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Lone Wulfe had spent a much less comfortable day being tended to by a team of medics on his hotel bed, after they had someone wade into the bathroom in knee-high plastic boots to turn off the scalding water that was overflowing - fortunately, the hotel had been bright enough to install a small drainage system in their bathrooms, should the fabulously rich also be fabulously stupid and leave the water running too long, which happened all too often. They had then run a sponge coated with disinfectant over the wolf's body, to deal with smell and the wounds, before removing the knife from his nether regions and carrying his still limp-form to the hotel bed, and attaching a series of IV tubes as they went to work with fervor; this was definitely something the Boss had done, and they rarely managed to find a subject that was still alive. After all, he usually went for a kill instead of a battering that left them the perfect humpty-dumpty - except they thought they really could put the poor bastard together again.

It took them three hours of careful setting and bandaging, then another hour of injections - after which the wolf began to regain consciousness, and the first thing he did was start to cry. No one really blamed him, but it was still pathetic - he'd gotten off lucky compared to most subjects, not being either raped and/or dead.

From the screenings they'd done with portable, state-of-the-art body readers - and from poking the wolf after he'd woken up, which everyone knew but wouldn't admit was both a better measurement and more fun - they'd deduced that both of his kidneys were bruised, but his stomach and lungs were alright, except that the former was slightly crunched inwards. They all attributed this to the reptile, nodding politely at one another, but Lone blushed a bit as he figured it was the corset. The lizard had been gentlest on his stomach...

One of his testicles had ruptured, but would heal, along with all the other millions of wounds on the wolf... and the lupine blinked slowly through the haze of pain that seemed to be his entire body yelling at him; yet, despite that, it wasn't so bad as to make him irrational or even whine about it. It was more of a dull ache... and that's when the wolf realized there was an IV in him, and he moaned in realization that they were probably pumping some seriously heavy drugs into him.

Then they'd explained about the other internal damage - namely the fact he'd had a knife shoved up his ass. To combat this, the wolf should take laxatives and avoid getting constipation at all costs, or he was in for hell... and they also warned that it would hurt like hellfire anyway, because... well, you figure it out. And the wolf most certainly did, as he lowered his ears and began to feel like crying.

After that, they'd asked the wolf to get up and walk around, his arms, paws, hands and pretty much all his body covered in bandages... and so the wolf had done so, hobbling with a definite bow-legged stride, and the doctors had nodded, given the medical bill to the hospital staff, and then left with all their medical equipment. They left the wolf a roll of thick cloth bandages, some disinfectant in case he did anything stupid to his cuts, and a week's worth of painkillers that would at least dull the agony the wolf would soon be experiencing.

Then the hotel manager had tried to come forwards to console the battered lupine, and immediately Lone had thrown a tantrum, yelling and ranting, probably making only little sense as he went on and on about what happened to him before finally collapsing into sobbing, back on the bed, and moaning about how much agony he was in and how much money he was going to sue for and all the things that came into the wolf's head as the manager tried to soothe the beaten wolf and then finally offered both an out of court settlement and a free transfer to another hotel, since this room must entail so many bad memories for him; in reality, the manager just didn't want the Boss showing up again. So it was worth paying for the staggering medical bill and giving the wolf an under-the-table not-bribe to avoid a lawsuit... one they could win, but only by admitting that of all people, the Boss had shown up. And whenever the Boss got involved in any sort of legal case, the papers tended to become sealed documents and the court sessions long, private, and extremely expensive. After all, try explaining to the National Police Agency that if anyone dared to go after the Boss, he would kill them for bothering him, their bosses to make sure no one else came after him, their family and friends to make sure no one tried to take revenge on him, and everyone he felt like on the way just for kicks. So it was easier to keep him quiet, like every other scandal and illegal operation in this town. Seeking justice against the Boss was like seeking justice against fate; it just laughed at you and then had a panel truck run you over.

The wolf was satisfied however; in fact, he seemed to be more than pleased with the settlement of one-hundred thousand dollars and agreement that they move him to the luxurious Royal Monarch hotel, which was only a few blocks away, but promised an equally-nice accommodation and more privacy for the wolf to enjoy, as well as an adult bar, a tropical garden, and an assortment of other frivolous joys.

Lone had muttered but consented to it without much grace: he had immediately demanded his money in cash, which the hotel was only too happy to fulfill - after all, it meant no paper trail, and that's the kind of payoff they wanted, so that there would never be any record. Just lost funds that maybe were used to buy supplies and not pay off some stupid wolf who pissed off the Boss.

After that, they helped the unsteady, beaten lupine down the stairs to his car, employees bringing the little luggage Zerrex had left unharmed to the vehicle without even questioning the wolf, giving him another arrogant burst of superiority even over the pain; perhaps that was part of the reason he didn't ask how he'd already had a high-class reservation at another hotel, but perhaps it was also merely the fact that the wolf was inherently so arrogant that any gift to him was just tribute to his ego and his utter Lone Wulfe greatness, and it certainly couldn't be just because they wanted to get rid of him... likewise, the fact that it was done so quickly and perfectly was merely because the competent staff wanted to serve him properly, not because it had been practiced before when other patrons had been targeted by the Boss...

So the wolf had been moved, with all the ease and grace of a tactical military operation, and spent a long night awake in complete agony despite the painkillers... yet, by morning, the pain had dulled enough that he had been able to move around without too much trouble, and although it hurt like all hell to urinate - and thankfully he'd been spared what he would sure be intense agony once he had to number two - he had decided that he definitely could have been worse off with the other stories he'd heard about the boss. So he was thankful for that, but more thankful for the room service and constant attention he got: he didn't seem to realize this wasn't out of sympathy for the fact he had had the living crap beaten out of him, but because they all felt sorry for the impending death of the lupine once Zerrex discovered him.

In the morning, Lone had gotten dressed in the little clothing he had left - the stuff he'd sent out to get washed, in other words - and had then been intelligent for a change and decided against hurting himself more with the half-girdle: that idea tossed, he found his shirt was too tight, so he instead just put on the suit jacket and buttoned that most of the way up, figuring he'd get extra sympathy from the bandages that were covering his chest anyway.

Then he'd gone down to the parking lot outside, where he figured his sports car would blend in well enough - sure, it was red, and it was big, and it was fancier than any other car there, but everyone here was an out-of-towner, right? So it should be safe - and ignoring the illogical fallacy that he'd soothed himself with before getting in - wincing at the pain it caused his sore ass and wishing he'd gotten some softer cushioning instead of a leather interior - and then driving down to the airport, feeling anxious once more as he drove over the speed limit and used less than the necessary amount of concentration, cutting off other cars and heedlessly disobeying the basic rules of the road. Fortunately for the lupine, traffic was light on this side of town this early in the morning, and so he made it to the airport without event.

Once there, he pulled into a handicap spot - he figured he was bruised and beaten enough to count - in front of the main terminal and then hobbled out and to the main building, glancing around as he approached a help desk, bullied his way to the front past a mother trying to soothe a squalling baby, a slew of old people, and two fellow businessmen as he rumbled about being in a rush, pushing through them and forcing his way up to the counter before asking the location of the private airstrip. He then realized he'd forgotten the name once the irritable-looking mouse asked him which one in return, and so he changed his question to ask for a list and finally pointed out the Weyland strip, which earned him another distasteful look as the rodent pointed over her shoulder at a sign by the nearest door, which said in bold letters: WEYLAND AIRSTRIP ENTRANCE.

The wolf made a sound of disgust in his throat, but he felt embarrassed enough to leave without any comment, wincing as his paws began to hurt and suddenly wishing he'd brought a pair of sandals or dress shoes at least, as he headed out and then moaned as he realized the doors led outside, and there was a long gravel path that led to an asphalt airstrip... and for a moment he merely whined indecisively in his throat before shutting his eyes tight and walking forwards, yelping quietly at the feeling of the gravel irritating the cuts beneath his bandages and clenching his fingers into fists. Of course, that in turn just made all the small wounds on his hands hurt, and his eyes watered as he opened them and stared ahead, hobbling and staggering until he finally reached the asphalt and stopped, looking back and forth before staring up into the sky: he knew he'd gotten here at about... nine fifty, so it must be ten by now, or even past... but before he could start to become huffy about it, he heard the sound of an approaching jet, and he saw what looked like a sleek black stealth plane descending from the clouds, with gold, lightning-patterned streaks down the wings, tail and nose.

It descended rapidly, then landed smoothly, rolling down the pathway and coming to a halt a good hundred feet away - it was then the wolf realized it was just slightly bigger than your average private jet, but the gleam of the metal showed that it was probably far better maintained than those ridden around by groups of rich people, and probably much faster as well. When the only door in the side opened, a small metal set of stairs folded out instead of a ladder or nothing at all... and as Lone approached with the anxiety suddenly back, three figures descended - two males and a single female. And he was very sure that none of them were the pilot as he halted about ten feet away, watching as the first in line stretched and yawned obnoxiously widely, one hand scratching a naked set of chiseled abs. "Fuck man, I hate this flying shit!"

Lone stared at them, taking in them one by one as he couldn't help but feel his eyes widen and a slow, both awed and horrified grin come to his features as he realized that the help he'd summoned was definitely in the same style as Zerrex. Not only were they all huge and scary... they all looked... bloodthirsty. There was definitely no other word for it; these three were like devils sent from Hell to recapture a rogue of their own... and Lone felt the anxiety inside him turn to a form of frightened joy as he looked at these monsters he'd called in, knowing with horror he had no way to control them if they decided to cause some other kind of hell, realizing with terror that they were all akin to Zerrex in the violent, dominating aura that floated off them, and feeling total and utter joy at both these facts; sure, there was one of Zerrex, but here were three of his former comrades, and all of them looking ready for violence.

The first in line was a black wolf that towered over him; he estimated he was probably seven and a half feet tall, maybe a bit more. Not so big as Zerrex, no... but maybe as wide, thick with muscle that was visible through the tight-fitting, sleek black leather trench he wore. Across his chest was a plain bandolier made of brown rawhide straps, with golden belt-clasps holding it tight to his massively-muscled chest; he also wore a pair of thick black leather pants, but from looking at them the wolf could tell they were thicker than your average leather as well, probably more of a motorcycle-leather than the showy style of material he preferred.

His fur was mostly charcoal black, seeming to have slight streaks of gray along the edges of his body, but definitely turned to a grayer color over powerful abs and firm chest, and his eyes were the same color as he looked moodily around his new settings, tromping back and forth in a pair of motorcycle boots that went halfway up his shin and had thick black metal plating visible down the lower leg, side, heel and toe. The swirling of his trenchcoat in his impatient stride revealed that he had several beige military side-packs attached to the plain rawhide belt around his waist, and his eyes - completely obsidian, so dark they seemed to be without pupils, although the wolf only got a glance at them: a moment later, he yanked down the wraparound, pitch-black shades he had on his forehead to cover them as he turned to look at the white wolf, and he slowly smirked, revealing his teeth... and Lone's eyes widened and he reared his head back a bit as he saw the huge frontal fangs of the black, rugged-furred timber wolf. "Hey, Tinny! Look at our boss here, ain't he look like he just got the shit kicked out of him! And I bet it was by our old friend, too!"

The next in line winced at this and shrank down a bit as he seemed to edge a bit closer to the huge wolf and almost peer around him... and Lone took back what he'd said about them all being huge and scary - now that he was looking at them after being shocked back into reality, he realized that yes, two of them were massive... but this male in the middle actually... wasn't that threatening. Initially, he'd gotten the impression of height and size... but he realized that it was probably because he'd been standing straight up, whereas the black wolf seemed to be slouching forwards a bit and the female was leaning back against the stairway, looking up into the sky... but "Tinny" was now meekly almost grabbing for the big black lupine and stepping behind him as he stared at Lone.

He was probably only about five-eight, maybe five-ten at the most... a badger with lustrous fur but... who looked oddly frail and small. He was definitely more of the athletic build than a giant like the wolf, and was quite thin from the look of the tight, plain white dress shirt he wore with the sleeves rolled up above his elbows, and his jeans betrayed legs that were almost feminine, the bottoms of them somewhat badly hemmed so he didn't track on the long legs in what looked like a pair of plain but very scuffed and scratched-up military boots. He shivered a bit, then he stepped back from behind the giant to slip on what looked like a plain cloth jacket that had been tied around his waist, then he reached up to slip what looked like a set of dog tags under his shirt before looking distrustfully at the wolf, reaching up to run a hand down his black-striped muzzle, then rub at one gold-ringed brown eye before finally reaching that hand up to give his ear a squeeze - one of the weirdest gestures the wolf had ever seen.

Then "Tinny" stepped nervously behind the big black wolf again as the larger male rolled his eyes - visible because he'd nudged his glasses to the end of his muzzle - and turned around to tilt his head and say a few words as the only female made a face, then walked forwards and turned to look at Lone with a measuring look: she, he thought, was maybe the scariest. Probably because she was both a Drakkaren, and tall: two things that reminded him of Zerrex. As she crossed her arms and barked something at the two now-bickering males, he also caught a hint of irritable command in her voice, and that made her seem even more like the Boss... which made him shiver in both terror and anticipation of glory.

She was maybe seven feet tall... and she was lithe, but still had muscle definitely visible under her scales. Her breasts were large enough to make him want to stare, double-take and drool... but her body was built with enough muscle that he was afraid of what she'd do to him... and yet, then there was the fact that all that muscle still looked sleek, even bulging as it was against her tight black jeans and leather jacket, even with the sight of those powerful abs visible from the fact she wore only a short black belly shirt that exposed most of her cleavage... but then again, there was the fact that her blue eyes were more frigid than ice crystals on a winter's night at the north pole. So in the end, scary outweighed sexy, at least for him.

Around her waist was a scale-weave belt, made out of some strange suede brown material, and the clasp looked like pure silver, shaped like a wide ellipse: attached to it was a side-pack on one side and a massive, custom and neon-blue-metal handgun in a rawhide holster with no safety strap on the other... the wolf thought maybe she was showing that off a bit too much, along with the rest of her, with her leather jacket cut just above the waist and possibly just a bit too tight for safety...

Her scales were green... apparently lightening on her chest and stomach from what the wolf could see... and like the badger, she wore military boots, except hers looked like they had small, built in spikes on the heels and sides of the foot, as well as a gleaming black steel plate over the toe... and her boots were in perfect condition. As the wolf stared, he noted only one other thing... there was a chain around her neck, and it apparently led to something that hung low enough to be hidden by her revealing shirt... but he certainly had to intention of trying to reach in there and find out.

"Hey, Vampire, get your fucking ass back in the fucking plane and get the fucking luggage out!" she snarled, glaring at him; the flash of command in her eyes made Lone want to wince back as he hesitantly walked a few feet towards her, and this time he didn't blame the badger as he cowered behind the black wolf, looking entirely submissive. The huge wolf on the other hand only gave her a disgusted look and flipped her off, but a narrowing of her eyes made him throw up his hands and release a loud groan.

"You goddamn lazy whore." He spat, but he turned and obligingly headed towards the stairs as she walked away from them, his fingers lacing together behind his head as he strutted with his muzzle tilted in the air: as he passed, he tried to swing an elbow towards her, but she ducked under it and laid into him with a punch to the gut that Lone heard from where he stood, and the black wolf's tongue shot out of his muzzle as he gasped for breath, hands spasming and reaching for his stomach before he shot her a snarling look, walking quickly past and up the metal stairs to the aircraft.

Then the female jerked her head at the badger, who gave a small sound of fear before turning and quickly running past the wolf, shooting him a nervous look before he headed towards the terminal: that left him alone with the female, and the bandaged, beaten wolf suddenly found himself terrified as he looked at her before stuttering lamely: "You... I'm... hi."

"I'm Cynthia Blossom, but you can call me Cherry." She said briskly, crossing her arms and then jerking her head at the massive black wolf as he began to head back down the steps, grunting and muscles flexing as he carried down a huge wooden trunk. "That numb fuck is Drake Lazarus, but we just call him Vampire... and the scaredy-shit is Cory Pettigrew, or the Tinman." She stopped, then snorted as the black wolf dropped the trunk beside her, then sat on it and slipped around so he sat beside the Drakkaren... but not too close, Lone noticed. "Hey, Vamp, you think that Ravenlight is losing his touch?"

"Nah. He probably didn't think the little shit here could withstand so much," the black wolf replied smugly, looking at Lone with a contemptible glare overtop his dark shades that made the smaller lupine feel both stung and humiliated. "Fucktard looks even weaker than Tinny."

"Give him some credit. He ain't one of us, just a money-whoring client." Cherry tilted her head back at Vampire, then she snorted and gave the box a kick hard enough to shake the huge black wolf and make him jump to his feet, snarling a bit at her again as she said in that same curt tone: "Open it up, shithead."

The lupine snorted, but he did as he was told, slipping in front of the box and kneeling before it to enter a combination, then shove the lid up as the white wolf merely stood and watched as he now produced three rectangular metal boxes: two of these went to the side, and one of them went to Cherry, who took it without comment and easily pried the lid off - a feat the wolf thought was quite the show of brute strength, as she held what must've been at least fifty pounds of steel under one arm and tore an air-sealed lid with the other hand off like it was a rubber cap.

Then she put the container down and began to sort through the contents of the box as behind her, Vampire removed the two lids from the other two metal security boxes with much more grace. He then began to pull out square bricks in plain brown packaging and slip them into what must've been customized pockets of the trench, but Lone's eyes widened as he caught the basic black stamp label on the outside of the paper: C4.

It seemed to be the only thing in the box, other than a small radio that the black wolf apparently slipped into the back of his belt, hiding it beneath his trenchcoat as Cherry began to load clips into slots on the inside of her jacket and then attached what could only be two whips to her belt - the sight of them, however, made the wolf want to do anything but laugh or make kinky innuendos. One of them was definitely of a plainer, solid leather variety, with a well-worn weaved handle, but it looked like it could cause some serious damage nonetheless... and the other whip simply scared the wolf: instead of leather or rawhide, this was made of large-size and narrow metal chain links, all of them with a distinctly sharpened look to them and ending in a long, curved talon instead of a plain metal tip. The claw of steel looked almost like the fang of some great beast like a dragon, and he couldn't help but notice the fact that it seemed to have slight barbs as well, from what he could see... and he winced as she carefully attached both of the whips to her belt by a small cloth strap that she could flick down and then instantly have both whips ready in her hands, one a leather bound but solid-looking handle - probably wood with the leather overtop - and the other a solid steel grip that looked as though it had been molded perfectly for her hand. Lone got the distinct feeling that she could kill with either one of them if she pleased, and that they definitely weren't there for show - in fact, he was starting to realize that none of what these monsters did was for show.

He couldn't help but stare, and Vampire grinned as he leaned forwards, putting his hands on his hips as he said tauntingly: "What's wrong, little wolf? You got a crush on Cherry there or something?" he laughed a bit as he crossed his arms, now leaning back a bit as the female looked up to see Lone's embarrassed flush and stare. "Lemme tell you now, little guy, that bitch would rip you up in bed. Hell, she almost kills me, and I'm one fucker that just don't die that easy."

"Too fucking bad, too." Cherry growled in reply, then she gave the black wolf a hard shove, making him stumble and flail his arms out before he snarled and threw a punch back at her: yet without even changing the mildly-irritated, bored expression on her face, she easily swayed her head away by a few inches and then actually brought her head swinging back to strike hard into the wolf's forearm, knocking him off balance as she swept a leg out without even looking and tripped him.

Vampire fell heavily, but he got his hands underneath him and kicked his legs upwards, doing a handspring instead of falling on his face and then landing with a grunt beside the flabby lupine, who cowered back and then fell on his ass with a yelp. The bigger black wolf looked down at him over his sunglasses with both amusement and disgust, but then he held a hand out, speaking in a mocking, patronizing voice: "Aww, come on now, dude. You got the shit kicked out of you already, we ain't here to poke you some more, but to help your sorry ass out, man."

Lone took his hand, trembling a bit, then felt himself hauled to his feet with all the ease of a child being picked up by a giant. He rocked unsteadily on his paws for a moment, looking up at the black wolf as he snorted and nodded, then he grinned a bit and revealed those unsettlingly-huge fangs once more before glancing over at Cherry and frowning as he saw her rooting through another of the boxes. "Hey, bitch, that's Tinny's shit! Get your fucking grubby hands outta there!"

"Fuck you" was the only response the female gave, not even bothering to look at him. Vampire's snarl deepened, then he reached into his coat and produced a small throwing knife that had a narrow, leaf-shaped blade. Without hesitating, he threw the single-cut steel knife at her as Lone took a sharp intake of breath, but again, Cherry merely tilted her head and the knife flew harmlessly by before she turned around, narrowing her eyes as Vamp grinned innocently and held up his hands... but his eyes betrayed deep nervousness, watching the grenade she was carelessly bouncing in her hand. "You were supposed to disarm fully when we got on the plane, Vampire. Procedure."

"Hey, no harm, no foul, right?" he laughed a bit, but then he swallowed and winced slightly, betraying his nervousness as his voice lowered a decibel. "Hey, babe, could you put that fuckin' thing away? You're giving me the creeps here, lady."

Cherry smiled; it was not a nice smile, and the coldness in it reminded Lone strongly of Zerrex as he stared at her with even greater terror than before - a feat he hadn't thought possible. Already the pit of his stomach was telling him that hiring these people had been a bad idea... but now, looking at that psychotic glint in the eyes of the female reptile and the growing fear in Vampire's, he came to realize that there was quite possibly no worse decision he could have made: these people not only seemed like they really could kill Zerrex, they might just take his place in this town if they so desired. But then, instead of speaking, she merely slipped it into her side-pack and the black wolf relaxed with a sigh as Lone slumped and gave his own sound of relief. "Fucking pussies."

"You're the one who's got the pussy around here, bitch." Came the black wolf's reply, but it lacked the necessary venom to make it a stinging remark and thus sounded more like some futile, weak-kneed comeback from a coward to a bully. Which, Lone was coming to realize, was probably exactly what it was before he turned with a surprised - but pleasantly so - blink as he heard the sound of an approaching engine: what he saw was a black armored car with tinted windows, but they were light enough that he could see the one they called Tinman was driving it, looking horribly uncomfortable as the car moved in little jerks and bobs.

Vampire muttered something under his breath, and Lone looked over his shoulder to see him with his eyes closed and a hand pushed against his forehead, as if he was in pain. Cherry, on the other hand, had gone back to rooting through the possessions of the other two before she stood and glanced at the white-furred lupine, then she held up what looked like a gold watch. Lone stared at this, then he blinked as she tossed it to him and he caught it with both hands, glancing down to see it was an old-fashioned wind-up style watch with a strange kanji on the front that the wolf didn't recognize; a moment later, however, it was snatched out of his hands by Vampire, who turned to growl at Cherry before he slipped it into an inside pocket of his leather trench, barking at her: "What the fuck are you doing, giving that to him? He don't need it! He don't even know what it is, bitch!"

Cherry gave her usual two-word reply, then she walked up beside Lone and put an arm around his shoulders, looking down at him and winking slowly - that, combined with the strange softened expression on her features, made the wolf blush furiously... and then she smiled again as she held up a thick wad of cash and said softly: "This will cover the 'holding cost' for the three of us... but we also request that we are given whatever we choose to take from Ravenlight's house. You can have the leftovers like the scavenger you are." She paused and took her arm from around the wolf's shoulders to flick through the large amount of cash as Lone stared, then he suddenly gaped and stepped away, patting his pockets and realizing with horror that the money she held in her hands was the good three thousand or so in cash that he'd taken with him from the hotel, finally recognizing the plain money clip that held the bills together. He'd figured on paying them a thousand each up front anyway... but he was horrified with how easily she had tricked him and manipulated him as Vampire began to give voice to loud donkey-laughs, leaning forwards and slapping one knee as the other hand wrapped around his stomach.

"Man, she owned you, bitch!" he chortled, then he straightened and looked at Tinman as the badger got out of the car, immediately taking on a reprimanding tone. "Hey, I thought you were good with metals and shit! A car is metal, so why the fuck do you drive like a two-year old on crack?"

"Sorry." Tinman mumbled, looking down with embarrassment as he swept one loafer-clad foot back and forth behind him, leaning on the door slightly before glancing up, smiling faintly as Vampire rolled his eyes, then quietly and meekly slinking around the group of three as Lone stared before feeling a hand descend on his back, reawakening all the pains in his body and making him whimper as he stumbled, his aching paws hurting even more with the pain in his feet before he turned around and stared with fear at Cherry as she jerked her head towards the parking lot.

"Get your ass out there to your car and wait for us by the exit," she snapped, as Vampire rose his hands by his ears and stuck his tongue behind her back, waggling his fingers and becoming entirely childish as he stomped his feet - but did it silently so she couldn't hear as he continued to make faces at her. Lone did his best not to stare at him, but somehow the female Drakkaren knew as one of her hands lashed back, grabbed the black wolf's long tongue, and jerked down hard enough as she let go to send him crashing onto all fours with a grunt of pain. "And if you do that again, you fuckwad, I'll fucking kill you."

"Chill out, babe." Vampire responded, raising up on his knees and putting his hands up in surrender, wincing and speaking in a pacifying, gentle tone: the classic "I-know-I-pushed-too-much-now-please-don't-beat-me" voice, Lone thought, as he backed slowly away before turning around: he then heard the loud smacking sound of a boot probably whacking into a face, and this was clarified for him as he heard Vampire yelp loudly and then yell angrily: "You fucking cunt! There are fucking spikes on your motherfucking boots and now there's a fucking hole in my fucking face, you fucktoy cunt cocksucking bitch!"

Lone hurried away as he heard another fleshy thud and winced as Vampire's voice rose again, this time in a whining, apologetic tone: but he was already too far away to hear the words as he felt sudden pity for the normal-looking Tinman and total fear for what he'd unleashed upon the town, hurrying down the asphalt runway and to the now-open gate where the black car had driven in from: it took him directly into the parking lot, and he quickly wove his way along the sidewalk, back to the front of the building and the handicapped space where he'd parked his car... and managed to get a ticket, to his immediate dismay. If anything was unfair... unjust... and a complete omen of bad things to come, he thought it was that ticket on the windshield of his car.

The wolf mumbled, then he grabbed the parking ticket and simply tossed it aside, figuring he could lie about it later and say that the wind had blown it away or something if any court sheriff came to call. Then he'd just put on the Lone Wulfe charm and get extra points for sympathy after showing off all his wounds and telling all the good reasons why he'd been parking there... after all, he really was all but handicapped now, wasn't he?

Then he'd climbed into his car, whining quietly as the pain began to come back in throbbing waves... but mostly it was that nauseating fear that was sticking with him, the kind that made him want to hide in his bed and cry until the bad things went away. He swallowed thickly as he considered this option for a moment... then figured it was a bad choice as he struggled to get his keys into the ignition and get the car running, heading for the airport exit and then pulling up to the shoulder, sitting there quietly and swallowing again as he trembled: he knew he was in too far now to run... and there was no way he could call off these devils he'd summoned, now that they were here.

A few minutes later, the apostles of Hell in question pulled up beside him, Vampire now driving and rocking his head back in beat to what the wolf figured was some rock song, headphones over his ears and plugged into the radio that was built into the car - Lone got the distinct feeling that he was doing this to avoid Cherry's wrath as she sat in the back and looked back and forth with violence in her eyes and every movement of her body. Then the black wolf reached up and yanked down his headset, and the wolf found he was able to hear from where he was the faint screaming of guitars and bad vocals, overlaid with a rapid, heavy drumbeat as Vampire half-shouted across a meek-looking, scrunched-into-his-seat Tinman: "So show us where Ravenlight's living now, we got a nice surprise party planned to throw right away! We got the essence of ambush and all that shit now, right, so we wanna go and deal with the fucker now, give him some payback, right?"

Lone gaped as he stared at the much larger black wolf, spluttering for a moment before managing one frightened word: "Now?" Then he stopped as Vampire grinned wide, and added another: "Me?"

"Yeah, bitch! You, show us, Ravenlight!" Vampire enunciated each word carefully, tilting his head and looking over his shades at the wolf with those pitch-black, hellhole eyes. "Come on, motherfucker, let's get going! We don't got all day, here!"

Lone did know where Zerrex lived: he did his homework, after all, and he'd burned the address into his brain while doing research on the Boss of Comfort Town, as well as the location... not that it was hard to find. If he could get back to the bar, he could definitely head to Zerrex's place... and... there really wasn't any arguing with these guys, was there? They were, after all, not only scary and obviously violent to the point of being complete, chaotic psychopaths who apparently did not understand exactly what "playing nice" was... they kinda had a point. Right now, they did have the element of surprise... and he didn't think that even Zerrex would be prepared for his old teammates showing up under the lead of the wolf he'd battered just a day before.

And now there was that faint spark of power in him, and of a need to be better, stronger than the reptile... and he couldn't help but grin back at Vampire now, who looked pleasantly surprised at the wolf's change of demeanor as he nodded and said slowly: "You know... I think I'd like to do that. I wanna... I want to see you make that fucker cry. I wanna see the Boss suffer... I think I'd enjoy that. Can you do that for me, buddy?"

"Man, if you want, I'll make him suck your cock and beg for death." Vampire replied, dark eyes glinting as he bowed his head forwards, and this elected a laugh from Cherry as a sneer spread onto her features as well: Vampire glanced up into the rearview mirror, and his own grin widened. "Oh, you like that babe, huh? Ever since he chose that other bitch over you for his girly, you've been all fuck-him-good, right? Well then... let's get our asses moving! We don't got all day!"

With that, Vampire laughed and reached up to put his headphones back on as Lone gave his own half-hysterical giggles, then he nodded as the black wolf motioned for him to pull ahead and he rolled up the shoulder before pulling onto the road and turning in the direction of Comfort Town, the black car following close behind as Lone's eyes burned with what he thought of as 'righteous fury' and he gripped the steering wheel tightly; in the car behind him, Vampire grinned his fang-filled grin and rocked his head to his music, Cherry sat in the back with her eyes narrowed and a hateful smile on her face, and Tinman stared out the window, pale, nauseated, and with his fingers clutching his legs hard enough to turn his knuckles white below the dark black fur that covered the outside of hands.

Lone's passionate rage allowed him to navigate easily to Comfort Town, then all the way to Elliot's bar without any difficulty: a few minutes later, after he gained his sense of direction, he found himself flying with all the ease and hostile intent of a homing missile towards Zerrex's home, before finally pulling up in front of what he knew could only be the reptile's house: before he could even open the door of his car, however, the black car had pulled into the driveway and the three had piled out, Vampire bashing the door in with his shoulder as he yelled something gleefully and Cherry unlatching one of her whips as she followed close behind, Tinman bringing up the rear in a pace that was sluggish, compare to the other two: inside, the wolf heard yells, a pained scream... and then nothing, as he climbed out of his car and slowly approached, wincing a bit as he walked through the wrecked doorway and then found his way into the living room, where Vampire was holding up a female feline by her collar with a disgusted look on his face - the other two were nowhere to be seen as he glanced up at Lone and said irritably: "He's got a fucking maid, it looks like. But I don't think he's here... the other two are doing a sweep of the house now, but I doubt like shit we'll find anything. Ravenlight ain't one to hide out and leave others as bait." He paused, then tilted his head, looking over his glasses at Lone as he saw his expression. "You know this bitch?"

"Yeah..." Lone said slowly, then he walked closer and peered up at her bruised face - whatever else, the black wolf had landed a hell of a punch on her. "She's some bitch of Zerrex's, that's for sure...he was kinda hot on her."

"Good. Then we got a suitable hostage." Vampire said dismissively, still carrying her like she was little more than a straw scarecrow before glancing up as the other two entered the room, Cherry's leather whip safely tied back in its place. "You guys get anything good?"

They both shook their heads, then Cherry said in a disgruntled voice: "He's got a bigass sword now, though, in his room. It's definitely not for show, but I don't think we could do anything with it, so we may as well leave it here. It's nothing any of us can't handle anyway... besides." She snorted and then flashed her teeth. "What fun is it hunting the predator when it doesn't have its claws?"

"Too true. But I still wanna take a look-see." The black wolf replied, then he tossed the cat unceremoniously on the ground, walking out past the two and heading for the open door that presumably went into Zerrex's room as he called over his shoulder: "And oh, the cat bitch is apparently someone Zerrex is sweet on. I say we gang rape her, take her with us, and then kill her in front of the fucker for kicks. What about you?" A pause as Cherry thought, then a loud whistle from the other room and a laugh. "Holy shit, that's sweet! Man, I gotta get me one of those... maybe after we take care of Zerrex, I'll lighten his grave for him and take that baby with me. Shit, man!"

Then, as he emerged with a grin on his muzzle, Cherry said in a plain, discussing-the-weather voice: "No rape. If she's here with Zerrex, it probably won't bother her like you want it to, so there's no point. But killing her is a good idea..." she paused, then reached down and pulled out her handgun before offering it to the wolf. "You know how to work one of these, loser?"

Lone blinked, feeling insulted, but when he spoke it wasn't in a derogatory, fuck-you tone but more of a meek: "I can shoot, yeah."

Cherry looked at him mildly, then she shrugged before flicking it around so that she held it by the barrel, and Lone took it, wondering at the size of the gun and looking over the neon-blue metal slowly, amazed at the weight and way it fit his hand before he laughed a bit and then tucked it into his waistband, looking down at the feline before hearing himself say quietly: "I wanna kill her... I want to shoot her... but I want it to be in front of Zerrex. I want to do that so he gets hurt even more."

Vampire released another whistle at this, looking at the wolf with what was almost respect instead of contempt over his glasses as Lone slowly licked his hurting muzzle. "Damn, but maybe you are a bit more bloodthirsty than I thought, my man." He paused to kick the feline hard in the side, making her moan and flop over before he reached down and squeezed a breast hard, face falling a bit. "Too bad we can't fuck her... she does look delicious. But you're probably right... I don't feel like having some bitch screaming on my cock 'cause she likes the hard-fuck."

With that, he reached down and picked her up before looking around at them, then meeting Cherry's eyes for a moment: Cherry nodded slightly, and he grinned as he tossed the cat over his shoulder like a sack of flour and looked at Lone with a wink. "Hey, man, now it's time for plan B. See, we do our homework, since we're good little boys. So why don't you find paper and pen around here, write a note to Zerrex, and make sure it says this..."

Lone listened as Vampire spoke... and as the black wolf did so, the white lupine slowly began to smile as Tinman quietly left to sit in the car and Cherry stood, her eyes blazing with hatred as she looked at the floor of Zerrex's home.

When the Drakkaren saw that the door of his home had been smashed open, the first thing he felt was the last emotion he'd ever expect to feel at the sight of such a perversion of his home: he felt scared for Cindy, who suddenly clutched and pressed to him... and then fear for Mary, who they'd left at home that morning. Alone.

It almost made the reptile want to snarl and curse himself, but he knew from long ago that wasn't the right thing to do: instead, he simply pulled up into the driveway, then got off his bike and took Cindy's hand as she looked at him with worry, leading her inside and then slowly walking through the debris near the doorway, glancing back and forth carefully before he saw a piece of paper on his table. He quickly walked over, still holding Cindy's hand as she pressed close to him, then he picked it up and read silently: Hey, fuckhead! Me and some of your old buddies have your bitch! If you want to see her back, come and meet us at the industrial district, Warehouse 12. Come on foot. From your pals, Lone and Company.

He crushed the note in his hand and tossed it aside, snarling with rage, then he looked down at Cindy and said quietly: "Go downstairs, go to the underground area, and wait there. If I haven't returned by tomorrow, leave town. All my bank information is in the office; take everything." He stopped at the terrified look that appeared on Cindy's features, and then, without realizing what he was doing, he grabbed the Drakkaren's other hand, looking into her eyes and saying clearly: "I'll come back."

She merely looked back at him, trembling, then finally she asked quietly: "It was Lone, wasn't it? Then... it's my fault..." she began to look down, and that was the first time Zerrex ever hit her.

The slap reddened her cheek and filled her eyes with tears as she looked at him with shock, then she flushed deeper as he said in a quiet voice: "Don't you ever blame yourself. We don't have time for that, and I don't want to come back here to you in hysterics or dead because of guilt. Don't you ever, ever blame yourself, no matter what happens, Cindy." He stopped as he looked into her eyes, seeing her calming some - if still trembling and scared - and then he took her hand again quietly and walked past her, leading her gently as he said without looking back: "I'll take you down there myself. Come on."

Cindy gave some near-silent response, but it wasn't from resent, or shock at what he'd done. It was from embarrassment... and now a strange sort of self-loathing, at the fact that she'd almost collapsed on the Boss in a melodramatic fit of 'woe-is-me.' So instead of talking she merely allowed him to lead her silently to the underground office, and then sat on the desk and watched as Zerrex brought out his two swords again, then he stopped and looked at her. She stared back... and then the two leaned down as Cindy's hands came up to massage his chest, and they met muzzle-to-muzzle in a slow, passionate kiss, working their jaws together almost furiously and Zerrex's teeth biting into her, making her moan a bit and causing blood to drip from her mouth before she pulled back, trembling quietly as she reached down to squeeze the crotch of his pants, looking at him almost pleadingly... but the reptile merely moved her hand, then he walked towards the door.

He halted before it... then he bowed his head and said quietly: "I'll come back, Cindy. I love you." A pause, and then he looked up towards the door and said in that same gentle, calm voice: "Mary is dead."

Then he left Cindy to her grieving as he went about on his own form of mourning: a form that would bring the Reaper back to Baskin's Grove and start a war that would only end once the body of Lone Wulfe hit the ground. Preferably in several pieces, and only after he suffered properly for what he had done.

Zerrex closed the secret passage once back in the basement to serve a double purpose - to make sure that no one snuck in there while he was gone and that Cindy would stay put. Then he mounted the steps, closed the basement door, and walked outside, fighting with himself for a moment but then deciding against taking Blackheart as well. No... the twin swords would do for Lone... and his old 'friends.'

After all, there were only a few people left in the world that could call themselves that, right? The living remnants of the Goth Legion... and Zerrex had a feeling that they all bore him more than enough hatred and jealousy to submit themselves to even the battered lupine for however long it took to kill him. Likewise, he knew that he was walking into a trap... not an ambush, because as they'd all worked together, they all thought alike in terms of procedure and planning. No, it wasn't an ambush, but it would involve him being attacked from all sides, possibly bracketed and braced, the moment he reached the warehouse number twelve in the industrial district... and, as he mounted his idling bike, shoved his swords into the small holders built on either side of it, and then turned it around to ride out onto the road, he couldn't help but grin slowly as he shot down the path towards the long-forgotten third of Baskin's Grove. I wonder how much they've forgotten about me... and I hope they haven't gotten too rusty over the years...

As he sped towards his meeting, he let his mind wander, free itself of the shrapnel of thoughts as he easily swerved back and forth around the few cars that didn't get out of his way and this time violated every possible traffic law he could, ignoring all in favor of reaching his destination as soon as possible and hopefully cutting their planning short, even though he had no idea when they had been to his home... if it had been just after he'd left at nine thirty with Cindy, or just before they'd gotten back around one, after having lunch together. He thought it was more likely that it had been somewhere in the middle... but he wasn't willing to place any bets.

Then, as he began to near the industrial section, he turned off down a side road that led into the woodland and would take him from the small, working section of the warehouse district to the abandoned and dilapidated area... and, as he approached the rusty, shattered fencing that guarded against intrusion only by its sheer corrupted appearance, he wasn't surprised to see both a black armored car and the wolf's cherry-red sports car.

The reptile slowly drove past both of these, eyes searching the harsh, dying and chemical-infected woodland around the area for any snipers or planned ambushes... then he drove on for about fifty more feet and into a strand of gray and brown, mostly-dead clumps of bush, hiding his bike from plain view but not thorough inspection as he turned it around so he could make a quick getaway if needed. Then he pulled his swords free and attached them to his belt by he means of the strong weaved ties around the neck of either hilt before backtracking to the cars, making sure they were firmly attached and wouldn't slip or slide around if he drew.

Normally, the reptile would ignore both the Goth Legion-style car - again, procedure would say that the armored car would be booby-trapped, to avoid him tampering with it without hurting himself. But the reptile had learned a few neat little tricks in his time off... and so instead of ignoring it, he walked around to the back and ducked down by the exhaust pipe before grabbing it and clenching his fist, sealing the pipe as metal squalled. He then stood up, then tensed before grunting and showing off another feat of strength by leaping onto the roof of the car before punching straight down and knocking a hole in the ceiling of the car, the armored plates crumpling under the blow from one hard fist.

He pried the metal with his bare hands until he had a proper sized hole made, then he stuck his head in and was unsurprised to see small mounds of plastic explosive placed with string-detonators on the doors, dashboard, and presumably the back of the car: they were all attached with a spiderweb of nearly-invisible steel strings to the handles, and to sensors that had been attached to the highest point of the window. Therefore, if he set off one, he set off them all... and as they were all attached to a small electrical emitter in the center of the car, where the reptile wasn't supposed to be able to reach, he figured they would explode with enough power to at least knock him out, somewhat shielded as he would be by the car itself or not. Normally his teammates preferred C4 with built in charge detonators, which were weaker because there was less C4 and more battery in it, so it could self-supply the needed electrical charge for detonation... but with an emitter, that would send a massive amount of voltage into what would be all plastic explosive and no technical built in charger.

So the first order of business was reaching down and gently removing each string from the emitter before smashing it, which the reptile did without trouble. He then dropped down into the car itself, and he glanced back and forth before reaching forwards, tearing off the covering under the wheel of the car, then he grabbed a handful of wires and simply yanked, ripping them into a useless jumble of torn-up wire. Then he exited by kicking the driver's side door clean off: it would leave whoever was driving a clean target from the side if he decided to take out the sniper rifle and post up in Apple Villa.

The lizard then walked over to Lone's sports car, and for this he wasn't so gentle: first, he punched out all the windows. Then he drew a sword and cut all the tires. Feeling that he hadn't yet gotten his point across, he opened the door and tore the steering wheel off before messing up all the wires again, then, to make sure that no one could still hotwire it back into usability - although Gods knew how they'd manage to drive it with the steering wheel gone - he shoved the hood of the car up, looked at the oversized engine, then he reached in, grabbed it, and literally tore it out, shirt ripping a bit from the powerful flexing of his muscles before he threw it away, then he tore the battery out as well. Then, as a final show of his brute strength and to get the point across, the reptile squatted on one side of the car, grabbed the bottom of it, then he stood and hefted with a loud grunt, muscles flexing powerfully as he lifted, lifted, lifted... and then flipped the car on first its side before pulling into it with his shoulder, sending it crashing over onto its back with a loud groan of crumpling metal.

Feeling somewhat satisfied with his destruction, the lizard squeezed his slightly-bloody fists, then he turned towards the torn-down section of rusted fencing and walked into the maze of warehouses, walls, and broken industrial equipment. In this catacomb, the only thing he had to follow was the faint tracks on the ground left by what he judged to be four people: it didn't really help much, but it gave him the best estimate of there being three former Goth Legion and one Lone, with one of the Legion carrying Mary. And that only left him to figure out exactly who they were... and identify what they could do.

The reptile muttered quietly under his breath as he turned down another narrow alleyway between two warehouses, feeling horribly vulnerable and herded in this area, one hand on the hilt of a katana and the other one flexing, at the ready. The only bonus he had is that there would most likely be little or no ranged combat... the most he would run into in terms of remote combat was explosives, and his eyes had long ago learned the trick to picking up hidden claymores or C4 placed with proximity detonators - they always needed a clear line of sight from the motion sensor to work, and, in a place like this, they needed to be raised off the ground, so they weren't set off by an unevolved mouse or rat, or some other wild animal. But he thought that whoever had set up the bombs probably wouldn't have enough explosive - nor be dumb enough - to use such tactics against another former member of the Legion.