex, here, and Missy. In the best case scenario there'll be an ambush waiting for us when we try to head back into town. In the worst case scenario Lester might lose whatever pride he has left and go running to beg Eratosthenes for help."

The Drakkaren grimaced at the latter, glancing over at the Craven and asking distastefully: "What's the chances of that happening? Because between you and me, I'd rather fight that entire town than mess with Iron right about now. I still have no idea how I'm going to get past that very large, very angry stumbling block."

"Why don't you sarcasm him to death?" the half-demon asked moodily, and Zerrex rolled his eyes before the wolf winced a bit and rubbed at his side, then he cursed as the Dius stood up and approached him with a frown, the squirrel nurse taking over bandaging up and treating Rebecca's minor wounds. "Go away, Sandy, it isn't that bad."

The Dius began to reach towards him, and he rose his hands threateningly... but she only rose her own, the two looking more like they were about to grapple than anything else as she said icily in demonic: "You may be some karate expert and good with that gun of yours, but all I have to do is poke you in the side and I'll have you bawling in front of all these people." She stopped as the reverend and Missy looked at her in confusion and Derek snorted behind a hand, and the Craven glowered at her before he finally mumbled and relented, holding his hands up as if in surrender and letting her quickly unbutton his shirt as she said quietly: "Can't believe all you did was bully your way into the clinic, grab some medical tape and dump your broken gear, and bully your way back out."

"What can I say, I guess I'm a bully." Spike muttered, and then he hissed quietly in pain when her hand brushed his side, the cloth bandages already stained red and purple as Zerrex looked at the Craven with concern. "Dammit, it's more her pawing at me than it is the wound... it'll be fine, I just need some rest."

"Scissors." the Dius said clearly, holding out her hand, and the mortal nurse quickly turned away from the last of the bandaging she was doing on Rebecca before the squirrel tossed these towards Zerrex when he motioned at her, and he caught them and slapped them down into the Dius's hand, Sandy not looking up as she quickly snipped away the bandaging from the Craven's body, then shook her head in disgust as she pulled it away and a bit of dark blood dribbled out of the thick rip in his side, the sides healed slightly but much of his flesh still with a rotten, damaged look to it. "Salt?"

"Rock salt, yeah... I got hit by a frag grenade loaded with that and silver shrapnel. Guess it must have been blessed." Spike wobbled a bit on the spot, and then he shook his head briefly, breathing a little roughly as Zerrex grimaced and rubbed his hands together slowly. "Asshole there scraped most of it out of the wound though. Burned the whole time."

"Iron and silver?" she glanced over at the Drakkaren, and the reptile nodded, making the Dius frown a bit. "Even blessed it should've only worked better to clean out his wounds, like using fire to cauterize... shit, come on, let's sit you down. I'm going to tend to him... sir, please help my assistant get Rebecca into the back of the car."

Zerrex nodded, walking over to kneel beside Rebecca as the squirrel ran over to the car, yanking the back door open with a grunt and pulling out a stretcher... and the Drakkaren smiled awkwardly over at Missy and the reverend as the jowly male lowered his head in quiet prayer and Missy only hugged herself and clung to her father's hand, shivering a little.

The squirrel laid the stretcher down, and it was a short work to get Rebecca onto it: they had ensured there wasn't any damage to her spine, and with her so deeply unconscious, they had to be gentle but there was much less risk of causing her pain. Derek ran over to help with an awkward smile to the squirrel, and she looked relieved as the Greed demon and the Drakkaren easily lifted the stretcher between them and gently carried Rebecca over to the back of the car, slipping her into the wide back seat... and the reptile was surprised to watch as the nurse folded the back of the spacious seat down and locked it into place, and it became a flat bed that they were able to lay Rebecca across with her head propped slightly up on a cradling support.

As the nurse and Derek fussed over Rebecca to make sure she was as comfortable as possible, Zerrex glanced towards the reverend, who was talking quietly and reassuringly with Missy... and then his eyes roved towards where Spike was sitting on the edge of the van, grimacing a bit as the Dius inspected his wounds with a small scalpel in one hand and a pair of tweezers in the other, her hands speckled with his blood. He headed towards the two, tilting his head curiously as the Craven hissed through his teeth and Sandy muttered in demonic: "I said stop fidgeting. You must still have a piece of two of shrapnel in here... and if I don't find it, the wound isn't going to heal, it's as simple as that."

Spike only leaned his head back as he grabbed the doorframe of the van, cursing quietly to himself as Zerrex crossed his arms and leaned against the driver's side door, glancing towards the male and asking mildly: "I'm guessing you flunked out before the pain tolerance exams, huh?"

"Long before." Spike hissed in agreement, and then he cursed again and flinched as Sandy finally gave a little grunt and seized on something inside the wound, slowly pulling a long, bent hook of faintly-glowing metal free from the wolf's side. "Shit! Besides, you and I both know this is different from... on the goddamn field..."

"Speaking of on the field... do you have any other useful information for me regarding Eratosthenes and his whole setup? It looks like you're the only underling he had who took his job seriously, after all... your buddies seem like they took their power, did that one job for him, and then ran off to Temptation to make-believe they were kings." Zerrex said mildly, and Spike cursed as he slammed a fist against the doorframe.

"They weren't my damn friends... I don't think we were ever even allies, even if we did work together." the Craven muttered... and then he clenched his eyes shut when the Dius located another piece of metal and slowly began to drag it free, this shard long and rhombus-shaped. "Oh, god damn!"

"Oh stop it." Sandy muttered, and then she carefully poked through the wound one last time before nodding a bit, and the wolf leaned back, rasping quietly as he grasped at his bloody side, but his features slowly cleared of pain as the wound slowly began to heal itself. "There. Big baby. If you'd left that any longer, though, you would have ended up with that hole permanently being stuck in your side... and then what would you have done?"

The male only mumbled in response at this, and then Sandy shook her head slowly before she glanced over at the Drakkaren, saying quietly: "Maybe this doesn't mean much coming from a Dius you hardly know who spends her time cleaning up crooks, but while Spike here has always been an asshole, he was never like the crime bosses. The other Craven spent most of their time around town, causing trouble, worsening the situation even as they tried to control things, keep Temptation under their order and their chaos... but at least you always knew what to expect from the mercenary captain here. Never a thank you, but never a beating or a robbery, either. He did his job for the wrong people, but he at least took pride in his work."

"Exactly what I said. I don't need you to defend me, Sandy." Spike muttered, and the Dius slapped his side, making the timberwolf's eyes bulge as he cursed in pain and the scarring over his face throbbed visibly. "Oh hell."

"It's Missy that needs convincing, not me." Zerrex said softly, and then he glanced over the Dius as she looked at him thoughtfully, saying softly: "Born and raised in Hell?"

The demoness nodded, saying softly: "Mother's an original demon and a Dius like I am, my father was a former mortal. I was a Priestess for about five hundred years and then I came up here maybe a decade or so back and... somehow ended up in Temptation. I'm young compared to you or Spike but... this town has made me feel old."

Zerrex laughed a bit at this, glancing over at Spike as the Craven shook his head a little, and then he said softly: "So the town is that bad, huh? I'm getting the feeling that Missy doesn't know half the story about Temptation, much as she apparently loathes it."

"Not nearly." Spike closed his eyes, lowering his head a bit and lacing his fingers together before he sighed and glanced up at Sandy as the Dius crossed her arms and looked down quietly as well. "Well, go ahead. I spent most of my time running back and forth along the mountains because no one else had the guts to do it or the smarts to stay on the right routes at the right times. I know more about Devil's Maw, up in the mountains, than I do about Temptation."

Sandy nodded a little at this, and then she sighed quietly and rubbed slowly at her face, murmuring softly: "It must have been a week ago when things really started going downhill. Temptation's always been a rough place, but... at least the bastards who were running the town acted like there was something holding them back from ever doing anything too crazy. But now it's like... like they're off the leash, to use a mortal turn of phrase. One that feels all too fitting with how animal and pedantic these so-called 'kingpins' are. Or were, rather."

She stopped, glancing over towards Missy and the reverend as they continued to quietly talk, and then she sighed a little and shook her head, muttering: "Missy's too young for this. Brave, maybe, but too young, too untested, too unskilled. Brash. And I don't think she could stand losing her family... she wants things both ways."

"Right, Sandriel. And you're here on the mortal plane, still a child in demonic years, sitting on your ass in a town full of shit because you're not an idealist yourself, you're just unlucky." Spike said mildly, and the Dius glared at him but blushed deeply. "The girl's young and naïve, true... but she's been doing okay. I say we let her show us what she's made of."

Sandy grumbled a little under her breath, and Zerrex couldn't help but smile amusedly over at Spike, asking mildly: "And since when did you decide to make yourself part of the group, anyway?"

The lanky timberwolf only shrugged, however, glancing over at the Drakkaren with a wry smile. "You need all the help you can get, right? Anyway, what do you expect me to do? Walk off into the sunset, or go back to my employers and have another Gigataur sent after me, probably with other large angry demons this time as well instead of a pair of idiots with handgun?"

The Drakkaren grumbled a bit under his breath, rubbing slowly at his face, and then Sandy sighed a bit, saying quietly: "But how do you even plan to get into Temptation? Wouldn't it be better just to go around, if your target is up on top of the mountains?"

"There's no way around Temptation, Sandy, that's why the town is where it is." the Craven said quietly, leaning back a bit in the van before he glanced over his shoulder at the weaponry piled inside it with a grimace. "And to be honest, I don't know if you brought enough gear."

"My specialty is on-site prep." Zerrex said dryly, and then he frowned a bit as he looked towards the faint outline of the town, and the enormous mountain range beyond. "You mentioned another town though, situated up in the mountains..."

Spike shook his head slowly at this, however, saying quietly: "Devil's Maw ain't a town. I'm not sure if it ever was any kind of settlement at all... it's more like a converted mine. They reshaped it into a guard post, though... it's a little to the side of the main roads, but the moment you start getting close to it, it sets off all kinds of alarms. Anyone who gets past the World Carver one way or another gets stopped there."

"World Carver... the Serpent Rex? Derek mentioned seeing that and running like hell from it." Zerrex said curiously, and Spike snorted and nodded, leaning back a bit and shaking his head slowly. "So it's real?"

"Real as can be. I've only seen glimpses of it, but it's enormous... Eratosthenes apparently can communicate with it through telepathy, he claims it's a 'tool' the First Gods used. I didn't really care much for the history lesson, I think he's full of shit, but the way he was talking about the thing it's apparently used to burrow holes through moons and planets, makes tunnels for magma floes and shit normally. Very strong, very resistant, and I got no idea how you're going to get past it or take it down... I can tell you the times it's supposed to be sleeping in its burrow, and show you the safest route through the mountains, but only Eratosthenes can actually soothe the creature into sleep and he's been locked up at the back of Empyreal Throne for days now, and the handlers in both Temptation and Devil's Maw spend more time drinking than doing their jobs, so the beast gets riled up now and then. We've lost cargo shipments headed to Empyreal Throne before because the World Carver was hungry and sensed food on the surface... but I think the handlers like it this way. I was going to mention it to Eratosthenes but well... here we are."

The lanky wolf opened his arms, looking sourly amused, and the reptile looked at him for a few moments before he said quietly: "You make it sound like Error wasn't exactly a bad employer."

The Craven shrugged a bit, replying quietly: "Well, I get that you're probably not exactly happy with him right now..." He glanced down to his handgun, ejecting the clip and letting the weapon lay across his lap as he counted the bullets left in it, then began to dig in one of his pockets, presumably for loose ammo. "But he wasn't. Absentminded, yes... and he didn't understand that the fact he removed his presence from a lot meant people were running around all over the place on him. He claimed to understand us but I don't think... he ever really did. I don't think he gets that we aren't like his Strange Beasts, we don't understand or accept our place in society... and even when we do, there are others out there who are going to keep pushing for more and screwing with everyone else, no matter what."

Zerrex grunted, rubbing at his face slowly... and then he looked up towards the sky, silently gazing into the beautiful blue of it before Spike asked curiously: "So as the good lady kind of asked... how the hell are you going to shove your way through Temptation?"

The Drakkaren glanced over at the male for a few moments, and then he looked at the Dius, asking quietly: "How much time do we have with Rebecca?"

"Well, I'll have to move her soon back to her home... but between the stuff the car is currently loaded with and the things I should be able to make out on the ranch, not to mention whatever extra healing I can manage from scrounging up some shards of demonic crystal..." Sandy rubbed at her face thoughtfully, then she murmured: "One, maybe two days, if she stays stable. But if we don't have her hooked up to an IV drip and a breathing apparatus as soon as possible, her blood is going to start coagulating in her veins and she's going to get massive infections until her lungs and heart stop pumping."

"Then we should go as soon as possible." Missy said firmly, and the others looked over at the Benevolent in surprise as she approached with a nervous-looking Derek. The golden retriever gritted her teeth, and then she looked at Zerrex when he shook his head a bit, beginning to snarl... but then she simply sighed and reached up to touch her head, saying quietly: "Biggs, please. I'm scared. So unless you got some big plan to save Momma and the whole world, I say we just bull-rush the place."

"There's no need to rush just yet." Sandy said firmly, but her eyes were gentle as she reached out and touched Missy's shoulder, the female looking up at her with a bit of a tremble. "Madeline, Rebecca's going to hang in there for a while like this. I know it's scary and upsetting... but you'll feel better when we drive her back to the farmhouse, and I'd like you to take the time to come with me and help set her up. Then you can go and do whatever it is you have to do. And I'll stay there with my assistant and the reverend: between the three of us, we'll be able to handle anything that needs to be handled."

The female looked worriedly up at the Dius... and then Zerrex said softly: "She's right. You should go... and believe me, you'll regret it if we rush into this and you'll regret it more if you don't see to Rebecca's health first. Spike and I will wait here for you... we're not going to launch our attack until after nightfall."

"What?" Spike looked up in surprise at this, frowning a bit. "All of Temptation will be crawling with scum by that point, Zerrex, and the main drag of town is right by the main roads. It'll be lit up like a neon sign for a few hours and there'll be crooks all over the place... if we're going to wait, we should wait until early morning."

But Zerrex only smiled slightly at him, shaking his head and saying quietly: "Oh no. We attack when we know for sure things are going in full swing in Temptation. Something tells me that Lester's going to have his hands full, being the last lonely crime lord of the town... and I want all the crooks and thieves out on the streets."

Spike tilted his head, but Sandy caught on first, saying softly: "Because then whoever he's left to guard for you guys is going to be distracted, I get it. Although you realize it could go both ways... the whole town could turn on you..."

"Except it won't, will it? Temptation's in chaos: and the moment we start simply ramming through the city, I think most of them are going to go running to save themselves." Zerrex said dryly, and then he glanced towards the city, crossing his arms and muttering: "The only thing I'm really worried about is whether or not we end up running into any of Eratosthenes's actual forces... but Spike and I should be able to come up with a plan by the time you get back, Missy."

"I'm... gonna come too." Derek said lamely, and the Drakkaren looked at him curiously as the Greed demon held a hand up with an embarrassed grin. "There's... I'm just doing it for money? That's. That's totally why I'm doing this. Really."

"Thank you, Derek." Missy hugged him fiercely around the neck, and the five foot tall weasel flailed his arms in surprise before he turned scarlet and awkwardly patted her side, the Benevolent smiling warmly at him, before she looked at Zerrex and nodded firmly. "Okay. Miss Sandriel, I'm ready when you are."

The Dius nodded, and then she paused before glancing at Zerrex, reaching up and grasping his shoulder and murmuring a gentle prayer in demonic, and the reptile smiled a bit at the kind gesture before the female patted his armored chest and said softly: "It was an honor to make your acquaintance. Come back and visit me after this ordeal is over, will you? I'd like to thank you in person if everything goes well."

"I will." Zerrex nodded to her and gazed at her softly, and the demoness smiled again before heading towards the white car, where the assistant was quietly talking with the reverend. Then Zerrex glanced over at Missy, who blushed a bit as she rubbed at her face before the Drakkaren said quietly: "Go ahead, take the van back. Spike and I will wait for you to return."

Missy nodded a bit, then she glanced over at the timberwolf as he snapped his clip back into his handgun before spinning it once and holstering it, and as he turned and slammed the back door, she said softly: "I'm sorry I misjudged you, Mr. Watanabe."

"It's just Spike, lady." The lanky timberwolf smiled a bit over at her nonetheless, however, and she smiled back before heading around to the driver's side of the van as he added: "Bring us back some food, will ya?"

The Benevolent rolled her eyes at this, and the Craven shook his head a bit as she started the engine and carefully drove up alongside the white car. The reverend glanced up at this, and then he smiled a bit, waving to Zerrex, Spike, and Derek, and then he climbed quickly into the van as the white car accelerated slowly, doors closed as tight as they could be from the damage it had taken and a single loose roll of medical tape flapping out of one window like a streamer. The vehicle drove slowly onto the road as the van accelerated behind it, moving carefully and quietly out of sight... and then the Drakkaren shook his head slowly before Derek said quietly: "Tell me honestly, guys. Do you think we're gonna live through the night?"

"You and Spike have a better chance than me. Missy has the best chance out of all of us. And that's what matters most." Zerrex said quietly, and Spike actually smiled at this, glancing over at the Drakkaren and nodding in approval as Derek ran a hand nervously through the fur between his ears, but then he swallowed thickly and nodded a few times in return, visibly steeling himself.

"I... I think I can live with that." he said, then laughed awkwardly at the unwitting pun he had just made before he shook his head slowly, looking anxiously at the two. "Listen, I've... done my time in Hell, but it was for being sleazy, not violent. You guys are going to have to walk me through some of this mercenary stuff."

Zerrex nodded, glancing over at the timberwolf, and the lanky lupine grunted after a moment before he simply dropped to a cross-legged position on the road, and for the next several hours they went over both their plans and the most efficient way to deal with killing both demons and angels. As most of their ammunition was composed of iron and silver rounds, it gave more room for error... but all the same, even blessed silver would only do so much damage against the more powerful demons that might be working as enforcers for Lester or trying to secure footholds of their own in the self-destructing town.

The Drakkaren was reminded strongly of Baskin's Grove the more Spike talked about it: of the town that had been mired in civil war, and that, before he had come along, had been constantly victimized by gangs and ruled over by the posh and rich upper class. Spike had also explained more about Devil's Maw to him, how it served as not only a guard post and rest stop, but also a control hub of sorts: Empyreal Throne was filled with magical artifacts both weird and wonderful, but Devil's Maw was where most of the technology was kept, and where Eratosthenes apparently had them excavating through underground ruins.

This piqued the Drakkaren's curiosity: he knew that the rumors of escape tunnels from Empyreal Throne were fact, not legend, since he and several other members of the Legion had hidden in them for a time to avoid being found by soldiers after they had killed their targets in the fortress. Spike thought that the Strange Beast wanted the tunnels cleaned out and shored up so he could move supplies more efficiently through the tunnels... and also because apparently they had enlarged the subbasements of Empyreal Throne into a massive power room meant to provide the energy for something... although Spike wasn't quite sure what. His clearance was high enough he could get audiences with Eratosthenes, and he was trusted with a lot of the Strange Beast's ideas and ramblings... but the problem Spike had always had was that Iron or other nasty, angry figures liked to intervene, getting between him and the Strange Beast and threatening him or sending him away on make-work jobs. Someone obviously hadn't wanted him to talk with Eratosthenes... as if they were scared he was going to spill some bit of information that was going to make the Strange Beast have a change of heart about what he was doing.

Zerrex didn't like this: it had been easier when he had only hated and pitied the poor, lost Error... and now he was starting to sympathize a little with him, despite his main emotion still being a deep desire to beat on the Strange Beast until his brain came out of his nose. Derek looked unnerved himself, however, obviously not liking the implication that the bad guy might not be entirely bad... and the reptile shook his head slowly, knowing it was almost always the way, able to count on one hand the number of truly wicked beings he had fought over all his years and knowing that even then, there was only one that stood out in his mind as completely 'evil...' and that had been his own father.

When Missy had returned, they had gone over the basics of the plan with her to see how she would take it, and she had agreed hesitantly to it. They would attack at night, Zerrex on his motorcycle and Missy, Spike, and Derek in the armored van: the Drakkaren knew that despite wanting to just rush through the town, they had to take the time to lock down the source of the corruption poisoning Temptation and further influencing both demons and angels towards their wild actions.

The Drakkaren would draw out any and all Enforcers he could, while the others would hunt down the source of the corruption: they would send up a signal if possible when they found it, so Zerrex would know to join them... and when they were done, the Drakkaren would head into the mountains alone. He hadn't spoken this part aloud, but he thought the others knew... and Missy only held back from arguing with him right now because of the fear of what was to come tonight, and a growing respect for him as she sat silently beside him, resting against the huge male, unfettered by the feel of his heavy armor as she closed her eyes and bowed her head forwards, knees hugged up against her chest.

The waiting was the hardest part: a few vehicles passed them but paid them no heed on their way towards Temptation... and the ones coming from the small town shot past, likely fearing they were bandits. They weren't attacked at all, even if Zerrex felt like they were being watched as he spent most of his time in the ruins of the church, digging through the ashes and in the back cloister, trying to stay out of sight and worried with his bad luck Eratosthenes would somehow glimpse him down here all the way from Empyreal Throne... although it at least sounded like the Strange Beast was being kept busy by something, anything that could range from his own thoughts to the puppet-masters he was unaware of that were likely furious he had allowed Zerrex to escape.

Missy came in and visited with him for a little while, finding Zerrex sitting on her father's desk, the furnishing charred but useable as he read a yellowed, singed book... and then she sat beside him quietly for a few minutes before gently taking one of his hands and simply holding it, not looking at him. He had gazed at her for a while in silence, and she had said nothing, only closing her eyes and pressing her side against his... and so he had finally gone back to reading, respecting the quiet between them as he'd held her hand gently, and she had seemed to appreciate that.

She stayed beside him that way for an hour, until Zerrex finally put the book down... and then she leaned up and kissed his cheek, whispering a soft 'thank you' to him before leaving... and the reptile had only shaken his head slowly. Males and females, angels and demons, they all loved to make 'distinctions' between themselves... and yet they were all the same, all people, at the end of the day. With hopes and fears, joys and sorrows, compelled by emotions and by logic... and the Drakkaren sighed a bit before he looked up and muttered: "Things are too goddamn complicated. Especially now that I almost miss Negative."

Well don't worry, you still have my company. Ravenlight said sardonically in his head, and the lizard grimaced in distaste at this, rubbing at his forehead slowly. Good and Cold are in here somewhere, too, but I think they're... a little tied-up right now. Personally, I wish I could hogtie you, too: by now, I'd have left these idiots behind, been up to the top of the mountain already, and I'd have my powers back.

"You'd be dead, is what you'd be." Zerrex grumbled to himself, and then he glanced up at the ceiling, clearly able to picture the nasty side of his mind giving him a sour look and a disgusted grin. "Why don't you go off and die in a hole somewhere, Ravenlight?"

Ravenlight snorted at this, and the reptile glanced towards the bookshelves, wincing a bit at the sight of a semitransparent shape leaning against the shelves, the ghostly lizard responding distastefully: "Your mind is a hole, one that I can't seem to crawl out of... and sometimes I think you mean to make it my grave, too, like if you ignore me long enough I'll just... fade away. But I'm as alive as Negative is, and don't you ever forget that..."

Ravenlight walked towards him, flickering a little in and out of existence as Zerrex cursed and grabbed at his face, covering his eyes and clenching them shut... but he could almost feel the breath of the younger version of himself as he leaned down and whispered beside his head: "All things revert. Cycles are endless. Didn't someone tell you that once? I was the beginning... and I will be your end, too. No matter how much you run from it... I am you and you are me, and you will never escape that fate."

"No!" Zerrex shouted, standing up and shoving Ravenlight backwards, and he became completely solid for a moment as he staggered with a surprised grunt before he turned translucent again, as the Drakkaren pointed at him and snarled: "I was not born as you, Ravenlight, and I will not die as you! I became you because I was weak, and a coward, and because of Narrius screwing with my head and beating me until I broke, and because I was too stupid and too selfish to try and be a better person even after I killed him! I am not you!"

Ravenlight snarled... and then the lizard looked up as there was a sharp knocking at the door before it was thrown open by Missy, who ran in with a concerned look on her face, Zerrex wincing as he looked towards her awkwardly and Ravenlight already gone from his field of vision as she asked worriedly: "What was it, Zerrex? We could hear you shoutin' all the way from the road, I don't think I've ever heard you so angry! You sounded like a hydra with its heads stuck in the thornbush!"

The lizard smiled awkwardly at this, rubbing the back of his head as he said lamely: "I... sorry, Missy. I got a little carried away... arguing with myself." He couldn't help but glance up towards the bookshelves, but Ravenlight was long gone, back hiding in his head... and truth be told, that was probably for the best. "I didn't mean to worry you. Or get so loud."

Missy looked at him for a few moments nervously... but then she finally sighed and nodded slowly before motioning at him, saying quietly: "Well, come on out of there, anyway. You're a mortal and you need to eat... and Spike won't stop shoving the food I brought for you into his gluttonous face. Besides, you've been in this stuffy room all day and... we should spend a little time together. I need your help, after all, learnin' some of this crazy stuff and... I do like your company, Biggs."

Zerrex grunted after a moment, following her out of the cloister with an awkward smile as they walked around the now featureless stone statue... and Missy shook her head a bit, muttering quietly: "What kind of jerks burn down a damn church though, just to try and prove a point? Ain't nothing sacred to those bastards in Temptation... and truth be told, makes me a little less sorry when I kill them." She stopped, glancing awkwardly over her shoulder at him. "That... ain't too callous, is it? I worry that... Temptation's gonna get to me. Or the killing... I hear lots of stories about how... people go nuts after killing so many other people. That they start to like it and... that they turn into..."

"Monsters?" Spike glanced up from where he was sitting in the back of a van, a half-eaten apple in one hand and one that had a large bite out of it in the other, a half-empty bottle of wine sitting by his feet. Zerrex rolled his eyes at this sight, and the lanky wolf shrugged a bit. "Hey, I'm keeping up my strength. Besides, my wound is finally healing and that takes up energy. I'm just getting that energy back. Food's good for demons too."

Derek, meanwhile, was practicing with the rifle a few feet away: not firing, but instead reloading, learning how the different guns worked and how to load and unload rounds, and what to do in case of a jam. Although, Zerrex had been glad to see, Missy took such good care of the guns that the chance of them locking up was minimal.

Missy opened the passenger door of the van to bring out a plastic bag with food she had prepared... and Zerrex was glad for the good meal, which soothed his stomach and made him feel a little better about things in general. He broke away from the group only for a moment afterwards to take care of his body's natural functions out behind the church, then he came back grumbling and rubbing his hands compulsively together, only glad it had been number one and not number two.

As twilight descended, a seriousness fell over the group as well: Zerrex stretched and limbered himself up as he went through the pouches White had given him, checking them over and familiarizing himself with their contents and usefulness. The reptile had also dug through the pile of weapons to find a holster and a heavy .45 revolver, and he had loaded an empty sidepack now strapped to his leg with iron rounds from Missy, who was grumbling a bit as she finished jacketing several silver bullets, sitting in the middle of the road with her set of tools and molds.

Derek was pacing back and forth anxiously, and Spike was only eating one last apple, four long-eaten ones scattered on the ground at his feet before he sighed and threw the half-eaten fruit into the bushes, standing up and grimacing as he cracked his back, his shirt stained a little with blood but his wounds now healed, as he glanced over at Zerrex and nodded to him. The Drakkaren nodded back, and then he called clearly, reaching up and squeezing the handle of the heavy sword across his back: "Missy, Derek, time to get ready to move in."

The two looked up... and Missy nodded silently before she quickly began to put her tools away, breathing slowly through her mouth as the Greed demon winced and walked quickly over, clutching his rifle so tightly in his hands that his knuckles were turning white as he said shakily: "This... this is g-gonna be big, isn't it?"

"It'll be your finest hour." Zerrex said quietly, reaching up and squeezing the weasel's shoulder a bit, and the Greed demon laughed a little at this, shaking his head with an awkward smile before the Drakkaren glanced over at the lanky timberwolf as he approached with a small smile. "You ready?"

"As I've always been. We'll keep the girl safe, I guess she's kind of growing on me anyway." Spike said quietly, the Craven glancing over towards the Benevolent as Missy finished packing up her things, and she dumped the newly-finished bullets into a pouch at her side before she glanced down at the modified metal tacklebox that contained her kit, before visibly steeling herself as she picked this up and turned to approach them. "Want me to drive?"

"You wish." Missy muttered, shaking her head and hitting Spike in the side with the metal box, and the wolf winced a bit as he rubbed at the still-tender area before the Benevolent glanced up at Zerrex, saying quietly: "You don't go dyin' now or nothin', you hear me? We all got jobs to do but one of yours is keepin' alive."

The Drakkaren nodded with a grunt, and then he looked over the trio before smiling and extending a hand, saying quietly: "Then let's make it a promise."

The three nodded, putting their hands in on top of the Drakkaren's... and he looked back and forth: two demons and a Benevolent, Spike smiling, Missy determined, Derek anxious but not shrinking away... and the Drakkaren said quietly: "We're going to survive this. And we're going to come out on top. Now let's get going."

The others nodded firmly, and Zerrex let his hand drop before heading towards his motorcycle, as Derek and Spike headed for the van... and then the lizard looked over his shoulder in surprise as Missy grabbed his wrist and yanked him around, leaning up and kissing his cheek firmly before she said quietly: "For good luck. Don't you forget what you promised, Biggs. If I gotta scrape the pieces of you off the ground and put you back together myself, I'm gonna be real mad at you."

Zerrex smiled at her, reaching up and ruffling her tied-back hair, and she grumbled and shoved at him before the lizard turned away... then said softly over his shoulder: "I'll hold you to the same, Missy. You better survive this yourself... I don't want to have to dig you out of the Unworld, after all."

Missy smiled at his back as the lizard's back, and then she strode over to the van with newfound confidence as Zerrex approached his motorcycle and mounted up, turning the keys in the ignition and looking up towards the darkening sky as the sun's last rays faded and the stars began to twinkle in the black firmament above. Faintly-visible lights twinkled here and there from the direction of Temptation, and the reptile only hoped that things would go as smoothly as possible... and that this day would go without any further losses on their side.

Twenty minutes later, and they were approaching the outer buildings of town, moving slowly in the darkness: the single headlight of the motorcycle glared ahead, lighting up the road, while the van following loosely behind the lizard had its headlights off, some thirty feet of space between them for safety... and Zerrex nervously looked back and forth as he passed between the first two crumbling buildings and onto cracked pavement from the dirt road.

Almost immediately, the same trap of steel netting snapped upwards behind him, separating the Drakkaren from the armored van as he cursed over his shoulder and skidded to a halt, glancing back and forth... but there was only the sound of fumbling in the shadows, and when the reptile concentrated, the energies he felt were sporadic and terrified before he heard the thud of a door opening and rapid, fleeing footsteps and yells. The lizard frowned at this, and then he looked over his shoulder as Spike jumped out of the van, calling to the Drakkaren: "Looks more like this is just to slow us down... someone might be going to pull an alarm and let the others know you've arrived, though."

"Then I'm gonna go ahead and draw them out. Stay prepared for any attacks and try and find the source of the corruption." Zerrex replied clearly, and then he turned around, Blackheart gleaming over his back as he twisted the throttle and made the motorcycle roar before shooting down the road, as Missy shouted something at him: either 'good luck' or a creative vulgarity, Zerrex wasn't entirely sure which as he twisted around a corner and glanced up with a grimace at the faint sound of thudding music, watching lights flash over the rooftops in the distance: at least it wouldn't be hard to locate where he was going.

The reptile turned down another street, and a succubus screamed in terror and fled into an alley as the Drakkaren shot by, the lizard wincing at the sight of this before he looked ahead and watched as a group of cloaked figured stared at him, then fled into the nearest building as well... and the reptile gritted his teeth before he rounded another corner and twisted onto a cracked, damaged road that looked like it went straight to main street. He began to accelerate down this... and then his instincts screamed at him as he caught sight of a flash of metal in the road, and the lizard yanked the bike into a hard turn, skidding sideways towards the deadly object in the road and sending up a tail of dust and dirt and rocks that hailed down over it and dinged loudly off the steel.

The object reacted by beeping rapidly before it exploded, ripping a hole in the street and sending out a burst of fire and shrapnel that pattered off the Drakkaren's armor, rocks and dirt pelting his face as he cursed as the motorcycle accelerated towards the edge of the road before Zerrex yanked it hard to the side again, skidding to a halt less than an inch away from the broken steps leading up the front door of a falling-apart house. Then the lizard's eyes widened as a minotaur charged out of the alley right in front of him, a rifle in his hands as he looked confused for a moment at the lack of gore or broken vehicle... before Zerrex simply revved the engine of his motorcycle, and the minotaur dumbly looked towards him before the lizard accelerated and yanked his bike's front tire off the ground, the male's eyes widening as he yelled inarticulately before the motorcycle rammed into him and Zerrex crushed him under the wheels, bouncing once before he shot down the sidewalk even as other demons began to flood onto the street, several of them taking wild shots at the Drakkaren, barely taking the time to aim as someone yelled furiously: "The bastard's here, he's here! Come on, let's get him!"

The Drakkaren weaved back and forth, flying off the curb of the sidewalk and bouncing once with a curse under his breath before he zigzagged past two more mines, a lucky shot hitting one of these and causing it to explode behind the lizard, sending up a cloud of dust and rock that temporarily blinded the pursuers even as the reptile felt several other bullets striking the flat of his huge sword and deflecting uselessly off the metal. The lizard grunted as he leaned forwards slightly, and then he glanced sharply up at movement... and bathed in the starlight above, he saw the glinting barrel of a rifle and a dark shape leaning out of a high window, and Zerrex jerked hard on the handlebars to change his course, swerving violently as a single shot rang out and tore a fist-sized hole out of the sidewalk, Zerrex feeling the bullet ripping through his long white locks.

He shot down the last block as yells followed him... and then lizard burst out onto a busy street, people in cloaks and haggard clothes and rumpled suits yelling and staggering, demons and angels staring in shock as Zerrex skidded to a halt in the middle of the road, the thugs on the road still chasing after him and firing randomly into the air. Gunshots seemed to go unnoticed, most of those present not seeming to care as the gaped at the lizard sitting in the middle of the well-lit street as he looked back and forth along the lines of casinos and bars and strip joints and convenience stores, everything in glowing neon that hurt the reptile's eyes as he rubbed slowly at his face before cursing when a rifle round slammed into his armored shoulder and almost knocked him off the bike, leaving a dent in the silver armor that smoldered for a moment... before it popped itself back out, and the reptile whistled in surprise at this before he rose a hand and called cheerfully: "Hey, anyone looking for me? I hear there's a bounty on my head, and well. It'd be a shame if my friends back there got it."

Then the Drakkaren revved the engine of the motorcycle before he launched forwards down the street, demons and angels staggering out of the way as several more gunshots went up before the band of pursuers began to shove their way through the crowd... and Zerrex grinned slightly as an enormous Wrath demon shoved his way out of the group, grinning widely and reaching up as if the muscle-bound Dragokkaren was going to catch the motorcycle in his bony hands, his huge set of ram's horns glinting dangerously and his bare chest flexing... and the smaller lizard yanked the front wheel of the motorcycle off the ground before he grabbed Blackheart's handle, then he hopped up so he was standing on the seat before roaring as he yanked savagely back on the handlebars, pulling it up so it stood at an almost ninety-degree angle before Zerrex let go and kicked both feet forwards, sending the huge motorcycle flying into the Dragokkaren and crushing the Wrath demon into the ground with a howl as the reptile neatly flipped backwards and yanked his sword off his back, slashing it downwards and crashing to the ground in a flexed crouch, the blade biting deep into the cement before he turned around with a wide grin as the Wrath demon threw the bike off and snarled in fury.

The reptile opened his mouth... and then the building next to them seemed to explode as a Viper smashed through it with a roar, Zerrex staggering backwards as rocks and boards and broken chunks of metal flew through the air before the monster simply stomped on the ten foot tall Wrath demon and crushed it down into the ground, then slammed one huge fist down and smashed the Dragokkaren's upper body like it was nothing more than an egg, one of the two long-necked snake heads snarling down at the Wrath demon as the other glared furiously towards Zerrex. Immediately, the gang of demons that had been chasing the Drakkaren broke and ran, and the crowd up and down the street rioted, falling into screams as they fled in all directions as the Drakkaren readied himself with a curse of frustration as the twenty foot goliath stomped towards him before slapping a hand out, lightning fast, and the lizard barely deflected the attack with his sword before one of the Viper's heads lashed down as its jaws opened wide, but Zerrex snarled as he slammed Blackheart forwards, cutting across its face and batting its head to the side, making it squeal even as the other head roared in frustration.

It leapt forwards, pouncing towards him as the Drakkaren cursed and stabbed quickly forwards, but the Strange Beast's hand leapt down, seizing Blackheart and hissing in frustration more than pain as arcs of blue energy burst along the blade, even as blood splattered down from its lacerated palm before it simply yanked the sword from the lizard's hand. The Drakkaren staggered forwards with a wince as he felt the weapon torn from his hand and watched with horror as it was tossed far down the road, before he howled in pain as its other hand seized him around the waist and lifted him into the air as its heads snarled at him... and immediately, Zerrex flicked his right hand downwards, the hidden blade shooting from his forearm before he speared this down into the creature's wrist, and the Strange Beast shrieked and half-turned, throwing him hard through the air across the street.

The lizard shattered through the glass window-wall of a bus station, sending down a hail of broken, inch-thick glass and broken metal wire, crashing onto the cement floor on his back and skidding painfully into a row of ugly metal chairs that had been bolted to the ground along one long beam, and the lizard shook his head quickly as he leapt up before his eyes widened in shock as the Strange Beast dropped to all fours and charged straight at the broken, high-glass wall, and the Drakkaren gritted his teeth before he leapt over the row of chairs and ran towards the brick wall at the back of the wide square room, looking sharply back and forth to take in his surroundings: a counter at one side protected by thick glass shielding and with a set of armored doors leading in and out, brick walls around the maybe forty foot square area, and a high ceiling supported by heavy metallic beams and wooden rafters, before his eyes locked on a pair of double doors in the side of the station leading out towards some kind of wide parking lot. Gotta get out of here, this is-

Then the Strange Beast smashed through the glass at the front of the bus terminal with a roar, shattering both the huge, arched window wall and smashing apart the steel edging on either side of it, Zerrex leaping backwards with a wince and pressing back-first against the wall as it leaned forwards on all fours and roared furiously at him, its heads only a few feet from the lizard and breathing toxic breath over the Drakkaren as he held his breath and waved a hand in front of his muzzle with a grimace of disgust, muttering: "Real charmer, aren't you?"

The Strange Beast snarled as it rose one hand and then slammed it forwards, and Zerrex leapt sideways as he flicked his left hand, extending the hidden blade from his forearm before he turned and slammed both of these into the Strange Beast's arm when its fingers tore through the brick wall. It immediately squealed, electrically-charged blood sparking through the air as it yanked its hand backwards before leaping up to a standing position as it rose its arms into the air, and Zerrex turned with a curse and dived out of the way, barely avoiding its arms when it slammed them down and smashed them into the floor, the cement shattering like brittle plastic before it dug its claws into the ground and yanked itself forwards even as Zerrex rolled to his feet and charged straight towards the corner of the room.

It was right on his tail, one head rearing back as the other snaked forwards and bit at the lizard's back, fangs barely missing as it scrambled after him on all fours and then lunged with a snarl, raking its claws forwards... but the lizard leapt upwards with a curse, and its fingers clawed only brick as Zerrex's feet pounded into the hard surface of the wall before he ran several more feet up it, then twisted his body suddenly around and shoved off with both boots, reaching his arms out as one of its heads looked up in shock to see the Drakkaren flying towards its neck before he seized it around the upper throat, hugging it with both arms with a wince as he half-spun around the scaly appendage before sliding down it, feet slamming into its back as he yanked its neck backwards and it gargled with one hand as the other hissed in fury... and then both heads screamed when Zerrex stabbed both blades into the front of its throat, then simply jerked backwards, blood exploding from the massive wounds in either side of its neck as its other head lashed back and forth and it quickly leapt up to its feet, but Zerrex roared as he managed to catch the half-torn off neck, slamming both feet into its upper back and twisting as he pulled before simply tearing the neck entirely off, leaving only a bloody, bleeding stump behind that sparked with neon electricity.

The Strange Beast screamed and smashed its fists into the wall in agony as Zerrex crashed heavily down on his back, grunting in pain as the scaled neck bounced against his body before he shoved it hard off as the head at the end of the stalk of flesh lashed back and forth, hissing and three eyes rolling... and then it fell still as the lizard staggered to his feet, neon electricity zapping over his armor from the blood that had splattered on him, only making him wince slightly as he fumbled at his belts as the Strange Beast turned around... and then the Drakkaren brought out a handful of caltrops, tossing the small, triangular spikes out onto the ground in front of him.

The Strange Beast snarled at him as it stepped forwards, heedless of the silvery thorns that were crushed beneath its foot... and Zerrex immediately winced and leapt backwards, half-covering his face before the small, charmed bits of metals exploded violently, tearing apart most of the Strange Beast's foot and making it stumble and fall to one knee with a howl, hands grabbing at the ground and long-necked head bobbing through the air stupidly, hanging just a few feet away from the lizard. Zerrex pressed the advantage, stepping forwards with a snarl and slamming punches back and forth across its skull, and its head snapped one way and then the other as it screamed in surprise as the extended blades cut into its face and the lizard's fists smashed with surprising power across its features, its eyes widening before the lizard seized it by the muzzle, digging his claws into it before he snarled in fury as he slammed fierce upwards stabs into the underside of its jaw again and again, sending out thick bursts of neon blood.

It howled in pain, then suddenly yanked its head upwards, carrying the lizard into the air before it simply slammed its skull down, and the Drakkaren was crushed hard onto his back with a curse of pain before the Strange Beast slammed a hand forwards, pinning him beneath it with a snarl. It glared down at him furiously as Zerrex grabbed at the hand crushing him into the concrete, his armor creaking as he felt his ribs bending, his eyes bulging in pain as blood dribbled out of his mouth as he rasped for breath... and then the creature rose its hand slightly and balled it into a fist with a snarl, and lightning fast, Zerrex managed to bring up his legs before it could slam its fist down, cursing in pain as he kicked upwards and deflected its hand, the Viper grunting as its fist crushed the lower half of the Drakkaren's tail instead and made his entire body quake with agony, but then he quickly scrabbled backwards with a hiss, even with the appendage broken in half and twitching oddly.

He staggered to his feet, balance a little off more from the pain than the damage to his tail, and the Strange Beast clawed outwards at him with a snarl... but Zerrex leapt backwards before he ran suddenly forwards, and the monster roared and slammed both hands down, forearms crossing as it tried to catch and crush the lizard beneath its palms, but the reptile ducked and barely scraped through, leaping upwards through its legs and seizing the thick base of its tail before his booted feet pounded over its back even as its head snapped backwards over its shoulders and bit at him savagely, and Zerrex half-fell on his side against the monster's upper back to avoid this, before he simply roared and punched downwards as hard as he could next to its upper spine, the creature shrieking in agony even as it tried to buck him backwards, half-twisting and flailing one arm into the air almost comically to make the lizard's body skid off its back... but Zerrex only slammed his other first forwards with a raw yell, the second hidden blade ripping through the monster's back and the bony shell beneath it to tear into the connected heart-and-mind of the Strange Beast, the creature's screams rising in pitch before it stood up and then half-spun violently, finally flinging the Drakkaren free and sending him flying across the room to crash into the glass wall over the counter, sending cracks spiraling through the thick surface before the lizard fell heavily on his side with a hard gagging sound.

The monster screamed as it staggered back and forth, blood gushing out of the wounds and electricity exploding in thick arcs before it smashed into the brick wall, knocking a wide hole in it and then sending cracks spilling upwards towards the ceiling, bolts popping out of place in the roof before one of the huge rafters fell heavily and crashed down beside the Strange Beast, the roof of the bus station starting to tremble as Zerrex slowly picked himself up and stared in shock as the Strange Beast half-turned towards him with a snarl, drunkenly stumbling forwards before it tripped over the rows of ugly seating and fell heavily forwards, arms sprawling out... and Zerrex leapt sideways, crashing down and skidding on his stomach, barely falling out of reach of the Viper before a rafter snapped in half and collapsed on top of several ceiling beams, knocking one of the metal supports out of place and sending it crashing down onto the Strange Beast's spine.

It howled in agony and fury, clawing forwards, trying to grab Zerrex with one of its hands as its jaws foamed and it snapped wildly at him... and the Drakkaren cursed as he shoved himself to his feet, then staggered sideways when a large chunk of metal fell past him, crashing against the ground in front of him as the reptile ran to the broken window-wall of the bus station, throwing himself outside and half-crawling on all fours back up to his feet as the building continued to crumble behind him and the Strange Beast clawed forwards, ripping seats out for the ground and tearing scales off its body as it dragged against them, screaming in fury... and then the roof collapsed completely, and the Drakkaren cursed at the dust cloud that wafted up past him before the Strange Beast self-destructed, sending chunks of gravel and metal pelting against the lizard's back and knocking him sprawling forwards on his stomach into the road, his armor shrieking against the ground as he groaned in pain and frustration.

He shook his head dumbly as the hidden blades retracted into his forearms... and then he slowly began to pick himself up, his tail in burning agony and his body bruised and aching... but then he grimaced as he cracked his back slowly, standing up and looking up and down the street, which was mostly empty now. He grimaced a bit, rubbing at his face tiredly, and then he walked slowly towards his motorcycle, breathing hard and muttering under his breath: "Well, if anything will get their attention focused on me, that certainly will..."

The lizard swayed a bit on the spot as he stood over his motorcycle for a moment, and then he sighed a bit as he reached down and carefully hauled it back up as his muscles flexed beneath the armor, wincing a bit at the scratches and blood over the machine before brushing it slowly off. Then he mounted the motorcycle and drove slowly down the street, looking back and forth before his eyes settled on his sword, and the reptile climbed off the motorcycle long enough to walk over to it and pick the heavy weapon up, grimacing a little as he rubbed a hand over the blade... and then it sparked with sapphire energy, and the lizard smiled dryly. "Some help you were, old friend."

Blackheart sparked again, as if half in embarrassment, half in apology, and then the reptile slid the sword onto his back as his right leg gave a dull throb... but the reptile only took a slow breath, reaching up and pushing quietly against his breastplate to feel the comforting weight of his mala rubbing against his scales beneath it... and then he nodded firmly to himself before turning back to the motorcycle, muttering quietly: "Let's go."

Missy grimaced a bit as the armored van accelerated past a crowd of people stampeding in the opposite direction, not looking at Spike even as the Craven muttered: "That's a bad sign. Usually even if there's trouble the kind of scum that make up this city like to stick around and watch, so long as they don't have to get involved at all."

"I ain't gonna disappoint Biggs, Spike. You wanna go find out what's going on, you can damn well walk." Missy said irritably as she turned down a side road in front of the main drag, before wincing at the sound of a roar that carried through the night air even over the music emanating from the various bars and clubs, mixing into a terrible, ugly melody. "Shit..."

"Eratosthenes sometimes had other patrols going through Temptation... Strange Beasts." Spike said quietly, and Missy grimaced at this, wincing over at the wolf. "Not usually many, he knows that they can be tracked by Heaven and Hell, but one or two. He always has one or two around, Vipers usually... what gets me is how the World Carver has never been detected, even though it's supposed to be a giant Strange Beast too." Spike muttered, shaking his head slowly, and then he frowned a bit and looked up, saying quietly: "Corruption is getting stronger out this way... turn onto the main road."

Missy nodded, carefully twisting down a side street and driving between two buildings, ignoring a small cluster of cloaked figures huddled around a barrel filled with flickering flames as they exchanged objects between themselves... and then they pulled off the dark street and onto the neon-lit main road, a few crowds of people gathered here and there and talking excitedly in front of the large, alluring buildings covered in bright lights and false promises.

The Benevolent grimaced a little as she looked to the side, joining a line of cars slowly rolling down the street as female dancers put on a small parade across the road, dancing towards a bar and drawing in several rowdy-looking males, two angels yelling drunkenly as they swung glasses filled with black liquid around, features flushed and wings stained with darkness, and Missy winced in disgust: they were guzzling a mix of alcohol and corruption, everyone in town apparently intent on partying in every stupid, self-destructive way possible, before she cursed in surprise as a demoness knocked on the window with a wide grin, dressed only in a tube-top and a short skirt. "You want a fuck? Ten bucks for the Craven but I'll do you for free, pretty girl!"

When Missy didn't respond, the lust demoness rolled her eyes and quickly moved ahead to the next car in line, repeating her sales-pitch... and then she screamed when a gun was pointed out the window at her, trembling a bit. No one moved to help the prostitute, though, as she was forced to pull the little money she had made out of her shirt, handing it over with a tremble... and then a gunshot went off, scraping her shoulder and making her yell in terror as she almost fell over before the vixen ran across the street, but people only laughed and watched with interest, making Missy shiver a bit as she saw divine beings, mortals, and demons all taking part in the terrible, endless orgy of sin. "Shit..."

"Holy fuck, even I find that repulsive." Derek muttered from the back, the weasel grimacing a bit before he looked nervously at the Craven as Spike shook his head in disgust. "There's something in the air other than corruption, ain't there? I mean, hell, I feel like cutting and running, but I mean... I feel like going straight to the nearest gambling parlor, not back home, or getting wasted until even you look as pretty as Missy."

"Thanks, but you're not my type." Spike replied flatly, and Derek looked dumb at this response before the lanky timberwolf frowned a bit and pointed ahead, to a small rectangular building next to an enormous, sprawling brothel, succubi and customers on the patio... and more than a few engaged in rough sexual acts and other general debauchery, one demoness grinning as she sat with her legs spread, pouring alcohol all over herself as males and females both licked it sloppily up, another succubi bleeding from the nose and crying as she was taken hard over the railings, but no one moving to help her even though she was clearly being raped by the large, powerful wrath demon, who was snarling and grinning... and only being egged on by a Benevolent standing beside him and masturbating with one hand, a camera in the other. "Look at that building. Doesn't fit in with everything else. Let's start there."

Missy forced herself to look away from the front of the brothel, and then she cursed under her breath when someone else knocked on the window, looking out with a grimace... and then staring down the barrel of a revolver as a minotaur behind a mask started coldly: "Get out of the-"

Spike drew his handgun and fired twice from the hip, Missy shrieking and lunging back in the seat as both bullets nipped by her and smashed through the window, plowing through the minotaur's throat and skull and sending him crashing backwards lifelessly before the Craven shook his head a bit and reached his other hand out to steady the wheel as the van lurched forwards a bit, bumping into the car in front of them and making it skid a little... but thankfully, the driver only leaned out and shouted at them angrily, waving a fist and cursing loudly. "You okay?"

Missy nodded after a moment, breathing slowly before she glared at him, snapping: "You could have killed me!"

"And he wanted to rape you and then kill you. And steal your money. I hope in that order, because there's some really sick people around here, if you haven't noticed." Spike said dryly, motioning easily over the dashboard, and the Benevolent grunted, trying not to shudder as she looked back ahead, then pulled quickly up in front of the squat, rectangular stone building, driving alongside it to pass the others before turning sharply into a narrow alley.

The headlights of the van illuminated two cloaked figures, who looked stupidly up as one of them froze in mid-handoff of an envelope... and then they both cursed and quickly ran into the side door of the tall bar building next to them, and Missy shook her head slowly as Spike and Derek climbed out of the van, the wolf muttering: "We better take everything we can. Considering how things have been going so far, we'll probably come back to find the van missing."

Missy nodded with disgust as they began to load themselves up... and then she glanced up with a sigh as a lust demoness sauntered out of the side door, licking her lips slowly and saying devilishly: "Ooh, some big tough people come to clean up the town? Or are you bad people, here to try and rob my little bar and use me as your toy?"

"Go away or I'm going to shoot you in the face." Spike said mildly, not looking up as he slung a backpack on, and the succubus winced before quickly fleeing back into the bar, which just made the lanky timberwolf sigh. "I hope things go back to whatever's considered normal for these people after this. Because Derek is right, this is weird even for demons."

Missy nodded, then she looked nervously at the windowless side of the cement building... but Spike automatically took the lead as he slammed the door, his handgun at the ready as Derek followed nervously with the rifle in his hands, and Missy gripped the lever action shotgun in her own, a backpack and an assault rifle across her own back, as well as her other equipment. Spike boldly walked across the face of the building and then grabbed the handle of the door before he grumbled at the fact it was locked, and then he rose a foot and kicked it hard, the wooden frame splintering as the tore was slammed open and a klaxon immediately went off that was lost on most of the people around the street, as music began to flood loudly out of the nightclub across the way as the doors were thrown open and flashing lights shone out of the windows, demons and angels and mortals flooding out onto the road and halting the slow-moving traffic entirely as they danced, ground, and rubbed together.

Under the beat of the music, Spike walked into the room, seeing a long hallway immediately ahead with a uniformed soldier at the end of it raising a massive machinegun, and the wolf fired three, four, five shots into the demon's chest, each round splintering the armor covering his chest and sending up a thin spray of blood as the machinegun tore holes out of the white-plastered walls before he finally crashed backwards with a howl of pain, and the wolf quickly but calmly strode across the room even as the security guards behind the counter to his right fired at him. Then Missy ran into the room, dropping to a kneel and unload two quick blasts into the larger Salamander, sending him crashing back into the wall as he vomited blood and the iron bearings tore through the demon's armor and body like paper, sliding slowly down it before Missy half-turned and fired another volley of slugs into the face of the dog-like, furless Wrath demon still stupidly holding his handgun raised towards the edge of the hallway.

The wide cone of ball bearings ripped across his features, tearing into his skull but not lodging deep enough to kill, bearings flying wide enough to miss crucial areas like the eyes... but he collapsed to his knees, covering his face and screaming in agony, most of his features blown away before he fell on his side and curled up in the fetal position, the maps tacked to the walls behind him covered in blood and ichors, his skin scraped off to reveal bare bone here and there over his face. Missy winced, but snarled and forced herself to follow Spike as the wolf ran halfway down the hallway, the beat of the music pounding behind them even as Derek half-slammed the door before yelling in surprise as he saw another uniformed demon behind half-hiding it and obviously waiting for them to pass, the goatling wincing and then slamming the butt of his rifle into the Greed demon's face, sending him crashing onto his back.

Missy turned around in shock, but Spike was faster, raising his handgun as he gritted his teeth and fired off two shots that tore through the muzzle and skull of the goatling, sending his head smacking into the side wall as one of his eyes exploded before he crumpled in front of the door, and Derek cursed as he crawled to his feet, the Benevolent quickly approaching and seizing the weasel's arm to help him up. He smiled awkwardly at her, and then they both ran down the hall as Spike checked the rooms on either side of the corridor... but one was a storage closet and the others were simply empty and unused, before he reached the last and shouted over the beat of the music still reaching their ears from outside: "Can you feel it?"

The Benevolent nodded, grimacing a bit as she rubbed at her arm as she looked at Spike's eyes: the Craven's features were impassive, but his black irises were almost glowing... and Derek's own gaze was more intense than usual, the weasel seeming to bristle a bit as he breathed hard. Missy herself was almost visibly glowing in reaction to whatever was waiting for them... and when Spike threw the metal door open and revealed a staircase heading down into the ground, she gritted her teeth, muttering: "Alright, you sons of bitches, here I come."

Spike headed down the cement steps first, followed by Missy and last, Derek: there were only two flights of stairs, and the Craven paused in front of the steel door at the other side of the small stairwell when he stepped out onto the cement floor: he could feel the sick pulse of corruption and malignant essence, trying to whisper into his mind and drive him mad, as he grimaced over his shoulder and then winced a bit as he thought he saw the shadows under the stairs move... but then his eyes adjusted in the darkness, and he realized there were only stacked boxes and a few loose papers. The Craven breathed slowly, turning back around and facing the steel door as he brought his handgun up, and Missy stepped sideways and rose her shotgun as Derek hesitated nervously on the stairs, the Greed demon half-raising his rifle before Spike yanked the handle of the door down and kicked it open, pointing out into the room beyond.

Immediately, strange demons turned towards them, some standing, some levitating, all of them wearing either tight leather jumpsuits of various colors or long, flowing robes and adorned with spiked crowns or arched tiaras: but the things they shared in common were the thick black cloth masks that covered their faces, nothing but smooth dark material that made them seem featureless and impassive... and the masks on chains that floated around them, attached to rings that went around their arms, collars around their necks, or thick chain belts wrapped around their waists, anywhere from one to four masks hovering silently, each shaped to fit the faceless skulls of the strange creatures, each with a distinct emotion carved flawlessly into the exquisite ivory.

"Cabal, shit! Derek, get up here!" Spike shouted as he took aim at the nearest of the group of five, and he fired a single round into the mask hovering at its side, shattering it and making the creature shriek before two more iron rounds caught the feminine, faceless demon in the chest and sent it crashing out of the air to the ground, the demon's eyes blazing even as they took in the room beyond: wide and square, complex-looking tubes filled with neon electricity on either side of the room, looking almost like a generator system... and in the center of it, a terrible, black sphere that glowed darkly, shapes of trapped souls writhing inside it.

"Sloth." one of the demons uttered softly, pointing towards them as a mask in the shape of a yawning wolf's head rose up in front of its face, its eyes nothing but black crescents... and even as Missy began to pull the trigger of the shotgun, she felt herself weakening, the gun barrel lowering and then firing off uselessly into the ground almost knocking her over as weakness spilled through her body. Her legs buckled, and then she dropped to her knees as beside her, Spike cursed, the half-demon trying to aim at the Cabal that had just cast the effect over them even as his vision went blurry... and then another of the strange demons pointed at him as they glided silently forwards, and a bolt of electricity shot into the lanky timberwolf, searing his shoulder and knocking him flat on his back as the rest of his strength was drained from his body.

Derek looked helplessly down at them in shock, and then back up at the demons: high-tier, rare demons, far more powerful than he was, able to channel sin and corruption directly into a person's very soul. Only full demons couldn't be affected by their powers... and the Greed demon rose his weapon as one of them began to chant before he shot a round wildly into the room, shouting: "Get away, get back!"

The first round went wild, only shattering a large tube at the side of the room, which sent out a burst of electricity that made two of the Cabal flinch even as the chanting demon rose its hands, a sphere of fire beginning to form... and then Derek yelled as he worked the bolt and took desperate aim again, firing a round towards it, but missing entirely... but this time the bullet struck into the terrible black sphere in the center of the room, the blessed silver round ripping into the dark outer shell with a splatter of black ooze before golden veins spread rapidly throughout the sphere as hands ripped through the weakened outer shell, sending up dark splatters as Cabal turned in horror and the chanting one stopped, the flames whiffing out of existence as masks writhed around the demons... and then the sphere exploded in a blast of dark energy, a shockwave of pure corruption erupting from the broken dark orb and sending Cabal flying in all directions as black flames burned over their bodies, slamming the demons into the tubing around the room as the glass protectors shattered and powerful arcs of lightning ripped back and forth, demons screaming in agony as they were electrified by the powerful surges of energy that ripped through the cement room.

Derek was knocked crashing backwards onto the stairs by the shockwave, and the timberwolf cursed and winced in pain, feeling like his body had been charred, while Missy screamed as corruption flooded over her body, the golden aura around her growing for a moment before her eyes snapped open as she clawed into the ground with a howl of pain... and then her body rippled as her aura became tarnished, and her eyes clenched shut... then opened, glowing red instead of hazel now, as she rasped hard and convulsed on the ground in pain.

The Craven beside her groaned a bit, reaching up and rubbing the other side of his head... and he grimaced a little before he looked down at the female as she coughed black gunk and then curled up into the fetal position. Immediately, the timberwolf cursed... but even as he reached down towards her, a door on the other side of the room was thrown open as a female voice shouted furiously: "What is going on here?"

The figure emerged into the room, six masks floating eerily around her, a long, tattered cape floating behind her tall form as she looked back and forth in shock at the sight of the room: the glass tubing had all shattered, and instead of a pedestal and enormous sphere in the center of the room, there was only a broken crater in the cement, the explosion powerful enough to have obliterated any traces of the strange, malignant device. Immediately, the female snarled loudly, clenching her black-gloved hands into fists, her high-heeled boots stomping against the ground as she set herself and glared across at the three as Derek slowly peeled himself off the stairs with a wince and shivered as he stared through the doorway at the Great Cabal. "You... you insolent little worms!"

Spike immediately rose his handgun, but the Great Cabal snapped her fingers, and a burst of psychic energy ripped across the male's hand, knocking his arm wide and sending the weapon flying backwards to hit Derek in the face, the Greed demon yelping and falling backwards to slide painfully down the few steps to the ground, and the half-demon grimaced a bit as he looked across at the furious female. A white leather bodysuit clothed her form, with a thick black leather belt around her waist from which floated six chains, each slackly attached to a hovering mask made from different demon skulls that had been warped into different expressions, a leering grin here and a moaning, slack-jawed look of terror there. Her face was covered by tight black cloth, and a white, thorn-covered circlet gleamed around the top of her skull, two proud, black horns extending out of either side of her head towards the ceiling as psychic static tore through the air before she slowly levitated, hissing: "I shall not give you the pleasures of sin or emotion... I shall simply destroy you!"

She began to chant as she held hands in front of herself, electricity sparking between them for a moment... and then it simply whiffed out of existence, and the female looked down in surprise: immediately, Spike took the moment of confusion to leap forwards as he flicked his hands out, snarling as his claws extended into sharp talons and he crossed the narrow room in only a second, immediately thrusting one hand and then the other forwards in a spear into her stomach.

She rasped and cursed, the wind knocked out of her by the quick movements before Spike slammed his elbow across her face, the demoness falling to her feet and staggering sideways before she tried to lash a fist forwards, and Spike hooked her hand between his wrist and palm, his own claws lashing into the top of her wrist before he windmilled his arm outwards as he twisted at the same time, and the female was yanked through the air and flipped upside-down with a shriek before she crashed down onto the back of her neck and her shoulders, spine cracking loudly and her feet kicking at the air before the Craven seized one of her ankles and half-turned as he threw her hard into the side wall with a grunt.

She crashed through the shattered glass tubing and bounced off the cement wall, landing on all fours with a groan of pain and humiliation before staggering up to her feet and shoving a hand out towards the Craven, smashing him with a telekinetic blast that sent the half-demon flying across the room to strike the wall opposite, broken cylinders ripping into his sides as the wolf cursed in pain before he fell to a kneel, grimacing a bit as they looked across at each other... and then, as Spike lunged forwards, the Cabal lashed both hands upwards and seized the air as if to choke it, and the lanky timberwolf gargled as he was lifted off the ground as he clawed at his throat as the fur around his neck visibly flattened and the skin constricted, his eyes bulging as he kicked uselessly at the air. "Wretched fucking half-demon, you will learn your place!"

She snarled... and then two shots rang out, the first ripping across the top of her scalp and tearing the black cloth and the second smacking into her side, making her shriek in agony as she staggered... and then she lashed her hands hard to the side, smashing Spike furiously into the cement wall and sending him crumpling bonelessly to the ground before her head snapped to the side as Derek fired a third shot off from the doorway, but this only nicked one of the masks floating around her, the demoness cursing before she made a hard slashing gesture across her body, and the metal door slammed violently on the Greed demon, knocking him flying backwards into the room overtop Missy's prone body as it bounced back open and sending him down, his muzzle broken and bloody as he howled in agony.

The Cabal shook her head in disgust, then held her hand towards one of the broken glass tubes as Spike began to slowly crawl his way to his feet: it trembled violently, then a large blade of glass tore free from the tubing before she flicked her wrist towards the half-demon, and the timberwolf's eyes widened in shock before the large shard of glass shot towards him and tore into his chest, knocking him backwards into the cement wall as blood burst from the wound and he slid slowly down it with a wheeze of agony, the demoness snarling: "You may have destroyed the corruption generator and robbed me of my ability to do magic, but telekinesis still works... and I can simply tear holes in your body until you stop moving, half-demon!"

Spike cursed as he reached up and grasped the blade of glass sticking halfway out of his chest, and the demoness's eyes blazed as she began to reach a hand back, other glass tubes trembling... before her head looked dumbly to the side at the sound of feet pounding over the cement, and she reacted a little too late at the sight of Missy charging towards her, dark veins pulsing through the female's body and a snarl on the Benevolent's face as her aura glowed like a shadowy gold light around her but the sword in her hands blazed with radiant energy, and the Cabal barely had time to raise one of her hands before the golden retriever leapt forwards and flipped the blade around to stab it savagely through the Cabal's chest, the demoness releasing a keening wail as the sword ripped through her.

Then Missy yanked savagely downwards as she half-turned with a roar, almost ripping the Cabal in half, her body flopping awkwardly as her masks fell limply and her arms flailed weakly, and then the golden retriever grinned savagely, her eyes glowing red as she lashed the sword across the Cabal's narrow waist and struck her with enough brute force to not simply tear her in half, but to cause the massive diagonal wound that went from her breast out to her kidney to tear wider and flop upwards, flesh and blood and gore flying in all directions as the demoness was ripped almost into thirds.

She collapsed backwards, the pieces of her body hitting the ground with thick, meaty thuds as they began to dissolve rapidly, black smoke rising into the air as the Benevolent panted hard, golden sword dripping blood... and then Missy moaned and staggered backwards, the glow fading from her eyes as her irises returned to their crimson-stained hue as she reached up and ran a trembling hand through her hair, whispering: "Oh shit, what have I done..."

"You saved me, that's what." Spike said quietly as he walked towards her with a grimace, then he cursed under his breath as he tore the glass shard free from his chest before tossing the bloody pane aside, touching the wound gingerly as his claws shrank back into his fingers. "Where's Derek?"

"H-Here..." Derek muttered, stumbling forwards and clutching at his muzzle before he half-turned and spat out a stream of blood and several broken white teeth, and a shudder ran through his body before he held Spike's handgun out. The lanky timberwolf took it with a nod as Missy shivered a little, and then the Greed demon looked at her silently, sizing her up and trembling a bit, guilt and anxiety in his eyes. "Missy, shit, are... are you okay?"

The female shook her head a bit, dark veins pulsing through her body before Spike said quietly: "Stay here, rest for a minute. I'm going to go and see if there's anything else ahead."

Missy nodded silently, and the lanky timberwolf ejected the clip from his handgun, slipping it into his pocket before he produced another from the sidepack he was wearing and slammed it into place. He pulled back the slide as he walked towards the open metal door the Great Cabal had emerged through, stepping hesitantly into a hallway beyond with two doors leading off it... but after a short search, he discovered only a study filled with arcane texts and books on alchemy and the effects of corruption on different life-forms, and a combination locker and relaxation room for soldiers... except from a notice left on the table, all the soldiers had been called into duty by Lester, who had declared himself kingpin of Temptation.

The Craven made his way back out into the room, the sense of corruption still lingering but far-weaker now... and he sighed in relief as he saw Zerrex had found them, the lizard saying dryly: "You guys were supposed to signal when you found something."

Spike smiled despite himself at this, replying dryly: "Well, you're here, aren't you? I guess you must have caught our signal."

"You know what I mean." Zerrex rolled his eyes, but he smiled a little nonetheless as he stood with one arm around Missy, the Benevolent trembling a bit against him but slowly calming as the reptile gently rubbed her back, Derek silently reloading the bolt-action rifle as he kept tossing nervous, ashamed looks towards her. "What was it?"

"A soul cage, like angels use... except it was being set up and monitored, and likely influenced as well, by Cabal." Spike replied calmly, and Zerrex gritted his teeth, nodding slowly: that would definitely explain both the powerful pulses of corruption and why people's passions had been so inflamed... and even why it would feel like the energies grow stronger at some points and weaker at others. "We destroyed it, but we weren't far enough away. I'm pretty sure Derek and I weren't harmed too badly but Missy..."

"I'm fine..." she whispered softly as Spike broke off, and she shook her head quickly before leaning back a bit and looking awkwardly at Zerrex, smiling faintly. "It's just... it feels... bad, in a word. I... killed the last female, I was so full of rage and hate and it..."

She shook her head, trembling a little as she closed her now-scarlet eyes, and the reptile nodded slowly as he hugged her quietly close for a moment, murmuring softly: "Amplified wrath. Alright, we'll... have to be careful, but I'm glad you're all safe for now. Come on, we still need to get me to the path leading into the mountains."

"You're not going to let us come with you, are you?" Missy looked up at him quietly, and Zerrex gently stroked under her chin, smiling a little down at her even as his emerald eyes gazed at her sadly. "Why not?"

"Because Temptation isn't going to be magically cleaned up the course of a day." he replied gently, looking down into her eyes quietly. "Even with the corruption pulse gone, there's a lot of crooks and assholes here who are all going to want to vie for the position of top dog of the trash pile. You're going to have to help fix this town... and more importantly, the three of you are going to need to take those medical supplies to Rebecca, and I don't doubt that Sandy's going to need all the protection she can get transporting them there and back while things settle down around the town."

Missy looked up at him silently, then she sighed a bit and nodded, glancing down and muttering: "You just promise me you come back here, Biggs, when what you gotta do is all done and over with, you hear? I wanna see you back here... and I wanna see you alive. I wanna know that you made it out of things okay... and I swear that if you don't I'm gonna go up that mountain myself, with or without Spike and Derek here."

"I guess you don't have much of a choice now, Zerrex." the lanky timberwolf said softly, glancing up at the Drakkaren with amusement as the lizard smiled back despite himself. "I couldn't let her chase after you alone, after all."

"Yeah, come back when it's all done. We'll be waiting for you." Derek added, the weasel smiling a little up at him as he nodded, and the Drakkaren gazed over the trio before he laughed a bit and finally nodded in return, hugging Missy one last time before he stepped back from them.

"Alright, I will. I promise." he said softly, then he turned, adding mildly: "We aren't saying goodbye just yet, though... I got a feeling we've still got a bit of a mess to go through before I can get out of here."

The others nodded as they headed back up the steps... and Zerrex grimaced as he walked down the corridor and saw several Greed demons looting the bodies of the dead soldiers, drawing his revolver and pointing it at them as he shouted over the thrumming beat of the music outside: "Hey! Get out of here!"

The demons looked up and then yelped, the vultures fleeing towards the open door as the reptile grumbled under his breath as he stepped outside... and then glared at the sight of another demon falling out of the open back door of the armored van, clutching a backpack against his chest. Immediately, the Drakkaren shot a revolver round into the ground by his feet, and the demon squealed as he dropped the gear... before Missy snarled as she stepped outside beside the lizard, her eyes blazing as she rose the lever-action shotgun and walked forwards as she fired once, then twice into the fleeing demon's back.

The first round stumbled him, but the second round sent the pinkish, hairless demon flopping forwards on his face, skidding a few feet as he gargled weakly and slowly died. The demons and angels still out on the street - fewer in number, many of them back inside the club and others simply looking dazed - stared at this with interest and a strange apprehension in some cases, as if trying to remember how they were supposed to react to this... and then Zerrex touched Missy's shoulder, and the Benevolent looked up at him with a half-crazed grin as his emerald eyes met her glowing scarlet, before she reached out and grabbed his crotch, whispering hungrily: "I know you want me, and you know I want you, why don't you... I..."

She blinked a few times, shaking her head dumbly as the scarlet light faded, then her eyes slowly roved down to her hand, staring dumbly at the sight of her fingers gripping the lizard's armor-covered groin as Zerrex crossed his arms meditatively and Spike only looked at the two with amusement as Derek gaped... and then Missy squeaked and leapt backwards, shaking her hand violently as she babbled: "Oh my stars, Biggs, shit, oh shit! I am so sorry!"

"I'm. Not really going to complain, but try and keep it under control for now." Zerrex said dryly, glancing over her slowly before he glanced towards Spike, saying quietly: "You'll need to get Sandy to look at her later. See if... the corruption poisoning will recede."

Spike nodded... but even Derek knew that the Drakkaren was only saying that for Missy's benefit as she turned away with a blush of humiliation, from the way the Greed demon's eyes dropped to the ground. The Benevolent had been bathed in too much concentrated demonic essence, further tempered by the Cabal meddling with the soul cage... and now she was changing. For the better or worse, Zerrex wasn't sure... but he knew that she'd have to learn to cope with these changes either way.

The lizard holstered his revolver as he approached his motorcycle, mounting up and watching quietly as Missy got in the passenger seat, mumbling something to Spike, and the lanky timberwolf nodded and patted her silently on the shoulder before he walked around to the driver's side. Derek, meanwhile, quickly gathered up the gear the would-be thief had dropped, tossing it into the back of the van before he climbed in himself and shut the door with a sigh... and as the vehicle started, Zerrex carefully brought his motorcycle around in a short circle, the engine rumbling quietly as the Drakkaren glanced over his shoulder before he nodded a little, more to himself than anything else as the van began to back slowly up.

The reptile drove out onto the street, looking back and forth with a grimace as a few Benevolent drunkenly staggered by, swinging their glasses of corruption and alcohol back and forth: there was obviously supplies of the demonic essence all over the place, but thankfully he could feel much of it rapidly ebbing down. The thing they had destroyed in the basement of the small facility had definitely been the source of it... and in all likelihood, they had gotten lucky. It looked like only a skeleton crew had been left to defend it... and Zerrex grimaced as he rolled down the road and glanced up towards a vandalized sign he could barely make out, but there was a shape of a mountain distinguishable beneath the graffiti, and the Drakkaren turned off main street and onto a second brightly-lit road as the van followed him at a short distance.

He could make out a winding, wide road in the distance, cracked, unlit asphalt that led up into the towering, grim peaks, as he passed ramshackle bars and liquor stores and X-rated attractions... before the lizard began to slow as he looked ahead and saw something he'd been hoping to avoid, letting the motorcycle coast slowly to a halt some thirty feet away from what looked like the final line of Temptation's defenses before the narrow highway leading up towards Empyreal Throne.

Enormous wood and steel barricades had been set up across the road, and standing in front of this were two enormous Gigataurs, one of them armed with a massive executioner's axe and the other punching one fist into its other hand, glaring balefully down at him with a single eye: the other was dead white, burns covering this side of its face and even its horn broken off near the base. Minotaurs, Salamanders, Nightmares, and Swamp Spines all stood in an uneasy line, holding machineguns, submachine guns, and revolvers.

More demons were on the buildings at either side of the road, snipers with rifles and even a Dragokkaren-demon holding a massive rocket launcher ready on his shoulder, and in front of the group, the Craven that was undoubtedly Lester stood, the deer snarling, his antlers black and strangely-twisted, his scarred fiberglass armor tight against his tall body and a strap helping support the enormous electrical cannon he was wearing.

He shouted something angrily at the figure standing at the police car beside him... and the serpent sheriff slumped with a sigh, the snake shaking his head slowly before he walked around the police car and towards Zerrex, the Drakkaren dismounting the motorcycle as the van rumbled to a halt beside him, half-turning to offer the maximum amount of protection as the snake halted a few feet away and said clearly: "Zerrex Narrius, I'm afraid you're under arrest for... breaking Temptation's laws. These good folk here are here to help... bring you in. Surrender, or deadly force will be used."

Zerrex looked for a moment at the snake, and then he leaned across the handlebars of his motorcycle, saying softly: "So what's it going to be, Sheriff? Are you going to help us here or are you going to die?"

"I think that's supposed to be my line." the snake said dryly, as he reached down and rested his hand on the grip of his handgun... and his eyes locked with Zerrex's before he murmured: "I told you to stay out of Temptation."

"I know. I'm bad at listening, though." Zerrex replied with a bit of a smile, and then he glanced over towards the line of demons as Lester shouted something angrily at the serpent's back. "They're getting antsy."

"They want to string you up and kill you. I reckon that's not an entirely alien thing for someone like yourself though, is it?" the sheriff asked softly, and the Drakkaren smiled a bit before the snake sighed as he pulled out his handgun, pointing it towards the lizard as he said quietly: "In life, we all gotta make choices. I hope I'm making the right one."

Then, without hesitating, the snake turned around and fired several shots up towards the Dragokkaren with the rocket launcher, bullets slamming into the wrath demon and knocking him backwards with a curse before he pulled the trigger of the weapon in surprise, the rocket firing wildly high into the air and twisting madly back and forth before it exploded with a loud bang, and Zerrex grimaced a bit as he drew his own revolver, stepping up beside the snake and firing several rounds into the crowd, a minotaur crashing onto his back with a howl of agony and a Swamp Spine throwing his hands up almost comically as part of his skull exploded.

Bullets hailed back towards them, and Zerrex grabbed the sheriff, shoving him towards the armored van as the back door opened and Derek motioned wildly at them, before the Drakkaren winced as the scarred Gigataur stepped forwards and picked up the police car with one huge hand, roaring before it threw it towards the Drakkaren... and Zerrex gritted his teeth as he pulled Blackheart off his back and slashed savagely forwards, slicing the police car in half: one section of it flew off to the side, bouncing against a wrecked building and causing the front of it to collapse, dust spilling out over the road as the other half flew into the armored van, Missy shrieking in surprise as the windshield of the vehicle was cracked and the van rocked violently on the spot as the sheriff leapt inside, much of the front end crunched in from the impact.

The Gigataurs stormed forwards, heedless of both friendly fire and the allies they crushed as several bullets bounced off Zerrex's armor before he ran towards the nearest, the axe-wielding monster... and when it roared and slashed savagely down towards him, the Drakkaren leapt quickly to the side, the axe biting deep into the pavement before the lizard charged forwards and stabbed savagely into the giant's shin.

It screamed in agony, yanking its leg away before kicking outwards, and the Drakkaren swung Blackheart around in a quick, wide slash in response, viciously striking against the Gigataur's hoof and cracking it as it knocked its leg back, the giant's arms flailing and making the fellow bull demon stagger away with a grunt.

The Gigataur Zerrex had repelled fell to a kneel, and the Drakkaren immediately half-spun and threw his sword hard upwards, the blade launching from his hand like an oversized dart and spearing through the creature's throat, making it gargle as it fell backwards and into the line of demons, crushing several beneath its massive bulk before the scarred Gigataur leapt forwards and slammed both fists towards the ground, but Zerrex cursed as he dived out of the way, the giant's attack missing by mere inches as the Drakkaren hit the ground and rolled, wincing at the agony that flared through his broken tail before he spun around and dug quickly in one of the pouches on his belt. As the creature turned, the reptile threw a small sphere hard at its eye, and the Gigataur flinched when this bounced off its optical organ... before it exploded in a thick cloud of ionized smoke, and the giant howled in agony, grabbing at its face as it staggered blindly backwards with a roar of pain.

Then the Drakkaren cursed as Blackheart bounced off the ground beside him, the blade glowing with energy as it ricocheted and skidded down the street, the first Gigataur still clutching his bloody throat with one hand as the other grasped the handle of the massive axe... and then Zerrex winced as several bullets pounded against his armor before the bull rasped something and slammed the flat of the axe against the building, startling the snipers taking aim at the Drakkaren as it wheezed: "He's mine!"

The reptile ran forwards the moment the creature was distracted, and the Gigataur glanced down with surprise to see the charging Drakkaren before it revolved its huge axe and brought it down as if to swat a bug with the flat, Zerrex cursing as he dived forwards and rolled out of the way, skidding up to a kneel as he flicked both hands downwards and extended the silvery, hidden blades from his forearms. He leapt towards its shin, but the Gigataur almost gracefully backstepped before swatting downwards with the huge axe again, and the Drakkaren barely managed to leap backwards out of the way before the bull demon stabbed the weapon fiercely forwards, butting the lizard with the smooth top of the weapon and denting his armor as he was knocked on his back with a wheeze, before the monster rose its weapon over its head with a roar of victory, grinning savagely before it chopped viciously downwards.

The Drakkaren half-rolled with a wince, and the blade bit just past him, tearing into the street before the lizard seized the top of the axe with one hand, and when the Gigataur snarled and yanked the weapon free, the Drakkaren was lifted up into the air with it, the demon staring in surprise before Zerrex propelled himself hard forwards, kicking off the flat of the axe and using both his strength and momentum to launch himself onto the Gigataur's broad, flat muzzle before he stabbed both blades fiercely down between its eyes, ripping through its skull and the points of the blade digging into its brain.

The massive bull demon howled in agony before Zerrex kicked hard off its head as he yanked both hands towards himself at the same time, using the wristblades to rip a chunk of its skull out of place, blood gushing from the almost-circular hole torn in its head as the reptile flew backwards and the Gigataur grabbed at its face... and the lizard drew his revolver with a snarl, firing off the last three round wildly towards its head as he seemed to float in the air for a moment before falling, and one of the rounds bounced off its thick skull, but the other two tore through the hole, brain matter exploding from its skull as the Gigataur groaned before keeling slowly backwards, crushing another hole in the defenses of the demons as Zerrex fell towards the street.

Spike, meanwhile, was chasing down the other Gigataur, blasting a short volley of rounds into one of its ankles and making its hoof wobble beneath it before it toppled forwards, grunting in pain as pus and blood leaked from its eye, and the Craven immediately ran towards it, leaping onto its spine as he ejected the clip and slapped a fresh one into place. The Gigataur snarled over its shoulder, reaching a hand backwards as it bucked, but the lanky timberwolf managed to keep his footing, half-falling against its spine before he dove forwards, going into a short roll before he landed on his stomach and skidded between its shoulderblades, shoving his handgun forwards and grabbing a handful of its bristly fur as he fired round after round into the base of its skull, bone flakes and blood and gore splattering in all directions as iron round after iron round smashed through its lumbar vertebrae.

The Gigataur arched its back and groaned in agony before it simply collapsed forwards as the last few rounds tore upwards beneath the lip of its skull and through its brainstem, blood gushing from its eyes and ears as it collapsed forwards and began to rot as Spike leapt off its back, and the Craven grimaced before he emptied the last of the clip towards a sniper in the window, before cursing as a stray bullet managed to lodge itself in his arm, staggering backwards and then ejecting the clip to fumble another out of his pocket and slap it into place.

Derek and the Sheriff leaned out the back of the van as Zerrex landed in a kneel, firing into the crowd and half-hiding behind the armored door, the weasel wincing and a few bloody splatters over his body from one or two bullets he'd taken, fumbling with the bolt-action rifle as the snake gritted his teeth and leaned past the smaller male, using a secondary rifle. Missy, meanwhile, was laying on her stomach outside the van, beneath the open door: bullets pounded against this, but it was kept propped open by a metal bar, offering her a shield from the snipers above as her eyes glowed wrathful red, gripping a handgun she'd taken from the back tightly as she shouted furiously: "Die! All of you, die!"

The Drakkaren gritted his teeth as he snapped open the cylinder of his revolver, dumping out the empty casings before fumbling at one of the pouches over his hip, pulling out several large, blue-tinged bullets... and then a blast of electricity shot towards him, and the reptile's eyes widened before he leapt out of the way, dropping several of the revolver rounds and only managing to cling to one as Lester dragged the beam of electricity towards the Drakkaren before the cannon shut down automatically, the elk cursing under his breath as Zerrex snarled and slammed the mercury round home into the chamber and then snapped the revolver closed as the Craven fumbled at his weapon, shouting angrily: "Focus on him, the others are worthless, but focus on the-"

Two bullets smacked into his armored chest, knocking the elk backwards before a third round hit the front of the cannon, and the weapon exploded in the Craven's hands, knocking him flying backwards with a howl of agony as Spike ran up beside Zerrex, the timberwolf firing the last of his rounds quickly into the crowd. As several more fell, the demons that hadn't yet been killed in the confrontation looked at each other, and when one of them bolted, the others took it as their cue to leave as well, retreating quickly towards the buildings as the last remaining sniper withdrew with a curse.

Lester was left alone as he began to slowly crawl to his feet, breathing hard and cursing as he fumbled for his handgun, bringing it up and snarling as he fired towards Zerrex... but the bullet only grazed the lizard's shoulder, before the second shot bounced off his chest armor as the lizard slowly took aim, his emerald eyes cold... and the elk gave a raw, primal yell before the Drakkaren fired the single mercury round, and it smashed into the Craven's skull, almost blowing the entire top of his head off in a burst of blood, silvery liquid, and brain matter, the elk falling backwards with a gargle as his body twitched and his handgun uselessly fired a few times into the air before his arms dropped and he fell still.

Zerrex breathed deeply, slowly standing up with a grimace as he holstered the empty revolver, and silence fell over the street as he looked at the Craven, who smiled wryly to the Drakkaren. He smiled back after a moment, and then Spike glanced towards the broken barricades, a rotting Gigataur skeleton laying half-sprawled through the wood and metal and the street littered with other demonic corpses... and then both demon and lizard mortal looked quietly up towards the cracked highway in the distance.

They were joined by Derek, the Sheriff, and Missy, the five standing silently for a few moments before the Drakkaren walked forwards and turned around, looking over them as the snake removed his hat and slowly wiped at his forehead, the Greed demon smiling awkwardly and Missy hugging herself as she gazed longingly at the lizard with her now-ruby eyes... and the reptile shook his head slowly before he said softly: "I'm leaving this place in your hands. I know all of you are strong and capable... and together, you should be able to easily hold down the fort here, or at least get the supplies necessary to Rebecca. Sheriff, I'm glad you joined us."

"I didn't have much of a choice, did I?" the snake said softly, and he gazed thoughtfully over the Drakkaren before he smiled again, a little warmer this time. "You know, I feel like something in the air's lifted. I feel like I'm thinking clearer. And I feel like, for the first time in a long time, things might be okay."

Zerrex nodded... and then Derek swallowed, the weasel rubbing the back of his head as he said with faint amusement: "I guess there's going to be no more drug-smuggling or gambling here... but... I guess I'm not entirely disappointed. I can always play poker at the ranch or something... Missy's never been good at cards."

Missy laughed a little, nudging the weasel with her elbow before she looked quietly up at the lizard, but she hesitated and then glanced away... and so instead Spike stepped forwards, saluting him quietly... and Zerrex sketched the same old Irenic salute in return, the two looking at each other before the wolf said softly: "We're nothing without honor now, are we? We're all already dead... but that doesn't mean we get to live our lives making others suffer."

"Honor to the end." Zerrex said softly, and then he glanced at the female as Missy stepped forwards and took his wrist quietly, gazing up into his eyes as he looked down into hers.

"Come back now, you hear?" she half-demanded, half-pleaded quietly, and Zerrex smiled at her before the Benevolent nodded slowly, taking a few slow breaths before she hugged him fiercely, and Zerrex hugged her quietly in return, the female murmuring: "I just ain't no good at goodbyes, but I ain't counting this as a goodbye. All this is, is a little break between now and then, when I get to see you again. You come back, and come back in one piece."

"I will." the Drakkaren reached up and squeezed her shoulders gently, and then he smiled a little over the group before closing his eyes as he carefully stepped past them, rolling his wrists and feeling the hidden blades sliding smoothly back into place as the Drakkaren quietly walked past the van, picking up his sword from where it had been thrown by the Gigataur before he slapped it on his back, and the blade glowed sapphire as the reptile murmured quietly: "It's a promise I do intend to keep this time around, old friend."

He returned to the motorcycle, mounting up with a sigh as he leaned over the handlebars for a moment, closing his eyes... and then he slowly accelerated forwards, driving past the van and halting beside the others as they stood and looked at him, the reptile smiling a little at the group before he said softly: "Good luck. And chin-up, Missy. I'll be seeing you all real soon."

The golden retriever smiled faintly at him... and then Zerrex looked ahead as he accelerated slowly forwards, the motorcycle bouncing lightly as the reptile weaved through a break in the metal and wooden barricades, forcing himself to keep his eyes on the road as he accelerated forwards. Blackheart gleamed over his back as the darkness settled in deeper, the reptile leaving the neon glow of Temptation's frenzied nights behind as he drove up the asphalt highway and into the mountains, the wind whipping past him as he finally snuck a look back, but all he could see now were shadows and shapes and bright, unnatural lights that burned like the wretched souls that filled the wrecked city.

Zerrex drove for roughly an hour before he passed from highway onto a dirt road, and the reptile remembered from his discussions with Spike that now he'd have to be careful, as he looked nervously back and forth: the mountains were enormous and treacherous, filled with looming, steep cliffs, sharp crags, and deep valleys and trenches here and there, the road marked haphazardly by flickering reflectors that had been nailed here and there to rusting guardrails and the rocky walls of the mountainside.

It was quickly growing colder and more uncomfortable, the further the reptile got up the mountains... and although right now he at least didn't have to worry about falling off any sharp cliffs, thanks to the gently-sloping, rocky hills on either side of him as he drove along an enormous, wide plateau, the wind was nipping quietly at him and the Drakkaren could feel it growing harder to breathe as the wind brushed through his hair. His gloved hands clenched the throttle, and the lizard kept himself low, concentrating on the energies in his own body.

Heat rolled through his form, and the armor covering his body pulsed with energy of its own as well as the energies of the Drakkaren, further insulating him... but his eyes were protected only by the narrow, small glass shield extending up in front of the handlebars, and his saliva felt like it was staring to freeze around his teeth as he grimaced a little. And to think, normally he was fond of the cold... but it was easy to like something when it couldn't kill you or hinder you at all.

The motorcycle skidded a bit as he passed over a patch of ice, the Drakkaren cursing as he almost lost control and weaved back and forth before yanking on the handlebars as he leaned to the side, letting his left foot drag against the ground as he halted and took a few slow breaths. He looked behind himself, seeing how the hill was much steeper to his back, how Temptation was now just a sparkling line of purple and pink in the distance from all the neon along the two main drags of town... and instead, most of the light was coming from above, and the wide cone cast from the single headlamp of the heavy, fiberglass-plated bike.

He slowly looked up at the stars above, watching them twinkling in the skies, and then he closed his eyes for a moment. The pause allowed his body to adjust a little, the cold seeming to bite less as he simply bathed in the radiance of the world, resting in the middle of a wide dirt road that had long ago been paved highway before it had all worn away and left the path behind, so smooth and natural-looking it was as if it had been carved by a glacier... and on either side of the road, there was a narrow shoulder of grass speckled with frost and some chunks of gravel and pieces of broken asphalt, and past this, a ragged but gently-sloped rocky embankment, forming the world's widest, shallowest - and perhaps longest - rocky gorge that cradled the road in its center.

The lizard sighed after a moment, looking towards the distance with a grimace: the long, dusty gorge stretched for at least another two or three kilometers, listing gently upwards before it finally reached the foot of the enormous mountain that Empyreal Throne sat at the top of. That was roughly the halfway point, and Devil's Maw was apparently seated just past this, in a rocky next of precipices and scraggy cliffs... and the Drakkaren shook his head slowly before he frowned a bit as the earth beneath his feet gave a faint shiver, and he gritted his teeth as he looked sharply up, watching as the ground in the distance trembled visibly.

The Drakkaren slowly dismounted his motorcycle, reaching out and turning off the ignition, the headlight clicking off... but the trembles only worsened as the road humped up several hundred feet away, dirt and rocks flying into the air as it pulsed as if it were a living tumor before it exploded upwards as a massive, hideous thing tore through the surface with a screeching howl that died down into a rattling hiss as its form flopped onto the ground, slithering rapidly out of the earth as the lizard's eyes widened.

It had to be at least seventy feet long, most of it made up by the fat, segmented body that was covered in rubbery, armor-like skin. Its many-sectioned form was heavy and bloated, large, barbed spikes the color of ancient driftwood jutting here and there from its huge form, and its body tapered rapidly and changed from blackish-green to mottled white at the tip of its tail, which gave the bottom of the creature a pyramidal appearance. Its head, meanwhile, was slightly larger than the rest of its form, a thick, ugly 'collar' of flesh humped up around its neck and slit-like red eyes glowing on either side of its massive set of jaws, its huge mouth circular and devastating, filled with thousands of grinding teeth and sawblade-like bones. It had no upper and lower jaw, but instead its mouth blossomed open like a deadly flower, long strips of flesh spreading wide out to either side, lined with sharp white ridges as it gave another howl that died off to a hiss as acid spilled out of its drooling mouth, steaming rising from the ground as Zerrex winced in disgust at the reek that assaulted him.

The World Carver lowered its head forwards as it closed its jaws, and at first the Drakkaren thought he was going to get off lucky and it was going to simply go back into the ground... but then a large, oval indent in the humped-up flesh around the back of its head trembled, before the flesh slowly pulled back from it, revealing an immense, bulging dome. It was a fierce, ugly red, pulsing and pushing upwards as goo dripped over it, the reptile leaning back in disgust as a single black line thickened in the center of it... and the reptile realized with horror a moment later it was the creature's eye, as this locked quickly onto him before the monster snapped its head back with a roar that sent acid splattering in all directions, the center eye snapping closed as the glowing red slits in either side of its head blazed and thick gills half-hidden beneath the creature's collar pulsed wide, more goo leaking out of these as light burned from inside the monstrosity.

It dove forwards, lashing over the ground before ripping into the dirt road as if it was water, the earth quaking as Zerrex cursed and staggered backwards, feeling the trembles growing worse as the monster vanished beneath the road and yet still approached... and then the reptile turned and ran, wincing before the ground behind him erupted as the creature leapt upwards where he had been a moment before, rocks flying in all directions as the massive monstrosity caught his motorcycle in its jaws: they were twenty feet in diameter, so large they could probably swallow even a Gigataur whole if it wanted to, and the reptile cursed as the monster inhaled his motorcycle before allowing itself to fall forwards, smashing down like an immense pillar behind the reptile, crashing down inches away from the Drakkaren as he staggered backwards before it howled at him, then hissed, acid spitting from its writhing jaws.

Zerrex leapt out of the way with a snarl, green, rotten-smelling toxin flying past him before the lizard twisted around and ran towards the beast as it began to writhe forwards, body snapping back and forth before the Drakkaren leapt towards it and slashed savagely outwards with Blackheart... and the blade ripped only a thin cut into its hide, the lizard cursing in frustration as the sword squealed against the monster's side and he half-slid along its huge body before he brought a foot up and kicked hard off the giant worm as it snapped itself quickly in the other direction with a hiss.

It dived towards the side of the road, ripping through the rocky embankment as easily as it did through the dirt path... and Zerrex grimaced in disgust as the ground began to shake violently again before he broke into a fast sprint, knowing if the beast managed to get him in its jaws it was over. He cursed under his breath, wondering how he could even fight this thing... and then it ripped out of the ground behind him on an angle, diving forwards towards him with a furious roar, and the Drakkaren snarled as he leapt to the side, hitting the ground with a curse and tumbling awkwardly through the dirt as the World Carver ripped into the road and tore deep into the ground.

The lizard gritted his teeth as he forced himself up to his feet, shaking his head quickly and grabbing at his skull as the last of the monster's immense body vanished... and a moment later the ground beneath him erupted upwards violently, the reptile snarling as he felt himself being inhaled downwards even as he quickly leapt up, swinging Blackheart outwards as the World Carver's jaws began to close around him, slamming the blade into the side of its mouth and using that to help haul himself forwards.

He half-flipped as the creature hissed and vomited acid upwards, and the Drakkaren winced as he fell sideways past the creature just as its oval eye opened... and the reptile's eyes widened at this before he crashed down onto the ground. A moment later, the rest of its body began to tear out of the earth, and the reptile was flicked almost disdainfully into the air as its pendulous form ripped free from the ground, the lizard snarling in frustration more than pain as he flew up into the air before managing to awkwardly flip himself and crash down onto his feet, stumbling backwards a few steps as the World Carver zigzagged along the ground and then dived downwards, ripping through the earth as Zerrex turned and began to sprint.

He could feel the vibrations worsening as the monster approached from behind below the ground... and them the lizard suddenly skidded to a halt and spun around, leaping high into the air just as the beast began to surface and landing on the ground behind the monster, turning just as its body began to rip upwards as well from the hole in a blast of sand and dirt and rock... and the Drakkaren dropped to a kneel and stabbed Blackheart downwards through the explosion of sand and dirt as the ground beneath his feet trembled, feeling the sword piercing into something as the creature hissed in fury and Zerrex was yanked forwards as the rest of the monster's body pulled up to the surface as the hole widened behind it into a trench from the monster's passage.

He was roughly halfway down the beast, and the reptile knew he had no time to lose as the World Carver lashed its head around to hiss at him, vomiting acid towards the Drakkaren as the lizard winced and ducked, raising his arms in front of his head and sprinting forwards down the creature before he cursed in shock as sharp thorns began to tear their way up out of its rubbery flesh, each spike almost the size of the Drakkaren and razor-sharp, blood and goo splattering off them as the lizard leapt back and forth. The enormous worm snarled as its head lashed back around, rearing up and preparing to dive as its huge body writhed over the ground, and then the Drakkaren dived forwards as he snapped both hands down, blades shooting from the wrist as he tackled the enormous dome-eye in the fleshy collar of the beast and stabbed both blades savagely into this.

The monstrosity immediately screamed as the eye all-but-exploded in a blast of gore and electricity, its head snapping backwards and sending Zerrex flying with a curse as its whole body writhed and bucked, the reptile bouncing against one of the sharp thorns and feeling it screaming against his armor, ripping long slashes against him before a second spike tore up next to it and slashed a cut across the lizard's face, blood splattering down as Zerrex howled in pain before he rolled forwards, then was thrown into the air as the monster bucked again, his eyes widening as he flailed his limbs and then fell right into the still-sparking, bloody socket of its eye, ripping through a thin membrane and crashing into an enormous, pulsing organ inside the beast. It pulsed and writhed in a thick, rubbery casing, stalks and huge, cable-like veins standing out from it like the vast roots of a tree as neon faintly sparked over the massive and sole organ of the creature, the rubbery material surrounding it transparent enough that the lizard could blurrily make out the shape of his motorcycle rapidly dissolving as it rolled down the monster's throat, rock and dirt being broken down all the faster by the flowing river of greenish acid inside the terrible, mottled monster.

The Drakkaren cursed as the World Carver lashed back and forth, feeling the fleshy cavern around him quaking... and then the lizard snarled in fury before he stabbed both extended blades down into the enormous organ, energized blood exploding upwards and sending out neon sparks as the reptile shoved himself backwards and ripped two long, immense trenches through the World Carver's terrible heart as he slid over the length of it, the monster's howls rising into shrieks before the lizard crashed into rubbery dome wall, his blades tearing free from the beast's huge organ. He turned and quickly stabbed one of the sharp blades into this, yanking downwards and tearing a wide cut open in the shielding, black bile exploding out from either side of the semitransparent wall as larger arcs of electricity began to build around the monster's heart as the World Carver squealed and bucked, and the reptile seized the edge of the hole he had just made before he swung himself down into the fleshy tunnel of the monster's insides, kicking his legs hard outwards to propel himself towards its convulsing jaws as he launched himself up its throat, and then his eyes widened when it snapped its head back, acid raining down towards him and fleshy floor becoming a fleshy wall.

The Drakkaren covered his face with one forearm as he slammed the other into the flesh of its throat, the blade stabbing easily into the pinkish, ugly substance and allowing him to hang by one arm before the lizard cursed in agony as the droplets of acid that had splattered over him steamed violently as they ate into his armor, before the monster lashed its head forwards with a howl, and the lizard was violently ejected from between its jaws with a rush of toxic breath, cursing as he crashed to the ground some ten feet away from the World Carver before his eyes widened as he monster reared itself back... and the reptile scrambled quickly to feet, staggering forwards and then leaping out of the way with a yell as the monster slammed its worm-like face downwards and crashed headfirst into the ground, ripping a deep gouge in the earth and making the ground rattle.

Zerrex skidded over his stomach away from the beast... and then he rolled over as the monster reared back again, this time only to howl mournfully as neon electricity vomited up out of its throat and acid splattered over it features... and then the throat of the enormous, monstrous beast simply exploded, sending its ugly head and thick chunks of the humped-up collar of flesh flying skywards like a rocket, leaving a stream of acid behind itself as its body lashed backwards, sending out its own spray of energized blood, neon lightning, and boiling acid. Blackheart was launched free from the creature's back, flying through the air towards the top of the road as Zerrex scampered quickly away from the monster, acid rain falling all around the beast before its head crashed down to the ground and bounced once, twice, then rolled a few feet like an immense, hideous boulder before it fell into one of its own long trenches left by its huge body emerging from the ground and vanished from sight.

The Drakkaren breathed hard, looking stupidly over at the massive corpse of the Strange Beast before he shook his head dumbly, barely able to believe he had actually managed to take the thing down... and then he looked slowly down at his armor, rubbing at it awkwardly as the faintly-steaming wristblades retracted back into his forearms. It was covered in gouges and scratches and burns, and he could feel the cut on his face bleeding and a few acid burns in his hair, and he smelled like garbage... but the armor was slowly repairing itself, and Zerrex knew he would heal in time too. Here he was though... mortal... and he had taken on such a terrible monster and won, and the reptile couldn't help but laugh stupidly. Part of it had been dumb luck, sure... but... it's like I always said. The carpenter. Not the tools. Maybe... just maybe... I can take down Error after all... assuming, of course, Iron doesn't kill me first.

Zerrex grimaced a little at this, slowly pushing himself upwards as he breathed quietly and grasped at his side lightly, his right leg giving a dull throb of pain at being overused... and then the lizard shook his head out a bit, muttering under his breath: "Okay. For now, concentrate on moving forwards... Devil's Maw is next on the list, and it should be just up ahead."

The reptile reached up and rubbed at his face slowly, and then he breathed quietly as he half-limped down the road, looking back and forth as he concentrated a bit... and finally, he caught Blackheart's blue gleam in the distance. The sword had been lodged on several rocks in the embankment... and the Drakkaren made his way carefully towards this, clambering over stone and scrabbling through the dirt until he finally managed to reach the weapon with a wheeze, reaching out and picking it up to carefully place it back on his back, and grimacing when the blade sparked quietly. "It isn't my fault you couldn't cut through that thing's armor all that well."

The sword didn't respond, and Zerrex wondered meditatively if that was a good or bad thing, all things considered, as he made his way slowly down the path. He took his time, his feet crunching quietly along the dirt road as he rubbed at his face slowly, the wound only bleeding sluggishly but aching awfully as he shook his head slowly and muttered: "Getting tired, too... I might have to stop for a little while, take... just a minute or two to rest..."

The reptile shook his head a bit as he breathed quietly, rubbing at his face absently as a faint wave of dizziness spilled over him, and the Drakkaren clenched his eyes shut before he coughed hard a few times and grasped at his throat. It felt dry and stale... and he wondered if maybe the World Carver breathed the same poisons the Vipers did, and he had just accidentally killed himself. He smiled wryly at this thought despite himself, shaking his head and slapping the cut side of his face... and the bolt of pain it sent through him was more than enough to wake the Drakkaren up and restore his senses, grunting a bit.

He continued forwards, hugging himself silently as his breath rasped slowly in and out of his lungs, shivers rolling through his system as he lowered his head a bit... and forty minutes later, the Drakkaren looked silently up to see he was approaching the foot of the mountain. The path here was steeper, and under the light of the stars, the crescent moon, and the faint light of the red planet Hell high above in the night sky, it made it seem all the more terrible and imposing, as dark rock glinted at him, the steep road still paved here and there in places, signs in a strange language Zerrex couldn't comprehend standing ominous guard.

After only another ten minutes of walking, the Drakkaren glanced up tiredly to see sentries standing out in the middle of the road: a smoking Benevolent who looked exhausted, and a mortal in a mildewed PMC uniform, his gun hanging at his side and his head lowered a bit, obviously trying to stay alert. Zerrex crouched a bit as he looked at the two, feeling energy running through his body as he breathed slowly and then closed his eyes... but they were the only two figures he could sense in the vicinity, although there was a much-larger energy signature off to one side... and as his eyes opened, he realized that just behind the patrols, there was a half-hidden fork in the road, disguised by the darkness more than anything else: the way the shadows fell, it made the slightly-curved road that hugged the mountainside look like a thin gouge in the mountains instead of a path.

The lizard grimaced a bit at this... and then he breathed slowly as he carefully began to make his way forwards, keeping to the edge of the road as he drew close enough to hear their conversation, the Benevolent saying tiredly: "-pointless. You and I both heard the sound of the Serpent Rex going after something... and personally, if it stopped because it's dead instead of eaten the poor bastard, I don't want to tangle with whatever the hell could do that, and I know most of Devil's Maw agrees with me. Besides, people are still going missing... and a lot of the messengers who go down to Temptation or up to Empyreal Throne don't ever make it back. There's maybe a hundred and three of us left in this encampment, all together... and we started with fifteen hundred, ten goddamn weeks ago. Ten weeks... that's not a long time for fourteen hundred people to go missing or AWOL, and that's not counting the reinforcements who show up now and then."

"So you won't mind if I just walk on into Devil's Maw then?" Zerrex said clearly as he stood up and approached, smacking his armored fists together... and the Benevolent's eyes widened in horror as his jaw dropped, the cigarette falling from his muzzle as he stared in shock at the sight of the bloodied Drakkaren. "If you want to further improve your odds of living, you could also tell me a little bit about what the hell's going on in this place."

The mortal winced a bit, the mouse hesitantly, slowly raising his gun... and Zerrex sighed as he walked forwards, rolling his eyes and gently using one finger to slowly push the barrel back down towards the ground, saying kindly: "Don't be a hero, okay? I just killed the World Carver. If I can kill a seventy foot snake, I think I can probably kill you, too."

The mortal stared at him stupidly... and then the Benevolent carefully tossed his rifle down before he fumbled at his plaid shirt, trembling and pulling a pack of cigarettes out of his pocket as he muttered weakly: "Oh God in Heaven... I... listen. We don't know much, we're just grunts... Temptation was supposed to be the defense zone, the... safe zone. It was where supplies were supposed to be shipped from, but we've barely gotten supplies in the last few weeks here... half the mortals are starving and the other half have just given up."

"Yeah, I... yeah..." the mortal agreed weakly, and Zerrex frowned a bit before he glanced slowly up and down the aardvark... and he realized that yes. The male was thin and emaciated, shivering despite being dressed in a heavy, fur-lined jacket and thick cloth pants, his boots patched but serviceable. He looked down dumbly, seemed to realize he was still holding the gun, and quickly tossed it to the ground as if it had turned into a giant snake, holding his hands up in a gesture of surrender as he trembled a bit. "So many people have already died and... things are just getting worse. We send people to Empyreal Throne through the tunnels but... no one ever comes back..."

Zerrex frowned at this as the Benevolent finally managed to shove a cigarette into his muzzle, pulling out a lighter. The pale flame flickered as a breeze rolled by, but didn't go out... and when he managed to light the cigarette and take a deep inhale, he calmed visibly, breathing smoke through his nose as he said faintly: "Shit. Yeah, it's a nightmare here... been a nightmare for a long time. There's only a handful of people in town who have any idea what's going on and... I think only a few people who are trying to do their jobs anymore. We've excavated the tunnels, even got a basic trolley system going on the old rails through the mines that leads to where the mining tunnels meet up with the ruins of the emergency tunnels going into the bowels of Empyreal Throne. The cult up there that worships the Strange Beasts, they gave us weird orders. The only one who ever made sense passing through here was a Craven, Commander Watanabe... he at least told us what to do, he was honest. But these other bastards... I don't think they're even from Empyreal Throne. I think they're just here to fuck with us."

Zerrex frowned at this... and the Benevolent shook his head with a tremble, saying quietly: "There's a guy in a Metatron mask who shows up now and then, but he's not a Metatron... and there's this... cloaked psycho who's got everyone on edge. He came here a few days ago, demanded we... we hand you over. We were warned you had escaped Eratosthenes, who apparently heads the cult or whatever it is up there, and... shit. The cloaked guy just kept accusing us of helping you, hiding you, and... he ripped a bunch of people apart. Twenty or so people just ran away the night after that and... defenses are down and I think... I know... a lot of people are almost hoping that the legends about you are true. You... you are Zerrex, aren't you? You're the guy they captured, who the weird-looking fuck who runs the cults stole the powers of... but here you are anyway, coming up the mountain. They want you dead. Them, the cloaked guy, Iron, the big boss Eratosthenes. We're under orders to kill you if we see you."

"Are you going to kill me or are you going to let me pass?" Zerrex asked quietly, and the Benevolent laughed weakly, as if this was a joke. The Drakkaren studied them for a moment... and then he nodded a bit, saying quietly: "Temptation should be safer now. Some demons went rogue... if what you're telling me is true, they were probably brought on board in the first place by either the cloaked figure or this Metatron impersonator. Can you tell me anything else about him?"

But the Benevolent only shook his head slowly, saying quietly: "Not much. He was from Heaven... he was in robes, really... really... nice robes. He was upper class... and he didn't give a shit about anyone here. He talked about how he was allies with Eratosthenes... and he told us his orders, and obviously expected us to listen to him. We didn't exactly have a choice, anyway... he had Holy Dervishes with him. You know. Heaven's answer to Gigataurs."

Zerrex grimaced at this: there were only about five hundred Holy Dervishes to the lizard's knowledge in all of Heaven, and they were soulless, terrifying opponents who embodied the two qualities the Heavenly Council seemed to admire most: aloofness and mercilessness. They were hulking and terrible, one of the few angels that were truly more powerful than most demons... and for someone to be able to control them, it meant they had to be very high in Heaven's food chain. Bad news. That's very bad news. "Alright. Am I going to get killed if I walk into town?"

"Probably not." the mortal murmured, glancing down awkwardly, and Zerrex looked over towards the aardvark again as he shivered a bit and hugged himself silently. "Devil's Maw is in bad shape... and I think most of us know that... even if we did kill you, Iron would probably come down here and kill all of us. He keeps talking about how he wants to kill you himself... he's probably waiting for you in Empyreal Throne, hoping you'll make it to him."

"Then I'd hate to disappoint him." Zerrex replied grimly, and he walked past the mortal and onto the side road as the Benevolent took another long drag on his cigarette, which had become almost a single long cylinder of ash by now as he shivered a bit, and his mortal companion only stared the lizard's back, still hugging himself.

The Drakkaren followed the side road around the curve of the mountains until he found himself on a steep descent that led down into a wide bowl-shaped canyon, an enormous cave shored up by rusting steel girders leading into the mountain and ancient, patched-up wood-and-metal buildings resting around the inside of the basin. Several cottage-like structures rested on top of the edge of the rocky mountain range, lights shining in dirty windows... but the Drakkaren only looked towards these for a moment before he descended down into the basin, grimacing a bit as his eyes locked onto a large, rickety building that was clearly a tavern of some kind, faint, sad music whispering out of the slightly-ajar, swinging doors and the broken, half-shuttered windows.

The reptile walked towards this, and several people stared at him with shock as he boldly strode towards the tavern and shoved the doors open, walking through it and looking back and forth calmly through the inside of the room: three rickety wooden tables - one was actually a giant spool, several lengths of chain still wrapped around this - in the center of the room, a lousy speaker system sitting against one far wall, and the bar the most popular spot, demons, angels, and a few mortals sitting on stools as a bartender silently worked behind the counter. A staircase led up at one side of the wide tavern to what Zerrex guessed were bedrooms for clients to spend the night in... and the saloon went quiet as the Drakkaren walked forwards and rested his hand on the butt of his revolver, saying mildly: "I feel a little like I'm in a movie about the old west. So who do I ask 'round yonder parts to get some information out of 'bout that there fortress up atop this here mountain?"

The Drakkaren continued to keep his gaze towards the bar, pretending not to see the two Wrath demons and the black-cloaked angel get up from the far table, and he walked into the room, purposefully making himself a better target as he heard the quiet scrape of a chair being carefully lifted off the floor... and then the Drakkaren leapt suddenly forwards, making several people jump in surprise as the angel cursed and missed his swing of the chair before Zerrex grasped Blackheart's handle and spun around as he yanked the sword in a wide, savage swing that slashed both the angel's arms off at the elbow, the divine being staggering backwards with a scream of pain and horror as he stared in shock at the bloody stumps, and one of the Wrath demons snarled as he seized the angel by the shoulder and threw him out of the way, raising the knife clenched in one hand as the four tall horns standing out of his skull like a crown glinted, reflecting almost as much light as the almost polished, rubbery-looking skin of the panther.

Zerrex immediately rose one leg and kicked the chair hard into the demon, who grunted at the contact, unhurt but tripping over the chair and leaning forwards... and the Drakkaren stepped forwards and then slammed the flat of his sword across the male's face, his head snapping violently to the side as saliva and blood flew from his jaws and his eyes bulged, sailing backwards and crashing into a bench before he flopped senselessly to the ground, and the last Wrath demon winced but then licked his lips and snarled as he leaned forwards a bit, the metallic scales covering the hulking, gator-like demon's body seeming to bristle for a moment before a voice called sharply from the stairs: "Now, that's enough!"

The Drakkaren glanced over his shoulder in surprise as a navy blue-scaled Dius in a long, flowing red walked down the stairs, the dress cut so it revealed a diamond of the scales over her stomach and most of her breasts, cupping just enough to leave a little to the imagination. Her scales over her inner body were white, and her eyes were a brilliant amber as she her high heels clicked against the ground, sapphire bracelets around either wrist as well as her neck as she put her hands on her hips and asked curtly: "Is that how we hold business around here?"

The gator stared at her, then he pointed at the Drakkaren, stammering: "T-That's the guy the big boss wants us to kill, that's... it, it's, he's..."

"Watch your pronouns, sweetie." the Dius reached up and patted the gator firmly on the cheek, and then her eyes glowed solid blue as she whispered softly: "Go get some rest."

"Rest..." the gator's eyes glowed weakly in response, a bit of drool dripping out of his jaws as he was easily subjugated by a single Dominate from the Dius, and Zerrex looked at her with surprise before the Wrath demon shook his head dumbly, then he yawned slowly and muttered: "Yeah... we'll... finish this later... I'm so tired..."

"Then go on home." the Dius said kindly, and the gator turned and trudged slowly towards the door, before the demoness glared down at the panther as he slowly began to crawl up to his feet, as the angel sat crying quietly against the side wall of the bar. "And you, get the hell out of here too before I let this big boy continue to put a whooping on your ass. We have worse problems to worry about than Lord Zerrex passing through and hopefully putting an end to the nonsense that's going on up in Empyreal Throne, you know that as well as I do."

The panther snarled a bit before he reached down and picked up his knife, clutching it tightly for a moment... but when both the Drakkaren and the Dius readied themselves, he shook his head in disgust and sheathed the weapon, pointing at her and saying disgustedly: "You can't have it both ways, Helena. Don't forget who dragged us out of Hell."

"Don't forget we all went to Hell for good reason in the first place, Troy." the Dius responded sharply, and the panther muttered at this before he shook his head and turned, grabbing the angel by his upper arm and yanking him to his feet before leaving the bar, the male still gasping and trembling in pain, leaving a trail of blood behind himself as he left. The moment the two were gone, the Dius turned with a smile towards Zerrex, slowly drawing her eyes over him as she clapped her hands... and then she leaned past him, saying quickly: "Paul, serve everyone a round of drinks on the house."

That got a single cheer from a half-drunk mortal near the end of the row... but when Zerrex secured Blackheart on his back, hesitant conversation started back up before he looked down at Helena as she stroked a hand slowly over his armored breastplate... then winced a bit at the steam that rose up from the contact, saying softly: "My oh my, blessed armor, huh? Coming here, armed to the teeth... walking right into my little tavern, shucks, am I ever glad to see it, though. I've wanted to meet you for a long time..."

Zerrex looked at her awkwardly, and the Dius grinned up at him, half-lidding her eyes as she poked his chest playfully. "Oh come now, who hasn't grown up with legends about the High Kings of Hell and the stories about Lord Zerrex and his entourage? Then again, we are related, you and I...I believe I'm a great-great-great granddaughter of yours, but I'm still a good few million years old, don't you worry about that."

The Drakkaren looked at her with surprise, and she laughed and waved a hand absently. "Oh, I don't blame you at all for not being able to keep track... you know how demons are. A lot of them marry or show interest in someone else just so they can be part of the legends, part of the big old families... everyone wants a stake in the important people and a claim to fame." She paused thoughtfully, looking over him slowly. "Why don't you join me upstairs for a drink? I was trained as a Priestess, just like my great-great-great grandmother, Selena."

For a few moments, Zerrex only continued to look at her awkwardly... and she finally rolled her eyes and grabbed his wrist, yanking him along as the Drakkaren grunted despite the fact her fingers steamed from contact with the gauntlet, muttering: "Come on, come on, come on. You act like I'm going to assassinate you or something. That would be pointless, though, because I really do want to get out of here... and more importantly, I'm a Lust demon, not a Wrath demon."

"So you want to bear a child for me and be part of my obviously-vast harem?" Zerrex asked dryly as he was pulled up the stairs by her, and he was surprised when she only grinned over her shoulder at him and shrugged, letting go of his hand as they reached the top of the stairs and Zerrex stood stupidly a few risers below her, looking at her flatly. "You know, this happened before to me and I didn't like the repercussions of said event. I mean... my daughter, Cypress, I..."

He stopped, and the female sighed a bit... but looked at him with kindness in her eyes nonetheless, walking down the steps past him and gently shoving him the rest of the way up the stairs, saying mildly: "For one thing, you're a mortal right now, so I'm doubt you could actually please me very well, being a Lust demoness and all. For another, I know you don't have a harem, but you do have an obvious lack of concubines... and in Hell's royalty..."

"Yes, yes, concubines are not simply servants or sex-toys, they're positions of esteem granted to certain people." Zerrex grumbled as she continued to push him down the hall towards a cracked wooden door with a large golden knocker on it, and then the female slipped past him and tapped the handle with one finger, her sapphire bracelet glowing quietly, and there was a loud click as the door unlocked. "Disguised crystal?"

"No, I'm not that talented. Just a simple charm." the Dius replied mildly, and then she dragged him into the room... and Zerrex looked stupidly back and forth as he realized this wasn't a 'guest room,' but the Dius's own personal bedroom, an enormous white bed covered in fluffy sheets and pillows and a few stuffed animals sitting against one wall, a dresser on one side and a tall, foreboding wardrobe on the other... and Zerrex slowly approached the foot of this as the Dius walked towards a side door and pushed it open to reveal the white walls of what was likely a bathroom, saying mildly over her shoulder: "Go ahead, make yourself cozy. There's some whisky and scotch in the little cold-box."

"The..." Zerrex glanced around the room, and then he rolled his eyes as he spotted a mini-fridge, realizing what she meant as he smiled a little despite himself. Then he walked slowly around towards the side of the table, quietly picking up a framed picture... and he softened as he brushed a hand over the glass. Helena was standing with a warm smile beside another Dius and a tall male Envy demon, draconic, with a long white mane that fell down his neck and spiraling horns, dressed in mortal over his lithe body, which had the same scale coloration as Helena... and then he glanced over his shoulder at her as she entered back into the room, smiling awkwardly at him as he put the framed photo down.

"That's Palothras of the Mystic Twilight, son of..." Zerrex reached up and rubbed slowly at his forehead, thinking for a few long moments as Helena looked at him intently, and the he smiled as he glanced over at her. "Son of Sleet, who in turn was the daughter of mine and Selena's son-"

"Cantor, a Salamander who married a Pride demoness but died during the last battle against the Old Gods." she said softly, gazing up at him compassionately. "You know more of your own family than I realized, Lord Zerrex... or shall I just call you Zerrex?"

"Zerrex is fine." The Drakkaren smiled a little at her, and then he sat slowly down on the bed, glancing awkwardly towards the ceiling as he murmured: "I tried to keep track of it all but... it was always hard. So many names... and they would grow up, all so fast..."

"Hell is vast, and families move forwards... and with a great name like yours, I know that either your descendents would cling to you closely or move away and try to separate themselves from you." Helena said softly, studying him with her amber eyes, and then she reached out and gently stroked along the wound on Zerrex's face, making him grimace a bit. "How about that drink?"

"I... I don't drink. I'll just have water or something." Zerrex mumbled, glancing awkwardly away... and the Dius studied him with a smile before she nodded slowly.

"Would it be rude for me to have a drink, then?" she asked curiously, as she walked over to the mini-fridge and opened it, and the reptile smiled a little over at her.

"Only if you try to kiss me afterwards." he said softly, and Helena laughed quietly at this as she pulled two glasses out of the small fridge and set them on top of it, and then she smiled slightly over at him as she grasped a plastic bottle of cola and poured this into either cup.

She closed it, and added ice from a small rack, the soda fizzing a bit before she threw the bottle back in the mini fridge and shut the door, then she picked the glasses up and approached the awkward-looking Drakkaren, holding one cup out to him as she said kindly: "Then if that's the case, I won't. Drink up. And take off your holy armor, you look as though you need a bit of rest, and... this is a safe place."

She gestured upwards... and Zerrex glanced up towards the white ceiling overhead, then whistled a bit to himself at the sight of an enormous runic circle that covered much of this, recognizing both silence runes and other figures emblazoned over the roof in neat patterning that locked them smoothly together. He glanced for a moment towards Helena as she sipped at her cola and then she looked down at the dark liquid thoughtfully, murmuring: "And here I was thinking that all you used this stuff for was to mix it with rum and other mortal alcohols."

The Drakkaren rolled his eyes with dry amusement at this, and then he sipped at his own cola, glancing at the Dius nervously for a moment before standing up and walking a few feet towards a bookshelf, reaching up and tracing his fingers over the ivory ornaments and various pictures in frames as Helena said gently: "I don't blame you for not trusting me, Zerrex. I'm a Lust demoness in the wrong side of town who is supposed to be working for your enemy, and my relation to you may seem... tenuous. Ten million years is a long time, though... you have generations of children, even though... I know many were lost during the war with the Old Gods, among many other awful incidents."

She halted, looking at Zerrex as the reptile sighed and turned around, and then he glanced towards the silence runes on the ceiling before asking softly: "How did you come to work for Eratosthenes, anyway? And if you wanted in my pants..."

"One does not simply walk up to the Ravenlight Estate, Zerrex." the Dius said flatly, but she sounded amused nonetheless. "Oh sure, it's easy for you and your friends, but you forget that there doesn't need to be a visible guard for things to be guarded. I know you also allow passersby to stay inside the grounds... but you order the guards to let them in, don't you? Do you know how often Lust demons show up to your gates, too silly - like I was - to say anything except: 'I'm here to meet and offer my services to the lord of the manor' only to end up turned away? And your security personnel is well-trained. The moment a guest is turned away, they are put on a not-invited list, and their name, species, and features are shown to every guard who you have. You may act wishy-washy, but your family has hired the best-of-the-best to protect you... Royal Guards and veterans so good at their job you don't even realize they're doing it."

"Not like when Feldspar was trying to run my life at all." Zerrex muttered to himself, and he shook his head slowly before he glanced awkwardly over at the Dius, before he pressed gently: "And you didn't answer my question."

"It's... awkward." The Dius glanced away with a grimace, and then Helena patted the bed beside her... and Zerrex walked over and quietly sat down, the female reaching a hand up to stroke gently through his white hair and smiling a little, flakes of dirt and blood floating down from the ivory locks. "I like this part of you. But... well... in Elysium, I was a priestess. Middle-ranked, my duties included both healing and helping around the Cathedral I worked out of, more administrative work and collecting dues from members of the temple than anything else.

"One day, Troy and his gang of lowlifes came by. I was a little... attracted to him at first." She glanced awkwardly away, rubbing at her face embarrassedly. "You know. Not every day you get to meet a Wrath demon like that. So I helped him out in... a few... ways... and then he invited me to come with him and serve as the healer on the mortal plane for what he called at the time a 'military encampment,' and well. Admittedly, I was... a little pleased at the thought of getting out of Hell and going to see the mortal world. It should have... I should have... remembered my own sin is Lust. But after we got here, Lust quickly fell through into disappointment... especially when I found out Troy worked for that weird Strange Beast, and learned who exactly they were trying to catch."

She halted, then looked softly over at Zerrex, reaching out to gently touch his upper leg. "I've been here for a little longer than most everyone else, since I was here with Troy's team first. Twelve weeks, give or take... and at first I just ran the medical center, but now I spend my days at the center and my nights here, in this bar. It belonged to a friend of mine... but she was murdered. They strung him up for it but it doesn't bring my friend back, you know? Anyway, I moved in here five weeks ago, and people just keep... vanishing, running away, and dying. We've been forgotten out here and... one way or another, this nonsense has to end. That's why no one wants to stop you... because we know if you don't get on up there to the top of that mountain, if you don't stop this... no one will, and the rest of us are going to be killed, too, either by a scary-as-sin Metatron or his friend in the cloak."

Zerrex grimaced at this, looking down for a moment before he nodded a little with a quiet sigh, and then he rubbed at his face before Helena gently patted his side, saying quietly: "Let's get that armor off you and I'll heal your body up, and you can have a little rest."

The Drakkaren looked at her for a few moments, and then he finally nodded a little, saying softly: "Alright, Helena. I'll trust you."

"Good. Because it's not like I could kill you anyway." the Dius smiled a little as Zerrex began to carefully feel along the armor to start stripping it off, the female resting her hands quietly in her lap. "I'm from the Sere sect in Hell. We're only allowed to defend ourselves with our... special talents, not fists and magic."

"You looked pretty ready downstairs to hurt Troy if he tried anything." the Drakkaren pointed out... and the Dius laughed at this, shaking her head a bit as the male tossed his breastplate to the ground, followed by the pauldrons and long sleeves and gauntlets.

"Yes, but Troy's a special case. He deserves all the ass-kicking I can give him." Helena said softly, and then she shook her head a bit, her scales glimmering a little as she looked slowly over the Drakkaren as he stepped out of his boots and managed to pull the last of his armor off, before she reached a hand up and half-beckoned to him as her eyes glowed solid amber. "Kiss me."

Zerrex's eyes flicked up to hers before he could stop himself, and then he cursed under his breath as he felt her Dominate wash over him, a shudder rolling though his body... before he clenched his eyes shut and gritted his teeth... and a moment later, the Dius reached up and quietly grasped his shoulders, murmuring softly: "Excuse my curiosity... I just wanted to see what kind of stuff you were made of. Since those of my sect are only allowed to use a special few abilities to defend ourselves... I'm always eager to test my powers against stronger wills..."

Her hands slid slowly down his chest, and the Drakkaren hesitantly opened one eye, breathing hard and feeling arousal and passiveness both sparking through his body, wondering if now she was going to try and kill him... but instead the Dius was carefully rubbing along his shirt-covered chest, muttering: "Well, this is no good. You heal very quickly for a mortal... but I can tell you haven't been doing a good job of taking care of yourself. Bruises, contusions, and other points of damage are all throughout your chest... and you're low on energy, very low."

She began to turn away, and then Zerrex caught her wrist, and she looked back at him with surprise as their eyes met... before a slow smile spread over her face as she murmured quietly: "Now I know that look... but first you need to let me heal you."

A hand reached up and stroked slowly over his scarred features, then grasped the back of his scalp, trying to pull him down as she leaned her muzzle upwards, mouth parting slightly as if to meet him in a kiss... and Zerrex swallowed thickly, resisting the urge before he managed to ask in a roughened voice: "What do you want from me? Why are you doing this for me?"

"I'm royal blood, but diluted: my heritage is proud, but my present is weak... I'm only a middle-ranked Priestess, and even then that's only if they allow me to return to the Order of Sere when I return to Hell." She stopped, then stroked her hands over his chest, lowering her head forwards and gazing quietly at the lizard's breast as a faint blush tinged her cheeks. "But I am your royal blood... and while I could never be a Countess or a Duchess unless I married a powerful male aristocrat - and even then, I would likely only be a 'wife,' and have no title of my own - I could easily take on the role of your concubine. I would be quiet, in the background, there to serve you and to run errands for you, and one day I would bear children for you... and what would I get in return? What do Lust demons desire? Sex. Compassion. Fellowship. And things that I could pretend were love and affection, whether you truly felt affect for me or not..."

She laughed quietly, digging her claws gently through his shirt, then she gazed up at him, eyes half-lidded. "Am I self-serving? A little, a little. Am I greedy and selfish? Perhaps some. But I'm giving you a safe haven here in Devil's Maw to help you recover... and you have my oath as a Priestess of Sere that I will do my duties diligently. Besides. For all your rumored Disciples and toys, how many concubines have you ever had? And how many of them did you willy-nilly give the position to... only for them to lose all interest in you when they realized you weren't going to give them sex on a constant basis? At least I can be professional."

The Drakkaren looked down at her awkwardly for a few moments as she gazed back, only a few inches of difference in their height... and then she leaned up and kissed him firmly, and the male's eyes fluttered before he wrapped his arms around her and kissed her hungrily back, and a moment later, they were pulling each other's clothes off as they slipped side-by-side into bed, his shaft throbbing powerfully between his legs as it began to rise towards erection as her body heated up and sweet nectar leaked between her thighs as she panted hungrily and hard.

"Wait..." she whispered, reaching down to touch his shaft as it bulged towards full erection... and when Zerrex looked up at her, grunting softly as she stroked along the thick obsidian pillar of cock, a sly grin spread over her face before she met his eyes, and her own glowed brilliantly, fervently, as she reached down and stroked slowly under his muzzle, and the reptile felt his blood pumping faster through his veins, almost boiling inside of him as she whispered: "Don't resist..."

The Drakkaren's eyes widened as he stared up into hers, gritting his teeth and grunting as his muscles bulged and his body flexed, feeling energy spilling through his system and his arousal suddenly increasing five, ten, a hundredfold as his jaws gaped open, his shaft throbbing powerfully in her hand before stiffening slightly as she stroked it slowly and leisurely, and it released thick spurt of his pre that splattered over the bed as the lizard's body trembled with need and hunger and lust as he felt his desires being amplified by her... and then he reached up and growled, slamming the Dius back against the headboard and making her laugh despite the wince of pain before he seized her thighs and tore her head open, his muscles flexing as he dove between her legs like a hungry animal that had spotted its prey, nuzzling greedily into her hot folds before his tongue sloppily licked up between them as the Dius moaned and arched her back, blue-fleshed nipples hardening as she grasped at her large breasts and her hips bucked, grinding her navy-tinged labia up against the Drakkaren's muzzle as she began to breathe harder. "Yes, yes, give in to it!"

Zerrex growled into her groin, hungrily lapping at her, guzzling down her juices and drinking from her as if she were a fountain, making loud slurping noises as his muzzle ground eagerly down against her sex, stretching it slightly as his shaft bulged and throbbed and her hands reached back to grasp into the covers as she bucked her hips eagerly. She grinned widely down at him, her eyes still glowing faintly before Zerrex began to nuzzle and kiss and lick along her stomach as he crawled up over her, one of his hands reaching down and grasping his throbbing thirty-two inch shaft as more pre dripped from the hot-and-hard cockhead, stroking himself eagerly as he growled hungrily, slapping the head of his huge shaft lightly against her labia and making her squirm in delight as she only spread her legs wider for him before the Drakkaren managed to position the tip of his huge shaft against the entrance to her sex... and then the Dius screamed in delight, arching her back when the male grabbed her hips and yanked hard on them as he thrusted forwards, dragging her down a bit before his second thrust rammed her backwards against the headboard, making it clack loudly against the wall, scarring the plaster as he slammed his hips forwards again and again, burying himself into her tight, gripping passage all the way to the hilt as she bucked back against him with a cry of delight.

He began to thrust, rough, fast and crude, slamming into her over and over with snarls of bliss as her hands roved over his chest and up along his face, moaning and rocking her hips eagerly back against his savage and fast movements. They moved together fiercely and savagely, with no real technique, no real attempts to please each other, only rough and fast and crude as the Drakkaren's huge shaft pulsed powerfully as it stiffened up further, further, further, slamming in and out of her again and again until, some fifteen minutes later, he released with a roar, flooding her with his seed, grinding down against her as he reached a hand up and gripped into the headboard tightly enough to send cracks through the hardwood frame.

He slammed to the hilt into her with a snarl, eyes clenched shut as she moaned beneath him, clutching his waist with her legs and breathing hard... before she grinned widely, letting her head fall back as she murmured hungrily: "That was good for a mortal, and-"

"Not done." Zerrex rumbled, and without waiting, he began to thrust firmly in and out of her soaked sex, his seed gushing out with every thrust of his still-hard cock, and the Dius gasped beneath him, her eyes bulging in surprise as Zerrex growled down at her and shoved her against the bed, before a grin spread over her face as her eyes glowed brilliantly up at him.

"Oh, this time you're gonna have to fight for it, though!" Helena said hungrily, and she gyrated her hips with her bucks, making the reptile growl and grunt as he flexed overtop her before she suddenly lurched to the side, seizing his shoulders and rolling him over as she took the top position, the lizard grunting in surprise as he was knocked onto his back before the Dius began to bounce herself up and down along his length, moving her hips in an expert, smooth rocking motion with every rise and fall of her hips, grinding the shaft inside of her clenching sex as she shoved her hands down into his chest and pinned him back against the ground as she gasped in delighted hunger. "Oh you're keeping up well!"

Her breasts bounced with every movement as seed continued to spurt out of her passage with each rise and fall, leaking over the Drakkaren's pulsing testicles and solid abs as he slammed upwards into her in response with growls of bliss, one of his hands grasping her hip and the other seizing into a breast roughly, their eyes burning as they locked on one another's and they continued to move savagely together, the Dius breathing harder before she moaned as her head dropped forwards... and immediately, Zerrex threw himself to the side, rolling off the bed with her and the two tumbling through the air before Helena crashed down on her back and Zerrex landed on top of her, their heads almost whacking together as the male seized into her shoulders and slammed her against the ground with a gasp that turned into a scream as her eyes rolled in her head as the lizard slammed fiercely into her, hard enough to lift her hips off the ground as her legs kicked out on either side of him.

She screamed again as the male kept her pinned, drool falling from her jaws in ecstasy as the lizard snarled and thrusted savagely in and out of her, picking up the pace immediately: his movements were fast and violent, not sparing her at all as he bit and licked at her like a feral beast, his arousal driving him to new heights of violent passion as the Dius writhed beneath him and rocked her entire body against every movement, giving delighted voice to her cries.

Finally, Zerrex grasped her by the hips, yanking her up to a sitting position in his lap, and she gasped before he lurched to his feet, stumbling forwards and slamming her back into the shelves, sending a rattle of photos and decorative ornaments falling around her as she screamed and her back banged loudly against the shelves with every rough thrust of the lizard into her, her claws ripping into his shoulders as she clung to him and fiercely rocked her hips back against his thrusts as he spread his leg and threw both weight and strength into every savage thrust of his almost-three-feet of throbbing, girthy cock as it pounded savagely between the lips of her sex and deep into her passage.

She howled in delight... and then her eyes widened as the male roared, his shaft stiffening inside her as his thrusts became rough enough to dislodge the shelves behind her, one snapping almost in half as the others simply were knocked loose or fell out of place, and she was slammed into the wall behind the shelves as his orgasm flooded up into her, every rapid thrust sending a thick rope of his seed spilling upwards into her body as the reptile threw his head back with hungry roars of primal ecstasy as his loaded flooded into her.

Helena's hips buck, riding the orgasm as her head flopped from side to side, clutching the sides of the shelf as her own orgasm blurred through her body almost unnoticed thanks to the sheer power of the male's release into her... and finally, as it began to die down, seed spilling out in steady streams from her bruised and ravaged sex as she rasped for breath, the Drakkaren grinned at her... and on an urge that could almost be called self-destructive, Helena grabbed either side of his face as her eyes glowed vibrantly, the male's muscles flexing explosively against his taut hide of scales as energy and lust burst through his body, and he snarled in ecstasy as the Dius's superheated form ground against him, the female almost mewling: "Fuck me, fuck me, please fuck me..."

Zerrex seized her by the throat with one hand, choking her... and the female's eyes only glowed brighter as the male's body throbbed with power and desire, with need and arousal... and then he drew his shaft slowly back before slamming up to the hilt inside of her, and the Dius rasped for breath as her eyes bulged and he breathed hungrily: "Beg for it. Not with your words, with every other part of your body..."

And Helena nodded rapidly as she moaned weakly, rocking her hips enticingly as seed dripped down to the ground from her stretched and devastated sex even as it clenched slowly against him, her hands stroking slowly along his face as her chest heaved and her breasts rocked out towards him, and drool dripped from the lizard's jaws as his huge shaft flexed inside of her, grinning at her lustfully... and only a moment later, the Dius was bent over the bed, screaming in delight as she clawed into the mattress, her hips raised high in the air and her legs spread as seed splattered down with every violent thrust of the male behind her, her ass already bruised from the sheer force of the Drakkaren's thrusts as his testicles pounded against her inner thighs, his claws buried through her scales as tears leaked from her eyes and blood dripped down her legs, mixed with the thick white load spilling from her sex, even as bliss spilled through her system.

It went on for almost an hour more... until finally, Zerrex yanked free from her, sending out a gushing water of his load from her sloppily-ravaged sex, the Dius' arching her back with a shriek before she was yanked around and the lizard forcefully slammed his shaft against her face, striking her with the thick obsidian pillar that was splattered with his load as well as her blood, the male snarling in delight and pleasure and power as he stroked himself rapidly and she moaned and begged and pleaded for his release, licking and suckling and nibbling at the huge shaft every time part of the massive black cock ground against her muzzle.

And finally, the Drakkaren stepped back and brought a leg up to pin her by the shoulder against the side of the bed with one foot before he grinned down at her, roaring in delight as his seed exploded out over the female and he bathed her, soaked her, in his thick white load. Semen covered her face and her breasts and her body, long streams of it jetting from the immense black shaft as she bathed in it, shivering and moaning... until the male finally stepped backwards as he felt the last of his arousal weakening almost all at once, his shaft sensitive and sore as he grunted and shook his head dumbly, and he looked down in almost surprise to seed the Dius laying back against the bed, her eyes dumbfounded as she panted hard... before she looked up at him dazedly and mumbled: "Oh my Gods. What are you like at full strength?"

"I... usually hold back." Zerrex said lamely, looking embarrassedly at her and then around the room, which was splattered with seed, blood, and had damaged debris laying all over it, the bed and shelves in particularly-messy shape. "You... I... oh Gods..."

He glanced down embarrassedly at his own throbbing black length... but then Helena slowly wobbled up to her feet, walking forwards and gently stroking over the male's naked chest as aches pulsed through his body... but he didn't mind them as she half-lidded her eyes, saying kindly: "Give me five minutes. And I'll be right back."

Zerrex watched her head to the bathroom, and then he wobbled a little before sitting heavily on his ass on the floor, looking dumbly down at his throbbing penis as a bit more seed spurted from the tip of the heavy cock... and he grimaced a little, poking at the obsidian length before shaking his head and mumbling: "Well. Worse things could have happened, right?"

He began to sit back a bit... and then he looked up with shock as the door was kicked open and the panther Wrath demon stormed in with two Craven and an angelic female... and immediately the four gaped around the room before the panther's eyes turned bright red as he glared at Zerrex, shouting furiously: "You fucking son of a bitch!"

Zerrex immediately leapt to his feet, cursing as his shaft slapped against his own abs and feeling both humiliated as well as off guard, literally and figuratively caught with his pants down - or rather, off - as his hands clenched into fists before he flicked one hand outwards as one of the Craven began to lunge forwards with a knife... and fluids from his just-finished intercourse splattered over the Craven's face, creating a very predictable reaction that would have been comical in other circumstances as the rabbit immediately dropped the knife as he staggered to a halt in front of the panther to wipe convulsively at his features with a scream of: "Oh fuck, that's fucking gross!"

Zerrex stepped forwards and slammed a foot into the Craven's stomach, sending him sprawling backwards into his comrades, but the black-armored Wrath demon only shoved the rabbit hard aside: it gave Zerrex enough time to snatch the knife the Craven had dropped, however, the reptile leaping backwards as he seized the cover of the bed and then threw this forwards in a snapping motion into the panther as he pulled a stun rod out of his belt.

The thick covers landed over the panther with a wet splatter, and the male shouted in disgust and fury that was now all the greater as he became tangled in the blankets even as the angel ran towards the bathroom door, where Helena was staring in shock... but immediately, the Dius only glared at the divine being as her eyes glowed brightly, and the female cursed as she brought up her handgun and blindly fired a few rounds towards the Dius, who hissed and quickly slammed the bathroom door.

The angel snarled, the equine blasting fist-sized holes through the door as the handgun banged loudly... almost loud enough to block out the sound of the second Craven lunging at Zerrex with its claws extended, the bear snarling before the Drakkaren caught it by the shoulders and half-turned to throw the demon across the room, the ursine's limbs flailing as he yelled in surprise before he crashed into the wall and bounced off it to crumple to the ground. Then Zerrex turned around, lashing his knife outwards as the panther managed to finally rip free of the blanket and swing his stun rod hard towards the Drakkaren, blade and weapon meeting with violent sparks before the lizard leapt backwards onto the bed when the rabbit Craven tried to tackle his feet out from under him.

It skidded over the floor and through the puddle of fluids that had formed with another moan of disgust, and then Zerrex jumped off the bed and slammed both feet down into the Craven's spine, the half-demon's' eyes bulging with a scream of agony as it bucked beneath him before the panther cursed and leapt backwards, throwing his arms wide, when Zerrex cut swiftly at him with the knife.

The Drakkaren winced as the angel kicked the broken bathroom door open, and the reptile flipped the knife over in his hand, readying to throw it... but Troy immediately stepped between him and his target as he yanked his own knife out of his belt, stun rod sparking in one hand and the knife burning with black flames in the other as Zerrex heard the snarl of the ursine at the other side of the bed, and then the panther shouted: "The bed!"

Zerrex's eyes widened before the bear Craven stepped forwards and roared as he shoved the bed hard, and it slammed into Zerrex's legs, knocking him sprawling backwards on top of the mattress as the panther lunged forwards with his knife raised, but the Drakkaren quickly rolled out of the way as Troy stabbed downwards, the blade ripping through the mattress and sending up a spray of cotton and wool before his other hand brought the stun rod swinging down. Zerrex immediately rose his right arm on instinct, and he howled in agony as he felt the bone in his forearm snap like a twig, snarling in pain as he dropped the knife before he forced himself to continue to roll anyway, shoving himself off the bed as the bear Craven tried to scramble around and the rabbit half-demon slowly crawled out from under the furnishing as his spine healed slowly, groaning in visible agony.

The panther lunged forwards again, stabbing outwards as he brought his stun rod back... and Zerrex ducked and then seized him around the waist, half-turning and throwing him into the ursine to sending them both sprawling with yells of pain and frustration. Then the naked Drakkaren spun around and slammed his foot into the face of the rabbit in a fierce punt, his head snapping back as his muzzle visibly snapped like a twig, the Craven howling in agony as he clutched at his face and curled weakly up on the floor.

The reptile grimaced, then quickly stepped past the half-demon to grab the dresser, lifting it with a grunt as the shelves half-spilled out before he turned and threw it hard as the other two demons quickly closed... and the panther winced and ducked, half-falling but dodging the flying dresser before it smashed full-on into the face of the bear Craven and sent him crashing backwards in a hail of broken wood. He crashed heavily to the ground, drooling and stunned, and the Wrath demon cursed before he leapt towards Zerrex as the naked lizard grabbed at his right arm as it gave a throb... and the Drakkaren leapt backwards, hitting the wall with a wince and barely avoiding a sweep of both the panther's weapons before he slammed a kick into his stomach, knocking Troy backwards with a grunt.

The male shook his head quickly as Zerrex snatched up a pillow and threw it at his face, and the Wrath demon grunted in dumb surprise more than anything else as the soft fabric bounced off him uselessly, head rearing back a bit... and then, as the pillow fell, his eyes widened in dumb shock at the sight of the Drakkaren's left fist before the much-harder substance walloped into his muzzle and sent him crashing backwards, blood exploding from his muzzle as he gargled and skidded all the way to the opposite wall on his back. He lay stunned for a moment, and Zerrex reached down and seized the rabbit Craven... but the male only screamed and shook his head wildly, holding his clawed hands up as he babbled: "Shit, please, no more, no more!"

Zerrex grumbled and threw him aside, and the half-demon immediately ran out the doorway, flushed with both defeat and humiliation... and then there was a single loud bang, and the reptile looked to the side in shock to see the Dius's eyes glowing and the equine angel standing for a moment longer, the barrel of her gun smoking from where it was shoved up under her own jaws as Helena lowered her hand, and then the angel's eyes rolled up in her head as blood leaked from her jaws, ears, and eyes, and she collapsed to her knees, then onto the side, dead, as more blood gushed from the burnt hole in the underside of her muzzle.

Troy silently picked himself up, the panther breathing hard as he stared stupidly over at Helena... and then he snarled and drew his knife back before throwing it hard at her, and the Dius screamed in pain as it sank into her shoulder and knocked her backwards into the bathroom before the Wrath demon roared as he glared towards her, black flames exploding inside the bathroom, the lights flickering violently as glass and porcelain both shattered into pieces from the pure rage of the Wrath demon. Immediately, Zerrex snarled before the panther turned his burning red eyes on him, glaring towards him, and Zerrex leapt out of the way a moment before black fire and lightning exploded in the space he had been in before as the demon unleashed a second blast of pure, undiluted Wrath.

The lizard rolled over the floor and reached out on instinct, tearing the handgun out of the lifeless hands of the angel as the panther snarled towards him... and then Zerrex pulled the trigger three times, sending two bullets crashing into the Wrath demon's chest and knocking him backwards with a gargle, blood gushing from the wounds as a third blast of wrathful energy struck the ceiling instead of the lizard, ripping through it and sending down a hail of dust and plaster before Zerrex dropped the empty gun and staggered to his feet, then he winced when the Wrath demon glared at him, his eyes bleeding black ooze and rivers of blood leaking from the large wounds in his chest before the reptile shouted: "Wait!"

"Don't tell me what to do!" The Wrath demon screamed, too wrapped up in his own rage to realize what would happen... and Zerrex only winced when he tried to channel another blast of pure wrath towards the lizard... and instead, his own eyes simply exploded in his skull, dark flames bursting out of the sockets as the panther staggered stupidly backwards, gargling as a bit of drool leaked from his mouth... and then he slowly fell to his knees before he collapsed ,face-first, onto the ground. Behind him, the Craven bear stared in horror, scrambling backwards as he managed to sit up, splinters of wood sticking out of his body... before Zerrex simply shook his head in disgust and then pointed at the door.

The Craven took the hint and leapt to his feet, jackknifing the bed and bolting to the door with a yell of fear... and Zerrex sighed quietly as Troy twitched on the ground, gargling weakly. No power came without cost... and excessive use of any ability led first to losing strength, and then immense recoil. Not even Gorgons overused their power to turn victims to stone with their gaze... and the Drakkaren turned towards the bathroom as Helena emerged with a curse, pulling the knife from her shoulder with a wince and then holding it towards the naked lizard, muttering: "I can't kill him, even if by this point it would only be a mercy."

Zerrex nodded to her... and then he walked over to the Wrath demon, carefully rolling him onto his back... and then the Drakkaren flipped the knife over before pulling the panther's muzzle upwards, and then grimacing a bit as he slit the male's throat, the burning knife cutting easily through the natural armor of the Wrath demon. Troy flexed and gargled as blood burbled out of the wound, but he was long past feeling anything with the holes in his chest and his missing eyes as his own wrathful energies likely charred him inside and out... and then he shivered once before falling still, and the Drakkaren shook his head slowly before he turned around and looked awkwardly at Helena as she knelt over the corpse of the angel.

He looked down at it, realizing she had traced several bloody runes over it that Zerrex recognized as inertia runes: they were used to stop a dead corpse from dissolving, and some demons even tattooed them on themselves, so their bodies would remain even after they died instead of going through rapid decay or dissolution. That way they could either be examined... or, as was the more common reason, they could be calmly put to rest with whatever ceremony or funerary celebration they might want.

Helena felt along the dead body... and then she nodded to herself, vanishing into the bathroom for a moment before reappearing with a small cup. She held a hand out, and the Drakkaren looked dumbly down at the knife he was still holding before he handed it over to her... and the Dius smiled at him before she stabbed fiercely down into the angel's chest, Zerrex wincing a bit at the crack of bones and the thick spray of blood that went up as she worked diligently and quickly, breaking its chest open as flesh hissed and steam rose up from the corpse as the Drakkaren asked dumbly: "What the hell are you doing?"

"Go put on some pants and then wait for a moment." the Dius replied mildly, and the lizard grumbled under his breath but then decided this wasn't a bad idea, as he rubbed slowly at his right leg. He glanced around the room, then wandered around it until he managed to find his discarded pants and boxers, getting into these... and when he turned around, he grimaced at the sight of Helena holding the angel's heart and crushing it over the cup, filling it halfway up with blood.

She tossed the crushed organ aside, then sliced into her own arm with a soft hiss of pain, blood spilling out of the wound and into the cup as well before she vanished into the bathroom again, and Zerrex looked at the ravaged corpse of the angel awkwardly for a few moments before the female returned with a large orb of demonic crystal, and Zerrex stared as the Dius held her hand over the cup and murmured a rapid enchantment. A moment later, the mixed blood glowed before blue smoke puffed upwards from the cup, and the female smiled, then picked this up and approached Zerrex with it, the Drakkaren holding up his hands and rambling: "Oh hey now, I like to get a little dirty and stuff but uh... I am not drinking that as mortal."

Helena only glared at him, however, the still-naked, splattered with drying fluids of every kind female thrusting it angrily at him as she snapped: "If I wanted to kill you I would have let Troy rip you apart! Besides, I have what I wanted." She smiled slightly, reaching down and patting her stomach absently as Zerrex looked at her dumbly. "With how much seed you flooded me, there's plenty in my womb, and at any time I like I could just go and do a fertility ritual to ensure you father a child with me... even though it would be a strange child, born of a god-made-mortal and a Dius. Who knows what it would be? And that would seal my position as your concubine, if you know the laws of Hell at all."

"Not really, I could claim you manipulated me." Zerrex said tersely, but he knew all the same that the fact she had also saved his life almost immediately afterwards would rule that option out in the eyes of Elysium. And then he rubbed at his face tiredly, looking at her flatly as she smiled cheerfully up at him, still holding the cup of now strange-smelling blood. "You really want to be a concubine, don't you?"

"It's the highest position most Dius can aspire towards... and well, you're very cute." She reached up and pinched his cheek firmly, and Zerrex grimaced and flailed at her, making her laugh. "But it's appealing for many reasons. Power, lust, prestige, and I could continue my duties as a Sister of the Holy Order while being permitted by the Abbess to bear one or several children... and that's the only regret I ever had about joining the Order. That I would not be permitted to bear children unless I could receive the blessing of the Abbess... and to get that blessing, I need to be a concubine or I need to get married. Concubine sounds much more interesting, since I can still freely pursue other relationships... that, and I've heard stories about... how you treat your children well."

She looked embarrassed now, and Zerrex sighed a bit as he took the cup from her with his left hand, saying mildly as he bopped her nose with it: "Then here's the deal. I'll... let you become my concubine, but you don't have a kid until I give the say so, okay? That could be years of waiting, too, I'm... a little touchy about who and when I have children these days."

But the female only smiled warmly and sketched a curtsy, replying promptly: "Then in that case, I'll only use it as time to get used to the position and all that it entails. I plan to take this all very seriously, Zerrex... now drink up, your arm is starting to turn a nasty purple color."

The Drakkaren glanced absently down at his right arm, which was mostly numb... and then he stared stupidly at the sight of it, flexing his fingers creakily: they had swollen up horribly, however, and refused to move very well as the lizard winced a bit at the sight of his scales, which were slowly turning mauve and brownish in places. Immediately, he guzzled the liquid, wincing at the foul taste... and then his head swam as the Drakkaren groaned a bit, stumbling backwards towards the bed, dropping the cup and then sitting down and grabbing his skull as nausea rolled through him and his vision went blurry. "W-What..."

"Shush now, it's okay..." Helena said gently as she held up the demonic crystal and muttered a cleansing spell, and most of the damage vanished after a few moments from the room, leaving them with the remains of the decaying panther and the still corpse of the angel even as their bodies were cleaned quickly and effectively off as well. "The effects should pass momentarily... your body just needs to adjust."

Zerrex nodded mutely, and then his stomach clenched, making him groan... before a moment later, he felt the pains and dizziness fading, his senses sharpening as energy pulsed through his body even as his nerves sizzled and went numb, the lizard looking down at his hands dumbly as the Dius quickly began to mumble a healing spell, and the reptile winced as the bones in his right arm loudly cracked and then snapped themselves firmly back together as wounds healed over his body and the bruises faded from his form, feeling suddenly, strangely calm. "What..."

"Simple alchemy. Angel blood and demon blood, in the proper measurements, will not cancel each other out but instead one will effectively augment the other. I enhanced the Purification to numb your emotions and your nerves. You're mortal, after all, with no affiliation for either side right now..." The Dius smiled slightly as the reptile looked at her blankly. "But that should wear off shortly. I only needed you numb long enough for me to finish healing you, otherwise your bones resetting would have left you in tremendous agony."

And then, slowly, like an old car starting in winter, the reptile felt his body returning bit-by-bit towards normalcy, breathing a little harder as he straightened up a bit and then grimaced, shaking his head out and rubbing at his face slowly. Then he looked at his hand in surprise as he realized his fingers weren't bloody and there was no cut on his face... and the Drakkaren quickly patted over his form before looking up dumbly as the Dius smiled slightly. "I am a healer, Lord Zerrex. Using magic to heal a mortal's body is a very simple trick when you're used to dealing with healing candidates of far greater power and resilience."

The Drakkaren snorted a bit at this... and then Helena straightened and nodded to him slowly before she studied him quietly, and as Zerrex looked awkwardly back, she asked softly: "Can you afford another few hours of resting here, though? I want to see if Troy's friends try and bring more allies back, and make sure they can't ambush you when you head up to Empyreal Throne... and you need to rest your body. Magic cannot erase your tiredness completely."

"I..." Zerrex hesitated, and then he frowned a bit, rubbing at his face slowly. "I ran into some sentries outside who mentioned something about the mines and a trolley system..."

The Dius looked curiously at the Drakkaren, tilting her head as she asked slowly: "You plan to pass through the freight tunnels? It'll save you quite a walk but you'll end up in the guarded tunnels in the base of Empyreal Throne... and who knows what Eratosthenes has waiting down there? A lot of the messengers from Temptation and Devil's Maw take the trolley and never return... although that could be because of any number of reasons at the fortress."

She shook her head slowly, then reached out and gently patted Zerrex's face, saying kindly: "Wait here, and I'll go downstairs and see if anyone knows anything. I'll get you some food, too... and help yourself to whatever's in the cold-box."

The Dius turned, still naked but at least clean, turned towards the door, and Zerrex snorted in amusement, which made her look over her shoulder before he nodded to her, asking mildly: "Like that?"

She glanced down at her naked body, then rubbed her hands down her sides as she turned around, amber eyes gleaming. "You really were mortal once, weren't you? There's nothing to be ashamed of in my body, now is there?"

Zerrex rolled his eyes in amusement at this, and the Dius smiled primly at him before she headed out of the room, and the reptile watched her leave, wondering absently what he'd gotten himself into before he sighed and stood up. He grimaced a bit as his stomach cramped, and then he looked awkwardly towards the bathroom before muttering and walking towards it, cursing under his breath at the sight of the broken door.

He was glad there was at least a toilet, and he fidgeted a bit on the spot as he looked around the broken bathroom before wincing: no toilet paper. There was a full bath behind cracked and shattered glass walls, however, complete with swinging door, and a broken mirror-door hung lopsidedly off a shelf built into the wall... and beneath a His-and-Her pair of sinks, two cabinet doors. It was a beautiful little bathroom apart from the broken debris laying everywhere... and finally, the Drakkaren hesitated before he checked the cabinets beneath the sink and sighed in relief as he found several rolls of the stuff he was looking for.

He hurriedly did his business, cursing his mortal body as he sat with a towel over his lap, looking nervously out into the room... but thankfully, Helena didn't return until after the Drakkaren flushed the toilet, pulling his pants back up with a grumble as the Dius looked at him curiously from the doorway of the bathroom. "Did you enjoy that?"

"What? Why would I enjoy that?" Zerrex asked indignantly, and then he made a face at the Lust demoness as she shrugged, only continuing to look curious as she held a plate out towards him loaded with a large steak and potato salad. The lizard looked down at this as his eyes widened, and then he turned around and quickly washed his hands in the broken sink, drying them off before hurriedly turning and grabbing this from her with a grin, fork clacking as it almost fell off the plate.

She smiled amusedly at him, walking over to the bed to sit down and cross her legs as Zerrex followed her in, sitting beside her and beginning to scoop potato salad into his muzzle as he realized how hungry he was... and she laughed quietly, shaking her head slowly before standing up and heading over to the refrigerator as she said softly: "Mortals are disgusted by their bodies often, but maybe you've forgotten how fascinating it can be for a demon or any other supernatural being. A mortal's body can change so fast, after all... while the bodies of demons are static. Not as static as angels... but to change anything about ourselves takes a vast and monumental effort on our part. Years of exercise to build muscle... years more to lose weight... and usually magical augmentation or rougher physical modifications to make any differences at all in our outward appearances.

"I realize mortals, too, take the fast route sometimes... but how is it they can go without realizing that they can change themselves in the course of months, weeks, even days? How can they take that for granted?" She cocked her head curiously towards Zerrex as he munched on potato salad, and she smiled a bit at him, adding softly: "In that same vein, how can they work so hard to humiliate and hurt one another for the things they take pleasure and pain in? To some, certain things might be disgusting, while others may find such acts enjoyable... the same way it is for demons. I, personally, obviously enjoy sex and don't mind at all being knocked around. A shyer demon might scream rape at the violence with which we engaged in. And some demons, such as Gluttony or Sloth demons, would not enjoy sex at all because it doesn't cater to their desires, their own different psyches."

"People suck." Zerrex said mildly, as if this explained everything, and then he picked up his knife before starting to cut into the steak, eating a little slower... and when the Dius looked at him curiously, the reptile smiled a bit and offered the bit of meat to her. She looked uncertain, but then slowly leaned forwards and carefully pulled it off the fork, looking a little like a nervous hydra and making Zerrex laugh a bit, and then she chewed slowly and thoughtfully as the reptile said softly: "This is good. This is real good, though. How'd you get it so fast?"

"There's a kitchen in back because the mortals who get off sentry duty or come back from the mines around these hours like to come here for a meal and a drink before they head home. We keep strange time here, especially now that there's only a hundred of us, instead of the fifteen hundred that were originally keeping Devil's Maw running, so there's often food being prepared and it was easy for me to talk a mortal into waiting a little longer for his dinner." Helena said softly, and then she licked her own muzzle slowly. "The tunnels aren't the most stable, and are still being refitted and cleaned out in some places... the trolley only follows one route to and from Empyreal Throne right now, even though the tunnel system through the mountains is deep and vast.

"Speaking of which, I spoke to one of the mortals who works at the trolley... it's currently recharging and being repaired from a partial collapse. It should be up-and-running within a few hours... so you can spend that time here." the Dius said softly, and then she gently stroked a hand through Zerrex's hair as the reptile looked at her awkwardly. "You don't have to stay if you don't like... but it will be more pleasant for you to wait here than anywhere else, and you can sleep in safety after I repair the damage to the room."

Zerrex nodded, and the Dius smiled at him before she stood up, picking the orb of demonic crystal off the bed where she'd left it at some point, and she raised the sphere of crystal, closing her eyes and murmuring a spell as she pointed it towards the door that had been half-torn off its hinges from the entry of the panther, and it shuddered before snapping closed, the cracks in the wood healing and closing like wounds as the Drakkaren chewed thoughtfully on his steak.

The Dius repaired the room fairly quickly, and then she grimaced a bit down at the guttering light in the faded green globe, saying quietly as Zerrex put the dish aside on the dresser she had put back into place by the bed: "There's only enough magic left for one or two spells... perhaps you should take this with you, Zerrex, it may come in useful."

The lizard only shook his head with a bit of a smile, however, as he carefully stood up and began to gather his armor: during the fight, the various pieces had been knocked all over the room by flailing limbs and kicking feet, and the reptile smiled a little as he picked up the damaged breastplate before glancing awkwardly over at her. "No, thanks... but is it too much to ask if you can do a minor repair spell over this? Just to get the biggest dings and dents out."

She glanced over at him... then she smiled a bit, saying quietly: "Not a problem, Zerrex. I'll make sure you look presentable for your next fight, at least."

She held the crystal up, and it glowed faintly... and the breastplate shivered a bit before the scratches over it faded and the worst of the damage healed itself in the metal before the crystal in the female's hand cracked, and the Dius tossed the useless orb of glass aside into a wastebasket, where it shattered loudly with a small puff of black smoke. "There. Now come to bed."

Zerrex looked at her awkwardly, and the Dius half-lidded her amber eyes as the glowed slightly, saying teasingly: "Well, if you want me to use Lust or Dominate on you, I'm more than glad to..."

The Drakkaren grumbled and covered his eyes at this, walking awkwardly forwards and carefully sliding into the bed... and the female laughed before she smiled and reached down to pick up Blackheart from where the sword lay beside the furnishing, the reptile looking up with surprise as the weapon glowed faintly in her hands but otherwise didn't react... and by now, Zerrex knew there was no better judge of character than his sword, as the Dius said quietly: "Don't think it too rude... but I have wanted to touch this for a while. It's a legendary symbol in Hell... perhaps more legendary than you, considering how wrong most of the myths about you are."

"Twenty feet tall and with about a billion wives, slaves, and servants, right?" Zerrex asked mildly, and the Dius laughed and nodded before she easily grasped the sword by the handle and raised the huge weapon in front of herself, slashing it effortlessly back and forth through the air... and Zerrex cocked his head, intrigued, as Blackheart sparked with blue energy. "Well, I guess that settles any of my worries about you... normally my sword doesn't like being held by anyone but me. I guess you really must be family..."

"Family doesn't run in the blood, though, does it?" the Dius said softly, and she smiled at Zerrex as the Drakkaren smiled awkwardly back, the two studying each other before she tossed the sword easily to him... and the reptile caught the handle with one hand, the weapon seeming as light to him as a feather despite how heavy he knew it truly was... but then again, to him, it was like an extension of his body from the special bond he shared with the sword forged with his very energies. "Can I ask you a personal question?"

Zerrex looked at her for a moment, then he gently set Blackheart down, letting it lean against the dresser as he nodded to her and rested his hands on his knees, and she nodded back before saying quietly: "Once, as a very small child, I was babysat by a shy and quiet female who was very loving and nurturing. I did not know at the time that it was Sin of the Naganatine... and she entertained us all with great stories about you, obviously very proud of you, her husband... who she very obviously looked up to very much. She told us stories about you... and one such was the story of how you became High King of Hell. I know she omitted some details, because even for children in Hell, there are some things their ears do not need to hear... but I wanted to know if the Terror, Crow... was really your son. And if he is why you are so... careful about bearing children, despite how your deep love for your daughters especially is very well known." She smiled a little, trying to lighten the tension already in the air as she joked: "And I'm not referring to just the sex."

The Drakkaren smiled awkwardly at her as she looked at him with a hesitant smile in return, and then he nodded after a moment, saying finally: "It's part of it, yeah. Crow was... not entirely my son. He was born of multiple parents... and at the end of the day, it was more a monster than anything else, filled to the brim with power and yet... very, very flawed.

"What... really... makes it hard for me, is not just my insatiable lusts, or the way I feel so... selfish, and so worried. I mean, like you said, it's a well-known fact that many of my daughters end up as sexual partners for me or even Disciples or Iuratus." Zerrex shrugged awkwardly, rubbing at his head slowly. "I hate thinking that... I'm only having children so I can teach them to grow up and serve me.

"And then, of course, there's Raven, who I made too many mistakes with... and worst of all, there's Aether, who haunts me to this day." Zerrex said softly, and he quietly touched the swastika tattooed on his arm, glancing at it with a bit of a grimace. "My second son... my first real son... and he turned out to be a monster. Daughter of myself and Sin, almost a perfect Naganatine... and at the end of it all, we couldn't save him. We sacrificed him to bring Anathema back from the dead... and gods above, was it ever a mess. We had no choice but... I still... regret doing it. I still regret not being able to save him, to change him. I still regret not giving him another chance."

The Dius nodded, and then she walked over and gently pushed Zerrex down on his back before guiding him to laying down on the bed, and the reptile sighed a bit as she sat down beside him and stroked a hand along his chest, saying soothingly: "No one can save everyone, Zerrex... and no one should have to, either. You did what you could, did you not? And we all know the stories of the Lich Queen Anathema and how you gave her back her soul."

Zerrex smiled a bit, shaking his head slowly and murmuring: "Exaggeration and metaphor and fairy-tales. All I did was show her kindness, and waited for her to come around. It still took years... and she almost died. Did die, really... or came as close to death as the undead can get."

"'The point of a story is the metaphor, rarely the literal interpretation.'" the Dius replied gently, and Zerrex frowned a bit at this, looking at her sharply before she smiled a little. "I read a lot of your daughter Annabelle's works. They were very interesting."

"Blueberry..." Zerrex murmured, closing his eyes... and then he laughed a little when the female glanced down at herself quizzically, noting her own scale patterns. "Not you, that was what I called... Annabelle, when she was alive."

The Dius nodded at him, then she patted his forehead gently and Zerrex scowled at her, before he blushed when she leaned down and gave him a gentle peck on the lips. "Enough wild thoughts for now, Zerrex. Sleep, and I'll wake you up in a few hours. I won't ask to accompany you up to Empyreal Throne... a quasi-pacifist like myself would only get in your way... but I will at least walk you safely over to the trolley. Now pardon me while I get rid of these corpses."

Zerrex snorted in amusement as she walked over to the panther's deteriorated body, snapping her fingers and concentrating on it, and it burst into flames as her eyes glowed faintly... and the reptile muttered: "You made the angel shoot herself in the head. How's that pacifistic?"

"Like I said, I'm allowed to defend myself using my charms and powers... and for some reason, my Dominate ability has always been particularly powerful. Much better than my pyrokinesis... I think sometimes I was born a male Daius and my parents just tricked me into looking like a Dius all my life." the demoness said mildly over her shoulder, and Zerrex rolled his eyes as he settled back a bit onto the bed, trying to ignore the smell of burning flesh as it rapidly dwindled away to nothing under the controlled, intense flames of the Dius. "Honestly, a Dius lacking true pyrokinetic passion, a trademark of most Lust creatures. Who would have guessed?"

"Will you shut up and let me sleep?" Zerrex asked crankily, and the Dius grinned over her shoulder at him as her eyes glowed brightly.

"I could easily put you to sleep with my powers, you know... Dominate you and knock you out completely, as long as you don't resist too much." she teased... and when Zerrex looked at her for a moment and then nodded, she blinked in surprised... and immediately the flames charring the corpse into nothingness crackled and spread over the carpet, and she snarled down at this and waved her arms irritably at the fire, and a moment later the flames quickly withdrew back along the corpse before puffing out of existence as she said a few choice words in demonic.

Then she returned her eyes towards Zerrex, hesitating for a moment before saying softly: "You do realize what a level of trust that requires for it to work properly, yes? After all, once I have you in the thrall of my Domination, I could just as easily order you to do anything I wanted... even kill yourself. And even that angel was unable to resist my full gaze for long."

"If you kill me, you don't get to make babies with me." Zerrex replied seriously, and the Dius sighed and slapped her forehead before the Drakkaren sat up and smiled awkwardly. "Look, I'll never get to sleep otherwise, insomnia's... always been a problem of mine, when I was mortal and... when I wasn't. Just go ahead and do it before I change my goddamn mind."

Helena nodded finally, looking at him oddly for a few moments before she leaned forwards slightly as her eyes glowed brightly, and Zerrex gritted his teeth even as he did his best to force his body to relax and not fight, feeling her powers washing through his mind before she said softly: "Sleep."

Zerrex felt tiredness spill through his body... and a moment later, he slowly slumped backwards, eyes fluttering as he breathed softly, and then a small, dumb smile spread over his face as his eyes closed entirely before he curled up and fell into a deep slumber.