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Half an hour later, they climbed out of the transport and entered the house, Vampire helping Zerrex along before Cindy gently grabbed his other arm, the reptile mumbling but not resisting much as she said softly over her shoulder: "Everyone, to the den. We already have another problem."

Zerrex mumbled something under his breath as he rose his head, feeling too tired and achy to care, but when he saw what was on the television, he gritted his teeth as he became all too awake, Cindy guiding him to a sheet she'd set up on the floor as Marina looked worriedly at him for a few moments before returning her eyes to the TV, as Sammy ran up to jump on a table and Mahihko and Lone stood behind the couch, leaning on it as Vampire dropped beside Cherry to stare in shock. Cindy was the only one not watching, but she listened closely even as she tapped a command in on the reptile's armlet to make the nanomachines vanish from his body and removed his sword holder and Reminiscence. Zerrex barely felt any of this, however, as he could only stare at the headline: Balthazar A Traitor?

Kafka was on screen, looking furious and younger than he had before, his cane in his hand as he gestured at the slaughter behind him, where medical teams were tending to wounded humans and Irenic soldiers who were babbling away to other soldiers in newer armor... but they were only getting absent nods as Irenic troopers patrolled the area and kept reporters and a gawking crowd out. "-without any provocation, and the humans didn't even fight back, as you can well see from how many are dead and wounded! This was supposed to be a peaceful meeting of the minds, but apparently Balthazar decided that the humans were a threat to his interests... he is not interested in unity, after all, but just like all the other old Irenic tyrants, power! And that is why I plan to call an election, bring this traitor and his demon friends who did this down, and become a real leader of Ire, a leader who had taken evil and turned it to goodness and unity! A leader who will protect the citizens of this country and who will work against traitors like Balthazar!"

"Oh shit." Cherry said plaintively, and then she winced as she looked across at Zerrex, not even pausing to make some quip when she saw the Drakkaren was only in his boxers now, and Cindy was carefully inspecting his fractured shin and ugly knee. "So uh... what the fuck do we tell Balthazar? That we screwed up?"

"I'm not sure." Zerrex said after a moment, looking down quietly. He didn't feel like he screwed up, but that might just be pride talking... and then he winced when Cindy prodded his knee, saying flatly: "Can we do this later?"

"No." Cindy murmured, and then she sighed as Kafka started off on another rant, looking up and asking sharply: "Can someone turn that crap off? It's not like we can do anything about it right now, either, except wait for things to cool down so we can tell our side of the story and let Balthazar know what happened."

"Those soldiers are going to so be neutralized." Cherry muttered as she held up the remote and pressed a button, and the screen went blue as she looked around and asked cheerfully: "Hey, who wants to watch a victory movie? We got everything from porno to cartoons?"

No one spoke up... most likely because no one felt like they had scored much of a victory. There was a long silence, even Vampire looking down as he took off his sunglasses and rubbed at them awkwardly, and then finally Cherry snorted and stood up, crossing her arms and saying flatly: "Guys, fuck. Cheer the hell up. Listen, we proved something today, even if Kafka's being an asshole and trying to turn the tide in his favor... the humans ain't unstoppable. And now that we know that motherfucker Animaxander is a bad guy, we can go and put a stop to him. Yeah, so what? An election will be called. Big deal. Takes months for those to go anywhere and Balthazar's a smart guy, he'll figure out how to stall for time."

She stopped, and then she said in a more pleading voice: "Look, I know how you feel. Like the fucking carpet's been jerked out from under us and we just landed face-first in a pile of shit. But we can either puke and say this shit sucks and cry about it, or we can grin and wipe it off and keep going. And fuck me if I'm going to let you all mope, especially you, Vampire, 'cause you're a fucking emo bitch sometimes for someone who's freaking invulnerable."

"Fuck you." Vampire retorted, but he was smiling a bit nonetheless as he looked up at her, shaking his head with slow entertainment, and even Zerrex felt a bit lightened. Cherry was right, after all... there was no use moping, and even if Kafka did have a tidal wave of support... it would be months before it would mean anything in his favor. Then he winced when Cindy poked a sore spot, before it turned into a blaze of pain, and he cursed and jerked his leg away as he realized she had just jabbed a scalpel into him, an ugly pus leaking out of his knee as he reached down to cover it before hesitating and instead looking morbid.

"You could have warned me." he finally muttered, and then he winced when he felt everyone's eyes on him, blushing a bit as he looked down at the ugly goop leaking out of his leg before Cindy wiped it up slowly, and when he glanced to the side to see Mahihko and Lone both looking sick, he finally said: "Cherry, take the wolves outside and help them unload the transport, huh? But change out of your gear first."

"Got it." Cherry peered at his leg with a curious sort of distaste, and then she cleared her throat when Zerrex glowered at her, and she walked over and ruffled his hair, hiding her concern with a grin before she grabbed the two wolves and dragged them out into the hall... before she paused ,then walked over and grabbed Vampire by the head, jerking him over the couch and nearly tipping it over as he yelped and she dragged him off by the horns, the demonic wolf flailing wildly as she called: "See you guys later!"

"I'll put the gear here away." Marina said softly, looking at her father worriedly for a moment... and then she leaned down and kissed his cheek softly before she picked up Vampire's dropped machine-shotgun, before walking over and leaning down to grasp the hilt of Zerrex's sword, hefting it with a grunt and shouldering it as she murmured to Cindy: "Be gentle with him."

Then she left, and Zerrex and Cindy were left alone as Cindy gazed at him quietly, sponging slowly at his knee as she whispered: "I'm so sorry, Father... this is really serious, though, you know..."

"It always is with me..." Zerrex replied with a faint smile, and Cindy blushed before nodding, and then the Drakkaren asked quietly: "Can you put on a movie with his drains, then? I know the process by now, I remember it well from... the old days."

"The old days." Cindy echoed, but she nodded and got up, walking over to the pile of games and movies they had before she selected one; an old cartoon. She knew him too damn well... I might sometimes get bored of action movies, tired of drama and too sad for comedies... but I always love a good cartoon...

She put it into the battered video disc player, then grabbed the remote and walked back over to Zerrex, squatting beside him and asking gently: "Want me to put you up on the couch?"

"My body hurts too much for that right now." Zerrex replied honestly, figuring lying at this point would just be redundant. Cindy nodded, and then the Drakkaren rested back on his hands, saying softly: "You can go ahead and check the rest of my body. You got that motherly look in your eyes."

Cindy laughed a bit, and then she nodded and began with his chest, her fingers moving carefully, probing over ridges of muscle and finding his tender spots. After doing a thorough check of his chest, she absently started the movie with the remote before leaving it beside Zerrex, saying softly: "Just wait here. I'm going to go and get my medical kit."

The Drakkaren nodded, and then he focused his attention on the cartoon, relaxing a bit before he smiled faintly as Sammy peered his head over the couch, craning his neck down to nibble at his hair before he chirped softly, and the reptile shrugged, saying quietly: "Cindy and Ixin did some work together on me before... the worry is that eventually I'm going to deteriorate into... who knows what... if they can't fix the Lucifer's Eye process. My body might be made up of energy, but I'm slowly losing cohesion... I maintain my form better in Hell, but only by so much... not enough that staying in Hell would mean my body would stick together permanently. On the one hand, it lets me do some powerful things... but on the other, eventually I'll just dissolve, and who knows what'll happen then."

Sammy looked at him quietly, and then he nipped the Drakkaren's muzzle firmly as he said in a perfect mimic of Marina's voice: "Don't you dare."

Zerrex laughed a bit at this, and then he smiled slightly. "Well, Ixin's working away as hard as he can... Cindy's a genius... and as long as I don't overexert myself too often, I won't wear myself down so fast. I can repair a little bit of the damage with sleeping and eating and standard stuff like that, too... so you know. One way or the other, I'm sure they'll figure out something to do with me."

Sammy chirped, and then Cindy came back into the room with her medical kit, opening it and going through the contents of it before she picked up a finer scalpel, murmuring: "Minor incision, Daddy... got to check something."

"Just make it quick." Zerrex looked away, then he winced when Cindy cut into his knee from a different angle, forcing himself to just watch the cartoon... but even though it stung, it hurt a hell of a lot less than some of the aches making themselves known through his body. A moment later, he felt a wet cloth dabbling at him, and then a sponging... and he breathed slowly in and out, keeping his body relaxed and trying to bring himself above the pain as Cindy continued her careful work.

An hour later, Zerrex had much of his bad leg wrapped up in medical bandages and a splint on his shin, as well as salves applied over the parts of his body that had taken the worst hits... and the Drakkaren was relaxing on the couch with his head in Cindy's lap, as she brushed and washed dirt out of his hair with a wet sponge and a bowl of water. Cherry was on the other couch, either asleep or entranced with the cartoon, and the reptile had no clue what the wolves or Marina were up to, but he was content to just relax here, as Sammy laid on the tall back of the couch with his head on his forelimbs.

Balthazar hadn't yet phoned, and admittedly the Drakkaren was a little worried about that: he really, really hoped nothing bad had happened to him, but he had no doubt that Balthazar was probably inundated with phone calls, press, and other bits of nastiness. The reptile shook his head slowly, and then he glanced up when Mahihko came in proudly with a tray of cookies, saying cheerfully: "They're still hot, so-"

Cherry sniffed the air, then immediately rolled off the couch, landing on her knees and reaching her hands out to grab two handfuls of cookies and shove them into her mouth, munching greedily as Mahihko looked horrified before he pouted, saying sulkily: "These are for Daddy, Cherry. Not for you."

The female tried to say something, and crumbs spilled out of her mouth, making her quickly cover her jaws as Zerrex gave her a sour look, before she grumbled as she bent down to start picking up the mess she'd made. Then he smiled at Mahihko as the wolf put down the plate and beamed shyly at him, before he picked up a cookie as the lupine watched closely and ate it, nodding to him. "Thank you, wolf. These are very, very good."

"I'm glad you like them, Daddy!" Mahihko bounced off, and a few minutes later he came back with a tray loaded with coffee mugs as Cindy and Zerrex shared the plate of what remained between them, Cherry looking huffy on the other couch because the two refused to give her any more after how many she'd already eaten. She brightened considerably when the little wolf offered her a cup of coffee, however, and guzzled half the contents of the mug down in the first gulp before she smacked her lips loudly and said cheerily: "Good shit, wolf. Real nice."

Mahihko smiled at her, and then he handed one to Cindy and Zerrex, as the gentle female asked: "So where's your brother, as you like to call him?"

"Vampire's fucking him." Mahihko said brightly, and Zerrex almost snorted coffee out his nose, swallowing forcefully and then clearing his throat as he hammered on his breast, Cherry's eyes going big as Cindy continued to simply look calmly at the little lupine. "I think Marina's trying to nap, so she might get real mad if they wake her up."

"Great." Zerrex rolled his eyes, then he looked over at Cherry, who was grinning predatorily. "You're going to have to take him back to Hell soon, you realize. And possibly neuter him."

Cherry huffed at this... and then one of Mahihko's ears twitched, and he bounced suddenly out of the room, Zerrex and Cherry exchanging looks before he came back with the reptile's satellite phone, holding it out to him as he whispered: "It's Balthazar."

Zerrex was surprised: the phone had to have been up in his room, but he guessed that the wolf's ears had to be useful for something. He glanced down at it, and then he shrugged and sat up, Cindy looking at him worriedly as Mahihko sat on the other side of him, bouncing a bit as he watched the cartoons cheerfully. "Hello?"

"Zerrex, I've got... rioters and angry soldiers and..." the ferret's voice was strained, and even the silence felt stressful as he paused before he asked finally: "What happened?"

"Animaxander betrayed us. It was all planned from the very beginning." Zerrex said quietly, as Cherry flopped out of the couch onto the floor so she could reach out and pause the movie, looking intently at the Drakkaren. "He brought a lot of soldiers, evil spirits, and a very large, very angry bodyguard who kicked the crap out of me before I put him down. If you think you got it bad, you should see me. I'm in my boxers and so bruised and beaten up even Cherry isn't leaping on me for sexual favors."

Balthazar sighed at this, but he seemed to calm, and the reptile could almost hear his mind working before he said softly: "Kafka knew about the meeting, and I don't remember telling him or publicizing any of this. This is a strange move, however: taking away the Presidency from me means that he could affect and change laws, but it does little to change the actual situation, which is that he is trying to operate from the shadows with Animaxander. Backlash from what happened is very minimal, anyway: the humans are essentially aliens, and even if they have been spreading throughout Ire, helping people out... they didn't build up the essential degree of trust to make their martyrdom cost-effective, if you'll pardon the cruel use of the term."

Zerrex grunted in agreement, frowning a bit: Balthazar was right. If they had shown themselves to be generous and kind preceding the slaughter, then they would have affected more of the populace... but as it was, it was probably just enough to gain Kafka a little bit more support. Kafka, too, could have taken the Presidency at any time, with how his modified National Socialism movement had swept through the nation... and then Zerrex said the only thing that made sense to him: "I think... they're scared, and Kafka wants to secure his power grip over his supporters by... at least pretending to run a campaign against you, I dunno."

The ferret didn't answer immediately, and the reptile gave him time to think before he said softly: "Either way, now we have Animaxander to deal with, who claims to have never gone to the meeting and is sending out quite a strong message to the people from his cathedral, looking for the sympathy of Ire and yet also sending out more of his missionaries. They're very quickly positioning themselves in cities throughout the country, and it is... worrisome, to say the least. He's calling for justice, Lord Zerrex... and I'm worried that he or Kafka will send out some fanatics of their apparent joint-cause to attack you. After all, while I am the figurehead of the country... I'm of no real importance, and destroying me would not serve their purpose: if these so-called martyrs killed me, it would defeat their own message and take away the sense of tyranny. They would be labeled something much different than martyrs and preachers, to be sure."

The Drakkaren mused a bit over this, and then he said slowly: "I don't want to guess what Animaxander can or will do, Balthazar... but lock up tight, and keep your most-trusted around you these days. I'm going to send a message down to Hell once... I figure out what to actually ask for and say, but I do know we'll need reinforcements on the mortal plane. Are you okay with some powerful demons coming up here to help us deal with this bastard? Because whatever else, he can somehow use some sort of magic even without crystals or corruption, from what I've seen."

"Disturbing news." Balthazar paused for a few moments, and then he finally said candidly: "I can't approve of you bringing powerful demons through the immigration portals, Lord Zerrex... let's... put it that way. Do you understand?"

The Drakkaren did... and he smiled wryly as he gave Cherry a thumbs-up, who grinned and rubbed her hands together slowly. "We'll deal with Animaxander once we figure out what to do with the bastard. For now, keep yourself secure until we can gather our forces to move against him, alright? And watch out, because he has some very powerful allies, from what I've encountered... that oversized security taskforce assigned to you might actually come in handy for a change."

Balthazar nodded, and Zerrex heard him exhale loudly, meaning he was probably smoking his nargile or a cigarette, depending on where he was. "Alright, Zerrex. I trust you on this... and I'm indebted to you for this aid. I'll keep in contact, should anything happen."

"Take care, Balthazar." the Drakkaren said quietly, and then he closed the phone and shook his head a bit, putting it down on the table and reaching down to pick up one of the last cookies from the plate, eating it meditatively as the others looked at him. Then he finally sighed and shook his head, saying flatly: "Let's just finish the movie, okay? Then Cherry and Vampire and I can head down to Hell once we get stuff in order, and-"

"Me and Lone too!" Mahihko waved a hand in the air, and the reptile rolled his eyes before he looked at Cindy, who shrugged a bit. Then he looked back at the wolf, who gazed up at him pleadingly as he hugged his arm tightly. "Please? We'll be a really big help with stuff, I promise!"

"Alright, alright." Zerrex rolled his eyes, smiling a bit despite himself as he nodded slowly, and then he turned back to the television, watching the last half hour of the cartoon morbidly as the little wolf curled happily against his side, unable to stop himself from wondering if this was really such a good idea, but knowing it would at least give him time to heal up and prepare his strategy.

Of course, the moment the credits rolled, Cherry leapt to her feet and bounced off with Mahihko for the wolf's room, hammering on the door and yelling loudly: "Vampire, get your dick outta that wannabe faggot, we gotta head down to Hell with the Boss!" A pause, and then a cackle. "Dude, even I think you look like a whore!"

"Shut up!" Lone's voice yelped, and there was a sound of pattering paws before another door slammed and locked, and the Drakkaren decided to give him another half-hour for the wolf to shower and clean up. Why can't this just be... a normal life in a normal world?

Zerrex, on the other hand, took about five minutes to get dressed: a few seconds to activate the armlet and create a pair of jeans and a black t-shirt over his chest, and then four minutes to find his cane in his room. When he came back down the ladder, Marina and Cindy both hugged him tightly, and he wrapped an arm around either girl, holding them close and lowering his head a bit as Marina whispered: "I'll miss you, Daddy... but take care of yourself in Hell and take as long as you need to heal up. We'll hold the fort down here."

The Drakkaren nodded... and then he sighed as he heard a hammering at the door, muttering as he glared at it: "Oh perfect timing. I'll get it, I-"

"Daddy, no!" Marina shouted, and Zerrex stopped, looking over his shoulder at her with surprise before something hammered hard on the door again... and the reptile's eyes shot forwards as he rose his cane, and something smashed against the door several more times before it was knocked off its hinges, and the reptile snarled as Cindy stepped forwards beside him with her fists raised as undead piled through the open doorway, rotting flesh and torn clothes still clinging to the bones of most of the zombies as they staggered inside, and the angel shouted: "I thought we went through this last time a war broke out!"

A zombie lunged at her, and Cindy simply punched its skull in, sending it back into the crowd... but it was quickly trampled underfoot as a Mahihko and Vampire appeared in the now-crowded hallway, the little wolf hugging himself in horror as the larger demonic lupine looked shocked. Then Cherry stuck her head out of the room and winced before she shoved her way through the crowd and simply barreled into one of the lead zombies, shoving herself against the undead minotaur's broad, mostly-still-there chest and forcing the whole lineup out of the door as they fell all over each other, before she reached the doorway and roared as she shoved the group out, then yelped when one bit her tail, spinning and stomping its head into a gooey mass on the floor before she picked up the door and shoved it into place, yelling: "Someone kill these fuckers and grab some shit to barricade this with! There's a crapload of the motherfuckers all throughout the streets and-"

Cherry paused, then jerked her body to the side, and a moment later a sword tore through the door where her stomach had been a moment before, wincing. "Fucking humans ain't being attacked by them, Animaxander must have something to do with this!" She paused, then cursed and leapt away from the door entirely, and three swords tore through it seconds later before the door was torn out of the way and thrown aside, only for Cherry to immediately throw a fireball at the invaders and blast them backwards, before she snarled and created a wall of flame outside, concentrating on it to rapidly turn up the heat and at the same time keeping the flames from burning the house.

Cindy and Zerrex had already finished off the other undead, and they hauled the bodies to the doorway and threw them outside, their rotting, reeking flesh quickly being consumed by the flames as Marina and Vampire carried in the table from the kitchen, while Mahihko stayed back, whimpering loudly. As they managed to get the table into place, Zerrex and Cindy hurried to grab chairs and anything else they could find as Cherry made a face and muttered something before she ran quickly for the ladder, knocking Mahihko over, and the wolf trembled before he shook his head and quickly ran into the kitchen, closing the windows and the shutters and hurrying around the house to do the same in every other ground floor room that had them.

Then Cherry leapt down the ladder with a crystal in either hand even as Vampire yelped a sword being stabbed through him, and she tossed one to Zerrex, shouting: "I need you to create an earth wall, you got the juice for that?"

"More than enough." Zerrex replied with a grimace, holding the crystal up and concentrating outside the house... and a moment later there was a rumble before a wall of rock and stone shot up along the front of the structure, effectively blocking it off from undead and hurtling several zombies and humans into the air. Then the lizard winced as he rubbed at his head, but the ache wasn't bad: since he was focusing through a crystal, it used up very little of his energies, and he stepped back as Cherry punched a hole in the table barrier and looked outside, muttering a spell the Drakkaren recognized as 'Reshape.'

The ugly, jutting wall of rock shuddered, then became flatter and thicker, molding itself firmly back against the front of the house and protecting the front entirely from attack as undead wandered stupidly back and forth in front of it, and humans hacked at it uselessly with their swords for a few moments before they simply gave up and ran off to assist the undead into tearing into another home.

"We have to go to Hell now. They'll find a way in eventually, and we need to figure out what the hell's going on here." Zerrex said urgently to Cherry, and she nodded with a grunt of agreement, handing her crystal to Marina as Zerrex handed his to Cindy, looking at her squarely. "I want you to phone Balthazar and find out of this is country-wide or isolated. It might have come on fast, but since we've seen this before, I think people are going to react just as quickly to it once they realize what's going on, and I know demons are more-than-willing to defend themselves and others from things like this.

"Mahihko, get Lone and tell him we need to go now." Zerrex held his cane out, and energy sparked before slowly forming into a white portal... and the Drakkaren cursed under his breath as it flickered and distorted oddly, Cherry frowning at him as the reptile muttered: "Something's trying to force it closed... goddammit, this can't be Animaxander, can it?"

"So are you going to lose to that human?" Cherry asked mildly, hands on her hips... and the Drakkaren's eye twitched as he snarled and shoved his cane forwards, and the portal sparked again before it stabilized, the reptile looking moody... but the demoness only grinned widely, crossing her arms. She knew just how to poke Zerrex in the right way when it came right down to it, and even if it meant he'd be pissed with her for a little while... once they got down to Hell, they would have more than enough time to figure everything out and for him to start liking her again. "Vampire, get your ass through, just in case, tell them what happened and have them set up shit for us."

The demonic wolf nodded with a grunt, and he vanished through the portal: it was hard to say when he'd appear on the other side with the way dimensional travel worked, but either way he'd likely get there before they did, whether it was seconds or days. Zerrex continued to hold the portal open as he tapped a foot irritably, and some ten seconds later, Mahihko finally appeared shoving Lone along, who had his jeans on but not done up and was covered in wet fur, before he yelped when Cherry grabbed the backs of their necks and shouted: "Come on, assholes, we don't got all fucking day!"

She dragged them both through, and Zerrex followed last, waving to Cindy and Marina as he hopped into the portal just before it closed... and moments later, found himself stepping out in front of a platoon of Royal Guards, Ixin and Sin standing at the head of the group with Vampire as the Naganatine looked into his eyes and said seriously: "We have a few things to discuss, Lord Zerrex..."

Ixin nodded, not looking like his usual bouncy self as he glanced from Cherry - who was still holding the two wolves in the air by the backs of their necks - to the Drakkaren, adding darkly: "And it ain't all good shit, either. Watch your asses, some nasty people want you dead."

"Yeah, well, when don't they?" asked the Drakkaren morbidly, and Ixin paused at this before he nodded thoughtfully, and then he created a portal, Sin bowing to him as he walked through, and Cherry dropped the two wolves so she could grumble at them and drag them along next, Lone looking pouty and dripping water as he and Mahihko followed her before Zerrex approached, and he patted her quietly on the shoulder before wincing as she hugged him tightly, letting out a wheeze as the aches in his body flared up.

The Naganatine winced, touching her muzzle as she leaned away from him with a deep blush, and Zerrex smiled at her dumbly, saying stupidly: "Good to see you, too." Then he paused and stumbled through the portal, and Sin and Vampire followed to emerge behind him in the large throne room, where the large table that dominated it already had seated Selena, Lily, and Amiglion already present, along with Carmen - the golden scaled demoness grinning and waving stupidly at him, her chest currently flat and masculine, but her more-than-able to produce a large pair of breasts if she wanted to - Sabnock, White, and a good few others.

Zerrex grumbled as he walked to his spot in the highest chair, sitting down with a wince as Lily gazed at him fondly and Selena patted his leg quietly, and Ixin took his own seat at the large round table before he slammed his fists down on it and shouted: "Order, order!"

Since no one was talking, it just got him angry glares... and Ixin grinned cheerfully before he shrugged and said amiably: "Someone had to break the awkward tension, and it was going to be either me or her." He pointed at Cherry, and she blew a raspberry at him before the male became serious once again, saying quietly: "Anyway, Zerrex, this is officially a Grand Council Meeting. As you can see, we even got a few angels present."

He pointed off to the side, and Zerrex smiled a bit as he saw Raze, Francis, and Little Arcy sitting near the Four Sisters, and when the Drakkaren scanned his eyes over the room, he realized that every seat was taken. It made him nervous... and then he looked up in surprise when Ixin said quietly: "First order of business is the undead army that's risen up across the entire fucking world."

"The entire world?" Cherry burst out, and there were a few mutters before she slammed a fist on the table, making everyone wince as she snapped: "Shut the fuck up!" A pause as everyone did so, and then she looked at Ixin, saying flatly: "I know this ain't proper procedure, but let's drop that shit. You in favor of that, Boss?"

"All in favor, say aye." Zerrex said ironically, leaning on his fist and raising his hand, and this got a vote of grumbled 'ayes,' from most of the people in attendance, including a sulky-looking Lily, before he said mildly: "Good. Because I need this to be run like a strategy session back when we were all rebels against the Princess, not a Grand Council meeting by bureaucrats. What kind of undead are we dealing with?"

"Soulless puppets." Amiglion said immediately, taking his mask off and tossing it onto the table with a look of distaste. It clanged against the wood and rolled once before coming to a halt as he leaned on his forearms, continuing solemnly: "I talked to some Reaper friends of mine... well... you know Reapers, they aren't exactly big on the whole friend thing, so you get what I mean... but they told me that there's no souls involved this time around. Flesh and bone is just the medium, they're not even zombies... the way these things have been raised, they might as well have just been wooden blocks."

"Wooden blocks are a lot harder to animate than you'd think, you know." Ixin said dryly, and Ami rolled his eyes, looking at him sourly. The mage ignored this, however, and instead he rubbed slowly at his muzzle, saying slowly: "Then it could be enchantment, literally, and not necromancy powering the bastards. Either way, there's a lot of them, so they're still trouble."

"Wonderful." Zerrex muttered, then he shook his head slowly before he glanced over to Francis, asking him mildly: "Before we go any further, what's your take on this bastard Animaxander, with his big holy power trip thing? And you may or may not have seen me fight a Paladin of some sort with angelic wings..."

"He wasn't of a species native to this environment." Francis said mildly, shaking his head slowly before he leaned over as Little Arcy whispered something in his ear and Zerrex looked stupid. "What I mean, Zerrex, is that he wasn't from around here. We found that out while doing a search for his name... Pegasus is a species title, and he fits the description perfectly. As to Perseus, that's supposed t be a mythical hero, but well...

"Either way, Animaxander is obviously not good news. From what we've analyzed, he's got control over divine powers, yes, but in the sense that holy is an element, so to speak: his holy and sanctified ideas are not the same as mine, or what I was taught back when I lived on the mortal plane." Francis continued slowly, then he sighed and shook his head, looking over at Ixin. "And on the subject of the undead, I want to point there's simply too many even for us angels to cope with. We have nowhere near the numbers of angels or even of Ascended that we used to, especially with Hell's recently popularity."

He glared at Zerrex, and the reptile cleared his throat and pulled at his collar, saying dumbly: "You know, freedom is great and all, but all meetings need focus to be good, so uh... let's focus on one thing at a time here." He paused, then looked over at Ixin, who was waving his hand wildly in the air. "Yes?"

Ixin sat back and was quiet for another moment nonetheless, and then he finally rested a hand on the table and said clearly: "Let's fight the undead with undead. I recommend we enlist the help of some necromancers, give 'em crystals and shit, and send them up top to start the disenchantment process and seize control of the undead they can. That way, we can literally turn the undead against themselves, and we all know we got enough shards of crystal to give plenty of 'em plenty of juice."

"Yeah, but that leads into another question." Lily spoke up, leaning forwards as she looked back and forth along the table. "What about the rest of the shipments of crystal we never found, where did those go?"

A few mumbles ran along the table, and Zerrex elbowed her, making her wince and then blush when she looked at him apologetically before the Drakkaren held up a hand, saying mildly: "One thing at a time, people. We can jump to that topic afterwards, first I wanna well. Beat this undead thing to death. Because you guys might not live upstairs, but I do, and I've already had quite my fill of them."

"We could set them on fire?" Cherry added helpfully, and then she huffed at the looks she got, crossing her arms and glaring around at everyone. "What? Pyrokinetic peeps like me can totally both control the flames and turn up the temperature high enough to roast the bastards. Fire's the only way to really be sure they're dead, anyway, sometimes blowing their heads off just slows the fuckers down."

"Okay okay, new plan forming. What if we combine the three?" Ixin asked curiously as he leaned back in his chair, tilting his head and gesturing with one hand as he talked. "Necromancers, pyrokinetics, and angel squads?"

Zerrex looked at Sin curiously, and she hesitated before nodding quietly, and then he looked at Francis, who nodded himself after only a moment. Then the reptile leaned forwards, saying mildly: "Alright, looks like we got an idea on how to deal with it... but where's it coming from? Animaxander?"

"No, this was very powerful magic... a spell this big would create a sort of signal that would awaken these corpses from their slumber, and notably, most of them are corpses, all in varying states of decay but most of them not yet rotted apart... there's very few skeletons." Sin spoke up softly, and all eyes turned to her. She blushed a bit, but then continued calmly, lacing her hands together in front of her stomach: "The signal grows stronger in one direction, but very gradually, meaning it came from a great distance... however, that distance leads out into space, past the moon at the very least."

"What?" Zerrex frowned, tilting his head towards her, and Sin shook her head with a quiet blush on her cheeks, before the Drakkaren looked around the table, looking at Raze as he cracked his knuckles slowly: a usual sign that he wanted to speak up. "Can Heaven confirm this?"

"Signals are weird." Raze grunted, then he shook his head with slow distaste. "Lord and Lucifer have only been able to guess at the distance, and have no idea what's sending it. They do think it's coming closer to the planet, however, and that's like both good and bad news... but since the humans aren't being attacked, it might be this Great God or bullshit he's been talking about, or it might be something else. But everything's weird about this whole thing... the humans, the undead, everything. It doesn't help even the God's Eye artifact can't help us pierce whatever protective charms Animaxander has installed in his cathedral... and this... Kafka character he's been meeting with, he's blocked out too."

"Joy to the world." Zerrex muttered, and then he shook his head slowly before he looked curiously down the table as a quiet voice cleared its throat, and he smiled a bit as his eyes settled on a morbid-looking, vaguely-canid demon with triangular puffs of fur coming off the backs of his cheeks and bright red, lightning-bolt shaped horns on his head. His fur was golden, and the large whiskers on his muzzle whitish while one eye was topaz and the other ivory. "Yes, King Alastor?"

The demon flicked his oversized ears, absently adjusting an earphone sitting in one of the black insides as he said sourly: "Well, High King Zerrex. I was just thinking that the chances of Animaxander and the company he keeps being humans are very, very low. After all, the humans I've heard of are definitely not dimensional travelers... they're dreamers and murderers, for the most part. Besides, I thought humans were some creation of God's."

"Only technically." Sin spoke up, looking embarrassed as she rubbed slowly at her features. "One of the worlds God seeded with life in his journey produced humans, but they've developed in other places, too, or similar species. The problem arises with the fact that in some places they're peaceful, other places they inhabit planets like a disease, until they're used up and destroyed, and then they move on to the next. It all has to do with how their minds develop... humans are like... blank slates. They have less of a nature to them, and they more... take on imprints from the environment around them, more so than we do."

She paused, then shook her head slowly as the others continued to look at her. "Not that they don't have their own personalities, it's just that... they're childish and very easy to manipulate. I wouldn't doubt that many of the human invaders are or really were humans at some point... but Animaxander has likely modified them to his own ends. If you all wish me to, I can go to the Observatory located in the Undersea... we could examine the other humans and possibly backtrack through to see the other worlds Animaxander's been through."

"That's an idea I like." Zerrex said thoughtfully, and the others looked at him curiously as he shrugged a bit, saying mildly: "Isn't anyone else curious to see what the hell our Grand Inquisitor has been up to in these other places? I mean, we all know he isn't on the level, but seeing what he's done there might let us know the plans he has for here."

"If his Great God or whatever is near the last world he visited, it could let us maybe get a look at him, too." added Sin softly, before she glanced quietly at Ixin. "But I need someone to calculate the magical frequencies and reverse the polarity recorded from the portal he opened... and someone who's been keeping track of the physical plane to share that frequency with me."

Francis leaned over to Little Arcy, and she excused herself before leaving the Throne Room quickly as the male leaned in and said mildly: "That isn't a problem. Since it was a unique phenomenon, everything about the portal we could write down we did, and it's been placed into Heaven's Hall of Records. A lot of Heaven might hold itself above the mortal realm, but I've never understood how we can do that and yet keep track of everything little event that takes place there."

Sin smiled a bit but didn't reply, looking too shy to in front of all these people, and then Carmen leaned out and said clearly: "We've totally gotten off track again. Hey, you, niece, tell me what the fuck was going on with those human sons of whores. And you, stud-muffin, do me a favor and explain to me about this Kafka character and why everyone's all interested in him and the new Irenic President. I don't get it still, even after travelling the mortal realm for a few years."

Zerrex rolled his eyes, opening his mouth to speak, and then Cherry leaned over and grinned at Carmen, winking at her: "He'll tell you all about it afterwards, aunty no-boobs. But fuck, beats me. They go down with a solid bullet or two to the usual spots, but the sons of bitches act like animals in armor, look all the same, and they didn't feel like my usual living enemies, I'll tell you that much. Their movements were really direct, and when I was watching them through the scope, they were goddamn weird... once they killed one person, they'd rush right off to the next, and they'd never bother trying to dodge anything less it was really friggin' obvious."

Carmen grunted, then she looked over at the Drakkaren, saying flatly: "Reminds me of that Battle of Mount Helena, you remember that Alastor? You and me were on separate fields that day, battling it out like males. Well, at least I was. You spent most of the time hiding at the back, throwing your stupid lightning bolts around."

Alastor rolled his eyes, then he looked down at a small music player and absently tapped through it, looking for a song. Despite being the King of Wrath - or possibly because he was the head of such a nasty circle - Alastor had developed a bit of an anxiety disorder over the years, and mortal technologies like portable televisions or music players were the only things that seemed to keep those little mental issues to a minimum problem while he was out in public instead of hiding away in his safety bubble of a home. When Carmen failed to get a response, she sulked a bit, and then finally said flatly: "Anyway, the point is, some asshole on the other side decided to animate a bunch of suits of armor, so we were all distracted trying to blow these 'advancing troops' up while the mages bombed the shit out of us. Sounds almost like the humans are doing the same thing... except on a more-dangerous level, I mean."

Zerrex nodded slowly, rubbing at his muzzle thoughtfully, and then Amiglion added, holding up a hand: "How do we know the undead are dangerous?"

"Because one fucking bit me!" Cherry said indignantly, grabbing the tip of her tail and holding it up to shake it vehemently, making the Naganatine wince and cower. "What, you think we're just going to bring shit up here and yak-yak-yak about it pointless like you and Lily do at your stupid dumb council meetings? We ain't bureaucrats, douchebag."

Now Lily looked offended, but before things could dissolve further into chaos, Ixin snapped his fingers and created a thunderous boom, and everyone looked up in surprise, Raze snarling and leaping to his feet in a battle stance and Mahihko and Lone both yelping and cowering under the table. The reactions around the rest of the table varied between these extremes, and then Ixin said in a mild voice: "I don't think we're taking this seriously enough."

That got even more stares, considering Ixin's usual playfulness... and then he grinned a bit, shrugging and crossing his arms, but it was a rueful expression. "Hey, believe me, I wanna make a big joke out of all this shit too. But I also know that none of us can damn well afford to at the moment, either.

"Let me remind you all of one of the facts of the Balance; about one of the big, unchangeable laws that none of us have the power to fuck with, that God Himself probably could not have fucked with even if he wanted to." Ixin said mildly, leaning forwards and looking almost playful in his scolding expression, but his eyes were cold and dark and serious. "For this Hell and Heaven to exist, a feeder world must be between them, for souls to go to and from. Souls are what give organic objects life, from the soil to complex beings, even though the soul of the earth and trees is very different from the souls in bodies, and souls are composed of the mixed energy of two things that become one.

"If you wiped the slate clean... if you took away the ability for those souls to mix, those souls would all die, and for a little while, Heaven and Hell would be sustained by the energy released by the body in death: both the spiritual and physical energy as well as the soul's energy, whether it dissolves, tries to reincarnate itself, or goes to one of the celestial planes. But then they'll be choked out... even if we can reproduce, the connection with the mortal realm will be lost, and no one knows what the fuck's going to happen then, 'cept we all know that it ain't going to be pretty in the slightest."

There were slow nods around the table, and then White spoke up in his dry, serious voice: "I recommend we take only a decade to prepare. I'd also like to bring up another issue for immediate discussion... the fact that the time discrepancy between Hell, Heaven and mortal planes is receding."

More mutters, and then Carmen shook her head, saying hesitantly: "I think you're overreacting, I mean... come on. So what, now it takes... nine hundred and ninety years for a mortal day to pass, instead of a thousand and twenty. That ain't serious."

"It could become serious very quickly." White responded calmly, looking at Carmen, then over at Zerrex, who was frowning deeply at this news. "By all reports, the time gap is continuing to diminish, as well... and if that occurs, we'll end up at a disadvantage, with the time it takes to prepare troops."

"Then we need to take a new initiative and start forming emergency response platoons that can change shifts, so we always have a taskforce ready to be sent to the mortal realm in case of some sort of issue." Zerrex said mildly, and when a few demons grunted in obvious disagreement but didn't speak up, he looked around in irritation before pausing and choosing a different tactic than a display of anger or force, instead simply smiling placidly. "Well, if people really disagree that demons can't do what mortals have already had established for centuries..."

"Whoa, hold the fuck on." Carmen rose her hands, making a halting gesture as she looked at Zerrex dumbly. "What do you mean?"

"Mortals always have emergency response teams prepared, especially these days, although the concept is an old one." Zerrex replied mildly, leaning forwards on the table as he continued easily: "And for every situation, including a few global response units that can literally arrive to any country within hours, set up camp, and immediately start distribution of aid. But if demons can't handle setting up a platoon of troopers from all of Hell's vast resources, then-"

"I would like to go on record as sounding like an ass." Amiglion said dumbly, raising a hand, and Zerrex sat back with his arms crossed, huffing as a few other mumbles agreed with this sentiment. Then the Naganatine frowned before he looked over at Sin, asking slowly: "Wait, how could this happen? I thought that the time differences were because we're literally in a different plane of reality here, past the Nothingness and the Ethereal Realm?"

"Just as Heaven is supposed to be past layers of Nothingness and the Astral Realm." Francis added quietly, shaking his own head slowly. "But we detected it too... and the magical implements we used to try and determine the reason why showed all sorts of strange readings that no one's been quite able to figure out. But some of the Prophets put forwards a very terrifying idea... that perhaps Heaven and Hell are being magnetized to the physical plane and forced to merge with it."

"That would turn Heaven and Hell back into the planets they once were..." Sin murmured softly, and then she smiled a bit as Zerrex looked surprised, tilting her head towards him. "Well, God needed something to work with originally, you know. He chose several vast planets, floating through space... and he pushed them into the Nothingness, then created a great wall and merged the planets together and some say, flattened them out. No one really knows if either Heaven or Hell have an end to them... only that they are great and vast places. Maybe they are flat, though... or maybe Hell really is inside some enormous planet, just upside down against its crust. After all, that would explain how the Undersea beneath us has a sky."

That was getting a little too metaphysical for the Drakkaren... and he rubbed slowly at his face, wondering if someone could give him a quick explanation of quantum mechanics he'd actually understand before Ixin shook his head slowly, saying dryly: "White brings up a good point, and not just because he's scary as fuck, but Zerrex, as he tends to do, has started us on the road to a solution... even if it's still a dumb idea." He winked across at the reptile, who rolled his eyes and chose to ignore his last sentence before Ixin turned serious again. "If the planes were to merge, we wouldn't need a feeder planet for this section of Hell to exist anymore... but who knows what would actually happen to us? We might all be annihilated when that happens... but we got one last pending issue to discuss.

"The shipments of crystallized spiritual essence. Where did they go, where did they come from." Ixin tapped a finger against the table, looking around at them all calmly. "And what the hell were they going to be used for. Those are all things we want to find out, and I think we need to ask for Heaven's help on this one, because they've got that God's Eye artifact up there they can scan through the world with. If you can find wherever those shipments are hidden, or just other places with major cloaking on them... we can lock and load and send in demon squads to check 'em out."

"That's a dangerous business." Francis said quietly, but then Raze grabbed his forearm and squeezed, and the mouse winced visibly, sharing a look with him before he sighed and nodded slowly. "Fine. I'll put in a request to my superiors... but I know for a fact Lucifer isn't going to be happy about this."

"Lucifer's never happy about anything." Cherry muttered, and then she coughed and glanced up as most of the table looked at her. "Fuck off, everyone knows it's true."

"I'd like to add that I believe finding the crystals should be a tertiary objective: we should first focus on discovering the source of the undead in the mortal plane and how to exterminate them." Sabnock added, the wolverine leaning back in her business suit as she rested her elbows on the table, fingers tented. "We also need to establish who will be in charge of developing our emergency response teams to aid the mortals, and then we can worry about finding boxes of crystals that may very well simply be forgotten by now."

Ixin and Zerrex both nodded at this sentiment, and then Ixin looked pointedly at the Drakkaren... and the male stood after a moment, leaning forwards on the table as everyone looked at him, Zerrex wincing mentally as he said quietly: "Then we have our objectives. I'd like you all to organize yourselves into groups to accomplish them, and Lily can supervise. I..." He glanced at Ixin, who was still looking at him, pointing a finger at himself a few times as he mouthed words too quickly for the reptile to catch them. "I have some personal business to attend to with our resident mage."

"I'll come with you." Sin said immediately, and Zerrex nodded as everyone stood up. Then he grunted when Selena hugged his side, and he smiled faintly down at her before looking up in surprise when the Naganatine murmured quietly: "I'm sorry, but this is urgent."

"Help out the others, Selena. They need your magical expertise." Zerrex said softly, stroking her under the muzzle, and when she gazed up at him pleadingly, he added: "It's wonderful to see you, I just... apparently have to attend to some more royal business and all that bull."

"Fine. Asshole." Selena said after a moment, but she looked worried nonetheless as Sin and Ixin led the Drakkaren towards a doorway. She simply stood, gazing after him quietly... and then Lily gently took her arm and led her away into the crowd, even as she looked longingly after her husband.

Zerrex resisted the urge to glance back, before he looked down in surprise to see Mahihko at his side, clinging to Lone's hand - or was Lone clinging to his? - and Vampire and Cherry following close behind... before Ixin leapt in front of the wolves and the demoness, waggling a finger and forming a wall with his body as he said firmly: "Uh-uh-uh, this is between me, Zerrex, and the fine older lady. You guys just wait here, this is doctor-patient confidentiality or whatever."

Cherry bristled and Vampire bared his teeth as the two smaller wolves looked hurt, but when Zerrex looked at them pleadingly as he felt a nervousness run through his body, the little group backed off, and a moment later they were out on one of the four balconies overlooking Hell. Ixin motioned to the Amazon guards, and they carefully stepped into the Throne Room and closed the doors behind them, and the reptile looked back and forth from Ixin to Sin as he crossed his arms, asking impatiently: "Well?"

"Lucifer's Eye fucked you up real good." Ixin finally blurted, and Sin smacked his shoulder with a wince, the mage immediately yelping as he hopped away on one foot before he snapped: "Well, gee, you tell him he's dying, then!"

Sin glared daggers at him, and Ixin covered his mouth as he blushed as Zerrex gaped, spluttering as he shook his head violently. "I'm... dying?"

"You're not dying." the Naganatine said tiredly, rubbing a hand over her forehead, and her glammer flickered for a moment... and the Drakkaren realized just how tired she looked, as he gazed quietly at her. "What Ashcroft is trying to say is that you're very sick. The Lucifer's Eye interfered with your body's natural energy abilities... it's part of the reason why you recharge so slowly after overuse of them. We think we know a way to fix this issue, but it's dangerous: it requires draining all of your current energy and exposing you once again to both pure corruption, if you'll excuse the paradox, and a... a very special energy source."

"Everyone's dying." Ixin mumbled sourly, and then he looked at Zerrex plaintively, crossing his arms and saying quietly: "Listen, you big jerk. I'm only going to say this because I'm a little fond of you and your antics. You make life fun, and you got a big naïve heart that freed me and spared my life after I went maybe just a teensy bit overboard in playing a game with you. This process we're gonna put you through is real fucking dangerous. Real. Fucking. Dangerous. You got it? There's something like a forty percent survival rate, and a humongous, maybe ninety percent chance you'll be turned mortal by it. Now I know how pretty and wonderful that sounds for you, but it ain't going to be mortal like me." Ixin tapped his chest, looking at him seriously. "If you become mortal in Hell, you'll age fast until you end up being the same age you would have been if you were still alive today on the mortal plane. And then we'll have to perform a ritual and kill you, and you'll have to go through the process of becoming a demon all over again."

Ixin paused to let Zerrex absorb this, and then he said softly: "And there are other complications. If this process is successful... you'll not just remain a demon... you will very likely enter a state of hibernation, and possibly change. A lot of your characteristics may have been caused by the Lucifer's Eye... you could lose abilities like your tentacles, or even transform into something different entirely. And that power of Mephistopheles could flow completely through you and take you over, strong-willed even as you are. Plus, like... even all this... I can't guarantee will fix you. You've been what you are for a long time now, and some of this stuff may have sunken into your very soul... and you know, I can take that out and wash it and put it back, but just like a stain, some things you can't scrub out no matter how hard you try, and well... you don't want me to cut it out, because then you'll have a big hole in your shirt. And by your shirt I mean your soul, and trust me... nothing, nothing is worth your soul. That shit I learned the hard way, just look at where I'm stuck now.

"The end of the process would involve putting new energy into you and keeping you in a corruption bath, a sort of concentrated high-Hell energy environment to keep you safe from exposure to ick and shit... it's not as complicated, a lot less risky than the other stuff, and it would help you develop and get back to normal quicker. Well. Normal as you'd become." Ixin looked lame at this, and then he exchanged a look with Sin as Zerrex's eyes began to fall towards the ground. "You'd just be... unable to do a lot for a little while, you know, while you recuperate. Like surgery, sorta, just... more worrisome. Oh, like brain surgery, I was reading about that crazy shit, I... I... yeah.

"Look. I want you to take a week, and think this over. Sin and I are prepared at any time to run you through the process, and hey, I can do lots of crazy stuff to keep the pain at a minimum." Ixin grinned, rubbing the back of his head and looking at Zerrex awkwardly, as the Drakkaren stared quietly at the mage's moccasins. "Aww, come on, perk up. You're making me feel guilty as hell about all this. And I really am real sorry but... I don't know what I can do to make things better, except for major reconstruction. Want me to put on a puppet show? Come on, I'll put on a puppet show for you, make 'em dance a happy jig."

Ixin clacked his heels together, and then he looked lamely at the Drakkaren as Zerrex simply grunted as he looked up, visibly depressed. His options sounded miserable... and then Sin stepped forwards and hugged him quietly around the shoulders, and she gave Ixin a look. The mage looked both relieved and unnerved with a wince, and then he created a portal and backed through it, raising a hand as he said dumbly: "I'm... going to check on my machinery. And stuff. You... yeah."

He vanished completely through the portal, and it closed as Zerrex looked at the Naganatine quietly, and then he smiled faintly when she rose a hand and held it over his chest as it glimmered green, feeling energy running through him and soothing his aches and pains as he murmured: "You shouldn't transfer your energy to me so often, Sin. You're going to end up turning me into a Naganatine at this rate."

"Don't worry, I like you the way you are..." Sin smiled a bit in return, and then she kissed his cheek before hugging him quietly, and he tightly embraced her back as she stroked a hand soothingly through his hair, adding softly: "I like you any way you are, Lord Zerrex. You'll always be my friend, my lover... my hero. Whether or not you choose to go through with this... I know that... even if we minimize the risk, there's still so much, after all... and even brash as you are, I can understand you putting it off for the moment. Ixin and I can work on other ideas... or work to stabilize this process better, and we do have other methods of at least stabilizing your own energy and body..."

Zerrex shook his head, opening his mouth to reply... and then a portal opened and Ixin flew through it, landing on his back and rolling a few times, his body smoldering before he leapt up to his feet and shouted at Sin, his eyes furious and terrified all at once: "The lab, the fucking lab is under attack and I don't know by what!"

"No!" Sin cried, and she pulled away from Zerrex to run through the portal before Ixin followed her despite the char and burns on his body, and Zerrex snarled, running after them and diving through the portal as it began to close, landing in a roll and grunting as his shoulder hit a small, waist-high wall. He looked around, quickly taking in his surroundings as he peered over it, and his eyes widened in shock as he saw that the machine in the center of the room was nothing more now than bent girders and collapsed gears, the white walls of what had once been a cell of some kind inside the cubical room burning with eldritch fire as twisted, ugly devils flew back and forth, spitting flame and raking their claws against the cement to leave terrible scars.

The Drakkaren stood up, snarling furiously as he looked around the room: it was basically a massive cube, with a crazed ramp leading up to a hole in the ceiling that circled the very edge of the area, and the oval cell in the center. The walls were concrete for the most part, with several steel doors leading off into other areas, and massive glass window had been shattered, the viewing area beyond filled with crackling flames and a huge hole blown in a wall past tables covered in broken glass and various-colored liquids, twisting metal girders and sparking wires standing like shattered teeth in the gap leading outside.

More devils were streaming in through this on leather wings, their bodies small and plump, their heads horned and pig-like as they spat wire, squealed, and screeched, harrying Sin and Ixin. The reptile growled under his breath, tensing as he readied himself to lunge into battle against the vermin... and then his eyes widened as he looked back through the gap and saw something much larger and much uglier tromping towards the hole in the wall.

Zerrex decided to let Ixin and Sin handle the creatures, running for the hole and leaping over a table as he shot outside, ignored by the hideous beasts... and he slid to a halt in front of a massive beast covered in fluffy white hair. Its hands were bloody claws, and its feet were covered by huge metal boots, and a kilt of metal plates hung around its waist, straps of leather covering its chest in a crisscross pattern and connected to a rusted metal cup over one shoulder and a huge dragon skull over the other. On its head was a fur-lined metal helmet decorated with two Gigataur horns that had been crudely welded into it, and the thirty foot monster roared at him, revealing four enormous fangs in the short muzzle of the ugly, flattened purple face before it yanked the axe it had been dragging up to both claws, looking down at him stupid, hungry black eyes.

The double-edged battle axe was covered in blood and dirt, the blade rusted and chipped, the handle splintered wood wrapped here and there in cloth... and the Drakkaren winced as he held up his hands, looking at the monstrosity and saying calmly: "Just turn around and leave."

It replied by raising the battle axe above its head, and Zerrex tensed himself before he sidestepped when it swung down, and as expected, the axe bit deep into the earth, the monster looking surprised before the Drakkaren jumped up onto the handle and charged forwards, leaping up and slamming both boots into its ugly features. It grunted and jerked backwards, swatting at the air, but Zerrex landed neatly back on the end of the handle before he jumped and stomped both feet down, the axe blade jumping upwards and sending soil flying as it lifted most of the way out of the dirt before beginning to topple, and Zerrex slid off the telephone-pole-thick handle to grasp the end of it in his arms, gritting his teeth as he spun heavy with it and smashed the blade into the shin of the beast.

It howled in pain and fell to its knees on top of the butterfly-shaped blade, blue blood pooling out of its lower limbs and turning rapidly to ice, and Zerrex's eyes widened as he saw past the monstrous shape and his eyes settled on a blue and white vortex: a portal, likely to some kind of pocket dimension. Then he cursed and jumped backwards, wincing as the monster in front of him put on a sudden burst of speed, grabbing the axe by the neck and yanking it up off the ground, the ice that had crawled slowly over it shattering before Zerrex was slapped hard by the cold metal blade and sent flying through the air, landing on his back and skidding with a grunt along the soft dirt ground until he came to a halt in a patch of flowers, mumbling: "Wonderful. Flowers and an abominable snow beast."

He sat up... then stared as the Yeti charged forwards, roaring as it hefted the giant axe over one shoulder before slashing hard outwards with it, and Zerrex jumped into the air before the monster punched him back down into the dirt and rose the axe above its head again to deliver a rending slice, but the Drakkaren quickly lashed out with a tentacle, snagging it around the ankle and diving forwards as he jerked hard on its leg at the same time, and he flew past the Yeti's foot as it slashed down into the ground and lodged its axe firmly into the earth again with a frustrated roar.

Zerrex retracted his tentacle quickly, then he flexed his right arm as the scales fell away and the metal and rock bulged and grew, his warped claw raised as the monster turned around and rose a foot to stomp on him... and immediately, Zerrex slammed his hand into the ground as he muttered a spell, and a spire of earth shot out and ripped through the Yeti's foot, making it howl in pain and frustration before it simply pulled its leg aside, snapping the spike of rock. Then it reached down to pluck the cone of stone still stuck in its foot out like it was merely a thorn, its icy blood quickly freezing in the wound as it looked back and forth for the Drakkaren... before it shrieked as a terrible pain rent through its ankle, and it staggered forwards once before falling on its chest as Zerrex wiped ice crystals off his warped, now axe blade hand, looking disgusted.

The Yeti reached a hand out for its axe, but the Drakkaren snorted and muttered another spell before he shoved both hands into the ground, and a wall of rock shot up at neck level with the beast and cut its head cleanly off, the Yeti's skull rolling away as its helmet fell off and Zerrex seeing a look of dumb shock on its features for a moment before it rolled face down. He grinned widely... and then he stared when the Yeti's body got up heedlessly and turned around before it punted him hard across the area, and he landed on his back and rolled several feet to land stupidly sprawled out with a groan, his warped arm quickly return to the shape of a claw as he winced and grasped at his side, where he'd dug a shallow cut in himself from the axe blade.

He cursed as the Yeti's body jerked the axe out of the ground, then he looked over his shoulder at the portal, and winced when another two Yetis emerged and headed towards the gap in the wall, one of them carrying a massive sword and the other another ugly battle axe. Then he frowned before an idea came to mind, and he whistled loudly, the two Yeti looking down at him with surprise as he jumped up and down and waved his arms, shouting: "You guys are so ugly, that... ugly is scared of you!'

They both snarled at him, whether they understood they were being insulted or not... and then the one with the axe eagerly ran forwards as Zerrex looked over his shoulder, backstepping and muttering about timing... and then he spun around and sprinted through the legs of the headless Yeti, the charging one looking up in surprise before the headless Yeti swung wildly and smashed its axe into its chest, sending out a blast of blue blood as it collapsed with a wounded howl. The other Yeti roared in outrage, and he swung viciously down between the headless Yeti's shoulders, shattering frozen ice and sending a fine spray upwards like a fountain, the blue blood almost instantly freezing in place to make it look almost like some sort of modernist ice sculpture... before it shattered as the headless Yeti began to hack away with its axe against its claymore-wielding brethren as the other axe-wielding Yeti was stomped underfoot by two, swinging its weapon wildly at everything around it.

Satisfied that they would be kept busy and the winner of the three-way squabble would likely be very easy for Sin and Ixin to handle, Zerrex crept past and made for the vortex, hesitating only a moment before he ran into it as several more devils flew out, intent on destroying the source and expecting to come across a mage on the other side... but instead, he stepped out into an empty room, with a gold-colored floor of stone past the platform he was standing on. He looked back and forth in surprise, then over his shoulder at the vortex... and he realized after a moment that, much like the portal rings, the vortex was being maintained by a magical construct, and not by an actual magician.

Zerrex stepped carefully off the platform of obsidian the portal was on, looking over his shoulder at the grey statues of a huge, unevolved wolf with glowing red eyes baying at the ceiling... and then at the monstrous dragon on the other side, posed as if about to breathe fire. They were the same size, and the eyes of both were glowing red stones, and in their mouths were white gemstones currently sending a powerful current into the vortex, likely keeping it stable. There was a small, rectangular outcropping near the obsidian platform that was the same color... and when Zerrex examined it, he was unsurprised to find several circles of tiny runes covering the slanted surface, one inside the other, and with a multitude of different hands each a different length, each pointed at a different rune in a different runic circle.

A few devils flew past and through the portal, and Zerrex wondered where the hell all the bastards were coming from, before he looked at the control panel for the portal curiously, and a mischievous expression appeared on his face before he reached a single finger out and tapped one of the arrows to a different rune. Immediately, the portal crackled with energy as it reset itself, and Zerrex watched the next few devils fly by with a stupid grin, figuring they were in for a nasty surprise. Serves them right... but where the hell have these things been multiplying? Then again, this is no place in Hell...

The Drakkaren made a face as he looked back and forth, at the tall, smooth stone walls and curving arches, and then he turned around to look at the only exit: an open portcullis, the exit relatively small in comparison to the immense, tall walls. It was suspicious for too many different reasons... and then the Drakkaren sighed and shrugged, mumbling under his breath: "Well... what have I got to lose?"

He walked through it into a massive, empty hall the size of a football field... and then winced when it slammed shut behind him, and a huge portal opened. A moment later, a fifty foot monstrosity slithered slowly out of the portal, looking immense even in the hall that had ceilings so high up they vanished into darkness... and Zerrex swallowed, raising a finger as the gigantic, draconic head of the beast leaned slowly down on its long, golden-scaled neck, a long, forked tongue flicking out as steam hissed out of its nostrils with a snort. "Would you believe that I'm lost?"

The creature reared its head back with a hiss, and the answer in those huge yellow eyes was obviously a 'no,' as the slit-like pupils took him in and the fanged jaws seemed to grin down at him. It had large, frilly ears and four immense, forwards-curving horns coming out of its head, two out of the front of the skull and two out of the sides, and a long spine of spikes that trailed down its neck. Its shoulders were large and bulky, and thin, red forearms that ended in a bird's talons. A fattened, large chest protruded against the ground, its rabbit-like, green legs poised so its belly could scrape the earth, and these power limbs ended in large, webbed paws with gnarled claws sticking out of the toes, as a long, reptilian tail flicked back and forth, thick and tapering very slowly to a large hook at the very end, the ridge of spines that went from shoulders to the tip of its tail larger and meaner-looking along the long appendage.

Shackles of steel hung around its limbs, and there was a harness around its body with loose, broken chains dangling from it, which made Zerrex wonder if this beast had once been some prized capture or pet... before he made a face as the huge monster leaned in and sniffed at him again, a bit of drool leaking from its jaws before it rasped something in a thunderous voice. Zerrex winced, covering his face, and then the beast leaned down, glaring at him, and the Drakkaren said with a wince: "I don't understand you!"

"Jabberwocky, Jabberwocky, come and find your prey... if he plays with you very well, he may yet survive the day!" the beast recited, tilting its head back on its long, long neck, and Zerrex looked startled before the monster grinned insanely down at him. "The Jabberwocky's favorite game is to hunt the knight... and if he catches you in his jaws, he'll munch and crunch and bite!"

Then the beast's head snapped downwards, jaws wide open... and Zerrex threw himself out of the way, the monster's muzzle smashing instead into the ground and cracking the tiles before it half-stood on its thick legs as it swept its head viciously to the side, but this time the Drakkaren was better prepared and he threw himself into the air, twisting his body at the same time, legs scissoring as he flew over the Jabberwocky's head before he landed in a crouch, and the beast yelped as it smashed its head into the wall, looking dazed and clutching at its face. Zerrex took the opportunity to make a run for it, charging beneath the thick chest of the beast before he looked over his shoulder as his instincts yelled at him, and he winced at the sight of it glaring at him, the head upside down before it lashed outwards with the speed of a snake.

The Drakkaren leapt to the side, and its head shot by on its long neck before the reptile cursed as it slammed a hand down to try and crush him, arms squeezed to his sides and his eyes bulging in shock as it barely missed him, a finger on either side of the lizard before he leapt over its hand as it turned its head around with a mutter, and the Drakkaren ran beneath its body again as it slammed its other fist down even as the head snaked past one arm and then weaved under its own body again past the other, and the reptile threw himself to the ground in an awkward roll when it tried to bite him, before the head twisted and lunged at him again, and Zerrex grunted as its muzzle bashed into him and knocked him flying into the wall. He grunted, arms spread wide before he stared in horror as its head shot at him, jaws wide... and then it gargled and came to a halt a few feet away, eyes bulging as its head shook back and forth before the reptile realized the neck had gotten twisted around its own hands, as it shook its arms back and forth in midair and chomped again and again in the direction of the reptile, trying hopelessly to do two things at once before Zerrex stepped forwards, a blade shooting out of his wrist as the thing looked at him stupidly before he slammed it home straight into one nostril.

The Jabberwocky screamed in pain, jerking violently backwards and falling on its ass as its head rapidly unwound from around its arms and snapped backwards, hitting the wall opposite on its long neck before it came forwards, grasping at its nose with teary eyes, seated on its fat haunches. Zerrex stood gamely opposite it with his blade readied, and the thing twitched in anger but continued to look at him warily... before its tail swept out, and the reptile had a moment to look stupid before the long appendage slapped him across the room and into the wall with bone-shattering force, the cement shattering with the Drakkaren's impact as his cheekbone pulverized, the left side of his body and face stuck for a moment to the wall before he peeled off and fell heavily... and the huge monster reached a hand out and caught him before he hit the ground with a sound of triumph.

It rose its hand greedily up to its muzzle, stuffing him inside, and Zerrex blinked as the huge tongue curled around him and dragged him towards its throat, before he snarled and stabbed into it, making the Jabberwocky scream and try to spit him out. Despite the agony the scream sent through his head, however, Zerrex kicked off the bloody tongue and slammed his blade home into its gums, and the monster jerked its head wildly back and forth, eyes rolling in its skull as it clawed at its jaws and Zerrex curling himself into a ball around his arm, staying gamely locked into its gums as blood spilled out over him before a lucky brush of the creature's tongue knocked him down into its lower gums, and the Drakkaren snarled as he was smashed against a tooth before he grinned and slammed the blade home at the gumline just beneath one of its fangs.

The Jabberwocky's eyes bulged as it screamed again and again and again before it sucked back and spat Zerrex across the room, and the reptile grunted as he collided with the high corner of the wall before his warped hand became a claw and he caught himself on a narrow ledge, his claws scraping easily into the stone as he dangled as the Jabberwocky went crazy, smashing its tail back and forth into walls and spitting blood as its head jerked back and forth on its long neck. Zerrex's eyes narrowed as the monster looked back and forth, and then he winced when it jumped up and down, rattling the foundations of the building and making the walls tremble before he was knocked loose as the beast turned around, looking back and forth as it snarled in fury... and the Drakkaren watched as the tail flicked by, before he reached his warped arm out as it snapped past him again and he caught the hook of it.

He felt himself yanked towards a wall, and reptile went with it, twisting his feet up and charging along it before he felt the tail's movement slowing, and he let go and kicked off the wall as the Jabberwocky turned back around, flying through the air with his limbs spread before he landed on its shoulder, and it looked down in surprise before Zerrex's warped arm lengthened and became one massive razor, seizing the beast around the neck and roaring as he squeezed hard into it and wrapped his other arm as far around the long, long neck of the creature as he could as he threw his weight and strength into the motion... and the Jabberwocky's head snapped back and forth as it screamed in pain, reaching up to claw wildly at its throat as blood burst out of the base of its neck before the Drakkaren's eyes glowed as he tore to the side with all his might, and the creature's agile neck was torn completely off its shoulders, Zerrex staggering as his warped arm quickly became a claw again and then falling over onto the monster's back, rolling down the mountain of its body as it collapsed onto its front, the stump of neck between its shoulders spouting blood as the head still screamed and the long, now-severed length snapped back and forth like a hose, rolling back and forth along the stone floor.

Zerrex rolled off the creature as it gave a death twitch, covered in its blood and grunting as he bellyflopped to the floor, his vision going starry for a moment before he lay there stupidly as he watched the thing's severed head slowly roll over... and then it looked at him squarely, and whispered weakly: "Jabberwocky, Jabberwocky is no more... another dying victim, lying on the floor..."

And then the light faded from its eyes as they half-closed, giving it a look of indifference as Zerrex slowly climbed to his feet... and then he winced over his shoulder at the headless corpse, half-expecting it to grab him and throw him like the Yeti's had done... but in a flash, there was no dead body behind him, only a bleached-white skeleton... and when Zerrex looked at the head, it too had become nothing but bones. Then, before his very eyes, the bones dissolved to nothing but dust and motes that floated to the ground and melted away into the floor, and the reptile shook his head slowly, wishing the blood would do the same as he slowly wiped at his own body before he muttered a cleansing spell, and found to his relief that magic worked here as the blood vanished, which meant they were definitely in some kind of pocket dimension.

He slowly wiped his hands together, and then he looked around the damaged hall, reviewing his options: a few portcullises he could probably pry open, a few doors, and a giant pair of thirty-foot tall steel doors with two huge golden rings hanging from it and a pair of Gigataur skulls mounted on each. One had been slightly crushed during the fight, but nonetheless, it looked imposing as hell... so Zerrex peered at this for a moment before he headed over towards the double doors and then lashed a tentacle up around one ring, grunting as he pulled on it to haul the door slowly open several feet with a loud creak.

The reptile carefully made his way through the door as the tentacle retracted, his arm feeling a bit sore as he stepped into a massive hall with beautiful, tall pillars, each with at least one skull or stuffed head trophy mounted on it. There were eight van-thick pillars to each side of the room, and past this hall a single, two-foot high step in front of a stone platform with a gigantic throne made of silver and wood, at least some thirty feet tall, with immense statues on either side of him of strong, armored warriors, each holding vast braziers heaped with enormous coals... and seated in it was a skeleton in full plate armor, the upper spine shattered by some terrible brute force and his head not on his shoulders but in his lap with a huge spear through his helm-wearing skull, a white, glass eye glinting dully in one cracked socket. The helm was regal, not inlaid with gemstones but instead carefully patterned and engraved to display a story... and Zerrex carefully stepped up onto the platform as he walked towards the silver-armored warrior before he looked up at the torn flag hanging above his head, and he realized where he was and who he was looking at: this was Valhalla, and this being had once been lord of these halls and of the warrior gods that had resided inside them, Odin.

Zerrex bowed his head in respect as he traced the symbol of the Judgment Cross in the air, the nearest thing he knew to a religious gesture... and then he looked quietly up at Odin again, and at the mighty spear Gungir: a plain looking thing of wood and wrapped in rawhide, but the silver, small head pierced into the ground was diamond-shaped and gleamed with a strange, pure light. At the moment, however, it seemed to be crying... and Zerrex shook his head slowly before a voice shrieked: "You! What have you done to my father?"