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In the next twenty minutes, Mary was able to learn pretty much everything she'd ever need to know about the reptile's wardrobe: it consisted of black shirts and pants - which he liked and would wear for a week straight - blue dress shirts - which he seemed fond of - and two pairs of blue jeans - which he absolutely hated. She learned this because the reptile spent most of the time climbing back into his jeans muttering under his breath about it, and then because he'd given her one of his dress shirts to wear... which looked slightly ridiculous with its bagginess, but it was better than her white and black maid's shirt. After all, the black miniskirt she could deal with... but she'd rather not wear the skintight top around everywhere when she didn't have to. Not only did it get her plenty of leers, it made her feel like a walking ad for rape; and she felt she'd had enough experiences with that now, thank you very much.

Now they were walking into town, her nervously smoothing out her pinned-up shirt - rolled up just above the waist, with the sleeves hanging ridiculously baggily, but at least now the bottom of the dress shirt didn't go past the bottom of her skirt... - and she kept herself at the Drakkaren's side, feeling somewhat nervous. It was nearly six o'clock... and the reptile had mentioned something about meeting someone in town before they went to take care of another job. And the reptile had hinted that both could end up being a bit messy. Then he'd snorted and added that at least the tow-truck had been and gone already and gotten rid of the heap of trash on his lawn... so it saved him doing another job that could be equally messy.

Mary, however, was more than merely curious about what exactly the reptile did for his jobs, and how he went about it... especially since he seemed slightly displeased with the initial work, although he'd mentioned the bar in Comfort Town where everyone knew the Boss liked to hang out... and she had every intention of meeting both the famed Elliot and this Cindy character he had also spoken briefly of. But at the same time, foreboding and anxiety wound their way into her gut, and she couldn't help but feel a worry that was not just for her life, but perhaps even for her soul itself...

It wasn't that she felt she was going into some dark, unholy place to take part in some evil ritual... it was a feeling that she was wandering into something she truly had no idea about, as they finally approached the bar that was nearly legendary in Apple Villa as the Boss's hideout, which had the same notoriety as the labyrinth of the minotaur or the necropolises that were said to be haunted by the spirits of the dead... but upon entering the bar, she felt some of that worry depart as she saw faces around that were both cruel and sorrowful, but for the most part cold...

Then she realized that was just at trick played not by the moody light, or the presence of the Drakkaren as people stared at him, the female sticking close to his side... it was merely because she hadn't expected... normality. Sure, there were faces that were pockmarked with the scars of poverty and sadness... but then there was a group of people sitting at one of the round tables and playing poker with toothpicks, one of them smoking a cigarette as the other two drank booze and even grinned from one another... there was someone at the jukebox, railing at it for being a broken piece of shit... and the cheetah behind the bar, the Elliot who everyone in Apple Villa spoke of with such distaste, looked nothing short of charming as he smiled at Zerrex and nodded with easy familiarity, cleaning a beer stein with a plain white cloth - even though it already looked sparkling to the eyes of the maid, and she thought she was pretty well trained to see any sort of dust or dirt.

But then the reptile was leading her over to a table near the back corner, as people glanced at them... but unlike in Apple Villa, they merely acknowledged the presence of the Drakkaren with a polite nod or even a casual 'hey, Boss...' and to each of these in turn, Zerrex nodded back or raised a hand with equal politeness, and to Mary he looked both dignified and eloquent, and when he sat in the high backed bench, it was as if he'd taken up his throne and made the bar his courtyard, and Comfort Town his kingdom.

She almost expected to hear a mass sigh of pleasure from the people... but before she could open her mouth to speak, she heard the two-way door behind the counter opening, and then a female Drakkaren slipped through... and the feline could only stare in wonder as Cindy Delacroix walked over to Zerrex with a warm smile on her features and approached the Drakkaren with a complete fearlessness that even she thought she couldn't match, despite her growing self-assurance that the reptile's politeness, if nothing else, would save her from his sadistic side.

And then, turning her gaze to Zerrex, she saw something that made her features soften and her heart roll over in her chest with both strange anxiety and maybe even a bit of jealousy: when the reptile looked at Cindy, he looked at her with what was perhaps the most painful longing she had ever seen enter into someone's eyes. It was as if he'd gone from king to squire, and her a princess, even though she was setting down a bottle of whisky and a plain, two-shot glass with several ice cubes sitting in it, serving him with all the air of a dedicated and honored... well... maid came to mind, and the feline could certainly make that connection with her own line of work. Then she noticed that there was a certain longing in Cindy's eyes as well, a deep compassion for the sadistic, coldhearted killer that currently sat across from the feline... before she straightened and smiled a smile so innocent that it could have lured the birds from their trees, the animals from the forest, and even seemed to calm Zerrex's heart as he returned a smile of his own.

Then the female Drakkaren turned to her, and she nodded, almost half-bowing as she said politely: "Hello, miss. My name's Cindy Delacroix, and I really hope you're here willingly instead of getting hauled around by Zerrex here on some kind of job of his." She paused, then, showing a courage that Mary this time knew she would never have, she reached up and lightly bounced a closed fist on Zerrex's muzzle, making him twitch an eye slightly... but he did nothing more except glance at her - and it wasn't even a look that could be described as nearly callous or cold. "Because I've told him not to do that, miss. So if you're not here of your own volition, you can go. The Boss won't stop you, will he?"

"I promised not to dirty your bar, and she's here of her own volition... right?" Zerrex said, looking from Cindy to Mary; when the latter nodded and the former smiled a bit more widely - and a bit more radiantly, that beautiful look worming its way even into Zerrex's heart - he crossed his arms, then paused before looking across at Mary and asking softly: "You used to be a maid, so you know most of the kitchen rules, right? You should..." he stopped, then glanced from female to female again before asking in a softer voice: "I mean, will you please go with Cindy and help her out? I..." Another long pause, then he finally said plainly, looking almost embarrassed: "I don't want you to get hurt if something bad happens."

Now the other Drakkaren was gazing at Mary with newfound interest, as the feline looked over at Zerrex with a slight smile, tilting her head as she asked him gently: "I thought you said it didn't matter what happened to me, huh? That you didn't care, I think that's closer to your exact words..."

"I just don't want to complicate things." The Boss replied evenly, then he glanced from Cindy to her with impatience more apparent upon his features. "Now go back with her and help her out. I don't want things to get messy."

Before either could respond, the door leading in to the bar opened, and Mary felt her stomach writhe as she turned to look at the interloper into this courtyard of the king: a fancily-dressed, fairly good-looking lupine, with black-tipped ears and a black furred throat, but the rest of his body covered in white fur. Periwinkle eyes glanced back and forth with moodiness... then settled upon the group of three with feigned distaste and badly-hidden fear. But at the same time, the feline couldn't help but feel a strange twist in her gut as she gazed at the lupine - who would obviously be no match for the reptile, despite his height advantage over her by more than a foot, but he was still at least a good one-and-a-half under the lizard - and then she turned to look at Zerrex with both worry and compassion upon her features.

Zerrex looked back impassively... and these his expression softened a bit as he jerked his head towards the kitchen two-way door, and this time both Cindy and Mary went as the lupine strode towards the table, putting his hands in the pocket of the black, polished leather suit jacket he wore, strutting slowly in bare paws over the plain, stained hardwood of the barroom.

But the lizard, sitting there with a bottle of whisky at his left hand and a double-size shot glass at his right, was like no half-baked boss shot up on cocaine, or any fattening but boisterous and obnoxious client... nor was it like the dealings he'd had with the Commander, who, despite his discipline, his prestige and status, had a glint in his eyes that spoke of greed and a twitch of the fingers that showed some other physical ailment. No, the first word that came to mind to describe the behemoth that sat at the table... which he himself was now slowly sitting across from... was perfect. He was huge... his body was obviously rippling with muscle, from the tightness of his clothing and the way his form bent and moved... from the stories he'd heard, he was utterly ruthless and indifferent - no, that was a lie, because he enjoyed causing pain to others. He wasn't indifferent, he was a sadist who seemed to like watching people suffering.

Lone hadn't known what to expect; he'd seen no pictures, he'd figured by all accounts that the mayor's stories were exaggerations or lies, and that everyone in the bar had merely lived with the Boss as legend for so long that they had come to more than accept - they had come to enjoy improving his status, probably making up stories as well to keep the outsiders outside of Comfort Town.

When Lone was walking, he could at least feign his impetuousness, his lack of fear. But the moment he sat and made the mistake of moving up to meet that dominating emerald gaze, he felt his legs go weak, his body start to shake, and his ears laid back as his tail tried to curl between its legs, even sitting down as he was. He felt his mouth move, seize up before he could speak, and all the reptile was doing was staring at him... and even thoughts about the gun in his jacket, the usually-soothing weight of it resting against him... even these things weren't enough to make him feel any more secure, or to break the paralysis he now found himself suffering under, frozen by those frightening but intriguing emerald eyes.

Without bothering to take his gaze from the wolf, the reptile reached out, snagged the bottle of whisky, and popped the cork from it with one hand; then he brought the bottle up to his muzzle and took a deep drink, swishing the whisky around his mouth before swallowing and leaning back a bit, eyes still locked on the lupine's before Zerrex rumbled: "You the one who's been looking around for me, wolf?"

Lone shrank a bit more into his seat, trying to think of the power he held, the abilities he had, hell, the rapes he'd done... fuck, the money he had, and money could buy anything, right? Right? Well... Lone was finally feeling that he would gladly give all his money away... just to get away from this... this deep, emanating malevolence that he felt was coming from the reptile in powerful waves that seemed almost strong enough to cause his eyes to water and his bladder to let go. He could only shake as that feeling of evil seemed to only intensify, even after the lizard broke his gaze to tilt the bottle of whisky up to his mouth and take another deep drink, swallowing the alcohol like it was water and not liquid fire that was going into his guts.

Lone tried to drag away his gaze from the face... but it was like the reptile had somehow captured his eyes with a force that was both physical and intangible, something he couldn't resist or break...the lupine's body shuddered as he tried to force himself to look away, no, even just in another direction... but he was still paralyzed, his body shuddering and trembling as he felt the weight of the reptile's presence bearing down on him with an intensity that he'd never felt matched before... and he realized this was true power. This was real power, and suddenly all he wanted was to bring this giant to his knees somehow, find a way to break him, because there should be no one, no one better than Lone Wulfe, no one should be able to overpower Lone Wulfe with just a look, there was no fucking way anyone was going to be allowed to defeat the Lone fucking Wulfe in any way... he was Lone Wulfe, goddammit, he was Lone Wulfe, and he could break this paralysis.

But before he even had a chance to try, Zerrex's eyes refocused on him - all they did was narrow slightly, but it was enough to make the wolf's heart skip a beat in his chest and quake harder as he slid lower in his seat, feeling that evergreen gaze focusing on him with greater intensity and making him shrink back into his seat, a silent whine in his throat before the reptile tilted his head and asked in a calm but deadly-serious tone: "You're not from here, right?" he paused, and silence spun out for a few moments as the reptile took another long drink of his whisky. Before Lone could gather the courage necessary to even nod his head, the reptile continued onwards in that same tone: "I'm going to tell you the basic rules now. One, is no interruptions. Two, is respect. And three, is do not make me repeat myself. I'll give you one warning, then I'll maim or kill you depending upon my mood or what exactly it is you do to piss me off."

Now the reptile's gaze became measuring as he looked up and down the wolf, his frigid eyes seeming to take in every detail - Lone felt like he was looking through him, more than at him, seeing past clothes, fur and flesh, past his intricacies and simplicities, to his very core being. He felt that everything from the gun to the humiliating half-corset he wore to keep in his fat was revealed; that everything from his tears and guilt in the darkest of nights to his embellishments and lies; it felt like instantly the reptile knew everything about him before he felt a flush rise as he tilted his head and commanded: "Tell me your name, your plans in this town, why you're here and what it is you want. You're then going to hand over all personal information for me to browse over. You also have a predetermined period of time that I am not willing to extend... but I will shorten it if you irritate me, in any way, shape, manner or form... and seeing as I don't like the way you look, I'm already cutting an hour off the usual three I give to... newcomers."

Lone paled a bit at this, his mind frantically trying to figure out some way to make himself more appealing to the reptile, only succeeding in shrinking back a bit more and managing a small whimper of fear as Zerrex seemed to loom forwards, tipping the bottle of whisky up to his muzzle and taking another deep drink of the stuff, reducing the total contents in the bottle to half of what it had been originally, then putting it down on the table, impatience slipping over his features and darkening to irritation over the course of the minute he gave the fumbling wolf before making him quake and causing his eyes to widen by snarling: "You just got your only warning. Do not make me repeat my questions."

The wolf had no idea anymore what in fact these questions had been: in fact, his mind was still reeling with the deadly situation he'd plunged into, with the fact that he'd been stupid enough to so merrily walk into what could be worse than his worst nightmares. This was a creature that emanated power, that breathed it and burnt with it, that dressed as casually as any peasant, that focused on brute force and physical strength, but gave off more of a residue of power than Lone knew he ever have, even with a gun in his hand and while forcing himself on one of his many victims - and then there was the feeling that his 'many victims' over his lifetime to Zerrex would be the equivalent of a half-day's work... while the giant had two broken legs and a sprained wrist.

"Ten minutes off." Lone blinked at the soft tone that had an undercurrent of venom and was only made more menacing by the frigid eyes of the Drakkaren. A moment passed before he realized what the reptile meant, and then that Zerrex had tented his fingers, elbows on the table and he was leaned forwards... with definite entertainment on his features now before he paused and added: "And I think I'll take another twenty for you being such a weakling coward and not showing me proper respect. What's wrong, lizard got you so scared that you can't even run your mouth off, asshole?" he stopped, then continued in a tone that savaged Lone's heart and hopes of ever getting onto the reptile's good side, of perhaps even buying him off. "I look at you, and I see nothing but weakness, dressed up in a fancy-ass suit, for the first time face to face with someone who doesn't need a gun-" And at this point, the reptile reached across the table as he leaned forwards before Lone could react, knocking his suit jacket back and then yanking his revolver from his holster, doing it so immediately and casually, with such ease snapping the leather safety strap and bringing the gun out, that the wolf couldn't even release a yelp of shock: he could only stare as Zerrex held up the silver-plated revolver, his fingers expertly moving the big, well-crafted gun to hold by its handle - his large hands made it look tiny and unimpressive, despite its sparkle and shine. "-to get his way.

"Or money..." he added as an afterthought, slowly tilting the barrel of the revolver back and forth before he leaned back and straightened his arm out, pointing the gun forwards and shoving it against the wolf's forehead, his thumb pulling the hammer back as Lone let out not a yelp, not a whine, but a scream of complete fear, his body convulsing as he felt his head forced back into the bench by the barrel as it slammed into his forehead, feeling his bladder let go, pissing his pants in complete fear as his eyes rolled in his head, his hands reaching up to grab the reptile's arm as he began to cry hard, but unable to do anything, feeling nothing but thick, powerful muscle covering the limb as his whole body shook, hard sobs and cries for mercy shaking his body.

His sight was blurry, but Zerrex's emerald gaze pierced even the fog of frightened tears as the lizard glared at the frightened, completely-crushed lupine, continuing to speak in a low, dark voice that instantly silenced the near-hysterical wolf: "This is true power. Now tell me everything I want to know, or I'll pull the trigger of your pretty gun and make your brains go splat all over the bench behind you... and with the caliber of this gun, probably onto the next table as well. You have a ten-count, and I'm already at three."

Despite his utter lack of bravery and the complete humiliation and decimation of his confidence, the wolf's desire to live now kicked in, and, hysterically, he opened his muzzle, babbling in a panicked, high-pitched voice: "Please, please no! God, no! Anything you want, whatever you want! My name, it's Lone Wulfe, Lone Wulfe, my name is Lone, I'm Lone Wulfe, I'm just a businessman, that's it, that's all! Nothing more, I just came in from out of town to buy some land and I heard about you and so I came into town and I came here to see you and I wanted to know about you and I thought you weren't so tough that I could use you get rid of you pay you off for a land deal I got from the Mayor but I was wrong, I was completely wrong, Boss, Mr. Narrius, whatever you want, please, I'll do whatever you want, just-"

A shove forwards of the revolver and two curt words cut the wolf off in mid-ramble: "Shut up."

For a moment there was utter silence, except for the quiet crying of the wolf as tears ran down his cheeks and a humiliated flush lit his face, feeling for the first time the trail of warmth that ran down his leg and had wet down the fur there, trembling in total defeat and disgrace like he'd never suffered in his entire life. His eyes slip closed, and he gave a moan as his head rocked forwards, gagging a bit and tasting bile in his muzzle, but forcing his quaking form to keep down the contents of his stomach, clenching his eyelids shut tightly, trying to force the image of the Drakkaren out of his head and think of anything, anything but where he was now, with the barrel of a gun gouging into his forehead, trapped between it and the back of a wood bench... and he had the distinct feeling that the reptile could kill him with either the gun or the flat wood wall if he got the urge to, from pulling the trigger or complete brutal force.

The reptile watched as the lupine's eyes closed, his body quaking, and he glorified in the obvious pain of the wolf who had dared to intrude upon his domain... who had probably meant to threaten him or subdue him somehow, through violence or money. But now he was learning that things didn't work that way... that the reptile was not one to be defeated by any normal means of business, that he was someone who unreservedly protected what he thought of as his territory and his alone, and that he was more than glad to fight and even die for that cause... because he knew that all of his destiny was bloodshed and violence.

And why not? He thought it was fitting enough, as he slowly grinned, eyes flashing as he twisted the barrel against the wolf's head and pushed forwards, causing a small streamlet of blood to drip down through his fur, the frightened socket of his eye and down the side of his muzzle, making him whimper and try to shrink back. The reptile immediately licked up that pain, eyeing him with what was almost hunger before he laughed quietly and sat back, drawing the gun up to a half-raised position and pushing the cylinder back to safe before placing it down on the table, letting it sit and gleam in the light as Lone slowly opened his eyes, trembling and staring across at the reptile as Zerrex spoke in a falsely-gentle voice: "I'm gonna give you some advice, Lone... and it's good, plain, simple advice, too. I want you to go out to your fancy car... and you're going to get a gift for me. You're going to give me those land papers for the deal you made with the mayor and give them to me. And then you're going to hand over your driver's license and everything else you have in your wallet... in fact, I think you can give me that right now."

Lone stared at him, trembling... but there was no arguing with the reptile's gorgon gaze, and instead he merely stared at the table meekly to avoid facing those emerald eyes, feeling his forehead bleeding sluggishly before he reached down into his pocket and drew out his leather-bound, thick wallet, and then he tossed it onto the table, saying in a near-silent voice: "Here..."

Then he slumped and turned, walking out of the bar, the other patrons showing either disinterest, amusement, and a party near the door laughing, either at him or some of their own conversation - but then a glance from one of them cleared that up, and Lone flushed deeper at the visible contempt he saw in that look. He suddenly wanted to just jump and run, just leave... but he had the terrible feeling that the reptile would somehow track him down or just know where he was, whether that was paranoia going wild or... or maybe not, as he glanced over his shoulder to see Zerrex lounging back, drinking more of his bottle of whisky, but looking with cold callousness towards the wolf, as if he'd been reading his thoughts and was just now thinking of whether to kill him or not, as one hand lazily spun the gun on the table.

So instead the wolf just went out to the car, shoulders slumping further and body trembling, his very core and soul aching as he felt himself so carelessly and easily dominated and controlled, using his keys to open the back passenger door of his expensive red sports car; he then reached inside, and pulled out his briefcase, trembling a bit as he opened the small locks on it before pulling out the agreement, already in one of the sealed business envelopes, ready for processing and sale to his clients.

He stared at it, the realization of so much hard work and effort... and then he clenched his eyes shut as tears rolled down his face, a few falling from his cheeks and muzzle to land and leave dark spots on the plain paper. No, no, no... it couldn't be like this, could it? He couldn't just hand his life over...

But then he looked up with shock as Zerrex himself exited the bar, carrying the fancy revolver, still clutching his envelope as a small voice in his head squealed No, no, no, no, no! but, before the wolf could do anything, one of the reptile's elbows shot out and bashed him hard enough in the face to send up a fine spray of blood, the wolf dropping the paper to the ground as he hit the car and then fell forwards... before he let out a harsh, whispery shriek as the reptile shoved a knee upwards, his features calm enough to be bored, but for the mild interest that lay there as he stood, easily balanced on one leg with the other knee shoved up against the wolf's throat, leaning forwards to hold him fallen back against the car; with the position, the wolf was barely able to get his feet under him and shove himself back up, but, although it fixed the strangling sensation he felt, it didn't help with the crushing sensation on his chest or moving free from his pinned position against his sports car.

The lupine's body shook as Zerrex spun the revolver on one finger, his head tilted, cold eyes looking down at him... and then he stepped back before backhanding the wolf across the face and sending him down to the ground on all fours, Lone letting out a pained cry before he was sent skidding on his hands and face, sliding forwards over the cracked from a hard kick to the ass. Then he merely lay there, trembling on the ground, feeling his hands and face aching, the pads on his palms torn, and the reptile threw the gun down beside him, speaking with total and utter contempt: "You're pathetic."

The gun landed with a clank that dented the silver plating and skittered over the pavement, scratching up one side of it as a few droplets of water landed on the wolf's body, but he didn't notice either of these events; even as it began to rain gently, little more than a gentle mist of water... and nor did he realize the passage of time as the reptile glared down at him, his eyes burning a hole in his back before the lupine curled up quietly into the fetal position and began to cry quietly, his hands over his face, trying to hide away from the reptile and the world. Zerrex looked at this with total disgust... then he turned away as the door opened again and he spoke softly: "I'm done. Let's go."

Mary nodded quietly to him, watching as the lizard paused to pick up the land deals - this was definitely something that interested him, unlike the cash and other crap in the wolf's wallet... all he'd taken was the keycard for the hotel room, and left the rest for Elliot. Then, as Zerrex straightened, she quietly reached for his hand.

For a moment, the reptile resisted, half-trying to pull away as he looked down at her with surprise... but then she pushed herself against his side, silent but insistent, their backs on the crying wolf curled upon the sidewalk... and then the reptile softened and allowed her to hold his hand - but before they could leave, the door opened again and Cindy came out, stopping and standing with her hands clasped at about waist level, arms out in front of her as she looked from Lone up to Zerrex... then smiling faintly, saying more to him with her eyes than she'd ever need to in words.

For a moment, they looked at each other, then she quietly stepped forwards and leaned up to kiss the air under his head - unable as she was to lean up by his face. Zerrex started a bit - as he always did when she showed affection of any sort for him, then he silently lowered his head enough for her to gently land the kiss before straightening. He paused as he looked down at her - all of them unaware of the wolf, who was still sobbing but now watching through his folded up arms that were covering his face - then he glanced at Mary, who nodded to him with an encouraging smile, before looking back at Cindy's warm smile.

Instead of speaking, he leaned down - moving with what was almost nervousness - and then planted a kiss on her forehead, making the female blush warmly before she nodded again and then said softly: "Thanks, Zerrex. You take care, Boss."

"You too, Cindy." The Drakkaren replied gently, then he turned back to Mary, nodded to her, and the two walked off, sides pressed close and hands locked together, and Cindy slipped back inside.

Lone was still on the ground, crying quietly, trembling... but a voice had started up in his head, and it was both furious and excited, as the wolf forced himself to his feet... then he looked down, saw the gun, and, with a trembling hand, he reached down to pick it up and hobble over to the car, slipping silently in through the passenger side as the gentle rain continued to follow, the skies darkening as more clouds rolled in, the wolf sitting quietly in the seat and the tinted windows obscuring him from sight as he cried quietly, rocking back and forth with the gun in one hand and his hand against his cut forehead, trembling violently as he shook his head and fought with himself over what had just happened, smelling of fear, dried piss and the bar he'd been sitting in.

He spent maybe an hour like that, rocking back and forth, trembling hard as he clutched the gun in his hand, and fighting between two urges as his confidence and ego began to grow back - and, as after any failure, his ego bloated back upwards with violent force. He shook hard as he thought of all the things he wanted to do to the Drakkaren, his tears long having been shed and his fear of Zerrex immense but currently gone - after all, without Zerrex, these Comfort Town assholes were weak, right? And even Zerrex had his weakness...

As Lone looked moodily out the window - the rain had gone, left the ground wet, but done little else and the dreary night skies were dark - he saw a door open in the alley: or, more precisely, the spill of light as a door opened, and then a figure stepped out... a female figure. And before Lone really knew what he was doing, acting on not instinct but a sudden violent urge to hurt someone as much as possible, to hurt Zerrex as much as possible and bring him to his knees like he had brought down Lone, he flung the door of his car open before quickly slamming it behind himself, and then he trotted down the alley, raising the gun before he knew what he was doing, snarling as he saw Cindy turn a corner... and realizing that the alley was in the shape of an L as his snarl widened into a violent grin, frenzy in his eyes. Despite the severe beating... the fright Zerrex had put into him... the total raw strength he'd shown... none of what he did had shaken the wolf's confidence in money, and once he was back at the hotel, he'd have plenty of that again and whatever else he wanted, too. Hell, everyone had a bad day, a total failure, right? It just meant the wolf would have to be more prepared for next time... there would be no more... mind-fucking shit, and none of it on that bastard's terms. He wanted the reptile to suffer... and moreover, he wanted that fucking land claim back.

The wolf turned around the corner as Cindy threw the bag of trash onto a pile of ripped and rotting garbage bags, then she turned and let out a gasp as she saw Lone, who was now slowing and approaching with a grin that was entirely psychotic, the gun held in a trembling hand as he paws stomped through a small, sludgy puddle, his jaws hanging open and tongue falling out as he began to pant, his eyes staring at her hungrily as he snarled: "You... Zerrex's girl, aren't you cutie... oh baby, oh baby, don't you make a sound or you die..."

And he was right; despite everything, the girl didn't struggle or scream, but she started crying silently as Lone continued to advance, the wolf already fumbling at his pants as he felt himself getting excited, wanting to rape, wanting to take the bitch that was so precious to the lizard, and finding himself panting even harder with lust, each breath almost a growl as he stared over her body, hoping that she was a virgin, hoping she was Zerrex's girlfriend, daughter, best friend, whatever... and then she spoke quietly, clasping her hands in front of herself as she looked at him with... with not fear, but a horrible, displeasing emotion: pity. "Please don't do this, sir. You don't want to."

"Shut the fuck up, bitch! You don't know what I want, I do! And what I want is to fuck you, whore!" Lone responded in a raw, angry voice, gesturing at her with the revolver, then he stepped forwards and grabbed her arm with his free hand, yanking her down as he glared at her with furious eyes, before suddenly he smashed the bottom of the revolver's grip against her face, making her cry out and drop her head forwards, eyes shutting in agony as he glared down at her furiously, then he had himself out as he grinned, eyes burning with psychotic hunger as he reached his hand down and grasped himself, his nine-inch lupine penis already pulsing with desire. "Suck my cock! Now suck my cock, bitch!"

So he humiliated her; he watched, grinning as she leaned forwards, tears streaming down her face and her eyes full of horror as she leaned up, fear in her eyes as he shoved the gun down against her head, panting already with desire as he stared at her and then barked: "Suck it! Suck or I shoot you!"

Like he figured, that got her moving faster, and she closed her eyes, sobbing quietly as she took his penis into her mouth, slowly bobbing her head forwards until she'd engulfed him up to the knot, and then she moaned as he ground the gun against her head and began to thrust, snarling: "Come on, bitch! Come on, suck me! Suck me hard, you slut!"

Cindy cried harder at this, reaching out to grasp his legs, her body shaking as she worked her head back and forth, bobbed it in rhythm with the moaning, panting lupine as he thrusted down into her throat again and again, knot colliding painfully with her muzzle and giving him another spurt of pleasure before he shoved hard forwards, forcing the thick knot in as well and almost making her gag as his penis shoved past her mouth and the tip bridged into her throat, and then she was crying harder as he worked himself back and forth, pulling back on the penis and moving her head in rhythm with the manic, uncontrolled thrusts of Lone as best she could, her hands clutching into the cloth of his pants as he rocked in and out of her mouth, already moaning in desire as he rolled his head on his shoulders and kept the gun firm against her temple, other hand reaching up to settle on her head as he continued to piston his penis in and out.

He felt his orgasm already rising as his testicles smacked into her chin again and again with every thrust forwards, opening his eyes to grin insanely as he stared down at her, eyes burning with rage and lust and power, but then an idea flashed into his mind: and, instead of having that be all, he stopped himself before she got him off, loving the power he felt of having the gun to her head but then loving it even more when he made her take her panties off and flip up her skirt with a barked command as he stepped back, taking his penis into one hand and stroking the saliva-coated, hard-as-rock member slowly. She stared at him with terror in her eyes, that emotion replacing all others, and then, trembling she reached down and slowly pushed her panties down as he aimed the gun between her eyes and licked his muzzle, his other hand squeezing his knot and electing another burst of pleasure as he watched her hungrily, as she slowly held her skirt up and flushed deep red, revealing her tight, unbroken vagina.

Lone's breaths panted in and out as he pointed the gun at her and snarled for her to lay on her back. Cindy's tears increased, and it made the wolf swell with power, his ego bursting with the pleasure as he dropped to his knees, then he looked down at her as she did as he'd commanded, making him feel all the harder, bigger, stronger: now her hands were out at her sides, clutching the ground as she closed her eyes tightly, sobbing loudly before she moaned as the wolf positioned himself over her, grunting roughly as he pushed the gun forwards so it was against her forehead as he used his other hand to guide him to her sweet, virginal entrance, realizing this was going to be all the sweeter before her jerked his hips forwards and slammed his cock into her, piercing her hymen as he buried himself up to the knot and sent a few streamlets of blood flowing free as she moaned loudly in horror and her eyes snapped open to stare at the sky, crying hard and letting out loud sobs as Lone began to thrust powerfully back and forth, slamming his knot into the lips of her vagina again and again, panting hard as he kept the gun against her head so she couldn't turn her gaze too far away from his powerful stare, groaning in pleasure as he sank his cock into her vagina again and again with animal lust, then he began to slam himself back and forth extra hard, making her sob harder and twitch against him, her legs bucking as his knot forced its way into her vagina and then was dragged out, the swollen flesh stretching her lips and making her shake her head back and forth, opening her mouth to moan again in terror and pain.

The wolf panted roughly as he watched her, then he grinned widely as he jerked the gun back, before slamming into her throat, making her gag and jerk up against him, and he laughed harshly as he rocked his hips harder, panting and staring at her, snarling: "Suck on that, bitch! Suck on that!" as he continued to rape her fiercely, his hips working his stiff cock in and out of her as he held the gun in her mouth, watching as she tried to shake her head free, but he only forced it deeper as tears streamed down her face and she stared at him, sobbing around the metal.

He felt his cock beginning to stiffen even further as he worked it violently in and out of her, panting harshly at the violation of this virgin, at the rape of someone who apparently was a good friend of Zerrex, as he pounded his lupine penis in and out of her, his furry testicles striking her anus again and again as he reached his other hand up to grab and roughly squeeze one of her breasts through her shirt, grinning widely at the firmness of her good-sized bust, squeezing widely and making her wince as pain and humiliation burned in her eyes and Lone crowed before he reached up and ripped the front of her shirt open, shredding the front of it as he continued to piston his hips back and forth, sinking the knot every time with each strong, hard thrust into her and twisting the gun back and forth deeper into her muzzle to make her gag as he tore her bra down, then hissed appreciatively: "Yeah, bitch! Yeah... those are some nice fucking tits!"

Her breasts, free of their restraints, jiggled and bounced, and he put his hand on one of the hot mound to feel it, to squeeze it hard and make her gasp in pain as his fingers moved up to pinch a nipple, drool falling from his muzzle as his cock stiffened further... and then he grinned violently as he suddenly jerked free and pounced forwards, with a strange speed and agility for the chunky lupine as he dropped his weight on her stomach and knocked the wind from her, making her gasp for breath as the hand on her breast moved up to grasp his slick, leaking lupine member, stroking it rapidly over her as he drew the gun back and shoved it down against her head again, snarling as he rapidly masturbated, managing through his rough pants: "Open your mouth... your tits are so nice that I'm gonna fucking cum all over them and you, so open your fucking mouth and get ready for Lone Wulfe to shoot his fucking load just the way sluts and whores like you like it! All over them! All over them!"

His cock spasmed in his hand as he stroked himself furiously, and then he threw his head back and moaned loudly as he felt his thick seed burst in a line from his penis, continuing to rapidly stroke his lupine member as he sent a first spray into her half-open muzzle and made her cry out in revulsion, jerking her head away as it landed in her mouth and against her eye, but Lone was in too much ecstasy to care as she fell back against the ground and covered her face, tears leaking down her cheeks as she sobbed loudly as the wolf continued to orgasm, sending another spray of his load bursting over her breasts, and then a few more dribbles of white, viscous liquid dribbling out as he moaned and rubbed his cock down between her bared breasts.

He released onto her, marking her as his own in his mind, triumphant for the night over Zerrex, the twelve minutes it took seeming to last an eternity of bliss for her and be a limbo of Hell for the innocent Drakkaren; then, panting hard, getting up to trembling knees, he quickly looked around with the sudden realization that anyone could come looking at any time, that he was going to be caught... but for a moment longer he stood, merely looking back and forth, feeling dazed and half-lost... then, as she began to get up, he shoved her down childishly and yelled angrily: "Don't you tell anyone about this, bitch! Don't you tell anyone or I'll kill you!"

With that, he turned and fled, then tore open the door of his car and leaped into it, his body shaking with terror as he realized the stupidity that his ego had driven him to, flinging himself from passenger seat to driver's as he slammed the door closed at the same time, then he rammed the key in after a few tries, unable to stop a hysterical laugh at the similarity to a few moments ago... and then he took off down the street, tears filling his eyes again at the terror for himself, hoping that Zerrex would never, ever find out about what he'd done, but wanting all the same and for Zerrex to cry and weep and be hurt right down like he had been for what the reptile had done to him, and unable to decide what he'd prefer most... but knowing still that he had to someone hurt the lizard like the Drakkaren had hurt him as he tossed the gun to the passenger seat and hammered the gas pedal after he finally managed to get the car going and he drove off into the dark, overcast night, as it began to rain once more... but this time with true, heavy rainfall instead of crocodile droplets.

Zerrex glanced up at the road signs as they reached a cross street, then he nodded and jerked his head to the left, and Mary nodded, following slightly behind him, hands still firmly locked together as the lizard moved down the cracked sidewalks, frowning a bit up at the sky and the gentle mist that was beginning to subside.

He hated the rain, after all... and although it hadn't been enough to do much more than make his hair feel a bit wet and dampen his clothes. He felt strange and tired, as if in a dry fugue... and there was a vague feeling he'd forgotten something as well, and it had something to do with the wolf he'd just dealt with; but at worst he would hunt Lone down and take care of them however he had to.

He sighed a bit, and Mary glanced up at the Drakkaren with sympathy in her eyes, squeezing his hand as she stepped a bit closer to him to put her side against his, keeping their fingers intertwined as she gazed across his features - his calm face had been somewhat corrupted by a certain level of fatigue she'd not expected to ever see on the reptile's features; mostly because it was an expression she associated with regret, and she highly doubted that the Boss had any regrets about any parts of his life.

Before she could say anything, however, Zerrex stopped and lightly shook his hand free of hers, crossing his arms as his emerald eyes traveled up the plain brick wall of the apartment complex, eyes glancing over the cracked exterior before he turned to Mary and looked down at her, speaking softly: "This is going to be a waiting job. I have to deal with our subject between nine and eleven. It's an assassination exercise, so to speak... so I'll try not to make it too messy." He stopped, then added in a somewhat gentle voice: "You should come with me so he gets no tips that there's anything wrong. You can hide in the bedroom or such while I deal with him."

Mary nodded quietly, looking up at him with both total trust and a feeling that was half-compassion, half-nervousness at the expression upon the reptile's features and the calm seriousness of his eyes. The feline couldn't help feeling a faint twinge of discomfort, however, at what they would soon be undertaking: after all, she'd never thought that she'd ever spend a day hiding in a back room while her... boss, she supposed - or Master, another voice hinted, slaves have Masters - killed someone as part of his job in the other section of an apartment. "I'll do whatever you ask, Zerrex."

The reptile glanced down at her, then he gave a faint, somewhat disquieting smile as he responded gently: "I'll keep that in mind for later." Then he turned towards the building, glancing over it and saying in the same soft but serious voice: "Let's go."

The female cat followed the reptile in as he walked towards the apartment building, then into the small security area just inside the doors, in front of another much heavier steel security door, with bars across the windows and a series of buttons with names on stickers beside them, many of them scratched or marred by graffiti. The reptile tried the handle, then he nodded before turning to examine the room numbers and locking onto his target, memorizing the simple writing on the sticker without trouble: Broderick, H. - Room #204.

"That means he probably goes in through here, the main doors..." Zerrex muttered, then he turned to look at Mary, jerking his head towards the doors. "We're going in through a quieter way."

Mary nodded, deciding not to question the reptile and instead quickly retreating through the damaged glass doors, then once more following the reptile's lead as he headed around the side of the building this time, keeping his eyes trained upwards until he saw what he wanted; roughly fifteen off the ground was a rusted fire escape, ladders sitting between the levels, all of them looking fairly stable - well, from here - except for the last in line, which was apparently built to roll down and fold out to either touch or hang suspended just above the ground... but the lizard didn't know if the roll down mechanism worked anymore, so he glanced at Mary and said plainly: "I'm going to hold you up above my head, and you're going to grab the end of that ladder up there. Once you have a hold of it, yank down - if there's no give, pull harder... and if it's safe, I'll let you go and you can climb up on top, then I'll follow." He stopped, then hesitated a moment before adding: "I'll want you up a level before I come up, however, in case the fire escape gives away. It might not support our combined weight and whatever other strain I'm going to add from landing on it."

"What are you going to do, jump up?" Mary blinked, then she smiled a bit, looking almost entertained as she gazed up and down his thick body, the reptile tilting his head critically. "Okay, stupid question. I don't doubt you can do it if you want to... but thank you for your concern, Boss." The cat softened a bit as she looked up into his eyes again, searching his emerald gaze for whatever he was feeling - but those calm green eyes were impenetrable to her, at least for now.

Zerrex looked at her evenly for a few moments, then he nodded back before kneeling. "No time for small talk right now, Mary... I don't want to take any chances with being seen. Hurry and get on, I don't have much time."

"Actually, from what I've experienced, you seem to have plenty of that and everything else." Mary quipped in return, unable to stop herself as she climbed onto the Drakkaren's shoulders feeling him reach up to grasp her upper legs as he stood, and Mary reached up to grab the ladder before she squeaked as the lizard's hands shifted from her legs to her hips, squeezing them almost painfully as she was now lifted above his head, into the air.

Her first instinct was to flail and demand to be put down, but she knew that either possible ending that had was bad or worse: he would either scold her or drop her and proceed to ignore her for the rest of the night, probably leaving her to fend for herself and even find her way back to her new home alone: something that could prove difficult with her crappy sense of direction. So instead, she merely reached up to grab the first bar of the ladder, feeling rust patter down before giving a hard yank, and thus almost overbalancing both herself and the reptile, toppling forwards with a short cry of surprise as she felt the next rung of the ladder strike her hands painfully as she let go, only adding to her momentum as she fell towards the ground.

Then, like magic, she was safe and curled tight in the arms of the huge lizard, her eyes closed and body curled up, nothing hurting but the dull ache in her hands and her face as embarrassment flushed her cheeks enough to cause physical discomfort. She buried her face against the reptile as he felt him squeeze her gently against his form, then she mumbled in a slightly-muffled voice: "I'm sorry I messed up, Zerrex..."

There was a pause, and then the reptile said softly: "It's okay." A moment passed, and then he added in an uncertain voice possibly the last thing she'd expected to hear as he continued to hold her close against his muscled form: "So long as you're alright."

The cat looked up at him, blinking as she felt her blush deepen furthermore for a moment, then she smiled faintly - yet she felt truly touched, saying softly: "Thanks, Boss... I'm fine, really... just got banged on the hands and hurt my pride, but nothing major." She laughed a bit, studying his impassive features before he allowed him to gently slip her down to her feet; not too far, despite his height, as he was currently down on one knee. She was surprised not by the position but by his speed and reflexes, which she'd figured would have been slower to compensate for his size and brute physicality... but if anything else, she had learned that he was incredibly agile as well as immensely strong.

Then the reptile reached up and tested the ladder, yanking on it lightly... but exerting enough force to make the metal groan and the Drakkaren nod approvingly. When he drew his hand away, flecks and sprinkles of rust floated down from both his palm and the rung he'd grabbed, then he absentmindedly began to run his hands together to try and clean his scales as he glanced over at Mary. "You come up behind me, alright? We only need to go up to the second floor, but I'm hoping that we can figure out which room is his and slip inside on the first shot. So I want to lead just in case my contact's information is wrong and he's in there right now."

Another show of concern that surprised the feline, causing her to glance up at him, sure that he was making fun of her now... but the calmness of his features told her that he was nothing but serious, and she couldn't help but feel that the reptile wouldn't bother with any false shows of concern for bravado or even entertainment; he took enough pleasure in violence to make up for lacking in the sense of humor department. Well... at least for him; she doubted that most other people would get a kick out of being hurt for his personal amusement. "Alright Zerrex... that sounds fine to me."

The Drakkaren nodded absentmindedly, as if he'd expected nothing less - and of course the Boss wouldn't, especially not from her, before he turned and quickly climbed the ladder, sending down a faint shower of rust before Mary followed him up, wincing a bit and trying to avoid the falling flecks of metal as best she could, but for the most part failing miserably. Then she reached the top, and Zerrex took one of her hands, hefting her up onto the metal catwalk that apparently ran most of the way around the building, then the two looked into the nearest window as there came a faint sound of ceramic on tile.

A fox in a robe was staring out at them, her muzzle half agape, and Zerrex looked in at her with narrowed eyes before raising a finger to his lips in an obvious pantomime: quiet. The vixen immediately nodded, still staring at him, and then Zerrex pointed at the window and made a raising gesture with one hand. This time, the fox hesitated... but after a slight darkening of Zerrex's features - something that even made Mary feel a twinge of nervousness - she immediately winced and stepped forwards, reaching out to push the window open and leaving a tiny, square space: the reptile stared at this with obvious disgust, then he muttered a few choice words under his breath before getting down and attempting to force himself through.

Mary rose a hand to her muzzle to hide a grin and a snicker as she watched him trying to squeeze in through the small slot, and her merriment was only increased by the sight of the fox staring at him with what was a mixture of terror and horrified shock. The lizard managed the halfway point, his thick body scraping against the sides of the window, then he let out another dark but mild curse and reached back to shove against the frame of the window, and Mary couldn't hide a giggle at the sight of the reptile's ass waving back and forth in the air, his tail flipping back and forth as he tried to wedge himself forwards.

He stopped for a moment and looked over his shoulder to shoot her a glare through the window before saying loudly: "Push..." and whatever fear had been instilled in her by the glare was lost as she began to laugh, trying to keep it quiet as the vixen now looked at her with terror before gaping as Mary got down behind the reptile, then put her hands against his buttocks - firm as the rest of him, she couldn't help but think, and that just made her laugh harder - and shoving him forwards like that before leaning her shoulder into it and trying to avoid his tail from thwapping her in the face as he continued to wriggle forwards: it wasn't like his waist was even the thickest part of his body, it was just that the reptile had less pushing power and couldn't drag himself in from the sink for fear of ripping the crappy looking thing off the wall.

A few minutes later, he was standing inside with Mary - still snickering - and the vixen had locked herself in her room after meekly saying that that they were in room two-fourteen: a good ten off from where they needed to go. The reptile mused to himself as he stood there, wondering for a moment as he glanced over at the naked-but-for-her-robe fox, then he decided against it; equally, he decided to settle for just glaring the vixen into a quivering puddle in the corner of the room instead of toying with her, for Mary's sake more than anything else. She might have agreed to see him work, but she didn't need to see him play on top of that; it might be too much for the sweet little girl.

That made him smile amusedly to himself; had it been his ex, she would have not only been egging him on and whispering naughty ideas to him that would probably sound like fun experiments to try and would set him off, but she'd already have bound the vixen for him and, if she was in her submissive mood, be naked herself. Sexuality had always been their greatest weapons, after all... and their favorite form of torture and play alike. Then he caught Mary looking at him oddly, and he'd shrugged before motioning for her to follow as he headed towards the door, knowing that the vixen wouldn't attempt anything but also not willing to take the risk that something might happen to Mary if he left her alone in here with her.

The hallways were dim, the doors to the other apartments closed but with vague sounds coming through to fill the hall with a faint but broken chorus of sound - yelling males, crying females, screaming babies and blaring televisions. It didn't take them long to reach the room, either... it was in a cul-de-sac on the other side of the stairway that led upstairs, and what Zerrex thought was probably an eternally-broken elevator from the dust that had collected upon the cardboard side and the yellowed tape. The reptile only examined the door for a moment before he reached down and tried the handle, already knowing it would be locked: he glanced at Mary, who looked back with a shrug, then the reptile raised a leg and simply booted the door down, hitting it hard enough to not only break the lock but snap the hinges and simply causing the plain steel door to tilt and fall forwards, the indent of a boot clearly visible imprinted into the metal as Mary's jaw dropped, too shocked to even reprimand him as the apartment immediately filled with silence.

Zerrex merely looked back with an expression that asked what the hell he'd been supposed to do, so the cat merely clamped her muzzle shut and tried to ignore the fact the reptile had just booted in a steel security door with all the ease of a child knocking down a tower of building blocks. Then she followed the reptile in, finally managing to say and sounding perhaps a bit short for the reptile's liking: "I thought you said quiet?"

The Drakkaren turned at her, and again he only had to look at her to make her blush and then speak quietly: "Sorry. But um... it's gonna be kinda hard to surprise him now, won't it? I mean... even if you stand the door back up, you kinda tore out the lock..." With this, she glanced back at the frame, which was only wood and thus had been shattered from the reptile's kick, the metal lock tearing through the tough wood, "And you knocked the hinges off."

"Show me a bit of faith." The Boss replied, sounding faintly entertained, then he began to set up for his ambush; and, as Mary watched, she had to admit that she'd underestimated him... but how could she suspect that he knew how to do all this?

A forged note - without the superintendent's name, though, but the Drakkaren remarked that very few Comfort Town apartments were owned by anyone actually from this side of Baskin's Grove, anymore, so the fancy apartment managers who lived in Apple Villa didn't leave their names for self protection - was used to cover the boot print - or indent, rather - and explained the torn out wall. It was written in big, ugly block letters, as if the person writing it had been rushed... and again Mary was reminded that no one from Apple Villa cared about what happened to who in Comfort Town, because of the different social standings and classes of people... and the guilt she felt from that made her want to reach out and hug the lizard and tell him how much she cared. Which would probably get her slapped or shoved away and told to go hide in the bathroom or something.

Mary disagreed with the idea that this would work, even though Zerrex duct-taped it over the imprint to make it an added pain in the ass to get off, and was leaning on it not being removed on the basis it would be too much trouble, and that Hans sounded like the type who would have a long bad day, come back in the mood to kill people, and leave it on the door just because he'd hope that the punks would be stupid enough to come back thinking no one was home and he'd get a chance to kick their asses.

The next thing Zerrex did was fix the hinges: this was accomplished by finding the broken pieces of pin, figuring out about how long they were, and then finding appropriately-thin objects to slip in, in place of the broken pins. The reptile was able to fake the hinges with two screwdrivers, although the top one was a bit loose and caused the door to list slightly upon being opened, creating a grinding sound.

Finally, the reptile did a once-over thrashing of the apartment and closed the door as much as possible, leaving it slightly loose before retreating to the living room and checking his watch; at about eight-twenty, he looked outside to see heavy rainfall... and then something caught the corner of his eye and he turned to watch a cup he'd left sitting on the edge of the table seem to totter of its own accord, fall, and shatter on the floor. This symbolism, this omen struck the reptile ridiculously hard for what he was; a realist, a sadist and someone who believed that every problem could be resolved through use of his fists or another hard object with a fairly long reach. Staring at that shattered mug on the floor, however, caused even Zerrex to give the faintest of trembles, then he stared out the window at the pouring rain outside as a single person came to mind: Cindy.

Mary stared at him as the Drakkaren looked through the window, expression tight and eyes suddenly open and vulnerable instead of their usual cold emerald - perhaps they were even bright with some inner turmoil that had struck the reptile. She too had jumped at the sound of the cup shattering, but only because it had been so unexpected: the reptile, however, looked as though something else had spooked him on top of that. And that made her even more scared.

"We're having a change of plans. "Zerrex said abruptly, looking at her mildly. "You're going to go into the bathroom to wait now. I'm going to kill him, then I'll come get you. No theatrics. But after that, we're heading out to another appointment." He stopped, then lowered his head and shook it slowly, trying to dissuade himself of the feeling rumbling in the pit of his stomach... he didn't know what this feeling was, the one that was tightening his shoulders and making him feel almost nauseated; it was like being scared, but not... it was like... a twitchiness, not an itch, a feeling that was trembling inside, like his soul had been hit by some shockwave... that was the only thing the reptile could compare it with. No, no, he did have other experiences with this emotion... but that had been when he'd been pacing his room, thinking about his ex and... worrying about her, because she wasn't back yet or he didn't know what she was doing...

It was worry that was plaguing him; an emotion so alien that it, by itself, was almost enough to put an even worse feeling into his mind... and that feeling was being scared. That wouldn't screw up his job, no... but it would make it harder to 'relax,' afterwards. And he didn't like it... it felt too much like weakness. So instead of accepting it, he turned away from Mary to gaze out the window, setting his teeth as he struggled with himself, trying to down that emotion and whatever had summoned it out of the depths of his dark soul, from whatever dungeon it had been imprisoned in.

The cat continued to look at him with her own worry evident on her features - easily accepted by her - and then she sighed softly and nodded to the lizard before turning and retreating into the bathroom. She found upon entering them she actually had to use them, so she tended to the needs of her body before deciding on impulse to at least amuse herself by looking around... but then the feeling that she was intruding - and it got worse when she realized she was intruding not only upon a person, but a soon-to-be-dead person - rose up, and she quickly closed the cabinet she'd had open and she turned her attention to other things, sitting on the closed lid of the toilet and rocking back and forth.

Zerrex heard Hans Broderick before he saw him - it was hard to miss the loud, angry yell of "fuck!" from the hallway... but then things got complicated when instead of entering his apartment, the reptile heard him turn to pound on another door and yell "Vinnie! Open up man, tell me what the fuck happened out here? Who went and messed up my shit, man?"

The Drakkaren made a face, closing his eyes. No one come outside because loud thumps and cracks were common in this side of town, and of all variety... and of course no one trusted or bothered with the police anymore. It came down to when someone wronged you badly enough, you informed the Boss. And any gangs or other criminals that he, Zerrex, came across from reading the newspaper or browsing the locality, were quickly taken care of through a variety of retributive punishments.

But he knew it was best to be patient sometimes. Hans would eventually come into his apartment, and most likely he would want to survey the damage without Vinnie. By his side. When looking after our wounds, after all, we preferred to do so in private... at least, most people did. So instead of blowing the whole job by freaking out or losing his calmness, he merely stood, body readied, around the first corner in the living room of the apartment, listening to the angry yelling of Hans - composed mostly of vulgarities of all sorts, from loud curses to all types of expressionisms - and the hung-over groaning of Vinnie.

And of course, eventually Hans started back towards the room, throwing open the door and letting out a new disgusted cry at the sight of his stuff trashed and laying everywhere... and as he'd hoped, when someone else stumbled across the hall, Hans was quick to tell Vinnie that he wanted to sort his shit out, clean the place up - and Zerrex couldn't help a satiric smile, imagining the nervous look on Hans's features now as he heard the suddenly calmer creature speaking with immediate despair instead of anger: it wasn't the mess, the Drakkaren suspected, but more the fact that most tough guys didn't like other fellows who looked at kiddie porn. Pedophilia was just a "do-not" in almost any given society, and it certainly wasn't appreciated in Comfort Town; perhaps one of the reasons Zerrex had no issues with the request. The only difficulty he was going to have was killing him straight off instead of torturing him like he hoped... other males who prided themselves on power of some sort - even if all the power they could hold was that over little girls, and even then only for a short time - were perhaps the most fun to rape or torture sexually. They gave him a real kick... but tonight he'd have to settle for the fan girl. He'd promised Mary not to play, after all... and he wanted to get out of this place.

So when the black bear - wearing a leather vest over his bare chest, blue jeans and motorcycle boots, with thick arms and trying to go every inch the tough-guy image - walked in and past, Zerrex didn't bother with the speech. Instead, he gave the fair chance he always did: he grabbed him and spun him around, then roughly shoved him backwards as he grinned, causing him to drop his duffel bag and stumble, eyes going wide with shock before he let out a cry of not surprise but total and abject fear, half-moving to save himself from the fall but apparently too scared to do so, and instead he merely fell heavily on his ass and stared at the reptile, immediately spluttering: "Boss! You're the Boss! I... you... oh God, please no!"

Instead of responding, the reptile merely looked at him with disgust before lashing a foot out, sending up a spray of blood and knocking Hans to the floor before he stomped down onto his neck and twisted, eyes gleaming as the ursine first choked... then the reptile gave another savage twist as he stomped downwards, and this time the bear's neck shattered.

But then the reptile couldn't help a sound of disgust and irritation as Hans's eyes rolled in his head and he gargled, limbs flopping as he went into some kind of seizure, his head convulsing and body trying to twitch... neck shattered, but apparently he'd missed severing the proper vertebrate entirely. The lizard narrowed his eyes at him, then he rose his foot again and this time stomped down with a growl, crushing in the bear's skull and this time stilling him for good before he drew his now-bloody boot back and turned around to look at a rabbit that stood in the doorway, his eyes wide with horror, half-dressed in a pair of pants and eyes wide with terror... before he let out a squeak and bolted as Zerrex grinned violently and rose his hands above his head, claws curled forwards.

The reptile snorted as he fled, then slammed his apartment door; whatever else, it made no difference to him anyway. He'd accomplished his mission here now... and when the reptile glanced up, he saw Mary standing in the hall, one hand raised to her muzzle, eyes quietly gazing at the dead body of the bear with sorrow... but when she looked up, it was without fear. Perhaps there was even pity in that sad brown gaze, as she walked over to Zerrex, one hand still up by her muzzle as she trembled a bit before asking quietly: "Why did he die? And... why so messy?"

"His neck didn't break right." Zerrex responded shortly, not enjoying talking about his work; under her insistent gaze, however, he sighed and put an arm around her shoulders, carefully leading her out as he looked ahead: more to keep from looking at her than to actually watch for any aggressors or anything along those lines. "He was a pedophile who was molesting children at a local playground. He killed the daughter of my client."

"I see." Mary said quietly, looking up at him softly as they walked towards the staircase. She remained silent as they exited the hall, walked down the stairs, then exited the building through the nearby main doors, before she finally spoke again, surprising the reptile by not reprimanding or congratulating him, but instead asking: "Do you like children?"

He stopped outside the doors, the two of them standing in the heavy rain that was falling without complaint, soaking them quickly and obscuring much of the view around them... but Mary gazed up at him as if they were standing together on a sunny day instead of a dark, stormy night, and the reptile for once didn't care that he was getting soaked to the scales by a rainstorm. In the ensuing silence, the cat blurted out another question, blushing even as she asked: "Do you... have you ever done anything to children? Hurt them or... you know..."

The reptile continued to look at her mildly, then he glanced down before looking back up with a dry laugh. "I don't like kids. And yes, I've even killed children before and..." he stopped, then added in a quiet voice: "Never little children. But for me, everyone is fair game after they've hit thirteen or fourteen, if I ever have... an urge. Most of that, however, is in the past." He stopped, then frowned at her expression. "Shouldn't you be looking at me with disgust?"

"No... it's just..." she stopped herself now, then quietly reached up to brush his wet hair back from his face. "How can you be so honest about all this? So... so calm?" Before he could answer, however, she merely laughed a bit and glanced down from his features. "I'm sorry, stupid question. I forget that... you're the Boss, and I did talk with Cindy about you for a bit."

Zerrex nodded, feeling a twinge at Cindy's name... but then he turned up the block instead of towards the bar and let his hand travel down to rub the wet back of the feline. "Come on... the hotel is near here, where I'm supposed to get payment for my next job... or rather, say I'm not doing it and take my pay anyway. Ironic that even I have fans..."

Mary smiled a bit up at him, raising her eyes to look at his face as she replied softly: "I don't think it's too surprising myself. Everyone loves a badass."

The Drakkaren blinked down at her, then he shrugged before they continued on in silence; however, within a minute of the twenty-minute walk, Mary had started to complain about the weather and Zerrex couldn't help but agree, muttering under his breath about how much he hated getting wet. This caused Mary to ask him yet another question - Gods, she reminded him of Cindy sometimes, innocent but so goddamned curious - and he merely responded that he'd almost drowned once and spent about three days clinging to a wooden board before a rescue ship had finally homed in on the debris of the military battleship he'd been riding on. The short anecdote had made Mary blush once more and apologize, then the two remained quiet for the last five minutes of walk to the beaten-up inn.