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Zerrex turned around, automatically falling into the lead as Cindy ran up to follow his steps closely, and Cherry wandered somewhere behind them, looking back and forth as something tickled at her senses. She made a bit of a face, then finally murmured: "Ugh, I got a real creepy feeling goin' down my spine..."

She shook her head and caught up after a moment, turning gracefully around once to check out the area behind them before slipping out onto the catwalk. The three stood for a moment at the edge of the catwalk, and then Zerrex leaned in towards the two females, saying quietly: "Here's the plan. I'll try and jump down on top of the thing for a quick kill or at least to stun it, and you two should strike from either side. Try not to engage the other earwigs... our priority is killing the Queen."

Both Cherry and Cindy nodded, and Zerrex moved quickly into position, stepping a foot up on the rail of the catwalk near the center, where the ugly, pulsing mass of flesh he guessed was the Queen was located. Cherry ran past him, then gave him a thumbs-up as she skidded to a halt with a grin, and Zerrex glanced to the other side to see Cindy nod... and then the Drakkaren drew his sword and kicked off the rail, sailing high into the air before going into a steep dive, the sheath and sword outstretched like wings as he fell like a rocket towards the mass.

He flipped at the last moment, spinning the katana in his hand before stabbing downwards... and he barely scratched the surface of the queen's carapace before a massive pincer easily slapped him away, the monstrous creature giving a roar of displeasure that made her minions quake and back away. Zerrex hit the membrane hard, skidding along it and ripping a gouge through the ugly, fleshy stuff, and then he groaned, staring stupidly on his back at the monstrosity before him as the pillars of living flesh around her rocked slowly back and forth, hideous, thorny vines trembling all along the surface of each tall mass.

Cindy landed beside her father a moment later, wincing and grabbing his shoulder... but all Zerrex could for the moment was gape. The thing it most reminded him of was a Terror he'd faced inside the Central Spire of Hell, and yet somehow this thing was worse, because it was perhaps once only some insignificant pest... and now it had been warped into the goliath that he thought was facing him with her full fury... but he couldn't be sure.

There was little shape to its head: it was only three elongated limbs instead of antennae, all ending in deadly hooks... and the head itself was covered in burning red, hideous eyes. A gigantic pair of mandibles and a circular mouth full of barbed fangs was in the rough center of these ugly, bulbous eyes, and it had thick, plate-like armor covering its body, with small, pulsing cracks here and there throughout its form. The monstrosity bore more than a dozen legs, seven or so long and segmented, ending in sharp points and covered in thorns and hairs... and the other six had sprouted from what the reptile hoped was its back, all of them curled over its body at the moment, and all ended in the same deadly points.

The tail of the beast was humongous and fat, its plate-armored body here steely instead of ugly off-black, and almost solid... and yet somehow it still was able to move and bend the tail freely. Razor sharp pincers, each hook the size of a small truck, clacked together... and it had not two, but instead four, as well as what looked like a second mouth at the end of its tail, full of barbs... and Zerrex made a disgusted face as he stood up, pointing his sword at the goliath, monstrous creature as it howled at him and swung its tail back and forth, and he said in disgust: "This is why I hate bugs."

The earwig immediately lunged forwards and rammed Zerrex with its eye-filled head, and the Drakkaren was sent flying backwards, crashing into a swarm of earwigs that immediately began to bite and stampede over him. Cindy screamed from where she'd been knocked over, but then there was a flash of radiant light as Zerrex smashed his way upwards with his angelic wings extended, a bit of blood flying from the bites he'd sustained as three earwigs still clung to him, one on either leg and one on his shoulder, but a quick spin through the air as his wings closed around his body sent their remains hurtling off, tails and limbs landing on the ground as the rest of their bodies were disintegrated from contact with the reptile's wings.

Cindy snorted, then she turned around as the Queen lowered its head and roared in her face... and she immediately stepped forwards with a roar of her own, bringing her fist back before swinging forwards with all of her might, and the gigantic beast was knocked into the air with a scream of agony, several of the eyes on its face exploding as it flipped slowly over in midair... and Cherry stared in shock before she winced and dropped on her back as the creature's legs spread out, letting her body press as much as possible into the membrane as the monstrosity landed above her on its back legs. She winced, feeling its sick flesh pressing down into her painfully, the carapace dragging over her body, and then she shoved her free hand up against it and focused herself, her hand glowing with flames as she forced a terrible wave of flame and heat up into the monster.

It howled and screamed, bucking back and forth as fires ravaged its gut, and then it backed quickly up as it swung its tail out, swatting Cindy away before diving its head towards Cherry. The former flew through the air towards the sea of earwigs that was growing by the second, more and more of them flooding into the area but not daring to step too close to their Queen... and then she blinked as she felt herself caught, and she looked up to see Zerrex, the Drakkaren pulling her close against his huge chest before he shouted: "Do something about those legs on its back!"

He dropped her down as the Queen bit again and again at Cherry, but the demoness dodged back and forth before wincing as something caught at the edge of her vision, and she threw herself forwards as she arched her back and scissored her legs: and in that moment, a thorn-covered tentacle from one of the towers of living membrane snapped just over her head and the Queen's jaws bit deep into the membrane where her legs had been. Cherry landed roughly on the Queen's distorted face, just above its mouth, and it hissed at her, before bucking as Cindy landed heavily on its back... but before it could do anything, Cherry leapt to her feet and ran up its face, dragging the assault rifle beside her over its eyes as she emptied the remaining clip into its terrible features.

The monster screamed in agony, clawing at its head as it shook it wildly back and forth, but Cherry leapt upwards, kicking off one foreleg before she flipped gracefully over the next, then she threw the assault rifle behind her, sending it spinning through the air before she rose a hand, and the rifle glowed orange before exploding into shrapnel as the last of the bullets blew up inside the gun. The earwig Queen howled, backing violently away, then it shrieked again as Cherry drew her whip and snapped it around one foreleg, the chain links glowing with heat as her huge muscles flexed, doing her best to rip off one of the limbs as Cindy shoved her body against another before pulling upwards with a roar, tearing a leg off the creature in a burst of terrible green slime.

The monster rolled over and dropped itself against the ground, crushing both of them into the membrane as it clawed at the floor with its remaining lower limbs... and then Zerrex dropped in from the skies, slamming his sword to the hilt through the carapace of the brutal beast. It howled again, then shrieked when the Drakkaren spun his wings through one of the bug's legs, and the limb was chopped cleanly off... and then the reptile cursed and covered his front with his wings as the membranous towers surrounding the Queen all suddenly leaned forwards, lashing out with the thorn covered tentacles.

Dozens of them snapped around the reptile's body, strange, dark cracks spreading through his angelic wings as they stuttered in and out of reality, even as many of the tentacles were burnt away... and then the Queen straightened and howled, and a terrible mental anguish ripped through the Drakkaren's mind as the ropey tentacles squeezed tighter, his wings shattering into pieces before the tentacles snapped tight around his body, beginning to crush the life out of him even as his mind was assaulted by a feral psychic attack.

And beneath the creature, Cherry and Cindy both cried out in agony at the Queen's psychic rage... before Cherry roared as she tore back on her whip, wincing as she snapped it around the creature's carapace in a last-ditch attack as Cindy hammered her fists into its body, ripping an ugly wound and splattering herself with blood, but nonetheless not seeming to faze the beast... and in a last-ditch, crazy effort, the demoness concentrated as best she could to send a blaze of flame up along the whip and into the crack in its shell her hook had caught on, and a bolt of fire hammered through the weak section in its side to pierce deep into the earwig Queen, the creature's scream taking on a different tone as it staggered to the side, raising itself up long enough for Cherry to grab Cindy's hand and jerk on the whip with enough force to tear part of the now-brittle armor off the beast and pull them both free.

She landed heavily on her knees, grunting as she twisted her body to throw Cindy further away, the female stunned... but then Cherry cursed as she saw the earwigs advancing now, and her snarl deepened at the sight of the living pillars crushing Zerrex. The Queen was getting her senses back as well... and so Cherry did the first thing that came to mind, her demonic characteristics almost tearing out of her body as she shoved her hands forwards and shouted furiously: "No fucking bug is getting the better of me or the Boss!"

Her abilities tore out of her, a pyrokinetic blast striking one of the living pillars, and it went up like a torch, the ivy-like tentacles stretching out of it almost instantly vaporizing as fire shot along it. Zerrex felt the flames wrapping around his body, and he concentrated, feeling himself being burnt even as he did his best to draw the fire in, to let it cycle through his body as the other tentacles caught fire and snapped quickly away from the reptile, dropping him onto the Queen... and he shoved both hands down with a roar as he let the flames cycle out, releasing a gout of fire from both hands that burnt his own scales and charred his own hair, but the pain was well-worth it as he channeled the flames down into the Queen and caused her agony, the earwig shaking violently back and forth as she clawed at him with the legs on her back.

Then Zerrex felt something snap around his ankle, and he grunted, flailing his arms as he looked back and stared in shock at the sight of another tentacle from the tail mouth, this one dragging him quickly towards the snapping pincers... and Zerrex threw a leg and an arm out, kicking into the smooth top of one of the deadly hooks as he grabbed the top of the other across from it, and the pincers opened and closed, all four of them trying to claw uselessly at him as the tentacle tugged his leg harder back and forth towards the terrible jaws... and then one of the hooked pincers ripped into his lower limb and he cursed in pain, wincing and trying to figure out any way he could to escape... but he'd long lost his weapon, his energy reserves were running ragged, his wings were broken... and he couldn't even bring out his demonic arm without being clawed apart.

The Queen had gone rampant, too, as more of the membrane caught on fire, Cherry walking through this even as her clothes burned, her ammo-filled sidepack in one hand as she fired the last of the bullets in her handgun uselessly into the monster with the other, and then she hurled the sidepack at its face and concentrated, causing another explosion and a great hail of bullets. An unlucky shot tore through Zerrex's shoulder, but he winced and managed to hang on... but the Queen was flailing back and forth, more of her eyes bleeding and missing.

Cindy, meanwhile, had managed to grab one of the Queen's legs, and she pulled herself up hand-over-hand before she leapt onto its back and looked up to see her father, wincing at the state he was in. She thought about attempting to displace the monster's tail, but she also knew that the Queen was so enormous it might easily enough ignore whatever damage she could manage inside of it and digest her instead... and so she cursed before running forwards and up its writhing tail, grabbing the few handholds she could find to haul herself up faster before she cried out as she was flung to the side, and then the tail came around to swat her... and Cindy reached both hands out and seized it, clinging to it for dear life before she hauled herself up the end of the appendage and onto the lip of its tail-mouth.

The Queen tried to look around to see what was happening, as flames and earwigs both swarmed beneath it, the bugs attempting to aid their mistress even as Cherry made the flames leap and dance around them, bathed in the flames, her body growing even larger as her muscles bulged and her demonic characteristics grew more savage, her eyes burning as blade-like fins pushed out of her arms... and then the Queen shrieked and roared, but a massive, twenty-five foot Cherry, her fins now metallic and silvery, her musculature incredible, and her back and tail lined with deadly spikes... and she charged forwards, lowering her head and then grabbing the mandibles of the Queen, and she twisted viciously to one side, and then the other, jerking the Queen's body down to the ground like a titan taking down a bull.

It shrieked, and Cherry winced away, the psychic waves seeming to rip into her mind, before the Queen tried to bite her mandibles into the fully-revealed demon's stomach... but Cherry grinned darkly as her eyes flashed, and she twisted upwards as the mandibles opened, one of them half-twisting out of place. The Queen immediately tried to back off, but Cherry refused to let go as she watched its tail switching back and forth, Cindy clinging stubbornly to one of the pincers as more tentacles shot out of its tail mouth to try and drag Zerrex all the way down into its jaws... but then, in a burst of either rage of strength, Cindy tore upwards as the Queen straightened her body, and she ripped the prong of its pincer out of place before spinning the massive, hook-shaped blade around, and she shoved it down into the tail-mouth of the gargantuan mother-bug before it could do more than bend its tail slightly.

It screamed and flung its tail outwards, and both Zerrex and Cindy were hurtled through the air, chunks of tentacle flying around the Drakkaren before he reached out... and Cindy grabbed his forearm before they landed on a blue platform of energy that skidded with them through the air, until they came to a halt. Zerrex fell to one knee, vomiting blood... but then he snarled as he looked up, his emerald eyes burning as he rasped: "Teleport us into it."

"What?" Cindy looked shocked... but then she gritted her teeth and grabbed her father in a hug, pulling him close before they both vanished from reality, as the Queen roared and pushed forwards with such fury that she knocked Cherry over and bull-rushed her into the crowd of earwigs. Creatures that had once been only a nuisance to the demoness now spread over her, and Cherry howled in agony as they bit at every part of her body they could, even as their bodies popped like corn in the flames and they burned themselves against the molten heat of the demoness... and then the Queen of the colony rose her head back, roaring in victory as she prepared a deathblow...

And then there was a strange stillness through the air... and a moment later, Zerrex tore through the skull of the beast like a living rocket and high into the air, his demonic arm extended in a terrible blade before he snapped an arm out and shot a tentacle into the air, the appendage wrapping around a catwalk and the reptile swinging up to land on it with a groan of pain... and a moment later, the monstrosity's back exploded open, the ugly plating covering its body flying in all directions before Cindy crawled out, covered, like her father, with blood and goo. Cherry stared... and the Queen gave one last whispering hiss before it fell forwards, and all three were buffeted by a terrible psychic shockwave.

Zerrex vomited blood again and collapsed, a bit of drool running out of his jaws as Cindy screamed and fell to her knees, flickering in and out of reality... and Cherry's eyes rolled up in her head as she simply groaned and sat back. The earwigs, however, were not so lucky: they howled in frenzy, the stuff that made up their blood exploding from many of them... and only seconds later, most of them fell down dead as the remaining survivors fled the burning battleground. And then there was silence, a silence that lasted almost five minutes before Cherry slowly sat up, wiping dead bugs off her body before she concentrated, shrinking her body down and forcing her demonic characteristics to vanish, as she drew the flames towards her, brought them into her own body, her teeth grit and her blood boiling... and then she let out a sigh of relief, collapsing to a kneel as a bit of smoke floated off her scales, once more in her normal body, completely naked except for the many piercings that ordained her form. She looked stupidly back and forth as Cindy jumped down from the corpse of the Queen, looking woozy but otherwise alright... and then the two looked up to see the dangling tentacle of Zerrex from one of the catwalks, and Cherry said weakly: "You go. You're a better flyer than I am."

Cindy nodded, and a moment later, her brilliant white angel wings pushed from her back, tearing through her already-ripped shirt before she jumped into the air and sailed upwards to the catwalk... and she cursed quietly as she saw Zerrex laying with his eyes closed on the ground. She knelt beside him, reaching out to take his pulse... but the reptile groggily opened an eye, wiping slowly at the drying blood that caked one side of his face as he asked tiredly: "Can we go home now?"

"Almost Daddy... first we need to find what created that... that thing." Cindy said quietly, and Zerrex mumbled something under his breath, and then he sighed and allowed Cindy to help him to his feet with a grunt, the tentacle finally retracting its way into his body. On the other hand, he refused to allow her to help him down to the base of the bowl, waving a hand at her as he grasped the railing with both hands and rested a foot on it... however, the moment he tried to jump over it, he slipped and overbalanced, and the demon flailed as he fell through the air, flipping lazily a few times before he finally smacked painfully into the cement bottom of the bowl, leaving an almost comical crater as Cherry jumped and stared stupidly ahead of herself as she heard the loud smack of the Drakkaren hitting ground behind her, the demonic ring she'd brought with her pinched between two fingers.

She put this on as she turned around to see Zerrex laying on his back, staring groggily at the sky with a bit of blood running from a cracked skull, some more dripping out of his jaw as he coughed once... and then he groaned as he slowly sat up, wincing as his shoulder cracked before he looked down at it and mumbled: "Huh. That's not right."

His left arm looked disjointed and ugly... but the reptile quickly corrected this by wincing and looking away, then he twisted his limb suddenly, eyes bulging in pain for a moment before he flexed his fingers, then he giggled stupidly as Cherry walked over to him, rubbing at her head slowly. They exchanged a look, and then he said dumbly: "I can make my arm pop itself into place now."

The two stared at each other... and then Cherry sat beside him, and they both laughed, wrapping their arms around each other as their heads rested together, and Cindy sighed and rolled her eyes in exasperation as she landed from a quick glide down, her wings folding slowly back into her back as she leaned forwards with a wince, before she said dryly: "You make it so hard to know for sure whether or not you two have brain damage. And by the way, Cherry, for one thing you aren't supposed to have demonic crystals on you. For another, you aren't supposed to ever go full Personification, only Expression at most, when you're on the mortal plane."

Cherry muttered to herself, huffing and crossing her arms: as with most demons, she was capable of maintaining both an intermediate form between mortal and her full-demonic body, called the Expression, and the terrible, gargantuan Personification, where she released all her mortal traits to take on full demon form. A demon in full Personification was often nearly unstoppable, but was also often heavily specialized or possessed a serious flaw or vulnerability. "Oh, fuck off. You and I both know that there's no way a lousy giant earwig is going to hit us with holy magic."

"It's dangerous for you too... if you spend too long in that body, then God knows what kind of rusting you could suffer... and you could attract the unwanted attention of all sorts of hostiles." Cindy scolded, but Zerrex and Cherry ignored her, both of them still giggling. Then Cherry grumbled as Cindy reached down and grabbed her hand, jerking the ring off and muttering: "Well, fine, ignore me. But at least we can put this to good use."

She slipped it on herself, the ring glowing before Cindy rose her hand and concentrated, and a moment later, a pinkish glow surrounded both of the demons, Zerrex leaning his head forwards as he felt an awkward tickling over his entire body and Cherry making a face as the sensation travelled over her scales. After a few moments, the glow and the sensation faded, and Cindy cursed as the gemstone shattered, a final crack of demonic energy travelling between the shards before they became faded and useless. "I hope that was enough to heal you both..."

"More than enough." Zerrex said after a moment, exchanging a bit of a smile with Cherry. She nodded as well with a grunt of agreement, and then Zerrex turned his eyes back to Cindy, looking faintly amused. "It's a good thing me and Cherry don't follow the rules, huh?"

The angel rolled her eyes, but she smiled a bit and nodded nonetheless, looking softly entertained as she crossed her arms. "Maybe a little bit. Glad to see you in better spirits anyway, Daddy... are you feeling okay? Can you walk?"

The reptile nodded, carefully climbing up to his feet, and Cherry did the same after a moment with a grumble, cracking her back loudly. Zerrex took a step, and then another one once he was more sure, but as always happened once he overstressed his body, his right leg was starting to ache. The Drakkaren smiled a bit to himself, rubbing at this slowly, and then he said at Cindy's sympathetic look: "It's a funny thing that some injuries should carry on after all these years, huh? But I guess whatever the Princess did to me must have had a more lasting effect... either that, or some scars and wounds we get so used to, we carry them on long after death..."

"You know for a fact that's true, Daddy..." Cindy shook her head with a soft laugh, then she took up pace at his right side as Cherry tried to put her hands in her pockets, failed at it, then instead coughed and rested her hands on her hips as she strode alongside her father as well. "Anyway... it has to be around here somewhere. For once, Cherry's fire did us a favor and burnt away a lot of the stuff that could be concealing whatever we're looking for... but on the other hand, it could literally be anything that could be infused with demonic energy."

Zerrex nodded slowly, and then Cherry said quietly: "Don't worry, Books... I think it's pretty fuckin' clear what caused this shit."

The two looked at her, frowning as Cherry walked quickly over to a pile of ash and what looked like white stones, and she brushed one of these off before lifting it up and holding it out to Zerrex. The Drakkaren took it, looking down at it with a frown... and then he cursed quietly under his breath as he recognized the old, damaged stone as another replica of the art piece that had been hanging in the demon hunter's manse, the unknown sigil quickly becoming all-too-familiar to him as he looked at it.

He cursed under his breath, then paused as Cherry stood up and booted the stones hard, making a disgusted face as she revealed several skeletons in torn coveralls, a skull rolling loose to gently knock against Zerrex's boot. She leaned down to inspect these, but Zerrex was more interested in the stones, as he said quietly: "Well, that explains why the Queen was so warped... Cherry, break some of those open."

She frowned, looking up, then she winced as the Drakkaren threw the stone tablet he was holding hard against the ground... but when it cracked in half, a small crystalline orb rolled out of it. Cherry slowly picked this up... then she cursed under her breath as she tossed this up to Zerrex, and he caught it, holding it carefully as Cindy asked in a whisper: "Is that..."

"Shaped demonic crystal, very potent stuff." Zerrex said quietly, nodding slowly as he squeezed it in his hand. It was a much larger and much more powerful form of the tiny crystal Cherry had worn on her ring... and then he watched as the demoness shook her head slowly and stood up, looking across at him grimly even as she snapped another tablet between her hands to pop another crystalline sphere into the air to catch it. "What is it?"

"These are couriers for Wulfe Industries." Cherry said simply, and Zerrex's teeth grit as understood all the complications that meant for them, before she sighed and looked down at the crystalline orb. "And these are some of the best-shaped shit I've ever seen, meaning that it's likely long-lasting and high-grade... the kind meant for magic staves."

"Well, isn't that wonderful..." Cindy muttered, reaching down to crack another tablet open, and she was unsurprised to find an orb hidden in this as well. She picked it up, bouncing it quietly in her hand, and then she grasped it tightly and pointed it at Zerrex and Cherry, the two looking up curiously before the female murmured a spell, and a moment later they both felt a tickle roll through their bodies, turning into a burning itch in some places as the last of their wounds stitched closed. The spherical crystal in Cindy's hand shone faintly with light, and then it faded... yet a strange luminescence still seemed to remain in the depths of the orb. "What do we do with these?"

"Keep them." Cherry said simply, then she huffed when Zerrex glared at her. "Oh, like you weren't thinking the same damn thing. Nasty as it might be, these demons are already processed goods... personally, I think it would be even more insulting if we didn't use their remains in this dignified fashion and just buried them or brought them to Hell to throw in that big old forbidden arts locker. I know if I ever died, I'd want you to beat the people who killed me to death with my body parts."

Zerrex sighed as Cindy made a face at this, and then the male muttered: "No one wants the things you want, Cherry." She grinned cheerfully, and the reptile rolled his eyes. "You know what I mean. Anyway, I guess I really can't argue with Cherry's metaphor... since that's what I'm going to call it... and we can make good use of these crystals. We'll have to make sure not to leave any behind, though... any survivors from the nest, or any other bugs for that matter, might come down here and try to get their hands on these crystals."

Cherry looked thoughtfully over at Zerrex, and then she turned towards the corpse of the Queen, rubbing slowly at her chin as she said slowly: "You know, in that case, the Queen probably ate a few of tho-"

"Not it!" Cindy and Zerrex both rose their hands, shouting the same thing at the same time, and Cherry gaped at the both before she pointed wordlessly at the Queen's corpse, her mouth working stupidly. Then she grumbled and dropped her head, sulking as she stomped off towards the dead body to check its insides for any crystals it may have eaten.

Within twenty minutes, they had gathered up at least twenty crystals: Cherry had found half a dozen inside the beast, and many of the stone artworks had contained their own hidden treasures. They divided up the crystals between themselves to carry, Cherry and Zerrex taking six while Cindy took eight, the two reasoning that as an angel, Cindy wouldn't be so affected by the corruption oozing out of the crystals. But one thing the two demons had been clear on was that they had to carry the crystals carefully and keep them as separated as possible: Cherry, for example, had used one of the orbs to create a belt she now wore around her waist with six different holsters spaced apart, and she'd made a clone of this for Zerrex, although she admitted that they wouldn't hold together very long: creating objects was not exactly her magical specialty, so she was only able to build rudimentary things at best that would only last a few minutes at most.

Cindy, meanwhile, had put four crystals into different pockets of her backpack: when she'd first gone to put all eight into the single 'expanding' pouch, Cherry had almost tackled her to the ground. Carrying so many crystals at once was dangerous... but piling them up or pushing them all together could be even more so. With the level of demonic corruption created, the crystals could fuse together or explode, and Cherry made it very clear that Cindy did not want them exploding and filling this facility with demonic corruption.

Zerrex marveled at the way Cherry almost took over for the moment, how she gave everyone orders and acted very clear and decisive: he thought it was impressive, considering how much she hated to be in full command. Once they had all carefully stashed the fist-sized orbs, however, Cherry looked at Zerrex anxiously, and the Drakkaren sighed before he said mildly: "Cindy, much as I want to say we should just teleport out of here, it's too dangerous to have you perform a tactic that warps space and time while carrying those crystals. Even phasing in and out of reality could be dangerous, but I think we might need you to make use of those abilities anyway. Do you remember the schematics for this place?"

"Not very well... but I know most of the emergency escape systems were activated when this place was abandoned." Cindy replied, nodding slowly. "I'm sure a lot of them were destroyed or broken, but we can at least use the tunnels... we need to get up to the Laboratory levels from here first, either way."

"Then off we go." Cherry said mildly, and she strode on past them towards where a last bit of burnt membrane was clinging to the wall. She rose a hand when she reached it, and her eyes flashed before the membrane burst into flames that quickly devoured it before vanishing, revealing a short corridor covered in ugly growth and filled with eggs, blocking their way to an open elevator. The demoness paused at this, then winced as some of the eggs started to move, larvae crawling forwards. "This... this was not part of the plan."

"Will you stop trying to build situational drama and just toast them?" Zerrex asked dryly, and then he winced as a larva threw itself at him. It fell short, thankfully, and the Drakkaren stomped it with a look of disgust. "We should get rid of as many remnants of this nest as we can, anyway."

Cherry rose a hand, then she paused and said mildly to the Drakkaren: "Yeah, I can see some exposed wiring and fuel tanks, Boss, probably powering whatever generator runs the lift. Still want me to blow us all to shit?"

Zerrex muttered something under his breath, then he walked forwards through the eggs, stomping them under his ragged military boots as the others stared, the lizard working his way back and forth to crush eggs and hatching larva as he grumbled: "I hate this place, I hate babies, I hate improperly-protected gas tanks. Can we just get out of here, please?"

Cindy and Cherry exchanged a look, then the two carefully waded through the mire of goo after their father, Zerrex entering the elevator and then sighing as he noted the membrane covering the walls. He concentrated, and his right arm took on its warped, rocky appearance, before he grasped it lightly with his left hand as his blade shot out of his wrist. He used this to slash away some of the membrane holding the elevator in place as the two females stepped onto the lift, and Cindy approached the control panel, muttering: "Good idea... but there's still some problem, the gears for the system must be full of this crap or they may have just rusted over the years..."

"You or me?" Zerrex asked Cherry curiously, and immediately, Cherry stuck out a fist with a grin. The Drakkaren sighed, held out his own, then mumbled as he shook it up and down in slow rhythm with Cherry's: "Rock, paper... scissors!" The reptile held his hand out flat, and Cherry kept her fist balled tight... and she squawked and stared before her father slapped her lightly on the shoulder, saying mildly: "You always choose rock. Go down there and burn away what crap you can, and I'll offer you support."

Cherry muttered under her breath as she looked at the floor, her eyes settling on an emergency hatch, and she grasped this and ripped it open, making a face at the sight of the goop clinging to the underside of it. "Listen, Boss, explosions still hurt like a son of a bitch... so don't go doing anything stupid if shit starts flying."

"You're the one with the fire powers, you just be careful where you use them." Zerrex responded amusedly, squatting to look her in the eye, and Cherry huffed before she spat a small ball of fire, the Drakkaren falling heavily on his ass as it singed his nose. He clambered back up to his feet, glowering down at her, but Cherry was already gone, and the male rubbed slowly at his rocky arm, murmuring: "I hate these dumb powers. I miss the days of good old brute force and ingenuity."

"The same things would have still happened... Cherry would just be using aerosol and a lighter instead of her abilities down below." Cindy said mildly, as they both felt the platform heat up slightly beneath their feet. The angel glanced down, then she nodded slowly as the screen beeped. "Temperature for the generator is approaching unsafe levels, but on the other hand, the system is quickly starting to read green across the board. Do you see her at all?"

"I'm too afraid to lean too far over the hole." Zerrex said mildly, even as he carefully peered down into the trapdoor. All he could see was orange light, but he could vaguely hear Cherry grumbling to herself before squawking as the elevator shuttered, and the light went out as the demoness scrambled for the hatch, leaping up to try and grab the edge... and Zerrex dropped, reaching his hand down as the blade vanished back into his rocky arm, and he grasped Cherry's forearm tightly as she held firmly onto his ugly, warped limb, the elevator quickly rising as a bit of blood dripped down from a shallow cut in the female's forearm, their momentum dragging a long trail of red liquid along the female's limb as the reptile murmured: "Sorry about that."

"No problem, Boss... nothin' that hasn't already healed." Cherry replied with a grin, and she glanced down before looking back up, asking queasily: "Dude, can you heft me up, though? Riding an elevator from this angle is a... little bit different."

Zerrex nodded and stood, easily lifting Cherry up into the elevator, and she managed to get her feet onto the platform before she kicked the hatch closed and sat heavily on it, rubbing at her forehead slowly. She looked back and forth, then sighed in relief as she dropped her head back, asking in a more-cheerful voice: "So where the fuck are we headed, anyway?"

"We're already past the laboratory level... this is taking us all the way up to the warehouse levels, it looks like." Cindy said slowly, as she rested with her hands on either edge of the control panel. She rubbed the back of her head in a gesture she had learned from her father, and then she glanced over at the male, smiling a bit. "It should let us get a faster escape, at least... we'll just get out onto the catwalk and jump back up to the administrative level, and from there we'll take the path through the caverns back to our own house."

Zerrex grunted and nodded, frowning a bit as he brushed his hair out of his eyes. It sounds easy. Too easy, in fact. Plans like this rarely work out... and I'm worried about those earwigs. Cindy said they'd be in a frenzy...

There was quiet as the elevator rose, Cherry eventually climbing to her feet to toy absently with her whip: Zerrex had no idea when she'd picked it up or where she'd produced it from, being naked as she was, but he had a sneaking suspicion that she was already abusing the demonic crystals to give herself an extra edge... or, more likely, just because she couldn't bear to not play with the toys she was supposed to use conservatively. A moment later, Cherry mumbled a spell and the whip vanished... and Zerrex glared at her, making the demoness wince as she realized she was caught before the lift ground to a halt, and the Drakkaren said firmly: "No more using the demonic crystals unless absolutely necessary. We'll get out of here the old-fashioned way, got it?"

"Understood." Cherry pouted and crossed her arms, then she squawked when Zerrex grit his teeth and narrowed his eyes in frustration. "Fuck, yes, sir, right away, sir, let me lead the way for you sir!"

With that, Cherry ran ahead to the door of the elevator, making a disgusted face as she slowly forced them apart. Goo ran down her hands, and she muttered something as the membrane clinging to the doors stretched before finally starting to tear, and the demoness reached up to rip the remaining gooey substance barring their way down, before she stared out down the hall and asked slowly: "Is that supposed to be happening?"

The membrane of the nest here and there had turned ashen, and several of the ugly feeding tentacles covered in thorns had turned almost completely gray, unmoving and dead. Earwigs were stumbling back and forth, some of them dopily bumping again and again into walls, and others lay dead. A pod bug lay dead nearby, and as they watched, a larva crawled out of it... and immediately, an earwig staggered over and gobbled it up, ripping it to shreds as it gorged itself on the young of its own species.

"They must be self-destructing... when we killed the Queen, it must have triggered some sort of autodestruct tendency in her brood..." Cindy said thoughtfully, and Zerrex and Cherry both looked at her dumbly. The female rolled her eyes, then she stepped out into the hallway, shouting a greeting to the earwigs... but they ignored her almost completely, some giving her a glance before they went back to their slow deaths. "Just like I thought. As long as we don't go near them, they won't harm us."

Cherry and Zerrex carefully stepped out of the room as well, the two looking far-more-anxious than Cindy... but at her confidence, the two slowly began to relax, watching as she went the opposite way of the earwigs, towards a huge, armored shutter only a few feet away instead of down the corridor. She glanced at a set of switches on the wall, then pressed one of the buttons, and the massive shutter whirred before it slowly, haltingly began to rise up into the wall, bits of membrane falling off it and the ceiling.

The three ducked under it once it rose high enough, stepping out onto a broken catwalk... but the distance was more than enough for Zerrex to be able to look up and easily spot the highest catwalk some twenty, thirty feet away. The Drakkaren rubbed at his face slowly, not feeling exactly in the mood to mistime a jump and fall on his face again... but he also knew his wings would take some time to regenerate, especially with his low energy. Great. The angle from here isn't too bad, though... "Hey, Cindy, how's your balance?"

"Huh?" Cindy tilted her head, looking confused, but Cherry grinned as she realized what Zerrex was talking about. "It's alright, considering, I guess. Why?"

Instead of answering, the male let his right arm return to normal as he swung his left out, and a tentacle shot out of it, wrapping around the limb several times before the end of it wrapped tightly around the railing of the catwalk above. Cherry immediately took the initiative, running forwards to hop easily onto the railing of the catwalk they were standing on, then she hopped up to land gracefully with one foot on Zerrex's arm, spinning around with her leg out and hands above her head, then she said solemnly: "I would like to perform for you today, my rendition of... Cherry's Nutcracker."

Cherry spun around on the tentacle on the tips of her toeclaws, whistling an off-key ballet tune before she hopped forwards several times, then she gracefully ran backwards along the tentacle as she arched her back, drawing her arms out far behind herself. After a moment, she threw them forwards, leaping ahead and landing smoothly with her feet spaced wide along the rope of flesh, then she slid backwards down it again on the sole of her foot, before she spun rapidly at the end of the slide.

By now, Zerrex was looking at her sourly, and Cindy was gaping as Cherry pranced forwards again, her hands high above her head as she continued to whistle before she ran forwards and did a flip through the air... and the male Drakkaren groaned as all six orbs fell out of her belt. Cherry only grinned, however, as she reached out and caught two of them before throwing them high into the air even as she dropped further, swinging her hands out as she hooked her leg around the tentacle, and two more balls flew high as she dropped her arms out as far as they would go as she hung upside down... and her fingertips caught the last two spherical crystals. She blew Cindy a kiss, then swung her hanging leg forcefully up and over the rope of flesh as she grunted and twisted her waist upwards at the same time, and a moment later she was sitting on top of the tentacle with a leg hooked under it and the ankle over, and her other leg stretched out down the length of her tentacle, licking her muzzle as she grinned over her shoulder at Zerrex.

The demon looked at her flatly as the four crystals spheres fell... but without looking up, Cherry tossed the two into her hands into the air, then swung her hands out, catching and tossing the spheres as they fell, easily beginning to juggle them all. Cindy's gape somehow grew wider as Cherry stood up, whistling to herself again as she took long steps, swinging her legs wide with each long stride... and as she reached the catwalk, she tossed each of the half-dozen spheres high into the air before forming a ramping with her arm and the back of her hand, and each of the crystalline orbs rolled down this one after the other, their momentum carrying them back high into the air above Cherry's head... and the demoness spun gracefully at the last moment as she raised her arms high and tented her hands, and all six demonic orbs landed back in the pockets of her belt, the demoness bowing deeply after a moment. "Thank you, one and all. That kind of balance." A pause, then she grinned at Zerrex, winking as he continued to look at her sourly. "Oh, come on, I ground my cootch against your tentacle and everything!"

The reptile didn't have a reply to this, so he just cleared his throat and mumbled... and then he looked over at Cindy, asking her clearly as she looked at him with bewilderment. "Ignore her. We're at enough of an angle that the incline isn't too steep... you can just crawl up it if you want, and I can thicken the tentacle some more... I think you should be okay though, Cindy. But if you want to get over there another way, that's fine too-"

"I'll try this." Cindy shook her head, looking at the black tentacle for a few moments before she sighed and approached him, and she carefully stepped up onto the railing before gently lowering her foot onto her father's arm. She looked at him worriedly, but he only smiled, and she nodded after a moment, looking reassured. Carefully, she stepped up onto the tentacle, taking a deep breath... and she held both of her hands out, keeping her head high as she walked slowly and carefully up the length of it towards the catwalk above.

It was strange: Cindy knew from experience that this was harder than walking a tightrope, but it was far easier than running up a power line... and in her lifetime, she had done both, and even during combat. The highest of heights no longer scared her that much, since gravity held little power over her... and even now, she knew she was holding up better than both Zerrex and Cherry: angels had an easier time surviving on the mortal realm because, in essence, they were much similar to mortals, and possessed only their single form. What she lacked in power, she made up for in solidity... demons, on the other hand, were like amphibians out of water: they could exist on solid ground, but they didn't always have the easiest time of it.

But when it came to things like this, she was still a rookie compared to these two: she'd seen and done her share of combat as a mortal, sure, and she'd lived a strange life from which she'd had to work to take as much out of as she could... but she'd spent much of her time in the background instead of leading, like a grunt who went to war but spent the entire time in the base, never actually ending up on the battlefield. And in Heaven, she'd learned more of the healing arts than anything else, and things that would help her advance her scientific research on the mortal plane... and even though Zerrex always said he admired her for it, she always felt... like the runt of the family. She knew her father loved her... but sometimes she'd better serve everyone if she went back to building up her physical might instead of her brainpower. I'm even stronger than Zerrex as it is... why do I focus so much on the mind instead of my muscles? Look at Cherry... she thinks with her muscles and she's more than happy all the time, she seems... so damn free...

Cindy shook her head a bit as she finally reached the other side, hopping onto the catwalk... and Cherry slapped her on the shoulder with a grin as Zerrex leapt off the catwalk below, reeling himself upwards at the same time. "See, that wasn't so hard?"

The angel only blushed and mumbled as Zerrex hauled himself over the railing, his tentacle coming loose and retracting fully into his arm. Cherry wrapped her arm around her shoulders, squeezing her firmly, and then she grunted as Cindy shoved her off, saying quietly: "Let's just get out of here, okay?"

"Sure..." Cherry said slowly, glancing over her shoulder at the male, and Zerrex shrugged a bit, looking unsure himself. They followed Cindy nonetheless as she automatically took the lead, heading back down the way she had first led them... and the male couldn't shake a bad feeling as he looked back and forth at the mounds of dead earwigs, before he winced as one crawled out of the hole in the wall... but it ignored him as it paused for a moment before crossing the hallway as he passed and exiting through another narrow gap.

There was no self-destruct, no combat, no last-moment monster as they reached Narrius's abandoned office, but there Cindy paused for a moment, looking at her father before she turned her eyes to the cavern, saying hesitantly: "What... what do you think, Daddy? We don't know what's in the sewers, but it could be safer... and although I didn't face too much resistance from the skeletons, that place... disturbs me."

"It does appear to be the ruins of an old warship." Cherry added helpfully, then she dropped her head thoughtfully as Zerrex and Cindy both looked at her. "But hey. What if... I mean, it's kind of crazy, but isn't it possible there's another demon crystal in there, powering those undead?"

"Maybe... but this whole area was sealed off, and these tablets look new... Wulfe Industries was probably trying to smuggle demonic crystal to sell to the highest bidder either in or out of Ire, and they probably thought stashing it in some abandoned military base would be the smart thing to do." Zerrex replied, then the two looked at Cindy expectantly. She only grunted and shrugged, however, and the male made a face before probing: "Come on, you must have some thought on this. You're the smart one here, after all."

"I am not." Cindy muttered, and Cherry and Zerrex exchanged an awkward look before she shook her head, heading into the caverns. "This is fastest, either way... we can head back and lock the crystals up in one of the unused rooms upstairs."

"Yeah..." Zerrex followed, reaching back to rest a hand on the hilt of the katana. He'd stuck it in the belt and been pleasantly surprised that it had stayed in place above his tail instead of slipping and sliding, but now he just felt nervous. Cindy was acting oddly, and Cherry's belts were still holding up when they should have long since fallen apart... and he could feel the corruption from the crystals influencing his own body, making it harder for him to restrain his own demonic characteristics from coming out.

The reptile therefore expected that the moment they got into the caverns, something would happen... but for once, he was gladly disappointed. No skeletons attacked them, and there wasn't a murmur from any of the remaining piles or the holes in the hull of the fallen ship. It was strangely unsettling, and Zerrex wondered for a moment if they had somehow managed to fight their way up the abandoned elevator shaft and invaded the house... but as they approached the empty shaft, two ropes descended, and Marina's voice echoed down tiredly: "No, Daddy... we're here. Everything's okay."

The climb up was longer than Zerrex wanted, Cindy and Zerrex climbing one rope, Cherry another as she complained about how old-fashioned it was and how sore her arms were and, of course, that no one was sharing a rope with her. Cindy spent much of the climb looking frustrated as hell, and Zerrex just wondered about what sort of effects the demonic crystals could be having on his youngest... but as he finally managed to grasp the lip of the elevator and he looked up to see the smiling face of Marina and Lone's worried and awkward features, he let the thoughts slide away for the moment as he let out a sigh of relief.

After Zerrex had a long argument with Cherry - most of which Lone and Cindy weren't going to pretend they understood, since it had just seemed like a slew of childish insults thrown back and forth - the female had finally won and they'd used magic to create a heavy metal gate inside the hidden doorway, to protect the house against invasion from any of the underground dwellers. Then Cindy had created a special chest to keep the orbs inside, shaped like a tacklebox but covered in all manner of magical runes, the two trays inside specifically designed for holding the crystalline spheres... and once they had been sealed away and the box placed for the moment into the "guest room" upstairs, Cindy had immediately started to act more like her old self, and the corruption in the air seemed to lighten.

The Drakkaren currently sat at the kitchen table, finally finished his attempts to explain the events of the day to everyone and guzzling cup of coffee after cup of coffee. Lone was staring at him, hugging himself but at least now wearing a pair of pants - much too big for him, since he'd shown some of his old Mahihkoish self and stolen a pair of Zerrex's - and Marina was looking moodily over at Cindy, who was ladling soup into bowls. Cherry was absent, but only because she was currently upstairs, cleaning up Zerrex's room and neatening the holes she'd made in the walls with all her promises of television and satellite uplinks.

The reptile was feeling better and more energetic, but at the moment, the biggest thing he wanted to do was either put a puzzle together while watching television... or perhaps just watching television would be enough, since he was in the company of family, after all. He smiled a bit to himself, then he glanced up as Lone asked curiously: "But what if the earwigs breed? I mean, those eggs... like... what do you do then?"

"We'll ask some friends from Hell tomorrow about coming up and taking a look at it, since Cherry and I are going way down south for a little get-together." Zerrex replied mildly, and Marina snorted, leaning back grouchily in her chair. "I wish you could come, Marina, but you know I don't want you exposed to too much corruption..."

"I understand, Daddy... I just wish Cherry wasn't such a bitch about it." Marina crossed her arms, looking defiant, and Zerrex smiled a bit at her despite himself. He wondered if she realized how much like she was when she had only been a baby, even after all these years, and Marina looked at him with quiet amusement in her sapphire eyes. "I am not. I'd get in trouble when I said 'fuck' back then, anyway, and you never used to have so many sexual thoughts about me."

"What the hell does she mean, 'so many?'" Cindy asked sharply, glaring at Zerrex even as she dropped a bowl of soup in front of him. The Drakkaren looked up at her awkwardly, and she asked in a deadly voice: "You had sexual thoughts about-"

"Not when she was a baby, what the hell are you, sick?" Zerrex glared up at her, then he huffed and crossed his arms, looking both moody and embarrassed. "But... you know. I wondered what she'd grow up to look like. What she'd wear... who she'd think of late at night... and hey, you were no good example yourself, as I remember, miss goody-two-shoes."

Cindy looked at him sourly, then she slammed a bowl down in front of Lone, the wolf wincing as some of the hot soup splashed out towards him. "Oh yeah? Well, at least I never thought about sleeping with her when she was just an innocent little girl! Unless you thought because she started using language like clit ring at such an early age took that away from her!"

Zerrex snorted at this, standing and glaring at her as he shot back: "Oh really? Well, you're the one that always complained about that and brought it up! Personally, I've never cared what she'd said, just the way she acted and if she treated people with respect! Besides, don't think I ever forgot all the nights you and Marina spent together after she came back, or all the times we-"

"That was when she was an adult, after..." Cindy broke off, looking flustered as she glanced back and forth embarrassedly, and then she added grumpily: "What about what she saw? Cherry was always showing her porn and shit, and fuck knows what she did with Marina even when she was just a kid."

The male narrowed his eyes, but Cindy glared back before Zerrex leaned in close and murmured something to her as Marina and Lone frowned, and then Cindy turned beet red before giggling behind her palm, and they traded a light kiss before the female bounced out of the room. Lone looked nonplussed, then the youngest daughter of Zerrex looked across at her father's benign expression for a few moments before she exclaimed: "Daddy!"

"Well, it's true." Zerrex said mildly as he looked across at her, and Marina huffed, before the Drakkaren took in Lone's expression and he winked. "I told her all this talk was making me horny and that Marina and I would be more than happy to tend to her needs later."

"Dude, I wish I had chicks who only needed shit like that to cheer them up." Lone said sourly, and he leaned back, putting his paws up on the table... before wincing at Zerrex's sour look and dropping them back down to the floor, rubbing awkwardly at the back of his neck. "Sorry. But... like... I mean, I see you argue a lot. Especially with Cherry. But then things always get peachy-keen again... how do you do that?"

Zerrex snorted amusedly as he tasted his soup, smiling a bit. Beef and potato. She always knows just the right recipe and just how much time it'll take to make... but I'd never call her a housewife. "Oh, that's not Cherry and I arguing. Cherry and I almost never argue anymore, even if it seems like that's all I do... if we were really fighting over something, you'd know it. And Cindy and I only argue occasionally... but a lot of the time it's stuff like that, and even though she gets so vehement - especially over things regarding you, actually, Marina - she's rarely ever really pissed off at me, and I never have much of a reason to be pissed off at her."

"Why Marina?" Lone asked stupidly, and Zerrex snorted in amusement as the wolf frowned, rubbing at his head. "What? I don't get it. I mean, like... Marina and her fight all the time... I get that Cindy's her mom, but... I dunno, you act like you hate her a lot of the time."

"I do not." Marina said testily, looking sourly over at Lone, and the wolf shrugged, looking at her awkwardly. Marina looked back at him moodily, and then she sighed, shaking her head a bit and sulking as she muttered: "Just because you don't know what it's like to have a real family doesn't mean you should apply that same feeling to everyone else."

"Ouch, bitch." Lone said in a hurt voice, then he huffed and returned his eyes to Zerrex, asking flatly: "And what's your story with these chicks, anyway? Marina worships you, Cindy's all normal, and Cherry's a whore with a wicked-ass mouth on her. I get that they're all normal, but... they all sorta sleep around too... hey, not that you guys are whores or anything!" Lone babbled, holding up his hands as Marina glared at him. "It's just that you know, you ain't by no stretch monogamous. Even when I was just Mahihko, his ass was everywhere out on the streets, looking for poontang. And you too, Zer, you go bouncin' around looking for pussy and ass all the time."

Zerrex sighed, looking exasperated. "Lone, I think I've had this conversation with you before, and you ended up getting beaten up by Cindy, do you remember? But it's just... the level of trust we have between all of us. We... love each other deeply... and we have a level of trust to the point where we know we can share physical affections with other people, but at the end of the day, it's each other we'll go back to, not some stranger." The Drakkaren paused, lowering his head and murmuring: "Although it does get awkward when you find someone you wanna bring into the family... especially someone down in Hell."

"I don't mind, Daddy... I think you should be surrounded by hundreds of dedicated worshippers." Marina said tenderly, and although her tone was romantic, Lone felt a chill creep along his body as he thought about just what she might mean by that. "And you know I don't mind most of my new sisters or brothers in Hell... so many of them are... so very fond of you..."

She broke off, looking away... and Lone sat quietly for a few moments before he finally looked up and asked hesitantly: "You know... uh... Zer... about those crystals you found in Hell, does... does this mean that we..."

"Yeah." the Drakkaren answered softly, knowing what Lone was going to ask. The wolf swallowed thickly, and Zerrex smiled wanly: he knew the wolf's feelings on Tobias well by now, after all. Then he sighed and stretched before standing, looking at the two and finally saying quietly: "It's been a long day, and even though it's still early, I'm going to head to bed and take a nap. I'll probably be up in a few hours, though, so don't worry if you hear someone wandering around during the night."

Lone and Marina both nodded, the latter blowing Zerrex a kiss as he left the room, and the aged reptile smiled at her. Soon after, he was upstairs, pushing through the door into his bedroom... and he sighed as he found Cherry hammering away at the wall dangerously close to a television she'd installed. She brightened as she saw Zerrex, though, then almost flung the hammer at him when she turned around, wincing and changing the trajectory of it at the last minute so it flew past his head to crash into the wall, knocking a large, ugly crack through it before it clattered to the ground. "Sorry there, Boss, I got uh. A little overexcited. But look! I cleaned your room, and like, totally made your bed, and ta-da!"

Cherry stepped to the side, gesturing with both hands at the TV... and Zerrex rolled his eyes before he smiled a bit despite himself, looking to the side to see a bed that was clean of debris but likely more-messy made than unmade. He finally beckoned to her with a finger, and the female grinned as she happily trod over to him, taking his hand before they sat in bed together. Before he could kiss her, however, she brought a remote up between their faces, the reptile wincing back as she exclaimed: "And it works, too!"

She turned it on, then flicked through the channels before settling on cartoons, and Zerrex rolled his eyes but thought it was probably the best choice for now: with life so serious as it was, watching cop shows or action flicks had some appeal... but cartoons were best for unwinding and relaxing. The two smiled at each other, then Cherry leaned in for a kiss... and Zerrex headbutted the end of her muzzle lightly, making her huff before they curled up together in bed, Cherry resting against his body as Zerrex let his mind relax.

He fell asleep some half an hour later, and Cherry turned off the TV before dropping the remote, turning around to snuggle deeper into his chest as she mumbled: "I'm never telling anyone how much I enjoy you. I mean this. Oh fuck it." She yawned, then murmured a goodnight before letting her own eyes slip closed, and the two slept.

Zerrex's sleep was not dreamless, as it often was: instead, he dreamed of his family... not only his mortal family, but Selena, and Lily, and Sin, and all the children he had down in Hell. He dreamed about them coming up to live on the mortal plane, and everyone was getting along, and there was happiness everywhere... but whenever Zerrex looked at the sky, all he could see was a great dark blot, and something terrible was high above the clouds...

The reptile sat up, breathing hard as Cherry snored loudly beside him, and the Drakkaren looked back and forth before he sighed and slowly relaxed, closing his eyes and rubbing at his forehead slowly. He hated dreams like that... they disturbed him both because they could be meaningless, but also because they could be premonitions. As Sin had explained to him once, Marina and some of his other daughters had psychic powers that likely stemmed from an ability in himself he wasn't able to access... some sort of recessive gene that didn't work because some other gene was interfering with it, likely his control over energy. And much as Zerrex admired psychic ability, he didn't want to give up the powers he was already familiar with and wasn't very keen on having experiments done on his body.

Sometimes, though, he'd have strange dreams that would give him a hint about what was about to happen, and his instincts had always been far too attuned and sharp. Perhaps it had something to do with his energy abilities... but perhaps premonitions of a sort were just leakage from whatever recessive genes were hidden inside himself, unable to express themselves in any other way. It was a thought that he didn't like in the slightest, so the reptile tended to just ignore these strange dreams even more than he had in the past, often not wanting to believe them or risk losing whatever treasured moments he was enjoying with his family. Childish... but it works sometimes. No need to get bent out of shape over what's probably nothing... even if later on, I'll beat myself up for not taking the time to prepare and perhaps even stop whatever may have happened... "Of course, if everything's fated, then... who cares, right?"

"You don't believe in fate." Cherry said sleepily, and Zerrex looked down at her in surprise as she reached up and wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him down to rest his head against her enormous bosom. He smiled at her a bit, and she smiled faintly back, saying quietly: "Destiny, yeah. You believe some things are meant to happen, or maybe just that... only some combinations in life will work out. But we both know you don't believe in Fate... even if you believe that if a butterfly farts somewhere in Lailland, it'll have some ginormous effect over here in Ire and even echo all the way into the other planes. Fuck, I hope I'm not the product of a butterfly fart."

"I don't know what produced you half the time." Zerrex said dryly, then he winced as Cherry squeezed him firmly down against her breasts. "Oh, don't be a bitch. But hey... how are you feeling?"

He looked at her softly, and Cherry coughed before shoving him off, mumbling: "Don't get all touchy-feely on me... stupid... asshole." A pause, and then she sat up and rubbed at her head slowly, saying finally: "I'm better, I guess. A little sore, but what the fuck else can you expect, right? What about you, you douchebag? You healed up nicely?"

"Probably better than you." Zerrex nodded as he jumped over her, glancing at both of his arms before he flexed his right hand, feeling the stuff moving beneath his hide of scales but not trying to force its way out, his arm bending and working normally. Or well, more like as if it was normal. It turns into axes when it's working normally. "Anyway, we've got some hours to kill before sunrise. What do you wanna do?"

Cherry grinned widely... and the next thing Zerrex knew, they were both in the oversized tub in the bathroom, naked and sweaty, the water as hot as the male could make it. Yet they weren't being sexual: Cherry likely knew that she could get as much as sex as she wanted at any time she wanted, and she wasn't pushing the reptile for it... perhaps strangest of all the things Zerrex had seen so far, she actually seemed to want to just spend normal time with him now that she'd already gotten a good bang out of the male.

Not to say he wasn't erect: he was so hard it was almost embarrassing, his huge member throbbing and the head of the shaft pushing up through the water and into the cooler air as Zerrex rested on one side of the tub, Cherry playing with her breasts teasingly on the other, and the reptile knew that her legs were spread, too, from the way she was resting. She was grinning at him, but she seemed content to see when or if either of them would snap and leap at the other, as she slid herself a bit closer to the Drakkaren, asking playfully: "Come on, let me give you a massage, Boss. I'll pay special attention to your special parts... no, no wait, I got an even better idea. Let's play with your tentacles, that'd be fuckin' hot."

"Cherry, I'm not a toy." Zerrex said mildly, and then he blushed as the female suddenly slid up against his side and grasped his huge member in one hand beneath the surface of the water, the Drakkaren grunting as he wrapped one arm around the demoness's shoulders and reached the other up to grasp the side of the tub. "That is not a joystick!"

"It sure as fuck is for me." Cherry half-lidded her eyes seductively as she began to slowly, teasingly stroke his hard flesh up and down beneath the surface of the water, and Zerrex did his best to withhold any sounds of pleasure as she asked him playfully: "So, Boss, outta curiosity... who was your favorite daughter to fuck down in Hell, 'cause I know with the big strong body you have... they must've been all over you like sweet, seductive butter on a big hunk of hot lizard bread."

"I wish you made sense." Zerrex muttered, then he grunted softly as Cherry slid her hand up to toy gently with the bulging, sensitive head of his black-fleshed cock, before he countered by carefully sliding a hand down her back, slipping it around her body to grasp a breast and squeeze into it slowly, Cherry giving an effeminate 'eep!' of surprise. "Okay, okay, fine! It was probably Desire, you happy now? Gods, did her name ever fit her body."

Cherry grinned at this, then she turned a color that could only be described as cherry-red, asking playfully: "Does my name fit my body now, Boss? Or should I make it all the more appealing for you..." She winced as Zerrex pinched one of her nipples lightly, and then she groaned softly as she slid herself in front of him, reaching back to grasp his hips as she rose her tail to grind her firm, taut, and large buttocks slowly up and down against the front of his enormous member, but she refused to abandon her pretense of playful semi-chastity, asking him with a grin: "Why do you keep yourself so small, anyway? I know the full demon you and your full demon size, and I know you can do nasty, nasty things with those tentacles of yours, too... you might have all the experience you'll ever need to make me squeal like a girl at any point and time, but fuck, Boss, don't tell me you like being a little guy."

"My cock is almost three feet in length." Zerrex said grumpily, grasping Cherry's breasts and squeezing into them hard enough to crush her body back against his, as he ground hard up against her rear, along the side of the base of her tail, and up her back, making her moan before she grunted, her eyes bulging and her legs kicking in surprise as the Drakkaren slid a hand down to squeeze firmly into her crotch, two of his fingers instantly delving into the passage of her sex. The Drakkaren grinned widely at this, feeling his solid member throbbing against her back, knowing he could do anything to her and she'd never complain, that she'd only beg for more... and then he leaned forwards, whispering teasingly: "Why, what do you want, Cherry?"

This was one of his favorite games, and one that seemed benign and playful at first instead of how dark it could be: the Drakkaren found, after all, that most people begged for experiences they couldn't handle, and he enjoyed being the one to show them the error of their ways when his mood was right. After all, saying you wanted to experience pain with sex was one thing... handling it properly was another. And Cherry knew that, as she squirmed against him before blushing deeply as she whispered: "You know what I like, Boss... a giant cock, savagely ripping into me... both of us in our demonic bodies... you, godlike above me, your tentacles tearing into my mouth, my ass, as your savagely rip up my cunt with your dick..."

"You're cute." Zerrex softly kissed the side of her neck as he slid his hands down, gently hefting Cherry upwards, his shaft sliding slowly along her backside before she moaned softly as the head of his bulging member touched her rosebud... and then it tickled against the entrance to her sex, Cherry's blush growing deeper before her eyes bulged and she rocked her hips forwards against him with a groan of ecstasy as he slid himself slowly, inch-by-inch, along the entrance to her passage, his thick shaft grinding along the lips of her sex until she sat in his lap, her legs spread around the thick meat of his member.

His muscles flexed as he grasped into her hips, and Cherry took his thick penis into both of her hands, stroking his long, hard cock slowly in the hot water, her breasts bouncing a bit as he thrusted in slow time with her movements, growling hungrily... and Cherry grinned widely, licking her own muzzle hungrily as the male worked his huge cock between her legs, grinding against her sex and between her thighs, the feeling of his rock-hard erection sending shudders through her body. The very texture of his flesh against her fingers was delicious, and the female moaned softly before she bowed her head back, saying raggedly: "You're a god... a monster... everything I've ever wanted, Master... and I'd sacrifice anything for you, my love is so deep... myself, my children, the world... all for you..." And Cherry shuddered as she realized it was true, not just nasty talk to work them both to higher heights of lust and sexual insanity. "Fuck yes... oh Boss, I wanna kill and rape and rip people apart with you again... I want to experience us both fulfilling our lust like the demons we are in their gore..."

"Cherry..." Zerrex grunted, his muscles flexing hard against her, his teeth gritting as he began to thrust harder and faster between her legs. His member ached, begged for release, and the Drakkaren didn't bother to hold back as he thrusted between her thighs, feeling her sex rubbing against him, her labia burning hot, hotter even than the water surrounding his member and the hands tightly gripping and rapidly stroking his cock. He groaned hungrily, then he arched his back with a roar of delight as he suddenly experienced orgasm, his thick load gushing forth with enough power to rocket out of the water and splatter against the wall again and again, Zerrex groaning hungrily as water and seed dripped down the wall beside the tub as Cherry howled in ecstasy, riding his member and feeling like it was a bull beneath her and not simply the Drakkaren's cock, as she bounced up and down, her breasts making a sweet, wet slapping and her own muscles flexing as she milked the reptile's cock for every last sweet bit she could.

Finally, it slowed... and Cherry grinned over her shoulder at Zerrex, asking him playfully as she squeezed his shaft with one hand and stroked him under the chin with the other: "Bit of a hair trigger on you lately, huh?"

The next thing she knew, Zerrex grabbed her by the face and slammed her against the wall, her breasts smacking loudly into it and splattering droplets of water and semen over herself as she cried out, and then the reptile leaned in close, his grip on the back of her head crushing, a dark grin on his face as his eyes burned, his massive member still throbbing and dripping... and Cherry moaned in lust and surprise as he ground her face against the tile, whispering to her softly: "I didn't hear you, bitch. I thought you said something stupid. You better make up for whatever you foul whore mouth uttered by putting it to work doing the only thing it's good for... licking up every bit of my load that splattered over this wall. And while you do that... I think I'll help myself to a piece of your ass."

He brought his other hand down, spanking her rear hard, and Cherry's hips bucked, the side of her head still pinned against the wall by the strong male's hand as she whispered: "I'm not worthy, Master... you're so generous... I love you beyond any explanation, and worship both you and your godlike strength..."

"I know..." Zerrex's tone was lofty and almost arrogant, and for whatever reason, it made Cherry feel all the hotter, her tight sex dripping not only with water as a tremble of bliss ran through her, and then she groaned as the male forcefully ground her face along the wall before he finally released her, grasping his shaft and guiding the head of his cock to press lightly against her tender rosebud... and Cherry slowly positioned her mouth against the wall, taking the first long lick against it, tasting seed and water and tile... and Zerrex murred softly, saying in a loving voice: "Good, bitch... that's good. Now here."

And without any other warning, the reptile grunted and shoved his hips forwards, and Cherry screamed as she felt him penetrate into her tight anus, almost half of his member pressing into her before he stepped forwards, his testicles slapping against her sex as he arched his back and sandwiched her forcefully into the wall, her breasts crushing painfully into the tile as her limbs splayed over it, gritting her teeth with a grunt of pain as her face smacked against the wall... and she could feel Zerrex's claws sinking into her hips as he hilted inside of her, groaning hungrily against the back of her neck before he drew himself back... and dragged her hips forcefully backwards with him, his shaft grinding against the walls of her passage before he began to thrust powerfully and quickly, growling with a cruel grin: "If you haven't licked that entire wall clean by the time I'm done here, bitch, then I'm going to gut you like a goddamn fish!"

Cherry moaned and nodded, knowing that the reptile likely wasn't lying, and she quickly went to work, her head filled with the sound of his cock ripping in and out of her as his testicles smacked loudly again and again into her slick vagina, and the water splashed around their legs, almost boiling from the heat of their hot, rough sex. Cherry's tongue dragged over the tile as she moaned, every hard thrust sending her face crashing into the wall or slamming her nose against the cold, ugly tile, Zerrex growling behind her like an animal as he used and abused her... and even as she felt tears come to her eyes from her nose striking the wall so hard so many times, she loved every moment of it, loved being treated like nothing but a toy, loved the abuse, and cherished it as she cherished few other memories... and loved him more than she ever had before as they acted out their deepest, darkest desires together.

Again and again he pistoned in and out of her, as Cherry's tongue dragged over the tile in long, hungry licks, never pausing as she clung into the wall, tasting the Drakkaren's seed and feeling some of it leaking down her chin and over her breasts, and she groaned as she leaned in lower, but behind her, Zerrex didn't budge, only grinning as he forced her to shove her face completely against the wall and use it almost like a sponge to get the last of his seed, her back arched and her breasts bouncing viciously as he dug his claws deeper into her hips, leaning forwards a bit over her as he spread his legs a bit wider, water splashing around them... and the lizard grinned cruelly as his eyes drew over the wall, Cherry's head shoving into it as she screamed: "Yes, Master, yes! I... I finished I... oh... oh fuck!'

She screamed again, and Zerrex felt the muscles of her anus clenching around his pistoning cock as her vagina convulsed, unstimulated but hot and already leaking and dripping with water and her own juices, before she howled again in bliss, hips bucking wildly as she orgasmed. Her sweet nectar burst out from between her lips as they clenched and unclenched, spilling her stuff down her thighs as her head struck the wall again and again, and Zerrex growled at her before he snapped, despite the delight it gave him: "Did I give you permission to do that, whore? You stupid self-centered bitch!'

Cherry looked back at him, and Zerrex swung a fist out, punching her surprising strength. Her head swung back as he slammed himself to the hilt in her at the same time, a bit of blood leaking out of her anus from the savage pounding he was giving it, and her face struck the tile hard enough to send cracks through it, blood bursting from Cherry's mouth and nose. She cried out, then blushed deeply as not pain, but pleasure spread through her form, not looking at him this time as she whispered: "I'm sorry, my God, my Master... I am unworthy... please... do as you wish with me, punish me... oh... oh fuck... oh fuck it's so... it's so wonderful... I'm so sorry I betrayed this... oh fuck yes..."

She moaned lustfully, dropping her head forwards, and Zerrex's eyes gleamed before he whispered: "Fine. I've got the perfect punishment for you, bitch... since you've been begging for it so much, Master will just have to show you... and prove to you that you are nowhere near ready for his full power..."

The Drakkaren slowed his thrusts, then halted as he rested inside of her for a moment, Cherry looking confused... and Zerrex closed his eyes, concentrating as he growled like an animal. His back rippled strangely... and a moment later, four thick black tentacles, all ending in not tips but bulging, rounded cockheads pushed out of his back, twisting their way forwards as Cherry glanced hesitantly over her shoulder before she gasped as one snapped around her neck, crushing her throat with enough force to kill a normal mortal.

Another slid down between her legs, and Cherry wheezed before crying out weakly as she felt the penis-shaped head of the tentacle grinding lightly up and down the sensitive, blossomed lips of her sex... and then her eyes bulged as she gave a breathless shriek at the feeling of the tentacle tearing forwards, ripping down her passage, pushing into her depths, and seeming to go all the way to her womb as she cried out again, her hips automatically bucking.

A second tentacle ground up against one of her thighs, as large and thick as the first, and then the head of it rubbed slowly over her belly before dragging down towards the lips of her sex... and Cherry whimpered weakly as the head of the tentacle wrapped around her neck pushed teasingly over her features, but she was unable to speak, the grip on her throat too tight... and then she cried out again, rasping more than screaming, before a real scream did tear from her as the tentacle buried inside her sex pulled viciously to the side and the second tentacle rammed its way forwards, bulldozing into her vagina as the lips of her sex first stretched, and then tore. Her legs kicked wildly, her head shaking back and forth in shock, pain, and terrible, lustful pleasure as she felt the second tentacle stretching her vagina insanely wide, ripping its way down her passage and towards her depths, where the other tentacle had curled into and was now resting... and she bucked wildly, moaning weakly before the cockhead that had been grinding against her face buried into her muzzle, the demoness gagging as the grip it had around her neck loosened just enough so it could force its way down her throat, her eyes bulging and tears running down her face as she felt the tentacle slithering around her neck like a snake.

The final tentacle wrapped several times around her body, then around one of her breasts before it settled between them, and Zerrex laughed behind her as his horns emerged from his skull, his eyes glowing green as his other demonic characteristics slowly emerged, and Cherry felt her horns coming out of her skull as Zerrex's undeniable demonic presence filled the room... before her eyes widened again as she felt her body bulging, unable to look down but feeling a distinct push against her insides... and her belly was indeed bulging, her chiseled abs vanishing as the tentacles inside her ground against her.

She writhed, kicking and splashing the water as steam filled the air around them, the water boiling from the sheer heat the demons were giving off... before Zerrex grinned as his muscles flexed, a growl coming from his throat as he slowly began to grow. Inch by inch his height increased as his size and bulk did the same, but inside her, Cherry felt his tentacles slowly thickening even further as the massive cock buried into her ass grew not bit-by-bit, but with much greater speed. She moaned around the tentacle buried in her maw, her eyes rolling wildly in her head as her body bulged from the sheer amount of demonic reptile buried inside of her, and then Zerrex growled, speaking in a vicious, hungry voice: "You're mine now, whore. All mine." He paused, grinning darkly as he let go of her hips, and his tentacles ground against her, easily lifting her into the air to pull her against his muscular, enormous chest as he flexed teasingly, adding lustfully: "And I'm going to turn this fantasy of yours into a nightmare."

With that, the Drakkaren reached up with one hand to grasp the breast not being squeezed by a tentacle as he sank his other into her side, and he began to thrust viciously upwards with a monstrous penis that had grown to nearly sixty inches long. Again and again it tore into Cherry's body, brutally pounding up into her as the demonic reptile's tentacles twisted, thrusted, and ground against her sides, their terrible flexibility teasing every inch of Cherry's insides as she tried her best to scream around the tentacle buried down her jaws, but as it was, she couldn't even breathe: she could only bounce, giving muffled moans and cries with every hard, fast piston of the reptile's monstrous penis, as he grinned viciously and used her like a toy.

Her hips bucked, blood running from both of her passages and down her face from her nose, her eyes bulging with pain and a deep, horrendous pleasure she couldn't shake, tears streaming from her eyes as he did her best to fight her needs, but her lust and needs were both too great. She loved every second of it, feeling herself being used savagely as the tentacles tore all the way into her womb, her eyes bulging as her body burned with pleasure, Zerrex grunting and snarling like a beast behind her as she felt the powerful muscles covering his body flex and move, felt his claws sinking into her side and sensitive breast as the other was squeezed by a tentacle that ground itself through her bosom again and again at the same time. She was too stretched for her muscles to work properly in her sex, but she knew if she could, she would already be experiencing another orgasm: not only from the intense bliss, but the ecstatic pain as well.

Zerrex, meanwhile, was experiencing wonderful carnal delight: pleasure flooded his body from everywhere, as he tilted his head back and roared to the ceiling, feeling power pulsing through every inch of his body. Again and again his thick ebony member pounded hard up into her tight anus, the reptile grinning widely as he felt blood running down his fingers, down his tentacles, down his monstrous cock, and he could feel the agony and the pleasure in Cherry's body as well, both fueling him to greater and greater exertions. He slammed himself harder and faster with each passing moment in and out of Cherry, feeling her kicking uselessly as testicles the size of beachballs slammed into his own tentacles and the stretched sex of the demoness, and he licked his muzzle slowly with a long, thick tongue as a bit of drool fell from his jaws, his eyes burning with bliss as he felt his body on the brink another powerful orgasm.

And as suddenly as he'd decided to take the game to a whole new level, he felt his cock stiffening and his tentacles become frenzied, their movements harder, squeezing Cherry's body tight enough to crack her ribs and the other around her neck throttling her as the cockhead buried down her throat rammed harder and faster, egged on by the feeling of itself crushing into itself with only a thin layer of Cherry's throat between them. His fingers ripped a gouge in her breast as it bounced, feeling her hard nipple against his palm as blood leaked down it and over his wrist, the other hand digging into her side almost deep enough for him to feel the tentacles squirming, writhing, and pistoning inside of her as his enormous member tore over and over up into her tight ass, testicles slapping with a fierce rhythm against her and his own appendages, and the water boiled and toiled beneath them as Zerrex spread his legs and Cherry's bucked wildly. Then Zerrex roared in pleasure again, this one shaking the foundations of the house as Cherry somehow screamed, however muffled, around the member buried down her throat... and her legs kicked wildly, her body bucking and spasming as something tore inside of her before she felt the first gargantuan blasts of the reptile's load spilling into her form.

Blast after blast shot not only from the reptile's thick obsidian cock, but also from his tentacles, filling every crevice inside Cherry's body before the tentacle throttling her pulled suddenly back, rearing over her to send burst after burst over her face as she coughed and almost vomited white load, semen spraying out of her muzzle in a great, almost volcanic burst as more of the thick stuff splattered over her bosom, her eyes bulging as she managed a ragged shriek around the white goo leaking over her jaws as the tentacle ground itself almost viciously into her features as it released volley after volley of load. At the same time, the two tentacles inside of her body were spilling so much seed out that it was making her form balloon and bulge, the demoness flailing and spasming uselessly as Zerrex laughed viciously and continued to thrust in and out of her with a cruel grin on his features, his eyes burning with bliss... and Cherry took it as best she could, her hands uselessly gripping at the tentacle squeezing into her body as she moaned sharply with every movement, feeling the seed exploding from the reptile's cock filling her rear quickly and giving as much, if not more, as the tentacles had released... before suddenly, Zerrex released her, and she fell into the water, striking her head off the edge of the tub and sinking into the shallow pool as the demon grinned darkly and growled down at her, his tentacles slowly sliding away from her form to rise into the air around him, Zerrex looking back and forth as his fifty-eight inch cock throbbed with masculine power, so thick the demon could barely fit his own huge hand around the base of the shaft as it leaked the last of its load into the tub, the other tentacles dripping with his seed as he said darkly: "There's your fantasy, bitch. As you can see, I'm not the one who's all talk here... you're the stupid slut who couldn't handle me. Now get up and clean your master, whore."

There was no movement, and Zerrex frowned... then he kicked at Cherry lightly, but she laid still at the bottom of the tub, and the Drakkaren swallowed, staring stupidly at the water. Blood and seed floating through the water made it impossible to see the bottom, but there were no ripples, no bubbles, no movement... and the reptile dropped character, reaching his tentacles down into the water like feelers as he knelt and felt along the bottom of the tub with his hands, until he grabbed her and lifted the demoness up, shaking her briskly... but her body was limp, the water and seed and blood dripping off her as she made no movements, limbs hanging uselessly and eyes closed, head dropped forwards. "C... Cherry? Oh... oh fuck, Cherry, Cherry, fuck, Cherry, answer me!"

Zerrex stared, trembling weakly, wondering if he had just killed her during their game, if he'd been too rough, hating himself, hating what he'd become... and then Cherry opened her eyes and grinned, rasping: "Psych!"

The demon gaped stupidly... and then Cherry leaned forwards, grabbed his mouth, and kissed him firmly. For a moment, Zerrex grinned... and then his eyes bulged as she coughed and a huge burst of his own seed flooded his muzzle. He flailed wildly, letting her go, but Cherry seized him by the hair, making the demon yelp and tug at her to try and get her off even as she forced more of his own seed down his throat. Finally, he punched her in the stomach, and she coughed again, Zerrex feeling more of his own load burst into his muzzle, but it made her flinch and he was able to drag her off his face, dropping her on her ass into the tub.

She laughed stupidly as Zerrex spat out a large wad of his own seed, making a bit of a face as he rubbed at his muzzle slowly, mumbling: "I hate you. You had me so goddamn worried... and like, that's sexy in conservation, but too much is just too goddamn much."

"Oh, right, because you didn't fill me with so much I look like I'm pregnant." Cherry shot back, her throat bruised but obviously healed. She patted her stomach, then squeezed herself with a wince to flatten her stomach out somewhat, and Zerrex made a face and stepped back a bit as the water around her turned dull white. "But hey, don't look so pissy. That really was hot, Boss... I don't see why you aren't like that more often with me, unf."

"Because it makes me feel dumb. You don't need to be rude to be dominating." Zerrex muttered, as he withdrew his tentacles into his body. He was still semi-hard, but he soon became flaccid as he forced his demonic characteristics to vanish back into his body, as he shrank back down to his normal size. It made Cherry pout as she crossed her arms, watching as Zerrex carefully stepped out of the goo-filled tub. "Wash yourself up."

"Fuck that shit! Get your ass back in here!" Cherry ordered, pointing at the water, and the reptile made a face at her... but less than ten minutes later, the reptile muttered to himself, the two sitting in relatively-clean water that was further purified by bubble-bath, Cherry cheerfully clinging to his side and whispering teasingly to him every now and then. With the way she acted, Zerrex often wondered if she was flat-out insane...but at the same time, she could get all soft and romantic, and it was sweet when she did, like now.

They were both relatively-clean, thanks to rinsing each other quickly off, and the tub didn't take long to empty or long to fill: after all, no matter what the temperature of the water was, once Cherry got in she could heat it up however much she liked. It also made her rather nice to snuggle up with... and Zerrex smiled a bit, now feeling considerably better than he had earlier. Cherry still had a bit of a bruise around her neck, but that was fading too... and Zerrex hesitated for a few moments before finally murmuring: "I'm sorry, for bein' too rough with you, Cherry. I guess I lost my head... my Lust side must have taken over."

"Bullshit, it was sexy as hell and I loved every minute of it." Cherry said firmly, and she rested her head on his shoulder, closing her eyes as she murmured softly: "I think your problem, Boss, is that you let all these... rules of honor and etiquette and what other people think get in your way, and you forget to be yourself and let yourself go crazy every now and then. Look at me, I act like the most mentally-unbalanced retard in our whole fucked-up family, but the scary shit is, I'm one of the ones who deals with their shit better than the rest of 'em. I mean, look at Cindy and Marina. If there's anything Marina got from her momma, it's the way she throws one hell of a fit when she gets real pissed off."

"Like you're one to talk." Zerrex said dryly, squeezing her gently against his body, and she laughed before smiling and nestling closer. They rested quietly together for a few moments, then Zerrex sighed a bit, rubbing a hand through his wet hair. "I dunno, though... I don't want to let myself go too much. There's too many dangerous things inside my mind... things like Ravenlight, and worse, buried deep inside my head..."

"Yeah... like the Princess." Cherry murmured softly, and Zerrex nodded slowly, looking down quietly. He remembered all too well what Cherry was referring to... he remembered how he had been forced to absorb the very soul of the Princess at the end of their great battle to ensure she couldn't crawl back out of some deep, dark pit to seek revenge... and he remembered even clearer millions of years back, when he had done an exercise under the guidance of the Four Sisters of the Judgment Cross, demigods of Hell who were among his most loyal companions.

It had gone wrong, though, when Zerrex had found himself inside his own mind... and without a way out. He had wandered for what felt like hours in a maze of ugly metal pipes, red walls, and grated floors, until he found an ancient elevator leading down deeper into the catacombs... and not knowing what else to do, he'd taken it down.

At the bottom of the elevator, somewhere in the depths of his subconscious, the Princess had been waiting, preening herself on a throne of gold and platinum, sitting in a bright, wide spotlight. He had stared in horror, the walls made of Drakkai skulls and Drakkai bones, the floor Drakkai scales and the lights above shining from a hundred thousand dead Drakkai eyes making up the ceiling... and she'd smiled coldly at him from beneath the golden mask that covered features Zerrex had only seen once... but it was a scarred and ugly face, just like his. And what scared him most... was that her eyes were the same green as his own, and although she was both lither and much taller, and a wingless Dragokkaren female... he saw far too many resemblances between them both.

"It's good to see you finally came for a visit." she had said in her imperious, cold voice... and her eyes had been filled with such anger, such hatred, but she didn't lash out at him. Zerrex had the impression she could attempt to hurt him if she wanted to, but she apparently realized that whatever nightmarish place his subconscious might be for him, it would work in hellish ways to defend its master.

She did, however, have enough power to have made her own little tumor in his mind, a home away from home for her... a Goddess that was used to her own kingdom and her own terrible rule, now subjugated and imprisoned inside her worst enemy, born of an experiment gone wrong that had killed her when she was mortal. Once upon a time, thousands of mortal years ago, Narrius had been her Warlord, after all, killing all who opposed her... until she had tried to sacrifice him to increase her strength, and she had become another victim, sent down to Hell by her own beast.

Not to say that the Princess was an insane mortal who proclaimed herself as a Goddess: no, she was ancient to the point she had once battled against God Himself, and powerful enough she had driven Him away, even if she herself had been made mortal during the conflict by some bizarre spell-gone-wrong. And in Hell, she had regained her glory... and been a member of the conspiracy that had lashed all the way to the Heavens and felled God, putting Narrius in His place as part of a vast plot to destroy the known universe and the planes of Heaven and Hell.

And now this evil incarnate was being slowly but surely broken down inside Zerrex to fuel him and strengthen his spirit, even if she had managed to build herself a shelter and her own petulant kingdom. She had been all too glad to show him around the world she had created inside his mind, and she had rambled on and on about her struggle to survive... all while judging him and treating him like a disgusting monster. It had made Zerrex cringe and want to lash out at her in return... but he had held his temper, and that had seemed to piss her off even more.

The Princess, of course, had tried to seduce him, tried to tempt him, and tried even simply asking for him to let her go, and Zerrex had clearly said no each and every time. It had made her more and more frustrated, until finally she'd thrown up her arms and declared that he should leave, and he'd been forcefully ejected from her little kingdom and his own mind, snapped back into reality. When he'd shared what had happened, the Sisters had talked amongst themselves about performing exorcisms, sanctification rituals, and other such things, but finally they'd settled on letting things go as they would.

Cherry nudged the Drakkaren, bringing him back to the present, and then she kissed his cheek, asking gently: "Got anything on your mind you wanna share?"

"I love you." Zerrex said simply, and she'd smiled before they shared a slow, quiet kiss, Cherry stroking over his face slowly as he hugged her tight against his body, their tongues dancing slowly and leisurely as they explored the familiarity of each other's mouths, before their lips parted reluctantly and Cherry curled up against him, grabbing one of his hands and guiding it to her breast. Zerrex had started to slowly and absently play with the swell, gently stroking his thumb along the nipple and nuzzling into her neck softly here and there, and they relaxed in the wonderful heat of the tub and each other, the water swirling and bubbling here and there around them as mounds of soap and bubbles floated by, clinging to their bodies and riding the small waves that rippled over the surface of the water.